The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the living room of the Yi household. The air was thick with tension, heavier than the humidity of the summer day.

Maps were spread out on the coffee table, routes marked in red ink.

"Alright," Jin said, crossing his arms. "We leave the day after tomorrow."

Maya looked up from the map, frowning. "Wait. The day after tomorrow? Jin, look at this. The direct route to Montevallo cuts through three major cities. We should leave now and take the train."

"No trains," Jin shook his head. "We aren't ready for public transport. We walk. We avoid the megacities. We stick to the backroads."

"What the hell is your problem, Jin?" Maya slammed her hand on the table. "Luna obviously isn't safe here! Did you not just see what happened at school? That Succubus had every guy in the building hunting her like a prize. And you want to just sit here for two more days?"

"She’s fine, isn't she?" Jin countered calmly, though his jaw was tight. "Not a scratch on her. I handled it, didn't I?"

"The hell is wrong with you?" Maya shouted. "We are sitting ducks!"

"Look, Maya," Jin sighed, rubbing his temples. "It's not like I'm saying we go back to school and pretend everything is peachy. I'm saying we aren't ready to vanish yet. We need supplies. We need a plan. If that Succubus knew who Luna was, where she went to school, and that I was suspended, then someone is watching us. If we hop on a train, we're trapped in a metal tube with nowhere to run."

"Why do we have to do all that sneaking around?" Lynn asked from the sofa, filing her nails.

"Well, duh," Jin shot her a look. "If we go to a populated area, who’s to say Balthazar’s goons won't pull the same stunt? Imagine that mind-control spell in a crowded train station. Thousands of people. Chaos."

"Well, who’s to say they don’t pull the same crap here?" Maya argued.

"I never said we go back to the school," Jin said firmly. "We stay here. We train. We prep. And we leave at first light on Saturday."

"Hold up," Luna raised her hand. "If we are staying, I’m going back to school tomorrow. My history presentation is due."

"Damn it, Luna!" Jin groaned. "There are much bigger things going on than your stupid school stuff!"

"Excuse you!" Luna stood up, hands on hips. "But I have no plans on failing high school and ruining my GPA. I have to think about my future here!"

"I am thinking about your future!" Jin stepped closer, towering over her. "I’m thinking about you living to have a future! I'm thinking about keeping the planet from being overrun by demons who want to eat your soul!"

The room went silent.

"Well," Luna mumbled, looking away. "Yeah. I guess that is important too."

"What the heck is with all the yelling?"

Mrs. Yi walked into the room, wiping her hands on a dish towel. "I can hear you from the driveway."

Jin filled her in on the attack at the school, the Succubus, and the close call.

Mrs. Yi’s face went pale. She sat down heavily on the arm of the couch. "Well... with everything you are telling me, I think the best thing for you guys is to leave as soon as possible. It just isn’t safe here anymore."

"But Mom..." Luna started.

"But nothing," Mrs. Yi said sharply. "You guys need to be on your way by the weekend."

"The weekend?" Luna blinked. "The day after tomorrow?"

"Yes," Mrs. Yi nodded, eyes tearing up. "Get your stuff together. My daughter’s safety comes before grades. Before everything."

Jin nodded at Mrs. Yi, a silent promise passing between them. He turned to the group.

"Alright, you heard the lady. We are out of here at dawn on Saturday. So, Noah, Lynn... say your goodbyes. Because once we leave, I don’t know when we will be back."

"Um, ex-squeeze me?" Lynn stood up.

"Yeah," Noah stepped forward, gripping his staff. "What she said."

"I didn’t stutter," Jin said coldly. "What's the issue?"

"The issue," Lynn poked Jin’s chest, "is thinking you are just going to leave us behind."

"Yeah!" Noah added. "You think I'm just going to let you leave without me and rely on you to protect my future wife?"

"I’m not your future wife!" Luna shouted from the back.

"That's a conversation for future us," Noah waved her off. "But anyway, no way am I letting that happen."

"Yes, you are," Jin said, stepping toe-to-toe with Noah. "Because you are not coming."

"Says who?"

"What? You got corn in your ears or something? Says me!"

