Nia sat in the middle of the Supernatural Department fumbling with her fingers. After Cressida had left school had been let out early, and everyone headed back to headquarters. Well, almost everyone. Her brother was nowhere to be found. He apparently hadn't even showed up at school today. But at this point him not being around when he needed her was something she was getting used to.

"You okay blondie?" She looked up and saw AJ taking a seat beside her. He held out a cup of tea towards her. "Don't worry, I didn't make it. That weird ghost dude was making some. He said something about calming auras or some hippie crap like that."

The princess took the cup from him and took a small sip. "Thanks."

She went right back to sitting in silence, and AJ frowned. "Blondie, seriously. Talk to me. I know you can't be feeling okay after all that," he said putting a hand on her shoulder.

She shook her head. "I… don't really know what I am right now. I'm not okay but… I'm just confused. Nervous…" she said running her hands over her face. "I thought I just had my grandpa to worry about, but now I have cousins and other weirdos after me too. This is too much. I need to talk to Alexander and sort this out."

"Yeah, who were those other two guys anyway?" AJ asked.

Ezra who was sitting nearby cut in. "Whoever they are they have to be super old. That one guy said he knew Kur," he said looking down at his hand. "If that's really true he's gotta be like thousands of years old."

"They could be," Envie said, shrugging her shoulders. "Circe looks like she's sixteen, but she's technically way older. And she says the other gods don't really age either."

"So are we actually fighting against gods then? Cause I got to be honest, I'm not liking our odds in that fight," Ezra said. Sky elbowed him and he looked confused until he looked over and saw that Nia was looking down at her feet with a strained expression. "Oh! But you know, we totally still will! No way we'd let those guys take you Nia!"

She sighed. "Yeah, thanks guys…" She knew her friends would be willing to fight for her. But now that she had some idea of what they were up against… she wasn't sure she wanted them to. If Oberon really was that strong could they really stop him? And how many of the others would get hurt trying to help her?

She needed to hurry up and get full control of her powers. She had to be able to fight for herself. Otherwise everyone else would end up taking a bullet just for her, and she wasn't willing to let that happen.

The doors suddenly opened, and the others all turned and saw Astro making his way inside, Sear following at his side as usual. He looked around the room and saw everyone staring. "Oh stump, what happened?" he asked with a sigh.

Nia glared. "What happened was that I got attacked in school by some crazy girl and two of her henchmen! Where the heck were you?!" she asked angrily.

"I didn't go to school today. I was busy."

"Doing what?!"

"I can't say."

"You can't-?! I got attacked and you weren't there to help me, which is something that is really starting to happen a lot more often than it should!" she snapped getting up towards him.

Astro narrowed his eyes. "You know, I find it a little amusing that you've been ignoring me and saying how much you don't care if I'm around, but when you're attacked suddenly I'm supposed to magically know and show up to save you," he said.

The others all looked a bit tense as Nia scowled and walked towards him. "You knew Oberon was after me and you were off somewhere else! You're my brother! You're supposed to be looking out for me!" she snapped.

"You knew Oberon was coming after you too, and you've still been going to school. A place filled with powerless innocent people," he said crossing his arms. "If you were thinking clearly you would have come here, or to Alexander's, or even home. All of them were safer and smarter than school. But you didn't think about that, did you?"

She bawled her fist up. "No! You don't get to do this! You don't get to come back, act like nothing happened, and then start lecturing me again!" she yelled.

Astro sighed. "Whatever. I'm not talking to you like this." He turned and began to walk off.

"Hey! Come back here!" she shouted angrily. Astro kept on walking, ignoring her. "I said get back here!" Astro again just ignored her. Nia growled angrily. "Asterossa Butterfly, as the princess of mewni I am ordering you to get back here!"

This time he stopped. Everyone else winced as her brother slowly turned around. He stared down at his sister with narrowed eyes. He walked back towards her, and Nia met him in the middle of the room. "You're going to tell me where you were today right now, and then-"

"No," Astro said leaning down towards her.

Nia looked up at him wide eyed. "What?"

"I said no."

"But… you can't do that!"

"I told you back on mewni that you're not just going to scream and get what you want. When you stop acting like a brat and actually feel like talking, not whining, then come find me."

Astro began walking off again, leaving the princess looking stunned. Was he serious? He was really just going to ignore her like that? But he never disobeyed a royal order. "Uh, Nia… are you okay?" Envie asked nervously.

Damian cleared his throat and walked towards her. "I think maybe we're all a bit tense after what happened. We should all just take a step back and-" Nia yelled out before firing a blast of wind at her brother, hitting him right in the back of the head. "Oh, this isn't good…"

Astro stopped and then turned around and glared towards her. "I'm… going to allow that…"

"How about this one?" Nia asked before blasting him again, sending him sliding back. She started stomping towards him, firing blast after blast at the elder Butterfly. Everyone tried to move in and stop her, but she'd already made it to him and tried firing at him point blank.

