The remaining members of Lady von Ekko’s Glorious Adventurer Brigade emerged from the screening building into the inner city, Paradise. Of course, it no longer felt like Paradise, knowing that Riven wouldn’t be able to enjoy it. Inside, the city looked much like Rampart City, though the roofs of the buildings were all different colors, meaning that those in the distance looked like a brilliant painting of a fantasy city and those nearby looked dull and ordinary. The only real reminder that this was Paradise was that there were only women around. The visitors from the train, the people at the stands selling overpriced souvenirs, the priestesses wandering around dressed like Kaylen, all were women. And it seemed, much to the annoyance of Andra and Fiona, all were cis women.

“So that was one of the more awkward experiences of my life,” Andra said as she led the group down the street, looking for a place away from the crowd.

“I didn’t know,” Kaylen said, her tone pleading. “I really didn’t know. I would have warned her if I had known she was trans.”

“Do you think she’ll forgive us?” Fiona asked, looking back the way they’d come as if she would somehow still see Riven from here.

Andra waved a hand dismissively without looking at Fiona. “Of course she will. She’s a practical girl. When she gets her share of that thousand gold pieces, she’ll forget all about the fact that her friend is a priestess in a horribly transphobic religion.”

Kaylen whimpered, looking guilty.

“But how are we going to steal the recipe, boss?” Fiona asked. “We needed Riven for the plan.”

Andra halted suddenly and sighed. “Fuck.”

“Unbelievable,” Riven said to herself as she stomped down the street. “Unbelievable.”

This was all Kaylen’s fault. She was the one who had decided to become a priestess to a religion of transphobes. She had gotten everyone all excited on the train by sharing stories of how amazing Paradise was. She should have paused to consider the fact that one of her friends might be a trans woman. But, no, of course she had never thought of that. The fact that her religion that was supposed to protect women rejected a particularly vulnerable group of women had probably never even crossed her mind. She was too busy with moon-eyed romance of her shitty transphobic city and dreams Andra had fed her of the gold she would earn from this job. This was Andra’s fault too. Andra never thought about anything other than money and her popularity and she didn’t care who got hurt along the way. This was Fiona’s fault, too.

...Okay, she couldn’t really think of a reason why it was Fiona’s fault other than the fact that Fiona was hot and muscular and had abandoned her. And, yeah, Riven occasionally abandoned her allies too, but that was always for sex, never for money.

Eventually, Riven found herself growing tired and wandered into a tavern. It was a surprisingly classy place with a nicely finished floor and abstract designs painted on the walls. It was lit with blue light potions and there was a large aquarium in the center of the room. At the bar, Riven discovered that they had a cocktail menu and ordered something sweet and fruity, then settled at one of the tables and idly flipped through Magi-net.

“You look lonely,” said a low, soft voice.

She looked up to see a tall woman with long hair wearing a yellow sundress. With a whisper, Riven used magic to slide the table’s other chair out. The woman caught it and sat down across from her.

“Yeah, my friends left me behind at the station,” she explained. “I guess they don’t let trans women into the inner city.”

The woman nodded. “Thought that might be the case. You’re using an enchantment?”

Riven nodded back. “Yeah. How’d you know I was trans?”

The woman laughed. “Well, you came here, didn’t you?”

Riven looked around, confused. “What does this bar have to do with anything.”

The woman rolled her eyes. “Pretty much everyone who comes to this bar is trans.”

Riven looked around again, this time examining the other patrons for the first time. She hadn’t noticed before, but they were all women. Not exactly what Riven would have expected for the outer portion of Temple Station. She then looked back at the woman across from her and noticed several indicators that she was trans. She silently chastised herself for looking for them.

“Huh. That’s a coincidence. Do a lot of trans women live in Temple Station?”

“More than most cities, I would imagine,” the woman explained. “A lot of us come to Temple Station hoping to get into the inner city, and we end up staying here when we can’t.”

This didn’t make any sense to Riven. “Why would you stay somewhere where people hate you?”

The woman looked down at the table, tracing the wood grain with a finger. “I guess some of us do it in hopes that they’ll change their minds and let us in. Others do it to try to demonstrate to them that we’re harmless and we’re just like cis women. Still others are looking for a way to sneak into Paradise.”

“Seems like a waste of time to me.”

“Maybe, but I think it’s important to at least try to make the world better for other trans people.”

Riven took a sip of her drink. “You know, I think this is probably the most I’ve talked to another trans woman. I mean, I do know a trans guy, but it’s not the same. Plus, he’s an accountant, so we don’t exactly have a lot in common.”

“That sounds really hard.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Riven laughed. “You know, when I first transitioned, I still didn’t know trans people existed. I thought I was the first guy to use magic to turn into a girl. It was years before I found out there was a whole community who did the same thing.”

