ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, IT COULD'VE BEEN MUCH WORSE, Naoki reflected, swinging her feet as she sat on a metal table, watching the four new members of her squadron. Harper Rabatin could've been one of them. 

Dexter, Xandra, Paris and Theo weren't a bad group. There was lots of nagging between them: Naoki couldn't recall a single lecture she'd given without being cut over by Xandra and Paris sniping at each other like they were in the middle of a world war. But Naoki could work with acknowledgement. She couldn't work with ignorance. 

When the Keepers had first been established, they were a ragtag group of stragglers, the very few in numbers who hadn't suppressed their Walking dreams, and wanted to make a difference. As the years went by, and they evolved into the Keepers, an elite force of soldiers and warriors, they had need of a base. 

First it was a church, then a massive basement. One of their better seasons, Kiernan had told her, was when they call camped out in an Ikea up by Washington Heights. 

"There were more than enough beds and meatballs," he joked. 

As the city shifted and grew, so too did the Keepers. Their location changed, always, to keep from the Queen of Shadows finding them. When Kiernan came into the role of general, he knew exactly where he wanted to move the base next. 

King's High School. 

The seven-floor building was an optimal choice. It was surrounded by flatter apartment complexes, which gave it an advantage of sight. There were hundreds of rooms that could be repurposed into anything. A nurse's office provided medical supplies, and there was an endless amount of frozen foods in the cafeteria. 

Naoki's favorite room, though, was the dance room. Sixth floor, off to the side of the elevators. It was lined with mirrors, so dancers could better see their movements, but Naoki simply spent hours in there, watching herself move, tilting her head just so and softening her lips. 

She liked knowing she was real, sometimes. That other people could see her. 

Kiernan had converted the dance studio into a training room. A rack of weapons stood on wobbly legs at the far end, and the lights were turned up high. Several mats from the gym lined the floors and walls, for sparring, and there was a small punching bag from one of the guidance counsellor's offices. 

In this room, the four practiced their magic. 

"Okay, let's take a break, then we'll run through your routines one last time!" Naoki called, clapping her hands. "Good job." 

"I feel sick," Paris groaned, clutching his stomach. 

"Woman up, Berlin," Theo sniped. "The Damia are gonna get you." 

"Oh shut up, lover boy," Paris rolled his eyes. "At least I won't fall in love with one of them." 

"I'd never fall in love with a Damia. That's just as bad as falling in love with you." 

Xandra chugged water from a plastic bottle, spilling it down the corners of her mouth. "God it's hot." 

"Yeah," Dexter agreed, plopping down on the ground and wiping the sweat off his brow. "When are we going to be done with training?" 

"Once Rox evaluates you, and deems you fit for the field," Naoki replied, reaching for her own water bottle. 

"Did you have to do this too? Or did you just bat your eyelashes and get in?" Theo asked. 

"I did the training, all of it. Under Rox himself, though. He pushed me harder than I'd ever been pushed before. I graduated top of his class." 

"No surprises there," Paris murmured. 

"Once I did a few trial missions, like you all will soon, I was promoted to a Keeper. Turned down several promotions, actually," she looked pointedly at Theo. "I preferred to keep it down, stay as a foot solider. I don't want the responsibility of leading an army." 

They nodded quietly, soaking this information in. 

"So you've been a badass demon slayer since like... six?" Paris raised his hand tentatively. 

"I've been training since I was six," she corrected. "Kiernan didn't want a little kid running around a minefield of monsters and pits, so he made me train for a while before letting me take any jobs. I started as an official Keeper about three years ago." 

"So the start of high school," Dexter did the math. "Did you apply to King's because it was a hotspot for Puppets?" 

"Oddly enough, they happened at the same time," Naoki shrugged. "I got in to King's, and a couple days later, the first group of Puppets popped up on the radar. I think it has more to do with the fact that whoever's been pulling Puppets for the Queen is a Junior as well." 

