"So you're telling me that I can't have a minute's worth of rest? I'm damned exhausted and I just need a vacation!" Hazel ranted angrily.

"You're not the only one pissed off about this."

Rephana, who had overheard the conversation, piped up with an idea that could either be the best thing or the worst, depending on how it went.

"This Dymo, I've heard of him. I was instructed to send him an Ex-Pian from Earth some time ago. He's an Ex-Naf, and based on what I know about them, I might be able to pass on my abilities onto him."

"You sent the omen?"

"Well, yeah... you're the Ex-Pian, aren't you?"

Hazel nodded, her face lengthening into an awkwardly straight face.

"I am honestly so sorry about that, if I knew how much of a soul you have, I would have refused," Rephana said with intense remorse.

"If you didn't, my life would be so simple, and I have a feeling that once everything settles down, everything will have been for the better," Hazel said, putting a hand on Rephana's leg.

Rephana raised a finger to argue, but she decided against it. There were more important things to deal with in that moment, like the whole situation with Dymo. Nobody had any idea of what to do. Almost everything they had achieved before started with pure dumb luck or with instruction or someone leading them along. This would be the first time anything would need to be done on their own.

One thing was clear, and there was no question about it. Dymo would have to be captured and imprisoned, and eventually executed for inhumane experiments and holding hundreds, possibly thousands, of humans and other species in captivity to be used in whatever way the Ex-Naf wished for. It was the only reasonable way to deal with such a cruel man and ensuring that he couldn't continue his immoral behaviors and endeavors.

The only real problem was knowing whether or not he'd come with backup or alone. Seeing as he was just a scientist, it was more likely that he'd come with a couple bodyguards at most. However, Dymo being that man that he was, would not want others to be able to possibly interfere with his goals. He had them set and would do anything to have them done his way and his way only.

Nredoza clutched her chest in an intense fit of pain. Hazel had become used to it, even after only a few times, but Rephana immediately understood what she was going through and jumped to action.

"Alright, it's okay, take a deep breath and focus your third eye on the deepest and most mysterious realm of your mind. Once you've done that, tell me everything that you're witnessing," she said, her voice sinking into a deep and spiritual feeling.

Nredoza fell limp in the arms of the empress, all of her eyes closing except for her third and chest eyes. She inhaled deeply, and let out a slow and controlled exhale, slipping into a different zone of consciousness.

"There are two in love, not only with each other, but with power and greatness. With the thought of fame rather than infamy," Nredoza said, her words slurring together.

"Go on," Rephana egged.

"Hazel was their key that would bring them even greater fame. With fame comes wealth, and with wealth comes power. They need her for proof, though her third eye makes it obvious that she is not human. They do not know this yet," she continued, "and they'll be here in a few hours."

With that last phrase, Nredoza fell out of Rephana's arms, dropping to the floor dramatically. Hazel and Anatoly exchanged worried glances, just hoping that she was doing alright. To their relief, Nredoza quickly picked herself up off the ground and reconnected her consciousness with the rest of her body. Hazel sat down to think. Perhaps they could find a way to sedate him and the love that Nredoza had spoken of, construct cuffs and barriers like the ones used on Rephana back on Vasion, and put those together to keep them far away and safe even with their god-like abilities.

"Hey, Rephana, do you think there is any way to get our hands on something like those cuffs you had?" Hazel asked curiously.

"It's not impossible and is certainly not difficult. All I need is a spare Halo and I'll be able to put something together. The power source, with the right base material, can repel and cause an almost fatal electric shock if it and another reactive base get too close to one another," Rephana explained.

Anatoly, after hanging his head in thought, grabbed his Halo from above his head, brushing his hands above it and powering it off. Rephana thanked him, taking it. She flew over to one of the broken down StrataNova prototypes, searching through the engines for some of the more reactive materials that caused it to be able to defy the "unbreakable" laws of physics. She nearly squealed with delight as an explosion came out of one of the engines after some fiddling. Grinning, she emerged from underneath a different engine, holding two parts and wrapping them in the cloth from her clothing so as to not let them react with each other. The fabric from her clothing was practically armor in the form of cloth, so it protected the molecules of the metals from any outside forces or radiation.

"Just give me a half hour, a room in the house, and a workspace, and I'll be set!" Rephana shouted, shrinking herself to fit through the front door.

"Take mine," Hazel replied, pointing in the direction of it, "I'll sleep in the old SuperNova."

"Sounds good to me, I guess."

The half hour ticked by more slowly than a five year old's countdown until Christmas, except the mechanism they would be given was so much better than any toy imaginable. It would be something that would save Hazel from much further fear and could bring life to a young universe.

