Strolling in the approximate direction of Meg’s flat, Emilia investigated something. “You said before that you like exploring?”

  Meg had been lost in thought, but returned to reality for long enough to respond. “Mm? Oh… yeah. Have you heard of something called urbex?”

  “No. Sounds dangerous.”

  “I suppose it can be,” Meg conceded. “It’s short for urban exploration. Basically… looking around old abandoned buildings and things. I used to go exploring all over when I was a kid. The village I grew up in had loads of old places like that.”

  “What’s so fun about looking around old buildings?”

  Meg walked silently for a while, deep in thought. “I guess… mostly it’s an atmosphere? I like imagining what places must have been like when they were still busy and bustling.”

  Emilia frowned. “I’m not so sure I’d like that. I’ve seen too many dead places. I like the city, it’s full of life.”

  “It’s not for everyone, and you’re right that it can be dangerous. I got into trouble a couple of times for exploring where I shouldn’t have been, though not intentionally!” Meg chuckled at some memory of her past. “You have to be really careful, it can be trespassing, buildings can be unstable and dangerous, all sorts can go wrong.”

  “Do you go looking for danger or something? Life not exciting enough?”

  “I don’t think so?” Meg said, her cheeks a little flushed. “I like history, so old abandoned buildings are like treasure troves to me. I don’t think there’s anything more than that.”

  “But you went out of your way to find me despite how dangerous it was…” Emilia said in a quiet tone that tripped her new friend up.

  Stopping for a moment, Meg furrowed her brows. “I wasn’t looking for danger, Emilia, I was looking for you. I don’t think it’s fair to compare.”

  Emilia turned back to her new friend to issue a riposte. Her eyes widened, pupils dilating. “Meg? Walk towards me very quickly, please?”

  Her magical friend’s tone was calm and measured, but Meg knew, without needing to turn, that something lurked behind her. “It’s one of those, isn’t it…”

  Emilia nodded almost imperceptibly. “Keep moving.”

  A few steps forward and Meg broke into a trot just as the pavement she had recently vacated exploded into flame. She reached Emilia and they backed away together.

  “Run!” Emilia yelled, pointing down a side street. She transformed, her black and purple outfit materialising and replacing the regular clothes, and her hair fading to the deep, glowing purple-black colour Meg now associated with gravity.

  As Emilia squared off against the monster, Meg accelerated away along the side street, legs working harder than they had since leaving high school several years previously, when physical education had still been a mandatory activity.

  Rounding a corner, Meg sped down the street and froze, skidding to an impromptu halt. Before her stood another of the creatures, similar to the previous one. This one steamed like the last, but with ice rather than fire, and had more of a translucent green-purple colour to it. Again, no eyes. And again biomechanical, with ribbed tubes of transparent plastic-like material wrapped up, down, and around its appendages, plugging into icy, steaming sockets on its back.

  “Crap,” Meg said, backing away.

  “Hmm, so you’re with the other girl?” came a voice from above. “I thought you looked familiar.”

  Looking up and shielding her eyes from an inconveniently-placed streetlight, Meg squinted, attempting to work out who had spoken. On a nearby rooftop stood a young man, heavyset and well-muscled, his shaggy, shoulder-length white hair dancing in the breeze.

  Meg narrowed her eyes. “Are you the one controlling these monsters?” She shook with rage and fear, staring unflinchingly and hoping to appear more confident than she felt.

  The man dropped lightly to the ground and walked forward, raising a hand to stay the creature. “Pleasant evening, no?” His voice had a soft timbre to it, a certain hint that here was someone Meg probably shouldn’t trifle with. He stopped before her, his amber eyes appraising, sizing up… and quickly dismissing. “And what if I am, little girl, what would you do about it? What can you do, hmm?”

  Meg’s legs refused to budge, her stomach was performing cartwheels of terror, and yet she couldn’t seem to tear her gaze away from this enigmatic man’s eyes. She did her best to remain defiant. “I… I’ll call for help!”

  The man snorted. “Your little friend is quite busy, no? Oh, where are my manners? My name is Tear. And my friend has all the time in the world to make your acquaintance.” Lowering the hand he had originally used to stay the creature’s advance, he graced her with an entirely humourless smile.

  “So you really are controlling these monsters?” Meg said, heckles rising. She clenched her hands, gritting her teeth as her heart rate spiked and adrenaline rushed through her body. A salty sea scent from the creature filled her nostrils, activating her body’s gag reflex.

