Where magic is hiding

The ‘first aid tent’ was more a covered set of hammocks off to the side of the festival, but it would serve.  One of the helpers running it was even nice enough to bring in shaved ice for all three of them.  Helena wouldn’t have been able to splurge on that.

She was helping Camila bend her arm so the jiang-shi could eat, when the demon stirred.  The woman’s bat wings twitched a few times, and she groaned in pain.  But the cut didn’t seem to reopen.  After a moment the woman’s eyes opened and she looked around.

“Heya,” Camila chirped.  “Looks like you had a rough night, but you’re safe now.”

The demon looked around the area with dull eyes, before flopping on her face again, matted red hair blocking out the light.  “You should have left me to die.”

Camila frowned at that.  “You’re welcome.  It’s probably impolite to die at a festival for the dead you know.”

Dr. Collins seemed put off by the demon woman’s snub as well, but he moved to her side.  “Are you still feeling discomfort?  Your lacerations seem to have healed, but I don’t know if there are any lingering effects.”

“I’m fine,” the demon muttered, turning away from the doctor.

Helena peered at her, trying to figure out if this was some aftereffect of the blessed blade or an innate quality of the demon herself.  Depending on how they’d been created demons were naturally contrary creatures.  Unfortunately she wasn’t good at demonology or mind magic.  All she could tell was the woman was dirty, pale, and incredibly weak.

“Lord forgive me for my sins.  What did I do to deserve this?” a familiar voice sounded behind her.

She turned to see Inspector Kilduff of the police department standing there with two other officers.  Camila grinned and awkwardly waved.  “Heya.  Been a while.”

“Not as long as I would have liked lassie.  I’d hoped you’d be able to keep that Daughter of Satan out of trouble,” Kilduff pulled out a cigarette with thick fingers.  “But here we are with attempted murder and on an actual demon.”

“Daughter of Hecate,” Helena corrected testily.

Dr. Collins stood.  “Please don’t disturb the patient too much.  And no smoking in the tent.”

“Sorry doctor,” Kilduff said, putting the cigarette away.  “Do you need to keep an eye on the victim, or can you spare a bit of time to give Officer Jones your testimony?”

“So long as we can talk here it should be fine,” the doctor said.

“Right.  Jones, do the interviews.  McHowell, go check the scene.  The oni neighborhood watch will have blocked it off so show your badge.  They like the respect.”  Kilduff glared at Helena.  “I’ll question the victim.”

Helena stepped aside.  “Go ahead.”

Kilduff sat next to the demon woman and pulled out a paper.  “Right then.  What’s your name?”

“Acedia,” the demon muttered, turning away from the policeman.

Helena blinked as she parsed the name, then groaned.  “She’s a sin demon.  Of course.”

Everyone in the room turned to look at her, including Acedia.  Camila raised a hand.  “Kay, explain that to the poor dead immigrant girl.”

“Some sects believe there are demons that are personifications of the deadly sins.”  She looked down at the demon.  “I’m guessing you were created by a group before they cut it down to seven.  Since I know acedia got removed in favor of sloth.”

“Good job, you figured it out.”  Acedia muttered.  “Now leave me be.”

Kilduff grimaced.  “I don’t suppose you’d be doing me the favor of telling me who tried to murder you?”

Acedia froze.  The drums from the festival slowly beat as they all waited on the demon.  Finally she closed her eyes and said, “It was an angel.  I was attacked by an angel at my apartment.”

Kilduff looked down at the woman.  “I find that a bit hard to believe, lass.  You sure it was an actual angel?”  Honestly Helena had a hard time believing it too.  Helena was good at judging how strong mythical creatures were, and Acedia didn’t rate.  An angel would have slaughtered her.

“It was!”  Acedia glared at Kilduff, fire in her eyes.  “I can tell!  That cursed holy aura’s a little hard to miss even for a pathetic failure of a demon like me!  It was so bad I couldn’t even see its face!”  And then the fire was gone.  The demon flopped on her back.  “Whatever.  I shouldn’t have run.  Just leave me.”

The policeman tapped the paper.  “Can you tell me which apartment it was?”

“87 Cherry Street.  Room 13,” she muttered.

Kilduff marked it down, then stood up.  “Thank you for your time miss.  We’ll contact you if we find any leads.  And if you need anything drop by the station.”  He walked over to Helena lowering his voice so the demon wouldn’t overhear.  “There anything that matches the lass’ description that isn’t an angel?”

Helena found herself hesitating.  Kilduff was as fickle an ally as the Athenians, and she’d been on the wrong side of his religious intolerance towards magicians too many times for her liking.  But she’d learned a lot working with him on the Liang case.  And the man had shown he was dedicated to the law as much if not more than he was to his faith.

The fact that he’d asked for her help decided the matter.  “I don’t know,” Helena replied.  “I have a hard time believing she escaped an angel.  But the wound was blessed.  Stranger things have happened.  My guess is that it was a lesser god or something outside our respective pantheons though.”

“How’d we tell the difference?”  He started scribbling on his paper.

Helena shrugged.  “Get a priest.  If he thinks the area’s holy it’s an angel.  If he thinks it’s unholy it’s someone from a different pantheon.”  She grimaced.  “That or wait.  Any angel who’s willing to murder demons in defiance of the laws of the land….”

“Is a pretty sad excuse for an angel,” Kilduff said.

“I was going to say ‘is going to start killing again very soon,'” Helena replied.

Kilduff’s expression grew even more grim.  “Right.”  He leveled a gaze at her.  “If you learn anything let us know.  No trying to handle this yourself.”

“I’ll tell you if I blunder into anything, but I’m not working for you anymore.” Helena frowned.  “Unless you’re willing to pay me again.”  She didn’t want to admit it, but she needed the money.

“I’d hire a priest first,” Kilduff replied before walking off to compare notes with the doctor.  Not too surprising.

Camila hopped over to her side.  “Still getting along great I see.”

“You should have seen what it was like before,” Helena replied.

The jiang-shi woman chuckled before moving next to Acedia.  “So, you got any place to stay?  Going back to your apartment doesn’t sound great.”

The demon shrugged, not bothering to raise herself up.

“No need to be shy.  I know what it’s like to get tossed out into weirdness.  I can get you to wherever your friends are,” Camila said.

“I don’t have friends,” Acedia replied.

Helena saw Camila’s expression darken and put her hand on the woman’s shoulder.  “She’s a demon formed to be a personification of acedia.  This is her natural state.”

“So that acedia thing isn’t translating for me.  What’s that mean?” Camila replied.

“There’s a lot of religious meaning I don’t fully understand,” Helena said, “but the simplest explanation is suicidal apathy.  That’s her natural state of being.  Her essence if you will.  She can’t help but be miserably uninterested in everything.”

“But she’s still a person right?” Camila replied.  “She can make her own choices.”

Helena nodded.  “Yes.  But she can’t change her mood, like you can.”

Camila nodded before turning back to the demon.  “So if you don’t have any friends, who’s paying for your apartment?”

Acedia glared up at her interrogator, but Camila just smiled and waited.  Helena was impressed.  She hadn’t seen this side of the woman before.  Then again they’d only know each other for a month.  It somehow seemed longer.

Finally the demon broke.  “My sister Invidia sends cash.  She likes showing off, and since I’m totally worthless it’s easy to be superior to me.”

“Family.”  Camila shrugged her shoulders, but there was a tinge of sorrow in her eyes.  “Well you can stay with us while you wait for the money to get a new place to live.”

“What?!”  Helena’s voice joined the demons.  “Camila, why are we offering a demon sanctuary in our home?”

“And why are you being so nice to a demon?” Acedia asked.

Camila laughed.  “Well I’m some kinda zombie, so a demon can’t be that much worse.  And seriously you look like you can use a hand.”  She turned to Helena.  “And you’ll agree to it because you’re secretly a nice person, and because you really want to solve the mystery here.”

Helena couldn’t help but chuckle in return.  “I’ll admit to the second.  Though explaining it to the landlord will be fun.”

“I suppose I don’t have a say in this?” Acedia muttered.

“Sure you do!” Camila replied.  “We’re gonna go help Aoi out, and if you’re still here when we come back I’m taking you home.  If not, you obviously didn’t need our help.”

Acedia stared at Camila a little longer before collapsing on the bed again.  “You’re annoying.”

“Probably,” Camila admitted.  She hopped to face Helena.  “So, ready to get back to work.”

“Yes.”  Helena stepped up and adjusted Camila’s outfit again.  “Let’s go find Aoi.”

As they walked back into the festive night, Camila glanced back to the tent.  “You think she’ll still be there when we get back?”

“I’d bet every penny I own on it,” Helena replied.

---

And so it truly begins. I’ll likely be doing a Monday Friday release schedule, as that’s what fits my work best. Glad to have you all again and I hope you all enjoy.

The Immigrant Realm is seen by most as a trade station, or a transfer stop while traveling the worlds of myth.  But for those with nowhere else to go, like exiled witch Helena Aoede and her new (undead) roommate Camila Barbosa it’s home.  And a very nice home for those willing to learn about and accept their neighbors no matter how strange.

But some people are less willing to accept other’s quirks.  When the two run across a sin demon Acedia who claims a angel tried to murder her, they find themselves entangled in a war between religious groups.  A war of ritual murders, stolen flesh, and intricately crafted silver.  All designed to start Armageddon right in their city.  With possibly millions of lives on the line, Helena and Camila need to cancel Armageddon by crushing both sides.

That’s fine though.  Helena’s not keen on wars, but she’s very keen on combat.

Hello all. I’m Ted Suzukawa (known in many places as IcedFairy) and editing is hard in the middle of a pandemic! In any case this is where I’ve placed my webnovels. They were originally planned for publishing, but then things happened, and I realized there was no market. Still I’m doing my best to keep them at high levels of quality, and in a proper serialized format so you can enjoy each one as a set or individually.

The downside is doing proper editing can cause things like two year delays! But now it is edited, mostly finished up, and ready to view. You can enjoy the second (third?) book “The Clockwork Angel” by heading to the first chapter here.

I’m also going to be collecting the books on Spacebattles and Royal Road for those who don’t enjoy WordPress.

Helena finished tying off the decorative red bow on the white haori jacket before stepping away from her friend and nodding in satisfaction.  “There.  It looks good on you.”  The flowing sleeves and the red pleated hakama pants fit the tall, dark skinned, woman well.  The seamstress had done a good job given how rushed the order had been. 

