2:50 AM

Casey scratched his short black hair and glared at Harmonia. He had not been trusting her lately, as her behavior was becoming more and more erratic.

She seemed to come up with things she was doing when she never went out at all, and she lied about things no one needed to lie about. Casey wasn’t in the mood to deal with her problems that night.

His back ached from wearing his binder for more than twelve hours, and he was tired of the when are you getting the surgery questions. Everyone in the group was younger than him, and even those that were the same age didn’t seem very mature either.

Whenever he opened his mouth, some people would snicker or make foul jokes, and Casey remembered why he spoke very little. If not for the looming danger surrounding them Casey would have left with Harmonia a very long time ago.

Casey followed Harmonia from behind, not trusting anyone in the group, making sure he could see her at all times. She held a little pink baton with a crescent moon, and for some strange reason was wearing a blue and white school uniform with a ribbon.

Her pink hair was put up in long pigtails, she wore a gold band around her head and wore boots that went up to her thighs, colored fire hydrant red. Casey didn’t understand her costume but didn’t mention anything because he was afraid to hurt her feelings.

She was a very fragile person.

When everyone in the group seemed preoccupied with their conversations as they walked through the forest, Casey tried to speak again, hoping no one would mock his voice.

“Harmonia,” he whispered. “Why are you and Levi so close? You barely talk to each other.”

Harmonia couldn’t explain everything and have it make sense.

A part of her wanted to tell him the truth, but it would just complicate their friendship. She stared at the ground and kept walking, trying to look out for rocks.

“Don’t ignore me,” Casey whispered.

She ignored him.

“Are you and Levi dating,” Casey asked.

Harmonia’s somewhat pink face somehow got pinker.

She was a strange-looking girl, looking more cartoonish than a person. She had been using her celestial object for so long, she started to look like the soul that inhabited it.

Her hair seemed to shine and her skin looked slightly pink. She wasn’t the oddest-looking person on campus, but she stood out in the crowd.

“We’re just friends,” Harmonia whispered. “Don’t be jealous.”

“Why are you hiding things from me,” Casey replied. “I tell you everything but you don’t tell me anything.”

“It’s for the best,” Harmonia mumbled. “Trust me.”

“How can I trust you when you lie every day,” Casey screamed.

His voice cracked and everyone turned to look. His face got hot as the jokes continued about his deepening voice and tried his hardest not to run off on his own.

“Harmonia, I want us to go on our own. I hate it here!”

Without missing a beat, she said, “Yeah, let's go.”

They all were stunned as they had both just left. That they would rather risk death than be humiliated.

Harmonia clung to Casey’s arm, but it was hard. He was dressed like a shark, and the holes on the sides were cut out, but the costume shifted as they walked and it kept bumping into her arm.

“You can tell me the truth now,” Casey said.

Harmonia stood still in the forest and tried her best to tell him only the information he needed to know, without pressing any further. Casey knew she was still withholding information from him as she spoke slowly, trying to carefully choose her words.

“I have this thing, and it makes me stronger if people love me,” Harmonia whispered. “It.. talks to the other ones… they’re friends….” Harmonia held up her wand and Casey was worried about her sanity.

“This is just a toy,” Casey insisted. “Are you okay?”

Harmonia pouted and cocked her head to the side. She shook her plastic toy a few times and it changed shape, into a pink little flashlight. Casey felt like the world had shifted a few degrees as she simply acted like it was normal to do this the entire time.

“I knew you were strong, but I didn’t know you could do this,” Casey mumbled.

“It's not me,” Harmonia whispered. “I wasn't born with an ability.”

Harmonia was embarrassed to admit the truth. Casey tried not to look confused by his twitching lip and gave it away.

“I know you don’t believe me. How could a person without an ability use this?”

“Tell me,” he mumbled.

“The gods are inside of them… they… help us…. But only if they like us.”

They were more like captive prisoners inside various household objects and weapons, but Harmonia figured the rated G version was the easiest for him to digest.

“As long as you are of pure blood or pure soul you can use them.”

She repeated the phrase, quickly and monotonously, the knowledge drilled into her head since the creation of the cursed objects. Harmonia’s eyes glowed hot pink and she changed tactics.

“If you tell anyone, no one will believe you. So don’t.”

“I barely believe you! Don’t worry about it.”

They walked off into the dark in silence, and Casey was afraid of who his friend was. He had so many questions swirling in his head.

Where did she get it? How long has she had it? What else can it do?

“Why did you come here? Why would someone who has something this amazing, come to our campus,” Casey asked. "If I had something like this there is so much more I could do!"

