They told me I'd learn things as time went by, but I had to learn fast because things had been a little crazy since I woke up.

"Everyone knows now," Spinett gently told me before he spilled the news in one breath. "Your very ancient photo is on every screen across the continent and now the Council is demanding to meet with you before someone outside the border gets their hands on you. But before you meet them, you have to appear before the people." Then he breathlessly added, "And it will be streamed live."

I swear I could learn things faster than many, but at that precise moment, I only managed to hang on to one word. "Border?"

"The border between Genesis City and the Devil District." Too used to my type of questioning by now, he continued, "Well, Old London is its official name—not that there's anything official or legal in that place." He let out a dramatic shiver. "There are many borders between them and Genesis City, all of which are equipped with powerful bishop magic."

"And what's in Old London?"

"The ferals."

Akiko entered the room before I could ask another question. My attention immediately focused on the white clothes she presented to me with an eager smile.

"No," I said, shaking my head. Noting their surprise look at my haughty tone, I broke into a smile and said, "I can't wear that. I'd hate to ruin it. It is too pretty."

They looked at each other and broke into relieved laughter. "It is, isn't it?"

"But truly..." I stared at the horrible clothes. "I... Forgive me, but I've never worn trousers my entire life." Smile quivering, I added, "But I'd try one on if it can't be helped."

"Perfect," said Akiko, approaching me with her horrid burden.

"Although I assume you have a concoction for when my skin flares up?" I asked, brows arched. "Just in case?"

Spinett blinked a few times. "Flare up?"

I smiled at them with the most innocent smile I could muster. "My skin is highly sensitive to fabrics other than cotton. Thus, I've never worn trousers. Skirts simply make things a tad more bearable. But if you have cotton drawers for me to wear inside those trousers, I'd highly appreciate it."

"Cotton," Akiko said, turning to Spinett, "is rare nowadays."

"Oh," I said, shoulders dropping with great exaggeration. "Well, then, I'm sure I can handle the trousers. Surely we can brew some potions for the intense flares later."

"How intense are these flares?" Spinett asked, worry on his face.

I shrugged. "The worse I suffered was when I was nine and was forced to wear my cousin Nathaniel's trousers on a vacation to Bath. The flares went up my chest and I had trouble breathing. Fortunately, my Aunt Petunia was able to brew the right potion to keep me from dying." I looked at them with a bright smile. "You have similar potions I can take in advance for such allergies, I assume?"

Akiko made a sharp turn. "I'll find a dress."

When she left the room, I smiled at Spinett. "Is she your maidservant?"

"Akiko? Oh, Lord, no."

"No? What is she then?" Truly, I was curious. She was not a doctor like Spinett. She just entered the room now and then to look at the machines on the wall. She even delivered my food and helped me change my nightgowns. She did things a maidservant would do.

"Akiko is an Elemental."

"What is that?"

"Elementals are witches who can conjure magic and craft magical objects," Spinett patiently explained. "There are sorts of Elementals. Specifically, we're Cooks."

"You brew potions."

"Yes, but not for allergies, I'm afraid. Cooks have other specific specialties."

"Is that why you're called a doctor?"

Spinett sighed. "How should I explain this? I'm called a doctor because I study and work on bodies. Akiko specializes in research, specifically potions that affect the unconscious."

The smile on my face froze in surprise. That was actually quite praiseworthy. I had always respected witches who delve into research. I turned away and sat back on my bed.

"While waiting for your dress, can you tell me more about the old England? What was it like?" Spinett asked, genuine curiosity in his eyes. "Everything I know is only from books."

I shrugged. "It was chaotic," I said. "Dirty." I looked around, smile dying. "Yet full of life. There was music and dancing. Colors. Laces and ribbons." I returned my gaze to his. "Every day had its interesting turns."

Spinett's smile grew as I spoke. "You were a member of the high society."

"The Byrnes were amongst the most respected, yes."

"Your father was a duke."

