"Lee Furukoni?" Omega-Xis says, "Yeah, I saw her when I went to get Lyra."

"Have you met Ophiuca?" Aquarius says.

Omega-Xis pretends to gag and says, "Yeah, I met her. She chose a girl who had a crush on Geo last time. It was disgusting."

"Well, since she's chosen a girl again," Aquarius says with a smile, "you don't have to worry unless she falls in love with your human form, Mega."

Omega-Xis blushes a deep crimson as he says, "H-h-hey! Not funny! Lyra tried to get me into a relationship once, you know!"

I watch the exchange with curiosity.

Aquarius laughs and says, "And I remember that you two did have a relationship for a year and a half before you ended it. You two were such a cute couple!"

"S-s-shut up!" Omega-Xis says, blushing to the point where nearly his entire body is a bright crimson, "I ended it to…to keep up with training!"

Aquarius shakes his head and says to me, "Pay no heed. He really did it because she reminded him of AM."

"Whatever," Omega-Xis says, "Anyway! So it's Ophiuca, right? You mentioned that Ophiuca has Lee Furukoni?"

Aquarius nods and says, "However, she's started a reign of terror in Echo Ridge. We'll need to get there, but we might be there for a few weeks, depending on the damage, and we'll need to bring Whitney if we go."

"Why Whitney?" I say.

"Your friend has Lyra," Aquarius says, "and Lee is more concerned with showing Lyra her newfound powers than anything else. Oh, yes…Layla, could you open the window?"

I nod and open the window.

"Good," Aquarius says, walking past me and climbing onto the branch outside.

After a moment, he comes back with a snake in his hand.

"A-A-Aquarius! That's a snake!" I shriek.

"Exactly," Aquarius says, looking the snake over until he smiles.

"Don't tell me that's one of her pets!" Omega-Xis says.

"It is," Aquarius says, "take a look."

We both look.

On the snake's stomach, a marking similar to the letter O is scorched onto its scales.

"Her mark is on it," Aquarius says, "and we will need to go to Echo Ridge even more now. Call Whitney, Layla; we're heading to Echo Ridge on the EM roads."