84. Preparations

A/N: Hi everyone! If you didn't hear on the AYEH chapter, last week was no chapter because I had a fever. Apologies for the lack of communication; I was somewhat dead. Next week would normally be my break week... but I'm going to delay it one week because the week after next I am moving to a new house! So I won't be able to write then anyway. I'm pretty tired and stressed from all the house stuff and the sickness and all that, but I'll manage!

"That's Anath," Castalia notes.

I glance back to see her floating in the doorway, seeming vaguely puzzled. We're in… well, I guess it's my room in the base, technically. Uma'tama finally had a bed for me prepared—colored the same pale white as everything else in the base—but for obvious reasons I've never once used it. It seemed like the ideal place to bring a very sleepy squirrel.

"Good morning, Castalia," Thea nods, greeting the floating girl nervously.

"Good morning. Why is Anath here?" Castalia asks.

"She found out what happened to me and Fulgora, and she defected," I say. "Melpomene is apparently the one who trapped Fulgora in the Dark World long enough for the corruption to take hold."

"Oh," Castalia says.

For a while after that, the only sound is Anath's breathing, the unconscious girl curled up under the white covers and grasping her pillow like a life preserver in the middle of the ocean. Stress keeps her body tense even in sleep, but she is, at least, asleep. 

Thea watches her with a complicated expression. The two of them were never all that close, but they did live with each other for several years. From the moment Anath joined the rebellion, Thea became one of only three other people in her life for a long time. The same is true the other way around, too. They didn't get along, but it was in the way that sisters often don't get along. They had their differences, but they were still family.

"Did I… miss the meeting?" Castalia asks awkwardly.

"Yeah, but there wasn't much of a meeting," I say. "It got interrupted when Jim told us Anath was on Earth, and by the time we got back, the portal to the castle was closed already. We'll have to wait until it reopens before we can try to save Fulgora."

"I see," Castalia says.

"Are you alright?" I ask her. "You slept a long time, even accounting for me keeping you up late."

"I know," Castalia answers. "I just needed a lot of sleep, I suppose."

Oh, geez. I can't help but be worried.

"What do you know about healing magic?" I ask.

"Not very much," Castalia admits. "I know that there is a distinction between combat recovery magic—such as what Aurora has—and 'true' healing magic. I've never known of a transformation stone bestowing spells for the latter; it has always been cast as pure magic."

"But writing a spell for it should be possible, shouldn't it?" I ask. "Hypothetically, you could codify the framework for a healing spell the same way you could for anything else."

"You would know that better than me," Castalia says. "I use magic, and I use spells that were once granted to me by my stone. I do not know how to write new spells."

Oh. Huh. I guess that makes sense.

"Does that mean you'll never get new spells again, since you aren't casting with your stone anymore?" I ask.

"Well, I can still use magic," Castalia says. "And if there's a kind of magic I use a lot I might decide to name it. I know how to Sᴘᴇᴀᴋ Mᴀɢɪᴄ Wᴏʀᴅs, after all." 

Thea whips her head around to stare at Castalia with a baffled expression.

"Did… did you just slow down time mid-sentence?" she asks.

"No," Castalia answers. "I spoke very fast, and you perceived it as though time were slowed."

"Is that… different?" Thea asks.

"Yes," Castalia confirms. "Talking fast is easy, but slowing down all of time would be very hard."

"Why do we perceive magic words as if time were slowed down?" I ask.

Castalia shrugs. I should have expected that. She's always been more of a practical spellcaster than a theoretical one.

"I'd like to get some work done, but I'm a little worried about leaving Anath alone," Thea says, changing the subject.

"Amaterasu's at the base. We could ask her to watch Anath," I suggest.

"Is that… a good idea?" Thea hedges.

"Well… I'd do it, but I was thinking the two of you might want to come with me when I deal with the Dark Rebellion's underworld contacts? I've been putting it off, but it is kind of significant official Earth Guardian business."

