Elara slammed the front door hard enough to rattle the walls.
"Where were you?" Her mother materialized from the sitting room, wringing her hands. "I was worried sick. Don't ever do that again."
Elara dropped her bag on the marble floor. "Don't show me that you're actually worried. If you were, you would have told me what happened to Zara. Where is she?"
Her mother's face went pale. "We've been through this. She ran away."
"Why? For what reason?" Elara's voice cracked. "You never tell me anything. Just 'she ran.' That's not an answer."
The front door opened behind them.
"Hey, kid." Morris Vale stepped inside, loosening his tie. His eyes were tired. "Where were you?"
Elara turned to face him. "I went to the Backside District. There's a bar there famous for drinks and food."
Morris froze. "You what?"
"We had a problem. Some locals tried to... anyway, someone helped us." She watched her father's face carefully. "A boy my age. He was fast, Dad. Really fast. He could transform his band into anything—guns, flying boards, cars. I asked him to train me, but he refused."
Morris's expression shifted. Just for a second, something flickered in his eyes. Recognition. Fear. Then it was gone.
"I'll look for him," he said quietly.
---
Three days later.
Elara gripped the steering wheel of her racing car, weaving through afternoon traffic. She wasn't looking for him. Not exactly. But her eyes kept scanning the sidewalks.
Then she saw him.
Kai was walking down a side street, carrying a heavy metal box, heading into a plain apartment building. Elara slammed the brakes, pulled over, and watched from a distance.
He didn't come out.
She waited. Hours passed. The sun began to set, painting the sky orange. Finally, the door opened. Kai walked out, alone, and turned toward a residential block.
Elara followed on foot, keeping her distance, until he disappeared into a building marked 512.
She waited another hour. Then she rang the bell.
The door opened. A woman stood there—kind eyes, graying hair, wearing a simple apron.
"Yes?"
Elara smiled her best innocent smile. "Um... I'm Kai's friend."
The woman's eyes went wide. Then she broke into a huge grin. "Oh! Oh, come in, come in! Please!"
"I don't want to intrude—"
"Nonsense! We're just about to have dinner. You must join us."
Before Elara could protest, she was pulled inside. The apartment was small but warm. A man sat at the table reading a tablet—Kai's father, she guessed, though he barely looked up. Two younger kids were setting plates.
"Kai!" his mother called up the stairs. "Come down for dinner! And hurry! You have a visitor!"
Footsteps thundered down the stairs. Kai appeared, wearing a fresh white t-shirt, his hair still wet from a shower. He saw Elara and stopped dead.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded.
His mother swatted his arm. "Don't be rude! How could you not tell us you have such a cute girlfriend? And you were being so rude to her! Did you two have a fight?"
"She's not my girlfriend," Kai said through gritted teeth. "I met her once. Now she's here. Uninvited."
Elara felt her face burn. "I'm sorry, Mrs... I'm sorry. I know him from the other night. I tried to be his friend. He ignored me."
Kai's mother turned to him with a look that could melt steel. "You ignored this sweet girl? Kai, I raised you better. She's lovely. I hope she'll be your future girlfriend."
"Mom!"
"Okay, okay, I'll stop." She raised her hands, laughing. "But first, dinner. Then you two can talk."
They ate in awkward silence. Kai didn't look at her once. His father kept staring at his tablet, though Elara noticed him glancing at her wristband occasionally.
Then the doorbell rang.
Kai's mother frowned. "Who could that be?"
She opened the door. Morris Vale stood there in his full Director's uniform, two security guards visible behind him on the street.
"Good evening," Morris said. "I'm here to pick up my daughter."
Elara's fork clattered against her plate. "Dad?"
Kai stood up so fast his chair tipped over. His face went white, then red. The band on his wrist hissed, metal plates unfolding, reshaping, growing into something massive and cylindrical—a high-tech missile launcher, glowing with blue energy.
"Kai!" his mother screamed, grabbing his arm. "Stop!"
"No, Mom." Kai's voice was shaking. "I'll kill him. After everything he did to us? What about Zara? He did that. Because of him, she left. I can't forget. I'll kill him now."
Morris stepped inside, alone, and closed the door behind him. He looked at the weapon pointed at his chest and didn't flinch.
