Ami finally woke up again, this time in a bed, still being treated in the Felicitas’ spaceship. She was weak. After waking up briefly before, just long enough to ask questions, she’d fallen asleep again and experienced those strange dreams of a shadow-cloaked being. Those dreams were already fading, but there was a lingering impression of her and an adoration of her.

Who was she?

Taking a deep breath she yawned, dismissing her laggy thoughts. That strange light in the tank the Felicitas put her in had turned into a syrupy, liquid substance. The tank itself was curious. Come to think of it, it was nowhere in sight in this room she woke in. What was going on now?

“Is anyone around?” she asked as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. She was kind of weak, but less than she’d have expected.

Yes, a voice filled her mind. How are you feeling, Lodestar Glacia? I’m pleased to tell you that your rehabilitation is now complete. There will be no need for further treatments. You will recover the rest of the way on your own.

How are you feeling?

“Oh… I…” Ami stretched. “I guess I’m feeling okay.”

Lodestar Glacia, I must ask you a few cursory questions.

“Okay, but would you mind talking to me, face to face, fuzzbutt?”

In a flash of purple light, Perkons materialized by her side and sat with crossed legs like some kind of an Native American chief, minus their peace pipe. “Have you had strange dreams? If so, do you wish to speak of them?”

Ami shook her head negatively. She had dreamed, but didn’t want to talk about them with the Felicitas. As it turned out, they were monitoring her brainwaves. Wonderful. 

“A beautiful, shadow-cloaked being.” Perkons mused, rubbing their fuzzy chin. “You’re left with a compulsive sense of love for her. Correct?”

Ami gaped at Perkons, feeling violated by his too accurate guess. It was creepy how they could read her mind! “How the hell did you…?”

“It’s a tale that many Lodestaran who have nearly been converted to anti-light. A tale that has been repeatedly related over these millenia.” Perkons shook their head.

“Many? I thought there were only two!” Ami vaguely remembered Perkons mentioning there was another Lodestar now beside herself.

“Did you think that you were the only ones that ever existed?” Perkons asked laconically.

“I guess not…” Ami shook her head. “How many were there?”

“Myriad. I could provide an exact number, but that number wouldn’t mean anything to you.” Perkons shrugged. “Keep in mind that what you’ve experienced is something that many Lodestaran have when affected by their powers.”

Ami realized her failure and defeat. She couldn’t help sighing. “Let’s change the subject.” Her lips pursed. She wanted to forget that shadowy figure. “I screwed up and needed to be saved by another Lodestaran, right? Tell me about her.”

Perkons’ lips twisted, amused. “Her true name is Aurora. Her power is… based on the light itself. Not unusual, considering that all Felictas and all Lodestaran derive our powers from the light.”

“Tell me about her. Who is she?” Ami pressed.

“She is quite powerful, if unpolished.”

“Freshly recruited, just like me and she got it done? That sucks.” Ami crossed her arms across her chest and pouted.

“Don’t worry about that. It’s not uncommon to make strategic mistakes in the beginning.”

“Tch… Come on, it’s not like you can expect perfection from someone who’s never done the job before, right?!” Ami asked, angry now.

“That’s right. We don’t expect perfection from you. Not at the start.” They shrugged again. “Only experience will refine the raw gems that you two are. If you survive your first battles, it will all come much more naturally. Which is why you are assigned a Felicitas to keep you out of trouble on the battlefield.”

“Not like your guidance did me any good last time. You abandoned me, you miserable creep!” Ami grumbled, wanting to grab the beaver-like mascot and perform a suplex on him. The very idea was satisfying, yet she felt too weak for that, assuming she could even catch him when she fully recovered. Probably not. A piledriver would be even better. She imagined Perkons eating the floor with a slight smile.

“I see that you’re starting to cheer up. Excellent.” Perkons offered a smile. “My apologies, Lodestar Glacia, but I could see no way to safely extract you from its clutches. I had a backup plan lined up, though. While I could have opened a portal for you, I would have risked an incursion in our spaceship and those you were trying to save would surely have fallen prey if that didn’t happen.”

“... fine… but where did you get this mysterious new girl on such short notice?” Ami grumbled, her arms wrapped around her chest protectively. It made sense why Perkons couldn’t save her, at least not on the spot, but it still irked her that she was turned… a bit.

“Lodestar Aurora was close at hand, as a matter of fact.” Perkons shrugged. “It was fate, I suppose you might call it… or the will of the Light.”

“Light has a will of its own?” Ami blinked, eyeing Perkons skeptically. Light was nothing but waves of energy bouncing around, nothing but photons, moving faster than the eye could track, though you saw it. How could light, as a whole, have a consciousness?

“Perhaps,” Perkons said seriously. “Some among us believe it is possible, particularly given recent events. Since all light is vanishing from our universe, perhaps She takes steps to intervene in order to survive. All living things have an instinct to survive, do they not? That’s a part of being alive.”

“And you…” Ami struggled to wrap her mind around the concept. “You’re claiming that light is really alive as us?”

“Yes, and no.” Perkons shrugged. “Take the humble virus. It is made out of the building blocks of life, and yet because they differ from established forms of life, they’re not considered living by your scientists, correct?”

“... yes. I think?” Ami rubbed her chin with a wrinkled nose. “What are you getting at, exactly?”

“Viruses aren’t considered alive by your society, and yet they consume and multiply as all living creatures are impelled to do to survive.”

“You’re saying that…” Ami frowned. “Because we feel that light could never be alive, because it has energy, is pure energy, there’s a possibility that it…”

Perkons waited a while for Ami to finish and finished her thought, “A simple approach to the question, but the answer is correct in my opinion. But not all Felicitas believe in the theory of light consciousness. It’s a matter of philosophy and remains an unproven theory.” Perkons shrugged dismissively.

“... Will I see this new Lodestar any time soon?” Ami asked.

“Indubitably.” Perkons chuckled, too knowingly.

“Where?”

“At work and in school. Any time.”

“... School? So, she’s a student at Astoria Academy?” Ami asked. “Who? Maybe I know her. Can you tell me her name?”

“I already did.” Perkons smiled dryly. “I think perhaps that you’ll know her upon sight. Any other name would be meaningless to you, under the circumstances.”

Ami scowled. She didn’t much like how evasive Felicitas were when it came to answering questions. They were overly playful sometimes, and yet their serious personalities were completely different from stereotypical mascots. Well, some were. They promised to answer all your questions and left you with more after answering.

“Tommy… Please talk to me, baby!” His mother was frantic. She was knocking desperately on his door. Tommy leaned against his dresser, wedged against the door to block entry. He sat with his head in his arms, muttering darkly.

Rellawing

Meow. I'm beyond depressed right now because my camping trip went wrong within hours. I won't go into details. Needless to say, four things going wrong were enough to make me abort. This followed a few days of near isolation, which didn't make matters better. At least I planned for the possibility of having to back out of my plans due to things not working out as I imagined.

Sorry for the late posting. I was catching up on sleep and my whole body is currently sore from packing, unpacking, pitching the tent and breaking it down within a few hours. It's a bit hard to get around right now.

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!