Ain't A Hero

Season 9

Bryan Schuder

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

Beta Release

Updated 02/04/2021

Ain't A Hero

Season 9

Dedications

Timeline

Episode 105

Episode 106

Episode 107

Episode 108

Episode 109

Episode 110

Episode 111

Episode 112

Episode 113

Episode 114

Episode 115

Episode 116

Episode 117

Dedications

First and foremost... A special thank you to all the crazy humanity loving folks over at /r/HFY ! Out of all the places on Reddit for writing, you all are the most accepting and welcoming bunch of them all. As long as humanity is involved some how and you want to write, /r/HFY will give you a place to call home. I was not only surprised to find people interested in this crazy tale, but people who repeatedly read episode after episode... And still wanted more. I will try to deliver more! Second season down, hopefully a third and more to go!

So, in an inconsistent arbitrary order of me looking through the series posts, thank you to these fine folks that provided commentary (both praises and criticisms) and those who subscribed. (Please let me know if I missed anyone!)

roflmaono
Attamark
Lithuse
KillerKolonelz
RougemageNick
Twister_Robotics
joe_wood
Fly18
Lurking_Reader
Waspkeeper
bontrose
carpkiller
KahnSig
Shactus
michael15286
Krynja
ProfessorVonSagan
Layxe
zarikimbo
Ryushimojii
atomic_cheese
Rand__Rahl
NinjaTurple
fatboy93
PhalanxLord
Slayalot
K2MnO4
zymurgist69
ChainsawNagitana
Eater_of_yellow_snu
Jonfirst
Nuke_the_Earth
Isitalwaysthisgood
Red-Shirt
WandererOfTheMind
ImperialForgeMaster
barely_harmless
Maxkenny09
Alphamole0
Random-Hats
Applepielord1244
Fieryfight
ccassidyx9
Ghrrum
Thatfurrykid
tipsy_topsy
DudeGuyBor
InitiativeTwentyOne
Sakul_Aubaris
antonthekiller
pie4155
ragnoraknow
nerdy_n_dirty86
RedTheReckless
Shiamu
ZeDestructor
Omega048
MavenDeviant
HardAtomicSmile
testicouille741
Deathcoolbro
SirSchmoopy111
Halefor
cochi522
Olindoga
smeik111
explosiveelephants
LIKE1OOONINJAS
Cyber_Reader
ruruwkzu
spaceminions
CSlade1
JoshXH
sic99
Leginp
Firenter
lazyviking3742
ryan_morland
SirIronTwig
ChainsawHalberd
elemental821
MaartenS16
RollSavingThrow
randommlg
GrayMatter01
Daevis43
Glaris
vittupaahan
Admiral_Sylvor
TRN42
Golddrake
Repeated_613
Voobwig
Dr_Acen
Honoris_Causa
nuacc2
sluglie
mortalnine
mheiszler
pennythoughtful
IntelligentDemise
Makyura
minkshaman
Fkn_Ra
WakelessTitan
BlessedPatrick
ikbenlike
maaghen
Shaeos
garrdor
wiggamail
allorigional64
DarkLordZargon
bracabrad
Stordabjornen
ubercaesium
kaloshade
LurchTheBastard
kumo549
splash_43
Meh12345hey
F0rg0tMy70gin
Dolduck
jaredzz
KorbenD2263
PresumedSapient
minicooper237
mudkip201
Netmantis
Kasaeru
UnholyReaver
Just_a_stae_of_mind
Khelbun
Ice_Man_Cometh
Havok707
Omenofstorms
zombieking26
Kiryln
JJdaJet
AMEFOD
TheBarbequeSteve
TW6173
_Skylos
A_Drunk_Ninja
Maravedis
Moonlitsif
vitalmoss
Brimicidal
o11c
Danr630
readcard
Deadlytower
Einhanderz
HarbringerOfMayhem
Zoutpeper
Tinkerbill93
p75369

Timeline

March 3017

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

Episode 7

Episode 8

Episode 9

16

17

18

19

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22

Episode 10

Episode 11

Episode 12

Episode 13

Episode 14

Episode 15

Episode 16

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

Episode 17

Episode 18

Episode 19

Episode 20

30

31

Episode 21

Episode 22

April 3017

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

1

2

3

4

5

Episode 23

Episode 24

Episode 25

Episode 26

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Episode 26

Episode 27

Episode 28

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

Episode 29

Episode 30

Episode 31

Episode 32

20

21

22

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26

Episode 32

Episode 33

Episode 34

Episode 35

27

28

29

30

Episode 36

Episode 37

Episode 38

May 3017

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

1

2

3

Episode 39

Episode 40

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Episode 40

Episode 41

Episode 42

Episode 43

11

12

13

14

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17

Episode 43

Episode 44

Episode 45

Episode 46

Episode 47

18

19

21

22

23

24

25

Episode 47

Episode 48

Episode 49

26

27

28

29

30

31

Episode 49

Episode 50

Episode 51

Episode 52

Episode 53

June 3017

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

1

Episode 54

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Episode 54

Episode 55

Episode 56

Episode 57

Episode 58

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

Episode 58

Episode 59

Episode 60

Episode 61

Episode 62

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

Episode 63

Episode 64

Episode 65

Episode 66

Episode 67

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

Episode 68

Episode 69

Episode 70

Episode 71

30

31

Episode 71

July 3017

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

1

2

3

4

5

Episode 72

Episode 73

Episode 74

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Episode 74

Episode 75

Episode 76

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

Episode 76

Episode 77

Episode 78

Episode 79

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

Episode 79

Episode 80

Episode 81

Episode 82

27

28

29

30

31

Episode 82

Episode 83

August 3017

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

1

2

Episode 83

Episode 84

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Episode 84

Episode 85

Episode 86

Episode 87

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

Episode 88

Episode 89

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

Episode 89

Episode 90

Episode 91

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

Episode 92

Episode 93

Episode 94

Episode 95

Episode 96

Episode 97

31

Episode 97

Episode 98

September 3017

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

1

2

3

4

5

6

Episode 98

Episode 99

Episode 100

Episode 101

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

Episode 101

Episode 102

Episode 103

Episode 104

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

Episode 104

Episode 105

21

22

23

25

26

27

28

Episode 105

Episode 106

Episode 107

29

30

Episode 107

Episode 108

October 3017

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

1

2

3

4

5

Episode 108

Episode 109

Episode 110

Episode 111

Episode 112

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Episode 112

Episode 113

Episode 114

Episode 115

Episode 116

Episode 117

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

Episode 117

-105-

Sebastian’s ghostly form hovers in the aisle of the humvee cab. He narrows his blue tinted eyes and ponders out loud. “I think the best thing to do right now is head back to Amaranth Valley, and well... Figure out how the hell to locate this place or thing before Noxian does.”

Idly petting her toy thudkicker while laying on the far back bench seat, Dretphi tilts her head of platinum blonde braids towards Sebastian, searches her mind with her steely gray eyes, and nods. “That seems appropriate. At the moment. Need to check out resources. Investigate options. Hope we are fast.”

Bach scratches the back of his head of longer brown hair, twists his mouth, and puzzles. “Yeah. Even with the smaller search area... That’s, um, a lot of space to check for something might be really well hidden.”

Tapping a claw tip upon the steering wheel, Cideeda flicks her furry ears with her thoughts, slowly wags her long tail upon her lap, and twist her mouth uncertainly. “From what I looked up, most of it is just wilderness. So, we’d be hiking most of it, far from any roads.”

Sotalia grimaces, rests her chin upon the palm of her propped up arm, and aims her frustrated, golden eyed stare out her passenger’s side window. “Gods, and it’s not like the bastard already has a head start on us. Bunch of bullshit...”

She releases a long, annoyed sigh, tosses back her fiery orange, wavy hair, and leans back into her seat. “Oh well, I guess I’ll settle for the next best thing. Deprive him of his prize.”

Crossing her arms, she causally inspects her long, thick black nails on her tan and gray patterned hands, and directs her voice back. “So, any ideas on how we find this whatever?”

Sebastian’s transparent figure floats down to a seat above the floor of the cab, and he gestures through his sentence. “Well, I know a few places we’ve gotten information about are in this region. So, definitely need to see what else we can find about those, and see if anything might be worth checking out.”

Bach blinks a few times, gradually nods, and holds a finger up to make a point. “Yeah... That printout of those locations from the research outpost. There might be a few there.”

Stroking his chin, Sebastian glances over to Bach and smirks in agreement. “Definitely, bro. That’s worth investigating. We might have to see if either Captain Hayes or Captain Hackle know anything going on in the search area.”

Aristespha tilts her head back from a gazing down at a tablet screen, rubs her violet eyes, and sighs. “I’ll see if there’s anything I get from the Grand Library. But, it might take awhile. Especially after I reveal the latest revelation to them. The administration is already disturbed by what we’ve uncovered. This will shake everything up.”

Lifting an uneasy brow, Bach turns his head towards Aristespha with a curious tone. “You think they’ll be upfront with everything? Um, no offense to you, but... It really seems like the Grand Library has a REALLY bad history with covering things up. And, um, hoping nobody finds them?”

With a tug at the corner of her mouth, Aristespha flits her eyes wide, frowns uncomfortably, and hisses out a sigh through her gritting teeth. “None taken. It’s been... unsettling learning all this myself. I have my own issues with all this. But, as for the information, I’m certain with all the different organizations involved in their affairs, they’ll be forth coming with all the information we can stand if we can resolve this problem.”

Rolling her violet eyes, she rests her ivory skinned, blue and violet hinted cheek against her hand, and grumbles. “Whatever it takes to make it go away at this point... I’m certain.”

Sotalia peeks around the front seat, and rests a swept back, black horn against the head rest. “Not to pry, but you sound a little disillusioned there, girl.”

Aristespha drifts her gaze over to Sotalia, contorts her face, and groans. “Ungh. Oh gods yes, I am. Just when I think the whole Orth Ridge situation was just a very bad exception, we keep finding things that frame it as the usual way they operate.”

Waving out her hand to pantomime her dissatisfaction, she shakes her head while gazing her frustration up above. “Also, I honestly don’t know if what they supposedly know is correct, and even if they have fucking clue to determine was is and isn’t accurate anymore.”

She levels a blank stare ahead at the driver’s seat in front of her, and sighs long with a frown. “I’m sorry. They are still worth trying since they can give us some information fast. And, maybe more over time.”

Sebastian smiles comfortingly to Aristespha, and hovers closer to her in the aisle. “I know, dear. But, I think we got some time. And, if are going to find this thing... We need to make the best educated guesses we can make, the first time around. So, what do you think would be the best source to try?”

Aristespha straightens up in her seat as attention from the team settles upon her. She brushes her fingers through her long, silvery blue hair, and guides it over her very long, pointed ears. Searching through her mind, her violet eyes dart between different options, and her mouth twists to different judgments. Finally, a smile graces her ivory face, and she nods with developing hope. “I know the person to contact. I checked and it turns out this search area is very close to where he usually travels.”

Sebastian tilts his head, quirks his brow, and leans closer. “Um, who, dear?”

Laying back against her seat, she shifts her attention towards her tablet, and taps to a digital map. “Marcus Harold. The spirit mage I learned from. From what I remember, he likes to the spend the Fall months near the smaller search area. So, he might have some knowledge or maybe a way to help us find this aether access point.”

Bach blinks his blue eyes, and cocks his head as memory retrieves the past. “Yeah, you mentioned him a while back. Negotiates with spirits and... has an Elder Geist... friend... Right?”

Aristespha grants Bach a nod. Sebastian cracks a grin and gazes to Aristespha eagerly. “Huh, okay. So, dear, how do we contact this guy?”

Gritting her teeth briefly, Aristespha sighs with a smirk and chuckles. “It’s the not easiest task, Sebastian.”

Sotalia rolls her golden eyes, and grumbles. “Of course, it couldn’t be as simple a phone call or even sending a letter.”

Aristespha lifts her brow, cracks a sly grin, and laughs. “Unfortunately, no. He wanders around depending on the seasons. He also does not live anywhere with any reception. And, most electronics don’t last long with him.”

Dretphi places her toy thudkicker in a bag next to velvet black dragon, cocks her head, and presents a curious expression on her tan face. “Breaks them?”

Glancing back around the seat, Aristespha rolls her eyes and laughs. “Oh no, he doesn't. Anima spirits will fight over inhabiting the devices. THEY end up breaking it when they get too rough.”

Cideeda perks her furry ears, aims her emerald eyed gaze into the rear view mirror, and blinks in a mix confusion and wonder. Sebastian contorts his face and hums in thought. “So, what do you have to do to contact him?”

With a plotting smile, Aristespha crosses her arms, rests her chin upon hand, and ponders out loud. “I’ll need to call upon a messenger spirit. He taught me a ritual that allows me to attract a spirit capable of locating him. But, we’ll have to do it in a spirit and magic rich area to have the best results.”

Drumming her claw tips on the steering wheel, Cideeda directs her voice back and grins toothily. “How about that place with the pond we found the crystals in? We should be able to get to that big camp tomorrow night.”

Sotalia smirks slyly and stretches out her arms forward. “Yeah! That had a plenty of magic. Plus, I wouldn’t mind looking for a few more of those crystals.”

Rolling his eyes, Bach shakes his head and snorts. “Did you actually leave any behind?”

With a playful pout, Sotalia huffs and fights off guilt sneaking into her smile. “I left A FEW behind. Just in case others came by and wanted some.”

Cideeda slowly drifts her incredulous stare over towards Sotalia. “Oh, you mean the ones you couldn’t reach?”

Sotalia straightens her posture in the seat, and crosses her arms defiantly. Sebastian shakes his head, and smiles at Aristespha. “So, sounds like a good enough place to try?”

Bach shrugs and comments. “I mean, it’s along the way and convenient. So, if we have to try a few times, it probably won’t be a big deal? And, there’s definitely spirit like things in that one spot.”

After gauging the options in her head, Aristespha gradually nods and smiles hopefully. “I think that location will work. Certain the best place to try right now.”

She blinks a moment, tightens her smile, and sighs with hints of embarrassment. “And it gives me time. I need to review the intricate details of the ritual. It’s... a bit involved.”

----

Calvin maneuvers through the busy street cafe and stops next to a table with two plates of food. He slides his larger frame into the seat, tugs his leg over, and glances around with his brown eyes. “So, anything new with our guest of honor?”

Carefully peering her aquamarine eyes over towards a section of the cafe, Treevianna twist her blue hinted, tan face, and grumbles softly. Her very long, fuzzy ears perk towards the same area, and she straightens her lithe figure in the seat. “About the only questionable thing he’s done is request extra olives in his sandwich. Hasn’t said or done anything else.”

She narrows her far off stare through the groups of people dining and the servers, and settles her gaze upon a man with wispy white hair, a thinner frame, and a blue scarf wrapped around his neck. Glancing over to Calvin, she pinches a fried potato wedge between her sharp nails, and frowns with tinges of annoyance. “I REALLY hate we have to just stick around watch. There HE is just casually enjoying a sandwich. And, we aren’t doing anything about it.”

Slowly shaking his head of short graying hair, Calvin cracks a sly grin and sighs while gripping his burger. “But we ARE doing something about it. We’re keeping watch and keeping tabs on him.”

Treevianna rolls her eyes, stares unamused at Calvin, and nips the potato wedge with her pronounced canine. “I know that. But, I feel like we should be doing... I don’t know... More?”

Calvin bites into his burger, chews while searching his thoughts, and shrugs. After swallowing, he calmly speaks in a quiet tone to Treevianna. “Listen. Right now the best thing we can do is to know where he is in Perimeter. And, we need to make sure our usual problems don’t give him any problems.”

He leans closer and whispers to Treevianna. “If this Isaac character was to run into that Terra Priest sect in the south, the Northside Flames, or even a dumbass Skid... We might be spending the next few months trying to find what remains of THEM in whatever he leaves standing. This is a Dark Lord we’re talking about here.”

Treevianna narrows her unconvinced stare at Calvin, glances her aquamarine eyes over to Isaac on the other side of the sidewalk cafe, and sighs with a frustrated roll of her eyes. “I know. It makes sense. But, I just don’t see it. He just looks like some philosophy professor on a lunch break.”

Calvin twists his beard on his face, flexes his shoulders muscles, and snorts. “I know. But, magic power doesn’t care about your looks. I’ve seen some of the roughest bums fling out fire bolts that melted holes in car doors. You never know. And hopefully... We won’t.”

Finishing up the last of her fried potato wedges, Treevianna idly gazes down at her salad, and groans. “I guess. I just hope keeping tabs on him actually does some kind of good.”

With a reassuring nod, Calvin smirks, glances around, and speaks in a low tone. “It might. The longer he stays here, the more prepared some other forces are getting. We still haven’t heard back from the group that went to Precipice. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if him being here isn’t because of them.”

Treevianna quirks her brow, rocks her head side to side, and perks her very long, fuzzy ears. “I don’t know. He doesn’t seem like he’s in a rush. He’s just enjoying his sandwich and keeps looking through a bunch of notebooks.”

She presses her fork down into her salad, pauses a moment, and cracks a curious grin. “So, what forces are getting ready? Have YOU heard anything?”

Calvin furrows his brow, glances around, and covers his mouth with a hand. “Think the GAA might make a move. The Rangers are probably just going to monitor him, and will just be glad if he leaves.”

He settles back into his chair as Treevianna blinks at the new information, and shrugs with a sigh. “Plus, the rangers are too busy working with Vukasin to take care of some crazy cyborg terrorists from out west trying to raid Precipice.”

Cocking her head back, Treevianna raps her finger nails up on the tabletop while idly holding a fork of salad in her free hand. “Wait... Red Gears? In the Zone? All the way to Precipice? I know they had tried to raid Yazoo...”

She pauses her train of thought, sneaks a peek out the corner of her eye towards Isaac, aims a fuzzy ear over, and waits. After a moment, she returns her attention towards Calvin. “What went down? I’ve just heard bits and pieces.”

Calvin draws in a long breath, grimaces slightly, and chuckles awkwardly. “I didn’t believe it myself when I first heard it, but... This came from an official report, even the stuff about the giant mech.”

Off in a quiet corner, Isaac relaxes with his olive stuffed sandwich, gently swirls a mug of tea, and studies a map of the region. He narrows his gray eyes, rocks his head side to side indecisively, and contorts his face in thought. After a few moments, he picks up a pencil, circles a spot, and lightly traces a route upon an indicated roadway. A gentle wind breezes by, and the tails of his blue scarf flap along.

----

Leaning against a large metal barn door frame, Thomas maintains a watchful eye down a long corridor of opened stalls. Rolling his shoulders, he works through a few motions with his cybernetic arms, stretches his neck, and cracks a smirk at the mumbling complaints faintly echoing in the space. Pushing a wide shovel underneath a mound of muck, Cind grits her teeth, scrunches up her nose, and hoists the pile up into a huge bucket. Kell leans out from an open stall, muscles over a rake, and expedites excrement out of the pen. In the furthest corner, Marcus coughs loud with a wavering wretch, sighs long, and steps out with a broom in hand.

From behind Thomas, a large bipedal creature leisurely ambles over, stops beside Thomas, and grunts. Thomas glances over, scratches the long, scaly back of the old animal, and pats its head. “How’s my favorite, ancient pseudo-dragon doing today?”

The pseudo-dragon gurgles happily at the attention, leans its heavy, hunched frame against Thomas’s side, and pines in a low, dramatic tone. Thomas shakes his head of short, silvery gray hair, and twists the amusement on his face. He massages the pseudo-dragon’s neck around the shoulders. “I know. Life is so hard for you, Bessie. No one pays you enough attention.”

Bessie grunts while flexing claws on smaller arms, and wags its large counter-balancing tail against the barn door frame. It grumbles happily, turning a large head with the petting. With a humored smile, Thomas laughs, plucks off stuck, dried scales off Bessie’s back, and points over to Cind, Kell, and Marcus. “So, you want to check to see how the new workers are doing?”

Craning it’s long neck up to Thomas, Bessie slowly angles a stare ahead. It narrows its brilliant green eyes, curls an upper lip up to reveal teeth, and snorts loudly. Cind glances over, cocks her head of red, braided hair, and uneasily shifts her bright blue eyes towards Kell. Noticing the attention from Cind, Kell uncertainly dons an easy-going smile, blinks his purple on black eyes, and carefully wipes stray shaggy hair over a chipped horn with his upper forearm. Bessie flexes its old body, plants its large clawed feet, and sniffs the air with a trace of a frown. Thomas shakes his head, gazes over towards Cind, Kell, and Marcus, and calls out. “Inspector Bessie is here to check your progress!”

With heavy stomps, Bessie marches forward, aims a hard stare upon Cind, Kell, and Marcus, and pauses to survey stalls. Walking in moments later, Albert steps quietly next to Thomas, presents a large soft serve ice cream cone, and smiles lovingly. “The concessions staff finally fixed the ice cream machine. Just in time, too. The line from the children’s whelp show was getting a little rowdy with the wait.”

Thomas flits his blue eyes wide, eagerly cups the napkin wrapped cone in his hands, and smirks with glee. “Thank you.”

Albert slowly scans down the center aisle, furrows his olive skinned brow, and glances his amber eyes over to Thomas. “So, what is Bessie doing?”

Finishing up a large bite off the top of the tower of vanilla/chocolate swirl, Thomas frees a hand to motion down the barn. “Oh, um... I figured Bessie might want to inspect the kids’ work so far.”

Wrapping a hand around Thomas’s forearm, Albert guides the cone within reach, licks up the starts of melt off, and grins slyly. He gently releases the cone back to Thomas, reaches into his pants pockets, and chuckles sinisterly. “Oh, I think I need to record this.”

Thomas turns his head to the side, and inquires. “Any particular reason why?”

Positioning his aetherphone, Albert taps through the different menus, adjusts the aim, and smiles wide. “As part of the deal I brokered for their community service here, Mr. Frenzacia requested seeing evidence of the youths being put to some honest, hard labor.”

A mischievous grin appears on Thomas’s face, he takes his turn with the ice cream cone, and holds it near Albert. “Oh. Then get ready. It’s about to get good.”

He hushes his tone and whispers. “Also, say how cold and refreshing the ice cream is. They’ve been sweltering in here since lunch.”

Albert blinks his amber eyes, slowly turns his head of slick, black hair, and contorts his amusement. “Gods, Thomas. Feeling a little mean today, aren’t we?”

Allowing Albert to bite off some of the waffle cone, Thomas smiles devilishly and snickers. “That’s nothing. I put that Marcus punk in charge of cleaning Bessie’s stall.”

Quirking his brow, Albert turns his attention to his aetherphone, and taps record. Bessie finishes a slow survey of the cleared stall next to Cind. Pausing a moment, it stares at Cind, looks her over with a tapping toe claw, and walks away. Maintaining a stern expression, it marches up to Kell, moves around him, and gazes inside another emptied stall. Kell and Cind exchange nervous glances. Both wait uncomfortably. Bessie steps out, sniffs Kell over, and snorts. As Bessie continues to the other end of the barn, both Cind and Kell sigh in relief and return to their tasks.

Bessie arrives in front of the largest stall, and Marcus steps out. With a bold grin, Marcus gestures with a dramatic flair towards the interior space. “It should be ready for your magnificence. Everything should be just perfect.”

Scrutinizing, brilliant green eyes glare at Marcus for a moment. Bessie walks inside, halts in the center of the space, and inspects. It sniffs the air, claws at the layer of bedding under its toes, and gazes over the appearance of the walls. Dropping down it’s head, it snorts through the material covering the floor, smells the concrete surface below, and darts its gaze around. After long seconds of contemplation, Bessie levels out, pivots around, and sticks its head out from the stall door. Marcus presents a big, expectant grin, and chuckles. “I see it was to your liking?”

Bessie straddles over a particular section of floor, narrows a glare at Marcus, and cracks a toothy grin. Marcus puzzles and awkwardly mumbles. “What does that mean-”

The pseudo-dragon’s tail hikes up. A gurgling bubbling sounds out from the beast’s body. Then, a heavy plop splats upon the ground behind. Bessie steps out, kicks bedding over the new pile, and growls with a disgusted glance behind. Marcus watches utterly dumbfounded as Bessie marches indignantly off, stares at the new mess, and mutters out loud. “What the- Why- COME ON!”

While Albert hides his snickering behind the camera, Thomas vainly conceals his wide grin and yells out. “You missed a spot!”

----

Ripples of faint energy spread out across pond and fade to prismatic waves upon the surface. Sotalia’s golden eyes search beneath the water from her perch upon a large rock, and she flexes her grip eagerly. Combing back her fiery orange, wavy hair over her swept back, black horns with her long, thick nails, she contorts hints of frustration upon her tan face and grumbles. “Damn it. I can’t find any of the crystals I left behind.”

Cideeda furrows her brow, wags her long, medium length haired tail, and rolls her emerald green eyes. “Well, I guess someone found the ones you left behind for them.”

Narrowing her stare at the water, Sotalia twists her mouth into an annoyed grimace, and sighs. “Well, fuck me for being considerate. Oh well. Maybe we’ll try some other pond, later.”

Gazing up into to the early evening sky, Cideeda studies the emerging stars overhead and the last vestiges of orange upon the western horizon. “Yeah, maybe...”

She reaches up high for a low branch, gently pulls it down, and smirks as she studies a leaf. Focusing her stare upon the plant, she bites her lower lip, lightly places a claw tip upon the surface, and concentrates. Faint flows of energy travel up her forearm, merge down her light brown finger, and condense to the tip of her claw. With a childish grin, she draws out an ethereal caricature of fvalian upon the leaf surface and watches the residual glow fade over time. Sotalia leans her head next to Cideeda’s, smirks slyly, and giggles. “You’re getting really good. Might have to step up your training a little.”

Cideeda blinks, glances over to Sotalia, and rolls her eyes. “Eventually. I’m pretty there’s children that can do better.”

Standing up straight, Sotalia shakes her head. “Don’t be so hard yourself. You only just started a few months ago. Kids have nothing better to do all the time and have years to do it in... And still don’t make any progress.”

Release the branch of the tree, Cideeda sighs, shrugs her shoulders, and carefully steps around the pond shore. “I guess. Speaking of magic, let’s see if Aristespha has gotten that ritual together.”

Sotalia grits her teeth as she follows behind Cideeda. “I hope so. Because I REALLY don’t want to have to debug those circle glyphs.”

Flicking her furry ears behind, Cideeda directs her curious tone back. “It looks a lot more complicated than anything I’ve seen you, Bach, or even Aristespha do.”

Shaking her head, Sotalia groans with a slight frown. “That’s why I stuck to power spells. Far less stuff to remember. Just the basic incantations and gestures, then push all the flow you got.”

Cideeda and Sotalia slip through a thick section of bushes, and step out into a flat, dry clearing of packed dirt. Aristespha sits in the middle of an intricate, complicated circle of runes, glyphs, and inscriptions. Her attention bounces between a worn notebook page and a section of a technical diagram on her tablet. She points at Bach, narrows her focus upon the tablet, and hums. “Okay. Now we need to put a few small details off the signal lines for each transmission section.”

Bach looks up from pressing lines into the dirt with a wooden skewer, and squints at the tablet screen Aristespha shows. “I think I can manage that, but I’m not the best artist when it comes to clay.”

Cideeda perks her furry ears, walks over next to Bach, and squats down. She studies the tablet, spots a matching section, and gazes to Aristespha. “Maybe I can help?”

Aristespha blinks her violet eyes, thinks a moment, and nods. “If you can get the details better, it will improve the ritual’s potential.”

Flexing her fingers, Cideeda examines the tablet display and the notebook page Aristespha holds up. She tugs at the corner her mouth, and concentrates her emerald eyes downwards. With accurate strokes, she deftly inscribes fine lines and shapes into the clay rich dirt with her claws. Dretphi peeks over Cideeda’s shoulder, watches the motions, and returns her attention to another similar section. With precise repetition, she carefully cuts a small knife tip into the ground and copies the design out. Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi systematically go around the circle and fill in the fine traces of a complex pattern. Aristespha examines each completed section, and confirms with an appreciative smile. Sebastian’s visage hovers over and down from above the work, lands next to Sotalia, and mumbles. “So, I have NO CLUE what all that does. Not a single fucking idea.”

Sotalia crosses her arms, smiles tightly, and shrugs her shoulders. “You’re telling me. This stuff always confuses me. I always got one small thing wrong, spent hours figuring it out, and never got the results I wanted.”

Minute pass and Cideeda taps on final point with a claw tip into the clay, grins toothily at her work, and sits back on the ground. “Wow, that’s a lot more involved than those pages from those books.”

Bach slides back from the circle, shudders his head, and rubs his blue eyes. “Oh yeah. Those were just beginner books. There’s a whole bunch of circle, runic, and other type of spells like this. A lot of flow guidance and manipulation to do all kinds of things. Scrolls can be really involved.”

Cideeda smirks slyly and pokes Bach gently with a claw. “Yeah, I heard. Bar games and all.”

Bach groans and tightens his smile with a bit of lingering embarrassment. Dretphi scoots over to the rest of the seated audience, cleans off the small knife blade, and smiles happily. “I want to learn this. Next time we practice magic.”

Aristespha settles herself in the middle of the multi-strata circle, puts away some of her reference materials, and reaches beside her. She hands the sword in the scabbard to Bach and smirks. “You better hold onto this. We don’t need any unexpected interference.”

Bach takes hold of the sword, puts on his lap, and nods. “Yeah, don’t want anything to get the wrong idea. Supposed to be a peaceful negotiation with the spirits, right?”

Aristespha chuckles and opens up a plastic bag. Closing her eyes, she reopens them to a glowing violet, and scoops out a handful of gray sand. Speaking out an incantation and gesturing with her free hand, she sprinkles the metallic granules in the air above the vast circle inscriptions. An invisible force sweeps up the material, gently guides it just above the clay, and channels into the grooves in the dirt. Once the sand settles into the pathways, Aristespha gazes over to Sotalia and releases a tense breath. “Okay. It is ready. I will need you to provide a significant amount of magical energy. I want to make sure I have a good offering for the spirit that answers this summoning.”

Sotalia nods with a proud grin, steps over while stretching her arms out, and laughs confidently. “THAT I can do. Just say when and where.”

Aristespha reads over the notepad page, nods to herself as her glowing violet eyes comprehend the material, and places the reference in her lap. Drawing in a long breath, she rests her fingers upon the circle, bows her head down, and exhales. Flows of magic spill out from her arms, sink into the channels, and spark between the gray sand. The energy travels through the pathways, pulsates with a prismatic glow, and spreads to the entirety of the circle. Aristespha lifts her arms away from the ground with threads of flow connected, speaks rhythmic chants between verses of exact incantations, and gestures with flowing motions. Sections of flow within the inscriptions shift to solid colors, vibrate in specific patterns, and shift in growing consistency. The outer most perimeter of the channels stabilizes to an idle glow, and Aristespha calmly gazes over to Sotalia. “Sotalia, place your hands on the outside ring, and flow into it as much as you are conformable with. We need enough to attract the right level of spirit, but can add more if needed.”

Sotalia blinks her golden eyes to attention, focuses upon the glowing circle, and cautiously places her hands down. With a deep breath in, flows of energy leave her body, swirl around her arms, and sink into the brightening patterns. After minute, Sotalia lifts her fingers from the perimeter of the ritual, shakes her hands, and smirks with a wink to Aristespha. “If whoever needs more, let them ask first.”

Aristespha nods in agreement. Mustering her full focus, she presses her hands together, condenses energy between, and throws her arms out. A translucent pulse billows out from the center point, quickly travels out into the surrounding fields and forests, and disappears from view. Moments later, small specs of energy drift around the site, and land on the ground, plants, and even Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sotalia, and Sebastian. Seconds pass and small manifestations of ethereal wildlife assemble nearby. A few sit close to the observers. After a minute, larger spirits wander in and keep a reserved distance from the center point of the ritual. With each passing minute, the gathering of spiritual entities grows from dozens to hundreds, and the team maintains awkward watches surrounded by the peaceful congregation.

Finally, a cloudy, humanoid figure shifts to opacity into the clearing, and purposely steps with a regimented gait towards Aristespha. It stops a meter away from the circle. Sebastian’s visage wavers momentarily and he drifts close to Bach. Aristespha eases out a calming breath, gazes up to the tall, ethereal being, and inquires. “Can you deliver a message to the receiving circles indicated and release the content to Marcus Harold?”

The entity cocks its misty head, kneels down, and stretches an arm to the inscriptions around Aristespha. Tendrils of energy sink into the channels. The outer layers dim and the inner shells flicker. A ghostly voice reverberates out into the vicinity. “Yes. I am familiar with these. And, that one.”

The thicker hair on the back of Cideeda’s neck stands up, and her furry ears flick around in vain to locate a source of the words. Aristespha maintains a cool, collected stare upon the being. “Is the offering acceptable compensation?”

All the channels within the circle darken to a dull fading illumination, and the entity pulls its arm away. It waits quietly a moment, and flickers in brightness. “Almost.”

Aristespha furrows her brow, and summons up a stern tone. “What else is required?”

The entity pivots its form slowly, extends its hazy hand, and points right at Bach. “A token of the OLD POWER.”

Bach’s blue eyes widen, and he reflexively leans back with a tightening grip upon the sword. When a pair of eyes glow out from the spirit, Dretphi, Cideeda, and Sotalia protectively shift closer to Bach, and Sebastian stares with arms crossed. Aristespha grits her teeth, narrows a glare upon the entity, and calls out. “Your dealings are WITH ME.”

The being cranes its head around, leans towards Aristespha, and the nods respectfully to her. “Yes. I understand. I request you ask for this small offer of POWER. That is my price.”

Aristespha contorts her ivory face, aims a disapproving glance upon the ethereal creature, and directs her apologetic tone to Bach. “You do NOT have to comply, Bach. We’ll just find another without such a steep cost.”

Bach ponders a moment, straightens his posture, and musters up his courage. “No... It’s fine. I can do this.”

He glances down at the sword, gazes over to Dretphi, and hands the sheathed blade to her. “Could you hold this for a moment. I don’t want to summon up elder energy near it.”

Dretphi nods, securely grasps the scabbard, and maintains a watch. Bach places his hands together, closes his eyes with a long exhales, and reopens his eyes to a bright blue. Moments of tense concentration pass, and tiny dots of pure white appear in his glowing blue pupils. Faint threads of white flow weave around Bach’s form, twist around his arms, and condense between his hands. The sword vibrates in Dretphi’s grip.

“FAMILIAR. FLOW. DETECT-”

Annoyance awkwardly springs out into Dretphi’s expression, and she wraps the sword in the scabbard tightly between her arms and stomach. The swords warning drones at a muffled volume.

As the flow continues, spirits small and large drift their attention from the Aristespha’s ritual and witness the forming power. Gritting his teeth, Bach relaxes gradually and the magical energies wane. He slowly extends his arms towards the tall, misty spirit, and slowly parts his hands.

A small orb of pure white light beams out and casts brilliant light against the surrounding night. Bach collects himself after a few breaths, and gazes uncertainly at the being. “Is this sufficient?”

The ethereal humanoid steps forward to Bach. With a glowing eyed gaze, it kneels down, bows respectfully, and speaks softly. “Yes. A generous offer. May I accept?.”

Bach glances around, cocks his head to the side, and nods. “Yes. You may.”

The being’s hands materialize from the obfuscating haze, reach out, and cup hold of the precious orb. In seconds, the energy dissipates from the sphere, and radiates through the clarifying form of the spirit. The hazy visage recollects into a more defined shape of a man in older period armor. He gazes graciously towards Bach, and projects a clearer voice. “Thank you.”

He stands up, steps to Aristespha, and kneels at the ready. “Your message, please.”

Aristespha maintains a cool, collected expression, presents a bound bundle of paper, and waits. The messenger spirit places his hand upon the packet, and floods the material with energy. He lifts his hand away, and energy manifests into facsimiles of the paperwork away from the originals. The magical duplicates fold into themselves and merge with the messenger. He stands back up and bows towards Aristespha. “Your message has been copied. I will deliver it. Thank you for your payment.”

With a simple nod, Aristespha smiles respectfully. “Thank you for taking this task. It is all I have. You may leave.”

The messenger spirit walks away in the direction of the pond. While passing the water, he pauses a moment, pivots, and gazes down into the pool. The freshly defined eyes widen in surprise, and he touches his hand to his face. A smile appears as his form fades away.

The last illumination dissipates from the circle. The gathering of spirits wander away, disappear from sight, and zip off. After a long awkward silence, Aristespha lays down upon the ground, covers her face with her hands, and groans. “Oh my gods, I had totally forgotten how tense that whole process is!”

As the rest of the team relaxes, Aristespha mutters out some evuukian to herself and springs her violet eyes open. She pulls herself back up to a seat, and directs her concern at Bach. “Are you okay, Bach? I’m so sorry! I didn’t think it would request something like that! Gods, I should have factored that as a possibility.”

Bach blinks, glances around at the attention upon him, and shrugs his shoulders. “Um... I’m okay. Yeah. I think I’m fine.”

A wave of relief travels through Aristespha as she pants through fatigue and waning panic. “Good...”

Sebastian’s ethereal form lands next to Aristespha, and he cranes his head to gaze into her eyes. “Dear? You okay? Need anything?”

She pulls up her legs, wraps her arms around her knees, and sighs with a tired smile. “I’m fine, Sebastian. I’m just tired. Might need a recovery potion or two.”

Sotalia scoots over to Aristespha’s side, retrieves a small bottle from a pouch on her belt, and rubs Aristespha’s back. “You did good, girl. That was REALLY intense.”

Cideeda chuckles out her tension and blinks her emerald eyes. “Yeah, you could say that. You must have attracted every spirit for kilometers around here.”

Dretphi presents the sword back to Bach, and he accepts it back. She quietly inquires. “Need help to get back to camp?”

Pondering a moment, Bach shakes his head and smirks. “I think I’ll be fine. Yeah. Thank you, though.”

He motions his head over to Aristespha and whispers back. “But, I think we’ll need to help her back, though.”

Dretphi nods in agreement and smiles to Bach.

----

Resting her green on black eyes towards the ceiling above, Shadeesa slowly eases out a breath, rocks her head of long, dark green hair upon the pillow, and gently rubs her large belly underneath the bed sheets. She grits her teeth with a wince, hisses in a gasp, and groans uncomfortably. Scooping up her aetherphone upon the bed next to her, she brushes stray hairs over her swept up horns, taps the screen, and watches the stopwatch record another, shorter lap time. Contorting an acceptance upon her light gray, white freckled face, she mutters a short, muted phrase in emin. She leans gradually to her side, reaches out towards Kaleb, and pokes his bare shoulder with a thick, black finger nail. “Hey, Kaleb.”

After few more hard prods, Kaleb flutters his light brown eyes in the dim ambient illumination of the bedroom, and groggily summons up enough consciousness to mumble. “Yeah?”

With an endearing smile, Shadeesa calmly states. “It’s time.”

Kaleb contorts his sun tanned face, scratches his head of short blonde hair, and puzzles. His hand blindly hunts for his aetherphone on the nightstand, and drags it over. He squints, focuses enough awareness to the read the screen, and grumbles. “It’s three in the morning... Monday...”

Shadeesa blinks blankly. With an amused smirk, she rolls her eyes and shakes her head. Leaning over more, she places her hand upon the opposing side of Kaleb’s face, guides his attention to her, and explicitly explains while exaggerating pats upon her belly. “It’s time, for the baby.”

Kaleb searches his mind. Moments pass by as other fragments of consciousness awaken. A cascade of cognition floods his face with sudden recognition of the situation. His body tenses, and he smiles comfortingly towards Shadeesa over his surprise. “Oh- OH! Yeah! Okay. Um, I’ll, uh, get everything ready. You just take it easy, okay.”

Shadeesa smiles lovingly, pats Kaleb on the side of his face, and nods. “You do that. I’ll get ready.”

Carefully, Kaleb slips out of bed, and strives to keep from moving the mattress too much. Once clear, he steps over to the light switch, and masks confidence over his worried tone. “Turning on the lights, dear.”

Shadeesa settles back down on her back, and shields her eyes with her hand preemptively. “Go ahead.”

The lights flip on, Kaleb squints against the sudden brightness, fumbles over to the dresser, and sorts through his clothes. Quickly dropping out of his boxers, he assembles an acceptable enough outfit in a hurry. Hopping out the bedroom door with one sock on and the other halfway, he stumbles down the hall, and mutters while searching around. Shadeesa winces through another wave of discomfort, and gradually eases herself up into a seat upon the bed. She cautiously stands up, steps with awareness to another dresser, and opens a drawer. She sets out choice clothing upon the bed, and pauses to watch Kaleb through the bedroom door carry a large suitcase quickly down the hall. She listens to his progress through the long brick house, and the familiar sound of the side door opening and closing.

The side door sounds out again, footsteps get louder, and Kaleb peers into the room. “Uh, um, uh, should I call the hospital or should you-”

Shadeesa pats down a large, loose t-shirt over her pregnant figure, gazes at Kaleb, and points to her aetherphone. “I will. Could you pass me my-”

Kaleb swiftly moves to the bed, sweeps up the phone, and presents it to her. “Yeah. Um, do you need anything? Water? I, uh...”

With a humored sigh, she guides Kaleb’s face with her hands, kisses him on the lips, and runs her fingers through his short hair. “I’m good. You get the van ready, and then you can walk me out.”

She points towards the foot of the bed, and Kaleb braces her as she sits down. He hands her the pair of sweat pants partially out of the dresser.

Kaleb leaves quickly. Shadeesa gradually works herself into the pants, lays back down on the bed, and waits. With an anticipating grimace, she tenses up, hisses out through her gritting teeth, and winces both her eyes closed. Half a minute later, she gasps, wanders her gaze around, and plops her head upon the bedspread. “Just stay in there a little while longer. Oh... Gods...”

She picks up her aetherphone next to her, sorts through the contact list, and taps a number. Summoning up a calm tone she reports her name, situation, vital information, and estimated time for arrival to the other side of the call.

Outside under the carport, Kaleb opens the passenger’s side door of the van, sets the seat back, and clears a wide walk path of any debris. After confirmation, he swings the side door wide, props the storm door open, and quickly goes into the house. Low grumbles and mumbles resonate from the hangar and Lagi’s head peers out from the partly ajar main doors. He groggily glances around, and puzzles at the activity under the carport.

Kaleb exits from the side door, pivots around, and reaches out to Shadeesa. As she carefully steps down the few stairs, he supports her movements. Kaleb holds Shadeesa close, escorts her to passenger seat of the van, and helps buckle her in. He stops a moment, gazes into her eyes, and smirks. “Okay. Anything else you can think of?”

Shadeesa smiles, pecks him on the cheek, and settles her head against the seat. “I love you. We’ll make it work one way or another. I just want to get there before too long.”

Sounds of large hangar doors opening catches both their attentions. Lagi wanders over chirping worried whines. Kaleb grimaces, eases the van door closed, and whispers to Shadeesa as she rolls the window down. “Love you, too. I’ll lock up the house, and try to convince Lagi to stay here for now.”

Shadeesa perks her brow and chuckles softly. “You can try. Let me calm him down a little.”

Kaleb steps around towards the house. Shadeesa motions the anxious blue-black scaled dragon over, scratches his chin, and soothes him. “It’s okay, Lagi. Mommy has to deliver your new little brother. I’ll be back soon enough. Don’t you worry.”

Lagi pines and whines, and purrs out uneasy phrases, while Shadeesa smiles motherly. Kaleb hops into the driver’s seat, musters up an firm tone, and directs his voice to Lagi. “Lagi. I need you to stay here and be a good boy. Watch the house. We’ll all be back soon. Just go back to sleep for now, okay?”

The large dragon clicks and grumbles through a few patterns, and whimpers. Eventually, Lagi nods in agreement. Kaleb grins, puts the van into gear, and backs out on the road.

Minutes into the very early morning drive down the two lane highway, Shadeesa tilts her head over and smirks. “You know he’s not going to stay there.”

Kaleb sighs, rolls his eyes, and shakes his head. “Yeah. I know.”

He glances over into an upwards angled side view mirror, and notices the familiar draconic outline contrasting against the faint glow along the eastern horizon.

----

Kaleb holds his aetherphone up, furrows his brow, and twists his mouth at the display. “That’s a hell of an angle to record at Bach.”

In the foreground of the video feed on the screen, Bach rolls his eyes and groans. “I know, I know. We’re still a ways out from Perimeter. We tried a bunch of spots, but standing on the back bumper and holding it up like this was first thing to work. I just got enough of a radio signal to get the video call to connect.”

Behind in the downwards shot, Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sotalia, and Sebastian wave as a group. Kaleb shrugs his shoulders with a snort, and smirks. “Ah, whatever works. So...”

Donning a proud grin, Kaleb eases himself up onto the edge of the hospital bed, and slowly pans the phone camera around him towards Shadeesa. “Let me introduce you all to our son, Cassidy Derron Hellstrom-Serania.”

With a loving smile, Shadeesa angles the bundle of colorful blankets gently and reveals a sleeping baby. Smiles appear on the team’s faces and sounds admiration arrive from the other side of the call. Shadeesa smirks towards the phone camera and giggles. “We decided if it was a girl I would pick the first name and he’d get the middle. But, it was a boy, so we switched out.”

She pats the thin blonde hair tuft on his head, pulls back the cloth cap, and reveals a pair of slight bumps. “He’s going to have my horns from the looks of it.”

Kaleb smiles and chuckles. “And, he’s got your iris color.”

Shadeesa lifts her brow, and shakes her head. “He’s going to have that impossible blonde hair of yours.”

Aristespha squints her gaze. “He looks healthy and happy.”

Sotalia cups her hands around her mouth and giggles. “Oh, those gray cheeks are so cute. I hope he keeps those, but they’ll probably fade back over time.”

Shadeesa settles the newborn into her arms, squirms against the pillow behind her back, and flutters her eyes. Cideeda cracks a toothy grin and snorts. “Someone is tired. How long did the labor take?”

Lifting up her dark green eyebrow, Shadeesa tugs at the corner of her mouth. “Oh, you know... Too long. Can’t believe it’s Tuesday already. But, we both got through it just fine. He’s been quiet so far. I really hope that lasts.”

Sebastian laughs ethereally, and smirks. “So, what’s Lagi think about his baby brother?”

Kaleb slowly pivots his head towards the hospital room window, and grimaces with a groan. He watches the breath of a large dragon fog against the glass. Shaking his head, Kaleb sighs and rolls his eyes. “I’m sure they’ll be the best of buds. He’s just really protective and stubborn right now.”

Lagi’s bright green eyes gaze into the room, and he whines longingly. Kaleb blinks, grits his teeth briefly, and flits his eyes wide. “Speaking of which, I need to make good on a promise real soon to the administrator.”

Bach quirks his brow and tilts his head. “What promise is that?”

Kaleb grins awkwardly and chuckles nervously. “Oh, you know. They won’t take issue with Lagi parking his ass out the window, IF I bring him over to the children’s wing everyday he wants to be here. Probably should do that soon.”

Shadeesa smiles as Cassidy stirs from slumber and wiggles around in the swaddle. “Just as well, I think he’ll wake up hungry soon.”

Holding the aetherphone out, Kaleb aims the camera at Shadeesa, Cassidy, and him. “Call us when you get back to Perimeter. See you all later.”

The team on the other side of the call waves and says their goodbyes. Dretphi’s voice rises up over background noise and signal interference. “Send pictures!”

After the call closes, Kaleb gazes over at his son and kisses Shadeesa. “It won’t stay this peaceful will it?”

Shadeesa shakes her head with a chuckle, and sighs. “No. Not at all. But, it’s nice now.”

She kisses Kaleb back. “I love you. Now go take Lagi to see the children.”

Kaleb nods, stands up from the bed, and opens the fogged up window. He leans down, meets Lagi’s gaze, and points to the side. “Meet me at the side entrance. Let’s play with some kids, and you can sit here with mommy afterwards.”

Lagi grumbles with a snort. Kaleb narrows his stare and adopts a fatherly tone. “Don’t be that way. The nice hospital administrator overlooked your nervous eating of A LOT of landscaping. So, go around and let’s make some children happy.”

With a huff, Lagi’s large dragon form walks along the scenic green way along the building towards the distant corner as Kaleb slides the window closed.

-106-

Sitting in a corner booth of the Pancake Shed, Isaac gently swirls his mug of coffee upon the table, and eyes a folded document in his hand. Blinking his eyes hard, he shifts his attention from the pencil marked map and stares out towards the white sand beaches between long docks stretching into the sea. His idle gaze wanders between the activity of the coastal town and drifts past a post of different signs detailing the rules of Yazoo’s public beaches. With a sad sigh, he pulls his attention away from a mother and father walking with a young daughter, and focuses his eyes upon studying the sketched out routes.

In a nearby booth, a large grath man grumbles quiet curses under his breath as a spoon slips out the shaky grip of his right hand. A fvalian woman dons an encouraging smile on her tan face, leans over the grath man from behind, and hugs him tightly. “You’re doing just fine, Ralthie. Just take it slow.”

Ralthinen grimaces through a few flits of frustration, eases out a slow sigh, and nods his head of dark brown hair. He narrows his reddish brown eyes upon his partially bandaged right hand, and concentrates on the movements of each finger. He gradually smirks. “I will.”

The fvalian woman rubs Ralthinen’s back, and stands up straight. She quickly brushes off her Pancake Shed uniform, cleans up the “Lucida” text on her name tag, and picks up a fresh coffee carafe from a nearby empty table. She walks over to Isaac, grins brightly, and perks up her tone. “You need anything else, sir? Top off your coffee?”

Isaac blinks his attention away from the map, glances down at his half full mug, and nods in appreciatively. “That actually sounds lovely.”

He slides his mug over towards the end of the table, rests the document upon the table, and tilts his head curiously to the side. “Sorry if I’m prying a bit too much, but... What exactly happened to your friend over there?”

Lucida smiles with a faint groan, and shakes her head. “Oh, don’t worry, sir. You aren’t prying that hard. My Ralthie is a bit too proud of the whole thing.”

Her head leads the rest of her body in a slow pivot, and she faces Ralthinen with tinges of annoyance. “Is that right, Ralthie?”

Ralthinen guides the spoon of milky cereal into mouth, blinks back to awareness, and darts his eyes awkwardly over to Lucida and Isaac. Carefully removing the empty spoon from his mouth, he cracks a proud grin on his light brown face, and nods towards Isaac. “Fought a Red Gear cyborg. Kept him occupied so others could escape. I stabbed him in the eye.”

He motions his head over towards his right shoulder. “He cut my arm off.”

With a sly smile, he chuckles. “I found my arm. He never will get his eye back.”

Lucida rolls her yellow eyes, combs back a few stray strand of her shoulder-length green hair, and droops her rounded-tip, furry ears. “He’s lucky to have that arm. I’m so happy that some PDF troops checked back and found it.”

Ralthinen frowns faintly and tests his right hand’s grip on the spoon. “Wish they found my knife.”

Shaking her head, Lucida fills up the coffee mug on the table, twists her mouth, and directs her playfully dismissive tone to Issac. “I swear, he would have rather gotten the knife back than his arm at times.”

She glances over her shoulder and watches Ralthinen struggle to coordinate his right hand and arm. After a few shaky moments, Ralthinen manages to scoop another spoonful of cereal from the bowl and put it in his mouth. Isaac smiles appreciatively to Lucida, and slides his coffee back next to him. “Thank you. I must say, he seems to be doing amazingly after losing and getting back his arm.”

Lucida rests her free hand on her hip, eases out a tired sigh, and smiles. “Yes, he is. It took the clinic calling in a few specialist doctors to regenerate and recondition his arm. He’s going to need a few more nerve treatments to get everything back...”

She gazes lovingly over to Ralthinen and slowly wags her short-haired, green tail. “But, it’s amazing the what they’ve done with the magical and regenerative treatments so far.”

Isaac gazes up to Lucida, and smiles softly. “It’s amazing what they can do these days. I look forward to what more they can do.”

Lucida nods quietly. After a few moments, she blinks back to attention and notices the mostly empty plate in front of Isaac. “Oh, are you done with your plate?”

Glancing at the scarce leftovers upon the dish, Isaac shrugs his shoulders and chuckles. “I probably am. Shouldn’t stuff myself too much before a long trip.”

In a swift, smooth motion, Lucida’s claw tips tap upon the ceramic as she plucks the plate off the tabletop. She pauses, perks her brow, and grins. “You wouldn’t happen to want anything for the road? We have a club sandwich that will taste good when you stop for lunch.”

Rocking his head side to side, Isaac deliberates a bit, and smirks into a single nod. “Put a few extra olives on it and I’ll take one to go.”

Lucida winks to Isaac. “Of course. Anything else?”

Isaac searches his thoughts and slowly shakes his head. “Nothing that I can think of. Just the check, please.”

With a nod Lucida walks over towards Ralthinen. She stops a moment, leans down, and gives him a peck on his check. A flush of color fills Ralthinen’s check and Lucida walks towards the main counter. Isaac shifts his attention back to the folded over map. His gray eyes trace the marked routes and his expression flits with contemplation. Minutes of study and thought pass between sips of coffee. Lucida returns with a small cardboard box. She places the container down upon the table, opens it up, and reveals a club sandwich with a few extra toothpicks of olives on top. “Had to be a little sneaky about olives. Hope it’s enough.”

An amused smile appears on Isaac’s face, and he graciously nods to Lucida. “Perfect. Thank you, so much.”

Lucida stands up straight with pride, and smiles as she places the bill face down. “It was my pleasure. You have a nice day and a safe trip. Please, come back again.”

She departs back to main counter, sweeps up tray of orders, and quickly navigates to different tables of customers. Isaac closes the box back up, picks up the tab, and reads it over. He retrieves his wallet from a pocket, and counts out enough paper currency to cover the total. His fingers pinch a modest tip, and he pauses. He glances over to Lucida serving out orders, handling customers, and cleaning tables. He shift his attention to Ralthinen's moments of struggles to keep the spoon stable in his recovering right hand. Isaac’s fingers draw up a generous amount, and he adds it to the total already on the table.

Scooting out of the booth seat, he stands up, puts away his wallet and map, and picks up his boxed sandwich.

----

The noon sun beams around scattered, white clouds overhead. A gentle repetitive chorus of the tide fills in the gaps between the recreational sounds of the shore side diner. Aristespha relaxes back in the metal mesh chair, tilts her head of long, silvery blue hair back, and welcomes the warmth of the light above. Her hand rests upon the handle of the sword and a smile cracks on her ivory face. A breeze coasts off the nearby waters. The greasy wax paper within the basket in front of her ruffles, and her hand secures the wrapper with deluxe cheeseburger leftovers the moment it tries to flutter away. Cideeda’s furry ears flick back from the crisp noise, and she scrolls through the contents of another message on her aetherphone. She spares a semblance of attention to guide a fork into the last bits of an overloaded salad, and leads the food to her mouth. Narrowing her emerald green eyes upon a posting on an aethersite, she twists her mouth with disbelief and angles the display towards Dretphi. “It’s amazing what they try to pass off as an authentic sword on these sites.”

Dretphi tosses back a few platinum blonde braids, narrows her steely gray eyes at the screen, and dismissively grimaces. “Could not cut the box it comes in.”

She shakes her head, sits up in her seat, and returns her attention to the remnants of steak and shrimp corralled by vegetables on her plate. Calm washes over her as she enjoys another bite of meal. She closes her eyes as the wind flows around. Bach yawns, slouches back into his seat, and scratches his beard. Raking his fingers through his longer brown hair, he stretches out his arms, arches his back, and settles his stare upon his cleared plate. Wandering his gaze around, he notices Sotalia turned in her seat and leaning her arms upon the patio fence. Blinking curiously, he cocks his head and watches her toss the end of a fried potato wedge down past the barrier. Hearing chirps and squeaks, he leans upon a nearby section of the perimeter railing.

Sotalia grins brightly, picks off another section of potato wedge with a long, black nails, and tosses it down. One of a trio of blue and white whelps snaps its small maw around the incoming food, and happily purrs between chews. Biting her lower lip, Sotalia tosses back her fiery orange, wavy hair, and darts her golden eyed gaze between the three critters. She points to one, pinches off another morsel, and drops it down. After snapping its mouth around the food, the whelp flaps its wings and emits muffled chirps.

Bach turns his head to face Sotalia, quirks his brow, and chuckles. “You totally want one, do you?”

Sotalia blinks to attention, glances over with a guilty smirk, and sighs with an eye roll. “Well... Yes! But, our adventuring right now doesn’t really work with taking care of a pet.”

Fighting against a sea breeze, she lets stray hairs over her black swept back horns, and snorts. “Then again, it’s probably for the best. I’d totally could turn into some crazed whelp lady. For now...”

She holds up the other end of the fried potato wedge, and grins. “I’ll just have fun spoiling the ones I can.”

Looking over the trio, she points to another one, shakes the treat, and flicks it up. The whelp springs up into a flip, snatches the morsel, and lands with a flap of the wings. Sotalia claps her hands together, giggles, and excitedly squirms. “That was really good! I wish I had more to give you.”

A chime rings out from Aristespha’s shorts pocket. She cracks her violet eyes, retrieves the device, and navigates through menus. Her eyes read through a message, and she lifts her eyebrow intrigued. “Interesting. It seems the PDF Investigators want to meet up with us tonight and catch us up on some developments.”

Cideeda perks up, stretches arms forward, and taps her claw tips upon the wooden table. “Gods, I wonder what happened while we were gone.”

Dretphi slides her chair back, stands up, and twists her mouth. “I fear nothing good.”

She side steps behind Bach, leans over the railing, and smiles at the three blue and white whelps waiting expectantly. “They are cute.”

Sotalia glances back over to the table, tilts up a wrapper lined basket, and frowns at the single fried potato wedge left. “Damn. Just one left.”

She sighs, plucks it from the container, and pushes her metal mesh chair back. “Oh well, I guess we should head back to the hotel and get ready for tonight.”

Bach surveys the table, and nods in agreement. “Yeah. Wouldn’t mind just doing nothing in the room. Maybe catch a rerun of the Next Adventurers of Nexus.”

Pausing in thought a moment, Sotalia searches her mind, grits her teeth briefly, and hums to herself. “Gods, I wonder they got put through this time.”

She stands up, pivots around, and waves the potato piece to get the attention of the critters below. “Okay, you three! Go long!”

She lobs the fried treat into the air and towards the beach sands. The trio of whelps rush off. The potato piece plops down upon the white sands. As the whelps close in, few zone parrots land nearby. The whelps and parrots halt short of the treat, and stand off in a cacophony squawks and shrieks. Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi watch with growing curiosity. Sotalia covers her mouth and blinks in surprise. The two groups of critters exchange aggressive calls, spreading of wings, and bold posturing. As the team watches on, Bach glances over to Sotalia with twist in his smirk. “Holy shit, Sotalia. I think you accidentally started a turf war.”

Sotalia crosses her arms, darts her golden gaze around guiltily, and grimaces. “Well, fuck... I mean, how as I supposed to know?”

Cideeda cracks a sly, toothy grin, taps a claw tip on her lip, and directs her voice to Bach. “So, who’d you put your money on? I’m going with the whelps.”

Narrowing an unamused stare at the zone parrots in the standoff, Bach frown slightly and grumbles. “Have to go with the damned parrots. Mean little shits right there. And, they bite hard.”

Sebastian’s voice emanates from beneath the table. “Yeah. Birds are just mean in general.”

Aristespha blinks, glances under the table, and rolls her eyes at the visage of Sebastian hiding. As the zone parrots and whelps direct their displays of dominance to each other, their attention upon the prize wanes. From under the shade of nearby driftwood, a pair of dark eyes flit with a prismatic glow. A small rodent steps out, sits on its hind legs, and studies the strife. Perking its rounded sandy brown ears, it cleans its whiskers, and brushes its paws over its brown and tan face. Twitching a short black tinted tail, the critter digs its claws into the soft sand. The sun warms its coat of white, brown, and black stripes down it back, and a flicker of energy glows from its eyes.

The posturing continues between the colorful, loud zone parrots and the dramatic, hissing whelps. A flurry of speed leaves behind a trail of scattered sand and stops right next to the fried potato wedge. The rodent grabs the prize, stuffs the food into bulging cheek pouches, and glances between the two groups of animals. In the awkward silence, both parrots and whelps blankly puzzle at the new player. The rodent tears off in a full sprint, scatters a jet of sand behind, and zips down the beach at a blistering pace. The remaining critters exchange glances. An immediate, silent truce forms within the shared disrespect, and all take flight in a vain chase after the speeding thief.

Bach blinks in astonishment and glances around to the rest of the team. “What the hell was that?!”

Dretphi excitedly smiles and blurts out a phrase in grath. Sotalia tilts her head to the side and nods in a mix of agreement and disbelief. “Huh. Yeah, I guess so. I’ve never seen one myself.”

Aristespha, Bach, and Cideeda shift expectant stares to Dretphi. Sebastian’s voice sounds out from under the table. “So, uh, what is it?”

Opening her mouth, Dretphi thinks a moment, sorts through her thoughts, and grimaces. She tilts her head to the side and assembles an explanation. “I think the correct common term is... Sprint Munk? They are a species of chipmunk that can use magic to sprint fast.”

Sebastian’s ghostly form blinks blankly as he dissipates. “Huh. Yeah. That make sense. So, hotel?”

The team picks up their belonging, cleans the table off to the nearby garbage cans, and form up. As they exit the area, Bach inquires further to Dretphi. “So, I take it they steal food. Anything else about them?”

Dretphi perk her brow and smirks. “They favor shiny objects to decorate their burrows.”

Cideeda’s tail fur frays out reflexively as she shudders. “Now that’s just terrifying. Little thieves you can’t catch, that run off with your food and valuables.”

----

The sparse shade of overhead clouds drifts over the grass lot behind the two story house. A gentle breeze weaves between the trees of the nearby forest and leaves rustle in a gentle chorus. In the shadow of a tall oak, Trakenthin settles his large frame against the trunk at the base, glances his hazel eyes around, and searches suspect areas. After satisfying his paranoia, he brushes off a stray leaf from his short, dirty blonde hair, and pulls up his aetherphone screen close. The faint glow from the display lights up his dark bronze face, and he taps a browser bookmark. A smile grows as Trakenthin reads the stylized font title on the “Shayuri’s Study” page.

