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Queen Annabeth sat on a chair with her dog, Squishy, resting on her lap. She stroked the creature’s back as she stared at the projection floating above her table. On it, there was a live news report about a train derailment. For some unknown reason—to the public—the train driver had accelerated the train, driving it off the tracks and into a building. A popular news reporter, Chris Hardfacts, was on the case. As an awakener with the talent of reading the past, the general public could count on him to deliver the truth of the trainwreck: whether it was a bizarre accident, a planned terrorist attack, or some other whacky reason.
Chris was wearing a black suit with a red tie. He was standing not too far away from the scene of the wreck, as close as he could get before being stopped by yellow tape. His eyes were closed, and both his arms were stretched out towards the sky as if he were making the letter “Y”; it was his signature divining pose. His eyes flashed open, and he spoke directly into the camera as he lowered his arms. “How senseless,” he said and let out a sigh, his face becoming downcast as he angled his head towards the ground. “A needless waste of lives.” He sighed again and shook his head. “The driver had his heart broken by a woman. As a talentless, he wasn’t good at regulating his emotions, and instead of bouncing back from his divorce, he turned down a dark path. Since he was suffering, he wanted to spread as much suffering to the world as he could, so others would feel the same despair as him. He derailed the train on purpose, killing himself and countless innocent people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Queen Annabeth nodded to herself and shut off the projection. As an agent of Monarch, Chris Hardfacts had done his job well—like the countless other times his services were required. The aged queen pressed a button on the device located not too far away from her hand on the table. “Tell Wendy everything has been taken care of,” she said. “Don’t let this little event get in the way of the plan.” She lifted her finger off the button and leaned back in her seat, staring up at the ceiling with a blank expression, her hands resting on the Pomeranian in her lap. After a while, she smiled and chuckled to herself, her laughter echoing throughout the room.
***
Sam dug out a glob of earwax from his left ear with his pinky finger. He wasn’t quite sure why his ear was so itchy; maybe, it had something to do with feeling guilty. Sam pressed the nail of his thumb against his pinky and flicked, sending the glob of sticky earwax underneath the seat in front of him.
“That’s disgusting,” Wendy said from her spot beside Sam in the back of the car. “Don’t do that.”
“Oh, uh, sorry,” Sam said, glancing at the floor of the car. Should he pick the earwax back up? He wasn’t quite sure. He shot a glance at the disguised woman, but it was hard to tell what she was thinking since she had the resting face of a witch spelled with a “B”. The space between his eyebrows tingled, and Sam raised his head. The driver was looking at him through the rearview mirror; at least, Sam assumed the driver was looking at him. The driver was wearing a pair of reflective sunglasses, making it impossible to see his eyes.
Sam turned his head away and looked out the window. After the train had derailed, the duo needed another way to reach Et Serpentium, and what better way to travel than through an explosion-powered vehicle designed hundreds of years ago? As they left the city, the scenery changed from a bland, concrete, whitish-gray region to a bleak, yellowish wasteland. A furrow appeared on Sam’s brow as he turned to look at Wendy. “Why didn’t we just wait for the next train?”
“Some people are good at uncovering the truth,” Wendy said, glancing at the driver through the rearview mirror. The man pressed on a button, and a metal shutter descended, separating him from his passengers and isolating the sound as well. “If they discover we survived a trainwreck and boarded a second train, we’ll be people of interest.”
Sam nodded. He had noticed it earlier, but Wendy was an awfully careful individual. Considering she had showed up in an instant after the queen’s scepter had been converted into a ferret back in the hospital room, and considering James had been surprised Wendy would personally take on a mission as well, perhaps she was the queen’s personal bodyguard? It’d make sense for Wendy to be cautious; she was protecting a living fossil after all. Who knew how delicate an almost-four-centuries-old individual was? If a harsh wind blew and knocked the queen down, Sam wouldn’t be surprised if Monarch lost their CEO.
Sam’s clothes rustled, and Raindu popped its head out of Sam’s shirt collar. The ferret looked around before leaning over and touching the car window. A keychain with plenty of keys appeared in its front paws.
Wendy’s mouth twitched. “Don’t tell me those are—”
Rubber screeched outside, and the car swerved wildly, flinging Sam towards Wendy. If he was a responsible individual who had worn a seatbelt in the backseat, perhaps he would’ve remained in place, but alas, he had chosen to walk the edge between life and death. Sam’s body landed on top of Wendy’s in a compromising position. At that moment, the metal shutters separating the passengers from the driver rose back into the car’s ceiling. The driver looked through the rearview mirror and froze upon seeing where Sam’s hand was placed.
