The Fayelons Story (or The Fayelon Story interchangable due to indecisiveness) is a very special story written by Fanfictiondreamer. This is one that is very different from her other stories due to having absolutely no connections with the Ultimate Story for a number of reasons.
This story is an unorthodox story as it contains a number of elements that haven't been done by many others. The story itself consists of the Mass Effect universe, to which she had been a huge fan of for several months. The best way to describe the story within a few words would be magical girls in Mass Effect. However, it's much less girlish and childish than what was mentioned. The story, considering that Mass Effect is an M rated game, consists of a lot of extreme elements, such as intense language, serious plots involving bloodshed and death which is included in a lot of the grown up elements of the game. Unlike a lot of her previous stories, she really won't be holding back on the age restricted elements.
Fanfictiondreamer doesn't consider this to be a fanfic as she doesn't believe that true Mass Effect fans would ever come up with this, but she considers this to be a good challenge as very few at most attempted this. Fanfictiondreamer has been a huge fan of magical girl shows for many years but will make certain to really include a lot of serious plots that are at the same level as Mass Effect. To drop this idea all together would be taking the easy way out and she won't be taking the easy way out.
The story itself is NOT a crossover story as it will remain strictly a Mass Effect non-fanfic story, regardless of the....unfamiliar elements involved. The added characters are OCs created by Fanfictiondreamer. Also, with this being an M rated game, this story will NEVER become part of the Ultimate Story considering that only games and other stories are restricted to no higher than T for teen in the Ultimate Story.
Fanfictiondreamer intends to pull inspiration from serious anime shows such as Madoka Magica, the anime that's famous for shaking up the magical girl franchise by taking everything that we knew about magical girl shows and twisting it into something inconceivably messed up. No kiddie stuff this time, people. She really is seriously pulling the stops to stretch that further with this story.
She created this story for.....reasons.
The story, itself has a few special features to it, such as a soundtrack which consist of songs from Xenoblade Chronicles X, like The Way, By My Side, Uncontrollable, Your Voice and Don't Worry. It will also include over a dozen techno songs and a few from anime as well.
Plot[]
The story involves 5 teenage girls, Jewel, Flare, Star, Aera and Splash, who are from an alien race of magic users known as Fayelons. The 5 girls were dealing with a terrible travesty within their home involving a vigilante turned cold-blooded mass murderer. In order to protect their homes and the people that live within them from his ongoing rampage, they swiped magical keys to a door that is said to lead to the Ultimate magical source of the Universe and fled. They've spent several months drifting from one realm to another (realm is another word for galaxy for them). One day, they arrived within the Milky Way Galaxy, intending to flee like they always have. However, things this time were different.
Arrival[]
The girls stopped at a bar on the Citadel for refreshments during their brief break while lamenting about what they've been dealing with. However, a turian bartender attempted to promote underage drinking by presenting them with a few alcoholic drinks. When the girls found out what he was trying to do, they retaliated. He attempted to demand that they pay for drinks that they clearly didn't ask for but then Garrus walked in and after accessing the situation, reamed in on the bartender for attempting to promote underage drinking. After the situation was resolved, the girls spent some time chatting with him a little. However, they were caught off guard when the very thing that they were running from, a massive dark entity being controlled by the vigilante, caught up with them unexpectedly, demanding that they return the keys or else. The girls refused and the entity wrecked havoc all over the Citidel. The girls were forced to fight and Garrus, along with the rest of the Normandy crew, discovered that the girls were magical girls.
The girls transformed in front of them for the first time and fought off the entity's onslaught. However, their battle didn't last long as the girls were exhausted from fighting. They regretted not leaving when they had the chance but then they realized that they couldn't keep running forever, so they decided to stand their ground and remain within the Milky Way Galaxy to continue fighting the entity, with some help from the crew of the Normandy, then placed a sealing spell on the entity to ensure that he doesn't leave the galaxy and endanger another one. They knew that they would be putting the galaxy in huge risk, but it was one that they had to take to put a stop to their enemy once and for all. After the battle, the crew of the Normandy brought the girls back to their ship where they rested.
Briefing[]
After the girls rested and the crew members had some time to chat about what they witnessed. Wrex and Grunt arrived at that moment, but they just missed the girls before they went to sleep. After several hours, the girls awoke from their nap and had a chance to inform them of who they were as well as the ongoing and strenuous plot that they had been dealing with. From there, the crew members really intended to help the girls out however they can. The first thing they asked them to do was hide away fragments of each of the keys that were given to them someplace where they wouldn't be easy to find. That was just a small part of how they were able to help out. Each of the crew members agreed that the 5 who were given the keys; Garrus, Wrex, Javik, Tali and Liara, were to hide the keys in difficult to find places as well as have those hiding places kept to themselves as a means of greatly decreasing the chances of them being found.
Accustoming[]
As the girls were being checked out by Dr. Chakwas, she had no idea how to access the girls but assumed that they were perfectly healthy based on what she was told by them. With no way of figuring out the girls, she asked a specialist to board the Normandy to help access the girls and figure out their physiology. The girls were then brought out to have something to eat. However, they couldn't right away as the Mess Sergeant, Rupert Gardner, had prepared a seafood gummo. From there, it was discovered that seafood was Splash's biggest pet peeve as she threw a massive temper tantrum and was about to rip into Gardner while shouting funny death threats related to fish. Her friends were able to hold her back so that Jewel could sedate her with one of her magical jewels. After the fiasco, Gardner decided to make a gazpacho as a way to make up for the starting the mess. While that went on, Ashley brought the girls to "meet" the commander.
Ashley brought the girls into the commander's quarters, where they found Commander Shepard, himself, lying on his bed, comatose. Ashley informed them that he had been like that since after he saved the entire galaxy from the Reapers. They've been keeping him in his room until he is able to come to, to which they somehow knew that he would but couldn't explain why. Jewel placed one of her jewels into the palm of the commander's hand and after pulling Aera and Splash away from fawning over the space hamster and the fish tank respectively, they returned to the deck of the crew quarters where the other members of the Normandy waited for them.
Fragments[]
The girls and Ashley reunited with the rest of the Normandy crew for dinner. They chatted for a bit about what Shepard had went through for the galaxy and hoping that he'll wake up, with his friends believing that he will come to, but not really knowing how they do it. Star mentioned out that there could be some magical force at work. Garrus scoffed at the idea, until Liara pointed out the mysterious occurrences of people waking up from comas; people whose awakening didn't surprise them at all, almost as though they knew they would. To top it all off, the fact that they're able to survive is a mystery all on its own since the injuries they sustained and the circumstances that they underwent made having them survive be impossible. Thane admits that he was one of those who survived under mysterious circumstances as the injuries he had taken were truly fatal, but instead of succumbing to his injuries, he went into a coma. From there, even Garrus couldn't deny the possibility of a divine force at work.
A little before dinner, Flare could sense out a mysterious entity with her sensing powers so potent, she could vividly envision what it looked like and what it was doing, even what it was feeling.
A little into dinner, the crew was able to discover that Flare has a love for food and has an uncontrollable habit of stuffing herself. She was able to compose herself enough for the rest of the crew and her friends to eat. During dinner, the girls were able to hear about how Shepard's adventure to stop the Reapers began. A year prior to the story, the Reapers attacked the entire galaxy and decimated many people and places. However, Shepard's story started 3 years prior. They explained a little about how he became a specter, an agent to the counsel who have higher privileges above regular law enforcers as a means of fixing major issues in the galaxy. They talked about Nihlus, a turian Spectre, being sent to look after Shepard as a candidate for Spectre; Nihlus being killed by another turian Spectre named Saren, an artifact on Eden Prime that was made by the Protheans, a race that vanished many centuries ago. They also learned a bit more about Jewel's special powers, how her crystals can gather intel about any realm that she occupies. There was clearly a lot to discuss, so the conversation didn't include everything.
A little after dinner, Jewel explains her powers a little more. Liara offered to have her Intel Crystals and all the info in them to be uploaded onto her computers, with Jewel happily taking Liara up on her offer. Shortly afterwards, EDI informed them that the specialist, who was asked to help better understand the girls, had arrived and was waiting for them within the conference room. However, the crew members seemed despondent about this for some reason.
Mordin[]
The girls and the rest of the crew arrived at the conference room to meet with the specialist, who is none other than Dr. Mordin Solus. The girls were pleased to meet him but the Normandy crew were despondent about him for some reason. He mentions that he's already invested in looking into the girls' powers and helping them to grow. He also mentioned that he had watched magical girl shows, much to Garrus' surprise. Mordin also went on to mention that he has a niece who is a huge fan of those kinds of shows, including the ongoing series, the Pretty Cures, much to Tali's excitement. He also revealed to have seen shows such as Madoka Magica, a magical girl show with a dark plot to it. The conversation involving anime was cut short a little after Mordin and Tali suggested having Garrus checking it out, to which he was hesitant towards the idea and went back to the topic involving helping the Fayelons, the real-life magical girls. The doctor departed from the room, making his way to the medical bay. The girls were a little weirded out by his unorthodox personality, but Star took an immediate liking to him.
The crew continued to look despondent. Jewel, having been told earlier that it was a miracle for him to be alive, which was why the crew members seemed sad, asked them about what happened to him, to which they went on to tell them about the genophage and what the doctor went through to cure it. The circumstances made it impossible for him to be alive and yet, he did survive his outcome somehow. From this, the crew members believed that he was one out of the thousands who survived by miraculous circumstances. As they were trying to contemplate how with them believing that magic truly had something to do with it, Flare sensed out the mysterious entity again, to which she is able to "see" it crying tears of joy while looking towards where Mordin exited the chamber. Everyone took notice of Flare seemingly staring at nothing, to which she revealed that she could sense out a mysterious entity while she and her friends mentioned that this entity had always been able to find where they were, somehow always knowing, but they weren't sure how it could.
Star made her way to the medical bay to where Mordin was working on a console. She offered to help him out however she could. When she mentioned that he would need a lab, he mentioned to her that he did have one before the ship was refurbished. He revealed that the conference room that they were in use to be his lab, to which she reacted with a shocked and appalled demeanor while claiming that it was his personal space with her demanding that he should take it back. Mordin didn't agree with her and claimed that he didn't need it back, but then Ashley walked in, offering to give him back the room for it to be his lab again. Mordin still claimed that he didn't need it, but Ashley was perfectly fine with giving it back to him as he needed the space to help out the girls. From there, he complied and thanked her for the offer. The 3 of them then left for the cargo bay where the others were waiting for them.
Arriving at the cargo bay, Mordin and Ashley reunited with the rest of the Normandy crew while Star reunited with her friends. From there, the girls changed into their Metamorphose form in front of the crew members and proceeded to demonstrate their powers for Mordin as well as explain each of their different functions. They also demonstrated the materialization of their wings while informing them of their wings being an advanced form of their magic, one in which they have yet to completely master. They need to be midair in order to materialize them and have skipped the course that would have helped them to have them simply be materialized while standing on the ground. However, they never got to taking the course because of the vigilante and the events that lead to the actions they took to protect their realm from his reign of destruction.
Soon enough, the girls continued on with demonstrating their powers with the crew members watching contently.
Unforseeable[]
The girls finished up demonstrating their powers and converted to their normal forms. Ashley informed them that Admiral Hacket would like to speak with them. The girls agreed while Mordin left to look after the data that he had received from analyzing the girls. Ashley then asked Garrus to join them, to which he reluctantly conceded to.
Within the Quantum Entanglement Communications chamber, they stood before a holographic image of the admiral. He asked them to meet with him on Earth as he would prefer to chat with them in person rather then via the communication channels. They agreed to do so and had Joker set a course for Earth. A little afterwards, a few of their other friends, Zaeed and Samara, arrived to meet with the girls. Samara seemed very pleased to meet them, although Zaeed was in disbelief that he is meeting with a few magical girls, constantly addressing them as fairies. He also seemed to have a tough time believing that they're incredibly formiddable fighters, but the crew members reassured him that they are. Then Jewel, as a means to truly emphasize on how tough she and her friends are, forged a gem from her hands and challenged him to smash it to bits. He did so and try in everyway he possibly could, with his fists, his weapons, whatever he had on him, but couldn't even crack it. Jewel then smugly shattered her own jewel with one flick, which made Zaeed look like a weak fool, but Jewel mentioned that she can easily influence her own jewels to be either as durable or as fragile as she pleased. Mordin then came in and asked Jewel to forge another gem for him to analyze, to which she did. Zaeed, however, felt himuluated from what Jewel had put him through, to which Jewel emphasized that it was to show him to not underestimate their special powers. Mordin continued on with mentioning things that he would need to analyze and study the girls' abilities as well as many of the other kinds of magical properties, with Star happily offering to help out however she can.
Within the medical bay, Mordin and Star got to work, Mordin with analyzing the data and Star setting up a list of things she needs to get for him. A few of the crew members arrived with the other girls. The crew members shown some concerns to Star's fascination towards Mordin. They have already been told by the other girls that this was a form of Star coping with some unpleasant experiences in her past. Because of this, Star took her behavior being unexpected as an offense of sorts, an indication that she's already been dealing with some trauma from her past, with Garrus doing his best to keep his comments of her unorthodox nature subtle.
As Mordin was looking through the data, he found some interesting intel regarding the magical energy, but can't do anymore without a lab.
After the girls opened up a little about Star and her strenuous past, they were told that Liara asked them to meet with her in her office, so they did exactly that, with Star very eager to return.
Glyph[]
The girls met up with Liara in her lab where they came across many monitors and equipment. They were also introduced to Glyph, her personal assistant. She asked them to upload any and all data they had regarding their world. They were briefed on the Shadow Broker, which is Liara's title, as well as what she does. Jewel got started on filling in some information regarding her and her friends' homeworlds with Star retrieving the data from Mordin that Liara asked for, which she was happy to do.
Back in the medical bay, the rest of the crew that were still there talked about the girls and their impressions of them. They mentioned how they were no ordinary teenagers for reasons other than their magical powers. They also were inquiring what Star had been through that caused her to become fascinated with strange things or people, like Mordin and his unorthodox personality. After Star returned to retrieve data that Mordin had promised Liara, they also mentioned that they believed she had been hiding a lot of pain behind her cheery demeanor as Mordin pointed out with the rest of the crew, mentioning that they had taken notice of that. They also emphasized how the girls are hardly much like fairy tales, with Tali adding how they're very much like anime.
As Jewel continued on with uploading data, Glyph took notice of her working on some particular data regarding her powers as a Gemma Kinetic. She explained what her powers were and a lot of amazing things that she could do with them. They also talked about other possibilities regarding her powers that she, herself, hadn't considered but could be possible to carry out.
Jewel and the rest of her friends, along with Liara, left the office with Jewel conversing with Glyph. The conversation caught the attention of Zaeed and started thinking about some ways in which the girls could use their powers to help benefit the crew, with Garrus interrupting, stating that he won't allow anyone to exploit the girls and their powers. The girls, however, were open to the idea of using their powers to help out their new friends. Garrus conceded but he would make certain that they wouldn't be pushed too far. Everyone decided to do their part in looking after the girls, but most of them mutually agreed that the one who would take on the most responsibilities of looking after them would be Garrus. However, he was objective towards the idea as he didn't see himself as a fitting candidate for the position. But the rest of the crew were already convinced of his attentiveness and overprotective demeanor, making him a great fit for the position. After much insisting from the others, and several attempted to try and turn down the offer, he eventually admitted defeat to his argument with no other choice but to concede.
A little afterwards, Joker announced that they will be approaching Earth soon, so the crew members got themselves prepared to dock as soon as they arrived.
Earth[]
The group arrived on Earth and met with the admiral in person. Several members left with them while the rest stayed with the Normandy. They commented on how much Earth has recovered since the war against the Reapers the year before. This also brought up a few Doctor Who references, much to Aera's annoyance. They also exchanged what they knew about the crisis the girls had been dealing with which involved them revealing something about an ongoing mystery of a breakthrough that the admiral thanked the girls for helping them achieve. He did inform them that right after Mordin awakened from his coma, he was asked to look into some mysterious readings. However, Mordin couldn't find out much due to insufficient data, but after analyzing the girls' magical powers, he was able to find out that the mysterious readings were confirmed to be magical energy. He also mentioned the mystery of the miraculous and inexplicable survivals throughout the entire galaxy, not excluding incidences in which these survivals were impossible. From there, they concluded that the mysterious readings were confirmed to be magical energy. From this, everyone was convinced, although taken aback, that it was magic that were involved in these miraculous survivals, as there was no other way for any of it to be possible. This also brought up a very strong connection between the girls' plight and the mysterious events that have occurred witihin the galaxy.
However, that's all that they were able to find out. As to how this magical energy could have caused these survivals is unclear but is still being looked into. There was also the mystery of why this has happned just now and not long ago, to which they intended to continue looking into this. Mordin intended on having these individuals, who have been saved by this strange magical force, to find out more details. He also revealed that he received readings of Dark magic throughout the entire galaxy, but could not find anything else about it or its involvement with the universe.
This followed up with another Doctor Who reference as well as a cameo appearance of a character from the show. This did not exclude the running gag involved with this particular character. Also much to the annoyance of Aera, but nothing else involved afterwards.
The other members of the crew who were back with the Normandy were talking amongst themselves. They were working on sorting through the different ideas for remodifying the Normandy while also chatting about events from the prior year. This included the mysterious survivals that had taken place throughout the galaxy with them hoping that everyone else who were still with the girls would find out some things about it. They then went on to talking about magical girl shows, both anime and non-anime, with them also mentioning why they have been such huge trends, with reasons being good and not so good, including reasons involving sexism, to which the human males express remorse and disgust towards the attitudes of the many sexist men of their race throughout the years.
Overcast[]
As the group with the admiral continued on, he planned to arrange having the girls situated within their galaxy as citizens, such as provide each of them with their own Omni-tool. The girls revealed that although a lot of the citizens have the Omni-tools installed onto their left-arms, because a majority of the galaxy's population are right-handed, the girls revealed that Star and Splash are among the right-handed majority while Jewel and Aera are left-handed and Flare is ambidextrous, as part of her culture of maintaining equal balance with themselves. That includes not having one side of their bodies dominate the other, revealing that all pyromancers were raised to be ambidextrous.
They went on to talking about topics related to the girls such as magical girl shows. The admiral revealed that he had a few young granddaughters who were huge fans of those types of shows. Tali and Mordin expressed their interests in the shows a bit further with Mordin mentioning more about his niece. Garrus, however, was hardly crazy about the idea of the subject and tried to convince everyone else to drop it, with the 2 trying to nudge him into watching some of the shows with them, much to his and Aera's annoyance. However, the conversation was cut short by an unusual overcast, which they found was caused by the vigilante's massive dark entity. It unleashed many vicious monsters upon the area, attacking many people. The girls transformed and took to the skies to fight off the monsters.
Everyone else stood by and watched as the girls fought. They were aware that the girls are indeed formidable but they were nowhere near as strong as they needed to be. However, Mordin believed that wasn't the biggest concern. As he analyzed the dark entity, he found that this wasn't the its first encounter with their galaxy. This greatly surprised everyone, although he couldn't confirm anything more than that as the data was still insufficient, but everyone suspected that it related to the mysterious reading throughout the galaxy that was just recently confirmed to be magical energy.
In relation to the girls still not being strong enough, the group felt that they needed to hide the different pieces of the keys as soon as possible. The admiral had already made arrangements to send off those with the different pieces to have them hidden away. With that, Garrus, Wrex, Javik, Tali and Liara departed on different shuttles, with Garrus promising the girls that they will never fight this battle alone.
The fight continued on until things finally slowed down due to the entity overexerting itself. The vigilante then mentioned that the connection with the galaxy they were in runs deeper then mentioned, that the Reapers couldn't have possibly dominated over all sapient life in the galaxy by themselves. They greatly shocked everyone when he revealed that he somehow knew about the Reapers. They made Ashley speculate that they were dealing with more than just a vigilante going rouge.
They reunited with the rest of the crew that were still with the Normandy. They discussed what they heard the vigilante mentioning about the Reapers. Jewel worried about Garrus and the others that they were just sent out to hide away the key pieces. At that time, Star asked about how the lab was coming along. She was told that there is still some work that needs to be done and she was offered to help out with the extra labor, to which she happily jumped into while she brought Mordin along with her.
Everyone got on with helping out on the refurbishing, with Star deeply admiring the progress that was being done in rebuilding the lab. She was super excited about Mordin having his lab back. Mordin, although impressed with the progress that had been done, cared more about having something that could help out the girls. He also stated that he needed a place to look over the mysterious readings. Star pointed out that the readings he picked up on weren't anything like what she and her friends experienced within other realms (galaxies), to which sparks both of their curiosities on why that is. Regardless, the doctor was dedicated to looking into it and figuring out the mysteries behind these bizarre phenomenonal events. Both then went on to express that they were looking forward to working with each other as well as mentioning how much they will enjoy keeping each other company.
The Normandy crew departed Earth with the admiral and the prime minister wishing them the best of luck.
Analyzation[]
A little after the Normandy left Earth, the cargo ships containing Garrus, Wrex, Javik, Tali and Liara returned. Jewel rushed over to Garrus, relieved that he made it back safely. Ashley informed the crew that their next stop will be Grissom Academy to meet with Jack, something that Miranda is understandably not too thrilled about. As a way to pass the time till their arrival, Star decided to show off the lab and made her way there while having Garrus and Mordin along with her.
Upon their arrival in the lab, they demonstrated the different functions by bringing up a lot of what Mordin had been analyzing with the girls' different powers. Along the way, they were able to talk about the 2 major sources of magic, Dark magic and Light magic. The girls also informed the crew about each of their different powers. From this exchange, the girls revealed different facts about their powers that haven't been mentioned.
- Star's power, the power of Light, is labeled as its own category; one that is completely different from regular Light magic since it is said that the major source of Light magic is to be the power source of a deity that Fayelons worship known as the Divine Bringer of Light.
- Jewel revealed that not all Geomancers are Gemma Kinetics, with the Gemma Kinetic power being a magical force of its own. If those who contain even the smallest trait of that power, then they would be to wield said power. Those with tiny amounts can train themselves to grow it to which they could be just as suseptable as those with a much larger source.
Jewel was able to reveal that she had her own personal interest in the power and learned how to harness it. However, it did come with some challenges that she found hard to bring up.
- Splash went on to talk about her powers of water with Mordin informing everyone that they can also wield another form of water known as ice, revealing that the aquamancers are also cryokinetics. However, some are cryokinetics while others aren't; not because it's a special kind of magical power, unlike the Gemma Kinetic abilities, but rather some aquamancer chose to not wield it. Some chose to simply wield just ice while many chose to wield both.
This also revealed a sort of division because the aquamancers and the cryokinetics, with each group valuing their respective powers above the other, and the wielders of both hardly taken into consideration by both groups. Splash revealed that she wields both and while she values water above ice, much to the surprise of no one, she does find ice to be a very useful power. Aside from expressing how much she loves her water powers and her love for all of her fish "brethren", she tells everyone that she is a mermaid. However, her friends say that she isn't.
The crew members expressed praises towards each of the girls being unique because of more than just their powers. They soon wrapped up the entire briefing with the crew members expressing that there is still lots more to look into. When Liara wondered if there was some way to learn more about their realm, Jewel pulled out a jewelry box filled with jewels. Liara recognized them as Intel Crystals. Jewel's friends recognized it as the very box that was given to her by someone that she has yet to mention. They also mentioned that they agreed to never entrust this to anyone but Jewel, and her friends believed that they can trust the Normandy crew with them. She handed the box over to Liara who intended on looking into the crystals right away, Jewel went on to inform everyone of how the Intel Crystal actually works.
Garrus began to look suspicious. When asked by Tali, he mentioned his suspicions towards the girls being entrusted with a jewelry box filled with Intel Crystals, as to why it is being entrusted to a bunch of teenage girls. He also mentioned that the whole ordeal seemed very suspicious from the very beginning and felt as though there is more to their conflict than just the vigilante, who then glared over towards the holographic image of the stream of Dark magic.
Jack[]
Overtime, they arrived at Grissom Academy. There, a handful of the crew members and the girls met with Kahlee Sanders. She was introduced to the girls and they made their way to where Jack was teaching a class. They discussed how the school was doing after the attack by Cerberus. Soon enough, they met with Jack. Upon Jack noticing the girls, she was immediately defensive of them, threatening the class with severe reprehension if they so much as even look at them the wrong way. Jack was able to approach the girls and chatted with them for a bit as well as the rest of the crew members. She and Miranda were insulting each other as usual but they agreed to keep their interactions civil for the sake of the girls. Through this, they were able to learn a little more about the Fayelons, such as them having no form of fictional entertainment of any kind. They don't even tell stories on a regular basis, although, they do have their own forms of storytelling that they never perceived as such.
Continuing on with their conversations, they informed the girls about Cerberus, what it was, and why it earned such a terrible reputation. They were appalled to hear such stories and they were glad to hear that it had disbanded. Jack wasn't shy about expressing her grievances towards Cerberus to which the girls were able to understand why she was so bitter about them. After telling them about what Cerberus tried to do at the academy as well as Jack's own personal experience, Kahlee mentioned that she would like to make the girls honorary students at the academy; with them being able to have a place to enhance their powers, have their abilities be studied to help everyone better understand them, including the girls themselves, and a few other decent benefits. The girls were speechless by the offer but they happily accepted. Their convo was, however, cut short when Jewel was able to sense something and ran off with her friends while everyone else followed.
Processing[]
The girls as well as the rest of the group rushed out to find the academy was under attack by the vigilante's dark monsters. The girls transformed and rushed off to fight them while the rest of the group stood by and watched. In the middle of the battle, the monsters became airborne, to which the girls did the same. As the battle continued on, the group noticed that the girls were tiring out all too easily. From this, they realized that the girls were being set up to use up too much of their own energy. Knowing that the battle would not end well, Jack and a few of the Normandy crew members stepped up to help out the girls. From there, the girls, from their urge to defend their friends, were able to carry out attacks that they didn't think they were able to do. Soon enough, the battle ended with everyone standing around wondering what had happened.
