While Jules continues to drive the car across the road, Jones happens to find a few bandages in the pocket of the passenger side door. So for the past couple of minutes he had been trying to wrap up Midas' injury, but was struggling with the car occasionally swaying left and right.

"Ahh, careful Jones. It's starting to sting a little." Midas says, sucking the air through his teeth.

"Sorry Midas. It's difficult when you're in a moving vehicle."

He watches as the blond tries to carefully wrap the bandaid around the cut on his arm. Seeing him being so gentle and cautious with him, afraid of making the cut bleed out again, he couldn't help but smile softly. So he reaches for his hand, aiming to reassure him.

"Jones it's okay. The bandage doesn't need to be perfect. So don't worry."

Midas brushes a thumb against Jones' cheek, causing both to blush a bright red. That's when Jules breaks the silence at the front.

"Hey you two, can you stop making goo goo eyes at each other and do it in the privacy of your bedroom? I'm driving here."

Jones chuckles sheepishly while finishing up the bandaid. Midas clears his throat, slightly embarrassed about what Jules said, and leans back in his seat.

Before long they arrived at the location they were looking for.

The Seven's haven, The Sanctuary.

"Woah, this place looks cool! I've never been here before." Jones mutters. "Loving the statue Foundation has though, haha."

Midas glances out the window, seeing the statue of The Foundation standing tall and proudly over the Sanctuary.

He jumps in surprise in his seat slightly as the car runs over a knocked down tree, bracing his hand on the roof of the car. Due to the shock, his golden touch slightly spreads against the roof. He retracts his hand before it gets any worse.

"Shit. Damn golden touch. Spreading when I don't want it to."

Midas grumbles a little as his golden handprint remains on the roof, sticking out like a stain on a white shirt, before hopping out the car along with Jones and Jules.

It was definitely somewhat of a peaceful haven with its location by sandy beaches and the calm ocean waves lapping against each other.

There were a few dozen guards armed with weapons and wearing helmets walking around, but it made sense given this was the Seven we were talking about. A few of them notice the trio walking around and quickly approach them, raising their weapons at them.

"Halt trespassers! What are you doing in the Seven's Sanctuary?"

Before Midas can respond, this time Jones steps in and talks to them.

"Hey, it's okay. The Seven called us here. They know we're coming."

The guards turn to each other before giving a slight nod and walking away. One stays behind to say...

"You can find the Foundation in the tall building over there."

They point to exactly that. A tall building with a grassy path leading up to it. Midas turns to them and nods.

"Thank you. Let's go."

As they walk Midas could help but worry a little.

What if another tremor happens while they're talking to the Seven? What if they couldn't get out quick enough this time? What if-

"Hey, Midas?"

He was snapped out of his daydreaming by Jones, who was nudging his shoulder.

"You okay?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine. Sorry. I must have gotten lost in my thoughts again." He says, a hand over his bandaged arm. "I can't help but worry another tremor will happen."

Jones sighs, an arm over Midas' shoulders.

"I doubt anything will go wrong babe. But if it does, you'll be here to protect us from danger. Y'know, like the amazing hero you are."

He blushes a little while trying to hide his growing smile. Jones really was too kind and loving around him, yet he loved the affection.

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm a hero." He says to him. "Just someone who wants the best for his family and home."

Jones simply chuckles with a grin, taking him by the hand.

"Well, you'll always be a hero to me golden boy..."

---------------

"WHAT?! THEY'RE BACK ALREADY?!" Midas yells, slamming his fists into the meeting table.

Jules covers her face with a hand, not sure if Midas had to make his outburst that loud, while Jones flinches slightly. While he knew his boyfriend was known for being quite quick to rage, he wasn't expecting it since he had been so calm lately.

What set Midas off was the Foundation, joined by the Scientist, telling the trio that the tremors were mostly likely caused by the Imagined Order trying to find a way to the island. And he was not happy in the slightest.

"Midas, calm down man!" Jones tells him.

"Why John? Why should I be calm?! I have a right to be pissed off!!" He shouts at him, his body turning completely gold in the process. "God, they just can't leave us alone for even a few months!!"

Jones flinches again, not used to Midas shouting at him directly. While Midas continues to rant The Scientist turns to his boss, nudging him by the shoulder.

"Huh, and I thought your temper could be hectic at times." He admits.

The Foundation shakes his head.

"Nevertheless, we're losing the point of calling this meeting." He reminds them all. "Jones, you seem good at comforting people. Calm Midas down for us."

Jones doesn't even need to answer as he walks over to Midas who looks as though he's going to punch a hole through the wall, or at least try to.

"Midas! Please, listen to me. Take a deep breath and breathe. In and out, okay?" Jones tells him, grabbing him by the wrists and looking into his, currently, plated gold eyes.

As he follows Jones' instructions his breathing begins to slow to a normal speed, the rage in his expression and eyes melting away a bit. The gold drains from Midas' face and back to his wrists as he regains his composure. His angered expression is replaced with one of guilt. His boyfriend lets go of him as he looks up.

"Sorry Jonesy. I didn't mean to lose my cool and yell at you." He mutters, rubbing his head and brushing his hair back into place. "And I apologize, Foundation, for interrupting the debriefing."

"It's fine. Truthfully, I'm a bit ticked off that they've returned so soon. But I fear there may be worse things they're doing aside from causing tremors underground."

Midas raises an eyebrow in interest.

"Oh?"

"What they're up to, I can't be sure. But we have a spy on the inside watching for anything they might be planning."