“Thanks!”  Camila raised her stiff arms and hopped to the side to look at herself in the fitting tent’s mirror.  “But are you sure it’s okay for me to help?  I am kinda undead.  Which means I probably can’t be a priestess.”  She nodded, causing the ornate paper slip on her forehead to flutter.  That talisman would tell everyone she was a jiang-shi.  A hopping corpse reanimated by magic.

Helena chuckled.  “True.  But apparently you can still be a volunteer shrine maiden.”  She grinned over at Aoi.  “They even let crazy foreign women from Thebes help out at big ceremonies.”

“Crazy witches no less,” Aoi replied.  The graceful Japanese woman carefully checked the ribbon keeping her long hair in a ponytail before stepping up to tweak Helena’s belt.  “Besides you won’t be helping with the human guests.  Neither of you are suited for that, no offense.  We need you to help with the ghosts and youkai that will be participating in the festival.”

“Eh?  I thought all the mystical creatures who couldn’t pretend to be human stayed below ground,” Camila said.  “At least when they aren’t in the market.”

Helena nodded.  “It depends on the creature and the realm they’re from but usually that’s right.  But today is Obon.”

Camila blinked.  “That’s like the Japanese Finados isn’t it?  Or All Saint’s Day?  They celebrate that down in San Paulo.”

“They’re similar festivals,” Aoi said.  “We gather to remember those that have passed on, calling up their memories.  Our prayers summon the wandering spirits to roam the realm of the living.  That brings the youkai out to mingle with living and dead humans.  So we have a festival.”

“And we make sure everyone stays friendly,” Helena finished.  “Though most of the time we just walk around and enjoy the party.”

“Gotcha.  Sounds fun.”  Camila smirked.  “So how badly can I hurt the jerks who have to act tough because there’s a woman running things?”

Aoi shook her head.  “That shouldn’t be an issue.  The older ghosts only accept a woman’s authority.  It’s a little complicated.”  Helena suppressed a snort.  Complicated didn’t begin to describe it.  Helena wasn’t even sure she understood.  “In any case, a few threats should settle down unruly youkai.  If not, let Helena handle it.”

“We have to stick to subtle magic to punish idiots.  Nothing that won’t heal by morning.”  Helena shrugged.  “I’m sure the oni would enjoy a fight, but that could get out of hand.  It’ll have to wait until later.”

“Yes it will,” Aoi said sharply.  “Now I think we’re all ready.  Shall we head out to the festival?”

“Sure thing!” Camila said, hopping to the door.  Helena opened it for the woman, then followed her into the slowly darkening night.

The Immigrant Realm was almost entirely city.  Parks and empty lots were few and far between.  But somehow the residents of Japantown had maneuvered their festival stalls to create the illusion of a vast park on the small shrine grounds and surrounding streets.  Red lanterns were strung throughout the air, while blue ghost flames floated in between.  The smell of hot grills cooking takoyaki and okonomiyaki infused the area.  And through it all the sound of taiko drumming pulsed from the high platform sitting on the shrine grounds.

The crowds were a sight to behold as well.  Creatures from all over the Realm of Illusion walked the streets in summer kimonos.  A turtle shelled kappa was running a goldfish catching stall, occasionally refilling the water in the bowl depression on his head from the fish pool.  Next to him a passel of sparrow youkai in human form were selling sweets and alcohol, the ruffling of feathers and stretching wings the only sign they were different then the humans around.  Further on a yuki-onna with eyes and hair as pale as the shaved ice she was selling was drawing a crowd, ghosts without feet queuing up behind the braver living humans.  

Helena soaked in the feeling of the festival.  Gatherings like these had been some of the best parts of her summers.

Camila hopped up next to her.  “Now this is a party!”  She looked over the streets.  “I figured this was what a magical realm would be like.  Not just the market.  I mean other than the fact that I’m undead and cell phones don’t work it’s kinda hard to tell this is an alternate reality and not just part of New York sometimes.”

“Well humans are cautious around monsters,” Helena said.  “Sometimes for good reason.”  She waved a hand to catch Aoi’s attention and pointed to where a two tailed fox child, a long nosed tengu fledgling, and a human boy were playing together.  The three masked children seemed to be acting out some radio play.  “I’m sure those kids don’t mean any harm, but if that human decides to visit his new friends tonight, he might end up staying for a decade or two.”

“That’d be kinda bad,” Camila admitted.

Aoi sighed.  “I tell people to keep track of their children at these events.”  She pulled out her gohei rod.  “Looks like I need to be the big mean adult.  You two go ahead, I’ll catch up.”

“Good luck,” Camila said as the shrine maiden walked off to scold the kids.  The jiang-shi turned to Helena.  “Still kinda sad they can’t relax together.  They looked like they were having fun!”

Helena nodded as she started down the line of stalls.  “If the kid’s parents were around Aoi would have looked the other way.  But if there isn’t an adult around to supervise we have to intervene.  They aren’t old enough to understand the consequences.”

Camila floated along, not trying to hop through the crowded streets.  “Suppose so.  Lazy parents are a problem everywhere, no?  Our landlords are a lot better about that.”

As they walked through the crowds most people parted respectfully, though Camila got a few questioning looks.  Helena was a known quantity here, but the Brazilian jiang-shi had only arrived in the city recently.  And the woman had spent most of that time as an assassin puppeted around by the sick asshole who’d raised her.  People were probably wondering what Camila’s connection to the shrine was.

Her musing was interrupted by an inugami walking up and bowing to her, the dog headed man’s stretched neck twisting as he tried to maintain his balance.  “Great Curse Gunner, please accept this offering.”  He held out six sticks of dango.

Helena bowed in return and carefully took the sweets.  Then she pulled a silver coin from her sleeve and marked it with a rune of fortune.  “Thank you.  I offer you my blessing and the blessings of Hecate.  May you never go hungry again.”  She handed the token to the long necked humanoid dog who carefully accepted it.

“Many thanks, Curse Gunner.”  The inugami backed away and the crowds turned away from the scene.

“Okay, like… what was that all about?” Camila asked, staring at the dog spirit as he left.  “I’m sure that’s not what happens with normal shrine maidens.”

Helena shrugged.  “It’s complicated.  But technically I’m a god.”  She held one of the treats she’d been offered in front of her friend’s mouth.  “Dango?”  Jiang-shi couldn’t bend their arms,on their own, making the festival food hard to eat without help.

Camila blinked for a few moments before hesitantly biting off one of the three sweet rice dumplings.  “Thanks,” she muttered as they started down the stalls again.

Helena alternated between letting Camila eat and feeding herself as they continued.  It seemed things were still orderly at the festival.  The drunks were loud, but no one had gotten inebriated enough to cause trouble.  Hopefully the example of the tengu who’d shamed themselves falling into the river two years ago would keep people from overindulging.

“So technically a goddess?” Camila said as she finished off her second dango stick.  “You’ve gotta explain that one to me.  Especially since people should probably be running away from Greek gods.”  The undead girl grinned.

“A good strategy.”  Helena shrugged.  “Godhood means different things in different places.  Back at home everyone’s part god.  Certain deities who shall not be named don’t have any self restraint.  So me being the great great granddaughter of Hecate is a point of pride, but not much more.  Gods are Olympians and Titans, not mortals with god’s blood.  

“In the Realms of Illusion, gods are anyone with a touch of the divine.  So me being the direct descendant of a goddess makes me a living goddess.”  Helena winced at the memory.  “I was a little loud about defending Hecate when I was a kid, so word got out fast.”

“Must have been real popular back home.”  Camila chuckled, but her eyes were serious.  “Can’t imagine that kinda hubris played well.”

They turned at the end of the line of stalls and turned to follow the river down the second line.  Helena gave a loud Futaguchi no Onna a glare until the demon woman shut both her front and back mouth, before turning back to Camila.  “It was a problem, yeah.  Fortunately the Olympians don’t pay much attention to the Realms of Illusion.  And Hecate gets most of the worshipers.  I just get people seeking blessings.  So my goddess is happy!”

Camila shook her head.  “This whole rules being different everywhere thing is weird.  How do you keep track of everything?  ‘Oh here I’m a god, and here I’m a demon, and here I’m a monkey.'”  She gestured to the crowd.  “Like, it’s gotta be a mess for everyone.  Sure, it’d be nice if there was somewhere where I could bend my arms and legs, but I don’t wanna have to worry about suddenly winding up dead dead instead of undead.”

They’d reached the end of the festival line, so Helena walked over to the riverway.  The paper lantern boats built to guide the souls of the dead were floating by, transforming the river into a glittering mass of reflected lights.  “The rules change, but we mystical beings can break the rules.  That’s the heart of witchcraft.  And it’s innate to you as well now.”  She took a deep breath and looked up at Camila.  “There’s only one place where the rules are strong enough to kill you.”

“My home.” Camila said quietly.  The woman’s cheer washed away, leaving only melancholy.

Helena nodded.  “The ‘real’ world.”  Camila was one of the few people that had fallen into the mystical realms, stolen away by a magician to be transformed into an undying assassin.  “Everywhere else, reality bows to you.  Which is why you’ve paid such a high price.”

They leaned against the railing side by side, watching the lanterns float down the river.  The ghost flames above occasionally dropped down, some fusing with the lanterns, others returning to the sky.  Helena wondered if those were the spirits whose names were on the boats, or if the ghosts were just drawn to the symbols of death and passage to the afterlife.

Camila tapped her on the shoulder.  “We should get back to Aoi.  Wouldn’t be fair to let her do all the work.”  The jiang-shi’s smile was back.  The seal that gave her self control made her emotions mercurial, but Helena was starting to get used to it.  It was, as Camila herself had said, far better than being a mental wreck all the time.

“You’re right.” Helena replied.  They turned back towards the noise of the drums and started to patrol the stands again.

Just as they reached the bend a scream rose from a nearby street.  It was followed by another, and the roar of a confused crowd.  “Eris spare us,” Helena hissed.  Something had gone wrong.

“I’ll go ahead!” Camila said.  With a bend of her legs she leaped, clearing the row of stalls.  Helena considered flying after the woman, but the crowd in the back would be placated if they saw someone going to help.

She opened herself up to her power, letting magic pour through her.  Every mythical creature on the street froze and turned as they realized they were in the presence of a true magician.

With that she pushed her way through the crowd.  “Step aside.”  Tanuki, tengu, and humans alike parted before her.  She moved through the people, past the carts, to an open street where people were standing around an alley.  This wasn’t actually on festival grounds.  “Some damn fool had better not have attacked a human….” she hissed as she headed towards where she sensed Camila.

