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 Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 8:17 am
Andreiya tapped his foot loudly, not with a desire to be disruptive but because he simply had too much energy to contain himself. Earth always felt strange this time of year.
Creepy, even.
He’d much rather have been in his greenhouse, doing normal, safe research.
But safe didn’t get you anywhere. And Aliez had impressed upon himself and Vyn the seriousness of the situation.
Andreiya did not thrive in danger, did not seek it out. But it was important to Aliez, so it was important to him. He crossed his arms over his chest again, fiddling with his ComTech as if expecting a message.
There were none.
Everyone he was in regular contact with was here, now. Waiting. How human to set a time and be–he looked at his ComTech: one minute until their meeting time–almost late.
And yet, with extreme precision, a cluster of Knights arrived. They moved briskly, like there was no time to waste. His understanding was, of course, that there wasn’t.
A Ganymede page was at the forefront of the group, and his eager wave introduced him before he’d even spoken.
“Aliez!” Lyon called, with more cheer than he felt. He jogged to meet the Velencian. They were in a rush–more than usual, but it wasn’t like Lyon would have secured any privacy before the rest of the group joined him. Secrecy would have required him to lower his voice, which he did not.
“Are you getting tired of seeing me? I’ve brought more trouble. Let me introduce everyone.” He pointed to each of the Knights behind him, one at a time, and named them. Amarynthos, walking in step with Ephesus, waved.
Dering, towards the back of the group, flashed a polite smile before returning his attention to the horizon.
They’d chosen a secluded area–out of the way and well concealed. They would sense energy signatures approaching. The Vanguardians would have time to separate if–when–someone found them out here.
They were still within city limits, just far away from their usual haunts.
Lyon smiled at Vyn and Andreiya. “It’s nice to meet you, too. I’d love to chat. But I’m sure Aliez told you that we’re on a super time crunch. Really, no idea how long it’s going to take them to find us. It’s getting worse,” he explained. “Sometimes we get ten minutes, sometimes we get less. It’s not just the youma, but it’s always them first. And then this General shows up–were you able to find out anything on ‘Cahir’?” Aliez had seen him. Ephesus’ USB had named him. Reims had confirmed it.
“Or seen any dog youma? They’re the only ones we’ve run into, for like two weeks now. Since the basement. And–seriously–no matter what, they find us. Any time we power up. It’s not when we’re not Knights. And so far as we can tell, it hasn’t affected anyone we’ve interacted with. No one else has seen an uptick in the youma, and the General hasn’t gone after anyone else.”
That they knew of.
Thank goodness Lyon could talk so quickly, and what good luck that his lungs were so big that he never ran out of air.
He looked at Aliez, not quite helplessly, but certainly pleading. He’d perfected puppy eyes a long time ago, but there was a seriousness, a desperation, behind them.
“He’s getting worse, he’s pulling starseeds now. We just need to know how he–how the youma–are finding us. Please tell me you can help us.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 8:21 am
Aliez’s expression froze somewhere between confusion and horror. “Pulling… starseeds?” he echoed, voice soft but shaking with distress. “You mean he’s taking them?”
Holly, perched on his shoulder, uncoiled her tail and lifted her head, sensors flickering with a soft amber pulse. Aliez steadied her absently with one hand, bright green eyes darting across the gathered Knights. “Are they--” he looked from Amarynthos, then Ephesus, then Dering, Reims, and Cynthus. “Are they all right? You got them back?”
He was visibly disturbed by the idea, but stopped himself from saying more. There was no need to let the fear bleed into his voice.
“This is Vyn and Andreiya,” he introduced in return. He looked back at Lyon, his composure wilting a little with wariness. His hand brushed the edge of his ComTech, flicking through projected data that unfortunately wasn’t there.
“‘Cahir,’” he repeated. “That name didn’t come up in any of the archives that we have access to. No references in Negaverse personnel or any other registries.” He hesitated, glancing to his fellow Vanguard, before looking back at the young Knights. “I think it’s a nickname.”
Ephesus stood a little behind Amarynthos, holding tightly to his hand. The others were talking, fast, urgent, and his head felt like it was still catching up.
His throat was tight. He wanted to be brave -- he was brave… kind of -- but the memory of pain, of Yvoire going still, of the way Amarynthos had almost--
And then to make matters worse, it happened again.
He swallowed hard, hand gripping as tight as he could manage to Amarynthos’s hand, but his strength was not nearly enough to harm him.
“I think he -- Cahir -- he knew exactly where to find us,” he said quietly. “It’s like he just… knew. Like he’s tracking us, somehow. If it happens again -- if they find us--” His words stumbled. What would he do if he lost any of his friends? If Amarynthos was killed?
He looked at Aliez, at Vyn and Andreiya, eyes wide but determined. “Please. Anything you can find -- it might help.”
Reims crossed his arms tightly over his chest, jaw clenched hard. He didn’t say anything right away -- because if he did, it was going to come out sharper than he meant it.
“Great,” he muttered finally, low enough that it might’ve been to himself. “Guess we’re doing this again.” He didn’t sense any auras yet, but it was only a matter of time.
