Halloween.
The time of year when ghosts and ghouls and other monsters prowled the world unchecked. And not all of those monsters were just the kids looking for candy. There were real monsters in the world – all taking advantage of the combination of human unawareness and the dark of the night to run wild. To destroy the world.
The Vortex sighed and updated his view of the human world as he watched the world from the Eye, his base of power. The Halloween decorations were already up in Salem. (He'd never liked the town. Too many witches lurking about.)
It was only a week before Halloween, and already people were getting in the spirit. Several trunk-or-treats (trick-or-treat events involving the backs of cars – another thing he couldn't understand) were happening out in the Midwest. Another person was shopping for candy by the boatload in Minnesota. A mom was looking through costumes in a department store in New York. Everyone seemed to be looking forward to the day.
Only he was the only one not looking forward to it.
That day would weaken his avatars, the way things were shaping up right now. Halloween was dangerous for his avatars, because it sapped their magic manifestation to where they couldn't use their powers. Ordinarily, the Rainbow could replenish their magic before Halloween night, but now that they weren't around to ensure the avatars wouldn't run out of power, the avatars would lose it on Halloween. Temporarily, but still. Then the monsters would grow stronger. Everything he loved would be overrun – in a single night.
And yet these humans were so willing to celebrate all that – with candy and decorations and trunk-or-treats. He could never understand why they would do such a thing. Why did they not see? Even with the Mist becoming useless around his avatars (a side effect of their paradox nature), why did they not see the dangers around them?
"Is something troubling you, master?"
The Vortex swirled into his human form – a handsome, dark-haired man in white clothes with eyes that shifted colors to represent every color of his creations' eyes – and spun to face his favorite servant, the Siren, who had just walked in on him while he was pondering and observing.
She approached, looking gorgeous as ever. Her wings fluttered, shifting between various bird species as they flapped. She twiddled the talons she had in place of human hands. Her face shifted between various starlets in their prime – Dove Cameron, Ashley Tisdale, Vanessa Hudgens – but her whole facial expression betrayed her concern for her master.
"The time approaches," he said to her. "The avatars will not be prepared for it."
"What time do you speak of, my lord?" the Siren asked, standing up a little straighter. The Vortex was always flattered by her addressing him asmy lord, but didn't force her to address him as such. So that was what she did.
"The eve of All Hallows. A dark time of year. The time when monsters are strongest. If the Rainbow had not left–"
"They had to leave, master," she spoke calmly, keeping the emotion out of her voice. She never admitted it, but she missed the Rainbow as much as the Vortex did. "Surely you couldn't expect to keep them around forever."
"I am aware," the Vortex replied tersely. She was right about not being able to keep the Rainbow, but that didn't mean he had to like it. "There must be an alternative. An alternative to chaos that does not involve their intervention."
The Siren thought long and hard. Her master was quite worried about his creations. He never said it out loud, but he valued them like they were his own children. He had to find a way to protect them from the dangers of All Hallows' Eve – if it really was that dangerous. The avatars were meant to protect humans. If they couldn't do their job…
An idea occurred to the Siren.
"You said you hated Halloween because everything's turned around, don't you remember, my lord?" she said, turning on her Sirensong. "Monsters are good, and humans are weaklings? Everything is well out of balance?"
The Vortex grimaced. He knew when the Siren was using her power on him, and he'd developed a fair bit of resistance to it. But she did raise good points.
"What are you trying to imply?" he asked.
"Ordinarily, the avatars protect the humans," she said. "But on Halloween, the humans shall protect the avatars."
"And how would they do that?" the Vortex asked. "They are not as strong."
The Siren really poured on the charm now, so he couldn't dodge it. "So make them stronger."
The Vortex weighed that in his mind. Make the humans stronger – just for a night. But it couldn't just be anyone. It was too risky. He'd never tried it. But he didn't have much of a choice.
He sighed. "I shall send out the dream vision to the avatars. They must know in advance. As for the chosen champions–" He hesitated. He wanted the best.
"Seven, master," the Siren said in her normal voice, having exhausted her power. "Seven is always the number of perfection."
"Seven," the Vortex agreed. "Four of them shall be the ones I chose last summer. As for the other three–" He gave her a small smile. "We shall see how they come up."