An alien reluctantly creates a team of magical girls at an elite academy to fight the eldritch army that destroyed her home world before it destroys theirs. Sci-fi, fantasy, magical girls, horror. --- Formerly the inspo blog for an original story tabletop game, now the home of the written version of that story. Very casually written and illustrated by @zaaly. Also on AO3.
Once Cass had moved her things back onto campus, she left Sana to whatever it was aliens did and prowled around campus looking for Nahid. She knew vaguely where her dorm was, but decided to save that for a last resort. After all, the dorms were crawling with people coming back in and reconnecting after a couple weeks apart.
Just as she suspected, she found Nahid in the still-abandoned classrooms of the science and computer technologies building. In fact, in the same room she’d spied her in the day before.
Now Nahid was busy at work and didn’t notice as Cass tiptoed in through the far door.
“Hi again!” she said, popping up on the other side of the computer.
Nahid recoiled but quickly regained her composure and leveled her with a glare. “What do you want.”
It was a demand, not a question. Cass leaned both hands on the desk and smiled, sticking her face right through the display. “I have some questions for you. Did you see anything weird in here yesterday?”
Nahid leaned back, her expression unchanging, then closed her tasks and the screen turned off. “You’re bothering me.”
“No, I’m serious!” Cass shuffled to the side as Nahid got up. She dropped the friendly act and tried sincere concern. “Really, did you see some like, shadowy smoke hanging around in here?”
“No,” Nahid said flatly.
“If you did, you have to tell me,” Cass said. She rushed to block the door and Nahid stopped short. “It’s very important.”
Nahid crossed her arms. “So what if I saw it? It’s gone now. Move.”
“Because if you saw it, that means you’re like me,” Cass said hurriedly. “My friend, she’s an alien, and —”
Although she wasn’t very expressive to begin with, even Cass could see the change in her face at that. She backpedaled, hoping to recover before she really did lose Nahid. “I mean, just give me a chance and hear her out?? I don’t care if you believe the alien thing. There’s something seriously bad going on.”
Nahid pulled out her phone and typed a few things into it. “I’m going to give you ten seconds to get out of the way.”
“It’s not a joke, I swear,” Cass said even more hurriedly, stumbling over her words. “There’s something here that normal people can’t see, and it’s going to—”
She was drowned out by the shrill sound of the alarm system. If she didn’t split, the guards would be there in a matter of seconds. She huffed at Nahid and pointed an accusing finger, but gave her what she wanted as she turned and ran. Getting her name on the watch list the day before school even started would only make things worse.
As soon as she set foot outside, the alarm abruptly stopped. She turned on her heel, only to see Nahid walking serenely up to the two security guards who had entered the building. She said a few words and they nodded, but Cass was too far away to hear.
“You haven’t seen the last of me, Nahid,” she muttered, and slipped away before she could get spotted and pulled in for questioning.
She went back to her dorm room in defeat and slouched inside, dropping to the floor and lying down on her carpet.
Sana sat at her desk, and when Cass looked up she saw that Sana had set everything up. She groaned, “Why is everyone I know such a neat freak?”
“I’m not a freak, I just thought I would help,” Sana said with a slight frown. “I take it your plan did not go well? I heard an alarm.”
“Turns out when you tell someone you know an alien, people don’t really believe you,” Cass said. She sat up on her elbows. “She basically admitted she saw it, but I guess she thought I was playing a prank or something.”
“Do people often play these pranks? You’ve spoken of them before.”
“No…” Cass put her face between her hands and leaned into them, stretching out her mouth into a line. “But Nahid is a total weirdo, so no one really talks to her except to tease her.”
“Well, that’s not very nice.” Sana slid from the desk chair and joined her on the floor, sitting on her heels in a little ball. “Do you tease her?”
“Nooo! I wouldn’t.” Cass rested her head on the ground and rolled onto her side. “Do I look like a bully?”
“I don’t know what a human bully looks like,” Sana said.
“Well, it’s not me,” Cass whined. “How are we gonna get her to help us now? She probably hates me.”
“We’ll just have to take a more direct approach,” Sana answered.
Cass hadn’t really expected that response. Her pout faded and she sat up to converse properly. “What do you have in mind?”
“Your first day of classes is tomorrow, correct?” Cass nodded and Sana continued, “I will come. If she is truly one of you, she will have no choice but to at least understand that something is happening.”
Cass lunged at her and hugged her tight, knees and all. “You’re the best!”
“Please let me go.”
#
Cass went to class the next day trying to act as normal as possible. She didn’t even look at Nahid when she went into the classroom, and as she tried to spy on her from the corner of her eye it looked like Nahid was ignoring her too. She sat down at her desk and waited.
Roll call, the homeroom teacher’s speech for the start of the year. The first class. Everything was peaceful, normal, exactly how they had left it before spring break except for the start of a new year’s curriculum. She was impatient and unfocused, and it didn’t help that the teacher was only going over the syllabus, droning on and on.
And then, finally, Sana walked in. She had decided to remain in human form, wearing a simple outfit they had picked out the week before. She walked right into the classroom and stood in front of the teacher. No one said a word or reacted in the slightest. She really could make herself unseen in plain sight.
Cass watched as subtly as she could manage but she couldn’t hold it in longer than a few seconds. She turned and looked right at Nahid, who met her gaze with strained neutrality.
“See?” Cass hissed. But Cass could not go unnoticed. In fact, her voice seemed extremely loud even though she thought she had whispered.
“Miss Sophia, is there something you need to tell Miss Nikahd?” the teacher said, pausing in her lecture. She looked right past Sana, who glanced at her and then looked at Nahid. She hadn’t really known who to look for before.
“No,” Cass said, turning the right way in her seat. “I’m sorry.”
Without further comment, the teacher went back to introducing the lesson plans for the year. But Cass had done her job, and Sana made her way through the aisles and went to stand in front of Nahid’s desk. She really meant direct. Cass leaned her head on her hand to look at them and still seem like she was looking at the papers on her desk. Nahid put her hand up.
The teacher sounded annoyed but paused again. “Yes, Nahid?”
“May I go to the restroom?” she asked quietly.
“We are less than half an hour into class,” the teacher reprimanded. “Please remember to prepare yourself better tomorrow. You may go, take the hall pass.”
With her head down and a few snickers following her, Nahid got up and hurriedly grabbed the pass from the front of the room and went outside. Sana nodded to Cass and went out behind her.
Whatever it was Sana said or did, when Nahid returned, her dark features were set in a scowl. She returned the hall pass and slunk back to her seat. Cass could barely contain her curiosity as the classes dragged by, but every break between them did not seem to hold enough minutes for her to even approach Nahid, nevermind interrogate her.
When lunch finally arrived and they were free to roam, Cass sprang from her seat and made a bee-line for her.
“Don’t talk to me,” Nahid said quietly. “People will get suspicious.”
“I don’t care,” Cass said as she sat in the now-vacant seat in the desk next to her. “Eat lunch with me?”
Nahid’s lip curled a little in disgust. “Don’t be so friendly. We can talk after classes.”
Cass frowned at her, but Nahid was immune to even her most adorable puppy eyes. Without further discussion, she took her things and left Cass sitting alone. Cass sighed and slouched in the chair. If Nahid was one of them — and it sure seemed like she was — she was going to be a tough person to have as an ally.
“Cass!” Came a sing-song voice from the doorway. Cass looked up to see Lena peeking in with her lunch in hand. “Come eat… huh? Where’s Sana?”
Cass had completely forgotten that even though Sana could go unnoticed and unknown by the school body at large, she was definitely known to one person, and that person was extremely thorough in everything she did. “Aah, um…!! Hm! She went to the bathroom!”
Lena looked bemused but agreed. “Well, come to our class when she’s back, okay? I made her lunch.”
“Yep, I’ll go get her,” Cass said. She knew she was not being subtle, so to save herself any further grief she got up and left in the direction of the restrooms with a wave at Lena.
Once she was around the corner, she took off down the hallway at a run. She ran all the way to her dorm, arriving breathless and sweaty, practically falling into her room.
Sana looked down at her, startled by the sudden entrance and Cass’s state. “Are you all right?”
“No,” Cass wheezed, “Lena wants you to come to lunch. Hurry, change into a uniform or she’s going to blow our cover.”
“Ah.. oh.” Sana went to the closet and closed herself inside. Cass laid sprawled on the floor while she waited, trying to catch her breath. It barely felt like a minute before Sana was standing over her in the school uniform she’d worn on her tour. It was a little wrinkly, but it was good enough.
Cass hauled herself to her feet. “Okay, we have to play it cool.”
“I…?” Sana furrowed her brow.
