[ComicGuy89]

Chapter 4: A Thorny Subject

“Why don’t we begin? Let’s start by hearing what you have to say.”

Rose sat up, stirred from her daydreams. “Hmm?”

“How were you last week?” said Ms Rogers, lips stretched into a smile. Rose couldn’t help but notice how dimples formed on her cheek. “We could talk about what you did, or how you felt, anything, really. This is your time.”

“Oh, me?” chuckled Rose. “Hmm, I guess I did alright. I only panicked twice on Tuesday compared to three times on the other days. On Wednesday, I didn’t even check my lock for the second time!”

Grinning widely, and perhaps a little forcefully, Rose surveyed the look on her counsellor’s face. It was impossible to get a sense of what Ms Rogers was thinking; all she was doing was sitting, smiling and nodding slightly at every sentence. It was a little irritating, actually.

Rose sighed. “I guess that was because I forgot to check the lock. It bothered me the whole day. I’ll admit … this week wasn’t that much of an improvement at all. I even got mad at a friend, a good friend who had reached out to me when I was alone here.”

She stared at her knees, unwilling to look at Ms Rogers. She couldn’t bear seeing the certain disappointment in Ms Rogers’ face.

However, Ms Rogers seemed to be quite cheery when she next spoke. “That’s alright, it’s something we can work on, together. Did you do the emotions journal entries we agreed on?”

Tears started to well up in Rose’s eyes and she turned away in shame. “I tried to do that for the first night. But I just felt so pathetic after having reading that entry. It reminded me of what a terrible person I am, it was a record of all my wrongs for the day. I … I just didn’t have the strength to write anymore after that.”

A silence followed that was punctuated only by Rose’s muffled sobs. Crying again. Maybe it really was the only thing she could really do.

“We don’t have to do it yet, you know,” said Ms Rogers, gently handing Rose a box of tissues. “While it is helpful, it may require a certain level of readiness. So why don’t we do something else first? Maybe you could tell me if there was anything positive this week? Something uplifting?”

Rose took a tissue and wiped her eyes. She smiled bitterly. “Something uplifting? I don’t really think I’m in the position to describe anything uplifting -”

Then she remembered.

“Oh, oh yes! Garde Espresso! You know her, yes?”

“Garde Espresso, she was on the news wasn’t she?” asked Ms Rogers. “Who would have imagined, a real life superhero right here in Beacon Port?”

Tears and sadness completely forgotten, Rose was now positively exuberant. “Exactly! It’s just like how I imagined it in the comic books! Wow, a real life superhero! She was just so cool!”

“That’s excellent,” beamed Ms Rogers. “Maybe you could share with me why you like her so much?”

“She’s just, she’s just so amazing!” exclaimed Rose, almost jumping in her seat. “The thing about heroes is that they’re so self-sacrificing, you know? It’s a huge responsibility, and they give up so much of themselves to do what others can’t! I mean if you think about it, we only have 24 hours in a day right? And we’re so constantly busy those hours, right?”

She looked at Ms Rogers, who nodded enthusiastically. Ms Rogers was leaning forward in her seat and excitedly jotting down every detail in her little notepad.

“And then, it’s already so nerve-wracking to set aside an hour for anything,” continued Rose. “But these selfless heroes, they dedicate their precious time to protect those who can’t protect themselves! Why, why Garde Espresso protected me! Little me!”

“Yes, that was on the news, too. It must have been frightening.”

Rose’s face darkened at the thought of being suspended in the air. “I was frightened, yes. I suppose I should have been braver. I felt so terrible after that ordeal, I mean, worse than I usually do. It was dark, cold, and I felt like I was trapped in a vast, empty room, unable to find the door.”

“That must have been horrifying,” said Ms Rogers.

“But that didn’t matter, you know? Seeing what Espresso did afterwards … it gave me hope. I suppose that’s why I like heroes so much, they pull us out of our own darkness. She saved both of us!”

“Ah yes, there was that other girl too, right?”

“Yes, I think her name’s Sharon. She works at a cafe I like.”

Ms Rogers flipped over a page on her notepad. “Thank you for that beautiful tale, Rose. It is good to have heroes to look up to. I was hoping that we could change the subject a bit. I wanted to talk about your friends.”

