He knocked on the door before entering, something he hadn’t done for Jessie’s apartment or room in over three months by now. The two siblings were lying across each of their beds, facing each other in the middle. It was hard not to notice Sophie in just a short nightgown. Had she not dressed on purpose?

  “Hey,” Jessie said.

  “Hey, girls,” Erik said casually, closing the door behind him and sitting down next to Jessie. “What’s up?”

  “I’m telling her about Hosu,” Jessie explained.

  “I can’t believe elves are real! Jessie says she’s incredibly beautiful, is that true?” Sophie asked.

  “Definitely. As she arrived at Afterlife, neither of us could keep our eyes off her. Until she spoke, that is,” Erik explained.

  “Nasal voice?” Sophie asked, and Erik realised Jessie hadn’t talked about the limitations they first experienced before getting their Crests.

  “No, because she’s from another world or dimension or something, our brains couldn’t comprehend each other’s language. It just gave us a massive headache. When we got our Crests it was okay, though.”

  Sophie looked suspiciously at her older sister, and said, “You said you got together when Erik was getting his Crest, but he was the first of you,” she said matter-of-factly. “So even before then?”

  “Oh, she’s that hot,” Jessie said with a grin.

  “Those two were like bunnies even before they could communicate properly. When they were getting their own Crests, I had to separate them, as the pained groans of your sister caused massive extra pain for Hosu, and the other way around. Still, they wanted to be together even then. That’s when I knew they loved each other, probably before they even did,” Erik explained, looking at Jessie with her now rosy red cheeks and innocent smile.

  “That was only a couple of days, a week tops, after you got sick from your Crest, right?” Sophie asked, a new expression covering her face as she looked at Erik.

  “Yeah, less than a week after me, I think. Why?”

  “Nothing,” Sophie said, looking straight back at her older sister, who clenched her lips tightly together. “Just developed quite quickly, it sounds like.”

  “Speaking of developments, I’ve got something to take care of today regarding my new ability. I’d like to keep it a secret for now, if you don’t mind. Want to tell us about yours before I leave?” Jessie said, expertly changing the topic of conversation.

  Erik gave Jessie and Sophie the run-down of his new power, Authority. This power was an aura-power. Erik remembered Nana explaining that all living things had an aura of some sort, but as a Remnant, they could not just sense these auras, but even control it to some extent.

  Every Remnant would get a few key powers, but whether they would be major or minor would depend. One of these was the Aura power. Erik explained that he thought his aura went completely out of control when he absorbed the new power, as it likely changed and possibly even upgraded.

  The description of his ability was short, and didn’t say much, but he and Jessie knew they would be able to improve this ability as well. Sophie decided to write down Erik’s description of his new ability, as well as his Core ability in a little book she bought the previous day for just that purpose. Erik and Jessie thought it a good idea to keep their abilities written down if they wanted to fight together as a team.

  Erik also told them about his merging of his ‘sea’ and himself, and how that made the information about his powers available at all times, something like a file download rather than the preview they had used previously. Erik thought it was because it was now a part of his whole, rather than a separate entity.

  Jessie didn’t see her magic as a magical sphere like Erik did, but she thought the same could apply to her own manifestation. It was indeed separate from her own self when she meditated, but she hadn’t thought of merging them together like that.

  She had reached for it, and it would come to her. She decided to try the merge later that evening, when she had made a few preparations.

  “So that fear I felt, that dominance.. That was your aura? Authority and dominance can be very similar, I suppose,” Jessie said.

  “Yeah. I want to try to control it soon, but I want to do it under controlled circumstances, not in the middle of a hotel. I think even normal people should be able to sense it, if I focus it enough. I don’t want it to run rampant and cause what happened to you yesterday accidentally,” Erik explained.

  “Accidentally?” Sophie asked.

  “I’d like to be able to do it purposefully and targeted, yes,” he answered her worried question.

  “Oh. Yeah, I suppose.”

  “I don’t want to feel anything like that again, but it’s a weapon we can use to drive the invasion into the ground. We should definitely be able to use it, so long as it's safe,” Jessie said in agreement.

  Erik:

  Core Ability

  Name: Unexpected Arsenal

  Tier: Iron

  Type: N/A

  Cost: Variable

  Effect - Iron:

  Manifest spiritual power in objects around you. Items used can have varying effects.

  Applicable items limited by mass, volume, density, quality of materials, spiritual bond, spiritual power and more.

