Did you guys notice the new cover?! It's awesome isn't it?! Now before you say how awesome it is, it's important that you know that I have no skill whatsoever when it comes to book covers.  The credit for this beautiful new cover goes to a wonderful reader named: -Devi-. Thanks for the cover!
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       "The name's Seris and I am one of the few people who actually know about you a lot more than others. Most simply know your name while others know you as The Tracer. Don't know where the name came from but it stuck around," Seris said. Ara glanced over at Add who looked over at her with the same shared look of confusion. "You don't understand right now but you will in a bit once we get back to base. I'll let the others introduce themselves before we head there though," Seris said.

        The other cloaked people, which amounted to four others, revealed their faces. The first to speak was a younger looking guy. He seemed to be around Seris' age which was definitely a good little bit above Add and Ara's ages. "I'm Owen. It's good to meet you two again," he said with a slight smile and wave. "I'm Barton but you were already supposed to know that. So much for being The Tracer," the one called Barton muttered. Owen, who was standing next to him, elbowed him in his side to which Barton shot Owen a glare.

        "Don't mind him. My name's Zohan. He's just angry because he isn't the superior one in this group like I am," Zohan said. "As if I'd let you get away with that! Everyone knows that I'm the superior one! I'm Fred by the way," Fred said with a thumbs up. Ara realized that they were actually all around Seris' age. "We're rebels of a group called the Crow Mercenaries. We fight to free queen Eve of her mentality and save Altera from total collapse. There are rumors that Altera Core has been becoming more and more unstable since the king left to Elysion. It was after this that Eve began to rule so cruelly. I assure you, she was not always that way," Seris explained as she began to lead them further into the cavern that the transportation unit had parked them in.

        All of the others, except Owen, followed behind Add and Ara. The cavern was lit well enough by various glowing gems that were scattered throughout the cavern. "What do I have to do with all of this?" Add asked. Ara could see Barton facepalming out of the corner of her eyes. "You came here around this time with a perfect prediction of the future. We don't know what happened the first time around since you hadn't build the devices that kept us from losing our memory of each timeline's events just yet."

       "What you told us was that we would fail our upcoming mission to infiltrate the queen's castle and head down to Altera Core to implant a chip that we hoped would stabilize it. In fact, thanks to the devices you build, my group was able to keep every memory made each time you traveled back in time to stop us from failing again. It's a bit strange having so many different memories of the same exact time but you said it would help us succeed and so far it has helped," Seris said. "Wait a second, Add can't travel back in time on his own," Ara noted.

        "Yeah, that's what you said last time too. You guys call him Paradox. Apparently, he brings Add back through time but erases his memory in order to keep time and space from collapsing on itself or something like that. Unfortunately, Paradox has been bringing Add back way to many times and has caused a major anomaly. You began to get flashes of memories belonging to you in other fragments of time. This helped you to create safety measures against what happens in the future. This group and Raven are the only ones who know of this and we know how great your power is," Seris explained just as the cavern got larger to reveal a blockade of rocks.

       Everyone stopped and watched as Owen went up to the rocks and knocked on them in a pattern of sorts. He backed up and the rocks slowly rose up through the cavern ceiling, surprising Add and Ara. "In order for me to have come back so many times, you guys must have failed a lot then. What makes you so sure that there's a possibility where your group succeeds?" Add said. Seris stayed quiet, her eyes widening in shock. "You didn't ask us that last time," Owen muttered.

        "Oh we succeed several times but you and your selfishness keeps getting in the way of us moving on with our lives. Do you know how annoying it is for me too remember all of the different ways I die or succeed?!" Barton snapped. Add looked over at Barton with confusion. "Wait why do I keep coming back if we succeed in certain possibilities?" Add asked Barton. "That's not important. What you do need to know is that if it happens again, we'll be glad to do all of this over again," Seris said before Barton could say anything.

        "I think we should tell him though. Might as well get it over with. The last time he found out before the mission, things didn't go too well if I remember correctly," Zohan said. "He specifically asked us before traveling back in time to keep that a secret from him at all costs," Owen said. "Shut up, Owen. You aren't calling the shots here. If none of you want to tell him then I will. I want him to feel even the slightest bit of emotion so that he can sort of see how it feels to be in my shoes," Barton growled.

        "Barton, don't you dare," Seris snapped. Owen shot Zohan a look that he likely understood. Before Barton could say anything, Zohan covered his mouth and pulled him into a headlock. Barton then shot Fred a look that he most definitely understood but Fred seemed conflicted. Ara could tell that the poor guy didn't know what to do and was about to crack under pressure. "You keep coming back because she dies every time!" Fred blurted out as he pointed at Ara.

       Time seemed to freeze at that moment and Ara stared at Fred in shock. It was awfully quiet and Ara turned her attention to Add who was petrified. He stared blankly at the ground leaving him unreadable at the moment. "That can't be true. Tell me there's some other reason," Add said as he looked up to meet Seris' eyes but she only looked away. "How many times have I come back?" Add asked. "We've lost count," Owen admitted with a look of pity. Ara suddenly felt sick and faught the urge to break down right then and there.

        Add's dynamos began to send sparks out uncontrollably and Add himself trembled. Zohan had released Barton from his grip which Ara wished he hadn't because the man began to say things that only worsened Add's condition. "Now you see. The pain hurts doesn't it. It isn't physical but rather emotional and it's all your fualt. You caused this. If you hadn't done all that you did, none of these possibilities would even exist. I wouldn't have to deal with all of this craziness. You keep making mistakes over and over. You're supposed to be so smart but you're too stupid to realize that she can't be saved!" Barton practically yelled.

