Charon's strides through the darkened forest were surprisingly quiet, despite not being much of an "outdoor" being. Though still sticking to his all black color scheme, he had made a special trip to one of Seabrook's finest clothiers to find appropriate outdoor attire. A black jacket with a matching shirt, along with ridiculously costly black denim slacks and matching hiking boots. While he was more of a suit person, he had to admit it was more comfortable. Maybe he would get a few more sets, for his evening strolls.

The plan had been to follow them from a distance, staying at the outer edge of the rocks surrounding the wolf den where they would be unable to smell or hear them. But an important call from the planning commission had delayed him by several minutes. It was hard to be so essential to the city, as well as being responsible for saving everyone in it.

So here he was, fashionably late, strolling through the trees and dirt and bugs.

He would just have to continue his original plan to listen from afar, and avoid detection. He wasn't incredibly concerned about anything these young ones might be up to. But his plans were too important to be derailed. He needed each detail to be precise if everything was to work out the way he wanted to to. So it was logical that he keep informed on any activity that might undermine him.

Up ahead, in the distance, he could suddenly see the faint, flickering light of Lunite hair. He slowed to a stop, casually pausing to examine the person standing ahead of him.

It was Starlight.

His nostrils flared, the mildest of worries crossing his mind before he dismissed them. She could complicate everything if she heard what he had locked away in his brain. But, then again, this might also be the easiest way to get the information he wanted. She was too new to her powers, like an infant. He should be able to easily subdue her. Then, he wouldn't have to risk getting any closer to the assorted group of monsters gathered around a nearby fire. Sure, they'd know he's been there, but, as he'd thought to himself already, he wasn't worried about their fumbling attempts to stop him.

He'd be back in his comfy home office, reading and enjoying a brandy before ten o' clock.

It was an unpleasant thing, attacking his children. First, he'd sent that fool of a zombie after Mayar, his eldest. The child who killed his wife. Then, he'd attempted an even more theatrical attack on Starlight. It had served little success other than to spread chaos, which was fun, but ultimately not useful. He wasn't going to kill Starlight, though. At least not at the moment.

Not that he particularly cared for either of their safety. Hurting or potentially killing his daughters would be a necessary sacrifice, a possibility he had accepted in order to further his goals. But he took no joy in hurting them, either. They were still his children after all. And Starlight was an interesting anomaly. Part Lunite and part human, with powers that had not blossomed until a second moonstone crashed into the earth. The crash itself had proved to be a wonderful bit of serendipity for him, and for the rest of Seabrook.

Well, he might as well go and say hello to his youngest daughter.

He abruptly slammed his heel against a stick, breaking it to announce his arrival.

She turned, facing towards him but not yet seeing him, as he had the sense to keep his hair darkened.

Oblivious half-human. She had a lot to learn, and almost no time in which to learn it.

As she turned her head frantically from side to side, searching for some kind of hiding place, he loped easily into the small clearing. Grinning broadly towards her, he allowed light to flow through his smoothly braided hair, bathing the area in a gentle blue light.

"Charon." She breathed, attempting to sound brave and unbothered.

"Hello, Starlight." He said.

"Though I suppose I should call you Addison, yes? You prefer your human name, don't you?"

"It's what I'm used to." She replied. She was frozen in a tense stance, as though prepared to bolt or counterattack if needed. He wouldn't give her the chance, though.

"Why are you talking to me?" She asked. "I thought you wanted me and Mayar dead?"

"My dear one!" He laughed, shaking his head. "Of course I don't want you dead. I simply recognize that sometimes, damage must be dealt for the greater good. Someday, you may even look back on this and thank me."

"What are you talking about?" She said. "What does that even mean?!"

But his mind was a steel trap, and nothing was getting out of there. Especially with her clumsy, untrained fumblings as she attempted to hear something from him. His smile brightened. He would have to show her how it was done.

He immediately counter-attacked, breaking down her barriers with nearly no exertion at all. As she realized what was happening, she screamed.

Ah, planning to spy on me, Starlight? Tsk, tsk. How ungrateful you're being, when I'm just trying to help the people of Seabrook.

Stop. She gasped silently, trying to push her shaky barrier back into place.

STOP.

Suddenly, she had somehow managed to block him out completely, taking him entirely by surprise. She shouldn't have been able to do it. It made him angry.

Growling as he lost his temper, he lunged for her.

Starlight screamed out her zombie's name, and lashed out at him with her right leg.

Low-Kick!

"Agh!" he cried, as her boot connected firmly with his shin.

High-Kick!

Quicker than he could track from his crumpled position, he felt her foot snap out again, clocking him squarely in the jaw. That would leave a bruise.

He was furious.

This was not how he'd planned for this outing to go. So much for quietly gathering information. But still, he had what he needed. He could hear the distant sounds of many footsteps approaching, as well as the growing buzz of a dozen minds in his head.

Charon turned, breaking into a run. He was limping and could feel his lower lip swelling slightly, but he was still very fast. As he fled, he couldn't help but laugh.

Starlight was definitely his daughter.

ZzZzZzZ

Addison had managed to mostly evade his tackle, landing two excellent kicks that would have left a human crying on the ground. Apparently full blooded Lunites were stronger than that, though. Charon was able to get back to his feet almost immediately, leaving her sprawled on the forest floor as he ran.

And fast, too, she thought as her head pounded. She could feel twigs and rocks digging into their back and arms, as she dizzily attempted to right herself.

Ow.

She was sure he hadn't ever actually hit her, but her head throbbed like she'd received a heavy blow to her forehead. Lying back, she blinked back tears as she stared up at the stars. She'd just been attacked by her biological father. What had he done to her? She shivered as she recalled the breaking, crushing feeling as he'd knocked down whatever barrier she had unconsciously been building up. He had done it so easily. She continued to shiver and cry, trying to settle herself by counting all of the tiny, twinkling lights above her.

