Chapter -136: Adventurer Aurora

Temporis was a far few feet ahead of her two companions, twirling around with her arms out as she looked up at the bright blue sky and smiled agape with awe.

"Wow! The sky is so much better looking out here! And the air, it's," She took a deep breath through her nose and then stopped in place, hung over and coughing, "V-Very different...!"

She sprung right back up with a leap, tossing her arms into the sky and proclaiming, "But cool too! Woo-hoo!"

As she kept running ahead Sarajin shouted, "Hey! Don't get too far ahead of us!"

"She can't hear you," Justek murmured, sounding a little disgruntled with her at the moment, "Just let her wear herself out."

Five minutes later...

Temporis was walking backwards in front of them and swaying her body to and fro, looking alternatively at Justek or Sarajin as she asked, "Are we there yet?"

"No." Murmured Justek, stiffing her by holding his head up high.

"Are we there yet?"

"We still got a while to go, Temporis." Sarajin replied with a humored chuckle.

"Mmmm..." Temporis tucked her dainty little arms behind her back and then leaned back towards Justek with a cheeky smile, "Are we there yet?"

Justek's only answer was to suck his lips in and make a dull popping noise. So she turned back to Sarajin and excitedly declared, "How about now?"

"Uhhh..." Sarajin just stared blankly at her face and then turned to Justek, causing Temporis to do the same.

"ARE we going in the right direction, Justek?" He asked.

"Yes yes we're heading east, just be patient for five seconds." Justek replied, pushing his glasses up.

Five seconds later...

"Are we there yet?" Said Temporis in a quick and dry tone.

"Ghhh...!" Justek's eyes briefly flared open as he stamped his foot down and exclaimed, "When we get there, we'll get there! So pipe down you pink-haired pixie!"

Temporis immediately stood upright and turned around, putting her hands behind her head as she remarked, "Wow, no need to be so rude, four-eyes."

A vein popped out of the side of Justek's head along with a bullish grunt. Temporis merrily kept moving forward and looked around, curling her lower lip with a sigh.

"I can't believe the stories about the barren lands are true though," She said, more disappointed than sad, "But it's sooooooo boooooooooring out here cause of it!"

"If you'd like excitement I could gladly introduce you to the local wildlife." Justek replied.

"Justek..." Sarajin groaned, settling him down just by the tender gaze of his eyes.

Sarajin then stepped up ahead to keep pace beside Temporis, with her looking at him from out of the corner of her eyes.

"I know how we can pass the time! Why don't you tell us more about Aurians?"

"Oh yeah, nothing like a little conversation between buddies!" Temporis perked up with a smile, but before she could fully open her mouth again she clamped it shut with her eyes bulging out of their sockets.

"Hold that thought!" She then ran incredibly quickly towards a decent-sized rock spire, leaving dust in her wake.

"Oh what in the world is she up to now?" Justek groaned, forced to wipe off his glasses.

They watched as she leaped straight at the side of the spire and grabbed onto it like she was trying to hug a tree.

Then her little arms and legs started scurrying up the side, making a little headway before she started to get pulled down.

She made an effort to try and grab onto some type of ledge but none were nearby. But that didn't stop her. Once she hit rock bottom she bent down all the way with her arms thrown behind her back.

The other two arrived just as a little dust kicked up in a circle around her feet. Then, her legs became enveloped in a light pink glow, followed by her springing up nearly one hundred feet in a single jump.

"What?!" Sarajin shouted in glee, the force of her leap blowing his poncho around.

However, Temporis quickly smacked her head into a ledge sticking out, both her companions feeling it and wincing.

She started to fall and Sarajin, quick as a whip, shouted "Hold on!" and then used a burst of air to propel himself up and catch her.

But her weight caused him to plummet rapidly out of the sky, his eyes widening seconds before hitting the ground.

"Owwww...!" He groaned, continuing as Temporis stood up and rubbed the top of her head with both hands, continuing to smile.

"Heh, that doesn't hurt nearly as much as when I play fight with Auris!" She then stiffened her gaze down at Sarajin and blurted out, "Huh? Why are you on the ground?"

Sarajin stood up and rubbed his back, forcing a grin.

"Did you try to catch me?" Temporis chuckled, "Pretty heroic of ya, Mr. Overlord, but for your information, I would've landed just fine."

Sarajin was shaking, but stood up just fine on his own, "W-What was that thing you just did with your legs?"

"Oh, that?" Temporis kicked her leg back up and with a couple taps that same glow returned. She then put her foot down and started hopping in place, "That...is Aura!"

"You applied that to your legs and suddenly you were jumping higher than a fish surfacing out of water." Justek remarked.

Temporis had a grin beaming with pride as she settled down and returned her legs back to normal, "We can make aura do a lot more than that!"

