“We got lucky…” The police chief sighed and threw papers on her desk. Those spoken words carried with them a heavy weight that pressed down on those inside her office, mainly, Grim and her guards.

  “Since you had éclair, also known as the Raiju, by some people, or the lightning beast, investigate the lower quarter for our lost sheep, the Wizard Gang have not only allowed us to send in our own team of investigators, but have also collaborated with us on tracking the sheep down.”

  The chief shifted in her chair. She looked young, almost like a child, but the intensity of her gaze and her sheer presence made Grim feel like she was in the presence of a towering beast.

  Grim wasn’t alone in the office. Standing by the doors and standing by the lone window behind the chief were the chief’s personal task force, the Justice Corps. Dressed in full dress uniform, with sabers on their belt. They stood tall, hands behind their backs, and their heads lowered just so that their caps hid their gaze. Two men, two women, making for four people guards. Altogether, right at this moment there were seven people in this room.

  Grim knew they were watching and if trouble were to come knocking, they would move instantly. Plus… her eyes drifted to the chief’s ‘chair’… Making it impossible to target the chief, even if she wanted too.

  Still, in spite of being in the proverbial beast’s den, Grim was not concerned. Though she stood at attention, hands behind her back, the chief’s pressure had no effect on her.

  The chief took a moment to grab a sweet from a bowl on her desk, a bowl filled with saltwater taffy. She unwrapped the sweet and popped it in her mouth. For a brief second, the pressure faded, only to come roaring back.

  “I have many concerns with what you did Grim. éclair is left to her own devices for a reason. Even if those in the police force don’t harbor a grudge for what she did, if only because she made right her wrongs. Many more were not so forgiving, mainly Lucre and his Dragon Gang. By doing what you did, you could have started a war.”

  “That is why I sent someone that I believed could reign her in.” Grim responded firmly.

  “Prima Belle, was it? The newcomer that arrived shortly after the last blood moon?” The chief asked, and Grim affirmed. “I would worry that you’re focusing on her, but I make it a point not to get involved in my officer’s personal lives. I just worry that your connection with her are tied to the narrative.”

  “The narrative?” Grim asked, somewhat confused. The chief shifted again in her seat and let out another sigh.

  “Another name for fate, or more specifically, what some of us call the plans of the mascots. I digress though, that is not why I called you up to my office. Since we’ve begun collaboration with the Wizard Gang, we have discovered a number of other anchor sites that the sheep had set up. Using these sites, Star Spawn have been steadily moving in and corrupting individuals in the city, even managing to grab new rabbits. Had we not discovered them when we did, the corruption could have reached the proverbial bone.”

  She shifts again and opens a drawer, shifting through papers.

  “With that dealt with, and with the Wizard Gang being given better protocols to detect insurgencies like this, we found a new anchor point thanks to Rumor. Ah, here it is…” She pulls out a stack of papers clipped together. At the top was a flier for something. An observatory.

  Grim looked at it, flipped through the papers.

  “I wasn’t aware the city had an observatory.”

  “It doesn’t.” The chief replied back. “In fact, nobody knows about it, but…” She glances over to one of her task force members and asks, “You, have you ever heard of an observatory on the outskirts of the city?”

  The man, just behind Grim opened his mouth to speak and froze. His eyes went glassy for a moment before a small grin found its way on his face.

  “Ah, right, the observatory. Of course, it’s been around for as long as I remember. I remember when I went as a child.”

  The answer was concerning.

  “As you can see, the observatory hasn’t quite entered the collective conscience of the citizenry as of yet.”

  “A new construct then… how new?” Grim asked.

  “Fairly, in the last month at least, according to Rumor’s information. It’s been rather difficult pin down the exact details, since sheep don’t follow the usual rules, but we think they may have arrived in the last month or two. The observatory itself is located just beyond the Upper District. A road between the Upper district and the suburb district leads towards the observatory. Your task, is to investigate.”

