The Faulkner family settled in at home quickly.  Sidney and the kids were glad to be back in their own beds.  Duncan, Donna and Dia slept wherever Courtney left them, finding that any spot was a comfortable sleeping spot as plushies.

Sidney fussed a little at not having Duncan’s help around the house, even though Unit Jade was more than helpful enough to make up the shortfall.  Duncan apologized, but felt that for everyone concerned it was best that they stay a plush, and Gwen chimed in with her agreement.  She even went so far as to take direct control of Unit Jade some of the time to help out with tasks beyond the robot’s programming.

A few days after their return, Agent Mackie showed up at the door, and asked if Duncan was feeling well enough to be debriefed about That Night.  Duncan sighed, and agreed to talk.

If Mackie found talking to a plush snake off-putting, he didn’t show it.  He’d seen Duncan in enough different shapes to take it in stride.

“Boss wants to know if there are any more surprises coming our way.”

Duncan shrugged.  “We’re not really in the loop on that.  Probably not?  All the remaining ghouls should be dead, and the demon world is as well.  The big thing is the cobalt plume in the north.  Are you tracking it?”

Mackie nodded.  “Yeah.  We’ve evacuated those that’ll go, and picked up a few dozen polar bears for good measure.  Between those and the ones in zoos, there’s a decent chance we can keep them from going extinct.”

“Oh?  That is good to hear.  We are glad.”

“That... is kind of why we did it.”

Duncan smiled broadly at Mackie.  “Truly?”

“There were arguments for and against.  I said it would make you happy... and it appears I was right.”

“Thank you.  How far south will the plume get?”

Mackie shrugged.  “Most of it has settled, and the winter snows should lock it down.  The radiation maps are... something else.  Swirls and curlicues, it’s kind of pretty when you step back from thinking about what it represents.  Speaking of which...  There’s an enormous glowing lake where the big one went off.  Oblong, runs northwest to southeast.  We figure it was carved by the blast, but we have no idea why it’s still glowing.  It’s not radiation.”

“We dealt with it briefly when trying to excavate Gwen.  It seemed to be some kind of residual magic.  It should go dark when the Moon isn’t up.  Does it?”

“It dims a little when the Moon sets, but it still glows.”

Duncan shook their head.  “We don’t know what it means.  We’ll check it out when we go rescue Gwen, next full Moon.  Not before.”

“Wouldn’t dream of asking you to do anything before then.  There’s one related issue, though...”

“Yes?”

“There hasn’t been an actual new lake in some time.  They’re still figuring out the process for deciding a name...”

“Vanessa’s Gift.  Her sacrifice is why we are safe from demons now and forevermore.”

“I’ll... yeah, that seems likely to stick.  I’ll tell them.”

Duncan smiled again.  “Good.  We all owe her so, so much.  It is fitting.”

“Indeed.  One last thing... security.  We’ve got a checkpoint on both the entrances to your road, but it’s causing some disruption.  Now that you’re feeling better... you are feeling better, right?”

“Loads.  Memory’s still swiss cheese, but Gwen and Arwen have helped a lot.  It seems to be... annealing, if not exactly healing.  Home, family, fuzzy... it’s all helping.  You don’t need to worry about me getting twitchy, especially with the quarter Moon coming up.”

“So... do you want a security detail, or should we just let you handle it?  We could be as unobtrusive as you like, several of your neighbours have offered up their homes as guard posts if we need them.”

That got a fluffy snort from Duncan.  “We should talk to them.  Not exactly in the habit, but they’re owed at least some explanation.  How unobtrusive are we talking?”

“Just a couple guys on overwatch, and a vehicle or two for traffic control if the crowds show up.”

“Crowds?”

Mackie shrugged.  “The Blue Vixen is being mobbed.  I don’t think most people know this is where you live, but it seems inevitable that it will get out.”

“We aren’t planning on going outside for a while.  As long as the food deliveries can get through, I think we’ll be okay with whatever.”

Mackie nodded, then offered a hand.  Duncan butted their head against it and got some skritches for their efforts, which made them purr.  “See you around?”

Mackie chuckled at Duncan’s antics.  “You really are something else.  I’ll be nearby if you need me.”

*** *** ***

A few days later they had another unusual visitor.  Sidney answered the door expecting a grocery delivery, and instead a rainbow-striped catgirl stood there.  She closely resembled the plush kitten that Gwen inhabited when she chose to visit.  Sidney stood there puzzled for a moment.  “Gwen?”