“I didn’t see anything,” the sunglasses-wearing man said before Sam or Wendy could respond. “I’m legally blind, I swear.”
The shutter came down as quickly as it had risen, locking into place with a metallic click. Wendy’s expression darkened as shoved Sam, his body flying through the air before striking the car door. She glared at him before pounding on the metal shutter, blasting a fist-sized hole through it. Red strands shot out of her fingertips and wrapped around the keys Raindu was holding, and with a jerk of her wrist, the keys flew out of the startled ferret’s grasp and through the shutter’s hole to the driver up front. “Keep driving.”
“Yes, ma’am!” the driver said as the car’s engine roared back to life.
“As for you two,” Wendy said, glaring at Sam and Raindu. She held her hand out towards the hole in the metal shutter. Grinding sounds rang out as the shutter was forced shut, a droplet of blood slowly leaking from Wendy’s nostril, drawing a red line above her lips. “I know you’re having fun testing your new talent, but can you stop endangering our lives?”
“Several people died in the car accident just now too, so it wasn’t just our lives,” the driver said from upfront. Evidently, there was still a patch in the shutter that Wendy had missed. “I’d also like to inform you I can still hear your conversation, ma’am.”
Wendy pursed her lips, and Sam mustered the courage to put on an awkward smile. “At least he has good hearing, right?” Sam asked. “It’s probably how he drives so well despite being blind.”
Wendy raised a fist. “I’m going to punch your shoulder,” she said.
Sam blinked, his gaze subconsciously wandering towards the marred metal shutter. If she punched him as hard as she punched the shutter, he’d lose an arm or possibly even his life! “Wait!” he said as the disguised woman drew her arm back. “Can’t we talk this through? I didn’t mean to touch you there! It was an accident!”
Wendy exhaled as her fist shot forward.
“Hiiiik!” Sam let out a girlish cry as he threw his body to the side, into the driver’s seat. Wendy’s fist grazed his arm, and Sam scrambled to ready himself for another attack. It didn’t come.
Wendy withdrew her fist and spread her hand open. She stared at her fingers before looking at Sam. “Your Muladhara is unlocked and brimming with energy,” she said in an accusing tone. Her eyes narrowed at Sam. “Did you lie to me about your chakra progress?”
“Muladhara?” Sam asked and touched his shoulder. Despite being grazed by a fist that could tear through metal, his skin didn’t even have a scratch. “That’s my root chakra, right?” He glanced down at his body. “It’s unlocked? But how?”
Wendy frowned before narrowing her eyes at the black ferret, who was staring at the side of the car—perhaps it wanted to steal some keys from an ignition again. Wendy raised her hand, closing off the little gap left behind in the metal shutter and wiped at her bleeding nose. “It must be Raindu,” she said. “Her Majesty’s scepter was made of mahogany obsidian, a gemstone helpful for unblocking the Muladhara during meditation.”
Sam’s brow furrowed as he thought back to the time he had robbed the queen of her scepter. It had felt like something rushed up his arm, through his body, and into his crotch where the root chakra was located. Sam glanced down at Raindu, and the ferret looked back up at him before lunging upwards and biting his nose, causing Sam’s eyes to widen. He drew his neck back and shook his head, shaking himself free. “What was that for?” he asked, clutching his bruised nose.
Raindu pointed at Wendy and chattered.
Sam’s expression darkened. “You expect me to stop her from taking back what you stole? Are you crazy?” he asked. “Just look at her; I’ll die, okay?” He raised his head and met with Wendy’s stony gaze. “I, uh, mean that in the nicest way possible.”
“Of course,” Wendy said, nodding her head. “I’m not a petty person.”
In Sam’s limited experience, that’s what petty people tended to say. Then again, perhaps most talentless were petty because they didn’t have much to cling to, and those were the people he was used to interacting with. An awkward smile appeared on Sam’s lips, and he scratched the back of his head. “So, uh, about the Muladria—”
“Muladhara,” Wendy said.
“Right, the Muladhara,” Sam said. “What do I get for unlocking it?”
“The basics,” Wendy said. “Unlocking the root chakra allows your intentions to take form.”
Sam nodded. “You mentioned that before,” he said. “Manifesting an intent, right?” He raised an eyebrow. “What exactly does that mean?”
