Gathering her energy she shot out a beam of Dawns Light. It was disc shaped and wobbly but it wasn’t the torrential flood of light she had done at her first (official) warehouse assignment. 

Satisfied, she wiped sweat off her brow. 

“You should really take a break,” Marcella said from the entrance. 

Keeya turned and saw Marcella waving a water bottle her way.

She was wearing her leather jacket and cut up black jeans with a faded black shirt.

Keeya was, as usual, in full costume. Something about the outfit made her feel whole. Looking at Marcella she wondered if that outfit was her magical outfit. 

Marcella, feeling equal parts impatient and playful, tossed the water bottle.

Keeya had to unsummon her staff quickly, which she did but almost lost the bottle to a battle of golden glitter. 

Marcella narrowed her eyes at all the left over light. 

“Seriously, you have a lot of juice don’t you.”

Keeya shrugged. 

“I guess so.”

Marcella laughed then summoned her own staff. 

“Well what now Golden Child?,” Marcella asked as she gathered her own power. Her thorny vines grew outward and rapidly closed the distance to the targets Keeya had set for her by the adults standing just on the edge of the room. 

That’s right, just outside the VIP training room stood several employees there to cater to her every whim, including target practice. 

Marcella didn’t like them and Keeya wondered if her unusually aggressive strikes were the manifestation of her inner thoughts. 

In addition to the new staff, Keeya also got a new bodyguard, which was very weird. In all her fantasies about being a magical kid she never envisioned this large muscular woman in a secret service suit silently following her around and driving her team to warehouse and tv interviews. 

Since they were in the VIP training room her bodyguard got to take a break and so did Keeya. Constantly being watched reminded Keeya too much of her childhood with her mom constantly checking for dawns light or snake bites with this panicked look on her face.

When Keeya had left the hospital and was sent home to recuperate, which was very difficult with a newborn in the house, the bodyguard had gone with her. 

She’d been surprisingly good with the baby. In fact, her brother would instantly stop crying when put into the the womans large arms. 

“Hola Miss Greenwood,” a now very familiar voice said from the entrance. 

Lusila Alba in all her glory was walking through the door in the wildest outfit Keeya could have imagined. She was dressed like a muscle bound tourist, with a “Bean There”

Chicago bean shirt, tucked into the most mom jeans that ever existed. 

Keeya pressed her lips together but couldn’t help a snort of laughter escaping.

“Hi, ma’am… um, what brings you here on your day off?” Keeya asked. 

Lusila held out a brown paper bag and grinned. 

“I was jogging your old neighborhood and saw your mom. Your dad forgot his lunch and she added some homemade candied oranges for you. Just a fair warning the car smells amazing now. Here ya go.”

Keeya took the bag but it was quickly snatched away by Marcella who opened it, sniffed deeply and then took one of the sugar coated orange slices.

“Hey! That’s mine!” Keeya protested. She reached for the bag but it was quickly snatched away again. Keeya attempted two more times and failed. 

Marcella, clearly enjoying herself continued to play “keep-away”. 

Lusila laughed and crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Glad you kiddos are having fun. Don’t ruin your appetite in candy though and go grab some real lunch. You have warehouse duty tomorrow be sure to also get some rest.”

Keeya grumbled.

“Didn’t realize my mom came in with you,” Keeya muttered under her breath.

“I heard that!” Lusila said and Keeya jolted.

The woman laughed heartily and gave Keeya what she probably thought was a gentle shove toward the door. 

Keeya skipped a bit to regain her footing and was quickly passed by Marcella waving the bag and taking another orange slice. 

“Hey!” Keeya protested and chased after her teammate. 

Keeya breathed out a sigh as she placed her lunch tray on the table. Her food platter, swiss meatballs, mashed potatoes and peas wafted a homely, savory smell. Her stomach growled. 

But she also had her prize! The now very crumpled bag of candied orange slices drooped next to her tray on the table. 

Marco sat across from her and smiled.

“Hiya! Been a few days since I’ve seen you, did you just get back?” 

“Oh please like you don’t know where I go fearless leader,” Keeya teased but then felt a wave of embarrassment rise up and blush her cheeks. 

“Ah anyway, yes I did get back not too long ago. The TV station is never far. I was hoping to get to go somewhere on a plane this time, I’ve never flown before.”

Marco made a sour face remembering something unpleasant 

“Trust me, flying isn’t all that great.”

Now Keeya was confused.

“But your outfit is a pilot right?”

