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The next morning, Wu knocked on Krux's door just as the sun was rising. "Are you awake?" he said while Krux sat up in bed. "We should leave soon."

"Give me a minute," Krux mumbled, but Wu had already walked away. He got dressed slowly and applied his disguise before exiting his room. Maya and Ray were still asleep; Krux figured Wu already told them they were leaving and decided not to wake them.

Wu was waiting out in the courtyard. "Oh, you don't need a disguise," he said. "We're not going into the village."

Krux shook his head. "I am not nearly as trusting as you, Wu. Who are we going to meet?"

"An old and dear friend of mine," Wu said. "Believe me, she has no interest in the emperor's superstitions. I believe she will be a great help to you."

"No interest at all?" Krux snorted. "You'd be hard-pressed to find someone like that living under the emperor's rule."

Wu smiled. "Then how lucky it is that she does not."

"She doesn't what?"

Wu turned away. "We should go. I don't want to keep her waiting."

Krux frowned, but followed. He already told Garmadon he was a twin, though not in those exact words. What harm would it do to trust one more person?

---

After descending the mountain, Wu led Krux off the road to an old trail in the forest. "Are you sure you know where you're going?" Krux asked.

"Positive," Wu responded.

"This is close to serpentine territory."

"I am aware."

Krux shook his head and kept walking.

Eventually, they reached a small clearing next to a cliff. Wu looked around and put down his bag. "Did we get here first?" he said out loud. "Aspheera, are you here?"

"Aspheera?" Krux echoed. "What sort of name is that?"

"Wu, my dear friend!"

Krux flinched at the voice and spun around.

He recognized Wu's friend as a serpentine. She had dark blue scales and kept herself balanced on a long tail, like the serpentine royalty did, and she barely paid any attention to Krux as she slithered out of the forest, instead holding out her arms to greet Wu in a hug. "It's been ssso long!" she said with a hiss. "How have you been?"

Wu released her and smiled. "Occupied," he said. "I missed you, Aspheera."

Aspheera flashed a fanged smile and turned to Krux. "I'm surprised to see you brought a friend," she said. "Did you finally find someone else who can put up with you?"

Wu laughed. "Not at all. Would you like to introduce yourself?"

He gestured for Krux to speak. Krux decided he was not going to trust as easily as Wu, and especially not a serpentine.

"My name is Sander Saunders," he said. "I'm, ah, looking for someone."

Aspheera hissed in amusement. "Sander Saunders? And you think my name is strange, ha!"

Krux didn't flinch. "Wu," he said, "I don't believe a serpentine is going to help us find a human."

"You wanted to look outside the village," Wu said. "This is as far outside the village as we can get."

Aspheera cackled. "So you're looking for a human?" she said. "Oh, you're going to owe me one, Wu! What do you need?"

Krux cleared his throat. "His name is Acronix," he said. "He's about thirty years old and has… powers. Elemental ones, I mean."

"An Elemental Master, hm?" Aspheera slithered closer to him. Krux instinctively took a step back. "And why are you looking for him?"

"Aspheera, don't," Wu said. "Sander doesn't trust you as much as I do, and I'd like to respect that. We can't tell you everything."

Aspheera rolled her eyes, but backed away. "Very well," she said. "Is there anything else I can be told?"

"He went missing as a newborn," Wu said. "I doubt you know of any strange adoptions in human lands, but if you do…"

"I see," Aspheera said. "He was a twin, wasn't he?"

Krux bristled. Wu raised a hand to stop him from speaking. "We can't say, but it's very important to us that we find him."

Aspheera nodded. "I understand," she said. "As much as I can, anyhow. I don't understand the superstitions some humans cling to, and especially not your emperor, but if this is important to you, Wu, I will ask around."

"So you don't know anything," Krux said.

Wu shot a glare at him. Krux flinched back at the hostility in his eyes, but Aspheera laughed before he could say anything.

"Not yet," she said. "I will ask around, and Wu can arrange another meeting in, hm, a few weeks? I will contact you first." Her expression turned serious. "Though these visits are much more dangerous than they were when we were children."

Wu turned back to her. "Really? How so?"

Aspheera gently shoved him. "Don't play dumb, Wu. You know the serpentine are not happy with how your emperor has been treating them."

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Be serious. There's talk of war."

Krux couldn't suppress a noise. Aspheera glanced at him before refocusing on Wu.

Wu shook his head. "There's been talk of war since we were children."

"Is that not concerning to you?"

"There's a lot of work to be done with human and serpentine relations," Wu said. "I know that much. That's why our friendship is so important, Aspheera."

Aspheera snorted. "I daresay there are more important uses of our time than simply being friends."

Wu shook his head. "I promise, Aspheera, if I hear of plans for a war, I will tell you, just as you've told me, and we can seek out a solution together. Right now, I'm just trying to help my friend."

"Very well." Aspheera turned to Krux. "I will listen for any reports of elemental masters, or strange adoptions, but I cannot promise I'll find anything. Still, you are Wu's friend, and so I will do my best."

Krux nodded. "Thank you, Aspheera."

She grinned. "My pleasure, Sander. Now get out of here, both of you!"

Aspheera gestured back towards human territory. Wu smiled. "I'll see you later, my friend," he said.

Krux looked back just as they left the clearing, just in time to catch Aspheera slithering away into the bushes.

---

The walk back didn't take long, and they arrived back at the monastery before noon. Maya and Ray had made breakfast for their twins and were trying to convince Nya to eat more than a spoonful of rice when Krux walked in.

Maya snapped her head up. "Oh!" she said. "I didn't hear you come in! Did you find anything?"

"No," Krux said, and went to the teapot.

