Desperation took hold of Hitomi as she stared at the growing flames swallowing the perimeter around them. There was no way out. They were boxed in—and Yesenia's cold, aggressive approach made one thing clear: nobody was walking away untouched.
The fire crept closer and closer to Megumi and Hitomi. Neither of them knew what to do anymore.
Then—suddenly—a heavy surge of water slammed into the flames.
"MEGUMI—YOU GOOD?!" Naoko yelled.
"Yesss! Put it out! Put it out!" Akiko added.
Yesenia watched the new arrival with a flicker of interest. But… what luck. Two Potentia gathered in one place, she thought.
That satisfaction didn't last.
The water Naoko had thrown didn't do anything. The fire stayed tall—kept pushing in.
"WHAT KIND OF FIRE DOESN'T GO OUT?!" Naoko barked.
"WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!" Hitomi demanded, turning hard toward Naoko.
"Hitomi, please—calm down. They're my friends," Megumi cut in, trying to keep her voice steady trying to stay calm despite the tension.
"How—?!" Hitomi snapped, the whole context getting messier by the second.
"WE CAN DO THAT LATER—WHERE'S THE FIRE POTENTIA?!" Naoko stayed locked on the immediate threat.
Away from the yelling and chaos, the Fire Potentia remained calm, watching the girls panic.
The flames tightened into a circle, shaping the space—closing them in slowly.
She's so calm about this. Hitomi's teeth clenched. Damn it, Yesenia… that's the fire I saw at Esther's house.
Hitomi stepped closer with caution and reached her fingers toward the edge.
The fire jumped, rising up and scorching her fingertips.
"AH—! The flames rose when I tried to pass my hand through. She has some way to control the distance."
The embers kept inching in, slow, higher, thicker. Dread filled the circle.
"Oh no, we're gonna turn into barbecue. Ma'am, I don't think I taste good," Akiko whined, on the edge of crying.
"Stay sharp," Naoko ordered.
"The flames are getting closer," Hitomi said, voice tight with fear.
Yesenia watched it all with a satisfied, a sly smile. The girls were staring straight at death now.
Soon it'll be nothing but desperate screaming, she thought—without a trace of regret.
The flames climbed so high there was no route out left. All that remained was waiting—waiting for them to burn.
In a desperate move, two beams of light shot from inside the ring and struck Yesenia's eyes.
She screamed—caught completely off guard. Her eyes burned, her vision blurring into a shallow, painful blindness.
Instinctively, she stopped sustaining the flames.
That split-second gave the girls space.
"It went out—her distraction helped!" Naoko concluded. She'd told Megumi to use her light.
Right after that, Akiko used her Potentia.
Crystals formed around her, and she shaped them—sending them straight toward Yesenia. They linked, fused, and became a tight crystal cage that trapped her, leaving her no room to use fire.
A crystal shell? Damn it… they used my moment. Yesenia's vision cleared, and she slammed her fists into the walls, searching for a weak spot—anything that would give.
I'm trapped. This won't break.
Outside, Megumi, Hitomi, Naoko, and Akiko were safe—but not calm.
"Okay. It worked," Hitomi said, breathing hard. "But… are we interrogating her?"
"And you think she's gonna cooperate?" Naoko shot back.
"Naoko… that is—" Megumi grabbed her friend's arm, cutting her off, pointing toward the crystal.
Through a small gap in the cage, flames licked outward—violent, intense.
Yesenia, as a last option, was trying to melt the crystal from the inside with her own fire.
"SHE'S TRYING TO KILL HERSELF!" Akiko yelped. "WHAT DO I DO—DO I LET HER OUT?"
"What?! NO!" Naoko snapped. "If you let her out, she's gonna try to kill us—FOR SURE!"
The crystal started weakening. Cracking.
The fire didn't stop—if anything, it got fiercer.
The cage thinned, and then—
A sharp, shrieking sound as shards split and ruptured.
Smoke. Fragments.
Through it, Yesenia's silhouette rose shakily, breathing hard. She stumbled a few steps and braced herself against a nearby tree, struggling to stay upright.
The left side of her face was burned. Her arm, her hand—other parts of her body bore fire marks. Her dress had been scorched and ruined, barely covering her anymore.
Damn… I burned through… too much energy…
A portal began to open. Slowly.
And she vanished into the light.
"SHE'S DISAPPEARING! SHE'S RUNNING!" Hitomi shouted, more confused by the second. "WHAT IS GOING ON?! BUT—"
She turned, startled, staring at the others.
"YOU SAW THAT TOO, RIGHT?!"
"Miss Hitomi… I can try to explain," Megumi said.
"YOU'D BETTER BE ABLE TO. NOW."
"Megumi, we're going ahead to talk to Sayuri," Naoko said, leaving with Akiko.
"Got it, Naoko. I'll go with Hitomi."
Hitomi watched them go, then turned the other way—toward her own building.
"Come on." Her voice sounded calmer, but it was only surface-level. She was still visibly tense. "It's not just me you need to explain things to."
Hitomi and Megumi walked together without exchanging a word the entire way.
They reached the building, took the elevator, and entered the apartment in silence.
Hitomi unlocked the door and shoved it open—hard—letting it slam and echo through the place.
The calm was fake. She was still boiling.
Inside, Nami had set up her painting area in the living room. Watercolors. An easel holding special paper. Her face was smudged with paint—so were her hands and part of her arms.
Used to her wife's temperament, Nami simply looked over her shoulder and greeted her, casual.
