Zoey sat up in bed, drumming her fingers absentmindedly on the sheets. Aphrodite, done with her shower, came out of the bathroom just minutes later, absolutely heartbreaking in baggy pants and one of Zoey's pajama shirts. It was far from her usual sophisticated style, but she rocked the casual look just as well on the rare occasions she dared to. Zoey glanced over at her, trying hard to hide the fact that her heart was fluttering in her chest and she could feel a wave of red creeping towards her cheeks.

"You ready?" Aphrodite asked, slowly walking over to Zoey's side of the bed and sitting down on the edge.

Zoey nodded, mustering a small smile.

"Alright. I guess I'll be downstairs until you fall asleep, then," Vision Girl said.

"I'll be okay, Aphrodite," Zoey promised.

"Don't lie, Zo. I remember what it feels like to be woken up by one of your Kalona nightmares."

"He hasn't gotten to me like that in a while. That was a long time ago, I'm not as scared anymore."

"Oh yeah? Then why do I also remember what it was like in Woodward Park when you and Kalona came face to face?" Aphrodite questioned.

"...Okay, point made. His power over me isn't as strong now, but it's still there. But this is just something that has to be done."

"I'd like to state again for the record that I am 100% against this," Aphrodite said.

"Dually noted."

Vision Girl sighed.

"Well, like I said, I'll be downstairs. If you need me—and I'll know if you do—I'll come running."

Zoey leaned forward and softly kissed her.

"Even if it's only for a little bit, it's so weird falling asleep and not having you here," Zoey said. "I wish you could come with me. You did once before."

"I may not be here when you fall asleep, but I'll be here when you wake up," now Aphrodite leaned forward and kissed her back, on the forehead.

Zoey laid down, settling onto her pillow and pulling the covers up over her.

"I always want you here when I wake up, Aphrodite. I want you to be the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see at night."

"I feel like even you would occasionally get tired of me," the blonde laughed.

Zoey shook her head.

"I can't. You know why?"

"Tell me why."

"'Cuz I love you," Zoey dopily said, so comfortable that sleep was already creeping over her.

Aphrodite chuckled at the silly smile on the brunette's face.

"Go to bed, Zo. I'll be back up in a little bit."

"Will you cuddle with me when you come back?" Zoey's eyes fluttered shut.

"Is that what you want?" Aphrodite gently brushed strands of brown out of Zoey's face.

"Mhm."

"Okay then," Aphrodite kissed Zoey's forehead again. "Goodnight, Z."

"Night..."

Vision Girl switched off Zoey's lamp, the sole light in the room, and stood up, leaving the bedroom and closing the door behind her so a cat wouldn't stumble in and disturb Zoey.

The brunette had been hoping for a chance to lay there and mentally prepare herself to see Kalona, but she was asleep in no time.

It was a dark, dreamless sleep, in which time simultaneously passed in the blink of an eye and in the slow crawl of eons. All reality was lost on her slumbering subconscious, and whether it was seconds or hours, time marched on regardless and her sleep eventually came to an end.

Her eyes fluttered open, and the dark became a different kind of dark, one less pitch-black and more dimly illuminated by the glow of moonlight just outside the curtains of the window. Tired eyelids fought to stay open and lost every couple seconds or so, and the rest of her body tried to catch up to wakefulness. All Zoey could manage to be aware of at the moment was the hint of moonlight, the fan twirling overhead, and fingers brushing softly up and down her arm.

"Aphrodite..." she mumbled, through heavy lips that struggled to wake up and say the name.

"It is not her you wished would join you tonight."

Zoey's sharp intake of breath set every molecule in her body on high alert, and instantly awake now she threw herself backwards across the bed, onto Aphrodite's side and away from the voice that was far too close for her comfort.

Kalona was knelt down beside the bed, resting his arms on the covers like a child in prayer with his hand still hovering where he'd trailed his fingers along Zoey's arm. She could see everything crystal clearly in the dark now, eyes focusing with the surge of adrenaline. There was a surprising look of innocence on Kalona's face as he watched her breathing heavily to steady her racing heart. Zoey wasn't fooled for a minute.

"What are you doing here?!" she demanded.

Any expression of innocence the demon bore, false or otherwise, winked out of existence in a split second like a ghost.

"Do not play games, A-ya. You called me here. You want me here."

"...Called you here, maybe. Want you here, never."

She kept her words firm, but in spite of it being a silly, stupid thought, she really wished she were in something other than her Monsters Inc. pajamas right now. It instilled a sense of vulnerability in her that she really didn't need at the moment. Kalona didn't say anything in response, merely kept watching her.

Zoey felt a sudden rise of disgust at the sight of him touching the bed she shared with Aphrodite. There was always an unspoken feeling of sacredness to the Power Duo's bedroom. Having Kalona here, making himself comfortable, tainted the space just the same as Darkness had once tainted Nyx's Temple.

"...Get up," Zoey said through clenched teeth, her disgust melding into anger at the demon's audacity.

Kalona's golden eyes looked down at the sheet, understanding and chuckling cruelly.

"A trivial matter, A-ya. As if anything in this world belongs to you. As if she belongs to you."

"She does not belong to me, and I've made it clear before that you have no right to talk about her."

Kalona rose to his feet, keeping his wings folded close to his back.

"Does this please you now, A-ya?" he gave a pretentious little bow.

"Nothing about you being here pleases me...now that you're free, are you really here? Or is this still only a dream?"

"Who is to say your dreams are not real?"

"It's a simple question, I want a simple answer," Zoey snapped.

Kalona's handsome features hardened.

"...Our meetings have always been more than mere dreams, dearest one. But no, it is not the real world we commune through now."

"Good for you. That means you don't have to worry about me burning you alive."

Kalona's smile was amused in the dark.

"You are just as brave as you've always been. Colder, perhaps, but still as brave as the day we met," he said.

"Don't talk about her like you admired her. You didn't admire A-ya's bravery, or anything about her. You never even loved her, Kalona, it was just lust. And I am not her," Zoey sat up straight, trying to carry herself firmly. "I don't feel lust, love, or admiration for you."

"But you do. You just don't remember you do."

"You do not get to tell me what I do or don't feel!" Zoey jumped out of bed, refusing to let Kalona tower over her in a position of power. "I know who I am, and I and I alone know what I feel. I am Zoey Redbird of the Aniyunwiya, and a wielder of the elements. You didn't draw me to you this time, I drew you to me, so you're going to stand here and answer my questions because I'm in charge of my own mind and I say you're not getting out of here until I've heard everything I want to."

Kalona folded his arms across his bare chest, never taking his eyes off Zoey.

"Brave indeed, tempting my ire," his voice was cold and dangerous.

"I'm dating a LaFont. Your ire is not a thing that I'm concerned with. Now, let's just jump right into it. I called you here for answers. You've been free in our world for over a month now. Neferet's been on the run for even longer. Where are you?"

"'Where am I'?" if Kalona's demigod status didn't elevate him above such human displays, he would've made sarcastic little air quotes. "You believe I am bound in some way to tell you such things? I am not. You cannot and will not wrest any answers from me by sheer will alone, I tell you only what I wish to reveal. Neferet has returned home. That is all I will say. I follow her or embark on my own as I so please," he said.

It was news to Zoey, who always imagined Neferet and Kalona joined at the hip 24/7, scheming and plotting with maniacal laughter and maybe even a background lightning flash or two.

"So where is home to Neferet?" she questioned, choosing to ignore Kalona's spiel about not getting any answers he didn't wish to give.

"You know so little about the foe you so desperately hunt."

Zoey remembered that while learning the ins and outs of Neferet's schemes was definitely a big check on her to-do list, she wanted to call upon Kalona tonight to learn about him and his ins and outs, so that she could one day gain the upper hand and imprison him once more.

"...Where is home to you?" she asked, letting the bite in her words drop just a little bit, hoping that Kalona might lower his guard just the tiniest bit if she didn't seem so defensive.

"I am in need of no home. Such a mortal need means nothing to as glorious a deity as myself," Kalona haughtily held his head high. "The lower creatures waste their entire lives desperately crawling in search of a place to belong, like ants they scramble to carve out a place for themselves and their kin. I am a higher being, my A-ya. The entire world and everything in it bends for me. Why would I settle for one small hole in the ground to call my own when my wings climb the mountains high and my feet walk the valleys vast?"

"Because the world is big. And it gets lonely," Zoey wisely said. "I want to see it all too. I want to climb the mountains and walk the valleys, but at the end of the day I also want to come home to familiar faces and spend my night beside the one I love. A home is not a mortal need, it's a part of survival and existence itself. It's our root, a thing to anchor us in reality and tether us to life. And it isn't just a place, it's the ones in and around that place that make it a home. Walk the world day in and day out all alone, and you'll be surprised how quickly you find yourself lost. But walk the world with someone at your side, and you'll walk strong forever."

Kalona was not moved.

"As I said, the folly of human feelings. They blind one and choke one like a poison, yet still the lesser beings will think themselves greater for having them."

"Alright, so maybe you don't have feelings. Maybe you're physically incapable of it. And maybe that's what makes me stronger than you."

"I do not think so. I am a god, dearest A-ya. And no matter what life you exist in or what form you take, you are just a mortal. You cannot hope for a greater power than mine."

"If you're such a god, then why weren't you worthy enough to stand at the side of a goddess?" Zoey chided.

Kalona went silent. Zoey felt no small bit of triumph at that.

"You were once Nyx's Warrior. I was once Aphrodite's. That bond between us was broken when I sacrificed her to release you. I didn't feel it at the time, but I feel it now; I'm not her Warrior anymore, and the connection we had that let us sense each other's feelings and emotions is so much weaker now, if not gone altogether. The bond of a Warrior's Oath is very likely severed forever for us."

Saying the words made it all too real, and Zoey had to take a moment to gather herself.

"But Aphrodite and I share another bond. In the vampyre world she would be a High Priestess, and in the vampyre world that would make me her Consort. That connection remains intact, and in my heart I feel that the power of a Consort runs much deeper than the power of a Warrior. An Oath-Sworn Warrior has a place in the heart, but a Consort has a place in the soul. I don't think you even have a soul of your own, let alone someone else's, so yeah, I'd say my strength could give yours a run for your money."