“When you want to do something, an intention forms,” Wendy said, “but where?”
Sam frowned. “I’ll be honest with you,” he said. “I wasn’t a very good student. Teachers gave up on asking me questions because I’ve perfected the art of staring blankly and responding slowly.”
Wendy frowned. “Uncouth boor,” she said in a low voice but not low enough for Sam to not hear what she was saying. Wendy exhaled. “Unlocking the Muladhara lets you hit harder and get hit harder.”
Sam nodded. Perfect. Now, Wendy was talking in terms he could comprehend. “And this happens naturally?”
“No,” Wendy said. “You have to think about it.”
“I have to think about hitting harder?”
“Precisely,” Wendy said. “That’s intent.” She glanced at Sam’s shoulder, the spot she had grazed with her fist. “You also have to think about not getting hurt. Even though you’ve unlocked the Muladhara, you’re still susceptible to ambushes.”
Sam nodded again. “Does intent only work on attacking?” he asked. “What about jumping higher?”
“No,” Wendy said. “The Muladhara only grants you access to the very basic usages of intent. Unlocking the other chakras will allow you to do more with your intent—like jumping higher or running faster.”
Sam recalled the time Wendy appeared out of nowhere in the hospital room. “Can you become invisible with intent too?”
“To an extent,” Wendy said. “If you unlock your crown chakra, the Sahasrara, you can walk around with the intention of not being spotted. Only those who’ve unlocked their third-eye chakra, the Ajna, can locate you if they look around with an intent to see through falsehoods.”
Sam wet his lips with his tongue. “So, every awakener can become invisible, and every awakener can see invisible people? So, what? Is it only good for bullying the talentless?”
“Not quite. The average awakener unlocks two to three chakras within their lifetime,” Wendy said, glancing at Raindu before looking Sam in the eyes. “The more time you spend on a chakra, the stronger the base abilities of that chakra become. Generally, awakeners specialize in one to three chakras.” Her eyes narrowed. “It’s rude to ask what chakras a person is working on, so don’t.”
Sam shut his mouth. “Does that mean I should keep working on my root chakra?” he asked, glancing down at his crotch. He raised his head to look at Wendy. “How exactly do I do that?”
“You need gemstones or monster cores,” Wendy said. “Absorbing the power inside them during meditation will improve your chakra, but the chakra and gemstone have to match.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a red stone with rough edges. “Try holding this.”
Sam held out his palm, and Wendy placed the stone in his hand. Raindu scampered out of Sam’s collar, down his arm, and up to the red rock. The ferret lifted the stone, and with a harrumphing sound, it threw the rock onto the car seat and crossed its front legs over its chest.
Sam blinked before looking at Wendy. “I don’t think Raindu’s going to let me do that.”
Wendy glanced at the fallen rock before picking it up, putting it back inside her pocket. “Doesn’t seem like it,” she said and looked at Sam. For some reason, despite her scowl, he thought she was smiling.
“Then, what do I do?” Sam asked.
Wendy shrugged. “That’s not a problem I’ve had to deal with,” she said. “Try training your ferret. Maybe he’ll let you absorb some stones if you bribe him with candy.”
Sam looked at Raindu, and the ferret shook its head. He let out a sigh and looked at the disguised woman. “No other options?”
“You can do it the old-fashioned way,” Wendy said.
“And that is…?”
“Weave some fire ants into a glove and put your hands inside,” Wendy said with a straight face. “You have to dance and chant around a fire while wearing them for several hours.”
Sam blinked, his expression turning blank. “Excuse me, what?” he asked. “How does that help my root chakra?”
Wendy shrugged. “Unlike you, I can absorb gemstones and cores, so I didn’t look into the fire-ant method in detail, but it definitely works,” she said. “Monarch has conclusive evidence.”
Of course, Monarch would have evidence. If they were willing to implant monster cores into talentless to create artificial awakeners, why wouldn’t they shove people’s hands into mittens made of fire ants to see if their chakras would expand? Enlarge? Sam wasn’t quite sure what the term was when it came to getting stronger through chakras. Sam’s brow furrowed as he asked, “How effective is that method?”
Wendy blinked. “You’re actually thinking of trying it?” she asked. “You’re braver than I gave you credit for.” She placed two fingers against her right temple and closed her eyes. A second later, she opened them. “When we return, those ant gloves will be waiting for you.”