He blew out a breath and looked over at Lyon, then Dering, then Ephesus and Amarynthos and Cynthus. His friends. Each one of them had almost died because of some lunatic.
“I’m not letting it happen again,” he said, firmer now, agitation bleeding through. “If this General shows up, he’s not getting another chance.”
He glanced over at Aliez and the other two aliens, wary but respectful. “You’re sure you want to be here? Because this isn’t research anymore. It’s a warzone, and he will find us.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 8:26 am
“They got them back,” Cynthus reassured the purple alien.
Well, there were two purple ones, but one looked more friendly than the other. He had big green eyes with very long lashes—like a cow, or a deer caught in someone’s headlights. (Why were lashes like that always wasted on boys?) The other purple one looked like he thought his time would be better spent taking stupid selfies at the gym instead of helping them; the leggings and the tight little jacket with the thumb holes looked very human, which meant they looked weird on him. The third alien was pink. He seemed somewhere between Cow Eyes and Gym Bunny when it came to friendliness levels. If the situation weren’t so serious, Cynthus might have commented on the girly name, which would’ve probably (definitely) been rude, but it’s not like she’d met very many aliens. Ephesus’ dad didn’t really count because he looked like he could’ve been born on Earth. The same could be said for the ones who lived with her cousin. Er… not Ephesus’ other dad. The other cousin.
Whatever.
Cynthus lingered in the back of their little group, not because she didn’t want to be front and center but because she thought someone should keep Dering company (and also maybe keep an eye on him). Cynthus hadn’t been at the abandoned laundromat, but she’d heard all about it, and to say she was pissed would be an understatement. First that a*****e General nearly killed Yvoire (and Amarynthos, though he’d probably keep brushing it off if she brought it up), then he hunted them for sport, and when scaring them didn’t get him want he wanted fast enough he went and snatched a bunch of their starseeds.
“You guys have access to the Negaverse, right? Not, like, info on your little Apple Watches but, like, in person. Can’t you just ask around? Oh, hey, I’ve been looking for one of your colleagues but never got his name,” Cynthus said, emulating Cow Eye’s (Aliez?) voice. Poorly. “Tall dude. White hair. Massive a*****e.”
“We won’t be asking around,” Vyn said. “We won’t be doing anything that might put us or any of our people at risk.”
He stood a little behind Aliez and Andreiya, watching the little cluster of knights like he thought they might attack at any moment. They were practically children, but he wouldn’t put it past the Earthlings to instill evil in their young. The one at the fore (Lyon) was too friendly with Aliez; he talked too much and smiled strange. Then there were the two attached to one another; one of them waved politely (Amarynthos) and the other had wide eyes like Aliez (Ephesus), only they seemed more disconcerting in a human face—round eyes between round ears. The surly one (Reims) earned a longer stare from Vyn; if any of them were going to cause trouble, it would probably be him. The blue-haired girl (Cynthus) talked almost as much as the one at the front. The quiet one near her would have been the least troubling if silence and aloofness weren’t often a cover for nefarious intent.
“We haven’t seen any dog youma—” Vyn continued, less conversational and more like he was giving a report. The Earth children had questions. Vyn didn’t see any reason not to answer them. Yet. “—but we’re monitoring the perimeter,” he added without bothering to explain what he meant.
They didn’t need to know about Willow, who glided silently through the trees.
“We won’t be here long,” Vyn told the surly one. “Earth has always been a warzone to us. Nothing you and your friends have dealt with makes it any better or worse. Whether or not we want to be here is irrelevant. We’re here. We won’t be if he finds you again.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 8:27 am
“Oh, good, very smart,” Lyon said easily, not seeming the least bit upset that they thought they had an escape plan. In theory, he was sure it was ironclad--'at the first sign of danger, we'll leave' or something of the sort.
He suspected in practice, things would go much differently. Aliez wouldn't just abandon them. Any time Aliez had been around while Lyon was in trouble, he'd extended a hand. Was he to believe this would be any different? And would Aliez's other friends have abandoned him? No, probably not.
It wasn’t like the Knights hadn’t come prepared with items to aid in an escape. Among them, Amarynthos was already presumed dead. If Cahir saw him alive–
Well, there was no telling what he’d do.
Amarynthos wasn’t here for fun. It was dangerous to be seen, so he’d come equipped with a few items from Alastor’s stash to make sure he could slip away without being identified. They were all on edge, all cautious. They knew what was at stake.
With no need to dwell on hypotheticals--they'd never have to test the theory if the conversation went fast enough--he jumped back into the topic.
"We got our starseeds back. He had others before. But kept in the bottom of a rotten desk, so he obviously has no respect for them."
Andreiya huffed, disgusted. He had no love for the Negaverse and no poker face to pretend he might. He could tolerate some of them, but none that beheld such disrespect for starseeds. No matter how curious their research might have been.
"My friends are alive but they aren't really 'all right'. Don't let their sweet faces confuse you, that's a crock pot of PTSD cooking over there." He gestured vaguely to his friends, earning him a raised brow from Amarynthos. Dering said nothing, but his palm was flat against his lute strings and he kept his gaze fixed on the shadows.
