I was thinking of waiting until the end of R2/the R2 grace period to post these, but as this month began I though, maybe if I get them done by my birthday I can post them on that day. And now here we are on the 6th, my birthday, and I have done them :) So, please enjoy this latest installment of little stories, starting with this one told entirely in dialogue.

As a fun bonus, look out for the mentions/references to other groups throughout these four stories!

"…oh."

"What? Why can't people just leave me alone?"

"I-I'm sorry?!"

"It's rude to look over people's shoulders like that. It's not as if I'm doing anything wrong, besides."

"I did not think you were, and I did not mean to intrude. I do apologise."

"Yes, well, leave me alone, I'm busy."

"Of course, but first-"

"What?"

"Look, I did not mean to intrude, and I apologise again. However, I could not help but see that you're talking to Princess Nemophila, and to Princess Cedar too, aren't you?"

"…you know them?"

"Yes, I do. I must admit, I do not know them well and I have not seen them for a long time, but…what's wrong, Selene-shi?"

"No, it's just…I haven't seen them in a long time, either. When we all first thought we might need to run, I thought of them first and we talked, in a voice chat, and they said yes."

"But you did not go there. "

"That's because this happened! And it keeps happening!"

"What does?"

"Oh my…you can't see it? The chat. They're on a voice chat, but they're not actually there. I keep saying their names over and over and trying to get them to hear me."

"They do not respond?"

"No, they haven't for a while, and that is why we ended up here instead. I couldn't be sure that they were actually there. Ares is still angry with me for that, for offering up a place and then snatching it away but this situation…it keeps happening, you know? I can't tear myself away from this, I have to keep logging in all the time, waiting to see if any of them will call and then waiting to hear if they answer. And here, it really is quiet, or rather it was quiet-"

"Then, I came. I really do apologise, I'll leave you to it…"

"No, wait, Wei."

"…why?"

"It's…it's not like it would make any difference. None of them are actually there. They look like they are, but I join the call and it's silent. No matter how quiet it is, they're silent. They're not there."

"That's not how a phone is supposed to work, is it?"

"No. Also, it's not about the phone, it's about the chat site. This isn't a phone call, for crying out loud."

"There's no need for that-I'm trying to listen to you."

"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry…"

"Apology accepted. I understand, it must be stressful. I hadn't thought of them for a while, and I feel guilty myself. Do you think something might have happened to them?"

"It's possible, isn't it?"

"Well, perhaps I could take you?"

"You…you know where they reside?"

"I remember, yes. It is a little out of way of my usual circuits, but we can go, just to see if they're there."

"I…that's…now?"

"We might as well. Let me just tell Arisa-shi "

…

"So…Wei, have you known them for a long time?"

"I would not say so. I did meet them a few times, in my wanderings. I was surprised to encounter them, beings other than us yokai but just as powerful, though differently so."

"Different, you think?"

"Well, sure. The power smells different. Theirs…it's green, fresh. Like wet grass, or a forest. Princess Cedar once said to me that I smelt warm, and orange. Fire and cinnamon, she said, though it's never made sense to me. Then there's you, you're a different thing all together."

"Yes, you're right about that, and thinking about it you and the others do have a smell that's warm and spiced, kind of orange-gold. But sorry, you were saying, about meeting them?"

"I was looking for a friend, a different friend who had disappeared from this life, and I couldn't quite believe it. Part of me thought that maybe, he had just actually disappeared, you know? Just vanished instead of…well, the point is that when I began that fruitless search I found myself straying too far and meeting them, instead, in that field by the statue. You know of the statue?"

"Yes. It was starting to wiggle its fingers!"

"Really? It had not got quite that far, the last time I saw it, but I could tell something was happening, and Princess Nemophila was so pleased."

"Yes. They were rather…I suppose you would call it emotionally invested in it all. But they were all such good friends together, I think that even if there was no statue they would have met each other and spent time in that field with the…oh, it's that way, not this."

"Yes, of course. I apologise. I wish I had gotten to know them better. But friendship was so new to me, back then. I was too busy looking at the world anew after meeting Nyo, you see. But you don't want to know about that, I'm sure. So tell me, how is it you became friends with them?"

"Truth be told, I knew them for a lot longer than I actually knew them."

"….I'm sorry, what does that mean?"

