“Io.”

The word was soft, like a whisper, almost so silent that it didn’t exist; but he heard it, and that was enough. The name chimed in his mind, echoing back and forth. His heart began to throb in his chest. It couldn’t be true, he knew who he was. He was Milo: the heartless. Yet, the name struck something inside of him that he couldn’t disregard, leaving a shard of painful doubt. Panic overwhelmed him and he fled, fled from his thoughts.

-----

“You've got to be kidding!” Vigilante cried, staring in disbelief at the N'aian in front of her. She had heard him too, faintly, but Milo's reaction was enough confirmation.

The others around her wore surprised expressions, as if they didn't understand. Perhaps they hadn't heard what Qumo said.

The old N'aian turned towards her. He wore a pained expression, and she didn't know if she was supposed to feel sorry for him or not. She thought it quite funny in a way, but she guessed that would be inappropriate to say.

He didn’t answer her, and as the seconds passed, she changed her mind. She had seen hope in those deep brown pools when they arrived, something that was precious and rare. When you lived with the threat of the World’s end hovering over your head, like a constant, only the innocent could muster that remarkable feeling. Now, there were almost no innocents left, no children. Of course he had the right to be disappointed as the one who could possibly save them chose to run away. But it couldn't be true, Milo couldn't be Io, the thought was ridiculous.

“Where did he go?” Annie asked. The nonsensical question had her roll her eyes. This insufferable girl they had brought along was nothing but a nuisance. This was not a time for silly questions!

“How would we know? The question you’re after is: why did he go?”

The girl looked up at her and she immediately felt a little guilty for being so openly rude. She saw Annie swallow the whole thing and just nod in agreement.

“You’re right, why did he go?” Annie amended. Now the girl looked at each and every one of them. Requesting an answer that none of them had.

“Yes, that is a very good question, but I think I will start with another, perhaps more easily answered one, and that is why you, Vigilante, would want my word to be untrue?” Qumo asked, looking inquisitively at her, making her regret ever voicing her opinion. However, they might as well know the truth...

“You called him Io, him: an assassin who was here to kill you. I think that should be allowed some kind of comment?”

There was a collective gasp from Vito and Annie. None of them seemed to be able to gather their thoughts, much less utter any words. However, Qumo beamed...

“Ah, but he didn’t kill me, which poses another interesting question.”

She couldn’t help but stare at him, or gawking was perhaps a better word for it.

“You seem to know some of this Nyx, would you care to share it with us?”

With those words Qumo managed to get her outside of her comfort-zone. Information was not to be shared: it was to be protected, at all costs.

He must have seen her reluctance. “Child, if you have something that would make us understand this Nyx a little better it might give us a clue as to where he has gone, and why. The world has waited for this man to return for five centuries and I’m afraid that we will have use of him sooner than we would like. The forces are tearing this world apart. It will not be long before the earthquakes start.”

“They've already started,” Annie added, her voice certain and calm.

“We have not heard of such incidents? Are you sure child?” Qumo asked with a worried expression written across his face, which told her far more than she wanted to know. She had thought that she at least had some years left, but if the earthquakes had started, the end was closer than she thought.

“Yes, I Heard a man speaking of them, they’re rumbling quietly under Easthold City. He said they made the water shake in your glass,” Annie replied.

“Hold on... please just stop talking... all of you.”

Three pair of eyes landed on Vito. He looked about ready to break down. His eyes were distant, glazed. She saw him take a few deep breaths and then make an effort to compose himself.

“Io, he’s back?”

Silence followed, those simple words spoken again just made it more real, and more unreal. Vigilante's thoughts swirled like a whirlwind, trying to grasp what had happened, what it meant: the implications. Nothing in her life held any importance in comparison to this brief moment, it should not, and that thought was numbing her mind.

In the end it was Annie who spoke, “We have to find him, I don’t think he’s going to handle this very well on his own.”

Vigilante, for once, agreed with the foolish girl. What she knew of Milo didn’t bode well for the world, if he was indeed Io.

-----

Vito suddenly collapsed on the floor in front of them, spasming violently. His eyes rolled to the back of his skull before closing them altogether. He went rigid, still, if asleep. When he opened his eyes they were not white, but black, completely black. Annie couldn’t help but cringe back as the color sent an unwelcome shiver down her spine. Last time Vito Went down like this, he had done so with his eyes closed.