“Keep it on the down-low, casual, secret,” Cass said, “capisce?”
“Oh, secret, yes,” Sana nodded. “I have been at school all morning. It has been fun.”
“Good.” Cass grabbed her by the wrist and headed back to the class building.
After a quick stop to get her own lunch, they went a couple of hallways over to Lena’s classroom. Jacob was there, along with a few other people they were friends with. Not really Cass’s friends outside of a setting like this, but she got along with them well enough.
Lena greeted them with a wave, half-standing out of her seat. “I saved you some space!”
The group had arranged their desks into a rectangle towards the front of the classroom, borrowing chairs to seat people on the ends. Cass and Sana were one such end, putting them at the head of the makeshift table. It was embarrassing, especially since Sana technically wasn’t a student, but Cass was in too deep now. One saving grace was that the rest of the room was mostly empty. She sat down and threw an arm casually over the back of the chair.
“Hey, thanks for the invite.”
“Yes, thank you very much,” Sana said as she sat down stiffly beside her.
“Of course! You’re so welcome,” Lena replied, beaming as she pulled a carefully-wrapped lunch out of her desk and slid it across to Sana. “I thought it must be difficult to be prepared on your first day, so I made you a little extra lunch just in case.”
“Oh my, thank you again,” Sana said. She pulled it closer but did not yet unwrap it, looking to Cass as if seeking permission.
Mistaking her hesitation for shyness, Lena continued, “I hope you’re having a good time so far. These are our friends—” she gestured to each as she said their name, “—Jacob, Sabrina, Amber, and Risa.”
“Nice to meet you,” Sana said quietly.
It seemed everyone already knew about Sana, as Lena made no effort to introduce her in turn. “Please, don’t be shy and enjoy your lunch.”
Cass just had a hot dog she’d bought that morning, now cold and covered in slightly congealed relish, so when Sana opened her artistically arranged box lunch she was a little jealous. But she didn’t have much time to ogle, as Sana devoured it faster than she could manage her own, even while trying to keep up with the small talk.
Lunch went by peacefully, and Cass breathed a sigh of relief as they finally left the classroom to go back to their own.
“Nice job,” she said, patting Sana on the shoulder.
“Will I have to do this every day?” Sana asked. “The more people who are aware of me, the harder it is to hide. We might have to find a way to actually ….” She drooped.
“What did Nahid say earlier?” Cass asked. “If she’s gonna join us she can probably help with that too.”
“I think she must believe us now, but she seemed angry,” Sana said.
“She’s kind of hard to talk to,” Cass replied, stretching her arms up and folding them behind her head. “But she said she’ll talk after school.”
“Very well,” Sana said with a nod. “I will wait for you.”
#
The ringing of the bell couldn’t come fast enough. Sana appeared in the doorway just as soon as the first tone sounded, slipping in before the stream of students rushing out could run her over. Nahid stood up stiffly and left through the other door. Cass was already ready to go, and she and Sana followed her down the hallway, staying a few feet behind her and imitating her silence without any prompt.
They went into an empty classroom and Nahid closed the door. She faced them, folding her arms.
“I don’t want to join you,” she said, straight to the point.
“You have to!” Cass blurted.
“Why not?” Sana asked, holding out a hand for Cass to hold her tongue for a second. Cass pressed her lips together as Sana continued speaking. “I have explained the situation to you. If you do not help us, it may be some time before we can find anyone else. People may suffer.”
“I said I don’t want to join you, not that I won’t do anything.” She looked away and frowned at the wall. “The problem isn’t the school, it’s me. It’s in my dorm.”
”Since when?” Sana asked over Cass’s gasp.
“Just this week. Come with me and show me what you do, then I’ll consider your offer.”
Nahid turned and walked away, and Cass hesitated to follow. She looked at Sana, who was still watching her go, brow furrowed. She had mentioned Nahid was tough to deal with, but it looked like Sana was just beginning to understand. The click of the door closing after Nahid snapped her out of it.
“Just a child,” she muttered, shaking her head. She looked up at Cass with something distant in her eyes. “I hope…. no, nevermind. We need her. Let’s go, before she changes her mind.”
In that moment, a challenge presented itself. Regardless of what waited in Nahid’s dorm, of how difficult it might be, Cass resolved to not only get Nahid to join them, but to befriend her. She took Sana by the arm and followed after her classmate.
Magic came as naturally as breathing. Changing form, communicating with her figures, commanding them into different configurations; they knew what to do, and as a result she did too. Whatever Sana had done, their power unfurled its secrets for her at the merest hint of a thought.
But she wasn’t ready.
They told her parents they were going to get dinner in town and headed in, but as they walked around Cass was losing confidence. With her figures tucked into her bag, now small, but still very much alive, their wiggling was a constant reminder that danger was imminent. Sana stalked ahead of her, head on a swivel, though Cass didn’t know what she was supposed to be looking for. All Sana had said was, “You’ll know.”
“You’re sure no one’s gonna see us?” She muttered, asking for the umpteenth time since they'd gotten off the train.
“Yes,” Sana said, looking back at her over her shoulder. “I told you, it’s the only thing I know I can do.”
They turned a corner and Sana stopped so suddenly that Cass ran right into her. She stayed pres against her back with her hands on her shoulders, because what she saw made her stomach turn. buildings in Tramere all shared the same basic structure, which made the city kind of boring but overall very visually pleasing. This one looked like something out of a horror movie. The outside of it was crumbling and rotting, half of its surface covered in large dark patches of black mold. The worst part was that a light still shone from inside, and Cass could see the silhouettes of the inhabitants from beyond the tattered curtain.
“Is that it?” she whispered.
“Yes. They latch on to places that hold a lot of memory. It’s what feeds them, I think. Then they just remove whatever they’re attached to from memory itself.” Sana turned her head, trying to look at her. “They’ll disappear from existence. We have to find out what’s causing it and eliminate it.”
“There’s a monster in there?” Cass’s grip tightened on Sana’s shoulders.
“In a manner of speaking,” Sana replied. “To be honest, I’m not sure exactly what it is right now.”
“What? I thought you’d fought these things before!”
“Yes, but by the time we knew about them on my world they were far more advanced. I never saw them when they had just started taking root.” Sana pushed her hands off of her shoulders and stepped away, turning to face her with her eyes downcast. “I’m sorry, but I am operating on theory. We must try and do what we can to get ahead of them.”
Cass was a little less disappointed than she thought she should be. It was easy to see how that wouldn’t have been a leading line in trying to get someone on your side, and if she had found out before laying eyes on the things she probably would’ve been mad. She put a hand back on her shoulder, this time in a bolstering gesture. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out together.”
Sana smiled and nodded, the tension in her shoulders easing slightly. “Thank you.”
Cass returned her smile with a grin, but she couldn’t help feeling that Sana's smile was not entirely genuine. Perhaps she was hiding more, but now wasn’t the time. She nodded toward the house. “Let’s go spy on ‘em.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Sana replied. “If we figure out who lives here we might be able to figure out the source of this corruption.”
“Corruption, hmm?” Cass mused as she stepped casually toward the house in question. “Needs a cooler name than that.”
“You can call it whatever you’d like,” Sana said with a sigh.
Despite Sana's assurances that they would remain unseen, Cass hunkered down and did her best to creep up to the building. She crouched in the plants outside the back window, which were also rather limp and rotten. When she touched the building to pull herself up and peek inside, however, the material beneath her fingers felt completely normal. She had to touch it a few more times to reaffirm that it wasn’t gross and slimy. That settled her somewhat, but it was only for a moment.
The people inside were a small family of four, all seated around the dinner table. They looked untouched, laughing and talking, but their kitchen was a toxic mess. Nothing looked like it had been cleaned in ages. The cabinets were deteriorating and missing pieces, the appliances run-down or broken. Worse than all that, however, was their food. Cass gagged and ducked down below the window sill to take a few deep breaths. Their food was absolutely rotten, and they smiled as they spooned it into their mouths.
“How did nobody notice this on your planet?” she hissed at Sana as she joined her.
“There are too many places in a world, and too few of us. Without my warning would you have found this place?”
Cass wilted, knowing she had a point. But her stomach still churned in her throat. “That food’s not really rotten, is it?”
“I don’t think so,” Sana replied. She sat up taller to peek inside. “I believe it’s only a visual manifestation of the creature’s power, not a reality. Not yet, anyway.”
“Phew,” Cass said. “Don’t really wanna look again, though. Can we wait until after they’re done eating? Maybe I can pretend to be selling something or… something. I’ll talk to them.”
