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Aspheera wasn't thrilled about going with them to Chen's camp. "He was the one who ordered Aura to turn me over to the emperor," she hissed. "Which, by the way, I have not forgiven her for."

"I'm sorry," Aura said, "but if you don't have a place with the Hypnobrai tribe, there's nowhere else."

Aspheera snorted. She had adjusted her blindfold to only cover one eye; the healed one was scarred around the edges, but, according to her, its vision was fine. "My tribe will take me back," she said, "but I'd rather not return to a warzone. I could stay with Wu. He'd be happy to have me."

Krux frowned. "I'm sure he would be," he said, "but his brother already kicked me out. If Garmadon's still staying there, he might not react well to your presence."

Aura's eyes widened. "You were staying with Wu?"

"Yes. He was one of the only people we knew who was willing to take in twins."

"And you stabbed him!" Aspheera snapped.

"I didn't stab him, that was–"

Krux sighed. "We can work things out with Wu later," he said. "If it's really a problem, maybe Tezrus can take you in for a little longer."

Aspheera shook her head. "He already refused," she said. "As much as it pains me, I'll have to take my chances with Chen."

One of the constrictai came below deck to inform them they were almost there. Aura stood up. Krux lingered for a moment to try and make himself presentable, but after a futile attempt to scrape the old blood off his clothes, he decided there was nothing he could do and followed Aura and Aspheera.

Tezrus pulled the ship by a long-since abandoned dock by a dense forest. "This is the closest I can get to your destination," he told them. "You will remember what I told you, Aura?"

"Yes," Aura said, her tone short.

"Good." Tezrus turned to Krux. "I consider my debt to you repaid," he said, "but I will thank you nonetheless. If not for your kindness in what seemed a hopeless situation, all of us would be dead. Thank you, Master of Time."

Krux nodded. "Thank you, General, for your kindness in turn."

"And to you, Hypnobrai–"

"Shove it," Aspheera snapped.

Tezrus laughed. "You have quite a personality! I am glad to have saved you. Safe travels."

They disembarked. Aura stayed on the dock until the boat was far down the shore. "Master Chen's camp is this way," she said, motioning into the forest. "We've used this dock before. Hopefully Tezrus doesn't realize that."

Aspheera rolled her visible eye. "Tezrus has no interest in Chen's plans."

"He wants to label my father a traitor."

"And is he wrong?"

Aura huffed and turned away. "We have a long walk ahead of us," she said. "Let's go."

---

They had to make frequent stops because of Krux's injury. It had been fine on the ship, but extended walking made his side flare up in pain until it was too much to move. "I'm sorry," he said to Aura, sitting on a fallen log while he tried to catch his breath. "I just… need a minute."

Aura frowned and crouched next to him. "You might have a broken rib," she said. "Did any of Tezrus' crew treat you?"

He shook his head. "I didn't think of it, no."

She sighed. "Nothing to do now. We'll have to arrive after sundown."

The sun slowly sank below the horizon. Bugs filled the air and bit at Krux's skin. He bit back his complaints; Aura's movements were more confident the closer they got, and even he started to recognize some of their surroundings. He held his side and kept walking beyond his limits.

"Aura?"

Aura stopped. "Primus?" she said out loud. "Is that you?"

An anacondrai appeared out of the forest. "Aura!" he said with a toothy grin. "You're alive!"

Aura laughed. "Did you think I wouldn't be?" she said, her tone light. "Tell my father I'm back, would you?"

"Of course!" Primus slithered to her side. "Allow me to accompany you. I have to say, though, Arcturus seems to be under the impression that you're angry at him."

Aura shook her head as she walked. "There are more important things. I'm not angry at him any longer."

Primus glanced at Krux. "Are the rumors true?" he said. "You and the Master of Time…"

"He's my twin, yes."

Krux nodded at the anacondrai. Primus turned his attention to Aspheera. "Isn't this the hypnobrai you were going to–"

Aspheera wordlessly hissed at him.

"I was not going to leave her there," Aura said. "If Master Chen objects, we'll find another place for her, but I have no intention of letting her be killed."

Krux nodded, then winced when his side flared up.

"He's injured," Aura said to Primus. "Not badly, but the walk was difficult."

"I'm fine," Krux said, his voice strained.

"He says he's fine," Primus reported. Aura shrugged.