Nearby in the open area, Modoran picks up the finely crafted bow, nocks a practice arrow, and rolls his shoulders. Stepping up to a worn line in the grass, he levels the bow and arrow, contorts his dusky bluish gray face in contemplation, and draws a slow breath in. Pulling back the string, he aligns his aim with the distant target across the backyard and concentrates. When the faint flows of energy from his arm illuminate inscriptions, he releases the arrow. The projectile zips across the distance, and plants itself firmly into the center point of the round target. Tossing back his shorter, light gray and white hair, he grins confidently and straightens his athletic form.

Through the window and inside the kitchen, Deedri and Tassilda navigate around each other. Deedri pulls out large vials from carrying bags, inspects them with her auburn eyes, and lightly raps upon the glass with her claw tips. She perks her furry, tufted ears, and glances over her shoulder to Tassilda. “These should be completely inert now. There’s some trace amounts of flow binder in them.”

Tassilda turns her head of long, raven black hair, lifts her eye brow, and smirks. “Rinse and flush with a lot of water?”

With an appreciative smile, Deedri nods and presents the stopped tubes to Tassilda. “Correct. Thank you.”

Carefully, Tassilda grips onto the vials with her long, black nailed fingers, studies the remaining specks inside with her light blue on black eyes, and pivots towards the sink. “You are welcome. By the way, I’d really like your help in dispelling a few stale potions.”

Deedri cracks a smirk, and ties back her long multi-colored hair. “Of course. I’ve got ones that need neutralization and heat disposal. Bring them out when I get the crucible and fire pit ready.”

Tassilda dumps out a fill of water from a tube, guides the faucet over the drain, and sets the glass in a wooden drying rack. She washes off her gray hands in the stream of water, and promptly dries them in a towel. Lifting her head up, she corrals stray strands of her black hair over her swirling horns, and straightens her posture. “That works for me. I wish I could do more than watch the light show, but you far more skilled with that whole process.”

Deedri wags her tail, draws a sharp grin on her fair skinned face, and giggles. “It’s not problem.”

She glances around the room, steps close to Tassilda, and whispers with a guilty smirk. “I mean, it’s kind of fun for me. All the magic being broken free and released. It can be so exciting.”

Tassilda narrows a sly gazes upon Deedri, crosses her arms, and snickers. “I figured there was more behind that grin of yours. Might have you teach me... if it doesn’t deprive too much from your fun?”

Searching her mind briefly, Deedri rests her hands on her hips, smiles with an eager hint, and perks her furry, tufted ears. “I could spare a few lesser potions for educational reasons.”

From the living room, a loud advertisement cuts short into another channel on the large television. Veevi sneers her upper lip, slouches further back into the couch, and plops arm with the remote upon the cushion. She rolls her pink pupil eyes, tosses back her head of long pink hair, and groans out. Boredom and frustration tint the unamused expression on her tan face, and she briefly grits her sharp teeth. Her short haired, pink tail flicks around with her flits of irritation, and she huffs loudly into a stare at the show on screen.

The front door opens inwards, and Chad steps through. He closes the door, studies the living room with his brown eyes, and straightens his muscular frame upon spotting Veevi. Walking calmly, he steps up to the side of the coffee table, gazes down at Veevi, and separates a packet from the bundle of papers in his hands. He holds out the document to Veevi and pleasantly states. “Just got done talking to the producers. Here’s the initial draft of the scheduling for you.”

Veevi’s mean glare shifts to focus upon Chad. With a quick swipe of her sharp nails, she snatches the paperwork out of Chad’s hand, and growls. “Whatever. What stupid thing did you get us stuck doing this time?”

Chad summons his trademark bright, white smile, and directs a hushed tone to Veevi. “It took a little convincing... But, I managed to get you the front table all by yourself at all the photo and signing sessions.”

A spark of interest lights up Veevi’s mood. She quickly flips through the pages, sorts through the schedules, and studies the charts. An eager grin grows wide on her face, and she giggles excitedly. “Really?”

Chad stands up, and steps across the living room towards the dining area. As he clears through the archway, he twists his smile away into an uncomfortable grimace and shudders. He recollects himself, glances over to Deedri and Tassilda in the kitchen area, and points outside. “Deedri? Tassilda?”

Both Deedri and Tassilda look over, nod, and follow swiftly behind Chad. After the trio are outside, Chad slides the back glass door shut, and sighs loudly. “Gods. Okay.”

He walks over to the patio table, and lays out the packets upon the top from the bundle. He signals both Trakenthin and Modoran over when their curiosity guides their attention over. When the team gathers up, he eases out a breath and smirks. “These are the draft schedules for the fan meetup coming up. Take a good look at them. They were pretty adamant about them being set up this way.”

The group picks up their copies and sorts sifts through the information. Tassilda rests a free hand on her hip, and groans. “I had almost forgotten about this. Gods, it is coming up. Well, I guess one more won’t kill me.”

Modoran flips over a few pages to a schedule, and picks up a large bag of snacks. Idly fumbling with the thick plastic packaging, he squints his dark blue eyes and leans down to analyze the page closer. “The hell? It looks like they’ve got us running everywhere and split apart... a lot. I don’t know about this.”

Trakenthin frowns as he glares at the packet in his hand and grumbles. “Never split the party.”

While Modoran nods in agreement, he continues to struggle to find the right method to open the sealed bag. Deedri’s furry ears flick with the noise, and she watches the vain attempts. She gently squeezes Modoran’s forearm with her claw tips and waits with a sly smile up to him. Modoran blinks to attention and cocks his head to the side. Deedri grips on side of the plastic package, pokes a claw into the top, and slices open the bag. Modoran flits his eyes wide in surprise and smirks with a chuckle. He holds the bag open and presents the snacks to Deedri. After a few moment of deliberation, Deedri quickly snatches a handful, grins warmly to Modoran, and enjoys the treats.

Chad shakes his head at the scheduling and sighs. He cracks a sly grin, gazes over the rest of the team, and chuckles. “One good thing, though... I was able to convince the producers to give Veevi the front table all by herself at every possible photo and signing session. So, I think she’ll be distracted enough.”

Tassilda rubs the temple of her head and groans. “Oh, thank you. At least, we’ll have that going for us.”

Trakenthin nods and twists his mouth. “Good plan. Let the drama find her. Leave us out of it.”

----

Traces of color glow from the distant eastern, midnight horizon and flits of activity leave trails of light. Bach stares up into the starry night sky from the hotel balcony, and tilts his ear towards the background drone of waves echoing upon the city buildings. He eases out a long sigh, resettles in the padded metal chair, and twitches his face in silent contemplation. He closes his blue eyes, frowns slightly, and shakes his head slowly. “Damn...”

Phasing through the sliding glass door, Sebastian’s ghostly visage glances around. He floats into the middle the balcony and gazes over to Bach. “Mind if I join you, bro?”

Bach flutters his eyes open, tilts his head up, and nods. “Yeah. Sure. Just couldn’t sleep.”

Sebastian drifts into a disjointed seat on a nearby chair, tightly smiles, and hisses a reverberating sigh through his gritted teeth. “Yeah... A bit weird learning Isaac was just hanging out here recently.”

Shaking his head, Bach rubs his eyes and snorts with a smirk. “Pretty fucking wild that they were just sitting around watching him most of the time. He was just doing regular things. Like a normal person.”

Twisting his mouth, Sebastian grumbles and glances sideways towards Bach while surveying the cityscape. “No shit. Well, at least from what they told us, I don’t think he feels threatened or anything. Probably doesn’t even know we’re this close to him.”

Bach grits his teeth briefly, wrestles between uncomfortable expressions, and groans. “I think that’s for the best. To be honest brother... I really don’t want to run into him again.”

Sebastian gazes right at Bach, cracks an awkward smile, and sighs ethereally with stale frustration. “Me neither. Really. I’m so done with this chasing him around bullshit, bro.”

Blinking to fuller awareness, Bach cocks his head to the side and perks his brow. “Sounds like you’ve been done with this shit for a while?”

Sebastian rolls his blue transparent eyes, combs his hands through the brown tinted visage of his hair, and shakes his head exasperated. “Fuck me, bro. I wanted this all to be done when I had my showdown with him in Anta! Gods almighty! Magic sword, chosen one, and big bad guy. I supposed to strike him down, let the sword do its thing, and be done with it all.”

Bach nods, flits his eyes wide, and grumbles. “Then, he pulled that surprise power blast on you. And well, here we are.”

With a trailing groan, Sebastian mimics propping his elbows upon arms of the chair and rests his head on his hands. “Yeah. Well, to be honest, bro... He was holding back a lot more in reserve than I thought then. Should have been a lot more careful when getting close him.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Bach smiles and chuckles lightly. “Well. Hindsight and all. We’ll figure it out. We got a better option now than when we first started.”

Sebastian frowns regretfully. He gazes at Bach, sighs remorsefully, and attempts a smile. “Yeah. None of us we’re really thinking straight then. I was in a really fucked up head space. We were scrambling for a quick fix and I lead it all straight to you.”

Bach tilts his head to the side and smirks. “Well. As crazy as it all was, I’m glad you still saw me as some kind of viable option after all that time, and that I could actually help you.”

Smiling at his brother, Sebastian rolls his eyes at himself uncomfortably. “Still man, that was fucked up and disrespectful of us. Again, we were in no shape do much of anything and just running to anything that sounded remotely like a good plan. I should have been the one to hit the brakes and get us to just stop a while. So...”

He bows his head slightly. “Really... I apologize for how we just dragged into all of this. You’ve been far cooler about all this than anyone really should. Don’t know how I’d even handle it all if I was you.”

Shaking his head, Bach chuckles with a snort, and settles back into the balcony chair. “It’s cool. I mean, I didn’t much of plan for the shit I was in anyway. And... I don’t know if I’d do any better if I was in your position.”

He glances over to a thought in his mind, quirks his brow, and leans closer to Sebastian with a curious tone. “Speaking of which... Have you gotten, well, used to being a, um... Ghost, or projection?”

Sebastian sits up straighter, glances around his form, and uncertainly squirms. “I don’t know. I mean, I’ve learned how to use this better, but... I don’t know if I’m really used to it.”

He cocks his head to the side and contorts his ethereal face in contemplation. “It’s weird. I still feel like I’ve got a regular body and all. I’m constrained but not, all at the same time? I’m in the world but disconnected? Anyway, it’s pretty fucking freaky. Really looking forward to the day I don’t have to deal with it.”

Pausing in thought a moment, his ghostly visage shifts close to Bach, and he glances around briefly. “Speaking of which... I really think we should start looking into the other ways to get enough energy in this sword to hopefully get me out.”

Bach nods in agreement, and scratches the beard on his chin. “Yeah. Still have been thinking about that on and off. I got a few ideas about places to check narrowed down.”

Sebastian grins and gazes on with interest. “I figured you did, bro. We could totally stop by them while hunting for this place that Noxian wants. Perfect cover to keep all the big players happy that we’re making some progress.”

Searching his brain, Bach ponders out. “Plus, we’re also draining any resources that Isaac can recharge at. Which will hopefully make Sotalia happy that we’re not going after him.”

Rolling his eyes, Sebastian shakes his head and lifts an eyebrow at Bach. “Don’t worry about Sotalia. Once I’m out of the sword, I think she’ll care a lot less about Noxian. She blames herself for not blasting down Noxian a few more times just to make sure he didn’t have any surprises left.”

He draws in a ghostly breath and sighs long with an ethereal echo. “To be honest... If it wasn’t for the fact that Noxian has some clue about where this aether access point could be, I’d be ready to scheme our way out of this. Keep up appearances long enough to get me back to normal, and let someone else handle it.”

Bach leans back, cocks his head to side, and smirks intrigued. “Huh. What about the sword, the Grand Library, and Aristespha? Aren’t they all tied together?”

Sebastian snorts, shakes his head, and laughs. “Not really. Aristespha and I had been talking even before I got like this. Adventuring with us and being away from Grand Library, she wants to stay with us after this quest is done. And, she’s REALLY not been happy with the Grand Library after Orth Ridge. So, once I’m out and the sword gets returned, she's taking a very long sabbatical to run with us.”

Nodding at the plan, Bach smirks and sighs. “Sounds good. Fucking shame we need to make sure this aether access point isn’t a threat.”

Shaking his head, Sebastian groans and grumbles out. “Gods, no shit. But... We can’t very well leave it alone, bro. I just hope the thing is bunch of magical scrap and rubble when we find it. No threat, we walk away, and let Noxian wander aimlessly searching for nothing. Hell, clue all the big players to it. That’ll keep everyone so busy, they’ll probably forget about us for months.”

A genuine, hopeful smile appears on Bach’s face, and he perks a curious brow. “So, after we get all this fixed and right. What then? Simple missions? Ruin checks, scouting runs, and pest removal?”

Sebastian laughs, glances around in thought, and pauses to angle his ear to the background sea drone. “Something like that. But... First... I think a month long vacation in some remote resort is in order. Just not be accountable for anything for a weeks.”

Bach settles back into his seat, nods slowly, and sighs. “That sounds nice. A good plan to me.”

The brothers drift their gazes up to the skies, horizon, and surrounding city activity.

----

The blue all terrain vehicle rolls down the highway along patches of beaches, open fields, and mixes of coastal and deciduous forests. Isaac glances around the area as he navigates the empty stretch of paved road ahead, and squints at the morning sun in the east. As the truck rolls up a gentle sloop, he returns his attention ahead and peers over the crest of the hill. His gray eyes flit wide, and he furrows his brow. The stare on his face morphs into a stern glare, and he grimaces with a tightening grip on the steering wheel. Drawing his foot away from the accelerator, Isaac darts his attention between different points ahead and mumbles. “What. The. Hell?”

Two military armor personnel carriers roll up from the shoulder, and halt perpendicular to the road in a lane each. Once the vehicles stop, machine gun turrets pivot around and level barrels down the roadway. From hiding, a dozen soldiers rush out, drop prone behind low sandbag walls, and ready rifles. A flicker of white sparks in Noxian’s eyes, and an irritated frown warps his tan face. Applying the brake gradually, Noxian eases his vehicle to a stop twenty meters from the military blockade, and glares with gritting teeth at the GAA emblems reflecting in the morning light.

A woman’s voice echoes loudly into the area over multiple loudspeakers. “Driver! Turn off your vehicle and exit slowly with your hands up!”

Noxian slowly eyes either side of the road shoulder, and groans as flits of movement filter through the thick patches of trees surrounding. He aims his irritated glare ahead and studies the formation of mechanization and people. After the repeated announcement leaks into his cab, a sly smirk grows.

The engine dies. The driver’s side door opens. And, Isaac steps out slowly with his hands up. He draws in a large breath and yells out with an uncertain tone. “Uh, there must be a misunderstanding! I’m just traveling to Phis! I can turn around if there’s problem-”

Glaring around an APC, Sergeant Violet curls her upper lip into a sneer on her dark tan face, squints her dark blue eyes, and keys up the loudspeaker handset. “ISAAC KURT HUXLEY! Under the authority of the Greater Azure Alliance, you are to surrender yourself into our custody for crimes committed under the alias of The Dark Lord Noxian!”

The sly smirk fades from Isaac’s face and he releases a long sigh. As faint hints of odd relief vent from him, a bold, wild grin grows wide on his face. Noxian lowers his arms, cocks his head to the side, and laughs. “Well, well! Someone finally figured it out! I’m surprised it took you all this long? Did Sebastian Warwick’s team have to finally tell you? So pitiful this is the best the GAA has to offer me.”

Sergeant Violet grits her teeth, grumbles, and speaks respectfully into the microphone of her helmet radio. “Captain, I don’t think he’s going to surrender.”

Captain Hackle’s voice crackles out from her radio and faintly from other similar devices. “I did not expect he would. Still, let’s see how he wants to play this. Have your team at the ready, and we’ll be ready to assist.”

Sergeant Violet nods. “Affirmative.”

She shifts her attention back to Noxian’s thin frame standing out in the middle of the highway, and watches as the coastal breeze blows wispy white hairs and flutters the tail of a blue scarf. “Isaac Kurt Huxley, please-”

Noxian curls his upper lip, tilts his head back, and bellows out. “It’s The Dark Lord Noxian. Now! Can we please be done with this farce? I’d rather not cause any unneeded damage to government property. So, be smart... And, step aside!”

Sergeant Violet blinks blankly, cracks a mean smirk, and calls out through the loudspeakers. “Stand down, Dark Lord Noxian! You are to be taken alive... if you allow so.”

A white glow emanates from Noxian’s eyes, and he cackles loudly. “Obviously, you all have forgotten what I’m capable of!”

Leveling a determined glare ahead, a bold, manic grin widens on his face, and he straightens his posture while holding his arms to the side. “I think I can let loose a little. If only to remind you all...”

As flows of white miasma swirl around Noxian, a uniformed soldier near Sergeant Violet blinks her glowing eyes and yells out. “HE’S USING MAGIC!”

Sergeant Violet calls out over the radio. “TACKLER UNITS! ENGAGE!”

Large brush piles in the drainage ditches on both sides of the highway burst apart, and a pair of three meter tall humanoid mechs rush towards Noxian. Both spring across the paved surface, lead with large composite shields, and reach out with robotic hands open. Noxian stands confidently and glances between the incoming attackers. Both mechs clash shields first into an invisible force with a meter of Noxian, and force their free arms against the crackling white energies. From hiding spots within the surrounding brush, pairs of mages on each side of the quickly gesture out incantations, and direct flows of dispelling energy onto the transparent barrier.

Hints of strain shudder through Noxian’s frame, but the confidence within the grin surges. He casually examines large humanoid armor suits struggling against the surrounding field. Shaking head, he shifts his attention to four beams of magical energy barely leaving indentations. With his eyes radiating white miasma, conduits of elder energy weave through the barrier and intertwine with the incoming streams. The counteracting energy rips through the beams and travels back to their sources. Military mages attempt to cut off spells and dodge. The elder energy masses leap out, form into a webs mid-flight, and engulf the magic users. They tumble to the ground, and toss and turn against the binding threads of flow. Mages growl and scream out frustration and rage.

Sergeant Violet calls out through the radio. “Status report!?”

A voice grumbles through the static crackles. “We’re unharmed, but bound up and something is disrupting magical flow!”

Another voice hisses. “Dammit! We’re stuck to the ground somehow!”

Noxian lifts his arms out and flicks his wrists to the pair of humanoid mechs at his sides. The barrier swells out surges of transparent white energy, and the translucent masses envelop the machines in a thick coat. Both robotic suited soldiers stumble back and attempt to ready themselves. As the moments pass, their movements slow and the energy soup thickens. With an amused grin, Noxian mockingly snaps his fingers. Energy seeps into the joints of the machines. Flashes of bright heat erupt along with a chaotic display of sparks and plumes of smoke. The thick blobs of energy retract from the mechs and rejoin the protective bubble around Noxian. The humanoid suits remain still. With a flourish, Noxian lightly waves his hands out. Both mech tilt slightly off balance, tip far from their centers of mass, and fall. With heavy thuds, a livid voice cracks out over speakers. “What the fuck did you do, you bastard!”

Another angry voice call out over the radio. “I'm seized up! I can’t move.”

Noxian smirks as he glares down at the disable robotic suits, and calmly pushes them off the road with slow motions of his arms. Metal grinds against pavement until the mechs reach the rough shoulders. With a final invisible push, the machines roll over and flop back into the debris they charged from.

Noxian sighs with sinister relief, levels his gaze ahead, and steps forward. Sergeant Violet blinks in utter astonishment, keys up the loudspeaker, and commands. “OPEN FIRE!”

A chaotic cacophony of reports, energy discharges, and spell crackles flood the air and squelch any other sound. Noxian continues to walk forward. Rifle rounds plant themselves into the thickening translucent barrier and sink uselessly onto the asphalt. Laser beams diffuse into harmless reflections of light. Plasma bolts burst into fleeting dents in the rippling mass of elder magic. Electromagnetic rails rounds splash into the vicious field, slow down in the warping energy, and halt impotently mid air. Different beams, balls, and arcs of spell energy dissipate into the forceful undercurrent of elder flow beyond the surface of the barrier.

Noxian closes the distance, and aims a glowing white eyed stare upon the soldiers behind the sandbags. Thrusting his arms forward, cables of energy launch out. They thread through the air, find targets, and ensnare them in solidified energy nets. Tendrils of flow sink into weaponry and render systems useless. Another squad from behind the armor personnel carriers, rushes out, and release unyielding barrages of a suppression fire. Noxian halts his progress, analyzes the new threats, and systematically subdues them in careful and pacifying manners. While attacks fail, weapons jam, and soldiers are harmlessly bound, Specialist Thayal climbs up from inside the APC into the turret seat. He primes the machine gun, tilts his aim towards Noxian, and ponders briefly. Noxian meets Thayal’s gaze.

Specialist Thayal grimaces uncomfortably, shifts his green eyed glare behind Noxian, and smirks with determination. “Let’s see how protected your ride is.”

He turns the mount, pitches up the barrel, and engages the trigger. Noxian’s gray eyes flash white in surprise. The heavy cannon round cuts through the air near Noxian and flies straight at the engine block of the blue all terrain vehicle. The round manages to press into the steel of the hood before it freezes immediately within a solid bubble of white, arch energy. Each subsequent projectile freezes further and further from the target after each explosive thump from the gun. Specialist Thayal releases the trigger, notices the magical effects suspending the rounds mid air. He visibly pales as he faces Noxian.

Pushing away the surge of anger, an amused smirk emerges and Noxian nods respectfully to Specialist Thayal. “Not a bad plan. But, this isn’t the first time someone has tried to shoot something important from behind me.”

A wave of energies splash upon the armor personnel carrier from the bubble around Noxian. Specialist Thayal drifts upwards away from the APC. He floats upside down a distance until he’s underneath a tree. Magical netting forms upon his body with a suspending cord around a branch. Moments later, he dangles with a light sway, upside down, and blinks between confusion and fright.

Noxian holds his hands out to the military vehicles blocking the roadway. Elder energy surges from him, radiates out, and collects upon the machines. They levitate up, slowly flip over, and float to the drainage ditches parallel to the path. Both drop down into the valleys and press into the soft soil.

Sergeant Violet remains standing, and trains her pistol at Noxian. She keeps her distance and watches him carefully. Noxian cooly turns his head to stare at Sergeant Violet and sighs disgustedly. “You really think that’s going to do anything?”

He shakes his head at the determined officer and groans out annoyance. “Can I leave now? I have places to be and I’d rather not have to expend anymore of myself for such trivial efforts.”

Sergeant Violet starts to open her mouth when Captain Hackle’s voice sounds out over the radio. “Let him through. Stand down, Sergeant Violet. There’s no need to complicate things anymore.”

Working through the awkward moment, Sergeant Violet lowers her pistol, steps cautiously away from Noxian to the road shoulder, and waits. Noxian smiles appreciatively, pivots around, and walks to his vehicle calmly.

On a nearby hill, Captain Hackle frowns and groans as he rests a pair of binoculars down on the ground near him. He pinches the bridge of his nose, hisses frustration through his teeth, and shakes his head. Tense minutes later, the blue all terrain vehicle rolls down the highway. Captain Hackle stares out distantly and twists his mouth. He keys up his radio and commands. “Sergeant Violet, I’m sending the rest of the team to aid you in freeing our personnel and equipment. Please, assist with what you can and find me afterwards. I’ll need your assistance in writing a situation report and updating relevant parties. Certain... variables... have changed.”

Sergeant Violet’s voice rises above the static. “Yes, Captain. I... have to agree.”

----

Sebastian quickly phases through the hotel wall and lands near Bach. “Bro! Stay right here! Aristespha is bringing the sword to you.”

Bach blinks his eyes, glances around, and mutters. “Uh, okay? What’s happening?”

A beep sounds out from the keycard reader, and Aristespha rushes in through the room door. She draws out the Sword of the Spirit Realm, and presents the handle to Bach. “Sebastian thinks he’s detected elder energy activity. You might be able to help him by using the sword.”

Bach widens his gaze, quickly takes the sword from Aristespha, and grips onto the handle tightly. He closes his eyes and concentrates. After a grimace on his face and a shudder down his body, he reopens his glowing blue eyes. He stands up from his seat on the single bed, and holds the sword at the ready. Both Sebastian and Bach search their minds, contort their faces indecisively, and wander their gazes distantly around the room. Seconds later, Bach halts an aimless pivot and aims the tip of the blade northwards. “Whoa... I’m feeling... A LOT of elder energy released, northwards. It’s hard to sense how far exactly, but if we’re feeling just left overs...”

Sebastian’s ethereal form scratches the back of his head, and grimaces. “For the sword to detect it without your assistance, it had to have been a lot... And-”

Both Bach and Sebastian stiffen their postures and visibly cringe as recognition shocks them.

-107-

A twig snaps underneath a leather boot. Stepping through the forest with a chorus of loud thumps and mechanical noise behind him, a lone evuukian man navigates through the sparse forest underneath a canopy of shade. Approaching a patch of sun beaming through into a clearing, he shields his light gray, green hinted face with the sleeve of his nature themed outfit, and pushes through a line of brush. Out in the open area against a rocky base of a tall hillside, he narrows his yellow eyes in a long, slow stare across the area and twists an unamused frown. Slowly pivoting in place, he shifts his focus up to distant landmarks visible through the thinning tree cover, contorts his age weathered expression, and lowers his gaze upon a map. Pinching the paper tightly in his leather glove, he tosses back his long black hair over the shoulders of his leather armor, alternates his glances between landmarks and the map, and hums unsatisfied.

Straightening his posture, he pivots to face the forest, draws in long breath, and projects his voice. “Squad one! Line up near my position!”

From the woods, a series of electronic confirmation beeps echo out. Heavy thumps sound out. A dozen humanoid robots weave between tree trunks, cut through low brush, and assemble in a line formation in front of the evuukian. With a twitch of his very long, pointed ear, the man contorts his mouth and scrutinizes the collection of old construction robots. Faint glints reflect off the few patches of gloss remaining upon faded yellow, orange, and black paint. Worn edges frame in the sections of neglect and streaks of rust contrast the against the functional systems.

The evuukian male gestures a wide sweep of the arm out into the clearing area and commands with a cold tinge. “Scan the area with ground penetrating radar. Search for constructed structures using any manufactured materials. Report to me upon any discovery.”

Confirmation chimes sound out, yellow tinted spinning lights activate, and equipment covers open up. A humanoid robot in the middle of the lineup, perks up as servos activate, rotates its armored head to the evuukian man, and responds. “Foreman Zero Zero confirming work request. Units synchronized. Instructions issued.”

The dozen construction robots move out into the open field. Reinforced legs step upon the hard soil with methodical paces, scanning equipment shifts into optimal positions, and the machines coordinate into a pattern. Many droids struggle against ancient damage, repeatedly adjust to limited operation, and apply a variety of compensating measures to perform their task. The evuukian man stands with his arms crossed and impatiently frowns with a slow tap of his boot up on the ground. Minutes later, the foreman robot straightens its chassis, pivots sharply, and faces the evuukian man. “Foreman Zero Zero reporting. Constructed structure detected under landslide debris.”

A faint smirk appears on the evuukian’s face and he nods. “Understood. Proceed to clear debris and expose structure. Investigate upon debris clearance. Report to me upon any discovery.”

The foreman bot mechanically nods, spins around, and marches to the rocky outcropping at the base of the hill. He forms up with the other machines, and they approach it in unison. Different units retract equipment covers on their arms and reveal drills, jack hammers, and hydraulic claws. As the cacophony of excavation work floods the air, the evuukian man calmly retreats into the woods. He wanders while surveying the area and finds a large, old log. Sitting down up on the fallen lumber, he sets down a large pack off his back, opens the flap, and reaches far into it. Gripping upon an item a full arm’s length down a half an arm’s length bag, he retrieves a radio unit and places it next to him. Powering on the system, he tunes it to a preset frequency and adjusts the volume to play a general news broadcast. Feeling his stomach, he widens the opening into the magical bag, gazes into the larger space within, and rummages through a collection of common survival gear, random trinkets, and occasional old artifacts. His hand brushes up against a worn, aged binder, and he halts. With a wide flit of his yellow eyes, an uncomfortable, sad curl twists his face and a reflexive sigh escapes. His attention shifts to the binder and he draws an uneasy breath in. In pained recognition, he grits his teeth briefly, grips the thick folder, and pulls it out of the bag. His gloved hands hold the binder and he stares sadly at it. Feeling the edges of the documents within the confines, he summons up his will, and undoes the securing clasps on the cover.

He slowly opens up and reveals the contents of an overloaded scrapbook. Upon the first few pages, news articles fill the background behind different trinkets. As the evuukian man turns the next pages, his soft, longing gaze drifts between pairs of entertainment tickets, postcards from different cities, and random tokens of different currency. He pauses momentarily, sighs painfully, and lowers his head. Stiffening his upper lip, he turns to the next page.

A collage of pictures overwhelms the pages. Each picture contains at least one of two evuukians. In one photograph, a younger, smiling version of the evuukian man waves out to the person behind the camera. In another, a young evuukian woman with flowing red hair, grins brightly, and excitedly points out to the sea in the background. The now fades from the evuukian man as he stares distantly between young evuukian man and woman together in the lively collection of pictures. His attention rests upon each past moment. Memories rise out from undertow and brief moments of happiness wear the frown on his face towards a smile. The pages turn slowly with stretches of time between each attempt to move forward in the book. Another collection of photographs showcases the couple outside in different locations during all the seasons. As the evuukian man progresses through the book, the next flip of a page reveals the couple in similar nature themed outfits and gear. Flit of pride escapes upon his face as the pictures showcase the chain of shared moments between the couple. The evuukian man flips to the next page. The blank background paper of the scrapbook starkly contrasts the prior collections. The empty and barren pages weighs down the smile upon the evuukian man’s face, and his expression darkens as the stark distance between the past and now reveals itself.

The foreman droid approaches, halts meters away, and addresses the man. “Foreman Zero Zero reporting. A portal into an unknown structure has been found.”

The evuukian blinks hard back to the now, and shakes his head against the reality suddenly entering his thoughts. He glances up to the robot, and waits. Foreman Zero Zero appends his prior statement. “Entrance is sealed. No non-destructive means has been found for entry.”

The man twists his mouth, tilts his head up slightly, and concentrates his stare upon the Foreman. “Any destructive means?”

Foreman Zero Zero promptly replies. “Yes. Current scan data indicates that shaped charges upon entry supports would breach into the structure. All calculations indicate it would be the most effective and efficient in regards to resources and time. Would you like to authorize?”

After moment of uncertainty, the deliberation within the man’s mind slows down as the glances around the area stop. A thin grin curls upon the evuukian’s face. “Yes.”

The humanoid robot pauses, chirps out an alert tone, and angles its head to focus upon the man. “Please enter confirmation code to complete authorization.”

Drawing a long breath, the evuukian man calmly recites. “User, Lexattican. Password, Two nine seven five zero four two eight.”

Status lights upon Foreman Zero Zero’s diagnostic screen blink rapidly in different sequences. It straightens up its mechanical posture with a rigid application of servos, bobs its head briefly, and explains. “Authorization code accepted. You are currently at predicted safe distance, but further protective measures are recommended.”

Lexattican smirks. He puts the scrapbook back into the bag along with the radio, stands up, and holds up his hand. “Understood.”

He turns around slowly, snaps his fingers, and calls out. “Security Squad! Assume protective barrier formation behind me.”

Stirring from transparency, large, humanoid robot outlines blur into visually refractive shapes from behind large trees. After a few meters of heavy footsteps, the transparency obscuring the six refreshed war machines fades, and the mechs move into a barrier position behind Lexattican as he grins smugly.

----

Upon a large picnic table on beach, a vast selection of barbecue in huge metal pans airs out delectable smells and Greater Azure Alliance military members orbit around with plates. Loading up on the array of sides surrounding the main courses, the hungry people eagerly pick through the bounty. Nearby at another large picnic table, Captain Hackle sits at the middle of table upon the bench seat and finishes a long sip of iced tea. He gazes over at Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sotalia, and Sebastian, and sighs out hints of his dissatisfaction. “So... That’s unfortunately how our attempt went. Admittedly, he was merciful, but such an expenditure of his power was completely unexpected. We were wrong to assume he was merely being economical rather than simply restraining himself.”

Sebastian’s ethereal form crosses his arms, twists his translucent mouth into a frown, and slowly shakes his head. “I wouldn’t be too hard on yourselves. While he has used his power on us in confrontations, he always seemed reserved with it. Just enough to get him out of the situation. So... This is new to us, too.”

Blinking her violet eyes, Aristespha contorts her ivory face in thought and rests her hand upon the sword at her side. “Yes. The fact were we able to detect his expenditure of power from down in Perimeter is a recent development. Lately, we have not reliably detected any of his activities from any kind of distance.”

Captain Hackle nods slowly, twists his graying mustache, and shifts his scrutinizing gaze between the assembled team. “I do believe something has changed for him. And, any information you can provide about what might have caused this change would be greatly appreciated.”

Aristespha smirks and bows her head slightly. “I would be happy to share our summation of what we know so far.”

Finishing off her plate of pulled pork, Dretphi pauses in thought a moment, turns her gaze towards Captain Hackle, and frowns. “We have not confirmed the information. It seems to have been enough for Noxian. That is troubling.”

Cideeda narrows her emerald green eyes, contorts a frown on her light brown face, and sighs. “Yeah, from the source we talked to... He seemed REALLY excited. We honestly didn’t think he was going to do much more than the usual. Hell, we were really trying to keep back and see what he did on his own, first.”

With a long eye roll at himself, Captain Hackle slowly shakes his head and groans. “I will admit we should have exercised such wisdom. We’ll have to assume he’s capable of much more now.”

Pointing a forkful of sauce soaked beef at Captain Hackle, Sotalia dons a slight sneer of her upper lip and grumbles. “Don’t forget he’s still the Dark Lord Noxian. He may have been lying low and keeping quiet, but he’s probably just as tricky and capable as he ever was.”

Lifting an eyebrow towards Sotalia, Captain Hackle nods his understanding as flit of frustration seeps out from behind his calm facade. “Oh, he was very adamant on reminding us who he is. None of my team is going to forget that. Especially, the mech pilots that were trapped in their suits for a day waiting to get cut out.”

Bach cringes briefly, shudders at a thought, and smirks uneasily. “That must have been really uncomfortable for them.”

Captain Hackle snorts, taps the fork on his plate, and cracks a chuckling grin. “They are very capable and tough people. The mech suits are designed to make their use as accommodating to the body as possible. Unfortunately, they had not been kitted out for extended operation.”

He smiles tightly, slowly shakes his head, and sighs. “I’ll spare the details, since we are dining. But, I will say it has been a long time since I’ve seen modesty so quickly discarded along an exceptional sprint to the nearest body of sea water.”

After a few moments of gauging the dawning realizations of the team, he laughs, straightens his tall, thin frame, and shrugs his shoulders. “Admittedly, despite his methods Noxian did show us mercy. Though, he seems to have a particular way to show his respect to his enemies. I’m still puzzled as to why Specialist Thayal got the more unique entrapment.”

Sergeant Violet walks up near Captain Hackle, salutes, and addresses him respectfully. “Captain Hackle. Apologies for overhearing, but I heard Special Thayal mentioned. Do you require anything of me regarding him?”

Captain Hackle smiles and waves off the notion. “No. There’s no need today. He is to enjoy his time off.”

With a quick nod, Sergeant Violet leans close to Captain Hackle and speaks quietly. “I wanted to inform you that Captain Hays has called in. Do you want to take the call now or should I see if he can schedule a better time?”

After a few moments of deliberation, Captain Hackle directs Sergeant Violet towards the center of the table, and smirks with a twist of his mustache. “I’ll take it right here. I’m certain this will probably involve all assembled.”

Sergeant Violet straightens her posture, tosses her light brown hair back, and blinks her dark blue eyes. “Oh. Of course, sir.”

She presents the tablet underneath her arm, lays it out upon the tabletop, and quickly taps into a few long, complex authorization codes. The speaker in the unit crackles to life and Captain Hays’s voice calls out. “Hello? Dammit, is this thing still connected? The reception out here is absolute shit-”

Captain Hackle laughs, cracks a humored grin, and directs his voice down at the device. “We can hear you just fine, Hays. Just to let you know, I’ve been joined by Sebastian Warwick’s team.”

Captain Hays’s voice perks up and he greets the team. “Well, that saves me trying to get another call from out here. Nice to speak to you all. Let me be quick with the important stuff, since I don’t know long the planets are going to align to keep this connection working.”

He draws in a long breath from the other side of the call, and relays an explanation. “We’ve been tracking Noxian since he left Phis. Initially, he was heading straight east down the main highway towards Amaranth Valley...”

Uncomfortable, uneasy expression taints the moods of Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian and Sotalia. The tablet’s speaker sounds out the continuation of Captain Hays’s words. “But, he then diverted away from the main road and almost seemed like he was looping back. We weren’t exactly sure if it was a tactic to throw people off his tracks, until he started using a bunch of back routes. Seems he got some practice down in Perimeter using his new ride, and is taking every forgotten side ride and overgrown access path.”

A contemplative hum rises above a wave of static and distortion in the call and he continues. “It seems his current route is taking him to the north west.”

Captain Hackle cocks his head of short gray hair to the side and strokes his mustache. Others in the assembly around the picnic table fight the growing confusion and puzzle at the new information. Captain Hays sighs over the connection and ponders out loud. “It’s going to make pursuing him a bit difficult to justify since he’s eventually going to clear proper GAA jurisdiction-”

Bach blinks his blue eyes hard, lifts his head up, and plainly states. “Let him go.”

Everyone around the call focuses their attention upon Bach. Aristespha and Dretphi exchange glances as the realization dawns upon them at nearly the same time. Captain Hays’s voice inquires uncertainly. “Come again?”

Thinking about his words, Bach holds out his hand, searches his mind, and fashions an explanation. “Isaac, um, Noxian, is after something. He doesn’t know where it is and neither do we. But, we know more about where it could be.”

Cideeda’s furry ears perk up, and she crosses her arms with a toothy grin. “Oh. That’s right!”

Sebastian sorts through his thoughts, dons a smug smirk, and nods. “Huh.”

Twisting his mouth, Bach reveals the key detail with a hopeful upturn in his tone. “He’s going the completely wrong way. And, he doesn’t know it.”

Sotalia traces a mental map in the air in front of her with a fork, glances to a point in her mind, and charts the direction. An evil grin parts her lips, and she chuckles darkly. “THAT, is wonderful.”

Captain Hackle glances up to Sergeant Violet with an amused smirk, and directs his voice to the tablet. “Did you get that Hays?”

Intrigue seeps out from other side of the conversation and singular laugh sounds out. “Yeah, I did. That’s interesting to hear, Bach. I still want to keep tabs on him.”

A plotting grin grows on Captain Hackle's aged face as he leans back and strokes his mustache in thought. “Yes. Still keep track of him. But, there’s no need to be that aggressive in tracking him.”

Captain Hays replies in agreement. “Exactly. We can definitely drop back and let him have a longer lead. Thankfully, our newest recruit is proving to be prefect for stealthily traveling through the forests. Which reminds me, since I have the rest of you on the line...”

The other side of the call quietens into static and bits of background audio peaks over the noise floor. After a few seconds, Captain Hays speaks up across the connection. “My new recruit wanted to ask you all question when the opportunity arose.”

A woman’s voice crackles through the tablet and she awkwardly introduces herself. “Um, hello? This is Chelindia. I was the one who assisted you to rescue Faelatelia.”

The team interest piques and Aristespha directs her tone. “Yes, we remember!”

Sebastian smiles and projects his ethereal voice. “Sounds like you’ve changed up your career a bit.”

Chelindia chuckles lightly, draws in a long breath, and replies with an appreciative hint. “Yes. I was made generous offers. I felt my desires aligned with the Borderland Rangers more. Though, the GAA offer was very nice, too. No offense, Captain Hackle.”

Captain Hackle shrugs his shoulders with smile, and laughs kindly. “None taken.”

Chelindia awkwardly approaches a question. “How is... Faelatelia?”

Aristespha smiles, leans close to the tablet, and calmly speaks. “Safe and sound with her family. Valavera is quite happy to have her friend back safely.”

A long sigh of relief escapes over the call, and Chelindia breathes easily. “That is good to hear. Thank you again for taking her to safety.”

Bach glances around and chimes in. “And, it’s good to know you got out of there, too.”

Chelindia’s voice sounds out from the tablet and bit of cheer rises out from sadness. “I am, too. A lot of us are working on better paths now. I only wish more could have joined us in seeking those paths.”

After a few moments of quiet, she excuses herself with an apologetic tone. “Oh! I am sorry. I don’t want to take up much more of your time. We can converse later.”

Sounds of movement arrive from other side of the call and Captain Hays speaks up. “Again, she been amazing in keeping track of Noxian through the forests.”

Captain Hackle nods in agreement and gazes over the team. “Indeed. She’s given the GAA a lot of information. Thank you all again for directing her and her group towards us. While Hays is on the line, maybe you can give us the key points on what Noxian found.”

Bach and Sebastian exchange quick glance, crack knowing smirks, and nod to each other.

----

The muffled sounds of keys jingle through from other side of the door for the single bed, old motel room. Mera swings open the door, steps past the threshold, and slowly seals up the evening behind her. She flips on the lights, staggers over to the bed with long yawn, and flops down on top of the sheets. After releasing a long fatigued sigh, she gradually rolls her ivory face from the bed spread, puffs out a few stray strands of gray hair out of the way, and blinks her crimson eyes. She idles for a minute, dons a smirk with a snort, and pushes her upper body up. She crawls over to the side of the bed, opens up door in the stout nightstand, and reveals a simple metal room safe. Patting around to her side, she grasps hold of the bundle of keys, flips through to a smaller one, and places it into the lock. With a careful sequence of moves, she convinces the safe to open. She reaches inside, and pulls out a modest backpack. Placing the bag upon her bed, she sits up straight with her legs crossed, unzips the top, and sorts through the contents. Her hands pat against a metal box, and she grips it upon recognition.

With the lockbox in hand, she quickly rolls the combination dials with her thumb in a well rehearsed chain of flicks to a combination of evuukian script. Sliding the button next to the lock, the lid of the container releases, and Mera inspects the contents. Neatly arranged bundles of paper currency mix with wrapped coins, and a hopeful smile graces Mera’s face. She leans to the side, reaches her hand into her pocket, and draws out a simple leather wallet. She opens it up, plucks out the larger bills, and merges them into a small bundle of matching currency denominations. With a swell of pride at the pile of money within the lockbox, she slowly closes the lid. While fitting the rigid container inside the backpack, a few photographs spill forth onto the bed. Mera blinks while puzzling, sweeps up loose pictures into a bundle, and checks out the first one.

A wave of familiarity tempers her mood, and recognition allows tinges of sadness to curl her frown. She studies the top photograph of the sun lit clearing in the middle of the ancient ruins surrounded by huge trees. Slowly flipping through to the next picture, her crimson eyes shifts between the different individuals working on cleanup tasks and her expression softens more with each familiar face. A sad sigh escapes her, and she grits her teeth briefly, fighting a surge of discomfort. Moving to the next picture, tears well up in her eyes and she stares at the smiling evuukian woman in the picture. She lifts the photograph from the stack, and gazes warmly with a smile at the turquoise eyes and dark tan face of the evuukian woman with long dark green braided hair. “Chel...”

As minutes pass, Mera stares at the picture, blinks away welling tears, and sniffs. With a somber exhale, she slides the picture to the bottom of the stack and catches sight of the next image. Briefly narrowing her eyes at the two individuals in the shot, she snorts out reflexive giggles. A humored smirk pushes against the sadness upon her face, and she holds up the photo. She gazes over the picture of her and Chel, sitting next to each other holding hands with complete surprise on their faces. Both stare awkwardly towards the camera. Laughter finds a way out from under the weight of her past, and Mera chuckles between sobs.

She collects herself with significant effort, and shakes her head warmly at the picture. She flips to the next photograph. Studying the scene, her expression hardens and flits of coldness replace the previous warmth. A number of younger evuukians sit in rows while an evuukian man gives a speech. Working up a sneer of her upper lip, Mera focuses upon the light-gray, green hinted face of the evuukian man with long black hair and yellow eyes. “Lexattican...”

After a few moments of working the ire out of her mood while gripping the crystal fashioned into a necklace, she sighs heavily and shakes her head. She flips back to the photograph of Chel briefly before placing the bundle of pictures back into her backpack. Zipping the bag closed, she secures everything back into the room safe, engages the lock, and retrieves her keys. Sitting idle on the bed in quiet contemplation, she feels her stomach, glances over to the small room fridge, and steps over. Searching inside, she taps through a selection of dishes in plastic covered paper takeout trays, grips one, places it in the microwave above. Tapping out an exact time, she flops back upon the bed, reaches over to the small desk on the other side, and snatches a notebook with a pencil in the ring binding.

She convinces her old phone to function with a series of more insistent taps on the screen. She trudges through the sluggish navigation of menus and brings up a bookmarked aethernet site. The app eventually brings up different listings of apartments and rental houses, and Mera meticulously browses through them, writing down notes upon the pages next to her.

----

The sounds of the coast and active city below slip through the open sliding glass door to the balcony. The noon sun beams down and Sotalia lounges upon a deck chair. She idly taps her long, thick black nails upon a nearly empty glass and swirls the remnants of a brightly colored mixed drink. Arching her back in a long stretch, she settles back down into the chair, adjusts her bikini top strap, and props her feet up upon a wooden stool. A gust of wind fluffs her fiery orange, wavy hair, and she secures her sunglasses against the breeze. After a few moments, she turns her head towards the open sliding glass door and calls out. “Anyone heard anything from Aristespha? I’m getting really hungry now.”

From the large hotel suite, Bach blinks back to awareness from a grath drama on the television, rolls over on the bed to check his aetherphone, and shakes his head. “No. Nothing yet. I guess that place was busy?”

Cideeda diverts her attention from her laptop screen, shifts her emerald green eyes over to her phone nearby, and shrugs her shoulders. “I got nothing. She’s probably on her way back. You’ll live until then.”

Peering up from her graphic novel, Dretphi directs her voice with a smirk. “Make another drink.”

Sotalia lifts her nearly empty glass up, sloshes the leftovers, and perks her brow with a grin. “Not a bad idea.”

She places her feet back on the ground, hoists herself up, and struts back inside. Pausing a moment, she glances at the television, and pans her attention over to Bach questioningly. Seconds later, Bach notices Sotalia’s amusement and sighs with a shrug. “What? I got started midway through the season. I’m trying to figure out all these plot lines, so I’m watching all the previous episodes.”

Sotalia smirks with a giggle to herself, quickly steps across the front of the television, and wanders close to Dretphi. She tilts her head, lowers her sunglasses, and narrows her golden eyes upon the title of the book. Craning her head around to peek at the page, she whispers in grath to Dretphi. Biting her lower lip, a guilty smile appears on Dretphi’s tan face and her steely gray eyes glance over to Sotalia. She replies in hushed grath and trails off her response as flush of embarrassment fills her face. Sotalia blinks in surprise, narrows her gaze at the book. Dretphi obscures the pages onto her chest, frowns playfully at Sotalia, and quips back in grath. With a huff, Sotalia pleads with a smile and eager squirm. After twirling the darker end of a platinum blonde braid, Dretphi relents, turns up a single panel of a page into view, and smirks. Sotalia’s eyes flit wide, and a sly grin grows to both gray patches of skin underneath her pointed ears. She stands up straight, points at the book with a comment in grath, and walks closer to the kitchen. Dretphi nods in agreement and resumes reading.

Stepping close to Cideeda’s bed, Sotalia perks her brow, rests a hand on her hips, and smirks. “How are the markets today?”

Cideeda lightly raps her claw tips upon the battered and worn laptop, flicks her furry ears in thought, and rocks her head side to side. “Slight improvement overall. Got a few new ones on the watch lists. We’ll see.”

Lifting up an eyebrow, Sotalia plucks her sunglasses off her face, twists her mouth in thought, and ponders out loud. “Anything I should change up soon?”

Combing her claws through her short, multi-color hair, Cideeda smiles confidently and stretches her arms and legs out. “Nothing I’d recommend, right now. You should be fine.”

Sotalia points a finger from the hand around her glass at Cideeda, and quirks her brow with a smirk. “I know you’ll be the first to act, but make sure I’m a close second. Okay?”

A toothy grin graces Cideeda’s face, and she crosses her arms behind her head. “Sure. We’ll see.”

Sotalia shakes her head, struts past the connecting door to the other part of the suite, and slips into the kitchen. Inspecting between the bottles of alcohol and mixers, she directs her voice out the group. “Anyone want anything while I’m up here? Plenty left.”

Bach’s voice sounds out. “Not now. Waiting for food.”

Dretphi shakes her head. Cideeda glances over at the empty glass on the nightstand, and shrugs her shoulders. “Just another of what you mixed before for me.”

Sotalia nods, retrieves glasses from the stocked cabinets, and sets up ingredients. As she mixes the beverages, she directs a question to the team. “Anyone else going to join me on the beach after we eat? I want to enjoy a few more hours on the sand before we head back tomorrow.”

Dretphi keeps her eyes trained on the novel and nods. “Yes. I agree.”

Cideeda flexes her toes, and brushes off sand from the top of her bed sheets. “Sure, there’s that one game shop I wanted to check out anyway.”

Bach glances to the sun outside, and smiles. “Yeah. That sounds good. Haven’t had much of chance to just sit on the beach really.”

Finishing up the concoctions with an elaborate pour from a bottle of spirits, Sotalia lightly stirs the two drinks, picks them up, and steps out of the kitchen. “I know. Gods, we’re always running around. I swear we really need to just have a month or two to actually enjoy the places we go to.”

She hands Cideeda a drink into her waiting hands. With a casual clink of the glasses, Cideeda sips the beverage and nods with a sigh. “Yeah! We really need to go down to Dothan.”

Dretphi perks up, and an eager smiles appears on her face. “Should go to Verdan. Get away. Relax. Enjoy good food.”

Cideeda’s, Dretphi’s, and Sotalia’s attention shift to Bach. Eventually, Bach notices the interest, glances around awkwardly, and shrugs while scratching the back of his head of longer brown hair. “Uh, High Alton isn’t that bad. I guess. It’s not exactly setting any standards. But, my mom and dad would be happy to have everyone over for dinner. Maybe wander around campus and see what they ended up spending my tuition money on.”

Sotalia chuckles lightly, sips her drink, and grins with wink. “Oh, a game of Where Did My Tuition Go? I’ve played that a few times. I think I settled on a gaudy statute of the school mascot in front of the college of magical sciences building. That’s where I believe MY tuition went.”

Sebastian materializes into the room, glances around, and points to the door. “Hey! Aristespha is about at the door and-”

A chime sounds out from the hotel door lock. The door opens, and Aristespha swings through a large to go bag. With different sacks upon her arms, she angles her athletic, thin figure to a balance point, and darts her violet eyes into the room. “Help?”

Sotalia sets down her glass, rushes over, and stabilizes the load. The rest of the team quickly gathers to sort and distribute the containers of food. Clearing the kitchen counter, the trays of bulk orders find places, and an impromptu serving line forms. Aristespha straightens out her back with her hands on her lumbar, grunts as she stretches, and waves her hand out. “Enjoy. I’m going to need a drink first. I got some news, too.”

Bach twists his mouth uncertainly while he sets out some paper plates. “Uh, good or bad? We’ve had weird mix of both lately.”

Aristespha spots the familiar bottles, scoots through the team, and positions herself in front of the important ingredients. “I’d say, interesting? I don’t know if it’s good or bad yet.”

Sotalia retrieves her drink, lines up behind Dretphi at the food line, and narrows a puzzling golden gaze at Aristespha. “Well, what is it, girl?”

Drawing a long breath, Aristespha directs her voice to the team while her eyes study the alcoholic possibilities. “Nash called me. He got the information I sent to him personally. He and the head of the archaeology department actually were having suspicions about Dr. Dawkins already. They just didn’t have any solid evidence before.”

Cideeda forks over pulled pork onto a bun, picks up a packet of hot sauce, and judges it with a sniff. “Well, they got it now.”

Aristespha rolls her violet eyes, and groans. “Yes. But, they’re still not quite sure how to proceed. A whole lot of Grand Library politics is involved now.”

Shaking her head, Dretphi huffs and explores the side trays. “Disappointing. If they do not act, we should provide the evidence directly.”

Pouring a generous portion of a brown liquor into the mix, Aristespha sighs with frown. “I know. I’m trying to give them a chance to act as they see fit. Even I’m not that versed in the Grand Library politics, so I don’t want to upset the tenative balance.”

Sebastian dons a sly grin as his visage hovers next to Aristespha and motions to the team. “Tell them best part, dear.”

Aristespha smiles eagerly at Sebastian, takes a long swig of her drink, and pivots to face the group. “Of course, Sebastian.”

She crosses her arms, swirls her drink, and gazes over the team. “Dr. Malkav called me on the way back here. He just got back into Perimeter. And, he’s already making a lot of calls and gearing up to head straight back there.”

Progress on getting food pauses momentarily, and Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia glance over to Aristespha. Bach blinks his blue eyes in surprise and smirks. “Shit. I don’t think you need to do anything more.”

Dretphi nods in agreement and smiles tightly. Cideeda snickers and shakes her head. “Yeah, I don’t think we need to worry about providing the Grand Library anything else at this point. He’ll take care of that and then some.”

Aristespha pours back a bit of her drink, brushes back her silvery blue hair, and relaxes her shoulders. “That’s what I thought. So...”

She reaches over into a food tray, picks up a chicken leg, and bites a piece of it off. “Let’s enjoy ourselves today and get back. We’ll figure it the fuck out then.”

Sotalia raises her drink to Aristespha, and the two clink glasses to the agreement of everyone else.

----

Nash presses the pause button on the game controller, places it on the coffee table in front of him, and slouches back into his corner of couch. “So, any clue how the absolute fuck we are going to figure out this mess of shit?”

Harvos blinks his bright brown on black eyes, plops his gamepad on the middle couch cushion, and combs his long, black finger nails through his bright brown hair. He grits his teeth, hisses out a sigh, and anxiously grips one of the tall horns on his head. “No gods damned clue.”

Flopping onto the back of old, worn couch, he blankly tilts his head to the side, twists his mouth, and grumbles to himself. He glances aimlessly around the surrounding clutter of the busy living room, huffs out his frustration, and tilts his head back with a groan. “Fuck. If he wasn’t an emeritus this would be a lot simpler. He’s technically with and not with the Grand Library, at the same time.”

Slowly nodding, Nash props his head up with his fist and snarls his upper lip. “Doesn’t fucking help that he played us. I can almost hear the provost and higher ups yelling at us, wondering how the hell we didn’t figure it out sooner.”

He rolls his pale blue eyes, snorts out a dry laugh, and shakes his head. “Well, it was fun being the head of the department. I just hope they let me keep some of the pay when they demote me.”

Harvos quirks his brow, turns his uneasy stare to Nash, and smirks awkwardly. “You’d really think they’d do that?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Nash darts his eyes around, waves his hand dismissively, and sighs. “What makes you think they wouldn’t? They didn’t get up to power playing nice and they certainly aren’t when it comes to staying up there. A sacrificial head of the department isn’t new to them.”

Gritting his teeth, Harvos drums his black nailed, light gray fingers upon the patchy couch arm. He twists his mouth and grumbles. “I like my job.”

Nash shakes his head with a smile and snorts while stretching his back out. “Oh, don’t worry. It didn’t happen in your building. Plus, they’ve been looking for ways to feasibly unseat me. I might as be the one the give them the ammunition to come up with some contrived excuse to feed to all the big letter organizations. Pick your poison and all...”

He rocks his heavy figure forward, stands up, and glances towards to doorway leading into the kitchen. “Speaking of which, what’s your poison before we roll on to the next quest?”

Harvos eyes the large television showing a twin status screen overlay with two science fiction warriors frozen on split sections. He flits his bright brown on black eyes wide, cracks an eager grin, and twist to gaze at the refrigerator in the kitchen. “You still got those chocolate covered ice cream bars?”

Nash smiles with chuckle and steps through the doorway. “Hell yeah, I do. I got cheap ones and the name brand. Got a preference?”

Narrowing his stare in thought, Harvos smirks slyly and laughs. “One of each.”

Nash pulls open the door to the upper freezer, nods in agreement, and sorts through the ice covered cardboard boxes. “I like that! Think I’ll do that same... Once, I figure out where I buried the damn things... Shit, I really need to defrost this thing. My fingers are sticking to boxes.”

He tugs at a box in the way, frowns at the difficulty, and sighs. “Might take a moment. Hope I don’t need a gods damned chisel.”

While Nash works out a paper brick from the frozen food wall, Harvos glances over to the source of an electronic tune on the couch. He leans over to the other side of the couch, reaches in the gap between cushion and couch arm, and pulls out an aetherphone. Studying the alert display briefly, he directs his voice towards the kitchen. “Hey Nash! Your phone is ringing!”

Nash turns his head away from the chore at hand, furrows his brow, and calls back. “What’s the caller ID say?”

Harvos focuses upon the screen, cocks his head to the side, and twists his mouth uncertainly. “Weird number format I’ve never seen before.”

With a final tug, Nash frees two different boxes of ice cream treats, shoulders the fridge door closed, and shrugs. “Fuck it, I feel like being difficult to some confused salesperson. Put it on speaker. I wonder what random thing they’ll shill this time.”

The call connects after Harvos taps the right on screen buttons, and a background hiss and distortion sounds out. After a few awkward moments, a voice rises out of the faint static. “Hello? Can I speak to a Dr. Nash Howard?”

Nash steps up to the aetherphone upon the back of the couch, glances curiously towards Harvos, and cautiously replies. “This is he. Um, hmm. Who is this? Usually, random people don’t address me by doctor. So, you know of me for some reason.”

With a chuckle, the tone of the voice at the other end of call lightens. “I know the feeling. Your friend Aristespha gave your number to me to contact you about certain person we both know. I’m Dr. Maxwell Malkav.”

Nash blinks blankly, and holds out the opened box of store brand ice cream treats to Harvos. After a few moments, Harvos plucks a foil wrapped, square package from the container, shifts his attention to Nash, and grimaces uncomfortably. Max continues on after the drone of silence. “I get the feeling you know who I am. And, probably a bit surprised I’m calling you.”

Nodding his head, Nash contorts his expression and sighs. “Yeah. That’s about the case. So, um, huh... Well, what would you like to talk about? I mean, we’ve got plenty of questions we could ask... But, I’m sure you got the more pertinent ones at the moment.”

Max’s voice sounds out from the speaker phone. “We? Who else is here?”

Harvos swallows a bite of the chocolate covered ice cream, straightens up his posture, and speaks clearly. “Dr. Harvos Azerios, current Head of the Archaeology speaking, Dr. Malkav.”

A tint of respect colors Max’s tone. “Max is fine. But, good. I lucked out in getting both of you at the same time. So... Let’s see here. First things first. What recent info have you relayed to the higher ups?”

Nash grits his teeth briefly, and twists his mouth. “Nothing. We were just trying to figure out how to break this latest development to them.”

Harvos sighs and shakes his head. “It’s been very... Difficult right now with everything else that’s happened before this point. We don’t know how they’ll take it.”

Hints of relief slip through from the other side of the call, and Max exhales. “Good. You two are fast learners. Next question, does Dawkins have a clue?”

Nash and Harvos exchange glances. Nash removes a foiled wrapped square from the box, and smirks warily. “Not that we’ve been able to determine. We were starting to suspect him before Aristespha gave us the latest update...”

Harvos continues after Nash trials off. “Yes. We have kept our distance and left him alone for a while. Again, we were trying to figure out what to do actually do now that we know all this for certain.”

A calmer tone settles into Max’s cadence, and he breathes easy. “Very good. I’m going to ask a professional and personal favor of the both of you. Simply put. Don’t. Say. Shit. To anyone.”

Nash and Harvos shift their focus briefly to the other, and then return to their attention to the phone. Through the aetherphone speaker, Max continues. “I’m coming back to the Grand Library, as soon as possible. I just got back to Perimeter, and I’m heading out tomorrow. It’ll probably take a good week or so. Please, hold off saying anything.”

A spark of determination weighs down his voice. “I’m partially responsible for this mess. You two don’t need to clean up after it. I’ll handle the higher ups. I’m sure a few will shit their pants when I show up.”

Ire darkens his tone. “The most important thing is... I get to talk to Emanuel before anyone else. Understood?”

Both Nash and Harvos nod and chime in their agreement. Max sighs over the background hiss, and groans out the remainder of his frustrations. “Okay. Good. Now that’s settled...”

With an uneasy, awkward cadence, Max dons a polite tint. “Could you all update me on what the hell has been going up there? It sounds like the whole lot of those dipshits in charge have lost their fucking minds. How many outsiders did they let into our archives?”

Nash snorts, finishes a bite of the ice cream treat, and quips. “Easier to name who they didn’t.”

Max audibly rolls his eyes with a long groan, and sighs. “Gods damn them. You leave for a few years and they let it all go hell in a hand basket.”

-108-

Bach rocks with the humvee while his head rests against the window. Noon sun warms the cab and the white streak in his longer brown hair glints with other hidden gray hairs. A quiet snore trails out with his breaths, and the hint of twitch tenses his cheek. Sotalia notices road sign ahead and squints. Seconds later, she reads and glances over to Cideeda. “Not bad time so far.”

Cideeda smirks with perk of her brow and flexes her claw tips upon the steering wheel. “Yeah. I’m not really pushing it right now. I haven’t had a chance to really check everything and don’t want to risk it.”

Tilting her head curiously to the side, Sotalia narrows her golden eyes with a grimace. “The humvee has been running just fine so far. Even after all the offroading.”

Settling in her seat, Cideeda twists her mouth uneasily and shifts her emerald green eyes towards Sotalia. “Yeah. But, it’s still old and I don’t want to give Murphy a chance.”

Her furry ears droop and a canine slips into her frown. “I’ll feel better once I have few days to check everything.”