He looked more annoyed than anything. "Are you finished?"

Nia growled and tried to blast him again, but he grabbed her wrist and lifted her up off the ground, making sure her hands were facing upwards. Nia yelled and kicked at him, but he didn't even flinch. "Put me down!" she ordered.

"Not until you finish your little temper tantrum."

"It's not a temper tantrum!" she yelled, kicking him in the chin. She then winced and pulled her foot back. It felt like she'd just kicked a wall of iron. "Ever since you got back you don't want to talk about what happened! Like everything that happened back in home didn't matter! Well it did! You abandoned me and you're not even sorry about it!"

Astro stared at her for a few more moments, and then raised an eyebrow. "This… this isn't really about me leaving is it?" he asked. Nia froze, and then Astro let go and dropped her back down to her feet. "No, it can't be… you knew I was coming back. This is something else."

"What are you talking about?!" Nia said glaring.

Her brother turned back towards the door. "C'mon, we need to talk, and I believe we've aired enough family business in front of everyone." Nia glared after him, but didn't follow. She really didn't think being alone with her brother was the best idea right now. "C'mon. I'll tell you where I was earlier, so just come."

After a few more moments, she began walking after him. The others looked a little worried, but didn't say anything. This was something the two siblings were just going to have to hash out themselves.

Cressida sat back with a pout on her face. She knew that after their last failed attack that there was no way they were going to leave Titania alone anytime soon, but knowing that didn't help quell her impatience. She wanted to get to her cousin, and she wanted to do it now. Maybe she should just wipe them all out. That would definitely make her snap.

But her grandfather would definitely disapprove. Crushing one or two ants in her way was acceptable. But wiping out so many of them would break Oberon's rule. Not to meddle in the world of mortals. She growled angrily. She needed to find some way to drag her away from her stupid little friends. Otherwise she was going to die of boredom.

"Lady Cressida."

She looked over her shoulder and saw Peak and Geryon kneeling behind her. "Speak," she said, crossing her arms. She knew they couldn't be reporting anything interesting. She had been keeping her eyes on her baby cousin since they left, and nothing else really interested her.

"I'm afraid there's been some troublesome news my lady. We may… have something to worry about. Your grandfather has caught wind of your presence here," Geryon said worriedly.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I haven't broken any of grandfather's rules. At least not to any punishable degree. I'll take full responsibility for us being here, so don't fret over something so trivial," she said waving them off. "Run along and try to think of something to get my cousin away from that pack of dogs she surrounds herself with."

Peak looked down nervously. "No my lady, that isn't the problem. Your grandfather doesn't seem to care about you being here. He said you may do as you wish… but your brother…"

Cressida's eyes widened. "What?!" she asked, turning around.

"Lord Umbriel is on his way here…"

The girl looked absolutely terrified. Her brother was on his way? No! Her grandfather almost never let him off Avalon! Was this his way of punishing her for rushing off on her own? She quickly got up and began walking off. "We're leaving, now!"

Her grandfather was one thing, but her brother was insufferable! If she didn't get out of here right now she'd be a huge trouble. "I'm sorry Lady Cressida, but your grandfather has ordered that we stay and assist him. We're to follow his lead in testing Lady Titania's power…"

"No! No! No! Damn it!" she cursed angrily.

This was a punishment! Expecting her to stay and follow his lead! She grit her teeth. No! Consequences be damned! She wasn't about to sit here and wait for him to boss her around! She was leaving right now! "To hell with this, we're leaving! I'm not-"

A hand suddenly came down on her shoulder, and all three looked shocked, none of them having sensed the tall figure approach. "Wow little sister. You really aren't pleased to see me are you?" he asked smiling down at her. "But I know you wouldn't think about disobeying a direct command from grandfather, would you? You remember what happened last time?"

Cressida shook like a leaf and slowly looked over her shoulder. "Umbriel…"

The figure chuckled. "Now, where is this false heir grandfather who has been babbling about…?"

Nia frowned as Astro ate another spoonful of ice cream. The siblings were sitting out on a park bench, her brother having insisted on getting ice cream before they sat down and talked. And as mad as she was at him right now… she couldn't really bring herself to refuse. It was hard to keep looking angry while she was eating her ice cream cone.

"I think ice cream is the best earth dessert ever made. Then again I always had a preference for colder sweets. What about you?" Astro asked casually.

Nia narrowed her eyes. "I like pie better…"

Astro hummed. "Yes, but we have pie back home. And Grandmother makes the best pies… ice cream on pie. Do you think that's a thing?" he asked, taking another spoonful.

The princess groaned. "Astro, you said you were going to tell me where you were!" she snapped. "So far all we've done is walk around and eat ice cream!"

He stared down at her. "Did you not want ice cream?"

"Astro…" she said warningly.

