Lexie's birthday began with a blast. Literally.

She woke up to a loud bang in her room, and when she jumped out of bed, Xena, Dewie, and Jace screamed, "Happy birthday!"

"Get up," Xena said. "Time for your big, beautiful birthday blast."

"Ow." Lexie rubbed her ears, sure they'd burst out at least one of her eardrums. "Did it have to be so loud?"

"Sorry," Jace, whose finger was still pointed in the air, responded. "Xena insisted that we had to make it as loud as possible. I tried to fight back, but she's really bossy."

When Lexie frowned at Xena, the other girl grinned and said, "That was punishment for forgetting it was your birthday. Now come on, get dressed. We convinced Gertrude to make you a special birthday breakfast."

"How?"

"I have my ways. And your dad helped."

"My dad?"

"Yeah. You're meeting him later today, right?"

Lexie nodded. She'd gotten an exeat for the afternoon so she could spend it with her father. She was happy to see him for the first time in a long time and excited to spend time with him.

"Okay, now let's get going." Xena clapped. "Lots to do today. Let's hustle people."

Lexie yawned and stretched, then headed to the shower, her friends following behind her into the living room. She caught sight of Ava, who was on the couch studying. The girl had headphones on and she was staring at her book.

Lexie almost asked her if she wanted to join them for breakfast, but decided against it. Avan had never given any indication of wanting to spend time with them. She avoided practically everyone at school, so at least Lexie was comforted that they weren't the only ones the other girl hated.

Sometimes Lexie was tempted to ask why and dig a little deeper into Ava's animosity, but truly, she had too many things already to worry about to take anything else on her caseload.

For example, the fact that her best friends not only had them make an elaborate breakfast feast just for her, but they also stood around her and sang 'Happy Birthday' so loudly that it drew the attention of nearly everyone in the cafeteria.

At several points during that, Lexie wanted the ground to open up and swallow her.

Usually, she liked to keep her birthday low-key because of her past, and she wasn't used to all this attention from strangers. But she told herself it wasn't so bad. As embarrassed as she was by the display, she didn't want to put a stop to everyone's fun. Dewie was smiling genuinely for the first time in days, especially when he told her about how he's getting a cake delivered from a famous bakery in Capital City called Donut Town. As if that wasn't monumental enough, he also got her VIP tickets to the first return AFC match that would be held a few days after winter break started.

Lexie gaped at him for seconds when he sent it over, unable to believe what her inventory showed her.

"Are you serious, Dewie?" she asked.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Did I do good?"

Rather than answer, she gave him a big hug right there in front of everyone. "You are seriously the best friend ever!"

"Hey!" Xena protested.

"You too, Zee. But Dewie's on the leaderboard because he didn't wake me up with an IED."

Xena crossed her arms and huffed. "You just wait until you see what I've got for you. We'll see whose on the leaderboard then."

Xena had class after breakfast and told Lexie to come over to her room at noon.

Lexie went over to find that Xena's room had turned into a mini boutique, with racks of clothes lining the sides of her bed.

Lexie gaped. "What the heck is this?"

"Your new wardrobe," Xena winked. "Don't worry. It's not leather. It's mostly comfortable clothes, but there are a few dresses and stuff in there too, because I was tired of seeing you in just sweats and joggers all the time."

Lexie choked out a gasp, still unable to wrap her head around it. "Just how much did all this cost?"

"Not nearly enough. Didn't even cost a quarter of my monthly allowance. You'd be surprised how much the Lightlark family gives me for simply existing." She shrugged. "The only people I have to spend it on are you, Dewie, and my mom. And occasionally the orphanage, although that's a little complicated. Dewie's already rich, and Mom made me stop buying her things after I got her this expensive dress that made her cry. So it's just you left."

Lexie could understand how Emma felt. Seeing all this was so overwhelming that she felt close to tears herself. It was the effort that got to her.

Lexie wasn't typically a fashion-loving girl, but it was clear that Xena had personally picked out stuff to match her coloring, her comfort level, and wouldn't make her look shorter than she already was. Plus, everything looked exactly her size. Lexie tried on the clothes, and most of them fit perfectly. How did Xena even manage that?

