To some people, the Fighters Guild might feel a bit cold with its lack of color and decor, but to Tess it was a second home. She had spent much of her childhood here. The inside was very plain, without any clutter, because if it didn’t have a purpose, it didn’t belong there. So all that hung on the cream-colored walls were a few fancy shields and ornamental swords, and there were only a few plainly-woven rugs on the stone floor.

“Hey,” Sam greeted her from behind the desk at the back of the main room. He was a lean man, just a few years older than Tess, with short dark hair and a charming smile.

“Doesn’t my dad give you a lunch break?” Tess asked as she stopped in front of his desk and glanced at the sandwich he had just put down.

“Had to run home during break.” He shrugged. “So I’m eating now. Want some?”

“No, just ate.”

He nodded. “Well? How was the jungle?”

“Good. Almost broke something when I tried doing this one flip out of a tree, but Badger caught me. Tikki thought it was hilarious, of course.”

“Cool. So you’re all fit for another match, then?” He grinned. “Ready for me to beat you?”

“Hah! Wanna bet you don’t?” she asked, grinning back.

“Yeah, okay. You’re on. Five copper says you’re going down.”

She suddenly remembered her plans and frowned. “Actually, I can’t. I’ll be busy when you get off work tonight, and I’m leaving in the morning.”

His smile fell. “But you just got back yesterday.”

“Yeah, but... big plans.”

He nodded. “Ah.”

“Don’t look like you know.”

He chuckled. “Tess, everyone knows.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Anyway, is my dad in the training room?” she asked. Though her father had been the captain of the guard for almost four years now, he still enjoyed teaching and spent a good deal of his time training people.

“Yeah, he’s working with Herald,” Sam told her, referring to a guy who had been training for six months in hopes of joining the guard. “Between you and me,” he said conspiratorially, “the guy sucks.”

She fought a smile—it was true enough. “Well, maybe he’ll get there eventually.”

“I got in right away,” Sam boasted.

She rolled her eyes. “You were already taught by your uncle who’s been in the guard for like... ever.”

He smirked. “Twenty-seven years, but that’s hardly the point.”

She laughed. “Yeah, whatever. See you later.”

“Have a good time adventuring,” he called after her.

Tess shot him a smile before walking through the door behind him. She went down a hallway and passed several offices—one of which belonged to her father—before entering the training area. The square room had a weapons rack that ran along the far wall, pieces of armor stored on the opposite side of the room, and a large, thick rug in the middle of the floor.

She hopped up onto a counter to her right and watched her father spar with the tall blond. She smiled at how easy he was being on the guy. He hadn’t been like that with her for years. These days, she could hold her own against him, for the most part, though she had yet to win a match. But her father and her uncle, Cael, had taught her well, and she was a natural with weapons, favoring the daggers her father had given her when she was ten.

Falcon finished up with Harold and turned to give his daughter an affectionate smile. “Hey, warrior princess,” he greeted.

The nickname was from a story about a mighty hero back where her father came from, some place called Earth that no one else, aside from her mother, seemed to know about. Tess wasn’t sure if it was something they made up or not, but she liked hearing the stories anyway.

“Thought you said you weren’t training today.”

She shrugged. “Just wanted to come see you is all.”

He smiled knowingly. “Ayden busy?”

“Yeah, his dad’s making him work today. He’s being extra mean too,” she grumbled. “Started yelling at him as soon as he went inside.”

Falcon sighed. “It was the anniversary of his wife’s death last week. He’s always worse at this time of year.”

“It’s stupid that he takes it out on Ayd, like it’s his fault she died,” Tess said, frowning. “He has to try so hard just to get a little affection from his dad. It’s horrible.”

“Well, not everyone can have a great dad like me,” Falcon said, smirking.

He was joking, getting away from a sad topic, but it was true in Tess' opinion. She was quite proud to be a daddy’s girl. She wanted to be just like her father.

“Yeah, even if you are getting up there in years,” she teased. “Hey, isn’t it about time for you to retire, old man?”

