-Maia POV-

 

I quickly glanced over at Tessa. Asleep, but still there.

Turning my attention back to the phone in my hand, I asked, “What do you want?”

Rude, perhaps, given that she was likely the one that caused all this, but she was also absolutely terrifying and kinda pissed me off.

“Oh, I want many things. But the reason for this call is one that I think will be quite self-explanatory.”

That explained infuriatingly little. I was a little surprised to note that she wasn’t as overwhelming over a phone call. Perhaps since I couldn’t see that creepy simulacrum of a person, she didn’t scare me.

The hope of not having to see her was quickly crushed, though, by what she said next.

“I do have a request, though. Come to the place where you first met me.”

She placed an odd stress on the word me, but I didn’t pay much attention to it due to her request. Also, her voice sounded a little different compared to before, although I couldn’t tell how exactly. Checking the bedside clock, it was the middle of the night, and I was in bed.

“Um, no.”

Next to me, Tessa made an unhappy noise and rolled over, as though she was having a bad dream.

I was quickly reminded of the fact that despite the thing on the phone acting like a normal person, it was very much something to fear. I had no idea what she could do or what her motives were.

Shivering a bit, I quickly rescinded my response.

“On second thought, I’ll be there soon.”

Quickly sliding out of bed and tugging on a coat, I slipped out of the room.

I tiptoed past Marissa’s room and to the front door. After putting on my shoes, I paused. Was I really going to go to the forest in the middle of the night at the insistence of some unknown powerful being?

Yes, I decided. It was most definitely what Tessa would call a Bad Idea, but I was actually beginning to feel a bit of anticipation. It would probably be scary, but it would be an adventure.

The entire walk there I constantly looked around, paranoid that something would happen.

Nothing did, though, and I made it all the way to the entrance of the forest without seeing any signs of people.

Now more vigilant than ever, I carefully traced the path to the fountain. The moonlight was almost enough to light my way. Curious, I shifted to my fox form. Sure enough, I could see better than before, and it was easy to follow the route we had taken only about a week before.

It was strange to think that it had only been a week since I’d been here last. So much had changed, and combined with the nighttime atmosphere, it felt like a completely different place.

Oddly, as I approached the clearing with the fountain, I heard voices. One I recognized as the voice on the phone, though the phone in my hand was silent. The other voice was not one that I knew. They both quickly fell silent as I entered the clearing.

The fountain was largely as it had first appeared, with forest animals decorating its top. It appeared older, though, with more moss and vines growing over it, and the stone having a few more cracks here and there.

Standing in front of it was not who I expected to see. The long, silver hair and eyes that shone with a thousand colors were as I last saw them, but beyond that, she almost seemed to be a different person.

Appearing around 20 or 21 now instead of 16, she was taller than me. She wore a puffy coat and pants that didn’t seem quite appropriate for the warm weather, and her hair was tied up in a long ponytail that swayed in the night breeze.

The difference that stood out the most, though, was the look in her eyes. Where it had previously seemed as though there was nothing behind them, like I was looking at something dead or inanimate, her eyes now seemed lively and full of excitement.

The change in demeanor caught me off-guard, but what really surprised me was what she did upon meeting my eyes.

She smiled and waved at me. Startled, I blinked, and suddenly she was standing only a few feet in front of me.

“Hey there. Or should I say, nice to meet you?” she said, leaning forward with her hands clasped together behind her.

I took a few steps back.

“…Who are you?”

She made a pouting face, then laughed.

“The name’s Savant. I guess you could call me a cousin of sorts to Fate.”

She paused for a moment as though considering something, then continued in a conspiratorial tone.

“In the same way that you and Tessa claim to be twins.”

The way she acted as though she knew everything was strange, and I couldn’t tell if it made me more pissed off or creeped out. She chuckled. I was leaning more towards pissed off now.

“Okay, I’ll stop doing that. Oh, let’s take this elsewhere,” she said, glancing at some point off in the trees. I followed her line of sight, trying to see what she was talking about, but there was nothing there except trees, darkness, and more trees. I turned back to her.

