Despair took hold of Hitomi as she looked at the growing flames surrounding the perimeter where they stood. She realized there was no possibility of escape, not only were they surrounded, but Yesenia's aggressive and cold demeanor made it clear they wouldn't leave unharmed.
The fire drew closer to Megumi and Hitomi. The two no longer knew what to do. Suddenly, a strong surge of water struck the flames.
"MEGUMI, ARE YOU OKAY?" asked Naoko, checking if she was unharmed.
"Yey! Put it all out!" said Akiko, who had arrived with her, already counting on Naoko's victory.
The rival observed the arrival of the new Potentia.
But… What luck, two Potentia gathered here!, she thought as she watched.
The excitement didn't last long, and the girls had a new surprise. The water Naoko had unleashed to extinguish the fire had no effect, the flames continued strong and closed in.
"WHAT KIND OF FIRE DOESN'T GO OUT?" exclaimed Naoko, perplexed.
"WHO ARE YOU?" asked Hitomi, staring at Naoko.
"Please, Hitomi, calm down, they're my friends." Megumi intervened, trying to remain calm despite the rising tension.
"HOW?" asked Hitomi, who suddenly found herself with even more strangers by her side. The situation was becoming increasingly complex.
"LEAVE THAT FOR LATER, WHERE'S THE FIRE POTENTIA?" Naoko kept her focus on the imminent danger, ignoring the smaller complaints.
Far from all the confusion and shouting, the Fire Potentia remained serene, watching the girls' despair. The flames now formed a circle, surrounding the girls and slowly cornering them, especially Megumi, Hitomi, Naoko, and Akiko.
She looks so calm in this situation! thought Hitomi, outraged by what she was seeing.
Damn it, Yesenia… this is the fire I saw at Esther's house.
Hitomi carefully approached the flames and stretched out her fingers. As she did, the fire rose, burning the tips of her hand.
"AH!" she cried out in shock. "The flames rose when I tried to reach through; she must have a way to control the distance."
The embers kept drawing closer, rising higher and higher. Apprehension began to spread among the girls, who now found themselves trapped within the circle.
"Oh no, we're going to be roasted! Lady, I probably don't even taste good." Akiko blurted, so nervous she spoke nonsense in a desperate attempt to make the woman pity them.
"Stay alert!" ordered Naoko.
"The flames are getting closer!" Hitomi said fearfully.
Very pleased, with a sly smile on her face, Yesenia watched the girls' nervousness as they faced imminent death.
Soon it will be nothing but screams of despair… she thought without the slightest regret.
The flames reached a height that made escape impossible. Now, it was only a matter of waiting for them to be burned alive.
Suddenly, in a desperate attempt, two beams of light burst out from within the fire and struck Yesenia's eyes. She screamed in pain, caught completely off guard by yet another unexpected power from the girls. Her eyes burned, leaving her partially blinded.
The blow instinctively caused her to release her power, buying the girls enough time and space to try and save themselves.
"It's out! The distraction worked!" Naoko concluded, who had given Megumi the idea of using her light power in a concentrated form.
After that, following the plan, Akiko used her Potentia. Crystals formed around her, which she shaped and sent toward Yesenia. They merged and fused together, creating a kind of cage that trapped her in a tight space, preventing her from using her fire Potentia.
A crystal enclosure? Damn it… They took advantage of my distraction!
Yesenia thought as her temporary blindness faded. She struck the walls, searching for a weak point or an opening.
I'm trapped! This won't break!
On the outside, Megumi, Hitomi, Naoko, and Akiko were safe, but far from calm.
"Okay! Looks like it worked! But should we interrogate her?" asked Hitomi, trying to figure out what would happen next.
"AND YOU THINK SHE'LL COOPERATE?" Naoko shot back sharply.
"Naoko… look at that…" Megumi held her friend's arm, interrupting the discussion and pointing toward the enclosure.
From a small crack in the crystal cage, flames burst out with intensity. Yesenia, as a last resort, was trying to melt the crystal with her fire.