  “Monsters? Please. They have a name, girl, and that name is certainly not monster.” Tear’s initially smug and condescending tone made way for a brief glimmer of annoyance. “Though I suppose you would see them that way, wouldn’t you? Immediately clinging to the idea that I’m the bad guy, that my friend here is evil, an abomination of nature? Little girl, my friend here is nature.”

  “L-Little girl?” Meg recoiled, finally noticing the diminutive term he was using to refer to her. “I’m twenty!”

  “See? Being labelled isn’t fun, is it?”

  And now Meg blushed, losing her voice entirely. Tear had a point, after all, she had jumped to conclusions and labelled these elemental creatures as monsters while knowing precisely nothing about them. On the other hand, his annoyingly smug voice kind of pissed her off as well, making the embarrassment even worse.

  Finding her voice, Meg rearranged her expression into one of—she hoped—confident indignation. “I… apologise for jumping to conclusions. But you should be apologising for causing so much trouble with whatever you’re using these mon—creatures for!”

  “Ah, yes, I’ve seen something of your world’s television. This is the point where you expect to goad me into revealing all my plans, no? Sorry, not happening. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

  “Don’t you dare run away! I’ll call Emilia!” Meg yelled. The indignation had faded, replaced with annoyance and confusion at how the hell she had managed to let this clearly horrible man get the better of her.

  Tear paused to give another of his smug smiles. “What possible reason could she could have for protecting you? Hmm? More to the point, what do you gain from putting yourself in danger for her? Someone you know nothing about?”

  Meg’s heckles rose again. “At least I’ve tried talking to her. I’m not just unleashing monsters and causing problems for people!”

  “No different to her using those powers she possesses, no?” Tear said, ignoring the repeated M-word.

  “Of course it is!”

  “Oh? I’m listening.”

  “Well, it… it… she… she’s just defending herself from you!”

  A humourless half-smile appeared on Tear’s lips this time. “Stuttering, are we? Your lack of conviction shows as plain as day, little girl. Why are you here? What do you want? Can you find even one reason to risk your life for someone you’ve only just met?”

  Meg took a deep breath and yelled, “You don’t need a reason to help people!”

  Before Tear could issue a pithy riposte, Meg exploded into flame, tongues of scorching fire leaping from her limbs and hair, glowing embers spiralling high into the sky. Inside her jacket a brilliant red light radiated out and bathed the nearby buildings in crimson.

  Tear backed away as the ice elemental screamed in agony at the searing heat melting its form. The creature staggered back, leaving pools of melted ice in its wake.

  Meg was lifted from the ground by an unseen force, her expression beatific, transcendent.

  Backing further away, Tear shook his head and sighed. He jumped up to the rooftops and retreated, leaving the elemental to its fate.

  Having defeated the fire elemental, Emelia arrived, rushing over and coming to a dead stop. She stared at the girl floating several feet above the pavement. “Meg…?”

  Meg’s clothes vanished into the ether, replaced by a glowing mantle of burning orange energy covering her body and flowing out behind her. The ribbon holding her ponytail in place ignited as her hair re-formed into a new style, long and braided, reminiscent of a scorpion’s tail and reaching to her thighs glowing a dark, fiery orange.

  And deep in each eye, a whirlpool of burning magma seethed until she blinked, the fires settling down to more of a gentle flicker as she adjusted to the sudden surge of power coursing through her body.

  Coalescing around her, a crimson outfit appeared, similar to the one Emilia wore, trimmed in light orange rather than purple, and a pair of glowing fulvous wings popped into existence at her waist. She touched back down and seemingly returned to reality, turning her body this way and that, attempting to figure out what in the world was going on.

  “I… transformed?” she murmured, lifting a hand and staring at it as though it belonged to someone else.

  Emilia ran forward and hugged her, grinning like an idiot. “I thought you said you weren’t hiding anything! This is the biggest secret ever!”

  “I wasn’t hiding it! I have no idea what just happened! I just got angry with that guy and… wait, where did he go?” Meg looked around the general vicinity. Tear had vanished. The elemental, however, was still very much alive and present.

  “An ice type?” Emilia said, releasing her new friend. “Looks like this is your territory.”

  “I can’t fight that!”