And of course, she was gone again.

“Come on,” came her voice from behind me. Sighing, I turned around and followed her out of the clearing.

“So, I bet you have questions.”

“That’s putting it lightly. First, why did you call me to your fountain, then immediately have us leave?”

“It was never my fountain. It belonged to my ‘cousin’. Now, though, it’s been taken, and we have no interest in contesting the claim.”

“That was entirely unhelpful.”

“Ask a question you know nothing about, get an answer you know nothing about.”

I sighed. “Why did all this happen, anyway?”

“I take it by ‘all this’ you mean people being granted powers and new forms?”

She stopped walking. We had entered the city where the moonlight was weaker and obscured by clouds, and her face was obscured by the darkness between streetlights. Her eyes glinted oddly in the dark, seeming like some otherworldly predator.

“Are you sure you want to know?”

I could feel my heart beating hard in my chest. Steadying myself, I took a deep breath.

Before I could say anything, though, she burst out laughing, and the clouds cleared enough to allow a ray of moonlight to shine down upon her.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Sure, I’ll tell you.”

Her face became serious again.

“There are those who have a desire to change the world, and those who want to change themselves. Fate merely granted power and an opportunity to them. What happens from now on is up to you and every other person in this world.”

“I swear, you constantly switching moods is gonna give me a heart attack.”

“You’re the one asking the serious questions.”

I sighed again. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

“Well, a lot of serious things have been happening,” I responded.

“Hm, I suppose so.”

We continued walking.

Before I realized it, I was reaching for another question. I picked one that had been on my mind almost the whole week. Evidently, it had been on the mind of just about every news station and reporter in town, as well.

“Why does Vigilante do what she does? Fighting people, abducting them, then returning them?”

She looked at me oddly.

“That… is not my answer to give.”

“That’s it?”

“Yep.”

“Huh.”

Savant stopped walking again, looking at the wall of a building and seemingly through it. At this point, I was seriously starting to wonder if she had X-ray vision. We had wandered into the industrial district without me realizing it, and we were surrounded by factories and the occasional office building.

“Sadly, as with many things in this world, our time here is limited. You may ask one more question, then we must part.”

“…Then, what is your power?”

She gave a sad smile.

“I am her power.”

Before I could ask what that meant, she continued.

“Well, I must say goodbye here. A small request, if I may; take care of her for me. I hope we meet again under more pleasant circumstances. Sorry for this, by the way.”

She slumped almost to the ground, before unsteadily picking herself up again. Stunned, I could only stand and watch.

Her eyes seemed as though all the color had been sapped out of them, becoming dull and turning light gray, like snow in the city.

She turned her head this way and that, allowing me to see the scared expression on her face. She didn’t react to me, though we were standing under a streetlight. In fact, her eyes didn’t move at all, though she turned her head.

“Savant?” she murmured. “Savant, are you there?”

“Um,” I began. This whole chain of events had me confused, and I didn’t really know where to start.

She quickly turned to look at me, but her focus was more over my left shoulder than at me. I looked behind me, but there was nothing there.

“Who?”

I waited for her to say more, but it seemed that was her entire question.

“Um, I’m Maia, Savant brought us here.”

“Oh, okay.”

She accepted that surprisingly easily.

“Is that explanation really enough?”

“I trust Savant.”

“Uh huh.”

Curious, I took a few steps to the left. Her head turned to follow me, but only each time I took a step.

“This might sound weird, but are you blind?”

“Yes.”

“…Did Savant not tell you anything?”

“Not this time.”

After Savant’s jokes and general chatty attitude, her quiet voice and short answers stood out.

Which reminded me…

“What’s your name?”

“Celesta.”

“Like the instrument?”

“…Yes.”

“Cool.”

We stood around awkwardly for a moment longer. I decided then that it would be a good idea to look up how to get back home, since I was kind of lost.

I figured I should also ask if Celesta needed any help getting home.

“Hey, do you-“

Suddenly, the wall of the building next to us exploded.