"Hey Ferb, pass me those pliers, would you?" Phineas slid out from under the chassis of his mother's sedan, pausing a moment while his step-brother fished around in the toolbox to find what he needed. "Thanks," Phineas acknowledged a moment later, sliding back under the car to continue his work.

Ferb preferred to remain silent, as he almost always did, and instead turned back to his own tasks under the hood. Having already upgraded the engine, he now only had to finish replacing the oil and brake fluid. Twisting the cap back on the oil tank, he took a step back from the car and waited for Phineas to finish.

"And, done!" Phineas exclaimed, sliding out from under the car and setting his tools down. "Did I-? Oh, you're done already. Well, I guess that settles it: always remember to have your PB&J sandwich before working with anything larger than a V-4."

Ferb had no response. As he and Phineas finished putting their tools away, there was the distinct sound of Candace's voice from outside. A minute later the garage door opened. "Mom!" Candace cried, "Mom, c'mere and see this!"

"What is it this time, Candace?" her mother asked as she stepped into the garage, her arms folded across her chest and an unimpressed look on her face. Turning to the boys she brightened. "Oh, hello, boys."

"Hi, Mom!" Phineas grinned.

"But Mom!" Candace protested, "There was a turbo engine, and power tools, and this giant big machiney-thing, and-"

"Candace, there's nothing here. And even if there was, there's no possible way that it could have been cleaned up so quickly," her mother reasoned.

Candace nearly screamed. "I know! That's what I thought too! Every day it's always the same! As soon as you get here it's just gone!"

"I'll be in the house," Mrs. Flynn sighed, "Would you boys like to come in and have some snacks?"

"I wouldn't mind a piece of that doonkelberry pie you made night," Phineas said with a grin, and he and Ferb followed his mother inside. They joined Marissa, who had been sitting in the kitchen, sketchbook open. Looking up at them she grinned. "Hey, boys."

"Hi, Marissa," Phineas replied, sliding into the seat next to her as his mother handed him the piece of pie he'd asked for. "Thanks, Mom."

"So how'd it go?" Marissa asked, "Did you get those upgrades done?"

Phineas only smiled. "You know we did, sis."

"Well, there was that incident with the sandwiches," Ferb put in.

"Oh, really?" Marissa raised an eyebrow, "What happened?"

"Nothing!" Phineas intervened quickly, giving one ear a quick tug when Marissa wasn't looking. He knew what she'd say if she found out they'd gotten grape jelly in the engine block. He glanced back up at her and grinned. "It's fine."

"Well, alright," Marissa relented, returning to her sketch.

Phineas finished his pie and set the plate in the sink as Perry waddled into the room. "Oh, there you are, Perry," he said happily, scooping the platypus up in his arms.

Perry had no comment.

As yet another summer day would to a close, Marissa took the boys and Perry down the block to Shadowshire (although Perry was less interested in Moon and more so in Khan). When they got there she rapped four times on the door and listened for Moon's footsteps from inside. As usual, there wasn't a sound until the door opened.

"Hey, Moon," Marissa greeted, smiling a little, "You mind if we visit for a bit?"

Moon stepped aside without a word, allowing them into the old house. She sat silently on the wooden floor and gestured for the others to do the same.

"So what's new?" Marissa asked as Khan waddled into the room, settling in Ferb's lap with a soft snort before falling asleep.

"Little," Moon replied, "You?"

"Today we upgraded the engine in Mom's car," Phineas informed her with a grin, "Now she's got turbo-drive at her fingertips."

"And grape jelly in the engine," Ferb added.

"You did what?" Marissa exclaimed, both her eyebrows shooting up as she gave the boys a surprised look.

"There's worse things than that to get in there, though, right?" Moon asked, careful to remain neutral.

Phineas quickly nodded. "Yeah, and it's fine now. We had to take it apart anyway so we could install the turbo's fuel line."

"Well, okay," Marissa conceded, "As long as you don't get into any trouble."

Phineas only giggled. "You know we won't."

Marissa thought about making another comment along those lines, but decided against it. Turning back to Moon, however, she frowned.

Moon was gone, just as silently as she had come.

"That's weird," Phineas noted, also having noticed Moon's absence, "She was here a minute ago. Oh, well, maybe she's just not in the mood to chat."

Marissa turned to him, her voice completely serious. "Phineas, she's never in the mood to chat. She's only ever come to our house a few times, and once was only because you'd been kidnapped by a blood-sucking demon."

