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Violet tries to keep herself calm, despite what she's seeing through Cappy. She's felt Mentor Thediem do battle before, but always at a distance. Now though... she can see the might of her Mentor directly, and feel Onyx's opinion of it all, too.

She was tempted to order Onyx to stay close, worried not only for her Voice, but for herself once she felt the first Harbinger appear in the canopy of her Mentor. But between Cappy's assurances, and Legs' declaration of still being her Guardian, she couldn't bring herself to. She did make sure Onyx understood she was only to watch, and tell Mentor Thedeim if she found anything he didn't know about.

Onyx stays in the canopy only long enough for Grim to show up, before she moves to a different Harbinger. She's confident Grim can handle it, though Violet is still nervous about the delvers. Cappy promises to keep an eye on them, but he seems confident, too.

Onyx watches Rocky's full fight with the Harbinger, and Violet wonders how her scion could ever hope to match up to her Mentor's scion. But instead of being discouraged, Onyx herself seems to be inspired. Violet is glad her scions are made of sterner stuff than she is.

She also learns a lot from Mentor Thedeim through the fights, and even the capture of the stealthy scion she didn't even know about. Through all the Harbingers, Mentor Thedeim was a mix of concerned and scared, which at first terrified Violet. If he's frightened, she must be doomed!

But he never lets the fear take over. She watches him observing everything, yet not actually making any movements himself. Why? He's not paralyzed by the fear, she can tell, but he usually has advice for his scions and directions for his denizens. Is him not doing anything part of his plan?

She doesn't think so, but she can't think of anything else. It's not until she feels his presence shift that she feels things are safe enough, so she asks Onyx to find Teemo to explain.

Onyx wants to go talk to Rocky about the fight, but she understands Violet needs an answer more. The Voice isn't difficult to find as he sits in the cathedral, helping guide the priests and priestesses to tend to the injured. While the Harbingers didn't directly attack many of the delvers, just being near them was painful for many.

Teemo nods at Onyx as she manifests from a shadow. "I think they have the wounded mostly handled, Onyx, but you can ask them if they need any help."

"Actualy... Violet had a question."

"Yeah? Shoot," he says, giving Onyx and therefor Violet his attention.

"Why did Mentor Thedeim not do anything? Violet could feel fear through the connection, but not enough to paralyze him, right?"

Teemo chuckles and nods. "It was another crazy plan, though not one he himself came up with. Tiny felt the Unseen a little while ago, and apparently it was looking a bit too close at Fate to keep itself secret from Tiny. So he asked Boss to let him lay a trap, and to trust him enough to not press the matter."

Violet and Onyx are both confused at that, and Teemo laughs. "Fate stuff is weird, just trust me on that. And trust me when I say it was a good thing Boss decided to stay ignorant and let Tiny do his thing. Boss tends to cause ripples without even meaning to. Even doing nothing will change things, but it gave Tiny whatever he needed to hide what he was doing, and to capture the Harbingers and the Unseen."

"Mentor Thedeim let himself be... bait?"

Teemo nods. "He's had to ask a few other people to be bait before, so he couldn't really complain when it came his turn. Well, actually he did complain. A lot. Just not in any way to try to avoid it, heh. Anyway, he's off dealing with the attackers, and things'll probably speed up once he's back."

"Can we do anything to help?"

Teemo smiles. "Just keep growing. Boss is proud of how you're doing, Violet. Just keep it up."

Onyx nods as Violet thinks about that. She wants to help, but she doesn't know how! She can try to make more mana, but she knows she doesn't make much compared to her Mentor! Can she help in other ways?

What about the armor? Or some magic? She doesn't understand the details of the armor, just that it's supposed to be really good. She should ask a scion to help. But which one? Onyx and Cappy are already busy. Legs knows how to make metal things, but Violet is pretty sure metal is only a small part of the armor, somehow. Nose is also busy, always out on expedition. Maybe Teeth or Slimy?

She watches her two newest scions and tries to think. Teeth looks busy, always on patrol for invaders. But Slimy... is starting to look bored. Most of the sewers are mostly clean now. Maybe Slimy would like to help with the armor?

Onyx nods and slips through shadows to the sewers, where Slimy squishes in respect. It doesn't take long for her to explain, and it doesn't take Slimy long to decide to at least try. Violet feels satisfaction as the two go on expedition to talk with Thing and the others. Slimy doesn't know anything about enchanting, but Violet thinks she has to start somewhere. Legs didn't know metal stuff at first, and Onyx didn't know how to fight.

And who knows? Maybe some decay affinity will allow for a breakthrough in the armor. Violet doesn't see how, but Mentor Thedeim might. He sees a lot of things that nobody else does.