"So is Aura an...element?" Asked Sarajin, arms crossed and his head bobbing around.

"Nah, it's more like...The manifestation of the body's energy or something," Temporis shrugged and closed her eyes, "Everything has aura, even the rocks surrounding us."

"Even me?" Sarajin said, pointing to his chest.

"Yeah! Yours is like, sky-blue colored and surprisingly smooth, while grumpy here well..." Temporis tilted her head aside and said, "Is a kind of dirty, gray looking mess."

"Hmph," Justek grunted, continuing on with a sour mood, "So in other words, you were able to take your legs' outer energy and push it against your legs' inner energy to strengthen them."

Temporis popped her eyes open and whistled, "Woooow, pretty impressive deduction there."

Justek smirked and mockingly told her, "Four eyes means I see more than others."

"Heh." Temporis smirked back.

"Would I be able to learn how to use aura?" Sarajin pondered aloud.

"I don't know," Temporis leaned forward to get under Sarajin's thinking, downward glare, "We Aurians are kind of built differently than the rest of you, but maaaaybe if I put you through a grueling training regimen you'd come out of it able to control aura."

Sarajin stood and stared at her blank-eyed and said, "I...don't like the sound of that.

"Just kidding!" Temporis said with a close-eyed grin, "There's probably some way I could teach you but that'd require talking a lot and unlike the rest of my family, I have a small mouth."

"Could've fooled us." Justek bemoaned.

Temporis then hopped back around to bend down, applying aura to her legs again.

"You're going to try again?" Sarajin said in a somewhat worried tone.

"I got it figured out this time!" She declared in confidence. But she was stopped by Sarajin putting a hand on her back.

"I got a better idea," He said, lowering his hand towards the ground and summoning a cloud beneath them. He then looked back and remarked, "Be back in a bit, Justek!"

Justek shrugged as the two took the cloud platform to the top of the rock spire. Temporis got on her knees and started rapidly patting away at the cloud with big, sparkly eyes, "This is as soft as a pillow! No...softer!"

She planted her face down, wiggling her butt right in Sarajin's face as her whole expression melted into bliss, "Ahhhh, this would be a great place to nap."

"Oh, that's a great idea!" Sarajin proclaimed, "A lot of places we go to don't have comfy seats."

A few seconds later they were able to get onto the top of the rock spire, with Temporis stretching her arms before running right on up to the edge.

But far in the distance was just a whole bunch of the same nothing sights. Maybe a couple Rot Walkers were wandering about, but none of the Tribes were even close to where they were.

"Awwww," Temporis slumped, "I thought I'd get a glimpse of Pulsa Minoria from here."

"The world's pretty big, isn't it?" Sarajin said with a lighthearted chuckle.

"Too big, I guess," Temporis said with a firm pout, "Well this totally wasn't worth the bruise on my head."

She then briefly glanced out of the corner of her eye, "Or the pain in your back, I guess...But hey, thanks for bringing me up here."

"You're welcome, Temporis," Sarajin said with an earnest smile, "I'm glad to have made another friend today. That's the best birthday present I could've asked for!"

Temporis turned to him and said, "Oh it's your birthday?"

"Yep, I just turned 15 today!"

"Cool! I'll be turning 14 in a few months!"

"Well...I guess this makes for an early birthday present then!"

"And despite this dull start it's already a heckuva lot better than getting new clothes and arrows from my family." Temporis scoffed with a blunt gaze to her side.

Then she shrugged and shouted, "Well! I'm bored up here already! Let's keep moving!"

They rode the cloud back down and then all three of them kept heading East towards Pulsa Minoria, along the way sharing some of the adventures Sarajin has had in the other Tribes.

This passed the time long enough for Pulsa Minoria to start poking up over the horizon. Temporis broke away mid-conversation and ran a few feet ahead, standing on her tip-toes to get a better look at it.

"Big intimidating looking metal city? Yep! That's Pulsa Minoria alright!" She turned around and said, "I'm surprised you're able to get in there in one piece!"

"The downside is that we're usually being led around by their annoying little lead scientist." Remarked Justek.

Temporis went "Huuuuh" with a droopy face before asking, "So we're going to be monitored the whole time?"

"Is that going to be a problem?" Sarajin asked.

"Uhhh, it depends. Is it just the one guy?" Temporis inquired, putting her hands behind her head.

"Yeah, everyone else tends to be busy working on their 'electronics'."

"And they wouldn't happen to have any 'eyes' in the city, would they?"

Sarajin and Justek looked at each other briefly, with Justek choosing to speak up in a puzzled tone, "'Eyes?'"

"You know...ways to see where we are at any time?" Temporis replied, bobbing her head around impatiently.