Xandra cracked her knuckles. "Well, I'm all done sweating. You guys?" 

"Yep, I'm ready to call it a day," Theo sighed. "Let's get this over with." 

He offered a hand to Dexter. "Can't spend all day on the floor, Princess, even if you do look cute down there." 

Dexter looked up at him, smiling shyly. "You would know, the floor's where your ranks have been all day." 

Xandra let out a slow whistle, clapping. "Dexter: one. Theo: nil." 

Theo let out a good-natured chuckle. "Just take my damn hand." 

He clasped it gratefully, pulling himself up. 

Paris thrust his hand out too, but Theo just looked at him. 

"Sorry, I forgot your name," he said blankly. "Was it... Prague?" 

Paris rolled his eyes, pushing himself to his feet. "You're really original, you know that right?" 

Theo smirked. "Genius always builds off something." 

"So does stupidity, but I've heard it both ways," Paris said dismissively. "Enough gossiping, let's get this over with. I'm starving." 

The four assumed their positions. Xandra to the far left, Paris to the far right. Dexter and Theo between them. 

Xandra crouched, the black material of her suit flexing along her thighs and calves. It was specially made, with fibres that moulded to fit her body as it moved, ensuring chafing and friction wouldn't get in her way. The suit wicked away sweat and fluids, and the toes were lined with gripping nubs to keep her from slipping on near-vertical surfaces. It felt like something Catwoman would wear, and while Xandra wasn't a nerd like Paris, she had to admit it was pretty cool. 

Paris had no such inhibitions. Over the past two days, he'd begun to develop his skill with his 'lightsabers'. It required immense concentration, and a clear purpose. If he was making them just to mess around, the glowing blades wouldn't summon. He could change their style and length, but it required a hollow tube to use as a handle. General Rox had given him a carbon fibre rod, weighted and gripped, so it fit perfectly in Paris' hands. He twitched the pole, and a beam of sizzling energy burst out. 

Dexter had taken a longer time to figure out his powers, and two days in, they were still quite patchy. Unlike Paris and Xandra, whose powers were a physical manifestation, Dexter could feel the negative or positive outcomes of a situation. Like with the Damia, Dexter could sense when trouble was brewing, indicated by a sinking feeling in his gut. If something were to happen positively, he would become uncharacteristically chipper and extroverted. 

Theo's power was slightly more complex. 

"Here's the problem," Naoki had said, sitting him down in a chair. "Mind control? It's cool. But Mirage is technically a realm of the mind: everything we do here could be classified as mind control. Or at least, mind tampering." 

"So... what does that mean?" Theo blinked. 

Illias leaned on the back of Naoki's chair. "Your powers are essentially null. Being able to control somebody's mind in this plane is useless. The people who you can control, such as Naoki or myself, are already on your team. We're also usually mind-protected, as precautionary measures against Damia." 

"The Damia are also impossible to control, unless you're the Queen of Shadows," Naoki added. "So you can't help there, either." 

"And Sleepers are a no go, since they're basically Walkers and Damia combined, so they've got double mental protection." 

"Double condom!" Naoki gave sarcastic little jazz hands. 

"Oh," Theo looked down, crestfallen, rubbing the back of his neck. "So what. I carry the sandwiches?" 

"That's what Illias proposed, but I've got a better idea," Naoki pulled him into standing, holding both of his hands in her own. "If you can go into people's minds, you can sense their emotions. Follow snippets of their logic, maybe even dive into their memories." 

Theo nodded slowly, eyebrow raising. 

"Maybe you can't force them to do anything internally," she squeezed his hands excitedly. "But you can manipulate them externally, using what you've seen in their heads." 

"That's... dangerous," Theo said, the corners of his mouth tilting into a grin. 

"That's what I said," Illias sighed. "But if it gets us another solider..." 

"Try it on me," Naoki prodded, shaking their linked hands. "Look into my head, and try to make me feel something. With your words." 

"Okay," he said skeptically, "But I'm not paying for therapy." 