"You forget what I am, Wei. Or rather, what I'm supposed to be. Goddess of the moon?"

"Y-yes…?"

"Before I ended up in this body, when I was still just a goddess, wherever my moonbeams fell was where I would see. And without fail, every night, my moonbeams fell upon them. And of course, when I turned my attention to them, I could hear their singing. Their laughter. And I'd long since learnt that there's no sense in letting one's heart get attached to a mortal, because the last time I loved under the moonlight it ended…but I loved to watch them, nonetheless."

"And then?"

"And then…and then, I ended up in this body. And nothing made sense. Even before we had to run away for good, I myself used to wander. I needed to get away from it all. It felt too cruel-I was a being of the sky, I was the moon itself, you understand. And suddenly I was metal and silicone and whatever else I'm made of, feet on the ground? I had been at least part person-shaped, unlike poor Aether, but this body is a lot different to who I was before, believe me. And I knew that this was it, really, that I had to make the most of this life, whatever it was. But it was so damned hard, and to make it less so, I used to wander. And then I met them properly, trying to get the statue to move."

"And that's how you became friends?"

"Yes, that's how we became friends. I got them equipment, so they could record their findings and suchlike, and we used to keep it safe in this little cave that they used during the nights whenever they strayed past their barrier..."

"Yes, I know about their barrier, how their world is separated from this one. It was much the same with yokai, back in the human age. We were here, but we were not here. Did you not have your own realms too? Nora said something about 'Olympus'?"

"That child really is an expert on us, I'm impressed. It is a touch more complicated than that, but yes."

"Mhm. Oh, its here, isn't it, Selene-shi? Just across from there?"

"Yes! Let's….hey, are you there? Princess Raine? Verne? Horang?"

"Princess Nemophila? Princess Cedar? Come, Selene-shi, let's keep going. Keep calling out."

…

"We have been searching for a while, I don't think they are here."

"No, they have to be. They have to be somewhere, that, I mean…the statue is still here! It's still here!"

"Can we ask it?"

"I….I don't know. I don't think they got that far with it. But I'll try….did you see them? Do you know what happened?"

"Selene-shi, come on…it does not look as though it is working."

"Wait, the cave! Let's try the cave, come on….oh."

"What's wrong?"

"Wei, oh, Wei, it's…it's their things. Their…and those are their phones and they…"

"Selene-shi…"

"But, but it doesn't mean anything, right? They could just be…somewhere else?"

"Perhaps so, but perhaps they're really gone. Not just vanished, but-"

"No! Don't say that, don't say that! Don't, Wei."

"Selene-shi."

"No, I said not-"

"I'm not going to. But we need to go back. Arisa-shi will worry for us. But let us catch our breath for a moment, first. I trust that will suit you?"

…

"Wei, look!"

"What am I looking at?"

"They've come back on the chat! Look, see, there? That's a voice…wait, I'm going to try it…come on, dammit, connect!"

"But their phones are…actually, never mind."

"Hello? Hello? Guys, come on. Even if it's just one of you. Any of you? Come on, Verne. Horang, if it's you say something. Any of you, please, please say something."

"Um…hello? If you can hear, I don't know if you remember, but I am Wei. If you're safe, please do give us a sign."

"Yes, please do. Please say something. Please."

…

"Well, I am sorry that it did not come to anything. "

"No, it's fine. I wasn't sure if it would come to anything, really, but I had hoped…"

"No, I understand. What a weighted thing it is, hope. "

"You know about that, don't you? That friend of yours that you were telling me about. They died, didn't they? That's what you were trying to suggest happened."

"Yes. I know their kind are not yokai like us, but it stands to reason that something similar could be happening with their kind. So many have been lost and one day it may be one of us. It may be me. So I cannot pretend that there isn't a possibility that this is what happened to them."

"Well, I refuse to believe it. I refuse. Maybe they're not there when the chat turns on, but the fact it does at all means something! It does. And I'm going to believe in that."

"That is your prerogative. I did not mean to suggest you should give up on them completely. After all, are we not here to try and save ourselves?"

"…"

"Well, I'll leave you alone now, until we all gather for dinner."

"Wait, Wei!"

"…yes, Selene-shi?"

"I…I'm sorry about the friends you lost. And…"

"…?"

"And, thank you."