She could hear someone moving about the house as she woke with a stretch. Sleeping on a sofa wasn't bad, but it wasn't as nice as a bed. Zoe opened one eye and from the amount of light coming in the window she knew it was definitely morning, and probably time to get up.

 

She reached out for her phone on the coffee table, and squinted at it as she checked the screen. It was just past seven in the morning. And there were no new notifications. Cindy hadn't called, hadn't texted or emailed. It had been weeks now since she last heard from the small sorceress.

 

They'd been practically inseparable for almost two years, since she quit work at Samantha's spiritual retreat and went off to explore the world with Cindy. In all that time they'd only really been apart those ten or eleven days she'd been held prisoner by the Brotherhood in London. Since then, she and Cindy barely spent an hour out of each other's sight.

 

Then everything changed. It began around two months ago, but Zoe wasn't sure exactly when. It was subtle at first. A few hours here or there. Then a few days at a time. Now it was weeks.

 

Cindy would disappear back to her cabin at Caer Aeronwy, then she seemed to just stay there. And while she was there, Zoe had no way of contacting her. Phones, texts, emails, nothing could reach her there. So Cindy would wind up isolated until she came back on her own. She didn't even come back for the April full moon last week. 

 

It was almost as if she was losing touch with the world, losing touch with her friends. Losing touch with life.

 

Zoe sighed as she sat up. She pulled the blanket around her and adjusted her tail so it wasn't trapped beneath her. She wasn't cold, she just felt lonely. Despite the little bungalow being rather crowded with four of them living in it.

 

"Good morning Zoe, happy birthday!" Sid smiled as she came into the living-room. She set a glass of milk down on the coffee table in front of the catgirl, then frowned. "Still no word from her?"

 

"Nothing," Zoe sighed as she shook her head. She added with a weak smile, "Thanks Sid."

 

The athletic blonde gave her a hopeful smile and replied "She'll be here. She won't forget your birthday."

 

She just nodded slowly, then picked up the milk and had a sip while Sidney returned to the kitchen to start fixing breakfast.

 

Zoe was twenty-two today, though she didn't look any older than twenty. That started about eighteen months ago, when Cindy saved her from the Brotherhood's clutches. A year and a half, and she hadn't aged a day since then. That was something Cindy did for her, but it was something she did without asking. 

 

Zoe hadn't even learned all the details until last August, when the two of them returned to Abingdon-on-Thames to fix the tear Alexander's defeat caused in reality. 

 

She suppressed a slight shudder as her thoughts drifted back to that day. Cindy patched the hole in reality, and Zoe learned the truth about what her girlfriend did to her.

 

 

The Anomaly was gone. So was the manor house. In fact the entire estate seemed to have vanished. Zoe and Cindy were standing in a large empty field. The ground was mostly just bare dirt, with a few tufts of grass and weeds here and there.

 

There was no foundation, no ruins, nothing to suggest the estate had ever existed in the first place.

 

Zoe's heart was pounding as she let out a long shuddering gasp, "Woah... What happened? Where'd everything go?"

 

"When I closed the tear," Cindy replied quietly, "Everything that was tainted by the energy from the Anomaly got sucked through first. Sucked out of reality."

 

Zoe felt a cold feeling settle in her stomach, "It tried to pull me in too. If you weren't holding on, I'd have been sucked out of existence as well. Does that mean I'm tainted?"

 

Cindy gulped and stared down at the ground. She replied quietly, "You were here with me when it happened. You got hit by that first wave that came off him."

 

"So did you, Cindy. You were right next to him."

 

The sorceress sighed "Yeah. We're 'special' though."

 

Zoe gulped, "Are we going to be ok? I mean, are we safe to be around other people?"

 

"Sure," Cindy nodded. "We've been around other people for months. It's fine."

 

The catgirl could tell there was something more. Something her girlfriend wasn't telling her. She knew the small sorceress well enough to know when Cindy was trying to hide something.

 

"What aren't you telling me, Cindy? I know there's something you're not saying."

