Akiko rolled her shoulders, working out the tension.

She glanced back at the ruined turret, surveying the aftermath. The docking bay stank of scorched metal and ozone, the sharp tang biting at her nose. She huffed softly and brushed lingering foxfire embers from her gloves.

"That's the last time I play tank," she muttered, eyeing the faintly glowing cracks in her shield. "Tanking lasers. Seriously. Not what rogues are supposed to do. I should be in the shadows. Sneaking, stabbing, vanishing. Not absorbing turret blasts like a walking mana battery."

Her tail flicked behind her, twitchy with residual adrenaline, but a smirk tugged at her lips. "At least we've got a healer. That makes up for it."

She turned just as Raya reached her, medical bag in hand and an exasperated look fixed in place.

Akiko gave a casual wave. "See? Someone on Zephara is definitely out to get me. We need to figure out who and why before they try again."

Raya pressed her lips into a thin line. "You're unbelievable," she muttered, already reaching out. Her hands hovered over Akiko's abdomen, then settled there, warm even through the suit's seams. "And stubborn. Hold still."

"I'm fine," Akiko said, raising both hands in mock surrender. "Save the bedside scolding for when I'm actually bleeding."

"Technically, you are." Raya's brow furrowed, her hands glowing a little brighter. "One of their blades must have gotten past the shield."

Akiko blinked. Maybe she hadn't noticed. Adrenaline was still humming sharp through her veins, masking everything else. Or maybe she just hadn't wanted to notice, too focused on pushing forward.

A faint pulse of magic stirred, bright enough for Akiko to feel it ripple under her skin.

"Which is why we have you," she said, softer this time. The words felt too close, too earnest, so she forced a crooked little smile to lighten it. "Not bad for your first real combat use. Aren't you glad I drilled you on the Harmonic Barrier during the hauler ride?"

Raya nodded without looking up, her concentration still on the magic. "It just… made sense. Like it was already there, waiting. I just needed the right excuse."

Akiko looked at her for a heartbeat longer than she meant to, something twisting low in her chest. Too much.

She cleared her throat and turned away, seizing the closest distraction, the tall woman still crouched behind a crate.

"Hey, you! You're a local, right?"

The woman blinked, clearly still trying to make sense of what she'd just witnessed. "Uh… yeah?"

"Perfect," Akiko said brightly. "We could use a guide. Fair warning: it's dangerous, but it pays well."

The woman just stared at her. "You… you just… what?"

Akiko gestured around the smoking bay. "Look, stuff like this? Happens to me all the time. Someone on Zephara's got a target on my back, and I need someone who knows the terrain. You don't look like a tank, so we'll keep you backline."

That earned her a look that landed somewhere between exhausted disbelief and mild outrage.

"Maybe we should get out of here first?" the woman said, glancing toward the far end of the bay. Alarms had begun to rise in the distance. "Before the actual Haven guards show up?"

Akiko followed her gaze and winced. "Fair point. Let's go, local. Introductions can wait till we're somewhere less 'about to be arrested.'"

The air turned colder as they slipped into a narrow maintenance corridor. Harsh docking bay lights faded behind them, replaced by flickering amber overheads and the faint clatter of boots on grating. Akiko pulled her hood up, tucking her ears beneath the fabric. Her tail adjusted beneath her cloak with an annoyed flick.

"Name's Akiko," she offered, falling into step beside their new guide. "That's Raya. And the snarky lightshow on your shoulder? That's Sifra."

The fairy zipped into view with a dramatic loop and a midair bow. "Charmed, I'm sure. You're welcome for the running commentary, by the way. Someone has to provide proper narration."

"Skadi," she said, introducing herself.

She had the look of a woman whose world had just flipped upside down. But her focus remained ahead, navigating the maze of steel and shadow. That was enough for the moment.

"We're a bit ragtag for an adventuring party," Akiko continued, voice light but laced with fatigue. "But hey, everyone starts somewhere, right? We just skipped the whole 'kill rats in a basement' thing and went straight to 'fight off mercenaries in a freezing hangar bay.' Classic level one stuff."

