“Ew! Ew—EW!” I kicked and twisted, trying to find leverage, but Maribelle’s big, plump ass was still firmly pnted on top of me. Dammit! I’m being overpowered by a fucking bakery!

  “Get them out! Maribelle, get them out!”

  The gross little strings kept wriggling under my skin. Not metaphorically—literally sliding between my ribs like they were worms burrowing for a home.

  “Breathe,” Maribelle commanded, ignoring my filing.

  Breathe? I’ll breathe when you stop knitting a sweater inside my ribcage!

  “I’m gonna tell Sister if you don’t let me go!” I filed harder, hitting nothing but air.

  I tried to struggle some more, but all it did was make the threads holding me tighter.

  “Let me go or—or I’ll never forgive you!” I screeched. My threats were useless. My limbs were tied. I had exactly one weapon left in my arsenal. I snapped at the closest thing I could reach.

  Chomp.

  I gave her hand one good nibble with everything I had.

  “Ow!” Maribelle yelped, jerking her hand back. She stared at the teeth marks on her glove, then down at me with pure disbelief.

  “Did you just bite me?”

  Serves you right.

  “Grrrr!” I growled, baring my teeth.

  “Dammit, Luna, calm down.” She gently pressed a palm to my forehead. “I’m not hurting you.”

  Which was a lie.

  The crimson threads in one of her hands retracted, slithering back into her fingertips as the bright red glow shifted toward a single finger.

  Then she flicked.

  “Ack!”

  My head snapped back, smacking the stone floor. The pain that Maribelle had seemingly fixed came rushing back. Panic morphed to pure anger.

  “That fucking hurt! You’re hurting me!”

  “Oh, don’t be so dramatic, sweetie,” Maribelle said, rolling her eyes as she shook the hand I’d bitten.

  “You flicked me! I’m a patient!” I cried, still tied up and floundering on the floor.

  “You’re a biter,” she corrected, rocking back on her heels and standing up off me. “And if you bite me again, I’ll punish you. Are we calm?”

  I gred at her, rubbing my forehead. “Maybe...”

  “Good enough.”

  The glowing crimson threads wrapping my wrists and ankles dissolved into motes of mana, freeing my limbs. But the cold, slithering sensation deep inside my chest remained—she hadn’t withdrawn the diagnostic weave. She was still hooked into me.

  She worked in silence, only occasionally humming as she mapped out every inch inside my body. I id there, staring up at the ceiling, trying to ignore the sensation of Aura slithering through my ribs, counting the minutes until I could finally breathe again.

  Ugh, this is so gross. I’m never letting her do this again. She just caught me off guard this time. Yeah. Never again. Never.

  “There! All done.” The st of her Aura fibers withdrew from my chest, leaving behind a nauseatingly empty feeling.

  She stood up, patted down her b coat, and offered me a hand.

  “Hehe.” She fshed that wicked grin. “I’ve missed this.”

  “Missed what?” I asked, suspicious.

  “Messing with my cute niece, of course!” She ruffled my hair before I could dodge.

  I smacked her hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

  This woman is too much. I can’t deal with this. She’s scary one minute and sweet the next. A bipor demon. Gods, Felix really is a saint. Big sister... thank you for protecting me from her for as long as you have.

  “Awww. That really hurts my feelings, Luna,” she chirped, turning on her heel. Her expression shifted from teasing to serious. “Now, stop pouting and come here. I want to show you something.”

  She walked to a nearby table, grabbed a quill, and started rapidly sketching on a fresh sheet of parchment.

  Curiosity got the better of me. I walked up and peered over her shoulder, still rubbing at my forehead where she’d flicked me.

  She was drawing an outline of a person with two circles in the chest area. One was neat, structured, with lines flowing out to the limbs. The other was a dense, scribbled knot of lines.

  “This,” she said, tapping the drawing, “is you.”

  “You suck at drawing.”

  She rolled her eyes and reached toward my face.

  I ducked, weaving under her hands with a grin. “Hah! Missed me!”

  Her hands blurred, changing direction with a speed I couldn’t track. Before I could reset my stance, she grabbed my face and pnted a loud, wet kiss right on the center of my forehead.

  “Ew!” I drew back, scrubbing at my forehead with my sleeve. “Gross! Don’t do that! I’m not a kid!”

  “Could have fooled me,” she teased, her voice losing its sharp edge. “And I think I captured your likeness perfectly. A little messy. A little chaotic. But undeniably you.”

