Ain't A Hero

Season 2

Bryan Schuder

Ain't A Hero: Season 2 by Bryan W. Schuder is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 InternationalCCBYNCSA

Official Enough Release

Updated 03/24/2025

Ain't A Hero

Season 2

Dedications

Last Time On...

Episode 14

Episode 15

Episode 16

Episode 17

Episode 18

Episode 19

Episode 20

Episode 21

Episode 22

Episode 23

Episode 24

Episode 25

Episode 26

Timeline

Blaureiter Lecture

Beckerin Deals

Quick Physical Identification Guide - Flames of the Phoenix

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 - Helped spot many prior mistakes!
Attamark - Helped spot many prior mistakes!
Red-Shirt - Generous awarder of much Reddit Gold and more.
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Last Time On...

In Season 1, Bach Warwick a down and out mage school dropout watched the latest news update about his "Chosen One" brother being defeated by the Dark Lord Noxian, only to be visited by his brother's, Sebastian, ghostly visage. After a proposal to join up with Sebastian's team, Bach considered his options... And tried to sneak away and run. Bach was pursued by Sebastian's team, which lead to his eventual capture and being brought to large ranch style house where he would train with the team while they recovered and unpacked from their last encounter. (Episode 1)

After the initial rough start, Bach and the team go to know each other. Sotalia, the half-emin power mage, evaluated Bach's magical abilities and was pleasantly surprised by Bach unexpectedly adept handling on direct casting style of magic. (Episode 1) Dretphi, the grath front-line warrior and ranger, started Bach on the path to better physical fitness with sincere sympathy and appreciation. Cideeda, the fvalian tech and infiltration specialist, tested Bach on his tech skills and exploited-... utilized his unique magical talents to take advantage of unique fiscal opportunities. (Episode 3) Aristespha, the evuukian magical mage and spirit specialist, laid out the groundwork for Bach to caught up on his proper magical knowledge and studied Bach's magical deficiency and the reasons behind them. Meanwhile, Sebastian, his brother and leader swordsman, caught up with his brother and resumed other brotherly antics. (Episode 4)

-14-

A historical documentary plays on the living area television, cutting between long explanatory dialogues and reenactment sections. Occasionally, a head turns to watch a brief segment before returning back to current projects. Aristespha flips her long, silvery blue hair back with a sigh and sorts through another stack of paperwork upon the coffee table. Lifts the stack up, she places it in another forming mass next to her on the couch. While resting upon a nest of pillows on the other half the couch, Cideeda squints her emerald green eyes and focuses upon a small patch of torn fabric on her body suit. She carefully weaves a needle between the fibers around a tear and cinches the edges closer together. Dretphi sits on the floor nearby in the middle of five baskets, each with a name written on the side. Plucking an article of clothing off the top of the large pile next to her, she briefly examines it and tosses it to the matching basket. In the main part of the kitchen, Sotalia slowly traces a fingernail along the text in a notebook, pouring full attention into each word. She eyes over at the various alchemy instruments and ingredients along the kitchen countertop and bites her lip with frustration. Grumbling to herself, she scrutinizes her notes further. The kitchen door leading to the garage opens, and Bach backs in with a laundry basket in his arms. Pivoting once clear of the door, he continues into the living room with a grimace upon his face.

Dretphi glances over curiously to Bach as he places the laundry basket down. "Any success with your clothing?"

Bach immediately shakes his head and snorts as a reflexive chuckle forces its way out. "Oh... Not really. I mean, the duster is salvageable. But... The shirt is a total loss. And the pants..."

Kneeling down next to the laundry basket, he rummages through the mix and pulls up a pair of very holey, burnt pants. Dretphi's steely gray eyes follow the length of the pants, and she blinks while her mouth twists faintly in disapproval. She holds her face, covering her mouth, and nods in agreement. "Yes. Those are rags now. You will need a new pair."

Tossing her dark red, shoulder length hair back, Sotalia lifts her head away from her notebook and gazes across the way to see the hole, burn ridden garment hanging from Bach's hand. She rests her hands on her hips, rolls her golden eyes, and cracks a smug grin from the corner of mouth. "Rags?! Come on, don't you recognize designer clothing when you see it? I'm sure some teenagers would pay top coin for THAT."

An entrepreneurial eyebrow perks on Cideeda's face, and her eyes flick up from her repair work. Examining the pants, her mind churns on an idea, and a scheming smirk grows on her mouth. "Hey. Fold those up, and put them with the bot's head."

Bach swiftly turns to face Cideeda and tilts his head in mild confusion, narrowing his eyes. "Are you actually going to try to sell my holey burnt pants?!"

Cideeda shrugs and focuses back on repairing her suit, dragging a threaded needle up off the body suit. "Hey! You'd be surprised what sells. Again, I don't make the fads. I just sell to them. Anyway, Steve at the game shop put me on the local aethermail list, and I just found out a fandom convention is happening in a week and a half."

Aristespha pauses from calculating numbers on one of her tablets and leans back into the couch cushion. She lightly taps the tablet stylus to her lips and glances through thoughts in her head. "You know I haven't been to a decent convention in years. I actually wouldn't mind going."

Bach thinks for a moment and nods with flits of memory brightening his face. "Same here. I haven't been able to afford to go to one for a really long time. Used to be a lot of fun back in school. Perfect break from everything."

Dretphi bounces her intrigued stare between Cideeda, Aristespha, and Bach, curiosity growing with each second. "I have never been to one of these conventions. Heard of them. Never gone. Would not mind going."

Sotalia glares at the others through the opening to the main kitchen. Her jaw hangs open in astonishment, and she poses incredulously towards the discussion. "You all DO realize, we literally do what those people obsess and act out at those places? Right? They fantasize about our actual profession."

Cideeda perks her brow and narrows her gaze at Sotalia. "This one is a general fandom convention. They have a little bit of everything. So, the whole adventurer fandom thing is only a part of it."

A devious grin creeps onto Cideeda's face as she continues describing. "I mean, this is a larger one. It even has a large ballroom just dedicated towards all the various vendors of small, unique items that many claim to be of a magical nature..."

Briefly, the cheek around Sotalia's eye twitches as the corner of her mouth draws upwards. Shaking her head away from the temptation, she brushes stray locks of dark red hair over her swept back black horns and quickly redirects part of her attention down to her alchemy project. Cideeda pushes up into her pillow covered seat upon the couch and widens a toothy grin. "And, the writer and artist for a particular series is on a few of the panels."

A few moments of silence loom in the air. Expectant members of the group watch and wait attentively with gazes towards the kitchen. Staring down onto the counter top, Sotalia goes through the motions of combining ingredients into the glass bowl. She bites her lip and contorts her face against her winning desires. "Well... If you all want to go, I'm... Not against going. You might want to check with Sebastian."

Bach rolls his blue eyes and laughs. "Oh, he'll go. Hell, he probably could be in the open. We'll just say he's a hologram or magical illusion."

Furrowing his brow, he glances around the living area. "By the way, anyone know where he is?"

With an unamused expression seeping onto her face, Aristespha lifts her arm up and points her finger in a sweeping gesture towards the outside. "He's outside trying to spy on THOSE adventurers. Nothing to speak of at the moment. Thankfully, they're staying on their property."

Groaning and shaking her head, Sotalia pours a vial of liquid into the mixing bowl. "Gods, I still can't believe they picked the one place next to us."

Dretphi dons a stern frown and flings a bundle of clothes into a basket. "That was not a coincidence. Previous seasons, they kept adventurers in dilapidated places. That house is generous."

Crossing her arms with a twist of her mouth, Aristespha eyes Dretphi with a confirming nod. "I thought about that, too. We are going to have to be careful if they are around. We really don't need to give them any material they can put on the show."

Sinking down in her pillows, Cideeda finely maneuvers the needle through another section of the body suit's fabric. "Well, hopefully they'll find something else to do, and let us actually enjoy the rest of the week off. I'd like to see if we can get the plasma projectile cannon and minigun working."

Sebastian's ethereal form passes through the sliding glass door and coasts into the room. "Hey. Anything new?"

Bach sets out the last article of clothing from the laundry basket and glances up with a grin at his brother. "Up for going to a con in a week and half?"

Sebastian excitedly twists himself mid flight to face Bach and halts his drift through the room. "Hell yeah, bro! It's been FOREVER since I've been to one. Damn. Been so busy between getting a group together and chasing Noxian the last few years that the opportunity never came up. But... I don't know how much I'll be able to enjoy it. Being a ghost and all. But, I'll make do."

Staring at Sebastian, a smile forms on Aristespha. Sebastian lands his feet onto the ground, pivots in place, and spots Aristespha's attention. His translucent blue eyes search the immediate area, and he raises a curious eyebrow at her. Aristespha grins and gives Sebastian a sly wink. "Of course you'll make do. Guess who's going as a magical interactive illusion to the con?"

Standing in thought, Sebastian his mind mulls over the idea. With a growing heroic smile, he puffs out his chest, brightens his visage, and puts on his best hero pose. "Hello! Welcome to the insert convention name here! I'm your friendly interactive illusion, state your command, and I will try to comply."

He releases the pose, places a hand on his waist, and scratches his chin. "You know... That could actually work. No one would even bother to question such a thing. People will just assume it's just some kind of thing you'd see at a convention."

Chuckling to herself, a sly, toothy grin grows on Cideeda's light brown face, and a greedy glint sparks in her eyes. "Also, we'll only have to pay for five passes."

Sebastian glances thoughtfully at Bach, crosses his arms, and searches his mind. "Is it strange that I'm honestly looking forward to seeing how much I can fuck with people in this form, bro?"

Bach shrugs and holds his hands up indecisively. "I mean, I don't know, man. Might as well have fun with it? It's not like many people get a chance like this. Enjoy it while you can?"

Calling out from the kitchen, Sotalia huffs with a faint tint of a grumble highlighting underlying frustration. "Aristespha! Okay. So, I'm at the last part of this potion. Just to double check, it's seventy milliliters of the cherry flavoring? Correct?"

Aristespha blinks blankly and shudders her head. She quickly snaps her confused gaze towards Sotalia. "What? No! Twenty milliliters of cherry flavoring! Where did you get seventy from?!"

A long silence lingers. The sounds of notebook pages flipping back and forth break the quiet. Sotalia mumbles out loud and leans very close to her notebook. "But... I wrote down seventy for some reason. Why the hell would I write seventy, but it actually be twenty-"

After another long pause, she growls out. "Oh gods dammit!"

With a quick, violent flick of the wrist, Sotalia whips a small plastic pen at the lid of a nearby garbage can. The pen bounces off the open lid into the plastic bag. Groaning to herself, Sotalia pours twenty milliliters of cherry flavoring into the mixing bowl. She sniffs up some semblance of pride and calls out to the team. "Hey! Next time we go shopping in town, let's pick up some decent pens."

----

Bright columns of light pour through the forest canopy onto the mossy ground below. With the gentle wind, small patches of underbrush shake the remaining beads of morning dew, and the light sways along woodland floor from the fresh, green branches above. A fvalian woman in a plain green blouse and dark blue skirt follows behind an emin woman wearing a form fitting gray t-shirt and shorts. Both maneuver through the trees and brush and trudge towards the edge of the forest. The fvalian woman forces a whisper towards the emin woman. "Tassilda?! How close are you going to get?"

Tossing her long raven black hair back, Tassilda glances her light blue on black eyes at the fvalian with a confident, smug grin. "As close as I can, Deedri. How close did you get?"

Nervously flexing her clawed fingers, Deedri gazes over her shoulder and points out a spot quite a distance away. "Over there. I just watched them briefly yesterday before they called us in for individual interviews."

With a quick roll of the eyes, Tassilda quickly turns her attention away from Deedri's spot and focuses ahead to a patch of grass behind a concealing, short shrub. "Come along now. I want to get a good view of these practice exercises you saw."

Glancing to Tassilda and behind herself, Deedri reluctantly sneaks along. She carefully squats down and settles next to Tassilda, carefully peeking over the very top of the leafy plant. Tassilda guides a finger in front of Deedri and leads her gaze to three people standing in an open field. "There they are. Both the mages and... The intern? Interesting. I wonder what poor examples of spells they are going to teach that... Intern."

Shaking her head braided multi-colored hair slightly, Deedri frowns faintly, and her auburn eyes remain fixed to the targets in the distance. "I wouldn't call him an intern. At least, don't treat him like one. I think it's just some title they're using for paperwork reasons."

Lifting an intrigued eyebrow, Tassilda draws the corner of her mouth to a side smile on her light gray face and her eyes shift over to Deedri. "Really? That is how they even referred to him. And, I haven't seen anything to the contrary. Is there something you haven't told me?"

Deedri blinks in surprise, pivots her head at Tassilda, and quickly shakes her head. "No. It just doesn't make sense to me. From the information Samantha gave to Chad, he just joined recently and never completed school. But... Somehow he put up that barrier the military had to blast off.

Furrowing her brow, she contorts her fair tone face between flits of confusion and puzzling. "I mean... That magical barrier didn't dissipate! The concrete around the anchor points shattered, and it continued to exist after that weird magical cable was pulled off!"

Narrowing a curious stare at Tassilda, she inquires with her long fluffy tail idly wagging. "Have you ever known an intern to do magic like that? Because, I sure haven't."

Tassilda's eyes drift away from Deedri back to the three in the field and guide the rest of Tassilda's head along. Her expression wanders between thoughtful quirks as her mind ponders recent memories. Pulling a few strands of her black hair over a swirling horn, she squints her light blue on black eyes into the distance. Seconds later, her eyes open wide, and activity in the distance seizes her full attention. "They are practicing magic. Good. I wonder what..."

Fighting down a reflexive snarl of her upper lip, she draws in a long breath. "She... Is capable of."

Deedri concentrates out into the field and squints her auburn eyes. "She's pretty good. She's been practicing a fireball spell a lot, but it's strange. She's direct casting, but there's something else going on. Even with my mage sight I can't tell what exactly is going on from this far away."

In the distance, Sotalia stands with her hands out around a glowing, orange-red orb of flames. While she grimaces and her posture strains, the fiery ball fluctuates and gradually changes colors to an orange-yellow hue. Dropping her head down, she exhales dramatically and lets her shoulders droop. Bach steps up to Sotalia's side and motions with his hands at spots of the orb, calmly explaining. Initially, Sotalia drifts her glare away from Bach. An indignant pout manifests throughout her body language, and her hands slowly slide the orb away. Bach pinches the bridge of his nose, shakes his head, and sighs to Sotalia. Tassilda notices Deedri's furry, tufted ears perking and flicking minutely. Leaning closer to Deedri, she whispers curiously. "So... What are they talking about?"

Deedri squints her auburn eyes and deftly aims her ears at the distant conversation. "He's trying to get her to use her mage sight spell. But... She says she can't while focusing on casting this one. He just offered to... Hold the spell for her?"

Tassilda blinks hard, cocks her head to the side, and mumbles in confusion. "Hold the spell? How does he expect to do that-"

Bach slowly extends his arms out, positions his hands at the ready around the flaming orb, and talks while craning his head around to gaze at Sotalia's face. She eyes Bach with a defiant flash in her eyes. A long sigh escapes her, and an appreciative smile grows from the corner of her mouth. Pivoting around towards Bach, she carefully maneuvers the orb of flames between Bach's awaiting hands. The fiery ball momentarily shudders when Sotalia pulls hands away. It stabilizes to a gentle hover, Bach guides the magic to an easy viewing level. Shaking the residual flow from her hands, Sotalia stretches her arms back, walks around, and works out the tension in the rest of her body.

Staring wide-eyed with her jaw creeping open, Tassilda blinks blankly at the display. Deedri glances over to Tassilda, raises an eyebrow, and twists her mouth. "So. He's the intern. Who never finished school. And, just started adventuring with a group a few weeks ago."

Tassilda slowly nods and searches the scene before her for hints of explanation. Closing her mouth fully from a gawk, she collects her composure and hums with a contemplative grumble. "I think I understand your suspicions, QUITE CLEARLY now."

Aristespha stands up from the bench seat next to the picnic table near Bach and Sotalia. Moving to a spot next to Sotalia, she catches her attention and points at each other's eyes while explaining. Sotalia nods attentively after each key point in Aristespha's instruction. Aristespha stands right beside Sotalia and gestures towards the flaming orb Bach maintains. Both Aristespha and Sotalia close their eyes with Aristespha's cue. Opening her violet glowing eyes first, Aristespha attentively observes Sotalia. Initially struggling, Sotalia manages to open her golden, glowing eyes and keep them consistently bright. Bach tows the flaming orb closer and hovers it conveniently in front of Aristespha and Sotalia. A minute of debate later, Bach flares his eyes to a bright blue. The fiery ball's color changes slowly from orange-yellow to bright blue-white. Sotalia and Aristespha scrutinize each second of the transformation, and Bach pauses at moments to rotate and adjust the orb's position and aid in the demonstration of the process. The magic shrinks down into a smaller ball, and the waving flames wane into a thin jet veil that coats the surface of the orb. With a final nod from both Aristespha and Sotalia, Bach swings the orb away from Aristespha and Sotalia. Aiming towards a large boulder in the field, Bach flexes his hands and the magical fireball darts across the open field,exploding upon impact with the boulder.

Tassilda sits back upon the forest floor, straightens her posture, and crosses her arms. Drawing in a slow, deep breath, she exhales just as slowly. "What... Just happened... There?"

Deedri drops down from watching over the top of the shrub and gazes uncertainly at Tassilda. "I don't know. I didn't catch anything he did there. That may have been direct casting. Maybe some form of it that I've never seen before? It's too far away, even if I did use my mage sight. I would guess it's just too fine of spellcrafting to really observe from this far away."

Furrowing her brow with her thoughts, Tassilda places a hand upon her cheek and rest her face upon it. "Maybe..."

A devious grin widens from the corner of her mouth, and she gazes eagerly at Deedri. "Regardless, I believe WE WILL be visiting this spot quite a bit more often in the future."

Deedri musters up a weak smile and darts her eyes nervously around before settling upon Tassilda. "O-Okay. I don't have any problems with that."

----

A thickening front of clouds coasts overhead, occasionally obscures the sun, and casts down patches of shadow upon the large field. Sotalia, Bach, and Aristespha stand near the wood plank picnic table. Sotalia interlocks her fingers, flips her hands around, and stretches her arms out with a content grin beaming on her face. "Well, I think I'm getting the hang of all this low level stuff."

She slyly flicks her eyes to the side and gazes at Bach. Gently narrowing her stare, a sinister motive tinges her emerging grin. "Maybe someone will teach me that wonderful disintegration ball spell in the very NEAR future."

Averting his eyes to one side and then another, Bach dons on a wary smile and uneasy chuckles. "Ah, you know... All in good time... Right? How about we sure up those low level basics and then cover some slightly more advanced topics. Then, we'll DEFINITELY get to THAT spell."

Sotalia pivots upon on foot and faces Bach. Concentrating a glare upon Bach, Sotalia frowns with simmering disapproval and breathes out a low growl of building frustration. Bach blinks uncomfortably when Sotalia places her hands on her hips and postures with obvious irritation. He glances over pleadingly to Aristespha and motions with his eyes to Sotalia, trying to maintain an honest smile. Aristespha rolls her violet eyes and steps in to stand between the two. "Bach. You should teach her the spell..."

A smug smile pushes the frown off Sotalia's face, and she poses triumphant and satisfied. Catching sight of Sotalia's posturing, Aristespha flashes a wicked smile and turns her attention upon Sotalia. "BUT. Sotalia. You need to get MUCH better at controlling your magical energy flows, first."

Sotalia immediately snarls her lip, crosses her arms defensively, and turns her head away with a pout forming quickly. Aristespha claps her hands together, and her expression brightens while glancing between Bach and Sotalia. "And, I have a way of helping you learn and teach a valuable skill that is normally reserved for medical mages."

The pout on Sotalia gives way to an unamused expression, thinly veiling her developing interest. Returning her gaze to Aristespha, Sotalia awaits with an idle shift of her weight to another foot. Aristespha smiles and gestures with her arms for both Bach and Sotalia to come closer. "Since we have three major magic users in the group, with different levels of magical energy reserves, I think it would be prudent to teach you two about energy transfer between people."

Sotalia perks a brow and cracks a smile. Unfolding her arms, she places her hands on her hips with an eager pose. "Girl, now we're talking. It's about time! I forgot how many times I've asked you to show me that."

She narrows her stare quickly at Aristespha, and her smile fades with recollection. "And... I almost forgot how many times you said you were too busy to show me."

Aristespha maintains a happy grin and nonchalantly holds her hands out to her sides with a dismissive shrug. "Well, things have changed. We have some time now. Also, we have a third mage in the group which will make this a lot easier to teach."

