Rising Shards

On a quiet Friday afternoon, I was cleaning the apartment a bit as Zeta was in the middle of a yapping session. I was half listening, finding Zeta chatter to be pleasant white noise while I was doing housework. Evy was still at school and would be home in a few.

"I told her I don't get it," Zeta said. "But Kalei made me sign up for this fantasy mat ball app anyways."

"Uh huh," I said, adjusting the layout of the kitchen table.

"How do they score these things? Like who the frick tracks all these points? She bet me five bucks I wouldn't even do this, so I had to, but now she wants to bet twenty bucks on who wins this season! Kalei doesn't even like mat ball that much! If it was fantasy beam chasers I'd get it. The only fantasy I really like is fantasy like Tower of Hate and Love, or of course Raina Starlight's fantastamoir books."

My phone started ringing. I thought it was Evy calling to ask about dinner or something, but it was a number I didn't recognize.

"One second, Zeta," I said, answering the call. "Hello?"

"Is this Stella?"

It took me a second to recognize the voice, but when I did I felt like a burst of wind blasted through the kitchen, forcing me to sit down. "Y-yes! Hi, Miss Emeryn!"

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Emeryn asked. She sounded much the same as she always did, maybe a bit aged. I hadn't spoken with her in years.

"Yes, it has," I said.

"Are you still at the apartment in Litus Empririca?" Emeryn asked. "I'd like to meet and discuss some recent developments."

"Oh, no, we moved," I said. "I can get you my address..."

Anxiety started brewing in me like water boiling. I nearly knocked everything on the counter over trying to find a pen and a notepad before I realized writing the address down wouldn't help her at all.

"Terrific, are you free right now?" Emeryn said once I told her the new address.

"Right now?" I said.

"Yes, I have some free time today, and am tracking my clients, so..."

"Today as in today today?" I said. "Sorry, that's stupid. Yes, it would be fine. It's fine, just...!"

"It's alright, Stella," Emeryn said. "We're just trying to be prepared after some recent events."

"R-right," I said.

"I can be there in about an hour," Emeryn said.

"An hour? Got it!" I clanged through the cupboard. "Gosh, do you want tea? Coffee? I can have it ready by the time you get here!"

I felt embarrassed and terrified by the time Emeryn hung up the phone. I sighed deeply. Zeta sheepishly approached, which made sense, my franticness was pretty obvious.

"Is someone coming over?"

"Yes, I'm not sure if you remember her, it's been a bit," I said.

My Friday afternoon tidying turned into a sudden "how much cleaning can I get done in an hour" rampage. Emeryn had never had any critiques about the quality of my home before, but I always feared a messy house would spell trouble for us.

Emeryn was someone who I was eternally grateful to. If it wasn't for her, Zeta probably would have been taken from me.

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