Chapter 4: Welcome Home

"…yeah, there she is."

Astie muttered to herself, absorbed in her work as her consciousness scanned the hundreds of thousands of square feet that spanned the condensing gas. Like lightning racing across steel, the reach of her mind zipped and sped through the clouds, finding scattered nuggets of condensed energy. Ethereal and non-physical, they seemed vulnerable and on the verge of disappearing yet somehow never doing so; like they had a persistent will of their own. They were singularities yet also aggregates, gathering energy from around them. Most importantly, they were drawing in the yet-to-wither remnants of other particles of similar energy.

"…hmm…there should be a different one…" As if reaching out with her hand, Astie's mind danced around the clouds in the field. Like poking them with a finger, the tendrils of her mind moved outward and encircled each bit of energy that she came across. Under her influence, the orbs slowly began to coalesce and make themselves obvious in the physical plane. "…it's not this one either…" She muttered all the while to herself as she got to work.

Suddenly, she came across a much larger singularity than all the ones she's found thus prior. To her trained eyes assisted by complex peripherals designed to tap into a different plane of existence altogether, it was roughly the size of the average bowling ball and felt condensed with hundreds of thousands of bits and pieces of information. If the smaller ones had been megabytes, this one was definitely a petabyte.

"Bingo." Astie said to herself, satisfied. Her mind reached out and pricked it with a touch of her magic. Instantly, a large yellow orb of the same size as her estimate suddenly appeared high above the buildings of Hellsalem's Lot. The light shining off of it was bright enough to be taken for a dying sun on its last legs, causing everyone within several kilometers of the orb to immediately take notice. "Now all we need is-"

"Astie!"

She turned at the sound of Black's voice. She met the boy's gaze as he clambered up into the car of the Ferris wheel. She snickered when she noticed his all-too-determined gaze. "Seems something happened. Are you done?"

"Yes, we are." Another voice. One she recognized. Leonardo climbed into the ladder. Astie couldn't help but hold back a whistle as she saw the messy-haired boy before turning her attention back to Black.

Black let out a tired breath, inhaled another deeper one, and then steadied his breathing. "What do we need to do next, Astie?"

"Good job, William. You already finished everything, actually. Here you go." Astie said with a smile, walking over to Black and holding her hand out with the palm facing downward and her fingers closed. "You should probably take this back. I won't be needing it anymore."

Wordlessly, Black reached out in return to take whatever it was that Astie was offering him. Her hand opened and out fell the necklace that she had initially taken from him. The one that, while in the possession of Mary, had been broken into two. He gave her a confused look, but she shook her head.

"You already took care of what could have arguably been the hardest part." She said, glancing back to Leo. She let out another whistle, readjusting one of the lens on her special goggles. "…amazing."

"…uh…" Leo unsure of how to respond, looked down at himself to make sure there was nothing wrong. Finding that he was in one piece, relatively uninjured, and somewhat presentable, he looked back to Astie. "Is there something wrong with-Chain!" Out of the corner of his gaze, he realized that his fellow Libra member was sitting unconscious on one of the chairs of the car. Out of concern, he immediately rushed to her side and began checking her.

"What, Leo?" Black asked, confused. "What's he got to do with this?"

Astie just placed a finger over her lips as if to hush Black and removed the goggles over her eyes. "It's best if you look through these." She handed them to him, smiling coyly. "You'll see what I mean."

Black took them from her, giving her one last somewhat troubled expression before donning the goggles. Initially a tight fit, given that Astie's head was apparently a little larger than his, Black fiddled with the strap for a few seconds before he managed to equip them properly. "I don't really know what I could possibly see that would be-"

William felt the need to blink, the words leaving his mouth deciding to stop in the throat halfway through abruptly enough to cause a traffic jam in Broca's area.

Leo's entire body, from the ends of his shaggy hair to the tips of his worn-out shoes, was surrounded-no, practically coated in yellow particles that looked identical to that of every orb that was hovering in the distant sky. They danced around Leo's arms, legs, and torso with energy that was absent in their kindred that were glowing over the buildings of the city. As he moved around, they seemed to follow him and shine with a very subdued yet somehow vibrant-to-the-eye light that would intensify and lessen several times a second.

