Risebelle stepped through the massive doors of Kintovars lab. Dr. Kintovar stood with her hands on her hips seemingly waiting in the center on the first floor. Her pink headphones rested around her neck and behind those ever-present sunglasses, her sharp gaze was already locked onto Risebelle.

  "Ah, Risebelle! You're back!" Kintovar rang out chipper yet edged with something knowing.

  Something about Kintovar’s stance felt prepared to Risebelle. She narrowed her eyes. "You were watching everything, weren’t you?"

  Kintovar smirked and tapped the side of her sunglasses. "Of course I was. Haras got herself shot, huh?"

  Risebelle looked away momentarily. Then said, "...Where’s the healing spray?"

  Kintovar clicked her tongue. "Hmm. Now this is a rare moment, isn’t it?"

  Risebelle kept her face cold. "What is?"

  Kintovar pointed at her. "You, showing actual concern."

  Risebelle lowered her gaze. Her hands found their way to her hips. "Stop playing around”.

  Kintovar eyed her for a moment, then walked toward a nearby workstation. “Unfortunately, we had a little problem with those very items," she said while casually tapping on a console.

  Risebelle eyed her curiously. “Haras said she forgot them…”

  "Haras didn’t forget her sprays. She just forgot that they had to be remade."

  Risebelle’s brows twitched. "What?"

  Kintovar didn’t bother turning back. "Simple supply issue. They’ll be ready in approximately three days. Until then..."

  She grabbed a small case from the counter and tossed it to Risebelle.

  Risebelle caught it with one hand, flipped it open, and immediately felt her stomach drop.

  Bandages. Disinfectant. Painkillers. Basic ‘human’ first aid?

  A long silence stretched between them before Risebelle shut the case with a snap. She let out a slow, strained breath.

  "...Oh, hell no."

  Despite every fiber of her being rejecting it, Risebelle found herself nursing Haras for the next two days.

  It started begrudgingly—pressing bandages against wounds, making sure Haras drank water, forcing herself to listen to the woman’s delirious babbling.

  Flashes of her time with the woman surfaced in her mind. Haras grinning through the pain, joking about how Risebelle was surprisingly gentle for someone who threatened to shoot her. Risebelle scowling but adjusting the bandages with care anyway. Haras talking about old experiments with nostalgia.

  And then, finally—the third day.

  With the healing spray secured in her grasp, Risebelle made her way back to the cave. Her movements were steady, but deep down, there was an urgency clawing at her chest. She would fix this, heal Haras and—

  She stopped dead in her tracks.

  The cave was empty. She scanned the ground. Footprints—several, and not just Haras’. Mage boots. And then—

  Her gaze locked onto something.

  A blood-stained coat.

  Haras’ coat.

  Risebelle stiffened. She would never get rid of this. Her fingers clenched into fists. The healing spray trembled slightly in her grip. A sharp, suffocating pressure crushed her chest as realization sunk in.

  ‘The Academy…They got her.’

  Her throat tightened. Then, a choked sound left her lips.

  Her shoulders shook.

  “What…?” Her voice cracked. Her hand flew to her cheek and brushed against something warm. Wet.

  Tears.

  “No I—I don’t cry,” she whispered. “I am not a baby. So why—”

  A sob wracked her body. Risebelle’s loud scream tore through the empty cave.

  "HARAS!!"

  Risebelle's consciousness returned to the present. She found herself once again in the presence of Haras. Sobs racked her chest uncontrollably. Just like that day. Just like in that damned cave.

  "Haras...I…" Her voice cracked.

  Roselle froze.

  She had never—never—seen Risebelle like this. Her strong sister, the one who always had a sharp retort and carried herself with a fire that burned through every battle.

  But now—she was breaking.

  Risebelle collapsed to her knees and gripped the dirt beneath her.

  "Haras… damn it—" her breath hitched, "I thought you were dead! I saw your—your coat—"

  Her words choked out.

  Haras stood there, but her usual playful demeanor was nowhere to be found.

  When she spoke, she sounded... calm. Steady. Like a different person entirely.

  "Yeah," Haras said simply. "I suppose, from your perspective... I was." She folded her arms under her lab coat. "The day I disappeared... the mages found out I was hiding in that cave. I don’t know how, but they knew someone was in there. Problem was, they were afraid to go in. Something about 'strange energy.' Superstitious nonsense, if you ask me."

  Her gaze drifted slightly. "But then one of them finally worked up the courage. Came in creeping around, checking every corner."

  .

