D.J. Evermore was at a bit of a loss. He still had no idea what he should do about the apparently soul-less Rocinante Flugslys, and the young man's little outburst against a fellow student left the Soul Seer all the more worried about him.

Was it justified? Well-

He shook his head furiously. No. No matter the circumstances, there was nothing that justified what Rocinante had done. D.J. could understand why he did it, and would be lying if he said that it wasn't a rather ironic retaliation, but no. He just couldn't allow himself to look past actions like that. No matter if it was "deserved" or not. He couldn't let himself start thinking like that. No one deserved to be treated like that.

Even Aurelio, with his murky dark red aura (just one more thing on the young professors plate), didn't need to be publicly humiliated like that. Often times those with red auras didn't take well to such indignity. Usually going after the ones responsible with a frightening degree of zeal. Hopefully the man would instead keep his distance and leave Rocinante (And, oh yeah! His evil boyfriend! That's still a thing!) alone from now on, and everyone could avoid another messy situation like what had happened between them.

D.J. lightly chuckled. The way things were looking, messy situations seemed unavoidable. Too many wild cards too close for comfort. The soulless, the black soul, the darkened soul; to call it a recipe for disaster was putting it lightly. What happened a few days ago felt like just a prelude, just a sample of what was coming. What would Rocinante go on to do if provoked again? Did Black Hat's dark soul have something to do with Rocinante's absent one? Could Aurelio be saved? Could D.J., or anyone for that matter, get through to him and get him to change his ways before his aura went completely black? Before he was too far gone?

Could someone do for him what D.J. couldn't do for-

"Señor Evermore?" The receptionist called out before opening the door. D.J. looked up from the desk he'd been hanging his head on. "Tu...hermana esta aqui."

"Gracias." He said, standing. "Dejála entrar."

The receptionist, Clarissa or something like that, stood aside and let pass a woman with a light tan and honey blonde hair. She was about 5' 6", a bit shorter than him, with striking blue eyes. A real contrast to D.J.'s fair skin, inky black hair, and hazel eyes.

But that soft olive glow of her aura was unmistakably his sisters.

The blonde paid no notice to the odd looks of the receptionist. "D.J., how's my sweet little baby brother?" She asked as she rushed him into a fierce hug.

"Hi Europa." He wheezed out. "I'm doing good."

Clarissa or something gave them one last questioning look before shutting the door on her way out. Not surprising, they were kind of used to that first little moment of disbelief when people realized the blonde with blue eyes was part of their lily-white skinned raven-haired family. Some people thought she was adopted, or just wore colored contacts and dyed her hair. And actually went outside, while the rest of them locked themselves away from the sun like vampires.

None of those were the case. Europa was his biological older sister who did not use any sort of cosmetic products. Well, none that D.J. had ever been able to notice.

She was also a triplet.

The Evermore triplets; Europa, Violet, and Kathleen (a.k.a. Kitten), all had Gifts related to projection. Europa specifically had the ability to project an alternate image of herself to other people, making her appearance inconsistent to say the least.

The blonde hair and blue eyes were her preferred appearance, though she had dabbled in less aryan features in the past. A lot of people didn't like when she projected herself to be of a different ethnicity, finding it a bit...distasteful...but no one could argue that it didn't have it's uses. And she'd been lucky enough to find a career that allowed her to use her Gift to its fullest potential while still providing a decent degree of safety.

And before anyone asks, no, she could not make herself appear to be anything inhuman. That skill belonged to another sister. Europa could however make herself seem to be taller or shorter, and even younger or older than she actually was. Turning from a blonde woman of average build to an innocent child or harmless old woman. Though such drastic changes weren't very convincing up close, being in such proximity broke the illusion rather quickly, so she hardly ever did anything of the sort. It didn't work in pictures or on video either, both showing her true appearance. Not to mention she couldn't change her voice. Any difference in accent was purely the result of Europa's hard work through the years.

"So, what's up?" She asked, sitting down in one of the plush armchairs. She let her small purse clatter to the floor, striking some ridiculous pose. "You need the assistance of the great Camille Leon?"

D.J. smiled despite himself. She was still using that old joke-alias after all these years. It was nice, reminded him of simpler times. When his siblings would be playing pretend and give themselves superhero (and villain) identities and save each other. Usually him, as he was the youngest. And, like Kitten, didn't have a Gift with any sort of offensive capabilities. Of course, Europa's Gift didn't give her much of a combat advantage over the others either. But she had gotten very creative with it.

"Maybe," He said, sitting back down. "Things have been kind of crazy."

"Yeah, you were supposed to go back home a while ago, weren't you? Diane said you just suddenly called and asked for an extension, but wouldn't tell her why. What's going on?"

"I...I honestly don't know. You ever see the warning signs for something horrible, but you have no clue what it could be or how to stop it? That's pretty much where I'm at right now."

"D.J., c'mon. Just tell me what's up so I can work my magic and drag you home in time for Christmas."

He took a deep breath. "Ok, well, I guess first things first, I've seen someone who apparently doesn't have a soul."

"What, like a ginger? I thought you debunked that old story years ago."

"I'm being serious, Opa." He said flatly. "This guy doesn't have an aura."

"Ok then, he's a zombie? You said it was only the dead who didn't have souls, right?"

"Yeah, that's true. They fade away as people die."

"So he's dead?"

"No, he walks and talks and acts like anyone else. Has a bunch of scars though. Apparently he was in a plane crash a few years back, in the Air Force as a cadet. He was one of the lucky survivors."

"Maybe he actually wasn't? Maybe his Gift is that he can come back from the dead?" She picked up one of the little desk toys and began tossing it lightly into the air with an easy-going smirk. "Died in a plane crash, came back, decided to just kind of roll with it?"

