We had just gotten back to Renbow island when Ralph ran up to us with a silly smile.

"Hey, Summ-" He stopped when he noticed Ben. "Who's this?" He asked, pointing an accusing finger at Ben.

Ben bent down and offered his hand. "I'm Ben, Summer's partner." He explained.

Ralph shook Ben's hand. "I'm Ralph."

"Now that you two are properly acquainted," I started. "What was it you needed, Ralph?"

Ralph pulled a letter out of his back pocket. "I was told to give this to you."

I took the letter and looked it over. Who could've sent me this letter? My sister? No, that couldn't be it. Kate would've sent her Starly over with a message if it was her.

"Who gave you this letter, Ralph?" Ben asked.

"A pretty lady with blue eyes!" He exclaimed, face flushing. Aw, he had a puppy crush. But wait, did he say Blue Eyes?

Me and Ben exchanged confused glances. Ben nodded for me to open it.

The handwriting was loopy cursive and it seemed to be written with an aqua pen. Yup, that was Blue Eyes, all right. What could she possibly want from us, other than out heads on a silver platter?

'Dear Scrawny and Chubby,' the note began. Ben gave an indignant yell. I stifled a laugh at Ben's expense, but I had to refrain from screaming when I saw my own nickname. In Ben's defense, he was neither chubby nor scrawny. He was more muscularly built because of the workouts we do to keep in shape for our jobs as Rangers. But, in my case, Blue Eyes targeted me with that 'scrawny' remark.

'The fact that you're reading this letter means that you survived as well. I'll tell you why I crashed the Submarine. There was a wireless transmission then, right? It was about me being demoted from leader. Because of things like being captured by you at the Old Mansion and the constant delays of our plans. Plan Z, where I crashed the Submarine, was me taking out my frustrations about being betrayed. I caused you both a lot of trouble by involving you. I'd like to give you my apologies and thanks.'

"It looks like the letter has another page." Ben said.

'Finally, I'll tell you this one thing: Red Eyes heading to Faldera Volcano. I hope that this makes us even.

-Blue Eyes'

That was the end of the letter. After I was done, I handed it off to Ben. Ben scoured the pages for more clues, as if there was some sort of clue that this was a trap to lure us to Faldera Volcano.

This may just be me being too trusting, but I believe Blue Eyes. We have no other leads, so it's not like we have any other choice but to follow her tips.

Ben handed the papers back to me. "Faldera Volcano..." He muttered. "Red Eyes is heading towards Faldera Volcano."

"That's an island on the Southern part of Oblivia!" Ralph informed us. "You'll have to either get there by ship or by flying because we don't have a bridge connecting Faldera Volcano to one of the main islands. We used to, but we burned that bridge."

"Did you metaphorically or literally burn the bridge?" Ben asked.

"Literally. The volcano erupted and destroyed the bridge. I guess that's what we get for building a wooden bridge next to a mountain that literally spews fire, huh?"

Ralph took that as his cue to leave. He reminded me so much of Ravio, the little kid from the past. I wonder how Tanvir, Kira, and Ravio were doing. Hopefully they had the temple situation under control. I'm sure that they could handle those tinman assholes. It was actually quite concerning that Celebi didn't come to check up on me like she normally did.

"See you later, kid!" Ben called after him.

"Thank you, Ravio!" I said, waving goodbye before I continued to think about my friends from the past. I should be focusing on what Red Eyes has planned and not on the past.

Ben gave me a strange look. "Ravio?"

Shit.

My chest tightened. Should I tell him about the past? No, no I shouldn't. He would think I'm crazy and- Wait, he believed me about the voices. He could surely handle the truth about the past.

But, wait, I promised Celebi as well as my friends in the past that I wouldn't tell anyone.

But Ben's my best friend! We tell each other everything!

But this is something important! Who knows what could happen if I let it slip? Maybe I should just keep this one thing from him...?

But Ravio didn't hold up his end of the bargain! He told Kira, Tanvir, and who knows who else he's told?

But he's just a little kid. It was bound to slip out at some point. I'm a Ranger. I'm supposed to be professional. I'm supposed to do as I'm told and keep quiet.

"Are you all right?" Ben asked, sticking a hand to my cheek.

I slapped his hand away. "I'm fine." As I said this, I noticed that Ben was slightly flushed. "Are you okay?"

Ben nodded.

Liar.

I put the back of my hand against his forehead. He was warm. Really, really warm. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Are you really okay?" I demanded.

He nodded his head again, turning out of my reach to cough into the crook of his elbow. "I'm just peachy." He insisted.

I flung the horrendous yellow backpack onto the sandy beach and opened the main compartment. I opened up the first-aid kit I always had with me and pulled out an electronic thermometer.

Ben eyed me with suspicion and amusement. I brought the thermometer to his mouth. "Open," I demanded, poking the thermometer at his lip.

Ben covered his mouth with his hand.

"Open," I said more forcefully, jabbing the metallic plate at the end of the instrument onto his knuckles.

Ben shook his head.

"Open your Arceusdamn mouth!" I said growled.

He moved his hands so that he could childishly stick his tongue out at me. Before he could retract his tongue, I jabbed the thermometer into his mouth.

After the initial struggle, Ben was strangely compliant. He didn't jerk out of my grasp or try to run. I commanded him to sit, he sat. Huh, I wonder why that was.

Beep! Beep!

I took the slender tube out of his mouth and checked the numbers on the screen.

104ºF.

"Ben!" I gasped in disbelief. "Are you serious? You have a fever!"

He looked up at me with his best poker face. "Oh, do I?" He asked lamely.

"Yes, you do!" I grabbed his hand and tried my best to pull him to his feet. "Why didn't you tell me that you had a fever?"

"It wasn't relevant." He said with a shrug, as if he was bored of the conversation.

I stammered for words. He's not serious, right? He can't be serious. I felt my face heat up as I felt my blood pressure rise and I resisted the urge to punch the calm expression off of his face. And I considered it; believe me, I did.

"Of. COURSE. IT'S. RELEVANT!" I screamed until I felt my voice give out.

I sanitized the thermometer and stuck it back into the yellow backpack before slinging it over my shoulder. Grabbing his hand, I proceeded to drag him back to Rand's house.

"Where are we going?" Ben asked.

"Rand's house." I shortly said.

"What about The Union?"

"It's not going anywhere, as far as I can tell. It's fine." I said, continuing to look behind me to make sure that Ben was okay. "The boat doesn't isn't sick, so it isn't my main concern." You could practically hear the venom dripping from my tone.

"Why are you angry?" He asked.

"Believe me, I'm worried. I'm just pissed that you didn't tell me!" I fumed. "Fucking asshole!"

Ben didn't say anything after that until we got back to Rand's house. At least he kept his mouth shut for once.