Fiona sighed as she rose into the brightening sky, the stars now all but invisible; it was becoming a bit easier to fly, but the slightly heavier gravity still bothered her a tad. The extra gravity wasn’t the only thing that pressed down on her frail body; the atmosphere was thick with at least eighty percent moisture. The precipitation didn’t bother her as much as the added weight it brought.

A soft sigh left her lips as her hair waved gently back with the gentle breeze sliding past her; the violent gusts beyond her Wind Shield were being redirected, giving her a smooth flight. It did cost energy but was more than worth it in her mind.

She glanced down at her red Qipao, black-trimmed dress with a deep frown; it fit her snuggly, which was surprising given Barbie dolls’ usual curves. The chilled air slid past the slit in the dress to press against her left leg; the cold wasn’t an issue with her resistances, but she recognized the temperature dropping the higher she flew.

What must the soldiers have thought when Scarlet and I came through? I mean, Scarlet didn’t even seem to notice, though … I bet if anyone brings it up, she’ll turn beet red.

The thought brought a hint of mischievous delight back to her sinking emotions, a small smile curving her lips. Maybe I should point it out; that would be fun.

Her multi-hued irises absently scanned the sea of green below her; the swaying of the treetops appeared to rise and fall, resembling waves, and gave her the feeling of being on an alien world. Her thoughts gradually returned to the strange jack o'lantern-like alien she’d trapped.

Rachel was caked in mud when I got there; she didn’t seem hurt, but maybe Maria healed her before I got there. Did it just attack or … flaming insects … I should have asked more questions. Maybe Rachel thinks I don’t care … no, she’s probably too focused on the problem to even care what I think.

I have to do some thinking, too! It did have a strange scream; the others didn’t seem to notice it … it’s not like I could understand it, but I knew it was in pain. Scarlet could probably feel its emotions if she were there, but it would undoubtedly be a kebab in that scenario.

She looked up at the greenish-brown towering spikes poking out of the leafy ocean ahead of her. A dark blue cloud was slowly cresting the mountain peak and sides, spreading out rapidly.

What is going on with this world and that crystal? There are crazy insects, aliens … well, I guess we’re the aliens, but they’re aliens to us … the crystal changed color; it’s just too much! How the flip are we supposed to figure these things out? Right … me … ask around and get some intel.

She did a quick twirl to look up at the heavens, a sad frown making another appearance; it was becoming nearly impossible to see the stars now. The blue moons were beginning to descend, dropping to the south; they appeared to be influencing each other’s movements.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d be worried about those moons smashing together sometime in the future. That would be pretty interesting to see … the effects might not be so pretty.

Flipping back around, she pursed her lips to the side as she studied the trees below her, debating if she should descend.

I’m the only person that can understand crazy animal languages, but most of the creatures I’ve talked to just aren’t that smart … or super perverted. How the heck did that thing even know Maria and I were female? At least he’s … he sounded like a he, but who the crap knows?

She gradually descended toward the treetops, rubbing her forehead. If only I had Rachel’s ears, then I could spy on all the animals in the entire jungle! It’d make my life so easy. At least my hearing is decent … better than it used to be.

A low groan left her throat as she swerved side to side. Should I really be this close to the trees, though … what if something jumps out to eat me. At least it’d be interesting. I mean, even if something does, I could just freeze its insides or roast its stomach, but I’m still putting myself at risk; Rachel wouldn’t like that, yet I could also get information, which she’d like…

After a bit of debate, she decided it was worth the risk; currently, there weren’t any other sounds than the strange noises the insects make, but she did notice they were all fleeing the opposite direction of the mountain.

Word’s spreading to them, too. Something dangerous is coming down from there. That perv-bear said it was the Azure Frost, and well, that cloud looks azure-colored to me. A fog that freezes things, maybe, and the jack o'lantern aliens are trying to fight it? How are they using orange energy-swords to slash something like that? Yeah, that probably won’t be that effective; no wonder they’re losing.

Not two minutes later, she finally heard something besides the fleeing creatures below; it was a mix of male and female voices, causing her to pause.

“Hurry, Ja’a, carry Te’r on your back,” A male voice ordered.

