Chapter 36: I Stole My First Power in Twenty Minutes

Heads.

"Heads," Adrián said.

"You wanted heads?"

"...Yeah."

"Again."

Adrián flipped the coin.

"I want."

Heads.

"Again."

"I want."

Heads.

"Darling."

Lira’s smile widened.

"Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating. You’re learning much faster than I expected."

"I am?"

"Very much so."

She leaned forward slightly.

"Most bearers take weeks to distinguish active Luck from passive Luck. You figured it out in five minutes."

Lira tilted her head.

"Either you’re a prodigy, or your card is actively cooperating because it likes you."

Her violet eyes gleamed.

"Personally, darling, I’d bet on the second one. The cards choose."

A small smile.

"And yours chose well."

Adrián stared at the coin in his palm.

Meanwhile, Lira adjusted her kimono and added with suspiciously deliberate casualness:

"Now, darling."

She folded her fan.

"The important part."

Adrián looked up.

"Copy."

"Okay."

"Come here. Sit in that chair. I’ll sit across from you."

A pause.

"Close."

Another.

"Very close."

From the wall, Ishtar shouted:

"Lira."

"Ishtar, darling, it’s educational. Proximity is necessary for the empathic flow of energy. I’m not making this up."

She raised one finger.

"Silvano can confirm it."

"Silvano."

"I’m not there, Ishtar," Silvano’s voice suddenly said through a speaker Adrián hadn’t even known existed in the room. "I’m in my library. But technically, Lira is correct. Proximity facilitates energy flow. It’s a documented phenomenon."

Ishtar stared at the ceiling.

"Silvano, are you listening to us?"

"Yes. Rhea asked me to supervise from upstairs in case something goes wrong."

A pause.

"Please ignore me."

"..."

Lira smiled.

"Darling. Sit."

Adrián sat in a wooden chair that Lira had either materialized or Ishtar had brought in.

At this point, Adrián had stopped trying to keep track.

Lira sat across from him in an identical chair.

Their knees were almost touching.

Very close.

Exactly as advertised.

Her perfume reached Adrián even more strongly now.

Lira extended both hands and rested them, palms up, on her knees.

"Place your hands over mine, darling."

"...Okay."

Adrián placed his palms against hers.

Lira’s hands were cold.

Surprisingly cold.

Like she had been holding ice.

Adrián noticed it but said nothing.

"Now," Lira said, her voice becoming almost hypnotic again, "Copy works like this."

Her eyes remained fixed on his.

"You need to feel my Talent."

"Not see it."

"Feel it."

She slowly closed her eyes.

"It has a signature."

"A color."

"Almost a flavor."

"Close your eyes."

Adrián did.

"I’m going to activate my Talent very gently."

Lira’s voice softened.

"Just a fragment."

"A very small piece."

"You’re going to feel something in your palms. Something different from ordinary body heat."

A pause.

"When you feel it, don’t grab it."

"Don’t push it."

"Just let it enter."

"Like breathing in something that’s already in the air."

"...Okay."

And Adrián felt it.

The sensation was difficult to describe.

Something warm—despite the initial coldness of Lira’s hands—began rising through his palms.

Into his wrists.

His forearms.

Warmth with texture.

With color.

Adrián could see it in his mind despite his eyes being closed.

Dark violet.

Like Lira’s eyes.

Like the stains of a new moon viewed from impossibly close.

"I feel it," Adrián said.

"Good."

Lira’s voice was almost a whisper now.

"Let it in."

"Don’t stop it."

"Don’t change it."

"Just breathe."

Adrián breathed.

The violet sensation reached his chest.

Settled there.

Made itself comfortable.

And then—

without Adrián consciously doing anything—

something inside him grabbed it.

Turned it over.

Examined it.

Understood it.

All in the span of a second.

Like tasting a new flavor and having his brain catalog it instantly.

Lira released his hands.

She leaned back.

"Open your eyes, darling."

Adrián did.

"...Did something happen?"

"Yes."

Lira gestured toward his hand.

"Hold out your palm."

Adrián extended one hand.

"Focus on the violet sensation."

He did.

"And think about creating a small illusion."

"Anything?"

"Anything. A bird. A flower. Whatever you want."

Adrián concentrated.

Something flickered above his palm.

Very faint.

Very unstable.

Then—

a tiny bird made of violet light materialized in his hand.

It flapped its wings.

Rose about an inch into the air.

And disintegrated.

Adrián stared at his empty palm.

"..."

Lira smiled broadly.

"Darling."

She looked genuinely delighted.

"You just copied your first ability."

Adrián slowly looked at her.

"A Fragment of the Moon."

She raised one finger.

"Very weak."

A second.

"Very short-lived."

Then she smiled.

"But real."

Adrián looked back at his palm.

"It’s already imprinted on your soul. You can create small illusions whenever you want."

"With practice, larger ones."

"With a lot of practice..."

Her violet eyes gleamed.

"Longer-lasting ones."

"..."

"Silvano, did you hear that?"

"I heard," Silvano said through the speaker. "Very good, boy. Very good."

"Ishtar, did you see?"

"I saw."

Ishtar bit into a piece of popcorn.

