Eliza sat on her hotel room bed with her hair in a towel texting her mother that she would be home in the morning. Her mother was very confused as to when she managed to get into the city, when she had been in the field as well as why she didn't say anything when she was leaving, but it wasn't much Eliza could do but to lie. She didn't want to say she randomly disappeared, as even at 25 such a thing was still a touchy subject.

She didn't want to lie of course, but that was the way of this lifestyle … this being a magical superhero.

Willie rolled over the bed facing Eliza with most of his too long body hanging off the side of the bed. “I take it your mom is less enthusiastic about this situation than my parents, but just as confused. How I wish I could tell them … oh you know I just got sucked into a void, no big deal.”

He chuckled and gave Eliza a smile before asking, “you good Tink?”

Eliza nodded and smiled back at her best friends, “Yes Pan. I too, just wish I didn't have to lie to my mom. You know how she can be about not knowing where I am. She texted me everyday when I was away from school.”

Willie nodded, “they love us and you know a parent's worst fear is something happening to their child, especially if that something is irreversible.”

“I know Pan, I know, it's just hard, but it has to be this way, so I will buckle down and keep fighting the good fight. Now we have much to talk about because you're a senshi and I want to know everything.”

Willie chuckled and gave Eliza a look before shaking his head, “we do have much to talk about, because you're a knight Tink. How long have you had proof that magic is real? I know you must have been so excited.”

Eliza nodded, “I was, but also it was when I disappeared. She looked to the stars. We were in space on the surrounding, where my wonder is. It's like a protective barrier to our solar system if I'm not mistaken, before I became Pharos at the end of the big battle I was there. I helped clean up there, ate there, and slept there for quite some time. When I came back I lost my place in school, had to be transferred to another, but I was a part of something bigger. You know? I always knew magic existed, never imagined I was magic though. I’ve been doing this ever since, even when we shared an apartment.”

Willie listened kind of shocked, not able to really imagine doing this as young as Eliza even though he knew there were small children in elementary school involved in this. “You’d just started high school. I remember that, everyone was so worried and my parents prayed for you every day. You seemed fine when you came back, so everyone let it go. I never would have thought, but maybe I should have … this city is crazy.”

Willie leaned back on his hands, “I got attacked by a youma and a cat gave me a magic wand so to speak. It happened shortly after I’d started school in the city. It's the only thing about the city … it seems the further out in the rural you are, the safer it seems to be.”

Eliza realized it was probably true, the weirdest thing that was happening out in the rurals was the odd ash plants. She wondered if it was magical … chaos related, it wasn’t something she would have brought up to Willie before, but now she could.

“So you're a knight, huh, what's that like,” Willie asked, knowing the knight and senshi were pretty from Sherwood.

Eliza thought for a moment before saying, “there are parts that are really fun and nice, but also parts that aren't so much. I love my wonder. It's the lighthouse Pharos, much like the one on earth, the lighthouse of Alexandria, but in space. It meant to guide travelers, but also the light I believe can act as a warning system of sorts. I still haven't fully sorted that one out, because I have seen nothing since the space whale. I tried to take a dark mirror senshi once and she bounced back.”

Willie gave a confused look, “bounced … back?”

Eliza nodded, “I'd forgotten the surrounding is protected against chaos. It happened all those years ago when I disappeared. Chaos can't go there … it didn't hurt her though. I think it was just shocking.”


William nodded, “so other places aren’t like that?”

Eliza shook her head, “not that I’m aware of, but Ive also not been to many other wonders or worlds, most just those on the surrounding. We can use the rainbow road to get from one wonder to another, though the owner has to be there for you to visit.”

William nodded, “I haven't been to my homeworld yet … I wasn't really aware I could … should be traveling to you know …” he made a gesture, “space. I mean I've been to one world … but uh it was i'm pretty sure trying to off me and everyone else that got pulled there. You're welcome to come with me though, when I go. Can I see your wonder?” Sherwood had probably mentioned it when they were dating, but he couldn't remember.

Eliza nodded, “you should go, everything is abandoned and everyone is gone, so you’ll have a lot of clean up to do, but it will be worth it. Pharos has a room of treasures, so to speak. Things that people left in the past when they passed through the surrounding, back when everything was grand and people traveled the galaxy.”

William sighed, getting up and sitting criss-cross applesauce and frowning, “so all of fantasy and mythology is based in truth so to speak, but history somehow got lost in translation. If all this magic is possible and we can travel to space, what happened?”

Eliza gave her best friend a confused expression, not really understanding what he was asking. “What do you mean what happened?”

William huffed, “well, why is all this secret? Why isn’t it common knowledge? It had to have been at some point right? There are earth knights! What happened that this knowledge just sort of vanished?”

Eliza thought about it for a moment and realized she didn't really know and she hadn’t actually thought about it. “I’m not really sure. Honestly I dont think most people are … I dont think most people are even sure why they are fighting in the first place … outside of making sure people of the city don’t die. We could ask Maia, or Camelot or Athene … maybe even one of the other Chronos knight or zodiac senshi … people who have been around for a while.”