“I’m forty-two, hardly at death’s door,” he said, rolling his eyes. “And I’ll retire when I can’t fight anymore.”

“How about when your own daughter kicks your butt?” she challenged.

He twirled his sword around in his hand, then dramatically rolled his shoulders back and held his weapon ready. “Bring it on.”

He came at her, not giving her time to ready herself. She stood on the counter, waited for him to get close enough, then flipped over, landing lithely behind him. She pulled the daggers from her boots and stood in time to block his oncoming attack.

They fought for a while, but had to stop when Sam walked in. “Captain Bennet,” he said. Knowing by his serious business tone that they were done sparring for now, Tess put her daggers away.

“Yes?” Falcon asked, sheathing his sword as well.

“Problem in the east tower, sir,” Sam reported.

Falcon nodded, then kissed his daughter’s forehead. “See you at home.” He gave her a gentle push toward the door. “You’re telling everyone tonight, right?”

She glared back at him. “Dad, it’s supposed to be a surprise,” she complained. He and Sam both smirked before turning and leaving through another door.

Tess headed north to go see her mother. She traveled her usual method—jumping from rooftop to rooftop as much as she could and flipping here and there. If someone in Brunya City heard something on their roof, they ignored it, knowing it was probably Tess. Occasionally, someone on the street would smile up at her as if to say, There she goes again.

She got to the Brunya City Orphanage a few minutes later. It was a white, two-story, wooden building, though the rest of town was almost all stone. Tess walked through a small foyer into the main room, a sitting room of sorts, with white walls that were decorated with colorful drawings made by the children. There were bookcases on the left, filled with storybooks and board games, and a big blue sofa on the right where a woman was lounging, reading a trashy romance novel.

Vivyka had only been a year old when Falcon and Julia had rescued her from the burning wreckage of Hilltop Village nineteen years ago. They had dropped her off at this orphanage during their quest, and when Kieran was defeated, they had come back. Cael and Lotus purchased a home here and then loaned her parents the money to buy the house next door to theirs, and her father easily got job as a guard. Her mother had gone to the orphanage then, intent on adopting Vivyka, but when she had seen the rest of the children living there, she couldn’t bear to take just one of them home. So she stayed with them all.

At first, the orphanage wouldn’t give Julia a job, but she had still come everyday to visit the children. Eventually, the orphanage had let her help as a volunteer, and after a while, she was finally hired. Now, all these years later, it was Julia who ran the place.

Though Tess had known Vivyka her entire life, they had always been friendly rivals. They were complete opposites, especially since Vivyka had returned from Seaport, where she had lived for a while when she was sixteen. The experience had drastically changed her, though no one knew why since Vivyka refused to talk about it.

These days, she was a tramp with a slight attitude problem. She always spent her weekends at one of the local taverns, drinking, dancing, and picking up guys for one-night stands. And she always wore the skimpiest outfits she could find—today she wore high-heeled boots, skintight black pants, and a crimson top that covered just enough of her full breasts to be considered decent. Her wrists were adorned with her usual array of bracelets, and her glossy lips, as always, were a deep burgundy.

“Hey,” she greeted, setting down her book and getting up from the sofa. She ran a hand through the tousled layers of her long brown hair, messing it a bit further as she looked Tess over. “Do you ever wear anything else?”

Tess glanced down at herself. She was in fighting attire today—bracers, a sleeveless lace-up leather shirt, matching pants, and her combat boots. “It’s practical, and at least I can move in it without my boobs falling out.”

“You have boobs?” Vivyka asked, looking pointedly at Tess' small breasts and smirking. “And you say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Tess shrugged casually. “I suppose it really depends on your daily activities, mine require me to be on my feet instead of my back.”

“At least I do real work,” Vivyka replied, referring to her job at the orphanage. “Unlike some would-be heroes who still live off mommy and daddy and play with their toys all day.” She glanced down at Tess' daggers.

“Well, now that I’m eighteen, I can leave. What’s your excuse? You have no one keeping you here.”

