By the time Lucas finally left his aunt’s apartment, it was dark out.  Ivy had insisted on him staying for dinner, no matter how many times he said he didn’t want to burden her.  He’d only come to check whether his theory about Stardust’s identity was true - and it was; he’d known as soon as he saw his cousin walk into the room, staring at him in utter horror.  Now wasn’t the time for small talk with Ivy.  Or spending any time with her at all, really - it would just make things harder in the end.

Ileana had been quiet most of the time, glaring at Lucas whenever Ivy wasn’t looking.  The girl still couldn’t hide the fear that lurked beyond her anger, however - it showed in how her hands shook as she reached for her silverware.  True to what Lucas had said, Ileana looked fragile, as if she was made of porcelain.  She looked easy to shatter - and that was exactly what Lucas was planning on doing.

Still, though…

Oh, I don’t think I break that easily.

That’s what Ileana had said.  She was young, inexperienced, and obviously scared out of her wits - but was she capable of more than Lucas assumed?

No.

No, she couldn’t possibly be a threat.  She’d had no training, and without Nebula she was useless.  Besides, she didn’t know what her bunica had done so long ago, and the knowledge would break her heart.  Perhaps telling her would be useful if it lowered her morale.

After walking for a few minutes, Lucas turned and walked into an alleyway.  After checking to see if anyone was looking - no one was - he took a deep breath, concentrating hard on the Circle in Seattle...and teleported.

The funny thing about teleportation was that it was a bit like riding on a boat - the moment Lucas felt himself shift locations, he felt a wave of nausea rise in his stomach.  The world spun, and he staggered to keep his footing.  If Sorin was there, he would’ve laughed; teleportation came much easier to those who were born with innate magic, as opposed to measly humans like Lucas who had to be enhanced with Nightmare Energy.  

When the nausea and dizziness finally faded, Lucas opened his eyes to find himself standing in Seattle’s Circle.  The Circle wasn’t much to look at, just a circle drawn with chalk in the center of an abandoned building, but Lucas knew that it was quite powerful.  Teleportation had strict rules: if you weren’t standing in a Circle, you could only teleport to the one nearest to you (there was one in each major city), but if you were standing in one, you could teleport to any other Circle in the world.  Including the one in the forests of upstate New York, where Terminus had its hideout.  The hideout had been in Romania for centuries, but once Lucas’s grandmother moved to America, Alin had decided to move the hideout to be closer to her.  

Lucas sighed, preparing to teleport once more.

Of course, Sorin just had to be standing close to the hideout’s Circle the moment Lucas arrived, even dizzier than usual.  And of course, Sorin broke into a chuckle as Lucas barely managed to keep himself from falling over.

“Need a little help?” Sorin asked, his voice dripping with contempt.  

Lucas gritted his teeth.  “I’m fine.”  What he said was actually mostly true - the nausea was subsiding, and the world wasn’t spinning anymore.  

“Then come in.  Murdina’s making a strawberry shortcake.”

 

The hideout didn’t really look much like a secret lair - rather, it was just a house out in the forest, secluded enough to be a good base of operations for Terminus.  By the looks of it, the house had been around since the forties, which made sense, since Alin had come to America from Romania in the early fifties.  Lucas wasn’t sure if Alin had found the house abandoned, or had killed the owner to take his house; it didn’t really matter to Lucas.  Humans were the scum of the world, after all, and soon they would all get what they deserved.

The moment Lucas opened the door, he was immediately greeted with the smell of shortcake baking in the oven, and his previously nauseous stomach growled.  Humans might be awful, but Lucas had to give his species credit for inventing such wonderful recipes.

Sorin followed Lucas through the door, then shut it behind them.  “So?  Did you find out Stardust’s identity?”

Lucas nodded.  “Yes.  I’ll give a full report to Alin and Void.”

Sorin looked a little put off by Lucas’s success, and Lucas couldn’t help but feel a bit smug.  However, his smugness was replaced by annoyance as Sorin spoke up.  “So she’s your cousin, then?  That makes her a nobody, so the humans won’t care if we kill her.  I knew we should’ve killed her last night.  But someone made us retreat.”

