𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒

006. oops i played with ur heart, got lost in ur head, oh baby baby

TW: suicidal thoughts, emotional manipulation, pregnancy/miscarriage, twisted and evil characters (i.e. Theo) 

XANDRA FELT INVINCIBLE. With time slowed around her, her friends' faces frozen in battle cries, swords and guns moving in slow motion, she felt like she could do anything. She was powerful, and she didn't have to hide it at all. 

The Damia they were battling was their final test, and everything was going smoothly. It was perfect. A little too perfect. 

They had found their Puppet completely on their own, looking out for suspicious activity. It was nearly impossible to track down Puppets, since any suspicious behaviour, was normal behaviour for teenaged children. Dark circles, skipping classes, snappish attitudes. Literally the definition of a teen. 

So, instead, Dexter had worked out a new method. It was quite genius, too. 

"Just hint at knowing what Mirage is, or wanting to kill Puppets," he explained, in a much clearer definition than Naoki's explanation of Mirage. Short, simple, understandable. Xandra vibed with that. "The Puppets will feel threatened, perform aggressive behaviour, and reveal themselves." 

"You're a genius!" Naoki exclaimed, dapping Dexter up. "God, we should've hired you sooner. Always go for the smart ones." 

Dexter grinned, side-hugging her. 

Illias grudgingly admitted it, too. "It's pretty smart. I wish I'd thought of it." 

"You wish," Theo murmured. 

"What?"

"Nothing." 

"Let's test it out, safely," Naoki instructed. "We can try on a few of our suspects from our list. If they react how Dexter says, and we follow through and find Damia at their houses, then we can assume Dex's method is foolproof." 

"And a lot of proofing against fools we'll need," Xandra grumped, but threw Dexter a little grin when everyone else looked away. 

Paris was bouncing excitedly. "When do we start? I've always wanted to be a secret agent." 

"Look, Barcelona, can you calm your motor for just one sec?" Theo said, but he looked just as excited. "You haven't even gotten your longsword handled."

"You haven't even gotten powers, period," Paris frowned. 

Theo waved him off. "S'what you think." 

Paris had raised an eyebrow. 

It worked, though. Dexter's new way of sussing out Puppets had been wildly successful, and they managed to find new ones every night. Xandra was, mentally, exhausted. She had to think twice as hard, day and night, but it was a refreshing change. It made her grateful for the normalcy of school, and she was actually going to her classes now. Her grade in band was an A. She was doing well. 

In Mirage, too, she was thriving. Everything felt right when she was moving fast, the whole world slowed down, and her sped up senses keeping perfect pace. Her ADHD had always made it hard to focus, but now, with her physical speed matching her mental speed, she felt like she could do anything. 

Like take down a massive monster. 

She still hadn't gotten used to the sight of the Damia. Some were more monstrous than others. Some were more similar to black-hued animals. The worst ones looked like twisted versions of people. They were all horrible, though.