Almost like fireflies. Millions of minuscule fireflies that may have had a dip in an open can of Red Bull.

"Wh-what is-?!" Black immediately walked forward and reached out to Leo in an attempt to grab the particles that was surrounding his friend. His hand just phased through the particles like they were wraiths, instead finding themselves touching Leo's shoulder. Leonardo himself didn't seem to notice, so concerned was he over Chain's condition that it didn't seem to register in his brain. Black withdrew his hand, still staring in a mix of wonder, confusion, and fear that he couldn't really process what had just happened. "Wh-what's happening?!"

Astie just giggled and took the goggles off of Black. "William, try to put two and two together, please. I know you're in shock and awe, but don't forget to use your head. Here's a hint: it's all yellow." In support, she gestured to both Leo and the orbs in the sky. "Yellow, William."

"…that's the color of my energy. Mine and…and Mary's."

"Good. Took you long enough." Astie pulled out what appeared to be a very worn-out looking book that looked to Black like it was half as long as a ruler in length. She licked her thumb and began flipping through the pages, her eyes moving from side to side as she skimmed through the content at an unrealistic pace. "Not only did your sister never truly vanish, but it also looks like she's given Leo's some extra protection. Some people call it a blessing, others would call it a curse. I prefer to think of it as neither. Most people would just think he's extra lucky. Fascinating." She closed the booklet and then pocketed it. "Alright, I'm ready to go. Black, just give me a moment. I'll have your sister in a jiffy."

Astie walked over to Leonardo and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, mister googly-eyes. Stop worrying over the werewolf, she's fine." Astie gestured to Chain with her hand, making a motion like she was beckoning her to stand up. Almost immediately, Chain's eyes opened and she did indeed stand up. Right in front of Leo, which startled him enough to knock him down to the floor on his butt.

"Wh-what happened?" Chain, with a litte bit of drool still hanging out of her mouth, said as she attempted to get her bearings.

"…um…Chain?"

"Yes, Leo?"

"Are you sure you weren't just asleep?"

"No, of course not."

"C'mon, tiger." Astie muttered, grabbing Leo by the collar of his shirt and beginning to drag him towards the window. "You and I have a little ritual to complete. You'll be helping me get your girlfriend back."

Unable to respond, Leo just clawed at his tightened collar and trying to gasp for air while a nonchalant Astie began climbing out of the window and onto the top of the car with the boy dangling from one hand. She effortlessly tossed his body up onto the roof; Black winced as he heard the loud thump of Leo's shoulder meeting the body of the Ferris wheel car. After taking a moment to regain his composure, he walked over to Chain, who was still disoriented and clearly confused. "Don't worry about Leo," Black said in an effort to calm her down. "He's safe."

"Are you sure?" She asked, flaring a concerned expression. "Someone who's able to knock me out so quickly is dangerous. If she has that much power and she's allowed to run free, then-"

"I get what you mean, but don't worry about it. She's not a fighter, and she's not trying to destroy Hellsalem's Lot or anything like that." He returned, raising his hands and making 'please calm down' motions with them.

Chain sat down onto the seat behind her and raised a hand to her temple. She gave Black a look of skepticism. "…then what is she after?"

Black sighed. "It's a long story."

"Update me on your status."

Zapp scowled at the question of the voice on his phone as he took a step to the side. With that sidestep, he raised his arm and then brought it down in a diagonal slashing motion. The blade of blood that was in his hand followed along and tore its way through the side of an incoming demonbeast, which let out a howl of pain as it staggered forward a few more crucial seconds before collapsing to the floor in a heap of deadness. The surrounding demonbeasts, witness to the spectacle, simply stayed back and stared at the tan man in a mixture of apprehension and fear. "The situation hasn't changed much. There's plenty of demonbeasts and lots of injured civilians." Zapp muttered into the phone, returning the stare of the monsters with one of his own. "Fish boy and I are taking our time making sure the rest are getting to safety. We're buying them time to escape."

