The First Star of Twilight

by Arcanum -Phantasy

Ch.28 Battle Plans

Fear was a strange thing for a Wraith to feel. When you are typically stronger than your prey and can regenerate from most fatal injuries, it took a lot to force such an emotion into such a creature's heart. At that moment, Petal found herself sitting across the table from one of the few things that could do just that.

The dining room was as silent as a tomb, its three inhabitants sitting at the mansion's hostess's table with visual civility. Under the surface, Petal and Somnambula were waiting for the meeting to go south in one form or another. Dagon sat near the middle of the table, nibbling on a tea biscuit as he watched the two. Somnambula was the visual definition of calm, the stunning woman casually sipping at her tea. Petal, currently in human form, was a pile of nerves, eyes darting across the table at the assortment of tea flavorings, pastries, crackers, breads, and toppings that stood between her and the hostess. All of it was on fine china, befitting of someone of high traditional status; a fact that added to the nerves strangling Petal.

When Petal and Twilight woke up that morning and headed to the mansion's dinning room for breakfast, neither of them really knew what to expect. The first shock was when Sugar announced that she was going to take Sour with her to the mall. The second came when Sunny volunteered to help Twilight with her training. The third came when, on the way out, Somnambula requested that Petal stay in her seat. The only thing that kept Petal from running like a bat out of hell was the fact that Dagon had reassured her that he was going to stay as well.

Is this how Sparky feels every time things get bad? she thought, taking a nervous sip of her tea. No wonder she's such a basket case half of the time. Maybe we should go do something later. Help her get her mind off of things for a bit.

A calm, yet piercing stare from Somnambula shoved an arctic chill down her spine.

Assuming I get to have a later, she mentally added, her throat dry in spite of her tea.

The silence held between them for several long minutes, minutes that felt like hours to the young Wraith, before the elder Gifted set her cup down and gave her guest her full attention.

"So, Petal Wasp, is it?" Somnambula asked, making the girl jump.

"Y-Yes ma'am," she nodded, posture stiff as a board.

Somnambula subtly nodded in turn, gaze still piercing.

"Tell me about yourself."

"Huh?" she blinked.

"You heard me," Somnambula stated, a faint smile creeping onto her face. "I am sure a girl like you has a few interesting stories to tell."

"N-Not really," Petal nervously chuckled. "I'm pretty plain, y'know. I mean, I compared to someone like you and some of Twi's friends, at least."

"That is a rather humble assessment," Somnambula giggled. "Especially coming from a Wraith."

Petal's core sank into her gut, all color draining away from her horrified face. She knew that there was no point trying to deny the woman's claim. Just like she knew that there was no way she could beat her if she decided to do her in. She gave Dagon a pleading look, one that was met with a reassuring smile.

"There is no need to hold that form," Somnambula added, snapping Petal's attention back to her. "Also, I have no desire to kill you, so please put yourself at ease."

"I-I don't know if I can," Petal gulped, letting her human form drop. "I-Instincts and all that junk, y'know?"

"I see," she frowned, taking in the Wraith's simple black dress with casual interest. "Even with the ability to use Aether, a Wraith is still a Wraith."

"I-I guess so," Petal nervously chuckled.

"Now then," Somnambula smiled, leaning a bit further towards her guest. "As I requested before; tell me about yourself."

***

Calm was one thing that Twilight would never describe herself around Sunny. Even with a truce standing between them and knowing what had led to the friction between them, there was still a slimy blanket of fear wrapped around her heart every time she was alone with her. As such, the fact that Sunny was successfully teaching her how to meditate was just as much of a surprise to Twilight as it was for Indigo.

At the moment, the three girls sat cross-legged in the mansion's titanic backyard, backs straight and eyes closed. The gurgling of water from the pool's fountain and the chirping of birds eased the stress to the back of her mind. A cool spring breeze washed over her like a gentle blanket, easing a relaxed smile onto her face. In that moment, those were the only things in her world. No pressure to excel. No looming battle in the distant horizon. Just the water, the birds, and the air.

"How do you feel?' Sunny asked, her voice gentle in the far corner of Twilight's mind.

