Act 0 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3; Nova; Hemhir 25th; 329SR; 12:05

The bedroom was quiet, the bright white sunlight lit the room. Nova rested on her stomach between her quilt and a beige pillow, flipping through the pages of a book titled: 'The Legend of Ragnarok.' The rich, savory scent of pancakes from breakfast still permeated from the kitchen downstairs and crept into the room. The jolly laughter of her three brothers outside flooded through the window. 'How can they be so energetic after all that food…' Nova shook her head and continued to read.

The sky was blanketed by the tiny specs in the distance, each was a massive aircraft carrying hundreds of brave soldiers into battle. The giant was at least twelve miles from the city. It was massive, tall enough to loom over Silsta. Despite all of our discoveries, all of our research… Looking upon the maw in the giant's stomach made it hard to breathe. The otherworldly face on the creature's torso grunted and roared, its voice sounding like a brass horn even caused the land to shake violently. Its individual teeth were easier to see than the battleships that faced it. The giant stopped outside the borders of Silsta, and glanced up, revealing its orange blazing eyes filled with rage. Two on its face, and two on its torso.

"Fire! Fire upon that monster!"

A ballad of weaponry echoed through the sky, the thunderous sounds incited hymns of excitement down below in the streets of Helios. The giant was engulfed in a flurry of explosions, it raised its arms and protected its face. An ominously strong wind washed over castle Patheon and the rest of the city. From behind the drifting smoke, I saw the end. A flash of orange, bright enough to light up the sky from behind the dust. The massive grit teeth on the giant's stomach was visible for a moment, outlined by orange light.

"Attack! Destroy Ragnarok before it has a chance to-"

Its maw opened, firing an orange beam directly upon the kingdom of Silsta. In that moment, it gripped me like a cold hand, the fear, regret, and uncertainty. In that moment, our fate became clear to me, and it was inevitable. Ragnarok roared as the beam intensified. The steadfast hymn of our people, came to a sudden stop. The giant tilted its stomach upward, and the beam followed. It cut straight through the land and sea, obliterating half of the approaching fleet in a single attack.

"Re… Retreat-"

I choked on my spit. Like an ant, trying desperately to avoid being stepped on… For the first time in my life, I felt puny in this world. The beam came back down, striking the sea far to the west. As the beam was just beginning to fade, Ragnarok whipped its body to the left. The beam dragged through the ground, and-

"Hey, Nova! Come play!" Eos called from outside, breaking her immersion.

Nova looked out the window, peering up at the baby blue sky behind the spiky trees. She looked down and continued on to the end of the page. 'I wonder why he ever made the giant mad… Wouldn't everything have been avoided if they just left it alone? Idiot…' Nova shut the book and looked at the cover, it depicted the grey giant Ragnarok, battling a warrior with white wings, and another with black horns. The young girl rubbed her eyes as she looked at the clock, it was a quarter past noon. An excited cry came from outside, Eos had been making the sounds all morning as he played with his gift. 'I've been reading all day…' Nova closed the white book. She shifted herself off the bed, then walked to the window as she rubbed her eye.

"They're still playing… They've just been doing that everyday for the past four days…" Nova shook her head, but then noticed her mom. 

Her mother's black hair had a red tint that often went unnoticed, but in the white sunlight, it was very vivid. 'Ever since Eos got his gift, mom has been watching us play… She never did that before…' Nova walked out of the room and into the second floor hallway. She turned left and looked down the stairs, the front door was open and the screen door visible. There was only one pair of sandals by the door. Nova looked at the dent in the wall, dragging her finger over it. 'The first thing Eos does with his gift is run head first into a wall… What an idiot… He's going to end up dumb like Zeus at this rate… Still, I didn't even see it happen… His gift makes him really fast… One second Eos was in the room, and then there's a thud, and then he's on the ground… And then mom panicked again… ' Nova turned right and walked down the hall, walking past the storage rooms and then toward the bathroom. Before she entered the bathroom, she glanced at the room at the next corner. 'Mom's office…' Nova opened the door but stopped as she remembered what had kept her up late. The expression on her mother's face as she gazed upon Eos's gift. 'Mom didn't look like that when I got a gift… Or when Zeus did…' Nova recalled a day some time ago as she closed the bathroom door.

***

"Woah… I want a gift like Yami's!" said Zeus.

Zeus sat on the porch, his elbows resting on his knees as he held his chin. Nova looked up at Yami, whose gift gave him a pair of wings bigger than his entire body. 'I should be able to do that too, right? Do gifts work like that?' Yami jumped, and his wings flapped at the same time. Zeus and Nova raised their tiny arms as the wind blew by. Yami continued to flap his wings, each time he pushed himself higher. Nova was bewildered by how easy it seemed for him.

