The Underworlders were finally able to reach Underworld City by the time it was close to nightfall. Ultradore was dropped off at Kopond's place while the others went to Chaor's Castle. In order to reduce panic, they grabbed a cloak from Kopond and placed it around Aura. It excited her that she was getting generous gifts from some of the tribes. Intress and Maxxor let her keep the tunic and now Kopond, a high Underworld Muge, lent her a long, black cloak. It felt a little rough and smells strange, but it had to do. The Aura watched with curiosity. For such a dark place, it was lively. Underworlders talking amongst themselves, a few arguments. She could feel every emotion. Mostly annoyed about the thefts that had been happening. She tried to keep from staring at the residents as Takinom or H'earring kept looking at her by glancing at the metal of the aircraft. These feelings were a bit similar to what she felt in Kiru and from what Cot told her, how they could be so different from each other since they feel the same things.

When they arrived at the Castle, they were greeted by a blue lizard-like creature. "Good to see you again, Lord Chaor. I'm so glad you've arrived safely. You'll be happy to know that so far nothing had been stolen from Ulmar and Khybon's labs." His yellow eyes shifted to Aura's cloaked form. "Is that the M'arrillian you told me about?" He gasped in shock when Aura briefly pulled her hood back. "Astonishing… I've never seen a M'arrillian like this before. Not since Phelphore inful-"

"We already get it, Agitos." Chaor said. "You don't need to go back on that history." He signaled to the guards to stand close to them. "Let's go to the throne room to talk."

Once they went into the throne room, Chaor sat down on his chair. Exhaustion written on his face. "Ok. Let's discuss the arrangements."

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoooa!" Cot piped up. "Arrangements? What sort of arrangements?"

"Unlike Maxxor, I won't let you have free-range of the Underworld. Especially when you're alone with the M'arrillian." Chaor glared at Aura. He was in no mood to repeat himself. "For now, I'm going to keep you two seperated until further notice. I can't have either of you disrupt my city." He looked at Khybon. "Khybon, take the M'arrillian to your place. She poses a risk at the pits and I'm not going to have to deal with a brainwashed army."

"Brainwash?!" Cot's feathers ruffled. She flew straight into Chaor's face. "She can barely talk without drawings! You expect that she could do such a thing? For the love of the ocean, AURA saved your scout from getting injured and willingly helped Khybon find the targets! You seriously don't trust her after that?!"

Chaor sighed. He quickly grabbed her before she could fly away. "She may have helped out, but she could've planned them for all we know. You said so yourself that you didn't meet her until a few weeks before you two were taken to Perim. She could also be playing you. We would just have to keep both of you apart so we know for sure that she won't stab us in the back. I know that she has that weird emotion attack so at least she would be around someone that won't trigger her attacks. That's where you come in, Khybon."

Khybon bowed respectfully. "Of course Chaor. I'll make sure that she doesn't get out of control."

"H'earring, I want you to take Cot here and escort her to her new room. Keep an eye on her."

H'earring did a salute. "Understood mighty Chaor." He walked over to Chaor to retrieve the Song Gale from him. Cot just looked up in annoyance before she shot daggers at Chaor. She simply sat there in the scout's hands. H'earring bowed before he left with Cot. He soon vanished behind the large doors.

Aura's fins turned into a deep shade of blue. She didn't want to be seperated from Cot. Things were already strange as it is. She felt her hand being touched. She looked up to see Khybon looking reluctant to take her with him...for the third time. "Come on," Khybon spoke. "Let's go." She simply followed him without making a sound. On their way out of the castle, Aura noticed a couple of Underworlders on the far right of the castle entrance. A male and a female were embracing each other, a gesture she had seen once or twice. Then, their lips touched when their faces got close. She tapped on Khybon's shoulder and pointed at the couple.

Khybon cringed. "That's just kissing. What's so special about it?"

-At Khybon's Forge-

Aura looked at another little creature that Khybon was arguing with. He went by the name Jiggorex. When he saw Aura, he thought Khybon had lost his mind...again. There was no way that the M'arrillian was going to stay under his roof. "It's under Chaor's orders." Khybon said, feeling tired. "He knows this isn't the first time I've dealt with a M'arrillian. Now what I'm dealing with, it should be fine as long as I wear this headband." He gestured to the headband still sitting above his third eye. "What about the equipment? Anything stolen?"

Jiggorex shook his head. "Aside from scrap metal, nothing out of the ordinary. Got it cleaned up so you can get started on your project for Chaor." He looked back at Aura. His gaze turned icey. His emotions of resentment blazing in Aura's mind. "Want me to stick around?"