Rose opened her mouth to protest but quickly shut it. She hadn’t finished gushing about Garde Espresso and felt a bit annoyed. Almost immediately, however, a surge of guilt killed that sense of annoyance. How dared she be annoyed at a person who had done nothing but listen to her? It was her fault for talking so much, she should have remembered that most people don’t enjoy prolonging discussion topics.

“Rose, you weren’t at the International Students’ welcoming dinner last Tuesday,” said Ms Rogers. “You didn’t want to come?”

“I just … didn’t feel like it,” muttered Rose. “I was at home, and just felt like staying home.”

In actuality, Rose had spent the night brooding and felt too downtrodden to go out. But it was stupid and she was not about to reveal it to Ms Rogers.

“Hmm … I think it’s a good idea to go out once in a while,” said Ms Rogers. “Get involved, you can’t develop that intimacy you need by staying at home. You need to make friends.”

Rose merely stared at the pot of flowers on Ms Rogers’ desk.

“What do you say, do you want to work on a schedule of events you could go to this semester? We have many gatherings organised.”

Again. Rose suppressed a sigh. It always came down to the same diagnosis. It seemed all anyone wanted to do was to get her out, like it could magically solve all her problems.

It wasn’t their fault, though. They just didn’t comprehend the magnitude of everything. How could she tell Ms Rogers of the cycle of awkwardness, inadequacy and guilt that would surely follow in all these events? Besides, who would want to befriend with her?

Her thoughts flashed to Nadia and she smiled. At least there was one good friend. And right now, Rose was feeling that Nadia was the counsellor she needed.

*

The warmth of the sun greeted Rose as she shut the door to Ms Rogers’ office behind her. On another day, this would have been pleasurable, but today the warmth was uncomfortable on her already flushed ears.

A lump developed in her throat. Rose gritted her teeth, forcing the choking feeling down. Her head was starting to feel light, and she forced her weakened legs to move, one in front of the other.

“Please, go away,” she muttered.

It was happening again and she needed a distraction, fast. Breathing heavily, she whipped out her mobile phone and moved her fingers deftly on the touchscreen to bring up Nadia’s contact details.

Please be there, please be there, Rose thought as she brought her phone to her ears.

“Heeeeey, what’s up!” a cheery voice rang on the other end. Rose let out a sigh of relief.

“Hi Nadia, how’re you doing?” she asked, unsure of what to say.

“No cheating, I asked first!”

The choking feeling within Rose seemed to dissipate almost instantly and she chuckled. Still, she wondered if she should let Nadia in on what she was really feeling.

I suppose I mustn’t lie, she thought.

“If you must know,” began Rose slowly. “I’m not doing so good right now.”

“Hmm, why? What’s up?”

Rose tried to sound as casual as possible. “No big deal, really, just the usual. Umm … the usual thing. You know ...”

That felt incredibly stupid. Rose forced a little laugh, but she knew that it was unconvincing as soon as it escaped her lips. She felt pathetic, having run out of words to say, and was now relying, as always, on the other party to step up and take control of the conversation.

Luckily, Nadia was up to the task. “Rose, what’s wrong?”

“Well, it’s just … do you think it’s necessary, or umm … good to attend the events around campus?”

Nadia made a gagging sound. “Ack, I can’t stand those, so I’ve never cared. Free food is good, but getting home earlier is much better, eh?”

“I see. But, you don’t suppose that, umm … to get to know people better, it’s necessary to attend these events?”

At this, Nadia roared with laughter, forcing Rose to hold the phone slightly away from her ear.

“Rose, Rose, Rose, you think making fake friends at a fakish event is the way to find friends? Is that what you were worried about? Gosh, I thought it was actually something serious.”

Rose did think that it was something serious, but she suppressed that feeling. “I guess I was being a little silly, making it all into a major crisis.”

“You know, we could still talk about it. Could meet you at Rendezvous for a coffee,” said Nadia. She quickly added, “Or tea. Where are you, anyway?”