The woman laughed along with Riven. “A lot of us have stories just like that.”

“I’d love to hear them.”

The woman stood. “In that case, let’s get you another drink and introduce you to some people.”

Riven stood with her, finishing off her drink. “Why don’t we start with you?”

“Oh yeah, I’m Emily.”

“I’m Riven.”

Andra, Kaylen, and Fiona sat in a cafe across the street from a temple where people were gathering. It was one of dozens like it, all curving structure and statues of important priestesses. Andra sipped at her lemonade as she tried to come up with a plan.

“I don’t see why I can’t just sneak in,” Andra said.

“Sneak in how?” Kaylen replied. “There’s a huge crowd.”

“If I walk briskly, everyone will assume that I have business there.”

Kaylen gripped the table in frustration. “Okay, say that does work, what then? You just wander around until you find where they keep the potion?”

Andra shrugged. “I’ll just ask someone. If I act confident, they’ll assume I have the authority.”

“Is Riven going to be okay with us just getting the one hundred gold reward?” Fiona asked.

“She’s going to have to be okay with it because there’s no way we’re getting the recipe without her,” Andra said.

“Yeah, because our thief knows nothing about thievery,” Kaylen added.

“I know plenty about thievery, it’s just that…” Andra hesitated. “This city has really good security.

At that moment, soft woodwind music started coming from the temple. The crowd had parted to let a young woman climb the steps approaching the entrance where the priestess stood. Next to the priestess was an assistant of some kind holding a flask.

“Aww, look, they’re giving the potion to someone who wants to be a mom right now,” Kaylen said. “There’s a whole ritual that goes with this. It’s short, but I’ve always been fond of it.”

Andra stared at the ceremony.

“What if I just, like, run up there and grab it?” she asked.

In the evening, the group returned to the station just in time for their train, prize in hand. Or at least carefully stowed in Fiona’s pocket. Andra’s head turned this way and that. After snatching the potion, she had fled for several minutes before spending an hour hiding in a cordwainer’s shop, where she had been talked into purchasing a nice new belt. However, ever since then, she had been on the constant lookout for guards, afraid that she might be recognized and captured. The train represented safety, so Andra picked up her pace as she walked towards it.

“Wait, what about Riven?” Fiona asked.

Kaylen paused and looked around again, this time searching for her ally. “She knows what time the train leaves. But she couldn’t be on board because I have her ticket.”

At that moment Andra heard voices singing somewhere nearby. It was a pop song she recognized, but with the lyrics altered to be about the singer turning into a girl. From around a corner, Riven stepped onto the platform, flanked by two other women who were supporting her as they sung.

“Well, looks like you had fun,” said Andra as the women handed off Riven to Fiona.

“Did you get the recipe?” Riven slurred.

“No, we ended up stealing the potion instead,” Andra replied.

Riven laughed with a snort. “You’re a bad thief.”

Andra rolled her eyes. “I’m going to ignore that because you’re drunk.”

The group boarded the train and made their way to their compartment.

“Listen, Riven,” Kaylen said. “About what happened earlier…”

Riven waved a hand dismissively. “Forget about it. You didn’t know. And, yeah, your church is shitty to trans women, but it does a lot of good for other women, with all the charity programs and women’s shelters in different countries and having a whole big city that’s all women. I guess I can see why you look past that one oversight to work for them.”

As they opened the door to their compartment Fiona asked “Are we doing the same sleeping arrangements as before?”

“Yeah, that’s fine with me,” said Riven.

“Er, actually, technically if I knowingly share a bed with someone Sanguis considers a man, I’ll lose my powers,” Kaylen said, speaking quietly and quickly again.

Riven shot her a withering glare, causing her to flinch.

“I’ll just sleep on the floor.”

“Oh, does that mean I get her spot on the bed?” Fiona asked.

Riven turned her glare on Fiona, who also flinched.

“S-sorry, never mind.”

Back in Rampart City, the group triumphantly made their way through Maxim’s neighborhood back towards his house. Riven had promptly forgiven Kaylen the next morning when Kaylen had been able to heal her hangover, and the party was back to chatting cheerfully as they walked down the street.

“Hey, I haven’t seen the potion yet,” Riven said. “What does it look like?”

“Pretty normal,” Fiona replied, removing the flask from her pocket to show Riven. “Just kind of dark purple.”

At that moment, a ball came flying through the air, crashing into the flask which shattered instantly, spilling the potion all over Fiona’s sleeve and the ground. It was a stray ball, hit by two boys who were playing a game nearby where they hit a ball back and forth with paddles.

“Did that just happen?” asked Kaylen, stunned.