“I’ll give a full report to Alin and Void, then we’ll talk about what we’ll do from here.”  Lucas turned away, heading down the stairs to the basement.  He had no intention of putting up with Sorin’s crap for a moment more.

“We wouldn’t have to be having that discussion if Stardust was already dead,” Sorin muttered, following Lucas down the stairs.  Lucas ignored him - he’d learned years ago that simply pretending not to care what Sorin thought of him was far more effective than insulting him back.

Before long, the two boys reached the basement, the room that served as Terminus’s meeting place as well as Void’s dwelling.  As Lucas had expected, Alin was there, sitting at the head of the long table in the center of the room.  His one good eye stared straight at Lucas, not contemptuously, but not exactly proudly either.  Alin’s other eye was covered by a white patch, a reminder of what damage Stardust could do if she was left to grow more powerful.

Before Lucas could even open his mouth, Sorin spoke out.  “Father, Lucas is back!  Finally.”

Alin nodded, not taking his eye off of Lucas.  “Good.  You two sit down and tell me everything.”

As Lucas and Sorin sat down at the table, the sound of a boy chuckling carried through the air.  Lucas turned his attention to the back of the room, where a hollow pillar of glass stood, mostly filled with smoky black Nightmare Energy.  The energy swirled about in the pillar, moving with every sound of the boy’s voice - Void’s voice.  Lucas supposed it was wrong to think of Void as a boy - Void had been around much longer than Lucas, after all - but still, what with Void’s voice and how he looked when he appeared in Lucas’s dreams, Lucas couldn’t help but see him as a child.  Void didn’t seem to mind; if anything, he embraced his childlike form.

“So, Lucas,” Void began, “how was your little family reunion?”

“It went exactly as expected,” Lucas replied.

“Then Stardust is your cousin?  Ileana Grace?” Alin asked, spitting the name out like it was a curse.

Lucas nodded.  “Yes.  I know where she lives, and I should be able to get more information from her mother.  Ivy trusts me.”

“Yes, we get it,” Sorin chimed in.  “And we could’ve killed this Ileana girl yesterday if…”  He trailed off as his father finally looked at him, disapproval clear in his eye.

“You mustn’t be so rash, Sorin,” Alin chastised his son.  “Lucas was right to spare her.  You and Lucas had no idea who she was last night.  She could’ve been anyone.  If you’d killed her and she turned out to be the daughter of a celebrity or politician, there would have been a large investigation surrounding her death.  That would bring about unwanted attention.  Do you understand?”

Sorin stared at his feet.  “Yes, father.”

“Good.”

Void’s voice rang out once again.  “How do you feel about this development, Lucas?”

Lucas furrowed his brow.  “What do you mean?”

“How do you feel about your enemy being your cousin?  I know you two used to be very close.  If you don’t think you can bring yourself to kill her, someone else could do it.”

“No,” Lucas replied immediately.  “I can do it.  I may have been close with her once, but those days are gone.  I’m a completely different person now.”  The Lucas of the past, the one who loved games and knew nothing of the truth of the world - that boy was dead.

“Are you sure, though?” Sorin pressed.  “I could certainly kill Stardust by myself.”

Lucas glared at Sorin.  “Oh, I’m sure.  Her grandmother sinned and got away with it.  Someone from my family needs to pay, and that person will be Ileana.”

Sorin said nothing, only crossing his arms, but Lucas could tell what he was thinking: Why can’t that person be you instead?

“Well spoken,” Alin said to Lucas.  “Now, we can start -”

Alin was interrupted by Murdina, who was entering the basement with a plate of finished strawberry shortcake.  Hinata and Kallisto followed behind her, the former carrying more plates and forks, the latter holding her guitar and absentmindedly strumming it.

“I figured I should join in on your little meeting,” Murdina said, holding up the plate.  “So I brought the others, as well as the shortcake.  You guys hungry?”

The sound of Lucas’s stomach growling answered her question.

Murdina laughed.  “Well, at least one of you is hungry, and that’s good enough for me.”  She set the plate of shortcake in the center of the table and took a seat next to Lucas, who shifted uncomfortably in his chair.  

