Matt felt godawful as he stumbled into his room. Not just because of how mad his parents had been, not just because of the beating that Winter idiot had given him, but also because of the burning sensation he felt across his whole body. Did that Neanderthal do some permanent damage to him? This didn't seem like it could be a symptom of blunt force trauma.

  Not only that, there seemed to have been a gap in his memory. He remembered sitting on the bench with Winter, and then he suddenly felt a little ill.

  "So, what did boss dy want?" Scott had asked.

  "Wha?" Matt had responded.

  "That Dorothy chick, what did she want with you?" he has asked.

  "Oh, uh, she, she asked me not to say." Matt had lied.

  Winter had left it alone, but Matt had no idea what he'd been talking about. Had he spoken to Dorothy again? Did he have a concussion and not remember something? The doctor said there was no sign of a concussion, but...

  Matt doubled over. He felt an ache in his chest, and the burning sensation intensified. He took off his hoodie and felt a bit of relief. That is, until he caught sight of his chest.

  His veins had become bck, and they lead to a crystal that was sitting in the center of his chest. It was bck as well, and it seemed as if it was half embedded in his skin. Matt poked it with his finger. He didn't feel anything.

  What should he do? Tell his parents? No, that would go badly. He could hear them arguing over how to punish him from his room. They'd probably just act like it was his fault. Maybe talk to Alex? That felt like a good idea. He could just sneak over real quick and talk to him. Who knows, maybe this is like, his superhero origin story, and superheroes always need a guy in a chair, right? Alex could do that. He was rambling. He was rambling, and he needed to stop rambling so he could get out of here and over to Alex's house.

  He threw his hoodie back on and snuck out his window. He could still hear his parents arguing even from outside. They wouldn't notice he was gone for a while.

  The sun was getting low as he walked down the street towards his friend's house. He knw where Alex lived, even though they hadn't visited each other's house before. It'd be weird to turn up now of all times, but hey, what are friends for, right?

  But as the sun dipped below the horizon and the street lights came on, the pain in Matt's chest seemed to explode. He doubled over on the sidewalk, clutching his chest. He leaned against a streetmp, his head pounding. But through the pain came a word, floating at the surface of his mind like a lily on water.

  "Arcus..."

  He felt a burst of warmth in his hand. He opened his eyes and looked to see that there seemed to be...electricity arcing between his hand and the mp. He looked up and saw the light flicker before it shut off completely.

  Suddenly, the pain in his chest began to subside, and he instead felt a surge of energy throughout his body. He looked around to see if anyone had seen him. There wasn't anybody around, but Matt noticed something else, something that seemed to shimmer in the air. They looked like...magnetic fields, and they were emanating from the mps, from the cars parked in driveways and on the street, and when he looked up he could see a faint pattern shimmering in the sky.

  There was a car parked next to the streetmp Matt was leaning against. He reached out and put his hand against it, and again, he began to drain the power from it. As the power arced between the car and his hand, his skin began to take on a slight yellow glow.

  Well, price to be paid for superpowers, I guess. Matt thought. Once he was done he looked around. What else could he absorb?

  He ran to the next streetmp and id his hand on it. He felt that same rush of energy and power flow through his body as it flickered off. Now he was positively radiant. But he could feel something tingling just under his skin. This power needed a release.

  And then he had an idea.

  Didn't Scott Winter live on this street?

  He looked around and saw Winter's car parked a few houses down. He began to walk towards it. Winter's car was a bit of a junker; an 80s pickup truck that was just barely getting by, but it was something that Winter cherished.

  "Perfect." Matt said, his voice sounding more like an electric growl. He put out his hand and concentrated.

  Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot out of his hand and struck Winter's car. The car seemed to glow for a moment, and then it exploded.

  ***

  I quickly transformed into Brightmoon, put Messa into her pocket in my dress and climbed out the window. I flew up into the sky to try and get a view of the town. I saw a plume of smoke rising near the far edge of town, over by Matt's neighborhood. I flew over to the smoke, passing over fire trucks and police cars heading towards the scene. As I got closer I saw that there was a faint glow coming from one street in particur.

