Neptune trudges down a dirt path. Wind in his coat. Face behind a mask.

  Brimstone trots next to him. Hair dancing and bracelets clanging. She grabs his arm. "Slow down! What's the rush?"

  He stops and she catches her breath.

  Brimstone groans. "What're we doing out here anyway?"

  Neptune continues marching. "We're searching for the amulet."

  Brimstone pants. "Amulet? What does it do?"

  He pauses. "I... I don't actually know... But we need it." His legs move faster.

  Brimstone jogs beside him. "What does it look like?"

  Neptune murmurs. "I don't know."

  She stops. "Why are we searching for something that we haven't seen before?"

  Neptune looks back. "Because it's an order."

  Brimstone tilts her head. "Neptune?"

  He sighs. "It might help us understand why he's gone."

  She flinches. "We're looking for answers?" She hugs her arms, then crouches. "Nebula made it seem like... Do we know how it happened?"

  Neptune kneels. "It was a long time ago... I wasn't there. If I had been... The amulet holds a piece of the truth."

  Brimstone shakes. "Why weren't you there? Why weren't you with Theodore? You were—"

  A man shuffles past them, then turns and eyes Brimstone. "Are you all right?"

  She nods. "Fine, thanks!"

  The man eyes them. Neptune glares at him, then stands. The man tilts his head. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

  Neptune shakes his head.

  The man taps his mask. "I've seen you somewhere... Were you in Crow's Feet?"

  Neptune nods.

  The man laughs. "Thought so! Nice to see you again!" He bows, then walks away.

  Brimstone sighs. "Who was that?"

  Neptune shrugs. "Don't know."

  Chuboki clicks his radio. "You there?"

  Static buzzes.

  He huffs. "One click if you're listening."

  The radio chirps.

  Chuboki walks down a dirt path. "I've made it to the place. I'll get back to you soon."

  Static. Click...

  He pockets the radio and climbs a hill. To the left is a mountain and on the right is a small settlement. He heads towards it. Children play in a field. Adults talk amongst themselves.

  A man with blue markings on his body raises a hand. "Who are you?"

  Chuboki bows. "I've come from far away to find a healer."

  An old woman whispers to him. The man scans Chuboki. "The healer isn't here."

  Chuboki looks around. "When will she return?"

  They whisper to one another. The man shakes his head. "We haven't seen her in over a hundred years."

  Chuboki sighs. "Do you have any water?"

  The man nods and motions. Chuboki settles next to a group of woman who whisper and giggle at him. The children reach for his bag. The man scares them off and hands Chuboki a pouch. "Sorry about them! They forget their manners."

  Chuboki shrugs and tosses his bag to them. "They can have a look."

  The children dig through his bag and pull out his meals, clothes, and gear.

  The man squats. "You're from the middle east."

  Chuboki nods.

  The man tilts his head. "What do you need the healer for?"

  Chuboki sips from the pouch, then wipes his chin. "My friend needs her help."

  The man raises a brow. "And you came all this way by yourself?"

  Chuboki nods.

  The man draws in the sand. "Our healer goes where she's needed."

  Chuboki sighs.

  An older woman wheezes. "Let me have a look at him."

  One of the women grabs her hand. "Mother, are you sure?"

  The older woman nods. "I want to see his face."

  The man motions for Chuboki to go.

  Chuboki moves closer and kneels. The older woman reaches out to touch his face. "Oh... I see... You've been marked."

  Chuboki swallows. "Marked?"

  She hums. "Many were taken from us and when they returned they wore the mark." She looks to the man. "Bring the key."

  Chuboki touches his cheek.

  The man snarls. "Mother, are you sure about this? He could be one of them!"

  She nods. "Eryn, listen to his heart."

  Eryn looks at Chuboki, then places his ear to Chuboki's chest. He tenses. "Your heart is pure, but...its tired."

  Chuboki steps back.

  Eryn bows. "Allow me to retrieve it for you." He goes to some rocks nearby and digs in the ground. He brings back a wax-sealed box. Eryn hands the box to the older woman. She strikes the top and the wax breaks. She opens it and unwraps a necklace.

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  Chuboki winces and rubs his eyes.

  The older woman offers it to him. "Put this on."

  Chuboki's hands tremble. He reaches out and feels his throat close. "I..." He grasps the necklace, then the feeling fades. "The energy is...strange."

  She nods. "Put it on."

  Chuboki puts it around his neck. He gasps... A white field of flowers... A woman with long black hair and pale eyes stands across from him. He stares. "Hello?"

  She jolts. "Who are you?"

  He rubs the blue stone hanging on the necklace. "I'm Chuboki. I put this necklace on and..."

