x
After making it into the building, we all gathered in our usual private dining area and spent a couple of hours eating lunch with my parents.
I explained to them that what happened was just a sparring match between Michael and Tymon gone wrong.
My dad, however, was more fascinated by the chemistry between the two. He seemed to completely ignore the fact that had they not been stopped, everyone there could have died...
"It all worked out," he had said. "Being involved with such magnificent beings comes with some risks."
He expressed that he was more disappointed about not being invited to see the match himself.
"That was a rare opportunity to gather real combat data from them," he conveyed.
To make him feel better, I promised to invite him to the next sparring match any of them may have while we were home.
"I'll hold you to that," he said as he and my mom left to attend to other matters.
Once they were gone, we all sat quietly in the office.
"What now," Trik asked.
"Naomi, could you listen for Avarice and tell us what he's up to," Tymon asked.
"I've been trying to do that for a while now, but I can't hear anything," she responded as she made a smiley face in the frost building over the glass table. "I think he's insulated his lab as a contingency for me."
"Great. Of course, he already knows about your abilities," Tymon remarked frustratedly.
Tymon looked at me.
"Any ideas for stopping Avarice and his forces? What does Viraa say?"
"Viraa doesn't intend to interfere too much, you know, with the whole time thing and all," I replied. "And I have no solid plans yet. I know we should keep Trik close at all times, though. With his new sensors, he's the only one who can detect if Avarice sends any High Gods to spy on us, even if they suppress their energy. Other than that, I haven't come up with a way to counter them or where to start an attack of our own. For now, I've just been more focused on gathering everyone."
"Well, I've been thinking of where to begin," Tymon stated. "If we want to limit the number of casualties this war will bring, we need to start making things difficult for them...starting by getting rid of the Holders. We do that, and we'll cut their numbers drastically while also preventing unnecessary deaths. Then there are the High Gods; if we team up and do this strategically, we can take at least one out without a huge fight; if we're lucky, maybe more before the others catch on and retaliate. Then once the fighting begins, our biggest problems would be Avarice and Verin. If we can come up with a way to trap them, we can imprison them, which will help us avoid having to kill Verin and upset the balance."
"What? Why does your plan involve killing everyone unnecessarily?" I asked, opposing his plan. "It's too soon to resort to something that drastic. Perhaps when everyone's gathered, a better plan can be found."
Tymon shook his head in disbelief.
"Each of Avarice's High Gods is just as powerful, if not more powerful, than Za'Fia, Michael, and myself in our hybrid forms. And that doesn't account for Verin or Avarice, who are in leagues of their own. How do you expect to beat those odds without fighting with the intent to kill?" he asked as he grew more frustrated.
I was beginning to feel myself tremble slightly as I grew anxious. I never did like arguing. When I quickly glanced around the room, I saw Michael and Za'Fia watching me and Tymon intently while Naomi observed, looking nervous herself.
Then I felt Trik's cold, metal touch as his arm grazed mine.
I looked to my left to see that he'd levitated over to me to show his support. Knowing he stood by me gave me more courage as I looked back toward Tymon.
"I don't know yet," I stated confidently. "But our first instinct shouldn't be to kill them. The right thing to do with power is to save lives, not end them when they don't follow our agenda."
Suddenly Tymon's body began to change as a wave of terror washed over me. His skin began to take a grayish color, and some of his facial features began to morph slightly as his voice became distorted and beastly.
"This isn't a comic book, Alissia!" He exclaimed, his voice booming. "We're not gods, and we're not heroes – we're just beings created by another being whose energy happened to sync with this planet's. Our responsibility is to live to maintain balance. Not to fly around trying to become righteous symbols of hope. So, when something threatens our lives and therefore threatens everyone on the planet, it's our responsibility to destroy it. Right now, that's Avarice and his forces. They want to kill us. And after plenty of torture and experiments, make no mistake, that's what awaits everyone. We all know what happened when I was gone; what do you think will happen if more of us are taken out?"
I stared at him wide-eyed and in shock as his presence seemingly loomed over me like an angry giant, making me feel small and insignificant.
Thankfully, Trik had used his rupture prisms to protect me from being petrified by his power again.
Za'Fia and Michael had appeared in front of Tymon.
"Calm down," Za'Fia said as she placed her hand on his chest, and Michael placed his on Tymon's shoulder.
Tymon looked down at his partially morphed hand as if only then realizing he was transforming.
In a steady and controlled breath, he willed his body to revert to its normal state, then stared at me briefly.
"You're being too naïve and soft-heartened," he told me as he started toward the door. "Refusing to come up with a way to end threats that endangers an entire world permanently will only result in more casualties and getting everyone around you killed."
With that, he walked out, leaving the rest of us in strained silence until I could no longer take it and rushed to my room.
* * * *
Tymon spent the rest of the day preparing to leave. It was past midnight as he recalled what had happened earlier and felt the weight of guilt in the pit of his stomach.
He hadn't meant to scare her like that or to transform. Looking at his hands, he noted that keeping his hybrid form in check was becoming harder. He just hadn't had the time necessary to tame it yet.
There was a knock at his door as Za'Fia opened the door.
"You okay?" She asked as she entered.
"Yeah, I'm just...I think it's best if I left," he told her as he stuffed the last of his things into his spatial bag. "I know that the only way to prevent the coming tragedy is to destroy Avarice's empire and everyone involved systematically. I wanted Alissia to see that, but she and Michael are too hesitant to take a life even when justified, so my hopes weren't too high. I guess I'll have to do it myself."
Tymon looked at Za'Fia silently.
"Actually, I don't...if you don't...I mean, if you want, you can..."
"Of course," Za'Fia responded without hesitation. She patted her spatial bag as if saying she already packed. "But what about Alissia and Trik? Avarice could send someone after them."
"She'll be protected," Tymon assured her. "Naomi seems to have quickly warmed up to her and Michael; although he's haughty and has a huge god complex, he won't allow anything to happen to them. Plus, the purpose of me challenging him was to see how strong he was. I doubt they'll come after Alissia with him around. At least not without it alerting the rest of us."
"You really have been thinking about this for a while," Za'Fia said lightly. "Well, what do you wanna do now?"
"Get started on the plan," Tymon replied.
"Hm. Before we begin, there's somewhere I need to take you," Za'Fia said.
"Where?" Tymon asked curiously.
"It's a surprise. Trust me, you need it," she said coyly with a playful smile.
Tymon nodded.
"All right, lead the way."
------
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