Sam’s mouth dried in real time as he stared at the droplet of blood leaking from Wendy’s nostril. He wanted to tell her to cancel the gloves, but her nose was already bleeding from sending the first message. He’d feel awful if he made her nosebleed even worse, but at the same time, he really didn’t want to stick his hands in a glove full of fire ants. So, he did what any socially awkward person would do; he kept his mouth shut. He’d think of a method to worm his way out of putting on the gloves later. Maybe he’d lose his hands on this mission; how perfect would that be? Prosthetic limbs were supposed to be real good nowadays.
Wendy glanced out the window, and she readjusted her posture, turning her head to hide the smile on her face. It was the type of smile a petty person would make after settling their grievances. “We’re almost there.”
“Already?” Sam asked, looking behind himself. At some point, a multi-colored forest had appeared. “I thought it takes three days by train to reach Reptile Land, err, Et Serpentium.”
“Did you think we were going to take a car the whole way there?” Wendy asked. “We’re going to cut through the spectral jungle.”
Sam swallowed. “Wait,” he said. “The spectral jungle? Why in the world are we going through there? I heard no one ever comes back after entering.”
“For the talentless, that’s true,” Wendy said as she opened the car door and stepped outside onto the dirt.
Sam swallowed, hesitating as he grasped the door’s handle. He gritted his teeth and exited the vehicle. As he ran past the driver’s window, the sunglasses-wearing man waved. “Good luck!” the driver said. He cupped his hand over his mouth to project his voice. “Use protection!”
Sam tripped over a pebble, and he turned to glare at the driver, but the car was already reversing as if the inhabitant wanted nothing to do with the gray-leaved jungle covered in cobwebs ahead. To be fair, Sam wanted nothing to do with it either. Who in their right mind would willing enter a place officially named the spectral jungle and unofficially nicknamed the dead fool’s forest? Only a dead fool, that’s who. Raindu crawled out of Sam’s shirt, took one look at the ominous trees and moss-covered timber covering the jungle floor, and immediately shook its furry head.
“Yeah, I’m with you there, buddy,” Sam said and swallowed.
Wendy walked up to a tree and turned her head to look at Sam. “The sooner you start, the sooner we’ll finish,” she said. “Some tasks you can’t avoid doing. This is one of them.” She smiled at Sam. “Unless, of course, you think you can get away from me.”
Raindu blinked before waving at Wendy and Sam. Then, the black ferret leapt out of Sam’s collar and dashed away from the forest, leaving two stunned humans behind. Wendy and Sam exchanged glances with each other as if confirming that had just happened. Sam’s eyes widened, and he sprinted after the ferret. “Raindu, come back!” The ferret didn’t slow down. “Raindu!”
Wendy’s eye twitched, and she chased after Sam. If the ferret left, then stealing the GMC was impossible. Her eyes narrowed as she passed Sam and focused her intent into her legs, slowly gaining on the ferret in the distance. Why was the small creature so impertinent? She had challenged it to escape, and it immediately tried to escape. Perhaps it was her fault for expecting a newborn ferret to understand how to read between the lines. Although she was gaining on the ferret, it’d take a while to catch it; if she wanted to cut through the jungle in a reasonable amount of time, she’d have to resort to her secret weapon. She placed her hand into her pocket and pulled out a piece of candy. She crinkled its wrapper, and as expected, Raindu hesitated, its little ears perking up.
“Candy,” Wendy said in what she thought was a singsong voice. “There’s some candy for you, Raindu.”
A shiver ran down the ferret’s spine, and its little legs kicked at the ground faster, causing Wendy’s expression to darken. Why was it so frightened of her? She was just trying to give it candy! …And drag it into a dangerous forest to see how well it’d hold up in a scrap against monsters, but that was beside the point.
Sam panted as his pace slowed, his legs feeling like they were weighed down by bricks as he ran. The ground was uneven; why was it so difficult to raise his thighs? His sides burned, and his trot gradually reduced in speed until it turned into a walk. At that point, Raindu and Wendy were long gone. Sam took in a deep breath through his nose and forced himself to stand in an upright position. What kind of talent ran away from its master? An artificial one, evidently. Sam looked around before reaching into his pocket where his cellphone … should’ve been. Did Raindu steal it from him when he wasn’t paying attention? Sam shuddered as a cold breeze blew over him, coming from the direction of the spectral jungle. What was he supposed to do now?