Kalona idly started to walk, bare feet ambling around the bed and slowing to a stop when he reached the Power Duo's dresser.

"...You believe that housing two souls within you gives you strength," he quietly said, his voice deep and melodic. "But a soul is not the grand, earth-shattering thing you make it out to be."

He eyed the girls' twin statuettes on top of the dresser, the ones of the phoenix and the Greek goddess of love. Slowly, he lifted a finger and absentmindedly traced the shape of the red bird sitting before him, going over every feather and detail.

"A soul is a fragile thing, A-ya. You think it to be made of steel, when the reality is it's little more than glass. You are right, a Consort holds two within their being, but this does not give them great power, only great vulnerability...one soul shatters—"

With no warning he crushed the phoenix statue in his fist, his mere grip alone instantly reducing it to nothing but broken shards and dust.

"—And the other soul shatters with it."

He did the same to the Aphrodite statue in half a second, crumbling the majestic form into unrecognizable bits and pieces.

Zoey's heart stopped before her brain kicked in and reminded her that this was only a dream, and the prized statues were intact and unharmed in the real world, but the sudden violent action still brought a horrified gasp out of her. Kalona smiled wryly, having his own moment of triumph at being responsible for that sound of panic.

"You gamble much for daring to carry the Prophetess' soul around with you. Yet I reign supreme because I carry none," he insisted.

Before Zoey even knew what happened, Kalona somehow crossed the room in the blink of an eye and stood right before her, radiating that unearthly chill of his that made Zoey shake right down to her bones.

"A soul can be tainted," he went on, leering down at Zoey. "Just as yours has."

She'd tried to be brave. She'd tried to stand strong. But now, Zoey was the same girl who'd been visited by Kalona for the very first time all those months ago; alone, scared, and unsure.

"M-my soul is not tainted," her lips trembled at the thought, and her eyes darted frantically all over the room to avoid having to look at the fallen angel.

"Has the Prophetess not seen it?" Kalona asked the question even though the smile in his voice meant he already knew the answer. "Has she not seen the Darkness fighting to control you?"

Zoey had no idea how he could possibly know that.

"...There may be Darkness there, but it's not going to win me over," she said. "The Light inside me is fighting back, and what's more, I want Light to win. That's what gives me an advantage over the Darkness, the fact that I don't want to give in and succumb to it."

Kalona shook his head, stirring his long, ebony hair.

"You do not have a choice."

"Don't tell me that!" Zoey snapped the sentence but fearfully edged backwards to put distance between herself and the demon. "I get to choose my own path, and I say the road to Darkness is not the one I'm going to take!"

Kalona seemed to eye her with something that would've looked like pity if it weren't for the mocking laugh that rumbled from his throat.

"Your path was already chosen for you, A-ya...in your first life."

"T-that's different, A-ya was—"

"I am not speaking of being made by the Ghigua women with the sole purpose of entrapping me. I am speaking of the eons we spent together buried in the earth, you in my arms, your naked body against mine."

Zoey shuddered, and not from the cold.

"I meant to spend an eternity with you. Even if it was in that forsaken underground darkness, I found solace in having you with me. But the moment we made love, the Ghigua's spell broke, and your body turned back into the dirt and clay it was born of. Yet those foolish old women made the mistake of giving you a spirit, A-ya, and that spirit is what stayed with me in the abyss for the centuries that followed."

Zoey didn't want it to, but somehow this story was drawing her in, capturing every facet of her attention.

"You whispered to me, your essence caressed me, and time lost all meaning for us. Until you were born again unto this world. I was left alone, and had to begin calling out for freedom to break loose from the unbearable earth and find you again. But your spirit did not leave unchanged, my love. All those centuries, those countless decades trapped with me...your own soul became tainted with my Darkness."

He laughed cruelly. The sound was muffled to Zoey, she heard it through an immense roaring pounding in her ears like blood, through the suddenly very loud thudding of her pulse.

"You wonder just when and where the Darkness began to creep into your very being? It was there all along," Kalona appeared to get a kick out of the shell-shocked and faraway gaze on Zoey's face. "You are always so quick to claim that you are not A-ya? You are not, you are merely the shell A-ya resides in. And that means you cannot cleanse the evil lurking in the corners of her soul. Like a foul disease she has spread her Darkness on to you, and your single, solitary hope would have lain in curing her before she afflicted you."

The brunette was on some sort of autopilot now, her brain and mouth worked to say words that the rest of her body wasn't even aware were being spoken.

"But how could I have possibly done that? ? A-ya's soul was passed on to me before I was even born, and by then it was too late! !"

"Precisely," Kalona smiled. "Neferet once told you that you were to realize your true destiny, and this is it. You cannot escape the Darkness, my love. It is ingrained into your very being. The ages may have passed, but where I am now free, you still remain trapped. The dark can never have a home among the Light, and when all those you cherish have cast you out, my side will be the only place for you to return to. For it is not you and the Prophetess who share an eternal bond, but you and I. Mark my words, very soon I will be all you have left, and time has taught me a bit of patience. For now this is goodbye, but I will be seeing you soon, my one and only A-ya."

In the telltale venue of a dream the winged demon and the bedroom around him disappeared in a puff of inky black smoke, ending unreality and waking the sleeping mind that was fastened around it.

Zoey shot right up in bed with a hard gasp like she'd been dragged underwater and was just now breaking the surface for air, desperately clenching the sheets in one hand and wiping away the hair from her sweaty cheeks and forehead with the other.

"Zoey, shh, I'm right here."

This time the voice beside her was a welcome one, as was the hand on her arm. Aphrodite propped herself on an elbow and then sat up completely, sliding her hand down to Zoey's fingers and quietly trying to pry them loose from the covers.

"A-Aphrodite..." Zoey said the name through chattering teeth like it was some sort of prayer to keep herself safe from any aspects of the nightmare that might still be lingering around her.

"Here," Vision Girl took a cup of water from the nightstand and handed it to Zoey, who was so hot and sweaty that she downed almost all of it in one go.

She continued to shake and shiver in the wake of Kalona's appearance like his ghastly cold was still in the air when the reality was she felt like she'd been thrown right into the middle of an oven.

Vision Girl started to rub up and down Zoey's arms, thinking she was cold, but stopped when she felt how she was really burning up. She pulled back some of the covers instead, giving the cool air from the fan a chance to breeze over the girl.

"It's okay Z, I'm right beside you," Aphrodite said, using her voice to ground Zoey in the real world.

She wouldn't ask what happened until she was sure Zoey had calmed down, and Zoey knew that, so her mouth blurted out an explanation ahead of time without any real consent.

"He came this time. I willed him to appear and he did."

"...Did you find out everything you wanted to?"

Zoey didn't. Not in the slightest. But she wouldn't answer, wouldn't even shake her head. It was so hard for Aphrodite to tell what her girlfriend needed lately after these nightmares and panics. She'd bounced back and forth from merely shying away from Aphrodite's touch, to needing a valley of distance to be put between them, and to curling up close and burying herself in Aphrodite entirely, letting her presence surround her on all sides. Over the last few days or so Vision Girl couldn't figure it out on her own, and it made her feel even more helpless than she cared to admit.

"Is it okay if I hold you?" the blonde quietly asked.

"...God, please," Zoey breathed.

So Aphrodite held her arms out and let Zoey come in for a hug, feeling firsthand the stifling heat coming from her shaking body.

"I've got you Zo, just like I said I would."

It took quite some time, but Zoey did start to calm down and eventually pulled away from Aphrodite's embrace.

"...So what happened?" Vision Girl asked.

It was all starting to make horrible sense to Zoey. Aphrodite's vision of her starting a war, months of an oppressive anger and a deep-seated rage lying within her, dreams of killing, trying to kill in real life—the Darkness had been inside her the whole time. And unlike Stevie Rae's battle against the force in the beginning, Zoey very likely couldn't be cleansed of it. This wasn't a new poison just beginning to seep in, it was a centuries-old disease, with roots going deep and spiderwebbing through every inch of her spirit.

"...It's over," she said.

Aphrodite frowned.

"What's over, exactly?"

Zoey gestured vaguely.

"All of it. My struggle to figure out how to save this freaking planet, my fighting to stay on the side of Light, my pretending I'm some great, important hero."

"...Zoey, I get confused when you go all cryptic on me."

It was another thing that instinct drove Zoey to keep secret, like banishments from Nyx or seeing ghosts in the dark. And Zoey had made a promise that the secrets would stop, that she wouldn't let fear keep her from confiding in Aphrodite. But right now, the brunette was just so, so tired and equally overwhelmed, she had no idea how to even begin to explain what Kalona had told her. All she could do was bury her face in her hands and feel the hot stinging building behind her eyes.

"...Baby, what is it?" Aphrodite asked.

"I can't..."

Zoey struggled for an answer, so Aphrodite wisely rephrased.

"What are you feeling?" she asked instead.

"Lost..." Zoey's voice was muffled through her hands.

Vision Girl was torn between needing to comfort her and not wanting to push her.

"...We don't have to talk about it now if you don't want to," she said.

Without much of a warning Zoey started to really cry, and the sound made Aphrodite's chest hurt.

"...How about we just go to sleep?" the blonde suggested.

Zoey just sat there, shoulders shaking as she cried into her hands. Aphrodite didn't say anything more. All she could do was drape her arms around Zoey's shoulders and hug her tight, burying her face in soft, brown hair. She let her cry it out until her heartbreaking sobs quieted into little hiccups and sniffs, never letting go of her for a second.

"...Zoey, whatever happened, you're stronger than it. You always have been," Aphrodite murmured in her ear.

"Not this time..." Zoey's voice quivered.

"Yes this time. You've said that before, and you never fail to prove yourself wrong."

"...You really need to stop believing in me so damn much."

Aphrodite smiled.