“That’s a great idea. I’m just outside the Student Centre here, I could meet you in -”

She stopped dead in her tracks. Just slightly ahead, lumbering slowly, swinging its tusks left to right, was a beast. Not just any beast, but an unnatural demonic creature that sported razor sharp spikes and terrifying blood red eyes.

Eyes that had not seen her, yet. Perhaps she could still get away.

Heart beating fast, Rose held her breath and started to inch backwards, slowly. Yes, it seemed like she could make it, until …

“Rose? Rose, you there?”

Nadia’s voice pierced the silence, instantly grabbing the attention of the beast. Eyes locked firmly on Rose, it arched its back and snarled, baring foot-long fangs dripping with saliva. She tried to run, but found herself unable to move. Horrifying though it was, the beast’s gaze seemed to have a petrifying effect, gluing her on the spot.

Her heart was thumping against her ribs and she was shivering all over, but her legs refused to budge. The beast had started advancing on her, snarls growing louder by the second. Tried as she had had, her mind refused to calm down long enough to work something out. All she could think of was the fact that she was going to die.

Perhaps it would be over quickly, and rest would finally come.

“Rose! Where are you?”

Startled, Rose dropped her phone. Just in time, strength returned to her limbs and, inhaling deeply, she let out a scream. She then turned and started running as fast as she could in the opposite direction. With a roar, the beast took off and gave chase.

Rose continued to scream and scream as she ran, hoping that someone, somewhere could come to her aid. And it worked, somewhat, as curious people came out of the campus buildings to see the commotion. Unfortunately, seeing the monster, they started panicking themselves.

“Help, someone, please!” shouted Rose with all the breath she could muster. But the plea fell on deaf ears, as the people were in a frenzy, pushing each other to get out of the way.

Instinctually, Rose made her way quickly to the university’s central courtyard. As she had suspected, it was filled with students sitting idly about and taking a break from classes. She had gone slightly ahead of the beast by now, it was time to catch her breath. A few students looked at her, puzzled and inquisitive.

“Help, please!” Rose cried out.

Before anyone could react, the beast barged in, turning the scene into chaos and sending students scurrying and clamouring in all directions. The short break gave Rose clarity of thought long enough to spot a shed that held gardening tools, and she ran quickly and hid behind it. She felt guilty, she had dragged the beast in here and endangered the lives of all these students. Why did she always have to mess -

Slap. “No, it was not your fault,” she said, rubbing her cheek where she had slapped herself. “You didn’t have time to think.”

The voice within her grew louder, belittling, accusing. Selfish, it said. Inconsiderate, it said. You’ll have condemned them all, it said.

“You didn’t have time to think, you didn’t have time to think,” she repeated methodically, covering her ears with her hands.

The voice died down a little, but it was replaced by a gradual unease of a different sort. Something was wrong. With increased apprehension, Rose realised that the clamour of the crowd was gone. It was now silent, completely silent except -

Snarling loudly, the beast came into view. It had finally found its prey.

"Why?" demanded Rose, failing at fighting back tears that were now streaming down her cheeks. "Why are you targeting me? Why just me?"

The beast, of course, made no reply aside from growling louder. It crouched low, ready to pounce. This was it, she was certainly going to die this time ...

"Huzzah!"

Who? Looking up, Rose saw a figure leap over her and land between her and the beast. The figure produced a massive spoon out of thin air and gave the beast a mighty wallop that knocked it into a wall. Instantly, she recognised the heroine as the one who had so enchanted her.

Garde Espresso!

"You again?" said Espresso, pointing to the beast. "Didn't we whack you into a million explosions the last time?"

"It's a different one," another voice called out. "There are lots of these Ferals, these pig-things, this won't be the last time you see them."

"Then we'll just have to blast each one to oblivion! Oi, beastie!" Espresso waved at the beast with her spoon. "My name is Garde Espresso! And you will pay for your -”

“Stop wasting time and just get rid of it!” yelled the other voice.

Where was this other voice coming from? Rose looked around but there was no one else in the area.

“Can’t I just finish my introduction just once?” said Espresso, brows twitching. “We’re going to have a little fun this time, kitty.”

“Stopping evil isn’t the time to have fun! Lives are at stake!”

