To Lyger 0: That's a good question.

After searching the camp for almost half an hour, Chloe was almost ready to give up when the sound of commotion near the center of the refugee camp drew her attention. Curious, Chloe followed the noise toward a break in the rock pillars where she finally found Impératrice Pourpre. As she drew closer, Chloe paused, staring at her in confusion. By her suit, it was unmistakably Impératrice Pourpre, but she looked… different. A pair of brown glasses had replaced her mask, and light-brown highlights traced down the sides of her dress, matching a light-brown streak in her hair. An open portal stretched from the ground up to a height of about five meters next to her. The area was abuzz with activity as people – Initiates, African heroes, and even a couple of refugees – streamed through the portal in both directions, returning with boxes of supplies that they stacked haphazardly nearby. A large shipping container had been dropped just outside the portal, almost blocking half of it; Hoda and Amdeɣimal were in the process of pushing it around to clear the space. A little distance from the portal a small group of Paris Police officers was standing around a collection of a dozen portable toilets. Impératrice Pourpre moved in their direction and pointed toward the large cave carved into the side of the bluff. With a nod, the officers began lugging the portable toilets toward the base of the cliff.

As Initiates, heroes, and refugees continued bringing supplies through the portal, Impératrice Pourpre walked over to a box almost as tall as she was and pried the wooden top off with the end of her cane, pushing the top away and standing up on her tiptoes to see inside. "Here are the tents!" she called, waving to Nguruwe and a couple of the Initiates. "It's starting to get dark; we should start setting these up."

Nguruwe gave her a two-fingered salute. "We'll get on that right away," he promised, pulling out an armload of the canvas tents.

Standing next to Impératrice Pourpre, Angel folded his arms, frowning. "We still need to figure out the food situation," he warned her. Craning his neck, he looked back through the portal. "How much longer can you keep this open?"

Impératrice Pourpre sighed heavily. "Maybe another couple minutes," she answered. "Last time, when Pegasus–" Her voice trailed off, and she swallowed, falling silent. "At least a little longer," she finally whispered hoarsely.

Angel glanced at her, his mouth twisting around. "Um… sorry…"

Impératrice Pourpre coughed, turning away and blinking rapidly. "Do we have enough food for tonight?"

Quickly, Angel counted the crates and nodded. "I think so. Though I'm not sure how we'll cook it…"

Finally jogging up to them, Chloe cleared her throat. "You could try asking Kunoichi," she suggested. "Have her start a fire. Or maybe one of the sorcerers can do it."

Angel hummed thoughtfully. "I think I saw one of them over that way," he noted, gesturing toward the two surviving space-planes that Chloe had passed earlier.

"Why don't you set up a kitchen near the medical tent?" Chloe told him, nodding in that direction.

"If you can handle things here, I can get on that now," he agreed.

Impératrice Pourpre sighed. "I'll be fine," she responded, as Angel nodded to the two of them and strode away.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" asked Hoda, dropping an enormous bale of quilts on the ground in front of them, followed by a second bale. She looked at Impératrice Pourpre with her eyes wide, an expression like concern on her face.

Shrugging, Impératrice Pourpre nodded, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "I–I'm not–" Her shoulders slumped.

Chloe planted one hand on her hip. "You need to sit down," she informed Impératrice Pourpre, pushing her down onto one of the bales of quilts. Impératrice Pourpre didn't protest, slumping down and placing her elbows on her knees and resting her head in her hands. Slowly she let out a breath, which came out more as a sniffle. With a whoosh, the portal popped out of existence. Chloe dropped down next to Impératrice Pourpre and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it awkwardly. Hoda glanced at Chloe and widened an eye in a question. Chloe nodded to her, and Hoda patted Chloe's back.

"I will see about organizing some of these supplies," offered Hoda, indicating the random assortment of boxes around where the portal had been.

"That would be helpful," Chloe agreed.

"Um… let me know if you need anything."

Impératrice Pourpre stirred. "Thank you," she whispered.

Chloe sat next to her for a long minute, the shuffling of boxes and voices in the distance the only sounds they could hear. Those who had been helping to bring supplies through the portal had begun to disperse, some bringing clothing and toiletries with them scrounged from the new supplies. Hoda began moving boxes around: stacking boxes of clothing in one pile, with toiletries and bedding in separate piles. Impératrice Pourpre hugged her chest; Chloe firmly but gently pulled her over to lean into her side, one arm around Impératrice Pourpre's shoulders. Finally Chloe let out a breath. "I see you found something to do," she observed, looking her down and raising an eyebrow. "I like the new look."

"I guess… call me 'Cavalière Lavande' like this." She shrugged noncommittally. "Kaalki thought I could help them out, so…"

"It looks like you did!" Chloe told her. "We would have been in trouble if you hadn't sorted that out for us."

"It was really Rugindo Leoa and Hakɛto," she explained, gesturing toward where the portal had been. "I just did this."

"Still–" Chloe paused as Spider Monkey walked up to her with Neptune. She cleared her throat, trying to keep her annoyance at the interruption out of her voice. "Yes?"

"Hey, um, we're trying to figure out where Knightowl is," Spider Monkey began hesitantly, looking back and forth between them. "He was going to check on where Mercury got off to."

Another missing hero… "Did he make it through the portal?" asked Chloe, brows furrowed in concentration. Behind her, she could sense Cavalière Lavande's flinch.

Neptune shrugged, frowning. "I mean… I think so? The last time I saw him, he said he was going to bring a couple from the old folks' home through the portal and then go back to check on more. But that's the last I saw him."

"I thought he would meet us here," Spider Monkey added. "But so far… nothing."

