Note: I am back! Now let's go see what August and his friends are doing. To Austin, air bacon as actually made out of clouds. The especially fluffy ones, to be exact, so no air pigs were hurt. To Russet Burbank, I see what you did there. Oh, and I will admit that, yes, I did go a little explicit that chapter. That is what you get when you write a chapter of "A Mending Soul" directly after writing a chapter of "Through A Glass Darkly." Lines tend to get blurred. To FocusedStream, same thing, basically. I will try to keep the explicit references down. To Minebrine... What? Bad ending? What is this treason that you speak of? To AdorkableDerpy... I love your name. And to Rainbow999, you need Doxia's face? His real face? Not his visor? I really have not put a lot of thought into what Doxia ACTUALLY looked like under his armor. Anyway, now that we have that out of the way... enjoy!

Dimension: Provistorian

Planet: Averthon Magnum

Specific Location: Textillium Forest

Time: Five days after Lyric found Summer

Gene's eyes snapped open. Sitting up quickly, he scanned his surroundings to ensure nothing had changed. There had been no movement in the night, and no unusual sounds, so their campsite was secure, however, there was one thing that stood out: August.

August was simply standing off to the side, staring unblinkingly at the Scriptorium. The giant mountain was framed in the early morning sky, tall, twisted, and gray.

Gene got up and gently put a hand of August's shoulder. August did not react at first, then he said, "We should go now."

Gene nodded. He turned to awaken Jefferson. However, as he did so, his stomach churned sourly. August was nothing like his old self now. Instead of being energetic, bashful, and witty, he was quiet, foreboding, and mirthless. How much of August had Blue left? Gene did not know of the answer.

As his train of thought disappeared into the distant mists of his mind, Gene managed to shake Jefferson into wakefulness.

"Alice… No… Cheshire… Queen… Uhg… Erm… Huh?" mumbled Jefferson to himself as he opened up his eyes. Immediately he stretched, and his eyes darted around, his mercenary instincts informing him of everything around him. He then got up and said, "What, is it time to get moving already."

"Get on board or get out of the way," murmured August. He then pulled out the Inquisition Blaster and began to walk off towards the tall mountain.

Jefferson gave Gene an exasperated glance and then ran after August, shouting, "You know, you were a whole lot more fun when you were conflicted. Now that Blue has won, you are no longer exciting."

"That should not be a deciding factor of 'fun,'" snapped Gene as he ran after Jefferson, "And Blue has not 'won.'"

"Oh?" snorted Jefferson, "Then who is that tall, intimidating, killer machine we are following right now?"

"It is not important who I am," August suddenly interjected, "But I was given a responsibility, and I am going to shoulder it. Let's take to the skies."

With that, August launched himself into the air as if he was a seasoned flight expert. In a moment Jefferson had pulled out his Tron Glider and Gene had activated his levitation abilities.

"You know, the more I look around, the more this place reminds me of the House in the Keys to the Kingdom dimension," yelled Jefferson over the cold howling winds to no one in particular, "Both are weird, and both and not very friendly in general."

Both August and Gene ignored him. August veered upwards sharply and gained some altitude before correcting his course and shooting off directly towards the sheer rock faces of the craggy mountain. Both Jefferson and Gene quickly followed suit, unsure of what August (or Blue) had in mind.

As they neared the rock face of the massive mountain, Gene caught up to August and said loudly, "What are you planning to do when you get up there?"

"I am unsure," replied August, "Blue still has not shown me where he left the other piece of armor."

Gene was secretly pleased to hear August refer to Blue as a separate person, but did not show it. Instead he said, "Okay. Are we simply going to fly to the top, then?"

August actually shrugged (which pleased Gene even more), "I still do not know. I suppose."

Gene then swung back and began to fly beside Jefferson, "It looks like August is starting to act more like himself. I think Blue is releasing his hold on him momentarily."

Jefferson nodded, "Maybe that will make him more talkative and interesting."

Gene responded to that with a glare, but Jefferson ignored him and pointed ahead, "Hey, look. Up there… There's a cave."