  “I understand, am I going alone, or will I be joined by other special investigators?” Grim responds.

  “No, special investigators like you don’t grow on trees. We’re lacking in numbers, especially since you hunting dogs have a tendency to get yourselves killed. I will, however, be sending a team of my justice task force to accompany you.”

  “That will suffice. When do I leave?”

  “Now, preferably. I already have the van prepped, along with your team. I’m not sure what you’ll encounter, but tonight is the full moon, so expect the worst.”

  “I will.”

  “Good, now go. And don’t die Grim.”

  “I won’t make any promises.” Grim responded, to which the chief grunted and grabbed another candy, not even bothering to wave her off.

  Dismissed, Grim walked out the open door, and made her way towards the station lot, where, as promised, a task force van awaited her. A team of six people awaited, a mix of men and women, each threw up a salute as Grim approached.

  Grim ran her eyes down the line and nodded. That alone sent them into action, one by one they piled into the back and the final one got behind the wheel. Grim sat in the passenger seat and folded her arms in front of her chest and closed her eyes.

  Her eyes flew open after some time. The sun was beginning to set. The road was getting bumpy. The road ran along a cliff edge. To the left was the Upper district fencing, to the right she could overlook the suburbs. The road continued onwards and snaked upwards, until it came to a larger clearing where an impressively sized observatory sat. The lot was empty. The glass doors at the front were all shut. On the doors were countless fliers and advertisements that seemed forgotten or ignored.

  Stepping out of the car, they looked over the area. The front doors weren’t locked. The interior, however, was anything but dark. Hanging in the sky was a hazy cloud… no, a galaxy hung above. A single large light, surrounded by countless smaller lights, along with colorful clouds that floated about.

  Corkboard panels hung on one of the walls, filled with hand drawn pictures made by children with crayons, and countless news articles, the specifics of what was on them, hard to make out in the dim lighting. The main desk was covered in papers haphazardly thrown around. Extra sections, one area leading to a museum was cordoned off. Another, to what probably was some kind planetarium, which was also cordoned off.

  The moment she crossed the threshold, Grim felt the buzz of magic in the air. The electric tang sparked in her lungs and was carried to her blood with every pump of her heart. The scent that hung in the air was a mix between the tang of ozone and something else she couldn’t quite place.

  Instinctively, she transformed. Fire consumed, burned her being, and where an officer had stood, was now a black knight wearing glossy black armor. Behind her, the justice task force moved in, hands on their blades.

  As they stepped into the center of the foyer, the galaxy above began to descend. Seeing that, Grim calmly drew her blade and planted it before her and waited. The task force drew their own blades and held their blades before them.

  The galaxy enveloped them. All around them, stars and nebulae glistened. It was a wonderous experience, yet Grim had her eyes shut. Her senses strained to the limit. The tang of magic in the air spiked, and with it, a creature appeared out of a nebula. It was translucent. An odd-looking skull with stars gleaming in the sockets. It lunged for Grim but was intercepted by a task force member.

  A nearby justice task member swung their silvered blade, words of power etched along the spine glowed with purpose, the blade easily hewed through the creature, killing it instantly. Some tried to attack the task force members, but their uniforms were stitched with countless enchantments, and any strike was stopped by a manifested panel of silver light.

  As more appeared, Grim remained unbothered. Focusing instead on finding the source of the galaxy. She could feel it shifting around them, like a vulture circling prey. She only needed an instant.

  She wasn’t worried. Star spawn were not physically strong creatures. They focused instead on mental manipulation and psychic prowess. Physically, they were weak. Not to mention, star entities were rarely competent fighters. Instead choosing to work in the background and twist fate to fit their designs.

  It was clear that the lost sheep was an astromancer of sort. A type of magic based on reading and divining the stars. Which meant, it was an easy kill in Grim’s mind.

