Episode 8: Isolation—or, The Devious Plot of the Big Bad Wolf!

Carmen shuffled into the store, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible. She felt so stupid. The whole point of coming out here was to be away from other people; how had she forgotten something like this? She knew she got headaches.

Moving quickly through the store, her eyes caught on a bottle of painkillers. Breathing a sigh of relief, she picked up the bottle and moved to the counter.

The old man eyed her fingers, tapping over the counter. He scanned the medicine. "You find everything okay?"

"Yes," she said quickly. "Thank you." She just needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

She passed the money over, when suddenly a box of stock fell down in the corner. "Oh, sorry. Should have stacked that better. Good thing no one was standing there."

Carmen's mind flashed back to Alyssa's body hitting the skate rink wall, the horrible crack. Her heart rate jumped. "No," she said, "it's fine."

She took her change and the bottle of painkillers, quickly walking out of the shop. Alyssa would be fine if it weren't for her. If she hadn't been at that rink, the pithos never would have sniffed her out there, and all those people would have been okay.

She was worried about her—Alyssa hadn't woken up by the time she left the city. But she only would've been putting her in more danger by staying around.

The cool mountain air met her as she moved outside. The number of people bustling around the exterior of the shop made her nervous, and she took to the path. It wasn't entirely isolated, but the cabin was the only place she could think of that was mostly without people.

It was a short climb back up to the cabin. Hikers were walking the trails, but after a certain turn, their walk up became private.

Even so, she knew this was only a temporary solution. She would have to go back to school, head back into the city.

She collided with someone. She stumbled, momentarily panicking when the pill bottle fell to the trail, but she found it immediately. "I'm so sorry," she stuffed the bottle back in the bag. "I was so distracted, I didn't even see you—" Straightening, she stopped.

It was the same guy, the one from the concert. Dark hair slicked back into a pony tail, very blue eyes. What were the chances?

He grinned. "Hey there."

The bus clanked down the street, seeming to hit every pothole on the way. Celene's pumpkin eyes glared from inside of the backpack, clearly realizing she was getting the raw end here.

"Sorry, girl," Rory murmured. "I doubt they would have let me on the bus if they had known I had a cat on me."

"It's fine," Celene huffed, sinking down further into the pack.

Across from her, Narma crossed her arms. "So, what's the plan, here? Are we just going to show up at her cabin and tell her she needs to come home? I doubt she's going to want to come with us, after everything that's happened."

Rory sunk further into the cracking leather of the bus seat. "It's just weird. Like, I could tell that she was nervous, right? It was obvious. I just didn't think she'd be the type to run away. Especially with her friend still hurt."

Narma snorted. "Yeah. I don't know why she thought this would help, either. Not like the pithos haven't shown up everywhere in the city already."

Rory put a finger to her chin. "Well, maybe that's why she's getting out of the city. We haven't actually seen the pithos shown up in the wild before. Probably because there aren't many people."

Celene spoke up, though her voice was comically muffled. "Our main concern should be making sure she's not planning to continue this avoidant behavior. Now that we are discovering more about our squadron, it is more important than ever that you stick together as a team to develop your abilities."

Narma peered out the window. "By which you mean we need her here to fight now that these pithos are getting feisty."

Celene ruffled her fur. "Well, yes. That too."

The bus chugged to a stop at the base of the mountain. Rory hadn't been climbing since she started working at Clarke's Convenience, but she knew it was going to have some high traffic this time of year. Most people were probably coming here to experience the lush bunches of spring flowers dotting the mountain. Not to escape.

"This is our stop," Rory warned, giving Celene a minute to get back in the bag. They loaded off the bus, peering up to the hiking train that overtook the mountain, weaving pathways through the landscape like the lines of a crop circle.

Narma hopped her backpack further up her shoulder. "I guess now, we've just got to find the cabin."

Rory lowered her bag to the ground, letting Celene climb out. She pulled out her phone, pulling up the saved navigation request. "All of the trails are marked. The one Mr. Rodriguez gave us is just off of Eastwind Trail. We should just be able to follow it,"

"Alright. Let's get going, then."

They got a pretty good start of it. There were ways to drive up, but most of the roads were prohibited to civilians. They just had to try and find this place on foot. After about an hour, they stopped to rest, drinking from their water bottles and watching very carefully for anyone who might be passing nearby while they talked.

"So," said Rory, waiting patiently as Narma examined the diagram of Trappist-1 on her phone. "Anything look familiar?"