When she finally got through she found Camila and a dark skinned man in spectacles next to a woman lying on the ground.  No, not a woman.  A demon of all things.  She was in a muddy nightgown with a massive slash on her back between her batlike wings.

The man was wrapping bandages around the woman’s arms while Camila was holding a blood soaked rag to the cut on the back.  The jiang-shi woman must have burned some emergency magic to bend her knees.  Helena immediately moved to the doctor’s side.  “Is she stable?”

“No,” the man replied.  “There’s something wrong with the wound.  Like it’s cursed.  I don’t know if a demon can bleed to death but…”

“Well if it’s curses it should be easy no?” Camila said with a weak smile.

“Yeah.”  Helena grimaced then reached out towards the wound with her left hand, trying to sense the curse within.  She was a master of curses.  Banishing a simple one should be nothing at all.

But there was nothing.  No miasma.  She reached out and touched the wound then hissed in pain as the magic there stung her.  “Of course, she’s a demon,” Helena muttered as she started summoning her own curses.  “The wound is blessed.”

“Oh.  Well that’s a problem.  Can you deal with that?” Camila asked.

“Yes.”  Helena poured her power into the cut, desecrating the blessed wound.  It was hard creating the right effect.  She didn’t really believe the universe worked the way the Judeo-Christian faith did.  But she could make the damaged area more less like heaven, and more like Hades’ realm.

After a few moments the wound started fading away.  “Alright.  Her natural healing should work from here on,” Helena said.

The man placed his hand on the woman’s throat.  “Her pulse is still weak.  If she were human I’d say she needed blood badly, but I don’t know about demons.”

“Bet transfusions won’t work anyway,” Camila said.  “Even if you’re O negative.  Got any healing tricks Helena?”

“Healing isn’t my specialty.  And Aoi’s got the wrong type of power.”  She looked towards the crowd.  “Is there any youkai with healing skills?”

A rabbit woman slipped out of the crowd, her long ears quivering nervously.  “I-I have medicines.  If it’s just blood loss they might work.”  She held out a small mochi ball.

The doctor looked at it then shrugged before turning to Camila.  “Turn the patient on her side.”  Helena moved to help the jiang-shi as they did so.  “Okay.  Let’s hope this works.”  He popped the ball into the demon woman’s mouth.

Immediately the demon woman began to chew, then swallowed.  Some color returned to her face immediately, though the woman didn’t wake.  Helena nodded in approval.  Rabbit medicines were legendary, and it seemed this rabbit had learned well.

“Well.  I wish I had that at the practice.”  The doctor pulled out more bandages.  “Thank you ladies.  You can stop pressure now.  A few bandages can cover the rest.”

“Right.”  Camila stepped back, then shot to her feet with a grimace as her emergency magical stores ran out.  “Good thing you came so fast.  I was out of time.”

“Yes,” Aoi said as she moved through the crowd.  “Thank you Inaba no Himi.  The shrine will recompense you for your aid.”  The shrine maiden bowed to the rabbit woman, then to the doctor.  “Thank you as well.  With your help her life was saved.”

The man shook his head.  “It’s my job, miss.  And your friends did most of the actual work.”  He finished bandaging the demon woman’s back.  “If you have a first aid tent or something we should move her there.  She should be healing on her own, and I don’t know if demons can get sick, but lying in the mud can’t be pleasant.”

“Of course,” Aoi said.

“We’ll take her there.  You can help calm down the crowd,” Helena said as she channeled more magic into her limbs.  With her body reinforced she easily scooped the woman up in a bridal carry before placing the demon into Camila’s arms.

Camila stuck her tongue out at Helena but worked to support the demon.  “Why do I always get the heavy lifting?”

“Because you’re the strongest,” Helena replied.  “You fly there, I’ll lead Mr…”

“Collins,” the man said.  “Doctor Collins.”

“Helena Aoede,” she replied.  “I’ll take you to the first aid tent.  You probably want to keep an eye on your patient.  And we’ll all want to be in the same place when the police come.”

Dr. Collins nodded grimly.  “Yes.  I bet they’ll want to know what happened.”

Helena chewed on her lip.  Someone had attacked a demon in the middle of the city with a blessed weapon.  That wasn’t a common occurrence.  The police weren’t the only ones who wanted to know what happened.

Gold Rat Wizard Hsu chuckled happily as he sat down in the restaurant.  “I see my fears were unfounded.  You lived up to your name Curse Gunner.  And since you handled the job with only police help, my associates now view you as a valued resource within the community rather than a stepping stone to their own ambitions.”

“Isn’t that nice,” Camila said.  “I bet they said nothing about me.”

“Your situation is unique for jiang-shi.  Explaining it to people who only know the most basic of details is difficult,” Hsu said.  “They assume your success is Helena’s success, and I doubt you wish to spend the time to correct them.”

Helena shrugged.  “Indeed.  Why should we waste our time when you can do it for us?  By the way we want two of everything on the menu.”

Hsu’s smile twisted.  “Three of everything and that is my final offer.”

“Ahn.” Camila leaned over and whispered, “This doesn’t feel like winning.”

“Oh it is a victory,” Hsu said.  “A victory over certain foolish businessmen who nearly caused our entire collective to slide into chaos and disarray.”

Helena snorted.  “Not to mention the part where several innocent people got murdered and the city nearly rioted.”

“Not to mention that,” Hsu said.

The first dishes arrived and Helena moved to help Camila bend her arms so she could eat.  “This good?”

“Yeah.  Thanks,” Camila replied.

Helena had gotten much better at anticipating when the jiang-shi girl would need her assistance, while Camila seemed a lot less upset about needing that help.  The woman had decided letting Helena deal with minor things like getting dressed would give her more time to practice.  And Helena didn’t really mind the duties.

As Camila started clearing plates Ling Wei Hsu folded his arms.  “While I am certain you do not appreciate the generosity, I should formally state that my business organization does not hold any ill will towards you for the actions you took against them.  In addition they appreciate your assistance in handling the unfortunate repercussions of the matter and consider the business over.”

“I don’t suppose they’ll pay for my apartment’s damages?” Helena asked as she grabbed a steamed fish.

“The taxpayers will front that bill,” Hsu said.

Camila shook her head.  “Lots of thanks but never any money.  You sure you aren’t the government?”

“Don’t inflate his importance,” Helena said as Hsu chuckled happily.

With a sigh Helena pulled out an ivory kirin statue.  “As much as I’d love to insult you for hours, I have something else to do right now.  This is yours isn’t it?”

Hsu’s eyes grew large.  “Ah!  So that arrogant child stole it!”  He took the statuette from Helena and looked it over.  “And you recognized my work that easily.  Hmph.  Well it seems I owe you a personal debt as well.”  The man slipped the statue into his sleeves.  “I thank you for retrieving it before it ended up rusting away in an evidence locker.  I will remember this offering Curse Gunner.”

“It’s worth more than I’m getting paid for this job so you should be happy,” Helena remarked.  At least she’d gotten something out of it.  Gold Rat Wizard Hsu was one to pay his debts, even if he was a crook.

“You need to negotiate better,” Camila remarked.  “And you need to find richer bosses.”

“Thanks,” Helena muttered.  She didn’t like being reminded she was once again unemployed, with no references to show for it.  Instead she turned her attention back to Hsu.  “I’m also going to get rid of the spy in the police department.”

Hsu raised an eyebrow.  “Since we do not have a spy, I see no reason why my business group should care.  Do as you wish.”

“I’m holding you to that,” Helena said.

“Wait, the spy?  Who?  And how did you find out?” Camila asked.  “Sounds like a fun mystery.”

“You’ll see,” Helena replied.  “As to how I found out? It was one part educated guess, five parts cheating, and ten parts swearing for not making the obvious connection.”

---

“Five hundred dollars, as we agreed on,” Jacobs said as he handed over the bills.  “And I’m glad to see you gone.  Please take all your junk out of that office you stole on your way out.”

Camila smirked.  “Super grateful, isn’t he?”

“I told you at the start you’d have been better off with a priest,” Inspector Kilduff said behind the captain.

Helena pocketed the money and nodded.  “He really would have.”  She pulled out a sheaf of papers and tossed them on the desk in front of her.  “Because a priest wouldn’t have noticed the communication spell you used to warn Long Zhou Di about that last raid.  Which means no one would have found the blackmail material he was using on you.”

Captain Jacobs stared at the papers.  “What are-“

“What are these?  Well these files prove you covered up the murder of four detainees in the Central Jail.  These are the documents that let Long Zhou Di smuggle Camila here into the Immigrant Realm, with your signatures on them.  Oh yes, and this is the mystical artifact that you used to warn the Living Dragon about the raids.”  Helena pointed to each bit of evidence in turn.  “I’m sure the Inspector will find more when he starts a full investigation, but that should serve nicely for your arrest.”

Helena allowed herself a smug grin as everyone stared at the items.  Camila was surprised, while Jacobs’ face was a mask of horror.  Only Kilduff looked unaffected, but Helena could tell the Inspector was thinking a mile a minute.

Camila was the first to recover.  “Busted!  Too bad there’s no camera for posterity.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Captain Jacobs shouted.  “No one will believe this-“

There was a sharp clack as Inspector Kilduff placed a cuff on the Captain’s hand.  “Sir, I’m placing you under arrest for criminal conspiracy.  You have the right to remain silent-“

“Are you insane?!” Jacobs yelled.  “You can’t possibly believe this witch’s crazed allegations!”

“Anything you say or do can be held against you.”  The Inspector finished cuffing the man.  “And just between you and me sir, everyone knew you were corrupt as the Devil himself.  But I never thought you’d stoop this low.  You endangered your own men, Captain.”

Jacobs snarled in fury.  “You don’t have anything like proof.  You know none of this can be used as evidence!  It was all stolen!”

“Copied actually.”  Helena reached out and swiped a key from the Captain’s pocket.  “I wasn’t sure if there were rules about evidence so I left the originals there.  You’ll find them when you open his safe deposit box.  Three hundred eighty two.”  She tossed the key to the Inspector.

He caught it and gave her a nod.  “Thank you kindly.  I’ll handle it from here.”

“Later,” Camila said with a stiff wave.  She hopped over to look Jacobs in the eye.  “When I see you next time I’ll probably have enough control to cripple you without snapping your neck.  Just something to think about while you rot in jail.”

“Please don’t plot crimes while I’m in the room, lass,” Kilduff muttered.

“I’m sure we’ll meet later, Inspector,” Helena said before turning and walking out onto the police station floor.  The paper pushers behind their desks ignored her as she headed out the front, oblivious to both her and the arrest of their Captain.  It was somehow fitting.

