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Axton Manor, August 2015.

One month after waking from the nightmares of London and into another time altogether, Phoenix steps into the scorching summer air on the stunning sundown of his twenty-fifth birthday with one goal in mind, destroying the deceiving memorial to a friend in order to unearth the truth buried underneath the crushing weight of secrets turned to marble.

Phoenix raises a sledgehammer above his head, ready to allow gravity to do what he doesn't have the heart to, when a deep and pacifying voice speaks to him from deep within a field of sunflowers.

"Destroying that memorial won't bring Zephyr back," Thaddeus Axton says, gripping the hammer while glaring into his heirs' eyes. Like reflecting into a mirror, golden eyes stare back into Thaddeus's blue, bereft of the anger typically burning brightly within them.

"I forgot you loved to garden," Phoenix says, realizing how they're now identical in size and stature.

"Who do you think taught Zephyr, and tried to teach you," Thaddeus says, tossing the hammer onto the earth the gentle garden breaks through.

"What's the point of the memorial? I know what you've buried there, and it's not Zephyr, he's locked away in the basement, buried in a whole different way. The sooner this thing is out of our way, the sooner we can save him."

"Son, the Zenith Crown isn't buried down there," Thaddeus says, knowing exactly what his children have been thinking since they brought Zephyr home from London.

"Then what's buried down there? More secrets, more deceptions?"

"Son, I--

"Enough with the fucking son talk! You may be my father, but I'm not your son. We're nothing but experiments to you, all of us but Zephyr. Do you know how that made us feel? We hated the kindest wolf we've ever known just because you loved him!" Phoenix roars, the ends of his mane catching fire.

Thaddeus is quick to hide the hurt in his expression, the heavy lines crisscrossing the lions face disappearing as suddenly as they came.

"Is that what this is about? You want to destroy a memorial to Zephyr out of envy. Don't forget you walked away from all of this."

"That's what it's always been about! I walked away because I was begging for you to stop me, to chase after me and tell me you actually wanted me, but no one ever came to stop me!" Phoenix growls, each word needing to be beat out of his chest as he steps back and yells.

"Where did you go, when you left?" Thaddeus asks calmly.

Phoenix thinks, taken back by the question.

"I was so lost, I can't remember. I just kept going until I arrived in Dallas and begged your Mayor friend to show me what it takes to be a real lion. He wanted nothing to do with me at first, but eventually he accepted me into his pride. I did things I'm not proud of, but for the first time it felt like I was living."

"Phoenix, I never knew. The next time I'd see you again was right here in this garden. I could tell then you weren't the same lion, you returned broken," Thaddeus laments.

"After all this time, you can't blame me. I had to learn to be a lion," the younger lion says, his voice wavering.

"That's what I was trying to protect you from. Anger and aggression aren't what makes a lion. It's about leadership and looking after those who aren't as strong as you are. Otherwise, you become a pawn to the likes of Dietrich Ziegler, who will only use you--

"As a weapon?" Phoenix asks, brushing his hands through his mane as he fights the tears from falling, "sounds familiar, doesn't it?"

Unable to find the words to say, Thaddeus kneels and tends to a field of flowers close to blooming, expecting Phoenix to trample through them. But the lion remains rooted where he is, as if defying nature by choosing to remain rather than run.

"Your mother's name. I never heard a name so beautiful in my life or met someone so deserving of a name like hers. Xochitl means flower."

Phoenix growls, frustrated Thaddeus is averting his gaze, too afraid to meet his mistakes in the eye.

"You remind me so much of her. You look more like me with every passing day, but you were exactly like her from the beginning. Tell me about her, please," Thaddeus says, his claws digging deep into the earth as he tills the soft soil.

Phoenix sits down on the warm grass.

"It took time for her to open up to me, maybe because I reminded her too much of you. But once I got to know her, I realized she was the smartest lion I've ever met. She's also funny, and a phenomenal cook."

"I miss everything about her," Thaddeus says, admiring the sunset.

"Then why did you let her go?"

"For something I mistook as far bigger than myself, and now those years are gone," Thaddeus says, brushing away tears with his forearms to avoid getting soil into his eyes.

"Unless Aarden takes you back in time," Phoenix says, laying on his back to look up at the orange sky with unbroken concentration.

"The Kuiper's trusted Aarden wouldn't mishandle his adaptation. For those of us without the privilege to turn back the clock, all we can do is learn to grow from our failures instead of existing within them."

