Now that school is out for Christmas Break, it is a convenient time for me to finally check in with Lucy. As usual, I go to the Methodist church, and call Lucy while in the Metaverse with Ted present.

I told her how we found out who owned the palace and cleared it out. She was particularly interested in the part about me transforming into the flame princess form, and pressed me for every small detail. Then, I explained how Ms. Truman fell ill and passed away shortly after confessing, and the alarming note I received right after that.

“Things have been slow since then,” I conclude. “We have a faint idea about what that gothic mansion palace might be about, though. Zoe's brother's new boyfriend lives there, and seems to think that the landlord ‘makes people disappear.’ I haven't mustered the will to look into it further, but I plan to after the break.”

“Well, it seems as if we have multiple things going on at once now,” Lucy responds. “But let’s discuss the most important thing first. If you recall, I had encouraged you to go after these shady figures in hopes that you would inevitably come across the greater scheme going on. And you have now taken your first step in unraveling it.”

“The human trafficking company that Ms. Truman was involved with?”

“Yes. If it is the group I'm thinking of, they've been around for a long, long time. Their longevity is impressive... and suspicious.” Ted, who has been silently listening in, looks back towards me with a steely look.

“They must be able to hide more easily because of access to the Metaverse,” I speculate.

“Well, I'm sure that's part of it. But I suspect that they have friends in high places who have been enticed to turn a blind eye.”

“Ah, I see. So it's all coming together.”

“It is indeed. This is why you can't trust the justice system, Ashley. With enough power, money and influence, you can get away with pretty much anything for a long, long time.”

“So, what specifically is going on here?”

“From what I can tell, it's somewhat of a pyramid scheme. They draw people in who are interested in things of a more illicit nature. It can be drugs, a lot of money, hired hits on enemies, highly dangerous weapons not usually allowed for civilian use, or in your late teacher's case, child exploitation. They give them the power to get what they want, to give them a taste. Once they get hooked on it, they're forced to do the organization's dirty work, which mostly consists of transporting ‘goods’ and keeping everything quiet.”

“So it's like the dark web, if the dark web were also a cult.”

“Sort of. They get away with it through a combination of bribes, secrecy, and intimidation. Anyone who speaks out publicly against them is silenced… as you learned first hand. In the past few years, their activity has become disturbingly prolific. The queen of the shadows draws her power from the suffering they cause, and I fear she may become too powerful to stop if things continue to progress as they have.”

“She sounds like Moloch. Drawing power from pain and misery.”

“She is nothing more than a branch of the same deadly plant.”

“Ah, I see why you called her a 'seed' now.”

“Yes, Ashley. I'm very thematically consistent, thank you for noticing.”

There is a short pause before Ted speaks for the first time. "Been around these parts for a while, eh?"

"Yes," I say, realizing what he's thinking about. "Do you think it's been around for... I dunno, 40 years?”

"Maybe," Lucy answers. "What spurred the question?"

Ted and I briefly summarize the story about his death.

"Well, what do you know," Lucy comments when we're finished. "Maybe that was some early version of our bad guys. Perhaps it truly was fate which brought him to you."

“Does this group have a name?" I ask. "Just calling them 'the organization' is getting a little awkward."

Ted growls lowly. "They call themselves 'La Murga.'"

"Is that Spanish for something?" I wonder.

"It don't mean anything as far as I know," Ted answers. "That'd be a question for your priestess friend."

My priestess friend...? Oh. He must mean Ruth.

"I don’t know of any meaning behind it either," Lucy admits. "I do know that this group operates across the western hemisphere, so it's possible that it originated somewhere in Latin America."

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"There's another thing bothering me," I say. "Ms. Truman said that the school already knew about her plans before she had made the blog post. We thought she was being stupid, but it was really rather clever, redirecting attention to someone else so they'd forget about it quickly.

"Huh. You got me there," Lucy admitted. "I don't know how they would've already known."

"Perhaps someone in La Murga turned spy for us."

"Possible. But doubtful. Moloch often monitors the thoughts of the people working for them to catch anyone with cold feet."

"But he can't do much to someone with a Persona. The most he could do to me was give me a bad dream. Someone else who has one could've hidden."

"Goodness, Ashley. Their workers aren't allowed to have Personas! They're given special weapons in case they run into Persona users, but not allowed ones themselves. Remember the dark trooper? She relies on that weapon to attack. She's only even given the green gem because she's Moloch's top soldier."

Ah. I never connected the dots that they were something different. I suppose I never saw any ghostly apparitions around her, come to think of it.

“I think she’s the one who left me that note,” I say. “I saw some green sparks when it disappeared.”

“Then yes, that would be her. It’s unusually kind of her to give you a warning instead of just wiping you out then and there. I take it you and your friends will not be intimidated?”

