Furret Abigail had never met or even known anyone in the Nightlight Council. Their powers balanced out the Overlord's. At their own discretion, they could vote on the Overlord's actions and veto proposals. They could also present ideas that the Overlord could veto. Each one of them lorded over a certain area of what the Nightlight Association offered: infrastructure, research, and most notably, crime. During today's meeting, all of them would be present.

Next to her in the elevator going up, Victini Anne stood with her arms folded behind her back. Abigail would be relying on her expertise when it came to this. Whenever she glanced at her face, Anne responded with a warm stare. Abigail got the feeling she knew she was counting on her.

The elevator doors opened to a wide, open room; much larger than Abigail expected. It took up the entire floor, which could've been half a mile long. Windows lined the walls side by side and displayed the morning city skyline. Walking out of the elevator, she had a three-sixty view around the tower.

Towards the center of the room, a wide circle of cushions had been laid out on the metal floor. Pokemon of all different species sat on them. Abigail followed Anne as she gravitated towards a short, wood stand with the Nightlight insignia of Lugia's wings embedded on the front. She stopped behind her in a poor attempt to hide behind the stand, even though it couldn't reach up to her chest. The height was clearly meant for Anne.

Abigail took a tally of the Council members; seven in total. Surrounding the stand, an Azumarill, Swellow, Roserade, Braviary, Maractus, Boltund, and Ducklett stared somewhere between her and Anne.

"Good morning," Anne greeted. "Did everyone watch the footage from the altercation last night?"

Decisive nods paralleled Anne's.

"Alright," said Anne. "I'll be presenting their profiles in order. First, Jayden."

Abigail flinched. Light shot up from the floor. She looked up and realized a small projector hung over their heads. It cast an image of an Ambipom in the circle their seats formed. In the picture, he threw one of his tails close towards the camera with a deep, focused scowl.

"Thanks to information from Zen, we now know he's a Leonidas," said Anne. "For those unaware, King Leonidas Verity died at age nineteen when his own anger essentially tore apart his own body. He had several children that were lost out to time, so random Veritan citizens sometimes have his mutation of the Veritan blessing. They burn through energy quickly. The gene can skip generations, so it's nearly impossible to track it down. Engagement with him will cause a lot of collateral damage."

The photo changed to a Jolteon walking down the street, glancing around herself.

"Sarah Murrow," said Anne. "She used to be an explorer, formerly with the Wayfarer Guild many years ago, as are all of Abigail's teachers, her mother included. She practices a lot of standard Valorian fighting styles."

The photo changed to a Melloetta floating in the night sky.

"Yen Fay," Anne sighed. "She's very… resilient. She uses her hands as bells, for lack of a better word. The extra vibrations are… annoying when they make impact…"

The photo changed to a picture of a Musharna on the ground. Abigail noticed Zen's wound back foot in the picture.

"Laurence Woods," said Anne. "She's not much of a fighter, but her sleeping attacks can overpower most defenses and are extremely damaging to mental health. We should try to keep multiple hands on deck when she's involved."

The photo changed to a Marshadow standing in front of a wall of flames. Abigail realized the picture came from the camera on her tiara.

"Joshua Mires," Anne said quietly. "Looking at his previous records, he's capable of much more than we saw last night. We need to approach him with caution. He's dangerous."

The last photo came up. Abigail choked up and glanced away.

"Jessie Frisk…" said Anne, nearly whispering. "She has Sacred Treasure Lobera, so her danger level is outside the scope of what most of the Nightlight Association can legally engage with in combat. Only myself and Yellow Clan have legal clearance, and our attacks were useless... At this point, we currently consider her- for lack of a better word-invincible. Because we have no countermeasures, we are assuming she has not attacked the N.A. to try and take the orb due to... motivational reasons."

Anne glanced towards Abigail as the projector cut out. "Following this meeting," she continued, "footage and full knowledge of all the events of last night will be made public, including Zen's kidnapping and the fact that he along with Aaron Valor and Gawain Acuity were hurt during the altercation."

Abigail leaned close to Anne. "Can I step away for a second?"

Anne whispered back, "Sure. Go ahead."

