Scarlet breathed a drawn-out sigh as she looked around at the massive cracked pillars surrounding them, leading up to the colossal flower.  I’m still alive … that’s a good thing, I guess.  Not much…

Fiona’s musical Irish accent became stronger as she floated up a little bit, following a bright light that shot up from one of the ice flowers outside the dome, barely visible through some of the frozen tree cover.  “Eh … that doesn’t look good.”

“What?”  Maria asked, glancing around.  “I don’t see anything.”

“One of those lights,” Fiona pointed.  “It went up into the … see the crystal-like rain coming back down.  It shot up another—there, see it?”

“Crap…”

Scarlet slid her tongue across her left fang, releasing a rumble in her throat as she searched for any other change in the area.  “We took out the Core, didn’t we?”

“That’s what…”

Maria cut Fiona off.  “Wait, wait, wait … you know that one death thing?”

Fiona and Scarlet looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

“Death thing?”  Fiona asked.

Scarlet folded her fingers, black hair shifting as her head tilted.  “Yeah, explain it?”

“Oh, c’mon,” Maria mumbled, running her left hand through her hair and scratching the back of her head.  “You know, the one thing … dang, it was one of the cool things they showed you in school. When you die, the brain keeps sending signals or somethin’ like that.”

“Ah, okay, yeah,” Scarlet mumbled, looking up at the structure above them.  “You’re saying that there’s still energy inside the crystal network. We took out the battery, but it still holds a charge.”

Fiona giggled.  “Death thing? That’s the best way you can describe it?”

Maria’s cheeks flushed.  “How would you say it?”

“Umm … it’s like my parents’ computer!  If you need to reset it, you have that one little battery on the inside that keeps the clock going.  Even if you turn off the computer, you need to unplug it and press the power button if you really want to reset it.”

“Bah,” Maria grimaced, looking at another ice flower that shot up a globe of light.  “Too long … lost interest.”

A bright light slowly was gathering inside the crystal-like structure above them, drawing Scarlet’s attention.  “Umm, hey, guys, are we going to get blasted with a bunch of Solar Energy?” She asked with a nervous chuckle. “I mean, I’d really rather not.”

“Oh, preemptive measures!”  Fiona grunted, aura mixed with a brown hue as earth surrounded Scarlet.

Scarlet groaned as her vision tinted red; she couldn’t hear Fiona and Maria talking, trapped inside the earthen shell, but she could see what was happening.

The glow increased, and Scarlet turned to look back at the landscape; through the trees, the light was slowly flowing toward them.

“I’m about to get solar beamed…”  Scarlet mumbled. Hopefully, Fiona’s Earth Shield can handle some bright light.  Fiona’s super resistant to these elemental attacks, and Maria can just absorb them … it’s just me.

Scarlet sighed as she watched the lights close in on them; she was a little confused as Fiona, and Maria only seemed mildly concerned.  Maria pulled back her jacket and shirt to look at the Core for a second before shrugging and shaking her head, causing Fiona to scratch the side of her head.

Great, they have no clue what’s going on.  Could I teleport out? Not really … even my blood portal wouldn’t reach above the clouds in the sky.  I mean, it’s higher than the mountain. I might be able to quickly burst shadow teleport, but … wonderful, the sky crystals are now glowing with lights.

She scratched her forehead, pursing her lips, and released another long sigh before talking to herself to calm her nerves.  “Okay, what do we have, Scarlet? A crazy solar powered ice machine that lost its power source, and now, looks like it’s about to explode or something.  It’s not very fast, though, so I got time!

“Eh … Fiona and Maria seem pretty lost, and … yup, the ice flower isn’t reacting … Maria’s chest is just … the flower, yeah, the flower is just fine.  That leaves the problem to be this massive frozen monolithic structure.” She mumbled, turning her Vampiric gaze to the heavens.

Her teeth were beginning to ache, making her lick her lips and press her tongue against her left fang.  This is ridiculous!  How am I even in this situation?  This thing is OP. The crystal closed, we’re supposed to be done with…

Scarlet’s body stiffened as she heard a mumble inside her mind; The Reaper was mumbling in her sleep again.  “Why’s the … Aquentia’s Flower … too bad.  Fun … experiment … runs cold.”

Hey, what do you … nevermind … yeah, just keep sleeping.  Aquentia’s Flower? She is like a goddess … evil, but crazy powerful with just the random Achievement Skills she gave me.  Is she talking about the Azure Frost or something else?