The crew left the academy, saying their goodbyes to Kahlee and Jack while looking forward to seeing each other again. Upon returning, Mordin left to analyze the data that he had received during the most recent battle against the vigilante's dark monsters while Ashley went to chat with the admiral. Before looking into the intel, however, some of the crew members that were still on the Normandy at the academy were discussing what they have experienced when looking through the Intel Crystals. They also went into a little more about the mysteries regarding the crystals with the girls mentioning that they promised each other to never tell anyone about them given the circumstances that they have yet to disclose.
When Ashley returned, she revealed to everyone that the Citadel Council wished to meet with the girls and chat with them. The crew members were less than thrilled about the idea given their previous encounters with the council. However, they set a course to return to the Citadel. Several of the crew members agreed to join the girls in the meeting to provide morale support. After hearing a lot of what the council did to displease the crew members, the girls were disheartened; all the more reasons for the need for their morale support.
Council[]
The girls left with a handful of the crew members to meet with the council. Along the way, they ran into Khalisah al-Jilani, who made an attempt to interview the girls, but the crew members had them avoid her due to her history of slandering anyone that she would interview. She even brought up Shepard's cousin as a way to provoke Garrus, which almost worked.
They met with the council who projected their images rather than actually meet with them in person. They started off with the turian council member insulting Mordin for still being alive which set off Star. She attempted to stick up for him, but Garrus and Mordin held her back, with Garrus mentioning that they would talk when they return to the Normandy. The crew members went on to talk about many things related to magic and the girls. The girls also talked about their plight. The council didn't seem sympathetic towards them and their conversation was less than pleasant. However, Jewel stood her ground and assertively persuaded the council about her and her friends' actions, doing everything they could to protect the universe from the threat their vigilante and dark entity could inflict. The crew members also stuck up for the girls when the council believed that the girls being in their galaxy would threaten the lives of everyone in it, convincing them that this is the best course of action against their dark adversaries. After a few more brave words from Jewel, the council conceded to their staying in the galaxy but remained cautious and skeptic. With the meeting adjourned, the group returned to the Normandy, however, Flare took notice of the mysterious entity again, who was glaring towards where the holographic images of the council members were broadcasted.
Enlightening[]
The group returned to the Normandy. From there, they met with the others that remained during the meeting with the council. Garrus went on to have the chat with Star including Liara, Jewel, Mordin and Splash joining them in private.
During the conversation, Star talked about how as a little girl, she was raised by a controlling and manipulative father who was also very sexist. He believed that his daughter should be into girly things and nothing else. These caused a lot of emotional trauma for her as a child. Jewel and Splash would chime in during these conversations about what they know about her and her problems. From this, Liara and Garrus, who had always suspected that Star was hiding some emotional pain behind her cheery demeanor, were able to confirm said suspicions. Star had always had a conflict of interest because of this and she would have the tendency to question her own interests, being forced to believe that she was a bad girl for persuing interests outside any that were favored by her father. Her mother had always been so easily manipulated by her father with complying to everything that he would say. She also had a nervous tic of drinking tea, to which he would blame Star on. From this, she became very attached to her personal interests as a sort of coping mechanism for the pain that she had endured as well as very protective, snapping at anyone that would insult or threaten the people that she would care about, especially Mordin. Liara and Garrus had developed a better understanding towards Star's attitude with Garrus telling her to tone down her fits of rage whenever her friends or interests are insulted or threatened, with Liara exclaming that they will do whatever they can to help her out with this. They finished their conversation with Liara mentioning to Star that she is more than welcome to speak to them whenever she wanted.
Along the way, Mordin began to develop a suspicion towards Star's mother and her tea drinking habit, being more than just a nervous tic. He conveyed this suspicion towards Garrus. Garrus wasn't suspicious but wouldn't be surprised if Star's father is using it to control her mother.
They met with the few other members of the crew. They mentioned the conversation they had in private. Ashley talked to them about what she had reported to the admiral. They expressed discontent towards the council's attitude about the miraculous survivors, with them believing that letting them die out as to them, it's the only thing that makes sense. Soon enough, they noticed Flare was preoccupied with something. From there, she mentioned to them that she "saw" the entity again and for some reason, it was glaring at the council. This perplexed the group as there is still much about this entity that they don't know. After this, everyone took a break from conversing and went their separate ways to take care of their own things.
Much time later, most of them met back in the lab to discuss the results of the most recent analysis. Liara discussed that she had seen a lot within the Intel Crystals that she received from the jewelry box that Jewel gave her. So much of it regarded a massive treasure trove of information regarding the Fayelons' realm. With the massive amount of data that they've been dealing with, Garrus questioned why so much intel was just handed over to the girls in the first place. Liara soon discussed how the concept of the crystals inserting info into their minds are able to work. Apparently, the crystals penetrate the minds of those who touch them and allow all of the information within them to be inserted. Everyone who had been looking into them were able to confirm this. From this, they talked about coming up with some sort of computer system that can extract data from the crystals the same way, thereby storing them away without having to input them manually.
The crew went on to discuss things that they have learned from the crystals regarding the Fayelons' culture and way of life. They learned that each Fayelon can learn different magical abilities based on where they live. From their surroundings, they are able to adapt their powers to the elements of each of their settings.
- The Geomancers, much like Jewel, live within rocky mountains and terrains. How some are able to receive their Gemma Kinetic powers is yet to be known.
- The Photokinetics, like Star, live in more sunnier places. For obvious reasons, they're unable to develop Light powers that is just as strong as the true supreme Light magic.
- Aeromancers, like Aera, live in civilizations amongst the sky. From this, they learn to ride amongst the winds as well as wield them.
- Aquamancers, much to the surprise of no one, live in worlds consisting of high amounts of water. Splash loves to go on and on about her love of the sea and water.
Splash then mentioned again her belief that she is a mermaid, to which confused the group and annoyed her friends. When asked if she was delusional, Jewel's answer was not exactly straightforward. She then finally went on to tell them about a Fantasy Crystal that she gave to Splash after she begged her constantly when they were kids. Much like how they predicted, she misused the Fantasy Crystal to which if that were to happen, their fantasies would seem real to the point where they feel like actual memories rather than fantasies, to which it all became very clear. They finally moved on the Flare's culture
- Pyromancers, like Flare, are from what she described as a "warm and elevating world where they can extract the heat from the sun for their abilities". She has emphasized again on the people from her world being cultural.
Even though her people have made many attempts through this as a means of maintaining self-control and proving to others that they are capable of such, it was deemed necessary even though it shouldn't be as such because other members of their kind are still afraid of pyromancers. Of course, just as there are those who are still scared of the pyromancers, there are pyromancers that are unhinged, as to be expected.
They soon went on to talk about the history of their world. They first asked what the girls knew about it, to which they mentioned that all this known is a vague discription of Light and Darkness being in a neverending fight against each other for many eons, with them being taught that it's their nature to fight constantly. From there, the crew members who looked into the Intel Crystals revealed it to be a power struggle, something the girls were never told. Such conflict was no different from what was mentioned in all of those fictional stories many times. There was also some indications of that battle still continuing in all corners of the universe, including the Milky Way galaxy, with Light magic being used for the miraculous survivals being one of those indications with an unseen life form controlling this magic. From this, they brought up so many other questions that are left unanswered. One thing is certain: they're all connected to the ongoing battle between Dark magic and Light magic.
Kasumi[]
As everyone was standing around thinking, Flare could sense out someone who is cloaked but not by magic. Everyone immediately recognized this as being Kasumi. She revealed herself to everyone, having to have boarded the ship around the time of the meeting with the council. She revealed that she knew a good amount of the girls and their powers and also revealed that she knows the locations of where all of the keystones were hidden away. She also took a keen interest on Flare and her supernatural abilities, to which mentioned that any Fayelon can learn these abilities, but the pyromancers are the ones who have been able to carry them out as they have been the ones who have been practicing it. Jewel and the other girls revealed that Flare taught them how to use these abilities as well and they have come in very handy with detecting the dark entity. When Miranda questioned if biotics are also able to learn this, this sparked Flare's curiousity and after discussing biotic powers for a bit, they arranged to have Flare teach them this the same way that she was taught by her grandfather.
They were able to find a large room where Flare sat down with the biotics that were onboard and from there, she was able to have them, through meditation, utilize their biotic abilities to sense out the universe around them by having their biotics reach out to touch other forms of energy within space; including the magical energy within the galaxy. The technique is shown to have worked as not only could they sense out the magical energy in reach of the element zero energy in space, but they could also sense out the mysterious entity as it appeared in the room, although not as potent as Flare's own abilities. The demonstration made Ashley think of Kaidan, the squadmate who was killed on the mission on Virmire.
After the technique, Flare was able to talk about her grandfather and the kind of inspiration he was to her. Her friends also praised him very highly. The conversation soon transitioned towards them talking about the dark entity that they're dealing with. When Tali asked if that could be the true Ultimate form, a Darkness that's fighting against the Divine Bringer of Light, the girls were shocked as something that massive is too much for them or anyone to handle. Also, there could be no way for the vigilante to control such a powerful force.
Later on, Kasumi met with Jewel and Liara who were looking into the Intel Crystals some more. Kasumi expressed her interest in them. They chatted about the jewels as well as the Gemma Kinetics and their special powers to forge such magical jewelry. They also discussed about what kind of value they could have, to which monetarily, they would be worthless, but very, very valuable treasure troves towards information brokers. They soon expressed caution towards thinking that way, to which they mentioned that Garrus would never allow such a thing to happen, especially towards Jewel. From there, they chatted about how protective he's been towards her and her friends. From there, she promised to keep the concept of magical jewelry that can collect and store information to herself.
Nevos[]
Some time later, Garrus and Tali met with Mordin and Star back in the lab. They discussed the Intel Crystals and their concerns for it, such as their suspicions for how their realm is like. As Star was about to tell them about it, the other Fayelons arrived. Mordin was ready to inform them of what had happened to them back at the academy. He was able to confirm that Garrus and the few others that stepped in to help the girls out was the cause of their spike in their magical abilities. Such a spike was said to be an emotional response to wanting to help out their friends. This led Tali to mention one of the most infamous clichés in anime: the Power of Love and Friendship, and upon explaining it to Garrus, who had no idea what it was, he also became appalled by it. Mordin also seemed to have somewhat a dislike and contempt towards the cliché, but assures them that that's not the case as this is more so an enhancement in their powers as well as a drive and support that will motivate them to fight harder. The girls then mentioned talking a little about the subject being brought up, however, they seemed suspicious about something regarding it. Before they could get into it, Miranda bursted through the doors to inform the group that she, while utilizing the meditation technique that she and the other biotic learned from Flare, she could sense something bad happening that involved Dark magic. A planet named Nevos was being attacked by the vigilante's dark entity. She informed them that they were setting a course for that planet immediately.
A little afterwards, they met within the other Briefing Room to talk about the situation at hand. They were informed that the planet that is an asari-colonized world within the Outer Council Space region. It is very much a highly populated place, so numerous monsters would be attacking civilians. The crew members were to divert the monsters away and save as many civilians as possible. A handful of the other crew members were to stay near the girls to help them out however they can. They were informed a little about the colony. It's a gardan world that was founded and colonized by the asari many years ago. It is a resort colony consisting of sandy beaches, which greatly excited Splash, but it also did bring up the concerns of her tantrums over seafood, something that the colony does provide.
They managed to reach the planet. They got onto a shuttle and made their way down to the planet. On their way down, they went over the plan again. Jewel was saddened by the many people that are being harmed by the vigilante's monsters, to which she felt responsible for. A few of her friends reassured her that that's not the case while being reminded that her kind is received that worse of his wrath. She was reminded again that their new friends will help them through this fight. She was then asked about her family, she told everyone about her parents, and she also had a little brother named Jasper. She seemed happy to talk about her brother and mentioned that she would do anything for him.
Upon landing on the planet, several of the crew members broke off from the group while the others that stayed with the girls ran out together. They met with an asari named Irina, who was a member of Nevos' committee. She led them to a cliffside where they could see a massive, dark overcast that they have seen before. Monsters were also emerging from the overcast. The girls transformed and took to the skies while the rest of the crew members helped with keeping the monsters in the sky. During the fight, the girls, as well as the biotics, felt something unusual. The other crew members were still dealing with saving the civilians when they were attacked by something very unsuspected. The other crew members were soon approached by what appeared to be the Husks, terrible abominations formed from assilimated humans that they have fought before. They seemed they have been more powerful than before. Jewel, concerned by her friends on the ground, were urged by her team to help them out while the rest of her group took care of the monsters in the sky. She and Star flew back towards the ground to fight off the Husks.
Back on the ground, the crew members questioned how there could be Husks when the Reapers were eradicated. Mordin, however, revealed that they're not humans that were assimilated but rather replicas created from Dark magic. This perplexed them even more. Jewel and Star swooped down to fight off the Husks, saving their friends. The monsters stopped arriving and the overcast faded.
The girls reverted to their Dormant forms while the crew members questioned how the vigilante could have even known about the Husks. Soon enough, the rest of the crew members reunited with them, thankful that they made it through another tough battle. Irina then approached them and thanked them for saving the colony. However, everyone agreed that their troubles are far from over. Irina then invited the group to a seafood banquet, much to the terror of almost everyone. From there, Splash threw another tantrum and then attempted to lash out at Irina. She was immediately grabbed and the entire crew boarded the ship with a few of her friends struggling to pull her back while she shouted some funny fish-like threats.
As they were leaving the planet, Jewel placed the same gem on Splash that she used on her before to calm her down. They discussed what they should do about her fishy tantrums, to which the girls expressed that it's not an easy problem to fix as she would not open up to her issue so easily due to trust issues she had in the past, as well as what caused it being a memory too painful for her to recall. After a few minutes, the jewel was removed from her chest and she calmed down. They discussed her reaction a bit more before they changed the subject as a means to not set her off again. They talked a little more about their encounter with the Husks. They noticed that they were tougher than the ones they have encountered before with Mordin reminding them again that they were replicas created by Dark magic. They seemed concerned by this as they were wondering how the vigilante could have known about them and the Reapers. However, they seemed reassured that the girls will help them out with this strange mystery. They talked about how the girls have become stronger, especially when around their new friends, but they still have a ways to go before they're able to take down their greatest threat.
Nourishment[]
After returning to the Normandy, Gardner greeted the girls with a massive welcome-back meal that the girls were very eager to chow down on, especially Flare. As the girls were eating, Mordin looked into their kind's outlook on food being nothing more than pleasure, but their suspicions of being otherwise. Several of the crew members decided to look into this with him back in the lab. From there, he was able to look over some pretty significant data regarding the Fayelons and food. Turns out that food actually is a form of nourishment for them. However, each of them receive nourishment from food in different ways depending on their powers and preferences. Before he could go into detail about this, Liara mentioned that the Intel Crystal mentioned food being nothing more than pleasure and was perceived in a passive-aggressive manner. Even though the data about it is wrong, the concept of how it's being insisted upon relentlessly is what's accurate about the data. This caused the crew members to become even more suspicious about the Fayelon race.
After the girls finished up with their meals, few of the crew members met back with them to discuss their findings of food being a form of nourishment for their kind rather than just pleasure. The girls revealed that they already knew about this, as well as their entire race insistence the belief of it being just pleasure. They mentioned that they knew someone who had been looking into this but was disregarded as delusional even though she was able to reveal that her claims were true. They were, however, too saddened to reveal that person in question.
The girls eagerly returned to the lab with Mordin so that he could go over more of what he had discovered. He then revealed their kind's effect on food and that each of them receive nutritional benefits based on their powers and their preferences. He was, however, still looking into the data to narrow down each of their preferences. Liara, having looked over the Intel Crystal regarding food didn't find anything new, although, it seems to imply that it's all they understand about food, but she suspected otherwise with everyone else agreeing with her. From there, the girls decided to leave Mordin with a list of each of their favorite foods so that he can pinpoint each of their preferences while also seeing if their different tastes also coincide with the different foods that have beneficial factors to their powers.
After the girls left the lab, they made their way to a private room to talk about another friend of theirs. Jewel lamented that she did something to her that she regretted, with the others reassuring her that she did what had to be done as what their friend did could have risked the entire universe; something that involved the final component to the keys to the doors. They also revealed that their friend is in love with the vigilante and did what she had done because of that. So, to protect the universe from her reckless decision, she was encased and flung very far so that she would not be so easily found by him. They were too scared to mention any of this to their new friends, believing that telling them about her could risk having the vigilante find her before they could. They hoped that they would be able to find her first so that they can finally subside that fear enough to tell their new friends. They were also aware that EDI had been overhearing their conversation and made her promise to not mention this to the others. She willingly complied but offered them to scan the galaxy for their missing friend so she can help them find her.
Back in the lab, the crew members were joined by Kasumi. They continued to discuss their suspicions towards the girls' realm and their kind. Liara left to look into the Intel Crystals while Kasumi followed after her. From there, they discussed a little more about the girls with Mordin revealing that he made a significant finding with their powers. He noticed that they were undergoing some sort of change, with them readapting their abilities. He found that their emotional responses have been causing this change. However, there is something else that he noticed about it. He mentioned the change in their powers, although noticeable by scanner, are also stagnant. He also informed them that the magical energy within their bodies are draining, however, they're not becoming fatigued from this. He and Garrus went on a banter with each other about their emotional responses being responsible for the change in their powers, bringing up Jewel and Star's strong bonds towards both of them. The "Power of Love and Friendship" cliché was also brought up and both of them expressed mutual grievances towards the idea. Mordin placed many valid points as to why he greatly dislikes the lazy cliché. The bantering ended with another mention of the Pretty Cure series being downloaded with both Mordin and Tali asking Garrus about joining them in watching it, to which he still hesitates to accept.
Ashley met up with the girls where they chatted with her about their kind's moralities. They told her that at a young age, their kind is taught the importance of serving their deity to protect the universe, and all of its creations. However, it's not something that all of them have to do if they don't want to, but some choose to take on the task and responsibility as a sense of honor. They then went on to mention some of the suspicions that she and the rest of the crew have on their world, to which the girls have also noticed. The girls went on to mention that their kind has taken on a sense of apathy towards these beliefs. Although some don't want to take on the responsibility, they mentioned that they believed it's something much worse than just that.
Concerns[]
Back in the lab, several of the crew members discussed the Fayelon's relations to food and how it affects their powers. From this, Mordin was able to pinpoint the different types of food that has its most effectiviness towards each type based on their powers as well as their preferences:
- For Jewel, she prefers earthy flavors
- For Flare, spicy flavors and toasty foods are very helpful, though they joke about any kind of food would be helpful for her considering that she would love to eat pretty much anything
- For Star, she likes sweets, she's also into dairy foods
- For Aera, she's into salty foods because of her demeanor; to no one's surprise, she also likes semisweet and tart
- For Splash, foods that are high in fluids are good for her, but not so much drinks, but fruits. It is also revealed that cold things are good for her, too, since she's also a cryokinetic. Thankfully, seafood isn't a recommendation for her by her powers or preferences
They were also able to confirm that it isn't possible for Fayelons to starve to death but a lack of food can affect their body's abilities to produce magical energy, hence implying that one meal a day is sufficient for them. However, their suspicions towards their kind and their impressions on food is either that they believe it is just for pleasure or if they already know what the crew members just discovered. After the discussion, a few of the crew members made their way to the medical bay where the girls were being checked by Dr. Chakwas while Ashley made her way to the QEC.
Meanwhile on the bridge, Joker and EDI had a brief discussion regarding the private conversation the girls had with one another. She couldn't mention what it was about, just that they were worried about something; she also told him that she promised to not mention what it was they talked about but she said that she is scanning for any readings regarding magical energy while adding that it regards the door. From this, Joker agreed to keep what they just discussed to himself until they're able to find whatever is out there that the girls are so worried about.
At that time, a few of the crew members arrived within the medical bay to check up on the girls. Dr. Chakwas told them that they're in relatively good health. They went on to discuss their suspicions on how their race perceives food. Liara mentioned again how the data contradicts the information regarding food but how it's presented isn't, as the perception is constantly being pushed and insisted regardless of how it's being contradicted. This led others to believe that their kind has been lying about food and they've been perpetuating that lie. Ashley soon arrived to announce to everyone that Admiral Hackett wants to meet with them in person; he wanted to speak with herself, the girls, and also requested Liara, Mordin and Garrus to join. They agreed to do just that and met with the admiral with the cargo bay where they decided to have their conversation in private and within Commander Shepard's personal quarters. The girls worried about this being an invasion of privacy, but the crew members mentioned that they have done this several times before, hoping that their conversations could help bring him back from his coma.
Meeting within the commander's quarters, they discussed what they have found out so far with the admiral. They talked about their visit at Grissom Academy as well as meeting Jack. They went on to discuss the fight that had taken place there. Also, they mentioned the girls' change in their powers, which involved them wanting to protect their friends. They eventually went on to talk about their findings of the effects of food towards Fayelons, including their suspicions that their kind had not only been lying about food but have been enforcing the lie. They had to discuss the concept of Intel Crystals to him since this is the first time that he's heard about it. There are other suspicions about their kind but decided to save it for another day as the admiral announced that the council would like to meet with them again. It regarded fights that have occurred on Nevos. The group was less than thrilled by this but conceded. The admiral had been willing to speak to the council on the girls' behalf as the council wanted to meet with him as well.
Miranda was finishing up her "friendly" chat with Jack, who was annoyed with hearing about Flare teaching the biotics how to utilize the same sensing abilities as her but having not included Jack. They mentioned that the council also wanted to meet with Jacob and Miranda, much to the girls' concern and nervousness, knowing that it very much relates to their time working for Cerberus.
Shadows[]
They arrived at the Citadel. A handful of the crew members along with the admiral made their way with the girls to meet with the council again. The girls were expressing their greviences about their last meeting with them. They also went on to mention some suspicions that, at the time, didn't seem to add up, with hopes that they will solve those mysteries.
Just then, the dark entity showed up again. It began to summon many monsters that went on to attack the bystanders. The girls transformed and rushed out to fight the monsters in the sky, and the crew members pulled out their guns to drive away the monsters on the ground to lead the citizens to safety. Ashley called to the rest of the crew members that they weren't with them to come out and help with the fight, to which they were able to arrive shortly. The Husks began appearing again, complicating things a little more, but then they heard the loud screeches of even more terrifying monsters called Banshees. The girls did all they could to fight off those monsters. Just like the Husks, they were replicas created purely out of Dark Magic. The girls struggled in their fight, so they decided to carry out a special technique in which they combined their powers to perform a more powerful attack. Mordin addressed this technique as Convergence, which is a term that came from a certain other magical girl show. The monsters retreated and the dark entity faded.
After the fight, many of the denizens applauded and cheered for the girls. This elated them and were touched by these praises. The Normandy were very happy for the girls and were pleased by the praises. However, they noticed that some of the denizens that were hiding within, the praising crown looked out towards the girls with disgust and contempt but thankfully didn't jeer at them. The crew members were concerned upon noticing this. Liara soon noticed the Citadel Council, in person looking out towards the girls from another balcony with somewhat disappointed looks on their faces before walking off.
The girls returned to their Dormant forms and continued on their way with the crew members that came with them to meet with the council. The crew members praised them for their fight having helped to save a lot of people. They mentioned that there are so many that will support them, but they also mentioned that there are others who have a disdain towards them, to which the girls already knew about. There was also a mention of their being to sense out some tinges of dark energy from within those denizens. The girls, however, didn't let this ruin their enjoying the praises that they hardly received any praises from many back at their home.
They were able to meet with the council again, to which they displayed their holographic images. They complained about receiving reports regarding attacks on Nevos and Grissom Academy. The admiral tried to alliviate their agitation, but the council were desperate for answers as to why this is happening. The crew members expressed their praises towards the girls having done so much for everyone so far. They did acknowledge these praises as validated but are not pleased with them not being able to do away with the threat as a whole. Star criticized them about they're hardly doing anything for anyone and asked them to come out to speak with them face to face about the ordeal. They mentioned that they couldn't as they were too busy to do so and could never find the time to step out into the public, to which Liara knew was a lie as she saw them out and about just a little while ago. The crew members continued to emphasize on the good work that the girls have done so far, and that they needed to stay to take care of the matter with them mentioning how they were towards Shepard when they didn't believe a lot of the claims he made that all turned out to be true; even so much as pick them apart for doing nothing about Saren, the human colonies within the Terminus Systems as well as justifying him working with Cerberus in order to handle the matter. They also included that they might as well have pushed him into working with them with their indifference to him. They continued their argument in defending the girls to which the council acknowledged the realism of needing them and they ended the meeting.
Making their way back to the Normandy, the girls expressed their grievences about the council. The crew members complained about them, too, then Liara mentioned that they lied about them not having any time to step out into the open as she did see them on a balcony after the girls were done with their fight. They also mentioned something about sensing a slight tinge of Darkness within them, to which they expressed some concerns about.
When they returned to the Normandy, it took off and left the Citadel. The admiral announced that their next destination is to be Grissom Academy. They talked about Flare teaching her magical technique to the biotics at the academy, including Jack, with which she didn't have any problems with. The admiral handed Mordin over some collected data that he received from his research team, having mentioned that they found residual traces of Dark magic within the galaxy. However, what they were able to find was only a small fraction. Mordin was neither disappointed nor surprised and was looking forward to retrieving more data regarding it. He went on to look over the data, but not before the admiral also announced that the commander's cousin will be able to meet with them in person. She is to arrive at Grissom Academy. Garrus seemed to have reacted to this in a conspicuous way.