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  As more of the entities appeared and were cut down, the galaxy around them seemed to dim. Against the colorful nebulae and glittering stars, she saw it. A shadow that flitted between spaces. Her being locked onto the presence; her hands tightened their grip on her blade.

  Her breath was held, and when the creature finally lunged, revealing itself to be a skeletal creature wearing a cloak of stars, she attacked. With a burst of fire, Grim launched herself forward. Skeletal hands swiped out at a task force member, but the strike was promptly deflected by their silver blade, opening them up to Grim’s own strike.

  The blade cut deep into the entities cloak of stars. Out of the wound, black essence, like a squid’s ink in the ocean floated in the air. The wound hissed. Even as the entity backed off, Grim did not lose it. A trail of ash followed wherever the entity went, slowly, but surely killing it.

  One of her traits marked whatever she struck. Branded them down to the soul. She could smell the burning ash, hear it sizzling and cracking, taste it on her tongue, like the familiar tang of gunpowder and blood. As such, she could track it. Unerringly, her blade swung out. Each wide swing left trails of burning ash that left the entity screaming a silent scream. Its agony grew with every strike, compounding the burning ruin consuming it and when it realized it could not hide, it attacked.

  The galaxy came to life, countless stars shot forward like arrows, aiming for Grim. She ignored it. The stars splashed against her armor with little to no effect. Small planets shattered upon her, yet they did not deter her. Even as the nebulae wrapped around the entity, making it swell up, she did not cower. If anything, it only made her glow that much brighter.

  Her hair on fire, burning like a candle’s wick. Grim launched herself at the entity, cutting away at its body, slapping aside pathetic swipes of its claws.

  While she fought, the task force continued to cull the entities that appeared with mechanical efficiency. Their blows measured, their every step and movement in perfect synch. Almost as if they were machines not men and women.

  The galaxy bled away, stars dimmed, the glowing core of the entity, the center of the galaxy, dimmed and died. With it, the foyer went dark and quiet.

  Without much thought, Grim gathered the silver coin from the stardust remains. Her burning eyes took in the empty space, bereft of living beings, beyond herself and the task force. Above, windows let the full moon’s light bleed into the space. Granting it an eerie atmosphere.

  Eventually, her eyes fell on a set of spiral stairs leading up, up towards the upper part of the observatory.

  Moving towards those stairs, she found her way barred by a cloaked figure. Her hands clenched the hilt of her blade, even as the figure lowered the hood of their cloak.

  Grim did not speak on seeing their identity. If anything, she was far more cautious.

  “Hey…” The person started, “Did you hear?” And Grim swung her blade, a wall of burning ash suffused the area before her. Burning the floor and stairs.

  “Rude.” The person re-appeared at her side, but Grim did not swing again, merely looked at her.

  “Why are you here, Rumor.” She asked, demanded.

  “To stop you of course, or well, to correct your course” They shifted their words, on seeing Grim tense. The figure before Grim, the rumored Rumor. A teenage girl, her hair curled to frame her face just so, she wore a white frilly blouse with a bowtie, a short skirt whose front was longer than the side and back, white gloves were on her hand. Her cloak was black as night but twinkled with stars. Inside, it was a bright red, almost blindingly so.

  “I heard a rumor…” She said, with a light chuckle. “A story mayhap, about a young girl who loved the stars. Every day, she would look up at the night sky. Every night she would look at the stars. An innocent past time, but alas, this girl was misfortunate.”

  She said and twirled, her cloak shifting, swaying just right, the crimson interior flickered, black bleeding on the red, and with it, a story played.

  “The girl saw something she should not one night. Heard a voice, a call from far beyond, breaching the barrier. It was innocent enough, but it sparked something in her, a need. A desire to know, to connect with those stars. A desire that led Sheep to her. Or her to him.”

  The black ink swirled, new scenes took place, continuing to play a tale.

  “With her new abilities, granted by the mascot we all know and love, the girl began to seek out the stars. She talked and talked, wheeled and dealed, alas, not every star was kind. Now, having made a bad deal, she is no more than a puppet. Having connected with what she had no chance of ever understanding or controlling.”