A much younger voice responded, presumably Ja’a. “She’s too heavy for me…”

“Quit making excuses!” A third, more feminine tone snapped.

The first voice returned. “The sun rises; we must hurry to the edges before nightfall!”

Fiona darted into the jungle, vision instantly adjusting to the dark underbelly. Scanning the undergrowth, she spotted a toucan-like bird about the size of a large dog running across the ground; their light blue and purple feathers shimmered in the darkness, and their necks were puffed out with a mane-like frill.

It didn’t seem as if they could fly with their stubby wings; however, their mouth seemed more than vicious enough to take a chunk out of someone. Their jaws snapped open and shut as they talked to each other, showing serrated teeth inside their razor-sharp mandible. Oddly enough, they looked menacing yet cute.

“Hello!” Fiona called out cheerily to the four birds.

The creatures slowed a little, heads darting around. “Did you hear someone, Ha’e?” The first one muttered.

“Yes, but where … what is that?” She screamed.

Fiona shot out in front of them, flying beside the one that seemed tired, likely Te’r. “Hello, Te’r, Ha’e, and Ja’a … I don’t know your name, though,” she said, directing a pleasant smile at the bird in the lead.

His taloned feet bit into the dirt as he skidded to a stop before launching himself at her, jaws open wide.

“Hey!” She shouted, easily maneuvering around the attack before flying a bit higher. “That’s not very nice! I’m just saying hello; I’m not trying to hurt you.”

The others backed up against a tree with black bark, the leader in front, and Te’r wheezing.

Ha’e’s tone was hesitant as she shrank behind the larger toucan. “Ge’r … it can speak our language.”

“I can hear that,” the leader said, releasing a growl. Fiona assumed it was a squawk to anyone else, but since her abilities translated their conversation, it would convert it to reflect her own interpretation of a warning; hence, the growl.

“Chill,” Fiona huffed, crossing her arms. “I just want to ask some questions.”

“I’m asking the questions,” Ge’r interjected. “Are you a resident of this land? How can you speak our language?”

Fiona’s brow creased. “Resident of this land?”

“Don’t repeat me; give me an answer!”

Confusion touched Fiona’s voice. “I just … are you not a resident of this land? You definitely aren’t from Earth.”

“What if we aren’t?” Ge’r challenged, puffing up his feathers.

The show was more cute than menacing, causing Fiona to giggle.

“Oh, not scared? I could eat you in one bite!”

Fiona waved her hand. “No, no, please,” she laughed. “It’s just … you’re pretty cute.”

“Cute … she thinks you're cute?” Ha’e huffed, gray eyes narrowing as she puffed out her own feathers in a frill.

“Honestly,” Fiona wheezed, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. “If you were pets back on Earth … well, I guess I don’t have time to waste, too. I’m…”

Her eyes narrowed as a feminine voice hissed around the area. “Gotcha!”

A snake the length of a school bus shot out of the thick undergrowth, crocodile-like mouth opened wide to chomp down on the unsuspecting birds. Quick as lightning, Fiona activated Wind Wall.

The creature’s head managed to break past a part of her spell, but its trajectory was forcefully redirected into the trunk beside her new information banks. The poor birds screamed in fear as Ge’r jumped up, biting the snake’s bark-like skin as it swayed in a stunned manner above them. The only response was the poor guy’s cry of pain, dropping back down beside the others while licking his teeth.

“No, you don’t!” Fiona barked, green aura tinting light blue as her dust turned red; she conjured the advanced form of Ice Shard, Ice Spear. “Ya’ done messed up, snake!”

The six-foot-long icicle formed within seconds, and she launched it toward the dazed serpent. It penetrated the side of the creature’s head, skewering it against the tree. It thrashed about, gurgling as a green liquid sprayed out of its wound, redirected away from her new acquaintances by the still active Wind Wall.

Before the birds could get crushed by the creature’s weight, Fiona used Levitation to pull them back toward her, rising into the sky while deactivating Wind Wall.

“W-what is this?” Ha’e gasped, flailing around in the air.

Te’r sounded mystified. “We’re flying!” She screamed with glee, flapping her stubby wings.