"How are you making wings?! And moving them?! I can't even get the shape right…"

The three kids were in front of their home, on the bright green grass next to the porch. The house was surrounded on all sides by a dark forest, directly above their house was the bright white sun and blue rigid sky. Yami looked down from above, he put a hand on his chin while he floated in front of the sun. 'Is he even focusing on the shape? He's making it look so easy?! I'm getting annoyed… Okay, let's try again! Loomy, come out!' A red foxes head rose out of her shoulder, snout first, it dragged itself up and leaned out of Nova's shoulder, as if leaning out of a window. The red fox looked around quickly, but then seemed to get bored just as fast.

"Alright Loomy, make me wings like those ones!" Nova pointed up at Yami.

The fox just looked at her, then rested its head. Zeus tilted his head as he looked at the fox.

"Hey! I gave you an order!" Nova shouted. "Make wings like those ones!"

Loomy let out a squeak of denial.

"Huh?! Why?" Nova asked the fox.

"Rrf…" Loomy grumbled, as if annoyed by the constant requests.

"I am not annoying! And I am not asking for too much!" Nova stomped angrily.

Zeus tilted his head as he watched Nova and Loomy bicker.

"Maybe you should try something else? Like… Something smaller…" Zeus suggested.

"What?"

"Well… I don't know…" Zeus looked around, then made his way over to the flowers growing in the dirt.

Nova squinted as she watched her little brother grab a yellow tulip with both hands. 'Is he about to-' He snapped the stem, and then turned to her. He held it up and just looked at her. Nova was dumbfounded by his decision just now, even Yami landed and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Try and make this…" Zeus suggested.

"You idiot!" Yami scolded.

"Zeus, you dumbo!" Nova held her head.

"What?" Zeus shrugged, confused as to what he did wrong.

"How many times has mom yelled at you for ripping her plants?! You just did it again?!" Nova reminded him.

"Oh… Yeah…" Zeus scratched his head. "But, it'll come back, so it's okay!" he grinned with his sharp teeth.

"Why didn't you just… Point at it?!" Yami asked. "You didn't have to break it?"

Nova took the flower from Zeus and shook her head. 'If mom finds this she's going to scold all of us again… All because of Zeus…' Loomy inched his snout forward, sniffing the tulip and observing it closely. Nova moved some of the dirt under a bush, then buried the yellow tulip. She shoved the dirt over. 'Last time we all got yelled at because he kept making bets about who could get the furthest into the forest without chickening out… Mom was so mad she grounded us for a month… I don't want to get- Huh…' Something sprouted off the back of Nova's hand. Small red bubbles of light floated off her arm, collecting into a single shape. A tulip, made from her red energy.

"Hey, look!" Yami pointed at it.

"Loomy you did it?! And so easily?!" Nova skipped a breath.

"Well… Didn't he say you were asking for a lot…" Zeus mentioned.

Nova brought the tulip close and observed it. The edges of the shape were jittering ever so slightly, Nova could see more of the red bubbles collecting on the shape. It landed on the flower like a raindrop, and almost seemed to get absorbed into it. The shape wasn't nearly as stable as Yami's wings, but it was something. 'I have to show mom…'

"I have to show mom!" Nova grinned excitedly.

The little girl quickly stood up, stumbling to her feet in a hurry. She ran past Zeus and Yami, and then up the stairs of the house. She didn't even take her shoes off, sprinting up the stairs with the red tulip on her hand. Loomy looked at her all the while, closely observing her excitement. She reached the top of the stairs, ran past her bedroom and then turned left at the end of the hall.

"Mom! Mom!" Nova laughed as she ran.

Upon reaching her office, Nova threw the door open and ran in. Her mother, Theresia, was deep into books again. She had at least three open all at once. Her hair was greasy, and her eyes sunken. The shadows under her eyelids made her look very angry. Nova didn't consider it, she walked forward and held her hand up.

"Mom! Look! I managed to make something! I made something with my gift like Yami!" Nova held the glowing red tulip up.

"Nova…" she rubbed her eyes, then smiled. "That's great Nova. But i'm a little busy right now, and you can't be here when I'm working."

Theresia looked down and continued to write something down in a black and white notebook.

"Oh… Okay…" Nova nodded.

Nova turned and quickly left the room, she didn't want to make her mother upset. But her mothers lack of response, made her feel empty.

***

Nova spat her toothpaste into a cup. 'Mom's never looked like that when she saw our gifts… But when she saw Eos's… She looked… Like… Like...' Nova continued to ponder as she brushed her teeth. She gazed at her reflection's red eyes, until they were drawn to her red hair just barely reaching her shoulder. 'My hair is getting kind of long, I want to grow it out more…' Nova leaned forward and spit out a glob of toothpaste, then turned the faucet handle. The water ran over the brush, Nova made sure to clean between the bristles as well. She stopped as she remembered Zeus's most recent birthday, the faucet continued to run.