  And with that, the story ended. The black fled away, leaving only crimson behind.

  “Do you understand?” Rumor asks, cocking her head.

  “Sheep sent you then?”

  “Perhaps, perhaps not. If anything, Sheep offered a deal, a loss of such a unique specimen is rare and if at all possible, her retrieval would be worthwhile.”

  Grim considered but saw no reason to refuse. After all, if Rumor was right, if she could save that girl… she would do everything she can that is within her power to save her. For that was justice, was it not?

  “Very well, but how will we separate them?”

  “Simply follow my lead.” Rumor responded with, and Grim merely nodded. The pair went up the stairs, the task force left behind to secure the area. At the apex, a door barred the way but was swiftly opened with a kick. A large area greeted them, a large telescope sat near the edge, its focus elsewhere, far away. Along the walls were whiteboards, covered in calculations and equations, but as Grim’s eyes followed them, the innocent writings took a stark turn.

  Numbers and symbols gave way to more disjointed math. Odd letters and figures, that could only belong to something other etched themselves into creation. Pulsing and whispering meaning. When her marker had ran out, she began to use what she could. Pens, knives, to gouge out the walls, and even her own blood.

  At the end of the room, a woman sat. Her hair long, cascading like the night sky, filled with stars. Her whispers echoed through the space. She was working to gouge out lines in the stone. At a glance, nothing seemed off. At a glance, Grim saw no strings or puppet master. However, those beyond often worked in unusual ways.

  “Hey, have you heard?” Rumor starts, taking a small magician’s wand seemingly out of nowhere, her voice just loud enough to be heard by all. The woman, hearing Rumor’s voice turned to face her. Her eyes empty like a void. “A puppet’s strings can be seen, in just the right light.” At her words and a wave of her wand, something shifted, a shift in perception perhaps something else.

  The air shimmered just so, the moon light that beamed in shifted just right, illuminating the darkened dome, revealing silver lines connecting the girl to something else. Something that shone and glowed against the moonlight.

  An entity, a true spawn of stars. Its body looked wrong. Skeletal, too thin. Long multi-joined fingers and toes, each covered in silver claws. On its forehead a single gem, within countless eyes could be seen looking out. For hair, it had long tentacles that shimmered and moved, each covered in fine trails of starlight.

  The moment it was revealed, it opened its maw, a maw filled with jagged crystalline teeth.

  Sensing the threat, Grim leapt into action.

  The star spawn raised a hand, the starlight shimmering along their body jolted out, streaming towards Grim, all the while, Rumor slunk along the edge of the dome. Her eyes took in the calculations while she maneuvered, almost danced, with seemingly no rhyme or rhythm. Imperceptibly, if one had the right sight, they would see her bypass countless small motes of stardust as she closed on the girl made puppet.

  The girl made puppet stared blankly. Her puppeteer too engaged with the hound known as Grim to care for its toy. Her fingers dripped with blood, rent and worn after scratching and etching the stone walls. She wore not her uniform, only a simple smock and dress.

  As Grim and the entity fought, a fruitless fight. It screamed and wailed as it Grim struck. Her blunt blade, burning hot cut what it should not have been able too. Crossing the divide of reality and not.

  The entity tried to shimmer away, to flee, the lines of its puppet drawn tight, dragging the girl with it, but it didn’t get far before Grim threw herself in the way.

  Cursing under her breath, Rumor moved ever so faster, her mind whirring with what it was she could do.

  The answer she came too, was not entirely pleasant, but… it would do.

  With the tip of her hat, a swirl of her cloak, with subtly changed. A girl, a boy? Did it matter? Rumor was a rumor, nothing more than a tall tale. A fantasy made flesh.

  Where a girl had been, was a dashing man, cloak and mask on his face, a fitting picture for a certain kind of tale. The magician’s rod shifted and changed, becoming a blade of silver-white that reflected the moonlight.

