Jin'en parked the car in the concealed compartment in the mansion's rear courtyard and shut off the engine, but did not hurry to get out.
Porsette stayed still too.
She leaned against the passenger seat and pressed the ring in her pocket through her cloak with her right hand. The zipper pull dug into her fingertip, warm.
"We're here," Jin'en said.
The moment he finished speaking, Porsette pushed open the door and got out.
Jin'en got out on the other side and rounded the hood toward the hidden door in the side corridor. Porsette followed half a step behind his right shoulder.
The side corridor was unlit, with only a little faint light spilling in from the main hallway.
Jin'en walked ahead, his military boots making muffled sounds on the wooden floor.
Porsette's bare feet made almost no sound on the cold floor.
At the foot of the stairs, Jin'en paused.
"Give me the ring."
Porsette took the ring from her cloak pocket and handed it over.
Jin'en took it and turned it over in the faint hallway light.
The silver patterns inside the band were denser than those outside, covering almost the entire inner surface. When the light fell on them, something extremely faint flowed within the patterns, like mercury.
"Did you put it on?"
"No." Porsette shook her head. "I put it straight in my pocket after picking it up."
Jin'en closed his hand around the ring.
The silver patterns touched the skin of his palm without reacting, neither hot nor cold.
"To the study," he said.
The door to Inanna's study stood ajar, warm light seeping through the gap.
Jin'en knocked twice on the doorframe.
"Come in."
The two of them went inside.
Inanna sat in an armchair, her long silver-white hair loose behind her shoulders. She had changed into a dark gray long-sleeved undershirt, its sleeves rolled to the middle of her forearms.
The metal case sat open on the low table before her, its velvet recess a soft, dark red in the warm light.
Jin'en placed the ring in the recess.
It fit perfectly.
The band's outer diameter slotted exactly into the edges of the recess. The ring's face pointed upward, its silver patterns aligning perfectly with the design carved into the bottom.
Inanna glanced down, took the ring out of the recess, and turned it over twice in her palm.
Her thumb brushed lightly over the patterns inside the band.
"Did you encounter anyone else when you went into Victor Lance's place?"
"Two people," Jin'en said.
Inanna raised her eyes to him.
"They had crowbars and were going through the display cabinets." Jin'en leaned against the wall beside the doorframe, his voice flat. "One by the door, one behind the cabinets. They'd already taken things from three display cases when I went in."
"What about the things?"
"I didn't touch them. I dealt with the people and left the things in the display cases where they were."
Inanna set the ring back in the metal case's recess and closed the lid. The latch made a very soft click as she pressed it down.
"Did you leave any traces?"
"We went in through the fire escape and came out through the back alley. The car was parked two streets away," Jin'en said. "Porsette never touched the ground the whole time. I used folding. I didn't open a rift."
Inanna watched him, her red eyes dark in the warm light.
After about three seconds, the corners of her mouth curved up very slightly.
"Cleaner than your first time."
"The first time was surveillance. I didn't act."
"That's what I meant." Inanna leaned back in her chair and tucked the hair spilling over her shoulder behind her ear. "On your first surveillance job, you left a trail of footprints in the back alley. The cleanup crew found them the next morning and reported them to me. I spent half a day having someone delete all the surveillance footage from that alley."
Jin'en said nothing.
Inanna turned her gaze to Porsette.
Porsette stood half a step beside Jin'en, her cloak's hood already lowered and her braid hanging over her chest. Her arms hung at her sides, the fingertips of her red fingerless gloves held together against her trouser seams.
She stood very straight, her gilded eyes fixed on Inanna's face without looking away.
"How long did it take you to enter the collection room?"
"About three seconds," Porsette said. "I teleported from the third-floor platform into the collection room, confirmed the display cabinet's position after landing, took the ring, and came out. I didn't linger inside."
"Did the people inside see you?"
"No. Their backs were to the door. They were going through the display cabinets."
Inanna tapped a finger against the armrest.
"Did you look back after you came out?"
Porsette paused for a beat.
