Third Person

Cody stared into the hot chocolate for a long time. It had gone undrinken for the past twenty minutes that he had it, and the longer he spoke, the more he didn't even want it. His stomach felt sick and if he drank anything as sweet as it, he wasn't sure how well it would receive it.

He was currently inside Tanith's home with his other four Atlantean friends seated all around him in a half circle, each with their own drink. While all surprised of everything he told them, Selena took it the most due to just being caught up on everything that had happened. Getting all that information at once wasn't exactly ideal for anyone, and poor Selena had to deal with it as calmly as possible.

It took a moment, but Sam broke the silence. "So, you have to kill him, huh?" Cody barely managed a nod. "What's the big deal? Wasn't that the plan in the first place?"

"I don't like to kill if I can avoid it, Sam." Cody sighed, lightly causing the drink to swirl for his own amusement, though it didn't help lighten the situation at all. "Besides, you weren't there when we were alone. It was just me, him and KrakenKid and... He's different. He acts different now. It's like ever since he became "Human" he acts more like one and I don't-..."

Cody sighed, finally giving up on his hot chocolate and placing it on the table and put his head in his hands. "I didn't understand before but he blames me for what happened to him and rightfully so. I did this to him, Sam. What- how am I supposed to fix this? The Nexus told me that she can't just take him back how he is, which was my plan and-"

"That reminds me," Pikalus interrupted, lightly sipping from his choice beverage of light coffee. "The Nexus can speak to you? When we did that whole, "Power Circle" thing, that allowed you to speak to the Nexus? And what exactly is 'She' like?"

Cody rubbed the back of his neck while trying to think. "Uh... Yes, we used the power circle so I could activate the spirit thing- Astral Projection?" He aimed the question at Tanith, who gave a little nod and thumbs up. "That thing, because she only seem to answer through that and last time I did that, it was through a lot of energy. She's... I don't know, nice I guess? She seems to like me. I don't really know much, it's not like I can just pop by everyday to play a "Get To Know You" game."

Pikalus nodded, dipping his finger in his coffee and making it swirl around. How he could withstand the heat was beyond Cody's knowledge, but he didn't so much as flinch. Cody just sighed, leaning his head back so he could stare at the ceiling. What am I going to do? He kept asking himself, but no answer would come to him.

Tanith wasn't sure what to say to Cody, so she decided maybe he needed time to think this out himself. She personally still had resentment for Ace, and doubted she would hesitate much if she needed to kill him. Guilt would still be there, but just like Anonymous, she could deal with it. Her mind drifted back to what Cody said about the Nexus. It truly was a mystery to her, and so badly she wanted to unlock all of its mysteries of it's magic- or should she say, of her magic. The Nexus is alive!

Selena's eyes remained wide though she tried to hide them by chugging her tea. Tea was supposed to be a calming factor, but it wasn't doing much after everything she was just told. Ace is the Nexus, Cody can speak to the Nexus, Tanith is supposed make sure Cody doesn't die at the risk of her own life, the Nexus is alive and apparently a girl, and Cody now has to kill Ace, or at least have some way to kill him. Will I have to kill him? Blooper? Sam? Are we just gonna drop a building on him and hope he dies? WHAT IS GOING ON? Selena nearly choked on her tea as she started mentally screaming.

Sam noted her sister's actions and had to hold back a laugh. For some reason, while some people might stress eat, Selena would stress drink, and she was doing it right now. She was so close to breaking when Selena sputtered from some kind of mix between chugging too much tea and probably some kind of mental debate in her head. The laughter didn't last for long however, as she turned her sights on Cody. He always did put the world on his shoulders, and it wasn't fair. He keeps saying that he has to kill Ace, when any of us could. He just wants to shield us from it, make us think that he's the only option... Typical penguin. Sam huffed internally. I'll have to take him out later and talk to him.

