Anora’s head cocked at Dan’s reaction to her questions, trying to figure out if he was embarrassed or flustered. She flinched when he raised a hand toward her, her powers again sparking to life around her arms of their own accord. Ever conscious of its draw on her, she focused on it just long enough to tame them and sever the temporary link between them and her emotions.
	She suppressed a sigh at Dan’s many fillers and jumbled way of speaking. All the same, her eyes lit up with the prospect of other magic-based groups residing just under her nose. Part of her wanted to know more about them, but Dan continued on. She glanced to Darsby with Dan’s gesture, for the first time thankful for the smaller space. If nothing else, it made it easier to keep an eye on multiple people at once. 
	When Dan paused in thought, Anora could only stare at him, mouth slightly agape in a mix of shock and horror. He and his organization planned on [i]conquering[/i] Earth. Her home. 
	Before Dan could refocus on her, Anora faced forward, hoping to hide her expression. She leaned her back against the seat. Her head cocked toward the back seat when Dan remembered her other questions about Pahn. She inhaled sharply through her knows at Dan's admission: he was indeed some sort of powerful monster. She’d guessed it, sure, but hearing it from him was different from speculating. She swallowed and bit her bottom lip, Ahllasta’s shudder only feeding her growing apprehension.
	When he finished, she remained silent for a long moment. Reminding herself that everything felt too real to be a dream, she took a deep breath and held it for as long as she could. She couldn’t afford to lose her head right now. She had to stay calm—or at least pretend. She exhaled, trying to tame the bundle of nerves knotted in her stomach and making her hands shake. Alas, it made little difference.
	“Okay. Let…” She took another deep breath and swallowed.
	“Let me make sure I’ve got this right,” she started again, stronger this time, hoping Dan would prove as obvious to human nature and emotions as Darsby had. “You three are a part of some sort if intergalactic organization determined to rule over the entirety of our sector or whatever you guys call my planet’s placement.” The words sounded strange coming from her mouth, more like she was trying to explain the plot of a movie to someone than understand what was happening in real life.
	She took another breath, then continued. “You and, I assume, others on a need-to-know basis sent Darsby here on a secret mission to find a connection to this Pahn—who’s multiple people wrapped into one?” she added uncertainly with a shake of her head. “And all in order to, what? Take him down? So you can strip Earth’s magic organizations of their leverage against yours and invade Earth? And I’m somehow the connection you need hunt down this almighty being.” She tried but failed to keep her repugnance at the situation from her voice.
	[i]Forget the Crazy Train.[/i] she thought, leaning her elbow against the armrest between the front seats, head in her hand. [i]We abandoned that in Crazy Town and burned both to the ground on our way out.[/i]
	Worse, she had so willingly and unwittingly agreed to help them in their takeover. With each of her traveling ‘companions’ as powerful as they were, though she had made only a verbal agreement, there was no telling what they would do if she tried to back down.
	[i]Great job, Anora,[/i] she scowled, both at herself and the situation she had managed to get herself into this time. If she couldn’t run and couldn’t fight, she’d have to think her way out of this one. [i]Yep. I’m doomed.[/i]
	She glanced to Darsby from behind part of her hair, wondering if he had known all this, known she would essentially be betraying her own planet. His apparent disinterest in what Dan had to say gave her her answer. 
	He knew. Of course he knew. And neither of them cared what an invasion would mean for the common folk—for her friends and family, talking about it like it was just another day on the job. Which, for them, it may very well be.
	She suddenly felt like a fox who hopped into the wagon with a bunch of foxhounds at the promise of a juicy steak. She swallowed, hard, the car feeling more like a mobile prison and making her heart quicken and stomach churn.
	Maybe, just maybe, she could find Pahn on her own, or even warn the magic groups here. But then, she didn’t even know who she needed to warn them against, let alone who she would need to warn in the first place.
	She needed to know more. Which meant she’d have to go along with them, be their little obedient guide, until she learned enough to save her planet. And all the while hope Darsby wasn’t still listening in on her thoughts. And, of course, avoid getting killed. Or worse.
	Anora took yet another breath and straightened in her seat. Confidence returning from having at least some sort of plan to fix things, she leaned forward and pulled her backpack onto her lap.
	“Alright, Monster Mash,” she began, addressing Dan, her voice holding only the slight hint of a tremor amidst its otherwise brashness. “If I’m going to be helping you, I want to know [i]who[/i] I’m helping.”
	As she spoke, she took out one of the energy bars from her backpack and opened it. Though she didn’t feel like she could eat anything, she’d need as much strength as she could get.
	“Agent K’s,” she jerked her head toward Darsby, “knocked out the possibility of the MIB having anything to do with this, and I don’t think Dalaks can take on a human form, so I’m at a loss here. So.” She turned slightly in her seat to put Dan in her peripheral vision. “To start, who're you working for,” she raised a finger, counting off her questions, “what’s so bad about leaving Earth alone, and where in the worlds are we going?”