"SHE'S TRYING TO KILL HERSELF!" cried Akiko in despair at the sight. "WHAT DO I DO? SHOULD I LET HER OUT?"
"WHAT?! NO! IF YOU LET HER OUT, SHE'LL TRY TO KILL US FOR SURE!" Naoko shouted, preventing Akiko's soft heart from putting them all in danger.
The crystal restraining their rival began to weaken and crack. The flames didn't stop, seeming only to grow stronger. The walls were now thinner and brittle.
The crystal cage became fragile and, suddenly, the sharp sound of shattering filled the air.
Amid smoke and shards, Yesenia's silhouette emerged, struggling to rise, breathing heavily. She staggered a bit before leaning on a nearby tree, barely able to stand.
Part of the left side of her face was burned. Her arm, her hand, and other parts of her body bore marks of fire. Her dress was also scorched, now so deteriorated it hardly covered her.
Damn it… I lost… too much energy…
she thought as a portal slowly opened, swallowing her into the light.
"SHE'S DISAPPEARING! SHE'S ESCAPING! WHAT'S HAPPENING?" exclaimed Hitomi, increasingly confused and unsettled. "BUT…"
The model turned, startled by the situation, facing the others.
"YOU SAW THAT TOO, DIDN'T YOU?" she demanded.
"Miss Hitomi, I can try to explain." said Megumi, trying to calm things down.
"YOU BET YOU CAN, AND NOW!" Hitomi demanded.
"Megumi, we`ll go ahead to talk to Sayuri." Naoko said, leaving with Akiko, abandoning her friend to deal with the situation.
"Alright, Naoko! I'll stay with Hitomi," she agreed.
Hitomi watched them leave, then turned in the opposite direction, heading toward her home.
"Fine, let's go. You don't just owe me an explanation." she said, calmer but still tense from what had happened.
Hitomi and Megumi walked together in silence. They arrived at the building, took the elevator up, and reached the apartment without exchanging a word. Then Hitomi unlocked and pushed the door open forcefully, the noise echoing. Her apparent calm was only a façade, inside, she was still boiling with rage.
Inside the apartment was Nami, who had set up a painting space in the living room. She was painting with watercolors on a canvas stand, her face smudged with paint, as well as her hands and part of her arms. Already used to her wife's temperament, she simply looked back and greeted her:
"Hitomi!! Finally! It's late!" Nami said.
"NAMI, WHAT'S THIS MESS? DO YOU HAVE TO PAINT ALL OVER THE HOUSE?" Hitomi scolded when she saw the chaos.
The veteran's reaction showed this was nothing unusual in their daily life. Adding to the strangeness of the day, her outburst came instantly, spilling her thoughts without even controlling her volume.
Nami, in a great mood, swayed her long blue hair as she walked toward Hitomi to hug her.
"Stop being fussy! I'll clean up later, you know that." she said lovingly.
Hitomi, needing a serious conversation, didn't hug back because of her stress. In the background, Megumi simply watched silently. Then Nami noticed the third person in the room.
"Hey… what a beautiful woman. Who is she?" Nami asked, impressed by her appearance.
Her eyes quickly turned to her wife, smirking and speaking in an ironic tone:
"Are you going to trade me for her?"
"I will! She doesn't make a mess." Hitomi replied, dry and sharp as a blade.
"Oh! Don't worry! We're just coworkers." Megumi quickly explained, worried about sparking an unnecessary marital fight.
Nami found her reaction amusing and chuckled lightly. She let go of Hitomi and headed toward the kitchen.
"I know, I know! Come in! You both look awful! You took so long that Hana couldn't wait and went to bed." Nami teased.
"Make some tea, this is going to take a while." Hitomi ordered, ignoring her words.
Nami went to the kitchen to prepare red tea for them all. Meanwhile, Hitomi sat in an armchair, and Megumi on the sofa beside her. The house was elegantly decorated, with furniture of the highest quality. The scent of new furniture hinted they had been purchased recently. The coffee table was wooden with a modern design. Potted plants and paintings adorned the room.
