A comfortable silence settled over the Butterfly Apothecary.
Sunlight filtered through the windows overlooking the sea, laying warm bands of gold across the wooden floor. Dust drifted lazily through the light, visible only where the brightness caught it. Beyond the glass, gulls cried somewhere over the harbor, their voices softened by distance and thick panes.
For a while, nobody spoke.
Steam curled gently from the teapot. Cups rested untouched. The room seemed content to exist exactly as it was.
Then Mr Mumeishi broke the silence.
"Mayumi, would you like some tea?"
I looked up from where I had been studying the shelves.
"Hm? If that's okay."
"Of course."
Miss Ezra reached for the teapot before anyone else could.
Her movements were smooth and deliberate. The tea poured in a thin amber stream, filling the cup without a single splash. I watched the liquid settle as its aroma drifted toward me.
Warm.
Floral.
Slightly sweet.
"Thank you."
I accepted the cup with both hands. The porcelain felt pleasantly warm against my palms.
Trying to distract myself from the strange tension slowly forming between Miss Heiwa and Miss Ai, I searched for something else to focus on. My eyes wandered around the shop instead.
Shelves lined every wall, crowded with bottles, dried herbs, folded papers, and a collection of objects whose purpose I couldn't begin to guess. The apothecary felt less organized than inhabited.
Not messy.
Simply lived in.
That made it feel more comfortable somehow.
"Why is this place called the Butterfly Apothecary?"
The question slipped out naturally.
Miss Heiwa answered before anyone else could.
"It's because the shop owner's daughter always had butterflies with her."
Her gaze briefly shifted toward Miss Ezra.
Miss Ezra appeared completely unaffected by becoming the subject of conversation. She simply poured another cup.
I found myself watching her a little longer than intended.
Her eyes were unusual. Pale rings circled her irises, almost golden-white in color. Not bright enough to seem unnatural, but distinctive enough that I kept noticing them.
She also appeared physically incapable of slouching.
Even standing still, she somehow maintained perfect posture.
It was slightly intimidating.
Realizing I had been staring, I immediately adjusted my sitting position.
Then adjusted my dress.
Then adjusted my sitting position again.
Across the table, Miss Ai raised an eyebrow.
I instantly became fascinated by my tea.
"Thank you."
Taking a careful sip, I paused.
My eyes widened slightly.
It was tea.
Just tea.
And somehow it was one of the best cups I had ever tasted.
I immediately took another sip.
Still excellent.
While I was busy appreciating that discovery, Mr. Mumeishi turned toward Miss Ai.
"Miss Ai, you are from the sect to the south, correct?"
The conversation drew my attention back.
I took another sip.
Still excellent.
"Yes, I am."
Miss Ai answered calmly, though her eyes had narrowed slightly, as though she were reading a page invisible to everyone else.
I decided it was safer not to become involved.
The warmth of the tea spread through my chest. Outside, a carriage rolled past, the sound briefly reaching the shop before fading away.
"Hm."
Mr. Mumeishi set down his cup.
The soft click against the table sounded unusually loud.
The room became still.
Something about it—
No.
Maybe I was imagining things.
"So, when are—"
Miss Ai stopped.
Not because she chose to.
Because the world vanished.
One moment I was sitting inside the Butterfly Apothecary.
The next—
I wasn't.
My breath caught.
The shop was gone.
The sunlight was gone.
The walls were gone.
Above us stretched an endless night sky.
Stars glittered across the darkness.
Thousands.
Millions.
Their reflections shimmered beneath us.
I looked down.
"Water."
The word escaped before I could stop it.
The chair remained beneath me.
The table remained exactly where it had been.
But everything else had become an endless expanse of perfectly calm water extending in every direction.
I immediately grabbed the edge of my chair.
I didn't like that.
Miss Heiwa was already looking around.
Miss Ai had risen halfway from her seat.
Only Mr. Mumeishi and Ezra seemed unaffected.
Cautiously, I reached downward.
My fingers touched the surface.
Cool.
Smooth.
Water gathered in my palm when I scooped it up.
Yet the surface beneath remained unchanged.
No depression.
No missing volume.
No disturbance.
I blinked.
Then blinked again.
That felt insufficient somehow.
The water slipped through my fingers.
"Interesting."
Miss Heiwa's voice drifted across the stillness.
My eyes shifted toward Ezra.
She calmly drank her tea.
As though sitting in the middle of an impossible ocean beneath an infinite sky was completely ordinary.
Something about that was more unsettling than the ocean.
"I sense no qi."
Miss Ai's voice had sharpened.
"What is this?"
Her gaze swept across the horizon.
I understood exactly how she felt.
I hadn't sensed anything either.
No warning.
No transition.
One moment reality existed.
The next it didn't.
Or perhaps it still did.
I genuinely had no idea.
Mr. Mumeishi appeared completely uninterested in explaining.
Instead, he turned toward Heiwa.
"A bow for Heiwa."
Then toward Miss Ai.
"And what would you like?"
The question felt absurd given the circumstances.
Apparently everyone else disagreed.
Miss Heiwa frowned.
"No. I would like a pudao, if that's okay."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"I would have the same."
Miss Ai answered immediately.
I shifted in my chair.
The tea remained on the table.
The table remained perfectly stable.
Despite standing in the middle of an endless ocean.
I decided I was done questioning things.
At least for now.
"Two pudao."
Mr. Mumeishi spoke casually, as though placing an order.