Professor Pikalus gripped his mug with so much anger that it was a shock no cracks had appeared yet. He tried to swallow down his anger with his coffee but it didn't help one bit. He didn't care what happened to Ace to make him do this, he had screwed with him. With all of them. He caused damage and pain, and Pikalus wasn't going to standby as he only caused more. Cody didn't want to kill him. That was just like him too- all Atlantean life mattered, no matter how small. If he saw KrakenKid and his Tide Changers as Atlanteans, no doubt Ace was the same. So, as Cody's best friend, something he didn't truly earn until tragedy struck, he knew what he had to do.

Pikalus needed to kill Ace so Cody didn't have to.

Cody finally surprised everyone by being the first to shoot up, eyeing his mug but deciding to let it go. He didn't want it. "Anyways, I need to Rasmus. We're finishing up the peace treaty so... Hopefully that goes well and KrakenKid agrees." As he walked out the door, he mumbled to himself. "We need all the help we can get..."

Slowly, the rest would leave as well until Tanith was alone. She put all the cups in the sink, telling herself she would wash them later, and was about to go check on Larry, who was sleeping upstairs, when there was a knock at the door. Blinking in surprise, Tanith figured it was just one of her friends who forgot something and went to open it.

However, when she did so, she found herself face to face with a boy half her height that she had never seen before. He had curly brown hair and purple eyes that stared up at her. For a second, Tanith could've sworn he was reading her every movement before he pushed past her and into her house. Tanith stared in confusion. Isn't it technically kinda weird just to walk into someone's house in Atlantis? That's what everyone keeps telling me anyways...

It took her a moment of hesitation, but finally as he began to search around her house, she spoke up. "Uh- hey! Little... Little- uh... Hatchling- no wait. Human, he's human so he's a... Puer? No, I need English... Small Adult!"

"Child." He corrected, still searching. His eyes moved all around, looking at the potions stand, to the kitchen, before moving on.

Tanith shook her head, mentally scolding herself for forgetting. "Right, child. Sorry, forgot the English word for a moment but, child! What are you doing?" Tanith recovered.

The boy paused for a moment, turning back and facing her. His eyes hid an emotion that Tanith didn't catch deep within them and refused to give up what it was. "The library told me you'd have the books I needed. They didn't have them. They gave me your address." He said, putting it simply and casually like this was all something he did on a regular basis. Turning back around, he asked while he continued. "Where are your books? I need to borrow them, it's important."

Tanith stared blankly for a moment before rushing up to the kid and putting a hand on his shoulder to grab his attention. "Hey! Slow down, start from the beginning. Your name would be a great start. I'd rather not call you 'Child' any longer than I need to."

The purple eyes showed hesitation when his face didn't, but he still answered. "Chester."

Tanith smiled. "Great. Hi Chester, I'm Tanith. Now, what kind of books to you need?"

Chester didn't respond right away, looking her up and down before replying. "Everything you have on souls." His eyes sparked with the slightest bit of emotion just by saying the sentence, though Tanith didn't have the slightest idea why.

Tanith did a double take. Chester didn't even look like he was in his double digits, but he was asking about souls? "Souls? Wow," She breathed, now unsure of what kind of kid she was dealing with. "That's some complicated magic you're asking for but, if you really want, I do have a couple books on them. Oh, but I recommend not trying to see what your soul looks like until you know what you're doing for sure, it's very delicate magic." She turned and made a beeline for the bookcase.

Chester nodded to himself. He knew that, he had been told that before. "Do you have anything on what happens when they're damaged, and how to heal them when they are?"

Chester's heart skipped when Tanith practically jumped in the air and whipped around, eyes wide. "Why? Is your soul damaged? How much? Is it a big crack or a little one? Or did something infect your soul?" Her hands began to fidget, little rays of magic escaping them in the stress. "Oh no, I'm not very experienced in healing souls but maybe if I read up on everything I have and get some help from the others, I can-" Chester quickly stopped her as she rambled on in a worry, holding his hands out to catch her attention.

"No, I'm fine." He insisted, getting a huge breath of relief from Tanith that made him nervous. If she freaked out that much, then this might be harder than I thought... "But I was curious, if a soul was infected with something, what would happen? How would you cure something like that?"