"It's too late now anyway," she cracked. "Go for it." 

Theo took a deep breath in. He'd never known Naoki Mae personally, and now he was about to get more personal with her than her own boyfriend had. His eyes darted to Illias, trying to gauge his reaction. 

Nothing, just a pleasantly blank face of stone. These two were creepy good at masking their emotions. 

Theo shook himself once, took a bracing breath, and slammed into Naoki's mind. 

STRAWBERRY. SHADOW. FIGHTHIM. FIGHTHER. FIGHTER. HELPSECRETSHIDDENFEAR--

Anger. 

Choking, having for air, Theo blasted back out, into his own body again, shivering. 

Naoki was staring at him, eyes rimmed red. "Sorry." 

She didn't sound like she meant it. 

"Sorry," he returned. He meant it. 

"What happened?" Illias asked, placing his hand on her shoulder. "What did you see, Theo?" 

A fight, a big one. Because Illias had danced with Paris, because Naoki had danced with Theo. But they weren't anything, anyway. Not anymore. But how could he dance with him if he wanted her back? He kept saying it, kept finding her in the halls, kept touching her-- How could he dance with him if he said he wanted to only dance with her? 

Explosions, shoving, picture frames falling to the ground after she pushed him into the wall. Yelling, lots of yelling, screaming, crying even. She couldn't tell who was crying more. They were done, they were over. So why were they so angry? 

She couldn't tell him she missed him. She couldn't be weak. She wouldn't fold first, not to a man, and certainly not to him. He already knew too much. He couldn't be trusted, not after he danced with him. Never again, no more soft hearts. 

"Nothing," Theo lied. "Just that spooky shit Naoki reads." 

"Stephen King is classic literature in the making," she rolled her eyes, but Theo didn't miss the glimmer of relief he saw. Relief and a heavy bit of confusion, too. She couldn't understand someone watching her back: knowledge that hit Theo like a brick. Naoki Mae was far too relatable. 

"Your eyes went pinkish, for a second," Illias reported. "Like Naoki's hair, but... greyer." 

"Pink marble," Naoki substituted. "It was pretty." 

"I think that's the colour of your soul," Theo guessed. "I'm seeing into your soul, quite literally, so it makes sense that it would reflect back in my eyes." 

"That's kinda cool," Illias said, but didn't offer to go next. "So... do we try again? Nothing really happened?" 

"We can work on it as we go," Naoki sat in the chair. "We still have a while left, it's only the second day. You have time, Theo." 

He grinned, flashing her a thumbs up. "I'll figure something out." 

PARIS AND DEXTER EXCHANGED LOOKS, LAUGHING. Theo had accidentally knocked Illias out during their run through, and in his haste to help, he'd tripped over Xandra and twisted her foot wrong. Now Naoki was taking all four of them to the med bay for some ice packs and Advill. Now the two of them were alone, still breathless from their training. 

"This is batshit crazy," Paris commented, wiping spilled water from his lips.  

"It's really strange," Dexter agreed, sliding to the floor. "Going to school, seeing you guys there... but not really saying anything about it. Then going to bed and being here. It's a lot." 

"Are you holding up okay?" he asked, sitting next to him. Dexter shrugged. 

"It's overwhelming, but it helps that you guys are here," he said quietly, smiling. 

Paris squeezed his shoulder, and Dexter felt his heart speed up. 

"Naoki's a lot more normal than I thought she'd be," Paris admitted, conjuring a small dagger with his powers, tossing it around. Dexter watched in mixed awe and fear as he caught it by the blade. 

"What did you think she'd be? A vampire?" 

Paris barked a laugh. "Something like that. In France, there's a folk legend about La Tarasque. They're creepy little scaly guys with lion's heads and snake butts, but this one in particular came from the town of Tarascon. It killed a shit load of people until this girl named Marthe killed it." 

"You thought Naoki was like Marthe?" 

"I thought she was La Tarasque." 