"My faith in you can't be shaken, Zo. You were the only one there for me when no one else was, and for the rest of my life I'm going to repay the favor. We've been through so much together, and to this day you're still the incredibly brave girl I've always known. That part of you won't change."

Aphrodite let her go from the hug and reached for her hands, gently lowering them from her face. She wiped the wetness from Zoey's cheeks and leaned in to kiss her there.

"I love you more than anything else on earth," Vision Girl firmly said.

"Aphro..."

"And I want you to always remember that."

"I do, Aphrodite. I do."

"Like I said, we don't have to talk about this now. We can talk tomorrow, when it's brighter and better."

Zoey seemed to have calmed down enough.

"...I'm sorry for crying," she softly said.

"Don't apologize. There's no need for it. Let's just go back to sleep."

The brunette slowly reclined onto her pillow. Her body felt heavy. Aphrodite scooted close to her, kissing her cheek again and finding her hands under the sheets to twine their fingers together.

"Don't even think about Kalona. All you have to think about is tomorrow," the blonde told her.

"...I move back in tomorrow," Zoey remembered.

"And this mansion officially becomes a home again."

"...Home."

Zoey suddenly found her thoughts going way, way back in time. To the days when nightmares and monsters were just things under the bed or in the closet, not eternal fiends prowling the real world and finding secret passages into her mind. Her mother was always there for those nightmares, alleviating her fears by showing her the closet was empty and beneath the bed was bare.

But now Zoey knew the monsters were real, she knew that even if she couldn't always see them, they were still out there somewhere. There was no alleviating her fears this time, not even with Aphrodite close beside like the protective teddy bear she had grown to be.

How Zoey desperately wished to be that little girl again, blissfully existing through a much simpler time and a much simpler world.

The exhaustion that tugged at her now wasn't physical, or emotional, or even mental. It was a soul-deep kind of exhaustion, like a black hole situated squarely in her torso, threatening to suck her down to the center of the earth if she didn't find something to hang onto. She tightened her grip on Aphrodite's hand, but it wasn't enough. She could feel herself sinking anyway, still only in soul, deeper and deeper into a world of gray where nothing mattered to her. At the moment, she didn't find herself looking forward to moving back in. At the moment she really didn't find herself looking forward to much of anything. There was a sense of hopelessness instilled in her now thanks to Kalona, really the only feeling that was managing to escape the clutches of that black hole.

"...Aphrodite?"

"Hm?"

When Zoey spoke again, her voice was just like that of the small child she was wishing she still was.

"...I don't want to do this anymore."

The silence was brief.

"Okay. Then I'll do it. I'll be Vision Girl and Power Freak," Aphrodite said. "You can take the rest of the year off. Take care of the cats, eat some cereal, catch up on all your shows."

"Aphrodite," Zoey's tone was expressionless and practically unreadable, but the blonde still managed to glean a hint of disapproving annoyance in it.

"What? There's nothing in the world I wouldn't do for you, dork. Just say the word anytime you want me to take over and it's done."

Zoey, in fact, didn't say any word at all. Initially far too overwhelmed to let her mind go and fall back into sleep, the black hole pulled at her until eventually that soul-deep exhaustion turned into a physical one, like an elephant sitting on her chest or weights tugging her eyelids down. The dark that swallowed her up was now outside, not in, shutting down her mind and making every cell in her body succumb to it. Everything around her drifted farther and farther away, and she finally slipped back into an empty, dreamless sleep.

She'd never identified herself as a morning person. It wasn't like she leapt out of bed at the crack of dawn with a smile on her face and a song in her heart, ready and eager to face the day, she just happened to wake up early. It always made for a comical contrast with Aphrodite, who definitely did not identify as a morning person and never outgrew that preternatural childhood ability to sleep until one or two in the afternoon.

Such was not the case this Saturday morning. Zoey woke up a little past nine, not particularly well-rested but not overly sleepy either. Any other morning would have had her shuffling herself out of bed anyway and starting on her morning routine, but instead she just rolled over, facing away from the dim light coming through the blinds and curtains, and went back to sleep. Her eyes opened again right after ten, and it was the same story. Finding little motivation to wake up and start her day, she curled into a little ball and fell asleep once more.

Aphrodite even beat her to facing the day, crawling out of bed and expressing no small bit of surprise on her face at the fact that it was nearing eleven and Zoey still hadn't budged. Vision Girl, dressed and ready for the afternoon, playfully climbed up beside Zoey on the bed, rousing her awake, and it wasn't until the brunette rolled the other way and caught sight of her face that she felt some of her motivation to embrace the Saturday begin to stir.

"Are you really just going to leave me to fend for myself alone in this big empty mansion?" Aphrodite asked, brushing hair out of Zoey's face.

The brunette yawned and stretched out her legs.

"You aren't alone. You have Maleficent," she mumbled.

"But I still prefer cuddling with you."

"...For now."

"For always. Now are you going to get up or what? I'm making breakfast."

"...Well I can't say no to that," Zoey murmured.

Aphrodite sat there and repeatedly ran her fingers through Zoey's hair.

"Feel any better?" she asked.

"You mean about these horrible turns my life has taken?"

"...I'll take that as a no," Aphrodite sighed. "Come on. We'll go downstairs and talk over pancakes. I'll arrange your chocolate chips into a smiley face."

For the first time, Zoey wasn't confident she could be cheered up with chocolate chip smileys. But Aphrodite was so eager to be a listening ear and a helping hand, Zoey couldn't really give her a no for an answer. She threw the covers off and sat up, sliding herself over the edge of the bed so her feet touched the carpet.

"...Just one of those days, huh?" Aphrodite guessed, watching Zoey's dragging movements.

"Yeah. One of those days."

Pancakes and hot chocolate were the topic of what little morning remained, with Aphrodite setting a plate and a steaming mug in front of Zoey before sitting next to her at the kitchen island with her own breakfast. Zoey hadn't changed out of her pajamas yet, and with the chocolate chip smile grinning up at her she looked very much like a little kid about to head into the living room for Saturday cartoons.

"...You know, when I was growing up I never had anyone to be there for me after my nightmares. I had to learn how to comfort myself," Aphrodite began, trying to strike up the conversation she was waiting for Zoey to have.

"Explains why you're so good at it," Zoey cut off a tiny nibble of pancake with her fork.

"Well, I haven't felt so good at it these past couple times. It's like whatever's in your head is just getting worse and worse."

You could say that.

"But I won't stop trying to help, Z. Even if you get to a point where you don't want me to, I'm still going to help you get through it all."

Zoey shook her head and dug out a chocolate chip.

"I can't keep putting all my problems on you like that. That isn't what you're here for," she said.

"Yes it is. I'm here for you. It's this little thing we have called a relationship."

"And I worry about how much our relationship can handle."

Aphrodite looked confused.

"After what we just went through with Kalona and Neferet, why the hell would you worry about that?" she questioned.

"Because you're human. A person. And a person can only take so much before they decide it just isn't worth it anymore," Zoey glumly explained.

Aphrodite was still lost as to why Zoey was suddenly having these thoughts.

"When have I ever done anything to make you think that this isn't worth it? Remember in the very beginning, when we realized how we felt about each other, and I shut it down because I didn't want to deal with it in the middle of this sudden fight against evil vampyres? I knew what I was getting into right from the start. I knew all the trouble that dating with an apocalypse lurking in the background would bring, and I decided that it was worth it."

"But the Zoey you decided to be with back then isn't the same Zoey you're with now," the brunette pointed out.

"Well, no," Vision Girl agreed. "But I'm not the Aphrodite you decided to be with back then either. We've both changed, and we'll keep changing. That's just life, Z. But what we have between us? That will always stay the same."

Zoey felt the burning pricks of tears forming in her eyes, and the lump in her throat that fought against a swallow of her hot chocolate.

"And what if I change into your enemy?" she whispered.

"Been there, done that."

"I'm serious! !" Zoey snapped, briefly switching emotions due to being in no mood for jokes.

Aphrodite watched her with those careful, calculating eyes of hers.

"...What the hell did Kalona say to you last night, Z?"

Zoey's attempt at a calming and steadying breath was shaky and the complete opposite of what she was going for.

"He told me about A-ya," she started to say, keeping her eyes on anything but Aphrodite. "When they were trapped together in that cave, her body turned back into the earth the Cherokee elders made her from, but her spirit still lingered there with him. For centuries. And trapped there for decades upon decades, A-ya's spirit became tainted with the Darkness that seeps from him, like a river through a wasteland becomes polluted and poisoned."

Vision Girl silently followed along.

"Her spirit never left that cavern until it was reborn into a new life. Into me, Aphrodite. That tainted, poisoned soul is inside of me now, and what am I supposed to do? I can't cleanse that Darkness away, it's been too long. Kalona said it's ingrained in me, rooted to my spirit like a stain that can't be washed out. And Darkness doesn't go halfway, it doesn't stop until it's taken over everything in its path. Meaning me. You've seen a future where I'm a menace, Aphrodite. This is how it happens."

"...Oh my god," the blonde whispered.

Zoey's heart froze. This was it. She knew it. The one thing in all the world and every world beyond that would push Aphrodite too far.

"...Oh my god what?" Zoey's voice was an even quieter whisper, begging Aphrodite to just say the words and officially get it over with.

"Oh my god newsflash, the man is evil, Zoey! !" Aphrodite practically yelled. "Why the fuck would you believe a single goddamn syllable out of his mouth? ?"

"...Because I can feel that it's true," Zoey meekly said, overshadowed by Aphrodite's emotion.

"If Kalona's telling the truth, then I'm a fucking heterosexual. If you're secretly evil, then I'm a fucking heterosexual. Guess what I'm not, Zoey? A fucking heterosexual!"

The brunette sighed heavily.

"You've seen into my soul, Aphrodite. You've—"

"Yeah, I have. We've already established that there's Darkness creeping in. And you know what I saw the first time I looked into your soul? Not a damn thing. There was no sign of Darkness there, that place I visited within you was beautiful and pure. So who is Kalona to say the evil has been there all along?"

