Natsu was in the truck before dawn the next day, the file he’d been waiting for on the center console. Everything within it turned his stomach, but it was information he needed if he was going to crack the bastard. He turned the engine over, waiting for the heater to kick in while he watched the front door for Ava and Finn. They appeared a moment later, Cameo in Ava’s arms. For a brief moment, he thought Ava had lost her mind and wanted to bring the little girl with them. Amber appeared a moment later following close behind.

Natsu rolled down his window, the little amber eyed girl leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“Love you, Uncle,” she said.

Natsu gave her the best smile he could force out of himself, along with the words he hated to admit he didn’t feel. That he couldn’t feel. Not for anyone in this Realm. “Love you, Princess. We’ll be back in a little while.” 

Ava gave her daughter a kiss and handed her over to their babysitter. Finn was already in the front seat before Ava could even call it. “Rude,” she mumbled, climbing into the backseat behind Natsu.

“Dibs is law, babe,” he said with a grin. 

She rolled her eyes as Natsu pulled out of the drive. Finn grabbed the file, flipping through it, a look of macabre mirth passing over his features. His amber eyes were nearly glowing with delight.

“Daddy, may I play with him?”

Natsu rolled his eyes. “No.”

Finn pouted but didn’t argue. Natsu didn’t bother to explain his short answers and he had learned not to press. He could question why Natsu was bothering to bring him at all, but he knew better. Finn was his backup in case things didn’t work out quite the way Natsu wanted them to. Ava was going to interview a completely different subject, one Finn wasn’t thrilled about but Natsu had agreed to let her try.

“I don’t like oracles,” the demon grumbled. “They’re frustratingly vague and cheeky.”

“Cheeky?” Natsu said, glancing at his friend, a sardonic grin on his face.

“Yes, Natsu, cheeky. They like to play games and toy with their victims.”

“It’s a good thing Ava isn’t a weak minded, naive dolt, then.”

“Thank you, Tsu,” Ava said with a smile.

Natsu gave her a thumbs up.

“I still disagree and want to recast a vote.”

“Denied,” Natsu said, turning down the road that would lead them away from the city, toward Kanaki Valley. It was the valley he and Toji had decided on for the protection of the rescued anishifs and the main base for what was then the Anishif Army Corp Division. Now it was where the Kanaki Exile Military Force was stationed, and not one single person on the planet knew where it was.

The valley, according to every map ever drawn of the area, did not exist. 

Years ago, Havik had done research on a name Natsu had spotted on the drawing located in the field guide the boy had brought along with them on a hike. The original mapmaker was a man by the name of Richard Howell. He had drawn it back in the early eighteen-hundreds when the area was still being explored and discovered by settlers. Howell was a normal human with no known ties to the Divine, so it was a complete mystery as to why he had omitted the valley from the records.

Until four years ago when Peter was rifling through some old papers at the library in town. Howell had been involved with an angel who wanted to use the valley as a hideout. With Howell’s help, along with several others, they had created the caverns and maze-like tunnels of the caves that were prolific throughout the mountains. When they were complete, the angel wiped his memory of the area, destroying all maps and information regarding the location. 

People still walked the trail that ended with the overlook over the valley, but somehow, no one seemed to even recall it was there. Ava found traces of an old spell similar to one used to wipe memories but on a grander scale. All it took was for someone to blink, and the valley was gone. How Jordan and the others managed to remember it was a complete mystery, until it was pointed out that Jordan Franks was never a normal human. He, along with his wife Elaine, were reincarnated souls tied to Hawk and Hero.

This turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the group. While Ava still put up barriers around the area, she also reinforced the original spell, making it so that no one, not even Divine, would remember the valley if they ever saw it. The exiles who wound up leaving also were made to forget its location, and prisoners were either executed, or had their memories wiped of not only the valley, but of everything to do with the Force and those within it.

Natsu hated that they even needed to have cells at all, but recognized their importance not long after the system was established before the barrier was sealed. Now, they had two long-term prisoners; the oracle Finn didn’t trust…

And the traitor among the staff.

-*-