Thaddeus can't remember ever being afraid to ask a question, but Phoenix answers it, as if knowing exactly what's inside the old lion's breaking heart.

"She's single if that's what you're wondering. She remarried once, but he left her and their two sons behind to chase a dream. He must've found it because he never came back."

Thaddeus lays down beside Phoenix, yearning for the days when he was just as agile as him. In a field of towering sunflowers, they look up at the sunset and reminisce about the same white sand beaches. The same place, in a different time.

"Twenty-five years gone as quickly as the hours in a day. I still remember the day you were born. I was sitting on that beach, looking out into the setting sun and feeling truly terrified for the first time in my life. I was already looking after Zephyr and the twins, but I didn't think I could truly be a father until I held you, and I knew then you were the most special thing I've ever laid eyes on. I still feel that same way when I see you now."

The garden is illuminated in soft fire as Phoenix rises, his flames kissing the flowers without burning them.

"Every time I saw you, I felt anger, and everything in me wants to keep feeling that way. Then I think about the moment I lost Kyran. Not in London, but in this garden, and I can't stop thinking about the way he looked into my eyes and told me he hated me without saying it, I knew it from the fire in his eyes. He died before I could make amends, and now that I have a chance to start over, I want to start over with you too. I don't want you to look into my eyes as the life fades from them one day and still see fire."

Phoenix helps Thaddeus rise and holds him in a tight embrace, pressing his forehead on his and letting his tears water the sunflowers, unafraid of letting his father see him cry.

"Please forgive me son."

Phoenix says nothing, letting every bit of pain wash away from him as his father wishes him a happy birthday in a garden that suddenly looks so beautiful to the young lion.

***

Later that same night, Kyran reads through Thaddeus's muddled handwriting in his bedroom, transcribing what he can into his journal as he spends his night deconstructing revelations that grow increasingly astonishing with each passing page.

It's late into the night when his ears perk up from the sound of light footsteps crossing the archway into the library. At first, he ignores it, knowing sleep will never wash over him until he's finished reading, then shuffling sounds draws his attention to the second level of the library.

Aarden climbs the spiral staircase within the trunk of the decorative tree, searching for books he has read before but has yet to touch as this iteration of himself.

"I know where every book is, if you can't find what you're looking for," Kyran tells him as he appears from the shadows, his amber eyes shining like glass marbles catching moonlight.

"This Aarden, your Aarden had no need to build the cannon. Kamala inspired me to create it when she tried to knock your lights out with her adaptation during Zephyr's funeral."

"She told me, and I consider myself lucky she didn't do it in this timeline."

"Why do you think that is?" Aarden asks, squinting to read the faded ink on the book's spines as his voice echoes.

"I probably kept my mouth shut. That resolves almost all my problems," Kyran says, peering out of the window and into the moonlit woods.

"Did Venus Kane show up to Zephyr's funeral?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Another variation."

Aarden pulls a heavy volume he was searching for from the shelf, brushing dust off of it with the end of his tail before setting it on a desk with a loud crash.

"What's all this for?" Kyran asks, picking up one of the books and flipping through it.

"The schematic to the cannon doesn't exist in this timeline, so I have to start over again. I couldn't sleep in that new bedroom, so I figured I'd start now."

Aarden flips through the pages in silence as Kyran wipes a smudge off his lenses.

"Wouldn't it just be easier to get the cannon from Ziegler?"

"Every time we retrieve or rescue something or someone from Ziegler, we lose that something or someone in the process, and until I learn to press rewind on time itself, I'm not risking having to meet you all over again. If I can make another cannon, then all we need is the Zenith Crown, and we won't have to fall into another one of Ziegler's traps."

"Finding the Zenith Crown is already an impossible task with Dad not telling us where it is," Kyran says, adding a book to the pile.

"Which means Ziegler is just as in the dark as we are," Aarden responds, reaching for a pen and paper on the desk.

"Say we find it, then what?"

"I tear off a part of it. In all honesty I just chose my favorite color, but looking back, it must've been something deeper than that. I use the Zenith crystal to fuel the cannon. You should know the rest of the plan by now, every version of you is smart, I assume."

"Then we bring Zephyr back."

"Glad to know you're catching on, but there's one huge problem."

"What's that?"

Aarden turns to the panther, his whiskers glistening like silver in the dull golden glow of the desk lights.

"Ziegler has a part of the Zenith Crown with him already. It's variant already exists in this timeline. The energy emanating from it is unstable as is, and that's even before someone has played a game of effeuiller la marguerite with it. You'll know what I mean when you see the Zenith."

