It was late, long after the most recent hunt for the students of Crossroads. The sky above had turned cloudy, leaving only a sliver of moonlight. Which was somehow appropriate for the group standing on the roof of the girl’s dorm. Scout, Sean (with Vulcan at his side), Columbus, and Shiori stood facing Avalon Sinclaire, each of them confused about why she had asked to meet. There was an obvious tenseness to the girl, had been all day long. But it was more than being tense. She had been tense the whole time Felicity and the others had been missing. This was something else, something more. And apparently it had to do with Flick, though all she had said so far was for them to ‘not start freaking out’ until she finished explaining.

Looking up to the dark, cloudy sky for a moment as though collecting her thoughts after initially telling them all to let her say what she needed to, Avalon finally took a breath, lowered her gaze to the others, and announced, “Flick’s possessed by a Seosten child. She has been for a long time, maybe the whole time we’ve known her, we’re not sure. She’s possessed by the… the child, but the kid isn’t actually controlling her. Or she wasn’t, anyway. At least, we don’t–”

“Whoa, whoa, wait!” Despite her request that they let her explain everything, Columbus couldn’t help himself. “What do you mean?” he demanded, eyes wide as he stared at her in confusion. “How the hell could Flick be possessed, she can’t be possessed! We–wait…”

Avalon gave a short nod. “Yeah, exactly. That’s why she couldn’t be possessed, because she–”

“No, no.” Shiori was shaking her head frantically, hair flying. “No, she’s–you’re–no, she’s not!” Her voice rose sharply. “Why would you say that?! She’s not even here, you can’t know. You–”

“Theia,” Avalon informed them, watching the other girl’s wide, frantic eyes. She tried to keep her voice calm, tamping down on her own emotions about the whole situation considering she’d had a bit more time to process all of it. “The… the Seosten girl possessing Pace. She said that–”

It was apparently the night of interruptions, because Sean blurted, “Her? You’re taking her word that Flick’s possessed?” His head shook slowly as he put his hand on Vulcan’s head, who was whining. “How would she–well, okay, the choker thing. Wait, she told you she saw some Seosten possessing Flick back when she had the choker thing? How do you know… you know…”

“How do you know she’s not making it up?” Columbus bluntly asked. “It’s not like it’d be out of the question for her to just be fucking with you, you know? What makes you think she’s telling the truth? I mean, I get that she’s… uhh, I know you said you talked to her and that she’s staying with Koren’s mom and Seller or… something, but seriously? I met that girl. I mean, I met her while I… while I was possessed. She’s not exactly the most stable person on the planet. Even if it’s not part of some evil plot, I wouldn’t put it past her to just be fucking with you.”

“With us,” Sean pointed out. “She had to know that you’d tell us. Columbus is right, this whole story could be her having some big laugh, freaking all of us out. Or even sowing distrust.”

Shiori’s head was bobbing quickly, wide and almost frantic eyes darting from the two boys back to Avalon. “Y-yeah, that’s probably it. Why would she tell us the truth about that? What does she get out of it if she’s not just… just trying to make us think we can’t trust Flick? That’s all… it doesn’t make sense. She must’ve been trying to make you, I mean… make us freak out.”

Avalon opened her mouth to try to cut in before that went further, but it was Scout who spoke in a quiet, yet completely certain voice. “She’s not lying.” When they all looked to her, she pointed out, “If she was messing with us, she wouldn’t say that the Seosten wasn’t controlling her.”

“She knew we wouldn’t believe that Flick was being controlled by one of them,” Columbus objected. “She couldn’t very well know everything that happened all the way up to Flick killing that bitch and think we’d actually believe that was all just a long con by a really devoted spy.”

Shiori’s head bobbed once more at that, an almost violent motion. “Y-yeah. So maybe she thought if she made up some story about some other Seosten, like… like, they don’t all communicate, right? There’s gotta be like… rivalries and stuff. That Charmeine woman had enemies. She had to have. So she convinces us that it’s some rival Seosten controlling Flick.”

“A child?” Avalon pointed out as gently as she could. Her instinct was to snap at them, given everything she’d been feeling and worrying about these past couple days. But she forced that down. “Why would she make up that whole story and then tell us the Seosten is a child?”

“Because she– I mean, if she thought we…” Shiori looked desperately to her brother, then back again when all he could offer was a hesitant shrug. “But it doesn’t make sense! Flick is Flick. We know Flick. She can’t be some Seosten kid, that doesn’t–I’m not… she’s just–I–I–”

Flick wasn’t here. Whatever her actual condition, she wasn’t here. So, Avalon did what she would have in that moment, what someone had to. She stepped over, taking Shiori in an embrace. Holding onto the other girl while trying not to feel too uncomfortable about the whole situation (and drastically overthinking all of it), Avalon murmured, “She is Flick. It’s like I said, the Seosten wasn’t controlling her, as far as Theia saw. She was just there, possessing her.”

“But why?” Shiori managed, her voice small and vulnerable. “Why would she… I–why would there be a Seosten kid possessing Flick all this time and just not doing anything? Where did she come from? Why’s she there? What–what’s going on?”