Khybon shook his head. "No, I'll be fine. As long as I don't scare her silly, it won't trigger her powers." He looked over at Aura, there were faint tints of yellow, purple and green but most of the coloration was a deep shade of blue. She must really miss Cot. As Jiggorex left, he led Aura into his workshop. He nodded to the guards that were standing there and walked into a large room filled with machines. One of them was a metal skeleton of a brand new Vile Driver. He pointed to a nearby chair where the M'arrillian sat down obediently. Aura looked around inquisdily and was about to move her hood down when Khybon cleared his throat which startled her slightly. "Listen, there are going to be a few rules here if you want to make it in the Underworld. Rule 1: Keep your hood up. You've already figured that a lot of Underworlders aren't exactly thrilled to have you around. So, when someone comes in here that's not Chaor, H'earring, Jiggorex or Takinom, get the cloak ready." He looked hard to make sure Aura was paying attention. She did, but her eyes looked a little glazed. It was probably his imagination.

"Rule 2: No whining or crying. That sort of weakness is not allowed and I can put up with it for a certain amount of time. Rule 3: DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!" He frowned when Aura coiled at those words. "Just stay there quietly and don't move." He began to work on the Vile Driver. Looking between the blueprints and Aura every chance he could.

Aura sat in her chair quietly. For a while it was fine, but her body was starting to ache. The strain in her back was becoming too much. She also started to feel hot. She only had water at breakfast and hadn't had anything since. The cloak did a nice job of hiding her, but now she felt like it itches to no end. She wanted to cry, but didn't want to anger Khybon. She soon thought back to what she had seen. The couple embracing. The lips puckered in what Khybon called "a kiss". She couldn't help imagine what that is like. Being held like that. She soon found herself growing light-headed and found herself wobbling. "Urrruru…" Suddenly, before she could stop herself, she collapsed on the floor.

Khybon stopped his wielding when he heard a loud 'crash!' "I thought I told you-" He stopped short after he turned around. He sees Aura on the floor of his workshop, wheezing as she did when they first met. "Hey! What happened?!" He ran over to her and pulled the hood away. Her fins took on a pea green color. Her body was practically hot against his hand. "Oh no! You got a fever again. Just my luck!" He quickly picked her up bridal style and carried her to his bedroom. He placed her on the bed and removed the cloak. He tossed the sheets on her. He frantically searched for a communication device until he found one on the floor.

The crystal glowed for a moment until Kopond picked up. "Khybon, what seems to be the problem?"

"Remember that M'arrillian you saw." Khybon said. If he didn't care of this now, he might be the one to have his fever come back.

Kopond nodded. "Yes. A strange female and an even stranger M'arrillian. I've never met a M'arrillian that was docile or obedient. It's almost a trick."

"Well, she's sick and I need her to be functioning so Chaor can question her. The other captives back in Kiru weren't co-operative."

Kopond sighed. "All right. I'll come -" The screen went dark. It was lifeless for a while.

"Kopond? Kopond?! Can you hear me?" Khybon frantically tapped the crystal to make it work. Suddenly, screams and wails were rising out of a crystal. Red eyes appeared on the screen. Cruel laughter hovered in the air. Dead creatures popping out left and right. One of them appeared to be him, lying on the cold ground of some unknown cave. The underworld taskmaster turned around to see Aura violently tossing and turning. His red eyes widened with realization. She's having a nightmare. He ran toward the bed and shook her. "Hey! Hey! Wake up!"

Aura didn't stir and thrashed her arms wildly. Khybon dodged quickly. She can't hear me. He thought. I'm going to have to think of something else. He nearly leaped in fright when he heard rattling all around him. He looked around the room and realized everything was shifting. Khybon had to calm her down and fast. Wait, she managed to get in my head when I was asleep. Maybe if I reach out to her with my mind. He closed his eyes to concentrate. Nothing. Then, he realized what he needed to do. "I hate to do this." He removed his headband and tried again. He thought back to Lake Ken-I-Po and the swirling lights. Wake up, he thought as loudly as he could. Wake up! Aura, Please wake up!

Aura jolted upward. Her breathing ragged. She looked frantically across the room. Her eyes settled on Khybon who was kneeling right next to her. "It's ok, Aura. You're safe now." Aura was slowly remembering her nightmare. She looked at Khybon again. Overwhelmed with sadness, Aura hugged Khybon. Her whole body shook as she sobbed. She held on for dear life.

Khybon stood there awkwardly. His heart slightly racing at Aura's touch. Underworlders weren't the most affectionate people. They were fierce and direct. Showing no mercy and doing whatever it took to survive. Right now, Khybon knew that some of these rules were not going to work on a creature who had been held captive all her life. Slowly, he placed a hand and gently rubbed her back. He let her cry until Aura could no longer shed her tears.