"Calm," Twilight softly replied, a dreamy lilt decorating her tone.

"Good. Do you feel anything else?"

Twilight frowned, mildly confused by that, but too lost in her zen to be truly bothered by the question.

"No."

"I see," Sunny said, a small hint of a frown in her tone. "Then you must go deeper. Let your mind drift further into your center until you find your Aether."

"Okay," Twilight dreamily responded. "How...will I know when I find it?"

With a hint of mirth, Sunny stated, "You simply will."

Deciding not to question her, Twilight gave her a faint nod and let her mind wander. Slowly, the world around her started to fade away, like she was walking away from a radio spitting out static. Eventually, she found herself floating in a dark void. Before panic could take her, she felt a small tug on the back of her mind and the familiar sounds of the mansion's backyard faintly reached her. Thankful for the lifeline, she let herself drift fully back into the void and "looked" around. She wasn't sure what she was "looking" for or how she was supposed to find it, but that didn't deter her from her task. For a time, she simply sat there calmly trying to solve the riddle set before her. How much time? A minute? An hour? A day? She didn't know nor, to her own surprise, did she care. Time meant nothing here. All she knew was that the answer would come to her when it did.

As she drifted further through the void, she found her thoughts drifting towards her friends. She remembered how Lemon helped her relieve her stress by screaming into a mike. She remembered how Indigo talked her down during her episode at the park. She remembered how Sugar eased her out of her paranoia during her first D&D session together. Most importantly, she remembered how Petal pulled her out of her darkness and helped her make friends in the first place. With each memory, a small glowing light entered the void, each a different colored star that made the darkness feel much less empty. In time, more stars filled the darkness, greeting her with more moments spent with her friends and family. Some of them were painful, such as the night Twilight and Petal had their first big argument or the massive panic attack the lavender teen had at the mall, but even those held a bittersweet kind of joy to them.

While she basked in the steadily growing night sky, she felt a small pull guiding her forward. Trusting in it, she let the pull take her further into the now glimmering void. As she progressed, more stars appeared around her at a gradual clip, warming her heart and slowly stirring something inside her. When the pull finally stopped, she was surrounded by a dense sea of lavender stars.

Unlike the ones before, these small lights didn't hold memories, but a warm energy that filled her with a familiar sense of ease. Reaching out to touch one, she was immediately greeted by a small spark behind her heart, the same one she felt when Petal was in danger. At the same time, two small wisps of mist drifted off of the small star, one black and the other a light teal. The wisps quickly merged together before they returned to the small ball of light as it slowly drifted away from her. Twilight watched it go for as long as she could before it was lost to the thousands of identical lights that surrounded it. She shifted her attention to the sea of stars itself, the lights flowing around her like a rock in a gentle river. In its presence, she felt a kind of ownership, like this river was her birthright.

Is this....my Aether?

"Truly magnificent, is it not?"

Twilight flinched, but let a small smile grace her lips as she turned to face the voice's source.

Standing ten feet away from her, protected by the stars with a ring of golden flames and shining silver ivy, was Lily. Unlike the last few times she saw her, the Wraith did not look like Petal, but now appeared to be an elegant Wraith woman in her mid twenties. She still wore the familiar black gown of her previous form, only now her raven black hair reached the middle of her back. Her eyes were the normal black with golden pupils that all of her kind held, along with skin that held the same monochrome gray her kind shared with old photographs. A shining golden eagle was perched on her shoulder, the avian looking as if it was made from the very light of the sun itself, only dimmed to a degree low enough to safely see.

"Good morning, Lily," she said.

"Good morning, Twilight," Lily returned, adding a graceful curtsy to the the greeting.

Twilight giggled at the gesture, earning a similar reaction out of her guest.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you, but how are you here?" she asked.

"Thanks to our deal and the bond you share with Petal, I am free to travel between your minds," Lily smiled.

The bird let out a sharp chirp.

"Within reason, of course," she added, giving the bird a pointed frown. "I am only a guest here, so you do not need to worry about me holding any sway over the two of you."

"That's....good to know," Twilight frowned. "Not that you would've done that, anyway, right?"

A guilty smile formed on Lily's face.