Traces[]
Back in the lab, Mordin was looking into some more data. However, he stated that there wasn't much to look into as the data wasn't enough to come up with anything conclusive, which is what was to be expected. Although, through what he was able to find, he came up with a theory that the residual traces may be a lot more massive than they had anticipated, but doesn't know why. He aimed to collect more samples of the residual traces to try and fit the pieces together, thus implying that there will be a lot more to look into and a lot more to research. After agreeing that this could tie them to the conflict regarding the girls, Mordin went on to talk about other matters regarding them. He talked about what he called Convergence. After chatting a little about the non-anime magical show that the phrase came from, he mentioned that there was something about their powers that concerned him: the growth in their powers are at a standstill. He found that their powers are draining fast, however, they weren't getting tired. From this, he found that their powers are changing but it's at a standstill because of the draining, implicating that the draining of their powers and the changes to them are negating the effects of one another. He knows what's causing the changes but had no idea what's causing their powers to drain out so easily. From this, he suggested to put the girls through Endurance Tests; pretty much having them emit their powers for as long as they can. Garrus, however, was opposed to the idea as he worried about how this could tire out the girls. They discussed this for a bit before the girls walked in and agreed to undergo these Endurance Tests. Garrus was still resistant to the idea until they were able to convince him to allow it as well as express their trust and faith in Mordin regardless of how he tends to be unorthodox. Garrus conceded to this but insisted on monitoring them as they underwent these tests. This prompted everyone to mention how he was such a perfect fit to being the girls' main caretaker, much to his annoyance.
Soon enough, Admiral Hackett reentered the lab to check up on the girls and the data search, with which he also suspected didn't yield much. He then told them that what the data conceived was all that his team on Earth were able to collect. He then mentioned that he'll have other teams search for readings similar to this. They also speculate on the vigilante's connections to all of this as it might have something to do with how he could have possibly known about the galaxy's conflict with the Reapers. The admiral then mentioned that for the time being, they need to work together to bring down the vigilante. At that moment, Mordin put that topic aside to mention that he had just got started on downloading the first Pretty Cure season, with which Tali was excited about. He also mentioned saying something to Garrus about it as soon as it's finished, with him just grunting and walking out of the room irritated.
Later on, the few crew members met with the rest in the Mess Hall to discuss a little about what they had just talked about within the tech lab. They then went on to talk about how the dark entity being controlled by the vigilante is able to create monsters similar to the ones formed by the Reapers, something which is clearly still a concern. Miranda then went on to mention what she and the other biotics noticed about some of the people in the crowd, the ones that are displaying disgust and anger towards the girls. Even some of the non-biotics took notice of it as well. Although it is understandable why people would be angry at the girls and blame them for the conflict at hand, there's no doubt that there arrival within their galaxy would have been inevitable. They also discussed the other matters that they've been dealing with prior to the girls' arrival, such as the miraculous survivals. After agreeing that everything that they're dealing with is something that they have to acknowledge and accept no matter how bad some of it is, they went on to talking about the Endurance Tests that Mordin wanted to put them through and his reasons for them. They also talked about him finding that their fatigue in their powers and the changes to their abilities are somehow cancelling out the effects that they could be having on the girls. Mordin intended on trying to find out the cause behind the fatigue in their powers through these tests. Garrus was hesitant about agreeing to this as he worries about what Mordin would put the girls through, but was reassured that Mordin would never mistreat them, but then Garrus went on to mention that the tests are not the only things that worries him. Feeling as though the girls neeedd to push themselves beyond their breaking point to protect them is another cause for concern, with Liara stating that this could be why Mordin wanted to put them through these tests. This prompted Garrus to believe that Mordin does truly care about the girls, if not in his own bizarre way.
Meanwhile back in the lab, the girls were with Mordin and the admiral, looking into how they intended to carry out these endurance tests. Mordin then mentioned that he planned to have each of the girls undergo the tests one at a time, with the admiral agreeing to this. A few of the girls then went on to complain about how Garrus is so resistant to the idea, but Jewel interjected, replying that he just has worries about them and wanted to protect them, with Mordin agreeing, bringing up that though they both have the girls' best interest at heart, they definitely go about it differently; so he would agree to a compromise with him. Also, he would never do anything that the girls wouldn't want him to do. The girls reassured him that they believed he would never do anything to them that would harm them and that they've been through worse. Ashley entered the room to tell everyone that they will be arriving at the academy soon. The girls seem excited as they're going to meet with Jack again and Flare was indeed thrilled about teaching the biotics at the school the same technique that she taught the biotics on the Normandy.
They returned to the academy where they met with Jack and Kahlee. They both led the girls and some of the members of the Normandy crew to where they plan to have Flare teach her special technique. Garrus, having noticed that the commander's cousin is nowhere to be found asked Kahlee if she had arrived yet, to which she said that she hadn't but will be arriving very soon.
Upon arriving at the classroom, Flare greeted the students in her special, cultural manner. Jack informed the class about Flare's technique and that she would like to teach it to everyone. The class happily agreed and she sat before the class with the crew members who were biotics, plus Jack. She proceeded to teach them the same way that she did it before. From this, all of the biotics carried out the technique spectacularly, with Jack enjoying every minute of it, with her mentioning that so much of her pain and anger felt like they were drifting away. Flare also seemed pleased.
Rekindling[]
Flare finished up her lesson with the biotics. Jack exulted in how much she enjoyed it with Flare promising that she won't exclude her in another lesson again. The girls then talked about how even though this technique is something that pyromancers have practiced more than anyone else, any Fayelon can learn it. They then revealed that they knew how to carry it out and that they were taught by Flare. Kahlee then informed everyone that Commander Shepard's cousin has arrived, much to Garrus' conflicted feelings.
They soon met the commander's cousin whose is named Jane Shepard. The girls seemed very excited to meet her, but Garrus was conflicted. As they were pulled away for a bit to chat with Kahlee and Jack about what other things they would like for them to do, Garrus and Jane had a moment together, to which everyone else couldn't help but take notice of. They seemed very pleased to see each other again as well as revealed that they've had a few moments together in the past. She then teased him about not being told about adopting a few new teenage daughters to which Garrus was flustered about, but went on to discuss about how much he had done for them so far. For the moment, they decided to focus on the Fayelons.
As they were making their way to another lesson, the girls asked about Jane, such as going into a little more of how she was related to Commander Shepard. She then told them that her father and his father were brothers with her father being the younger brother. She then mentioned that her father died in action years ago, not long after her aunt and uncle, Commander Shepard's parents, were killed by slavers. Only her mother, Captain Hannah Shepard, was the only surviving parent. She also told them that her cousin was a colonist while she was a spacer. She was close with her cousin when they were younger but after his colony on Mindior was attacked, they didn't see each other in a few years. They both then enlisted in the Alliance and they were able to see each other again for the first time in those few years. Aera then went on to mention that she understood how Jane and her cousin went through this as she also lost her father, a memory that was too painful for her to go further into.
The girls then went on to demonstrate their powers in front of the class. They transformed and displayed their different powers and abilities. They also talked about the importance of their powers in their cultures as well as the formation of the outfits that they wear when they undergo their magical girl transformation. However, the demonstration was cut short when the Admiral received a transmission about the vigilante's monsters on Korlus. From there, the girls rushed out to make their way to the planet. Garrus tried to stop them but the girls were dead set on leaving for the planet themselves. They left for the nearest airlock, got themselves sucked into space then materialized their wings and flew off at lightspeed, much to the surprise of everyone else. The crew then were to depart for Korlus. As they boarded the Normandy again, Jack insisted that she would come, too. The crew members were hesitant but they allowed her to come.
Some time afterwards, Jane and Garrus had their moment alone together. They mentioned to each other how happy they were to see one another again. They also talked about the girls, Jane thought that they were incredibly amazing, but Garrus expressed his concerns for them. They then talked about how he had been looking out for them since the moment he first met them. Jane expressed joy for him looking after them and that they're lucky to have him look after them. He expressed how much he wanted to protect them till his last breath while worrying about whether or not they would be able to reach them in time, but Jane ensured him that they will. He then lamented to her about them, thinking and believing that they need to take on so much responsibility and that they're still so young; perhaps too young to carry the weight of the universe on their shoulders, which led him to express his suspicions towards any shady nature behind their people and realm. They then embraced and expressed how much they missed each other and were happy to be able to see each other again.
Respite[]
As the Normandy was making its way to Korlus, several of the crew members were looking into the analysis that Mordin had done on the girls' wings. They talked about him finding out that they're able to fly faster than the speed of light, faster than any starship ever conceived by anyone within the galaxy. Even more so, he found that they contained traces of the superior Light magic, the kind they mentioned was forbidden for any magical being to use. However, in this case, it was an exception as this kind of magic can enable the girls to fly faster than the speed of light. It is believed to be a gift from their deity, the Divine Bringer of Light, as it was needed for them as protectors of the universe. They went on to talking about the Fayelons' deity, the Divine Bringer of Light, or as they would also call it, the Divine Source. They also talked a little about Korlus and their previous experience with it.
As soon as they reached the planet, they boarded the shuttle, knowing that they had to leave for the planet immediately. Garrus was anxious and nervous about being able to reach the girls in time, with Jane trying to calm him down and reassured him that they will.
They made it to the planet just in time and found the girls fighting against the monsters. The girls then took notice of them arriving and went over to them. Garrus did not hold back with expressing how worried he was about them. The girls then went back to their fighting with not a lot of energy left. Mordin picked up on some strange readings but wasn't sure where they could be coming from. Those readings were later on revealed to be other monsters forming on the ground: the Banshees, which the Dark entity slyly formed without anyone noticing. The girls were able to sense out the energy around them but did not pick up on the formation of the other monsters until they were already formed.
At that time, the girls were still fighting, demonstrating more of their powers with the crew members impressed with the girls' skills. Splash displayed a few more water abilities, with one that involved her shooting out massive amounts of water in the form of a gigantic typhoon. However, she has shown to be able to redirect her typhoons away from anyone that she didn't want to hurt, such as the Normandy crew. She shot it directly towards them as Husks were approaching but only washed away the Husks and left the crew members standing, unharmed by the water.
The girls finished off their fight and returned to the crew members, having exhausted a lot of their energy. After conversing with them about their abilities that were discovered, although Garrus was too busy expressing his concerns for their wellbeing, the crew members brought them back to the shuttle and returned them to the Normandy.
The girls were placed in bed to sleep for several hours. At that time, the different crew members talked with the admiral about what he talked about with some of his people back on Earth. They chatted about looking into the residual traces of Dark magic. He mentioned that they have reached out to the other races in the galaxy to also look into them. It apparently sparked their interest after looking into the readings and although they were skeptical at first, the readings brushed that off and they wanted to find out as much as these residual traces as well as the possibility of Light magic having caused the miraculous survivals. With the awareness that magic is real, pretty much everyone is looking into the matter. This then prompted Thane to mention he has no doubts about it as he had sustained a fatal injury during his fight against Kei Lang, truly believing that magic was what healed it and kept him alive. They then went back to discussing the residual traces of Dark magic, fearing of what grim outcomes they could reveal. They also went on to talking about how the vigilante even knows about what had been happening within the galaxy when the Fayelons, themselves, knew nothing about the galaxy's existence; also with the universe being so big that it could contain more than thousands of other galaxies, with the girls having maybe visited hundreds of them prior to their arrival within theirs. This still left hundreds of questions that needed to be answered, not knowing where to even start, indeed a lot to think about.
With the girls asleep and everyone having other things to do, they went their separate ways for the time being to handle their own things. Mordin, of course, stayed within the lab to look into his new findings. A few went off to attend a conference with one another.
Meanwhile, the girls were sleeping within the crew quarters. Jewel had a strange dream of hearing a mysterious voice within a void calling out to her. The voice told her that it was here and that it was everywhere. From how Jewel spoke to it, she had heard that voice speak to her before.
A little afterwards, Mordin had some data that he needed to leave and have processed on its own. When wondering what to do with some of this time, a chime went off that reminded him that the first season of a show he wanted to look into, Pretty Cure, had finished downloading. He was about to be on his way to tell Tali about it when EDI informed him that she was not at her usual spot, which was the engine room, but rather was within the Main Battery Room with Garrus, which was something that he was pleased to hear as he also wanted to speak to Garrus.
He made his way to the Main Battery Room where Garrus and Tali were to inform them both about the downloading of the first season of Pretty Cure being completed. He asked her if Tali would be interested to watch the show with her, to which she excitedly said yes to and left with him. She then stopped to ask Garrus if they would like to come with them, to which Garrus tried to decline but dragged him along. The 3 of them ended up within the Recreation Room, watching the show together.
Overviews[]
Within the new Conference room, Admiral Hackett and Jane Shepard discussed with several members of the crew about all that they knew about the girls so far. They told them about the girls' enemy, the vigilante, who was somehow able to control the dark entity that was looming over them. They also mentioned he somehow knew about the Reapers and what they had been doing throughout the Milky Way galaxy, as well as knowing the monsters that the crew members had faced off against and the formation of the 2 monsters, the Husks and the Banshees. From going over these, this lead them to believe that there is more going on than what they can conceive so far. They talked about the Dark force opposing a massive Light energy that is pretty much its equal. They intended on finding out what they can by looking into this Dark entity the best they can, but given its colossal size, it would not be possible to scan the entire thing. There is no way to tell how big it truly is but they do know that they must do everything they can to help the girls combat it as they were nowhere near strong enough to take it down.
The crew then discussed that their wanting to be involved in this conflict was more than just trying to deal with this Dark force; they had personally attachments to the girls and cared about them very much. They worried very much about them having to be the members of their race to step up and do something about this Dark entity. They were concerned for them but also questioned why they were the only ones to step up when the vigilante was clearly a danger to their entire race. There was also the matter of the connections between their conflict and their galaxy's ongoing conflict with the Reapers. They all agreed that there was much to look into regarding these issues.
It didn't take them long to notice that Mordin wasn't in the lab. After finding out that he and Tali were in the Recreation Room watching one of the magical girl shows like they discussed, and having made Garrus was their show with them, they went on to talk about that as well as a little about Mordin which led to Liara mentioning what she was told by Star about her childhood of dealing with her abusive father. From this, they had a better understanding as to why she had taken a liking to Mordin. They also enquired the story behind Splash's outbursts over seafood, not knowing what it could be, but believed that she had also been abused as a child, hence her psychosis. They continued on talking about the other girls, including Flare and her ferocious love for food. From their discussion, they were able to comprehend that the girls' conflict involved more than just the vigilante as they were able to ascertain that they have, in some ways, endured some forms of abuse.
At that time, Tali, Garrus and Mordin had already watched several episodes of their show. Tali expressed joy in having been able to see the show for the first time in years with Mordin recollecting fond memories of his niece. Both expressed wanting to do this again, then they turned towards Garrus to ask what he thought of the anime. He mentioned that it took him by surprise in many ways, such as seeing a bunch of girls in frilly outfits being tough as they were, with a lot of action-packed fight scenes that he didn't expect to see in any girl shows. They tried to egg him on to watching another show with them, to which he was still hesitant about. From there, they left to reunite with the others.
They met with the other crew members at the mess hall. They chatted a bit about the magical girl shows before the Fayelons walked out after having woke up; they were wearing pajamas. As they briefly chatted with the girls, they mentioned that they had breakfast ready for them, to which they revealed that they've never heard of breakfast before. Surprised to hear this, the crew members informed them on what breakfast was. The girls readied themselves with Star changing into her clothes from a bright flash of light, literally. The crew members found this awkward with the other girls deciding to change themselves behind closed doors.
As the girls were eating, the crew members were still surprised about the Fayelons never having breakfast before, but then Mordin took notice of something involving their magical energy. He found that food helped to rejuvenate a good chunk of their magical energy, which made him suspicious. He stated that their energy is capable of storing more energy than what he had analyzed within the girls so far. From this, he had found that they contained much less energy than what they could have stored, what he believed their kind could normally store. Though a massive amount of energy is contained within their receptacles, the amount needed for their Metamorphose and to be able to fight, some are stored in their bodies as reserves needed for them to live off of. The magical energy tended to be extracted from their bodies for their transformations, carrying out powerful attacks, but he found that the energy that their bodies would produce is not nearly the amount that even reached the capacity of how much they can store. Because of this, they would tend to tire themselves since their attacks would use up so much of their own energy and they would drain away their powers to the point of nearly reaching into their own reserves.
From this revelation, the crew members wondered how the girls would have made it as far as they did or even how they didn't tire out as easily as they did when they fought for the first time in front of the crew. Mordin believed that the changes in their powers have pushed them a bit further and also stated that the crew members made certain that they were well fed. From there, Garrus put his foot down about having the girls being fed the same regular meals than everyone else would have with Mordin complying as he stated this to be essential for their health. So, the crew made plans to arrange this.
Reconnections[]
The girls had just finished up their breakfast. They seemed quite thrilled about it while being informed that everyone generally would have 3 meals a day. Garrus was adamant about doing the same to the girls, with which they had no objections to. The crew members discussed while returning to the Citadel. At first, the girls were nervous about meeting with the Council again, to which they were reassured that wasn't the case but rather, there are some other things that they intend to take care of, much to the girls' relief. One of the things they discussed was visiting a hospital where a lot of the miraculous survivors are kept, with many of them being comatose. This saddened Jane as this reminded her of her cousin, so she went to go see him.
As Jane was tending to her cousin, Garrus arrived to comfort her. The girls were also there with them. They wanted to check up on the 2 but it was no secret that they had taken an interest in their intimate relationship. Jane asked them to give them their alone time, to which the girls agreed, but Star refused to leave. Jane tried to talk her into leaving, but Garrus claimed that Mordin requested her, with which she unhesitatingly rushed out. Jane and Garrus had their alone time. They continued on rekindling their relationship. They talked about how hard it was for her and her cousin being the first human Spectres as well as the time she first met the Normandy crew. They revealed that she found another Prothean Artifact on another planet that was activated around the same time as the one that her cousin found on Eden Prime. From this, they somehow developed a psychic link with each other that enabled them to share all of their experiences and memories from them, this included being able to already know about the people that her cousin met and teamed up with before she actually met them. She then told Garrus that she will be working with the crew a lot more from then on, much to his joy, meaning that they will have more time together.
At that time, Star arrived back in the lab to meet with Mordin again, telling him that Garrus mentioned him asking for Star. It was apparent from his reaction that Mordin didn't ask for her, but he took it as a request from Garrus to keep her off of his back, with which Mordin accepted by pretending that he did ask for her. He tried to think of how to keep her busy and came up with discussing a shopping list that he had in mind, a list of things that he needed from the Citadel. She happily took on the request. However, she would need to go and get a lot of the items on his list as he would be too busy to leave the lab. Star was unhappy about this as she enjoyed spending time with him, but she accepted this as they will have that time after she took on the special errand for him.
Much time later, they arrived back at the Citadel. Admiral Hackett mentioned that he would make his way to the hospital. Everyone had their own separate things that they would need to do, including the girls having their own things apart from each other. The crew members broke off from each other to take care of their own things with some in groups and others being by themselves.
- Jewel spent time with Garrus a little with Jane before she left to go visit the hospital
- Flare left with Wrex and Grunt to dine out at an all-you-can-eat buffet, with Flare demonstrating that she had an appetite for fierce food than any krogan, much to the surprise of both krogan that were with her
- Star went off on her own to fill out Mordin's shopping list
- Aera spent time with Tali and Samantha
- Splash went along with Miranda, Jack, Liara and Samara. All 4 women were to keep an eye on Splash in case she would have another tantrum
Jewel and Garrus eventually visited Armando-Owen Bailey, Captain of C-Sec. As they went to see him, he revealed that he had met Jewel and her friends before. Upon their first arrival at the Citadel, he was suspicious of them as they wouldn't disclose how they arrived. However, he gave them leniency as they seemed too young to be causing any massive trouble, so he allowed them to freely go around the Citadel as long as they didn't cause any trouble, but told them the C-Sec will be keeping a close eye on the Fayelons. Jewel mentioned that she and her friends agreed to that as they didn't intend on staying very long. She then apologized as she did cause trouble when the entity they've been running from arrived much sooner than they had ever expected. She blamed herself for what had happened, but Bailey reassured her that none of that was her nor her friends' fault. If anything, he felt bad for her and her friends to having to deal with that thing, and that he didn't think badly about their conflict as it caused so much turmoil for her entire race. He and Garrus discussed how important it was for them to stay within their galaxy to combat the threat, otherwise things would have been much worse for everyone. Bailey assured Jewel that they have his full support, to which Jewel greatly appreciated. The 2 then bid the captain farewell and continued on their way. Along the way, Jewel mentioned to Garrus that she can sense some discontent from some of the bystanders, with which Garrus was already aware of.
Much time later, Ashley, plus the different groups that have branched off with the girls, regrouped with Splash and her small group at the Presidium. Splash had been skinny dipping and the biotic women had just fished her out of the water. They told everyone that they had lost Splash a while ago, worried that she would throw another violent tantrum. Thankfully when they found her, she wasn't but was just skinny dipping in the large body of water. The girls revealed that she had done this many times before as she believed that skinny dipping would "revert" her to her "true form". They then made preparations to make their way to the hospital to meet with the Admiral and Jane.
Reawakened[]
The group arrived at the Huerta Memorial Hospital to meet with the admiral and Jane. They also met up with a staff member, Dr. Chloe Michel, who is a really good friend of Garrus. The hospital had been very busy with looking after some of the miraculous survivors that were found and brought there. Among them was Captain Anderson, who was still in a coma. He was one of the reasons why the admiral visited the hospital. He revealed that he had visited Anderson several times to check up on him and much like Commander Shepard, not much about his condition had changed. They discussed the injuries that he had suffered with Dr. Michel revealing that as he was being tended to, she found that his injuries have mysterious recovered and that a strange energy reading is somehow the cause of it. The energy signature was soon revealed that the supreme Light magic, with everyone truly believing that it had been magic that saved his life.
Flare took notice of the mysterious entity tending to him, almost as though it actually knows him personally. The biotics in the room also mention being able to sense it out. Flare mentioned she can sense that the entiny is sad about Anderson. This was then cut short by Dr. Michel mentioning that there was someone else that she wanted them to see, so they went to follow her.
She led them to another miraculous survivor, Emily Wong, who had just came to from her coma. Dr. Michel mentioned that she was found within a wreckage of a ship crash that no one could have possibly survived from, but Emily did as she was found unconscious; indeed very much alive. Emily then told everyone about what had happened to her and she was also surprised that she's alive. Upon being revealed that she was one of many miraculous survivors, she was surprised and then revealed that although she didn't remember anything else after she attempted a kamikazi, she did, for some reason, have faint memories of a hearing herself in her head saying that "she needed to return, she must return" like she was chanting it. However, she couldn't remember why she was chanting that or what she was "returning" from. But before they could continue with pondering this, the sky darkened up again, causing the entire group to rush out immediately.
When they stepped out, they stood before the dark entity darkening up the sky and summoning many monsters again. The girls transformed again and flew up towards the sky to fight off the invading forces. At that time, back within the Normandy, a chime on Mordin's omni-tool went off, causing him to walk out.
As the girls fought, Emily asked about the girls and what had been going on, the group told them everything that they knew about them and their conflict. After they told her, she felt that something about all of this sounded familiar for some reason.
At that moment, Mordin arrived to evaluate the girls during their fight. As he did, he found that their prowess is significantly higher, as well as their bodies' natural production of magical energy. Garrus inquired that the breakfast must be working, but Mordin stated that in spite of that, there are still issues with their prowess and abilities, as they are still very much stagnant. He then mentioned that he still intended on having the girls undergo the endurance test to try and find the cause of this.
As the fight was nearing to a close, the entity mentioned that Darkness had not completely vanished from the galaxy. The girls returned to the crew back on the ground and reverted to their Dormant forms. They then inquired about what they had heard the entity mention, an indication that he somehow knew about the Dark magic that used to linger within the galaxy. The group returned to the Normandy while Emily returned to the hospital.
After returning to the Normandy, they chatted about how they spent day at the Citadel. They also mentioned again about what they heard the entity mentioning. Flare then went on to mention that she had feared Darkness for a long time, but not the kind that they had been fighting but a much more sinister and unseen form, the kind that she and the biotics had sensed out.
They then changed the subject when they asked Thane about his doctor's appointment, which had been mentioned before. He talked about how the doctors were evaluating his disease. He did also spent some time informing the girls about the disease, how it's contracted and what had happened to his entire race. He then talked about how when he was dealing with it, he didn't really have much time left and he should be dead by then, but by some miracle, it had somehow reverted to its earlier stages. It had been something that had stumped the doctors as they couldn't figure out why this happened. From this, everyone believed that magic had something to do with it. As to how it happened, they didn't know, not yet, but they intended to find answers to that.
Jewel then asked about something involving was Emily Wong said about what she remembered, having chanted about "wanting to return". She asked if all of the miraculous survivors who came to had the same thing happen to them. Thane confirmed that he mentioned something like that but didn't remember why. However, there wasn't much else to go by, but the girls were determined to help the crew members find the answers that they had been desperately wanting to find for a long time.
Primarch[]
As their meeting continued, Steve Cortez walked into the room, showing himself in front of the girls for the first time. He came in to inform them of an accident that was currently causing his delay. Aera took an immediate liking to him as he somewhat resembled her father. After revealing that he is gay, the girls became terrified, not because they were homophobic, but they were part of a society where homosexuality is extremely forbidden, with claims that they could interfere with conceiving children. It's so severely taboo that even supporting it is highly discouraged, most likely by harsh means, so because of that, the idea of such a thing had been a very fearful topic. Regardless of that, the girls didn't care so much about it. From there, Aera proceeded to mention that he reminded her of her father even more, possibly implying that her father was also gay. They were then told that asari, being pretty much a race of all females, would naturally be lesbians as it was the only kind of relationship they have engaged in prior to meeting other species.
