Anue had led the Timechasers into a small abandoned laboratory in the side of one of the mountains. The lab looked the same as the hallway they had just been in, but with more purple boxes strewn about and a complete lack of Martians. There was a wall with two small windows on the left and a ladder on the right of it. On the upper level of the lab was an another turned off screen, a sealed door, more of those purple boxes and another ladder. On the final floor were simply a few more boxes, two of them stacked in a corner, and one of those small green tubes like they had seen in the entrance to the underground hallway. A ladder at the end of the final level had a series of sticky notes beside it. The chicken scratch writing was written in a hurry, but judging by the amount of exclamation points used at the end, whatever was written was not friendly.

Climbing up the ladder and onto the mountain itself, the sight of the snow on the mountain took Ralivil’s breath away. Only a second later did the cold strike him. He cast a glance to Anue: they had that cloak on, they were probably just shivering. He looked at his teammates behind him: Boson and Buzzy Bol were inside their UFOs, and Arix was a Starman. Ralivil sighed. Looks like he got the short end of the stick.

Anue continued to lead the way as they led the Timechasers up the mountain. The snow was a lot harder and crunchier underfoot than Ralivil had heard it was. Anue quietly greeted the remaining lifeforms, sentient icicles, who still stuck around on the mountain. Most wanted a fight, but Anue simply snapped their fingers, releasing a small jolt of indescribable PSI, and that was more than enough to ward them away.

“Daaaaaang,” Buzzy Bol remarked, “do you do that to everyone who gets in your way, or…?”

“Not usually,” Anue replied. “I prefer to talk things out. I am not in the mood for that today, though.”

Lowering his voice to a whisper, Buzzy Bol commented to himself, “Oh. Alright.”

Arix looked around, whirred to himself, then asked, “I've noticed that the Points of Power are free of the RPG-maker’s infection. *click* Why is that?”

Anue replied, “The Points of Power are the most stable points in our universe. They flow not only with psychic energy, but with time’s flow as well. The RPG-maker’s code is based off variables and insecurities in time’s flow – it cannot reach the Points of Power.”

“And what happens when we visit them…?” Ralivil dared to ask.

“Time’s stable flow goes into us,” Anue replied.

“What about that star you thought you gave me? That has something to do with the Points of Power, right?” Buzzy Bol added.

Anue nodded. “It would have stored time’s stable flow in itself instead of us, and kept us safe from succumbing to the RPG-maker’s irregularities. I had planned to take it to the RPG-maker itself with you four once we had visited all eight Points of Power, but since…”

Anue came to a standstill. The Timechasers stopped, too, and looked at Anue from behind with concern. A few seconds passed before Anue murmured to themself, “I left it on the… Oh no.”

“Is everything alright, Anue?” Arix asked, then whirred.

Anue’s head bounced up as they replied, “Just fine. As I said back at Elmadan’s base, we can work without it.”

With that, Anue began walking again. Their pace was brisker than before, Ralivil had noticed. The rest of the trek up the mountain was silent. Only the howling winds kept the Timechasers company. Ralivil was pretty sure staying on the mountain for much longer would be a health risk, so he was glad to find that they soon made it to the very top.

The view was breathtaking from up there. The stars gleamed and glistened in the darkness of space, and the small pool of water reflected their soft glow, as well as the Timechasers and Anue themselves.

Buzzy Bol reluctantly hopped out of his UFOs for a moment to touch the water’s surface and gain another PSI ability, while the rest of the Timechasers awkwardly watched. Ralivil then slithered up to the pool, knelt down, and dipped his right tentacle into it. The familiar Point of Power pain, as well as a shock of cold, shot up his tentacle and into the rest of his body, before it focused itself on the Prophet’s Mark. The corners of his vision went white again as he clenched his teeth and curled his other tentacles.

“Interesting,” Anue murmured to themself.

As the white in the corners of Ralivil’s vision spread further and the colours of his surroundings blended together, the starting discussion between his teammates and Anue began to muffle. Soon enough, it was all gone, replaced by the familiar white nothingness he was getting used to seeing on his trips to the Points of Power. The pain from the Prophet’s Mark began to fade, and new surroundings began to come into view.

He was back on Saturn again, but this time, he looked to be on a hill. How fitting. Just a few feet away from him was the blue Mook, who had again grown, but with his back turned to him. Ralivil slithered towards him, feeling nothing underfoot. The blue Mook held out his right tentacle, which quivered slightly, as a single bead of sweat rolled down his head. Ralivil noticed the extra slime dripping off his eye stalks and tentacles, which had made a small pool around his feet. He grimaced at the returning memories of going through puberty himself.