"What did Rai call those flat glass things in Sector 5 again?" Sarajin asked Justek.

"Moment Capturers?"

"Yeah those!" Sarajin snapped his fingers in confidence, "I don't think Valic's able to use them on his own."

"Oh cool! No problem then!" Temporis proclaimed, leaning back into a relaxed pose and grinning wide as could be.

Sarajin and Justek tilted their head at each other with an innocuous hum and then proceeded to follow Temporis to the front gates of Pulsa Minoria.

Upon arriving close enough the voice that usually greets them comes out of the walls, "Back again? Huh, hold on a second...There's a third one with you now?"

Temporis shifted her head around and looked in awe, "Oh cool, do they communicate to us through magic here?!"

"No, it's just a voice projector electronic they have built into the walls." Justek remarked.

Sarajin took a few steps forward and shouted, "We've brought a new friend to check this place out, is that ok?"

"Sure. I'll let the boss know you're here."

Temporis cupped her hands and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Hey, good job on this voice projector thingy you're working on!"

"Uhhhh, I didn't make it but...Thanks?" The voice seemed shy before they signed off.

Temporis turned around and started fluttering her hands together rapidly before her chest, "Yay! I'm finally going to see what another Tribe's like!"

She stopped and looked at Justek alongside Sarajin. He was grimacing with one finger drilling into his ear. He glared at Temporis and told her, "Could you PLEASE exercise some form of control now that we're here?"

Temporis put her hands behind her head and said, "Ok dad, chill."

"Mrrr...!" Justek narrowed his eyes and flared his nostrils.

"Heh heh heh, it's fun poking fun at you, four-eyes." Temporis said with a grin.

Sarajin nervously rubbed the back of his head and wondered, "G-Guys, let's get along, ok?"

"Let the one who threw the stone..." Justek began to mutter, right in time for the gates to shut down, and Valic to be found waiting for them behind it.

He was already pulling the wall out to get the plastic suits out, before Temporis wasted no time getting introductions out of the way by walking up and slapping him on the back.

"Hey hey, so you must be that Valic guy I've heard so much about!"

Valic flinched and then slowly turned to look down at the young lady, having to take a moment to adjust his eyeglass, "Huh..."

He looked up at Sarajin and Justek to ask, "And just where did this little girl come from?"

"Little? Cause you're such a towering oak, right?" Temporis replied with a grin.

Valic flinched and uttered, "Excuse me?"

Sarajin and Justek chuckled, though Justek's was subdued and thus more easy to avoid culpability on.

When that settled however, Sarajin didn't really have the guts to answer the question. After all, Temporis was from a hidden city, so maybe it would be a good idea to-

"Anyways, my name is Temporis Aurora! I'm an Aurian from Sancturia!" Temporis' brief and blunt declaration of her identity threw Sarajin for such a loop it left him feeling dizzy.

However, Valic seemed to light up with a grin, like the last few gestures at his expense were a distant memory, "From Sancturia, really?!"

He clasped both his hands around one of hers and looked deeply at her body, "Our people have been trying to make contact with you for years and years now! But every time our drones would get close they'd be shot out of the sky by arrows."

Sarajin and Justek were half-relieved and half-surprised by this fortunate turn of events, as Valic and Temporis held a friendly conversation for their first time meeting.

"Yeah, we're notoriously bad at reaching out towards others." Temporis said.

"So what was the deciding factor that caused your people to reach out to us?" Valic smiled wider, somehow, "Are you interested in having talks about our electronics?"

Temporis shook her head, "I'm here on my own, nothing to do with family business. But electronics? Oh yeah, I'm totally all for seeing what you've made!"

She pumped her fists against her hips, leaned back, and laid the sugar on thick towards Valic, "ESPECIALLY the creations of the greatest genius of Pulsa Minoria himself!"

"W-Well..." Valic turned bright red and huffed a little steam from his nostrils, "I'd be more than happy to show you around then, young lady. But first, I will need you to put on this plastic suit for protection."

"Plastic? Cool! Never tried that on before!" Temporis ran up and pushed Valic's hand out of the way to get the suit for herself.

"Smooth..." She tugged around at it for a while to play with it, "And snappy too!"

She was able to slip into hers around the same time Sarajin and Justek had finished up on their end. For the time being she'd have to tie her robe up on the outside.

The first thing she did was look over her shoulder at herself and wiggle her legs around, "Ooooh, this feels funny but..."

She hopped in place, positioning herself towards her two companions with a big smile, "I kind of like it!"

Sarajin stared long and hard at her, his eyes wandering to her hips. With a light blush he was unarmed as she leaned right towards him with a smirk and a gentle nudging of her brows, "Do you think I look good in this, Sarajin?"

