Heroes of Silvatica City

"Maybe speak to her brother," Honey suggested. "He's forgiven you, right?" Wow, here she was giving advice to a kid like she was his actual mother. "Or maybe... Go speak to her mother. You must have seen her around the school."

Aaliyah closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths. She was annoyed and angry at him... But she could never not love Daniel. He was clearly manipulating her here, which was cruel, but she couldn't help herself. Groaning, she gripped his hand and pulled him into the kitchen, opening the fridge and bringing out the leftovers. Turns out she hadn't cooked dinner - she was a mediocre cook - but had ordered from their favourite pizza place. His box of spicy meat feast was untouched. She kicked the fridge shut and then walked upstairs with him in tow. He could eat dinner in bed while she slept and grumped next to him.

Honey got a vibe from this moment and thought... To hell with it. She leaned across and put her arm around Amadeus loosely. "No problem, son," she said, patting his shoulder. "Now, you've been here a while and you still haven't been to a Mexican restaurant. It's almost a crime that you haven't had tacos. So we're going out to eat tonight. How's that sound?"

Aaliyah wasn't in the mood to talk so she led him to their bedroom, and then went to the bathroom to take off her makeup and clean her teeth. At this point she just wanted to sleep, so when she was done, she got into bed beside Daniel and lay facing away from him. She was tired... But she couldn't sleep.

Squishy and Ica had of course noticed their daughter's odd behaviour and were on high alert. Squishy got a 'sense' from her whenever she phased in and out of focus, and sometimes even in and out of sight. Something extraterrestrial was going on. It contacted SHADE, and announced an impromptu reading week for all students so that they weren't clumped together at the school. Lola told it that it was being ridiculous and dismissed everything though, and insisted one day that she go hang out with her friends and the public library. They were all there studying, not with any exams in mind but just to consolidate their learning. Jin had missed a few days of school recently to go to court, so she was emotionally tired and behind everyone else. Lloyd and Drago were giving her some extra tutoring in a side room while the others read up on their weakest subjects in the lounge area. The library was even quieter than usual too.

The three in the other room had no context for the tremble, so Jin ran out in a panic. "E-earthquake!" she yelped, diving under the nearest table. Lloyd followed, having been taught to do that. Olivia rolled her eyes and looked at Lola. "Oh really, hun?" she asked. "Last time I checked, you're not in tune with the Earth's crust." She didn't like that tone her sort-of-cousin had taken with her brother, and they were now all on high alert. Cha also didn't like how she'd spoken to Mia, who was just being nice, so her hackles were up. "Was that a threat just then?" she snarled, getting to her feet. Sakura flapped her hands frantically and signed that they should all calm down. Olivia and Cha's antagonising wasn't going to help whatever this was.

They all had to duck under cover after that. Lloyd was having a mini panic attack so Jin gently squeezed her hand and spoke softly to her. Cha bravely reached up and covered Mia's head with her arms, getting hit by a couple of books to protect her friend. The others all dove under the remaining tables, though Olivia stayed staring at Lola. This could not just be a coincidence...

Amber happened to be in the gravity bubble, as she watched books and shelves raining down around them. This carnage was on a huge scale... Outside the windows, they could see other buildings shaking and trees rustling violently. This earthquake was city wide! Maybe it wasn't Lola after all. Olivia cried out her cousin's name when a book shelf came crashing down onto her. Once the tremors stopped, she shuffled out from under the table and tried to lift the book case, but wasn't strong enough. "Mia! Help!" she grunted. "Milo! Someone!" But when they had moved it, Lola wasn't there. "This is freaky deaky," Amber said in a monotone. They didn't know it yet but the worse the situation, the more deadpan she got. It was her coping mechanism. "M-my sister," Lloyd stammered, getting out her phone and dialling frantically. But the lines were dead, probably because the telephone wires had been taken out by the quake. Lloyd was fully panicking now, hyperventilating and whimpering.

"Y-yeah, we should all go home," Jin agreed. She and Cha's parents weren't powered, so if something untoward was going on then they'd need their daughters to keep them safe. She looked up at Drago, knowing that his family were out of town because he'd mentioned it in passing to her. "Will you... Take Lloyd home?" she asked. Ugh, she wanted him to come with her, she only felt safe when he was around, but Lloyd was a mess and her abilities wouldn't really protect her much if something came along. Amber didn't care much for her family, so she wanted to stick with DJ and Lola. She noticed Chloe before anyone else though. "Uhh, hey Chlo. What's up?" she asked, approaching her and patting her shoulder.