“That, we…” Avalon sighed helplessly. “That, we don’t know. All Theia knew was that there was a Seosten girl possessing her, but she wasn’t controlling anything she did. She was just sort of… there.” She offered a shrug, looking around at the rest of the group once more while stepping away from Shiori. Thankfully, Columbus took her place, pulling his sister close.

“So there’s some Seosten kid just sort of hanging out inside Flick.” Sean considered the words he had just said before rolling his eyes. “You know, just when you think you’ve got a general handle on the weirdness of this whole year, something else pops up that throws off everything else. Seriously, what the hell? Does–does anyone even know where to start with this?”

“Does Gaia know about her?” Scout asked, watching Avalon carefully. Her expression made it clear there were a lot more thoughts and questions going on behind those deeply expressive brown eyes. She had simply settled on the most immediately relevant one for the moment.

Avalon nodded. “Yes. She knows. So do Deveron, Koren, Miranda, Wyatt, Seller, and Abigail. And now you guys. That’s it, as far as I know. Maybe Gaia told Dare.”

“Well, she’s out in Seosten space,” Sean pointed out. “Maybe that’s what the kid possessing her wanted. You know, a ride back home or something. Maybe she’ll hop out of her out there.”

“Or maybe she’ll take control,” Columbus countered, his voice rising just a little bit. “Maybe she’s one of those that sits patiently until the right time, then grabs the reins and takes over.”

“She said it was a Seosten child,” Avalon reminded him with a look. “Not a Seosten special forces operative. Child, as in someone who was probably stranded here or something.”

“But how did a Seosten kid end up stranded here on Earth?” Sean asked pointedly. “Or, more importantly, how did that stranded Seosten kid end up in Flick? I mean, it sounded like the Seosten have been trying to figure out why they couldn’t possess Flicker for a long time, right? Like, since she was a kid. Which means…” He frowned, trying to work his way through that. “I guess we don’t know that it’s been the same Seosten possessing her the whole time.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“What,” Avalon retorted, “like Flick’s had a whole conga line of stranded Seosten possessing her while they wait to go home or something?” She was less frustrated by the conversation than she was by the entire situation. She knew that, but it was still hard to keep herself in check. She was worried about Flick. She wanted to talk to her, wanted to… to be with her. And a glance toward Shiori reminded her that, at the very least, the two of them shared that much.

Sean’s head shook quickly. “No, I–sorry, I’m just trying to spitball here and work it out. Okay, so the same Seosten. But a kid? Why would a kid be possessing Flick all this time? It doesn’t–”

“Ohhhh shit!” Columbus suddenly blurted sharply. His eyes had widened, mouth working a few times as he muttered something under his breath while looking off into the distance. Memories came to him, and he briefly forgot where he was or that he was even around anyone else.

The others all watched him for a minute of quiet muttering, before Avalon finally grew too impatient. Clearing her throat, she prodded, “Are you going to share what you’re thinking about with the rest of the class sometime today so we can all contribute, or would you rather make us start throwing out guesses?” Again, she tried to restrain most of her helplessness-fueled annoyance. It wasn’t Columbus’s fault Flick wasn’t here so they could figure this out with her.

Looking surprised at her voice, as he was dragged out of his memories by it, Columbus blinked a couple times to orient himself. It was clear that he was still having issues remembering to actually control his own body and pay attention after spending months being possessed. Finally, he shook his head, trying to find the right words before settling on. “I just–Chayyiel.”

The rest of the group exchanged brief looks, a collective shrug going up before Sean spoke for all of them. “Okay, we give up. What’s a shy heel? Some kind of code phrase or something?”

“Not shy heel,” Columbus corrected tensely. “Chayyiel. She’s–Charmeine talked about her a bit, okay? She’s some kid–but not a kid. She’s–damn it.” Tripping over his words, he took a breath to collect himself. “She was a kid, but then a bunch of them got their powers or whatever, the whole Olympian thing. Charmeine wasn’t exactly big on explaining, it was mostly taunting or whatever. They all got powers. When Chayyiel got them, she was a kid, and it froze her age where she was. So she’s actually really old, but she looks like she’s just a child.”

Eyes widening at that, Avalon blurted, “Wait a second, you think she’s the one inside of Flick?” Oh God, that would change everything. She’d been relatively certain that whatever was going on, Flick would be okay if it was just a little kid possessing her. But if it was some ancient Seosten who just looked like a kid, that was a whole other beast. The worry that had been simmering low in her stomach was suddenly ratcheted up to full blast, as she stared at the boy.

“Wait, wait,” Shiori put in quickly, her own voice shaking. “Now it is dangerous?” Her eyes focused on her brother as she turned to face him. “Columbus, who’s this Chayyiel?”

“I don’t know that much about her,” the boy admitted helplessly while his arms flailed a bit. “Mostly just what I could pull out of Charmeine’s ranting and taunting. She looks like a little kid but she’s actually old, and she’s strong. Like, maybe one of the strongest Seosten in the universe. I–she said something about… something about her knowing how to kill things.”