"Don't forget 'get hunted for mysterious reasons,'" Raya added dryly.

"Details," Akiko said, waving a clawed hand. She turned back to Skadi. "So that's our chaos. What's yours?"

Skadi hesitated. Her hands flexed at her sides. "You're not… what I expected."

Akiko raised a brow. "Expected?"

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"From someone who just fought off half a dozen mercenaries with… whatever that was." Skadi gestured vaguely to Akiko's now-dimmed foxfire. "You're not subtle."

"Subtle's for assassins and politicians," Akiko said. "I'm more of a 'kick the door open and make it up as I go' kind of rogue."

"She means chaotic," Sifra offered helpfully. "Chaotic rogue."

Skadi's lips twitched, almost a smile. "Right. Well… try not to blow anything else up while you're here." She picked up the pace as the corridor narrowed. "We should go to my place. It's the only safe spot I know."

"Your place, huh?" Akiko said, matching her stride. "That's a pretty quick trust upgrade."

"It's not trust," Skadi replied flatly. "It's survival. You want to find out what's happening on Zephara, you'll need somewhere to hide first."

Akiko glanced at Raya, who gave a small nod.

"Fair enough," Akiko said, flexing her fingers as residual heat bled off her gloves. "Lead on."

As they walked, the dim corridors gave way to a faint bluish light filtering through frost-covered grates above. The industrial hum of the docking bay softened, replaced by occasional voices, the distant clatter of tools.

Skadi kept her head low, posture taut, but her steps held the practiced ease of someone who knew every twist and turn of the hold.

Akiko followed, her tail swaying beneath her jacket. She didn't know what kind of mess they'd just stepped into, but trouble had a way of magnetizing to her boots.

And right now? That was almost reassuring. It meant they were on the right path.

The air shifted as they passed through a heavy door into a compact, lived-in space. The walls were a patchwork of welded panels and scavenged insulation, but warmth radiated from a battered heating unit in the corner.

The scent of something faintly spiced lingered in the air. Cloves, maybe, or seared root-stew. And for a breath, it felt like stepping into someone else's quiet life.

Akiko pulled back her hood. Her ears flicked in the warm air, and her tail twitched against the edge of her jacket. Armor still scorched from the turret blast glinted beneath her layers.

A tall woman, older, froze mid-step as they entered. She had silver streaks braided through dark hair and calloused hands that spoke of decades of hard labor.

She took one look at Akiko and blinked. Slowly.

"You brought…" Her gaze swept over Akiko. The ears, the tail. "Skadi, who… what—?"

Akiko raised a clawed hand in a casual wave. "Hi. I'm Akiko. Thanks for the hospitality."

The woman stared at her, then pivoted sharply to Skadi, voice climbing. "What have you gotten yourself into this time? This is—this is worse than Fenrik's stunts!"

Skadi groaned. "It's not like that, Mom."

Yrsa jabbed a finger toward Akiko. "You brought home an armored stranger with a tail."

Akiko's grin widened. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

Yrsa ignored her, arms folding. "You promised you'd stay out of anything dangerous."

"I didn't plan this!" Skadi protested, running a hand through her hair. "It just… happened."

"Oh, sure. Danger just walks in off the docking bay."

Akiko stepped in before the conversation could spiral. "To be fair," she said, "danger does kind of follow me. It's a whole thing. But your daughter handled it fine. We had a run-in with some mercenaries, and she helped us get clear."

Yrsa's eyes narrowed. "Mercenaries?"

"Yup. Lasers, shouting, magic, the works." Akiko shrugged. "Anyway, your place is cozy. Beats the docking bay."

Skadi groaned again, louder. "You're not helping."

Yrsa sighed, pressing her fingers to the bridge of her nose. "I don't even know where to start."