Furret Abigail's paws were covered with sweat and clamming up. She almost tripped over her own feet on her way to the window. In the slight reflection, she noticed the Maractus stand up, shared a glance with Anne, then walked in her direction. Abigail tried to keep herself together as she walked over. She wiped her eyes as she turned around.

"Abigail," Maractus said, "it's not your fault."

"I'm sorry," she said. "But it is, partly. If I had just fought by myself-"

"You fought admirably, and against people it'd be hardest against. This is a problem for us because we failed."

The elevator doors opened. Unlike on other floors, it drew everyone's attention, Abigail's included.

Floatzel Zen, shiny Zoroark Aaron, and Quilava Gawain walked out side by side. White bandages focused around their faces and limbs didn't stop their usual expressions: Zen and Aaron smiled while Gawain stared ahead blankly. Sunlight that poured through the windows highlighted their unkempt fur.

"What are you three doing up?" Anne asked.

"We came to help," said Zen. "We've had worse bandages from training. Don't blow it out of proportion just because of our last names."

Aaron shared a glance with Abigail, confident as ever. She relaxed, but wondered what he was up to.

"Let's talk strategy," said Zen. "We were out on the field, so we learned a lot about their dynamics. Would you mind if we offered up our knowledge, too?"

"Alright," said Anne. "Come forward."

Abigail found herself drawn closer to listen in. Maractus passed her a short nod and walked back over to her seat.

"Lots of people may be alarmed," said Zen, walking forward to the stand, "but there's little danger to civilians from most of them. All of their focus is on the N.A. I'm not saying that sugarcoating the situation will help that much, but the full truth might be less terrifying. I also have the idea that we should probably just avoid Jessie Frisk."

"Jessie Frisk poses a threat," a Swellow raised his voice. "We can't just avoid her."

"There's a reason. Jessie actually keeps Jayden under control."

Zen raised his arms in Abigail's direction. She nearly flinched at the gesture.

"Remember when Abigail was kidnapped?" Zen asked. "Well, Jayden had about a dozen bruises that were finishing up healing when I fought with him."

"You suspect Jessie was 'punishing' him for hurting the Lodestar?" asked Braviary.

"Yah," he pointed at him," I think that's exactly what happened. She might be the only thing keeping him from more violent crimes. If we pull that thread, it might come undone. We at least need to take down Jayden, first. And then, split our attention between them and those orbs."

"This is why we have a little proposition," Aaron spoke up. "Jessie's not willing to hurt Abigail, or, well, at least that much. She still has her head on straight... sort of. So to make her back off the N.A... we could make Abigail the Overlord."

No one turned to see Abigail's face flinch back as if someone slapped her. She didn't ever dream becoming the Overlord would go this way.

"I agree that makes sense," a Ducklett replied. "But this isn't a plan to take lightly. If we're going with this, everyone needs to be on board. Abigail might make a fine Overlord, but this intertwines a personal problem and work. It won't be fun. Even just being the Overlord is a hellish job."

Abigail didn't know what her answer would be. Luckily, no one stared at her expecting one.

"Let's wrap up for now," Ducklett continued. "If you've put all suggestions on the table, your majesties, we will individually think and consider them."

"That's all from us," said Zen. "Is that everything?"

"Not quite."

Braviary stood up from his cushion, garnering attention.

"I'd like to offer up a small report that we just created," he said. "We've determined that those 'orbs' Jessie mentioned were stolen by organized crime units during the several week period leading up to the Royal Parade. We suspect that information about this 'knight' was leaked to them somehow beforehand. Because all of them want all six, we are convinced that all of them are still in the city. We will be adding this report to the information released after this meeting."

"Thank you, Vivian," said Anne. "Are there any other additions?" Anne waited for a moment. "Alright, the meeting is adjourned. We will have another short meeting in the evening to confirm our course of action. Thank you."

As the council members stood up and gravitated towards the elevator, Furret Abigail approached Floatzel Zen, Zoroark Aaron, and Quilava Gawain. An invisible weight leaned on her shoulders. They offered a hint of warmth from their gazes.

"It's just a suggestion," said Zen, "you don't have to go through with it. It would probably just change their primary targets to be the same as ours."

"I… thanks," she said. "I don't know, but thanks."