“Yeah.  May I come in?”

Sidney smiled, and gestured for Gwen to enter.  “You’re welcome here any time.  How are you holding up?”

Gwen sighed morosely as she followed Sidney into the house’s main hallway.  Her gait was the opposite of her usual bouncy one.  “You know about Ettie, right?”

“Your sweetie when you’re not trying to steal Donna away from me.”

Gwen managed a weak glare at Sidney.  “That’s not how...  Nevermind.  Yes, Ettie is my sweetie.  She incubated me after Toronto, at the price of becoming like Duncan and me – crystal.  The problem is, once the Moon gets past the third quarter, she goes inert until the Moon is more than half full again.”

“Oh?  That’s... I guess that’s magic for you.”  Sidney frowned a moment in concentration.  “It has been a week since everything happened, so that means she’s... inert?”

Gwen nodded.  “We’ve tried all kinds of things, but Moon magic just can’t...  Without her as a distraction, it’s getting a lot harder to forget there’s millions of tons of rocks on top of me.”

Sidney blinked.  “But you’re right here.”

“Just occupying the body.  It was enough, but...  Honestly, I need a hug.”

Sidney opened her arms, and pulled the rainbow catgirl into a tight squeeze.  “Of course.”

“I also need someone who can tell me it will be alright.”

Sidney eyed her then glanced toward the living room, where Courtney was playing with her plushes.  “I don’t know...  Duncan’s in a better place mentally, but...”

A figure pushed out of the bedroom, a four-armed naga that wasn’t fully male or female, but read a little as both.  “We can help,” chimed Dia.  “We know what you need, and have some ideas that might help Ettie, too.”

Gwen studied Dia’s figure.  “You’re... positively radiant.  Even without the Moon, I can feel it.”

“Thousands have been praying outside the Blue Vixen, and vastly more elsewhere.  We are in the thoughts of so, so many.  It is hard to fathom.  Each gives only a little, but in the aggregate... the power is immense.  We have shielded Duncan and Donna from it, but some still bleeds through.  They don’t know the extent of it.”

“They don’t miss much, Dia.”

“No, we don’t,” chimed Duncan.  A bright spark danced by Gwen’s shoulder.  “But it has been good to know the matter is being handled.  It seems our vacation is over.”

“Take the time you need,” said Gwen.

“We have,” replied Duncan from the naga’s lips.  “You need us now.  More than ever.  And we cannot stand by while you are suffering.  Bring Ettie out.”

Gwen dug a crystal out of her purse.  It was big enough to comfortably hold in one hand, and clear as diamond... but without the lustre.  It barely even reflected the hall lights at all.  “I need her.”

“We know.”  Duncan cupped their four hands around the crystal, and allowed a trickle of the power Dia was holding seep into it.  When she opened her hands, it was shining brightly.

“Ettie?” asked Gwen desperately.

“Here, love,” sang the crystal as it lofted into the air, hovering before its sweetie.  “I feel... odd.  Empowered.  What happened?”

“You faded with the Moon.  And I just couldn’t...”  Gwen’s voice hitched.  “I need you.”

“Oh, love.  It’s okay.  Better than okay.  I feel like I could...”  Ettie’s crystal shimmered, and in its place stood Ettie herself, human for the first time in months.  She scooped Gwen into a tight hug.

Sidney coughed.  “Um, clothing please?”

Ettie collapsed to the ground as a pretty purple robe.  “Oops,” she chimed from the gems on her collar.  “This is tricky to get used to.”

Gwen picked up the Ettie-robe and swirled it around her shoulders.  “This works fine for me.  Are you okay?”

Ettie giggled.  “Oh yeah.  But did I really change myself?  How?”

Gwen put a hand over her heart and looked at Duncan.  “What did you do?”

“A little faith.  Divine power, whatever you’d like to call it.  Dia’s brimming with it, and it has started leaking into the rest of us.”

“Sorry,” chimed Dia, from a glowing speck over Duncan’s shoulder.  “There’s just so much...  Millions of people are praying to us.”

“How do they even know who to pray to?” asked Sidney.

“They don’t, not exactly.  They know someone saved them, and are giving thanks.”

Gwen chuckled softly.  “That’s not all, you know.  There are stories.  We’ve both been named in the official ones, and the rumours are insane.  That you took out the entire US Military in one night.  That the president was possessed and you killed him.”

