No characters (both humans and non-humans) are below the age of consent.
Also, this is one of the more story-focused chapters.
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Zara didn't believe her eyes at first when she noticed the girl in the park.
The girl was sitting in a wheelchair, completely motionless. Her wavy, white blonde hair was so long it almost reached her hips. She was dressed in a gothic outfit: a Victorian-style black dress, black lace choker, nails and lips were black as well. Even her custom wheelchair had some gothic aesthetics with some delicate iron filigree designs.
"Um... ugh... hello," Zara gestured as she approached the girl, "Do you need some help? Or waiting for somebody?"
"Nah, I just wait for my fucking mentor to start the course," the girl said, although her mouth didn't move, just like the rest of her body.
"What..."
"I'm behind you," Zara heard a voice.
She turned around to see the spitting image of the girl in the wheelchair as if she were her twin. But something was off about her. She looked almost translucent.
"Oh! I am sorry. You must be her sister, I guess," Zara said.
"No, this, useless pile of flesh is not my sister, it's me," the girl replied and she became semi-seethrough.
"What the...?" Zara gasped.
"You have to let me go," the girl said as she began to elevate toward the sky, "The crash was ten years ago, it wasn't your fault."
"What the fuck?!" was all that Zara could say as the girl disappeared.
Suddenly, she heard screaming. The girl became visible once again and she fell to the ground and began to sink into it.
"They are going to send me to Hell! The Flying Spaghetti Monster is the true religion! Spread the word to the world!" she yelled as she sank into the ground.
Zara stayed there with her thoughts and the wheelchair-bound girl.
Then the silence was interrupted by a loud giggle as the semi-translucent girl floated out from the ground.
"Sorry, I couldn't help myself," she chuckled, "Keller Faulkner," she stuck out her see-through hand.
Zara tried to shake it but her fingers went through it.
"Sorry, you can't touch me because I'm just an astral projection, thanks to my Astral Al augmentation. But you can shake my real hand over there," she pointed at her body in the wheelchair.
"Ah!" Zara responded, "How does this work actually?"
"My body? It doesn't work. That's why I got this augmentation. I would be trapped in my body without it," Keller explained.
"I meant your powers," Zara corrected.
"Nothing special. I can create a projection to leave my body behind, although I can't go too far, otherwise, my power turns off and I'll wake up in my useless body again. Oh, I almost forgot, I can do this," Keller floated to her body and her astral hand touched her real hand as if trying to pull it in, like clothes. Suddenly, her real fingers began to twitch slightly.
"I can provide a small mobility for my body by "possessing" it, but I can't really use it in a fight, it is just only good for helping to exercise so my muscles won't rot on me. I can also move other objects if I really want it."
"Good morning, pupils," Aritimi appeared near them, "Are you ready?"
"What unit are we going to visit?" Keller's ghostly form asked.
"It's going to be special, just like you," Aritimi winked.
"Please, don't make me laugh," Keller said, "Seriously, I can get a heart attack from it."
"Just follow me," Aritimi began to walk toward the HQ behind them.
"You're not going to open a portal?" Zara asked.
"We don't need it now," she replied as she took the stairs.
"Wait. At least open a portal for Keller," Zara protested as she followed Aritimi up the stairs.
"No need for it," she pointed at Keller in the chair.
The chair began to move, seemingly on its own. As it reached the metal railing, the chair, with the immobile Keller sitting in it, jumped into the air and landed on the top of the railing with one wheel and began rolling until the end where it jumped off to land beside Zara. It was like a weird skateboard trick just with a wheelchair.
"Where are we going?" Zara asked as they went deeper inside the HSA's HQ. People were turning heads. After all, one of the top hunters was walking across the place with a tomboy and a wheelchair-bound goth girl.
Half an hour later.
"Just admit it, you have no idea where we have to go," Zara snickered.
"I... know it. I just rarely had to come here. That's all," Aritimi replied frustratedly.
At last, they found themselves at a huge double door with a woman waiting for them.
"Finally, I thought you got lost, Timi," the woman greeted them with a stern look.
"Sorry, but this place is huge," she shrugged, "Pupils, she is Gretchen Elsher. The Master Scholar of the Lorekeepers."
"Hi, girls. Our job is to protect the HSA's knowledge for the future generations of monster hunters," Gretchen introduced her unit.
She looked like a typical librarian. Glasses, neat bun, a stern look that said she'd shush anyone at a moment's notice. She wore a white button-up shirt, all buttons in their place, leaving no visible cleavage. A tight grey skirt that stopped around her knees. Black semi-see-through stockings with a matching pair of black high heels.
From all of Aritimi's friends Zara has seen so far, Gretchen must be the oldest because her hair was completely grey. She had a few wrinkles but otherwise, she didn't look bad. If her hair had died, she could have looked years, maybe decades younger. She had a nice hourglass shape, accentuated by her tight uniform.
"Your other pupils, led by that Japanese girl, managed to find me within ten minutes yesterday," Gretchen teased.
"I could probably have done the same if I was allowed to open portals inside the building. It is sometimes hard to locate things when I only approach them on foot."
"Enough of your excuses. Let's go and do what you came for," Gretchen gestured toward the door.