"…nah," Narma handed the phone back. "It just looks like space to me. Hey—look up those articles from the news. See what they are saying about the sun."

"The sun?" Celene sat up abruptly, ears shooting straight. "What's happening with the sun?"

Rory scanned the article as it came up. "It's been having all sorts of weird activity. Solar flares, massive solar windstorms. They don't know what's causing it." She read through the article, recognizing it as the one that had been on-screen when she'd seen it the previous morning. "Apparently, there's another star that just totally vanished in another star system they'd been monitoring, so they're worried it's the same thing."

Wait—she remembered now. She'd seen an article like this, that very first day. Course, at the time, she hadn't thought it had anything to do with her.

She turned to Celene, where the cat was bathing in the warm light on a rock. "What do you think about this? Mean anything to you?"

The cat folded her paws, gaze far away. "It's very concerning that the sun is showing signs of instability. I agree, I don't believe it could be a coincidence. Still. What could be the connection between the Agent's desire for the star souls and the erratic behavior of this sun? There are some vital puzzle pieces that are missing here."

Rory petted Celene along her back. She was still a cat. "Girl, we don't even know which puzzle we're making. If you think of anything, you let us know."

They started walking again. A little ways up the trail, they came upon a rustic little convenience store selling essentials. As they neared the area, Celene bristled, puffing up in a way that would have been funny if Rory's stomach wasn't starting to hurt as well. "Aurora, I'm sensing a terrible presence in this area."

"Yeah, cramp city," Narma clenched a hand in her shirt.

Rory looked around—no one looked particularly out of place, but she'd been taken by surprise before. "Where? All the way up here?"

Celene squinted. "No it's…here? But not here. Somewhere close by."

Narma shrugged. "So much for Carmen's vacation."

Rory bit her lip. "It must really be something nasty, if we're sensing it from this far off."

Narma looked at her. "But Carmen's up here somewhere, right? We should try and get her ready, if this thing's going to hit soon."

Rory pulled out her phone. "…the trail is kind of confusing from here." She gestured to the convenience store. "I bet these guys know where it is."

"Yeah." Narma pointed a finger back at her. "If she walked up like us, she probably passed by this place at some point, right? And Mr. Rodriguez said they used to come up here all the time."

They hurried over to the convenience store, Rory paranoid with every second that the pithos were going to come out of the literal wood work. A bell rung as they moved inside.

The shop owner must have seen the confusion on their faces, that because she paused wiping off the counter to speak to them. "Can I help you girls?"

Narma stepped up. "Yeah, have you seen a tall latina girl with light brown hair? A pixie cut? Kind of nervous looking?"

"Narma," Rory frowned at her. Rude, girl. "We're just looking for the cabin up off of East Wind. The map online is a little confusing. Any idea where we can find it?"

The man leaned across the counter, pointing out the door. "Oh, sure. The cabin is two trail markers up, then you take the next two branches left. It's a long path; you just have to keep going. If you're looking for that girl, though, she was just here. Left with some fella I've never seen before."

Rory and Narma looked at each other. "What did this guy look like?" Narma asked.

The man wrinkled his nose. "He had dark hair, slicked back like some kind of smooth operator. Really bright eyes, too. Weird color."

Rory squinted, frowning at the image that rose to her mind. "Were they blue?"

"Huh?" The man said.

"Were his eyes blue?"

The guys eyes widened. "Yeah, I think they were, a matter of fact."

Narma peered over her. "Rory?"

"That sounds like Lukas." She met Narma's gaze, explaining, "He's this guy that I met the day of the museum. I hadn't seen him since. It's just a weird coincidence."

Narma pursed her lips. "Unless it's not."

They both straightened at the same time. Turning, they moved for the door. "Thank you," Rory called back to the befuddled store clerk.

"Anytime," she heard him say. "Hey, what's going on? Is that girl in trouble?"

Celene jumped down from her rock perch as they burst outside. "What did you find out—mreow!" Celene leapt back as a biker came careening down the path.

"She just left with someone," Narma shot out, keeping up the pace as Celene caught up with them.

Rory peered over to her friend. "You think he might be one of them?"

"It would explain all this funky energy."

Celene spoke up. "If Gamma is with an agent, we have to hurry! She could be in grave danger!"

Narma shook her head. "Sometimes, you really state the obvious."

Several Moments Earlier

"You!" Carmen took a step back. "What are you doing up here?"

He grinned. That smile seemed to be one permanent fixture of his face, even if the rest of him had been thus far unpredictable. "It's a free mountain," he shrugged. "But no. As you probably expected, I do have another reason for being here." He leaned in. "We need to have a very important conversation."