It was as close as one could get to a perfect plan, as long as there weren't many complications. They would just need to separate the two from possible bodyguards. This would be the easy part. Sedating them would be a whole different story.

"You need sedative? I've still got some in my pocket," Nredoza said, fumbling around in her labcoat to find it.

"Why have you not gotten rid of that?"

"You never know when you'll need it..."

Rephana emerged from the house, regaining her typical five meter height and waving around two cuffs and something else which was wrapped in a piece of her sleeve which she must have torn off before exiting. She took off, pushing herself into the air with one foot and extending her wings to float gracefully to the ground in front of the rest.

"All I need to do is line the room with this," she said, holding up the material shrouded in cloth, "and once the cuffs are on and active, they'll be unable to leave."

"Sounds perfect. That's good and all, but how are we going to defend ourselves?"

There was a moment of silence until Elise walked out of the house carrying her plasma gun over her shoulder. Nredoza, Hazel, Anatoly, and Rephana stared blankly at her, who was oblivious to the fact they were all making eye contact.

"Hey, Elise, where'd you get that?" Hazel blurted out.

"There's a ton in the bunker," Elise replied nonchalantly, pointing behind her to a metal bulkhead door poking out of the sand.

"We have a bunker?"

"You don't on Earth?"

Elise gave Hazel a look of total shock. She had no clue how someone could live with a mind at peace without a stockpile of weapons and ammunition a few meters away from the house, or preferably right underneath it. Shaking off the bewilderment, she continued her stride to the rainforest, where she was going to grab some of the toxic scales from the Zheran river beast. She could use those to cover up the third or chest eye, depending on the breed of river beast. Unbeknownst to the group, she had overheard most of their entire conversation and wanted to take part. If their astral and emotional eyes couldn't see, they'd have no way of understanding the others' speech and thoughts if the sedatives didn't work as well as planned.

Anatoly took the first steps towards the bunker, since nobody else seemed to want to be brave enough to approach it first. The other three followed his footsteps closely, not allowing themselves to separate at all. He crouched down, using all of his might to pull open the bulkhead. To their surprise, it was large enough that Rephana could comfortably climb down into the bunker and hopefully at least be able to sit down inside of it.

It was much taller than any of them expected, reaching just above five and a half meters. This gave Rephana plenty of room to stand comfortably. Rifles, pistols, shotguns, and small cannons lined every wall. Canisters of plasma and crates of bullets and grenades were stacked in lines in the centermost parts. It felt straight out of a museum scene in a movie, and Hazel's eyes were wide with awe and excitement. A wall of nothing but cans of non-perishable foods and drinks took up the back end, so in case of something breaking out, they'd have the fullest amount of energy and the fastest reflexes they could get.

Not only were there guns to fit every need, there were some to fit any size as well. Rephana found herself holding a massive shotgun, which, at her touch, its "stripes" began to swirl and glow a bright glittering gold, almost exactly like her eyes. It was at that point that Hazel understood why the first room they stayed at on Vasion had colors that stayed within the spectrum of red and gold. It was simply to honor the emperor and empress throughout the palace by using the colors of their Halos.

Hazel allowed herself to gravitate towards whatever weapon first caught her eye, which was a plasma-powered grenade launcher of sorts. She picked it up off the wall with care, not allowing any dents or possible scuffs to form. It was pristine, with a matte black finish untouched by dirt and dust. Its surface felt incredibly smooth, like it was never touched or used before that moment.

Its structure was similar to that of a gun, with a trigger and a barrel, but its ammunition, which were small plasma grenades, loaded from the top of the barrel. Hazel smirked confidently, feeling extremely powerful with that weapon in her hands. She had the ability to do some serious damage to anything and anyone that posed a threat. However, with all of that came a responsibility to understand that it would need to be used sparingly so as to not hurt anyone that didn't need to be hurt and to not damage anything that didn't need to be damaged.

"We all have something that we can figure out how to use in about an hour, right?" Nredoza asked frustratedly, holding a shotgun by her side.

They all exchanged glances and nods, giving Nredoza a final affirmative nod. She turned on her heel and began to ascend up the ladder again, rolling her eyes slightly. She had clearly had a rough few days, and the coming arrival of the man that had torn her away from her family certainly didn't help her.

Finally back out onto the surface of Zhera, the four were able to attempt to learn how each of their weapons worked so when Dymo eventually arrived, they wouldn't be stuck looking like deer in headlights. Hazel knew how to use a firearm from going to the range with her mother, but the plasma grenade launcher was much different than what she was used to, and she wouldn't be able to practice because of the limited amount of plasma grenades.

Hazel took a deep breath and sat down facing the rainforest, watching a breeze move the treetops and hearing the distant river rush by. She hoped against hope that the next hour would not be her last, though there was a chance that it may be.