“No need,” Sana said. “We’re in luck. It’s there.” She pulled Cass up and pointed at the corner of the kitchen. A stand mixer was tucked under the cabinets there, absolutely dripping with a dark, gelatinous substance. It had an obvious trail to the oven, darker in some places on the counters. “We’ll break in tonight and kill it.”
“Break in? You didn’t say we’d have to commit crimes.” Cass ducked back down.
“It isn’t a crime if you’re saving them. If we do not, the corruption will take them and no one will remember this house or these people.” Sana settled back down beside her and fixed her with a grim smile. “We don’t have time for moral quandary.”
Rather than let the weight of that revelation settle in, she pulled Sana away from the window and down the street.
They spent the rest of the afternoon wandering nearby, trying and failing to find more sources of corruption. It was going to have to be a late night, so Cass called her parents and told them they’d decided to go to karaoke. It was easy to lie, but it still made her feel awkward. She supposed she’d have to get used to it. Her parents were just way too supportive.
Since they weren’t having any luck, Cass decided to make at least part of her cover story true and took Sana to one of her favorite restaurants. One that she’d not made it to the day before.
She ate her fill, though towards the end she remembered those people eating forkfuls of rotten food and kind of regretted eating so much. At least she hadn’t thought of it at the beginning of her meal. Sana seemed lukewarm about the food, which was a little disappointing, but Sana seemed lukewarm about everything to Cass. She wasn’t really sure what made this alien girl tick.
Night finally came, and the pair made their way back to the house. In the dark, the shadows on the house only served to make the rot look more alive, and Cass shuddered as she remembered it technically was.
They waited outside the kitchen window for a time, watching and listening as the inhabitants of the house settled into their living room with the TV on. Once it was obvious no one was going to come back for more popcorn, Sana stood.
“Get ready.”
Cass pulled her figures out of her bag and set them on the ground. They milled around by her feet while she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to summon up the willpower to change form. She hadn’t thought she’d be so hesitant when it was actually time.
Sana’s light touch on her arm made her jump and surprise overcame reluctance as power flooded her body in a rush of light and wind. The figures sprung up around them, their new size crowding everyone against the building.
Cass let out a deep sigh and clenched her fist. “So how do we get in?”
“We should check the windows and the door. All we need is a straight shot. I imagine you could break the window, but my cloak doesn’t work particularly well on sound.”
“Hmm,” Cass hummed as she walked two paces back and forth, stroking an invisible beard. “Let’s try the door first. I never remember to lock the back door.”
She tiptoed over, very mindful of Sana’s warning and the innate noise of her outfit. She grabbed the handle and very carefully tried to turn it to no avail. She shrugged back at Sana.
Sana stood and pushed at the window. It slid open just an inch. She quickly motioned for Cass to come over and as she did, pushed the window open the rest of the way.
Fortunately, it opened without any fuss. Unfortunately, a loud beep sounded throughout the house along with a computerized voice saying, “Kitchen, back window.”
“Shoot it!!” Sana wheezed. Cass scrambled for Kumara, but it was too late. The door to the living room opened and footsteps sounded on tile floor. They both ducked down and pressed themselves against the building. Cass hoped Sana’s power was strong.
A man leaned out of the window and looked around. Once he withdrew, the window slid shut and this time they heard the click of the lock.
“Nobody’s out there, but the window was open,” they heard him call back to the living room in a muffled voice. “I’ll have a look around, just stay there.”
As soon as they heard his hand on the doorknob, Cass bolted, pulling Sana after her. Forgetting silence and subtlety all together, they clamored their way down the street followed by the three figures and then the man.
“Get back here!!” he hollered after them, the flash of his phone lighting up the street.
Once they felt like they were far enough away, the pair settled in a bit of landscaping to catch their breath.
“I’ll obscure us again,” Sana told her. “You should change back, though.”
Cass did as she asked, and the figures were once again shrunk and returned to her bag. “Man, we blew it real bad.”
“Yes,” Sana agreed, though her face said she wasn’t sure what she was agreeing to. “We’ll have to try again soon, but not tonight. Now that they are on alert, I won’t be able to hide us nearly as well.” She sighed. “It’s all right. We’ll figure something out.”
Cass nodded with confidence. “I have an idea. We’ll have to wait a couple of days, though.”
#
The start of the school year was fast approaching, but the threat of the enemy did not leave Cass’s mind. A couple of days turned into nearly the rest of the week as her parents kept her busy and dragged Sana into everything as well. She didn’t exactly regret bringing Sana in as a guest, but she did come to see her point about being able to move freely.
She tapped her chin with the end of her pencil, staring off into space and daydreaming rather than doing the semester prep work she was supposed to be doing. It was way too quiet in her room, in her whole house, and eventually she lost focus altogether and got up. Sana was sitting in the closet where she’d set up her sleeping bag, curled up on the bedding and reading one of Cass’s comic books. So Cass joined her, coming to sit nearly on the line that separated the closet from the rest of the room.
“How is it?”
“Are you finished with your work?” Sana asked. She folded the book closed, marking her page with a thumb.
“Yep,” Cass lied. Rather than pursue her original question, she continued, “I wanna go fight some bad guys again.”
Sana was quiet. She set the book aside and shifted onto her knees, fixing Cass with a grave look. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea. I’ve been thinking about it, and we don’t know how strong that one we found is. If you can’t take it with one shot, well… what if your power alone isn’t enough?”
“I’m not alone, I’ve got you.” Cass grinned, and Sana echoed the smile with a furrow in her brow.
“I appreciate the sentiment, but you know I can’t do anything to help you. We should find another person before we go back. Otherwise… you’re just…” Her gaze sank to the floor.
“I won’t die,” Cass said. “But maybe you’re right. Will those people be okay until then?”
“I don’t know,” Sana said plainly. “It didn’t seem to be inside them yet.”
“We’ll just have to check on them, I guess. I can’t let them disappear.”
Sana nodded her agreement.
“So come to school with me.” Before Sana could voice her objection, Cass stood and grabbed one of her school uniforms from where it hung now smashed into the back side of the closet. “Just try it, and if you hate it there and nothing works, then… then you can forget about it and go back to being a bird or whatever.”
Sana sighed and stared up at her for an agonizingly long time. Finally she stood and took the uniform from Cass’s hands. “Fine. I will go to have a look around.”
“Yes!” Cass pumped a fist in the air. “Put on the uniform and we can go right now.”
“I thought it wasn’t until the day after tomorrow?” Sana scrunched up the uniform and gave her an uncertain look.
“Yeah but the campus is open for everyone moving in. We can just go and walk around! I’ll give you a tour.”
Sana’s brows came together and it was very obvious she hated the idea. But without another word, she stepped back further into the closet and slid the door shut.
While she was bumping around in there getting changed, Cass quickly shuffled her homework under something so Sana wouldn’t see that she’d really not finished.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out. A call from Lena. She mentally cursed herself, having gotten so wrapped up in everything she completely forgot she’d still promised to meet up with Lena for the school prep.
“Hey,” she answered, grimacing.
“Hello,” Lena replied, sounding chipper despite the circumstances. “You’re supposed to be here?”
“Uhhh yeah, about that, something came up so I can’t,” Cass said, struggling. “Actually, uh, I got stuck with a transfer student and I have to give her a tour.”
“Oh! Wow, they assigned you to a transfer student?” Cass couldn’t blame her for the disbelief in her voice. Lena continued, “Well, since Jacob is a bit busy too I guess we could do it tomorrow… or even after orientation. Do you want me to come with you to campus?”
Cass looked over at Sana as she came out wearing the uniform. “Yeah sure,” she agreed absently, then pulled the phone away from her face. “Sorry, just — talking to my friend.”
Sana nodded her understanding, but as Lena said, “Awesome! I’ll meet you there in half an hour!” Cass retroactively realised what she’d agreed to. Though she really wished she hadn’t, she couldn’t back out now so she just went with it. Telling Lena she couldn’t be a tourguide would be too cruel.
“Okaaaay, see you in a bit then,” she said and hung up before Lena even said goodbye. “Oh my god I accidentally invited her.”
“Invited who?” Sana raised her brows. “Aren’t we just going on a tour of the school?”
“Yeah, but then we can’t talk about alien stuff.”
“Is she not your friend?” Sana replied absently, tugging at the sleeves of the jacket to try and make them a little shorter. Cass wasn’t much bigger than her, but it was noticeable.
“Well yeah,” Cass said as she stepped in to help. The cuffs on the jacket folded up quite a bit but there were extra buttons for adjusting the size. “She’s like my best friend, she’s just a little… well, she’s Lena.”
“We can take a look around either way,” Sana said. “Just mind what you say if you don’t want to tell her. It won’t help if word gets out about what’s going on and there’s a panic.”