She sighs and utters a fvalian phrase. Sotalia lifts an intrigued brow, cocks her head, and crosses her arms. “The more attention you pay, the bigger the bribe to Murphy? Why is it that fvalian colloquialisms always seem to be appeasing some avatar of misfortune?”

A toothy grin grows on Cideeda’s light brown face, and she chuckles. “Simple. Appease them when you are fortunate, then they don’t have a reason to remind you with misfortune.”

Sotalia rolls her eyes playfully dismissive and gazes out her passenger’s side window into the denser patches of forest and rolling green hills. Staring out into the distance, her black nailed finger presses a button and the window slowly rolls down. A constant rush of air blows back her fiery orange, wavy hair around, and a smile widens towards the gray patches under her pointed tip ears. The gust blasts back into Bach’s face and he flutters his blue eyes. While Sotalia basks the warm air, Bach quickly recovers conscious and glances around to remind him of his surroundings. Flicking her finger the other direction, the window rolls up and Sotalia settles back into her seat. “Well, it actually is not scorching hot out. I think we timed the trip to Perimeter perfectly. Coming back right before the October weather starts.”

Aristespha shifts her gaze up, blinks slowly, and refocuses her violet eyes away from the screen of her tablet. She shudders her head and sighs. “We will probably be out and enjoying it. Most of the possible places we could visit are far of into the wilderness.”

Bach awakens fully, stretches out in his seat, and quirks a curious stare at Aristespha. “Any more ideas for the plan right now?”

Tilting her tablet upon her stomach, she raps her ivory, blue and gray hinted fingers on the back of the device. “Well, I’d like to focus on trying to contact Marcus Harold. I hope my message got to him. But, depending on where he is right now, he might not be able to use a phone or send mail.”

Furrowing his brow, Bach tugs at the corner of his mouth and tilts his head to the side. “So, how else can he reach us? I mean, he’s got some magic. But, we don’t have a magic circle for him to send the spirit after.”

Granting an understanding nod, Aristespha smiles reassuringly and shrugs her shoulders. “I’m certain he has his ways. If he can’t manage to reach us through the means I’ve dictated, we can put together a circle and send the information for him to use, if we can summon the right spirit.”

She grits her teeth briefly and glances over to Bach. “Hopefully, it won’t require anymore unexpected payments.”

Bach rolls his blue eyes and shakes his head. “It’s fine. A small price to pay to hopefully save us a lot of trouble.”

With a few slow nods, Aristespha rubs the temple of her head and groans. “I hope so. Just looking at the distances to reach all these different places is intimidating enough.”

From the back bench seat, Dretphi rolls her head over on a stack of pillows and glances away from her graphic novel. “Logistics are daunting. A few locations is feasible with time. Becomes untenable after that point. We need to be... Very selective.”

Cideeda’s furry ear perks back from listening to Dretphi and glances into the conversation through the rear mirror. “Yeah. Even with Noxian starting out on in the wrong spots, he’d eventually beat us just by picking randomly. I don’t want to chance it by being too exhaustive.”

Sotalia twists an irritated curl in her frown, cranes her head around the seat, and gazes between the team with her golden eyes. “So, we need to go back through everything and figure out what we could have missed?”

Materializing in the aisle, Sebastian’s ethereal form sit disjointedly upon the cab floor, and he ponders out loud. “Actually, more along the lines of what we ruled out based on the wrong assumptions. I’ve been thinking about it and we’ll need churn through all our notes...”

He squints his transparent blue eyes and searches inside his own mind. “I’m getting the feeling we have filtered a lot of possibilities, that now make sense to be suspect of.”

Aristespha stiffens her lip and blows out a sigh. “That’s a lot of notes to go through.”

Sebastian gazes up lovingly at Aristespha with a grin. “Well, dear, let’s hope your friend Marcus Harold can help.”

----

The humvee rolls up to the road outlet in front of a ranch style house and slows to turn down the gravel driveway. Rolling to a stop a few meters from the garage doors, the powerplant of the vehicle spins down and the faint whine gives way to the morning background. Humvee doors open and the team exits eagerly. Sotalia springs out of her seat, stretches her arms out, and sighs in relief. “This is so much better than trying to push ourselves to get back yesterday. I feel ready to do something today!”

Bach pulls the lever on the side of his seat and slides it forward. He steps off to the side as Dretphi pulls herself through the opening from the back bench seat and gazes out into the front yard. Slowly scanning the very tall grass, he notices the flurry of different insects between the overgrown plant life and directs his voice through the cab of the humvee to Cideeda. “Hey, Cideeda? You might need to get that kid to come by and handle the grass.”

Cideeda walks along the edge of the gravel drive, reaches her arm out to the taller stalks of weeds, and compares the height to her own. She grimaces, rests her hands on her hips, and flicks her long tail. “Yeah. I didn’t think it’d grow THAT fast.”

Examining a few of the different leaves within the burgeoning brush, Dretphi narrows her steely gray eyes and perks her brow. “This area had significant rain.”

Shrugging her shoulders, Cideeda holds her clawed hands up. She pops up on her toes and clicks a remote clipped to the sun visor. “I’ll see if Dace wants to make some money...”

Underneath the drone of the garage door opening, an entrepreneurial, toothy grin creeps out onto Cideeda’s light brown face and she taps her finger tips together. “Or maybe a trade of a few trinkets we found.”

From behind, Aristespha crosses her arms and shakes her head of long silvery, blue hair. “Oh for gods sake, just pay him. He’s going to be earning it this time around.”

With a faint hint of resignation, Cideeda gazes up to Aristespha with a huff and twists the corner of her mouth. “Fine. You’re right.”

Stepping away from Aristespha, she goes through a few different arm stretches and quips back. “I’ll see if he’s interested in buying some trinkets after I pay him.”

Sebastian’s disapproving voice sounds out from the sword at Aristespha side. “Really?”

Fluffing her fiery orange, wavy hair, Sotalia combs it over her black, swept back horns and arches her back while walking through the garage. She steps up the few stairs to the door and opens it into the kitchen. “Thank the gods. Finally back!”

She focuses her attention to the fridge, walks over, and sweeps the door open. “If I remember right... Yes!”

With a close of the door, she shakes up a mocha colored drink in a glass bottle with an elaborate logo. Peeking out at the rest of the team wandering out, she shakes the sealed beverage and grins. “I was right, Aristespha! We still have a pack in the fridge!”

Aristespha smiles with growing satisfaction and relaxes her shoulders. “Oh good. I could use some coffee. I don’t think we have anything else right now.”

Pausing in thought, Dretphi searches her mind and plays with the darker end of one of her platinum blonde braids. “Nothing perishable. I made sure before we left.”

When Aristespha gets close, Sotalia twists the cap with a loud pop of the seal and smirks mischievously. Aristespha grins with twitch of very long, pointed ears. “Sounds so good.”

Sotalia pivots around, pours back the beverage into her mouth, and hums out her agreement. She steps into the living area just next to the dining table and glances to the center of the room. Her golden eyes widen. A startled breath launches cold brewed coffee out her nose and she coughs out the rest. She backs away as the rest of the team notices her struggle. Quickly, she clears out enough to yell. “THAT SPIRIT IS HERE!”

Standing slowly up from the middle of the living area floor, the ethereal form of a man in older period armor searches between the Sotalia, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sebastian. A faint smile appears on his translucent face and he grants Bach a respectful nod. His gaze settles upon Aristespha and he straightens his posture with formal greeting. “Aristespha. I am here to deliver a message from Marcus Harold. Do you accept?”

Aristespha blinks her violet eyes blankly, shudders back to awareness, and nods eagerly. “Oh, yes! Of course. Allow me to locate some destination transcription materials.”

She glances around the kitchen, furrows her brow, and steps towards the dining table. Passing a roll of paper towels to Sotalia, Bach inquires while glancing briefly into the garage. “What do you need, Aristespha?”

Aristespha quickly scans around the area and frowns. “Need some acceptable media for him to transcribe the message onto. Um, do we have any more paper?”

Cideeda’s emerald green eyes perk and she swiftly navigates around the crowd into the hallway. “The office printer has some we can steal. Be right back.”

Sotalia winces and contorts her face as she cleans herself off. Bach pulls off more sheets of paper towel and keeps them at the ready while Sotalia recovers her composure. Plucking the offering from Bach’s hands, Sotalia blows her nose and sputters out a few words during a cough. “Right up my nose! I almost breathed it in. Ungh.”

From the garage, Dretphi steps in with a towel and places in it in the waiting hands of Sotalia. Wiping her tan and gray face, Sotalia drags the towel down, holds it tightly to her shirt, and breathes out. “Thank you.”

Cideeda exits out the archway leading to the hall, rushes over to Aristespha, and gives her a stack of printer paper. “Hope this will work.”

Aristespha sets the paper upon the dining table, taps her finger to the top, and gazes at the messenger spirit. “Would this be acceptable?”

The entity steps forward, looks over the stack, and nods. “Yes.”

Hovering its ethereal hand over the printer paper, flows of energy swirl out and coat the sheets. The magical soaks into the pile. Letters appears on the top page with faint signs of further information darkening below. The flows thread through a good portion of the stack and halt near the bottom. Moments later, the last traces of magic dissipate in fading miasma.

The messenger spirit steps back and bows politely to Aristespha. “The message has been delivered.”

His form gradually disappears until his faintest outline blends into the background light.

Aristespha stares the stack of inscribed printer paper and puzzles a moment. Cideeda crosses her arms, perks her furry ears, and wags her tail expectantly. “So, what does it say?”

Snapping out of her moment of pondering, she pulls a chair out from the table, sits down, and inspects the first few pages. Her violet eyes trace the words on the page and delighted smile appears on her ivory face. “It is from Marcus, and he’d be happy to help us!”

Sebastian’s ethereal form warily drifts past the last spot the messenger spirit was at and turns around to peek over Aristespha shoulder. “That’s great news, dear. Kind of surprised he was able to send a message here?”

Pausing a moment from reading, Aristespha glances up to Sebastian and smiles. “I’m a bit surprised, too, Sebastian. I did give him our address here. So, he must have figured out how to translate that to some means for the spirit to know where to go... I guess?”

She hides her embarrassment with a smirk and chuckles awkwardly. “I’m not the best at druid spells. I’m not familiar with how to direct messenger spirits outside of using circles and other arcane beacons. But, Marcus is extremely skilled. And, he knows quite a few spells that I don’t even think the Grand Library has on file.”

Resuming reading the pages in front of her, she comments while flipping through. “That’s not even factoring in the amazing relationships he has with a lot of very powerful spirit entities. There are a few that are quite intelligent and are versed in how our world works.”

Her train of thought drifts into understanding the message. Sotalia recomposes herself, glances over to the open coffee bottle, and picks it up. Holding a moment, she carefully drinks a little and enjoys it properly. After a sigh, she glances down and scrunches her face in swelling discomfort. “Yuck. It’s getting sticky now. I think it soaked through.”

She grabs the bottom of her shirt and begins to pull it over her head. Bach feigns nonchalant and quietly pivots his gaze away. Removing her shirt, Sotalia checks her bra and sighs. “Oh good, just the shirt for most part.”

Dretphi holds out her hand with an unamused glare and Sotalia gives the shirt to her. Sotalia hangs the towel from her neck and walks around the dining table to the hallway. “Well, guess I’m using the shower first.”

Cideeda directs her voice to Sotalia. “Run it a little first. Pipes might have some build up.”

With a quick thumbs up, Sotalia walks down the hall. Aristespha takes break from reading and glances around at the rest of the team. “This is really good. He’d like to talk to everyone and he’s given me the diagrams to setup a commune conduit circle to his.”

Wrestling his confusion, Sebastian twists his mouth curiously. “What is a commune conduit circle, dear?”

Aristespha searches her mind and ponders out loud. “It’s a direct line of communication between two points. They’re very intricate and involved, but it allows audio and visual communication over long distances.”

Cideeda quirks her brow and shifts her weight with a flick of a furry ear. “So, like an aetherphone?”

Mulling over the comparison, Aristespha rocks her head side to side and shrugs faintly. “Similar. But, it’s between to points that are hard coded. You can setup a main circle and remote circles, but it is still not very flexible in that regard.”

She skims over the page again and smiles happily. “He says the best time to contact him is at night after dinner when he’s usually star gazing. He’ll keep his end charged to detect if we call him.”

Cideeda grins with interest and steps up to the table next to Aristespha. “So, are we going to make another one of those magical circles, like we did for that messenger spirit?”

Dretphi walks over with Bach and she eagerly looks at the stack of paper with a smile. “I think we can help.”

Aristespha flips to the next page and chuckles. “Good, I probably will need a little help with it. We just might be able to get it set up tonight...”

Furrowing her brow, she narrows an examining stare upon the section of intricate diagrams. She turns to the next page, and then the next. Pinching a few, she lifts up the section and finds more illustrations with her widening violet eyes. Lowering the paper, she neatly stacks the thick documentation in order and bites her lip. “Maybe tomorrow night. This one is very involved...”

She gazes around the team and smiles appreciatively. “And, I’m going to need some help, please?”

Cideeda pats Aristespha on the back and grins toothily. “Why not? That last one was fun to put together and we got some results.”

A little squirm of excitement travels through Dretphi, and she nods quickly with glee. “Yes! Would like to see what this does.”

Bach shrugs his shoulders and smirks nonchalantly. “Sure. I’ll try to keep up. To be honest, it’s a lot more memorization than I’m used to.”

Aristespha nods and eyes the stack of paper in front of her with a sigh. “Yes. Again, that’s why I didn’t get too specialized in this aspect of magic. Very powerful, but the preparation...”

----

Slowly combing her fingers through her damp hair, Sotalia glances around her room and the open travel bags on her bed. She pauses in thought, idly feels her black swept back horns, and hums to herself. Her gaze settles upon a number of magical trinkets set off to the side and a slight grin appears from the corner of her mouth. Stepping over to the side of the bed, she kneels down to the floor and reaches underneath. Fumbling around, she grips onto something and slides it out. She gazes down at the finely crafted wooden box and smiles with a tint of excitement. She gestures a quick incantation and lifts the lid. She stops and furrows her brow suspiciously. Narrowing her stare, she cautiously feels the exterior of the wooden box and cocks her head. She puzzles while opening the lid expectantly. After moments of waiting for a desired result, she frowns and leans down to inspect the box closer.

She meticulously plucks out items, sets the them aside, and inventories them. Noticing the unfamiliar arrangement inside, her attention focuses upon the remaining contents. Her gaze sorts between a golden disc, coil of magical cable, blue and green woven harness, jar of golden shards, translucent green plate, spoon, and other trinkets of magical nature. Sotalia picks up a bundle of cloth, opens it up, and stares at the lingering stretch of the fabric. Feeling the impression of a missing item, her golden eyes widen and she glances around the room surprised. After a few moments, she lays prone on the ground and peers underneath the bed. Partially sliding under, she rummages around the space, pushes aside stray garments, and stirs up dust. She snorts out her growing irritation, and squeezes herself back out.

Standing up, she pans a slow stare of her room. She pauses her briefly search at recesses and corners. Glancing down at her feet, her frustrated glare rests upon the box and her toes curl into the carpet. Worry subdues her irritation, and she patrols around the room. Peering behind furniture, she raps her long, black nails against the surfaces while her brow quirks at the lack of success. Circling the room once, she gazes at the her collection near the bed and kneels down next to it. Picking up each item, she meticulously inspects it and hunts for any differences. Her confusion grows with each fully recognizable item, while each expected defect sates her familiarity. Sitting down on the floor fully, she pulls up her knees, wraps her arms her around, and rest her chin on top. Her golden eyes sort through her mind and she mumbles quietly to herself. “It was there... The cloth is still there... But... My lock spell...”

Her attention darts over to the finely crafted wooden box and she twists her mouth uncertainly. She stares long at the windows to her room, and drags her focus around the edges and the engaged lock on each. With a loud sigh, she gets up on her feet, sweeps up the box, and walks out of the room. Stepping down the hallway, she turns out through the archway into the living area. She spots Aristespha sorting through diagrams at the dining table and Bach watching a grath drama on the television. Bouncing her attention between the two, she holds up the empty, finely crafted wooden box and hems. “Okay. I’ve got a magical mystery and I can’t figure it out.”

Aristespha blinks back to awareness, pulls herself away from the task, and rubs her violet eyes. “Okay. I could use a break. What is it?”

Fumbling with the remote, Bach hits the pause button and glances over. “Yeah, sure. I need a moment from this plot.”

Wrestling a mix of irritation and dismay, Sotalia grits her teeth and sighs. “I just found my collection box without its lock spell and something is missing.”

Aristespha slips out of her chair and curiously steps over. “Wait, say that again?”

Noticing the box in Sotalia’s hand, Bach stands up from the couch and walks over. “Okay...”

Sotalia twist her mouth and motions to the box in her hands. “I know it sounds strange. I usually put a lock spell on the box to prevent anyone but me from opening it. But, for some reason, it’s didn’t react when I cast the unlock. And, I can’t feel it on here anymore.”

Aristespha and Bach exchange intrigued glances and both blink their eyes to a magical glow. Both squint. Bach rubs his eyes and refocuses his stare. “Wow, okay. So, this is the box you hide all your stuff in.”

Sotalia smirks at Bach and groans with a hint of embarrassment. “Yes.”

Bach nods and leans his head back. “Okay, that explains a lot of the of magical traces upon it. There’s just a bunch of different types mixing together. Really hard to sort through.”

Aristespha’s glowing violet eyes trace the outline of the box and she points out a section. “There’s still hint of the lock spell on the box, but it’s has been... Dispelled?”

Nodding in agreement, Bach taps a spot next the latch for the chest. “Yeah. That looks like dispelling.”

Cocking her head to the side, Aristespha frowns curiously and perks her eyebrow. “It looks like it was disrupted a few weeks ago?”

Bach crosses his arms and slowly shakes his head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Sotalia huffs and contorts worry and suspicion on her face. “I KNOW. We were all gone. Now I’m just paranoid that someone has broken in, and I’d like someone to tell me otherwise. Because, something was missing from the box.”

Furrowing his brow, Bach gazes at Sotalia and blinks his glowing blue eyes. “What’s missing?”

Twisting her mouth, Sotalia sighs sadly. “It was one of the crystals from the big cave excavation site where we fought that dire wolf golem. It was small, blue and had a faint glow. It was in my pouches when you saved me.”

A humble smile graces Bach’s tan face, and he pats Sotalia’s shoulder comfortingly. “Well, it’s not like we can’t get more.”

Aristespha quirks her brow and ponders out loud. “Was it a proper golem crystal or a raw one?”

Sotalia’s golden eyes search mind and she settles upon a conclusion. “Raw, I think, if I remember right.”

Bach glances over to Aristespha and shrugs. “It may have broken down and done something weird?”

Straightening her posture, Aristespha crosses her arms and rocks her head side to side indecisively. “Maybe. If it had gathered some residual charge from the environment and wasn’t stabilized, the energies could have reacted.”

Sotalia grimaces and searches between Aristespha and Bach. “But, wouldn’t it have left some traces behind? I can’t find any part of it and nothing else was damaged.”

Bach scratches the back of his head of longer brown hair, and grimaces awkwardly. “Uh, well, it all depends on how the magical energies reacted and what effect transpired.”

From the kitchen, Sebastian phases through the door leading to the garage. “They’re back from the store!”

He floats into living area and notices the gathering. “What’s going on?”

Aristespha glances over her shoulder and frowns her concern. “Sotalia is missing something from her collection and the spell that protected it seems to have been dispelled.”

Sebastian’s visage hovers in place and he puzzles the situation. “That’s weird. Wandering around the property, I haven't noticed anything unsual.”

Cideeda opens the door with a shopping bag in tow and clears the way. Dretphi side steps in with her arm muscle definition showing as she carries the heavy loads of groceries. Both settle the bags upon the floor and notice the meeting of the mages. Cideeda perks her furry ears and wags her tail. “What’s this discussion about?”

Dretphi stands up straight and rests her hands on her hips. “Did something happen?”

Sotalia releases a flustered sigh and tries to maintain a smile. “Somehow the magical lock on my collection box got dispelled and something is missing. I’m hoping it’s just some magical weirdness and not some other reason.”

Cideeda perks an eyebrow, narrows her emerald green eyed gaze at Sotalia, and sarcastically theorizes. “Like some master thief broke in, somehow found your collection of magical trinkets, and decided that was the one thing they were going to steal? Then, put everything back, left, and locked everything back up afterwards?”

Rolling her golden eyes, Sotalia tosses back her fiery orange, wavy hair and groans out with a trailing laugh. “Yeah. I know, girl. That’s absolutely fucking ridiculous to think. Gods, just my paranoia trying to get the best of me. This is just so weird.”

Cideeda shrugs her shoulder, flicks her tail, and tilts her head of short, multi-color hair. “If it’s any comfort, everything was locked tight and undisturbed when I checked. Even the wooden plank was still blocking the sliding glass door.”

Narrowing her steely gray eyes, Dretphi ponders and idly strokes her platinum braids. She slowly shakes her head and presents a comforting smile to Sotalia. “Our supplies are still here. Garage was as I remembered. Nothing was disturbed in my room.”

Sebastian glances around at the team and quirks his brow. “So, nothing else missing for anyone else?”

Aristespha, Bach, and Cideeda shake their heads. Sebastian shrugs at Sotalia. “I got nothing then. I'm sorry.”

Noticing the dissatisfaction on Sotalia’s face, Aristespha rubs Sotalia’s back and comforts her. “If it was breaking down, it could have a done a number of things. Crystals are often used for phasing to aspects of the aether... Which can sometimes lead them to transposing themselves into the aether.”

Bach grits his teeth briefly and laughs nervously. “Sounds like it left before it had a chance to do any damage, then. That probably was for the best then.”

Aristespha lifts her eyebrow and directs a tone filled with stale aggravation to Sotalia. “Need I remind of you of the magic bag of holding?”

A visible cringe spreads across Sotalia face and she shudders uncomfortably. She closes up the finely crafted wooden box, balances it upon the nearby couch arm, and arrives to acceptance. “THAT is a very good point. I’ll just consider myself very lucky that I still have everything else.”

Sebastian nods and reassuringly smiles at Sotalia. “We’ll be exploring plenty of more strange places soon enough. And I’m certain, we can help you acquire a few more things.”

A warm, thankful smile grows on Sotalia’s face and she bows her head down. “Thank you. Just was thinking of the worst for whatever reason.”

Aristespha pats Sotalia on the back and warns with a tight smirk. “But, I would really start vetting items before putting them with others in the future. A little isolation goes a long way to protect artifact integrity, from my experience in the archives.”

Bach ponders a moment and slowly nods. “Yeah. I think I could probably shape a few containers that could protect against some breakdown effects. If nothing else, at least give you some kind of warning.”

A grin widens on Sotalia and she gazes at Bach with intrigue curling the corners of her mouth. “Really? Well, let me think of the sizes I’ll need.”

----

From the corner of the back yard of the two story house, Modoran glances around and squints to the field diagonal from him. He watches activity in the distance and smirks. He turns to his side, gazes down at Deedri, and smiles. “They’re back. I thought I saw the lights on from my bedroom window last night.”

With a quick nod, Deedri shows her aetherphone screen to Modoran and aims her whisper up. “I know. Aristespha messaged me yesterday.”

She flutters her auburn eyes, perks up her furry, tufted ears, and sways hopefully. “I’d like to sneak away from the cameras and talk to her in the forest to catch up. Do you think you could help me do that tomorrow?”

Modoran gazes his dark blue eyes into Deedri’s and smiles lovingly. “Of course. It’ll be the last chance before we’re stuck at the fan meet up for the weekend.”

A message chime rings out from Deedri’s phone. She taps through the screen and groans with a droop of her furry ears. “Great. I’m up for the video journal segment. Gods, I hate these.”

She glances down at her original, thematic outfit, brushes off the dress, and reluctantly adjusts the bell on her collar. “I just hope they don’t want that many takes. I can’t wait to take this thing off.”

Modoran quickly darts his gaze around to the suspicious spots within line of sight. With quick motions he gestures out an incantation, and directs an obscuring barrier up behind him and Deedri. With a sly smirk on his dusky bluish gray face, he leans close to Deedri and whispers. “If you need help with that, just let me know.”

Deedri perks her brow and smiles with a suggestive curl. “Well. How are your shoulders feeling from all that practice with your bow?”

Drawing close to Deedri’s fair toned face, Modoran rolls his eyes and chuckles. “Little sore. Could stand to have it looked at closely by a medical professional like you.”

Slipping a hand around the back of Modoran’s neck, Deedri guides Modoran and both share a kiss. Parting lips, Modoran winks a Deedri with a grin. “A little encouragement to get you through.”

His dark blue eyes flit wide and a goofy smirk twists his mouth. Deedri releases her light claw tip clasp of the back of his pants and winks to him. “A little reminder for your checkup.”

Modoran stands up straight, works his expression down to a nonchalant neutral, and gestures with his hand. “I won’t miss it. The illusion will be down in... Three, two, one...”

The obscuring barrier behind gradually fades as Deedri assumes her prior pose and departs with a cheery step. She passes by the patio table and comments. “Get ready to be called next. I’m going in.”

Both Trakenthin and Tassilda nod as Deedri slips in through the sliding glass door. Tassilda brings her schedule paperwork next to Trakenthin’s and narrows her light blue on black eyes at the information. She slowly shakes her head, pulls back her raven black hair over her swirling horns, and frowns. “This isn’t a big expo, but they’ve somehow got everything scattered around. This make no sense.”

Trakenthin curls a disapproving sneer on his upper lip and growls faintly. “There is a purpose. Do not know what. That bothers me.”

He runs his hand through his short, styled, dirty blonde hair and cracks a hint of amusement at the corner of his mouth. “One benefit I see...”

Tapping upon a schedule block, he glides his finger down the list of tasks for Veevi and points out the locations. “She stays in the same areas.”

Tassilda contorts her gray face and nods in agreement. “That is true. At least we are afforded that luxury.”

Her eyes notice a pattern and she frowns with a sad sigh. “Poor Chad, he’s stuck with her the most. He did pull through for us.”

Lifting an eyebrow, she raps her thick, long, black nails upon the patio table top and ponders out loud. “I wonder if he’s a fan any Emin liquors. If this all works out, I think he deserves that much.”

Trakenthin nods and visibly mulls over the schedule on his dark bronze face. “Yes. This will be challenging.”

The glass door opens. Chad steps out stiffly, carefully slides the door closed behind him, and seals it quietly. Stepping forward rigidly, Chad stands next to the table with Trakenthin and Tassilda, and glances between them with a tight smile. Inside the dining area, Veevi marches right up to Samantha. With an accusatory point, Veevi yells and Samantha responds similarly. The argument between the two seeps out through the sliding glass door and muffled peaks of the exchange fill the background. Chad hisses a long breath through his teeth and he keeps his attention forward. “Don’t make eye contact with her. Just keep on acting like your doing whatever you were before. She’s looking to cause a scene for attention.”

He gazes down at them and cracks a stiff smirk. “Just pretend I’m discussing some alternative arrangements with you.”

Veevi’s and Samantha's muffled voices radiate out through the glass barrier and Chad draws a long inhale through his nose. “Gods, I’m so glad that she found Samantha first.”

Tassilda grimaces as her pointed ear catches a surge in volume in he argument. She shudders off the distraction and gazes up to Chad with a curious smile. “Since you are here, what’s your opinion on Emin liquors?”

----

The faint orange red hues of dusk settle in the western horizon and glow just over the tops of trees. The team gathers around a smooth, flat clay pad just off the brick patio. Cideeda carefully inspects the finer details of the carvings within the dried surface, flick off bits of freshly cut grass with her claws, and dons a toothy grin. “I think that’s all of it.”

Hovering overhead from the patio table, Sebastian squints his eyes and nods. “Yeah, that looks like it.”

He drifts back to the taped together paper diagram, crosses his arms, and scans over the documentation. “That’s all there seems to be for all the symbol carving.”

Turing his head to the side, he grins at Aristespha. “I think it’s ready for you, dear.”

Aristespha nods and glances over to Bach and Dretphi. While Dretphi smooths out the edges of the clay platform, Bach eyes the layout. He sits back down and stretches his lower back. “Great find with this clay.”

Dretphi smiles proudly, pulls off a chunk from a wet mass of yellowish tan earth, and shapes it in her coated hands. “Followed the creek. Good deposit in a bank. Easy to separate.”

Standing up from the table, Aristespha inspects the last page of a long recipe and idly shakes a glass measuring cup level. “Bach? Could you fire the surface and set the inscriptions? We need to apply the powder.”

Bach nods, scoots up next to the platform, and places his hands down carefully. With a dim glow of blue in his eyes, clouds of energy flow out onto the surface. Faint threads of magic mesh upon the surface and illuminate with a warm glow. Water vapor gradually vents out of the clay. The heat increases over the minutes and the color of the clay lightens. Cideeda and Dretphi take turns feeling the radiant heat above the platform and watch the process eagerly. Removing his hands, Bach waves off the excess magical miasma and relaxes his shoulders. “Okay. The surface is fired. That should keep it together.”

Aristespha kneels down, scoops up a mass of powder in her hand, and holds it over the carvings. Pouring the mixture through her fingers, she starts filling in the channels, and looks to Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi. “Take a handful, if you want. Try to fill all the grooves the best you can.”

Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi wipes their hands clean against grass and brickwork. Reaching in turn, they pick up a share of the powder and fill in the carvings into the clay. Aristespha glances over her shoulder and smiles to Sebastian. “Sebastian, could you check on Sotalia? We’re getting close to needing the top glaze.”

With a quick nod, Sebastian zips through the back sliding glass door and flies off into the house. Moments later, he phases back through the window and points behind him. “She just got done cooking it.”

Carefully holding a steaming pot by the handle, Sotalia slides open the back door and gingerly guides the concoction near the platform. She leans over, wafts the steam over to the group, and smirks. “If it wasn’t for certain things I put into this, I’d be tempted to put it on some ice cream.”

Cideeda flutters her emerald green eyes and perks her furry ears up. “It smells so sweet! What is in it?”

Sniffing the air, Dretphi steely gray eyes sort through the information in her mind and she twists her tan face. “Sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract...”

Bach nods and smirks. “Not bad so far.”

Sotalia rolls her golden eyes and snorts. “Yeah, right up until you put in the salt, sand, and charcoal. But, I’d might even be tempted to keep the salt in. Especially, since you boil it down and thicken it to syrup.”

Aristespha eyes the dark soup in the pot and cracks a grin to Sotalia. “Without the sand and charcoal, I might be tempted to try it in my coffee.”

A devious smirk curls at the corner of Sotalia’s mouth and she winks to Aristespha. “Or a few cocktails. I know liquors that’d go well with something like that.”

Bach catches a thought and blinks as his mind process it. He glances between the clay inscriptions, the powder upon it, and the steaming syrup. “I can make an educated guess at a lot of the function behind all this, but... Damn, this is involved and doesn’t seem like it’s all there.”

Aristespha checks over the powder filled carvings upon the dried clay and nods in agreement. “It’s not, yet. Part of the ritual process activates the remaining components and draws in the raw materials from the reagents.”

When Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi finish filling the last channels with powder, Aristespha quickly gestures out an incantation and gently sweeps her hand over the platform. Energy sweeps the excess powder and corrals it back into in the glass measuring cup. Aristespha directs Sotalia to the flat center point. “Pour slowly there and let it spread out. We want to get an even coat over the clay.”

Sotalia nods, positions the pot above, and carefully tips it. A black syrup flows out, collects upon the center, and oozes outwards. Scraping the remainder with a spatula, Sotalia works the last bit out the cookware and lets the bits drip off the utensil. A flicker of violet illuminates Aristespha’s eyes and she eases her hand over the center of the circle. Waves of force gently press down upon the syrup and spread to evenly to the edges of the platform.

Straightening her posture, she motions everyone near. “Okay. I’ll start.”

As the team assembles behind her, Aristespha methodically recites an elaborate series of incantations and moves her hands through a number of gestures. As swirls of prismatic flow gather around her, she holds her hands out and hovers them over the dark platform surface. The energy sinks into the top coat. Sparkles of power spread and the fluid surface hardens. From underneath, a radiant glow of power travels through the many inscriptions. The light brightens and warps through a spectrum of color before the rhythmic flow stabilizes into constant patterns.

Aristespha finishes the final part of her incantation, rests her hands upon the smooth surface, and waits as trickles of energy thread into the platform. “Preparation is done. Now, I’m... Calling him.”

Seconds pass into minutes. Sotalia sets the pot aside on the table and crosses her arms. “So, anything else suppose to happen?”

Glancing her glowing violet eyes over to Sotalia, Aristespha sighs. “I have to wait for him to answer.”

Cideeda rolls her emerald green eyes and snorts. “Figures we just get done and he probably just got distracted with something else.”

Bach smiles tightly and chuckles. “Probably using the bathroom. That’s when I always get a call.”

Nodding in complete agreement, Dretphi sighs with a trailing groan. “Never fails. Hour before, nothing. Go to the bathroom. Think they will call in the next hour. No. When you sit down.”

Hissing a breath through a grimace, Bach gazes over to Dretphi. “Your parents, too? My dad does that.”

Sebastian groans ethereally and comments with stale aggravation. “Gods, I’m glad I wasn’t the only one he did that to.”

Dretphi rolls her steely gray eyes and nods to Bach. “My birth father. I can not prevent it.”

A shift in the flow of energies changes the patterns within the channels of the circle. Aristespha straightens her posture and her very long, pointed ears perk. “It’s connected!”

A rush of magical miasma rises up from the circle and materializes. Within moments, a translucent visage of a man sitting on the ground condenses. A delighted smile appears wide in the middle of a bushy gray beard and a gentle lift of eyebrows brightens the expression on the older man’s face. “Aristespha! Oh, it’s been too long. I’m so happy you contacted me! How have you been?”

A happy smile appears on Aristespha’s ivory face and she sighs in relief. “Well, good all things considered, Marcus.”

A laugh slips out from Marcus and he shakes his head with a grin. “Marcus? Aw, no need to address me that properly.”

Aristespha twists a smirk and shrugs. “Okay, Mark. It’s just been a while.”

Mark nods and chuckles with a lean forward. “It has. By the way, do you have friends near you? I can sense them nearby. Give me a moment.”

As Mark’s visage gestures, a circle projection of energy radiates out upon the ground. It slides around on the ground, widens, and encircles the entire team nearby. Mark smiles brightly and nods. “That’s better. I wanted to see all your friends. So, good to meet all of you. I’m Marcus Harold, but just call me Mark. Or, Harry. Or, that guy. Really out here, if anyone calls me a name, I just might respond.”

The emotional warmth radiates out and the team relaxes to the good mood. Mark smiles to Aristespha. “Well, I’m all for chatting about everything. But, let’s talk about your big concern. I’ve been thinking about your message.”

Aristespha bows respectfully and frowns slightly. “I’m sorry to contact for that, after so long.”

Waving off the worry, Mark snorts and smiles. “It’s fine. Gods know, I haven’t been doing anything exciting. But, it looks like you have. So...”

His eyes search his mind for moment. In the background of the projection, a faint, large figure briefly moves behind him and fades away. Mark brushes his fingers through his beard and nods. “I can definitely help. It’s going to take some time to get spirits gathered and educate a few of them.”

He smirks and shrugs his shoulders. “Well, I’m going to need to be educated, too. So, fair enough there. The little ones are very good but a little single minded. I’ve know a few bigger ones that got right mindset, so to speak. So, they’ll be good. And, I’ll talk to a few of the big players. Those spirits are pretty sharp, so we can describe to them what you are looking for.”

Aristespha smiles hopefully. “That’s great to hear. We need all the help we can get to try to find this location. And, thank you for sending the instructions for this commune conduit.”

Mark smiles and shakes his head. “Not a problem. I’ve been meaning to be more social lately. I think I’m wearing old Goris out with the same old subjects. Could stand to hear what’s been going on.”

He perks his brow and narrows a curious gaze between the different members of the team. “Also, I have to say, Akalab was looking really good when I got your message from him. He mentioned receiving a very generous gift from one of you.”

Bach’s blue eyes widen and he awkwardly averts his gaze from attention. Aristespha contorts her face with a bit of discomfort. “That might be a subject best discussed in person.”

Mark nods respectfully and flashes a delighted grin. “Oh, that’d be great to have visitors! I’m all settled at my favorite spot to be this time of year, too. But, you all need to rest up. I still remember the few times I visited the north part of the PWZ.”

He grits his teeth and shudders his body. “Great experiences, but gods know I don’t need that much excitement at my age. Whew. Got near one of those surges and that was enough fun for me.”

Sotalia smirks and shifts her weight to another foot. “You should try being in one.”

An attentive spark ignites Mark’s interest. He settles into a more comfortable posture on his side of the connection and brushes some leaves off his robes. “Well, if you got the time and energy, I got plenty. I’d like hear about what you all have been doing. Might give me some insight on what to tell the spirits to look for.”

Aristespha nods appreciatively. “We’ll tell you want we can. It might take some time to relate everything.”

Mark shrugs and his visage motions down to the circle below. “If we too tired tonight, we’ll talk tomorrow. It’s going to take time to get everything in order, so let’s catch up in the mean time.”

He narrows his stare from the other side, focuses his attention upon Sebastian, and points. “Let’s start with you. What’s your story?”

----

The bright floods of the lead construction robot lights up the long, dusty corridor. Lexattican steps around rocky debris and old equipment in the hall. Following behind the bot, he gazes down branches off the main corridor and squints into the abandoned runs. Stopping a moment, he peers into a large room and gazes upon tables with robotic projects in different states of construction. His yellow eyes search around the surrounding desks with ancient paperwork decaying into flaky piles and frowns at the ruin.

He withdraws and resume going down the long, dusty corridor with the construction bot escort. At the very end of the main hall, he stops to gaze up at heavy frame supporting two open, large double doors. Stepping through the threshold, he slows down and drags his inquisitive gaze upon the contents of the room. Bays of tool chests and heavy machinery surround the massive space. Above him on the ceiling, heavy mounts support enormous tracks and hydraulic powered junctions joining a central loop to the bay runs. Lexattican wanders around upon the smooth concrete floor. His boot steps echo out into to huge, dark chamber.

His gaze gravitates towards the center circle, and he gawks at the track attached frames encasing massive robotic skeletons. Narrowing his stare, he scratches his light gray, green hinted chin and studies the huge, dormant machines. His eyes sort between familiar components and unfamiliar configurations. Hydraulics and synthetic muscle mesh with inscribed stone and refined crystal. Continuing his exploration, he stares as he walk away. Swinging his head around, he freezes.

Merging with the shadows, a billowing cloud of black miasma lingers and remains in place. Ignoring all light, the fluctuating form idly rests upon a platform with the edges of its being flowing a black ethereal fire. Lexattican stares in awe and approaches slowly. The construction bot follows and shines bright flood lights that starkly contrast the reflective surroundings against the absorbing humanoid mass of darkness. Approaching the intimidating form, he studies complicated machinery forming a huge perimeter and thick transparent barriers. Standing at the open armored doors forming the precipice of an inner, isolated chamber, he gazes upon the metal and stone augmented form of the dark energy being. Breaking his fascination away, he follows the technological and magical conduits to a series of intricate, large machines.

Within a clear storage cell, a faint white glow pulses out. As recognition dawns upon Lexattican, a plotting grin widens on his face and his renewed interests rest upon the black energy creation.

-109-

Dretphi taps a pencil upon the taped together, printed map and scans her steely gray eyes over the different markings. Propping her tan, faint gray striped arm upon the table top, she rests her chin in the palm of her hand. Her pencil tip wanders between topological rings and terrain indicators. She sketches out a route from an access road and tracks back to a marked point. Cideeda’s furry ears perk and her emerald green eyes watch Dretphi’s drawing. “We might have to hike from further down. There’s nothing recent to confirm that road is even usable.”

Dretphi sighs and hovers the pencil over the access route. “I know. The old road should be preferable over forest. I hope.”

Cideeda wanders her curiosity to Aristespha and the mess of research in front of her. “Anything else you want to add to the map?”

Tugging at the corner of her mouth, Aristespha slowly shakes her head of long, silvery blue hair. Rubbing her violet eyes, she sighs with a trace of a smirk. “No. I think that’d be plenty for one possible trip. I’ll probably have another batch once I double check the coordinate conversions.”

Aristespha glances over to Bach and lifts her brow. “Anything of interest?”

After a few moments, Bach blinks his blue eyes back to awareness and shrugs with a bit of embarrassment. “Sorry, no. Honestly, I’ve been blanking out for the past hour.”

Hovering in a seat next to Bach, Sebastian meets the expectant gaze of Aristespha and grins awkwardly. “Same?”

Aristespha smirks lovingly to Sebastian and nods understandingly. “It’s okay, Sebastian. I think I need a break, too.”

Cideeda’s furry ears flick towards the kitchen door, and a spark of hunger lights her eyes. “Sotalia is back.”

Seconds after the faint drone machinery and echoing sounds of metal conveying up, the kitchen door opens. Sotalia struts in with a grin on her face and hoists up two large paper bags. “Who’s hungry?”

Resting the sacks upon the counter, she lifts up her sunglasses on her fiery orange, wavy hair and sorts through the food. “Sorry it took so long. Fval Spice was busy today.”

Cideeda sniffs the air, follows the scent, and reaches into one of the two bags. “What was the occasion?”

Sotalia ponders a moment, raps her long, black fingernails upon the counter top, and twists her mouth. “I think it’s the people arriving early for some kind of fan thing for the Next Adventurers of Nexus? A lot of people wearing show shirts.”

Aristespha flutters her eyes as memory prompts her to check her aetherphone. “Oh, that’s right. It’s some fan meet up they had a contest for. Deedri was mentioning it. Speaking of which, I’m supposed to meet with her tonight in the forest. I’ll have to ask her what’s been going on with this event.”

Lifting up a box, Sotalia reads the markings and walks over towards the end of the dining table. “Sounds like a bunch of bullshit from what Tassilda has messaged me.”

She places the container in front of Aristespha and passes over a fork. “They have them running around doing just everything you can imagine to please the fans.”

Aristespha nods, snaps her attention to the food box, and opens it up with a hungry glint in her violet eyes. She pauses a moment as Sotalia starts to turn away and taps her ivory finger upon a tablet display. “Oh, what does this translate to? I can’t remember this old dialect correctly right now.”

Sotalia’s golden eyes focus up the images of old text and she contorts her face in contemplation. “It seems to be talking about plains or fields? And... Well, this part is really context dependent. It’s some mix of within, under, upon, between, or part of.”

Nodding, Aristespha jots down some notes upon a pad of paper and twists her mouth. “Thank you. I’ll have to go over it a few more times and refresh my knowledge.”

Sebastian hovers up from his seat over a chair at the dining table, and drifts around in thought. “Well, we have enough for one good trip. And, it’s the stuff that’s closest to Noxian’s last known direction. So, we’ll at least eliminate a few that’d be next on his list if he starts exploring back here.”

Bach rubs his blue eyes, stretches against the chair back, and blinks blankly. “I just hope it stays quiet around here. Nothing to get his attention. He wanders up there and we sweep everything out from underneath him. Then, he gets to study our leftovers.”

Sotalia places a foil tray in front of Bach and sets fork next upon the steaming collection of vegetables and meat. She pats his shoulder with a smile and tosses back her hair over her swept-back horns.

----

Small groups of people wander through the old mall turned convention center. Down one wide main hall, different store fronts advertise Next Adventurers of Nexus products with elaborate displays. Further towards a T-intersection, the crowds of fans thicken in long, organized tracks leading to different stations. Within the first opposing pairing of old store fronts, Deedri and Modoran occupy their respective booths. Under the surveillance of stationed and roving camera crews, Deedri maintains a cheery exterior in her show themed attire, greets fans, and poses for pictures. She makes small talk with each of the more excited fans and answers questions with canned responses. Between photos and signatures, traces of wear briefly slip into her demeanor. Summoning up renewed cheer, Deedri greets the next group energetically to their expectations.

Modoran leans hard on the back of his chair, idly rocks his boots upon the signing table, and sighs. With each small gathering of fans, he presents a nonchalant attitude and acknowledges them with a nod. Photographs receive quick signatures and Modoran meets each group pose both figuratively and literally laid back. Despite the lack of effort on Modoran’s part, the fans walk away flits of excitement and energy as their experience sates their beliefs. In lulls between, Modoran sneaks a watchful gaze over towards Deedri. Occasionally, for brief moments, two exchange comforting glances across the wide hall through the sparse crowd.

In the next pairing of opposing booths, Trakenthin and Tassilda meet and greet people. Trakenthin stands stoic with each gathering. Gauging the reactions of the fans, his facade shifts between calm and stern. When posing for pictures, he sports his practice blade and maneuvers it to clash dramatically with reproduction weapons. Aetherphones record mock matches of swords and a few arm wrestling matches. Faint hints of amusement slip out from behind Trakenthin’s stoic exterior when a proficient fan matches up with swords or strength, to Trakenthin’s eventual victory. The closer the match the more enjoyment appears on his face.

Tassilda meets fan with a fanciful displays of magic and an aloof attitude outwardly. She answers questions about basic magic to the eager, while humoring those drawn to her appearance. With elaborate signatures upon materials, she gestures brief illusions to finish the process to the astonishment of recipients. With a confident attitude, she poses with in a variety of slightly alluring stances and often winks a light blue on black eye for the cameras. With a dramatic pivot, she walks back to her seat behind the booth during respites and eases out relaxing breaths in the lull of activity.

At center stage of the intersection, Chad and Veevi entertain the crowds lining up. Veevi remains front and center. Tossing back her pink hair, she poses for the ongoing attention of the cameras. She struts around in her revealing, leather armor outfit with a flick of her short-haired tail, and winks with a smug smirk on her tan face. She picks out groups from the crowd, fancifully signs materials, and poses suggestively. With each gossipy question, she remarks around the question and tinges the response with attention grabbing controversy. Hogging the large share of interest, she gleeful fields fan and soaks up the adoration with each wave.

Chad maintains a booth off to the side. As groups arrive, he presents his bold, bright white smile and greets them confidently. Gauging the reaction, he happily poses for both group and action pictures. He carefully answers questions and admits what he can’t reveal to the hopeful fans. He readily signs materials with personal, encouraging messages. As one group clears around for the next, he takes a few seconds to peak over the sparse crowds. His gazes shifts between Tassilda, Trakenthin, Modoran, and Deedri. Narrowing his brown eyes, he observes them and how well they handle the onslaught. Checking his aetherphone clock, he sighs at the morning time and musters up his bold demeanor for the next group.

Far off to the side away from the crowds, Samantha glances over her clipboard and directs her voice to her aetherphone. “It’s going just fine, Howie. Everything is coming together nicely.”

Howard’s voice sounds out from the other side of call. “Good. I take it our guests of honor are getting treated well?”

A wicked smirk graces Samantha face, she snickers with a nod. “Yes. They are getting the VIP treatment with the rest of the contest winners. They’ll be split up in the smaller groups for the personal meetups soon. We’ve got a good time and place for their... encounter.”

After a foreboding chuckle, Howard calls out from the phone. “Gerald? Are your people ready?”

Gerald quirks his brow and twists his mouth. “Yes. I can dedicate a few small teams to be at and around the location. We should be able to cover it as part of the live streaming parts and mix it in with the episode tonight.”

A spark glee trickles out into Samantha’s expression and she smiles. “The production team should be ready for our planned, breaking event. I’m certain we will get something good out of it. We’ll get the ratings back up and then some.”

A hint of relief slips through into Howard’s voice as it leaves the speakerphone. “Good. It’d like to get a few more episodes this season. We just need one good bit of drama to make it work and we can bump it from there.”

Samantha grins with a giggle. “I can’t wait to see what we get.”

Gerald glances over to Samantha and her aetherphone. After a few moments, he stares out into the crowd and watches Chad, Veevi, Tassilda, Trakenthin, Modoran, and Deedri as mixes emotion leak out into his uneasy body language.

----

Lalyanpha opens the front exterior door in the modest living room. Kallentesson steps across the threshold and immediately wraps his arms around his daughter. He speaks a warm verse of evuukian and smiles at her. From behind, Lasosopha steps between and hugs Lalyanpha. “How is my daughter today?”

Lalyanpha rolls her dark yellow eyes and dons a smirk upon her light, gold highlighted face. “As good as any mother with a little boy running rampant can be.”

Lasosopha sighs with an understanding smile and narrows her similarly dark yellow eyes. “There’s a few stories I need to share to you about your brothers. It might help explain a few behaviors you’ll run into.”

Kallentesson walks in further and extends his hand to Mason standing in the living room. “Mason, how was work this week?”

Mason shakes Kallentesson’s hand, draws in a breath, and chuckles warily. “Exhausting, Kal. Thankfully, we got the part of the convention center that was booked for Next Adventurers crew done last night.”

He cracks a smirk on his tan face and perks his brow. “And, I’m not on call. So, I’m staying right here for the weekend.”

Kal nods in agreement and a smile appears on his tan hinted face. “Good plan. Doing something similar myself.”

Lasosopha lets go of her daughter and glances around the room. “Now, where it my grandson?”

Leaning back and squinting, Lalyanpha gazes through the doorway into the kitchen and spots Mylo through the window, playing in the backyard sandbox with a small shovel and bucket. “Keeping himself occupied... For now.”

Brushing back her blonde hair, Lasosopha nods and steps back to stand near the kitchen entrance. “Oh good. We have a few moments.”

Lalyanpha quirks an eyebrow and gazes into her father’s orange eyes. “While I’m happy to have you here, I’m a bit curious why you chose this weekend to come down?”

Kal twists his mouth and shrugs indecisively. “Well, it was a few different reasons. Your cousins were coming down due to some contest they won, and we decided to take advantage of the group accommodations they booked. But...”

He pauses a moment, retrieves an envelope from his back pants pocket, and holds it in his hands. “I wanted to tell you some news.”

Lalyanpha glances around and her body tenses. Mason steps next to her and wraps an arm around her. Kal brushes hand through his head of gray speckled, golden hair and releases a long sigh of relief. “I’ve officially stepped down as head of the house. It’s my brother’s duty as of now.”

Blinking in surprise, Lalyanpha’s very long, pointed ears twitch and she tilts her head to the side. “Oh my gods. I always figured you’d hold onto it until you just couldn’t anymore.”

Kal chuckles and presents the envelop to his daughter. “Well, you are right. I just couldn’t anymore. I found so many better things to spend my time on.”

He rolls his orange eyes and groans with an amused twist in his smirk. “Plus, it’ll finally get your uncle off my back to have his chance to run everything. Gods help him because no one else will.”

Lalyanpha curiously inspects the envelop and Mason gazes expectantly. Kal smiles hopefully and bows slightly. “But, before I left... My final act was to right a wrong.”

Lalyanpha flips open the envelope, pulls out the bundle of folded papers, and examines them. As her eyes read the text, her mouth drops open in disbelief and tears well in her eyes. Kal draws in a long breath and speaks proudly. “Lalyanpha Ralliana Vaskvari- Sorry, Anderson. You are officially reinstated into House Erikanden. You are free to don this house name, as you see fit. And, you are granted the right to instate your children, current and future, into the house.”

Holding back tears building in the corner of his eyes, Kal pulls a shuddering breath in and musters the composure to speak against the old regret in his voice. “This can’t make up for what I’ve done wrong. I just hope allows us start a better future.”

Drops of water fall upon the page of official letterhead with Evuukian emblems. Lalyanpha sniffs and wipes the tears from her dark yellow eyes. She takes in a few breaths to process her emotions, while Mason holds her close and thankfully nods to Kal. Glancing back from watching Mylo, Lasosopha smiles lovingly to her husband. Kal looks up, breathes, and fights to keep the water from escaping his wet eyes. He laughs awkwardly and sighs. “I can’t grant you any big positions in the house. Everyone else assumed them, which might be a blessing honestly. But, you, Mason, and Mylo have every right to visit all house properties and attend house events.”

Stepping forward, Lalyanpha embraces her father and holds him tightly. Wrapping his arms around his daughter, Kal squeezes out the welling tears from his orange eyes and sniffs loudly. He whispers endearing phrases of evuukian to Lalyanpha with tinges of regret. Lalyanpha replies with warm, forgiving words. Mason pats Kal’s shoulder and nods. “Thanks, Kal.”

Kal loosens his hold of Lalyanpha and smirks. “Also, you do regain access to your house bank accounts.”

Lalyanpha snorts and eases out a chuckle. “Gods, I had almost forgotten about those. Let’s see... A few years of non-resident citizen stipend might be just enough to get a new washer and dryer. Maybe...”

Kal points to the next few pages of the paperwork in bundle within Lalyanpha’s hands. “You might want to read the next page. Durandon engaged in some creative accounting to invest his big sister’s money, without my knowledge.”

Furrowing her burrow, Lalyanpha flips through the next few pieces of paper and focuses upon a financial statement summary. She blinks blankly and draws the piece of paper close. Mason steps up, peeks over Lalyanpha’s shoulder, and widens his brown eyes. Lasosopha steps into the kitchen with an amused smirk. Lalyanpha glances between her father and the paperwork in disbelief. “I- Uh- Huh.”

Kal hold his hands up and shakes his head. “I have no idea. I still don’t know if I should be impressed or worried.”

Mason shifts his gaze to Lalyanpha and smirks. “So, new kitchen?”

Lalyanpha slowly nods in agreement. “That is a distinct possibility. Especially, if means getting a proper tile floor.”

From the kitchen, a door closes quick and fast footsteps sound on the floor. Mylo rounds the corner with his orange and brown gaze searching the room, and excitedly calls out. “GRANDPA!”

Kal kneels down and scoops up the incoming boy into his arms. “How’s my grandson?”

Mylo grins wide and laughs happily. “Digging for treasure!”

With a smirk, Kal asks Mylo. “Did you find any gold?”

Mylo shakes his head. Kal smiles and ruffles Mylo’s dirty blonde hair. “What did you find?”

Thinking out loud, Mylo rambles. “I found a rock. A stick. Another big rock. Some grass. Some mud. Stinky sand.”

Kal blinks and furrows his brow. “Stinky sand?”

Mason glances around awkwardly and grits his teeth briefly. “The neighbors have cats.”

Widening his orange eyes, Kal nods in complete understanding and walks to the kitchen entry. “Oh! Well. How about we wash our hands before lunch?”

Lasosopha smiles at her grandson as he continues reciting his list of sandbox excavation finds, while Kal carries him off down the hall to the bathroom. Lasosopha walks up to Lalyanpha and Mason, and sighs contentedly. “Before I forget. I want to invite all of you to the family holiday getaway. I want the both of you and Mylo there.”

Lalyanpha glances over to Mason. Scratching the back of his head, Mason nods and smiles. “If you’ll have us, I’m all for it.”

Gazing into her mother’s eyes, Lalyanpha uneasily smirks and contorts a bit of worry on her face. “If it’s not too much trouble. I want Mylo to meet everyone. But, I worry how welcoming some will be.”

Resting her hands on Lalyanpha and Mason’s shoulders, Lasosopha grins brightly with a lift of her eye brow. “Nothing to worry about. Everyone WILL be on their BEST behavior, and we’ve gotten new arrangements for a more accomdating resort.”

----

Walking casually down the hall, Modoran darts his dark blue eyes around and searches the corridor. After a few seconds, he gravitates towards a set of large double doors and grabs hold of the handles. Tugging back a few times, he narrows his stare at the locked metal entry and twists a frown on his dusky bluish gray face. He scratches the back of his head of short, light gray hair, and glances around curiously. From the shadowy space high above in the maintenance walkways, a glint of a camera lens shines briefly as Modoran looks down the opposite way.

Reaching into his pocket, he retrieves his aetherphone, taps through a few menus, and sighs as the call connects. Moments later, he wrestles hints of annoyance in his face and calmly states. “Samantha? Hey, the room I’m supposed to do the private meet and greet with my next group is locked. I could pop the lock, but I thought you’d want someone official to handle it-”

He nods with the conversation from the other end of the phone call. “Okay. I mean, I guess I can keep them entertained with a few tricks and lessons. Answer some questions? That’ll probably take up some time.”

His dark blue eyes roll as he draws in a long breath into his athletic, thin frame and groans faintly. “Okay. I’ll do what I can. Bye.”

Shaking his head, he taps the end call button on the screen of his aetherphone and drops it back in his pants pocket. He leans up against the double door and mutters a few choice evuukian curses underneath his breath. Tilting his head back, he gazes up through the high up skylights at the faint traces of evening slipping into the afternoon sky. His stare grows more distant and he yawns with a faint droop of his very long, pointed ears.

A familiar evuukian man’s voice sounds out. “Hello, Modoran. It’s been a while.”

Modoran’s eyes spring widen open and he snaps his head down one end of the corridor. An evuukian swear slips out of his mouth. Upon his pale, dark blue hinted face, Hektoran grins smugly and narrows his yellow eyes at Modoran. Stepping up next to Hektoran, Mishavalla poses her lithe figure confidently, focuses her piercing yellow eyes, and dons a sneer on her pale, dark blue hinted face. Modoran frowns sharply and grants a quick wave to the brother and sister with four evuukian friends behind them. “Oh, hey. Nice to see you all again! I got to see someone about getting this door unlocked.”

He pivots around and steps away. “Catch you all, later.”

Hektoran crosses his arms, curls a mean sneer on his upper lip, and laughs. “We’re here for our private meetup with a Modoran Anatolin Lotherin... of House Hyathilternen.”

Modoran halts. He straightens up his posture, slowly turns around, and glares at Hektoran. “Could you... PLEASE... Not use that name. I’ve done the best I can, at great expense, to honor the judgment of the Houses. You know I CANNOT be associated with that house in any capacity.”

Drawing in a harsh breath through his nose, he puffs up his chest and growls out. “That was the punishment I accepted and try to abide by. Just respect it already. Could you PLEASE?”

Hektoran steps forward and points spitefully at Modoran. “Oh, fuck you! You got off so easy! You have no idea what I’ve gone through!”

With a twitch of his cheek, Modoran’s nonchalant exterior crumbles and he throws his hands defiantly up in the air. “What YOU have gone through?! Just what the hell is your malfunction, Hektoran!? This has gotten ridiculous! What did I ever do to you to deserve this? TELL. ME. I’m fucking tired of getting shit for things I don’t even know about!”

Hektoran grits his teeth, narrows a baleful glower at Modoran, and yells out. “You ruined my chance to be the next guardian of my house idol! That’s what you did to me! Because of YOU and your house, I was passed over for the role before I got a real chance to prove myself!”

Modoran cocks his head back, blinks blankly, and glances around incredulously. “MY FAULT?! You’re fucking serious? Oh my gods!”

Muttering through a series of evuukian swears, he shakes his head as he takes a few steps closer. He grumbles to himself and calls out. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe, there were a few other factors involved that were YOUR FAULT?”

Sneering indignantly, Hektoran growls out as Mishavalla and crew gather closer. “Like what?”

Narrowing an examining glare through Hektoran, Modoran throws his arms out to the sides. “I don’t know. You going around being an asshole to the rest of us at every assembly of houses. You beating us over the head with how your house businesses were the best all around and how the entertainment business was so awesome. Rubbing our noses in how you got all access passes to all the shows we wanted to see. You know, giving all of us every reason to not like you.”

As he gets closer to Hektoran, Mishavalla, and lackeys, Modoran grimaces meanly and leans slightly forward. “And finally... Constantly telling us when you’d get your first night to guard your precious house idol all by yourself.”

Hektoran pulls a wicked, self-satisfied grin across his face and chuckles awkwardly. “Well, you were too much of a coward to face me alone! You had to get your cousins to help you out to even try to get past me. It took all of you to get the idol from me!”

Modoran stands up tall and cackles in sheer, condescending amusement. “You think we banded together because we were afraid of you?! In case you forgot, I snatched that goofy looking, dusty statuette right out behind you, by myself!”

The grin wanes on Hektoran’s face and Mishavalla narrows her glare at Modoran. With a long draw of breath, Modoran smiles smugly and perks his brow. “We were afraid that’d you call in your father at the first sign of trouble... Which you DID!”

He crosses his arms, puffs his chest up, and dons a frown on his dusky bluish gray face. “Your father is the real deal. He caught up to us when our escape plan fell through, we surrendered because we respected him. If it was just up to him, he would have just taken the idol back and let us go with a warning, as standard for house pranks.”

Gritting his teeth, Modoran sighs and shakes his head. “But, no... You couldn’t let it go. Had to stir up some drama with your grandfather and try to upset everything to get your way. So, I took the brunt it. It was my idea. Hence, I should be punished.”

He narrows a stare right through Hektoran and slowly growls. “But, while you whine about not getting some position in your house, I had to get forced out of mine.”

The assembly of evuukians watch each other in awkward, tense moments of silence. Down at the hall, Deedri peeks around the corner with her furry, tufted ears flicking to the noises. Her auburn eyes spring wide as she spots Modoran beyond the gathering of six evuukians. She summons up her sheer determination with a frown, pulls out her aetherphone, and steps forward. Quickly tapping out a message, she presses the send button and closes in on the confrontation. From shadowy corners, camera crews eagerly train their recording equipment on the new participant.

After a few calming breaths, Modoran shudders his head, straightens his posture, and sighs. “Anyway, this is all old news. What is it that you want from me, now?”

Hektoran glares back at with a smirk. Modoran rolls his dark blue eyes and gazes over to Mishavalla with a worn, pleading tone. “Seriously. Misha? Why are you still allowing yourself to get dragged into this mess? If it’s about me being an asshole and dunking you into those ponds when we were little, you can settle that without him.”

Misha’s sharp facade dulls and hints of hesitance emerge in the silence. Modoran gazes to the gathering and groans. “Really? I mean, you got your punches on me last time. Why risk anything more for something that happened years ago?”

Hektoran summons up his ire and points at Modoran with a snarl of his upper lip. “Don’t try to talk your way out of this! I’m not missing a chance to get back at you.”

Modoran steps back as the four other evuukians spread out from behind. Hektoran moves forward, and Misha readies to cast. A commanding, forceful tone echoes down the hallway from Deedri. “STAND. DOWN.”

