It was only a short walk from the monorail station to the rana village, but it felt far too long as Cybele trailed after Cynth, who was the only one out of the three who moved with dangerous purpose.

Cybele still couldn't quite believe she was willingly walking alongside Cynth Leeyung straight into a rana settlement — this would never end well. The entire situation was... unfathomable.

No, Cybele thought. It was terrifying. Especially after what she'd just witnessed. She knew Cynth killed hibri as often and easily as she breathed, but that didn't lessen the shock of seeing her murder the one who'd been chasing Will.

Will. Cybele cast a furtive glance in the purple-eyed girl's direction. She'd barely spoken since Cynth had shot the hibri, and Cybele couldn't help but wonder why. Was it just the experience of witnessing a murder? Or was it possible she was a patria sympathizer?

Cybele quickly shut the question down. She couldn't be thinking those kinds of things — it was dangerous, reckless to make such assumptions.

They entered the village too soon. Any thoughts of Will emptied from Cybele's mind, her heartbeat picking up speed as she glimpsed two ranae across the road pause in their conversation to stare — even if they were mainly staring at Cynth and her all-too-recognizable hair, Cybele could still feel their fear, mixed with that cutting edge of hatred.

Cybele struggled to draw in a steadying breath, keeping her gaze straight ahead, focused on the back of Cynth's head. For some reason, she couldn't look at Will as she tried to keep her hands from shaking.

No — no. This wasn't good. This wasn't how it was supposed to go — she shouldn't have been feeling ashamed.

Cynth certainly wasn't.

"Well, we're here," the blue-haired girl said, stopping in the center of the road with her arms crossed. Cybele repressed the urge to look around; she could have sworn every rana in the village was staring at them through their windows. "What now, Willa?"

Will's gaze jerked toward the Leeyung daughter, her expression caught somewhere between panic and fear — and again, Cybele couldn't help but wonder what she could have possibly been scared of.

"Me?" Will asked in response to Cynth, her voice small.

"No, the pathetic hibri who nearly made you shit yourself out of terror," Cynth deadpanned. "Yes, you — you're the one who suggested coming here. Now what?"

Will's mouth opened, but nothing came out.

Cybele quickly took over. "We need to find a contact to speak with," she said. "Maybe we can locate one of Tercy Cess's descendants, or — "

"No one's going to talk to us," Will interrupted unexpectedly, her eyes darting uneasily around the village. More and more ranae walking down the road were glancing in their direction, their expressions suspiciously wary. "They hate us."

Cynth huffed a humorless laugh. "You're even more idiotic than I first realized, Willa." She gestured toward her blue hair, and then toward Cybele. "That's the very point — they despise us. And most of that aversion comes from their fear." Her smile was terrible, cruel, cutting, the sort of smile that didn't help Cybele's nausea. "They're terrified of us. And we'll use that to our advantage."

Will's expression only grew more panicked.

Cybele's lips parted, the question she wanted to ask Will on the very tip of her tongue — Are you alright? — but she quickly closed her mouth and looked away. Asking would only make her look suspicious, and she couldn't afford that, especially because Cynth was already walking toward a rana hut.

"Wait," Cybele said, hurrying to catch up with her. "We can't just... barge into someone's home."

"I wasn't aware the ranae counted as someone, Valloma," Cynth answered coolly. "As far as I'm aware, the patrias are nobody. A mess that needs to be cleaned out."

Cybele sensed Will stiffen beside her.

"Even so," Cybele insisted, wondering if she'd lost her mind, wondering which was more insane: her trying to convince Cynth of something, or her daring to argue with Cynth at all. "We should try a public place first. Somewhere we can find crowds of ranae, as opposed to only a small group."

Cynth paused in her steps. "Fine."

"What?" Cybele and Will both blurted at the same time, Cybele out of uncertainty, Will out of incredulity.

The Leeyung daughter shrugged. "If we use your idea, it'll be on you if shit goes wrong." The glint in her eye suggested neither of them wanted to know what she would do if shit did, in fact, go wrong. "Lead the way, Valloma."

Cybele stared at Cynth a moment more before forcing herself to obey, turning to head in the other direction, though she had no idea where the hell she was going. She could feel Cynth's dangerous gaze burning a hole in the back of her head, the scattered ranae around the village similarly watching.