Thank god, Cha thought, as she kept her hand in Mia's. When did they start holding hands? She didn't know but she wasn't about to let go now. Lloyd shook her head angrily and stomped outside, not caring if Drago followed or not. She just wanted to get home and check that her sister was safe. Amber looked back as the others all started leaving, then turned to Chloe. "I'll go with you," she decided. Chloe was clearly not fine and she'd need some company to go all the way back to school for whatever it was. When they were outside, Olivia gave into her suspicions and crouched down, pressing her palm flat on the ground. She had to know where Lola had gone. She held her breath and her eyes glowed a bright purple, as she used her seance ability to read the ground and see where her cousin had gone. While she was doing that, the city suddenly lit up with a warm green glow. Amber, who had just walked outside with Chloe, balked and stepped back inside. "The hell is that?!" Sakura smiled and signed, "it's Milo's mother." Caoimhe, the garden goddess, was probably pumping the city full of life to heal the wounded - and also to see if there was anything that didn't belong.

The glowing slowly faded and they all went on their way again. Olivia finished her seance and stood up. "She's going that way," she said, pointing towards city centre and then following after Lola. Sakura nodded at Milo, but then shook her head. He could go to his mother and father, but she wanted to go to hers, who were probably desperately worried for her. In fact, she could slightly feel a swishing sensation in the back of her head, meaning her father was probably looking for her. She signed that they should go separate ways for now, and that they'd see each other again soon. Meanwhile Lloyd was still charging ahead towards her house, and Amber was giving Chloe an arm of support as they went towards the school. The twins and Mia were running full pelt towards their parents'.

"I don't know," Olivia replied, looking around at all the people staring at them. "But something big's happening and it's not just seismic." Maybe they should go find their parents? Heh, no, both of them were probably already rushing to SHADE to sort this out. She and DJ would be in soooo much trouble if their parents saw them running towards the danger. Cha and Jin lived pretty close so they got home fairly quickly, where Jin jammed her keys in the door and came inside. "Oh no, the china," whined Jin when they saw their parent's cabinet of antique china on the floor. As it turned out, Lloyd lived quite far from the library and soon she became out of breath from the jogging, and had to slow down. She didn't know Drago was still following her. Amber and Chloe were soon at the school, which was completely deserted. "This is hella creepy," Amber muttered. Sakura's parents lived right on the outskirts of town so she had a long way to go. Ugh, she should have just gone with Milo.

"Yeesh," Olivia said, grimacing at the people marching... Well, Nazi style down the street. "Is Lola Hitler now or something?" she asked drolly. "But seriously, Deej, what the hell is going on?" Aaliyah probably wouldn't have been at home on her day off, she was likely to have gone out jogging or to the school to sort things out for her classes. But even so, the silence at home was eerie. They easily found her parents, as they were still under the downstairs table, their mother clutching her old jewellery box and father holding his wife and his biggest photo album. They leapt on their daughters and hugged them, stuttering in Korean. "Annyeo, Mia," their mother greeted Mia shakily. Jin said something to them and Mia could hear the word SHADE, so that's where they were going now. They eventually got to Lloyd's place and saw that the door was open. Her sister must have just gotten back from her school when the quake hit. Lloyd barged inside and started shouting out her name. "Lily! Lily?!" "Uhh, sure," Amber said, standing back from the door. "But I'm right here okay, so give me a shout if you need anything." Not like Amber could do much. His mother and father were in fact at SHADE, as Tenpo knew something was up when Squishy closed the school. They were keeping watch over the city, which was doing some weird stuff right now. Squishy was, oddly, no where to be found.

"We don't even have firepower," Olivia jibed. A seance and a chameleon weren't going to be good against hordes of Nazi zombies. "SHADE sounds good... But maybe we should use the whistle instead," she suggested, looking behind her. She and DJ had an emergency alarm that they were to use in very serious situations to alert their parents to their locations. Now seemed like a good time, as from behind them they saw another line of people marching by. They were effectively trapped here. The twins' dad smiled up at Mia. "Such a good, big girl," he praised in a thick accent. While they went out the door, Jin disappeared upstairs but then returned a moment later with a shiny duffel bag. "We might need these," she said to Cha and Mia. This was the bag where they kept their "super suits", Mia's included. Now seemed a time to use them. With the bag in tow, they took off at a brisk jog towards SHADE. Lloyd went into the kitchen and found Lily in there, staring out the window. She was a smaller, more well put together version of Lloyd, with shorter hair and no glasses. She must have been only twelve or so. Lloyd stopped hyperventilating instantly when she saw her sister, and ran over to hug her. She didn't say anything, but Drago could see Lily turn her head to look at Lloyd... Creepily. Amber looked between the door and the sound of people approaching. "Hey Chlo," she whispered. "Nearly done in there?" Caoimhe finished healing someone and then heard her son's voice. "Milo!" she wailed, running to him too and sweeping him into her arms. "My baby, you're safe!" she cooed happily, kissing him all over his face. He would always be her little baby. "But where is everyone else? Sakura?!" Tenpo had seen Milo come in and approached them nervously.