"A nickname makes sense. I mean, we found it as a log-in on a USB. But he responded to it. We don't have the USB with us right now, it's in safer hands. He keeps trying to get us to return it. And he wants some keys we took. Maybe something else, we don't really know. He just demands we return his things--we did take them," Lyon said, not particularly ashamed, "But whatever he was doing needed to be stopped. I don't know if Velencians get that feeling in their gut, when you can't explain something, but you know it's wrong?" He let the question hover for a moment but without time to spare, kept dramatics to a minimum. "Mary, you have those pictures...?"
"I do," Amarynthos confirmed, and extracted what looked to be a smartphone from his subspace. He unlocked it and passed it over.
Lyon repositioned himself so that he could tilt the screen to the Vanguardians. He scrolled through a few pictures and then passed it over. "You can make yourself copies if you want. Mary took them before we got attacked. There's also pictures of what the place looked like when they went back the next day. He destroyed it."
A frown settled on his face and his face soured slightly. "Well, also, while we're here--do you smell something on my uniform? It's not me. It's smelled like this ever since we were down there. No matter what I do. I even used soap and washed this thing when it rained the other day. Powered down, powered up. Smell came back. But I don't know if it's my uniform or if we just burned out our sense of smell by breathing in all that gas."
Andreiya, very interested in what was growing, craned his neck to see the pictures but didn't reach for the phone.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 8:27 am
Aliez didn’t argue with Vyn. There was no point, nor was there any reason. From the moment the Knights had arrived, he could tell. Their movements were careful. Even the way they spoke -- Lyon’s quick humor, Cynthus’s sharp words -- sounded like armor over half healed wounds.
He took the offered phone gently, fingers brushing over the edge before he held it to his ComTech to scan. With a beep of confirmation, he began transferring the data. Within seconds, both Vyn and Andreiya’s devices pinged with the files.
The images were strange, and unsettling. “I’ve never seen flora like this in Negaspace,” he murmured, cycling through the photos to inspect. “But then again, our access there is limited. Most of what we know comes from remote scans. The very space itself… it drains energy. Any being not tainted by Chaos would find it difficult to survive there for long.”
Holly stirred, tail tightening around his arm as Aliez frowned faintly at Lyon’s question. “Smell?” he echoed, then glanced down at the smartphone again, before holding up his ComTech to run a scan, sweeping it over Lyon and Amarynthos as they were closest. Aliez lifted his ComTech and adjusted the settings, eyes narrowing.
“There’s an organic signature embedded in the fabric,” he said finally. “Not natural… it looks engineered. Probably something that was exposed to Chaos energy. Vyn, Andreiya. I’m sending you the scan now. Let me know if you see anything I missed.”
Ephesus was quiet through the exchange, though his eyes moved quickly between the phone and the Vanguard’s strange devices, fascinated by the little synthetic pangolin curled on one named Aliez’s shoulders. It was hard not to be curious. They were Aliens with high tech machines that made magic seem simple. But the longer he stood there, the more that the dread in his heart grew.
It wasn’t safe. They were standing in one place too long. It never ended well when they stayed still.
He shifted on his feet, hand clinging to Amarynthos’s. “I, um--... sorry if this is weird, but…” His voice wavered, but he straightened up and steadied it. “Vyn? Did you-- were you working with Sessrumnir once? Trying to talk to the Reasoner? On Astraya?”
He hesitated. The memories of that world still made him uneasy. “We were there, too. Amarynthos and me.” He offered a small, uncertain smile, like he wasn’t sure if it was okay to bring up.
“It’s just… He mentioned you. And I remembered your name. I’m glad you’re helping. I know it’s dangerous for you to be here. But--... thank you.”
Reims had been pacing since Lyon started the rundown of everything that happened. His ribs still hurt if he turned too fast, but he ignored it.
Every time the Vanguard’s tech made a new noise, his shoulder tensed. Every time someone said “Negaverse,” his jaw tightened.
When he caught sight of Dering barely moving, Reims reached out, brushing his arm lightly. Just enough to say breathe.
He didn’t look at him. They never really needed to speak to communicate.
“I swear,” Reims muttered after a moment, rolling his eyes to the sky. “If we get ambushed again while we’re standing around showing pictures, I’m going to lose it.” His tone wasn’t cruel -- just tired and bitter. An irritation that came from too many close calls.
He stopped pacing only long enough to give Aliez a skeptical look. “Engineered-- what? Fantastic,” he muttered, mostly to himself. “First there were mutant plants, then a psycho with a god complex, and now ‘smells like engineered Chaos.’ It’s like a greatest-hits album of ‘how to ruin your week.’”
He kicked at a pinecone that had fallen to the ground and missed. Then shot a quick, unimpressed look at the Vanguard trio as if it was their fault, while also being unimpressed. Aliez seemed calm but clearly rattled. Vyn was too clinical for his liking. Andreiya… twitchy. He didn’t dislike them, but he never did trust easily.
“Is that how he’s finding us?” he asked, as if the thought suddenly dawned on him. “They’re tracking us by scent?”
