Without opening his eyes, Zye drags his hands over the empty spot on the bed where Jace had been. There’s no heat left. It tells him that Jace was up early and let him sleep in. While he appreciates the thought, he also wishes Jace had woken him up.

It’s bad enough that he doesn’t want to. Especially now that Jace isn’t here.

Zye groans and rolls onto his stomach. He rubs his eyes and yawns. It’s only slightly disappointing that Jace isn’t here. He can’t see him or sense his presence. They aren’t hiding themselves since he can feel others in the house. At the same time, he doesn’t focus hard enough to identify them.

Slowly getting up, he relinquishes his desire to crawl back into bed. The blanket is shoved aside and his boots scooped up. It doesn’t take long to get them on as well as find where he threw his shirt. Once that’s on properly, he heads for the front room.

The last thing he expects is to see Xerxes sitting on the couch with Ilista. In her hands is one of Hax’s journals. They don’t seem to be reading necessarily, merely flipping through and looking at the contents.

Not that Zye cares what they’re doing. Only why they’re here. A reason he wasn’t privy to because it’s not a big deal or no one thought he needed a heads-up. A sting he tries to ignore— it doesn’t matter.

“Morning?”

Xerxes perks up, sitting straight and following Zye with his eyes as the man walks around to the side of the couch. His mask is pulled down and it reassures Zye. Xerxes must be getting comfortable around Ilista.

“Morning, did you sleep well?”

“Uh…I guess so.” His gaze sweeps from Xerxes to Ilista. “Not to be rude, but why are you two here and Jace isn’t?”

“He asked if we’d come help take these things to Noctis for safekeeping. Apparently, he’s already been funneling stuff to Celeste for a while now. This is the rest of it, all your things.”

Ilista gestures to the suitcase at her feet. It’s a sharp rectangle of tanned leather. When Zye doesn’t reply, Ilista continues while Xerxes stands, picking up the luggage and setting it on the coffee table.

“He’s a worrywart, that one. Jace and Celeste came to the conclusion that this world might be restarting soon. They might be right. The energy feels off here. It’s making me queasy.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yup! That’s why your girl has been rooming with me,” she replies with a confident grin.

Except Zye isn’t talking about Callua. “No, what do you mean a restart?”

“I don’t know who or what does it. We never get to be there when it happens. You know, busy taking care of places thriving with Nether.”

“So…you’ve never met these other beings? Would Orion or Celeste know?”

Ilista shrugs and stands up. She rolls her shoulders while shaking her head. “I have no idea. I only asked once and Celeste mentioned they did in the beginning a few times.”

Seeing as he won’t be getting any information out of her, Zye gestures to the suitcase instead. “Thanks for helping him.”

“Meanwhile, his princess was sleeping away.”

Zye glares at her. “Yeah, and I bet I could walk in heels better than you to top it off too.”

Ilista regards him as if it’s a challenge. There’s something she wants to say, he can see it in her face. Whatever words are leaving her lips he suddenly can’t hear.

Wood crunching. Glass shattering. The sounds of furniture crashing and being destroyed fill the cabin.

When it stops, Zye doesn’t know what to do. If he had a heart, it’d be racing. He’s more than a little worried when it goes dead quiet. Glancing at Ilista only makes it worse. There’s concern in her features.

“What the fuck was that?” he asks.

Ilista summons her spear into her grasp. She chooses to ignore his question and lock eyes with Xerxes. “Take that bag. Orion should still be in Noctis. Bring him back with you just in case this is what I think it is.”

“Y-yes.”

A portal flares up behind Xerxes before he dashes into it. Zye watches to make sure he gets through. Even so, he can feel a surge of magic outside the window straight across from him. The window that looks out into the garden.

The noise is terrible— the sight even worse.

The glass in the window explodes as a spike of ice slams through it. It’s big enough to fill it to where the wood splinters and groans from the impact.

An attack that stabs through the couch. Fast like lightning and gives a chill to the air almost instantly.

Ilista jumps away while summoning her own portal. Zye stumbles to the side, back toward the hallway, to avoid getting hit. He nearly trips over his own feet as he spins back around.

“Portal. Now.”

For a split second, he’s not sure what to do. Does she mean to make his own and go…somewhere? Or does she mean to go to her and return to Noctis? Surely it’s the latter. Then why is he hesitating?

“Come— shit! Door, now!”

She shouts for him and he can only watch. From the ice that’s plunged into the house comes a branching extension of it. It shoots out at an alarming speed, heading straight for the portal Ilista drew forth.

Dismissing it, Ilista makes a break for the door. She throws it open and glances back. Only once Zye’s moving forward does she continue out.