As they walked out the front door Camila tapped Helena on the shoulder.  “Well that was fun!  What’s next?”

“Next we meet up with my friends, have a victory celebration, and then I move back into my apartment.”  She looked over at Camila.  “We’ll need to look into finding you a place to stay as well.”

“Yeah, about that,” Camila smiled.  “You’re the only person I know.  And we’ve still got a magical link, even if you don’t control it.  What do you say to becoming roommates?”

Helena blinked in surprise.  Then she shrugged and smiled in return.  “Sure, if we can talk the landlord into it.  He might be a little suspicious about zombies.”

“It’s cool.  I’m not a zombie,” Camila said.

“Oh that’ll fix everything,” Helena replied.  Though honestly Mr. Samuels would probably be fine with it.  The hard part would be convincing the neighbors.  It looked like there were going to be interesting times ahead for her.

But that was okay.  Living in interesting times might be a curse, but curses were her element.

As spacetime expanded around them, Helena threw a mote of fire at Zhou.  With a single motion Zhou snuffed her fireball and flung back three enchanted knives.  She drifted into the air and started flinging more firebolts, ignoring the blade that bounced off her protective shields.  Zhou ducked under the barrage and rushed her.

This was going to be different from her last mage duel.  That wizard had built an iron wall of defense that she’d had to chew through.  Zhou was an attack mage like her.  This would be a race to see who could land the killing blow first.  

Helena backed away, flying above one of the canning machines to gain some distance.  “For all your talk about magical mastery and dueling you really focus more on martial arts,” Helena taunted as she threw out seven bloody darts that wove through the air.

“It’s more I feel you’re a failure at them,” Zhou retorted.  He moved his hands in a circle and a shield of flame appeared before him to block Helena’s missiles.

He’d fallen for it.  The shield kept him immobile, which meant she had time to start her own spell.  Helena began grabbing assorted semi-precious stones from her pouch.

With a roar Zhou’s flames turned into a burning wheel and spun towards her.  Helena dropped down behind one of the work desks, the wash of heat singing her hair.  She cursed and scrambled to the side as the canning machine exploded into flame and metal bits.  She should have known a Taoist trained mage could mix defense and attack into a single spell.

Black flame exploded above her, shattering a nearby vase.  Zhou had the advantage now.  She looked around for anything to change the situation.

A jade coin and scattered pearls on the table caught her eye and she quickly swiped them.  Holding them with the jasper, amber, and hematite she’d pulled out before she formed the spell in her mind.  “Wrathful Gaze of the Olympians.”

Five orbs emblazoned with the runes of the ruling gods burst into existence.  She leaped into the air as they spun up around her and began firing energy bolts at Zhou.  Fire, lightning, water, earth, and steel flew through the air in a cloud of death.

Zhou ducked behind some crates as the barrage tracked him.  Helena flew upwards and let her vicious glee infuse a bullet with a curse to stop the heart.  “No way to use your martial arts now,” she noted as she threw it at him.

The man responded by leaping over her death curse and drawing his sword.  As he ran he intoned, “The sword of justice is sharp on both ends.”  The blade began to glow blue, Chinese runes of battle forming on the blade.

Helena’s skin prickled as power gathered above her and she flew to the side.  Blades of blue energy rained down, shattering the orb of Zeus.  It seemed Zhou had some artifacts of his own.

The blue blades shifted to follow her.  The blade must have been storing energy for months.  Helena focused her senses, letting the feel of power and the flashes of light lead her through the gaps in the storm.  The air between them had turned into a deadly crossfire, but Helena had the advantage.  Zhou’s invocation was stealing most of his attention.

She rolled in between two blades and summoned a simple curse.  Stumble and fall.  She smiled as the miasma shoved a crate into Zhou’s path.  The magician clipped the box and stumbled.  He swore as a shard of metal sliced into his arm, but he kept his feet.

Then he pulled out a jade token and the orb representing Hermes shattered into nothingness.  He was dispelling them one by one.  She palmed another spell scroll while ducking an energy sword.  A spell requiring concentration was impossible, but perhaps she could find another way to trap him.

The spell came to her quickly.  A mixture of arachne and earth spider spells.  She fished out a few drops of pine resin as she glided over a blade.  She then began wide dodges.  Dart about the room, leaving a drop of resin along with a binding curse dabbed wherever she stopped.  A shouted command from Zhou shattered the orb of Ares, but it was too late to stop her spell.  She ducked under a blade, then snapped her fingers.

The droplets sparked, then crackled to life.  Lightning spun out between the points connecting them into an electrical web.  Zhou froze in place, trapped in the dangerous mesh.  

Now that he stopped moving her remaining orbs unleashed their full power on him.  A chunk of earth slammed him right into the electrical web.  He screamed as electricity crackled over him, his magical defenses glowing white.  The rain of energy blades stopped and Helena pulled out a vial of quicksilver for the finishing blow.

There was a strange hum.  And then everything seemed to explode.  Helena screamed and shielded her eyes from the burst.  Away!  A flick of her hand sent out a half formed curse bolt, right as her metal orb shattered.  What was happening?  How had he countered her?!

Her vision cleared to reveal Zhou in front of her sword raised. 

The blade dropped.

Pain ripped through her shoulder as she slammed into the ground.  There was another flash as her physical wards buckled then failed.  The ceiling spun above her.  Then Zhou appeared again, sword raised.

She had to move.  She knew she had to move.  With a defiant shout she summoned her magic to reinforce her body and slapped at the blade.  The sword flew out of the man’s weakened grip, clattering on the concrete floor.

Zhou fist slammed into her face.  Her vision blurred and her ears were ringing.  Two hands fell on her throat and began to squeeze like a vise.

Helena reinforced her arm and swung again.  She felt it hit, but Zhou just grunted and kneed her in the stomach.  Pain tore through her as she coughed up more precious air.

Blackness clawed at the edges of her vision.  She was suffocating, and she couldn’t put together the simplest of spells to fix it.  She swung her fist, but she couldn’t even feel she’d hit him.

Zhou’s lips moved and his words seeped through the ringing in her head, “You were good, Curse Gunner.  I was better.”

She wanted to tell him to shut up, but she couldn’t.  She needed air.  Breath.  The force of life.  Her body was screaming for it.

And then she smelled it.  The beautiful fresh scent of breath in front of her.  How could she have missed it before?

She opened her mouth, and she sucked it in.

Energy flowed into her.  Dark twisted energy, but energy nonetheless.  Her eyes focused again, and the pressure on her neck faded.

Long Zhou Di was stumbling back, desperately trying to escape Helena’s chi draining attack.  She’d drunk his breath.  Her stomach churned at the realization, but then the flames of rage rose up within her.

She pushed herself off the ground and opened herself to her power.  He had tried to kill her.  He had threatened her friends.  He had dared to challenge her!  Now he would suffer.

The pain, hatred, and despair that filled the building flowed into Helena’s left hand, and she gave it only a shell of a bullet before throwing it at Zhou.  “You will suffer pain for every life you’ve stolen,” Helena hissed.

The miasma bolt slammed into the man and he screamed.  His mystic defenses buckled then shattered under Helena’s assault.

But she wasn’t going to let up.  She let her rage turn into another bolt of dark power.  “You will suffer for the misery and chaos you have caused,” she snarled before striking him again.  The miasma slammed into Zhou’s defenseless body and he began to whimper and twitch as pure pain washed over him.

She summoned up one more bolt.  “And for murdering and enslaving Camila, you will…”

“That’s enough of that!”

Helena looked up.  Camila and the Inspector were running towards her.  Camila looked a little worried, and the Inspector had a deep frown.

She turned her attention back to the curse, and the man curled up before her.  Sighing, she released her rage.  “You will answer for your crimes and serve your sentence, before leaving the Immigrant Realm and never returning.”  She lazily threw the modified curse at Zhou.  She had no idea if there was enough hate in it to work, but she didn’t care anymore.

Inspector Kilduff sniffed, then pulled out a pair of cuffs.  “Good enough.  Let’s be done with it.  Long Zhou Di, you have the right to remain silent.”  The Inspector cuffed the man as he continued his own ritual.  “Anything you say or do can be used against you in a court of law.  You have the right to an attorney-“

Helena turned away and leaned against a nearby table to catch her breath.  Now that adrenaline was fading her body was informing her of every injury she’d received.  Each bruise and cut demanding her full attention.

“You okay?” Camila asked.  “Looks like he stomped all over you.”

“It was closer than I would have liked,” Helena admitted.  “How about you?”

Camila tried to shrug, then bobbed her hands up and down to simulate the gesture.  “Took my eyes off the fight a little too early.  Also need a better way of getting people to stay down, but pretty good.  We left the bastard staked to the floor.”  She grinned.  “Oh, like I found what my super secret hidden power is.  I can make floors.  Or walls.  Kinda the same if you can fly no?”

“Well that’s unique.  You’ll have to explain it to me when my brain is working.”  Honestly that was very interesting.  A latent power?  Or something more?  Sadly she was having a hard time focusing on magical theory.  She turned her thoughts back to the fight instead.  “If it makes you feel better, you can probably take the same ridiculous beating as Long Jiao Han.”

“Good to know, but taking a beating means getting hit.  I’m not into that kinda stuff,” Camila said.  “Guess it means I can act like a superhero when people are shooting me though.”

Inspector Kilduff walked up to them.  “Looks like it’s finally over.  I’ve got to get the lads down here to do all the boring parts of an arrest, but I think you two can head off.”

Camila shook her head.  “Like, no reason to leave you alone here.  We’ll wait until the cars show.”  She turned to Helena.  “Right?”

“Yes.  That’ll give me time to catch my breath,” Helena said.

“Suppose I can’t argue.  What will you two do after?” the Inspector asked.

Helena started checking her wounds to make sure they were only bruises and light burns.  “Then we go back to Aoi’s.  Lyudmila yells at me, Kseniya heals me, Camila gets praised by everyone for winning her fight.  And then I set up a meeting with a fat Triad wizard who owes us.”

Camila laughed.  “I like this plan.  What are we gonna demand from that bastard?”

“Hm…”  Helena thought for a moment, then grinned wickedly.  “How does an all you can eat Chinese banquet sound?”

Camila tried to keep from staring as space twisted next to her.  She felt distance twisting into impossible shapes three different ways, and it was overwhelming.  It was magical girl time, not get confused by weird nonsense time.  She had to take out this guy.  In ten minutes or less.

She regained her focus just as Kilduff stepped forward and called out their target.  “You going to come quietly, lad, or do I have to dump this holy water on you?”