Bach scratches the back of his head of longer brown hair and pounders out loud with a glance towards Aristespha. "Okay. So, why does a third mage make this easier to teach?"

Aristespha gazes over to Bach with a sly, ulterior motive hinting through the positive facade. "Because, with your ability to manipulate low level energy flow, I fully expect you pick up any lesson I give very quickly."

Turning her attention to Sotalia, she perks an amused eyebrow. "Then, you'll be able to help Sotalia get ALL the practice she will need."

Sotalia stares back sternly to Aristespha. The two lock eye contact for seconds. Aristespha maintains a stoic, unmoving front, and peers right through. Sotalia breaks off the staring contest with a huff and sulk. "Damn it, girl. You KNOW I'm getting better at that."

Placing a hand on each of Sotalia's shoulders, Aristespha lowers her head slightly to look Sotalia in the eyes. "You most certainly are. Just keep in mind how much more you will be able to accomplish with your massive reserves of magical energy when you learn proper energy control. I think I know a simple enough way to demonstrate the potential that will certainly motivate YOU."

Wrestling between a grimace and frown on her light tan and dark gray face, Sotalia subdues her surge of pride, cracks a reserved smile, and sighs. "Okay, girl."

She waves her hand out and perks her brow expectantly. "Let's see it!" I'm curious as to how this is supposed to motivate me."

Letting go of Sotalia's shoulders, Aristespha steps back and holds an open palm up to both Back and Sotalia. "Okay, you two. Put a hand in mine, and get ready to cast a spell."

Flicking her violet eyes up to the dark skies above, she twists a smile on her ivory face and twitches her very long pointed ears. "I think the storm is going to hit soon. So, let us keep it simple with a light orb spell. I will compare the energy efficiency between how you two cast spells."

Both Bach and Sotalia rest hand in one of Aristespha's. Closing her eyes briefly, Aristespha reopens them with a glowing violet light. She turns her head to Sotalia and stares down to her hand. "Go ahead, and cast."

Sotalia watches her hand and deftly gestures out very small motions with her fingers. In mere moments, an orb of light appears above her hand. As it hovers above her palm, Sotalia dons a prideful smirk and lifts a smug eyebrow. Aristespha grants a reserved, acknowledging nod. She shifts her attention to Bach and calmly explains. "For you, I want you to keep on casting that specific light orb spell of yours, until I tell you to stop."

Bach simply shrugs and blinks his eyes to blue glow. Stares down at his hand, a glowing orb manifests in a swift swirl of faint flow and floats above Bach's hand. He plucks the glowing orb away with his free hand and releases it in the air nearby. The process repeats for the second, third, forth, fifth, and sixth orbs. Sotalia slowly removes her hand from Aristespha's and crosses her arms to defend her pride. Bach continues to create the seventh, eight, ninth and tenth orbs. Squirming while resettling her crossed arms, Sotalia tilts her head indignantly and gawks with her mouth hanging open in confusion. Removing the eleventh orb from his hand, Bach blinks at the small swarm of prior light balls around him and searches for an opening space nearby. He squinting around at the lighting, shrugs, and flicks the orb in hand towards the tree line. He sends off the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth orbs off roughly towards the tree line. One orb drifts over a low, short patch of bushes, and drops sharply behind out of sight. Sheer astonishment flushes away Sotalia's pride and indignation. With the faintest whisper strained to a higher point, she dramatically mouths to Aristespha. "Really?!"

Meeting Sotalia's shock, Aristespha slowly nods with a satisfied smile on her face. Bach readies for the sixteenth orb. Aristespha calls out quickly. "Stop there. Thank you. That is sufficient."

Bach glances around, blinks his eye back to a normal blue, and nods. Aristespha narrows her full focus upon Sotalia and hammers the point with a lower tone. "All he cast used the same amount of energy YOU used."

Tapping her long nailed fingers on her arms, Sotalia fights flits of discomfort and processes the demonstrated implications. Bach gazes up at the darkening skies as the lighter clouds retreat from the darker, heavier variety. He fans away most of the orbs nearby and snatches up one to wield. Aristespha's eyes dim back to normal, and she drops her hands to her sides. "I hope that was informative for the both of you."

She glances over to Bach and rests her stare on Sotalia. Briefly squinting her golden eyes at Aristespha, Sotalia releases an accepting sigh and nods a few times with an uncomfortable smile. "Yes. It was."

An eager grin cracks and her confident aura surges back up to the surface. "So? What about this energy transfer skill you are going to teach us?"

Aristespha spots a drifting light orb and gently coaxes it into her hand. "Let us go inside, first. It will take time to explain the basics, and I do not want to be interrupted by the rain."

Bach and Sotalia agree. Bach and Aristespha walk towards the house, using the light orbs to illuminate the way under the dimming light. Sotalia starts to step along, pivots, and snatches a drifting light ball nearby. Tagging behind the other two, she studies the light orb, fighting between her curiosity and practically using it for light. From the distance, a loud rumble of thunder rolls over the area and motivates the three to rush through a sliding glass door into the ranch style house.

As the field darkens and the stormy clouds completely coat the sky above, two figures rush across the tall grass. Drops of rain fall upon the area, and their march speeds up to a full charge. The soft patters of water surge into a pounding torrent that obscures the view of the wooden picnic table. Only the light of the orbs shines through the gloom and haze as they descend upon the wood plank table top. The two figures arrive around the blips of light. Balls congregate into the arms of the figures. Some light orbs disappear completely and a few dim underneath clothing. The two figures dart off back into the tree line, with dull specks of light tracing their sprint and journey into the forest.

----

The rain pelts the side of the sliding glass door, and soft patters resounds into the living area. Dretphi aims the remote at the television and flips through the wasteland of channels, only pausing briefly check for anything of value. With a sigh, she drops the remote onto the coffee table and sinks into the couch cushions. Cideeda slowly blinks her emerald green eyes, fending off a wave of drowsiness. She stretches out her arms and legs out, narrowing her distant stare in thought. Glancing over to Dretphi, Cideeda perks her brow and flicks her furry ears towards Dretphi. Noticing the attention, Dretphi narrows an expectant gaze. Cideeda simply nods and presents a sly, toothy grin. "I think it's time. I'll get the adapter cables, you get the television ready and clear the area."

Dretphi smirks confidently and springs up from the couch. Cideeda pulls herself off the couch and darts into the hallway. Seconds later, the faint sounds of shuffling and rummaging carry into the space from the archway leading into the hall. At the dining table, Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia sit around on one end. Sebastian hovers overhead and splits his attention between Aristespha's lesson and Cideeda and Dretphi's new project. Sotalia concentrates with narrowing golden eyes and presses her open hand against Aristespha's. She contorts her face in genuine struggle, and her eyes faintly illuminate a golden light. Calmly observing Sotalia's antics, Aristespha keeps her hand in place. After tense, strained seconds, Sotalia carefully draws her hand away, and a small ball of magical energy emerges from Aristespha's palm. Pulling her hand further back, a grin of sheer accomplishment flashes onto her face. Her fingers curl around the energy ball, and she hoists the prize into the air, beaming proudly. "YES! Finally! Wow!"

Letting the tension leave herself, she calms down with a long exhale. "THAT was much harder than before. Holy shit, girl."

Aristespha smiles satisfied and glides her hand over to secure a mug of tea. "Hence the difference between a cooperative and an idle energy transfer. Your body and mind naturally want to avoid leaking magical energy everywhere. So, when you are not actively willing it, magical energy will tend to keep to established flow routes and avoid deviations. Also, established flow routes are typically the path of least resistance in comparison."

Lifting the mug up, she slips the hot, steaming brew. With a calm grace, she places it back down and continues her explanation. "There is another type of transfer. That is confrontational energy transfers. Those are the type made when the mind and body are on a full active defense. We will cover those another time. For now, you can practice the basics. If you need more of a challenge, you can use magical energy insulation techniques from basic spellcasting to put up a more active defense."

Behind Aristespha, Cideeda skips through the hallway archway and hauls a metal suitcase covered in game and gaming company stickers. Withdrawing her head from behind the walled mounted television, Dretphi nods at Cideeda and returns to her work behind the screen. Sotalia swings her intrigued gaze at Bach and radiates a superior arrogance through a cornered smile. "I'll have you know, I was top of my class in all my spellcasting courses."

Holding her open palm up towards Bach, she concentrates a golden stare upon. "I'll just use a number of those insulation tricks, and maybe a few of my own, to make it challenging to you."

Bach tilts his head to the side and meekly shrugs at Sotalia. "Umm... How about we just try a few of those cooperative energy pulls? Maybe a few idle ones? I mean, let's make sure we know what we are doing before making it needlessly difficult."

Sotalia narrows her incredulous gaze at Bach. Her smile morphs into a devious, amused grin. She provocatively stares, propping her chin on her hand, and giggles with a patronizing tone. "Aww. Are you too tired? Did those little light orbs run you out of energy today?"

She exaggerates a mocking sigh and rolls her golden eyes dismissively. "Well... If that's the case, I guess I understand..."

A faint disapproving growl rumbles up the back of Aristespha's throat, and she glares at Sotalia with a sharp frown. Just as she begins to open her mouth, Sebastian zips down next to her very long, pointed ear and whispers with a smile. "Wait. Look."

Blinking to awareness, Aristespha notices an odd, wry smirk hidden in the corner of Bach's mouth, away from Sotalia. Placing an open palm against Sotalia's, Bach smiles smugly. "Okay. I'll humor you."

Sotalia grins eagerly with a competitive glint in her ear. She rolls her shoulders in a stretch and settles into her seat ready. She focuses on her and Bach's hands. "Whenever you are ready. Don't hold back, because I want a challenge."

She closes her eyes and takes a long deep breath in. Narrowing a demanding stare at Bach, she growls with a hint of a laugh. "Surprise me."

Bach's smirk erupts to a wicked grin. "Okay. I'll surprise you."

Sotalia's eyes fly wide open at sudden, firm grasp of a hand on the back of her neck. She follows the hand back to Bach and starts to open her mouth. Flows of energy stir between her neck and Bach's hand. Her jaw opens midway through gritting her teeth and her lips twist in confusion. "THE FUCK-"

A cringe nearly closes one eye. Her head cocks to the side. Both shoulders tense up, and her surprise chills down the spine. She squirms in her seat, and her fingers claw up. Utter shock and childish disgust manifest into a shrill howl. "AIIIEEE!!!"

Bach swiftly removes his hand from the back of Sotalia's neck with a small orb of magical energy securely in his palm. Covering the back of her neck with her free hand, Sotalia flashes a death glare right through Bach, failing to maintain her composure between goofy shivers. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!"

Aristespha tightly secures her mouth with a hand and barely contains the snorts of laughter. Sebastian keeps quiet with the stiffest smile he can muster and avoids direct eye contact with Sotalia. Cideeda stares over towards the table and blinks confused, holding a game controller and its plug. Lifting her finger from the television's power button, Dretphi searches the dining table area and furrows her bewildered brow at the outburst. Grinning triumphantly, Bach displays the energy orb. "Well, your surprise, of course."

Sotalia's golden eyes flash with anger, in contrast to her awkwardly flush face. In the next moments, the rage subsides, and she settles to an amused smile. Bach's confidence degrades, and his grin decays a wary, uneasy smirk. Lightly laughing to herself, Sotalia sighs and tips her head up. "Well. To be fair, I DID ask for a surprise."

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "And, I did goad you. But, your master plan has one flaw."

Darting his eyes around his mind, Bach blinks bewildered and cocks his head searching for an explanation. He snaps his surprised gaze down. Sotalia deftly weaves her curling fingers between Bach's and presses her thick, long black nails into the back of his hand. She torques her hand forward and seizes Bach's full attention. "I'm the middle child between two sisters. I can take it and dish it out."

Leaning her face closer to Bach, she grins wide and chuckles darkly as a faint golden glow radiates from her stare. She points to the energy orb in Bach's other hand and gestures for its return, flexing her fingers. Bach grimaces at the annoying pain and grumbles against his pride. After deliberative seconds, he places the energy orb into Sotalia's awaiting hand. The power flows back into Sotalia's body, and she releases her grip of Bach. Aristespha rolls her eyes and shakes her head disapprovingly. "Okay. So. Are you two children done for the day?"

Settling back into her chair at the dining table, Sotalia nods simply with a content smile. "Yes, teacher."

Bach glances over while rubbing his hand. "Yeah. I'm good. No more surprises."

Aristespha props her arm on the table top and rests her chin upon her hand with a sigh. "Good. Now, I do have a question for you, Sotalia."

Curiously facing Aristespha, Sotalia pays attention. "Yes? What is it?"

An amused expression emerges upon Aristespha's ivory face, and she lifts her mug of tea close to her mouth. "So, did it feel like a bucket of ice water going down your back?"

Sotalia nods quickly and squirms in her chair at the thought. "YES! Oh gods! It felt like someone dumped everything in the ice maker down the back of my shirt."

Bach squints Sotalia and snorts with a snarl of the lip. "Oh, sort of like someone cast a freeze ray spell up your back?"

Opening her mouth, Sotalia halts, lifts an incredulous eyebrow at Bach, and pulls her mouth to a corner. "Gods, I hope you aren't holding a grudge over that. I honestly missed that time."

Bach rolls his blue eyes and shrugs. "Nah. But, I thought it might be a good point of comparison."

Sotalia returns to Aristespha with a quizzical expression. "Wait... How did YOU know it felt like ice water down your back?"

Aristespha finishes a long sip of her tea and smiles with a tinge of nostalgia. "Oh, it's something all the medical mage students would do to keep each other on our toes. If you got caught napping anywhere other than the break room, or were late to your shift because you were napping in the break room, you could expect a VERY rude wake up. Honestly, that sensation is almost better than coffee."

Placing her mug back down on the table, she gazes to Bach and Sotalia. "And, in emergency situations, that region is one of the easiest and accessible places to tap into the body's major magical energy flows. It was not uncommon for a medical mage to snag a student for energy when the situations got dire."

A stern, dark glare manifests, and her tone turns serious. "That said... I would recommend that you two stick to hands and arms for practice. You two are NOT medical mages, and neither of your energy control skills are good enough to casually play around with major energy flows like that."

A violet radiance cuts through the shadowy, cold stare from Aristespha. "Understand?"

Bach and Sotalia nod slowly, wide-eyed. Aristespha returns to a satisfied smile. "Very good."

A melodic, electronic tune sounds out from the television. Aristespha, Bach, Sebastian and Sotalia turn their attention towards the other side of the space. Cideeda and Dretphi sit comfortably on the couch with game controllers in hand. Upon the coffee table, the holoplayer projects a status screen and indicator lights blink upon adapters with cables running to the television and an old gaming console. An eager glint forms in Sotalia's stare at the machine, and she slides back in her chair. "Well, that's enough training today. We'll continue tomorrow."

She rushes over to the couch and perches upon a couch arm. "I call next!"

Bach turns around in his chair, bites his lip, and faces Aristespha with a whisper. "Hey, um... Sorry, if I went a little too far with Sotalia and trying to pull energy from the back of her neck and all."

Aristespha softly chuckles and shakes her head slightly with a soft tone. "Oh. Don't worry. You have far better energy control, and you wouldn't have done anything to harm her. It takes a surprising amount of effort to disrupt major flow like that."

Glancing over to Sotalia, Aristespha smiles smugly. "Also... Someone needed to put her ego in check, and you just happen to know the right way to do it."

Sebastian leans in closer to the conversation with a proud grin. "Also, I think you had every right to show her up, bro. She called you out. And, well, you delivered."

Bach nods calmly and exhales in relief. "Okay. Wanted to make sure I didn't do anything too stupid."

Snorting with an ethereal reverb, Sebastian winks at his brother. "Hell, no worse than standing out from cover, raving like a madman, and shooting a pistol at a rampaging combat robot."

Bach groans and partially buries his face into his palm. Aristespha gently pats Bach's shoulder. "No need to kick yourself. It did that more than enough."

Sebastian leans further, partially through the table, and gazes at Bach with a sincere smile. "And you helped save our asses. So, can't fault you too much."

He rights himself and watches a video game load up on the screen. Drifting towards the couch, he glances back. "Now come on, I can't play, so you'll need to defend the family honor."

Aristespha stands up from the table with her mug. Bach pushes his chair back and joins the gathering. Watching the title screen appear, he smiles in honest surprise. "Wow! Champions of Nexus. I haven't played this since school."

Crossing her arms with a slight grin, Aristespha nods. "Yes. We found an old warehouse, and, for some reason, there was a perfectly good system and cache of games."

Furrowing her brow, she wrestles her dissatisfaction on her gray and blue hinted face. "I have been TRYING to get back to what I was, back in my medical mage school days. Who did you normally play?"

Bach scratches the back of his neck and sheepishly admits. "Um. Ionis, actually."

Aristespha blinks and angles her head toward Bach with a trailing pivot of the body. "Ionis? Really? Gods... I could never figure out his power up chain, and his energy use is ridiculously hard to manage..."

While Bach watches the action on the screen, Aristespha blinks in thought and occasionally ponders with a glance at Bach.

----

In a small, nicely furnished bedroom, Samantha straightens her back while on the top of a bed. Squinting through the rain speckled window briefly, she repositions her laptop and gazes at her aetherphone nearby. Howard's voice resonates through the speakerphone. "How are our adventurers settling in? Any good moments for show?"

Samantha stacks another pillow onto the bed and settles herself on top and into the pile. "They're doing just fine, Howie. And, plenty of moments when moving in."

She rolls over closer to the aetherphone on the nightstand. "We got an hour-long clip alone of Chad, Tassilda, and Trakenthin in a yelling match at who would get the biggest room. The best part I think was seeing Mordoran and Deedri working together to sneak their stuff into two of the rooms off at the end of the house."

An intrigued trill colors Howard's voice through the speaker. "Ooo. That's a possibility I hadn't quite considered yet. Let's leave it alone for now and see if something sparks. Also, is the crew enjoying their house?"

Samantha smiles and types notes into her laptop. "Yes, we are! A really good vantage point, great reception with the wireless cameras, and plenty of room for us to stage."

Howard yawns as the creak of a bed frame echoes in the room on the other side of the call. "Excellent. Truthfully, it turned out to be much cheaper than the hotels. Anything else before I get some much needed sleep?"

A plotting grin grows upon Samantha's light face. She leans in very close to the aetherphone with a suggestive tone. "Yes. Quite. One of our cameras pointed to the forest, near the other group, caught Deedri sneaking off into the forest yesterday. Then today, Deedri and Tassilda went out together."

With a sudden squeak of the bed frame, covers fluttering sound out, and Howard's voice grows closer with an anticipating breath. "And?!"

Samantha bites her lip and seductively tenses her voice. "When the rain fell, Gerald recorded them running from the forest carrying some kind of magical artifacts. They played off needing to change in their rooms to the others, but they actually were studying the artifacts."

A giddy chirp peaks out of the speaker. "Keep me updated. Watch quietly for now."

Samantha grins deviously. "Will do, as always."

-15-

Thin traces of clouds drift above, and the wind occasionally picks up speed to quickly fade back into the calm scenery. Morning coasts across the front yard full of sparkling drops of morning dew and the left traces of rain. Murmurs of activity drift out from the open doors of the garage, and the team gathers around the humvee. Pulling his door shut, Bach hops in last and settles into his seat. Cideeda swings her head out her window and sniffs in the fresh morning air. She casually steers the vehicle with her claw tips rapping upon the steering wheel. Aristespha glides her finger across a tablet surface and hunts between pictures of items on a long store listing. Leans over, Bach catches glimpses with honest interest at the search. "I've never actually been to a Merc-Mart. I mean, I've heard they have everything and anything. How true is that?"

Aristespha shrugs and gently rocks her head side to side with an unconvinced twist of a grimace. "I will say that they have a very good marketing department. Admittedly, their selection overall is better than most places."

Fiscal experience manifests from memory, and her enthusiasm drains, leaving old frustration twisting her face. "Unfortunately, they are a bit proud of their prices."

Sotalia happily peers around her seat, and a fiercely frugal edge sharpens her smile. "Which is why Free Fridays are THE BEST! Gods! I can't wait to see what they have on their point tables!"

Blinking over a gap in understanding, Bach bounces his gaze between Aristespha and Sotalia. "Uh, point tables?"

Pausing a moment with a twist of her mouth, Aristespha gauges the eagerness radiating from Sotalia and rolls her violet eyes. With a dismissive hand gesture, she defers to Sotalia. Taking a long breath, Sotalia subdues her excitement just enough to explain to some degree of coherence. "Okay! So, Merc-Mart keeps a huge inventory of many, many things. Once every while, they will clean out ALL the old inventory and put it on display tables out front. Now, depending on how much you buy during their Free Fridays, you earn points. You can use those points for cash back on your purchases, OR..."