After the delay was dealt with, he left to pick up the primarch, Adrien Victus. They spent some time talking about the primarch, who he was, and how he earned his rank; although the girls' impression on him were shown to be flippant as they didn't care too much about his rank, but they did agree to behave in a respectable manner. However, they were allowed some leniency and to talk to him by however made them comfortable as he's not all for formality too much; he was just more interested in meeting the girls.
When the primarch arrived, the exchange with him was somewhat a mixture of formality and nonchalant as he was pretty much casual with the crew member as well as just wanting to get to know the girls. He did make them comfortable enough for them to just be themselves. They then went on to discuss the situation regarding the miraculous survivors. From there, he, having kept a close eye on the intel regarding the turian fleet, revealed that almost a quarter of the turian fleets that were reported to have been killed, have survived, to which even Garrus was surprised to hear the news. They discussed with him about their findings of magic having something to do with the miraculous survivors. They also discussed with him the dark entity that was being controlled by the vigilante within the girls' realm.
After going through all of that, he mentioned that he had spoken to Eve, a krogan female who was the leader of the women from the Urdnot clan, the same group that Wrex was part of. This surprised Wrex as he wasn't even informed about this prior. He told them that he would like for them to make their way to Tuchanka as Eve wanted to meet the girls. They agreed to do so. Shortly afterwards, some of the crew members walked out of the room, including the biotic women with Splash leaving with them as they were having Gardner preparing another meal for them. Aera left with them so that she can monitor Splash closely due to her tantrums. The other girls stayed with the few crew members that remained as they continued chatting with the primarch.
As they stayed, the primarch talked about their history with Tuchanka, such as the krogan Rebellion. He lamented a lot towards what the turians had done to the krogan, such as leaving a bomb on their planet that was left untouched since that war. He also remorsed about some during the Reaper War that weren't part of the lucky few that were miraculous survivors, such as his son, who sacrificed himself to disarm the bomb. From there, he mentioned how secrets can get people killed, which scared the girls as they held on to so many secrets. Mordin seemed a bit saddened that he was spared from death instead of Adrien's son, which understandably upset Star as it was difficult for her to imagine not having her around. He then helped to console her, stating that he isn't going anywhere, then mentioned that he believed that there may be a reason why he was saved and he would not let the second chance that he was given go to waste. Adrien also mentioned that although he was sad to have lost his son, he was glad that the doctor was spared as he had shown to be very useful towards the girls. At that time, Flare noticed the mysterious entity within the room as it was crying uncontrollably.
At that moment, Aera walked back into the room, asking for Jewel to come out with her as Splash has undergone another of her tantrums. Jewel followed her out of the room with everyone else going with her. From this, the primarch had witnessed Splash's temper tantrums for the first time as did the admiral and Jane. Aera mentioned that this happened almost immediately after a few lower deck members were chatting about eating at a seafood restaurant, which was one of Splash's pet peeves. She was seen being held back by Miranda, Liara, Samara and Jack with the use of their biotics but all 4 of the biotic women were struggling to hold her back. Jewel went up to Splash and placed the same crystal on her that she would use whenever she would have another of her tantrums.
As Jewel was tending to Splash, they inquired to her about what kind of gem that Jewel used on Splash, with her revealing that it was the same Fantasy Crystal that Splash overused as a child. From there, Garrus was understandably critical towards her as he expressed how irresponsible it was to use the same crystal that she overused to calm her down, with the possibility of making things worse for her. Jewel then went on that it was the only thing that could calm her down as she and her friends have tried other means, with very little results while mentioning that it was too dangerous for them to try and find other means if they were to find other possible options. From there, Garrus understood their situation, with Jewel revealing that the Fantasy Crystal wasn't the major cause to her psychosis, but rather a response to it.
After dealing with the tantrum, the girls went on to their next meal while the crew members chatted with Adrien, the admiral and Jane. They talked about their eating habits and how their way of life pretty much left them deprived of so much food, with Wrex talking about Flare and her insatiable appetite when they were back on the Citadel. This led Grunt to ask if Fayelons even have stomachs, with which none of them are actually sure about. They talked about their physiology, revealing that the girls hardly knew much about their own bodies and the different functionalities of them. This was very alarming news to the crew members as their society didn't even bother to educate the girls about Fayelon physiology, which added to the suspicion of how their kind functioned as a society. From there, they decided that once they dealt with the looming threat from the Dark entity and the vigilante, they'll continue on with looking over how their society worked and all of the questionable things that have been going on with them.
Tuchanka[]
The group arrived on Tuchanka. The girls were startled to see how bad it looked while being informed of how it got that way. They managed to land near the base of the Urdnot class where they met Eve, who was very pleased to meet the girls. They chatted with her for a while, talking about her real name being Urdnot Bakara. They soon went on to talking about having found Mordin within the wreckage of the tower that dispersed the genophage cure with having him found alive not being the strange part, but rather her and the many krogan that found him knew that they would find him, alive. As to how they knew, it was still a mystery. From there, Flare asked to be taken to the site of where the tower once stood with them complying after inquiring this for a bit.
On the way there, they talked about the krogan women and how they lived and were treated. Star snapped about them possibly being mistreated and oppressed, with both Wrex and Eve telling her that the women weren't being oppressed, but rather how they were brought up and how they lived were of their own choices; that they were treated as sacred as they were needed in sustaining the krogan population, with the males doing that they have to rely on the females solely for their protection. Star calmed down, having recollecting her terrible experiences with her sexist father.
Upon arriving at the site, they didn't find much, as they have expected; however, Flare could sense out a powerful aura. She then meditated on the spot while recollecting one of her grandfather's lessons in sensing out strong auras that could contain memories and flashbacks of past events within the lingering auras. As she meditated, she was able to pick up on hazy images of Mordin on what could have been his final moments, but then spotted someone embracing him from behind. She was unable to see their faces, but instead could only see the glowing arms of the figure. Shortly after the vision, she was about to reveal what she saw, but was caught by surprise again by the Dark entity. The girls transformed and tried to fight them off from the skies. As the girls struggled in the fight, Mordin took notice of some strange reading from the entity, having detected a much greater amount of energy than during previous encounters; however, the energy was split between the entity and its monsters, an indication that the entity was holding back for some reason. The entity then let out a massive shockwave that literally knocked the girls out of the sky. While the few crew members that were close to the girls tended to them, the loud, booming voice above them mentioned something about being able to sense Darkness strongly throughout the entire galaxy, especially all over Tuchanka. It soon faded afterwards.
Returning to the base of clan Urdnot, Eve asked about how Wrex had been sleeping, stating that she had been worried about him since the terrible dream that he had weeks prior. Wrex brushed it off, annoyed that Eve mentioned it then walked off. When the girls inquired Eve about the dream, she told them about it; that in the dream, Commander Shepard betrayed Wrex by allowing the genophage cure to be sabotaged. She first informed them about a very influential salarian who tried to talk Shepard into sabotaging the genophage cure in exchange for strong resources and support from the salarians during the Reaper War. Shepard, of course declined and informed Wrex and everyone else about the plan, but in the dream, he decided to allow the cure to be sabotaged. Wrex found out about this and latched out at him, then attacked him in retaliation only to end up killed in the dream. Eve mentioned that when Wrex awoke from it, he was greatly startled, almost as though he was recalling a terrible memory. This bothered him for a few days and after not having the dream again, didn't pay it much mind. Regardless, she was worried about him as it was a terrible dream. They chatted a bit about this as they thought about the others' thoughts on the krogan and having the concept of genophage being debatable and controversial. They also talked about other issues regarding other species as well as themselves hardly being an exception, being that they are greatly tied to the current issue that has arrived within the galaxy. Eve talked down any blame towards them and assured them that they will have absolute support from her and the rest of the Urdnot clan.
After the crew members spent some time chatting with Eve about some things, they departed, with Wrex still coming with them. They said their farewells to her and were on their way back to the Normandy.
Perception[]
After returning to the Normandy, Flare mentioned what she saw in those visions. She mentioned that she saw a few glimpses of what had happened during the day that Mordin was sacrificing himself to disperse the genophage cure. They were hazy and difficult to put together, but she could see that something did happen, something could have been the reason why he was still alive. However, due to the haziness of the visions, she was unable to fully comprehend how it could have been possible. She intended to focus these visions better to try and fully comprehend everything that happened that day. However, the realization that there was someone else there with Mordin prompted her to try focusing the visions again then and there. As she did so, the visions became a little more clear but were still hard to focus. She then went off to try and meditate in order to focus the visions a little bit better. Her friends left the room with her.
Mordin, upon analyzing Flare as she tried to refocus the visions, was able to find out that the lingering magical energy that they found at Tuchanka were very similar to the Superior Light Magic but was mentioned to be "thin". They discussed this a little, with Liara and Miranda mentioning that they could sense the magical energy when they were there and felt as though they could "step back into time" in a way. They decided to drop the subject for the time being as there was still much to look into and try to find out. Mordin then went on to discuss with the group about his findings regarding the Fayelons' physiology. He mentioned that from his studies, he found out that the girls do have stomachs, or rather organs that he would best identify as stomachs. He found that their stomachs consist of ducts along the walls with which the stomachs would reduce any sustenance into pure energy and then disperse it throughout the entire body. These findings have debunked the belief that food is nothing but pleasure and does prove that they do play a much more vital role in their bodies. When Mordin mentioned asking the girls' permission to look into their physiology, they accepted and spoke as though they were also curious about how their own bodies worked. This brought up a major concern to the group as they questioned how the girls don't even know how their own bodies worked.
The girls, within the Recreation Room, were sitting alongside Flare as she attempted to refocus the visions again, but was still struggling. The other girls have already gave up on trying as they couldn't figure out how to comprehend the ability. A few of the crew members entered the room with Mordin, Garrus and Tali sitting across from them and Miranda, Liara and Ashley standing beside them. They talked with the girls about what they found out about their stomachs. The girls were surprised to hear this as they have never heard of stomachs before and found out that they have them. This concerned the crew members even more as it was alarming that they didn't know about this. When they asked how they could have not known about this, Jewel told them that they were never educated about their own bodies and how they worked. Jewel has tried to ask her mentors about them when she was a young girl but was harshly scolded by them as though she was being a bad child. She was also made an example of what questions no one should ask, being it brought up in a way that was humiliating and abusive. When her parents spoke out against this abuse, they were told that she should not concern herself with anything that's none of her business, even though she was clearly asking about her own body. Upon hearing this, the crew members were visibly outraged and concerned, as the way their mentors brought it up clearly indicated that she was asking about something that they didn't want her to know about. They suspected that the reason why any information regarding their own bodies weren't disclosed to them was because it would inevitably reveal their stomachs and its functions, therefore revealing that the belief of food being nothing more than pleasure to be a perpetuated lie. They mentioned a little about someone they knew before they left. Flare, however, left with Miranda and Liara to meditate within another room with them. The rest of the crew and the girls left for the lab. Aside from Flare, Aera and Splash did not return to the lab.
Returning to the lab, they already mentioned to the rest of the group, who was still there, what they had already discussed. At that time, Flare was within the Observation Deck with most of the biotics meditating. She tried again to refocus the visions, but she was still struggling. She was encouraged by the biotics to not force her powers like this as she may strain herself. She wanted so much to comprehend these visions, but they assured her that she will in time. She then mentioned that her grandfather once told her the same thing; to not force her powers but let them fortify themselves naturally as she meditates on them. She then went on to tell the group about her grandfather and what an amazing, wise man he was, and how she would always look up to him. When they asked about her parents, she mentioned that she had an OK relationship but they weren't as understanding towards their spiritual abilities or traditions as she and her grandfather were, talking as though she should drop the custom because they didn't really understood why they were so important. They ended the session together but not before Flare thanked them for their participation. She returned to the lab with the group.
Back in the lab, they were discussing with the rest of the group about the previous conversation, pretty much telling them the same things. Flare, Aera, Splash and the biotics returned to the lab, joining in on the conversation after having been told about what they were discussing. Flare, having mentioned that her grandfather was suspicious about what they had been discussing, talked a little more about him; having also mentioned that they ate a few more meals a day than the recommended no-more-than-1 meal a day, which had jumpstarted her love and interest in food. From this conversation, the group wondered what else could have been hidden from the girls and how deep the corruption ran amongst their kind.
Evaluation[]
A little after the briefing, the girls asked to speak with the Primarch in private, so they moved into the Conference Room for said conversation, with Garrus having listened in on everything. In another room, they talked about what he said about keeping secrets. They confessed that there were some secrets that they were keeping from the crew but were too scared to mention them. From their point of view, if the secrets were to be brought out too soon, it could have devastating consequences, so they're waiting for the right time to tell them. The Primarch expressed that he didn't mean to scare them. He then mentioned that they should not be pressuring themselves to handle such heavy burdens on their own, and he has acknowledged their courage for making such brave decisions while saying that it's only natural to feel fear and guilt towards said decisions, especially since they're so young. He then stated that he should mention what they knew to the rest of the crew as a way to alleviate some of the pressure. EDI had also intervened, stating that she is aware of some of the things they're hiding and offered to help out, with Jewel expressing appreciation towards her. The girls will continue to keep their secrets to themselves, terrified that mentioning it could be a major slip up, resulting in a massive devastation.
They returned with the others. From there, the admiral announced that he would be leaving to take care of his other obligations. The Primarch announced that he would do the same. Jack also planned on leaving, stating that she neglected her obligations back at the academy long enough. The girls were sad to see them go, but hoped that they would come back. Then Jane announced that she would be taking over her cousin's position temporarily until he would come to. However, she would not do so at the moment as she had another matter to take care of. The girls were excited that she would be sticking around, especially with her being in a relationship with Garrus.
Everyone met within the cargo bay and bidded the admiral, the Primarch, Jane and Jack a farewell, with Jane promising Garrus that they will have more alone time together. As Cortez transported them out of the Normandy, everyone else went back to business as usual. Garrus stood by a little before being pulled away to return to his obligations.
Back at the lab, Mordin was looking into the readings of the residual magic energy back on Tuchanka. He found that there were similar readings throughout the entire galaxy, with many planets containing heavy amounts. They discussed these findings a little and how it would make sense. Then Mordin suggested to test a theory of how far back these past events would go, with the idea of trying to pick up on visions of events during the previous Reaper attack. He decided to start looking for these readings on one of the planets where the Reaper attacks were the heaviest. One such planet he suggested was Eden Prime, because not only was the attack on that planet one of the worst, it was also where they found Javik. Since he was there during that fateful assault, he wanted to see if any visions that Flare would perceive match his own memories of said incident. The crew decided to set a course for Eden Prime and also decided to bring Javik in this. Flare was clearly on board with this idea in spite of Garrus questioning the idea. The girls convinced him to accept this and he did so reluctantly.
From there, Flare asked Mordin to evaluate her, which he did without hesitation. Flare went back on the bed and Mordin stood in front of her to scan her, and Garrus stood nearby to monitor this. He worried about her enforcing the visions, but she assured him that she would not do that; instead, she would allow the visions to naturally focus themselves. Aera then asked the rest of the crew if he was truly the right person to pick as their main caretaker, as he tends to tense up easily with pretty much anything that they would do; however, they assured them that there wasn't a better person for the position than him as he was exactly what they needed for a surrogate parent to the girls, while adding that he cared more about them than what's for the best interest of the galaxy. Despite Aera's irritation and concerns for Garrus being so overprotective of them, she admitted that she and her friends actually liked it, as not many people from their realm were as caring towards them as him; an indication that said care was badly neglected from them by most who were part of their lives.
As Flare meditated on perceiving the visions, she saw a little more from them. They became a little more clearer and she saw a few other images that she had not seen before, such as the tower collapsing and Eve finding Mordin in the rubble, comatose but still very much alive. She questioned what she saw before coming out of her meditation. She then told everyone what she saw. She said that they were a little more clearer and that she saw a little more within the visions, the bits and pieces that she did not see before. She stated that when she saw Eve finding Mordin, she didn't in any way seem surprised, just like how Eve told them. She was still confused about what she saw, but was absolutely certain that the mysterious glowing figure that was there with Mordin prior to the tower's collapse was somehow the one who prevented him from dying that day. Thankfully, Flare was more adamant about trying to understand these visions than everyone else since they cared more about her well-being than trying to solve this mystery, confident that they will figure this out overtime. They then decided to brush that aside to get ready for when they arrived at Eden Prime. One such idea they had in mind was to bring Javik into the room to discuss their plans, an idea that Star wasn't too crazy about.
When Javik arrived at the lab, the crew members discussed with him their plan. Having been informed of Flare's special power and what was discovered on Tuchanka, he was told that he was needed on Eden Prime with them to confirm if the visions that Flare picked up on during that fateful attack 50,000 years ago match his own memories. Javik, curious about Flare's abilities, agreed to come with them to Eden Prime to see this for himself.
As soon as they reached Eden Prime, everyone got themselves ready to leave for the planet, although Ashley hesitated for a bit as she still had terrible memories of when she was on the planet. Regardless, they boarded the shuttle and flew towards the planet. Along the way, they discussed with Cortez about what they'll be doing.
Visions[]
They arrived on Eden Prime, and everything was exactly what they expected it to be but Flare immediately caught on the incredibly potent lingering magical energy around her and began to meditate. From there, she would see visions of the fateful Reaper attack that happened 50,000 years prior, when the protheans were still around. She also saw Javik during that fateful battle, fighting alongside his comrades, fighting a losing battle. The visions were so strong that she felt like they were actually happening around her, so when she came out of it, she stood up almost as though she was waking up from a terrible dream. She told everyone what she saw. After hearing all of it, Javik was able to confirm that what she saw matched his memories of that day. With that, he truly believed that she could see visions of the past exactly by how they happened. Before they could go further into this, Flare could sense a very strong Dark aura from very, very far away. They knew right then and there that the vigilante has begun another attack. They left on the Normandy right away.
Back on the Normandy, the crew asked Flare where the attack was taking place. With the use of her special powers, she was able to find that Dark aura at a planet on the other side of the galaxy from them: Fehl Prime. The crew set a course for the planet. With nothing else that could be done, everyone went their separate ways for the time being. Flare left to where Samara was at her usual spot to meditate with her. Liara, Ashley and Garrus still remained, although Garrus stepped aside to call up someone. It was later revealed that the person he was calling was Jane.
Flare spent some time within the Observation Deck meditating with Samara. They also had a chance to chat with each other. Flare talked to her about the visions that she saw on Eden Prime. From this, she was able to find out more about the Reaper attacks from Samara, including the fact that it happened so many times. Flare was shocked to find out how frequently these attacks occurred. Samara had told her that it was a difficult concept to comprehend, which led Flare to think about the Divine Source for a bit. They then went back to talking about the visions, with which Flare had mentioned that she hadn't been forcing them and let them come naturally. Even though they were coming in more clearly, she still didn't understand much of what she was seeing with Samara, ensuring them that they will come with time. Flare also talked a little about her grandfather with Samara being very pleased to hear about him. The 2 then decided to end their session together to meet with the others back in the lab.
Flare and Samara reunited with some of the crew members there. They went on to discuss their next destination: Fehl Prime, a human colony within the Terminus System. Much like Eden Prime, it contained prothean artifacts, but there was something else about it that made it very similar to Eden Prime. Fehl Prime contained a prothean beacon much like Eden Prime and was activated around the same time that the one in Eden Prime was. While Commander Shepard had been struck by that beacon, his cousin, Jane, was struck by the one on Fehl Prime at the same time. Garrus eventually revealed that not only did he call her a while ago, she was also there at that moment.
Arriving at the planet, they discussed the plan on the way there via the shuttle; they'll have the girls fight off the monsters while the crew took care of crowd control. When Jane was brought up, Garrus tried to not concern themselves with her but then revealed that dispite this, he was also scared for her.
They landed on the planet into the chaos that was the vigilante's massive assault. The girls transformed and rushed out to fight off the monsters. The crew handled themselves while keeping the civilians safe. During crowd control, Jane met back with the group. She helped out the crew with crowd control. During the fight, the girls were caught a little off-guard with Jane's arrival, but were able to snap out of it to get back into the fight. But then, they were caught by surprise from a Brute, another monster that was formed during the Reaper invasion. Already dealing with too much on their plate, Star was pressured into using another power of hers that she had always feared: lightning. From there, she was able to reveal in front of the crew members that she could wield the power of Quintessence. The crew contemplated on this for a bit. Mordin revealed that he did suspect that she had another kind of power but didn't disclose this because he was looking into it, trying to figure out what it was.
The fight continued on with the crew members needing to be protected. Thankfully with that, they were able to pull off a massively devastating attack with their combined powers to finish off the fight while also being able to make sure the crew members were safe.
After the fight was over, they regrouped with the crew members and Jane. After a bit of an awkward exchange, Flare was able to sense all around her the potent lingering magical energy. She meditated and pretty much picked up on the same kind of visions that she saw on Eden Prime. However, being that she was still in her Metamorphose form, the visions came in more focused and easier to comprehend. Garrus mentioned to her to not do that again as he could understand that it would use up too much of her own energy, to which Flare agreed to without hesitation. The girls changed back to their Dormant forms, ready to leave with the crew, but then Jewel inexplicably collapsed. The crew were greatly startled by this, with the rest of the girls also confused by why this happened; as they claimed that this had never happened to her before.
Recovery[]
While still unconcious, Jewel had a dream that she was within an empty void. Within the void, a strange voice called to her, then left a cryptic message.
One is all and all is one. Everything comes from one source while the one branches its source out to everything. All life has one source and that source extends itself to everything and everyone, therefore, I am everywhere.
Jewel woke up from the dream and found herself back in the medical bay with everyone relieved that she has recovered. Jewel, however, was confused about the weird dream that she had and the cryptic message that she heard. Although for some reason, the voice sounded familiar. When Mordin was asked about what caused the sudden change in her condition, he didn't find anything but he did find something that he hadn't been found before. With that, he, Liara and Dr. Chakwas went over to Dr. Chakwas' desk to look into it together.
A few of the women of the crew chatted with the girls while Jane, Garrus, Ashley and Miranda stood around expressing their concerns towards Jewel with Garrus clearly showing more angst towards the situation, but that was partially caused by having been forced to watch another 2 hours of the Pretty Cures with Mordin and Tali again. He also expressed annoyance towards everyone else having just stood around and watched it happen with them claiming that it was a good distraction to him, much to his annoyance. The 4 of them were pulled aside by Mordin, Liara and Dr. Chakwas to discuss some concerns regarding the Fayelons. They revealed to them that there was a signficant difference in the girls health between when they first arrived on the Normandy and how they are at the current time. It was revealed that enabling them to have more than 1 meal a day resulted in that. Before they were on the meal regiment, the girls were only getting by with their reserved energy, revealing even more that food is much more than just a form of pleasure. With them having eaten only 1 meal a day, their health is just at the bare minimum. In otherwords, the girls have been malnourished pretty much their whole lives. Not only that, but food having been nothing more than pleasure was an intentional lie that was being enforced by their kind. They relayed this information to the girls, much to their shock and horror.
A little afterwards, Garrus and Mordin pulled Star aside to discuss with her about her lightning abilities. Star had expressed that she hadn't mentioned anything about those powers of hers because she never really liked them as she had a very hard time maintaining control over their intensity, worrying that she would accidently kill someone with them. She had no luck with having her mentors teach her how to control them properly, with them making claims that control such a power would be impossible, but she could tell that they were lying. Mordin happily accepted helping Star out with controling her powers better. However, he needed some equipment to help her do so, which could only be found on Omega, a space station that served as a home for some of the worst criminal in the galaxy. With that, they decided that their next destination would be Omega.
Omega[]
Upon arriving at Omega, several of the crew members who would be willing to set foot in the space station entered with the girls. Their first stop was Afterlife where they were to meet with the asari that runs the entire station, Aria T'Loak. Along the way, Jane revealed that during the Reaper War, she helped Aria reclaim the entire place from Oleg Petrovsky, a general who was a subordinate of Cerberus.
As soon as they meet with Aria, she seemed friendly and welcoming to the girls. They have a brief conversation with each other, Aria got to know the girls through how they talk rather than what they talked about. After that, they told her about what Mordin needed for his project: mechs. Aria was unwilling to hand over any mechs for them but was more than OK with handing out any mech scraps, which was what Mordin actually needed for his project. However, she wasn't willing to just hand them over for free. In exchange for the mech parts, she asked the girls to take care of a gang issue within one of the lower districts of the station. The girls accepted the request without hesitation to which Aria pointed them in the right direction and the group were on their way.
Shortly afterwards, Tali, having been taking care of something else earlier, managed to meet up with everyone and they made their way towards their ride to the location that Aria wanted them to be sent to. After their first encounter with a batarian and their displaying that they're not humans through one of Aera's facial expressions, they got on the vehicle and were taken to their destination, but not before Tali and Mordin informed Garrus about of the anime cliches that they had just witnessed: the anime facial expressions.
Upon arrival, they ran into a fire fight between the Talons and a few vorcha who were members of the Blood Pack. With that, they girls transformed and fought off the vorcha. However, this fight didn't last long as Flare was able to sense a dark sensation that was about to be upon them as did the biotics with them and back on the Normandy. From there, a dark aura arrived and possessed the vorcha, transforming them into dark versions of themselves. While this was occuring, they could hear a deep and terrifying voice echoing before them.
Darkness is absolute! Darkness will consume all! I will obtain that which I desire and finally be able to seize and devour everything in sight! All will be mine!!!!
It was heard before and after the vorcha's transformation was complete.
This is the power of Darkness! All those who refused to be consumed by it shall suffer, such is the will of my powers, such is the will of Darkness!!!
The strength and ferocity increased from the transformation and the girls were struggling in the fight. The crew members, not wanting to stand around and watch the girls struggle, took matter into their own hands. They intended on acting as diversions so that the girls could regain their strengths but Mordin had another trick that he's been wanting to try out. He revealed that he had been working on some new modifications for the Omni-tools, which by infusing it with Light magic from his research, he was able to create magical-based tech that dispensed a surge of magical energy. It proved to be extremely effective against the newly transformed vorcha. He shared this modification with the the rest of the crew so that they would also stand a chance against these dark beasts. With the extra assistance of their new friends, the girls gained the advantage during the fight. They used each of their abilities to dispel the darkness out of the vorcha. The vorcha, having felt like they were living a terrible nightmare, fled the scene.
