The story so far:

---- Aija is a Volunteer at the Pristine School at Innermost. She works along with Zuri and Ze, who are her friends. Aija witnesses a strange event one night – light emanating from Rez's body. The kidnapper is after her soul, next, but he leaves her alive and goes away. Another man finds her, he wants to take her somewhere else - Aija though wary of him agrees. Aija learns of the existence of the aliens – the Ytai. Also, about the R'ies and H'eon, Harvesting and Àvo from Etrie. Etrie tells her that the man, who Harvested Rez (Thieron), will now go after her. He tells her that the spy/kidnapper's name is Luka. Etrie asks her to work along with him. Aija agrees to work along with Etrie on Harvest Stopping Missions.

---- Thieron kidnaps Aija. She finds out that Nala works for Thieron. Ze, who was following her to rescue her, gets captured along with her. Thieron binds Aija to himself.

---- Luka asks Aija not to talk of Zuri to Nala, especially in front of Thieron. She agrees for Zuri's sake. Luka goes to Etemir to scout for souls. He is caught by Etrie but manages to escape. Etrie is furious about Aija and Ze. Thieron is planning the Harvest of the soul that Luka scouted. Aija and Ze try to escape, but Thieron stops them. Thieron and Aija go to the Open. They meet Alton Ivar.

---- Thieron finds Aija is out of the room and when he goes to find her, he sees that Dhor-Wo has found her. He gets her back to the room, furious. When they go to see Var-Inu, the Ytai man asks to see her. And, then, he tells Thieron to take her to get the Avo. They are attacked by a Savage. He manages to stop it. Var-Inu burns it. Aija asks if he is really Ah'n. He tells that he is Ah'n.

---- Xan speaks to Aija. He tells her what happened to him. 

✽✽✽

****24.2 - Zuri****

The most challenging part hadn't been being alone – it had been pretending that she didn't know what had happened.

Especially, navigating the school week alone had been torture.

Zuri was lonely. And, she had to act like she didn't know why both Aija and Ze were absent from school – both of them who had been close to her. The two junior volunteers, Caroline and even Keira, who mostly kept to herself, had been spending time with her, though she preferred to be alone. It was tough answering questions regarding her two, clearly, missing friends. 

For most of the day, she avoided the teachers, she avoided going back to the teacher's room after classes. She stayed on school grounds but as far away as possible from them. The two junior girls eventually found her in their free time no matter where she was.

It had been a week since Aija and Ze had been kidnapped, and there was no news of them. *Kuna was almost always at her place, and she wondered if he was afraid something would happen to her.

*Ahi had visited her mid-week to see how she was doing. Her mother called her every day, and though it was always a video-call and she could see her family, it wasn't as good as really being at home. And, Imani was terrified for her safety. Two of Zuri's friends had been missing.

 Zuri missed Aija and Ze. She hoped they were fine, wherever they were.

****

She went to Aija's Apartment, the door auto-unlocked for her. Aija's things were scattered; the Secures had scourged the place. Not that they would find anything of significance.

Zuri went to the window and took the bigger pinecone that rested there on the inner sill. No one had given it a second glance. She turned it over and reached for the small chip hidden in its crevices. She put the chip into her Scroll, and it asked for permission to play the information in it.

Zuri said 'yes' and old world music filled the Apartment. Aija had a massive collection of music. She speculated about where Aija had gotten it from. Aija had never told her. But, she was glad that the *Secures hadn't found it, it would have put Aija in trouble. The Secures would conclude that she was doing something illegal and probably give up the search. Not to mention, create a ton of legal trouble for the Oshiros.

The Secures were still looking at it as if Aija and Ze had run off together. They were also dealing with another case – a boy had been murdered at the Hospital. The boy they were supposed to have saved.

Xan Ae Lee, the boy who had been a student at the Pristine School. It had made the news, and it had set off a panic wave throughout all the Cities.

Zuri had never volunteered with the higher grades and hadn't seen him at school. But it was sad. The more she saw the news, the more she learnt about Xan, the more it hurt that they weren't able to help him. Now, he was just another soul collected to help destroy humans.

The front door unlocked startling Zuri. No one but she and Aija could enter, but it wasn't her best friend as much as she had hoped it would be. In walked *Iyler Sun Smith, and she stilled upon spotting her.

"What are you doing here?"

"I am a Secure, I have access to this place. You?" Iyler seemed confident in her lie, and if Kuna hadn't told her the truth, she might have believed her. "You're not supposed to be here. I could arrest you for tampering evidence."

Zuri scoffed, and Iyler looked puzzled. 

"And I could have you arrested for impersonating a Secure. *The Leadership will have your head for this."

Iyler stared at her bewildered. "What do you mean?"

"You're no Secure. You're a member of the *Gale, Iyler Sun Smith. And, I can get you into a whole lot more trouble than you can get me into."

"How do you know about me?"

"I know stuff too." Zuri smiled, satisfied by how she had struck down Iyler's confidence in one moment.