A rush of commercialist glee swells up through her, and she grins with a tensing grip on the top of her front seat. "You can redeem them to get things on the tables. Everyone calls them Point Tables because that's where you spend your points."

Aristespha raises her tablet near Bach. While he furrows his intrigued gaze between items on the screen, she scrolls through pages of random inventory. "To help advertise the event, they post many of the point table items on their Aethernet page. This store actually has a few interesting items listed."

Glancing into the rear view mirror towards the conversation, Cideeda flicks a furry ear back. "Yeah, as pricey as Merc-Mart usually is, the Point Table stuff is discounted A LOT. Regardless of how you like to determine the point to cash equivalency, they're decent deals."

She narrows her emerald green eyes into the distance and surveys the glistening grit of the county asphalt roadway. "The best deals are the damaged and incomplete items."

Entrepreneurial pride shines from a toothy grin on Cideeda's light brown face, and she combs her short, multi-colored hair with accomplished pride. "One time we found the carbon fiber plate kit to Dretphi's armor suit. I think it was only missing one plate."

Holding up two fingers, Dretphi aims a corrective stare ahead and calls out from the far back seat. "Two plates."

Satisfaction still finds purchase as a smile, and she shrugs. "Not important plates. Use the old plates instead without a problem. Still a good find."

Sebastian materializes his ghostly visage in the aisle of the cab. "Yeah, bro, it's not a bad place. If you go at the right times, otherwise it's absolute chaos."

Drifting lower next to his brother, a smug smile flashes on his transparent face. "We have a team membership, so we get a few perks. The after-hours order and pick up has been really handy in the past."

Aristespha shakes her head with a slight snort and softly chuckles to a humoring memory. "I still cannot believe you managed to get all those sandwiches."

Bach quirks an eyebrow and glances at his brother. "I guess there's a story here. Isn't there?"

Sebastian rubs the back of his neck and straightens his hovering posture with a proud grin. "Well. Yeah. It was a few months after Aristespha joined up, and we just got done combing through these old ruins looking for Noxian. It was really late, and we were lucky to find a Merc-Mart with an overnight parking lot."

Holding his hands to his side to highlight to past dismay, Sebastian squashes down old embarrassment into a grumble. "Our finances weren't as organized as they are now... So..."

He rolls his translucent blue eyes away from the shame. "We only had a little bit of money on hand to buy some food. But, the vending machine stuff wasn't looking that great."

Leaning closer to Bach, Sebastian flashes a sly, scheming grin. "So... I had an IDEA."

Bach narrows an expectant stare through Sebastian, tugging at the corner of his mouth with winces of memories. "Well... THAT'S always a dangerous situation."

Sebastian rolls his eyes away from the condemnation. "Come on, bro! I occasionally get a good one. Anyway..."

He motions to the team surrounding him. "We pooled our money together, and I went to the after-hours window. It took some negotiating, but I managed to get a great deal on all the deli sandwiches before they cleared them for the night."

Straightening himself up, he surfs the wave of pride. "Even had change leftover."

Sotalia snorts dismissively and covers mouth to contain the laughter. Between shorts gasps of derisive humor, she speaks under her breath. "Negotiating?! Gods! That's what you're calling it?"

Sebastian defensively crosses his arms against the disrespect. "Well. Uh. Yes? It took some convincing to get such a good deal."

Gritting her teeth to contain her commentary, Cideeda shakes her head and mouths. "Bullshit..."

Dretphi cracks a warped smile and avert her steely gray eyes away. Aristespha cocks an unconvinced gaze through Sebastian and huffs into call out. "Sebastian. You can tell everyone what really happened. It's okay."

Grimacing against honesty, Sebastian squirms while he accepts the truth. "Well..."

Unfolding his arms, he shrugs and places his hands on his hips. "I MAY have used my charms on the well-aged lady at the window. I mean, there's nothing wrong with a few choice compliments to make someone more agreeable with you."

A sinister grin manifests across Aristespha's ivory face, and she concentrates her stare further into Sebastian's soul. His eyes darting around at the attention upon him, Sebastian relents against the existential pressure. "HEY! I got a lot of good food at a really good price, when we needed it!"

Aristespha eases back to a sly smile and resumes browsing her tablet. "We know, Sebastian. I saw the numbers on the receipt."

Pausing a few moments, a wicked grin lights up on Aristespha, and she finishes with a playful tone. "Especially the handwritten numbers on the back of the receipt."

Bach shakes his head away from Sebastian and pinches the bridge of his nose, without a bit of real surprise. A defeated sigh slips out of Sebastian, and he weathers the humored glances of the team. "Well! No one's stomach complained! I know that for sure."

----

In a massive warehouse, rows of overhead lights hang off metal framework and illuminate dozens of long, wide shelf lined aisles below. Droves of people wander between the towering racks of merchandise, flow through the capillaries into the dividing veins, and pulse over to other sections of the huge mega store. Glancing above at the large advertising signs that showcase Merc-Mart specials, Bach gawks in astonishment at the gigantic commercial enterprise under the metal roof. During many moments, he slows to a halt and stares down the corridors of consumerism, attempting to process all before him. He scans around the area and spots Cideeda and Aristespha staring intensely at a display in the electronics section. He swiftly walks through crowded main, plain concrete lanes and drifts in the flow of customers crashing upon scattered kiosks in the wide open areas. Arriving behind Cideeda and Aristespha, Bach brushes himself off and peeks around. Aristespha glances over her shoulder and grants an acknowledging nod. "I wondered where you got to. Did you find anything?"

Shaking his head, Bach blinks through his bewilderment to an uneasy grimace. "Uh... No. To be honest, this place is a bit intimidating."

From the sword securely sheathed at Aristespha's side, Sebastian's ethereal voice emanates out. "Yeah, I know what you mean, bro. First time I went to one of these places was with Sotalia. She basically just dragged me around while I gawked like an idiot. Did you catch the armor section on the way here?"

Glancing through memory Bach's awe pulls him back in a direction, and he shudders back to the conversation. "Oh, yeah. Kinda hard to miss the power armor suit they had on display."

The high racks packed with boxes loom overhead, and his disbelief remains blatant staring above. "Man, I thought UltraStop was huge. We'd spend hours in one of those on the weekends back in school."

A ghostly laugh echoes from Sebastian. "Yeah, bro. I remember those days. Too much fun almost getting kicked out every other weekend. Surprised they just didn't do it preemptively the next time we showed up. Totally deserved it."

Lowering his head back down, Bach surveys the electronic merchandise in the aisle and compares the collection to determine a theme. "I knew Amaranth Valley was a bigger city area. But, big enough for a place like this?"

Standing back from studying a display headphone frame, Aristespha glances to Bach with an explanatory tone. "Merc-Mart actually does not count on surrounding towns to be customer bases. What they tend to do is pay attention to common guild mission locations, historical points of interest, and unclaimed zone borders."

Her ivory hand reaches out to a plastic package and twists the glare off the advertising text. She rolls her violet eyes and shorts dismissively. "About the only reason they are near any towns is for the workforce. I distinctly remember hearing about the number of social-economic studies they order regularly from The Grand Library."

Bach nods into a pondering trance and crosses his arms with an inwards gaze. "Huh, I guess that makes sense. All the ruins around here, the big weird zone, and the main highways running through here. Yeah..."

Wandering his focus outwards upon the display, he observes Cideeda traces a claw tip along detailed specs of small speaker modules. He steps back and pans his studious stare across the entire intimidating collective of displays. Below big lettered category labels, brands compete for attention upon vertical real estate and showcase a plethora of buzz words common to electronics. Bach narrows down his focus to the colorful shelves packed with pieces and parts for kit build headphones. Stepping between Aristespha and Cideeda, Bach lifts a cardboard backed plastic package from the hooked row and cocks his head curiously. "So... Um... Headphones?"

Nodding, Cideeda twists her indecision on her light brown face and places her hands on her hips with an idly contemplative claw tip picking at her short's waistband. "Yes. I've been wanting to get some new ones..."

Rocking her head with the wags of her long, fluffy tail, her furry ears flick between each point of internal deliberation. "And, Merc-Mart actually carries most of the F-Tech custom pieces that I REALLY like."

Placing the package back upon the display hook, Bach scratches the back of his head of longer brown hair. "Wow. I never actually knew there were so many different styles and designs."

Cideeda darts up her emerald green eyes towards Bach and grins toothily, eagerly to educate. Combing out her large, pointed, fur filled ears on the side of her head, she gently tugs them out so the tips wiggle above the ends of her shoulders. She points to both ears, lifts and droops a few times, and winks with a bright smile. "Normal headphones are NOT comfortable on these."

Watching the demonstration, Bach snorts and scratches his chin thoughtfully as revelation widens his perspective. Newfound curiosity leads his exploration to biological dynamics different audiophiles endure. Watching the interest, Cideeda reaches out and taps a logo upon a base kit. "F-Tech started out in the old Fvalian territories around the Yellow Provinces. So, they've always designed their stuff with different ears in mind."

Aristespha plucks a package off the display and brings it closer to her studious stare. Furrowing her brow, she tosses back her long, silver blue hair and entertains a passing thought. "If I remember my history classes correctly, F-Tech was either the second or third foreign company to be granted distribution rights within Evuukian counties."

Waving the F-Tech earpiece kit side to side, she sighs with a humored smile. "As self interested as Evuukian House politicians are to their own businesses, even they couldn't resist having comfortable headphones."

Cideeda picks two packages, places them in a shopping basket nearby on the basic tile floor, and lifts up the basket. "Well, not sense in changing a sure thing. Same cup and headband styles as my old ones."

She peers around Bach towards Aristespha and frowns briefly with an irritated snarl. "BUT, I'm definitely going for the softer padding."

Aristespha places the chosen kit into the shopping basket as she passes by Cideeda. "Well, I think I will do the same. My headband is still good, but the cup padding has worn out."

A frustrated frown twists on her face, and she grumbles. "Getting very tired of waking up to pinched ears."

Bach perks his brow and quizzically glances towards Aristespha. "Oh, listening to music when you go to bed?"

Shrugging nonchalantly, Aristespha pivots herself at opening of the aisle leading to the main, smooth concrete avenue. "Occasionally. It depends on mood..."

She darts her gaze down and lightly pats the hilt of the sword. "Also if I'm trying to drown something out."

While she walks to the end of the aisle, Sebastian's quiet tone rises from the sword just audible enough for Aristespha. "Really, dear? You know I haven't even been able to snore."

With a few meters of distance from Bach and Cideeda, Aristespha lowers her head momentarily, fighting for a smile over her longing sigh. Sadness colors her soft whisper. "I... I miss being woken up in the middle of night to that sound."

After a long, gloomy pause, Sebastian musters up a cheerful tone and brightens with gentle encouragement. "Don't worry... You won't miss it for long. We're making progress. Just... One day at a time, dear."

Standing next to Bach, Cideeda flicks her furry ear away from Aristespha's and Sebastian's conversation and tightens her grip on the shopping basket. She pulls a short, somber smile while watching the subtle droop in Aristespha's very long, pointed ears. Seconds later, she works off the sad expression and dons an eager grin. Ushering Bach along, she regroups at the end of the aisle and perks her furry ears with a wag of the tail. "So, where to next, Aristespha?"

Straightening up her posture, Aristespha taps a spot on her tablet and checks a box on a list. Searching the grand arena of commercialism penned in by towering monoliths of product shelving with roving bands of other shoppers, she points over towards a section across the distance with a narrowly clear line of sight. "I think we should join back up with Dretphi and Sotalia. Bach needs some new clothes and some proper sparring gear, and I think that should be located over there."

Bach squints at the designated spot and grumbles with trickles of defensive pride. "Well, I don't need THAT much. Just a few shirts and pairs of pants really."

Sebastian laughs out ethereally from the sword. "Yeah, bro... No. You NEED some new clothes. I actually recognize the socks and underwear you have from our school days. Seriously, my treat. Buy some NEW clothes for once. Have fun with it."

Bach resigns to the chore with a sigh and shrugs as traces of interest slip out. "Okay! I mean.. I guess I SHOULD. If only to go along with all the other changes in my life."

Sebastian musters up some bravado and encourages his brother along. "That's the spirit!"

Suspicion and wariness mix into the ethereal reverb of this tone. "Also... I think we need to make sure Sotalia doesn't wander off to the point tables without us."

Cideeda snarls her upper lip, and a spark of fierce frugalness glints from her emerald green eyes. She flexes her claw-tipped fingers with a restrained growl. "Gods, if that woman spends all our points on magical crap..."

----

In a vast open space, merchandise completely coats rows of large tables, and Merc-Mart associates stand at the ready with a chipper smile and tablet in hand. Sotalia drops the last question piece of kitsch in the bag with a nod of approval from the salesperson and struts off with a delighted grin. Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi filter through the outer perimeter of the contained bazaar and regroup around Sotalia. Behind a loaded up cart of individual Merc-Mart branded bags, Dretphi guides the merchandise vehicle with one hand and lifts up a small fluffy toy boar out of a bag. She smiles happily at the prize and holds it close. Wrestling down a flit of disapproval, Cideeda glares out of the corner of her eye at the single, stuffed bag Sotalia wings and flicks her furry ears away from the satisfied tune Sotalia hums. "I STILL think the 5% overall discount would have been a better deal."

Sotalia flashes a pout at Cideeda and draws the bag up into her arms in a playful defense. "But, they had so many neat magical things with a really low point cost! You got that dock for the holoplayer. And everyone else, got something."

Shaking her head against the notion and Cideeda sighs with heavy resignation. "I know."

Aristespha pats Cideeda on the shoulder with a commiserating smile. "Don't worry. Merc-Mart would probably fight stacking that many discounts with my Grand Library discount. It would have been a wash."

Cideeda nods while flicking her furry ears with her thoughts. She shrugs with a begrudging acceptance and opens her bag up to glance at the holoplayer dock box within. "True... And, it will be nice to have a proper dock for that old holoplayer."

Sebastian chimes into the conversation from the sword at Aristespha's side. "Hey, we found that copy of Zone Runners for that old console."

Bach closely examines the game box in his hand and blinks in stale surprise at the find. "Yeah, I mean, I haven't seen a copy of THIS since back in school. Even back then, only one guy in the dorm managed to ever get a legit copy."

A brief, ethereal laugh slips out from the sword. "Gods, all the hours we put into that one epic run, bro."

Shaking his head slowly, Bach drops off the game box in a bag within the shopping cart. "Man, We ALMOST got to the Veil. Wouldn't mind trying it again someday. I'd totally be out of practice though, and we'd really need someone else experienced to switch up with. Else you start making mistakes when you get worn out and tired."

Wandering her focus from the conversation, Aristespha motions towards Merc-Mart's dining area. If no one is against eating here, I am a bit hungry, and they do have a decent menu. Anyone else?"

Nodding in agreement, Dretphi returns the fluffy boar toy back into the safety of its bag and steers the cart towards the automatic exit doors. "I am not against it. I will put our bags in the humvee. Order a number five special for me, please."

After Cideeda tosses her the keys, Dretphi splits from the team. Leading through the archway of the in store restaurant, Aristespha usher the group ahead of her towards the counter. Fighting to keep her idle confidence on her ivory face, twitches of uncertainty crack through the facade, and she grumbles to herself. A reverberating snort sounds out from the sword at her side, and she flicks down a brief violet glare and crosses her arms indignantly. Sebastian's voice whispers out. "Seriously, just get the twenty pack of chicken nuggets, dear. I know that's what you want."

Aristespha wrestles down an defiant pout and huffs to a narrowing stare at the menu suspended over the counter. She projects down a frustrated mumble. "For your information, Sebastian, I thought I would try something different today."

Suppressing the humor bubbling in his tone. "Okay. So, what are you getting?"

Straightening her posture with a deep breath, Aristespha tosses back her long silvery blue hair and squints indecisively at the back-lit array of trademarked names, fanciful glamor photos of food, and prices. "I haven't decided."

Faint ethereal snickering resonates out, and Aristespha drops a swift, reflexive elbow from her folded arms against the handle of the sword. Standing before the large showcase of fast, fine cuisine choices, Bach and Sotalia slowly scan the options, each pausing their hunts in moments of internal deliberation. Perking her furry ears, Cideeda quickly spots her choice and gets in a line in front of a register. Leaning closer to Bach, Sotalia furrows her golden gaze and motions to the menu. "What are you thinking?"

Bach scratches the back of his head and twists his mouth with a shrug. "I think I'll give the house special a chance."

Glancing around the walkway leading to aisles dividing booths and tables, he pats his pockets. "Hey, could you order for me? I'm going to go find the bathroom."

Sotalia smirks at Bach's distracted search and waves him off. "Sure. Go use the bathroom, I'll cover yours."

With a thankful nod to Sotalia, he maneuvers between the small groups of people waiting for their orders. Scanning over the sea of occupied tables and chairs spread out in the dining area, he spots a simple sign pointing the way to salvation. He goes around a corner and quickens his pace down the walkway along a long wall of windows to a green space. After a swift double-check against monetary doubt for the right door, he slips on in. Minutes later, Bach exits the facilities and steps down the path. Gazing outside through the windows to the paved walkway running through a grass lot, he surveys the small runs of shrubs and other commercial landscaping encircled by old mulch. He returns his focus forward, and a spark of familiarity gravitates his gaze to someone. Sitting a few window side tables down, a man sorts through his order, checking each item with experience-earned scrutiny. He unconsciously brushes off the chest and leg harnesses over his tough, padded jumpsuit. After a few crackles slip out, he turns off the personal radio rig along the chest harness, and pats tech enhanced goggles hanging from his neck. He raises his head from inspecting his order and brushes his hand through his bright, blonde hair with a satisfied, relieved sigh. Bach halts in place, and recognition seizes his stare upon the man. The man notices the attention. Catching sight of Bach, his light brown eyes spring open fully. "...Holy shit... BACH?!"

Bach's jaw drops, and a huge smile explodes on his face. "KALEB?!"

Kaleb hops out of his chair and stands straight up with his arms out. "Motherfucking Bach Warwick! Where the fuck have you been, you bastard?! Get over here!"

Bach walks up with a hand out and shakes Kaleb's hand. Kaleb pulls him close and both path the other one back. Kaleb steps back and glances over Bach. "I'll be damned, my dude. Out of all the places to find you. How the hell have you been?"

Bach shrugs uncertainly and laughs with a tinge of embarrassment. "Well... That's kind of a crazy story, really. Gods, I don't even know where to start with it all."

Kaleb holds his hands out expectantly to his sides with an eager grin. "Well, I'm not doing anything right now. Tell me all about it."

Furrowing his brow against the rush of recent memory, Bach takes a deep breath in and grins awkwardly. "Well... Long story short for now... Sebastian got taken down by Noxian. But, he didn't die, technically, and ended up tracking me down. He and his party practically abducted me and have been getting me into adventuring. And, I've actually been on a few crazy missions and-"

Lifting his hands up to Bach, Kaleb blinks incredulously a few times and narrows a curious stare. "Whoa! Okay! Hold up. Back up to that first point. Shadeesa and I saw the news about Sebastian and his group."

Cocking his head to the side, he fights through blatantly bewilderment. "He's not dead? Technically?! The fuck does THAT mean?"

Bach rubs his eyes into a pinch of the bridge of his nose. "Yeah... It's a bit weird, man. I know. Uh, how about we go to my group, and he'll explain it, him... self..."

Kaleb nods quickly and snaps his head out towards the rest of the dining area, searching the vast space. "Sounds like a plan. So, where are they at?"

Subconscious recognition pulls Bach's attention to activity beyond the window behind Kaleb. Slowly blinking numerous times, he squints and fails to fully process the scene before him. Outside in the grass lot a large scaly creature wanders into view. With a strange feline grace walking on four limbs, the massive creature steps lazily behind a small shrub and sits down, towering above it. A long, finned tail coils up nearby, and two pairs of folded wings shudder as it yawns open its large maw. Bright green eyes focus down upon the small shrub, and a black tongue licks the creature's lips. The sun shines across blue and black shiny scales, between white bony plates. The creature deftly digs claws into the dirt around the shrub, and scoops the top layer with dexterous hands. Craning a head down with its long neck and open maw, it fits most of the shrub within its mouth. The maw closes tightly around the shrub. Lifting up its head, it uproots the plant effortlessly from the lawn and slowly chews upon the plant, bits of dirt shaking free with each motion.

Kaleb faces Bach again and quizzically asks. "Hey? Bach? Where are they at-"

Noticing Bach staring past him, he follows Bach's eyes to a point behind him. Kaleb tenses at spotting the creature and growls in frustration. "Oh, gods dammit! Lagi!"

He rushes down the dining walkway to an external door to the grass lot. Bach tilts his head to the side and mouths out through the state of confusion and shock. "Lagi?"