Gene followed Jefferson's pointing finger and saw a small cave far ahead and above them. It was faint, thanks to the windblown snow particles that were driving across the vast expanse in droves, but it was still visible all the same. Gene immediately sped up and began to fly beside August once more.

"August!" exclaimed Gene over the shrieking, ice cold wind, "There is a cave up ahead. Do you see it?"

August glanced up and saw the cave. He nodded. "We shall investigate."

"What do you mean 'we SHALL investigate'?" interrupted Jefferson who pulled up beside the two, "Has this become like a monarchy? Why don't we vote first?"

August simply ignored Jefferson and increased his airborne velocity. Gene shot the perturbed Jefferson a warning glance and followed quickly after his friend. Jefferson rolled his eyes and followed as well. In several minutes, they were all hovering outside the mouth of the strange cave hewn in the sheer rock face.

"This is obviously not natural," commented Gene, "Thus, we must assume it is manmade. Therefore we must assume that it will be guarded in some way. We should proceed with caution. We do not want to put our or anyone else's lives in danger."

August promptly readied his Inquisition Blaster and strolled inside the cave. Jefferson twirled dual dirks and grinned. "When there is danger, August becomes Blue. And I am thinking Blue is more interested in getting this mission done than avoiding putting anyone's lives in danger."

With that, Jefferson swaggered into the cave after August.

Gene groaned silently as he followed.

The cave was dark, damp, and cold, thanks to the heavy snowfall that was outside. However, other than the drip of water and the mournful wailing of the wind at the mouth cave, all seemed quiet. Despite this, it seemed that the Blue-enhanced ears of August picked something up nonetheless, for he suddenly held up a fist, motioning for his two comrades to cease movement.

In the deathly silence that followed their abrupt halt, the trio could hear a faint scratching noise. At first, that was all that could be distinguished from the faint sound, but as August signaled for them to move and they drew closer to the sound source, the sound become clearer. The sound was of a being writing with pen upon parchment.

Pen and parchment? Gene glanced in surprise at Jefferson who rolled his eyes and shrugged. At that very moment a voice called out, "Who is there?"

Seeing that their cover had been blown, August straightened up and strolled purposefully down the dark, craggy hall. They rounded a corner and stumbled upon a very shocking scene.

A very old man sat at a mahogany desk, writing with a quill pen and ink on old parchment. However, that was not the strange part. The strange and shocking element of the scene was the fact that the room within the cave was massive. And every square centimeter of the room (aside from the desk, the man, and a small pathway) was covered from top to bottom with stacks upon stacks upon stacks of paper covered in writing. Millions, nay, billions of papers filled the room.

Jefferson snorted in amusement. "I guess you do not let smokers in here often. Am I right?"

The old man turned around to say something, but then, suddenly, he laid eyes of August and gasped, "Blue!"

August quickly holstered his gun and held up his hands, palms up, to show him the universal sign for peace. "I am not here to harm you, elder."

The man chuckled. "You are obviously not Blue, then. You seem a bit off. Interesting, I am sensing that you are Blue… but not at the same time."

Gene cocked his head to one side. "You knew Blue?"

The man nodded. "I was naught but a mewling youth when first I laid eyes upon that dreaded Inquisitor, but, yes, I did. He protected me for a while during a massive civil war. So strange. I have seen things like this once before, but I had never dreamt the same to happen to Blue…"

Jefferson blinked. "What? What do you mean?"

The man nodded his head wisely, "Oh yes. You know of Amethyst's Special One, Joseph Torrus, correct? There have been so many Joseph's… many of them special, many of the not. But this is the same. This is another Blue, but not the same, but then also the same."

Jefferson threw up his hands in exasperation. "You know what? Forget it. Forget I asked. I think we better go before my head explodes from a paradoxical overload. Let's go."

However, August seemed to have no intention of leaving. Instead he stared intently at the old man. "No… I think I remember you… You are Karma Tutelary, the warden of this universe's time."

The old man looked rather surprised when he heard that. "Well, yes! So, you seem to have the memories of Blue. Well, I pray to God that you have not inherited any of his less pleasant traits."

"He's got them all, Karma," said Gene, "But that does not make him Blue."

Karma glanced from Gene to August, and then back to Gene. Then he nodded his head wisely, "But of course. Now… Is there something I can do for you?"