"Wait…" Nova raised an eyebrow as she remembered it. "When we made Zeus a cake shaped like a sword… He had a similar expression… But he was really happy…"

'Happy? Mom didn't seem happy… I think? Mom smiles when she's happy… Zeus was… Zeus wasn't smiling… So was he really happy about it? Do people need to smile to be-' Nova was shaken out of her thoughts the moment water hit her feet. She looked down to see the sink overflow with tap water.

"Oh no!" Nova shouted and lost her train of thought.

Nova quickly turned the knob and stopped the running water, grimacing at the filled bowl. It slowly started to decrease in volume.

"That was close…"

A red orb jumped out of her core and landed on the counter. It stood on four legs, as eight tails spread out of its back, twirling together tightly. It resembled a fox with red fur, black eyes and a very long snout. Loomy walked across the counter and looked into the filled sink.

"Loomy, why did you come out now?" Nova asked. "I didn't even call you out…"

Nova tilted her head as Loomy stared into the water, then suddenly dived in. Nova shielded her face as water splashed over the counter.

"Hey! You're making a bigger mess!" Nova scolded.

The fox simply floated above the water and closed its eyes as it drifted. It appeared relaxed as its eight tails spread out. Nova let out a sigh, pulling a towel off the rack next to the sink and pushing the water back into the sink. As she looked down and saw the drenched carpet, she shook her head and dropped the towel over it. The water in the sink slowly drained.

"Mom's going to be upset at me for this… And it's your fault…" said Nova.

The fox yipped with a relaxed tone. It then attempted to dive into the small pool of water.

Nova sighed. "You don't even care… Why did I end up with the oddball for a gift…"

The fox couldn't get its head under the water, then looked around frantically. Loomy suddenly seemed confused. The last of the water went down the drain. Nova was about to walk out of the room until the fox started thrashing around.

"Hey! Stop!" Nova scolded.

"Awrwa!" Loomy snapped back for once, startling Nova.

'Huh…' The fox ran towards her. Nova didn't expect the sudden aggression, quickly cowering and shielding her face. The fox landed on her head and then jumped at the door, slamming into it. 'Huh!' Nova turned at the same time that Loomy ran between her feet. She crouched down and shut her eyes, suddenly afraid of her own gift. Glass shattered, and Nova looked up. Loomy wasn't in the room anymore, and the window was broken. The room fell silent, the only sound came from the water steadily dripping to the floor.

"Loomy! Ah!" Nova panicked as she realized her spirit jumped from the second floor of the house.

Nova ran to the window and looked out to the back of the house. The red fox was running away from the patio, toward the forest. 'Ah no! Loomy don't go that way!' The red haired girl stormed out of the washroom and then down the hall. She hurried down the steps and charged through the front door.

The bright light stung her eyes, she raised her palm and squinted through her fingers at the large circular light directly overhead. The sound of Nova's brothers cheering and playing drew her attention for a moment, it came from the left side of the house. Theresia was sitting in the shade, at a bench against the wall next to the hose, watching the three boys play. Nova walked towards Theresia, but then Eos appeared right in front of her. He came to a sudden stop, the air popped as particles of his light blue energy floated in the air. Eos waved his hands in front of himself as he tried to not fall over.

"Safe!" Eos planted both his feet as he balanced himself. "Hi Nova!"

"Oh my!" Nova's heart jumped out of her chest, "Don't startle me like that! And… Don't hurt yourself again!" Nova scolded Eos.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I got it this time! I just have to control how fast I go!" Eos raised one foot, stepped forward and kicked off the dirt.

Nova and Theresia both shielded their eyes, the wind sent their hair all over the place.

"Isn't he going to get hurt?!" Nova turned to her mom.

"It's alright, he seems to have a good handle of it…" said Theresia.

'She's okay with this? He slammed his face into a wall a few days ago…' Nova was puzzled as she watched Eos outrun and outmaneuver the other two. 'He's even faster than he was yesterday… He's like a blur…' The white haired boy hopped up and down with a bright smile as Zeus and Yami huffed repeatedly. Their clothes were drenched in sweat.

"Shit… Is this seriously happening… Are we losing to the youngest?!" Zeus shouted at Yami.

"He's insanely fast… It's unreal… And he's showing off…" Yami laughed.

"Haha! Hahaha!" Eos laughed like an idiot as he watched their bewilderment.