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 8:28 am
Vyn waited for the data to transfer and pulled up the holographic screen from his ComTech to look through the files. His thoughts were, as usual, conflicted, as his natural inclination toward being helpful clashed with his aversion for the war and his distrust toward both sides of it.
He made every effort to control his reactions and maintain a neutral expression. That the Negaverse had no respect for starseeds had been made obvious to him years ago; Vyn would not be swayed by it now. That these Earth children had suffered made little difference to him. Vyn had grown weary of caring. He had grown resentful, too. Continuously offering help to those whose allies often had such qualms about helping the Vanguard had drained him of compassion for anyone but his own people and those few on Earth who were less guarded with their concern.
But Aliez was still tender-hearted. Aliez wanted to help. Andreiya had agreed to come along. Vyn wasn’t about to let them go alone.
He glanced up at the one with the large, soft eyes. Ephesus was small and pale and clingy (and probably terrible in combat), but he had a familiar name to offer.
“Sessrumnir was practical,” Vyn said. He stared at Ephesus for a few moments, his frown a little more severe than it’d been moments ago—not out of cruelty, but out of distaste for Astraya and the events which occurred there. “I hope he’s well. He was kind to me, which cannot be said for many others.”
Vyn swiped through pictures and scrolled through data, no more at ease but maybe not as unsympathetic either.
“You said he’s been sending canine youma after you, didn’t you?” he asked, gaze flicking back to the surly one. Reims’ pacing set Vyn on edge, but as he himself had been known to pace on occasion, Vyn let it be. “Are canines not known for their sense of smell? They might be seeking out whatever this is embedded in your clothes. You said they’ve only found you when you’ve been powered up…” Vyn glanced at the talkative one next (Lyon). “An organic signature, and you were around those plants before he destroyed them…”
Vyn frowned at his holographic screen again. He was sure there was something there, something there was a perfectly good explanation for, he simply didn’t have the expertise.
He shrugged and turned to Andreiya. “Plants are more your specialty.”
“They’ve all been dogs,” Cynthus agreed. “Some are bigger, and some are smaller, but they all kinda look alike. There were dozens of them in the basement.” A bit of an exaggeration, maybe, but there’d certainly been enough to feel like they’d faced that many. “There was a huge one with six legs, too. We haven’t seen that one again yet. Maybe it’d draw too much attention so he doesn’t use it to hunt. It’s like they’re a pack. Like real dogs, or wolves or whatever. We only went to the building in the first place ‘cause there were a bunch of weird rumors online. Like, weird noises and smells. Someone even saw the big youma with six legs. And there was gross goop everywhere.”
Cynthus paused to suppress a gag. Nevermind the smell, sometimes she still thought she could taste that foul mess. She would never forgive the General for what he’d done to her friends, or her face, even if everything had been mended.
“That General—Cahir, or whatever his name actually is—he wore a mask in the basement. Freaked out when it broke and left instead of finishing us off, but not before he threw some weird crystal thing near those big stalks,” she continued, leaning around the others to point to the relevant pictures. “Then there was, like, lightning everywhere and all the plants went crazy. Kinda like they were hungry. Maybe…”
She trailed off uncertainly at the end, only because it sounded crazy and she’d been recovering from the General’s very rude slap at the time. Cynthus didn’t want to misremember and sound stupid.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 8:28 am
In an uncharacteristic display of nerves, Dering jerked his arm back when Reims touched him. His head whipped around quickly, eyes locked onto Reims with unusual distance. He blinked once before his face relaxed, then looked away as if ashamed.
His mind had been elsewhere, far away. He rubbed his arm, just shy of where Reims had touched, and drew in a long, slow breath. He forced his shoulders to relax.
Though his eyes returned to the shadows, he maintained the same deep, strategically paced breaths.
Amarynthos tilted his head thoughtfully when Ephesus mentioned Astraya. So much had happened between then and now. He didn’t blame the Vanguardians for being cautious. It wasn’t like they were being rude–they were here helping, with nothing to gain from their efforts.
It didn’t surprise him that Sessrumnir would have made a good impression. He always did.
Amarynthos had no reason to mistrust the Vanguard, and already they seemed to be making fast progress. He stroked Ephesus’ hand fondly, as he often did when he wanted to give silent praise alongside his affection.
“Youma don’t travel in groups like that, do they? I know you said you’re not really involved with the Negaverse, but I’ve never seen them travel as a pack. Canines might be known for their sense of smell, but youma don’t really follow those rules.”
Except, something sick was festering in the pit of his stomach. “If he’s messing with things–like the plants–what’s the possibility that he’s messing with youma, too?”
Andreiya hadn’t been waiting for permission, but he hadn’t planned to jump in without an invitation. There were too many voices going at once and he had plenty to keep himself busy with while they spoke.
There was most certainly information to collect from the Knights, but he greatly preferred the data. There were too many biases, too many emotions.
Andreiya’s fingers worked like well-oiled machines, gliding across screens with a technical proficiency. His eyes darted between the windows he opened on his ComTech and he maneuvered them around his screen as strange text and numbers danced across the hologram.
