Eous was leaping just below the clouds in human form this time since the sun was beginning to rise as he and Vivian made their way to their own destination.

With his much lighter frame, he was practically flying with Vivian on his back.

"So," He began. "How exactly do these premonitions work?"

"Well, it's not within my control, and they always come to me in a flash, like a flood of images in my mind..." She replied. "Most of the time, I see death, disease, accidents, and disasters. Sometimes, non-fatal mutilations...

But every time without exception, they end up happening. And... I can never prevent or change them. That's all I have to say about it. If that offends you, Eous, I can understand if you don't want to hang out with me..."

Eous hummed, suddenly unwrapping his tails to bring Vivian around and hold her hands. She yelped when her body began to feel weightless, slamming her eyes shut in a panic.

"What are you doing? You don't wanna miss the view, Viv." He laughed, spinning around to show her the sun.

The gleam of the star made her eyes twitch, before she opened them cautiously at its shine. Her crimson eyes sparkled under its rays and her jaw hung loose at the spectacle.

"You... can fly?" She mumbled, unable to take her gaze off the scene.

"I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve." He pointed at his tails. Instead of claws, they had expanded into large, sturdy, dragon-like wings spread wide to catch the wind. "Pretty neat, huh?"

"They're magnificent..." Her lips curled up in delight.

"You've got no reason to worry about my loyalty. Your ability is pretty cool, you know? Imagine we can change the future— with your premonition, and my power, we could change fate!" He exclaimed with a grin.

"I've always considered this ability... a curse." Vivian began to tear up as she looked into his eyes.

"Only if you let it be. You can make it your gift. The same way we'll ensure that Mira gets a better life than she was destined to live, thanks to Sienna's efforts." Eous reasoned.

Vivian's lip quivered before she grabbed his arms and pulled him in, enveloping him in a hug. "Thank you... really."

"It's the least I can do if we're gonna be best friends." He pat her back and spun around to keep their altitude with a flap of his wings.

"Let's try and find Bringer's stuff so we can get some breakfast soon." Eous suggested, slowly dipping down when the Hollow came into view.

•

Eous had slammed his fist through two vending machines, since that was the info Vivian's intelligence system had given her.

Vivian was getting a bit worried, but luckily the abandoned neighborhood had plenty of Vending machines to check...

On the third, Vivian clasped her hands with determination. "I have a feeling this is the one, Eous! Bringer's belongings are definitely inside this vending machine in front of us."

Eous snickered and nodded his head. "I have full faith."

"Y-You do?" She asked hopefully.

Eous thrust his hand in and pulled out a worn-out notebook with a smirk. "I knew it was here the whole time. Fairy told me."

Fairy appeared just to wave before disappearing again.

Vivian gave a small pout but rolled her eyes as he tossed it up. "Impressive per usual. You must tell me more about your AI assistant someday, Eous."

"Well, if it wasn't for her going through a UI update, she'd handle that herself..."

Eous began skimming through the notebook with a hum, mostly seeing only locations of interest marked down. "Any idea what these markings mean?"

"Unfortunately, I have no clue." She admit.

Eous sighed, happy with the lead but disappointed it'd take more time to crack the code.

He suddenly brought up his palm and fired a streak of lightning through an Ethereal in the distance, just before Hugo could cut through it.

"Ah, thank you, Master Proxy. It's been awhile..." Hugo began to smile as he strut over.

"You..." Vivian muttered tensely.

Eous kept his eyes trained on Hugo. He could take him out in an instant, and there was a foul, malicious aura exuding from his chest— he could feel it.

The Sacrifice Core.

"Had a feeling you've met." Eous told Vivian.

"I wasn't sure how to tell you sooner. I'm actually apart of the phantom thieves syndicate, Mockingbird." She looked reluctant to tell him even so.

Eous closed his eyes with a sigh.

"That's right. I was only able to slip in during the auction thanks to some help from Vivian backstage." Hugo explained.

Eous slowly began taking steps back and away from the two with his eyes calmly shut. Vivian's hand twitched in his direction, but she swallowed her desire.

"I warned you before, you can't rely on appearances..." Vivian reinstated.

"Don't worry, Master Proxy. We don't have any ulterior motives here—"

"Up your ass, Hugo. I'm tired of my kindness being manipulated. Get to the point before I show you a sharper one." Eous drew Pompey's sword with a tempered fury in his eyes.

Silence followed.

It wasn't a threat, but a promise.

"We need your abilities." Vivian exclaimed urgently.

"We have a crisis on our hands here. As you know, the Exaltists are plotting to use the power of Sacrifice to launch an attack on all of New Eridu. We can provide you with all the latest intel, just like that notebook you found— something those pompous housekeepers would never be willing to do.

And, the most crucial part of this whole game, the Sacrifice Core, is currently in my possession. I think that makes this a highly competitive deal."

"Why don't I just kill you and take it? You know good and damn well I can." Eous was on the verge of Ionizing, Ether beginning to swell around his feet.

Hugo clicked his tongue. "We share the same goal for the moment. Stopping the impending disaster from playing out is far more important than your growing vendetta with our behavior."

"Yeah, but you're in my way... Both of you." Eous snarled as his patience grew thinner and thinner, while the veil of Ether began to grow thicker.

"Do you really have it in you? Have you truly killed before, Proxy?" Hugo taunted.

"You sound real eager to learn. Good thing I'm real eager to demonstrate." Eous took a step forward and burst into his Ionized form, but before he could swing on Hugo, Vivian stepped in front of him with her arms out.

