The plan was simple—almost stupidly simple—but that was due to the nature of the problem. This was the best idea Adah could come up with, and neither her teammates nor Grace had suggested any productive alternatives. Crawling into a Cruelty’s mind and poking around in a Cruelty’s portal were stupid objectives to begin with, so it was only fitting that the girls concocted a stupid plan to match.
Elise had been confident she could identify a 72-hour window during which an experimental humanoid variant was likely to spawn in Region 4. Her system was imperfect—she couldn’t determine exactly when or where—but it provided enough information for Adah to plan around. Her own tracking of humanoid appearances told her that if one was going to spawn, it’d most likely show up within Ketzia’s jurisdiction. That’s where almost every thumbtack on Adah’s map was placed, after all.
From Elise’s analysis, the next humanoid would spawn in soon, too. The Cruelties followed a pattern of development within a variant’s “lineage,” the Secretary had explained. Now that they’d deployed the latest version of the humanoid variant in combat, they’d want to go back to the drawing board and test out more ideas with the new experience they’d gained—all for the sake of developing a better, stronger variant for the future. As it turned out, these experimental humanoids expended the bare minimum amount of essence in their creation. It seemed that each one was meant to test one very specific attribute, so the Cruelties wasted no more essence than necessary.
Adah wondered what the purpose had been of that first humanoid her team had encountered. It hadn’t done much but scream, but perhaps testing human speech had been its mission?
In any case, once Elise shared the three-day period she’d identified, all that the Last Light needed to do was wait within range of their target and see if a humanoid appeared. And that meant waiting with Ketzia.
Adah and her teammates would bunk at Ketzia’s cabin during those three days and, should a humanoid Cruelty spawn during that time, accompany the Untethered magical girl when she was dispatched to eliminate it. If they waited at home and tried to fly north once a Cruelty was detected, they’d arrive an hour late at best. Ketzia would have been forced to destroy the humanoid long before that. By staying over like they had during their training camp, they’d be available to join their mentor no matter when the Cruelty showed up.
DreamRise, on the other hand, would take more of a middle ground approach. They’d fly up to the cabin in the morning on each of the three days, then fly back home at night. Their agency office was located a bit closer to the cabin than the Last Light’s, but still not close enough to respond to the detection of any humanoids. However, it was true that Ketzia didn’t have the means to house seven magic users, and equally true that DreamRise wouldn’t want to stay there anyway. This approach was a compromise. If a humanoid appeared overnight, while Iris and her team were away, then Ketzia and the Last Light would simply investigate without them.
The plan was simple, after all.
That wasn’t to say Adah didn’t intend to make good use of everyone’s time while they waited. These three days would be the perfect opportunity for the Last Light and DreamRise to spar with each other. They could train together during daylight, and learn from Ketzia during the evening. They were the two teams that knew each other best out of the whole coalition, but also possibly the two that got along worst. It wouldn’t hurt to at least try to reconcile their differences or, at least, learn to put up with them.
So, Grace drove Adah and her teammates up to the cabin early in the morning on the first day of the window Elise had identified. Unlike the last time their group had made this trip, Grace planned to stay at Ketzia’s for the duration of their visit. Ami had joked that this was a good chance for Grace for finish her vacation that the S-Rank had cut short. However, their manager made her own intentions clear.
“The last time I left you here alone, you got yourselves into trouble,” she said during their drive. “With what you’re trying to do this time, we can’t afford any trouble.”
Adah and the other girls may have had their reasons, but they’d still kept the details of their training camp secret from Grace. She couldn’t blame Grace for wanting to keep a close eye on them this time.
They arrived at the cabin’s clearing, which was covered by a packed-down layer of snow, just around the time Adah would normally choose to wake up. Luckily, she’d been able to nap for most of the journey, excluding a brief period of excitement when a sheet of ice nearly prevented Grace’s car from climbing one of the hills along the forest path. The sensation of slowly rolling backward hadn’t disturbed Adah’s sleep, but Ami’s screaming had. In the end, they made it to the cabin unharmed except, perhaps, for Adah’s ears.
Just like the last time, Ketzia awaited their arrival on her front porch, dressed in nothing more than slim jeans and a windbreaker. She probably didn’t even need the jacket, considering she left it unzipped with the sleeves rolled halfway up her forearms. If she did get cold, her fiery companion could help warm her up. The phoenix Lesh—nothing more than a gray skeleton at this point in the day—perched on her shoulder. Upon seeing Grace’s car roll into the clearing, the mascot flew over to greet the woman as soon as she opened the driver-side door. It seemed, given the choice between Grace and Adah, Lesh preferred to settle on the elder’s shoulder.
Stolen story; please report.
Guess you couldn’t beat seniority. Though, Adah would keep that comment to herself.
Ketzia followed right behind her mascot, though her way of welcoming her guests was much less amicable than Lesh’s. Without so much as a wave, she began to admonish the four girls and their manager.