But Espresso was just waving dismissively. “What’s the point of having fancy magical powers if you can’t play around a bit?”

The beast, the Feral, had regained its footing and was now poised to strike. But beneath the subdued snarls, it seemed apprehensive, unsure of what to do with its new enemy. Clearly Espresso was an actual threat, unlike the other humans.

For her part, Espresso continued rambling, “Those characters on TV, they have all these loud, called-out attacks! I say we need something like that. You know what, I’m going to try something!”

She took out what Rose recognised, from her time at Rendezvous, as a group handle, used to hold ground coffee in espresso machines. This was a fancier one than those stainless steel handles used in the shop; this was golden and and very shiny. Espresso swung the handle in a circle in front of her and produced a ring of what looked like espresso, dark and creamy. She then took her giant spoon and twirled the floating espresso into a spiral. There was a certain beauty about it, and Rose couldn’t help but gaze, wide-eyed.

“I call this, SCALDING SHOT!” Using her spoon, Espresso hurled the spiralling liquid at the Feral’s direction.

It splashed pathetically on the beast, who blinked.

“I guess it was worth a shot,” said Espresso, shrugging. “A shot, get it, Mittens? A SHOT?”

She turned away and sniggered. The Feral took this chance to take off and charge towards her. Rose was about to cry out a warning when -

“For the love of all that is good, shut up and look out!” shouted the voice, apparently named Mittens.

“Oh Mittens, do you have such little faith in my,” Espresso swung around, heaving her spoon in wide arc to land on the Feral’s head, “abilities?”

Roaring in pain, it tottered backwards and shook its head.

“Alright, Mittens, no more fun and games, let’s finish this,” said Espresso.

She stretched out her spoon and drew a triangle in the air. Having watched recorded replays of Espresso’s previous battle countless times, Rose predicted correctly that the spoon would glow. And she knew what came next.

Espresso dashed forward and struck the beast hard with the glowing spoon. As she did in the fight with Siren, she struck again and again, causing the beast to howl each time.

“This should do it,” she said, and brought down a mighty blow on the beast.

There was a terrific, deafening explosion of many colours. Rose had to cover her gaping mouth to prevent the smoke from entering.

“Really too easy,” said Espresso, standing triumphant. “You know Mittens, we really need a name for that move. I shall call it CAFFEINE SMACKDOWN.”

Rose could imagine that whoever Mittens was, he was smacking his forehead. She laughed a little, too. Garde Espresso was so amazing, and yet so very silly. In fact, she reminded her of …

Of who, exactly? Strange, the fleeting thought she had was gone. It was just at the tip of her tongue! Frowning, she tried to think hard to get it back, but it was useless. Never mind, there were more pressing concerns at the moment.

“Garde Espresso, Garde Espresso!” she panted as she ran up to her. “T-Thank you for saving me! I’m your biggest fan, you have no idea. You’re just so amazing!”

“Oh right, Rose,” said Espresso, shifting her beret uncomfortably with one hand. “Glad to have helped, as always.”

“It’s the second time now, I owe you so much. And you still haven’t told me how you know my name!”

“Heh, a superhero has to keep her secret identity, doesn’t she?” chuckled Espresso awkwardly. “Anyway, I really have to get going. And here.”

She took Rose’s hand and thrust an object into it. It was Rose’s phone.

“Ta,” said Espresso, turning to leave.

“Wait! Please tell me how you know me.”

Espresso hesitated for a moment, but shook her head and left, running at inhuman speed. Rose stared after her, feeling slightly dejected, but she caught sight of a small, furry, black and grey object that jumped down from a nearby tree and landed on Espresso’s shoulder. Rose squinted and saw that the object was a cat.

A cat with a messenger bag.

*

“Nadia, Nadia!”

“Hey, what’s up?” greeted Nadia through the phone.

Rose wasted no time. “That cat we saw the other day, was his name Mittens?”

There came no reply. Rose felt impatience rise within her.

“His name was Mittens wasn’t he, Nadia? Why aren’t you talking? You promised you’d tell me everything.”

Nadia sighed. “Yes, I did promise to tell you, but Mittens wouldn’t let me -”

“Aha!” exclaimed Rose. “So he was Mittens.”

