The warm sun decided to shine favourably on Felícia today. Climbing a nearby house, she tasted the balmy air as she skipped across tiny alleyways and raced the vultures as they flew. It was nice to explore her neighbourhood, half cramped and crowded with clotheslines as it is. Her pursuers were less lucky, often tripping themselves over or taking a long time to climb the least steep buildings.
"Get back here, you little-!" Whatever the leader meant to say died in his mouth as his head smacked into yet another clothesline.
Felícia bit back a smirk as the owner of that clothesline verbally accosted the gang chasing after her. The rooftops of her favela were like a second home to her. Here, her nimble legs and arms enabled her to survey her own little kingdom of roofs and little corners. There was no place that Felícia hadn't explored to its fullest extent. It probably helped that there hasn't been a major Calamity in Rio since seventeen years ago, so none of the houses have been considerably destroyed.
"Get her! I don't care what happens to her, but don't wreck the package!"
She rolled her eyes and climbed faster. For all she knew, that insulin was probably stolen from some rich snob or some other gang. Why does it matter if she used it for her own purposes? It would probably be better used than whatever they planned for it. All she had to do was get back home before she gets scolded by her avó for breaking curfew again. Felícia knew that she can go home in a heartbeat, but she wanted to enjoy herself today.
"If you think you can catch me, think again!" They were fools if they thought otherwise.
This enraged the entire gang, judging by the increased clanging noises coming from the rooftops. At last, she found herself in a small corner with two clotheslines above and ringed by three houses, neither of which had any doors or windows or easily found handholds on her side. A quick search revealed a few small crates that could be used to climb onto the clotheslines. However, there was a minor issue.
"So, this is where it ends for you."
Her pursuers, to her surprise, had caught up to her.
"Why would I think that?" She held out her arms. "You're nothing to me. What, who gets smacked in the face with a clothesline?"
The leader's face seemingly popped a vein. "Now listen here, little girl. Give me back what you stole, and I'll promise that you won't get shot in the face."
"Oh really? Do you really have a gun?" Felícia smiled at the leader's increasingly purpling face. "I bet you say that to everyone you threaten. Or you would have if you actually were a threat. Who needs six people to chase a little girl? Oh that's right, you do."
Now she knew she was going to get it. "I wouldn't be saying that. As you said, there's six of us and one of you. I see no way out of here. You're trapped here."
That might be true, but she has a special trick in case anything happened. "I would like to make a correction. You're trapped here."
With that, she pulled out an electrum medallion. The leader pulled out a gun and cocked it in front of her face.
He smirked. "Now you have nothing to say?"
"Actually yes I do." Felícia breathed in deeply. "I want to reshape the world into one where chaos can reign free."
Her medallion enveloped itself instantly in a flash of reddish gold light. She felt her body changing, her limbs becoming longer and a tail growing. Once that was complete, she waited. A second layer, she heard the familiar thud of magnets attracted to her. Thankfully, the gun was partially magnetic as well, ripping itself out of the leader's hand. Taking advantage of the confusion, Felícia socked the leader in the jaw with her amulet and grabbed the gun. Focusing her energy into it, what was once a gun was now chrysanthemums, gracefully falling from her hands. She looked at the gang, all slightly trembling.
"So, who wants to challenge me now?" Felícia settled into a fighting stance, beckoning them with her hand.
It turned out that all of them were dumb enough to rush at Felícia. She rolled her eyes and tapped her foot. Stone gave way to soap. Two of them slid into the nearby wall, knocking them out. Somehow, one of them passed the soap floor and nearly punched her. Felícia dodged and jumped on the clothesline. Holding onto the clothesline, she swung her legs into her opponent's head. He lost his balance and promptly fell victim to the soap floor, joining his friends in a pile. Two of them had surprisingly good balance and used the walls to clamber over. She smirked. Did they think they were going to get to her? Her right arm touched the soap, smooth and sweet smelling. To the two men's surprise, the soap instantly transformed into quicksand, pulling them into the ground. A light tap, and they found themselves sealed in stone. Thankfully, it reformed around them. The leader was shaking in his boots.
"Y-you dare steal from me?" He fumbled around his pockets. "You'll regret this."
Felícia dug in her amulet, pulling out a deck of playing cards. "How about you pick a card?"
