Zoe had always been an enigma to Arthur. The first time he met her, he was barely three years old. Still a toddler, he was too young to remember what happened back then. He just knew Zoe had stayed with them for a long time after that, virtually becoming part of their family.

She had raised Arthur in place of his busy, world-faring parents. It could be said she was more his guardian then his actual guardians were. With the long years they had spent together, Arthur had definitely noticed her quirks. He knew she was weird… But not this weird.

Zoe was a lot of things to Arthur. His keeper, first best friend, the weird aunt in the family everybody seemed to look up to. She was his puppy love when he first learnt what 'crushes' were. Then she became his clingy, overprotective elder sister when he finally hit adolescence. Yet, Arthur now realized that he didn’t know her at all.

Her hair wasn’t black. Her eyes weren’t either. She hadn't aged a single bit in all those years, not because of her incurable illness, but because apparently she was immortal. He definitely didn’t know she could turn her hands into a tentacle made out of guava jam. That cats, and humans for that matter, could eat that jam for health benefits.

That’s how the cat’s tail got fixed.

After turning her hand back to normal, Zoe apologetically looked at Arthur. As if she wanted to elucidate something, something important. “Arthur… I have something I ne-” He promptly cut her off.

“Before that, Zoe. Uh...” Arthur blushed as he deliberately shifted his eyes elsewhere. Zoe was still very stark-naked. “Could you, umm, wear some clothes first? It’s hard to talk with you like… that.”

“Hmm?” Zoe looked down at her body. "Oh." She turned slightly red for just a second, then closed her eyes and screwed her face in concentration. Suddenly, something that resembled tanned hide pushed itsway out of her skin. It continued until she was covered in a form-fitting leather garment. “Ugh, I hate doing this. It takes a lot of cells to turn my skin into processed bio-materials.”

“Wait, skin? So, you’re still…?” Arthur asked.

“Bare? Yes.” Zoe replied, her smile a teasing grin.

Arthur was not convinced. However, he wasn’t naïve enough to blush because of technicalities, much to Zoe’s disappointment. He changed the subject.

“So, about what you said previously…?” Arthur pointed at Liu Feng.

“Right! People like him always have ulterior motives when doing things. Saving your life? Hmph!” Zoe scoffed. “He probably noticed that you were the key to keeping himself alive. There’s no way he didn’t notice that I never once attacked you.”

Arthur was definitely convinced that Liu Feng had an agenda. After all, he did shadow him, literally.

Yet, he still believed that in the end, the monk didn’t have the intention to harm him.

“Let’s hear him out first, okay? The only one he actually hurt here was the cat, and that was to save me,” Arthur pointed out. He looked at the feline, which had fallen asleep, apologizing quietly for not avenging its pikachu-tail. The queen was oblivious, snoozing quietly on top of smooth moon rock.

Liu Feng vigorously nodded. Judging by his reaction, he could still hear what was being said outside. Zoe’s doing no doubt.

The eldritch maiden bit her lip. Her face painted a skeptical look. But she didn’t refuse Arthur’s request this time. A light touch to the slime bubble trapping the monk, and part of it was immediately absorbed into her body. The prison now only covered up to Liu Feng’s shoulder, allowing him a chance to speak.

“Lies! Mr. Arthur-”

“Just Arthur is fine,” Arthur tried to calm the agitated monk down. He didn’t like such an overly formal form of addressing, so he figured this was a good time to hit two birds with one stone.

“Uhh…" The monk was stumped by the interruption. "Well then, Arthur...” he continued more calmly, with conviction in his voice. “Do not make the mistake of trusting her. She, no, it-“

“She,” Arthur corrected firmly. Zoe smiled.

The monk sighed, guessing that it would probably be a bad idea to piss off his only ticket out of this mess. He didn’t contradict, and went back to the previous form of address. “She, is a Scourgekin, the enemy of all sapient life. A mimic that can only steal. And most importantly, there is a crucial fault in her words.”

“And…what would that be?” Arthur quirked an eyebrow. Half of what the monk said sounded like gibberish. ‘Stop calling her a scourgekin. She only looks like an Eldritch horror. Kind of.’

“When she dragged you in the tunnel! That tunnel was definitely too narrow for a human to fit through. If it wasn’t for m-”

This time it was Zoe who cut him off. “I covered Arthur and his cat with my cells. They would have been fine. You were the one who followed after them, uninvited, while hurting the poor cat.”