Grr … why do I have to deal with a demon goddess inside me?  None of the others has some insane death deity inside them! If I…

Her lips pursed as Fiona rose a little higher, putting another layer of earth over her shield.  Great, not inspiring confidence in me!  Is it just a precaution, or do they know something bigger is happening?

Maria drew her attention as she turned her vision away from the blinding light that was growing ever brighter above them to the spot just below where the crystal had been.

A lump of blood dropped down Scarlet’s throat as she noticed the stem glowing, slowly sprouting back out with golden light.  You’re kidding me!  It’s regenerating that fast?

Maria pulled her hair to her front, around her neck, and to her back again to keep it out of the way as she nudged her head toward the growing flower, talking to Fiona.  The Fairy quickly hovered down, folding her arms as she pointed at it with a questioning look.

Reaching out her hand, Maria touched the light, and her body exploded with golden rays, causing Scarlet to wince and deactivate the filter, but soon after, the brilliance penetrated the Earth Shield surrounding her.

Son of a…  Scarlet threw up her hand as the radiance hit; it was warm.  Lowering her arms, she squinted at the light, and suddenly she felt like she was floating.  “Huh?”

Blinking a few times, Scarlet glanced around the space as spots danced across her vision; her Night Vision made the area bright as midday, but the sun rays had addled her senses.

After a few seconds of silence, the sound of moving dirt filled the space, causing her to tense; a smiling Fairy met her, giving her the thumbs up.  “We’re good!”

“What’s going on?”  Scarlet asked, glancing around at the trees, completely frozen, but the massive flower overhead was gone, cut off over fifty meters in the air.  “What happened to … did all the ice melt?”

“No, silly,” Fiona giggled.  “Then we’d be flooded with a ton of water!  Well, I think … Maria…”

“I teleported us!”  Maria cheered, throwing her arms in the air before swaying in some kind of dance as she snapped her fingers.  “It felt so bad! I just want to throw on some music and dance. I was floating through space, traveling like—like light!”

“Okay, Star Ranger,” Fiona giggled.

Maria didn’t even pause in her dance.

Scarlet opened her mouth, shut it, licked her lips, and folded her arms while releasing a low hum.  “So … eh—how? We already talked about this, didn’t we? You need the sun, right? What about the Azure Frost, too?”

“Oh, Maria can tell you!”  Fiona said, gesturing toward the Unicorn with a dubious expression.  “She deserves a little credit sometimes, and is that how gangsters dance?”

“Pfft, don’t judge me, and you serious?  You were freakin’ out. Is two layers enough?  Maybe I should try to get a Fire Shield spell or something, but would that even work?”  Maria mocked.

“Oh, c’mon!  I was worried about Scarlet.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Maria chuckled, settling down.  “Don’t want anything happenin’ to our bloodsucking friend.”

“Okay, thanks, but, eh—how did you do this again?”  Scarlet muttered, pulling back her hair while glancing around; a slow breeze cut through the jungle, blowing against her body and throwing her black hair back.

Maria cleared her throat and puffed out her chest.  “So, I felt the Solar Energy building near the base of the flower I plucked.”

“The stem,” Fiona prompted.

“Yeah, that, and I bent down and absorbed it!  I kind of needed to use it, though,” she mumbled, looking up at the sky with a frown as a bright light was fading.  “I didn’t have anything to heal or anything; so, I looked for a possible alternative, and it told me there was a teleport location.  The energy being released by the crystals gave me a stable path to bring us here.”

“Where is here?”  Scarlet asked, now realizing why the massive crystal flower had been cut in half.  “You’re telling me that the power you gained from that was enough to teleport this massive chunk of land here?”

“Yup!”  Maria said with a hearty laugh.  “I bet you can’t move something this big; it used up a ton, but it still isn’t anything near the strength of this little flower,” she mused.

Scarlet activated her Vampiric Vision and filtered through Maria’s shirt to stare at the flower.  “That little thing is more powerful than all that light … the entire Azure Frost system … all of it?”

Maria’s cheeks turned red as she threw up her hands over her chest.  “Hey! Don’t just be lookin’ through people’s clothes.”

“Sorry,” Scarlet chuckled apologetically.  “It’s just a habit now.”

“Not a good one,” Maria mumbled, glaring at her.  “How’d you like it if I could just strip you naked?”

“Well,” Fiona hummed, giving Maria a mischievous smirk.  “It’s not exactly like that.”

“Oh, c’mon!  I know you would hate it, too,” Maria huffed.

“No, you’re right,” Scarlet sighed, pulling back her bangs.  “It’s not a good habit, but sometimes it can just happen when I want to see something.”

“Kyle?”  Fiona interjected with a grin.  “Bad girl!”

