The forest breeze brushed past Nicole while she followed Liam. Somehow, he knew exactly where to go, despite lacking a map or compass. "I just feel like this is the right way to go," he'd told her. He hadn't gone into too much detail, but she understood what he meant regardless. Before long, she started feeling it too. Not to the same extent as Liam; she couldn't tell exactly where to go like he did, but she could tell they were going the right way, almost as if something was guiding them.

Why did she feel that way? She wanted to ask Liam about it, but he hadn't been able to explain it before, so he probably couldn't now either. Moreover, the last time she had questioned him, things hadn't gone too well. After their argument, Liam stopped talking nearly completely, occasionally giving her one-word responses if she said anything.

Every time she looked at his face, she could see how he felt. A mix of concentration and a little bit of anxiety. His brows furrowed, and every so often, his eyes would dilate before switching to those eerie feline pupils again. Those eyes of his were expressive. But they never looked at her.

She couldn't blame them. She'd been mentally slapping herself in the head ever since the confrontation with Liam and the snake. How could she be so rude? And while he was already dealing with a war, too. Jeez, a war. The thought of what he must be going through tugged at her constantly. He appeared to be handling it well, for whatever it was worth. No doubt better than she would've.

Liam stopped walking, causing Nicole to bump into him. She quickly backed away, before asking, "what is it?" She didn't expect a full answer. Maybe he would spare a glance at her or give another one-word response, but it would be enough.

Instead, though, he gave her a three-word response. "I feel . . . weird."

Weird? That statement sure was helpful. Nicole resisted the sarcasm, saying instead, "I thought we already established this earlier."

"No, I mean, like, weirder than usual." He turned his attention to her, his eyes practically glowing with some newfound excitement. She'd never seen him excited before. "I think we're close."

The two looked around. Nicole wasn't sure what to look for, but she easily noticed how alive the forest appeared. The leaves on the trees shone, as well as the grass and the flowers scattered on the ground. Wildlife sang in the distance, with a scarlet macaw trying to lead the choir. To top everything off, the sound of rushing water created a beat from afar for the animals to follow as they chanted-

Wait.

Water?

Liam realized it too. "There's a stream," he said, his cat eyes already locked onto the rushing water little ways away.

"Do you think it's connected to the pond?"

"I bet it is." Both of them made their way to the current and started following it. The stream twisted around trees, creating a long, curved path for them to follow. It appeared bright turquoise and it was clean enough for Nicole to clearly see the fish.

Soon, the current broadened into a pool. On the far side of the pond, Nicole spotted something under the water's surface.

Liam had already run around to the other side of the pond when she'd noticed it. Nicole caught up with him and fixed her gaze on where he was staring.

Sure enough, a gold pendant laid on a stone under the water. "We found it," she said.

Liam scanned the area. "We just have to get it . . ."

"That'll be easy, right?" Nicole asked. For some reason, he didn't seem to agree.

"Well, I'm not the best swimmer in the world, but I can manage," he said. He stuck his hand into the water. "At least it isn't cold." He frowned.

"I can get it if you want." Liam shifted his gaze to Nicole. "I'm a pretty good swimmer, and I do still have to make it up to you for earlier," she said. Liam tilted his head.

"You're still thinking about that?"

"Yeah, aren't you?" Nicole said. "You've barely talked to me since the snake incident."

His pale face flushed red. "I'm not mad about that anymore," he mumbled. "I was only thinking about stuff. I didn't mean to make you feel that way. You don't owe me anything."

"Oh." The two endured a long, awkward silence before she shrugged, and said, "Well, I can still do it anyway."

"Uh, okay," Liam agreed. "Thanks."

And like that, Nicole dived into the pond. She glided seamlessly through the water, and for a moment, she forgot why she was there in the first place. The liquid stung her eyes, so she closed them as soon as she neared the bottom, and felt around in the sand for the medallion instead. Her hands drifted onto a hard surface, before resting on something smaller and lighter. Nicole shifted her grip to what felt like a chain. She didn't have to guess at what it was.

To avoid dropping the medallion, she pulled it over her head and around her neck, and as soon as she did, a sudden wave of power flooded her body. Before she had time to register what was happening, a buzzing sound took over her mind. The noise quickly turned into pain, starting at her forehead and engulfing everything else, but suddenly, it stopped, and she found herself standing upright. Hadn't she been underwater?

Nicole opened her eyes, only to find herself beside Liam. He stared at her, then at the medallion, while he held two bottles of water in his hands. Once again, there was a long, awkward silence as Nicole tried to set her mind straight. She carefully pulled the medallion off of her neck.

"I think I just teleported," she finally said.

"I noticed." Liam flashed a small grin. "It makes sense. I'm pretty sure Zacharias could teleport, so I guess the medallion can too. You don't look too happy about it, either. Did it hurt?"

"Yeah!" Nicole said. ". . . Only for a second though."

"Do you think you could do it again?" Liam asked. "But with both of us. It would be easier than walking all the way back." Nicole groaned at the thought. "We don't have to if you don't want to."

"It's fine," Nicole mumbled. Reluctantly, she took hold of Liam's wrist and tried to teleport again, but she couldn't do it.

"Let me try," Liam said, and Nicole passed the medallion to him. "How did you do it before?"

"I have no idea. I just felt it immediately." Liam nodded. After a while of him fiddling with it, he gave up.

"I guess we're walking then," He pulled the chain around his neck. Nevertheless, he cracked a smile. His hand still gripped the gold colored crystal rested on his chest. It appeared to comfort him. Nicole understood why. "That's okay though," he said, his eyes focused on the medallion. "Everything's okay now."