"Don't thank us yet. Our parents are letting us help you out, and not just by sitting behind a computer screen."

"What do you mean?"

"They're pretty pissed," said Aaron, "but, honestly, after this footage releases, us royals are about to look really good putting ourselves on the line. Our parents gave us permission to pull a 'you' and fling ourselves out of the building right to the action."

"Like… as Nightlights?" she asked.

"Yah. Like as Nightlights. Only catch is: only one of us can go at a time to keep the danger level low, so you get to call the shots on which one of us goes."

"We're behind you," said Gawain. "And not just figuratively. Whatever you choose, we'll literally be right there."

"After what they said," Zen added, "we're concerned and ready to act, too."

A smile rose on Abigail's face. "It really means a lot. Thanks."

"Did you already eat breakfast?" asked Zen.

"Yah, I did."

"Cool," said Aaron, "then do you want to go to the training floor? You could train with us."

Zen and Gawain flashed Aaron a bit of anger. Aaron glanced between them.

"What?" he asked. "If Abigail trains with us, we can help her better in the future. If she becomes the Overlord, things could get crazy. We'll need to be ready."

"I mean…" Zen huffed, "dude…"

"It's fine," said Abigail. "So there's no pressure from you guys poking at each other, how about I do one on one training for a little bit with each of you?"

Zen's deep blue eyes sparkled. He scratched his arm with his lip furled and glanced away.

"Sure," said Gawain. "I'll go first."

"I'll… go second," Zen added.

"Third," Aaron nodded. "Smart idea. We'll show you what we can do individually, so you know who to call when."

Zoroark Aaron turned around. Victini Anne blinked and paused as she floated past in the direction of the elevator. She stared back at him.

"Wanna come?" he asked.

"Oh, I can't today," she answered. "But tomorrow, or sometime soon."

"Alright. Mind if we catch the elevator with you?"

"Sure."

One by one, the group left Furret Abigail and Quilava Gawain alone in the elevator. Gawain had never been much for small talk, but the short ride didn't give it the opportunity to become awkward.

The training floor confused Abigail; it looked exactly the same as the meeting room with the exception of the stand and cushions. The metal floor, walls made out of one-way glass, and huge open space made her think they ended up on the same floor by mistake. Gawain walking past her told her otherwise.

Abigail followed him out. Morning sunlight poured through one side of the building. It grew brighter by the minute outside.

"I have a lot of power," said Gawain, "especially with fire type moves, but I'm not skilled with them. Some of my long range attacks are probably stronger than yours, but I don't have the stamina to keep up in a real fight. You can think of me as a sort of supplement to your weakness with long range."

"Oh… Alright."

Gawain was blunt; quiet enough to hide it well, but Abigail understood enough to know. Her weakness at long range attacks annoyed her to no end, so hearing him mention it touched a nerve. She didn't blame him for it, though.

She stood back as Gawain revved up the flames around his body. He fired small flamethrowers and embers with satisfactory precision and form.

As the flames grew larger than her, a tinge of jealousy caused Abigail's paws to clench as she folded her arms and watched. The flamethrowers kept growing, along with the distance she kept away from him to keep from sweating.

Just when she figured Gawain had a miniature sun in his stomach, he fell over panting and gasping for air. Sweat glimmered on his forehead until he wiped it away and sat down on the floor. Abigail walked over to make sure he was okay.

"I hope you got a good…" Gawain breathed in, "judgement of my… stamina."

"I did," she said. "Are you alright?"

"Yah… Say, we should practice long range attacks sometime."

Abigail smiled and kneeled down in front of him. "Oh trust me, I've tried. It's just… It never works out. I mean, even my teachers couldn't help too much."

"I have free time after classes. I'll do some research, call some people. You're strong, Abigail. Don't get discouraged. You're probably just psyching yourself out."

Gawain's blunt nature made it more meaningful. Abigail felt a small flame ignite in her chest.

"That would be nice," she said, "I appreciate it."

Gawain smiled. Abigail turned away before its warmth reached her face. She pushed herself up. Gawain copied her.

"I'll call for Zen," he said. "Do you want to have lunch with us today?"

"Oh, yah," she said. "Sure."

