"So correct me if I'm wrong, Destiny," Ida says, tearing a chunk off one of the loaves of bread we were served to keep us sated before the proper meal arrives. After the movie night, it didn't take long before I was invited into the Knights' group chat, and then Eden was quick to suggest we all go out to dinner together, where we now sit in a secluded corner booth with a few empty ones between us and the nearest other guests. Since it's a week night, everyone but Eden and Faye are in their school uniforms. The former comes straight from a shoot and is wearing some casual jeans with a t-shirt and blazer, while the latter is in a knee-length skirt, leggings and a halter top. Apparently that's just what she wears to class. "You randomly picked a doll out of a trash bin, fixed her and then she gave you powers? I'm not sure how that makes sense."

  "Well, yeah, that's pretty much it," I answer with a dismissive shrug. "I guess I could tell you about the months between picking her up, but the only noteworthy thing in that time would be that I was a little more lucky."

  "Des, even Jeanette and I noticed how much more lucky you were getting. And you mentioned your powers give you a little control over reality, right?" Asha sits right beside me, nudging me with her shoulder as she speaks. "I'd be willing to bet you got your powers before the Grimclaw battle and was just using them subconsciously. Same way your transformation let you keep some changes." That makes Ida pull an inscrutable expression as she looks at me almost in a new light. No doubt she's thinking about the implications of my powers being able to fuck with the fabric of reality. Stars know I have.

  "So it was your choice to keep parts of the transformation? I didn't even know that was an option," Eden asks. She's sitting directly across from me. Our feet have already bumped against each other multiple times beneath the slightly too narrow table, and it makes me feel clumsy and awkward. She doesn't seem to be bothered much by it though.

  "I mean, I'm not sure if it is for you five, since as mentioned, Destiny said it was an unintended side effect of my powers reacting to a subconscious desire," I explain, smiling a little nervously at her.

  "I see. Guess that sort of makes sense. Must've been a strong desire to be able to tap into powers you didn't even know how to use yet and still get such a drastic change."

  "Yyyyeeaaaahhh. Without going into detail, I'll just say it probably means I don't need to take my little blue pills in the morning anymore."

  "Aaaaah. Gotcha. Say no more, sister," Eden says with a smile and a wink. Sometimes it's nice to not have to spell these things out every time you talk about them, and because of the way Eden admitted she likes girls on movie night, I figured she might be able to catch on. Ayame simply signals her understanding by raising her soda and nodding in my direction, while Faye gives me a soft, understanding smile as she leans into my other side opposite Asha, strokes my wrist and pats the back of my hand. An uncommonly intimate gesture, but I've already figured out that's just how she is, and honestly it's a nice change of pace to have someone so warm and affectionate around.

  "... I feel like I'm missing something," Ida admits after a few moments of silence, to which Faye leans over the table and whispers in her ear. Well, well. Seems the group's genius doesn't necessarily know off the bat. "Oh! I see. Good for you?" Another moment of silence before I break into a giggle at the way she said that. She's obviously trying to be nice without knowing how to go about it, and honestly it pretty funny.

  "Thank you Ida," I say and continue giggling a little as the party falls silent once more when the server arrives with our food.

  Instead of ordering a dish each and eating our own food, Eden insisted it'd be a better bonding experience if we ordered two or three larger, family-sized servings of things and passed them around, which I couldn't exactly object to. A lot of small talk breaks out as we eat, only briefly broken up whenever someone asks to have something passed to them. Asha and Ayame chat about a TV show they're both watching, swapping theories and laughing about some particularly funny moments. Faye and Ida talk about their studies, both of which sound impressive from the little tidbits I catch between Eden and I talking about fashion and the industry surrounding it. She even lets me show her a couple of my designs, complements and asks insightful questions about one dress in particular. I might have to actually make that one soon.

  As the night passes, it becomes clear that this dinner is all just a poorly-disguised ploy by Eden to have the Knights all talk to me and get to know me and tell me something about themselves. It could probably have been a bit more organized, but honestly I always found those little rituals where each person takes turns saying something about themselves a little awkward and this is much more natural. First I talk with Faye and learn that, somewhat fittingly, she is studying medicine at the university in the city.

  "I've always been curious," I ask. "You're not involved in the thick of fights all that often. Is that by choice or because that's just the position your powers are best suited for?" Faye takes a second to consider, chewing on the potato she's got skewered on her fork.

  "Well... I prefer not to fight. I'm not exactly a pacifist, but I've always been the type who preferred to find a peaceful solution, so I never really got into fights at all. I got bullied a bunch, but I had some friends who fought on my behalf," she explains with a soft smile on her face, eyes looking into the distance above my head. She's probably remembering something. "I study medicine because I want to care for people, and I'm happy to take my place on the sidelines where I rescue civilians and make sure everyone else stays in fighting condition, you know?"

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  "Yeah, yeah that makes sense. I get it. I've never been one to fight much either."

  "Ayame is teaching me how to at least defend myself, though. She's definitely the best one of the group at that, and our enemy is clever, so we can't always count on each other being close enough to help out. You should ask her to teach you too. That needle of yours might come in handy."

