"Then it's settled!" Kat grinned happily. "Why don't you go get your car, if you leave it at the park overnight you'll probably get a ticket. You can use our driveway, we don't have a car. Then bring your stuff in and we'll show you the guest room, give you the quick tour."

I hesitated. "Does that mean the interview is over?"

My hosts exchanged a glance, and Zoe smiled "Let's say we're going to take a break from it? Perhaps we can continue again later."

"All right," I smiled back. "Thanks again miss Zaitsev, I really do appreciate this."

"That's Mrs. Zaitsev," Katrina pointed out with a grin. "Not 'miss'. And there's two Mrs. Zaitsevs here, so you're better off just saying Zoe or Kat, depending which one you're referring to."

It took a second for me to realize she was teasing rather than being upset. I nodded, "Of course. Sorry Katrina, Zoe. I'll go and get my car."

Zoe just smiled as she walked me to the door. She opened it but before I stepped outside she leaned closer and half-whispered, "Don't let Kat get to you. She seems to be in a playful mood today but if she makes you uncomfortable just say something. I'll rein her in if she's bothering you."

"Thank you," I replied quietly.

Once outside I hurried back down the hill to my car, and climbed inside. Seated behind the wheel I took a few deep breaths then pulled out my audio recorder.

It was still recording, and I stated "Monday June thirtieth, five-fifteen PM local time. Wye River, Victoria, Australia. I've met with Sidney Metcalf but ended up in an exclusive interview with Zoe Zaitsev. I also met Aeron, alleged to be a Goddess of War. And Zoe's wife, Katrina Zaitsev. Katrina and Zoe have invited me to spend the night as a guest in their home."

Then I tucked the recorder back into my pocket and I started up the car. A minute or so later I was back up the small hill, and pulled into the empty driveway next to Zoe and Katrina's small home.

I grabbed my tablet from where I had it tucked behind the seat, then got my leather travel-bag out of the back seat and stuffed the tablet in there. And finally I returned to the front door of the bungalow.

Kat opened it the instant I knocked, she smiled and motioned me inside.

The 'grand tour' took all of ten seconds, the place was as small as it looked. In addition to the living-room and the kitchen there was a washroom, a small utility room, and two bedrooms. The master bedroom was about the same size as the living-room, then the guest-room was a little smaller. I left my travel bag on the foot of the bed in the guest room, then as I followed Kat back towards the living-room I frowned.

"Where's Aeron?" I asked as I looked at the brunette.

The ten-year-old girl had disappeared in the direction of the bedrooms, I assumed she went to her room before Kat joined Zoe and I. But there was no trace of the girl, and no evidence she even lived here. Neither the master bedroom or the guest room showed any sign of a child living in them. Unless what I took to be a linen closet was a third bedroom, but there wasn't enough space there for that.

Kat shrugged, "She got tired so she left. Don't worry about it Tam, she's fine. She really only comes around now and then, when she wants to go visit Ciara and Sid."

I nodded slowly as I settled into the recliner again, while Kat sat back down on the sofa next to her wife. I had a gulp of the water Zoe gave me earlier, then I addressed the brunette.

"Katrina, I was wondering if I could ask you some questions?"

She smiled, "Ooh, is it my turn to be interviewed? Please call me Kat, and ask away!"

Her enthusiasm caught me a bit off-guard, but I recalled what Zoe said about her wife being in a playful mood.

"Um, so going by your accent I'm guessing you're from Canada as well? Where are you from? How did you and Zoe meet? How long have you known each other?"

The brunette looked thoughtful, and after a few moments she responded "I'm another St. Catharines girl. I've known Zoe for a few years, but we only really met about six or seven months ago. The circumstances weren't that great, but things got better in a hurry."

That left me thinking for a few moments. Six or seven months would mean they met very shortly after Cindy's death.

I found myself staring at Katrina. The most obvious answer of who she really was seemed almost unbelievable, yet at the same time it felt like she was teasing me with the truth. I was almost reluctant to ask, but I'd made a career out of asking difficult questions.

"Are you Cindy?" I asked quietly. "Or were you Cindy?"

