The next morning, I realized that Sylvia was clinging onto my left arm.

 I attempted to move my arm, only to receive muffled growls from my daughter. I tried to move my right arm several moments later, but to no avail.

I sighed, "As if one cat was bad enough..."

Luna was holding onto my other arm, and she was purring softly.

I tried in vain to move my arm again, but nothing came of it. Resigned to my fate, I fell back asleep.

An hour later, I awoke to find that Luna and Sylvia had released their hold on my arms. Taking advantage of this moment, I got out of bed and walked over to the cooking fire so I could start breakfast. I must have some psychic power over everyone...oh right, I'm the one that cooks the food everyone eats. Heh...As before, the smells of my experimenting brought everyone out of their slumber. I decided on going the simple route with eggs and ham: I was kind of using all of Soren's supplies to make food that wasn't just porridge, so I had to restrict myself. Unfortunately, I can't make a feast every day.

I placed a piece of ham onto a plate when Sylvia stealthily popped up and snatched the piece of ham off of the plate.

I looked at her with an arched eyebrow, "Really lass?"

"Yes..." She purred, nomming on the ham, "Ham..."

I shook my head, "You've taken after Luna, all right. I take it you also hate fish?"

To answer my question, she hissed at me.

I nodded to myself, "Figures."

Luna walked over to my work area and smiled, "I see Sylvia stole a piece of ham."

"Indeed she did. Want some?" I asked.

"Of course." She replied, "I'll gladly take some ham."

I made her a plate of eggs and ham and handed it to her.

Dorrian made a plate for himself and chuckled, "Hey, at least these aren't green."

He looked around: nothing.

Analise socked him in the shoulder, "No, just...just no."

"What?" He demanded, "Green eggs and-."

She put a finger to his lips, silencing him, "It's time to stop Dorrian." She whispered, "Stop before I steal Stanford's spear and put it up you're a-butt." The glare from Luna stopped Analise from saying 'ass.'

"Works every time-hey! Sylvia!"

The sneaky goober took the piece of ham off of Luna's plate and began to gnaw on it.

"My ham," Sylvia mumbled.

Luna pouted at me.

"Oh alright," I replied in defeat. (You can't ignore the face of a sad kaitrit that just had a piece of ham stolen from her. Gods, don't tell me she'll use this against me in the future...) I hadn't touched my food yet, so I gave her my piece of ham, "Don't lose this one to any...sneaky goobers."

Sylvia looked at me in irritation, and I laughed evilly. I stood up and went to get another piece of ham. I then sat back down at my table to eat my food before I began to come up with the plan for tomorrow's events with everyone.

After I cleaned up everything I used to make breakfast, everyone sat around the cooking fire and began to deliberate.

What we eventually came up with wasn't very intricate or complicated: We'll go to Thaleous' stronghold and pretend we're trying to break into the building by force. I'll then order everyone to fall back after we meet some resistance, and I'll get myself captured. Sure, it sounds bad. -It sounds fucking stupid- but the beauty of this plan comes after I've been captured. Basically, I'm going to let Thaleous piss me off to the point that I'll shift into my bestial form. I still don't know if that's possible, but it's worth a shot. After I shift, I'll break myself out and raise hell in Thaleous' stronghold. While I'm tearing the place to shit, I'll open the front doors so everyone can sneak in and join the carnage. At the end of all of this, Thaleous' head will be on a stake, or it'll be turned into a steak-ew, no. That just sounds fucking disgusting.

Anywho, I told everyone this plan with the goal to hear their opinions. Ben suggested that someone should be at the ready to shoot down any demons that try to strike me down rather than capture me. I shook my head and explained to him why that's not a good idea: "Sorry Ben, but Thaleous will want me alive, not dead. Besides, we want to make this first assault seem as believable as possible. If someone's at the ready to save my ass, Thaleous would know that something's fishy, and this would've all have been for nothing."

Ben nodded, a solemn expression on his face, "Alright."

I could still tell that my team wasn't okay with this plan: Dorrian was fidgeting way too much, Analise had a grim expression on her face, Nova's eyes were puffy, Pip had a few tissues in his hands, and he handed one to his creator so she could blow her nose. Even Pip seemed opposed to this plan since he kept dropping the tissues and talking irritably to himself. Ben's face fully displayed his anguish, Stanford had his head bowed, and Evelyn tried in vain to cheer him up. Isaac stood off to the side, and he was silent as he watched everything play out before him. I could tell that Luna still didn't like this plan, but she had a hopeful smile on her face.

Finally, Dorrian snapped and stood up, voicing what was on his mind: "Helix, I'm sorry, but this is a bad fucking idea. You mean too much to this team to throw your bloody life away like this! Can't you tell that this is affecting those who genuinely care for you?"

Before I could reply, Luna spoke for me: "Dorrian, I know this is painful for you. Trust me, it's difficult to sit here calmly and not freak out, and I definitely know that this is tough for everyone else, but Helix has a point. If we try a full-on assault, we're all done for. We have to think outside of the box and do something Thaleous wouldn't expect so we can beat him at his own game. Do you still have my necklace-the one I gave you in Erisiir?" This question was directed my way.

The crescent moon Luna gave me about a month ago laid under my shirt, "Aye, I still have it."

"Let me see it." She asked. I removed it from around my neck and handed it to her.

She held the charm in her hands and closed her eyes. A few moments later, she opened her eyes and clasped the necklace around my neck again: "There. My necklace now has the strongest regenerative ward I could conjure up. If you're injured-." Luna staggered, and blood ran down her nose.

I instantly appeared by her side and gave her a portion of my reserves: "What were you thinking?" I demanded.

She smiled tiredly, "It's to help you, Hel. If you're injured, my necklace will patch up any wounds. It's...It's my way of protecting you."

Sylvia was visibly distressed: She kept saying, "mama" over and over again.

Luna embraced her child: "It's okay...It's okay..."