Anyone up for another new POV? :3 And I have something planned for the first time I use Sonja's POV; I'm not leaving her out, but it'll be awhile before you see anything from her. :)

The song above is "Those Nights" by Skillet. I heard this and instantly thought of Tucker and Sonja. :3 Enjoy!

*Tucker's POV*

I could hear Tom sigh over the communicator, "Guys, I have to tell you something..." I already had a snide comment ready to toss back at him, if not for the pained tone he said it in.

"What?" I asked instead.

"I told you all how Wag first Nvidia-ed himself testing a spell on me, right?" Tom asked, stalling.

A chorus of yeses met his question. "Well, I left something out at Wag's request. I'm actually kinda surprised none of you have figured it out, especially you, Spa... Ok, I take that back; I'm not surprised you didn't figure it out."

"Hey..." Sparklez warned.

"Just sayin."

I'm not getting any more sleep tonight, am I? I thought, as I rolled into a sitting position on the edge of my bed, ignoring Jordan and Tom bickering about how oblivious—or not—Jordan could be. I had gone to bed less than an hour before Tom called. Normally I stay up late, but I'd had to jump start my altar and rituals this morning. A tremor from the volcano near Dagrun had shifted some of the runes and messed everything up. It had been a long time since I'd had to use my own energy to fuel any of the rituals, and I had forgotten just how drained you feel after. Thankfully everything was running again and self-sufficient, for now. "What's your point, Tom? Spit it out," I said as I stretched, interrupting my friends. I swear, sometimes those two are worse than an old married couple.

"Oh, right," Tom paused before rushing out the words he'd intended to say. "Wag is really out of it after he wakes up from one of his episodes. He has horrible migraines until he has a chance to sleep them off, usually resorting to sleeping potions to do so. Oh, and using his magic or anyone using magic on him when he has one of his migraines makes the pain worse." Tom had to stop for breath.

We were all speechless for a moment. Sonja broke the silence. "No wonder he was so pissed when you two pranked him while he was out. He was in pain and trapped somewhere he couldn't get to his sleeping potions. And you know he must have tried his teleport spell a few times before you let him out." Sonja would be sympathetic; she had some killer headaches as side effects from her forbidden research on her bad days.

"And attempting his spell a few times before giving up would have only made his migraine worse." I concluded, scratching the back of my head, regret edging its way into my voice. "Maybe we should have just left it at getting his taglocks."

"That's why he couldn't fly straight when you called me to help you take him home that one day..." Jordan said quietly to himself.

Sounds like Tom was right this time.

"Um, guys?" Tom hesitantly interrupted my guilt trip.

"What?" Sparklez asked, sounding just as sorry as I felt.

"That's not all."

How could this possibly get any worse?

"Wag's episodes happen a lot more frequently than even I knew until talking to him this morning. He's had more than 20 of them since they started 6 weeks ago. He said sometimes there's not even a full day from when he wakes up until the next one hits."

I just had to ask. I rubbed a hand across my face as I stood up and walked towards my armor stand, flipping the light switch on the way, blinking at the bright light. I had a feeling I knew where this was going. It had been almost a full day since Wag sent Jordan and me to the Nether. Ow, that must have hurt him too. Man, we really made him mad if he was using his magic against us in that state. If he was still missing, chances were he was lying on the ground out cold somewhere.

"I have a feeling we don't want to know what happens if he gets killed while he's on one of his timeouts, right?" I queried as I pulled on my blood mage chestplate and started fastening its ties. I definitely wasn't getting any more sleep tonight, not while one of my friends was out there defenseless. I pulled on my leggings and boots while waiting for Tom's reply. "Ruxomar to Tom?"

"Sorry, Dianite was saying something too. Yeah, he doesn't think that would be a good idea."

That obviously wasn't all Dianite had said, but he's Tom's god. Let them keep secrets if they want to. I certainly don't tell them everything Mianite and I discuss. The contract I'd signed a few days earlier came to mind.

"Do we know where to start looking for him?" I heard Sonja ask as I pulled on my helmet and fastened the visor in place. I took a deep breath as I felt the magic effects of the armor kick in. It would give me an energy boost for a while, but I would crash pretty hard when I took the armor off later.

"Jordan checked by Wag's tower a few minutes ago; so he probably never made it back from his trip to the jungle near my place."

There's a jungle near Tom's home?

As if sensing my thoughts, Tom quickly added, "Just meet me at my tree, and I'll show you where it is."

"I'll meet up with Sonja and be right over." I announced before muting myself on the communicator. Sonja had told me before that when I used my air sigil, it sounded like a tornado over the comm line. I could still hear the others talking, but they couldn't hear me. I suddenly heard Tom's girlish scream and Jordan's laughter. Apparently he had already gotten there using his portals and scared the sh*t out of Tom.

