Volunteering again was exciting, boring, and enjoyable just as he expected, and now Reed gets the entire month of August to relax. Niel also seems to be doing better as he's using his Dust again. Speaking of Niel, he and Illia have gone out for a walk. They haven't been out to the glade in quite some time, so maybe he'll round everyone up and go again. He also wants to go to the Mute range and throw some fireballs at some point. His birthday is coming up in three Fridays' time as well, and Clara's going to be taking them out for another trip that weekend.

He collapses on his bed. So many things to do, and only a month to do them. Then it's back to school...

Right, school. He'll have to see if he can get some of his classes switched around so he can do chemistry or biology a year earlier than initially planned. Niel wants him to try, so he'll at least try to make him happy. It isn't easy, though. Even thinking of this is more effort than Reed is willing to put in. There's no guarantee any of this will even work out in the first place. People say he has a confidence problem, but the mistakes he's made whisper a different story.

How can he possibly have confidence when anything and everything is there to remind him of his inferiority the moment he starts feeling proud?

Reed sighs and shakes his head. He knows he shouldn't be thinking like this. It's just hard not to. For now, he should just figure out what he wants to do tomorrow.

The next day isn't ideal to go outside (though Lydia would disagree), but the day after that shows more favourable weather to pay the glade another visit. Of the four of them, Lydia is the one who wants to go the least, though she's strung along by Illia's growing energy and is forced to go. They have a small amount of trouble remembering where the hidden glade is located, but they find the familiar clearing in due time.

Illia is first to notice that everything has been left exactly as they last saw it; the pond, the fallen log, and the rope swing all remain undisturbed. Even the leftover rope they forgot to take back sits quietly at the base of the big tree that holds their swing.

Speaking of the swing, Reed is the first to claim it as he leaps onto it, shaking yesterday's raindrops from the leaves above and giving himself an impromptu shower. As for the other three, they wander around the area unsure of what exactly to do. Eventually, they decide to spread a Dust blanket over the log and sit to watch minnows and small fish swim by. Among the fish is a curious amphibian who perches on a stone after taking a swim. Nobody moves as they watch it, but the moment the frog hops in Lydia's direction, she squeals and tucks her legs up to her chest.

"What's going on with you?" Reed questions as he leaps from the swing.

"It's a frog!" Lydia exclaims, clambering off of the log to escape the horrible green beast that took another hop toward her.

"Oo, a frog?" Reed peers over the log to examine the animal.

"Don't you dare pick it up!"

"I'm not! I don't want to touch it, either."

If Reed is showing caution, then Niel will refrain from picking it up, too. As for Illia... With a large smile on her face, she scoops the adorable little creature into her hands and presents it triumphantly to the group.

"Oh my God, Illia, put it down!" Lydia pleads as she takes another step back. This, of course, causes Illia to take another step forward—her smile now transformed into a teasingly devilish smirk. Lydia pleads more but it's no use: Illia has fallen into a rare degeneracy and plans to pay back all of the teasing done to her by Reed and Lydia. She chases the two of them around with frog in hand, rewarding her with a chorus of screams and laughter. Niel watches on from the comfort of the log.

Reed manages to convince Illia to chase after Lydia instead of him, and while she has her back turned, he slips away to find a defence to her froggy assault. This defence comes in the form of a relatively straight stick, of which he likens to a sword. Perfect. After getting the feel of his new 'blade' by swinging it around, he rejoins the party only to find that the frog has escaped its captor's grasp. Looks like he doesn't need the stick anymore. But it's a cool stick and he doesn't want to get rid of it.

A new idea comes to mind. Niel is standing with his back to Reed. He's still curious about what the dark-Mute boy can do in a fight, so what if he duels him using the stick? Holding the stick to his waist as if it were sheathed, Reed rushes at Niel and performs an unsheathing upward slash aimed at his midsection. Despite not facing Reed's approach, Niel agilely sidesteps the attack as he spins around, and he glares daggers of murderous intent straight into Reed's soul. The death glare turns into an open hand reaching for Reed's head, and he topples over backward out of fear.

"Hmph! Nice try," Niel says with a low chuckle and a smile. He reaches a hand out to hoist Reed back to his feet, and Reed accepts.

"How'd you know?" Reed asks.

"I heard you running and scanned behind me. If you were trying to sneak up on me, you didn't do a very good job."