  I nded in the middle of the road and found a brightly glowing figure standing in the street, staring at a fming wreck of a car. He was a little taller than me, and the air around him smelled like ozone. His face was obscured due to the glow, with only vague outlines of features being visible. His eyes were two pure white ovals.

  Suddenly, a man stumbled out of the house, wearing an undershirt and basketball shorts while holding a beer can.

  "Hey what's the big-" He said, stopping himself when he realized what was standing in front of him.

  "Where's Scott Winter?" the glowing man said, his voice sounding like guitar feedback.

  Wait. I thought. Don't tell me...

  "I, I don't know." The man said.

  The glowing man raised his hand. "You until the count of three to tell me where that Neanderthal is. One..."

  Oh god.

  "Two..."

  It's Matt.

  "Three!"

  "Stop right there!" I yelled.

  Matt seemed to notice me for the first time. He lowered his arm and smiled at me.

  "Well, look who it is." Matt said. "Maybe you can help me out. See, I'm trying to get rid of this real piece of work, and I could really-"

  "Listen, uh, sir," I said, "I think we should take you to the hospital."

  "What are you talking about?" Matt said. "I'm feeling better than ever!"

  As if to prove a point, he pointed at another nearby car, and a bolt of lightning shot out of him, hitting the car and making it glow red hot before it exploded. The shockwave was deafening, and it nearly knocked me off my feet. Matt just began to ugh.

  Suddenly, a police car came screeching around the turn at the end of the street. It parked so that it was blocking the street, and then the st person I wanted to see got out of the car.

  "This is Sergeant Summers, BPD!" Dad said into his megaphone. "Both of you, get down on the ground and put your hands behind your heads!"

  "Should we listen to him?" I heard Messa whisper from her little pocket. "We could just fly away."

  I stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do, only for Matt to start walking towards the car.

  Dad drew his pistol. "Lay on the ground and put your hands behind your head!"

  "Or what?" Matt said, raising his hand again. "You'll shoot me?"

  "I'd rather not," Dad said, "So let's just-"

  Matt's hand began to glow.

  "Arcus..." I heard him whisper.

  "Aegir!"

  I waved my wand and a gust of wind sent Matt flying into a nearby house. An arc of lightning shot out of him and into the air as he crashed through a window, striking a nearly streetmp. The bulb exploded, showering Dad and his car in gss and sparks. He curled up into a ball, trying to shield himself. I ran over to him.

  "Dad, are you ok?"

  He got up. He was bleeding from a cut on the back of his neck.

  "I, I think so. Some gss nicked me, but--"

  We both paused as we realized what I had just said.

  "Uh, Miss," he said, "did you just call me Dad?"

  "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh..."

  "Alex?" He said.

  I completely froze up. I pursed my lips and just stood there like an idiot.

  "Who's Alex?" I said. "I mean, I'm sure there are plenty of Alex's in the world, but, I mean, I'm definitely not one of them, so..."

  I was interrupted by a crackling sound coming from the house I blew Matt into.

  "Sorry, mister, but I, uh, I got to go deal with this, so just get yourself to a hospital while I take care of, uh, you know...that guy."

  I turn and ran away before Dad could say anything else.

  "Alex," Messa said, "I doubt your abilities as an actor."

  "Quiet, you." I said. "Do you know what we're dealing with here?"

  "No," Messa said, "but that word the man said, arcus, I think it's a command word like one of your spells."

  "Ok," I said, "any idea how we can use it against him?"

  "Amnesia, remember?"

  "Right. Guess I'm on my own then..."

  I leapt through the window Matt had crashed through and found him sprawled out on the floor in the middle of a living room. He slowly got up and looked at me with a furious look in his eyes.

  "That...hurt..."

  "Listen," I said gently, "I don't know how you got like this, or if you're in control, but you can't just go around doing whatever you want with power like that."