"What is your location?"

Zapp grunted, kicking away one monster and then cutting another in half. A fourth one charged forward with wide open jaws, attempting to bite Zapp in half before it was fatally interrupted from behind. Its green blood sprayed everywhere as Zed, descending from above, impaled it through its head with his trident in a single motion. "We're on 42nd of Nephthys Street near the amusement park, two blocks away! Leo's met up with some blonde kid over at the Ferris wheel. I have no idea what he's up to but it seems important. I also got a status update"

Silence on the line preceded a sigh. "…if what you say is true, then he should be fine. Chain's transmitter indicates she's at the Ferris wheel, according to Gilbert, so I don't have to worry about protection. And if that boy is also there, it should be fine. Very well! I'm in Times Square with the police department, protecting the entrance to one of the demonbeast shelters. Zapp, work with Zed and try to apprehend Caligula and Femt! This could only be his work!"

Zapp clicked his tongue and muttered under his breath, "Easy for you to say, boss." He threw his sword with an exaggerated whipping of his arm, turning it into a rotating disc that cut through several monsters at once before it returned to his hand. Spinning on his heel, Zapp then turned the blade into a thin thread and tossed it like a lasso that tightened itself to enchain another dozen creatures. "Hey, Fish boy! We've got a job to do! We need to finish up here!"

Without hesitation, Zed beheaded the entire group of demonbeasts in a single sweep of the trident. The remaining ones, which numbered less than twenty and coming in at various sizes, decided that this was the cue for them to exit. They scurried off, leaving the two in the wake of several hundreds of dead bodies. "Where are we going, Zapp Renfro?"

"To Times Square to meet with the boss. Leo's got it handled over here, plus Chain's apparently somewhere there too, so things should be fine." Zapp replied, shrugging and beginning to walk for his scooter. "…this is a pain in the ass."

"…don't look so irritated that Klaus trusts Leo more than you at a time like this."

"What was that, fish boy?! You wanna go?!"

There were times when Leo thought that living in Hellsalem's Lot wasn't very healthy for him. In more ways than one. There is an ever-present risk to his physical health and his life, compounded by being an member of Libra and being around the members that it consisted of; Abrams, for one, was the kind of person people wouldn't consider human just because he was just so out-of-the-norm. Beings way stronger than humans couldn't survive being around Abrams. Then there were people like Chain who could do whatever they felt like and it would take an entire dedicated task force or hurriedly-created branch of government to stop her. And then there were the daily incidents with people like Femt, whose creations and threats were everyday yet realistically terrifying and damaging, that they could definitely attempt global domination if they weren't keen on stopping on one city alone.

Now, he felt, was different from those times.

"…so I just stand here like this?" He asked, a mix of nervousness and curiosity in his voice.

Atop the Ferris wheel car that was dangling hundreds of feet up in the air, Leo found himself standing in the center of a glowing circle. Best described as a magic circle and worst described as a demonic summoning circle, the patterns on the ground filled the air with a yellow glow that reached into the sky and disappeared into the clouds. Surrounding him were dancing yellow particles that seemed to flicker and glow with an intensifying light, encircling him in a very slow vortex.

Astie stood a short distance away, her expression one of intense concentration. Her arms were raised in front of her, poking through the air with short but incredibly swift and quick motions like she was typing on a keyboard. Suspended two feet above her in the air were two immense skeletal arms that moved in accord with Astie's movements; every time both her fingers and the fingers of the wraith-like skeletal arms made a motion, particles would temporarily flare into existence and small bursts of energy would appear before disappearing just as abruptly. In tandem, almost as if in response, some yellow particles that were crowding around Leo would also flare and brighten before dimming once again. Magic circles identical to the one surrounding Leo were beginning to appear in the air around him in varying sizes and at varying distances, some close and some incredibly far away.