“It’s possible,” he said, with no certainty. “Youma are an incredibly replaceable resource for the Negaverse. I wonder if you could experiment on one, destroy it, and then have it reform at its baseline? Or if you could modify the shape at which it reformed.” He made a long, thoughtful noise, then paused to say, “I would never do that. I am just wondering.”
He did not expand for a moment, but pictures of the room appeared on the screen. He zoomed in while another panel was generating a strange string of text.
“I can’t tell what these plants are. Or are supposed to be. Earth plants are very strange but I have studied them excessively. And otherworld plants, too. I have not seen things like this. But I think it’s safe to assume that they are meant to be dangerous, yes? He wore a mask. Have you been receiving medical care? Gotten health scans? You should. Have you any strange symptoms? Headaches, dizziness, rashes, trouble breathing–coughing? Cognitive decline, trouble sleeping? Tell me everything,” he said, too excited.
Again, he had to stop himself.
“...I mean, in due time, of course. But no, I haven’t seen these. I suspect there might be health complications. So get a checkup if you haven’t.”
He cleared his throat. “Some plants can be stimulated with electric currents. If these have any origin in the Rift or another Chaotic domain, it would be safe to assume that they respond to such conditions. I have heard that the Rift has a tumultuous climate. Perhaps he knew this and was trying to mark you?”
Andreiya thought about this for a few seconds, then withdrew a gardening glove from his subspace.
Andreiya scanned the glove. After he put it on, he scanned Cynthus’ sleeve. Then, he rubbed his gloved hand on her shoulder.
He pulled his hand back and scanned the glove again.
A frown settled on his face immediately.
He scanned the glove from a different angle.
“Oh. You have trace particle transfer. I think Aliez and Vyn are right.”
He rubbed Cynthus’ sleeve again, but then withdrew a bag from subspace and sealed the glove inside before dismissing them both.
“We can try to run tests somewhere safe. We’ll need time to test if the sample is changing at all. If it is decaying, maybe you only need to wait it out. If it’s self-sustaining then you’ll need to find another way to destroy it. And be mindful that you aren’t spreading it where it can grow. Since there’s no telling what sample size they can track, you should be careful where you go. And who you go with.”
He took a step back. “So you should stay over there. Please.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 8:29 am
Ephesus’s fingers tightened around Amarynthos’s hand.
He wanted to say something more to Vyn. Something reassuring, maybe, or grateful, but the words didn’t want to come out. Sessrumnir was practical. That was true. It was what made him reliable and trustworthy.
“He’s okay,” he said softly, almost to himself before he remembered to raise his voice. “Sessrumnir’s still helping. Still… trying to figure out what the General’s after. The one who keeps sending those youma.”
His parents were careful about it, though. Definitely didn’t have as many scares as they did. They were doing their own investigation, while giving the teenagers space to breathe and try to take on the world themselves. As horrifying as it could be.
He glanced over to Andreiya’s screens and the data he didn’t understand flickering across the screens. It was mesmerizing and terrifying.
He shook his head at Andreiya’s questions. They hadn’t really gotten health scans beyond what they did to fix up their wounds. What would they even know to look for? Did they have rashes or trouble breathing? His head hurt, but… was that cognitive decline or just the number of times he’d been thrown against a wall.
But the idea of whatever was letting the youma find them spreading?
What if his parents were affected? Michel? Ganymede? Soleiyu and Lucien and whoever they touched base with?
“What if it’s not just us anymore?” he asked suddenly. “What if anywhere we’re going… if it’s still on us, or in the air, or--” His voice caught. He tried to stop himself before panic could spiral too far, but he could feel the way his face blanched.
“If those things can track us because of whatever’s on our clothes, what if we’re leading them to other people?” His voice wavered, the General’s voice in the gloom telling them that he would be hunting down their families too if they didn’t get him what he wanted. “What if that’s what he wants?”
He looked up at Amarynthos, eyes wide and frightened. “I thought it was just about us, but--... what if whatever he’s experimenting on is meant to track all Senshi and Knights? If the Negaverse knows where we are no matter what--...”
Reims had to take a few steps back. Not because he didn’t care, but because his pulse was starting to race… and Dering had already flinched once. The last thing he needed was to make it worse by getting too riled up in Dering’s space.
He dragged a hand over his face, muttering something sharp under his breath before looking up again. “So it’s not just dirt, it’s contagious dirt. Great.”
He huffed and turned away, pacing again, keeping an eye on the horizon, reaching out his senses as far as he could for any blips of youma signatures.
“So what--? It’s tracking spores, or fibers, or -- whatever you just said-- ‘organic signature’? What does that even mean?”
His pacing picked up, then stopped abruptly as he turned toward the Vanguard with a frustrated snarl of energy he barely held in check. His chest was still sore. Even with magic, he wasn’t sure if his ribs would ever truly heal. He was just grateful that his face had been put back together.
“You know what? Fine. If this stuff’s the problem, let’s just give Cahir his stupid USB back? Hell, put it in a box with glitter, or fill it with files of memes and see how he likes being harassed. Or-- better idea -- let’s make it explode next time he tries to plug it in. Seems fair, right? He’s tried killing us plenty of times.”
