Chapter -111: What's Been Passed On

The sun was only half submerged into the horizon by the time Sarajin and Temporis set up camp along the beach.

Since he conveniently had his fishing pole on hand, Sarajin caught them a couple more fish for dinner, only for Temporis to want something new.

So she wound up taking off most of her clothes, to Sarajin's chagrin, and diving head-first into the sea to find them something new.

She returned a half-hour later with the meaty treasure of the sea, a handful of clams. While she dried off, Sarajin boiled the clams in hot water along with a separate broth made of potatoes and carrots.

They then sat down and enjoyed their meals on blankets made of leaves. Temporis wolfed hers down in the blink of an eye and then did the same for a second bowl before Sarajin had even finished his first.

"Ah! Another great meal from yours truly!" She gestured the bowl towards Sarajin and declared, "Hey, if peace doesn't work out, you should consider traveling around the Tribes as a cook!"

Sarajin finished his bowl off and raised a brow in contemplation, "I'll think about it."

He then watched her cautiously as she put her bowl down and flopped onto her back, letting out a long and pronounced sigh.

She was projecting her usual energy but that wasn't going to throw him off for even a second. She was subtly showing the signs that she wasn't in the best of moods.

After a few minutes of silence between them, Sarajin laid his bowl down by his side and addressed her hesitantly, "Temporis...there's something I've been wanting to ask you for a while."

She was comatose in her response for a while after, with her body doing the same. Sarajin closed his eyes and thought, "Maybe now's not the best time."

However, when he went to pick up and clean his plate she shot upright with a soft reply of, "It's about my mother, yeah?"

The bowl dropped out of Sarajin's hand as he flinched and turned to look right at her, her smile alight without it's usual sheen.

She then shook her head, comfortably putting her hands behind it as she turned it up to look at the growing night sky, "I've never talked about her in all the years we've known each other."

"...Your dad seemed really sad when he brought her up. Is-is she-"

"Yeah," Temporis said in a dull, melancholic murmur, "She's been dead ever since I was born."

The ease that she said that hurt Sarajin just as much as the meaning behind what she said, "She died in childbirth?"

Temporis closed her eyes a while and then suddenly plopped her hands down on her knees and scooted herself closer to the fire.

"You think my dad loves me, Sarajin?" She asked in a blunt and demanding tone.

Sarajin hesitated with the truth he believed in, "Y-Yeah...?"

Temporis shook her head and blunted his heart with her laugh, "Yeah right. He just does a bang up job convincing you that he does."

Temporis glanced off to the side and scowled, "He's always pampered Auris and been distant towards me, and even as a kid I knew it was because deep down, he holds me responsible for the death of his wife."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Temporis." Sarajin said, speaking from his heart on instinct.

"Duh, I know that!" Temporis said with a mocking chuckle, "But still...It's not like my mind hasn't sometimes gone off wondering 'What if my mom was still alive?'"

Sarajin dulled himself into silence as Temporis bared her heart to him, "Would I still be the same person I am now? Would my sister? ...Would dad?"

"The guilt sure as shit doesn't dominate my headspace, but sometimes I hear this dumb voice in my head telling me 'The world would've been better off if you weren't born'."

Sarajin suddenly stood up with a fierce, tearful look in his eyes that made her flinch back and drop her hands flat by her hips.

"Don't say that!" Sarajin raised his voice, "I don't ever want to imagine a world where you were never born, Temporis!"

"Sarajin?" Temporis murmured beneath her breath, proceeding to close her eyes and chuckle like her usual merry self, "Ha ha ha! Geez, are you building up to a love confession there or something?"

This disarmed Sarajin's determination and left him a blushing, nervous wreck who turned away and rubbed the back of his head.

Temporis then stood up and walked over to pat him on the back, greeting the turn of his gaze with her smile, "I appreciate the comfort though. Thanks."

When she returned to her space her cheeks were a light shade of pink, and she had to pause to take a deep breath and calm her racing heart.

She then leaned in with her hands between her legs and chuckled, "Y'know, I get the feeling we still would've wound up friends even if I was a different person."

"Yeah? How come?" Sarajin said while taking a seat.

"Cause you're just that good at worming your way into people's hearts!" Temporis said, slightly teasing in tone, "Hell, even my stiff big sis acts differently when you're in her head."

