Starlight

Kallaway and I arrived in Burlington a little over a week ago, and approached the front door of a quaint little house. Kallaway knocked, and when the door was opened, he immediately belted out an obviously rehearsed greeting.

"Greetings, sister!" He said, making an odd hand gesture as he did so. "I have come here on the advisement of Master Dyson Malrick, to seek your aid."

The teenage girl standing before us just gave him a confused, awkward stare.

"I don't think your secret password worked," I whispered to Kallaway.

The girl then turned and shouted out to her mother.

"Mom!" She yelled. "There's a couple weirdos at the door!"

"What do you mean?" Her mother called back to her.

She gave us another glance before responding.

"There's a guy in robes carrying a sword and a long-haired guy in a mustard stained lab coat!" she said.

Seriously? It's one stain! Why do people insist on pointing it out?

The girls mother came to the door to examine us. As soon as she noticed Kallaway's robes, her eyes lit up, and she instructed her daughter to go to her room before inviting us inside. A few minutes later, we were being served tea, as the woman rambled on about a group called the Sister's of the Star's Light, and how she was so honored to be in the presence of a Scion. Upon being called that, Kallaway interjected to correct her.

"I'm not a Scion," he said. "I just have a temporary partnership with Dyson Malrick. I have questions, and he has answers. That is the extent of our relationship."

The woman, who I guess is named Rebecca, looked a little disappointed until I opened my mouth.

"He's a Descendant," I said.

Her eyes lit up again.

"Of the Guiding Goddess?" She asked.

"Yep," I said. "So these sisters are a Vision Cult, I take it?"

This seemed to upset her.

"We are not a cult!" she insisted, staring me down angrily.

"Okay, okay," I said. "Fans, then?"

She angrily nodded before turning her attention back to Kallaway. She then began bombarding him with questions.

"You're really a Descendant? Can you see the future? Have you met the Ace of Chaos? Is that his sword? Can I see your Growth?"

"Growth?" Kallaway asked, confused and a little disturbed.

"The Gauntlet," I clarified.

"Oh!" he said, allowing the gauntlet to form on his right arm.

Rebecca practically squeed upon seeing it.

"A Growth is a weapon-like, chitin growth that appears on a Descendant's dominant arm when they awaken their powers," I explained. "Its shape varies from Descendant to Descendant, but as you grow stronger, other Growths will appear on your body. Such as the wings."

Rebecca's eyes widened.

"You've gotten your wings?" she asked.

"I'd rather not sprout those right now, if its all the same to you," Kallaway said.

Rebecca was disappointed again, but he promised to show her another time. After that, we explained our situation, that we were both tracking Bill Dawson, and that the Sister's of the Star's Light could potentially help. She agreed to discuss it with the other Sisters, and she been allowing us to stay at her place for the time being. Her daughter, Kathleen, still thinks we're both weirdos (I get the feeling she's being kept in the dark) but she's warmed up a little, it seems.

Still, it's been a week, and last night I had an important discussion with Kallaway.

"We're not getting very far, are we?" he asked.

"Not yet," I said. "It's likely Dawson's out of our reach by now. The Sister's have been searching for what information they can, but what they've gathered so far isn't particularly useful to us."

"I was really hoping they'd be of use to us," he replied. "Guess I was wrong."

"Don't beat yourself up," I said. "They're just 'fans' of the Vision. Not like the Scions, who can actually predict destiny."

"So can I," Kallaway said. "But it isn't helping. All I see is confusing, and unhelpful. Nothing that can pinpoint where Dawson's going to be or when. I don't even know when the things I see are going to play out."

"Your vision's not as sharp as your ancestors was," I said. "Things just aren't as clear to you."

"What about you?" Kallaway asked. "You took that power from my blood, right? You have foresight too, don't you?"

I shrugged.

"Yeah, but I don't really use it much," I said. "And when I do, I'm in the same boat as you. Can't see enough to get a clear answer on what's going to happen."

"So what do we do?" Kallaway asked.

"Give the Sister's a bit more time," I said. "In the meantime, I've requested Solar rogeny to come out here."

"You mean Tony?" Kallaway asked.

"No, he's still busy in Topeka," I said. "I've called the rest of them."

"How can they help?" Kallaway asked.

"They've picked up a bit of detective skills from Tony," I said. "And they can handle themselves in a fight if we do find Dawson. They'll be here by tomorrow night. Hopefully they can find something that'll show us where Dawson went after bailing from our fight."

"I see," Kallaway said. "I hope so too."

There were a couple minutes of silence before I spoke again.

"Kraken's the greater of two evils, aren't they?" I asked.

"What?" Kallaway relied.

"When you first gained foresight, you attacked me, know how much pain I'd cause later on," I said. "Yet you're working together with me to deal with them."

"You're an asshole, and people will suffer from your actions," he said. "But far more eople will suffer and die if Kraken gets their way."

"So I am the lesser evil here?" I asked.

"Shut it," Kallaway said. "We have a meeting with the Sister's tomorrow. Let's get some sleep."

"Sure," I said. "Oh, and..."

"What?" he asked.

"I know someone who you'll wanna meet," I said. "But he's with the AMU. It'll be hard to arrange an introduction if I don't have at least one of those books in hand."

"Why would I want to meet this guy?" he asked.

"It's complicated," I said. "But trust me. You'll wanna meet this guy. So helping get one of those books will be in your best interests."

He gave me a skeptical look, before shrugging and leaving the room.