"Director Gibson, I'm starting to seriously question your continued role in this government," Vice President Adams declared acidly. "First, you let the only person who has been inside of the ring to slip through your fingertips in an embarrassing display of incompetence. Then, you fail to apprehend two helpless preteens from a school with an army of agents at your disposal. We're going to need linguistic scholars to create new words that can adequately describe the level of your failure. Can you explain to me exactly how Mystery, whom we told you was the most important person in the world, was left in a rundown apartment with just two agents to monitor her?"
"We believe there was magic involved," Director Gibson replied in a voice that barely fell short of sullen.
Vice President Adams scowled as she stared at the other man. The overlay that had appeared in her vision that morning indicated that Director Gibson's alignment was far in the negative. Her own alignment was deep in the red, giving her the title: 'Filthy Rotten Evil Bastard'. Director Gibson's title read: 'Despicable Evil Bastard', with an icon of a turd next to it. Her own icon was a whole pile of turds.
"Magic?" Vice President Adams repeated in disbelief. "How old are you, Director Gibson? Is there a grown-up hiding somewhere inside of that thick head of yours? Can you be a good chap and put on your big-girl panties now? We have no time to have a toddler running our national security. Now where the hell is Mystery Donovan right now? If I hear the words, 'We don't know', you're going to be out of work by tomorrow morning."
Director Gibson glared at Vice President Adams, all traces of diffidence gone. "We don't know where she is, but even a toddler could guess that she is in that damn ring."
"Former Director Gibson, you are excused," Vice President Adams said coldly. "Deputy Director Beatty, you are now Acting Director of National Security. You will make contact with this fairy, this Rhapsody, and you will beg her forgiveness in hopes that they will allow open dialogue. If you don't think you can follow these orders, speak up now so that we can get a responsible adult in here who can follow those orders."
"Yes sir," Acting Director Beatty replied with a curt nod as she stood up from the conference table. "
The former Director was shaking with rage as he exited the room, glaring at the now Acting Director as he passed her. Vice President Adams felt a sense of grim satisfaction as she watched the incompetent fool leave. There was a mutiny taking place in the intelligence agencies as a core group of senior members tried to push their ultra-religious beliefs onto their colleagues. They were convinced that there were literal demons out in the world, and that only faithful men of God could be trusted to make policy decisions in what they were convinced was a war between good and evil. Vice President Adams had no patience for such superstitions. They were dealing with entities with advanced technology that far outclassed their own. The last thing they needed was a bunch of fundamentalists picking a fight with these entities.
There had been a strong push to launch a nuclear strike at the ring. The President had nearly been convinced to do it too. Vice President Adams had been the sole voice of reason to dissuade the easily influenced president as his aides and supposed experts tried to convince him that the political fallout would be preferrable to a demonic entity being left to sow chaos unchallenged. It had only been when she explained that an entity that could teleport people, whether demonic or not, would almost certainly teleport the nuclear weapon into the White House before it reached its target. Fear had flashed across the president's face and that had ended all talk of nuclear attacks on American soil.
Vice President Adams was no saint, and she knew it. She had skeletons in every metaphorical closet of her house. She had initially been driven by ambition, toeing the unspoken line that every politician toed on their climb to power. Her soul was as black as the next politicians, but where many of them had convinced themselves that they were serving a higher cause and that the ends justified any means, she had been motivated purely by selfishness. From everything she had learned regarding this Rhapsody character, they were dealing with an entity so far above their own technology that they might as well be cavemen. Her motivation to seek peace with the fairy was purely in the sake of self-preservation.
When she had discovered the overlay that morning, she had nearly had a heart attack. Seeing Rhapsody's disembodied head appear in her vision, followed by the revelation of the new leveling system had only reinforced her belief that they were dealing with powers far beyond their capacity to deal with.
She sat at the conference table, frowning pensively as she tried to understand the real reason Rhapsody had put the... 'leveling system' in everyone's head. Why give people the ability to track their own skills? What were these rewards for leveling up supposed to be, and how would they affect the stability of society? Were they going to be dealing with X-men powers among the general populace once people started reaching higher levels? It would be anarchy. Is that why she had done it? If so, why not just wipe them out in a much faster and more efficient manner. If she could install a leveling system in every person's consciousness, it was likely she could just as easily kill all of them with the same ease.