They continued walking, and more and more ranae paused to stare, whispering to each other; from just behind her, Will's discomfort was nearly palpable — but Cybele focused on keeping her eyes on the road, telling herself to keep moving. She had a goal, a mission, and she couldn't stop now.

From the left, she could hear faint sounds of splashing, along with the sound of voices. Cybele's mind finally clicked, and she took a slow breath, forcing her expression to look as if she'd been planning this all along as she took the left turn.

A river swamp lay just ahead, crowded with ranae.

Cybele stopped, and Cynth and Will paused beside her. Cybele didn't have to glance over to know Cynth's face was twisted into a sneer of disgust as she took in the sight of all the ranae in the water. They were swimming, laughing, talking — though their conversations quickly began to fade as they noticed the trio standing on the riverbank, and a silence seemed to descend over the entire rana settlement.

"If shit goes wrong," she whispered to Cynth before taking a step back to stand behind her, gesturing for the Leeyung daughter to speak.

Will's eyebrows shot up, and Cybele felt her heart racing. She was insane — and she didn't know where it was coming from, the sudden will to dare to challenge Cynth so brazenly, especially in front of a crowd of ranae.

She was going to get herself killed if she stayed in this disastrous group any longer.

And this was only further confirmed to be the case when Cynth shot her a venomous look before turning to the ranae, who were now entirely still and silent — frozen with fright or in defense, Cybele couldn't tell.

"Listen up," Cynth said, her voice cutting through the still air, as if no one was listening to her already. She didn't bother sharing her name; of course everyone watching her knew it, with her unmistakable hair and cold eyes. "We need information on a certain Tercy Cess — and we need it now. So I suggest someone start talking, because my patience doesn't run far."

Painfully blunt, Cybele thought, but then again, that was the only way Cynth ever spoke.

The silence stretched on, and based on the way Will's hands began to fidget by her sides, Cybele knew she was beginning to panic. She still wasn't sure why Will would have reason to seem so apprehensive, but either way, Cybele was similarly beginning to feel uneasy. If no one responded, who knew what the hell Cynth would go so far to do.

Finally, a rana near the back spoke, their voice cautious. "Is there a specific reason you need this intel, Miss... Leeyung?"

"It doesn't matter what I need it for," Cynth replied, her voice dangerously level. "I don't owe any of you a single damned thing, least of all an explanation." Her emphasis on the word you was harsh, dripping with clear disgust, and Cybele's eyes dropped to the ground. Even now, even after getting this far, she couldn't hide her discomfort, the guilt she felt for being viewed as one of them — a human, whose only mindset was that the patrias were nothing but scum who needed to be wiped out.

She could only pray to everything and anything that no one — especially Cynth — noticed the way her gaze shifted anywhere but the ranae.

The rana who'd dared to talk before warily replied again. "Alright," they said, as if to assure Cynth a killing spree wouldn't be necessary. "Alright." They hesitated for a long moment, and Cybele could almost feel Cynth's impatience grow until she nearly snapped again — but the rana spoke just before she could. "There is someone who may be able to help," they continued haltingly. "A rana, who frequents the pub in the center of the village — but he doesn't share any information without a price."

"I'll see to that," Cynth said flatly. "Give me the name."

The rana paused. "He only goes by Zair."

Cynth didn't even bother to nod before turning to walk back to the center of the settlement, and Cybele hesitated, wondering if she should at least give the rana a thank-you.

But humans never thanked the patrias for anything.

Cybele forced herself to ignore the crowd of ranae, quickly following Cynth. She kept her eyes on the Leeyung daughter; she didn't want to look back, and she especially didn't want to see Will's face.

She wasn't sure why.

All she was sure of was that, although she should have been feeling triumphant in that moment, happy that they'd gotten closer to finding the sources, she felt worse than before.

She couldn't escape her inexplicable, foreboding sense that something was about to go terribly wrong.

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ThE pLoT tHiCkEns...

Aaaanyway, thank you for reading! We hope you're as excited as we are to have gotten another Cybele chapter — thank you, Volt (-lightsabove)!

We're curious — what do you think is going to happen in Almoons? Do you have any predictions? Or any sHiPs? (Spill spill spill we wanna knoww)

With virtual hugs, purple Google features, and the bone marrow in ribs of a human baby,

Gay Fergalious Camels

(G.F.C.)