"I doubt it. There's nothing on his record to suggest he's Gifted. Even if that were the case, I think people would notice real quick that he had no heartbeat."

"Well, if he did have a Gift like that, it probably wouldn't manifest itself the same way as, say, ours did. The way I'm imagining it, the ability would probably remain dormant until he actually died. And once activated, perhaps the body was able to reanimate and live on, so to speak, but not the soul. Giving us our soul-less student who just wants to go on with his after-life."

"He doesn't feel dead."

"D.J. you really shouldn't be feeling up the college students. Think of your career. Think of your girlfriend."

"Europa, would you please let me speak?"

"Ok I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She put the small toy back on the desk and held her hands up. "You just looked like you could use some cheering up, that's all. No more jokes, just tell me what it is you need from me."

"I don't fucking know." D.J. said. "The kid doesn't have a soul, and I don't know what I can do about that. Or if I really need to do anything about it. I mean, up until last week the guy seemed harmless."

"What happened last week?"

"He...he was outed."

"Outed?"

"Yep. Him and his boyfriend."

"Oh. OH! OOOOOOH! Oh shit."

"Exactly." D.J. said with a sigh. "He's kind of a loner, I guess you could say? He really hadn't told anyone else. I don't actually think there was anyone he really had to tell, anyway. I was able to talk to a few people who'd had him in their classes these past two years, from what they could remember he was an excellent student who pretty much kept to himself. If it wasn't for the scars and his grade point average, I'm not sure they'd fully remember who I was asking them about. He's like some kind of intellectual genius, but he doesn't really make any sort of impression. The most people seem to remember him by is his scars and how...nervous he'd been acting lately."

"What do you mean 'nervous'?"

"Jumpy, twitchy, nervous, you know? It got worse after word went around about him and his boyfriend but, apparently he'd been acting like that for a while before things really got bad."

"Just normal college nervous, or...?"

"Best I and a few others can piece together after talking to him and some students is that he was worried someone would find out about his boyfriend. And then, everyone did. Literally. It was the talk of the whole place come finals week."

"Oh, so...oh man," Europa covered her mouth. "During finals week? That must've been hard on the kid."

"Yeah, he shot the guy who outed him."

"Bitch what?!" She leaped out of her seat.

"Not with an actual gun," D.J. clarified. "He had made this, Stun Gun thing. He's in a club here at school, it was part of a project they were working on. It just paralyzed the guy. He's fine, everyone's fine. Physically."

"Don't scare me like that!" She reached over and slapped him on the top of his head harshly before falling back into her seat. "Even so, that's a bit much."

"You're telling me. You're not the one who had to try and explain everything to the dean and the president of the university."

"What did they have to say about his lack of an aura?"

D.J. looked away timidly. "Ummmmmm..."

"D.J., you did tell them, right?" He didn't respond. "Please tell me you told someone?"

"Well, I've told you." He said with a weak smile.

Europa buried her face in her hands. "Oh my god you fucking moron, why?"

"Well, what am I supposed to say?"

"This guy doesn't have a soul, that's what you say!"

"Well, I'm the Soul Seer, they're just going to ask me what to do about it!" D.J. argued. "And I have no idea, I've never seen this before! They'll be expecting me to have the answer, and I don't have a clue! So instead of it being just me, other people might start to get freaked out and worried! They might do something that just makes the situation worse."

"Yeah, because doing nothing and keeping it to yourself clearly helped."

"Look, until I know what to do, I want to keep it just between us. OK? I don't want this getting out and escalating the situation further."

"Fine, fine, but I just want to say that a group of people strategizing on things would be able to accomplish much more than just you on your own or the two of us together." Europa said. "So, this soulless guy, he got a name?"

"Rocinante Flugslys."

"Wow, that's not a name you hear often these days."

"I don't think someone named 'Europa' is one to talk."

"Yeah yeah whatever, and up until last week, when he shot a guy, he was perfectly normal? Aside from not having an aura and being a worry-wart in the closet?"

"Pretty much." D.J. said. "He came off as kind of a shy sort of guy, someone who pretty much kept to themselves. He has a stuttering problem. I peeked at some of his files, apparently he doesn't have any actual sort of speech impediment or disability, it's purely a psychosomatic thing. He hasn't been diagnosed with any specific sort of anxiety disorder, but I'd say it's a safe bet that he has one."

"He's a university student, they all have anxiety."

"Are you gonna let me talk or not?"

"Sorry, sorry, continue."

"So, first it was him. I noticed his lack of an aura, which I've never seen before, and I decided I'd stick around a little longer than I'd planned to. I wanted to keep an eye on the kid, but I figured some background information might be nice. See what people knew, if there were any sudden changes that might give me some clues as to what's up. Whether anything had recently changed with him, if he'd gone somewhere or if something happened to him. And..." D.J. trailed off, trying to figure out the best way to segue into the OTHER pressing matter.

"And?"

He sighed. Best to just come out with it. "And I also noticed a man with a black aura."

Europa was silent. Even her guised face couldn't hide the amount of fear welling up at the mention of a black aura. D.J. winced at the sight of those faux-blue eyes filling with concern. He noticed his sister flinched, her entire body closing in on itself for just a half a second. He felt guilty that he'd gone and made his sister feel such emotions. Why he couldn't do this on his own? Why'd he have to go and burden someone else with his problems?

"Let me guess, you didn't tell anyone about him either." It wasn't a question. Just a statement looking to be contradicted.

"No," He said softly.

Europa sighed heavily, her eyes scrunching up like it caused her physical distress to hear this. "David I swear..."

"It gets worse."

"How on earth could it get worse?"

"He's the boyfriend."

