When Will finally woke, the light outside this compartment window was almost completely gone. He guessed that it was sunset, but he couldn’t be sure. Charlisa was still pressed against him, but her eyes were wide open, and she was reading a book. She looked up as he began moving, and smiled. She looked much healthier than when he’d passed out. The pale tinge was gone from her face, and she was more relaxed.

“Good morning,” she said softly, craning her head to kiss him. “Are you feeling better?”

He took a moment to assess his condition, surprised to find that he felt perfectly normal. If anything, he had a little more energy. “Yeah. I feel great, actually.”

She let out a little sigh of relief. “I’m glad to hear that. You scared me for a while there.”

“You too,” he replied. “You looked really sick for a while there.”

“I was,” she admitted. But about two hours ago, it finally faded. I’ve felt fine ever since. Are you cold?”

He let out a quiet laugh. “Nice joke.”

She frowned at him. I’m being serious. You burned up for hours, and then suddenly, you went cold. Like ice-cold.”

He blinked at her, confused. She wasn’t lying, he could tell that. “When did I go cold?”

“You still are,” she said, putting a hand to his cheek. “You can’t feel it?”

He shook his head. If anything, he felt warmer than normal. He was a little sweaty under the blanket. Noticing this, he pushed it off of them. She put one leg over him, revealing a cute set of pajama shorts that matched her shirt. He looked her up and down, raising his eyebrows and nodding in a sign of appreciation. “Nice look.”

She rolled her eyes but snuggled even closer to him. “I couldn’t sleep in jeans, idiot.”

“Fair enough.” He clicked his tongue in mock-disappointment. “I missed you changing? Damn!”

She let out a laugh. “Don’t worry. You have the rest of our lives to see me change all you want.”

At her words, the memory of his dream flashed through his mind. She gave a little squeak of surprise. “Don’t!”

He snapped back to attention, realizing that he’d accidentally shocked her. He leaned down to kiss her. “Sorry. Just remembered a bad dream.”

She relaxed again, rubbing the inside of her thigh to remove the slight mark there. “At least it wasn’t as bad as last time. Anyway, are you hungry? I just ate, but I can get you some food.”

As if on cue, his stomach let out a quiet growl. She grinned in understanding and pushed off of the bed. “You wait there. I’ll get some food.”

She was gone for no more than about ten minutes, but it was more than enough time for him to dwell on his dream again. Tobias had looked straight at him, he thought. Strangely, this was the first time he’d been able to think of the man without feeling a surge of rage crashing in his chest. He’d said that Will needed to reach that scene. But when would that happen? He tried to remember all the details he could. He’d been powerful, much more powerful than he was now. By his best estimate, at least a year away. Charlisa had looked different too. Under the grief and fear on her face, she’d seemed more tired. Older. Perhaps a year or two older. Yes, a year felt right. He hoped for two.

But if Togai had been involved with him then, it could only mean that in reality, Togai escapes from the cell he was being held in. He felt a surge of panic at the thought and sat bolt upright. What if Togai had already escaped! But almost at once, he had the reassuring thought that, if he had, they’d know right away. Right? He wasn’t so sure. But they were miles away, so Charlisa was safe. That was all that mattered.

So if he escaped, it’d have to be later. Maybe sometime after they left the tournament. He wondered if he’d be there to try and stop the man. He’d obviously fail. But hopefully, nobody would be too badly hurt. Ironically, if Togai was going to escape, Will hoped now that it wouldn’t result in too much loss. He couldn’t bear the thought of the man claiming another life. Then he thought of his father, who had gone with Rachel to Florida. Rachel would hide him, he was certain of that.

He let out a laugh as he imagined his father now, probably experimenting with his new powers. He’d wear that same delighted grin he had whenever he got a new trinket. Felix and Olivia would help their mother teach him how to defend himself. If anything, his father was safer than anyone. It was still a wild thought, him being a member of the Fire Nexus and his father belonging to the Water Nexus. From an outsider’s perspective, that would make them enemies. He was glad that part of history was proven false.

The compartment door opened, breaking him out of his deep thought, to reveal Charlisa standing there, carrying a tray laden with food. He adjusted his bed, putting the back into its original place, making it a chair. “That looks great. Thanks, babe.”

She smiled as she set the heavy tray down. “It’s nothing. You’re in luck, they were about to stop serving dinner.”

“So it is night then.” He quickly grabbed the fork and, after pausing just long enough to give her a grateful kiss, cut a piece of steak off and popped it into his mouth. “Damn that’s good.”

“They make really good food on this train,” she said. “Nothing compared to you, of course.”

“Damn right,” he said, his mouth full. She snorted with laughter and picked her book up again. 

He ate the food in a surprisingly short amount of time, then leaned back in his chair, patting his stomach. It was satisfyingly tight, the sign of a good meal. He noticed she had a similar full stomach. “Glad you ate your fill.”

She looked up, not understanding, and followed his eyes. She let out a gasp of mock anger and whacked him with the book. “Rude!”

“Hey, I can appreciate a woman who can put away a lot of food!” He exclaimed, covering his head with his arms.

“I didn’t eat that much!” She sad, whacking him a few more times. Then she sat back in her chair. “You’re lucky you’re cute. I’ve beaten up people for comments like that.”

