Mari and Eric moved around Viridis Park a few times because the old woman continued to follow them. It was quite comical. They would find a spot, sit down for five minutes, and she would pop up again, shuffling with a new flower cane. They couldn't understand how she kept finding them so they decided to keep circling the park until Eric's family arrived. When they did, Mari was confused about how Eric was the odd one out. She imagined them all to look and act a bit like him; a bit surly dark-haired and sarcastic.

Zephyr and Phoenix, both had extremely bright red hair and green eyes. Elara's hair was bright green and her eyes were iridescent. They were clearly Kuraga, and by association so was Eric. Mari started to breathe rapidly and heavily, wondering about the amount of prison time she would serve after accidentally shocking someone of "good stock". Elara Orion, his aunt noticed Mari's quarter-life crisis and promised her it was okay.

"You don't have to do that," Elara said. "Not here, in Viridis."

"Do what," Mari asked, staring at the ground.

"You can look us in the eyes, Mari," Eric groaned. "We're not special."

"This park is a sanctuary, a safe place," Elara assured her. "Since it's just a park, why did you call us here?"

Eric held out his left hand and Zephyr bristled at the error code flashing. Without missing a bit, his son Phoenix took his hand, tapped the top of his index finger twice, and it expanded the entire circuitry of his hand. Next, he took a small, miniature computer screwdriver kit out of his pocket and went to work.

"You got to stop touching stuff you shouldn't, " Phoenix chastised him.

" I didn't do it, Mari did this!"

Phoenix shook his head in disbelief that the shaking wet blanket in front of him was capable of damaging his cousin's circuits. As they waited for Phoenix to finish the tune-up, the old witch found them once again.

"There she is," Eric groaned. "She's insane. That crazy lady thinks Mari is the Stormweaver and keeps following us around."

Zephyr and Elara looked at each other, looked at Mari, and then laughed. Mari wasn't sure if she was being laughed with or at so she decided to laugh along with them.

"Let's get you of here," Zephyr said.

Phoenix bullied Eric on the walk back to the car for being afraid of an old woman. He kept on laughing until when they got to the parking lot, she was there. She had somehow arrived at the parking lot before they did, and they did not see her.

"Mari, get in the car," Eric said.

He pointed to the orange minivan and Mari made a dash for it across the parking lot. Right before she could get in, a large dandelion grew and wrapped around her ankle, taking her down to the ground.

"I don't want to hurt an old lady," Eric said. "Just leave!"

"I'm partial to it," his aunt announced. "She's not weak in the slightest."

The asphalt groaned and shifted underneath the old woman's feet. Elara wasn't trying to hurt her either but distract her, but it wasn't enough to stop her. The old woman moved with the waves of the asphalt, surprising everyone there.

Mari tried to break free from the gargantuan dandelion, but the more she pulled, the longer it grew, and now it was up to her torso.

"Help," she screamed. "I just wanted to go to the park! HELP!"

Phoenix ran over to her and put his hands on the dandelion. He set it ablaze and it started screaming. He quickly pulled Mari away as the sentient flower screamed in anguish. Other people in the park started fleeing in terror, recording with their holo-phones, hiding behind cars, or calling the police.

Phoenix picked up Mari like a sack of potatoes and shoved her into the minivan. He got into the driver's seat but panicked because he realized that he had no keys.

The witch screamed alongside it and curled her fist. The trees from the edge of the park started to shift and sway, and the sound of snapping branches was approaching the parking lot.

"Is she making the trees move," Eric asked.

"Yes. Time to go," Zephyr said.

"But-"

Zephyr and Elara took both of his hands and flew into the sky, then landed next to the burning monstrosity next to their minivan. With one big puff, Zephyr blew out the fire, leaving nothing but the carcass of the monster. As he got out his car keys, they roared to life. Mari was in the driver's seat, powering the van with her newfound powers.

"But how," Elara asked.

"Just get in! The police are here," Mari shouted.

The witch was surrounded by her sentient treants of destruction as the local police force descended down on her with all the force of a small grade military. They had hand-me-down equipment from the nearby military base and were excited to try it on a deviant such as the old Weaver who was bent on kidnapping Mari.

"The Sisters of the Night will have you," the Weaver screeched. "I swear it!"