Dexter snorted into his sleeve, muffling his laughter. "Oh God, don't tell Naoki you said that." 

"Knowing her, she'd probably take it as a compliment," Paris grinned, pleased. He liked hearing Dexter's laugh. 

"I guess that makes Illias Marthe, then," Dexter smiled, almost dreamily. "An enemies to lovers with a Beauty and the Beast twist." 

"Beauty definitely fits Illias Cross," Paris sighed. "It's not fair someone can be that gorgeous. I can't tell if I want to be him--" 

"Or kiss him," Dexter finished. "I feel the same way." 

"You like guys?" Paris cocked his head. 

Dexter nodded. "Girls too. But Illias is something else." 

"Good thing he doesn't have a sister, or my bi-panic would be uncontrollable," Paris agreed, scratching a drawing of Iron Man's helmet into the floor. 

"Speaking of siblings, did you know Naoki has three older brothers?" Dexter said. 

Paris bolted up. "What? How did you know?" 

"She was texting some people and they popped up at the top of her phone. Plus her wallpaper has a picture of her and three guys throwing her into the lake," he said nonchalantly. 

"Wow, you've got a good eye," Paris raised an eyebrow. "Consider me impressed, Thorness." 

Dexter smiled. 

"Three brothers. Huh, makes sense," Paris mulled it over. "She looks like the type." 

"I always thought of her and Illias as only children, since they're so isolated," Dexter admitted. "But Naoki's really good at leading and guiding people. Illias is more of a 'do what I say' kinda person." 

"He's a good instructor, but he's kinda stiff," he agreed. "Definitely doesn't know how to chug a Coors Lite." 

Dexter snorted. "Can you even imagine that?" 

"I'd love to see it in real time," Paris sighed dreamily. "Illias Cross, with beer dripping down his chin." 

"Naoki would be disgusted," he laughed softly. "They're so cute together." 

"Yeah. Something feels kinda off though," Paris's brow furrowed. "Don't know what it is." 

Dexter, resisting the urge to smooth Paris' brow, fidgeted with his sweater cuffs instead. "They could just be fighting or something." 

"Oh, they're fully broken up," a voice cut over them. Dexter and Paris jumped. 

"How'd you know?" Paris interrogated Theo as he slid to sitting next to them, sipping cherry seltzer from a can. 

"The first day we were figuring out powers, Naoki had me look into her head," Theo licked the bubbling drink off the top of the seltzer can. Paris and Dexter looked pointedly away. "They had a fight about you dancing with Illias, Copenhagen." 

Paris pulled a face. "Shit. I knew she was pissed off." 

"But from what I gathered, they were broken up before that," Theo said. "That was just the last straw." 

"You almost can't even tell they're mad," Dexter commented, a little bit awed. "I pay close attention, but that completely escaped me." 

"Those two are creepy good at hiding their feelings," Theo said, almost ominously. "I don't trust it." 

Dexter nodded. "Neither do I. I want them to be... good isn't the word, but I don't want them to be hiding from us. But can we really trust anything anyone says?" 

"We're in a whole ass dimension, with superpowers and a psychotic evil queen," Paris summed up. "I don't think we can fully trust anything. It's a bit of a mind fuck." 

"Normally I'm good at that," Theo sighed. 

"At what?" Dexter took the bait. 

"Fucking," he grinned slyly.

Paris clapped his hands over Dexter's ears. "Not in front of the baby!" 

The three of them laughed, shoving each other playfully. 

"The lovefest is cute, but can we get it together?" Xandra said dryly, leaning in the doorway and suppressing a grin. "We have work to do." 

"What's happening?" Dexter perked up, noting the tense lines between her lips and the dark gleam of adrenaline in her eyes. 

"We've got our first trial mission, boys," Xandra said grimly. "Buckle up. We're off to kill a demon." 

author's note!

yay, end of part one! hope you guys enjoyed, i lowkey rushed the end of this one because i wanted to finish it before school started again. 

see you for part two!