I shook my head and laughed quietly to myself at their antics. I don't think I'll need the kikoku for this, but I guess it doesn't hurt to have it with me, I thought as I quickly shoved the katana into my bag. I slung my bag over my shoulder and pulled my bound sword from its sheath on my belt before using the elevator to reach the top floor of my dojo. There are some crazy strong monsters roaming the land lately; I always have to be on my guard. I pulled a dark grey slate from its place tucked inside my armor and rubbed my thumb across it causing the symbols covering its surface to shift and change until they stopped on the ones I needed. Tightening my grip on it, I activated the insane speed and flight that came with it and leapt out of the opening in the roof of my home. I turned towards Sonja's house as I placed the sigil safely back in its pocket on the inside of my chestplate. If I ever dropped that thing, I'd plummet out of the air like a rock.

Sonja had been having one of her down days today. I'd spent half of the day helping her fight off eldritch guardians and bringing her the last of my penicillin for her flux flu. She had actually tried to keep it a secret that she was sick so she wouldn't "ruin" my day. It didn't take a genius to figure it out when I came by for dinner, and she was yelling at invisible mind spiders and had a fevered gleam in her eyes. So much for our movie marathon date. I'd finally gone home after she fell asleep to collapse on my own bed. I'd have stayed over, but Sonja liked her space when she's sick. Plus, I didn't want to catch flux flu.

I can't count the times one of us has had to reschedule our dates since coming here; something always seems to get in the way. I mean, we're still fine, and we're keeping the relationship alive, but is it wrong if I want more than just survival? I shook the thoughts from my head as I flew past the clump of trees we'd planted a long time ago to celebrate some holiday. I wonder if Tom ever finished the tree house he was working on?

A sound caught my attention as I drew even with the trees Tom had been working in. That almost sounds like... There was a cat on Tom's balcony! How on Mianite did one of Sonja's cats get up there?! The poor thing was looking right at me. As I hovered in front of the balcony wondering if Sonja had left one of her windows open, the cat's ears started to fold back and it turned away from me to bolt from the balcony. I realized I must look pretty terrifying in my armor; I usually took it off when I was over at Sonja's.

"Oh no you don't." I flew to the cat in a fraction of a second and grabbed it by its scruff, only then realizing how big the feline was. What has my girlfriend been feeding you? I sheathed my sword and used my other arm to hold under the surprisingly still cat's chest. The creature was still trembling; so I didn't dare let go of its scruff. Just because a cat's normally friendly doesn't mean it won't bite first and ask questions later when it is scared.

"Easy there, kitty. I don't know how you got out of Sonja's place or got stuck up here, but I'm taking you back." I said in what I hoped was a reassuring tone. Sonja was always way better with animals than me. "You're a big one, aren't you?" I said as I shifted his weight to a more comfortable position. I used the balcony railing as a step to launch myself back into the air, continuing on my way to Sonja's house with my passenger.

It only took a few seconds to reach my girlfriend's house. I landed by her front door and pushed it open gently with my boot. Stepping inside, I closed the door behind me with my foot as well.

"Sonja, I'm here! And I found one of your cats," I yelled as I started walking towards her stairs. She's almost always in her basement. "He got out and looks like a wreck. I think he got caught in the storm earlier." The dark grey cat was caked in half-dried mud on one side and was still trembling every once in a while, though it seemed to have calmed slightly.

"Down here, Tucker!" I could hear Sonja call from the basement. She sounded chipper for having been woken up in the middle of the night.

Hopefully that's a good sign. I don't think crazy Sonja would be much help on a search and rescue mission. She sounded coherent in the group call...

Worry for my girlfriend's sanity creased my brow as I walked down the flights of stairs to the basement. "I'm almost ready!" Sonja called as I reached the bottom of the steps.

I looked around until I spotted Sonja sitting on one of her chests, putting her battlemage boots on. She already had her leggings on. Her earth armor chestplate and thaumaturge helmet sat on the lid of the chest next to her along with her orange hoodie; she had on her favorite white tank top. Her eyes looked normal now. Thank Mianite.

She stood and tossed her long brown hair over her lightly tanned shoulder as she turned her back to me to pick up her chestplate. I caught myself staring as she continued, "You said you found one of my cats?"

I set the cat in question on the floor without taking my eyes off of Sonja and walked up behind her. I lifted the earth armor from her hands and set it on her shoulders, sad that I could no longer see the perfect skin beneath. I used the excuse of helping her tie the sides to wrap my arms around her waist and hug her. "You know, you're the only person I know who looks sexy in earth armor," I whispered in her ear while grinning.

She returned my grin and blushed before shoving me away and punching my arm playfully. I unmuted myself in the group chat and feigned hurt as I held the arm she'd hit. "Ow! Abuse! Guys, Sonja's abusing me!"

"I am not," Sonja countered after turning her communicator back on, a grin gracing her lips as she spoke.

"Ladies, you shouldn't fight over who's the prettiest; everyone knows it's me, obviously," Tom said in the most ridiculous diva voice I've ever heard him use, and I've known that zombie for a long time. Sonja and I burst into laughter along with Tom and Jordan. "But seriously, where are you two? Sparklez was here hours ago," Tom exaggerated and dragged out the word "hours".

"Okay guys, we'll be over in a few minutes. Have to take care of two things first. We shouldn't be more than a minute or two." Sonja replied, still smiling.

Gods, I miss her smile. It's become more rare than adamantine these days, and far more precious.