She extended a tentacle of slime from her index finger and gently wrapped the sleeping cat within it. Once the feline was covered, she shrunk the tentacle. Much to Arthur’s amazement, she pulled the now thread-sized tentacle through a minuscule crack in the rock. On the other side, the tentacle expanded again. She then delicately slid her oblivious passenger on top of another smooth moonrock. The cat was safe and sound, still snoozing comfortably.

“See?” Zoe looked at Arthur with a smile on her face. The series of events proved her words to a T.

Arthur nodded, eyebrows raised in surprise.

“I- That’s…” Liu Feng was staring wide-eyed at the demonstration, apparently at a loss. His expression turned downcast. “There is no way I would have known that.”

“You wouldn’t, would you?” Zoe snarked. She pointed at Arthur’s shadow and said, “Then what’s this?”

Arthur's gaze followed her finger. Liu Feng did suddenly come out of his shadow in the basement after all. It was definitely suspicious.

Zoe tapped Arthur’s shadow lightly with her finger tendril, and a black card popped out.

“These things act as a waypoint for your teleportation, as well as a tracker.” Zoe's grin turned into an accusatory smirk.

“When we first met on the train, I had warned Arthur of the dark presence I felt. It was unquestionably because of you. That is when I had to tag him, for his own safety! So that if he fell into any danger, I could react with haste. Such as now, for example,” Liu Feng answered calmly. Zoe looked guilty for a moment, but her interrogation wasn’t finished.

“Then tell me this. Why does the cat have one too?” Accusation made, she tapped the cat’s shadow. And pop, out came a black card, identical to the one before. “They also act like surveillance devices, right?" She waved the pair of them under his nose. "What, did you think I wouldn’t notice? You were after his secrets, not his safety!”

Feng wasn’t perturbed though. He denied the accusation, saying, “It is better to have as many backup plans as possible. Do not accuse me of something you are doing yourself, Scourgekin.”

He narrowed his eyes at Zoe. Zoe glared back.

Liu Feng continued his defense. “In my defense, my original purpose in coming to the moon was not a Scourgekin extermination. Nor did I have any business with Arthur himself." His tone turned conspiratorial. "You must’ve felt it too. A fragment has formed near here.”

Much to the captive’s surprise, Zoe looked confused. He leaned forward as much as his prison allowed and studied her face. She wasn’t faking it. It seemed she truly had no idea what a 'fragment' was.

“Fragment?” Arthur asked.

He turned to their observer. “A natural treasure, a source of energy to aid in our practice. It holds concepts of reality itself, and sometimes, even godhood,” Liu Feng replied. “The one we sensed is quite large in scale. It should be able to support groups of thousands. Many organizations have sent people to moontowns in this area of Luna, including our sect. I am here for that. Our encounter here was but a coincidence.” He looked back at Zoe and emphasized, “Coincidence.”

“Ah, you mean a source? The ones that look like colored glass rocks?” Something clicked in Zoe’s mind as she finally recognized what Feng was talking about. “Yeah… there is one near here… the weird one.”

Arthur was stumped. Both on what the heck they were talking about, and where to go from here. Both of them had compelling arguments.

On one hand, he would take Zoe’s side. He had known her most of his life, and she had been there for him when few others were. Despite the nagging feeling that she seemed to be concealing something, something rather important, he trusted her.

On the other hand, if they simply let Liu Feng go, he would most definitely return with reinforcements. He gave the impression of abhorring ‘Scourgekins’ with extreme prejudice. After they got this mess about 'fragments' and 'sources' sorted out, there was no telling what sort of trouble he could bring in the future.

Though… That didn't mean Arthur wanted to kill him. Arthur was just an ordinary civilian, with an ordinary civilian mindset. Serious thoughts about murder and viciousness weren’t even up for consideration for someone with his upbringing.

Zoe, of course, could see that clearly as day. She glared at the trapped monk, pondering her choices. Finally, she let out a reluctant sigh. “Fine. I'm not seeing any holes in your story. But if you want to leave this place alive, you’ll have to agree to a geas.”

“A geas?” Arthur and Liu Feng asked simultaneously.

“A pact, a contract. Whatever you call them nowadays,” Zoe said, exasperated.

“Ah, you mean an oath? Definitely! I can promise to keep what happened here a secret.” Feng agreed easily. His tense shoulders dropped a bit, and a tired sigh unintentionally slipped from his mouth.