Tanith paused, giving him a look that made him think she caught on, but showed no signs of knowing anything he was talking about. "What kind of infection?" She asked, crossing her arms but more interested in hearing what he had to say than anything.

Chester briefly closed his eyes, envisioning the darkness that looked like it was cracking the blue soul he had seen. "I'm not entirely sure," Chester admitted, flickering his eyes back open. "But, it's like... Darkness, surrounding the soul and attacking it, forcing it to comply with what it wants."

Tanith's eyes slowly became more and more concerned as he spoke until she finally strolled back over to him and bent to his level. "That's oddly specific, Chester. I..." Her eyes searched his for some sort of sign, or lie that he really did harm his soul somehow. "Do you mind if I look at your soul? It'll only be for a moment, but I want to make sure you're okay. Don't worry, I'll do all the work, just no sudden movements. Souls are something you don't want to touch without proper care and training."

More curious than he did care, Chester gave a confirming nod and Tanith put a light hand on his shoulder before closing her eyes. Chester could feel a sudden warmth pass through him until his chest felt lighter than ever, and emitted a glow. It was hard to describe when his soul finally appeared, but it was like everything else was heightened, including a deep force that he had temporary forgotten about.

Chester's soul was purple, the top of it, or rather the part closest to his head, was light, almost a white purple, while the bottom was so dark, Chester almost thought it was black, everything in between was a different shade of it. He was so busy looking at his own, he almost didn't notice how Tanith's had appeared as well during it all. Tanith's, unlike his, was a little simpler. Pure red, with some darker edges but other than that, it was just red.

Chester couldn't deny that even being near the souls, they gave off different feelings. His own was something he could barely find the words for, but it was almost cold at first, but now, it was warming up his chest. Tanith's on the other hand, was warm to begin with, and much brighter than his own, almost reminding him of fire for a moment.

Tanith's eyes were on Chester's soul, but finally, she let go and both of them faded back into their chests. She frowned in confusion. "Well, your soul is fine which is good." She blinked a couple times fast and rubbed her eyes. "I haven't done that in forever and- ah! There it is." She squeezed her eyes shut. "Headache." After a moment, she managed to croak out another question. "I've never heard of anything exactly like you described, though there might be something like it if you check through the books."

Tanith got up, holding her head with one hand and quickly began to thumb through her books until she found a couple, pulling out four and handing them over. "Here are all the English translated ones. I have some of the original Latin- which is way better by the way- but unless you know Latin-"

Chester quickly cut in. "Do you have any books on learning Latin?"

Tanith blinked and nodded, handing over an enormous book that seemed to weigh at least ten pounds, then handed the rest over, adding in a couple of the original Latin. "Yeah, of course I do. But learning another language is hard, are you sure you want to-"

"Yes." Chester put firmly, holding the books tight. "I'm fine."

Tanith nodded, grinning a bit. "That's some dedication..." Her eyes studied him with interest. "If you don't mind me asking, where did you see a soul like you described? You don't have it, so where did you see it?"

Chester hesitated before shaking his head. How could he explain it? "Just... Around. I got curious. Thanks for the books."

"Of course!" Tanith beamed. Nobody ever seemed to ask her for books and they didn't often ask about magic or souls unless something happened, so she was quite enjoying this. "There should be plenty of information in there, and even spells on how to heal souls, but keep in mind that most of them have a high rate of failure. Please bring them back when you're done, they came from all over the world and it would be a pain to replace them!" She called after him as he left.

Chester strolled down the streets, eyes on the books in his hands as memories came back to him.

I'm stuck with it, even though I didn't make it...

It infused itself with my soul because I wanted it to help me, but it only made things worse.

This hatred has a hold on my soul, and it burns when I don't do what it wants.

Chester's eyes narrowed. Ace seems to think he has no hope. His grip tightened on the covers. But that doesn't mean that I don't! Anything can be solved with the right mind, and I'm not going to let this happen to you.

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

Cody sighed, tapping his hand on the table as he waited. He stared at the pages and pages of the final draft of the Peace Treaty. It was finally finished and approved, or at least most of it was, and all he had to do was wait.