The weapons appeared.
Not materialized.
Not formed.
Appeared.
Like they had always existed and everyone had simply forgotten to notice them.
That somehow felt worse.
Two long polearms rested beside their owners.
Miss Heiwa accepted hers first.
She opened her mouth, paused, glanced toward Ezra, then quietly picked up the weapon.
Miss Ai did much the same.
The blade caught starlight as she examined it.
My pulse quickened.
This was significantly better than sightseeing.
"You have sixty seconds."
Miss Mumeishi finally spoke.
Then added,
"Nothing too flamboyant."
Heiwa looked toward Ai.
Ai looked toward Heiwa.
Neither spoke.
Yet somehow an entire conversation seemed to pass between them.
I narrowed my eyes, determined not to miss anything.
Heiwa stepped forward.
Her foot touched the water.
Ripples spread outward.
Only ripples.
No sinking.
No splash.
That felt wrong.
"Begin."
Mr. Mumeishi's voice echoed softly.
Everything exploded into motion.
My eyes lost them immediately.
A blur.
A flash.
Movement too fast to follow.
I leaned forward.
Something appeared across the water.
Steam.
A long stream of it.
Far away, fragments of ice drifted across the dark surface.
Then—
For the briefest instant—
I saw them.
Both weapons crossed overhead.
The impact sent vapor bursting outward.
Ice and steam collided between them.
Then they vanished again.
The water erupted into ripples.
Stars shattered across the disturbed reflections.
I had absolutely no idea what happened.
Not even a little.
Yet somehow my excitement felt completely satisfied.
"Hm."
Mr. Mumeishi placed his cup down.
The soft click echoed.
The world changed.
Sunlight returned.
Wooden walls returned.
The smell of tea returned.
The Butterfly Apothecary stood exactly where it always had.
As though nothing had happened.
I stared.
Then glanced down at the floor.
Just to be sure.
The others looked equally unsettled.
Except for Mr. Mumeishi.
And Ezra.
Of course.
"That was amazing."
I hadn't seen nearly enough.
It still felt amazing.
Before anyone could continue the conversation, the front door opened.
A bell chimed.
My attention shifted.
Two women entered.
Miss Mary.
And Lady Edelstein.
Both wore deep violet clothing so dark it almost appeared black, the color reminding me of the sky from the place we had just left.
One possessed beautiful silver-white hair.
The other dark hair framing her face elegantly.
Both immediately drew attention.
Miss Mary smiled.
Lady Edelstein raised an eyebrow.
"Good morning."
Mr. Mumeishi spoke first.
"Amicus imperantis. Miss Mary."
Lady Edelstein's gaze landed on me.
The atmosphere tightened immediately.
I couldn't explain why.
But I felt it.
As though the room had quietly become smaller.
I glanced toward Miss Mary.
Then back toward Lady Edelstein.
Her expression carried faint displeasure.
Something about it made me sit a little straighter.
"I didn't even call him mad."
Mr. Mumeishi sighed dramatically.
Miss Mary cleared her throat.
The tension broke.
Barely.
She guided Lady Edelstein toward a seat.
"How have you been?" Miss Mary asked.
Not really speaking to the rest of us.
"I've been alright."
Mr. Mumeishi gestured lazily.
"Changed a little."
"A little, huh."
The corner of her mouth twitched.
Beside her, Lady Edelstein quietly accepted tea.
My attention drifted briefly toward her hands.
I wasn't entirely sure why.
Perhaps because she seemed so composed.
Perhaps because she still felt different from everyone else around her.
Or maybe I was still trying to figure her out.
"Thank you for looking after Victoria for me."
Miss Mary's voice softened.
The name changed the atmosphere immediately.
I glanced toward Heiwa.
She was watching Lady Edelstein.
Ai remained silent.
"Ah."
Mr. Mumeishi smiled faintly.
"It was no trouble."
So she had known Victoria too.
The realization settled quietly inside me.
It seemed everyone here carried a piece of her.
Then Miss Mary's attention shifted.
Directly toward me.
"You must be the little eastern mage."
I nearly choked on my tea.
Wonderful.
"Nice to meet you."
I hurriedly straightened.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too."
The words came out only slightly tangled.
Lady Edelstein looked at me.
No hesitation.
No warning.
"How would you like to attend an academy in the West?"
My brain stopped.
Completely.
The conversation continued around me, but it sounded distant.
An academy.
In the West.
Victoria had talked about places like that.
Dreamed about them.
And now—
Someone was offering it directly.
Something tightened unexpectedly in my chest.
I could feel attention slowly shifting toward me.
Miss Heiwa.
Miss Ai.
Even Ezra seemed faintly interested.
Questions collided inside my head.
What was Amicus imperantis?
Why did Mr. Mumeishi look amused?
Why did Lady Edelstein sound completely serious?
Why me?
Victoria had spoken about me?
How much?
When?
"I…"
The word barely escaped.
"I have to ask my mother."
Lady Edelstein nodded once.
Entirely accepting the answer.
No pressure.
No disappointment.
Just acknowledgment.
Mr. Mumeishi looked thoroughly entertained.
Everyone else appeared either confused or carefully expressionless.
I exhaled slowly and turned toward the window.
Outside, the sea stretched beneath the winter sky.
Ships moved through the harbor.
People walked the streets.
The world carried on exactly as it always had.
Meanwhile, I wasn't entirely certain what had just happened.
Or what I was supposed to do next.