"But—"

"Kalona just thinks he knows you body and soul, I'm the only one who really does. Who are you going to believe? Evil stalker rape demon, or the girl who loves you so much that just hearing you talk about this brings a goddamn pain to the center of my chest?"

Aphrodite reached over and tightly clasped both of Zoey's hands in her own.

"For shit's sake, Zo. You're my whole world, remember? I'm not going to sit here and let my world get turned upside down like this. I don't need these psychic powers to know that your soul is beautiful, it shines through you like the ray of light that it is. Z, come on. You know who you are. Do not let that monster tell you otherwise."

A couple sniffs, a quivering lip, and Zoey broke down. Not loudly or dramatically, no, but wrenching a hand free to cover her mouth and hold back sobs, and feeling the stream of silent tears flow freely down her cheeks and through her fingers.

"It doesn't matter if there's magic in this world. It doesn't matter if Light and Darkness are out there lording over the planet like gods. We decide who we want to be, no one and nothing else does it for us. If you don't want to be evil, then don't be evil. Fight it. Do good. Because you can't be on the side of Darkness when you're too busy being on the side of Light."

Just like in the night, Aphrodite sat patiently as Zoey soundlessly cried out all the emotion and heartache she needed to for the moment. And just like in the night, Aphrodite softly wiped the tears away from Zoey's reddened cheeks.

"If you want to fight evil, Z, I know a good place to start."

"...Kalona," Zoey said.

"He has to go, Zoey. Our job is hard enough already without him whispering rotten nothings in your ear."

"I...have to go to Grandma," the brunette realized. "Without Nyx, she's the only one who'll know what to do about him. I won't...I can't tell her how he's been freed, but I have to finally tell her he's loose and I need help to stop him."

"That's my girl," Aphrodite smiled.

Zoey slowly shook her head, not 100% in "Go, Fight, Win" mode.

"I'm just so scared of what I might become in the future," she looked Aphrodite in the eye, with fright glistening in her own.

"I know what you'll become. I'm Vision Girl, after all. You'll be a high school graduate, then a college graduate, then a vet—the country's top vet, by the way—and cat mom of the year, and just as rich as me. We'll pool our money and buy an island. Name it something in Cherokee. Spend every day of every week on the beach and never be bothered by supernatural creatures again."

A laugh—tiny, fleeting, barely even there, but a laugh nonetheless—left Zoey's lips. Aphrodite leaned forward and kissed her.

"Your future is my future, Zoey. I'll never let you fall to Darkness."

"...Being in your future means everything to me," Power Freak said.

"So then fight for that too. Don't let Kalona put the fear inside your mind to take that away from you. Fine, he's a scary guy, but you know what's scarier? A pissed off LaFont."

A second faint hint of a laugh, and then Zoey just let herself fall forwards onto Aphrodite, exhausted all over again and resting her head on Vision Girl's shoulder. Aphrodite put her arms around her.

"You're better than mind games, Zoey. Way better. And you know it."

"...I love you so much," Zoey whispered.

"I love you too."

The oppressive cloud and menacing black hole plaguing Zoey since last night didn't disappear, but at least for this moment they eased up on her just the tiniest bit and gave her room to breathe. It wasn't much room, but it was something.

"You aren't alone, Z. Alright?"

Zoey sniffed and nodded, reluctantly letting go of Aphrodite and sitting back.

"It's gonna be okay, Zo. You'll talk to Grandma Redbird and she'll help you figure out what to do about Kalona."

Zoey frowned and wiped her eyes.

"You aren't coming with me?" she asked.

"I was going to, you know I want to see Grandma, but..." Aphrodite hesitated for a second. "...I have stuff to do here. School stuff. A lot of it."

"Oh...okay. Alright," Zoey thought the blonde's answer seemed a little strange, yet didn't think anything else of it.

"But we're clear on the whole 'You're not evil, Kalona is a fucker' thing?"

Zoey was only clear on the last half of that statement, but silently nodded anyway and sipped her hot chocolate.

"...And thank you for talking to me about it, Zoey."

"Shouldn't I be thanking you for listening?" Zoey questioned.

"Well...after the whole banishment thing I realized that you don't always let me in," Aphrodite started. "Which I don't mind, there's no law that says you have to tell me everything. But sometimes you keep the big stuff inside, and you drown under the weight of it. And with that link we used to have apparently broken, I can't tell when you're drowning as easily as I used to."

Zoey sighed.

"The only two people I've trusted enough to want to tell all my secrets to were my mom and my grandma. Mom's life was always so hectic and busy, and Grandma's life was always so carefree, I felt horrible thinking about dumping my issues on them. Now I have you, who I trust with my life, but those years of not wanting to bother anyone haven't gone away. I shouldn't be afraid to tell you anything, but the truth is that I am, and...I don't know, I'm just not sure how to get over it."

Vision Girl's sapphire eyes glanced downward.

"Whenever I need you the most, you always come running, no questions asked. I just wish I could convince you I'd do the same," she said.

"No, Aphro, it isn't that I don't think you'd do the same, it's that I don't want you to have to."

"I'm your girlfriend, it's my job! A job I'm proud to do, by the way! I promise Zo, you're never going to be a burden on me, or scare me away. You're my owenvsv, my home. And you don't just abandon your home when things start going wrong. You fix it, and put effort into it, and help it get back on its feet, because there's no other place in the world you'd belong more and you're not going to give it up without a fight."

Zoey's smile was sad and tired.

"But you're my heart, aquadanvdo, and you try to spare it from heartache whenever and wherever you can," she retorted.

"That's the thing about hearts, Z. They're tougher than you'd ever imagine."

The end of March in Oklahoma meant the weather was getting warm and comfortable, and when Zoey pulled up to the lavender farm she found her grandmother in a chair on the front landing, reading a book and keeping the pages held down against the gentle breeze. Grandma Redbird took the time to get in a few more words as Zoey parked the Bug and cut the engine, and then she was closing her book shut and standing up to greet her granddaughter.

"Zoeybird," she smiled and gave her a tight hug.

"Hi, Grandma," Zoey desperately hung onto her for as long as she could, but eventually they both had to let go.

"Where is my other granddaughter?" Grandma Redbird asked.

"Stuck with homework," Zoey told her. "I guess it works out though, it's a load off my mind to know that she's at home supervising the cats so they don't tear each other apart."

Grandma looked surprised.

"Cats?" she repeated.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you, we have cats now. A tabby and a Persian, Nala and Maleficent."

"And they don't get along?"

"Nala is my cat, and Maleficent is Aphrodite's. Makes sense that they don't get along right off the bat."

Grandma Redbird chuckled and opened the door to the house, with Zoey following her in.

"Well uwetsiageya, I must say I'll be sad to see you go, but knowing it's to be back with Aphrodite more than makes up for it."

"And I'm so thankful to you for letting me stay," Zoey said. "I didn't have anywhere else to go after Aphro and I broke up."

"You will forever have a home here, Zoey. Come, I've made some iced tea."

It was sitting in a glass pitcher on a countertop in the kitchen, and Zoey went to the cabinet to get out glasses for herself and Grandma. They poured their tea, cold from the fridge and sweet with sugar. It was a nice compliment to the spring day.

"Have you been well, Zoey?" Grandma Redbird asked after taking a sip.

Zoey, of course, hadn't been, but it wasn't like she could say so to her grandmother.

"Things have been...quieter, since Neferet's been gone. It's only slightly quieter without her, though. Not by much," Zoey said, staring down into her glass.

"...And how is Aphrodite?"

Better than me, lately.

"Much better. Her good days have outnumbered her bad days this week."

"Yes, that is good. I'm glad she has you again. She's spent far too much of her life dealing with her troubles alone."

Zoey nodded her agreement and the two went to go idle in the living room.

"So tell me about these cats," Grandma sat down on the sofa, and Zoey rested on the arm of it.

"My Nala is a character, that's for sure," Zoey chuckled. "You'll hear people joking about being a cat in a past life, but I think my cat was a person in a past life. A bitter old lady waving a cane and telling the kids to get off her lawn, to be exact."

"Certainly sounds like most cats I've known," Grandma Redbird laughed.

"And Maleficent, man. Aphrodite named her right off the bat, but it's like that name alone was meant for her."

"She's a terror, hm?"

"Only to me and Nala. Put her around Aphrodite and the thing is suddenly an oversized cuddly cotton ball. But she makes her happy. Aphrodite's never had a pet before, the smile on her face when Maleficent walks into the room is worth all the hissing and stink-eyeing."

"It's been quite some time since you've had a cat of your own, Zoeybird. You must be so happy too."

"...It's a great thing to share with her," Zoey bashfully said. "You remember Skylar? He always came and went, so it wasn't quite the same. But these cats are ours, and we take care of them together. Aphrodite and I tiptoe around in the dark because we don't want to step on a tail, we find toys hidden under our pillows, we leave the living room for a split second and come back to find a cat lounged across our spot on the sofa. It's...I don't know, there isn't really a word for it, but it's nice to have that with her."

Grandma Redbird smiled.

"People will often compare pets to mischievous little children," she said fondly. "Always an adventure or two to be had with them, the sort of adventures that bring people closer together."

Zoey smiled too as she drank her iced tea.

"Yeah, the Twins already call them our cat kids," Zoey said.

"You'll have to send me pictures."

Zoey nodded, and then stood up from the arm of the sofa.

"Ready to start packing?" Grandma Redbird wondered.

"Not ready as in eager Grandma, believe me. But there isn't a lot to pack up...now that I'm thinking about it I really haven't had much to my name since I moved out of mom's house," the brunette sighed. "It shouldn't take very long, so I might as well get it out of the way now."

"I'll bring the boxes in from your car," Grandma said.

"What? Grandma, you don't have to do that, I'll get them."

"Nonsense, uwetsiageya. I'm no frail old woman."

Zoey grinned.

"And you never will be."

Grandma Redbird set her glass down on a coaster and made her way to the front door so she could go out to the Bug. Zoey, meanwhile, made her way to her bedroom. She was visually taking in the true scope of just how little she had when her phone dinged, and she put her drink on top of the dresser to grab the phone from her pocket.