It took a couple moments, but eventually, KrakenKid marched through the door, almost fuming at the mouth. Though confused, Cody soon knew why this was when two guards followed after him. KrakenKid whipped around and sent a glare that was mighty enough to stop them both in place. "I was invited! I'm a guest! There's a reason why nobody else stopped me! I promised to be civil and not do anything so if you would STOP BABYSITTING ME THAT WOULD BE GREAT!"

Cody snickered to himself but quickly signaled the guards that it was okay and they both backed down, walking out the door but not before turning around one last time. KrakenKid nearly decked them if they didn't leave before he could even move.

"The nerve of your Atlanteans!" KrakenKid growled, crossed his arms and shooting a look around the room before landing on Cody. "So, Peace Treaty or what?"

Cody quickly nodded his head and gestured towards the stack of paper. KrakenKid huffed, plopping himself down in the chair, grabbing the pen and began to read over it. Cody sat in the chair at the head of the table, which was right next to the kraken's.

Moments of silence passed before KrakenKid looked up and locked eyes with something behind Cody. "I thought you said it was just going to be us discussing it."

Cody glanced at Rasmus behind him, who was sitting at his desk and reading a newspaper, glancing up occasionally. Cody narrowed his eyes. "What? Rasmus is family and if I can't have him in here then-!"

"He's here to supervise us and make sure we don't kill each other, isn't he?"

"Yeah..." Cody gave in as soon as he said it, shoulders slumping in embarrassment. "I know we both promised to be civil but Rasmus is just making sure."

"Right." KrakenKid sighed, looking over the first page one last time before flipping it.

There was a long silence before Cody broke it, twiddling his thumbs. "So... How has your day been?"

"A roller coaster, that's for sure." KrakenKid mumbled. "After explaining everything to Blooper and Cannibal, I found out Darrel woke up." A smile grew on his face as the memory played in his mind. "The doctors say he's gonna live and be fine, he got pretty lucky. His old age makes the healing a little harder, but he'll get through it, he always does."

Cody nodded along. He didn't know how the Tide Changers worked that much, but from what he heard from various mentions of 'Darrel' he seemed to be their very own Rasmus, though of course, to Cody, not nearly as great. Rasmus is the best and that's totally not a biased opinion since we're related. "How did Blooper and Cannibal take it?"

KrakenKid chewed on his lip as he thought back. "Blooper kept asking questions, wondering if he could plug his phone into Ace and charge it since he's kinda made of energy and I... Wasn't really sure if that'd work. Cannibal just stared at the ground for an uncomfortable amount of time and I'm not convinced he wasn't having an existential crisis..." The Tide Changer rubbed his eyes, exhausted. Why did so many things have to happen recently?

As KrakenKid turned the to the next page, Cody held his breath, remembering something he had done. He now suddenly wished that he listened to Rasmus when he spoke against it. The Tide Changer stopped and slowly turned his head to look at him, eyes full of annoyance. "Two questions. One, why does this page have only one thing written on it? And two," He read over it again. "What's this about me buying you breakfast all throughout the time of the peace treaty? Every single day?"

Cody let out a long breath, leaning forward. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice that, and it's alone so in case you did, I could just," He quickly tore it off the booklet and threw it away. "Get rid of it."

KrakenKid gave him one last look before continuing. Cody bit his lip, knowing that wasn't even the worst. When he came across the page, KrakenKid didn't even have to say anything and just gave Cody a look before he ripped that out too. "Really, penguin?" KrakenKid's look was deadly. "You had a part saying I'll apologize for everything and admit blame? You really thought that was a good idea?"

Cody paused. "It was worth a shot?" He shrugged his shoulders and smiled sheepishly.

The yellow eyes held their gaze, and only broke it to finish reading. "I'm now seeing why Rasmus had to be here." He mumbled under his breath, but loud enough for Cody to hear that he was on thin ice.

By the time he was done, KrakenKid stood up. "Besides those two pages, seems fair enough." He offered Cody the pen, but right before he could take it, he held it back. "But I hope you know that I still very much hate your guts and this is just so we can both survive what's going on right now." He added, raising an eyebrow.

