There was no time to marvel at Galvan Prime after we broke through the atmosphere. I haven't visited enough times to jokingly call it a summer home, and it was still a different planet, but I was just too preoccupied to be amazed. As we set to land on the wide street way in front of the tower, all three of us were quick to unbuckle, rising and going to the back to wait. Pressurized steam hissed into the air, the door smoothly opened up.. Ship gave a small call as we disembarked, morphing into his cute little blobby self before hopping away to explore.

Azmuth was waiting, arms at his sides and head tilted up to watch us. A piece of me ached like hell when I saw that Zeke wasn't with him but I tried to push it away. There was so much that we didn't know about, well, anything regarding what had happened, so maybe it was best to assume that... That she wasn't totally all right. I stooped down to pick up the little alien, placing him on my shoulder where he held onto the collar of my jacket as I hurriedly walked on. To tell the truth, I just wanted to confirm with my own two eyes that she wasn't dead. Or burned. Or terribly hurt. She could have a broken arm for all I cared, so long as she was still her.

"Ben, take it easy," Azmuth called, prodding my jaw with his elbow just to get my attention. "We have a lot to discuss. Or, at least, I figured you'd want to know just what happened."

I glanced at him, passing through the automatic front doors with Kevin and Gwen at my heels. While I wanted to know, I also didn't want to keep waiting. But as he directed us to the elevator up, it was clear that I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter, soon shooting up the tower's spine to the very top floor. The doors opened and I was greeted by a very...comfortable sight. While everything seemed to retain SOME sort of green hue, it looked much more homely than a lab or observation room.

The elevator opened up to a brilliant view of Galvan Prime, a wide, long window taking up the majority of the rounded wall. There were normal people-sized bits of furniture decorated around the place - as well as some appropriately sized Galvan things - and corridors branching off of this macaroni-shaped part of the top floor. A tube filled with some kind of endlessly flowing, nuclear green substance coursed around the ceiling, branching off into the ceiling and hallways. What amazed me the most was that it moved as freely as water...

"Didn't know you were into interior decorating," Kevin commented with an impressed whistle.

I tore my gaze away from the green sights and tried to see if there was some glimpse of blonde hair. "Where's Zeke?" I demanded, my voice coming out a bit more harsh than I normally would've intended. "Is she okay?"

Azmuth only clicked his tongue, hopping off of my shoulder and onto the floor. Tucking his arms behind his back like he so usually does, the Galvan began to cross the floor. He eventually paused by the window, looking out over his home. "She's fine," he said then, "In fact, she's been moving around and everything has ultimately checked out."

Relief flooded throughout my entire body, a heavy breath escaping my lungs at long last. On my right, I heard Gwen sigh with relief of her own, putting a hand on her chest as she would quietly mutter a "Thank god" under her breath. Kevin even seemed to be relieved, a bit of the tension in his body seeping away as we could finally relax to some degree.
Zeke was okay.

The Galvan turned to face us, a small holographic keyboard projecting up from underneath him. His hands flew skillfully, throwing up a few large images in the center of the room for us to look at. "Now, can I explain? One Earth week ago, a powerful energy source left the planet." He enlarged one of the images, particularly one of that massive bird-shaped jet of flame I had seen rush off into the sky. It was seemingly soaring through empty space, maintaining more of a bird form than I had initially thought.

"Its energy signature was practically identical to the one within Zeke's scarf," Azmuth explained, "and while Zeke herself couldn't have ever hoped to reach or achieve that same level, it was still present. Sparing the heavier details of my research, I learned of its origins." The first image shrunk a bit, shifting off to the side as another would come to the center stage. Though the image itself was distorted and hard to make out through static and jumbled coding, it was obvious that the object of focus was a planet; or a large planetary body, at the very least.

Azmuth's own energy seemed to shift to one of more excitement, a rise coming into his voice as he went on: "It came from this planet... A planet that has been lost to space, to knowledge, to time for many eons. I, of course, was aware of a legend that contained such an intriguing world, and therefore it wasn't too hard to identify it once I saw the similarities, but it has no name. Not anymore, at least. This was the best image of it that I could construct using what little data I was able to get."

