-0-
(Loth's P.O.V)
Gwen didn't repeat herself.
She didn't need to.
The resolve in her eyes was more solid than anything she could have said out loud. I held her gaze for a moment, trying to read her motive, her reasons—but in the end, I chose not to pry.
If she wanted to learn magic, then the correct response wasn't interrogation.
It was talent assessment.
So I pointed to the patch of dirt across from me by the dying campfire.
"Sit."
She blinked but obeyed, lowering herself cross-legged on the ground. The Lucky Girl mask hung loosely from one hand. It had been a week since Ben had battled the evil sorcerer, Hex, whose power emanated from mystic charms, one of which had turned Gwen into her own superhero named Lucky Girl.
The Tennysons hadn't needed my help dealing with Hex and things had gone according to Canon.
But the charms had awakened part of Gwen's magic talent. A pity that I hadn't seen Charmcaster though, Hex's niece and a total babe I'd crushed on since middleschool.
"What do I do?" Gwen questioned, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"You meditate," I said. "For two hours."
Her eyebrows shot up. "Two—?"
"And you keep your eyes closed the entire time. No talking. No fidgeting. Just listen. Try to sense how I move my magic."
"Sense it how?"
"Like feeling heat from a flame," I said. "Except the flame is in the air around you. And it's me."
She hesitated only a second before nodding and shutting her eyes.
I began to move my Anodite energy in slow, deliberate pulses—nothing flashy, nothing that would give her a cheat code. If she really wanted this, she had to learn step one: perception. Otherwise known as the first spell I had ever mastered:- Aura Sense.
Fifteen minutes passed.
Then thirty.
I expected her to squirm. Complain. Lose focus. Just like Ben.
Instead, by the forty-minute mark, her breathing had shifted. Lower. More controlled. And by the one-hour mark, the edge of her aura—dormant, unfocused, but undeniably there—began to ripple in faint response to my energy.
I was impressed. And a little envious of her fast progress.
By the end of two hours, her aura sense clicked into place with startling clarity.
Gwen opened her eyes, stunned.
"I… felt that. All of it. Like waves. Surging from an ocean on your
chest."
I stared at her, unable to hide my reaction. "You learned aura sense in two hours."
"Is that slow?" she timidly asked.
"For someone untrained? Without a teacher guiding your mind directly?" I exhaled. "It's ridiculous. Ridiculously fast."
She smiled wide, the first instance of pride I'd seen on her in days.
But there wasn't enough time. Not for trial-and-error training. Not for teaching or building her abilities the long, safe way.
Chaos wasn't going to wait for me to teach her all I knew about Magic.
So I made a decision. A risky idea that would kill, or leave her brain dead if I was wrong.
"Gwen," I said quietly, amidst the crackle of red coals, "what I'm about to offer is dangerous. And painful. And if I do it wrong, it could hurt you. Badly."
She stiffened, eyes full of determination. "I can take it."
"You should hear what it involves first. Then make an informed decisi-"
"No." Her voice cracked, but she didn't look away. "Ben always has to save me. And Grandpa. And even you. Every time something goes wrong, I'm the one who has to hide. I'm tired of being useless."
Her eyes glistened—but she didn't wipe them.
"I don't care how bad or painful it is. I want to be strong enough to matter."
That… hit harder than I expected, reminding of me when I first arrived at Camp Half Blood. That hunger for power.
So I nodded. "All right. Look at me. Don't blink."
She lifted her chin and met my gaze head-on.
Good.
She would need that courage.
I drew in a breath, letting my Anodite magic rise. My pupils lit a soft pink. Gwen inhaled sharply, mesmerized—
—and I entered her mind.
Legilimency.
Precise. Violent if mishandled.
But in the hands of someone who actually cared about the target?
It could be a bridge.
I guided memories, structures of spells like expelliarmus, Incedio- basic but poweful magicks, frameworks of how mystic energy behaved—everything foundational, nothing overwhelming—into the surface layers of her mind. Gwen gasped once, twice, her body tensing as the raw influx of knowledge burned like electricity against her nerves.
But she didn't break eye contact.
Not once.
When I finally pulled back, she slumped forward, breathing heavily but still conscious.
"That," she rasped, "hurt."
"You did well," I said. "And you're not done. Your mind will need days to process what I gave you. But it's enough to start."
She gave a shaky nod, sweat beading at her temple. "Thank you."
I opened my mouth to reply—
—and froze.
Something sharp, distant, and wrong brushed the edge of my aura sense. Not the usual instinctual warning. Something deeper. A disturbance in the flow of Order itself. A tremor running through the fabric of the world, like an approaching blade.
Trouble. Incoming. Fast.
But I couldn't identify the source. Only that it wasn't human… and wasn't far.
I stood abruptly.
"What is it?" Gwen asked, still catching her breath.
"I'm not sure," I murmured. "But something's coming."
-0-
(The Next Morning)
I hadn't slept the whole night but I was still fresh when dawn broke- no doubt thanks to my new body.