"My sister is going to be unbearable when she finds out."

Adrián looked at her.

"Unbearable?"

"Unbearably proud."

She pointed a piece of popcorn at him.

"Brother-in-law, copying something during your first session is rare."

Another bite.

"Very rare."

"Silvano needed two months for his first Copy when he was new."

Adrián blinked.

"Rhea took five weeks."

Ishtar smiled.

"You took twenty minutes."

Silvano’s voice came through the speaker again.

"I can confirm that."

A pause.

"It is unusually fast."

Adrián looked toward the ceiling.

"The combination of your card and your Relic appears to be cooperating in ways we still don’t fully understand."

Silvano’s voice remained calm.

"We’ll keep observing."

Adrián stared at his palm.

A tiny violet bird had just appeared there.

Then disappeared.

A bird he had created.

Using an ability he had stolen—

copied—

from another person less than two minutes ago.

His brain processed the information in the following order:

"One: I’m even weirder than I thought."

"Two: Copy works."

"Three: the day after tomorrow, I’m going on a potentially lethal mission with abilities I barely understand."

"Four: but at least now I have something."

"A fragment."

"Something."

He stood from the chair.

Looked at Lira.

"Thank you."

"Ufufu~ Darling. You’re welcome."

Her smile turned suspicious again.

"It was a pleasure."

"..."

"A literal pleasure."

Adrián immediately regretted making eye contact.

"The transfer feels different for the donor than it does for the recipient."

She smiled serenely.

"Very different."

From the wall:

"Lira."

"Ishtar, darling, I didn’t say anything inappropriate."

"Lira."

"Fine."

Adrián sat back down.

He was exhausted.

The first Copy had drained something from him.

Not energy.

He still had plenty of that.

Something more abstract.

Harder to name.

As though his brain had just run a marathon without ever leaving the chair.

Lira watched him for several seconds.

Then, when she spoke again, her voice was different.

Softer.

More serious.

"Darling."

"Yeah?"

"Tomorrow, we’re going to repeat the exercise."

Adrián looked at her.

"And we’re going to try making the illusion last longer than two seconds."

"Okay."

"We’re also going to make you control the Mask while generating an illusion at the same time."

She leaned forward.

"Because in real combat, you need to be capable of doing multiple things in parallel."

"Okay."

"And, darling..."

Her expression lost its playfulness entirely.

"I want you to understand something before you leave this room today."

"Okay."

Lira leaned closer.

She placed two fingers—the index and middle fingers of her right hand—very gently against his chest.

Directly over his heart.

The touch lasted only a second.

"What you just did, darling..."

Her eyes held his.

"...is maybe one percent of what you’ll eventually be capable of."

Adrián remained still.

"And the other ninety-nine percent is frightening."

A pause.

"Very frightening."

"To very powerful people."

Her fingers left his chest.

"People who probably already know you exist."

Another pause.

"And who are probably already deciding what they’re going to do about you."

"..."

"The mission the day after tomorrow is only your first test."

Her voice remained quiet.

"After that, there will be more."

"Bigger ones."

"More dangerous ones."

"..."

"I’m not telling you this to scare you."

Lira’s expression softened.

"I’m telling you so you take the training seriously."

"Tomorrow, don’t get distracted."

"Tomorrow, focus."

Then:

"And the day after tomorrow..."

Her eyes sharpened.

"Survive."

"That’s all we’re asking from you."

Adrián nodded.

"Okay."

"Good."

Lira smiled again.

That serene smile.

The feline one.

The one Adrián was already beginning to recognize.

Then she rose with her usual liquid elegance.

"Ishtar, darling. We’re finished for today."

She smoothed down her kimono.

"Take the boy upstairs and feed him. He needs to replenish his glucose."

"I’m going."

Lira looked back at Adrián.

"Darling, I’ll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

Lira walked toward the exit.

She reached the door.

Stopped.

Then turned around.

"Oh, Vega."

"Yeah?"

"Before I forget."

Adrián waited.

"Your human friend."

He went still.

"The one who brings you bentos."

A small smile.

"Yuki, right?"

Adrián became very still.

"...Why are you asking?"

"Curiosity."

That answer immediately made him trust her less.

"I saw her walking past the building early this morning."

Adrián’s expression changed.

"She looked like she’d been crying quite a bit."

Lira tilted her head.

"It caught my attention."

A pause.

"I thought you might want to know."

"..."

"That’s all."

She smiled.

"Bye, darling."

Then she left.

Adrián remained standing in the training room.

His hands were still warm from the Copy exercise.

And he had the very specific feeling that Lira had just told him something important disguised as a casual remark.

Along with the new and deeply uncomfortable question of why, exactly, Lira Vex knew what Yuki Amasawa looked like after she had been crying.

From the wall, Ishtar looked at him.

"Brother-in-law."

"Yeah?"

"I told you Lira was dangerous."

"You did."

"Do you understand now?"

Adrián looked toward the door Lira had just walked through.

"I’m starting to."

"Good."

Ishtar tossed another piece of popcorn into her mouth.

"Let’s go eat."

They left the training room.

Adrián didn’t say a single word during the entire elevator ride up.