Get ready to get a "recap" of what happened before Layla and Whitney were even born...

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"You want to know something about MegaGirl?" I ask when we're alone.

"Sure," Whitney says, "you two are buddy-buddy, right? She wouldn't mind you telling me anything, would she?"

"As long as I don't," I say, "because she's me."

Whitney's eyes widen as she says, "You mean-"

"I defeated Taurus Inferno, the weird bull-creature Derek saw on the news," I say, "and I'm partnered with Omega-Xis to protect the Andromeda Key, which can activate a weapon that destroyed Omega-Xis' world."

I tell Whitney everything.

"Show me Omega-Xis, so I can know you're telling the truth," Whitney says.

I activate my TR and say, "All right, Omega-Xis, come out."

The monitor showing Omega-Xis appears as he says, "I was here the entire time, listening to you two gab. Don't act as though I'm not here."

"Wow," Whitney says, "Is…is he…physical?"

"Nope," Omega-Xis says, "I'm EM waves. Layla's physical, so that's how we beat Taurus that night."

"You mean…after you ditched Derek," Whitney says, "You simply fused and headed over to the football fields?"

I nod.

"Awesome," Whitney says, "Hey, can I trust you two with a secret?"

"Sure," Omega-Xis says.

Whitney stands up and says, "I'm not really like other Goths. That's why I eat alone. I want to become a singer and an actress, and act in films about the truth about this world. I practiced in here after telling a teacher I got tortured for my desire."

Whitney walks over to the blackboard and says, "The teachers said that Winslow Klindon, the man who started Garden Wake's school, was an actor before becoming a teacher. He told stories that were written and passed down across his family. I think the stories got distorted somewhere along the way."

"What were they?" Omega-Xis says.

"The main story was about a young girl," Whitney says, "who loved to sing. Her mother died of a terrible disease, and her father was already dead. Then a music studio offered her a job, to raise funds to live as a singer. She wrote songs, so she accepted. But…but they made her sing songs that simply advertised the world, nothing like what she wrote."

I look at the monitor with Omega-Xis.

Omega-Xis seems absorbed in this tale, as though he knew it himself.

"Then," Whitney says, drawing a harp, "one day, her desire came to life…literally. Her guitar soon had a spirit that spoke with the girl, told her to break free of those chains that the studio forced upon her. So she did. She used the spirit's power to put the entire town to sleep…except one."

"Who?" I ask.

"The exception was a boy who'd never heard the girl sing," Whitney says, drawing a star, "and he wore a golden star around his neck. He used his spirit's powers to force the girl into a corner…and then he told her he knew what it was like to lose someone, and then recover. The girl was touched; never before had she heard anyone tell her that they understood the pain she felt daily."

Whitney's eyes narrow as she says, "The girl's spirit knew that the boy's spirit was a 'criminal' spirit, a so-called evil spirit. The girl's spirit tried to lie, that the boy could never understand her pain…but the girl said that she knew the boy was telling the truth, and that the spirits had nothing to do with her pain."

"What happened to the girl's spirit?" I ask.

"It stayed with her," Whitney says, drawing a bridge between the harp and the star, "because it had developed a bond with her. Soon after, the boy was called to save the world, and he and his spirit told the girl good-bye. The boy and his spirit were never seen again. The girl lived into old age, living normally outside…but suffering because she loved the boy so much."

Whitney lowers her head and says, "Most of the stories Klindon told involved these sort of spirits."

"They're not spirits," Omega-Xis says.

Whitney and I turn to Omega-Xis.

"The boy's spirit?" Omega-Xis says, "That was me. The boy was my old partner. The girl's spirit was Lyra, and the girl was Lyra's partner."

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Gasp! Omega-Xis reveals the truth, and Layla and Whitney are bound on a higher level!