To make the journey swift and fast Midas suggested using his staff to teleport himself and Jones to Steamy Stacks, Dark Jonesy's last known location.

However Jones disagreed, insisting instead to walk it and grab a proper bite to eat together on the way there. They stop by a cafe and get two caramel lattes and ham and cheese toasties to go, happily enjoying them as they walk across the island.

"How's your latte and toastie Midas?"

"Very delicious thank you darling." He responds. "Though, you didn't need to do this for me."

"I just thought you'd like something a bit more filling than porridge. I want you to be happy after all..."

Midas chuckles a little, a slight smile curling on to his lips. Jones grins at him, their hands intertwining together and holding each other close.

"So, didja have anymore weird dreamy flashbacks last night after dinner?" He asks.

"No, but I had an interesting one before. Me and Astra were on a balcony talking. She mentioned something about wanting to visit the reality where the Zero Point lies." He explains. "She must've meant the island."

"Oh yeah?"

Midas nods.

"Y'know, you and the others may refer to this place as Apollo but that's actually not the name I.O refer to it as."

"Really?"

"Mhm. When I worked for I.O we referred to this place as Reality Zero. Basically because the Zero Point is the thing that holds the multiverse together and it created the island as a way of keeping itself hidden." Jones explains with a focused calculated look.

"It created the Storm as a way to stop people from discovering where it was hidden. Though of course, with that amount of power, and I.O continuaslly abusing the Zero Point, dangerous beings are always gonna want to take it for themselves."

Midas looks at Jonesy with admiration in his eyes. The majority of I.O and Slone may have referred to Jones as a mindless idiot who couldn't do anything right, but that couldn't have been so far from the truth. His knowledge of the Zero Point never wavered.

He was stupid at times, yes, but he was incredibly smart as well. It was everything Midas loved about him.

"You really know a lot more about the Zero Point and the island than I.O think you do." He compliments him. "You're so smart darling."

"Pfft haha. Thanks. But most of the time I'm still gonna stay as your favourite dorky blond boyfriend aren't I?"

Midas chuckles softly, pressing a kiss against his cheek.

"Of course you will."

They continue to walk down the road until they come across an unexpected sight. A trail of orange corrupted ground leaving the stacks not too far away.

"Hey isn't that the stuff that gets left behind as a cube rolls on the ground?" Jones realises.

"It is. Why is there a trail of it leaving the stacks?"

Midas and Jones pick up the pace and begin running towards Steamy Stacks, following the orange trail. What they find as they reach the destroyed sign and entrance is the front building completely demolished and in ruin. A figure could be seen sitting atop the cube statue in the middle of the car park.

"Dark Jonesy?"

He turns around, see the boys and smiles a little. The snapshot leaps from his spot and lands on the ground in front of them.

He greets them.

Jones, being the lovable goofball he was, wraps his arms around his dark counterpart, giving him a nice hug. He chuckles slightly.

Midas smiles, holding out a hand for Dark to shake. He takes it, being polite. The snapshot notices the bandages wrapped around his arms, the dried stains of blood on them. His expression shifts to worry, glancing up at him again.

He sighs.

"Let's not dwell on the past. Nevertheless, it's nice to see you again Dark."

"Well first off, what on earth happened here? The building's completely destroyed." He asks.

He leads them over to where this sudden disturbance in the stacks happened.

He explains.

"Sounds a bit like that guard that kept calling you Oro huh Midas." Jones guesses.

"Mhm."

Midas and Jones listen closely, their curiousity peaking.

"Must've been the Cube Queen's doing, sending her henchman to summon a Cube in the place named after the one that land in Athena."

Dark Jonesy turns back to the boys.

"Well, Midas has been having these weird dreamy flashbacks lately." Jones explains. "They depict him taking Oro's place in past events the god went through."

"Yeah. We've got some guesses that Oro had ties to the Cube Queen and her court. They had a peaceful truce for 500 years, but something happened... and we wanna figure out what."

"We were thinking maybe you could help us. You have the ability to see visions."

Jones pats his back, reassuring him.

"We ain't gonna know unless we try. C'mon Darkie, please?" Jones grins, giving his arm an gentle punch.

Jones and Midas look at each other, both of them blushing a deep red.

---

The trio find a place away from the wreckage and stick there. Midas lies down on a makeshift bed Dark Jonesy kept around, readying himself for what he was going to do.

"So just like yesterday back at the castle." Midas hums. "Alright."