Cody scoffed. "Oh I know. Not a fan of you either, Kranky. Let's sign and get this over with."

"Couldn't have put it better myself, penguin." Cody snatched the pen and signed it, then allowed KrakenKid to do the same moments later. They both turned to each other and shook hands, though both of their eyes were narrowed as they did so. "Now let's find that lunatic."

They both called in the people they trusted the most and assigned them each jobs. Professor was to try and find a way to track him, the Sneaky Sisters were to ask the civilians if they had seen anything, CannibalCrab and Blooper both had to make sure he wasn't hiding out in the tunnels of the Conch Command, then to search the outrims of Sector Four, and Tanith was to come with Cody and KrakenKid, just to make sure that they didn't kill each other and play peacemaker.

As soon as Tanith arrived at the palace, they all sat down and began to think. "If I were a blue haired guy with lightning powers, where would I hide?" Cody mumbled, pulling out the map of Atlantis he prepared ahead of time. "He could be anywhere, and he doesn't even blend in, this should be easy!"

"So why haven't we found out where he hides yet?" Tanith puffed. "He's somewhere, he can't just slip in and out of Atlantis without us knowing about it."

KrakenKid thought to himself for a while before an idea began to form in his mind. He grinned at his own brilliance. "Think of all the places he's used before, what do they all have in common?"

The Atlanteans paused before Tanith hesitantly spoke up. "They're all caves?"

"Exactly. Always caves, tunnels, anything like it." KrakenKid leaned back, proud with himself. "So, we just have to focus our searches there, and we have him."

"You say that like it's simple." Cody groaned lightly. "There are tunnels all over Atlantis, you even have some! He could be anywhere, where are we supposed to-" Cody cut himself off when he caught a glance at Tanith's face, which was paler than normal. "...What is it?" He asked her.

"I... There might be a chance I might know where he is..." She mumbled sheepishly. Before either of them could ask questions, she stood up and walked out the door. "Follow me!" She called as she did.

Tanith led the pair of leaders down to her house. Confused at first, it only got worse as she opened her closet, and before they asked any questions, pushed down on the unlit torch hanging on the wall. The space where there wasn't a shelf opened up, revealing ladders heading down. KrakenKid and Cody both stared at her, dumbfounded.

"You... Have a secret basement?" Cody sputtered out.

Tanith nodded slightly. "Rasmus gave me permission to make it, and that's not all either. Come down with me." She told them, and slid down the ladders without a second thought. Their curiosity got them to follow her down.

Her basement was full of chests and a couple potion stands. Though not much bigger than her living room, there were a couple of doors as well, with signs above them that once they got close enough, read things like 'Marketplace' and 'Sector Four' on them. Tanith opened the doors to one of them, and revealed a long straight tunnel.

"I made tunnels to help me get around faster." She explained before either of them could ask what was on their mind. "Not to mention, tunneling is in my blood. My kind does it all the time, it really helps relieve stress."

"I thought you relieve stress by screaming at that one guy, and then he screams at you and you guys move on like nothing happened." KrakenKid raised an eyebrow.

The hybrid hesitated for a brief moment. "There's a lot of stress in my life, and Bartholomew has a job." Tanith huffed, tail flickering. "These were made long before I met him too! The first one was made a little before the invasion."

"What invasi-" KrakenKid started to say, then paused and smiled slightly. "Ohhh, my invasion. Never mind, continue."

Tanith chuckled at him, while Cody sent an unamused look his way, before the hybrid went on. "There's only three and a half right now, and I highly doubt he's in the unfinished one so we'll each have to take one. Cody, take the palace; KK, Sector Four; and I've got the market."

Though each of them would search, to Tanith's relief, there was nothing found. True, they were no closer to finding Ace in the first place, but Tanith was just glad she didn't accidentally provide their enemy a place to stay. After a quick lecture about keeping the tunnels a secret and to only use them to get to her house, nothing more, they all moved back to the palace to brainstorm.