Those sapphire jewels opened slowly as the words sunk it. "What?"

"The man with the black soul is the boyfriend of the man with no soul." D.J. said. He sounded tired, even to himself.

"Do you think they could be connected?"

"It's possible. Rocinante did apparently only start to act oddly after this guy came into his life. Everyone else chalked it up to him being worried his secret would get out, but there may be more to it than just that."

"How long ago was that, exactly? How long have they been together?"

"They've known each other for a few months, and both say that they only recently decided to make their relationship more serious."

"What, were they just casually hooking before?"

"Something like that." D.J. said. That was pretty much what Rocinante and Black Hat had both insinuated, although neither of them said so outright. There was a lot about their relationship that they just skirted around, now that he thought about it. Things like how they got together or the extent of their physical relations were waved off with vague, implied answers rather than anything direct. They'd both hinted that they'd been with each other, but never came out and said so.

"So, you're thinking maybe this guy got close to Rocinante, took his soul, and then what? Stuck around because it turned out he was actually pretty cute?"

"That's kind of my working theory right now, yes." D.J. admitted. "I do think that he's somehow responsible for Rocinante's absent soul, but I don't have any idea of how he might've taken it or why."

"The ability to take someone's soul, without killing them." Europa mused. "That's got to be a rare one. Necromancy, maybe?"

"It's possible. Have you ever heard of anyone with the ability to take a soul?"

"Not any locals, far as I know."

"Well, this guy isn't a local. Though it's hard to tell exactly where he is from. I could barely even understand what his name was."

"What's his name?"

"Oh, there is no way in hell you're getting me to so much as try pronouncing that." D.J. shook his head slowly. "Apparently he goes by 'Black Hat'. Even Rocinante just calls him that."

"Well, there's always the old witch doctor."

"Witch doctor?"

"Yeah, you remember don't you? Violet used to scare us all the time with all those creeeeepy scary stories." Europa wiggled her fingers in front of her face like someone telling a ghost story. He remembered his sister Violet's scary stories, and all the nightmares he'd had because of them, but he didn't see how this related to his current problems. His sister continued in an over the top spooky tone with campy hand motions, though there was pain deep in her eyes from remembering things about Violet like this. "He waits in his old run-down shop on the side of the road. Which road? Any road. Whatever road he needs to be on to catch you at your weakest. He'll come to you when you're at your most low and desperate, when you'll do anything. He's tall and lanky, and where his face should be, there's nothing but an empty skull!"

"Okay it's starting to come back to me now."

"Whatever it is you want, be it anything from plain old money to a genuine miracle, he can do it for you. All it takes, is your SOUL!"

"OK Europa, I remember this one. The voodoo witch man, who'll steal your soul and the skin off your teeth. I'd managed to repress it, but you brought it back. Thank you for that. What do Violet's old stories have to do with this?"

"As it turns out, she just saw villains on T.V. and in old newspapers and stuff and based all her scary stories on them. Witch doc with a skull face? He's real."

"Wait, really?!" Did that mean Screw-Lucy was real too!? Was D.J. going to have keep a hammer by his bed again!? Oh no, there was no way he was explaining to Victoria that he was paranoid about his sisters scary stories coming back to haunt him. Although, given who his sister was, she might understand.

"Yeah, she based that one off some old school villain down south. Dr. Death, or something. Supposedly he's been around for centuries, practicing the dark arts and all that. But," she sighed as she leaned back in her chair, a dry smile on her pink lips. "You know how it goes, the longer these guys are around, the more the story gets twisted. Firsthand accounts dwindle and it gets harder to tell what's true and what's just hearsay. Could be one guy, could be multiple, could all be a bunch of low-lives looking for some notoriety. You'd have a better chance asking Jack. Even if he can't confirm that the old doc is still kicking and can actually take souls, he'd been able to ask around. But, of course, you know what he'd say if you told him any of this."

"Yeah, I know." D.J. said. He'd called Europa specifically because he didn't want to call Jack. He knew exactly what he would say; Tell other people, tell the authorities, call mom and dad, and that he'd be down there within the week. Sooner if he could convince someone that it was really urgent.

"You want me to ask him for you? Make up something about a story I'm writing and get some exclusive intel from a bonafide hero on some possible soul-stealing villains?"

"No, no, I really don't want to involve him. I'm sure he's busy-"

"Too busy for his baby brother? Never." Europa got up and leaned against the desk. "C'mon, you know he'd drop everything and run down here if you called him."

"Yeah, for some reason I don't think bringing Jack in to deal with a delicate situation like this is the best idea."

"Yeah, he'd never go along with your whole 'Tell no one and do this all on our own' scheme. He'd call for backup the second you told him about this black-souled guy and probably try to arrest him on sight. And get you on the next flight back home."

"Does Jack even have the authority to do any of that outside of Washington state?"

"He'd try." Europa laughed lightly. "Although I'm not sure there's actually a law about taking someone's soul. Is that even illegal?"

"In America or in Mexico?"

"Either. I mean, if it's not against the law, what exactly do we do then? Even if we can prove that this Black Hat guy took Rocinante's soul, is it a crime? If not, it's kind of pointless don't you think? I mean we can argue that it's morally wrong, I guess, but I'm not sure we have any sort of legal case here."

D.J. felt a traitorous smile sneak onto his lips. Europa always managed to make even the bleakest of situations a little better. Most people with a green aura could, they themselves having such a relaxed disposition. They were casual, composed, cool-headed, their default was to keep calm and take things one at a time. Even if that meant taking things less seriously. It was only natural that their own calming color (unseen by anyone else) could spread to others. He had a bit of it himself, with his cyan aura. Usually he kept his cool and handled things rationally, that was just how he functioned. It was what he was good at. But lately, he'd just been so confused and unsure, he'd been overwhelmed by what he was seeing and hadn't been able to collect his thoughts and work through any of it. Not until he'd called Europa. And, like the amazing big sister she was, she came as soon as she could.

