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Logic had failed her. It was not the first time that Eilian had had that thought, only this was now one of the few times she could actually remember thinking it! Several things were fuzzy but what was standing out in clear detail was what had happened last night. Somehow, the young woman could not explain how, she'd ended up in a dark part of town where she didn't belong. Nobody went to that part of town but clearly she had? It made no sense.

All Eilian remembered was standing there in a strange costume that seemed to be made almost entirely of ridiculous ribbons with a wanna-be ninja in a coat far too warm for May. He'd called her something...Albali? Not her name. Staggering once the outfit had vanished, her normal clothes suddenly there, which had probably been one of the more unbelievable things. Except then she'd suddenly been in front of her building. The man, Zac his name was, had put her in her apartment with his number to call him in the morning.

Well it was morning and she did not want to call this strange man. Not alone! So when a hand picked up the phone it was a familiar number that she dialed -- her only friend left in Destiny City. "Avery? No Avery, it's Eilian. Yes it's really me! Look, can you stop by?" Vulnerability was in her voice, making her hate every word. "I need a friend right now."

Help me Avery Hollister. You're my only hope.

Not only had Eilian not eaten, she hadn't bothered to change out of the clothing she'd fallen into bed wearing. Most damning of all was the fact that the only time the Blackberry had been consulted was to call Avery, something that just was not done. A single alarm went off precisely at 8am. Until 9am she would shower, have breakfast, and go to her first class at 9:30am. To have awoken at 10am, done nothing but tear through an immaculately organized set of binders with notes that made zero sense to their owner, was all but a sign of the apocalypse.

Constantly a hand returned to the pocket of her loose pants, clutching at the smooth surface of the henshin pen there. Eilian's mind suggested that if she just lifted it, said a few simple words, things would explain themselves somewhat. Yet how could she trust a mind that did not explain where she had been the majority of the night before? Only once had she drunk enough to lose a few minutes but never whole hours, safe in the company of Avery Hollister. Well. Considering what had happened between them that night safe was not perhaps the most accurate word, but Avery hadn't hurt her.

Quite the contrary, in fact.

Eilian had barely finished carelessly piling her hair on top of her head in a knot, stabbing at it with a pair of incredibly expensive silver combs when a knock came from the front door of her apartment. Thankfully this was one of those places that had a doorman, not a buzzer system, and the man downstairs knew to always admit Councilwoman Hollister. Springing towards the front door, no doubt the sight that Avery's eyes took in when it opened was one that needed to be captured on film.

"Avery, thank Hawking you could come like this. I know your schedule is twice as full as mine but I couldn't think who else to call." Ushering her in, nervous energy all but charged the air around them. "Everything has gone mad since last night."

"Excuse me?" Almost, the undignified and very American 'what' had come from the mouth of Eilian Halpan. Her mother would have then heard it, an ocean away, and materialized in the room to take her daughter to task for her choice of language. It was bad enough that the child was an unabashed atheist but that was one thing. Uncivilized language was absolutely not tolerated!

Deciding that it must have been a joke, a commentary on her state of relative filth, she laughed it off with a shake of her head. "Honestly Avery! I know that I'm a bit ragged around the edges but as I said, utterly mad night. That's why I called you because, brace yourself for the compliment, you're possibly the only one who I trust to make sense out of this." Vaguely, there was a gesture towards the several binders full of pictures and scribbling, all shut, before the hand dipped into her pocket again. Fingers gripped the henshin pen but something in her mind immediately forbade showing it to her fellow Briton.

Her expression softened a bit, some of the manic light going out of her jungle teal eyes as they observed the impeccably put-together Ms. Hollister. Order soothed Eilian as nothing else ever could, it made her stand up a little straighter and wish she'd thought to shower. What a sight she must look! "I really am glad to see you."

Unfortunately for Eilian what would have been truly wise would also have been the most illogical -- calling the man who had brought her home the night before. He would have at least tried to explain things to her in a way that could be understood, though whether or not Eilian would have trod all over him in her incredibly expensive shoes was up in the air. What was logical and wise from where she had been sitting was to call the only person in town who could keep a cool head in any situation thus Avery.

It didn't even occur to her that leaving the other woman alone with all of that rich information about Albali and her experiences was unwise. Wasn't that why she had called her friend after all? Nodding absently the Welsh girl allowed herself to be shooed off towards the bedroom, coming back no more than twenty minutes later looking rather like a cousin of herself. Hair was brushed and dried to lay flat against her head, held back by a headband, the slacks and blouse chosen costing as much as some people's weekly pay. All of it was carefully coordinated to match and give an impression of money as well as care.

Yet her hand was still clutched about the henshin pen in her pocket, as if it were the only thing keeping everything from falling apart.

Choosing the only other seat at the table, directly across from her friend, Eilian bit her lip apprehensively. "Have you made sense out of any of it? And...do you know what this?" Taking the plunge, ignoring her mind's loud warnings against it, the henshin pen was laid on the table between them.

A line of concern furrowed between Eilian's eyebrows at the difference in tone between the two vocalizations. A suspicious mind which she'd always possessed in spades said that Avery knew something about what this was. Yet the other half of her, the other half that was exhausted by this turmoil was saying that it was distress at yet another complication. Picking it up, holding it under the light so that the sigil of Albali could be clearly seen by both of them the young woman shrugged.

"I suppose if you care to try it we can go in the other room but don't you think right now things are a bit too important to be distracted from?" You had to have a sense of levity about these kinds of things didn't you? Without humor you were nothing but a cold and dry ice cube which, granted, Eiilian was more often than not in danger of becoming. It felt so much harder to touch that sense of humor she'd carefully cultivated this morning. Was that because of stress? It had never mattered before.

Pressing her lips together as if she were again considering what to do about it, caution was thrown entirely to the winds for the first time in Eilian's comparatively short life. "I know it does this. Albali Star Power!" Lights glimmered and sparkled, dancing before Avery's eyes while they obscured the figure of Eilian for only a moment. Then, sitting in Miss Halpan's dinette was Super Sailor Albali in all her beribboned glory, hating every inch of it.

"I don't know what this is but it's bloody ******** ridiculous."