They looked good, too. Most fitted clothes didn't look right on Lexie's small frame, but somehow she didn't look like a tiny scarecrow in the clothes.

Xena was a lot more excited about it than Lexie was, but Lexie strutted down the proverbial runway and modeled for her anyway. Dewie joined them when he got out of class and became her arm candy for the strut, and also gave his professional opinion on which of the outfits made Lexie look like she was a six-year-old and which ones made her look six feet tall.

Once they were done, she thanked Xena sincerely and told her that she was now tied again with Dewie on the leaderboard, which led to a three-way argument about who was really ahead.

Lexie was surprised that it wasn't just her friends who wished her a happy birthday. Once news spread around, which it had to, after Xena, Dewie, and Jace made a whole scene in the cafeteria, some of their other classmates came to wish her a happy birthday too.

Some of it was probably to get on Xena's good side. But also, as it turned out, not everyone in her year hated Lexie. Some of them told her that they'd wanted to talk to her, but she seemed unapproachable before, which was interesting because Lexie felt like she looked too approachable sometimes.

She also got birthday messages from Anais, Torin, and even Stein. And that was just the people on campus. Conrad, Boris, Jan, Cara, Lane, and Shadow, of all people, sent her birthday messages, and so did Emma, Frank, Luke, Abernathy, and Rose.

Getting so many heartfelt messages made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

The lack of a message from her Uncle Max was the only thing that dimmed her day. She wondered how he was doing. Probably not good, but she diverted the thought before guilt ate her alive.

Later that morning, she had her first long-range combat session with Hal Yu, a short man dressed like a monk. He made them shoot arrows for some time, and blow guns, working on their accuracy and their stance.

It was the only class, apart from general combat, that she shared with Xena, and once it was done, they walked back to her room together.

"Oh, by the way," she said. "You're attending that end-of-the-semester elemental party with me. I'm not taking no for an answer."

"If you insist. When is that, by the way?"

"At the end of the semester. Thought that was self-explanatory."

Lexie rolled her eyes, and Xena smirked. "I meant what day, smartass?"

"It's a few days before we go home for the break. By the way, Emma's going to pick me up when we vacate, and I'm assuming your dad's picking you up. Are you riding with us?"

"Um…actually, I'm not going back to Hovelton for now."

Xena stopped. "What? Why?"

"It's a long story, but essentially, Torin's mom was my mom's best friend, and they want me to spend the holiday with them. My dad's trying to make peace with her, so he allowed it." Of course, that was the story they were going with for now.

Xena looked crestfallen. "Aww. I was hoping we'd actually get to hang out more this winter."

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"Why? You gonna miss me that much?"

"Shut up," Xena said, and Lexie laughed even though she was also bummed out about not getting to spend her winter with Xena and co. It was just the price she had to pay for safety.

Dewie's cake arrived that afternoon, and it was pink and purple, like Lexie's card magic, with an image of Lexie smiling on it.

"How did you even get this picture?" Lexie asked.

"That's a secret," Dewie said, and he and Jace shared evil grins.

"Thank you guys," she told them, a little teary-eyed. "Really. I'm so lucky to have such awesome friends like you."

"Well," Xena bumped her shoulder. "You're pretty awesome, too."

After Lexie managed not to cry, they ate cake and talked. Then, when her friends left, she finally received the alert that her approved exeat had begun.

As she got ready for her dad's arrival, she spent an inordinate amount of time thinking of the gun Uncle Max had given her for her last birthday. She experienced a surge of sadness, and her scooping exercises taught her that it was the human kind, not the Eldritch kind, although there were tinges of Eldritch thought that demanded retribution toward the dungeon that had taken her uncle.

She was also starting to feel restless and impatient, and every time she thought about him, she felt guilty for putting off his rescue. Logically, she knew why she needed to. Her father didn't think she was ready yet, and neither was he. At the back of her mind, she thought maybe he planned on doing this without her. He rarely spoke about his plans to rescue Max with her, and he didn't give her specifics on where he was with his training, only giving vague answers. It was like he didn't want her involved in whatever he was doing.

But Lexie refused to just sit still while her father risked his life. If he was going, she was going to go too.