  She approaches. "My people trust you." She paces around him. "I see... You're cursed."

  Chuboki shifts. "Can you remove it?"

  Her robes drag across the flowers. "I can, but first... Tell me what you seek."

  He straightens. "There's someone who needs your help. He's badly injured. Won't wake up."

  She runs her fingers over his shoulders. "Yes, I see him. You're a friend of Zachariah. Where is he?"

  Chuboki's eyes follow her. "I can take you to him."

  She holds his chin. "Bring the amulet to him, then I'll..." She turns. A hole opens across the field. Two figures approach the settlement. "You must leave without being caught. Hurry!"

  Eryn grabs his arm. "What did you see?"

  Chuboki glances around. "She said to leave without being caught."

  Children call. "Strangers! Strangers are coming!"

  The older woman groans. "Go now!"

  Eryn rallies the people. A woman takes Chuboki's hand. "Don't hold your breath!" Chuboki opens his mouth, then they bend through reality.

  He grips his stomach. "What was that?"

  The woman pushes him down a dirt path. "Go!"

  Neptune eyes the people. Brimstone tilts her head. Eryn beats his chest. "You are not welcome here! Go away!"

  Neptune grunts. "Want me to...?"

  Brimstone shakes her head. "No need. What we seek is already gone."

  Neptune breathes through his teeth. "Where is the amulet?"

  Eryn takes a defensive stance. "Our relic does not belong to your master."

  Brimstone pats Neptune's shoulder and steps forward. "Is that so?"

  Rorno held a dagger to my throat. "I'm not telling you again!" Her pale eyes glared. "Leave me alone!"

  I stared. "What did I do to you?"

  Rorno shuddered. "You..." Nostrils flared. "You don't..." Tears formed.

  I swallowed. My throat pressed into the blade. "Tell me what I did."

  She stabbed the ground and dragged her blade. "When I was a child... A man named Theodore came to my village... And he ate everyone!"

  I jolted. "Am I Theodore?"

  Rorno stood. "I don't know." Her black hair swayed at her waist. "I never saw his face." She holsters the dagger. "But when I look at you... The smell... The energy... It reminds me of him."

  I sat up. "How do I make things right?"

  Her robes drag. "You can't." She sighef. "Your head is too empty. You don't know what's been done." Rorno returned to the shade. "I don't know if I'll ever forgive what's happened... Maybe it's better if I teach you to avoid a repeat of the past."

  And she taught me everything she knew...

  "Close your eyes and think of my people. They showed you kindness when they could have turned you away. That's what you'll need to draw from when you heal."

  I do as she says.

  "Their kindness is a thread. Woven into the fabric of your being. To access and use it, you must extend it to others."

  She had me wash her feet. I wasn't sure if it would work, but my chores didn't stop there. For 10 years, I served Rorno as an aide. Bathed her. Dried her. Washed her clothes.

  She took me to a village. An old woman. Black eyes. Black tongue. Black limbs.

  Rorno motioned for me to come closer. "Do you smell it?"

  I sniffed. The scent clung to my nostrils. "It's sour."

  She nodded. "There's a curse on her body. I want you to remove it."

  I shifted. "Me?"

  Rorno growled. "You will do this. Remember what I taught you. You're not forcing her to heal. You're bathing her body, folding the curse, and expelling it."

  I closed my eyes and imagined myself washing Rorno's robes.

  She placed her hands over mine. "Feel where it's strongest." Our hands moved over the woman's body. We passed her pelvis.

  My hands burned. "There!"

  Rorno hummed. "Her uterus."

  I shivered. "Was it from childbirth?"

  Rorno shrugged. "Doesn't matter." She removed her hands. "Now that you've found it, you can begin moving the energy."

  My hands trembled. "Where do I..."

  "Move it through her urinary tract. Think of yourself with a full bladder and having to hold until it hurts. Help her squeeze it out."

  This curse was like a stain. Sticky and dark. When I felt it in my body, my limbs locked up and my nose bled. My bladder stung. I breathed through the pain and pushed.

  Rorno snapped. "Don't force it! You'll tear up her insides!"

  I shifted and pinched the energy. It dribbled from her bladder. My thighs became wet. I pulled it thread by thread. The energy wrapped around my hands. My urine burned the more I released.

  Rorno scoffed. "You're doing it!"

  I did... I removed the curse... It came out as black urine from the woman and myself. Her limbs regained movement. Color returned.

  Petals... Serpents... An island... She slaps my cheek. "And look where that got you!"

  A mirror drifts above. She has no reflection. It's just me...alone.

  She toys with my hair. "When you resurrected the child, were you really trying to save him?"