Maybe Reed won't duel him.

>>>>>>

Everyone including Dwayne is sat around the kitchen table one Friday night. Bowls of chips and popcorn and glasses of pop and lemonade are scattered among the participants as they engage in a card game. The game in particular in Cheat, where you must discard your cards in the specified order to win. However, you do not have to follow the rules, as discarding cards face-down allows one to lie about which cards they've placed. The catch is that you can call out someone you suspect has cheated, and if they did lie about the cards they've placed, they pick up the entire discarded pile. If you're wrong and they were truthful, then you pick up the entire pile.

Cheat is, miraculously, a game of cheating. If you lose, it's not because someone else cheated, it's because you didn't cheat well enough, and you should feel bad about your lacklustre lying abilities. Lydia, with two total attempts at cheating and 78 of 104 cards in her hand, was feeling bad about her lacklustre lying abilities. Meanwhile...

"Two kings," Niel says as he places his last two cards face-down on the short pile in the centre.

"Cheat!" Reed calls as a desperado, flipping over the top two cards and revealing a pair of kings. Niel was being truthful and won the game because of it.

"Damn! I was getting close, too!" Mabel says as she drops her three cards onto the table.

"Illia was also close," Dwayne observes. From her seat to Niel's left, Illia is pouting with a lone card in her hand.

"What did you have?" Reed asks the pouting girl.

With much annoyance, she places a single ace on the table. Everyone around her erupts with exclamations of second-hand pity.

"Aw, that would've won you the game!" Reed exclaims. "How many times did you cheat?"

'Often,' Illia signs with a sheepish yet nefarious grin. Having been inspired by her talking to that deaf patient, Niel has been learning some basic sign language since their volunteer work ended, and now he's seeing the fruits of his labour occur naturally as he's able to understand Illia without Mabel's translation.

Reed is amazed by Illia's capability to lie despite her being the most innocent among them. His eyes then turn to Lydia's hand and...

"Man, you suck," he says to the girl firmly in last place, much to her chagrin.

"Don't act like you didn't pick up a lot of cards! Everybody knows you smirk when you lie!" Lydia shoots back.

"And you start talking funny when you lie!" Reed aims his crosshairs at Niel next. "And you probably cheated by scanning what's on the cards with your Dust!" he accuses Niel.

"The cards are flat, so there's nothing for me to scan," Niel rebuts.

"Then you probably marked the cards yourself!"

"No, but thanks for the idea."

"How many times did you lie?" Lydia asks Niel.

"Not a lot in the beginning, but I lied nearly every time after I ran out of the cards I needed," Niel explains.

"I wouldn't have guessed. Your poker face is strong, and surprisingly, Illia's is, too," Lydia says, soothing Illia's pain of losing by a hair with pride.

"So what you're saying is I should randomly call you out," Reed says to Niel.

"If you want to pick up more cards. I understand how to play this game now," Niel retorts.

"I think they're leaving us out," Gabriel remarks to the other two adults, causing them to smile.

Mabel shuffles the cards and deals them out equally, and the next game begins. Everyone takes turns discarding cards and silently counting what their next number will be, along with the occasional correct and incorrect call of cheating. The TV was left playing a radio station in the living room as background noise, but a breaking news report catches everyone's ear one after the other.

The report describes an incident where a small group of Invictus gang members attacked a protest rally, which quickly devolved into a war zone between Invictus, members of rival gangs, and the police. In total, 17 people were killed, with nine being civilians, two being officers, and the rest various gang members. Many more were wounded and several are in critical condition.

"What the hell...?" Gabriel dismally questions.

"Is this what our city is becoming?" Dwayne bemoans.

Everyone is locked in a bewildered silence. Senseless violence isn't new to Soul, but this attack is a new depraved low. Was this a rouge group fed up with being inconvenienced by annoying protestors? Or a task force sent to deliver a message to the public? To Lydia, it doesn't matter. Regardless of the purpose, so many lives were taken, and all over nothing. Now some children won't see a parent again. A parent lost their child. A husband will never return home to his wife. Siblings lost siblings...

...and that anger isn't foreign to her.

Once the shock of the news passes, they return to their card game quieter than they were before, but they all find their cheer in time. During a moment when Reed has to pick up the pile of cards, Lydia looks at the found family around her, and that thought of mortality creeps in. Accepting Aaron's death and moving on was the greatest struggle of her life. If something happened to anyone here...