“I doubt she’d believe me anyway,” Cass said as a matter of fact. “There you go, it looks good! When you decide to come with me for real, you can get your own made.”
“Made?” Sana asked incredulously.
“Yeaah, nevermind that. Let’s go.” Cass grabbed her bag and headed out of her room.
“Aren’t you going to wear yours?” Sana called after her, but Cass was already halfway down the stairs.
“Nope!” she called back, laughing.
Tramere Academy sat at the head of the city, its white buildings and lush greenery backed by a blue sky and the tops of mountains. The campus was separated by a wall that cut the campus cleanly from the rest of the city. The main entrance was a large gate that was considered by some people to be a work of art. But today it sat open, and students, family, and staff all filtered in and out at their own, leisurely pace.
Lena was waiting for them outside, herself dressed in the uniform with her long yellow hair pulled halfway back in a bow. She smiled and waved when she saw them, jumping a little to get their attention.
Cass waved back and nodded towards her as she explained to Sana, “That’s Lena. She’s the girl I was with when we met. We’ve been friends since I moved here. I guess she just kind of adopted me.”
“How can she adopt you when you have parents?” Sana asked, tilting her head at her.
“See, that’s the weird stuff that’s gonna make her suspicious,” Cass laughed. “I mean, she just decided we were friends.”
“Oh, I see,” Sana nodded slowly. “I will try to minimize the weird stuff.”
“Hello!” Lena took the few steps left between them as they approached. She smiled at Sana and offered a hand in greeting. “I’m Lena, nice to meet you!”
Sana took her hand awkwardly and Lena shook it. “I am Sana. Nice to meet you too.”
“Welcome to Tramere Academy, Sana,” Lena continued, putting on her best student council persona. “I hope you don’t mind that I joined you two for a tour. I love giving tours to new students.”
“Oh, no, of course not,” Sana replied. “I hope you will show me every part of it.” She smiled as Cass visibly cringed beside her.
“Okay, well let’s start with the courtyard!” Lena turned and led them through the gates.
The campus was incredibly nice — as anyone would assume for the most expensive school in the Triad — but Cass was over it. She’d lived there for too long for it to still have its awe and charm. But Sana paid attention to every word Lena said as she led them around and explained the various facilities. Since Cass didn’t have to pay attention, she just followed behind with her hands in her jacket pockets, looking around aimlessly and adding a comment here and there when Lena prompted. Sometimes Lena gave her a look that very much said she was onto the fact that Cass wasn’t paying attention, but Cass just shrugged and smiled.
As they were walking through the halls of the science building, Cass’s wandering eye caught sight of someone standing alone in one of the computer labs. She slowed down as the other two pressed onward, staring in at the girl. The air around her seemed darker, as though something just out of sight was casting a shadow. Stranger still, it seemed like Nahid was inspecting something. Cass didn’t get much time to figure out if she was looking at the computers or the shadows as she was spotted.
She put on a grin and held up a hand. “Hey, Nahid!”
Nahid looked at her in silence, face blank, and then turned away without any further acknowledgment of the greeting. Cass grimaced and left her to whatever she was doing, jogging to catch up with the other two. But she knew unless Nahid had found a way to manifest her own cloud of gloom, there was definitely something up in this building.
She nudged Sana a little and gestured back towards the room with her head. “Tell ya later.”
“Tell you what later?” Lena asked, looking down the hall. “If I missed something, we should…”
“Nah, nothing missed!” Cass chirped, realizing she was the one doing the weird stuff. “I sure am hungry, though! Let’s tour the cafeteria.”
Lena rolled her eyes good-naturedly, a smile stretching across her face. “The campus has a variety of places for students to eat meals, get snacks, and have fresh-made coffee or tea,” she explained to Sana. “If it’s all right with you, maybe let’s go see one? Since Cass is starving to death.”
As they headed out the door, Cass gave one more long look over her shoulder, but she couldn’t see any trace of the shadow outside of the room.
Lena took them to her favorite of the cafes, a coffee shop that offered a small selection of cakes and pastries made fresh every morning. They were busy enough with returning students for all the seats to be taken, but the line wasn’t too long.
Even when the line moved, Sana stayed in front of the pastry display case, looking between its contents and the menu written in chalk above. She looked entirely out of her element and Cass almost felt responsible, but told herself it would be too suspicious if she had to explain to her what the different things were. Fortunately Lena stepped in and made a couple of suggestions, which Sana readily agreed to.
With their orders in hand, they went out onto the lawn to find a place to settle down. Cass didn’t realize how much she’d wanted a break and a piece of cake until her butt hit the grass. She groaned and stretched out her legs.
“How much more do we have to do? You don’t have to show her everything, do you?” she whined.
“Mm, I guess we don’t need to go walk around the sports fields, but it’s important that Sana knows her way around on her first day.”
“Ah, she’ll be fine.” Cass waved it off with her fork and then took a huge bite of cake, which did not stop her from speaking. “She’s in my class. Right, Sana?”
“Um, yes,” Sana agreed, answering Cass’s cheeky grin with a hard stare. “That’s why I was paired with her.”
“Ooh, you’re a third year?” Lena looked disappointed. “That makes sense. I’m only a second year, otherwise I’m sure you would have been paired with me. Why transfer in third year?”
Sana looked like a deer in the headlights for a moment. “I… my father’s job is here now, in Tramere.”
“Oh? Well, that’s kind of a bummer, but I hope you like Tramere enough that it’s worth it.”
“Yes, I’m sure I will, it’s very nice.” Sana busied herself with eating the tart Lena had picked out for her.
Cass sighed. They definitely needed to craft a good cover story if Sana was going to join her at school. And with the knowledge that something was already up on campus, Cass was more confident than ever that she would.
Fortunately the rest of the day held no more surprises. Lena did a thorough job as escort and by the time they were finished, it was already dusk. She stood back out by the gate where they had first met and offered Sana an encouraging smile.
“Even though we won’t be in the same class, I hope we can be friends,” she was telling her. “If you end up spending a lot of time with Cass, I’m sure we will be anyway.”
Sana matched her smile. “Yes, I will see you soon. Thank you very much for all of your help.”
Cass trapped Lena in a one-armed hug around the shoulders. “We’ve got to get back before my parents have dinner ready. See you tomorrow?”
“Yes, I’m going to move onto campus tomorrow, too,” Lena said, returning the hug with a small squeeze. “See you then.”
They parted ways and as soon as they were out of sight Cass turned to Sana.
“There’s something going on on campus,” she said hurriedly. “I saw it.”
“Yes, I know,” Sana said gravely. “I wonder…”
“Wait, you know?” Cass was dumbfounded. She had been watching Sana all day and not even a hint had passed over her face.
“What did you see?” Sana asked.
“Remember before we got food? I saw a girl in my class looking at some computers, but that’s normal for her, that wasn’t the weird part. The computers had that black stuff on them, but more like a fog or a cloud than the nasty way that other house looked.”
Sana nodded slowly. “I think I understand. It is certainly worth looking into. The rest of the campus has a strange energy to it. I don’t want to admit this, but I think you are probably right that it’s a good idea for me to attend the school with you for a little while.”
“Woo!” Cass punched the air. “I knew it!”
“It’s not something to be happy about.”
“Whatever, let’s go home and eat! We’ve got a lot to do before tomorrow.” Cass grabbed her arm and took off towards the train station at a run, dragging Sana along behind her. Tomorrow, they would move onto campus. Tomorrow, she would talk to Nahid. And Nahid was the perfect person for getting Sana into school.
Cass knew that was going to be it. The world under threat. Doomed, even. It was a little easier and honestly a little difficult to take seriously hearing the news from such a cute face, but why couldn’t it have been something good? She couldn't comprehend that kind of emergency. Denial settled over her like a warm blanket, and the thought of danger wouldn't make it past.
“Okay, well school starts soon but I guess I can sneak off to get you to the capitol or something…” she mused. “I'm not sure the government is going to believe you. Hmm, maybe someone at school can like… get you in to see their parents or something.”
“I don’t think that will be an option, unfortunately. They won’t be able to do anything,” Sana replied. “This enemy is difficult, it requires a special type of person. You were able to see through my perception field, so you are like me.”
“An alien?” Cass sat bolt upright.
“No, someone who is immune to the magic of the invaders,” Sana explained. She hopped up onto Cass’s knee. “When I was back home, I fought these things using a derivative of their own magic. For some reason you and others like us have a connection to this magic. It uses your body as a conduit so it can be dangerous, but I invented a way to keep it safely separated. You can alter your physical state and become so much more powerful than you might be otherwise.”
“So what, I can transform and fight bad guys?” Cass interrupted. Nevermind denial, she was embracing delusional. This was definitely shaping up to be the coolest thing that ever happened to her.