Jiao jabbed a finger at Kilduff and a bolt of black energy flew at the man.  A white glow enveloped the missile as it hit and sparks flew as Kilduff stumbled back.

Camila flew forward.  “Bastard!  I want a word with you.”

The other jiang-shi sneered at her.  “Oh, the traitor puppet.  Well, I suppose I can clean up this mess before helping my brother.  Don’t worry.  You won’t notice when you become truly dead.”

“Big words.  But, a few kicks should make them small enough so you can eat them.”  Camila hesitated.  She was supposed to issue the challenge now, but Helena’s formula felt off.  Then it came to her.  She needed to present herself right?  “I am capoeirista Pixundé of Brazil.  Your evil ends here, ‘Undead Dragon’.”

It was really uncool, but her opponent paused.  “Very well.  I am Long Jiao Han, the Undead Dragon.  I will consume your life for my own.”

As soon as the words were said Camila felt an odd tingling at the edge of her senses.  It wasn’t like the connection between her and Helena but something magical had gone off.  Too bad she didn’t know the details.

What she did know is that she needed to get in close and break Jiao before he turned her into a toad or something.  With a single thought she triggered the capacitor spell.  The stiffness in her muscles became overwhelming, and so she stretched.  Relief flowed through her as every joint in her body popped.

Camila immediately cartwheeled to the side.  She’d sacrificed the initiative, and that meant the wizard was probably gonna try to kill her.

Lightning crackled in front of her eyes, just as she’d guessed.  The flash made her blink, but she could still see the chi in the room.  The attack should have frightened her too, but she didn’t want to be afraid.  Now was magical girl time, she could be afraid after the fighting.  She spun around and faked a swipe at the man’s head.

Her arm slammed into Jiao’s wrist as he blocked.  The man used the movement to stab his left hand at her like a knife.  Camila flipped backwards then changed her momentum into a spinning heel.  This time she felt only air as Jiao squatted then hopped up and threw a flying drop kick.

Camila whirled away, but the man kept swinging at her.  She needed to get control of the tempo again.  Either that or to get him to make a mistake.  She was aiming to land a solid hit, not make fancy combos like her enemy.

That was going to be hard.  Jiao’s attacks somehow worked perfectly with his rigid body.  And she had to stay close otherwise he’d blast her with magic.

Then Jiao hopped on a crate.  His martial arts might be perfect for his undead body, but he wasn’t thinking about the power they had.  She dropped onto her back, then put all her force into a roundhouse strike.  As she watched Jiao’s kick sail over her, her own kick slammed right into the box.

The blow plowed right through the wood into Jiao’s knee.  That resisted just a moment before breaking with a satisfying crack.  Then momentum kicked in and sent the other jiang-shi flying into a pile of crates.  The mess collapsed on top of Jiao with a thunderous crash.

“Yes!”  Camila pumped her fist and started looking over towards where Helena and Long Zhou Di were fighting.  Scratch one in record time!  Now on to-

“Look out, lass!”

Camila ducked.  A dark orb blew the machines in front of her into a rain of scrap metal.  She spun around and saw Long Jiao Han floating in the air surrounded by five pulsing red spheres.  How did he recover so fast?  “Starting to sympathize with video game heroes,” she muttered as she looked for an opening.

Kilduff rose up from behind an old conveyor belt and emptied his pistol at the man.  Jiao contemptuously held up his hand and the shots bounced off a shield of light.  But that gave Camila an opening.  She cartwheeled up into the air then dropped down on him with a heel kick.

It whiffed through the air as Jiao dodged.  The orbs around him spun off in random directions and exploded.  That was good.  She didn’t want any of this Street Fighter fireball nonsense.

But she still had a problem.  Jiao’s leg had already healed.  She needed a stronger strike to put him down for good.  But a strong strike required footwork and balance.  She could dance through the air all day, but without a solid surface her kicks would depend on her flying speed.

A flash of movement forced her back into the fight.  She leapt over Jiao’s kick and stomped on his face before spinning away.  At least she didn’t need to worry about landing on the floor.  The floor was wherever she wanted it to be while flying.  Something that guy didn’t seem to understand.  Weird for a magician.

“Annoying insect,” Jiao muttered as he drew back and started summoning another magical attack.

Camila swung a fist at his eyes then dropped down and kicked him in the stomach when he dodged.  It felt solid, but the other jiang-shi just stumbled back a bit.  “Pretty good whining Undead Dragon.  Won’t win you the fight though.”

Jiao snarled and flicked a glowing knife at her.  She moved to the left and the blade jerked to the side and hit her square in the chest.  “Silence dog.”

Camila looked down as the knife vanished.  It hurt less than a dart gun.  “That’s what I was afraid of getting hit by?”  It looked like his quick attacks weren’t good enough to hurt her.

She dashed forward ignoring his weak shot and kicked him in the arm, sending him flying.  A series of shots rang out and he staggered in the air.  Seemed like Kilduff was still helping.

But they weren’t winning.  She needed a strong hit!  But how could she get in that hit while they were in the air?  How could she catch him with a power shot?

Wait, hadn’t she had this problem before?

She switched to the defensive, dodging Jiao’s attacks at impossible angles while trying to remember.  She’d only had one fight in the air.  The fight against Helena.  And she’d landed a solid blow on the woman there.  One that had rattled the magician enough to send her running.

I just need someplace to plant my feet.  Why shouldn’t there be a floor there?

It was a ridiculous idea.  Floors didn’t just appear.  But this whole fight was ridiculous.  And she was a magical girl now.  Trust your instincts, right?

She ducked low, cartwheeled up in the air then planted her feet perpendicular to the ground.  There’s a floor there, because I say so!  

And there was.

Her balance foot glowed green as she kicked with all her might.  Her leg shivered as Jiao blocked with both arms, but she followed through. She pushed his arms right into his face, then sent him slamming into the floor with a massive crash.

The blow was so hard Jiao actually bounced off the concrete.  She stepped forward on her ‘floor’ and unleashed another spinning kick.  Then another, and another!  Her leg throbbed as she kicked him like he was a training bag.  But like a training bag he kept rising back up.  “Stay down damn you!”

“You can’t-” A kick to his face interrupted him, “-can’t stop me you brute!”  The man’s hands started to glow with a black light.  Camila changed her tactics and stomped on his chest full force, the concrete shattering under her power.  But he didn’t stop!  This looked bad-

A chime ran through the air.  The sound echoed in her brain.  Forming words.  Thoughts.  “You are dead,” it said.  “You should be still.”  She froze in place.  It was a lie.  She knew it was a lie.  But her body obeyed.

The chime rang out again, proclaiming its terrible message, and then Kilduff was there.  “Step aside lass.”  He pushed her out of the way, then unstoppered a bottle of water and poured it on Jiao.  The man screamed as the water struck his chest.  Smoke began to rise as Jiao burned.

The ringing in Camila’s mind finally faded and stumbled back.  Her body was screaming at her to flee from the deadly liquid.  But Kilduff beckoned her back.  “Sorry lass, I need you to drive this home.”  He pulled out a wooden grave marker.  “I can’t do it fast enough.  We need your strength.”

Camila clenched her teeth, ignoring Jiao’s screams.  She didn’t want to be afraid, so she wasn’t afraid.  She grabbed the grave marker.  It burned like a kettle, but she forced herself to ignore the pain.  She was a magical girl, right?  She lifted the marker up and with a swift move slammed it through the Jiao chest.

Jiao froze, then his arms collapsed to his sides.  He looked just like a corpse now.

“Well that was fun,” Camila gasped as she took a step back.  She felt pretty beat up for a dead girl.  Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

“Aye.  Let’s hope this is a once in a lifetime thing,” Kilduff muttered.  He drew his pistol again as he stood.  “You did good though lass.  Gave me time to get close so I could ring that bell.  Now let’s go save that daft witch and call it a day.”

Camila jumped to her feet.  “Right!”

She had two minutes of movement left.  Time enough to save her friend.

The three story wreck of the old fishing cannery loomed over the streets like an abandoned temple.  The low sheet metal houses and twisting alleyways beneath its shadow were still, barring the main street.  Helena wondered if the people living here had moved, or if they’d been evicted when the Long brothers had taken the building.  It was strange for a city as crowded as the underground.

The main street in front of the cannery looked much more normal.  A few drunks and laborers sat around the front of the cannery, while demons, yaoguai and human laborers passed through every so often.  Helena did notice the people walking through gave the cannery a wide berth.

“Alright you two.  Make your preparations,” Inspector Kilduff said, as he loosened his club and pulled out a crucifix.

Helena nodded then turned to Camila.  “Okay.  Chances are the Living Dragon will distort space to separate me from you two.  They know ganging up on me ends means they’ll win.  And that ends any threat we pose.  Which means you’ll need to make a formal challenge to Long Jiao Han so that he fights you instead of double teaming me.”

“What?”  Camila blinked at her.  “Formal challenge? I supposed to say ‘My name is Camila Correia Barbosa, your brother killed me, prepare to die?”

“That’s close.  We always give our titles too, so you’ll have to make one up,” Helena said.  “If you don’t want to make up a title you can use your school or your hometown as a substitute.”

Camila laughed.  “Are you serious?”

“Very serious.  Magicians use our titles for magical contracts instead of our true names.  And a challenge is a magical contract,” Helena said. “If a challenge is given and accepted the results are binding.  The loser can’t challenge the winner again until a thousand full moons have passed.  More importantly, it means they won’t use any uncontrolled magic.  I wasn’t kidding when I said he could level a city.  No mass curses, no portals to hell, no summoning giant firestorms.  It’s a sign that we’re going to murder each other like civilized people.

“Most importantly it will both intrigue and insult the Undead Dragon.  He’ll be off balance and aggressive, which means he’ll likely try to fight you hand to hand.  If he gets away from you and starts casting spells you’ll lose,” Helena said.

“What about Kilduff?” Camila asked.

Helena looked over at the man.  “He’s good, but the Undead Dragon is better.  At least if he’s anything like his brother.  I’m sure he’ll help but…”

“Thanks for your confidence lass.  I’ll have you eating those words later,” Kilduff said.

Helena ignored the man’s boast.  “Either way you’re tougher than him.  You’re tougher than me.  We want the Undead Dragon fighting you in close, so Kilduff doesn’t get a conveyor belt dropped on him, and so I don’t get blasted by some crazy yin yang death spell the two cooked up together.” 

Camila nodded, looking serious.  “Okay.  That makes sense.  Anything else?”

