Monsterheart

**Sunday November 10th**

Bobby Ostenberg stares at a dimly lit phone screen from a quiet reading nook in her cabin on the outskirts of Halcyon city. She finishes typing something “Hey, wanna meet up at the skatepark?” She stares at the phone screen for an awkwardly long time. A shadow moves through the dark and a long black claw reaches across the phone screen. It presses send.

Boon doesn’t wait for a reply. She closes the phone and begins trekking through the forest towards the city. It’s a cool night, her heart beats in her chest, but a strange force drives her forward and she breaks into a super-speed run towards Halcyon.

She reaches the skatepark and can see her breath in front of her face as she steps under a stadium light. On the other side of the park she sees Flick and Hana, she gives the obligatory friendly nod one would give to an acquaintance and begins putting on her roller skates and protective gear. “Alright Bobby, showtime.” She begins skating around the park, and attempting some modest stunts. She builds up speed and heads towards a steep wall. She squints as she approaches it and as she feels the tug of gravity in her stomach she tucks in her legs. She flips backwards, she prepares to land, and she falls on her back....

...or she would have, if a pair of hands wasn’t suddenly catching her under her shoulders.

“Careful there, Ostenberg,” Gwen tells her with a smile. She figures Boon would have been fine given how tough she is, and her tone is more playful than worrying. She helps Boon up and looks her over. “You brought lots of protection; what for?” Gwen herself wears none and the effects show: the knees of her jeans look damaged and torn naturally from previous falls.

Boon is startled, and her face is flush with red. “Gwen! You’re here! I uh… the pads are for… we have to wear them during jams! Regulations… (*she nods*) I’m not worried about getting bruises or anything because I’m super tough.” (*she flexes*) There’s a quiet moment before Boon nervously scratches the back of her head. “I uh, I wasn’t sure you’d show up. But I’m happy you’re here Gwen.”

Gwen snort-laughs a bit at Boon’s flexing, then shrugs. “I’ve got nothing better to do today and I was in the neighborhood.”

She picks up her board and moves to stand next to Boon, looking out over the park. “So, what do you wanna do? Do some tricks here, or race from here to Screamin’ Beans so I can drop off my resume?”

She pulls her beanie a little tighter over her cat ears to protect them from the autumn breeze, then looks at her wrist, as if expecting something. The only thing there are some wristbands from concerts and a digital watch that looks broken.

Boon looks blankly at Gwen for a moment and then snaps back to the present. “Uh yeah, I actually had something I wanted to ask you. But uh. I wouldn’t mind doing a few tricks here first if you’re up for it. I could use the practice… as you saw…”

“That’s fine,” Gwen responds. “I have a few things I’d like to ask you too. Tell you what, race you to the other end and first one there gets to choose who asks first.” She points at a point through some trees where the stone paths converge, a little bit away from the main skating area of the larger park. There is a gazebo with some benches there.

Not awaiting an answer, Gwen throws down her skateboard and rolls away on it. She dips into a half-pipe and emerges on the other side with a flip of the board and turns around in mid-air. She looks over her shoulder to check if Boon is still there.

Boon takes a second to realize that they've started racing and then gives a grin, "oh it's on!". An expression of concentration crosses her face as she crouches down. In a flash she begins building up speed towards the half pipe. Instead of dipping down however she readies a jump and leaps across it, doing a spin in midair to show off. "How do you like that!?" She taunts, now even with Gwen.

Gwen stands still a moment, watching Boon sail through the air and land on the other end. She recalls how she did a similar thing during a race with Aman. She smirks. “So, powers fine then, huh? Alright.”

She kicks out with a foot to launch herself again and activates her retrocognition of the area, scanning the past for times other skaters had raced here before, so she can figure out the best path for her. She snaps back to reality after that split second, and zooms off on her board, taking a sharp right turn, kicking up her board and grinding down the handrail of a staircase. She jumps at the end, lands, then swerves to avoid a couple walking by, zig-zagging obstacles and people. She avoids the long stone path that curves around to the gazebo, instead gunning it for a patch of grass with some trees. She jumps and reaches for a branch with one hand, holding her board with the other, swings, then lands on the opposite end on another path much closer to their destination. There’s a moment of hesitation when she wants to look back to see where Boon is, to ascertain her lead, but she refocuses and begins to pick up speed again, keeping her eyes on the gazebo.