“Will you?” Sana asked earnestly, ignoring the juvenile phrasing. “Please consider this carefully. There will be others, but until we find them it will just be you and me.”
“I will do it,” Cass said, tone firm. She wasn’t about to let this opportunity to be a main character in her own story slip away, consequences be damned. “And I’ll help find the others too.”
Sana sighed and for a moment seemed to be considering her options before she conceded. “Then I’m grateful. With any luck, we’ll be able to find them soon so you won’t have to do anything dangerous. But if we start now, we’ll have a head start on at least locating threat areas to monitor. The enemy arrived with the lights in the sky, so it has not been very long.”
Cass’s brow slowly sank. “Lights? The meteor shower?”
“It was not a meteor shower, but yes. That is what I was talking about.”
Cass couldn’t believe she was talking about the meteor shower after all. Lena could never find out. “Did you come then too?”
“I did.”
“Then how do I know you’re not the bad guy?” Cass leaned back and gave her a suspicious look.
Sana looked grim. “Once you see them, you will know I am not. Until then, you’ll just have to believe me.”
Cass tapped her chin in thought. “You use the same powers… and you're both invisible? Or… perception fielded?”
“I know, it sounds suspicious but it’s the only thing I can still do. Something must have happened on my trip here… I can’t do much to fight them anymore.” She drooped. “That’s why I need you. Just for a little while.”
“But you can be visible?”
Sana nodded, and Cass did too. She was formulating a plan.
"It is a conscious action for me to hide, but they will always be invisible to those who aren’t immune,” Sana continued. “Even then, it may be difficult to find them so early on. I’ll teach you what to look for.”
“So how do I fight them?” Cass asked, lifting her hands to look at them. “I don’t have any weird abilities or anything. I can just see stuff?”
“No, it’s…” Sana hopped away. “It’s more complicated. You do have abilities, that is what sets you apart from the others. They would come naturally at some point, but it’s uncertain when they may manifest. It may be too late when they do. So I will manifest them for you myself through a.. an anchor, of sorts. The invention I mentioned, though I…” She shook her head. “I need something of yours that is deeply attached to who you are. A reminder of a strong memory that shaped you as a person. It can be anything, just—something you would be devastated to lose.”
“Oh-kay,” Cass pursed her lips and looked around the room even though she already knew exactly what she would choose. “You’re not gonna take it, are you?”
“No, no. It will become your weapon and protection. You can take some time to think it over.”
Cass nodded. “Can it be more than one thing?”
“I … suppose, I have never made more than one into an anchor, but I can try.”
Cass eyed her figures on the window sill. If it were going to be anything she owned, it would be them. But they were small, irreplaceable, and if there was even a chance they could be destroyed, she wasn’t entirely sure she was willing to take it.
“Like I said, give it some thought. We can start tomorrow.” She sat prim and proper, too much so for a squirrel. More like a well-trained dog.
“Oh!” Cass jolted out of her brief contemplative state. “I should show you my house and introduce you to my family and my dogs.”
“I don’t think that’s wise,” Sana said, sounding truly hesitant.
“What? Why not? Aren’t you gonna stay here? I can’t just walk around talking to an invisible alien forever.”
Sana’s little eyes narrowed, though it was hard for Cass to discern what she was feeling. “I suppose I could… change again.”
“Liiiike, into a human?”
“Yes. Although I find this much more convenient, perhaps in the long run being a human would be best.”
“I still have to go to school next week,” Cass said. “I live on campus during the school year, though, so maybe I can make some excuse like you’re coming from abroad…” She trailed off and slammed her hands down on the bed on either side of Sana, who leaped into the air and landed with legs sprawled, tail flicking wildly. Unapologetic, Cass continued excitedly, “Oh my gosh, you should go to school with me!”
Sana pinned her ears back against her head like a cat. “Please be careful! And no, I don’t want to go to your human children school.”
Cass sat back and crossed her arms. Now that she’d had the idea, she was going to stop at nothing to see it through. She just had to convince Sana. “Well, okay, but consider this: if you go to school with me, we can talk whenever we want and no one will be suspicious. Besides, I can’t quit. How are we going to look for others? There’s a whole ton of people at school.”
“More children,” Sana reminded her. “And I can go out by myself. ”
Cass was unswayed. “Maybe others like me—like us,” she said, getting more into the part. “Listen, all I’m saying is that you’ve been looking around the city for how long?”
“Thirteen days,” Sana admitted, wilting slightly.
“So maybe the people you’re looking for are at Tramere Academy! There’s people from other moons, the teachers, some seriously important people! Or at least people with connections to other important people. You’d never find them just looking around the city.”
“Fine, I will think about it.” Sana jumped to the ground and immediately into a slightly open drawer in Cass’s dresser, as though she had been waiting for the opportunity to break off the conversation. “I want to sleep.”
“Wha—Seriously? But I still have like a million questions. Are you going to sleep in there? You can sleep on the bed, you know.” Cass slid off the bed after her and went to hover by the dresser, watching the little squirrel burrow under a piece of her shoddily-folded clothes. A large, dark eye peered out at her.
“Thank you, but I don’t like to sleep out in the open,” she said. “And I’m not convinced those creatures from downstairs won’t try to find me.”
“My dogs? They’re harmless.” Cass sat down on her heels and pouted at the alien, holding on to the edge of the drawer. “Come on, it’s still the afternoon. You can’t just drop the most world-shattering news and tell me I’m magic, then go to sleep. And what about my parents? Dinner?”
Sana wriggled back out a little ways, her annoyance seeming to have dissipated some. “I’m sorry, I do understand. But it takes a lot of energy to change form, and I already did it twice today. If I have to do it tomorrow as well, I…” As if to emphasize her point, she stretched out her front legs and yawned. “I gave you the most important message, I'm exhausted. Just let me have a nap.”
Cass pressed her lips together and stayed put. To leave would be defeat.
“Please.”
Defeat it was. She sighed deeply. “I’ll save some of dinner and bring it up for you.”
“Thank you. Close the box?” Sana asked once she’d wriggled back into the sandwich of shirts. Feeling very much like she was tucking in a childhood toy or something, Cass slid the drawer closed for her and left.
Once the door shut behind her, life felt wrong. Was that it? Did the world change with so little? She paused with one foot in the hall.
This was all way too normal. She hurried back and pulled the drawer open, jostling both her clothes and Sana within. The little squirrel body slid into the front of the drawer, bringing a lump of shirt along with her.
She looked up at Cass and stared at her, unblinking, silent. Cass slowly closed the drawer again.
So it was real. It didn’t just disappear into some daydream when Sana was out of sight. It was a lot to comprehend, and every thought spawned another question. She needed something to distract herself with.
She looked around her room, at the bare walls, at the bags she still had to sort and put away to get ready to move. But organizing was absolutely the last thing she wanted to do. She got up and left the room, turning the light off and shutting the door.
Both of her parents were busy, so she headed outside with the dogs and went for a little walk through the woods. She had too much to think about to stay still.
Hours passed, and she was once again crouched by the dresser, a bit of every part of dinner ferreted away in a napkin. She didn’t really know what would be considered polite in this situation and sat there for a while before she decided that knocking was the best option.
“I’m awake,” came Sana’s little voice. Cass placed the food on top of the dresser before sliding open the drawer and offering her a hand to climb up on. Sana hesitated, but then took the offer and Cass elevated her up to join the food.
“Oh, thank you,” she said, examining the leftovers. “I hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”
“Nah.” Cass pulled over the chair from her desk and sat in it backwards, using the back to rest her chin on. Maybe it was weird to watch her eat, but Cass couldn’t help herself. She was really cute eating with her tiny hands. “You think about being a human yet?”
“I did…” Sana hedged.
“And?”
“It has its merits.” She stopped talking to eat a large chunk of potato. Cass waited in feigned patience. “I suppose we could try.”
Cass immediately sat upright. “Okay, so I have a plan: Become visible and I’ll tell my parents you’re from Therus — that’s uh, the second moon — but because you’re a third year transfer, your dorm isn’t ready yet so you just need someone to like, house you and show you the ropes.”
“I haven’t agreed to go to school with you.”
“My parents don’t know that, and it’s not like you have to actually go. It’ll be a great cover, even if you decide to go back to being a bird or whatever. You can just live in my dorm. It’ll be super fun, just trust me.”
“I have no choice but to trust you.” She pointed a small, somewhat crumb-dirty, finger at her. “I will not let you talk me into going to school. But if your parents agree to your housing me, then I will become a human for a time to make things easier.”