“Uh, that one’s true.”

“Oh, yeah.  Right.  So... fanciful stuff, real stuff, it’s all mixed up in the legend of Donna.”

“Donna?” asked Duncan.

A cute little plush kitten bounded into the entry hall.  “You rang?”

“Why are you the center of all the legends about us?”

Donna shrugged.  “How would we know?  Ask Ray.  Sounds like his doing.”

“Not just Ray,” amended Gwen.  “Duncan was named in some of the early stories, but in interests of privacy Donna’s been getting the credit.”

Duncan chuckled.  “I bet that’s feeding the conspiracy theorists.”  They led the way to the living room with a slither, and soon everyone was settled.  Gwen took the loveseat, and tried to get Ettie to reappear.

Ettie giggled, and stayed as a robe.  “Hah, this is fun.  You can’t change me, only I can.”

“We thought you loved being Gwen’s shifty plaything.”

“Yes, but sometimes it’s nice to have a say.  How long will this last?” asked Ettie.

Duncan studied the robe silently for a time.  “We can’t tell for sure.  Divine power works by its own rules.  What we’ve given you can’t be taken away, but you can use it up.  Changing yourself is effortless, so if you keep to that you’ll be good more or less indefinitely.”

“What about changing Gwen?  It’d be fun to be the one in charge...”

Duncan shook their head.  “Divine power won’t let you change people against their will.  That said, if she is willing... yes.”

Gwen giggled.  “Oh, that does sound like fun.  I wish...”  She sighed.  “Stupid cave in.  I almost forgot about it for a moment.”

Ettie wriggled around Gwen, drawing a purr from the synthetic catgirl.  “I bet I can distract you... but maybe not here, hm?”

Gwen laughed merrily then.  “No, we should probably get going.”

“Do you have to go so soon?” asked Duncan.  “We’re not ready to go back to being a plushie just yet.”

“Nobody says you have to,” replied Gwen.  “Stay like this as long as it’s making you happy.”

“Being plushies made us happy, too,” mused Duncan.  “But we’ve slept when the children aren’t playing with us.  We’ve finally caught up, or close enough.  We want to stretch our limbs and live again.”

Sidney cheered to hear that.  “You’ll help around the house a little more?”

“Of course, love.  Though probably not out shopping for groceries.  Home is safe.  Elsewhere...”  Duncan’s shoulders rippled through a shrug.  “Gwen would likely prefer we keep away from people we don’t know.”

“To put it mildly.  You are content here, but... I shudder to think what would happen if someone cut you off in traffic.”

Duncan winced, then took a deep, steadying breath.  “Damn.”  A small gout of flame burst from their mouth at the curse.  “Oh dear.  No news, either.”

“We never watch it anyway,” replied Sidney.  “We’ll watch happy fluff for the rest of the month.  This will get better after that, right?”

“Once Gwen and our soul are rescued, yes.  Very first thing we’ll do when the full Moon returns, we promise.”

They talked about easier things, then.  Gwen told tales of fun stuff they’d done in the Blue Vixen.  The club was busier than ever, as was the Crimson Kitten, especially because people could talk about the things they’d seen and been.  “Next full Moon is going to be incredible.”

“Oh,” sighed Donna.  “That sounds lovely.  We hope we’ll be able to participate.  But even if we can’t... we should at least be able to help empower all of you.”

“And observe,” added Dia.

Gwen smiled, and lifted the Donna plush up into her lap for a hug.  “You’ll be there.  Your soul is yearning for it as much as you are.”

*** *** ***

Duncan spent half of the weekend as Courtney’s plushes, and the other half just slithering around the house and getting used to being big again.  They made a little progress at tidying some of the messes in the basement.  One of the rooms there had been set aside as their office, after their original office had been repurposed as Courtney’s bedroom.  It needed quite a bit of sorting out, but Duncan found the work satisfying, even if his progress was slowed by the distractions of his various books and other trinkets he was nominally sorting and arranging...

When Monday morning rolled around, their phone rang.  It did at odd times through the days, usually due to telemarketers.  This time, though...  “Duncan, it’s for you,” called Sidney.

Duncan left the plush snake body to instantiate in the naga.  They slithered up to Sidney and gave her a hug, which made her smile.  “Who?”

“Your boss.  You were supposed to be back at work today.”