Breaking past the canopy of the rainforest, Fiona crossed her legs and folded her arms as she studied the four. “Okay, now we can have a proper conversation; you can’t be too careful in this place. I captured a bug and crazy jack o'lantern thing earlier; this world has some scary stuff.”

The four birds stared at her blankly for several seconds before Ge’r cleared his throat, now sounding a little nervous as he glanced back down at the ground; the scene below was now invisible behind the dense tree cover, but the sounds of thrashing and hissing could still be heard.

“You—you can make us—fly?”

“Oh, that, it’s just Levitation. I suppose we’re flying, but it’s more like I’m doing some magical thing to your weight and changing wind currents or something like that. Oh, it can also get pretty breezy up here,” she mumbled, watching them shiver as a gust of wind blew back their feathers.

“Then … you aren’t from this world? It is a double crystal event?”

Fiona’s eyes sparkled. “Yes! I finally found someone that knows something. Rachel’s going to be so happy…”

“Excuse me,” Ha’e mumbled, now sounding a little cowed. “What are you … are you going to kill us?”

“Kill you? No, no, not at all!” Fiona cooed, but her smile soon fell as she heard a familiar buzzing sound. “Seriously!” She groaned, expanding her Wind Shield to encompass the birds.

The two kids tensed as the sharp gusts blowing against them calmed, and two of the large dragonfly creatures batted against the shield beside their heads, bouncing off to the side.

“W-what are those?” Te’r gasped with fright.

“No need to worry,” Fiona soothed, scratching the back of her head as she glanced around at the swarm of insects that began to surround them. They seemed to wise up because they were now floating just outside the perimeter, likely waiting for the shield to drop. “These things are small-fry; I’ve killed dozens of them.”

“G-glad to know,” Ha’e whispered.

“So—umm,” Ge’r’s tone had become considerably more respectful, “what is your purpose … with my family, I mean.”

Fiona’s smile returned. “Family! That’s even cuter! Eh—what do I want with you? You know about the crystals, right?”

“We know about them … yes,” Ge’r responded.

“Well, I want to know about them, too. One just appeared in our world, and we’ve been trying to figure out what the flaming things are. We don’t know if we should be worried about attacks or not. That kind of stuff.”

“You—you didn’t have the crystals before? This is—is the first time?” Ha’e asked with shock.

Fiona nodded. “Yup, there was a big light that cracked the sky around our planet and changed tons of people, then these crystals appeared. Does that ring a bell? It’s like that,” she pointed at the dome above them, “but imagine it around the whole planet … oh, and a lot more colors, brighter, too. At least, from the pictures I saw in the files—eh, anyways, anything sound familiar?”

Ha’e was the first one to respond. “No—not the whole planet, but small areas like this. Our people have been through many such incidents, but The Great Jo’Toa’Koria always protected us and pushed the assailants back.”

“That’s,” Ge’r’s tone was pained, “until the Azure Frost came … it’s endless. Our home is very dark, and it grows quickly in the dark. The Azure Frost overwhelmed The Great Jo’Toa’Koria … it pushed them back, even when the crystal shattered, it remained. It advanced … taking over everything. It seems to spread, crystal to crystal. When another arrived, we were inside the barrier; for the first time, instead of looking at it as an assault, we saw it as our salvation.”

He choked up; Fiona squinted as a blue tear left his eye, crystalizing into stone before dropping below. The color and shine were so beautiful that it momentarily distracted her. Ha’e finished as her husband collected himself.

“The Azure Frost was closing in on us; it had overtaken every land we knew … suffocating everything. We met with what was left of our people and fled here; these creatures met us with light sticks that could cut through even the Roka’la’s shells … it is always a risk with going to a new planet. Naturally, we’d find opposition to our migration. We all ran … and then the Azure Frost followed us.”

“I’m sorry about your world,” Fiona said, ears drooping; however, her mixed light-red and blue dust flared red. “Could you shut it for two seconds; it’s a sad moment!” She barked, glaring at the buzzing insects outside. “I’m about to bust a cap in these buggers.”

The bird family stared at her tentatively as she continued to glower at the flying creatures, eyes like daggers.

“What’s a … bugger and cap?” Ge’r asked.