Mari did not hear her proclamation because the minivan was out of the parking lot and soaring into the skyline along with the other cars.

Everyone looked at each other and didn't know what to say. Trauma filled the silence of the car, and the first to finally speak was Eric.

"I told you, Mari broke my arm! I told you, that old lady was insane!"

He glared at Phoenix who softly apologized and he went back to his job of making sure Mari did not accidentally kill them all with the last-second driver's ed class he was giving her.

"Can I go home," Mari asked. "I just wanted to go to the park."

"Of course you can dear," Elara said. "I'm so sorry we ruined your date."

"AUNTIE," Eric shouted. "It's not a date!"

"Don't shout, I'm right next to you," Elara replied.

Mari was starting to see the family resemblance. She focused every bit of sanity she had left on controlling the car to the transit station. She wanted to make sure she caught the correct hyper-train to meet her parents on the southern side of Mu.

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

At the transit station, Mari was seen off by Eric. His family leered at them at a distance from their minivan, making the goodbye awkward.

"I'm sorry about my family," Eric grumbled.

"No! They're awesome," Mari said. " He set a flower-man on fire and your aunt and uncle can fly! Can you fly?"

"Uhm...I've never tried to," Eric admitted.

Mari gave him a big hug and said she couldn't wait to meet his family again.

"Thank you for taking care of me," she said.

"I...didn't do anything," Eric replied.

"You kept me away from her while we were in the park. And you showed me all those cool people today! I didn't think Weavers could...you know, just do stuff like that!"

"Hopefully the next time we hang out it won't be anything like today. I'll see ya later, Mari."

She hugged him again, waved goodbye to everyone, and got into the glass elevator taking her up to the hyper-train station in the sky. The glass tube was fuller than usual, as it was rush hour and she felt like a sock lost behind a bed. This time when the hyper-train came around she had to fight her way on-board or else she would have to buy another ticket.

As she sat in the train, lucky enough to have a window seat, she went over all the things she would tell her parents. She would have to edit out the last half of her adventure at Viridi Park, and maybe say that there were less Weavers there than she saw, but she was nonetheless excited to tell them about her new life. When the train arrived at it's destination, she saw her parents in the corner of the platform anxiously waiting for her.

When she saw them she wondered when they got so old. She wondered if how she saw them was how everyone else saw her; anxious, nervous, even when doing nothing wrong. Mari told herself that no longer would they feel shame for existing. Mari waved in their direction, and they looked a little less nervous once they laid their eyes on her.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

She ran through the crowd and crashed into her father's arms causing him to grunt. Her mother cried as she did every day, and Mari gave her a giant bear hug too.

"I missed you so much," she said. "I want to take you with me when I go back!"

"I hope so," her Dad said in awe. "Look at all those fancy clothes you have! You put on weight too! Don't get fat."

"What did they do to your hair," her mother wailed. "How will you find a boyfriend?"

"Why is everyone so concerned about my love life today," Mari asked. "Not you know, other stuff!?"

"Well tell us about the other stuff on the way out," her mother replied.

"Just, let me go to the bathroom first," Mari said.

She sprinted to the two-armed species-only restroom and went to go pee. While she was sitting on the toilet, the lights started to flicker, and patrons throughout the building started to groan. Mari tried to exit the restroom as fast as she could, but the lights went out while she was washing her hands, causing screams and shouts throughout the terminal.

Mari started to wonder if hyper-trains were cursed because she had only ridden them twice and every time she did something went wrong.

While fumbling in the dark for a paper towel dispenser, a loud screech occurred. More complaints came from outside the restroom, but they turned into frantic screams of terror as the sounds of metal folded in on each other. Mari's entire body lit up the room, the lights flickered, and the doors swung open and shut as she tried to remember her military training.

She had only had training for one month, and she just escaped another attempted kidnapping. Her mind was too frazzled and panicked to figure out a coherent plan. She looked for anything electric in the bathroom that could help her, but the only thing within reach were a few lightbulbs and the automated papertowel dispenser.

She ran out of the restroom but fell to the ground as the transit center's sky platform started to lean to the west. People hung onto anything they could find, but the ones already too close to the edge of the platform fell over.

Mari's first thought was where here parents were.