“Knowing how to kill things?” Sean echoed with obvious confusion, frowning at his roommate. “What does that mean, exactly? A lot of people know how to kill things. We know how to kill things. It’s kind of what this whole school is about. We all learn how to kill things, that’s not exactly a great superpower.” At his feet, Vulcan gave a soft woof of agreement.

With a snort, Avalon gave the boy a brief, pointed look. “I’m pretty sure it’s bigger than that. You really think knowing how to kill things isn’t a big superpower? Look at all the thousands of different species in the universe. Look at all the different powers a lot of them have, all the different defenses. Look at Gaia. Look at any of the adult Heretics, the Committee members. Look at all of them. Imagine someone whose power is knowing how to kill any of them.” She looked back to Columbus. “That’s it, isn’t it? That’s why she’s so dangerous. Knowing how to kill things, it doesn’t mean ‘she’s got training’, it means she literally knows how to kill things.”

Swallowing hard at the thoughts that ran through his own head, Columbus made himself nod. His throat felt dry, like sandpaper. All he could think about was Flick being controlled by some hyper-violent, crazy Seosten like the one who had taken him over. Only worse, one who knew how to sit quietly and wait. If she’d been hiding inside Flick all this time, maybe only subtly nudging her here and there, then… then… God. It could be really bad. “I… yeah. That’s it.”

“But wait, wait, no, hold on.” Shiori was shaking her head quickly, though she seemed a bit more in control of herself after her initial reaction. “Look, it’s–she’s dangerous, right? This Chayyiel.”

“Yeah,” Columbus confirmed. “Like I said, from what Charmeine said, she’s basically one of the biggest weapons the Seosten have got. Which means, if she’s inside Flick, we’re all fucked.”

“But she’s not,” his sister insisted firmly, drawing everyone’s attention to her. “It doesn’t make sense. Okay, right, she’s super dangerous and powerful and everything, and she’s just… sitting inside Flick for years? And Charmeine doesn’t know about it? I mean, okay compartmentalized and all, but she’d have to know that this… Chayyiel would have to have been off the grid for awhile, right? Charmeine was bragging about how strong this girl–woman–whatever is, and it never came up that Chayyiel has been gone on some secret mission or whatever for a decade or so? Why?”

Scout was nodding slowly, a slight frown of uncertainty creasing her forehead. “She couldn’t.”

“Yeah,” Avalon murmured. “No way someone like that disappears for that long and it doesn’t come up. Space is huge, but she has to be important. She has to have responsibilities.” Her gaze moved back to Columbus for confirmation. “Someone like that, she’d be high up.”

“She’s some kind of senator or general or something,” the boy agreed, his heart starting to slow down a bit as the flaws in the assumption were pointed out. “So yeah, pretty important.”

“Oh man,” Sean groaned. “I hate to be the buzzing fly just when we all stopped losing our shit, but what about that whole recall thing? Couldn’t she only be possessing Flick sometimes? What if there’s a… I don’t know, a spell on her or something to let her know if someone’s about to possess her, and that’s when she pops on back to make sure it doesn’t happen?”

“It… still wouldn’t make sense for Charmeine not to know about her, or for Manakel not to,” Avalon reminded him. “Seriously, from what Columbus said, they’ve been tearing their hair out trying to to understand why they can’t possess Flick. So why would they be so confused about that if it’s just this Chayyiel? Sure, they probably all keep secrets and have their own little mission cells and all. But they had to be communicating with their leader or higher up or whatever about not being able to possess Flick. At some point, it would’ve come up that they were trying to possess someone who was another Seosten’s host, right?”

Scout quickly put in, “And she would have said something to them.”

“Hey, that’s right,” Shiori realized. “That’s kind of the obvious thing, isn’t it? If Chayyiel was possessing Flick, she would’ve said something to all the Seosten who kept trying to possess her themselves. You know, take over for a second, explain the situation, then wipe her mind.”

“Yeah…” Columbus frowned at the roof before nodding as he looked up. “I guess it doesn’t really fit. I mean, the kid thing does, but nothing else. On the other hand, the whole ‘why didn’t the Seosten kid explain what she was doing when the other Seosten showed up to possess Flick’ is a hard thing to figure out no matter who she is, Chayyiel or not.”

“Fair.” Avalon frowned as well, squinting off into the distance. “If this isn’t that Chayyiel chick on some secret undercover mission, then… who is it? A real Seosten kid? But why? How? What’s she doing here? And why the hell didn’t she ever say anything to the others?”

“Maybe she’s a runaway,” Shiori put in. “The Seosten have to have those, right? She could be a runaway, hiding from the Seosten. Maybe she’s some lost princess or the daughter of a war criminal, if they even have those, or something.”

“We’re speculating wildly,” Avalon pointed out. “The point is, we don’t know. We have no idea why she’s hiding in Flick or what her… her business is, and no way to find out until Flick gets back here.”

Which would be soon, right? Avalon asked herself that very question while reflexively glancing up toward the sky. The clouds meant there was no way to see the stars. But she knew they were there, just as she knew her girlfriend was. And just as the clouds would eventually move to reveal the stars, Flick would come back to Earth. She would come back to them, and they could figure all of this out together.

Right?