Serene growled at Cassandra, who backed down, surprisingly afraid. Serene was not a force to be challenged. Her long, chestnut hair was pinned up, oddly making her look softer than she truly was. Tymmie frowned at Cassandra.

"How can I get at her?" Serene demanded.

"The Daughters are not foolish enough to go to battle on their own," Tymmie explained.

"Then we have to single my sister out. She has a demon with her. Her lover. You take either one out of the equation, and they're butter."

"What about that Kearney girl, and the rest of the Daughters?"

"Separate them. You and Cassandra get the other moon babies away from those two. I'll squash them. Got it?" She barked.

Tymmie and Cassandra nodded vigorously, cruel smiles painted on their faces.

xXxXxXxXx

Everyone was extremely tense the night they went to Planet Bang again. Apparently, Stanton had heard word that Serene had recruited Tymmie, the traitor, and Cassandra, who was obviously looking for a way back in somehow. Why Tymmie was working for Serene was somewhat harder to explain.

Marquette and Kearney walked in together with their protectors, immediately hit by Vanessa's soulful voice. They moved to a corner of the club, searching for the other Daughters who were supposed to meet up with them somewhere in here. The two girls found them first after some searching done by Aidrian--"I can do whatever, remember?"--, and they merged together as a big group. Instead of having fun, as was planned, they just stood there, glancing around, waiting, being so tense and unsociable. Even Aidrian was quiet and still.

Tianna twitched, then frowned at the others. She grabbed Derek's hand and led him out a little, placing his hands on her hips. They began to move, cutting the tension between the rest of the group. After all, you only lived once. Or... Well...

Aidrian held out his hand to Kearney, who actually accepted. He placed his arms around her waist, drawing her close to him. Her arms snaked around his neck. Their bodies swayed slowly to Vanessa's sorrowful voice and the mournful tunes Michael and his band played.

Asheru leaned in close, whispering in Marquette's ear, "They do know he's dead, right?"

She chuckled softly. "You mean the Daughters? Of course. What difference does that make?"

He shrugged, changing the topic. "You look like a true goddess tonight."

He was referring to the outfit she had picked out to wear that night. It was a form-fitting, spaghetti strap black dress that flared out in the knee-length skirt. Over the fabric of the dress was black lace, held down with silver bangles and a silver drop belt. Her arms and cheeks were sparkling with silver glitter. Her silver eye shadow feathered out into swirling designs around her eyes. Across her forehead were dangling silver beads. She wore knee-high boots, black with silver designs Catty had drawn for her. She did look like a death goddess, a filia nex.

Kearney, too, was dressed in her "goddess" attire. She wore a red, lacy tank top that tied at the neck and back and low hip huggers that exposed her stomach, which was designed with red glitter and a curling, black dragon around her belly button. Her arms, neck, and cheeks were also sparkling with red and silver glitter. Her red hair was loose, and sparkled with silver glitter. She wore ruby lipstick and red eye shadow, and open-toe red pumps.

They were dressed for battle, somehow. Someway.

Marquette turned and looked into Ash's eyes. "Ash, no matter what happens tonight, I'm not going to lose you again. I refuse..."

Asheru swiped at a silver trinket attached to a gray strip of hair. Marq lifted her head, hungrily kissing him. He kissed her back with the same animal ferocity. She closed her eyes, entwining her fingers with his. This was how it was supposed to always be.

Kearney tapped her on the shoulder, blushing at the exchange between the two. "Shadow, look." She pointed to Marquette's moon amulet. It was glowing.

Kearney noticed the other Daughters realize that their amulets were glowing as well. Glancing at Serena, she knew it couldn't have been Stanton. Serene was here. Somebody was here... All the better, too. She and Marquette were going to put her down for good. That was their destiny. They had come to realize this when they began talking about it.

Aidrian held onto Kearney a little tighter. She looked up at him and saw the worry in his eyes. "Are you worried about Marquette, Aidrian?"

"No, Princess. I'm worried for you."

She nodded. This was stupid. She couldn't get attached. He was dead!

Marquette glanced over at Kearney. "Should we go in search of her, or should we wait for them to find us?"

"I think we should wait," she replied. From the look on Marquette's face, she could tell that the animal within her couldn;t wait. It needed to be released.

Catty slipped over to the two girls. "Serena thinks we should move out. If we leave the club, they'll follow. That way nobody here gets hurt."

"What about Vanessa?" Marquette asked, growling with delight. Kearney frowned.

"She'll follow. Come on."

Kearney grabbed Marquette's hand. "Come on. We should stick together."

Marq nodded her head and headed towards the exit, dragging Kearney behind her. The other girls closed around her. She looked up at Ash, wondering if he would be following her, too. But she knew she didn't have to wonder about that. She grabbed his hand with her free one and squeezed it. He squeezed back.

Kearney felt the rush of sea air as she stepped outside of Planet Bang. She remembered the note she had left her grandparents, just in case there was a chance she wouldn't return. She sincerely hoped that there was no need to tell her grandparents about this whole ordeal. At the same time... She hoped she lived so she could find the truth about her heritage from them.

Serena glanced at her sisters. "We should go to a more private area."

They ducked into an alley and continued down the darkened path. Marquette glanced up at the sliver of the moon. It was so dark outside, with hardly any comfort at all. Why hadn't they really thought this through? Why hadn't they hid until the moon sat fatter in the sky?

"O Mater Luna, Regina nocis, adiuvo me nunc."

She could hear the others whisper the same prayer. She was relieved to know that she wasn't the only frightened one.

A bald guy and a girl with maroon hair stepped out in front of them before they could even leave the alleyway.

"Nice to see you again, Cassandra," Serena muttered. "You, too, Tymmie."

Tymmie grinned at them. "Well, well, well. Looks like we got all of the moon goddesses on our hands."

Kearney moved closer to Marquette to whisper in her ear. "Look, the girls can handle these two. Our target is Serene." She glanced at her new friends, saddened to have to leave them behind, but this was their fight. They just needed a long enough distraction, and she knew Marquette was beginning to realize that as well.

"I know the perfect place to go: the park." She gripped Kearney's hand tightly, swallowing hard.

Keanrey nodded, and she brought her second passenger ever on the ride of a lifetime.

Aidrian grumbled and looked at Asheru, tilting his head to indicate they should follow. He had thought Marquette was impulsive, but Kearney was a close second.