The attention shifts behind the gathering. Storming down the hall in her thematic dress, Deedri grimaces with determination, lowers her furry, tufted ears, and flicks her haired up tail quickly. She steps right up to other side the parting group and glares up Hektoran with a claw tip pointed at him. “I’ve become quite familiar with Evuukian House Codes of Conduct and various laws dictating House nobility interactions with the public.”

Standing straight, she rests her hands on her hips and berates. “Your actions are in violation of multiple codes and laws. Modoran is not of a house and is a member of the public, so any aggression against him will be deemed a violation of the Nobility Conduct Act. You are not arbiters of House justice in any capacity, and enacting any further retribution on case that has been fully judged is explicitly against The Revised Post-Monarchy House Justice Code.”

She steps forward, pushes her presence through the middle of the congregation, and darts her condemning auburn eyes between them. “While I could go on with other violations, I will state that from this point out I will bear witness to any transgression against Modoran and a file a detailed recount of any and all actions with Evuukian House Affairs.”

Deedri narrows her glare between Hektoran and Misha and waits for them to step to the side. “I would advise all gathered to depart and refrain from any further interactions with Modoran.”

Stepping through the gap between Hektoran and Misha, Deedri smiles warmly to Modoran as she approaches.

With a surge of contempt rushing through him, Hektoran reaches out, firmly grabs Deedri’s shoulder, and pulls her back. “I’d fucking advise you to go witness somewhere else-”

Sharp claw tipped fingers wrap tightly around his forearm. Deedri slams back into Hektoran, yanks his arm forward, and ducks herself down. In a well rehearsed, smooth maneuver, Deedri throws Hektoran forward over her and onto the hard tile floor. With a flash of auburn glow in her eyes, Deedri swiftly gestures out a fast incantation and slaps down a flow of magical energy into Hektoran’s stomach. She hops over the flattened evuukian as Misha and crew reassess the situation. Stepping away, Deedri startles momentarily as Modoran wraps his arm around and pulls her close.

Modoran holds Deedri tightly at his side, gazes with concern into her eyes, and grips her hand with worry. “Are you okay?!”

Deedri stares into Modoran’s dark blue eyes and smirks with a pant. “Yeah. Just fine. He just surprised me there.”

Glancing over to Hektoran slowly getting up off the hard floor, Modoran whispers with a grin cracking. “Must be a lot more painful when you don’t land on grass.”

A giggle escapes Deedri and she bites her lip. “It’s about to get worse for him.”

Hektoran stands up straight, brushes off the futz from the floor, and glares between Modoran and Deedri in disgust. “What the fuck? Wait... Are you two dating or something?”

Both Modoran and Deedri blank their expressions and nervously glance around the scene. Deedri frowns and grows worried. Glancing down to Deedri, confidence emerges on Modoran’s face. Waiting to meet Deedri’s gaze, Modoran smiles warmly to her and squeezes her hand. Deedri’s auburn eyes widen and she lets go Modoran’s hand to stroke his dusky bluish gray cheek. With bold, smug intent, both embrace and share a long, passionate kiss. Seconds later, the two part and smirk at the evuukian crowd. Modoran chuckles lightly while stroking Deedri’s upper arm lovingly. “I actually have to thank you a little, Hektoran. If you hadn’t been such a whiny bitch and got me thrown out... I would have never met such a wonderful, beautiful woman.”

A range of mixed emotions play out upon the audience. Contrasting Hektoran’s revulsion, Misha stares at Modoran and Deedri blankly with hints of regret and jealousy swirling. Regaining his composure, Hektoran grimaces, shakes his head, and starts to roll out derisive evuukian. He halts mid sentence, holds his stomach, and contains a reflexive wretch. Glancing briefly around, the next upwards kick from his gut launches his lunch onto the floor. Hektoran fights against the uncontrollable surges of vomit leaving him. Misha and others try to assist in vain.

While Modoran and Deedri ease back in unison, Modoran whispers down. “Did you...?”

Deedri slowly nods with a tight smile. “Yes.”

Firmly securing his arm around Deedri, Modoran grins, readies his hand, and gestures out flows of energy. “Okay, hold on. It’s time to not be seen.”

Gasping in a huge breath, Hektoran searches the vicinity, notices Modoran’s hand, and sputters out. “Misha! Tag him!”

Misha fumbles to the ready and gestures out an incantation. Gathering the flows of energy into her hands, she flings the mass of magic towards Modoran. The power dissipates into a fading miasma after leaving her hands. Misha puzzles at her missing spell, repeats the motions quickly, and throws out another puff of disappearing energy. Searching for a reason, she notices a faint, translucent haze enveloping her.

From behind Deedri and Modoran, a confident, amused tone exudes from Tassilda while she maintains a stream of barely visible flow towards Misha. “Try as you might, you paltry cantrips will not survive. It seems you haven’t progressed far in your studies. Allow me to educate you about the wonders of dispelling fields.”

Two strong, dark bronze hands firmly grip a shoulder of an evuukian man and woman behind Hektoran and Misha. The two stiffly glance behind and trace the arms up to meet the stoic, towering form Trakenthin. Noticing a presence behind them, the other two lackeys slowly turn to see Chad’s bright white smile. Chad’s hand rests upon the handle of his Stalwart branded sword. He grins and chuckles. “How about we just walk away from this whole mess and call it a day. Okay?”

He narrows his glare to the aggressors and frowns. “Really. Take my advice. Head back to your hotels, cool off, and we’ll just leave it be.”

Hektoran steadies himself, grits his teeth, and yells out. “Fuck you! This isn’t your affair it’s between me and-”

A loud, muffled bubbling resonates from Hektoran midsection. He puzzles and feels his stomach. “What the-”

Another torrent of gurgling stirs audibly within Hektoran, and his face pales further. Modoran waves off the leftover energies from his unfinished spell and glances down to Deedri. “What’s going on? It looks like he puked everything up.”

Deedri parts an evil smirk on her lips. “Yes. But, that’s only half of it.”

Modoran blink blankly, then smiles proudly. Deedri grins devilishly and wraps her arm around Modoran’s waist. Hektoran reflexively bows forward, grips his cramping midsection, and gasps frantically. Noticing the state of affairs, Deedri points down the hall to an intersection and motions towards the right. “There’s an exit that leads to alley with garbage cans and dumpster you can go behind.”

Without another word, Hektoran rigidly power walks down the corridor with Misha and lackeys following behind. After going around the corner, a metal door cracks open loud and faint sounds of struggle through debris echo out. In the din of enraged and strained evuukian pleas, recording crews scramble from hiding and rush down the hallway.

Modoran blinks a moment, quirks his brow, and gazes at Deedri. “Wait... The bathrooms are just down the hall on the left.”

Deedri looks up, perks up her furry, tufted ears, and nods. “I know.”

Meeting her auburn eyes, Modoran brushes back stray locks of multi-colored hair from Deedri’s fair face and smiles warmly. “I love you.”

Wrapping her tail around Modoran’s legs, Deedri guides Modoran’s face down for another passionate kiss. “I love you, too.”

Tassilda struts up to the rest of the team, glances over to Modoran and Deedri, and exhales her relief. “Thank the gods, we can finally talk about you two out in the open.”

A hint of color fills Deedri’s cheeks and she awkwardly smirks. “I hope it wasn’t too obvious.”

Chad shrugs his shoulders and snorts. “Well, there were many insinuations but there was no hard evidence.”

Rolling his hazel eyes, Trakenthin shakes his head. “Excessive physical examinations for minor injuries.”

Modoran slowly nods in agreement. “Yeah. We abused that a bit.”

He turns his head and aims his long, pointed ear down the corridor. Deedri’s furry ear flicks towards a faint sound. Moments later, loud, muffled evuukian curses crest over the din of echoing, wet cascades of fluid splattering upon thin metal.

Deedri glances around with flits of embarrassment and reassures. “Um, don’t worry. He’ll be fine. In a few minutes maybe? It really depends on what he’s eaten lately.”

Chad searches around the corners and vantage points. Noticing only a few cameras in the area, he gestures to the team and directs everyone’s attention away from the latest commotion. “Let’s get away from this while they’re distracted. I don’t feel like giving them any more material to work with today.”

Modoran’s dark blue eyes widen and he grits his teeth. “Oh yeah. I completely forgot in the moment. They’ve probably have been recording...”

He draws in a long breath and sighs. “That is going to make things interesting.”

Deedri glances up with hint of worry. “Oh. Right. Um... I hope this wasn’t streamed live.”

Modoran smiles lovingly to Deedri and hugs her firmly. “It does not change anything. But, we might want to avoid the show aethersite for the next week.”

Rolling her eyes, Deedri wraps her around arms around Modoran and walks close with traces of relief. “If we’re lucky, something else will distract them soon.”

As the team reforms, Tassilda glances back towards the direction of digestive struggles and smirks. “If THAT doesn’t do it, just give Veevi a few days. I’m sure she’ll do something scandalous.”

----

Lounging upon the middle of a simple but well-made couch, an older, elegant evuukian woman swirls dark red wine in a glass and cracks a proud grin on her gray, shaded face. Her very long, pointed ears perk with the Next Adventurers of Nexus show cutting to a louder commercial, and she strokes her very long white hair upon her shoulders. With a breath in, she laughs softly and glances her dark blue eyes between the two younger evuukian women seated on either side of her on the couch. “Well, this is certainly an interesting development, but one I’m absolutely delighted for. Especially, for my precious little boy.”

With an excited grin on her face, Linanania leans upon the older woman’s shoulder and flits her dark blue eyes wide. “See! I TOLD you. They were totally keeping it secret.”

Rolling her dark blue eyes, Massadenia shakes her head of long, light gray hair and maintains her collected demeanor. “Well, now that it’s official, I believe I should make arrangements for Modoran and Deedri for the family holiday? Correct, mother?”

Nodding to Massadenia, the matriarch between the younger women smiles happily and sips her wine. She ruffles her hand through Linanania’s short hair and giggles with a smirk. “Of course. And, I want to see if Deedri’s parents would be available, too.”

Transitioning to opacity, an older evuukian man quirks the brow on his dusky blue hinted face and cocks his head of short, light gray hair. “Gods, don’t scare her off, Lillithia. You don’t want to be too forward and make her uncomfortable.”

Lillithia gazes upwards lovingly and reaches out to the face of the man bowing down. “Oh, I doubt anything I do is going to frighten her, Marrekan. Did you see her? I can’t wait to have her over, again. I have sample bottles of a few wines I need to enjoy with her.”

After kissing Lillithia, Marrekan nods as he stands up straight. “Yes. The whole event has made quite the stir already.”

A few message chimes sound out from his aetherphone and he inspects the device. After sorting through a few prompts, he rolls his dark gray eyes and shakes his head. “I bet Kallentesson is happy he stepped down.”

Twisting her mouth, Lillithia sighs and swirls the remaining wine in her glass. “I can’t fault him, but I feel his brother might be on the war path.”

Massadenia cracks a plotting smirk and chuckles to herself. “Oh, it won’t matter. Modoran never touched any of them. He displayed respect for the judgment of the Houses and showed restraint. And, it was Hektoran that assaulted a member of the public. I do believe this is all in our favor.”

A wild grin springs wide on Linanania’s face and she giggles. “As if Hektoran is going live this down. I mean, behind a dumpster in an alley way?”

Ruffling his daughter’s short hair with his hand, Marrekan snorts with a smirk and shakes his head nonchalantly. “I wish that was even close to the worst thing we’ve had to contend with at our properties.”

Linanania smiles brightly as spark of mischief lights her dark blue eyes. “I wonder if she can teach me that spell?”

Awkward attention shifts to Linanania as Massadenia, Marrekan, and Lillithia exchange warily glances.

----

Lalyanpha blinks her dark yellow eyes and glances over to Mason with her hand over her mouth. “I am so glad I put Mylo to bed before this.”

Tilting his head to the side, Mason grits his teeth and nods slowly. “Uh, yeah. That would have been a long talk if he wandered in.”

Turning his head to the recliner next to the couch, Mason curls an amused grin towards Kal and laughs. “So... Kal... How do you feel about your decision to step down now?”

Contorting his face while staring at the modest television screen on the wall, Kal blinks blankly at the advertisements as his orange eyes sort through his thoughts. Aiming an annoyed glare down at his vibrating aetherphone on the recliner arm, he picks up the device and holds a button on the side. After a few seconds, the phone powers down and he plops it onto an end table. He shifts his hand over, grasps hold of a beer bottle, and pours a long swig into his mouth. Drawing a long breath, he smirks with a snort and gazes over to Mason. “It is rare for such big, important decisions to ever be easy to navigate. It is even rarer for your decision to be granted any kind of feedback on whether it was right or not.”

He motions towards the general direction of the television and chuckles. “For something so blatant, that reinforces your decision so resolutely... THAT is an exceptional treat.”

Lalyanpha pauses in thought a moment, leans close to Mason’s ear, and whispers quietly. Mason nods with a smile. “Yeah, of course, Laly. I sure wouldn’t want to go anywhere near that mess.”

After a quick peck on Mason’s cheek, Lalyanpha leans forward slightly and gazes at Kal. “Father, would you and mother like to stay the night here? I know you already made arrangements and we’re not exactly the best accommodations...”

Stepping through from the archway into the kitchen, Lasosopha perks her very long ears slightly, taps the end call button on her phone, and smiles eagerly. “I would love nothing more than that.”

Kal nods in agreement and grins graciously. “Thank you. While we don’t want to burden you, I really don’t want to go near the hotel right now.”

Mason stands up from the couch and brushes himself off. “Well, you two need anything from your rooms? I can probably sneak on in there for you. Just need to borrow one of your room keys.”

Furrowing his brow, Kal uncertainly inquires. “You don’t have to do that. I’m certain we can arrange for our bags to be brought here and...”

Mason smirks knowingly and waits for Kal to arrive to the same conclusion. After a moment of contemplation, Kal cocks his head of gray speckled, golden brown hair, reaches into his pocket, and hands Mason a room key card. “I believe your suggestion to be the best one right now.”

Taking the card, Mason nods and chuckles lightly. “Yeah. I’ll throw on my work overalls before I head out. No one is going to bother asking the maintenance guy where any nobility is.”

Lalyanpha gets up off the couch, starts pulling the cushions off, and tossing the occasional toy out of the way. “I’ve got a few thick blankets that’ll make this sleeper sofa tolerable.”

Shaking her head, Lasosopha joins her daughter in the preparation effort and laughs. She whispers to Lalyanpha in evuukian and amuses at the surprise on her daughter’s face. Kal glances over, rolls his eyes, and sighs. “Oh gods, not that story...”

-110-

In the dark bedroom, Deedri places her aetherphone upon the nightstand, pulls the bed covers around her tighter, and sighs with a worried tint. She blinks her auburn eyes, and the dimming phone display light reflects off her anxious, distant glances. Gritting her teeth briefly, she hisses in a slow breath and releases it through her nose. Curling her claw tips into a section of tightly balled comforter, she settles her head upon the pillow. Her tufted, furry ear flicks back. Modoran lifts his head up from behind Deedri and blinks to some consciousness. “Hey, you okay?”

Deedri uneasily breathes out and tenses under the sheets as she rolls slightly towards Modoran. “I’m just really worried.”

A comforting smile appears on Modoran’s dusky bluish gray face. He wraps an arm around Deedri and gently draws her close. “It’s going to be okay. We’ve got nothing to hide any more.”

Gradually mustering a smile on her fair face, Deedri frees a hand from the impromptu stress ball and intertwines her fingers with Modoran’s. Scooting back into his embrace, she sighs deeply and searches her thoughts. “I know. It’s just... I don’t know. It all made sense in the moment. But, I just keep on thinking and thinking...”

Propping himself on his elbow, Modoran cranes his head around Deedri’s furry, tufted ear and meets her gaze. “You’re overthinking it. It’s all out in the open now. Everyone else has to figure out how they’re going to handle us.”

He rolls his dark blue eyes and smirks with a faint chuckle. “We’ve made quite the first impression whether we wanted to or not.”

Wrestling flits of anxiety, Deedri closes her eyes. Modoran lowers his face closer to hers and whispers. “It’s going to be okay.”

Opening her auburn eyes, Deedri smirks, releases the ball of comforter, and guides Modoran into a kiss with her free hand. Moments of quiet after, she parts from the kiss, combs Modoran’s grayish white hair, and smiles. “I know. I’m glad it’s out there. I’m just still... worried?”

Modoran quirks his brow and gently squeezes Deedri’s hand. “About what?”

Twisting her mouth uncertainly, Deedri furrows her gaze. “Um, thinking if your family is going to be, I guess, okay with me?”

Blinking blankly, Modoran pauses in thought a moment with an amused smirk. He holds Deedri close, smiles warmly, and laughs softly. “You stood up against one of the more annoying Evuukian nobility, scolded him about proper procedures, and then taught him a lesson that over half the Evuukian houses have wanted to for years.”

Deedri glances around, fighting the impish grin slipping out, and faint hints of color tint her cheeks. “I guess. I just hope it’ll be seen for the self defense it was.”

Modoran shakes his head with a chuckle and gazes proudly into Deedri’s auburn eyes. “The only way it could have been better was if it was a dumpster behind a Lennie’s.”

Squelching a reflexive snort, Deedri covers her mouth and snickers devilishly. “Gods, having someone of nobility shit behind their dumpster would be a step up for Lennie’s.”

Modoran grimaces in between a laugh and drops his head down. “They’d totally pay for that kind of clout, too.”

Deedri rolls her eyes, flicks her furry ears low, and quips. “It’s three in the morning after a show, where are you going to go?”

Both Modoran and Deedri laugh and hold each other close. After regaining a bit of composure, both enjoy the quiet, close moment. Modoran smiles a Deedri and whispers. “Feeling better?”

Deedri nods slowly and sighs. “Yeah. Thank you. I love you.”

Modoran meets Deedri with a kiss. “I love you, too.”

He pauses to gaze at Deedri and starts to shift over to his side of the bed. “Well, we should probably get some slee-”

Halting, he glances down briefly and lifts an intrigued brow towards Deedri. “Okay... That tail brush was on purpose.”

With a flash of playful guilt, Deedri grins eagerly, squeezes Modoran’s hand, and leads her arm around his neck. “Well... I’d sleep better if I didn’t have all this nervous energy.”

Modoran nods with a nonchalant smirk and follows Deedri’s guidance. “I think I can help you with that.”

----

In a large auditorium, Chad, Veevi, Tassilda, Trakenthin, Modoran, and Deedri sit behind a long table upon stage. From the seated crowd, eager fans line up behind a microphone. An assistant motions for the next person to step up and adjusts the stand for their height. The young woman suppresses her excitement, steps up close, and eagerly inquires. “Hey! Totally been a fan of this show and ESPECIALLY this season! My question is for Modoran.”

A crack in Modoran’s nonchalant facade flits open briefly and he musters up a muted smirk. “Yes?”

The young woman draws in a long breath and continues. “So, with the big reveal of you and Deedri being together... How long have you been hiding this from everyone? AND, when did you first start thinking about her?”

Modoran blinks a moment, chuckles awkwardly, and glances over to Deedri. “Uh, how long have we been hiding this, um... Two months?”

Reaching her hand over, Deedri grasps onto Modoran’s forearm and gently squeezes with an encouraging smile. “Yes.”

Recollecting his nonchalant attitude, he projects his confidence and presents a laid back smirk to the audience. “It wasn’t long after meeting her that I was thrown head over heels. So, I always was interested. It just wasn’t until recently that we figured it was mutual.”

Trakenthin cocks his head to the side and twists his dark bronze face curiously. “Literally thrown?”

Modoran glances over and nods. “Yeah.”

Narrowing his gaze into his memory, Trakenthin’s hazel eyes search for a few moments and he chuckles to himself. “Oh. Then. Understandable.”

Murmurs of discussion between different groups drone up from the audience. Flits of intelligible words rise out of the debates.

“...wait, what does he know?”

“Oh, it’s definitely real. He can barely keep his cool...”

“...they’re so cute together...”

The young woman rushes back to her group seated in the audience and the gathering excitedly discusses between themselves. A young man steps up to the microphone. While he states his question to the team, Samantha stands at the far back wall with an eager grin as she sorts through her notes. She keeps an aetherphone pressed to her ear and rests her clipboard upon a foldout table. “Oh, Howie, this weekend has been a GOLD MINE. Oh. My. Gods.”

She brushes back stray locks of her brown, shoulder-length hair and her hazel eyes watch the fan questions. Her attention settles upon Veevi and she observes the sparks of irritation slip out. “Yeah, I can tell she’s definitely not liking having none of the attention. I can’t wait for when it finally boils over. This has to be eating her up.”

Slowly nodding her head, an evil, plotting grin grows upon Samantha’s fair face and she chuckles quietly. “Yes, I’m sure she’ll stir something back up. Get those ratings back where they should be.”

Off to the side, Gerald glances over from his mounted camera, frowns, and grumbles to himself as he resumes observing the question and answer forum. As the fans react to the latest question, another young woman approaches the microphone after a prompt from the assistant. She gazes over to Veevi and speaks up. “Hi, um, my question is to Veevi.”

Veevi’s fuzzy ears perk, she snaps her interested stare over with a sharp grin on her tan face. Tossing her pink hair back, she sits up in her seat and flutters her pink pupil eyes. “Finally! Someone asking the pressing questions. What do you want to know?”

The young woman smiles brightly and works up to the question. “I know it probably hasn’t been long enough for anything new to happen, but... Do you have anything to say about Odellon getting you into a movie with him?! I could totally see you starting with him!”

Despite the struggle to maintain her confident exterior, Veevi manages to subdue a twitch of her cheek and laugh dismissively. “As much as I would LOVE to say something, I can’t reveal anything at the moment. You know how it goes. Lawyers negotiating contracts in secret and movie scheduling is so demanding.”

She smiles to the young woman and winks with a giggle. “But, we’ll see. I mean, Odellon would be insane to refuse a proper actress like myself staring with him in his next project.”

With a satisfactory answer, the young woman steps away from the microphone and finds her seat. Veevi smiles confidently to the murmur of the audience, while her hand clenches the table edge and her sharp nails dig into the table’s wooden underside. As the surge of fan conversations wane, new sounds crest over the background noise. Shouts muffle in from pairs of exit doors along the long wall. Surges of loud, fast foot traffic travel down the length from the other side. A growing cacophony of metallic clangs echo louder by the moment. The recording crews along the back glance around and search for a source in their confusion. Samantha blinks at Gerald. “What the hell is that noise?”

Gerald shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know-”

A loud slam shakes the nearby metal double doors. Another hard hit resonates and rattles loose bits of the supprots. The crew quickly vacates away from the door. As the blatant confusion and fear grow in the crew, the fans nearest the pounding exit doors move away. Chad stands up from his chair, stares at Samantha’s uncertain body language, and picks up his microphone. “Everyone! If you could, please move away from those doors and clear a way for us.”

Tensions drive the large group of people away towards the opposing wall. Chad signals the team and readies his sword. Trakenthin joins up with Chad. Modoran and Tassilda follow up behind and prepare themselves. Deedri maintains a distance behind the team and trains her furry, tufted ears ahead. “It sounds... Robotic?”

Veevi glances between the team moving forward and the cowering crowd. She starts to trail far behind the team, slows her progress, and stops in the middle of the room. Between the team forming around the rattling doors and the mass of fans and crew, she draws a deep breath and turns to the people. “Okay! Let’s just gather over here and move towards the other exit doors! Just follow me!”

With a solid pound, the middle post breaks loose and the metal doors bend out to the sides. Stepping through, a battered, rusty construction bot staggers in. It lumbers forward with jerky motions, scans the area, and pivots towards the Chad and Trakenthin. Narrowing his stare at the robot, Chad tilts his head uncertainly and calls out to the rest of the team. “That looks like a construction droid. A really old one.”

Trakenthin glances over to Chad and holds his blade at the ready. “What is it doing here?”

Donning his shield, Chad wields his sword expectantly and grimaces. “Not sure, but it looks like something is wrong with it.”

He pauses in thought and shouts at the construction droid. “Robot! State your designation!”

Upon the faded yellow, orange, and black paint, faint traces of gloss reflect the overhead lighting. The humanoid robot halts a moment, shakily stands up straight, and rotates its armored head to Chad. “P-P-P-Processing r-r-r-request... This unit’s d-d-d-designation is Foreman Zero Zero.”

Chad blinks his brown eyes, twist his mouth curiously, and glances around to the rest of the team. “Foreman Zero Zero. State your function.”

Foreman Zero Zero shudders, sways upon its legs, and replies with wavering inflection. “Construction and surveyor- PRIORITY OVER-RIDE. NEW BEHAVIOR DICTATED.”

The team exchange awkward perplexed glances between each other, while crew and audience far behind search similarly for some kind of explanation. Foreman Zero Zero’s form perks up as servos activate, yellow spinning hazard lights flash, and hydraulic motors groan. “MUST BREAK TARGET INTO COMPONENT MATERIALS.”

A wave of shock widens the eyes of all in attendance. Chad readies his shield and yells out. “Anyone got a clear shot?!”

Both Modoran and Tassilda reply. “YES!”

Modoran finishes a flowing a surge of magical energy into his bow and the power charges up the arrow. Lining up his aim, he releases the arrow and it streaks immediately into the armored head of Foreman Zero Zero. With a final gesture, Tassilda flings forth a swarm of magical bolts up into the air. The dozen bolts swirl upwards towards the ceiling and sharply zip down in a pelting barrage. The bolts of force burst powerfully upon the metal chassis of the robot, and the series of impact tips the machine off balance. Chad gestures his sword forward and rushes with his shield leading. “Bash and stab!”

He slams his full weight into the teetering droid and shoves it completely off balance. Trakenthin charges afterwards, lifts his massive blade up, and drops it down upon the intersection of metal head and torso. After a few hacks from Trakenthin and stabs by Chad, a plume of acrid smoke vents from Foreman Zero Zero and the robot’s systems audibly power down.

In the moment of silence, Chad steps back with Trakenthin and glances around at the situation in the room. From the open doors, faint sounds of yells and lumbering thumps waft into the room. Chad draws in a long breath, straightens his posture, and turns to the team. “Sounds like there’s more. Okay...”

He address Trakenthin, Modoran, Tassilda, and Deedri with firm tone. “First, we need to get everyone here to safety. I think the best chance is to head to the main hall, since it leads to the main entrance. If that’s clear, good. People can evacuate, then we start figuring out what to do from there.”

Searching for reaction from the team, he sighs with traces of nervousness. “Sound good?”

Trakenthin nods in conformation. “Yes. I agree.”

Tassilda stretches her arms out, ties her raven black hair back, and smirks. “Time to get serious.”

Modoran grants a thumbs up and Deedri nods. Chad looks past the team, narrows his stare at Veevi, and calls out. “Veevi!”

Veevi startles and sheepishly glances over her shoulder. “Uh, yes?!”

Chad summons up a confident smile and nods to Veevi. “Help direct people out of here.”

Darting her eyes around, an awkward smirk overlays the fear on Veevi’s face and she musters up some composure. “Uh, ah, yes! I can do that!”

Shifting his attention over, Chad spots Samantha on her aetherphone, narrows his glare, and shouts. “SAMANTHA! Stop talking to Howard, and CALL THE GODS DAMNED AUTHORITIES!”

Samantha blinks blankly and notices the combined attention of crew and fans focusing upon her. Chad pivots around, eyes the smoldering droid, and rolls his shoulders. “Okay. Keep it close. Let’s the clear path.”

----

Lounging upon the couch in the living area, Bach idly scrolls through an aethersite on his phone and yawns. Flicking her furry ears back, Cideeda pulls a fine tip paintbrush away from a figurine and fights back the urge to yawn. She grimaces and squelches most of it. With a few wags of her long tail, she glances over her shoulder, narrows her emerald green eyes, and sighs. “Don’t start that. It’s too early to be doing that.”

Bach flutters his eyes, pulls himself up against the arm of the couch, and rolls his blue eyes. “Sorry. Just a slow day. It’s been really peaceful and quiet.”

Cracking a smirk on her light brown face, Cideeda perks her furry ears, lifts an amused brow, and grumbles playfully. “Oh, now you’ve gone and jinxed it. You should have left it alone.”

Cocking his head to the side, Bach gazes over to Cideeda and snorts. “Really? I mean, what could possibly happen on a Saturday, around this town?”

Cideeda shakes her head of short, multi-colored hair, focuses her gaze upon the armored humanoid figure in her hand, and picks some excess paint off with a claw tip. She speaks out a few quick phrases in a dialect of fvalian. Bach pauses his aetherphone browsing and ponders a moment. “What did you say?”

With a humored smile, Cideeda flicks her tail, and eyes Bach over her shoulder. “Don’t tempt Fate. Fate might be listening.”

Sitting up in his seat on the couch, Bach narrows his attention at Cideeda, tilts his head to the side, and smirks intrigued. “Okay. Anything I can do to appease Fate to avoid bad fortune?”

With a toothy grin, Cideeda chuckles and slowly shakes her head. “Unfortunately, if Fate has decided, it’s going to happen. There’s very little you can do to sway her once she’s decided to include you in events. The best you can hope for is to thank her for the good and ask her to keep you out of the bad.”

Bach crosses his arms, searches around his mind, and twists his mouth on his tan face. “If she has already decided, then what harm does me stating things are peaceful and quiet do?”

Placing the war game unit on the table top, Cideeda’s emerald green eyes admire the drying paint and she angles her view around it. “It’s complicated and bigger than that. The context you said it in matters. You sounded bored. And, Fate is always making decisions on how many events all around us are going. So, you have to be careful to not ask to be added to those events.”

Contemplating on the subject, Bach rocks his head side to side, glances around uncertainly, and awkwardly smirks. “I don’t know how I feel about that.”

An understanding smile appears on Cideeda’s face and she turns in the chair at the dining table to face Bach. “Yeah, that’s how everyone feels at first.”

From the hallway archway, Sotalia walks in with her aetherphone in hand and glances between Bach and Cideeda. “Has anyone checked the local news? I got a message from Tassilda that some robots are attacking that convention center?”

Aristespha’s voice echoes from down the hallway. “I just got one from Deedri! The same thing.”

Dretphi calls out from her room as aetherphones chime out alarms. “Guild Alert!”

Bach and Cideeda check their aetherphones, while Sotalia taps to the message. As everyone reads the alert in surprise, Sebastian hovers over next to Sotalia in the hallway. He peeks out into the living area and address the team. “Any objections?”

Sotalia shakes her head, pivots swiftly around, and sprints off to her room. “Getting ready now!”

Movement sounds out from Dretphi’s room and she calls out. “No. We should go!”

Aristespha’s voice sounds out from her room at the end of the hall. “I’ll tell the guild we’re responding and see if Deedri can give me any more info!”

Cideeda scoots her chair back, quickly closes up her paints, and places her projects safely in the middle of the table. “I’ll get the humvee started after I grab my gear.”

Bach quickly pulls himself off the couch onto his feet. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

Sebastian nods to both Bach and Cideeda with a proud smile, and darts back down the hall. As Bach and Cideeda move to the hallway archway, Cideeda cracks a toothy grin at Bach and winks to him. “Peaceful and quiet, huh?”

Bach contorts his expression, averts his gaze with flits of embarrassment, and groans with a trailing sigh. “Yeah... I shouldn’t have said anything.”

He gazes down at Cideeda and smirks with a chuckle. “Is there a shrine for eating your words? I might need to visit that one.”

A flit of warmth fills Cideeda’s smile and she glances up to Bach with a quick claw tip squeeze on his forearm. “There’s a few. I’ll show you them next time we go.”

----

An arc of electricity flashes out and lights up the large T intersection of the main halls. The construction droid rattles as the many status lights flicker erratically and shudders in place. Trakenthin charges forth, swings his large, two-handed blade low, and drives the sharp edge into knee joints. The robot tumbles forward and crashes onto the tile floor in an echoing clatter of metal. Tassilda steps forward finishing the gestures to a series of incantations. “Step back from it!”

Trakenthin yanks his blade clear, hops back, and stands next to Tassilda. Thrusting her palms forward, magical flows rush out to her fingertips. Streaks of electricity launch out into long, continuous arcs. Crackles of power spark along the metal chassis of the droid, and it shakes violently. As the barrage of electricity conducts through the machine, smoke billows out in dark plumes and blue-white light flashes from the divides between joints. Tassilda releases the spell, shakes the remaining magical miasma off her black nailed fingers, and keeps her light blue on black eyes trained expectantly on the failing droid.

After a few moments, Trakenthin cautiously approaches the machine, pokes it a few times with his great sword, and waits. He glances over his shoulder to Tassilda and shrugs. Tassilda nods, pivots around, and watches Chad drive his blade deep into the neck segmentation of another construction bot. As Chad steps away from the droid, Modoran draws back an arrow in his finely crafted bow. Flows of magic swirl around his forearm. The energy sinks into the bow, radiates out to the string, and condenses onto the arrow. Taking careful aim, he waits with his dark blue eyes wide and body tense. The robot shudders, status lights sporadically flick on, and garbled speech spews forth. “DAMAGE DETECTED. COMPENSATION SYSTEMS-”

A streak of prismatic energy ends upon its head and the armored frame shakes with the impact of the arrow through the thick metal exterior. Chad squints as he studies the machine. His head snaps to a detail, and he rushes up to the robot. Jamming the tip of his sword between gap, he drops his weigh down and frees open a maintenance door. Reaching quickly inside, his gauntlet covered hand grips onto a device, and he yanks out a cylinder. The robot immediately ceases all function. Moments of relative quiet later, Chad glances at the power cell in his hand, tosses it to the side, and sighs. “Okay. That wasn’t too terrible. But, I don’t think we want to deal with more than two at a time.”

Trakenthin nods and walks over to Chad. “Agreed. Still dangerous. Seem dysfunctional?”

Searching around the area, Modoran alternates his gaze down the halls of the intersection and twists his mouth uncertainly. “Yeah. They don’t seem to be working right at all. Well, I mean they’re supposed to be construction bots. Still, I was expecting a little more out of them?”

Chad narrows his attention to the nearby downed droid and carefully inspects it. “These things are ancient. I’m surprised they are working as well as they are. But, something is not right with their programming.”

Quirking an eyebrow on her gray, patterned face, Tassilda guides a stray lock of raven black hair over her swirling horns and rest her hands on her hips. “Well, you’d think civil service robots shouldn’t be trying to murder people.”

Cocking his head to the side, Chad grimaces and briefly grits his teeth. “Well, yeah. There’s something else going on here. But, I can’t figure it out.”

Deedri shakes her head and droops her furry ears. “Well, I think we should be thankful that who or what worked on these robots flubbed it. I hate to think of the harm they could cause if they were doing more than bumbling around.”

Drawing in a long breath, Chad surveys the area slowly and stares down both runs of the main hall from the perpendicular part of the intersection. He straightens his posture, pivots to face the team, and addresses. “Okay. First, Deedri and Tassilda, any word from the other team?”

Perking her furry, tufted ears up, Deedri smiles hopefully and nods. “Yes. The guild put out an alert and they on their way here.”

Tassilda smirks and stretches her neck. “Also, I think they’re contacting some people they know in government or something. Hopefully, if there’s anything else coming, they’ll take care of it.”

Chad wrestles his thoughts on his face, searches his mind, and ponders out loud. “Okay. Priority one, we need to make sure no one inside this place is trapped or hurt. If we can, we take these things out. But, I think should hold back on that so we don’t waste time.”

He pauses, sighs uneasily, and frowns slightly. “Since time is important, I think we need to split up to cover more ground.”

Pointing at Tassilda and Trakenthin, he motions down one run of the intersection. “Tassilda and Trakenthin, could you go down that way and check for any one who needs help?”

Both Tassilda and Trakenthin nod in acceptance. Chad smiles appreciatively and glances over to Modoran. “Modoran, you okay with teaming up with me and heading down the other direction?”

Modoran slowly nods but winces apprehensively. “Yeah, but what about Deedri?”

Chad gazes over to Deedri and sighs. “Deedri, do you think you’d be okay to stay here and help point people in the right direction? I hate to leave you alone, but...”

With a confident smile, Deedri straightens her posture and nods. “No, it’s fine. We’ve cleared out everything leading up here. The main exit is just down the way we came...”

She perks her furry ears and steps towards the middle of the intersection. “And, I can easily hear anything coming from right here. So, I’m not sticking around in plain sight if I hear metal clanking closer and closer. I do have a few offense spells, too.”

Her ears droop and concern fills her face. “Also, someone needs to make sure the people you find don’t wander off right into trouble again.”

With an exhale of relief, Chad bows respectfully to Deedri. “Thank you.”

He pivots, starts walking to Modoran, and calls out to everyone. “Okay, report in every ten minutes, and don’t engage any more than one bot at time. Sweep and return back here!”

An aetherphone chime rings out from Chad’s pocket, and he fishes out his phone. Tapping the answer button, he sternly answers the call. “YES, Samantha?”

His brown eyes dart around and his brow furrows. His distant stare widens and he growls out a loud groan. “You’ve GOT to be kidding me! How did you lose track of her?!”

Deedri, Modoran, Trakenthin, and Tassilda watch curiously and exchange uneasy glances. Chad pinches the bridge of his nose, hisses a sharp breath through, and exhales harshly. “NO! It’s fine! I’ll look for her. Just see if you can use any of the cameras you all jammed up this place’s ass to find her! Okay?”

Chad firmly presses the end call button on screen, plops his phone into his pocket, and sighs out his frustration. “As you may have guessed... Somehow Veevi got separated from the group when a broken bot spooked everyone. People are okay and got out, but she’s nowhere to be found.”

He draws in a long breath and grimaces. “I’m going to go look for her. Modoran, you can either stay here with Deedri or join up with Tassilda and Trakenthin. We need to at least sweep one branch to make sure we help who we can.”

Modoran smirks nonchalantly and chuckles. “I’ll check down the path. You can join up with me after you find her.”

Chad blinks and slowly shakes his head. “I don’t want to send you out into danger alone-”

Waving off the concern, a confident grins grown on Modoran’s dusky bluish gray face and he gestures out an incantation with his free hand. “Don’t worry. I got good hearing, long range, and stealth. I’ll be fine to scout out ahead.”

Wrestling with his judgment, Chad nods to Modoran with a smirk. “Okay. I’ll try to back to you all as soon as possible.”

Trakenthin and Tassilda moves down one end of the intersection, Modoran slinks into transparency along the other run, and Chad rushes through the remaining stretch. Deedri eases out a calming breath, surveys the area, and walks into the obscuring cover between two Next Adventurers of Nexus displays. She closes her auburn eyes a moment and listens the distant sounds of Trakenthin, Tassilda, Modoran, and Chad. With a nod, she reopens her eyes, slips off her pack, and inspects her medical supplies.

----

Motioning down the hall, Tassilda directs a few fans exiting the safety of a closet. “Down to the main hall, take a left, and look for Deedri.”

The people rush off and run for safety. Trakenthin glances around to the empty vendor stalls, slowly steps over to counters, and carefully inspects the area. “Nothing here.”

Tassilda rests her hands on her hips, surveys the vicinity, and nods. “I think that might be everyone down this way. We should follow back and-”

A loud shout echoes out from the end of the corridor. Displays topple over, metal rattles, and sounds of struggle fill the air. A tall young woman backs away, steadies herself at the ready, and hoists up a long metal support tube. Stepping through the freshly tossed debris, a battered construction robot with heavy hydraulic arms staggers forward, and pounds its reinforced feet up on the tile floor. Summoning up courage into her frantic tan face, the young, tall woman grips the pipe firmly with tensing muscle definition in her arms, and grits her teeth between panicked breaths. Tossing her long silvery hair back, she narrows her piercing hazel eyes at the approaching bot, plants her feet, and readies herself. Rearing the length of the metal back, she swings hard at the armored head of the machine and slams the support piece solidly upon the chassis. The weaker aluminum bends around the reinforced shell of the robot, and she releases her grip upon it. Hydraulic claws of the droid clamp onto the tubing and work to pry it off.

The young woman backpedals, spouts out a few grath curses, and searches around behind her. Her piercing hazel eyes widen briefly, and she draws out a metal replica greatsword from a display piece. Gripping with both hands, she assumes a practiced stance, positions her feet, and readies the faux weapon at the construction bot. Trakenthin momentarily squints his eyes. In utter surprise and shock, his hazel eyes spring wide in recognition. He drops the visor of his helm and charges forward in a full sprint. Tassilda blinks blankly, regathers her awareness, and follows close behind.

Keeping her distance from the lumbering humanoid machine, the young woman studiously watches the robot’s movements and waits. The droid steps forward with leads with a heavy arm swing. The replica greatsword interdicts path of the attack and directs the force away, while the woman sidesteps. Building up momentum, the young woman pivots around tightly, pulls her blade with the motion, and guides the arc to a torso joint. The metal of sword and robot chassis ring out. Flecks of rust stained paint flake off. And, a few sparks spring from the impact. The woman follows through, pulls the sword into another arc, and spins with the momentum. Shifting her footing, she swings down, powers it up and over, and drops the blunt blade down with all her force.

The large sword crashes onto the head of the construction droid and drives a deep dent into the protective plating. A satisfied grin emerges upon the woman’s tan face. As the droid remains motionless and inert, she pants loudly, blinks back to her senses, and yanks on the blade. After a few powerful tugs, the blade remains lodged in the dented chassis of the construction droid. The machine stirs back to life. Sensor arrays scan the area, status lights flash online, and a hydraulic motor winds up to full power. A powerful sheering claw clamps down on the middle of the sword. With a groaning whine and rush of fluid, the edge of the cutter presses through the cheap metal of the replica. A sharp snap rings out into the surrounding hall. The woman stumbles back, regains her balance, and hoists up her blade. She blinks blankly at the empty space where a majority of the weapon used to be, and cringes. “Oh, shit...”

Prying the blade out of its mechanical skull, the droid’s sensors focus upon the young woman and it lumbers forward. Stepping away, the woman glances over to the side and her piercing hazel eyes widen in awe. Trakenthin lunges forward from his sprint, swings his blade with his full might low, and drives his sword behind the knee joints of the machine. The sharp edge severs electrical connections with crackling sparks, slices hydraulic lines into sprays of fluid, and shatters apart structure into metal fragments. As the robot topples backwards, Trakenthin stands up, pulls the greatsword with his motion, and drives it up. From up high, he slams the massive blade down upon the torso cavity. The machine’s frame buckles under the powerful blow. Moments later, acrid smoke bursts forth from the cracks and hydraulic fluid spews out onto the tile work.

Stepping cautiously away from the shuddering pile of robot, Trakenthin positions himself defensively in front of the young woman. Tassilda finishes an incantation, points her finger, and releases an arc of electricity. After the current conducts through the bot, the surge of power renders it inert and motionless.

Quiet returns the area, and Tassilda sighs out her relief. “Well, that was quite too close.”

Trakenthin flips up his visor, gazes at the young, tall woman, and asks with anxious concern. “Shayuri, are you okay?”

Shayuri blinks in astonishment, smiles awkwardly, and nods with a laugh. “Uh, um, yeah! I guess I am. Yeah... Huh...”

She brushes back her long, silvery hair with her hand of reddened knuckles. Trakenthin spots the injuries as worry slips into his tone. “Is your hand okay? Do you need a bandage?”

Averting her piercing hazel eyes way, Shayuri notices the traces of smeared blood on her knuckles and rubs her hand with a bit of embarrassment. “Oh! I’m fine. Really. When that robot walked into my hiding spot, I punched it.”

She twists her mouth, rolls her eyes, and sighs. “It wasn’t very ineffective... To say the least.”

Tassilda rests her hands on hips, cracks a smirk, and glances around. “I have to say that was impressive regardless. Before we converse more, was there anyone else with you? Did you see anyone go by?”

Shayuri ponders a moment and shakes her head. “No. I think I’m the only one that went this far. When the robots broke in, I decided to run away and find somewhere quiet to wait it out.”

Straightening her tall frame, she bites her lower lip and shrugs her shoulders. “I’m not the best at hiding, so I figured out running them was a better plan. Of course, I got tired and tried to rest behind a counter. And, so here we are.”

Hint of relief appears upon Trakenthin’s face and he glances over to Tassilda. “Think we can head back.”

Tassilda nods in agreement, glances between Shayuri and Trakenthin, and smiles. “Yes, no need to stay around here longer than we should. All that noise may have-”

Loud clanks and rattling metal echo down the hall. Tassilda, Trakenthin, and Shayuri slowly pivot and stare down the wide corridor. From two side branch passages, a pair of construction droids amble out, sweep their sensor packages, and stagger towards the trio. Tassilda quickly gestures up an incantation, flows the magical energy into her hands, and grips hold of the condensed power in her hands. “Oh, of course. It’s ALWAYS when you are almost done that real trouble shows up.”

Trakenthin narrows his glare ahead, contorts his face in thought, and grimaces. “Two is risky. Weaken them first from a distance.”

With frown, Tassilda glances up to Trakenthin and shakes her head. “Yes. That would help, but I’m still quite apprehensive about two versus two.”

Searching his mind, Trakenthin’s hazel eyes flit widen and hopeful smirk appears. He turns to Shayuri, smiles awkwardly, and gazes at her. “Have you handled a proper sword before?”

Shayuri smiles nervously and takes a deep breath in. “Yes. My mother has taught me the basics.”

Trakenthin nods and offers the handle of his greatsword to Shayuri. “Could you use this to defend yourself. Hope it will not be needed.”

Flitting her eyes wide, Shayuri nods, grips hold of the weapon, and hoists up the weight competently with her upper body muscles flexing. “Wow! Um, Yes! I’ll try to keep out the way, but I’ll hit what you two tell me to.”

Trakenthin glances over to the attention of Tassilda. “Any issues?”

Tassilda guides a stray lock of raven black hair over her horn, narrows her light blue on black eyes, and cracks an intrigued grin. “To be honest, I am curious what she might be capable of with a real weapon.”

She pauses a moment and narrows her scrutiny on Trakenthin. “But, what are you going to use?”

Trakenthin reaches his hand down, and taps a button above section of his hip plating. A compartment opens and a holster pops out. Trakenthin draws the long barreled, electromagnetic pistol, twirls it into a firm grip, and powers it on. A high pitched whine rises up from the background, and weapon’s status lights flick to ready states. Tassilda and Shayuri question in chorus. “You have a gun?”

Trakenthin rolls his eyes with a groan and nods. He engages a switch on the plated bracer on his opposite arm and positions his forearm in front as an energy barrier materializes. He focuses ahead and levels his aim. “Engage from a distance. Aim for the legs. Immobilize if possible. Move past when an opportunity arises. Run to the meetup.”

Tassilda brings the energy in the palms together, holds her hands out, and surges up the flow. “That is a plan I can work with.”

Shayuri nods excitedly, tightens her grip on Trakenthin’s two-handed sword, and grins eagerly. Trakenthin picks his target, disengages the safety, and squeezes the trigger. A three round burst of thin projectiles flash down the corridor and plunge into the reinforced leg plating of a bot. Loud cracks sound out and faint vaporous projectile trails dissipate. The robot stumbles a moment, gradually regains some coordination, and continues forward slower.

Tassilda nods and shifts her aim to the other. Shayuri readies the blade. Trakenthin sets up for the next shot.

----

Walking fast down the main hall in formation, Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia navigate around knocked over displays, toppled decorations, and the occasional smoldering ruins of a construction bot. Sebastian’s voice sounds out form the sword at Aristespha’s side. “So, where did Deedri say she was?”

Aristespha narrows her distant stare ahead and frowns slightly. “At the T intersection ahead, I believe.”

As the group moves forward, Cideeda lingers back, kneels down next to a disabled droid, and briefly inspects the wreckage. “These things are old, but built tough. It’s really weird to see them in use.”

Bach turns his gaze at Cideeda when she rushes back up to the team. “Any idea why they are attacking people?”

Cideeda shrugs her shoulders, adjusts her vest, and rests her hands on her holstered laser pistols. “Someone programmed them to do it. Just can’t think of how they would do it.”

Stretching her arms out, Sotalia checks her cape, brushes back her fiery orange, wavy hair, and perks her brow. “These are building robots, right? I wouldn’t think going on rampages would be something they could do?”

Holding her hands up at her sides, Cideeda grimaces uncertainly. “You’re right. These aren’t routines or functions they should have. Either someone somehow added new functions to antique robotic systems that goes against their design, which is really hard. Or... Some one figured out how to twist something existing to do this, which isn’t that easy either. The robots just wouldn’t randomly do this.”

Dretphi lifts up her visor, contorts her face uncomfortably, and ponders out loud. “This seems to take significant effort. Why? What is the purpose?”

Slowly shaking his head, Bach frowns and adjusts the fit of his helmet. “Yeah. If you are this good at making these old machines work, I would think you could find better things to do?”

Aristespha’s violet eyes spot movement ahead between two large displays and she signals the group. After a moment, Deedri slips out from hiding, waves down a hall, and motions people to her. A few lost fans rush up in stale panic. Deedri calmly assures them while checking them over. After a quick inspection, she direct them down the hall past the team. When the people quickly vacate the area, Deedri notices everyone and gestures them over with blatant relief on her face. “Oh good! You’re here!”

The group gathers around in the middle of the T-intersection. Deedri breathes easier and smiles appreciatively. “Thank you, I’m so glad you all are here.”

Aristespha nods and surveys the area quickly. “I hope we can help.”

Sebastian’s voice sounds out from the sword. “Where is everyone?”

Flicking her furry, tufted ears around, Deedri blinks her auburn eyes at the blade on Aristespha’s side and cocks her head in confusion. Aristespha smirks awkwardly and quickly rolls her eyes. “Long story. Don’t be frightened. Come on out, Sebastian.”

Sebastian’s ethereal form materializes next Aristespha and he bows respectfully. “Pleased to meet you.”

Deedri perks up her furry ears and blinks as memory sparks in the back of her mind. “Oh, yes! We were told something about this a long time ago about your group and... Well, we’ll talk later.”

With an understanding grin, Sebastian nods and glances around the area. “So, what’s the situation?”

Deedri draws in a long breath, thinks a moment, and gestures through the explanation. “Trakenthin and Tassilda went down this hall. They reported back they reached the end and found one more fan. They are taking it slow coming back, since they ran into some robots after they thought they cleared the path there.”

She shifts her attention to the other run of the hall. “Modoran went that way. He’s only found one bot patrolling a dead end with no one around and found a few people. But, he’s by himself.”

Gazing down the intersection hall, she points distantly behind the team. “Chad went off to try to find Veevi. She got scared off and ran away down another part of the convention center. The last radio message I got clearly, he hadn’t run into anything. But, for some reason his calls are all distorted and I can barely make out anything.”

Sebastian holds his chin and sorts through his thoughts. Drawing in an ethereal breath, he addresses the team. “Okay. Rough draft of a plan. Cideeda. Go and meet up with Trakenthin and Tassilda. You can keep quiet, scout a path for them, and help them get back here. Dretphi, Sotalia. Give Modoran some backup and help him clear out what’s left. Maybe shutdown that one bot, if it’s an issue. Aristespha and Bach. Stay here and keep this area clear.”

As the team mulls over the assignments, Bach cocks his head to the side and quirks his brow. “Shouldn’t someone check on Chad? If his radio signal is acting up, he might not be able to call in for help if he needs it.”

Sebastian grits his teeth briefly, and his visage crosses his arms. “Yeah. Maybe once we get a group back, we can check in on him. But, I don’t want to stretch us thin.”

Bach glances down the intersecting hall and smirks with a bold tinge. “I can go. We’ve already traveled part of this path and he’s reported not seeing anything. How about I head down that direction and see I can get him on the radio?”

Noticing the apprehension on Sebastian’s transparent face, Bach grins confidently and stands up straight. “I think I can handle one of these bots if I run into one... But, I’ll try not to.”

Sebastian pauses, gazes to Bach, and matches his enthusiasm with a chuckle. “Yeah, you know... I definitely think you can. Okay... Any objections?”

After no objections, Sebastian signals the team to split down their paths to their tasks. Sebastian drifts up higher into the air and maintains a watch. Aristespha and Deedri coordinate medical treatment efforts and reinforce their defensive cover.

Overhead, the convention center lighting flickers momentarily. Just above the background noise, a very faint, low, rhythmic thump barely vibrates large windows to the outside. Deedri halts briefly, flicks her ears around, and furrows her brow uncertainly.

-111-

Footsteps upon the tile floors echo out up into the high ceilings of the main mall hallway. Bach glances around at the leftover clusters of disarray near displays and stalls, and searches the area for any recent disturbances. Stepping around the remains of a construction bot in an oozing pool of hydraulic fluid, he pauses a moment. He blinks a few times and twists his mouth uncertainly. Scanning the vicinity, he lifts up the visor of his helmet and darts his blue eyes around. Walking slowly, he pans his gaze around a huge intersection and walks in orbit around the large fountain. He rolls his shoulders anxiously and wrestles flits of discomfort on his face. Standing still, he stares distantly down the corridor runs from the intersection and curls an uneasy frown.

Reaching into his pants pocket, he retrieves his aetherphone. Flipping through menus, he attentively watches a radio application scan through frequencies and the dead noise charting out on the display. Drawing a breath, he glances around the area and rests his hand on the side of his helmet. “Chad? Hey, come in Chad. Can you hear me? This is Bach from the other team. We’re trying to reach you, something is causing problems with the radio.”

After a few moments, blips of noise crackle to distorted surges of volume. Bach carefully listens and grimaces as the interference obscures any coherence. He shakes his head with a long sigh, taps the display on his phone, and tunes in to clearer channels.

Cideeda’s voice chimes out from the headset in Bach’s helmet. “We’re heading back now. There was one more of those bots wandering around. But, I think that’s it.”

After a few moments, Dretphi sounds out from the background crackle. “Modoran found us. One civilian found. Remaining robot eliminated. Proceeding with caution.”

Aristespha calls out with hints of relief. “Sebastian scouted out as far as he could go. So, the main halls near the intersection should be clear. He hasn’t seen any new threats.”

After the radio keys down, Bach breathes in and gazes out into the area. “It’s been clear for me, so far. I haven’t been able to contact Chad using any the channels he should be on. It don’t think my signal is reaching him clearly. Something might be getting to him, but I think it’s as garbled as what I might be getting back from him.”

Moments later, Cideeda responds with tinges of worry. “Yeah, there’s A LOT of interference. We really should not be getting any. Tassilda and Trakenthin haven’t been able to call Chad up on the aether system. It’s really weird.”

She draws in a breath over the call and grumbles uneasily. “But, they can call everyone else and radios are still working between us. Though, the interference is getting worse.”

Bach nods gradually and freezes. A faint, barely audible thumping rises out of the idle drone of the vast open halls beneath arching skylights. Searching for the source in vain, Bach darts his blue eyes around, grits his teeth, and spins around to stare down each hall. The overhead lighting flickers erratically and stabilizes seconds later. Wrestling surges of discomfort on his face, Bach pulls in a stiff breath and frowns with slow hiss through his teeth. Staring distantly into his mind, he contorts his face and speaks calmly on the radio. “This just might be my paranoia speaking, but... Anyone else been getting a really WEIRD feeling about this place... that’s getting stronger?”

The radio remains silent for seconds. Sotalia’s voice crackles out. “Well, I’ve felt that something has been off with the magic in the area. But, then again there’s been some fighting and spells used. So, I don’t know what to compare it to. It definitely doesn’t have the same feel last time we were here.”

Moments of quiet later, a wary, cool tone slips out from Cideeda over the radio. “You too, Bach?”

Bach blinks at the response and grimaces. “Yeah... It feels familiar... In a bad way. I don’t want to jump to conclusions...”

Cideeda’s side of the radio call keys up and a cold tinge colors her voice. “Orth Ridge.”

An uneasy sigh from Dretphi follows the brief moment of quiet. “It feels like Hattan to me. Quiet. Dangerous. Don’t know why.”

Gritting his teeth, Bach stares long down the wide hall, tries a few calming breaths in the radio silence, and keys up his radio. “Yeah... Shit... I don’t want to worry everyone, but... Gods, I swear I keep hearing some low thumping. I don’t know where it is.”

Cideeda quickly replies with a surge of concern. “I’ve been hearing that, too! It’s too quiet and low for me to find it.”

A nervous sigh creeps out from Aristespha over the channel. “Deedri has heard it. And, so have I.”

Aristespha keeps the radio keyed in the lull of conversation. Sebastian's ethereal tone reverberates from a distance over the radio channel. “Okay. Everyone... Keep a look out. Let’s focus on getting everyone back to the meet up. Aristespha has gotten reports the GAA and Rangers have been called in to secure the area, since they don’t know where these things came from. Let’s try to get everyone out of here, and we’ll go from there.”

Agreements chime in from all the team. Seconds later, Aristespha keys up her side of radio call. “Bach, Sebastian is going to see how far he can go towards you and keep watch of your way back. Don’t go too far, yet. We should have a group ready to head your way soon.”

Bach nods and scans the area. “Wasn’t planning on it. I’ll walk a little further out and keep trying on those channels.”

He frowns uneasily, pauses a moment, and steps towards a long hallway off the junction.

----

Outside in the massive parking lot in front of the convention center, Samantha rushes between different crew members and inspects lists upon tablets and clipboards. Pushing through the chaos of people scrambling away and police forming a perimeter, she rushes up to one of the studio trucks. Leaning her back against the side of the vehicle, she gradually collects herself and tries to secure a moment of calm from the anxiety all around. Her hazel eyes flutter and she glances around at the different groups of people gathering. Combing her fingers through her shoulder length, brown hair, she hisses a breath through her teeth, summons up her composure, and spins around. She grips hold of the handle of the nearby door, opens it up, and climbs inside. She peers into the narrow cab and calls out. “Any sign of Veevi on the cameras?”

Gerald glances over, shakes his head, and returns his attention to the bank of monitors. “Nothing yet. Thankfully, we’ve been finding a lot of stragglers and people hiding.”

Samantha nods, pulls out her clipboard from underneath her arm, and flips through a few pages. “Okay. All crew are accounted for. Half the registered guests have been confirmed to have left the area. I’ve got everyone with parts of the registration roster calling people, and a few working with the police to check guests still here.”

Pressing a series of buttons on the main panel, Gerald squints his eyes at the screens ahead and grabs hold of a joystick. “Good. I think all the fans are out of the building. We haven’t found anyone else on the cameras for a while and the teams have directed those out.”

Glancing at Urdi, Radnae, and Harris sitting at different control stations, Samantha frowns briefly and fights the surges of nervousness on her face. “Okay. The guild says the GAA and Rangers are near and will be doing perimeter containment and area searches. I think we’re going to be here awhile.”

With a simple nod in response, Gerald flips a few switches, adjusts the aim of a remote camera, and carefully watches the output on the main screen. “Yeah... Have you been able to call Chad again?”

Samantha shakes her head, twists her unease on her face, and sighs. “No. Any call to him won’t connect and I’m getting nothing on the radio from him. And, I still can’t call up Veevi.”

Gerald narrows his dark brown eyes, shakes his head of short, dark blonde hair, and grimaces hard. “Gods damn it. This shouldn’t be happening. What is going on here?”

Harris directs his voice over. “Hey, Gerald, did outside camera three go down for you?”

Blinking a moment, Gerald shifts his attention over to a side display and nods with a tinge of frustration. “Yeah. What the fuck is going on? Those are good shielded cables, they shouldn’t be getting this much interference. And, they shouldn’t completely cut off.”

Radnae flicks his furry ears, glances over to Gerald, and twists his mouth. “Um, I think something is causing the cameras themselves to shutdown. Outside cam five just came back up, and it’s going through its start up checks.”

Gerald meets Radnae’s gaze, and the two exchange uncertain expressions. He shakes his head and flips through another series of views on the monitor bank. “What the hell is going on?! I know we’ve had those camera in worst spots and they didn’t do this.”

Urdi’s furry ears perk up, and she quickly taps her claw tips upon the control keyboard. “I think I found her! Interview area, camera two!”

Harris, Radnae, and Gerald quickly switch the feeds to the main screens of each of their stations, and Samantha slips behind Gerald. On the main display of Gerald’s console, a stool stands in front of a toppled over backdrop. Peeking out from cover behind a pile of advertising stand debris past the backdrop, Veevi frantically glances around and rushes out from cover. She scrambles down the hall in partial view of the camera and slips out of the shot. Samantha grits her teeth and grumbles. “Dammit! She’s all the way in the interview area. I think that hall leads to that old food court.”

Gerald nods and sighs out his frustration. “Yeah, and we got nothing past this point. Shit. We need to let Chad know.”

Urdi blinks her eyes, cracks a grin, and adjusts her headset. “I got an idea! He’s still probably in a section we have some announcement equipment working. I’ll patch it in to my station and hope he’s listening.”

With a hopeful smile, Gerald shrugs his shoulders and focuses upon the other screens. “Worth a shot at least.”

He pauses and shifts his attention to a side monitor. Pressing a few buttons on the control panel, he swaps out the side feed to the main screen and squints. He leans in close, contorts his face in bewilderment, and blinks. “What the fuck is that?”

Samantha leans over and narrows her stare at the monitor. “What?”

The two watch a video of the outside from a high vantage point. The screen shows a long sidewalk along the side of the building with a thick forest meters beyond a mowed lawn. Moments of still quiet pass. The tops of distant trees abruptly shift, briefly try to move back, and stop. Gerald notices an audio meter measuring and turns up a volume knob. Over the amplified feed, low thumps sound out and wood cracks resonate in the area. Harris and Radnae slowly turn to stare in confusion at Gerald’s display.

Seconds after another tree top falls below the canopy, the feed distorts, an error screen flickers, and the video cuts to a no signal warning.

----

Hurried footsteps echo out into the vacant food court. Veevi scurries out from a decorative column near the center of the large rotunda and frantically glances around. She slides behind a dividing, concrete planter. Scrambling next to the disused low wall, she pants loudly, darts her pink pupil eyes around, and presses her back against the cover. Minutes pass and idle silence settles around Veevi’s slowing breaths. Blinking to some semblance of calm, she cautiously surveys the unused food court. Her attention shifts between dust sprinkled tables, stacked up chairs, and vacant vendor stalls. Wrestling her paranoia within, Veevi pulls her legs up, wraps her shaky arms around, and rests her forehead up her knees. Fighting off tremors of fright, she forces deep, long breaths into her lungs and exhales slowly. Her long, short-hair tail coils around her cowered form, and she sniffs up the traces of tears in her eyes.