"Alright. See you then."

"Uh, yah. See you."

Gawain kept smiling as he turned to the elevator. Abigail stayed locked in place until the doors closed on him. Pressure lifted from the air.

Gawain intimidated her. He seemed smart at figuring people out, but Abigail couldn't read him at all. His smiles came out as formalities instead of from emotions. She thought about asking his father about how to talk to him.

With nothing to do while she waited, Abigail walked to the only object of interest: a window. She breathed out warm air on the window and fogged it up. After four breaths, she drew a random picture of a pig. It happened to be at the top of her head.

In the middle of drawing, she got stuck between drawing a spiral tail or straight tail for the pig. After a minute, she decided on spiral.

"So."

Abigail jumped. Zen had walked into the room without her knowing. She got too deep into drawing to realize. Zen had a gloating smirk from catching her in the act. She wiped her tail across the glass and put on a confused face in a last attempt to pretend she wasn't doing anything.

"Easily in the top five cutest things I've seen you do," he said, clapping. "Bravo."

Zen maintained eye contact as he turned around and walked towards the center of the room. After a moment, Abigail followed.

"I'm not great at fighting," Zen admitted, "but, I can take a lot of punishment.'

Abigail shook her head and re-focused.

"I've done a lot of practice with slugfests," he said. "My long range attacks are okay. I guess to sum it up, I'm just sort of well-rounded. Not too great, though."

"You helped with Jayden," she mentioned. "I mean, you took hits like champ back there. But, you got pretty hurt."

"Most of my bruises are gone. I don't even need these bandages anymore."

Zen whipped around and raised his arms. Abigail shrunk back. Even if he didn't need the bandages, it didn't feel right.

"Trust me, I'm good," he said. "No hard feelings about a little practice, okay?"

"I don't want to-"

"You've got to see what I can do, too. Otherwise, you won't have enough confidence to call me when you need me."

Abigail sighed. She caved in and raised her arms, planning to use all the non-painful techniques of subduing him. In a real scenario, it wouldn't be ideal. Muscles and a touch of fat covered him from head to toe.

Zen walked forward. A sway in his step sharpened Abigail's focus through intimidation. She watched his arm pull back in slow motion and fly. His odd, slow timing forced her to guard.

Abigail's arms stung from the blow. He hit as hard as Joshua. She took steps back to realign. Zen quickened his pace forward. His shift of weight onto his right leg betrayed his intentions. Abigail ducked flat against the ground under a kick. She spun herself around to whip her tail around his leg. His stance was too strong to pull and trip him.

Zen's other leg hit the floor. He went for another punch. Abigail swayed her head back and forth to dodge, then grabbed his chest. Combined with her tail around his leg, she yanked him off balance. Zen fell on his back.

Abigail raised her paw over his face. His arms were free, but he wasn't in a good position to defend. She didn't punch him. Zen stared back with wide, surprised eyes. She wondered where they came from.

Zen's muscles rippled under her grip. His bright fangs and gorgeous, dark blue eyes highlighted each other.

"I, uh, surrender," he said weakly.

Abigail snapped back to reality. She uncurled her tail and jumped off of him. His face relaxed as he stood up. She shook off her nerves, hopefully before the Veritan blessing let him see through them.

"Well, I would've been fine with it," he said, " but thanks for not beating me to a pulp. I'll keep training so I can help out more."

Abigail smiled. "Thanks, Zen."

"Don't mention it."

Floatzel Zen walked past her towards the elevator. Furret Abigail watched him as the elevator doors closed.

For a solid minute, Abigail stood idle and danced in her daydreams. In the brief moment she snapped out of it, she raced to the mirror and checked her reflection.

Her fur stood up in random places as if she got run over by a carriage. She licked her paws and smoothed it down as fast as she could before Aaron would get there. Once satisfied, she turned around and waited in front of the elevator, then daydreamed about Zen again.

The elevator doors pulled Abigail's focus back together. Zoroark Aaron smiled as the door opened. She smiled back.

"Hey," said Aaron. "Did Zen try and show off?"

Abigail laughed and glanced down at the floor as she turned around. "Uh, well, I wouldn't say that…"

Aaron walked past her further into the room. She followed next to him.