Duncan stuck out their tongue.  “No.  Can you...  Maybe after the full Moon?”

“Really?”

Duncan sighed.  “Let me talk to her.”

“Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier.  Remember Toronto?  Yeah, I wasn’t just there by coincidence, that was a magic duel with undead mages from the eighteenth century.  We won, but it was a very close-run thing and cost us dearly.”

Duncan listened for a moment.  “Yes, that’s exactly what we’re saying.  The Faulkner on the news, that’s us.  Yes, the names are confusing.  Still us.”  Their grip on the phone tightened, making the plastic creak.  “We are in no condition to go to the office.”

The phone crunched a little more loudly as Duncan listened to the voice on the other end of the line.  “No.  Final answer.  Do what you have to.  We don’t need the money, and we really don’t need this headache.”

Duncan very gently set the bent phone down.  “Sweetie?”

“Yes hon?”

“Can you talk to them?”

Sidney looked between Duncan and the damaged phone.  “Uh... sure.  Where will you be?”

“Downstairs.  Please ignore the noises.”

Sidney gingerly picked the phone up.  Two of the buttons fell off, but it still seemed to work.  “Hello?  I’m his wife, yes.  Look, it’s been a really awful time for us, and you just endangered my family.”

Sidney snorted at the answer.  “You have no idea what he’s capable of.  You’ve pissed him off, and...”  There was a loud explosion from downstairs.  “Look, this is a bad time.  That was Duncan, yes.  I don’t know.  I don’t want to know.  I just know that you triggered him.  Yes, in the PTSD sense.  And since he’s capable of levelling entire countries, that’s a really, really bad thing for everyone.  Don’t call.  I don’t fucking care about your paperwork.  Fuck off and leave us alone.”

Sidney set the phone down heavily, and it chose that moment to spark and die.  She sighed, and went in search of one of the remaining handsets.  As she was doing so, two slightly quieter detonations shook the house, followed by not very muffled cursing, then what sounded like flames.  A little later there was the whoosh of a fire extinguisher.

Duncan slithered back upstairs.  A thin trial of smoke followed behind them.  “Sorry about that.”

“Do you feel better?” asked Sidney gently.

“Little bit.  We think it would be safest for everyone if we were to take a nap now.  For about a week.  Hold our calls.”

“Did you break anything irreplaceable?” asked Sidney.

“The house is still structurally sound.”

Sidney winced.  “Sleep well.”

Duncan’s naga-body fell over.  A small plush cat curled up in a corner and started snoring ostentatiously.

Sidney tried to keep the kids out of the living room, but Courtney was insistent on playing with the plushies there.  The snoring kitten did not prove immune to her commands, or her charm.  Sidney watched, nervously.  As she watched, she noticed that Courtney carefully addressed the kitty as “Mister Whiskers”, never “Daddy”.

Over dinner, Sidney softly asked Courtney why she had done so.

“Because Mister Whiskers needs to be a kitty,” was Courtney’s reply.

Sidney smiled at her in relief.  “That sounds like a very good idea.  Keep up the good work, kiddo.”

“Okay!”

*** *** ***

The next day, there was another call from Duncan’s office.  Sidney didn’t answer, but moved into the bedroom and closed the door so she could listen to the message they left.  It was Duncan’s boss’ boss, apologizing for what happened the previous day.  “Tell him to take all the time he needs.  We’ll muddle through.”

Sidney picked up the handset.  “Then why the hell did you set him off?” she demanded.

“Everyone here is confused and worried.  We design luxury goods, and... honestly, I don’t know if we’ll be able to stay open.  Half our clients are gone, as is half the customer base of the ones that are left.  It was inexcusable to take out those concerns on Duncan.”

“Considering he saved the half of your clients that are left, it goes rather beyond inexcusable and into ‘thank your lucky stars you’re still alive and human’.”

“I’ve... ah... been meaning to ask about that.  Duncan’s boss is currently more dog than human... though they appear to be changing back slowly.”

Sidney giggled hysterically for far longer than was polite.

“It’s not all that funny.”

“Oh, but it is,” Sidney managed to say between giggles.  “That was Duncan being nice.”

“Ah.”  There was silence on the line for a time.  “What a mess.  Tell him I am sorry.”

“Just... leave us alone, okay?  Duncan was getting better, but after this, I just don’t know.  Maybe next month he’ll be able to deal with you.  Before then... oh hell no.”

“Understood.”