Primus went ahead of them once the first tents were in sight. When Aura, Krux, and Aspheera finally reached the camp, Krux leaned against a tree and took deep breaths, holding his side, while Aura ran ahead. "Arcturus?" she called out. "Father? Are you–"

"Aura!" Arcturus burst out of the hut. "Aura, you're back!"

Aura ran to meet him in the center of the camp. Arcturus raised himself on his tail to be at eye level and hugged her close. They stayed like that, surrounded by humans and serpentine alike, as the news of Aura's return spread throughout the camp. Krux couldn't help a smile at the sight, even as his side burned.

"Ugh," Aspheera said. "Serpentine aren't like that."

"Excuse me?" Krux said.

Aspheera gestured at Arcturus and Aura. "Serpentine don't usually care so much about biological relations. It's not uncommon that one won't know their father. I certainly didn't." She rolled her visible eye. "And you certainly don't get special treatment if your father's important."

"I don't think–"

"What is she doing here?"

Krux straightened up at Clouse's voice. The man stepped towards them, scowling at Aspheera. "She was imprisoned for a reason," he said. "Why have you brought her here?"

"She's my friend," Krux said sharply. "Why did you want to kill her?"

"I'm not your friend," said Aspheera.

"Good grief, these people want you dead, please try to work with me."

Clouse narrowed his eyes. "Master Chen will be the final word on the matter," he said, and stalked away.

He spotted Aura waving at him. "Krux!" she called when he looked up. "We need to make our report."

Krux glanced at Aspheera. "Is it safe to leave her out here?" he asked.

"I can take care of myself," Aspheera snapped.

Primus laughed. "I'll keep an eye on her," he said to Aura. "I'll shout if anyone gives us trouble."

"Like I need you to babysit me."

"Thank you," said Aura. "Krux, in here."

Krux nodded and followed Aura into Chen's hut.

Chen beamed at him when he entered. "Good, good!" he said before any of them could talk. "So, mission success? Everything go according to plan?"

"More or less," said Arcturus.

Aura nodded. "The emperor is dead, Master Chen," she said. "I do not know what became of the empress, but–"

"Oh, don't worry about that." Chen waved a hand dismissively. "She's dead, too. My informants in the capital told me she was found in her bed with her throat slit."

A chill ran through Krux. How could Chen say such a thing so casually? He looked at Aura, whose expression was unreadable, and then to Arcturus.

Arcturus narrowed his eyes. "If you have informants in the capital, why was my daughter required to spy for you?" he hissed.

Aura shook her head. "Father, please don't–"

"An understandable concern," Chen said. "My informants are in such a position that it would have been impossible to kill the emperor themselves–or, at least, an unwise decision, considering their status. I needed a third party who couldn't be traced back to them."

Arcturus didn't back down. "If that's true, who killed the empress?"

"It wasn't my informants, I can tell you that much! They were just as shocked as our Master of Time looks, ha!"

Krux started at his title and tried to form his face into a neutral expression.

Chen laughed. "The emperor made a lot of enemies," he said. "From what my informants gathered, the assassination coincided with the guards betraying him. Lucky for us, unlucky for him." He shrugged. "What's important is that his death was attributed to his own people, and not the serpentine."

Aura exhaled. "Good," she said. "Good. So the war will be over?"

"Oh, it won't happen so quickly. The human side needs a new emperor, and the last one, despite all his talk of continuing elemental lineages, has no heir." Chen smiled. "But, oh, that's a talk for another time. There's something I'd like to address with the two of you."

He gestured to Aura and Krux. Arcturus moved his tail in front of Aura's feet.

"Of course," Aura said. "What is it?"

Chen's smile only broadened. "You're the twin Krux has spent so long looking for, aren't you?" he said. "Don't answer that, I already know. You didn't tell me you were an elemental master!"

"It wasn't relevant," Arcturus said.

Aura shot a glare at him. "I apologize, Master Chen," she said, turning away from her father. "I thought you already knew. You and your wife have known me since I was a baby."

"Ah, so that's why Arcturus didn't want you turned!" Chen nodded. "Well, I can't fault you for that. Your father, however…"

Arcturus' tail twitched. "You did not need to know," he said. "Not then, and not now. What would you have done with that information? Order my daughter to have an heir, like the emperor would?"

"Father–"

"Good grief," said Chen. "You think so little of me, do you? I need to know the abilities of my allies so I can command them appropriately. I haven't even seen what Aura can do! Would you care to give me a demonstration?"

Aura frowned. "A demonstration?"

"You have half the powers of time, correct?" Chen leaned forward. "I'd like to see them."