“Call him the Undead Dragon when you taunt him,” Helena said.  “Acting like you’re his equal will make him furious.”

“Pretending to be that bastard’s equal’s kinda an insult to me, no?” Camila’s teeth flashed dangerously.  “But if it pisses him off sure.”

“So it’s me and the zombie girl against the dead witch, while you battle the live one?” Kilduff said.

Helena nodded.  “That’s how it’ll start.  When one of us wins we can join forces.”

“That’s gonna make it hard to protect you,” Camila said with a grimace.  “Starting to see why your friend gets so frustrated with you.”

“She’s just jealous that I’m the better fighter,” Helena lied.  “Anyway let me get ready for the battle.”

She closed her eyes, letting power flow out from her core into her body.  Her senses came alive.  The chill of the underground grew sharper, the sounds grew more distinct.  When she opened her eyes she saw further, and with more clarity than before.  And her mind and body were moving faster.  All skills she’d need to survive the coming fight.

Helena stretched out her mind and tried to get a feel for the magic in the area.  The outside of the cannery seemed fine, but then-  “A domain.  Hm, that might actually help us.”

“That’s when a witch breaks reality so your spells and fancy flying nonsense works better, isn’t it?” Kilduff muttered darkly.

“Yes.  Let’s see… eastern magic is enhanced, and physical limitations have been reduced.  We’ll all be faster and able to jump further.  They weakened guns as well,” Helena replied.

Camila hopped to get a better view of the building.  “So it’s going to be wire-fu for everyone in there?”

Helena shrugged.  “No idea what that is, but if you mean lots of flying around and hitting people yes.”

“Tch.”  Kilduff drew his club.  “Well I figured as much.  Anything else before we start the worst sting operation I’ve ever had the misfortune of planning?”

“No,” Helena said.

“Ready whenever!” Camila said.

Kilduff nodded.  “Right.  Follow me and blow the doors open when the lads pretending they’re drunks and not watchdogs get up to stop us.  That’ll scatter them.”

Camila grinned.  “Oh wow, this plan is getting lots better.”  It seemed like fun to Helena as well.

With that, Kilduff walked out towards the building.  “Police.  This area is under investigation so you chaps all run along now.”

The day laborers and drunks all stared at Kilduff wide eyed before bursting into motion.  Most just ran away, figuring they wouldn’t be the unlucky fellow who got caught.  A few of the dumber ones drew knives.

Helena took that as her signal.  She drew a scroll from her sleeve and leveled it at the doors.  “Little Spark.”

A bloody circle flared to life beneath her feet.  Energy flowed into her left hand, then released.  A burst of scintillating magic energy two feet wide cascaded from her hand.  Splinters flew into the cannery as the doors exploded.  The remnants of the entryway fell in smoldering chunks.

The lookouts wisely dropped their knives and ran.

Camila flew up next to her.  “Nice!  You should use stuff like that more.”

“People complain about the noise,” Helena said as they followed the inspector through the open portal.

The inside of the cannery had gotten some impressive remodeling.  Crates and tables were arranged around the machinery to form something that was part living quarters, part Taoist workshop.  Vases and jade statues sat next to powders and dried animal parts.  It was a bit roomy, but a good home away from home for a magician on the lamb.  The missing doors would be a problem though.

Two men were standing to meet them, both wearing Chinese robes and trousers.  One dead, the other living.

“Long Zhou Di and Long Jiao Han.  You’re under arrest for murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, illegal necromancy, and fraud,” Inspector Kilduff said.

The two brothers ignored the man.  “You could have knocked,” Zhou said to Helena.

“You sent your assassins through the window,” Helena snapped back.  “You should be grateful I used the door.”

“If you don’t give up now,” Kilduff said testily, “I will use force.”  The policeman raised his club.  It seemed he didn’t like being ignored.

Zhou sneered, then turned his focus back on Helena.  “I am Long Zhou Di, the Living Dragon.  Do you dare face my magic, witch of the west?”

Helena held her arms palm up before her.  He wanted a fight?  He would get one.  “I am Helena Aoede, the Curse Gunner.  You will rue the miserable fate that made me your enemy.”

Space began to warp around them, as their final battle began.

Helena was opening a mystic connection to Lyudmila as soon as she stepped in the room.  After only a few seconds her friend’s face appeared in the mirror.  “I take it Aoi got there?” Lyudmila asked.

“Yes and it dropped everyone’s plans into Hades,” Helena said.  “We need to figure out what’s going to happen and how to handle it.  I’ll set up the communication spell so we can all talk.”

“I’ll do it,” Lyudmila said.  “You may need to fight today.”

Helena nodded to her friend and let the other magician take over the spell.  In a moment she saw the inside of Aoi’s house, with Kseniya standing behind her sister, looking worried.

“Okay that’s way better than a phone,” Camila said.  “Can you teach me?”

“It’s a magician technique sadly,” Aoi said.  “I can’t do it either.”  She turned her attention back to the group.  “And I also can’t handle youkai hunting or monster hunting or whatever we want to call it.  That’s why I’m living here instead of home.  So why can’t we leave this to the police?”

“If the Living Dragon is letting his brother go on killing sprees he has to have a plan for when the police come for him,” Helena said.  “Most likely he’s got a backup lair away from his gang headquarters.  That way even if the police or the other Triad groups destroy his crew, he can rebuild.  He’s only in this for the money, so he doesn’t care if the gang is destroyed.”

Kseniya nodded. “I’ve sent a bird to watch the warehouse Kilduff mentioned but I think Helena’s right.  He won’t risk himself.  If the Triads are destroyed he can move back to the Middle Kingdom.”

“Can the police even beat those guys?” Camila asked.  “They got a wizard and an undead wizard.  If this were a movie all the police would get killed.”

“At full power?  The police wouldn’t stand a chance,” Helena said.  “But they’d have to level four or five blocks in the process.  Unleashing that level of destruction inside a city would bring every master magician in the realm down on them.  So if Kilduff and his team find them, they’ll have to run one way or another.  Unfortunately there’s no way a mundane police force can catch a magician that wants to run.  I have experience in that field.”

Aoi tapped her chin.  “So you think he’d flee the Immigrant Realms?  Just leave while he can?”

“Yes,” Lyudmila said.  “But they’d stay around just long enough to try to kill Helena and Camila.”

“He did seem very insistent on that challenge.”  Helena shrugged.  “Not that I mind.  I love it when my enemies make mistakes.”

Camila grinned.  “I was kinda worried we weren’t going to kick his butt into the next century.”  Her eyes darkened.  “I got a score to settle with those two.”

“That’s probably why they’ll want to kill you.  The Living Dragon knows you’re going to be hunting him,” Lyudmila remarked.

Helena nodded.  “Right.  Which is why we need to find a way to catch him soon.  His attention will be focused on the police raid.  Now’s our best time to strike.”  She’d burnt more magic than normal this morning, but the element of surprise was worth that and more.  Facing the two on equal footing was a bad plan.

“But where?  As you said, he’s not going to linger around his headquarters.  Even if the police let you join them,” Aoi pointed out.

“Did you have any luck finding where his real hideout might be?” Camila asked.

Kseniya shook her head.  “No.  We searched, but there’s just too many sources of magic in the underground to look through.  The fairies pointed out a few places with concentrated evil energy, but it’s hard to tell which one is his workshop, and which are just cursed.”

“Do you have a list of places?  Maybe we can narrow it down.” Helena said.

Lyudmila nodded.  “Kseniya looked them over, but that only gives so much information.  We’ve got a crashed airplane wing, Warehouse 4b, 4c, and 4f, a shutdown fish cannery, two shipwrecks, what looks to be a brothel and two bars.”

“Lovely,” Helena replied.  “Well we can write off the airplane wing.  I know the evil that lurks there, and I’ve already talked with her more than I want to.”

“That’s where the kumiho lives?” Aoi asked.  “I keep warning people about her but…”

Camila hopped forward.  “Wait.  What was that about fish?”

Lyudmila frowned.  “A shutdown fish cannery.  Looks like it went out of business a while ago.”

“The windows were tightly boarded up, so I couldn’t see anything,” Kseniya said.  “There wasn’t anything in the upper floors, but I couldn’t get down to the first floor.”

“You think that’s what that stupid fish guts insult actually meant?” Camila asked.

Helena considered it.  That was exactly the kind of hint that Gold Rat Wizard Hsu probably would put together.  “Kseniya, were there any squatters in the upper floors?”

“No.  No signs anyone tried to move in,” Kseniya said.  “People will loiter outside though.”

“Then that’s our target,” Helena said.  “Squatters should be all over that building.  Someone must be driving them off.  If it were just haunted Kseniya’s constructs would have noticed.”

“I don’t like it, but this might be your best option,” Lyudmila said.  “Are you sure you don’t want my help?”

“I want your help, but I don’t want my apartment firebombed.  I have to pretend I did this alone,” Helena said.  She gave her friend an apologetic smile.  “Sorry Lyudmila.”

Lyudmila sighed.  “Right.”  The green haired witch turned to Camila.  “Keep her safe please.”

“Sure thing!” Camila said.  “I’ll kill them before they kill her.”

Helena hoped that the boastful jiang-shi was able to take care of herself, but she held her peace for now.  “I’m going to get the inspector to come too.  And any other police I can gather.”

“I’ll help with that,” Aoi said.  “Assuming he hasn’t gone with the team.”

Helena paused.  A while ago she would have assumed Kilduff would be there handling matters himself.  But having seen him at work she thought she understood his thinking a little better.  “He probably won’t,” Helena said.  “He prefers situations where an arrest is possible.  Not big shootouts.  In the end he’s a cop, not a fighter.”

“Good luck then.  We’ll tell you if anything changes at either location,” Kseniya said.

Lyudmila nodded.  “And if things start looking bad, I’m helping whether you want it or not.”

Helena smiled at her friend.  “I’ll see you later Lyudmila.  Count on it.”  The mirror returned to normal as Lyudmila released the spell.

As the mirror’s image faded Camila hopped towards the door.  “Now the hardest part.”

“Somehow I think talking to the Inspector will not be the most difficult task you face today,” Aoi said.

“I was talking about getting down the stairs without flying,” Camila replied with a grin.

Aoi gave Helena a questioning look.  “I thought you gave her some of your magic, not your sense of humor.”

“It’s not nearly as dark as my sense of humor,” Helena replied as she began walking to the gathering grounds.  Though it was a good try, she silently admitted.