"Who do you think you are, telling me if I can go or not?" Noah challenged.

"I think... No wait, I know I’m the guy looking you right in the eyes, telling you that you are going to keep your goofy self here where it's safe."

"Oh yeah?" Noah dropped into a stance. "Maybe you should tell that to my fists as they pound your face in."

"Do you want to take this outside?" Jin growled.

"I would love to."

"Boys, boys, calm down," Luna tried to intervene.

"No, no, no," Jin held up a hand. "It’s fine. This won't take but a second."

"We actually agree on something, Motozawa," Noah sneered. "Because it won't take long for me to hit you, then hit the ground running."

"Big talk," Jin opened the front door. "After you."

Noah marched outside, chest puffed out.

SLAM.

CLICK.

Jin locked the deadbolt and leaned against the door.

"Hey!" Noah shouted from the other side, pounding on the wood. "Hey! That's a dirty trick, Motozawa! Open up!"

"I can't believe you fell for that, dumb-ass," Jin muttered.

He walked back into the living room, dusting off his hands. "Now that that is taken care of... back to business. Like I already said, there is no way you are coming, Lynn."

"And why not?" Lynn crossed her arms, glaring daggers.

"Why do you think? This isn’t a picnic. We are talking about dangerous stuff here. Crooks, demons, ancient magic. People die on these trips, Lynn."

"Even more reason why I should go," Lynn countered.

"What!?!"

"Excuse me," Lynn stepped closer, "but while you were off playing tag with that demon chick, and Maya was taking a nap on the linoleum, I was the one protecting Luna. Not you."

"Hey!" Maya protested from the corner.

"Love you, Maya, but just making a point," Lynn didn't break eye contact with Jin.

"Damn it," Jin ran a hand through his hair. "I said no, and that is that! You have no training. You have no Ki. You are a liability."

"Fine," Lynn spat. "Whatever. Luna, Maya... be safe. I will see you when you return."

She turned to Jin, eyes flashing with hurt. "Jin... go fall in a hole somewhere for all I care."

She stormed out the back door, slamming it so hard the windows rattled.

Noah, having given up on the front door, trudged back to the woods. The sun was setting, casting long, creepy shadows through the trees.

"Old Man?" Noah shouted. "Hey, Old Man, you here? Quit hiding!"

"I’m over here," a voice grumbled from a hollow log. "And could you stop calling me old man? I’m not that old, damn it. Well... come to think of it, my knees hurt when it rains, so maybe I am getting up there. But that's beside the point. What do you want now?"

The Old Man crawled out, brushing leaves from his beard.

"I’ve got till the day after tomorrow," Noah said, desperation in his voice. "To learn that bullet thing of yours. We are leaving for Montevallo by then."

The Old Man blinked. Then he started to laugh. "You want to learn the Armageddon Bullet by Saturday? BWA HA HA HA HA!"

"I know it’s basically impossible..."

"No, wait, I'm not done," the Old Man wheezed, slapping his knee. "HA HA HA!"

"Okay, you’ve made your point."

"HA!"

"Are you done?"

"Hooo... okay," the Old Man wiped a tear away. "Kid, I don't know if you are arrogant, crazy, or just plain old stupid."

"Maybe I’m a little bit of all three," Noah admitted. "But right now that doesn't matter. What matters is, Luna is leaving soon. And I plan on being right by her side to protect her. And I need your move to make that happen. I need power."

The Old Man looked at him, sobering up. "Kid, you can barely control your Ki consistently. To be honest, I don’t know if you would ever be able to learn that technique. It requires perfect flow."

"Okay, look," Noah clenched his fists. "You are bringing me down with all this negativity. Let's get some constructive work done."

"Constructive work? More like a waste of my damn time."

"There has to be something you can show me. Something fast. Something dirty."

The Old Man scratched his chin. "If... and I do mean if and only if... you can control your Ki on command by sunrise... then I have something I can show you."

"Deal," Noah said instantly.

He dropped into a meditative stance, closing his eyes. He didn't move for the rest of the night.

Back at Luna's house, the clock struck 2:00 AM. The house was silent.