Cody sighed a bit as he listened to the voice on the phone. "Yeah, alright. Keep trying, see if you can find anything. Love you too. Bye." He hung up and shook his head. "Nothing so far."

KrakenKid studied Cody's face. "Was that the turquoise mermaid?"

Cody gave him a look. "Okay, how hard is it to remember Sam's name? And no, that was Pikalus, he's got nothing." KrakenKid, though perplexed, decided to keep his mouth shut about it. Cody's gaze turned to the hybrid, who was pouring over maps, though didn't seem to know what she was doing. "Can you do anything? Magic?"

"I wish." Tanith pushed the map away from her and turned her eyes up. "I can sense little things, like your magic is very apparent since you have a lot of it, but if anyone does the slightest thing to mask themselves, I can't. Defense magic comes easy to me, but everything else is difficult, especially spiritual magic. I don't know how some of the monks do it so flawlessly but it's a miracle."

Cody took in everything she said, but then stopped at something. "So, we would need someone who was also good with magic, and knew more about energy?" His voice was careful and his mind spun with an idea.

"I... Yeah, that would probably work. Do we know someone like that?" Tanith wracked her mind for everyone with magic that she knew of in Atlantis.

Cody nodded slightly. It's risky, but we don't have a lot of options. "Yeah. There's someone we know who might be able to. Someone who has a lot of magic and is powerful... Can stop others from using their power by shocking them."

Tanith's tail jerked violently in surprise, making the kraken flinch, but her eyes locked on to Cody's brown ones. "No! No, we are not dealing with him again! Last time, he nearly-"

"I know, he attacked us all and tried to take my Nexus energy, and your and Pikalus' magic, I was there." Cody held his hands out, doing his best to get her to calm down. "But he might be able to do it."

"Who?" KrakenKid asked, but Tanith cut in before Cody could tell him.

"No! He's a monster, Cody!" Tanith protested. "I was on adrenaline last time I fought him and I still got hurt! I was in the hospital for like a week! We aren't doing this again!"

"You were mainly there for over exhaustion! What other choice do we have?" Cody waited, but Tanith never spoke up. "See? None! He's the best we've got."

"WHO?" KrakenKid shouted, finally getting their gazes.

Cody mouthed to Tanith, asking if she wanted to tell him, but she declined. "His name," Cody started, taking in a breath. "Is Kevin. We dealt with him a long time ago."

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

As they entered the prison, KrakenKid instantly became uncomfortable, shuddering to himself but forced the feelings down. Cody spared a glance in his direction. "Not your favorite place, huh?"

"Nope." KrakenKid laughed a little, trying to ignore the feelings. He sent a couple glares at the guards who did the same to him. "Oh look, I have fans here too."

Cody held back a laugh. He walked right up to the information desk and asked for directions before heading off. KrakenKid glanced around as they walked past various cells. "So, how bad is this Kevin guy to make Tanith want to avoid coming here and talking to him?"

Cody thought back before he recalled a detail. "He did threaten to take away her magic, and she is all about that."

KrakenKid nearly stopped in his tracks. "He can do that? Steal magic?"

"He claimed to." Cody shrugged as they walked deeper and deeper into maximum security.

The yellow eyes glanced around, noticing the cells they were now by were more customized. One was covered in flameproof walls, another was split in two for what looked like a set of twins, who stared at him through protective glass, but there was another that cause his eyes. Thick walls, basic needs, a bathroom that was private like the rest, and a smaller window to peer into. Not only this, but it was empty.

"Who was that for?" KrakenKid asked. Cody stopped to look and bit his lip, eyes moving from the kraken, and back to the cell before silently walking away. It took a moment for it to click in KrakenKid's mind.

"You made it all for me? I'm so flattered." He joked, though couldn't deny it was the perfect cell. Thick walls meant it would be harder to break down, which would be the first thing he would attempt to do if put in there.

As they continued on, they came across another, this one was in the process of being built. KrakenKid would've asked who it was for, but then noticed an abundance of rubber inside, including rubber cuffs. Rubber doesn't allow electricity to pass through it. He realized. He didn't have to ask once he knew this.