“Oh yeah, guess I should explain better. Um, flying commercial sucks but I would like to be a helicopter pilot one day or maybe one of those propeller plane ones. My dad took me up once. Then, well stuff happened and we moved to the states so we could join this company and the flight here was terrible.”

Keeya listened fascinated to hear first hand experiences of the outside world from someone her age. At school they would learn world history but, like her, none of the kids left once the zones got put in place. Plus the world in her history textbooks seemed like another world entirely. Like what did kids do back then? Go to malls? Concerts? Movie theaters full of people? Insane. 

Then there was her mom who was in the Army since she graduated high school so she’d been deployed almost everywhere, but when Keeya would ask she always replied with boring stuff like what coffee places were the best or what old book stores she found. Actually, she did like the old book stores parts, those stores always had a cat in them. 

Marcella sat down quickly, interrupting Keeya’s thoughts about cats and gross coffee.

“Whatcha talking about?”

Marco shrugged.

“Just catching up and talking about our travels a bit.”

“Boring,” Marcella sighed. 

She placed a plastic bag that hung off her arm onto the table. 

Keeya looked at its contents curiously. 

It was a blue box of dried spaghetti noodles. 

Before Keeya could ask, Marcella ceremoniously opened the box; held a stack of dried noodles between her hands then snapped them in half before muttering either a prayer or a curse. 

Keeya looked at Marco who calmly ate his sandwich and fries. 

“Um, what was that about?” Keeya finally asked. 

“Just cursing my Nona, just ‘cus she’s dead doesn’t mean I can’t make her turn in the family grave,” Marcella replied with a wicked smile. 

“Cursing that old grandma of yours again?” Joy said coming up and sitting beside Keeya.

Keeya almost squealed but then cleared her throat to play it cool. 

“Hi Joy,” Keeya said and she felt her voice sounded too squeaky and internally screamed. 

Joy was definitely the coolest member of the team. She was patient and calm as the moon, always knowing what to do and handling every situation they came across for the short time they had been a team. 

Marco frowned and turned away. 

There was a commotion next to the entrance and he waved his hands to get everyones attention.

“Hey look.”

The team looked over to see a group of adults in fancy suits walking excitedly to the elevator. Keeya recognized the CEO right away. He was looking forward with a huge smile on his face.

“Looks like someone is in a good mood,” Marco said with a smirk. 

Keeya snapped her fingers remembering something.

“Hey on our way out of an interview recently I overheard Mr. Wilson talk about getting the city cleared out by the end of the year.”

Marcella groaned and even Joy winced a bit.

“That seems a bit extreme,” Joy added but then shrugged as if accepting it and started eating her own sandwich.

Marco however seemed deep in thought. He had one hand over his mouth and his forehead wrinkled. 

“What is it Marco?” Keeya asked.

“I was just remembering that the next warehouse we are assigned to is a bit odd.”

“Please don’t tell me we have to clear out a whole subdivision in addition to the warehouse.” Marcella said around a mouthful of food.

“I feel like even that much would be too much for us, except for our girl Keeya maybe,” Joy added and gave Keeya a playful wink.

Keeya tried her best not to smile like a fool and wasn’t sure if she succeeded or not.

Joy chuckled.

Apparently Keeya had not succeeded then.

“So, Marco, what is this odd detail you’re thinking so hard about?” Joy asked before taking another bite of her sandwich.

Marco shoved his sandwich and fries to the opposite sides of his plate. He then took a particularly large fry and a short, stubby one and placed them next to each other. 

“Well the warehouse itself is nothing special. It is really deep in the Petrification zone and hasn’t been properly cleared out in almost a year. 

Joy whistled a “wow” type tune.

“Yeah, it’s got to be brimming with all the snakes they caught in the early days. But I was talking to the other Zookeepers assigned to the areas nearby and they’ve noticed something strange.”

Keeya leaned forward her eyes sparkling.

“Strange as in big snakes?”

Marco shook his head. 

“No, strange as in none. Like there are several empty pockets where drones had sighted clusters of snakes. Like someone or something is taking them out before the Zookeepers can get there.” 

He pointed to the short french fry next to the larger one. 

“The warehouse we are going to just reported such a case. A lot of snakes in the area then suddenly nothing. I think we should go check it out. So you guys up for a bit of sneaky trouble? Who knows what we will find”

Keeya sat back in her chair, thinking. 

“Sounds like a Magical Kid is in the area taking them out.” 

The team chuckled. 

“No way would a new magical kid be able to stay hidden for long or survive the inner later of the Petrification Zone.” Marcella said sounding rather serious. 

Keeya had her doubts but she did only clear out a warehouse before running to tell the world. 

What kid would want to hide it?