Cass beamed. “I’m sure they will! They love having people over, and they’d never say no to someone who needs help. You’re gonna love them and love being a human so much you’ll want to stay one, I just know it.”
Sana shook her head and kept eating. Cass was so sure of her plan now that she just folded her arms on the back of the chair and watched her, grinning. Tomorrow she would have a new friend to hang out with and— if all of this proved to be real— magic.
#
The next day came too slowly and too quickly at the same time. Cass explained the plan to her parents over breakfast. As she had expected, her parents were eager to help out a person in need, but once she had their grace for a week-long sleepover, she started to notice the holes in her plan.
For one, Sana didn’t have any belongings whatsoever. If she were to come stay over, surely she’d bring at least a suitcase. Cass was happy to lend her anything, but her parents would definitely notice that she was wearing her clothes, weird magic or not. The only solution Cass could come up with was to take Sana shopping and hope her parents didn’t notice the charge to her finances. And at least if they did, they’d think nothing of it.
And so Cass found herself standing in the woods with an outfit and a hefty bag of trail mix, facing away while Sana tried to figure out how to look like a human. After what seemed like forever, a small pale hand came groping for the clothes, and Cass passed them over without looking. She had promised not to.
“Okay, I think… I think I’m ready,” Sana said. Her voice sounded a little softer and higher-pitched than it had before. Cass turned to get a look at her.
She had made herself shorter than Cass, but not by much. Somehow the features on the human face did resemble what she remembered of the alien, and the person standing before her was recognizable as that same Sana. She had chosen to forego the yellow eyes, and instead they were rather dark, their color indiscernible in the shadow of the trees.. She still had the same hair — now more of a light, ash-blonde — that had once framed her face with contrast and now did not do anything to make her look less pale, as she had copied Cass’s own skin tone.
“How is it?” she asked.
“Good, good,” Cass muttered as she walked around her in a circle, examining her and tapping her chin. “I like it. The oversized jacket look is really good for you too.”
Sana smiled and tugged at the zip-up hoodie Cass had given her. “It’s comfortable. I could never wear something like this before, it would get in the way.”
Cass dutifully handed her the trail mix with a grin. “We'll get you a lot more. Eat this and let's get going!”
Cass dragged her all over the city, giving her a tour of her favorite places while also picking up a few essentials. If the previous day’s shopping had been tiring, this was utterly exhausting. By the time the sun started to set, they’d made two cafe trips, had a suitcase stuffed with things for the both of them, and Sana truly looked like she’d just come to town.
After a quick change in the bathroom so that she wasn’t still wearing Cass’s clothes upon their return, they stood on the sidewalk outside of the station, waiting for a car to pick them up. Cass grinned at her, admiring the outfit they’d chosen; a cute, knee-length dress and, to complete the look, an oversized cardigan.
“Mom and dad are going to love you,” she commented, which made Sana look a little sheepish. The feeling reflected on Cass, as she realized she sounded like she was bringing home a new girlfriend or something.
“I just hope I will not be too much of a burden to them,” Sana answered. “If they ever figure out what we are doing, they might come to hate me.”
Cass reached out and poked the side of her face. “Then we won’t let them find out. Just stick to the plan.”
#
Cass sat on the floor across from Sana, her three precious figures on the floor between them. They were separated now, but they stacked into one shape. She was hopeful that they would count as one anchor. She looked down at them and tried to still her nerves. After a day and a half of waiting, it was finally time for her own transformation.
Sana picked the figures up one at a time and turned them over in her hands, humming occasionally as she examined every detail. Cass had no choice but to sit in silence, fidgeting as her legs slowly fell asleep.
Finally Sana put them down and arranged them back into the little block they formed together. “I think I should be able to do it. I will connect their life forces.”
“Life…?” Cass repeated.
“Well, in a manner of speaking. We’ll see what happens. It largely depends on you.”
Cass gulped and nodded, sitting up straighter to tuck her tingling feet beneath her. “Okay, what do I need to do?”
“Nothing.”
“Then I’m ready.”
Sana touched her flat palm to the top of the figures and closed her eyes. The floor beneath them began to glow, dully at first until the light stretched out into a line on either side of where Cass was sitting. She got to her feet in disbelief, staring at her own bedroom floor in amazement and alarm.
Sana did not move. Cass looked to her for reassurance but her face was blank, her eyes open again but chillingly empty. And then the line on the floor opened into an eye of its own and a blinding light shot up from its center. It swallowed her up and stole her breath, and a pain like she had never felt lanced through her in a flash so fast she hardly had a chance to know that she had hurt.
When the light faded, Sana still sat on the floor in front of her, but her expression had returned and she was smiling up at her, looking satisfied. Her figures, on the other hand, were not between them.
A flash of panic rose in her chest, but a quick glance around quickly drowned that feeling in absolute disbelief. A pair of sturdy wooden arms grasped her from behind and lifted her in a playful hug. The base piece of the figures, a monkey, had grown to be nearly larger than Cass herself and lifted her easily.
“Ainara!” she cried. “Kumara, Palila…! You guys are… are really here!” On either side of her, the other two figures crowded in to get close. Kumara, a long and lithe wildcat, jumped up to sit in Ainara’s arms with her. As it nuzzled, Palila took them all into a wide-winged embrace.
She didn’t know when she even started crying. She wiped at her face and realized then that she wasn’t wearing what she had been before the light. With the figures there, she hadn’t even looked at herself.
Her outfit looked as if it were made like the figures themselves, all carved wooden features save for the fabric that held it together. She stumbled out of Ainara’s grasp and in front of her mirror. Her face was different, but much like how Sana had retained her own look, she wasn’t entirely unrecognizable. Still, she was cuter somehow - maybe her imagination? The clothes definitely helped. She squished her own cheeks and looked back at Sana, breathless.
Cass tossed her bags down beside the cafe table. It had been a long day and somehow it was only lunch time. As usual before school started, she was pried from her peaceful last days at home and forced to go shopping for supplies, an act she both loathed and was always grateful for after it was over. She dropped into her seat with an “oof” and stretched her tired legs as Lena took a seat across from her, prim and proper. Jacob joined them at Lena’s side, looking as dashing as ever. Both of them clearly raised in a higher class household. Cass, on the other hand, slouched against the arm of her chair and put her feet up in the empty one beside her.
“I’m not sure I can walk anymore,” she groaned, picking up the menu and casting a glance over the lunch specials.
“Well, I think we are mostly finished,” Lena said, holding her own menu delicately in both hands. “I think it might be safe to stash our things in a locker and go see a movie or something?”
“Ooh, yeah, there’s that new one with the—” Cass began, but stopped when she saw the other two frowning. “What?”
“I know what you’re going to say,” Jacob said, his frown instantly changing into an affectionate smirk. “And we’re not going to see it.”
“Aww, come on!” Cass laughed.
“It’s a children’s movie,” Lena chided. She always took Jacob’s side, but Cass was used to that by now. The two of them had been friends since they could remember, and Cass was the unacknowledged third wheel. She was at least ranked high among Lena’s army of friends. She continued, “There is that presentation on the meteor shower from a couple of weeks ago…”
“Boooring,” Cass said, putting the menu up as if she were suddenly extremely interested in that instead. “Who cares about the dumb meteor shower?”
Lena actually seemed surprised by her rejection. “I’d think you would. It was the first of its kind, and according to some scientists there’s evidence that although they did come through our shields, they—”
Cass looked up from her menu. “Sorry, didn’t hear you. Trying to decide on lunch.” She grinned as Lena pouted. Jacob patted her shoulder, though he didn’t try to hide his chuckle.
“Maybe we can go see that some other time,” he offered, and Lena brightened right up.
“I guess if Cass isn’t interested, she isn’t interested,” she conceded. “Though I wish you would at least try. You might learn something.”
“Sorry,” Cass said again. “Can’t learn until school starts.
Cass really did try and pick what she wanted for lunch while Jacob humored Lena with further conversation about the meteor shower. Cass half-listened, though she was truly bored of the subject by now. It was all anyone was talking about and reporting on, and she didn’t know how Lena could think there was more to learn.
She was about to bulldoze her way back into the conversation when something strange caught her eye. Behind her friends, a woman sat alone at a table reading a book and idly picking at her food, but now a large black bird had hopped up onto the table and started eating bits of her food as well, casual as could be, and the woman didn’t seem to notice at all. Something about it captivated her. She couldn’t look away from this stupid bird eating this lady’s french fries.
“Hey, are you ready to order?” Lena’s voice cut in and Cass blinked a few times. Everything was suddenly too clear. She glanced back and forth between her friend and the bird, feeling like she’d just put on her dad’s glasses. It immediately made her head hurt, but she shook it off.