"He's always been a bit of a show off," he said. "I'm just glad I'm not alone in seeing it anymore ever since he evolved. Probably don't have the first-hand experience that you do, though."

Abigail tried to play it off. "Not sure whatcha mean. He's still plenty nice." She dipped her head low and traced her paw across her forehead.

"Guess I should be more honest, too."

Aaron's smile fell lower than usual. She homed in on his yellow eyes.

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

"I haven't been one-hundred percent honest with you," he admitted. "But now that everything's on the line, I have to show you."

Sunlight erupted in Abigail's eyes. She closed and shaded them for a moment, then it settled.

In a blink, a field of grass and wildflowers appeared under her feet. The blue sky stretched over hills, valleys, and distant rivers. Aaron stood the same distance away from her, smiling brighter as her reaction unfolded.

"I'm much better at illusions than I said I was," he said. "I just pretend I'm not cause I'm worried it'll make people afraid of me. But making illusions is sort of like a hobby of mine."

Abigail stared in awe. She smelled the crisp air, tasted the scent of wildflowers, and felt the soft curtain of grass beneath her feet. His illusion reached every single one of her senses. Wind even appeared to push at her fur and tail.

"This is incredible," she breathed. "I've never seen or heard of anything like this."

Aaron smirked. "It's kind of like painting, at least, I think. When I heard you missed home, I practiced this one for you." Aaron paced around in place. "I couldn't really wrap my head around not being home. I mean, I've been in Valor my whole life. So, I wanted to try and be able to almost bring you back. So, let me know if you want to go home, Abigail."

Aaron pulled on her heartstrings. Something on her face made him walk forward with his arms out. She threw herself into a hug. His warm fur and strong arms lent her comfort she hadn't had in a long time. She reached her paw against his chest and dried off the tears from her eyes. Aaron stared down at her. His smile faded.

Aaron closed his eyes as he kissed her. Abigail gasped. She clawed at his fur and trembled. Her tail coiled and tightened around his waist. Aaron pulled back and set her down gently.

The soft grass turned back into metal under her feet. He pulled away slowly and rotated his neck. His prideful smirk made him look taller.

"Other than that," he said, "I'm pretty much on par with a usual arena competitor. My illusions can work on multiple enemies, but they're better when they're small ones. Otherwise, it'll be obvious to them that something's going on, especially if they see me enter the field. Since I'm so good at them, I'll leave it up to you on what I should do. Otherwise, I'll try and help on my own."

"O-okay…"

"I didn't accidentally bite your tongue, right? I mean, it was an impulse thing. I didn't look up how to do it before."

At first, Abigail wanted to roll up into a ball and stay there. A giggle seeped out of her mouth. Her shoulders fell.

"Want to see my pride and joy?" he asked.

Aaron walked forward and reached out his claw. He poked her nose, closed his hand, and took a step back.

"Got your nose."

Abigail felt her face with her paw, then both. She squealed. The second after, she felt it again. Aaron's head bobbed up and down as he laughed.

"Zen hates that one," he reminisced.

"How do you do that?" she asked. "I mean, how do your illusions affect, like, taste and smell?"

"Well, it's not just vision. I practice illusions for all the senses. And, as creepy as it is, that includes pain. I can use it to stop large groups in their tracks, but it won't work on people like you."

"Like me?"

"Strong," he said. "Someone who sees reality for what it is. Strong-hearted people can see through it. So, unfortunately, I don't think I'll be much help against your old teachers. Or Jayden. When it does work, though, they're down for the count. But since it's unreliable, so am I…"

This must've been the first time Aaron ever looked down on himself in front of Abigail. Before she could figure out what to say, his face lifted again.

"It's alright," he said. "I'll get stronger. And short, small illusions are useful in combat against anyone. Also, they're funny."

Abigail blinked. Flat, white clouds popped into existence above Aaron's head as he traced his chin with a thinking face. Inside the final, large cloud floating over his head, an image of a sharp knife manifested. Aaron grabbed the knife out of the thought bubble and threw it at the window. It caught fire in mid air and phased through it.

Giggles broke Abigail's posture down.

"What?" he asked. "You never watched Tom and Jerry?"