"U-underworld contacts!?" Thea squeaks, looking startled for a moment. "Wait… oh. You mean like, human criminals." 

Pfft!

"What did you think I meant? Demons!?" I laugh.

"I-I don't know!" Thea whines. "Maybe!?"

"You are adorable!" I say, leaning over to give her a big hug.

"Buh!" she protests. I squeeze her tighter and nuzzle her cheek with my head. So cute!

"If you are speaking of the people the Dark Rebellion sold artifacts to, that is indeed important business," Castalia says. "I think it would make for a good team outing."

"Team… outing?" Thea hedges. "Wait, why do you want me for this?"

"Because we are a team now," Castalia says. "A team should do things together."

"I… should probably work on securing Luna's freedom."

"Have you gotten those notes Uma'tama promised you?" I ask.

"Well, no," Thea admits.

"Then we can put it off for now! Come on, it'll be fun, we'll hang out. You'll get to spend some time in the sun. We can beat up mobsters and stuff maybe. What do you say?"

"I don't really want to beat up any mobsters…" Thea pouts.

"Then I'll do it, and you can wait outside! It's fine," I assure her. "There's probably only gonna be a couple guys there, and given the hours they usually work, they'll be packing up to go home and sleep soon. We'll catch 'em with their pants down."

"Wh-why would their pants be down…?" Thea asks. 

"Figure of speech, hon," I tell her, giving her a pat on the head. "Come on!"

"I… I just don't want to get in the way between you two…" Thea mumbles, and I pause.

I've been letting Thea feel left out. That's bad.

"Thea, no! Of course you're not in the way!" I assure her. 

"You two are going on a date later," Thea points out. "I know I don't know all that much, but I know what a third wheel is! A-and like, to be clear, that's totally okay! Really. Please don't consider it anything other than okay."

"Third… wheel?" Castalia asks, tilting her head.

"Like on a bike," Thea says. "Two wheels are all you need. A third one would just get in the way."

"I don't know how to ride a bike," Castalia says.

"Okay…? I… I guess I don't know if I do either," Thea says. "I remember riding one when I was little, and that's something you're never supposed to forget, isn't it? Wait, why are we talking about bikes again? Right, third wheels."

"Some bikes do have three wheels, actually," I point out. "One in front and two in the back. They're much more stable."

"The triangle is the sturdiest shape," Castalia agrees.

"Wh—it—it's just a metaphor!!!" Thea stammers, blushing heavily. 

"And we are pointing out that the metaphor isn't as apt as you might think it is," I tell her.

"No, I just like triangles," Castalia says.

Castalia! I turn and give her a meaningful look, which is to say I think really hard about how much I would like her to back me up on this and hope she figures it out through her empathy. She stares back at me for a while, unblinking as if trying to win a contest, and then suddenly straightens in the air.

"Oh!" she says. "Also, we are a team, and we should do more things together."

"We really don't have to," Thea insists.

"That's true," Castalia agrees. "We should, though."

"Exactly, thank you!" I agree. "The more time we spend together, the better!"

I scoop Thea up in my arms, enjoying my reward of a startled squeak as I carry her out of the room.

"Hey, Amako!" I call out down the hall.

"W-w-why do you keep calling me Amako!?" comes the sputtering response, the girl in question indignantly pattering down the hall toward us. Oh hey, she's in her incarnate form again.

"Because it's cute, and I'm your friend, and friends giving each other cute nicknames is fun!" I answer. "Would you prefer Amako-chan?"

"That's not why!" Amako-chan barks. "I know you know…!"

"Know what?" Castalia asks, and poor Amako goes white as a sheet.

Because I do know why. It's the nickname a certain video game character also named 'Amaterasu' has in the Japanese version of the game. I think the English translation went with 'Ammy,' but obviously that wouldn't be the version our Japanese transfer would be used to. Unfortunately, I think if I said that out loud she might have a heart attack and die, so I… throw her a bone. Hehe.