“Fuck it, we’re doin’ this!” ornate glowing circles appear around Boon’s wrists as she skates, gaining intensity as a concentrated look fills her face. This should be easy compared to flying Boon thinks as the circles dissipate and she’s filled with a sudden burst of speed, or maybe a bit too much speed. The sudden telekinetic force has left her off balance as she begins careening towards a staircase. She jumps ahead of it and gets a decent bit of air, but finds herself in a collision course with the couple Gwen swerved around earlier. With a pained expression on her face Boon sprouts a pair of large stone wings. *Okay never done this before, these are a bit big for this form*. With a powerful thrust she sails over the heads of the passing couple as they look upwards with shock, one of them dropping their milkshake. An ornate magic circle appears below her, slowing her descent into an even glide, allowing her to land safely.

She looks at Gwen who is currently pulling off a sick stunt in the trees “holy shit” she mutters. *Can I compete with that?* Instead of following Gwen through the trees, Boon continues on down the long stone path. Her large stone wings pump to keep her in balance and maintain her speed. As she approaches the gazebo she spots Gwen, almost to the finish line. She beats her wings and launches herself towards the gazebo, she launches into the air and her demonic visage is silhouetted in the moonlight for a moment before she lands inside the gazebo face first… at the exact same time as Gwen… Gwen steps over Boon’s slumped form in the gazebo with a concerned expression before Boon gives a thumbs up “I think you get bonus points for grace,” she mumbles into the floor as she flips herself over. “I’ll let you go first.”

Gwen kicks her skateboard and it slides over into the gazebo’s wall next to a bench. “And you get bonus points for a photo finish,” she says, digging into a pocket as if reaching for her phone, but instead pulling out a handkerchief. “Here, get your face cleaned up.”

She doesn’t know for certain if Boon’s face was invulnerable enough to withstand slamming into the floor without getting a nose bleed, but it was better to be prepared. The handkerchief is black, white and pastel pink, with the letters *G.E.V.I.d.L.* stitched into it under a stylized cat face.

Gwen sits down on one of the benches and takes a deep whiff of air. This part of the park smelled less like old bubblegum and pavement and more like freshly fallen leaves. She pulls off her beanie and scratches behind an ear. “So, me first huh? Well then, let’s see…” she pondered, knowing what to ask but not how to ask it. “Let’s start small. Why did you join the team? I never noticed you in school before, so I assume you moved here recently.”

Boon takes the handkerchief and wipes the dirt off her face, as well as a single drop of blood. Boon thinks over her words carefully for a moment. “Oh, yeah, I moved a month or so ago. I had... other reasons for moving to Halcyon... As for Big Team, I just kinda wound up in the wrong- er, right? place at the right time. I got the offer to join the team and… well… There’s two reasons I accepted, for one I thought it would be interesting. I don’t kn- um none of us know how long we have in this world and I just feel like we’ve gotta have some fun before we go. Although my time here hasn’t exactly been a blast so far. As for the other reason… you remember that shadow woman we ran into in Molecyon? Y’all were calling her Yamato? She- I- have reason to believe she’s the one who killed my Dad. I came to Halcyon looking for, well I guess her now…” Boon looks solemnly at the ground, twirling the handkerchief in her hands nervously.

Gwen nods. “I understand. I certainly thought I would die in a lot of situations in the past year. I even wanted to at a few points, certainly before the team saved me and I joined them.” She takes a deep breath and one of her hands holds the other fist. “Yamato used to be a leader of GREY. The last one. I have… a history with them. Suffice to say that I’d love to see her brought to justice.”

She puts a hand on Boon’s shoulder. “You’re not alone in this. We’ll take her down. Together.”

Boon blushes as she feels the hand on her shoulder and turns to make eye contact with Gwen. She flounders for a moment before finding her words. “I um- thank you Gwen. That means a lot to me… You know even when I’m surrounded by people here I’ve… felt pretty alone lately. But when I’m- when I’m around you it doesn’t feel so bad. You know? I-” Boon sighs and breaks eye contact, looking at the floor of the gazebo. “The reason I asked you here tonight is because-” A pained expression crosses Boon’s face as all the worst things to say cloud her brain, drowning out her thoughts. *You’re not helping she thinks*. And her mind clears. “Gwen, I- I really like you. Like, *like like* you, you know?” She lets out a sigh of relief and gathers her thoughts again. “You’re beautiful, honestly. I lose my breath everytime I see you, and I just feel so… I guess safe... around you. And I uh, I doubt you feel the same way but… I just, I needed that to be out there. And uh, if you feel similarly I wanted to ask if you… wanted to- *sigh* maybe go on a date sometime?”