"Okay," Morris said. "You can kill me. But hear me out first. It'll be important. If you don't, you'll regret it."
Kai's finger hovered over the trigger. The air hummed with tension.
"Talk," Kai spat. "Fast."
"I want you to train my daughter," Morris said.
Kai blinked. "What?"
"Elara keeps getting into danger. She refuses training from DRO masters or the academies. But she likes you. She trusts you." Morris took a breath. "And I have another job for you. One only you can do."
"After what you did to us?" Kai laughed bitterly. "You want favors? Not a chance."
Morris held up a hand. "If I told you where you can find Zara... would that change your mind?"
The missile launcher wavered. Kai's eyes went wide. "What?"
"I know where she is," Morris said quietly. "But first, you do these favors for me. Train Elara. Complete the mission. Then I'll tell you."
Kai stared at him for a long moment. The weapon dissolved back into a band. He walked to the door and opened it.
"Come tomorrow," he said to Elara, not looking at her father. "Eight a.m. I'll train you."
Elara jumped up, grinning. "Really? I'm so happy!"
"Don't be happy yet," Kai muttered. "You won't like it."
They left. Kai closed the door and leaned against it, breathing hard.
His mother rushed over. "What happened? What did he say?"
Kai looked at her, and for the first time in years, there was hope in his eyes. "Mom... Zara's alive. He knows where she is."
"Oh, thank God." She hugged him tight. "But... is it okay to train that girl?"
"She's hard-headed," Kai said softly. "But kind. Like her sister. It'll be okay."
---
The next morning at 8 a.m., Kai stepped out of his building and stopped.
Elara was there. So were Rose and Bati, sitting on the curb, drinking coffee.
Kai stared. "What is this? I said I'd train you." He pointed at Elara. "Just you."
Elara stood up, brushing off her pants. "They're my friends. You have to train them too."
"No."
"Please?"
Kai sighed. "Fine. Get in."
He transformed his band. A sleek black car formed in the street. They piled in—Elara in front, Rose and Bati in back.
They drove for an hour, leaving the city behind. The buildings turned to fields, then to forest. Finally, Kai stopped at the edge of a massive green valley.
"Get out," he said.
They climbed out. Kai walked ten feet away, and the car shimmered and vanished back into his wrist.
Elara, Rose, and Bati were standing on empty grass.
"Not again!" Elara yelled as they all hit the ground.
Kai didn't look back. "Follow me."
He led them across the field toward a massive tree standing alone at the valley's edge. Beyond it, the land dropped away into a deep chasm that cut through the earth like a scar. On one side was Alpha. On the other... nobody knew. Just mist and rumors.
"This is the back of Alpha," Kai said. "I'll train you here."They walked toward the tree. But fifty feet away, Kai stopped. There was a wooden post stuck in the ground, weathered and old.
"Stop here," he said. "Don't cross this line. Wait for me."
"Why?" Rose asked.
"Just do it."
Kai walked past the post, toward the tree. The morning sun was low behind him, stretching his shadow long across the grass.
Rose grabbed Elara's arm, her nails digging in. "Look," she whispered.
There were two shadows on the ground.
One was Kai—long legs, coat billowing, clearly human.
But next to it, overlapping it, was a second shadow. Bigger. With massive spread wings and a curved beak. An owl. The shape moved when Kai moved, perfectly synced, but it wasn't human. It was huge and predatory.
Elara's breath caught. She rubbed her eyes. When she looked again, Kai was sitting under the tree, his back to them, and the shadows had merged into one normal shape.
"Did you see that?" Bati whispered, her voice shaking.
"I saw two shadows," Rose said.
Elara stared at the ground where Kai had walked. The grass looked normal now. "It must be because of this place," she said, pointing at the wooden post. "The light here is strange. Or the ground..."
"Yeah," Rose agreed quickly. "Must be the place."
They stood in silence, watching Kai sit under the tree. He stayed there for five minutes, his hand touching the grass like he was patting something buried there.
Then he stood up and walked back toward them. As he crossed the wooden post again, Elara checked the ground.
Only one shadow now. Just a boy.
"Okay," Kai said. "Let's begin."