Katrina smirked but replied, "Cindy's dead. She passed away on her birthday. November fifteenth twenty-twenty-five."

Her tone sounded serious, but the grin on her face made it hard to buy what she was saying. I glanced at Zoe and from her expression I got the impression she wasn't impressed with her wife's behaviour, or perhaps the topic was still too sensitive for her.

The three of us sat in an awkward silence for another minute or two. I finally decided to let that question drop, as another one came to me.

"Sorry if this is a delicate subject. I'm curious about something else though? Cindy was from St. Catharines, and had friends here in Wye River. Why was she laid to rest in Wales? I know you and she toured there Zoe, but was there something more to it? There must be, for her to be buried there."

The catgirl had a thoughtful frown on her face, like she was considering her answer before responding.

And while she was thinking it over, Katrina spoke up instead. "Aeronwy and Aeron are from Wales. They're Welsh goddesses. Or Brythonic? Technically they predate the existence of Wales as a country? But that's the part of the world they're from."

"I see," I nodded slowly. "And the village where she's buried? Is that where the Goddesses are from? Or was there some other connection?"

The brunette looked amused as she asked, "You mean Aberaeron? You're asking why Cindy Aeron Talbot, who had close ties to Aeron and Aeronwy, was buried near the mouth of the river Aeron?"

My cheeks warmed up as I nodded, "Right. Of course."

After a few seconds I continued, "That actually leads me to another question. Was Cindy's middle name always Aeron? Or did she change it after she became involved with the Goddesses?"

Nothing in my research revealed any other names for the mysterious girl, there was certainly no change-of-name recorded. But I had to concede that she could probably change her documentation with magic, Zoe all but confirmed that was possible earlier.

"Her middle name wasn't always Aeron," Katrina responded. "Whether that was something Cindy did or if it was influenced by the Goddess, I couldn't say."

I was still half-convinced the brunette actually was Cindy in disguise, but she half-heartedly denied it so I played along with that.

"Katrina did you ever meet Cindy yourself? Did you know her?"

The young woman nodded, "I knew her..."

Whatever else she might have said was lost as the catgirl cut her off. "I think that's enough of the interview for now. Didn't we say we were going to take a break? Tam, would you mind turning off your recorder? Let's leave the official interview for a while, and just have a friendly visit instead."

I really didn't want to, but I concealed my disappointment as I reached into my jacket pocket. I took out the recorder so they could both see me turn it off, then tucked it away again. I was almost hoping with the recorder off that might lead so some juicier 'off the record' revelations, but unfortunately the young couple was serious about taking a break from the interview, and about making it a friendly visit.

They offered me another drink, and in an attempt to get to know me better they asked some questions about my least-favourite subject in the world, myself. And as much as I hated discussing that topic, I found myself giving them both a condensed run-down of my career.

I'd got my start writing for newspapers and news magazines while that industry was in the process of dying off. I'd been a correspondent for a few television news organizations, both on staff and freelance. I'd travelled the world working on various stories, and I'd had a few big scoops over the years. Nowadays I was strictly freelance, but I had a couple places who regularly gave me assignments. I'd been in the business for over twenty years, and although a few people knew my name I did my best to stay out of the spotlight. Apart from a couple brief stints working with TV news networks, I'd managed to keep my face from being published. None of my written work ever included a photo in the byline. And if it wasn't obvious, the name I used was more of a pseudonym or pen name.

By the time I finished talking, I felt like I'd shared more about myself with these two strangers than I had with the editor I'd worked with for the past decade.

It was after six o'clock by then, and Katrina suggested "I'm getting a bit hungry, why don't we get some dinner? Tam, how do you feel about Vietnamese?"

Zoe rolled her eyes and gave her wife a look, but I wasn't sure what prompted that. Maybe the catgirl didn't like Vietnamese food, or maybe she was saying they had that too often.

Whatever it was, I didn't want to be in the middle of it so I gave them a noncommittal response.

"I'm honestly not picky. Whatever you two want will be fine me."

The brunette grinned as she got to her feet, "Then it's settled! I'll pop out and grab the food."

I assumed she meant there was a take-away somewhere in the little settlement, though I was honestly surprised by that. From what I'd seen the place had a general store, one restaurant, and that was about it.

