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"Do you know what powers them, at least?" he said, tugging at the fur on his head. That jostled Kendrik enough for him to give Jaron a nervous look, but the fox didn't notice. "Some kind of fuel? Some kind of steam? Anything?"



"I don't know," Arlais said, noticing Janos's glance back at Soul and Zogin and getting the feeling that there was something Janos didn't want to talk about. She wasn't sure when he'd tell her as much, but she figured she could keep asking questions until he did. Or try to get him to be more honest about what he was comfortable with. "Whatever his fears are about - and that seems like a personal subject, so I'm not going to talk about it, and it was rude of me to bring it up in the first place - it's weird that Zogin would be so angry at you. You explained why you kidnapped Soul, right?"

"I mean, even Aegeas can and does forgive people," Tristan mumbled, looking away. "Eventually."

"Oh, I know that," Robin replied. "At least, I think I do. They use some kind of fuel - probably gasoline? I'm not really sure."


He shook his head.

"It makes sense if you know her," he softly said. He only knew bits and pieces of her life - things that he had heard before they discarded him like he had never done anything important, and things she had allowed him to learn in the short time they traveled alone. Out of all of the things that she cared about, it was Soul that she cared about the most. He could understand that, to an extent. He had never loved someone in the way she loved him, but he knew what it was like to care so strongly about someone that the thought of losing them created a nearly unbearable pain.

Soul was still there. He was still standing beside her, and she could talk to him like nothing had changed underneath that armor.

But Soul wasn't the same as he had been before he was kidnapped.

And all of them - himself, Soul, Zogin and even Magestorrow - were just pretending that he was still an automaton underneath that metal armor.

He couldn't share that secret. It wasn't his to share. But he could share his part of it, if he keep the story vague and didn't allow them to put the pieces together.

"I...changed Soul when I kidnapped him," he said. "I made some adjustments to his appearance. Zogin doesn't approve of those...changes, and Soul still hasn't come to terms with how he looks now. I thought I was doing the right thing when I changed him, but I see now that I made a mistake."

Finally, some clarity. Not much, but Robin had given the power source a name. "Gasoline?" Jaron said. "What's that?"



"And why did you do that?" Arlais said. It sounded increasingly like Janos didn't want to talk about those changes, whatever they were, but she figured she could at least figure out his motivation.

She mulled it over.

"I think it's dead plants and animals?" she asked. "Like fossils, or something. I just know that people call it a fossil fuel, but I guess it's not actually fossils, or else the scientists would be even more upset with it being burned than they already are."


He knew that she was trying to get answers, but it was hard not to give at least something in response.

"It was more true to his heritage," he finally said.

Jaron sighed - Robin wasn't great at explaining things. "I, don't feel like they're burning up dead plants and animals. What does it look like? Is it anything like whale oil? I've heard good things about whale oil. And why don't the scientists like it?"



Well, that was vague. "And you figured out that was a mistake?" Arlais said. "If I can ask, what made you change your mind about those changes?"

"Kind of?" Robin guessed. "It's hard for me to understand. I know they have to drill in the ground for it, and I know it can spill when they drill for it in the ocean. It has the same effect as whale oil when you burn it, but I'm pretty sure the humans stopped using that because the whales were going extinct. And they're not a big fan of it because it's leading to something called climate change. I don't know too much about it, but it's heating up the earth thanks to greenhouse gases."


Janos glanced back at Soul.

"He's hidden his appearance ever since then," he said. "I...I still feel like I made the right decision, but he apparently doesn't feel the same way. I doubt he ever will."

Tapping a claw against his chin, Jaron scrunched his face up. "Ugh, I don't think I'd need to kill that many whales, but there's far more mages than whales, and I don't know how to drill stuff out of the ground," he said. "Also I don't want to heat the world up, because that doesn't sound like a great idea. Where are you even supposed to get ice if that happened?"



Arlais set a paw on her forehead. "Maybe, just maybe," she said, "If he doesn't like those changes, and he probably never will, you've might made the wrong decision?" That sounded harsh, but she was already having a hard enough time dealing with the whole kidnapping thing, and Janos wasn't all that great at making his case.

"We're not," she said. "That's what has them so worried - the glaciers are melting, which means the sea levels are rising."

She paused.

"...At least, that's what I think is happening. I heard someone mention it when I was doing my job the other day."


Janos stayed silent.

He should have liked them. It was what made the most sense. He must have known all along that something was off about him, and that he wasn't simply Zogin's automaton. He had seen in the brief time the four had been together before the kidnapping - he hadn't wanted to be restricted to his metal body.

