How to Kill a Phoenix

5: ENDLESS BRIDGE OVER A SEA OF STARS

CHAPTER 5: ENDLESS BRIDGE OVER A SEA OF STARS

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"There was a really old tale about teleportation: before his first meeting with the Queen of Sheba, King Solomon wanted to demonstrate his might by bringing her throne to his palace before she could arrive to surprise her. He called his most powerful subjects. The genie Efreet said he could carry the throne with him to the king's palace before the king would leave the meeting. But someone else made a better offer: a human, book-learned and having deep knowledge. I will bring the throne here before you can blink, he said, and he did. This tale is thousands of years old, but the message is timeless: with enough knowledge, mankind will surpass even magic and the so-called supernatural." – Garth Reuben

*

"You overdid it!" Rain snarled at Tanya while yanking her hair. "What the hell are you thinking?"

Tanya maintained a quizzical expression (apparently her default look).

But Emily just walked through the jaws of the fish like a hologram, striding purposefully towards Tanya. A dark expression on her face, she gave the girl a slap of cold rage. Tanya avoided it like a shadow, slipping out of Rain's grip. Emily punched and clawed, but Tanya only retreated faster than she could reach her.

Emily fell on her knees, head bowed. She knew that Tanya was threatening her indirectly. 'I can avoid you, easy. What if I decide to hit back?'

In a few fluid steps, Tanya approached her again, patting her head. "Well done, I take that back. You can actually do something, even if you're a bit slow. Welcome to the crew." She offered a handshake, but before Emily could even hesitate, she was punched full in the stomach.

Doubling over and feeling like throwing out her last meal, Emily could barely see as Tanya retracted her fist, a large glass orb in her grip. She hit me with that?

"And... it appears that you don't yet have any real control over your powers. Sorry, had to really hit you because your ability is like that."

"Tanya!" Rain snapped. Emily widened her eyes. She hadn't seen the boy lose his cool that much before. "I told you -- stop! She's not bio-enhanced like the average Avalonian!"

Tanya laid an index finger on her lips, her pupils dilating. "I have to check how good she is. It's always like this, Rain. You do the leading... I clean up whatever mess you leave. I'm the girl tying up all the loose ends, who does all the work that nobody cares enough to. It's just common sense to appreciate me, Rain." Seeing that Rain only threw her a cold glare, she turned to Emily, hands on her knees. "I guess that's enough for now. Sorry about all that."

Emily couldn't stand to lock gazes with the violet eyes. Before she could think of anything appropriate to say, Tanya had already pulled out a stick of takoyaki out of nowhere and jammed it into Emily's mouth. She then made a paper bag full of them appear and thrust it into Emily's hands.

"Really," she didn't break eye contact, "Rain is the leader, but I'm the one doing all the hard work behind him. He makes all the family decisions, and I make them work, like a good housewife." She materialized bar after bar of Earth chocolate and pushed them into Emily's hands. "You really wanna go?" Tanya sounded like pleading.

Emily pulled out the stick. She could barely chew with those eyes focused on her. They gave her déjà vu, and she immediately recalled the feeling of being stared on by her father.

But she liked to believe that, unlike that terrible man, Tanya was not an immovable wall.

With a grimace, she said, "I don't know. I'm just crazy like that. I'm not a logical person, Tanya." The grimace was now a resolute smile.