All seemed quiet, however, the Dark Aura was not done. However, it was stopped by a bright flash of Light from an unknown source. From the Light, a voice rang out that only Jewel could hear. It seemed to be chastizing the Dark aura, claiming that it has caused the galaxy a great deal of suffering.
With everything quiet, Jewel was able to ascertain that she was the only one who heard the voice. Although, Flare and the biotics could sense that whoever or whatever caused that sudden burst of Light was trying to communicate in a way. They were able to leave threw a broken door that Jewel was able to shatter into pieces by coating it in her own crystal magic and shatter that. At that time, Aria was monitoring the entire fight along sider 2 of her subordinates, Bray and Garka. She seemed impressed by their powers and how they handled the fight. It was also revealed that Aria had also watched a lot of the magical girl shows, with one of them having actually been Magical Girl Site. She then told her subordinates that she intended on counting on the girls to help out with whatever she needed from them. After expressing concerns towards these wishes while trying to remain respectful towards her, she assured her subordinates that she would never misused them in any way. Although, she seemed pleased with whatever they choose to do within her station.
The group returned to Afterlife to report to Aria about finishing the task. She seemed pleased but aside from that, she revealed that she had seen everything that took place, including the vorcha's monstrous transformations. After some hilarity ensuing with Splash's overexaturated crying and Aera having no self-restraint towards her blunt comments, Aria informed them that she had handed over the mech parts to their ship as promised. She stated that she looked forward to the girls helping out again. But then Garrus interjected and, being the overprotective father figure to them, passive-aggressively insists that she would have absolutely no position to make them do anything for her, with Aria taking his comments into consideration but also reminding them that they have a right to choose if they would like to help her out. Both of them had a mutual agreement in treating the girls with respect without any conflicts.
The group then made their way back to the Normandy but Jane and Aria had a brief exchange, expressing her concerns about Commander Shepard and Jane checking up on Aria is doing since what had happened during the fight against Cerberus took a toll on her, having lost Nyreen, with which Aria denied. Jane then left after Aria told her to give her regards towards the crew about Commander Shepard.
The group left Afterlife and continue on their way towards the where the Normandy was docked. The girls talked with the crew members about their impression of Aria, but the conversation was cut short when Jewel collapsed from losing conciousness again, with which they immediately tended to her.
Placidity[]
As Jewel lied unconcious, she had another dream. She was in a dark void when she saw what looked like the Milky Way Galaxy, followed by a soft sobbing of an unknown entity.
Jewel was brought back to the medical bay, still unconcious, lying on a medical bed, with Garrus standing beside her. A few of the Normandy women stood nearby, lamenting about Garrus and his concerns towards Jewel. They've also stated how his concerns are valid as well as express how much they worry about the girls.
At that time, the other girls were with Mordin and Tali, helping to build the new devices with the mech parts that they received from Omega. However, Aera sat on the sidelines with Cortez. They soon decided to take a break after 2 hours. Star wanted to continue working on the mechs. They convinced the girls that they should check up on Jewel, however, they intended on doing that first before going back to watch more of their magical girl shows. The girls could really see right through them as they actually had something else in mind that they were planning on doing.
Mordin and Tali returned to the medical bay where Garrus was still looking after Jewel, still unconcious. They went over to console him since he still worried about her. But then, they forced him out of the medical bay against his will to watch more of their programs with them, much to his dismay.
Some time after that, most of the crew members gather as the mess hall, chatting about their concerns towards Jewel. They went from talking about their concerns regarding her falling unconcious to Garrus being dragged out a while ago by Mordin and Tali to watch their magical girl shows with them, against his will. They then went on to discussing how Garrus and Mordin had been interacting with each other more, believing that the 2 have bonded from their mutual interest in helping the girls. The conversation shifted to them discussing Star and her situation with her abusive father. Having been traumatized badly by his sadistic control over her, they continued on to talking about the other girls and what forms of trauma that the other girls have suffered through, such as Jewel's mistreatment due to others back at her home believing she's "not good enough" to be a Gemma Kinetic. They didn't know much about what she has been through, with Liara expressing concerns towards one of her findings from the Intel Crystals regarding this situation. They then went on to express that they believe Jewel to be a true Gemma Kinetic regarding what others from her kind want to believe.
A few hours later, Mordin, Garrus and Tali had just finished up watching several more episodes of one of the magical girl shows. Tali and Mordin have been enjoying these sessions, but Garrus was annoyed for having them drag into this constantly. After some back and forth about how to go about this again, they left and made their way back to the medical bay. Garrus expressed concerns about Jewel passing out and what could have caused it.
Some time later, Jewel was able to regain consciousness. Her friends were able to rejoin her, excited to see her awake again. EDI entered the room, mentioning that she had informed the others about her finally waking up. Several members of the crew entered, thrilled to see her awake. The last ones to enter were Garrus, Mordin and Tali, having returned from the magical girl binge session. Garrus rushed over, relieved to see her awake again. Jewel made a joke about him not being with her when she woke up, with which he responded that he was forcibly dragged out by Mordin and Tali to watch more of their shows with them. His irritation subsided when he saw Jewel smiling and laughing, which was something that gave him a great deal of joy and relief.
They were soon itching to get back to business when Ashley, who wasn't with them at the time, informed them that she received a transmission from Admiral Hackett, stating that he wanted to see everyone. They made their way to QEC to meet with his holographic image. He informed them that they needed to return to the Citadel as the Council wanted to see them again. The girls were miffed about this but knew that they had to concede to it. Ashley expressed concerns about how the Council went about their meetings, as though they were implying that they wanted to meet with the girls everytime they return to the Citadel, which seemed suspicious. Star pleaded with Garrus and Mordin to stay with them through all of this, with which they both agreed to. From there, Star embraced them both, expressing how much she could not make it through so much of the hardships without them.
Discord[]
The Normandy arrived at the Citadel where the girls and the crew members meet up with Admiral Hackett. They made their way over to the Council Chambers while expressing their concerns and grievances about the Council. There were a few mentions of probably meeting with them everytime they arrive at the Citadel while believing that they should have known this somehow and there was also a mention of wanting to see Flare specifically for some reason.
They met with the Council who claimed that they should meet and speak with them frequently. Not only that, but they claim that the girls are obligated to meet with them since they're in charge of protecting the galaxy and the crew members are to answer to them, with which Garrus claimed was not true at all. The Council went on to mention reports of lingering magical energy containing "images of the past", with the admiral mentioning that the intel had yet to be disclosed. When questioned about how they could have known, they refused to answer and went on to demand why they weren't told about this during their previous conference, something that would not have been possible since it was discovered sometime after their previous meeting. There was a bit of a tiff but then one of them mentioned that there weren't any requests to meet up with them, with promises to not make such a request or demand again, but prefer to receive gradual intel on the current situation from time to time. Frustrations and tensions are clearly weighing down on them from the people across the galaxy demanding answers about the current situation, the girls assured them that they're doing all they can to find them and that the people will have to deal with not getting answers fast enough whether they like it or not. In addition to that, they have stated that they've found out more about the issue than they could have ever believed and that such credit should not be taken lightly.
With that having been settling, they went on to talk about the lingering magic that was mentioned a while ago. They informed them about what they encountered on Tuchanka and from there, they looked into this a little more, with Flare having seen the visions of past events from these residual traces. Flare mentioned the vague images that she saw on Tuchanka, with the Council not impressed by how very little she was able to see as well impatient with how slow she is with perceiving these visions. A few of the crew members stood up for Flare, stating that she can't rush trying to conceive these visions. One of the council members attempt to rebuke their arguments until he was put down by a counterargument. From there, they decided to ask Flare to demonstrate her power, but there are certain conditions that needed to be met, such as traces of lingering magical energy nearby. Fortunately, Flare could sense them out. From this, she saw a glimpses of the Battle of the Citadel, such as Sovereign latching on to the Citadel Tower, the geth attacks inside and outside the Citadel and of course, Saren, himself. After conceiving the visions, she mentioned to them everything she saw. From there, the Council were bewildered that she saw THAT fateful day. This then went on to the girls lashing out at the Council for ignoring the claims and doing nothing to confirm that they were true. The Council tried to justify their decision, but the girls were having none of it. The crew members supported the girls' arguments, even went as far as justifying Commander Shepard working alongside Cerberus despite their reputation. The Council was presented with a lot more to think about and adjorned the meeting.
Dejected from the arguments, the girls just wanted to return to the Normandy. During their return, the girls vented about the meeting while the crew members and the admiral brought up a few concerning matters from the arguments, such as how the Council could have known about the lingering magical energy consisting of visions of the past. But it was apparent that the girls presented some really good arguments, with the admiral and the crew stating how proud they are of them.
Before they could go back on to the Normandy, they were stopped by another alliance admiral, Mikhailovich, who expressed a lot of grievances about many of the mysterious events within the galaxy. On top of that, he blamed the girls for everything. The crew members did not hesitate to defend the girls. Even Admiral Hackett vouched for them. They argued with him everything that they've found out that supported the girls not being responsible for everything that had happened. Mikhailovich was in disbelief but offered to see the data for himself to verify the claims. Before they could do that, there was another attack. A massive dark vortex hovered over a metropolis a great distance away from them, unleashing hundreds of monsters on the metropolis. The girls transformed and rushed out to fight off the threat. While the crew members and the admirals were watching this fight take place, from the vigilante from the Fayelons' realm becoming a mass murder to keeping a few important relics away from him, being chased across the comsos and eventually ending up in the Milky Way Galaxy, including what lead them to deciding that they had to stay and take the fight to this threat within said galaxy.
During the fight, Flare was able to reveal that aside from her fire abilities, she also had the ability to inflict combustions, another lethal power that was feared and rarely used, a similar issue with Star and her lightning powers. The crew members were startled and impressed by this power, but have also become aware that she had her reasons for not mentioning that she had this kind of power.
After the fight, the girls were able to sense out the emotions of the people that they had saved. Some were overjoyed by them while others were displeased. Flare could also sense an unusal spike in dark energy from a great distance, such that is different from the dark aura she could sense from some of the denizens. She was unable to see or sense where or who this was coming from, but she has sensed this particular aura before.
The girls returned to the crew members and changed back. They received praises from their friends but also had concerns regarding the mysterious dark aura. Mikhailovich also praised the girls for their action and have decided to hold back some of his accusations towards them. From there, Mikhailovich entered the Normandy with the girls, the crew members and Hackett and left the Citadel.
Mikhailovich[]
Having just arrived back on the ship, a few of the girls and several of the crew members broke off while a few stood around with Admiral Hackett and Admiral Mikhailovich. Mikhailovich had a brief chat with Aera about her attitude and the nature behind it. The conversation was cut short by Splash having another of her fishy tantrums. They find her being held back by Jacob and Thane's biotics. When she was calmed down by a Dream Crystal in Jewel's possession, they hear from Kenneth Donnelly, Gabriella Daniels and Tali that an ensign walked in a purposefully provoke her by talking about the very thing that she hated most. The ensign sneered at whole issue, but Engineer Adams reprimanded him for his poor treatment towards the girls, stating that he could work somewhere if he didn't like it. The guy was glad to leave, stating that he didn't like working with aliens. They then went on to express their grievences about the guy, how he mistreated the girls and how he would enjoy the thought of provoking Splash by going on and on about fish food. They were not at all going to miss him when he leaves. Jacob and Thane received some praises from Miranda about holding back Splash, though they were exhausted by the whole incident. Adams, Donnelly and Daniels then praised the girls as well as express relief of the ensign leaving. When, Splash was pulled out of her calming trance, she went on to express her frustrations towards the ensign, but Donnel and Daniels console her, telling her to not mind the guy. Admiral intended on helping out with getting the guy removed from his ship with Garrus making a joke about Citadel maintenance hiring and Jane adding to the joke. They then proceeded to head out to check on the new devices that were built for the girls.
On their way out, Liara met with them again. They discussed a few things with her and Glyph along the way down. They also went on to discuss the devices that were built and their intentions, such as testing out Star's lightning abilities and helping to lowing its intensity.
Arriving at the cargo bay, Mordin and Star were waiting for them. They were soon joined by Flare and Samara. They were shown the newly completed devices, the upgraded LOKI Mech, stripped of their original programing and had new functions installed into them, such as vents for the girls powers to flow through them and a built in computer to analyze the intensity of their powers, something that even Mordin couldn't figure out completely, using the excuse that it's a Fayelon thing. Flare transformed and utilized her fire powers as a way to demonstrate the new devices' functions. She went by have her flames be safe to be around to making them fatal when standing in them. Star then transformed and shot her lightning at each of the Mech, not needing to worry about damaging them. During the demonstation, it showed all of her lightning strikes to have a very high fatality rate, much to her disappointment. After discussing the concerns with their powers and the problems they had been dealing lately. There were then claims that many could not figure out how to reduce the intensity of their most dangerous powers, but all of them suspect that's not the case. Flare then offered Star to meditate with her as an attempt to control her powers better. They have tried this before but there may be a chance that they could figure out something this time. So, the 2 girls sat down and began meditating. While this was taking place, Star emitted static electricity from her body that caused her hair to stand on end. While everyone else was stunned by this, Star didn't seem to think it was a big deal and fixed her hair while griping about people making a big deal about a bad hiar day, another indication that she's not like other girls.
Throughout all of this, Mikhailovich observed how everyone had came together to console the girls and help them through their toughest times while listening to their grievences and all the horrible struggles that they've been through. He seemed touched by all of it.
Realization[]
The girls later on were at the medical bay, with Star being looked after. Dr. Chakwas mentioned that she was still in good health. Mordin approached her and mentioned that there have been some concerns regarding her powers with Liara mentioning that she had consulted the Intel Crystals with the same concerns. They then made their way back to the lab to look over them. The other crew members know about this, expressing that these concerns are related to the abuse that she had suffered over the years. This time, it involved neglect.
Having made it back to the lab, Star had already looked over the result, with which she was very distraught about. They were able to go over it with the rest of the girls. Mordin began to explain that Star's lightning powers are very difficult to contain. Because of that, there were no restrictions on her powers, making it nearly impossible for her to lower the intensity of her powers. Star was never given the chance to be taught how to do that since those that were supposed to teach her refused, making claims that there is no way to do that. Mordin, however, confirm that none of that was true. Those with the powers were supposed to undergo special training that would help them with that and they were supposed to start at a young age, which means that Star was way behind on having to manage them.
The girls have had numerous experience with similar instances, but only a handful of their mentors had been willing to teach them what they wanted and needed to learn about their powers. However, all of them mysteriously disappeared, something that Garrus found very suspicious. One such mentor was the greatest that they've ever had and genuinely cared about the girls. However, around the time of her disappearance, a mysterious jewelry box appeared, though there were no indications that she was the one that gave it to them, Jewel was certain that it was her.
They then moved on to the subject of Star's lightning powers, having decided that she should hold off on using them again until she manages to control them better. They then went on to discuss with Flare about her explosive powers. She received the same treatment as Star, she had a dangerous ability that needed to be maintained and several times, her mentors promised that they would get started on it, but never did. Her grandfather offered to start the training on her, but they declined, claiming they would eventually, but have put it off for too long. From there, her grandfather decided to take matters into his own hands and proceed with the training. This went on for a while, but the headmistress caught wind of it. She reprimanded Flare for doing this behind their backs then forbid her from taking the training course and banned the grandfather for attempting this on her again. She felt as though this was something the headmistress was waiting for. This clearly angered the crew members and they promised to get started with this tutelage with them as soon as they possibly could.
Star then threw a full blown temper from the frustration of having all of this being kept from her before she started crying with Mordin consoling her. Mikhailovich decided to completely rescind his previous accusations about the girls after having realized how much they have suffered. He also requested to look through all of the data that the crew managed to collect on the girls and their powes as well as their realm and way of life. He also intended on filling out a report that he needs to have for the alliance about the girls.
Some time after that, Flare and Star were back at trying to manage their other abilities, but withouth the proper guidance and tutelage, they had no way of improving upon them. From further discussions of this, the crew members were even more suspicious towards the hesitation towards the mentors having the girls undergo the special training that they needed. They seemed to suspect that the girls are being singled out on purpose for some reason. They went on to ask the girls about their experiences with this as they needed more insight. The girls have also mentioned their own suspicions of being singled out. However, there were times when they were conceded into treating the girls fairly, through gritted teeth, almost as though they had been told to do so by a much higher power than them.
Admiral Hackett then asked the girls if there was a higher authority amongst their society, with the girls mentioning that there is and they are known as the Disciples of Order, mysterious beings who are said to speak for the Divine Source as well as answer to her. They maintain order within their realm by decree of the Divine Source. They are highly respected amongst their entire race as they're the ones who uphold the ruling of their realm. When the Disciples of Order give someone a direct order, it would be extremely uncalled for. They maintain peace and order amongst their kind and any order they would give out is always made for the best interest of their society. However, the girls gave the impression that the impression that there are some within their realm who are displeased with having to obey the Disciples of Order.
They eventually went on to discussing what they plan to do to help out the girls moving forward. Miranda mentioned that she had reached out to Jack who offered to invite the girls back to the academy to help them with their abilities. Everyone agreed that this was a good idea, so they set a course back to Grissom Academy to do that. As excited as the girls are about this, Garrus took this as a grim reminder of their terrible situation back at home. So the girls decided to train their powers more as they wait for their return to the academy.
Misguided[]
They arrived back at the academy, where Sanders, Jack and several of the students awaited them. They discussed the most recent findings about the girls and their powers, as well as their educational programs. Admiral Mikhailovich remained on the Normandy to work on his report that he needs to have for the alliance, but Admiral Hackett proceeed with the group within the academy. Between the residual energy traces and the data that was recently received, the academy had been very busy.
Sanders proceeded to have Flare and Star train their unique abilities so that they would have a chance to look into it, themselves, with Jewel, Aera and Splash providing the barriers to keep everyone safe from these powers. Sanders and Jack stood by and watched in amazement as both girls demonstrated their other abilities. The crew members also had a chance to summarize everything that they heard from the girls about the issues regarding these powers, including the mentors and their refusal to have the girls undergo these special training regiments. Mordin then decided to have the girls undergo another endurance test with their special abilities to receive another insight into this problem. Garrus was, again, hesitant about allowing this, but understood the importance of having them go through this. The girls were eager to get started on this immediately, but Flare reminded them that they needed to rest up a bit before they get started so that they could be at their highest form.
After the girls rested up, they underwent the endurance tests. Mordin looked over the results from one of the academy's computers. Garrus and Liara joined him a little afterwards. From what they were able to see, the results seemed very troubling. It revealed that there are clear indications of overexertion of their powers, which causes a definite physical strain on their bodies. From this instability, control over their more advanced powers is near impossible. From this, they speculate the mentors purposely teach them the incorrect method of exerting their powers, leading them to believe that not only are the girls being neglected from proper training, they're also being sabotaged.
Garrus had some time to vent about this with Liara while Mordin left to take care of something else. Garrus was worried about the girls but Liara could tell that this is clearly causing a great deal of strain on him as well. Their findings had been pointing closer and closer towards the indication that the Fayelons' society consists of a great deal of corruption, even go as far as the people defying their own goddess. Liara had spent some time looking over the Intel Crystals, having found some strange things about some of them, such as some of them being "blocked out" for some reason.
Soon enough, Garrus and Liara reunited with the group to find the girls had already been informed about the results of the previous endurance tests. The findings had clearly devastated the girls, with each of the crew members expressing discontent towards the girls' horrible treatment. However, there was a silver-lining in the forms of Mordin's diet regiments helping them, however, it will only delay the health problems that come from the overexertion of their powers, so they're a temperary solution for the time-being. The girls had already had their suspicions about food being more than just pleasure ever since they first left their realm.
When the admiral asked what the girls plan to do after having defeated the vigilante, they mentioned that they're to return to their realm and finish up their courses. The crew members were surprised to hear about this as well as seemed hesitant about letting them do this, but the girls mention that it's something they had to do as they had a rotation cycle left to finish up, then they'll be done, then they'll be able to do whatever they want afterwards, which is return to the Milky Way Galaxy where their new friends live. From there, everyone accepted this and told them that they all would look forward to seeing them return. Star even believed that they would be praised as heroes when they defeat the vigilante.
However, the different crew members gathered within another room and talked amongst each other, with everyone believing that even after the vigilante is defeated, things will not get better for them. From what they have found out after looking over the different ways in which the girls were abused and mistreated, as well as a lot of twisted circumstances regarding their kind, such as a suspicion of a situation that is more than just people declining the obligation of being guardians. However, they did decide to let the girls return home when the time come, but they also believe that they will return to them much sooner than even they realize, but if and when they do, they all agreed to be there for them like always.
Some time later, everyone regrouped. Admiral Hackett announced that their was one more location that they need to make their way to before he and Mikhailovich needs to return to the alliance. He was contacted by ExoGeni and asked to meet with them at their facility on Feros. The crew members were not thrilled with this, given what they did to Zhu's Hope. However, the admiral assured them that they have made amends and will never do anything like what they did to Zhu's Hope ever again. From there, they made their decision to meet with them on Feros with Sanders and Jack leaving on a separate ship, intending on meeting them there with plans to leave for Feros some time after the Normandy's departure.
Feros[]
While on their way to Feros, the crew members told them about what had happened during their prior visit, to which the girls understood why the crew members were worried.
They eventually arrived at Feros, having landed in Zhu's Hope. They were greeted by Shiala, a former subordinate of the late Matriarch Benezia. She welcomed the girls to the colony and told them to make themselves at home. ExoGeni had been eager to meet them but she told them to wait for a bit as the researchers there were still busy with a few things. So they did just that.
Around this time, Aera sat with Cortez, an indication that she had bonded with him very well. At the request of Admiral Mikhailovich, Aera also went on to tell everyone about her past. As a child, she was mistreated horribly by her mother, whom she had given the nickname "Evil Queen". Jewel and Splash had already known about this as they had been childhood friends with Flare and Star coming into their lives later on. Not only was Aera badly mistreated by her mother, but also the society she was part of was wrapped around her evil mother's finger, so they were also terrible to her. The only person she could count on to shelter her from all of it was her father. When asked if he was a gay man, Aera confirmed it. They already had suspected this after having Cortez confirm that he was attracted to men reminded Aera of her father even more. He spent years trying to break himself and his daughter away from her mother and, after having proven that her mother is abusive, they finally had the chance. However, her father died before that could happen. She suspected that her mother killed him but didn't have any way to prove it. But custody of Aera was automatically rewarded to her mother despite having proven that she was abusive. So many about this was suspicious because of her mother's abuse being pushed aside, but her father's death was not looked into. However, the Disciples of Order intervened, livid over the higher-ups of Aera's society just handing her over to her mother, deeming it completely unacceptable. They demanded them to overturn their decisions or suffer serious consequences. The higher-ups were to concede through gritted teeth. Her mother, on the otherhand, threw a nasty fit. Through that tirade, something inside Aera snapped and she went off on her mother, having let out everything that she had bottled up inside her for years. From then, the shy little girl who was afraid of her mother didn't exist anymore and a brave, new Aera came out, snarkiness included. Afterwards, she was sent to stay with a relative of her father's until it was time for her to attend the academy.
From Aera's story, Mikhailovich understood why Aera had such a distain towards higher-ups with such high and mighty attitudes. Regardless, he warned her to try and be careful towards anyone of any high statuses as it may get her into trouble, something she clearly understood.
Soon enough, Shiala approached them to tell them that ExoGeni was ready to see them. Several crew members were left in Zhu's Hope to look after the colony while the several others that have looked after the girls made their way to ExoGeni.
As soon as they arrived, they were greeted by Juliana Baynham and her daughter Lizbeth. They also met with Jack and Sanders. The mother and daughter had been made representatives of ExoGeni since they were both the more trustworthy members of the company's branch in Feros. Lizbeth felt that she didn't deserve to be one since she was also involved with the Thorian project but was reassured that her attempt to put a stop to it was enough to qualify her. The girls were informed that ExoGeni was interested in analyzing their powers, to which the girls seemed eager to do. Although, one of them made a special request.
As they made their way into the building, Juliana was given some intel that they have collected as well as have been warned about Splash's severe distain towards seafood, with even the slightest mention of it would set her off easily.
As they continued on, Aera inquired about the Thorian project, with which Lizbeth and Juliana filled in a little more that the crew members couldn't tell them. Then the girls asked what Commander Shepard and his crew were doing on Feros, which led them to tell about what had happened, such as Saren wanting to gain access to what the Thorian knew as well as hear a little more about the mysterious, ancient plant.
Shortly afterwards, the girls transformed and demonstrated their powers in front of the researchers of ExoGeni. Splash had gone elsewhere. Flare and Star also presented their secondary powers to them, with some safety measures being used, of course.
The girls eventually got done and the crew discussed the results and other findings amongst Juliana and Lizbeth. However, they noticed that Splash hadn't gotten back from practicing. The girls, knowing exactly what she was doing, led everyone else to where they knew she would be.
Emerging[]
They arrived at a large, closed off room where Splash was practicing her magic. Miranda, Liara, Jack, Kasumi and Samara were watching from outside with Kasumi watching it as though it was a spectical. From Splash converting a sphere of water into ice to breaking it apart and changing the shards back into water, it truly was a sight to behold. Everyone became startled when the watched her fill the entire room with water, fearing that she could drown. The other girls didn't seem worried as they mentioned that she had done this before and that she enjoys doing this. When they questioned if she would drown, they mentioned that they never heard of that word before. They explained to them what it meant and from there, they find out that Fayelons don't necessarily need to breathe all the time, unlike non-magical beings.
