A large brown suitcase, starkly contradicting her earlier claim of grabbing “just a few things,” screamed, “I’m moving in for good!” Packed and ready to stake a claim.
“Here, as promised.”
Casca pulled out a massive bag of peanuts.
“Whoa… this much?”
“They’re dirt cheap, honestly. You can find them at any roadside stall.”
“Then why haven’t I seen them in Artheris?”
“The Director doesn’t want them around. Doesn’t fit the Institute’s image.”
“How’s it not fitting?”
Dan spoke while cracking peanuts into his mouth.
“It’s what the working class loves to eat.”
“So?”
“Look, Fury, we don’t see laborers as equal to scholars.”
“And what does the Director want shops to sell? Wedding cakes?”
“The stuff in those districts is more… upper-class, right?”
“I don’t get how you split upper and lower class. So, is Diablo’s food upper or lower?”
“That’s Primal Class.”
“Out of class, huh?”
“Don’t lump yourselves in.”
“Nora showed me her pendant once. Beautiful gem, she said.”
“That’s super high class.”
As Casca unloaded her suitcase, she paused.
“Speaking of fancy stuff… did you buy earrings for Skank?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Pop!
Zeedee sprang from the blanket at the bed’s edge.
“Not just bought! His Majesty said they suit me perfectly, that I’m the prettiest, and four million times prettier than you!”
No need to say it—Zeedee never took them off.
“I said they looked tribal, and I liked that.”
“Your Majesty!!!”
“If I were you, Freya, I’d stay quiet and humble. She’s already compromised this much.”
“…Tch…”
Zeedee dove back under the blanket.
Crunch, crunch.
“Why’d you buy her stuff?”
“A reward. She gathered intel and built the house. That roof? Her work.”
“Oh, really?”
“What? Did I do something wrong?”
“No.”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“…I did something wrong, didn’t I?”
Her sulking was obvious.
“Come on, what’d I do?”
“I said nothing!!!”
Definitely something.
“Can’t I reward my subordinate?”
“…”
“Why’re you looking at me like that?”
“I still don’t know what I did wrong.”
The scene cuts to a new morning. Dan sat with Nora in the Institute’s cafeteria, peeling peanuts.
“So, what’d I do wrong, Nora?”
“You really don’t know, Mr. Fury?”
“I’m learning.”
“…Humans only buy gifts for special people.”
“It was a reward.”
“Really special people.”
“…”
“…”
“You’re saying only lovers buy gifts?”
“More like, it charms them, yes.”
“Then what about that plywood you bought me? You into me or something?”
“N-No, it’s not like that, Mr. Fury!”
Nora flustered.
“Buying jewelry and buying a toothbrush mean different things.”
“…”
“…”
“Ohhh, I get it. It’s about the gift itself.”
“Exactly.”
Scribbles.
“Your communication—even personal stuff—needs decoding? I’m just learning this.”
“But you just taught me about reading body language.”
“Guess where I learned that?”
“…Humans?”
“Bingo.”
Dan wrote as he spoke.
“Politics and reality are worlds apart, but politics always bleeds into reality.”
“That’s why you teach about identity, right?”
“You’ll see at the Allianz meeting.”
“You’re saying your negotiation-table self differs from this one?”
“Everyone does it. Look at my wife.”
“…True.”
Dan stopped writing, raising a hand.
“Listen, Nora, the person across the negotiation table is there to take from you, and you from them. Interests don’t care who you are.”
“Got it.”
Nora set down her hot tea.
“I wish your non-political self could stay forever, Mr. Fury.”
“Like you’ve seen my political side.”
“It’s not this friendly, I know.”
“Are you insulting or praising me?”
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
“Look, the gang’s all here.”
The scheduled arrival: Rafinya.
She brought magic textbooks and her assigned work, setting them down and slumping into a chair with a blank expression.
Dan averted his eyes, grabbing his work and starting to explain.
As Nora reviewed everyone’s assignments, Dan sat rigid. Rafinya, legs crossed, arms folded, openly stared at him.
“Not bad. Missing some details, but we can fill them in later.”
Nora handed back the work.
“Dan, Rafinya, I need you to double-check the ring-angle calculations against trigonometry theory. Swap and review each other’s.”
“Got it.”
Nora glanced between Rafinya and Dan… then deliberately handed her work to Rafinya, but—
“Nope, nope.”
Rafinya waved it off, snatching Dan’s work without asking.
“Hey, ease up.”
“Why? Does it matter who checks whose? It’s just a review.”
Rafinya scanned Dan’s work, then suddenly…
“Whoa, what’s this? Wrong from line two?”
Dan: “?!”
Rafinya tossed the paper in front of everyone.
“This is who Mrs. Casca Saint-Maximin sponsors? Can’t even calculate ring angles right?”
“What’re you talking about?!”
Picking a fight, clearly.
Before Dan could retort, Nora, checking first, held him back.
“She’s right… it’s wrong.”
“What? Where?”
“Wrong substitution… and you forgot to take the square root.”
“!”
Dan froze.
Probably a blur from resolving the wife-bodyguard drama, then rushing homework.
Just his luck…
Rafinya gave him another icy stare.
“What’s going on here?”
She slid her chair closer, elbow on the table, face near Dan’s, expression stern as ever.
“What’s your deal with Mrs. Maximin that she’d sponsor you?”
“…I don’t know.”
“If your skin were darker, I’d believe you’re her illegitimate kid. Or adopted?”
“Nope.”
“Ridiculous…”
“!”
“You know, Nora knows… If it’s not that, what else? I know plenty of high-ups, but your name’s never come up.”
She leaned closer.
“You popped out of thin air. If not a secret kid or adoptee, are you from some hidden noble faction? Spill it!”
Honestly, she wasn’t wrong.
“Connection-backed nobodies will never earn my respect, so…”
Rafinya closed in, her perfume hitting Dan full force. He backed against the wall.
“Tell me who you are, or else…”
Her eyes glowed fiery red. But then, ice sprouted from the table, objects, her clothes, her hands.
Nora Ophelis… her eyes glowed blue.
“Or else what, Rafinya?”
“…”
Focus shifted to the princess. Rafinya showed no fear… but stood, countering by pulling a folded paper from her pocket and tossing it out.
“Or next week, I won’t go easy.”
Duel @ Madison Square Garden, Week #2
Dan Burn vs. Rafinya St. Pauli
Dan’s eyes widened.
“Wasn’t the list announced on Wednesday?!”
Where’d Rafinya get it?
“I’ll prove who Mrs. Casca should really notice.”
Rafinya declared.
Then…
Red flames erupted, melting Nora’s ice.
“I’m not scared of you.”
Red velvet flames consumed the ice, thawing it.
Sweat from the heat rolled down half of Dan’s face.
Magic?!
What else could Rafinya do?!
The red flames caught Dan’s assignment, burning it to ash.
Then… Nora’s icy breeze intensified.
“Back off, Rafinya.”
Nora wouldn’t yield.
“…”
The red flames vanished with a snap.
Rafinya stepped back.
“Take your Blood Lust elsewhere.”
“Don’t worry, Princess. You might be next.”
“Threatening me?”
“An invitation… just want to test the princess who slayed Iskaryx.”
Rafinya said.
“Just curious how tough Snowhaven really is.”
“You’ve never faced power beyond your imagination, Rafinya…”
Nora replied.
“You and I… we’re just chicks who’ve never left the coop.”
Dan looked at Nora, understanding what she meant.
Still, Rafinya showed no fear.
She stood.
“See you.”