Kaleb storms out through the doorway, stomping his boots with each step on the paved walkway. Stopping with rigid parental authority, he throws his hand down and snaps to a point on the ground. "LAGI! SPIT IT OUT! NOW! You're being a bad boy!"

Lagi slows munching upon the shrub to a defiant, unamused halt. With roots dangling out, he slowly shifts his stare to Kaleb and waits. Narrowing his bright green eyes upon Kaleb, a faint frown curls around sharp teeth. Kaleb stands in front of Lagi and sternly glares up. "You put it down, right now! That's not your shrub, you can't eat it! Put it down now, or no treats after dinner tonight."

Lagi meets Kaleb's glare and defiantly grunts with an undertone of frustration and a trailing snort. Crossing his arms, Kaleb exaggerates the taps of his boot and maintains an unmoving parental stare. "Put. It. Down. Or. No. Treats."

An odd silence flushes out all other sounds in the area. Kaleb and Lagi maintain eye contact throughout the quiet, heavy tension. After a quick squint challenging the authority, Lagi opens his mouth and tosses the rest of the shrub into his maw. He closes with cheeks bulging slightly. Kaleb pivots around, throwing his hands up in the air. "Welp! No treats for you!"

He reaches inside a chest pocket, pulls out an aetherphone, and waves it above his head. "Guess who I am calling? I'm going to tell her what you did, and you better hope she just sticks with tonight. Because she might say no treats for the rest of the week, and she'll be right."

Lagi's eyes spring wide open, and his pupils dilate in childish terror. He drops his head down above the fresh hole in the ground. With a low, guttural wretch, Lagi deposits the shrub back into the dirt. A coating of mucus and phlegm glistens in the sun, and a gust of wind tips the half-chewed shrub crooked. He frantically sweeps up loose dirt around the base of the shrub with his hands and pats it down haphazardly. Speeding over behind Kaleb, Lagi attempts to nuzzle his head on Kaleb, pleading through pitiful chirps and whines. Kaleb firms his resolve and holds the aetherphone in front of him. He hangs his thumb above the call button on the screen. The pines grow desperate, and Lagi begs for forgiveness with bright green eyes affixed upon the aetherphone. Bach cautiously opens the external door and steps onto the walkway outside. Turning towards Lagi, he gawks in utter shock and tilts his head to the side in pure disbelief. He rubs his eyes and blinks again dumbfounded and entertains the conclusion old memories offer. "Lagi... That's you?"

Lagi ceases. Lifting his head up towards the sound, his eyes lock onto Bach and his jaw opens in surprise. A happy shriek pierces the air. Lagi excitedly lunges forth into a hopping, bounding gait. A wide eyed stare spring open on Bach's light tan face, he throws out his hand to the more than ten meter long creature and tries to command. "Lagi! Sit! Sit, Lagi! Lagi?!"

Inside the Merc-Mart restaurant, a growing crowd around the large windows watches the scene unfold outside. Standing up from the table with Aristespha, Cideeda, and Dretphi, she narrows her golden eyes at the gathering of people. "Gods, what is going on over there-"

Squinting for a glimpse of the action, she brushes back a stray lock of dark red hair over a swept back horn. "What the fuck is Bach doing outsid-?!"

Lagi charges up to Bach, sweeps Bach into tackle with his front legs, and curls up around. Sotalia glances back to the awe-struck, blank stares of everyone else. Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia sprint out of their seats and rush towards the exterior door.

Outside, Kaleb runs over and calls out. "Bach? You okay?"

An arm reaches out and pats the head of the purring beast defensively curled around. Bach chuckles while wiggling for more freedom. "Yeah! He's still pretty gentle despite how big he's gotten."

Lagi whines happily and shudders both pairs of wings in sheer joy. Bach pulls him himself free and meets the light headbutt from Lagi. Scratching under Lagi's chin, he laughs with a bright smile. "Yes, I missed you, too."

Kaleb walks around Lagi next to Bach and pats him on the back. Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia pile out the door and observe Bach petting the large creature. Examining the situation, Aristespha furrows her intrigued brow and cocks her head to a hint of memory. Resting her hand on the handle of the sword, she glances down thoughtfully. Cideeda and Dretphi cautiously approach Bach, being very mindful of Lagi. Blinking her golden eyes in astonishment, Sotalia flings her hands out in front of her and yells out with an incredulous expression on her face. "Okay?! What the fuck is a DRAGON doing out here?!"

Starling him from a quiet conversation with Aristespha, confusion overtakes Sebastian. "Wait, what?! A dragon?!"

A curious grin grows upon Aristespha, she respectfully nods to Kaleb. "Kaleb Hellstrom, I presume?"

Kaleb pivots to Aristespha and nods with a slight bow. "Yes, ma'am. I-"

A spark of recognition flashes his sun tanned face, and he smiles brightly. "Oh! Your Sebastian's group! Where is he?"

Sebastian's ghostly form materializes next to Aristespha. Lagi spots Sebastian. A surge of joy stumbles to a pause, and he quizzically tilts his head at the visage of Sebastian. Examining closely, he chirps out his confusion and whines. Sebastian nods to Lagi with a calming smile. "Don't worry, boy. I'm doing fine all things considered. This is only temporary."

An awkward pause looms over in the lull of activity. Kaleb takes in a long breath, puts his hands on his waists, and chuckles. "Well! I guess we got A LOT to talk about."

The group collectively nods, including Lagi. Aristespha briefly scans the windows leading inside and sighs holding back her embarrassment. "If I may make a suggestion, let us continue this back at our place? Somewhere private."

Bach follows Aristespha's glance and tenses at the small audience of a dozen people watching. Sebastian shrugs in acceptance and waves to people. Many wave back, while eating their food. One man gestures for the group to keep on going. "Don't mind us! We didn't know there would be a show."

Kaleb slowly nods with a clenching grin. Points to the harness and saddle upon Lagi's shoulders, he whispers to the team. "If you can give me the address, I've got a holographic HUD with a navigation system. I'll meet you all wherever."

----

Afternoon light drifts across the wooden floor of the small bedroom through an open doorway. Sliding from a recording equipment cluttered desk, Gerald stands up from his chair and steps through the doorway onto a small balcony. From the third story overlook, he wanders his stare over the large backyard of the property and drifts his attention to the nearby properties. He lifts a condensation covered bottle of beer up and enjoys a long swig. Resting his idle gaze above the treetops of the filling in the forest, he absorbs freshly spring scenery and slowly sniffs in the warming air. Creaks and cracks of old wood sound out from the stairs near the entry to the bedroom. Samantha steps onto the landing before the doorway and studies the slight disarray of the room. Pausing to note major caches of equipment within the chaos, she presents a short grin. "Well, I see you've settled in quickly."

Gerald glances over his shoulder and casually shrugs. "Pretty easy when you have plenty of space to scatter stuff around. I'll sort it out later. Just happy enough to get it up here."

Samantha walks carefully across the room, avoiding large blockades of travel containers. She slides next to Gerald on the balcony and blinks in honest surprise at the view. "This IS a nice view. I can see why you claimed it."

Nodding, Gerald waves his hand across the scene. "Pretty enough. But... I especially like the clear shot I've got of our adventurers' yard, and..."

He settles his pointing finger towards a large open field behind a ranch style house. Taking another swig from his beer, he guides Samantha's curiosity towards a nearby plot. "A nice shot of our OTHER adventurers."

Leaning slightly over the handrail, Samantha squints over the forest tree tops and grows a mischievous grin. "Oh! That IS nice. I'm sure you have some plans for that."

Gerald chuckles and perks his eyebrows with a smug smirk. "Oh, yeah. I'm thinking of using the outdoor case with a telephoto lens and motion trigger. Fix it on the railing. I still haven't decided on the high resolution camera or that one with the good night-vision mode. "

Samantha stands back and crosses her arms. Resting her chin on her fist, she sighs. "If you want my opinion, I'd go with the high resolution one for now. I'll talk to Howie and see if he can send us another outdoor case, because I would love to have both at the ready. You never know what's going to happen-"

A loud shriek echoes out from above and low, repetitious thumps vibrate through the air. Samantha blinks and searches to the left and right. Recognition springs Gerald stare wide open, and he immediately tilts his head up. The balcony briefly darkens under a huge shadow passing over. Samantha hunts in vain. "What WAS THAT?! It sounded like a hawk, but huge!"

Gerald's eyes lock themselves to a single target. Slamming back the remainder of his beer, he tosses the empty aside and reaches through the balcony doorway. Puzzling at Gerald, Samantha spots the source of the strange noises and gawks in sheer astonishment. Her jaw drops with a blank stare, and the few words that manifest in her mouth tumble out into incoherence. Coasting low into the field, Lagi stretches his arms and legs out for a landing. Riding a breeze to hover over a clear stretch of grass, Lagi pitches his massive front wingspan and deftly flaps his smaller back wings. With a final dip down and cushioning slam of air, he touches down, routine and smooth. As he glances over his shoulder, Kaleb pats him on the head from the saddle. Leaning forward, Kaleb speaks a few words to Lagi and waves his hand towards the wooden plank picnic table. Samantha slowly pivots towards where she remembers Gerald being. "By the gods, I hope-"

Her smiles grow wide with satisfaction. Gerald adjusts his large shoulder camera rig. Feeling a pat and squeeze on the shoulder from Samantha, he laughs. "You know better than to ask that."

----

A strong breeze sways the tops of tall grass in the field. Lagi stretches his two pairs of wings, and afternoon sun glints off the blue black scales on the dragon. While rolling the stiffness out of a shoulder, Kaleb walks up to the wood plank picnic table that Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sotalia, and Sebastian congregate around. Bach meets approaching Lagi with arms outstretched, and Lagi quickly nuzzles his head close to Bach. A low purr rumbles out from the content dragon, enjoying scratches under his chin. Bach smiles with a chuckle and hugs Lagi. "Yeah... I missed you, Lagi."

Kaleb shakes his head with a grin as he watches the two. Cautiously approaching Kaleb, Dretphi keeps a calm facade over her overwhelming eagerness and politely asks. "Would it be okay for me to pet Lagi?"

Glancing up to Dretphi, Kaleb chuckles and gestures with a wave towards the dragon. "Oh! Go right ahead. Really. He LOVES the attention. I won't be able to convince him to go back home until he shows off for a bit, anyway."

Flicking her furry ears away from the conversation, Cideeda steps up to the side of Dretphi. She carefully reaches up and gently scratches Lagi under the neck in between the attention from Bach and Dretphi. Sotalia crosses her arms vaguely petulant and sniffs in a demanding air. Alternating an expectant stare between Sebastian and Bach, she furrows her brow. "Okay! I guess I'm going to ask the questions. Dragon. Why? How? When?"

Bach and Sebastian exchange awkward glances and converse quietly through flashes of expressions. Sebastian shrugs in defeat and tilts his head to the side with an appeasing grin. "Well, to be fair, I did mention a few times my roommate had a pet dragon."

Sotalia pivots a glare upon Sebastian and rests her hands on her hips with incredulous tilt. "You made it sound like a little dragon, something like a whelp!"

She throws her hands out towards Lagi and waves her arms emphatically at the dragon. "I honestly didn't think it was a legitimate DRAGON."

Stepping back from Lagi, Bach frees up space for Aristespha to slip in to caress Lagi. Studying the large creature, he scratches the back of his head. "Well, I mean... Back THEN, Lagi could fit in the bathtub... after a little bit of a fight."

Bouncing his glances between the ground, the top of Lagi's, and the tips of the wings, Bach faces Kaleb and points a thumb over to Lagi. "Dude, how big has he gotten?! I'm amazed his back wings grew that big. But... He's HUGE."

Kaleb pulls a deep breath in and exhales with a trailing sigh. Blinking through his memory, he strokes his chin. "Umm... Last time Shadeesa and I managed to get a tape measure on him, he's easily pushing a fifteen meter front wingspan and maybe eleven meters long head to tail. He's probably gotten bigger."

Cocking his head, Sebastian eyes Kaleb with a sly grin. "Aha! So you and Shadeesa are still keeping in touch?"

Kaleb works a smile on his face and laughs. "You could say that. In fact, I wanted to thank you, Sebastian."

Sebastian lifts an eyebrow and places his hands on his hips with hints of smugness slipping out. "Really? And, why is that?"

Kaleb proudly straightens up his posture. "Well, I finally took your advice and asked Shadeesa out. I mean, I'm a biologist. She's an exotic veterinarian. Totally made sense when I thought about it."

He shrugs his shoulders and crosses his arms. "And well, I got a job traveling to strange and weird places, which worked perfect for her research of creatures that live in those same places. It made for some really interesting places to have dates. So, we've been together since a few months after you graduated."

Bach and Sebastian exchange glances and focus upon Kaleb with knowing smirks. Sebastian puffs up his chest with an ethereal chuckle. "Damn, Kaleb. That's really awesome. Well, I figured you two would do well-"

Kaleb flicks up a finger as a point of attention and grins. "Hey, I'm not done, yet. But, yeah, you were right. We've actually settled down a little over an hour away and well..."

Wrestling the mixture of pride and embarrassment, he laughs. "We're expecting our first in six months."

Sebastian's mouth opens silently in dumbstruck awe. Bach walks up and shakes Kaleb's hand. "Congratulations! That's great news!"

Kaleb humbly accepts a wave of courteous congratulations, and shrugs. "Everything is... Good. Shadeesa makes sure of that. She can give more details, herself. When we get inside, I'll get a video call going to her on my aetherphone. Hopefully next doctor visit, we'll find out the sex of the baby and figure out if the baby will have her mother's horns."

Pausing from petting Lagi, Sotalia glances over her shoulder at Kaleb with an interested, hopeful smile. "So, Shadeesa is part emin?"

Kaleb nods. "Oh yeah, full emin."

Sotalia bites her lip briefly and allows a confident grin to form. "Well, if she needs a half-emin to talk to, I'll answer any questions she's got."

Blinking through a wave of parental worries, Kaleb shakes back to the conversation and exhales in relief. "Thank you. Any bits of wisdom will help us so much."

Lifting his head up, Lagi cranes over Kaleb and mutters a sequence of clicks, chirps, and rumbles. Kaleb rolls his light brown eyes and rubs Lagi's chin. "Okay! I was wondering when you'd want to show off for everyone."

Kaleb sweeps a gaze over everyone else and gestures out into the field. "Would it be okay if Lagi does one of his spells? It's something he likes to show new people."

Bach searches around for any objections and points off to the lone boulder in the field. "I don't have any problems. We train in this field anyway, and THAT boulder is usually the target."

Nodding, Kaleb steps next to his saddle on Lagi and draws out a large, bulky energy pistol from a holster. Cideeda squints at the high-tech weapon and quirks an intrigued brow. "That's a Particle Power Blaster isn't it?"

Kaleb hoists the pistol up, keeping it muzzle up into the air with a sly grin. "Yes it is! It's nothing fancy and old. But, it has a multi-spectrum laser target painter module. I use it to point out things to Lagi."

He whistles, snaps his fingers, and levels his aim at the boulder. "Lagi! Get ready!"

A spark of excitement courses through the dragon's bright green eyes. Slowly unfurling his massive wings into the air, the blue and black scales shimmer shades between. Claws dig into the dirt, and anchor in the soil a large frame. Opening his maw wide, glowing trails of magical flow funnel towards a central point building in front of Lagi's mouth. Sotalia slides next to Aristespha, and both carefully observe. Sotalia eagerly waits. "This is so cool! I remember the last time I saw a dragon breathe fire, it jetted almost a hundred meters across the sky!"

Kaleb taps a second set of triggers on the pistol and a bright blue beam flashes on the boulder. Lagi full attention focuses upon the point, and the magical condensing energy warps. Misty flow erupts into a flaming orb of orange fire, and a river of energy rushes in from tributaries all across the dragon's body. Staring in wonder at the manifesting power, Aristespha blinks her eyes to violet glow and concentrates upon the torrents of flow. Sotalia's excitement stalls while watching the orb, and flashes of familiarity border on recognition on her light tan and dark gray face. The energy ball near Lagi's mouth compresses down, and colors blend from orange to yellow to blue to blue-white. Rolling flames surge into powerful jet torches, roaring loudly. Tilting her head, recognition springs out of Sotalia, and she gawks in disbelief with a hanging jaw. Aristespha grins in sheer amusement and enjoys the expression on Sotalia.

Kaleb pulls and holds the second trigger down. A glint of excitement flashes in Lagi's bright green eyes. The blue-white orb of magical fire streaks across the field, and crashes upon the boulder into a fiery explosion. The shockwave ripples through the grass and carries a loud thunderous boom across the field, smacking into the leaves of the bordering forest and vibrating the glass nearby. Quickly turning his head, Lagi eagerly watches reactions from the team with a toothy smile, and happily hops in place. Sotalia blinks out her astonishment. Gradually pivoting around, she raises a hand with a point at Bach, and narrows her golden stare. "YOU had something to do with this. THAT was not normal for any dragon I have ever heard of."

Bach awkwardly shrugs, hands out to his sides uneasily. "Uh, yeah... You could say that. It turns out dragons learn their fire blast spells from their parents. Neither of Lagi's were alive. He was trying to mimic a lot of the spells I was doing..."

He chuckles and averts his gaze away from the condemning glare. "So, I... Improvised a few spells?"

Laughing, Kaleb places his blaster pistol back into the holster on the saddle. "Yeah, it's kind of strange. Lagi only ever paid attention to Bach when it came to spell casting. So we figured he might learn from him. Lagi knows a lot of different spells from Bach."

Sotalia grins ear to ear and flutters her eyes at Kaleb. "Well, I would LOVE to see them. Would it be too much to ask for Lagi and you to showcase a few of the more spectacular ones?"

Barely containing her excitement, Cideeda grin sharply. "YEAH! I'd like to see a few more! That was amazing."

Dretphi eagerly nods with a large smile. Aristespha sits on the picnic table bench, and amusedly watches Bach's uncomfortable grimaces under Sotalia's scrutiny. Kaleb nonchalantly pivots to Lagi. "You up for a few more? Looks like we're putting on a show."

Wagging his long, fanning tail, Lagi nods and chirps delightedly with an energetic sway. Kaleb plucks his blaster box out, side steps from the dragon, and levels an aim on the boulder. "Okay! Well, I'll do some of the usual routine. This next one is called Homing Laser. Available in single shot or flurry attack."

----

At the edge of the field behind the ranch style house, a pair of furry, tufted ears flick up and a pair of swirling horns rise just into view from behind a bush. Peering above a small shrub at the edge of the forest, Deedri and Tassilda stare eyes wide at the large, blue-black dragon sunning himself in the grassy field. A strong breeze sweeps over the open space and bends the taller stems still out of the green sea. Lagi instinctively pitches his wings up and sinks his front claws into the dirt. The current gradually hoists up the dragon just enough to hover above the ground briefly, and Lagi relaxes in the drift. Tassilda tilts her head close to Deedri and keeps her tone hushed against her anxiety. "What is a dragon doing here?!"

Deedri raises her auburn stare above the top of the brush with her hands covering her mouth and squirms excitedly. "I-I-I-i... I can't believe it! It's really a dragon! A BIG, QUAD wing... They're so RARE."

Warily glancing over to eager Deedri, Tassilda stares back at the dragon. "Right. Yes. How about we sneak back and call it a day?"

Determine glints in Deedri's eyes, and she bites her lip with a grin. "I'm going to call him over here."

Tassilda snaps her head at Deedri and blinks blankly. "Uh- You're what?"

Two clawed hands reach out over the bush and gesture Lagi over. Deedri clicks with her mouth and directs her voice. "Hey! Yeah! Over here!"

Another set of light gray arms snatch the first set away, and Tassilda puts her face in front of Deedri's. "WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOING?"

Pulling her arms back, Deedri quirks an indignant brow. "Calling him over. I want to see him up close."

Tassilda shudders her body in disbelief and narrows her light blue on black eyes. "Are you insane?! That's a DRAGON!"

While taking in a deep breath, Deedri slowly nods her head with a determined smile growing. "Tassilda. I know. My undergraduate thesis was titled The Engineered Genetics and Magical Alterations of the Modern Day Dragon. So, when presented with an extremely rare octopod, tame, and unusually large dragon..."

She leans her confident stare closer to Tassilda and asserts. "I'm going to get a good look at him. And, I would like to pet this creature."

Fumbling in surprise, Tassilda leans away and grimaces. "Okay. Go ahead. Go pet the dragon."

Deedri stands up slowly and walks out to Lagi. "Hey, big dragon! What's your name?"

Wincing in anticipation, Tassilda watches the approach. She furrows her brow, pulls back a stray raven black lock over a horn, and blinks in surprise. A flurry of confusion washes over her light gray face, and she mumbles to herself. "She's... actually petting it... It's purring?"