It was a message from Aphrodite, a selfie showing that she'd changed out of her earlier outfit to comfortably lounge about the house, laying across the sofa in her newly-acquired "I'm Not A Lesbian, But My Girlfriend Is" t-shirt. Zoey giggled and texted a ["Too cute!"] back to her.

The Power Freak had only moved her iced tea from the dresser to an end table and gotten a brief look at where to start first when Aphrodite texted again. Zoey took out her phone, and her eyes went wide. It was essentially the same picture, but with Vision Girl wearing a coy smile and lifting up her shirt, showing off the flat stomach of her torso and full breasts hidden just behind a bra. Zoey swallowed hard.

...She isn't doing what I think she's doing...right?

She most certainly was, as the next photo that came through of a completely topless and braless Aphrodite proved.

"Zoey?" Grandma Redbird called out.

The phone appeared to leap right out of Zoey's hands and she juggled it wildly like a hot potato.

"Nothing! ! Uh, I-I mean, in the bedroom!" she called back a little too loudly.

Grandma joined her in moments, with two empty cardboard boxes.

"Here you go dear," she set them down on the floor.

"Thank you," Zoey kept her eyes darting all around the room. "I'll, um, start with what little clothes she has—I mean I have! !"

Grandma's features drooped in a frown.

"What's wrong, Zoeybird? You look like you've suddenly seen a ghost."

A hot half-naked ghost...

Zoey wildly shook her head.

"I...stood up too fast before I came in here, that's what it is," she put on a hugely fake "everything's fine" smile.

Grandma Redbird dismissed Zoey's weirdness with a curious "hm" and then glanced around the room.

"So we should start with the clothes then?" she asked.

"Yeah, there isn't much."

Zoey went to the dresser, where the remainder of her clothes left at her grandmother's all fit into a drawer and a half. She started pulling out shirts and jeans, and Grandma came over with a box.

"I feel as though you've moved around far too much in far too short a time," Grandma Redbird sighed.

"I feel the same," Zoey mumbled, before picking up her spirits a bit. "But no more moving, no more struggling to keep a home. Aphrodite and I are going to be a permanent thing this time around."

Her grandmother lifted an eyebrow.

"Oh? How permanent?" she asked with the exact same impish tone that once suggested months and months ago that Zoey might feel something more than just friendship between herself and Aphrodite.

Zoey's cheeks turned pink, her hands became busy folding and refolding the same shirt over and over again before she handed it off to her grandmother.

"You know...permanent," she murmured.

Her grandmother's smile was impish as well.

"Permanent can mean quite a few things, Zoeybird. Perhaps you intend to live with Aphrodite for the rest of your days or perhaps you intend to turn my honorary granddaughter into my granddaughter-in-law."

Zoey just became redder and redder.

"Grandma!" she scolded in embarrassment, even though she had in fact thought of such a thing.

Grandma Redbird let the subject drop with a chuckle and the two started to pack odds and ends on top of Zoey's clothes.

"How are things at school, then?"

"Same as always. Too much homework, questionable lunches, and I'm always lost in algebra. And...well, junior prom is coming up," Zoey said.

"Prom! How exciting," Grandma Redbird's easygoing smile at the thought quickly faded when she suddenly understood without needing to be told. "...But you and Aphrodite worry about being seen together."

The brunette solemnly nodded.

"And Aphrodite really wants to go," Zoey sighed. "She's acting like she doesn't for my sake, but I know her. I just want us to be able to have this, but Mr. and Mrs. LaFont are always lurking like dark rainclouds. They can't know that Aphrodite is gay. Like, under any circumstances."

"I understand, uwetsiageya."

"Any much-needed sage wisdom for your desperate and closeted granddaughters?"

"Only what you already know, Zoeybird. The well-being of yourself and Aphrodite comes first before anything. As painful as hiding a part of yourself can be, you must stay safe above all else. Mr. and Mrs. LaFont are in several positions of power, I don't believe I'm wrong in saying they could make her life difficult in many ways."

"They already make her life difficult," Zoey muttered, starting on the second box. "But yeah, you're right. Aphrodite is worried about them taking everything from her or sending her away, but I'm...I'm scared of them hurting her. Yeah, my girlfriend has superpowers, she can handle herself, but I can't stand the thought of her having to go through that. Fighting off vampyres is one thing, but no one should ever have to fight off their own parents."

"Zoey, you know that if anything ever happens, you and Aphrodite come straight here and stay with me."

Zoey smiled.

"I know, Grandma. Thank you. I just always find myself wishing I could help her with her parents. They barely acknowledge her anymore, and she never sees or even hears from them, yet they're still always in the back of her mind."

"Those are the scars that come from such abuse, Zoey. But I believe that simply being there for her has always done more good than you can imagine."

"...Do you think she'll ever feel free from them?" Zoey sadly questioned.

"...It will take time, uwetsiageya, a lot of it. And there's no certain guarantee. But with your help, I think she stands a very good chance."

It didn't take long to pack up the bedroom. With Zoey carrying one box and Grandma Redbird carrying the other, they stuck them in the backseat of Zoey's Bug and were quickly done with the moving out part of Zoey's visit.

Now only the truly terrifying part remained.

Zoey couldn't segue right into Kalona, nor did she want to. Grandma Redbird had house cleaning to do, and Zoey happily helped out to distract herself. She did end up distracted, only not in the way she wanted to be, and Grandma definitely noticed.

"And what's on your mind today, daughter?" she calmly asked.

"...Hm?" Zoey only half heard.

"You act as if I don't know that face of yours."

"...You and Aphrodite, it never ceases to amaze me how you two always do that."

"It's because we love you too much."

Zoey really wished Aphrodite was there with her. Vision Girl would hold her hand, not say a word, and still somehow give her the strength to tell Grandma Redbird what she needed to tell her.

They had been dusting and cleaning in the living room, and Zoey stood there with a rag in her hand and almost paralyzed in place now with fear of starting up this conversation. She remembered her grandmother's face the last time she'd mentioned Kalona, how it twisted with a kind of deep-rooted hatred that while not even directed at Zoey still frightened her, seeing that dark emotion on the sweet and loving woman she'd known all her life.

"...If we're going to talk, I guess we'd better be sitting down for this," Zoey quietly said.

"...It's as serious as all that, hm?" Grandma Redbird spoke easily, leaving her own cleaning rag draped over the television and sitting down on the sofa.

She patted the cushions beside her, and Zoey reluctantly came over, taking the seat and drawing her legs up underneath her.

"You've always come to me with anything and everything, Zoey. Now shouldn't be any different," Grandma Redbird sensed the anxiety and conflict painfully twisting around and around inside Zoey.

In the span of what felt like one solitary second, Zoey almost traumatically relived all the things she'd kept bottled up inside out of her reluctance to confide in anyone, right from the very beginning—hiding her powers from the Nerd Herd, hiding vampyres and Aphrodite from them too, meeting with Nyx and keeping her entire Darkness-fighting destiny from her grandmother, lying to Aphrodite about her initial uncontrollable attraction to Kalona, refusing to tell about the aftermath of being trapped in a nightmare spell, and so much more. It had all been spiraling out of control right from the start.

Then came nightmares of the dark and the monsters that thrived in it, running to Neferet for help in protecting her girlfriend, and daring to learn some of the evil Priestess' ways. All of these were her secrets, the things she'd been crushed under the weight of. Not letting herself confide in anyone had turned out to be a bigger problem than she'd ever realized.

"...No, I haven't always come to you with anything and everything, Grandma," Zoey quietly admitted. "I've never wanted to burden anyone with my problems, and I've kept so much locked up. You, and pre-John mom, and Aphrodite, you've only ever known a fraction of the things I've struggled with over the years, and in Aphrodite's case, she's always had to fight to bring it out of me. I'm only just now beginning to realize how often I find myself drowning."

"There are helping hands all around you, uwetsiageya. All you have to do is reach out for them."

Reflexively, so much a force of habit that she didn't even understand she wasn't doing herself any favors in the midst of this self-revelation, she pushed her own problems aside to focus on the larger topic at hand.

"This isn't about me right now," she shook her head, clearing out her prior thoughts. "This is about us. The Cherokee people. Or more specifically, the worst thing that's ever happened to us."

There was silence. A long one. But Grandma Redbird didn't need any more of an elaboration.

"Kalona," her voice held no emotion.

"The one story you never taught me. I only knew his name the night Nyx first spoke it because I just so happened to hear it mentioned once years and years ago, when I was still so little I can't even remember exactly where I heard it. The rest about him I had to learn on my own."

"It was not a story a grandmother needed to teach her granddaughter."

"It is when the granddaughter and her friends were charged with making sure he stayed locked up, but it's my own fault for not having the strength to come to you about it sooner. I thought I could handle it on my own, and when it became obvious that I couldn't, I thought I needed to handle it on my own. To do whatever it took to figure out how to fight these forces I had no comprehension of, because that's what heroes are supposed to do. I got all caught up in a fairytale story and never even thought about the consequences of the real world."

Zoey's eyes were far, far away now, and Grandma Redbird didn't like that detached dullness in them at all.

"Kalona is free, Grandma," the Power Freak unceremoniously announced. "We couldn't stop Neferet, and she went ahead unchecked with her ritual to release him from his prison."

It went oppressively quiet between them for a long time, but Zoey didn't even notice.

"...That cannot be," Grandma suddenly snapped. "Kalona is an evil upon evil, his newfound freedom in this world would not come without some sort of portent."

"We were at the House of Night the very moment he was released. Me, Aphrodite, and Stevie Rae. There was an earthquake, a storm, thundersnow...the signs were there, Grandma. It's been over a month since that night, and he's been free all along."

There was a hard edge to Grandma Redbird's tone when she spoke again, one Zoey had never even vaguely heard in her words before.

"You've kept this from me for over a month?" she seemed to demand. "Uwetsiageya, how could you do that? ? You may not have known much, but you knew what kind of a bane that creature was to our people and what kind of a bane he will be on the world now! Why couldn't you tell me?"