She needed to be stronger. She would meet with Naem tonight and continue with her Eldritch lessons. She didn't have time to slack. She had to learn how to use and control her Eldritch so that she could go rescue her Uncle Max. That was all.

***

Lexie's father met her outside the gates, in a coat and a long-sleeved shirt that completely covered his bands. Emma was right. He had lost weight, and he looked a little disheveled, with dark circles surrounding his eyes.

His face, however, transformed with a bright smile the minute he saw her.

"Happy Birthday, honey–oof!" His words cut off because Lexie basically suplexed him in his midsection and squeezed tight. She inhaled that familiar scent of cinnamon and spices, savored the warmth of his arms as they wrapped around her.

"I missed you so much," she whispered, voice thick with tears.

He bent over to brush a kiss on her head. "I missed you, too."

"You two are blocking the gate from closing," Biufur said, but he had a smile when he said it.

"Sorry," Lexie said, scooting over to the side with her dad, while still hugging him.

Biufur flashed shiny teeth at them and shut the gate as Lexie and her dad both entered the trolley.

As they sat, Aiden put his hand around her shoulder and tucked her against his side. "How are you, honeybee? I've missed you so much."

"I'm good," Lexie responded. "I think I'm getting better at identifying when the other side of me influences my thoughts. Like it feels different." Thanks to the scooping exercises, she was starting to get a feel of what Eldritch particles felt like.

"Good," he said. "And the rest of the school? Is anyone still picking on you?"

Her thoughts flashed to Veronica again, and she said, "Not really."

"And Veronica?"

"I don't think she's told anyone yet. I haven't been summoned up for it, so I'm not sure what's up with that."

"Maybe she believed you."

"Maybe." She paused and asked again, "Are you sure no one else can see my soul, how it is?"

"Very sure."

"You said you called a necromancer the first time I passed out?"

"Yes. Yves." He smiled fondly. "He's relocated permanently to District 3 now, and he knew enough to tell us you had a soul injury, but even as talented as he is, he didn't know how to fix it. Only he did."

The last 'he' referred to Naem. Lexie wondered if Naem had gotten the technique from his brother Neqal. After all, he was the one who'd been interested in splicing DNA with humans.

When they finally touched down in Capital City and got off the trolley, Aiden could speak freely again. He said he didn't think there was active surveillance on the trolley, but they'd spoken in code just in case.

"No one, not even the world's most skilled necromancers, should be able to tell that there is anything wrong with your soul apart from the typical changes after a soul has had an injury," he told Leixe. "They certainly shouldn't be able to detect the Eldritch in you."

"What if it becomes bigger?" she asked. "Would they be able to tell them?

"No," he said. "Not unless it becomes fully Eldritch. Before then, your soul is too peculiar, and it doesn't have the typical Eldritch signature. Once again, they might be able to tell that your soul did suffer some changes, which can be blamed on the injury. But another Eldritch would know something was amiss. "

"Okay. Good to know." Lexie took a deep breath.

Capital City was a vibrant place, not as colorful as Arcadia but far more sophisticated and technologically advanced, with tall buildings made of glass that touched the sky.

One of them happened to be a World Library, a place with just about every hardcover book imaginable that could be rented using a scholar's ID.

That was the first stop of the afternoon, and Lexie eagerly followed her father around as they explored and looked at books to buy. Some of them were very ancient and basically copies of antiques. There was also Fae text in the Fable section, and Lexie used her scholar ID to pick up a few of them that might help her understand the species. There was almost nothing on the Eldritch here, though, and what little there was was restricted access to high-level necromancy scholars.

Once they were done, Aiden took Lexie to a theme park, telling her that she'd always wanted to come here and go on rides when she was younger and they lived in Capital City, but she was too fragile, and they were concerned her heart couldn't take the excitement.

"This was your mother's favorite thing to do when she came from District 8 as a young girl," Aiden said as they walked through the gates, observing the twisted carousel with horses that rode up to fifteen feet in the air. "Her childhood had been deprived of much of this normalcy and fun, so when she got here, it was all she wanted to indulge in."

"How did she get here?" Lexie asked. "How did she go from being a child assassin to a soldier?"