"There was.... a time that the attempt would have been made, but that is far behind me."

Twilight nodded, a bit unnerved, but willing to accept that particularly grim possible reality about the woman.

"I fear my past deeds are not entirely relevant at the moment," Lily continued, a determined frown set across her lips. "You and Petal have a more pressing matter bearing down on the both of you, correct?"

Twilight nodded, a faint shiver running through her.

"There is an extremely powerful and unstable Archwraith coming for me. Petal thinks we can get strong enough to fight him, but I..."

Lily nodded, understanding slipping into her determined expression.

"It is wise to have doubts," Lily stated. "In both life and battle, doubt can become caution and caution can make us take time to measure the best way to approach a task."

"That...makes sense," she allowed, then let out a sigh while she added, "Too bad we don't have a lot of options here."

"Not necessarily," Lily said, a knowing, wicked smirk gracing her lips.

"Huh?" Twilight blinked.

"You two may not have the power needed to mach Belfry, but that doesn't mean there isn't an option."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

Lily gave her bird a questioning look, then smiled when she received a chirping nod. When she gave the girl her full attention, it was with a chuckle that shocked Twilight into taking a step back.

She sounded just like Petal

"Let's just say," she beamed, pulling Twilight back to the present. "That there is more to your union than you both initially thought."

***

"And that's all there is to know," Petal sighed, wilting in her seat.

Somnambula nodded, hands rested on her lap and back straight against the back of her chair. The woman had held that stance through the entirety of Petal's story, a patient smile the only sign that the woman held no malice. That, combined with the eery serenity she sensed from the woman was the only reason Petal had managed to talk to her as opposed to run screaming for the door.

After a long moment of silence, Somnambula calmly stated, "You are quite the odd one, aren't you?"

"I......guess," she mumbled, lips tugging up into a shy smile.

"An understatement of titanic proportions if I ever heard it," Dagon chuckled, floating a cookie to himself and her.

"Agreed," Somnambula nodded, taking a sip of her tea. "A Wraith that can use Aether is odd, but one that can do that and has willingly chosen to bond with a human is unheard of. To hear that you do not wish to kill any humans is something I still find hard to believe."

"I....don't get it either," she admitted, frowning at the cookie in her hands. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't up for the idea in the past. I mean, that's what my kind do, right? Then I got a look a Twilight's soul and I just.....couldn't do it. Then I started to care about her and it was all down hill from there."

Somnambula nodded, a thoughtful frown gracing her lips as she studied the girl.

"And it was from that care that you formed a symbiotic relationship, correct?"

"I did a what know?" Petal blinked.

"Formed a relationship that helped you both out," Dagon clarified, taking a huge bite out of his latest treat. "She gave you food, you relieved her stress."

"Oh, yeah," she nodded, giving her snack a small nibble. "I guess that's how it started, huh?"

"Is that one of the perks of your connection with Twilight as well?" Somnambula asked, pointing at the cookie.

Petal looked down, then rolled her eyes with a tired groan.

"Seriously? Even you don't know that we can eat human food?"

"To be fair, most of my interactions with Wraiths involved them trying to tear out my innards," she shrugged, calmly taking a sip of her tea. "This is the first cordial interview I have had with your kind in my entire long life."

"Right, guess that makes sense," Petal chuckled. "Not like my kind would expect any different, right?"

"Indeed," the hostess chuckled.

They basked in the mirth of the moment for a bit, before Somnambula dimmed it with a question that lightly ticked the Wraith off.

"Given the...current circumstances, would it be accurate of me to call you an ally?"

"What? You think after everything I'm gonna leave Twilight and my friends in the lurch? Fuck that noise! I'm in this till the end. Period!"

"Good to know," Somnambula smiled, nodding her approval. "Doubly so now that I know how your Nest operates."

"What do you mean?" she asked, a cautious edge rimming her tone.

An impish spark crept into the older woman's eyes.

"Tell me dear, have you heard the story of the Soldiers of Troy?"

