Here's another chapter I probably should've written earlier but couldn't because... reasons. And it also happens to be an extension to the interlude, because, once again, reasons. XD

Let's reply some reviews first, though:

1) Nobody245: If you think it's confusing now, wait until we head down the line.

And now, to the chapter!

"I-I-I don't get this, what just happened?" Girl Jordan stuttered, scratching her head as she tried to process what she just witnessed. "You drew a circle on the ground, the circle glowed, you stood on the circle, and suddenly you're wearing your former aura outfit?!"

"That's pretty much the gist of what just happened, yes," Mrs. Johnson answered as she walked out the circle. "And now, it's your turn to do it."

As soon as Mrs. Johnson reached for Girl Jordan, however, the woman slapped her hands away. "Whoa, wait, hold on a second! What do you mean it's my turn?!"

"Exactly what it implies, Miss Jordan," Mrs. Johnson sternly stated as she got behind the woman and pushed her forward. "I already showed you the ability of the circle to help you regain your aura powers, which is quite necessary to do right now, so go ahead and do it!"

Mrs. Johnson pushed Girl Jordan into the circle, and as soon as her foot touched the circle, it glowed and engulfed in light before destroying her clothes, and near instantenously reforming them into her umbra aura uniform.

Only unlike Mrs. Johnson's outfit, not only did the uniform feel really tight, but it looked seriously out-of-place with her grown up physique.

"I look like a cosplayer!" she cried.

Mrs. Johnson scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, I guess that's the general impression anybody gets when they see a woman dressed like a young girl."

"You think!?" Girl Jordan sighed, walking out the circle with a dejected look. "Anyway, how is this even possible? What did you do?!"

"Miss Jordan, the cracks of the Twilight World aren't just there to scare former Lux Auras into paying close attention to their surroundings," Mrs. Johnson folded her arms. "Those who touch them also regain some of the magical power they possessed before the mass detransformation years ago."

"Which means you touched one of the cracks before?" Girl Jordan asked, earning a nod from the redhead. "When? Why?!"

"I'd be more than happy to play twenty questions with you, Jordan, but we don't have time," Mrs. Johnson stated as she walked to Girl Jordan's side. "There's a reason I decided to have both of us regain our powers."

"You better have one," Girl Jordan grabbed the edges of her skirt. "If you made us regain our power just to have me wear this again, I'll never talk to you again!"

How did one of the girls who saved the world end up turning into such a whiny woman? Mrs. Johnson took a deep breath. "Simply put, we're gonna need our powers for a little... business trip, I got planned."

At this, Girl Jordan raised an eyebrow. "What kind of business trip would we take that would require our old aura powers?"

Mrs. Johnson leaped high and landed on top of the school's rooftop, shouting "Follow me!" before she jumped to another roof.

"Alright then, don't give me an answer!" Girl Jordan snapped, stomping the ground. "I love being left hanging after asking an important question!"

Nevertheless, Girl Jordan followed the redhead once she took the time to catch her breath, and they continued to jump from roof to roof, the woman hoping there was nobody outside to see them hopping.

Eventually, their roof hopping took them to the tallest building at Royal Woods, where Mrs. Johnson overlooked the city while Girl Jordan sat down and caught her breath.

"Man, I need to start working out after today, I'm seriously out of shape."

Mrs. Johnson turned to Girl Jordan and hummed, getting her attention. "What?"

"I'm not going to lie, Miss Jordan," Mrs. Johnson turned around and folded her arms. "If you're already tired after simply jumping through the roofs, then this business trip might be harder than I thought."

"And again I must ask, what is this business trip about?!" Girl Jordan stood up and walked up to the redhead. "What business trip would require us to become auras once again?! And don't you escape like last time, I want an answer!"

Mrs. Johnson turned to her back, and Girl Jordan turned to look, her eyes widening at the peculiar sight in the sky.

Nearly above the clouds of Royal Woods was what looked like a floating location, potentially an island, judging by what looked like palm trees. There was also a large building with the letter "T" standing on top of it.

"Our "business trip" requires us to head to that floating location and talk with the owner of the place," Mrs. Johnson explained, getting the woman's attention. "Our goal is to convince them to hand back an old friend of Lily's that's currently in their custody."

"Lily?" Girl Jordan turned back to the island, this time with a concerned expression. "One of her friends is in there?"

"Yes, they're currently mind controlled, in fact," Mrs. Johnson casually added. "And if I'm thinking things right, Lily herself is going to head there in order to try free them herself. Even if there's a small chance of success, we still should do something to-"

However, once she turned around, Mrs. Johnson saw Girl Jordan was no longer by her side, but instead she was jumping towards the floating location. The redhead, for her part, chuckled and shook her head before following her.

"Heh, figures she'd act as soon as Lily entered the picture."

Girl Jordan and Mrs. Johnson landed in the middle of a beach-like place, the ground shaking for a brief moment before they stood up and dusted themselves.

"Okay, where do we begin the search for this friend?" Girl Jordan asked, scanning her surroundings. "The faster we find this friend, the quicker we can get them out of here!"

"I'm afraid it's not going to be as easy as that!"

Suddenly, the alarms blared as a wide screen emerged from a palm tree and turned its screen. The screen flashed static for a moment before revealing Stella, sporting a wide smile.

"It's the girl from earlier this morning!" Girl Jordan remarked. "What are you doing here?!"

"I live here, genius, which means I have more right to be here than either of you," Stella narrowed her eyes. "Now, if you don't mind me asking, could you explain yourselves?"

Mrs. Johnson took a couple steps forward. "Stella, we're here to bargain for the freedom of Leni Loud."

"Leni Loud?!" Girl Jordan exclaimed in disbelief. "You mean Lily's sister?!"

"No, Miss Jordan, the one who starred in that cheesy novel," Stella scoffed. "As for you, Agnes Johnson, what could you possibly have to give me in exchange for the one you call Leni Loud?"

"Name your price, and-"

"You'll see what you can do? Yeah, things aren't gonna work like that, ma'am," Stella replied, continuing even as Mrs. Johnson narrowed her eyes. "I'm the one who holds control over the creator of the first interdimensional twilight creatures, and the control is so strong that she'll only hear orders from me. So it'll take quite a bargain chip to make me even consider handing her over!"

Girl Jordan raised an eyebrow. "Like?"

"Oh, I don't know..." Stella smiled maliciously. "How about you give me Lily Loud?"

Suddenly, an arrow was shot through the screen, causing it to plummet to the ground and shatter to pieces.

Mrs. Johnson, holding a shocked expression on her face, turned to her side and saw Girl Jordan with a stern expression and her bow and arrow in hand. Not that they lasted long, since they dissipated into light once the woman also reacted with shock at what had happened.

Meanwhile, on Stella's end, the girl crossed her legs and put a hand on her cheek as she looked at the static screen on her computer with a bored look.

"Well, two two had their chance, and it's gone up in smoke. How nice!" Stella twiddled her fingers and turned around. "Guess all that's left to do is hunt them down and make them pay for ruining such expensive equipment, right, Leni?"

The girl said nothing.

"Hmm, you know if there's something I don't like about this mind controlling gig, is that you're not really as talkative as I'd like," Stella shrugged. "But oh well, maybe later down the line, you will finally get the chance to actually show emotion."

Stella smiled as she opened a desk, and took out a picture of Lily.

"You're gonna have a very emotional reunion, after all."