Zoey's hands curled into fists, her eyes continued to look but not see.

"...Because I was supposed to be the hero. I was supposed to lead. With Aphrodite and my friends, Kalona was never supposed to rise, and Neferet was never supposed to gain an all-powerful ally. To say I messed up is an understatement," she still refused to speak the truth of how Kalona was truly freed, speaking only of the aftermath. "My friends turned away from me. Aphrodite turned away from me. For a while I thought Nyx might have even turned away from me, all because I failed to lead...I couldn't have you turn away from me too."

Grandma Redbird scooted over on the couch, sitting right next to Zoey and firmly grasping her hand.

"I could never turn away from you, daughter. I am upset you didn't tell me because that demon's freedom is a terrible blame to place on your shoulders and you never should have been fighting blind in the first place."

Her grandmother's touch stirred the strange numbness that had been rooted somewhere inside her ever since last night.

"That's why I'm coming to you now, Grandma," Zoey turned her head to look at her, really look. "I did nothing. I've always done nothing. Everything Neferet ever threw at me was so out of my league that I just stood back and took it, and on the rare occasions I did find a way to fight back, I barely made a dent against her. And Kalona got loose because of it. I need help. I need your help."

"And you shall have it," her grandmother promised. "Now, tell me everything you know."

Zoey took a moment to get her senses back, to snap herself out of her detachment long enough to get past the fog in her brain and recall everything she needed to.

"Kalona was released from below the House of Night. I knew enough to get Aphrodite and Stevie Rae underground with me, and while we were hiding, waiting for the storm to pass, Neferet and Kalona ran off. None of us knew where to find them, they only reappeared once or twice when they had some brand new head games to play. Then we cleansed the House of Night and banished the two of them from there for good, but now we're about a hundred times more in the dark on where they are now, they could be literally anywhere on earth. There were some violent murders in Chicago a little while ago that matched how red vampyres and fledglings attack; Aphrodite and I thought that maybe Neferet had made a new home there, but since we haven't heard of any more murders or weirdness in Chicago, I'm not so sure anymore."

"And what else?" Grandma Redbird prodded.

Alright, so she was finding it in herself to be open, but no way in hell was Zoey open enough to talk about Kalona in her dreams, Cherokee ghosts, or anything having to do with A-ya.

"The one thing I can't understand is all the quiet," Zoey said instead. "Kalona has centuries of evil and rage that's been festering and waiting to be unleashed, I can't figure out why he hasn't been cutting some sort of swath of destruction from coast to coast."

Her grandmother thought and thought, trying to bring up everything she herself knew about Kalona.

"...Do you remember what happened when Neferet attacked Aphrodite's mind?" she asked.

"I honestly don't," Zoey sighed. "I went through that entire day and a half in a haze, I was just running on autopilot and trying not to burst into tears."

"Well, uwetsiageya, I said that Neferet's attack reminded me of the powers of a Tsi Sgili."

"...Something about Cherokee witches?" Zoey vaguely, very vaguely recalled a snippet of that conversation.

"Very powerful Cherokee witches. So powerful that if anything could keep a demon in check, it would be a Tsi Sgili."

Zoey felt the lightbulb go off.

"Kalona isn't running rampant because Neferet can somehow control him..."

"I believe so, Zoeybird."

"I need to know how to imprison him again, Grandma. I need to undo what I let happen in the first place."

"It took the most incredible and powerful of Cherokee magics to defeat him when he first came to our world, and that's what it will take now. Even I do not know of any such magics strong enough...but your grandmother has friends, Zoeybird."

The numbness stirred some more. Feeling was coming back to Zoey.

"You can call on the cavalry," the brunette realized.

"I can indeed."

"The gang and I spent time in the beginning trying to research him, but we never found anything."

"Kalona is ancient, and his story is known only to the Cherokee and those we've chosen to tell. The tribe he plagued spread his tale to all our sister tribes, so that they would never have to suffer from the consequences of letting him into their lives."

Zoey breathed in deeply and exhaled, thinking about A-ya and the ghosts.

"...What are the chances of us being descended from that very tribe he tortured and enslaved? You and me?"

"Anything is possible, Zoey. You know that," Grandma Redbird wisely answered. "It would certainly explain why Nyx chose you and those who grew to share in your friendship."

"I have to know everything, Grandma. How he came to exist, what powers he has, how he can be fought, how he can be stopped, and how he can be put away for good so the world never has to face him again."

Grandma Redbird nodded.

"I will make some calls tonight, Zoeybird. We will learn everything we can together."

Something about that particular sentence made Zoey's heart start to race, reminding her of why she'd kept everything from her grandmother in the first place. Getting her involved in any way gave Zoey the feeling she was being made into a target. She was torn and caught, stuck between desperately needing her grandmother's help and desperately needing to keep her out of harm's way.

"...Thank you, Grandma," was all she could say at the moment. "Thank you so much."

Zoey dragged herself through the front door sometime past four. The sounds of her kicking her shoes off and tossing her car keys onto the table in the foyer brought Aphrodite and Maleficent out from the kitchen to greet her—well, it brought Aphrodite out to greet her, Maleficent was just trailing behind Vision Girl's feet and along for the ride.

"How'd it go?" the blonde asked.

"...I told her. Everything. Kalona is loose and I need help to stop him."

"Not everything everything though," Aphrodite guessed.

Zoey shook her head.

"She can't know that I'm the one responsible for all this, Aphro. Ever."

"...Alright, so she won't know. We won't tell her."

The brunette studied her girlfriend carefully.

"You think I'm making a mistake?" she wondered.

"What? No. Freeing Kalona was a dirty business, why would there be anything wrong with wanting to keep that from your grandmother?"

Zoey sighed.

"It doesn't feel like I did the right thing in telling her. It feels like I've put her in unnecessary danger."

Aphrodite reached out and took both of her hands.

"I know, it's Grandma Redbird, how could you not be worried? But this stress is tearing you apart. Look, Z, we've finally got help. Don't turn getting help into another thing to be frantic over. You've been trying to take control of things that just can't be controlled, and it's causing you nothing but grief."

"...I'm tired," was all Zoey said, meaning it fully.

"You look it," Aphrodite freed one hand to brush it down Zoey's cheek. "How about we take a nap?"

The brunette drew away from Aphrodite.

"There's no time for that. I have to be ready for when Grandma gets back to me. She's getting in touch with old Cherokee friends, trying to put together pieces of the Kalona puzzle with their help. The last time I tried to fight him in person, my powers bounced right off of him. I have no idea what I'm up against when it comes to fighting him, and I need to know if I ever hope to stand a chance of imprisoning him."

"If we ever stand a chance of imprisoning him," Aphrodite corrected.

"...You're really pretty," Zoey suddenly noted.

Aphrodite was taken by surprise at the random subject change.

"So I've been told," she said with a smirk.

"And I very much appreciated those pictures you sent me," Zoey hooked a finger through one of Vision Girl's belt loops and pulled her closer.

"Did you now?"

If Maleficent were human she would've rolled her eyes, but instead turned tail and padded off towards the kitchen, completely uninterested in the flirtatious turn of events.

"You want a live look?" Aphrodite asked, leaning ever closer to Zoey.

"I was thinking about it. I've had a long day."

"Well I've got an empty bed upstairs just waiting to be taken on a ride."

"Maybe I'll meet you there later tonight."

"You know the way."

Zoey was able to draw up strength for a laugh and chuckled at their banter, then came in close to kiss Aphrodite.

Vision Girl wrapped an arm around Zoey's waist and started to walk with her to the living room.

"I was honestly expecting a 'Honey, I'm home' when you walked through the door, but I guess I'll have to do without," Aphrodite said with a wry smile.

Zoey managed another laugh.

"I'll get you one next time," she said.

"Good, then my dream of living in a 90s sitcom with my lesbian girlfriend will be complete."

As was often the case, Aphrodite was succeeding in lifting Zoey's spirits, even if it was only by a miniscule fraction.

"You have some weird dreams," the brunette teased.

"You should talk."

They dropped side-by-side onto the couch in sync, making themselves comfy in each other's arms.

"We've already established that you don't think so, but I feel like having Grandma finally in the loop is a good thing," Aphrodite said.

"...I won't deny that Grandma getting us help with Kalona from other Cherokees gives me hope, even if it's just a tiny glimmer of it," Zoey admitted. "I guess I always knew that our days in the school library looking for Kalona would never get us anywhere. He's not a Google search, he's an ancient evil, lost to every corner of history except for those that he touched and destroyed."

"And what are we going to do with what we find?"

The signs of lightheartedness were fading from Zoey's features.

"...I told Grandma I couldn't understand why Kalona wasn't making the most of his newfound freedom," she began. "He's evil. You've seen it, and I've felt it. He should've gone right back to finding the nearest town to enslave and rule, but instead he's been laying low...Grandma thinks that as bad as he is, there's still one thing out there that's worse."

Aphrodite didn't need the blanks filled in.

"Neferet," she figured. "She's lording over him and keeping him in place, just like she planned to do right from the beginning. She never saw him as a partner, she saw him as a tool to be used. Man, I bet that's seriously pissing him off."

The lightbulb that blinked to life above Zoey's head was so strong that it sent a spark coursing through her, electrifying her limb from limb with enlightenment.

"...And I bet I can use that to my advantage," she quietly realized.

"...Zoey," Aphrodite really didn't even get why she was bothering with the warning tone and narrowed eyes of disapproval, she already knew neither would do a single tiny bit of good.

Zoey sat up, with her eyes steely and serious.

"Everyone has always been picking on me, screwing me over with the mind games. It's damn well time I started screwing back," she said with growing fire.

Aphrodite leaned forward on the couch, clasping her hands together and staring down at the floor.

"...If you're going to confront Kalona again, you've got to let me come with you. We have to find a way to cross over into each other's dreams at will, just like we did once before," she said with just as much fire.