Lifting her head up, she glances up into the high, glass ceiling and finds a moment of tranquility in the white, fluffy clouds coasting above. Combing her sharp nails through her long, pink hair, she musters up a bit of composure and mutters to herself. “Okay... Okay... No one is here... Just me... Wait here... Let them take care of it...”

She buries her face in her hands, sniffs up a few more tears, and vents a long sigh through her fingers. Her fuzzy ears perk. Her pink pupil eyes widen. As she straightens her back up against the concrete planter wall, she frantically searches ahead of her. Moments after a fruitless search, her fuzzy ears twitch with each low, distant thump growing from the background noise of the cavernous space. The rhythmic sounds mix with loud wooden cracks and the chaotic, muffled cacophony of branches crashing. Veevi’s eyes lead her head and she gradually peeks over the top of the low wall. Down the far off end of the disused food court, treetops violently shift beyond a tall glass wall.

A few large trees at the edge of the forest topple over and crash to the sides. From the shade of the canopy, a darker, massive humanoid form stomps out. Black ethereal fire fluctuates wildly between a robotic frame and stone plating of magic. The giant golem steps forward, plants its metal alloy foot into the crackling sidewalk, and shifts its mass for the next move. Its metal and crystal skull presses through the glass wall effortlessly. A waterfall of shards wash over the humanoid monstrosity and splash upon the food court floor. Window framework breaks free from anchors and crashes upon shattering tile work. The black fire automaton slowly marches into the court and approaches the center of the rotunda with each foot fall rattling the vicinity.

Veevi gawks in utter horror as unbridled terror freezes her mortified stare ahead. Her hands clench through tremors upon the planter lip on top of the short wall. Moments later, her knees buckle underneath the overwhelming fear and she drops down upon a pooling puddle of absolute fright. Each powerful thump shakes her still and she remains motionless longer with the increasing intensity.

Seconds of silence pass. Veevi blinks her eyes, wrestles her quivering lips into a frown, and leans towards the side of her cover. As her fuzzy ear passes around the corner of the short wall, she freezes. Her eyes widen and her breath halts. A dark, hellish taint poisons the background ambiance and floods out the peaceful tranquility with an unearthly blend of machine drone, energy hums, and chaotic hiss. Swallowing hard, she presses through a surge of fear driven trembles and peeks an eye around.

The nightmare golem stands at the center of the vast space under the high, skylight ceiling. The black energy writhing between machine and magic components rejects the sun light above, and pulses of dark miasma vent out into dispersing mists upon the food court floor. The robotic frame containing the dark flow shifts with hisses of hydraulics, tightening bands of artificial muscle, and glows of magical runes. Powerful, large metal hands idly clench and the inhuman head of the creation scans the area with two dots of blood red in a hollow, dark void.

Veevi remains motionless. Sparks of attention fight past terror and her pink pupil eyes follow the panning, empty stare of the nightmare. Timing a rhythm with the subtle wags of her tail, Veevi’s retreats behind her cover and searches the surrounding vendor stalls. She settles her focus upon one and spots the metal door to a back area. Her glances dart to the vast space above her, the tighter fit of the metal door, and proximity of the nightmare golem. Quelling the surge of quivers over her body, she grits her sharp teeth, peers around the corner of the short wall, and watches the idle scans of the monstrosity.

The huge, dark form stands in place. Its metal and stone plated head repetitiously pans across the area and constantly sweeps the same arcs rhythmically. When its cold stare reaches an extreme, Veevi slinks out fast and slips behind another short planter wall. The skull pans back to the other extreme, holds, and drifts back. Pulling her peek back from around another corner, Veevi scrambles quickly to the vendor stall, slides around the counter, and freezes in place. Seconds of tension weigh down upon her, and she mouths a silent count to herself. Wincing briefly, she carefully looks around the corner and watches the head of nightmare golem turn away from her. Her full focus snaps to the metal door, and she crawls over to the solid barrier. She grips the handle and pulls. It remains in place. The color drains from Veevi’s tan face. Her brown striped arms flex against the immobile door and she strains in vain to budge the door open. Her eyes widen, she glances around, and the head of dark beast begins to swing back. Veevi releases the handle, scrambles back behind the counter, and freezes in place.

Quiet gives way to the hellish drone that looms. Seconds pass and Veevi keeps still as she stares up at the age stained drop ceiling of the vendor stall. A ground shaking thump resonates. Another impact follows, and subsequent grow weaker. A strange relief teases Veevi. She closes her eyes and her fuzzy ears perk to the lessening power of the thunderous footsteps. She eases out her relief and opens her eyes. After she her attention shifts away from the distant sounds that still vibrate the area, a crisp metal clatter seizes her attention.

A collection of stacked pots tips over from the top of a nearby shelf. Veevi gawks in terror as the cookware crashes upon the tile work floor, bounces loudly, and scatters in a cacophony of clangs. Silence stills the air. A fast series of powerful impacts rushes up to the counter and halts on the other side. Veevi remains perfectly still. Her terrified glances search desperately.

Robotic hands crush wood and metal, and rip the counter free. Veevi rolls over and stares up at the nightmare before her. She reflexively gasps and unleashes a shattering shriek that echoes out violently around the food court. Scrambling for footing, she tears off into a sprint. Mid step, a powerful machine grip seizes her around the chest.

The tightening hold clamps down upon her and Veevi struggles to get free. The golem glares coldly down at Veevi and waits. After a few moments, the grip gradually closes down upon Veevi. She frantically flails around, futilely pulls against uncaring steel, and gritting her teeth as the mix of machine and magic presses upon her torso. Her desperate pants shrink. She fights against the forces upon her rib cage for each shallow gasp. Between forcing out screams of help, a few muffled cracks from within sound and Veevi barely manages a yelp of pain. With tears streaming down her face, she struggles for consciousness and uses the last bit of strength to claw against the robotic hand crushing her. Her hope fades.

A laser blast drags across the metal and crystal head of the machine. Another beam rocks the unnatural skull, and the nightmare golem spins around to face the barrage of attacks. Chad charges forth at full speed with his laser pistol leading and sword at the ready. With another volley of laser blasts pelting the monstrosity’s attention, Chad rushes in close, stabs his blade into the wrist joint of the machine, and violently thrashes the edge deep within. Loud clanks rattle out and sparks spray out from the robotic mechanism. The grip around Veevi shudders to a full release, and Chad yanks his sword free. Veevi flops onto the ground, reflexively gasps for a deep breath, and winces in pain.

The nightmare wails out a flood of unnatural and synthetic tones. It steps back, straightens its imposing metal and stone frame, and glares blood red upon dark void eyes down upon Chad. Stepping over quickly, Chad kneels down next to Veevi and checks on her. “Veevi. Are you okay?”

Veevi gazes up with tear stained eyes, fights through the pain, and whimpers. “I don’t think so...”

Chad glances back at the towering amalgamation of magic, tech, and terror. He grits his teeth uneasily, and nods to Veevi. “Okay... Get to cover. I’m going to keep it busy.”

Watching the shifting form of the nightmare golem, Chad points his blade down the corridor away from the food court, aims his pistol, and directs his voice at Veevi. “Catch your breath, stay in cover, and get ready to run that way when I tell you to.”

Blinking back to awareness, Veevi notes the direction, gazes up to Chad in her confusion, and shakily asks. “What are you going to do?”

Chad stands up straight, steps in between the monster and Veevi, and lines up a shot with his pistol. “Make myself the target.”

He pulls the trigger, drags another beam across the metal, stone, and dark energy form of the golem. Side stepping away from Veevi, he fires blast after blast upon the towering, black fire entity and yells out. “You going to do something about me or what?! Plenty charge left to crack open that beer can you call a body! What are you waiting for, asshole?!”

With each scorching trail upon the armored exterior, the nightmare golem’s head leads the rest of the imposing form to follow Chad’s movements. When the glowing blood glare shifts completely away from Veevi, she crawls over away behind the cover of another planter wall and pants heavily while clutching her sides. Concentrating his fire at the head of the monster, Chad back pedals away from the designated exit, waits for the nightmare golem to step forward, and releases another volley. Tense second pass, the creature slams each tile shattering footstep forward, flexes robotic hands, and shifts its black energy form within its frame.

A shrill alarm screams out from the pistol after Chad pulls the trigger. Glancing at the weapon, Chad grimaces at the various warning lights flashing on the pistol and eyes the lumbering monster closing in. He holsters the laser pistol, retrieves his shield from his back, and readies himself while yelling out. “Veevi! Are you about ready?”

Veevi forces out a call with tinges of pain and exhaustion. “I’m trying... A little longer... I’m sorry...”

With a concerned frown, Chad musters up his resolve, tightens the grip on sword, and shout back encouragingly. “It’s okay! Just tell me when you are ready. I’ll draw it far away.”

He concentrates his full focus upon the light absorbing shape of the nightmare before him, summons up his courage, and grins boldly. “Gods almighty, I’m such a dumbass.”

Carefully stepping towards the towering creature, Chad watches the fluctuating black energies of the monster and listens to the mixture of chaotic drone, hydraulic hisses, and magical hums. He hops forward. The golem’s darkness flares within confines of its frame and a robotic hand quickly swipes out. Chad leaps back with his shield guarding the dodge. When the attack finishes, Chad jumps forward into its recovery, drives his blade forward, and sinks his sword into the dark energy of the nightmare’s forearm. Wrenching the sword within the amorphous mass, Chad slices through the thick energy and searches for vital points with the sharp edges. A corrupted growl vibrates in the room, and the monster pulls its arm away from the assault. Seizing the opportunity, Chad yanks his sword clear and darts his brown eyes around to other similar points.

With quick thrusts, Chad violently probes his blade into the dark energy forms, gaps between plating, and spaces of joints. He orbits around the beast, slashes at other possible spots, and backs away. After each attack, his eyes watch the golem’s reaction and his ears listen to the noises. The nightmare’s full focus rests upon Chad as it closes in on him. Chad steps back, maintains a distance just outside the demonstrated reach, and waits cautiously. In the tense standoff, he glances away from the monster and watches the stains of black energy plume upon his blade. He blinks in utter confusion and tries to shake the dark flames off his sword.

Rushes of fluid, clanks of metal, and surge of chaotic noise echo out from the beast. It draws its arm back, clenches a robotic fist, and drives it forward. Chad raises his shield, steps back, and watches carefully. His eyes widen in shock when the nightmare golem’s arm stretches beyond the detached restraints of its frame. Bracing against his shield, Chad catches the impact. The force shoves Chad onto the floor, and he slides upon the back of his breastplate. Veevi’s panicked voice yells out over the shift of metal and hum of energy. “Chad?! Are you okay?!”

Chad blinks his eyes open, checks his helm, and groans out. “Yeah... I’m fine. Just fine... Fuck...”

With each thunderous step forward, Chad forces another motion, gets his legs back under himself, and stands up at the ready. “Just get ready! He’s mad at me! He shouldn’t care about you.”

Veevi nods with a wince behind cover. She struggles against her trembling form to peek out from behind the wall. She flinches and lowers her fuzzy ears with the clashes of metal, crushing thumps of footsteps, splinters of furniture, and crumbling of concrete. After a fluid rush, metal clang, and a surge of chaotic droning, a solid clang resonates and a heavy flop slides into a grind of plating against floor tile. Veevi’s pink pupil eyes widen and she screams out. “CHAD!”

She braces herself upon the short wall, lifts herself up, and searches around the court. Past the lumbering black fire form of metal and stone, Chad grumbles loudly and grunts in a mix of pain and anger. “Oh, fuck you! That’s such a bitch move... Oh, fuck... Gods dammit... Shit, that stung...”

He props himself up on his sword, stands up panting, and summons up another wave of courage against the nightmare golem. Narrowing his eyes up at the beast looming over him, he pushes forth a brave smirk and prepares for the next assault. He tenses his body, steadies his footing, and glances around the fresh debris around him.

The towering machine draws back its arm as familiar sounds rise up over the background. The nightmare pauses. It lowers its arm, straightens its form, and scans its blood red eyes around.

A powerful eruption of plasma bursts out against the back of the golem’s armored skull. Bolt after bolt slams against the black fire filled form the nightmare. Slowly orbiting around the monster, Bach squeezes the trigger of his magically enhanced plasma pistol and releases another charged up ball of energy. The golem’s full attention snaps to Bach. It glowers blood red within black void eyes into the pinpoint of white within Bach’s glowing blue eyes. Side stepping with each barrage of bolts, Bach moves closer to Chad and calls out. “Chad! Are you okay?”

Chad blinks in surprise, thinks a moment, and nods. “Uh- Yeah! I’m still standing.”

Bach settles near Chad, holds his fire, and watches the nightmare monster. “Did you find Veevi?”

Pointing his blade over to a short wall planter, he smiles comfortingly to Veevi peeking over the top. “Yeah. She needs to get out of here.”

Gritting his teeth, Bach maintains uncomfortable eye contact with the nightmare golem and motions towards the exit route. “It’s clear that way and the others are coming.”

Chad grimaces and keeps his attention upon the monster. “Yeah, I’ve been trying to draw it away and keep its attention. That way Veevi can get clear.”

Bach glances over to Chad, looks over him, and returns his uneasy stare at the golem. “She should be good to go. It’s not paying attention to her.”

After following the concentrated glare from the nightmare to Bach, Chad twists his mouth, nods in agreement, and yells out. “Veevi! If you can move, get out here! The others are coming that way! Meet up with them!”

Veevi lifts herself, nervously glances around, and stares at Chad with worry. Chad grants a simple nod. Veevi fights against a frown, turns to the exit corridor, and rushes off. The nightmare golem continues to glare right through Bach. When Veevi clears the area, Chad draws in a long, deep breath, side steps closer to Bach, and whispers. “So, you got an idea on how to deal with this? Because, my blade isn’t doing a gods damned thing to it.”

He lifts up his sword, rotates the blade, and eyes the coating of flaming black energy. “And I have no fucking clue what it is made of. But, this doesn’t look good.”

Wrestling a few thoughts on his tan face, he sighs out his exhaustion and worry. “The best I got is the two of us keeping it busy until the others arrive... But...”

He notices the nightmare golem still standing motionless and still glowering at Bach. “It- Uh... What the fuck. I think it’s watching YOU.”

Gritting his teeth, Bach hisses a nervous breath, swallows hard, and chuckles awkwardly. “Yeah. It’s got a good reason to watch me.”

He glances over and meets Chad’s intrigued gaze. “Do you think you can keep it occupied for a little while. I got something that’ll take it down... But, it probably won’t give me the chance to try it.”

Chad cracks a humored smirk and laughs. “Sure, but I don’t think my sword will do anything to it-”

Bach reaches his hand out as threads of white energy flow down, grips hold of the blade through the black flaming energy, and smirks against Chad’s surprise. “I can fix that.”

Threads of elder flow surge out along Bach’s arm, condense into his hand, and spread upon Chad’s sword. Flashes of light crackle against the disappearing black flames. Energy sinks in the blade, channels of elder flow attach to the surface, and a white aura pulses. Bach releases his hold of the blade, grins to Chad, and shifts his attention to the nightmare golem. “That will probably hurt it.”

Quickly glancing over his blade, Chad gawks in awe and draws a bold, bright white smile on his face. “There’s one way to find out.”

Lifting the sword up, Chad watches the red glowing stare dart to the blade. “Yeah... I think he’s worried about this.”

Bach nods, stares up at the nightmare, and grimaces as he tenses his body. “Once I start, it’s probably going to come right after me.”

Chad rolls his shoulders, readies his shield, and tightens the grip on his blade. “It’s not the fastest. If I can set up an approach to its side, I’ll probably be able to get a good chance to strike it before it gets too close. I’ll go for the legs.”

The two exchange glances of agreement. Bach glares up to the nightmare golem and remains stoically still. Chad slowly orbits around the monster, and keeps his blade down and out of sight at his side. The towering monstrosity grants moments of attention upon Chad from his primary attention on Bach. When Chad stop his circling, he meets Bach’s gaze.

Yanking a deep breath in, Bach brings his hands close together and his eyes flash a brilliant blue glow with growing white. Layers upon layers of circular bands of magical energy materialize, rotate to speed, and spin upon chaotic pivots. A growing white noise rises from the background as crackles of power fill the swirling air. The nightmare golem focuses fully upon Bach, digs its metal alloy feet into the crumbling tile floor, and powers forward.

Chad springs forth into a full charge, speeds towards the side of the monster, and readies the pulsing energy sword. He finds his approach vector, lines up the target, and slashes into the dark mass of a leg. A brilliant burst of miasma erupts in the wake of the blade’s slice through the bulk of the limb. A bellowing shriek floods the air with an unnatural cacophony of random noise, and the golem staggers. Chad winces through the acoustic assault, follows the momentum of the swing, and carves his sword across the thick of another leg. Another enraged roar vibrates the area in drowning sonic chaos.

Wind vortexes around the orb as countless streams of prismatic energy pour into the ball. Gazing up at the downed nightmare, Bach cracks a grin. White light flashes in his eyes. Surges of elder energy burst forth from his body, jet towards his hands, and drive into the contained maelstrom. The glowing blood red eyes of the monster widen. Its body shudders. Bach grits his teeth, tenses his body against the power, and shouts. “GET CLEAR OF IT!”

Chad nods and turns away. The golem glares at Bach and draws its arm back. The sounds of fluid rushing, metal clanging, and magic humming fill the air. Chad’s brown eyes widen. He slides into a pivot. He reverses to a sprint and drops his shield. He raises his blade with both hands. “NO!”

The glowing white blade slams through the black fire in a burst of dissipating energy and sticks solidly into the framework within. The beast wails in synthetic, distorted agony, as the arm flops limply. Chad yanks against the sword, fails to budge it, and glances over to Bach. A moment of awe upon the spherical chaos convinces Chad to abandon the blade and run for cover.

The energy flows into the orb stop. Bach hoists up the elder energy disintegration ball, smirks eagerly, and releases. The sphere launches forward in a pulse of power, jets across the distance to the nightmare golem, and trails threads of magical energy. The monstrosity swings its other arm at the projectile. The ball slows, sharply drops low, and darts underneath the arc of the limb. It pitches up and slams into the metal and stone plated chest. A particle cloud plumes out from the impact as it burrows through. The orb sinks into the black fire core of the nightmare.

A silent moment passes. Cracks of white spider out along the hidden surface of the fluctuating dark mass behind surging black flames. The frame of the golem rattles violently. Spouts of hydraulic fluid burst out, sparks erupt into showers bouncing upon the tile floor, artificial muscle snaps, and metal joints break. The fractured dark form leaks billowing clouds of white miasma and the black mass within the magical and mechanical frame disintegrates. In final plume of energy, the last traces of nightmare dissipate and fade from existence.

The remaining metal and stone collapses into a smoldering heap upon the stained floor.

Bach chuckles lightly with a worn, triumphant grin, and drops down to his knees. He lays back upon the tile work, flips up his visor, and loudly sighs. “It’s done. Shit...”

From behind a pillar, Chad plods out in disbelief, gawks at the leftovers, and tilts his head to the side. He pivots to gaze at Bach and walks over. Sitting down on the ground, he props himself against tipped over table. After moments of exhausted breathing between both, Chad cocks his head, stares at Bach, and contorts his face. “What the fuck was that?”

Bach blinks, tilts his head towards Chad, and ponders out loud. “I don’t know. Some kind of Nightmare based creation? It wasn’t as bad as the Nightmare Geists. Both those sucked. It was kind of a bot and kind of a golem? I’m leaning towards golem... Yeah...”

Blinking his wide eyes, Chad gawk blankly at Bach while rubbing his temple. “Wait, you... What? Okay... I’ve got... So... Many questions...”

With a long sigh, Bach accepts the situation and chuckles. “Well, I literally can’t move right now. So... You might as well ask.”

----

Veevi struggles to keep pace down the long, wide halls. She pushes forth between debris, wrecked bots, and toppled advertisements. After a sluggish sprint, her stride staggers and she slows. She pants loud, short breaths, clutches her chest, and winces with each draw. Blinking her eyes, she reaches out for support against a pillar and leans down as she gasps. Mustering up her strength, she grits her teeth, stands up, and lurches forward. She maintains a slow walk, keeps her distance gaze ahead, and fights the looming fear on her face.

Seconds later, her eyes flutter, her balances tips, and she stumbles to the ground. Catching herself, she yelps out in pain, winces, and trembles. Pulling short breaths, she gulps down air and coughs in agony. With a sharp frown, she positions her hands, pulls her legs underneath, and strains to stand. Seconds of struggle wane quickly and she settles back upon the tile floor. Horror erupts on her face. “No...”

Veevi heaves her chest to drag more air into her lungs, grabs her sides, and reflexively blurts out in pain. Her worn stare searches around in vain and grows more distant with each passing second. She slumps down upon the floor and flops out on her back. Short, rapid pants drive the overwhelming panic through her body. Surges of terror press against the exhaustion and Veevi aimlessly flails into weak attempts to right herself. The power behind each attempt fades with the minutes.

Fighting to keep her eyes open, Veevi heaves with each shortening pant and stares distantly up to the high skylight ceiling. Tears well in her pink pupil eyes, flow down her tan face, and soak her pink hair. Veevi forces air to voice single syllables. “Please... No... Help... Please... Help…”

The empty, hollow silence of the hall overpowers the frail squeaks. Veevi musters small, partial sobs with each labored breath. Short pants punctuate the silence around her. The long moments loom over her. Veevi’s distant stare softens. She gazes up to the clouds drifting through the skylight, and her eyes flit between the flood of thoughts in her mind. As the seconds pass by, her tired stare weakens.

Between shallow, heaving pants, a grim resignation washes over her and genuine acceptance leaves her lips. “I’m... sorry...”

Consciousness slips away and her body continues the fight.

Through a radio, Chad’s crackling voice echoes down the hall over the sound of fast footsteps. “I think we’re good. Has Veevi found you all? She was looking rough and might need help.”

Across another channel, Bach keys up. “Yeah. She should be getting close to you all.”

Jogging with Trakenthin and Tassilda, Cideeda glances her emerald green eyes around and frowns. “We’re heading down that one last run your way-”

Her furry ears flick and she searches around. “Wait! I hear someone.”

Spreading out a bit, Tassilda steps to the other side of the hall around a center aisle decoration, and her light blue on black eyes widen. “Veevi!”

She rushes over with Trakenthin and Cideeda in tow, kneels down, and watches the unconscious Veevi struggle to breathe. “Trakenthin!”

With simple acknowledging nod, Trakenthin sweeps up Veevi in his arms, pivots sharp, and sprints at full speed down the hall. Cideeda keys up her radio and yells out. “Aristespha! Deedri! Veevi needs help! Trakenthin has her!”

Powering through the sharp turns, Trakenthin speeds down the long distances as the wind blow the pink hair of Veevi’s limp form. Around a final bend, the Deedri and Aristespha lead ahead of Sotalia, Dretphi, and Modoran. Trakenthin slides down to a halt in front of both Deedri and Aristespha and lays Veevi upon the ground. Deedri and Aristespha rush to diagnosis. Blinking her glowing auburn eyes, Deedri quickly speeds through a complex series of incantations. “Massive hemothorax. Multiple broken ribs.”

Aristespha nods, focuses her violet illuminate eyes after a gesturing another chain of incantations, and rests her hands on Veevi’s sides. “I will handle the bleeding and the ribs.”

Deedri directs prismatic flows into Veevi’s gasping mouth and rests a hand on her chest as energy sinks into Veevi. “I’ll get oxgenation and fluid evacuation.”

Aristespha and Deedri methodically work magical energies, apply trauma treatments, and stabilize Veevi. Aristespha installs a IV line, secures it, and readies medications while preparing a synthetic blood bag. Keeping her glowing auburn eyes attentive on Veevi, Deedri constantly gestures through different spells and carefully adjusts fine details as Veevi’s breathing deepens. Among the concern in the surrounding teams, Cideeda messages back to Bach and Tassilda relays the information to Chad. In the midst of the emergency care, Veevi’s eyes flutter open.

Awareness gradually returns to Veevi and her eyes refocus upon the world around her. Deedri notices the searching gaze and flits of emotion upon Veevi. With a calming smile, Deedri speaks softly. “You’re okay. We’re taking care of you. Just... Focus on deep, slow breaths. Okay?”

Veevi glances up to Deedri’s concerned face, frowns slightly, and weakly whimpers honestly. “Thank... you...”

Closing her eyes tightly, streams of tears trail down the side of Veevi’s face. She reopens her pink pupil eyes and gazes distantly up into the clouds through the skylights. Her fuzzy ears perk and focus upon a nearby conversation. Chad’s voice crackles over Tassilda’s aetherphone radio. “Any update on Veevi? Is she okay?”

Tassilda smiles and reassuringly states. “She’s woken up. They’re still taking care of her. But, it is looking good. I think they’re just getting her ready to transport to the hospital.”

An exhale of relief sounds out from the other side of the channel and Chad replies with a faint tremble in his voice. “Oh, thank the gods. I... um... fuck...”

Tassilda slowly nods her head and reassures. “Rest up. Once things are good here, we’ll get to you soon. Are you sure you don’t need anything?”

Chad chuckles awkwardly and sighs. “No. I’m fine. Just... was worried.”

Veevi blinks another swell of tears out of her eyes, returns her distant gaze to the clouds above, and weathers the long unfamiliar waves of shame and regret.

-112-

Gazing up through the skylights in the disused food court, Bach sighs long, shakes his head upon the tile floor, and frowns. “That’s so fucked up. I mean, she just, literally, lashed out at you.”

Chad groans out stale embarrassment and rubs his eyes into a pinch of the bridge of his nose. “Yeah. I... The whole situation with her is just so strange. I’m glad she’s going to be okay. Well, physically at least. But, I don’t know what is going on in her head half the time...”

Bach wrestles a thought on his face, twists his mouth, and glances his blue eyes over to Chad. “Well, not that this experience wasn’t terrible, but I get the feeling there’s was already plenty that needs to be dealt with. It sounds like she needs some professional help.”

Blinking his brown eyes while shaking his head, Chad snorts in a flit of dry amusement and smirks. “After all this, I think we all could use it. I always wondered why the guild has a huge directory for mental health service providers.”

Narrowing his gaze, Bach twists a curl at the corner of his mouth and lifts his brow. “A few have some oddly specific specialties. Like one doctor listed something about experience treating Slime related issues.”

Chad blinks a few times and shudders with a visible cringe. “I’m actually NOT surprised at all there’s a demand for that. Yuck.”

He gradually lifts himself up to a seat upon the tile floor, slacks his shoulders, and stretches his neck. “Anyway... Have to say, your story is pretty fucking insane. I mean in just a couple months, all this crap has happened.”

Bach draws in a long breath, crosses his arms over his stomach, and sighs with a frown. “Yeah... I mean, it’s getting better. Without going into too many details that I probably shouldn’t say, we’re hoping to find what we need before anyone else and shut it down. If that can be done, then it’d make the other problems workable.”

Shifting his weight forward, Chad gets his feet underneath him, slowly stands up, and inspects his armor. “It’d be once less thing for all of us to deal with. And, I hope you figure a way to get your brother back to, um, normal.”

He steps over next to Bach, holds his hand out, and leans down. “I wouldn’t rest easy if I knew sister was stuck that way. So, what you are going through can’t be any fun.”

Bach cracks a smirk, grips onto Chad’s assistance, and rises slowly up. He stabilizes himself on his feet and brushes off the dirt on his shirt and duster. “It’s been rough, but he’s handling it the best he can. Just wish we could get all this sorted out and do some... I guess... Normal adventuring?”

Shifting his attention to the smoldering pile of magic stonework and robotics in the middle of the food court, he glances over to Chad and shrugs his shoulders with an awkward grimace. Chad blinks at the messy, magitech remains of the Nightmare Golem, and uncertaintly chuckles. “Crap, I don’t even know what that might be at this point.”

He points to the faintly fuming heap and scrunches up his nose. “Less of that. Yeah. Definitely less of THAT.”

Bach nods, stretches his back, and grunts. “Gods, I hope so. I’m ready for all the boring and mundane jobs after all this.”

Pausing in a thought a moment, Bach gazes over to Chad, uneasily contorts his face, and sighs. “Hey, I know this a big favor to ask, especially after all this... But... Could you keep the exact details on how we took this thing down a secret? I don’t know what would happen if certain people figured things out and-”

Chad shakes his head with a smirk and waves off Bach’s concerns. “It’s fine. If I learned anything from my mom and dad when it comes to business, it’s to know when to omit certain details.”

He pivots to face Bach and holds his hand out. “You helped get Veevi out of here and saved my ass. I swear no one is going to get the complete story from me.”

Bach and Chad shake on the agreement. After a few seconds of quiet admiration at the pile of smoldering golem, Chad perks his brow and crosses his arms. “So, we’ll just say we stabbed and blasted it until it broke down?”

Studying the broken magical machine, Bach slowly nods, rests his hands on his sides, and laughs. “Yeah, that’ll work. I mean, it looks the part now. If someone presented this to me and said they shot it and bashed it until it stopped moving, I’d believe it.”

Chad surveys the destruction around, focuses upon the robotic scrap pile, and narrows his gaze. Walking up slowly, he orbits around to a side of the machine. Pointing to a sword handle, he glances over to Bach questioningly. Bach shrugs his shoulders and approaches calmly. “It should be safe. Those energies seem to cancel each other out.”

Tapping the blade pommel cautiously, Chad carefully grips hold of the hilt of his sword and gradually pulls the weapon out from the metal mass. He hoists up the sword in the light coming from the afternoon sun and examines the state of the blade. Studying the damage, he inspects the layers of pitting upon surface of the metal, deep gouges melted into the steel, and fractured sections of missing material. Bach blinks at the soot coated weapon and grimaces with a wave of embarrassment. “Oh shit. Damn, I’m sorry about your sword. Fuck, I still haven’t figured out how to do those quick enchantments and NOT damage the things I put them on...”

Chad pivots to face Bach, quirks his brow, and tosses the blade back into the pile of golem bits. He grins with a chuckle and shrugs. “It’s cool. It was a promotion deal with a company. I mean, it was a good sword but it was a sponsor freebie. So, I doubt they gave me their best.”

He points to Bach and cracks an intrigued smile. “Now, when I get my next sword, if you can put a stable enchantment like the one you did, then we’re talking.”

Bach snorts, shrugs his shoulders, and smirks. “Okay, I guess I owe you one sword enchantment.”

Chad shakes his head and rolls his brown eyes. “If anyone owes anyone anything, it’s me.”

He frowns slightly, and gazes at Bach. “Before I forget, I just wanted to apologize for all the bullshit from me. You guys helped us out and I was too far up my own ass to realize it the first time around. And like an asshole, I went along with what the show wanted.”

Bach smiles and nods in acceptance. “Thanks. I appreciate it hearing it from you.”

He pauses a moment and tugs at the corner of his mouth. “And, since we’re clearing the air, sorry for all the grief I gave you.”

Chad blinks a moment, cocks his head of short, light brown hair to the side, and narrows his curious gaze. “Like what?”

Glancing awkwardly around, Bach crosses his arms, wrestles an uneasy smirk, and laughs nervously. “Well, your sword...”

Shrugging his shoulders, Chad snorts dismissively. “I told you, it’s cool-”

Bach grits his teeth briefly and squirms slightly while standing. “Um, well, I’m talking when you got it.”

Chad narrows his stare and ponders visibly on his face. His eyes widen, and he tilts his head to the side. “Wait... You... That’s right, you tried to pull it before me! That was YOU!?”

Cringing slightly, Bach chuckles nervously and eases out a breath. “Yeah.”

A smirk emerges on Chad face and he laughs while shaking his head. “Fuck. Oh well, I probably would have tried to do the same. So, I can’t blame you there.”

He gazes up through the skylight above at the afternoon sun, and glances down the exit hallway. “Well, we should be probably meet up with everyone. And well, not do much, honestly.”

Bach stares at the smoldering heap of magic stone and robotic metal, nods in agreement, and huffs. “No shit. I’m still tired after dealing with this. Probably just going to lay down until they figure out everything outside.”

Chad surveys the destruction of the surrounding area, glances through gaping hole in the collapsed window wall, and rests his attention upon the pile of magitech scrap. The two gaze upon the wreckage. Chad cocks his head to the side and grimaces. “So, this is the third one of these you’ve had to deal with?”

Bach shrugs and ponders out loud. “Two and a half? This one wasn’t quite like the other two. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.”

Shaking his head, Chad draws in a long breath and sighs deeply. “Still, who the fuck would make something like this?”

After a silent second, Bach frowns, lowers his head slightly, and tightly crosses his arms. “I don’t know. Past assholes is all I’ve been able to figure out. Seriously, this crap has caused way too many of my problems.”

He directs his voice to Chad. “Fair warning, you might get asked questions by the GAA and Rangers. Just, you know, be careful what you say... I’m still trying to figure them out.”

Chad nods resolutely. “All I’m going to say is that we shot and chopped it until it finally stopped moving. Not much more to say, since that’s what we did.”

Bach breathes out his relief. “Thanks again. Really.”

After a lull in the conversation, Chad quirks his brow and dons a humored smirk. “Well, not bad work for an intern.”

Bach rolls his blue eyes, groans out tinge of aggravation, and shakes his head. “Gods, when this is all done I’m going to need to fix THAT.”

As Chad and Bach walk toward the exit, Bach grumbles loudly and pinches the bridge of his nose. “You ever been given the run around by children over being an intern? It’s embarrassing.”

Chad snorts his amusement and narrows his gaze with a thought. After a moment of the two walking, he glances over to Bach inquisitively. “By the way, you wouldn’t happen to know who pulled that prank on my ride?”

Bach blinks blankly and fights to maintain a calm facade. “Uh...”

----

Standing along the path of deep, mechanical footprints in the soil, Captain Hays adjusts his wide brimmed hat against the late afternoon sun. Wrestling a flit of unease on his aged face, he strokes his long, black beard and sighs uncomfortably. “Well, this is not good.”

Flicking his furry ears away from either side the fresh divide in the forest canopy, Heccaeh grimaces briefly and nods. “Yeah, I think anything that plows through trees like grass and moves in a mindless straight line is not great. We haven’t had the best of luck with stuff like that.”

Hays grumbles with a long roll of his light blue eyes. “You’re telling me. Any idea what this thing was? It doesn’t match anything I know of.”

Heccaeh shakes his head of chaotic, shoulder length tan hair, and frowns. “No clue. The robots seem like your typical old era construction droids. Though, it looked like they were sent in from different locations. Chelindia wanted to check a suspicion we both had and should be back soon.”

From the shadowy woods, a woman with shiny, long coppery hair steps between tall brush and waves to Hays and Heccaeh. With an acknowledging tip of his hat, Hays calls out. “Did you find anything, Chana?”

Chana brushes off her woodland colored utility shirt and cargo pants, and presents an uneasy frown on her light sun-tanned face. “Yes.”

She walks up to Hays and Heccaeh, retrieves her phone out of her pocket, and taps to video. Both Hayes and Heccaeh stare at the screen and watch a recording of a large, fallen branch with specks of black flames flickering. After a few moments, Hays fights against an uncomfortable grit of his teeth and groans with a trailing growl. “Shit... That’s not a good sign. I doubt that was the only spot you found.”

Chana shakes her head, puts the aetherphone away, and rests her hands on her hips. “No. But, I’ve gotten a good feel on how to sense them out. I should be able find all the spots for clean up... If we need to.”

Hays cocks his head to the side, crosses his arms, and taps his fingers upon the chassis of his cybernetic arm. “If we need to?”

Glancing down the swath of forest destruction, Chana motions to the sides of the divide plowed into the trees and contorts her face. “The traces I found were getting weaker by the minute. A few specks of the energy I found had completely dissipated by the time I came back to check again. It’s really strange. It just didn’t feel... stable?”

A quick series of whistles sound out in the area. Jumping down from the high canopy, Chelindia cushions her graceful landing upon a swell of air and magic flow. She stands up, tosses back her dark green braided hair, and gazes at the team with her turquoise eyes. With a calm smile on her dark tan face, she brushes off her her ranger outfit and walks to the team. “Our suspicions were correct, Heccaeh.”

She addresses Hays and Chana. “It seems that while the paths the construction robots took to the convention center were scattered and wandering, they originated from a central point.”

Hays nods understandingly and quirks his brow with intrigue. “I’m guessing that this central point wouldn’t be too far from the path our big monster took through the trees.”

Chelindia glances down the valley of toppled trees between the forest, returns her attention to Hays, and frowns. “It’s very close.”

A faint smile curls the corner of her mouth. “I saw Ralli and Orrento fly by on their way back from their scouting, and noticed how close they were to me flying down that path.”

Heccaeh blinks a moment, narrows his stare up into the late afternoon sky above, and twists his mouth. “Wait, you said they already flew past you? Where the hell are they?”

A humored smirk appears on Chelindia’s face and she chuckles lightly. “They might be eating right now. I saw a protellow patch along the way.”

Chana snorts and rolls her copper eyes. “Yeah, I walked past that one, too. It had the sweet flowers in full bloom.”

Drooping his furry ears, Heccaeh steps out from the group with irritated wags of his medium length, thin tail. He blows a shrill whistle between his fingers. “RALLI! ORRENTO! BACK NOW!”

Hays, Chana, and Chelindia share a moment of amusement as they observe the Heccaeh sternly wait. Seconds later, a thought weighs upon Chelindia and she turns to face Hays. “Captain Hays?”

Focusing his attention to Chelindia, Hays cocks his head curiously. “Yes?”

Chelindia fights through a wave of uncertainty on her face and sighs with traces of regret. “While I do not want to cause too much unneeded worry, this incident reminds me of someone. The involvement of these robots and turning them on a populated area... It feels like the type of thing someone from... my past would do.”

Hays grants a confirming nod, tilts his head, and inquires further. “Who would that be? Do you think it is Meredosia?”

Chelindia’s eyes widen briefly, and she shakes her head quickly. “Oh, no! She would never direct an attack to convention center with civilians. She preferred challenges. But...”

Furrowing her brow, she narrows her turquoise eyes towards Hays. “I believe the one who taught her more about golems would have done this. Despite his knowledge about magic, he always seemed more inclined towards technology... and using it against people.”

Hays frowns slightly, brushes his long, black beard, and lifts an inquisitive eyebrow. “Well, any information you have would be appreciated. If you got a name and description, I call up Captain Hackle and we’ll see if he’s on their radar.”

Chelindia bows slightly and musters up a thankful smile. “I had very limited dealings with him, but I’ll try to remember all I can from my interactions. The only name I ever heard him called was Lexattican.”

Hays smiles appreciatively and sighs with a trace of hope. “Well, we’ll see. Captain Hackle was mentioning some similarities with certain incidents. So, anything you can provide would be great for his investigation.”

A few muted swears in fvalian trail into the conversation. Hays, Chelindia, and Chana watch Heccaeh wave in a dark blue and a brown striped pair of whelps. The two land on Heccaeh’s outstretched arms and roost innocently. Narrowing his lavender eyes between the traces of guilt upon the shiny whelp faces, Heccaeh shakes his head and groans. “By the gods, you two are covered in nectar! Did you two try to lick yourself clean right after you ate?! I’m going to have to give you two bath!”

Upon the word “bath” leaving Heccaeh’s lips, the Ralli and Orrento whine pleadingly while affectionately rubbing their faces against Heccaeh’s and crawling close. He rushes over to the ranger jeep meters away and groans out. “Oh, stop it! You two are wiping it all over me now!”

Hays glances up the late afternoon, tips his wide brimmed hate, and pivots towards the vehicle in the distance. “Well, let’s report what we know and get this area cordoned off. Hopefully, there isn’t too much left to clean up tonight.”

Hays, Chana, and Chelindia move towards the jeep, while Heccaeh wrangles whelps into carriers on the back of the jeep.

----

As night darkens the skies above through the convention center skylights, the two teams lounge around the open space of the main hall. Standing between the different bubbles of conversation, Trakenthin glances around and relaxes his shoulders. “I think it has calmed down.”

Shayuri nods in agreement, notices her hand gripping Trakenthin’s great sword, and hoists it up. “Yeah... Oh, um... Before I walk off with this, here’s your sword back.”

Trakenthin blinks to attention, takes the blade back into his possession, and chuckles with a goofy grin. “Oh! Yes. Thank you. You did good. You have been trained well.”

Fluttering her piercing hazel eyes, Shayuri smirks and combs back stray locks of long, silvery hair. “If you say so. I was just swinging and hoping for the best really. But, thank you, for letting me use it.”

A wave of excitement radiates through her and she squirms slightly with a smile. “I mean, it was totally insane and dangerous today... But, it was really cool! I’ve NEVER done anything like it. I can see why you do it.”

Averting his gaze away with a flit of embarrassment, Trakenthin scratches the back of his head of short, dirty blonde hair and awkwardly grips the collar of his armor. “It was tense. I am happy we are safe. Would not say it is like this often. Still exciting. Not as dangerous. More variety.”

A grin grows on Shayuri’s tan face, and she giggles with a roll of her piercing hazel eyes. “I just can imagine what other job there are out there. But, I don’t know if I could do it all the time like you do. I mean, I don’t know when I would find time to read between all the excitement.”

Trakenthin shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly, cracks a genuine smile, and gazes at Shayuri. “You find time. When you are not swinging a sword. Long night watches are a good time to catch up.”

He ponders quietly a moment, glances up at the dark night skies through the skylights, and tilts his head curiously at Shayuri. “Oh! Do you want me to walk you out? I do not want to keep you from going home.”

Shayuri blinks back to awareness, thinks briefly, and smiles coyly. “Right! Um, thank you for the offer. But, gods, I’ve already taken so much of your time and you probably need to get back to your team. It’s been really fun. And, I wouldn’t mind doing something similar again.”

Trakenthin chuckles lightly and nods in agreement. “Yes. Not like today.”

Quickly shaking her head, Shayuri giggles and smirks. “No. Of course not. A normal, boring convention, please.”

Standing next to a decorative planter in the middle of the hall, Sotalia and Tassilda chat. As Trakenthin and Shayuri say their goodbyes, Tassilda glances around Sotalia and narrows her light blue on black eyes attentively. Sotalia blinks, pivots herself around slightly, and directs her voice to Tassilda. “What are you looking at?”

Tassilda twists her gray face, flexes her long, black nailed fingers, and quirks her brow. “Trying to see if Trakenthin and her finally made a move on the other.”

Crossing her arms, Sotalia cracks an intrigued grin and glances back at Tassilda. “Oh? So, there’s a little something between those two?”

As Shayuri walks away with a wave to Trakenthin, Tassilda nods and squints. “Gods, you can tell he either doesn’t know what to do or he’s just doubting himself too much. But, I’m hoping that-”

Trakenthin turns around from returning a wave to Shayuri, maintains a smiles for a few more moments, and gradually curls a longing frown. Tassilda sighs with a grimace, shakes her head, and guides her raven hair over her swirling horns. “No. I can’t let this stand. Not after today. I’ll be back in a few minutes. I need to make this happen.”

Sotalia narrows her golden eyes, grins devilishly, and tosses back her wavy, fiery orange hair. “Mind if I tag along? I got a little experience in helping fate along.”

Tassilda smiles eagerly, nods, and steps forward. “Let’s what we can do.”

As Tassilda and Sotalia depart, Cideeda kneels down next to the remains of a construction bot. She carefully inspects the design of the machine and aims an aetherphone flashlight into the cavity beyond the maintenance panel. “Any guesses on how old these things are?”

Chad squats down, peeks inside the chassis, and wipes grime off an information panel. “Well, definitely nothing Pre-Cataclysm or First Period. Either it wouldn’t work or everything would have decayed.”

Flicking her furry ears, Cideeda narrows her emerald green eyes, hooks away some wiring with her claws, and contorts her light brown face in contemplation. “Yeah. I’m not feeling Second Period either.”

Searching his mind, Chad tilts his head to the side and ponders out loud. “Maybe REALLY late Second Period? But, most the tech I’ve ever seen salvaged wasn’t that advanced or it was magic with tech stuck onto it.”

Cideeda rolls her eyes, grits her sharp teeth, and groans. “Oh, gods. I’ve lost count at how many times I’ve found something that looked like honest Pre-Cataclysm tech and it was just some random magical artifact with a tech facade. I could kill whoever started that fad.”

Chad nods in agreement and commiserates with a grumble. “The amount of equipment my mom and dad had to turn down because of crap like that...”

Nearby, Sebastian hovers next to Aristespha, and Deedri and Modoran keep an arm around the other. A warm, genuine smile grows on Aristespha’s ivory face, and her violet eyes gaze between Deedri and Modoran. “I can’t imagine the relief you must have experienced to finally just say you two are together. It had to have been a huge weight off your shoulders.”

Deedri flutters her auburn eyes, leans onto Modoran as her tail wraps around his leg, and exhales with a smirk. “It does make it easier. I don’t have to come up with some new questionably medical reason for him to come to my bedroom.”

Modoran gently rubs Deedri’s shoulder and chuckles with a nonchalant grin on his dusky, bluish gray face. “Yeah. Still don’t know how the Evuukian Houses are going to handle everything that’s happened.”

While Sebastian’s ethereal form hovers in place, he crosses his arms and perks his brow. “But, you are technically not part of any house. So, that means there’s nothing they can do to you?”

With a sly smirk, Modoran nods in agreement at Sebastian and laughs. “Exactly. I get to sit back and watch the fallout happen to someone else. I wish them luck, because their grandfather just assumed head of the house.”

Aristespha’s violet eyes spring wide open, and she cocks her head to the side in shock. “Wait, so, Kallentesson is no longer in charge? And... His brother is head of the-”

She covers her mouth, searches her mind, and blinks blankly with a few evuukian phrases. After a few moments, she lifts her brow and draws in a long breath. “May the gods have mercy upon them, because I’m not sure anyone else will.”

Deedri glances between Aristespha and Modoran. She gazes up to Modoran, tilts her head curiously to the side, and flicks her furry ears in thought. “What is the whole story on this person? I’ve only heard bits and pieces.”

Sebastian nods to Deedri and returns his attention back to Aristespha and Modoran. “Yeah, I’m a little curious, too. This sounds like this guy has made a career out of being... something big.”

Modoran and Aristespha exchange glances. Aristespha sniffs a breath through her nose and wrestles with the topic. “Truthfully, it is quite difficult to pick a place to start talking about him.”

While Deedri and Sebastian listen to the explanation from Modoran and Aristespha, Bach adjusts the rolled up towel underneath his head as he lays on a bench. Fighting off a long yawn, he gazes over to Dretphi standing nearby, furrows his brow, and ponders out loud. “Okay, so what is the deal with that character? He just shows up out of nowhere half the time. And, it’s usually the ONLY time you see him on screen with lines. He drops some vague but oddly relevant wisdom... Then, he’s gone!”

Dretphi crosses her red armor cover arms, leans against the low wall of center aisle decoration, and rocks her head side to side. After a bit of deliberation, she contorts her tan face, grits her teeth briefly, and sighs. “It is complicated. That archetype is a trope in Grath stories.”

She brushes back platinum blonde braids over her shoulder and plays with the darker end of one with her hand. Searching her mind for the words, she perks her brow and gazes down at Bach with a smirk. “Many Grath words for it. A translation to Americ is silent bomb.”

As Bach tilts his head and furrows his brow with growing intrigue, Dretphi pulls a long breath through her nose and explains. “The archetype hints the new direction. It is the responsibility of the receiver to act upon the wisdom. The silent bomb leaves. No longer needed.”

Blinking out the fatigue in his blue eyes, Bach ponders a few thoughts on his face and narrows his inquisitive stare. He drums his fingers on his stomach. “Okay... Drops the information that’s needed, then slips quietly into the background.”

He quirks an eyebrow and smirks intrigued. “But, I swear I’ve seen almost that same person across a few different shows. Is it the same template the writers are using? Like some kind of common theme?”

Dretphi nods in conformation and smiles humored. “Oh. Yes. Sometimes it is the same character.”

Cocking his head to the side, Bach tugs at the corner of his mouth and sorts through his confusion. “Like the same exact character? Even in a different world and time period?”

Nodding slowly, Dretphi smirks with a shrug. She giggles softly and rolls her steely gray eyes. “Yes. Despite how out of place it may seem. Does warn you that a significant moment will happen. It is an old tradition. We accept it. Some expect it.”

Bach twists his mouth, darts his eyes around his mind, and hums in contemplation. “Well, it does the job. Every time I see someone like him on screen, I’m just waiting to see what he says or does.”

A warm smile grows on Dretphi’s face and she recounts another aspect of Grath literature. At a distance from the conversation, Trakenthin blinks back to awareness and glances around. He sifts through the different discussions, and catches bits of grath terminology drifting from between Dretphi and Bach. Piquing his interest, intrigue rises in Trakenthin’s dark bronze face and he starts to focus upon the far off voices. From behind Trakenthin, Shayuri speaks up with hints of embarrassment. “Hey, Trakenthin?”

Trakenthin’s hazel eyes spring wide open, and he pivots around with a surprised, awkward smirk. “Shayuri?! Yes? Oh. Anything wrong? Do you need help getting out?”

Shayuri presents a smile with a flutter of her piercing hazel eyes and brushes back some of her silvery hair. “Um, somewhat. Could I borrow your aetherphone? I’d just want to check to see if mine is working right and call it.”

Patting around his armor, Trakenthin nervous fumbles around until he remembers where his phone and hands the device over. “Certainly. There has been serious disruption in service. Localized even. There might be lingering problems.”

Staring down the hall, a train of thought distracts him away from watching Shayuri. He gestures as he recounts recent memory. “Signals dropped out that direction early today...”

Shayuri quickly flips through the menus of the phone and halts upon screen. Her eyes flit wide with recognition at a very familiar book review aethernet site. A flush of color fills her tan cheeks. Glancing around through a surge of coyness, she continues through to find the dialing interface. Tapping in a series of numbers, she presses the confirmation button on the display. Moments later, an elaborate chime rings out from her pocket. As Shayuri retrieves her phone, Trakenthin cracks an interested smirk and gazes at the source of the music. “A good series.”

Shayuri blinks with a delighted smile as she checks her phone. “To be honest, I just started watching.”

Trakenthin nods and chuckles lightly. “It is a good adaptation. Author was consulted. Added more details.”

When Shayuri hands him back his aetherphone, he cocks his head to the side and inquires. “Your phone works properly?”

Shayuri rolls her piercing hazel eyes, shrugs her shoulders, and sighs. “I guess so. I’ve been trying to call the numbers for the production company and file a few justified complaints.”

With an understanding groan, Trakenthin shakes his head of short, dirty blonde hair and grimaces. “They are busy. Deserve all the complaints. May need to try other numbers.”

Gazing into Trakenthin’s eyes, Shayuri smiles brightly and perks her eyebrow. “Yeah... Speaking of which...”

She holds up her phone with a new contact entry and winks with a grin. “You should save that number, because I’m saving yours.”

Trakenthin blinks blankly. Moment pass and the significance fails to grip his mind. With a bright blush in his cheeks and a goofy smile breaking through any semblance of his stoic facade, Trakenthin stumbles upon his words. “Oh- Uh- Um... Yes. Of course.”

He remembers some context of current situation and scratches the back of his head. “Do you want me to walk you out? Asked before. Want to make sure...”

A smile grows on Shayuri and she motions towards the hall. “You know, I think I wouldn’t mind someone to walk with. Given what happened today, this empty convention center feels pretty creepy right now.”

Delight brightens Trakenthin demeanor, and he chuckles. “Understandable. I would not want to do the same.”

He glances around towards the teams and finds Tassilda and Sotalia meeting his searching gaze. After a moment of confusion, he focuses back on task and motions towards the exit hallway. “Escorting her out. I will be back-”

Tassilda waves Trakenthin on with a simple motion and nod. As Trakenthin and Shayuri depart, Sotalia leans close Tassilda and whispers with an impish grin. “I have to admit the broken phone check wasn’t bad. Good idea on your part.”

Resting her chin on a curled finger, Tassilda smirks proudly and laughs quietly. “Oh, but her adding that last line about saving the number was good. She made sure he knew it wasn’t a coincidence.”

Sotalia smiles smugly. “He was completely dumbfounded.”

----

Through the blinds over a window, the stars twinkle upon the late evening backdrop. A comedy show plays on the mounted television screen. Vital statistics and graphs chart out upon different hospital systems next to a medical bed. Staring distantly towards the mounted display, Veevi remains quiet and still. Her pink pupil eyes blink and her gaze remains ahead. With each subdued, slow breath, her concentration shifts to another painful thought. With the occasional twitch of her cheek, a mild frown deepens and she cringes with fresh regret from old memory. She eases out a long sigh and combs the unkempt pink hair away from her darkened, exhausted eyes. Holding the palm of her hand upon her forehead, she grits her sharp teeth as painful thoughts hold her full attention. Drawing in a stiff breath through her nose, she hisses out a remorseful sigh through her teeth.

Limply flopping her arm from her head upon the plain bed sheet, Veevi musters her focus and directs her full attention to the television. Minutes pass as the comedy plays out on the screen. Veevi’s fuzzy ears perk and listen to the faint audio. An upwards curl at the corner of her mouth hints her enjoyment. The programs fades to a commercial break. Moments later, an advertisement for the Next Adventurers of Nexus starts. Veevi’s eye twitches with the familiar notes and tag lines. Upon the screen a video segment featuring her plays out. The clip highlights bold and audacious moments with audio stingers and video effects. As she watches the segment continue, waves of discomfort radiate through Veevi’s body. The hints of a previous smile wear away with each second to a deeper frown. The mean-spirited words in Veevi’s voice drive her fuzzy ears to droop down. The flash cuts of Veevi lashing and acting out upon the television force her searching gaze towards a nearby table. Her tan and brown-striped arm reaches out for the remote. Her hand snatches the device clear of the table, and she takes aim with the power button firmly pressed.

The display turns off and the quiet, peaceful ambiance fills the room again. Settling back upon the hospital bed, Veevi rests her head upon the pillow and eases out a worn sigh. Drawing the covers over her body, she positions her arm to a comfortable position despite the cumbersome medical lines secured. She gazes around the dimly lit room and stares up to the plain ceiling tiles above. Fatigue weighs upon her eyes. Veevi releases a long breath and allows her body to calm. Her pink pupil eyes close, her fuzzy ears relax, and head settles upon the pillow. She drifts closer and closer to unconsciousness. Her breath slows, her head tilts to the side, and tension fades.

The heart rate monitor speeds up. Veevi squirms in the discomfort. A sharp frown appears on her face. As Veevi springs up to seat in the bed, the vital tracker beeps out an alarm. Gripping the hospital gown around her chest with her sharp nails, Veevi gasps in panicked horror. In the moments of frantic breathing and wincing in pain, a few medical staff quickly enter the room. Each goes through well rehearsed procedures. Vitals are checked, equipment inspected, and Veevi is examined. After diagnostic questions, a tired and apologetic Veevi sheepishly chuckles. “I’m sorry... I- I- uh... Scared myself a bit with a bad dream... Again. Nothing to worry about...”

An older woman in neat and clean medical attire finishes a careful read of a clipboard and aims a stoic stare upon Veevi. Her examining eyes trace the many subtle motions and falterings in Veevi’s demeanor. When Veevi notices the attention and gazes up to her, the older woman slides a chair in the room close to the bed and sits down. Straightening her posture, the woman observes Veevi and draws a breath in. “Ms. Valiant. I am Dr. Blackwell. I’ve been serving at this facility for many years. And, I have seen many patients that have been sent into my care for countless reasons.”

Dr. Blackwell tilts her head of tied back gray hair, narrows her gaze, and stiffens her upper lip. “So, you will have to excuse me, if I’m not inclined to believe that there is nothing to worry about.”

Veevi quirks her dark pink eyebrow and slightly tilts her head to the side. Dr. Blackwell calmly explains. “You were brought here with nearly collapsed lungs from internal bleeding. After having your chest cavity practically crushed by some mechanical monster I still yet have to get a proper description of. Judging by the broken ribs and other soft tissue injuries, you are extremely fortunate to be here.”

She narrows an examining stare at Veevi with comforting hint in her voice. “I don’t know of anyone who could go through that with nothing to worry about. I’m not ignorant of your professional persona, and what you like to present to others.”

A scowl weighs Veevi’s face and she crosses her arms with a hint of snarl of her upper lip. Dr. Blackwell relaxes her posture faintly and speaks softer. “That aspect does not matter to me. I am here to help the person. So, when I ask you this next question, I want you to know that I am speaking to the woman before me at this moment.”

Flit of confusion trickles into Veevi’s expression and she blinks blankly as intrigue and expectation rise in her demeanor. Dr. Blackwell stoic face softens and she inquires with genuine concern. “Do you want help?”

Veevi fuzzy ears flick back and her stare narrows at Dr. Blackwell. A defiant surge bubbles up as her posture grows rigid. A snarl starts to lift her upper lip. Drawing in a breath, a familiar tone readies to launch out from Veevi’s mouth.

Seconds of silence pass. The tone fades away. A frown drags the snarl into oblivion. Veevi’s form sags as the urge to lash out fizzles into nothing. As her focus upon Dr. Blackwell wanes, Veevi releases her arms from their tight wrap around her chest. While aimlessly wandering through her thoughts, she gazes down upon the palms of her trembling hands and sniffs in a few shaky breaths. Drawing in a long gasp, she reflexively winces and holds her chest. She closes her darkened, worn eyes.

Veevi returns her attention to Dr. Blackwell with tears trailing down her face, and sighs sadly. “Yes.”

Dr. Blackwell nods, leans close, and softly comforts. “Good. Then, that’s what we shall do.”

Through a lull in her sobs, Veevi meekly squeaks out. “Thank you...”

----

Samantha paces around a cluttered living room between open crates of recording equipment and searches her annoyed gaze between different members of the crew. “Okay! What do we have?! We literally had a horde of robots attack us. We need to figure out what we recorded.”

A random crewman grumbles with an annoyed, dismissive tone. “I got fucking nothing... Because I was trying not to DIE.”

With her arms crossed, another woman growls out. “Yeah, I don’t know. I might look for something, AFTER I recover from nearly getting ripped apart by psychotic robots! What the fuck bullshit are we signed up for?!”

Gripping her clipboard tightly, Samantha grits her teeth uneasily and hems loudly with a weak smile. “This was just a terrible mishap. Just a fluke, a random fluke-”

A loud male voice spits out. “OH, FUCK YOU!”

A gruff, muscular emin narrows his red on black eyes and snorts. “The hell do you call it when that possessed drone started hunting us through the gods damned woods? Incidental extreme hiking?!”

Lounging upon the couch with her feet propped on an equipment crate, an older grath woman snarls her upper lip with a focused glare upon Samantha. “The golem attack.”

A cacophony of angered grumbles sound out into a drone of commiserating complaints. A fvalian woman with short purple hair gestures with curling, clawed fingers. “And let’s not forget those cyber fucking zombies in that SUPPOSEDLY empty ruin!”

Samantha raises her voice, energetically waves out for everyone’s attention, and addresses the irritated crowd. “Every time we’ve run into unexpected dangers, Howard has provided everyone with leave and double hazard pay. We are compensating you the best we-”

The fvalian woman grits her sharp teeth, narrows her stare, and belts out a string of furious fvalian expletives. With an amused grin, the gruff, muscular emin spouts out different dialects of emin and cackles. “You want me to record THAT for Howard, or you want the transcription?! It’s real nice, I can promise, like you do!”

With a rolling growl, the older grath woman hisses a few choice grath words. Some other members wince and a few grath cringe and shudder. The man taps the shoulder of grath man next to him. “What did she say?”

The grath man blinks blankly, hisses a breath in through his teeth, and leans down. He whispers into the man’s ear behind his hand. Springing his eyes wide, the man reflexively wretches and coughs in psychological disgust. “Oh... Gods... You guys have a word for just THAT?!”

Samantha stiffens up her posture, draws in a long breath, and launches in a defensive explanation. While the speech falls upon the irate crowd, Gerald glances around, slinks back from the outer perimeter of the gathering, and walks up the stairs. He slowly plods up the stairwell to the first landing and then approaches a narrower set of steps. Ascending the path, he shakes his head to the thoughts going through his mind and sighs. Stepping into the small, upstairs bed room, he approaches the bed, glances over it, and flops upon it. Remaining still for minutes, his distant attention drifts and he stares outside through the balcony doors to the bright noon sky and green forest canopy along the horizon.

Blinking through the moments, he rolls over on the bed, stares up at the ceiling, and releases a long sigh. His arm flops off the side and his hand lands upon a camera bag. Patting the worn and weathered bag, Gerald unzips the top and rests his hand upon the professional grade still camera inside. Carefully lifting out the device, he inspects the photography equipment. Setting the machine aside on the bed, he reaches out for the laptop upon a nearby desk. Opening the lid, he rests the computer upon his chest and opens up a gallery app.

The application opens up and rows of thumbnails fill the screen. A smile emerges on Gerald’s face as he scrolls through the rows of photos with obvious recognition. After rolling through pages of preview images, he selects a picture. The display shows a close up shot of a wild whelp looking into the camera nose first with inquisitive eyes. A chuckle escapes Gerald and his hand feels the old, small sets of claw marks upon the lens chassis. As his fingers explore the physical mementos, his mind wanders.

Flits of discomfort rise up in his face, and his dark brown eyes venture through uncertainty. Running his hands through his short, dark blonde hair, he closes his eyes tightly and eventually mutters. “If not now... Then, when?”

Pulling in a long breath through his nose, he exhales and opens his eyes. Placing his hands on the laptop keyboard, he stiffens his upper lip, opens up a word processing program, and sets the cursor upon a blank page. With a surge of determination, his fingers type.

“This letter is to inform that I will be terminating my employment at the end of the current season.”

-113-

Fluttering his blue eyes open, Bach glances around the living area from the couch. He pulls himself up to a seat from laying, and wipes the early morning sleep from his eyes. He notices Aristespha, Sebastian, and Sotalia sitting at the dining table. Getting up to his feet, he wanders past the gathering and inquires groggily. “Is there any coffee left?”