Most remarkably, circles were also dotting the sky. Plenty of the yellow globes that had been hovering in the air and gathering energy were now surrounded with Astie's magic circles. The circles, with their repeating patterns, revolved and rotated seemingly of their own accord yet Leo had the feeling that every single little thing was planned in one way or another by the girl standing in front of him.

Astie, locked in concentration as she was, didn't respond to him. Whether she didn't hear him or ignored him, he didn't know and couldn't tell. He opened his mouth to speak again only to be silenced by Astie shooting him a glance for a microsecond that clearly told him to be quiet. He did so obediently, not wanting to risk any incident happening as the result of his ignorant interference.

"…and…done." Astie said, letting out a breath and then lowering her arms. The skeletal hands disappeared as she did so; the girl let out a bored yawn and began stretching her arms up towards the sky like she was doing calisthenics. "That should do the trick."

"Um…" Leo trailed off, still looking down at himself and wondering what was going on. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask what you're doing…" Sonic, who was standing nearby with wide eyes and a mix of apprehension and wonder, nodded in agreement.

At that, Astie turned around and walked over to the other side of the roof of the car where a large pile of white daffodils resided. She picked up an armful and walked over to Leo. "Hold these for a moment, please." Astie requested nonchalantly.

Leo did so obediently. Astie poked the flowers with her finger and murmured something in a language foreign to Leo's ears. Instantly, the flowers began to glow with a faint light. "Okay, give those back to me." Leo responded unquestioningly, and Astie took them from him. She took two steps back and began sprinkling them around Leo in the circle.

Maybe I should stop asking questions. Leo thought to himself, scratching his head.

"Hey, Leonardo Watch." Astie cut the silence in half just as Leo thought she wanted it in spades. "Got a question for you. Also, don't try lying to me because I can just open up your soul and check for the truth if I felt like it. It's important for this ritual, so don't mess around."

"Uh…okay…" If Leo's fear could manifest physically, the entire Ferris wheel would have broken under its weight.

"What do you think of Mary Macbeth?" Astie stopped everything she was doing, even placing the flowers on the ground, to look Leo in the eye. "What was your opinion of her? What was she to you? What was your relationship with her?"

"…White?" Leo scratched his head again and then gazed out over the body of water that spanned out to the side, sitting aside the amusement park. "…she was a good friend. She, uh-"

Astie sighed and, summoning a smaller version of the skeletal hand to do it for her, lightly slapped Leo across the cheek. "No, no. That's not what I was asking about," she said before Leo could complain.

"Then what do you want me to say?"

"Did you love her? As a woman?"

At that, Leo's face flushed pink slightly. "I-uh, I don't really think that I-no, it's not that she's not pretty or anything! Rather, she was actually very cute and energetic and-!"

Astie giggled. "Yeah, figures. You're a fuckin' mess. Hmm…". maybe that's what most girls like in guys: maybe the contrast between white knight and hot mess gets them."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing, just talking to myself." Astie's smile faded away. "Listen, your friend and I have a deal. I bring his sister back, he helps me get my brother back." Leo nodded, saying nothing, so Astie continued. "He did it because he was aware of the feelings that neither you nor Mary knew about or acknowledged. Before anything else change that…well, she croaked."

"Sensitive way to put it." Leo remarked. Belatedly realizing his sarcasm, he slapped his hand over his mouth.

Astie shrugged. "Hey, it's the truth. But my point is, he did it with you in mind. Actually, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that part of the reason he did it was for you."

Leo said nothing.

"…don't let your brain rest on that for too long, buddy. You'll wanna start paying attention to what's happening around you." Astie said, picking up the flowers again. This time, she bundled them up into as condensed a bundle as she could make it before tossing it in the direction of the city.

The flower petals flew in an unnatural line, breaking away from the stems and the bodies of the flowers themselves, and began soaring in the direction of the yellow orbs. They flew and flew until they were out of Leo's sight, who decided that he wanted to know what was going on. Opening his true eyes, he saw the flowers emanating a soft white glow as they raced through the air. They began circling the orbs in the same way that petals and particles were revolving around him, whirling and spinning like a whirlpool. Off in the distance, he heard a massive explosion wrack the city. Shockwaves raced out through air and rippled through the ground, throwing him off balance and making the entire Ferris wheel shudder. The water made small waves that fought against the tide before calming into stillness once again. He could see a relatively small building slowly begin to topple to the side before crashing out of sight in a cloud of dust, debris, and smoke.