  Major Ability

  Name: Authority

  Tier: Iron | Rank: 0 | Willpower

  Type: Aura, Control, Will

  Cost: N/A

  Effect - Iron:

  Improved Aura, Aura sense and Aura control. Aura effect changed to Authority.

  Jessie:

  Core Ability (Note: partial information)

  Name: Call of Nature

  Tier: Iron

  Type: Spell? Fire, Water, Earth, Wind.

  Effect - Iron:

  Allows user to hear what nature has to say? Neat.

  Gives access to four spells of separate elements;

  Fire: Inferno (temporary name). Massive burst of fire at target location. Range: Dunno. Careful, hot!

  Water: Gentle Stream (temporary name). Cold and soothing stream of water. Range: Touch. (We think it heals? Have to check)

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Wind: Gentle Breeze (obviously temporary, see Water). Same as Water spell? Think it does have a different effect, nothing noticeable. Range: No clue.

  Earth: Boom Spike (I want this name!). The earth gets upset at the target location, stabbing whatever stands on it. After stabbage, spikes blow up, causing damage in a larger area. Range: Keep away!

  Note: Each spell has its own cooldown of about thirty seconds.

  Major Ability

  Name: Undisclosed

  Tier: Iron | Rank: 0

  Effect - Iron:

  Super secret!

  This archive is under the administration of the lovely Sophie Callum xx

  Erik and Jessie had discussed this with Hosu in Afterlife after learning of the various tiers and ranks their abilities would have. It would be something they instinctively knew themselves, at least after merging with their magic as Erik had just found out about.

  They had agreed on keeping a common name for these tiers rather than simply numbering them, which is why the tier was now iron instead of zero. Ranks, on the other hand, would rise more often as there were ten of them within a single tier, which meant they wanted the simplicity of numbers when considering ranks.

  Jessie left shortly after Sophie had jotted down what she could gather from meditating on her Core ability. As she closed the door behind her, the tension in the room immediately shot up. Sophie placed the book and pencil into her bag and looked at Erik. She hadn’t acted weird when her sister was here, but now she suddenly seemed a bit upset. She didn’t smile the way Erik was getting used to.

  “So, I thought maybe you and I could hang out today, like I said last night. You in?” Erik said, trying to break the ice.

  “I thought maybe I should relax a bit. Maybe later? I was up late last night watching a movie on the TV,” she answered, changing position on the bed. She placed her head on her pillow instead of crossing the bed. Her nightgown was black and lacy, and barely reached her thighs in length. It was low cut, the girl’s pink bra showing.

  “Oh. Okay. I guess I’ll have to wander around town aimlessly, all alone… probably get lost,” Erik said with hopeful eyes as he slowly retreated backwards towards the door. Sophie smiled the usual way.

  “You’re horrible! Fine, I’ll come with you. Have you had breakfast yet? They’re serving until ten,” she said, shooting up from the bed.

  “No. Want to eat with me?”

  “Of course. Give me five minutes and meet me downstairs?” she said, entering the bathroom. She didn’t close the door behind her, and Erik could see her as she lifted the free-flowing dress up above her head.

  “Of course, see you there,” he said, exiting the room.

  He knew what she was doing, but he had to be more mature about this. He couldn’t let her tempt him so easily. If he did, he’d be just like her previous boyfriends, who weren’t the best people according to her sister.

  He hadn’t decided whether to pursue her or not, but he did at least have to be better than them if he wanted their relationship to evolve. If he wanted a relationship, it would be a mature one, not some youthful fling doomed to fail after a few months. Right now, Sophie was acting like that was what she wanted, and based on the last few months of her life, he couldn’t blame her for that.

  Erik went down to the eating area in the hotel. There was only one other guest there at that time, and the amount of food was nothing to write home about. Erik figured the staff had been downsized some time after the invasion, and this was what most hotels were like by now.

  Erik took a bowl and filled it with thawed berries, vanilla yoghurt and some muesli, followed by a glass of milk. He sat down at a small table with two chairs, then waited for Sophie.

  Twenty minutes later, the girl approached him, wearing a pink sundress and a yellow jacket. She wore the same pink hairband she had when the two first met outside Jessie’s apartment. She picked out a few pieces of bread, some grapes and cheese, then joined him across the table.

  “You look really nice,” Erik said as she sat down.

  “Thanks!”

  “What, nothing in return?” Erik joked, and laughed as Sophie threw a halved green grape at him.