"It's a Japanese thing," I answer. "'Ko' is a cute name suffix, and in the context of canines it evokes Hachikō, a famously good dog. Y'know, like Su-san!"

"Why are you always teasing me?" Amaterasu whines.

"It's how I show love!" I answer, scooting closer to Castalia and hoisting Thea a bit higher into the air. "Just ask these two! I never stop teasing them!"

"That's true," Castalia confirms.

"Wuhbuh," Thea also confirms, covering her face and blushing.

"So yeah, if I'm teasing Castalia all the time, don't think you're getting out of it," I finish smugly.

"Luna-san, please…!" Amaterasu begs.

"I'm not sure I should," I say. "I mean, I think I just broke my high score on how fast I can get your tail to wag."

Blushing furiously, she reaches both hands down to her butt and grabs the base of her tail in an attempt to stop it from whipping back and forth. Naturally, she fails completely.

"Anyway, I was gonna ask if you'd be up to watching Anath and making sure she doesn't run off when she wakes up," I say. "I need to go dismantle everything I can of the Dark Rebellion's artifact-trafficking operation."

"What?" Amaterasu asks, her brain taking a moment to reset now that I'm actually being serious. "Oh. And… Castalia-san is going with you?"

Castalia nods.

"So you have a serious reason for calling me, too," Amaterasu sighs. "Very well, I will watch Anath."

"Thanks, Amako!" I say, bumping her hip with my own as I walk past. "I'll buy you a Switch on the way home. Any games in particular you want me to pick up?"

"Wh-what!? Don't buy me something that expensive on a whim!"

"Animal Crossing and Zelda, got it," I nod sagely. "See you in a few hours!"

"Luna-san!" Amaterasu whines miserably, but I ignore her and walk away, my only answer being the joy and smugness I radiate in every direction. Man, I love being hot and rich.

We make our way to the teleporters, step through into the usual alleyway, and rise up into the air as Castalia picks us up. I jerk my head in the direction we should be flying, and Castalia takes off.

"A-are you going to put me down?" Thea mumbles. I tighten my grip a little.

"But if I put you down, I won't be cuddling you anymore," I point out reasonably.

She buries her face deeper into her hands, making more whining noises as her dangling tail gently thrashes beneath her. It takes her a moment to collect herself for words, eventually blurting them out in a quick burst.

"You always make this so hard!" she complains.

Oh no.

"Sorry, what am I making hard?" I ask. Don't make a penis joke don't make a penis joke don't make a penis joke.

"I can't tell you," Thea says. "Don't try to figure it out, either!"

Oh, uh. Alright. I guess I won't.

"We should probably change the subject, then," I say. "I'm gonna be heading in to handle the mob alone."

"What!?" Thea yelps.

"Why?" Castalia asks.

"Because I know the guys there," I answer. "They're just middlemen. We can't just go in there and laser blast things, we need to get information. And like, no offense, but I'm the most socially well-adjusted member of the team by several orders of magnitude. Somehow."

"That's true," Castalia concedes.

"I've only talked to like, four actual humans in the past seven years, and three of them were your friends," Thea agrees.

"See, I knew that, but it's even sadder to hear out loud," I say. "I'm not even good at social interactions, I'm just… capable of it. But that's enough! Anyway, you'll both be nearby, and I'll flare some magical power if I need help. Drop me on the street there, Castalia."

She does, entirely literally. I'm forced to let go of Thea so I don't drag her down with me as I plummet toward the sidewalk in pure free-fall. A burst of thrust prevents me from just shattering the sidewalk on impact, and then I summon my human disguise before heading down the stairs to the familiar basement bar. 

The sign says 'closed,' but I push the doors hard enough to snap the lock and stroll in anyway. The bartender glances up from the dirty glass he's idly polishing, recognizing me on sight… and feeling a little bubble of fear.

"I thought you preferred the dark," he comments.

"People in my line of work often keep odd hours," I respond cryptically, heading right for the 'employees only' door and pushing through while the bartender hits a silent alarm under the counter.