She sighed with frustration as she tried to understand the mind of a non-human entity. The reasons could be far beyond her comprehension. It was a bitter truth to accept that if they were dealing with entities this much more advanced than them, being able to anticipate and respond to any moves made by these entities would be like a rat in a maze trying to anticipate where the shocks were going to come from next. Maybe that's what this was—some kind of social test from an advanced species that was using humans as lab rats.
She glanced up at her secret service detail. Two men stood near the door while three more walked around the room, eyes scanning the windows as they patrolled.
"Davis, what possible reasons can you think of for an advanced intelligence to install this leveling system in humans?" she asked one of her agents, a man with a medium build and dark hair. He was wearing jeans and a polo shirt as he strolled around the room, looking like a lost tourist. "I need a sounding board. I'm almost positive this Rhapsody character could have just switched our brains off if she wanted. Why give people the ability to level? And why give them rewards that augment their abilities beyond normal human abilities?"
Agent Davis wandered back over to the desk across from her as another plain-clothes agent took his place patrolling the area.
"I only heard about this a little while ago," Agent Davis answered with a thoughtful expression. "But supposedly, if you do things that move your alignment into the negative, you lose levels. If that's true, I might hazard a guess that she is trying to get people to be good—or at least, her version of good."
Vice President Adam's eyebrows shot up in surprise. If that was true, there wouldn't be a sudden wave of anarchy from supercharged humans suddenly taking the law into their own hands—at least, not unless they didn't mind losing their levels. Could Rhapsody be trying to make humans into better people? The thought made her nauseous on so many levels. Her success in life was due to the ability to exploit people and navigate the world questionably legal practices. Would this new leveling system be able to detect such fine distinctions? Based on how far in the red she was on her alignment—the answer was a resounding yes.
"So, this is her way of forcing a kind of moral system on humans," Vice President Adams muttered darkly. Still, it was better than pissing her off and having her clean house—starting at the top.
"It happened shortly after the media began calling her out as a demon," Agent Davis commented shrewdly. "You've probably noticed that there is a species classification when appraising another person. I have to wonder if the main purpose of the new system was to combat that smear campaign, with the rest of the features being an excuse to show the species. It would prove to anyone who saw her that she wasn't a demon, while also raising her to the level of sainthood among the growing number of people around the world who wish they lived in a world with gaming mechanics. Add to that the built-in chat feature and we have a medium where people will be able to communicate with complete privacy. All of the infrastructure put in place by our intelligence agencies to monitor communication has just gone down the tubes. I was told the chat feature only works for people with a positive alignment, so that may be a silver lining."
Vice President Adams sighed tiredly as she leaned back into her chair. Most of her SS agents were positively aligned. She wondered how much fallout there would be when the nation learned that almost every single politician was deep in the red on their alignment. The world was going to change drastically over the next few years. Even if Rhapsody made no further moves, the damage to the established power structure would be crippling.
She idly wondered what the rank-and-file thought of their leadership now that they could see their alignment. She imagined that more than a few organizations were searching for ways to hide their alignment as subordinates viewed the true state of their leaders. It would be embarrassing to be seen negatively aligned—no doubt part of the purpose of making it public.
"This is going to be a long day," she sighed loudly, closing her eyes to escape the judgmental overlay. "A long year."
SCENE BREAK XXXXX
Harmony finally released her sister so that her mother could take her place again. She wiped the tears from her cheeks as she turned to pull Rhapsody into an embrace.
"Thank you so much, Rhapsody," Harmony thanked the fairy for the third time. It felt like there was a bonfire in her chest as she held the beautiful woman. She was so overcome with gratitude and love that she felt like she might combust. "You really are an angel."
She felt Rhapsody stiffen in her arms for a moment before relaxing again. Harmony froze as a thought occurred to her—something she would have never entertained when her skeptical demon was controlling her reality detector. Could Rhapsody actually be an angel for real? She had already met one angel that seemed to be really close to Rhapsody. Could she be an angel in disguise, here to save the world as the world tree nodes drifted further out of alignment?
Rhapsody's arm slid up her back and began drawing shapes. Harmony shivered at the sensation that wasn't quite ticklish, but close. It took her a moment to realize that Rhapsody was drawing words. She focused on Rhapsody's touch, trying to make letters out of the drawings. After a minute of trying to keep track of the letters she was finally able to put Rhapsody secret message together. "You are adorable."
Harmony dissolved into a fit of giggles as her overcharged emotions sent her over the edge in the other direction. Rhapsody pulled back to stare into her eyes with a smoldering gaze that sent Harmony's insides to jelly.
