Chapter 150: NYX'S TURN
Aiden woke to Nyx pawing at his blanket.
He opened one eye.
"I know."
She pawed him again.
"We're going."
Nyx stared at him.
"Today. This morning. Very soon."
Another paw.
Aiden pulled the blanket over his face.
"You becoming Tier Two will not make breakfast cook faster."
Nyx hooked the blanket and dragged it off him.
Aiden sat up.
"Fine. I see power has already gone to your head."
By the time he had eaten and picked up his bag, Nyx was waiting in the fog with Miasma. Cinder followed them in beast form.
They went straight back toward the Pocket.
Cinder slowed when they reached the same invisible barrier as before. Nyx and Miasma were still on her side of it, waiting for Aiden to catch up.
Cinder looked from the path ahead to Nyx. Her ears flattened.
Aiden put a hand against her muzzle.
"I know. You wanted to see it."
Cinder huffed.
"I'll tell you everything when we get back. Every detail."
That did not improve her mood.
Before Aiden could say anything else, Cinder reached out with one huge forepaw and hooked Nyx against her chest.
Nyx disappeared into red fur.
A muffled yelp came out.
"Cinder."
Cinder squeezed once.
"Cinder."
Nyx slipped out from under her paw, shot across the invisible barrier, and spun around on the other side.
She hissed.
Cinder's tail wagged.
Aiden looked between them.
"I don't think she appreciated the goodbye."
Nyx hissed again.
"Definitely not."
Cinder lowered herself beside the barrier and stared at Nyx.
For all the daily bickering, she was angry that she couldn't follow. This was Nyx's evolution. If everything went well, Nyx would come back changed, and Cinder would miss it.
Aiden scratched beneath her jaw.
"I'll tell you what she looks like. What changes. How big she gets. Everything."
Cinder pushed her muzzle into his hand.
"And if Seraphine shows up, don't attack first."
Cinder's eyes narrowed.
"Stay between her and the entrance if you have to. But don't start that fight."
Cinder gave a low growl.
"That is not the agreement I was hoping for."
Something tugged sharply at Aiden's trouser leg. Nyx had come back and had a mouthful of fabric.
"I'm saying goodbye."
She pulled.
"All right. All right."
Aiden gave Cinder one last scratch.
"We'll be back."
Nyx released his trousers and immediately headed down.
"Spoiled little menace."
Her pale eyes curved back at him.
Aiden followed with Miasma.
Nyx took them straight to the fissure. She slipped through first. Aiden found the shadow on the other side and used Shadow Step.
Three meters later, he stepped through the stone.
Miasma squeezed through after him.
When Aiden entered the Pocket, Nyx was already standing in front of the Voidglass.
She stepped toward the crystal.
"Wait."
She stopped.
Aiden set his bag down and crouched beside her.
"We don't know if you can come out once it starts. And I don't know if pulling you out would hurt you."
Nyx held his gaze.
"This is the part where you're supposed to make me feel better."
Nyx pressed her forehead into his palm.
Aiden rubbed between her ears.
"That works."
She stayed there for a moment.
Percival had shortened the time they had. He hadn't made this choice for them.
Nyx wanted this.
She had wanted it before the warrant became urgent. She had wanted it when Aiden still had the luxury of telling her to wait.
He wasn't going to pretend otherwise now.
"If something feels wrong before the evolution starts, get out."
Nyx leaned harder into his hand.
"After it starts... I guess we'll both find out."
Miasma came closer.
She placed one forepaw on Nyx's back.
Nyx turned her head.
Miasma held her gaze.
Neither moved for a few seconds.
Then Miasma pressed her paw once against Nyx's back and stepped away.
Nyx's pale eyes curved.
Aiden smiled.
"Apparently that's two votes."
Nyx walked to the Voidglass. She touched her nose to the black surface, then her head went in.
Her ears disappeared, then her shoulders. Miasma's green light outlined Nyx until the rest of her disappeared into the crystal.
Her hind legs vanished last. Then she was gone.
Aiden waited for the notification.
Nothing appeared.
He activated Perception. The Voidglass was still blank. Nyx didn't register inside it.
"Right. Still useless."
Miasma moved against his leg.
Aiden rested one hand on her back and kept watching the crystal.
A few seconds passed and he shifted closer.
He had wanted this for her. That did not make waiting easier. Part of him wanted a notification immediately. Tier Two. New form. Done. Something simple enough to read and understand.
Another part kept expecting Nyx's face to appear from the crystal, annoyed that nothing had happened.
He would have preferred that over waiting. At least she would be outside.
"Come on."
Nothing.
Aiden rubbed his thumb against his palm. He had been the one making Nyx wait. Now that he had finally let her do it, every quiet second made him want to drag her back out.
That would be stupid. Possibly dangerous. Definitely the exact opposite of trusting her.
Aiden kept his hands to himself.
You've been fighting me over this for days. You'd better come back just to be unbearable about being right.
Miasma shifted beside him and stared at the crystal.
"I know."
Aiden wasn't sure whether he was answering her or himself.
The temperature dropped. He felt it against his face first.
Miasma's spines rose and Aiden straightened.
The cold deepened until his breath showed in her green light.
"That's new."
The Voidglass began to vibrate.
Aiden put his fingertips against the stone floor. A faint tremor ran through it.
Then came a low hum.
It wasn't loud. He felt it through the floor and in his fingers.
"Nyx?"
Nothing. Of course not. He'd asked anyway.
The hum grew stronger.
Water along the wall trembled. Miasma's light shook across the stone.
Aiden tried Perception again.
Nothing.
He hated that more the second time.
He couldn't see Nyx. He couldn't measure what was happening to her. He couldn't even tell whether the cold meant the evolution was working or whether something had gone wrong.
All he had was the fact that Nyx had chosen to enter.
Aiden sat beside the crystal.
Miasma settled against his leg.
"If she comes out with six legs, Cinder is going to blame me."
Miasma looked at him.
"What? I promised her details."
No reaction.
"Fine. Bad time for a joke."
Aiden put his hand flat against the cold stone floor.
The hum deepened.
Aiden stayed beside the Voidglass with Miasma pressed against his leg.
Then the notification appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[ TIER EVOLUTION IN PROGRESS ]
Beast: NyxTier: 1 → 2Lifespan Investment Required
Proceed?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Aiden stared at it.
No number.
Of course there wasn't. There hadn't been one when he'd hatched her egg either.
You really expect me to gamble my lifespan again after how well that went the first time.
"Fine."
Aiden accepted.
His strength vanished.
He caught himself on one hand, sweat breaking across his forehead.
"Oh. That's not cheap."
His fingers shook against the stone.
Miasma pressed against his side.
Aiden lowered himself to the floor.
"Nyx, you expensive little shadow."