  “Sure, you can. We don’t really have time for a proper lesson, so… just think angry thoughts and hope for the best!”

  “That’s not helpful!” Meg yelled, and ducked as an icy fist whirled through the air above her head, leaving behind a fine trail of water droplets. She dodged… and ended up on the opposite side of the street. “What the hell—!” came her rapidly diminishing voice.

  “Careful, you have more power in this form,” Emilia called over.

  Meg steadied herself. It seemed her body was being sustained by a power well in excess of her regular levels; she felt as light as a feather and as tense as a coiled spring. As a test, she jumped and ended up on the roof where Tear had originally been standing, with precisely zero effort expended. “This is insane,” she muttered. A blast of ice froze the roof below her, so she jumped up into the air and dropped, landing before the elemental. “Okay, let’s try… a fireball? Fireball! Fireball… fireball? Fireball! Why isn’t this working?”

  “You’re not playing a videogame! Visualise the attack, don’t just yell random names,” Emelia shouted across.

  “I-I’ll try!” Meg said. She did her best to visualise a ball of fire in her palm. This worked better than expected. “Wow… okay, now I want to throw it…” Again, she imagined the fire leaving her hand as she wound her arm up. The ball of spitting heat and flame launched itself at the ice elemental, impacting it in the chest.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  A scream like a wet finger being rubbed around the rim of a wineglass filled the air, the elemental thawing like winter snow under the summer sun until it was nothing more than a pool of lukewarm seawater.

  Meg collapsed to her knees, the sheer adrenaline that had been fuelling her until this moment vanishing as quickly as it had arrived, at the same time as her magical outfit disappeared to be replaced with her regular clothes, and her hair returned to normal.

  Running forward, Emilia arrived just in time to wrap her arms around the exhausted girl’s waist and hoist her upright. She beamed. “That was amazing, Meg!”

  “Haha… I feel drained,” Meg muttered.

  “That’s normal at the start, don’t worry. It’ll just take your body a while to adjust. And you’ll have me teaching you, anyway.”

  “So… does this mean we’re friends now?” Meg murmured, her eyelids drooping.

  “Weren’t we already?”

  Meg smiled and gave a single mute nod. “I like to think so…”

  Since her new friend was half-asleep, Emilia remained transformed and flew as stealthily as possible to the mansion, carrying Meg in her arms, princess-style; fortunately the sun had dipped well below the horizon by now, making a sneaky night flight less difficult to conceal. Touching down at the mansion, she headed inside and carefully placed the unconscious young woman on one of the sofas.

  Lifa floated across. “Whatever happened, Emilia?”

  “We were attacked. Two elementals at once. I think we can pretty much rule out coincidence now. And Meg mentioned seeing a man, need to ask her about that when she wakes up.”

  “Dear me, this doesn’t sound good, not good at all, yes. I shall look after the poor lass, worry not. So you fought two at once, Emilia?” Lifa hovered over Meg, covering her in a green field of gently flickering energy.

  “No, Meg transformed and beat the ice one up herself!” If Emilia’s face had lit up any more the mansion would have been clearly visible from orbit.

  “Blue generally knows what he’s doing. I wondered if she might perchance be a new ally when he gave her the gem,” Lifa said.

  Meg groaned and opened her eyes. “Where…? The mansion? Did you bring me back, Emilia?”

  “Yep.”

  “Thanks.” Meg sat up. “I feel like I’ve got three hangovers at once.” She grasped her pounding head in both hands.

  “It will pass soon. I have regenerated some of your depleted magic reserves,” Lifa said in a soft tone.

  Magic reserves? This was too much for Meg’s addled brain, so she ignored it for the time being. “Thanks, Lifa.”

  “She can stay here tonight, right?” Emilia asked her fairy partner.

  Agreeing that this seemed like the wisest course of action for now, they prepared one of the many spare rooms upstairs for their guest.

  Given how tired Meg felt, she figured it would be best to simply crash out for the night, despite only being late evening. She wanted more than anything to grill these three on everything she possibly could. Her confusion had reached critical levels. But with her brain threatening to go on strike, she probably wouldn’t be able to process anything they said even if she could ask the questions in a way that made sense.

  Instead, she allowed Emilia to carefully manoeuvre her upstairs to the bed they had prepared, and would leave the rest till morning.