Gwen’s face is frozen in her earlier consolating smile. There weren’t many times in her life that she had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with the feeling of screaming internally, but this was definitely one of them. How could she possibly respond here in a way that wouldn’t make things more complicated or hurt someone? She moved slowly, giving Boon’s shoulder a pat and withdrawing. “I can’t do that, Boon. I’m... flattered that you wanted to ask me. Heck, while I consider myself pretty great, I still wonder why anyone would want to date me when I cause so much disaster!”

A nervous bit of laughter escapes her, and she rubs her hands together to try to distract herself, “but… the thing is, I already have someone who wants that. I have a girlfriend. So, thank you, but I have to decline.”

Boon’s irises flash red for a moment as a trace of a furrow crosses her brow.

…

In Boon’s mind she’s standing at a dusty crossroads. The landscape appears like yellowed parchment and the horizon is dotted with ink-drawn mountains. A stark-black crossroads sign with indecipherable text sits at the corner of the road and leaning against it is a beautiful woman with red skin, jet black hair, and curled horns. An ethereal sound fills the air as she plays an otherworldly harmonica. She stops and looks up at Boon.

“You don’t have to take that answer you know,” Sapphomet says with a wry smile.

“...shut up…” Boon whispers under her breath.

A claw grabs her shoulder from behind as another copy of the demon materializes. “You deserve her... “ Another copy appears. “She wants you, she’s just not admitting it.”

“I said shut up…”

A crowd of demons utter a cacophony of whispers into her ear. “I can make you irresistibly beautiful” -- “I can give you another chance” -- “I can change her mind” -- “You just have to trust me…” -- “let me help you”

Boon clenches her fists as the demons crowd around her, drowning out her thoughts.

“I don’t think you heard me… YOU. ARE NOT. HELPING!”

A glowing circle appears on the ground below Boon.

“What’s the matter Boon? Anything you want can be yours...” the demons say in unison.

“I SAID **SHUT UP**!!”

A supernatural force pushes the horde of demons away from her as her voice booms across the landscape. Holes begin to burn in the parchment world…

...

Boon snaps back to reality and sees Gwen awaiting her response “...Oh...” Boon says softly, her brow relaxing. “Sorry I uh-” she scratches the back of her head ”I didn’t realize. Sorry if that was out of line.” She offers something resembling a slight smile, but appears melancholy “I suppose I probably should’ve seen that coming huh.” She gives a nervous chuckle.

Gwen smiles back in turn. “Maybe. I don’t know how often my teammates talk about Rekken when I’m not there. You’re fine though, you didn’t know. At least you had the guts to be forthright about it, instead of wallowing in it for months. I appreciate that. And hey,” she gives a soft punch against Boon’s arm. “You’re pretty good at skating and with your guitar. Friends?”

Boon smiles, still doing her best to hide an involuntary look of disappointment. “It uh, it might be a bit tough for me. The way I feel about you isn’t just going to change overnight.” She turns away from Gwen. “That said. You’re incredible, and I’d be happy to call myself your friend. And besides, how could I turn down a fellow flex girl?” Boon does a heel turn and flexes, grinning.

Gwen snorts as she tries to stifle a laugh. “You’re a dork, you know that? But I get it. In a different situation I would’ve suggested not hanging out at all, but when you’re teammates and have a bunch of mutual friends and play music together, that would get a little difficult. Thanks though.”

She gets up and stretches, walking to the edge of the gazebo and looking out into the park. With autumn in full swing, it was a very brown-orange-and-yellow sight. “Speaking of difficult,” she starts again, looking over her shoulder. “Can I ask you another question? It’s a little personal, so I understand if you’d rather not, certainly now.”

Boon looks puzzled for a moment, and scratches the back of her head nervously. “Yeah I uh- sure let’s hear it,” she says bracing herself.

“So…” Gwen starts, leaning against a wooden pillar. “You are possessed, right? In a way? Not like, *take-over-your-mind* possessed, but *got-a-passenger-riding-along* possessed? A passenger that gives you powers. Is that… good, in your case?”

Boon sighs. "Yeah there's uh- there's two of us in here. It's not always perfect, but…" she trails off and looks out at the park next to Gwen. "She- uh, she goes by Sapphomet... corny, I know. And she claims to want to help me. And she has! I mean, I wouldn't have my powers if not for her. And she seems to have the same goal of taking down Yamato. The enemy of my enemy you know?" She's silent for a moment… "She lets me do incredible things. But every time she does, I feel myself slipping away bit by bit. I don't trust her. Especially after talking to Mini. But I don't know what choice I have. The only thing I can do is find Yamato and figure out what happened to my dad so she can leave… and if she doesn't… well, I'll figure something out."