"What are you getting at?" Kyran asks, the gears in his curious mind turning as he leans on the sturdy railing before the crystal chandelier.

"What would happen if the Zenith energy Ziegler has collided with the one from this timeline?"

The panther is quick to answer.

"The unstable energy could temper with itself and--

"Boom. Energy like that can cause much more than just a ripple in the timeline. It has the potential to destroy this timeline all together."

"How do you know all of this, are you just guessing?"

"Of course, I'm guessing. But when is my guess ever wrong?"

Kyran reaches for a book and pulls a heavy chair up to sit beside Aarden, flipping through pages as the promise of sleep fades away into the shadows of intrigue.

"So, we find the Zenith Crown and avoid Ziegler at the same time?" Kyran asks, unraveling a roll of blue paper.

"Correct, pass me that book down there."

"But we don't even know where to start looking for the Zenith Crown, Dad won't say anything."

"It's not about what he's never saying, it's about what he's always thinking," Aarden says, placing two fingers on top of his head to mimic a rabbit's ears.

Kyran takes hasty notes as Aarden draws the design of his new cannon, spending the remainder of the night with a mind unlike any he's ever known. One exactly like his.

***

Axton Manor, August 2015.

Kamala presses her ear against the reinforced door to Aarden's empty basement lab, listening to Zephyr's pained howls echo through the chamber.

"I knew I'd find you here," Indigo's silvery voice says, taking a seat behind her on the narrow stairway as the sounds of rustling chains fills the air.

"I hope you don't mind that I borrowed your jeans; I don't fill them as well as you do, but I can at least try."

"I don't remember those. You can keep them," Kamala says, guilty she's been evading Kyran and Indigo since she arrived at the manor because she finds it excruciating to be around them. They're a constant reminder of her failure to save them in another place in time.

"You're like the Indigo I knew in every way, but it still doesn't feel the same," Kamala confesses, not wanting to lose them a second time.

"Have you ever stopped to think if I felt the same way? We were much closer before that day. I miss you," the rabbit says, crossing their legs and leaning against the rough walls of the narrow stairwell.

"I miss you too. I'm sorry."

"I understand it isn't easy, and I wish more than anything things could be different, but I know any version of me would never blame you. So, what do you want to do after, if this plan works out?" Indigo asks, absentmindedly picking at the lint on their new blue jeans.

"Definitely not this. I'd like to spend some time with Zephyr, but I need to consider what he wants too."

"No one ever has. I used to be so afraid of him. Eventually, I understood it took fear to push him to do what he did. When he wakes up, he'll feel like you did, stuck in another place in time."

Additional pangs of guilt build deep within Kamala. She's never considered Zephyr is unaware that years have passed since he was last in control of his mind and body.

"It's going to be difficult for him. He's missed out on so much. How can you come back from something like that and still be the same on the other side?"

Thinking of Phoenix, Indigo is quick to answer.

"You don't. But we can ask the same thing about any of us right now. We just need to come together to make it work, instead of avoiding each other in this house and all its rooms," Indigo says, smiling brightly, trying to find enough optimism for them both.

Kamala places her hand in Indigo's and smiles through the pain, comforted by the fact she never has to say a word of what she's feeling around them.

"Sure, but only if this Indigo can still keep a secret."

"I still can, but I don't know any of yours yet. We should go into the city when this is all over and get in trouble."

"I've had enough trouble for a lifetime, let's just do something normal like get our hair done. Yours has gotten so long," Kamala says, running her hands through the waves of dark blue hair the rabbit parts to one side.

"It must be so hard to see someone you love so dearly be so far away, even if they're right in front of you," Indigo says.

"The hope he's not truly gone keeps me going," Kamala says as a piercing howl sounds from somewhere deep within the chamber.

***

Later that same night, Indigo taps their knuckles softly on the wide doors leading to Phoenix's solarium bedroom, knowing their worst fears lie beyond as they stand in contemplation in the dull golden light of the castle-like hallway.

After the rustling from within the room dies down, Phoenix cracks the door open slightly, peering down at them as he leans his large arm against the doorframe.

"You're not busy, are you?" Indigo asks, peering into the large rectangular room dimly lit by moonlight spilling in through a glass ceiling held together by iron shaped to resemble leaves and vines.

"I don't have anyone here if that's what you're asking. So, I'm free if you want to, you know," the lion says, grinning sensually.