Willie gave a nervous laugh, “I’ll admit that I have no idea who any of those people are … I'm pretty limited in my knowledge of others. I think I could ask the senshi who was there when I awakened … I dont remember her name though, but it's probably in my phone.``

Eliza frowned at her friend and shook her head, “we are going to have to make your some more friends Willie.” She smiled and stood up jumping on the Willie bed and flopping down on his back. “I'm glad to know you're a senshi now because we’ve got each other's backs, right Pan?”

Willie shook his head and reached up to Pat Eliza’s head, “right Tink. It’s you and me … like Steve and Bucky.”

Eliza chuckled and spouted with Willie, “To the end of the line.” Rolling off Willie’s back and onto the bed beside him she sighed, “when do you usually patrol?”

Willie looked to his best friend and shrugged, “It was about four night a week until I graduated. I’m trying to keep up the same, but it is a little harder being back home. We have quite a bit further to travel, but I dont think either of us are really made for city life.”

Eliza nodded, “Yes, I'm glad to be home. I can write from anywhere and I’d much rather be here on the farm than in the city. Besides, it would be weird to live so far apart again after being so close for so long.” They lived close all their lives, it was such a short time they hadn't been at least across the way. Eliza didn't really want to be away from her mother and her best friend.

“You're right though, it's not easy traveling into the city to patrol. It was a luxury to be so close … it's not fair that the enemy can teleport. Why dont we have an easy mode of travel … I mean we are fast and can jump on roofs but everyone can do that.``

Willie nodded, “another question to add to the list I suppose. I guess we have a lot of work to do, Tink.”

Eliza shook her head, “the work is never ending. There is so much to know and so many people to meet. I remember at the knight meeting, there had to have been at least 100 knights.”

Willie turned and gave his best friend a question glance, “that’s a lot. Are there as many senshi?”

Eliza thought about it for a minute, “Yes I do believe so, probably way more than 100 and honestly same for knights. The meeting was quite a while ago, years … the war isn't over, so I bet there are more and more.”

Eliza fiddled with her hair looking up at the ceiling, “I don’t think we could get an exact number, but maybe the cats have some sort of idea.”

Willie started laughing, “oh all the things in all this, I think the talking cats, disney aspect of all this is what gets me the most. It's like suddenly being able to understand the aristocats. Can you imagine if there was an actual O'Malley cat.”

Eliza sat up looking a little surprised, “I can’t believe I never thought of that. That would be amazing! Can you imagine Toulouse or little Marie.” She giggled, flopping back down. “I dont think the talking cats are all that strange … They are easy to accept. We’ve seen talking cats all our lives.”

Willie shook his head and almost rolled his eyes, but conceded Eliza’s point. From the Lion King, To the Aristocats, to Oliver in Company, Lady and the Tramp and many others talking cats were definitely a thing … talking animals period. Youma were much the same, just the stuff of nightmares … Willie bet there was a youma out there for every nightmare he had ever had.

“What about you Tink? How often do you patrol and what shocks you the most?

Eliza paused thinking hard mostly on the latter question, “well I patrol as often as I can. Sometimes I was super busy like close to finals and I didn't patrol at all … sometimes I’d go everyday especially during the summer, when we had the apartment. Since I wasn't going home for three months I was able to patrol a lot.”

“Now it's more like 3 times a week, writing and the farm is a lot of work.”

She looked at her friend, “ … I think … I think it's that we can suddenly be in a place we didn't know that shocks me the most. Today wasn’t the first time and it won't be the last time. Sometimes we are called, sometimes we just wake up there and sometimes we suddenly appear. I think that gets me the most.”

Willie nodded and thought about it, “yeah I … yeah … twice for me, but more for you I suppose. Hopefully now we can help each other out and patrol together and figure all this out. Now though I think we should get some sleep. It was a long and crazy night, Tink.”

Eliza nodded, “yeah, when we get up in the morning we can plan our first patrol before we have to catch an uber all the way home. Do you think you can get one of your brothers to come get us?”

Willie laughed, “yeah I think so … I don’t particularly want to know how much that journey will cost. It's like an hour from where we are.”

Willie couldn’t sleep after Eliza drifted off, lying awake and thinking about what they had talked about. He knew he really needed to, he supposed, step up his game. He resolved while thinking to visit his world and hopefully learn a bit more about himself as a senshi. He didn't really understand the purpose of going, but he guessed it was another question to add to the list. He felt woefully behind the curve when it came to this. Eliza certainly knew more, though he wondered if maybe he should feel as such. She still had a lot of questions as well and there were things she could tell him. Still she at least had a better idea where to start. He turned his head looking at his tiny sleeping friend. He wanted to be someone she could count on … he dropped the ball when they were young teens, but he’d fix that. Now it was time to get serious about all this, because he didn't want to be the reason they found themselves in a world of trouble.


WC: 2287

Eliza: 1226 / Willie: 1061