Gwen nods her head, listening closely. “If she doesn’t of her own volition, we can just drag her out. I’ve busted out of several prisons, including a literal Hellish one, and I’ve dragged a fae through time to answer for her actions. Dealing with an unwanted tenant in your head sounds very much achievable. Honestly, might be cathartic.”

She frowns in thought and pushes herself away from the wooden pillar, walking closer to the bench where Boon is sitting. “Actually… is it possible to meet this Sapphomet face-to-face? Not her just possessing your body, but like… *actually* meeting.”

Boon thinks for a moment and responds tentatively. "Well uh… that depends. You got a car?"

Gwen smirks. “I think I do.”

**The Highway to ~~Hell~~ a Cabin, 18:58**

Gwen grips the steering wheel a little tighter, moving her fingers along the wooden grip. For anyone seeing them go, they might be surprised at how fast the red Volkswagen Beetle could go. Inside, Baroness was spacious, luxurious and classy, unbetrayed by her humble exterior. Driving across the highway, Halcyon National Park was coming into view. A pop punk cover of Born To Be Wild blasts from the radio.

The highway is bathed in pale moonlight as the two race their way down the open road. “Oops hang on, I got this!” Boon exclaims seeing a speed trap on the side of the road. With a wave of her hand a bright sigil appears in the air. Boon taps it and it flies directly at the police car, wreathing it in smoke on contact. When the smoke clears the Beetle has passed and the officer is none the wiser, albeit a bit confused. Boon holds her cigarette out the window and flicks its side, sending amber sparks trailing behind them. “God I love having powers!” Boon grins with satisfaction.

Gwen laughs. “Sometimes, having powers is a… boon.”

She falls silent, shaking her head with a smile as she looks into the rearview mirror at the distant rising smoke cloud. Her smile fades. As great as the moment is, it makes her recall all the times that her powers were not a blessing, but a curse. As powerful and useful as her retrocognition could be, the times she has lost control over it--the times *it* controlled *her*--were too numerous for her tastes. Therapy with Dr. Harrison had helped, but ever since the start of the new school year she’d felt it press more on her. She’d felt more alone.

It feels good to hang out and blow off steam with a friend. She presses the gas pedal down as far as it can go.

Boon ashes her cigarette in the tray on the center of the car and lets out an excited yell. She looks at Gwen and smiles, happy that even though today didn’t go as planned she still has someone she can call a friend. Boon catches herself staring a bit too long and turns her head out the passenger window. As they approach the park some of the dataverse corruption begins to become evident, with a swath of digitized trees illuminating the night. “Keep right here, it’s the next exit,” Boon motions to a highway sign. Boon looks nervously back at Gwen. “This is uh… this is a lot of fun by the way Gwen. Thanks for still… wanting to hang out with me.” She offers a tentative half smile.

“Pshh, yeah, no problem, dude,” Gwen magicks up a grin again and glances at Boon. “Don’t worry about it. If I had to abandon a friend every time it turned out they felt differently about me than I did about them, I wouldn’t have friends.” She looked back at the road and let out a nervous laugh. “Heck, Rescue; The Girls would have crashed and burned several times over, I would never have gotten back together with my girlfriend, and I would have probably died in space after fighting Alex.”

She drops to a tone just above a whisper. “Shit that was too real.”

She turns on the signal and gets off the highway at the exit Boon indicated, the sign showing that they were getting close to Halcyon National Park. “Been a while since I last was here,” Gwen says. “Had to go and pick up some teammates after a survival exercise.”

“It sounds like you all have been through a lot before I joined.” Boon looks ahead at the road solemnly. “I keep hearing all of these stories of adventure, hero-ism, and tragedy. I can’t help but wonder, could things have been better if I’d started doing hero stuff sooner? Would I be closer to the team if I’d been around longer?” Boon sighs, “But I’m here now, the best I can do is focus on the future and not the past. Besides I didn’t have powers until… recently…” Boon trails off. There’s a moment of silence. “I like coming out here… to the forest that is… Granted I don’t *love* my sanctuary, but the city can get a bit hectic sometimes. Halcyon is… different from anything I’ve experienced. I’m not sure if it’s in a good or a bad way. Maybe both, but certainly… more…” she waves her hands expressively.

Gwen nods. “More more. It’s not much different from Avalon in that regard, but very different in other ways. It’s certainly very busy and crowded. I would’ve loved to join sooner than I did, but that was kinda difficult.” She looks over her shoulder as she turns into a parking area and finds a spot close to the entrance where she parks the car.