"That's why I didn't say anything." D.J. admitted. "It's not as if my word is law, or will really hold up in court. I know he's evil, but he hasn't actually done anything evil yet so what am I going to tell people? What exactly are Bruno and the others supposed to do? Call the police? Based on what evidence? Should they tell them that the white guy said the black guy was bad and needs to be in jail?"

"D.J., can we not bring race into this?"

"I'm trying, but it's there and it needs to be addressed."

"Does it though?"

"It really feels like it does. To the outside world it's profiling."

"It also feels like you're getting off topic. C'mon, even if he hasn't done anything yet, doesn't everyone deserve at least a heads up that he's dangerous? I mean that is pretty much what you do, isn't it? Look out for darkened souls and put a stop to things before they get too serious?"

"Yeah, darkened souls." D.J. argued. "Because an aura can still change if it hasn't gone fully dark yet. His...has. I don't know what he's been through or what he's done, but he passed the point of no return long ago. I'm not even seeing a sliver of what color his soul might've been before."

"All the more reason to make the administrators aware and on guard. I'm not telling you to round up a posse and go after him, I'm just saying to make sure people are informed and prepared."

"It's a little hard to do that when I can't give them any idea of what to expect."

"D.J., you think too much." Europa leaned over and held his face in her hands. They looked smooth and perfect, but felt dry and rough. "No one is asking you to come up with a plan to vanquish the evil villain. Bruno's not, Diane's not, and I'm not. All we're asking, all that anyone has ever asked of you, is to keep those little peepers peeled and let us know if there's anyone dangerous we need to be on the lookout for."

He brushed her hands away. "Yeah, that's what people expected from me when I was ten. I'm an adult now. People do actually expect more from me than just a 'watch out'. They do expect some kind of plan. Because I'm the one who can see who's good and who's bad. So they expect me to know what to do. But I don't. Not here. I just know what to do for darkened souls. Even then, all I do is try to intervene in whatever it is making them go dark in the first place. All I do is try and nip problems in the bud." He buried his head in his arms. "This may already be beyond me. But I have to try. I have to do something."

Europa sighed dramatically. "Yeah, fine, you gotta indulge your hero complex. Just tell me how I can help you from getting hurt doing it."

"A hero complex is when someone invents a conflict to resolve. This is not that."

"You are inventing reasons for why you have to do this on your own."

"I'm trying to minimize damage." He picked his head up and raised his voice above a despondent brood.

"You do that by creating a well informed and prepared environment. Keeping people in the dark never protects them, it only puts them more at risk because they don't know what they're dealing with."

"Ok, how about this; I'll come forward and tell everyone everything if you help me get a plan together."

"Ok, we'll work out a plan..." A mischievous grin spread across her face. "While you're home for the holidays."

"What? But I-"

"You-" She pointed at him sternly. "Will tell a select few people that you trust to be discreet about this. Tell them that you, with your Soul Seeing experience, believe this to be a delicate situation requiring the utmost caution. Tell them about Black Hat, leave out Rocinante's absent soul if you really want to but make it clear that he's a person of interest and should be monitored just as closely. They're both students, and they'll probably be taking the winter semester off, right? That gives us all a good month or so to properly strategize."

"But-"

"No buts! You can't just stay in Mexico as long as you want, baby brother. I mean, unless you come clean and tell Diane what you've seen. Then I bet she'd authorize you to stay and oversee things. Make sure everything gets handled nice and neatly before officially finishing up here." Goddamnit, that made so much sense. "The timing's pretty good, too." She continued, checking out her nails. Out of the corner of his eye D.J. caught them changing color from a hot pink to a cool blue. "You can go home, be with your family one last time, kiss Victoria goodbye-"

"Oh my god, bitch, oh my god."

"-And be back here ready to take down the bad guy before he even hurts anyone. Sound good? Sounds great to me."

"But what if he does something while I'm away? While no one's prepared?"

"Them not being prepared is your fault, for the record. And what if he does something while you are here? You gonna take him on yourself?"

"Well-"

"Nah baby brother, I won't let you."

"And how are you going to stop me?"

"By doing this with you," She smirked. "Since you refuse to call in the literal superhero we are related to, you'll have to settle for me."

"What? No, I couldn't ask you to-"

"You didn't."

"But you can't just leave your job and come babysit me!"

"Well, since it's more than a full month in advance, I could probably arrange to take some time off. More than just this little weekend excursion." She winked. "Aw c'mon, like you wouldn't feel better having your favorite big sister helping you out on your super secret mission."

"But Silena isn't here."

"OOoooh that hurts!" She playfully slapped his arm.

D.J. had to laugh at that, because of how true it was. He would feel a lot better with her around. She was perfect for undercover work, something invaluable in a situation with so many unknown variables. She was also perfect at weeding out the truth. She'd been exposing dirty politicians and corporate scandals for years, finding out the mystery of the missing soul would be a cake walk for her.

"Alright, let's do it."

"Hell yeah, teamwork motherfucker!"

"Before that though, there's one other guy I have to tell you about."

"Oh are you serious?! There's another one!?" She asked. "Who is he, the other man? Are we dealing with some bizarre love triangle of evil!?"

"No. Well, maybe." He tried in vain to compose himself. He may as well start with the basics. "His name is Aurelio Cruz, he has a dark red aura, and he was the one who outed Rocinante and Black Hat. He's the guy Rocinante shot."

