“So this American Princess, she’s an S-rank healer?”

  “Yes.”

  “A healer that solos high ranked Gates? Does that even make sense?”

  “She’s a healer that has strong buffs and a stronger physical body due to being nonhuman. Think of her more like a melee fighter with powerful utility.”

  “But does that mean her healing is weaker than the other healers at the same rank?”

  “Not sure. Injuries and diseases that would require an S-rank are rare. Her healing hasn't been proven yet, but since the Association lists it on her profile as her primary ability it's probably good.”

  “Probably? So this is still a gamble? I’m not going to shove my sick son on a 14 hour flight just—”

  “Sir, I also asked my Consteltion and they confirmed her skill. Literally warned me to never go against her, too. Seemed almost afraid of picking a fight.”

  “The Raven fears another? Has that ever happened before?”

  “No. Not once. That’s why I’m sure this is the right answer. This is the path to curing the young master.”

  “... Fine. Contact the American Association. See if we can get them to set up a meeting with this Returnee.”

  “You’ve made the right choice, Sir.”

  “Numerous analysts are raising arm at the increasing Gate activity over the past few weeks. Today alone a new record number of high ranking Gates appeared in the Midwest states. The Association auctioned off three of the seven A-rank Gates and closed the rest with its own teams. The Returnee Princess Scale handled three of the four by herself—”

  The channel changed.

  “Some experts are wondering if this is the preamble for the Fifth Great Gate Disaster. The sudden increase in—”

  The channel changed again.

  “This is Hana the Gossi—”

  The television clicked off. Scale groaned, tossed the remote aside, and leaned back into her couch. The te afternoon sun made a gre on the bck television screen. Scale could see her and Harper’s reflections.

  “Is it because of—”

  “Probably.” Scale interrupted Harper and sighed. “When powerful beings fight it destabilizes nearby space.”

  “Huh? So every time you fight in these Gates aren’t you making the problem worse?”

  “Not necessarily. Normally I don’t release that much power. I’m lucky because I still have a physical body unlike most consteltions that are just strong souls encased in mana constructs.”

  There was a pause in the conversation. Neither cared to break the comfortable silence on a Saturday afternoon. There was no hurry. Soft music came from the house across the street. The sweet smell of barbeque filled the neighborhood.

  “It’s getting close to dinner time. Mom wanted me to invite you over.”

  “Ah. I’m good. I have pns with my sister tonight.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Dunno. She’ll be here soon so I’ll find out then.” Scale paused. “You’re too young or I’d offer to bring you with us but we’re probably gonna be drinking. Instead, how about I give you some homework—”

  “Oh no! I hear mom calling me!” Harper moved fast as lightning. She slipped out the front door like a ghost and vanished from view. Her hair bristled like a startled cat.

  Scale, left behind with a bnk look on her face, couldn’t stifle the ugh rising from the bottom of her chest. She pulled out her phone and checked her texts.

  “Little brat.”

  Alyssa posed in front of the mirror and smiled. She was wearing jeans and a bck top. She had her hair tied high. “What do you think?” She asked.

  “I think I’ve been waiting for forty minutes,” said Scale. “I thought we were going out, not having a fashion show.”

  “Rex. Sarah’s coming too so we need to wait for her anyway. At least there’s no need to worry about traffic.”

  “Where are we even going?”

  “I’m not ruining the surprise!” Alyssa grinned like a mischievous cat. “You’ve been working nonstop the st two weeks so just leave everything to me.”

  “This better not be some eborate prank setup.”

  “Don’t you trust your sister?” Alyssa batted her eyes and put on the most innocent expression she could.

  “Nope. Not at all. In fact, I’d trust a hungry stray dog to guard my food first.”

  Alyssa grabbed a pillow off the nearby bed and threw it at Scale. When it hit Scale in the face they both ughed.

  “You know, I’m not even sure if alcohol affects me,” said Scale after calming down. “It’d be nice to test it out.”

  “Well you’ll have plenty of chances.” She paused when a ding noise came from her phone. She checked it and grinned. “Sarah’s ready. She’ll be here in a minute.”

  “Good. I genuinely don’t know how much longer I can stay sane next to you.”

  “But Sarah is fine?”

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “You know she’s crazy, right?”

  “Far as I’m concerned, she’s an angel if she can put up with you, Watergss.”

  “Yes I am an angel. Thanks for noticing.” Sarah popped into the room and spoke in her signature small voice. “You two good to go?”

  “Ah. Yeah.”

  “Yup.”

  “Then let’s go.” Sarah flipped her hand and a bck circle appeared over all three girls. It dropped down, swallowing them whole.