It had been a sparring match of words, light and harmless, the usual for them. But the last comment struck a nerve. Vivyka’s dark eyes narrowed into a glare before she turned and stalked off, disappearing up the stairs at the back of the room.

“Go apologize.”

Tess looked over to find her mother in the kitchen doorway, her honey-colored hair pulled back in its usual loose braid and her blue eyes giving her daughter that disappointed look.

“Fine,” Tess groaned and headed upstairs.

She walked down a hallway and passed by an open door on the right, revealing a room that was filled with beds and dressers. Though the bedroom was overcrowded, it was bright and cheerful. Julia had painted the walls blue with fluffy white clouds, a sun, and a few rainbows. The place was empty at the moment. Tess could hear the kids playing in the backyard through the open window on the far side of the room. She continued down the hallway and knocked on the door at the end.

“Yeah,” Vivyka said curtly.

Tess opened the door and found her lying on the crimson-covered bed in her tiny room, staring up at the sloping ceiling. The walls were white like the rest of the house, but all the fabrics were dark red and she had painted her furniture black. There was only one painting, which hung on the wall next to her bed. It was of a pretty man with wild black hair and black eyeliner around his gray eyes. His name was Brex. He was the God of Chaos, though people usually called him the party god.

“Sorry,” Tess said, grudging but sincere. “I didn’t mean—”

“Whatever,” Vivyka cut in. She huffed a humorless laugh. “Nothing more than I’d expect from you.” She got off her bed, went to the open window, and sat on the ledge. “You don’t know what it’s like to go even a day without your parents being there.”

Tess frowned. “I know. I’m sorry that you do.”

“Don’t pity me. I’m fine,” Vivyka said, grabbing a cigarette from inside the top dresser drawer beside her. She lit it, then took a drag and blew the smoke out the window. She wasn’t supposed to be smoking inside, but she knew Tess wouldn’t tell and the kids were playing on the other side of the house. “I take care of myself. Some people don’t need to be coddled.”

Then why are you still here, clinging to my mom? Tess thought, but all she said was, “Sure.” Then left the room.

She found her mother in the main room on the first floor, cleaning a bit of blood off a little girl’s knee. She had already taken care of the scrape with her healing spell. It was one of the only things Julia used magic for anymore. Spells used mana—energy that affected a person’s overall energy level. But Julia used so much energy taking care of the children, then going home and taking care of her own family, that she didn’t have a lot left for magic. When Julia was finished, she gave the girl a gentle hug, then watched with a fond smile as she ran back to play with the other kids.

Tess thought her mother was a kind of hero, too, not really because she helped stop Kieran all those years ago, but because she tried to save the world from suffering, one child at a time. Julia was determined to make sure everyone felt loved and cared for. Though Falcon adored her for it, he told her often that she was only human and shouldn’t work as hard as she did. Of course, Julia never listened, and Tess was used to being sent at dinnertime to remind her mother that it was time to come home.

“All better?” Julia asked as she stood and walked to her daughter.

Tess nodded.

“Good. What you said was harsh. Viv doesn’t need you pointing out her misfortunes.”

Tess sighed. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Still, you need to be more careful. The damage of words is greater than that of swords.”

Tess managed not to roll her eyes at the line she had heard a hundred times before. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

Julia smiled now and tucked a lock of hair that had fallen out of Tess' braid behind her ear. “Went to see your dad?”

Tess grinned. “I almost had him this time, but he had to get back to work.”

Julia had never liked the idea of her daughter fighting, but Falcon had insisted on teaching her. Tess had always been set on it, so the best thing he could do was to make sure she was well-trained.

“I’m sure you’ll get him next time,” Julia said lightly. “So... what are you doing here?”

“Oh, I just wanted to know if we can have Sera and them over for dinner tonight.”

“Why?” Julia asked suspiciously.

Tess shrugged. “I just want some family time. Is that so wrong?”

Her mother looked skeptical, but didn’t ask. “Fine with me. Tell your dad, he’s the one cooking.” Falcon always cooked. Julia was horrible at it—something she and her daughter had in common.

“He knows. Thanks,” Tess said easily and left.