Minutes later, she shakes her head free from dumbstruck bewilderment. Standing up, she brushes the dirt and leaves off her form fitting outfit, regains her air of confidence, and struts out. "Well... Hello. What big tough dragon do we have here?"

Deedri smiles tightly and rolls her eyes to Tassilda. Meeting the stare, Tassilda sighs and scratches underneath Lagi's chin. "Well. I couldn't very well let you have all the fun."

----

Inside the living space of the ranch style house, a gathering around the dining room table gazes upon the tabletop. On the table, an aetherphone screen shows an emin woman smiling warmly. She exhales in joyous relief and wipes a tear off her white freckled cheek, underneath her green on black eyes. "Gods... It's just so good to see you again, Bach. And, to also know you're not dead, Sebastian. Kaleb and I were so worried, but didn't know how to contact you."

Sebastian visage awkwardly grits his teeth to a smile. "Well. To be honest, we haven't been very reachable. My fault there."

Bach shrugs with a sigh. "And, I kind of dropped off the face of Nexus. So... My fault there, too, Shadeesa."

Shadeesa guides her dark green hair over her light gray pointed ears and shakes her horned head. "Oh, it doesn't matter. We got each other's contact information now. I'll hopefully be there in person in the near future."

Tilting her head to the side, she tugs at the corner of her mouth. "Or, you all are more than welcome to come visit our home. Whatever works. It's not much of a place, but we have plenty of land."

Glancing over his shoulder to the dimming light outside, Kaleb gazes at Shadeesa on screen. "Hmm... Hate to break up the party, but the daylight hours are running thin. Hey, could you check the radar real quick for me, please?"

Shadeesa spins to a side with a faint squeak of a rolling chair and leans out of view. "Yes, I will. And... Oh my. Good gods, really?! Again?!"

Kaleb leans in closer to the aetherphone with concern. "Did that damn weird zone kick something else out?!"

On the screen, a hand grabs around the camera lens on the other side of the call. With the sounds of movement filtering in, the view clears to show a computer screen. A weather radar loops a time lapse animation, showing large, dangerous storm cells in bright highlights. Kaleb hems and rubs his chin in contemplation. "Well. Damn. That's going right into my flight path back to the house. That is pretty big and slow moving, too. Okay, I need to lea-"

A stern voice floods the surrounding space from the aetherphone and Shadeesa firmly stares through the phone. "Stay for the night."

Lifting an eyebrow, Kaleb stares at his phone and begins to open his mouth. The aetherphone screen fills with Shadeesa's face. Her stoic, stern, unamused glare slices through Kaleb's very being and seizes his complete attention. Bach and Sebastian instinctively take a slow step away from Kaleb and wait. Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia exchange bemused glances, off to the side, while Aristespha curls a hidden smirk. Kaleb nods his head and smiles with a resigned breath. "You are right. No sense in chancing it right now."

Sebastian steps back to Kaleb's side. "We won't put you out into the storm. You are welcome to our most comfortable couch."

Bach taps a fist into Kaleb's shoulder. "Plus, Lagi can curl up comfortably in the garage. I'll just need to move my bike."

Dropping into a seat on the couch, Cideeda settles into the cushions with a remote in hand. "Hey, you can help us suffer through watching tonight's episode of the Next Adventurers of Nexus."

Crossing his arms, Kaleb shrugs in agreement. "That works for me. We haven't caught the latest season yet. Anything interesting happened?"

Silence looms in the air. A consensus of nods follow. Kaleb warily picks up his phone from the dining table and directs his voice to the phone. "I think we might want to get caught up."

Shadeesa nods on screen. "Yes. I get the feeling we should."

-16-

Morning light drifts into the living space through the back sliding glass door, and warmth radiates from all the floor and furniture covered. Soft clicks of metal upon ceramic bounces off the neutral tone painted walls from the gathering at the dining table. Fighting back the lingering drowsiness, Bach brushes his fingers through his longer brown hair and wrestles his head back against yawn. Rubbing the remaining traces of sleep from his blue eyes, his attention wanders a moment and spots a stray gray hair hanging prominently in front of his eyes. The gray hair sways with faint air currents, separate from Bach's white streak. Hovering his fingers around the target, a quick clamp seizes the offending hair. He plucks and flicks the gray hair away upon the floor and returns his distant gaze to his bowl of cereal. Starling back to awareness, he cracks a smile. "Damn... It's been FOREVER since I binged on Zone Runners."

Kaleb loses his fight against a yawn and shakes his head. Shuddering into the conversation, he scoops up a spoonful of cereal from his bowl and lazily hangs in midway. "No shit. That was NICE. Gods, wish I could have stayed up longer. Can't put off sleep like I used to."

Bach shrugs while crunching down and glances at the coffee table. "Well. That third run was too good to risk sleep deprivation on. I think it was best that we saved it for later. We got lucky to find those artifacts so early. Got real potential to make it to the veil and get through it."

Nodding in agreement, Kaleb cracks a slight grin, eagerness hinting. "Gives me a reason to stop by again then. Can't let it go to waste."

Sebastian floats in through the kitchen door and drifts near the dining table. Glancing between Bach and Kaleb, he eyes behind himself at the kitchen door with an amused smirk. "Despite how big he's gotten, Lagi is still that spoiled little dragon we used to chase around the campus."

With a snort, Kaleb shakes his head of blonde hair and rests his spoon into his cereal bowl. "Well he's still just as thrilled about baths as he ever was, too. Uh, what is he getting into, anyway?"

Scratching his chin, Sebastian's visage briefly turns towards the kitchen door and back to the question. "Oh. He's doing a bunch of tricks for pieces of jerky. He's making out like a bandit, too."

Kaleb rolls his light brown eyes and sighs with a humored smile on the side of his face. "Gods, I can't believe he's even thinking about treats after all he drank yesterday."

Bach perks his brow and stares at Kaleb. "What DID he drink? In fact, what ARE you feeding him these days?"

A chuckle erupts, and Kaleb dons a sinister grin. "Used cooking oil. Leftovers. Whatever plants that aren't part of the landscaping. Small children that get lost in the woods. But, mostly used cooking oil when doing long flights."

Blinking a moment, Bach drifts into his thoughts. He nods in acceptance, twisting a strange grimace with his memories. "You know... I'm really not that surprised. After a few of the things I've seen him eat..."

He rolls his blue eyes. "Or, at least attempt to."

Sebastian crosses his arms and widens his eyes as a flash of the past arrives at the front of his mind. "Yeah, especially after the synth diesel incident..."

Twisting his grimace, an ethereal snort slips out of Sebastian. "That residential director was PISSED."

Kaleb rests back into his chair with a smile. "Well, his stomach hasn't gotten any less indestructible and destructive. Shadeesa keeps track of his nutrition for anything he needs. But after all my research, those Pre-Cataclysm scientists covered all the bases for all the biological basics, when it comes to Lagi's ancestors. He just needs a food source dense in energy and his metabolism will do the rest. Just mapping out the digestive processes going on will probably get me enough material for my doctorate."

Bach sweeps the bottom of the bowl with his spoon for the remaining milk, scoops up a few bits of cereal. "Does he still eat rocks?"

With a grumble, Kaleb lifts his hands up in stale defeat. "Occasionally. I kind of wish he would stick with that instead of what he's been doing lately."

Placing the spoon into his bowl with a slight clink, Bach quirks his brow. "Shrubs?"

Kaleb groans and tips his head back. He sways his head shoulder to shoulder and works out the lingering annoyance. With a sigh, he drops into a hanging nod. "YES. Gods... Shadeesa was out picking some wild berries with Lagi following her around. She fed him a few and went inside."

Narrowing his unfocused frustrated gaze between Bach and Sebastian, he grimaces. "Well... Let's just say the next morning there were A LOT of uprooted, half-eaten bushes and shrubs ALL around the area."

He props his arms upon the tabletop and rests his head between his hands, unamused. "It's like he's on this one dragon quest to find other tasty shrubs, bushes, and hedges. Thankfully, most places I stop at are willing to overlook their landscaping getting eaten and are quite happy with the free disposal of cooking oil. And, the customers a dragon attracts."

The kitchen door opens up and reveals Sotalia. Stepping forward to the refrigerator, confusion fights contemplation upon her face. She opens the fridge open, retrieves a bottle of a fruit shake and strides over to the dining table. With a firm grasp, she pulls back the chair and sits down. She quaffs some of the fruit shake and wanders a curious stare between Bach, Kaleb, and Sebastian. "Okay. That dragon outside is unlike any I've ever read about or seen. Let's start with the basics."

She narrows a borderline glare with a demanding undertone. "How the hell did a biology student get a dragon?!"

Blinking blankly, Kaleb bites the lip near the corner of his mouth and pulls in a long breath. "Well... Here's the quick version..."

He straightens his posture in the dining chair. "I needed to take an elective at the last minute to keep my scholarships. There was this selected topics course in dragon biology. Turns out it was mostly military minded guys taking the course for credit, so they could meet requirements to ride dragons. I was really the only one interested in the details of the biology, and the professor and I got to know each other. Due to the death of a mother dragon, there was a clutch of eggs and I got one. Bach, Sebastian, Shadeesa, and I hatched it and raised Lagi during his early years. Now, he's a big dragon, and I'm furthering this whole field of study. Off to the side, since that doesn't pay the bills."

Sotalia pauses and winces against a flurry of thoughts. Narrowing her eyes, she points at Kaleb and squints incredulously. "Okay... First question, of many... Who the fuck was your professor that even had ACCESS to dragon egg that could spawn a beast like Lagi... And even give it to you?!"

Kaleb grits his teeth into a wary smile, anticipating Sotalia's reaction. "Well... A Commander Blaureiter."

With a distant gaze on her face, Sotalia flutters her golden eyes in disbelief. As recognition of the name solidifies, she pulls her head of dark red hair back slightly and settles her widening stare upon Kaleb. "Excuse me- Wait... The? Commander Blaureiter?!"

Bach nods slightly, exchanging intrigued glances with Kaleb and Sebastian. "Yeah, I guess. He didn't care to be called commander most of the time. He really liked professor a lot more. Considers the whole commander thing to be in the past."

Sotalia slowly and firmly rubs the temples of her head. Sliding her hands through her dark red hair, she frustratingly grabs her black swept back horns near the bases. "Are you- Really?! You guys KNOW Commander Blaureiter?!"

Her golden irises flick to the floating ethereal visage of Sebastian. Her face follows after with a glare right through him. "OKAY. Why the FUCK didn't YOU ever tell me this?!"

Presenting an uneasy smile, Sebastian nervously averts his eyes from the attention. Drifting back slightly, he raises his arms up defensively in the air. "Hey! It never came up! I didn't know you were a fan of his! He was just a really cool professor that really loved his job. Also, just a really awesome guy to hang with. We were really thankfully for him teaching us how to take of care Lagi."

Kaleb exchanges a wary glance with Bach, and both share the forming trepidation. Sighing, Kaleb manages to summon up a firm smile. "Yeah, I got to know Blaureiter. He was very interested in having an honest student for once, and I learned a lot about the Pre-Cataclysm, First Period, and Second Period histories when it came to dragon biology. I even got to meet..."

He stiffly sniffs and steels his grimace against a flash of remembered fear. "Blaureiter's dragon..."

Her jaw slowly dropping, Sotalia gawks, and shock claims against all other possible expressions. With a quick head shake, she regains her senses and gazes at Kaleb with a genuine interest. "By the gods... You actually met the Night Terror?"

Kaleb nods, exhales as memories arise in his mind, and squirms reflexively in his seat. "Yes. That was quite THE harrowing experience. Just the stare she gave me the whole time."

He blinks to a visage inside his mind and shudders back. "But, as Blaureiter said, she was just being... VERY DEFENSIVE of her eggs."

A twitch nearly winks her golden eye, and Sotalia straightens herself in the seat. Floating her hand to point towards the kitchen door, she fumbles with her words. "Wait... No... There's NO WAY..."

She bounces her gaze off the door and to the gathering around the dining table numerous times. "That goofy, playful, child-like dragon... Doing tricks for jerky... Through that very door and just outside the garage..."

Furrowing her brow, she stares barely able to contain the sheer bewilderment escaping her being. "Is the SON of THE Night Terror?!"

Bach, Kaleb, and Sebastian silently converses through glances. After a quiet agreement, they nod in unison to Sotalia. Sinking back into her chair, she drifts her gaze around in haze of shock. "The Night Terror. A winged weapon of mass destruction. A creature that once broke out of her military containment to destroy a twenty kilometer stretch of anti-air batteries, because she felt insulted that one took a shot at her."

She covers her mouth, searching the chaos inside her head. Pulling her grasp down to her chin, she eyes Kaleb incredulously. "I- I just can't believe it. The terror that took both the arms of Commander Blaureiter and could breathe fire so hot it melted stone..."

Her golden eyes spring wide open. "But, WAIT!"

She pivots in the chair and leans towards Kaleb, narrowing her eyes with an accusing tone. "I remember reading about The Night Terror's death! A massive positively charged lightning strike in a maelstrom? They said all four of her eggs were donated to different nations' research facilities as part of an old peace treaty."

Nodding in total agreement, Kaleb narrows his stare at her. "Yes. She broke out of containment in a strange fit. I mean, she wanted to get out for some reason. And when flying around, she got hit with a positively charged, magic empowered lightning strike. Probably the only thing that could have ever taken her down."

He leans back into his chair and sighs to a serious, somber tone. "She was dead. Her first clutch was in trouble. They just couldn't find another dragon to tend her nest. Most fled in sheer terror when they caught the scent of it."

Furrowing her brow, Sotalia rests her elbow on the table top, props her head up with the back of her hand, and ponders out loud. "But... Most attempts to hatch an egg without a parent usually results in a pseudo-dragon or whelp. Correct?"

Grimacing to the past, Kaleb sorts through an explanation. "Yes. But... I had a theory. Many younger breeds of dragon have various genetic and magical protections to prevent stolen eggs from becoming viable weapons. A few protections even manipulated genetics, so you couldn't really breed anything useful. It was very common in the Second Period. One of the reasons we have so many whelp and pseudo-dragon varieties today."

Piecing together his explanation, he places both elbows on the table, intertwines his fingers, and rests his chin on his hands. "For what she WAS, she HAD to be descended from a much older, untouched bloodline. Something that was well before all the specialized breeding and protective measures. And... I bet the mate she found during her two week absence from a previous escape was from an equally old bloodline."

He furrows his brow and frowns. "She would NOT have settled for anything less."

Lifting his head up, he separates his hands and grins deviously. "So, before the authorities came to claim the eggs, I asked Blaureiter for the fifth one."

Tilting her head to the side, a few stray dark red hairs fall off Sotalia's horn. She quickly sweeps them back over and raises a very curious eyebrow. "Fifth? But... All the news outlets and government reports said there were four."

With a proud grin blatant, Kaleb slowly nods. "Oh, I know. And, I had the fifth one. There was only four left when they showed up."

He draws in a long breath and smugly smiles. "I theorized there was a good chance those eggs didn't have all the biological protections and could be hatched into proper dragons without a parent. So, I explained my theory to Blaureiter, and he agreed. When the officials came, they took the decorated war hero's word. Since he was also the only person who had ever gotten close enough to count the eggs, so they had no means of proving him wrong. They continued to believe him well after they never found him caring for an egg or running around with a dragon hatchling. After a year, they never really checked further. Since each nation part of that peace treaty got one egg, no one really cared."

With a humored smirk, Bach chuckles and tilts his head to the memories. "Gods, those were some crazy months. I still remember keeping that big egg between Sebastian and me on the couch when we played video games. "

Sebastian crosses his arms with a smile and floats down to a mimic sitting upon a chair. "That freak winter storm, too. Heaters couldn't keep up, and we nearly destroyed the clothes dryer warming blankets to cover someone while they held the egg in their lap."

Sotalia flutters her eyes in thought. A intrigued grin settles down upon her lips. "If the results weren't outside in the front yard, I would never believe this. SO, your theory was correct, and he hatched to a proper dragon."

Kaleb snorts and draws a long breath with a tight smile. "Well, turns out hatching was only the first part... The easy part. Yeah... The stories to be told, and the many to never be told."

Bach hems, leans next to Kaleb, and speaks out the side of his mouth. "By the way, did that sorority ever stop hating us for when Lagi chewed up all their laundry?"

Scratching the stubble on his cheek, Kaleb laughs with an eyeroll. "Yes... Eventually. When Lagi got big enough to walk people around on his back, I helped with a few fund raisers. Plus, they thought he was pretty charming when he wasn't trying to eat elastic out of their underwear."

Sebastian draws a wicked grin and sighs in pleasant remembrance. "I had almost forgotten how much attention I got when taking little Lagi out for walks. So easy to get noticed."

Bach narrows his stare at Sebastian from across the table. "And, so many numbers?"

Sebastian shrugs with an upward, guilty glance. "Well... You know. When they come to you, who are you to refuse?"

----

White fluffy clouds float overhead in the noon sky and drift shade across the world below. Gusts rustle the leaves of fresh green treetops and sway the heavy branches. Standing near the wooden plank picnic table in the open field, Aristespha squints into the distance and coasts her stare just over the treetops of the forest. "I think I see them. It looks like they're coming this way."

Lifting up her arm, she points out a huge creature aggressively flapping. Lagi speeds over the green sea of leaves, each powerful beat of a wing rippling upon the surface. Clearing the forest near to the grassy plot behind the house, he lines up an approach next to the picnic table. Bach, Aristespha, Sotalia, and Sebastian wave the dragon and passengers. Two pairs of massive wings fling open wide, and Lagi air brakes just short of the landing zone. With a gentle drop upon the ground, his claws securely grasp the grass. Kaleb pats Lagi on the side and chuckles. "Alright. You've terrorized them enough, left them off."

Lagi crouches low to the ground. Quickly unbuckling the safety harness, Cideeda deftly dismounts from behind Kaleb and sticks the landing. Springing up exuberantly, she cheers excitedly with her hands up in the air above her head. "That was AMAZING! I can't believe you do that for a living!"

Kaleb gazes over his shoulder towards Dretphi with a concerned smile. "Hey, uh, you need any help? Lagi can lower down a bit more if you need it."

White knuckled hands release from handles on the large saddle rig on Lagi's back. Dretphi slowly and purposefully pulls in wary breaths and carefully exhales with faint shudders. Guiding her platinum blonde braids roughly back, she blinks her wide open steely gray eyes. Her calm, stoic demeanor haphazardly reassembles itself bit by bit, and she manages to shake her head. "No... I will be fine... I can step down. Thank you for your concern."

While releasing herself from the safety harness, she relaxes her clenched leg muscles, and Lagi faint sighs in relief. Lifting a leg over the saddle with pivot, she slides slowly onto the ground. With staggering steps upon the firm earth, she navigates her shaky, large frame towards the nearby picnic table bench and flops down. Sotalia walks to Dretphi's side and comforts her with gentle pats on the back, steadying her by holding her shoulder. Her amused breaches into a smile and fights to be a grin. "You screamed A LOT."

Dretphi nods blankly and leans back heavily upon the picnic table edge. Detaching from the saddle, Kaleb hops down onto the grass and pats Lagi. "You okay, Dretphi? I'm sorry. He's a bit of a show off with new people."

Dretphi rests her hand on her chest and takes another long slow breath. Cracking a faint grin, she glances over to Kaleb. "I am okay... Despite my outbursts. Had an absolutely exhilarating time."

Laughing, Kaleb puts his hands on his sides and gives Dretphi quick wink with a sly smile. "Ah! Well, is that so? Want to go again?"

Lagi cranes his head around Kaleb and gazes at Dretphi. A draconic, eager smile draws itself upon the open maw. Slow, careful airflow halts midway. It resumes, and Dretphi's expression shrivels to a nervous smile, her eyes flitting wide open. "Another time. Eventually... "

Perking her furry ears, Cideeda dons a toothy grin and struts around with a wag of her tail in each step. "How much do you usually charge for that long of a flight?"

A loud snort comes from Kaleb, and he chuckles loudly. "Multiple thirty minute rides?! I should show the price list Shadeesa wrote up. You should see the ten minute cost alone."

Kaleb pats his shirt pocket, flips up the flap, and plucks out his aetherphone. "Huh, speaking of... Her ears must have been burning."

With a tap on a screen button, Shadeesa's bright green on black eyes, white freckles on her gray face, and upward swept horns appear on the screen. "Hey! Good. I caught you before you left. It looks clear today, by the way. So, I also looked up on the guild system and found an aerial survey job on your way back."

With a quick nod, Kaleb rotates the phone screen out to everyone else. "Sounds good. Just got done doing a few flights with everybody, so Lagi is ready to go."

Shadeesa waves with a glowing smile to everyone through the screen. "Hey everybody! I'm glad you got a chance to fly."