"Goddamn it baby brother what kind of crazy telenovela drama have you stumbled across? Why'd he do it? Was he jealous or something?"

"I'm just going to tell you what he told us. Well, both he and Rocinante. Rocinante says he only told him in the first place because he was drunk. Aurelio confirmed that he'd had a few drinks with him at some party and the topic of his and Black Hat's relationship came up. They both said that it was later that Rocinante asked him to keep quiet about it. At first Aurelio said that before Rocinante told him what a big deal it was, he'd told a few people and they'd spread it around on their own. But, by that point, we'd already talked to his 'friends', and they all claimed that he'd told them to spread it around and to do it covertly. Nothing big and public, no giant status updates or anything, do it the old fashioned way; tell someone and make them swear not to tell anyone else. So, naturally, word spread fast. And, given the timeframe they all swear by, it was after he was asked not to tell anyone."

"He sounds like an asshole. So, why'd he do it?"

"Apparently he'd asked Rocinante to help him with something related to his Gift. Aurelio's I mean. When Rocinante refused, he took it as kind of a personal insult."

"What kind of Gift does this Aurelio guy have?"

"Oh, you're going to love this, he has the ability to control another person's body through skin contact."

"Control as in he can move others people's bodies?"

"Yep. If there's skin contact between the two of you, he can move your body like a giant marionette."

"Well that's not at all terrifying." Europa blew a few strands of blonde hair out of her face. "I'm going to just take a wild guess here and say he's been abusing his powers a bit."

"You have no idea." D.J. shuddered a bit at the thought of what he'd been told. Aurelio had denied the accusations of molesting that Yashchirkaova girl, but Rocinante had seen it, Black Hat had heard it from her, and from what D.J. understood she'd confirmed to the police that Aurelio had used his Gift on her. He wasn't fully sure just how far he'd tried to take things before Rocinante intervened, but it made his "grand plans" of saving Aurelio seem kind of hopeless. He seemed so dark already.

"Ok, so, was that really it? Rocinante wouldn't help him with something so this Aurelio bastard-"

"Opa please."

"What? This guy has bastard written all over him! I hate a man who won't take no for an answer."

"Yeah me too, but that's besides the point."

"In your mind, maybe." The sudden sound of a default ringtone made Europa reach into her small handbag. "It's my editor, hold on."

As she stood up and lightly paced the room, speaking with her superior, D.J. tried to think of what more he had to say. He was a logical person at heart, and logic was telling him to listen to his sister and take a step back, but he found it really hard to go home and be with his family for the holidays when there was a fucking EVIL PERSON just walking around this college campus among so many bright, innocent souls ripe for the taking. The logical approach wasn't appealing because this just didn't feel like a logical situation. Rocinante didn't have a soul, that right there went against all the logic D.J. was familiar with! It completely threw him off whenever he thought about it! He wanted to be calm and collected and work through this problem, but the very first step was tripping him up and he couldn't put things in order because he had no clue what order they were supposed to be in! D.J. had always been able to tell how to handle people, he just went based off of their color and took the appropriate approach. Rocinante not having any was like trying to watch a foreign movie without the subtitles. Sure, D.J. could intuit things and get a basic idea of what was going on, but there was always that little bit of uncertainty that made him question everything he saw.

Black Hat was almost the same. D.J. could see his aura, but it's color was blackened out. Making where he stood on the spectrum kind of a guessing game. From how he acted, D.J. assumed that it had once been a reddish type of color, similar to Aurelio's perhaps. Though there was obviously much more thought behind Black Hat's actions. Maybe something like a red-violet. He couldn't confirm and it drove him crazy.

Then there was Aurelio. Aurelio with his dark red aura. Not yet black but too close for D.J. to ignore in good conscience. Even from the little he had spoken to him it was obvious that Aurelio had not been rejected often in his life. The man was used to getting what he wanted, and used to very lenient punishments. He got his way. Period. When he didn't, he'd make sure there'd be hell to pay. The rare times he actually suffered consequences for his actions, they were not enough to adequately discourage his behavior. Most likely they only drove him to become a better liar. D.J. had to wonder who'd be able to really teach this guy a lesson, because the justice system for sure wasn't going to do it. Hell, even with everyone coming forward about what he'd been doing behind the scenes, he'd been out maybe a day later. D.J. suspected one of his parents paid for him to be released early, though he couldn't confirm it himself. It wasn't as if the Mexican police force would tell him anything, and he had no way of getting the answers from them with his Gift. He was a Soul Seer, not a mind reader.

"I told you it's a family emergency. You don't know I'm not Mexican, I could have a cousin or five down here! Stanley, I have so many cousins my family tree is a goddamn forest! I'm not even a real blonde, that proves nothing! I'm not a real brunette either! Wouldn't you like to know?" Europa grinned down at the floor. "Yeah sure I'll go over it again when I have the time. You'll have it before the Sunday edition. Ok. See ya Monday Stan."

"Family emergency, huh?" D.J. sat back and silently judged his sister.

"When my baby brother calls me out of the blue and tells me I need to come to Mexico, I call that an emergency."

"What kind of emergency?"

"Let's go with...death in the family."

"Who's, mine?"

"Only if you majorly screw up." She sat on the desk, her arms crossed. "We are dealing with a black soul here."

"Yeah, we are." What was it that darkened souls to the point that their bright, vibrant color was overtaken by an all-consuming void of blackness? Was it actions, dark urges indulged in one too many times that permanently stained the soul? Was it the mere thought of dark deeds? Were there levels to it? Even with nearly 30 years, his entire life with this Gift, there was still so much he couldn't confirm. All he knew for certain was that a completely black soul meant that there was little he could do for the person. Better to stand aside and let someone with a real power handle it.

