Storm and his band was unaware that a shadowy figure was watching the entire exchange from a nearby alley.
As he watched the newly created Djinn interact with the others, Akechi Terra joined him in the alley.
As he did so, the man lowered his hood, revealing Tempus Stormcaller as the mysterious observer.
"I see you lost the finals!" Said Tempus with a smug expression.
"Hmph!! The young dragon got lucky, that's all!!" Replied Akechi Terra
"That's not what I saw!
Give credit where it is due, cousin! He beat you fair and square!" Retorted Tempus
"So, what do we do now? Should we reveal ourselves to the dragon?" Asked Akechi
Tempus shook his head.
"In time, perhaps.
But not today.
Our task is complete and another one of our kind walks the earth." Explained Tempus
"He's still bound to the dragon?
Shouldn't we do something?" Asked Akechi.
"True! But he's decided to do so of his own free will!
We must respect our new cousin's choice, even if we don't agree with it." Replied Tempus.
"He's still young, and he knows little of his own origins.
Shouldn't we be tutoring him? Show him what it means to be Djinni?" Akechi asked.
Tempus shook his head.
"It's rare to see a being of flesh and blood bond with one of our kind so well.
I feel those two will be fine without us.
Let's leave them to fulfill fate's design.
If they should stumble, then we'll be there to catch them before they fall." Explained Tempus.
With that, the two figures blurred and disappeared from sight.
Storm treated Aurora and took her all over town for the day.
By the end of the day, most of the gold he had been paid was spent and both dragons were exhausted.
They returned to the hideout and the first thing the djinn did upon entering the sanctuary was to seperate from Storm's arm.
It stretched out and yawned as the hovered in the air.
"Who's the little guy?" Asked Leyocan when he saw him.
"This is....
Actually... you never gave us your name?" Asked Storm.
"That's because you didn't give me one, silly!" Replied the Djinn.
"Why must I give you a name? Can't you just pick one for yourself?" Asked Storm.
"Because, that isn't the custom! Or did you pick your name yourself?!"
"Well... no... but you're not a baby! You can choose for yourself!" Retorted Storm.
"I'm literally 1 day old! What am I, if not a child?!" Said the djinn with a hint of amusement.
"Fine!! What about 'Fulgur'?" Asked Storm.
The little dragon considered it for a moment before sighing.
"It will do."
With that out of the way, Storm and Aurora gave a brief summary of events.
"So... let me get this straight...
He is the staff that my brother gave you?" Asked Leyocan.
"Yes."
"But he can not only talk now, he can also change shape?"
"Yes."
He then turned to Fulgur.
"And you are fine with being used in this manner?!"
"Only when it's Storm using me, but yes!" Replied Fulgur.
"...."
Leyocan just shook his head.
"Perhaps it's best that we just change topic " said Leyocan.
"Have you discovered how to get past those golems yet?" Asked Storm.
"Actually, yes.
Turns out the reason they can see people even when using invisibility is because they have a special sight that can track the magical field all living creatures produce.
The Golems have a unique type of energy field in order to distinguish each other.
The diagrams showed how this field works. We can create something that produces a similar field.
Won't stop them from seeing us, but it will fool them into thinking we're fellow golems
Then we can literally just walk into and out of the office." Explained Leyocan.
"That's great, but how will we get into the Arcanium?
Have they lifted the lockdown yet?" Asked Aurora.
"They haven't, and we can't wait for them to reopen it again.
We're going to have to sneak in." Explained Leyocan.
"How are we supposed to do that?!
The front doors are locked down tight and guards are everywhere!?" Exclaimed Storm.
"There might be another way....
But you're not going to like it." Said Lucius.
Storm turned to the sound of his voice and saw him approaching with 3 identical blue crystals.
He placed the crystals on a table before continuing the conversation.
"You could traverse the Evershifting Maze. " he explained.
"I thought you said it was suicide to go through it?" Asked Aurora.
"Usually it is. 'If' you don't know where to go! Fortunately for you, we aquired this!"
He opened up a large map of the Maze.
"How recent is this?
The Maze is constantly changing and maps are notoriously unreliable?" Asked Leyocan.
"Last week, so it is still accurate, but I must warn you that a Maze shift is imminent.
Make sure you finish whatever business you have before then.
You really don't want to get caught in the maze during a shift!" Explained Lucius.
Leyocan eyed his fellow Nogitsune suspiciously.
"And how much is this map going to cost us, Lucius?!"
"Consider it a freebie. "
Lucius pointed at the crystals on the table.
"Keep those on you at all times.
They create a bubble around you that blocks your magical auras and creates a false reading for any of the golems that might come across you.
Just keep your distance from them!!
If they get within reaching distance of you, then they might be able to see past the bubble.
If the worse should happen and you have to fight the Sentry Golem. It has a weak point at the base of it's spine.
A high energy shock directed there should disable it." Explained Lucius.
He eyed the three of them.
"I suggest you drop your disguises before attempting to infiltrate the Arcanium.
They won't help you there and you might have need of them later when you plan to leave."
"Good idea!"
Leyocan removed the pin that kept up his illusion and he turned back into his regular human form.
After a moment, Kalipso and Sprite dropped the glamor that concealed Storm and Aurora's human form as well.
"Best of luck to you!!" Said Lucius.
"Thank you for all the help and your hospitality, Lucius!!" Replied Leyocan.