"Don't be gross. I just want to talk," Indigo says, their face growing hot.

"I was messing around. Sure, come in, I'll always make time for you," Phoenix says, stepping aside for Indigo, who tucks their ears back to walk under his arm.

"I can't remember the last time I was in here. It must've been just after you left. I used to sleep here sometimes because your pillow still smelled like you," Indigo says, the tail end of their sentence too hushed for Phoenix to hear.

"What was that?" Phoenix asks, pushing clothes off his bed and tidying up in a routine he's all too familiar with.

"Nothing."

The solarium is exactly as they remembered. Even though Indigo's own bedroom at the opposite end of the manor was fashioned out of an observatory complete with a large telescope, the best views of the stars above were always alongside Phoenix. They spent countless nights together laying on the same bed, gazing up at the stars, wondering what the world outside the manor was like. Eventually, Phoenix left them to answer that question on his own, leaving them feeling lost. Being back is strangely comforting to Indigo, as if stepping back in time, but with exhilaration also comes deep pain.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Phoenix asks, breaking their concentration as the pain ebbs under pleasant memories.

"Them. Me. The other version of me," Indigo says, picking up a glass decanter and holding it up to the light, "looks like you're all out. I should've brought some up."

"I poured it all down the drain," Phoenix confesses, folding clothes despite not knowing how to, trying to find something to do with hands that want to wander. "I gave up after what you said about me being drunk the last time you saw me. Sure, it helped me burn brighter, but it's not worth it if I hurt you, or anyone else I truly care about."

"I know it must've been difficult for you. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help."

"It's okay, sometimes you have to do these things alone. So, you wanted to know about the version of you I knew. Well, they were just as flirty, feisty, and fashionable as you are, if that's what you're worried about. They did steal a lot of your looks though, and they may have worn some of them better too."

"Funny. You said they were with someone?" Indigo asks, feeling like there's no room for humor on the large bed between them as they take a seat on the opposite end of it.

"You were. They are. Can I please just call them you? It hurts too much to think of them as someone else when you're right here in front of me," Phoenix says.

"I'm sorry," Indigo says, their long ears falling back. "Please, go ahead. They were just me after all."

Phoenix sits on the edge of his bed, facing away from the rabbit and out of a window.

"You were with an older buck named Orson; You must have a type because he was this big daddy type, great ass too. Other than that, I can't say much else about him, other than I'm sure he made you happy. I met him once, and he was giving me an angry look the entire time. To be honest, you seemed to be at the tail end of that relationship," Phoenix says, wondering what Orson Flores is doing now in the world he left behind, if it even exists at all.

"Sounds like something I'd get myself into. What doesn't sound like me is a magic show in Las Vegas. That sounds dreadful," Indigo says, throwing themselves back onto the soft bed.

"Maybe you liked it because it was different," Phoenix suggests, laying down parallel to the rabbit on the cool and comfortable sheets.

"Are you still going to go away after this is all over?" Indigo asks, staring through the glass ceiling to the stars above.

"I've been reconsidering it. If I do, I'll take Thaddeus with me."

"You are different."

"Not different. Changed," Phoenix says, drumming his fingers on his chest.

"But still Phoenix," Indigo says, turning to look at the lions upturned grin. They stare at one another, transfixed in each other's gaze until the rabbit speaks after reading the truth in the lion's overactive mind.

"It was Zephyr who killed me, wasn't it?"

Phoenix nods, staring back into eyes he never imagined he'd see again, especially this closely.

"I always had a feeling it would be him. Zephyr wouldn't stop unless Dad told him to, or I got away. Dad's gone in your timeline, so I guess I wasn't fast enough."

"You weren't running. You were trying to save a friend and you were selfless. If you can't see it now, I know it's inside of you."

Indigo can't imagine being selfless. But if there's someone they're willing to die for, he's laying right beside them.

"So, if you could leave and go anywhere, where would you go?" Phoenix asks, his voice down to a deep whisper.

"Me? I'd probably be an exotic dancer," Indigo says as they grab a pillow to place under their head as they reposition themselves to face Phoenix directly.

"You have moves?"

"More than you can imagine," Indigo whispers, close enough now to where Phoenix's whiskers touch their nose.

Phoenix looks straight into their soothing eyes.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't save you," Phoenix confesses, saying what he's wanted to say since the moment he lost Indigo. The rabbit looks confused, thinking a different confession would escape his lips.

