Star Beings: Dawn

Maxine's Plight

The next week felt like heaven. It was as if the war was on pause. Leigh, Hade and I settled into loving each other. Everything was great. Of course, it can never stay that way.
One day, Maxine found me alone in the hallway. Her eyes were filled with tears. It was one of the rare times she was angry, which meant that she definitely had a reason to be and with the way she was looking at me I was probably that reason.
"I thought you killed her."
"What?"
"Zahara. She's alive. Someone just sent me a letter with images of her I've never seen before. It's her, I'm sure of it. Which means you fucking lied to me. The love of my life is alive and you-"
"Maxine, I shot that woman myself. She was dead, I swear to you. We checked the body and everything, it wasn't an illusion."
It's as if that word sets off the lightbulb in Maxine's mind. Something clicks into place, something that I haven't realized yet.
"Unless she stuck around to keep the illusion up."
We stare at each other, the realization settling in. she made it up on the roof, didn't she? What I shot wasn't Zahara, it was a copy. She stayed nearby, likely in disguise or invisible, to keep up the illusion until the body was buried and then she left.
"Son of a bitch."
"I need to go find her."
"Are you sure?"
Maxine looks at me confused.
"Yes, I am. She's the love of my life, my everything. When she died it broke me. I couldn't get out of bed for weeks, even considered suicide. I cared about her so much I was willing to risk the future of Worlomands. I don't care if she never informed me that she was alive. I need her back, Anai. And you're coming with me, as are Damien, Karson and Mateo. Everyone else would be... how do I put this... far too overbearing. Gabriel and Hade will freak out, Caleb is... Caleb, Natalie will probably say it's a bad idea, DJ could easily blow our cover and Lane is too well known not to. So you four will come with me and we'll find Zahara."
"Maxine... what if she doesn't want to be found?"
"Shut up and go pack your shit, Anai. We leave tomorrow at dawn."

"Ani? Are you alright? You seem off."
I look up at Leigh, who's watching me closely as I "eat". Hade and I would wait for Leight shower before I would actually eat, and for the first time I consider the fact that I would have no way to  eat on this trip. I couldn't tell the others. They'll just see it as a monster returning to its old ways. They won't understand.
"Maxine's partner may be alive and she wants me along with Karson, Mateo and Damien to help her find her."
I hear Hade choke on their dinner.
"Zahara's alive? How?!"
"She was an illusionist, Hade. She must have stuck around town after I "killed" her and then left when the body was buried."
"Ok, who the hell are you talking about?"
"Zahara was a rebellion spy who sheltered Maxine after Starfall. They fell for each other, hard. Maxine told me she wanted to marry her. However, our girlfriend here found out and killed Zahara when she interrogated her and the woman tried to run."
Leigh looks at me, almost disappointed.
"I wasn't the same back then. I remember being angry she wouldn't tell me where Maxine was, but the plan was to take her prisoner, not kill her. But then she dumped hot tea in my lap and fled. Maxine has rightfully hated me for it ever since."
Leigh nods silently, glancing over at Hade and then back at me.
"Well, I'll go take a shower so you two can talk."
"How the fuck-"
"Hade, I'm a doctor. It is literally my job to know when something is wrong."
My partner(!) and I stare at our(!) girlfriend, equally shocked. Leigh was too smart for her own good, sometimes.
"Are either of you going to tell me what you talk about when I'm not in the room?"
"I need magic to survive," I blurt out. Leigh merely raises an eyebrow.
"Yes. That's how our biology works."
"No, I mean I have to literally eat it. It was an effect of being revived. I can see magic, I can see cores. They're like balls of yarn, and the remnants that are left behind after use are like loose strings of fabric. If I don't eat, I go feral. When you shower, Hade lets me feed on their core. I didn't want to tell you. It's... I'm just more of a monster now. A barely tamed wolf that'll run wild the moment it's dissatisfied."
"Anai, I know you're a monster. I love you regardless. I love you despite the claws, fangs, and blood soaked hands. You are my and Hade's lover. We've seen the dark parts of you and we love them all the same. Just parts of a whole, dear."
"I agree with Leigh, though I can't say it nearly as eloquently. The point is, we love all of you Anai. No need to hide. But I'm gonna need to come with you if you intend to keep this quiet and hidden from the other Star Beings."
"Maxine said she didn't want you to go because you would worry. Not to mention you know what happened last time you went to find a seemingly dead person." I say, motioning to their arm.  
"I'm coming with you. End of discussion."
"Hade I wasn't even supposed to tell you. I'll get by, I promise." I lie. Hade groans.
"Fine."
I smile, grateful for their decision. I would not be ok, of course, and would more than likely resort to what was basically cannibalism but as long as everything went smoothly they would never know.
No one would ever know.