Lydia has to physically shake this thought out of her head before it gets stuck. After she first arrived here, she vowed that she wouldn't let anyone hurt her second family, and that sentiment hasn't changed since then. Not any stranger. Not Invictus. Nobody. And little does she know, Niel across from her is pledging the same thing.

>>>>>>

Despite being unawakened, Illia is joining the group on an outing to the Mute range. This is hers and Niel's first time going so they don't know what is in store for them. After being driven by Mabel, any expectations they've had are immediately proven false as they approach the stadium-like building. Mabel handles paying their fee once they're inside.

"I thought this was a range, not... this," Niel comments as he surveys the spacious hub room. Various rooms and hallways lead from this main area to other sections of the building, and people of all ages wander to and fro.

"This used to be the kind of Mute range you're thinking of, but over time it slowly grew into a Mute sportsplex," Lydia explains. "That range is still here, and we'll probably go to it eventually."

"We've got all the time in the world, so let's give you two a full tour!" Reed says, ready to lead the way.

"Why don't we check out the pool first?" Lydia suggests, knowing exactly what kind of reaction she'll get from Niel.

"You can have fun with that," Niel responds predictably.

"We can't even go swimming. We didn't bring our swimsuits," Reed says.

"Too bad for us, then," she says teasingly again.

On their way to what Reed describes as a 'Phase Mute playground', Illia and Niel begin to feel out of place. Neither of them has a Mute they can or want to show. Nevertheless, they agreed to come here so they put their insecurities to the side and let the others have their fun.

Speaking of fun, the playground turns out to be a large parkour room stacked with gymnastics equipment and climbable obstacles. With how easily people with Phase Mutes can traverse unfavourable terrain, plus how it's illegal to scale the buildings of the city, this room is excellent for Phase Mute practice and for blowing off steam. Of course, people with non-Phase Mutes are allowed to climb as well.

"I used to come to these kinds of places all the time when I was younger," Mabel says with nostalgia in her voice. She takes a step forward and leaps to a higher ledge as a colourless smog, then leaps again and kicks off of a wall to reach even greater heights. Reed follows her on foot while the other three are left standing in shock by Mabel's surprising agility. A short chase ensues between her and Reed, and despite hardly moving outside of Phasing, Mabel is more out of breath than Reed when they return to the ground.

After spending some more time running and climbing around, they move on to a new area of the sportsplex. Close to a normal gymnasium are reinforced rooms designed to withstand all manner of Mute attacks. They're not bunkers, though; these rooms—separated into a spectating area and a main area—are ideal for the newly awakened to test their new powers without fear of hurting someone or damaging something. Reed, of course, wants to use it to let loose a bit.

While most of them watch through the reinforced window separating the two sections, Reed stands in the main area before a foam-filled bag as tall as him. Under his feet is a grated metal floor designed to filter the contents of the bag to a bag-refilling depot should it rupture. His arms are smouldering with white phosphorus and eager anticipation—the wisps of smoke disappearing into the ventilation above him. It's been a while since he's flexed his proverbial Mute muscles.

Reed charges and fires a high-heat blast that throws the bag backward, triggering another explosion that gives the appearance of the bag bouncing off of the wall due to sheer force. As it falls, he engulfs himself in fire and charges, grabbing the bag and leaping up with it before slamming it back down with a pillar of infernal retort. He then leaps out of the inferno and extinguishes himself as the fire fades away and charred cloth and foam fall through the floor. Niel notes how Reed's Mute augmented his strength and jumping power and allowed him to glide across the ground without taking a step.

"That looked like something out of a game," Lydia comments.

"That's because it is," Niel confirms, having been hit by Heavy Mob Cemetery more than a few times before.

Lydia sighs, unsurprised. "Leave it to Reed."

With his hunger for destruction sated for the time being, Reed steps out from the main room. "You want a turn, Niel?" he asks, still breathing heavily from exertion.

Knowing Reed, he probably just wants to see more of Niel's Dark Dust in action. But as far as Illia can tell, this room is completely private. No one would be able to see him, should he accept. Niel is hesitant as he looks to Illia, Warden's Key gently glowing, and she gives him a determined smile and head nod like the one he gave her a few weeks ago.

"Very well," Niel says. A new bag is brought in and Niel stands at the ready.