“Listen,” Gwen says, unbuckling her seatbelt. “If you’d been here sooner, maybe you’d have had more adventure, but like you said, there’s also tragedy. If you only ever run into things without hedging your bets, it will be more tragedy than heroism. You gotta be prepared. I’ve been at this for over a year now, my powers are different from yours, and I come from a long line of knights that fought dragons and shit. I can give you advice on stuff if you like, but you probably shouldn’t try to do things *exactly* the same way as me.”

She punches Boon’s arm gently. “Though we are both very strong and headstrong, so maybe you can act a *little* like me.” She smiles. “And you’re right to focus on the future and not the past. The past is baggage, and you can’t, like, take it all with you on the... metaphorical airplane that takes you to the future.”

Boon laughs at the cumbersome metaphor. “Thanks for the advice Gwen, I appreciate it.” A look of realization crosses Boon’s face causing her to frown. “Although… heh, the future is a bit scary to think about too.” Boon steps out of the car and takes a deep breath. She feels the cool November air fill her lungs and looks out across the forest. “But maybe tonight I don’t have to think about either… sometimes the present is enough.” She sets out down a dirt path marked with orange blazes, reaching out to feel the weeds at the side of the trail. She pauses for a moment and looks over her shoulder at Gwen, calling out, “It’s not far from here, just down the path.”

Gwen exits the car and locks it behind them, following Boon onto the forest path. She shivers a little and pulls up the zipper of her jacket a bit higher. Autumn in New York state was chilly, and while she enjoyed the winters she’d spent in Avalon and Alaska, she wasn’t looking forward to the blizzard that undoubtedly would hit again this year.

She takes out her phone and turns on the flashlight to light her way through the dark forest. Moonlight would not be enough to navigate through the trees, and there were no lampposts along the path. Gwen nods at Boon calling out to her. In her head, she can hear Olivia’s voice warn her of horror movie tropes that seems to align a little too much with this moment. Meeting up with only one other--and very new--friend, in a cabin in the woods, at night, to call forth a demon. Any intelligent person with no powers wouldn’t even have made the drive. Gwen’s benefit is that she’d already experienced plenty of similar things. Moreover, she trusts Boon in this. A feeling gnaws at her that this trust is misplaced, like it has in the past. What if Boon doesn’t know enough about Sapphomet, and Sapphomet is actually incredibly dangerous to the both of them?

Gwen taps out a message on her phone to send to Angel and tell him where she is and to find her if she isn’t home by midnight. At least if they go missing, someone will know.

“So, uh, how’d you come to own a cabin in the woods anyway?” She tries to make conversation.

“It’s actually a super weird story. Hmm, okay, *Georgia* weird, maybe not quite Halcyon weird. Shortly after my father passed I started having dreams about a loose floorboard in my parents’ house back in Savannah. Out of curiosity I decided to check it out and not only did it exist, but hidden under it was a map and a key.” Boon hops over a fallen tree trunk in the path and looks at the moontouched path ahead with a somber expression. “When I moved to Halcyon I decided to check it out. There were notes scattered around, it’s where… it was my Dad’s… I don’t know what he was using it for, hell I don’t even know what he was doing in Halcyon. But… She’s stronger here, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s where he summoned her.” There’s a chill in the air as she says this.

Boon pries a dense evergreen branch out of the way of the trail and reveals a cozy looking cabin. Strangely, there’s smoke rising from the chimney and billowing into the cold night air, and the lights are on. Boon looks startled and then sighs. “She’s waiting for us…” She turns to look at Gwen with a serious expression on her face, “Are you sure you want to see her? I doubt she would, or could, hurt you in her current form but… it’s not too late to turn back.”

“That’s quite the adventure story,” Gwen jokes flatly. She steps next to Boon and looks out towards the cabin. She frowns at the rising smoke, looks to Boon and shakes her head. “There’s a lot of things I’m not sure of, but we still gotta do them. And I don’t believe in sunk cost fallacy.”

She pushes against the branch and steps out into the open, walks halfway towards it, and then turns back around. Looking over her shoulder, she calls out to Boon. “Are you coming?” She gives a little teasing smirk. “Or should I face your demon alone?”

Boon smirks back, “Over my dead body!” Boon teases, running up to Gwen “Let’s do this.” The two approach the cabin and cautiously open the door. There’s a loud creak as the door swings aside to reveal an empty cabin with all the lights on. Boon looks around confused, “Hmm… either she’s not manifesting or I left the lights on on the way out… and the um… the fire...”