  I gred at her, face burning, but the fight had drained out of me. It’s hard to be intimidating when you’re wiping cooties off your face. Dealing with her is so exhausting; I can’t predict her. I can’t beat her. Stupid, sleepy face, yet she’s so strong. I’m not even sure my cuteness pns could even work on her.

  She offered a soft smile, then guided my gaze back to the paper.

  “Now. As you can see, I drew your cores.” She traced around the detail with her fingers. “One of them is the typical Aura Core. You’ve got a lot of density for stage four. More than even myself at stage five.”

  More than a Core stage? Huh. I’m not compining, I suppose.

  “But, here is the issue, Luna. The other Core. It’s not Aura.”

  I leaned closer to the sketch. “What’s that mean? Not Aura?”

  “Yes. Not Aura. It’s Magic.”

  “Magic?!” I jerked back, staring at her like she’d lost her mind. “Big sis, stop fucking with me. It can’t be Magic, I’ve never used it. I’m a warrior.”

  “I’m not joking,” she replied in a serious tone. “The density is different. The resonance is static. That is a dormant Magic Core.”

  Magic?

  I recalled the VIP room. To the terrified Elira. To the massive man whose golden stare seemed to peer right through to my soul.

  Has anyone ever tested your aptitude for Magic?

  I’d almost completely forgotten. Everything I’ve been doing—trying to control my cores, the isotion practice—it was all leading to this. I wanted to use magic. But... that question, I assumed he noticed my two cores, but... did he really notice more? That I had a Magic Core with just his gaze? No way. He just guessed.

  “Um...” I nervously swallowed. “Duke Lucian asked me if I could use Magic yesterday.”

  “Excuse me?” Maribelle’s head snapped up, her eyes narrowing behind her gsses. “Who asked what?”

  “The Duke. At the tournament. He asked me about Magic.”

  Maribelle swore under her breath, pushing her gsses up her nose. “And what did you say?”

  “I said I’d never used it.”

  “Good. Don’t talk about it with anyone but myself and Elira.” She turned back to the drawing, aggressively tapping the second Core. “Luna, listen to me. “Aura and Magic both draw from mana, but that’s where the simirity ends,” she said, tapping the first core. “Aura travels through meridians—into your muscles, bones, skin. It strengthens the body.”

  She drew a line from the Magic Core to the rest of the body, then crossed it out.

  “When you tried to manipute your Magic Core’s energy into your Aura pathways, you caused an unstable mana reaction. You’re lucky you didn’t detonate yourself into red mist.”

  “But I didn’t,” I whispered, rubbing my chest, remembering the feeling. “I’m still here.”

  “Yes. You are.” Maribelle sighed, leaning back against the table and crossing her arms. “You survived an impossibility because you are an impossibility, Luna. Two cores in one body. Which brings me to your mother.”

  “Elira?”

  “I told her,” Maribelle muttered, frustration leaking into her voice. “Years ago. When you were still little. When we first discovered the anomaly inside you. The two cores. I begged her to let me use my aspect on you.”

  “And?”

  “I think you already know how she reacted,” Maribelle sighed. “She was so terrified of you being abnormal that she shut me down completely. She refused to let me look deeper. If she had... we might have found this sooner.”

  “So... can I use Magic or not?”

  “You shouldn’t be able to... at least, not yet,” she corrected and leaned in closer, her expression morphing from concern to scientific bewilderment.

  “Magic flows through Magic Circuits then out into the world. To use Magic, you need those circuits, which are usually developed over years of practice and study, unlike Aura, which flows through naturally. Are you positive Elira has never had you use any Magic?”

  “I haven’t! Elira only taught me sword stuff!”

  “Then why,” she whispered, tapping my chest, “do I see a fully formed, dormant web of Magic Circuits sitting inside you?”

  “I... I have circuits?” I asked, tilting my head.

  “Not only do you have them, they’re unnaturally perfect,” she murmured. “It makes no sense. Like finding a fully furnished mansion that’s never been lived in.”

  “I can use Magic?!” I asked, bouncing on my feet.

  “Yes, I believe so. Wait here for a second.” Maribelle turned and headed for a spiral staircase at the edge of the room. She whipped back and gred at me. “Stay put. Don’t touch anything.” Then she disappeared up the stairs, leaving me alone in silence.

  Magic.

  I stared down at my palms.

  I’ve spent my whole life being a warrior. I’m really strong, and obviously really talented, sure, but Magic is different. Mages are the smart ones. I’m smart. It’s a perfect match. If I can use Magic and Aura together, nobody will ever be able to beat me. I’ll be the richest, most important person ever.

  The next few minutes were spent going over all of the possibilities that raced through my mind.