"I'll bet your sister is hungry," Rhapsody commented with a glance at a slightly befuddled Melody. "She's still mortal, after all."
"I suppose we should figure out some arrangements," Harmony murmured, her insides still a mixture of euphoria and desire. "We have plenty of rooms available here for her to stay in. She's an older soul too, isn't she?"
Harmony wasn't sure how she could tell, but there was some kind of energy signature she had noticed from the other humans when she was at Susan's birthday party. It felt different from Melody—more complex and mature.
"She is," Rhapsody confirmed with a small smile. "If she's willing to become a world tree, we'll have enough to restore an additional node. I have a feeling she'll accept."
"Can you help her with the trauma?" Harmony asked quietly, cognizant of her sister behind her.
"I sure can," Rhapsody told her cheerfully.
Harmony hesitated as she sensed a tiny sliver of guilt through their spirit bond. She looked into Rhapsody's beautiful eyes with concern. Was she still hiding the sorrow Harmony had briefly seen when Emily had visited? As Harmony became more aware of their spirit bond, it would make it impossible for Rhapsody to hide those feelings from her.
"Rhapsody?" Harmony prompted softly.
"Yes, Harmony?" Rhapsody asked innocently, her eyes showing no sign of her inner turmoil. Harmony focused on the warm corner of her soul where Rhapsody resided. She creased her brows as she tried to dig into the glowing corner as it resisted her efforts. There was a hairline crack at the edges. That seemed to be where the emotions were occasionally leaking out.
"What's wrong, Rhapsody?" Harmony asked gently.
Harmony felt the crack hemorrhage crippling pain and guilt for a moment before it was suppressed. Rhapsody's innocent expression never changed as she stared back at Harmony.
"Right now?" Rhapsody asked with a slow, sensual smile. "I'm just hungry for Harmony. I guess we better wait for things to settle down a little first though."
Mystery stepped up beside them, her own expression mirroring Harmony's concern. "You can tell us, Rhapsody."
Harmony marveled at Rhapsody's ability to control her expressions. She affected a puzzled expression on her face while the crack in her spirit bond trickled with soul crushing grief and mind-numbing guilt.
"Tell you what?" Rhapsody asked in confusion.
Harmony glanced at her family and friends around the room. Michael was talking quietly with Declan while Serenity, Aurora, and Harmony's mother continued clinging to a bemused Melody.
"We'll be back in a little while," Harmony informed them with a reassuring smile.
She took Rhapsody's hand and pulled her along behind her toward the stairs, with Mystery following behind.
"Oh, you're not going to make me wait after all," Rhapsody remarked in a seductive voice.
Harmony ignored the heat flooding her body at Rhapsody's words. The small woman seemed to be using every tool she had to keep Harmony and Mystery from finding out what was wrong with her.
Rhapsody tried again as they began walking up the stairs.
"You know, your sister is still mortal," Rhapsody commented in a concerned voice. "We should probably find her some food—she hasn't eaten in three months. Assuming all of your food hasn't expired now that your nieces are surviving on Yuccas Fitter."
"She'll be fine for another hour or two," Harmony replied unconcernedly as she continued pulling Rhapsody up the stairs toward her room.
"That's easy for you to say, now that you don't need food," Rhapsody commented dryly. "She's probably famished."
"She's with my mom," Harmony replied placidly. "If she's hungry, mom will get her something. She's also a big girl and knows where the kitchen is."
Harmony felt more resistance as they drew closer to her bedroom, but she ignored it and pulled harder.
Harmony felt the intention forming in Rhapsody and spun around with a finger pointed at her nose. "Don't you dare teleport out of here!"
Rhapsody froze, her face a mask of shock as she stared back at Harmony. "How did you know I was going to teleport?"
"I have no idea," Harmony answered with a shrug. "I could just feel it. Quit trying to avoid us and get in here."
Rhapsody reluctantly let herself be pulled into Harmony's room. Mystery followed them in and closed the door behind them.
Harmony turned around and took both of Rhapsody's hands into her own and sat down on her bed so that they were at eye-level. Mystery sat down next to Harmony and watched Rhapsody with a compassionate gaze.
"Okay, Rhapsody, tell us what's wrong," Harmony said tenderly. "I can feel it through the soul bond. You're full of grief and guilt. What's bothering you?"
The crack in the bond trembled and the guilt and grief were joined by fear as Rhapsody stared back at them with a puzzled expression.