Splash eventually got done and reverted to her dormant form, rejoining her friends. She expressed her joy of when she was practicing her powers. A few of the crew members and Admiral Mikhailovich left with the girls while Admiral Hackett the rest of the crew members talked a bit about the watching her practice her powers and what it reminded of them.
They went with Shiala, Juliana and Lizbeth to look after some data that they had collected. From their findings, there have been indications of Dark energy spread throughout the entire galaxy. Not only that, but the Dark energy consists of the same readings as the residual energy that could be sensed out by Flare's special power. This was an indication of a very strong connection between the Fayelons and the galaxy, itself. It may even bring them closer to the mystery of how and why the deity of the Fayelons, the Divine Source, was unable to protect the galaxy from the Reaper Invasions. Darkness and Light had been at war with each other since the dawn of time with Garrus believing that their galaxy got caught in the crossfires. Mordin then revealed that he may have found a way to find the answers to those questions, such as being able to project images of events that have happened during particular periods of time and he intended on analyzing the residual magical energy to do so. With all of this data, he intended on creating a device that can project detailed-oriented images of past events through analyzing the residual energy throughout the entire galaxy. Liara was more than thrilled to hear about this as she had been an archelogist and it seemed like a dream come true for someone like her. However, Garrus seemed very concerned as it involved having to use the girls and their special powers to help, but Mordin assured him that he had already discussed this with the girls and they seemed very interested in helping out with this. He even promised Garrus that the girls would not be mistreated or hurt in any way, Garrus threatened to break his spinal cord in half is he went back on his word, a threat that Mordin gladly took into consideration.
At that time, Mikhailovich was chatting with the girls and asked about any boyfriends they left behind. The girls laughed and scoffed at the idea as they revealed that they had very little interest in boys, much less dating, with Star calling it "trivial crap". In fact, none of them even had any crushes. Everyone that heard this seemed surprised as dating is what's on the minds of most girls their age, but not these girls. Although, it's the kind of thing that is highly regarded amongst their race. They've had their reasons for not having any interests in that, but before they could get into discussing them, Flare could sense out a strong dark aura from Zhu's Hope. Realizing that the colony could be under attack, they transformed and rushed out back towards the colony as fast as they could with everyone else having to follow them back via transportation.
The girls arrived back with having noticed the crew members that stayed within the colony trying to fight off the threat. The girls went on to fight off the threat, themselves. The others that returned from ExoGeni barely arrived soon enough to help fight off the threat. Everything seemed calm, however, something did not seem right as the threat was dealt with too easily. That was when they noticed Flare sensing a massive Dark energy below them. From there, a far worse threat emerged from below them, the Thorian, or rather a replica of it forged from Dark magic, which explained why the previous fight seemed too easy.
Everyone was forced to fight off the Thorian and its Creepers, with everything doing all they could while protecting the colonists. But the fight was proving to be difficult even with extra help such as the water pipes bursting and giving Splash an extra boost of her water powers. With the situation getting harder, Jewel was forced to use one of her advanced Gemma Kinetic abilities but she needed help from her friends in order to carry it out. She fought the Thorian head on as a distraction while she charged up her magic. She was knocked back but was able to insert one of her conjured up crystals. With that, she used her magic to expand the crystal that she inserted into the Thorian. She struggled with this ability as it seemed like a very difficult technique to master, but her friends helped out by attacking the Thorian directly, weakening it. With this, she used all of her might to obliterate the gem within the Thorian, destroying the Dark replicated creature in the process, but the power took a lot out of her. Thankfully, the threat was over.
Some time afterwards, everyone was cleaning up the mess from the assaults with Jewel resting since her advanced technique really took a lot out of her. The girls stayed in their Metamorphose so they could utilize their full abilities to help out with the fight. Splash worked on helping to fix the pipe but a colonist mentioned something about wanting a sashimi flambé too close to Splash. This triggered her immediately and caused her to use the water from the ground to summon a massive typhoon that nearly killed the colonist, but Jewel rushed out just in time to put her into her trance. She did manage to clean and fix up the pipe almost immediately after she returned from her trance.
The admirals then took their leave while the crew members stayed remained within the colony. As soon as they left, Mikhailovich got to work on his report regarding the girls:
When I first met the girls, I thought that they had brought this cataclysm upon our galaxy but after spending some time with them and the Normandy crew, I realized that I was wrong. As it turns out, there is so much more to this than what can be seen from the surface.
I had been told that these girls, the Fayelons, have drifted from one galaxy to another, or realm as they would call them, doing all they can to prevent this monster from doing to these realms what it has done to their own. However, upon entering ours, they were able to ascertain that they could no longer run and because of that, they have to stay. I had been ignorant of this. If I had known this sooner, I wouldn’t have criticized the girls as harshly as I did.
However, there is more to this than just this cataclysm. You see, their ongoing drifting from one realm to another has caused a sense of fatigue in which they cannot continue to run from this menace. But that is not all to their fatigue. As it turns out, the Normandy crew have looked into their conditions and have found that the girls have suffered from multiple cases of neglect and abuse by their mentors and caretakers and because of that, their powers were unable to develop as efficiently as they were supposed to. The Normandy crew have agreed to help these girls with developing their powers like they should have. This is indeed another reason why they have to stay within our galaxy.
The Normandy crew provide more than just assistance and servitude towards the girls and helping with their powers. They provide them with love and friendship; 2 factors that have clearly been neglected from these girls for far too long. From this, they have begun to grow and develop in ways that they should have. A promise made by the good people of the Normandy that they have been happy to fulfill and carry out. The girls and this galaxy couldn’t be in better hands.
Whether or not these girls were the cause of this calamity, it does not matter. It is very clear from my close observation that they need to be here, regardless of such. This was not their intention, they did not want to stay, but after realizing that they could not run anymore, this was the only choice that they had to make. Had I known that sooner, I wouldn’t have blamed them for luring this threat into our galaxy. They never wanted this, they never intended for this, but it is here and it should be clear that leaving is not an option. They are aware that staying would be the entire galaxy at risk, but believe it or not, this is the best decision. Not only that, but I have come to the realization that this isn’t the first time that this galaxy has faced such Darkness. This may also be another reason for this threat to loom over our galaxy. From this, I can fully understand that these girls truly aren’t to blame for this. If anything, they merely sped up the process for this Darkness to threaten us all. Believe it or not, this is the best outcome; at least we have the means to combat this.
It was fate for them to arrive here. I don’t expect everyone to accept this, but I, at the very least, would like for them to understand. I, for one, fully understand that this has to be. I could not think of any better circumstances for this threat, this Darkness to be combatted. I can rest easy knowing that it can and will be dealt with by the best possible care we could ever receive. These girls will save us from this and perhaps they could do so much more for us.
What I’m about to say is not solely one of a professional manner. I cannot lie, this is something that is truly personal for me. After meeting these girls, these Fayelons, and seeing firsthand who they are and what they’ve been through, all that they have suffered through and endured, I will give them my full support. I can only hope that many within the Alliance are willing to do that same.
Stowaway[]
The crew members still remained on Feros for a bit longer, still cleaning up from the aftermath. Garrus stepped out to think about Jewel and her special power. Mordin followed him. They both chatted about Jewel being able to use her special power, even though she had struggled to master it before. It seemed that she still was but received so much help from her friends to carry it out, but to have her be able to use it is a sign of improvement. This also brought up the issue of the girls not being able to master their more advanced powers until they're able to carry out their techniques properly. If things continue the way there were going, the girls would put far more stress on themselves just from carrying out their more advanced powers. They were reminded again that the girls' mentors knew about this but continue to let the girls carry out their powers as is without teaching the proper techniques.
The 2 of them returned to the others but not before complimenting each other on their handling of the situation; Mordin telling Garrus that the girls are lucky to have them and that no one else could fill the role of their main caretaker. Garrus then tells Mordin that they would all be in the dark without him, as well as the girls liking him.
As soon as they returned with the rest of the group, everyone was just about finished up with cleaning up the mess in Zhu's Hope. They said their farewells to Shiala, Juliana and Lizbeth and left the planet. Kahlee and Jack left to return to the academy.
Back on the Normandy, Ashley announced that their next destination was Therum. Last time any of them were there was the first time they met Liara, when she was caught in a prothean trap, something Javik couldn't help but mock her about. They've reached out to a few people who had been willing to lend a few helping hands for the girls. Mordin also revealed that he had a special project in mind that could help out the girls and a few of his contacts there had been helping out with it. There were also a few others that wanted to meet the girls, such as the salarians from the Salarian Special Tasks Group that were stationed there. With that, everyone was set for their next destination. Star, especially, but she seemed a little too eager to contain herself.
They then moved on to another topic with Splash, for some reason, wanting to bring up how they can be killed. It was an awkward starter of a topic, but the girls decided to fill them in on one way since it's something that only magical beings are able to do. They could extract the magical energy from their bodies through eye contact. It is said to promote arousal through extract essences from one another, something the girls couldn't really care less about. However, extracting too much of it could prove fatal. They called this "snuffing the Light from their eyes". After going through that, they all agreed to never bring up anything like this again as what they had heard seemed a little too disturbing to hear.
Just then, they heard a large bang as well as a few crew members that something emerged in the cargo bay. They rushed down to see a massive, grotesque dark creature. They suspected that it was the vigilante's doing. The girls transformed and fought off the monster.
As the girls were fighting off the monster, the crew members looked further into the situation to find that there were hardly any traces of the vigilante's own magic, which indicates that there is another untapped force at work here.
With their combined strength and power, the girls were able to completely obliterate the monster.
After the fight, the crew members told the girls about their speculations of there being another force at work, to which the girls had already been suspecting that. Both sides agreed that there is something far more going on than just a vigilante gone rogue. They intended on looking further into this matter but not before getting something to eat. They left the cargo bay, however, Jewel looked back and mentioned something very vague before going back with the others.
You'll never find her, Romrick. We'll make sure of that.
Mordin and Star returned to the lab while waiting for dinner to be ready. They discussed even more about the findings as well as the Star and her friends' suspicions of something worse going on than just the vigilante. He then asked Star about what was discussed before about how Fayelons are able to kill one another while mentioning that non-magical beings could not be killed by this, with which Star believed that to be true. He then made an unusual request: to demonstrate the technique in which Fayelons can "snuff the Light from the eyes of other Fayelons". Star agreed, mentioning that she was curious about this. She then stared into his eyes while attempting to "snuff the Light" from them. Mordin analyzed her while she was attempting this. Garrus, however, walked in at this time and caught them in the act. She eventually stopped at the moment that Mordin would have been dead from this had he been a magical being. They then noticed Garrus in the room. Star asked to try this on him, but he declined, he then told her that dinner was ready and she happily left to reunite with her friends.
Garrus, however, stayed for a bit and discussed with Mordin how all of what they found out recently was too much for Garrus to take in. He struggled to wrap his mind around so much of it. He then went off to clear his mind. Mordin asked if he would like to have Jane meet with him later, to which Garrus accepted, requesting to have her meet with him in the commander's quarters before leaving.
Soon afterwards, Garrus was in Command Shepard's quarters, venting to the comatose commander, wishing he would regain consciousness so that he could help everyone like he used to. Jane then showed up and he was able to vent to her, worried if what he had been doing was enough. She comforted him and reassured her that he was, even though there's still more that they could do for them, but what they had been doing so far has helped. However, he mentioned that another thing that bothered him was that they had been doing so much for the girls when hardly any of their own kind had done the same for them, allowing them to suffer health issues, lying about their powers, misguiding them, even abusing them, all of it bothered him so much and to find others like himself and the rest of the Normandy crew in order for the girls to get what they needed, to go to so many worlds and galaxies to find anyone that would help them and care about them. On top of that, the vigilante had went rogue and became an evil mass murderer with the girls being the only ones to have done anything about it made him question if he and the rest of the crew were the only ones who ever cared about them. Jane seemed uncertain as there was so much that they didn't understand. She then tried to reassure him by saying he's a good person who actually cares about the girls, but that made him uneasy as they had to travel so far and so long to find him, questioning why their luck with finding anyone who cares about them was just that terrible and they deserved so much better. Jane agreed but mentioned that the girls were glad to have found him, having that he had protected them since they first met, their meeting was truly serendipitous. Garrus felt like he couldn't take any credit, but Jane did make him believe that he did, that he had been a good father figure to them, demonstrating how much he cared about them because he wanted them to be happy, which he confirmed himself. Jane told him that she has faith in him and things will continue to go well as long as they have him. Garrus, feeling grateful, thanked her for reassuring him and the 2 of them had their special moment together.
Therum[]
They arrived at Therum, their next destination. As soon as they landed on the planet, they were greeted by Kelly Chambers, the former Yeoman of the Normandy. She had a chance to meet the girls and briefly told her about her role when she was on the Normandy before taking them to meet with the Salarian Special Tasks Group, who were stationed on the planet to fight off more of the monsters from the Reaper War that were forged from Darkness, the Marauders. They met with their leader, Major Kirrahe, who was very pleased to meet the girls. However, Star wasn't crazy about meeting him and had him "evaluated" before she declared that he was OK, but nowhere near the standards of her favorite salarian.
Shortly afterwards, the met with the holographic image of the Prime Minister. They discussed with her the research that was being done on Therum, which consisted on looking into the common factors of the miraculous survivors throughout the entire galaxy, to which Mordin theorized had something to do with Light magic, which had been confirmed to be true. This was an indication that all of the survivors have been saved by Light magic and the person who wielded that kind of magic was the one who saved them. However, this was but a fragment of the many mysteries that were to be solved, such as why the protheans weren't saved in the same manner. The Prime Minister speculated that the answers lie within looking into the Dark magic. It was further believed that there was a lot more to the girls' conflict against the vigilante than what could be seen on the surface. The girls also emphasized on how many realms fell under the protection of their goddess but there were many others that the Fayelons never knew about, such as the Milky Way Galaxy. A number of their kind sought to seek out and discover more realms, however, the girls' mentors claimed that there were no other realms within the dark reaches of space and those that have left to seek out other realms have never been seen again. The girls then went on to mention that being guardians of the Universe was one their kind's sole purpose, but then there were some that prefer to live their lives by other means. Eventually, the Divine Source accepted this, but for others, that doesn't seem to be enough.
They moved on to another topic which involved Dark magic. From the research that had been done, it was found that the Dark energy had the same readings as the residual magical energy that was sensed out by Flare. But unlike the residual traces, Flare was unable to perceive any visions of the past, but she was able to sense something else from it, something unpleasant, feeling of dread, like sensing what a nightmare feels like.
They then went back the subject of Light energy and their confirmed relations with the miraculous survivors. Mordin mentioned that a lot of these readings picked up on some unique patterns, unique characteristics, with some heavily radiated from fatal injuries, an indication that the Light energy was focused on these injuries as a means of healing them, such as Thane's own injuries. However, Mordin wanted to focus on a more specific pattern, and as a way to demonstrate that, he lied down on a nearby medical bed. He had Flare evaluate him with her sensing powers, with which she could sense out residual traces of Light energy that is forming around him like a cacoon of sorts. He then asked Star to scan him, which did with her Omni-tool. They were able to check the results of the data collected, which displayed a vivid image that Flare confirmed was what she sensed. Many of the miraculous survivors also had readings very similar to this. There were some with the energy focused on fatal injuries and there were some that consist of the same energy readings of a mystical containment field, much like Mordin. He speculated that it may have involved protection of sort. It also clarified how it was possible for Mordin to survive the tower's collapse, stating that someone did save him.
The Prime Minister ended her briefing, stating that she'll fill in Hackett about what they had discussed. At that moment, Liara recalled Flare mentioning that she saw a mysterious figure embracing Mordin from behind. She believed that entity was the one who utilized the magic that saved him and many others throughout the galaxy, although Flare was unsure of who it was, but she sensed something familiar about it. Mordin also felt this, but it wasn't the only thing he felt. From the brief embrace, he stated that he could feel emotions, those that were of sadness, pain and love, believing that it was from the entity.
Mordin then went on to evaluate Thane. Ashley conversed with Kirrahe about the assault that he and the rest of STG with Kirrahe stating that things are going well so far, especially with the new modifications to their weapons and tech that Mordin had given them. He offered them as a means of testing out the new mods since it was the only way to test them, but it was necessary as it was the only way to stand against the Dark creatures.
Garrus had stepped outside to process everything that he heard. Jane joined him again. Garrus stated to her that he's still struggling to wrap his head around it, but Jane told him that they're doing all they can to understand everything, they just need to take it a step at a time, the miraculous survivors especially. As great as it is that some entity is saving so many of these people, it's still tough to process, especially with so many mixed emotions about how so many of those people could have been dead. Even more so, why it was happening recently rather then 50,000 years ago, around the time of the protheans, even prevent the Reaper Invasion, but that never happened, feeling that something happened in their galaxy to have caused all of this. It's a mystery that's being looked over, especially by Mordin. Garrus then mentioned to Jane that they hadn't conversed much in the past, but recent events caused him to develop some fondness towards Mordin, probably because he's the only one who is capable of solving these mysteries or perhaps it's because they bonded over their shared interest towards the girls. Garrus has mentioned that he's had many conversations with Mordin about the girls, with Mordin developing a close relationship with the girls, moreso Star because of her past abuse. He then mentioned to Jane that he believe that because of the many bonds that they had formed with the crew members, they will return after they go back to their realm and Jane agreed on this, that the girls will return to them much sooner than anticipated.
Progressing[]
Mordin had finished up with scans on Thane which indicate that residual traces of Light magic were found on his fatal injury, further supporting that Light magic had healed his injury. Everyone went over again that these same readings were found all over the galaxy as well as question why this is started happening now. Mordin then mentioned that he found residual traces in other areas of Thane's body, with which they were able to find that the Light magic had also reverted his illness to an earlier stage, again speculating why something like this is happening now. They theorized that Dark magic had something to do with this but don't yet know what it did. Mordin intended on finding the answers through the readings of the residual Dark magic as well as a new device that could create a simulation of turning back time to see what had occurred during events of the past.
Garrus came back with Jane and was filled in on what was previously discussed. Kirrahe pulled the girls aside to discuss something with them. Thane and Ashley joined them on the conversation.
At that time, Mordin pulled Garrus aside to show him another project that he was working on. He had been working on creating supplements to help with the girls' energy deficiency. He discussed with Garrus a number of ways in which the supplements could help with the girls' overall health and energy production, but it was just another temperary solution. Garrus seemed pleased by the effort that went into making them as a lot of people and research was done to create them. Mordin then mentioned that Garrus would always be the first he would turn to for approval of anything that he intended to do for the girls, being the Fayelons' main caretaker, a position that Garrus still gripes about being forced to take. Mordin then stated that Garrus was the best fit for the position as no one else could be a better fit for it, even Commander Shepard. Garrus was surprised to hear this and made his way out to contemplate what he was told.
Jane soon rejoined Garrus on the balcony again. He seemed at shock over what Mordin had said to him. Jane backed up what Mordin had said, mentioning how much Garrus cared for the girls as a father figure while believing that her cousin couldn't have same kind of passion as him. Garrus seemed shocked to hear that he's better at something than Commander Shepard with Jane stating that he always had been better than him at something. She then added that he, like many others on the team, had always brought out so many things in her cousin that he couldn't possibly achieve alone, hence why he always needed a team to back him up, that her cousin couldn't solely be what made the crew of the Normandy special. She went on to state that her cousin would even say that Garrus is a better fit to be the girls' caretaker than he would ever be and that everyone trusts him. Garrus was touched by her words and that Commander Shepard truly couldn't be anything without the crew that he had selected to be his team and his friends. With newfound confidence, Garrus eventually returned to the lab with Jane.
They arrived back to find out that Major Kirrahe wanted the girls to demonstrate their powers to him and his crew, but there was another matter. The Salarian Special Tasks Group requested the girls' help against the Marauders. The girls were eager to help regardless of Garrus' objection to the situation, with him having realized that it would be futile. They were sent out to the location of the fight.
Arrival at the site, the STG and several other crew members were fighting back the threat the best they could. With that, the girls transformed and joined the fight. Using each of their abilities to fight back the Marauders while some of the crew members pulled some of the members of the STG to safety. Major Kirahhe seemed quite impressed as he watched them fight and utilized each of their special powers. After the fight, Kirahhe expressed this to them gleefully. Shortly afterwards, one of the STG members brought in one of their comrades who was injured during the fight. Flare went over to the injuried salarian and with a simple touch, she healed his injuries, revealing to everyone that she's a healer. Everyone seemed startled by this, with Mordin pondering about what other special abilities the girls are able to do. With Flare and her constant meditation and perceiving her own special abilities through her advanced training, there could be many more that has yet to be discovered.
Marauders[]
Having already spent a few days on Therum, a lot of research had been done as well as the girls having helped out the Salarian Special Tasks Group several times with keeping the marauders at bay. One day, everyone met back within the main lab to look over the improvements that the girls had taken on, thanks to the supplements that Mordin had came up with. Liara had also looked into a few of the Intel Crystals to find that all Fayelons are capable of the kind of special powers that Flare has, however, only the pyromancers learned how to utilize these powers because of their advanced training. Even more so, it wasn't implemented in the Fayelon's education system. But when asked about that, Liara mentioned that the crystal went silent, almost as though it didn't know the answer to that question, but then Liara mentioned that she felt an immense sense of dread, almost like something inside the crystal was chasing her out. She mentioned that it wasn't the first time she had felt this in an Intel Crystal. Jacob mentioned that he also had a strange experience somewhat similar to that. From there, Miranda felt that something had happened to the crystals. It was believed that some dark force got to them before they were handed over to the girls, but Mordin did felt that not all of them were affected the same way.
After that conversation, most of the group broke off to take care of other matters while Garrus and Mordin stayed to look over the results of the girls' health as well as the research that was done on them. At that time, Kelly stood by with a few of the other women, mentioning to them that Garrus and Mordin had been interacting with each other more often than usual. The other women did mention to her that it was necessary for their respective roles to have these regular interactions, but moreso, they developed a bond through their shared interest in wanting the help the girls.
At that time, the 2 of them were discussing the girls and their bodies' increased production thanks to the supplements they've been taken, as well as the increase in repairs of the damages caused by their overexertion of their powers. It has been showing promise but it will only be a matter of time before they relapse and they're back to square one until they find out the correct way for them to carry out their powers. As usual, Garrus became worried, even mentioned that he had vented his concerns to Jane numerous times. However, Mordin was optimistic with how much they have been helpful to the girls and consoled Garrus with this, as well as his will to never give up on finding the permanent solution to this problem. Garrus seemed to have felt better from this, even mentioning that Joker and EDI had been currently looking for a strange, magical reading somewhere within the galaxy, hoping that it would be the solution that they've been looking for.
Their conversation transitioned over when Mordin made a joke about Jane possibly becoming the girls' new mother, which Garrus had an immidiate reaction to, but then they discussed how the girls seemed quite interested in Garrus having a relationship with Jane, even though they, themselves, don't really care about having anything of the sort for themselves. He also seemed touched with the girls making this an inside joke amongst each other as they were all really close with one another.
Meanwhile, a few of the women chatted with the girls in private about the progress in having helped them out with their powers and overall health. It seemed visibly apparent that Mordin's new supplements were helping, the girls seemed more energenic as well as the production of their bodies' natural energy. Although, they're very well aware of this being a permanent solution, but it did show a lot of promise for the future as well as something else to look forward to. They then changed the topic to the issues regarding the Intel Crystals. Liara mentioned that she has tried to find out as much as she could about the special powers that Flare had been able to utilize, but still had plenty of unanswered questions, but not just regarding the crystals. When talking about any Fayelon being able to learn those special powers, the girls spoke of it as though only the pyromancers can learn it, or rather implied. Though they've tried to find out if other Fayelons could learn them and use them, they were never given any straight answers; just that only the pyromancers have learned them and that was it. The women seemed confused and suspicious about this. However, the girls already found out that other Fayelons can learn these other powers and they have started figuring that out when they underwent the same kind of training that Flare had. The women were able to perceive that since they had noticed that biotics were also able to learn how to use techniques that were somewhat similar to them. This then brought them back to the subject of the Intel Crystals, mentioning the strange incidences with them with them being forced out of some of them, preventing them from gaining full access to the knowledge within them. It seemed strange as they felt that whatever is contained in them would have to be some important information that someone didn't want them to find out about. After conversing, they think about other issues that they were dealing with, such as the STG and their battle against the Marauders.
Soon enough, Jane joined up with Garrus and Mordin as they continued observing the results of the girls and their improved health conditions from the supplements. Jane seemed optimistic about the results, but was assured by Garrus that they're just a temperary solution at best, with Mordin adding that they provide some promising potentials in the future. Jane reassured Jane that there is still, hope, which she attempted to instill into Garrus, with him adding that the girls can't win this fight without their help. Jane rested herself on to Garrus which he seemed quite pleased about, with Mordin also content with seeing, but their moment was interupted by an alarm. They were then informed that the Marauders were moving in on the populace within a nearby area. The girls rushed out without hesitation with everyone else following.
They arrived at the area where the battle was taking place to notice that Major Kirahhe and his men were barely holding back the Marauders. The girls transformed and began the fight while preventing them from reaching the populace. A lot of the crew members helped out with their newly modified weapons and tech as well as the biotics with their newly charged biotic abilities. The fight seemed to be going well with the crew members and the STG standing a match against the dark replicas almost as much as the Fayelons. The fight went on for a long time, but as it continued, Jewel noticed that something didn't seem quite right. She could sense an unusual dark aura shifting. That was when she noticed that it was shifting towards the populace, so she rushed off. Garrus followed after her. Jane was about to give chase, but Mordin stopped her, knowing that it was too dangerous.