Aristespha perks her very long, pointed ears, gazes up from her tablet, and motions through the bar window. “There should be plenty left.”

Holding a mug close to hide her face, Sotalia smirks humored and quips with a golden glance. “Couch comfortable?”

Bach rolls his eyes and sighs while searching for a clean cup. “Yeah. I guess I’m still recovering from throwing that ball at... whatever the hell kind of nightmare that was.”

An annoyed huff slips out before Sotalia takes a long sip of her coffee, and she narrows her stare at Bach. “I REALLY wish I could have seen that spell in action.”

Noticing the attention, Bach averts his gaze and awkwardly grins. “Uh, yeah... Sorry about that. Sort of an in the moment thing. I’ll try to make sure you are around for the next one.”

Sebastian’s ethereal form blinks his eyes in thought and cocks his head to the side at Bach. “So, bro... That nightmare thing... The energy inside it reacted like the Nightmare Geist’s?”

Pausing from browsing between different things to mix into his brew, Bach glances over to Sebastian nods with an uneasy twist of his mouth. “Yes. That black energy was neutralized with elder energy. So, I’d say it’s the same stuff as a Nightmare Geist’s. The golem components and robotics is still weird, though.”

He furrows his brow under the stray white streak and scratches the back of his head of longer brown hair. “Can’t say if I’d call it a prototype or an attempt to recreate one?”

Tapping her fingers upon her ceramic cup, Aristespha dons a slight frown on her ivory, blue and gray hinted face. She pulls in a slow breath through her nose and tosses back her long, silvery blue hair. “Needless to say, its existence is very troublesome. And, it would be good to track down where it came from exactly.”

Sebastian nods in agreement with a smile to Aristespha and ponders out loud. “I agree, dear. That wasn’t a normal robot by any stretch. Even old security droids aren’t that scary looking.”

He glances around to Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia and cracks an intrigued grin. “I bet it was some kind of guardian for some kind of ancient place. With that mix of magic, tech, and nightmare power... It might have been some kind of Second Period creation.”

Sotalia idly taps her long, black nails upon her mug, and contorts her face thoughtfully. “I would expect something like that to protect SOMETHING of importance. It’s strange that it left whatever it may have been guarding.”

Walking up to the dining table, Bach pulls out a chair and sits down. “Well, if those other robots mean anything, it could be that whoever reprogrammed those also reprogrammed the big one.”

Curling an irritated frown, Sotalia perks her brow and eyes Aristespha. “Any word if Noxian wandered back this way?”

Aristespha blinks her violet eyes to attention from reading her tablet and shakes her head. “No. Captain Hackle’s reports from GAA patrols state that he hasn’t made any known efforts to go back into GAA territory.”

Lifting an uncertain eyebrow at Sotalia, Bach finishes a sip of his light shade of coffee and tilts his head. “And... This doesn’t feel like something Noxian would do.”

Sotalia briefly meets Bach’s gaze with scrutiny and eventually softens to an agreeable smirk. “Yeah. You’re right. He’s usually sneakier and wouldn’t want to give himself away that easily. Also...”

She grits her teeth briefly in begrudging acceptance and lifts a her cup of coffee to her mouth. “He wouldn’t carelessly endanger innocent people. He’s got... SOME standards.”

With a long roll of her golden eyes, she puffs a stray lock of her fiery orange, wavy hair away and drinks her coffee. Aristespha taps a message open on her tablet and traces the words with her violet eyes. After a few moments, she cracks a smile and rests her chin on the back of her hand. “Interesting. It seems that Captain Hays and his team would like to have lunch with us. Today, if possible. He mentions that they found some information during their clean up we might deem useful.”

Sebastian smirks eagerly. “Nice, dear. We’ll definitely have to take them on the offer. I’ll be a good excuse to catch up and compare notes.”

Stopping mid sip, Bach pulls his mug away from and glances between Aristespha and Sebastian. “Yeah... We might be careful about what we tell them. I mean, I don’t know what they might do if they knew certain details.”

Nodding to his brother, Sebastian’s visage grants a comforting smile. “Totally understand, bro. We’ll see what they tell us first and screen what we provide them. No sense in confirming anything they might already suspect.”

Aristespha quirks her brow and gazes at Bach with a reassuring tone. “From my exchanges with Captain Hays, it seems he’s more interested in giving us information and getting his job done. I doubt he is much for inquisitions and would be happy enough knowing the problem will be taken care of.”

Bach contorts an uneasy expression on his face and sighs with hints of reservation. “Yeah. I guess out of the two captains, I’m okay with Hays. Captain Hackle on the other hand-”

With a knowing nod to Bach, Aristespha draws in a breath through her nose and twists her mouth. “I have been very careful in the details I give to him. I always get the impression there’s a bit more going on with him.”

The back sliding glass door opens up wide and Cideeda steps in with a toothy grin. She jots down a few more notes onto a small pad of paper and flicks her furry ears in thought. “So, I think rechambering and trimming the barrels will get the weight manageable. Then, we can see how many parts we can substitute for lightweight polymer and tune in the rate of fire.”

Behind Cideeda, Dretphi carefully slips through carrying the old security robot minigun and hoists heavy weaponry up in her tensed arms. She gazes upon the machine with an eager glint in her steely gray eyes and cradles the weapon. After a few moments, she glances down at Cideeda with a faint frown on her tan face. “Can the fire rate be selected?”

Cideeda’s furry ears perk and she raps her claw tips upon the chassis of the weapon. “Maybe. First, let’s get some proper handles on it from the measurements we took. Then, we can see if you can handle the recoil.”

Puffing up her chest, Dretphi glances off to the side, squeezes the machinery in her arms, mutters to herself. “I can handle it.”

Rolling her emerald green eyes playfully, Cideeda presents a toothy grin on her light brown face and motions Dretphi to follow. “I’m sure you can. Let’s get it comfortable to hold and lighter, first.”

She gazes over to the dining table and furrows her brow curiously with a wag of her tail. “What’s this meeting for?”

Sebastian pivots above his seat and smiles. “Just talking about stuff. Captain Hays wants to meet up for lunch and update us on what they’ve found.”

Cideeda cracks a devious smirk. “Have they said where?”

Aristespha blinks, searches her thoughts, and glances down at her tablet. “He actually did not mention a place. So, he might take a suggestion.”

A smile curls on Cideeda’s face and she eagerly suggests. “Fval Spice, then. Maybe he’ll treat us with some of that discretionary budget he probably has.”

Aristespha searches between the assembled team for opinions. Dretphi nods and glances down at the minigun. “I would be okay with that. I have not had time to cook today. Been... preoccupied.”

Bach and Sotalia nod in agreement, and Sebastian shrugs indifferently. Aristespha gazes down at her tablet, opens up a reply prompt, and starts to type out a message. “That sounds acceptable to me. I’ll send him a message now, and we’ll see if he’s okay with it.”

----

The door to the single bed motel room opens up and Mera steps in. She guides the door behind her to a close. She slowly walks to her bed and flops down a stack of different information packets. Lifting up a notebook into view, she flips through a few pages and studies her notes. Dropping onto the bed, she sorts through the different rental advertisements and arranges them out on the sheets. Glancing over the colorful documents, she wanders her crimson eyes over the selection and mulls over the options before her. She bites her lip in deliberation, plucks one flyer from the stack, and swaps it with another.

Combing her ivory fingers through her long gray hair, Mera narrows her gaze between the bits of text on the pieces of paper and sighs. After a moment, a faint growl sounds out from her stomach and she places her hand on her belly. Her eyes wander over to an alarm clock and realizes the just after noon time. Picking herself off the bed, she steps over to a small refrigerator, and opens the freezer. Her eyes dart between boxes of frozen dinners and her faint frown grows with her distaste. Rapping her finger tips on the freezer door, she slowly closes the compartment and stands back up straight. Twisting her mouth, she eases out a slow, long sigh and wanders her attention around the room.

After a few seconds, her focus rests upon a stack of Fval Spice menus. With a long pause, her eyes search in her mind, and Mera chuckles to herself with a musing in Evuukian. Tapping her finger upon a menu, she drags the tip down the list of items and stops at one. A faint frown tempers her desires and she glances over to the small refrigerator. Upon the fridge door, a color pencil drawing on white paper catches Mera’s attention. A happy smile curls out the corner of her mouth as she gazes upon the three small fvalian caricatures with black ears and a taller evuukian figure with red eyes and gray hair.

Mera shifts her gaze at the Fval Spice menus, nods with a smirk at a particular menu item, and walks towards the door.

----

In a small shopping strip near an intersection, the glass door to Fval Spice opens. Captain Hays steps out, moves the side, and holds the door open. Chana, Heccaeh, and Chelindia exit the store front and walk towards the ranger jeep. Dropping down the back tail gate, Heccaeh lifts up a light colored tarp off two pet carriers and sets two take out boxes in front of the cages. “Ralli. Orrento. Wake up, time for lunch.”

After unlocking the doors, a dark blue whelp and a brown stripped whelp stick their heads out. Each sniffs a paper tray of extra greasy stir fried rice and hungrily plunges head first into the meal. Hays checks inside and continues to hold the door open for Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia. The teams gather around the ranger jeep. Cideeda glances up to Hays with a toothy grin and a wag of her long tail. “Thanks for getting the bill.”

Captain Hays tips his wide brimmed hat and smirks. “Not a problem. Let’s just say a few groups appreciate what you’ve done. And, I’m glad some folks I knew were on the scene to make a difference.”

Resting her hands on her hips, Aristespha smiles appreciatively and sighs with hints of uncertainty. “Thank you for the information.”

A faint frown curls at the corner of Hay’s mouth and he hums. “Yeah. Sorry it’s just a vague direction we’ve been able to narrow down. I just hope Hackle might have a bit more to go on. But, I thought I’d pass what I knew along. You know, just in case you had some other clues.”

From the sword at Aristespha’s side, Sebastian’s voice resonates out. “I think we’ve had a few coordinates that showed up that direction. We haven’t checked them out yet, because... Well, we couldn’t find much to cross reference them against. So, we just thought they were outliers?”

Bach shrugs his shoulders and sighs. “Yeah. Well, they might not be outliers anymore with recent events.”

Chana perks her brow and crosses her arms with a focused gaze at Bach. “We’ll definitely check central records for anything that’s occurred near any locations you all send us. There might be something hidden that could be useful.”

With an awkward grin, Bach nods to Chana and shifts his attention to watching Dretphi and Sotalia play with the two whelps, Ralli and Orrento.

A fvalian woman with brown furry ears and long, braided black hair leads a trio of sisters towards the entrance of Fval Spice. Katelli and Natashalli quickly follow behind their mother through the door, but Jesselli halts before entering. Her brown eyes catch a glimpse of Chelindia and she stares with a tilt of her head of braided black hair. Squinting and blinking her eyes, she steps closer to the group and waves to Chelindia. “Hey!”

After looking around confused, Chelindia meets Jesselli’s gaze and awkwardly waves back at the little girl. “Hello?”

Jesselli perks up her furry black ears and grins brightly. “Are you Chel?”

Chelindia’s turquoise eyes widen in moment of shock and she nervously chuckles. “Um... Uh... Yes. How did you know?”

With a happy smile, Jesselli wags her shorter, fluffier tail. “Mera told me. She draws nice pictures of you.”

A muffled voice sounds out from the other side of front glass door and she quickly waves as she slips in. “My mommy is calling me! Bye!”

After the fvalian girl goes inside, Chelindia stands up straight, silently and uneasily pivots to face the rest of the group. Captain Hays narrows his concern upon Chelindia and quiets his tone. “Is there something wrong?”

Chelindia swallows hard, shifts her focus between the assembled group, and exhales tensely. “That little girl knew Meredosia and my nicknames... for each other.”

Tension weighs down other conversations and the attention shifts to Chelindia. Aristespha narrows her stare at Chelindia and cocks her head to the side. “We’ve seen an evuukian woman that works here.”

With growing worry on her dark tan face, Chelindia grits her teeth and inquires. “What did she look like?”

Sotalia rests her hands on her hips and furrows her brow. “Red... Crimson eyes?”

Cideeda searches her mind briefly. “Long gray hair.”

Bach points to Aristespha’s bare arm. “Light skin, like hers.”

While processing the information, a surge of paranoia washes over Chelindia and she glances around the area expectantly. “That... That must be HER. She must have survived the assault... And, came here?”

Mera walks upon the sidewalk into view around the end of the building row. She glances up and pans her distant, idle stare across the parking lot. She halts and freezes in place. Gradually, she pivots her head to meet Chelindia’s gaze and widens her crimson eyes in pure shock. Chelindia steps forward, blinks in astonishment, and calls out. “Meredosia?!”

Meredosia back pedals and the word stumbles out of her trembling mouth. “C-C-Chelindia?!”

The two evuukian women stare at each other. Chelindia blinks her turquoise eyes, calmly holds her hand out, and starts to open her mouth. Meredosia shudders a breath out, steps back, and spins around into a full sprint away.

----

Meredosia runs upon the sidewalk past the dated, worn motel. She glances over to a door at the end the row, and grits her teeth. Noticing Chelindia distantly behind her, she sprints off into the nearby woods and scrambles through the brush. She quickly picks up speed in between the trees and disappears from view.

Chelindia gestures out a few incantations, swells up a surge of flow beneath her, and launches up into the trees. Dretphi and Cideeda reach the edge of the woods seconds later, motion to each other, and push through into forest. Above the gathering team, Ralli and Orrento flap up higher and zip over the canopy. Hays follows up behind Dretphi and Cideeda. Heccaeh trails behind while attentively watching the skies. Chana, Sotalia, Aristespha, and Bach ease their way past a dense barrier of bushes and join the chase.

Minutes later, Sebastian’s ethereal form phases through thinner branches of green canopy with specks of yellow and orange. He spots the pair of whelps circling above a moving target and points the direction out with a shout downwards. “That way!”

Sotalia nods, squints her golden eyes through the dense woods, and grimaces. “Damn, she can move fast through this crap!”

Chana hops over an old, fallen log, narrows her copper eyes ahead, and frowns her sun-tanned face. “Yeah. I hope she start doesn’t start hopping through the trees like Chelindia.”

Brushing off a few turning leaves out of her shiny, coppery hair, she glances over to Sotalia with hints of concern. “You feeling anything weird magically?”

Sotalia blinks to attention, sorts through her thoughts, and twists her mouth. “Yeah... It feels familiar?”

Further into the dense trees, Cideeda sniffs the air, perks her furry ears ahead, and points a claw tip in a direction. “I hear someone running across the ground through the leaves.”

Dretphi leaps effortlessly over a small boulder and ducks below low branch. “Not Chelindia?”

Keeping formation to the side, Hays keeps his wide-brimmed hat on his head while maneuvering through the natural obstacles along the trail and shakes his head quickly. “No, she’s up in the trees. You won’t hear her.”

Squinting ahead, Cideeda’s furry ears flick around the area and hunt for other sounds. After a few moments, she cracks an amused smirk. “Rustling leaves and shaking branches. That’s all I can hear. Not bad.”

Far beyond the shuddering of branches raining down loose autumn leaves, Meredosia slides down a drainage creek worn into a hill and forces another sprint. She gasps for breath and pants loudly as her speed wanes. Weaving between large rocks, tree trunks, and overgrown shrubs, her reserves drain faster with each moment. She glances up through the thinning canopy and meets the attentive stares of two whelps keeping pace with her above. Ralli and Orrento chirp and bark out different fvalian words while watching Meredosia rush through the woods. Meredosia’s focus snaps ahead and she panics at the thick, thorny brush ahead. She reflexively dives over the prickly shrub and rolls into a grassy clearing. Stumbling back up to her feet, Meredosia’s crimson eyes widen as she stares at the steep, rocky barrier ahead. Leaning forward into her pants, she desperately searches perimeter of the clearing. The whelps circling overhead distract her.

Meredosia pivots towards a cleared direction and rushes forward. Chelindia drops down from the treetops with a plume of cushioning flow, stands up calmly, and blocks Meredosia’s route. Spinning around to other escape options, Meredosia grits her teeth and snarls her upper lip at each new impasse showing up in each possible exit. Cideeda, Dretphi, Hays, Heccaeh, Chana, Sotalia, Aristespha, and Bach spread out around the perimeter of the clearing against the rocky, natural wall. Sebastian hovers overhead with Ralli and Orrento orbiting.

Tense, quiet seconds pass. Chelindia glances over to Hays with a pleading gaze. Hays grants a simple nod and motions everyone to stay back. Relaxing her posture, Chelindia steps towards Meredosia with calm, comforting tone. “Meredosia... I’m sorry that I startled you. Could we talk?”

Darting her crimson eyes between the different people surrounding the perimeter, Meredosia tosses back her long, gray hair, stiffly straightens her stature, and clenches her fists shakily. “Why would I want to talk to someone WHO ABANDONED ME! And, NOW you are leading squad to hunt me down!”

Chelindia winces at the comment, draws in a long breath, and focus her attention upon Meredosia’s ivory face. “I am sorry we had to find each other like this. I didn’t want to chase you like this, but...”

Meeting Meredosia’s manic, panicked glare, Chelindia’s turquoise gaze softens and a mix of sadness and relief colors her voice. “I thought you had been lost... to me... And, I didn’t want to lose you again...”

A surge of memory drains the furious facade surrounding Meredosia and uncertainty rattles the boldness in her voice. “It... It all f-fell apart after you left! Why did you LEAVE?!”

Closing her eyes briefly, Chelindia draws in a long breath, exhales, and gazes at Meredosia. “I could not support what you were doing anymore. We had good life in the ruins before.”

Meredosia settles her attention upon Chelindia, cocks her head to the side, and narrows her stare with manic peak in her tone. “We were just existing! No one knew of us or what we were about! Didn’t you want to accomplish more than that?!”

Stiffening her upper lip, Chelindia lifts up her head of braided, dark green hair, puffs up her chest sternly, and calmly pries. “Did YOU? I don’t remember you having those ambitions when we started. Only after HE talked to you.”

Her crimson eyes darting between uncomfortable memories, Meredosia shakes her head. She drags her trembling fingers through her hair and growls out. “It doesn’t matter! The first batch of golems were a success! We proved we could make them and everything was going good...”

After along pause, Meredosia’s stare grows distant and contorts into an enraged scowl. “Until that bastard Noxian came! He took our power and left us defenseless!”

Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia exchange perplexed glances. Trembles of sadness leak out in Meredosia’s tone and she frowns sharply. “If it wasn’t for him, we would still be able to defend ourselves from those attackers! I wouldn’t have been away from everyone while trying to regain... our power... to keep us safe...”

Chelindia pauses a moment to watch Meredosia’s facade crack. She sighs deeply, meets Meredosia’s gaze, and frowns somberly. “Meredosia... That attack happened because of the golems you sent.”

Blinking back to awareness, Meredosia narrows her confusion at Chelindia. With a solemn nod, Chelindia glances over to Hays. “He explained it to me after he heard about it.”

Hays steps out from cover, tips his hat respectfully, and calmly states. “Long story short, the GAA and Appaland have been watching your group for years. You were outside both territories, so no one really was motivated to care. Then, you sent those golems after the Chrome Crusaders. Appaland took it personally, since they have ties with them.”

He grits his teeth, hisses out a sigh, and shakes his head slowly. “They’re the ones behind the mechanized strike force that took out your group. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d been waiting for justification for a while. And...”

Leveling a stoic stare through Meredosia, Hays plainly states. “You gave it to them.”

Shock blanks the expression off of Meredosia’s ivory face. Her distant stare shifts from Hays to Chelindia, and settles back to Hays. As her mind processes the information, her shoulders droop and her jaw hangs open in bewilderment. Searching her mind, she sifts through memory and incredulous winces push against the facts weighing upon her. Snapping a defiant glare towards Chelindia, she grits her teeth. The rage fizzles when she stares into Chelindia’s genuine, pleading gaze on her dark tan face. With a hard close of her eyes, tears run down Meredosia’s cheeks and she sniffs between surges of regret. Wiping her face off with her fingers, she frowns sharply and sighs deeply. “I... failed them... I... caused it all... fall apart...”

A spark of hope lights up Chelindia’s gaze, and she cautiously steps forward. “It is okay, Meredosia. It is all in the past. You can focus on the future.”

Meredosia thoughtfully nods, feels around her neck, and curls her fingers around a cord. She lifts up necklace with a faintly glowing crystal bound tied at the end, and smirks with flits of determination. “You’re right. I’m not going to let that happen again.”

Sotalia squints at the crystal. Her golden eyes widen in utter bewilderment and she spits out. “How the fuck?!”

Following Sotalia’s stare, Bach blinks his blue eyes to illumination and focuses upon the necklace.

“NEW FLOW DETECTED.”

After Sebastian’s visage distorts, people glance over to the sword at Aristespha’s side. Sheer shock grips Bach and he blurts out when the puzzle collides together. “OH. SHIT.”

Flows of white energy surge out from the small crystal necklace and envelop Meredosia in a bubble barrier. With a twirl of her wrist and flash of white in her glowing crimson eyes, a swarm of small energy bolts boil off the surface of the surrounding elder shield and dart out towards the perimeter. The tiny balls zip across the clearing, fly roughly towards everyone else but Chelindia. They impact trees, rocks, and dirt nearby. Hays and others drop back to cover. Chelindia backs away slowly and pleads with Meredosia. “Please STOP this. You don’t have to do this. We have options!”

In the disruption, Meredosia quickly scans the area and glances up to the top of the sheer, rocky incline. Her attention shifts to Sebastian, Ralli, and Orrento. Narrowing a glare at Sebastian, she aims her finger and waits with a harsh frown. Sebastian shoos the whelps off and yells out. “Send the whelps away! NOW!”

A shrill whistle fills the air from the forest below and the whelps dart away below the canopy. Meredosia lowers her hand and returns her attention to the incline. Hays calls out to Chelindia. “Get back, Chelindia!”

Chelindia reluctantly steps away and darts uneasy glances to Hays as she backs away. With a reassuring nod, Hays mouths out. “We’ll try.”

With a faint smile, Chelindia leaps back into cover and hides away. Hays shifts his focus between everyone nearby and groans. “So, any ideas? I really don’t want to have to hurt someone that is just out of their mind right now.”

Chana shrugs her shoulders, peeks out around a tree trunk, and quirks her brow. “I don’t know. This is some serious power. But it doesn’t feel like there is a lot of it?”

Sneaking a glance through some bushes, Sotalia hums in thought. “It never felt like it had a lot.”

Aristespha blinks her eyes to a violet glow and briefly eyes the barrier around Meredosia. She settles back behind cover and directs her voice to Bach. “I don’t believe she can do too much with that. Bach?”

Bach narrows a glance around a tree trunk, watches the flows of elder energy upon the bubble, and shakes his head. “Yeah. Maybe we can wear it down carefully with a bunch of weak spells?”

Sebastian materializes near Aristespha and ducks down with the teams. “The whelps are clear. Any plans?”

Bach shrugs and surveys the reactions from everyone else. “One team throws weak spells to wear her down, and another gets ready to jump her?”

Hays and Sebastian exchange looks and nod in agreement.

Meredosia strings together evuukian curses under her breath. She closes her eyes, controls her breaths, and tries to calm herself down. As she focuses and manipulates the flows of energy from the crystal, her eyes spring open to the sound of tearing leaves. Spinning around from facing the rock wall, she watches a single energy bolt wandering erratically through the air above. She furrows her brow, cocks her head to side, and mumbles to herself confused. As the prismatic ball closes in, it splits to a swarm of energy specks. The tiny darts zip along fast arcs and pelt Meredosia’s energy shield. The barrage rains chaotic ripples through the defensive barrier.

Meredosia holds her hands out and wills threads of white energy into the protective bubble. As the instabilities settle, a gout of freezing air sprays upon the surface from the perimeter bushes. Meredosia shifts her attention to strengthening the barrier against the draining attack. From around the cover of the tree, a precise beam of energy impacts the barrier at a tangential point away from Meredosia. A guided swarm of bolts jet up through the canopy, orbit above Meredosia, and break away to pelt the surface of her bubble. A white flash of ire fills Meredosia’s glowing crimson eyes, and she surges a wave of energy out from the dimming crystal. With tense grit of her teeth, she shouts in a rage. “STOP TOYING WITH ME!”

Twitching her fingers, tiny balls of power boil off the barrier and fling wildly out into the woods. Turning around, she waits a moment and watches for a counterattack. Silent seconds pass. She pivots around to face the rocky incline, but maintains anticipating eye at the corner of her vision. Another erratic swarm of bolts launch up from the cover of the canopy and rain down upon the barrier. Meredosia maneuvers her hands towards expectation and darts her attention between possible angles. Sotalia leans out from cover and aims her palm of condensing energies at Meredosia. Snapping around, Meredosia draws a surge of elder power from the dim crystal, and flows it down her arm to her hand. A small bright ball flashes across the clearing.

Sotalia yelps reflexively and flops back into the brush. Nearby, Bach calls out. “Sotalia?! You okay?”

Moments of silence follow. Aristespha scurries over to Sotalia, widens her violet glowing eyes, and gasps. “Oh gods. Sotalia? Sotalia?!”

Bach searches through the dense brush for a clear view as he watches Aristespha investigate. With each glimpse of Sotalia’s motionless, obscured body, concern swells within Bach. In the moment, desperation drives his frantic efforts for a comforting sign. Then through layers of brush, Bach pales at a splatter of fresh red upon the fallen leaves.

His expression blanks. His breath stops. His body stills. His distant stare focuses to a point well within his thoughts and delves deeper. From the back of his mind, a resolute and solemn drive grants a cool agreement. Standing up coldly, Bach narrows a grim acceptance upon Meredosia as a white glow floods out the blue in his eyes.

“FAMILIAR FLOW DETECTED.”

Bach steps out into clearing and glares right into Meredosia’s crimson eyes. Glancing around, Meredosia’s cocks her head incredulously. “LISTEN! Just STAY AWAY and NO ONE ELSE will get hurt!”

Bach maintains a silent, cold stare at Meredosia. As he remains unmoving, Meredosia builds up another attack and yells out. “Turn around and go back into hiding! I mean it!”

She concentrates more power into a larger ball, and holds her palm out towards Bach. She releases it. “I warned you!”

The energy orb jets across the clearing. Bach raises his hand in front of him. With a quick snap, his fingers clamp down onto the elder bolt as flows of power coat his hand. Squeezing harder by the moment, Bach’s grip crushes the ball and the elder miasma bursts out. Meredosia’s jaw drops as the plume condenses back upon Bach, and she gawks in terror at the bright white glow from his glare. “What the-”

Lifting his free hand up, a surge of elder flow collects into Bach’s palm. In seconds, thousands of layered, thin rings of magic form and spin upon chaotic pivots into a tight orb of white noise. Bach flings the ball forward. The cacophony of energy ripping through air catches the full attention of Meredosia as the orb homes in on her. With wide eyed fright, Meredosia flings her arms forward and warps the full strength of her barrier ahead. The elder disintegration ball plows into the protective field. Plumes of white miasma burst out. Slicing rings of energy shred into layers of shielding. Ripples rattle the weakening barrier.

Meredosia struggles in absolute fear to maintain the shrinking divider. She grimaces in fright, strains to keep her trembling hands flowing her diminishing power, and spouts out panicked phrases of evuukian. Faint threads of flow shimmer in a long trail linking to Bach, and he continues to stare coldly at Meredosia. The crystal goes dark.

From behind cover, Sotalia’s voice groggily cries out in a pained whine. “Oh fucking gods! OWW!”

Bach blinks hard, glances around, and snaps his focus to the side. Aristespha holds a ripped section of her shirt upon Sotalia’s head where her horn was, and calms. “Take it easy. You took a hard hit to your barrier. Thankfully, your horn took most of the impact.”

Sotalia flutters her golden eyes and cringes painfully. “My horn?! What happened to it?!”

A wave of relief floods Bach and warmth fills his expression again. Then, horror jars him. he returns his attention to the elder disintegration ball vaporizing the last remnants of Meredosia’s barrier.

The shield disappears completely. Meredosia twists her body away from the destructive orb and turns her face away with an expecting, tearful wince. A bright flash of magic flow jets down the fine threads behind the elder empowered ball. It sharply breaks away from Meredosia, arcs around her, and burrows into the rock wall. A cloud of rock dust and dirt blast out until the chaos dissipates.

Meredosia remains cowering. In the lull, she cautiously touches her ivory face. Hints of relief calm her trembling hand. Her fingers feel shortened strands of her gray hair. Tracing the length of her ear, she finds wet red where the tip was. Her crimson eyes widen in shock, and she drops to her knees. Fighting against fear, she glances to Bach and sobs. “I surrender... Please... I’m sorry...”

Stepping out from the woods cautiously, Hays, Chelindia, Chana, and Heccaeh approach Meredosia. Bach pales and backpedals away shakily. He pivots to face Aristespha and points to Sotalia. Aristespha grants a reassuring nod. “She’ll be fine.”

Sotalia grimaces while keeping pressure on the impromptu bandage. “Only when I find where my horn went! OWW!”

Rushing over, Cideeda sniffs the air and hunts the vicinity with her emerald green eyes. “I’ll find it. Calm down.”

Nodding with a weak smirk, Bach slinks away into the woods. Dretphi arrives behind Cideeda. After looking over Aristespha and Sotalia, she pivots around and frowns concerned. “Where is Bach?”

Between clumps of shrubs, Bach leans against tree trunk, slides down slowly, and flops to a seat upon the forest floor. Combing his hands through his longer, brown hair, he concentrates on slow, shuddering breaths and mumbles. “Oh fuck... Oh fuck... What the hell...”

Hovering down from above, Sebastian’s ethereal form kneels next to Bach and calmly speaks to him. “Hey, bro. You okay?”

Bach gazes into his brother’s face, grimaces, and shakes his head. “Not really, man. Feeling a little fucked up right now. That... That was... Oh shit...”

Sebastian nods simply fighting a frown and settles his visage nearby. “It’s okay. I’m as here as I can be for you.”

----

A long sigh escapes Bach as he buries his face in his hands. Running his fingers through his longer brown hair, he bows his head between this elbows and blows out a nervous breath. Leaning his back against the tree trunk, he raises his head and blinks his blue eyes in the middle of a distant, thoughtful stare. Shaking his head back to reality, he gazes over to Sebastian’s ghostly form and frowns. “I don’t know, man... Something just snapped and I went after her... That... That was NOT good place in my head... Fuck...”

His focus wavers. He rests his forehead upon the palm of his hand, props his arm up upon knee, and grimaces. “I could have nearly killed her. I mean, I don’t know all she’s done, but I don’t think she deserves getting blasted right here. She was just confused and freaking out with stupid power. I get THAT.”

Sniffing a long gulp of air, he grits his teeth and hisses out the breath. “Did you see how scared of me she was? That look. Gods, that look. Like she’s a scared child and a monster kicked down her bedroom door. That was AT ME.”

Sebastian presents a faint, comforting smile to Bach and nods slowly. “Bro, it’s okay now.”

Bach stares at Sebastian pleadingly. “Is it?”

Wrestling a grimace off his face, Sebastian sighs deeply with traces of reverb in his tone. “Listen, bro. That was a fucked up situation. Like many we’ve been through before. We were trying to make the best of it and go for the best possible outcome despite it.”

Focusing his transparent blue eyes at Bach’s gaze, he frowns and leans close. “The situation changed. You reacted to the change. You thought Sotalia had been seriously hurt. And, you did what you thought had to be done.”

Bach narrows his gaze and disbelief fills his voice. “Did I?”

Sebastian crosses his arms and shrugs his shoulders. “You put a stop to it. The rest of team didn’t get hurt and Meredosia is alive. It’s a good outcome.”

Shaking his head, Bach deliberates out loud and uncomfortably squirms against the tree trunk. “But, was it the best choice? I mean, maybe there was better solution? Maybe if I had waited and actually realized that it wasn’t as terrible as I thought it was? I mean...”

Focusing his full attention to Bach, Sebastian explains calmly. “Bro... There may have not been a better moment coming. She could have flung another bolt and hurt someone else in the time you were waiting for a better option. You took the initiative when no one else could and prevented the situation from getting worse for the rest of us.”

Bach’s confidence wanes as he tries to accept the statement, and he rocks his head while averting his gaze. Sebastian pulls into an echoing breath, sighs deeply, and plainly asks. “Did you want to take the chance for it to get worse, at that moment?”

Watching Bach’s seeking stare into his eyes, Sebastian cracks a reassuring smirk. “I would have done the same in your spot.”

Bach’s face contorts against flits of conflict, and he eventually nods. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. But... I’m not too happy with it, myself. Feels like I lost it for a moment back there and just went power crazy.”

Sebastian’s visage drifts faintly along the forest floor and he shrugs his shoulders. “Well, you didn’t vaporize her in one shot. And, you stopped after you took her power away. I don’t think she’s going to be trying anything knowing you’re around.”

Wave of disgust rises up Bach and he sticks his tongue out. “Bleck. Not exactly what I’m going for.”

He slips his legs underneath and pulls himself up along the trunk of the tree. Straightening his posture, he gathers up his composure and works a reserved expression on his face. “Well, I don’t feel like I’m going to puke anymore. But, damn. I wonder how Captain Hays is going to react to all of this.”

Sebastian ghostly form stands upright and he perks his brow. With a snort, he tilts his head of short brown, transparent hair and chuckles. “Honestly, I don’t think this is the craziest thing he’s ever seen. After all the stuff we saw in the PWZ, he’s seen more.”

Stepping out from hiding in the bushes, Bach surveys the scene. Sotalia cringes painfully as Aristespha presses down the base half of her horn back onto her head in a bubble of magical flow. Cideeda steps up with both hands cupped together. She twists her mouth sympathetically and dumps horn fragments into Sotalia’s awaiting hands. “I think this is all of them.”

Dretphi watches Sotalia sort through the pieces and pats her on the shoulder. She spots Bach with Sebastian and waves with a hint of concern on her face. Bach waves back and presents a weak smile. He glances over to Heccaeh calling whelps back, Chana carefully putting the crystal necklace into a containment vessel, and Chelindia talking to the very subdued, handcuffed Meredosia. Captain Hays steps into view, walks up to Bach, and tips his hat. “Hey. Wondered where you headed off to.”

Bach nervously chuckles. “Uh, yeah. Just needed a moment. Is there anything you need me to do?”

Hays cocks his head to the side and strokes his long black beard. “Like what?”

Glancing around, Bach narrows his confusion. “I don’t know. Bringing me in for questioning, or some other thing because of...”

Crossing his arms, Hays drums his fingers on the chassis of his cybernetic arm and smirks with snort. “For what? Defending us?”

Bach blinks blankly while intrigue curls the corner of Sebastian’s mouth. Hays shakes his head and leans close to Bach and Sebastian. “I ain’t police. I ain’t military. I’m a Ranger. I’ve had my suspicions well before this point that someone was throwing some serious firepower in this group.”

A sly grin cracks and he chuckles. “Don’t worry, I let Hackle continue to think it’s the sword. I think I owe that much for the people of Hattan and everyone at the convention center.”

He holds out his hand and awaits Bach’s response. “Might have to call on you if another Nightmare wanders out from the zones, if you don’t mind.”

Bach ponders a moment and shakes Hays’s hand. “I just hope the next one won’t be for a while.”

With a snort, Hays rolls his light blue eyes. “Me too. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to talk to this Meredosia.”

Hays departs. Sebastian glances over to Bach and nods. “See. It’s going to be okay.”

Blowing out his nerves, Bach wrestles his anxiety. “I guess.”

Bach spots Chelindia standing off to the side. He briefly grits his teeth and walks up to Chelindia cautiously. “Hey... I just wanted to apologize for accidentally hurting Meredosia. I should have been more careful and-”

Chelindia holds up her hand, presents an appreciative smirk on her dark tan face, and shakes her head of dark green, braided hair. “You have no need to apologize. She escalated the situation, willingly. This isn’t the first time her decisions have brought misfortune upon her.”

She draws in a long breath and releases sad sigh. “It was a bad situation. My bow was already drawn, and I expected the worst. It didn’t come to be. She’s still here and quite humbled.”

A genuine smile appears on Chelindia’s face and she bows slightly to Bach. “I think she might consider other options now. It may have been a harsh experience, but it may have been the only option to get here.”

Captain Hays calls out to the members of his team to a meet up. Chelindia nods quickly to Bach. “Thank you again. I’ll talk to you all later.”

When Chelindia departs, Bach walks back to his team, mulling over the situation unsatisfied. He spots Sotalia sitting in the clearing, rearranging her horn fragments in her hands, and struggling to reassemble the puzzle. Bach steps over and sits down next to Sotalia. “Hey. How’s your head?”

Sotalia rolls her golden eyes embarrassed. She feels the bandages around her head and the base of her horn, and winces. “Oh, it fucking hurts. Aristespha got the base reattached enough for now. It’s going to take her the rest of the night to get it all the way.”

She curses under her breath in emin, and fights to fit together irregular chunks of horn back together. “Gods damn it. Bad enough that bolt knocked by horn off. But did the impact have to fracture the upper half? None of these pieces seem to fit together.”

Bach holds his hand out and smirks. “Want me to try?”

Sotalia glances to Bach, blinks her golden eyes, and smiles as she deposits the horn bits in his hand. With a faint glow of blue in his eyes, Bach wills flows of energy, and the pieces levitate up. While Bach concentrates on the puzzle, Sotalia cranes her head and watches his expression through her fiery orange, wavy hair. “So... Everything okay?”

An uncertain cringe drives a slow frown on Bach’s face. “Well... I don’t really know.”

In the lull of conversation, Sotalia gazes with concern, places her hand on Bach back, and rubs soothingly. Two sit quietly, and Sotalia watches Bach magically assemble the irregular pieces of the horn. Minutes later, the final flecks find their place in the greater whole. Sotalia grins with delight and grips Bach’s shoulder. “Oh, it’s looks so good! Thank you!”

Bach quirks his brow and hums. “I think it’s still missing a few pieces. But, I’ve bonded what’s there together.”

Sotalia sighs with acceptance and snorts. “Oh, it’s nothing a little filler and varnish won’t fix.”

She bites her lower lip and flutters her eyes at Bach. “Do you think you can put it back on for me? Please?”

Bach chuckles softly and nods. “Sure.”

Sotalia tilts her head towards Bach and motions towards the broken end of her reattached horn. “Just be careful... It’s really sore right now. I can feel everything.”

Carefully shifting his hands together, Bach guides the levitating horn end and moves it close to Sotalia’s head. Sotalia glances around, whispers with an impatient hint, and twists her mouth. “So... What do you think my odds are at getting my crystal back from the Rangers?”

Bach furrows his brow and aims his glowing blue eyed stare down at Sotalia. “Seeing how they put it in some kind of containment unit and might be cataloging it... Um... Well... I wouldn’t put too much money on that bet.”

Sotalia huffs, pouts, and grumbles her frustration. “Shit. Just when I finally found it...”

She furrows her brow. “Wait. This means that Meredosia stole it from me!”

With a simple nod, Bach concurs and blinks in thought while aligning the horn piece. “Yeah... How fuck did she manage that? Oh well, it’s a moot point now. Probably for the best we don’t say much.”

Rolling her golden eyes, Sotalia stiffly frowns. “I guess...”

She sorts through her thoughts, narrows her attention to a point, and cracks plotting grin. “But... That means it’s stolen property. So, I have a legal precedence for it to be returned to its rightful owner, me, and-”

Bach projects a playfully unamused tone. “I WILL put this on backwards.”

Sotalia’s golden eyes widen briefly. She hides a guilty grin with a hint of color in her cheeks and lets the subject go.

-114-

Sitting on a worn wooden chair at a plain table, Meredosia’s crimson eyes dart around the gray, painted brick walls of the holding room. Maintaining defiant scowl on her ivory face, she narrows an examining glare at the magical inscriptions along the edges of the space. She flexes her fingers and turns her wrists within the heavy, metal handcuffs. She watches as flits of magical energy flicker in etched flow channels upon the restraints. A long sigh escapes her and she slumps her shoulders down. Glancing up to the overhead panel lights, she tosses her gray hair back and winces when strands shift on one side. With a sharp frown, recent memory flashes back into her thoughts and she inspects the shorter side. Her clipped, bandaged ear perks faintly and she hisses out a mix of shame and embarrassment.

A metallic clang sounds out from the locking mechanisms in the heavy, warded door. A power armored GAA soldier steps in along with a uniformed mage in full battle gear. Meredosia’s posture stiffens in the chair and she narrows a wary stare towards the gathering. Captain Hackle’s tall, thin frame steps in calmly and he nods to Meredosia. “I apologize for keeping you waiting here for so long. It took a little longer than expected to get certain information, Meredosia Kali Zerha Verherin.”

Meredosia’s crimson eyes flit wide briefly, and an uncomfortable curl in the corner of her mouth twists her stern expression. Hackle perks his eyebrow and steps towards the table, opposite of Meredosia. Sergeant Violet follows into the room with a chair similar to the wooden one underneath Meredosia. She sets the chair behind Hackle, stands at attention, and focuses her dark blue eyes between the meeting. Easing himself into the seat, Hackle glances his brown eyes around the room and smirks under his graying mustache. “Not the worst place I’ve had such discussions, to be honest. So, Meredosia, would you like anything before we start? Coffee, tea, or something from the vending machines?”

Meredosia remains stoic and stares quietly at Hackle. After a few nods, Hackle motions to Violet and directs a flat, explanatory tone to the evuukian woman on other side of the table. “Allow me to explain the situation at hand. You are under suspicion for many unlawful activities. While a bulk of them happened outside our immediate jurisdiction, components would have had to have occurred within GAA territory.”

As Violet sets a large tablet in front of him, Hackle narrows his eyes at Meredosia. “Right now, you have been arrested for multiple counts of assault and battery with deadly force, and attempted murder. With the witnesses and victims being in good standing with GAA, it won’t take long in the courts. From there, we will have the time to investigate further into your activities.”

He taps upon the screen of the device in front of him, twists his mouth, and furrows his brow. “But... It has come to our attention that you may have knowledge that’d serve us in handling a far greater threat.”

Focusing his full attention, he directs an inquisitive gaze through Meredosia. “If you would assist us and provide useful information to aid our investigation, I feel we could resume our efforts with newfound momentum. We may overlook these incidents past and present. Then, you are welcome to resume your new life in Amaranth Valley.”

An encouraging smile appears on Captain Hackle’s face, and he opens up a map upon the tablet. “Any questions so far?”

Meredosia flexes her fingers tightly, straightens her posture, and narrows a glare at Hackle with heavy reservation. “It’s not that simple. What is the catch? There always is one.”

Hackle nods understandingly and gestures to Violet. “Yes. You would be on retainer to the GAA for a period of time. People like Sergeant Violet would keep tabs on you. And, you would make yourself available for consultation by the GAA when your insight could prove valuable.”

An uneasy frown forms on Meredosia’s face, and she draws a long, suspicious breath in. “So, I would at your beck and call. I can never go anywhere without you knowing it.”

Hackle interlocks his fingers, searches his mind, and smirks. “To some degree. I would consider it a flexible, long-term probation.”

Meredosia’s shoulders tense gradually, her fists tighten, and she directs a stern stare at Hackle with a trace of a frown. After studying her body language for a moment, Hackle draws in a long breath, relaxes his demeanor, and sigh sympathetically. “I know this is not an ideal situation for you. But, through the processes and procedures I have available, this one of the best routes out of it I can provide.”

While Meredosia continues her unamused glare upon the proceedings, Hackle gazes right into Meredosia’s crimson eyes and adopts a sincere tone. “While getting information about your recent activities here in Amaranth Valley, it has become obvious to us that your want to start anew. You’ve come to this city with nothing, taken the initiative to find a place to live, and even found honest work.”

He cocks his head to the side, perk his brow, and smirks. “This is progress I’d to see more of. This is a good direction, and it shows you want to do better. It shows you want to move forward.”

Blinking a few times, Meredosia struggles to maintain her facade against the rushes of painful memories. A defiant surge tightens her muscles and she tightly balls her fists. Twisting her mouth, a spark of rage boils up from the depths and pushes to escape her lips. As the potency wanes, her expression blanks and she stares into herself. Sorting through a flood of moments, cringes of regret and twitches of guilt leak out. Drawing a long breath, Mera sighs sadly and nods in agreement. After a few quiet seconds, she refocuses her gaze at Hackle and meekly replies. “Thank you for allowing me to call out of work... sick. I didn’t want to worry them.”

Hackle smiles with a gentle nod. “Understandable. Depending on how cooperative you are and valuable your information is, there might be ways I can see about getting assistance for your new life in the GAA.”

Mera wrestles her emotions underneath her neutral facade and collects herself. “So, what information could I have that you would want?”

Focusing his examining stare at Mera, Hackle simply states. “It’s about an evuukian that goes by Lexattican.”

Blinking her crimson eyes wide, Meredosia’s back straightens, her head tilts away slightly, and she winces reflexively as her clipped ear sways with the motion. Faint hints of hesitation form in her expression. Moments later, Mera musters up her composure and sighs reluctantly. After waiting patiently for Mera, Hackle slides the tablet across the table. “We can start simple. Let’s focus on these maps on the tablet in front of you. All I want from you is to look them over. If you find any marked locations that are familiar, let me know. If you happen to know information Lexattican told you that would be related to these maps, it would be invaluable.”

As Mera’s attention settles upon the device in front of her, Violet quickly motions to key controls on the display and grants a prompt explanation. Returning to Hackle’s side, she watches Mera scroll through material on the screen, and exchanges a quiet glance with Hackle. While Mera sorts through the maps, questionably interested, Hackle addresses Violet’s unconvinced frown with a reassuring nod. Mera flips through the first set of maps and images. She slows her progress as her eyes focus upon familiar points. Her attention shifts between recognizable terrain and topology. Hackle smiles patiently and explains with an encouraging tone. “If you need to make notes on the maps, feel free to write them out. Right now, we are more concerned with confirming suspicions we already have. So, even if you just know the location was mentioned, that would still be valuable.”

Mera glances up, nods in understanding, and returns her focus the device. She flips to the next map. She blinks in confusion and studies the new image closely. The map encompasses a large regional area with clear labels upon the cities of Ark, Amaranth Valley, Tullachester, and Hattan. Mera’s inquisitive stare traces the red, orange, yellow, and green zones of the overlay. An uncomfortable red blob starts in Ark and plumes southeast to Amaranth Valley. After the red, a larger surrounding orange zone forms with similar yellow and green areas. Curiosity leads Mera’s focus towards the map legend and her eyes spring wide at the title.

“Projected Ark Site Breach Contamination Zones”

Mera’s eyes dart around to the different points on the map and she leans closer to the tablet to the see details. “W-What... is this map about?”

Hackle squints at the tablet. “Which one is that, I can’t see well from this angle.”

Violet leans over the table slightly. “It’s the Ark site fallout predictions.”

Nodding slowly, Hackle settles back into his seat. “Ah, yes. I think that’s the result from the latest prediction model from the Grand Library.”

Mera lifts her head up and glances between the Violet and Hackle with concern growing. “A model for what?”

Pulling in a deep breath, Hackle’s voice darkens with a serious, grim tint. “It seems that Lexattican somehow found an abandoned nuclear waste disposal site within Ark. One that we didn’t even know about. While we don’t know his reasons, we have determined his methods.”

Mera unconsciously nods and notices Amaranth Valley well within the red region.

Hackle continues and watches Mera’s interest in the map on the tablet. “After bypassing safeties, he directed the system to process a load of nuclear waste outside nominal specifications. Then, he proceeded to prevent cooling system from maintaining coolant levels. Finally, he destroyed all primary control systems and forced the system into a failsafe loop.”

Mera blinks blankly as her mind weighs the gravity of the scenario. She focuses the map in on Amaranth Valley and searches for recognizable landmarks. Shifting the map over a familiar section of the city, she centers it over an area. Dread wells up through her stoic facade, and she zooms the map in closer. She stops abruptly when a shopping strip next to an intersection renders and the label overlay draws out business names with address labels.

Mera’s crimson eyes lock onto “Fval Spice” over the outline of a building and her ivory face pales further. While Violet leans quietly over to peek at the map, a relieved smirk appears on Hackle’s face and he sighs. “Thankfully, this map will only ever be a prediction for a situation that won’t happen. That very team you assaulted...”

Snapping back to awareness, Mera gazes over to Hackle. With a comforting smile, Hackle continues. “They accepted a mission I had no idea would be this grave and did not falter. At great risks to themselves, they made sure that whatever Lexattican intended... Did not come to pass.”

Slowly bowing her head down, Mera stares at the screen between one side of long gray hair and one side of short gray hair. Her crimson eyes focus on the “Fval Spice” label underneath an overlay of eerie, deadly red. Her jaw hangs open and she remains silently horrified. Drops of water land upon the tablet screen. With a sharp sniff, Mera fights back an audible sob and mumbles to herself. “...Noyando...”

As the tears flow free from her eyes, she hides face in her handcuffed hands. Hackle perks his brow, straightens his posture, and directs his concern. “Meredosia? Do you need anything?”

Mustering up her composure, Mera slowly lifts her head up, settles back in her seat, and simply states. “I’ll tell you everything...”

Hackle and Violet look upon the sobbing evuukian woman. Mera swallows down her regret and remorse, and iterates. “Everything.”

----

Veevi releases a long breath and closes her pink pupil eyes. She sits upon her medical bed and holds her aetherphone, the background quiet of the hospital room surrounding. Tightening her sharp nailed grip around the device, she reopens her eyes and gazes down at the contact list. Lifting her tan, brown-striped arms, she grits her sharp teeth and hisses out a reluctant sigh. “You can do this...”

Furrowing her dark pink eye brows, she grimaces and droops her fuzzy ears. Tossing back her long, pink hair, she straightens up her posture, musters up a smile, and taps the “Momma” contact button. The display on the aetherphone flips through a few status messages and Veevi positions the device at an ideal focal distance from her. The call connects and a middle aged human woman with a tan face of make up appears on the screen. She grants a bright smile, adjusts her carefully styled pink hair, and focuses her pink pupil eyes to the other side of call. “Baby! How are you feeling today? You are looking so much better.”

A genuine smile graces Veevi’s tan face and she shrugs her shoulders. “Good, all things considered. How’s your day been, Momma?”

Veevi’s mother sighs with a long roll of her eyes and shakes her head. “Oh, baby girl, you know how it is. I’ve been talking with lawyers and accountants after how badly that scum fuck Howard handled the whole situation. I swear I’ve never looked forward to happy hour more than today. Just a few more hours til I can enjoy it.”

Veevi perks her brow and tilts her head to the side with a smirk. “Why wait for happy hour?”

A wicked smile appears on her mother’s lips and Veevi’s mom chuckles with a seductive tint. “Oh, who is to say I haven’t started already? I’m just waiting for happy hour for my discounted drinks from all those desperate people.”

A smirk cracks out at the corner of Veevi’s mouth. “That’s my momma.”

With a wink, Veevi’s mother smiles with her eager amusement. “You know it. So...”

She draws in a long breath and shifts her full attention to her words. “I’ve been thinking about how we can spin this whole situation to our advantage. I can see about interviews. Then, with some theatrics, we can totally sell this whole experience and use the publicity to really super charge our brand. And, then I can really put the screws to Howard for a massive bump in the contract payout for next season!”

While Veevi fights down an abject cringe to a twisting grimace, her mother continues on with glee. “Oh, it’ll be so perfect. They’ll be desperate to wrap this season after that’s happened. It really sounds like Howard’s crew is about the revolt. So, we have the break to get ready. That useless team will be gone and I’m thinking... YOU get to lead the next team!”

An uneasy smile barely turns Veevi’s face, and she chuckles nervously. “Uh, yeah, that would be... Interesting, momma. I just-”

Narrowing her stare through the call, her mother’s tone darkens and she inquires. “Is there a problem with THAT?”

Veevi’s pink pupil eyes widen and she contorts the hesitant expression on her face. “Well, I was thinking about taking a break from adventuring...”

Weathering the concentrated attention from her aetherphone, she puts forth her best smile. Veevi’s mother ponders a moment, searches her mind, and cracks a smirk. “Well... Hmm... I already thought about that, too, for you!”

With a prideful grin, she perks her brow and explains. “We could definitely use a break from the show to our advantage. Give the fans a breather from all that’s happened. Let them long for the excitement we provide while they watch the next boring team Howard manages to slap together. Meanwhile, we work on that next album!”

A greedy, sly smirk widens slowly on her make up covered face, and she draws her phone close, on the other side of the call. “If we time this right, we could do a short promo tour right into your leader role in a future season of the Next Adventurers of Nexus! I can just imagine the money we’ll pull in.”

Dumping out a harsh sigh, Veevi pulls into a long breath, musters up her courage, and plainly states. “Momma, I don’t want to do it anymore.”

Veevi’s mother blinks blankly, cocks her head to the side, and quirks her trimmed brow. “Don’t want to do what? The show? Oh, like I said, you don’t have to it any time soon. We have an album you need to put some studio time in!”

She projects a reassuring tone across the call. “It’ll be fine. Focus on getting some recording done, take your mind off this whole adventuring thing, and we’ll revisit it. I’m SURE you’ll WANT to give it another try.”

Veevi exhales deeply with a faint wince, works a grimace off her face, and tightens her grip on her aetherphone. “No, momma! I just don’t want to do any of it!”

Narrowing a stare at Veevi through the phone display, hints of frustration twitch on the middle aged woman’s face. Veevi’s mother draws in a long breath, twists her mouth, and sighs. “Well... If that’s how you feel, I’ll see what I can do. Thinking about it, this show has done everything for us it can. It’s time to see what better options we have now. I’m sure I can find a new show for you to be on to promote that next album! I’ve got a few ideas I’ll on what-”

As her mother drones on, Veevi bites her lower lip, tenses her arm muscles, and focuses a defiant glare upon the aetherphone screen. Summoning a surge of ire, she blurts out. “NO! I’m DONE! I just NEED to take a break from EVERYTHING! I just want to do nothing.”

Veevi’s mother blinks a her pink pupil eyes a few times, tilts her head to the side, and incredulously asks. “Nothing? And, miss out on this opportunity for us?! I mean we’ve suffered to get to this point. I know things have been hard for you, but you really need to look at the bigger picture. We have to make use of this momentum!”

Wincing her eyes closed, Veevi hisses out aggravation through her clenching teeth and shakes her head of long, pink hair. “NO. MOMMA. I’m really tired. I don’t want to worry about all this. I just need time for me.”

Focusing a glare through the call to Veevi’s aetherphone screen, her mother scowls sharply and darkens her tone. “Don’t be so SELFISH! You only need to stand around for the cameras and give them a show. I’ve put a lot of work in getting you to this point and you don’t need to throw it away now! You’ve got drama, controversy, and tragedy happening all at once-”

A series of twitches tighten Veevi’s cheek and she guides her phone close. “SELFISH?! I’m selfish?! Are you kidding me!? Momma, in case you fucking forgot... I. NEARLY. DIED. Do you not understand that?!”

While puffing up her chest and frowning sharply, the image on the aetherphone shifts to an upward angle of Veevi’s mother. “Baby girl, don’t take that attitude with me! I fully understand how close your were to dying. Remember, I LOVE YOU. I’ve been thanking the gods everyday that you survived just fine. But, I can’t let you throw away what we’ve done over one close call! I want the best for us!”

Pulling back her lips, Veevi grits her sharp teeth and snaps loudly. “What do you mean WE?! I’m the one going on the stage! I’m the one in the recording studio recording tracks! I’m the one wandering into the terrible, monster filled places! What have YOU done?!”

Harshly sniffing in a long draw of air into her lungs, Veevi’s mother sternly berates with a furious glower. “What have I done?! Well, for one thing, I’ve been keeping you on this track you were meant for! I worked hard and earned a lot of favors to get my pretty little girl all the right lessons. I got you the right coaches. I entered you into all the right contests! You would have never gotten to this point without ME!”

She narrows her glare and exudes her dark tone through the phone. “You are here because of ME! You owe ME for what I have done for YOU.”

Sparks of rage flicker in Veevi’s eyes and she shouts at her aetherphone. “D-D-DID it ever occur to you that MAYBE this wasn’t what I wanted?!”

As her mother remains unmoved and indignant, Veevi rants loudly. “I- I- I HATE THIS LIFE!”

She blinks thoughtfully and pants for a few moments while she watches the new thoughts swirl in her mind. “I... I... I hate everything about it... I hate all that I’ve had to do to make it work. I hate how I feel at the end of the day. I hate doing this... I hate being this...”

Her rage wilts into regret and dismay. “I... I want to do something else... Anything else...”

Veevi’s mother remains cold and firm. She snorts out her disappointment and growls. “Well, as much as you may wish and want, THIS is the only thing you can do now. How could YOU possibly change paths now? You are in far too deep. The only way out of this is to let ME navigate you out. I lead you here and only I can lead you out.”

Veevi winces into a grimace, and grits her sharp teeth while her pink pupil eyes flit through the past. “I could have done other things. You never let me have a chance to see if I could! They wouldn’t make me famous, but maybe I would have liked them...”

Her mother huffs dismissively, rolls her eyes in disgust, and shakes her head of carefully styled pink hair. “Oh please, baby. What else could you have done? Be a doctor? Gods, I will NEVER understand why you were so dead set on that daydream.”

She narrows a punitive glare through the call at Veevi. “Can you imagine? My pretty little girl wasting her days stuck in a lab coat far from the spotlight that I could put you in? Such a stupid career choice for you.”

Veevi’s expression blanks. As her mother drones on about other degrading roles, Veevi frowns sadly, and slumps her shoulders with the depressive gravity. Her pink pupil eyes scan through her mind, darting between harsh memory after cruel experience. Her distant stare falls lost in the flood of freed emotions welling up from within. In the lull of berating words, Veevi’s mother returns her focus to her silent daughter with a hint of satisfaction. “I know this is hard for you to hear. But, Momma is going to take care of you, baby girl. You are going to be just fine. This little talk between us will seem so silly when your next album comes out. We’ll be joking about this when you sign that contract to be the best leader of a team for the next season of the Next Adventurers of Nexus-”

Blinking back to awareness, Veevi focuses her tearful attention back to her aetherphone screen and draws in a shallow breath. “No.”

Her mother blinks and furrows her brow. “What?”

Sniffing loudly, a surge of defiant courage rises up and pushes the words out of her mouth. “No. I’m done. I’m not doing this anymore. Just... No.”

After seconds of silence, Veevi’s aetherphone speaker blares out a litany of enraged insults and duplicitous demands. While Veevi’s mother feverishly rants on the phone screen, Veevi holds the power button on the side. A confirmation prompt appears and Veevi taps the power down option. The display cuts dark. Veevi’s wandering stare settles upon her faint reflection upon the black screen. Blinking hard, she squeezes more tears out of her eyes and lowers the phone down. Her gaze drifts aimless around the room in front of her, while her face empties of emotion.

In the quiet of the hospital room, Veevi sits upon the medical bed. Leading with a single sniff, a torrent of emotions erupts out in flowing tears, pitiful cries, and pained sobs. She flops over to her side, curls upon the top of the bed, and clutches a pillow. Her long, short haired tail coils around her and she unconsciously strokes it between sobs.

----

In a wide hall, a set of wooden double doors opens with assistance from two uniformed GAA soldiers. Captain Hays steps forward, grants an appreciative nod to both guards and walks into the middle of the decorated corridor. Heccaeh moves out, quickly points down the hall with a claw tip, and flicks his furry ears. “Hey, I’m going to check on Ralli and Orrento.”

Hays smirks and laughs. “Good plan. I doubt they’ll behave themselves for too much longer in the break room.”

Shaking his head, Heccaeh sighs and rolls his lavender eyes. “Gods, I just hope they haven’t escaped their carriers and started to gnaw on the furniture... Again.”

Chana steps out next to Hays, rests her hands on her hips, and dons a smirk on her sun-tanned face. “Well, for a meeting, that was surprisingly productive.”

With a snort, Hays rolls his light blue eyes and shakes his head. “Yeah, but it looks like we got our work cut out for us now.”

Chelindia walks through the double doors out of the meeting room, approaches Hays, and respectfully addresses with hints of hesitation. “Captain?”

Hays perks his brow and nods to Chelindia. “Yes?”

Wrestling a flit of awkward tension on her face, Chelindia eases out a nervous breath and inquires quietly. “Do you believe it would be acceptable for me to ask Captain Hackle about Meredosia? I don’t know if that would be inappropriate or out of line.”

A reassuring smile appears on Hays bearded face and he grants a confirming nod. “I doubt he’d have a problem with asking. Go right ahead.”

Sergeant Violet stops right outside the polished wooden double doors, glances back inside, and directs a commanding tone. “Specialist Thayal. If you are having problems with carrying that paperwork, maybe I should put you on supplementary PT in order to address any possible deficiencies?”

Hoisting up stack of two slightly bulging cardboard boxes, Specialist Thayal’s lanky form strains to settle the parcels comfortably in his arms. He grits his teeth into a frustrated grin, narrows his silver eyes at Violet, and fights to quell a twitch of his cheek. “Sergeant, I do not require assistance, sergeant. Thank you for your concern with my well-being, sergeant.”

A faint trace of smirk curls at the corner of Violet’s mouth and she leads the way. “Good, Specialist Thayal. Now let’s deliver these materials to the Captain’s field office.”

As she steps away, Thayal blows away some stray black hair from his side curling horns, straightens his back, and follows behind Violet with hefty payload. Captain Hackle calmly steps out. He watches Violet and Thayal go down the hallway, and glances over to Hays, Chana, and Chelindia with an amused smile. “Quite the dynamic going on there.”

Stepping respectfully forward, Chelindia bow slightly to Hackle and asks politely. “Pardon me, Captain Hackle. Could I inquire about... um... Meredosia?”

Hackle’s gaze studies Chelindia’s dark tan face and he meets her turquoise eyes with a smile. “Certainly. If I’m not taking you away from anything, walk with me for bit.”