“Er... sure, I think so. But look.” She pointed, trying to be subtle enough for the lady not to notice. Lena looked over her shoulder, no subtlety at all, and turned back with a puzzled expression.
“At what?”
“That lady has a huge pet bird,” Cass whispered, but as she did the bird lifted its head and looked straight at her. A fry fell out of its beak and it took a few steps away, then hopped down from the table and began to make a run for it. She stood up and opened her mouth to yell at it, but Jacob pulled her back down, her “hey” choking off as she hit the seat.
“Chill.” He furrowed his brow at her. “Are you okay?”
“Maybe we did do too much,” Lena said. “We’ve made her hallucinate.”
Cass wanted to argue, but the woman was looking at her now. Without another word, she hopped up and ran after the bird. She knew it was weird, even for her, but she followed, pulled by a feeling that seemed to start in her gut and tug her after the bird.
“What—are you serious?? Cass!” Lena and Jacob were both half out of their seats, but Cass waved them away as she disappeared around the corner.
She followed the bird down a cramped alley, trying to be as sneaky as she could in a direct pursuit. But when she reached the end and turned another corner to follow it, she came to a stop so sudden she nearly fell backwards. The bird stood square in the middle of the little path, its head turned to one side, a shining eye fixed on Cass.
“You can see me,” it said, its voice not at all like a bird and too much like a human.
Cass took a step back, now gearing up to run in the other direction as cowardice threatened to overtake curiosity. “Yes…?”
“Clearly?” The bird took a hop towards her and Cass took another step back in kind. “Completely?”
“Yes!”
The feathers on the bird puffed out, making it look much less threatening, and it walked around in a little circle. “No, no, that can’t be right. You’re…” It stopped and looked at her and then kept walking. “You’re a child! I-I mean you’re, what, ten?”
“Hey, I’m seventeen!” Cass objected, pointing an accusatory finger at the bird, her retreat forgotten. “Almost eighteen.”
“A child.” The bird stopped and dipped its head, looking at her with one eye at a time. “But the timing is correct, so we will have to make do. I must go with you somewhere private where we can talk. Your home, perhaps. I have to tell you something very important.”
“Uhh…. sorry? My house?” Cass hedged. And Lena thought the meteor shower was weird. She looked around, squinting into the shadows. “Is this a prank show?”
“What is a ‘prank show?’” the bird asked. It took a few steps to the side to bring itself back into Cass’s view. “I am very serious.”
“Fine.” Cass squatted in front of the bird and folded her arms on her knees. She didn’t run only because she was stuck between thinking this was extremely dangerous or possibly the coolest thing that would ever happen to her. Maybe both. “You’re not someone’s pet?”
“No, I am what you humans call a changeling.” The bird seemed satisfied with Cass’s cooperation and came to stand in front of her. “I am not from your world. An alien, if you will.”
Cass was quiet for a second and then burst out laughing, falling backwards onto her butt. “Oh man, okay, guys? You can come out.”
Nothing happened, and Cass’s laughter died off into awkward chuckles into silence as the bird waited. No one jumped out with a camera. There wasn’t even a sound. She leaned towards the bird and whispered, “You’re for real?”
“I will show you if that is what it takes for you to believe me,” the bird answered, feathers puffed again. “But then I will need some food.”
“Sure—sure, if you’re really an alien I’ll give you anything you want!” This was definitely the coolest thing that had ever happened to her.
The bird moved back a few paces, then stretched out way bigger and longer than a bird was supposed to be, becoming unrecognizable before the feathers absorbed back into the body and what was left was something unlike Cass had ever seen. All doubt flew right out of her mind.
The alien had dark skin with a pink sheen, covered in patterns that glowed blue in the shadow. It had arms and legs like a person but with the wrong proportions. And although it looked like it had human hands, its feet were anything but— two toes ending in huge claws, reminding Cass of some ancient lizard creature. Its face was nearly human too; it had all the features, but was more flat, with two large, forward-facing and solidly golden eyes. It was framed with silvery hair that ended at its shoulders, looking almost white in contrast to the rest of its body. All things considered, Cass thought it was kind of… pretty in a weird way.
“Are you satisfied?” The former bird turned away slightly, looking embarrassed, also in a very human way. “May I change back?”
Cass was honestly speechless. There was no way anyone was capable of that special-effects transformation in the middle of a tiny alleyway, even with the latest hologram tech.
“If I am to go with you, I can be something smaller and more discreet. But as you saw before, no one will really notice.”
“What’s your name?” Cass blurted out.
“Oh, I…” The alien blinked. “Sana. You can call me Sana.”
“Sana,” Cass repeated. It was a much simpler name than she expected. She grinned and got to her feet, offering a hand. “I’m Cassidy, but nobody calls me that. Cass.”
Sana smiled and turned to take her hand. It knew what a handshake was. “Nice to meet you, Cass.”
“Oh man, I have a lot of questions,” Cass continued. She pulled out her phone and began to search for the perfect image. “First, are you like, a girl or a boy or something else…?”
“I believe I am equivalent to your human female,” Sana answered.
“Haha, weird, okay— second, can you turn into this instead? I always wanted a pet squirrel.” She held up her phone for Sana to see.
“A... skwhirl?” Sana repeated. “Well—I’m not your pet—but yes. I think that shape will be convenient. After this, though, I will really need something to eat. Changing takes a large amount of energy. Will that be all right? And we can talk later. In private.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Cass said. She continued to hold her phone for Sana to see and watched in glee as the hugely tall alien in front of her shrank down and then warped into the shape of a squirrel, shiny to the very end when gray fur popped out all over. Sana gave a couple shakes of her tail and then sat back to look at her paws.
“Yes, this will do,” she said.
Cass bent down and held her hands together in a little platform. Sana obliged and hopped onto them, and Cass could barely contain herself. She squirmed in glee for a moment before clearing her throat and reminding herself she should probably play it cool. She was making first contact with aliens, after all.
“I left my stuff with my friends, but I’ll make up some excuse so we can go home. I live just outside the city.” She was already heading back that way, still carrying Sana in front of her on both hands. She tried to keep her as level and still as possible, but couldn’t help the slight bounce in her step as she hurried. She could feel Sana holding on with her tiny little squirrel hands and it took everything she had not to squeeze her and give her head a smooch.
“Oh, she’s back.” Jacob nudged Lena as Cass entered the little courtyard outside the cafe. Lena turned to look at her and they both looked puzzled. Not puzzled enough to ask, however. Cass did too many silly and inexplicable things, and this time it was going to work in her favor. Their bemusement clued her in, and she pretended like she was tossing whatever she was holding over her shoulder, when in reality she was placing Sana there. It seemed the alien had been right, and her friends truly did not notice the squirrel right in front of them.
“Did you find your bird?” Lena asked as Cass came to stand beside the table.
“Mmmnope,” Cass answered. “Got away, that rotten criminal. But while I was out there I remembered I promised my dad I’d clean the kitchen, and I definitely did not, so I’d better go before he gets mad. Looks like you guys get to go to the museum after all.”
Although it was a fairly obvious lie, Lena didn’t object but merely gave her another little pout. “Well, okay, if you have to. Are you still going to come over to organize notes?”
“Yeah, totally,” Cass said, wondering if she’d have time with an alien to deal with. If she didn’t get Lena to organize for her though, she was going to be screwed for the first semester. “This weekend, right? You comin’ too Jakie?”
Jacob hated when she called him that, and his mouth predictably stretched into a line of mild annoyance. “Yeah, of course. Though I think I have to meet with the swim team, so maybe not the whole time…”
“Cool, see ya!” Cass already had all her bags on her arms and was several steps away before Jacob could finish speaking.
“Cassidy! You’re not even going to eat lunch?” Lena called after her, but Cass was once again off and running.
“I do need food,” Sana reminded her, her voice now a whisper beside her ear.
“I know, I’ll get some to go,” Cass said. “There’s a snack place at the station. I’ll get you a protein bar or something you can eat on the metro.”
Sana did not argue and Cass jogged the entire way to the station. Burdened with heavy school supplies as she was, she also came to want a drink before they boarded. She picked out enough snack and drink for the both of them and paid, all while jumping foot to foot, too impatient and excited to hold still.
The ride out of the city center wasn’t long, not even on the slow train. She tried, but sitting in silence proved to be too much of a challenge.
“So….” she began in a whisper, “Where are you from?”
Sana was sitting beside her, resting on a now-empty canister of chips. She looked up at her, and it was hard for Cass to remember the creature that had appeared before her in the alley.
“Lhevasenith,” Sana answered simply.
“Oh.” Cass looked straight ahead. She had no idea where that was. It certainly wasn’t anywhere in their galaxy. She was fairly certain they’d checked the whole thing.