Twisting a humored smirk, she playfully rolls her eyes. "Unfortunately, I need them back now. You know how it is."

Lifting an intrigued eyebrow, Aristespha lifts a tablet off the picnic table and steps over next to Kaleb. "So, you two are in the guild system? Would you mind sending me your ID number? I will send you ours."

With few taps on another device off screen, Shadeesa faces the camera. "Oh gods, I completely forgot! Yeah, if we see any work near us, we'll definitely let you all know."

Aristespha's tablet chimes moments later. Bach crosses his arms and narrows a quizzical gaze at Kaleb. "So, what types of missions do you take on from the guild?"

Searching his mind, Kaleb twists his grimace between thoughts. "Ah... Well... Mostly surveying, aerial photography, and exploration near weird zones. Nothing too crazy. Just flying around really. Occasionally, we get search and rescue."

He scratches underneath Lagi's chin. "The nice thing is that Lagi can go where a lot of planes, helicopters, and drones have problems, without any trouble."

Lagi purrs low, closes his eyes, and angles his head to guide Kaleb's hand to the right spot. Kaleb shakes his head with a smile and gazes back over to the rest of the group. "That's the really nice thing about creatures that can manipulate magical flow and put up defensive barriers. So, those contracts pay pretty good. There's even a good market for delivery to remote locations. I once delivered food to a science team researching some hard to reach mountains."

With a final pat on Lagi's head, Kaleb rolls his shoulders in a straining stretch and straightens up his posture. "So... Yeah, we are totally exploiting the big goofball."

Rolling his bright green eyes indifferently, Lagi spots a number of small bushes nearby. A long sigh sounds out from the aetherphone speaker, and Shadeesa lowers her head, fighting a flit of embarrassment. "Unfortunately... Well, I guess fortunately? Anyway, showing Lagi off pays the bills REALLY well. Hopefully, in the NEAR future, I'll get my veterinary practice set up. Then, we'll live off that. And let Lagi... Well... Just be Lagi."

Rolling her green on black eyes, she shrugs with a humored grimace. "But, gods, I can't ignore how much people are willing to pay to be near a dragon that won't attempt to eat them at the first sight. And, especially, one who knows a bunch of cute tricks and loves to show off. Thankfully, Lagi doesn't seem to mind it at all."

She perks up and narrows her gaze at the camera on the side of the call. "Oh! That reminds me! Kaleb?"

Kaleb pivots the phone to his face with a curious quirk. "Uh, Yes?"

With a bit of cheer in her voice, Shadeesa clasps her hands in front her. "The convention we're scheduled for? I checked the location again, and it's really close to Amaranth valley! We'll be in the area this coming weekend!"

A wave of excitement moves through the team and interest in the event grows. Bach smiles and glances at Kaleb. "Well, I guess we'll have to go now. I mean, we HAVE to see your act."

A groan of comedic dread emanates from Kaleb, and he wanders his stare up to the skies. Letting his arms droop down, a resigned sigh slips out from him. "Oh gods. Okay. But, be warned... I'll be wearing an old knight's costume."

His glare bounces between Bach and Sebastian. "If you two can keep the peanut gallery commentary to a minimum, I would REALLY appreciate it."

Shadeesa calls out from the phone with playful defensiveness. "Hey! I think you look good wearing shining armor. And, I REALLY love my First Period princess dress."

Twisting her mouth into an awkward grimace, she grumbles. "Unfortunately, it'll probably be the last time. For a while... Since I won't be able to fit in it soon. So, I want to enjoy it while I can."

An ethereal snort slips out from Sebastian, and he dons a genuinely happy smile. "Well, we'll definitely try to make it out. With a dragon there, I might actually stand out the least for once."

Kaleb glances over at the phone screen and holds it out one last time. "Okay. I'd better get up in the air. Say bye, Shadeesa."

On the screen Shadeesa waves through the screen. Kaleb aims the screen at his face and shines a loving smile. "See you in a few. Love you."

A softer tone from Shadeesa comes through the phone speaker. "Love you, too."

Before the connection closes, Shadeesa quickly drops in one last remark. "Oh! Don't forget to stop by somewhere and get some milk! Breakfast was really rough this morning."

Kaleb grants a simple, confirming nod with a wink, and presses the end call button on the screen. Walks up to the group, he shakes hands and exchanges goodbyes. A loud crunch and a series of snaps sounds out and captures everyone's attention. Lagi lifts his head back and munches down on a shrub, small branches and leaves filling his mouth. Kaleb grumbles and musters his parental prowess. "Lagi! Spit it out now!"

----

In the front yard of the two-story house, Next Adventurers of Nexus recording crews rush about, keeping track of Chad, Tassilda, Deedri, Trakenthin, and Modoran in the area. Standing out in the yard, Chad meticulously combs his coiffed light brown hair, adjusts his collared, down-down shirt, and brushes off his designer blue jeans. When the crew member levels the tilt of the camera and pans the aim over, Chad almost instinctively assumes a heroic pose and makes sure his well defined, tanned physique hints through his clothes. A boom mic slips into the air space above Chad. Emerging from the mass of crew, Samantha inspects the scene, checks her clipboard, and points to Chad. "In three. Two. One."

With a wag of the finger from Samantha, Chad directs his gaze straight to the camera. Taking a long, thoughtful breath, he places his hands on his sides and puffs his chest out. "I have been thinking greatly about how to improve our group. I, along with my party, have the talent. We have the burning desire for adventure that only the Flames of the Phoenix can show to the world. But, I thought..."

He lifts an eyebrow. "We are still lacking something."

Appearing casual on the exterior, Chad purposefully struts over towards a shiny, new, and black sport utility vehicle. Slowly pivoting, he rests his hand upon the front fender and straightens his posture. Brown eyes lead the rest of his face to the camera, and he winks with a gleaming, white smile. A near seductive undertone hints within Chad's voice. "And, I figured it out. What better thing for a promising adventuring party to have than a means of transportation befitting them. When the quests come in, we need to venture out to them... In style."

Behind the wall of crew recording Chad, another team keeps a watch over the other Flames of the Phoenix members, standing underneath the front porch overhang. With arms crossed, Modoran rests his back against the front door frame and rolls his dark blue eyes away from Chad's monologue. He lightly bounces the back of his short, white haired head against the door frame in futile attempts to distract himself. Feigning an arm stretch, he covers his long, dusky bluish gray ears, and mumbles to himself. "We get it, Chad. It's a fucking nice car. Can you stop the info dump... Maybe take us somewhere in it?"

A furry, tuft tipped ear back from Modoran, and Deedri glances over with her auburn eyes. Tipping her head up, a long braid of red, white, blonde, and tan hair slides from her shoulder. The medium length fur on her long, tapered tail brushes against the other side of the door frame underneath her skirt. Holding her claw-tipped hands together in front of her on her blouse, she draws in a long breath, and sighs hopefully. "Well, I'm just happy we'll have a working air conditioner. Those vans were pretty dreadful."

Tassilda tosses back her raven black hair around her swirling backward pointing horns. Narrowing her blue on black eyes at Chad, she hoists an annoyed eyebrow. She places her thick, black nailed fingers on her hips and squirm her figure against the house's siding. With a quick pass, she adjusts the waistband of her tight fitting yoga pants and arches her back just enough to reveal more gray, patterned skin through her top. Cocking her head to the side with a slight sneer, her small pointy ears peek through her hair. "So... I have to ask. Is there a Grath word for... this... display?"

Dark bronze arms flex their muscles. With his arms crossed, Trakenthin's face follows his hazel eyes to a gaze down at Tassilda. The sunlight reflects off and slips through his short styled, dirty blonde hair. Quirking his brow, he slowly returns his unamused stare ahead. Boredom and idle frustration flex his large, very muscular frame through his gym shorts and tank top, many small scars apparent upon his arms and legs. He grunts with a grimace. "Yes."

A hin of an amused smirk cracks out the corner of his mouth. "Translates to... Large surrogate manhood."

A sly smile graces Tassilda, and she crosses her arms with a lift underneath her chest. "You will HAVE to teach it to me. I believe that Chad doesn't know Grath."

Trakenthin snorts and shakes his head. "He does not."

Samantha calls out to the camera crews, and motions towards members standing on the porch. "That's good. I want some promo photos of the SUV right now. Alpha Crew, I need you to set up inside around the table for mission planning."

Modoran slowly raises his face towards the placid skies above and closes his eyes in grim anticipation with a groan. "Gods, what I wouldn't give for something to come up to put that off. My aetherphone is still charging from the last few meetings I had to sit through."

Deedri's furry ears flick, and she blinks in surprise. Taking a step forward, she squints up to the white fluffy clouds above and shield the sun from her eyes with a hand. Her ears scan above and track a source. From a distance above, a loud, low shriek cries out. Gerald immediately freezes. Hoisting his camera up to the sky, he frantically adjusts zoom and focus while searching the sky. Another shriek halts abruptly to sickening hacks and retches. Deedri tempers her curiosity, fights down tinges of disgust, and places her hand over her mouth. Faint, low powerful sounding thumps of air resonate from above with an erratic rhythm. Wet gurgling color the distant hacks and retches and loaded coughs punctuate the moments between. Visibly upset crew glance around exchanging unsettled expressions and uncertainly search for a source, less eager by the second. A heavy frown pulls down the corners of Tassilda's mouth, and she places a hand firmly upon her chest. Fighting a wave of nausea, she carefully exhales. "Oh. My. Gods. What is that?! It sounds like a giant version when one of my mother's cats hacks up a hairball."

Trakenthin curls his lip in a snarl. Gritting his teeth into a stern grimace, he scans the area. "Reminds me when... My dogs would vomit a bone."

With a sudden muffled retch, the sickening noises halt, and the thumps of air fade away. Modoran's dark blue eyes dart around, and he furrows a puzzled brow. "Well... It's stopped. But, I don't know if that's a good thing."

Deedri's ears flick to a new sound, she mumbles to herself bewildered. "A whistling... Getting louder?!"

An explosive, wet splat bursts forth. A spray of viscous gel erupts out from the hood of the shiny, new, black sports utility vehicle. Bits of glossy matter plaster the hood, the windshield, and the many people surrounding the machine. Crew members examine the new mix of muck upon their bodies. Samantha slowly lowers the clipboard from her face and inspects herself to find nothing. She glances at Chad in front of her. He glares distantly, absolutely unamused with a stiff face and posture. With a gradual pivot, he beholds the minor disaster behind him. A gelatinous mess of mucus, chewed up leaves, and small gnawed branches oozes down the front of the green muck coated sports utility vehicle. Blinking away from the astonishment of the point of impact, Samantha notices a similar mess on Chad's back.

Blinking in sheer astonishment, Deedri keeps her mouth covered with both hands. Modoran gawks with his jaw agape, absolutely speechless. Her light blue on black eyes scanning the cosmetic devastation, Tassilda lifts an arm up, places the hand in front over mouth, and stares in awe. Trakenthin tilts his head towards one shoulder, then to the other. A grin rips across his mouth, and he erupts into a booming guffaw. Straightening his back, Chad spins in place and angrily points quickly to Trakenthin. "Shut the fuck up, Trakenthin! I REALLY don't need your shit right now!"

Crews quickly clean equipment, find their new marks around the fresh splatter, and ready themselves. Trakenthin laughs relentlessly and only pauses briefly with a snide smirk. "Correct! You have plenty now!"

A low growl crawls out from the back of Chad's throat and ceases moments later. A devious grin springs up on Chad. "Well! Since YOU are so amused by this, MAYBE, as party leader, I should task you with cleaning it up! We'll see how funny it is for you afterwards! I paid for this for the group, and you've been slacking on your chores! Time to chip in and clean!"

Trakenthin crosses his arms tightly, puffs out his chest, and dons a defiant sneer. "I will NOT clean."

Chad postures in response, narrows his eyes at Trakenthin, and tilts his head back. "That's probably for the best. Given how much you stink most of the time, I think it'd be worse off."

Failing to contain herself, a titter escapes Tassilda. Chad snaps his glare in her direction and puts forth a mean grin with a condescending tone. "Well, Tassilda... You have any USEFUL tricks for this? Or are you just going to stand there and let everyone else do the work?"

Placing her hands firmly on her hips, Tassilda levels a death glare at Chad and growls petulantly. "I'm sorry! Maybe if our glorious leader could pick missions better, we wouldn't be in situations suddenly facing creatures without minds to charm! My specialty is in illusion and enchantment. Not-"

Chad interrupts, drowning the rest of Tassilda's word with a derisive shout. "Useful magic? OH! I'm fully aware of that, along with everyone else!"

Swearing in a dialect of Emin, Tassilda storms out across the yard to Chad. Another quip grates Trakenthin, and he follows his ego into the fray. At the intersection, the three argue to a stand off. Crews morph around, hunting for ideal angles and perfect positions. Deedri sniffs in a long breath and exhales, lowering her head with a sad frown. Modoran glances at Deedri, pulls the corner of his mouth in thought, and eyes the front door. Grabbing hold of the knob, he opens the front door, and aims a whisper. "Hey... They're fighting again. Might want to get out here."

Seconds later, a wave of crew hastily rush out the front door with equipment in tow. Modoran gives them quick nods and encouragement when they pass by. Once the last one clears, he gazes at Deedri and smiles reassuringly. "Hey? Deedri? You want to get a look at the missions before everyone else?"

Deedri startles back to awareness and turns to Modoran. Glancing over her shoulder at the three way squabble, she catches the moment Chad scoops up a congealed blob of goop from his back and slowly approaches Tassilda. Deedri returns her awkward stare to Modoran. With a simple nod, she musters up a happy smile against her discomfort. "Yes. I don't feel like watching another fight, right now."

Modoran smiles slightly, bows, and gestures with a wave towards the open door. Deedri walks forward through the doorway, and Modoran follows behind her. He steps to her side and glances over curiously. "I have to ask... Do you KNOW what that was that made that noise?"

Deedri halts rigidly in place and nervously darts her auburn eyes around the room. "I, uh... I... Um..."

With a light chuckle, Modoran smirks and holds a hand up. "Later? Where the cameras aren't?"

Deedri smiles brightly and quickly nods. "Yes."

Modoran nods in return and narrows an inquisitive stare at various papers and documents covering the dining table. "Understood. Let's see what they got in store for us."

Outside a loud shriek of disgust erupts from Tassilda. "AHHH!! You fucking asshole! It went down my top! EEWWW!!"

----

Afternoon sun radiates through the sliding glass door into the living space of the ranch style house. Standing in front of the tall glass, Bach cranes his head down and angles his stare out to the clouds coasting above. Scanning the light blue, he wanders his search to the horizons and sighs to his own thoughts. A chime sounds out from Bach's shorts, and he rummages within his pocket. Squinting at his aetherphone, Bach reads a message out loud to himself. "Next week's episode will be interesting... Looks like THEY got some new wheels to drive around in. Huh..."

He shrugs and slip aetherphone back in his pocket. Glancing curiously at Bach, Sebastian drifts closer to his brother. "What was that again, bro?"

Bach gestures with a wave to the horizon before him. "Ah, it was Kaleb. Looks like the adventurers next door got a new car or something. He must have seen it on his way out."

Nodding contemplative for a moment, Sebastian peeks out the sliding glass door and narrows a stare to the two-story house just visible above the trees, towards the corner of the backyard. "Well... Good for them."

He rolls his translucent blue eyes and snorts ethereally. "Hopefully, it'll take them on some missions far from us for a while. Give us a buffer zone for a bit."

Bach shrugs his shoulders and turns away to the coffee table. He sweeps up the remote from the tabletop and flops down the couch. The television flickers to life, and Bach wrestles an indifferent smirk. "Well, I mean... They really haven't bothered us yet. Well, here, at least. Maybe if we ignore them, they'll leave us alone? Without any drama, I don't there’s anything worth recording."

A low reverberating grumble rumbles out from Sebastian's visage, and he fights down sparks of suspicion. "I don't know, bro. THEY might be fine with doing their own thing. But, I get the feeling the people behind the show aren't going to leave it alone. Them moving in right across from us was no accident."

Bach resigns from the debate, throws his hands up in the air, and shrugs. "Oh well. Hell, man. At this point, after dealing with cyber-zombies, a spirit commanding teenager, and a super battle bot... I doubt they'll be much trouble in comparison."

Sebastian crosses his arms, tracks the thoughts crossing the front of the mind with his eyes, and grimaces towards an acceptance. "Ah, you're right, bro. And, if they get too annoying, we'll figure something out. We've got a few tricks up our sleeves."

Flipping through the wasteland of channels upon the television, Bach tilts his head towards the dining table and projects his inquiry. "So... What's the agenda this week?"

Faintly perking her very long, pointed ears, Aristespha withdraws herself from the fortress of paperwork upon the dining table and relaxes upon the back of her chair. "Well. First thing Monday, I think we should schedule a meeting with Captain Hackle and see what he would like to discuss with us."

A wave of unease flows through Bach upon a cascading full body squirm, and he twitches a sneer through a slight frown. "Okay. Just make sure it's somewhere public?"

Noticing the questioning stare from his transparent brother, he narrows an reserved gaze back. "I don't know. I guess I've just read too many rumors about how some nations have handled some adventuring groups in the past. Kind of strange that you never hear about the success stories."

Twisting in her chair, Aristespha quirks her brow at Bach with an amused grin on her ivory face. "Oh, do not worry. We will, of course, disavow any evidence of your handiwork if they pry too much. Regardless, I think Captain Hackle just wants to have a nice chat and know who is in the group. Even the military has a hard time getting information from the guild apart from the quick party identification guides."

Sebastian smiles reassuringly at Bach. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, bro. Usually, they just want to know who is in their territory and chat them up to get a feel for them. Hey, they might even have some useful information about Noxian. It wouldn't be the first time some official has passed along intel unofficially to us to help us out. They don't care much for what Noxian has done either. It's a lot of containment and cleanup most don't want to have to do, if someone can put a stop to it."

Glass vials rattle and ring out from the kitchen. Moments later, Sotalia walks into the living room, carrying a handful of small vials. With a sly grin prominent, she winks to Bach. "Oh, don't worry. You're only the intern, they won't expect anything of you. Honestly, knowing how some military groups are, they probably won't even want to talk to you. That whole command structure thing slips out into a lot of what they do."

She hands a small vial to Aristespha, moves next to Bach, and holds one out to him. Bach carefully pinches the sides of the glass container and examines it closely, recent memory driving his hesitation. "Yeah, fair enough. If nothing else..."

He curls a humored grin. "They'll probably blame all the crazy stuff on you."

Squinting closely at the red fluid inside the small vial, he slides his uncertain stare up toward Sotalia. Hoisting up a similar vial, Sotalia shakes it for Bach's curiosity and uncorks it with an eye roll. "I'll try it out first. I'm sure this batch will taste right this time. I made sure to recopy my notes with working pens full of ink this time."

She places the mouth of the vial to her lips, tips her head back, and shows the empty vial with a confident stare at Bach. Aristespha exchanges a reserved glance with Bach and waits with her vial at the ready. For seconds, Bach inspects Sotalia's expression for any deviation from the smug norm. Opening his vial, he drinks the solution. His eyes wander around his head, and he judges the concoction. Moments later, he grants a satisfactory nod. Aristespha tilts her vial back and arrives at a delightfully similar conclusion. Sotalia grins proudly and confidently strides back to her alchemy setup in the kitchen. "HA! See! I know what I'm doing. I'll get the rest of the batch portioned out and bottled."

Walking through the doorway, she spins back around and bounces a point between Sebastian and Aristespha. "Oh! If Bach keeps on doing any more crazy magical stuff that people start noticing, we might want to get him reclassed as something other than an intern. The guild does not like it when you misuse the intern classification."

She flashes a devious grin to Bach and perks her brow. "As much as I would love to make claims to some of your more interesting feats, there's some credit I think YOU solely deserve."

Bach narrows a stare and wrestles between different shades of uncertain expressions. "Yeah... Right... Why do I not feel exactly good about that?"

Sotalia shrugs with a flippant smirk and slides the rest of the way through the doorway. Floating towards the dining table, Sebastian peeks over Aristespha's shoulder and scans through the listing of aethermail messages. "So, any word from Nash, dear?"

Aristespha sighs and works a half smile. "He's still working on it. He sent an aethermail about what he has done so far. They've found a system that should run the software. But, now they are trying to get it to either run on the actual hardware or figure out how to emulate it. They are not quite certain which will be easiest given this situation."

Tapping a title line within the list, the full body of the message opens up to the entire screen of the tablet. Sebastian reads over the document on screen and snorts into a laugh. "Damn, he's got a way to describe his day. Whipping graduate assistants into shape and press-ganging student workers. Testing the limits of tenure? Look at this line..."

