Chapter 45

As Covo slowly began to rouse, he became aware of two things. The first was that he was lying on something hard. The second was that a source of bright light was shining directly down onto him. A loud groan escaped him as he placed his hands over his face and tried to remember how he'd ended up... wherever the hell it was he'd ended up. Somewhere in his head he could remember feeling very afraid and running as though his life depended on it and then... then there was just a huge gap in his memory.

Lowering his hands from his face, he opened his eyes and blinked blearily up at the light source above him. It appeared to be an electric street lamp, only it was attached to a wall and was nowhere near as high up as a street lamp would have been. He rolled onto his side and blinked away the coloured splodges which had burnt themselves onto his retina. He then spent a few minutes letting his mind go back over everything he could remember in the hopes he'd be able to work out what the hell was going on. The first thing he was hit with was just how tired he was; tired because he'd been up most of the night before waiting to see if Joey would return. He hadn't, leaving Covo and Ahna with little else they could do but check to see if Mai was okay. Mai was in the hospital, something to do with fainting spells and Joey was off in the arms of a mysterious blonde.

Covo found himself groaning again, this time louder than before. He hadn't wanted to remember thinking Joey was a complete and utter jerk. He hadn't wanted to remember it because he thought calling SK and Jay in would be a good idea. Because Joey was the First and Mai was his Win and it would take one hell of a force to break them apart. The blonde had to be someone important and powerful; that was the information they'd left with SK and Jay before returning to the Southern Palace. And that was when Ahna started having trouble with...

'Crovell,' the word gasped out of him as he sprung up into a sitting position.

The sudden motion caused his head to spin more than slightly as his eyes darted about searching for the precious infant. He was nowhere to be seen. Panic forced Covo to his feet and he began to desperately search the surrounding area, hoping... no praying the baby was hidden away somewhere safe. But somehow he knew he wouldn't be. Flashes of memory were returning to him now. Memories which told him he'd be better off trying to figure out where he was than where Crovell might be.

Unfortunately for him he'd spent his first seven months on Sil in the Temple of Mov. Most of his homeland was completely unfamiliar to him. All stumbling around blindly really told him was just how lost he actually was. It was hopeless. Well maybe not completely hopeless; he still had all his Elemental abilities to rely on. Covo gritted his teeth and wished that thought hadn't occurred to him. Him and his Elemental abilities weren't exactly friends. That was the problem with being the Interpretive twin; you had a better understanding of how your powers worked, but less skill when it came to using them.

Covo took a deep breath in and began evaluating his options. He could Jump somewhere he knew, except at his skill level, not really knowing where he was to begin with, Jumping could end up getting him more lost and not less. He could turn into his Sintoy, after all he knew for fact he was in a built up area and if he walked around as a stag for long enough someone was bound to notice. But that would probably end up with him being ridiculed for not being able to Jump properly.

He gave a heavy sigh and focused his mind on the one and only skill he knew he was good at. A skill known as Earthen Calling, or at least that was its translated name. All he needed was an exposed patch of earth and he could work out exactly where he was in no time. There was just one problem; the area he was in was completely paved over.

'Okay,' he nodded slowly to himself, 'this isn't completely unsalvageable, all I have to do is leave this area and walk around for a bit. Eventually I'm either going to recognise where I am, or I'm going to come across a plot of earth I can use. '

As Covo started making his way forward he knew in his heart what he was really looking for. It wasn't a plot of earth and it wasn't some clue as to his location. The real thing he was searching for, the one thing he knew more than anything he had to come across was Crovell. Because with Ahna acting the way she was, there was no telling what kind of danger he was in.

'Okay, this might be a stupid question, but... why don't we just destroy the Axe?' SK's tongue skated across his lips. 'I mean, no Axe means no ultimate power for either side, right? That makes Crovell less of a threat and the Reganna easier to deal with.'

'It would also get rid of any chance you have of seeing Mai, Mokuba, Catilin and Tristan walking around again,' Win cocked his head to one side.

'I'm sorry, what? I thought all we needed for that was for the Mistresses to reverse their combination spell.'

'This isn't like last time. I'm not some hybrid of spirits containing separate entities within a whole. I am not Win Tristan. I am Win Favour, made up of my true parts with only a small amount of contamination thrown in for good measure. The Voices aren't completely separate entities like the Nethher Herin of your friends were; they were separate parts of one entity. Separate parts of me. It's going to take a lot more power than the Mistresses have to pull the parts back out again.'

'And you didn't think to warn us about that until now?' SK stared at him.

'You needed me and this was the only way you could have me,' Win's shrugged and turned carelessly away from him. 'I don't see what you're complaining about, I already told you there's a way of separating us back out again.'

'Yeah, a way which involves a baby and a magical Axe,' SK shook his head. 'Doesn't that seem a little bit risky to you?'

'I was created to be a risk taker,' he flashed SK a winning smile, 'just ask my makers if you don't believe me.'

'No, I'm pretty sure I can take your word for it,' SK rolled his eyes, feeling less and less enamoured with the guy every passing second. 'So what exactly is the plan here? Do we go after the Reganna? Do we wait for them to come to us? What?'

'No, actually we wait for Covo to find them.'

'What?' Duke laughed in surprise.

'We wait for Covo to find the Reganna; after all, his burnout should be wearing off by now.'

'I'm sorry his what?'

'His burnout,' Win gave an embarrassed half laugh, 'sorry, I mean, his emotional burnout. See the Reganna didn't need to attack him in order to take Crovell, Covo kind of... passed out from too much fear. Sure it was a risk, but one I'm more than happy Heart made. Because Covo is now primed and ready to act as the one and only person who can distract Gan long enough to potentially get Crovell back from her.'

'Okay, wait just a second here,' SK tried his hardest to stop his tongue from skating across his lips more than once in frustration, but failed, 'you're sending Covo... Covo, the guy with a limited power level and no real way of defending himself in against the Reganna, who the first time any of them appeared in this reality had no problem slaughtering every single one of the Mistresses' Guardians...'

'Well that's not quite true, Re actually got one of the Guardians to slaughter the rest, leaving only him and the then Helper, by which of course I mean Jay.'

'That's not the point,' SK gritted his teeth, 'you've still sent him up against a trio of psychopaths who probably won't hesitate in killing him.

'Oh no, they'll definitely hesitate. Or at least Gan will. The Reganna don't have as much control over their hosts as you might think. I doubt Covo would be alive right now else.'

'You doubt, but you don't know for sure, right?'

'Nobody can ever know anything for sure SK,' Win flashed him another one of his winning smiles, only this time it felt more forced somehow.

SK could feel his eye start to twitch as his tongue made several passes across his lips. Whatever initial attraction he'd felt towards the guy was gone now. Win was nothing but a flippant risk taker with a limited capacity to care about the safety of others.

'You don't trust me, do you SK,' there was something almost too cocky about the way Win asked that question. 'Well I don't see you coming up with a better plan.'

'It's not like I've been given much of a chance to think of one,' SK turned away from him. 'And I don't see how you can be perfectly happy just sending Covo off to his death like that.'

'I'm not sending him off to his death, Ahna wouldn't allow it. I told you, the Reganna don't have as much control over their hosts as you think. Trust me if they did Covo would be dead by now.'

'But what if you're wrong?'

'Then I'm wrong,' he shrugged, 'but I don't think I will be.' Win's face filled with another of his winning smiles, this time returning to its more natural state. 'Come on SK, I'm feeling lucky so you should too.'