"You don't have to," Arcturus said, but Aura didn't acknowledge him.

"Right," she said. "I have two. This one…"

She vanished in a burst of green light and reappeared on the other side of the room. "I can do in an instant what would take me much longer," she said. "I use it to travel long distances, usually, or catch people by surprise."

"Oh, excellent!" Chen said. "And the other?"

Aura motioned to Krux. "Could you walk to me?" she said. "Don't worry, this won't hurt you."

Krux raised an eyebrow. "You're certain?"

"Yes, Krux," she said, an edge creeping into her voice. "Just walk over."

He obeyed. As soon as he started walking, Aura's hands glowed a light blue and she aimed a beam at him. Krux instinctively jerked back, but when the light hit him, nothing happened except that a blue bubble formed around from where the beam hit.

Krux frowned, and realized the motion was happening slower than he thought it. He moved his hand, and the motion lagged behind his thoughts.

The bubble burst. Acronix nodded at him. "A slow-down field," she said to Chen. Anything within the area of effect moves at a slower rate."

"Huh," Krux said out loud. "My thoughts moved at the same pace as normal."

"Interesting," Chen said. "And what about you, Krux?"

"You already know my powers."

"Pausing and reversing time, correct? I don't think I've seen you reverse time before!"

Krux shook his head. "You wouldn't have. Only I go back in time, so only I retain the memories of the first turn of events. I could have done it right now, for all you know."

"Oh, you're no fun."

"There's another matter," Aura said. "When we fled the capital, we took two serpentine in our escape. One of them was a constrictai general named Tezrus."

Arcturus nodded. "I've heard that name," he said. "One of the younger generals."

"And the other?" said Chen.

Aura hesitated. "The other is Aspheera, the hypnobrai you had me imprison, Master Chen."

"Oh, really?" he said. "I'm surprised she cooperated long enough to escape, ha! Where is she now?"

"She has nowhere else to go," Aura said. "I brought her here. Primus is watching her."

Chen frowned. "Really? You know the rules, Aura. I daresay not bringing outsiders to our camp is a fairly important one."

"We wronged her," Aura said. "I couldn't leave her to die."

"So? People die all the time in wars!"

"Which is why we're trying to stop this one," Arcturus said sharply. "Regardless of what Aura should have done, Aspheera did not die, and now she is here. What would you have us do, Chen?"

Chen tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. "Well, she can't stay here. I'll allow her to stay the remainder of the night, but she better be gone before sunset tomorrow."

Aura exhaled. "Thank you, Master Chen."

"Thank you, Aura, for your report." Chen grinned. "Now go eat! Get some rest! You've had a long journey back, and you've done a great deed. You are all dismissed."

Aura bowed to him. Arcturus lowered his head briefly before turning away. Krux stood there not knowing which he should mimic until Chen coughed loudly and said, "Oh, just go."

"Thank you," Krux said, and left.

Outside, Aura and Arcturus were talking in low voices. "I know you trust him," Arcturus said, "but you need to be more careful. Chen shares his information with anyone who will pay his price."

Aura shook her head. "He's not going to tell people about me."

"I kept your powers secret for a reason, Aura–"

"They're my powers," she snapped. "Should it not be my decision to share them?"

Arcturus let out a long, hissing sigh. "I did not want to argue the moment you returned. I was very worried."

"I know, Father." Aura looked away. "I don't want to argue, either. Let's move on."

Krux cleared his throat, getting both of their attentions. "Ah," Arcturus said. "You need medical attention, correct?"

"It can wait," said Krux. "Where's Aspheera?"

"She went with Primus to get food," Aura said. "We should eat something, too."

"I'll join you," said Arcturus. "We can talk about topics we won't argue about."

Aura laughed. "That would be nice," she said. "I missed a lot while I was gone, didn't I?"

"Hardly!" Arcturus started towards the food tents. "We've had our share of infighting, I can say that much. Not all of it was between human and serpentine, either! The one Constrictai here demanded a fight with five other serpentine!"

"You mean Draykon? Did she do it on purpose?"

Krux couldn't process most of their conversation, all names and events he had not been privy to, but he couldn't help but smile. Aura and Arcturus, despite all their differences and disagreements, loved each other as family. It was clear in how they talked around each other, comfortable in their dynamic.

He thought of his own father and his smile disappeared. A thought rose in his mind, unbidden; what if he had been the one to grow up among the Serpentine?

He buried that thought in the deepest recesses of his mind.