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Back inside Naomi's cave, we sat briefly to discuss some things. I figured I should let her know what was going on.

"So, where to start...." I began.

"Oh, that's okay; I already know everything that's been going on," Naomi quickly declared. "I've been listening to you occasionally since I sensed the sudden suppression of Tymon's spirit energy a few months ago."

"Listening?" I said, a little confused. Was she spying on us? Have we been bugged this entire time?

"Yes, please elaborate," Trik stated, expressing his concern.

Naomi exposed her wrist, showing us her two dark markings.

"From what I understand, one of my cintracies allows me to manipulate sound waves. If I concentrate, I can hear really far away. If I fly high enough, I can even hear across an ocean," she informed while beaming at us.

My holo-bracelet buzzed to life as Viraa's voice emitted from it.

"That cintracy is called Seismic Reign. It's a temp cintracy that lets you manipulate soundwaves and create powerful shockwaves strong enough to crumble steel if trained well. Your other cintracy is the eutierric cintracy, Arctic Release. It allows you to give your spirit energy the qualities of ice and grants you limited power of the element in general," Viraa explained to Naomi.

"Wait, if you could hear us, why didn't you come help," I asked her.

"I was in no rush to help you," she responded, still smiling.

I was momentarily baffled.

"Is there something wrong with me? Why'd you agree to come to help us then?" I asked impatiently.

"No, no, that's not what I mean," Naomi reassured me. "After listening to you, I knew you'd eventually track the rest of us down, so I continued to mind my business until you got to me."

"What about when Za'Fia was taken," Tymon inserted.

"When Za'Fia was kidnapped, I knew she was fine, so I didn't see a reason to charge in," Naomi said with a nervous laugh.

"Naomi isn't big on fighting, so I'm actually happy that she didn't come charging in," Za'Fia said.

"Oh, but when I heard your encounter with Avarice's High Gods, I was about to give my support, really! But then I heard someone else already heading there, so I stayed put," Naomi added.

Naomi looked at me.

"That's why I wasn't in a rush to help you. And I agreed to come with you now because I actually like you. Your pure nature is very welcoming compared to most humans in this corrupted world," she said, clasping my hand.

Her words filled me with so much elation that I couldn't help but smile back.

After that, we decided to travel a couple of hours south to find a hotel to spend the night at since it was too cold to stay at Naomi's.

The next afternoon, we arrived home with a new Primordial friend to introduce to everyone.

Naomi warmed up to everyone faster than I thought she would. I guess she'd also been keeping an ear on them and knew she could trust them.

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While the rest of us sat in the private office, eating snacks, Naomi was registered into our database.

After being registered, the moment she'd been waiting for finally came. My mom handed her the gift box from the pedestal under the empty canvas with the tag "Ice Kitsune."

Naomi went into the nearby private bathroom to quickly put it on. She was ecstatic when she came out of the bathroom as she stood in plated armor. It was a greyish-blue light armor that covered most of her body but still clung tight enough to show her figure. She wore matching wrist bracers on each wrist, two identical armbands, and even had a blue cape that flapped as she spun around. She created tiny crystals of ice that fluttered around her as she spun. She looked like a general you'd expect to see walking through their ranks on a battlefield. It looked cool but didn't match her personality—at least not this one.

"How'd you know I liked armor?" Naomi asked my mom, still elated by it.

"When Alissia was little, we received a file containing information about each Primordial. It didn't have any of your locations, but it did have information about previous sightings and discovered hobbies," My mom said, answering her question. "I believe it was meant to help track you all down, but we chose to trust in Trik and Alissia's teamwork to get them there instead."

More like you and Dad were too proud to receive help from the other branches, I thought.

Speaking of them...

"Guys, I think we should make a trip to the Sadios. We need to let them know what's going on and try to convince them to help us," I announced.

"Their HQ is in Canada, Lisa. We should've done that on our way back," Trik complained.

"Yeah, I hadn't thought of it then," I said nervously. "Sorry, everyone."

"Why not the Russos? They're closer," Trik suggested.

"No way. You know they're the type to believe might is right," I stated firmly.

"So?" Trik insisted.

"So, they'll either reject the idea of working together and try to have their best fight me to prove their strength, or they'll give us their aid under the condition that I defeat their best," I replied.

"Either way, I have to fight. I'm in no condition to fight," I said, holding up my bandaged arms.

"Fine. Sadios it is...." Trik conceded.

"I'll be sitting this one out," Za'Fia declared as she stood. "I forgot my spatial bag at Tymon's house and want a change of clothes."

Tymon stood too.

"I'll take you. There's something I've been wanting to try anyways," he stated as he walked over to the light switches.

He used the dimmer to turn off most of the room's lights. Then, he guided Za'Fia to stand in front of a shaded wall. Tymon placed his hand on the shadow on the wall. After a moment, the shadow's surface changed texture and seemed to move.

Tymon smirked.

"Oh my," my mom said as she watched, amazed.

"Interesting. So it's true," my dad commented.

"What's that," Za'Fia asked him as she eyed the mysterious substance before her.

"It's my way of quickly returning to places I've been," Tymon answered.

"After you," Tymon said, ushering her into the shadow.

Za'Fia stepped into the shadow, disappearing from our sight. Tymon followed behind her. Then, the shadow seemed to resolidify, showing no signs of ever changing.

****

When Tymon and Za'Fia emerged from the shadow, they stood in Tymon's living room. Tymon sat down on the couch, feeling a bit winded.

His suspicions were correct. Traveling with others drained way more of his energy. He'd have to be careful using that.

"That's one way to travel," Za'Fia commented, seemingly impressed.

"Yeah, too bad I can't simply go anywhere with it," Tymon remarked.

"So, why did you really come with me," Za'Fia asked him, cutting to chase.

Tymon chuckled. He never was good at hiding anything from her.

"I've thought of a way to hit Avarice where it hurts – his empire. The hidden one that truly matters to him. If I start from the bottom, I can destroy it. And if my plan works, I'll prevent a war between the Watchers and Holders," Tymon asserted calmly.

"Okay, why the secret meeting, though," Za'Fia asked next.

"Because I know that Alissia won't agree with the methods necessary," Tymon told her.

When Tymon was back at HQ, he sensed each human there's death.

Tymon figured the deaths would be due to the eventual all-out war against Avarice's forces that they were preparing for.

But even he couldn't sit by and let that many good people die, so he wracked his brain trying to come up with a way to prevent it.

This led to him surmising that if he personally killed each of Avarice's Holders, he could save most of Alissia's family from dying. He just hoped – no prayed – he wouldn't later come to regret interfering again.

Unfortunately, Alissia would never agree to him killing thousands of people, evil or not.

Tymon refocused and collected his thoughts. He steeled his resolve before speaking, knowing what path he needed to take.

"Za'Fia, to do what needs to be done...I have to split from the others," Tymon stated.