 

Her friend sighed then finally admitted "Ok. When you and I were here before, when it happened? I'd already reincarnated you into your new body. It's uh, like I said? You're more feline than before, and you don't age like normal."

 

"And?" Zoe asked, keeping her eyes on her friend.

 

"You're a... Your body is like a creation of magic. You're a creature of magic."

 

She added, "I mean, you're still a human, or I mean, a catgirl. But like, you weren't born? You were created, from divine magic. You can't be corrupted or tainted by stuff like this. Like raw magic or reality-warping stuff. You're immune."

 

Zoe frowned, "You're not though."

 

Cindy sighed again, "I am now. When we were here the first time, I wasn't. It didn't mess me up or whatever because I was shielding myself from it and trying to get control of Alexander at the time. But now I'm like you. My body is a creation of magic, like yours. I destroyed my original body to get rid of the Goddesses' tattoo and stuff, to break the bond they had on me. I created a new one for myself, same as I did for you."

 

She added "Before it was their curse that was keeping me young and not letting me age and stuff. Now I just don't age, same as you."

 

Zoe was still frowning, and her stomach continued churning as all of this slowly sank in. She could feel herself getting more upset as these secrets were revealed. All that happened last November when Cindy rescued her from the Brotherhood, and she was only just learning the truth now.

 

"What does that mean for us?" Zoe demanded. "Are we still... I don't know? Are we still normal? Mortal? What are we?!"

 

Her voice started to break as she added "You keep surprising me with stuff Cindy! Please just level with me! What am I? Will I ever age? Will I ever die? Am I even really alive? Or am I just... I don't even know! You killed me to get that collar off me. Am I really a person, or am I some kind of undead zombie or something?"

 

The small blonde's face was red now and she had tears in her eyes as she shook her head "No! You're alive, we both are! And we're still mortal. I don't know if there's words though to describe us? I'm sorry Zoe..."

 

Cindy tried to explain, "I'm a mortal who's connected to two Gods? That's, I don't know, imbued me with some of their divine aspects? Somewhere between a human and a God? And you're like... In classical terms you'd be called a 'hero'. You're like, blessed by the Gods. You have strength, power, stamina, all that stuff beyond what normal mortals can achieve? And neither of us age, and we won't get sick or whatever..."

 

She quickly added "We're both still mortal though! We have mortal souls and all that. We can both die, just not easily. Like someone would really hafta try hard if they wanted to kill us."

 

Zoe demanded "Why didn't you tell me any of this before?"

 

"I was afraid how you'd react," Cindy replied, staring down at the ground. "I was afraid you'd think I was some kind of monster... Afraid you'd think I made you into a monster. I didn't even know what I was doing when I did this to you Zoe. I'm sorry."

 

Tears were starting to roll down Cindy's cheeks as she continued, "I was just focused on fixing you, getting that collar off you and making you back to how you should be. As usual I just dove in and didn't think things through... As usual I didn't think of the consequences..."

 

The tears continued to flow as Cindy looked up at her, "Zoe I'm sorry! I'm sorry I did this to you, I'm sorry I kept it hidden..."

 

The catgirl just sighed. "It's ok Cindy. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. And I'm happy you got me back to normal and everything. It's just a lot to take in, ok? And you should have told me! You shouldn't have kept this from me for so long!"

 

 

Zoe blinked as some shouting roused her from her reverie. 

 

"Zoe! Breakfast's ready!" Ciara called again. "C'mon, it's gonna get cold!"

 

"Coming," she sighed as she got to her feet. She shuffled into the kitchen to join the others at the table.

 

"Happy birthday Zoe!" Ciara grinned at her.

 

Aeron was already eating but swallowed her mouthful of bacon and added "Yeah, happy birthday Zoe."

 

She thanked them both and helped herself to some bacon and scrambled eggs. Sid was sitting across from her, watching with a worried look on her face as they all continued eating.