  "Control? Control? I'm in control for the first time in my life, and I pn on making the most of it!"

  Alright, do or die. I thought. I raised my wand and pointed it at him.

  "Arcus!"

  A bolt of lightning jumped from Matt to the wand, and I felt a brief surge of power flow through me. Then I felt a sharp pain all over my body, and I went flying back out the window and into the street. I felt my arm hit the ground and my skin scrapped against the concrete, but it didn't hurt as bad as it probably should have. I opened my eyes and checked myself.It seemed as if they were just mild scraps, like if I'd fallen off a bike. Guess I'd made this girl body a little tougher than I thought.

  I pulled myself up and Matt walked out of the wrecked house.

  "What's wrong, Brightmoon?" Matt said. "That wand can't handle high voltage?"

  I looked around. Police barricades were on either side of us. I heard the thumping of helicopter bdes and looked up. Sure enough, there was a police helicopter circling the scene overhead. It turned on its spotlight and shone it onto us.

  "Oooh, don't mind if I do." Matt said. He raised his hand.

  I spotted something behind Matt. Back in the living room there was a sliding gss door, leading to a picturesque backyard.

  And beyond that, a pool.

  "Hey, so like, not to be a broken record, but..." I said.

  Matt paused, confused just long enough to give me an opening.

  "Aegir!"

  Matt's face went from anger to annoyance as he got hit by another gust of wind. He crashed through the house again, then through the gss door and into the pool. Suddenly, electricity began to arc out of the water and into the air, and I could hear Matt yelling. I watched as the helicopter pulled back to avoid the bolts of lightning. I ran through the house and into the backyard. I could see Matt floundering in the middle of the pool. He was no longer glowing, and I could see that there was something on his chest; a dark crystal, embedded in his skin.

  "Alright, let's try this again." I said. "Arcus!"

  I felt the electricity jump from Matt to the wand, but this time I was able to handle it. I felt a tingle along my skin and down my spine, and then a kind of warmth in my chest.

  Matt managed to pull himself up and out of the pool, coughing as he did so. I ran over to him and pulled him up to his feet. He seemed to be in a daze. That is, until he got a good look at my face.

  Then he punched me.

  "GIVE IT BACK!" he yelled.

  He swung again but I managed to step out of the way.

  "I need that power!" He said. "I need it!"

  "Sir, please just calm-"

  He got me with a body shot, but again, it didn't hurt like it should have.

  "I was strong for once in my life!" Matt screamed. "No one could hurt me!"

  "Mister-"

  He swept my leg, causing me to fall to the ground. I felt Messa tumble out of her pocket and into the nearby grass. Before I knew what was happening, I felt Matt's hands on my throat.

  "GIVE. IT. BACK!" he said through gritted teeth.

  I couldn't breathe. I had to do something. That's when I was able to get a good look at the crystal. It seemed to suck in the light around it instead of radiating it, making it look like a bck wound in Matt's chest. I got a bad feeling in my gut just looking at it.

  Well, if it looks evil and feels evil...

  I managed to get my wand in between me and Matt, and then I swung the pommel into the crystal. Hard.

  It broke apart like a gss pane. Pieces of it fell from his chest and onto me. That seemed to shock Matt out of his rage. He got up off of me and began clutching at his chest.

  "No," he said, "no no no no no, it wasn't supposed to-"

  We both turned to the sky as we saw the sound of thumping helicopter bdes. The police helicopter was coming back around.

  "Listen, man, we have to-"

  I turned to grab Matt, but he was already gone.

  "Aw, come on!" I said. I turned and saw Messa, lying dazed in the grass.

  "Messa!" I said, running over and picking her up. "Are you ok?!"

  Messa groaned, but managed to sit up in my hands. "I'll live." She said, her voice sounding more tired and weak than normal.

  "OK," I said, looking back up at the helicopter, "let's get out of here."

  With that, I mounted the wand and took off into the sky.