“I’m hungry too,” Kallisto muttered, also sitting down at the table, still plucking at her guitar.  “Otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered coming down here.”

Alin evidently had heard her, and he gave her a hard stare.  “Don’t talk like that.  You came down here because you’re a loyal member of Terminus, and you will help us bring about our ideal world, beginning with the death of this new Stardust.”

Kallisto rolled her eyes.  “Whatever you say.”

“Don’t talk to my father like that!” Sorin snapped.  “He’s your superior, and you should treat him with respect.”

Kallisto’s voice turned sugary sweet.  “You know, this song I’m writing is about you, Sorin.  It’s called, ‘The Three-Headed Disappointment.’”

Lucas almost chuckled - knowing Kallisto, she’d probably actually made that song.  Although she’d also most likely written an equally insulting one about Lucas.

Sorin’s face was red, and his hands were clenched into fists.  “I - y-you - I mean, just because - well, you can go shove that guitar up your -”

“Enough, you two,” Void interrupted.  Immediately, the room went silent.  “We won’t get anywhere by sitting around and arguing.  Hinata, could you please sit down?”

Hinata, who had been standing by the table, enjoying the show, nodded.  After quickly passing out the plates and forks, she plopped down next to Kallisto, leaving Murdina to divide up the shortcake.

“And here’s some for you,” Murdina said with a smile as she placed a piece of shortcake on Lucas’s plate.  Her hand brushed against his for a moment, and her smile widened.  “Do enjoy, hon.”

Lucas scowled.  When will she stop calling me that?  He took a bite of the shortcake - it was great, as usual.  Murdina might not be Lucas’s favorite person, but she really knew how to bake.  

“That smells amazing,” Void said wistfully, the Nightmare Energy in the pillar rippling.  “I’ve always adored cake.  I’m going to have to try some of Murdina’s once I take on a physical form again.”

“It won’t be long,” Alin reassured him.  “At our current rate, we’ll have collected enough Nightmare Energy for you in about a year.  And, if all goes well, Stardust will be dead by then.”

“Hopefully.  Although I’m in the process of making a plan for a theoretical battle with her, just in case she survives.  It depends on a few future developments, though.  Although I have to admit that I’ve made a few mistakes.”

Void, make a mistake?  The concept was inconceivable, at least to Lucas.  Void was the one who had enlightened him, showed him the truth of humanity.  He’d been around for thousands of years and had done battle with many Stardusts, nearly winning most of the time.  Surely he knew just about everything by now.  Yet here he was, admitting his mistakes.  At least that showed what a good leader he was, owning up to his faults instead of blaming his subordinates for everything.  Perhaps this was yet another way of being honest, just like he’d been honest with Lucas. 

Alin seemed just as befuddled as Lucas.  “Mistakes?  Perhaps I should’ve -”

“No, no, you couldn’t have helped anyway,” Void interrupted.  “What I mean is that I should’ve contacted this Ileana long before she became Stardust, just as I contacted Lucas.  Perhaps I could’ve discouraged her from becoming Stardust, or even recruited her.  But it’s too late now - her powers prevent her from sleeping.  I did poke around in her dreams a little bit last night, but that was just to scope things out.  I just didn’t think that someone so smart as the previous Stardust would choose a successor as obvious as her own granddaughter.  What does she even see in her?”

Lucas felt a twinge of guilt - honestly, he should’ve known that Ileana would become Stardust.  His grandmother’s words to Ileana that day in the hospice...while he hadn’t understood them then, he now knew what she’d meant.  But he’d never mentioned the incident to Void; for the longest time, whenever he remembered that day, all he could think about was what his grandmother had told him after Ileana and Ivy had left the room.  How he’d finally asked her about what he’d been seeing in his dreams.  How she’d confessed her greatest sin.

She’d warned him then, warned him about Void.  She’d called Void a monster, and for a long time, Lucas had agreed.  But eventually, as Void enlightened him, he’d come to realize that monsters weren’t the real evil in this world.

Lucas shook his head, clearing it of thoughts.  It wasn’t good to dwell on the past in the middle of such an important meeting.  