  Of course I was! But maybe my intentions were selfish. It felt more like a challenge than resurrection. I didn't do it because I was being kind. I did it because I could.

  She snickers. "More of that meandering!"

  It's what I'm best at.

  Melody hangs by her wrists. Dried blood on her arms. Fingernails gone. Chunks of hair missing.

  Zuna grabs her jaw. "You ain't dead, are you?"

  She stares into his silver eyes.

  He moves to a metal table and sorts his instruments. "Neptune told me he struggled with you." He picks up a scalpel. "The issue isn't that you were raised by Zachariah." He sets it down. "It's that you suffer for him."

  The chains rattle. Fire spews from Melody's mouth. Zuna strikes her in the face with a hammer. Pink blood drips from her wound.

  Zuna bounces on his toes. "Perfect! You're ready for phase 2!" He rushes to the door and four guards enter.

  They drag her down a blood-covered hallway. Prisoners weep inside their cells. They approach a set of doors and enter a sterile pink corridor. Melody glances at the many doors and hallways. They push through another set of doors and enter an operating room.

  The guards strap Melody to an examination table. She strains. “What are you doing?” And wriggles. “Let me go!”

  A man and woman approach her. Surgical masks press against their face and pink scrubs cling to their bodies. The woman has kind eyes. "Good morning, Ms. Ulsam."

  Melody shakes. “Who are you?”

  Nurses wheel a tray of instruments next to her.

  Melody swallows. “How do you know my name?”

  The man pulls on a pair of gloves. “Because we operated on your brother!"

  Melody flexes against the restraints. “What are you going to do to me?” She looks into the black eyes of a nurse. “Are you going to make me like them?”

  The woman inspects the instruments. “Like them?” She glances at the nurses. “Oh no!" She leans. "With a mind like yours, we can do much more!"

  Melody jerks. “What does that mean?"

  The man pats Melody’s head. "You're very special to us!"

  The woman holds a scalpel. "You have a rare set of genes."

  Melody screams and thrashes.

  The woman laughs. “You’d be surprised how many patients are afraid at first, but don’t worry—we'er experts!"

  Melody's wings erupt. Flames broil beneath her and lasers shoot from her eyes. The man holds her head still. “What a magnificent creature!”

  A nurse injects something into Melody's arm causing her wings to go limp. Smoke pours from the table. Her eyes burn.

  Footsteps echo... Marching closer... A woman bursts into the room. Pink lab coat dripping with blood. White hair braided behind her back. Melody could sense it... This is Nebula...

  The woman sets the scalpel on the tray. “Your majesty, what do we owe this pleasure?”

  Nebula drops the blood-soaked coat on the floor. “Spare me the formalities, Laurel. I'm here for this one.”

  The couple looks at one another. The man breathes through his mask. “We haven’t started operating yet, but we followed orders from Master Scythe to not give her a second dose.”

  Nebula rolls her eyes. “Leave us.” The staff stares. “NOW!” They scurry off. Nebula huffs. “You’d think after years of working for you, they'd learn to listen the first time."

  Melody trembles. "I'll never talk!"

  Nebula grins. "I know you've heard a lot about me." She snorts. "Or should I say, the lies about me."

  Melody flexes. "You're a cold-hearted monster!"

  Nebula snickers. "As cruel as they come!" She wipes the sweat from Melody's cheek, then rests against the table. "Swear your loyalty to me and I won't go near Zachariah."

  Melody spits. "No deal!"

  Nebula tilts her head. "Swear your loyalty to me and I won't kill you."

  Melody thrashes. "Never!"

  Nebula sighs. "You're set on making this difficult." She smirks. "Have it your way, mole rat." She loosens the restraints and steps back. "Take your best shot!"

  Melody snatches the scalpel and stabs... Metal bends against Nebula's chest. Melody punches Nebula in the jaw, then cries out and clutches her wrist.

  Nebula raises a brow. "You done yet?"

  Melody bolts for the door.

  Nebula laughs. "You won't get very far!"

  Melody turns down endless hallways. Doors open into the operating room where Nebula taps the table. Vents lead nowhere. Melody leans against a wall. "Concentrate..." She shuts her eyes. "Remember what he taught you..."

  A small round disk floats in front of Nebula. She puffs on a cigarette. "What're you doing?" She flicks ashes onto the instruments.

  Melody opens her eyes. A metal door with rusty vines sits in the middle of the hallway. She gulps and walks around it. “Where does this lead?”

  Nebula puffs. "You carry a piece of his soul. Interesting!"

  Melody touches the handle and a thorn cuts her wrist. The door opens into darkness. Melody covers her wound, then steps inside.