  ***

  Dorothy was monitoring the whole scene from her hotel room. Eliza had hacked into the camera feed of the police helicopter, giving her a perfect view of Mr. Owens and Brightmoon. She watched as Brightmoon swung her wand and sent Matt flying, and then watched as the lightning overwhelmed the helicopter, forcing it to retreat. She wrote some notes in a small notepad of hers.

  Using same technique repeatedly. Likely inexperienced. High school age. Continue monitoring school. Ego test successful. Search for possible candidates.

  ***

  I nded outside my room, exhausted after the fight. I looked around, and saw that no one was looking. I opened my window and climbed in. My foot slipped on the sill and I ended up tumbling into my room.

  "Well," I heard a familiar voice say, "I think you have some expining to do."

  I snapped back up and found Dad sitting on my bed. He had some gauze on the side of his neck and another pad of gauze pressed against the back of his head with a bandage keeping it in pce. I stood up and tried to smooth out my outfit for some reason. Like that'd help in this situation.

  "Why, uh, sir, shouldn't you be recovering form your injuries?" I said.

  "They pulled me back from the action and bandaged me up, then sent me home." He said, his voice ft.

  "Ah, that, uh, makes sense." I said. An awkward silence hung in the air till I cleared my throat.

  "Well, I'm sorry, sir, it seems there's been some sort of misunderstanding." I said. "This, uh, this isn't-"

  "Alex-"

  "Who's Alex?" I said. "I mean he's probably-"

  "I want an expnation."

  I sighed. Looks like there was no getting out of this one.

  "Alright, Messa," I said, "I'm gonna need your help for this." I helped her out of her pocket and set her down on my desk. Dad's eyes went wide as she casually walked to the edge and sat down, her feet dangling in the air like a little kid.

  "You," Dad said slowly, "better tell me everything."

  ***

  Catching Dad up to speed ended up taking about an hour. Me and Messa told him about the wand, the fire, and even what happened with Matt. He didn't show much emotion as we talked, just asked the occasional question. When we were done, he sat there for a while, staring at nothing. Then he took a deep breath and straightened his back.

  "Alex," he said, "why didn't you tell me right away?"

  "I...I was worried you wouldn't let me be...this." I said, gesturing at myself, still in girl form. I hadn't transformed back; for some reason the idea of looking like...me during something like this felt awkward. "I just wanted to do something good for once in my life, you know? I got this thing that might let me help people, but I thought you'd say it was too dangerous or-"

  "It is too dangerous!" Dad said. "You threw yourself into a wildfire, and then you fought Matt, who wrecked a whole neighborhood before-"

  "Before I stopped him." I said. "Just like I stopped the fire."

  "What if someone more dangerous shows up?" Dad said.

  "Dad, could you and the other cops have handled Matt without me?" I asked.

  Dad was silent.

  "Look, something is going down in this town." I said. "First I find this wand, then Dorothy Beauregard shows up, and suddenly Matt gets turned into Electro. And then there's Messa." I said, gesturing towards her. "I need to figure out what happened to her and what's going on, and I can only do that like this."

  "Ok, let's talk about this." Dad said, gesturing at me. "Why are you dressed up like this?"

  "I...well, at first I didn't think I could transform, but once I figured out how I thought hey, people wouldn't be able to figure out who I am if I look totally different, right, so...magical girl."

  "Alex is that...the only reason you're like this?" Dad asked, his voice taking on a more concerned tone.

  I cocked my head. "What do you mean?" I said.

  "Well, are you..comfortable, like that?" He said. "I mean, you could have just turned into a, you know, more masculine figure."

  I shuffled my feet. The idea of being more masculine felt...weird. "I don't know," I said, choosing to leave out the part about how the wand seemed to think this was the best possible version of me, "I just feel more confident like this. Like, when people see me normally they see Alex, right, this guy who's basically invisible, but like this, I'm...I can do this job like this. I'm OK with it, really."

  Dad didn't say anything to that. He turned to look at Messa. He walked over and knelled down to talk to her.