Scarlet’s jaw locked, face flushing.

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“See?”  Maria smirked.  “Not so fun when it’s turned around!”

Blood filled Scarlet’s throat, and she forced it down.  “Okay … let’s get onto the actual topic. Is it going to come back?”

“Aww,” Fiona sighed, floating above the treeline high overhead to get a sense of the area.  “It was just getting to the good stuff,” she grumbled.

Maria went on to explain the results.  “It was a lot to take in … a ton, but it wasn’t even one percent of the stuff inside this little flower.”  She pointed between her chest. “Still, it was a lot, and I had to use it … like, I had to, or it would just burst out of me and who knows what that might do.  This thing’s like a miniature sun!

“I drained every last drop I could, though.  There was a bit of lingering light around the edges and up in the sky; so, I used that to teleport us here.  It was the furthest away from where we were.”

“It won’t come back?”

Maria shook her head.  “Not likely. It’s just like I said with the death thing.”

“The computer analogy’s better!”  Fiona called down.

“No, it’s not!”

“Granny!”

“What’s that mean?  I’m not that old; I’m twenty-three, dang it!”

“Okay, Princess.”

“The heck’s up with everyone and this princess crap?”

Fiona just laughed hysterically, dampening Maria’s mood.

“Friggin’ Pixies…”

“So,” Scarlet said, moving a little closer to the Unicorn to draw her attention back to her.  “You’re saying it doesn’t have enough energy to reform it?”

“Na, not with how much it was taking when it was just trying to sprout from the stem.”

Scarlet rubbed the corners of her eyes.  “Finally! We can be done with this.” She whispered.  Breathing out a long sigh, she smiled at Maria. “You’re amazing.”

“Right?”  She cleared her throat, face reddening before mumbling, “Thanks.”  Her red face deepend.

Fiona zipped back down.  “Oh, we’re close to the camp!  We’re probably only a few shadow leaps there.”

“Which direction?”  Scarlet asked before looking up at the half-frozen mountain to her right.  “Eh—that way, I’m guessing?”

“Yup!”

“Can we please be done with this,” Maria groaned.  “I’m all for goin’ on adventures and goin’ to new worlds, but I need to take a shower … back at my place, and not some random hotel, FBI bathroom, or hospital.  Yeah … my own bed would be nice, too.”

“Two-hundred percent!”  Fiona mirrored Maria, running her hands through her hair.  “More than anything, though … I want to know if my sister and parents are okay.”

“Yeah … that’d be nice,” Maria whispered.

Cracking her neck, Scarlet breathed out a short sigh.  Yeah, it would be nice … having a family that you wished was alright.  I had such an annoying family before all this happened … now the thought of seeing my mom horrifies me.

A shiver ran down her spine as the image of her mother laughing, mocking the police as they tried to help her came flooding back.  If I never see her again … yet, I want to ask her why … why would she do this to me?

Scarlet shook her head violently before pulling back her hair.  “Okay, you guys ready?”

Both Maria and Fiona were looking at her with concern.

“You okay?”  Fiona asked.

Maria nodded, lips pursed as she studied her.  “You don’t look that well.”

“Oh, totally fine!”  Scarlet grinned, trying to bury her feelings.  “We good to go?”

They glanced at each other before nodding and moved closer to her.  Scarlet took one more glance skyward; the glistening edges of the lower half of the stem and roots of the ice flower was quite the spectacle.  Turning back toward the south, shadows surrounded them.

Arriving back in camp, they took turns quickly explaining the situation to Captain Aaron Channing.  Once they finished, he told them to take it straight to Tom, and if they heard the crystal’s sound, then they’d go through.

The three of them hesitated, glancing back at the loose ground where the alien crystal structure had been.

“Rachel hasn’t come back yet, right?”  Scarlet asked, glancing into the soil; the impenetrable crystal had retreated to its base.

Aaron shook his head, and his men, stationed around the area, gave each other looks.

“What happened when we left?”  Fiona asked.

“Well,” Aaron breathed out through his teeth, glaring down at the spot.  “The alien produced some kind of collar … that’s what we figured it was and gave it to her.  It created some kind of bubble around her head and hair … she put it on willingly and went down, despite our warnings.  Some of my boys were willing to take her place, but she refused.”

“Lunar Pride,” Maria whispered just low enough for Fiona and Scarlet to hear.

They both nodded.

“Shoot,” Fiona mumbled.  “Rachel’s a big girl, though.  I mean, she’s been thrown through buildings and came limping back.”

“That was with moonlight,” Maria pointed out.