"U-Ummm, it...does compliment your hair, Temporis." Sarajin said, following a nervous chuckle.

Temporis smirked in a catty manner and then slowly pulled back, putting one hand behind her head and sticking the tip of her tongue out, "I bet I'd get some looks if I had my sister's body, heheh!"

"Oh good grief." Groaned Justek.

Valic then snapped his fingers a couple times and started marching towards the city, "You're on my time, remember? Let us get a move on."

Temporis was the first to walk ahead. Sarajin had to deal with some stiff knees at the moment. Justek helped him through it by nudging him forcibly in the back, making a dry remark of, "Oh, she's good..."

"H-Huh?" Sarajin muttered.

"Never mind," Justek closed his eyes and when they reopened, he looked fiercely determined for some reason, "Let's keep up with her."

The two hurried on ahead back by her side. She had her hands behind her head and her eyes closed yet somehow, knew it was time to start speaking to her companions again.

"Honestly I wouldn't be able to stand having the kind of chest my sister has," Temporis said with no regard for the volume of her voice, "But man, if I could just be as tall as her! Then she wouldn't be able to tease me by using my head as a melon tray!"

"Your sister definitely seems...tough," Sarajin noted, a little shakiness in his voice, "I've met some tough girls before but she just seems on a whole other level."

Temporis opened one eye, "She's been pretty blessed all her life. Got all the talent, has a great body, everyone in the city loves her, she's wise beyond her years, and dad gives her the most attention..."

She then shrugged and said, "I just wish her heart wasn't as solid as a rock. It's like, so hard to have fun with her when she's playing by the rules all the time."

There was a lot of positivity coming from her voice for what sounded like an envious description of their relationship.

"You must really look up to her, though." Sarajin remarked.

Temporis leaned over her shoulder with a grin and said, "We've got a unique relationship, but that's what it's like to have a sibling!"

"I always wished I had a big brother or sister to hang out with," Sarajin said, "The closest I got is my friend back home. He's the one who introduced me to the wonders of the surface."

By the time they finished that conversation Valic was bringing them over to Sector 1, which must be how he starts off any newcomer to the city.

He even used the exact same words to do so as he led Temporis and her two companions into the main generator building.

But as he began to explain what the building did Temporis tried to run on ahead. Valic held his arm out to stop her, a vain attempt given her small stature made it possible for her to duck under and keep going.

"Wow, it's so bright in here!" She proclaimed.

Valic began to open his mouth and raise a finger, only to let karma be the lesson teacher as the generator's electrified flashes caused Temporis to recoil.

"Ack! Too bright!"

Valic had a slight chuckle before providing her with the proper eye protection. She adjusted it onto her head and then smiled, "Oh neat, one of my dad's friends wears something like this!"

"Now then." Valic resumed his educational attitude, though since Sarajin and Justek had already learned the ropes they just stuck back and let Temporis figure things out.

She seemed to be paying close attention judging from her leaning in close and bobbing her head every time Valic finished a sentence.

Justek crossed his arms and sighed, "He's saying the exact same things again."

"You didn't think he'd give us another hint about the shrine, did you?" Sarajin said.

"No, I've accepted he's a dead lead on that end," Justek remarked, "But we've combed most of this city for clues. The only thing we've not been allowed entry to is Sector 2, but I doubt there'd be anything there."

"Hmmm..." As Sarajin tried to use this free time to think, he overheard Temporis and Valic having a laugh together.

"What the...?" Justek murmured, adjusting his glasses before approaching the two from behind, only for them to immediately turn around.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing," Temporis said, "We were just discussing how poorly you acted like a know-it-all the first time you came here."

Justek's brow furrowed so much it was a wonder there was any skin left to crinkle. With a rather deep and nasally growl he said, "Is. That. So?"

"Oh but he's been learning a lot here, to be fair." Valic said, a defense that held very, very little weight.

"True. I guess even the smartest man on the planet can learn new things." Temporis smirked, giggled, and then patted Justek on the shoulder as her and Valic passed him by.

"He really calls himself that?" Valic chuckled.

Justek turned around and his face was stiff with flared open nostrils. Sarajin looked at the two leaving and then offered his friend a quick look, "Uhhh, are you going to be ok?"

"I'm going to pull that little pixie up by her ponytails and spit in her hair." He said with a subhuman growl.

Sarajin felt goosebumps and a slight unease in the air. When Justek took a brief look at him his pupils were slits, and he huffed some steam from his nostrils.

He then closed his eyes and seemed to calm down with a couple deep breaths, "Sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"She's REALLY getting under your skin, Justek..." Sarajin said with mild concern.

"Never mind me," Justek grumbled, "We need to keep following her."