  ☆ ☆ ☆

  A few early rays of sunlight crept through a crack in the curtains, waking Meg from her slumber. She crawled out of the comfy bed, had a stretch, and wandered off downstairs to see if she could rustle up some breakfast, her mind still feeling like it was filled with cotton wool.

  Lifa was floating about the kitchen just off the big living room, frying bacon and eggs. Hints of salt, black pepper, and oregano filled Meg’s nostrils, clearing her addled mind a little. The sight of a cute winged girl some six inches in height frying things in a pan twice as wide as she was tall would probably stay with her for some time, however. Possibly during nightmares.

  “Good morning, Meg, I trust you slept well?” Lifa said over her shoulder.

  “Yes, thank you! I almost felt like I was going to get sucked into the mattress, it was so soft.” Meg sat at the large central table. Compared to her modest kitchenette at home, this room had a cavernous feel, featuring two ranges, many metres’ worth of worktop, the enormous table in the centre, and more cooking utensils than Meg would even know what to do with.

  Lifa used a spatula to poke the eggs sizzling in the pan, again speaking over her shoulder. “You simply wouldn’t believe the trouble I have every morning attempting to rouse Emilia. She loves sleeping more than can possibly be good for her. It’s a pleasure to meet a girl who can rise without effort!”

  Meg stifled a giggle as her new fairy friend brought a glass of milk over. Taking the glass, she had a sip, then glanced at Lifa. “Is she awake yet?”

  “She was briefly, though I suspect she has lost consciousness again by now. I would appreciate it greatly if you could check on her. You may need to apply some percussive force.” Lifa floated back across to the frying pan.

  “I’ll see what I can do.” Meg guzzled the milk and ran upstairs to Emilia’s room, knocking and entering. As expected, the girl herself was fast asleep under not one, but two heavy duvets. Meg raised her voice to a level close to the shattering point of glass. “Morning, Emilia!”

  Under the duvets, some vague movements were followed by a minor barrage of sotto voce complaints. The heavy covers were pushed back, revealing a bleary-eyed Emilia. “What time do you think it is, Meg?”

  “Time you were up.”

  Emilia crawled out of the bed, shivering a little in the chilly spring atmosphere. “Well… since it’s you I guess I’ll let you off.” Struggling out of her light purple pyjamas, she dressed in a short purple skirt and a forest green T-shirt, tugging a pair of thigh-length black and purple striped socks on to finish. She took Meg’s hand and dragged her back downstairs.

  Lifa had just served up, so the girls sat opposite each other at the kitchen table and ate in silence. After this, they retreated to the living room—or the parlour, as Lifa would probably call it—to talk about recent events.

  Meg sat next to Emilia on one of the sofas. “So, uh… where do we even begin?” Again, she sipped at a delicious cup of milk tea prepared by their benevolent fairy overlord. It appeared to be an English breakfast tea, much to her delight, and reminded her of breakfasts back home when her father would prepare a full English followed by toast with fresh honey from the hives.

  “I guess we should ask if you actually want to help us? I know you transformed and everything, but we shouldn’t just assume…” Emilia said, fidgeting with her cup.

  Sitting on the coffee table for a change, Lifa let out an approving giggle. “I’m pleased to see you taking the time to think, Emilia.”

  “I always think!”

  “After the fact, yes,” Lifa said, laughing as her partner coloured. “When that elemental appeared a few mornings back, you were off to deal with it before I had even finished telling you about it. Always rushing in, headfirst.”

  “Anyway!” Emilia muttered, and turned to Meg. “You uh… want to help us?”

  “I said before that I’d like to,” Meg said, giving her new friend a beaming smile. “And now I can help you for real, right?”

  Emilia grinned. “Yep!”

  Something occurred to Meg. She frantically patted her pockets. “Wait… where’s the gem!?”

  Blue turned up and again loitered around near the doorway to the kitchen. He pointed at her chest. “It’s inside you.”

  “Inside me…?”

  “What Blue means is that the gem is a part of you now, it’s the source of your power,” Emilia said. “You know Lifa said she restored your magic reserves? That’s what she meant. The gem itself is… uh…”

  “Think of it sort of like a second heart,” Lifa said. “But instead of pumping blood, it fills your body with magical potential.”

  “Did you receive a gem as well?” Meg asked Emilia.

  “I was born with my powers,” Emilia said.