That's alright. I'm not surprised that they know. I head down the hall and force my way into a familiar office, where a familiar man is exhaustedly trying to grab his things and leave.

"Long time no see," I greet him. 

Come to think of it, I never learned the man's name, which I suspect was entirely intentional. Hopefully I don't end up needing to track him down.

"Courier," he greets me back, hiding his fear as best he can. "I didn't expect to see you around here again."

"I almost didn't expect you to still be in the same place," I answer. "But I have to say I'm so glad that you are!"

"What can I say? Good property is expensive," he shrugs unrepentantly. "What can I help you with?"

"I'm here to audit our transaction records," I lie. "There's been a substantial discrepancy in our bank account that I'm hoping you can clear up for us."

"A discrepancy? Well, I'm sure we can get that cleared up. Let me just grab those records for you," he says, opening up his desk and rummaging around a little.

Then he pulls out a gun and shoots me with it.

It's not just any gun, either. I've seen this gun before. In the dark world. It's one of the weapons we found in that Antipathy (or maybe Preserver?) military checkpoint. The uncomfortable-looking spiral grip marks it as clearly not intended for human hands, but humans happen to be dexterous enough to make it work regardless. A red bolt of energy erupts from the barrel directly toward my chest.

I don't make any moves to stop it, possibly because I am very stupid but mostly because I intend to send a very clear message. The magical bolt crashes against my outer shields and dissipates entirely, dealing no visible damage to me at all. In reality, that one shot chunked me for a full five percent of my power reserves, which is honestly pretty damn impressive. A good amount of that energy loss was inefficiency resulting from protecting my skinsuit with my shielding, but still!

"Come on, man," I say. "I cut a kaiju in half the other day."

"Damn," the desk-mobster swears, lowering the weapon. "Well, you can't blame a guy for trying."

"Oh no, I absolutely can," I assure him. "But maybe if you're really, really sorry, I'll decide to forgive you. How many of those guns did you sell, and to whom?"

"Well, I mean, I'd love to tell you the answer to that, but y'see there's been a bit of a discrepancy in the accounts, so it's a little hard to say."

"Hmm, interesting," I respond. "[T ᴇ s ᴛ ɪ ᴄ ʟ ᴇ C ʀ ᴜ s ʜ ᴇ ʀ]"

"Te—AGH, GOD, FUCK!" he screams, curling up on his chair.

"Luna!" Thea shouts, she and Castalia rushing into the room. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine," I answer without looking at them. "I'm just torturing this dude, you can wait outside."

"You're what!?"

"Well, I'm just worried that he thinks Earth Guardians are all stardust and rainbows and not, y'know, a paramilitary force wielding living weapons of mass destruction that this idiot has decided to fuck with," I say. "It's an easy mistake to make. We all watched at least a little Sailor Moon. Just doing a little reeducating. This guy will be fine as long as he wasn't planning to have kids."

"Stop torturing him!" Thea orders me.

"Okay, okay," I concede, releasing his balls. "Hopefully he understands why he should answer now."

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" the guy chokes, wiping tears out of his eyes.

"Dude," I say. "You shot me."

"I-I was… fuck! I was under orders to!" he protests.

"Okay, well I twisted your balls under the impetus of my own free will. What does it matter? Tell me where the other guns are."

'Under orders to' my shiny metal ass. This guy wouldn't know what being under orders is really like. He had a choice, and he chose to attempt murder. His balls are officially crushable. 

"I don't know where they are!" he insists. Hmm… yeah, I don't think he's lying about that.

"Who did you sell them to?" I ask.

"Someone really goddamn rich," he hisses through gritted teeth. "I don't know who. We value anonymity here."

Hmm… that's a lie, I think. At least partly.

"Hey, remember that ring I sold you that can detect lies?" I ask him.

"Y-yeah?"

"It's not an uncommon magic trick," I say, cupping my hand and making it glow purely for intimidation factor. "Who bought them?"