Carmen took a step back. "I don't even know who you are." The feelings of unease that had peeked up before were only getting worse. Had this guy come all the way up the mountain looking for her? How did he even know she was there? Had he been stalking her? A hundred scenarios popped into her head, each worst that the next. And Alyssa says I'm too paranoid.

Her heart sunk. Alyssa.

The man lifted his hands. "I promise, I mean no harm. I merely wished to talk to you about certain…changes you may have become aware of."

She wrinkled her brow. "I don't know what you mean."

He stared at her. Slowly, he whispered, "I know what you are."

Panic rattled through her. There was only one thing he could have been talking about. But how could he know? She didn't look like herself when she transformed!

He said, "And I can help."

The part of her brain that had just been telling her to run ground to a halt. She lowered her hands, subconsciously raised before her like a shield. "Wha-what?"

He held his hand out, as if he wanted her to take it. "I know about your abilities, and I believe I can help you. You came out here for a reason, didn't you?"

Nervously, she smoothed the creases in her shirt. "Y-yes. But how could you possibly…?"

"Let's walk." He gestured to the path, beginning to walk.

Well. Even as apprehensive as she was, she couldn't deny her own curiosity was a personal life-long weakness. She stepped forward and began to walk with him.

"…who are you?" She asked when he didn't immediately continue.

"My name is Lukas," he said. "I am part of an organization that seeks to eliminate the threat of the star souls. Don't worry—that sounds worse than it is." He glanced back to her. "I'm sure you've noticed things that didn't seem to be quite right about the star soul's mission."

If he knew that much, she might as well speak to it. Honestly, she'd been feeling that way since the beginning. I'd better keep Rory and Narma's names out of it, though. Mentioning them may only put them in more danger. "…there are these creatures. They seem to be drawn to them. I don't know; it just doesn't make sense to me why you would stay somewhere knowing you're putting people in danger."

He nodded. "I see. It does seem odd that those who say they are meant to defend do nothing to stop these things from happening in the first place, doesn't it?"

She bit her lip, clutching the plastic bag tighter. "Right."

"Not only that," he flared a wrist, "but the star souls themselves can be dangerous. If such power remains within a single spot for too long, it will eventually grow out of control." Some hikers passed them. The smile on his face momentarily flattened. "Come. Let's find somewhere more private to talk."

She hesitated. She wasn't comfortable being alone with a stranger, but he seemed to have some vital information? She'd been agonizing all day trying to think up a way out of the situation she was in, and if he had more information… "I know somewhere we can go."

They stayed outside the cabin. In the back of her mind, she may have known she was making some bad decisions here, and so she at least gave her self enough room to run if need be. Or scream.

…and she was just making it worse.

"I appreciate your cooperation," Lukas said, peering around at the clearing surrounding their cabin.

She rubbed at her arm, watching him. "I probably would have been more willing to cooperate in the first place if you hadn't been so shady." She took an additional step away. "And tried to make a move on me, I think."

"I apologize for my lack of professionalism," he winked. "At the time, I wasn't sure you were one of the ones we were looking for. But now that I do know, and, seeing your apprehensions about the star soul's power, it felt safe to approach you." He paused. "I wanted to tell you, first of all, that you were right to be suspicious of them. Those other Soldiers are not as righteous as they would have you believe."

He took a seat on the porch. She turned to face him, crossing her arms before her chest. "What do you mean?"

He lowered his voice; she had to tune out everything else in order to hear him. "They're motivated by their own lust for power. The more monsters they fight, the more powerful their abilities become. And thus, eventually, they could become the masters of this world. They are corrupt."

Carmen stared. He could be lying. But Celene had almost confirmed as much when they'd spoken before—they were going to get stronger if they kept fighting. She shook her head. "Why would they lie to me?"

Lukas laid his head in his hands. "I can see you, soldier. You have a good heart. A pure heart. As long as you have these abilities intact, you will continue to draw those creatures. They're using you as bait, I'm afraid."

No. Carmen may have been paranoid, but that was too much to believe. "No, they're just…" She almost said, they're just some kids, but that felt like saying too much.

At the same time, why would he lie to her? Why go out of the way to tell her this? She'd been worried when he'd asked to see her alone, but if he were dangerous, if he were like those creatures, he would have attacked her by now, right?

She narrowed her eyes, her heart twinging. "How are you so sure?"