“Yes, that’s him. Look, I can’t tell you everything now, Rose.”

Rose started to pace up and down the courtyard, phone clutched tightly to her ear. “But you’re not telling me anything at all! Please Nadia, I need to know. It’s really important to me.”

“Rose …”

Neither of them spoke. Rose strained her ear, as if by doing so she could choke a confession out of Nadia.

“Rose, let me try to talk to Mittens,” said Nadia, finally. “I don’t know how it’ll work out, but a promise is a promise. You’ll get answers soon enough.”

“Thank you, Nadia. It would mean a lot to me.”

As she tapped the screen to end the call, she whispered, “Not soon enough.”

*

“Sharon, can you talk?”

Sharon, who was polishing silverware, jerked her head slightly towards Sally, who was marching towards them.

“The cafe’s busy, Sharon can’t talk right now,” said Sally.

Rose looked around the cafe at the empty seats. She had never seen Rendezvous so completely the opposite of busy.

“There’s nothing to do,” said Rose. “It’ll just be a little chat, she can continue doing whatever she’s doing.”

“Employees who are paid must do their job,” said Sally, crossing her arms indignantly. “It’s a sacred contract between employer and employee. There is to be no talking. No exceptions.”

“No exceptions? Not even for,” Rose took out her wallet, “three pumpkin soups, to go?”

Sally bit her lip. “Just this once. That will be 45 dollars, please.”

Rose’s heart fell as she took out her precious dollar bills and handed them to Sally. As Sally retreated to the kitchen to prepare the soups, she turned to Sharon.

“Sorry to interrupt you like this, and umm … feel free to chase me away anytime you want. I just have to hear, if you don’t mind that is, your side of the story that day. The day when -”

“When I became Siren.” Sharon paused her silverware-polishing, looking forlorn.

“Sharon, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want -”

“It’s alright,” sighed Sharon. “History’s there for us to learn. It’s okay.”

She tucked her long, black hair behind her ears. “A day before that incident, I was busy with choir auditions. Don’t know if Nadia told you, but I study music here at BPU. If I passed the auditions, I would get a full scholarship to fund my studies.

“Now I had wanted that scholarship for two years now and it seemed just perfect. I could sing, and it would be nice to get some money. But this year …”

Her voice started to crack. “You see, my father got laid off this year and suddenly things became very difficult for our family. So this scholarship went from being just nice to have to becoming necessary. And my father, he kept saying, ‘We’ll make it through, we just know our little angel will get that scholarship!’

“So yeah, Nadia must have been wondering why I was so quiet that day. I … I failed the auditions, you see. They told me that I had a lovely voice, but it just wasn’t enough to represent BPU.”

“Oh, Sharon, I’m sure that’s not true,” said Rose sympathetically.

Sharon chuckled and wiped away some of her tears with her polishing cloth. “Thank you, but you haven’t heard me sing. Anyway, that day was pretty bad here too. I just couldn’t keep my mind on work, I was so worried. And I guess,” Sharon brought her voice to a whisper, “Sally wasn’t too pleased with that.

“So after I left work that day, I didn’t know what to do. I was so sure I was going to lose my job. No scholarship, no income, how were we going to survive? I wasn’t even aware of where I was going, but I remembered crying my eyes out.”

She smiled grimly at Sharon and returned to polishing the silverware. Rose was feeling terrible.

“Sharon, we can stop talking about this, it’s clearly hurting you.”

“Nuh-uh,” said Sharon. “I want to say this. You can say it’s cathartic. And besides, you don’t stop a girl when she’s near the exciting bits.”

She laughed again, and Rose, unsure of how to react, simply nodded.

Sharon continued her story. “So there I was crying, when I became aware of this … this guy beside me.”

“John Smith,” said Rose darkly.

“That’s right. I guess I would have jumped in fear but I just felt so powerless, like all the energy was gone from me. It’s kind of a strange feeling, you know? Absolutely frightened and absolutely … dead.”

“Apathetic, hopeless,” said Rose, shuddering at the thought. “Like you couldn’t be happy again, that you should just give up. I know how it’s like, Sharon. After all,” she smiled grimly at Sharon, “you weren’t his only victim that day.”