They took their glasses off and followed the two as they were leaving through the door. However, when Sarajin and Justek caught up, oddly enough, Temporis was nowhere to be found.

Yet Valic was talking like she was, as evidenced by his calm if not boastful tone, "So, which one of our other fine facilities do you wish to...?"

He paused after he turned around, his hand held in this presenting gesture, both eyes fluttering in confusion. A sentiment being shared with the other two.

"Where did she go?" He asked.

"Why are you asking us that? She was literally just behind you a second ago." Justek muttered.

"She...disappeared?" Sarajin crossed his arms and wondered, "Is this another power of Aura?"

"..." Justek nudged his glasses up and with a couple quick whiffs of his nose remarked, "Well she can try and hide but that disgustingly clean scent of hers gives her away immediately."

He turned to the right and pointed outward, "She went that way."

Valic and Sarajin looked where he was pointing and saw Temporis' striking hair color poking out among the crowd. She was merrily wandering around with her arms stretched out, knocking into a couple people along the way.

"Hmmm, it seems she's heading towards Sector 4," Valic tucked his hands behind him, "Eagerness is appreciated but she really needs to stick with the group."

"I'll go on ahead and keep an eye on her!" Sarajin proclaimed, breaking into a sprint before she got too deep into the crowd.

Sector 4, or was Valic called it, the "General Living District Frontier". It's the place where most of the citizens of Pulsa Minoria live, sleep and eat.

Though Sarajin got a brief look at the place one time, he never got to look inside any of the houses.

Once he ran past the center of town he looked around and just like that, Temporis had vanished into thin air again.

"Huh?" His eyes widened and he took a look around. To his right he caught a glimpse of pink strands of hair sticking out behind the corner of a building.

"There you are!" He ran after her as quickly as his feet could take him.

Suddenly, he heard this loud, high-pitched scream and his heart skipped a beat, causing his pace to pick up just that little bit more he needed, "Hey! Is everything al...right?"

Once he rounded the corner he got sluggish, for the only thing Temporis was struggling with was the overwhelming cuteness of this strange, boxy metal critter walking around.

She was on her knees and petting the thing's head, causing square flat metal flaps on it's side to perk up, and it to let out this scratchy, metallic bark.

It had these little glass plates for eyes that lit up and dimmed over time.

"Awww you're just the cutest thing!" Temporis petted it vigorously, causing the critter to wag it's cubed tail on the ground.

Then she had to go and give it a hug, causing a few sparks to spurt out from its sides.

Sarajin slowly approached her from behind and before he could say a word, Temporis looked over her shoulder and said, "Sarajin! What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?"

"Hey I asked first, no fair," Temporis pouted, letting up the pressure on the critter's poor frame to then pet it some more, "What is this thing? It's like an animal, but more shiny and box-like!"

"I...don't know exactly," Sarajin's eyes were hypnotically drawn to the way the machine wagged its tail. A smile formed on his face, and he bent down next to Temporis to take a turn petting it himself, "...It is really cute though."

He tried to scratch it under the chin and it raised its head up, fully accepting his attention.

"Awww, aren't you a good boy? Yes you are, yes you are!" Sarajin indulged in the positive vibes with him and Temporis' expression melting together in bliss as they petted this creature.

"Would you mind?" A grown-up standing above them said, "That's my property."

Sarajin and Temporis stood up and rubbed the back of their heads while chuckling. The drone then flopped onto its side and wagged its legs around. However, it's structure made it difficult for it to stand back up.

The grown-up helped it stand up and then with a couple snaps of the fingers, guided it back towards Sector 4 proper.

The buildings there were all boxed shaped just like practically everything else here, but they had these cool electric blue borders that indicated electricity was running through them. And each one was equipped with a few windows. And every building was lined up neatly in rows and columns. A pretty sizable piece of real estate, all things considered.

With the moment of elation passed, Sarajin turned to Temporis and said, "So, why'd you run off like that?"

Temporis put her hands behind her head and replied, "Cause I could, and it's fun."

"Well be careful, electricity can be pretty dangerous."

Temporis rolled her eyes and smiled, "Relax, nothing's going to hurt me."

"I beg to disagree." Justek chimed in, approaching them with Valic at his side.

Valic was looking past them momentarily and then chuckled, "I see you found one of our prototype pets."

"Oh that is a pet?" Sarajin commented, "I knew it reminded me of Johnathan's dog."

Valic squeezed his eyes shut and sighed uncomfortably, "Don't mention that name around me, we've discussed this."

"S-Sorry." Sarajin murmured, with Temporis giving him a strange look for it.

"Anyways," Valic gestured his hand out and remarked, "We've been trying to replicate the brain patterns of other life forms and implementing them into our electronics, in essence, giving the people of Pulsa Minoria exposure to life outside the walls."