"So, to get back on track; we've got ourselves a soulless honor student, his evil heartthrob, and the entitled brat who's got it out for them. Anyone else I need to know about?"

"No, that's everyone."

"Alright so, just to make sure we're clear, you're going to tell people about Black Hat?"

"Yes."

"And Rocinante?"

"I...I really want to hold off on telling them about him until I get a chance to talk to him myself a bit more. But I'll make sure they know to keep a close eye on him too. For his safety, obviously."

"Good, good thinking. Aurelio?"

"I did tell them about Aurelio. He's about the only part of this I actually know how to deal with, kind of. He's going to be in mandatory counselling, but given how dark he is I don't know if that'll really be enough. So it's like I want to focus on Aurelio because he still hasn't gone fully dark and we might still be able to save him, but then we've also got Black Hat and Rocinante and I kind of feel like they take priority. But then again I can't help but think about dealing with Aurelio just to get him out of the way, you know? He isn't at...Black Hat levels of worrying, and I want to make sure he stays that way."

"If Aurelio hasn't gone fully dark yet, then we've got a bit of time before he becomes a real problem."

"But the sooner I or someone else gets through to him, the better chance we have at stopping him from getting any darker."

"Good point," Europa grinned slyly. "It doesn't have to be you that helps him."

"But I'm the one-"

"Not everything is about you, D.J. You can't be everyone's personal therapist. You really gotta learn to trust people. Sometimes the best thing you can do is step back and let someone else be the hero."

Yeah, someone else. Someone with a Gift that was actually useful and not a glorified personality test.

"Oh, stop being a whiny little bitch, you do the best that you can same as anyone else. Besides, someone else handles Aurelio, that's one less thing we have to deal with. He gets the help he needs, and we get to stay on task."

"Ok, fine. You're right. So, you think I should convince them to make counselling mandatory for Rocinante as well? Just to make sure he's alright?"

"Yeah yeah, I like it. See, it's all coming together already! We get Aurelio out of the way, and give ourselves a window of opportunity where Rocinante and Black Hat are separated? Just get everyone out of the crosshairs and deal with the bad guy on his own? See if we can't get to Rocinante to give us something good?"

"Like what?"

"Well, does Rocinante even realize he doesn't have a soul?" Oh shit D.J. hadn't even considered that. "I mean, I kind of doubt Black Hat was like 'Hey, can I have your soul? For totally not-evil purposes of course?' How do you think he lost his soul, anyway? We don't even know for a fact that Black Hat had anything to do with it. Maybe Rocinante never had a soul to begin with and it's just a huge coincidence that his new boyfriend happens to be evil."

"That's a pretty fucking big coincidence."

"Yeah, but we shouldn't rule anything out. This is something entirely new. Skepticism is good but you gotta consider every possibility."

"Ok, but how would we ask him about that? Should I just come out and say, 'Hey, sorry to ask you this, but I can see souls and you don't have one what the fuck? Also, did you happen to know that your boyfriend is evil? Because he is.' Do you know how that sounds?"

Europa gasped. "What if he does know?"

"What?!"

"What if he actually sold his soul?" She leaned over the desk dramatically. "What if he's fully aware that he's soulless, because he knowingly soul his soul?"

"Why would he do that?"

"How the heck would I know? I've never met either of these guys. Is Black Hat just, like, super hot or something?"

"I don't particularly think so, no." D.J. replied awkwardly. If he had to say, Aurelio was the most attractive out of the three of them. Which was entirely irrelevant to the matter at hand!

"Then we're going to need to get these guys one-on-one. I don't see how else we're ever going to find out the truth."

He sighed. This new addition to the equation wasn't helping his inner struggle at all. "I just wish there were some way of getting the answers out of them in secret."

"Victoria could probably get you what you need, I'm surprised you didn't call her down here."

"Oh no, I am not putting her in harm's way like this."

"I can't imagine she's alright with you being in harm's way either. Let me guess, you haven't told her."

"Victoria's...delicate." D.J. said. "You know that. I don't want to worry her. She's been doing so well this past year, I don't want to stress her out with something like this. Don't even get me started on what bringing her down here might do. The last thing she needs is to be around such dark minds."

"So let me get this straight; your girlfriend is important enough to protect, but not your sister. Ok. That's fine." She sniffled a bit. "I see how it is."

"Opa, you know that's not-"

"In that case, see if Kitten came make it down here on such short notice. Have your sisters do your dirty work because you don't wanna bother the big bad Jack!" She sobbed out. "Just call Kitten. She might be able to get you something useful. Not like me. All I do is try to help you! All I give is my love and support! You were my favorite little brother!"

"I'm gonna tell Sammy you said that." Assuming he showed up for Christmas.

"Whyyyyy baby brother, why do you hurt me like this?" She covered her face completely to hide the utter lack of tears, as well as her smile. "I crossed the border for you."

"Bitch you are a blonde white woman, you won't have any problem with border patrol."

"See? You don't care about me."

"Jesus Christ are you going to actually help me or are you just gonna keep fake-crying you stupid bimbo?"

She sniffed haughtily, turning away and picking up her bag with the poise of a starlit. "I'm going to leave, seeing as I'm clearly so expendable to you."

"No, Europa, wait." D.J. said in a small monotone. Well, half-monotone. He didn't want to call Jack because he'd take over completely, he didn't want to tell his girlfriend because the stress might start causing her to lose control of her Gift again, he couldn't call Kitten or Silena without feeling incredibly guilty, Violet was essentially disowned from the family (with good reason) and Samuel was out on a technicality since D.J. didn't have his current number. He physically couldn't call him. "Please don't go. You're the only one I can turn to."