He sighed. "At the last attack—we've been observing the sites of and frequency of the attacks. They left the scene pretty quickly once they'd gotten what they wanted, didn't they? They didn't care that your friend was hurt. They don't care about you."

She was brought back to the fact that she didn't really know these girls at all. She wanted to trust them, but…how could she? How could they possibly be so okay with this?

Was it possible he was right?

It felt as if something were festering in her chest. She had never felt in control of her life, but the one thing she had had control over was her body. Even if she was falling apart on the inside, she had control of her body, knew what to do to make it look like she had everything together.

In the span of two days, ever since these powers had appeared in her, that had all gone down the drain. She knew she looked a shamble. Now, even her very presence was enough to put her loved ones in danger. She had to get some semblance of control.

"…are you alright, Miss Soldier?"

She forced her breathing to come back to normal, bringing her hand up to her mouth. "Yes," she coughed out. "What is it," she said, "that you can do for me?"

He folded his hands together. "We have a way to repress the star soul's power. It would be the way it was before it ever awakened."

It couldn't be that simple. "You…can do that?"

His eyes glimmered. "The star soul would become undetectable to the creatures. We can't eliminate that power—it's too strong—but we can make them think we did."

God, that was all that she wanted, to go back to the way that things were. Even now, she was imagining a million ways things could get worse from there: what if her father got hurt? Could she ever go back to school again without those things in the halls, waiting to steal her now alien soul? She may not have been able to predict what Rory and Narma would do, but she could decide what she wanted.

"It's actually a very simple process, one we've been perfecting for a long time." He held up a hand. "All I would need to do is feel for the energy in order to place the represent."

Carmen placed a hand over the center of her chest, feeling that weird foreign energy. "And it would be permanent?"

He stood, pushing up from his knees. "We may need to repeat the process a few times over the next few years, but it has a lasting effect."

I could go back home. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. She honed her awareness in on the weight her pocket, the scepter with an Γ she had kept on her person out of sheer paranoia. The right thing to do, whether it's what I want or not, would be to stop being a beacon for monsters.

This seemed too good to be true, which probably meant that it was. Even so, she had to try. It was the right thing to do. The presence of monsters had thrown off the balance of what was already a chaotic city. She needed to restore the balance.

…that was an odd thought. She was caught off-guard for a moment from how different the thought sounded to her normal musings. Even so, though she'd never thought of things in those terms before, it made sense to her.

She looked to him, where he stood on the other side of the walkway. "If you can do what you say you can…" she clenched her fist, discarding the plastic bag of painkillers into the grass, "then I want to try it."

Lukas held his arms out like now, we're getting somewhere. "I'm so glad to hear that, my dear." He held his hands out, and hesitantly, she took them. "I promise," he said, lowering his voice, "you won't regret this decision."

Lupido considered himself an artist. Sure, he could have reached into this girl's chest anytime and taken what he wanted. But wasn't it so much more gratifying to have her surrender it to him willingly? Like a present? Just the idea made him shiver.

"So." Her wide, dark eyes examined their clasped hands. "How is this supposed to work?"

He held back the laugh in his throat with all his might. "I just need a feel for the energy to repress it. Is it all right if…?" he hovered a hand over the center of her chest. He could practically feel the power radiating off of her. But still, he wasn't close enough. In another situation, he might have been embarrassed. He was practically drooling. Still, he couldn't be. He was so close.

She paused, sighed. Then she said, "Alright. Go ahead."

Yes.

He placed his hand in the space between her collar bones. There—he could feel the star soul's radiant light against his palm. "Just stay still for a moment."

Suddenly, a scream rung out from across the clearing.

Too human girls stood on the path, belongings dropped to the grass. A cat came up beside them, of all things. "Carmen!" The girl in the bright jacket screamed. "He's one of them!"

She looked back to him, eyes wide.

Strange, but he got this feeling…just for a second.

You already knew, didn't you? Somewhere, deep inside yourself, you already knew.

He plunged his hand into her chest.

Carmen gave a wheeze as Lukas's—no, the Agent's hand pierced her chest.

"No!" Rory screamed across the clearing, rushing towards the pair as she fumbled the scepter from her pocket.

"Aurora, be careful!" Celene called out.

"Shit—" Narma searched for her scepter, fast behind her.

She didn't have time to transform before she got to them. Winging it, Rory turned sideways, throwing herself into the agent's side.

Before she could follow through, the agent whipped around and smacked her with the back of his now fully canine shadow-paw.

Rory winced, rolling to land on her back. Thank you, parkour, for teaching me how to take a fall.