“This,” Fiona said, lifting her hand to summon an Ice Shard. The three-foot-long spike shot through a small opening in the wind currents with her desire; the bug effortlessly ducked around it, causing Fiona’s jaw to lock momentarily. “Freakin’ kiddin’ me … okay, toasted it is!”

The light blue in her aura changed yellow as sparks danced from her fingertips, short arcs zapping the creatures out of the sky through small gaps she created in the shield. The static discharge made the birds quake, trapped in her spell, and unable to move.

“Man, I’m OP,” Fiona mused, breathing a sigh of relief as she struck down the last bug. I’m down to sixty-three percent of my energy, though. They’re bringing back some sugar, so it’s fine.

She turned her bright smile to her semi-captives; the smell of burning insects was swiftly blown away. “There, all done.”

“You have some … I’m glad you chose to talk to us,” Ge’r mumbled, following the blackened bodies with his eyes.

“I’m glad we can communicate!” Fiona clapped her hands together. “We really need to figure out what’s going on with these crystals.”

“Do you—is it safe … can we come to your world?” Te’r squeaked.

“Te’r!” Her mother chastised. “We can’t just…”

“Maybe,” Fiona replied.

“Wait—really?” Ge’r asked.

Fiona shrugged. “I mean, we’d probably need the okay from Tom, but if you guys have information, then it could be … oh, what was it in that one movie. You could be like—informants … witness protection sort of deal—for aliens. How much do you know about the crystals?” She asked, scratching behind her long left ear.

“We’ll tell you everything we know!” Ha’e urged. “Please, just … if you can guarantee our safety … the Azure Frost…”

“Yeah, about that,” Fiona held up her hand, crossing her legs again. “Tell me about this stuff, and how do we close the portal? Oh, the shape, what’s the shapes and colors mean?”

“Umm—can you give me a second to—to collect my thoughts … this is all so sudden,” Ha’e asked, closing her eyes and folding her tiny bird wings, getting more comfortable with floating.

“Sure, no problem,” Fiona said, glancing back at the mountain. The cloud had stopped, and the mist was beginning to disperse as the sun rose. She squinted as the tops of the peaks began to shimmer like diamonds in the firelight. “What in the name of brightness?”

The bird family followed her gaze, and Ge’r whispered, “That’s the Azure Frost … during the night, it releases spores continually, proliferating. During the day, it goes into hibernation … it’s cold, sort of how your long weapon feels. In our land, our nights were long … it overwhelmed us within months, and now, it’s here.”

“So,” Fiona pressed, “how do we close our crystal and be done with it all? I want to get back to my sister … I’m really worried about her. Maybe I can get Tom to bring her over to the U.S.,” she pondered.

Realizing she’d stopped talking, Ha’e took a deep breath before responding. “To close the crystals … you must conquer the opposing side.”

Fiona’s body tilted slightly in the air. “Huh?”

“Conquer—oh, Ge’r, how would you describe it? Maybe they don’t have the word in their language.”

“No, I understand what conquer means; I just don’t get the context. What are we supposed to conquer? Are there some people we need to beat-up, or do we need to destroy a bunch of the land? Get what I’m asking?”

“Oh, you must conquer the official residents; how you do that is up to you, but you can kill them, pillage them, make it so they must rebuild … there are many ways.”

“Well—snap,” Fiona mumbled. “That makes things a little complicated … is it the bug people or the jack o'lanterns … maybe something else?”

Ge’r and Ha’e both shook their heads.

“No idea,” Ha’e replied.

“The Great Jo’Toa’Koria always took care of it for us, but a lot of it was public knowledge.”

“Wonderful … I suppose you guys know a lot more about the crystals?”

Again, they all nodded.

A soft sigh left Fiona’s lips as she pulled back her hair, righting herself in the air. “That solves our biggest problem. Let’s just hope that Scarlet didn’t discover anything crazy on her end. Well—this is pretty important stuff to bring back. Tom will have to talk with the President and decide how we’ll handle it, I suppose.”

Ja’a spoke up for the first time. “We’re—going to safety?”

“Yup,” Fiona grinned, giving him a thumbs up. “You guys have no clue how happy you’ve made me!”