Nita, staring up at the Lone Power, did not expect what happened next. He jerked back, staring at her, into her eyes. His arm, which had been pointing at her, fell to His side. His eyes widened, and He did the very thing Nita least expected him to do.
He vanished. Simply left. Nita looked at Kit in shock. He stared back.
"What the heck…?" Kit asked. Nita shrugged.
"He just vanished!" she said.
"He was staring at you like you grew a third eye."
"Uh… that was weird. Do you think He'll be back?" she asked him.
"Dunno. Better check the manual."
Nita opened the manual to her personal listing. The entry under her name said INACTIVE.
"Nope. We're done! How weird."
"I guess we should go?" Kit sounded puzzled, exactly how Nita felt.
"Alright." Nita thought while Kit set up the transit circle. It was kind of creepy how the Lone Power just stopped in mid-sentence and stared at her. Looked her straight in the eyes. And then, right when she thought He was about to blast them, He… ran away? Why? They were defenseless. He could have killed them right then and there. Weird was right… She looked down at the glowing world kernel at her feet. "We should probably return this first."
"Oh, right." She bent down and picked up the vibrating tangle, feeling around in it for a certain strand. "Got it." Closing her eyes she concentrated on working around a few of the still vibrating strands. "Man, this thing is shook up. Maybe being that close to Him wigged out its workings. Here we go." She pulled section of a strand, and she and Kit sank through the ground, dropping into a wide triangular space. A moth- type creature slumped on the ground in the corner. Kit walked over and cleared his throat.
"How do we get him- it- up?"
"Now that you-know-who's gone, the influence should be mostly lifted. Give me a sec." A few minutes more fiddling around in the kernel and the air cooled noticeably. Barely seconds later, the creature on the floor waved its feelers around, then rose into the air, flapping its wings softly. It glanced around with a few of its eyes, then spotted Nita and Kit.
"Dai." Kit said, nodding to it. The thing bent double in a kind of bow, then straightened up. It spoke in the speech.
"Welcome, friends! We are eternally grateful for what you have done. A thousand thanks and a thousand compliments to you both! May The Bearer bless you! How can we ever give you thanks enough?" Kit shuffled self-consciously.
"It was nothing. You don't need to go to any trouble." The moth waved its feelers and gave off an offended aura. "Or you can," Kit backtracked hastily, "I just meant-" Nita cut him off.
"My partner only meant that we wish no trouble on those who have so recently been under that One's influence. But we accept your thanks nonetheless." The moth creature bowed again.
"Then accept this astlinth, this allegiance between our planet and yours. Forever we will come to your aid, and hopefully you to ours. If ever your planet should require assistance, you will have it."
"Thank you, Ark- Ne. It is an honor. We accept the astlinth, our planet is yours. The same conditions apply. But we must depart, to report to our seniors. Take your planet's heart, and guard it." She handed the kernel to the creature, who held it in two jointed legs.
"May you go well, emissary."
"May you as well." Nita said. The creature fished inside the kernel, and she and Kit shot up through the ceiling.
"Jeez, Neets," Kit said, looking at her, "Where did all that come from? Ark-Ne?"
"Bobo was feeding me information on this planet's customs and etiquette. Ark-Ne is a respectful term like senior."
"Oh. Right, well, let's go then. To Tom and Carl's?"
"Sure. We need to tell them about the astlinth. That's important. And see if they have anything to say about how He acted." They set up the transit circle quickly. Kit looked at Nita.
"Let's go." Nita stepped into the circle, and Kit followed.
They appeared in front of the front door. As Kit rang the bell, Annie and Monty started barking their heads off. Kit's expression changed from thoughtful to sad in an instant.
"Listen, Kit…" Nita said, and then paused, at a loss for what to say, "It's OK. I know you miss him." She put her arms around him and hugged him. When she pulled back Kit looked a little surprised, and then smiled softly at her.
"Thanks."
"Hey guys!" Carl opened the door. "What's going on?"
"Can we come in?" Kit asked, "We have some important news from our assignment on KsarVihnnhu."
"Let's go." Carl led them in to the kitchen and called for Tom, who joined them at the table.
"Tell us what's going on." Tom said. Recounting how their mission had gone didn't take long, but when Nita reached the point where the Lone One disappeared, she paused.
"Let me get this straight," said Carl, "He ran away?" He looked just as confused as Nita felt.
"Yup," said Kit, "Just looked at Nita funny and vanished. He looked almost shocked. We don't know why, though."
Tom was paging through one volume of his manual.
"I can't find any record of anything of this sort happening before. This is very unusual, Nita. I guess you just got lucky."
"Alright," said Nita uneasily. But she had a hunch that luck was not the case. But she pushed it to the back of her mind and continued. "And it gave joined the planet in astlinth to earth. Tom stared at her.
"Astlinth? Really? That's never happened before."
"I think it's a custom thing," Nita said, "They see us as representatives of the planet, or the planet itself. If they thank us, they thank the entire planet."
"Well. It certainly is useful. I'll have to inform Irina, of course. But good job, you two."
"Thanks," said Nita. Then she looked at her watch. "Oh, gosh Kit, look at the time! We've got to go!" They hurriedly got up, said goodbye to Tom and Carl, and walked towards the door.
"See you kids later!" Tom called after them.
"Bye!" Nita and Kit both shouted behind them.
"Wait," Nita told Kit, "I want to see if the fish have anything to say. You never know."
They walked around to the fishpond. They peered into it, and in a few seconds a big gold and white koi fish poked its head out. It looked at Nita, sizing her up, then grudgingly recited:
Beware of a new
Form from which the dark one seeks
The light of his past
"Whatever that mean,." Kit muttered. The koi spat a dime at him and it hit him in the forehead. "Hey!"
"Thank you," Nita said hurriedly, pulling Kit away.
Nita walked with Kit back to his house, then transited back to her front yard. She walked then stopped dead. Dairine and Roshaun were on the couch, apparently asleep. Dairine was curled next to Roshaun , her head resting on his chest, her eyes closed. He had a hand beneath her head, gently massaging her neck, his eyes also closed. He looked amazingly relaxed and open, with no superior expression or kingly glare to turn on someone. Nita walked softly passed, careful not to disturb such a peaceful moment.
Nita quickly made herself a sandwich for dinner; her dad was working late today, and went up to her room. She changed into her pajamas and into bed. It was not long before she slipped into sleep.