Nova squinted as she noticed the golden horn protruding from the side of Eos's head. Zeus shook his head and ran forward, Eos stopped laughing and stepped backwards, Nova squinted as he suddenly moved back faster than Zeus ran forward. Zeus lunged forward and tried to swipe at Eos, only for him to vanish from sight. 'Huh!?' Nova looked left and right, her little brother was suddenly gone.

"Where did he go?!" Zeus shouted. "Get back here! You aren't a chicken, right Eos? Real tag players don't hide! That's what you do in hide and seek!"

'What...' Nova squinted at that statement. But she felt someone tug the back of her shirt.

"Chickens!" Eos mocked them as he hid behind Nova, he barely pronounced the word correctly.

"Woah!" Nova turned in surprise.

Nova turned around to see Eos tapping his feet against the grass as he excitedly marched in place. Eos stuck his tongue out, before turning, lifting one foot, and then taking off like a spark of light. Nova's hair rose as the air popped again.

"Mom! Are you seeing this shit?!" Yami shouted.

"Haha, you better let Azure out if you wanna catch him," Theresia encouraged Yami.

Nova looked at her mother, she had a pleasant smile on her face. 'Did Yami just swear… In front of mom?'

"Really? I can!" Yami jumped up excitedly.

"Yami, he's over there!" Zeus pointed at the forests to the front of the house.

Eos was all the way at the other side of the field, waving to let them know where he was. Yami raised his hand as he crouched slightly, a blue bird appeared out of thin air in his hand. Azure flew into Yami's chest, and two massive blue wings sprouted off the boy's back. Yami ran forward and flew low, slowly picking up speed toward Eos.

"Get that butthead! He's being a real punk today!" Zeus cheered Yami on.

Nova turned to Theresia again, waiting for her to scold Zeus or Yami for their choice of words. But she didn't, she laughed as she stood up.

"Alright, that's enough relaxing… I better go and make brunch… Aren't you going to play as well?" Theresia asked Nova.

"I-Uh, I…" Nova stammered over her words, looking down before she remembered why she came out. "Loomy! Ah I almost forgot!"

"Forget about Loomy, he's officially last place in terms of coolness," Zeus approached with his hands in his pocket.

"Forget about Loomy? You little- Mom!" Nova snapped.

"Huh?! I didn't even do anything!"

Nova turned to where her mother just was, but she was no longer there. Instead, the squeak of the screen door opening was all she heard. The door shut as the air popped again from the opposite side of the house.

"Tsk… Ugh… Forget it…" Nova ran past Zeus toward the backside of the house.

"Hey, what's up? Where's Loomy?" Zeus asked.

"Just leave me alone! Doofus!"

"Doofus?! You're a doofus!"

Nova reached the back and looked around the wide open yard. The circular clearing of grass around the house was surrounded by the tall forest of trees. Nova sighed as she heard Zeus's footsteps behind her. 'This guy never listens...'

"I thought Loomy doesn't come out often, he usually never wants to play…" said Zeus.

"Why are you still following me?!" Nova shouted.

"Well… I'm not as fast as Eos… And I can't fly… So I'm kind of just losing over and over, and that gets boring… I need a minute to figure out my strategy to win…"

Nova's eyebrow twitched as she looked at Zeus. Nova shook her head and turned back to the trees. Yycan appeared in front of Zeus and walked in front of the two. Nova looked down at the white wolf, it looked up at her happily with its tongue out, she sighed.

"Loomy got really mad at me…' said Nova, she knelt down to pet Yycan.

"Why?" Zeus asked.

"I don't know… He suddenly just got angry, and jumped out of the window…"

"Out of the window?! Okay, that's pretty cool…" Zeus nodded.

"Ugh!" Nova tried to walk faster.

"What?" Zeus shrugged. "Being cool is a good thing!"

They walked past the patio and reached the backyard. Zeus looked up at the broken window, and then around the patio. The patio had some planter boxes and chairs set up near the back door to the house. There was a spot where the reddish brown wood was darker, and a trail of water led directly away from the house.

"Where is he?" Zeus asked as his eyes followed the trail.

"He was just here… Loomy! Loomy!" Nova called.

"Hey Yycan, find Loomy," Zeus ordered sternly.

"Oh, that's right! Dogs and wolves have really good senses of smell! I didn't know you read books?"

"Huh? I don't, books are boring and stupid…" Zeus replied without looking at her.

"Huh…" Nova squinted with one eye.

Yycan sniffed around the splattered water, before following a trail, and then sniffing over the grass. Yycan walked towards a particular spot, then started towards the forest as it continued the search. Nova was puzzled by its movements, 'What is it smelling…' Nova glanced toward the house, noticing the open bathroom window at the second story of the house. She looked down and noticed the trail as well. 'Oh… That's where Loomy landed…'

"Wait, Yycan is really smart…" Nova complimented.