He then scratched the side of his head and sighed, "Unfortunately we've been unable to produce anything bigger than a dog and as you saw it's box-like design makes it hard for it to roll around or scratch itself."

"Not to mention it felt like the skin was weak." Temporis commented.

"...Uhhh, it's not supposed to be weak. That's a supermetal alloy covering it." Valic said, fluttering his eyelids.

"...Oops," Temporis flexed her right arm and poked at her bicep, "Guess I don't know my own strength!"

"Well please refrain from crushing our drones in the future," Valic sighed, "And PLEASE do not wander into areas you've not been allowed into yet."

That just made Temporis grin more, closing her attention off from the dazzled stare Sarajin was giving her.

Justek then gestured at Valic and asked, "So what about creatures smaller than a dog? Like insects, or fish."

"Oh we can make metal versions of those easily," Valic chuckled, "But who would want a flopping metal fish as a companion? No, a dog has tested favorably with children and has proven to reduce stress in the brain."

"Well yeah, cause the body reacts positively to positivity!" Temporis proclaimed.

"Couldn't have worded it better myself." Valic said, lightly clapping his hands before his chest.

Then came a tingling sensation in the air, with Valic flinching chest forward and glancing over his shoulder at a device on his back, "Haaa, looks like that troublesome Rai is trying to sneak out again."

He turned around, making a reprimanding gesture of the finger out beside his hip, "I'll catch back up in a bit. Until then feel free to explore around Sectors 1 and 4, so long as you don't invade any of the houses and PLEASE I remind you again, do not damage our property."

He then left with a heavy sigh and his hands behind his back.

Not one step after he was gone out of sight Temporis was making her way past her two companions with her hands happily held behind her head.

Justek grabbed her by the ear lobe to rein her in.

"Owowowow, hey! What's the big idea?" Temporis said, kicking her feet out only to end up in this awkward slant.

Justek pulled her up and let her go only to look her straight in the eyes, nudging his glasses into place, "You're not going to pull a fast one on us again."

"Fast one?" Temporis glanced aside and smirked, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I think Justek's just curious to know how you keep vanishing into thin air," Sarajin remarked, "I know I'm interested."

"Oh, that?" Temporis perked right up and then thrust her arm with the bracelet on it between them, "See this bracelet?"

She then waved her other hand around and said in a humored tone, "Ok, you can't SEE it at the moment but like..."

Getting a little more energetic she continued, "On my bracelet is a stone called a Drive. Each Aurian gets one of these when they're eight-years old. It allows them to access a different power depending on what the Aura deems them worthy of."

She then hovered her finger over the middle of the bracelet, dancing it around for a bit to build up a dramatic effect, "And myyyyyyyy super cool power iiiiis...!"

She tapped down and just like that, she was gone. Yet not even one second later Sarajin and Justek felt a pat on their backs and looked over their shoulders, only briefly hearing the voice of the girl, "Tiiiiime...!"

They then left a tap on their respective shoulders and looked forward to see her standing in front of them with her hands flung high above her head, "Manipulation!"

"Time manipulation?" Justek crossed his arms and for the first time since she's been getting on his nerves he actually felt his curiosity rise, "Incredible..."

"I don't get it." Sarajin remarked.

"She's been able to go from one place to another because she's freezing time for everyone but herself," A bead of cold sweat trickled down the side of Justek's face, "...And that's just a fraction of what she could do. She could potentially rewind time, or travel to the past. To think, Aurians are capable of that kind of power..."

He then had this dreadful look in his eye as he muttered, "And it's in the hands of one of the most sincerely reckless girls in the universe..."

Temporis narrowed her eyes and remarked bluntly, "Gee, thanks, four-eyes."

She then gestured her hand up and said, "Not all Aurians got this kind of power. Like, my sister's Drive is that she can jump really good. Some poor sap can only make unlimited forks."

She twirled her hair around on one finger and grinned, "This just happened to be the universe's way of balancing out all the blessings my big sis got."

She then narrowed her gaze towards Justek and forced her voice to sound deeper, "So maaaaybe you should start showing a little more respect, before I put you back in diapers."

Justek felt a chill down his spine that lasted all of three seconds, as Temporis grinned and laughed it up, "Ha! I can't do anything that funny yet. Nope, all I can do is stop time for like...15 seconds at best."

"...W-Well, anyways," Justek glared at her and took on a firm tone, "We're not going to play hide and seek with you anymore."

"I-I don't know, it was pretty harmless fun." Sarajin said with a light chuckle.

"DON'T enforce her." Justek groaned.

"Ugh, fine, you're such a stiff, four-eyes," Temporis put her hands behind her head and rolled her eyes, "But if I have to ask permission to go anywhere, would you be ok with me checking out the shrine in the middle of the city?"