It’s the right move. Being inside is no better than being a doll filled with needles at this point. The soles of his boots find purchase on the floor and he’s sprinting forward around the tip of ice in the middle of the room. The door is within grasp when it’s ripped away.

A woman strides in— one that he’s seen before. The door slams shut behind her. From her feet extends ice that crawls up the door frame, freezing it shut. Lifting her right hand, she levels her katana to Zye’s chest.

Zye drops his gaze to the point of the blade. He’s not ready for this— this he knows. He watches as Ayre adjusts her grip, showing the way her pinky finger doesn’t move. It looks like ice, not a real one, considering the blue veins don’t run through it.

The way her mouth moves is visible behind the green mask drawn up over her nose. “Soren wants to meet with you.”

“Like I give a shit what he wants.”

“He only said to bring you alive. Wounded or maimed, I can drag you out of here.”

Taking one step back, Zye materializes his sword into his left hand. He’s trying to watch her movements or notice anything that would give him an upper hand. And yet there’s nothing. She gives off the aura of an impenetrable wall.

Ayre has been in more than one tough battle if the missing finger and the scars over her left eye are anything to go by. Trained, experienced, and more than capable of taking him down a peg.

Zye steels himself regardless and clasps his right hand to the hilt of his sword as well. He’ll need all the strength behind his swings that he can get.

“Too bad. You’re the one not leaving after trashing my boyfriend’s house.”

“Then keep your sword up.”

Ayre lunges at him with a powerful downward strike. The impact on his sword has his arms trembling. The first is strong. The second is even more so.

He’s realizing he should have asked Hax if he can use his magic to get through solid surfaces— like a wall.

Stumbling back, Zye calls a rift behind him. He steps into it and comes out in the hallway. The instant Ayre turns, stalking after him, is when he slips through another. This one has him behind her instead with his back to the long spike of ice.

Ayre growls and spins around, surging toward him without batting an eye. He can’t focus on the portal he’s trying to conjure. Forced to bring his sword up to defend himself, that’s all he can manage. Parrying and striking back won’t work.

Each blow makes his wrists want to give in and his knees buckle. How she has that much power behind her swings he can’t fathom.

He can’t see the way she expertly flourishes her sword. It’s so fast that it’s but a blur. One that knocks his blade from his hands.

Zye stares at her. He takes a step back as his brain reels for something to do. Those cold brown eyes stare at him, daring him to make a move or she’ll take a limb.

“You should switch sides before it’s too late, ya know? We aren’t going to back down.”

“Neither are we and it doesn’t matter. I’ve killed plenty of those like you. Emotional. Brash. Childish.”

The second she steps forward, Zye drops down and slips under the slender tip of the ice. It’s freezing to the touch as he comes out on the other side, staggering to a portal he calls forth.

“Foolish,” she states loudly while slicing through the ice with her blade.

Finishing the swing, she lunges forward and grabs his wrist. Ayre yanks him away from his escape and toward her.

Zye spins around with a grin. “Think I won’t hit a girl?”

“You’d be wise not to hit me.”

The ice over the door shatters as the wood splinters. Another slam against it and it topples inward, broken off its hinges. In the frozen doorway stands Ilista with her spear reappearing in her grasp.

Zye punches Ayre, striking across her face and sending her stumbling back a step. The grip on his wrist loosens so that he can sprint away, passing Ilista in the process. He skids to a stop and spins back around, ready to back Ilista up. Doing so means he doesn’t see Orion lingering in the doorway after her.

Ilista might not have a sword but that doesn’t stop her from catching Ayre’s attack between the prongs of her spear. She grins wide at her opponent. “Why don’t you put that away and we go at this normally?”

“I’m not a barbarian.”

While they begin to fight, with Ilista slowly pushing her back toward the hall, Zye calls his sword into his hand. He doesn’t notice the ice that’s on the floor beginning to glow. Nor that there’s a thin trail from where it is to where Ayre now resides.

As a small icicle begins to form, Orion is the only one that sees it. He slings out his strings and wraps them around Zye’s body. At the same time, he’s summoning a portal. One solid yank, as well as using his own body weight, forces Zye to stumble back toward him.

Before they go through the portal, Orion shoots one string out that stabs into Ayre’s ankle. The sudden pain gives Ilista an opening to knock her katana to the ground. Right before Ayre raises her fist while her other hand grabs Ilista’s wrist, the one holding her spear.

That’s the last Zye sees of them as they tumble into Noctis.

The cool sensation is a stark difference from the humid world they were in. So is the fact that he’s on top of Orion and unable to move. Back to Orion’s chest, Zye smiles up at Jace who comes off the staircase.

Across from where they are, a portal opens up with Ilista stalking through. Blood drips down her chin and onto her chest as she hastily tries to wipe it away. She slams the butt of her spear against the ground. “That bitch almost broke my nose!”