The strike team was in the large meeting area Helena had seen them last time, checking their weapons under Kilduff’s watchful eye.  Captain Jacobs was there rubbing his hands together and occasionally asking nonsensical questions.  Helena considered her options and decided to hold back.  The Captain’s stubborn cowardice wouldn’t help.

Fortunately the man quickly stormed off towards his office.  Helena waited until Inspector Kilduff pulled out a cigarette before walking up to him.  “Inspector, could we have a word?”

The man closed his eyes and sighed.  “What disaster is it this time?”

Aoi stepped forward.  “We know where the Living and Undead Dragons are actually hiding.  Helena was given a clue by Gold Rat Wizard Hsu, and we followed up on it.”

Kilduff took a long draw on his cigarette.  “Then where are all these lively fellows heading off to?” he asked as he pointed back at the police team.  “I know for certain that’s the brother’s current headquarters.  Spent a lot of time double checking it personally.”

“Exactly,” Helena said.  “Your team is about to hit his mafia headquarters.  Long Zhou Di and his brother are elsewhere.  He doesn’t need the Triads, or even the goods.  He’s only interested in money, and that means everything else is expendable.  He’ll let you clean out the warehouse, then steal another and start over again.”

“Why do you think he’s going to run instead of fight?”  Kilduff asked.  “He’s the big dog now, at least in his criminal mind.  You and I know the lads can beat him, but does he know?”

“That-”  Helena was interrupted by a pulse of power, but when she tried to see if someone was contacting her there was nothing.  She tried to sense what the magic did, but it was too faint.  Strange.  Maybe a hedge magician was performing a work somewhere nearby.

Shaking it off she returned to the conversation.  “That doesn’t matter.  Why take the risk?  He only cares about what other magicians think of him.  And they understand he lost because of numbers.  Only a formal challenge will keep him in place.”

Kilduff shook his head.  “Which, of course, has to come from you.”

Kseniya’s voice whispered in Helena’s ear.  “The people inside the warehouse have started moving out goods, and setting up traps.  They know the police are coming.”

Aoi stepped forward to cover for her.  “Any magician’s challenge will probably suffice.  But you lack magicians.  If I were to hire a youkai hunter-“

“No thank you.  I’ll get a priest before that,” Kilduff said.

“By the way your raid’s been compromised,” Helena said.  “My friends tell me they’re removing goods and preparing for a fight.”

Kilduff dropped the cigarette and smashed it out.  “Then you can help my men get past those traps.”

“The SWAT team getting blown up would kinda be bad,” Camila said.

“Aoi can ask Kseniya to tell them what she sees,” Helena said.  “But if you want to solve this case Inspector, come with me to the old fish cannery and help me end this.”

“I’ve told you this before lass, we have laws.”  Kilduff looked down on all of them.  “That’s the point of the police.  So people aren’t just dueling in the streets!  So that there’s some semblance of order.  Without that what’s the point of law?”

Helena stared into Kilduff’s eyes.  “I know.  I understand.  That’s why I’m asking you.  Because I need you to find out how to make this legal.  To keep this from being more than just a street duel.  You have to know you need my help.”  She pointed to Camila.  “You need our help.  You’re facing two people with the power to destroy a city, and the ability to just teleport away in an instant.  And we’re two of the twenty people in the city who can stop them.”

Kilduff frowned but the sharp gleam in his eyes was gone.  The Inspector pulled out another cigarette and looked towards the wall, deep in thought.

After a long moment Aoi said, “Inspector, the streets are about to burst.  If this were just a gang war they’d just lock their doors and pray.  But with the jiang-shi hunting people are afraid that keeping their heads down won’t be enough.  You know how hard it is to keep control when people are panicking.  I can keep Japantown from rioting, but Chinatown and any other areas Long Jian Han starts hunting in…”

“Give me some time to think girl,” Kilduff muttered.  “I’m stretching the rules as far as they go here.”

Helena felt a thrill run down her spine, and Camila clapped her on the shoulder.  Finally they were going to be able to act.

Aoi nodded.  “In that case I’ll go meet with your team so I can warn them about the traps.”  She bowed then turned to Helena and Camila.  “Good luck you two.  And be careful.”

“We will Aoi,” Helena said.

“Thanks,” Camila chirped.

As Aoi flew out Inspector Kilduff pulled out a notebook.  “Right.  Camila, you’re a target for Long Zhou Di.  Are you willing to help the police in a sting operation lass?”

“Sure thing,” Camila said.

“And that means your magical energy source has to come with you, am I right?” Kilduff said looking at Helena.

Helena nodded.  “It will help her considerably.”

“It’s a poor ruse, but it’ll hold when the devil comes to check the bill.”  The Inspector checked his side arm.  “Let’s stop by my desk and we’ll have the paperwork done.  After that… well remember you’re working with the police here.  If you can make an arrest, then we’re going to arrest them.”

“If someone manages to lose a magical duel and survive, the Moirai have obviously given them their favor,” Helena muttered. 

Camila shrugged.  “One of the guys is already dead.  I figure it won’t end ’til both of them are.”

Helena  drew mystical circles in the back lot of the police station while Camila and a number of confused police officers watched.  She checked the notes Kseniya had given her after each line, making sure the symbols were all properly aligned.  She also double checked that she understood all the symbolism in her own spellwork.  She could have finished earlier if she was just willing to cast the ritual by rote memory, but that kind of second rate sloppy magic was beneath her.  

“You said I was going to like this one.  Is it magical ritual something to dispel bureaucracy?” Camila asked.  “Or are you gonna give the chief the plague or something?”

“Kidney stones are the preferred spell for getting people out of the way,” Helena replied absently.  “But I’m afraid we’re going to have to keep waiting for the chief’s fear of inaction to beat his fear of action.  This,” Helena gestured to the circle, “is so you can stretch your muscles.”

“Eh?!”  Camila stared at the runes with renewed interest.  “I thought that spell Kseniya cast on me would only let me move for ten minutes.  I’ve been saving it for if we got jumped. It’s a pain getting help dressing myself but dying again would suck more.”

Helena nodded and smiled.  “That was good thinking.  And you’re right, Kseniya’s spell is limited, but that’s because you’re storing magic like an urn.  We can only fill it so much.  If I channel my magic into you directly you can act freely so long as I keep the spell going.  Unfortunately I have to stay in the circle, so it’s useless for day to day activities”  Helena stepped into the web of lines.  “But I can give you some time to stretch and practice.”

“Really?”  Camila’s eyes lit up.  “All right!  What do I have to do?!”

“Just let the magic flow through you,” Helena said.  “The rest should come naturally.”

“Okay!”  Camila closed her eyes and held her breath.

Helena smirked as she started activating the spell.  Camila’s excitement would impede the connection, but Helena guessed her new friend would figure out how to accept the magic.  She turned to focus on her own breathing, letting her power spill out and infuse the circle around her.  Transforming the potential energy into someone else’s power.  Stripping the parts that were ‘her’ away.

Transferring the magic was easy.  Helena’s concept of magic was very distant from Camila’s but the connection between them made the spell natural.  Power was just supposed to transfer from Helena to Camila.  Like a freshwater lake feeding a saltwater bay.

Camila shivered as the energy flowed into her, then the woman slowly stretched her arms towards the sky.  Pops and snaps resounded as the woman’s joints bent for the first time in years.  Helena idly wondered if that was a magical sign of the power working, or an actual physical reaction in Camila’s body.

Either way, Camila smiled widely.  “All right!  I feel great!”  The dark skinned woman bent her elbows a few times, marveling at the motions, then sprung right into a cartwheel.  “Woohoo!”  Helena smiled at the woman’s antics, then her jaw dropped as Camila went straight from her cartwheel to a series of kicks.

Helena watched appreciatively as Camila went through a routine that was half acrobatic dance, half martial art kata.  She’d seen a number of martial styles through her life, but this one seemed different.  Many styles conserved movement.  This one embraced it.

A crowd started to gather as Camila practiced.  Off duty police officers and workers mostly.  But it was sparse enough that Helena wasn’t worried about an assassin.  Instead she decided to see how ready Camila was for a confrontation.  “Very nice!  Now try it while flying!”

Camila’s eyes flew wide open at the suggestion.  Then the woman laughed.  With a quick run forward, she did a backwards flip into the air and stayed there.  The jiang-shi woman took a few hesitant floaty steps in the air back and forth, before springing into action again.

This time Helena could make out more of the woman’s technique.  Helena had a lot more experience with aerial battles.  She preferred fighting at a distance herself, but a few mages liked to get in and fight up close.  And almost everyone else who fought against a magician tried to fight hand to hand.

Based on past battles she could tell Camila was very good.  Unnaturally so.  The woman was still adjusting to fighting in three dimensions, but her sudden turns in the air and attacks above and below her showed that she understood the fundamentals.  Perhaps this was her talent?  Or maybe Camila remembered some battles from when she was being used as an assassin.  Either way Helena was impressed.  Camila might be more than just a distraction in a mage duel.

Still she couldn’t help but feel there was something off about Camila’s attacks and dodges.  Something big.  Unfortunately she was still an amateur at melee combat.  She stared at Camila’s movements, but she couldn’t separate what was strange about Camila’s strategy from her unique fighting style.

A sudden mystic presence jolted her from her thoughts.  She looked down at the crowd, then relaxed as she saw Aoi walking towards her.  “Hello, Aoi,” she called out.

“Helena,” Aoi said.  The shrine maiden’s hair was mussed and she looked tired.  “We’ve got a problem.”

“What happened?” Helena asked as she waved Camila back down to the ground.  “You look like you forgot to sleep for a week.”

Aoi shook her head.  “I wish.”

“Eh?  Something happen?” Camila asked as she dropped down beside them.

“I had to kill three of Long Jiao Han’s servitor jiang-shi,” Aoi said.  “He’s started hunting.”  Helena flinched.  The woman was a powerful spiritualist, but she hated combat.  Having to fight, even against outmatched foes, would make Aoi ill.

Helena patted her friend on the shoulder.  “Let’s go see the captain then.  I was at my limit anyway.”

Camila’s expression fell, but she sighed and nodded.  “Too bad.  Guess it had to end sometime.”  She shook her arms.  “Back to rigor mortis.”

“Sorry,” Helena said as she stepped out of the circle.

Another shiver crawled over Camila, and the woman grimaced.  Her arms popped back up before her, and her knees locked as well.  Camila sighed and looked wistfully back at the practice field.  “Next time.”

Helena wanted to offer some comfort to the jiang-shi woman, but she was still worried about Aoi.  “So do you think the fools will listen to us now?”

