I was born with the words return to sender stamped on my forehead. I was never going to get better. I’d never regain the muscle strength I’d lost, and one day the disease I fought was going to kill me.
But until that day, I’d live. Living was a form of fighting back.
And I wanted my life to have Grigfen in it.
He gave me something to fight for.
I dipped my head. “I can help. I’ll give her your message and no one else will have to die.”
He lowered the harness and strapped on the diodes.
“Last chance.”
It was my choice, and I knew the risk. “Time to summon Exodia.”
“Excuse me?”
I shrugged my shoulder and smiled. “That means yes.”
* * *
I woke in the middle of a ballroom. In front of me, the queen of the Savak fired a dagger. A whiff of smoke expelled from her wrist. My whirligig-assisted leg braces slid into attack mode as I reached into a Historian’s cloak and drew a blade with each hand. I spun and cut that dagger down.
The queen stared at me, and then flashed invisible.
I breathed heavy. Searched around. She was hiding somewhere. I knew it.
I had no idea what was happening, but I knew a battlefield when I saw one. I sniffed deep. No sign. Last thing I remembered I’d been given an assignment with my fellow Everstriders. The general had gone missing, rumors whispering that she’d signed her name on a contract giving our kingdom to the Savak. Last thing I remembered, it was morning.
The green fog cleared and a girl kneeling by Prince Ryo turned, gorgeous axes held in each hand.
Her expression seemed surprised to see me for a brief second, and then she gestured to the side. “Take off Grig’s wings now.”
She pointed to a painted boy on his knees. Sharp metal wings sprouted from his back.
I had no idea what was happening, but I recognized the order in her tone. I pulled off the Historian’s cloak, revealing my Everstrider uniform and the Mechani armor I called Voyage, which helped me walk. I marched to his side.
His hopeless eyes met mine, and the loss in them dimmed as if snuffed.
“Bluebird?” he whispered.
How did he know my name? He didn’t seem familiar, but nothing seemed familiar. “What is happening?” I said. My voice seemed too loud. Why was everything so loud? My Everstrider uniform seemed so bright, gold medals gleaming, leather boots tucked into my armor, and coat pulled tight at the waist and trimmed at my knees with bells that only rang when ghosts were nearby.
They were ringing now. “It’s okay. It’s okay,” he said. “You haven’t drunk seer water yet, so you don’t have game vision.” He wiped his eyes and sat up.
I looked at the metal harness fused around his chest. I slipped my fingers between the metal and his chest and bent, but even my elevated strength wouldn’t budge the metal.
“Don’t bother with the wings. Their likely to snap shut if we do too much fiddling.”
“Then what do I do?”
His eyes softened and glistened with tears. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
I snorted. “Tell me something I don’t know.” Something clashed, like metal against metal. I turned, but that wild girl just hunted the empty air. “I should be at my barracks. I don’t know what’s going on.”
The girl roared out a growl and lunged for the Savak queen. Her black hair was chaos and her green eyes were made of fire. She swung her axe above her head.
“What is my mission?” I asked. “If I can’t help with the wings, there has to be something I can do.” There was something else. Something important. But I couldn’t remember.
“We’re your allies,” he said. “And it’s our job to fight the Savak queen. Do you understand?”
That wasn’t it. I knew there was something else. But I nodded and held up my sword. I was a weapon, and all they had to do was aim me. I didn’t need to think. “Hulk smash?” I asked. I blinked. That wasn’t right. What was a Hulk?
He smiled as if my words made sense. “You … You are a pre-seer water player with a fresh download of memories from another life, dropped into a final battle with no recollection of why, or who you are, and you can still deliver a perfectly timed reference to a Marvel movie?”
I didn’t understand anything he said but I shrugged.
“Your nerdiness truly knows no bounds. I love you so … um…”