“I guess…”

“No,” Scarlet shook her head, face setting.  “Rachel told us that she’d stake her pride on coming back to us.  There’s no possible way she doesn’t fulfill that promise.”

“That’s a lot of faith,” Aaron muttered.  “She put on an alien collar and went into their ship, and we, at least, can’t go in after her.”

Scarlet’s left fang poked out to rub against the outside of her lip as she tried to keep her nerves in check.  I’m always so nervous about things!  C’mon, Scarlet, calm down … Rachel’s strong, but more importantly, she’s smart.  She’ll work it out, and we need to do our part.

Running her hands through her hair, Scarlet put on a reassuring smile.  “We’ll go tell Tom what’s going on, and then I’ll come back and wait. If she’s gone too long, then I’ll go in and see what I can do.”

“We’ll come, too!”  Fiona said.

Scarlet hummed darkly before shaking her head.  “I don’t think that’s wise … I mean, maybe you can survive with your Wind Shield, but I’m pretty sure the air is toxic, and that’s why they gave her the bubble helmet thing.  I don’t need to breathe, but I think you two do … maybe not Maria, who knows.”

“I definitely breathe,” Maria muttered.  “The more I learn about you,” she chuckled.  “So, you don’t need to breathe… crazy.”

“I think so, too,” Scarlet chuckled.  “Plus, we don’t know what we’re going to do about that flower.”

“Right,” Maria groaned.  “By the way, I don’t know if we can destroy it, and teleporting with it might be out of the question.  I think I might be able to teleport the whole United States onto the moon … that’s how strong it is.”

Fiona whistled.  “That’s insane!”

“You’re tellin’ me.”

“Okay,” Scarlet cut in, trying to bring back their focus.  “Let’s go talk to Tom.”

They said their goodbyes to Aaron and waved to his men before going through the gate; Scarlet spotted Tom still in the trailer, but he looked somehow older, and he was speaking on the same big conference call they’d seen before with the President.

Scarlet teleported them in, causing the conversation to cut.

“You’re back,” Tom sighed with relief, but his face showed concern.  “How’d it go? Too early to celebrate?”

Fiona made a peace sign as Maria said, “Nope, the Azure Frost is taken care of!”

Tom breathed out a heavy sigh, leaning back in his seat as the other men and women on the screen mirrored his actions.

“What a relief…”

“Good.”

“Excellent work!”

“The Aliens are the next threat to handle.”

“You said it, Phil, I’m taking that bottle of brandy!”

“You got it,” Hannah chuckled.

Tom groaned before cracking his neck and stretching out his fingers; he breathed out a long yawn before blinking a few times.  “Okay, so, the nuclear option is currently on hold. Any news on the little orange men?”

“I’m afraid not,” Scarlet said, “but I know Rachel will have it handled, and there’s something we need to show you.  Maria?”

“Right,” she grunted, pulling back her coat and shirt to produce the flower.  “Really should have brought a bag,” she mumbled. “So … this is the Azure Frost’s Core, and it’s crazy powerful … like, insane.”

Some of the most influential people in the Executive Branch leaned closer to their screens, squinting at the flower in Maria’s hand, and Tom got to his feet to examine it.

Tom licked his lips as he drew closer, studying the sparkling pedals.  “Can I touch it?”

Maria shrugged.  “Honestly, no clue; the ice it makes is like … saying it’s cold is like calling ice cubes hot.  The flower itself isn’t cold to me, but I’m pretty sure it needs to be close to me to keep it contained.  I have some kind of solar property that keeps it calm.”

“That’s not good,” the President muttered.  “What can you tell us about the level of energy it holds?”

“Eh—I told Scarlet and Fiona, I could probably teleport the whole United States continent to the moon, but I couldn’t draw that much out of it at a time.  I’ve got my limits, it seems.”

She set the flower down on the desk before dropping into one of the cushioned seats with a grunt.  “Maybe as time goes on, I’ll get stronger, but I don’t see how I can even use all of this.”

Fiona hovered to it, floating above the article while Scarlet moved around to her original seat, leaning back in it.

“So, umm—we’re done once this crystal’s closed, right?  We can go back to our lives?”

“That’s the plan for now,” Tom said, dropping back into his own seat.  “We might need…”

He trailed off as Fiona spoke up.  “Eh—Maria, is it supposed to be freezing the table?”

Everyone’s focus sharpened as they leaned in to get a better look; sure enough, the table was slowly frosting over, and small feelers were slowly coming out of the cut stem.  A bluish glow bloomed into existence; it appeared like it would take time, but it would regrow and spread its roots.