"She's not normally like that?"

"Oh she's still got an air of arrogance around her, but she tends to have a lot more of a commanding and wise presence. She was being called one of the grown-ups when she was just 12 years old!"

"And she's also like, one of if not the strongest person I know in terms of strength! She's able to wield TWO Drives!"

Sarajin blinked his eyes and pretended to understand the severity of that boast, "And that's...unusual?"

"Yeah it is!" Temporis proclaimed with some excitement and pride, "None of the Ten Sages can do that!"

"Huh, your sister does sound pretty strong then..." Sarajin murmured.

"Yeah, part of it is her natural talent, part of it is cause of all of dad's pampering," Temporis put her hands behind her head and leaned back, "He even used his Alchemy Drive to fuse two Drives together for her to bolster her abilities."

"You don't sound very envious of her." Sarajin pointed out.

"Heh heh! She may be a tough cookie, but I can still pull one over on her with my Drive," Temporis giggled, "When we were younger I would fill a bucket with water and then stop time so I could get it into position to dump on her head when she walked by."

She grinned wide and bragged energetically, "Still works on her to this day!"

"Ha, I can imagine the look on her face." Sarajin said with a smile.

He then waved his hand out and remarked, "Well, at least you and your sister seem to get along just fine."

"Nah, Auris really doesn't like my rebellious streak," Temporis leaned back and gazed up at the sky, "But who cares, dad only needs his one precious successor to the throne. I wouldn't want that job anyways, I prefer how loose my obligations are right now."

"I do think your sister does care about you." Sarajin addressed with a more serious tone.

"Yeah? How so?"

"Well, she thanked me for keeping you safe."

Temporis froze in place and after a while, cracked a smirk and sighed, "See that's her problem. She's just too conceited to ever show her true feelings."

"But that's just the type of environment my dad has fostered. It's bullshit."

The two looked at each other in silence. Sarajin then closed his eyes and remarked, "We've got a lot of work ahead of us, Bunny."

"Yeah," Temporis nodded and smiled, "But we'll worry about that in the morning, partner."

Sarajin briefly glanced up at the sky and said, "Sun's still out for a bit. Anything else you want to talk about?"

"Yeah sure, let's just pass the time until the moon comes up."

Thus the two sat and talked until they were worn down and ready for bed, where they rested atop their leaf blankets and awaited the dawn of the next day...

They were awakened by the gentle sea breeze and were quick to get up and get going before the sun really beamed down on the sand.

They cleaned things up and left the beach roughly around how it was the night before, stretched their arms and legs, and with that were ready to tackle the day.

Next up they were heading east back towards Oreore. It was hard to believe that they had just been there only a couple days ago. So they really didn't NEED to stop by, but Sarajin had a feeling they should anyway.

Along the way Temporis craned her head back and looked up towards Arc Hurricanos floating overhead, "When are you gonna take me up there?"

Sarajin turned and widened his eyes, "You're just asking that now?"

"Well duh, it kind of feels like the last time I'll get the chance, y'know, before things start getting busy around here." Temporis ended with a shrug.

"Well I'd love for you to see my home, but I don't think Twinbeak would appreciate having another Aurian around." Sarajin said with some degree of hesitation.

"Haaaa," Temporis bit her teeth and glared narrowly ahead of her, "Thanks Uncle Nimus, way to ruin it for our entire race!"

Sarajin patted her on the back and said, "I'll get you up there someday, I promise."

"Heh! You better!" Temporis nudged him in the hip back.

The two then kept going until they reached the deep ravine. The miners were hard at work, but what else was new at this point?

Now they were focusing squarely on metals for armor and weapons, with a dead Argent Heaver being skinned by a small group for leather to bind the metal armor together.

Sarajin was bothered by this turn of events and murmured, "How come they're still arming themselves? We fought back Cryofloe without anyone dying, and that was with small numbers."

Temporis leaned out past him and commented, "Dunno, we'll have to ask Lianne or Zeke."

"Yeah, no point bothering the workers." Sarajin pushed on ahead with the occasional moment to step back and look at the people working themselves to the bone for the sake of engaging in a fruitless conflict.

All he could offer was pity, but did not hate them for what they had to do.