***

Indigo's heart pounded in her chest, a mix of fear and thrill running through her being as she blocked a fist coated in lavender light with silver-coated arms. Twilight felt similar, her now red feline eyes narrowed with determination behind her glasses as she threw another punch. The duo moved around the backyard in a fierce dance, trading or redirecting blows in even measure. Sunny stood near the pool, watching the pair and ready to jump in if things got out of hand.

"Keep your guard up!" Sunny demanded, arms crossed as she watched her peers.

"I-I'm trying!" Indigo barked, her cheek turning silver just before Twilight's fist hit it.

"Try harder!" she shouted, her glare narrowing.

Indigo just let out an irate growl in response, sending a now metallic fist flying at Twilight. A move that said girl easily side-stepped and countered with a quick jab towards Indigo's gut. Indigo's eyes widened at that as she quickly jumped back to get out of her friend's strike-range. After that she instantly reformed her stance, allowed Mithril to move further up her arms, and moved back onto the offensive.

Sunny watched the struggle with a critical eye, carefully analyzing their movements. While it was going at a slower pace than she was happy with, she could see Indigo make some progress. The fact that a normal human could get Mithril to function on this current level was impressive in its own right. Unfortunately, she was going to need to be at a much higher level of skill to even have a chance in the fight to come.

As for Twilight, it was difficult for her to say with any real certainty.

While it was clear that the girl had received some combat training and had an acceptable level of potential there, her Gift was impossible for her to properly gage. At the moment, the girl was coated in a soft lavender aura; a common form that a newly awakened Gift would take. Aside from her eyes, there were no external changes that could give a hint about what kind of powers said Gift was. No matter how different Gifts were, the infant stage always showed its nature in one form or another. For Stygian, it was an oily black shadow that slid across his body. For Lemon, it was blasts of sound. If she had a Gift, she knew that the barebones nature of her ability would've been as clear as day. Twilight's aura held no traits or nature. Aside from being powerful and holding a faint hint of Miasmic energy, there was nothing to it beyond simply existing. The fact that she was able to access it so easily after only twenty minutes of meditative practice only added to the mysteries surrounding the girl's abilities.

Has Petal's Miasma altered her Gift in some way? she mused, bringing a hand up to her chin in thought.

Before she could ponder on that further, the sparing session took a turn that made her jaw drop.

As skilled as Twilight was, it was clear that she lacked the raw stamina that Indigo had at her disposal. After twenty solid minutes of constant action, Twilight was starting to show that she was reaching her limit. Panting, Twilight threw a few quick jabs, but a barely winded Indigo easily dodged or blocked them. This continued, a confident smirk slowly forming on Indigo's face while Twilight's crimson feline eyes narrowed in growing frustration. At the same time, Twilight continued to lose ground, gradually moving more and more onto the defensive as her stamina steadily plummeted. Once Twilight hit the metaphorical wall, Indigo gave her a wide, yet sympathetic smile before sending a high spinning roundhouse kick to Twilight's right ribs. At the last second, the lavender teen bent backwards under the kick, dropping Indigo's jaw along with Sunny's. The second Indigo's leg passed over her, Twilight straightened back up and, with a cry that sounded like a cross between a horse's neigh and a cat's yowl, sent Indigo flying back with a double-palm to the chest. Indigo hit the ground ten feet away with a wheeze, what little air still in her knocked out of her the second her back hit the grass.

Shocked silence settled between the three girls, Indigo's hacking breaths the only thing breaking it as the trio struggled to process what had just happened.

Twilight was the first to recover, panic dispelling her aura as she ran to her friend's side, an equally worried Sunny not far behind.

"Indigo! I'm so sorry! I-I-I don't know how I-. Oh god, please tell me you're okay!"

"I-I've been better," she groaned, sitting up with a smirk in spite of the pain. "D-Didn't know you could bend that way, Slugger."

Before Twilight could comment on that, Sunny moved to the side of the girl opposite of Twilight, frantically struggling to get something from her pants pocket.

"Do not move," Sunny demanded, finally managing to free a small silver sphere as she kneeled down to where the girl sat.