"Listen, Harmony, Mystery," Rhapsody began in a soft voice. "Soul bonds can be a little confusing sometimes. You're probably feeling echoes of past sorrow. I'm totally fine now that your both here. I've never been happier than I am now with all of you back."
She was so convincing that Harmony nearly accepted the explanation. Mystery's connection was more established than Harmony's though. Mystery took Rhapsody's hands out of Harmony's hands and pulled Rhapsody into a gentle embrace.
"You don't have to tell us, if you don't want," Mystery told her in a voice full of understanding and sympathy. "Just know that we're here for you. You can let it out without telling us what it is. We love you, Rhapsody, and nothing you could say will ever change that."
Rhapsody let out a tortured sob as Mystery held her tenderly. The first sob seemed to open the floodgates. Rhapsody was suddenly clinging to Mystery as she wailed despairingly, her shoulders shaking as her body was racked with desperate sobs, tears finally filling her eyes and streaming down her cheeks.
"I'm so... so... sorry," Rhapsody sobbed in a voice of such agony and heartbreak that Harmony felt her own eyes fill with tears in response. "I... I... failed you so... so... badly! I wasn't there when you needed me the most. I... I..." she broke off as frantic, unintelligible sobs overwhelmed her ability to speak.
Harmony ran her hand down Rhapsody's gorgeous long red hair, petting her comfortingly as Mystery held her. The storm of weeping went on for almost a half an hour as Rhapsody radiated guilt and grief that swept her away like a tidal wave. Just as she would begin to recover and try to speak, her throat would seize up, and the guilt would drown out every other emotion but soul-crushing grief.
"I'm so sorry you're feeling this burden," Harmony told her through her own tears. "I wish I could take your pain away."
That seemed to be the wrong thing to say. Her words sent Rhapsody into another episode of guttural sobs that Harmony worried would tear her apart. Harmony couldn't believe that Rhapsody had been able to present such a normal countenance with the ocean of despair that had been hiding just beneath the surface. Why did she feel so much guilt for what had happened to Harmony?
"Let's just leave the past in the past, okay?" Harmony told Rhapsody gently. "We're here with you now and we're here to stay. Let's make good memories to banish the bad ones. All I want is to be with the two of you and for you to be happy. You've brought me so much joy that words can't even describe the gratitude I have for you, Rhapsody. Let go of the past and just focus on the now. We have each other. That will always be enough."
Rhapsody's sobs finally began to slow down as Harmony spoke. Harmony touched Rhapsody's cheek tenderly, staring into her enormous eyes and letting all her love shine out as she smiled at her fairy lovingly.
Rhapsody took a long shuddering breath as she stood in Mystery's arms, seeming to soak up the warmth of her closeness. Harmony leaned her forehead against Rhapsody's as her tears finally stopped. She stared into her eyes as a small smile appeared on her lips.
The bundle of emotions that had been tucked away in a corner she called Rhapsody was no longer a dull warm glow. She could feel every emotion as if it were her own. Rhapsody must have tried to block her emotions from flowing through the bond to keep them from feeling her grief and guilt. Now that she had finally let it go, she was no longer trying to hide from them. Her love was like a supernova it burned so brightly. Harmony stared at Rhapsody in wonder as she felt the overpowering love.
Harmony blinked in confusion as Rhapsody's face was briefly superimposed with a slightly different face. Her hair had been black and silky while her face was a heart-stopping kind of beautiful. How could anything be so beautiful?
The superimposed vision of the other face faded, leaving Rhapsody's beautiful face in its place. "Clarice?"
Rhapsody jerked upright in shock. Harmony felt panic in the bond as Rhapsody stared back at her in sudden anxiety. "What did you call me?"
"I don't remember?" Harmony replied slowly, creasing her brows in perplexity. "I just saw this other face superimposed on top of yours for a second and a name popped into my head. I can't even remember it now though. It's like a dream fading away."
"You said Clarice," Mystery supplied, her face creased in concentration as she looked between Harmony and Rhapsody. "It seems familiar for some reason."
Rhapsody watched her carefully as the bond's panic calmed down at her words. "Do you remember how I said we had been together for a long time before incarnating here?"
"Yeah, that's not something that's easy to forget," Harmony noted wryly. "Is that what you looked like in the other life?"
"Yeah," Rhapsody nodded with an uncomfortable shrug. "You weren't supposed to learn about any of that stuff for decades to come. Best laid plans of mice and men, I guess."
"Why don't you want us to remember now?" Mystery asked curiously. "Will it cause some kind of trouble?"