  “You’re… not really from India, are you?” Meg said, figuring they didn’t need to play games any longer.

  “Guess that’s pretty obvious, huh?” Emilia said. “Yeah, I’m from a world called Ereth.”

  “So you’re aliens? But you look totally human…”

  Emilia cracked up. “I’m human like you. Our world exists, um… sort of next door to Earth?”

  “Yes, think of it as a mirror image, a world living precisely opposite Earth, hidden from view,” Lifa said.

  “Oh, like an alternate dimension? So you’re from Ereth as well, Lifa?” Meg said.

  “Actually, no. I belong firmly to Earth, as does Blue.” Lifa’s expression indicated extreme pride. “I found Emilia not long after she arrived on our fair planet.”

  “Tailed me, you mean,” Emilia said with a half-smile.

  “I had to be sure of your intentions. I consider myself most fortunate to have you as an ally, Emilia. I am glad we met.”

  This made Emilia blush. “Lifa…”

  “So is everyone in your world born with amazing powers?” Meg said.

  Emilia shook her head. “Only certain people. It’s pure chance, basically, though some genetic lines have more of an affinity for magical potential.”

  “But magic itself is common?”

  “Yep.”

  “I’d like to visit one day,” Meg said, dreamy-eyed. “Imagine me being the first person to ever visit another world…”

  Emilia sighed. “I’d love to be able to take you, but I’m stuck here.”

  “Stuck…?”

  Lifa drained her cup of tea and placed it to one side, her expression unusually sombre. “There are only limited means available to travel between our worlds, you see. Emilia’s route home has vanished.”

  Meg’s face dropped. “I’m sorry…”

  “It’s okay,” Emilia said with a shrug. “Your world has plenty going for it, too. I miss my family and everything, but I’ll get back home one day, I’m sure of it!”

  “I’ll help however I can,” Meg said, giving Emilia a firm hug.

  “Thanks.” Emilia accepted the warm embrace of her new friend, albeit struggling a little at the unfamiliar and intimate contact, then pulled back. “You said something about a man last night?”

  “Hmm? Oh! Yeah, he called himself Tear, he’s the one controlling the elemental creatures. He turned up just before I transformed.”

  Lifa scratched her chin, frowning and tilting her head back and forth. “Interesting. I suppose this confirms what we had surmised, then. I noticed immediately when Emilia arrived, however, so why…?”

  “Lifa?” Emilia said, waving a hand before her fairy partner’s face.

  Coming back to reality, Lifa shook her head and smiled. “No, nothing, I simply wondered why I didn’t notice a new arrival.”

  “Maybe he’s from Earth?” Meg suggested.

  “Good point, we know nothing about him, we shouldn’t automatically assume he’s from my world,” Emilia said, hoping to appear wise.

  This wasn’t lost on Lifa. “Practising thinking before acting, are we? This pleases me.”

  “All right, you don’t need to go on about it,” Emilia muttered.

  “Was Emilia really headstrong when you met her?” Meg said.

  Lifa nodded in a vaguely distracted manner. “Indeed she was. Still is, really, rushing in headfirst to deal with the elemental beasties. This, despite her being more of a wide-area specialist who shouldn’t be getting too close.” She glared at the girl in question.

  “Dealing with large magical entities is what I specialised in, Lifa, it’s not the same as fighting an actual human opponent,” said Emilia with a brief eye roll.

  “On the subject of fighting, I’m still not sure why Blue gave me the gem,” Meg said. “I’m glad he did, I don’t want to appear ungrateful, but I’m confused over why he chose me. Was it random? Or does he know something we don’t?”

  “He’s generally pretty good with people and nature, but I can’t really say much beyond that,” Emilia said. “I wonder if there are any other personified deities on Earth now? Blue could be unique, or there could be others out there.”

  “Considering Blue’s domain, I’m surprised that he gave Meg a fire gem,” Lifa said, again thoughtfully scratching her chin.

  “His domain?” Meg said, figuring the insane quantity of blue in this room was probably an unsubtle hint. “I’m guessing… water element?”

  Lifa’s little head bobbed. “Yes, water is his primary domain, though this naturally includes ice and life as offshoots.”

  Meg tilted her head. “Life?”

  “The existence of water is essential to all life, is it not?”

  An expression of revelation appeared on Meg’s face. “I get you.” She glanced at Blue, who still hovered around the doorway to the kitchen. “He doesn’t seem very godlike to me.”