"Obviously, Yycan is the coolest," Zeus said nonchalantly.

"He's even smarter than you!" Nova followed after the white wolf.

Nova and Zeus hurried down the grassy plane, running through the obstacle courses that her brothers often played with. There were stray tires, small crawl spaces, and even a rope net hanging from a small wall. Nova wasn't as interested in the obstacle course, she was usually more interested in reading her mothers books. As they reached the forest, the two of them stopped as Yycan ran right in.

"Oh no! Yycan wait!" Nova shouted, but the wolf didn't turn. "Mom says we can't go into the forest!"

"Well, Yycan just went…" Zeus shrugged.

"Yeah… But… What if we get in trouble…" Nova asked quietly.

"So?"

"So?!"

"Yeah, I mean… I've been in trouble… It's not that bad… Mom just makes me do something really boring…" Zeus walked forward, passed the first tree. "Look, I did it, no ones stopping me."

"Ugh, I mean… Obviously that's fine… But if she-"

A howl came from further into the forest, Nova and Zeus looked up as they heard Yycan call to them.

"He found him this way!" Zeus ran between the trees.

Nova hesitated, but she followed after him. 'We have to go into the forest, it's the only way!' She watched Zeus's back as he jumped over branches and logs. 'Zeus is being really helpful... I didn't think he could be like this…' Zeus looked around before pointing to the left.

"Where?" Nova asked as she caught up to him and peeked over his shoulder.

Loomy laid on the ground, in front of a large grey wall of rock. Yycan nudged him, but the fox didn't move. Nova hurried past Zeus and toward Loomy, upon getting closer, she immediately felt like something was wrong.

"Is he dead?" Zeus asked.

"What? No! Don't say that!" Nova snapped.

Loomy sniffled as its head rested on the ground, Nova was taken aback by the poor state of the fox. 'He looks so sad… Why?' Nova looked at the wall of rocks, she had never been this far away from the house before. Along the lower part of the wall were several scratch marks, some of them even glowing a faint red.

"He was scratching the rocks…" said Zeus.

"But, why? Loomy, what's wrong?" Nova asked her own spirit.

"Maybe he was upset?" Zeus asked. "Loomy isn't usually mad, did you do something to make him angry?"

"What? No? He just jumped into the sink and I yelled at him… Then he didn't like the sink and he yelled at me!"

Zeus knelt down next to the fox and just stared at it. Nova tilted her head as Zeus just stayed like that for a few minutes. Loomy laid on the dirt with his tongue hanging out. The little fox wheezed as it huffed repeatedly.

"He looks thirsty…" Zeus pointed at Loomy as he looked up at Nova.

"What?" Nova replied.

"Yeah… His throat sounds dry and he looks exhausted… I mean, look at him, his tongue is hanging out... And he sounds like mom when she's sick…"

"But… Mom said spirits don't need food and water?" Nova replied as she scratched her head.

"Well… Why did he jump in the water then? He usually just sits around looking up at the sky…"

Nova and Zeus thought about it for some time, but it was no use. The fox opened its mouth and yawned, it rolled onto its back. Its chest heaved up and down.

"Why are you sad, Loomy? Try and tell us, maybe we can help," the little girl asked with a concerned look as she rubbed the fox's belly.

The two children who normally bickered stood together in silence as they thought hard about a solution. A bright blue light zoomed through the tree's behind them.

"Ooo-" Eos's cheer was cut off as he zoomed by quickly.

After several seconds, a blue light from Yami's wings followed through the tree's. He was nowhere near as fast.

"Eos is really happy… I've never seen him like this…" Nova commented as she stood by.

"Yeah…" Zeus replied awkwardly as he squinted at her. "He was really happy now that hes finally winning..."

"Mom is really happy too… She didn't even scold you for swearing…"

"Oh yeah," said Zeus, "Huh, I didn't even think about that… That's weird…"

"Wait… I wanted to ask… Remember your last birthday?" Nova suddenly brought up.

"Yeah…?" Zeus dragged his words as he tried to recall.

"When you saw the cake we made, you know, the one shaped like a sword… Why did it make you sad?"

"Sad?"

"Yeah."

"I… Was not?"

"What… But… You looked sad?"

"I wasn't… I really liked the cake? Did I look sad? I don't remember… That was a while ago…" Zeus shrugged.

"Mom made a similar face a few days ago… She looked really sad when she saw Eos's gift…"

"Really?"

"Yeah…"

"She didn't seem sad… And like… She wasn't sad today? She even came out and watched us play, she barely ever does that… She wasn't sad, dumby. I mean, she looked shocked... I was also shocked when you guys somehow turned a sword into cake..."