"Aphrodite—"

"Everytime you talk about going in to find Kalona I worry that you won't come back out," the blonde snapped. "At least not the same. With last night, and your nightmare about Kalona in the Cherokee village, and the monster watching you in the dark...yes, I try to be level-headed and rational when you come out of these things so I can calm you down, but nowadays it's less trying and more forcing because of how fucking terrified I am."

"What are you terrified of?" Zoey asked, not trying to trivialize but genuinely needing to know.

"...I'm Vision Girl. I know what horrors of the mind can do to people. I told you, I'm terrified that one day you might not make it out. What you're going through is bad enough on just a normal human level, but there's magic involved here. Magic and mysticism that's tearing you apart just a little bit more each time it catches you. Everytime you wake up crying, and shaking, and screaming, I worry that I won't be able to calm you out of it."

Zoey didn't need her to elaborate any further.

"...Yeah. That's how I've felt after a lot of your visions..." she said.

"Only my visions aren't a choice. But imagine if they were. Imagine if I were sitting here voluntarily willing to put myself through that mental darkness," Aphrodite told her.

The Power Freak was admittedly and visibly conflicted.

"But it would be for the greater good, right?" she halfheartedly tried to reason.

Aphrodite lifted her head and cast a sideways glance at her.

"...Would you give a shit about the greater good in that split second instant your soulmate screams in terror at what's trapped inside her mind?" she questioned. "...I'm not telling you to not do it, Zoey. I'm only asking you to not do it alone."

Zoey didn't answer yes, and she didn't answer no. What she did was slowly turn, having a deep and impassioned kiss waiting for Aphrodite.

"...You just can't resist charging into some kind of battle with me, can you?" the brunette smiled.

"Nope. And I never will."

Aphrodite kissed her back.

"Well, any idea how we're going to do this?" Zoey asked.

"Just one. Provided I don't over-think it. I figure I'll go all Soul-Seer on you while you're asleep."

"Do you think it'll be as simple as that?" Zoey questioned.

"Like I said, I'm trying not to over-think it. But I don't see why it wouldn't, after all, dreams are just an extension of the soul. And if I can get into your soul, I should be able to get into your dreams."

The Power Freak nodded.

"Okay then. Let's give it a shot."

Aphrodite had a tight grip on her phone, keeping a finger pressed to the side to restlessly keep checking how much time was passing—five minutes, nine, thirteen, sixteen, seventeen, nineteen. After what seemed like forever, she'd felt like enough time had gone by for Zoey to have fallen asleep, so she moved Maleficent off of her lap, turned the television and lights off in the living room, and trekked upstairs.

She heard Nala hissing at her from somewhere down the hallway, but paid the tabby no mind and went into the bedroom. Zoey was indeed asleep, curled up close to the blonde's side of the bed. Carefully, without moving the bed too much, Aphrodite climbed in and settled on her pillow, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark so she could watch Zoey's slow and steady breathing. The Power Freak seemed serene enough, there was no outward sign that she was visiting with monstrous winged demons or wandering lost and alone through a nightmare—by all accounts, Zoey appeared to be dreaming peacefully. But Aphrodite wasn't about to take any chances.

"...Spirit, I need you," she whispered.

As if the element understood that Zoey was sleeping, the white light that enveloped Aphrodite's hand was not a magnificent and shining beacon of power, but a subdued and comfortable glow, like a candle of white flame. Zoey didn't even stir, didn't even subconsciously furrow her eyebrows at the sudden appearance of light, she just continued that deep and rhythmic breathing of her sleep.

Aphrodite put her hand on Zoey's chest, and felt the leisurely thud of her heartbeat.

"Wait for me, Zo..." she whispered.

And she closed her eyes. Shut down her senses. Focused on nothing but Zoey's heart beating beneath her fingertips. A haze drifted across her mind, thick and peaceful like a blanket wrapping her up and carrying her away. Then it came, the hyperawareness of her own heartbeat, thumping in her chest and matching the rhythm of Zoey's perfectly. Aphrodite could feel herself sinking, slowly sinking, in both body and soul. And then, she was gone.

The next thing she was aware of was being lost in a fog, alone in a thick veil of gray with her senses cut off. She saw nothing, heard nothing, and seemed to float weightless within that fog. She couldn't even move, could barely even seem to think—until a hand reached out and touched hers. The fog cleared like it was being burned away by sunlight, and all her senses returned.

"...Zoey," she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled when she saw the girl's face.

"...You're here," the brunette said in awe, squeezing Vision Girl's hand. "You're really here."

"Yeah, Power Freak. I'm here," Aphrodite squeezed back. "...Wherever here is."

The pair looked around. They were high in the sky, they could tell that right away, so much so that the clouds practically seemed to be within reach just above their heads.

"Z...have you ever seen this place before?" the blonde asked.

Zoey very slowly shook her head.

"No, never."

They tentatively stepped forward together. Quickly they realized they were on a rooftop, stony, weathered, and complete with castle-like battlements. Plants and trees surrounded them in a little rooftop garden, plumes of green dotted here and there with the colors of ripe and ready fruit. Hand in hand, the Power Duo walked to the edge of the roof, peering curiously over the battlements.

"Zoey..." Aphrodite gasped, eyes going wide.

It was an honest-to-goodness island. Sky blue waters sparkled in every direction, and the island stretched out before them like a painting of paradise.

"It's beautiful..." Aphrodite quietly said.

Zoey just sighed.

"My dreams usually are, right before the terror starts."

It started a lot sooner than she expected.

"You come to me again, I see. Yet you still insist on denying the truth of your nature and clinging desperately to the mask of a hero."

Aphrodite whirled around even before Zoey, but in a matter of seconds they were both face to face with Kalona. The corners of his lips curled in a vicious smile.

"And you've brought the little Prophetess with you. Hello, little Prophetess," the demon bowed to her in a completely condescending fashion.

Aphrodite wasn't concerned with him for long. She was looking to Zoey, gauging her reaction to Kalona's appearance, watching to see if she was okay. But Zoey stood firm this time. She had Aphrodite at her side.

"We're here to talk," the brunette said.

"That was your pretense the last time as well. I believe I've had enough of talk, A-ya."

Kalona dismissed Zoey from his attention and turned to examine one of the fruit trees. Then he chuckled darkly to himself like a joke had just been whispered in his ear.

"I do not understand why you hide behind your false pretenses when you could simply admit that you come here in search of me, my love," he said.

"You know Bird Boy, your inability to comprehend 'no means no' has been a pain in my ass from day one," Aphrodite growled. "You flatter yourself, Kalona, it's been a long time since your thrall has worked on Zoey."

Kalona turned back to them.

"This is true, but only because she has been blinded. I, however, can make her see again."

"You won't 'make' me do anything," Zoey sternly said.

Aphrodite smirked.

"The way I hear it, you're not as powerful as you used to be anymore."

Kalona's eyes were hard, somehow ice cold and blazing with fire at the same time.

"How unfortunate it is, for a future Oracle to be so woefully misinformed," his tone of voice turned dangerous.

Zoey saw that Aphrodite was pushing Kalona too far too soon, and silently put a hand on her arm in a signal to dial it back. Kalona's piercing gaze honed in on the gesture.

"I've long since grown tired of this game you play with the Prophetess, A-ya," he almost growled.

"The game is that I love her," Zoey firmly said.

"And I love her," Aphrodite said next. "And neither of us give a shit about what your fragile man-ego has to say about it."

Her unspoken agreement to play relatively nice lasted all of five seconds, but in that one moment Zoey really didn't care.

"Many centuries ago you tortured my people for sport, for no other reason than the fact that you discovered you could. You got a sick taste of power and learned that you loved it. So why aren't you out there now, finding new innocents to rule and reign over?" Zoey demanded. "You could, you know. You have the power, and the strength. No mortal would be able to stop you. But instead you spend your days lounging around on castle rooftops because you're...what, suddenly reformed?"

Kalona actually seemed to falter. No, not falter...hesitate. He hesitated at Zoey's question and didn't quite answer right away, like he didn't have an answer ready.

Like he was trying to think up an excuse.

"When you are a god from the dawn of eternity, you learn patience," he eventually said. "The mortals will fall to me in this age just as they did in the last. All in good time, my A-ya."

"Or maybe you've just been cut down to size," Aphrodite cruelly suggested.

The whistle of an ocean breeze floating past was the only sound just then, gently tossing hair of blonde, brown, and black in the silence. Kalona's face was like stone, stiff and unreadable.

"The way Zoey and I have it figured, you were a big deal back in her ancestors' time. But it's easy to be a big deal around humans. A few magic tricks and a pretty face is usually all it takes," Aphrodite went on.

"But this is a new world, Kalona. With new players you never could've imagined back in the day, what with your sitting on the throne of my people's suffering and all," Zoey continued, eyes narrowed. "The vampyres are the ones with the magic tricks and the pretty faces now, and I can't help but think you've become obsolete."

"To a mouse, a cat seems like an all-powerful god of life and death. To a human, a cat is only a pet. And to the ancient Cherokee you were a fallen angel, a god, a demon lording over them. Now, to Neferet, you're nothing but her plaything," Aphrodite smiled evilly.

Kalona didn't share in her sense of whimsy.

"You dare mock me as that vile woman's pet?!"

With one beat of his mighty wings he was airborne, hovering a few feet up with the molten amber of his eyes locked on Aphrodite like he was going to attack. But Vision Girl wasn't fazed, and wasn't caught off guard by the fact that Kalona just couldn't seem to push himself forward no matter how much strength or exertion he forced to his wings.

"We've been through this before, Bird Boy," the blonde reminded him. "I'm in Zoey's dream. And you can't hurt me here."

Kalona's expression was contorting with rage, pure and unadulterated.

"I will not be spoken down to by an insolent bitch of a woman! !" he roared.

"He's calling names," Aphrodite boredly noted to Zoey, extremely disinterested in what Kalona had to say.

"And he's going to get his ass handed to him because of it," Zoey started a few steps forward, but Aphrodite caught her hand.

"Not worth the energy," she said easily, watching Kalona thrash against the invisible binds that kept him from hurting her.