 

After breakfast Zoe helped with the dishes, then they left Ciara and Aeron watching another war movie while she and Sid went out for a walk along the beach.

 

Sidney gave the catgirl a supportive smile, "She'll be here Zoe. She won't miss your birthday. I'm sure of it."

 

"Thanks Sid," Zoe sighed. "I hope you're right. I'm worried though. I don't know what's wrong with her, she won't talk to me any more. She's always off in her cabin, and... I'm afraid someday she'll disappear there and never come back."

 

Sid pulled her into a hug. "I know. I worry about her too, but we can't force her to talk to us. All we can do is trust she knows what she's doing."

 

Zoe nodded slowly, "I hope you're right, Sid. But I'm still worried."

 

They finished their walk, and Zoe wound up sitting in the living-room where she tried to pass the time reading. It wasn't easy, between the loud movies Aeron and Ciara enjoyed and her fear that yet another day would pass without hearing from her girlfriend.

 

The time seemed to crawl by while Zoe alternated between feelings of anxiety and despair. As much as she wanted to believe Sid was right, that Cindy wouldn't forget her birthday, each hour that passed without any news or word let her mood drop lower.

 

Then around four in the afternoon Cindy teleported into the living-room and greeted everyone. She was relaxed and smiling, she acted like nothing was wrong. Like she hadn't been gone for weeks on end.

 

The small sorceress pulled Zoe into a hug and wished her happy birthday, then she greeted Sid and the girls. She asked how Aeron was doing, if she was writing tests like Sid wanted, and if there was anything else to report.

 

Zoe hugged her back but was otherwise silent. She wanted to be angry with her girlfriend for being gone so long. She wanted to be upset at having been left alone all this time. Instead she just watched and listened as Ciara and Aeron greeted Cindy, and Sid said things were going well. The athletic blonde reported that Aeron was writing her tests and getting excellent results, which Cindy was happy to hear.

 

In the end, Zoe couldn't stay angry. She was too relieved to have Cindy back, too happy to know her girlfriend was ok. 

 

Cindy smiled at her and said "I'm sorry this is kind of last-minute, but how'd you like to go to Melbourne with me? Just the two of us. I got us reservations at a nice restaurant, we can have a romantic dinner together, and I booked us a suite at a posh hotel."

 

"That sounds great Cindy," Zoe found herself smiling back. "I don't really have anything to wear though for a fancy restaurant."

 

She'd spent the last several weeks couch-surfing basically, staying here with Sid and the girls or in Melbourne at Charlotte's place. At least Charlotte had an empty guest room with a bed, which was better than the sofa. But Zoe didn't like to stay anywhere too long, she didn't want to impose on people too long.

 

Cindy shrugged, "No need to dress up. You know I'm just gonna go dressed like this."

 

As usual the small blonde was just wearing some dark leggings and a large tunic-style top. 

 

"Ok," Zoe nodded, "When do we have to be there?"

 

"Reservations are for six," Cindy replied.

 

They spent the next hour and a half talking, Cindy asked what Zoe had been up to, where she'd been staying and so on. When Zoe asked the same of her though Cindy deflected and changed the subject. It seemed like whatever she was doing that kept her absent so long, she didn't want to discuss it.

 

Finally the two of them teleported to a secluded spot near the restaurant, then walked the rest of the way.

 

It was a nice place, fancy and expensive. Neither of them ate much and neither of them drank, but what they did eat was enjoyable. 

 

After dinner they covered the short walk to the hotel, and their room was one of the penthouse suites on the top floor. 

 

There was a balcony with a nice view, and Zoe tried to talk with Cindy some more about being gone so long but once again her girlfriend was eager to change the subject.

 

She finally gave up on conversation, and the two just wound up in the large comfy bed together.

 

 

Zoe drifted awake and let out a happy contented sigh. To her relief, Cindy was still there with her. She'd been afraid as she fell asleep last night that her girlfriend would slip away again and vanish for another few weeks.

 

The small sorceress was just waking too, and the pair of them cuddled closely together. 