Chelindia glances over her shoulder to Hays. Smirking with a nod, Hays acknowledges Chelindia’s quiet request and points a thumb down the hallway with his cybernetic arm. “Ah, go ahead. We’ll be in the break room, probably wrangling some loose whelps again.”

With an appreciative smile, Chelindia joins Hackle’s side, while Hays and Chana travel down the corridor to the faint sounds of chirps and squawks. The two move down a long stretch of hallway towards reinforced metal doors. Hackle glances over and twists a curious smirk under his graying mustache. “So, what did you want know about Meredosia?”

Chelindia’s very long, pointed ears twitch with an uncomfortable grimace, and she sighs sadly. “Well, I was curious as to how she was doing, first.”

Hackle nods, steps up to a key card scanner on the door, and pulls a badge out of his front pocket. “She is doing good. I’m actually a bit surprised at how cooperative she has been.”

Blinking in surprise, Chelindia cocks her head of dark green braided hair to the side, and searches for further explanation. “She is cooperating readily? Has she shown any kind of resistance or hesitance?”

Sliding the identification key into the reader, Hackle holds his hand against the pad and waits for the system to process. “Initially. But, I believe her time in Amaranth has given her perspective. Once Lexattican’s other efforts became clear to her, she was willing to cooperate fully.”

The card scanner chirps a confirmation, and Hackle retrieves his badge from the lock. He pushes open the reinforced metal doors and motions Chelindia through. “She has offered us a wealth of knowledge. Names, locations, and dates. She’s not only confirmed a number of our suspicions, but given us a list of locations we’ve known of, to double check.”

He narrows a concerned gaze to Chelindia as the two walk between gray, painted brick walls on either side. “What is the most worrying are the places we had no record of. Those are being confirmed as we speak.”

Chelindia’s eyes widen briefly and she nods in agreement. “Yes. She has had more discussions with Lexattican than anyone else I know of. And, there were many times she would return from traveling with new artifacts and information.”

Hackle grimaces slightly and sighs. “Her insight is giving us the missing pieces of the puzzle. One the very locations we mentioned in the meeting came from her and was confirmed this morning.”

Glancing around the vacant intersection, he lowers his voice. “From recent reports, another location she noted was one on record. A team I sent found the lock to the facility entrance completely melted and a number of old computer systems online. There were also signs that a number of robotic units left the facility under their own power.”

Leaning her head back in shock, Chelindia blinks and contorts flits of worry on her face. “That certainly is not great news.”

Hackle shakes his head of short, graying hair. “Definitely not. What concerns us are the maps with locations to other possible facilities. One of those we suspect could be related to the recent convention center attack.”

A comforting smile widens on Hackle’s face. “While my forces are spread thin to lock down possible breaches, I believe a certain adventuring team we know might be uniquely qualified to handle investigating this location more immediately.”

Chelindia cracks a knowing smirk on her dark tan face, and nods. “I think they would be the best to ask, too.”

Hackle grins slightly and leads Chelindia down a branch off the intersection. “I do believe I owe them a very lucrative government contract, too.”

Chelindia walks along side Hackle, and musters up another question in the lull of conversation. “What will happen to Meredosia... after she tells you what she knows?”

Searching his mind, Hackle gazes over to Chelindia and smiles. “As far as I know, she’ll be allowed to resume her normal life. Occasionally, the GAA might need to consult with her on matters she might have experience in, and she will need to check in.”

Shaking off the surprise, Chelindia focuses her turquoise eyes at Hackle’s brown eyes, and inquires in disbelief. “Really? She’ll be allowed to go free? I hate to say it, but I almost expected she would be put in a prison.”

Hackle quirks his brow and shrugs his shoulders slightly. “That was on the table. But, she’s shown a lot of regret and remorse for her actions. She also came back into the fold of society on her own and has taken efforts to be part of it. So, I don’t see the need to ruin it. And, I’ve talked to everyone else involved in her capture, and they’re willing to forgive if she works with us.”

A hopeful smile grows on Chelindia, and a wave of relief washes over her. Hackle steps down another stretch of gray hall towards a guarded door next to a window. “She’ll be on GAA parole for some time. Given how cooperative she is, that will probably be all. Anyway, she doesn’t meet the profile of someone we need to lock up.”

Chelindia draws in a long breath and vents her tension. “That is comforting. I don’t think it would be good for anyone if she was put in a prison.”

He nods to the GAA armored guards, stands in front of the window into a room, and gazes at Chelindia. “I agree. Right now, we’re coming up with a good cover story for her absence with her employer. With the wealth of information she is providing, I may be able to see about some assistance for her. I feel the GAA wants to keep her experience nearby.”

Slowly pivoting to face the window at Hackle’s prompting, Chelindia gazes through and watches Meredosia talking to a GAA agent. She quietly observes Meredosia fill out the final few lines of a pack of paperwork. Meredosia returns the pen to the agent and stretches her arms out. Chelindia’s gaze warms watching the modest smile on Meredosia’s face, and she sighs longingly. Hackle cracks an intrigued grin and notices the agent gathering the paperwork to leave. “Would you like to talk to her?”

Chelindia’s eyes spring wide open, her posture stiffens in surprise, and she stumbles upon her answer. “I-is that allowed?”

Hackle turns his gaze over to Chelindia, perks his brow, and chuckles. “Certainly. There’s nothing to stop you when she returns to normal life in town. I believe this is a critical point for her. So, her talking to someone that can understand her and what she faces would be invaluable right now.”

Sorting through her thoughts and emotions, Chelindia swallows hard and takes a deep breath. After a few moments, she nods appreciatively. “I would like to talk to her.”

Hackle’s brown eyes follow the GAA agent leaving out the door, and he nods to the door guards. “Keep that door open, if you could.”

The guard acknowledges his request. The agent addresses Captain Hackle upon exiting and Hackle steps through the held open doorway. “Meredosia. I hope your writing hand has held out.”

A meek smile appears on Meredosia and she laughs. “Yes. I hope that’s the last of the paperwork for a while.”

Hackle smirks and sighs. “I hope so, too, since I fill out the other part of it. If you don’t mind, I have a visitor for you.”

Meredosia blinks, darts her crimson eyes around, and cocks her head of uneven gray hair. “Who?”

With a signal from Hackle, Chelindia steps into the room and meets Meredosia’s gaze. Hackle examines the body language between the two, and studies the awkward tension blatant. A humored smirk appears at the corner of his mouth, and he bows out. “If you need anything, just knock on the door and the guards will assist you.”

Hackle leaves, the door closes, and Chelindia and Meredosia silently gaze at each other. After uneasy seconds, Chelindia approaches the table, settles into the chair opposite of Meredosia, and stares at her. Meredosia squirms in the seat, averts her eyes away from the attention, and sighs sadly. Chelindia breaks off the focused gaze, grits her teeth briefly, and draws in a long breath. The two exist in the looming pressure of their past and struggle in their minds for a route towards conversation.

A spark of determination drives Chelindia and she addresses Meredosia in evuukian. She awkwardly pries and waits for response. Meredosia summons up enough for bits of small talk with nervous laughs punctuating. After Chelindia acknowledges, she visibly strains against internal strife. With a sniff of welling tears, Meredosia shudders out a series of profuse apologies in flowing evuukian. Surges of past pain rise to the surface in each sad ramble, and Meredosia confesses profusely to Chelindia. Gathering her thoughts in the lull from remorseful words, Chelindia sighs and dons a forgiving smile with choice phrases. The two meet the other’s gaze and share the quiet.

Chelindia ponders a moment, tilts her head, and inquires about Amaranth Valley. Meredosia recounts events with flashes of embarrassment and shame. Then, a genuine smile grows on her ivory face. Recounting through different events with giggles and amused sighs, she mentions Fval Spice and Noyando. As Mera continues through stories and tales of Katelli, Natashalli, and Jesselli with warmth in her tone, Chelindia gazes lovingly at the evuukian woman before her. Recognition fills her hopeful smile.

The joyful stories stall as bad memories rise up in Mera’s mind and worry chokes her words. Wincing at the situation surrounding her, she rests her hands down on the table, fights against her nerves, and takes a deep breath. Uncertainly and doubt subdue her confidence, and she nervously flexes the fingers on her trembling hand. After recounting the last bits of recent history, she bows her head down. The long and short runs of her gray hair drape down, and she squeezes out the tears from her eyes.

Slowly shaking her head, Mera stops. She raises her head up and glances down at the table. Her crimson eyes widen and she gazes upon Chelindia’s hand upon hers. Mera’s crimson eyes meet Chelindia’s turquoise. With a loving smile and tears welling, Chelindia addresses the evuukian woman before her. “Mera.”

Sniffing away the sadness, Mera smirks hopefully. “Chel...”

----

Aristespha adjusts the position of her aetherphone on the table top and directs her voice down. “Everyone is here now, Captain Hackle. We’ve had a chance to read up on the mission brief.”

Around the table Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sotalia, and Sebastian listen attentively to the device. Captain Hackle’s voice sounds out from the speaker phone with a grateful hint. “Good. Let me first say that I’m pleased that you all are interested in the mission. I hope that the offer is acceptable for the task at hand and possible risks.”

Meeting Cideeda’s fiscally delighted toothy grin with a humored smirk, Aristespha chuckles lightly. “We find it acceptable.”

Hackle pauses a moment on the other side of call and takes in a long breath. “So, I’m certain you all have questions. But, allow me to give a brief of what we know at the moment.”

The faint sounds of papers ruffling and desktop items sliding echoes through the call, and he hems. “Here’s the latest information I have at the moment. We’ve confirmed that this Lexattican left the one breached site completely. There are no recent signs of activity. My teams have discovered other sites we believe he entered, but did not reside long at.”

He draws in a long breath and sighs. “This leaves a handful of places left to investigate. Given our evidence and the Rangers projections, we believe the mission location is highly suspect.”

Sebastian’s ethereal form smirks and nods. “We have our own suspicions about this place. So, I think that this location is worth checking out closely.”

Hackle agrees over the speakerphone. “Indeed, too many things lead to this possible place.”

He sighs heavy with dissatisfaction from the other side of the call. “Unfortunately, we don’t know if Lexattican is at the site. Presently, my teams have yet to discover any other locations he may have visited recently. And, the Rangers are just starting their search around the area for signs of travel.”

His tone stresses caution, and he warns. “Lexattican could still be at the location. If so, we suspect he might leave the area soon. That is assuming he already hasn’t. Regardless, I would approach the site carefully and be prepared for possible confrontation.”

Pausing in thought a moment, Hackle sounds out. “So, any questions?”

Sebastian searches his mind with his translucent blue eyes, rocks his head side to side, and directs his response. “While the mission description states we are there to investigate and assess the location, what are we suppose to do if we run into Lexattican? Do you want us to try to capture him? Keep our distance? What’s the protocol you want us to follow?”

Hackle sighs and ponders out loud through the aetherphone speaker. “That is the tricky part of this. Ideally, I would prefer him to be captured. He’s shown himself to be dangerous and likely to cause future problems. On the other hand, my primary goal is to lock down any dangerous materials and prevent any future threats from those materials. And, I don’t want you all to needless endanger yourselves. So, prioritize securing the site.”

Narrowing a curious stare at the phone on the table top, Dretphi cocks her head of platinum braids to the side and furrows her brow. “Why us?”

Hackle chuckles lightly and simply states. “My teams are spread out trying to lock down locations we have prior experience with. We don’t know the exact location of this possible site, and it’s presently a better use of GAA resources to secure known locations as quickly as possible.”

He draws in a long breath and continues. “Your team has proven to be quite capable of handling very unique situations like these. I believe all of you have the right experience and skills for this task. Also, it is my hope that a team of adventurers wandering the woods won’t seem as alarming as a military squad. It is my hopes that would grant you a unique advantage we don’t have.”

Dretphi nods in agreement with a faint, proud grin forming. Sotalia leans forward while brushing her fiery orange, wavy hair back. She props her head up with her hand and hums in though. “Say we find this guy or something suspicious happening there... Do we just call you and keep an eye on it until you get there?”

Hackle remains quiet for a moment and calmly states. “That is a judgment I will defer to you all. If careful observation makes sense, then do so. If intervention is required, I will trust such will be done if necessary. Do what you feel is required to ensure the safety of the surrounding area. Once, you are there, you all will have more information than I to make those decisions.”

In the lull, Sebastian glances over the rest of the team. He gazes at Bach and inquires with a quiet gesture. Bach shrugs his shoulders and nods. Cideeda gives a thumbs up. Sotalia sits back and smirks with a confirming wave of the hand. Dretphi nods stoically. Aristespha exchanges an agreeable glance with Sebastian. Grinning proudly at his team, Sebastian directs his ethereal tone towards the aetherphone on the table. “I think that’s all the questions we have. And, we’ll take you up on the job.”

A bit of energy perks up Hackle’s cadence from the other side of the call. “Excellent. Great to hear. I will have Sergeant Violet finalize the bid through the guild system, and we’ll get you access to all relevant intelligence.”

He thinks a moment and his tone grows heavy. “As much as I’d encourage you act as quickly as possible, I’d also like to stress extreme caution. Prepare appropriately. Don’t think twice about calling in our support, if the situation deems it.”

The team around the table collectively concur. Hackle excuses himself to handle business, and the team shifts towards planning as the call ends.

-115-

Through the dense forest, the humvee’s wheels churn up a mix of sparse grass and autumn leaves. The vehicle powers up an incline of packed dirt and kicks up pebbles and debris. Cideeda narrows her emerald green eyes and searches the narrowing path ahead. She glances to either side of the shrinking and fading passage and sighs. “Think this is as far this path goes.”

Staring out through the surrounding woods, she swings her gaze at the short gaps between trees and slowly shakes her head. “So, unless we chop down half the forest, I don’t think we’ll fit through.”

Sebastian’s ethereal form searches around the vicinity and eventually agrees with a nod. “Yeah. Anyway, it might be good to go on foot from here. Tearing through the forest in this thing will probably get someone’s attention.”

Guiding the steering wheel deftly, Cideeda navigates the terrain and eases the humvee into a secluded gap between tall, thick brush. “Sounds good to me. I think this spot looks nice.”

The old military machine slips into the tight fit and stops. The faint whine of the powerplant pitches down to a trailing drone as it shuts off. Moments later, the team disembarks, carefully pushes open doors against bushes and squeezes their way out into the open. Sebastian’s ghostly visage hovers up close to the overhead canopy and cautiously scouts the horizon. After a number of passes lingering at briefly suspect spots, he coasts back down to the ground and shrugs his shoulders. “Looks clear to me, right now.”

He shifts his attention to Dretphi and watches her study the map in her gauntlets. “So, any idea of where to go next?”

Twisting her mouth with indecision, Dretphi sighs uncertainly and shifts her gaze between a number of points on the map. “We have options. Do not know which from this point.”

She lifts her attention away from the folded over paper, quickly adjusts a camouflage wrap over an armor plate, and scans her steely gray eyes over the area. She steps towards the treeline, focuses her attention to the ground, and studies the impressions in the dirt. “Need to determine where these tracks originated.”

Sebastian nods, waves to the rest of the group, and motions to the surrounding forest. “Sounds good. Hey, let’s do a quick sweep and see if we can find out where these tracks came from.”

Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, and Sotalia acknowledge the orders, pick directions, and wander out from the central point. In the next minutes, everyone searches the vicinity. Aristespha halts after stepping meters away from disturbed dirt and studies the untouched stretch of soil around her. “Nothing after this point, Sebastian.”

Bach pushes through a tall bush with his duster shielding him. He parts the shrub and leans over to gaze up pristine forest floor. “Yeah, I don’t think they wandered this way.”

With a pained wince, Sotalia moves a stray, low branch away from her swept back horn, brushes out the debris from her fiery orange, wavy hair, and rubs her head. “Gods, you would think it be more obvious with a bunch of robots plowing through here.”

Sniffing the air in the woods opposite of Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia, Cideeda kneels down and follows a scent towards the base of a tree. Her eyes narrow and she picks the crushed top of a root with a claw tip. She pries out a rusty fleck of metal and cracks a grin. “Hey! I think they came from this direction.”

Dretphi glances over to Cideeda, returns her attention to the heavy indentations in the dirt, and stares off into the forest. She studies the map, looks over to Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia, and then notes Cideeda’s location. Orientating the map, she holds out her armored arm towards the suspect section of forest. She keeps a compass away from her armor chest plate, studies late morning sun, and ponders out loud. “Correlates to a possible location.”

She pats around her side pockets between outlines of different items as irritation builds. Cideeda plucks out a pencil from her vest over her armored body suit and presents it to Dretphi. With a thankful nod, Dretphi charts out a vector from a point. With Dretphi lowering the map down into view, Cideeda studies the page and nods. “Yeah. That’s where I’d try first, too.”

Sebastian’s ethereal form peeks over Dretphi’s shoulder, and gazes over to the direct indicated. “Looks good to me. Let’s follow it for a bit and see if we find anything.”

The team forms up and moves into the dense forest. Sebastian coasts ahead, searches the distance, and watches the horizon. Cideeda and Dretphi lead ahead of Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia. Along the way, Dretphi points down to robotic prints in the softer earth. Cideeda sniffs the air and kneels down at different points along the way. With each stop, she finds another chunk of rust embedded in the scenery or splatters of unnatural oil soaking the terrain. Minutes down the path, Bach points to a large broken branch meters away and asks the team. “Um, that doesn’t look like it broke from natural causes.”

Dretphi steps over towards Bach, and her eyes follow the direction indicated. She nods in agreement, and approaches the fallen branch cautiously. “It was not. Snapped with significant horizontal force.”

She deftly guides her armored figure through the brush, debris, and forest clutter. Stopping abruptly, her steely gray eyes widen and she kneels with her attention downwards. As curiosity guides the rest of the team close, and she points to a large mechanical foot print sunk in the earth. She pokes the outline of the impression with her finger and uncomfortably contorts her tan face under her full face visor. Sebastian hovers overhead, blinks in surprise at the finding, and directs his voice to Bach. “Hey, bro. Does this look familiar to you? Like it belongs to the big bot you fought?”

Bach awkwardly steps over a rotting log, balances himself, and squats down next to Dretphi. He studies the large imprint, exchanges a confused glance with Dretphi, and glances up to Sebastian. “No. That’s actually too small.”

He searches around, spots another similar foot print, and visually measures the distance. “Yeah, and I know that thing had a bigger stride.”

Cideeda slips in between the gathering with hands on Bach and Dretphi’s shoulders. She narrows her emerald green eyes, perks her furry ears, and cocks her head to the side. “Wait... These too big for those construction bots.”

She squints, reflexively tightens her grips, and slowly shakes her head with an uneasy grimace. “These HAVE to belong to something else.”

The group shares a tense moment of silence, and dart paranoid glances towards their surroundings. Sotalia grits her teeth and hisses out an annoyed sigh. “Of fucking course. I bet this guy kept a few of the good ones for himself.”

Aristespha shakes her head and squirms out tinges of discomfort. “It makes sense. But, this means we’ve got unaccounted robots to watch for.”

Dretphi slowly stands up. She narrows her stare into the distance and motions towards a gradually curving path of scattered prints. Glancing back the previous, perpendicular trail, she sorts through the information in her mind, and dons a watchful gaze ahead. “This is a patrol path. Not old. I believe there is more than one robot left.”

Tense caution floods the area and the team grows suspicious. Sebastian drifts his ghostly visage to the ground in the middle of the team, and quietly addresses them. “Okay. Well, there’s obviously something of importance here. Let’s focus on finding it. Once we know what, then we’ll decide what needs to be done.”

With cautious acknowledgment from the team, Sebastian nods with a reserved smirk. “Okay. Let’s follow the other path. We’ll take it slow and quiet. Keep an eye out.”

Sebastian hovers up towards the canopy and looks out into the distance. The group reforms, moves through the forest debris, and continues up the original line of tracks through the dense forest.

----

Drifting forward through the trees under the sparse canopy, Sebastian’s ghostly form slows. He scans ahead and pauses between trees, obscuring rocks, and thick brush. Seconds later, he coasts backward and slips behind the large trunk of an old tree. He looks over the hiding team and whispers with ethereal reverb. “There’s a clearing up ahead, I think. The forest seems to be thinning out and there looks like a really big hill. I can’t see clearly enough through the tall grass from here.”

He glances between Dretphi and Cideeda. “Any signs of those patrol bots?”

Dretphi shakes her helmeted head and narrows a suspicious glare into the forest. “Nothing new.”

Shrugging her shoulders, Cideeda tucks stray multi-colored hairs under her helm and adjusts her vest. “I haven’t smelled or heard anything... Yet.”

Sebastian nods, points ahead towards the thinning section of forest, and floats onward. “Let’s get as close to the edge as we have cover for. See what we have, and then figure out what the hell to do next.”

With a quick collective agreement, the team waits for Sebastian to lead ahead. As Sebastian glides from tree to tree, the rest of the group maintains a safe distance. Easing close to the thicket of brush, Sebastian coasts low and phases into the bushes. He carefully peers out from the leaves and searches the area with his transparent blue eyes. He twists an unsatisfied grimace on his translucent face, and cocks his head of brown, coiffed hair. Blinking at the large open field of tall grasses, he settles a long, scrutinizing stare upon a huge archway between tall piles of earth and rock. He watches expectantly and waits. After a minute, he pulls his head back through the shrub and coasts backwards towards the awaiting team. He settles upon the ground between them and frowns. “There is a big clearing ahead. And, there’s a tall hill with some kind of entrance in the side. I think it was recently dig out.”

He grits his teeth and wrestles an uneasy curl at the corner of his mouth. “But, there’s nothing else. I don’t know... Something doesn’t sit right with me. I was totally expecting a bot watching the entrance or something.”

Sotalia crosses her arms, tilts her head thoughtfully, and smirks unamused. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would you leave the door unguarded, especially after you stirred up some bullshit... Fuck, he may have just ditched this place.”

Aristespha narrows her violet eyes to an idea in her mind. “Maybe the door guard is further inside?”

Bach nods in agreement, squints at a gap between low branches and tall grass, and ponders out loud. “That makes sense. You wouldn’t want people to notice some big fuck off robot standing in one place. Especially, not out in the open. That’d be inviting trouble.”

Perking her brow, Sotalia frowns and grumbles as she leans against a large oak. “I don’t know. We haven’t seen any patrols. My money is that he left. Probably took anything of value and ran off to whatever terrible thing he’s got planned next.”

Sebastian shrugs his shoulders, and gestures towards the clearing. “Well, we won’t figure out anything from here. Let’s get a little closer and maybe we’ll spot clue.”

After a quick confirmation, Cideeda stretches her back, kneels low, and starts to slink ahead. A strong wind blows through the area, and a faint drone sounds out from the canopy of leaves above. Meters into her approach, Cideeda freezes in place and reflexively hold up a hand signal to the rest of the team. Her furry ears flick rapidly and sort through the sounds around. She cautiously steps up behind the trunk of a small tree, eases herself up, and leans out. Her furry ear perks between two different angles, and Cideeda’s emerald green eyes widen in surprise. She slinks down, and quietly crawls back to the rest of the group. Motioning them close, she whispers with a concern. “I hear something robotic. Old artificial muscle fiber flexing and servos? It’s mechanical.”

The team exchange glances and puzzle at the information. Dretphi stands up halfway, side steps carefully, and squints her stare through a divide between brush. She lifts up a pair of binoculars from her pack and focuses them ahead. Searching across the clearing over the tall grasses, she blinks in surprise and pays attention to a distant patch of grass. The wind sways the leaves smoothly in the clearing, except one bundle that slaps solidly against air. Dretphi lowers herself, creeps back to the team, and points towards the suspicious grass. “Something is invisible.”

Bach and Aristespha glance to each other. Blinking their eyes to respective glows, the two narrow stares ahead. Bach blinks his illuminated blue eyes and grimaces warily. “I can’t see it clearly, but there’s something refracting the light. It’s not quite a spell.”

Aristespha nods, braces herself against a tree, and focuses her lit violet eyes ahead. “Magically enhanced technology, probably. Seems to be an older generation.”

Sotalia quickly gestures out an incantation, places her fingers tips together, peeks through the forming flows of magic. Twitching her long nailed fingers, the visage of the clearing between her hands zooms, and she mumbles to herself. “Let me try heat vision...”

Her golden eyes spring open and her expression blanks at the large outlines of two humanoid machine shapes. She arrives back to her senses and wrestles the fright off her face. “Those are robots. I see them on the heat vision.”

Cideeda zips over next to Sotalia, and points to Sotalia’s hands. With a nod from Sotalia, Cideeda grips hold of Sotalia’s hands carefully, and slips her head to peer through the spell between Sotalia’s palms. Drooping her ears to the side, Cideeda gasps and whispers to the team. “Shit. We need to fall back soon. They might be able to pick up us up-”

She drops her head out from between Sotalia’s arms, reaches for her aetherphone, and quickly turns the device off. “Turn off your radios and phones. NOW.”

Aristespha, Bach, Dretphi, and Sotalia find their devices and deactivate them. Cideeda eases out a relieved breath and gazes to everyone. “They might be scanning radio frequencies. But, we REALLY need to fall back. If we get any closer, they’ll probably detect us.”

Sebastian nods and directs the team away from the clearing in a hushed tone. “Let’s fall back fifty meters.”

The team carefully reforms and slowly traverse over the terrain. After some distance, Bach whispers over to Cideeda with a worried hint. “I’m surprised they didn’t already find us.”

Cideeda smirks as she quietly steps along. “Chances are they would have if they were using active sensors. Either those aren’t working, or they’re using passive sensors to avoid detection.”

Bach nods and slowly steps over a clump of wet leaves in a hole. “Makes sense, since they’re cloaked.”

The group eventually reconvenes behind a slight rise in and settles into cover behind a row of trees. Sebastian hovers low and address the team. “Okay. Well, we found something. So... Thoughts?”

Aristespha rests her head of silvery blue hair upon a soft patch of grass and blows out a tense breath. “Sebastian, we need to call Captain Hackle.”

Bach nods and dons an awkward grin. He combs his fingers through his longer brown hair. “Yeah... I mean we can take one big bot down. But, I don’t think it’d be worth the risk to tackle two at the same time.”

Rolling her golden eyes, Sotalia fights a grimace and groans. “As much as I’d like to try out a few spells on robots, I’m sure this Lexattican guy would not like someone roughing up his bouncers.”

She frowns and huffs with a shake of her head. “He’d probably join in the fight at the worst gods damned time for us, too.”

Dretphi nods and grumbles. “Three problems at once.”

Cideeda flexes her fingers while idly cleaning of her claw tips and tugs at the corner of her mouth. “Stealth is out of the question. I’m sure those things would detect us. Even if we distracted them, whoever is controlling them would get an obvious heads up that something was wrong.”

Glancing over, Bach shakes his head and frowns. “And... if we got past them, our one escape route lead straight into trouble.”

Dretphi lifts up her visor, sighs out her frustration, and nods. “A bad plan.”

She peeks over the rise briefly, settles back down, and grumbles. “Hate to lose sight of the situation.”

Sotalia nods to Dretphi and brushes off some debris from her armored cloak. “Especially since this Lexattican might be in there right now.”

She rolls her golden eyes and crosses her arms. “Shit, now I kind of wish he had actually left.”

Sebastian searches his mind, ponders a moment, and proposes. “Yeah... Okay... Here’s an idea. We’ll set up a watch from here and keep an eye on things.”

He lifts his brow curiously to Cideeda. “Any ideas on how to get a message to Hackle without accidentally alerting those bots?”

Cideeda blinks her emerald green eyes and discerns a solution. “Radio is out, for sure, being this close. I’d be worried transmitting from the humvee. But... aetherphones might be safe. They’re probably too old to have such a system.”

Sotalia contorts her face dismissively and cocks her head of fiery orange, wavy hair. “Really? My signal cut out the last part of the drive up here.”

With a confident chuckle, Cideeda grins toothily and quirks her brow. “There’s a few tricks I can try.”

Sebastian nods, gazes at the team, and addresses the group. “Okay. Bach, Dretphi, and Sotalia. Stay here and keep watch. I’ll go with Aristespha and Cideeda to see if we can get a message off to Hackle.”

The teams split. Bach, Dretphi, and Sotalia find positions along the rise. Sebastian coasts along with Aristespha and Cideeda down the path leading away from the clearing.

----

Adjusting her binoculars, Dretphi gradually pans her aim around the open corridor between trees leading to the clearing. Putting the optics down, she blinks her steely gray eyes, glances up at the early afternoon sun, and sighs quietly. “Anything new?”

Sotalia moves her hands away from her face and shakes of the dissipating magical miasma. “No. Same damn empty clearing. Nothing different... at all...”

Bach rubs his glowing blue eyes, turns his head away from the distance, and settles upon the side of the rise. “Still see the same two blobs of energy. So... Yeah...”

Dretphi nods, narrows her stare toward the far off clearing through the forest, and wrestles a shallow frown. “Not good. Not bad.”

Rolling her golden eyes, Sotalia slides away from the crest of the small hill and huffs. “Gods, for all this trouble, he’d better be in there. Otherwise, this is just what he left behind guarding the place.”

Blinking his eyes to a dim glow, Bach awkwardly grimaces and glances around the area with tinges of paranoia. “Yeah... I hope he’s in there, too. Because, that means he might be wandering around these woods.”

Dretphi searches her mind, furrows her brow, and frowns. “Do not remember regular foot prints. Nothing recent.”

Sebastian’s visage flies low to the ground and lands to a seat near Bach, Dretphi, and Sotalia. “Hey. Anything exciting?”

Sotalia shakes her head and grumbles. “Same empty looking field as before.”

Leading Aristespha through a quiet route, Cideeda slinks over to the rest of the team and smiles. “We got through.”

Aristespha kneels down, exhales, and dons a hopeful smirk. “There was barely enough bandwidth to get a text message out.”

Thinking a moment, Bach quirks his brow and cocks his head to the side. “Really? How did you manage that?”

Cideeda grins toothily with smug hints, lifts a cocky eyebrow, and flexes her clawed fingers. “A little altitude makes all the difference.”

She motions towards the direction she came from and angles her point up to the top of the treeline. “Took a wild guess that the closest aether tower was transmitting from a higher point. So, I climbed a tree to just get within it’s broadcast bubble.”

Shaking his head, Sebastian smirks with a chuckle. “No help from the wind.”

With a trailing groan, Cideeda briefly grits her teeth and rolls her emerald green eyes. “Of course, the one time the wind picks up is when I’m holding onto the highest branch and waving my aetherphone around in the air.”

She mumbles to herself and snorts her frustration. “I really made it too easy for Murphy.”

Aristespha crawls carefully up the hill and peeks over the rise. “We got a confirmation that he received the message and he’s mobilizing a team. But, that is all we could get back.”

Sebastian smiles tightly and wrestles a humored grin down. “It got a little too dangerous to keep the signal.”

Cideeda’s furry ears droop down and an unamused frown curls out from the corner of her light brown face. “Well, the first snap could of have anything. But, that second snap, I wasn’t hanging around for a third.”

Dretphi dons the binoculars, sets back up on the rise, and squints through the lenses. Her eyes spring open and she pats the ground with her gauntlet covered hand. With the attention from the team upon her, she points towards the clearing. The group finds positions along the top of the small hill and focus upon the distant field. From the darkness beyond, Lexattican steps through the large archway. He walks out into the field, gazes up at the fast moving clouds overhead, and stares around at the forest perimeter encircling the grass. Keeping a drifting gaze out into the woods, he draws a long a breath and exhales slowly. He directs his voice back and belts out orders.

Cideeda’s furry ears flick forward and search the soundscape ahead. Aristespha’s very long, pointy ears perk, and she angles her head towards the far off words bouncing between the tree trunks. She bends an ivory ear with a hand. Both Cideeda and Aristespha concentrate, and the rest of the team awaits in silence. A gust of wind blows through the woods. The drone of rustling leaves rises, and both Cideeda and Aristespha wince in annoyance and frustration. Lexattican pivots around, snaps his fingers, and points beyond the archway.

At either side of the archway, two large humanoid robots fade to opacity. The armored forms glint in the afternoon sun, and the refreshed war machines spin methodically around towards the archway. One mech steps ahead through the entrance with a slight stooping motion, and the other similar robot follows afterwards. After the machines stomp well into the darkness past the archway, Lexattican glances around the area, then walks inside.

When Lexattican disappears from sight, Sebastian whispers softly between Aristespha and Cideeda. “So... Anything?”

Aristespha sighs with a frown on her blue, gray hinted ivory face. “Sorry, Sebastian. It sounded he asked the robots something about a status. Then, he just barked something about-”

Tilting her head to the side, Cideeda twists her mouth contemplatively and lightly scratches a claw tip on her chin. “Something about a maintenance mode, I think?”

Sebastian darts his eyes between his thoughts and puzzles out loud. “Maintenance? I mean, they looked like they were working fine to me.”

He furrows his transparent brow, crosses his arms, and searches for an explanation. “Why would you take both of them inside for maintenance at the same time?”

A spark of worry rises upon through Dretphi, and she trains the binoculars upon the archway. Focusing at the entry, she directs a concerned tone to the team. “Changing of the guard. There may be more.”

Sebastian nods at the idea. “Shit. That may be the case. Keep a watch for anything.”

Cideeda’s furry ears flick with her deliberation, and she rocks her head side to side. “What maintenance would he be doing out here... Why both at the same time? Something is not right.”

Squinting his glowing blue eyes, Bach grits his teeth and shakes his head. “It doesn’t feel like the best time to do something like that.”

A frown curls on Sotalia face, and she narrows her suspicious stare towards the archway. “Well, I don’t think it’s smart to take down your guard bots right after you send some nightmare mech to terrify the local town. You should be expecting someone to come and investigate.”

She glares, gestures out an incantation, and forms the flow between her hands. “Gods, I just wonder what’s keeping him here. He must have found something big.”

A gust of wind whips down the far off hill, whistles around the archway, and pushes through the forest. The stream of air fades to a faint breeze as it travels, and eventually washes over the team. Bach tenses his shoulders. Cideeda’s ears droop as the hairs on the back of her neck rise. Failing to shake his suspicions, Bach glances over the team and eases out a long breath. “What if that nightmare golem was built there? Not just stored, but... made there.”

Wincing at the notion, Cideeda wrestles a sharp cringe, curls her claws into to an exposed tree root, and groans. “Fuck. I was just thinking that. He could be trying to use them for parts...”

She shakes her head and growls out her discomfort. “Or, gods, trying to do some weird upgrade to them? I don’t know.”

Sharply sniffing air through her nose, she frowns and gazes at the team. “I don’t like what could be happening.”

Sebastian nods, looks over the group, and addresses them all. “Okay. By all good reason, we should hang back and wait for Hackle. But, I get the feeling that bigger problems might happen before then. Suggestions? Thoughts?”

Aristespha sighs and shakes her head. “We don’t really have enough information to go on. As much as it is a risk, I think we need to find out more.”

Sotalia smirks uneasily and gazes through the optical spell between her hands. “Well, I’m not seeing anything trying to come out. I think staying here and waiting won’t solve anything.”

Lowering the binoculars away from her face, Dretphi rolls her armored shoulders and gazes at Sebastian. “This might be our window of opportunity. This man is distracted with maintaining the robots. We could get close unnoticed. Assess the situation properly.”

Bach nods in agreement and focuses a serious gaze at his brother. “It’s probably a dumb idea to go in there. But, if he’s trying to cook up a new version of that thing that attacked the convention center... Um...”

He glances around to Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia, and then settles back on Sebastian. “That thing was a monster. A big, ancient, clunky beast. I really don’t want to take a chance at finding out what newer models could do.”

Sebastian dons a solemn expression, stares out to the far off archway, and releases an ethereal sigh. “Shit. I agree, bro. Okay... We sneak in there. We figure out if we can shut it down. But... If we can’t...”

An eager grin upon Cideeda reveals sharp teeth, and she pats a pouch on her vest. “I bet the dirt on that hill isn’t too stable. A few charges might shake enough loose to close up the archway. It’d slow things down and give him something else to do.”

A smirk appears on Dretphi and she nods. A flit of confidence swells in Sebastian and he smiles to the group. “Okay. Close enough to a plan. If we can’t deal with it, then we’ll seal it. That might buy us enough time for Hackle to get here.”

He holds his arms out to the side and gauges reactions from the team. “Sound good?”

After a bit of silent deliberation, the group arrives at a collective, reserved agreement. Sebastian nods, drifts slowly forward, and commands. “Okay. Form up. I’ll scout and we’ll take it slow.”

The team navigates through the forest, cautiously approaching the clear and archway.

----

Underneath the dim glow of old overhead lamps, Sebastian hovers down the dusty corridor. Behind, Cideeda’s small frame slinks between piles of debris and old equipment. The rest of the team hangs back, and awaits a signal from Cideeda before each stealthy transition to a new holding spot. At each secluded section, they gaze down cluttered side halls and peer into ancient rooms filled with decaying furniture. The team progresses cautiously towards the very end of the main corridor, before a large metal double doorway. Through the open, heavy framed passage, the glow of brighter lights beam out.

Sebastian halts, settles to the side of the wide, concrete hall, and gestures questioningly at Cideeda. Narrowing her emerald green eyes ahead, Cideeda’s furry ears flick and search the faint noises echoing out the cavernous space beyond the doorway. She nods a confirmation to Sebastian, and points ahead. Sebastian gradually eases his ethereal form close to the heavy archway, and peeks into the space. Hunting around the massive space, his eyes dart between bays of tool chests and heavy machinery. He glances up at heavy mounts with enormous tracks leading out from the equipment alcoves and hydraulic powered junctions joining at a central loop. Following the echoes upon the smooth floors and walls, he narrows his stare down to Lexattican’s leather armored form searching through drawers of a tool box.

Lexattican spins around, gazes over the paperwork spread out upon a work table, and narrows his yellow eyes upon the scattered details. Twisting a contemplative smirk on his light gray, green hinted face, he hums to himself and pulls back his long black hair. While tying back his locks, he furrows his age worn brow, and bows slightly towards notes on a diagram.

Slipping back from the edge of the doorway, Sebastian pivots to the team in hiding, gestures towards the other side of the archway, and nods with a wary grimace. Cideeda glances over her shoulders at the rest of the group, steps softly away, and sneaks up to the other side of the archway. She leans a furry ear out and waits. After a few seconds, she angles her stare into the massive room and glances around in awe. Studying the space filled with equipment, she eventually returns her attention the present concerns and searches the vicinity with purpose. Her attention shifts between six humanoid robots supported upon lifts. She notices four in similar states of disassembly and recognizes two machines with recently opened maintenance panels. Drifting her focus around the rest of the room, her stare grows distant, and she shivers with a familiar, uncomfortable feeling.

She pivots around and motions Aristespha, Bach, Dretphi, and Sotalia forward. The group approach quietly and settle to vantage points at the edges of the large, tall heavy metal doorway. Eyes wander the room, take in the details, and hunt for more information. During the search, Back blinks, glances over to Sotalia, and faintly whispers. “Feeling anything weird?”

Sotalia pauses a moment, closes her golden eyes, and slowly nods. She carefully draws in a breath and softly speaks. “It’s like at the convention. But, it feels a little stale?”

Bach feels five claw tips pressing in his arm and glances down to meet Cideeda’s gaze. With a slight droop of her furry ears, she frowns with a whisper. “You feel it, too?”

With an uneasy sigh, Bach nods and squints through the contrasting spot lamps and shadowy alcoves in the room. “Yeah, but there’s something else...”

His blue eyes widen, and he points to a distant corner of the huge space and towards an area beyond open armored doors. Within the isolated chamber, a flickers of black flame coat the open retention clamps upon a heavy duty frame. The rest of the team follows the cue and gawk in surprise. Pulling his attention away, Sebastian furrows his brow and slides his stare down a row of complicated, intricate systems. His search halts upon an enchanted, cylindrical storage cell, and he watches the faint white pulsing glow from inside the device.

After leading everyone’s attention to the container, he signals the team back and drifts away from the entry. Between slinking, creeping, and sneaking, the squad convenes down a branch corridor and slip into a vacant room. Sebastian keeps his voice low and address the group. “Okay... Um, I think we need to do something. This is looking like a shitty situation in the making.”

Bach nods emphatically and hisses through his teeth. “Fuck yeah, we do. I don’t know what he’s planning, but none of that looks like it’ll be good for anyone.”

Cideeda grits her sharp teeth, snorts her frustration, and lowers back her furry ears. “Gods. I think he’s going to try to do something with nightmare energy and use those bots.”

Fighting the waning confidence on her face, Sotalia sighs and grips the side of her arms. “I’ll be honest, two nightmare bots I was not that sure about. But... I saw four more in there. I don’t know what the fuck we’d do against that.”

Dretphi frowns against her stoic demeanor and shakes her head. “Nothing of value. Are they functional?”

Shrugging her shoulders, Cideeda pulls in an uncertain breath. “Depends. I don’t know right now.”

Aristespha bites her lip nervously and rolls tension out her shoulders. “That container has elder energy. And, I would not be surprised that equipment may actually be able to synthesize the energy that was used to make the nightmare golem.”

Rubbing her temples, she drags her fingers through her long, silvery blue hair and shakes her head. “It makes sense. Gods damn it, it unfortunately makes sense.”

She gazes up to Sebastian worried. “Sebastian, I know we should wait for Hackle, but... I agree we can’t let this even start to happen.”

Sebastian nods, contemplates the situation, and wrestles the unease on his translucent face. “Yes, dear. Let’s try to figure out the best way to do it.”

He darts his gaze around his mind and ponders out loud. “Okay, definitely thinking of surprising him. But... We got a few factors to deal with.”

Dretphi curls a frown under her full face visor. “Robots.”

Cocking her head to side, a smirk grows from the corner of Cideeda’s mouth. “We could disable them. I could sneak in and plant charges in them. But, it’d be nice to have something with a little more power...”

She gazes over to Bach and holds a claw tipped finger up with a toothy grin. “Could you enhance charges with something like that EMP you did for those cyber zombies? But, smaller?”

Bach thinks a moment and smirks. “I think so. Well, at least, something that’ll throw a lot of electricity around.”

Cideeda’s furry ears perk up, and an excited spark lights up her emerald green eyes. “That’ll be perfect, especially from inside the robots.”

Lifting an intrigued brow, Sebastian strokes his chin. “Yeah. I can try to distract him with some conversion, and see if that keeps him busy enough. Don’t think he’s expecting a ghost to come on by. Now, the energy tank...”

Sotalia crosses her arms, quirks her brow, and grins. “If he’s distracted, I can use my telekinesis spell and pull it over to us.”

An idea pops to the front of Aristespha’s mind, and she grips the handle of the sword at her side with an eager smirk. “We can then dispose of the energy with the sword. That’ll shut down any chance of him creating anything terrible with it. Even if we just secure it and leave, that’ll limit what can be done.”

Trickles of confidence swell within Sebastian and he glances over to Dretphi with a sly smile. “After that, all that’s left is Lexattican. Dretphi, you think you can give him reasons to not try anything too stupid?”

A smirk graces Dretphi’s tan face, and she straightens her posture with a hint of pride. She rests a hand on her sub machine gun and darts a steely gray glance to the large blade on her back. “Two come to mind.”

Sebastian gazes over the team and grins proud. “Okay. We prioritize setting the bots up for failure, snag the energy, and keep him distracted as long as possible. The second he figures it out, blow the bots and show him the firepower. I hope he’s reasonable after that.”

----

Reaching inside the access hatch of a large armored robot, Lexattican twists an inscribed, smooth stone component into place. He shifts his examining gaze between different electronic systems within the confines of the chassis and narrows his yellow eyes. With a cold smirk on his face age worn face, he steps back from the machine and glances over to the pulsating white light from the magical container across the room. Walking over towards a workbench on the opposite side of the room, he gazes over the array of magical and technological pieces arranged upon the surface. Pausing a moment, he rests his hand upon an old golem arm, and admires the intertwining of enchanted stone and engineered alloy. While lost in his thoughts, he ponders to himself a moment. Sebastian’s ethereal form materializes nearby. Peeking around Lexattican’s shoulder, his visage presents an innocent smile and glances over. “So, what are you working on?”

Lexattican’s thin, tall frame stiffens, and he spins around to face Sebastian with a back step and a evuukian curse. Studying the ghostly apparition before him, his defensive anger wanes in the tense moments to a bewildered curiosity. “What are you?”

Sebastian crosses his arms, tilts his head to the side, and shrugs his shoulders with a nonchalant tone. “Um. That’s a good question. I think I’ve heard a few people call me a spirit. Yeah. I’m think I’m a spirit.”

Striking a balance between suspicion and intrigue, Lexattican grants a single nod and furrows his brow. “Interesting. What are you doing here?”

Drifting away from the side of the room with robots in bays, Sebastian drifts his ethereal visage through the walkway between impromptu workbenches and glances over the equipment. “Well, I sometimes wander over here just to see if there’s anything new. This place has been underground a while. So, I guess I’m curious to what you are doing here. If you want to say anything... I mean... I didn’t want to interrupt, but this is all fascinating to me.”

Keeping a close eye upon Sebastian, Lexattican follows and studies the translucent being before him in silence. After seconds of contemplation and observing Sebastian’s casual demeanor, he draws in a breath with an amused, reserved smirk. “Let us say that I’m doing some... Upgrades.”

Sebastian smiles at Lexattican and nods with interest. “Oh! What kind of upgrades? I figured this place built robots, but I could never figure out what kind. Especially, that one big scary one that looked like it was on fire... with darkness.”

Lexattican cocks his head, perks his brow, and walks closer to Sebastian. “Interesting, is there anything more you tell me more about this place?”

While Sebastian maintains a nonchalant front, a small figure darts through the shadows on the other side of the massive chamber. From behind a robot secured upon a lift, a pair of furry ears perk into view and lead a pair of emerald eyes above the metal chassis. Glancing around quickly, Cideeda surveys the interior of the humanoid machine through the open access port. She frowns briefly with a tinge of sadness, and slips a faintly glowing orb inside the intricate inner workings of the robot. In near silence, she swiftly drops back into the shadows and slinks through the darkness to the next target. Her ears flick out from hiding, her eyes watch for the opportunity, and she sneaks another magical charge inside.

Sebastian grins awkwardly and shrugs his shoulders while scratching the back of his head. “I wish knew more to tell you, but...”

He waves his hand through a workbench and sighs. “Can’t really interact with anything.”

Lexattican lifts an intrigued brow, wears a suspicious grimace, and stares at Sebastian. “So I see.”

Blinking blankly, Sebastian perks up and drifts over to another table of golem parts. “This is all so neat. I’m sorry if I’m asking too many questions, but... I’ve got to know... What do you plan on doing with these things?!”

He chuckles at Lexattican, catches a glimpse of Cideeda’s hand signal before she retreats into the shadows. “I mean you obviously know what you are doing. And, you have done a lot work. You got to be doing something big!”

Narrowing a wary glare at Sebastian, Lexattican curls a faint frown. “Well. I guess the best way to explain it is that I’m proving a point.”

Sebastian bows his head slightly and sighs with an ethereal reverb. “Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you too much. It’s just I thought this place would sit here forever. You know until someone stumbled into it, I guess.”

Lexattican halts his pivot away, and stares into his own thoughts. Gradually, he turns back to face Sebastian, and focuses upon him. “THAT is the problem with these places. You may know it all too well, then. All these discarded places... All carelessly abandoned... All hazards for the future...”

While Sebastian pries for more information and drifts away from the entry with Lexattican following, Sotalia quietly gestures out an incantation. Directing a transparent, warping flow of energy, she leans out the main doorway and guides her power onto the smooth concrete floor with her hands. The barely visible ripples of magic zip along the ground, stretch towards the intricate, complex machinery near the isolation chamber, and envelop the elder energy container on a bench. The portable vessel lifts up into the air, coasts low above the floor, and drifts back towards Sotalia.

While Sebastian continues the conversation with Lexattican, Aristespha loosens the sword from the scabbard. Dretphi readies her sub machine gun and watches for the right moment. Bach holds his plasma pistol in one hand and six thin flow threads in the other. Cideeda listens attentively.

Sebastian scratches his head and crosses his arm. “Okay, so you’ve dug through all these ruins and got things working and all... So, how are you going to prove your point?”

Lexattican draws in a long breath, fights off a sad twist of his expression, and coldly states. “It’s simple. You demonstrate to the clueless powers what their negligence and carelessness can...”

He swallows painful memories. “And... HAS wrought on others.”

Springing his translucent blue eyes open, Sebastian stares in shock at Lexattican. “Oh... You mean...”

A surge of paranoia boils up into Lexattican demeanor, and his eyes flick to a glowing yellow. “Yes...”

He squints through Sebastian and cocks his head. “You’re a strange spirit- Wait... A projection-”

Spinning around, he scans around the room. Spotting the missing container, his illuminated eyes follow a trail, observe the energy container floating towards the double door, and rest upon the awaiting team. A rush of ire erupts from within and he roars out. “ALL UNITS! EMERGENCY ACTIVATION!”

The robots stir and shudder with life. Cideeda squeezes Bach’s shoulder. “NOW!”

A surge of magical flow flashes down six lines from Bach’s hand. The pulses of power zip through the shadows around the lifts and end inside the humanoid machines. Explosive charges burst within the interiors of the war droids, and arcs of electricity crackle through their bodies as fiery gases jet out. Rattling to an abrupt halt, the robots crash upon the ground and cease to function. Dretphi charges out, flips over a heavy work bench, and levels her sub machine gun behind cover. She aims, narrows her stern glare, and shouts out. “SURRENDER!”

Lexattican collects his senses while rubbing the base of his ears. He stares at the sub machine gun aimed at him, and counts the three pistols tracking at him. Slowly he raises his hands, and silently waits. In the lull, Sotalia brings the elder vessel closer to her. Aristespha draws out the sword. Lexattican’s attention shifts to the blade and hints of familiarity contort fresh concern on his light gray face.

Dretphi calls out. “ARMS. UP. DO. NOT. MOVE.”

Keeping an eye on Dretphi, Lexattican grits his teeth more the closer the elder energy container drifts away from him. Dretphi keeps her finger on the trigger. Bach keeps his aim on Lexattican, along with Cideeda. He furrows his brow, and darts his eyes around puzzling. “Wait...”

“NEW FLOW DETECTED.”

Bach yells out to Lexattican with his plasma pistol charging up. “Don’t do it! Gods dammit! Don’t bring that power into this! STOP IT! PLEASE!”

Dretphi pulls the trigger on her sub machine gun. A burst of rounds leave the barrel and zip across the space. They stick just short of Lexattican into a thickening energy barrier. Swinging an arm out, Lexattican lashes out a whip of elder flow and slaps the mass of power onto the energy storage vessel. Keeping an arm out to push a barrier against bullets and bolts, he yanks on the container within translucent stream of telekinesis. Sotalia releases a surge of energy, braces herself against the door frame, and strains against the countering force on her spell.

Lexattican glowers as rage overwhelms. A flash of white fills the pupils of his eyes, and he flexes his entire body. With a powerful swing of his arm, the elder energy container rockets towards him. Sotalia flies forward, skids across the floor, and tumbles to a hard stop against a workbench.

Seizing the vessel of power into his arm, Lexattican stares at the pulsating white within and focuses his furious anger through the magical barrier stopping waves of attacks. He narrows his fury at the team, grips hold of the top energy port, and twists the container open.

-116-

Standing with the cylindrical energy cell tucked between his arm, Lexattican watches the power leak from the device’s top port, and the white mist flows with his will. He grits his teeth, snarls his upper lip, and curls his fingers around a forming ball of magic. A gout of power surges out from the container and condenses into the growing sphere near his free palm. His yellow eyes flick towards the entry, and his muscles tense. He flings his arm forward and releases the sparking orb toward the heavy doorway. The fluctuating sphere zips overhead the gathered team. It jets past the archway, slows meters away, and flashes brightly. Reflex drives Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia away from the main corridor and into the massive chamber filled with machinery and robotics. Moments later, a brilliant light pulses out and a surge of energy launches debris into the large room. Fleeing from the repulsing shockwave of magic, the group scrambles for cover, dodging the aftermath of the explosion.

Lexattican draws out more elder energy from the vessel under his arm, growls out his ire loudly, and searches the room. As the flows of power stir his long, black hair, small orbs form in his palm. A sharp scowl deepens on his light-gray, green hinted face, and his eyes snap to an upturned work table near the exit. Narrowing a suspicious glare, he flings a bolt towards it. The small ball crashes onto the concrete floor and erupts into a burst of magical force. The energy tosses the heavy table into the air, and Dretphi skids on the hard floor upon her armoring plating. She rides out the momentum and recovers into a tumble. Launching into a sprint, she sprays a salvo with her sub machine gun and dives behind a heavy lift frame.

Sliding his gaze away from the bullets slowing to stop in a warping energy shield around him, Lexattican summons more small orbs. Following the whims of paranoia, he launches bolt after bolt at obscuring furniture and sheltering debris. A ball bursts close to a spilled tool chest, and Cideeda scrambles away from cover close by. She briefly places her hands on her laser pistols, flashes an emerald green eyed glance at the encased Lexattican, and grips onto another pair of weapons. Drawing the heavier guns, she flicks off the safeties, lines up her shots, and pulls the triggers. Appearing after each loud crack, trails of vapor trace the paths of electromagnetic rails into the distorting field around Lexattican. Cideeda catches the glare of Lexattican, sprints off, and slides behind the smoldering remains of a disabled battle robot.

Lexattican hesitates and holds his throwing arm at the ready. He grits his teeth in frustration with each moment he spends trying to find a clear shot. A barrage of plasma bolts, energy blasts, and precise beams pelt the elder shield around him. Growling loudly, Lexattican spins around in a rage. An awkward twitch twists his angered face when he faces the ethereal visage of a man. Sebastian’s ghostly form darts and glides to match each irritated attempt by Lexattican for an unobstructed view. Ire surges and Lexattican flings elder orbs wildly into a section of toppled furniture and overturned equipment lockers. During the fury, Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia rush away to new hiding spots. With each rage fueled barrage, team members gravitate towards heavier equipment and the mechanical carcasses of disabled robots. Panting in the lull, Lexattican scan the area. His yellow eyes spot glimpses of the team behind cover, but he restrains impulses upon recognizing the machines they cower behind.

Sebastian hovers in front of Lexattican, holds his hands up, and calmly speaks. “Okay! Take it easy, now. We’ve had a bad start to all this. And, we maybe didn’t make the best impression. Let’s take a moment, and we talk about this.”

Lexattican drills his irate glare through Sebastian and hisses. “What is there to talk about?! You have attacked me with no provocation on my part. Let me guess... Probably some on some foolish notion of stopping me from my quest? Or, whatever some guild brief made up to justify it to you?”

Maintaining a neutral demeanor, Sebastian grants Lexattican a nod and sighs ethereally. “Well, yes. We are here to stop you. I don’t know if you meant it or not, but it seems that some of your experiments have been causing a lot of trouble for people. We just want to stop that-”

Narrowing his stare, a disdainful tint curls Lexattican’s frown and he snorts while briefly watching team members peak out from cover. “Experiments?! Don’t insult me, ghost man! I know exactly what I am doing... There’s a far greater goal than your short sighted perspectives will allow you to see.”

Cocking his head to the side, Sebastian crosses his arms, drifts his visage into Lexattican’s view, and stares. “Really? Because, it seems to me to be a whole lot of bumbling through ruins stirring up things you shouldn’t, and then leaving them for people to clean up.”

A tinge of spite twitches upon Lexattican’s weathered face, and he clenches his teeth. “As if someone like you could understand. There are things more important that whatever they’ve lied to you about.”

Sebastian leans his gaze forward, perks his brow, and plainly inquires. “Well, what is it? Why are you doing all of this? What’s the end goal? You’re obviously putting some serious effort into it.”

Puffing his chest out with a long breath, Lexattican tightens his grip on elder energy vessel, and glares into Sebastian’s translucent blue eyes. “To make THEM learn the only way they can.”

Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia exchange glances during brief peeks outside of cover. Cideeda motions to her radio. The rest relay a similar signal to others and disappear out of view into hiding. Drifting along with the swinging searches of the vicinity by Lexattican, Sebastian continues to obscure the view and presses. “Them? Who is them? Come on! Don’t give me that budget conspiracy crap. You’ve GOT to have something BETTER than that.”

Lexattican snarls his upper lip, winces with a painful memory, and snaps his glare at Sebastian. “Of course, I do! The GAA and Appaland. The two biggest organizations around, hell bent on covering up the mistakes of the past... Then, pretending that ignoring them will make them go away...”

Sebastian furrows his intrigued brow and narrows an inquisitive gaze upon Lexattican with a hint of sympathy. “So... What did they take from you?”

Suspicion guards Lexattican and he levels a distrustful glare upon Sebastian. Studying the expression, Sebastian motions to his ethereal form and grimaces. “You can see what got taken from me. This is what happens when they forget to disclose certain artifact functions to you.”

Pausing in a surge of the past, Lexattican searches his mind, draws in a long breath, and sighs. “Someone I loved. The most important thing in my life.”

Watching Lexattican carefully, Sebastian nods and pries. “How?”

Pulling his attention away from flits of paranoia tugging him towards the rest of the team, Lexattican frowns sharply. “We found a place that we thought could serve as a new home for our movement. Magical and hidden away. It’d be perfect. Our own chapter to live as we pleased.”

He grits his teeth and shakes his head. “Despite being careful... Nothing could have prepared us for what was down there. The terrible things no one could have expected.”

Sebastian frowns with respectful bow. “Yeah. It’s awful. There’s so many horrible things still leftover from the past. So much that we don’t know exists.”

A flash of hate flickers in Lexattican’s and flits of white tint the yellow glow in his eyes. “Yes... I thought that, too. I could understand such misfortune. I could come accept that it was awful fate... A punishment for our hubris... But...”

He lifts his stare up and focuses fully on Sebastian. “THEY. KNEW.”

Sebastian blinks his eyes and tilts his head curiously. “What?”

Drawing in a long breath, Lexattican rants heavy with ire and tenses his body. “They fucking knew! The GAA and Appaland both knew about the existence of that place! The terrors possible within! For decades, they could have dealt with it! With all the resources they horde and people they draft... But, they didn’t...”

He narrows his glare and watches his tightening grip squeeze an orb of elder energy in his palm. “They bickered for years about who was responsible for hiring adventurers to clear it out. Back and forth, until they stopped bringing it up. Then, they were perfectly happy to ignore it. They denied it when they were called out. They dismissed the one who suffered the most from their dereliction of duty. They condemned me because of my beliefs and used it to waive their responsibility.”

A dark grin curls out from the corner of Lexattican’s mouth and a cruel chuckle escapes his breath. “So, the only solution is to bring THEIR failings to light... In the ONLY way they can’t ignore.”

Sebastian’s eyes widen, his shoulders tighten, and his visage flames slightly. Lexattican blinks his white and yellow illuminated eyes and dons smug smile. “Despite unexpected outcomes, I say it has been working to plan. They’ve had to start paying attention and properly cleaning up their oversights. And, I’ve found a few capable of using what I’ve found to further the message.”

A twinge of spite twitches Sebastian’s cheek, and he grimaces as he puffs up his chest. “So, your fucking grand solution is to dig up old terrors and set them lose on the world?!”

Lexattican pivots to face Sebastian and sneers. “I guess that’s an explanation, in a way. It has actually proven successful over the years.”

Sebastian’s ethereal form flares out and he leans his glower close to Lexattican. “Care to go into a more in-depth explanation on how THAT is successful solution?! Last I checked, doing the thing you are trying to prevent sounds like the most counterproductive shit I’ve ever heard of!”

Contorting the indignant rage on his face, Sebastian points at Lexattican. “What juvenile, sophomoric excuse for fucking logic are you using to justify that?! I’d like to hear it! RIGHT NOW!”

With a dismissive roll of his eyes, Lexattican steps away from Sebastian and watches suspicious piles of heavy machine and downed robots. “As if you are remotely deserving an explanation. I can’t expect the leftover traces of a worthless human to understand me.”

Sebastian zips squarely into Lexattican’s view, brings his ethereal face close, and smirks derisively. “OH. So, you are unable to explain it, then. Gods, you are the most pitiful wannabe Dark Lord I’ve ever encountered. Nothing but a crackpot terrorist.”

Lexattican springs his white-yellow eyes open, glares through Sebastian, and growls out. “Excuse you?”

Loud voices echo through the large chamber. Sebastian and Lexattican feverishly exchange counters to arguments. From behind a toppled robot, Aristespha blinks her violet glowing eyes and releases her grip on the sword at her side. She adjusts a small headset upon her very long, pointed ear, and whispers. “I do not know how long Sebastian can keep this up. Do we have any ideas on how to proceed?”

On the opposite side of the large open room, Bach settles against a mechanical body in front of a heavy lift frame. He sneaks a peek low around the disabled machine, returns to his hiding spot, and sighs inside his helmet. “Well, if we are going to do much against him, we need to get that elder energy container from him. Otherwise, we just need to clear out of here.”

In the echoing cacophony of furious debate, Dretphi checks over her sub machine gun, listens to the latest argument, and shakes her helmeted head. “This will not last long. We acquire the power vessel. Go outside to fight in the forest. We are at a disadvantage here.”

Sotalia fidgets with her back against the thick metal framework of maintenance equipment, glances around the corner momentarily, and groans while holding the collar of her cloak. “He’s still paying too much attention to it. He’s got a tight grip on it and that damn shield. There’s no way I’ll snag that power cell from him right now.”

A pair of furry ears perk up from behind faintly smoking robot, and emerald green eyes peek over the metal chassis. Cideeda’s gaze drifts away from the blasted furniture and settles upon untouched equipment surrounding Lexattican and Sebastian. Darting her attention between the undisturbed charts, intact books, and other personal items, she halts her hunt upon a leather backpack resting in safety. She whispers to her aetherphone. “Hey, I see a backpack. It looks like it’s been placed off to the side on purpose. Might be important. Think there’s anything special about it?”

The team peak out individually and locate the pack. Focusing glowing stares from the distance, Bach and Aristespha study the old, well-made backpack. Both flit their eyes wide and return to hiding.

Bach’s voice crackles softly onto the channel. “That’s seriously magical.”

Familiarly colors Aristespha’s voice. “That’s a bag of holding. I know those all to well, unfortunately.”