“I came here to find someone,” she replied. “I did. All I have to do is watch him and find the other.”

“Who is it?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Casey snatched the flashlight out of her hand, and suddenly everything got very strange.

The forest no longer seemed scary, but happy and wonderful. The world looked simply amazing. The grass was greener, the trees were taller, the sounds of crickets in the background were pure music to his ears.

The entire world embraced him with love and it was taken from him.

Harmonia took the pink flashlight back from him, and she was furious.

“Don’t ever do that again,” she screamed. “What if she hurt you!?”

“I... I don’t-”

“You want to know the truth,” she screamed. “You think that will change anything about us being stuck in this shit!?”

“No. But I don’t want to be around someone who isn’t who they say they are.”

In a few seconds, the little pink flashlight was taken from her, Harmonia’s skin turned deathly pale, and her hair turned brittle and black. Slowly she returned to her old self, and the anger inside her subsided.

Like a drug, the celestial object sedated her to complacency. She could no longer function without it. Casey nervously watched the transformation and knew he could never touch it again.

“Let’s walk and talk. If we stay too long more monsters will get us,” Harmonia said.

They continued through the forest, and this time, Casey walked beside her. He knew that she didn’t need any of his protection, that she was strong enough on her own, no matter how emotionally fragile she seemed.

“I was sent here to find Ace,” Harmonia said. “I found him pretty easily. It’s not like anyone would hide going about their normal lives.”

Her entire demeanor had changed. Her voice was different, the way she walked was different, and even the permanent smile that was plastered all over her face disappeared.

The veil was gone, and Harmonia spoke freely.

“I was supposed to take his celestial object, but I could never find it,” Harmonia said. “Until that day on Andromeda. Now I can finally go home.”

“You’re going back to the Eastern sector?”

“No. Ionadis.”

Casey then knew she was a spy for the Empire. He worried that she had been pretending to be emotional as her cover and that now that she told him her secret, Harmonia would kill him.

She would not. He was more useful alive than dead.

“I don’t want to go back though,” Harmonia said. “I like it here better.”

“W-what?”

“People here aren’t afraid to speak their minds! I don’t have to worry about talking to someone who looks different than me! It’s so much nicer here.”

They came to a clearing in the forest and decided to take a break. They had been walking the entire night, and Harmonia’s boots weren’t helping them get to the Training Center any quicker.

Casey listened to Harmonia’s grand story as he played with a twig. Harmonia gripped her little pink flashlight in her hand and smiled at it. She could hear the whispers of Amora, and she was always there for her.

Casey was disturbed by the look on her face and tapped her with the twig.

She jerked up and realized that he was still waiting for answers.

“Anyway! They sent me here to get more of these things, but I don’t want to go back. They gave me this one because they thought it would be useful to change to different items… it’s not that strong…”

“What’s it like on Ionadis,” Casey asked. He stuck his hands inside his shark costume and tried to stay warm. October was not a good month to be wandering outside in the dark.

Harmonia shrugged.

“It’s like here, but ladies are in charge. It was so weird coming here.”

That was not an answer Casey expected.

“I can’t believe they just let men in important positions,” Harmonia sighed. “Won’t their brains get too distracted? Everyone knows they think of sex every seven seconds.”

“That's… not true…”

“Of course, it is,” Harmonia replied. “Just look at everyone on our team! They suck!”

“I don’t think it's because they’re men though.”

Harmonia grinned, and her smile illuminated the dark. Literally. Everything about her pulled people in like a magnet, everything about her screamed come here. She giggled as she remembered the time Ace was caught cheating and came last.

“You're right,” Harmonia replied. “I just worry if they’ll be okay without us. They’re so dumb.”

“Do you remember the time Ryle got his hand stuck inside a jar,” Casey asked. "He could have just used his speed to vibrate his hand and break it off!"

“How could I not? He cried about getting cuts until we buttered it up!”

Unlike John, Casey’s love for his best friend never faded. It never would.

Harmonia would ensure that.

Without his love, of course, she would be powerless, as his love literally made her stronger.

Casey was too trusting, and he began reminiscing with her about the various teamwork bonding trips they went on, but most of the time they snuck out, got drunk, and ate too much chicken while complaining about their classes that they put more effort into cheating in than actually passing.

Harmonia smiled, little hearts in her irises as she looked into his eyes, and every time he tried to bring up a question that was too specific, she used her charm to make him think of something so much more wonderful.

"Isn't it nice we get to spend time together like this," Casey said, as the dead bodies piled up, the world burned, but it was such a wonderful day to be together, no matter the weather, best friends forever.