They kept making their way through the ravine until they were getting close to the Gaia household. And right on time to watch Lianne and Ezekiel march their way down the stairs embroiled in an argument.

"You've got to let up on the workers, mum! If we dry the ravine of resources we'll have nothing left for us when we really need it!" Seemed to be Ezekiel's stance.

His mother turned around at the bottom of the stairs and growled in frustration, "Listen ta yerself boy! Yer a man of Gaia blood! Look around and get a clue! We can't afford to be underarmed if we're attacked again!"

She then turned and kept marching with Ezekiel rolling his eyes and pursuing her with rigorous footsteps, "They'll all be DEAD from exhaustion before that ever happens!"

"They let themselves get drunk offa peace, that's what!" Lianne proclaimed while shaking her finger at her son, then proceeded to curl it into a fist that beat into her chest, "We should've been going strong all those years, but yer father-"

"Hey!" Ezekiel barked, "Pops made the men he led live happy and fulfilling lives! He would've never let them go beyond their limits."

"This is war time, ya daft boy!" Lianne said, chopping him on the forehead enough to make him shout in pain, "I have to do what I can to keep us SAFE. Got a problem with that? Then man up and become the leader yer meant to be!"

"Mmrr...!" Ezekiel growled as he rubbed the bruise on his head.

Lianne crossed her arms and then flicked her fingertips off her forehead, "Why do I even raise my voice...Yer skull's thicker than yer father's hammer was."

There was a lull followed by awkward silence that was only broken by the family dog raising his head and moaning in discomfort.

Ezekiel then lifted his head up slightly and murmured, "Oh, Sarajin. Didn't see ya there..."

Sarajin and Temporis finally walked up to the two, with Lianne muttering in disdain, "Hmph, I guess ya heard all that eh?"

"I think everyone in the village did." Temporis pointed out.

Sarajin then gestured his hand out and asked, "What's going on, Mrs. Gaia?"

Lianne tapped her fingers on her elbows and furrowed her brow until it looked like a deep canyon. Ezekiel stepped forward and announced in her stead, "It's just family matters, nuthin' ya need to butt into."

Sarajin agreed with his silence and moved on to another subject, "I noticed you're still making armors and weapons. Is this to prepare for another attack...Or are you going to be the one launching it?"

"That's none of yer business, Sarajin." Lianne uttered out bluntly.

"I guess I'm just having a hard time understanding how a leader thinks during a war, that's all." Sarajin said, keeping to being respectful of her authority.

"Look," Lianne muttered, "We're grateful for what you did, we really are. But yer plan of defense just ain't gonna work more than once."

Sarajin drew a bead on Lianne's face with his glare and wondered, "But it worked...?"

"On a scouting party," Lianne retorted, "Next time they'll strike in larger numbers and when a brawl breaks out that time, ya think we're gonna be able to keep blood from spilling?"

"Then hold them down with stronger metal until the Rot Walkers come and scare them off." Sarajin replied.

"And what'll that do against Canofloe? Or Aquamoria?" Lianne swung her arm out and remarked, "We can't waste resources on a chance of making the enemy retreat. Those hounds of war are relentless and will trample us over unless we trample them first!"

"..." Sarajin closed his eyes and sighed internally.

Lianne sighed as well, shaking her head and muttering in a dismissive tone, "I can't be botherin' with this right now. There's work to be done."

Lianne turned to her son and commanded him with her booming voice, "And that goes for you too! Git back to work!"

Then she was off, leaving Sarajin to weigh in her words and remark, "Even though I knew my plan had flaws, she didn't have to be so rude about it."

"Don't be upset at her, brother," Ezekiel remarked, "It's been stressful for us all lately. She's just showin' it the worst of us..."

Temporis looked at him and questioned bluntly, "Still, this feels like a lot of overkill just to prepare your people to defend your home."

Because they could look around and see metal being moved on matter the direction they looked towards. Every man, woman and child had been put to the grind.

Ezekiel looked away with a bothered expression and taut fists, Sarajin sensing the hesitation on his mind, "Zeke, talk to me. I'm your friend."

Ezekiel puffed his cheeks with a sigh and then turned with disheartened pain on his face, "We're planning to launch an attack on Pulsa Minoria soon."

"...!" Sarajin widened his eyes and froze in place.