“You kids are almost as dumb as me!” Ketzia said, locking her hands onto her hips. “The whole point of sticking an old crone like me here is so that I can spare the rest of you from dealing with those monsters. And yet here you are, begging to see more of them. After that slaughter, you’re trying to find one?”
“Nice to see you, too,” Grace said.
“And you!” Ketzia set her sights on her friend. “You’re even worse than them! I thought you’d be used to dealing with idiots after putting up with me for so long, but you’re almost egging them on.”
Grace held out her overnight bag, and Ketzia quickly took it out of her hands. A small grin flashed on Grace’s face, which Ketzia didn’t seem to notice.
“I’m helping them for the same reason you are,” Grace said. “If we didn’t, they’d go ahead and do it on their own anyway. That’s something I learned from dealing with you. At least this way, we can help keep them safe.”
“Idiots protecting idiots,” Ketzia muttered.
Ami and Emi walked past Ketzia and up the first steps of the cabin porch, their shoes crunching the snow beneath their feet. The more rambunctious of the twins threw her arm into the air and called out to everyone behind her.
“Proud idiot reporting in!” she said. “And calling dibs on the nicer bedroom.”
“Ditto,” Emi added.
The last time they’d stayed over, Adah had tried to keep it a secret that Ketzia’s guest rooms weren’t equal. She and Rika had enjoyed comfier mattresses and avoided the morning sun poking in through their window. Apparently the twins had uncovered that secret. Fair was fair, Adah submitted.
While the twins set up shop in their preferred guest room, Adah slung her backpack over her shoulder and stood by Grace’s side.
“Our job is to eliminate the Cruelties,” she said to Ketzia. “We can’t do our job if we get scared of every new variant that pops up. Chances are we’ll have to fight one of those humanoids some day. I know I’ll feel a lot better about that battle if I’ve prepared for it ahead of time.”
Rather than reply, Ketzia flung her arm forward and snapped. Her usual party trick—a small firework of sparks—popped just to the side of Adah’s head. Adah blinked but did not jump. Ketzia didn’t look impressed.
“Our generation must have fucked up worse than I thought,” the woman said, shaking her head. “No reason any of you kids should have to worry about it. No reason you should be the way you are.”
Adah frowned as Ketzia turned away from her. She looked to Grace, but her manager paid her no mind and instead followed Ketzia as she walked toward the cabin. That left Adah alone in the snow until Rika came up and rested a hand on her shoulder.
“I don’t get what was wrong with what I said,” Adah said.
“I don’t think Ketzia was saying you were wrong,” Rika said. “I think she was upset that you were right.”
Either way, she didn’t get it. She wasn’t saying anything about Ketzia, and if she was right, then there was no need for anyone to get upset over it. They were all magical girls. They all bore the same responsibility.
Adah had no time to think about their interaction further, though, as an unnatural wind swished overhead. She glanced in the air behind her to see the three members of DreamRise flying into the clearing, right on schedule. Iris and her teammates touched down a few feet away from Adah. They each looked in a different direction as they observed the clearing and Ketzia’s cabin. Iosk had yet to reveal himself, though. It would have been impractical—and pointless—for him to materialize during the long flight to the cabin, and perhaps now he was waiting for an opportune moment to make his entrance.
He and Iris shared that taste for theatrics, although Iris wasted no time with her own greeting today.
“What are you two doing standing around out here?” Iris asked.
Before Adah could respond, Clair undid her transformation and stepped ahead of her teammates.
“Where’s the Untethered?” she asked, nearly stumbling over her words. “I have questions for her.”
Iris and Ekki undid their own transformations as well, then stared at Clair. Adah had never seen the girl this eager over anything, so even she was shocked into a short silence. Once she realized everyone was watching her, Clair took a step back, straightened out her face, and crossed her arms.
“Her name is Ketzia,” Rika said. “And she’s inside, with everyone else.”
“To which I again ask: why are the two of you out here?” Iris said.
While her captain spoke, Clair rushed toward the cabin. She slipped on an icy portion of the packed-down snow, but barely maintained her balance. As she clambered up the porch steps, Iris shook her head but kept her eyes fixed on Adah.
“We were just grabbing our bags from the car,” Adah told her. “Since you keep asking about it, you must want to help us, huh? Thanks for offering.”
Before Iris could process what she had said, Adah slipped off her backpack and flung it at the girl. Iris caught the bag with both arms on pure reaction, so Adah turned around and started walking to the cabin. Rika followed close behind, though she opted to keep her bag to herself.
“You’re not really a princess—you know that, right?” Iris shouted.
Adah didn’t answer. From the noise of crunching snow behind her, she concluded Iris must be running after her. However, she didn’t hear any sound that could pass for her bag hitting the ground.
Adah smiled. Even if their experiment with the humanoid Cruelty ended up unproductive, she’d at least be able to have some fun during this trip.