"Sheesh, Femt really knows how to go overboard. I'm gonna have to fiddle with his soul for a little bit later as punishment." Astie turned back to Leo, walked over to him and placed her hand on his forehead. "And as for you…well, good luck!"

In what felt like a nanosecond, Astie's entire air and personality seemed to change completely. Her eyes became incredibly focused and her light, somewhat playful, and coy tone had vanished into thin air; it was replaced with an intensity so palpable it came in layers that washed over Leo and silenced him the moment he sensed it. But with his true eyes, he could see what was happening now.

Her mouth was moving at a speed so quickly he could just barely tell it was speaking. It was as soft as a whisper, but he could hear it: Astie's voice. She was chanting something in another language again, and this time each syllable came one after the other incredibly quickly. Like she was reciting a sutra, she began creating bizarre symbols with her fingers and hands and drawing alien cyphers in the air. With every symbol she created and every symbol she drew, the energy that surrounded him began to increase rotating in speed and every particle's light grew in intensity.

"What the-?!" Leo began to feel his body hovering in the air at the center of the maelstrom. "What the hell is-?!"

A bright flash enveloped his vision, blinding him and forcing his eyes closed.

Silence. Leo's ass hit the car with a clang, denting it inward and making him let out a yelp.

"…well that was faster than I thought. Guess there was more of Mary's energy on you than I thought." Astie muttered, seemingly lost in thought now. Leo opened his eyes to find her scribbling in a notebook. "Perhaps I should try conducting this experiment on someone else…"

Leo looked down at the ground. The magic circle and the flowers were now gone. "…um, what just-"

"You humans are fascinating. You have symbolisms for everything, don't you?" Astie cut him off, still looking at her notebook. "I found the language of flowers the most interesting. Apparently, daffodils mean different things in different cultures to different people. It's incredible, really." She held up her palm; in it, one of the remaining flower petals was spinning by itself while hovering several centimeters above her hand. "To some cultures, it means creativity. To others, it means forgiveness. Yet others associate it with memories and still some others hope. But it's most widely accepted meaning is rebirth and a new beginning. That kind of stuff helps out with rituals like this. With the energy around you combined with all the daffodils, we ended up finishing the ritual easily within a few hours instead of the time I initially promised."

Astie closed her palm and then pointed to Leo's left. "Oh, by the way, I'm not catching her. Good luck with that."

Leo looked in the direction she was pointing at.

White was there.

In the air.

With nothing beneath her except several hundred feet of air.

His feet moved on their own. "White!" Without hesitation, he jumped off of the car and embraced her against his frame. Together, the two plunged far below towards the water.

"Hey, wake up!"

A stinging impact to the side of his face forced Leo's eyes open and his brain conscious. Reacting violently and with a louder-than-what-is-arguably-necessary scream, Leo scrambled to his feet in a defensive stance with his fists displayed in the direction of his offender. A few moments of breathing gave him the time to absorb where he was and what was happening. "A-Aligura?"

The Queen of Monomania was standing across from him, her hair matted across her face and her entire body dripping wet with water. A few inches from her feet was an unconscious White, who was in a similar state. Aligura just sighed and knocked her palm against her head, seemingly in an effort to get water out of her ears. "Sheesh, you're much more of a pain in the ass than I expected you to be, kid."

At that, he lowered his arms down to his sides and untensed. Leo, at a loss for words, took a few moments to begin registering everything before he looked around to see where he was.

The three were washed up at the pier near the amusement park; the lights of the Ferris wheel were casting their soft glow over the water and the creak and groan of the wooden planks of the pier were as concerning as they sounded. The quiet splashing of gentle waves as they met with the pier filled his ears alongside a very quiet whistle of wind.

