I could tell it was weird, all of us being back in the barn. We hadn't used it as our HQ for a long time, even before the war ended. The four of us together gave the place an odd mix of nostalgia, and yet it still felt empty. Three teens, a hawk in the rafters, and all the sick and injured animals Cassie's dad was taking care of. There weren’t as many of these as there had once been. The aftermath of the Yeerks' destructive attack on our hometown meant there just weren’t as many animals around.

Still, Cassie had just wrapped up force-feeding a goat some medicine, and the animal watched her walk away with what I could only describe as deep offense in its strange eyes. It was a familiar note in a song, played on a guitar with a few strings missing. The resulting melody was comforting, flat, and frustrating all at once.

Cassie glanced up at me, and I could tell what she wanted. Even with the three of them, the space felt empty. So, I swooped down to land on the barn floor and began to morph to human.

I shot up, my legs lengthening immediately, my talons widening and melting together to form human feet—lucky, since it allowed me to stay upright as my body stretched. My feathers shrank, merging into flesh, as my wings thickened into human arms, and all five fingers sprouted at the ends.

The world felt dim and flat through my human eyes, and my body seemed heavy and ungainly. I was stuck to the ground with all the grace of a lead bowling ball. I ran my soft tongue across my teeth and cringed inwardly at the weird sensation—no longer comfortable in my own skin.

“More boy than bird these days, eh, Tobias?” Marco joked. I just shrugged. It was true—I’d morphed to human twice today, more than I had in months.

“Alright,” Jake said, bringing the meeting to order despite the unhealthy rasp in his voice. We all looked at him, but he didn’t meet our eyes. His gaze fixed on a point on the floor. “How do we find it?” No one needed to ask what ‘it’ was.

“Look,” Marco said, “the Time Matrix is weird alien stuff.”

“So?” I asked.

“So, what we need is a weird alien.”

They all glanced to where Ax used to stand during meetings in the barn.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“We could contact him,” Jake said slowly.

“We don't want the Andalites knowing we’re looking for the Time Matrix,” I said. The others all looked at me. “If they found out it was on Earth—”

“Might be on Earth,” Marco corrected.

“Might be on Earth,” I amended. “They’d be all over us to find it. They wouldn’t let us have it. Wouldn’t trust us with it.”

“Yeah. They’d probably be worried we’d fiddle with the past to bring dead people back to life,” Marco said. “Of course, we’d never do something like that... more than once.”

“We’ll contact Ax,” Jake decided, as if we were all supposed to listen to him. We must have agreed, because no one argued. “We’ll be subtle about asking,” he said, nodding to me.

I nodded back, like we were on the same page, but it took everything in me not to glare at him.

“So, the Ax-man is our only lead?” Marco asked with a laugh.

“We could do some legwork,” Cassie said. “Maybe dig in areas where the Yeerks used to operate.”

“Why the Yeerks?” I asked.

“Because the more I think about it, the more likely it seems it would’ve been somewhere they went. Visser Four was given a human host, and most of those hosts came from here.” Cassie rubbed her palm against her forehead. “If we hadn’t erased Barryman, we could’ve retraced his steps.” She sounded almost frustrated.

“If we hadn’t erased that guy, Jake would be a frozen corpse at the bottom of the Delaware,” Marco added.

“Cassie, you and Marco can check the old Yeerk hotspots,” Jake said. “Tobias and I will go see the Andalite representatives and contact Ax.” Cassie gave me a concerned look, but only for a second before turning back to Jake and nodding.

“So, we’re really doing this, huh?” Marco asked from where he sat on the hay bale. “I should’ve guessed retirement wasn’t going to stick.”

“Just this time,” Jake said, finally taking his eyes off the floor to look at Marco. “This last mission.”

Silence hung over the four of us as we all avoided looking at each other. Now that our course of action was settled, it felt like we were waiting for—

It hit me then.

“Come on. Let’s do it.” I said the words with none of Rachel’s fire, but everyone jolted, as if they hadn’t realized they’d stopped. Hadn’t realized they’d been waiting.

Jake nodded, and that was that. No more words, no more discussion. One by one, we started filing out of the barn.

Cassie gave the goat a quick pat on her way out, and Marco shot me a grin before following her through the door.

Jake lingered, and I turned back to find him staring at the spot on the floor where Rachel used to stand. Then, without a word, he turned and followed.