"We've also been trying to get into contact with the Paradigm. I'm certain she could help us as well." The Scientist adds.

"You mean YOU have been trying to contact the Paradigm." The Foundation corrects him. "Whereas I have been contacting trustworthy members of our organisation."

"And who might they be?" Jules asks, listening closely.

"The Imagined and The Origin. One's quite the eager, rebellious type. The other...not so much. Mostly due to his past he'd rather not talk about. But they're valuable members of the Seven."

"Ooh, mysterious past! Sounds like you eh Midas?" Jones chuckles, softly pinching his boyfriend's cheek.

"Oh please. Probably nearly everyone on the island knows something about my past by now." He sighs. "It's not exactly a mystery anymore."

"As for you three, we'll contact you if things get really bad." The Scientist adds. "For now, I say enjoy the peace while it lasts. There might not be much of it left."

With that Midas, Jones and Jules begin leaving. The mastermind reflects on everything that had been said in the debriefing, a lingering doubt in his mind.

"Sounds like I'm going to have to prepare to get involved in yet another war..."

---------------

A bit later...

As the day comes to a close, Jones decides to treat Midas and grab a caramel latte each to cheer him up as after the meeting with the Foundation and Scientist, he hasn't been very happy. The thought of enduring yet another war for the island had made unpleasant memories come crawling back to him.

Currently, they were sat on a bench outside the house watching the sunset on the horizon and stars appear in the sky. The blond looks over at his boyfriend, seeing the sadness in his golden iris.

"Hey, you okay Goldie?"

Midas glances over at him before taking another gulp of his latte.

"I'll... I'll be fine. I've already gone through one war. Another one won't kill me..."

Jones didn't feel comfortable with that answer, considering that in wars people do usually get killed. He shuffles closer and pulls Midas into his arms, pressing a kiss on the side of his head.

"We'll get through this together, I promise."

Midas looks up at Jones, who promptly gives him a kind smile. He wasn't sure if things would turn out okay after the Imagined Order returned, but Jones' presence alone was enough to give him the reassurance he needed in that moment. In return, he manages to let a smile of his own fall on to his reddening face.

"Thank you my darling. Now, why don't we head indoors. Jules should be done with tea by now."

---------------

Later...

While Jones and Jules were getting ready to go to bed inside, Midas had stepped out again to get some air and think to himself.

Think about what he was going to face in the near future.

As he sits on a chair and leans against the nearby table he lies his head in his crossed arms, his eyes fluttering to stay open before they gently close. However when he opened them again, he wasn't outside in the garden anymore.

Instead, he found himself standing at the golden gates of a palace.

Oro and Orelia's palace.

"What am I doing back here again?" He mutters to himself. "I thought I'd be done with this place after the chaos with the Cube Queen."

He steps forward and the gates open up, running through the courtyard and looking at the empty lifeless gardens surrounding it. The grass and leaves were a dry yellow colour, withering away along with the fences' metal rotting away.

"This place really has seen better days. I wonder why Orelia or Astra haven't been trying to restore it?" He wonders as he walks inside.

"Why should I? There's nothing I can do to restore what we've lost."

Midas jumps at the voice to find Orelia sat on her throne. He couldn't help but notice the empty one beside her, signifying Oro's absence.

"I should've known you'd drag me back here again." Midas sighs, going over and sitting in it while folding his arms. "What do you need?"

"I don't need anything from you. Just to ask you a favour."

Midas raises an eyebrow and looks over at her. She seemed a little down.

"Listen, with the way this palace is falling into decay, I don't want Astra staying here in this broken home." She explains as she gets up to walk into another part of the palace.

Midas gets up to follow.

They go through a pair of doors that lead to the back garden of the palace. There, Astra could be seen wandering around and picking up flowers that looked like they'd wither away into pieces if you even looked at them wrong.

The side of her face with her missing eye had since been cleansed of the blood and had an eye-patch over the empty socket.

"I'm not asking you to take her in unless you wish to, but I'm just going to send her down to the island so you can keep an eye out for her." She explains. "She's already lost one home. I don't want her to watch as she loses another..."

That sentence peeks Midas' interest a bit, and he turns to her once again.

"Already lost one home? What do you mean by that?"

Orelia sighs.

"It doesn't matter. She doesn't remember any of it anyway."

Midas' curiosity grows.

"Let's just say... Astra's old life wasn't very happy. She didn't deserve to perish the way she did..."

Perish? Old life?

Both of those hints lead up to a realization in Midas' mind.

"Do you mean to say that... Astra is a living corpse?"

"In a way, but not completely. I'll explain it to you...but not right now..."

Orelia begins to disappear as Midas runs over to her, desperate to know what she was on about.

"No! Wait!"

----------

"Orelia!- Ahh!"

Midas awakens back outside in the garden, landing on the grass as he slips off his seat in his panic. As he gets back up the backdoor opens up, revealing Jones behind it who was wearing nothing but a dressing gown and slippers.

"Midas are you okay? I heard you shout."

Jones takes Midas' hand and leads him inside while he explains what happened.

"You're dealing with MORE stuff related to Oro?" He exclaims. "Jeez, you just can't catch a break can you?"

The mastermind simply shrugs as they head upstairs.

"Just don't overwork yourself on it, okay? We gotta prepare for when I.O comes back, and I don't want you to be outta shape when they do." Jones tells him, kissing him on the cheek.

He smiles a little, Jones' confidence boost working.

"Alright I won't. It probably won't matter all that much, but I can't help but be curious."

"Hehe, I know..."

--------------