“No, a geas. It’s not some lousy oath you can snap when you’re strong enough. You can’t break a geas. In this life, or the next.” Zoe said, a red glint shimmering in the depths of her eyes as she stalked up to him, almost nose to nose. “Look boy. I am giving you a way out. And only because of Arthur. You either take it and live," here her tone turned feral, "or refuse and die.”

‘Scary! Haven’t seen her like this since that one time I put chewing gum in her hair…’ Arthur was suddenly reminded of that hellish nightmare. For three days he could not sit down, his bottom too sore, his heart too injured.

He shuddered.

“I- Okay... I will comply.” Liu Feng finally grasped exactly what Zoe was talking about. He warily nodded, seemingly resigned to the Scourgekin staying right in his face.

Arthur heaved a relieved sigh, glad that no bloodshed was necessary.

Zoe morphed one of her fingers into a ruby talon, emulating an Eagle’s claw made out of glittering crystal. Granules of tiny light motes gathered near the tip of the talon, and she carefully guided them in midair. A small magic circle appeared, rotating slowly on its axis. Then, she flung her palms wide. There was a fluctuation of crimson light, and the magic circle expanded to cover the whole cavern. It was at least a few hundred meters in diameter.

“Impressive,” Arthur said.

“It’s basic stuff.” Zoe waved his admiration aside with a smile.

“Wai-, Wha-” Liu Feng’s eyes went wide in shock. Apparently, whatever it was that Liu Feng thought before, he thought wrong. “You are using strategic grade magic to make a contract spell!”

“Yes,” Zoe said. “Don’t resist-”

“Have you never heard of the phrase, ‘Don't use a cannon to kill a mosquito’?” A tired undertone coloured his voice, as his shoulders drooped even further. This time, it wasn't from relief. This was it, no final acts of resistance. He had given up.

Zoe laughed. “You overestimate yourself.” She tapped the monk’s forehead with her glowing talon. The light concentrated on the tip and drew a small scratch, a single drop of blood beading at the bottom. The giant magic circle shrank into his temples, and after a few seconds it disappeared, taking the blood with it. Liu Feng was quiet throughout the whole procedure. It seems like it was painless.

“It is done," she stated with finality. "It won’t kill you, or do much of anything really. Other than making it impossible for you to physically, magically, and spiritually share what happened here today, unless I let you, of course. It won't affect your life. So don't look so glum. Cheer up. It's not like I pulled your cat's tail.”

Liu Feng could only shake his head. He stared at the ceiling, his tired eyes closing in deep thought. Arthur heard him whisper, “So I’m not even strong enough to be a mosquito? Me, the Master of the Seal?!”

‘Poor guy. He lost both his clothes and his self-confidence today.’ Arthur looked at Zoe. She often did that to people, intentionally and unintentionally. Shaking off those past feelings, Arthur clapped his hands.

“Alright. I have no idea how I am breathing down here. And at this point I'm too afraid to ask. What I do know is, I definitely don’t want to stay here any longer. Can you take us out? Without covering us in sli-" her eyebrow arched, and he quickly switched words as he picked up the cat, "your cells?” Arthur asked Zoe. The cat was deep in its sleep, not even noticing the change in position.

Wait, no it just tried to scratch Arthur’s hand. It was still asleep though. A nightmare perhaps?

‘The poor thing did go through a lot today,’ Arthur supposed.

Zoe smiled mischievously. “No.”

Arthur sighed again.

With that, Zoe morphed her whole body completely into slimy chaos once again. Her mucus glowed cobalt as her green body turned into a hazy mist.

The mist readily engulfed all three of the passengers, and quickly slipped back up the tunnel into the basement. At the top, she relinquished the three and shifted back to her humanoid form.

Arthur led the way up the stairs to the living room and gently laid the cat on the couch. It promptly stretched out and rolled over, all four paws in the air. The toes on her front paws twitched as she chased a dream roomba.

Feng was still quite dismayed, and visibly low-spirited at this sudden hurdle.  So, after exchanging contact information with Arthur (he insisted), and receiving a few more threats from Zoe, he took his leave. 

“Now then,” Arthur spoke, closing the front door, “Zoe...”

“Arthur, I-”

“I’m not blaming you,” Arthur strongly clarified. “And I’m not mad that you kept some secrets from me. If I was some kind of alien lifeform, I would’ve done the same.”

He took a deep breath, trying his best to maintain a calm demeanor. “Tell me what a Scourgekin is. Tell me about the pendant. And about my parents. About you. Tell me everything.”

Zoe looked Arthur right in the eye, and weighed his sincerity. After a few long seconds, she slowly nodded.