The two enter the cabin and feel the warmth of the fireplace replacing the cool autumn air. Gwen looks around the cabin to see walls lined with ornate trinkets with varying ranges of both beautiful and terrifying. The cabin is separated into three rooms, a kitchen, a reading room, and a bedroom. In the kitchen a pot sits on a cold stove with the lukewarm remains of some canned soup. The pantry door lays open revealing a combination of shelf stable food and what can only be assumed to be alchemical reagents. In the reading room a fire blazes illuminating rows of books and an antique cushioned reading chair. On the floor is a half drawn chalk summoning circle and a book with “*Summoning Familiars: For the Absolute Beginner*” on the spine. On the wall of the reading room sits a pillow-lined reading nook with a large window looking out at the forest, a bag of Doritos sitting next to it on the ground. The door to the bedroom is ajar and Gwen can see that the lights are off and the room is dark; but through the dim light she can make out an open book sitting on the nightstand.

“Mind the mess! I haven’t had a chance to clean up in a bit.” Boon calls out to Gwen apologetically.

Gwen closes the door behind her and shrugs off her coat, free from the cold air. She hangs it up on the coat rack by the door. “No problem,” she likewise shrugs off Boon’s apology. She felt it improper to criticize someone else for a problem she shared, even moreso as she hadn’t given Boon a chance to clean up before coming over.

She walks around with slow steps, avoiding the bedroom--she was already invading someone’s house, invading her bedroom would be even worse--and walks towards the reading room. She holds up a hand to the fire to feel the warmth before continuing towards the magic circle, stepping around it and reaching for the book on the floor. She picks it up and checks the cover, then folds out the pages that have gotten a little scrunched up from its open-faced lying down position. “You were trying to summon something?” She asks Boon, turning around and looking up from the book.

“Still am!” She says excitedly. “I’ve been needing some assistance with rituals and stuff and uh… if I’m being honest, feeling a little bit lonely. I figured a familiar might help a bit with that so I’ve been looking into how to summon one. Ideally something harmless, and friendly, like a hellhound. There are some... misconceptions surrounding hellhounds. They’re smart pups and are only aggressive if taught to be.”

“Awww, that’s actually really sweet,” Gwen says.

There’s a momentary silence as Gwen inspects the book and Boon crouches down to admire her handiwork on the floor. A faint creak emanates from the floor by the bedroom. Startled, the two turn to look at the source of the noise and find nothing there, behind them a red skinned woman climbs out of the fireplace and lunges at Gwen.

Ears twitching, Gwen doesn’t pick up on the silently charging assailant until it’s too late. She half-turns around before getting roughly shoved backwards, stumbling, barely keeping herself up, and slamming with her back into the wall. “What the fuck?!” She cries out and her fist shoots out to hit back.

Her fist appears to connect with the right side of the demon’s face, but the point of impact disappears into smoke at the last second. “*You shouldn’t be here…*” Sapphomet hisses.

“Hey! Don’t you fucking touch her!” Boon yells as she reaches towards a nearby shelf of magical items. She grabs one that looks like a pewter talon clutching a red gem and utters a phrase in Latin. As she does so a bright flash fills the room, staggering Sapphomet who releases her grasp on Gwen.

As she returns to her feet she brushes herself off. “My my Barbara, how uncalled for. Giving your new friend a good scare was simply my way of introducing myself.” She gives a sinister grin revealing sharp teeth, “And besides, it’s only fair; you know I don’t like unexpected visitors”

Sapphomet paces around the two, who are still clearly on edge. “Speaking of, why didn’t you tell me you’d be stopping by? It almost seems like you were trying to sneak up on me… how unlike you Barbara...” She stops in place examining her long black claws “If you wanted an audience you simply had to ask. I go where you go remember?” Sapphomet gives off an evil giggle and slides closer to Gwen. “Apologies for the… startling introduction. You must be Gwendolyn. I’ve heard an awful lot about you you know. Goodness, and you look just like him! *I can’t help but wonder if you scream like him too*?”

Gwen is caught off guard by Sapphomet’s musings. “Who are you talking about?”

A bright flash fills the room again as Boon activates the claw once more, you can see that her hand is burning and her eyes are bloodshot after using the artifact. “Back off, and don’t call me Barbara. We came here to talk.” She says through gritted teeth.

Sapphomet throws her hands up to shield her eyes and hisses. “Ugh, careful with that you little brat!” She lowers her hands to reveal her face in a scowl and goes to sit down on the chair by the fireplace. “Always so rude, and after I’ve been nothing but helpful to you” She says mockingly while pursing her lips “Out with it then. What do you two want from me?”