He realized too late that his voice had gotten louder. Reims exhaled through his nose and scrubbed at his face again. “Sorry,” he muttered, glancing over at Dering and softened his tone. “I just… if we keep playing defense it’ll never end. He’s always one step ahead, and we’re-- we’re out here getting tracked by youma all thanks to some evil plants of his.”
He crossed his arms and took a step back, deliberately slower this time so Dering could see him move. “If they can trace anything organic, then it’s not safe anywhere.
He looked at Vyn and Andreiya again, eyes narrowing. “So what do we do? Burn everything we’ve got? The magic is supposed to make stuff go away when we power up. It gets rid of blood and tears, but not evil plant residue? You said be careful where we go… what does that mean, exactly? Should we hole up in the woods forever, or is there actually a way to stop it?”
Aliez let out a quiet breath as Andreiya sealed the glove away. His movements were careful, but there was unease settled between his brows.
“It’s not your fault,” he said after a moment, glancing at the group of teenage Knights -- particularly to Ephesus, whose growing panic was written clearly across his face. “You couldn’t have known.”
He tapped a few commands into his ComTech and the projection shifted, displaying a faint, translucent map overlay marked with dim green dots. “If there is trace particle transfer, it doesn’t mean it’s dangerous on its own. The readings are low. I’d guess they were designed to respond only to certain stimuli. Electrical currents, or maybe even Chaos itself.
He paused, studying the data again. “Still, we can’t rule out the risk. You said you’ve only encountered the youma while you are powered. It’s possible that your magic is protecting you from transferring the particles to your civilian selves. But until we know how this thing propagates, try to avoid coming in contact with others. Don’t carry it between places you consider safe, or where others could unknowingly come into contact with the particles.”
He glanced over at Reims, at the tension in his posture, and the restless pacing. “It’s a good thought,” he said, meaning it. “If we can isolate a fragment of the source code embedded in that USB, we could set a digital tracker. Not to attack, but to monitor. If he tries to access it, we’ll see where the signal pings. But we’d have to mask it well. Something subtle enough that he doesn’t know it’s there.”
His expression softened, looking between them again. Sparing Lyon a worried glance because despite not knowing him well, he was considered a friend. “Stay close to each other if you can. If he’s using scent or resonance of these particles to track you, separating might make you easier to isolate and attack.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 8:29 am
“Wait wait wait—” Cynthus, not being particularly gifted academically, had trouble processing parts of the conversation as her friends and their alien helpers jumped from youma to plants to cognitive decline to electrical currents to particle transfer to the USB. “You mean we’ve been spreading this s**t this whole time?”
She’d stood still while Girly Name did his little experiment with the glove, watching intently because he was an alien and aliens were cool even if they were a little weird and Gym Bunny seemed a little unfriendly. If they could help, Cynthus saw no reason not to accept it.
Then Girly Name took a cautious step back, advised them to stay away, and the seriousness of the whole particle transfer thing began to sink in.
Sessrumnir, Alastor, Ganymede, the cats. Dad. She’d been around Dad. She’d hugged him after the basement, cried on him when he’d said he was proud of her, probably got blood and snot and basement goop all over him. They’d been to the Celestial Theatre, some of them more than once. How many other people went there when they needed safety or answers? What if some of them picked up traces of the organic signature and found themselves on the wrong side of the General’s temper? They’d have no idea what was going on, or what they'd be facing, or why.
“Can’t you make a special sci-fi laundry detergent to get this s**t out of our clothes?” Cynthus asked, unable to conceal her slowly rising panic. “Or throw us into a sonic shower with some special frequency to get rid of it? Or, I don’t know, you’re all supposed to be super smart, aren’t you? You’ve got robot pets and laser guns and Apple Watches with the Avengers screens. Can’t you make a vaccine for it or something? Or, like, track that Cahir guy the same way he’s tracking us?”
The Earth children were talking too much. They were asking too many questions one after the other. If Vyn were invested in their plight beyond the surface level, he would have had more sympathy for the big eyed one, who seemed kind enough and knew Sessrumnir well enough to have heard of Vyn’s single encounter with the Knight, and who now seemed quite afraid. He would have even had sympathy for the blue haired girl, who seemed to be having just as much trouble keeping up as Vyn was himself.
Not that Vyn was as unintelligent as Earth children. He doubted himself plenty, it was true, but he at least had more pride than to compare himself to them. He certainly wasn’t going to advertise that he felt somewhat lost among all their voices and willed himself to keep his neutral expression in place. If it made him seem uncaring, oh well. It was true that there was a limit to how much he cared for the problems of Earthlings. He wouldn’t abandon them when he had agreed to help, but he was in no way thrilled to be involved and saw no reason to pretend otherwise.
What would the Commodore do was a question Vyn frequently asked himself in these situations.
The answer? Be absolutely brilliant, which Vyn was not.