Leaning his ghostly form closer, he squints and grins. "I found some old network cable, so I should have a new whip ready tomorrow. If the free coffee and donuts doesn't get them motivated, this will?! Gods, he must be hilarious to work with."

Aristespha's neutral expression pours into the tablet, and her violet eyes follow the same lines slowly. Sebastian notices the strange gaze. "Um? You okay? Dear?"

Aristespha blinks back the awareness and shines a loving smile to Sebastian. "Yes, I am, Sebastian. I'm trying to figure out which bits are facetious and which are real. He purposely mixes them up to keep the administration guessing. So far, I think the network cable whip is real."

Blinking blankly, Sebastian snaps his confusion towards the screen. Aristespha continues to smile and points out a line. "Don't worry, the coffee and donuts are too. He usually gets a few boxes of the really nice selection of the specialty shop ones. He actually treats the students a lot nicer than most of the faculty."

Bach contorts his face and glances at Aristespha. "There's something worse than the possibility of being whipped with a networking cable?"

Aristespha slowly glances over her shoulder with a dark grin and shadowy eyes towards Bach. "Oh. Yes. Someone has to be the target of an induce vomiting spell when you are learning to cast it."

From the kitchen, Sotalia groans, disgust heavy in her tone. "Ewww..."

-17-

Resting her elbows upon the layers of padding upon the dining table, Dretphi props her head up and wanders her gaze over the battered minigun. Glints of early morning light bouncing into the living space reflect off the few shiny specs of intact finish on the ancient weapon. Between Cideeda shifting her inspect to another part of the machine, Dretphi reaches out, grasps onto the barrels of the minigun, and slowly torques the circular assembly. Cideeda holds a flashlight at an exposed section of the machine and squints her emerald green eyes at mechanisms inside. Wagging her long fluffy tail with her thoughts, her furry ears flick with each pick of a claw tip into an internal device. Seconds later, a plotting grin cracks onto her light brown face, and she nods confidently. "Yeah... I think we can do something with this."

Dretphi stops rotating the barrels idly and glances over, running her hand hopefully over the weapon. "Can it be adapted to our use?"

A full, toothy grin appears, and Cideeda pats the minigun. "I think so. They removed the delinker and added a return path for the spent casings."

Searching the top of her head, she grimaces between mental calculations. "Finding an ammo belt will take some time... But, it seems to take the older rifle rounds..."

A sly smile sneaks out from Dretphi, and she examines the security robot's minigun upon the pads on the dining table with growing interest. Cideeda briefly grits her teeth, sighs out with ponderous grumble, and examines a note covered pad of paper. "But... Then there's rigging up an ammo backpack, reducing the weight, designing handles, and safety features, and..."

Each of Cideeda's bullet points chips away at Dretphi's smile, and reality looms over the project. With a mildly frustrated acceptance, Dretphi sighs and eyes over the minigun, and rests back into her chair. Cideeda winks to Dretphi and addresses a point encouragingly. "We'll have to figure out a rate of fire you can handle, too."

The sly smile returns to Dretphi, she nods with eager gaze at Cideeda. "That step will be fun."

Cideeda chuckles and flips back the pages folded over on the notepad. "Yes, it will. We'll probably have to get Bach to help brace the thing for the test firing."

Walking through the hallway archway, Bach glances over to the dining table and blinks confused. "Why is my name being mentioned this early on a Sunday?"

He stops and recognizes the minigun on the table. Quickly tracing the path of the barrels, he notes the firing line and swiftly steps back. Cideeda snorts and shakes her head reassuringly. "Don't worry. The firing pins are in a bag and I've put safety plugs in the chambers."

Resting her hands on her hips, she narrows a playfully accusatory gaze at Bach "Plus after what you did to it, anyone will have a hard time doing anything accidental with it."

Dretphi grips onto the barrels and manages a slow spin. Muscles in her arm flex to definition with each partial turn of the device, and she smirks. "Significant amount of force required. Hopefully... Repairable."

Bach scratches his head of brown hair with a nod. His gaze drifts over to the nearby wall, and he points a thumb over to the large plasma projectile cannon. "So, any big plans for that thing?"

Turning around in her chair, Cideeda crosses her arms upon the top of the back and rests her head down with disappointment twisting her mouth. "Unless I somehow get a working micro-fusion power pack, probably nothing anytime soon."

Her furry ears droop down, she releases a long sigh with a drop of her tail. "Anyway... If I somehow got my hands on a micro-fusion power pack, there's a number of other things I'd use it for first. But, I can't bring myself to just pawn that cannon off."

Eyes wander to Bach, and he darts his head between the curious and expectant gazes of Cideeda and Dretphi. Cideeda props her arm up on the tabletop and rests her head on her palm with a toothy grin. "Do you have any plans for it? COULD you have any plans for it?"

Bach squints uneasily at the cannon and returns a wary expression to Cideeda and Dretphi. "Uh... I won't say no. But, I'll be honest..."

Lifting a brow, he contorts a reluctant grimace on his face. "I'm not quite there with my abilities, yet? And, I'm not really that keen on giving that thing life, so soon after it almost annihilated me. Just saying."

Dretphi rocks her head side to side while her mind judges and grants Bach an accepting nod. "Understandable. In the future, we will ask again."

Cideeda settles back in her chair and starts cleaning up the area. Turns her head slightly towards Bach, she grins devilishly with a wink. "Just make sure you have a few plans when we ask."

Bach lowers his eyelids and grumbles. "No pressure, I'm sure."

Cideeda playfully puts her hands up in the air and shrugs. Dretphi lifts the weapon off the table onto the floor and Cideeda clears the space that was beneath the minigun. The sliding glass door opens up. Sotalia leans into view midway of the door's height from a patio chair and scans the room. Her golden eyes lock onto Bach, and a smile appears on her face. Shuffling the rest of her body around in the chair, she raises an arm in front of her face, and gestures a curling finger at Bach. "Bach, could you come out here? Aristespha and I were having an interesting discussion... And since you're awake..."

Groaning, Bach cautiously pivots to meet Sotalia's overtly delighted face. He lifts an eyebrow and points over his shoulder towards the refrigerator. "Before I play guinea pig, I'm getting a breakfast shake."

Dretphi eyes Cideeda, and motions her head slightly towards the sliding glass door. Cideeda nods and leans closer to Dretphi over the table to whisper. "This could be fun to watch."

----

Tipping back the plastic bottle, Bach scavenges the last bit of the breakfast shake, and rests the container on the patio table. He rubs the last vestiges of sleep from his eyes with both hands. Dragging both hands down underneath his jaw, he scratches his shadow of a beard. He gazes between Aristespha and Sotalia lounges in the patio chairs and the morning sun. "Okay... What experiment am I going to be a part of today?"

Aristespha settles into her patio chair, sips from a mug, and sighs with a roll of her violet eyes. "No experiments. Just questions."

A low grumble escapes from Bach, and he narrows his stare at Aristespha. "Right... Yeah, that's how it starts."

Sotalia crosses her arms and confidently straightens her posture in her patio chair. "Can you do a flight spell right now?"

After traces of contemplation wandering around his face, Bach draws in a deep breath in and shrugs with a long exhale. "No... Haven't managed that, yet."

Blinking blankly, Sotalia's jaw hang open, she ponders in disbelief. "You don't have a flight spell?"

With her golden eyes searching her mind, she briefly bites her lip and draws a scheming grin across her face. Aristespha smiles, swelling with intrigue, and drums her fingers upon the mug near her face. A few strands of silvery blue hair blow free, and she furrows her brow. "If I may guess, sustained generation of force to counter gravity, pushing against wind resistance, and creating acceleration is a bit much right now?"

Nodding in agreement, Bach scratches the back of his neck, and grimaces, averting his embarrassed gaze. "Yes. I haven't figured out the optimal means of doing all that. And, well..."

Stepping out in thought across the patio, he reaches the border between brickwork and grass. He turns to face Aristespha and Sotalia, and notices Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sebastian curiously watching from the open sliding glass door. "It's also REALLY dangerous to experiment with flight without safety equipment, an open area, and someone to spot you. I mean, there are really good reasons those normal flight spells take so much to cast. A LOT of safety features woven in there."

Pulling a hand free from her arms, she points quizzically at Bach with an honest question. "Then, how did you clear that courtyard so quickly when running from the security bot?"

Dretphi pivots in place gradually and perks her brow at Bach. "You outran me when we pursued you."

Placing her hands on her hips, Cideeda stares, playfully sneering with a hint of accusation. "AND, you dodged that net shell from my shotgun. That was an EXPENSIVE shell you completely avoided..."

She squints and curls a toothy grin. "Magically."

Closing his eyes momentarily, Bach reopens them with a slight blue glow. Small flecks of dirt tumble upon the bricks, and blades of grass sway away. Drifting centimeters off the ground, Bach hovers in place. He shifts his body around with brief twitches and centers his balance back. The longer he maintains the height, the more he wiggles with his fight for balance. Swaying side to side, Dretphi positions herself near Bach to catch and Cideeda readies on the other side. Bach gradually lowers back down to the solid patio brick, and his eyes dim back to normal. "So that's about all I got when it comes to hovering. Now... I'm able to generate force and use it to move parts of my body. It works. It's not the most precise. But, it's less riskier than other options."

Dretphi briefly squints her suspicion at Bach, and glances off to her thoughts. Sebastian shakes his head and floats closer to Bach. "Damn. Well, we'll have to work on that. Not to put any pressure on you, bro. But... It would really be nice to have someone else who can do some flight spells."

Lifting an eyebrow, Bach stares at his brother with a smirk. "Yeah, I know. But, that might take a while."

He feels long-nailed fingers slip in between the back of his neck and the collar of his t-shirt. The front of the t-shirt collar tightens against his throat as someone pulls. Twisting in his own shirt, Bach spins around. Sotalia grins wide and eager. Her golden gaze meets Bach's confusion with an oddly calm, cheery tone. "What are you waiting for?"

He squints incredulously directly at Sotalia. "Um, well... An explanation?!"

Placing her free hand on her chest, Sotalia smiles smugly. "Well... You see, I can spot you during your training..."

She waves her hand wide out towards the open field of the backyard. "And, we have a very open area for you to do your training in..."

She snaps a point to Cideeda with a sly smile and winks. "And... We have safety equipment?"

Cideeda's green eyes dart around searching her mind. After a spark of memory, she perks up with a similarly sly smile and nods excitedly. "Yes, we do! We still have those climbing harnesses from that one mission in the mountains."

Dretphi tilts her head down to Cideeda. "Mine will fit."

Shifting his desperate stare to Aristespha, he eyes the other team members and settles a silent plea upon her. Wrapping her hands around the mug on the patio table, she slides the patio chair back and stands up from the circular metal mesh table. "I think I'll need another cup for this. Anyone else?"

Cideeda and Dretphi follow Aristespha inside. Both quickly walk to the hallway, and Aristespha nonchalantly picks up a few more mugs and packets of tea. Bach shifts his attention to Sebastian and awkwardly grimaces, falling short of a smile. "Brother? Come on... It's too early for this stuff."

Sebastian hovers up to Bach and releases an ethereal sigh, looking right into Bach's eyes. "Bro, you are in capable hands. We have the means. We got a lot of ground to cover before we go up against Noxian. And really, bro..."

He leans closer to his brother and whispers. "I can only make strong suggestions to everyone else at this point, given my lack of a solid body."

Narrowing his eyes halfway, Bach stares all his irritation upon Sebastian, sounding a low, defeated growl. Sebastian shrugs with his hands to his sides. "Personally, I'd really like to see that Air Catapult spell of yours again."

Sotalia leans to the side of Bach and makes eye contact with Sebastian. "Ooo! What's that one?"

----

The sun pushes through the overcast sky, slipping beams of light between the thin gaps. Clouds project shadows upon the rural lands below, drifting across green forest canopies and dropping into the grass expanses between. A gentle breeze coasts through the fields and wanders along the front lawn's tall grass. Standing on the front door landing, Aristespha's violet hunts from one distant end of the roadway. She wanders her stare down at the overgrown lawn and ponders with a furrowed brow. Squinting off towards the other distant end of the roadway, she frowns vaguely. "We really need to mow the lawn."

Sebastian's ethereal voice emanates from the sword at Aristespha's side. "We? Dear, that's what neighborhood kids are for. There's GOT to be one around here somewhere that would do it for some random trinket we found adventuring."

Stepping out from the open garage door, Cideeda stretches both her arms above her head and follows her perked furry ear over to Aristespha. "I'll send an aethermail to Steve and see if he knows anyone. Most did seem really into the few things I brought."

Narrowing her emerald green eyes, she curls an entrepreneurial grin upon her light brown face. "I wonder if any of them collect coins. Still have all those penny coins from that one empire that no big collectors seem to want."

Brush bristles lightly scratch against concrete, and a cloud of dust and debris swirls up with each sweep. Bach shoves a growing pile with a push broom out from the garage floor into the driveway. Placing the broom up inside the garage near the door, he spots something contrasting the detritus in the pile. He kneels down, flicks away bits of futz, and plucks out a few centimeter wide dragon scale. Standing up, he walks over to the other side of the garage door and presents the scale in front of Cideeda. "Hey, you think you can get one to work for a dragon scale?"

A beam of light grazes the scale, and Cideeda's eyes snap to black-blue glint. Carefully pinching onto the scale, she nods at Bach, and a scheming smile manifests. "Oh, I might be able to work something out."

Bach glances over to Aristespha, traces out her stare towards the road, and returns to her quizzically. "So... What time did you all agree upon meeting up?"

Aristespha blinks back to awareness and gazes over to Bach, retrieving her aetherphone from a pant pocket. Tapping on the screen, the clock appears. "Today, Monday, at noon. When I called him this morning, he said his schedule was clear today. He still has a few more minutes."

The front door opens inwards,s and Sotalia steps out onto the front door landing next to Aristespha. Flicking a few stray dark red hairs over her horns, she leans over and peeks at the clock on Aristespha's phone. She places her hands on hips, arches her back into a long stretch, and wanders her golden eyes along the roadway. "Well, I hope this doesn't take too long. I really could go for more flying lessons today."

A loud singular laugh erupts from Bach, and he shakes his head while twisting an uncomfortable grimace upon his light tan face. "Not today! Already booked!"

Snapping her attention right at Bach, she narrows an incredulous glare. "What?!"

Aristespha puts her aetherphone away, draws a long breath, and sighs with an eye roll. "Yes. He's helping me with research and materials manufacture."

Sotalia slides her stare at Aristespha, quirking her brow. "Can't THAT wait? I finally got a chance to do more flight magic..."

Averting her eyes, she wrestles a flit of embarrassment down. "For honest work reasons..."

Tilting her head towards Sotalia, Aristespha lowers her tone and squints a stern stare. "After being swung into a tree by a tether from a hover disc, I believe he needs a break."

Sotalia defensively crosses her arms, pivots away to face the road, and bites down the embarrassment upon her lip. "I'm SORRY. I forgot how easy hover discs drift laterally. It's been a few years since I tutored in that type of magic."

Inside the garage, the door leading into the kitchen opens up. Dretphi steps down the few concrete stairs and steps behind Bach and Cideeda. Squinting at a distant military truck upon the road, she points. "See a vehicle. Maybe theirs."

A turn signal blinks yellow and the truck slows its approach near the mouth of the driveway. After a turn down the gravel entrance, the light truck pulls up just behind the team's humvee. The driver's side door swings out, and a human woman hops out swiftly. Precisely adjusting her green military uniform on her slender frame, she finishes with a corrective tilt of her hat upon her short, light brown hair. She steps around the front of the truck, promptly opens the passenger's side door, and waits patiently. A tall, thin older man stands upon the gravel and surveys the area. The woman swiftly closes the door solidly. Placing his officer's hat on neatly, the older man in high rank attire walks out from between the front of the truck and the back of the humvee. He turns and approaches the front steps. The woman immediately joins his side, maintaining a proper, official posture in contrast to the calmer stance of the older man. When the older man arrives at the first step of the front stairs, he stops. After a slight bow, he extends his hand to shake Aristespha's with an almost undetectable smile near the graying corners of his mustache. "I am Captain Hackle of the Greater Azure Alliance. Am I safe to assume you are Lady Aristespha?"

Aristespha returns the gradual bow, reaches out, and firmly shakes Captain Hackle's hand. "Yes, you are."

Captain Hackle straightens his posture and allows his smile to grow a tiny bit. "Excellent. I am happy you returned my call and offered to meet me. There's a number of recent events I would like to discuss, and a few bits of information I would like to relay. But, first... Let me introduce two members of my unit."

He sidesteps and pivots with a calm gesture towards the woman at his side. "This is Sergeant Violet, an expert on information acquisition and analysis."

Sergeant Violet bows and holds out her hand to shake. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Returning in the respect, Aristespha shakes Sergeant Violet's hand. Sotalia quirks a reserved eyebrow and stares at Sergeant Violet, curling a lip into a smirk. "Information specialist?"

Sergeant Violet pivots herself to meet Sotalia's gaze, proudly smiles back, and straightens her posture with arms behind her back. "Yes! I assist by gathering data about the where, when, why, who, and how of any assignment we are given. Then, I find relevant information to relay to others in my unit."

Twisting her mouth against the swell of defiance, Sotalia gently narrows her golden eyes and sprinkles condescension in her tone. "Okay, give me an example of this relevant information."

The corner's of Sergeant Violet's smile sharpens and clears way for a confident grin. Focusing her full attention to Sotalia, she draws in a deep breath. "Well, Sotalia Aurica Feratosia, I know you are second generation half-emin, scored eight thousand six hundred sixty nine cells when you tested at the small magic university near your home town, your current age is-"

Spring her eyes widen open, surprise completely flushes down over Sotalia's face, and she interrupts, forcing out a very respectful, pleading tone. "Let's keep it civil!"

She clears her throat and nods in begrudging agreement. "Um... I can see why your skills... Would be very useful."

Captain Hackle sways his brown eyes to Sergeant Violet, hems purposefully, and curls the corner of his gray mustache. "Now, now. We are here as guests, Sergeant. Could you please assist Specialist Thayal with removing their property out of the truck?"

Sergeant Violet flashes a smug glance at Sotalia, and exactly pivots away to face Captain Hackle into a salute. "Yes, Captain!"

She departs straight to the military truck with a stiff march. Sotalia settles back against the door frame with squirm up her spine and flex of her crossed arms. Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi exchange tight lipped expressions, failing at suppressing their satisfied smile. A brief snort slips out of Bach and prompts a suspicious glare from Sotalia. Sergeant Violet halts near the bed of the truck, draws a deep breath in, and shouts out in a shrill bellow. "SPECIALIST THAYAL! Get your butt into gear, and get the other end of this artifact! If I for a moment do not feel you are putting your effort into carrying it, you will be on double PT until I believe you are contributing your fair share!"

Wide eyes immediately find the source of the spectacle. Panic scurrying sounds out from the truck bed, and a lanky uniformed half-emin man springs up from the bed. "Good fucking gods almighty-"

His silver eyes spot the condemnation from Sergeant Violet, and he scrambles. "Yes, ma'am!"

Specialist Thayal places a hand quickly to the side of his head in a salute, pushing away long black hair underneath a horn roughly broken short. He reaches down to lift up the end of a roughly-edged, golden sheet of transparent stabilized magical energy. Narrowing her dark blue eyes at Thayal, Violet lowers the tailgate, firmly grips the other end of the sheet, and summons a scowl on her dark tan face. "Ma'am?! I work for a living! You will address me as Sergeant until I deem so otherwise! Do you understand me, Specialist THAYAL!?"

Thayal's posture snaps rigid and straight. Assisting in carrying out the golden sheet out of the bed of the truck, he grits his teeth with a subdued sneer. "Yes, SERGEANT."

Captain Hackle returns his attention from observation and gazes over the everyone else with a long vaguely apologetic sigh and lower tone. "If you could please excuse Sergeant Violet, she recently made the rank and is establishing herself to the rest of the unit. In particular... Specialist Thayal has gone to great lengths in the past to... Earn... the particular attention he is getting."

He glances back over his shoulder as Thayal and Violet move the golden sheet up towards the front door. With a calm tone, he pauses to punctuate the moments, spending time to find the right words. "As a point of order... I wanted to return this strange bit of magic we had to... Separate from the entryway into the ruins you successfully sealed. If you would not mind, Specialist Thayal has some questions to ask."

Both Thayal and Violet set the golden sheet on the grass of the front lawn. Squinting his eyes at the golden sheet, Bach immediately recognizes it. Thayal steps up next to Captain Hackle, examines everyone present. Receiving a confirming nod from Captain Hackle, he points to the golden sheet. "Okay, first off... Who the hell MADE that?!"

Eyes sweep over to Bach, and he eventually raises his hand sheepishly, feeling the peer pressure.