"I don't think..." she laughed, "they'll fall for you pulling a knife out of your own thought bubble… like some comic book."

"You'd be surprised what people flinch from. But hey, I showed you just about everything."

Abigail didn't know what to say next. Both Zen and Gawain were good at their specialties, but Aaron's illusions could have limitless usage. She understood why he was worried people would be afraid.

"I'm sorry I lied to you," said Aaron. "When people know, they just assume I'll… I don't even know."

"You're not obligated to tell me everything about you, Aaron," she said. "I'm really grateful you decided to share."

"Well, just so you know, we're all behind whatever you choose to do. I'm not the only one willing to go the extra mile."

Abigail fully settled. She shared a smile with Aaron for a short moment.

"Ready to get lunch?" he asked.

"Yah."

In the middle of turning around to the elevator, Aaron raised a claw to his mouth and kept staring at her.

"And don't worry," he added. "I don't kiss and tell. Won't stop you from bragging about it, though."

Abigail forgot she even kissed him. Her face reheated.

"Don't freeze up like a deer in the headlights. We don't want your pizza going cold."

Abigail's ears rose. "Pizza?"

"This one has five different cheeses on it."

Abigail hopped into a small jog.

Furret Abigail spent time with Quilava Gawain, Floatzel Zen, and Zoroark Aaron in her room. After they each took a slice, Abigail hogged the rest laying on the edge of her bed. The others took to a small couch in front of her TV. The mid-morning sun glided across their fur and fell on the floor. Warm air outside made her lazy. She flopped her tail back and forth to catch cool air when it got too hot.

"Hey Abigail," said Zen, "do you want to check the news?"

Abigail swallowed and cleared her throat before speaking. "You mean watch a worldwide reaction montage of everyone seeing my mother process grief by planning to destroy half of the continent?"

"Yah."

"Sure. Why not? It's not like my mental state can dig under bedrock..."

Quilava Gawain picked up the remote and turned the TV on. Abigail forgot he sucked at sarcasm.

A Dwebble curling his lips into an oval appeared on the screen. Footage appeared on the right towards where his eyes pointed.

"It's like I'm watching anime," Dwebble said. "I didn't even know Sacred Treasures blew up shit. How did our history textbooks make them boring?"

"School can make everything boring," Aaron scoffed. "I'm so lucky I was homeschooled."

"We get the interesting stuff," said Zen. "We knew Sacred Treasures blow up buildings in single swings. So, basically, the same thing but not sugar coated."

Abigail wanted to eat something sweet since Zen sort of mentioned it.

Gawain changed the channel. The screen changed to another news station with a Yamper making the exact same face. It seemed more official, so he was speechless.

Aaron puffed out a breath of air out of his nose and smiled. "I found a meme. It's really bad, but, like."

"Dude…" said Zen. "Maybe not?"

Abigail's phone vibrated. Aaron glanced between her and Zen.

She didn't mind that much. She snagged her phone and checked the text message he sent her.

It was an edited picture from her tiara's feed. Her mother's brown leather cape changed to black, and she had a small control panel on her chest. The sword Lobera had been replaced with a red lightsaber. A smirk seeped out of Abigail's lips. She looked up and stared at Aaron.

"Right?" he asked.

"Yah," she nodded. "Yah, I respect it."

Gawain changed the channel again. A Roserade came on screen.

Unlike every other station, it didn't have flames and Abigail's first-person view. Next to Roserade's face, the channel showed a still picture of a gray and white Flareon with blue and white eyes standing next to an Umbreon. In his paws, Flareon held up a silver, blunt sword with no tip. Abigail perked up and met Zen and Aaron's glances.

"Is that Courtain?" asked Abigail.

Zen took a second to respond. "Uh yah. I… That's… Courtain."

"And they revealed the blessing," Aaron added. "Two missing Sacred Treasures, found within hours. This is by far the craziest news day ever."

"And Pangu was stolen," said Gawain, looking over the top of the couch. "From Lao Shen. That was recent news, too."

Abigail frowned. "I wish I had Courtain."

"Given how strong you are," said Zen, "Ange- Light might need it more."