 

They stayed like that for another half hour or so, before Cindy started getting restless. It felt like she wanted to get moving.

 

Zoe sighed as she watched Cindy finally slip out of bed then start to dress again.

 

"Cindy, before you run off there's something I've been wanting to talk with you about for a while."

 

The blonde asked, "What's that?"

 

Zoe replied "I was talking with Charlotte last month? She's back into occult stuff again, she's been trying to contact Alexandra's soul or spirit or whatever. Like seances and stuff like that."

 

Cindy let out a deep sigh, "I don't think that stuff works. I don't think it works for normal dead people, and I double-don't think it'd work for Alexandra."

 

"I know," Zoe frowned. "I was thinking though, what you said about Alexander, about how the God took over the body completely? And I was also thinking about how Charlotte was imprisoned in the ruby. And Aeronwy did that to Richard too, right?"

 

Cindy was dressed now, and sat on the edge of the bed. "Aeronwy used a diamond for Richard, but yeah it's the same idea."

 

"Is that a common thing Gods do?" Zoe asked.

 

"I dunno how common it is," Cindy replied with a shrug. "I guess we have two examples out of five gods we know of."

 

Zoe asked, "Would it always be a gem or crystal?"

 

Cindy shrugged again, "No idea Zoe. We only have two examples though, right? Big ruby, big diamond. Why are you asking all this, where are you going with this?"

 

"Back when you fought Alexander, he had a big diamond ring on his right pinky-finger. It's a long-shot but I had an idea."

 

Zoe took a deep breath then asked, "Instead of destroying Alexander's soul or whatever, what if it was just sucked out and stuffed into the diamond?"

 

Cindy frowned, "Why would he do that though? I mean if he wanted to destroy it, why keep it? And why wear it around?"

 

"I was thinking what you said," Zoe explained, "Gods need some intangible thing to exist on Earth, something we have but they don't. What if that intangible thing is a person's soul or essence or whatever you want to call it? Maybe Alexander had to keep it with him, so he could stay on Earth. Maybe he sucked it out of the body so he was alone in there, but kept the essence in the diamond ring."

 

The small sorceress looked skeptical, "That's a lot of maybes, Zoe."

 

"I know," Zoe frowned, "But I've been putting a lot of thought into this."

 

She added with a pout, "Since I've had a lot of time alone lately."

 

Cindy ignored the pout, and the associated comment. Instead she just observed, "Well if there was a diamond on his hand when I stuffed him into the statue, it'll still be there."

 

Zoe tried to keep the look of disappointment off her face. She asked, "Can you get it out? Without freeing the rest of him?" 

 

After thinking about it for a moment, Cindy nodded "Yeah. When I go back to the cabin I'll have a look."

 

This time Zoe couldn't keep the disappointment off her expression as she sighed, "How long will you be gone this time? You've been spending more and more time there cutie. I worry that one of these days you'll go back there and I'll never see you again."

 

Cindy sighed "I'm sorry Zoe. I just lose track of time? You know how I get when I'm working on stuff."

 

"What is it now? What are you doing over there that's so important?"

 

"It's something for Aeron," Cindy replied. "I'm still trying to make sure she won't start world war three, remember?"

 

Zoe frowned, "She's been doing just fine with Sid and Ciara. It's been two and a half months and she hasn't even got in an argument, let alone a fight or anything."

 

Cindy sighed again, "I know, but she's still unstable. I let her out, I have to make sure she and the world are safe from each other."

 

Zoe continued frowning as she asked "Speaking of Aeron and the stuff we were just saying about Alexander, how come she can exist here on Earth as herself? I mean, she's not going through you or another vessel right?"

 

"That's part of what I'm working on," Cindy replied. "It's a secret project."

 

She added, "Speaking of which, I actually need to get back to work on it. I'll see you soon."

 

Cindy's eyes flared with light and she was gone before Zoe could even reply.

 

The catgirl let out another long, deep sigh as her ears drooped down.