Candlelight filled a warm conference room, with a door at each end. A table stood in the center of the room, surrounded by seven chairs – three on each side, and one at the head. Perfectly round stones were placed ahead of each seat, holding down the tablecloth. Sitting to the right of the head was a large man with burn marks, bite marks, and scars across his body. Near the foot of the table sat a teenage girl, listening to music on her headphones and kicking her legs into the air while spinning around in her chair. A shirtless man with long, wavy hair sat next to the girl, reading a book. The girl took off her headphones and looked across at the scarred man towards the head of the table.

“Stop staring at me, you creep!”

“You can't tell me what to do. Also... what the hell are you wearing, J-Lo?”

“Oh, these shorts?” said J-Lo. “Apparently, it's the newest hit in secondary schools across the world. I went and got a pair at Harrods this morning. Why, do you want one, Egon~?”

“Hm. I don't think that outfit suits you,” said Egon. “It makes you look... available. Someone unsavory might not be able to hold back their urges around you.”

“You know, it's really interesting how fashion trends spread,” said the shirtless man with the book. “Clothes start out worn by young people and shunned by older generations. Then, as the younger generation grows up, they propagate their desires across the market... until their children rebel against the status quo.”

“That is pretty interesting, Leo~!” said J-Lo.

“But how young is ‘young’?” said Leo. “The answer seems obvious – usually, trends are started by teenagers like Jackie-Louise over here or people in their twenties like Mistress Newton. You wouldn't copy a fashion trend from a baby, after all... or WOULD you?”

The front door to the meeting room opened. The woman in the antebellum dress, the woman with the yellow gloves, and the skull helmet man stepped in. Virginia sat at the left of the head, while the other two took the remaining spots across from J-Lo and Leo.

“Leo!” beamed the woman with the triangular collar. “How're you doing?”

“Hmm... that depends, Ray,” replied Leo. “‘How’ is a part of speech that inquires about the way you do something... but then, how could ‘How’ also inquire about my emotional state of being?”

Ray giggled. “Glad to hear it! Oh, there's a weird bug I saw at Stonehenge – I wanted to see if you knew anything about it…”

The back door to the meeting room opened, and a woman with curly blue hair entered. A hush fell across the room.

“Good afternoon, Cherubs!” boomed the blue-haired woman.

“Good afternoon, Mistress Newton!” replied the room of cultists.

Michaela Newton sat down at the head of the table, and brushed her hair away from her face.

“Our timetable is accelerating rapidly, so today's gathering will be short,” said Michaela. “First... Miss Clarke, Mr. Giger, I assume you completed your mission?”

Ray placed the blue feather on the table. The golden ring pattern glittered in the candlelight.

“The mirages you gave us worked like a charm!” beamed Giger. “Ray slowed us down, of course, so someone else got to the feather first – but we were able to tail them, no sweat!”

Mistress Newton picked up the feather, examining it closely.

“Excellent... Miss Clearwater, when you get the chance, please put the feather in the ship's safe. We wouldn't want to lose any of the Secret Steps, now would we?”

“I still don't see what the point of this all is,” said J-Lo. “Wasn't there some sorta evolution thing we wanted to get done? Like... this treasure hunt, the feathers, what does that have to do with anything?”

Virginia Clearwater slammed a fist down on the table.

“How DARE you! Michaela is doing all this for YOU! For YOU!!!" screamed Virginia. "And you have the GALL to question her plans?! Do you not believe in Arca Foederis?! Do you not believe in Mistress Newton?!”

“Of course I believe in all this shit!” retorted J-Lo. “I'm not gonna get a tongue ring of her face or whatever it is you have... but, I trust Mistress Newton with my life!”

“Now, now, let's not fight,” said Michaela. “Miss Clearwater, please remember that not everyone in this room was witness to the same events as you. It can be difficult to trust in something that you've never seen. Miss David, please do trust that this hunt is the only path towards our goal. Remember, we have a perfect source of information on this matter – there is no possibility of failure.”

The two women nodded, content with their mistress's direction. Michaela caught something out of the corner of her eye. Ray Clarke was changing the tissues on her bloody ears.

“Oh, no, Ray, what happened?!”

“Tolk and I were caught in a stand's effect over at Stonehenge,” said Ray with a wince. “It... tore the earrings right out of my earlobes.”

“Oh, you poor thing! Here…”

Michaela Newton snapped her fingers. Two of the stones on the table broke in half. The four halves leapt from their spots and clamped down on Ray's earlobes. Ray cried out in pain.

“I know, it hurts, but this will stay the bleeding,” said Michaela. “Remember, this is for your own good.”

The back door creaked open. Michaela looked over her shoulder. A young boy peered in through the crack. Michaela appeared in the doorway, her hand across the threshold.

“Edvard. What did I say about interrupting me during our strategy sessions?”

B-but... you said you'd only be a minute!”

Michaela Newton sighed.

“I suppose you're right.”

Mistress Newton turned back to her associates and cupped a hand to her mouth.

“We'll meet up again when I have your next assignments!”

Michaela marched out of the room, swiftly moving past Edvard. Edvard ran to keep up with her.

“Why don't you let me hang out with you guys?” said Edvard. “I promise to be good!”

“I like to imagine all humans as paintings in an art gallery,” replied Michaela. “Every painting is slightly crooked – some more than others. I am the only painting that is perfectly hung. And as such, it is my responsibility to bring the rest of these pitiful humans up to my level. But when I look at you, Edvard... I see a bathroom sign that fell into a trash can. I will attempt to fix you, of course – but until then, I'd rather you didn't foul up my inner circle.”

“Oh... ok…”

The two entered a pitch black room, with a small table in the center.

“Get the preparations,” said Mistress Newton.

Edvard hurried around the room, lighting candles. He pulled an official Hasbro brand Ouija Board out of the corner, and placed it on the table. Michaela took a notepad out of her jacket.

“Xanadu!”

A humanoid figure appeared beside Michaela. The figure had pink, velvet skin, and wore light, indigo lace for clothing. There were maroon disks embedded in its body, and it wore a large crystal as a pointed hat, supported by metal struts. Xanadu summoned a large book, and began flipping through the pages. Michaela leaned over, and pointed at one of the pieces of parchment that formed the tome.

“There,” said Michaela, pointing to a small paragraph at the top of the page. “A pen, please.”

Xanadu reached out, and a small amount of fire leapt away from one of the candles. The flame formed into a quill pen, which Michaela deftly caught in the air. Xanadu disappeared. Edvard walked up to Michaela, expectantly. Michaela rifled through her jacket. After some searching, she handed Edvard a blue brooch, stylized to look like a ladybug. Edvard turned around to face the table.

“Kids See Ghosts,” whispered Edvard.

An empty leather suit appeared on the ground. Edvard kneeled down, placing the brooch in the stand. Kids See Ghosts filled with smoke, taking the shape of a young man. Determined eyes appeared in the bars of the stand's helmet. The stand walked up to the Ouija board, and placed its fingers on the planchette. Kid See Ghosts stood motionless, awaiting further command.

“Where is the next feather?” asked Michaela.

The stand's hands rapidly pushed the planchette around the board. Michaela's eyes darted up and down, as she wrote the message using her flaming quill. The notes read “2LOVERSSHOTEACHOTHERFROMACROSSAGREATDIVIDETHESAPPHIREBULLETSMETINTHECENTER GOODBYE”. The stand held the planchette over the “GOODBYE” spot, now finished with its task.

“I see…” murmured Michaela. “Edvard, keep your stand awake. I have some more information I want to extract from the memories of Giorno Giovanna.”