My smile finally disappeared. I didn't know what happened to my father. Did he survive the fire? Did Brenna? No one has yet given me the answers. "Yes."

"You must be used to being treated like a princess," Spinett said with a sigh. "Honestly, I thought you'd be difficult to deal with, considering you must have never been deprived of anything all your life."

I had to agree. I simply didn't remember being deprived of anything. "Tell me about the Saint Society," I said. "What is it like?"

Spinett's shoulders squared, and his chest ballooned with pride. "Fair and just. Everyone is equal here."

What a load of rubbish. "No castes?" I asked.

"None."

"Well, you label yourself and Akiko as Elementals. I still think of myself as Lady Aster Byrne, daughter of a duke. Titles mean something, Dr. Spinett. Come now. Tell me what you call the commoners in this age," I coaxed.

Apparently, he found no humor in my teasing tone. His face turned serious, the smile completely gone. "Everyone is equal in the Saint Society, Miss Byrne."

I stared at Spinett for a long time until he looked away. "Come on, tell me. What do you call the commoners?"

"There are no commoners," Spinett firmly said. "There are only the Folks and they have as much rights as the rest."

I broke into a knowing grin. "The rest. So there are more. Higher than Elementals?"

"Everyone is the same in the Saint Society. The titles are for the identity of functions only."

"To segregate everyone according to the amount of power they hold, of course," I said, smiling, enjoying his battle for self-control.

"No."

"Then you are saying Elementals have the same power as Folks and the other titles?"

"No. Folks cannot harness magic."

"They're plain humans."

"You can say so, but they serve the society with as much dignity as the others. We Elementals do not consider them below us. We need them as much as they need us. They don't slave for us, unlike what you people did to your commoners back in the day."

"Hm." I looked him up and down. "Interesting. And what do you call the others?"

"The Astrals and the Bishops. Astrals are witches with great magic. They can traverse boundaries, go beyond the natural planes. Bishops are the only ones authorized to perform sacred rituals that have been considered dangerous and are therefore banned to be practiced by anyone else other than a Bishop." He walked toward the door. "And please remind me to give you a list of said rituals. It will surprise you how many you've practiced before that are now considered illegal." Before leaving, he said, "We'll wait for your dress."

"Thank you," I said. "For everything."

He smiled, but it was not quite genuine. I took note to not challenge their perfect Saint Society too much if I needed these people as allies.

***

When Akiko arrived with a dress, she immediately rushed to action. While helping me dress, she told me how she found the cotton drawers in the museum in another wing of the university. "And this one actually belonged to you," she said.

"You kept my drawers in a museum?"

"They kept everything they saved after the fire. Can you believe it? My hands were shaking when they gave me this! Don't worry. We washed it. It's as good as new. Preserved by elemental magic, of course."

"And my other dresses?"

She grimaced. "Let's not test our luck on those. We're lucky we got these."

"But they are mine."

"They were yours. But now they're university property."

"Isn't that a little absurd?" I asked, mustering an innocent, wary laugh.

She blinked at me, face straight. "No, not really. But that you're wearing a two-hundred-year-old artifact is."

I stopped myself from saying something vile. I chose silence instead until Spinett returned to help Akiko with my hair, smile back on his face. I studied them through the mirror, watched how my silence made them more uncomfortable as time stretched on.

"Do you fear them? The Bishops?" I asked.

"No. We trust they know what they're doing. It's difficult to be one. They're trained with great discipline."

"And Astrals?"

"They're rare and mostly only work with the Council."

"Then they are higher than the Elementals."

"No," said Akiko.

"I told you—there are no castes!" Spinett said.

"I'm just teasing you, Doctor." I stared at my reflection. "Whose orders do you follow, then?"

"For us, it's Brenna's orders."

"She is an Elemental, too?"

"No. Brenna is a Folk."

"A Byrne without a gift of magic?" I asked in disbelief.

"I'm afraid so," said Spinett. "She's a Folk."

Akiko smiled at me. "So, you see? There are no castes."