  After breakfast, the two left the hotel together to see the sights of Leicester. Honestly, it wasn’t much, and most of their time was spent in a mall. Erik needed some new clothes, and with the UBAF covering the bill, he didn’t hesitate even a little bit.

  Sophie enjoyed helping him pick out some clothes, meaning she decided what he should buy. He felt alright wearing his current clothes for the rest of the day, so all the new stuff went into bags.

  At one point, Erik wanted something to drink, so he split up from Sophie to get a soda from a vending machine nearby. As he returned a minute later, he saw Sophie sharing heated words with another man about her age.

  He was young, had a buzzcut and wore a way too large hoodie. His jeans were loose, barely hanging on to the rest of him. The guy grinned at the shorter girl and moved closer to her, bringing his arms around her waist. She attempted to push him away, but he clearly overpowered her. She slapped him on the chest, but his thick hoodie clearly stopped most of the force.

  “Come on, We’ve had a long break. I want you back now, babe,” the guy said, grabbing Sophie tighter and pulling her close. She turned her head as far away as she could from him, ending up in an unwilling hug with the man.

  “Stop! We’re done, you ass! You made sure of that when you dumped me for mourning my sister,” Sophie said, grossed out at the man’s actions and closeness.

  “No, babe, I just wanted to give you some space. Let’s go out tonight, I’ll show you how much I missed you.”

  “Please, you were just sick of not getting anything, so you swapped me out with Stacey. It’s a small city, jerk!” Sophie complained, finally managing to push the man away from her.

  As she did, Erik stepped between them, looking the slightly taller guy in the eyes. He wasn’t alone, as two guys had been standing around behind him, talking and looking at them. As Erik intervened, the two other guys took a step forward.

  “Excuse you, what do you want? I’m talking with my girl here,” he said, looking Erik up and down, not impressed by the looks of it.

  “She isn’t interested. She told you to stop,” Erik said in a calm voice.

  “Just get away from me, Brad. And stay away," Sophie interjected.

  “You and me gonna have a problem?” Brad asked, sticking his face closer to Erik in an attempt at scaring him. It didn’t work, much to Brad’s dismay.

  “Not so long as you leave Sophie alone.”

  “This your new guy, babe? Doesn’t look much. Guess you couldn’t get any better,” Brad laughed, and so did his two friends. “Never seen you before. You don’t look like you’re from here. Maybe he’s just your cousin, right babe? Tell him to get out of my face, and we’ll get out of here. He’ll find his way home.”

  “Please just leave, Brad!” Sophie exclaimed, her voice cracking up and a tear falling from her left eye.

  Erik looked at her briefly, noticing the pain in her voice. He also noticed that they had gathered quite a few onlookers. He didn’t want to start a fight in public.

  “Leave. Now,” Erik said, not bothering to keep a calm demeanour anymore.

  Guys like this shouldn’t exist. He briefly considered how Sophie could have been this guy’s girlfriend. How much of a thing had she had for rotten boys?

  “No, I want her back. If you want to stop me, go ahead and try,” Brad said, pushing Erik with both hands against his chest. Surprisingly, Erik didn’t even budge.

  “Leave.”

  Brad shot back with a scream and wide eyes, bumping into one of his friends. The friend fell backwards onto the floor, but Brad managed to keep standing. It was barely though, as his legs were visibly shaking. He breathed heavily, worrying his second friend, who looked back and forth between the new guy and his friend.

  Brad started retreating backwards, barely keeping himself from stumbling until he tripped on his fallen friend, hitting the ground shortly after. The second friend helped Brad up, then his other friend, and the three left hurriedly after that.

  Erik didn’t turn from them before they were well away and out of sight, then turned to see the people around them. Most were pretending nothing had happened, and the rest nodded his way. Everyone had seen him not doing anything other than stand in their way.

  He turned to Sophie, who was crying silently behind him. He hugged her tightly, one hand around her shoulder and on her back, the other on the back of her head, holding her close to him. Neither of them spoke for the next minute or so, and eventually no one watched them anymore.

  “Thank you,” she said into his chest with a torn voice.

  “Let’s get out of here, okay?” Erik asked, and Sophie nodded her head up and down before he let her go, seeing her red and puffy eyes. She had makeup smeared across her face, which Erik tried wiping away. It only made it worse, however.

  “I must look horrible, Give me a minute,” she said, and headed towards the bathroom, wiping away tears on the way.