"Hitomi!! Finally! It's late!"
"NAMI, WHAT IS THIS MESS? DO YOU HAVE TO PAINT THROUGH THE ENTIRE HOUSE?"
It sounded like a familiar fight—routine, everyday. Hitomi spilled her thoughts without even trying to control her volume.
Nami—still in a great mood—walked over, long blue hair swaying, and hugged Hitomi.
"Stop being such a little grouch. I'll clean it up later—you know that."
Hitomi didn't hug her back. She needed a serious conversation.
In the background, Megumi stood there, watching, silent.
That's when Nami noticed the third person in the room.
"Hey…" Her eyes ran over Megumi. "That's a pretty woman. Who's she?"
Then Nami's gaze snapped to Hitomi. Her expression turned teasing—her voice dripping with irony.
"You gonna replace me with her?"
"I am," Hitomi replied flatly. "She doesn't make a mess."
"Oh!" Megumi rushed in, flustered. "Don't worry! We're just coworkers."
Nami found the reaction funny and laughed softly. She let go of Hitomi and headed toward the kitchen.
"I know, I know. Come in. You both look awful." She glanced at Hitomi. "You took so long Hana couldn't hold out—she went to sleep."
"Make tea," Hitomi ordered, ignoring everything else. "This is gonna be a long one."
Nami went to prepare a berry fruit tea.
Hitomi sat in an armchair. Megumi took the sofa beside it.
The apartment's style was classic—high-end materials, expensive furniture. The smell of new wood suggested recent purchases. The coffee table was modern, clean-lined. Plants and framed art decorated the room.
"This is my wife, Nami," Hitomi said, resting her elbows on her knees, trying to ease the tension before diving in. "And I have a six-year-old daughter—Hana."
"That's adorable," Megumi said. "Maybe she and Matsui can be friends. Matsui's seven—she's the little sister of the lilac-haired girl."
The tea was ready. Nami sat on the arm of Hitomi's chair, studying her closely.
"Your clothes are singed. What happened?"
"We were attacked," Hitomi said. "My trainee—Megumi—will explain."
"Attacked?"
"Me… explain?" Megumi tensed, then forced herself to pause and breathe. "Okay… We were attacked by something… not normal… called Potentia…"
Nami startled at the word, held her reaction back, processed fast—then asked:
"So our powers are called Potentia?"
"Our…?" Megumi blinked, shocked.
"Me, Nami, and Hana developed this 'Potentia' a few months ago." Nami's tone sharpened. "But I'd never used it against someone until today… What did that woman want?"
"I'm sorry," Megumi said, uneasy. "I might not be able to answer everything. What I can say is: we've been getting attacked ever since we arrived on this planet. We don't know why… but this was the most violent one."
"ARRIVED ON THIS PLANET? WHAT DO YOU MEAN? ARE YOU AN ALIEN?!" Hitomi demanded.
"Miss Hitomi…" Megumi winced. "Even if it's the technical term, I don't think it's very polite… but yes. We came from another world."
She hesitated, thinking—technically it'd be 'extraterrestrial'—but kept that to herself.
"She got you there," Nami said, dry with sarcasm. "Calm down a little." Then she shrugged. "Honestly, if we already have powers, someone coming from another world sounds almost normal."
"Normal?" Hitomi echoed, offended.
"And it's late," Nami added, unbothered. "Stop yelling."
"We don't know why we came," Megumi continued, trying to organize the information. "But it definitely affected… how things work here. And we already know more Potentia users are going to appear…"
Hitomi stared at her. Then her voice dropped into something raw.
"Megumi… I was abandoned by the person I loved when I was pregnant. I watched my career fall apart and my friends disappear. Nami is the person who made me trust someone again."
Her eyes were sharp now. Protective in a way that felt almost dangerous.
"So if anyone tries to mess with—or hurt—my family, they'll pay for it."
"I understand that," Megumi said gently. "To help you understand better, I'll invite you to meet the other Potentia. I think you'll feel safer."
She glanced at the clock.
"Hitomi, I need to go. It's late."
"It is," Hitomi said. "I'll walk you out."
They went together. Hitomi opened the door—then hesitated before letting Megumi pass.
"Hey, Megumi…"
"Hm?"
"I hope you didn't think it was weird… me being married to a woman."
Megumi smiled warmly, soft.
"Hitomi… there's nothing wrong with people who love each other."
Finalia
In a dark room decorated with asymmetrical paintings, Yesenia sat badly injured, rubbing a kind of cream into her burns.
She tried to keep her groans contained, but her face couldn't hide the pain.
As she focused on treating herself, a young figure appeared silently in the doorway.
He stepped closer.
A fifteen-year-old boy—tall, athletic, orange hair brushing his neck, blue eyes. He wore a simple cotton shirt and straight-cut jeans.
He took one look at her burns and jolted.
"WHAT THE HELL, YESENIA! HOW'D YOU GET BURNED??"
Yesenia only stared at him with irritation and contempt.
"Okay, my bad." The boy flinched, trying to play it off. "I just got startled—you don't have to ignore me."
"What do you want, Adonis?"
"So… tell me." He leaned in, curious. "They really strong?"
"Not like I imagined. Rosália's reports were exaggerated," Yesenia said coldly. "But together they work well. And there were powers that weren't mentioned."
"Got it." Adonis's expression sharpened—already calculating. "So I need to plan better."
"Why the concern?" Yesenia asked. "You got called?"
"I did."