The Cross family home in Southern California is quiet. A house filled with love, but for the past seven months, that love has been filled with a deep anxiety.
Yasmin Cross sits at her kitchen table, a single, open letter on the polished wood before her. The seventh one she has received, one for every month he has been gone.
She traces the lines of his familiar, messy handwriting. The words are a cold comfort. “The training is going well… The program is very demanding… I will be home as soon as I can.”
The letters are proof he is still alive. But they aren’t enough.
A letter is not a phone call.
There is no warmth of his voice, no sound of his easy laugh. Seven months without seeing his face. Without knowing if he is truly safe. It feels like a lifetime.
In the living room, the television news is on. The anchor’s voice a low murmur about a crisis in the Middle East.
A distant conflict that feels a million miles away from the ache in her heart.
A sharp, sudden knock on the front door.
“THUD! THUD! THUD!”
Yasmin’s heart gives a hopeful leap.
She walks to the door, her hands trembling.
She opens it.
He is standing there.
Carter.
He looks different. Older. Harder.
The youthful uncertainty in his eyes is gone, replaced by a quiet, steady confidence. A weary maturity.
He isn’t in his usual clothes. Instead, he wears a sharp, black suit, a white collared shirt, and a simple black tie.
Standing beside him is a beautiful young woman with pink eyes and long, black hair. She looks both nervous and curious.
For a moment, Yasmin can only stare. Her mind trying to connect the boy who left with the man standing before her.
Then, her control shatters.
“Oh, Carter,” she whispers, her voice a choked sob.
She lunges forward, pulling him into a fierce hug. Her arms wrap around him, as if she’s afraid he will vanish if she lets go.
Tears stream down her face. Seven months of fear, and worry, and a mother’s aching love.
“Oh, my baby, you’re home.”
She pulls back, her joy vanishing, replaced by a hot anger. Smacking his arm.
“Seven months, Carter! Seven months! A letter is not a phone call! We were so worried!”
“We didn’t know if you were safe, if you were hurt, if you were…” Her voice cracks, her eyes welling with fresh tears.
“I know, Mom. I’m sorry,” Carter says. His voice is hoarse with emotion.
“I… I couldn’t call. The program was… very strict.”
He holds his mother. The familiar scent of her perfume is a painful reminder.
Over her shoulder, he sees his father in the doorway to the living room. Cam’s face is filled with pure relief.
Carter’s heart aches, a love so fierce it feels like a physical pain.
Then the memory hits him.
Sharp. Violent. Unwelcome.
He sees their faces, not warm and loving like they are now. But as they were in his bedroom. Their eyes black and empty. Filled with a cold, murderous intent.
He remembers his father’s hands. Their unnatural, terrifying strength.
He feels the evil genius of The Unity spell.
It doesn’t just turn loved ones into killers. It erases the memory of the trauma. Leaving only a normal reason for them to worry over. A quiet ache with no visible scar.
Cam closes the distance in two long strides, pulling both his wife and his son into a hug.
He says nothing, but his strong, steady presence says everything. A silent sign of the fear he has carried for seven long months.
They stand there for a moment, a family made whole again.
When they finally break apart, the raw emotion of the reunion gives way to a flood of questions.
They move into the living room. The familiar, comfortable space is a huge change from the marble halls of the Library.
Carter feels like a visitor in his own life.
His parents sit on the couch, their eyes fixed on him, a thousand questions in their gaze. Ruby stands awkwardly by the door. An outsider in this private, family moment.
“Come, sit down dear,” Yasmin says, her voice still a little shaky as she gestures to an armchair. “You must be Carter’s… friend?”
“Uh, yes, ma’am,” Ruby says.
Her usual bubbly confidence is gone, replaced by a shy, respectful nervousness.
“I’m Ruby Sato. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“So, this is the ‘international relief organization’ you’ve been writing about,” Cam says.
His gaze moves from Carter’s sharp, black suit to the beautiful, unfamiliar young woman beside him. Then he notices the simple, gold band on Carter’s left hand.
The Lotus Ring.
In his haste, Carter put it on his wedding finger.
A slow smile spreads across Cam’s face. He looks at Yasmin, his eyes sparkling with a new, joyful understanding.