"...No."
"You hesitated." Inanna tapped her finger again. "Remember, whatever happens during a mission, don't look back after teleporting out. That second you look back could be the second someone sees your profile."
"Yes."
Inanna took her gaze off Porsette and glanced down at the metal case.
"Tomorrow I'll send the ring to the district for a detailed analysis," she said. "Go back and rest."
Jin'en turned to leave.
Porsette followed him. As she reached the doorway, Inanna's voice came from behind her.
"Porsette."
Porsette paused.
"Today was your first official mission." Inanna spoke unhurriedly. "A passing grade."
Porsette nodded once and followed Jin'en out of the study without looking back.
In the hallway, Porsette walked a few steps before speaking.
"Brother."
"Mm."
"Mother said I passed."
"I heard."
"What did Mother give you on your first mission?"
Jin'en turned his head to glance at her.
"Nothing. She made me stand in the training grounds all night."
Porsette blinked.
"Why?"
"Because I let the target get away." Jin'en looked ahead and kept walking. "During surveillance, I found that the target came out the back door every afternoon for a cigarette, then went back in after finishing it. I waited until the third day to act, but he didn't come out for a smoke that day because he'd caught a cold."
Porsette fell silent for two beats.
"...Then what?"
"Then I climbed in through the window." Jin'en reached his room and rested his hand on the doorknob. "I dealt with the target in the bedroom. Made too much noise. There was someone in the next room. I used a rift and sliced halfway through the wall between the rooms. Mother said I'd 'completed the mission, but the method was too messy.'"
"Messy?"
"She said a proper blade shouldn't let anyone but the target see its flash."
Porsette stood in the hallway, watching Jin'en push open the door.
"So Mother made you stand there all night."
"All night. Then the next morning, she told me to confirm the target's habits before acting. They might not smoke by the back door every day. You'd never think of something like catching a cold, but you can think."
Porsette tilted her head.
"Think about what?"
"What you'll do when the target breaks their routine."
Jin'en pushed the door open and stepped sideways into his room, glancing back at Porsette.
"Go to sleep."
The door closed.
Porsette stood in the hallway for a while before turning toward the third floor's west wing.
Her bare feet stepped on the wooden floor. The floor had absorbed most of the petroleum jelly on her soles, and walking on the hardwood no longer hurt as much.
As she passed the courtyard, she glanced toward the iron fence.
The bare tree stood leafless beneath the night lights. The cracks in its trunk were a little deeper than before, one stretching from its roots to halfway up a person's height.
She looked away and went upstairs to her room.
The next morning.
Jin'en opened his eyes and looked at the sky outside the window.
Gray and hazy, just like yesterday.
He sat up, walked over, and opened the door.
Broken Rainbow stood outside.
Her white hair hung loose, unbraided. Her cargo pants were rolled above her knees, her bare feet planted in the faint hallway light.
She clutched the braided cord, winding its end around her fingers.
"Awake?" She tilted her head at him, her green eyes almost excessively bright in the morning light.
"What is it?"
"Mother told me to let you know. Two this afternoon, training grounds."
"What for?"
"Don't know." Broken Rainbow wound the cord around once, then loosened it, her tone languid. "But Mother told me to go too. And Little Red Riding Hood."
Jin'en leaned against the doorframe and watched her.
Broken Rainbow looked relaxed, the corners of her mouth lifted, her pointed canines showing intermittently.
But Jin'en noticed that she had wound the cord too tightly, squeezing her knuckles white.
"What did you find out?"
"I don't know anything." Broken Rainbow unwound the cord from her fingers and wrapped it around her wrist. The white cotton cord left a faint mark on the back of her hand. "Mother called me to the study last night and said one thing to me."
"What?"
"She said, 'Porsette needs a partner.'"
Broken Rainbow looked up at him, the light shifting in her green eyes.
"What do you think she meant?"
Jin'en said nothing.
Broken Rainbow did not wait for him to answer.
She stepped back, scuffing a bare foot against the floor.