"It's one of the rules of this... universe," Rhapsody explained slowly. "We try to honor the rules of the different universes we visit. You need to live a certain length of time before your soul memories are unlocked in this one. You have a few more decades before you should be accessing your soul memories. It's a hard rule for them to enforce on souls like ours, so yours are leaking through a lot sooner than they normally would. Just try to ignore your soul memories and focus on living in this life, okay?"
"I guess you're old enough to be able to access soul memory," Harmony noted dryly. "At half a million years old."
"I can't talk about this yet but suffice it to say that I've been here close to the same amount of time as you, but things were a little different for me and the... body that I ended up in," Rhapsody told them carefully.
Harmony wrote fantasy novels for a living. She could guess what Rhapsody was referring to.
"Stop, right there, young lady," Rhapsody told her sternly, her lips twitching into a small smile of approval.
"Okay!" Harmony laughed, throwing her hands up defensively. "I'm stopping. It's not easy though."
"What did I miss?" Mystery asked with a curious tilt of her head.
"Nothing," Rhapsody insisted firmly. "Nothing of importance. We'll tell you when you're older."
Mystery laughed ruefully as she observed the two of them fondly. "I really do feel like I've known you two all my life."
"I know what you mean," Harmony agreed with a slow smile as she looked at Mystery. "But I feel like we should get reacquainted."
Mystery blushed as she felt Harmony's sudden torrent of desire through the bond. She stared back at Harmony with parted lips as her chest began to rise and fall quicker.
"Sorry, but we're going to have to delay our little reunion for a little while," Rhapsody told them regretfully as she pushed back on her own desire. Harmony could feel just how hot and wild her desire was for the two of them. She stared into Rhapsody's hypnotically beautiful eyes and tried to think of an excuse for them to get some alone time sooner.
She blinked as a hand broke her view of Rhapsody. She looked over and found Mystery's laughing face watching her fondly. She blushed as she realized she had tranced out again. Mystery's large lavender eyes were filled with amusement as she smiled at Harmony. Her lips were just as enticing as Rhapsody's, calling out to her to be kissed.
The world suddenly went dark, and Harmony felt a strip of cloth around her eyes. She finally became aware of the sounds of Rhapsody and Mystery giggling as Rhapsody tied the strip of cloth like a headband to her head.
"It is kind of flattering," Mystery admitted in amusement. "I've never had anyone lose all awareness of the world around them when looking at me before."
"I know, right?" Rhapsody agreed with a delighted laugh. "I think Harmony is a special case though."
Harmony reached up to pull the strip of cloth off her eyes, but Rhapsody's small hands restrained her.
"Why don't we leaved that there until we get you downstairs," Rhapsody suggested with another giggle. "Otherwise, we might not ever make it down there."
Harmony grumbled good-naturedly as she let Mystery take her hand and lead her out the door. Butterflies tried to steal her stomach at the feel of Mystery's soft hand in her own.
"Is everything okay?" Serenity asked anxiously when she saw Mystery leading Harmony into the room with a blindfold.
"She was having a little trouble staying focused with one of us on either side of her," Rhapsody explained with a grin just short of laughter as she removed the blindfold from Harmony's eyes.
"Mom, just wait until you learn about all the cool things Aunt Harmony can do," Serenity told her mother excitedly. "She's a psychic! She can feel what you're feeling if you think about her watching you when you do something, like scratch your knee or have someone tickle you. She also gets tunnel vision if she's looking at Rhapsody or Mystery."
"Thanks, Serenity," Harmony remarked dryly. "Melody's not back for a whole day before you tell her what a weirdo I am."
Serenity marched up to Harmony with a stern expression on her face. "You are not a weirdo! The things you do are so freaking cool. Even the tunnel vision! Who wouldn't want to be so in love with someone that they lost track of the real world whenever they looked at them?"
Harmony just shook her head ruefully without answering. She had to agree that she enjoyed being in love to such an extent. She looked over at her sister curiously, feeling joy fill her soul again as she realized she was really alive.
"Did Mom give you an explanation of the last three months?" Harmony asked expectantly as she walked over and sat down on the couch next to her sister.
"Yeah, she did," Melody nodded, her face looking dazed. "I'm still not sure that I'm not in a coma or something. This is all so bizarre."
"Yes. Yes it is," Harmony agreed with a laugh. "But it's bizarre in a good way."
"You're in love, aren't you?" Melody asked as she looked at Harmony's beaming expression.
"Head over hills," Harmony admitted with a wide smile.