"That's crazy. Their city is still fortified even without all their weapons." Temporis pointed out.

"Zeke, you have to convince your mom to stop the attack."

Ezekiel put out a half-assed glare and muttered, "...Well maybe I don't want to stop it."

"What?" Sarajin uttered in disbelief.

"This is personal, brother. When those bastards steal from our lands, they're stealing from our hearts as well," Ezekiel wagged his finger down and declared, "Ask me to make friends with Tanglefae, Aquamoria, hell, even Cryofloe and I'd be on yer side in a heartbeat brother, ya know that...But Pulsa Minoria is where I draw the line. And ya can be sure as bat shit those bastards wouldn't give a second consideration to try and make amends with us."

"Somebody will end up dying if a fight breaks out, Zeke," Sarajin leaned out and gestured with his heart's strength behind it, "But you can do something about it because-"

Ezekiel shook his head, the two's minds already on the same wavelength, "I'm sorry, but ya know why I won't shoulder that responsibility..."

"..." Sarajin withdrew quietly and tightened his fist by his hip, uttering "Right" in a pained tone.

Ezekiel reached out behind him and picked up his trusty tool, heaving it over his shoulder while reaching out and putting his hand on his friend's shoulder, "Ya just keep workin' on things yer way, and I'll do things my way. Maybe we'll figure something out by then."

He was then off to rejoin his mother at work. But before he headed off too far, Sarajin called out to say, "By the way, Zeke."

"Mmmm?"

"I know it's been a couple of days, but when I get to Cryofloe I'll try and see if I can convince them to give the aquamarines back."

"Heh, good luck with that, brother! Especially with that Arctic Knight around. They're in a world of their own." Ezekiel gave an enthused gesture and kept going.

And in light of the grim reminder of the status quo of war hanging over the land, all Temporis could say to Sarajin was, "Good thing we decided to stop by when we did."

Sarajin nodded and then turned to face her, "We should head straight for Pulsa Minoria."

Temporis smiled and walked past him with her hands behind her head, "I was thinking the same thing! Let's go!"

They made their way over there with only a brief break to have lunch, since they accidentally skipped out on breakfast.

The walled city of Pulsa Minoria awaited them with it's cold, steel exterior and electrified innards. The place had been restored to its former glory, just without the big, scary death weapon arming the towers.

Sarajin had no confidence that Valic had given up on his ambitions though, whatever they may be. But if there was any time to work on regaining his trust and striving for cooperation, it was now.

Before the two of them entered the city Sarajin looked at Temporis and told her, "I want to work on stopping Pulsa Minoria from getting involved in the war."

"They're your top priority, right?" Temporis deduced, which was confirmed by his nod.

"Their electronics could cause the most bloodshed, but...I feel they could do the most good for the planet too."

"It's all about convincing that stubborn brainiac though." Temporis bluntly pointed out.

"Hmmm. I've tried apologizing to Valic multiple times but he's not forgiven me for what happened back then."

"He's a lost cause really," Temporis said, throwing her hands up in defeat, "I mean if a god can't break a stubborn streak what can?"

"...I think I've got an idea," Sarajin said in an almost convincing tone of confidence, "If we run into him, can you leave the talking to me?"

"I'll throw in a snarky comment or two." She said with a chuckle, making him smile.

The two then firmed up with determination and leaped over the walls of the city, grazing past the electrified fences with little trouble.

Sarajin no longer needed to worry about protection since his body had adapted to low voltage like what was in the air. Temporis just kind of shrugged it off and walked like normal.

This was probably the Tribe that was the least perturbed by the advent of war. It's citizens were walking through the lit up roads with their metallic dogs at their sides and all the conveniences they could possibly want from their electronics.

Yes, this was like a time capsule from five years ago being opened up. And while it left Sarajin with a sense of ease in the moment, it soon reminded him that the peace here could be disturbed the easiest.

"Nobody's ignorant of what Pulsa Minoria is capable of," Sarajin said with his glance shifting around at all the innocent lives toiling away with their daily routines, "But only a few people actually know what happened with Voltneir back then. Every other Tribe seeking a fight will attack this city the first chance they get before their electronics get too powerful to deal with."

As they made their way to the center of town, Voltneir's shrine still stood, but everything around it had been cleared out. It looked as though there were chips in the wood and a couple burn marks. A failed attempt to destroy it? Or someone venting their frustrations, knowing that a cursed shrine could take it?

