52. Teamwork

Okay. Alright. What the fuck was any of that!?

Right!? What happened to her? Oh my gosh, that was terrifying!

I’m just standing like a statue outside of Luna and Castalia’s dorm, still reeling over everything that just happened. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt a burst of fear that dense before. It spooked me straight out of bed and into incarnate form. I thought one of the others got into a fight and was about to die! Or maybe that Amalthea girl was attacking people, but… I get there, and there are no signs of battle. Not even a mundane one. There’s nothing.

Nothing but Luna, rapidly walking away from the site in a panic. Which is when I realize that was her fear, which means whatever happened scared her so bad that a probably normal human started leaking enough magic to subtly warp reality. The kind of terror that could make a bullet near-miss, or let a man tackle a kid just in time to stop them from being hit by a car. Hardly unheard of, but definitely rare. Put that kind of raw power in a formalized spell, and you have yourself real fucking magic.

So, you know, naturally I assume she’s in danger, right? But when I try to help, she just gets more afraid. Absolutely terrified, with a disturbing undercurrent of hopelessness to it all. I try to help her home, try to talk to her the way Chloe talks to me, but she just… goes silent. More than usual, I mean. And then her emotions get really weird, shuffling and shifting around so fast they become impossible to follow.

Fear, yeah, but also anger, disgust, sorrow, hate, grief… basically everything on the color wheel except happiness and pride. And then she slammed the door in my face, cut me out of everything. I guess I can’t really blame her. We weren’t really getting along the last time we talked.

Still not sure how I feel about all that.

I mean, I think Chloe made it pretty clear. We overreacted and freaked out over nothing. Same as usual.

We definitely overreacted, but… things don’t quite make sense, still. Especially now.

Well… yeah, true. Not sure what we can do about it, though. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed right now. Kicking off the ground, I fly back to my dorm because why the fuck not. I open the door to find a disheveled Chloe curled up on the couch, the TV playing a quiet video while her baggy eyes work to stay awake by focusing on it as hard as possible. She shuts the TV off as soon as I step in, though, her exhausted focus turning to me.

“You’re back,” she says. “That was fast. Is Luna okay?”

“No,” I say. “No, she’s really not. I’m pretty sure she isn’t injured, though.”

“That’s something, I guess,” Chloe sighs. “What happened?”

“I have absolutely no idea,” I say. “She wouldn’t tell me anything.”

“Typical,” Chloe groans, sinking back into the couch. “God. How bad was it?”

“Uh… emotionally?” I ask. “Bad. Real bad. Maybe like, maximum bad.”

“Shit,” Chloe says. “That’s a high bar, coming from you.”

“Thanks?” I try. I have been trying to train my emotional intensity more, but I don’t get the impression she’s trying to compliment me for some reason.

I think she’s implying we get as bad as Luna. Emotionally.

What? Really? Well… I mean, it’s our job to be that scared and angry. We use it for stuff. It’s totally different.

…I guess.

“For god’s sake, Fulgora, don’t thank me,” Chloe groans, which… okay, I guess. “So what do we do?”

“Uh… why are you asking me?” I blink.

“…Good point,” Chloe admits. “Okay. Screw it. I’m too exhausted for this. We’ll figure something out tomorrow. Drop by in the morning, make sure she’s going to classes, make plans to meet up afterwards. We’ll… we’ll frame it as wanting to introduce you to Bean.”

“What?” I ask. “Introduce me to a bean?”

“Luna’s best friend Bean?” Chloe says. “They’re meeting each other for the first time and staying over at her and Castalia’s place? We’ve definitely talked about this; you were there.”

“Uh… I don’t remember anything like that, sorry,” I say.

Chloe pinches the bridge of her nose.

“Okay,” she says. “I’m going to bed. You should too.”

“I’ll try,” I say, and she gets up and heads to her room. I stay right where I am for a while, incarnate form still buzzing with strength. I’m still a little pissed at Luna, but I’ll kick the ass of whoever did this to her. I’d kick the ass of anyone who did this to anybody! Fuck!

