Amber's POV

I had nearly succeeded in forgetting what I had seen that day. When I tried not thinking about it, it took over my life, and it was all I could think of. But the more I actually tried to think about it, the more I realized it was probably just a really realistic nightmare or something that my brain had twisted around and turned into an actual 'event'. It was still hard to totally shake off that oppressive dread, but it was getting much better. I did feel bad for ignoring Caleb, but he was starting to strike me as the kind of person to take relationships really seriously. I was going to have to break up with him sooner than later, but I was definitely not looking forward to that. To take my mind off of everything, after Combat class I decided to go through a few of the more difficult katas. It was a sunny day, which was rare in these annoyingly foggy mountains, so I headed outdoors. On my way out, I passed Set and Zenery, who were wrapped up in their own little world. It was cute the way Set was set so off balance by Zenery. 

The weather was indeed amazing, and I was definitely refreshed after doing both Goju Shiho-Sho and Kanku-Sho. Just as I had poured half the contents of my water bottle over my head and toweled off my face, I heard a familiar 'pop'. Somewhat dreading what I would find, I turned around. 

"Up here~" I slowly looked up into the branches of a big pine. Milaek was curled up in the tree, smiling. By this point, I was highly suspicious of any show of friendliness from either her or Azami.

"Would you like to get stronger?" she asked, examining her nails..

"W-what?"

"Nyaa~ You're not supposed to know yet, but something big will happen soon. It's better if you're stronger before then~"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Azami sent me because I was bored and had nothing else to do~" 

"Fibber."

She looked startled when Azami herself appeared at the base of the tree and tilted her head upwards, looking daggers at Milaek.

"I know you disapprove, but we weren't going to interfere with this side of things, right?" 

Milaek stretched, catlike. "It's more fun this way~"

"Must we?" 

Milaek smirked at her silently, sharpening her nails on the tree. 

"Fine," Azami rolled her eyes and flicked a golden charm at me. "Experiment with that." She disappeared in what might, in a lesser being, have been considered a huff. Milaek remained, her lips still curled in that enigmatic smile.

"This is just for you and Larimar, by the way~ So I wouldn't talk too much about this to the rest." She grinned, revealing her razor sharp canines, before she too vanished. Shaken, I stared at the spot where she had been a moment earlier before slowly picking up the little gold charm. On close examination, It was a flat, almost paper-thin image of a clock with no hands, a rearing lion stamped in the center and weird symbols circling the outer edge. It was, surprisingly, impossible to bend. Azami said to experiment with it… did that mean using my powers? I had to try something… but what? What in the world was this thing for?