“Oh, honey,” Yasmin says. Her own eyes widen as she follows his gaze. “You didn’t tell us… Are you two… married?”
Carter looks down at his hand, then at Ruby.
A deep, horrified blush spreads across his face.
“What? No! No, no, no,” he stammers, quickly pulling the ring off and fumbling to put it on his right hand. “It’s not… It’s just a ring. From the program. A graduation gift.”
“We’re just friends,” Ruby adds quickly, her own face a bright shade of pink. “Partners. For… for the deployment.”
The explanation is clumsy and awkward. It does little to stop his parents’ hopeful, knowing smiles.
Carter knows he needs to control the conversation.
He remembers Gabriel’s warning, a cold echo in the back of his mind.
The Safeguard is not just triggered by language. A lot of raw magical energy, or even a conversation that gets too close to the truth, can be enough to awaken it.
The Unity spell is pure evil.
A wave of cold, helpless anger washes over him.
These fuckers… They really thought of everything.
He takes a deep breath and begins to lie.
Telling them about a hard, seven month training program in a remote facility.
He speaks of advanced emergency medicine, of intense physical training for a high risk deployment.
Ruby, he explains, is his partner. Another graduate of the program.
He tells them he is only in town for the day before they are both shipped out.
A few hours later, the tension is gone.
Ruby’s bubbly charm returns, and she gets along great with his parents.
In the kitchen with Yasmin, they laugh while looking through old photo albums. Her easy, genuine warmth winning over his mother.
Cam claps a hand on Carter’s shoulder, a wide, knowing grin on his face.
“She’s a keeper, son,” he says, his voice a low murmur. “You’d be a fool to let that one get away. You should seriously think about it.”
“Dad, we’re just friends,” Carter insists, though a faint blush creeps up his neck.
He pulls out his phone. A familiar object that feels alien in his new world. He opens his old group chat with Sam and Leo.
His fingers tremble slightly as he types.
Carter: Hey, guys. I’m back. In town for one day only though. Meet up tonight?
The replies are instant. A flood of joyous, disbelieving, and angry all-caps messages.
Leo: “DUDE! WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN?!?!”
Sam: “Carter?! Oh my god, are you okay? We’ve been so worried!”
Leo: “WORRIED?! I’M GONNA KILL HIM! SEVEN MONTHS, MAN! SEVEN FUCKING MONTHS OF NOTHING? I THOUGHT YOU DIED.”
Leo: anyways, yea bro. Lets meet up :0 see u l8r
Carter smiles, a real smile for the first time since he walked through the door.
Carter: You mind if I bring a I bring a friend?
The replies are a chaotic, excited mess of questions and confirmations. They agree to meet at their old dive bar later that night. Their anger is already forgotten, replaced by pure relief.
Later That Afternoon…
With the evening’s plans set, Carter turns to Ruby.
“You ready to see California?”
Ruby’s pink eyes light up with a genuine, almost childish excitement.
“Are you kidding? I’ve only ever seen it in movies. Show me everything.”
He leads her to the garage. Her eyes go wide at the sight of his 1200cc blacked-out chopper.
“Whoa,” she says, her voice filled with pure awe. “Nice ride.”
The feeling of riding on the open road is pure freedom. For Ruby, it is a new feeling.
She holds on tight to Carter, her head tilted up to the brilliant, blue California sky, a wide, joyful grin on her face.
Carter takes her on a tour of his world. The life he left behind.
They go to a massive shopping mall. Ruby is completely overwhelmed by the chaotic and beautiful sight of it all.
They watch an action movie in a dark, cool theater. She gasps and cheers with the rest of the crowd, captivated by the simple, explosive magic of the big screen.
They end the day at the beach, the sun a fiery orange ball beginning its slow drop into the Pacific Ocean.
They walk along the Santa Monica pier. The air is thick with the smell of salt, sunscreen, and fried food. The sounds of crashing waves and the cheerful, chaotic noise of the boardwalk fill the air.
“So,” Ruby asks, her voice soft as they lean against the railing, watching the waves roll in. “What did you do? Before all of this?”
