Robert stared at the baton he held in confusion. "If I'm not the Knight, what's the point of telling me that long story? Polygal said I'm your ally in some way." His mind started running through the possibilities. They had talked about the Knight's lieutenants being there. Maybe that was possible? Would they be covered under the reincarnation plan? How far sweeping were gods with those sorts of claims?

Tenacity nodded. "And you are our ally."

"But not the Knight?" The Shrine Maiden had gone unclaimed, but since he was male, that seemed just seemed stupid. And on top of it she was supposed to be the "soul" of the Princess's team. And apparently she was quite religious, too. Soulful and religious weren't words Robert would use to describe himself.

"Correct."

Robert crossed his arms and sighed. "Then what?" The Empress was the only other named character in the story, but that idea was even crazier than the Shrine Maiden. He definitely wasn't a megalomaniac. But then maybe they thought he was someone who wasn't reincarnated but going to be taken over by soul overwriting. That certainly seemed like something the Empress from their story would do. But then again, why the hell would an Empress choose some powerless guy from Deepwater for such a vessel? And there was still the issue of him being a guy.

Tenacity opened her mouth but no words came out. Robert rolled his eyes. Finally, words came out, "When we saw the mark of serenity on your forehead, we told you we didn't know what it meant." Why was this so hard for her to just say it? He hated it when people beat around the bush. "That wasn't entirely accurate. We knew exactly what it meant but, well, we just thought we must have had it wrong,"

Robert threw his hands into the air. "And what is the 'it' we are talking about? What did the symbol mean? Spit it out already." Maybe the story had been pointless after all and the mark wasn't anything with the Ardent Empire. Maybe it was something to do with Fate only. Maybe they thought they needed to tell the whole Ardent Empire thing to give him background on who the Spirit Guard were.

Tenacity winced. "It means you are the reincarnation of the Shrine Maiden."

Robert quit pondering and payed closer attention. "I--what?" Did he hear her right? "The Shrine Maiden?"

Tenacity bit her bottom lip. "Yeah."

"Um," Robert stammered and held up a finger, "I-I-I don't know if you have noticed, but, um... I'm kind of a dude."

Tenacity opened her palms, as if trying to show a dog that she had no treats. "We noticed. It's kind of why we thought the glowing on your forehead had to mean something different from what we thought it meant."

Charity timidly stepped forward. "It is kind of why we decided to consult Kunapipi first. It made very little sense to us."

Robert could feel himself scowling. He tried to stop, but whenever something he didn't like also didn't make sense, he tended to scowl. Before he could regain control over his face, Valor interjected with a panicked attempt to explain. "It wasn't exactly the way that we would..."

All the talking wasn't letting Robert think. He needed to slow down and think. Robert shook his head and waved his hands, cutting off Spirit Guard Valor. "Now--now just... just hold on for one second." He took a deep breath and stood up straighter. He needed to balance himself mentally and emotionally before he continued with his inquiry. Standing up straight, even if it was only physical, helped restore that inner balance he was looking for.

"Okay." His mind slowed down, and he felt ready. He looked Valor in the eyes. "Let's start over. How did you know what that thing on my forehead meant?" He planned to be thorough in his examination of these girls. Luckily for him, he was recording and he'd be able to go back and see if there were any inconsistencies in the story he was being told.

Valor pointed at the baton in Robert's hand. "As the reincarnation of the Princess, I had access to all of our foci. I left them in the iris for safekeeping of course, but I did take time to study all the emblems on each one. In the visions of my past life..." Valor gave a hesitant smile. "Or rather, our past lives, I saw these same symbols on the Soldier, Scholar, Mender, and Shrine Maiden."

Robert pointed to the emblem on the baton. "So this here is some sort of, I don't know, crest for the Shrine Maiden?"

Valor looked up and swayed her head side to side. "Well, sort of. I don't know the specifics, but I think crest is a good way of putting it. I just know that in the Ardentia culture, that emblem means 'serene.'"