That wasn't the priority, and Sarajin didn't want to bring the Titan's wrath back down upon these people anytime soon. He had made a promise, and one way or another he'll make sure Pulsa Minoria goes down the right path while keeping their people safe.

But as they made their way to Sector 5, they happened upon the one thing that was different around here. A dozen or so citizens were marching towards them wrapped in metal plates that bound to them via electrical magnetic fields phasing through their arms. They wore helmets with electric blue glass visors and were holding in both hands a weapon that seemed to be a larger, longer version of Valic's own.

The two stood in the center of their march and let them pass by with dumbstruck looks on their faces, Temporis commenting in a worried tone, "That's new..."

"And bad," Sarajin said, his face laced in a cold sweat, "I'm feeling a lot of electricity spinning inside of those weapons. They've been armed for battle."

"You don't think they're already aware of Lianne's plan to attack, do ya?"

"They could've heard it over their drones. Only one way to find out." They picked up their pace to Sector 5 and went inside, using the elevator to make their way to the top floor.

There they found this city's leader spinning around in his chair and using his feet to kick himself around. But he wasn't the only one at it. The sweet-loving Adderbolt was in a second chair and it seemed like the two were trying to see who could hit the other one first.

Rai had grown a few inches and gained a little weight but otherwise he looked barely any different. Adderbolt was his same, pudgy self as well.

The two were laughing it up and having a good time, colliding in the center of the room so hard it stopped both their chairs and jolted them upright.

They then faced each other, where Adderbolt had on his stomach a bag of sweets for the two of them to enjoy. What better way to enjoy sweets than after sweating while having fun?

Of course before any further joy could be shared, they looked out of the corner of their eyes and their mouths went agape.

Sarajin slowly waved his hand up while Temporis raised her brows.

Adderbolt grinned and tucked his bag of sweets away, "L-Lady Temporis...! I didn't think you'd show up here again!"

Sarajin's eyes widened and he went from looking at the pudgy young man to down at Temporis with a blank stare, "D-Did I hear him right?"

"Whoops," Adderbolt said with embarrassment, then cracked the widest grin as he chuckled, "I screwed that up, didn't I?"

"Haaaa," Temporis put her hands behind her head and grumbled, "Yeah so, this lardball is one of the Ten Sages."

"He is?!" Sarajin exclaimed, "But he's just...sitting out in the open, eating sweets with Rai."

"I remember he's called 'The Piercing Dragonfly', but the only thing I've ever seen him piercing are his sweets with his teeth." Temporis said in annoyance.

"Why do you need to be so antagonistic? I'm not out to take you back home anymore," Adderbolt reached into his bag and pulled out a hard, sugary and colorful piece of food, "C'mon, sit with us and enjoy my newest creation! It's got honey in it."

Temporis grit her teeth and growled with intense reluctance, "Oh that's just dirty."

She then ran right up and snatched the sweet out of his hand, ignoring his presence thereafter, "Fine, I'll accept your bribe this time."

Sarajin was off rubbing the back of his head and feeling a little dizzy, "I-I'm confused..."

He looked in Rai's direction and noticed he wasn't really changing expressions, "How come you're so calm?"

"Oh, I knew who Adder was all along." Rai stated nonchalantly.

Adderbolt smiled as he sucked on one of his sweets with mouth-watering delight, "I didn't even try to hide it!"

Temporis glanced over her shoulder at him and remarked, "You sure dad would be ok with that? I thought you Sages were supposed to be acting in secret?"

"Why get stressed worrying about secrecy when I can make a friend instead?" Adderbolt pulled out another sweet from his bag and extended it towards Sarajin, "I hope we can still be friends too."

Sarajin froze up and kept his hands at bay. Adderbolt opened his eyes and looked confused. Temporis leaned in and whispered, "He had a bad experience with Uncle Nimus."

"Ooooh," Adderbolt nodded a few times and then told Sarajin in earnest, "Look, Sarajin, I don't wanna cause any trouble for anyone. Even if Lord Borealis or one of the other Sages asked me to fight I'd probably just pass the duty off to someone else and take a nap."

"If you distrust me, I get it, but at the same time doesn't it stress you out when you distrust everyone you meet?"