  Haras gave a small shrug. "I had no time to put my coat on. So I left it. Didn’t have a choice and well…" she gestured at herself. "I had to make a new one. Not as good as the original, but it’s growing on me.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  The bubblegum-haired woman tilted her head and smiled softly. "The good news though? You kept bringing stuff to the cave. Food, supplies, even some of those little gadgets Kintovar makes."

  Risebelle’s breathing stilled. Haras continued, "You didn’t know if I was alive or not, but you still kept coming back."

  A realization slammed into her like a tidal wave. All this time, Haras had been there under their noses.

  Haras turned her attention toward Roselle. The Woman’s bubblegum-colored hair bounced slightly. "Ohhh, you have to be Roselle. You look just like her."

  Roselle instinctively tensed as Haras crouched down to her eye level. She reached out and gently ran her hand across Roselle’s cheek. Her palm was warm, unnervingly so.

  Something about the way this woman touched her, looked at her— it was different from Kintovar.

  Just like Kintovar, she was… studying her, but not in a cold, calculating way. Roselle’s shoulders stiffened.

  Sensing her unease, Risebelle finally gathered herself enough to speak. She spoke hoarse but steady.

  "It’s okay." She swallowed. "She’s your co-creator."

  Roselle’s eyes widened slightly.

  ‘Co-creator?’

  She glanced between Risebelle and Haras.

  This woman… was part of the reason she existed?

  Haras let out a short laugh. “Yes, but Kintovar deserves all the credit she gets. She’s a hero, you know?” She stood up. “A hero in a world where mages want scientists dead at every single corner.”

  The Headmaster’s molten-silver eyes held disgust. Her Psychic energy re-surged around the area. “Scientists and their abominations.” She spoke with venom. “Pretending to mimic the essence of humanity makes me sick.”

  Her gaze locked onto Kintovar and she lifted a single finger toward her.

  “You may be alive Haras, but your so-called ‘hero’ is dead. Give up this foolish notion that you think you’re going to survive.”

  Haras’ fingers twitched slightly before she tilted her head. Slowly, she turned her attention away from the Headmaster and onto Roselle and Risebelle.

  "You know, I watched you two from afar."

  Risebelle blinked through the last of her tears. Roselle kept her gaze locked onto her co-creator.

  "And wow. You two?"Haras pressed a hand to her heart. “You’re amazing.” She took a step forward. "But now…"

  She raised her arms and pulled out two small guns. She twirled them effortlessly, then slammed them together. A faint pulse of energy surged outward, and in a single motion, the weapons fused into ahigh-density rifle in her grasp. Sleek. Deadly. Compact yet radiating sheer destructive potential.

  Roselle's eyes widened. “Woooah…”

  Haras grinned while cocking the rifle. “Now, it’s time for a superstar to take the spotlight!”

  The Headmaster growled. “Fine. Since you choose to be a nuisance…”

  With a sharp flick of her wrist, psychic tendrils shot out from the ground that surged toward Haras with terrifying speed.

  Haras leveled her rifle and adjusted her aim in an instant. A single high-impact shot tore through multiple tendrils. The sheer force sent rippling shockwaves through the battlefield.

  Haras smirked. “Let’s light up the night, ladies.”

  Her fingers danced over the rifle’s controls.

  "Electroshock mode—ENGAGE!"

  The weapon hummed with energy. Mechanical plates slid and reformed to reveal glowing blue energy lines pulsing through its frame, then—she fired.

  Bright-blue electro shots arced across the battlefield and melted through psychic tendrils like a hot knife through ice.

  Haras moved like a blur. She maneuvered through spawning tendrils while firing off shots and led herself straight toward Kintovar’s motionless body.

  The Headmaster’s frustration boiled over. “Tch. enough of this nonsense.”

  She held out both of her hands. The tendrils moved faster. They coiled around Haras behind her, above her and all around her.

  The Headmaster grinned.

  “Got you right where I want you!”

  Haras’ eyes widened.

  The tendrils wrapped around her.

  The Headmaster wasted no time and spoke with finality.“Begone, relic of the past… MIND BREAK!”

  A surge of psychic energy crashed down like a tidal wave—

  —And then the body in the tendrils didn’t move.

  Something was wrong.

  The Headmaster's smirk faltered.

  Then—

  CRACK.

  The head of the body fell off.

  Not blood. Not bone.

  A missile fused with magic and technology.

  The Headmaster’s eyes went wide. “WHAT?!”

  BOOM!

  A massive explosion erupted that engulfed everything in a brilliant detonation of energy and fire.

  From beneath the earth, Haras emerged. Her pink lab coat fluttered behind her. Kintovar’s body—Becky’s body—she grabbed them both. Sybil dropped from the Headmaster’s grasp but landed on her feet and quickly ran while looking back.