"Knowing me, I probably thought I was too good for your protection, and knowing you, you did everything you could've done to protect me. You're the last one I'd blame because no one has ever cared about me the way you do. Maybe that's why I liked that Orson guy, maybe he reminded me of you."

Phoenix experiences something he's been afraid to feel his entire life, a burning heat he convinced himself was impossible to feel. He drowns in Indigo's eyes to douse the wildfire inside, pushing closer to them when the truth strikes him through the heart like an arrow.

They aren't the same Indigo, and they never will be. Right as the rabbit closes their mesmerizing eyes and leans in for a kiss, Phoenix rises off the bed, gripping a dresser drawer in frustration.

"One day this will all make sense, but tonight just isn't the night," he says, pushing his mane away from his face.

Indigo crawls toward the edge of the bed, repositioning themselves on their knees before him.

"Phoenix, it's me. You don't have to explain, you're an open book. I guess I misread you this time, I'm sorry, that was inappropriate of me."

"You did nothing wrong. Indy--

"You don't have to say it until you're sure, but I can feel it in your thoughts," the rabbit says, smiling brightly.

"That's a good way to avoid awkward situations," Phoenix says, laughing nervously.

Indigo places a hand on top of Phoenix's, feeling the searing heat beneath his skin.

"We'll figure it out. We have time."

***

The following morning, Thaddeus Axton focuses intensely, unable to find the words in any language that could speak to Xochitl Solis. Knowing she's out there makes it all the more difficult for him. He's deep into dreamlike reminiscence when soft metallic clanging pulls him back to the blank pages on his large desk.

"Do I need to remind you how to use a door, Fletcher?" Thaddeus says, laughing as the crystal doorknob jiggles furiously before clicking open and revealing an elated ruddy face.

"I told you I could do it!" Aarden says to the others as he rises from his knees, wiggling the metal picks lodged into the keyhole until they snap, making him growl words he learned from Phoenix.

"Language, Zenith 6. So, to what do I owe the pleasure of such a forced entry," Thaddeus says to his five guests.

"We don't know how much longer we can restrain Zephyr," Kyran says, nervously clearing his throat as he speaks to someone he's been raised to revere. Over the last month, the other Zenith have convinced him on their reckless plan to free Zephyr. While Kyran initially disagreed, eventually he realized it was the only way, understanding how stubborn Thaddeus can be.

"I assure you; Fletcher and I are doing all we can," Thaddeus says, dismissively, setting down his unused pen. "Now, is there a reason why you broke my door?"

"You're not doing enough! If you were trying to save him, you'd tell us where you're hiding the Zenith Crown!" Kamala says, stepping before her brother, determined not to allow Thaddeus to make choices for Zephyr again. In her rage, her hands glow with powerful energy.

"What if you're mistaken and I just don't recall where it is, what do you plan on doing then?" Thaddeus says, challenging a version of Kamala he doesn't recognize, one acting on her emotions rather than repressing them as she was taught to.

"This," she says.

Kamala generates crystal restraints, wrapping them tightly around Thaddeus's arm rests without stepping forward from the spot she stands on.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Fletcher!" Thaddeus roars, shifting his body weight in an effort to break the sturdy chair.

"Fletcher didn't agree with us on this plan, so Quinn's locked her in the laundry room," Indigo says, his big front teeth showing as he grins nervously. "Sorry."

"Is this what you've all become, desperate enough to use your adaptations against me, like wild animals trapped in snares?" Thaddeus demands, losing agency over his own mind and movements as he's drawn into Indigo's glowing eyes.

"I've done this once before to you, accidentally," Indigo says, blue magic filling the air like smoke.

"Don't you remember? It's like sleeping."

Indigo's voice spills into the lion's ears as he tries to fight, but he slips away from the study and into another world altogether.

But Thaddeus isn't alone. The others witness their vision fade to white as they fall through icy clouds, their consciousness slipping as if being pulled into the dark waters of the lake beyond the sun-drenched garden.

***

Snowfall blinds the five enigmas as they crash into a frozen tundra thirty years into the past.

"Where are we?" Aarden asks, his senses muddled as he trudges through waist high snow that isn't cold or sticks to his fur. Immediately he's reminded of Ziegler's base on the icy peak.

"We're inside the darkest memories of Thaddeus Q. Axton," Indigo responds calmly, brushing snow off their shoulders. In the haze they're barely visible, but their violet eyes sear through the whiteout like headlights in fog.

Aarden squints, trying to make sense of the blinding white behind him. The only chill he senses is that of fear running up his spine as he wades like a hardhearted ghost.