Valor then pointed to a small design on the waist of her skirt. It looked like a diamond with a dot in the center. "My emblem means 'valorous.'" Robert hadn't noticed it before; when he stared at the lovely Spirit Guard, he wasn't exactly admiring the embroidery of their uniforms.

"Valorous?" Robert asked. "As in Spirit Guard Valor?"

"It's where my title comes from. Yes."

"And you're absolutely certain that only the reincarnation of the Shrine Maiden could have access to this emblem?"

Felicity shook her head. "The emblem isn't what is important. The iris is unlocked by the right kind of investiture. The only reason you could open the iris is because you have the Maiden's investiture, hence, you're the reincarnation of the Maiden."

"Yeah, but why would the Shrine Maiden reincarnate as a guy? Wait," Robert paused as a thought occurred to him, "none of you are guys, are you?"

All the girls but Tenacity gave a quick giggle. "No."

"Nope. Nope."

"Un-uh."

"Though I can see why you'd ask that."

"Though, technically speaking," Miss Kuna said clearing her throat, "reincarnation doesn't have to preserve gender."

"Yeah, but," Robert countered, "you all are approaching this as if this is rather out of the ordinary or unexpected in some way."

"True," Ms. Kuna said apologetically. "It was quite a shock when we found out that the Shrine Maiden was a boy."

"Why is that?" Robert asked. "I mean, I'm not a reincarnation expert, but most religions I know that believe in it don't seem to have any restrictions placed on who or what they could come back as."

"It is difficult to explain without full background knowledge. It's mostly a surprise the gods would make this mistake."

Robert raised his eyebrows. "Mistake? You're claiming this was a full blown mistake?" Robert chuckled and rolled his eyes. "What? Some angel misfile the reincarnation request and then, poof, I was born a guy?" He was surprised how little this revelation bothered him. As he thought about it, he wasn't sure if he believed all this reincarnation stuff. But even disregarding that, he just didn't think it mattered. So what if he was supposed to be born a girl? He wasn't, and he was enjoying life just fine. What did mistakes of so-called deities matter?

Valor clenched her teeth. Her frustration was heard clearly in her voice. "This isn't a joke, Robert. You should take this more seriously!"

"I should? I'm sorry but this is just getting plain crazy. I've got cheerleaders telling me gods made mistakes, and I was supposed to be born a girl. How much sillier can we get?" Robert regretted his tone the moment he said it. They were trying to be honest and sincere. The least he could do is stop being snarky for a moment. Robert sighed and stepped back as he tried to look apologetic. "Sorry. I should be less wisecrack-y. It's just a lot to take in, and it seems so surreal. And besides, whether or not I was supposed to be born a girl or not doesn't matter to me. Reality is I'm a guy, it's not going to change, so why sweat it."

The Spirit Guard glanced at one another nervously. "Uh..."

Robert squinted. "What?"

Tenacity cleared her throat. "Well, have you considered what the emblem on your forehead and you being able to pull out that focus means?"

"You mean other than it means I'm the Shrine Maiden from your story?"

"Yes."

"Not really. But... well, let's think about it" Robert looked down at the focus. He started to think aloud. "You said that these were sent here to protect humanity from the Other Power." Robert raised an eyebrow. "But you guys are fighting Platicore. Where is the Other Power?"

Felicity shrugged. "Not sure. But Platicore escaped to this realm and opening the iris seems to have awakened him somehow. We can't just ignore him."

"True enough. But if he's such a powerful empathokinetic, why isn't he attacking you girls directly? I mean, he's only sent monsters right?"

"He burned out his empathokinetics in the fight with the Empress and escaping here. That level of combat has permanently damaged him so much that he won't ever be the same again. Like injuring a limb in combat."

Robert shrugged. "Yeah, but why isn't he just creating more people-monster hybrids somewhere in Siberia then bringing them all here to overwhelm you? Why is he creating non-hybrid monsters, that are less powerful according to your story, and attacking where you are strong?"