"Yeah, I know." She said in a perfectly even voice. She didn't stop on her way to the door, just pausing before she opened it. "I'm just going to check myself into a hotel, do a little souvenir shopping, see if I can't find a date tonight. We'll meet up later and buy you a plane ticket home."

"But-"

"Don't worry baby brother," She faced him and her features changed before his very eyes. The gentle sun-kissed skin grew darker, richer in melanin. Her straight blonde locks whirled into a waterfall of deep caramel slipping off her shoulders. Her blue eyes went brown, her lips plumped a bit, tinting like she'd just put on a new shade of lipstick. Her nose rounded, her bone structure itself seeming to shift, she might have even gotten an inch or two taller.

"Camille León siempre llega al fondo de las cosas."

She walked out, at the same time Clarissa came back. Looking in bewilderment around the room as if the blonde she'd escorted in might be hiding somewhere.

"Señor?" She asked. "¿Quién era esa mujer?"

"Mi hermana." He sighed. "Ella hace eso."


Aurelio Cruz, upon his release, stayed with his "friend" Rufio Montoya for a few days. Mostly because he'd known Rufio for nearly three years now, and knew he was too much of a coward to even try saying no to him. Even when he had the chance.

Rufio was a short little runt of a man. With poor fashion sense and even poorer common sense. A pitiful little waste of space if not for the accident of his Gift. His Gift made Rufio a living breathing tracking device. When he was able to focus on a person, he could always find them immediately. His range was far, a far greater scope than Aurelio had been able to achieve. It was useful, like he was predestined to be a tool for another. But, on his own, it had made him cocky. So sure of himself and of his power.

Really now, what good was it to know where Aurelio was when Aurelio was never the one he had to watch out for? It was always the person a little to the right, or the left, or somewhere right in front of him. He couldn't keep track of everyone Aurelio touched on a daily basis, trying too would make his Gift go haywire. Everyone had limits, and Rufio started to crack past twenty people. That first year had been a real exercise in paranoia for Rufio, and he'd learned it was better to stick with Aurelio than try to stand up to him.

And Rufio was too conditioned to do anything but accommodate him when he showed up at his dorm room needing to spend the night. Repeatedly. Without ever giving him a reason why.

Aurelio was sure others were the same, puppets just waiting for their strings to be pulled again, but he didn't know how many. He couldn't be sure of who was still a spineless follower and who grew a backbone. He could almost feel them, strings frayed and waning without him there to maintain them. Almost as if that skinny little wretch was cutting them himself.

Oh that Rocinante Flugslys. Usually Aurelio only saw worth in the Gifted people like himself, seeing them as far more valuable toys to play with, but him. Some ordinary little insect that had the guts to stand up to him. Even though he clearly knew who he was and what he could do, and had an adorable little crush on him.

It was very obvious; The way his face turned a hilarious shade of red every time Aurelio was near, how he was reduced to a sweaty, stuttering mess at his feet. He was so nervous to be in such proximity to him, it actually gave Aurelio a reason to keep going to the lab more than the bare minimum just to stay on as a volunteer. Having Flug come out to him was little more than a formality. Aurelio thought he'd play around with him, have a bit of fun and discard him like he had every other, but then he showed a bit of his true colors. Questioning, thinking, scheming, trying to riddle out how Aurelio worked. And he had been close, from the first day that he'd actually spoken to him, he'd been on the right track to discovering his secrets.

That had been new.

Everyone else had been flustered and afraid, like him, but they'd never gotten their bearings back. Not that quickly. Not around him. Certainly not enough to ask him so plainly about his Gift. He kept people in perpetual states of turmoil, worrying and wanted and afraid and unable to think for themselves past a point. Aurelio figured Flug was already so close, already such a pitiful sack of longing. He'd thought he had to give this guy just a smidge of his attention and he'd do anything for him. If he was so curious, he could make himself useful. On Aurelio's terms, naturally.

But that wasn't what happened. Flug responded to his charms with caution and calculation. He was dragged in, but never fully swept out. He ran from him, knowing the danger of flying too close to the sun. Aurelio suspected that was where this Black Hat character had come in. He was the one Flug had anchored himself to. If it wasn't for him, Flug would probably be wrapped snugly around Aurelio's finger right now.

Black Hat. Who'd had little to no reaction at all to him, like a moron. A blind moron. Either he was oblivious, or he had horrible taste. Aurelio liked to think it was the latter. He was like some weird victorian time traveller trapped in a Hot Topic (maybe that had been where he found that girl), barely sparing him a glance. Until Aurelio had jumped the gun, an admittedly dumb move on his part. But could you blame him? He'd done it before and it'd gone off without a hitch. What made this any different? What made this man any different? What was so special that some freak wearing a top hat on a daily basis felt the need to get involved?

He felt he was losing himself, losing his grip on everyone around him, and he blamed it all on the two of them.

He'd taken a few days to recompose himself. That had been the plan at least. He hadn't done anything he meant to, just hanging around with Rufio. They ran into Natalia once, nothing much came of that. More often than not they just sat around his dorm room. It was a single, with a futon. Avoiding the elephant in the room at all costs. Until he finally ran out of time.

The day before Christmas Eve, he went home.

His feet felt heavy as he trudged up the long driveway. He'd convinced his dad to drop him off, and to tell his mom in the vaguest way possible that he'd be taken care of. Didn't matter where he was or who he was with, he'd be fine, and he'd be home in time for Christmas.

God, what was he going to say? She'd already made it clear that she couldn't protect him forever. He needed to take care of these things himself. If he was going to follow in her footsteps he'd need absolute mastery of his Gift. He just progressed so slowly! There was only so much people could handle, he'd needed someone new! Oh, she wasn't going to be happy. He'd messed up big this time. He'd given it a few days in the small hope that she'd cool down and, with it being the holidays, perhaps be a bit more lenient. She'd bailed him out, so perhaps it'd be quick after all? He wasn't asking for much here, just a small Christmas miracle.

