Moonglade arrived back home close to ten o’clock, her energy still high from the amazing concert she had been to earlier. She had gotten a few kisses from Home Run earlier, which she had very much enjoyed and she treasured them with all she had, but unfortunately, she couldn’t show it, which also led to her feeling so awkward around Home Run now. The young changeling could never know when her mother would possibly be watching her, and because of that, she had to be extremely careful when she was around Home Run if she didn’t want another spanking.

“Rather late, isn’t it?” Chrysalis stood by a case of old rapiers in the hallway, somewhat inspecting it and her reflection at the same time, seeing as she was brushing her teal hair with a hand. “So, was their music any good? Those Rainblooms?”

“It was okay.” Adagio Dazzle shrugged and checked her nails. “Obviously not as good as we were when we still had our gems.”

“Okay?” Aria Blaze scoffed. “It was terrible. Absolutely disgusting.”

“I thought they were pretty good.” Moonglade eyed each of the sirens. Only Sonata radiated excitement. The other two more of disgust and pride.

“They do have good music,” Sonata Dusk told the changeling queen.

“Can it. They don’t.” Aria gave her sister a push.

“There was something strange though.” Adagio looked over to Moonglade. “That girl, the weird one with the short purple hair. The one you’ve done the deed with?”

“Sunny Flare?” Moonglade gulped and her cheeks went red. Till today, she didn’t know what had consumed her to force herself onto Sunny like that. It had been more trouble than it was worth, if she were to speak honestly. “What about her?”

“She was watching you,” the eldest siren continued. “Did you see the way she fell when you looked at her. She hadn’t been expecting it. You don’t think she knows you’re Silver Rose too, do you?”

“That’s impossible,” Moonglade protested. “I’ve been very careful not to give away anything that might lead anyone to think we’re the same person.”

At that moment, Ivory Wings walked into the room, wiping her hands on a rag.

“Oh, hello, sweetie. You’re back. How was the concert?”

“It was good,” Moonglade replied. “But Sunny Flare and the rest of the Shadowbolts were there too.”

“At the concert as well?” Chrysalis asked, taking out a rapier and sighting it down her arm.

“No, they were hiding inside a van.”

“Now, why on earth would they do that during summer?” Adagio gave herself a fan with a hand. “It’s just too hot to be holed up inside a metal coffin on wheels.”

“People do weird things,” Aria sniffed. “I thought we worked that out a long time ago, Dagi.”

Ivory tucked the cloth into her pocket and sighed. “Yes, humans do indeed do strange things. However, it usually makes sense to them, which is why they do it.”

“Sugarcoat seems to think I’m hiding something,” Moonglade offered.

“You are,” Chrysalis said drily.

“Of course she is, but to think this girl might know something…” Ivory swiped a hand across her chin.

“This better not have stemmed from that changing room incident, daughter.” Chrysalis clenched a fist. “There are plenty of things you could’ve done much better, Moonglade. Much, much better.”

Moonglade cringed internally. One of the things about changelings was that they had nigh-perfect memories. It was a little mean of Chrysalis to bring up such an old incident, but she was right.

“You don’t think they were the ones behind the drone, do you?” Ivory asked anxiously. “I got my net launcher from Manehattan as you asked, Chryssie.”

“Good.” The older changeling flipped her hair back. “The next time that drone shows up again, you know what to do. But if it is indeed those girls from Diamond Prep… They should be eliminated. Spying on my daughter while she’s in the nude? Preposterous. I mean, what do they hope to see? If they wanted to see a naked body, they could’ve at least come to spy on me.”

There was a moment of awkward silence.

“But I thought you were supposed to be a different kind of celebrity,” Sonata said. “No scandals or anything.”

“Well, I wouldn’t let it leak out. But still… it’s nice to know people dream of seeing me naked.”

“Besides, they did see you,” Ivory sighed. “You said that they were spying on the fourth floor alchemy lab window.”

Outside, an owl hooted. It sounded like laughter.

“That aside,” Ivory said. “I don’t like killing children.”

“Bah, if they find out what we really are, that won’t matter. They will need to be taken out of the picture.”

Moonglade looked at her mother worriedly. Did the Shadowbolts somehow find out what she really was? If so, that would be her biggest failure since she was allowed to experience the outside world. And it would be a fatal failure.

“Sweetie, I have a job for you.” Ivory broke the next bout of silence. “But I think you would rather I speak to you in private. You and your mother.”

She glanced at the sirens, who left the hall without another word, though Sonata looked to be as clueless as ever.

Once their footsteps disappeared upstairs, Moonglade’s aunt cleared her throat and began. “I think one of us should attempt to meet one of these Shadowbolts and learn just how much they know. I would think the best form of gathering this information would actually be seduction.”

“Se-seduction?” Moonglade swallowed. She hoped this wasn’t going where she thought it was going.

“Normally I would go do it myself, but…” Ivory gave her own shoulder a pat. “It would be odd for an older woman like me to seduce a child. That would only leave…”

“You want her to seduce one of them and find out what they know?” Chrysalis laughed. “Her? My daughter? Who’s barely even able to get things done on her own? To do something like this? Really?”

Ivory glared at her. “This would be a good chance to gain more experience in the matter. Besides, she won’t be Moonglade or Silver Rose. She can be someone else. A clean slate.”

“Just like Ghost Hollow?” the young changeling asked. Moonglade didn’t deny that had been a fun experience.