"Please, trust us. We really do share the same goal, and want to save New Eridu. You'd have better odds of doing so with us on your side." She argued.

Eous leered down at her, clenching his fists in frustration. "Yeah? I don't need either of you to just kill the bastards behind all this— but the very problem I have with you damn thieves is that you think it's a game.

I've got friends and family who live here, whose lives are at stake and your stupid personal grudges are getting in my way of keeping this city safe. Hand over the gem."

"We'd lose all leverage if we did—"

"You'll lose your life if you don't!" Eous barked.

Hugo leered back at him, the tension of his stare making him nearly falter. He would've been thrashed sooner if not for whatever bond Vivian had gained with him in such a short time.

"Fine. To earn your trust, we'll hand it over— on two conditions." Hugo offered.

"Speak."

"We get Bringer's notebook to decipher, and you don't tell anyone related to TOPS or the Mayor that you have it. Even your siblings..." Hugo exclaimed.

Eous didn't need to think about it any further. "Deal."

The two traded items before Eous revert to his human form with his slit eyes still glaring daggers at the two.

"We'll investigate this thoroughly and contact you when we discover anything of note." Hugo let out a long sigh. He had been playing with something far hotter than fire, and could still feel the flames.

Eous looked at the Sacrifice Core with an uninterested leer. For the Mayor's sake he'd leave it unscathed. But a part of him really wanted to consume it for power, if it even amounted to much.

He turned away from the two, hiding the gem from sight before turning back to reveal it was gone.

"I'm out of here. Find your own way out of the Hollow—" Eous was stopped by Vivian placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Eous, it's—"

"Business?" He asked with a scowl. "Starting to have enough of his. I'm nearly done giving you people the benefit of the doubt."

Vivian didn't know how to get through to him, since she had been manipulating him from the start. She bit her lip and was ready to give up until Hugo scoffed.

"What kind of hero would you be if you stopped?" Hugo questioned.

"Like you have the right to ask with your stupid Robin Hood shtick. You steal from the rich and give to the poor as if there aren't rich people who've made an honest living— as if there aren't evil people in poverty.

You claim I play god but you don't see me trying to solve everyone's problems without their consent under some shitty black and white moral compass." Eous snapped back.

"Exactly. My philosophy vastly differs from yours, so don't stoop to my level, hero." Hugo taunted again. "Strength is a tool. Yours is one we wanted to rent. How we got it shouldn't matter— but how we use it should."

"Yeah. Inspiring words from someone wanting to use me. Enough of your nonsense... follow me if you want." Eous tore down through space and created a fissure.

~•~

Eous was leaning back with his arms crossed against the railing over looking the river at Lumina Square. Vivian was huddled up beside him after the sun had set, still feeling guilty for manipulating her greatest idol and newest friend for days straight.

Glancing up at her solemn look, Eous scoffed.

"Quit pouting. You did what you did. Can't fault you for it. My shtick happens to be freedom after all..." Eous looked away with a sigh.

"You... you forgive me?" Vivian asked with hope.

"Whatever makes you smile again." He shrugged and plucked her cheek. "Cant have both of us brooding over here. Especially not when I'm hungry."

Eous stood up straight and looked around. On this side of the street was hotpot and tacos, neither he'd have an issue with.

He wasn't aware that Vivian was swaying back and forth muttering: "Eous wants to see me smile...!" over and over again...

Leading Vivian by the hand over to the taco truck, since she didn't happen to be moving, he quickly ordered the two of them two hard tacos with sour cream.

They took to a bench and began to dig in, but one was far more refined in their habits than the other. Eous had nearly finished his first taco in mere moments if not for his hand being popped.

"Don't outpace me. I don't want you to watch me eat..." She pouted.

Eous squinted his eyes, staring at her for a few moments before throwing the whole half of taco down his throat.

She tried to stop him from chowing down on the second, holding his wrists away from his mouth with all her might, but she stopped hearing him laugh.

"You see how easy it is?" Eous asked with a smirk.

"Wh-What do you mean?"

"To be honest with yourself, and others." Eous replied. "Faith and trust go hand in hand. You don't know anyone until you get to know someone. It's the very reason I aspire to give everyone who desires it freedom of their own."

Vivian began to realize what he meant. She had clearly expressed disdain with being watched while she ate, but it wasn't as if he had inquired about it. She had opened up.

He learned something about her from her, and that was the only real way to know a person.

"I don't think that Hugo's an evil person, but he isn't righteous. I don't know what he is to you, or what you guys' true intentions are, but I'm going to give you the freedom to make mistakes." Eous began. "And I want you to remember something that the world should learn too."

Vivian nodded expectantly, eager to hear his wisdom.

"Freedom of choice is the right of everyone, but the consequences of one's actions are the exact same. Just as the evils of this world choose to plot against it, they'll face this consequence every time." He gestured to himself with half-lidded leer. "I won't allow anyone to take the freedom of another."

Eous smiled at her, watching her eyes sparkle as she nodded along in a trance. He swiftly dropped the last taco into his gullet in full, breaking the woman out of her self-inflicted hypnosis.

"W-Wait! You...!" Vivian looked down and saw she had only taken very small bites of her first taco. "You tricked me...?"

"Nah. What I said still stands, but it's gonna be real funny watching this." He mused.

Vivian swiftly opened her umbrella, smacking him in the face and hiding her next bite with inflated cheeks of irritation.