"Can you tell us our futures?" said Jefferson nonchalantly as he ruffled unashamedly through several towering stacks of parchments, "I mean, it looks like you are telling the future in some of these papers…"

Karma shook his head, "I keep time for this dimension. None of the others. But I do see something… You are looking for the Scriptorium, are you not?"

August nodded. "You have information?"

Karma nodded his head. "I do. But… But perhaps it is not wise to…"

At the sound of the word "but," August pulled out his Inquisition Blaster and pointed it straight at Karma's face. With a cry of horror, Gene attempted to but his form between the old man and August's gun, but August shoved his friend out of the way with ten times his regular strength.

Karma held up his hands to show he meant no harm. He then said, "It appears to me that you have inherited everything Blue has, August. Very well, there would be no use in attempting to protect you or otherwise. I am unsure of what you are after in the Scriptorium, but perhpaps, seeing that you have the memories of Blue, August, I can jog your memories a bit."

With that, Karma began to shuffle through several of the largest stacks of parchment that filled the vast room. There was a dozen or so minutes of silence as the old man worked. However, after the search, he did come out with a parchment.

"This is the recordings of our very last meeting," said Karma. He handed it to August. August took one look at it, and was sucked into a memory.

In this memory, he was Blue, standing tall and proud. Beside him was a much younger version of Karma.

"Where are you going?" asked Karma worriedly, "I think you should stay sheltered for a bit. You seem… unruffled."

"No thank you," murmured Blue, "I must go to the Scriptorium. I have something to give Aldgitess for her treasury."

"For her treasury?" exclaimed Karma, "I do not think you should be giving that woman anything! I have heard rumors of a joint effort between her and Lord Narvix to demolish the middle realm! This could be civil war all over again!"

"That is not my concern…" replied Blue in hushed tones.

With that, August was pulled out of memory like someone being roughly pulled out of a hot tub. He gasped and stumbled slightly. The shock of the memory ending cleared his mind a bit, and he managed to straighten up, saying, "I'm sorry about that. That happens sometimes. I also am sorry for pointing a gun at you earlier…"

Jefferson leaned near to Gene's ear and whispered, "Three words: Multiple Personality Disorder."

Gene promptly ignored him and smiled encouragingly at August.

Karma smiled kindly. "It is good to meet the real you, August. Remember, having Blue within you is not bad, but it is not good either. You must harness his skills and fight his personality. He was an excellent warrior, but a cold-hearted monster as well. Be careful, my son. Now, did you get what you needed?"

"Blue has hidden a piece of armor in the Scriptorium. It should be somewhere in Aldgitess's treasury. Who is Aldgitess, by the way?"

"She was the queen of this realm some time ago. Joseph Torrus's son banished her," replied Karma promptly.

Jefferson began to chuckle uncontrollably, "So… let me get this straight… If I have this right… Joseph Torrus has been the Amethyst Empire's Special one, the Paradox, Sunset Shadow, AND some guy who had a son who helped liberate here?"

Karma nodded his head sagely. "You have that correct. Joseph Torrus was a great champion of this dimension as well… But that does not matter. What matters now is the means by which you will attempt to retrieve the treasure you seek. Although Aldgitess has been defeated, her treasury still remains under extremely heavy guard. None of the things she has stored in there goes in or out."

August shook his head. "I do not think that will be too much of a problem."

Karma pursed his lips together. "And that is exactly what I am afraid of. But it is not my place to judge. I wish you three the very best of luck."

August nodded his head and turned about, motioning his friends to follow. In a moment they were back at the mouth of the cave, with droves of icy bullets being driven by them outside by the howling wind.

"Snow… I hate snow…" muttered Jefferson as he readied his Tron Glider. The group then leapt out into the raging snow storm and began to force their way upwards. As the trio climbed, it seemed that the storm was only getting worse, but they continued to go on. At the apex of the mountain, the storm seemed to be at its most intense, threatening to sweep away the trio into a bleak why abyss of nothingness. The shrieking of the skin-shredding wind was immense, and snow was hurled at incredible speeds around in random directions. But, suddenly, it stopped. The storm simply stopped, as if a mere switch had been flipped.