Zye chuckles, “Hope you broke hers back.”

“I sure as hell tried!”

Xerxes runs over to her, frantic at the sight of the blue blood staining her skin. “Are you okay? I didn’t come back but Orion said not to and—” He sheepishly glances over to Jace. “We got everything out.”

Jace stands between the two pairs. “Stop. Tell me what happened first.”

Zye wiggles and rolls off of Orion. He doesn’t mind the strings wrapping and crossing around his body since they’re not so tight. That doesn’t stop him from hitting the ground on his side, unable to do much else.

“Can we untie me first?”

“Ah, I apologize.” Orion sits up and disperses the strings. “I hope they weren’t too tight, it was a snap decision.”

Pushing himself to sit up cross-legged, he shrugs. “It’s fine. Been there done that.”

Orion stares hard at him, absolutely perplexed. “Wh…at?”

“Nothing.” Zye tilts his head back to meet Jace’s worried gaze. “That woman with Soren showed up again, whatever her name was. And…sorry about the house. But we can fix it! It’ll be just like new.”

Jace shakes his head while holding out his hand. After he helps Zye up, he gestures to the boxes of books and journals. As well as the suitcase with Zye’s things.

“It’s fine. We still have everything and you’re all safe. We believe the world is resetting soon anyway.”

“Jay…”

Not understanding the weight of what happened, Orion stands and straightens his outfit. “I’m sorry we didn’t come right in. I thought it’d be smarter to make an exit. Still, you did well to hold out long enough. I suggest the three of you stay with us until we’re ready to leave.”

“How long is that?”

Orion pushes his hands into his jacket pockets. “Celeste will be back with Callua, we’ll leave, and head out. Oh, did she say anything while you were alone?”

“Just that Soren wanted to talk. Didn’t matter if I was missing a limb or two I guess. Definitely don’t want to have to go up against her again.”

Ilista interjects as she strides over. Her hand pats Jace’s shoulder upon doing so. “You’re welcome in my room if you’d like.”

“Mine as well,” adds Orion. “Your room may not be there anymore, but you’re more than welcome.”

Zye moves between them all and takes Jace’s hand in his. It’s not hard to see that beneath the relief, Jace is upset. Regardless of the world resetting or not…that place was the closest thing to home they’ve probably all had in a long time.

“Actually, I need to talk to Aster. Come on, Jay.”

No one stops them and for that, Zye is grateful. He squeezes Jace’s hand while leading him to Aster’s corridor. At the door, he gives a sharp knock before it’s promptly opened.

“What?”

The disgruntled face is hardly a surprise. He seems to be dressed and ready for the most part minus his coat and gloves. He has his hair tie in one hand with the dark blue tresses left a mess around his face.

“Some crazy woman just took out his house, mind if we stay here.”

“Shit, sure, come in. Don’t touch anything but the couch is yours.”

Jace doesn’t come in at first, he gives a small tug back to Zye’s hand before meeting Aster’s questioning eyes. “Is it alright to step on?”

Shaking his head, Aster spins on his heel. He scoops his hair up and begins to tie it. “Sure, come on in. The Mark cleans it if people make a mess.”

At that, Zye guides Jace over to the couch where they sit on one side. Aster sits opposite them and leans back. “Do you want anything to drink? Eat?”

“Thank you, but we’re fine,” replies Jace.

“Fair enough. Is there anything we can salvage? I’m sure we could rebuild.”

“Ilista mentioned the world was…resetting? Either way, there’s a lot of ice and, uh, maybe a missing wall from the sound of it.”

Jace’s shoulders remain in a slight slump. He’s trying his best not to think about it. It doesn’t matter. Even so, it’s a terrible feeling to know they can’t go back either way. “It’s alright, both of you. It was only a location.”

Zye turns. He slips his hand away from Jace’s and pats it against Jace’s thigh instead. “You put your heart and soul into it! It’s not just a location.”

“I promise you, I’m fine. It doesn’t matter. Home is where we are not where we go.”

Aster clears his throat when he sees the way Zye’s eyes light up. “Okay, that’s adorable, but let’s not get crazy. I don’t want to have to clean my couch.”

“I’m not an animal! Besides, you’re in the room.”

“That’s good to know. Did they say how long we have to wait ‘till we leave?”

Jace stands with his hand landing on the top of Zye’s head. “I’ll be back. Callua’s arrived.”

Aster speaks up, drawing their eyes to him. “Bring her here if she wants. I’ve already gotten ready. There’s no need to be polite and leave.”

“Thank you, Aster,” Jace replies with a nod before leaving.

Once the door shuts, Aster sighs. “Taking it well, isn’t he?”