"Remember that his memories may be distorted and will only show us the truth as Thaddeus perceived it. Try not to blame him, no one can see the world for how it truly is. Also, none of this is real, so don't allow your mind to fool you into thinking you can change a thing of what you're about to see. What's done is done," Indigo warns as the others make their way toward them, each being affected by the snow in different ways.

"He's going to kill us; do you know that?" Kyran says frantically, making his way to stand by their side. He kneels, his hands slipping through snow he tries to grasp with his fingertips.

"He won't remember a thing," Indigo assures him with a shrug to Phoenix, who joins the others to form a circle.

"How are you doing this?" Phoenix asks, his question unanswered as it's stolen by the howl of a raging snowstorm.

"If these are his memories, then where is he?" Kamala asks at the opposite end of the formation, her eyes glowing as bright blue as the sky unseen above them.

"There," Aarden says, pointing at a pair of shadows trudging toward them in the bleak horizon.

"If that's Thaddeus and Ziegler, then where is the Zenith Crown?" Aarden asks, unaware the crystalline irises of his eyes are glowing bright green.

"We are the Zenith Crown," Phoenix says, his eyes the last to glow as the visages of Thaddeus and Ziegler kneel beside what they see as a crystalline flower.

The Zenith instinctively hold onto one another's hands. Their power combined, a brilliant beam of white light emanates from their bodies, piercing the sky and parting the snowstorm to reveal a night sky glittered with shimmering galaxies and shining stars.

Before they can make sense of the memory, their visibility fades to zero, winds picking up before a new memory clears the air around them. When their heads stop spinning, they're thrown into a small dark room with freezing walls.

Instinctively, Phoenix ignites his mane, but it has no effect on memories of assured darkness.

In the corner of the room, a young Thaddeus Axton buries his claws into a small patch of thawed earth breaking life through the lifeless concrete. A single white flower grows in defiance of the freeze on the patch of reclaimed soil, reaching toward the rays of cold sunshine spilling through the small, barred window.

Thaddeus waters the lone flower in his secret garden with droplets of melting snow.

Kamala steps forward and crouches down to the flower, admiring the bright pink that remains hidden in the center, wondering if even Zephyr has seen a flower this unique.

"What's this place?" Kamala asks, trying to make sense of her surroundings before they too fade away. She places her hands on Thaddeus's shoulders but they slip through them.

"The most important memory of his life," Indigo responds, their eyes overwhelmed with violet mysticism as they're shifted through visual polarity not even Kamala could comprehend.

"The most important memory of his life is of a flower?" Kamala asks, trying to read what's written in claw marks on the slate wall. "That's pretty odd."

"I don't think that's odd at all. My most important memory is of fireworks," Aarden says.

"It has to mean something deeper. He's hiding something, trying to keep us away from the truth," Kyran says, the claw marks shifting into indecipherable blurs as Thaddeus regains control of his memories, obscuring details from them.

The darkness transforms into radiant sunlight refracting under the canopy of a rainforest contained within tall glass walls.

"It's the conservatory," Kyran says, his mind flooding with images he's well familiar with, making him feel a bit more grounded.

"Are we really here? Or are we still in the manor?" Kamala asks Indigo, confused.

"We're inside his head, that's the only way I can describe it. Try not to think about it too deeply, you don't want to come out of this with a fractured mind," Indigo says, something pulling them toward the large oak tree at the center of the grand conservatory.

"That would've been nice to tell us beforehand," Kamala says, swatting at insects phasing through her.

The Zenith cut through dense jungle, guided by the same rainbow of otherworldly light they saw in the memory of the tundra. There, at the center, a massive oak tree echoes with glowing light.

"Is that singing?" Aarden asks, unsure if the others can hear it.

"It's a bird's call," Kamala says, "I've heard it once before, when I first touched the Zenith Crown, it sang to me just like this."

Prismatic light bleeds from the cracks in the rugged tree, whispering for them to step closer, pulling them toward their genesis, the same one that tore through the tempest sky all those years ago. The light becomes overwhelming, reminding those who survived London of the blast that took them to another timeline.

"A secret garden," Kyran whispers, the only one to approach the tree as everything around them fades.

***

They wake, each Zenith staring up at the tall ceiling on the spot they collapsed onto. Thaddeus glares at them through his disheveled mane, his eyes burning with fury as he pulls at restrains cutting into his wrists.

"Some things are better left buried in the past!" The lion roars as the chair cracks under his shifting weight.