Cavalière Lavande's breathing hitched, and she clenched her eyes shut. Chloe rubbed her back soothingly as she started to breathe a little more evenly.

"I'm just – we're kind of worried, you know?" explained Spider Monkey. "After Tabby-Cat…" He sighed heavily. "I've had too many teammates injured already. I–I don't want to lose any more.

"You and me both." Chloe winced on feeling Cavalière Lavande shudder next to her. Pursing her lips, she frowned. "I haven't seen Mercury since getting her," she told them. "I did see Knightowl and a few of the other United Heroez over in that direction," she continued, pointing toward the half-dozen tents starting to be erected near the entrance to the Temple. "When I talked to Rugindo Leoa last, she said she wanted to situate all the heroes in that area."

Spider Monkey nodded, frowning disappointedly. "Thanks. I guess we can check it out."

As they left, Chloe turned back to Cavalière Lavande, who had gotten up and started to slip away. "Hey!" she shouted, pulling one of the yo-yos off of her belt. "Don't make me tie you up!"

"No – you have other things to do. I–I'll see you later."

Chloe grabbed her arm tightly. "Hey! Wait! We need to talk!"

Cavalière Lavande's shoulders slumped. "What's the point?" she demanded. "What's it going to solve?"

"What? Talking?" Chloe let out a breath. "Isn't that what you and Tante Emilie always say? That we need to talk about our emotions?"

"Yeah," Cavalière Lavande agreed. "That is what Emilie says. But Emilie isn't here; she's back in Paris. And here I am with a miraculous that lets me open a portal to anywhere I want, except Paris because that's where the Tarasque set up shop, and if I go there then I could bring more of its poison, more of its death and destruction, here to Angola. And then all the people we – he – rescued would just be in danger again." She clenched her fists, which trembled at her sides. "So now I don't know if Emilie is alive or dead… My father is probably dead after the Tarasque wrecked half our police… My boyfriend died right in front of me… And at least half the people here are finally starting to feel the grief and pain and guilt for everything that happened today, and it's already starting to overwhelm me, so I don't know what it's going to be like when the shock finally wears off and everyone starts feeling all of those emotions!" Cavalière Lavande was practically shouting by the end.

Chloe held up her hands in a placating gesture, eyeing the area around them nervously as Cavalière Lavande's voice grew louder. "I get it, girl," she assured her, putting on her most diplomatic expression. A small crowd was starting to congregate around them, and she grimaced. Pointing to one of the African Guardian Initiates, she told the girl, "Keep an eye on these supplies." Then, without waiting for a response, she placed one hand on Cavalière Lavande's shoulder andfirmly started dragging her out of the crowd, toward the edge of the valley. Cavalière Lavande allowed herself to be guided, following passively where Chloe steered her. A large butterfly returned to alight on her shoulder, and Chloe cocked her head.

"A girl was taken by a couple of militia members," Cavalière Lavande explained, her lips twisting down in a frown. "She was near the edge of the camp when they grabbed her, and they were dragging her into the woods – to rape her, I'm pretty sure."

Chloe's eyes widened. Her stomach clenched. "Did they…?"

Cavalière Lavande shook her head. "I got to her in time – so did Rugindo Leoa." She shuddered, squeezing her eyes shut with a frown. Finally she opened her eyes, sighing heavily. "Sorry – the woman over there just found out her husband didn't make it." She waved a hand vaguely to the left. "It's – getting overwhelming."

Chloe put a hand on her shoulder and hummed. "It's strongest when you're transformed, right?" Cavalière Lavande nodded. They stopped just inside one of the newly-constructed tents. Chloe met Cavalière Lavande's gaze. "So de-transform. That will at least reduce the severity of the emotions you're feeling."

Cavalière Lavande sighed and released her transformation. Kaalki and Nooroo burst from their respective miraculous, looking exhausted. Sabrina rooted around in her purse until she found a bag of apple slices for them to share. Kaalki dove into the bag and pulled out eight of them before passing a couple to Nooroo. The two Kwamis hovered in midair, looking back and forth between Sabrina and Chloe. Taking a breath, Sabrina rolled her shoulders. "Thanks. That–that helps. Not that I want to ignore people's emotions, but…"

"But it can be overwhelming," Chloe finished, nodding sympathetically. "I understand."

Sabrina scoffed. "Do you, though?" she demanded, folding her arms, eyes narrowed. "Did you watch your parents crushed? Your boyfriend crushed? Do you have to sense millions of people's worth of negative emotions, all at the same time? Do you have any idea what two million scared, confused, sad, and angry people feel!? I do! It's–it's like I'm a lightning rod right now: anything that anyone is feeling negative, it's all coming to me!"

"All right, all right." Chloe stepped back away from her, holding up her hands. "Fine. So maybe I don't really know what you're feeling. I just want you to know you're not–"

"Not what? Alone?" Sabrina laughed hysterically. "The only other person who could understand this is Emilie, and she's–she's–"

"Sabrina!" Chloe almost shouted.

Sabrina jumped, her eyes widening in surprise. She flushed, looking down at the floor of the tent, and burst into tears.

Nooroo looked up at her with wide, worried eyes. "If the emotions are getting to be too powerful for you, you can take off my miraculous for now," he suggested. "That is the curse of empathy – when something so terrible happens, it can overwhelm my holders. Or Duusu's."

Sabrina hummed thoughtfully, reaching for the brooch. But then her shoulders slumped. "But could I really do that? If I were to do that, what might happen because I can't sense it?" she worried. "What about the girl just now? I wouldn't have known she was in danger if I hadn't had my miraculous to help me sense her emotions. And then…"

Nooroo bowed his head. "It is your decision, Mistress Sabrina."