"That's cute," 'Lukas' smiled. "Don't worry, gorgeous; you'll get your turn."

Carmen screamed, the hand still gripping inside her chest.

Rory scowled, face burning with anger. How had she ever thought this guy was cute? He was repulsive.

She saw Narma rise up beside them in uniform. She saw the Typhoon crash down just as she raised her own scepter to the air. "Crystal Power Beta, Make-up!"

Power enveloped her. Beta straightened, assessing the situation.

"Nice try," the Agent growled, legs shaking from the onslaught of rain, but he was not yet dislodged from his hold on Carmen. "But nothing will stop me from having it."

As Beta watched, the Agent continued to transform. His teeth were given shadowy extensions, and, most dramatically, the shadows reshaped his legs until they were large and muscular, and backward bending. So he's where those wolves came from, Rory realized.

Carmen clung to the arm gripping her if only to stop the change in size from tearing the soul out of her chest.

"Don't worry," Beta glared. "We've got plenty more to offer." On instinct, she held both hands out in front of her. "Dire Stellar Gust!"

WHAM. The gust slammed into him, ripping him away from Carmen and forcing him back in the field as he dug his claws in the dirt.

"No," he growled, getting back up immediately and marching over.

"Hold him back," Epsilon yelled over to her, kneeling on the ground beside their third.

Carmen's star soul was visible, the crystal formation almost entirely outside of her. If they had gotten there just a few minutes later…

Breathing hard, she saw the girl begin to pull it back inside before the Agent was right in front of her. "Dire Stellar Gust!" She called, taking a swipe of wind at him like a scythe made of shrapnel. The Agent staggered back, dodging the swipe with a ducking motion. Using the momentum, Beta didn't stop, pulling the wind from side to side,

"Come on," she heard Narma say, "You need to get up now. We need your help."

"Wait," the agent said as the Dire Gust finally died. "I remember now. Rory, isn't it?" The inhuman smile was back on his face. "And I thought we were getting along so well."

"You're disgusting," Beta shot back.

He snarled as, anger rising, Beta reared her arm back and just punched him clear in the face. "Way to ruin the moment." He shot back. "If that's the way you want to play, I can play rough too."

She stepped back as suddenly, he whipped his head back and howled.

She looked around, expecting something to happen, but she didn't see anything,

Still, he had that horrible grin again.

"C-crystal Power Gamma, Make-up!"

The blinding light broke across the field as Carmen transformed. Then she was standing there in her muted uniform.

Beta pointed to the beast. "Doesn't matter how rough you want to get—you hurt our friend, and now you're going to pay for it."

"Yeah," Epsilon said, coming up beside her with Gamma in tow. "You're outnumbered, sicko."

There was a rustling noise from the trees—he said, "You may want to count again."

From the trees, three wolf pithos were emerging.

"You know, I didn't want it to come to this," He said as they re-arranged their positions, getting ready for the fight to become a lot harder. "I only tapped into these folks in case things didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped. Just in case. There's no art to just…ripping your souls out and your bodies to pieces. But YOU." He wagged a finger. "You had to push."

"Epsilon?" Beta called back.

"Still recharging," Narma bit out.

"What do we do?" Carmen still sounded out of breath.

The agent said. "I think this is when you die."

A hiss interrupted their panicked breathing, and then the Agent was thrashing. "What the…?!"

Celene had jumped onto his back, digging her claws in and biting at every opportunity. "Quickly, girls!" She yowled as he clawed back, trying to reach her. "Now's the time for a strategy!"

"I'm sorry," Gamma cried out as the wolf pithos closed in. "I didn't know what to do! I just wanted to stop putting people in danger, and now—"

They dove as the three pithos leapt towards them. They had beefed up shadow legs. Rory got the feeling it was going to be hard to avoid these guys. "It's okay," she panted. "It's these guys that don't know when to quit. Dire Stellar Gust!"

The two wolves she hit flinched, cowering before recovering, and coming again.

Carmen said, "But I can't even help here! I just have to wait while you guys protect me!"

Lukas, meanwhile, had decided he wanted to get involved again, having shaken off Celene. He leapt into the air, landing hard between them.

As he moved to strike out at Beta, Epsilon struck him in the back of the head with her scepter. "Hey, maybe these things are good for more than aesthetics."

To Gamma, Beta said, "Maybe you just need help."

She'd been able to perform a combination attack with Epsilon. There had to be others, right? This was certainly less than ideal—Carmen had been in three fights in the past four days, and she'd still had little opportunity to learn anything about her powers. Would attempting something even work?