One, two, three, four, five...

Her head was pounding. She'd never experienced a headache like this in her life. She thought, in passing, of Bucky's mom, her Aunt Crissy, who had terrible migraines. On the rare occasions that she was actually home, she would often spend days at a time locked in a quiet, dark room. No stars to count.

Six, seven, eight...

Then she couldn't see the stars anymore, because something was blocking her view.

She saw the outline of a person's head, haloed by short green hair.

They seemed to be saying something, but she couldn't hear what it was.

She blinked again, languidly.

Her head hurt so bad.

"..ddy, can you hear me? Addy! She's not saying anything back, what's wrong with her?"

Zed's voice sounded odd, like the fluctuation of her clock radio. Hadn't her radio done that, recently?

She closed her eyes, groaning as the sound rushed back into her ears at full force.

"Addy, are you okay? Please, talk to me."

His voice was clearer now, and so was his face as she opened her eyes again. He looked absolutely terrified. She could taste the fear and guilt coming off of him. He felt like he should have been there to keep her safe, and that he should never have let her go into the woods by herself. The pain was ebbing a bit now, though it still made her wince.

"Zed." She said softly. "M' fine. Jus have a headache."

She shut her eyes again, and felt his cool lips press gently against her forehead.

That's okay Ads, he said in her head, his words and his love soothing her as he spoke.

I've got you.

Without quite knowing how, she was suddenly hoisted up into the air, Zed's arms holding her up like she was a child. She snuggled into him and rested.

The next thing she was aware of was waking up inside the wolves' den, a cool cloth on her forehead as she laid across a mattress that didn't belong to her. Zed was next to her, and the room was quiet. He was running a hand through her hair, and his other hand was holding hers. Sitting across from the bed, Mayar was holding her other hand, looking down at her sympathetically.

Feeling better? She asked.

Yeah, actually. Addison replied. What happened? Releasing her sisters hand, Addison gingerly raised her own hand to touch her forehead.

My head hurt so bad. He didn't even hit me.

No, he didn't need to. Mayar replied sadly. He's a lot older and more experienced than you, so I'm sure he expected you to be pretty easy prey. At this point, Mayar actually laughed.

He was wrong about that, though, wasn't he?

Addison smiled.

"Well, the only thing more deadly than my high-kick is my low-kick."

"Addison." Zed's voice sighed in relief as he noticed she was awake.

"What happened?"

He lifted the damp cloth, flipping it to the cooler side and placing it back on her head.

Addison sighed.

"I was standing in the woods, alone, trying to catch my breath. He came out of the woods, and said... Some really bizarre stuff. He said that he didn't want Mayar and I dead, but that 'sacrifices had to be made for the greater good.'"

"The greater good?" Zed glared at nothing in particular, as though trying to sort out a puzzle in his head.

"Yeah, then... Then I tried to see what he was thinking. I thought maybe I could find out where he had the moonstone hidden. But he blocked me almost instantly, and he..." She closed her eyes briefly, remembering the blinding pain as he had invaded her head, causing her excruciating pain without moving a finger.

"It was like he was in my head, and it hurt so, so bad, and he could tell that we are spying on him. He said I was being ungrateful, because he was only hurting us to help Seabrook."

Both Zed and Mayar stared at her then, looking completely surprised.

"What could he possibly be doing with the moonstone that would be helpful to anyone?" Mayar pondered aloud.

"Nothing is worth hurting Addison." Zed practically growled, his eyes darkening briefly.

For a short second, Addison could feel a hot wave of rage cascading out of Zed, directed towards Charon. The intensity of his anger caught her completely off guard.

She sat up abruptly, the cool cloth sliding off of her head as she moved.

"Hey, I'm okay." Addison said, putting her hands over his in a placating gesture. "Zed, I'm okay."

This time, it was her pressing a soothing kiss to his forehead.

He leaned into her, inhaling deeply as he snuggled into the crook of her neck. Zed apparently found her scent comforting, as she did his. Addison smiled and wrapped an arm around his neck, carefully avoiding his injured shoulder.

"Everything's going to be okay," she said. "Charon may have a head's up about our plan to listen in tomorrow, but that doesn't mean we can't still try. I still think we should crash the city council meeting."

"I agree," said Mayar, whom Addison had nearly forgotten was still in the room. "He could still still slip up, and more importantly, he won't do anything to cause a scene in a group of Seabrook citizens. His image is extremely important to him."

Addison nodded, partially disentangling herself from Zed but not willing to entirely release her hold on him.

"I agree, too," Zed replied. "I don't know what great favor he thinks he's doing the city of Seabrook, but I don't think it can be anything good if he's willing to hurt his daughters for it. We'll do whatever we need to do to keep him in check."

Mayar stood, walking towards the door.

"I'll go and catch everyone else up on the plan. And I believe we should all be getting home, soon. Don't want you all getting into trouble again, do we?" She grinned, lifting the curtain that served as the door to the room and strode into the main room of the wolf den.

Addison sighed, leaning back into Zed's chest.

"She's right. We really do need to go home. I definitely don't want a repeat of the other night."

Zed chucked lightly against her hair.

"Me neither. Are you sure you're okay, though? Maybe you should rest a few more minutes."

"I really am fine, Zed, I promise."

Maybe I just want an excuse to hug you a little longer.

She laughed.

"Well..." Addison conceded, "I guess a few more minutes wouldn't hurt, right?"

"Right."

They both giggled, cuddling closer together as Addison captured Zed's lips in a loving kiss.