“That’s what the King’s eye is capable of…” Tonya explained as her current self merged with her past self with Augen’s body floating beside her as the desserts’ background also started to fade away with the end of her reminiscence, “The ability akin to absolute control is something people kill over in Necrovia, and…”

She noticed Augen smirking, and she puffed her cheek out before dispelling her Wave, “What are you smirking at?!”

“So that’s what you look like…” Augen smiled, “You are beautiful.”

“What…what are you on about?! Don’t say embarrassing things like that!” Tonya chopped Augen on the head. She had always cared for her looks as a princess of her class, hainving her mother’s beautiful smooth black hair and the classic darker skin tone of the Necrovia people. Her most dazzling feature was her blue eyes, however, and Augen had a full view of that in Tonya’s memories.

“Sorry…I just don’t get to know what people really look like very often…” Augen held his smirk when Tonya turned around and hid her face despite knowing that won't change anything, “In a way, I suppose you could say people’s Wave show their true nature, but one of my friends had shown me otherwise.”

“Your friend is right.” Tonya hugged her knees and she fixed her hair behind her ear."

“So…you are a princess in exile with the current ruling class hunting for you both to finish the job and to take your eyes?” Augen summarized, “In that case, why are you just going to a border town? Wouldn’t those people just rat you out? Why aren't you leaving the country for good?”

“It’s not that simple…Necrovia is divided into individual regions, and the outer regions don’t tend to keep up with the goings of the capital much, with only the traders traveling across the vast dune seas…” Tonya recalled her teachings, “But…with the soldiers from the capital all the way out here, it seemed like Mila’s planning on something.”

“This Mila person…who is she exactly?” Augen asked.

“Her full name is Mila Nekova.” Tonya said when Augen opened his mouth and sat back.

“No way…”

“What?”

“She was at the Academy too.”

“I know she was.” Tonya said quickly, “After her family attempted a coup and failed a decade ago, they were exiled into the Kingdom of Basha, and I later learned that Mila had departed Basha and headed off to Academy.”

“It’s…not just that.” Augen pressed his fingers into his temple and thought with effort, “She seemed to be with a guy…a guy with so much power that I couldn’t even comprehend…”

“Then he must have been the one helping her with the revolts!” Tonya followed as she sat down fully on the blanket on the ground, “I need more support and more power in order to take back this kingdom…I need more people…”

“I might be able to help you.” Augen said, “I might be able to get in touch with my friends.”

“You had already died once for me…” Tonya shook her head, “I cannot accept this. Plus, this was an internal conflict of Necrovia, and it will be strang for me if outsiders were to help me in this matter.”

“I can use it again!” Augen raised his hand when Tonya rolled her eyes.

“And live for even a shorter time?” Tonya crossed her arms and cut the discussion short, "Not a chance."

“It’s nothing for me.”

“It is for me!” Tonya pointed straight at Augen, "If you lose your time because of me, then I am responsible for that! I...I am already responsible for so much more..."

“It will just…a little bit at the end.” Augen scratched his head, “It’s not big deal…really.”

“Nope!” Tonya pushed both hands at Augen with annoyance, “As I said, you are not going to get in this any further.”

“Then why are you even telling me all of these things?” Augen also became charged when he suddenly felt the Wave stirring within Tonya’s eyes. He pressed his lips together and nodded slowly, “You…”

“Just wanted someone to talk to…” Tonya lowered her head, “I know we haven’t known each other for long, but…thank you.”

“Please let me help you! I will get in touch with my friends, and we can all help you!” Augen said quickly as Tonya's voice became resolute, “If Mila's involved with the person that I think she’s involved in, then this has just become a lot larger of a matter than just political turmoil within Necrovia alone!”

“I suppose we will find out.” Tonya said, biting her lips and making up her mind, “If fate wills it, then we shall reunite.”

As a set of crown symbols slowly materialized within Tonya’s pure blue eyes, she watched the slim outlines of Augen with all of her concentration as she suppressed the raging emotions within her.

“Go. And Forget me.” Tonya said, releasing a pulse of Wave expanded outward, eventually willing Augen up onto his feet as he stood up stiffly and headed out of their hiding caves, “Perhaps…we will see each other again.”

“So…how exactly did you remember all of this?” Wu asked as Augen planted his face into the bar table and cried like a boy who had just been dumped by his first girlfriend, “If the abilities of these…eyes were as she said it was?”

“So the next thing I knew, I was sitting in a bar at the border between the Eternal Xia and Necrovia.” Augen said, “It seemed like she not only compelled me to leave but also made it so that it made sense that I can’t remember what happened along the way.”

The three of them nodded as Augen reached into his pocket and took out a light blue playing card that only reminded him of Tonya’s mesmerizing eyes, “But my Forbidden Winter: Window of Freezing Past did not require memories on my front. It simply required some sense of a tie to the past through the Wave, and I...I carry more than enough of a past.”