"Don't worry Goldie, I'll be right here holding your hand." Jones chirps in, kissing his forehead.

Midas snickers slightly before turning to the snapshot. He gives him a nod, telling him he was ready.

Dark Jonesy stretches out his hands, focusing on his magic and letting the power flow through his body to his fingertips. His palms begin glowing a bright purple, flashes of cube runes near them.

The mastermind suddenly feels an overwhelming ache of pain in his head, alerting Jones who grips on to his hand tighter. He closes his eyes and clenches his teeth trying to resist the urge to scream.

"A-Ahh! Even worse...than..last time!" He shouts out slightly, gripping on to the bedsheets. "AHH-"

"It's okay Midas! You're doing fine!"

Jones' voice begins to fade as Midas loses consciousness and collapses on the bed, sweat on his face. The blond strokes a hand over his cheek, looking over at an even more exhausted Dark Jonesy.

*pant*

----------

With a groan, Midas slowly opens his eyes. He quickly notices a butterfly sat on his nose, flapping its wings gently as the wind blows by. He sits up rubbing his head, causing the creature to fly away in a panic from the sudden movement.

He was back in Oro's clothing again. He glances at the butterfly he startled, watching as it flies over to his left. He notices Astra nearby, the butterfly landing on her head, seemingly busy making something.

Intrigued, he shuffles over to her.

"Hey Astra. What are you doing there?"

"Oh, my king! Forgive me if I woke you from your slumber!" She frantically apologizes, making the same diamond shape with her hands. "It was not my intention to disturb you."

"Oh, no no. It's okay." He reassures her.

She breathes a sigh of relief.

"I was trying to arrange these flowers into a crown, but I'm struggling. I'm not very good at it."

Midas takes a look at the assortment of flowers Astra picked out. A certain one catches his eye;

A pink rose with petals as soft as Astra's smile.

He takes it and carefully puts it in her brown locks of hair.

"Well, maybe it doesn't have to be a crown. You look nice enough with a single rose in your hair."

Astra's eyes sparkle slightly as she smiles. Midas couldn't help but smile back. The bond Oro and Astra shared truly was a sweet one.

"Isn't this island beautiful Oro? There's so much life thriving here."

The two of them get up, admiring the view of Athena from the hill they were on. Midas had never seen the old island before, but he could tell it was a very beautiful place. A desert on bottom right, the woods on the top right and countryside as far as the eye could see.

"It certainly is a sight to see."

Astra hums, putting her hands together and close to her chest.

"...hey Oro? I know it's petty of me to ask as a simple servant...but could you promise me that you'll keep this island safe? Make sure no one comes to harm it? You know that the Cubes are known to invade other realities."

She turns to her master.

"I know we made a truce with them, but I know it's not going to stop them from invading realities like this..."

Midas glances over at her. She had a hint of sadness in her eyes. She really cared about the island and the life that dwelled on it. Seeing her so sad made Midas' heart ache, even if he knew he was simply stuck in Oro's place in the past.

"I'll try to. I promise that for you I'll try." He agrees.

She gives him a happy smile. He slightly smiles back, briefly closing his eyes as his head swims. He still felt slightly dizzy from the memory probe.

However when he opens them again, he finds the scenery has completely changed.

It was the dark of night and a massive purple cube had spawned on the island. Midas looks around in confusion, noticing the Cube King not too far away and little Astra clinging to his robes.

"No! Please stop! You're going to hurt the life on the island!" She cries.

"Get off me young lightener! You can't stop the Last Reality's plans for this place."

He picks her up and straight up throws her away, her screaming echoing across the land.

"Astra!!"

Midas leaps up and catches her, glaring at the opposing king. She shivers a little in his arms, whimpering. He glares at the tyrant above him.

"Cube King!! I thought we had a truce with you and your court!! You agreed to not harm members of our court and vice versa!"

He glares at Midas, grinning slightly.

"Oh Oro, you should know better than to interfere with my plans of taking over different realities."

"I promise Astra I'd protect this place! I'm not breaking it! So just get back to the hellhole you came from!!"

The two kings glare at each other, knowing full well in their minds the truce they formed had finally met its breaking point. They knew what was coming.

"Fine Oro. If it's war you want, we'll bloody give it to you!!!"

------

Midas wakes up with a gasp, breathing heavily with sweat sliding down his face. Jones and Dark Jonesy turn their heads towards him.

"Midas you're awake!"

He takes in a breath and speaks.

"I've figured out how the truce broke..."

----