"Yeah," Nico agreed softly. "One of the things I did learn is the more pain I can take, the more powerful spells I can cast. At least when I'm not in an alternate universe where the rules are different."

She knew so little about that thing. It lived inside her chest back home, and she only knew maybe half a dozen things about it. She scratched at the floor again before curling her fingers into a fist.

"Some people are just evil," she said. "I hope I never understand it."

She really, really did.