Jin sat on the roof, watching the streetlights flicker. He was tired, but his mind wouldn't shut off.

"Pssst. Pssst. Hey you. Dumb jerk."

Jin looked down. Lynn was standing in the yard, looking up at him.

"Awww," she whispered. "Look, he recognizes his name."

"What are you doing here?" Jin hissed. "Go home."

"Oh nothing," she smiled. "Hey, help me up there. I came to talk to you."

Jin sighed, reached down, and hauled her up onto the shingles. She sat next to him, their shoulders touching.

"So, Jin," Lynn said, looking out at the city. "I came up here to let you know that I have made a decision."

"Oh yeah?" Jin asked warily. "What have you decided?"

"I’ve decided that I will be going on this journey with you guys."

"Wait, what?" Jin turned to her. "I already told you that you are absolutely not coming."

"Well, I said I am, so there."

"No. Not 'so there.'"

"Give me one good reason why."

"Dang it, Lynn," Jin groaned. "This isn’t a game."

"I know that."

"Do you really? If you did, you would understand why I don't want you to come."

"Well, good thing you're not the boss of me."

"Lynn, no."

"Jin, I do what I want."

"Damn it, Lynn!" Jin grabbed her shoulders. "I’m going to have my hands full as it is keeping Luna safe! I don’t want to have to worry about you too!"

"Well, who asked you to worry about me?" Lynn shot back. "I can handle myself just fine. The way I see it, you need all the help you can get."

"Lynn, what the hell?" Jin’s voice cracked. "There is a decent chance I don’t even make it back here alive. So what am I supposed to do if something happens to you? If anything was to happen to you because I wasn’t able to protect you... I couldn’t live with myself."

Lynn froze. "Huh?"

"Dang it, Lynn," Jin looked down, his voice barely a whisper. "I care about you way too much to put you at risk like that."

"What did you just say?!?" Lynn asked softly.

Jin realized his slip. "I mean... Luna! Yeah, Luna cares too much about you. Maya too. If something was to happen to you, they would never forgive me."

"Mhm," Lynn smirked, moving closer. "Yeah. That's what you said."

"I mean it, Lynn. You are not just going to—"

Lynn put her hand on Jin's face, turning him toward her. She kissed him. It wasn't a playful peck; it was soft, deliberate, and silenced him completely.

She pulled back an inch. "Wow. That was really nice. But that doesn't change the fact that you're not getting rid of me."

"Jin, shut up."

She climbed onto his lap, straddling him on the slanted roof.

"We can talk about it afterwards."

"After what?" Jin squeaked.

"Just shut up, Jin."

She kissed him again, deeper this time.

Dawn broke over the woods.

The Old Man woke up with a snort, stretching his stiff back. He looked over at the clearing. Noah was face-down in the dirt, snoring.

"Shame, shame, shame," the Old Man shook his head. "Guess I was wrong about him. I really thought he would have at least pulled it off."

He stood up to leave.

"Hey, Old Man."

He turned. Noah was pushing himself up, dirt caked on his face, eyes bloodshot.

"Where ya going?" Noah rasped. "You have some moves to show me."

"I thought I told you to stop calling me old," the Old Man grunted. "I also know for a fact I told you I was only going to train you if you learned to control your Ki overnight."

"Well duh," Noah stumbled to his feet. "What the heck do you think I’ve been doing out here all night? Ya know, it was hard. And I almost gave up. But just when I was about to..."

Noah raised a shaking hand. He snapped his fingers.

Snap.

A perfect, stable ball of red Ki appeared, hovering over his index finger like a miniature sun.

"Check it out," Noah grinned tiredly. "I can make a Ki ball whenever I want now. I can even make it bigger. You want to see?"

The Old Man’s eyes widened. "No... no, that's fine. I believe you."

"Alright then," Noah swayed. "You promised you would show me some new moves. Let's get started."

"Don’t you want to rest first?"

"Rest?" Noah laughed weakly. "I don't need no stinkin' rest! I'm grrrrr..."

His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed face-first into the dirt again.

"Ha," the Old Man chuckled. "You don’t need any rest, huh? Sleep, kid. You get two hours. Then the hard stuff starts."