The first time I saw Tanya Degurechaff was during the hot summer of my internship with Doctor Schugel. I was working on the Elinium Arms testing grounds for several weeks before anything really caught my interest there. The truth is, I wanted to leave. Physics and engineering weren't my largest points of interest - I was more of a biology kind of girl.

But the Empire didn't need biologists in its time of war.

The doctor was a unique, ingenuous, albeit crazy man, and all of his researchers feared him at least a little. As for me, being his intern meant standing by is side and looking on as he designed irrational, destructive time bombs that had little to no chance of being successful. Often times they would blow up or send glass and metal flying through the air, to which he would consult his calculations for troubleshooting purposes, and I would consult the medic for a few new stitches.

I was seriously considering writing to one of the superiors of the war research cause and begging for a transfer, until something happened that caused me to rethink my entire situation. Then I figured...maybe I could stay a bit longer.

It was a mildly breezy day. The cool air blowing in from the North helped to lessen the harsh sting of the sun. I walked outside, a few paces behind the doctor, holding a small gray box in my hands. I'll admit I was a little afraid to be holding it, knowing that what was inside was the very object that had caused me and the other researchers so many injuries. Really, I couldn't believe we were field testing it already. Schugel was sure it would work this time, but given the lab trials we'd already conducted...the likelihood of that was slim to none.

Waiting for us in the middle of the concrete take-off zone was, to my shock, a girl my age.

My initial thought was that she couldn't possibly have anything to do with this disaster of a project, but her insulated jumpsuit was suggesting otherwise.

"You really think this is gonna work?" She raised an eyebrow at the doctor. "It's not going to explode on me, is it?"

He shook his head, a mad grin spreading across his face. Even after all this time, it still gave me chills to see that expression. "Of course it's going to work. Have faith in my creations, lieutenant."

This girl was a lieutenant? But she was a kid, just like me. Did she really know how to fire a rifle? To kill?

She shrugged her shoulders. "Alright, well, please give it to me then."

"Give it to her, Lillia."

I swallowed my spit as she turned to me. Now that we were directly facing each other, it was even more obvious how young she was. She was small - smaller than me - and she had the biggest, bluest eyes I'd ever seen. There simply weren't people like that in the village I came from.

Despite this, she didn't give off the impression that she was aware of her beauty. She watched me with her eyebrows sternly furrowed and a hand on her hip, clearly wanting to get this over with.

Maybe I was just taken aback by her age, really…but my fingers couldn't help but fumble over each other as I unlocked the box. From it, I pulled a shining circle of gold, set with a polished red stone. I lifted it carefully, because I knew exactly what kind of destruction it was capable of.

The soldier looked less than impressed when I glanced up at her.

"Th-this is called the Elinium Type 95... It's the doctor's proudest achievement, but please be careful. It allows you to harness a startling capacity of your power, so long as that power rests within you."

She nodded. "Yes, I've heard the goals of the project. I've been briefed already."

"O-oh, okay. Sorry."

That wasn't such a bad interaction in hindsight, but in the moment it felt like the largest social blunder of my life. I did my best to suppress a cringe and stepped forward as the soldier unzipped the top of her jumpsuit.

I gingerly set the Type 95 to her collar and fastened it to her necklace. For these few moments, we were in close proximity. I could see how long her eyelashes were, and how flawless her skin was, and-

What was I doing?

I stepped back, and reality seemed to resume as Doctor Schugel spoke. "This is Lieutenant Degurechaff, Lillia. You two will be working together while we undergo the testing for my Type 95." He snickered slightly, and I could've sworn I saw the soldier's left eye twitch. "Haha...perhaps you two will develop a friendship. You're certainly the only two young girls in the whole facility."

"We'll see," Lieutenant Degurechaff sighed. "Let's start the testing."

My fascination for her only grew as I stood by the doctor and watched her fly through the sky.

-XXX-

I stood by as Doctor Schugel frantically messed with hex keys and tiny yellow screws. "Dammit! That girl just messed it up, didn't she?! In theory, my invention should work!"

I didn't have much to say to him. "...I'm sorry, doctor. What can I do to help?"

"Nothing," he hissed. But then he paused for a second, rethinking it. "...Tell Lieutenant Degurechaff that testing tomorrow is cancelled. I have to make some serious adjustments."

I had a feeling he was eager to get rid of me, so I gave him my "yes sir" and hurried out.

Anxiety struck me like a bullet as I walked through the residential building. I'd always been a bit of a nervous person with a small voice, and encountering such a strangely intimidating girl such as this didn't help me to be more outgoing. The worst part was that I really couldn't pinpoint why she intimidated me. Her beauty and her attitude were somehow interesting to me, but they were also the reason she threw me so far off-kilter. I began to wish, for just that moment, that I had pursued neuroscience or psychology instead, just to make sense of my own emotions.

It took two knocks.

"Who is it?"

"Um, it's Lillia. Doctor Schugel's intern."

She answered the door pretty quickly, which didn't give me enough time to take a proper breath of preparation. All the air was knocked out of my lungs when I saw her in her nightgown. It hadn't even occurred to me how late it was at night.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?"

She shook her head. "I was just about to go to bed. What do you need?"

I... completely forgot what I had come there for. With her hair down, she looked even even less like a soldier than before, and more like a girl. It was a pure, yellow-blond color, and there was an effortless sort of grace to it. She really didn't know she was beautiful, did she? How could she not-

"Well?"

"Oh! U-uhm, the doctor sent me to let you know that there won't be any testing tomorrow morning. He's cancelling it to fix the Type 95."

A grin broke out across her face. "Really? So I get a break from dodging my own death. Honestly, that jewel is so unstable that if I didn't know any better, I'd think Doctor Schugel was looking to kill me."

I chuckled quietly. "He's certainly the definition of a mad scientist, but I think he means well."

The lieutenant nodded slightly. "Perhaps."

And then we stood in a long, stiff silence.

"You're red. Is something the matter?"

I shook my head quickly. "I'm okay. I-I should get going, really. Sorry again for coming to you so late at night."

"It's fine. See you at the testing site."

"Yes, see you there." I gave her a nod and stood there for a while after she shut the door. God, she was going to think I was so weird... I still didn't understand why I was acting this way around her. No one had ever had this strange capability - to completely offset my emotions with nothing but their presence. And Lieutenant Degurechaff wasn't even trying to do it.

Maybe it had something to do with her being a mage. I really knew nothing about magic, so I couldn't come up with a viable explanation. Only educated guesses, hopes, and of course, concerns.