Felicity held up a finger. "One, creating people-monster hybrids takes very fine-tuned empathokinetic skill that Platicore no longer has." She held up a second finger. "Two, the gateway acts like a beacon for people with lots of investiture. So since he needs investiture to make more monsters, Kessia is the most fertile field to pluck from."

Robert squinted. He had been unusually passionate about the idea of coming to SAU for college. And according to Polygal and the Spirit Guard, he had a lot of investiture. The beacon theory did explain that very well. "But why does he need his old empathokinesis to make people-monster hybrids? That doesn't seem like a brute force of power thing but more of a technical skill thing."

Charity shook her head. "Empathokinetics isn't about brute force of energy like some super powered comic book hero. It's more of an art. How to apply emotion, to shape it, to turn it into something useful. When Platicore burned out the last of the emotional strength left, it was similar to a potter burning his hands. Without that fine-tuned control, he can't make the complicated foci and constructs he needs to make the hybrids."

Tenacity sighed. "I think we're burying the lead here though by focusing on Platicore."

Robert nodded his head. "Right. Sorry. My mind runs off on tangents sometimes." Burning out his empathokinetics didn't make sense to Robert. It was also rather convenient Platicore would awaken when the iris opened. But those were topics he could pursue later. Tenacity was indicating he was missing something. He had to think. "Okay, so the foci were put in the iris for humanity'shumanities defense." He started pacing as he mused. "The Shrine Maiden was given a focus for that purpose." Robert stopped pacing. Were they implying what theythe thought they were?

"Wait." Robert held up the stick. "I'm supposed to use this? Be a defender of humanity? Like you?"

Valor exclaimed with a voice filled with a mix of excitement and relief, "Yes! Like us! You understand!" Robert wasn't sure why she she seemed so excited about it. He also didn't think he fully understood yet.

Tenacity leaned forward and looked very confused, yet slightly relieved. "You don't have an issue with it? That doesn't bother you?"

"Uh," Robert scratched his chin nervously. That was a loaded question. On one hand, ever since he started reading comics as a kid, the concept of having super powers and being a hero had fascinated him. He was being put into a very unique position he would have killed for as a kid. But that, he realized, was a power trip he'd eventually get used to. At least he assumed he'd get used to it.

The other factor was he also realized that some huge responsibilities and risks were getting foisted upon him without his consent. If the fight with Polygal showed him anything, the job would not be easy, would be rather dangerous, and other people's lives would hinge on his decisions. That was not a thought he was comfortable with.

Then there was the issue of having to maintain a secret identity and balance his life with being a super hero. It was the topic every super hero eventually dealt with. Would he be able to attend college and do this at the same time? Was there training? How was he even supposed to fight with no actual combat experience?

Robert sighed and shrugged. "I don't know." He held his hands up like scales. "On one hand, it'd be neat to have super powers and all, but being like you guys also means my decisions will affect a lot of people. Plus there is the minor fame issue. I like my privacy."

Tenacity bit her bottom lip and sighed. All the relief on her face disappeared. Robert got the distinct impression he was missing something important. "The line about being exactly like us wasn't just about having super powers and fighting monsters."

Robert quirked his eyebrow upward. "Is it about the cheerleader theme? I mean, I can't say I'm on board with that. As a football player I thought the male cheerleaders always looked like complete dorks. I mean, maybe this isn't the time for it but why are you all dressed like cheerleaders anyway? It's more than a bit silly to fight in skirts and heels. Flak jackets and body armor would make a lot more sense. What you all wear is, well, kind of the opposite of that."

Charity shook her head. "We're trying to make you guess what we're thinking. That's probably not fair to you." She glanced over at Valor and Tenacity. "Maybe it'd be better if we were more direct?" It wasn't being a monster fighter. It wasn't the cheerleader theme. So what was it? Robert wasn't sure.

Valor nodded, looking frustrated that Robert hadn't figured it out. "You are most likely correct, Charity. It is rather out of the norm for him to connect the dots."