The Champions continued questioning the Nicronians.
How did Androsha do it?
What exactly had she said?
What had changed?
When did people begin listening?
What was the moment that made Nicron turn?
But every answer seemed to circle back to the same things.
She told them about flexibility.
She told them about identity.
She told them that they didn't have to destroy themselves to become better.
She told them that Avia wasn't supposed to be a cage.
She showed them what Devia could offer.
She kept returning.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Until eventually, people listened.
The Champions looked at one another.
It was all technically useful.
But it wasn't enough.
They weren't looking for what happened.
They wanted to know how Androsha made it happen.
What was she like before anyone believed her?
What did she do when nobody was watching?
What did she understand that everyone else didn't?
Aminator finally turned toward the remaining Nicronians.
"Is there anyone here who knew Androsha personally?"
A few exchanged glances.
Then someone pointed down an alley.
"Oudre."
Jake raised an eyebrow.
"Oudre?"
"Yeah."
"Who is he?"
The Nicronian shrugged.
"You'll know when you see him."
That wasn't particularly reassuring.
They found him sitting on the edge of a fountain.
A book was open in his lap.
Another was balanced on his head.
A third was somehow tucked underneath his arm while he was using his free hand to draw something on the ground with a piece of chalk.
He looked up.
"Oh."
The Champions stopped.
Oudre stared at them.
Then looked at Aminator.
Then Victoria.
Then Kate.
Then Jake.
Then the rest.
"Huh."
Kate tilted her head.
"What?"
Oudre pointed at them.
"You guys are much taller than I imagined."
Jake blinked.
"How did you imagine us?"
"Smaller."
"...Why?"
"Statistically."
Jake stared at him.
Kate burst out laughing.
"I like this kid."
Victoria sighed.
"Are you Oudre?"
He nodded.
"Unfortunately."
"Why unfortunately?"
"Because now I have to answer questions."
Kate grinned.
"He's definitely my favorite."
Aminator stepped forward.
"We're looking for information about Androsha."
Oudre's expression changed.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
He closed the book in his lap.
"You finally came looking for her?"
Victoria noticed the wording.
"Finally?"
Oudre looked at her.
"Everyone wanted to know why people followed her."
He tapped the book.
"But nobody wanted to know what she was reading."
Silence.
Aminator's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You knew her before this?"
"Of course."
"How well?"
Oudre shrugged.
"Well enough."
He stood.
"When nobody believed her, I did."
Ronda tilted her head.
"You believed in Devia?"
Oudre shook his head.
"No."
That caught them off guard.
"Then what did you believe?"
Oudre pointed toward his books.
"Questions."
Kate's grin faded slightly.
Oudre continued.
"Androsha kept talking about things nobody wanted to investigate."
He picked up another book from the fountain.
"Devia."
He tossed it aside.
"Corruption Force."
Another book.
"Avia."
Another.
"Identity."
Another.
"Trauma."
He looked at the pile.
"Most people heard a strange girl saying strange things."
He smiled.
"I heard someone giving me a reading list."
Kate snorted.
Oudre crouched down and gathered the books.
"And I helped her."
Victoria looked at the books.
"You supplied her with these?"
"The right ones."
"Why?"
"Because she kept asking questions."
Oudre looked genuinely confused by the question.
"So I gave her answers."
Aminator stared at him.
"What did you teach her?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"I gave her books."
He shrugged.
"She taught herself."
That answer seemed to bother Victoria more than she expected.
"Then what exactly did you discover?"
Oudre's expression became thoughtful.
"The Corruption Force."
The Champions went quiet.
Oudre sat back down.
"Everyone knew it was dangerous."
"That's not what I asked," Aminator said.
"I know."
Oudre tapped his temple.
"I'm asking what it actually was."
The Champions listened.
"Was it another power?"
Oudre shook his head.
"A force?"
He shook his head again.
"A realm?"
"No."
He smiled.
"That's the problem."
He opened one of his books again.
"Everyone kept treating it like something that exists separately from them."
He looked toward the fog.
"But what if corruption isn't just something that attacks you?"
Ronda's expression tightened.
"What if it's something you participate in?"
Oudre pointed at her.