I looked at the little gray man, amazed to see his eyes so wide and filled with amazement. Being the one to find something that had been lost like that must've been amazing, especially for a genius nut like Azmuth. Sticking my hands in the front pockets of my jeans, I looked onward as a more elaborate and moving image of the firebird, with powerfully burning wings beating a steady pattern, was pulled up next to the planet. Beside the moving image came white text, its words and letters in a language I couldn't understand. So, I waited for the living translator to elaborate.

He cleared his throat first, lifting an arm to gesture like he was some college professor. "This energy happens to be the raw form of an alien species that was thought to be completely extinct," Azmuth told us. However, he paused, resting his hand on his chin. "Now that I think about it..." he mused, "Perhaps Anodites-"

Gwen perked up beside me.

"-are in some way related. Anodites are pure living energy - mana, if you will - and these aliens are of a similar, more free flowing design. I'll have to look into it later..."

Then, my wonderfully bright cousin let her mouth run, ideas having popped into that head of hers. "In a lot of things like cultures and religions," she started to comment, "fire is seen as life. Would that apply here?"

I swear I saw the alien's eyes twinkle, the corners of his mouth twitching upward in a pleased smile. "That's a good guess," he complimented, "As good of a guess as any, but that is, again, for another time."
Azmuth cleared his throat again, fingers flying over the holographic keyboard before he would pull up a very familiar image. It was of Zeke's scarf, laid flat instead of tied around like it always was. From both the moving image of the alien and the scarf came two, fluctuating scales, measuring in waves and colors. And, to my surprise, they were identical; save for a few differently timed lifts. He looked to us, as if waiting for us to make the observation.

Kevin was the one to speak up first, eyes wide as he ran a hand through his dark hair. "You're tellin me that the scarf was an alien?" he questioned, "Considering that it was wrapped around the neck of an underage girl, I'd say that's pretty creepy- OW!"

Gwen socked him in the arm. Hard.

"Zeke did say that it felt like the scarf was alive.." I recalled, digging my fingers through my pockets anxiously. "So, if the energy turned into the scarf, it could turn back?"

"Yes," the Galvin confirmed.

"Then when it left Earth, did it have Ze with it?"

"Well, as I was tracing the energy, I found her human energy mingled within it, so yes."

"And she didn't die from being out in the vacuum of space?"

"Clearly not. Though, when she ended up in my care there were complications from being enveloped - or, in this case - controlled by the alien. Nothing I couldn't handle."

Kevin snorted like a loud, fat pig, hooking his thumbs in the loose belt loops at the front of his pants. "Zeke was possessed by a mythical, flaming chicken?" he wondered, clearly spinning this serious topic into something much more light and hard to take seriously, "Poor kid.. Humans claim to experience "encounters of the third kind", but that's like level seven."

I smirked to myself, taking a precautionary step or three to the side before saying: "Brilliant, Levin."
Don't judge me, I thought it was funny. Aaaaand, considering the fact that I achieved a murderous look from the other, I'd say it was a complete and total success.

"That's the interesting part," Azmuth interjected, causing all of our heads to snap to attention. He didn't bring up any new images - in fact, he closed all of the ones he had open, the keyboard receding back into the floor and leaving us to stare anxiously. The Galvan walked forward a bit, hands tucked behind his back yet again. "The energy couldn't have even been accessed by a complete human," he told us, "and a human definitely couldn't have withstood holding that energy. Zeke just so happens to be like Gwen, and those other 'Plumber kids' you made a team out of, Ben."

Guess whose world just got rocked. Just about all of us got excited, questions spewing out of our mouths like Old Faithful.
"She's part alien?"
"Does she have an additional form like that alien? Like my Anodite form?"
"Then she had a parent that was actually that alien..? I thought they all disappeared!"
"Was she actually the scarf all along?"
"Kevin don't be ridicul-"

A cold glare from Azmuth shut us up in a heart beat as we bit our tongues and waited like obedient dogs. Once he was satisfied with our level of silence, only then did he proceed. "She does have alien blood," he confirmed, "but, in regards to everything else, it would be a no. The alien in her bloodline has numbed out almost completely, and has been a recessive trait just about everyone in that family; sometimes those that had it present wouldn't even know it. Her great grandmother - the one to give her the scarf - was the last one before her to actually have it as a dominate trait.