Gwen looks at Boon and gestures at Sapphomet. “Rough relationship with your parasite then, huh?” She looks at Sapphomet. “I wanted to see you in person, see what you’re like and what Boon has to deal with every day. You’re not a very nice person, are you?”

“My dear I don’t have to be nice. I’m not here to make friends, I’m a businesswoman, I’m here to show people what I have to offer them, and trade them for it. I dare say if Barbara here didn’t want me around then she shouldn’t have made a deal with me.” She taps her cheek playfully “I daresay she’d be sorry to not have me around though, you should see how much she enjoys her powers. It’s almost as if she’d be nothing without them.” Boon clenches her fists and grits her teeth, but doesn’t say anything.

Sapphomet steps closer to Gwen. “I’m **not** a parasite. We’re a *symbiosis*, I help her, she helps me. And as it happens Gwendolyn, I’ve got room for new clients.” She smiles sinisterly as her forked tail wags back and forth. "I sense something in you. A missing piece of a powerful puzzle, a broken link in the strongest of chains." The edges of her lips twist into a sinister grin. “I can fill in the gaps of your soul Gwendolyn dear, make you whole." She extends a long black claw and gently pokes Gwen in the chest, “let me make you a deal. Give me just a *little* bit of your retrocognition and I'll **bond** with you, and lend you power of my own. You’ll still be able to use it of course, only a *teensy* bit less powerful, you’ll hardly even notice. What do you say darling? Shake on it?” She extends a claw towards Gwen and flicks her tongue out briefly.

Gwen looks Sapphomet in the eye, and something in her gaze shows that she wavers. She’s rarely uncertain of herself, but Sapphomet’s words drag her right back to her most vulnerable moment: that time she lay on the floor of the Watchtower, clutching her sword, with nobody there to help her against her own inner demons.

And now a literal inner demon was offering to help her fill that hole that was left behind by Nimue. That hole that Gwen had tried to fill for so long, by using other magical objects to draw power from, by working out more and relying more on her physical strength, by using her retrocognition on her teammates to try and find out the nature of their powers so that she could improve on her own--though that last one had been in many cases been accidental and near-disastrous. Yet she had survived all this time without Nimue, without a symbiote or parasite or whatever. She’s grown, into her own person, into her own hero.

Gwen looks at Sapphomet’s claw… and extends her hand. There is a moment’s hesitation, of consideration, of thought and planning. Then she bats Sapphomet’s claw aside.

“If you’re going to make such a disrespectful proposal to me, at least do me the honour of making it an Avalonian one,” she tells Sapphomet as she steps closer and takes a swing with her fist at the demon’s stomach….

...And the world goes dark for Gwendolyn du Lac…

...

...Her eyes open, and she’s still in the cabin. But Boon and Sapphomet are nowhere to be seen. She tries to move but finds her muscles unable to respond, she can only stand transfixed at the door to Boon’s bedroom. Against her volition she tiptoes her way towards the door to see a tall, blonde man with long hair tied back in a ponytail, a short beard, and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses resting on his face. He sits at the desk in the room and writes on a yellowed piece of parchment paper with an antique fountain pen. “Hello Norn,” he says curtly without turning around.

Gwen hears herself reply in an androgynous voice: “Hello there Eric my dear. I haven’t caught you at a bad time have I?”

The man sets the pen down and taps the parchment paper with his index finger; the paper glows for a moment and then sinks into the wood of the desk. “Not a bad time at all Norn. I was just finishing up,” the man replies with a cold voice.

“Going somewhere darling?” Gwen feels her lips twist into a smile “It’s rather cold out tonight, wouldn’t you rather stay inside by the fire with me?”

“I have business to attend to in the city Norn. It doesn’t concern you--”

“Everything concerns me my dear,” Gwen’s tenor voice growls at the man, “and nothing happens without me knowing about it.” Gwen’s smile unfurls into a toothy grin. “You wouldn’t happen to be running off to see our friend Yamato would you?”

Two fists strike the desk and a silence falls over the room.

Gwen feels herself walking over to the man, who is still facing away from her. “Whatever you’re planning Eric Ostenberg, it won’t save you…”

Suddenly the light is blown out and the man fades away, the previously dark forest outside the window is now bathed in moonlight which streams into the room illuminating the bed and desk. Gwen reaches towards the desk and can now see that her hands are red and end in sharp looking claws. She taps the top of the antique wooden desk. A section of the wood glows and the yellowed piece of parchment rises from inside of it. In the moment before the gnarled claws crumple the parchment into a ball Gwen is able to see who the letter was addressed to: “Bobby”

From the forest outside the moonlight begins to grow brighter, illuminating the forest as if it were daytime. It continues, steadily brighter, blindingly so until Gwen can no longer see...