Sarajin shook his head and looked at him with a stern glance, "Rai trusts you, so I won't ask you to leave or anything. But I'd like to get to know you a little more before we call each other friends."

"That's fine with me! I'm around here a lot these days so just drop in and say hello!" Adderbolt then tossed the sweet over to Sarajin, who stared at it then tucked it away in his pocket for later.

"So what brings you here today, Sarajin? Another Electricity test?" Rai said, twirling his fingers around in the air.

"I was hoping you could tell us when your drones were last patrolling Oreore."

"Huh? You haven't brought that up in a while," Rai sat upright and remarked, "Valic sent them out a week ago. Did something happen?"

"So before the war resumed..." Sarajin murmured under his breath, then gestured his fingers out with a quick snap, "Valic hasn't been working on rebuilding that railgun, has he?"

"No, he's working on something else at the moment. In fact he was going to come up here to talk about it," Rai looked over his shoulder and his mood went from sour to panic as he bit his teeth down with a hiss, "Ah NO! He's going to be here any minute!"

He then rapidly snapped his fingers at his friend and said, "Quick, Adder! Make it look like we're busy!"

The two tried to scoot their chairs back to the panels when the dreadful sound of a door coming open froze them in their tracks.

"I should've known I'd find you goofing off again," Came the familiar voice of Valic with his cocky and snide tone, "This really, really is where you should be stepping up instead of sitting down but no matter."

Sarajin looked at the lead scientist in the flesh and he was unchanged from the years passing, except there seemed to be some bags under his eyes.

It took Valic a moment to recognize his presence there but he seemed content to just walk on by him without a word or further glance.

Sarajin decided to wait it out and see what Valic had to present to Rai.

"I've gone and deployed the first ground troopers, armed with the finished armor and weapons prototypes." He said calmly, confirming Sarajin's concerns.

Rai, however, did offer a bit of relief by remarking, "You made sure to lower the voltage like I said?"

But then Valic said, "Yes, it won't be harmful to people."

And Sarajin's conscience sprung into action, "He's lying."

Valic lowered his head and sighed, "Of course..."

"What?" Rai gripped the arms of his chair and sat up straight, taking command with his role for once, "Valic, is that true?"

"Why would you believe him over me? Lest we forget, he's the idiot who sabotaged our city." Valic said with coarse bluntness.

"Wow, still holding a grudge. Get over yourself." Temporis said.

Sarajin then put his hand out in front of her and turned to nod, a determined look in his eyes. He then started to approach Valic, the scientist standing sideways with a contemptible look in his eyes.

"I was able to get a feel of the weapons the soldiers were carrying on my way here. If one of those fired off it'd heavily burn a person's flesh."

"Valic!" Rai shouted, "How many times do we need to have this talk?! No more lethal weapons!"

Valic laid his fingertips upon his forehead and gestured them out coldly, "And how often must I hammer this point into your head: I do not care about your orders. My coming here isn't to confirm that I made the right call or ask for your opinion. It's to remind you that I am going to continue doing the right thing FOR. OUR. PEOPLE. While you just waste your brain away pushing CHAIRS around on the floor!"

"Have you still learned NOTHING from Voltneir?" Rai growled, almost out of pity for his fellow scientist.

"On the contrary. I learned to compartmentalize my railgun idea into a convenient handy form. If there's no damage to the planet, then that so-called Titan will have no right to complain."

"Ugh!" Rai slapped his face and groaned, "If you try to fire that gun off with the same level of power as a railgun, they'll backfire and burn our people's arms off! I don't get it, it's like you're always just one step away from having a successful idea only for you to push well beyond what's reasonable!"

Valic tucked his hands behind his back and looked away, "At least I strive for an ideal."

"Our people are NOT test subjects!"

"Then what, pray tell, do you expect me to do? Cause maybe you've been ignorant to the state of the world, but we're back fighting a war and only RECENTLY have we finally put our city's defenses back together."

"If we aren't prepared for the first strike then we'll lose even more time and resources assuming we live to rebuild, so pardon ME if I will not stand by while you sit here idling about as a pacifist and lead us back to zero!"

"Ghhh...!" Rai grit his teeth, done with Valic's frustratingly aggravating stubbornness.