To cover his inadequacies, Vyn kept his attention on his ComTech screen. Andreiya was the resident plant expert. Aliez was the resident health expert. Vyn was content to follow their lead; he was certain they would be able to come up with a solution together. His expertise was in—well, among his own people he would put himself down and claim nothing, which he sometimes thought was true; less often he would admit it was the product of self-doubt. Around these Earth children he had to seem confident even if he didn’t always feel it, so he made himself look busy reading through data, then switched from the scans to a video view of the perimeter. Willow flew through the trees with grace and speed, searching the perimeter for visual signs of any incoming youma their GPS may not track as effectively.
Privately, Vyn thought the surly one had the right idea about making the USB explode. Those who had such little regard for starseeds should suffer significant consequences.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 8:29 am
“Of course we can,” Andreiya huffed. “There is no technology a human could make that we could not.”
…But the General was dangerous, and from what he could surmise, smart. Very smart. And uncommonly capable. Put together in a way he hadn’t quite seen.
Not fettered by whatever restrictions the Negaverse deemed ‘humane’.
“We would need time, though. Time you don’t have. Or, time we don’t have with you.” His eyes found Aliez’s first, since he was the most connected to these humans. “I don’t know how much of a sample we can risk working with. We can’t risk the Negaverse tracking us.”
He didn’t have to explain why.
“I’ll do some scans around Destiny City and see if there are any latent traces anywhere. Can you send us a list of places you’ve been, and when?” Andreiya asked, back to scrolling his endless windows. He didn’t know what they’d find. Hopefully nothing. He’d like to dream that transfer was difficult, or that the traces couldn’t last long without a host.
“We can run a few tests with the glove, too..” It would have been easier if they could go somewhere far enough away that the youma couldn’t reach them, but without knowing how potent the samples were–or the youma’s ability to track them–it was like hoping they weren’t painting a target on their back.
“But I’ll have to create a secure location to do so. Ensuring we’re not transferring any samples elsewhere will be time sensitive. But tracking technology is easy. Less dangerous. Well,” he glanced at the teenagers. “For us. You’d still have to locate and apply it.”
Amarynthos was quiet, lips pressed tightly together while he let this sink in.
Lyon exhaled loudly, as if he’d just barely been able to reel in the urge to groan. “But you can do it?” he asked, looking between the three Vanguardians. “If you had to, could you make a way for us to track them? I mean–not just the USB. Although–can you make it blow up? Maybe?”
“No, we shouldn’t,” Amarynthos shook his head. “We can’t guarantee where he’d use it. Someone innocent could get hurt. And it’s better off if he doesn’t know we know where he is. I mean–if he’s growing this stuff again, somewhere else? It could be anywhere. He could be working with someone else who is just going to pick up where he left off.”
There were too many things that could go wrong.
Amarynthos resisted the urge to run his fingers through his hair and start pacing. Everyone was already riled up or on edge.
Dering hadn’t even looked at them since Reims had raised his voice. He kept his eye on Reims briefly, tracking his movement, but his attention had quickly returned to monitor the horizon.
Amarynthos didn’t think they had much time left to talk. They never did. It wasn’t ever enough. Reims had the right idea. “We should try to track him, if we can. I like the USB thing. We already know he wants it. Maybe he won’t look too closely if we get it back to him. He wants the keys, too. If we give him the USB, we can say we’re tracking down the keys. It might not do much, but it might buy us a little time.” Everything felt so risky.
With a thousand questions left, Amarynthos spoke as quickly as possible. “What about the youma? Is there a way to track them? Could we figure out where they’re coming from, at least? We know they’re involved with him, too. If he’s got a new growth site, maybe we could find it. They were guarding it last time.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 8:30 am
Ephesus stayed quiet for a long moment, listening as the others spoke. As plans and possibilities piled up faster than he could fully process everything. It felt like they’d been standing there forever — and he was sure they all knew that forever was dangerous.
He squeezed Amarynthos’s hand gently, taking a moment to steady himself with the familiar warmth, and leaned a little closer to him, as if that would be enough to protect them both.
“I think… we should go,” he said softly, making sure he wasn’t cutting anyone off when he spoke. “We’ve been here a long time already.”
He lifted his eyes to Aliez, then to Vyn and Andreiya. Anxiety still sat heavy in his heart, but the gratitude he felt was greater still. “Thank you,” he said earnestly. “I know you didn’t have to help us. Even knowing this much is a big help.”
He swallowed, glancing briefly towards the trees, to the shadows. “If there’s a way to track the youma… or him… I hope you’ll find it. We’ll do what we can on our end. Carefully.”
His shoulders rose and fell with a steadying breath. His parents would worry. He knew that. He also knew they were likely going out and doing their own thing to try and track this horrible General down. He didn’t want them getting hurt.
But his parents couldn’t walk every path for him, or for Amarynthos. Or anyone else. This was their burden to face.
Ephesus tightened his hand in Amarynthos’s once more. “We’ll be careful,” he promised quietly — to the Vanguard, to his friends, and maybe to himself most of all.
Reims let out a sharp, humorless scoff when the USB explosion idea was decisively shot down.
