"Then I suppose Ita and Kai will know nothing as well? Nor Mathis or any of the rest of them? Just us three?" Vienna finally said.

As much as Hotaru hated to do so, she agreed to it. "Yes. Just us three." She wanted to trust Russell as much as her friend did, but the future that surrounded him was just too cloudy to see. There were only a handful of people out there whose timelines could not be easily discerned and Russell was one of them. The man's earnest nature and success in carrying out what was ordered had led all of them to hold him in high esteem, however, and Hotaru could not deny how valuable he had been to the team since he joined on three months prior.

"Isn't that risky?" Vienna asked and Hotaru nodded.

"Very risky," she said.

---

Far from where the women were planning, in the land of Numbers, lightning flickered within a small room. "That's it, my brother!" exclaimed a young man, donning a wide grin, revealing deep dimples on either side of his face. He was tall, with dark skin, hair, and eyes, and was dressed in an embroidered tunic. His eyes twinkled as he clapped the Brotherhood's youngest recruit on the back. "Now try to repeat that."

The boy nodded and with a determined look on his face, extended his hands forward and stared at the small glass orb his teacher had suspended five meters in front of him. Lightning danced from his fingers and snaked toward the orb, lighting it up and making it glow.

His teacher's grin widened and he said, "And that, my brother, is how it's done. Perfection, Yannis!"

Yannis dropped his hands to his side and took a deep breath. "I want to try another, Master Fahd," he said in a quiet voice.

"Not today," Fahd shook his head. "Believe me, you're going to feel this in the morning! The important thing to learn as you're starting to unlock all the abilities is to pace yourself. Do too much at once and it's like eating too much honey cake. It may taste good at the moment, but it'll all come back up an hour later. Now go drink a tall glass of water and then ask Isaic how you can help him." He watched as the boy ran out of the room, pride swelling within him because of what he had just accomplished.

He strolled to the window of the hideout and looked out. Far in the distance was the Master's Palace. He knew they would have to relocate very soon. Two of the Brotherhood's scouts had reported the Master's people snooping around a lot more lately. He wished his Uncle didn't belong to the Master, but nothing he said could convince him otherwise. Fahd hoped that one day, this land would be a Masterless one, where each person had full control of the abilities that lay dormant in each of them. The Brotherhood had indeed grown in number quite a bit the last year, but their ranks were still too little to contemplate something like revolution. "Someday," he mused, the smile never leaving his face. "Someday..." But for now, it was time to organize a party to secure them food for the next week...

(Just introducing Fahd to the story - see the character thread for his info! Solarr's his Uncle, btw)