The blue Mook sighed. He mumbled to himself, “I just gotta try a little harder…”

“At what?” Ralivil quietly asked.

The blue Mook screamed as he jumped around to look at Ralivil. He stared at him, eyes wide as Saturn’s moons for a few seconds, before mumbling, “Oh, it’s you.”

Ralivil gave a small wave. “Hello again.”

“How did you find me up here?!” the blue Mook questioned.

“I don’t know,” Ralivil replied.

The blue Mook frowned. “…What do you mean, ‘you don’t know’?”

Ralivil sighed. “It’s complicated.”

The blue Mook turned away slightly, frowning at his right tentacle. It quivered again after a few seconds, then relaxed as the blue Mook sighed.

“What are you trying to do there, if I may ask?” Ralivil asked.

The blue Mook glanced away as he replied, “I’m trying to get my PSI. I’ve never been able to use it, and Mom’s only been more stressed recently, so, maybe if I finally get it to work, she might be less stressed.”

The blue Mook stared at his right tentacle again for a few seconds, but nothing happened. He frowned as he continued, his voice rising, “But nothing’s been happening and Mom doesn’t think I even have PSI but I wanna prove her wrong! I’ve gotta be good for something! Because if I can’t use PSI then what good am I at all?!”

Ralivil’s breath hitched. He searched his mind for something to say, anything, that might make him feel better. He knew it was hard to reason with a teenager, but he had to right now. If he couldn’t make the Prophet feel better, who knew what could happen?

“I…” Ralivil bit his lip for a moment before saying, “I know that it feels like you’re never going to find out what you want to do in life, but trust me, you’re going to do something extraordinary. You just have to give it time.”

“But I CAN’T give it time!” the blue Mook snapped, tears now flowing down his face. “If I don’t get my PSI, everyone’s gonna hate me more than they already do, and I won’t HAVE ANYTHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO! You don’t get it! You’re NORMAL!”

“No, I—”

“I DON’T WANNA HEAR IT!” The blue Mook fell silent as he glanced down at the blue grass. He sniffled, then muttered, “Just… leave me alone.”

The blue Mook slithered away a few paces. Ralivil watched, feeling tears stinging at his eyes. He closed his eyes to wipe away the ones forming on his lower eye. When he opened his eyes again, he was back at the pool on the mountain. Boson and Buzzy Bol hovered in front of him with equally concerned looks, while Arix had knelt down next to him.

“Are you alright? *click*” Arix asked.

“I…” Ralivil paused for a moment, looking for the right words, before replying, “I hope so.”

He stood back up again and said, “Let’s just head back.”

Anue took the lead again as they all headed back down the mountain. Anue was the only one who was keeping an eye on the group’s surroundings. Their pace began to slow before it came to a halt entirely.

They looked over their shoulder at Ralivil and said, “The icicles that live here are stopping and starting in a different place… Ralivil… why did you not tell me this was happening?”

“I thought you would have known!” Ralivil replied.

“I do not know everything, Ralivil,” Anue told him, turning around to face him in full.

Buzzy Bol chimed in, arguing, “But you’ve known a heck of a lot so far!”

“That is only with the help of—” Anue cut themself off. They were silent for a moment before casting a glance at the snow on the ground, murmuring, “…Nevermind.”

“With the help of who?” Ralivil asked.

Anue looked back up at Ralivl, telling him, “It is not important. Do not worry yourself with it.”

Boson entered the conversation with a frown, saying, “I’m pretty sure it is! Who’s helping you?”

Anue looked over at Boson. “I have already said, it is not important.”

Arix glanced up at the snow above them with worry, then to Boson. “Boson, if you get much louder…”

“Not now, Arix! Anue, why aren’t you telling us, dude? Is that Malik guy RIGHT?! How much are you hiding from us?!”

Anue’s ears flattened slightly. “Boson, you must understand that some things must be kept secret for the good of the team.”

“A team can’t work well if somebody’s KEEPING SECRETS! SPILL IT, YOU HOODED FREAK!”

“No! I’m doing this so YOU WON’T GET HURT!”

Anue’s sudden yell echoed across the mountain. It was the only sound that filled the air for a few long moments. It cut out on occasion, like the movements of the sentient icicles. Then, a rumbling from above them. The snow barely moved, but everyone knew that wouldn’t last forever.

“…I will be returning to the ship once we reach the foot of the mountain. Follow at your own pace.” With that, Anue turned around and continued walking. The Timechasers hesitantly followed them.