"N-nobody!" he blurts. "Nobody bought them! That Savior bitch paid us to give them away!"

Okay. Now we're getting somewhere.

"Give them away to whom?" I press.

"I don't know!" he insists. "We were just transport. It could have been a research facility, a PMC, the government… anybody. I wasn't involved with the handoff."

"I'll buy that. But I bet you have a pretty educated guess," I say.

"Whoever they were, they were well-funded," he says. "If it was somebody in the private sector, they at least had enough money and experience to act as scary as the CIA. Officially, artifact sale is illegal. Unofficially, the government has absolutely been turning a blind eye to us as long as we give them some of the goods. This town is one of the only places in the world with reliable access to magical technology, and allowing Savior to operate has been in the best interests of national security for some time. Whoever cracks magic first will have global military dominance."

Damn. That makes a lot of sense.The constant political bribes probably help with keeping eyes off him too, I'd imagine.

"Okay, next question. When did you get that gun?"

"Several months ago," he says.

"How many is several? More than, say, four?" I ask.

"No."

So it was after Thea left the rebellion. Thea was a lot less keen on selling straight-up Antipathy-made weapons, wanting to reverse engineer her own version and make plans for that instead. But without Thea around, I guess Nanaya had no reason to delay any longer.

"Is there anything else you were asked to deliver?" I ask.

"A big fucking box," he answers.

"How big are we talking?" I press.

"I don't know. Three feet in every direction? Three and a half? It was heavy as shit, solid and metal."

Thea gasps.

"My printer!" she exclaims. "That's about how big my material printer was!"

"It sure is," I agree, drumming my fingers against my thigh. "Interesting. Okay, well, I suppose I'll steal all the computers in the building and let you go now."

"Steal… our computers?" he blinks.

"Yeah, to grab your records and learn whatever else you might be hiding behind the accounting sheets. I suppose I'll take your paperwork, too. Actually, I'll just take your whole desk. It's a nice desk. [Sᴋᴇᴛɪsᴏʜ]"

His desk vanishes. The man blinks.

"You're letting me go?" he asks.

"What, you want to come with me?" I ask. "I'm a magical girl, not a cop. I can't arrest you."

"We could call the cops," Thea points out.

"After I steal all the incriminating data? Fat lot of good that will do," I say. "You might want to skip town, though, my man. Savior herself is a lot less forgiving than I am."

"Did Nana seriously get all these people to call her 'Savior…?'" Thea mumbles.

Ha! I mean, she probably didn't get to choose the name of her class, but she certainly could have chosen to go by a different pseudonym. Then again, if you're the only person handing out literal magic, some people calling you a savior isn't all that hard to swing, is it?

"[Sᴋᴇᴛɪsᴏʜ]" I incant again, heading around the various rooms and slurping up anything that looks like it might be important or hiding something important. I also find like, ten thousand dollars in cash, so I suppose I'm getting everyone Nintendos today. Let's see… anything I'm forgetting? Ah, right.

I trawl through the internet for pictures matching our mob liaison's face, and sure enough I find them. It's harder than expected, actually; he's done a good job of keeping his social media presence quiet, but I manage to track down several older photos of when he was younger and match them confidently. 'Edward Raymond,' huh? 

"I mean it, Eddie," I tell him. "Get out of town. You hear me?"

Hearing his name manages to spook him more than almost anything else I could have said.

"…You got it," he agrees. "I won't make myself your problem, Courier." 

"Good man," I nod. 

"Savior's gonna go after you, though," he says. "She's not going to let a betrayal like this stand."

"God, I hope so," I say honestly. "Everything will be so much easier if she just comes to us to get her ass kicked. Anyway, bye."

We head out of the building, and I give the bartender a polite wave on the way out. That's pretty much all there is to do here, I think.

"Did that go well?" Castalia asks.

"Pretty well, I think," I say. "I'll have to pull the hard drives we just got out of my storage and eat them like comically large crackers before we know for sure, though."