Hey, calm down. We’re shaking.

Huh? Oh. Yeah, tremors are running through my whole body right now. That was… a lot. I had no idea what to do for any of that. I have no idea what to do about anything. I just… I just fight. I’m not prepared for this.

There’s nothing I can do.

Somehow, I manage to fall asleep about an hour later, waking up to shrill chirps of birdsong that never seem quite as beautiful when they’re acting as an unwanted alarm clock. Still, fitful sleep is nothing new, and being tired is no excuse to avoid work, so I force myself out of bed, getting dressed in one of the outfits Chloe picked out for me while she, Luna, Castalia, and I all went shopping together that one time. God, I still can’t believe Luna stepped in and pepper-sprayed the inside of Anath’s mouth. She could have gotten her hand bitten off!

Seeing her thrashing on the floor afterwards was hilarious, though.

…Yeah. Yeah, it was awesome.

Anyway, we should go eat breakfast so Chloe doesn’t yell at us when she gets up.

Chloe never yells!

She wants to yell.

…She definitely wants to yell. Yeah, okay, let’s… go do that.

A quick bowl of milk and Wheaties is enough to fill my stomach, though I try not to wish we had some of Chloe and Luna’s leftovers to reheat. The two of them cook too much for us already, and food is food. As long as it keeps the body running, it’s enough. I drink the vaguely wheat-flavored milk from the bowl when I’m done. It’s not really pleasant, but it would be rude to waste anything.

Chloe wakes up about half an hour later, dragging herself through her usual morning routine while I do warm-ups and stretches behind the couch. She eats quickly, though, and soon enough the two of us are heading over to Castalia’s place. I realize as we’re walking over that I don’t actually have any idea if anyone in their house is awake this early, but moments after Chloe knocks on the door, Luna answers it.

The girl looks miserable, and she feels worse. Hair disheveled, clothes wrinkled… shit, is that the same outfit as yesterday? I don’t have a good enough memory to know for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t sleep a wink.

“Luna,” Chloe greets with a soft smile. “Hey.”

Luna just responds by putting one finger to her lips in a shushing gesture, a quick glance behind her revealing a black girl sleeping on her couch. Er… or maybe a black guy? I can’t really tell from this angle, but I assume that’s Bean.

“Gotcha,” Chloe whispers, at which point Luna steps to the side to let us in. Hopelessness and sorrow still oozes off of her in such volumes that even my barely empathetic ass couldn’t possibly miss it.

And she still cared enough to make sure we didn’t wake up her friend.

Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. It’s the little things, I guess. I feel like such an idiot about our argument.

There’s definitely something she’s hiding, to be fair. Something big. But the important thing is that she’s our friend, and she’s the friend of our best friend, and she’s suffering. We need to get to the bottom of whatever it is.

“Yeah, we’ve eaten breakfast. Thanks for asking,” Chloe says, which… huh? Oh, right, Luna must have signed a question. “So, um… well, I guess there’s no point beating around the bush with you. Eliza told me what happened last night.”

Luna nods, resigned.

“Can… can you tell me what happened?” Chloe asks.

Luna shakes her head.

“Can you tell me why?”

Luna shakes her head, her emotions intensifying. It’s honestly a little uncomfortable to be close to.

“Can we help in any way?” Chloe presses, once again receiving nothing but a shake of the head. So rather than trying to talk anymore, Chloe just reaches out and gives Luna a hug.

Luna stiffens up, not seeming to particularly enjoy the embrace at all, but she closes her eyes and lets the hug finish before pulling away. Afterwards, she pulls out her phone and starts typing.

“I’ll be fine,” her phone blurts out. “Thank you, though. You’re a really good friend.”

“…I do my best,” Chloe says. “But I hope you’ll forgive me if I keep trying to find ways to help.”

“Please don’t,” Luna types. “Have you two eaten breakfast?”