Just like the way the Cerberus' abilities worked...Wu, Lera, and Ver shared a glance before Wu chuckled and shook his head. Augen knew he would appreciate such a clever loophole, and he reached out for a fist bump to which Wu happily obliged.

“If that Mila Nekova, was the same Mila we met during the Cultural festival…” Augen said as Wu rubbed his chin.

“And her boyfriend, Mus, was the same Mus behind PORA…” Wu continued, “Then we have to get to Necrovia and stop them, one way or another.”

“Then it is decided.” Ver stood up, “I know Shrak’Ahk won’t like it, but it’s finally time we pay a visit to the desert kingdom.”

Traveling within Eternal Xia was an easy task, but Augen had warned that the same will not hold by the time they crossed over into Necrovia regions. It wasn’t exactly hard for Ver to sneak the four of them across the border Casts, though once they got there, the same things Augen felt about his Wave were quickly shared by the rest of them.

“What the hell is this…” Ver looked down at the strand of Wave lines leaking out from her body as the Kraken complained of dry skin within her head. Lera was scratching all over her skin as the dry air coupling with the escaping Wave started to give her rashes.

In the meanwhile, Wu had taken off his set of armor before packing it into a neat little package, revealing his well-built arms and shoulders and the cool dark lines underneath.

“Ah! A tropical holiday!” He threw his hands up in the air before finally noticing how unwell everybody else looked, “So…what am I missing out?”

“Wave leaking.” Lera said, swallowing as she wiped away sweat along her forehead, “The opposite of the Academy. You should check for the fuel rocks and make sure it’s not losing Wave too fast.”

“Good idea,” Wu said, turning around when Augen suddenly appeared behind him and pointed his finger straight at the spot in the middle of Wu’s folded armor where the One Shotter gemstone was located.

“It’s leaking a hell of a lot…” Augen murmured, “Hard for me not to notice.”

With his fingers swirling around, Wu quickly replicated a Void Domain cast on a piece of paper before wrapping it around the central containing unit of the gemstone. Augen let out an audible sigh of satisfaction when Lera and Ver had also learned to fully contain and protect their Wave.

“What do you know about Necrovia?” Wu asked as the group started heading along the desert with Lera maintaining a chariot.

“What does anybody know about Necrovia?” Augen shrugged, “Before I came here last time, all I knew was that it’s dry, harsh, big, and mysterious.”

“And Ilia Faus,” Lera added.

“And him…yes…” Augen said, “Thankfully Fatera wasn’t with us here, or else we need to tell her to not just barge into the palace and pick a fight with Mila right away.”

“I am sure we will face larger problems…” Ver murmured as Augen nodded and headed towards Lera.

“There’s something else…” Augen said, “Despite what’s out here on the surface, there seemed to be something underground. Could you sense it?”

“If it’s not buried too deep,” Lera said, handing over the duties of maintaining the chariot to Ver, who in turn offered it to a Kraken’s tendril. Then, with her Book of Cast drawn at the side, she slowly partitioned a portion of her Wave before slowly pouring it through the basis of her Cast array.

Her fingers glowed briefly before her cycling Cast array was sent deep through the thin layers of sand and deep underground.

“What am I looking for, exactly?” Lera asked as she let the drag of the sand bring her network of Casts behind her like an anchor in the ocean.

“I…don’t know. Ilia appeared from seemingly nowhere from underground when he ambushed us, and he was moving around in a capsule of some sort…” Augen scratched his head, “Unless there are some teleporting Casts that are magically buried in the sands, or there’s some network that they are traveling through underground.”

“Then it has to be way deeper.” Wu suggested, “Way below the sands when the layers of the earth are pressed strong enough into each other for any sort of structural support. Or…just any sort of Wave magic, I guess.”

“I…don’t know,” Lera said as she strained further, expanding out her reach further than it has ever gone. It was a challenge in itself to manage her Wave while in the desert, and even more so to push past her limits.

However, when Augen and Wu are both looking at her with excited expressions on their faces, she couldn’t let them down.

“Slow…down…” Lera grunted as she felt tension pulling from the tips of her fingers when Ver nodded and allowed time for her Cast array to settle, “I don’t feel any- Shit.”

“What?!” Wu asked when Lera’s eyes shot open, and her entire arm started shaking.

“I…I think I just hit something…” Lera said as she yanked her hands violently, “Brace yourself!”

“I feel it too!” Augen shouted, “It’s the same thing! Something…something’s coming!”

Within moments, Wu saw the sand around them rippling when a capsule shot out from underneath them, smashing through their chariots and sending Wu, Lera, Ver, and Augen flying in all directions.

Wu, with all of his gears off, slammed headfirst into the sand before he rolled down the slope of the dune and was picked up by Ver’s Whirlpool Purple to bring back to the main group.

“So…what the hell was that…” Augen spun around, sensing no other presence next to him, even though everything up to this point felt exactly like when Ilia first emerged from the sand.

Just what kind of secrets is Necrovia hiding…