"What kind of nonsense-"
"Pick a card."
The confused man picked a card. "Here."
She checked the card. "The King of Spades." She checked the back. "Looks like you drew gold. Pretty valuable, and most people find it pretty to look at. You won't be stuck long."
"Stuck? What the h-"
Before he finished, Felícia snatched the card from his hand, kicked the crates, and threw the card at the crates. The crates transformed themselves into gold, while the gang leader struggled to break himself free.
"Not so much a little girl now, am I?" Felícia left him there while she jumped onto a nearby rooftop.
The sky above was darkening, a bit faster than what Felícia expected. Rio doesn't get much rain in the winter, and it wasn't sunset yet. Ignoring that, Felícia whistled and concentrated on the rooftops. Water condensed, forming a small bluish-white cloud that soon became semi-solid. While she was not opposed to climbing to her house, today she felt like relaxing a little. She hopped on the cloud and the cloud raced across the rooftops. Various colourful windows and doors passed by Felícia, all of which she has seen before. Something caught her eye though. A vulture, watching her intently and flying somewhat close. That was new, though it was most likely nothing. She wasn't as paranoid as her avó, who always glared at strangers and gave the evil eye to those who accidentally crossed her path. Most likely, the vulture just happened to be looking and flying in her general direction.
After a few minutes, she reached her house. A modest house, it was blessed with a balcony and two floors. The family clothesline swayed in the wind. Usually, Felícia found her avó glaring through one of the many shutters and no lights on. Today though, the first-floor lights were on, and the door was slightly ajar. For the first time, Felícia felt as if someone was watching. Rushing through the door, she looked around frantically.
"Avó, why's the door open? Are you alright-huh?"
Her avó cast one of her signature disapproving frowns at Felícia. "Neta shut the door."
She did what her avó asked, shutting the door and locking all five locks behind her. A strange scene unfolded in front of her. Avó was in her wheelchair, her steely gaze never wavering. Next to her was a girl not much older than Felícia, her head buried in Avó's lap and sobbing. The girl's clothes were barely recognizable as clothes, tattered as they were. What was shocking was that Avó was gently stroking the girl's head, her weathered hand running through black matted hair. A current of envy rose within Felícia before she suppressed it. It became replaced by curiosity. Who was this girl? Felícia had never seen her before, and her avó hasn't left her house ever since she could remember. The fact that her avó was comforting the girl meant that she knew this girl somehow. How though? Avó didn't have many friends, and not many of them have granddaughters around Felícia's age.
"Hi," Felícia started. "How do you know my avó?"
The girl ignored her and took off to the washroom.
"Wait, I just want to know-hey!" Felícia felt her tail yanked by Avó. "Why did you do that? I just want to know more about this girl."
"Give her some privacy. It's rude to intrude on others." Avó tsked.
"You aren't very affectionate to other people. What's different about her?"
Avó's brow creased. "She's been through a lot recently, and your habit of interfering will not help at all. All she needs is time, not questions."
Felícia sighed. "Alright, fine." She took out the insulin from the amulet. "I brought back some more insulin." Hopefully, it will be enough for next month.
Inserting the insulin into the needle, she injected the needle into her avó's stomach. "Can you tell me anything about her?"
Her avó sighed. "You are bound to find out somehow, whether I let you or not. An old friend of mine took a girl under his guidance. Apparently, she's come here. If she wishes to give you more answers, it's up to her."
Felícia knew that she wasn't going to get any more answers from her avó. After all the insulin in the needle was drained, she cleaned up, kissed her avó on the cheek, and knocked on the bathroom.
"Sorry about that, but are you alright in there?" No response. "If you are fine, can you tell me why you are here?" No response. "If you need anything, let me know. My avó can't reach the rest of the tissue boxes." No response. "Alright, good night."
As much as Felícia wanted to ask questions, her avó would be setting her a suitable punishment if she did so. She shuddered. Heading upstairs, she swore someone was dashing in front of the window. Latching the shutters tight, she opened her bedroom door. Three days' worth of laundry exploded in front of her. Pushing that away, Felícia fell on top of her bed.
"Release me from the chaos and reshape me into normalcy." A smaller light emanated from the medallion, bathing her in its glow. She felt her tail dissipating into thin air, and her arms and legs returned to their normal proportions. At last, she closed her eyes.