A/N: I live, I die, I live again! This time, instead of breaking my computer, I just about barfed up and sneezed away half my internal fluids, ugh. Really sorry for the wait, guys. I've had this chapter half-finished for at least two weeks now, but I couldn't get all it out before I caught some bug. Anways, enough about my gross bodily functions. I want to thank everyone who's read, favorited, and reviewed my story, it means a lot to me. I will get another chapter of Year 2 out soon, and try to kep a better update shedule on it than just "vaguely once a month" or whatever. Once again, thank you all so much for coming along for the ride.
Guardian Akhaal-Tekk skidded to a much more controlled, albeit still bumpy, halt directly in front of the Lobachevski residence. Aaron had agreed to let the three of them throw him under the bus to explain everything that had happened, ensuring a quick getaway to bring Nadia and Hector to safety. As the young girl slid off the creature and plopped into the snow, Kimora loosened his grip on the reins and slid off the beast to walk her to the front door, but she stopped him when he'd barely held out his hand.
"Hey, I'm okay, Kimora," She said quietly. "I think I can handle a few feet to the front door."
"Oh! Sorry…" He retracted his hand and stood in the snowy landscape, shivering a bit from the cold. "Are you sure you're going to be alright? I mean, you took on a lot of residual mana, and…" She interrupted his sentence when she stepped forward, and he stepped back in response, a bit confused.
"You are far too sweet," Nadia said. And then, she stood on tip toe to give him a small kiss on the mouth. Kimora just about squeaked, bumping up against the Skyforce Guardian, while Hector gave an impressed whistle and grinned. Meanwhile, Erik had fallen asleep on the floorboards outside the front door, and sharply awoke to the sound of the whistle.
{Nadia! You'd best have an explanation for…} He stopped mid-sentence, taking in the scene. His little sister had just pulled away from kissing a young boy leaned up against a golden unicorn, which another boy was perched atop. He continued to stare open-mouthed, unsure of what to make of it. Nadia giggled softly and walked back to the house, dragging her brother back inside with her. She waved one last time as she closed the door firmly.
A very bright-red Kimora crawled back on top of the creature, and the two boys flew on back to the boarding school, taking a much-needed shortcut through the Light Civilization. As Chavez climbed off of Akhaal-Tekk, Kimora sighed wistfully and rested his head down. "Do you think she likes me?" He asked Hector.
"Well, I think you're going to get in trouble for riding a creature. It's against the rules." At this remark, Kimora leapt off the creature as fast as possible. "I didn't know, oh gosh. I mean, I just assumed that it was okay, they do have saddles built into them and… it won't happen again."
"Ah, it's alright, you didn't know." Hector said, clapping a hand on Kimora's shoulder. He then pulled him into a bear hug, which the other boy was more than happy to return. "Thanks, Kimora. You know, for coming to help me. You didn't have to, you know."
"Least I could do! You're a good kid!" Kimora said, as they both released from the hug. "The real problem is explaining all of this to your teachers." But, they could hear Master Jaha's voice distantly rang out, as if on cue. It seemed like they weren't in as deep trouble as they thought.
Master August, however, wasn't so sure about letting them off so easy. He'd been pretty shaken up from Ezra's little demonstration. The strain that she had to have had put on the veil with all those portals opening up couldn't have been small, and he knew it. And from the sixth portal was nothing but a null, dead landscape. Even if the Chronarch was just a silly little fairytale, god knows what it would lead to.
He knew that there needed to be some sort of failsafe, if this would lead the veil to fall, he just needed to figure out what exactly it was. However, what he remembered most was her little speech about her harebrained plan, which was starting to ring loudly and clearly in his ears.
"I did what I had to! You would have done the same, had the cost been too great for your plans."
Sure, he hadn't exactly schemed a rational plan so far, no. But, needless to say there would definitely be some who would 'disagree' with certain aspects of it. Takahashi and Brightmore were the first to come to mind, but they were malleable enough. Jaha was on no one's side but her own, and dear, sweet, darling Tiera? Well, he'd not have to worry a thing about her, she was loyal as a Labrador to him, and just as vicious. All he needed was time, and he would be able to save the world as well as everyone he cared for, and nothing on Earth would stop him.