“Yeah…” mumbles Zye as he sinks back into the cushion. “Wish he didn’t have to.”

“Must be nice to have such a kind and mature boyfriend.”

Hoping to not get too deep into how he feels, Zye sidelines the conversation with ease. “Oh, I did tell Orion you were pretty. I think he agreed, maybe helped.”

“I swear…I don’t need your help. I’m fine with how things are.”

“Nah, I get it, I won’t pry. Figured I’d pass on the favor a friend would do for me.”

Aster scoffs at that, folding his gloves into a square on his lap. “He must have been an idiot to be friends with you.”

“Probably,” laughs Zye. “He could have anyone wrapped around his finger by the end of a conversation. I’d say he was a genius.”

“He’d have made it well where I came from.”

Zye crosses one ankle over the other leg. He’s trying to get comfortable. Something that’s surprisingly easy to do versus being with Orion or Ilista. He’s sure her and Xerxes are getting ready anyhow.

“Where did you come from, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“I was a musician. There were four of us guys—”

“Idol or boy band?”

A faint smile touches Aster’s lips. “Idol. Pretty faces sell seats right?”

He can see it of course. Aster’s eyes are the prettiest green he’s ever seen. They’re glimmering emeralds that are as clear as can be. Idol life, however, reminds him of his teenage years.

“Man, I would have killed to go to one of those when I was younger.”

“You’re better off not. They’re not all they’re made up to be.”

“Then prove it. Let’s go to one.”

“No.”

“What do you mean no? We could go in disguise, too. Xerxes would love it. Maybe Orion would come.”

Aster stares at the man across from him. There’s an internal debate that he finishes rather quickly. One that has him shaking his head. “Fine, you win. But only if you come back from this fight with all of yourself intact.”

“Aww, I think you’re worried about me,” he teases with a grin.

“Very. I won’t be there to make sure no one loses it.”

Something clicks. A tiny piece that Zye mentally snags and runs with. He’s sure he’s right. He uncrosses his legs and sits up, balancing his elbows on his knees.

“You’re the one he hurt that time aren’t you?”

Aster’s eyebrows raise. “He…told you?”

“He mentioned it happening. I take it whatever he did wasn’t life-threatening?”

“No…I healed fine. It was a mission gone wrong. Didn’t expect the place we were at to have an eclipse and a surge of Nether to top it off.”

Aster closes his eyes. Doing so and he’s right back to that night.

“A few top-ranked Nether led the charge. It was the first time I’d seen that happen. A couple of Stars and Dark Stars were wounded as well. One of them died, couldn’t get away from the Nether. Orion lost it.”

“Is that why you’re always up his butt? Worried?”

“Even the most collected one that seems like they can hold it together is bound to crack. If I had to guess, he doesn’t want you to end up hurting yourself or anyone else like he did.”

Zye leans back. The conversation is heavy and weighs on his shoulders. The reality that even Orion could lose it when pressed is the constant reminder he needs to be careful. “You know…you’re pretty wise for a change.”

“Zye,” he starts and only continues when those eyes are on him. “I promise I’ll make sure everyone is safe. In exchange, make sure none of them do anything stupid.”

“I can make that deal.”

Aster stands up, satisfied with that. He shrugs into his coat and holds his gloves in one hand. Coming around the table, Aster holds out his hand to Zye. An act that confuses him. Zye is sure he’s never seen Aster without the gloves. He stares at the bare hand for a moment.

Pale skin. Long fingers. Well-manicured nails that have a glossy tint— are they painted?

Seeing the hesitation, Aster stares down at him with a smile. “It’s a deal right?”

Zye hesitates. How does he not? Slowly, he reaches out to take Aster’s hand. Those slender fingers flinch at first before gripping Zye’s hand in return. There’s a small shake before Aster retreats. As he heads for the door, he begins to pull his gloves on.

“I’ll come get you when they’re ready. And remember, think before you act. You’re our secret weapon since you have Hax.”

Watching Aster leave is strange. Most of all because Aster is the last person he would have guessed he’d get to know most. Ilista and Iris were at the top of that list. And yet, Aster is the one that brings the most comfort. There’s something about him that’s calming.

At least, when they weren’t getting into it. Even then, it came from such a good place. A place he understands. One he’s been in. Still, he hadn’t realized Aster has been around that long.

Zye’s gaze sweeps over the room full of collectibles. He chuckles. It’s the most human room he’s seen since he’s been here. Not that he can slam Ilista’s decorating tastes. It’s simply that Aster hides nothing once he’s let someone in.

“Hah…I guess that’s why. He reminds me of that dork.” He sinks further down onto the couch so that he can lean his head against the back. “Alright, Shae, wherever you are…wish me luck.”