"You buried it under the oak in the garden?" Kyran demands, piecing together everything he saw.

Thaddeus says nothing, but the panic in his eyes says it all.

"Good, now that we know where it is, we can go get it and save Zephyr once the cannon is finished," Aarden says.

"You're foolish if you think I'd trust any of you with incalculable power!" Thaddeus bellows.

"You'd let Zephyr die to keep it buried?" Kamala demands. "We need it to bring him back, then we destroy it."

"The audacity of your plan tells me I've taught you well. Exploit the power for your own personal gain and then destroy it before anyone else has a chance to use it against you. So, the cycle continues. I doubt even with your efforts combined could you destroy it. I've spent the greater part of the last several decades trying to do just that."

Strands of saliva fall onto the lions white slacks as he struggles to contain his fury.

"That's where you're mistaken! Energy can't be destroyed, only transformed. We'll figure it out," Kamala assures him.

"Listen to me--

Phoenix steps to the front of the pack, his mane cascading before his eyes as he leans close.

"I agree with you, Thaddeus. But it shouldn't be destroyed, it should be sent back wherever it came from, no one wants that more than us. But we need it to save Zephyr, and that's the only choice we have. You used this power to save him once before, we need you to allow us to do the same," Phoenix says.

Kamala releases the restraints. Thaddeus contemplates, the words of his son carrying a newfound weight on his heart. After a moment of hesitation, the old lion hobbles to his bookshelf, handing Kyran a small black book with shaking hands.

"There's much more than just the Zenith buried there. Don't say I didn't warn you. I'll allow it, to save Zephyr."

Thaddeus throws open the glass doors leading to the terrace from his study, allowing the scents from the garden to pacify him as he recovers from the invasion of his mind.

"Once the cannon is finished, we'll retrieve the Zenith Crown," Kyran tells the others, slamming the journal shut and placing it in his jacket pocket.

As the others discuss their plan, Aarden steps out into the cool evening air, approaching the lion carefully as he collapses onto a bench on his private terrace.

"I need to finish building the cannon, but my workshop is unavailable. Can I set up shop anywhere else in the manor?" Aarden asks Thaddeus.

The old lion slumps back into his chair before laughing, seeing so much of himself in the tenacious red panda.

"After what you just did, you still have the nerve to ask favors from me? They taught you well. You have my entire company at your disposal. Get this done."

Aarden takes a seat besides Thaddeus.

"I don't blame you for everything that's happened. I understand why you'd want to keep me hidden away. I want you to understand that, in case something happens to me."

Thaddeus runs his hands through his disheveled mane before peering into the pacifying emerald green of Aarden's eyes.

"Son, you're a Zenith. Even if it's only you, you still have the power to protect yourself, from anything."

"I can't do it alone--

"Then I'll go with you," Kyran says, overhearing only the last part of their conversation.

"So will I," Phoenix says at the confused looks from Kyran and Aarden. "For backup, in case things go sideways."

Aarden beams at them, hopeful for the first time in this new timeline.

***

London, August 2015.

Soraya Singh sifts through documents in the dead of night at the instruction of Dietrich Ziegler. As long as she's known him, she's been weary of his erratic behavior, but as of late, the paranoia has gotten worse. Consumed with thoughts of time-travel, the wolf lashes out at anyone in his path, convinced he's the rightful owner of Zenith Genetics. It's been weeks since Thorne escaped the lab, and all they have to guide them in their search is whispers of a beast roaming a town in the countryside, determined to head west far beyond England. Singh knows where he's going.

He's heading to where it's buried.

Ziegler's grunts echo through the walls. Eventually, the wolf stumbles into the large concrete and glass room.

"Well?" He asks, fury in his eyes.

"What do you want me to say, Dietrich? Nothing you suggest seems possible. Things remain as they've always been. Thaddeus Axton is alive; his company is still his to control. I'm committed to this cause because it's the only possibility I believe in. This revelation changes nothing," Singh says, reorganizing the papers back into the mess she found them in.

"What has changed is that you allowed them to take Zephyr!" Ziegler shouts, kicking a stainless steel chair over. "You're weak, Soraya. Bold and brilliant, but spineless."

"What did you expect me to do, kill my own children!?" Singh shouts, tossing the files aside to the blank, windowless walls.

"I only ask you to do what I've done," Ziegler says, a menacing grin coming across his face as he bears his sharp teeth at the panther.

