I burst open the door and start running up the stairs. I must get to the top floor before something happens…

Everyone else is currently on different missions when the message came from Ambrose: “she is here, in need of assistance”. Ambrose is extremely cocky and quite arrogant despite his ranking, so this input made everyone at the institution on edge. He is not one to ask for help because “others will ruin his fun”. It can only mean one thing… but this is the first appearance she has made in a year. 

I had finished my mission early and started to undress from my uniform when the message was received.

“Eileen report to the dispatch center” a voice booms over the intercoms in my quarters. I redress and head there while rolling my eyes. Everyone is on a mission, so who is the one so incapable they require my help I scoff as I think of the powerless person making me work overtime. 

As I approach the dispatch center, I notice that the car is already waiting with an address plugged in. Wow this might actually be bad, I wonder what the great rush could be. Maybe its… Before I finish my thought, a voice in the car speaker begins to speak in monotone, “Eileen, she has finally made an appearance.” The cold speaker is one of the organizers who are only second to the head of the institution and only get involved in the most important missions. 

“Aurora” I whisper under my breath. Just thinking about that treacherous traitor brings my blood to boil, but I must cool myself or burst the driving car in flames.

“That is correct. She seems to have approached Ambrose tonight. You must get to Ambrose and help bring her in. We would prefer her alive, but a corpse will do. He was last reporting on the 12^th floor, I am sure you will easily find his location from there.” Yeah, follow the smell of roses. The car stops and I enter the building and begin up the stairs.

As I am climbing my way to the top floor, I can’t stop thinking about Aurora. She was once one of six members the institution had found. The six of us all had some kind of special ability, and the institution ranked us so we would strive to become better and on top. Rank one would get the special treatment and slowly declined from there. Always ranked one was Aurora; followed by me, Colbee, Ombra, Ambrose, and Morgan. Although the lower three’s order changed a few times, this was our ranks almost all the time. It really pissed me off… constantly coming in second place.

On top of always being ranked one, no one could actually guess her special ability either. I can create and control fire, Colbee has swords for arms, Ombra can command and move through shadows, Ambrose can control plants growth, and Morgan can direct water. These abilities were hard to hide when sparring against each other or going on missions; however, Aurora we just could never figure out. In fact, there are only three people to know her ability other than herself: the head of institution, the ability trainer whom she killed, and her sister. Ugh, everything about her makes me so infuriated! I’ll show that immoral deserter she never should have shown herself to us. How dare she make an enemy of the institution!

I finally reach the 12^th floor and followed the scent of roses, Ambrose’s favorite plant to manipulate. It takes two lefts down long corridors before I start to come across vines and vines of roses with prickly, overgrown thorns. I am getting close. My heat begins to rise, and I have a fiery fist at the ready. If Ambrose and I are to really take in Aurora dead or alive I must be ready for a gruesome fight. Although he is a nuisance, he would not let himself die so easily, right?  The institution always thought she was stronger than us and still does. If they could have, I’m sure they would have sent the remaining four to attack her, but I was the only one available. I can’t assume she has let herself grow weak despite taking so long to face any of us, but these past years I have been training and pushing myself to become the strongest. I will take her down and she will regret defecting.

I take the next right with the vines now leading me and as I make this quick turn, I see a horrific scene on the opposite side of the hall. There is a black-clad figure with its back turned to me one arm at its side and the other in front of her and beyond my view. The figure has long black hair that sways from the wind coming from several open windows. No question about it, this is Aurora. But the sight of Aurora isn’t what makes this scene so disturbing. It is the figure at her feet who has red stains and slashes upon his once yellow clothes, and a missing head. Although I have no face to identify this figure, I can tell from the uniform it is Ambrose and that it is his blood that is splattered all among the walls and floor. The way she is holding what’s in her hand, she must be admiring its handy work. It is obvious he put up a great fight. 

This makes the fire in fist grow larger and the black figure drops Ambrose’s head on his body. His perfectly tamed green hair has become a rugged mess, and his dark green eyes are staring at me, still open. It’s like he is screaming out in pain and anger. If I had only gotten there seconds sooner maybe it would not have ended like this. Aurora quickly turns to face me. Blood is splattered on her face and if she was not wearing black, she’d likely be blood stained as well, but there is not a single scratch on her. She smiles at me turning her lavender eyes into crescents and softly says, “I was not expecting you to show up.”

“You…” my anger is overwhelming. Not only is she actually here but she has murdered one of my colleagues. I set the vines ablaze to block the hallway behind her and behind me. My fire grows to block the windows as well. She is trapped and at my mercy. “You will pay for what you’ve done,” I rush toward her with a sword of fire. A technique I mastered after she left the institution. It is powerful and she in unfamiliar with it and will give me the upper hand.

“Mmmm, I really don’t feel like fighting you today.”

I deliver my attack perfectly. The flame sword is simply the shape the fire takes. The real power of flame sword is that the concentration of flames is so great it can boil heavy metals like gold in an instant and due to the heat, the attack is done extremely fast. Aurora cannot survive this attack, but when I look up, I find that Aurora is not ingulfed in flames but has vanished.

“I’ll see you when the time is right. Take care until then,” she gently whispers in my ear from behind my back. When I turn around, she is gone. 

Goddamn it! She avoided my attack, fine she’s always been faster than me. But how could she escape when the flames blocked every way out? Unless she walked through and is willing to bare burns, how? I retract all the flames, so the building doesn’t burn to a crisp and call for cleanup to come take care of the mess. Clean-up will clear the remaining vines, clean the blood and scorch marks, and clear the body. They basically make it seem like we were never there. It would worry the public population if they knew we were at war. To make matters worse there is a rebellious group lead by Aurora herself named by the institution as Insurgence. I’m not sure how she managed to become their commander after leaving, but she has always had a certain charm about her. She just made you feel safe, but as an enemy she brought up the worst fear imaginable. 

I get back into the car and start driving back to the institution. “Events seem to not have gone our way” the cold voice from before speaks through the stereo. 

“No. Ambrose was dead upon my arrival.”

“And Aurora?”

“It seems she has also improved her abilities,” I say a little scornfully. I still can’t believe that little deserter can keep improving without the institution’s backing. And that fool Ambrose. I bet he tried fighting her on his own until he realized he couldn’t then sent the message. Whether I like him or not, his death means revenge is in order. The cold, sorry look in his eyes almost make me pity him. 

“As we suspected. Upon return, please file your findings and synopsis pertaining to Aurora. We must exercise caution now that she has taken one of you down. Her end goal is likely to dispose of the others from the six.”

I shower and put on sleeping clothes before sitting at my desk. As ordered, I immediately begin writing every detail about Aurora. Ambrose’s encounter would have been more beneficial, but what I know is all we have to go on. I only saw her a few minutes, but everything was recorded in detail. Its strange to think about how she has changed so much and yet she really hasn’t. I then start thinking about what we were like as kids.