Hello, and I'm back with another chapter of The New Universal.

Sorry that I haven't updated. Admittingly, I've had writer's block on this story for a little while-as well as my other ones, too, so that's been kinda hard, so I've just been rewatching and rereading a bunch of stuff in hopes of getting new ideas.

Here I am babbling, when I really should be starting the chapter!

I don't own the Companion Quartet.

Enjoy!

Connie glared at Col and Rat, but Abby seemed to be enjoying talking to them-especially Rat. Col kept glancing at Connie, but she avoided meeting his eyes.

"So, why did you have to make a run to the store specifically for candy?" Rat asked, breaking through Connie's thoughts.

"It helps me be less stressed," Abby told him, then chuckled sheepishly. "Luna and I have been making many runs to the store for candy because I've been so stressed about the showcase coming up."

"What is the showcase?" Rat asked.

"Oh, this famous editor person is going to come and read the books that all of us in the writing program have been working on," Abby said, then she looked nervous. "I just hope that he likes my books…"

"What are they about?" Rat asked. "Ooh, can I read them later?"

"I'm not sure…" Abby said. "I don't think that they're that good, honestly…"

Connie sighed. "Abby, those books are really good, you know." She looked at Rat. "I'm sure that Abby'll let you read them later."

"Luna!" Abby exclaimed, but Connie just laughed. Col and Rat joined her, and soon, Abby did as well.

"So, if you guys are such good friends, what happened?" Abby asked as soon as they were done laughing. "I mean, you guys get along so well."

The three fell silent. Rat and Col instantly looked at Connie, who looked away.

"Um...did I say something wrong?" Abby asked, worried.

"It's just...a hard topic," Connie said.

"We're sorry," Col said.

"Like 'sorry' is gonna cut what happened," Connie muttered darkly.

"Tell me what happened," Abby said.

"I don't think that's the best idea," Connie said.

"Tell me or I'll use the pen," Abby said. "I have my ways of getting information."

"The pen?" Col and Rat asked at the same time.

"Come on-it took an entire day and a half for the effect to wear off," Connie said, looking at Abby werily.

"Then tell me what happened," Abby demanded.

Connie sighed. "Fine. You know about Kullervo, right?"

"A little," Abby said. "He was a shapeshifter that wanted to get rid of humanity, right?"

"Yep," Connie said. "And you know about how he disappeared."

"Yeah," Abby said.

"Well, I kept changing shape, and eventually I was discovered," Connie said. "When that happened, I knew that I couldn't stay any longer, so I left."

"I already knew all that," Abby said. "There's gotta be more to the story than that."

"The rest of us were hostile towards her," Col told Abby. She looked at him. "When we found out about what had really happened, we started to keep our distance. Well, most of us did, because we had all fought Kullervo before. Then, one day, Evelyn went to check on Connie, and she wasn't there."

"Who's Evelyn?" Abby asked.

"My aunt," Connie said. "Like Ariel, she's a Companion to Banshees."

"Ooh, cool," Abby said, looking at her.

"She's also technically my step mom," Col said. Abby looked at him again. "She really misses you, Connie."

"I told you, it's Luna now," Connie said.

"Seriously, Connie, we're all really sorry," Rat said. "Jane and Aneena ask about where you are every single day. It's starting to get hard to get them to think that you're going to a boarding school."

"Boarding school?" Connie asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"We had to come up with a story that they would believe, and your parents would be able to hear, too," Col said. "So we couldn't just say that you were sick, or that you had gone back to live with your parents."

"Oh," Connie said.

"But we really want you to come back to Hescombe," Col said quickly. "We all miss you-if we could take back what we said, I doubt that even a single person wouldn't jump at the chance. We're all sorry, Connie."

"Aw, that sounded sweet," Abby said.

"It's the truth, though," Rat said. "Seriously, Connie. Please?"

For a few seconds, a sad expression came on Connie's face, then it hardened again. "I thought I told you. My name is Luna now." She glanced at Abby. "Let's just get to the store faster to get back faster." With that, she turned and began to nearly run away.

Abby sighed, looking at Col and Rat, who both looked sad. "I'm sorry. That probably would've gone better if I hadn't spoken up."

"No," Col said. "That's just how much we destroyed her trust."

Abby smiled at him. "I bet that Luna will forgive you before long. But for now...let's get going!" She started to run. Col and Rat quickly followed her.

And that's it for this chapter! What did you think?

Wow, I didn't realize just how much time it took for me to write this chapter! And to think I'm still writing three other fanfictions…

I might end this fanfiction before too long-I'm thinking about three more chapters, maybe a few more, but still.

Until next time!

Lunetheart out.