“Yep,” Chloe confirms. “Well, I think so. You ate breakfast, right Fulgora?”

“Yeah,” I confirm. “How’d you know I’m Fulgora?”

“Minerva would have said something by now,” Chloe says, which… fair.

I also would have joined in on the hug.

Yeah I’m not really much of a hugger. My musings on the subject are interrupted when the person on the couch starts to stir, though. Bean groggily rises, glancing over at us with a bleary look on… her face? His face? Pretty sure she’s a she.

“Hey…?” Bean says.

“Oh, good morning! Sorry, did we wake you up?” Chloe asks while Luna types rapidly.

“Chloe, Eliza, this is Bean. They are my best friend,” Luna introduces, which… really? They? That doesn’t answer the question at all.

What? Yes it does?

What do you… oh! Oh, right. I forgot nonbinary people exist.

Yeah I hear that’s a common problem for them. Maybe never say that out loud ever.

I-I wasn’t going to!

“Hi,” Bean says. “Sorry, gimmie a sec to become conscious. Uh… which door is the bathroom again?”

Luna points, and Bean nods, dragging their body up off the couch to relieve themself. Luna busies herself in the kitchen, slapping a buttered skillet onto a hot plate and cracking some eggs over it to cook them. Despite the fact that I already told her I ate breakfast, she asks if I want any, and… okay, yeah, I totally do. She obligingly cracks a few more onto the pan, and I feel awful for making her do more work while she’s feeling terrible.

Don’t be silly. You felt that tiny little spark of happiness, right?

Not… really?

Oh. I guess it was kind of getting drowned out in all the… yeah. But she likes doing things for people. She likes cooking. She likes helping. She started all this up to deal with her own stress.

Oh. I guess that makes sense. Well, I’m glad I’m not adding to her problems. …Whatever the fuck those problems are. Like this shit is… I don’t even know where to start.

Yeah. I don’t know either. I mean, Chloe doesn’t even know, so we’re gonna be totally hopeless!

True that. I just hope there’s someone or something I can beat the shit out of that will solve this problem. That I could handle.

Heck yeah, solving problems with violence rocks!

Yeah. …Hey wait, no.

Hehe.

A massive outflow of joy heralds what I assume to be Castalia waking up, though that unimaginable gulf in power has admittedly been feeling a little closer lately. I’m not sure if that means I’ve gotten that much stronger, or if Castalia has gotten that much more depressed, but… well, it’s hard to imagine her as ‘depressed’ with this kind of happiness filling the air. Then again, I don’t think she knows what happened with Luna yet, and if anything will depress her enough to notice, it’ll be that. The door to her room unlocks and opens, Castalia floating out and glancing between the three of us, clearly picking up on the mood.

“…What happened?” Castalia asks.

“We’ll tell you later,” Chloe butts in before I can respond.

“Oh,” Castalia says. “Okay.”

Soon enough, Bean is out of the bathroom as well, and they sit down to eat eggs with Castalia and me. Luna, notably, doesn’t make any for herself, just like Chloe was talking about. Then again, if I were as stressed as she is right now, I wouldn’t have any appetite either. And for all I know, she already ate. She was already awake when we got here, after all. Once we’re all done, it’s time to start heading for classes, which Luna joins us for. So… that’s good. Chloe was really worried she’d skip out and end up doing something stupid. Even Bean walks with us, despite not actually being a student or having anywhere in particular to go.

“You’re that other Earth Guardian, right?” Bean asks me.

“Huh?” I blink. “Oh, uh. Yeah. That’s me.”

“Cool,” is all they say to that, which I suppose I’m thankful for.

As is often the case when we travel as a group, we all end up following Chloe as she leads the way, the girl happily chatting over her shoulder or occasionally straight-up walking backwards to maintain eye contact while in front. When we make it to our first destination, I belatedly realize that we made it to Luna’s class first, even though my class would have been closer.

Tricky! Good job, Chloe.

With Luna dropped off, the four of us walk away together without her. We all look at each other, knowing exactly what’s about to happen.