Jewel rushed through the populated area, having noticed that the Marauders were approaching the different populace. She used her powers to ward them off while protecting the populace. Garrus fought through the area, looking for Jewel. The fight that Jewel was undergoing was wearing her down but she kept going, feeling that she needed to protect everyone. She was eventually pushed on the brink of exhaustion. At that moment, Garrus arrived, having been able to find Jewel, but he was surrounded by many of the Marauders, placing him in a very dangerous position. Jewel, having used up so much of her own strength and was unable to ward off the Marauders away from Garrus was forced to make a difficult decision. Using up the last of her strength, she did the only thing she could do to protect Garrus from being slaughtered by the Marauders: she encased him in a massive crystal.
The others were eventually able to catch up during the aftermath. They eventually found Jewel on her hands and knees, sobbing uncontrollable and not long afterwards, noticed something else that was incredibly shocking: Garrus had already be encased in a massive crystal. From what they were able to understand, it was something that she really didn't want to do but had no other choice.
Encased[]
During the aftermath of the previous battle, everyone had already departed from Therum. Garrus, having been encased in a massive crystal was brought to the Normandy's cargo bay. Jewel stood before him, still saddened by what had happened with everyone else worried about her. Thankfully, it was confirmed that encasing him in the crystal didn't kill him, but rather, it put him in a hybernative state that will remain permanent unless he is broken out of the crystal, with Jewel being the only one who can do it. However, there was a problem as she doesn't know how to break him out without killing as she demonstrated with one of the practice bots as she encased it in a crystal and broke it out, with the result absolutely guaranteeing it to be completely fatal. Further more, it was because she was taught how to use her powers properly.
From there, Jewel began to tell her sad story about how she was not considered to be good enough to become a Gemma Kinetic because her society believed that her energy levels were too low. From this, she endured so much abuse, hazing, discouragement and bullying from peers and mentors, with them doing everything they could to break her and force her to give up on the power, but she refused to give up. Overtime, she continued on with trying to perfect her powers, only to be treated even worse overtime. Only her parents supported her with on this as well as receiving much approval and support from the Disciple of Order, considering that setting such a limitation on someone based off of their energy level was completely unnecessary and unwarrented. This eventually caused them to set up a special teaching regiment for her since her conditions were so bad. This also caused them to set up a much more strict system for anyone who wants to become a Gemma Kinetic to be accepted without hesitation, with Jewel truly spearheading this process and all who would defy this would be forbidden from ever becoming a Gemma Kinetic and those without those kinds of powers would have their own natural abilities to be suppressed severely, which in their world, would be their equivalence of making them physically handicapped. This eventually forced the system to accept Jewel with gritted teeth as they were forced to do something that they always hated doing. Jewel was rewarded the highest honors, having been the true representation of what a Gemma Kinetic should be, with most of those people having never felt more insulted in all their lives.
However, she was still severely behind on her teachings due to what she had been through, so she only learned the basic skills and not the most advanced forms like she was supposed to learn. Because of that, she was severely behind but was made an exception, with a number of the skills she knows being self-taught. Because of that, she needed to figure out on her own how to break out Garrus without killing him and she was determined to figure that out by any means necessary.
She spent several days in that cargo bay, trying to find out a way to do that, using this skill on practice bots, but with every attempt resulted in failure. She had tried different means by changing the pace of breaking the crystals, still yielding the same results. She even tried breaking the crystals around the bots, but it still ended with failure.
At this time, everyone on the Normandy, including Kelly Chambers, who had just rejoined them, had been worried about her, stating that they don't blame her for what had happened, understood that she was forced to do what she. Everyone tried to process this in different ways, with some reporting the incident to their allies, with Miranda calling up Jack and Ms. Sanders to informed them of what happened with Kelly in tow and Ashley reporting this to Hackett and the Prime Minister, with both of them expressing their sympathies and concerns for Jewel. Joker and EDI worked even harder to find the source of the strange magical reading, while also expressing their concerns for Jewel. Liara had been working on the Intel Crystals to try and help out Jewel, only to find some unusual patterns with them. She shared her findings with Mordin, who was also working on figuring out the cause of those patterns.
Jewel never left the cargo bay, would sleep on one of the slabs in the room, even had her meals brought to her to keep up her strength. One day, after another failed attempt, she broke down on the crystal that encased Garrus, crying and apologizing for her being such a failure. Through this emotional state, she was somehow brought into a hazy realm that was the same color as the crystal, also noticing that Garrus was there with her. She rushed to him embraced him while crying and apologizing to him, stating that it's her fault that this happened to him, but Garrus disputed all of that, stating that he blamed himself for everything that had happened, stating that he was so concerned for her that he didn't have any consideration for his own safety, blaming himself for putting her through so much pain. Jewel had stated that she's been trying to get him out, with Garrus already aware of that and as much as he wanted to get out of the crystal, he was will to wait as long as he needed to. Jewel was greatly discouraged, not sure if she ever will, but Garrus said that she will and that he believed in her, going on about she has proven herself to be a true Gemma Kinetic by being dedicated to her powers, by how hard she worked on them.
What you lack in confidence, you’ve made up for with being courageous and that has always been part of what makes you so strong
He reiterated once more that he believed in her and had their one final embrace before she returned to the real world.
After coming out of the trance, she noticed several of the crew members and her friends standing before her. After she questioned what had happened for a brief moment, the crew members stated that they were on their way back to the Citadel and that they needed Jewel to come with them. She refused at first, stating that Garrus needed her, but they eventually convinced her to come, mentioning that it would be good for her and that Garrus wouldn't want her to stay, especially for his sake. With that, she complied and they all left the Normandy as soon as they arrived at the Citadel, with a handful of the crew members deciding to stay on the ship. Including Mordin and Tali.
As they exited, they met with Bailey, who already received the news about what had happened to Garrus. Flare left with Thane to the Huerta Memorial Hospital to work on an evaluation while everyone else left with Bailey, with Bailey reassuring Jewel that she will find the answers that she needed as well as having Jane comfort her.
They made their way over to another area that were still damaged during the Reaper War. It was also there where the girls were introduced to the Keepers, an alien race that had always been working in the Citadel, doing constant maintenance. They were informed of their origin, what they believed they were as well as their tre origin behind them. They continued on, watching evaluating the Keepers and the repair job that they were doing. At one point, there was severe collapse that involved a huge pile-up of metal beams. Jewel intended to step in to help out, but then Bailey informed her that this mess was an extremely delicate situation that needed to be handled with extreme care. Immediately afterwards, the Keepers came in and cleaned up the mess with extreme care and scrupulousness, stating things like they needed to be nice and slow, take their time on this and to be gentle. As Jewel continued watching this, she pondered this concept for a brief moment, but then came up with something and ran back to the Normandy at great speed with everyone else noticing and following her back.
Returning to the Normandy, she rushed right past Mordin without even knowing. She arrived at the docking bay, used her powers on one of the practice bots, then to proceed in gently and slowing break it out. After the process being done, her eyes lit up and she rushed out. Everyone else, including Mordin arrived a moment too late. Mordin checked on the practice bot that she worked on to find that the fatality rate was dropped to 5%, an indication that she had succeeded.
Jewel, having returned to the cargo bay, went on to shatter the crystal that contained Garrus but very slowly and gently. She was able to break him out, causing him to collapse on her, but he lifted himself up to tell her that he knew he could do it. They had a chance to share another embrace before they went back out to show the rest of the crew that she had done it. Everyone was overjoyed and they arranged to have him taken to the medical bay so that he could be evaluated for any effects to his health. The girls went back together and talked amongst themselves of another person that Jewel had also encased in one of her crystal, relieved that she wasn't as good as dead like they had feared, fully aware that she can also be broken out the same way, if they are able to find her first.
Surfacing[]
Shortly following the previous events, Mordin was already in the medical bay, having evaluated Garrus to find that there were no negative effects to his health, but did pick up on something. A few others were with them as well. Tali asked Garrus what it was like being encased in the crystal, he told her that it was like being in a dream that he knew that he would never wake up from unless he was released from the crystal. But throughout all that time, his only thoughts were of Jewel and how worried he was about her, knowing very well that this took a massive toll on her. He harbored some guilt for the dilemma that she was put into for his own carelessness. They then went on to talk about her mistreatment by the people who were supposed to teach her how to use her powers correctly which possibly also led to this happening as well, with everyone agreeing that they deserve the blame for what had happened a lot more than anyone else as well as restating their promise to always be there for the girls. Garrus then asked Mordin if they could watch more of the magical girl shows that he and Tali would force him to watch with them, much to their surprise. But his time within the crystal has even made him kind of miss that. Both Tali and Mordin happily accepted.
At that time, the girls stood within the bridge with Joker and EDI. They both encouraged Jewel about her being able to succeed in breaking Garrus out of the crystal without killing him. Although, she was still saddened by the whole ordeal for another reason aside from the most reason event, with EDI already aware that this wasn't the first time Jewel had to do this, also knowing that her and her friends were forced to make many difficult decisions based on what they had to go through, that included not having been the first time that they nearly killed someone under other pretences. EDI again mentioned the private chat that they had with one another, the chat that EDI eavesdropped on, with Joker mentioning that he had heard about that from EDI but she didn't tell him what it was about as she promised to not tell anyone about it. But she did have to mention a few vague details as a way to convince him to help find whatever it was that was out there, with the girls hoping that they would be able to find it. On top of that, still reiterating that they can't mention what it was they needed to find, in fear that the vigilante would find it first. From there, EDI was even more inclined to find whatever is out there as a means to eventually have them finally be able to tell them what they're too scared to even mention.
Within the Recreation Room, Garrus, Mordin and Tali were watching more of the Pretty Cure shows. Tali was still surprised with Garrus' willingness to watch the shows with her and Mordin, but with what he had dealt with earlier, it seemed to have given him a new perspective on things. They were still lamenting over Jewel and what she had to go through because of this. They then went on to talk about Garrus and his compassion towards Jewel as well as having led him to the reckless decision he made. However, when Mordin pointed out, Garrus didn't hesitate to gripe about Mordin and his knack for getting into trouble which led to Tali mentioning they're both troublemakers in different way. They were annoyed with her pointing it out, but can't argue that she did make a valid point. They then went back to watching the shows quietly, which they did until a signal went off on Mordin's Omni-tool, causing him to walk out on the viewing.
Sometime later, Garrus ended up back within Commander Shepard's quarters. Jane arrived shortly afterwards. He reiterated his concerns for Jewel the whole time that he had been trapped in that crystal then lamented about how much more helpful Commander Shepard would be. Jane had assured him that he had been fine with helping the girls. They then went on to talk about when they first met. They both seemed as though they knew each other somehow, which was a mystery until they had found out that it was because of the link Jane had developed with her cousin through the prothean beacons. Garrus had mentioned that whenever he is around her, he felt like he could be his own person, with Jane reminding him that it's because he is and that he's part of her cousin's crew rather than just an extension of him because he is special. He had always been a special part of Commander Shepard. He is someone that her cousin trusts as a comrade and as a friend. She then reiterated that she loves him because he is special, such as the way he stood up and helped the girls out the first time they met. Garrus thanked her for making him feel special with Jane stating that he did that on his own and Garrus told her that she is also special, too him at least.
Sometime afterwards, Garrus arrived back at the lab as is suprised to see Thane there standing beside Mordin. Thane stated that the reason he was there was because the doctor had requested him to be there with Mordin stating that data from the previous analyzation was something that he wanted Thane to see as well since it involved him. Mordin revealed from the data that the crystal that Garrus was encased in seemed to have some rejuvinating effects. He then mentioned the research that he was looking into on Therum that regarded the miraculous survivors containing residual traces of Light Aura. From this, he found out that the miraculous survivors have undergone some unnoticeable rejuvination, something that Mordin was able to figure out thanks to some of the analyzation that he had done on Garrus. Thane was confirmed to have these readings as well as Mordin, himself. From this, he concluded that the magical energy has rejuvinating properties, such as reverting Thane's Kepral Syndrome to its earlier staged.
Thane then, aside from lamenting about his disease, wondered why he was still alive when he was clearly ready to embrace death. That made Garrus remembered when Emily Wong recalled something about thinking that she "wanted to return, wanted to go back", probably meaning that she wanted to return to life, almost like she was hanging on the edge of death, giving a chance to return to being alive, like something or someone was giving that back to her. He then asked both of them if they remembered anything like that. Both of them confirmed that they did. However, neither of them remembered why they did as it seemed to have gone against what their anticipation of death. Garrus suspected that magic had something to do with it with Mordin mentioning that he intends to find the answers as to why this had happened as well as feeling that he owed his life to whatever strange force spared him from dying, stating that he has a new chance at life and was willing to pay it back in full.
A moment later, Mordin had received results of the scans that he made from the Intel Crystals that he had made with Liara. When they checked the results, they were surprised with what they were seeing. Mordin then called Liara into his lab as he wanted her to see them.
When Liara arrived, she had a chance to check the results and was also baffled by what she had seen. From the results, it seemed that some of the crystals contained traces of Dark energy and some didn't. However, it had also confirmed that there wasn't a single one that was partially corrupted like she had thought. This baffled Liara as she was somehow able to access some of the intel from the crystals that were corrupted. Mordin didn't know how or why this was but intended on finding out however possible. Another mystery was who or what tampered with the crystals. Even more so, how they were able to gain access to the crystals in order to corrupt them. Mordin believed that whoever did it was an expert in utilizing the advanced Dark energy with the vigilante having been ruled out as he didn't know that the girls had the Intel Crystals in their possession. With that, Mordin to suggest that another Necromancer may be at play. On top of that, something or someone had to have close access to the crystals prior to the girls receiving them.
Immeadiately afterwards, Miranda came rushing in, informing everyone they received a call from Aria that monsters were attacking Omega. Everyone rushed out towards the bridge, with Joker plotting a course back to Omega. The girls had been anxious to fight again since it was the first time in a long while.
Discerns[]
Arriving at Omega, the girls and a few crew members met with Aria. They found that a main traffic line with the station was being attacked by dark monsters. The girls transformed and fought them off while the crew members stood by Aria and watched. Unable to fight off the monsters with force alone, the girls implimented a strategy that worked without any problems.
After the fight was over, Aria rewarded the girls by introducing them to another person who wants to help them. They were brought to a clinic that was a little similar to Mordin's own. There, they met Maelon, Mordin's former student as well as the one who runs the clinic. He mentioned to them that he had been looking into the data that was shared with many medical departments regarding Fayelon physiology as well as their relation to food. One conclusion that they were able to come to was that Fayelons are incapable of producing bodily waste as all edible sustanence desolves into pure energy. He also had been looking into what had happened to the vorcha during the girls' previous visit on Omega, back when the vorcha were morphed into dark versions of themselves. Maelon had been looking into the Dark energy and what it's capable of doing, such as forging the different monsters that the girls have fought against countless times. The girls seemed familiar with them as they were apparently different creatures from different realms. Jewel then handed Maelon a large collection of crystals that she formed from her palms that she called Memory Crystals. They were a collection of her memories from her and her friends during their travels throughout many galaxies prior to their arrival within the Milky Way. Maelon agreed to look into them as it may help with his research some more.
Maelon had also mentioned that he had been looking into some of the galaxy's miraculous survivors, which he had some within his clinic. He had from scanning them that all of them contained large readings consisting of Light energy, with some that have said energy focused on certain parts of their bodies, an indication that they had fatal wounds that were healed by this energy. Maelon believed this to be the handiwork of a God, with the girls believing that the Divine Source was the one who was that God. From this, Maelon concluded that there was a very strong connection between their galaxy and the very goddess that the Fayelons worshipped.
Maelon went on to mention the data that was found on Therum, which was shared with which a Light aura was surrounding most of the miraculous survivors, a number of them being within Omega and thanks to that, he was able to collect and obtain thorough readings of this. He found that survivors of destroyed fleet all came back with these readings.
He went on to mention that he had been in touch with the research students at Grissom Academy, with Jack showing up, much to the group's surprise. Jack had a lot that needed to be discussed, so he pulled Jacob, Tali and Miranda aside while the rest of the group stayed with Maelon. The girls followed after Jack as they were curious with what the research students had come up with.
At that time, Maelon then went on to discuss the collected data regarding the residual Dark energy throughout their galaxy. He then displayed an image from a projector that their had been gradual changes in the images of this energy and such that was confirmed to be outside their galaxy. These images were received by different groups, each coming up with different images. When the different groups brought them together, it was apparent that there were changes that occurred with energy. It was almost as though they were displaying it within a sequence of different times. What had occurred was yet to be discovered. Mordin planned on making sense of these images with the use of a device that he hoped to put together that would help find the answers that they were looking for.
Shortly afterwards, the other group returned. Exasperated, they shared the data that was put together by the research students. Turns out they were conducting an experiment with the data that they had received from analyzing the girls' Endurance Tests. From this, they were able to confirm, from the girls pushing themselves too hard during their times at their academy, that their mentors were attempting to cripple them on purpose.
Some time later, the crew members and the girls bid farewell to Aria and they left Omega. There, a few of them met with Ashley and Kelly. They informed them of what they had been doing on the station after the girls' fight against the monsters, which involved meeting with Maelon, an unexpected reunion with Jack and the shocking data that they had received, revealing the research students at Grissom Academy having confirmed clear evidence of the girls being abused, mistreated and deliberately sabotaged by their own mentors.
Reassemblence[]
The Normandy, after having left Omega, drifted through space for several days as there were many things to go over. The data and revelations that they had found and received still left everyone preoccupied, there was a lot that needed to be discussed. It took a toll on everyone, tying up all of their schedules. It also left the girls in an emotional wreck, with the Normandy crew doing all they could to console them and help them through it. The girls took it easy as they knew that their time at the academy had proven detrimental, forcing them to rethink everything that they had be taught, figuring out the correct ways to utilize their powers, taking on more subtle methods to carrying out their powers in ways that would put less strain on their bodies. Everyone on the ship showed a lot of concern for them.
Garrus had especially been left on edge about the whole situation, causing him to have to step aside a few times to clear his mind. Jane had helped him through all of it, consoling him, being by his side and being someone to help him blow off steam and alleviate stress through…intimate means. He also had several chats with Mordin, who was also tense about these findings. They’ve had numerous conversations about the girls and their concerns with Mordin’s way of alleviating the stress being to step out and watch some more Pretty Cure shows, to which Tali was also happy to do and, of course, pulling Garrus into watching with them, much to Garrus’ annoyance. They’ve watched so many of those episodes that they’ve pretty much blown through the first 3 seasons almost nonstop. A few times, their marathons have caused a lot of binge watching all the way into the night in which all 3 of them fell asleep on the couch while watching them. Mordin, being a salarian, obviously stayed up the longest, using the time to sort through each episode to cut out a lot of the boring, slice of life moments before he, too, couldn’t stay awake any longer. This had been their routine throughout these long days. Jane had caught them a few times having already been asleep on the couch. She seemed quite pleased to see this.
Despite Garrus being annoyed with having to be dragged in by Tali and Mordin into watching their magical girl shows with them, he had shown some signs of kind of liking those shows. He was heard a few times humming the tunes and theme songs but does it unconsciously. Everyone that heard them had pointed that out, with which he would deny, even to Jane. Mordin and Tali have teased him about it a few times, which obviously annoyed him, but they would never take the jokes too far. All in all, it showed that a unique relationship had formed among them.
Meanwhile, Joker and EDI had been working tirelessly to track down any unknown and unusual energy readings that could be out there in the galaxy. They’ve had more than one reason to try and find this, for the sake of the girls and for the sake of the universe. Everything seemed to be resting on finding whatever is out there.
At one point, there was another attack within the cargo bay by another massive dark creature. The girls, of course, acted on taking care of it immediately. Having transformed and used the full force of their powers, they defeated the monsters, but uneasiness hung heavy amongst them and the Normandy crew. With Mordin looking into this matter, it seems that whatever findings he would come up with would bring about a grim discovery, one of many that they all had to deal with.
Liara also worked hard with managing the Intel Crystals. She wracked her brain, trying to crack the mystery behind the ones that were corrupted, but came up empty. However, she did manage to finish up with creating the machine that would extract intel from within the crystals, thanks in no small part from Mordin. The 2 of them worked together in manufacturing the machines and managed to extract the intel from within the crystals successfully. They then stored all the data that they were able to extract within memory drives. They did leave a spare machine to try and work on the crystals that were corrupted in case the corruption would break the machine or do something else to it. The end result showed that the intel was very well locked up tight within the crystals with no way to penetrate whatever Dark force is keeping them locked in. Even Mordin was stumped with how to penetrate it. That was put aside for a time as they focused on extracting the intel from the crystals that were still accessible. They, of course, relayed this information to Jane, Garrus and Ashley, with all 3 of them annoyed and frustrated with the situation. Joker and EDI, having heard this, were more than eager to seek out that unknown magical source. They may be getting closer to being able to notice something, but it was still uncertain.
The girls and the Normandy crew were continuing on their days with nothing eventful going on. Without warning, a sharp pain shot through Jewel's body and she was on her knees, screaming in pain. Flare, knowing exactly what was going to happen, held everyone back. Before very long, Jewel unleashed a massive amount of her own energy, forming massive crystal stalagmites around her.
The girls realized that Jewel was undergoing a phase that is best described as Fayelon puberty. It's when Fayelons would undergo a change within their bodies that would cause a massive production of their own natural energy, with which it is too much for their bodies to contain, so they would release them at huge bursts, much like what Jewel had done. Flare, Star and Splash had already confirmed that they had undergone this phase, Aera, however, is still waiting for this to happen to her. When a Fayelon would go through this, their bodies will continue to generate more energy. If it goes too long, then it could kill them. However, it would only take days for this to actually kill them. The only way to put a stop to this is for a Fayelon to utilize this energy for something incredibly massive and preferably beneficial.
- Star used her massive energy to bring life back to a dying planet, the only time in which her kind could generate energy that is just as powerful as their goddess.
- Splash used her energy to turn a barren rock into her own personal ocean paradice.
- Flare's people has a tradition in which they would utilize their energy to recharge a dying sun.
From there, everyone was in agreement to help figure out what Jewel should use her expanding energy on. This went on for a few days, with Jewel undergoing more and more bursts of energy. Little by little, different sections of the Normandy was resembling a crystal cavern. This kept on, with Jewel figuring out how to project this energy so that it doesn't surround her so much. Unfortunately, this caused her to accidently block off Garrus' favorite area within the ship. While Mordin and Tali pulled Garrus away to make him watch more of their Pretty Cure show, Jewel checked into the medical bay where after a few hours, she was able to transform the entire medical bay into a full-on crystal cave. Garrus, pretty much reaching his breaking point, demanded that they figure out right then and there what Jewel should use her powers for. That was when Jewel had mentioned that she knew what there was that needed to be done, asking them to tell Joker to set a course for Virmire.
Some time afterwards, the Normandy arrived at Virmire. Everyone took a shuttle down to the surface to the very area where Saren's cloning facility was as well as when the crew set off the nuke at the time. As they approached the area, Jewel was waiting for her to undergo another outburst. From there, Jewel told Garrus that he would need to throw her out of the shuttle as soon as that were to happen, believing that this is what needed to be done. Garrus seemed uncertain to do it, but she insisted that it was absolutely necessary as she was going to form a massive crystal once it happened again. She then assured him that everything will be fine. Shortly afterwards, Jewel was about to have another outburst. Garrus tossed her out of the ship, just like she insisted. As she fell, she unleashed her massive energy, forming a massive crystal that is was the same size as Saren's cloning facility. Everyone watched as this crystal was being formed as the shuttle flew at a safe distance, all the way until the formation was complete.
The shuttle landed on top of the massive crystal, where Jewel had finished the last of the formation, with her forming a diamond formation on the very top of the crystal. With Jewel having formed the massive crystal with the use of the immense energy from her body, the production of the natural energy was returned to normal. With that, everyone stood around for a bit, wondering what the massive crystal was going to be used for. Mordin was about to find out that the massive crystal is a conductor and that massive amounts of the Light energy was being channeled into it. What all of it was used for was shortly revealed to be forming a life form, a human being and one that was confirmed to have died in the very area that they were in at the time. From there, they already found out what was happening.
Within the diamond formation, they could see what appeared to be a human being formed. It continued on, gradually revealing that the human being formed was Kaidan, the crew member that Commander Shepard had to leave behind at the time that the nuke was being set off. The diamond shattered and Kaidan fell from it. After coming to his senses, he was startled to find that he was alive. Before he could fully question how this was possible, Ashley rushed over towards him and embraced him, greatly overjoyed to see him alive again. Garrus, Tali, Liara and Wrex also approached him, also happy to see him again. It seemed puzzling how this could actually happened, however, it seemed clear to them that greater force wanted this to happen. Jewel then introduced herself to Kaidan, revealing that she was the one who forged the massive crystal that everyone was standing on. Kaidan was still puzzled, especially having been told that Jewel and her friends were magical girls. They intended on informing Kaidan of everything, but they were so caught up in the incredible occurrence that it took them so long to realize that Kaidan was revived without any clothes on. This annoyed and embarrassed him, so he was offered to return to the ship with him happily accepting without hesitation as he insistant on getting some clothes.
As everyone was about to return to the Normandy, Flare noticed the mysterious entity again, who seemed to had been crying tears of joy from this.
Kaidan[]
Back on the Normandy, Kaidan was in the medical bay being checked by Dr. Chakwas. She was still in shock of Kaidan having been brought back. Although, both of them were struggling to wrap their heads around the whole ordeal. Dr. Chakwas then discussed her thoughts on this with Ashley, Liara and Garrus with Flare and Aera having entered the room as well. Jewel was in the room with them but was too deep within her own thoughts to say anything. They then moved on to having received a message from the Citadel Council, asking to meet with the crew again, with Aera not looking forward to this at all. Jane walked in, telling everyone that they will need to get this meeting over with, with everyone reluctantly agreeing. Everyone left the room, including Kaidan.