  "Messa, is it?" Dad said. Messa nodded.

  "I'm, uh, sorry about your situation," Dad said, "but I'd like for your opinion on all this."

  "I'm sorry?" Messa said.

  "You've seen Alex in action." Dad said. "Would you want him to keep going out and doing this?"

  Messa looked up at me. "I think Alex is just the kind of person who should have the wand." she said. "He has a lot to learn, and he's not terribly strong yet-"

  "Gee, thanks." I interjected.

  "But he's doing his best," Messa said, "and he's done nothing but try to use its power to help people. I think that's worth something."

  Dad seemed to think about this, then he sat back on my bed.

  "What about Matt?" he said. "Now that we know he was the one pying supervilin, we should-"

  "Wait," I said, "we don't know if it was of his own free will."

  "Even so," Dad argued, "he's dangerous, we need to find him-"

  "And what, throw him in jail?" I said. "We don't know if he lost his powers or anything, he might just wipe the floor with you guys. And if he does get locked up, then the government will probably just try to ship him off to a b."

  "That kid needs help, Alex."

  "Yeah, so let me do it." I said. "He's my best friend, Dad, if I can help him without getting anyone else hurt then I should."

  Dad didn't say anything for a while.

  "You know, before today," he said, "I didn't see you as the type to throw yourself into danger. I don't mean that as an insult, mind you, most people are like that. When I was in the academy, I knew a lot of guys who just dropped out because they couldn't handle the idea of getting into a shootout, or having to deal with a bomb threat. It takes a special kind of someone to know that they could get hurt doing the right thing and doing it anyway. If this wand lets you be that kind of person, then...then I'll let you keep being Brightmoon."

  I sighed in relief. "Thank you-"

  "But, there are gonna be some ground rules." Dad said. "School comes first, so if your grades drop too much, you'll need to pull back on the heroics. You use that wand for anything stupid, it's gone. If you get hurt too bad, you take all the time you need to rest up, and if being Brightmoon gets too dangerous, you y low. You understand?"

  I stayed silent and nodded.

  "You're gonna keep me posted on all this magical drama too." Dad said. "I'll pull some strings at the department, try to convince them to let you do your thing, but we're a team from this point on, OK? No secrets."

  "No secrets." I promised.

  "And you," Dad said, pointing at Messa, "we'll help you with your memories, but you gotta help my kid, keep him safe when I can't, you got it?"

  "Of course, sir." Messa said, standing up on the desk and giving him a courtesy.

  "Alright," Dad said, "now come here." He stood up and held his arms wide open. I stepped forward and he wrapped me in a huge bear hug.

  "If you need to talk to me about anything," he said, "you let me know. OK?"

  "Yeah, yeah, I will Dad, promise."

  "I love you, Alex."

  I paused. Then I wrapped my arms tightly around him.

  "Love you too, Dad."

  ***

  Dorothy was going over the footage from the day's fight on her computer. She had guards posted outside her hotel room, ensuring no one would interrupt her. She watched what little clear footage there was of both the Owens boy and Brightmoon, trying to find any weaknesses in the girl's defenses and any clues regarding her identity.

  She thought about the Owens boy. She'd have to send out some muscle, try to find him and bring him in for testing, since it seems like no one had caught him after the battle with Brightmoon. However, the whole experience had given her a lot to think about. She knew that the spell to draw out a person's Ego actually worked, and that it could result in them gaining some truly astonishing abilities. Further testing would be necessary.

  Her musing were interrupted when she heard a knocking at her door.

  She paused, waiting for her security detail to expin why they were interrupting her, but there was no response. That wasn't protocol.

  Another knock.

  Dorothy reached into her bag and pulled out a taser.

  "Who's there?" she said. No response.

  Another knock. She got her taser ready.

  There was a buzzing from the other side of the door, and then it swung open.

  It was the boy. Matt Owens. He looked awful. Pale, tired. He walked with a slouch. His hoodie with the oni mask was dirty.