But no. When she and Epsilon had been able to summon their combo attack. They at least had in mind what they were going for. In this case, Beta wasn't even sure what Gamma's powers were. No, they'd have to think of something else.

Gamma stood by, maintaining a zig-zag pattern as the pithos tried to pin her down. Seemed speed wasn't everything. "How do you figure?"

"We'll think of something," said Epsilon. "In the meantime, we'll knock 'em down, you take them out."

From her position, Carmen nodded. "I'll try."

They regrouped, giving Gamma space away from the creatures until the moment was right. They were facing really bad numbers here, really. The wolves were faster than the lions or the bears, and they didn't have the advantage of a confined space to make it more difficult for the creatures to get to them. It was wide open.

The Agent was getting irritated that his pets hadn't seized their prizes yet, apparently, because he came after Beta next. In the background, she heard the gratifying sound of the Typhoons going off again, but she knew those wolves weren't especially susceptible to the water. Even so, she had other things to worry about.

The shadow of Lukas loomed over her, and she back away, extending the scepter. "You just don't know when to quit, huh Lukas? If that is your real name."

"It's Lupido, actually." He shielded himself with his arms as she fired off another Dire Gust in his direction. Beta panted. She may not have been limited on her use of the gusts the way that Epsilon was, but she had to admit, she was starting to get winded.

"You're getting pretty fancy with those powers, aren't you?" He leapt up and terrifyingly over her, landing on her other side as she rolled away. He purred, "Your soul will make an especially delicious meal for the Great Beast."

Beta's eyes widened. "'The Great Beast?'" This was the first time she heard none refer to The Beast, Singular. New information. "You feed them to something?"

"Ah ah ah." he wagged one clawed finger. "Afraid you're not getting more than that; merely a slip of the tongue."

She yelped as his claw sunk into the earth beside her, gouging out chunks of the dirt. Better the dirt then her, though.

He growled, "Don't worry. You'll get to meet him in person soon enough."

This guy was tough. The Gusts merely seemed to the slow him down, rather than hurting him. At least the gust still hurt the pithos.

Rory stared for a second to the other soldiers. Narma and Carmen were just having to wait around. There had to be a better way to do this.

Gamma caught her gaze. A silent conversation seemed to pass between them, acknowledging the same thing: this isn't working.

Beta jumped back as the Agent's paw came towards her in the corner of her vision.

"Getting distracted?" Lukas—Lupido bared more of his impossible teeth at her. "Good thing I'm not the jealous type."

"Hey!" Carmen's voice called from her position in the clearing. Beta and Lupido peered back—she gasped at the bright light erupting from the girl's chest.

Her face was hard, though her hands trembled where they guarded the crystal beneath. "This is what you want, right?"

Epsilon whipped around her, ducking to avoid a blow to the head. "Girl, what are you doing?"

"Well here it is," Carmen ignored her.

Betas heart pounded. He had to have to have noticed that Gamma hadn't fired any attacks by now. She was a much easier target. And he was still listening.

Gamma said, "then come get it."

Beta shouted, "No—"

Of course, Lupido followed as Carmen took off for the cabin.

"I'll be fine," she called back to them as her feet pounded through the grass. "Get the pithos."

She could hear him. His paws tore through the field behind her, and she rushed into the cabin.

Her heart was bruising her ribs. The cedar smell burst in around her. It was more cramped in here, and he would have a harder time getting to her.

She just needed to keep him out of the fight long enough for the others to deal with his minions. Then, they could take him out together.

She moved to the corner as the hulking form invaded the doorway, putting as many obstacles between them as possible. She felt the wood behind her and mapped out an alternate route around the cabin to stay out of his grasp.

"Now don't be a tease," he growled, knocking aside the dinner table. She backed up. "You should be grateful! We're going to make this worthless galaxy pure again."

Carmen didn't even know what that meant; it was overwhelming, trying to avoid him but also trying to listen for anything that might make sense of everything that was happening to her. To the city.

To this planet? "Galaxy?" She backed into the kitchen, quickly sliding to the other side as he pursued her. "Actual galaxy? So, not just this star system?"

He laughed. "Sweetness, this star system isn't even on our radar yet."

She cried out as he apparently grew tired of the cat and mouse game, leaping recklessly across the cabin to pin her against the back wall.

She struggled, but she was trapped by the inhuman bulk of the wolf legs, and one paw.

Quietly, he whispered, "Why do you think we needed you?"

A split-second. She knew what was coming; a repeat of the same terrifying moment from only moments before, his claw poised above her soul. She felt the energy flutter anxiously within her chest.