“Just like that.” Ivory smirked. “Just this time, I need you to do what you do best with that Sunny Flare girl. We need to know if they know what we really are.”

“Uh, um, b-but umm…” Moonglade shuffled her feet. “The s-stuff I do with Sunny… That’s only because she has so much lust… I-I don’t know if I can do it to someone just… um, like that. Without tasting so good…”

“Well, learn it, then.” Chrysalis folded her arms. “That’s why I let you out, isn’t it. To learn. Otherwise, why else would you be running around the streets?”

To actually let me have some fun? Moonglade thought resentfully. But out loud she sighed and nodded. “Will you or Aunt Ivory be nearby? To, uh, listen in on them in case they say something important.”

“I’ll be close,” Ivory confirmed. “Might have to use a separate persona, but I can do it easy. But Chrysalis,” She turned to her sister. “Wouldn’t it be better to find a more peaceful solution if they do indeed know something? The death of four of Crystal Prep’s top students will surely catch more attention than anything they have now.”

“Not if they can’t trace it back to us.” Chrysalis waved a hand at her. “That’s how we’ve always done it, haven’t we? You killed your old lover, remember? Without me telling you to do it. You knew we had to do it.”

“Times have changed, Chryssie. Things can be done so much differently now, and certainly without the need for violence.”

“Even my daughter’s killed someone.” She pointed to Moonglade. “Sometimes, violence is all we need to deal with something. Simple as apples is to grapes, isn’t it.”

“There’s a difference between killing a traitor enemy of the crown and killing four girls just because they suspect something. They’ve no proof as of yet.” Ivory growled.

“Are we going to wait until they do?” Chrysalis challenged.

Ivory slapped a hand to her forehead and rubbed it. “Why don’t we just deal with finding out what they know first? We’ll deal with the rest later.”

“Fine. So what do you propose my daughter do? Like she said, she’s unskilled. Clueless. Sure, she’s pleasured a girl a few times. Doesn’t mean she’s any good at it.”

“Give her a chance. I’ve seen what she can do with a random persona.” Ivory wrapped a hand around the young changeling. “With no holds barred, with no reputation to lose, your daughter is capable of much more. Let her do this. She’ll find out what we need to know and maybe have fun at the same time.”

Moonglade’s cheeks lit up. “Umm… r-right, ye-yes, maybe.”

Chrysalis grumbled, then headed for the door. “Very well. But if she fails, someone has to answer for it.”

“Are you s-sure I should be doing this, Aunt Ivory?” Moonglade asked. She still didn’t know if she could pull something like this off.

Ivory held her niece’s face in her hands and smiled. “I know you can, sweetie. You’re just inexperienced, but you have your mother’s talent. I know you can do this. And even if it doesn’t work, hey, you learn, right?”

“I’ll do my best.”

Ivory kissed her on the forehead and gave her a warm hug. “I know you will, sweetie. Come, why don’t we go settle the plan and what you’ll be wearing, hmm?”

Ivory Wings was seated in her workshop when she heard the door open. Chrysalis strode in as elegantly as ever, wearing only her silk night robes.

“Still at it, hmm?” she asked her sister, picking up one of the many gadgets in the room.

“Of course. I’m doing this for them, Chryssie.” Ivory tapped away at her computer. “I just need to know how to get the magic back into the gems. As well as get all said gems glued back together.”

“Ugh. I know, important and all, but can’t you spend just a few hours with me? I miss your touch. We haven’t done anything in so long.” Chrysalis leaned against her sister from behind. “You could use a rest too, yes?”

“I haven’t rested in over twenty years and I’m not going to start now,” Ivory Wings said flatly. “A reaper’s job is never done. Not so long as you’re alive, anyway. And even then I should be the one to die in the process of protecting you, so either I rest in peace or I don’t rest at all.”

“But as reaper to the queen, should you not meet my needs?” Chrysalis gently rubbed her sister’s shoulders. “I must be satiated, you know.”

“You did fine before. Why can’t you do without me now?” Ivory flipped a page of a book on her left.

“Cause I have you now. Enjoy what you have, right?”

“Well, you’ll have to make do without me again, then, Chryssie. Like I said before, there are more important things to life than sex.”

The older changeling sulked. “You know, you’re the only one who can resist my body’s allure. Everyone else wants a piece of me and while you can have it anytime, you refuse it.”

“I’m sure there are others like me,” Ivory said, reading up more from her book.

“There is no one else like us. We’re all that’s left.” Chrysalis frowned and placed one hand on her hip. “Will you really not come and please me, even just for an hour?”

“Yes.” Ivory looked up at her sister. “I have work to do, Chryssie. I can’t stop. Not until I save the sirens. To be honest, it doesn’t do your daughter any good to know that her mother and aunt engage in such sexual acts. I think it would be better if you found a boyfriend instead.”

“Please. That would just make things worse.” Chrysalis swept up her robes and went for the door. “I will be in my room then.”

“Right, good night, Chryssie.” Ivory heard the door shut behind Chrysalis.

The younger changeling shook her head and exhaled the angry smell from her nostrils. There were better things to do than to make love, especially now, though, it was going to be someone’s job soon.

Ivory did wonder how her little niece would do when it was time to find one of the Shadowbolts. This was going to be an interesting hunt. After all, the last time she donned a one-shot persona, it had been rather amusing.