"You're not with the Gale." Iyler frowned.

"No, I'm not." Zuri agreed. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm trying to see if I can find anything that will help me find your friends."

"You won't find anything, not here. You know that very well."

"You know what happened." It wasn't a question. It was a conclusion, a realization that Zuri knew of the *Ytai as well.

"You don't; at least not all of the details," Zuri observed.

"All I know is that they were taken by Thieron," Iyler admitted.

"Then, you know enough." Zuri pointed out. "But why is the Gale getting involved? You majorly deal with the Leadership."

Iyler studied Zuri, considering whether she could divulge information. She was wearing grey jeans and a pink tee. Her blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail. She was pretty, but prettiness wasn't everything.

"We are involved because it involves the Oshiros and a chance to get to Thieron and ultimately Ah'n and *Alton Ivar."

Zuri huffed. "Well, you won't find anything here. She was taken by Thieron from the Hospital. We were there to stop a *Harvest."

"You two were working with *Etrie Ay'tir?" she seemed surprised.

"I still am. I think you need to leave now, Iyler."

"So, it was you two working with him." she said more to herself, and to Zuri, she asked, "What's that music?"

Zuri had totally forgotten about the music playing on her Scroll and was glad that Iyler didn't belong to the Secures. Else, she would be in trouble.

"It's nothing," she told the blonde woman and turned the music off.

"It's old-world music," Iyler said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"How do you know?"

"The question is – how did you get your hands on it? It's banned, and it's stored somewhere out of reach of the public."

"Clearly, you have heard it before," Zuri stated. "How did you find it?"

The door opened, and the two of them turned to see who had interrupted their conversation on old-world music. Kuna walked in, and with one look at Iyler, he grew angry. Zuri was relieved.

"Why are you here?"

"Kuna Ori'wra," Iyler said with a smile. "I should be angry that the R'ies doesn't help the Gale as much as it needs to."

"We provide the necessary help, nothing beyond that. Now leave. Do your work elsewhere."

"I see that Etrie's rudeness has rubbed off on you," Iyler told him. Kuna didn't respond. "Later," she said and left.

Kuna and Zuri left Aija's Apartment after confirming that Iyler had left the Housing premises. Zuri heated up lunch for Kuna. She had extra food sets now that Kuna spent a lot of time at her place. Kuna didn't really seem like he enjoyed the packed food, but he never complained about it.

"You don't seem to like the Gale," Zuri told Kuna as they ate.

"I don't hate the Gale. What they do for their people is commendable. The Leadership is strict, and the Gale does save many innocent lives. It's just Iyler."

Zuri raised her brows, wanting further explanation.

"It's just something about her. I can't specify what it is." Kuna mumbled. "Etrie's on his way here."

Zuri hadn't seen Etrie since the day he had dropped her off at the Terra Turbo Station. It would be awkward.

Etrie arrived about half an hour later. He nodded at Zuri, a faint smile on his lips - he was still wary of her.

Good, Zuri thought.

Etrie sat on the couch, he was in the dark brown uniform of the R'ies. He removed his coat and flexed his shoulders.

"Do you want anything to eat? Or to drink?" Zuri asked him, trying to reduce the uneasiness between them.

"No. Thank you, Zuri."

"Something's wrong," Kuna told him.

"Very much, indeed...." Etrie agreed.

Zuri grew fearful. Had something happened to Aija and Ze? Were they alive?

"Aija and Thieron were spotted in the Open," Etrie informed them.

"Did they not try to get her?" Kuna asked furiously. "I knew he was in the *Open."

"No, they aren't staying in the Open."

"What?" Kuna blinked.

"Thieron and Aija visited the Mansion – Alton Ivar." Etrie said and told Zuri, "Alton Ivar is the leader of *H'eon on Earth."

She nodded. "What do you mean visited?"

Etrie looked sad. "They visited the Mansion and left. The *R'ies team at the Open tried to rescue her – they even sought the help of the Gale Squad there, fearing they wouldn't be able to handle Thieron by themselves. But, they couldn't even attempt a rescue."

"Why?" Zuri and Kuna asked simultaneously.

Etrie ran his fingers through his hair; he looked exhausted. "I have terrible news," he said.

Zuri's heart pounded as she waited for it.

"Thieron has performed a *Uil'dran on Aija."

Kuna's mouth hung open. Zuri frowned not understanding the meaning of Uil'dran. But she could gauge it was something grim.

"It's a physical bond," Etrie explained to her. "It binds two people physically. You can't see the bond, but where Thieron goes, so does Aija. They can't be separated unless the bond is removed and a bond that powerful is as good as a bond for life.

"We can't get Aija away from Thieron for the bond will be extremely painful. The only option is to kill Thieron. And, that's an enormous task by itself. If we could have killed Thieron, we'd have done it by now."

"That guy had all this planned!" Kuna said, his tone bordering on surprise and anger. "He knew we can't take her if she's bound to him."