  Dorothy looked behind him and saw her bodyguards ying on the ground.

  "Rex," Matt said, "They're just unconscious."

  Dorothy pointed the taser at him and he ughed.

  "Honestly, miss, I could use the boost."

  "Young man, what are you doing here? How did you even-"

  "How I found you isn't important," Matt said, "but as for the first question, I think we both know the answer to that."

  Matt lifted up his hoodie. Dorothy's eyes went wide when she saw the crystal in his chest. The Tome had described the hypothetical results of the spell, but seeing it in person was something else. But it wasn't complete. It had been broken. Instead of jutting out from his chest, it formed a crystalline indentation right in the center of his rib-cage.

  "I had a gap in my memory." Matt said, "Winter said that you talked to me after I got out of the principal's office, but I didn't remember it. Right after that I find this thing," he said, tapping the crystal, "and can suddenly do this."

  He points a finger at a mp sitting on the nightstand beside Dorothy's bed, and a lightning bolt jumped from him and into the mp, causing it to start glowing.

  "Wasn't hard to figure out you did something to me. It was only a little harder to guess why you're in town." he said, walking up to Dorothy. "You want Brightmoon."

  Dorothy said nothing.

  "She did this to me," he said, tapping at his broken crystal, "and now I can barely use my powers. I can only absorb enough juice to knock out your boys and do party tricks like that." he said, jutting his thumb back at the mp. "So, here's what I'm proposing."

  He sat down on the bed like he owned the pce. "Let me be your partner." he said. "You can't afford to spend all your time turning this town upside down looking for her, but I can. I'll find her, and when I do, you get to keep her for your experiments or whatever, after I get a little revenge."

  Dorothy considered the proposal. She had enough magical power to simply deal with him now, but this arrangement could have its advantages. No one had seemed to realize Owens was the electric monster. He'd be able to go about town undetected, doing whatever she needed to catch the witch girl. His powers also meant he wasn't helpless, not to mention his obsession with them gave her a trump card.

  "Very well, Mr. Owens." she said. "You may be my...partner, if you wish. But I have some rules for you to follow."

  She stood over him. "Do nothing about Brightmoon unless I order so," she said, "don't draw attention to yourself, keep your powers hidden, and maybe I'll let you get your revenge."

  Matt opened his mouth to speak, but Dorothy raised her hand to silence him. "I might even restore your powers to their full potential." She said.

  Matt closed his mouth again. She could practically see the gears turning in his brain.

  "Deal." He said.

  "Welcome to Tempest, Mr. Owens." Dorothy said, reaching out her hand for him to shake.

  He took it.

  ***

  My hug-out with dad was interrupted when I felt my phone vibrate on my desk. I walked over and took a look at it.

  "Looks like they cancelled school tomorrow because of the fight." I said.

  Dad's phone vibrated, and he took a look at it. "Yeah, I just got the text too." He scrolled through his messages a bit. "Looks like the precinct is giving me a few paid days off to recover too."

  I stretched out and let out a content sigh. "Well, looks like we both get to stay up and sleep in."

  Dad was about to say something and then sighed. "You know what," he said, "I guess just this once you've earned it. I'm gonna hit the hay."

  "Alright," I said, "I'm gonna get my game on."

  "Don't stay up too te now," Dad said, "you need your rest after today."

  I gave Dad a thumbs up as he left my room. I was about to wave the wand to transform back when I happened to get a gnce at my reflection in the mirror. I looked a little worse for wear, but still kind of...cute.

  "Alex?" Messa said. "Are you ok?"

  "Yeah, just thinking." I said, still staring at my reflection.

  I hadn't been lying to Dad when I said being like this made me more confident. Every time I transformed I got to stop being Alex for a bit and be someone new. Someone different. How many people can say they're able to do that? Did I really want to change back to boring old me when I could hang onto being Brightmoon for a little longer?

  No. I decided. But this is NOT a casual outfit.

  "Hey Messa," I said, "I'm gonna try something."