"More will make itself clear in time," Wu said, just behind him. "We must be patient."

Easy for you to say, thought Krux. He grimaced and poured himself slightly warm water; the teapot had been left to cool for some time. He stared at the mug and decided not to have tea.

"I'm sorry," Maya said. "You sacrificed so much to help us, Krux. I wish we could help you more."

Krux blinked. "Sacrificed?" he said. "This is hardly worse than what I had before."

"Excuse me?" Ray in surprise. "You had a room in the palace, a position in the emperor's court, and the freedom to do as you pleased. How is this 'hardly worse?'"

Krux opened his mouth, then thought better of it. He returned to his bedroom without answering.

When he came out for dinner, Ray did not repeat his question.

---

Aspheera wouldn't have information for weeks, perhaps months. Krux spent a few days feeling sorry for himself before donning his disguise and going down to the village bar. People knew him as Sander Saunders at this point, and the bartender, a man who looked about his own age, greeted him when he walked in. "Haven't seen you in a while," he said. "Any reason?"

"No," Krux said, and slid into a seat.

The bartender cracked a smile. "Alright. So what brings you here?"

"It's a bar. What do you think?"

"I think it's a bit early for a drink," he said. "So if that's what you're looking for, I'm not gonna help you."

Krux rolled his eyes, but he couldn't complain. It wasn't as if he was a paying customer; the money he had taken with him when he fled the palace was for emergencies only, and obviously he wasn't getting the income all elemental masters were entitled to.

"What's your story, Saunders?"

Krux tensed. "Nothing interesting," he said.

The bartender sat down across from him. "Everyone's got something interesting," he said. "You don't know the Master of Lightning, do you?"

The question caught him by surprise. "Libber?" Krux said in surprise, and realized he had just given the information away. He quickly recovered. "How did you know?"

"I have a friend who's spoken to you before. You were staying with her, right?"

No point in hiding it; his persona had been known in that town. "Yes," he said. "I stayed with her for a while, but when her father died, I was no longer welcome."

"Donny," the bartender said. "He was a good man."

"Did you know him?"

"As well as any of our friends. He was pretty known here, y'know?"

Krux perked up. "Known?" he asked. "How so?"

It occurred to him that he had spent his time asking about Acronix–but perhaps he should have tried a different approach. Krux's father had given the baby to Kun, Ray's father, and Kun had offered the baby to Donny. Would Donny have told anyone else? Would someone here know where his twin was, through Donny?

The bartender smiled. "We're meeting up tomorrow night," he said. "You've been here often enough, I'll vouch for you."

"Understood," said Krux. "Who should I ask for?"

"Name's Mel," the bartender said. "Show up a few minutes before closing, I can't let anyone in if they come after. I'll buy you a drink, how 'bout it?"

Krux smiled back. "That's fine with me," he said. "Thank you."

---

He returned to the monastery in a decent mood.

Ray and Maya were sitting in the courtyard, talking to each other while Ling and Nya played in the dirt. When she saw Krux, Ling straightened up and ran over. "Kruck!" she shouted. "Kruck, look!"

She stuck her hand up and showed him a dead worm clutched between her fingers.

Maya cut her conversation short. "Oh, good lord," she said, getting to her feet and rushing over. "Ling, put that down, that's disgusting!"

Ling let out shrieks of laughter and ran away from her mother, while Nya ignored them both and peacefully dug in the dirt with a stick. Watching the scene, Krux laughed, too.

Ray grabbed Ling and wiped off her hands. "What put you in a good mood?" he said to Krux.

"Ah." Krux forced his face in a neutral expression. "I might've found a lead, that's all."

"Oh, really?" Maya smiled at him. "That's wonderful."

Her voice was flat, despite her smile. Krux raised an eyebrow. "And you're in a bad mood, I take it."

"What?" Maya shook her head. "No, no! I just…"

Ray sighed and put Ling back on the ground. "We had an argument," he said.

Maya whipped her head around to glare at her husband. "Don't bring Krux into this, Ray."

"I'm just telling him, that's all!"

"Well," Krux said, "clearly it's none of my business. Unless there's any insight I can give?"

"It's…" Maya looked away. "It's about our children," she said.

Krux followed her gaze to Ling and Nya, who had moved on from digging in the dirt to ripping up the plants that grew along the wall. "I see," he said. "What about them?"

"Children have to be exposed to people if they're going to be socialized properly," Ray said. "In addition, our children have never been separated. I thought I could give Ling a bath while Nya had dinner, and you would've thought the world was ending with how they cried. I suggested we get Wu to bring them down to the village separately."

"We can't," Maya said. "I don't want to be angry at you, Ray, but we can't. Wu would have to explain why he has children this young, and…" She shook her head. "It would be too much to ask of him."

"But if we don't, they'll be terrified of strangers for the rest of their lives!"

"Maya's right," Krux said. "I'm sure I don't need to remind you that your twins were set to be executed. I imagine you'd rather have two poorly socialized children than to have them be discovered."

Ray took a sharp breath. "You don't have to put it like that," he said.

"I'm sorry, Ray," Maya said. "I wish there was something we could do, but we made our decision long ago. We wanted our family to be together, and that means our children can never have a normal life."

Ray didn't answer. Moments later, Nya shoved Ling to the ground, and Maya and Ray went to separate them before their fight escalated.

Krux went inside.

Maya's words echoed in his mind. They wanted their family to be together. Maya and Ray could have sent one of their twins away, like Krux's father did, and they chose not to. Wouldn't they have had an easier life, had they found someone to take in one of their children?

But he couldn't blame them. What was Krux doing now, if not to bring together what little remained of his family?

His stomach twisted. Krux declined Wu's offer of dinner and retired to his room.