They were fools if they thought I trusted every word they said. Oh, yes, of course I believed them. I believed it was all real—that I woke up two centuries into the future. That they believed there were no castes, and that their society was perfect. But nothing was perfect, even a dream.

What these ignorant fools of the future knew about me and my family were all from books like the one apparently written by my Aunt Petunia.

They've been feeding me things about Genesis City and the Saints for weeks now, painting the Saint Society as the savior of all witches from the vampires who had ruled England for centuries. And somehow, in all these stories, they failed to mention how exactly they managed to do that.

I had to agree about the vampires being powerful in England two-hundred years ago. Having brushed shoulders and claws with some of them all my life, I could attest to their influence. But they weren't gods. They never ruled us. And not all of them were powerful enough. Most were quite stupid, to be honest. I could name a few I fooled. They weren't as dangerous as this new society painted them to be.

I wanted them to tell me what truly happened in the past. What did the vampires do? And how did the witches become so powerful? But they wouldn't. They'd answer me with vague stories of great witches who did amazing things as if they were reading them straight from a scripture. If not stories, they would always have excuses not to answer. The most common one was, "It's almost midnight. We'll talk again tomorrow."

"You'll eventually understand everything once you immerse yourself into the society," Spinett said, drawing me back to the present.

"Then tell me about these ferals you mentioned."

"Dangerous vampires, that's all. Undocumented."

"What does that mean?"

"They're not part of the society, thus they stay out of the border."

"And this Council you speak of rule this society?"

"The Saint Council makes certain that everyone enjoys peace and order, including the archaics."

"Archaics?"

"Legally documented vampires within Genesis City."

"And who are these vampires?"

"Too few to mention."

"You're saying there are no ferals within Genesis City then?"

"None. The borders are laced with strong bishop magic. When I was young, I tried to go through one—they're not all the same, by the way. I was curious, so I walked into a border and found myself in a maze of mirrors," Akiko said.

"Then what happened?"

"I got lost, of course. It took them almost an entire day to find me. They said I was lucky to be found alive at all. You don't mess around the borders, that's all I'm saying," she replied, stepping back to admire her work.

I frowned at my reflection. Simply horrid. Too white and too simple. Akiko had tied my hair in a tight bun. No pearls, no ribbons—nothing. The skirt of the dress looked like cone paper, the neckline clean and square. I liked the low cut, but where in the bloody hell were the laces and sheer fabrics? The boots were equally appalling. "I look..." A smile quivered on my lips.

"Splendid," the voice said from the door. Brenna walked in with a smile in all her white glory. I itched to stain her red. I wondered how she would look like painted in soot and grime. Or blood. "Your portraits do not give you justice, Aster."

None could ever give my beauty justice because none ever truly looked at me without thinking of my gift and what I could bring them. "Thank you. You are so kind." My little brother, if he was alive, would have lit himself on fire if he ever heard my sweet, sweet voice. But not these people. They liked me here. I vowed to keep it that way.

"Are you ready?"

"She is," answered Spinett, turning to face me.

"The Saint Council is waiting. So is everyone else," Brenna said, reaching out to take my hand. "From here on, Aster, only good things are waiting for you after midnight."

***

Mere moments after I stepped out of Windsor, I found out just what Spinett meant. Hundreds of people were already waiting for me. Before I knew it, my name was being shouted from all directions, asking me to look at them or to say a word. Some were shouting questions about how I did what I did, or what my secret was.

Brenna murmured for me to look down and keep walking while a team of witches, all of them in white coats and trousers, lined the path to the awaiting white vehicle. Ignoring Brenna, I looked around me. People held up devices which flashed in my direction. Most of them wore white. It was like looking at hundreds of Brennas and Spinetts. There were buildings everywhere, all lit up with images that moved and flashed. Many of them had my face from long ago, most of which was taken on the day I debuted into society.

My eyes veered back down to the sea of white humans. Then I saw him.

