I was having an amazing day.

Truly spectacular.

Peak existence.

Ten out of ten.

Would live again.

First of all, I got to argue with Kent for an entire hour. An entire hour and, naturally, I won every round. He tried to argue that rabbits could be used as rocket-propelled weapons, and honestly, by the end of it, I wasn't sure if he was stupid or a genius. Either way, victory tasted sweet.

Then came the best part.

Belle.

Belle.

I watched her walk onto that stage like a goddess dipped in midnight. Her coat, her blindfold, her aura, everything about her screamed "I could kill you with a thought," and I, being the sane, rational girl that I was, adored her for it.

And then, oh gods, she released her aura.

That death aura washed over us like a storm of pure magnificence.

Students collapsed, cried, shook, and probably peed themselves. I didn't care. I was too busy smiling like an idiot. The way it felt, like invisible hands pressing against my skin, wrapping around me in a cold, suffocating, divine embrace

UGH.

Heaven.

Pure heaven.

I, Nora von Velkaris, proudly declared, at least in my heart, that I was a fangirl.

No shame.

Absolutely none.

If worshipping Belle was wrong, I didn't want to be right.

And then the fog came.

Black and wispy, curling around my body like a gift from the gods. I almost cried from happiness. Belle's aura had touched me. Belle's magic had wrapped around me. Belle had, well, unintentionally teleported me, but that was beside the point.

I didn't even resist.

Why would I?

Belle says "fade," and I fade.

Belle says "die," and… well, okay, maybe not that one, but still.

Loyalty.

Then the world snapped.

And suddenly...

I was falling.

No Belle.

No warm death aura.

No majestic blindfold.

Just a demonic forest full of nightmare trees with faces that looked like they wanted to eat my soul. The branches twisted like arms reaching for me, the roots squelched with algae, and the entire place smelled like rot and sadness.

I landed in a puddle.

A disgusting one.

And all I could think was:

"Seriously? Belle finally does something cool, and I don't even get a full minute of it."

I sighed dramatically, brushing dirt off my clothes.

Monsters?

Haunted trees?

Possible death?

Didn't care.

I just wanted Belle back.

I checked the band on my wrist, tapped the little map icon, and watched the hologram flicker up. A red dot pulsed not too far from me.

Probably my teammates.

Or something else entirely.

But hey...optimism.

So I started running.

Monsters popped out every so often, because of course they did, but I just froze or burned them depending on my mood.

A little frostbite here.

A casual fireball there.

Stress relief.

A full minute of sprinting later, something teleported right in front of me.

Like, right in front of me.

My instincts didn't ask questions.

My leg moved before my brain did.

I kicked.

Hard.

And all I caught before impact was a flash of silver hair.

BOOM.

The poor soul went flying like a ragdoll shot out of a divine cannon. He crashed through three no, four? trees, splintering bark like it owed him money.

But before he could slam into the ground like nature's punching bag, he vanished.

Teleportation again.

He reappeared mid-air, floating just in front of me, completely defying gravity and also basic self-preservation.

I skidded to a halt and blinked up at him.

Tall.

My age.

Slim but athletic.

Silver hair, same eyes.

Annoyance cranked to maximum.

Kent.

He stared at me with the saddest, most betrayed expression I had EVER seen on a human being.

"Why," he said, voice wobbling like he'd just been punted by God herself, "did you kick me like that?"

I threw my hands up. "Why did you teleport into my face, you crazy bastard?! Who does that?!"

"I was trying to regroup!" he snapped.

"Regroup by materialising inside my personal space?!"

"I wasn't inside your—Nora, you nearly shattered my ribs!"

"You teleported into my kicking radius! That's on you!"

He gawked at me. "Who even HAS a kicking radius?!"

"I do! It's a very well-defined circle! Highly respected!"

"It's a danger zone! That's what it is!"

"Then don't enter it unannounced!"

He dragged a hand down his face. "I literally yelled your name."

I paused.

…Had he?

Nope. Didn't matter.

"I was occupied!" I declared.

"With what?! Breathing??"

"With SURVIVAL, Kent! This forest is haunted!"

"You weren't even looking around! You were humming!"

"So what?! I can hum and survive!"