"Does that work?"

"No, she's kidding," Thea sighs. "I have to say, I was not expecting you to handle things that way, Luna."

"Sorry," I say sheepishly. "I probably could have phrased the situation better. The dude shot me so I gave him a magic kick in the balls. That's really all it was."

"Can you bring that gun back out?" she asks as Castalia picks us all up.

"Sure," I confirm, doing just that and holding it out for Thea to take. She gingerly accepts it, humming thoughtfully.

"Yeah, this is an Antipathy design alright," she confirms. "Or maybe a Preserver one, I guess, but based on the grip, an Antipathy-like limb is supposed to grasp it."

"That was my assessment too," I agree.

"How hard did it hit?" Thea asks.

"About one and a half Fulminant Thunders. Like, from before Minerva's class change. When you and I fought against her and Su-san way back when."

"That's… still quite considerable," Thea says.

"Yeah," I agree. 

"We will need to give that to Uma'tama," Castalia says. "Please do not mess with it."

"I know, I know," Thea pouts. "I gotta know if they've solved the power issue, though…"

"This one still looks LCI-fed, so no," I say. "But given everything we already know… hypothetically, Thea, could you make an LCI?"

"Getting the magic into a pseudo-liquid form for storage is the hard part there, but hypothetically yes, it's possible," Thea confirms. "It's also possible that a partly or fully intact machine designed to create LCIs may have survived the Great Execration. The issue would just be getting enough magical power to actually put in them."

"Yeah," I agree. "And I can't help but notice that this particular gun is powered by anger."

"It would seem that the Dark Rebellion may have something more dangerous waiting for us than just stolen transformation stones," Castalia hums.

"Oh shit, they do have those stolen stones as well, though!" I say. "I stole Veritas and Aurora's stones. They had to get replacements!"

"We never found anyone to give the stones to, though," Thea says. "We don't exactly have good PR. Er, didn't. There's no way things got better after the fight at your college."

"True, but what if they didn't need a volunteer?" I ask. "Or I guess more accurately… what if their volunteer didn't need to care about or agree with their ideology?"

"Then Melpomene would never give them the stone in the first place," Thea answers.

"But Nanaya might," I say. "She gave away a bunch of magic guns. Why not a transformation stone?"

"Who would she give it to?" Thea asks.

"Knowing her? A contractor, maybe. Or someone from the organization she gave all those guns to," I answer. "Anyone she can use with a large enough soul could be an option. We'll have to ask if Anath knows anything about that. Oh, over there, Castalia! There's a game store that way."

She drops us off, and we head inside, quickly nabbing several video game consoles and games with my ill-gotten gains. The guy behind the counter looked a little freaked out that I was paying in several thousand dollars of cash, but he was more freaked out by Castalia floating behind me and the nervous-looking green girl with a giant blade-tail, so he just took my money and let me walk out with all the stuff.

Shortly afterward, we're back at base. Flying Castalia Airlines is always first-class. I jog down the hall and head back toward my room. It is apparent that Anath is awake long before I get there.

"—know I have the best tail ever, but yours is cute too! It really is! Sure, it could be better if it had a few spikes coming out of it, but that's fine!" Anath babbles.

"Can we please stop talking about my tail," Amaterasu groans.

"Okay! Oh, wait, one more thing, what shampoo and conditioner do you use? Because if you keep getting fuzzier it's important to buy in bulk. Or steal it! But Nana says I shouldn't do that. Oh, hi Luna!"

"Hi, Anath," I say as I turn the corner. "Amako is in her incarnate form; she doesn't have fur on her human body."

"Amako!? Oh gosh that's so cute!" Anath squees.

"Luna-saaaaan…" 

The two of them seem lively enough. Anath is sitting up and moving like she's in considerably less pain than before, which is always a good sign. Her mood has clearly taken a one-eighty as well; I suppose the manic/depressive pendulum is already starting to swing the other way.