Oh shit what was that? In a flash, everything went black. The porch lights, the walkway lights, the lights inside, even the Christmas lights most likely strung up by Dad were snuffed out. Aurelio's eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden darkness, partly annoyed because he was already on edge with the prospect of facing her. The rest of him was trying to keep calm. Maybe a fuse blew or something, maybe some idiot had crashed into a power line and cut off their electricity. Aurelio was very intentionally ignoring the fact that his neighbors, a bit too far off for comfort at the moment, seemed unaffected. It had to just be some freak accident, some faulty wiring, a power surge, something-

HOLY HELL WHAT THE FUCK WAS HAPPENING?! In maybe a handful of seconds Aurelio's body was entrapped by...he had no fucking idea! He didn't even have time to scream. His arms were bound, as well as his legs. Causing him to lose his balance and fall face-first to the ground. He didn't stay there for long, the unseen horror dragging him off. Something was covering his mouth, wrapping around his head and neck, but it didn't feel like fabric. Not like someone wrapping a sheet or something to gag him. It felt sort of fleshy, but it certainly wasn't a hand. With the way it seemed to bend and stretch and creepily undulate around him Aurelio wasn't certain he could call it an arm either. No human had an arm like this.

Whatever it was, it was tightening its grip on him and pulling him back. He tried to struggle but he was held too tight, he could barely move anything! Aurelio desperately searched with his fingers for any sort of skin he could reach, praying that who/whatever this was made one little slip up and gave him an opportunity to fight back. He felt nothing. Nothing but this thing binding him and dragging him farther and farther away from the security of his home. He made only the faintest sounds as he attempted in vain to break free. They hardly gave from his force at all. Brute strength wouldn't be enough to save him, and he wasn't able to make any noise to attract attention.

He really was on his own now. There wasn't anyone he could use or call for help.

As he was nearly stolen completely, right in front of his own goddamn house, he made a last ditch effort. He figured, maybe this was a part of someone's body. It didn't feel like any human anatomy Aurelio was familiar with, but assuming there was a person these things were attached to, well, they were touching his skin.

He fought to get just one calm thought across. Even if it was only something just to slow them down, buy some time. Just one little act of somatic manipulation to give him some kind of foothold.

Even at the risk of being a stereotype.

He heard the familiar sound of a fist colliding with a face (impact, muffled groan) and he allowed himself a smile. Ok, so he knew at least there was someone at the other end. Who wasn't all that far away. That gave him a bit of reassurance. He might have a chance. He felt their grip around him tighten further still, getting exceedingly painful. Aurelio guessed they didn't much appreciate what he'd done. He resisted the urge the choke out Why'd you hit yourself? Instead, he did it again. And again and again and again. He'd do it until they let him go and he could find out who it was doing this. He tried making them loosen their grip but they weren't budging. He felt some resistant from the arm he was controlling, not as if they were wrestling control away, no, no that wouldn't be possible. He felt the arm being held back, as if it were his own. So, they had even more, even more of these extra body parts. More parts that refused to bend to his will. Aurelio had no idea what this even was, how was he expected to control it? Any of it?! He needed to learn. Of course he could learn. There wasn't anyone he couldn't control. He just needed time, time to...experiment. He might have found a guinea pig to discover his true potential right here.

So long as he discovered it before whoever this was strangled him to the point of unconscious. Or death. Their hold on his neck was unyielding, and he couldn't breathe. He was about to retaliate, and force something a lot more damaging onto his new toy, when he was released.

He collapsed onto the concrete, gasping for air. As his eyes regained focus, he looked back and only just made out someone standing in the darkness. It was hard to tell, but it seemed like they were just standing there. They'd stopped what they were doing, but weren't coming closer. Aurelio made them freeze, for good. He wasn't about to waste such a prime opportunity. He got to his feet and was about to enact his revenge when he was stopped still by the sound of another.

"Hello there." Said a soft feminine voice with a slight lisp. Aurelio turned to see the silhouette of a tall woman standing calmly to his left, addressing the dark silhouette. Her long hair flowed lightly from the gentle night breeze, Aurelio's vision adjusting enough to make out a bit of her elegant features. "You must be the one who cut the power. It seemed only fair that I return the favor." She laughed, it probably sounded airy and carefree to anyone else, but all Aurelio could hear was his own voice in his head going oh no oh crap oh shit oh fuck oh this is not good fuck fuck fuck.

He was snapped out of these thoughts by a hand on his shoulder, her hand. He didn't even notice her approach. Her pinky brushed against his neck slightly and that was that. Aurelio could feel her power working immediately, the sense of loss always immense and overpowering. His unknown assailant stumbled, then sprinted away. Hey, Aurelio didn't blame them. He'd run too if he could.

The woman came around to face him, tenderly cupping his jaw in her hands. The softness of the touch sending waves of fear through his body and mind.

"Mi pequeño Aurelito," His mother said sweetly, a definite sign of bad things to come. "Tell me what you did this time."


Translations:

Tu...hermana esta aqui = Your...sister is here (Spanish)

Gracias. Dejála entrar. = Thank you. Let her in. (Spanish)

Camille León siempre llega al fondo de las cosas. = Camille Leon always gets to the bottom of things. (Spanish)

¿Quién era esa mujer? = Who was that woman? (Spanish)

Mi hermana. Ella hace eso. = My sister. She does that. (Spanish)

Mi pequeño Aurelito = My little Aurelito (Spanish)