39 - Resolve//Lea

"The Witch Maiden Cree?" Lea said, feeling something strange in the pit of her stomach.

"I know this legend," Paxton said. "I've translated it a few times."

"I've been to the site where she was sealed away in the 'story'," Alejandra said. "It's a giant crater."

"Imagine what she'll be able to achieve with a few hundred year's experience?"

"I'm so sorry guys," Paxton said. "It's all my fault."

"How can I truly call myself the Man of Manx if I can't even notice a tonal shift like that?" he questioned. "Nora, Lea, I've let you down."

"It's not your fault, Paxton," Nora said, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I put way too much pressure on you. In the end, maybe you read what I wanted you to read."

"She's right," Lea said. "If you hadn't told me about the wish, I would have sent you guys away."

"I know," Paxton said. "I'm sorry, Lea. We dragged you into this."

"But that would have been a mistake," she insisted. "If you left, I would have just gone back into my shell. Trying to dull my emotions with other people's music and never managing to finish my own."

"But you've written a song," Nora argued. "Some of one, at least."

"I wrote that before my father was arrested," Lea admitted. "As soon as he was, I couldn't write any more."

"But if we keep working together, I know I'll get there," Lea said. "And now that we have the correct translation, we can figure out a way to stop this all."

"Together."

"Together?" Paxton repeated cautiously.

"Together," Nora confirmed.

"What are you three talking about?" Alejandra interjected, practically hysterical. "We have no Noiz, and even if we did they would be no good against the Witch Maiden. I saw Paxton earlier; he was a few seconds from becoming entirely Weaponized."

"The only choice we have is grabbing our grandfather and running off to a far corner of the world where nobody can find us," she said decisively. "Lea, grab your brother."

"No," Nora said, stepping between Lea and her sister. "We can't just leave, Alé. Our parents are still somewhere in this city."

"We have to," Alejandra said. "We've failed, Nora, the both of us."

"This city is going to be the flashpoint for the whole world's nightmare. All we can do is run and hope the Witch Maiden is satisfied with ruling the American continents. Mom and Dad would want us to be safe."

"We can stop it," Lea said, pulling on every bit of courage she had. "There's a way."

"If there is, it's not in the Mooar Shee," Alejandra insisted. "It says clearly that the Noiz are now under the Witch Maiden's control."

"But we've used them," Paxton said. "I know I felt something pulling at me when my Volume went up, but I was still able to stand and fight."

"I had to smack you upside the head!" Alejandra reminded him. "Even if we could use the Noiz, we don't have any! Those brutes came in and took them all."

"She's right," Paxton said. "On that front, at least."

"They didn't take them all," Nora argued.

"What?" Alejandra said, surprised. "You had more?"

"No," Nora said. "But we only had six."

"And Mr. Foley only has one," Paxton said.

"What does that mean?" Alejandra asked.

"He knows where the last Noiz is," Lea told her, finally catching on.

"Why does that matter?" Alejandra asked, balling her hands in frustration as Nora practically soared past her. "Where are you going?"

"To where I've seen Mr. Foley before," she responded.

"The news," Lea and Paxton said in unison before Alejandra could ask any more questions.