“Son of a…”  Maria moaned, picking it back up.  The energy vanished the moment she touched it.  “I don’t want to hold the dang thing forever!”

“Can it be destroyed?”  The President asked.

“Wait,” Hannah hummed thoughtfully.  “If it has that much power, then we could use it to end our energy concerns.  Phil would love to get rid of the Department of Energy.”

“Please, we’d focus all its resources on this, if that’s the case,” Phil interjected.

Tom scratched the back of his bald head, clearly tired.  “Assuming we can control it at all. If this thing can move a continent, then it can blow one up.  I think we should be cautious about how we proceed. One accident over the ocean and it could cause a tidal wave thousands of meters high.”

“True,” Hannah muttered.

“Any suggestions?  I’m all ears,” the President asked, eyes glancing between people.

“Bear with me,” Phil said with a short pause, “but I read a report that Maria is a healer, correct?”

“Yes,” Maria said.  “What’s up?”

“So, could she theoretically use this as a tool to help out the massive strain we’re having on our healthcare system?  We’re currently overloaded, and we simply don’t have enough beds. New York City and several of the California cities for starters are in turmoil after the riots, and there’s that new virus sweeping the States.”

“I like that,” the President hummed.

Hannah nodded fervently.  “That’s a great idea, Phil!  It’ll really help calm the citizens if we send out a report about her being sent to the different cities for relief.”

“Hold up,” Maria leaned back with a deep frown on her lips.  “You want me to go zippin’ around the U.S. healing people? I got my own worries, you know?  You know how long that’ll take? I mean, just seeing a thousand people would be super long. I ain’t goin’ to make my life’s mission flying around the States on a whim.”

Tom hummed, folding his fingers as he leaned back to appraise her.  “Let’s see … don’t think we’re just demanding this of you. What would it take for you to make this happen?”

Maria’s lips turned into a grin.  “Now we’re talkin’ capitalism! I’ll work out some of the details with you guys, but for starters, Fiona’s family gets full citizenship, and they get to be flown out here.  She can get on a flight like … oh, as soon as possible would be good.”

“Maria,” Fiona’s eyes widened, and she sniffed as tears appeared in the corners of her eyes.  “Thanks…”

“Hey, you’re like my new best friend!  Gotta look out for ya like my own neighborhood, you know?  Next, I want a business. Y’all can make it happen with Congress, right?  I want my own hospital where I can take people in, and I don’t do most things for free!  I may do my own thing and help people out here or there, you know, pro bono, and all. Maybe I’ll even pay taxes!”  She chuckled.

“Anything else?”  Tom asked. “We’d like to get you moving soon, but I think we should probably wait for Rachel to get back with her information.  Still, we can start getting things prepared.”

“You’re speakin’ my language,” Maria chuckled, sitting forward as she pointed her thumb at Scarlet.  “Anything she wants, and Rachel, too. Gotta lookout for the homies. That about covers it … oh, and get me in touch with a bunch of rich people.  Y’all got connections, and tell them I can do some miracle work … for a price.

“I need to get some funds somewhere, and I ain’t about to take a big lump of taxpayer money for it … and fix the dang potholes on my street!  Well, don’t know how long I’ll be living there, so scratch that one. Yeah, me and the crew be upgradin’ after this!”

Tom folded his arms but was nodding.  “Those aren’t unreasonable, and I’m sure there are a ton of rich people that would pay a ton of money for curing things like cancer and other illnesses.  Using that to start up your business isn’t a bad idea at all, and could birth a whole new industry with what we’re hearing about healers.”

“True,” the President muttered.  “Alright, Tom, you handle that; you have my support, and I think many new laws will be bipartisan.  When the alien incident gets resolved, contact us; we’ll iron out more with this Azure Frost Core later when it becomes more pressing, but keep this under control!  We don’t need this thing destroying the planet … then everything China’s propaganda department is saying about us will be true.” He growled, rolling his eyes.

“Understood, thank you, Sir.”

The feed cut and Tom turned back toward them.  “Alright, let’s get some of these details down on paper so I can get things drawn up.  Oh, and Fiona, we’re going to need to talk about those birds and what to do with them. Sound good?”

“Ah, yeah,” Fiona hummed.  “It would be kind of hard to deal with unless we can figure out a system they can use to communicate.  That’s a toughy.”

“Finally!”  Maria flashed her perfect teeth, giving him a thumbs up.  “We’re getting this business all sorted out; I’m really beginning to like you, Tom.”

Scarlet closed her eyes and leaned back, trying to calm her racing heart.  What do I want from the government … I don’t know...