...

...As the light fades she finds herself back in the living room of the cabin, crouched down on her knees and filled with nausea, panting for air. Boon stands there with a blank expression looking down at Gwen and an equally disoriented looking Sapphomet. Gwen and Sapphomet catch their breath as Boon rushes over to Gwen to see if she’s okay. Before anyone else can interject Sapphomet speaks up through labored breathing “Well... I’ve certainly... learned... quite a bit today” Sapphomet attempts a smile but finds it difficult given the shape she’s in.

Boon tosses a nasty glare at Sapphomet and then looks back at Gwen. “Gwen! Are you okay? What the hell just happened!?” She extends a hand and helps Gwen up to her feet.

“I’m alright,” Gwen shakes it off. She rubs at her forehead and stares at Sapphomet. *I hadn’t even been trying to do that*, she thought. *What did she do to me?*

Sapphomet climbs to her feet as well, again focusing her attention on Gwen. "You're an angry person Gwendolyn. Hatred lives in your heart," she smiles, "this isn't a thing to be hidden or conquered. Monumental change can come from those with the stones to follow through on their aggression. I hope when the time comes you remember who's hurt you. And if you need help bringing your enemies to justice… well… you know where to find me." With a wry smile she winks and dissolves into a cloud of smoke, leaving Gwen and Boon alone once again.

Gwen sucks in a breath. “Fuck,” she lets out. “Fucking shit fuck, what? Fuck!” She pulls her beanie off her head and throws it into a bookcase. Then she calms down and her shoulders slump. “Ugh, I’m sorry Boon. I didn’t mean to-- I think I accidentally used my powers on her. I didn’t mean to. I don’t know what just happened. I’m sorry.”

"Gwen why are you sorry?" Boon buries her head in her hands. "I'm the one that dragged us into this mess, this is all my fault. I shouldn't have brought you here- I- I should've known it would've been dangerous." She sighs "What did you see? It wasn't anything disturbing was it? And are you hurt at all? I didn't think she'd attack you like that."

Gwen waves it off. “No, it’s not that. I’m not hurt. I… I think I saw your father. Eric?”

Boon's eyes widen. "You what!? Y-you saw my Dad!? Wh-what was he- how-" Boon stammers and then collects her thoughts "What was he doing? Was he… did he seem happy at all? Before he…" She trails off.

“He’s fine! He… was fine.” Gwen holds up her hands as if to grab Boon’s shoulders, but makes no move to come closer. “I only caught a glimpse of him, of him and Sapphomet talking. That’s all.”

Boon looks relieved but tears well in her eyes. "Gwen I… I miss him… I miss him so much." In the warm cabin by the light of the fireplace, Boon begins to cry. "I wish I could see his face again." Tears stream down her reddened cheeks.

Gwen’s voice stops. She doesn’t know what to say, not after seeing Boon’s father talking to Sapphomet while the demon referred to Yamato as ‘our friend’. She steps closer to Boon and puts a hand on her arm. “I know,” she says, being reminded of her own father, and how much they’d been forced apart for years. “I know…”

Boon leans over and hugs Gwen, and begins crying into her shoulder. She doesn’t say anything for a while, simply mourns what she’s lost. After a few minutes she breaks herself away from Gwen’s arms and starts to compose herself, wiping away tears. “Th-thank you Gwen. For hanging out with me tonight. I’m- it’s been a tough night. I’m sorry for putting you through all that. From start to finish.” Boon gives a slight chuckle, still crying. “Something tells me this might not have been the wildest time you’ve had hanging out with a teammate though, huh?”

Gwen softly pats Boon’s back. *This is not how I imagined things to go after rejecting someone who confessed to me*, she thinks to herself. “No, I’m the one who should be sorry, Ostenberg,” Gwen says. “I’m the one who asked to meet Sapphomet and got us both more than we bargained for.” She tilts her head and looks away. “Buuut I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t had a lot of wild times hanging out with teammates.”

Boon begins laughing softly and wipes away her tears. "I'm sure it won't be the last either" she does her best to smile "Let's head back to Halcyon yeah? I've had enough of this place to last me a week"

The two girls head out into the cool night air once again. They reach The Baroness and feel the heat of the engine warm the interior. The camera pans up to reveal the dense forest with a few remaining wisps of smoke rising from the dying fire of Boon's cabin. Save for the hum of The Baroness's engine disappearing into the distance the night is quiet, and it remains that way until morning.