  Scale’s vision swam. Spatial movements were always jarring. She had studied spatial ws for a long time outside the veil while traveling between worlds, but even she had to admit Sarah’s skills were impressive. Within the blink of an eye the three girls appeared in front of a fancy looking building. For some reason Alyssa appeared a few feet off the ground and fell on her butt while the other two nded perfectly on their feet, but she quickly got up and brushed herself off before turning to her sister with a grand hand gesture.

  “First stop, the Belligrand House!” Alyssa nodded. “You might not know about this pce, but it’s considered the best in the world. The owner’s ability is reted to cooking and it’s harder to get in here than to get into—”

  “It’s impressive. I get it.” Scale interrupted Alyssa with an open hand. “I don’t need the riot act. Let’s go eat, already. I’m starving.”

  “Come on, let me brag for a bit!” Alyssa stomped her feet in frustration. “Do you know what I had to do to get this reservation?”

  “Why are you like this?” Scale waved her hands in resignation.

  “What do you mean what ‘you’ had to do?” Sarah took over the conversation. Her mousey face looked prickly and her tone was accusatory.

  “I had to do a lot to convince you to get us this reservation, babe.” Alyssa’s absolutely shameless smile could cut gss. She grabbed Sarah’s ass with a loud smack.

  “Alyssa!” Sarah’s face looked like a tomato.

  “Ah. Did you bring me here just to be a third wheel? To show off your flirting?”

  “You’re only figuring that out now?” Alyssa ughed.

  Scale hung her head. Now dejected, she vowed revenge. Her closed fists trembled. Alyssa mentioned earlier that she would pick up the bill, but that was a grand mistake. Being a polymorphed dragon, Scale had a rather rge stomach. Her mother could literally eat heavenly bodies. What’s some fancy restaurant food compared to the moon?

  Alyssa and Sarah sat together on one side of the table and Scale sat opposite. The couple could only watch in awe as appetizers, bread, and drinks were vacuumed down like nothing by the white-haired girl. A red flush filled Scale’s cheeks as she drank three bottles of wine before the main course even came out. She hiccupped, surprised at the subtle feeling of intoxication filling her up.

  “Ashhh,” Scale contentedly sighed. “I can feel a buzz.”

  “So you can get drunk?” Alyssa’s eyes started to sparkle. She turned to the waiter with a dangerous grin. She wanted to see her little sister embarrass herself. Alyssa never once considered a possible bad outcome from this despite Sarah kicking her under the table. “Bring ten more bottles.”

  “Maybe this isn’t a good idea…” Sarah whispered to Alyssa but her voice trailed off at the end.

  “What could possibly go wrong?” Alyssa whispered back.

  “What could go wrong from getting the strongest being on the pnet drunk off her ass?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Alyssa…”

  “I mean, I know her well. Trust me. Back when she was Jacoby she was just a sad drunk. Crying all the time and being super clingy and affectionate.” Alyssa leaned in and her lips brushed Sarah’s ear. She whispered a devil’s temptation: “Don’t you want to see her acting all cute, too?”

  Sarah’s face went beet red. She looked over at the adorable girl downing her fourth bottle of pinot noir. “M-maybe just a little.”

  Scale, completely oblivious to the conversation taking pce, was focused on bankrupting her sister. She vowed to eat and drink until that damned Watergss had to sell the clothes off her back.

  Cxons howled through the Association Headquarters. Guild analysts rushed back to work after hours with hopeless expressions. A massive Gate had appeared that spanned the Mississippi river. Early readings indicated it as being in the upper tiers of S-rank with an intense erosion rate.

  “Have we ever seen a Gate this big?”

  “Maybe the Returnee’s Gate.”

  “Shit. Someone get the President on the line. We need to call in a strike team. Hopefully they can get here soon. This Gate’s going to break in four hours.”

  Meanwhile, two key members of that theoretical strike team were currently dealing with the consequences of their own actions, being firmly held in a tight inescapable hug. Scale had, at long st, lost the battle against the drink. Tears and snot ran down her face as she squeezed her two new stuffed animals that looked suspiciously like S-rank Awakeners.

  “And then *hic* they invited me to a celebration party *hic* but when I got there they killed a bunch of people *hic* and activated a stupid magic spell to banish me from that world. I could have stopped it but *hic* my heart was broken. I just let the portal work *hic*. I thought they were my friends.”

  Scale’s tears seemed never-ending as she poured her heart out to her captive audience. Simirly, Alyssa and Sarah’s tears were also never-ending, albeit for different reasons. Sarah's gre burned a hole in the side of Alyssa's head, but neither of them stopped the blubbering dragon. They opted to simply pet Scale's head and listen, even if it was hard to breathe.