“Yes.  I think this might force him to act.”  Aoi rubbed her forehead.  “At least I hope so.”

“If you have more problems like that you can ask Lyudmila and Kseniya for help,” Helena offered.  Unlike Aoi both of them were fighters.

Aoi gave a ragged sigh.  “I’ll consider it.  Right now they’re searching through all the leads we found.”

“Well let’s go yell at that crooked captain then,” Camila said.  “Then I can practice for fun, and you two don’t have to worry about zombies going for your brains.”

Aoi managed a smile.  “Yes.  It was a very impressive display by the way.  You’re quite the martial artist.  And it’s a very interesting school.”

Camila nodded as they began walking back into the police station.  “Capoeira.  It’s a style created by slaves in Brazil to break out.  Revolt kinda didn’t work, but it still gave people a way to fight back.  A maestre can fight even with their hands chained.”

“Interesting.  It’s strange The Living Dragon would pick a style that’s so incompatible with a jiang-shi’s physiology,” Helena muttered.  “Knowledge of kicks would be useful, but the acrobatics are impossible with locked joints.”

“Maybe you can ask him after we kill him,” Camila offered.

Helena considered it.  “Maybe.  Ghosts of magicians are harder to bind.”

Camila blinked a few times.  “Like, that was a joke, right?”

“Helena specializes in necromancy,” Aoi replied.

Helena forced herself not to smile as Camila gave her one of those ‘I’m not sure what I’ve gotten myself into’ looks.  As her teacher had said, ‘if people aren’t a little worried about you, you aren’t a proper witch.’

Aoi led them into the new building, brushing past the front desk.  “Ms. Hoshimi!” the man called.  “The captain is-“

“My apologies, but it can’t wait,” Aoi replied as she pressed on.

“You can do that?” Helena asked.

“You can if you’re considered a public representative of Japantown,” Aoi replied.

Camila gave Helena a surprised look, while Helena shrugged.  Aoi had more power than she let on in the community.  Apparently the police recognized that.

Captain Jacobs and Kilduff were in the back, meeting with another man in a police uniform.  From the unhappy look on Jacobs’ face, the meeting was going poorly.

Aoi’s arrival brought a light of hope to the Captain’s eyes.  “Ms. Hoshimi!  Forgive me Commissioner but I need to-“

The Commissioner dashed those hopes immediately.  “It’s fine.  You can meet with her right here.  In fact I insist.  I’d like to see how you run this precinct.”  Helena could tell from the man’s inflection this was more of a threat than an idle whim.

“How can I help you, Ms. Hoshimi?” the Captain asked Aoi.

“We’ve found three bodies in the alleys,” Aoi stated simply.  “A night watchman and two homeless men.  All three were drained of chi, and hidden under a dumpster.  The bodies were reanimating when they were found, so I had to destroy them.  Your police are inspecting, but I imagine it will take them some time to reconstruct the scene.”

Captain Jacobs groaned.  “Was there no way to stop them without destroying the bodies?  You know how hard it is to handle investigations when-“

“Captain,” Aoi interrupted softly.  “There is a jiang-shi hunting in our city.  One that raises its victims as undead.  I’ve had four different community members speak to me about hiring a youkai exterminator, and the town is becoming rife with people selling mystic talismans.  If something isn’t done soon, the people will turn to a vigilante.  I hear that Chinatown has already called a hunter from their home realms.”

The Captain’s face was pale as he absorbed the information.  The Commissioner however moved forward.  “So, what’s a jiang-shi?  And who are you two?”  He pointed at Helena and Camila.

“That’s the specialist and the rescued hostage from the Liang case, Sir,” Kilduff said.  “And a jiang-shi is some Oriental zombie thing that eats lifeforce out of people.  The girl Camila here is one as well.”

The Commissioner’s eyes hardened.  “I see.  And you know why this monster is hunting people then Ms. Specialist?”

“Curse Gunner, Helena Aoede,” Helena said.  “And yes.  I told the captain already.  The Undead Dragon, Long Jiao Han, requires more chi than a normal jiang-shi to use his magic.  And since Long Zhou Di  is not going to drain himself dry so his brother can perform experiments, the obvious choice is to get the power from living beings.  He’s probably killed even more in the underground.  You just haven’t found the corpses yet.”

“When will the killing stop?” the Commissioner asked.

“When they’re dead or imprisoned,” Helena replied.  “Asking a mage to live without magic is impossible.  Long Jiao Han will need lives to fuel his spellcasting, and he will not hesitate to take them until someone stops him.”

The Commissioner whirled on Captain Jacobs.  “So why haven’t you gone and stopped this madman?!”

“After the last failed raid their lawyers were all over us,” Captain Jacobs sputtered.  “With the lawsuits against the city-“

“If you don’t handle that nonsense now we’ll have a complete breakdown in the law!” the Commissioner shouted.  “The lawyers can piss and moan all day long, if you keep sitting on your ass there won’t be a police precinct here!  I have half the city council on my ass because of Xiao Liang’s murder.  If they hear some backwater sellsword or masked comic book fan caught him, we’ll be out of a job!  And I mean we, because I’m not going down by myself!”

Inspector Kilduff coughed.  “Well, we can have a tactical team there in about an hour if you want.”

“Do it!” the Commissioner yelled.  Kilduff nodded and was out the back a second after.

“Finally,” Camila said.  “We get to hit those bastards where they live!”

Helena saw the thundercloud brewing on the Captain’s forehead and sighed.  “I bet we don’t.”

“Damn right,” Jacobs said.  “You’re a hired specialist and a witness, not SWAT team members.  We’ll handle it.”

“Of course,” Helena replied.  “We’ll just go back to our room.  Do you want to join us Aoi?”

Aoi nodded.  “Yes.  Thank you.  I’ll have to give my report about the bodies later, so I’ll wait there.”

As Helena led the three away from the two police officers Camila leaned over her shoulder.  “You aren’t gonna just let them handle it right?  We aren’t missing out on getting revenge right?”

“Not a chance,” Helena muttered.  “We’re going to put together a plan to fix everything when the police mess up.”

She was certain they’d need it too.  There was no way a simple raid would end this.

Camila shifted as much as her body let her against the couch.  She couldn’t stretch like she wanted to, because then her arms and legs would pop straight again.  But she could wriggle a bit to get more comfortable.

Or to get less comfortable.  Honestly she didn’t really care.  Just being able to feel and think again was nice.  The couch she was lying on wasn’t very soft, and unlike Helena she didn’t fit completely on it.  But it was a welcome change from the nothingness that filled her before.  She could almost feel normal like this.

Normal was a weird word though.  Her eyes were closed, but she could still see the room.  In fact she could see better like this.  It was almost 360 vision.  All because of her creepy ‘chi drinking’ power.  She was pretty sure the human brain wasn’t set up to see like that.  And yet it felt totally normal.  Like she’d been built to do that.

A spike of anger bubbled towards her consciousness, and she let it fill her.  She had been built for that hadn’t she?  Made her a better killing machine.  A machine made out of her body and soul, stitched back together by some asshole.

She tossed out the anger before she could get really worked up about it.  That was weirdly normal too.  Futzing around with her emotions, like playlists she could swap between.  That Kseniya girl had given her the power and understanding to do that.

And it honestly scared her.

With a grimace she forced herself to accept the fear.  That was an emotion she probably shouldn’t leave bottled up.  Even if it made her guts churn.  But she wasn’t sure how much to accept.  Or how much she could accept.  Letting fear control her wasn’t right either.

Her grief had been easier to accept.  She’d spent a good half day yesterday going through bouts of crying.  Mourning the life she’d lost.  Her parents had to be miserable too, not knowing what happened to her.  Just the thought sent sorrow bubbling up, but she let it simmer below the fear.  She could only spare a few tears now.  The feelings didn’t bite as deep as they had before anyway.

No, fear was what she had to work through.  It was a little weird to be thinking about fear, since she was apparently an invincible killing machine now.  There wasn’t much that could hurt her.  And she didn’t need to worry about her soul or anything.  She objectively had one and it was safely preserved in her corpse.

But her mind was still a mess.  That bastard had used her as a puppet.  And even now that she was free the strings were still there, waiting for someone else to grab them.  To shut off her emotions and send her back into the darkness.

That was one of the reasons she wasn’t sleeping much.  It was a good thing she didn’t need much sleep now that she was dead.  The blackness of sleep was too much like the darkness that surrounded her when that bastard shut her off.  There was only one difference.  The one thing that let her sleep at all honestly.  The strange link that bound her magically to her new friend.

She let her ‘vision’ focus on Helena.  The magician had been scribbling out circles in those ugly hieroglyphs and muttering to herself for the past hour or so.  Camila had felt the connection even before they’d made that pact, but now that they’d swapped powers, the link was more obvious.  It wasn’t annoying, but when she slept, when nothingness filled her mind, that link was still there.  A rope reminding her she could come back to reality when she was done resting.

Camila hadn’t told Helena of course.  Given how badly the woman had freaked out when she’d thought she ‘controlled’ Camila, even indirectly, it seemed like a bad idea.  It was kinda sweet how much the witch cared about freedom.  Camila owed the woman a lot.  Not only had Helena freed her, the magician was sacrificing some of her power to keep Camila sane and alive.  Well, keep her undead anyway.  She wasn’t going to let Helena worry about any more of her problems

  She forced herself to breathe, even though the air didn’t really matter.  Breathing was supposed to calm people down right?  And she should try to calm down naturally, instead of just shoving her emotions down unnaturally.

That there was the source of her problems.  She couldn’t tell what was unnatural and what was natural.  Okay, she knew which was which for a human, but she wasn’t human anymore.  No matter how human she felt.  And that scared her.  Why wouldn’t it?

Helena finished scribbling down whatever she was putting together and smiled in triumph.  Seemed her new friend had an idea.  Camila let her eyes open.

“Alright,” Helena turned to Camila and waved the paper she’d been scribbling on.  “I think I have something that will help.  Want to try it out?”

“Sounds better than just lying here.”  Camila let her arms and legs pop straight, then levitated off the couch and onto her feet.  Then she took a moment to clear away the fear.  She had a hard time figuring out what was normal, but she was really clear on what wasn’t normal.  The fight that was coming up was gonna be something straight out of a cartoon.  And unlike some idiots she wasn’t gonna be trying to work through her emotional issues in the middle of a fight.

Helena grabbed some chalk then headed out the door.  “We should probably use the parking lot for this.”

“Oh a big spell?”  Camila was curious.  Most of Helena’s magic had been quick magic.

“Yep.  And I think you’ll really like this one.”