Cody eventually stopped at a cell that was closed off, having two guards standing in front of it. Cody gave them both a small talk before they let them in.

There was a large wall of glass that stood in between the pair of leaders and who they were going to talk to when they came in. His hair was long, black, and a mess, clearly hadn't been washed or brushed in a few days. He was no longer wearing his black cloak from last time, but now a orange jumpsuit, and had two rubber cuffs around his hands, covering the palms completely. He was sprawled out across his bed, either asleep or just laying down before they came in. His silver eyes gazed over the both of them, and waited until the door was closed to speak.

"The King of Atlantis and the leader of the Tide Changers. Not your everyday visitors." He sat up slowly, turning his eyes to the king, and then the kraken. "How might I help you today?"

Cody took a step forward, appearing as confident as he could manage. "How much do you hear about the news from in here?" A slow smirk appeared on Kevin's face, telling Cody everything he needed to know. "So, everything then? Great. What do you know about Ace?"

"Ace..." Kevin drummed his fingers on his chin, the same smug smile staying plastered on his face. "You mean the guy who has been causing you trouble as of lately? Blue eyes, blue hair, apparently used to be a wisp of some sort but is now human and electrifying powers? Yes, I have. Why? Need a favor?" He prompted.

Cody nodded hesitantly. "We don't need you to fight him or anything, just track him."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Well if I don't know what kind of energy he has, I can't do that-"

"Nexus." KrakenKid spoke up. The silver eyes widened in surprise, but then seem to light with interest.

"Nexus magic? He has Nexus magic?" Kevin's voice was layered with delight now. "Oh. Now that is something." Kevin finally stood up, flexing his body and sauntering over to the glass separating them. "It will be difficult, but for the right price, I can do it. And I definitely cannot do it from within here."

Cody took in a long breath through the nose but nodded. "What do you want?"

"Entertainment." Kevin answered immediately. "Books, news, maybe even a TV in here, the whole bunch. Give me that, and we have a deal."

Cody stared into his eyes, now filled with doubt and turned back to KrakenKid. KrakenKid gave him a 'Your move' shrug. The penguin clenched his fist, but nodded. "It's a deal then. You're coming with us."

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And the chapter is finished! It would've came out yesterday, but I saw Star Wars and got back at midnight, tried to write until 2 and then had to go to bed after being over exhausted and unable to write properly.

Alright, some notes!

Tanith's soul appears when she gets a look at Chester's because if you expose your soul, you actually do get a lot of benefits, such as feeling more energized, like Chester was, and being able to use magic better, along with the fact that damaging your soul in the slightest is very dangerous. Tanith had to show her own soul to tap into her magic better, so she could make Chester's soul appear too and make sure his wasn't infected how he described.

Souls give off different auras/feelings, always reflecting who they belong too. The colors of souls are very important. Most souls are one color, or different shades of one color, but having more than one color in a soul is extremely rare to find.

Darrel isn't dead! I love him too much so of course he's not dead. He just woke up, and his old age just took a while to fully heal before he could.

Tanith has used her tunnels to get out of some situations before! In "INVASION", Tanith used them to get out of her house without Illithids knowing and later in "Torn" she used them to get out of her house and to the battlefield without running into the guards. Also, her little fake torch lever and trap door that blends in was a gift courtesy of the Sneaky Sisters.

Also, Kevin is back. Remember that guy from Chapter 14 where all the prisoners broke out and he was the most dangerous? Yep. Cody remembered him bragging about his magic, and figured if Tanith couldn't, maybe he could. Tanith holds a grudge against the guy because magic is super important to her and he threatened to take it away.

Cody and KrakenKid have united for a while so they can work together to take out Ace. Chester on the other hand, is working to find a way to save him. Tick tock, who will get there first?

Now how enlisting Kevin to help go? Huh, if only there was a way to know hints about upcoming chapters...

Anyways, I hope you guys liked this! Be sure to comment what you thought, and such, and I'll see y'all later!

--JustAnAtlantisWriter