In the meantime, Hinata had finally spoken up.  She was reassuring Void that he’d done nothing wrong, that Stardust was young and inexperienced and would be easy to kill.  “You only need to send one of us,” she continued.  “I volunteer, of course, but I’m sure that anyone could do it.”

“What if we all attacked at once?” Murdina suggested.  “I mean, one of us could probably do the job, but we shouldn’t take any chances, considering what happened last time.”

As much as Lucas disliked Murdina, he could see her point.  According to Void, Lucas’s grandmother had started off weak, but by the time Void gained a physical form, she had killed most of his forces.  After Void’s defeat, only Alin was left, severely wounded but alive.  It had taken Void decades to recruit new members of Terminus, although the group would never be as strong as it had once been.

Alin, on the other hand, seemed to disagree with Murdina.  “I don’t think that would work.  All of you are mostly accustomed to working on your own, or, rarely, in pairs.  We’ve never all fought together, so I doubt a team battle would go well.  Besides, it would cause a lot more collateral damage than if we sent just one person, which could attract unwanted attention.”

“Alin is right,” Void confirmed.  “Any other ideas?”

Lucas thought it was about time to state the obvious solution.  “Why don’t we just shoot her?”

“Shoot her?  With a gun?”  Sorin looked disgusted.  “How very human.”

“That’s kind of the point,” Lucas retorted.  “If we just shoot her, it would look like a regular murder, no supernatural stuff involved.  We could do it in a public location and shoot some other people too, to make it look like your average mass shooting.”

“Your average mass shooting,” Sorin repeated.  “It’s hard to believe that you humans are so casual about killing one another without a reason.  You even invent tools to do it with.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll all be out of the way soon,” Lucas replied.  Yes, soon all of humanity would fall into an endless nightmare, just what everyone deserved.  Soon, everything - the mass shootings, the genocides, the atrocities against nature and decency - it would be all over.  Everything would end.  Everything.  Then, perhaps, a new world would begin.  Lucas doubted that he’d be around to see it, but that was all right.  As long as all the suffering ended, he would be satisfied.

“Isn’t that cheery,” Hinata muttered, almost as if she’d read Lucas’s mind.

“Well, we can put that idea down as a possibility,” Void said, trying to get the meeting back on track.  “Any other ideas?”

“How about one of us sneaks into her apartment at night and attacks while she’s still in civilian form?” Sorin suggested.

Lucas frowned.  “That might wake up her mother.”

Sorin shrugged.  “Then we just kill her too.”

“No.”

Everyone at the table turned to look at Lucas.  For a moment, he tensed - perhaps he shouldn’t have spoken.  No, he needed to make his point.  He’d served Terminus faithfully for years; surely he was entitled to a simple request.

“Neither my aunt nor my parents will be harmed, not until Void punishes all of humanity,” Lucas stated, his voice loud and clear, though his heart hammered in his chest.  “None of you will involve them in any of this.  Is that clear?”
For a moment, there was silence.

Sorin was the first to speak.  “So you do still hold loyalty to your species.  Don’t you remember what they’ve done?  What your family has done?”  He turned to the pillar of Nightmare Energy.  “Void, don’t you think he needs a reminder?  Maybe you should enlighten him a little more.”

Lucas couldn’t help but tense, and he hated himself for it.  Void only ever showed him the truth, and perhaps it had made him scream in his sleep on multiple occasions, but that was to be expected when a naive little child saw the horrors of humanity through the eyes of a thousand victims.  But now he was enlightened, and he knew the true nature of humans better than any of them.  So why was he still afraid of his sessions with Void?

“I’ve been meaning to have another session with him for a while, actually,” Void replied, making Lucas’s heart lurch in his chest, though Lucas internally berated himself for having that reaction.  “Maybe tonight would be a good time.”

“T-That’s fine.”  Lucas couldn’t hide how his voice shook, but he wasn’t going to back down.  “It won’t change my mind, though.  My aunt and parents won’t be involved.”

Kallisto narrowed her eyes.  “That sounds a bit like an order, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does,” Hinata added.  “He’s bossing us around like a spoiled child.  Does little Lucas still want his mommy and daddy?”