"Who are you calling dumb…" Nova's expression softened as she thought about it.

"You?" Zeus said with a confused tone, he turned around. "I mean, no one else is here but- What the... What is that..."

Nova just stared at her brother and shook her head. 'Think… Loomy came out after I let the water fill the bowl by accident… And he wasn't mad about it at first… He even went into the water… But... If he was thirsty wouldn't he have drank it?'

"Hey Zeus… I think I might… Zeus?" Nova turned and noticed that he was gone.

Nova looked to the wall and noticed Yycan. The dog was walking along the wall, and further down she saw Zeus running toward something. 'Huh?'

"Come on Loomy, you can't stay here…" Nova knelt and picked up the fox under its arms.

The spirit groaned, but didn't even try to resist. Nova hurried along the wall, looking up at the sky as she did. 'Why does mom say we can't go into the forest anyway… It's just a mountain over here…' As Nova followed after Zeus, she stopped and looked at the wall of rock again. 'How big is this wall? Is it curving around the forest?' Nova noticed Zeus and Yycan further down the path, they were both staring at the wall.

"Hey… Why'd you run off?" Nova asked, however she stopped as she looked at the wall.

The wall of rock, which had been various shades of grey up until now, suddenly had a maroon rectangle embedded into it. Zeus and Nova just stared at it for a few minutes.

"I wonder why someone painted a brown square on the wall…" said Zeus.

"Zeus… That's a door…" Nova corrected him.

"What? No it ain't… Where is the door knob?"

"I… I don't know… But it has hinges… Someone made that door…"

Nova walked up to the door and pushed against it. It was cold, and made of metal. Zeus also tried to push it open. The texture was rough, and slightly rusted. 'He has a point though... The door has no knob... It's a pretty bad door if it has no knob... How do you open it?'

"How are we going to get behind it?" Zeus asked.

"Wait… Maybe we shouldn't… Maybe we should tell mom first…" Nova cautioned.

"What? Then she's just going to yell at us for being here…" Zeus objected.

"I mean… Yeah… That's true…"

"Yycan, hand," said Zeus as he raised his arm.

The wolf suddenly morphed its shape, flowing like liquid towards Zeus and wrapping around his arm. Nova watched as he tried to push against the door again. Then he got down on all fours and laid on his stomach.

"What are you doing?" Nova asked.

"Don't tell mom but… One time when she took away our toy… I snuck into her room like this and got it back," Zeus explained as he laid on the ground. "Since Yycan can change his shape, I just make him slip through the cracks, and then he opens it."

"Yycan knows how to open a door?" Nova reared her head back, slightly surprised.

"Yeah… He's good at a lot of stuff!"

"Wow…"

"What?" Zeus asked with a squint.

"Uh… Nothing…"

'I always assumed Zeus was just an idiot… But he's being really helpful… And he gets along better with his spirit than me…' The door clicked and opened up, Yycan pressed his weight against the door and managed to open it.

"Oh! Good boy!" Zeus rubbed Yycan's back, the spirit wagging its tail happily.

Nova pulled the door open and looked at the other side. The light from outside shone through and illuminated a bit of the interior.

"It's dark… Really dark…" said Nova.

"What… You scared?" Zeus teased.

The two of them froze as they heard a droplet splash further inside. However, Loomy's ears suddenly rose, the fox jumped out of Nova's hands and ran in.

"Huh! Loomy wait!" Nova shouted as she ran after the fox.

Zeus and Yycan followed as the fox as it dived into the darkness. Its red fur seemed to glow in the dark, Nova followed it for a few seconds before the fox suddenly stopped. The darkness was slightly lit by the red glow of the fox. Nova looked down and stopped as she noticed the light from Loomy reflect off puddles on the ground.

"Huh… A puddle?" said Nova.

Loomy sniffed the water, then jumped in. The fox landed on all fours and paused, looking around quickly. However the fox just started to grumble, then began thrashing at the puddle.

"Rawah! Rah!" Loomy jumped up and down angrily.

Zeus and Nova stood by as the fox had its tantrum. It slammed its tiny paws into the puddle, repeatedly barking and growling. Yycan looked up at Zeus and whimpered. The fox's tantrum lasted several minutes, before it got fed up and walked slowly toward the door they entered from. Loomy held his head low, huffing before it returned to laying on the ground.

"Wow… I've never seen him that mad before… I don't think I've ever seen mom get that mad…" said Zeus.

"Loomy…" Nova knelt down next to the fox. "How am I supposed to help?"

"He wants to swim…" Zeus answered quickly, his tone making it sound obvious.

"What?" Nova turned to him. "Swim?"

"Didn't you see that? He didn't drink the water in the puddle, he dived into it…" Zeus pointed out.