Niel isn't looking to exasperate himself, but he still should make this flashy to satisfy the others. But what should he do? He ponders for a moment, and an idea comes to mind. Niel constructs his black sickle and drives the tip of the blade into the bag at waist height before extending a chain from the handle and wrapping it around the bag in a spiral. He then recaptures the end of the chain in his hand and, with a great overhead tug, hauls the sickle along the path of the chain to rip through the fabric in a corkscrew shower of foam. Everyone is impressed, Reed most of all.

"That was awesome!" Reed exclaims. "How about some target shooting next?"

"With people watching? No," Niel says bluntly.

"Aww..."

"Now, Reed," Mabel steps in.

Having done everything Mute-related on this side of the building, they move to the other end (after getting sidetracked with a short game of basketball) where the shooting range is located. Back when he was on the run, Niel became curious about the purpose of a shooting club in a distant city, and upon sneaking in, he learned about ranges. Now he laments being unable to take part. This range is exactly what he expected one to look like, with booths to stand in, lanes to fire down, and overhead targets to aim at. However, compared to the paper targets at gun-based ranges, this one instead has durable metal plates.

"Here to hit a few shots?" a man asks the group, his orange vest displaying his status as a Range Safety Officer.

"Of course!" Reed responds.

"Good! Looks like a spot just opened up for you, too."

As Reed takes his place in a booth and sends his target plate halfway out, Illia watches from the rear lounge in curiosity. So this is the Mute range Reed wanted so badly to return to. He seems to be having fun throwing fireballs, despite some concerned glances he's receiving. It's not just him enjoying himself, though. From the elderly to the young and newly awakened, many others are here to practice, learn, and relax. An exhausted Reed returns after ten minutes or so of shooting, and surprisingly, Lydia takes his place.

Illia has seen Lydia use her Mute before, but apart from one certain incident, it was only ever used to shelter them from the rain or dry them off. So hearing the crackle of energy as oxygen and hydrogen molecules are slammed together to make spears of water is exhilarating, if not a little scary. It must be a lot harder on her than Reed's Mute is on him because she calls it quits after only three minutes.

They're going to take a short break before moving on to something else. They sit and idly chat, but Illia notices that Niel keeps looking over at the range. He hides his emotions, but she can still see that look of longing in his eyes. She taps on his foot with hers and slowly signs so he can understand her.

'Do you want to go?'

Niel remembers questioning his wants a while ago. He's gotten a little better with voicing them, but it looks like he still has a way to go. He needs to be more honest with himself. Niel quietly nods and stands up, and he makes his way to an empty booth with his surrogate family watching from behind.

After analyzing the target controls and the target itself, he sends it out to its furthest point and stands at the ready. He may not be able to show his Dust, but that doesn't mean he can't take a shot. The range officer is watching him now, curious about his stillness. Dust gathers at the plate and between his fingers. Some curious bystanders are waiting for his long-range shot. The officer is walking to him now, and...

Niel snaps his fingers. An invisible dart of Dust soars downrange and careens with the iron plate, setting off more Dust like a hammer striking the primer of a bullet. A sharp crack rips through the room and everyone stops what they're doing to find the source of the noise. Among the targets swinging on their hooks is one with a fist-sized hole punched through it.

"That was quite a hit!" the officer compliments, staring down the range. "Do you have an iron Mute?"

"No..." Niel now registers that he just destroyed the target, and he covers the Warden's Key hiding under his shirt with his hand. "I'm... sorry about the target."

"Oh, don't worry about that; they're meant to get busted up. There's plenty more where that came from." The officer pulls the busted metal back with the press of a button and unhooks it from the line.

After feeling like he got lucky, Niel returns to the others at the table. Illia is pleased, Reed is pleasantly surprised, and Lydia and Mabel are mildly concerned by the attention Niel drew to himself.

"Dude, your Mute is so strong!" Reed exclaims.

"You've seen me use it before, Reed," Niel says, referring to the soda cans he's obliterated before.

"Yeah, but that was thin aluminum. This was solid iron!"

"I'd say tone it down for next time," Lydia suggests. "You had a lot of people staring at you..."

Niel concedes that he did go overboard there. "I'll be more careful."

With everything checked off of Reed's list, they all decide to call it quits and leave to return home. Except, Mabel turns the car further into the city. While Niel was standing at the range, Illia revealed to Mabel that there was someplace she wanted to go today, and that's where they're heading now.