“I was an EMT,” Carter replies, his gaze lost in the endless, shimmering ocean.
He tells her everything.
About the quiet dissatisfaction of his old life. Of feeling like he was blending into the background.
He tells her about the car crash, the fire, and the impossible, terrifying moment he shattered a window with nothing but a thought.
And he tells her about Killian. The strange man who appeared in his room and saved him from a world that had suddenly turned against him.
“Wow,” Ruby says, her voice a quiet whisper. “So you’re like a real life hero.”
“I’m not a hero,” Carter says, shaking his head.
“I was just… there.”
He takes a sip of his soda. The warm, flat liquid is a big change from the cool, salty air. Ruby notices his grimace.
“Here,” she says, a playful glint in her pink eyes.
She holds out her open palm, her face full of focus. She speaks a single, quiet Japanese word, a soft whisper lost in the sound of the crashing waves.
氷 (Kōri – “Ice”)
A handful of perfect, clear ice cubes appears in her hand, each one glowing with a faint, internal light.
“Better?” she asks, dropping the magic ice into his cup with a cheerful sound.
Carter flinches, his eyes immediately darting around the crowded boardwalk, searching for any sign of the Safeguard.
Then a different concern takes over.
“Wait, Japanese? Isn’t that, like, a level four Dissonance for you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she says with a laugh, seeing the look on his face. “The Dissonance is still there, like a little pinprick behind my eyes, but for a simple, direct spell like this? One that uses almost no power? It’s barely noticeable.”
She gives him a playful nudge.
“With more practice, you’ll be able to use your Mandarin and Mongolian with this kind of precision, too. It’s all about control.”
But someone DID notice.
A few feet away, a street performer in a golden mask, who had been doing card tricks for tips, suddenly stops.
His head, hidden behind the blank mask, turns in their direction.
He saw the flash of light. The impossible, casual act of creation.
The man in the golden mask walks over to them. His movements are smooth and practiced, like a friendly, harmless street performer.
He gives them a slight bow.
“A day for a stroll, is it not?” he says, his voice a cheerful, muffled sound from behind the mask. “You two seem like a fun couple. Would you allow a humble magician to show you a little trick? On the house.”
Carter and Ruby exchange a look. They know real magic, and this is not it. But they play along, amused and curious.
“Sure,” Carter says with a shrug. “Why not?”
“Excellent,” the man says. He pulls out a worn deck of cards. “Now, for this to work, I need your complete focus. Please, hold your hands out, palms down, over my own as I shuffle. It helps to… channel the energy.”
It’s a strange request, but they agree, thinking nothing of it.
They hold their hands out over the man’s as he begins to shuffle the cards with quick, fancy moves.
But Carter notices the man’s eyes, visible through the thin slits in the golden mask, are not on the cards.
They are on their hands.
Specifically, on the simple, gold rings they both wear.
He sees the Lotus Circle emblem.
The man’s movements stop for a second. A small, almost invisible mistake in his otherwise perfect shuffle.
He recovers instantly.
But the shift in his posture, the sudden, sharp tension in his shoulders, is a clear signal.
Something has changed.
He finishes the trick, a simple card reveal that earns a polite, forced round of applause from the small crowd that has gathered.
“And there you have it,” he says. His voice is still cheerful, but now with a strange, metallic edge to it.
He looks at their hands again.
“Those are beautiful, matching rings you have there. A lovely couple.”
“We’re uhhh… Not a couple,” Ruby says, a faint blush on her cheeks.
They leave a few dollars in his tip jar and walk away.
The strange encounter already beginning to fade from their minds, lost in the cheerful noise of the boardwalk.
Just two young people, enjoying a beautiful California sunset.
Completely unaware that they have just been marked.
As they disappear into the crowd, the man in the golden mask turns his back to the boardwalk.
The cheerful, harmless look of the street performer vanishes, replaced by the cold, hard stillness of a soldier.
He pulls a small satellite phone from a hidden pocket in his costume. Dialing a single, pre-programmed number.
It is answered on the first ring.
“Report,” a cold male voice says from the other end.
The man in the golden mask speaks.
“Target acquired. Two of them. Both wearing the sigil of the Library.”