Hana Ryu opened her eyes to the soft, rhythmic sound of a mountain breeze brushing against paper walls. The ceiling was made of dark, polished cedar, and the air smelled of sandalwood and the sharp, lingering ozone of spent mana. She was lying on a plush futon, tucked beneath a heavy quilt that felt far more substantial than the thin blankets she’d lived with for the last three years.

  She felt heavy. It was a grounded, physical weight that she hadn't experienced since the Eclipse.

  She turned her head slowly. Elara was sitting in a low chair by the small table, bathed in the warm, amber glow of a single desk lamp. The rest of the room was draped in soft darkness. It was a complete reversal of the night before, a shift in the roles of protector and patient that left Hana feeling a strange, quiet warmth in her chest.

  They stayed like that for a long time. Silence stretched between them, but it wasn't the jagged, tense silence of the mountain trails. It was soft.

  Hana took a breath. Her voice came out sweeter than she expected, stripped of the hollow, raspy edge that had defined her for so long. It was a voice accented with actual emotion, a sound she’d almost forgotten she could make.

  "Is it done?"

  Elara didn’t move much. She just gestured with her chin toward the wall behind the bed.

  Hana didn't look back yet. She stared at the ceiling instead, her fingers curling into the fabric of the quilt.

  "I was a boastful girl when I started this work," Hana said, her voice small. "Too proud of the rank next to my name. Too impressed by the way the system looked at me."

  She paused, her eyes tracing the grain of the wood above her.

  "My elder brother was a hunter too. He was only a D-Rank. He spent every morning telling me about the dangers. He talked about the things that don't show up on a scanner. The way a dungeon can change you. But I didn't listen. I was an A-Rank. I thought I was untouchable."

  Hana’s breath hitched, just a little.

  "Until the twilight raid happened. I cut a piece of myself away just to survive. I made a monster because I was too arrogant to die and too scared to lose."

  Elara finally looked over, her expression unreadable in the lamplight. "Where is he now? Your brother?"

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Hana’s gaze flickered. "I haven't seen him in three years. I couldn't face him. Not after what I did. Not while I was walking around without a soul."

  Hana finally gathered the courage. She sat up, the quilt sliding off her shoulders, and turned her head to look at the wall.

  There, cast against the rice paper by the glow of the desk lamp, was a dark, steady shape. It was a silhouette. It moved when she moved. It tilted its head when she did. It was a simple, quiet shadow.

  The Yakshi was gone. Her own shape had come home.

  A small, genuine smile touched Hana’s lips. It was the kind of expression that looked like it belonged on a girl her age, someone who wasn't haunted by a weaponized ghost.

  "He’s in the city," Hana said, looking back at Elara. "I think... I’d like to see him now. If you’ll still have me."

  Elara gave a single, firm nod.

  "I’m going with you, Elara."

  ***

  Hana drifted back into a deep, peaceful sleep shortly after that. I guess having your soul stitched back together takes a lot out of you.

  I stayed where I was for a while, sitting at the small wooden table. There was a single apple sitting in front of me and a small piece of stationery paper. I looked at the paper, then back at the sleeping girl on the futon.

  My heart was still doing that weird, frantic thrumming. The bond was there now. A second thread of mana, warm and metallic, coiling around the icy blue one that led back to Seraphina.

  I sighed and picked up the piece of paper, holding it tight between my fingers. I closed my eyes and let a tiny, focused bit of mana flow out.

  The paper didn't just sit there. It stiffened. The edges became sharp, the fibers pulling together until the flimsy sheet felt like a sliver of tempered steel.

  [Skill: Weaponize (Shared) – Activated]

  I let the mana dissipate, and the paper went limp again. I lowered my head, staring at the white tattoos on my arms.

  "I had no choice at that time," I whispered to the empty room.

  I mean, what else was I supposed to do? Let the shadow kill us both? Let Hana spend the rest of her life in a rotting house in the mountains? It was a tactical necessity. A logical move.

  At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

  I picked up the knife from the fruit plate and started peeling the apple. The skin came away in one long, red spiral. I looked at the status window that was hovering at the edge of my vision.

  [Bond Slots: 2/2]

  [Partner 1: Seraphina Vahn (Bond LV 2)]

  [Partner 2: Hana Ryu (Bond LV 1)]

  Two S-Ranked monsters. Two curses. Two bonds that were currently the only things keeping me from becoming a citizen with a regular 9-to-5.

  I took a bite of the apple. It was sweet and crisp.

  I was officially the Vice-Leader of a team that consisted of the Ice Queen and a girl who could kill you with a napkin. And I’d kissed both of them to make it happen.

  "Just a girl," I muttered, shaking my head as the juice from the apple hit the back of my throat. "Just a girl playing with fire and ice."

  I finished the apple and leaned back, watching the shadows dance on the wall as the lamp flickered.

  We were heading back to the city tomorrow. Back to the Ashen Gryphon. Back to Seraphina.

  I had a feeling the "Ice Queen" wasn't going to be thrilled about my new recruitment methods.

  I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the cold prickle in my chest.