"You really shouldn't," Lily spoke up before his mind could go on another tangent.

"Huh?" Leo blinked, not quite sure what she meant by that. No way she was trying to stop him from entering the Supercluster, right? Not when she had already been down there.

"You shouldn't go there. It's far too risky," his sister elaborated. "I survived there only thanks to those," she tapped her angelic wing. "Without them, Voidlings down there would have torn me apart. Going in on foot is a suicide."

"She isn't wrong, mate," Malcolm took over, his face scrunched into a grimace. "At first, we wanted to scout the Supercluster together, but not even a minute in, I had to retreat. There are just too many of those bloody things waiting in the tunnels and on the walls. With my single wing there wasn't much else I could have done but run away."

"Exactly," Lily nodded firmly. "And I bet the situation there has only worsened in the last few days. So please. Don't."

Leo furrowed his brow, mulling on all the new information. Their worries weren't really unfounded, but he also didn't plan to jump into the Supercluster guns blazing. He would much rather return to his roots and stay out of sight. Not an easy thing to accomplish, but with everything he had been working on during the last three days, it was definitely possible.

If I pull off an all-nighter, I might be able to finish True Stealth's next step. I'm close, I'm sure. He mused, slowly creating a mental checklist. After that, I can try that combination with Nyx. Nobody should be able to see us then, especially not in the dark. And if that's not enough, I can take some stronger Ether flares with me.

Yeah, that should do. He nodded and looked at his sister. "I know it's risky; everything is nowadays. But don't worry too much. Even if I can't fly, I have a few aces up my sleeve that should help down there."

Lily narrowed her eyes. "Oh? Show me then. I ain't letting you go anywhere near that cursed place until you do."

Ah, here's the Lily I know. Leo chuckled, raising his hand in a show of peace. "Not today, sis. I need another night to prepare."

"Wait. So you're not going now?" She frowned, tilting her head.

"Of course not," he laughed again. "It's getting late, and like I said, I'm not ready right now. So what do you say? I will finish what I need, and then tomorrow, you can lead me there and give me a rundown of everything you think I should know."

Lily pulled a face but reluctantly nodded after a moment. "Fine," she grumbled, crossing her arms. "We will see tomorrow."

"Happy that's settled," he shot her a grin. "I should be going then. We've wasted a lot of time here while there's so much to do."

"Stop right there!" His sister jumped to her feet. "You ain't going anywhere. Not after I just found you! Stay; this place is for everyone. Sure, you will get some weird looks, but that's just because you are so strong."

Leo shook his head as he offered her a sad smile. "Lily, I saw how it is behind that door. You guys are struggling, and I doubt you have any free space for me and Nyx... Besides, if I stay here, I won't get anything done for tomorrow."

Lily held his gaze for a moment before she scowled. "Fine! Have it your way. But just so you know, this is only for one night. Tomorrow, you're sleeping here. Understood?"

"Aye, aye. Whatever you say," he waved her off. "Now, wanna walk me out?"

His sister quickly nodded, and they all stood up. Malcolm even came a bit closer and extended a hand. "Good to have you on our side, Hale. I will see you tomorrow."

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"Just Leo is fine," he accepted the handshake. "No reason to be formal now. I had enough of that with Wolford's leader."

The other man grinned. "Leo it is then."

With that said, the trio plus Nyx left the room and once more pushed through the curious crowd to reach the exit of this small base. There, another man opened the door and lifted the illusion for them.

"Gotta say, I didn't expect anyone to be capable of illusions like this," Leo commented just after the entrance closed behind them.

Lily hummed, her wings suddenly stretching to the sides. "It wasn't easy to set up from what I understand. Took Rick two whole days."

He nodded, noting the name for the future. He would like to learn more about stuff like this. If not for his own use, then to be able to defend against it.

Thought for later. He shook his head, glancing at his sister. "Lily... Once I get back from the Supercluster and you guys prepare the explosives... will you go to Wolford with me? I would rather have someone representing your group when I met with Holden."

"That's a stupid question," she snorted. "Of course I will. Didn't you hear me back there? I'm not letting you out of my sight unless absolutely necessary."

Leo sighed. "I'm stronger than you. You really don't have to worry. If anything, I should be the one saying that."

"No," she stopped and glared at him. "You don't understand. I thought I lost you, only to learn it was all a lie... I don't care how strong you are or how high your level is. I just can't lose you again, Leo. I can't."

His heart twisted hearing her words. Yet a hug was all he could give her. And so he did.

"Come on," Leo muttered, lightly patting her back. "We've already been through this. I'm not going anywhere. At least not permanently. The same goes for you. We're family; we got to stick together, right?"

She nodded and slowly extracted herself from his grasp. They shared a weak smile and resumed walking, ignoring Nyx, who kept sending shadows spears at the Rock Eaters popping from the walls.

"Did you guys figure out how to make electronics work again?" Leo asked, switching the subject to something lighter.

Lily almost missed a step and raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"I noticed a bunch of different devices on one of the workstations. Most of them were taken apart," he elaborated. "Made me a bit curious."

"Ah, that..." She grimaced. "We have three people trying to make stuff work off Essence, but it's going slowly, very slowly. I swear if only we could get radios or shortwave transmitters to work..."

"Essence, you say?" Leo mumbled. "I guess that makes sense. Now that I think of it..." With a single pull from his soul, the TEK Transmitter landed in his hand. "This thing most likely uses Essence too."

"I can't identify it," Lily stated with a deep frown.

Right... ownership. He almost facepalmed. Instead, he proceeded to explain exactly what the item did.

"That's incredible," his sister muttered. "How much does this thing cost?"

Leo shrugged. "No idea, but apparently way more than I have."

"Why am I not surprised," Lily sighed. "If we had a few of those, your plan with Wolford would be much easier to pull off."

"I will figure something out for communication. Maybe Naz'Tor can sell me something cheaper," he commented just as a thought occurred to him. "Speaking of, there is one more thing I wanted to ask about the Emissaries. When they fought the Treant and then me, they almost didn't speak. It was like they could communicate just like I do with Nyx. Know anything about that?"

"Yep. That's one of the jobs unique to them. It's an upgraded version of Commander with a Holy prefix. It can telepathically connect an entire group. The range is shit, but big enough to help in a fight. I had it before my fall from grace."

So we were right, Nyx. Overpowered bullshit. I bet they can share experience with that too. Leo clicked his tongue. "Annoying."

"No kidding," Lily snorted. "It's another reason why we can't ever win against them. We have to shout everything, and they just communicate with their minds."

He nodded but didn't say anything as they continued onward in comfortable silence. It wasn't until they reached the stairs towards the surface that they stopped.

"Are you sure you can't just stay with us?" Lily begged one more time. "We can figure something out."

"It's just one night," he rolled his eyes, even though he kept smiling. "I will come back right after sunrise. It won't be long."

"Fine," she harrumped and turned to Nyx. "Take care of him, okay? He can be a bit of an idiot sometimes."

'Oh, I know that very well,' the feline snickered internally and gave Lily a nod.

Next to them, Leo scoffed. "Of course, you would team up against me. Why am I not surprised?"

'It's your own fault. I'm learning all of this from you and your memories.'

"Whatever," he mumbled. "Come on, it's time for us."