Lucas ignored her, pleading to Void instead.  “I know you don’t have parents, but you’ve lived so long and seen so much that you must understand how much a child’s family means to them.  If it wasn’t for my parents, I wouldn’t be here to serve you.  They’ve taken care of me and raised me well, and I’m still grateful for that - not as grateful as I am to you, of course, but still.  It’ll only be for a little while, until you gain physical form.  Then you can do whatever you want with them.  I won’t stop you.  But please, just let me have this one thing.  I promise I’ll serve you faithfully for the rest of my life.”

Alin stared straight into Lucas’s eyes.  “Yes, you will serve Void for the rest of your life.  You will follow his orders, no matter what they entail.  If he tells you to kill your parents or your aunt, you will do so.  Do you understand?”  The coldness of his voice almost made Lucas flinch, but he didn’t back down.

Lucas met Alin’s gaze, refusing to look away.  “I’ll do anything for Void - I’d lay down my life if he asked me to - but, excluding Stardust, my family will not be harmed.”

Alin opened his mouth to speak, but Void beat him to the punch.  “You know, that’s really not a huge request.  Lucas, until the day I gain physical form, no one is allowed to kill your aunt or parents, or involve them in any business concerning Stardust or Terminus.”

Alin hesitated, then nodded.  “Understood.”

Sorin’s eyes looked like they were about to bug out of his head.  “What?  You’re just going to reward him for his insubordination?  You -”

He was cut off by Alin reaching across the table to slap him across the face.  Sorin lifted a hand to his cheek, but Alin grabbed him by the wrist and yanked his hand away.  Lucas couldn’t help but stare - this wasn’t a unique occurrence, but it was satisfying in a sick way to see Sorin in pain.

“What did I tell you, Sorin?  What’s the one thing I’ve always told you never, ever to do?” Alin hissed, grasping Sorin’s wrist so tightly that the boy let out a whine of pain. 

Sorin stared at his feet.  “Never question our great leader.”

With his other hand, Alin grabbed Sorin’s chin and lifted the boy’s head so that it was level with his.  “Look at me, Sorin.  Look at me.”

Sorin’s eyes slowly lifted to meet his father’s gaze.  “I’m so sorry!  I just - I wasn’t thinking - I -”

“You definitely weren’t thinking,” Alin snapped.  “But I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.  Stand up.”

Alin released his grip on his son, and Sorin stood up, then took a few tentative steps towards the pillar of Nightmare Energy.  He was about to say something when Alin shoved him from behind, making him fall to the floor, barely able to catch himself on his elbows.  When he tried to lift his head up, Alin grabbed it and pushed it back down.  “Apologize to Void.  Now.”

“V-Void, I’m sorry!  I was rude, and out of line, and I should never have doubted you,” Sorin pleaded, his voice shaking.  “I promise it won’t happen again.”

Alin let go of Sorin’s head, and turned to the pillar.  “I apologize for my son’s rudeness.  It won’t happen again.”

“Oh, I’m sure it won’t,” Void said without a hint of malice.  “Really, I can understand why Sorin would question me.  But I’m sure that granting Lucas his small request will lead to higher productivity from him.  I’ve made mistakes in how I’ve treated my subordinates in the past, so I’ve learned from experience that a little goes a long way.”

Lucas nodded.  “You’re right.  I’ll put all my effort into collecting Nightmare Energy and killing Stardust.  You won’t regret this.”

“So we’re all in understanding, then?” Void asked.  Everyone nodded.  “Good.  Sorin, you can get up now.”

Sorin got to his feet, walked back to his chair, and sat down.  Though he tried to put on an air of being completely unaffected by what had just happened, everyone could see him trembling.  Lucas almost felt bad - almost.

After a bit of an awkward silence, the meeting carried on.  Each member of Terminus discussed their ideas on how to kill Stardust, with Void and Alin passing judgement over each idea.  Finally, an idea was chosen, with others written down and put aside just in case.  

Lucas wasn’t sure how he felt about the plan for tomorrow - after all, he wasn’t involved, so he couldn’t personally make sure that it succeeded.  Still, if Void had approved the plan, it must be worth a shot.

If all went well, by tomorrow night, Ileana Grace would be dead.