Sonja turned towards the grey cat as she hung up. I muted my communicator again, since we'd be flying shortly. Sonja slowly walked over to the cat that looked like it was trying not to fall asleep where it sat. Its head was drooped almost all the way to the ground until it heard my girlfriend's approach. It tried to raise its head as it focused its ears on her footsteps, but didn't manage more than an inch.

Sonja knelt in front of the feline and carefully lifted its chin with her left hand, which was encased in her earth armor. The cat let out a small squeak of a meow as Sonja looked into its tired eyes. Sonja's intent face softened at the sound.

"Oh, you poor thing. You've had a rough night, huh?" She cooed and started scratching the cat's chin. The cat leaned into her fingers and closed its eyes before she moved her hand to scratch behind the cat's right ear. Turning to face me as she continued petting the dirty cat, she met my gaze. "No, he's not one of mine, but he seems tame. I can at least get him cleaned up before we try to figure out where he came from. Where'd you find him?"

"He was stuck up one of the trees Tom was building a house in."

"Poor guy. I wonder how long he was up there?" She turned back to her inspection of the strange cat. After looking him over, she moved her hand from his ear to lift the skin on the back of the cat's neck before releasing it. The cat looked at her questioningly when she stopped petting him but did not move. Sonja frowned and tented and released his scruff again. "He's dehydrated too," She announced.

"How can you tell?" I asked, genuinely curious.

She gave me a sly grin before answering, pleased that she knew something that I didn't. She lifted her right arm, which was not covered by her armor and told me, "Pinch my skin."

I gave her a confused look from behind my visor before obeying. I walked over and pinched her arm. "Ow! Not so hard!" She gave me a half-hearted glare.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"Look, the tent of skin will go right back down after you make it." She pointed at her bare arm, indicating I should try again. I was more careful this time, and I saw her skin snap back into place just like she said it would.

She motioned me to kneel beside her as she turned back to the cat that still hadn't moved. "Now watch what happens with this cat's skin." She pulled up on his scruff lightly before releasing the furry hide. "See how it doesn't go back down right away? It takes a few seconds. That shows he's dehydrated."

"Huh. I'll keep that in mind," I said, genuinely impressed. Where does she learn this stuff? "So what do we do with him? Should we put him in a golden lasso until we get back? I mean, I feel bad for him, but I don't want him tearing up any of your stuff while we're gone." I said as I stood up.

"No!" Sonja said, indignant. "He needs water, and he needs a bath. He could probably use a meal too. Frankly, I don't think he has enough energy to be destructive right now."

She had worried concentration written across her face as she rose to stand beside me. After a few moments, her face lit up with a grin. Reaching into the pocket of her hoodie lying on the chest, she pulled out a small silver bell. Ringing it, she called, "Sir Thaumsworth!"

I could hear the scamper of little feet moving up a flight of stairs before I saw Sonja's golem coming out of one of the side passages off her basement. Sonja and her pets, I thought with a grin. The golem stood looking at Sonja, awaiting orders as she set the bell down.

"Thaumsworth, I want you to take care of this cat for me while I'm gone, okay? He needs water, a bath and something to eat. Treat him for any injuries you find too. The purple golem nodded that he understood.

"Thanks, little buddy. I'll make you a new hat tomorrow as a thank you." She patted the golem's shoulder before turning to head up the stairs.

I followed after her, glancing back at the golem watching us go. Sometimes he creeps me out. I knew Sonja had made him after getting into her forbidden magic, and part of me wondered just how intelligent the little guy was. I tried to ignore the feeling of eyes on me as I continued up the stairs.

We had nearly reached the front door when a thought occurred to me. "Wait, you said you needed to take care of two things before we left. What was the other thing?"

Sonja looked back over her shoulder at me. "Tucker, can you take off your visor for a second?"

I wasn't 100% sure I liked the look on her face when she asked, but I obliged, undoing the clasp and pulling the visor to the side. "Ok, but why..."

I was interrupted by a kiss, which I quickly melted into despite my surprise. Sonja wrapped her arms around my neck, and I held her around her waist. I'm not sure how long we stood like that, but it ended too soon. Sonja pulled away and rested her head on my chest. After a few moments of silence, she whispered, "Thanks for taking care of me today. I'm sorry I messed up our date."

"Don't." I whispered back. I brought one hand up to lift her chin enough for me to kiss her forehead under her helmet. "You know I love you, right?" I asked softly.

She met my eyes and smiled, though she couldn't hide the hint of sadness there. I would do anything to dispel that sadness and bring back the happy, carefree Sonja. But when I had asked this realm's Mianite, he'd said he could only remove her madness if she was willing; it would damage her mind further if he forced it. And she had refused every time either of us tried to convince her. I'd even let him cure me—I had been studying the forbidden magic with her until I realized how much it was affecting us—to prove it was safe. Mianite thought there was something in that forbidden knowledge that she didn't want to lose, or maybe something she was looking for. Her insanity apparently made her thoughts hard for him to read.

"That's why I keep you around," She said. She pecked my lips once more before adding, "And I love you too."

I brushed a gloved hand against her cheek and sighed. "As much as I love this, we really should get going. Wag's missing, and we aren't going to find him here.