  Roselle’s body surged with yellow static. She bolted forward faster than the eye could track and seized Alan.

  At the same time, Risebelle lifted her hands with her water magic surging. A powerful torrent of water exploded outward that slammed into Sylra and thrusted her back from the blast zone.

  Roselle skidded to a stop and gently lowered Alan to the ground.

  At the same time, she carefully placed down the mini-tank that encased her sister, Runebelle.

  Alan let out a low whistle. "Damn. You carried both me and this thing? You're pretty strong, kid."

  He exhaled while running a hand through his disheveled red hair. His green eyes flicked toward her. “You saved my ass. I owe you one."

  Roselle simply nodded. Her blue eyes flickered toward Kintovar, lying on the ground, then to Haras who stood above her.

  Roselle’s eyes narrowed slightly.

  “Dr.Haras is no joke…” she muttered under her breath.

  Haras knelt beside Kintovar and Becky. She used a scanner that whirred softly over both of them. Everyone stood in uneasy silence around her.

  Sybil frowned. “…They’re gone.”

  Haras checked Kintovar first—no pulse. No breath.

  Then Becky—same result.

  Haras took a deep breathe. "Physically, they’re dead."

  A choked sound left Sybil’s lips. “Becky…D…Doc…”

  Haras adjusted her device and twisted a dial. A green pulse flickered across its screen.

  Her gaze darkened.

  "Their minds…" she murmured. “They’ve been wiped out.”

  Haras pulled out vials, wires, tools, and a bunch of other things from a toolbox she took out. ”It’s going to be a race against time, but I think I can save them!”

  She tapped a button on her device. A ‘Lipstick’ appeared in her hands. Haras held up the mysterious lipstick-shaped device and when she did, a sudden burst of energy erupted around her.

  Bright holographic text flashed in the air, as if the very universe had prepared a sales pitch for this exact moment.

  THE LIPSTICK MIND RESTORER!

  A breakthrough invention by the genius minds of Dr. Haras and Dr. Kintovar!

  Haras grinned and struck a pose with the device in hand.

  “That’s right, ladies and gentlemen! When life gets you down and your mind is on vacation—DON’T FRET!”

  She waggled the lipstick before pointing it at Kintovar and Becky’s bodies.

  “Dr. Haras has got your back!”

  The ‘Lipstick’ hummed with a soft neon glow pulsing from its casing.

  Risebelle and Alan just stared.

  Sybil, who was still on the verge of tears blinked in complete disbelief.

  Roselle’s brow twitched. “Is… this really happening?”

  But Haras was already at work. She twisted the base of the device.Her eyes then narrowed.

  "This little gadget right here? Dr. Kintovar sent me the schematics long ago. She didn't even know if I'd ever get them—only I could have decoded them."

  She flicked her gaze toward Kintovar’s motionless body.

  “…And if she trusted me with this, then I’m sure as hell not letting her down.”

  Haras twirled the Lipstick Mind Restorer between her fingers with a smirk.

  “This little beauty here? It’s not just some regular lipstick for making your lips all kissable. No, no, no—this bad boy transfers nanites directly into the body!”

  She popped the cap off with an exaggerated flick, revealing… what looked like actual lipstick.

  Risebelle rubbed her temples. “You’re joking.”

  Haras wiggled her eyebrows. “Dead serious.”

  She pointed the open end toward Kintovar’s face.

  "See, the nanites are compressed inside this casing. When I apply it, they get absorbed through the skin and immediately start repairing damaged neural pathways! It’s basically high-tech CPR, but instead of just restarting the heart, it kicks the brain back into working order.”

  Alan folded his arms.

  “…And there’s no way this has side effects?”

  Haras laughed. A little too quickly.

  “Well! You see…” She glanced away and twirled a lock of her pink hair.

  Risebelle’s stare darkened. "Haras."

  Haras cleared her throat.

  “Okay, okay, fine. There are, uh, some… ‘minor’ side effects.”

  Roselle frowned. “Define minor.”

  Haras grinned sheepishly.

  “Well! Let’s see. There’s a small chance of—uh—temporary memory loss, weird cravings, unexpected mood swings, spontaneous cursing in ancient languages, enhanced aggression, mild-to-moderate insanity…”

  Sybil looked horrified. Alan’s eye twitched. “…Did you just say insanity?”

  Haras waved a hand. “Temporary insanity.”

  Roselle’s frown deepened. “That doesn’t make it better…”

  “Pssh, its fine!” Haras beamed. “It’s just a teensy risk! And come on—we all know Kintovar wouldn’t mind losing a few screws."

  She clapped her hands together. "Now! Enough chit-chat! Let’s bring them back to life!”

  Project Mage