Jewel, however stayed with Dr. Chakwas, questioning the morality of having brought Kaidan back from the dead, worried about it being an atrocity. Dr. Chakwas, however, did not believe it really mattered as it had happened and everyone will just have to live with that fact. She also believed that there was a major reason for this to happen as an almighty force wanted this, she believed that no one had any right to question it. She also believed that everyone on the ship thinks of this as a wonderful miracle and not some abomination, as everyone had missed Kaidan immensely. Jewel then mentioned how if the Divine Source wanted to bring Kaidan back to life, then no one really has any right to question it.
Arriving at the Citadel, several of the crew members stepped with, including Kaidan, who was wearing a full body armor, including a helmet that covered his face. They met with the holographic images of the Citadel Council where they questioned the most recent occurrance. They informed the crew that they received massive energy readings on Virmire, one that was similar to magical energy. From there, they were told of Jewel having undergone a phase regarding the massive increase of her own energy, something that the crew members called "Fayelon puberty", which led all way up to the events that occurred on Virmire. After that, Kaidan took off his helmet and revealed himself to the Council, much to their surprise.
Sparatus clearly retaliated against this, believe it to be an atrocity. However, everyone, the crew members and the Fayelons alike, defended the resurrection, stating that their friend was returned to them, that it didn't matter what it was as it had already happened, believing a higher power had done this, thereby had no right to question the morality of this. Sparatus, however, was not fazed, claming that the girls and their goddess had caused nothing but trouble within their realm, then corrected himself and said galaxy, which Kaidan picked up on. Liara reiterated that there are some indications that the Divine Source was more than just the Fayelons' God, but everyone's God, but Sparatus refused to believe that. Garrus countered with the fact that there were many researchers across the galaxy that have been looking into the magical energy, suggesting that their galaxy and the Divine Source are very much connected, which even Sparatus he couldn't deny it. He then accepted that what's done is done and that Kaidan's resurrection was truly absolute, thereby agreeing that no one truly had any right to believe this to be an abomination, though the Council doesn't completely see eye-to-eye with the crew members. The Council did mention that another meeting may be requested in the future, which Aera was clearly not looking forward to. From there, the meeting was adjourned.
The indifference from the Council left some concerned and others suspicious. However, Jewel seemed very devastated by everything that had taken place, but was reassured by Kaidan. Everyone was beside themselves with what had taken place during the meeting. However, Kaidan mentioned that he had noticed one of them mentioning "realm", the Fayelon term for galaxy, which fed on the suspicion even more, along with a list of other things that they found suspicious. They had a chance to contemplate all of this and chat amongst each other.
Returning to the Normandy, Jewel made her way back to the medical bay where she ran to Dr. Chakwas and cried while Chakwas consoled her. As this was taking place, Ashley had a chance to take Kaidan to Commander Shepard's quarters, where he saw the commander lying unconscious on his bed.
Rundowns[]
Following the previous event, Jewel had cried herself to sleep and was resting on a medical bed. Liara, Ashley and Garrus were standing with Dr. Chakwas, relieved that she managed to calm down but lamented on how the prior meeting had taken a huge toll of her. Dr. Chakwas offered to keep an eye on her as usual. At that time, they mentioned that Kaidan was being filled in on everything that had happened as a way to get him up to speed. They left the medical bay to meet with him and a few of the other crew members within the lab.
By the time they arrived, he had already been filled in on the events during the Battle of the Citadel. He had also been told about what the girls had gone through. Afterwards, Kaidan asked about what happened to the Normandy. From there, everyone revealed what had happened, that they were in the second Normandy and that the first one was obliterated by the Collector ship. They eventually told him about how Commander Shepard died but he was brought back to life by the Lazarus Project as well as his temporary truce with Cerberus, aslo telling him about the members of the crew who had joined during those events. They eventually went on to discussing how the previous event took a huge toll on Jewel and that she was currently resting from crying so hard. Kaidan felt kind of responsible but was reassured by the crew members and the girls that he shouldn't think that way and that they were all happy to have him back.
Sometime afterwards, several of the crew members wanted to check up on Jewel, including Kaidan, and they made it back in time to she her waking up. Jewel was still saddened and uncertain by her previous actions but Kaidan reassured her to not feel so guilty about it and that he thanks her and her deity for bringing him back to life. After that, Aera reminded them of the terrible revelation that they received back at Omega, one that everyone was, at the moment, desperately trying to figure out a solution to. However, before they could do that, Ashley reminded them that Admiral Hackett and Prime Minister Jones needed to have a meeting with them.
Within the QEC, they met with Hackett via holo-transmitter as well as the Prime Minister. Hackett was shocked and in disbelief of Kaidan having been brought back from the dead. They then went on to talk about having received some disturbing news regarding the experiment that the research students of Grissom Academy and that they have comfirmed that the Fayelons' mentors have been delibertely crippling them. However, the girls mentioned that there was another strange matter in regards to this. They revealed that other Fayelons have shown to be stronger than them somehow, which includes having shown very little signs of exhausting themselves. Further more, the mentors have based their practice runs and endurance chanllenges on the longest lasting and most enduring Fayelons, with the girls having been mocked, stating that if they don't push themselves as hard as their strongest students, then they are not fit to become guardians, something that appalled everyone within an earshot of this.
Star revealed that among those strong and enduring Fayelons were a group of girls that she used to hang out with. From there, Star told her story about when she was still trying to find herself, she hung out with a group of mean girls and for a while, it was fun. However, after having discovered herself during a family vacation, the group pretended they didn't know her and chased her away in one of the meanest and harshest manners. After that, Jewel invited her to her friend group and the rest was history. However, the group of girls that partook in the practice runs, Star's former posse, somehow overpowered and outlasted them during practice runs and endurance challenges. From this, the crew members suspected that this was part of the mentors' many underhanded tactics to abuse and mistreat the girls, not to mention how they were able to push themselves harder than others without any problems while others were forced to push themselves to the brink of exhaustion. From this, it was believed that those who are able to endure are somehow receiving special accommodations, but without any way to scan them, there was no way to verify that. From the possibility of a number of their kind looking down at magical beings to the possible involvement of Darkness, the situation continues to look more and more grim.
After they finished up with their meeting with the admiral and prime minister, everyone continues to ponder how to fix the issues regarding the girls' powers, Jane came in and announced to everyone that they're needed on the bridge.
Upon arrival, Joker and EDI zealously announced that they had found the source of the mysterious reading that they had been tracking, it was located somewhere within Outer Council Space. With that, they set a course for where they were able to find the source of that reading. Everyone seemed anxious and excited about being able to find that source, with Jewel hopeful of it being what she and her friends anticipated it would be.
I just hope…that it’s you…Mayweather…
Mayweather[]
They arrived at their next destination, a secluded planet where they were able to track the source of the mysterious reading. They were able to track it within an area on the surface that was realitively safe to land. However, they picked up on traces of Dark energy within the same vicinity, but thankfully not close to it. Everyone rushed out as fast as they could to the surface of the planet, with Kaidan having been looking forward to fighting for a very, very long time.
Upon landing on the surface, they ran into many Dark monsters. The girls transformed while many of the crew members readied their weapons. As they fought, Joker and EDI pinpointed the exact location of the mysterious reading. Everyone insisted Jewel go to find it, though she was hesitant to leave her friends behind. Garrus offered to go with her. After some persuading, she left with Garrus to try and find the source of the reading.
They rushed off together for a great distance until they were able to find the source of the reading: a young girl encased in a massive crystal. Jewel recognized the girl right away, revealing her name to be Mayweather. Garrus also took notice of the young girl being another Fayelon. Jewel seemed relieved, stating that she finally found her. Garrus recognized the crystal she was encased in as Jewel's handiwork. From there, they decided that she needed to be removed from the area immediately. However, Jewel debated on whether or not to break her out, but didn't have a lot of time to decide. Thankfully, Garrus was there to help encourage her, reinstating his belief in her much like how she was able to break him out of the crystal that he was encased in. With that, she broke Mayweather out and they were able to retrieve her and return her to the Normandy.
After Jewel and Garrus returned, the girls were happily surprised to see them return with Mayweather. They went over to greet her before Jewel took her over to the medical bay to have her evaluated by Dr. Chakwas. The crewmates stood together, watching the reunion while discussing the matter of having found Mayweather, such as how extremely lucky it was for her to have wound up within their galaxy as well as how it must have been difficult for Jewel to have encased her in that crystal in the first place, while also pondering what circumstances could have forced her to do that in the first place.
Dr. Chakwas was able to evaluate Mayweather, finding her to be in good health. Afterwards, Mayweather asked the doctor to let her and Jewel have a private conversation. Dr. Chakwas walked out and the 2 girls had the room to themselves. Mayweather scolded Jewel for sealing her inside the crystal, with Jewel claiming that she had no other choice as what Mayweather was doing at the time could have put the entire universe at risk. Then Jewel told Mayweather to hand her over something called the Final Component, with which Mayweather refused to do, claiming that it was the only way to bring him back. However, Jewel believed that he was too far gone regardless of Mayweather's determination to try. Jewel then mentioned something about her sister which caused Mayweather to rush out upset.
Shortly afterwards, Liara, EDI, Garrus, Jane and Ashley walked in, wondering about the commotion that went on. EDI then admitted that she heard everything that the 2 of them were talking about, starting with asking about Mayweather's sister. Jewel revealed that Mayweather had an older sister named Chlorophina, but she was killed when having confronted the vigilante. It was said that she was caught in the crossfires of one of his killings and the criminal at the time murdered her, so the vigilante slaughtered the criminal in retaliation. It was also revealed that Jewel and her friends knew the vigilante personally through Mayweather and Chlorophina. This was among the reasons why she and her friends tried as hard as they could to not involve anyone else in their conflict as they felt guilty for one of their own causing so much trouble, especially someone that they knew personally.
One other thing that EDI mentioned was Jewel mentioning something known as the Final Component and prompted Jewel to tell them what her and her friends had kept hidden from everyone else out of fear. Jewel revealed that aside from the keys, there was an item known as the Final Component which is the very item needed to work the keys. It was to be discovered after the keys were found. However, it had another function that can act as a tracking device encase the keys were stolen. Mayweather was able to find it and that was how she was able to track them so easily. She found out about its function after she found it and she was able to find out instantaniously that Jewel and her friends stole the keys and fled. Mayweather then tracked them down and she argued with them. It was also revealed that it was Mayweather that had been helping the vigilante find and retrieve the keys. She did it because she was in love with him and wanted to use the items to try and revert him to the kind man he once was. She tried to convince them to return to their realm and help her get her lover back. However, they believed that he was too far gone and they argued with her. However, during the heat of the moment, when they were being tracked again, Jewel was forced to seal Mayweather in the crystal to prevent the Final Component from being retrieved by him and flung her to the far reaches of the universe to ensure that she would be difficult to track down.
Before they could continue the conversation even more, another if the vigilante's monsters appeared within the docking bay. The girls were priming themselves to fight when Mayweather stepped up. From there, the girls stood by and allowed her to deal with it on her own. Mayweather transformed and used her powers, which is the ability to summon and contol plant life at will. During the fight, the girls dazzled at her powers, claiming that she is one of the best fighters out there. Mordin analyzed her throughout the entire fight. The process was basically Mayweather using her powers over plant life to pummel the monster, weakening it greatly to be able to turn it into a massive tree. Everyone seemed impressed by watching her powers. After the fight was done, a large fruit grew from it, which she caught easily as it fell towards her. She intended to use the fruit for dinner, which the girls were excited about. They revealed that Mayweather is an excellent cook as was her sister, something that clearly saddened them.
Within the Mess Hall, Mayweather was preparing dinner all by herself. Everyone seemed pleased as they watched her cook on her own, but Garrus pointed out the issue of Mayweather still in possession of a very important item, the Final Component and that they need to find a way to retrieve it from her before it falls into the hands of the vigilante. But it's clear that there's the problem with her refusing to simply hand it over. From there, they decided to monitor her until they're able to retrieve it from her.
Mayweather eventually got done cooking and everyone was treated to a massive and fantastic meal, one in which can be shared across all species, including detro amino ones like Garrus and Tali. As they were enjoying dinner, they talked a little bit about chlorokinetics and their involvement with edible plants, with Mayweather stating that they're not needed much within their own realm. She also revealed that her sister, Chlorophina, devoted herself to edible plants and that every recipe that Mayweather knows was actually her sister's. On top of that, she and her sister didn't attend the same classes as Jewel and her friends. From this, Mordin was able to assume that she was taught things that were never taught to the other girls, such as the proper way of carrying out their techniques. Mordin asked for Mayweather to demonstrate the utilization of her powers, with which she happily accepted.
After dinner, Mayweather transformed into her Metamorphose and underwent the Endurance test. From this, Mordin scanned her and found that the way she was carrying out her powers was different from Jewel and her friends. Mayweather explained that was she did was allowed her powers to flow out of her naturally rather than have it be forced out of her body like how Jewel and her friends were doing it. She said it was called the Flow Technique. The other way to do it was confirmed by her mentor that exerting their powers out would cause a great deal of physical damage to their bodies within the long term effect. However, Jewel and her friends were never taught the correct way to use their powers and have been told that there was no correct way to do this. From hearing this, she muttered to herself about something being "worse than she had thought".
Mordin and a few other crew members were at the lab, looking over the data from Mayweather's Endurance test. It was revealed to them how much more natural the Flow Technique was and how much more beneficial it was to the Fayelons' physic and physical health. It was also revealed that Jewel and her friends have been misusing their powers for nearly 2 years. From this, their bodies only consisted of minor damages but was increased a good amount during their time drifting through space, which was why the girls were tired during their first ever fight within the Milky Way Galaxy. The girls' health has improved a great deal but their health issues would continue to persist the longer their carried out their powers incorrectly. As relieved they were to have found Mayweather, their findings fed on the confirmation of the issues regarding the girls' mentors, the refusal to teach them the proper way to use their powers and worst of all, the deliberate sabotage of the girls' powers, techniques and physical health. They even believed that the mentors made certain that Mayweather would have never been able to relay this to her friends.
At that time, Mayweather was in a room by herself, praising the crew members by how nice they've been to her. At that moment, she could hear a voice calling to her. She recognized it as the man she loved, causing her to develop the urge to seek him out. EDI, however, told her that she was not allowed to leave as long as she had possession of the Final Component. However, that was not going to stop her and she was somehow able to warp out of the ship.
EDI warned the crew members about this. With that, they set a course to follow her before she caused any trouble. It was also at this time when it was revealed that Fayelons can teleport, but the girls never used it nor did they felt like saying anything about it as it would have been pointless.
Mayweather arrived on an uncharted planet. There, she met with the man that she loved emerging from a dark vortex. She had the Final Component, just like he asked. However, before she was about to leave with him, she asked him to relinquish his murdering ways and return to the kind man he once was, with him stating that he can't, stating that protecting the innocent isn't enough and that he must eradicate any and all those who are guilty, even if it means slaughtering innocent along the way. Shortly afterwards, the girls and crew members arrived. There, the crew members were able to meet with the vigilante himself, face to face, although they were standing before a replica formed by Dark magic and that the vigilante was still within the Fayelons' realm. Mayweather made one last plea to the man she loved, even revealing the vigilante's name, Romrick, before the crew members. However, it was all in vain as he violently retaliated against her. From her sad and terrified look, Romrick revealed a terrible truth about Chlorophina's death.
Your eyes, your sister had that same look in her eyes…that is, before I snuffed the Light from them.
From there, everyone within an earshot of this, the crew members, the girls and even Mayweather, was devastated by this. He then went on to reveal that he thought of her as an obstacle that was in his way, so he got rid of her. From this, Mayweather finally realized that the man she once loved was truly gone and with that, she slammed the Final Component into him, which made it permanently inaccessible to him, as well as the keys. With that, Romrick left, giving up for the time being and Mayweather, devastated by the news, burst into tears as an old was reopened and she was in a lot more pain than before.
Later on, Mayweather, having returned to the ship, was still saddened. Ashley went up to her, to try and console her. Mayweather apologized for all the trouble that she had caused, Ashley found her actions unfavorable but understandable. Mayweather lamented on if she had known the truth about her sister, she wouldn't have caused so much trouble, so she shouldn't be so hard on herself, but Ashley reassured her that she understood that she believed she did what was right and her actions didn't cause too much trouble as her actions have caused the chain of events that eventually led the girls to finding the Milky Way galaxy and the Normandy crew who have been so helpful to them. Mayweather seemed reassured, even saying that the girls are not even guardians, yet they were able to find a new realm to call home and that she hoped the good people of the Normandy continue to take care of them. The last thing she did was hand the Final Component over to Ashley, stating that she wanted nothing to do with it. On top of that, she told her to keep it safe, believing that Romrick will not give up on claiming it and the keys even though they have become inaccessible to him. She then decided to leave the Normandy as she needed to be by herself. Ashley reminded her that she is free to return to the Normandy whenever she would be welcomed back anytime. Mayweather thanked her for the kindness that she and the rest of the crew members have shown her before she left, drifting through space all by herself.
Downtime Side Stories[]
During the story, there have been some events that weren't mentioned in the main story. FFD couldn't find any way to place them into the main story. So, she decided to come up with these mini-episodes known as Downtime Side Stories because even though there wasn't any way to place them in the story, they are important none-the-less. Each story consist of their own unique sets of titles, unlike the main story in which each episode titles have the same number of words, such as the first book containing one word names for each episode.
Endurance Test[]
The crew members had the girls undergo their first Endurance Test, with of them supervising them included Mordin and Garrus. Garrus was still hesitant about them undergoing this but still allowed it to continue. Each of the girls underwent utilizing each of their powers and holding them out for as long as they could. Watching them struggle did make Garrus nervous, to which he understandably put his foot down after Jewel was finished with her turn. The crew members were impressed by how long the girls held out as well as watching them display each of their different powers. There was one mishap with Splash accidently dropping massive amounts of water on everyone as she would forget to dissintegrate her own water after she was done, a problem that she's had before. Regardless, the girls performed admirably and were sent off for a well-deserved meal afterwards. The women who participated in watching them went off with them while Mordin returned to the lab to look over the data results of the test. Garrus went off after him to look over the data with him.
Back in the lab, Mordin was looking over the data with Garrus entering shortly afterwards. Mordin expressed concerns about the results, but believed that it was too early to assume anything yet. He planned to put them through a few more tests, knowing the results will change overtime. Garrus was still hesitant about this, still expressing his concerns for what they would be putting the girls through. Mordin does understand his concerns but does remind him that it is the girls' choice to continue this. The 2 then conversed about their concerns about the girls as they both care about them very much, with Mordin expressing that having them undergo these tests is his way of helping them. Garrus does understand that as he agreed to allow these tests since the girls are happy with this decision. They both continue to work with each other to do what they can for the girls even if they don't always see eye-to-eye.
Gemma Kinetic Sneezes[]
Garrus had witnessed one of Jewel's sneezing quirk for the first time, watching as so many of the jewels that she had forged before that was stored in her body spilled out all at once. She had told him about how she's able to memorize and store away all of the jewelry that she has forged before. Garrus found it hard to imagine how Gemma Kinetics could do that, but for Jewel, it's not such a big deal since it's second nature to her and her kind. Jewel then walked off but not before sneezing again and having all of the jewels spill out of her body again.
Futari wa Pretty Cure[]
The events of this side story take place during the end of Respite and around the time of Overviews. After having been dragged down by Mordin and Tali, Garrus had watched the first few episodes of the first season of Pretty Cures, the start of the adventures of Cure Black and Cure White, the origin of the Pretty Cure series. They would critique each of the different scenes, making different comments for each one. Despite not having been crazy about the viewings, Garrus seemed fascinated by much of what he was seeing. Though, he was enthralled by it like Mordin and Tali are. After a few episodes, they were able to stop and leave the viewings for another time.
Magical Reproduction[]
The girls educate the crew members about where Fayelons babies come from. Unlike most of the Milky Way species, the girls explain that they basically form orbs from their own magical essence, with the woman forming larger orbs to act as the receptical and the men forming a smaller one to insert their own essence. The process requires a lot of magical energy, so both the male and female need to gather up as much of their own magical energy as they possibly can when they decide to create a child together. The girls told them that they were educated into believing that in order to form a child, the parents needed to have strong feelings for each other, but the girls have had their doubts for a number of reasons, and given the circumstances, it wouldn't be possible for a few of them to even exist.
The Fayelon Clock[]
Liara asking the girls how long they've been away from home led them to tell about how Fayelons are able to tell time. They would be able to do this by drawing circles on their hands, which they would use to measure the position of their sun in the sky. However, their sun would set, which they would not be able to use at night. However, there was a star that appears in the sky at night and they would be able to use that star to continue to tell time. The main source of being able to tell years for them? A main planet within their star system, the same one where their academy is housed. Each of their planets have different rotation speeds but the speeds of their sol cycles, or how long a day is, are relatively the same speed. So, in that sense, all planet days begin and end at around the same time. But, to be able to tell how many days they have been away, they have a device known as a counter, which is an orb that forms from their minds that can tell them how many days they have been away based on their star system's main planet. As for how long they've been away from home? Best to their understanding and resources, they believe that they had been gone from home for several months, with the rotation of the main planet being a few months away from its position to the time when they left their realm.
Our Wings[]
The girls chatted with the crew members about their wings, which the crew members have called Fairy Wings. They did mention having to take a course in order to form them, with which they come up with the designs for them, themselves. However, when asked about why they don't have their wings out all the time, they were able to demonstrate that when Star asked Garrus to hold his arms up, which he did for several minutes, something that Star kind of took pleasure in since she pulled out a bag of her favorite dried fruit snack while watching him do this, however, she denied that being the true reason as she claimed that she only does it whenever she wants to enjoy a sweet, crunchy snack as vaguely pointed out by Aera. After several minutes, Garrus was able to drop his arms and after confirming with them that he had been sore from doing that, Star reiterated that having their wings out is very much like that, except they can have their wings out several minutes longer before they begin to feel sore. Although, they can handle having them out longer when they need to but then retract them when they land on the ground since they're not needed. After hearing all they needed to hear, they ended the conversation and continued on their way to take care of other matters.
Character Relations with the Fayelons[]
Each of the characters of the Mass Effect series have different impressions of the Fayelons. Regardless, each one seems to trust the girls and are aware that they are the only hope against the massive threat that looms over their galaxy (figuratively and literally). Some are more warmer and friendlier than others, with a few having not warming up to the girls at first but, overtime, trust them and are willing to do anything for them. Some are very protective of the girls from the get-go and are willing to put their own lives on the line for them for reasons other than the girls being their last hope against the dark entity. Few are neutral, being that they don't have any real opinion of the girls but trust them nonetheless and are willing to work with them without hesitation. Some even have close relations with each of the girls as well as their own unique relationships with them. The girls have very little interest in romantic involvement as they cherish their friends and family and treat all of them equally. To them, their friends and family are pretty much one in the same and they love all of them equally.
Soundtrack[]
As mentioned, this story comes with a (planned out) soundtrack with music consisting of a lot of Fanfictiondreamer's favorite tracks. Some are story-based while others are relevant to the different characters. None of the music consists of original tracks made by said writers, so there should be no copyrights issues involved in this. The tracks come from a lot of trance music as well as music from other games such as Xenoblade Chronicles X and it may also include few awesome tunes from the 80's, such as a very, very well-liked movie of said decade. Try to guess what it is.
Xenoblade Chronicles X[]
Character Themes[]
Each main character consist of hand-picked existing techno songs and music by FFD that she felt fits best for each one. The different themes would (most likely) be the favorite tracks of each character (at least in my story). One such involves a remix of a rave song from a tv show that the VA of the female Commander Shepard, Jennifer Hale, provided a few voices for in dedication to her: Stark Raving Mad.
The others are as follows:
Commander Shepard: Exploration of Space (Original mix)-Cosmic Gate
Ashley: Children (Radio Club Edit)-4 Clubbers
Liara: Boom Couer-Future Antics
Tali: D.A.T.A 2.0-Aura feat. Hatsune Miku
Garrus: Rock It-Rafa XL
Wrex: Limitless (Angel Ace Remix)-Eddie Lung, Angel Ace
Miranda: Adagio For Strings (Ferry Corsten Mix)-William Orbit
Jacob: Out of the Blue (Radio Edit)-System F
Mordin: Trance infector-DJ Contacreast
Grunt: Eternal (Technikal Remix)-P.H.A.T.T., Jennie Rix
Jack: Metal Future (Groovitron)
Samara: Pray to Jerusalem (Euphoria Mix)-Travel
Thane: Resurrection (Space Remix)-PPK
Zaeed: Contact (DJ Spoke vs Vespa 63 mix)-DJ Spoke
Kasumi: Lamenting City-Axel Coon
EDI: Brainstorm-Tube Tonic and DJ Shandar
James: Tricky Tricky 2009 (Original Club Mix)-DJ Sequenza
Javik: Lizard-Mauro Picotto
Kaidan: I'll Be Here-Acrion
My OCs are also included on this list. Each of the girls' themes are as follows:
Jewel: Different Worlds-The Pulsarix, Alternate High
Flare: Flaming June (BT & PVD Mix)-BT
Star: Energy-Rau-tine
Aera: Rush-Darude
Splash: True Blue-Housei Satoh
Mayweather: Paul Van Dyk-Breaking Dawn
Other[]
Battle - Gym Leader (Pokémon Sword and Shield)
Dare (Transformers: The Movie (1986))
The Touch (Transformers: The Movie (1986))
The soundtrack will also include a few beautiful tracks from Rez, a few of which include FFD's favorite songs from the game. One of them includes Starlight Infinite. The others are to not be listed here for the time being.
Winx[]
A few instrumental versions of Winx Club transformation sequences may also be included in the story. One of them truly confirmed is the Onyrix transformation theme. Other songs are as follows:
A few other songs from the show, however, aren't instrumental versions and can be heard being sung by Mordin.
NSR[]
The girls have become huge fans of each of the different EDM songs from NSR, each with a specially favorite artist from the game. The favorites of each are as follows:
Sayu-Splash
Yinu-Flare
1010-Star
Eve-Jewel