What actually happened was perhaps the last thing I could have ever expected or anticipated. Katrina grinned at me, then winked. There was a little flicker of purple light deep in her eyes and a moment later she was gone. As in, she blinked out of existence.

I had no explanation for it, apart from the obvious. This was magic. The young woman just blatantly demonstrated some sort of magic.

Zoe sighed, "She just couldn't resist showing off."

"What..." I looked at the catgirl. "Where did she go?"

My host got to her feet as she replied, "Our favourite Vietnamese take-away. She'll be back in ten or fifteen minutes with dinner."

The catgirl's tail was twitching in irritation but she seemed resigned to her wife's antics. While I sat dumbfounded on the recliner in the living-room, Zoe disappeared into the kitchen then returned with some plates and bowls and cutlery, which she left on the coffee table. She got more drinks for the three of us, another bottle of water for herself and a couple bottles of some berry-flavoured alcoholic beverage for her wife and myself.

She sat back down on the sofa and grimaced, "I imagine you have more questions about my wife's little trick? Off the record, mind you."

"Yeah..." I nodded slowly. "Um, so what did she do exactly?"

Zoe sighed, "Teleportation. She teleported away, and in a few minutes she'll teleport back."

My eyes were probably wide as saucers as I took that in. "How far can she travel like that?"

"Anywhere on Earth," the catgirl replied. "In an instant. Back to Canada, or Wales, or pretty much anywhere else."

I gulped, "Wow. Can you...?"

She nodded "Yes, I can. I have friends in Canada I still visit now and then, and it definitely beats flying."

"I bet," I said quietly.

I didn't know how else to respond or what to say. There were probably a hundred more questions I should have asked, but I was still a little stunned from the unexpected demonstration.

And a few minutes later Katrina was back. It was exactly the same but in reverse, one moment she wasn't there, the next moment she was. And she had plastic bags in each hand, which she set on the coffee table. Then she sat back down next to her wife again.

The food smelled great and soon I was enjoying a particularly tasty bowl of Pho and a spring roll. There were also some salad rolls and a dish with rice and shrimp and BBQ pork. It all looked and smelled delicious.

As we ate I asked Katrina, "Don't tell me you went all the way to Vietnam for this?"

The brunette giggled, "Nah. I don't speak the language and wouldn't know where to find what we wanted. This all came from a little take-away in Melbourne."

"Do you go there often?" I asked. "And how do they feel about you popping in and out of existence like that?"

Katrina was still grinning as she explained, "I don't appear where they'll see me. I use an alley around the corner, jump in and out from there where no-one's looking."

She glanced at her wife and added, "Zoe'd kill me if I started doing that in full view of the public."

The catgirl grumbled, "Doing it in front of a reporter isn't any better, hon."

Despite the mild bickering it was pretty obvious the young couple loved each other and got along well. The three of us all enjoyed a very good meal, then afterwards Zoe put away the left-overs and brought Katrina and myself more drinks.

I fully intended to get back to the interview at some point, but as the evening wore on those plans were gradually abandoned. It was the first time in years I'd actually cut loose and relaxed with friends, and I'd almost forgotten what that was like. And even though I'd only just met Zoe and Katrina, they did their best to make me feel welcome.

The three of us talked more, but the subjects varied widely. We talked about sports, we talked about weather, we talked a lot about the changes Cindy brought to the world and where we all thought that would eventually lead.

Neither pressed me for details about my own plans for the morning, but they made sure I felt welcome and supported.

And finally around ten o'clock at night, the two of them decided they were ready for bed.

They disappeared into the master bedroom and I went into the guest room. I stayed up another hour or two, I got my laptop out of my travel bag and transferred the audio files from my recorder onto my laptop. Then using my phone's hotspot I uploaded a backup of the files to my home server back in Canada.

And finally I recited the prep spell for the last time, before I turned out the light and slipped into bed.

Sleep didn't come easily that night. The day's events, the revelations, the interviews with Zoe Aeron and Katrina, and most of all, the full moon tomorrow morning were all on my mind.

PurpleCatGirl

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