“I will show you in the sky,” Sana continued. “But it will be hard from here, I don’t…” She fell silent and her little eyes narrowed in concentration. “I’m not sure I remember quite how to find it.”
“How’d you get here?”
“In a ship.” Another simple answer, but this one excited Cass much more than the first.
“A spaceship?” she repeated loudly.
“Shh.” Sana held out one of her tiny hands. “People can still hear you. You have to be subtle.”
Subtle wasn’t exactly Cass’s style, but given that she could already see a few nervous eyes on her, she pressed her lips together and settled down.
“Perhaps it would be wise to save this conversation, after all.”
Cass let out a long sigh, but she had to agree. She slouched on the train seat and crossed her arms. Home could not come soon enough.
Cass’s house was in the country, surrounded by just enough land that they couldn’t see their neighbors. This wasn’t because they farmed or made any use of the land at all, but because her parents both liked their privacy. During the year when she was at school, Cass missed the open land and the forest, even though to her the place still felt like a vacation more than a home.
She pushed open the door with her back and went inside, lifting her feet to fend off her dogs as they greeted her with their usual enthusiasm.
“Mom,” she yelled, “come get the boys!”
She heard her mother whistle from the other room, and the two pugs reluctantly left her to answer the call.
“Thanks, I’m going upstairs!” Cass didn’t wait for her mother’s reply and rocketed up to her bedroom. She closed the door and dropped all of her shopping onto the floor, save for the bag Sana was in. That one she put down with more care than she needed.
Her room was decorated rather conservatively compared to her dorm at school. Here her posters were not so numerous, not her favorites, and her collection of toys didn’t come with her either. Only her favorite figures, which she couldn’t leave behind, sat in the window sill.
She hopped onto her bed and patted the spot beside her, offering Sana a place to continue their conversation. But she barely waited for Sana to join her before continuing, “So you came here in a spaceship? What’s it look like? How’s it work? How long did it take?”
“It, um.. well, perhaps I could show you, but I don’t know much about it,” Sana answered tentatively. “I don’t know how I ended up here.”
Cass deflated a little. “Oh. Where is it?”
“In a field, not too far from the city, on the other side of where we are now,” Sana answered. She fidgeted a bit, her tail shaking as she spoke. “But it isn’t important. Not really. I will answer any question you have, but first I must tell you something of dire importance.”
“Oh, right.” Cass had forgotten that part. She steeled herself, ready to become famous in an instant once she gave this news to the press. Cassidy Sophia: first contact.
“If I am here, it can only mean one thing. I have failed,” Sana began, hanging her head low. “It does not matter where I am from, because that place is gone. And the same creatures who destroyed my home, I’m afraid…” She looked up and met Cass’s stare, managing to look deadly serious for a squirrel. “They are here too.”
The impact woke her. Pain lit up her side and instinct alone allowed her to find something to hold on to. She clung tight and did not dare to move, not until the world around her settled into a low, pulsating hum. In the pitch dark, she inched along, hands seeking until they found something familiar. A latch. A door.
She turned it and pushed, and the door gave way to gravity, flinging itself open and dropping her across the open space beyond to land amidst the rubble. She lay there stunned for a second on a mutilated, sparking console, smashed in from both sides by the crumpled hull of the ship. It rumbled and shook beneath her, the noise of the engine the only, overwhelming sound. Pieces she recognized but could not name had dislodged from around the cabin, landed on and broken the delicate instruments and display panels. She looked at them anyway, but there wasn’t anything to give her a clue as to how she’d gotten here. Flickering lights stopped her eyes from adjusting to the darkness and she had to squint to find the guide rails. The walls in these things always had ways to get around, with or without gravity. She hauled her aching body towards where she knew there must be a way out. Out to freedom, or death. But there was no waiting here.
She found the hatch and heaved against it, and the ship let her go with a sigh, the stale smoky air billowing out around her like a final breath in the cold. Relief took hold as the feel of fresh, breathable air filled her lungs. The sky that greeted her was not her own, but she would live.
The ship let out one sudden, guttural shudder and went still. She sat perched there for a moment, drinking in the night air and letting herself adjust. She felt like she’d been sleeping for ages, that her whole body remained in a dream from which it needed to wake up.
But then a bright light dashed across the patch of sky above her, followed by another and another until the whole of it was filled with streaming light. It might have been beautiful, but the sight of it filled her chest with ice and she was suddenly, jarringly present. She knew what those lights were and what they meant. If they had followed her, then her home was gone. She was the only one left.
And this place would follow in its footsteps if she did nothing to stop what was coming.
Fear urged her to move and she pushed herself down the side of the ship to claw her way up the uprooted and crumbling soil until she could rest on solid ground. She blinked owlishly into the night, trying to find some sort of bearing. Bent and broken trees stretched out behind the ship, which had left a gash in its wake. The trees still standing obscured all else. She stood and looked back, chided herself for not checking the ship for supplies, but knew it was too late. If she went back, there might not be another chance to escape. There was nothing to do for the ship now.
Following the direction of some light on the horizon, she made her way through the trees as quickly as she could manage. The forest was relatively empty, so for her it was easy enough to traverse. It was staying hidden that was the problem. Where the trees were thin, it was easy to run but she could see the streams of light flashing relentlessly above her and so too could they see her. Where they were thicker, her large body became a hindrance. Brush and branches caught in her hair until in a huff she gave in and used some of her energy to make it short.
Signs of civilization began to appear and with them her hopes started to rise, granting her renewed energy. She dashed across paved roads in the dark like something feral, recklessly barreling towards salvation. All she had to do was find food and she could change shape, disappear, and actually have a moment to think.
She only stopped when the trees did, abruptly at the edge of a field. Her body trembled and threatened to give out, but what stretched out before her made her ignore it. Houses she had only seen the likes of in history books, and beyond them a towering city. It looked almost primitive compared to home, but it bore the unmistakable mark of humanity.
She vaguely remembered a human animal from her textbooks, a dark creature that could fly and was common enough to provide some camouflage. She sat and took a few deep breaths, trying to picture the little creature in her mind as best she could. It was difficult to change without calm, without preparation, without energy. Once she settled into shape, her stomach felt like it was gnawing at her insides and her now-little legs shook with every step.
She found a house and an open window, and waddled over to test her wings, unsure how to fly with them at all. It took a few tries and every bit of her strength, but she managed to get enough height to land on the sill. She leaned down and peeked inside, looking back and forth with each eye until after a long silence she hopped inside and walked around in search of food. Her claws made soft clicking sounds against the flooring and, though these feet were similar to her natural ones, she could not figure out a way to walk that would silence them. She just hoped whoever lived in this place didn’t have good hearing. Humans seldom did, but their animal companions could be dangerous.
She finally found what she thought must be food sitting on a table. It smelled amazing and she could barely stop herself from just tearing into it on the spot. The soft white stuff was wrapped up in a little sack and she could easily grab it to drag back to the window. Once outside, she didn’t bother to move away from the base of the house. For now it was safe, out of sight, and she was too hungry. She tore a hole in the sack and shoved her face inside, eating and eating until she could stomach no more.
Too full to move, she settled down onto what remained of the food and allowed herself to doze. Sleep was impossible, the flashes of light in the sky reminding her too clearly of the danger she was in. But as the lights faded and the sky above began to glow in shades of pink and orange, she knew a different kind of danger was soon to take their place. She forced herself up and, after a few more bites and a silent ‘thank you’ to whoever she had stolen from, left the ruined bag to totter away from the house. It was time to figure out how to really fly.
It wasn’t her first time. Certainly, she had taken on the form of winged creatures before. Never with a coating of these strange little hairy sticks on them, but she assumed there could not be too much difference. The wings seemed to work well enough, and once she jumped high enough, she managed to stay aloft. Awkward, but aloft.
The city was visible from up high, and in the glow of morning she couldn’t help but admire it. Elegant, silver spires shone proudly in the dawn, all sleek and beautiful structures woven together by lush green, winding paths, and a rainbow of artificial light. She could see beyond too, the arc of a planet, of two other moons, and the specks of countless satellites suspended above a false, translucent sky.
Something snapped in her memory and for a moment she forgot to fly. She forgot to breathe. Three moons, a shining city. She knew in sudden, devastating clarity where she was.
Going to start using this old inspo blog to post the written version, many many years later. Didn't really want to delete or hide any of the old posts for one reason or another, so they'll stay there. Gonna change the blog layout around though so it's easier to read on. Right now it's a nightmare lmao. Anyway, no one's following this except the old players at the moment, so this is mostly a marker to show that everything back in time after this post is in fact from the gameplay days.