But Soul hadn't been dreaming of becoming what he was now - what he was always supposed to be. Because while Zogin may have disliked her fellow humans from time to time, humans were the group of people that had done the most for her. Demons took her parents; angels took the man that replaced them.

"That, doesn't sound very good," Jaron said. "Have they tried to do anything about the glaciers? Is ice magic a thing on Earth?"



Well, so much for that. Arlais had obviously gone a bit too far, if Janos's silence was anything to go by. She didn't know all of the issues going on between Janos, Zogin, and Soul, but they were clearly far out of her league. She couldn't just get everyone to hold hands and apologize, like with Zogin and Mage. At the very least, she was pretty sure that Janos wasn't working against them. He seemed pretty inept, but not malicious.

"What do you want to do now?" Arlais said, looking between Janos and Tristan. "Since it looks like we've run out of things to talk about?"

Tristan shrugged. "Maybe go back to the house?" he said, then nodded in Zogin and Soul's direction. "If they come too."

He didn't explain why, but she guessed it had something to do with him feeling uncomfortable about Aegeas. Arlais nodded, then looked over to Janos, waiting for a response.

"It is," she confirmed. "I'm just not sure how many humans actually know they have it - magic's a little...weird where I'm from. Most people on Earth know that it exists and use it, but humans usually think magic is just stories."

She let out a sigh.

"So the glaciers aren't doing so hot," she concluded.

Greed made what sounded like a laugh from nearby, and then proceeded to nearly choke on his food. Envy adopted a brief look of worry, but it was quickly replaced by exasperation when they saw their brother was alright.

"You said they weren't doing so hot," Greed finally said. "And you're talking about them melting."

Envy rolled their eyes.


"Going to this house seems like a good idea," Janos agreed. He didn't like the idea of staying in the same room with Zogin and Soul just yet; he wanted to ignore the tension for a bit longer. But he couldn't avoid them forever, so he resolved himself to his fate. "Do you want to get Zogin and Soul, or should I?"

His gaze traveled to farther down the shore of the lake.

"We should also get Magestorrow and-"

He paused, squinting at the unfamiliar figure. He didn't have the slightest idea who they were - they must have met in the time he had been gone. It was surprising to see how well the two of them were getting along; it looked like they were both making the other laugh.

...He wasn't sure he had ever heard Mage laugh.

"-his companion," he finally finished.

Jaron stuck his tongue out at Greed, then turned to Robin. "What do you mean, they don't know?" he said. "Can't they just, do magic? Even a little bit? What's so weird about it that they think it's just a bunch of stories?"



"I can get Zogin and Soul," Arlais said, following Janos's gaze. She didn't understand Janos's pause - Mage and Zest looked pretty happy, and she was reasonably sure neither of them hated Janos. Well, whatever was bothering Janos, it couldn't be any worse than him dealing with Zogin and Soul, so she might as well deal with that. "You and Tristan can get the others, if you're okay with that?"

Robin shrugged.

"Whatever caused them to stop believing it was a long time before I was created," she said. "I'm not sure why they stopped. I know some of them can still use it and do, but others have to try a little harder to tap into it."


He nodded.

"I'm fine with getting them," he said. His gaze wandered back to the two in question - he was admittedly more than a little curious about the person that Mage was talking to. The only person who had come remotely close to making Mage look that happy was Soul, and he had never seemed to relate to him as well as the unknown person was.

"If people can still use magic, and do use magic, why did almost everyone stop believing it was real a long time ago?" Jaron said. "You have to be thinking about magic to actually use it, but not a whole lot? It's not too hard to do, even if you're just curious about whether you can use magic or not?"



Nodding, Arlais walked over to Soul and Zogin.

"It doesn't sound like Janos is working against us," she said, stopping in front of them. "He, isn't good at thinking things through, but I don't think he's plotting something. But, just in case, want to go back to the house with us?"

Robin gave him a helpless look.

"I'm not even a century old yet," she said. "I'm just as confused as you are."


Even if Zogin might have thought that Janos had allied himself with the threat, Soul hadn't been entirely sure. He couldn't figure out what Janos would gain by it. That was why he had taken him and changed him - it was because he thought it would be beneficial.

But as Zogin nodded, Soul nodded, too - knowing that something had to be up with Janos right now.

He just couldn't tell if it was good or bad.

"Let's head back," Zogin agreed.

Jaron scratched his head. "Isn't there anyone else older than you that you've talked to about this stuff? Because I don't really know anyone who's even a century old, but it sounds like you do."



Watching as Arlais took the lead, taking Zogin and Soul back to the house, Tristan let out a sigh of relief. At least there'd be some more people in there.

"We should go talk to Mage," Tristan said, poking Janos in the arm. "You know him better than I do, so you can take the lead."