An eager, toothy grin widens on Cideeda’s light brown face, and she curls her claw tips onto the metal surface nearby. “Oh, that’s got to be really important to him. That might get his FULL attention.”

From behind cover, a sly smile graces Sotalia’s face, and she direct her voice into her collar’s radio. “That just might be enough of a distraction. I still don’t know if I can get through that barrier.”

Bach peers out from his hiding spot, narrows his glowing blue eyes, and smirks. “I got idea that could help. Just pick up my flow cables with your telekinesis spell and I’ll try to pry open his shield for moment.”

An eager glint lights up Sotalia’s golden eyes, and she grins with a tinge of excitement. “That’s all I need.”

With a tense sigh, Aristespha nods and tightens her grip on the sword at her side. “That sounds good. I’ll let Sebastian know, and see if he can give us an opportunity.”

Lexattican glances around the vast space, shifts his glare frantically between suspicious spots, and allows paranoia to guide him. Opening his mouth to launch another retort, Sebastian pauses, listens, and refocuses upon Lexattican. He drifts away from the backpack’s position and spots layers of papers upon a work table. With an exaggerated point, Sebastian yells at Lexattican. “Oh, great plans you have! What kind of notes are these? Looks like the scratches of a some kind of nut job. No wonder we able to shut down that nuclear waste disposal site... so easily...”

Lexattican snaps an insulted glower at Sebastian, stomps forward, and growls out. “It was YOUR group?!”

Sebastian crosses his arms defiantly and cracks a snide grin. “Yeah, turns out you don’t need to kill innocent people to bring some hidden nuclear processing site to official attention. So, your whole idea about demonstrating the dangers seems pretty weak.”

The squabling flares back up. From the shadows, a sleek, short figure darts between shady corner to dark underside. Slinking close behind Lexattican, a pair of emerald green eyes glint light from the overhead lamps and narrow at the tucked away backpack. Darting between work tables, Cideeda silently steps close. A pair of clawed hands grip the leather pack tightly and pluck it from view. Swiftly moving, Cideeda deftly maneuvers quietly to cover behind a fallen combat droid. Sebastian’s translucent blue eyes dart around his mind briefly, and he slows his commentary against Lexattican. In the lull of conversation, Lexattican’s suspicions return and he scans his glowing, white-yellow glare across the area. “Gods, I grow tired of you, ghost. Now... Are you miserable cowards going to continue to hide, or am I going to have to flush you out again?”

He grits his teeth, summons up white flow into his palm, and yells. “I only have so much patience! And, I’m growing more convinced I don’t need to spare all the machinery you lurk behind! So, make your choice quick, so I can move on-”

A loud whistle echoes into the massive chamber. Glancing frantically around the room, Lexattican settles his full attention to a familiar backpack rocking just above the cover of a robotic chassis. His eyes widen in shock, and he gawks in disbelief at the empty spot near him. A string of evuukian curses spill forth from his mouth, and he hesitantly aims his palm towards the display. “Return THAT at once!”

Cideeda supports the leather bag over her head with both arms and cracks a toothy grin. “That all depends on you.”

Watching Lexattican focus completely upon Cideeda, Bach and Sotalia lean out from cover and prepare. Lexattican clenches his jaw and hisses out his frustration loudly. “Explain, BEAST.”

Dramatically lowering her furry ears, Cideeda furrows her brow unamused and shakes her head. “Now, now... No need to make it personal. I just want to barter here.”

Narrowing his glare, Lexattican twists an annoyed grimace on his light gray, green hinted face, and sighs. “Speak, NOW.”

Rapping her claw tips on the fine leather of the backpack above her, Cideeda smirks with a perk of an eyebrow. “It’s very simple. I give this back to you, and you just let us all leave. I’m sure you see we’re getting nowhere in this stalemate. Let’s just part paths and call it a day.”

Lexattican draws in a deep calming breath and studies Cideeda carefully from the distance. He wrestles the deal in his mind. “That... I would not be against. This is whole ordeal has been a waste of time and resources.”

Gradually nodding his head, he glances out the corner of his eyes. “If you return it to me... And, immediately leave... I will not chase after all of you. I’ll leave soon after and hope we never met again.”

Cideeda lowers her arms with the backpack between her hands. Swaying her weight between her feet, she grins toothily. “I think that’s as good of deal we are going to get. As a token of good faith, let me return this to you.”

She pulls the top draw string tight, wraps her fingers tightly around the straps, and swings the weight idly at her side. Her emerald green eyes plot a trajectory. Her arms swing the backpack around to speed and releases it into an arc. As the bag sails up above, she darts low and scrambles away in a new hiding spot. His glowing white-yellow eyes tracking his property, Lexattican follows the path of the backpack, steps forward, and reaches his free arm out.

From behind, a translucent mass of flow billows out from Sotalia and erupts towards the elder energy barrier surrounding Lexattican. Within the plume of power, threads of prismatic energy grow within the surf toward the surface of the glittering shield. The cloud of energy splashes upon the elder barrier, and the flow lines dart into the surface of the shield. A brilliant flash of blue glows out from Bach’s eyes, and power pulses down the magical cables within his hands. The burst jets down the conduits to the tangle of threads. Arcs of energy crackle, bubbles of disrupted elder energy pop away, and a golden matrix forces away a small divide in the elder barrier.

During a surge of prismatic flow down the lines, Bach winces under the strain and blurts out. “NOW!”

Golden light flickers brightly in Sotalia’s eyes, and she thrusts her arms forward. The telekinetic energy swirls towards the divide and powers the passage into the shield wide open. The translucent plume jets through, envelopes the elder energy container, and condenses firmly around it. Bracing her foot against a heavy metal frame, flow wraps around other large objects, and Sotalia balls up her fits. She yanks herself back, arches her back, and yells out. “MINE!”

The power vessel breaks free from underneath Lexattican’s arm. The telekinetic mass pulls it towards the gap and rips the cylindrical cell through the collapsing divide, as the golden matrix destabilizes. The power container darts across the room through the plume of power and flies straight to Sotalia. It lands firmly onto her chest with faint bounce. Sotalia tips backwards, and lands on her butt with a grunt. As the spell energies dissipate in the area, she blinks back to awareness and places the elder power cell before Aristespha.

Lexattican seizes the backpack from its flight and spins around as the elder barrier seals. Just as Lexattican finds his new target, Sebastian darts into the way of the freshly enraged glare and calls out. “OPEN FIRE!”

Dretphi braces her her sub machine gun upon the top her impromptu bunker, levels her aim, and pulls the trigger. During the bursts of gunfire, trails of vapor lead ahead of sharp cracks, and electromagnetic bolts from Cideeda’s new pistols stick into the magical field protecting Lexattican. Stumbling against the onslaught, Lexattican holds his hands out and releases defensive surges of flow to the warping barrier. Behind cover, Aristespha scrambles over to the elder vessel and inspects it quickly. Spotting the leaking energy from a partially open valve, she draws the Sword of the Spirit Realm from the scabbard and blinks her violet eyes. Sotalia and Aristespha exchange wary glances. Sotalia twists her mouth uneasily and shrugs her shoulders. “So, uh, how do we drain it?”

Aristespha wraps her hands around the handle of the blade, stares at Sotalia, and awkwardly grins. “You’re going to open it up the valve all the way... And, I’m going to jam the sword in there.”

Sotalia’s expression blanks. She glances down at the energy vessel, meets Aristespha expectant gaze, and chuckles nervously. “Fuck it, girl! Here we go!”

She firmly grasps a small control handle, confirms with Aristespha, and tenses her body. With a struggling twist, she opens the valve fully on the container. A jet of white flow billows out between Aristespha and Sotalia. As the Aristespha drives the tip of the blade into the outlet, the elder power vortexes around the sword and sinks into the glowing blade surface. Streams of flow swirl violently into weapon through chaotic arcs. Aristespha and Sotalia struggle to keep both vessel and sword secure during the torrential draining.

Sebastian’s visage distorts and warps slowly. His ethereal form brightens with a brilliant white glow. The droning rush of energy into the blade resonates loudly and floods the massive chamber in drowning noise. Cideeda and Dretphi halt their assaults upon Lexattican, and Bach squirms uncomfortably in cover. Collecting himself and reforming his thinning barrier, Lexattican searches the room bewildered and spots the brilliant white glow behind fallen machinery. “NO.”

The streams of energy from the elder vessel wane to sputtering plumes. The cell goes dark. Remaining drifts of white miasma sink into the sword. Quiet presses down upon room. Sebastian’s ghostly visage calms down. He shudders and blinks bewildered. “WOW... That was A LOT.”

Aristespha exhales, removes the tip of the blade away from the empty energy container. Sotalia lets the vessel roll away and rests against cover. “Okay, so we get the fuck out of here, right?”

Aristespha nods and peeks briefly above the top of the robotic carapace. “That’s the-”

She ducks an energy beam. “SHIT!”

Lexattican storms towards Aristespha and Sotalia, and concentrates an infuriated glower at them. He peppers the area with small bolts of energy and suppresses escape attempts, stepping closer by the second. Bach peeks over the top of his hiding spot and watches Lexattican move in on Aristespha’s and Sotalia’s positions across from him. Bach searches nearby, makes eye contact with Cideeda and Dretphi on either side, and draws his plasma pistol. Dretphi locks a new magazine into her sub machine gun, and Cideeda turns up the power on her Gauss pistols.

Closing in on Aristespha and Sotalia, Lexattican pelts suppressing volleys of bolts around the area. He stumbles forward when a huge ball of plasma bursts across the elder barrier from behind. Planting his feet, he steadies himself and spins around to another blast of blue-white plasma washing over his energy shield. As Bach aims his magically enhanced pistol, Cideeda levels her pistols and Dretphi lines up her sights. Fine trails of vapor trace lines across the space, cracks sound out, and Cideeda shakes from the recoil. She alternates her shots between the two weapons and keeps her balance against the kickback. Dretphi flicks the mode switch, squeezes the trigger, and sprays a continuous stream of bullets into Lexattican’s barrier.

Bracing against the assault, Lexattican wills more energy into the protective field and tenses his body. The elder shield thins with each huge plasma bolt wearing off the top layers, bullet spray shredding sections down, and electromagnetic projectile stretching the magical flow. He grits his teeth against the onslaught, and tries to spare enough attention to check around him.

Sebastian gathers his senses and glances around. He spots Aristespha and Sotalia cautiously peering out. Watching Lexattican, he drifts away, positions between Lexattican and the exit. In another surge of weapon fire, Sebastian motions Aristespha and Sotalia towards the exit. Sotalia peeks out, signals Aristespha to follow, and crawls closer towards the door. Slinking behind, Aristespha navigates the path laid by Sotalia.

Dretphi’s sub machine gun clicks empty, and she drops back down into cover. A stream of grath swears spill into the air, and she changes out to another magazine. Alert chimes beep loudly from the pistols in Cideeda’s hands. Waves of heat distort the air above the barrels. Cideeda’s spouts out a fvalian curse, drops the overheating weapons to the ground, and reaches for her laser pistols. Blue-white wisps of gas vent out the end of the plasma gun, and Bach charges up another shot while patting himself for another power cell between many open and empty pockets. In the lull, Lexattican collects himself and searches behind him. Staring through the distracting ethereal visage, he catches a glimpse of movement between obstacles and watches Aristespha and Sotalia progress to the exit.

A flash of ire swells within him and he grits his teeth. Drawing his arms close, he pulls the elder barrier tightly around him. A brilliant white-yellow bursts out from his eyes, and he flings his arms out wide. The barrier surrounding him explodes outwards. A shockwave of elder energy radiates out and lifts up heavy work tables and other large debris. The powerful pulse crashes into makeshift bunkers, slides robotic bodies, and pushes heavy machinery across the concrete. Cideeda reflexively rolls behind cover and skids with the shifting combat droid chassis. Dretphi braces herself and tumbles hard into the wall. The wave lifts up Bach into the air and propels him into an equipment locker, slamming a shallow dent into the doors. Sotalia flops onto the ground and ducks low. Force tosses Aristespha upwards and she crashes onto the hard concrete floor. The impact stuns her and the Sword of the Spirit Realm clanks loudly out her grasp.

During the brief respite from the chaos, silence floods the room. Lexattican staggers and steadies himself. Panting and free of his protective bubble, he searches around the disarray and mess. His yellow eyes dart around, skip past Sebastian’s frightened visage, and wander between different team members. After a few seconds, his gaze locks onto the sword. He launches into a sprint, slides to halt, and reaches for the blade. Sebastian spots Lexattican, flits his eyes wide in horror, and yells out. “HE’S GOING FOR THE SWORD.”

Lexattican grips the handle and lifts the blade up. He looks it over and furrows his brow with twitches of recognition. Aristespha flutters her violet eyes open and puzzles. Fright drives her fully awake, and she glances around frantically. A surge of terror rushes through her when she notices Lexattican with the blade, and her eyes blaze violet. She hastily gestures out an incantation, shakily aims her hand, and releases a fine beam. The energy almost impacts Lexattican and he dodges out of the way. Sotalia picks herself up, blinks her golden, dark sclera eyes, and flows magic into her hands.

Lexattican dashes away from the defended exit and ducks low, avoiding bolts of energy from Sotalia. Cideeda struggles to slip free from debris. Dretphi staggers up from the ground and grips the flow blade on her back. She swings the large sword down at the retreating Lexattican. The tip slices into the thick leather armor protecting Lexattican and carves a deep gouge in the surface. A shower of magical sparks sputter forth from the enchanted gear, and Lexattican stumbles. Dropping to a knee, Lexattican searches the area quickly and set his sights upon distant corner of the massive room. Searching around the armored isolation chamber, he spots the intact control equipment, pylons glowing with energy, and embedded ground devices forming a perimeter. He darts ahead, sprints away from the recovering team, and slides to a halt pass the defensive layer. Reaching a control console, he presses a series of buttons and yanks down a lever.

Machinery flickers to life and power charges up systems. Force fields pulse into existence and fill in the divides between pylons with a tall, transparent barriers. The energy swells up, conducts up to form a thick ceiling, and seals off a perimeter around the isolation chamber. Lexattican breathes out a sigh of relief and turns his attention to the sword in his hand.

Sebastian’s ethereal form materializes in front of Lexattican, and he glares at him. “The fuck you think you’re going to do with that? Let me tell you, that power is gone now. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you realize it’s just going to be easier to surrender to us.”

Lexattican parts a dark grin on his face and hoists an intrigued brow. “Oh. Right. Believe what you may, but... I don’t think you fully realize what you have here.”

Squirming with growing discomfort, Sebastian puzzles and inquires warily. “What do you mean by that?”

A sly smile widens on Lexattican, and he holds a hand close to the blade of the sword. “I’ve learned a few things about these kind of blades in my travels. And, I know for a fact, that the power they absorb doesn’t go away easily... It’s actually quite... Reachable.”

He dons a smug grin, wills magic onto the blade, and gazes upon the sword with glowing yellow eyes. Moments later, wisps of white energy seep out and swirl up to Lexattican’s hand. Sebastian winces in pain and gawks utter horror. His visage briefly distorts. The stream of elder power increases and a white glow tints Lexattican’s eyes. Sebastian cringes visibly and his ethereal form flickers. A torrent of elder flow spills forth from the blade and coats Lexattican in a thickening protective barrier.

Sebastian coughs and writhes in pain. His visage flickers, and he tenses in agony. During a surge of energy out of the blade, he gasps loudly and screams uncontrollably. Across the chamber, Aristespha staggers up to her feet, gawks in utter horror, and yells out. “STOP! PLEASE! OH GODS, STOP!”

Sotalia flutters her gold on gray eyes, gestures out an incantation, and slings an arc of lightning into the force fields surrounding the isolation chamber. The electricity spreads out into the barrier and dissipates without effect in a wave of sparks. Snapping back to full focus during Sebastian’s resonating screams of pain, Dretphi finds her sub machine gun and sweeps it up into her arms. She unleashes a wave of bullets upon the force fields, and the rounds bounce weakly off onto the concrete floor.

Stirring back to awareness, Bach opens his blue eyes. An ethereal wail seizes his attention and guides his helmeted head over to the source. Horror overwhelms him. Elder energy billows out from the sword into the growing barrier enveloping Lexattican. Sebastian strains in twisting agony, clutches his chest, and gasps vainly for relief. The force field pulsates strong against attacks. Lexattican maintains a smug, sinister grin as he watches the power soak into him, while Sebastian suffers.

Bach rises to his feet and stares distantly at the scene. He desperately searches the surrounding force fields and finds no gaps. He scans over the pylons surrounding the area and spots no means to shut them down. He watches the thickening barrier around Lexattican solidifying to a whole new elder energy shield. Bach gawks at Lexattican. Briefly, the two exchange glances. A pleading gaze from Bach meets a cold, uncaring glare from Lexattican. Aristespha screams desperately, and Lexattican flashes a disdainful, disgusted grimace at her.

Hope drains from Bach. He pales at his brother’s fading, fragmented visage. The desperation empties him. A cold determination fills the void. From the furthest depths of his mind, a grim acceptance surges forth in the moment. Bach closes his blue eyes. Drawing in a deep breath in, his eyes reopen to a pure white. He lifts up his hand.

“MASSIVE. SURGE. DETECTED!”

Lexattican blinks. He furrows his brow curiously at the blade and holds it away from him. He studies the sword, quirks his brow, and cocks his head of long, black hair to the side. He puzzles at the artifact and mumbles in confused evuukian.

A blinding white flash floods the massive chamber.

As the light fades and a trailing whine of power silences, Lexattican freezes in place. His darkening gaze watches the remnants of a white energy lance dissipate into a hazy cloud. The force field crackles away into nothing and emitters on the pillars pop with smoke. Lexattican’s grip on the sword fails, and it clangs upon the concrete. The protective field sloughs off Lexattican and drifts into the blade on the floor. Dimming yellow eyes follow the last traces of the white miasma. Lexattican meets Bach’s cold, distant stare across the space. He opens his mouth to speak, but only wisps of smoke escape his slacking jaw. Dropping to his knees, the last semblances of life leave him as he flops backwards onto the cold ground. Cooling crackles of metal upon the wall and faint sizzles from the hole seared through Lexattican’s chest creep above the eerie silence.

Sebastian’s ethereal form stabilizes. He remains frozen. His hand covering a similar spot on his own chest. He gawks in absolute horror. Harsh recognition and awful familiarity rip up past trauma into his terrified mind. Sebastian pants, trembles in fight, and recoils from the scene. Quiet stills the room.

Stepping forward, Bach maintains a distant stare ahead, blinking blankly. As the white illumination fades from his blue eyes, he watches the last traces of elder energy vent from his hand. He walks forward towards the perimeter surrounding the isolation chamber. As the rest of the team collect themselves and realize the situation, Bach approaches the scene. He stops at the edge of the previous force field, and turns his empty stare down to Lexattican. He blinks his eyes, and looks over the... corpse before him.

His blue eyes open wide and he gasps. Slowly, he turns his gaze towards his brother. Sebastian snaps a fearful glance over and his visage reflexively trembles. Bach pales and he averts his eyes away from his brother to stare at the dead man at his feet.

Cideeda slips out between the debris lifted by Dretphi and brushes herself off. Aristespha and Sotalia approach the dark corner of the massive room, cautiously checking the area. Cideeda steps up next to Bach, notices the body of Lexattican on the ground. She starts to open of her mouth but halts. Her furry ears flick over to Bach. Fast, strained breaths catch her attention. She glances over and notices Bach shaking.

Bach steps away slowly, pivots, and walk away quickly. Cideeda spins around, motions the rest of the team to Bach, and calls out. “Hey, Bach? Are you okay?”

Panic overloads Bach and he speeds up his escape. Struggling to breathe and frantic, he scrambles into a sprint and rushes to the exit. He runs through piles of light debris, stumbles over to obstacles, and bounces off toppled machines. Fighting through the short pants of air allowed into his lungs, he trips over the cylindrical elder energy container and stumbles to his knees. With a hand pressed onto his pounding chest, his eyes dart around aimlessly, and he winces in a daze. Heavy boot steps sounds out from behind. Dretphi kneels down by Bach, and rests her gauntlet covered hands on his shoulders. “Bach-?”

Bach lurches forward and attempts to pull away from Dretphi in a panic. Keeping her tight grip on him, Dretphi cranes her head around and seeks Bach’s attention. “Bach?! What do you need?”

Wincing his eyes closed, Bach forces down a long breath, concentrates on words, and pleads with welling tears. “Outside! Please... I got to outside! I- I- I just- Just can’t be in here... Please... I don’t want to be in here anymore... I can’t be... Oh gods...”

Dretphi nods as concern overtakes her tan face. Her steely gray eyes stare determined down the hall, and she slips her hands underneath Bach’s shoulders. With a supporting hoist upwards, she keeps a tight hold and guides Bach down the main hall. “Outside we go.”

She quickly directs Bach down the long stretch, and aids him when he falters. Between staggered sprints down the hall, Bach briefly slumps against section of wall and recollects himself from fear driven pleas. Dretphi reassures with a soft tone, lifts him up, and directs him forward. She glances back and watches Cideeda and Sotalia catching up. Returning her focus ahead, she stiffens her upper lip as worry escapes onto her face behind her helmet visor.

Stepping through the heavy entry archway to hillside base, Bach’s boots walk through the freshly excavated dirt and into the tall grasses. He pushes forward a few more meters, and then his legs give out. Dretphi eases him down to his knees and kneels next to him. She flips her full face visor up, while Bach scrambles to pull off his helmet. Tossing the helm to the side, Bach pants loudly and combs his fingers through his longer, brown hair. While Bach shudders and trembles, Dretphi wraps an arm securely around him and softly comforts. “We are outside.”

Bach nods with a hard swallow. “Good. I-I-I just c-couldn’t be in... there...”

Cideeda and Sotalia rush out from the archway and spot Dretphi and Bach. Sotalia steps ahead, moves close to Bach, and cranes her head around to see his face. She recognizes the symptoms and kneels slowly in front of Bach. Blinking her gold on gray eyes, she angles a warm gaze to meet Bach’s and softly speaks. “Hey, Bach...”

Bach closes his eyes a moment, draws a long breath, and concentrates on Sotalia. “Yes?”

Sotalia presents a calm smile and whispers. “Would you like us to stay with you for a while?”

Swallowing hard, Bach sniffs up some tears, winces, and nods while hanging his head. “I-If, you would...”

Cideeda steps over with a confirming nod from Sotalia, and sits opposite to Dretphi next to Bach. She rests a gentle on hand his shoulder and quietly comforts. Her furry ears perk towards Bach’s chest, and she fights an uneasy frown. Sotalia holds her hands out near Bach’s trembling hands. With a moment of hesitation, Bach rests his hands within Sotalia’s and weakly grips. He sniffs, sighs shakily, and sputters. “S-so sorry... I-I-I, uh, I... can’t go back in there...”

Sotalia soothes with a calm, reassuring voice. “It’s okay. Just think of right here. Right now. We’re outside with each other. It’s nice day to be outside. Focus on that.”

Bach quickly nods, closes his eyes, and concentrates on his own thoughts.

Past the archway, through the long main hall, and into the massive chamber, Aristespha kneels down and picks up the sword. She carefully sheaths the blade in the scabbard and stands back up. Her violet gaze settles up Sebastian’s stunned visage, and she approaches him. “Sebastian?”

She watches his silent, horrified stare at the faint wisps of smoke from the charred edges of the hole seared through Lexattican’s thick leather armor. Stepping directly into his view, she leans her ivory face close and projects a soft tone. “Sebastian. Pay attention to me.”

Sebastian blinks back to awareness, gradually turns his face towards Aristespha, and gathers his thoughts. “I-I’m sorry, dear. Just... Yeah... That... was the same attack that...”

Tempering a frown with a loving gaze into Sebastian’s eyes, Aristespha sighs and nods understandingly. “I know, Sebastian. But, it was not the same.”

Searching his mind, Sebastian’s ethereal form relaxes his clutched hand from the middle of his chest, and he refocuses his thoughts. “I didn’t know he could do... that...”

Aristespha closes her eyes. She reopens them to an illuminated violet and flows magical energy to her hand. She places her hand upon Sebastian’s projected face. Meeting his bewildered stare, her tone grows stern and focused. “Sebastian. I know this is difficult. But, your brother NEEDS you. He needs your help.”

Sebastian averts his gaze shamefully and frowns reluctantly. “I don’t know if I can...”

With a gentle hint, Aristespha calmly commands. “Take a few minutes in the sword. Collect yourself. Then, be there for your brother.”

Sebastian grants a silent nod to Aristespha and mouths out, with a trace of a meek cry. “I’m sorry.”

Aristespha smiles comfortingly as Sebastian’s visage dissipates into the sword.

She releases a long sigh, swallows hard, and slowly pivots around. Her stare settles upon the still body of Lexattican. Scanning the corpse before her with her glowing violet eyes, she frowns with a shake of her head of long, silvery blue hair. She steps next to the body, kneels down, and sighs somberly. Flowing energy to her finger tips, she closes Lexattican’s yellow eyes and clears the stray long, black hairs out of his light gray face. She lifts his arms and crosses them upon his chest. Drawing in a long breath, she recites an eloquent, elaborate Evuukian prayer in a respectful tone. With a final bow of her head, she stands up.

While stepping away from the area around the isolation chamber, she surveys the aftermath of the fight. She walks between toppled workbenches, piles of scattered notes, and heaps of heavy machinery. She gazes up towards the ceiling, glances at the overhead lift rails, and settles her distant stare to the exit archway. Stopping at the precipice to the main hall, she buries her ivory face into her hands and exhales. With a sniff, she collects herself and rolls the tension out of her shoulders. Walking down the long main hall, she breathes deeply with purposeful timing and straightens her posture. Summoning strength from within, she dons a calm facade and readies herself as she steps outside.

-117-

Emerald eyes concentrate upon a hazy green orb of magical energy hovering above Cideeda’s palms. She minutely contorts her light brown face and narrows her focused stare. After a few twitches from the strain, she cracks a toothy grin. “This is about the best I can do right now.”

A smile grows on Bach, and his faintly glowing blue eyes watch the flows swirl between Cideeda’s clawed fingers. “That’s pretty good. You’ve got the basics down. After that, honestly, it’s just a lot of practice to get a feel for the finer control. I’ll have to show you a basic training bolt spell soon.”

A happy smirk appears on Cideeda’s face with a hint of warmth. Her furry ears perk and a delighted breath slips out. “That’s going to be so cool.”

A gentle breeze blows through the clearing between the surrounding forest and in front of the hillside entry. The tops of tall grasses sway with the wind and push cooling, late afternoon air through the vicinity. Bach glances around, avoids staring at the facility entry, and sighs long. Cideeda’s furry ear flicks to Bach, and a tinge of concern weighs on her expression. Aristespha walks over to Bach and Cideeda seated in the middle of the clearing, and sits down next to Bach. She presents a small vial to Bach and studies him with her violet eyes. “Drink this. It’ll help a little.”

Bach plucks the glass container from Aristespha, narrows an inquisitive gaze at it, and twists his mouth. “Feel a little bad for taking something...”

Aristespha perks her brow, meets Bach’s eyes, and dons a reassuring tone. “Don’t. There’s no shame in using the right resources appropriately for recovery. And...”

She parts a comforting smile and rolls her violet eyes. “It’s an anti-histamine primarily, but has beneficial effects for anxiety.”

Slowly nodding, Bach glances around at the tall grasses with abundant crops of different flowering weeds intermingling and eyes the vial. He drinks the contents, grimaces slightly, and chuckles lightly. “Oddly appropriate right now, too.”

Aristespha pats his shoulder, slides the sword out of the scabbard at her side, and quietly places it on the ground next to her. She stands up, searches around the forest perimeter, and groans. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to find what could pass for restroom out here.”

While Bach nods in his own thoughts, she angles for Cideeda’s attention. She gestures for Cideeda to join along, and points down at the sword. Cideeda glances over, acknowledges the plan, and releases the hazy green orb of flow in her hands into a magical mist. She gets her legs underneath herself and stands into a stretch under the late afternoon sun. “I’ll join you. I need to air out this suit anyway.”

She squirms briefly, picks at the fabric around her waist line, and grumbles. “My tail needs to breathe anyway.”

Pausing a moment, she gazes down with a comforting tone. “We’ll be right back, okay?”

Bach glances up with a smile and nods. “Cool. I’ll be here.”

Aristespha and Cideeda depart and navigate towards the edge of the clearing. Bits of debate about the directions to check fade into the thick trees. Bach draws in a long breath, spots the sword next to him, and sighs deeply. He fights against a harsh frown, exhales reluctantly, and grimaces. Moments later, Sebastian’s ethereal form materializes in a seat next to Bach. The brothers sit quietly, stare out the same direction into the woods, and exist in awkwardness. Tension fluctuates between hints of conversation trying to form, and they fail to break the silence looming between. At the peak of the surging unease, Sebastian forces out the words with tinges of regret. “Bro... I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted-”

Bach blinks to attention and angles his head towards Sebastian. “No. Don’t apologize for that. I totally get it. I’m starting to act like a gods damned Dark Lord now and-”

Snapping his full attention to Bach, Sebastian focuses a dire stare right at Bach. “Don’t you fucking go down that line of thought! You are NOT acting like one in the slightest! How I reacted is my problem. NOT yours. It’s not fair to you.”

Uncertainly seeps out onto Bach’s face and he shies away from his brother’s gaze. Sebastian softens his tone and cranes his head to meet Bach’s eyes. “Bro, what you did was only similar to what got me. It WAS NOT the same. I was caught off guard with everything and just got scared by everything happening all at once. But...”

He leans close to Bach and states. “I was not scared of you, but just what happened. You’re my brother. I love you, and nothing is going to change that.”

Bach draws in a deep breath, eases out a long sigh, and dons a small smirk on his face. “I love you, too.”

A comforting smile appears on Sebastian’s ghostly visage. “And, don’t let what happened today fuck everything else you’ve done. It was an absolutely shitty situation... You came through for us.”

Dragging his hand past the white streak and through his long brown hair, Bach groans in disgust at himself and shakes his head. “I-I know... But... I still actually KILLED a man. It wasn’t some accident...”

He turns his head fully towards Sebastian, blinks his watering eyes hard, and frowns sharply. “I thought about it... I reasoned it out... It was calculated in my own head. I... I saw it as the only way.”

A surge of guilt drowns out his voice, and he shudders briefly. Gritting his teeth, Bach gulps down a breath and pressures his words out. “There... There had to be another way... There had to have been another option... This couldn’t have been the best option.”

Sebastian frowns, draws in an ethereal breath, and explains carefully. “You’re right. It wasn’t the best option.”

Bach blinks and seeks a further answer. Wrestling the thoughts in his head, Sebastian sighs with a ghostly reverb and stares right into Bach’s eyes. “The best option stopped being a thing for that whole fucking mess well before that choice was dumped on you. The only thing you could have done was make the correct choice for what you wanted most to happen.”

Wincing at recent memory, Bach sniffs and hangs his head down. “Still... I could have done something else. Maybe changed my aim... Changed the amount of power... I...”

Sebastian waits for Bach to glance over and his tone cools. “You know all that would have added risks you didn’t want to take.”

He concentrates his stare at Bach and speaks resolutely. “Bach... I’ve NEVER felt that way in that moment. It was as if he was ripping whatever is keeping me here from me, piece by piece. Whatever was keeping me... alive, I guess... It was failing. And, he had no intention to stop.”

Bach blinks in shock and ponders quietly. Sebastian sighs deeply, bows his head for a moment, and settles his translucent blue eyed gaze at Bach. “Bro... I argued with that guy forever. And... I don’t think he was going to be convinced to do anything else than what he did. I don’t think anyone could have convinced him otherwise, especially in the time we had. Definitely not when you only had seconds to save me.”

Rocking his head side to side, Bach pulls a harsh breath through his nose and clenched teeth, and blows out a somber exhale. Sebastian glances around at the surrounding forest bordering the clearing. “And... There’s no way in hell we could have let him go. He would have just ended up doing something worse to someone else. This whole situation went from bad to worse... to almost the worst.”

He catches Bach glancing over and struggles against a heavy frown. “It’s fucking awful that the decision got dumped on you. But... Bro, I think you were the only one who could have made a decision that mattered right then and there. I know you didn’t make it lightly. I know you don’t feel right about taking a life of someone who... maybe really deserved another chance. But, everyone else is still HERE. And, we’re here for you.”

Bach searches his mind, eventually grants a slight nod, and struggles to push a frown off his face. “Yeah... I mean, I can reason it. I just... Just don’t know how to feel about this. As fucked up as this sounds... I feel like there was an opportunity that was lost. I took someone’s chance away.”

Sebastian internally debates himself with a side to side rocking his head and straightens his seated posture. “Yeah, bro. In a way, you did. But, at that moment, I don’t think the costs of giving him his chance would have been something you could have lived with.”

He cracks a smirk and chuckles softly. “Then again, I might be a little biased on that.”

Bach glances over to Sebastian with a faint smile. He bows his head with a depressed sad groan and frowns. Sebastian gazes at his brother and explains. “It’s sad and awful this all happened. But... You’re not solely responsible for all of this. Don’t put it all on yourself. I’m responsible for it, too. Lexattican was responsible for the situation, too. Don’t beat yourself up for what everyone else did before the choice you made. It’s NOT fair to you.”

Within the long silence, Bach ponders to himself, sparingly sniffs, and resists blinking hard upon welling tears. Sebastian sadly gazes upon his brother and reaches out to grip his shoulder. As his ethereal hand sinks through, he quietly draws back his arm and sadly frowns. He blinks in surprise as Bach’s hand rests upon the shoulder of his visage. Glancing down, Sebastian meets Bach’s faintly glowing blue eyes and notices the traces of flow to his brother’s hand. With a loving smile, Bach chuckles weakly. “Thanks, brother.”

With a reverberating sniff, Sebastian laughs and nods. “No problem, bro. I’m here for you, as much as I can be.”

In the lull of conversation, the brothers relax quietly and gaze out into the surrounding forest from their seats in the grassy clearing.

----

Aristespha and Cideeda step past the surrounding brush of the forest and into the clearing. While Aristespha glances up towards the late afternoon sun, Cideeda flexes in her loosened body suit and combs out the fur of her tail. The two approach Bach and Sebastian sitting and idly chatting. Sebastian catches Aristespha’s glance and smiles lovingly at her. The bits of tension on Aristespha’s face fade, and she relaxes her posture. Bach turns his head, notices both Aristespha and Cideeda, and cracks a smirk. “Find some place that worked?”

Aristespha smirks and rolls her violet eyes with a toss of her long silvery blue hair. “Functional enough. Though, I wouldn’t give it my highest rating... But, certainly not my lowest... Unfortunately.”

A gentle breeze blows through. Cideeda holds her arms out, and pivots herself to allow her loosened attire to scoop the air through. She wags her long tail of medium length fur through the wind and exhales in relief. “Oh gods, that’s SO nice.”

Bach quirks his brow and chuckles. “You’d think they design it to be a bit more breathable.”

Cideeda shrugs her shoulders and rolls her emerald green eyes with a flick her furry ears. “It is. But, there’s nothing like real airflow. And, I don’t want my tail to soak up too much sweat.”

As she settles down to a seat next to Bach, she smiles warmly and inquires. “How are you feeling?”

Bach notices the attention from Aristespha and Sebastian, and draws in full breath. “I’ll get there eventually... Just need some time to figure it out. Well, at least as figured out as it’s going to get.”

Cideeda’s furry ear flicks over and listens to the trailing hints of pain his Bach tone. A slight frown curls at the corner of her mouth. Unconsciously, her tail slowly wraps around behind Bach and Cideeda presents a comforting smile. “If it’s any comfort, I think I would have done what you did in that situation. It’s going to not feel right. But, for the options you had, it was the correct one for us.”

Bach meets Cideeda’s emerald eyed gaze and gradually bows his head with some hints of acceptance. Aristespha squats down, gathers her thoughts, and sighs. “I’ve had to contend with similarly minded people like Lexattican before. It is never easy. The older and more dedicated they are, the harder it becomes to try to change their minds.”

She frowns briefly, brushes back stray silvery blue hairs, and shakes her head with a distant sad stare. “And that all only works... If, they even want to be convinced.”

Bach nods in unsatisfied agreement and contends with flits of emotions on his face. He straightens his posture, breathes sadly, and shakes his head. “Yeah. I can reason it all I want. But, it still doesn’t feel good.”

Bach notices the soft pressure of five claw tips on his forearm and glances over to Cideeda’s comforting gaze. With a reassuring smile, Cideeda shrugs shoulders and droops her furry ears slightly within her short multi-colored hair. “It’d be really worrying if you didn’t feel bad about it. Just remember, there’s a difference between giving someone a chance and surrendering your own.”

After a few moments, Bach nods, smiles at Cideeda, and laughs faintly. “Yeah. By the way... I’m curious if there’s a relevant Fvalian fable for all this.”

Cideeda’s ears perk up, and her emerald green eyes search around her head. While she bites her lower lip in thought, Aristespha settles to seat next to Sebastian’s visage and retrieves the sword from the ground. Sebastian snorts and glances with a humored smirk at Aristespha. “Well, I hope there is one. Because, I’m a little afraid what Evuukian tale might be appropriate.”

Aristespha narrows her violet eyes at Sebastian, quirks her brow, and crosses her ivory arms. “And what would be wrong with an Evuukian tale, Sebastian?”

Sebastian twists his face into a grimace and awkwardly approaches the subject. “Well, um, dear... They’re always so... bloody and vindictive. That’s just the historical stories you’ve told me. The legends and fables are... Wow.”

Aristespha’s stare wanes as she thinks, and she capitulates the point with a bit of embarrassment. “Yes... You are not wrong. But, you have to blame my ancestors for not thinking the peaceful times were worth writing about.”

Cideeda contemplates with a side to side rock of her head and combs her free hand through her short hair. “I think I got one... that’s tangentially related?”

As attention shifts to her, Cideeda relays the tale from memory. “There was a kind king that ruled over a land that often got flooded. With most floods, they always had warning and could prepare. This flood was different. Torrential rains fell upon lands that were upstream of the river kingdom was near. So, this flash flood came with little warning. But, they had big walls with gates they could use to seal off the rising waters.”

She perks her ears and colors the tone of her voice. “The advisors, after getting word from the lookouts, ran to the king and pleaded. My king, my king! You need to close the outer gates! The water is rising so fast, we can’t wait.”

Changing her cadence, she puffs up her posture. “We can’t close the gates! There may be people still trying to escape the waters. I must give them every opportunity to evacuate.”

Cideeda settles back to her normal voice and glances between Aristespha, Bach, and Sebastian. “So, the outer gates remained open. People escaped, but water flowed too hard and fast. The gates were stuck open. Later, the lookouts warned the advisors that waters had reached the inner gate. They pleaded to king, and he said the same thing. Keep the gates open. I can’t be responsible for condemning the people who haven’t escaped.”

She shrugs her shoulders and sighs. “Again, the waters overwhelmed the inner gate, and it could not close. Soon, the waters were at the protective gates at the base of the hill the castle was upon. Again the advisors pleaded, but the king said no.”

A smile forms on Cideeda’s light brown face and she relays the tale. “Because of the king’s actions, every citizen was able to escape the flood waters and get to the tall castle hill to safety.”

Her bright expression wanes and she explains. “But... The farms protected by the outer wall were washed away. The homes protected by the inner were gone. And, the castle walls crumbled from the water soaking their foundations from the interior.”

She finishes up, and darts her emerald green eyes between everyone else. “So?”

Bach blinks a few moments, pulls a smirk, and slowly nods. “I get it. Yeah... That actually made sense. And, that was definitely a Fvalian fable there.”

A warm smile peeks out on Cideeda’s face, she gently nudges a shoulder against Bach’s, and the end of her tail behind him flicks. “Well, I hope it helps you figure things out.”

Aristespha and Sebastian exchange glances of hopeful relief. The four idle in the tranquil surroundings for minutes. Bach blinks back from a thought, sits up right, and inquires. “Hey, um, can I ask I favor from everyone?”

Sebastian meets the intrigued looks of Aristespha and Cideeda, and gazes at Bach. “Yeah. Sure, bro. What’s up?”

Bach wrestles a stern frown on his face while his blue eyes stare internally. “That machine next to the isolation chamber... The one that seems like it produces that nightmare energy?”

He feels a tightening grip of Cideeda’s hand on his forearm and faint trembles. Sebastian nods and asks. “Yes? What about it?”

Resting a comforting hand on Cideeda’s grip, Bach draws in a long breath and grimaces resolutely. “Before the GAA gets here, could we make sure it’s completely destroyed?”

After seconds of quiet deliberation, Sebastian smiles with a confirming nod. “I got no objections to it. Aristespha? Cideeda?”

Cideeda immediately replies. “No need to ask. I can make sure none of the tech is recoverable.”

Aristespha tempers a frown and curls a smirk after a few moments. “After all this nonsense with the past haunting us, I think it’s best that such is properly forgotten.”

A sly smile forms on her face. “And, it was an intense battle. It is not surprising some ancient machinery was significantly damaged in the crossfire.

Sebastian bounces a gaze between Aristespha and Cideeda. “Could one of you radio the other-”

A radio key up chirps out from Cideeda’s aetherphone and she announces. “Hey, Dretphi, Sotalia. Bach wants to destroy that nightmare machine in the chamber. Any objections?”

Seconds later, Dretphi’s voice crackles over radios. “No. When? It is cleared inside. Ready to finish up.”

Sotalia’s voice follows up. “So, do we want to blow it up? Melt it? Shatter it into pieces? I take requests.”

A sigh of relief leaves Bach, and he smiles gratefully to everyone. “Thank you. I don’t know. It just feels like something I should do to settle things here. You know?”

He prepares to get up, stands up with Aristespha, Cideeda, and Sebastian following suit, and stretches. He slowly pivots, faces the entry archway in the hill side, and tenses up. Sebastian drifts in front to lead the way. Aristespha and Cideeda keep to the sides of Bach. With a calming breath, Bach moves with the group and they go inside the old facility.

----

Early morning light radiates through the sliding glass door and into the living area of the ranch style house. Stepping through the archway from the hallway, Dretphi brushes the remaining sleep from her eyes and arches her back into stretch. With a brief grimace, she rubs a spot on her lower back through her shirt and grumbles to herself in grath. She slowly steps upon the floor, fights against a long yawn, and shudders awake. Walking to the kitchen bar, she opens the refrigerator door and surveys the contents. Her steely gray eyes dart between different items, and a muted, contemplative groan slips out. Her analytical glances bounce between a number of ingredients, and she draws a short, satisfied smirk on her tan face.

After picking up a few of her choices, she pivots, clears the counter top nearby, and readies the area for food prep. Tossing back her platinum blonde braids, she visibly ponders the meal plan and nods when she reaches a conclusion. Minute pass, and she deftly sets up the ingredients. Reaching a stopping point, she walks into the kitchen towards the stove top and picks out cookware.

From the hallway, Bach groggily wanders into the living area. He drags himself into the middle of room, glances around, and settles a distant stare out the sliding glass door. As his mind drifts inwards, Dretphi steps out to the refrigerator. She opens the door, find more breakfast ingredients, and sweeps them up. Turning around, she notices Bach and pauses. Cocking her head to the side, she narrows a curious stare at him and watches attentively. Seconds pass. She keeps a quiet tone and directs a whisper. “Bach?”

Bach continues staring distantly out into the early morning light. Dretphi raises her voice slightly. “Bach?”

Swaying faintly, Bach stands in the middle of the living area unaware and watches the back yard. Tinges of concern trickle into Dretphi’s expression and she speaks with a normal volume. “Bach?”

Bach startles, blinks back to awareness, and darts his bewilderment around the room. He pivots around, spots Dretphi, and smiles weakly. “Oh... Hey. Um, morning.”

Dretphi lifts an intrigued brow and focuses her attention on Bach. “You are not normally awake this early on Sunday.”

She presents a warm smile and gently inquires. “Any reason?”

Sorting through his hazy thoughts, Bach awkwardly chuckles and sluggishly shrugs his shoulders. “Um, uh... I don’t know. Just couldn’t get any real sleep last night. Just couldn’t fall asleep all the way...”

Recognition appears on Dretphi’s face, and she sets down her breakfast prep. With her full concern upon Bach, she softly inquires and watches. “Any reason why?”

Bach pauses, wrestles an uneasy grimace, and squirms uncomfortably. “Ah, well, you know... Just... Um... Just didn’t feel like I could sleep. Like, my mind couldn’t stop thinking... about... you know.”

He halfheartedly laughs, scratches the back of his head, and presents a smile to Dretphi with a wavering tone. “I don’t know. I’ve done all the reasoning I can and I just... Well, I know it was correct. But, I can’t feel right about it.”

Drawing a long breath, he exhales with a shudder and gazes uncertainly over to Dretphi, rubbing the sides of his arms. “I don’t know. Uh, does that make any sense to you?”

Walking up to Bach, Dretphi dons a faint frown, nods, and softly speaks. “Yes.”

After sniff and hard blink of his blue eyes, Bach sighs sadly with a hint of relief. He tries to voice his words and halts when emotion squelches him. He stiffens his upper lip to hold back. Dretphi wraps her arms around Bach and hugs him close. In the quiet moment, Bach fights against sobs and settles down to a whisper. “Sorry...”

Dretphi whispers gently. “No need.”

Moment pass on by, and Dretphi draws in a long breath and calmly speaks. “You did what had to be done to protect us. Would have done the same. That does not mean it will feel good. Eventually... Time will fade it to a sad, painful memory.”

She waits a moment and collects her thoughts. “Focus on acceptance. Understand. Forgive yourself.”

Bach stares into his own mind with his head upon Dretphi’s shoulders within her embrace. Hints of sadness slip out through his breaths. Dretphi tightens her her hug briefly and whispers, heavy with old pain. “My first was hard... too.”

Blinking back to full awareness, Bach opens his eyes wide and awakens from his stupor. His blue eyes slide over towards Dretphi’s head. In the moments, a new understanding dawns upon him. He wraps his arms around Dretphi, hugs her tightly, and leans his head against hers. Dretphi stifles a few sniffles and eases out a sad breath. The two share the moments and exist in the quiet morning light from the sliding glass door.

Eventually, Bach and Dretphi part from the embrace. Each wipes the remaining hints of tears from their eyes and share smiles. Catching the concern still upon Dretphi’s face, Bach chuckles softly. “I’ll be okay. Just need some time. Still got to process all this.”

Dretphi nods understandingly, and rests a hand on Bach’s shoulder. “I am here.”

After a long sigh of relief, Bach glances over to the couch and motions towards the television. “I’m going to see what shows are on right now.”

He meets Dretphi’s steely gray gaze and smirks. “If I happen to fall asleep, could you wake me up when you get breakfast ready, please? I don’t want to miss out on your cooking when it’s fresh.”

Dretphi grins with pride and warmth. “Of course.”

As Bach plods over to the couch, Dretphi returns to her food prep and watches over.

----

A television screen upon the wall mount flicks between different channels and the audio barely rises above the background noise of the hospital room. Veevi taps a finger upon the remote, deflates with a groan, and grimaces at the programming. After a few more attempts to find something entertaining, she drops the remote off upon the top of her bed spread and sighs. Combing back her long pink hair, she mulls over idle thoughts and glances around the room. From her seat upon the bed, she lays down upon the plain hospital sheets, rests her head upon the pillows, and stares up at the ceiling. She places her tan, brown striped arms upon her belly and plays with her loose fitting, worn shirt. Her attention wanders around the room, and she glances at the dark screen of her aetherphone. Furrowing her brow, her pink pupil eyes focus upon the device. After a few seconds, she grits her sharp teeth and turns her head away with a shake. A long sigh escapes her lips, and her short haired, long tail wags slowly.

A knock sounds out from the entry door, and an evuukian nurse peeks in. “Veevi?”

Veevi’s fuzzy ears perk up and she lifts her head up from the pillows. “Um, yes?”

With a pleasant smile, the nurse steps in fully and motions behind her. “There is a visitor for you. I wanted to make sure you were feeling okay with a guest before we allowed him here.”

Puzzling through her confusion, Veevi gradually nods and sits up all the way on the top of the bed. She crosses her legs, glances around the room, and politely speaks. “Huh. Um, yes. I think I could. I’m not expecting anyone... Who is it? Most the people I know who would visit me... I blocked.”

The nurse smirks with an understanding nod. “His name is Chad Bosch. Do you want me to-”

Veevi’s eyes light up, her fuzzy ears perk, and she holds back an eager surge. “Oh! Uh! Um... Yes. Yes, of course. Please let him through.”

The nurse acknowledges the request, turns around, and peeks back before closing the door. “I’ll let him know.”

When the nurse slips out, Veevi exhales quickly and straightens her posture. Glancing around the room, she inspects herself and grimaces with disappointment. She tries to straighten up her faded, worn shirt, brushes off her baggy shorts, and combs back the numerous stray strands of pink hair on her head. After vain efforts, she pauses, frowns briefly, and groans in defeat. A knock sounds out from the door. Veevi startles briefly and watches the entry. Carefully opening the door, Chad peeks inside, spots Veevi on the bed, and presents a kind smile. “Hey. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

Veevi glances up to the television, quickly taps the power button on the remote, and returns her attention to Chad. “No. Not really.”

A genuine smile grows on her tan face and she awkwardly points to a chair near the bed. “Um, they really don’t have much set up for visiting. But, you can use that chair.”

Chad nods, calmly walks over, and glances around the room. “Yeah. Not too terrible of a room. I’ve seen more spartan ones than this.”

He takes his free hand, grabs the back of the chair, and slides it over close to the bed. “Sorry for not letting you know before hand. I haven’t been able to reach you and wanted to check in on you.”

Veevi lowers her head slightly, weathers a bit of embarrassment on her face, and eyes her inert aetherphone on the counter. “Yeah. After some... Drama... I decided to just keep my phone off.”

Chad’s gaze meets Veevi’s, and he cracks a sympathetic smirk with a roll of his brown eyes. “That’s actually a really good plan. It’s been a little wild with the production staff lately.”

Quirking her brow, Veevi tilts her head to the side and the end of her tail flicks up. “Really?”

With an amused chuckle, Chad briefly grits his teeth and hisses. “Yeah. I’ll spare you all the details, unless you want to hear them. But, they’ve been too busy trying to keep the staff from revolting to pay much attention to the rest of us.”

An intrigued glint sparkles in Veevi’s eyes, and she pulls a small, sharp grin from the corner of her mouth. “Really? I shouldn’t really indulge too much. I’m trying to keep my mind off those things...”

She tightens down to a smirk and squirms eagerly. “Maybe a few tidbits?”

Chad lifts up an eyebrow and chuckles with an ill humored tinge. “Gerald put in his notice. Samantha has been in employment contract negotiation hell. And, Howard has been quiet after a network meeting.”

Veevi blinks, cocks her head to the side, and visibly puzzles. “Wow... I might have ask you for a little more, later.”

She pauses a moment, settles her gaze upon Chad, and furrows her brow. “By the way, um... Like, I’m really, REALLY happy you are here and all. I’m just a little confused as to... Well... Why?”

A wave of guilt and regret diverts Veevi’s attention from Chad, and she crosses her arms loosely. “I mean, I haven’t been all that nice and good to you. I’ve been really awful, actually.”

Chad nods understandingly and chuckles with a smile. “I know. But, I figured I’d see how you were doing myself. And, if I was in a similar situation, I would like to someone to visit me today.”

Veevi puzzles at Chad, and her pink pupil eyes search her mind. “Today? What’s special about... today...”

Noticing the confusion on Veevi, Chad pulls out a small cardboard box from behind him, opens the lid, and reveals a large cupcake. “Happy birthday, Veevi.”

The revelation dawns upon Veevi and she blinks in a stupor. After counting to herself and reviewing her memory, she turns towards Chad. Looking upon the pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles, her gaze softens and she closes her tearful eyes. Sniffing loudly, she softly giggles between wiping her cheeks dry with her arm. “Oh gods, I totally forgot. I guess, I just have been trying to keep my mind off everything... Wow... I, um...”

She gazes into Chad’s brown eyes, smiles genuinely, and sighs gratefully. “Thank you.”

Chad nods and gives the box with cupcake to Veevi. “I’m glad you like it. I figured this was something I could sneak in if I needed to and wouldn’t attract too much attention.”

Veevi admires the treat in the container and thinks a moment. She glances up toward Chad, wrestles an uneasy twist of her mouth, and shyly asks. “Could I give you a hug?”

Chad cocks his head to side, ponders a moment, and chuckles. “Sure.”

Setting the box with the cupcake carefully to the side, Veevi slides to the edge of the bed, places her feet on the ground, and leans out. She wrap her arms around Chad, draws him close in a hug, and rests her head on his shoulder. Seconds of peaceful quiet later, Veevi frowns with regret, winces her acceptance, and gently whispers. “I hope you find someone really nice.”

Opening his brown eyes in surprise, Chad smiles and softly replies. “I hope the same for you, too.”

Parting from the embrace, Veevi settles on the hospital bed, and Chad scoots back into his chair. Picking up the box with the large cupcake, Veevi glances to Chad and carefully splits the treat in half. “So... Give me all the juicy details. I think I could stand a little gossip.”

----

The door to the hot tub gazebo behind the ranch style house opens up, and Sotalia steps out in the afternoon light. Drying her fiery orange, wavy hair with a towel, she sways her weight between her feet and hums a tune. Faint wisps of steam drift off her light tan and dark gray patterned skin, and she stretches her figure out in the sun. A cool gust of wind blows along the length of the house, across the tops of the short grass, and over damp bikini attire. With a reflexive cringe, she tenses uncomfortably, squirms to a brief shiver, and mutters a few choice curses. She blinks her golden eyes out of the chilly surprise and quickly pats the remaining water off her body with the towel. After the final few wipes, she stands up straight and admires the scenery. Her gaze wanders to the breezes rippling along the back yard grass, the sun nearing the horizon, and the forest of fading green. Loose leaves of brown, orange, red, and yellow ride the wind out of the woods and skip across the lawn. Drawing in a long breath, Sotalia grumbles unhappily, glances at the hot tub gazebo, and tenses against the cooling breeze.

While stepping forward, she wraps the towel around her waist and navigates a path of flat stones to the back patio. As she gets closer, she notices Bach sitting in a patio chair staring into the distance. A sly smirk graces her lips, and she slows her approach. Keeping an eye on Bach, she plots a path in front of his view and adopts a hip swaying strut. Striding confidently out past his sight line, Sotalia glances back with a toss her hair and combs stray strands over her swept back horns. After a few moments, she cocks her head curiously. Bach’s distant stare remains ahead, and his blue eyes sort through internal turmoil. Concern weighs a heavy frown on Sotalia’s face, and she deliberates quietly. Flexing her long black nailed fingers, her golden eyes dart indecisively and she grimaces. Moments pass and a spark of determination emboldens her demeanor. She steps in front of the seated Bach, leans forward with her hands on her thighs, and sternly speaks above his eye level. “You should really STOP looking for reasons to tear yourself apart.”

Bach startles back the awareness, blinks around blankly, and refocuses attention to ahead. Seconds later, his blue eyes widen with recognition, a flush of color floods his cheeks, and he bashfully averts his gaze away. “OH! Hey! I didn’t notice you there. Um, how long have you been here?”

Sotalia smirks briefly, sighs to a weak frown, and softens her tone. “What are you thinking about?”

Remaining in silence against the background chorus of autumn leaves flying free, Bach somberly glances away and stiffens his upper lip against a frown. Sorting through his thoughts, he shrugs his shoulders and dismissively chuckles. “Oh, you know... Things and stuff... Nothing grand...”

An annoyed groan slips out from Sotalia, and she furrows her brow unamused. Her narrowing stare catches a glance from Bach, and she concentrates a demanding gaze upon him. After uneasy tension, Bach sighs deeply and bows his head down with a somber voice. “I don’t know. I just can’t get it out of my head. With the power, I’ve almost killed Meredosia... And... Well... I killed... Lexattican.”

A hard frown overtakes Bach’s face, and he slouches in the patio chair as he deflates. “What does that make me? I know, I know, I know... We’ve been over this, but... With everything that’s happened recently, I can’t shake that question...”

Warmth softens Sotalia’s look upon Bach. She reaches hand out under his bearded chin, directs his face towards hers, and stares into his eyes. “Not a Dark Lord. Not like Noxian.”

She smiles gently and giggles. “Like it or not, you are still you, Bach. The very same man that has saved us many times. The same man that faced down terrible things no one should at our sides, and often in front of us. A man always there when it matters the most.”

Bach blinks dumbstruck. He starts to open his mouth, and Sotalia gently lifts up his chin. She flutters her golden eyes, sniffs back traces of tears, and whispers. “And... You still are my hero.”

The two share seconds of quiet and watering eyes. Sotalia releases Bach’s chin, pats the side of his face, and stands back up straight. While Bach wipes the starts of tears from his eyes, Sotalia recomposes herself and recovers her confident stance. She steps off the side, grips hold of the back of the another patio chair, and slides it next to Bach. After Sotalia takes her seat, Bach smiles at her. “Thanks.”

Sotalia glances over from settling into the chair. “You’re welcome. I’m damn sure not going to let you forget all the good you’ve done.”

Bach nods appreciatively and exhales slowly. Searching through her thoughts, Sotalia narrows an inquisitive stare at the end of Bach’s longer, brown hair, and smirks mischievously. “So, what are you planning on doing with that hair of yours? It’s getting really long.”

Tilting his head to the side, Bach raps his fingers upon the patio chair arm thoughtfully and shrugs his shoulders. “I guess let it grow out? I mean, I’ve let the beard happen. Might as well see where the hair goes?”

Sotalia nods, combs her long nailed fingers through her wavy hair, and perks her brow. “Totally understand. I think you could pull off that classic wizard look.”

Bach snorts and rolls his blue eyes. “Yeah. I mean, yeah, I could see myself doing that. But, honestly, with it getting colder out it might just be more practical.”

A gentle cool breeze blows across the patio. Sotalia’s eyes flit wide and she crosses her arms tightly with a squirm. Bach glances over and twists his mouth curiously. “Still going to use the hot tub when it gets cold out?”

Sotalia huffs and contorts herself contemplatively. “I’ve got a few tricks I try out. Just need to make sure I don’t ignite anything...”

Bach blinks and pivots his head. “Wait, What?”

----

A chime rings out over a door as it opens, and a number of people in grain dust covered clothes file in. A human server stops briefly behind the counter, presents courteous smile, and waves his arm out to the dining area. “Welcome to Pancake Shed. Sit where you like.”

The new group surveys the open seats and wanders of to an empty section. In a booth nearby, Isaac bites off a piece of his bacon and stares thoughtfully at a paper map. Tapping a finger upon a section with numerous markings, he grimaces briefly and hums to himself. Narrowing his gray eyed stare at the notes written upon the paper, he nips off a crispy bit from the piece of bacon in his hand. He rests the morsel down, wipes his fingers on a napkin, and grips the handle of a mug of coffee. Breaking his focus away from the map, his attention wanders out to the large window next to him. He gazes out into the open distance beyond the roughly paved highway next to the Pancake Shed. A tall sea of parted green covers a vast field of flat land. Isaac squints and pans his stare between the imposing rows of corn stalks. He ponders a moment, eyes the large, brown tassled ears upon the plants, and nods to himself.

A lull in conversation allows the television program to sound out over the ambient din.

On the screen, a emin man in a suit jacket speaks. “...in continuing developments, the GAA reports they are investigating the robot attack on the Amaranth Valley convention center that occurred recently. Official releases state they have secured and have cleared the convention center and surrounding areas. They are searching for the source of the rogue robots and hope to prevent any further incidents from occurring in the future.”

The view switches to another camera showing the emin man and a fvalian woman in dress attire behind a newscaster desk. The fvalian woman smiles brightly and turns to the emin man. “There’s been quite a few strange incidents in that region lately. Any indication if the events are connected, from GAA?”

The emin man shakes his head, turns his reassuring gaze to the camera, and smiles. “As of yet, the GAA has not stated any are related to each other, but they are exploring it a possibility for further consideration.”

Presenting a quick acknowledgment to the emin man, the fvalian woman stiffens her posture as the camera view switches to her. “Let’s hope it’s just been coincidence and bad luck. Which leads us to the weather forecast...”

Isaac furrows his brow under his wispy white hair and tugs at the corner of his mouth. He searches his mind with his eyes and drifts his gaze away from the television screen. Lowering his stare down to the table top, he taps his finger upon the map in a northwestern area of the region. He sorts through the X’s, notes, and marks to a number of locations within that section. Tracing a long winding route eastwards and dipping south, he settles his focus upon familiar section of map. Simple, clean circles indicate many points of interest surrounding a large “Amaranth Valley” label.

Isaac sips his coffee. After a minute of quiet study, he gradually nods into himself and pencils out a new route.

----

Relaxing in a recliner, the elderly, well-dressed Emanuel stares out into the evening horizon through large windows across from him. He eases out a long sigh and curls a short, satisfied smile. His eyes wander around the room of artifacts, awards, and photographs upon the walls and shelves. He idly taps his fingers upon the half-full glass of brown liquor and sorts through his thoughts. Minutes of quiet reflection pass by. A loud knock echoes through his house from the front door. He cocks his head curiously towards the source of the sound and stares in the direction. He puzzles at next series of raps sounding out from the door. He places his drink down, pulls himself up from the recliner, and slowly stretches out his back. Grimacing at another insistent chain of knocks at the door, he narrows an annoyed stare through the rooms leading to the entry. “Gods almighty... Who at this hour...”

He walks through the house to the front door and winces at a strong series of hard knocks at the door. Quickly unlocking the deadbolt and sliding out chains, he turns the door knob and cracks the door open. Recognition fills him and he smiles in surprise. “By the gods, if it isn’t the Dr. Max Malkav. How have you been?”

Max straightens up his tall frame, snarls his upper lip, and narrows his blue eyes. Emanuel furrows his brow curiously and cocks his head in confusion. “Is there something wrong-”

Dragging his hands over his tied back, stark white hair, Max glares right at Emanuel with a twitching cheek and yells out. “WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?!”