Valic turned right around and was beginning to march off, unimpeded by his desire for progress, "Now...I will get back to work."

But before he could leave, Sarajin sprung his snare in the most sincerely dire sounding voice he could muster, "Oreore will attack here soon."

Valic froze in place and the overall atmosphere in the room turned to an eerie unease. Sarajin gulped, even feeling tensed up over what he was doing by putting this information in the hands of Oreore's enemy.

Valic acknowledged his presence for the moment with a curious and befuddled raise of his brows.

Sarajin took a couple steps towards him and remarked, "And if they make it here, Pulsa Minoria's walls will fall. Lianne Gaia is determined to make sure you guys pay for stealing all their metals."

"Why...why are you telling ME this?" Valic uttered aloud.

Because it doesn't have to end in bloodshed," Sarajin said calmly, 的f you harness a lower amount of electricity you'll be able to stun a human instead of killing them.

Sarajin gestured his hand up and a small amount of sparks spread between his fingers like a little net, "You've built plenty of useful electronics, Valic, I'm sure you could invent something that could stun a bunch of people at once."

Temporis chimed in too with, "And Sarajin and I could carry their bodies back home before they get up!"

"Huh, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." Adderbolt commented.

Rai rubbed his chin and murmured, "If we diverted electricity into the walls and fired off an electric net built out of spare wires..."

Valic shook his head and gestured his hand up before his face, "I trusted you once already and you spit in the face of my dream. Why should I believe you'll help me now?"

"Because isn't it a waste to distrust people all your life?" Sarajin replied.

Mmm..." Valic slowly curled his hand up and brought it down.

"I can tell you 'Sorry' until my throat goes dry, but we're never going to get anywhere unless you realize that I'm not your enemy."

"Those hard-heads aren't going to stop until they believe they've been delivered the vengeance they feel they're owed." Valic said with his eyes shut.

"They're stubborn to a point I'll give you that," Sarajin said with a chuckle, "But if you fight anger with anger those feelings are just going to keep growing until nobody wins. Show them that you're not the villain they say they are. You can still find your dream, Valic."

"..." Valic raised his head and looked at Sarajin with both his eyes and a minor smile, "If I recall, you have control over most of the elements."

"Yes." Sarajin nodded.

"I will give your idea one chance," Valic stated firmly, "But if these walls break under their stampede, will you devote the rest of your days to using your elemental powers for the good of rebuilding this city?"

"I will," Sarajin said without pause for thought, "You have my word."

"...Very well," Valic turned around and put his hands behind his back, "Then I'll get straight to work on this idea after I've recalled the soldiers."

He made his way to the elevator and descended, the tension in the room settling right as Rai slumped into his chair and sighed.

"Whew!" He glanced aside at Sarajin and groaned, "You saved my butt there, thanks."

"For a moment I didn't think he'd give up." Temporis said with a bit of surprise in her voice.

"I told you, Valic's not a terrible person," Rai lifted himself up part way and sighed louder, "But...what you said just now really made me feel how real this all is. No more days of lazing around huh? Time to prepare for battle..."

"You don't HAVE to devote every waking moment to war, y'know." Temporis pointed out with a chuckle.

"We'll be around to help take the pressure off whenever we can, Rai." Sarajin added.

"Somehow I lazed my way into having some good friends," Rai smiled, "Seriously, thank you. All of you."

"I wish we could stick around for longer, but we still got a couple other Tribes to check up on." Sarajin remarked.

"Sure, just be safe out there. The Rot Walker population's gone up recently."

"We're WELL aware." Temporis declared in an annoyed tone.

The two then turned and made their way out of the city. As they were leaving though, Sarajin let out a long groan that made him sound exhausted.

"Tired already?" Temporis commented.

"Yeah..." Sarajin said while grabbing his head, "I...feel like I've betrayed Oreore's trust just now."

"Nobody said unity would be easy," Temporis said in a curt manner, "Why don't we go find a nice spot and relax for a bit? It's too early for dinner, but I wouldn't mind a snack!"

"I'd like that. Then, we'll make our way over to Canofloe and Cryofloe."

Thus they backtracked towards Oreore to find a nice safe spot to unwind, knowing that for as tough as these check-ups have been so far, the hardest was still to come...

Next Time: The One-Eyed Scorpion