"See you this afternoon," she said, turning to leave.
Her bare footsteps on the wooden floor were soft, disappearing once she turned into the side corridor.
Jin'en closed the door and sat on the edge of his bed. The silver patterns on his right wrist lay quiet, without glowing.
But he felt the tendon inside his wrist twitch.
Two in the afternoon, at the training grounds.
All the lights were on, their white light washing the iron-sand floor pale.
Inanna stood before the thick wooden post in the center. Instead of her riding crop, she held a pen, with a folded sheet of paper set before her.
Broken Rainbow was already there when Jin'en arrived.
She crouched beside a stone target at the edge of the grounds, her blade resting across her knees and her chin propped on one hand, looking utterly bored.
Porsette stood two steps beside her, wearing her cloak with its hood down. Her braid hung over her chest, both hands tucked in her pockets.
Jin'en walked to the edge of the grounds and settled against the wall.
Inanna glanced at the three of them and unfolded the paper before her.
"Porsette, your ability is Anywhere Door. A teleportation type, with its rules constrained by me. The maximum teleportation radius you're currently permitted to use is-" She paused. "From the mansion to New Hethereau District. You can't teleport any farther."
Porsette nodded once.
"Your combat ability is inadequate. In a head-on encounter, you have only one chance to teleport.
After that, your stamina will drop sharply, leaving you unable to teleport a second time."
Jin'en listened from against the wall. He had roughly known this before, but not as clearly as Inanna had stated it.
"So you need a partner." Inanna set the pen beside the paper, shifting her gaze from Porsette to Broken Rainbow. "Someone who can block every threat for you between the time you teleport in and the time you come out."
Broken Rainbow straightened up beside the target.
"You mean you want me to partner with her, Mother?"
"You've been on missions with Jin'en," Inanna said. "Porsette's ability offers advantages in infiltration and retreat, but she has no head-on combat capability. You need someone who can create chaos. She needs someone who can finish things."
Broken Rainbow tilted her head and glanced at Porsette.
Porsette did not look at her. Her gaze remained fixed on Inanna's face, her hands clenched inside her pockets.
"But your teamwork needs training." Inanna's voice was flat. "Starting today, Broken Rainbow will lead Porsette on her missions. Broken Rainbow will be responsible for teaching her when to retreat during combat, how to choose routes, and-"
Inanna glanced at Broken Rainbow.
"And how to survive inside an illusion."
The corners of Broken Rainbow's mouth lifted, exposing her pointed canines.
"Don't worry, Mother. I won't play her to death."
Inanna did not respond to that.
"Jin'en."
Jin'en straightened away from the wall.
"You're in charge of perimeter support. When Broken Rainbow takes Porsette on a mission, wait in the back alley. If the situation goes beyond Broken Rainbow's control, you go in."
"What counts as beyond her control?" Jin'en asked.
"Broken Rainbow's judgment," Inanna said. "If she says retreat, you go in and get them. If she says it's fine, you wait outside."
Broken Rainbow slipped her hands back into her pockets and tilted her head at Jin'en.
"Heard that, big brother?"
"I heard."
Inanna folded the paper again, tucked it into the inside pocket of her trench coat, and turned toward the stairs.
After two steps, she stopped and turned her head.
"Oh, right. Broken Rainbow, Porsette. Your training starts tomorrow. Spend this afternoon getting familiar with each other's abilities first."
She left.
The training ground fell silent for a few seconds.
Broken Rainbow walked over from beside the targets and stood in front of Porsette.
She stood more than a head taller than Porsette and looked down at her, a glimmer circling through her green eyes.
Porsette looked up.
The two held each other's gaze for about three seconds.
"Little Red Riding Hood," Broken Rainbow began, her voice languid, drawing out the last syllable. "Your ability is teleportation, right?"
"Mm."
"Does it make a sound when you teleport?"
"No."
"Any light?"
"No."
Broken Rainbow tilted her head.
"Then can I see you when you teleport?"
Porsette paused for a beat.
