The thunder Nexus filed through the open door to their mess hall, their expressions dark. Last through was Edward, who kicked at the door with enough force to dislodge it from its hinges. The others, not to mention his mother and father, looked back with raised eyebrows, watching the door fall against the wall. In the large empty room, the sound was exceptionally cacophonous. Where just a few months ago there had been dozens of Nexians to fill the room with the noise of happy eating and talking, now the cavernous space served to remind them of just how few they numbered.

“Are you quite finished?” Will asked. Ever since the catastrophe at the unfinished Nexus Games, his temperament had taken a sharp turn toward a darker place. He had little time to think of things outside of the survival of the Nexuses, even his own son’s temper tantrums. “Or are you going to keep it up until you level all of Nexus Hill?”

Uncharacteristically, Edward glared at his father. He was furious that Eric had been allowed to leave unharmed. “There’s no point in telling me to calm down, Dad. I won’t be calm until we’ve put the traitors down.”

His words didn’t seem to have much of an effect on his father. Truth be told, Will had already cycled past the rage of Eric’s betrayal, and now his mind was focused on routing out the rest of the humans that had attacked them. Because he was certain that there were more of them. Forces that large didn’t come out of nowhere, and they always had backing and support from many more people who didn’t take part in the actual fighting.

The shock of the attack was the worst of all, he thought. Ever since he’d taken on the role of Alpha, and even a while before, he’d been concerned with how the Nexuses interacted with the rest of the world. They were vastly outnumbered by ordinary humans, and yet their power made them… other. Before he’d joined the Fire Nexus, there had been a long and bloody history of loss on both sides that had been exclusively the Nexus’ fault.

But in the past six years, he’d worked with the other Alphas to improve the standing between the Nexuses and their human neighbors, to great effect. Indeed, the humans that lived around them were quite content with the arrangement. Rachel Smith had been the most successful, completely rebuilding the city of Miami into a utopia where its citizens wanted for nothing in the world, and lived in harmony. Fairbanks had experienced a boom in growth, much to the chagrin of its longest residents, who’d enjoyed the solitude of the tundra.

But in every case, even among the prickly nature of Earth Nexians, mingling with the human population of the world had gone well. The cities of Fairbanks, Miami, Hong Kong, and Sydney had all flourished under the care and protection of their Nexuses. Will supposed that the areas of the world that weren’t close to a Nexus just didn’t understand the good things that had come out of the Nexus in the past few years. Of course, he had no way of knowing that the anger for this particular attack had come from long before he’d joined the Fire Nexus and that it had been born of false knowledge. Just as the humans had no way of knowing that it was actually the interference of the Soul Nexus that had caused those fights that did so much damage in the Midwest.

Edward, infuriated at his father’s lack of reaction to his own rage, and unable to tamper down the sting of his friend’s betrayal, shouted loud enough to snap Will out of his reverie. “Well? What are we doing to do about Eric? We are going to hunt him down, aren’t we?”

Will focused on his son once again but did not speak for several long seconds. His eyes slid from the anger on his son’s face to the quiet, reserved grief in James and Kenta. Matthew stood a little to the side, his eyes on his feet, supremely uncomfortable at the tension-charged moment. Finally, he looked to Charlisa, whose kind and beautiful face had never failed to give him the courage to face his struggles. “No. We will not be hunting Eric down.”

Edward heard the words, but they seemed to take a while to reach him. His body understood the weight of them before his mind did, and he clenched his hands into fists. “He helped those humans kill dozens of us. Dozens!”

The anger in his voice was enough to make Matt jump back a step. Even his mother, normally so calm and collected, flinched slightly. Where had this rage in her son come from? He’d known nothing but peace and happiness these past six years, she’d made sure of it. She and Will had strived to make his life as normal as they could, considering that he was only the third of his kind, created as a Nexian at birth. She couldn’t understand what in his life could contribute to this level of hatred.

“Dear,” she began, her voice soothing and level, “We cannot afford to waste our time on one person just now. It is a painful betrayal, what Eric did, but we cannot prove that he was involved with those humans. All we know is that he is not with us now.”

Will nodded. “Your mother is right. We need to focus on what we can control. That means we have to protect the Nexuses.”

He smiled down at his wife, then looked in Kenta’s direction. “Has there been any word from the council?”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Kenta stepped forward, nodding solemnly. He’d remained in constant contact with members of other Nexuses, Alpha and otherwise. It was imperative that the Nexuses stay in communication so that they could protect each other and figure out a plan. “There is news, but it is mixed. Some good, some bad, some strange.”