“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered. “Figured that’d be a no. Was worth a try.” His expression twisted a little. “Wouldn’t want some innocent getting exploded just because this guy sucks.”
He didn’t argue further. Didn’t really have the energy. Instead, his attention drifted across the group. Lyon’s forced brightness. Cynthus’s barely contained panic. Ephesus glued to Amarynthos like he might disappear if he let go. Dering, still stiff, eyes sharp on the darkness around them.
Reims softened just a little.
“Well,” he said with a huff as he glanced back at the Vanguard. “Thanks for confirming we’re not insane, I guess. We already knew something was making it possible for those youma to find us. Just didn’t know it was… evil plant spores. Would’ve been nice to know more about how to get rid of it, but I get it. You’re not miracle workers.”
He shifted his weight, ribs protesting despite being mostly healed, and took another slow step away from Dering to give him some more space. “We’ll manage. We always do. We’ll regroup, Clean what we can. Watch each other’s backs. And if this b*****d shows up again…” He let out a sharp breath. “...we’ll deal with it.”
For now, though… he nodded. “Stay safe. And… yeah, let us know if you find anything useful.”
Aliez watched the teenage Earthlings carefully. The way their fear was mixed with resolve, the way they leaned on each other without even realizing they were doing it. Something heavy and protective seemed to settle in his chest as he observed them.
“We will keep working,” he said gently. “Andreiya is exceptional at deciphering complex biological and environmental data. If there is a pattern here, he’ll find it.” He glanced toward Vyn then. “And Vyn is very good at counter-surveillance and perimeter analysis. If anything is moving through the city in a way that can be traced, he’ll notice.”
His attention returned to the group, his voice steady. “Once we have something solid, I’ll help synthesize a method you can actually use. Something subtle. Something that won’t put civilians at risk.”
Aliez nodded to Lyon, a quiet but purposeful gesture. They would stay in touch, of course.
“As soon as we have results, you’ll hear from us.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2026 8:30 am
Vyn wanted to counter the surly one and argue they hadn’t actually confirmed the Earth children weren’t insane, simply that they were being pursued. Being correct didn’t affirm their sanity, in Vyn’s opinion. As a collective, Earthlings could be quite deranged. Individually, many of them were not much better.
He held the comment back on account of the kind one with the big eyes. His coloring might be off and his eyes and ears might be rounded, but he reminded Vyn of Aliez. That the child knew Sessrumnir was a reassurance. He should be protected, like Aliez. Sessrumnir could do that.
Vyn frowned at Aliez’s praise instead. He didn’t know if it was warranted. Knowing Aliez, he meant what he said. Vyn thought it was a bit of an exaggeration—Aliez trying to make him look competent and effective around a bunch of Earth children who wouldn’t know any different. Even so, Vyn was determined not to let his self-doubt show. Doubt was a weakness to be exploited, even when directed inward. The Earth children seemed innocent enough, but they were not allies, as far as Vyn was concerned. He would give them nothing to exploit.
“As you’re leaving,” he said—tone low, words slow, like he was still considering what he wanted to say as he said it, “if the youma appear, I can acquire visuals and run long-range scans. I can’t guarantee how much use the data will provide, but the more we have the better. Especially if you intend to track them, too,” he concluded, glancing briefly at the one named Amarynthos, who’d had questions on the subject. He was affectionate with the boy who was like Aliez, so perhaps he wasn’t so bad either.
“If you’re successful and locate another site, either through the USB or the youma, send the location through Aliez and I can surveil it for you. In the meantime, I’ll track what I can and have Aliez share anything I might find.”
Vyn offered no further details, and he made sure his voice was firm enough to indicate he would not do so even if questioned. The Negaverse knew nothing of Willow. These Knights had no reason to know anything of her existence either.
Cynthus rolled her eyes at the defensiveness of the aliens. It wasn’t her fault she didn’t know what they were capable of! This was her first time meeting one!
Well, proper aliens, at least. Ephesus’ dad still didn’t really count; he looked so human Cynthus sometimes forgot he wasn’t one. There was that one yellow lady Cynthus saw sometimes, but they also hadn’t really become acquainted, so Cynthus still didn’t know if the yellow was natural or if the lady had a severe case of space jaundice. Now she’d met pink and purple aliens with strange eyes and pointed ears and cool sci-fi tech. It was different! Just a few years ago she had no idea magic and aliens were real!
Cynthus bounced a few times on the balls of her feet, looking around like she wanted to make sure they were still in the clear (as if they wouldn’t sense it as soon as they weren’t).
Ephesus encouraging them to leave came as a relief. Cynthus didn’t exactly look forward to running into any of those youma again. Or the General. At least not until they were ready. Then she had every intention of beating his a**. She was going to enjoy it, too.
(Or so she told herself. Mostly she was scared out of her mind but trying to hide it.)
“Yeah, come on,” she said. She snagged Lyon’s arm to start leading him away from his alien friend. “Let’s get out of here.”
The others were saying their thank yous, so Cynthus just smiled at Girly Name and Cow Eyes, since they were the nicest of the three.
With any luck, they’d sort this out before anyone else died.
Fin!
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