"What do you want to see?"
The corners of Broken Rainbow's mouth lifted higher.
"I want to see everything." She leaned forward a little, bringing her face close to Porsette's, her white hair sliding off her shoulder to rest against the edge of Porsette's hood. "Mother told me to take you along, so I will. But remember one thing."
Porsette didn't move.
"My illusions don't depend on distance." Broken Rainbow stared into Porsette's gilded eyes, her voice very low. "I really can't see you when you teleport, but when you come back, I can see whether your soul's color has changed."
Porsette's fingers curled inside her pockets.
Broken Rainbow straightened and took a step back, slipping both hands into her cargo pants pockets.
"Six tomorrow morning. Training ground. Don't be late."
She turned toward the stairs, her bare feet treading on the iron-sand floor, a layer of gray-white grains clinging to her heels.
After a few steps, she turned her head and glanced at Jin'en.
"Big brother."
"Mm."
"Busy this afternoon?"
"No."
"Then practice with Little Red Riding Hood for a while." Broken Rainbow turned her head back and kept walking, her voice drifting from the stairwell. "I'm going back for a nap."
Her footsteps faded.
Only Jin'en and Porsette remained in the training ground.
Porsette stood where she was, both hands still in her pockets, her gilded eyes turned toward Jin'en.
"Big brother."
"Mm."
"That 'soul color' big sister mentioned just now-do you know what it is?"
Jin'en leaned against the wall and didn't answer immediately.
"Broken Rainbow's Eye of Bewilderment can see the color of people's souls," he said. "She sees Daffodil as a mass of white flame, and mine is silver. She said your soul's color was transparent."
Porsette looked away, toward the row of stone targets across the training ground.
"What does transparent mean?"
"She said it meant 'nothing at all,'" Jin'en said. "Like an empty container. Whatever someone pours into it, that's what you become."
Porsette said nothing.
The training ground was quiet for a while. The fluorescent tubes hummed, lighting the iron-sand floor a pale white.
"Big brother," Porsette suddenly spoke.
"Mm."
"Are you practicing with me this afternoon because big sister told you to, or because you want to?"
Jin'en looked at her for two seconds.
"Is there a difference?"
"Yes." Porsette looked up, her gilded eyes very pale under the training ground's white lights. "If Mother told you to, keeping me company is a mission. If big sister told you to, keeping me company is-"
She didn't finish.
Jin'en straightened away from the wall and walked over to the thick wooden post in the center of the grounds.
"I told you yesterday, you were halfway through your stance training," he said, pulling the two short wooden sticks from the odds-and-ends basket and tossing them to Porsette. "Keep practicing."
Porsette reached out and caught the sticks.
"You still haven't answered my question."
"Hold your stance for three minutes." Jin'en leaned against the wooden post, arms folded over his chest. "I'll tell you when you're done."
Porsette stared at him for two seconds, then walked over to the chain circle, planted the two sticks on the ground, and stepped inside, bending her knees slightly and gripping the ground with her toes.
Jin'en watched her stance.
She was a little steadier than yesterday, her knees bent just enough, her center of gravity lower than yesterday, and her shoulders less tense.
Three minutes passed.
"That's enough," Jin'en said.
Porsette straightened her knees and leaned on the sticks, panting.
The petroleum jelly on the soles of her feet was gone now. Her soles pressed against the iron sand, and her toes curled inside her socks.
"You held it for seven minutes yesterday," Jin'en said.
"Mm."
"Three minutes today."
"Because my legs were weak all night after yesterday."
Jin'en straightened away from the wooden post.
"Because I want to."
Porsette looked up at him.
Jin'en was already walking toward the training ground's exit, his combat boots making dull sounds on the iron sand.
"Don't be late tomorrow," he said.
That evening, as Jin'en passed through the west wing of the third floor, he heard a sound.
It was very faint, but the corridor was too quiet for any sound to stay hidden.
Broken Rainbow's door stood ajar, warm light spilling through the gap.