“Bean,” Chloe starts. “Do you know anything about what happened last night?”

“Nnnnope,” they say. “Only thing she’s said to me since she left on her little night walk was introducing you two. Hi, by the way. I assume we’re forming a Luna Alliance?”

“Yeah, basically,” Chloe confirms. “That girl needs help. Sorry that this is such a weird way to meet.”

“Eh, most of my relationships are online,” Bean shrugs. “Starting off with the trauma-dumping is well-trodden ground for me.”

“…I did not know normal humans could be that sad,” Castalia chimes in. “She was not that upset when I went to sleep. What have I missed?”

“That’s what we’re all trying to figure out,” Chloe says. “Fulgora?”

“Uh, right, yeah,” I say. “So… I woke up last night when I felt this huge burst of fear. I thought it was a monster attack, or Amalthea casting something, so I flew out and… I didn’t find anything there but Luna. Who was like, totally unharmed, but completely freaking out.”

“From the way Fulgora described it to me, I think Luna was having a panic attack,” Chloe says. “But she refuses to tell anyone why.”

“Okay,” Bean says. “I think I have a few important things to add, then.”

“Oh, thank god,” Chloe sighs. “Please, by all means.”

“Right. So first of all, Luna and I have been friends for a long time. Like… I dunno, probably at least five or six years. We’d chat pretty much every single day. But around the end of spring, she suddenly just… vanished. Completely fell out of contact. And she stayed that way for three months. I thought she’d died.”

“Oh, shit. Okay,” Chloe says.

“And something she told me not to tell any of you, but I’m going to tell you anyway because fuck absolutely everything that’s going on here right now, is that she was not mute before she disappeared. She didn’t know sign language either. That’s like, entirely new.”

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“Wait, really?” Chloe asks. “No way she’s only been learning ASL for three months. She’s super quick and fluent.”

“…Agreed,” Castalia frowns. “She signs with the deftness of someone who has done it her whole life.”

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you other than she hasn’t,” Bean shrugs. “So anyway, when she got back, she refused to tell me anything that happened. In fact, she made it clear several times over that she couldn’t tell me what happened. She implied that I would be in danger if she did tell me. Like she was being monitored or watched. Like someone or something would hurt me if I ever found out.”

“She often leaves the dorm after I go to bed,” Castalia comments. “She has told me she has insomnia and often needs to walk to clear her head. That is why she carries pepper spray. She travels alone at night.”

“How often does she do it?” Chloe asks.

“I don’t know,” Castalia answers. “I am usually asleep. I would suspect at least once a week. It isn’t always at night, though, so it could be more.”

“If it’s at least once a week, that could be like… regular check-ins with whoever is monitoring her,” Bean says. “My running theory is that she got caught up in some secret government magical program.”

“Government program…?” Castalia asks, tilting her head. “They are not allowed to have such things.”

“Uh, well that’s literally never stopped a government before, and I doubt it’s going to stop them now,” Bean says. “But while Luna denied being an Earth Guardian, she’s never denied being involved with magic to some degree.”

Oh, shit. Okay. That… was I right this whole time?

“Castalia, I’m not the only one who’s noticed she has kind of a weird soul, right?” I ask.

“Souls and the emotional expressions thereof are not particularly standardized as a general rule,” Castalia says. “There is nothing intrinsically suspicious about abnormal emotional responses.”

“But…?” I press.

“…But yes, I have noticed,” Castalia concedes.

“So something is threatening her, they’re probably magical, and they’re making her feel so overwhelmingly helpless that she’ll barely say a word to anyone,” I summarize. “Luna, who normally says whatever shit she’s thinking whenever the hell she wants. So whatever’s threatening her is someone she thinks can back up the threat even though she’s friends with the most powerful person in the world. This kinda fuckin’ narrows things down, doesn’t it?”

“…Melpomene,” Castalia says, coming to the same conclusion as me. “Of course. That’s why she… oh no. Oh no.”

“What?” I ask.