  "Maayyyybeeeee. She's a little scary though. I'm not always quite sure how to talk to her." Faye pats me on the shoulder and squeezes gently.

  "She's just wary and protective of us. You're an unknown factor. Keep chipping away at her, show an interest in her hobbies, and you'll see her open up soon enough." As expected, Faye makes a good point and gives me a mature way to go about this.

  "So the conservatory, huh?" I ask Ida when I'm chatting with her a few minutes later. "I thought that was, like, a college level kind of thing."

  "It is. I got an early scholarship and moved to the city with my mother a few months before Eo found me." As she speaks I can't help but think how perfect a match the silent fox seems for her, and then subsequently wonder if all the Squires somehow select Knights for qualities that fit the powers they give to their chosen ones. Kareh and his summoned arsenal are certainly a good fit for the loud, brash, yet incredibly intelligent Asha I know. "My dad stayed behind in Norway, but would come to visit as often as he could."

  "Then... How come you live in the dorm rooms now?"

  Faye, who's been listening to us, puts a hand on my wrist and squeezes a little to get my attention. "That's a little personal, maybe-"

  "No, it's fine. I don't mind her knowing, and she would learn eventually," Ida cuts her off, and before she continues I already feel sorry for having asked the question. "Last year, about seven months after I had started attending the conservatory, dad got in an accident... A bad one." I can tell she's fighting the tears and feel tempted to reach out and make her stop. I don't need to know the rest, but she keeps going before I can say anything. "We went back to see him, but we were only with him a couple of days before the injuries were too much and his body gave up. You might have noticed Aria was missing for a couple months? Yeah, that's why."

  "Oh, stars, I'm so sorry Ida. You- No one should have to go through that," I do my best to console her, but I'm not sure I can even do a good job, since I know next to nothing about her. "Can't blame you for taking a break, though. Anyone would have needed that. H- How are you dealing with it now?"

  "The girls and Eos have been great support and company. Obviously I miss my mother and would love her support too, and she did offer to pull me out of the conservatory and find a different school in Norway when she chose to stay, of course, but I have other duties here I couldn't tell her about, so I said I wished to keep studying and wanted a dorm room to ensure I have company nearby when I need it, neither of which are lies either." For being the quiet girl in the group, she sure doesn't mind spilling the beans when she gets going, does she? I appreciate getting to know more about her, of course, but I still feel like maybe I'm prying a little.

  "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Just out of curiosity, what would stop you from flying from Norway to Northstar Bay when there's an emergency?"

  "I considered that option, too, but at the fastest we can go inside Earth's atmosphere without causing environmental impact, it would still have taken me half an hour each way. And as you know, that's often going to be far too late. At least that's according to the math Asha did." My oldest friend nods and confirms.

  "Yeah. And going up and outside the atmosphere and doing a re-entry above your destination isn't something we can do without Eden being around anyway."

  "Wait, okay, hang on. You guys can leave the Earth's atmosphere?" I ask, looking around at everyone with both awe and confusion no doubt evident on my face. Eden giggles and cuts in, transitioning the conversation to one the whole table is participating in.

  "Yeah, of course. We're Knights, right? What good would we be if space stopped us?" She's leaning forward and stage whispers.

  "Plus, the moon is where we took the oath to become Knights and finished our training," Ayame adds in. I'm a little bewildered at this information, flabbergasted even.

  "That's... news to me entirely. This isn't public information, right? I didn't just miss it?" I ask, looking around at everybody in turn. Faye leans up against me, brushing my shoulder with hers and giving me a little squeeze.

  "Nope. It's just our little secret, and now yours too~. You should ask your Squire if you have that ability too. Moon's the best place to practice the sorts of attacks and strategies we can only use in the most extreme circumstances," she explains with a flirty lilt to her voice in the first part. I can't help but feel like I'm slowly being initiated into the group, first with the kind of ambushy movie night, and then now this dinner where I'm being told all sorts of secrets and personal details. But I guess that makes sense when the ultimate goal for both them and I is probably cooperation.

  "So what you're also indirectly saying is there's still attacks you haven't used for one reason or another. Does that mean you could have beaten Grimclaw without me too?"

  "Probably, yes," Ayame says. "We all have some tricks we really shouldn't pull with civilians around, unless strictly necessary. Even Vida gets to do something scary in that case. And then there's the Armory, too-"

  "Whoa, hold up, let's not overload Destiny here. We probably won't even need the Armory with her around, right?" Eden cuts in. I'm curious about what the fuck the Armory is, but I also figure maybe it's best not to pry deeper when they're already sharing some of their secrets with me. Eden seems protective of that detail.

  "Yeah, at least give me a little time to process first, girls~" I tease and back off. "I've also got all my own stuff to figure out, right?"

  The rest of the evening, not that there's much of it left, proceeds smoothly with lots of laughter, joking and bonding between us. I still haven't had much of a one-on-one with Ayame, but I think I'm going to take Faye's advice and get through to her while we're on patrol together or something. Maybe she'll be easier to deal with once she's in her element. We all get up and leave at about 9 pm, and I'm home before 10, happy and satisfied with a good evening that also featured a couple of surprises.