When Jin'en reached the doorway, he happened to see Broken Rainbow sitting on the edge of the bed, with Porsette standing in front of her.
Broken Rainbow's head was lowered, her right hand wrapped in bandages-the old ones, not yet removed. Her left hand rested on her knee, her fingers tapping again and again.
"What does your ability do when you encounter danger?" Broken Rainbow asked.
"I teleport away."
"And before you teleport away?"
Porsette paused for a beat.
"Before I teleport away..."
"Do you freeze up?" Broken Rainbow raised her head to look at her, her green eyes dark in the warm light. "Your teleportation doesn't need any preparation time, right? But you need to 'see' your destination before you teleport. If you can't see your destination, you can't teleport."
Porsette's fingers curled inside her cloak pockets.
"You're standing in an unfamiliar room, with someone blocking the door ahead of you. The only destination you can see is the spot where you came in, but someone's there now too. Where do you teleport?"
Porsette said nothing.
Broken Rainbow rose from the edge of the bed and walked up to Porsette.
"You can't, right?" Her voice was level, neither languid nor drawing out her words. "Your ability only works when you can 'see.' When you can't see, you're an ordinary person. An eight-year-old ordinary person with no combat ability."
Porsette pressed her lower lip in slightly.
Broken Rainbow looked down at her, a glimmer circling through her green eyes.
"That's why Mother told me to take you along," she said. "Because my illusions can let you 'see.'"
Porsette looked up.
"What do you mean?"
"My Eye of Bewilderment can create illusions." Broken Rainbow pulled a hand from her pocket and spread her fingers, palm facing Porsette's face. "If I create an illusion in front of you-say, a window or a corridor-you can see it. Then you can teleport 'inside' the illusion."
Porsette blinked her gilded eyes.
"You mean your illusions can serve as teleportation points for me."
"Yes." Broken Rainbow withdrew her hand and slipped it back into her pocket. "But there's a problem."
"What problem?"
"My illusions aren't real." Broken Rainbow tilted her head. "The 'location' you teleport into doesn't exist in reality. Once you successfully teleport, you need me to open a path for you in reality. If I 'cut off' the illusion after you go in, you'll be trapped in-"
She didn't finish.
Porsette picked up where she left off.
"Trapped in a spatial rift."
Broken Rainbow tilted her head and looked at her for two seconds.
"You're pretty quick."
"So what you're going to teach me tomorrow..." Porsette said, her voice very soft, "is how to get out before you cut off the illusion."
"Yes." Broken Rainbow turned, walked back to the bed, and sat on its edge, resting her bandaged wrist on her knee. "I cut off the illusion after about three seconds. You have to come out within three seconds of going in. If three seconds isn't enough to get something, make two trips."
Porsette stood in the middle of the room, both hands in her pockets, the fingertips of her red fingerless gloves pressing against her thighs through the fabric.
"Big sister," she said.
Broken Rainbow raised her eyes to her.
"Why are you helping me?"
The corner of Broken Rainbow's mouth lifted. The smile was fainter than usual, her pointed canines hidden.
"I'm not helping you," she said. "Mother told me to take you along, so I will. If you don't train well, I get scolded. If you do, it saves me trouble."
Porsette looked at her.
Broken Rainbow looked away, lowering her head to glance at her bandaged right wrist, and pressed the knot in the bandage with her left thumb.
"Go back," she said. "Six tomorrow."
As Porsette reached the door, Broken Rainbow called her back.
"Little Red Riding Hood."
Porsette halted midstep.
"You asked me just now why I'm helping you." Broken Rainbow's voice came from behind her, very soft, so soft it sounded as though she were speaking to herself. "Because when I was your age, no one helped me."
Porsette didn't turn around.
She left Broken Rainbow's room and pulled the door shut, her bare feet treading on the corridor's wooden floor.
After a few steps, she stopped and turned her head to glance toward Jin'en's room.
The door was closed.
The corridor was perfectly quiet, save for the electrical hum of the wall lamps.
Porsette looked away, turned, and went up to the third floor.