Zaya came out of the elevator, stepping into a brightly lit lab. June stood in a part of the room occupied with research, her hair was dyed orange, her sleeves rolled to the edge of her wrists as she began mixing the chemicals she'd been analysing. "Welcome back, how did you like the Nano suit?" June asked.
"I think it's great," Zaya replied. "I can finally generate the energy swords, even though it's a bit slow."
"Well, that's a start," answered June with a thoughtful look carved across her face.
"What are you doing with those bars of gold, though?" She asked, her eyes still focused on the chemicals she experimented on.
"Oh, these," Zaya replied nervously, staring down at the bars of gold in both of her hands.
"June then changed the subject, alright, give me the Phoenix emblem, let me make some adjustments," June said. She handed the Phoenix emblem on her chest over to June. She then scampered towards the other entrance.
On entering the room, Zaya was choked with steam, she coughed hardly. "Zoey, are you inthere?" "Yes, I'm in the hot tub," responded Zoey calmly.
Zaya then raised her hand towards the wall and turned on the air conditioner switch. "What did you do that for?" Zoey asked as she still remained in the hot tub.
"Zoey, if you want to take a bath, there's a bathroom," Zaya said. "Does it really look like I'm taking a bath?" She asked.
Zaya, confused, said, "I don't understand, Zoey."
The steam subsided, Zaya's gaze meeting with Zoey's. Zoey wore a battle suit, similar to Zaya's but a bit different. Zoey's eyes were closed as she concentrated, her hair had been dyed red, a hint of crimson blossoming.
Zaya stepped closer, she then got a good look at the hot tub, it was filled with lava. Zaya was shocked. "What are you doing?"
"Relax, the suit is lava-resistant, and I could increase the rate of its resistance," answered Zoey, calming Zaya down.
Zaya's look portrayed that she hadn't paid attention to Zoey's explanation neither cared about it. "You have to accept this, it's the fastest way for me to recover my innate ability, remember?" Zaya then nodded her head in response, turning the hot tub switch back on as she paced into the next room.
On opening the door, Zaya was greeted by a rushing wind, which almost pushed her back into Zoey's training room. "Pauline!" Yelled Zaya, expecting a response, the rushing wind seemed to become fiercer. "Pauline, are you there?" Zaya called.
The air then became suddenly still as a figure appeared, floating down to the ground, legs crossed and outfit blazing with energy, both of her feet touching the ground.
"Pauline, you're finally back from another of your adventures," Zaya said. "Yes, I am," replied Pauline, her energy blazing outfit vanishing.
"So, Pauline, tell me, where did you go?" Zaya asked. "The mage realm," said Pauline as she walked towards her room's coffee machine.
"The mage realm is a realm that played an important role in the creation of magic long ago, it's the origin of all witches and wizards. And guess what?" asked Pauline.
"What?" Zaya immediately replied.
"It turns out Edeth's also been there, too," Pauline said. Zaya turned quiet, she thought for a bit, then asked, "What did she find there?"
Pauline continued, "When Edeth was on the path of the mage realm, they had already sensed it from afar. And Like every other realm, their responsibility was to fight and destroy every intruder, but when they sensed Edeth's power, it wasn't something they could battle and overcome. Instead, they welcomed her with the Ally gift."
"The Ally gift?" Zaya asked, confused. "Do you remember Nyx's clones and your purple goblin?" "Yes, I do," answered Zaya.
"The gift is subject to form as what you wish in accordance to how strong you are, meaning you can summon any magical being depending on your level of strength."
"That's neat," said Zaya as both she and Pauline began walking to the next room with cups of coffee in their hands.
Sparks scattered like rain all through the training ground as Natasha and Ashara clashed with their swords, parrying each other's strikes accurately. They'd been dancing to the rhythms of battle for hours, Natasha was excited as she fought, flawlessly attacking and defending when necessary.
Pauline and Zaya entered, cups of coffee in their hands, spectating. The two girls stopped fighting, both of them dropping on the ground. "Welcome back, Pauline," Natasha said. "How were the infinite realms?" Ashara asked.
"It was great," replied Pauline. "Do you care to join us in our quest for quenching the thirst of battle?" Ashara asked, smirking as she clashed her white energy swords against each other, where she sat.
"I'll join you guys pretty soon," Zaya said as she entered the last training room, which was hers. Zaya walked in, her gaze immediately falling on the picture of herself and Nyx hanging on a side of the wall.
A stream of sadness washed over Zaya as she remembered what had happened. "It's been over eight months since the Viking war," Zaya thought. Zaya remembered how Nyx had taught her to become a better fox, she improved greatly but still never got her memories back, or ever reached partial transformation.
Zaya touched the frame on the wall, a tear falling from her eyes as she muttered, "Do not worry, Nyx, even if you're in the grasp of death itself, I'll find and rescue you, just as you'll do for me.
A life for a life!"