Then, she heard it, echoing from inside her head. It couldn't be ignored. It was clear, like a windchime in absolute silence.

As her attacker's hand moved to dive into her chest, she managed to bring her two pointer fingers up and cry, "Harmonious Bellicoso!"

Light exploded into being, ribbons like the lines in a score of music. The ribbons pushed 'Lukas' back, a melody ringing out whose notes were denoted by flashes of light.

The being yelled, clutching his body in the places the music had struck. Hissing, he turned and left the cabin. She watched him stagger out the door before he vanished, the tall grass billowing where he had once stood.

There was a notable difference in the atmosphere, somehow. It was a non-specific, chest-centered feeling, like the satisfaction of completing a puzzle, or the acknowledgement of finishing a task. The world felt more…balanced, suddenly.

Carmen panted. Slowly, she laid a hand over her chest. She'd actually defeated him? How was that possible?

Bright daylight poured in the windows. Rory and Narma were still out there fighting. She needed to get out there.

Just as she was getting outside, she saw Rory deliver a blow with her Gust attack that sent the remaining two wolves into an active disintegration, the smoky material over them blowing away in the wind as the former hosts slumped to the grass.

Turning, they saw her approach. "Hey," Rory called out, "where's the Agent?"

She shook her head. "He's…he ran away."

Narma's eyes widened. "Whoa, wait a minute. Did you defeat him? Way to go, Gamma."

Surprising herself, Carmen couldn't resist the smile the peaked across her lips, the sensation in her chest turning bubbly. Her hand rose subconsciously to hide it. "Oh, um. Thanks." Everything felt lighter, all the sudden.

Rory scratched her neck, not inconspicuously checking her over for injuries. "You okay? That guy was nasty."

"Yes," she said, "I think it was a new attack. It seemed to scare him off."

Narma punched her in the shoulder. "Dealing some damage! Yes, girl."

The guilt from earlier seeped back in. "I…I'm sorry about all this."

It was all her fault, again. Why had she listened to that guy? He was saying everything she wanted to hear, and she knew you could never trust that.

(If she were being honest with herself, deep down, she hadn't really cared if she were putting herself in danger. The thought that something could happen to her didn't matter. But she hadn't meant to drag Rory and Narma into another fight. And she'd so easily accepted they were lying to her! She was terrible, actually.) Her smiled waivered.

Rory's eyes were round. "Don't worry about it. That guy was tricky. He approached me too, a while back. Had me totally fooled." She gestured behind them, and Carmen peered back to the cabin. Even from the outside, you could tell there'd been a struggle. How was she going to explain the damage to her father? That 'Agent' had made a mess. Rory said, "Let's get inside, and we can talk some more."

They moved back to the cabin. They didn't make any immediate efforts to right the upturned room, taking a seat on whatever side of whatever furniture was the nearest to them. Narma took a seat on the forward-facing side of the couch's arm. Carmen sat on the un-lamped end table. Rory took an upright kitchen stool. Celene laid in a pool of sunlight drifting in through the kitchen window.

Slowly, Carmen tried to explain. "He made up this big elaborate story about being able to suppress these powers." She stared down at her own hands. "I think on some level I knew it seemed fishy, but…I'm not exactly taking this well."

Rory raised an eyebrow. "Girl, you almost got your soul sucked out for the third time. I'm not sure there is a good way to take that." She bit her lip. "He was talking about something called The Great Beast. Have you heard that before?"

She and Narma looked to each other. "No," said Narma. "There'd better not be a Great Beast—those things are hard enough. " She pointed outside, to where the hikers were still passed out on her lawn.

Rory fiddled with her zipper. She didn't usually look so nervous. "He said that it eats them. The crystals, I mean."

Carmen shuddered, remembering his words to her. "And I think he needs us, specifically. He said 'this star system' wasn't even on their radar yet. I…don't know what that means."

Narma straightened. "Because our powers aren't from this star system." She pulled over Rory's cat wasn't this bag, and while Carmen's mind reeled trying to understand what she meant, the girl pulled out some papers, handing them to Carmen. "This is the star system our powers come from. Rory found it. Anything look familiar?"

Carmen examined the page, the top of which was labeled Trappist-1. She didn't "remember" anything as she looked over the page. "No, sorry," she said.

But, oddly, as her gaze lingered over one particular sphere, something fell right. Still, it was just a feeling.

"How did you find it?"

Rory rubbed the back of her neck. "I just get these dreams sometimes."