Jefferson (like always) was the first to speak. "Well… that was… interesting…"

Gene turned around. He immediately noticed something: the just mere meters away from them, the storm was still raging.

"We've entered into some protective bubble of some sorts," he commented.

August nodded and pulled out his handgun, "A protective bubble hidden within an immensely powerful snowstorm? The fortress is undoubtedly here."

And, lo and behold, the group turned about to notice a massive fortress placed in the very apex of the mountain plateau before them. An icy spire sprouted from the center of the large complex, and at the tip of the spire was a large glowing globule of power, which was emanating ribbons of power that fed into the protective bubble. Bat-winged guardians (naturally not angels, of course) of unknown origin strolled the wall tops nonchalantly, hoisting lightning-charged spears along the way.

"This is most certainly the place," replied Jefferson with a chuckle, "Now we go into stealth mode… Right?"

Gene beckoned for the group to form a huddle. "You are correct for once, Jefferson," he said, "We do indeed need to go into 'stealth mode' now. So here is the plan. Jefferson, you see that southern wall? It seems to be the least guarded in terms of guard posts. If you can get to that direction, we can draw attention to the north side. When you get through, open that secured side entrance on the east wall. It is at the very southeast corner. August, I need you to draw the guards using… August? August!"

August was gone. Gene and Jefferson stepped back and looked about frantically. But it seemed indeed that their friend was gone. He had simply vanished.

Dimension: Once Upon a Time

Planet: Fairy Tale Earth

Specific Location: Snow White and Prince Charming's Castle

Time: Five days after Lyric found Summer

"I think we have nearly reached our second phase's goal," said Harold happily.

"Whatever that means," grumbled Pictor, "I couldn't even tell what the hell you were doing in the first place."

"That is because you are you, Pictor," replied Harold mockingly. Pictor just ignored the jab, he had gotten quite good at that during his time with the Paradox.

"I have set up what you requested for Doxia," said Orion, "And I will have to say it is most impressive. But I know Doxia, he eats impressive for breakfast."

"You do not need to worry about that, it is simply going to be a distraction for the real show. Pictor… you are up."

Pictor blinked in surprise, his heart almost leaping out of his chest for joy. Would this mean he could finally kill, maim, and terrorize once more? He needed to cause pain very badly now.

"What do you mean…? What do you mean by 'you are up'?" he asked hoarsely.

"I mean just that, Pictor. I have a job for you. You get to do a little bit of killing," said Harold.

Pictor could barely contain his excitement. "Wonderful. Finally. Who do I get to kill?"

There was a pause. Then…

"I need you to kill August, Gene, and Jefferson."

Inside his helmet, Pictor bared his teeth in a vicious grin. "It will be done."

"Of course it will," replied Harold airily, "Just do what you usually do and demolish everything. Strike at 0800 hours this dimension's time. They are in the Provistorian dimension."

"But… will not the Amethyst empire pick up our movements?" asked Pictor suddenly.

"Obviously not, you moron," snorted Harold, "That is what I had Orion doing: setting up a distraction. Now go distract yourself for a bit, I do not think I could stand your excitement for killing random beings for another second."

Pictor hissed, but did as he was bade. He turned about, opened a portal to some unknown dimension, and left.

"Interesting," murmured Harold, "I do not like killing, or ordering the deaths of others, but sometimes it must be done. Collateral damage… I hate it passionately, but sometimes it cannot be avoided. Oh well, every good old fashioned story needs a bad guy, and I suppose I shall have to readjust my views to fit the role."

Note: Pictor is on the move! What will happen? Stay tuned to find out! Fortunately for you all, I have chapters written up for both Tuesday (a Flashbacks chapter) and Wednesday, so you will get the full schedule! Anyway, does anyone want to know anything more about the Provistorian dimension? How about the many lives of Joseph Torrus? Now please review! If you give me reviews (A.K.A. FEEDBACK), I will give you a cloud. Seriously, a cloud. Remember, clouds are fluffy, and fluffy clouds are nice. If you are lucky, you might even get Rainbow Dash to sit on it! Now that would be interesting.