"I keep telling you, just call me Luna!" I insist, manifesting a brand new Switch out of my storage and handing it to Amaterasu. "Hey Anath, do you know what happened to the transformation stones Nanaya made me steal from Veritas and Aurora?"

"Huh?" Anath blinks. "Oh! Uh… no, sorry. I have no idea."

"Darn," I say. "Well, we'll need to watch out for it. That's a very powerful pair of weapons that we're missing."

"Yeah…" Anath agrees, blinking a couple times as if waking up. Thea and Castalia wander in behind me, and Anath takes in a sharp breath. "U-um… Luna?"

"Yeah?" I ask.

She sucks in a sudden half-sob. It sounds like a hiccup.

"C-can I hug you!?" she blubbers.

"Sure, Anath," I agree, and she jumps out of the bed and into my arms, securing a crushing hold on me as she starts to wail out tears. 

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" she howls. 

"It's okay, Anath," I assure her, rubbing her back.

"I should have known I should have seen it I mean I should have felt it and I kind of did feel it but I thought it couldn't be that bad but it was bad and I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry!"

"Really, it's okay, Anath," I insist. "I'm out of there now. I'm with Thea and Castalia, and everything's alright."

"The Preservers aren't turning you into scrap or locking you up?" Anath sniffs.

"They aren't. They're even letting Thea continue working on my restrictions."

"Ooooh thank goodness thank goodness. Good! Ness! Waagh!" Anath yelps, finally letting go of me so she can pace around nervously. "Gosh it's been a long time since I was in a Preserver base. I mean other than the time I got kidnapped and brought to one. Remember that, Amako?"

"You are not allowed to call me Amako!" Amaterasu snaps, pointing a furious finger at Anath.

"Does that mean I am!? Awwww, Amako, I knew you'd come around!" I squee, giving her some laser-targeted scritches behind her adorable doggy ears.

"S-s-sto… aah! Ooh…" Amako tries and fails to protest, her tail once again starting to wag like crazy. In her hands, she's clutching the box to the Switch very, very tightly. So cute!

"Kehehehe!" Anath giggles excitedly. "Oh, you are doing good, aren't you Luna? That's good. That's really good. Can… can you help me save Fulgora?"

"Duh!" I agree, still scritching Amako. "Heh, do you not remember me carrying you back? I guess you were pretty out of it. We're gonna rescue Fulgora ASAP, don't you worry about that. The only problem right now is that the portal to the castle is closed. For now, we can't get to them, but they can't really go anywhere either. So… we just have to make sure we're ready to go once that portal converges again. They have to come out and get food eventually."

"Oh, that makes sense," Anath says. "I think?"

"Come'ere, squirrel," I say, reaching out and giving her my next round of turbo-skritches. "It's! Gonna! Be! O! Kay!"

"Waaaaaaahbabawaaaa!" Anath protests eloquently as I muss up her fur all the way down her neck. "B-b-but Fulgora was doing really bad!"

Oh, okay, I should probably take that seriously. I straighten her fur back a little.

"How bad?" I ask. "Was she… is it alright if I'm a little blunt?"

"She wasn't trying to kill herself yet," Anath says. "It felt more like… she was waiting for the right time. B-but there's an even worse part! She's hurting herself! And she's extra-hurting her other self!"

"She's hurting… Minerva?" I ask.

"Minerva is dead," Anath answers. "But she has a new extra person in her head, and she's being awful to them! Bonus Fulgora was really scared…"

'Bonus Fulgora?' Somehow I doubt that's actually her name, but okay.

"New and exciting forms of self-harm, got it," I nod. "But no immediate danger of suicide?"

"I don't know," Anath says. "I don't think so, but you shouldn't trust me about that…"

Oh, honey… I give her one more big squeeze.

"I do trust you," I assure her. "I know the person you are now would never underestimate something like that."

Anath sniffs in my arms, giving me one more squeeze before pulling out of the hug.