  Now changed, Rumor, nay, the prince shot forward. His cloak, now a dazzling silver, shielded him from the stray motes of starlight. Allowing him to move with impunity.

  Sensing the shift in fate, the alterations to what should be, the entity tried to intervene but was once again beat back by Grim. She fought like a beast, an animal. Barring the star spawn from doing what it could. It shimmered, trying to escape, to pull back, but the moonlight shining down prevented it from escaping this realm.

  It was trapped. Doomed. Burning ash, ruin made manifest, burned and lapped at its very being.

  Though it was a mere reflection of its truest self, a piece of a whole, it began to fear. Uncaring for the plan, for its purpose, in desperation it threw its puppet before the hound of ash, the unrelenting beast.

  Seeing the girl, the puppet, Grim froze. Her frenzy fading just so, as she tried to move around, but the star spawn kept back. Its body still smoldered, burned, but slowly it worked to push back the unrelenting ruin. All the while, it puppeteered the girl, forcing her to make wide swings, and bar Grim’s path.

  Just as frustration set in, the prince had arrived. A swing of his blade danced in the light, its target not the girl, but the strings connecting her to the spawn. Without much fanfare, the blade cut. The silvery strings of fate made manifest, scattered into light.

  All at once, a lot happened. The sudden severing wounded the star spawn’s echo. Wounded it far more than Grim ever could. Its very presence shrunk for the briefest of moments and in that moment, the puppet woke up.

  Her senses buried, suddenly came to the fore. Knowledge, memories, all the things she had experienced since being controlled came to the fore. The horrors done, that she had committed under the being’s control.

  Her magic wailed out, swirling, a host of stars circled her. What strings still connected her to the star spawn severed and broke. Further wounding the entity. Grim was pushed back, but with an animalistic snarl she bypassed the girl and went for the entity, whereas, the prince dashed through the vortex of stars, using his cloak as a shield.

  Stars splashed harmlessly off the silver cloak, while the prince pushed through.

  Sensing the intrusion, the girl looked up, just in time to see a mask clad face, a charming smile that stopped all thought. The prince didn’t stop, taking her in his embrace, he spun her, counter to the vortex of stars, dispersing it in a flurry of light.

  Borrowing the spent power for what he was to do, he leaned down, capturing her soul in his eyes as they bore down on her. Slowly, and surely, he lowered the girl and captured her lips too.

  A single moment passed. In the distance, the stat spawn died with a final whimper. Only a pile of ash existed where it stood, a river of starlight flowed out, into both Grim and the prince.

  The girl went slack. The prince fell to his knees, and in his place, the girl. Sweat soaking her forehead. She turned her head and made to spit. Making plans to buy mouthwash later.

  Seeing grim approach, the girl, Rumor spoke up.

  “I managed to subdue her and also lock away her memories.” The how, a secret only known to her. “She won’t be a threat anymore.”

  “I assume that means you’ll be taking her back to the Celestial Fleece?”

  “I will, I’m sure someone there can help her deal with what comes next.”

  “Very well.” Grim stated, giving the girl a final look before heading back down. There was more work to do, investigations to do, and…

  There was still Tartarus to deal with…

  With those thoughts in mind, Grim exited the observatory, just in time to witness the rising sun of a new day.

  As she did, she wondered about that girl she had met not long ago, that little rabbit, still young and new. After all, she reminded her of herself, once upon a time. Someone devoted to a singular purpose, regardless of the cost. Meeting her…

  It ignited something in Grim. I made her want to push and spur on, to show that girl what she could truly do. Regardless of the cost.

  Perhaps the chief had been right? She mused. Maybe she should be concerned? Grim thought, but in the end, she was a hound. A dog. No matter what, she wouldn’t avoid what was to come. If anything, she would eagerly leap forward.

  After all, that was what made a dog, a dog.