"Being thirsty is one thing... But..." Nova stopped and thought about it.

"He isn't even mad at you... He tried to swim, and it didn't work... Because it's not deep enough to swim in... That's why he's mad..."

Nova squinted, 'Wait… That makes sense…' Nova was shocked at the intelligence displayed by Zeus. Less than ten minutes ago she'd never have believed there was any intelligence inside his brain. 'Come to think of it… Loomy was relaxing in the sink…'

"Where can we go to let Loomy swim?" Zeus asked.

"I have… An idea…" said Nova.

***

Yycan repeatedly kicked the dirt out of the hole, the wolf dug as far as it could. Zeus and Nova held toy shovels, digging a wide hole behind the house. Nova rubbed the sweat off her eyes, her arms hurt, and she was hungry. She looked down at Zeus and Yycan, the two of them were rather dedicated to this.

"Yycan is making this a lot easier…" Nova huffed.

"What do you mean, ah…" Zeus huffed. "Digging… Is easy!"

Loomy sat outside the hole, its head slumped against the grass as it looked up at the darkening sky. Nova and Zeus were covered in dirt, Yycan's white coat was riddled with brown stains. Nova dropped the shovel and fell back, leaning against her arms as she looked up at the white sun directly above the house. As night came, the circle in the sky darkened, the bright blue sky slowly became navy blue. The lights around the house turned on, illuminating each side of their home. 

"Okay… I think that's enough…" Nova sighed.

Nova climbed out of the hole and ran to the right side of the house. There were rows of planter boxes arranged evenly. Along the wall adjacent to the planters, was a wheel with a hose attached to it. The hose line led back to a pipe with a red knob on it. 'I turn this to turn on the water…' With a bit of force, she turned the red knob, the water flowed through the hose. She could hear the steady stream travelling through the tube, a splash came from the other side of the house.

"Yes!" Nova smiled as she grabbed the hose and pulled it off the wheel.

"Arf!" Nova heard Loomy yip at the splash, the little fox ran around the corner.

Zeus climbed out of the hole as Nova came back around the corner with the running hose. Loomy stopped in his tracks and watched with wide eyes as Nova pulled the hose. Loomy's tail started to wag back and forth, the fox jumped and yipped in excitement. The little red fox followed her to the hole, then stood outside it as Nova dropped the hose end inside.

"Okay… Now…" Nova fell onto her rear and leaned back. "We wait…"

"Kids! Dinner is ready!" Theresia called. "Zeus! Nova! Come get it while its hot!"

"Me and Zeus are back here, we'll be there soon!" Nova tried to shout as she listened to the water flow, but she was too tired.

Nova wanted to lean back and lay on the ground, but she didn't want to get her hair dirty. However, her red bangs were stuck to her forehead, so Nova just rested her head on the grass anyway. Loomy stood over the hole, watching with wide eyes as the water filled the small divot. The little red fox wagged its tail, it continued to look between the hole and those who made it. Yycan ran circles around Loomy, sharing the excitement the fox had.

The puddle started to rise, Loomy continued to press its feet down excitedly. 'He's… He's so different… He's so happy…' Loomy ran around in a circle, before majestically jumping up and diving into the water. The water splashed out, hitting Nova and Zeus.

"This guy is a show off too, hehe…" Zeus snickered.

The little fox thrashed about in the water, then laid low enough to submerge its whole body. Nova watched in awe as the red tails started to glow under the water. They spread out and flowed around gently. Loomy closed its eyes and rolled over at the bottom.

"Huh…" Zeus uttered with a thumb to his chin.

"What is it?" Nova asked.

"Loomy is a fox… But the way it likes water, and the way its tails look, he is kind of like a fish…"

"A fish?"

"You know, like a squid?"

"That's not a fish… And Loomy has eight tails Zeus… I think you mean octopus."

"What's the difference?"

"This is why you should read more…" Nova uttered as she sighed.

"They are at the back, come on let's go!" said Eos, the energetic boy's could be heard from around the corner.

"Where did they even go while we were playing?" Yami asked curiously.

Nova and Zeus stood up as the two other children rounded the corner, Eos and Yami paused for a moment. Theresia followed, her face was immediately puzzled by the scene.

"Why are you two digging here? Mom plants stuff on that side of the house…" Yami tilted his head.

"You're looking for treasure!" Eos assumed.

"It's not for plants…" said Nova. 

Yami walked over and peered down at Loomy relaxing in the water. Eos knelt down and touched the water.

"You shoulda just called me, I can shovel quickly," said Yami.

"Huh?" Nova and Zeus both looked up at their older brother as a blue bird appeared on his shoulder.

"Azure, wings," said Yami.