"This is my wife, Nami, and I have a 6-year-old daughter named Hana." Hitomi introduced, resting her elbows on her knees, easing the tension before diving into the real topic.
"How sweet! Maybe she and Matsui could be friends. She's a 6-year-old too, the sister of the girl with lilac hair." Megumi suggested, finding a chance to start talking.
The tea was ready and served to all. Nami sat on the arm of Hitomi's chair, carefully observing her wife's clothes.
"Your clothes are scorched. What happened?" Nami asked, noticing the damage.
"We were attacked. My apprentice, Megumi, will explain."
"Attacked?" Nami repeated.
"Me, explain? But…" Megumi grew nervous, then paused and took a deep breath. "Well… we were attacked by something… beyond the ordinary… called Potentia…"
Nami was shocked by her words but held her emotions, quickly reflecting before asking:
"You mean our powers are called Potentia?"
"Ours?" Megumi was startled.
"I, Nami, and Hana developed this 'Potentia' months ago. But I had never used it against anyone, until today…" Hitomi paused briefly and then looked at her apprentice again. "What did that woman want?"
"I'm sorry, but I might not be able to answer all your questions. What I can say is that we've been attacked since arriving on this planet. We don't know the reasons, but this was the most violent one yet." Megumi admitted, uneasy.
"ARRIVING ON THIS PLANET? WHAT DO YOU MEAN? YOU'RE AN ALIEN?" Hitomi asked, shocked.
"Miss Hitomi, although it's a technical term, I don't think it's very polite… But yes, we came from another world." she said a little sheepishly.
Though the technical term would be extraterrestrial, she thought.
"She called you out, huh? Calm down a bit." Nami said with sarcasm. "But really, having powers isn't normal either, so coming from another world almost sounds… ordinary."
"Ordinary?" Hitomi questioned.
"And it's late already, stop yelling!" Nami warned.
"Look, we don't know why we came here, but it definitely affected… the balance here, and we already know new Potentia users will appear…" Megumi said, trying to make things clearer.
Hitomi looked at Megumi seriously and confessed:
"Megumi, I was abandoned by the person I loved when I was pregnant. I saw my career crumble and many friends disappear. Nami was the one who made me trust someone again. So anyone who tries to interfere or hurt my family will pay the price."
"I understand your will to protect them. To help you understand better, I'll invite you to meet the other Potentia. I believe you'll feel more comfortable." she said, then glanced at the clock, realizing the time. "Hitomi, I need to leave now. It's already late."
"It is, I'll walk you out."
The two walked together, Hitomi opened the door, but before letting her pass, she hesitated:
"Oh, Megumi…"
"Hm?"
"I hope you didn't find it strange that I'm married to a woman."
Megumi smiled warmly and answered sweetly:
"Hitomi… There's nothing wrong with people who love each other."
Finalia
In a dark-colored room decorated with asymmetrical paintings, Yesenia was badly wounded, applying a kind of ointment to her injuries. She struggled to contain her groans of pain, but her expression couldn't hide her suffering.
While she focused on healing herself, a young figure silently appeared in the doorway.
The figure drew closer, revealing a 15-year-old boy of tall stature, athletic build, orange hair down to his neck, and blue eyes. He wore a simple cotton shirt and straight jeans.
He noticed something had happened and looked at what she was doing, catching sight of severe burns that startled him.
"OH MY, YESENIA! WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING? HOW DID YOU GET BURNED?"
Yesenia only glared at him with irritation and disdain.
"Okay, my bad. You scared me, no need to ignore me." the boy said.
"What do you want, Adonis?" she asked him.
"Tell me… are they really strong?" he pressed.
"Not as I imagined. Rosália's reports were exaggerated. But together, they work well, and there are powers not mentioned." she answered.
"I see… I'll have to plan better, then." Adonis said, thinking.
"Why the concern? Were you summoned?" Yesenia asked, suspicious.
"I was." the boy replied.