"She was part of a special exchange program for captured and liberated District 8 child soldiers who consented to our reeducation program. Lara showed exceptional progress in forsaking her former beliefs and teaching, and at some point, they decided she was okay to rejoin society. Of course, with her combat skills and her physical ranking once she awakened, it was easy for her to join the war academy. She excelled there, too, but in her final year, right before graduating, she was expelled for insubordination."

"What did she do?

"She killed her superior officer."

At Lexie's gasp, Aiden rushed to clarify. "It was mostly an accident. The man was a tyrant and a bully, and he'd tormented a friend of hers for some time, but his family was extremely well-connected, so he never got into too much trouble for it. The war academy is like the hero academy, but worse. And it's longer too, because you only get out when you're an adult. She'd spent all those years and gone through so much for nothing."

"I mean... a guy died."

"He deserved to die," her father said heatedly. "She caught him attacking someone, and he wouldn't stop until he was dead."

"In that case, I get it," Lexie said. Her father must have hated this man for him to still hold such animosity till this point. "She only got expelled for killing someone? I thought there would be more punishment."

"Well, they tried to send her to Viejo, too, and the officer's family was practically pushing for an execution. The only reason she didn't go was because of me and Vacek."

"Why would Vacek help her?"

"Because it was the right thing to do. She'd reported the officer's abusive nature several times, but nothing was done about it. The girl wasn't a soldier or a [hero], and she didn't have a powerful family to protect her, so she was a perfect pawn. Your mother took a choice she felt only she could take, and she was willing to sacrifice her future for it. Vacek admired that, and he also selfishly had a lot of use for her skill and ruthlessness." Aiden smiled. "Funny how everything worked out in the end."

"How?"

"The girl the officer tormented, whose life your mother saved, was Cecilia Horan." He reached over and tucked Lexie's hair behind her ear. "And Cecilia Horan is the reason you're alive, Lexie."

Lexie beamed at him. She'd initially been conflicted about what had happened to her soul after she died in Earth 2, but despite her struggles with being part Eldritch, she much preferred it to the alternative of being dead. After all, if she were dead, she wouldn't have had such an amazing birthday, with great friends and her incredible dad.

Thank you, Cecilia, she thought. Wherever you are, I hope you're having a good day.

"Is that why Mom took Vacek's side over Stella's?" she asked.

"That was part of it, but also, I think your mother truly believed in his cause. She and Vacek wanted the same thing: a world where [heroes] served the people, and the powerful protected the weak. To achieve this goal, she often worked in the shadows for him, apart from her typical mercenary delving work."

"Max introduced her to delving?" Lexie guessed.

"Yeah." At the mention of Max's name, sadness touched the atmosphere, and they both got melancholic. Lexie was about to ask when they could go looking for Max again, but Aiden would probably give her the same answers he gave her every time she asked. They weren't ready.

She didn't want to argue or be sad today, so she simply pointed to a roller coaster and said, "Let's get on that one."

He smiled. "Let's."

Lexie had never really been one for roller coasters, but she enjoyed all the ones she tried today, mostly because of her father's reactions. Aiden had a thing against speed because when it went too fast, he turned positively green.

Lexie was sad when the day came to an end and she had to return to school. She cried when she gave her father a final hug.

But that wasn't the end of her birthday bash.

That evening, Xena had organized a mini feast in her room and invited all the well-wishers to sing another happy birthday song, while they videocalled Frank and everyone from Hovelton at the same time.

This time, as they sang, Lexie really did cry like a baby.

Later, after she fell asleep, she met with Naem in her dream and told him, "Do you know what today is, Naem?"

"Yes. It is the day you were extracted from your mother's flesh."

Lexie made a face at the description. "You can just say birthday."

"That's what I said. It's customary for me to give you a present, is it not?"

"No, it's fine. I didn't give you anything on your birthday."

"You were not there when I was born."

"I know, Naem, it was a joke." She sighed. "Sometimes you're quick on the uptake, and other times I have to explain things to you. By the way, at what point in this training do I start being able to talk to dungeons?"

"When you reach a certain of understanding of Eldritch," he said. "Does that mean you're ready to continue training?"

Lexie exhaled deeply and nodded. "Yes. I'm ready."

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