The strangest thing of all was that it was so peaceful. All seemed quiet, almost disturbingly so. There were no shockwaves, no screaming people, no explosions, no nothing. It felt like everything had returned to normal once again. As if everything that had just ensued minutes prior had just never happened. At all. If it hadn't been for the distant sound of car alarms and the disquieted crowd, Leo felt he could have been convinced that time had been rewound.

"Uh…" Leo began, a boatload of questions still swimming around in his mind. He looked to Aligura, who was squeezing the water out of her hair and clothes and raised a hand to catch her attention. "Aligura? What happened?"

She sighed and shot Leo a cross glare, one that he couldn't really feel the impact of given that she had a mask covering her eyes. "Well, Astie called me and told me that the party ended earlier than she promised. She also told me to fish you two out of the water cuz you ended up being a dumbass and jumping in to protect her." She pointed with a finger at White, who was still unconscious. "Of course hitting the water from the top car of the Ferris wheel is gonna knock you out. You trying to get her killed right after she comes back, genius?"

Leo hung his head and sighed, to which Aligura just muttered a curse. "Ugh, don't act so sensitive. I'm just making sure you're in right condition so that Astie doesn't come here and bust my ass."

He considered asking why Astie was capable of scaring both Aligura and Femt so much, but he refrained out of hesitance; he didn't know if that was a trigger question, after all. He walked over to White and got on one knee, letting the palm of his hand hover a short distance away from her nostrils. "…she's breathing." He placed the back of his hand against her neck and nodded to himself in response. "…body temperature is fine…" Opening his true eyes revealed that her body was just like any other person's. Human, but with a cloak of yellow particles surrounding her; the sign that she had powers like that of her brother.

"…is this the girl that you mentioned before?"

Aligura's question caused Leo to panic somewhat; he scampered away, putting distance between him and Aligura again. "W-what?! What are you talk-?!"

"Y'know, that time you hitched a ride in my tank?" Aligura

Leo's panicked question was interrupted with Aligura shushing him. "Oh, shut up. That reaction's all I need to know! You're totally into her, you klutz! No wonder you white-knighted like a moron!"

Aligura then began walking away. "Just stick around until she wakes up, kid. I've got a honey to kidnap." She waved a hand in farewell as she walked. Leo sighed and smiled to himself somewhat before turning back to look at White, who was still unconscious. Against his better judgment, he reached out and brushed aside a lock of her hair.

"…welcome back, I guess…Mary."

"Sure you don't wanna go over there?" Astie asked Black. The two stood hidden behind a tent, out of view from Leo and the unconscious White. Her gaze was locked on the retreating, shrinking figure of Aligura who was skipping towards the city in excitement but her question was clearly directed at Black. "It's your dramatic reunion with your beloved sister. Shouldn't you get over there and embrace her or something?"

Black smiled and shook his head. "As much as I would like to…I think someone else deserves to see her first. Besides, I have to hold up my end of the deal. You're gonna get your brother out of me, right? Let's go."

Astie chuckled. Unlike her previous giggles, it was a wholesome and very real one. She patted Black on the head. "Alright, then, big boy. I'll make sure you get back real quick so you can get your family situation sorted out."

The woman closed her eyes and, after taking a moment, she reopened them. Her eyes gleamed red instead of her normal hazelnut brown when she opened them; raising her hand in front of her, Astie snapped her fingers. Instantly, a wormhole appeared in front of them reminiscent of black holes in science fiction. It twisted and pulled at the fabric of reality, making the world within 5 feet of the hole look like a crumpled blanket before it vanished into the darkness of the void.

"…you really can't see inside these things, huh?" Black remarked, peering inside the wormhole. "Kinda surprising. I kinda thought you would summon something more…I dunno, more flamboyant."

Astie said nothing in response, instead pointing back to Leo and White. "You sure you don't wanna say anything? We're gonna be gone for a while."

Black put one foot in the wormhole and then turned back to gaze at his sister and his best friend.

"…good luck."

Astie giggled. "To which one?"

Black shrugged. "To both of them."