  “To be frank, we have no idea why he even exists.” Lifa stared at Blue as she spoke noting that he had a vaguely knowing smile on his lips. “Gods are certainly not supposed to manifest in such a form and fashion on Earth. This is most unwonted, yes.”

  “Hang on, if he’s not supposed to exist, what about this mansion?” Meg said, waving a finger around the room.

  “Well-spotted,” Lifa said, her expression radiating pleasure. “Without Emilia to guide you here you would never have noticed this place. It technically doesn’t exist in our world, and was created by Blue.”

  “It’s not something normal people can see,” Emilia said.

  “Quite so,” Lifa said. “The mansion exists everywhere at once, and nowhere. Most convenient, I must say.”

  Meg was thoroughly lost by now. “Convenient? And how can it exist everywhere and nowhere?”

  “Alas, even I don’t understand the specifics. Blue has the ability to create and sustain various objects, but in his current form those traits are much diminished.” Lifa sighed. “It is most vexatious. To answer your question, though, the mansion itself is, as I understand it, a pocket dimension allowing instantaneous travel to any point in this world. It’s not so much travelling as… rearranging matters so you are already there.”

  Meg’s eyes glazed. “I’m pretty sure you’re speaking a language I’m meant to understand, but I have no idea what you just said.”

  “We can use a special room full of mirrors upstairs to teleport to anywhere on the planet,” Emilia said, coming to the rescue with a factually incorrect statement which nevertheless allowed Meg to understand.

  “That’s handy. So when you said before that you’re not from around here, you used this system to travel from somewhere else?” Meg said.

  “We’ve been all over the place, trying to figure out a pattern to the elementals,” Emilia said.

  “We’ve never encountered a human before now, though. I wonder if something changed?” Lifa mused.

  “We’ll just have to find out,” Meg said. She was silent for a moment, staring at Lifa. “You said you’re an Earth-born fairy, right? I’m pretty sure magic isn’t normal here, so how…?”

  “Noticed that as well, did you?” Lifa said with a wink. “Yes, I am the same as Blue in that respect. I… technically should not exist.”

  “I’m glad you do,” Meg said. Admittedly, this was partly for less than altruistic reasons that had to do with the wonderful tea Lifa brewed.

  Their fairy’s cheeks glowed bright enough to illuminate the room. “Thank you kindly, Meg.”

  “While I’m here, Emilia, I have a friend who’d like to meet you soon, if you’re interested?” Meg added, laughing at the embarrassed yet happy expression on Lifa’s face.

  “I’d like to meet some new people, it’s been pretty lonely since I got here, but—” Emilia began.

  “She’s my best friend, you can trust her, I promise,” Meg said, hoping to put her at ease. “Though you might need to sit still for a while when you meet her.”

  Emilia stared at the fireplace opposite the sofa. Eventually she made a decision. “Well, if you’re sure? I’ve been trying to limit my contact with people from your world, it’s too easy to slip up and reveal more than I should. And Lifa gets annoyed when I do things without thinking.”

  With her cheeks glowing in minor embarrassment, Meg gave a discrete cough. “Ah, well I… um, I already told her all about what happened that morning you saved me. So uh… she already knows.”

  “Meg…”

  Lifa jumped up from the table to hover before them. “You have no reason to hesitate in that case, go say hello to Meg’s friend. As Blue previously remarked, you really should try and find some new friends. You’re only twenty, you should enjoy yourself when you can. And we need allies.”

  “I guess I can at least meet her once. I make no promises, though!” Emilia said, unsuccessfully attempting to hide her excitement at the potential for another new friend.

  With this decided, Meg stood and tugged Emilia along for the ride. “Great! I should probably tell you a bit about her first. She’s a lovely girl, but she’s also a bit unique.”

  Emilia raised an eyebrow. “Unique?”

  “How about we talk a bit more over a few drinks or something? It’s Sunday morning, we have the whole day ahead of us, right?”

  Lifa beamed. “Off you go, then. Just make sure to have her back before midnight, Meg.”

  “Lifa!” Emilia snapped. “Honestly, you’re not my mother.”

  Meg smiled and took Emilia’s hand. “I promise nothing! See you later, Lifa, Blue.” Exiting the mansion, she prepared to spend some quality time together with her first ever friend from another world.