“Exactly,” said Sharon. “After that I wanted to run, but I felt I had lost control of my body. I couldn’t do anything, I could only wait it out, terrified. But you know what that’s like, right?”

Rose nodded. That day was possibly the worst she had ever felt, except maybe for …

She shook her head. She would not think of it. Not today.

“Rose, what’s wrong?” asked Sharon, noticing.

Before Rose could answer, the glass door to Rendezvous burst open. A young student, someone she seen around on campus, was standing in the doorway.

“You need to get out of here!” he shouted. “One of those monster things has appeared in the carpark!”

Already, people were shouting outside; Rose could see them running past the glass window.

“Rose, we have to get out of here,” said Sharon. “Where’s Sally?”

Sally emerged from the kitchen. “Girls, I’m getting you out of here. We’ll take my car. You, too young man,” she added, seeing the student standing in the doorway.

Rose was surprised, she privately (but shamefully) admitted that she had expected Sally to be the first to abandon them.

“Just drop everything, and let’s go!” commanded Sally.

Rose hesitated, entertaining a thought. Where there was one of those monster things, there would be Garde Espresso.

“You guys go ahead, I have something I need to do.”

“Rose, don’t be foolish,” said Sharon quickly. “We have to leave, now!”

“I’ll be fine,” returned Rose, firmly. “Please, just trust me. You go ahead.”

*

Apparently, Rose wasn’t the only one with the brilliant idea to watch Garde Espresso fight. A small crowd, in opposition of their screaming peers, had already formed beside the road where the battle was taking place. Many of them were cheering.

“You can’t stay here, it’s dangerous!” shouted Garde Espresso above the din, dodging a tackle by the monster. It was the same type of boar-like beast, a Feral, that hunted Rose earlier.

“Aww no man, we ain’t gonna miss this for the world!” said a younger man, holding up his mobile phone to record the fight.

Rose agreed with him, there was no way anyone was going to stop her watching Garde Espresso fight. Even if it meant endangering her life.

With a forceful jab, Espresso grabbed hold of the Feral with her spoon, swung it over her and slammed it to the ground. It howled and then whimpered in pain.

“Gah, if you fellas won’t leave, I’ll have to do this quick!” said Espresso as she drew that familiar triangle in the air.

Spoon glowed gold. Rose squealed; she had definitely got it memorised.

Spoon raised up. “Caffeine Smackdown!” shouted Espresso, bringing the spoon down on the beast.

Whack, whack, whack, counted Rose. She clenched her hands tight and grinned. One more!

There was a loud boom followed by multi-coloured smoke. The audience cheered and started hugging each other and chatting excitedly. Even with her natural fear of crowds, Rose would have joined them, except -

Through the dissipating smoke, she caught sight of Espresso trying to slip away into a nearby alley. This was her opportunity to finally find out who she was. Rose tried to follow as quietly as she could.

“Ahhh, Mittens this is getting boring,” said Espresso stretching her arms outward.

From the corner she was hiding behind, Rose could see that Espresso was talking to Mittens, who was perched on a dumpster lid. There was no doubt it was the same cat as the other day; the short grey and black coat and the messenger bag were clear giveaways.

"Then I don't know what's taking so long," said Mittens. "These Ferals should be very easy to get rid of."

"Oh put a sock in it," said Espresso dismissively. "In the meantime, I'm gonna get out of these duds."

"Wait, you haven't done a perimetre check!"

Espresso blew a raspberry at Mittens as she lifted her group handle. There was a brief flash of light, and -

Rose's heart skipped a few beats. Standing in the alley, right before her eyes, hoodie, jeans and all, was Nadia Chen.

"What if someone saw you?" hissed Mittens.

"You worry too much," laughed Nadia. "I'm willing to bet that there's no one who saw that. Well, not real money, because I'm broke right now.

"Anyway, let's get out of here, I need an afternoon latte to regain this strength."

Mittens' voice was filled with derision. "I thought you were broke?"

"Yeah but lattes are a life necessity! Money’s always set aside for them. I had hoped you would have learned that by now."