"Please don't bring that up," Phineas implored, accompanied by a small shudder. "It still gives me nightmares sometimes."

"Sorry," Marissa conceded.

A sudden screech from outside made all of them jump. Khan quickly ran off, and Ferb darted to the window to see what was going on. He could see Moon in the yard, holding down a struggling deer under one knee. She drew her dagger from her belt and slit its neck in one swift movement. After a minute its struggling stopped.

Moon only grinned, triumphant, slinging her kill over her broad shoulders and using one foot to open the door. Without a word she took the deer down the spiral staircase into the basement, out of sight.

"Moon?" Phineas followed, his footsteps making the stairs under him creak as trotted down. He found her in the basement, past a wide doorway he hadn't noticed before. Quietly nudging the door open, the first thing he noticed was the smell, and that alone nearly blew him off his feet. It was what he supposed death must smell like: salty, almost to the point of making him sick, with the rich copper-blood smell underneath. He could detect, too, the tiny fire burning in the corner, a sharp summery flavor that contrasted with the death-smell that had first hit him. He took a step back as his mind processed this, and he nearly choked. Shaking the momentary dizziness out of his head, he held his nose and stepped into the room, where Moon sat with the deer she'd killed. "Moon?"

"Hm?" she answered, keeping her eyes on the deer as she finished skinning it. She tossed the hide away and then glanced up at him. "What?"

"You kind of left us up there a few minutes ago, you know," Phineas told her, "Was it because-?"

"I saw this," Moon flicked her eyes down to the carcass in front of her to indicate, turning then again to face him. "You're supposed to have food for people if they're over, right?"

"Well, yeah, I suppose," Phineas replied a little uncertainly.

"Okay, then," Moon resolved matter-of-factly, "So what's the problem?"

"Um," Phineas started, but then decided against it. "Nevermind."

Moon only shrugged, slicing the deer to roast over the fire for a few minutes until it was ready to eat. "You're not vegan or anything, are you? I can feed you this?"

Phineas hesitated, but then informed her, "Well, we had dinner already."

"Oh," one of Moon's eyebrows shot up for a moment, but then settled back down to its usual place. "I guess this is just for jerky, then."

"Are you going to come back upstairs or would you rather us go home?" Phineas asked. He could tell she had other things on her mind, and he wasn't one to intrude if she wanted to be left alone.

"I'd rather you go home," Moon told him.

Phineas only nodded. He could tell she hadn't been taught hardly any of the common social mannerisms, and he attributed that to the fact that she had been alone for a long time. He wasn't really sure how long, but long enough where she'd forgotten a lot of what she knew about human interaction. When she spoke her words were direct and blunt, always right to the point.

But he didn't mind. He thought that was okay. "Alright," he nodded, "We'll just come back another time, then. You can always visit us, too, if you want."

"Maybe I will," said Moon.

"Okay, then, see you later," Phineas smiled at her, and then turned and went back up the stairs to the living room.

"Well?" Marissa asked expectantly, "What's her deal?"

Phineas shrugged. "She's just not in a chatty mood today, I think."

"Well, okay," Marissa agreed reluctantly, "I guess we go home, then."

"Yeah. Maybe we'll come back tomorrow. I just want to make sure Moon's not lonely up here by herself."

Marissa gave him a small conceding nod, but then added, "She does have Khan, though. I don't think she'll get too lonely."

Khan, at the mention of her name, poked her head into the room from the kitchen. After standing idly in the doorway for a moment, she waddled into the room and took a seat next to Perry.

Perry was glad of that. It only lasted about ten seconds, though, because Ferb quickly scooped him up in his arms and they all headed out the door to go back home.

As Phineas opened Shadowshire's gate, he turned and glanced back up the path at the old house. He could see Moon not too far away, chasing after a squirrel. He watched her in amusement, her movements reminding him of a crafty fox chasing a mouse. Finally she caught it, grinning, and held it up to the dark night sky. There was hardly a moon tonight, which gave the stars reign, and as the sun dipped under the horizon it was almost fully dark. After another minute it would be. Phineas only watched as she snapped the squirrel's neck, killing it instantly.

But then the dead squirrel suddenly began to glow, and Phineas' eyes widened. He took a step back as Moon's eyes suddenly changed.

He knew those eyes anywhere.

Bellidor was back.