“I wouldn’t mind you whacking me a few more times,” he said, grinning hugely. Then he ducked as she did exactly that, laughing and putting on a pleading air. “Please! Have mercy!”

Attracted by the commotion of their laughter, the door opened, revealing Edward. Will lowered his arms to greet him and paid the price as Charlisa got a good shot with the spine of her book, hitting him right in the face. She let out an amused snort and looked at her father. “Hey, Dad. He’s feeling much better now.”

“Glad to see it,” Edward said. He looked drawn and tired. “I need you healthy. You don’t have permission to die on me.”

“Die?” Will asked, shocked by the sudden arrival of the word. “It was just a migraine. Well, a really bad one, but hardly lethal.”

“Charlisa told me your heat went out completely,” Edward said, his face set in stern lines. “That sounds pretty bad.”

Will frowned, once again patting his body. “She said I still feel cold, but I feel fine. I feel warmer than normal.”

Edward stepped into the compartment and leaned across his daughter to feel Will’s forehead. His frown deepened. “You still feel cold.”

“How is that possible?” Will asked. He conjured a very small flame in his hands, just big enough to be visible, but not enough to touch anything in the compartment. “I can still create fire. I’m telling you, I feel fine.”

“Hmm,” Edward said thoughtfully. “Well, we should still keep an eye on you. I don’t like that you feel so cold.”

Will looked down at the flame in his hand. As he watched, the very edges of it sparked with electricity. That was new, he thought. “That’s strange.”

“Maybe it’s just a reflex from your sickness,” Charlisa suggested, watching with interest over her book, which she’d opened again. “It looks cool, though.”

Will extinguished the flame and felt a wave of cold wash over him. It wasn’t so much that it was uncomfortable, more like a refreshing breeze that had tickled his hair. “Hey, I felt the cold then! What the-”

He conjured fire again, then immediately extinguished it. Again, the cool ripple came over him. Charlisa fidgeted as if she could feel it too. Tiny little goosebumps had broken out across her skin. She glanced down at her forearm, then back up at him. “You’re definitely cold.”

I can only guide you, and give you the power you need. I have done so now. Tobias’ words came back to him now, and he felt an odd chill run down his spine. Was this the power he’d been talking about? But how could he give Will the power if he wasn’t here? A sudden idea struck him, and he leaned forward, addressing Edward directly.

“Remember when we fought Tobias?” He asked. There was a brief flicker of nonrecognition on Edward’s face before he recognized the name. “He asked you if you remembered him. Have you ever seen him before?”

Edward’s face looked deeply troubled. Even Charlisa caught the change, and she closed her book. “Dad?”

“I’m still not sure,” Edward said.

“But you have seen him before,” Will said. He didn’t phrase it as a question. “Haven’t you?”

“Once,” Edward said. He hesitated, taking a deep breath, then continued. “When I almost froze to death in the tundra.”

Charlisa sat bolt upright then. “You never told me that!”

“I didn’t remember until we got home from Tokyo,” Edward said waving a hand dismissively. “But I keep having this dream. The same dream I had when I’d passed out in the tundra, and nearly died.”

“What did you see?” Will asked. Another mention of a strange dream. “Was he in it?”

Edward nodded, but it seemed to take him ages to continue. “I dreamed that I was in the same tundra, just like I was in real life, about to die. I could feel myself slipping away, and then-”

“He came to you,” Will said. That sounded incredibly familiar. Something he’d read about in high school, bored one night after completing his homework on… He shot to his feet, diving for his phone. The action startled the other two, and Edward opened his mouth to say something. Will hurriedly typed something into his Google search bar. “Hang on. I saw something like this before.”

It took him a minute, not to mention a few different search terms before he finally remembered what it was. He typed ‘Have you ever seen this man?’ and hit enter. Then, clicking on images, he gave a yelp of shock. Hundreds of pictures, all bearing similar sketches. They were sketches of Tobias’ face. He thrust the phone at Edward and Charlisa, barely able to contain his excitement.

“Have you ever seen this man?” Charlisa read the headline of the search bar. “Why do those all look like-”

Her voice died away as she caught the look of horror on her father’s face. “That’s him.”

“I know!” Will said loudly. “I thought he looked familiar! This is a popular urban legend. Apparently, people dream about him all across the world, every night. It’s been around a while, longer even than the Nexus!”

“Wait, I’ve heard of that!” Charlisa exclaimed. “There’s a popular theory that that’s the face of-”

“The face of God,” Will said. That feeling of dark premonition was back. “Oh no.”

“What?” Charlisa and Edward asked, at the same time. Will gulped, a crazy new idea coming to him.

“Well,” he said, speaking slowly. Even as he had the thought, he knew how crazy it would sound. But at the same time, he knew, with absolute certainty, that he was right. “Well, we don’t know where the Nexus power came from, do we?”

Judging by the startled look on their faces, he knew that they’d just had the same exact thought. Charlisa shook his head. “You mean-”

Will was positive now. Nothing could shake his opinion. He turned the phone back around and stared at the many illustrations of Tobias’ face. “I think he’s the source. He could use every Nexus power, couldn’t he? I think he gave you your power, Edward. I think he’s the creator of the Nexuses.”