Mittens said nothing and hopped down to follow after Nadia, who was now walking down the alley. With shock, Rose realised that they were coming her way. Her mind went blank, completely incapable of reacting and she was sure that she was going to be discovered.

"Woof!"

It was a dog, a beautiful chocolate Border Collie. It wagged its tail eagerly at Rose.

Thinking fast, she crouched low, back facing the entrance to the alley, and held her jacket to her face to cover as much of it as she could. She then used the other arm to pet the dog, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Nadia’s footsteps grew closer. “I must have tried 9 cafes around campus now, they’re all just pretty meh ...”

Her voice trailed off as they went in the opposite direction. Rose strained her ears until she was sure they were gone and then let her hands fall, relieved.

“Please don’t stop, it was very cozy.”

Rose gasped. The dog was talking!

“Surprised?” asked the dog. “I believe, for you at least, that wouldn’t be the first time today. You were acquainted with that girl, weren’t you?”

“You’re, you’re -” Rose struggled to find the words to say. “You’re like that cat - Mittens!”

“Very perceptive,” said the dog, sitting down. “Yes, we’re both Messengers, and it seems Mittens there has found Stella’s first Garde in decades. Quite impressed, really. Don’t tell him this, but I would never have expected it of him. Hmm …”

It, or perhaps more appropriately, he, propped his chin against his paw. Rose watched in awe as he rubbed his chin, deep in thought. It was all very hard to digest. Mittens, this dog, they were magical creatures, domestic animals capable of speech.

“I’m not that magical, if that’s what you’re thinking,” said the dog, looking up. “We’re not actually dogs or cats, but a different species. But how rude of me, I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Claude.”

Claude held out his paw, which Rose shaked uncertainly.

“Don’t be afraid, I’m not a Nihil,” said Claude. “Not one of those things. You might not know this, but I’ve been watching you for a while now. You see, I’ve been following this new Garde, Espresso, with interest, and I’ve observed that you’re often present in her vicinity. You’re witness to most of her battles, and sometimes even involved in some capacity. Why is that?”

Rose stammered as she spoke. “I-I don’t know …”

“I’m sorry if I’m upsetting you. It’s just Garde Espresso has proven quite interesting, and I was just hoping that maybe you could provide an account of her. You seem to know her.”

Rose had finally found her voice. “She’s amazing! She’s heroic, kind, self-giving and,” her voice faltered, “she’s my friend. That’s weird. Why couldn’t I recognise her before? The signs were all there: Mittens, the coffee obsession, even the voice and the hairstyle!”

“That’s part of the Garde’s powers,” said Claude. “Nobody will be able to decipher a Garde’s identity unless they were told about it, or they see the Garde transform. That’s why Gardes must find discreet locations to transform. And I will admonish Mittens for that, he’s not doing a terribly good job so far, as we’ve both seen.”

“Oh no, don’t blame him! Nadia’s just very stubborn. I should know.”

Claude smiled. “Don’t worry, I was just joking. Now tell me, you refer to this Garde Espresso as ‘amazing’, ‘heroic’, ‘kind’. You believe that she is all of these?”

“Yes, I do. And,” Rose paused, thinking, before adding, “it just seems so logical that Nadia is Espresso. Nadia’s also kind and generous.”

“I see. You find these traits admirable?”

“Of course!” Rose clasped her hands together, starry-eyed. “How I wish I was like her, a true hero! Something … to be proud of. To be of use to this world. It would be such a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in the lives of so many people.”

“Really? That’s all very interesting …”

For a long time, Claude was silent, staring at the ground, chin on paw, pondering. Rose wanted to say something to break the awkwardness, but something about Claude’s expression told her that he was not to be interrupted. So she simply sat down next to him.

At last, he said, “Goodness me, I have forgotten my manners yet again. If I may ask, what is your name, young lady?”

“It’s Rose. Rose McKenna.”

“Rose McKenna,” repeated Claude. “I have a proposition for you. It goes against my better judgment, but perhaps there is hope left in this world. And perhaps you’ll be the one to teach an old Messenger a thing or two.”

“What proposition?” Rose asked.

“Rose McKenna,” said Claude again. “How would you like to become … a Garde?”