Abigail sunk back down on her bed. The Keldeo's horn disappeared as fast as it came. She assumed Luke brought it, but she couldn't rely on it. He didn't even reply to text messages or calls anymore all of a sudden. She'd need something to at least handle Lobera's strikes in the future.

"My back hurts," she said.

"I gotcha."

"I'll-"

Zoroark Aaron and Floatzel Zen stood up at the same time. They held eye contact with wide eyes and plain expressions. Abigail tensed.

"I saw you kiss," Aaron said quietly. "Just had to sit awkwardly in the restaurant when the waiter swung by and noticed. By far the worst part about it. Let me get my time."

"I know you kissed her earlier," said Zen. "Could feel it. Didn't even use the blessing. It was all over her face."

"Well… It can't stay even forever."

"It's not even."

Abigail couldn't believe that they both knew they kissed her. They didn't even glance in her direction as they said it. She thought they'd be mad at her, not each other.

"My back feels fine, actually," Abigail heaved. "So… yah…"

"With the Veritan blessing, I know what she wants," Zen argued. "Around the clock. And she wants me."

"That's a big load of bull," said Aaron. "Even for you."

Gawain raises his paw over the back of the couch. "I'll just do it so you can dramatically kill each other another day. Besides, I studied after the spa."

"Why'd you do that?" asked Abigail.

"They helped you when you were in pain, so I want to do that too. Also, my wrists hurt a lot."

Aaron and Zen glanced at each other. They sat down as Quilava Gawain walked over to Abigail. He bounded on the side of the bed behind her.

Abigail had a clearish view of him in her peripheral vision. Gawain breathed small plumes of fire over his paws and rubbed them together.

"So, Abigail," said Zen. "How do you feel about becoming the Overlord?"

"I could handle it," she said, "but, it feels, just, so wrong… Like the- hah."

Abigail squeaked. Her ears and head drooped down. It felt like a blocked river in her back started flowing again.

"You know, if your back keeps getting hit with all the tension when you battle, it could be a training thing," Gawain said. "You should probably do some kind of meditation on focusing the energy around your whole body instead of where it's tending to go."

Abigail mumbled gibberish. Gawain might've said something back, but it fell on deaf ears for the next three minutes.

Once Gawain pulled away, Abigail stretched. She sighed as her tail fluttered.

"Thanks Gawain…" she said. "Yah, I should try and change that habit."

"Well," he said, "whether you get to it or not, I've got you anyways."

"Thanks. I- what."

Gawain smooched her cheek. Blood rushed to Abigail's face as he hopped down. Floatzel Zen and Zoroark Aaron eyed him as he flopped back on the couch. It took him a short moment to notice, but he did.

"What?" Gawain asked. "Now it's even. We've all kissed Abigail."

"But why," Zen said, flabbergasted.

"You two are trying to beat each other out in a game of scoring points. Kissing someone isn't impressive, caring for them is. Now you can get off of your high horses."

Gawain raised his slice of pizza to his mouth. The drop of cheese melted off and landed on his chest. He looked down and sighed.

"Every single time," he growled. "Damn... it..."

"I'm gonna go get some air," said Aaron. "My dad wants to talk with me in person, but he can't leave the castle unattended right now. People keep knocking at the gate asking where the psychopath with the super sword is. Uh!" Aaron's eyes fluttered around. "No offense, Abigail…"

"It's fine," she said. "I'm gonna go down a few floors. I've been meaning to visit somewhere."

"Well get out of your fur then," Zen said. "Just text us if you want anything."

"Thanks."

Gawain turned off the TV. They all took their plates with them out as they walked out the door. Abigail shared goodbyes with each of them.

Abigail's face fell into a neutral state. She lied on her back and stared up at the a while, she pushed up to her feet and walked out the door.

The morning activity of everyone on her floor going to work had ended. Abigail sauntered by herself in the direction of the elevator, slowed by a full stomach. She waited for a few minutes in front of the large, cylindrical elevator doors.

Per usual, the elevator was empty by the time it reached up to her floor. Furret Abigail walked in and selected the floor she wanted. Seconds later, the doors shut and the elevator moved down. She stared down at the Nightlight insignia of Lugia's wings on the floor until it stopped moving.