They watched in wonder as the orb let out a dull blue light. Said light washed over Indigo, making her flinch for a second before a look of peace settled on her face. When the light faded, Indigo flopped bonelessly on the grass, exhaustion taking the place of pain. Twilight watched the whole event with worry, only relaxing when Sunny pocketed the sphere and gave her a reassuring smile. The second her panic passed, she let out a relieved sigh, just before her own fatigue knocked her down right next to Indigo.

Indigo did the same, chuckling lightly.

"That was one hell of a trick you pulled there, Slugger. Really caught off guard."

"Th-Thanks," Twilight panted, a dazed glaze tinting her eyes as she stared at the sky.

"Indeed," Sunny mused, a thoughtful frown sitting on her lips. "Were you always that limber?"

"N....No," she forced out between breaths. "Don't know....how....I did...that."

"I see," she nodded, studying the downed lavender girl.

Could her gift be increased flexibility? No. It looked as thought that was a byproduct of some other kind of ability. Force projection? Possibly, but it is too soon to be sure. Could she be one of the few that have two gifts? No. If she was, then she would have two auras.

Hiding her frustrations, she shifted her ire towards the other girl lying on the grass.

"This is why you need to further your bond with Mithril!"

"I get it," Indigo groaned, tiredly closing her eyes.

"I do not think that you do," Sunny huffed. "That blow almost shattered some of your ribs."

"W-What?!" Twilight drunkenly squawked, struggling to turn her head towards her.

"I did put up a guard," she frowned, pulling up her shirt just short of her bust-line. "See?"

Sure enough, a thick layer of cracked and crumbling metal coated the area revealed, silver dust crumbling off of it in synch with the metal coating her arms. A second later, said metal crumbled into a fine dust, then reformed into a pair of plain silver manacles on her wrists. Sunny allowed a small impressed smile to cross her lips at the display, but schooled it away just as quickly.

"If your bond was stronger, there would be no cracks to begin with."

"Give me a break!" she groaned, sitting up with a scowl. "I had, like, a couple seconds to think about what I wanted the damn thing to do!"

"The fact that you had to think in the first place is proof that you need more training," Sunny growled.

"Bite me," Indigo growled, glaring daggers at the girl.

"I would rather not," she huffed, leaning closer. "I am not a fan of flaky pastries."

Twilight watched the back-and-forth with worry, sure that a real fight was going to break out at any moment. Just before she could try to defuse the situation, a familiar rough female voice from the mansion's doors beat her to it.

"Would you two just kiss already!" a human-formed Petal cried, stomping towards them with a crooked smile. "Fucking hell, the two of you are halfway there already!"

Both girls gave her incredulous looks, then aimed wide-eyed blushes at each other when they realized how close their faces were. They quickly scrambled away from each other, one sheepishly rising to her feet while the other offered a few apologies for practically rolling over Twilight. Petal took the whole thing in with a laugh, earning some blushing scowls from all three of the girls.

"Must you be so.....so.... uncouth?" Sunny huffed, crossing her arms.

"What she said," Indigo barked, then raised a brow and stage whispered to a now standing Twilight, "What did she say?"

While Twilight explained, Petal gave a shameless smile and said, "I could've said something worse."

"I will not take that challenge," Sunny monotoned. "I take it your meeting with Lady Somnambula went well?"

"Very," she nodded, her smile taking on a more vicious tone. "In fact, I think I know way to tip things a bit more towards our side when the fight starts."

"Do tell," she stated, intrigued.

"I...think I've got something too," Twilight offered, sheepish smile gracing her lips as she raised a hand to get everyone's attention.

"You too?" Petal blinked. "How?"

"It's....complicated," Twilight frowned, not sure how to accurately describe her meeting without telling too much.

"What do you-" Indigo started

"I...think I know what she's talking about," Petal nervously chuckled. "I'll...I'll need to fill you in on it for this to work anyway. Just...you trust Twi and me, right?"

"Yeah?" she nodded, furrowing her brows.

"Good," she sighed. "Cuz for this whole thing to work, I'm gonna need you to."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Giving an audible nervous gulp, Petal gave Twilight and Sunny a nervous smile. With a shaky breath, she closed her eyes and dropped her human form.

Comments

[Aradomnguy]

Okay, is this the same Lily as before?

[Teraunce]

well hey this'll be interesting.