She turned to Akiko again, softer now. Less alarm, more calculation. "And you. What exactly are you? Some kind of experiment?"

Akiko's grin flickered. "I'm… complicated. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out who sent those mercs and why."

Yrsa studied her a moment longer, then exhaled. "You've got a lot of explaining to do."

"I get that a lot," Akiko said. "But first, you should know, there's probably more trouble coming. We just needed somewhere to regroup. After that, we'll be gone."

Yrsa didn't look convinced, but after a beat, she gestured toward the table. "Fine. Sit. Eat something. You look like you've been through a war, and you're not leaving until I figure out what kind of mess this is."

Akiko sat at the modest table. Her tail swished slowly beneath the chair as she watched Yrsa dish out bowls of thick stew, the scent earthy and comforting.

Conversation started slow.

Skadi sat stiffly, visibly trying to gauge how much to say under her mother's watchful eye.

Akiko knew how to read a room, and she didn't push. Let it breathe. Let the food settle. Sometimes silence was more persuasive than questions.

She took another sip. Then, lightly: "So. What's going on here on Zephara? Your docking bay wasn't exactly rolling out the welcome mat. Something's stirring people up."

Skadi hesitated, spoon pausing halfway to her mouth.

"You saw the protest," she said, glancing toward Yrsa, who didn't interrupt but didn't exactly soften either. "The rationing's gotten worse. People are frustrated. Haven keeps taking water, even though we're barely scraping by."

Akiko nodded. "And the mercenaries? Don't tell me they're here just to 'keep the peace.'"

Skadi's expression tightened. "That's… something else." She looked down at her bowl. "There was an incident a few weeks ago. Maintenance bay. A—"

She stopped. Words seemed to get stuck.

"A creature," she finally said. "Something we'd never seen before. It came out of nowhere. Disappeared into the lower levels."

Akiko's grip on her cup eased. Her attention sharpened. "A creature. What kind?"

"I don't know," Skadi said. "I'd been sent on a work order. Routine blockage. But when I got to the bay, something felt… wrong."

Akiko's ears tilted forward. "Wrong how?"

Skadi's hands curled around the bowl. "There's an observation window above the flow system. I glanced inside, and something was in the water. Big. Fast. I didn't get a clear look, but it was dark. It moved like it knew I was watching."

She swallowed. "I backed out. Slammed the hatch shut and locked it behind me. It pounded on the door. Then stopped. I ran straight to my foreman. Told him everything. He said to file a report with Haven, so I did."

Akiko leaned back, tail flicking. "And they brushed you off."

Skadi's jaw tightened. "They said it was a rogue drone. Debris. A machine malfunction. But I saw it. It wasn't metal. It was alive."

Akiko's claws tapped against the table, the rhythm thoughtful. A massive living thing in the pipes. Secrecy. Denial. The familiar stench of weaponized chaos.

Her voice dropped. "Karn."

Skadi blinked. "Who?"

Akiko didn't look up. "Someone who's very good at making monsters."

She set her cup down. "I'd bet good money he's behind this. It fits. Create something unstable, let it loose in a fragile system, watch what breaks."

"You think this thing was made?" Skadi asked, incredulous.

Akiko shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe he found it and made it worse. Either way, if Karn's involved, this won't stop at one creature."

Yrsa, silent until now, finally spoke. "And you're planning to go after it?"

Akiko's lips curved. Not her biggest smile. Just the dangerous one. "That's the plan."

She turned to Skadi. "But I need to know where it happened. Think you can show me?"

Skadi glanced at her mother, then back to Akiko. "I'll show you. But I'm not going in. I locked it in for a reason."

Akiko nodded. "That's fair. I just need eyes on the area. The rest's on me."

Skadi looked unconvinced, but didn't argue.

Yrsa muttered something under her breath and started gathering the dishes.

"You're all insane," she said, glancing at Akiko. "But if you're going to do this, don't drag my daughter into more trouble."

"No promises," Akiko said with a wink. "But I'll try real hard."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.