Unfortunately, the Rustbucket broke down just twenty miles from the secret Plumber base at Mount Rushmore, we were headed to. We had to stop at an abandoned mining town called Slaterville for repairs.
Canon was re-eserting itself and I knew this episode very well.
Max was halfway under the driver's side, muttering about coolant pressure and fractured lines. Ben kicked at a rock, clearly bored.
"Hey, Gwen, wanna explore the mines with me? They look haunted. Like, extremely haunted."
"No," I refused from behind him.
Ben turned, already frowning. "You're not the boss of me."
"Actually, right now I kind of am." I beckoned him and Gwen. "Both of you. With me. There's something I need to show you. Something that'll help you survive what's coming."
My presence had changed things and a part of me knew Vilgax would show up sooner rather than later. The Tennysons had to be ready for that, just in case I was not around.
Ben crossed his arms. "Dude, I'm tired. And the mines look more interesting than your lectures."
I fired a small pink energy blast at his feet.
He yelped and jumped back. "HEY! What was THAT for?!"
"Because you're acting like a brat," I said flatly. "Grow up and follow me."
He opened his mouth to argue—
—but a shadow fell across the town.
A ship screamed through the atmosphere, engines flaring as it descended toward the abandoned mining settlement.
Ben stared up, eyes wide. "Uh… Grandpa Max didn't order us pizza from space, right?"
I watched the ship settle onto cracked pavement, tension crawling up my spine.
"They're early," I sighed.
Gwen swallowed. "Who?"
"Mercenaries," I said. "Here for the Omnitrix."
The ship touched down hard enough to rattle the windows of the abandoned saloon behind us. Dust rolled out from the impact like a low wave. Ben stiffened, instincts firing before thought, and his hand slapped down on the Omnitrix.
A flash of green lit the ghost town.
Diamondhead stood where Ben had been.
"Good," I said immediately. "Exactly what I wanted."
Diamondhead turned his head sharply, crystalline eyebrows pulling together. "Hold on—wanted? Did you just manipulate me into transforming?"
"Ben." I pointed toward the ship. "Focus."
The ramp hissed open.
Three figures stepped out.
Kraab—massive, armored, the claws unmistakable.
SixSix—helmeted, silent, already pulling weapons from his back.
And Tetrax Shard—calm, focused, the white-and-silver plating of a Petrosapien unlike Ben's transformation but unmistakable in heritage.
All three of them looked at Ben's Diamondhead form.
Not with shock.
With recognition.
Gwen inhaled sharply beside me.
I didn't bother holding back anymore. Not with this kind of threat.
I let my Anodite power flare.
A pulse of pink and purple energy rippled outward from my chest, expanding in controlled concentric rings across the cracked ground. The force made Diamondhead's crystal plates resonate with a sharp hum. Gwen braced herself, hair whipping in the sudden wind.
"Whoa," Ben looked on in shock.
Gwen's whisper was different—breathless, almost hungry for knowledge.
"I knew it… he really is a wizard."
Good. She was adapting faster than expected.
I stepped forward, voice steady.
"Gwen. Guard the RV. Your job is to help Max finish repairs. Mine and Ben's is to keep these three away from you two. Then we escape."
Diamondhead hesitated, confusion still etched into his posture.
Gwen didn't.
She looked at me, eyes gleaming with the memory of last night's training. The way she'd endured the strain of the Mind Arts.
Ben Tennyson was the highlight, but Gwen Tennyson was a badass. One that reminded me off Annabeth.
"Am I allowed to use that?" she asked quietly.
"Yes," I said. "Now."
She raised her hands.
"Protego Maxima!"
A shimmering wall of fluid magic erupted around the RV, flowing like water but solid as tempered glass. Pink-white motes crackled through the shield, anchoring themselves to the ground. The air hummed with protective force—raw, untamed, but functional.
Max jerked upright under the vehicle, almost hitting his head.
"Gwen?! Where did you—how did you—"
Gwen pushed her mask up in a rare display of pride. "Turns out I'm good at magic. And Loth… gave me some help last night."
Max looked between me and Gwen, face tightening with the obvious thought: 'What is he?'
But he didn't voice it.
He climbed back under the Rustbucket, murmuring, "Just keep us covered, kiddo."
I turned back to Ben.
"Gwen has your grandpa covered," I said. "Worry about the mercenaries. Tetrax is your target. He's the one in the silver armor. Got it?"
Diamondhead studied me for a moment longer than expected, something shifting behind his crystalline eyes—concern… respect… maybe wariness.
"Right," he said at last. "I'm ready."
"Good." I pointed at Tetrax. "Go."
Diamondhead charged.
The mercenary rolled his shoulders once and met him head-on.
I exhaled, turning toward SixSix and Kraab.
Both were already aiming weapons.
"Let's get this over with," I breathed, energy flaring in my palms.
The ground cracked under my feet as I launched forward, Osmosian body covered in the Reinforcement spell.