"However, after Zeke, I believe that the trait will cease to exist all together. It's so scarce now, that the intermingling of the human species and this ancient one has all but faded away completely." Admittedly, he seemed a little disappointed by this. Probably because it meant he'd lose probably the only remaining connection to these mysterious aliens; from what I could tell, the energy had left and the planet was still too far out of reach. Sucks to be Azmuth, huh? "That Ninja façade, too," he added, "I believe was just a cover up for someone who actually took advantage of their abilities, and that ability must've been one Addex was familiar with..."

I removed my hands from my pockets, disgusted by how clammy they had become as I wiped the palms against my black shirt before looking down at Azmuth. "How did Zeke...get here, anyways?" I asked him, a bit surprised when he shook his head.

"I can only assume that the alien found the connection with my scans," he responded, "Perhaps it figured that I, who had interacted with her once before, could handle the rest... There is too much I don't know, and there is almost nothing that I do know."

We stood in silence, mulling over the information we just learned in our heads. I wouldn't be able to confidently say that everything made sense, but at least there was something there. If it bothered me enough, maybe I would ask Zeke later on. My thoughts clicked together and I remembered the sole reason why we had come in the first place; the answers had been a bonus. Lowering my gaze to the floor - to Azmuth - I rubbed the back of my neck. "So, uh... Can we finally see Zeke?" I asked him, being sure to add a touch of puppy-eyes to my expression to hopefully bypass anything else he may have wanted to throw our way first.

An appropriately Galvan-sized keypad rose up from the floor a foot away, presenting only a few blinking buttons while the others remained dim. Azmuth strolled over to it, pressed the center button, and turned to face the far left corridor behind us. Before I even turned around, I could hear an automatic door hissing open. The three of us whirled around, anxiety spiking through our feet and our thumbs and every part of us that could even hope to feel anything at all. We waited, and waited, and waited... Then, there were footsteps that echoed in the hall.

"Oh my goodness..." Gwen breathed, her eyes flashing pink once before they reverted to a normal, teary green, "It's her energy.."
And Kevin, being the considerate sack he is, put a gentle hand on her shoulder, smiling small as he looked her over. I had no idea that Gwen had been attached enough to react so emotionally, so strongly to just feeling someone's energy. Then again, I couldn't feel energy at all, so I didn't know what that did to a person.

She came around the corner; first I saw a seemingly titanium-booted foot that ended about halfway up the shin, then the start of a full bodysuit with black and green. Green generally made up the main body, with black poking up from under the boots, wrapping around the waist, coming down the sleeves with a rectangle of green around the elbows. It stretched over the heel of her palms, the black collar cut off at the base of the skull, and up from there was a face I remembered.
Well... Kind of...

The dirty blonde hair seemed to have grown out a little bit since a week ago - maybe it was just my imagination - now reaching her shoulders instead of a touch shorter, and as she came closer, her eyes weren't as green as they used to be. Before, they had been like a deep emerald or forest green, but now they were more like an earthy moss. If small physical things bothered me that much, then maybe something was wrong with me. I figured that it was just because I assumed something had to be wrong.

And something was.

No matter how close Zeke continued to get, her expression held close to no emotion. The scariest thing was that there was no sign of recognition in her eyes or her face, no twitches or even minor indications that she realized who we were. Gwen started to move forward, seemingly drawn by the familiar energy she felt, but Kevin pulled her back. He clenched his fist, glared, and held his ground, as if the person approaching was someone suspicious. Even when Zeke stopped five feet away from us, when we should've been recognizable, her face did not change.

She blinked, her mouth started to curl into a slight frown, and her brow furrowed. "Azmuth," the blonde suddenly called, her voice raspy and low, "who are these people?"