"The bond is powerful by what En'sa told me," Etrie added. "Of course, it is Thieron; it will be an immensely strong bond. Getting Aija away from him will only cause her more pain."

"Now what?" Zuri whispered as a lump formed in her throat, threatening to cause a breakdown.

"We have no choice but to leave Aija with Thieron; for her own sake. At least until we figure out a way to remove that bond." Etrie told her. He was clearly upset. "At least we know he won't kill her. If he's gone as far as performing a Uil'dran to keep her by himself, he won't end her life. Not in the near future. We have time to search for a way out."

"And Ze?"

"No news of him, I'm afraid. He wasn't with them in the Open."

Zuri tried to swallow the growing lump in her throat. She tried to ignore her thoughts, but for some reason, they kept wandering of all people to Nala; Nala, who had betrayed her trust.

"We have information on the *Àvo. Let's get our hands on it first, before Thieron does. Rumors are that Ah'n is back at the Mansion, and he and Alton decided to send Thieron to retrieve it." Etrie spoke. "I'll ask someone to look into breaking the bond, while we try to get the Àvo."

"Where is it?" asked Kuna.

"Ytèan."

"I'm going," Zuri informed.

"No, it's too dangerous." Etrie denied.

"I don't care. I can't stay here, it's maddening without Aija and Ze, and I can't even help them."

"We don't need you to be reported missing, too, now do we?" Kuna asked. "Think of all the worry your family will go through. Stay here, go to school."

Zuri huffed. "I can take care of myself, and I'm not fragile!"

"I know," Etrie's voice was surprisingly soft and understanding. "But I can't risk it. We have a Harvest stopping mission, you can come. But not to Ytèan."

Zuri was annoyed. "I'm not going to be a liability, I'm responsible for myself. School is driving me crazy."

"No, Zuri," Etrie commanded. "If you need to do something, then I'll assign you to another team when we aren't here. Go on missions, keep busy. But, I'm not taking the risk of having you on a different planet far away from Earth. Too many things could go wrong, and you have never been off Earth before."

"But,"

"No." Etrie cut her protest. "No more discussion regarding this." He stood, and Zuri knew the conversation was done. Kuna stood too.

"Is...is Aija really going to be okay?" he asked.

"She looked fine – unhurt from what I've been told. Thieron won't touch her. He needs something from her." Etrie seemed confident.

"He needs her soul, right? That's bad."

"If her soul was all he needed, he would have taken it by now," Etrie explained. "He wouldn't have put in the effort to create a Uil'dran." Etrie hesitated like he had something else to say but wasn't sure if he must.

"What is it?" Zuri asked.

Etrie let out a loud breath. "Zuri, that night, I met Aija. I sensed that she was strong. Thieron is better than I am; I'm loathed to admit. But, if I sensed she was enormously strong, Thieron would have known instantly truly how powerful she is. There was no necessity for me to have Aija work for the *R'ies; if it was anyone else, I would have erased their memories or sent them to a different R'ies team.

"I kept her close because I knew she was strong and that Thieron would surely want her soul. I never anticipated him to bind her to himself. He must be waiting for the right time to use her. It won't be soon."

"And you didn't think this was important enough to tell us?!" Zuri yelled.

"I couldn't really. Aija would have been scared by it."

"Don't be stupid, Etrie!" Zuri screamed. "She isn't a child. She wouldn't have been scared; instead, we could have been more careful about her and protected her. Now she's bonded to Thieron, who'll kill her any day now he sees useful."

"Zuri," Etrie's voice was pleading. "Thieron was ready to kill her, I didn't think she really interested him enough for him to stop thinking of killing her and bond her to himself."

Zuri huffed. "You're still at fault for not telling us the truth." 

"Also," Etrie started.

"There's more you haven't told us?" Zuri fumed.

"Well, Thieron can see souls. What I mean is that each soul has a different color depending on how strong they are, and Thieron can see it and gauge how strong a soul truly is. I cannot do so. It means that even if I can sense how strong a soul is, I don't understand its true power."

"Can you see souls' colors?" she asked Kuna.

He shook his head.

Zuri sighed. "It means she's terribly strong?"

"Possibly..." Etrie said. "Powerful souls can be very useful when using the Àvo for obvious reasons. I believe he will only use her once he gets the Àvo, which is why we must find it first."

"Leave," Zuri said, furious about all the secrets Etrie had been harboring. For all she knew, he might still not be telling her the whole truth.

"Zuri," Kuna said.

"Both of you leave."

Zuri made the two Ytai leave her Apartment. She needed to be alone.

✽✽✽

Character/Terminology Reference

Kuna Ot/Chr 3.b

Ahi Ot/Chr 3.q

Iyler Sun Smith Ot/Chr 3.x 

The Leadership Ter/5

The Gale Ter/6

Ytai Ter/12

Harvest Ter/8

H'eon Ter/15

R'ies Ter/14

Uil'dran Ter/16

Àvo  Ter/10