        Add had dropped to his knees by then, holding his head as if he had a bad headache, and he seemed to be about to cry. Barton only continued to insult Add and Ara had enough of it already. Seris nor Owen nor Zohan nor Fred had attempted to stop Barton from saying such things but Ara certainly would. "SHUT UP!!" Ara shouted at Barton as she erupted in Eun's power but it felt different this time. When she had yelled, her voice was mixed with hers and Eun's and Ara had all nine tails swaying behind her, moving in sync with her anger.

        Seris and Owen had backed away in fear. Fred's hand went for his sheathed sword and Zohan slowly backed away from Barton who looked over at Ara with a bit of fear. It was the fear in all of their eyes that caused Ara to feel a bit fearful herself, hoping that she wouldn't hurt anyone. A sudden cry of pain from Add was enough to snatch her attention and she went to him, getting to his side far faster than she'd anticipated. Add was holding his head with both of his hands now as his headache got even worse. He looked at Ara and she could easily see the pain in his eyes. "Ara, it hurts....make it stop," he whimpered as he shook his head a bit.

        "Eun, please, there has to be something you can do to stop this. Help him please!" Ara pleaded with Eun in her head. "There isn't much that I can actually do. I can render him unconscious which will solve the problem for now but I can't be certain that it won't happen again the moment he wakes up," Eun replied. "Just do it!" Ara exclaimed as Add let out another cry of pain. "You'll need to let me possess him. Let my hairpin make contact with him, quickly!" Eun instructed. Ara quickly removed the hairpin from her hair and lightly tapped the end of it to Add's forehead.

        For a brief moment, his eyes where completely red and odd red markings appeared on his face, crossing over his already present scar, but these features disappeared as quickly as they had come. Add's eyes slowly closed and he fell forward, Ara catching him as he did. "Is he alright?" Owen said, being the only one to have the courage to say anything to them. Ara didn't answer though, she didn't want to be around the group and hear their constant nagging and prophecy of death. She didn't want them to force more responsibility on Add when he already had enough already.

        Ara knew for a fact that Add couldn't handle the extra pressure. The simple fact was that neither of them could because they just weren't strong enough. Ara knew that she relied too much on Eun's power and that she herself lacked the full training that her family would have provided had they not been killed by war and sickness. Add was just Add. He was as smart as they came but he had a few weakness. He didn't know how to fully utilize his dynamos and is now more vulnerable to his emotions thanks to this stupid journey.

        Add used to be unphased by most things but that had changed in just three days. Ara too had been quite fearless and thought her power to be sufficient but now that she met Eun and experienced loss, she knew that she was power hungry and that if she wasn't careful, something would happen to her. "Seris, what's going on out here? The door has been open for too long. Did something happen?" a new voice said. Seris' fear disappeared and was replaced with great happiness as she looked at the newcomer who stood at the secret entrance to what Ara could see to be an underground city. What stood out about him the most was the unmistakable nasod arm that he had.

        "Raven! Oh, there's nothing to worry about. We brought Add back safe and sound so now we can get started with our planning. He's unconscious right now but as soon as he wakes up, we've got a lot of things to discuss," Seris said as she smiled at the person known as Raven. The name sounded familiar, Seris having already mentioned it, but Ara didn't want them to talk about things the very moment Add regained consciousness. As if fate wanted to laugh in her face, Eun gave a quick warning on Add's condition.

        "Ara, he's waking up. If you truly don't want these people to sprak with Add right now, you've got to do something about it. It seems he is quite resistant to my power," Eun warned. Ara took a few seconds to put together a plan, ignoring the conversation between Raven and Seris who was explaining things. Barton was looking a lot less bold but Ara didn't care. She had to find somewhere to go and quick. Ara picked Add up, managing to get him on her back so that she could carry him to safety. No one thought anything of this so Ara used this to her advantage.

         She managed to gather Add's dynamos in her arms while still keeping hold of Add and just before Raven turned towards her, she bolted right through the open door. She ran faster than she anticipated that she would and ended up becoming a blur as she sped through the city. There were indeed rooftops and so Ara gladly jumped onto one and began springing from on roof to the next just like she would have done back home. She heard murmuring as she sped through the air but paid it no mind.

         Ara had her sights set for a waterfall that fell at the very end of the cavern where the city itself likely ended. No doubt, this waterfall was this city's main source of water. Right before the water fell and crashed down to the rest of it, Ara could see a ledge on each side of it that seemed to be large enough for a small tent or two. That's where she would go. "Hold your fire! That's not an enemy!" Ara heard someone, perhaps Raven, say. How he had gotten to her general area so quickly did make her curious but she was more focused on Add.

         "Ara? What are you...where are we going?" Add suddenly asked, his voice a bit weak sounding. "Don't worry about it. Get some rest. I'm taking us somewhere safe," Ara said as she stopped on a roof to remove her hairpin and tap it to Add's head again. He was once again temporarily possessed by Eun and lost consciousness accordingly. "Sorry. Can't let you wake up right now," Ara muttered in apology before resuming her self given mission.

        The second she got to the rock walls that were near the waterfall, she leaped up onto them, finding convenient miniature ledges to jump from until she'd made it to her desired spot. The waterfall was sort of quieter now that she was so far away from its end. She put Add's dynamos down and lay him on the center of the ledge but placed his head in her lap so that he didn't have to lay his head on the rock. Ara looked out over the city to see it somewhat panicked by her actions but at the moment, she didn't care. Ara focused her attention on Add and began to run her fingers through his hair as she watched the rise and fall of his chest. He would wake up soon so Ara enjoyed the moment as much as she could.
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I was going to put more in this chapter but then I realized that I'd written a bit much already. Until next time you extraordinary readers!