Justek and Sarajin widened their eyes with Sarajin asking, "You know what a shrine is?"

"Uh, duh. We have a couple of them in Sancturia," Temporis then showed a rare glimpse of embarrassment before murmuring, "Oh right, you wouldn't know."

Sarajin gestured at her and said, "Actually, we're trying to uncover the mystery of the Titan's disappearance here, and we think the shrine will help us."

"The Titan's disappearance?" Temporis' brows perked up and she said, "Ooooh yeah! I think I might've vaguely heard something about that when I was taking a nap during history class."

She then looked at Sarajin and asked, "You're trying to seek out another element to add to your arsenal?"

Sarajin sheepishly closed his eyes and grinned, "S-Sort of?"

Justek added to that, "There's a feud between Oreore and Pulsa Minoria that Sarajin's attempting to resolve, and he believes Pulsa Minoria's lost Titan would know the truth behind how their feud began."

"Oh so you're not just an Elemental Overlord, but you're a peace-keeper too?"

Though Temporis' tone came off as playfully teasing, Sarajin looked her straight in the eyes and said in earnest, "I guess so."

She went silent with her eyes this big, blank stare. She then put her arms down and shrugged, "Alright well, let me take a crack at the shrine then. Maybe my aura will uncover something you missed."

"Sounds like a plan. We should hurry before that huffy scientist comes back though." Said Justek.

"You just don't like him cause he's smarter than you." Temporis murmured.

Justek glared at her and grumbled, "Are you implying you're smarter than me?"

"Nah, implying would imply subtlety," Temporis grinned, "Buuuut I guess you're smart enough to have already pieced together what was plainly obvious from the start."

Justek's twitching vein popped up again and he forced a stoic expression as he walked past her and grumbled, "Let's just get this over with."

For a brief moment after Sarajin walked by her, Temporis was looking at him with an expression of curiosity and hummed to herself.

The three then returned to the center of the city and went right on up to the shrine.

"THIS is the Titan's shrine? Looks pretty small." Temporis commented.

Sarajin bent down in front of it and tried to look around. Same scan, same lack of results...

"Yeah so it's really weird that we haven't found any secret."

"Have you tried everything?" Temporis remarked, closing her eyes.

Justek waved his hand around in the air and sighed, "We've asked the leader, we've asked Valic. We've checked every corner of the city we possibly could. It seems nobody knows how to make this shrine react."

Temporis opened her eyes right back up and put her hands behind her head, giving Justek a faint mocking glance as she asked, "Did you...try opening it?"

"Opening it? Don't be absurd, it's-" Justek watched as Temporis walked forward, bent down to the bottom of the shrine, and then pulled open the small doors there.

"..." Justek's stare went blank.

Sarajin blinked a few times, watching Temporis stand with confidence and dust her hands off, "Whoo! Boy, that was tough!"

She then gleamed at Justek who defiantly wagged a finger at her and groaned, "Don't you say a damn word, pixie."

So instead she stuck the tip of her tongue out at him.

Sarajin, meanwhile, bent down and looked at what the inside of the shrine had exposed. But the only thing inside was a single piece of paper inside of a wooden frame.

He pulled it out to show to his friends gathered around him. Justek was the first to fully absorb the contents of it and comment, "A painting?"

Temporis stood on her toes to look in as well, "Looks pretty old, judging by the fading ink."

From what Sarajin could make out, there were these people in bright yellow robes and hats kneeling and raising their hands before a tiny version of this shrine. Above them was a titanic spread of electricity shaped like a beast, it's head smeared out. The electricity seemed to be coming out of these wispy, white curls above.

"Well, since you're so smart, pixie, what does this signify?" Asked Justek.

"Don't look at me, I don't recognize any of the imagery on here!" Temporis gave her rebuttal.

Sarajin drowned out their bickering because he was getting absorbed into the painting's meaning, specifically, those white marks at the top.

Something about them felt strangely...familiar. The kind of familiarity that should've been obvious and yet, he couldn't put it at the tip of his tongue.

He turned around and moved a few paces away, delving deep into his mind to pull out something, anything that could put the pieces together.

"We're so close, I can feel it. The secret to summoning the Titan is..."

He squeezed his eyes shut and tapped the painting against his forehead a couple times in frustration. When he opened his eyes again, he was looking down at his poncho...

He pulled it up at the bottom and stared at it side-by-side with the painting. He recalled the design his mom had on hers, and that while they represented creatures native to their home, their bodies were depicted with shapes eerily similar to the white marks in this painting.

And furthermore, his mother always described those creatures with "wool as soft as clouds"...

Sarajin's eyes began to widen, the many pieces of the puzzle swirling around in his head, along with any important voices connected to them.