Kalona let his wings settle him back down on the rooftop, and he stormed towards Zoey.

"Enough is enough, A-ya," his words carried the bite of ice. "For centuries I waited for you in that earthen hell, and now that my freedom has been found I wait for you again. You were created for me. You belong with me. And it is time for you to take your place at my side. Leave your foolish heroic notions and this foolish false life behind and come with me as I take back this world and conquer all who dwell within it."

Zoey was not impressed.

"You disgust me," she said.

Kalona's gaze pierced her.

"...I will not warn you again."

"I wasn't aware you were warning me the first time. That's how little I care about your 'threats'."

Aphrodite smiled, proud of her girl.

"Looks like we were right," she nodded at Zoey. "He has no power here. Not over us, and not over the world. He may enthrall a few people here and there and wreak havoc on the weather, but times have changed. He isn't what he used to be."

"Not with Neferet around, at least," Zoey added.

"I know we hate her and want to see her rot in several various hells, but kudos to her. There's something inspiring about a woman putting a sick, evil, raping demon in his place. We found out a lot here tonight. Welcome to the 21st century, Kalona. You're Neferet's little bitch."

Zoey was expecting him to fly off the handle, to rant and rave and stomp his feet and throw a tantrum like the immature child he was at his very core. But he did no such thing. He merely looked to Zoey.

"If you are not with me A-ya, you are against me."

"I'm glad we're on the same page," Zoey said.

The demon slowly unfurled his wings once more.

"...Then from this point on you are my enemy, A-ya. And I shall conquer you by force like all the many, many enemies I have before," he turned his eyes on Aphrodite. "As for you, Prophetess, you've sealed your fate this night as well. I will take great pleasure in breaking you."

"Remind me to give a shit," Aphrodite refused to waiver.

"I may not be able to hurt you here, Prophetess, but I know what can."

With the speed of a god Kalona's wings launched him forward, and in one swift, hauntingly beautiful motion he closed his fingers around Zoey's neck and billowed into the air with her.

"Zoey! !" Vision Girl called out her name and her mind instantly told her body to move, to help her, but she couldn't. Her feet were frozen in place. Her silent calls to her element went unanswered.

Just as Kalona couldn't hurt her, she couldn't hurt him.

Zoey couldn't breathe. Her hands scratched frantically at Kalona's unbreakable grip and her feet kicked wildly at thin air, scrambling for a foothold that simply didn't exist.

"Stop it! ! Leave her alone! !" Aphrodite cried out, unable to move, unable to do anything.

"This is the price you will pay, Prophetess. This is the punishment for not heeding my will, A-ya. I am far, far more than what your mortal minds have made me out to be, and when you two watch the world burn, it will not be together."

He had her dangling in the air over the edge of the rooftop, and as the seconds ticked by a strangling Zoey began to struggle less and less.

"Kalona! ! Stop! !" Aphrodite helplessly shouted.

Not this.

Not again.

Kalona paid her no mind.

And then Zoey fell.

They both woke up screaming, jolting upright with a bloodcurdling cry from each of them that easily drowned out the other. Their touches somehow met under the covers, and without a word they pulled each other into a fierce hug and began to cry.

Zoey had felt it. Clear as day. The moment Kalona released his grip, she dropped. The view plummeting all around her, that sickening feeling in her chest and stomach, the wind roaring past her ears as she crashed through it. The fact that the world would rise up to meet her in the most violent way possible and that would simply be the end. Wide awake now, she still felt the pressure around her throat and the heartbeat pounding its way out of her chest.

Aphrodite had seen it. Clear as day. Zoey's death, with all the crystal HD quality of a vision, or even more horrifying, real life. And there had been nothing she could do, not attack Kalona, not ready spirit to catch Zoey when she fell, not even get the demon with a solid sock to the face. She stood there, rooted in that one spot, and watched powerless as Zoey dropped to her death. Nothing to be done, and no fight to be had.

They held onto each other and cried it out, Zoey clutched Aphrodite's pajama shirt in her hands and shook into her chest. Aphrodite rested her head on Zoey's, wetting her hair with tears and just squeezing her tighter and tighter.

"...Zoey, are you okay?" Aphrodite finally sniffed when she got enough control of her voice.

"Y-yeah," Zoey still shook. "M-my heart is just racing."

"Mine too...god, I am so sick of having to watch you die."

They sat there in bed, clinging to each other until reality settled in and cleared away the black fog of Zoey's dream.

"...In the end, we were still powerless against him," Zoey realized, wiping her eyes. "All that talk and we're still sitting here feeling weak and helpless."

"...No, fuck that," Aphrodite said, some of her fire starting to return. "I'm not going to let that thing have the satisfaction, and neither are you."

"What are you talking about?" Zoey sniffed.

"Z, Kalona is the weak one, trapped under Neferet's will. All he can do is hover around your dreams, messing with you in his sad, pathetic attempt to cling to power. That's weakness, Zoey. And now we know it."

"So how do we use that to our advantage? Neferet has Kalona on a string, sure, but what about when she decides to make him dance? He isn't diffused, just a ticking time bomb."

"That's where Grandma comes in," Aphrodite said. "We can only slow him down, but the good old Cherokee know-how is what's going to stop him for good. And when he's out of the picture, we're free to focus all our attention on Neferet."

"That's never helped us out any in the past," Zoey glumly mumbled.

"We'll figure something out. We always do, Z. No, it's never anything 100% cohesive or even remotely helpful, but it's always something."

"We're gonna start needing more than just 'something', Aphro."

"We'll get there."

"We needed to be there like, yesterday," the brunette argued.

Vision Girl threaded her fingers through Zoey's hair.

"Hon, it's late. World-saving brainstorms can wait until morning. I want to sleep beside my girlfriend and dream of shopping, not demon castle rooftops. Sound good?"

Zoey wasn't even going to deny her desperate need for sleep.

"...Sounds reasonable," she laid down on her pillow, pulling the covers up.

"Reasonable wasn't quite what I was going for," Aphrodite chuckled.

Zoey closed her eyes and rolled over.

"Well, it's the best you're going to get right now."

A few moments later she felt Aphrodite's arm draping across her waist and felt her close against her back as she was hugged from behind.

"...Are you really all alive and intact?" Aphrodite asked, unable to close her own eyes without flashing images of Zoey being dropped to her death striking her mind like lightning.

"I'm nice and warm, aren't I?"

"Mmm, that you are," Aphrodite pressed her face to the spot right between Zoey's shoulder blades. "...This is my favorite thing in the world. Falling asleep next to you."

"Your favorite thing? Even more than shopping?"

"More than anything and everything."

"I don't know if I believe you," Zoey teased.

Vision Girl tilted her head and reached up to kiss behind Zoey's ear.

"Believe me."

The brunette giggled at the tickle of the gesture.

"Okay, I believe you," she quickly relented.

"Giving up without a fight? That isn't Zoey-like."

"I can't fight against you. You're entirely too smart and entirely too beautiful."

There was a quiet laugh from Aphrodite, and then silence befell them. The sole noise was the bedroom fan spinning above them, lulling them both closer and closer to sleep.

"...Aphrodite?" Zoey pushed back her drowsiness and forced her tired lips to move.

"...Hm?" Aphrodite was barely awake herself.

"You've changed your mind a lot about A-ya and I," Zoey suddenly began. "When you first learned about her in your vision you said she and I were one and the same. Then you said she was just one small part of who I was. And now? After what Kalona said about her soul becoming dark and passing that Darkness on to me...how do you feel about me and A-ya now?"

With her arm still around Zoey, Aphrodite hugged her even closer than they already were.

"...I feel that you're Zoey. My Zoey. You're bad at math, hate your birthday, and have the strongest soul in the world. No, it isn't pure, but no human soul is. That doesn't mean we're lost to Darkness. A-ya's a ghost, a figment of a long-gone era. Maybe you were her in a past life, maybe you weren't, but either way the past is the past, and this is today. What happened before doesn't matter."

"But what if it comes out that I definitely was A-ya? What then?"

"...What? Are you worried I'd start thinking of you differently? Is that what this is about?"

"I'd literally be an entirely different person. Not even you can deny that. How could you not start to think of me differently?"

"You'd be the same," Aphrodite denied anyway. "It's Zoey I see, Zoey I hear, Zoey I feel beside me right this very minute. The past is past, Z."

"But the past still affects us. We're shaped by our pasts, and I'm shaped by mine in the worst way. This Darkness inside me had to come from somewhere, and there's no other explanation but from A-ya."

"So what? What's the point to all of this?" Aphrodite questioned.

"I just...I keep losing sight of who I am."

"Yeah? You and every other high schooler in the world. That's par for the course, Z, reincarnation or no reincarnation."

"I'm still so terrified of what I might become, Aphrodite," Zoey explained.

"Key word, 'might'," Vision Girl mumbled, falling back to sleep. "The future isn't set in stone...can't believe you haven't learned that by now..."

Zoey listened to the drowsiness in her girlfriend's voice.

"...Guess I'm just not a fast learner," Power Freak sighed, nestling into Aphrodite's embrace.

"Not if you're still paying attention to all the bull Kalona spouts. Leave it to Grandma, she'll have something for us soon. And then we'll have a plan."

"We never have a plan," Zoey bitterly pointed out.

"And we haven't died yet, so clearly it works for us. Now it's bedtime, quit worrying about saving the world. The apocalypse can wait until tomorrow. Goodnight, Z."

But while Aphrodite was ready to drift off to sleep, Zoey was not. Kalona, nightmares, monsters, and spirits were all she could associate with sleep lately, and every moment awake was a moment safely away from all of it.

It was a battle against herself to fight off sleep for as long as she could, even as she yearned for it, even as Vision Girl's breathing slowed and deepened with unconsciousness and Zoey's body wanted nothing more than to give in and join her. It couldn't be denied that "exhausted" was an understatement for what Zoey was feeling, but even she couldn't fight forever. It took an hour or so, but eventually sleep overtook her like a wave, dragging her under to the inky black depths and all the terrifying unknowns that waited below.