"Exactly."
He smiled.
"See? You're learning."
Kate whispered to Jake.
"He's annoying."
Jake whispered back.
"I know."
"I like him."
"I know."
Oudre continued.
"And then there was Avia."
His expression changed.
This time, there was genuine fascination.
"That was the part I cared about."
Victoria raised an eyebrow.
"You stayed because of Avia?"
"Yes."
"Even after Androsha left?"
"Yes."
"Even after most of your planet followed her?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Oudre looked genuinely surprised.
"Because I wasn't loyal to Airious."
The Champions fell silent.
Oudre pointed toward the sky.
"I was interested in Avia."
He tapped his chest.
"Those aren't the same thing."
Aminator's eyes narrowed.
"Explain."
Oudre smiled.
"Airious told me what Avia was supposed to mean."
He tapped the book.
"I wanted to know what it actually meant."
That stopped everyone.
Even Kate.
Oudre looked around at them.
"Androsha wanted to know what happened when people were given another way to live."
"I wanted to know what happened when people actually understood themselves."
He looked down at his books.
"That's why I stayed."
Aminator studied him.
"So you weren't convinced by Androsha?"
Oudre shook his head.
"No."
"Then why did you help her?"
"Because I wanted to see what would happen."
A small smile appeared on his face.
"And it was fascinating."
The Champions exchanged glances.
Oudre wasn't loyal to Devia.
He wasn't loyal to Airious.
He wasn't even particularly interested in the political conflict between them.
He had simply been watching.
Studying.
Reading.
Questioning.
And while everyone else had been arguing over which side was right...
Oudre had been trying to understand why either side existed in the first place.
Aminator finally asked:
"Then tell us."
Oudre looked up.
"Tell you what?"
"How Androsha did it."
Oudre smiled.
"You still don't understand."
He closed his book.
"Androsha didn't convince Nicron."
He stood.
"She just kept showing them something they were already capable of seeing."
The fog moved behind him.
"And eventually..."
He looked toward the distant lights.
"...they couldn't pretend they hadn't seen it anymore."
Victoria frowned.
"You're saying you stayed because you were interested in Avia."
Oudre nodded.
"Yes."
"But Androsha was offering an alternative."
"Devia?"
"Yes."
He shrugged.
"That's interesting too."
Kate blinked.
"Then why didn't you leave?"
Oudre looked at her as if the answer were obvious.
"Because I still had questions."
Aminator folded his arms.
"About Devia?"
"No."
"About Airious?"
"No."
"Then what?"
Oudre looked down at his hands.
"Avia."
The Champions went quiet.
Oudre smiled faintly.
"Everyone here kept telling me what Avia wanted from me."
He looked toward the sky.
"Be authentic."
"Align with yourself."
"Understand your inner realm."
"Express your true self."
He counted each one on his fingers.
"But nobody ever stopped to ask me what that actually meant."
Victoria's expression softened.
"And you wanted to know."
"I needed to know."
Oudre's usual quirkiness disappeared for a moment.
"Because if Avia really comes from the self..."
He tapped his chest.
"...then it isn't just a power system."
Aminator watched him carefully.
Oudre continued.
"It's a question."
"What question?"
Oudre smiled.
"Who are you when nobody tells you who you're supposed to be?"
Silence.
Even Kate didn't interrupt.
Oudre picked up one of his books.
"That's what Avia means to me."
He tapped its cover.
"Not Airious."
He tapped his chest.
"Not the elders."
He pointed toward the distant horizon.
"Not even the rules."
Then he looked at Aminator.
"Avia is the possibility that there's something about you that can't be handed to you by somebody else."
Aminator's expression became thoughtful.
Oudre shrugged.
"Maybe I'm wrong."
Kate laughed.
"You're saying all that and then maybe I'm wrong?"
"Of course."
"That's incredibly annoying."
"Thank you."
"I wasn't complimenting you."
"I know."
Oudre smiled.
"That's why I stayed."
Victoria looked at him.
"Because you wanted to understand it."
"Yeah."
He looked toward the fog-covered planet.
"And honestly?"
A small grin appeared.
"Androsha made the question even more interesting."