"Not if you're busy drop-kicking your allies out of orbit!"

"At least I'm consistent!"

He threw his arms up. "Consistently violent!"

"That's a skill!"

"No, IT'S NOT!"

We both glared at each other.

The forest creaked ominously around us.

Somewhere in the distance, something roared.

The trees with faces did their creepy tree-face thing.

But Kent and I? Locked in the world's dumbest standoff.

Finally, he pointed accusingly at me. "You owe me an apology."

I scoffed. "You owe me a warning before teleporting into my line of fire, also known as everything in front of me."

"That is not how teamwork works!"

"That is EXACTLY how teamwork works! Step one: don't get kicked. Step two: don't DIE."

"Step three," he shot back, "don't attack your teammates like they're discount monsters!"

"Not my fault you have the same energy as a discount monster!"

His jaw dropped. "I...you THAT IS SLANDER."

"Take it up with your face."

"My face is FINE!"

"Then stop putting it in punching range!"

He threw his head back like he was praying for divine intervention or maybe just a refund on his life choices. "You are impossible."

"And you're dramatic," I said, crossing my arms. "Now come on. The others are close."

He muttered something under his breath about "violent gremlins" and "no respect for teleportation safety protocols."

I pretended not to hear him.

Kent teleported us a few more times, mostly because I refused to run after nearly kicking him into space and soon we burst out of the cursed forest into a clearing.

And there she was.

Annalise.

Just… standing there like some serene forest spirit who was way too comfortable in a place filled with demonic trees.

Hundreds, literally hundreds of blue strings floated around her, weaving in lazy spirals. The air shimmered with them. They hummed softly, like they were all breathing together. And Annalise?

She looked peaceful.

Eyes closed.

Shoulders relaxed.

Wearing this tiny little smile like she'd just taken a really good nap instead of being dumped in a murder forest.

Kent and I exchanged a look.

How?

Why?

Is she okay?

Is she possessed?

Should we poke her with a stick?

All valid questions, especially the last one.

I opened my mouth to say something, maybe a greeting, maybe "please tell me you're not summoning a demon" but Annalise suddenly snapped her head forward.

Hard.

Her brown eyes shot open, glowing faintly with that unsettling calm she always had.

Kent and I turned to follow her gaze.

And instantly wished we hadn't.

Because the forest wasn't just rustling.

It wasn't just shaking.

The entire thing was charging toward us.

Trees toppled.

Branches snapped.

Creatures screeched.

Even the weird face-trees were sprinting like they had legs made of nightmares.

It looked like a stampede out of a kids' animated movie; it looked like the perfect place to kill the protagonist's lion father.

A magical, horrible, oh-god-we're-dead stampede.

Hmmm, should I take script writing as my major? Aren't I a genius in this?

Kent made a strangled noise. "Nora...what...why are the TREES RUNNING?"

"Why are you asking me?!" I yelled. "Do I look like the Tree Whisperer?!"

We both slowly turned back toward Annalise.

She still stood there.

Perfectly still.

Totally calm.

Not even blinking.

I expected her to summon a barrier.

Or start weaving those blue strings into a spell.

Or say something mystical and comforting like "do not fear."

She did none of that.

Instead...

She lifted both hands.

Raised both middle fingers.

And flipped off the oncoming wall of forest-hell.

I blinked.

Kent blinked harder.

"…was that… did she just"

"Yes," I breathed. "She absolutely did."

The trees roared louder, but Annalise didn't even twitch. Her little serene smile returned, like flipping off imminent destruction was a form of meditation.

Kent leaned toward me. "Was she… always like this?"

"Yes," I said. "Unfortunately, yes."

The ground shook as the forest drew closer.

Annalise just kept flipping it off, clearly not caring about anything.

Calm.

Peaceful.

Middle fingers steady like divine antennas broadcasting pure disrespect.

I whispered, "I think she's my hero."

Kent muttered, "I think she's terrifying."

The forest shook again.

Annalise exhaled softly.

She lowered her hands, magically made a sword out of those blue strings, and tightened her grip on the blue magical string sword like she was about to cast the world's rudest spell.

I swallowed.

"Oh," I said. "This is gonna be good."

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