Will’s brow knitted in a deep frown. That was an odd thing to say, even for his sometimes enigmatic friend. “Strange? What kind of news could be strange?”

Kenta shook his head slowly. “First, you should know that we are not alone in this. Rachel has learned who attacked us. She also says that their support is not as wide as they’d like us to believe.”

And so Kenta explained everything that had happened while the Thunder Nexus had been locked in a plane on their way home. The humans that attacked the Nexus Games were all part of an organization calling itself Libera Terra. In Latin, the words meant “Free Earth.” It seemed to be made up of people who wanted the Nexus gone. They viewed the very system as a cancerous growth in the world and were determined to cut it out.

“There’s more,” Kenta added. “I don’t know how, but they learned that the Nexus powers were not from this world.”

He and Will locked eyes then, a silent line of understanding passing between them. The secret of the Nexus’ origin had been a well-kept secret between the Alphas. They hadn’t even shared the knowledge with some of the lower-ranked members of their groups, for fear that it could be leaked to the world around them. It seemed their worries had been in vain, however.

“Do we know if Eric and the others were linked to them?” He asked.

Kenta shook his head. “They don’t seem to be. Megan and Nick were confined almost immediately after returning home, and their stories seemed to match each other. Well, except for one case. Nick claims to have never visited this world Megan spoke of, some place called Ahya. But he says that he has been to another world outside of Earth, called Menora.”

As extraordinary as the idea of strangers from other worlds coming to visit Earth was, Will couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t the most important information to them at the moment. In truth, he’d known of the existence of at least one other world besides Earth. Tobias had told him of such a place, though he’d never given it a name. Perhaps it was one of those two. But no, the more pressing matter was still the survival of the Nexuses.

“We can dig into that later,” he said, waving the matter away. “As long as they are contained and cannot act against us, that is fine for now. Continue.”

Kenta accepted his assertion without argument, agreeing with his priority. He continued his report, mentioning that Kevin Williams was expected to make a full recovery from his injury. Once Kiera had gotten him off the ground and to a safe distance, he had begun to heal. He still wasn’t at full strength, but he was also far from dying.

Will nodded his pleasure at the news. The chance of his friend’s death had weighed heaviest of all upon him. Charlisa spoke for both of them then. “Good. I can’t stand the thought that she might have to lose her father. Nobody should have to live through that again.”

“You mentioned that this ‘Libera Terra’ group doesn’t have as much support as we think,” Will put in. “What makes you say that?”

Kenta explained that, in several places that had no express Nexus ties, humans were turning against the Libera Terra organization. There was little outright fighting, but the leaders in those areas had publicly denounced the group, stating that they did not support their actions and that they wouldn’t shelter them. Perhaps it was only out of fear of Nexian retaliation and aggression, but they were at least keeping out of it all.

“What’s more,” Kenta said, and it was at this point that he began to look uncertain, “And this is the strange part. Some areas have started to actually fight back against Libera Terra. In St. Paul, Minnesota, a rather large group of Libera Terra terrorists was wiped out by a coordinated attack.”

“Good riddance,” James grumbled, just barely audible through his long sigh.

“That is good news,” Will agreed. “But I don’t want the humans putting themselves in harm’s way to fight our battle for us.”

“Ah,” Kenta replied delicately, looking bemused. “That’s the thing. They weren’t wiped out by humans.”

There was something strange about the way his friend said that, Will thought. His frown deepened, and he sensed that Kenta still had something else to say, but was hesitant to speak the words aloud, as if he feared that he was about to share taboo knowledge.

“Who did it?”

“It… appears to have been orchestrated by Nexians.”

“Who?” Will asked again. “Rachel? Or maybe Bai Xiao? He had few casualties.”

“None of the Alphas were responsible,” Kenta said quickly. “Eyewitness reports saw no use of fire, water, earth, or air used in the attacks. But they were quite sure the fighters were Nexians, the way they moved.”

A cold feeling formed in Will’s chest at the realization. There was no way he could be right, and yet he knew that there was no other explanation for it. If there were Nexians that showed no sign of elemental powers, they could only be…

“Togai,” he said, the name slipping out of him in a long hiss.

Kenta nodded slowly. Alone among the Nexians, Kenta had once belonged to the Soul Nexus. In fact, he was the only survivor. Or so they’d thought. “I don’t want to believe it, but the evidence is overwhelming.”

“So, what you’re saying is…” James spoke, but couldn’t seem to find the will to finish the sentence. “What are you saying?”

Kenta looked between all of them for several long seconds before stating the fact. There was no way he could lessen the blow, so he spoke it plainly, without emotion.

“It seems the Soul Nexus has returned.”