Twinbeak's hints, the nature of his element, and that conversation he had with Rai and Justek about the Titan's disappearance...

In one grand, enlightened moment, Sarajin had solidarity and confidence in what he just figured out. The puzzle had been solved. Everything is now clicking together into one...

He slowly craned his head up towards the sunset sky and stared, his prolonged glance causing Justek and Temporis to break up their bickering and wonder what he was doing.

"Is everything alright, Sarajin?" Asked Justek.

"...Hey guys, how long has the sky been clear?" Murmured Sarajin.

"Always. Why?" Temporis followed.

"Isn't that...weird?" Sarajin said, gesturing his arms out to his friends.

Justek crossed his arms and had an intrigued glint in his eyes, "Gone on."

"I was thinking about what you and Rai were saying a while back," Sarajin said with confidence, "If a Titan needed to be replaced in order to keep the balance of elements going, then wouldn't that mean anything a Titan can do, an elemental user can do and vice versa?"

Justek nodded, "That would be logical, yes."

"But..." Sarajin laid a hand on his chest, "I can control the element of the Sky. Making wind and stuff is easy. Yet...I can also make clouds."

Justek's eyes began to widen, frozen in this growing realization that Sarajin continued to explore and explain without hesitation.

"Twinbeak told me that they had a hand in the disappearance of their brother. That means they removed something that allowed them to manifest in the world."

"The clouds...!" Justek murmured.

"R-Right!" Sarajin proclaimed, "So if I return the clouds to the sky."

"It'd give the Titan the means to come back!" Temporis cheered, "Wow, that's pretty clever thinking, Sarajin. I sure as heck wouldn't have figured that out!"

"T-Thanks, Temporis..." Sarajin said, a light blush in his cheeks. He then looked down at his hand and closed it into a fist, "I think...I was the only one who could've figured it out."

It was a feeling of joy that left his heart fluttering. But it was a smile that couldn't last, as it was replaced by a sense of nervousness.

Justek deduced the cause right away, "You don't need to summon him if you're not prepared, Sarajin."

Sarajin shook his head and said, "We're this close to finding out the truth behind Oreore and Pulsa Minoria's feud, Justek."

He turned around, putting the painting back at the base of the shrine, and then craned his head back, raising a hand towards the sky.

He took a deep breath and concentrated on power...his own power. For the first time ever, he'd be able to solve a problem for these Tribes with his own hands.

It would take everything he got to make clouds large enough to hang over Pulsa Minoria. He's never made anything bigger than his body.

But the feeling of making clouds was so ingrained in his lifestyle that he didn't have to push his body to the limit to do so. To him, it was as natural as breathing.

The people of Pulsa Minoria were stopped by the presence of a growing shadow over their city, each and every one of them looking up and whispering in mixed confusion.

Sarajin only started to feel drained near the end, but when he fell back with a dizzying shake of the head Justek was there to hold him up under his arms.

But Sarajin could smile proud, for he looked up and saw his great creation...A series of nice, big, fluffy clouds hanging over the city.

"N-Now what?" Sarajin murmured.

Suddenly, the entire city flickered on and off, the only light coming from the cloud above.

Waves of static noises filled the ears of the citizens, as a light tremor disrupted their daily, peaceful lives for the first time in centuries.

The city had stopped floating, knocking everyone onto their hands and knees. Then though the electricity returned to the city, it seemed to have developed a mind of it's own, and was heading up into the clouds.

The clouds began to grow, getting darker and more angry looking, the flashes of light inside going from blue to ultraviolet, with a dash of red thrown into it.

No amount of pitiful plastic could mask the tingly sensation rising out of everyone's skin. And now, where the azure lighting once brought tranquility, it was beginning to disturb it, as the skies grew dark enough to mask most of the city in black.

Then, came the descent of a powerful bolt of lightning, one that struck the space between the center of town and Sector 5.

In the middle of that flash of electrified light lies two piercing red eyes, shaped like jagged lines. The lightning continued to fall at a rapid pace all around this singular point, the resounding thunder being a plague on the people's ears.

But finally, something resembling a lifeform began to appear whenever lightning boomed throughout the sky. It was a four-legged beast.

It's visage was sharp and lacked edges, with "fur" made of many lightning bolts condensed together into one point. It was taller than the walls of the city, those red eyes plastered onto a mouthless face.

The citizens of this city have now beheld their ancient god as he fell from the sky like lightning. And his first words, his first breath, crackled like static, yet had the ferocity of the storm.

"For thousands of years I have hibernated in your skies...And yet, I am returned to this?"

Lightning flashed, and his eyes now looked firm.

"I expected more and you returned to me the same, if not lesser...You disappointments of mine."

Next Time: Communicating with the Storm