  I tried to imagine what I'd wear as a lounging outfit while looking like this. When I had a good idea for it, I used the talor spell and looked in the mirror. I was now wearing a long sleeved gray women's shirt that was just a little baggy, along with some bck sweatpants. My long hair was now tied back by a bck scrunchie, and I had changed it from Brightmoon's fiery red color to my own deep bck so I looked a little more like me.

  "Ooh, you look adorable, Alex!" Messa said. Surprisingly, I felt a blush creep up into my cheeks.

  "Yeah, well, I thought that if I wanna rex I wouldn't want to do it in a big poofy dress, you know?" I said. "Now, time to game."

  I sat down at my computer and browsed my library, trying to find something good to py. Messa sat next to my keyboard as I browsed. As I did, I thought about my conversation with Dad. That was probably the most heart to heart talk we'd had in a while. It had felt surprisingly cathartic. I'd been so worried about him finding out that it almost felt like a relief he found out so soon. Not only that, he was cool with me being Brightmoon. It was nice to have someone in my corner besides Messa.

  Come to think of it, we hadn't really talked much at all these st couple years. It's not like we hated each other or anything, but...

  Maybe...

  Maybe if I was gonna be this hero for this town, make things better for people, I should try making things a little better here at home too.

  "C'mon," I said to Messa, "I want to do something."

  I picked her up and had her sit on my shoulder as I went to the kitchen and made some popcorn. I put it into a bowl and walked down the hall to Dad's bedroom. I knocked lightly on the door. It was probably a long shot considering how heavy a sleeper Dad was, but-

  "That you, kiddo?" Dad said.

  "Yeah, it's me." I said.

  Dad opened the door and looked surprised to see me.

  "You, uh, you changed again."

  "Oh, yeah, I just thought, hey, might be nice to be like this when my life isn't in danger for once, so..."

  I cleared my throat.

  "Hey, listen, um," I said, "I was thinking that since, you know, we both got the day off tomorrow and can afford to stay up, we could, like...I mean I made some popcorn, so would you wanna like, watch a movie, or..."

  Dad seemed confused for a second, but then he smiled.

  "Actually," he said, " for once in my life I'm having trouble falling asleep, and I did find this old action movie on streaming yesterday. Saw it first when I was about your age."

  "Is it bad?"

  "Oh it's terrible. It's also the best."

  "Sounds fun."

  "What," Messa said, "is an action movie?"

  "You," Dad said, "actually, both of you, are in for an experience."

  I followed Dad to the living room and he began scrolling through our smart TV trying to find the movie. I set Messa down on the couch and gave her a piece of popcorn to chew on.

  "You know," I said as Dad searched for the movie, "we should have a team name."

  Both Messa and Dad turned to look at me.

  "I mean, since there's like three of us now we should have some sort of name." I said.

  Dad raised his hands. "Hey, you're the one with the wand, I feel like it's your call."

  "Messa, what do you think?" I said.

  Messa thought to herself for a moment. "Well," she said, "since you seem to like the idea of being a witch, what if we called ourselves a coven?"

  I turned to Dad.

  "You got to admit, 'the Coven' sounds pretty cool." I said.

  Dad thought about it for a moment then nodded.

  "The Coven it is." I said, leaning back into the couch. "Now, let's see how bad this movie is."

  "I promise you, it's bad." Dad said.

  "Why would you want to watch something that is bad?" Messa said.

  "Trust me, you're gonna get it in a bit." I told her. With that Dad got the movie started, and we all settled in for a Coven movie night. Things weren't normal anymore, not by a long shot. But that night, I felt like I got a glimpse at what could be the new normal.

  -END OF 'THE NEW NORMAL' ARC-

  AnnouncementThanks to everyone that's been reading Brightmoon so far! This marks the end of the first arc of the series. I'll be going on Hiatus for Thanksgiving. Next chapter will be pretty low-key, and then we'll move into the next arc of the series: Winter's Cold. Hope you'll stick around to read it!