"Alright, alright, fine. I'm just trying to… avoid a fight I suppose. Now what was I going to say…?" he asked looking up in thought. Nia was about to shout at him, but he snapped his fingers. "Right, the abandonment issue. You're not upset that I left you. You're just afraid," he said simply before taking another taste.

Nia grew wide eyed. "What?"

"You're scared. That's why you've been acting like this."

"I am not scared!" she yelled back angrily.

Astro grunted. "Really? So then why are you so upset at me leaving even though you knew I was going to come back to protect you?" he asked curiously.

"Because when I was losing control of my powers you were off somewhere else!" she said as if it were obvious. "You should have been here teaching me! Helping me!"

He pointed down. "First of all, don't let your ice cream melt. Second of all, what makes you think I could have helped you? I have no idea how your powers work. I still don't know how all of my abilities work," he said holding his hand up. "I'd have been useless to you."

"You still could have just… been there for me," she argued.

"And when Oberon came I would have been totally unprepared." He finished his ice cream and balled up the paper cup it was in. "I wanted to be there Nia, but something you're going to have to learn is that not every decision you make will let you do what you want."

"That's an excuse!" she snapped.

He turned down towards her. "That's a fact Nia. One you have to come to terms with. I can't be there watching over you every second of every day. But that doesn't mean I don't care or that I'm abandoning you," he said before patting her shoulder. "And it's okay to be afraid."

She smacked his hand away. "I'm not afraid!" she cried. She was trying to forget about how nervous she had felt earlier when Cressida was there. How nervous she felt when her brother was gone.

"It's written all over your face Nia."

"Shut up! You don't know anything."

Astro sighed. "It's scary, I know. But you're only-"

Nia stood up. "You do not know!" she shouted angrily. "You don't know anything about being afraid! You're strong and you've always been strong! You're Asterossa the Invincible!"

Astro frowned. "Nia…"

"No. How could you know anything about it? You always… you always make the right move. You always have. And if you're not here I can't…" she hung her head. "I can't do anything."

The elder Butterfly sighed and stood up. "Come here." He pulled her into a hug. "Listen to me, and listen carefully. You don't need to rely on me to direct you. You can make your own decisions. And please don't believe that I always make the right move Nia. I know it might seem like that sometimes, but it's not. I've screwed up plenty of times before, and I'll probably keep screwing up. And I know what it's like to be afraid. I've been afraid my whole life."

Nia looked up at him with an almost insulted expression. "What are you talking about? You've been fighting your whole life. You've beaten some of the toughest warriors and monsters in mewni. What do you have to be afraid of?"

"Well, I was afraid of my father a few weeks ago," he admitted sitting back down. "I was afraid of the High Commission. Afraid I wouldn't be strong enough to protect everyone I cared about. That I couldn't live up to everyone's expectations. In fact I don't think there was a time I can remember where I wasn't afraid of something."

His sister looked at him confused. "So then how? How did you keep going? How did you not go crazy? I've only known about Oberon for a few weeks and I feel like I just… I want to hide somewhere and just hope he never finds me. How can you be brave when you're scared?"

"Nia, that's the only time a person truly can be brave." He patted the spot beside him, and Nia sat back down. "Being scared and worried doesn't make you a coward or weak. Everyone feels it at some point. It's just not letting it stop you."

Nia still looked nervous. "But… even if I don't let it stop me, I can't beat him on my own."

"Yes you could. You won't have to, but you could," he said sternly. "You don't choose an heir because they're going to be worse than you. You choose them to be better. Oberon knows how strong you are. That's why he chose you as his successor. You're more powerful than any of them, you just don't realize it."

She frowned. "Astro, even if that were true I can barely control my powers as it is. I couldn't even beat those guys from earlier. Oberon is pretty much a god. I'm only half-"

Astro cut her off. "Who cares what you're half of? It doesn't matter," he said shaking his head. "Half monster, half mewman, half god, none of it matters. There's only one half that does. Half of us is Butterfly, and that's the half of us that will beat him."

She still looked worried. "You… do you really think we can beat him?"

Astro grabbed her shoulders. "We will beat him. We're the Butterfly siblings. There isn't a single thing that can stand in our way. You're going to master your powers, we're going to deal with whatever they throw at us, and when Oberon shows up we're going to show him that even gods can't stand in our way."

"But how am I supposed to master my powers by the time he shows up. Alexander is helping me but I don't… I'm not sure I can trust him." She still felt like he had some sort of motive behind all of this he wasn't telling her.

Astro reached into his pocket. "Yeah, I'm not sure either. But I know who we can trust." He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her. "I didn't want to tell you because… it really wasn't my place to do this. But we needed someone to teach you and if mother trusted him then I figured so could we."

Nia looked down at the paper and saw a bunch of numbers on it. "Uh… what is this?" she asked looking back up at her brother.

Astro rubbed her back of his neck. "It's a location Janna helped me find. If everything is right then… we should be able to find your father there."