Everybody's gonna know. I didn't even last a day on this damn mission. Damien is standing over me and the body of a dead woman, who is also ripped apart.
Shit.
We had stopped at a tiny desert town for the night. The group had teleported, but somehow got about twenty miles off. So we decided to walk and we got to this town around sundown. Then it seemed like a good opportunity to explore. Now, Damien was standing over my hunched form and a dead lady.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
"Eating."
Wrong answer.
Damien recoils, materializing a knife out of thin air.
"Get the fuck away from me you fucking-"
"Damien, it's hard to explain, I know that, but it's not technically cannibalism."
"IF YOU NEED THE TECHNICALLY THEN YES IT IS!!!"
"First of all; shut up, someone is gonna hear you. Second; I came back with a need for magic to survive, and considering everyone around us is full of it I have to eat their cores or, in more familiar terminology, their soul. Of course I don't have to brutalize people for this but if I don't eat for long enough I can go almost feral and try to physically rip the thing outta folks, hence the ripping this woman to shreds."
"... So you're a glorified werewolf."
"A what."
"It's an earth thing. It's weird. But we can work with this. Can't you just take small bits from random people to sustain yourself? That way no one gets hurt."
How the fuck did I not think of that?
Damien sighs, grabs me by the wrist, and all but drags me out of the alleyway and onto the street.
"Does Hade know about this?" He whispers as we walk.
"Yes."
The man nods, his brow scrunched up in concentration.
"Ok. Ok, we can work with this. Let's go find the others," he says. I open my mouth to protest, but he quickly shushes me.
"I won't say anything, asshole. Now let's go."

Turns out 20 miles is a lot further than you'd think, at least on foot. I realize now the true reason Maxine brought Damien along:
Supplies.
When the sun went down on our second day of travel, Damien conjured up some tents, water, firewood and food.
The desert was hot as hell during the day, but at night? Gods, it gets cold.
"Hey, Anai?"
I look up at Karson, who's sitting on the ground across from me, his face illuminated by the flames. Maxine was already in her tent, as was Mateo. I don't know where Damien is, but he's nearby. I had assumed Karson would leave shortly after his boyfriend did, but no. He stayed and stared at the fire. I realize now it's probably because he wanted to talk with me.
Why the hell he'd want to do that I have no idea.
"Have you wondered why we managed to get so far off? I mean, Maxine knows this area. It makes no sense that she teleported twenty miles away from the meeting spot."
"Unless she's nervous. She's the one that came here, we just followed her."
"Exactly. Some part of her is scared of getting turned away. Or maybe she's worried Zahara might see you and decide that murder is the appropriate reaction, who knows." The man chuckles, pushing a strand of his ginger hair behind his ear.
"Either way, be prepared. I have a bad feeling about tomorrow."
With that, he stands up and goes into his tent, leaving me alone in the dark.
Except, I'm not quite alone.
Damien seems to appear out of thin air, his white hair almost floating around his head. He looks off... otherworldly, even. His core squirms in his chest, as if trying to escape. The most off putting is his eyes. They're so light that I almost can't even see his iris'.
Something was very, very wrong.
"Damien?"
In the time it takes me to blink, he's back to normal. His hair is messy, but it's no longer defying gravity. His core has gone calm, and his eyes are hazel again.
"Hey, what's up."
"What the hell were you doing?" I ask.
"Communing."
With that, he simply walks into his tent as if nothing happened, leaving me to sit alone, confused as hell as to what that was.
These Star Beings are weird as fuck sometimes.