“I guess not,” I say. “Making threats is how they’ve gone on for so long. Somebody has to break the cycle.” I decide not to mention the insecurities and unease I’ve felt about endangering Zoe. That’s not Lucy’s problem.

"On that note," I say. "What about that apartment complex?

"Go ahead and clear it out. It might be connected to La Murga, or it might not be. Either way, pruning evil is always worth the time."

"Alright. We'll get on that soon then. Bye."

"Goodbye."

I hang up the phone. Ted and I don’t exchange many words after that, but there’s a mutual understanding between us. At this point, the fight is personal for both of us. With that reality weighing on me, I head back home to finish packing for our Christmas break trip.

----------------------------------------

Anja and I’s first date is nice, if a little understated. We decide to see Big Hero 6, because it's still in theaters. Anja had already seen it, but I never got to. It was fun, I guess. Baymax was pretty funny.

It’s already dark when we get out. We get into the car, and Anja starts driving around while talking about the movie. She isn’t going back to my place, so I don’t know where we’re headed…

“I feel like it’s a really important message for me,” she’s saying. “I’ve had some… hard times in my life. Like losing my mom. And those times can bring out the worst in you, or the best.”

“Uh, what?” I say, realizing that I had missed the last part of her rambling. “You lost me somewhere there.”

“I’m talking about how in the movie, both the hero and the villain go through a huge trauma, losing someone close to them. But they process this grief in totally different ways. Hiro responds by using the gifts that Tadashi left him and becoming a… well, hero. But Callahan lets his grief turn him into a murderous monster…”

“Oh yeah, true.” I get reminded of the conversation we had right after Ms. Truman died. And then I realize that I really don’t want to be thinking about that, so I change the subject.

“Anja… I just can’t get over it. Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you like me, of all people? I honestly thought no girl would ever want to date me.”

She laughs aloud. “Don’t say that about yourself. You’re such a sweetheart. You’re so dear to me, Nova.”

There’s a pause after this. I feel emotions well up inside me, which I can’t make any sense of at first. I just feel overwhelmed.

During this, she pulls into the parking lot of a local park. There doesn’t seem to be anyone around.

“Hey… do you want to sit with me in the backseat for a little bit?” Anja says softly. “I’m not quite ready to go home yet.”

“Uh, yeah. Sure.”

We both go out the side doors and enter the backseat. I wonder vaguely why she’s having us do this. After I sit down, she gets very close to me, her legs draped over mine, and her arms wrapped around me. She puts one hand on my head and starts gently patting me. She slowly kisses me on my cheek. The longer we sit there like that, the more overwhelming those emotions feel. Before too long, there are tears running down my face that I can’t stop. She pulls her head back slightly from me, and looks into my eyes, her own wide. It’s so dark that someone outside the car probably couldn’t see us, but I still make out the brown in her eyes. It’s like a… I can’t think of a pretentious metaphor. They’re brown, and I love them.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her, sniffling. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“It’s okay,” she whispers.

“I have so many feelings right now. It doesn’t make any sense. I feel like I should be happy. And I am happy. But I’m also really sad. What’s my problem? I'm dating a sexy gamer girl. Why am I sad?”

She briefly smiles at my joke, before going back to looking serious. “What’s making you sad?” she asks.

“I don’t know… it’s like… I feel you here, and I feel like there’s something empty inside me. And it’s so sad. I don’t know. I think I’m just retarded.”

“Nova,” she says firmly. “Don’t say that. You probably just aren’t used to being this close to someone.”

“Oh yeah. True,” I say. “Like, I never really got that emotional with my friends at my old school. My dad is always busy. Kat just… isn’t really like that. My mom… well, you know.”

“If you never talked about feelings with your friends, what did you do when you got upset?”

“Honestly, I just played video games until I forgot about it.”

Anja purses her lips. “Well, that means that all those feelings you had are bottled up. They're only just now coming out.”

“Huh. I guess so.”

“You can always talk to me, Nova,” she says sweetly. “Or just cry on me. Whatever you need.”

“Yeah… I know,” I say, realizing something. “You always just let me… be myself, I guess. I think that’s why I like you so much.”

“I kinda feel the same way,” she says. “I feel so accepted around you. I don’t feel like you’re looking down on me for not being some perfect traditional girl. You know, it’s rare to meet someone who knows how to look below the surface of someone. But I guess it’s because maybe you and I don’t really belong anywhere. I only really feel like I belong with you.”

“Why would I want to date some traditional girl?” I question. “That sounds boring.”

She smirks at me. “Why would you indeed, Nova. Hey… I have an idea. Do you want to go for a walk with me?”

“Oh. Yeah, sure.”

“I want to hear about some of the other feelings you might have, if you don’t mind.”

“Okay,” I say. I don’t feel sad anymore. I feel content now. She pulls me out of the car, and takes me by the hand as we walk through the dark, empty park. Although it’s late, she doesn’t seem tired yet. I wonder how long we’re going to be out here?