The prison floor greeted her with a different layout than the rest. An older Dartrix sat behind a short, metal desk right as she got out of the elevator. A heavy black metal door the size of a Snorlax's belly loomed over him with the Nightlight insignia. The creeping darkness in the room's corners fit her vision of it she had been playing up for years.

Unlike a jail, hardly anyone occupied it except for a select few that were considered too dangerous for normal prisons. Being in the heart of the Nightlight Association's tower made it a tall order for any prison break. For some reason, they considered her dad worthy of it.

"Miss Lodestar," said Dartrix. "I was wondering when you'd stop by."

"Uh, hello," Abigail said, walking forward. "Was I expected?"

"Somewhat. I anticipated you might want to see your father's cell. You may follow me."

Dartrix flew up and pushed against the door. The metal was thinner than Abigail thought it would be. The creak as it opened scratched her ears.

The door opened up to two hallways on the left and right. Abigail followed Dartix to the right. The sliver of metal bars she saw were covered by black tarps, and likely empty.

"Your father had a small fever," Dartrix said. "I tried to get the hospital to take him, but they refused since his body temperature wasn't over a certain percentage threshold. It worsened in the night, and by the time morning came, they couldn't help him anymore."

"I… heard some version of that," Abigail whispered.

All of a sudden, Dartrix stopped. Furret Abigail's heartbeat spiked when he flew up to a black tarp and began to pull it back. The wind from his wings pushed her fur into her eyes. She closed them and pulled the fur back. Dartix flipped a small switch and shed light on the inside.

Abigail didn't see a bed, just a flat, dirty blanket on the concrete floor. Thick, black wires connected bands to balls of metal. Metal chains caught the ceiling light and bounced it back in her eyes.

"All of those are used for procedures," Dartix explained. "So, for walking outside, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we'd often use methods of suppressing-"

Abigail clutched her chest and gasped for air. Dartix stopped and swooped down next to her.

"Miss Lodestar?" he asked.

Abigail turned away. "Sorry…! I... don't... feel well."

"I'm… I'm sorry. I don't want to speak out of turn, but I talked with him often. You meant the world to him, and he didn't deserve to be in here."

"What do you think he would say about me becoming the Overlord?"

"He always trusted that something good would come out of his suffering here. I think you would be what he was waiting for."

"But if I did," she said, "I could end up… putting my mom in here."

"It's not too late," he warned. "Legally, she could still be cleared if you pardoned her. The sooner you stop her, the better chance you have. You're her daughter. You're the only one who could hope to get through to them. If you really can become the Overlord, you should. Not because of some duty, but because you still have a family left. And they need you."

Abigail turned and faced Dartrix once she pulled her face together. "What if I can't help them in time?"

"Try," he pleaded with wide eyes. "It's not over yet."

Abigail thought it over. At this point, she didn't want to be the Overlord. Putting her mom in front of herself, though, she had to be for there to be a chance. She'd be willing to do it for that.

"Thank you," she said. "I… think I know what I have to do to make what I want happen."

"Right," Datrix said. "Good luck."

Furret Abigail texted Anne her answer, kickstarting a long process of paperwork from each and every Council member. She laid back on her bed as it happened.

Minutes later, she was officially the youngest Overlord the N.A.'s ever had. The minimum age requirement was eighteen, but they superseded that rule and let her take the position a year before allowed. Once the process finished, Abigail stared up at her ceiling and sighed. Overlords managed the whole N.A. on a grand scale. She could micromanage any aspect, but was only required to direct large scale occurrences.

Now that she became Overlord, dealing with the media and speaking for the N.A. were problems she had to deal with. As she thought about it, her phone underwent updates, giving her permissions to call press and Council meetings. She'd probably have to call for both soon.

Once her phone finished updating, Abigail checked her new schedule. Nothing had been put on it today, but she had a few things for tomorrow. Tomorrow, she'd meet with Braviary Vivian, the Council member who deals with law enforcement, for a strategy meeting. After, a short meet and greet with master ranks she assumed she'd be working with. After all that, she'd have a press meeting.

For today, Abigail stared up at the ceiling and thought about the huge mistake she could've just made.

She shook her head and stopped herself from thinking like that. It had to be done. They needed her to.