Celene stood, shaking out her fur. "There's also this nasty business with the system's star." She twitched her whiskers.

"The star?" Carmen asked.

Narma said, "It's been acting really volatile. It just seems like a weird coincidence."

They all looked to each other, wishing they had the knowledge to connect all of this.

Rory huffed, folding her arms as she leaned back against the island. "I just wish we knew what this was all for. It's just frustrating."

"We still have time," Narma fiddled with her nose ring. "We have those snake guys to deal with."

"More pithos," Rory said at Carmen's alarmed expression.

She…didn't like snakes, especially. "Great," Carmen said, glancing around at the destruction the last Agent had caused, "There's more of them."

Narma waived a hand at her, scooting back more securely onto the upturned couch. "Eh, we'll deal with that when we come to it."

Rory glanced out the window. "I just hope that guy's not coming back. He was the worst."

Carmen's stomach squirmed. She hadn't thought about that.

Rory turned back to her. Standing from her place on the stool, her voiced softened. "Are you coming with us back down the mountain? We probably need to be back down at the bus stop by 5:00."

Carmen folded her hands in her lap. She didn't know what she wanted. Sure, Lupido was gone for now, but it seemed like no matter where she went, those pithos were going to find her. If she went back she would just be putting everyone in more danger. Of course, the other two girls were going to be going anyways.

Something occurred to her. "Wait. How did you guys get up here, anyways? Isn't it a school day?" She paused. "How did you guys even know I was out here?"

"Your father told us," Narma said. "We wanted to check on you, after the skating rink. We know your friend got pretty hurt."

"Yeah," Rory said, rubbing a hand over the back of her neck. "Our parents don't know we're here."

Carmen couldn't fathom that. These two had just met her. They were obviously very close. But why did they care about her? She'd never even spoken to them before the theatre. "I don't understand you," she said quietly, eyes glued to her hands. "You went out of your way to come up here, and we only met two days ago. Why? You don't even know me."

Expression hard to read, Narma seemed to defer to Rory with a gesture of the hand, who frowned. Carmen instinctively wanted to back away when she moved closer, and she wished that wasn't her natural reaction. She felt like she was having to be cautious about everything; her therapist was going to have some new material the next time she went in.

"I know you don't exactly know us, either," Rory said. "But you've got to understand…we're just learning about all of this stuff too. We don't know what we're doing. Right now? The best we can do is stick together."

"Yeah," Narma had visibly relaxed, "we're not just going to ditch you when you're just finding out about your space-superpowers. That's a dick move. Besides, honestly, we probably need all the help we can get."

"Not to mention you took out that guy by yourself today!" Rory's eyes lit up. She gave Carmen a thumbs-up. "Seems like you're going to be a pretty good addition to the team."

Carmen placed a hand to her mouth, stifling the nervous giggle that bubbled up.

She knew that had been a fluke. She hadn't tapped into anything; the magic had just spilled out of her like water in an over-boiled pot. Even so, she had to admit that even when she had been at her most apprehensive about these girls, this—the powers, the uniform—secretly made her feel kind of…special. Maybe it was childish to be in wonder of the magic, but come on. It was magic.

"Well," she said after a moment of deliberation, "I guess my plan to avoid drawing in those monsters didn't exactly work out. I suppose there's not really a reason for me to stay up here." Even if it still feels wrong to be exposing the people I love to the risk of…my existence, I guess.

Rory smiled, though it wasn't entirely happy. "We'll figure something, girl. For now, let's just try to keep livin.'"

There was a pang in Carmen's chest. Rory probably didn't realize how grave a statement that was. "Right. Okay."

After all, these guys had to run out of monsters eventually, right?

From atop a nearby mountain ridge, Lupido looked down on the little cabin, and further out, the city standing bright and unawares. The shine of the mid-day sun on the skyline was mocking.

He clutched the spot on his side, jamming the corruption of the passing hiker into his mouth. The shadows spilled down his chin as the holes in his body slowly began to close up, the trickle of dust slowing.

He grunted, spitting out the residual corruption out towards the man's body. That clever little lamb. She may have been a morsel he wanted to savor, but she had made a mistake. If those Sailor Soldiers thought that they had had any sort of victory today, they were wrong. If they wanted to play nasty, well, he could play that game too.

Turning away from the overlook, he began to limp away. This was as far as he could get on his current energy, but soon he would be restored enough to make the trip back to the Moving Palace. Then he could make his move.

The moment they let themselves take an easy breath, he'd be there to steal it from their lungs.