"Was it Mystery or Rhapsody?" Melody asked with an indulgent smile.
"It's both of them," Harmony answered with a smirk. She laughed when her sister stared at her strangely.
"You're not going to get weird about me being in a three-way relationship, are you?" Harmony asked in amusement.
"I don't exactly have any room to talk about poor relationship decisions," Melody replied with a sigh. "I guess I just never really thought of someone really being in a relationship with more than one person at the same time. Well, maybe Mormons."
Harmony threw her head back and laughed. "Just call me Jane Smith, with my fairy harem."
Melody snorted a laugh as she gazed at Harmony fondly. "It's good to see you again, Harmony. I really missed the days when you were always around. I don't think I ever properly thanked you for taking care of my little angels on my bad months. And thanks for taking care of them while I was... gone."
"It was truly my pleasure," Harmony assured Melody with a radiant smile. "I was never going to have children, so it was wonderful to be able to have some by proxy. I just wish I would have made you all come live with me when Grandma moved in with me. I spent most of my time worrying about you."
"I'll just bet you did," Melody sighed with a faint smile. "You were everyone's mom."
"I like taking care of people," Harmony shrugged with a short laugh.
"So, you ended up with the weird touch defect too, huh?" Melody asked with a commiserating expression.
"Wait," Harmony stared at Melody in shock. "You have mirror-touch synesthesia too?"
"It has a name, huh?" Melody asked sourly. "I'm sorry that you ended up with it too. I was pretty sure you did, but I didn't want to ask before."
"It's not all bad," Harmony noted with a glance at Rhapsody. "Though I would have thought so before a week ago. Did you know that it doesn't require a person being in your vision to trigger it?"
"Yeah, David figured that out in the first month of our relationship," Melody answered dully. "He used to think it was funny to smash his fingers in drawers while he was at work and watch it on camera. He got off on the power it gave him over me."
"Gross," Harmony exclaimed, looking at her sister in horror. "Melody, I am so sorry. I wish I would have known sooner. I would have hired a hitman or something."
"That's why I couldn't leave him," Melody sighed bitterly. "He always threatened constant abuse if I did, and since it didn't leave a mark, there was nothing I could do."
Rhapsody's face was like a thundercloud as she listened to Melody. "I think it's time for me to pay David another visit."
"Isn't he in prison?" Melody asked apprehensively. "What if he finds out I'm alive?"
"That's why I'm going to pay him a visit," Rhapsody declared grimly. A moment later she vanished.
"I told you she would fix everything," Harmony told Melody with a satisfied smile. "When Rhapsody's done with David, he'll probably spend the rest of his life wishing he were dead, but that won't be an option for him."
Melody closed her eyes as a few tears leaked down her cheeks. "I can't tell you how good it feels to be free."
Harmony wrapped her arm around her sister and leaned her head against Melody's head. "It's all sunshine and rainbows from here on out, Melody."
They all froze as the doorbell rang. Harmony stood up and walked to the entry way. Two women in suits were visible on the surveillance camera. Harmony looked back toward the living room in concern. Should she answer it without Rhapsody here?
"Go ahead," Declan told her confidently as he joined her. "I'll take care of any troublemakers."
"Thanks, Declan," Harmony sighed in relief.
She opened the door, feeling her anxiety build as she stared at the two women. They both had dark, short hair. One of them looked to be in her mid-thirties while the other was closer to Harmony's age. If the wards were still working, only people without ill-intent could approach them. She hoped the wards were still working.
"Hello, Miss Conifer," the older of the two greeted her with a friendly smile as she studied Harmony's clearly non-human features curiously. "I'm Agent Black and this is Agent Monroe. We're with the NSA. Would it be possible for us to speak with Miss Rhapsody?"
Harmony had a short internal battle as she stared at the two of them silently for a moment. If she told them Rhapsody wasn't there, they might see her as vulnerable and try to take her. She reminded herself that Declan was right behind her.
"She stepped out for a few minutes," Harmony finally answered cautiously. "And it's just Rhapsody. She would get weirded out if you called her Miss Rhapsody. What is it that you want with her?"
"We were sent to apologize about any unpleasantness that may have resulted from the former Director's decisions, particularly to Miss Donovan.
"You mean like telling everyone that Rhapsody was a demon?" Harmony asked dryly.
"Yes, like that," Agent Black nodded agreeably.
"Hello, Agents," Rhapsody's voice appeared before she did as she teleported next to Harmony. "How can we help each other today?"