"What?" Nox whispered nervously, "What are you talking about? What do you know about my mom?"
Hitsu turned away from Nox and her question as he began to pace in the small living room. Nox quickly but quietly exited her parent's bedroom and closed the door. Juno watched as Hitsu paced with a worried expression seemingly sharing his emotions. Hitsu walked wall to wall in the room with his hand to his mouth as he muttered to himself.
"How could I be so stupid? Why didn't I see this earlier? Why didn't I ask any questions? What do I do now? This is worse than I thought."
"Hey!" Nox interrupted angrily, "What is going on?"
Hitsu suddenly turned and slammed his hands on Nox's shoulders to grip them firmly.
"Nox! I need you to answer some questions," he said intently.
"U-uh, okay," Nox responded startled by Hitsu's mood swing.
Hitsu released his grip on Nox's shoulder and began to pace once again. Juno ran to him before leaping into his arms. Hitsu started to pet Juno as if it were a natural reaction, his face showing no sign he even noticed the cat.
"First," he started, "what is your power?"
"It's called dance," Nox explained, "with practice, I can learn different dances that can do all sorts of things."
"Okay," Hitsu mumbled, "like the bubbles?"
"Yeah, I can do all sorts of dances," Nox confirmed, "like the night sky I did for my mom or the shield I placed around you when the shadow attacked."
"Got it, now how did you get your power?" Hitsu asked, "Born with it? Learned it? Random mutation?"
"It's a combination of my parent's powers. It appeared when I was around six but the doctors say I always had it. Around that time I discovered my love of dancing and they say the power used that as a way to manifest."
"Ok that makes sense," Hitsu responded, "but what are your parent's powers?"
"Well you already know my dads is gem creation, it's how he makes all the jewelry. My mom's power is called flow."
Hitsu froze where he stood. Everything about him stopped except for his heart, its beating was louder than gunshots. His eyes widened in fear as he turned to Nox. Their eyes met and like an infectious virus Nox instantly became just as scared. Even Juno seemed terrified at Nox's explanation as the three stood without a word shared between them. After what seemed like a lifetime Nox broke the scary silence.
"What is it?" she asked with her voice shaking.
"Explain how flow works to me... very specifically..." Hitsu managed to push out of his throat.
"W-well... My mom can detect changes in flow... Like airflow and stuff... Anything with movement she can sense... If she tries hard enough," Nox whimpered in response.
Hitsu's arms which held Juno began to shake as his jaw dropped.
"How precise is it? How small changes can she detect?" Hitsu asked, his eyes practically begging for his thoughts to be wrong.
Nox swallowed her fear and forced herself to answer the question.
"If she focuses hard enough... She can sense down to microscopic levels..."
Hitsu didn't try to hide his despair as he looked as if he had been shot through the heart.
"Nox..." was all he whispered.
Nox was afraid to respond, she desperately hoped that he would say something good despite knowing he wouldn't.
"Y-y-yeah?"
"The shadows... I know why they were here.
"W-w-why?"
"...
...
...Your mom."
The front door swinging open caused the pair to jump and Juno to instinctually hiss at the intruder.
"Ah-ha," Nox's father laughed as he entered the house, "lunchtime."
The man quickly noticed he was the center of attention. The room's mood began clear causing his smile to fade.
"What's wrong?"
...
"I don't understand," Nox's father said nervously as he sat on the couch, "why would someone be after my wife?"
"I'll explain in just a moment," Hitsu responded as he stood behind the small coffee table. "But you don't need to worry," Hitsu assured, "it's my job as a hero to protect you and your family."
"Jeez, Mr. Hitsu, I don't know how to thank you," Nox's father said feeling slightly better.
"You can buy me and the cat lunch after I get this all sorted out," Hitsu remarked with a smile.
Moments later Nox entered the living room from her bedroom with pen and paper in hand.
"Okay," she said slightly shaken, "I got the stuff you asked for."
"Thank you," Hitsu said as he took the pen and paper and placed the items on the coffee table.
Nox sat down next to her father on the couch and the two watched Hitsu anxiously.
"Alright," Hitsu began as he started to draw on the paper, "have either of you heard of a God Butterfly before?"
"No," Nox replied.
"Never," her father answered.
"That's fine," Hitsu said as he continued to scribble, "most people haven't. Basically, they are an extremely rare creature, so rare a lot of people think they're just a myth. The legend goes that these butterflies are made by the gods and therefore have the god's power."
"Okay but something like that is just a legend... Right?" Nox asked, "You even said they're a myth."
"No Nox," her father answered with realization plastered on his face, "he said people think they are."
"Exactly," Hitsu said, "I've traveled a lot of places and seen a lot of things." Hitsu put down the pen and handed the pair the paper he had been drawing on. "This is one of the things I've seen."
Nox studied the paper nervously. On it was a simple outline of a butterfly, its forewings shaped like half-circles and its hindwing shaped like triangles. She knew that she had never seen anything like this before.
"They glow pure white," Hitsu continued, "and you won't find anything more beautiful."
"Hold on," Nox interrupted, "if you've seen these things before, have you caught one?"
Hitsu let out a disappointed sigh and Juno seemed to stoop sadly.
"Unfortunately not," Hitsu said, "It's hard enough to find them, but its hell to catch one. Think of it like this, you can find them all you want but if they don't want to be caught they damn well won't be caught."
"Alright," Nox's father said firmly, still holding the drawing in his hand, "I think I know why, but explain to me why my wife is involved in this."
Hitsu nodded in understanding and quickly continued his explanation.
"I'm sure you figured out that whoever sent those shadows sent them to retrieve your wife. They plan to make her use her power to sense the slight changes in airflow from the butterflies' wings. Basically, the want her to find the butterflies for them."
"For what?" Nox asked angrily, "for some power?"
Hitsu didn't respond. Nox stared at him while he stared at his feet. They sat in silence for a moment before Hitsu took a deep breath.
"There is a different reason they want these butterflies," Hitsu said grimly.
"And that is?" Nox's father inquired.
"The butterflies didn't inherit the powers of gods," Hitsu explained, "in fact, I'm sure they are a natural creature and not the work of a religious being. Those who hunt these creatures do so for something more than a little boost in power or to get stronger... They do it because they are willing to place all their faith in themselves, in one thing."
Hitsu turned to face the two with fire in his eyes. Any semblance of a smile had been washed away and replaced with nothing but seriousness.
"These butterflies could hold the fate of the world in their wings. Because these little creatures can do more just look pretty. They could change lives, burn down cities, create hurricanes, destroy values, crack the earth, part the sea, delete the universe's very existence. These butterflies could be the greatest enemy to mankind as we know it.
Hitsu's words were red hot as they seemed to scorch the very room he stood in. Nox could feel the sweat rolling down her neck and knew her father was facing the very same intensity. Any sliver of a joke was burnt away and they knew Hitsu was completely serious. The fact that scared Nox the most was that Hitsu wasn't done with his speech, but the end was upon them.
"The danger in these butterflies isn't that they can give a lucky few some more power. I want to say that the worst thing they could do is create a strong villain but these monsters can do so much more. These butterflies don't grant power...
...They grant wishes."
...
End of Episode 8