He was wearing white, but his hair was unlike the others. It was unkempt. He held nothing in his hands, which he kept inside the pockets of his trousers. His eyes, however, were glued on me, as if he, too, was trying to imprint my image into his memory. He was staring at me as if he knew me, but just as I was figuring out where he belonged in my memory, someone grabbed my arm and whisked me into the white vehicle. People shouted my name, the flashes almost an attack now. I watched with fascination as they surrounded the vehicle from all sides.

"Go!" Brenna ordered.

I gasped when the vehicle moved with the smoothness of fresh butter. I grabbed Brenna's hand when it carried us in the air and hovered over the crowd of people still crying out my name. The vehicle sped away in midair and Spinett chuckled beside me when I yelped in surprise. We were flying. "Best broomstick ever, isn't it?" he asked.

I let go of Brenna and relaxed into the leather seat. Slowly, I smiled as the city flew past and below us.

I was getting more glimpses of Genesis City, a society built by the Saints. How in the hell did Augustus Saint achieve this much power?

"What happened to my family?" I finally asked, breaking the silence.

Brenna shared a look with Spinett. "I'll tell you everything about our family after the meeting with the people."

***

By people, she meant the echelons of their so-called equal society. None could deny that the people sitting in the crowd below the stage were far different from the ones who had been waiting for me outside Windsor.

There were hundreds of them all staring at me with a mixture of curiosity and awe, all of them with hair and clothes like Brenna and the rest. They were more pristinely dressed, nowhere near the normal folks I encountered earlier. Somewhere outside the hall, I knew there were big screens and there were people watching me. Spinett said the meeting was being viewed by the entire Genesis City.

They did not even ask me to speak. They simply told me to stand in the center, in my white dress and pathetic hair. It was all Brenna's voice I could hear. She told everyone about how they had kept me safe through the years and how, finally, I woke up.

"While some may consider this a miracle, I dare say that we have once more proven the world that we have more potentials to uncover. Artifact 3060 has defied mortality with her spell, one we'll very seriously investigate and replicate with our Aster Project."

My head snapped in Brenna's direction as my brain processed what she had just said. What did she just call me?

The crowd clapped, and I swept my gaze over them, stopping on the group of men and women standing in the far right. I didn't notice them before, but I did now because they were not clapping. They just stared at me with interest. And while I could not tell if the rest of the crowd were witches or not, I could tell for certain that the group in the far right were vampires.

"Please allow me the pleasure of introducing my amazing team," Brenna was saying, turning to say, "Doctor Mic Spinett obtained his Elemental degree in Windsor University. He's the youngest in his class and has worked with us on Artifact 3060 for ten years now." Spinett walked to the center of the stage, smiling awkwardly as the crowd clapped harder. He stood beside me and murmured, "I hate doing this. But let's bear it for a little while, darling."

"The amazing Akiko Katama graduated top of her class in Windsor University and received her Elemental degree ahead of everyone in her class. Her expertise in potion research has been such a significant contribution to this project."

Akiko joined Spinett and me to the center of the stage, taking the spot to my right. She smiled stiffly at the crowd, tugging at her fingers.

Brenna continued to talk about their work and how Artifact 3060 would help further research and development. I was too stunned to speak. Never had I imagined I would be treated as a bloody artifact. Once or twice, the term had slipped out of Akiko's lips, but I assumed it was just Akiko being a researcher.

"Those are the Archaics," Akiko whispered beside me. For a moment, her statement drew me away from planning a massacre. My eyes landed back on the vampires to the far right. "They're the documented vampires we were talking about." I knew she was only blabbering because she was uncomfortable being on stage. "They, too, can't cross the borders."

"Why?" I asked.

Spinett leaned closer and murmured, "The ferals hate them as much as everyone else in the city. They're considered traitors by their own kind."

As he spoke, my gaze jumped from one vampire to the next. Then stopped on one. A very familiar one. His hair was black, his face nearly perfect if not for the scar along one corner of his lips that gave him an eternal, one-sided smile. My jaw tightened when his dark eyes caught mine and he smiled.

Harald Evensen. The bloody bastard.