  “Hehe... hehehehehe”

  “What are you giggling about?” Maribelle called out from the top of the steps.

  “I’m not...”

  She descended, holding an old, crusty scroll. “Here,” she said, spping it onto the table in front of me.

  There was a Magic circle sketched across the parchment. Only a handful of runes dotted the outer ring, so simple I couldn’t even guess what the spell was supposed to do.

  “A [Light] spell?” I asked, underwhelmed. “That’s it? I want to blow something up.”

  “You already blew something up today,” she reminded me, tapping the paper. “This is a Stage 1 primer. It requires the absolute minimum amount of mana. If you can power this without any issues, we’ll talk about something bigger.”

  She stepped back, crossing her arms. “Go on. Try it.”

  “I don’t know how,” I admitted. “I told you. I’ve never done Magic.”

  I stared at it. Nothing happened.

  “...Luna,” she sighed, dragging a hand down her face. “Pour mana into the circle.”

  “Oh.”

  Okay. Push mana. Easy.

  I took a breath and fred my Aura.

  A small gust of wind erupted around me, scattering Maribelle’s papers and rattling the gss cabinets. The scroll fluttered in my hands, completely unlit. The runes didn’t even flicker.

  “Stop,” Maribelle said, shielding her eyes from the dust. “That’s—your Aura. You’re such an airhead, stop thinking with your muscles.”

  “I can’t help it! I don’t know how to use Magic!” I cried, throwing my hands up.

  “You said you could control them independently, correct?”

  “Nuh uh. Only one of them listens to me.” I said, jabbing a finger at my chest. “It never listens. I’ve never used it before.”

  “Right,” she hummed, already scheming. “Then we’ll force the issue. It doesn’t listen because there’s so much Aura,” she murmured. Her eyes gleamed behind her gsses. “So... we just need to silence the Aura.”

  The heavy pressure of Maribelle’s Aura filled the room again. The crimson glow returned to her fingertips. She wanted to stick those Aura strings into my body again. Recalling the sensation of them inside me made my spine shiver.

  “No Maribelle... I’m not kidding.” I backed away. “You’re not doing that again.”

  “It’s the only way, dear,” she said, stepping closer, the threads of [The Loom] writhing like snakes. “I need to physically restrict your Aura Core. I’m going to block off your meridians so you can’t draw from it. You’ll have no choice but to use the other source.”

  Before I could protest, the crimson threads shot from her fingertips and burrowed into my torso.

  “Uuuugh!” I recoiled, arms tensing as the fibers slithered through me once again. “Warn me next time!” I shuddered as I felt them wrap tight around my Aura Core.

  She pulled. I gasped. It felt like my lungs had suddenly shrunk. The heat, the strength, the physical power I always felt... it was gone. Choked off.

  “Alright—your Aura Core’s sealed. Try it.”

  Easy for you to say. You aren’t the one being strangled from the inside out.

  I looked down at the scroll. I reached for my mana, but the usual river was dammed. I pushed harder. With my aura tied up, the energy inside my other core felt... heavy. Thick.

  I focused.

  I can’t... I can’t feel it.

  No... There’s something.

  I grabbed it. It felt sluggish.

  Move. Move!

  I squeezed my eyes shut and shoved.

  My body locked up, a searing heat ripped through my chest, cwing its way through me.

  A warm streak slid down my upper lip.

  Then another down my cheek.

  My eyes snapped open, but my vision was a red blur. I tried to inhale, but I choked on blood.

  “M-Mari—stop! It hurts! It hurts!” I sobbed, the words bubbled the fluid filling my mouth. Tears streamed down my face, mixing with the blood leaking from my eyes.

  My knees buckled. My breath hitched into gasps as I doubled over, spshing blood and dying the scroll red.

  “Luna—look at me,” Maribelle snapped, grabbing my shoulders. I felt her strings surge deeper, stabilizing, anchoring. “It’s backsh. Your circuits are waking up too fast. Just breathe.”

  “I c-can’t!” I screamed, choking as my body seized. “Please—let—me go... I’m—dying...”

  But even as I begged and wailed, the Magic I’d forced awake surged to the surface. I didn’t want to push anymore. I wanted it to end. But the pressure in my chest was now building against my will, a balloon ready to burst.

  My ears popped, and warm liquid ran down my neck. The pressing pain behind my eyes was unbearable. I struggled for breath between swallows of blood.

  Then, a sudden, relieving jolt ran through my body. The resistance vanished and...

  A pinprick of light burst to life above the scroll.

  A tiny, trembling star.