"We need to focus on finding Ulysses, before it's too late," Singh says, trying her best to keep her distance from the nightmarish wolf as he paces forward.

"Why all of this concern for Thorne? I don't recall you raising any objections when we resurrected him. You say nothing has changed but clearly something has," he says, slivers of the metal table curling under his claws as he glides them over the cold, shiny surface.

"If he's linked back to us, it could be the end of everything you've built," Singh says, trying to reason with him.

Ziegler contemplates, staring at claws painted black and blowing on them. "They say, a long extinct adaptation was the ability to sense fear in the air. I'm still unsure of many things, but I'm certain you're fearless, Soraya. However, I can sense something a bit more revolting in the air between us."

"And what's that?" Singh asks, unsheathing her claws under the table.

"Disloyalty," Ziegler says, lunging forward.

***

San Francisco, August 2015

Aarden shrouds his emerald eyes behind smoked glass as he welds circuitry in the same laboratory he once broke into with Kyran and Phoenix. Around him, dozens of Thaddeus's engineers build the housing for the Zenith Crown energy in meticulous silence with Kyran's direction as Phoenix leans against the wall, observing and making small-talk with scientists who keep confusing him for his father.

The red panda is inspecting a section of the steel casing when he's approached by a tall hyena in orange heels, who glances down at the schematics on the desk with her small, dark eyes.

"Mr. Kuiper, my name is Venus Kane," she says, vigorously shaking Aarden's entire arm, "former District Attorney and current member on the board of directors here at Zenith Genetics, it's nice to finally become acquainted. I've heard so much about you," she says, her smile as disingenuous and rigid as the grey suit she wears.

"It's a pleasure to meet you again, Ms. Kane," Aarden says dismissively, focused on his work.

"You must be mistaken, we've never met before," Kane says. "So, Thaddeus calls me for the first time in three years, and it's to order my engineers to assist one of his creations into dipping his toes into weapons manufacturing?" She asks, inspecting a sheet of aluminum that's been anodized green. Aarden glances at her, vaguely remembering who she is, but Kyran knows her well.

"Singular weapon, just one. Which we're almost done making," the panther says after teleporting beside them, causing the hyena to jump.

"And what's this singular weapons purpose?"

"That's confidential. I'm here on official Zenith business," Aarden says, placing his goggles over the research Kane tries to decipher.

"Zenith is my business," Kane reminds him. Phoenix, having recognized the imposing hyena, makes his way up the narrow aisles of engineers.

"The other kind of Zenith, Kane. The useful kind," the lion says, smirking as he looks down at her. She doesn't break eye contact, unafraid of the lion she hasn't seen since her days as a detective.

"Thaddeus Axton is unwell, everyone knows it. That's why no one's seen him in years. Understand that the moment he passes, this company goes to me, all thanks to Zephyr Ziegler getting himself killed," Kane whispers to Phoenix, grinning.

"Well, Ms. Kane. Today is going to be nothing but bad news for you then," Aarden says, fitting the cannon around his arm and marking where to adjust.

"We'll see about that Kuiper. Are you familiar with Dietrich Ziegler?"

"We've met," Aarden says, still carrying internal scars from his time held captive.

"Well, you'll be hearing much more from him. He has big plans on what to do with you and your kind. Well, good luck Mr. Kuiper. I hope this weapon of yours is as destructive as you'd imagined it would be."

"Are we done here?" Aarden asks, looking up into slate eyes as he's handed another section of the cannon to approve.

The hyena scoffs as she signs documents handed to her before leaning in closely to Aarden.

"Teleportation, energy manipulation, illusion projection. What can you do? I'd hate for you to put my best engineers at risk with your mutation."

"We're done here."

Kane grabs Aarden's arm as he turns away, pulling him close to where only he can hear her raspy whispers.

"You disgust me, every one of you. The work we did here was meant to benefit us all, not create nine abominations and give them a fucking leg up in the world."

Kane releases him, departing the lab through doors that slide with the scan of her paw print.

Aarden rubs his burning wrist, counting in his head before turning back to the cannon.

Later that evening, as they walk through the small forest on the island, Kyran glances at the rocky shore at the other end of the bay.

"Do you think I can leap across that?" He asks, squinting to focus on the grassy hill dancing with sunshine beyond the churning waters.

"Of course, you can," Phoenix says, placing a heavy arm on his shoulder.

"Why's that?"

"Because you have before," Phoenix says, missing the Kyran he knew, but accepting there's still so much to learn about the one standing before him.