The blue bird jumped off Yami's shoulder and flew into him. Two bright blue wings sprouted off his back, he jumped up and flapped his wings. He flew above the house, and then looked down.

"You… Probably… Should ask me before you dig a big hole in the yard…" Theresia muttered with a raised eyebrow. "What if someone trips..."

"Move a little back, or the dirt is going to hit you!" Yami warned. "Azure Rain!"

Yami spread his wings in mid air, then released bright blue pellets of energy from them. Each one hit the ground and left a small divot where it impacted. Thousands of blue droplets showered over the ground. Each pellet struck the ground, leaving small impact craters all over the yard.

"What…" Theresia uttered at a loss for words. "Yami… Were you even listening?"

"Oh, hey mom!" Nova waved. "We're making a pond for Loomy!"

"A pond?" Theresia repeated.

"Yeah, Loomy really wanted to swim, he's always grumpy when he doesn't get to…" Nova explained.

"Oh. Well, that's very sweet of you," Theresia patted Nova's red hair.

Nova's eyes sparkled, she felt joy unlike anything else.

"Hey! I helped!" Zeus ran forward and stood between them.

"Yeah, Zeus helped me figure it out!" Nova added with a smile.

"You two worked together? Without fighting?" Theresia raised her eyebrows as she knelt and patted both of their heads. "That's a surprise."

"Don't forget Yycan! We wouldn't have even got passed that weird door without him!" Zeus added.

Nova immediately grimaced, she looked between her mom and Zeus quickly. 'Huh! Idiot! We weren't supposed to tell-' Nova froze as she saw her mothers eyes, it was really hard to breath all of a sudden. Theresia's hands both stopped, she looked at the two of them with piercingly wide red eyes. There was a thousand emotions being communicated through that single glare.

"What door," Theresia asked, her tone switched to a cold one.

Nova's heart skipped a beat, she didn't know what to do or say. Her eyes wandered toward the grass.

"The- door to the house," said Nova.

"Don't lie. You've been out of the house since this afternoon!" Theresia's red eyes locked onto Zeus.

The boy with green eyes noticed Theresia's angry look, however, he didn't phase. Eos was laughing as Yami continued to fire down at the grass. The sound of blue pellets repeatedly striking the ground was all Nova could hear as she looked up at her mothers bright red eyes.

"Loomy ran off into the forest, if we didn't chase him we would have lost him…" Zeus squinted at his mother.

'Eh?! Why would you-' Nova shook where she stood.

"What…" Theresia twitched.

"We didn't do anything wrong," Zeus declared. "It's just some rocks over there anyway… Who care-"

A slap echoed over the yard, Yami stopped firing. Nova and Eos both covered their mouths in shock. Zeus's green eyes were wide as he held his face with both hands. Yycan whimpered, the wolf whined with a worried tone.

"How many times have I told you! The forest is off limits!" Theresia yelled.

"Loomy was the one who went in! Why'd you hit me!" Zeus shouted back, a tear collecting at the corner of his eye.

"I don't care! If I tell you not to do something, don't do it, no ifs ands or buts! If Loomy runs in the forest, you call me, do you understand!"

Zeus shook his head as he looked to the left. Yycan whimpered frantically, the spirit almost looked like it would cry. 'Please stop… It's my fault… Not Zeus's…' Nova grimaced as her legs shook, her throat was too dry to say it herself. The intensity in her mothers glowing red eyes frightened her.

"Zeus! Do you understand!" Theresia shouted.

Zeus didn't answer. Both Eos and Nova's legs shook in fear.

"Hey, eyes up here! I'm talking to you! Do you understand, Zeus!" she shouted again.

"No! I don't understand! I didn't make anyone cry! I helped Nova! I helped Loomy!" Zeus snapped. "All I did was open a door! So no! I don't understand what I did wrong, you idiot!"

The water rising in the small hole overflowed, flowing into the divots Yami had made. The sound of the water droplets from the hose was the only thing that broke the silence. Theresia twitched, then stood up and looked down at Zeus with scorn.

"Yami, Nova, Eos… Your dinner is on the table," Theresia spoke sternly. "Go, eat."

Yami promptly followed, he didn't want to upset her right now. He nudged Eos, and the white haired boy followed. Nova gazed at her mother. Theresia and Zeus glared at one another.

"What… What about Zeus…" Nova asked nervously, it felt like there was a metal ball stuck in her throat.

"Zeus doesn't get to eat dinner today," Theresia stated.

"Huh?! How does that make sense!" Zeus complained.

"But… But mom, I-"

"Nova! Go inside! Eat! And then go to bed!" Theresia commanded.

Nova wanted to tell the truth, but she was far too scared to. The young red haired girl ran inside as tears ran down her face. Loomy followed after her, yelping with concern all the while.