“Io is on his way to me, delivered by the Spider”

Vito’s voice crawled across her skin. It was his voice, but it also held something else that wasn’t normally there.

He didn’t say anything else, but he didn’t wake up. He continued to stare into nothingness with those haunting eyes. She knelt down beside him, her heart beating with fear.

“Vito?” she tried, but didn’t receive any response. She began to shake him.

"Who was that?" she cried, even if she was afraid to hear the answer.

“Child, let him come back to us in his own time.”

"Who was that?" she insisted.

She looked up at Vito’s old tutor, searching for an answer. Vito had told her wonderful stories about the old N'aian on their way to the settlement and she knew that Vito saw him as a father, the father he had never had. Now she felt that pull, the urge to just trust the N'aian completely. If anyone knew what was happening, it was him. Yet, the N'aian didn't answer, instead he looked thoughtful.

She inched away from the rigid young man before her, but took hold of his hand and squeezed it lightly. He had been so kind to her, even if he knew nothing about her, or perhaps it was because he knew nothing about her and her past.

“I think I know what that meant.” Vigilante said, her voice hesitant, something she had never heard in that voice before. She turned towards the other woman and was surprised to see it doubtful, but it was gone in an instant, replaced by indifference. Annie gazed up at Qumo again, waiting for him to take over and ask all the questions, but he didn’t. He just stood there, waiting for Vigilante to continue.

Before she was able to develop, Vito stirred to life, and all attention turned towards him.

-----

“Vito, are you alright?”

He smiled as he heard Annie's soft voice. He tried to focus his eyes, longing for a return to reality again. Her voice helped, and the mental image of her eyes, her face...

“I think so," he finally said, remembering the question. "...but I don’t remember falling down. What happened? Is there something wrong with me?"

“There's nothing wrong with you Vito, I think this has always been meant to happen, white upon white to See," Qumo replied. The last few words seemed to be more for himself than to the others, and the N'aian even chuckled a little. Vito couldn't see the fun. He had never been more confused, or scared of himself, and Qumo thought it funny?

"Do you remember talking?” Qumo continued.

Talking? Yes, he had said something. He closed his Eyes and dried to remember. “Yes, I remember what I said," he replied, and then he Went silent as the scene started to play before him.

He closed his mind, refusing to relive the terrible images.

“Did you see the face of the person that is going to kill him?” Vigilante asked, her voice cold as ice.

He took a deep breath, “Yes, I did. He had a scar across his left eyebrow, tall, looked old but agile.”

He looked up at the dark haired woman and found that he couldn’t read her at all, like she wore a blank mask instead of a face.

It was clear that she had no intention of sharing her thoughts, annoying woman! “You know something, but I guess you don’t care, you were supposed to kill him anyway, now you don’t have to, someone else will do it for you," he snapped.

Her silence was irritating, and her fickle behavior: showing one thing one moment, and then the opposite in the next. He had begun to think that she was something more than just an assassin on a mission but now he wasn’t so sure. He couldn't deal with this now, he had enough with his own freak show.

“You think very highly of me, don’t you?” Vigilante said with sarcasm dripping in her voice, her face no longer devoid of expression. The turn was instantaneous, and almost violent. He didn’t know what to make of it.

“Have you given me any reason for trusting you so far?” he asked. She only stared in response. She hadn’t, she had tried to assassinate Milo. Then he realized that Milo had been planning to kill Qumo, and his thoughts began to storm in his head. Why had Milo intended to kill Qumo, and why had Vigilante targeted Milo? Had she lied when she said it was a hit ordered from The Council? Was she here to save Qumo?

“Why were you supposed to kill Milo?” he demanded.

“Not were sonny, am. Why am I supposed to kill him.”

Her response gave him the urge to bang her head into something hard, but before he could say anything she continued, “However, I’m pretty sure that I won’t be able to execute the deed, The Spider will undoubtedly get to him first.”

“Who is that?” he asked.

“It’s my boss.”

“Why would your boss kill him?”

“Because it would seem that it's also his boss, which I didn’t know...”

“...but why would his boss kill him?” he asked, getting more and more confused with each answer he received.

“Because he didn’t kill Qumo of course, he abandoned his mission. It’s standard procedure.”

“...but why would you work for such a man?”

She didn’t answer this time.

“Calm down children. We have a lot to prepare as we will leave from here as soon as we are able, we have no time to lose if we are to find him before it is too late. I know of The Spider, and that does not ease my mind,” Qumo said, looking worried, very worried.