"You're Anath," Castalia notes.

"You're Castalia!" Anath responds.

"That's true," Castalia agrees.

"Heh! Yeah! And I'm Anath!" Anath says, puffing out her chest a little.

Castalia considers this for a moment, and then nods in agreement.

"Welcome back, Anath," she says. "Uma'tama missed you."

"Aww…" Anath coos. "Where is my fellow fuzzbutt anyway? I haven't seen them since I got here!"

"They were actually here when we brought you back, you were just a lil' eepy at the time," I tell her. "I'm sure you'll see them around soon."

"Hey!" a small voice suddenly interjects. "It's training time, Su-san!"

We glance down the hall to spot Aurora, not currently in incarnate form, with her hands on her hips. She's dressed in well-maintained hand-me-downs and is wearing a school backpack. I suppose she probably just got out of school. 

"Actually, it's training time for everybody!" she declares. "Anath is helping us get Veritas and Fulgora back, right? So her, me, Luna, and Thea are all gonna be fighting together!" 

Huh. That's a good point, actually.

"Fight training!?" Anath perks up. "Oooh! Okay!"

"…Luna and Thea are one thing, but are we really just trusting Anath now?" Amako huffs.

"Yeah," I confirm.

"Yes," Castalia agrees.

"I mean, yeah," Thea sighs.

"I don't care!" Aurora snaps. "Come on, everybody! Training time! Let's go, go, go!"

"Hai, hai…" Amako sighs. "Er, yes. Let us train."

Come to think of it, I haven't spent much time in the Earth Guardian training room. I figure it's a fifty-fifty shot between a super high-tech danger room style ultra-training space, or like, just a big white room. Fifty bucks says it's just a big white room, honestly, and when we walk inside… ha! I owe me fifty bucks. I knew it.

There are some colors other than white—mainly soot scars and other discolorations that tend to occur from getting hit by laser blasts—but damn, there aren't even like… targets to aim at. It's just a big room where children punch each other. Awful!

"Alright, how are we doing this?" I ask. "I mean, team A is obviously Aurora, Anath, and Amako, right?"

"No," Aurora huffs. "Me, you, Anath, and Thea against Amaterasu and Castalia. I told you, the four of us have to train together!"

"It's just a joke, hon," I say. "We're yellow mages. I know you're stressed, and you've got every reason to be, but let's stay loose, alright?"

Aurora makes an annoyed sound, but then takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"…You're right," she agrees. "Sorry. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts…"

"Amako likes ear scritches," I say. "That's the happy thought I'm powering my attacks with."

"G-go back to flirting with your girlfriend!" Amako snaps.

Gasp! She's right! I'm going on a date tonight!

"I mean, I was gonna hold back on poor Castalia, but if you insist. Time to make myself the happiest girl alive. [Sᴋᴇᴛɪsᴏʜ]!" 

I vanish away my skinsuit, settling into a combat stance as I retract my thrusters to seal my plating.

"It's Castalia," Aurora says. "You'd better not hold back."

"I know! I can't believe I get to fight Castalia! It's so cool!" Anath vibrates excitedly, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

"I can't believe I have to fight Castalia… we're so dead," Thea groans.

"I am also your opponent," Amako insists. "I know I am no match for my teammate, but I will make you regret it if you forget me."

"There we go, now we've got some trash talk going!" I whoop. "You're next, Castalia! Say something intimidating!"

"I am going to need to hold back considerably or else I may accidentally bore a hole into the Earth's mantle," Castalia admits.

"Uh, yep, that's pretty good," I praise her, slightly terrified. I mean I've heard she might be able to destroy the planet, but I thought that was like, anime power scaling nonsense.

"That was not my threat," Castalia says. "I was just letting you know. My threat is that if you don't land a hit on me, I am not taking you to space."

"We must win, team!" I roar. "Battle, begin!"

Aurora and Thea speak their transformation phrases, and it is officially on. Losing is not an option.

For my space date!