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I remained silent as I stood there in shock.

How does he know that name, I thought.

"I've answered multiple questions from you now. It would be best if you showed me the same courtesy," Avarice insisted.

Lie, Viraa advised.

"Viraa's a childhood friend. Me, Viraa, and Kaia were close growing up," I prevaricated.

Suddenly my body tensed, and the air grew dense as golden-yellow energy rose from Avarice's body. His eyes matched his energy's color as he peered down at me.

"I expect you to hold up your end of our agreement, human. Do not lie to me again," he cautioned. "I've already been enlightened about cintracies and that the marks on our wrists indicate how many we have. I also know that my Xerox cintracy is quite special. I want to know who this 'Viraa' is and how they know so much about us when I haven't been able to figure much out in over eight thousand years. Also, why did the JANUS drug affect you differently?"

Lie again, Viraa instructed.

You sure? He got annoyed last time, I responded.

He hasn't grasped how valuable you are yet. The moment he does, he'll never let you leave. Your best course of action is to keep the truth hidden so you can find a way to escape. He may be less inclined to give chase immediately, she communicated.

"I...don't know," I said, avoiding his gaze. My palms were sweaty as I tried hard to keep from trembling.

Avarice exhaled deeply. I looked up to see the glow from his eyes and body diminish.

"It seems you can't be trusted, human," he said disappointedly. "Very well."

"Guess that's the end of negotiations then," Trevor said as he and the others stood from their table.

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"Don't hurt the human," Verin commanded. "There's too much information we need extracted from her."

Trik and I used our rupture prisms to create shields around us to protect against their spirit energies.

"I get first crack at Tymon," Trevor said with arrogance as he moved toward them.

"Keep your blasts to a minimum in here," Verin told him from the foot of Avarice's pedestal.

The floors shifted as the table, and shelves of material lowered into it, creating an open space to move around.

"Move away from me," Tymon muttered without looking away from Trevor.

I listened and stepped around Tymon to the left wall of the room.

Junichiro remained where he was, but he pulled out the handle on his waist. As he pulled it out, a black blade constructed itself to the handle – which I realized was the hilt.

"You'll stay unharmed so long as you don't try anything stupid," he warned as he pointed the blade at me.

* * * *

Great. Now I have to figure out how to save them, too, Tymon thought.

He knew it was a long shot, but his best chance to free Za'Fia was if he caught them off guard.

Before Trevor could strike, Tymon suddenly used Blackout to envelop the entire room in darkness. Even he couldn't see in this pitch blackness. That didn't hinder him, though, since he could still feel where everyone was through his energy.

Tymon sped past Trevor toward Za'Fia as Trevor screamed, "I can't see! Where is he?!" Just before reaching her, Tymon felt Avarice move at astonishing speeds to intercept him, but he didn't stop; Tymon coated his fist in spirit energy and put every ounce of strength he could muster into a punch that would send Avarice flying long enough for him to break Za'Fia out.

To his disbelief, when the punch connected, Avarice didn't budge. Tymon would understand if Avarice had used spirit enhancement to defend himself, but he hadn't. He stood there and took the hit. It felt like Tymon was a kid who'd just punched a steel wall, expecting it to break.

With a flick of his wrist, Avarice sent Tymon crashing into a distant wall, deactivating Blackout.

Trevor began walking toward Tymon.

"I can't believe you just tried to sneak attack Pops!" He said as he laughed. "Then, to find out that even with the element of surprise, you're nothing to him...This just isn't your day, kid."

Trik rushed to get in between Trevor and Tymon.

"Tymon! Take Alissia and run!" he said.

However, Trik's valiant attempt to hold off Trevor was short-lived as Trevor effortlessly ripped Trik's arms from their sockets.

He held Trik by the head as he walked over to a nearby window on the left side of the room. After opening the window, he extended his arm outside the window, dangling Trik 30,000 feet in the air.

With a wicked smile, he yanked Trik's gravitational orb from its port and let go, sending Trik plummeting to the ground.

"I would've crushed his head to be rid of him, be since he's made of cindium...."

"Trik!" Tymon and Alissia yelled as he headed toward the window.

"He'll be fine," Trevor stated as he stepped in Tymon's way. "You should be more concerned about yourself."

* * * *