----

Inside the living area, the team around the dining table waits expectantly and watches Captain Hackle. Gently lifting the tea cup to his lips, Captain Hackle carefully tilts the brew back for a long sip and almost silently places the cup back onto the dining table. Straightening his posture in the wooden dining chair, he gazes over the anticipating expressions upon Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia's face. Glancing over to Sergeant Violet, he grants a slight nod and addresses the team. "You are an interesting group, which I have come to appreciate in my long career. I have found eccentricity often accompanies excellence. And, I must say for your short time here, you have shown your capabilities admirably."

Hovering seated in a chair next to Aristespha and across Captain Hackle, Sebastian smiles proudly. "Well, we try to do the jobs right. Despite what some of them turn into."

Captain Hackle nods calmly and briefly gazes outside through the sliding glass door. Returning to attention to the team, he perks her brow. "Hopefully, Sergeant Violet and Specialist Thayal aren't being too nosy, but I do appreciate all of you humoring our many questions."

Aristespha nods gracefully and gradually lifts an intrigued eyebrow with a reserved smile. "It is only fair. You have given us interesting information about the area and rumors about odd events."

Captain Hackle subtly widens a slow grin and nods a tiny bit. "Yes. Rumors, simply. Nothing more. Certainly, no official validation... Officially... Of course."

Furrowing his ethereal brow, Sebastian mimics a similar nod. "Of course."

With a deft sweep of his hand, Captain Hackle takes his hat, bows forward in his chair and rises from the table. "Unfortunately, while I would love to indulge in more conversation, I must attend to other affairs today. Truth be told, I would actually prefer to stay longer, given my..."

Placing his officer's cap on his head of short graying curly hair, he strains a breath through his nose. "Next stop."

Sebastian quirks his brow and floats up to a stand. Tilting his head to the side, he narrows his curiosity at Captain Hackle. "If you don't mind me asking, what would that be, Captain?"

A faint smirk creeps from the corner of Captain Hackle's mouth, and he sighs, straightening his uniform. "Your neighbors."

A small twitch pulls at Aristespha's cheek underneath her eye. A mix of irritation and frustration trickles up into the face of the rest of the group. Standing up out of her chair upright, Aristespha calmly exhales against the swell of ire. "I can understand your... Trepidation."

With a nod, Captain Hackle walks towards the sliding glass door. He stops next to Specialist Thayal, standing at attention, and stares out diagonally across the peaceful green field. Turning his head slightly towards the team, he hides a smile from view. "Yes. A requirement of my job."

Lifting a hopeful eyebrow, he pivots to address the team at the dining table. "Speaking of jobs, I actually have an assignment I would like to send to your group through the guild system."

Sebastian crosses arms with an interested smile and perk of the brow. "We may be interested?"

He gauges the reception reactions from Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia. Fighting a grimace, he meets Bach’s uncomfortable frown. Captain Hackle nods and stares outside at the waves of wind coasting over the field. "A number of days ago, a farmer provided my group shelter during one of the strong storms we unfortunately found ourselves in. In return, I gave him my contact information and informed him if he needed help, I would try to provide. He called me this weekend."

With a motion of a hand, he signals Thayal to follow and steps towards the team at the dining table. "He has an interesting problem with a pack of large bird-like creatures that now prevent him from getting to certain parts of his farm safely. Unfortunately, they seem to be a protected species and a straight elimination isn't allowed."

Noticing a inquiring glance from the Captain, Sergeant Violet straightens her posture and recites. "They are exceptionally rare weird zone birds that have proven to be very hard to study. There is not a lot of information about them."

Captain Hackle nods and gazes over the assembled group. "The local government will be happy to relocate them to an appropriate habitat, but will not do the initial capture. My group isn't particularly geared for this type of task. But, I feel your group would be... More appropriate for the task at hand."

Dretphi crosses her arms and wrestles a reserved frown with her thoughts. Flicking her furry ears, Cideeda leans against the chair back and cocks her head of short, multicolored hair. "So, you want us to herd a bunch of birds?"

Sotalia dismissively snorts and rolls her golden eyes. Bach remains silent and quietly observes the building rejection. Captain Hackle nods calmly with a vague understanding. "Understandable. I wanted to check to see if your group would be interested."

A hint of a confident smirk sneaks out onto his face. "Given the disinterest, should I forward this task to your... Neighbors?"

Silence flushes out the room and the team meets Captain Hackle's intrigued stare. Noticing the change over the team, Sebastian even spots hints of interest from Bach. Meeting Aristespha's demanding stare through him, Sebastian's ethereal form holds up a hand for a point of attention. "One moment, Captain. I think we all would like to discuss this a little further-"

Aristespha snarls her subdued ire upon her ivory face and slips out. "We'll take it."

Captain Hackle grants a nod with a vague grin and motions to Sergeant Violet. "I think Sergeant Violet will be happy to explain the situation in detail."

----

The humvee bounces along the narrow dirt access road, kicking up dust and the occasional rocky chunk of packed clay. Closing in on a gate within the fence row, the machine slows to a stop, a hint of squeal sounding from the brakes. The powerplant spins down and all the doors open. Everyone works their way out of the vehicle and spreads out, admiring the scenery. Cideeda steps up to the fence upon the crest of a small hill and surveys the huge, wide-open grassy field within the perimeter. "This is actually really pretty. Not a bad day for another nature hike."

Walking up next to Cideeda, Aristespha scans the horizon and checks on her tablet in between visual sweeps. "Hopefully, nothing too demanding, so we can enjoy the rest of it."

She bites her lip and sighs with a glance over her shoulder to the rest of the group. "Again... I want to apologize for agreeing up front for the mission without allowing you all to discuss it fully."

Swallow down her embarrassment, she frowns. "I wasn't exactly thinking clearly at that moment."

Sotalia stretches her arms over head and rests her hands on her hips. Assuming a confident stance, she gazes into the green field with a sly grin. "Girl! As IF we'd let THEM have anything intended for us first."

With a long yawn, Bach ambles up to the gathering at the fence row and clears the sleep from his blue eyes. "Well, it's not a cyber-zombie den, an abandoned park, or a ruin. So, I mean, it's already got a lot going for it. "

Dretphi stares off in her own thoughts, and she slowly pronounces a long scientific sounding name to herself. "Should know that name. Feels familiar."

Glancing over to Dretphi, Sotalia crosses her arms and shrugs, puzzling out loud. "Well, I tried searching all night. I only got a few bits here and there about these things. They sound like big angry chickens to me."

Cideeda lifts up a pair of binoculars and scans the distant parts of the field. Flicking her furry ears around the soundscape, she slowly pivots herself in a sweep of the horizon. Aristespha taps on her tablet a few times and furrows her academically annoyed brow at the annotated notes on the display. "Unfortunately, it seems that the species name applies to a number of different breeds of all shapes and sizes. Natural breeding, past genetic modification, and even magically modified. The species name is just a catchall for anything similar."

Sebastian's transparent visage materializes behind the group. and he chuckles to himself. "Yet another wonderful thing our ancestors left for us to deal with."

Cideeda halts her pivot and leans forward with the binoculars. Her tail furry fluffing out, she peeks over the eyepieces in surprise. "Holy shit. Are those..."

Dretphi rushes up next to Cideeda and taps her on the shoulder, holding out a hand. Cideeda lowers the binoculars, blinks blankly, and places them in Dretphi's awaiting hand. Dretphi lifts the binoculars up to her eyes, briefly searches the area, and then stares silently. After a minute of quiet study, she removes the binoculars from her eyes and frowns slightly. "OH."

The building attention from the rest of the group prompts Dretphi for a further explanation. "I know what these are. Their name in Grath translates roughly to... Thudkicker."

From the treeline surrounding the field, four tall, large bird-like creatures casually hop over the fence. Each of the beasts walks upon two long, thick legs, with three sharply clawed toes each. Investigating patches of grass in the field with long colorful necks, their feather covered, oval bodies show the faintest hints of small wings tucked away. Upon the front crest of their heads, a large bony crown encircles a head dress of bright plumage. The tallest of the group stands proudly to two meters tall, and the other creatures appear close to that height. Dretphi passes the binoculars to Aristespha. Sotalia casts a quick incantation, places her fingertips together, and squints through the space between. Aristespha lowers the binoculars from her blank ivory face and hands them to Bach. With the dawning situation, expressions between the group grow uncertain and mix heavily with unease. Sebastian observes the mood shift, puffs up his chest, and addresses the team with hearty bravado. "Alright everyone! Team planning on the hood. Let's get a plan together. I mean, we have recently just handled FAR more and bigger things than them."

Shaking out of their collective stupor, the team regroups around the humvee with confidence recovering by the minute.

----

While the wind gently blows over the large open field, the team awaits and hides in the brush at the edge of the surrounding forest. The pack of thudkickers wander through the shorter grass and hunt the field for anything edible. Peeking out, Sebastian hovers out from behind a tree and checks the current position of the pack. He slips back and gazes at the team laying low. "Okay. Final review of the plan. Aristespha and Sotalia will go invisible and move to the middle of the field. That'll give me enough range from the sword to fly around and get the leader's attention."

He furrows his brow and double checks with Dretphi. "When the leader charges after me, the rest will join up with the leader to assist."

Dretphi confirms with a confident nod. Pointing to Sotalia, Sebastian resumes to the explanation. "Sotalia should have plenty of opportunities to levitate and isolate one from the pack. Which, given how crazed they get with defending their territory... They probably won't immediately realize they are missing someone. Correct?"

He shifts his attention back to Dretphi. Nodding, Dretphi furrows her brow thoughtfully. "Yes. Thudkickers are notoriously single-minded. All will focus on the leader's target until the leader decides otherwise."

Changing his focus to Aristespha, Sebastian pounders out loud. "Aristespha will sedate them with a spell. Sotalia will drop them off near Dretphi and Cideeda, who will tie them up and drag them off into the woods. Bach you keep a lookout in the treeline near the middle of the field. Be ready to come up with a distraction in case we need one or whatever backup we might need."

Dretphi takes in a breath and gazes between the team with concern. "Thudkickers have good vision, good senses of smell. Keep hidden when possible. Watch for wind changes. They are NOT stupid. This breed lives in weird zones. Dumb one do not make to adulthood out there."

Gauging the readiness of the team, Sebastian nods contemplatively and addresses the team. "Everyone. If they don't take the bait or it becomes too dangerous, everyone scatter and regroup at the humvee. We'll figure something else out from there. Ready?"

Nods and affirmative expressions appear all around. Minutes pass, and the team spreads out to their positions. Dretphi and Cideeda sneak over to the cleared alcove pushing into the forest. Bach squats down behind a tall, leady scrub and peeks through a sparse section. A fading breeze barely trickles across the field and rattles the shorter stalks of grass. Across from Dretphi Cideeda's spot, two faintly distorted, transparent figures crouch down in the middle of the field. Sotalia's voice softly crackles over the radio. "We're in position and ready."

Cideeda sounds out over the airwaves. "Ready here."

Bach secures his helmet and gives a thumbs up to Sebastian next to him, behind some underbrush. "They're all in position from the looks of it. And, the thudkickers are hanging out in the corner over there. So... Ready when you are."

Sebastian nods, quickly zips off into the open, and flies towards the pack, diving low into the scattered taller stretches of weeds. Bach calls out over the radio. "Sebastian is going in."

Rising out of the grasses right next to the pack, Sebastian hems loudly, and projects an annoying, ethereal cough. The largest thudkicker snaps to attention and focuses an immediately angry glare right at Sebastian. Feathers ruffle up. Posture shifts straight to aggressive. And, a low, powerful honk echoes out into the vicinity, faintly bouncing off the surrounding perimeter for trees. The other three thudkickers halt and form up into a rough V-formation behind their leader. In the swell of tension, Sebastian takes a few steps back. The pack narrows the widening gap back in kind. Sebastian hovers back at a constant pace. The pack matches and maintains their distant pursuit. Sebastian takes off, and the pack charges in a full sprint. Keeps track of the progress of events, Bach announces over the radio. "They took the bait! Sebastian is moving them to staging area, get ready."

The Sebastian flies in a long circular path around the field, the thudkicker pack feverishly pursuing. The last of the pack passes between the pairings of Sotalia and Aristespha in the middle of the field and Cideeda and Dretphi hiding just beyond the brush line. The transparent distortion around Sotalia fades, and she expediently runs through a series of incantations. The trailing thudkicker falls behind the pack. Despite how fast its legs kick against the air now beneath it, the creature speeds backwards. It hovers against its comprehension towards the center of field and halts. Another distorted transparency fades off of Aristespha. With glowing violet eyes, she points an ivory hand at the bewildered thudkicker and releases a directed wave of energy at its head. The creature's eyes close and body goes limp. With a gurgling snore sounding out, the feathered beast coasts off towards the edge of the field and lands gently on the grassy alcove. Dretphi jumps out from the brush, snatches up the legs of the thudkicker, and hoists them up, placing the massive bird on it's back. Cideeda rushes out with thick rope. Quickly wrapping coils around the legs, she secures the bindings around the beast. Dretphi directs Cideeda to the thudkicker's head. "Secure the beak. Tie the neck to the legs. Prevent them from headbutting."

Bach maintains an overwatch between Sebastian's progress around the field and the rest of the team. Settling back into their mid-field hiding spot, Sotalia and Aristespha grow transparent and fade from view. Cideeda finishes her knots, and Dretphi drags the huge bird off the field into hiding. Glances over mid-flight, checks the staging area, and spots Bach's thumbs up from the top of the bush. Curling his winding path around, he tightens it up and lines up for another pass. Bach radios an update. "Okay. He's coming in for another pass. Get ready."

Sebastian blazes through with the pack in tow. Transparency washes off of Sotalia, and she rapidly works the gestures and flows for another casting. A trailing thudkicker lags behind the other two and coasts backwards towards the center of the field. Mid flight, the bird sporadically bobs down. It springs back to the previous altitude. The floating thudkicker squirms and tenses with faint flits of magical flow sparking out. It bobs closer to the ground than before. Muttering a series of curses in a few choice languages, Sotalia grumbles to herself, straining her tone. "The FUCK are you doing?! STOP doing THAT!"

From a faint, transparent distortion field next to Sotalia, Aristespha inquires worried. "What is going on?"

Grimacing with fresh frustration, Sotalia growls out. "I think the bird is actually trying to counter my spell!"

She readjusts her gestures and concentrates on the growing challenge. "And, it's doing too good of a job of it!"

The cloak of invisibility flop down from Aristespha, and she narrows her glowing violet eyes at the erratic, hovering thudkicker. "Oh my gods, it is! It's actually consciously directing magical flow against yours! Admittedly, very crude, but-"

Sotalia snaps a worried glare at Aristespha and grits her teeth with a twitch of the cheek. "Crude and effective! Can you knock it out?! I'm wasting a lot of time and energy fighting it!"

Sebastian checks over towards the middle of the field. Concern flashes over his face, and he jet down his path over the grass. Slowing down, he glances behind him, and the pack drops to a slow march. The lead thudkicker sways his head side to side and carefully examines Sebastian visage in front of him. Lowering its head to sniff the ground passed over by Sebastian, it stops walking. Keeping his head facing the beast, Sebastian eyes over to the middle of the field. Aristespha summons a more powerful wave of energy and manages to sedate the defiant, hovering thudkicker. Sebastian shifts his eyes over to the treeline and meets Bach's worried stare. Finding similar concern in his brother's gaze, Bach keys up the radio. "Problem! I think the leader has figured out Sebastian isn't physically there. They're not chasing him anymore. I'll try to distract them, and keep them busy for a bit."

Lifting his hand up, a glowing ball forms in Bach's palm, and he flicks it off. The orb zips out right in front of the leader. The light ball flits and flutters around the leader thudkicker's head. Disregarding the nuisance, the leader sniffs the air and searches the growing breeze. Peeking over his shoulder, Sebastian spots Dretphi starting to tie up the sedated thudkicker. He yells out to Bach and waves his arms at the lead thudkicker. "Bro! I don't think it's falling for that shit anymore! I think it knows something is up!"

Bach's eyes dart around, sorting through all the pieces of the situation in his mind. Dretphi and Cideeda work on wrapping up the thudkicker on the other side of the field. Aristespha and Sotalia fight a wave of fatigue and start focusing magical energies. A strong breeze pushes a branch against Bach's helmeted head, and he watches the wind coast from Cideeda and Dretphi, over the mostly visible Aristespha and Sotalia, and right towards the thudkickers. Mustering his determination, Bach secures his helmet on his head and rushes out towards Sebastian. He searches the ground, spots a clumpy patty, and cracks a devious grin across light tan face. The pack leader starts to turn its head away from Sebastian, and a loud shout from Bach seizes its attention. Snapping its glare upon Bach, a large, old cow pie smacks upon the bony forehead and crumbles over the beak of the lead thudkicker. It sniffs in the unmistakable scent of old cow manure. Rageful pride and overwhelming disgust drive the fetid odor back out the nasal passages in a furious snort. A spiteful glare pierces through all other distractions to Bach. The pack leader's eyes glow dimly dark red. Every feather ruffles out in furious tremors. And, an enraged honk bellows out, reverberating far from the field. Sebastian's jaw drops, and he gawks in pure astonishment. "WOW."

Bach stiffens with fear and blinks blankly. "Oh... He knows what I threw at him..."

Staring at Bach for a moment, Sebastian yells. "RUN, BRO!"

Snapping his jaw shut, his eyes illuminate a bright blue, and Bach tears off at speeds beyond expectation. The enraged lead thudkicker tears off in a psychotic sprint. Red flows of magical energy course around its body, and savage honks shred the air. Bach screams out into the field and over the radio. "NEW PLAN! IT'S AFTER ME! OH FUCK!"

Bach blazes down the field, a faint blue energy vapor fading behind him. Powering on with long, fast strides, he sprints up to speed and barely outpaces the enraged thudkicker. Aristespha calls out on the radio. "We're ready! Get over here!"

He frantically runs towards the staging area and flies through with the pack leader right behind him. The other thudkicker passes through the zone seconds later. It strains to a halt and floats up stiffly. A powerful energy wave blast floods over him. Tensing her body, Sotalia deposits the creature in front of Cideeda and Dretphi. She releases the spell and pants out. "No more chancing. Let's skip the cloak and use the energy for the big one!"

Aristespha nods and summons up flows of prismatic power. Dretphi and Cideeda swiftly tie up and drag the sedated thudkicker off to the others hidden in the forest. Sotalia yells over the radio. "Bring the big one in Bach!"

Bach's pace gradually slows. The distance between him and the lead thudkicker closes. His breath shortens with each second of frantic gasping. Banking around the edge of the field, he lines up for the approach. The enraged leader shrinks the divide. Bach bolts through the trap. Sotalia activates her spell, and the last thudkicker lifts off the ground. Aristespha lines up her aim and flows the powers. A thunderous honk bellows out, and a wave of red energy pulses across the huge beast. His feet touch ground again. and a wavering field of energy fades off. Sotalia struggles to perform the incantations for another attempt. Fighting for air against exhaustion, Bach slows to a stumbling run. Aristespha launches a wave of energy at the leader. It pauses for a moment, blinking and stumbling forward. With another booming honk, a red wave radiates over the densely feathered body, and it launches into sprint. Bach spins around and watches the creature charge down at him. Panic plain on his face, he scrambles inside his mind for a solution and lowers his head in exhaustion. Lifting his head up with a wild spark in his blue eyes, he calls out on the radio. "Dretphi! How do these things challenge each other?!"

Halting in surprise at the question, Dretphi's steely gray eyes speed through her mind, and she commands out. "Stare! Honk loud! Kick up the dirt! Flare out your plumage!?"

Gritting his teeth, Bach locks eyes with the charging thudkicker and screams out a strained honk. Repeatedly kicking up the dirt behind him, he flares out and flutters his duster. The huge thudkicker slows his pace, stops a few meters short of Bach, and curiously glares. After seconds of head twisting study, it belts out a different tone and pitch of honk. Scratching at the dirt beneath, it flares out its plumage. Bach maintains eye contact with the feathered beast and stiffly speaks into the radio. "Okay... What now?"

Watching the scene while rushing over with the rest of the team, she instructs Bach further. "Circle with it. Keep eye contact. Watch its head."

Readying their spells mid stride, Aristespha and Sotalia scramble across the field toward the distant face-off between Bach and thudkicker. Cideeda runs with shotgun ready, loading a taser round in the bottom barrel. Bach and the thudkicker circle around, matching mannerisms and posturing. Noticing flows of magic creeping up the neck of the creature, muscles tensing, and balance shifting, Bach inquires over the radio, worry creeping into his tone. "Uh, what's next after the circling?"

Dretphi states over the radio. "A headbutt."

Bach's eyes spring wide open. The thudkicker rears its head back, magical energy surging up to it. Curling his lip to a defiant sneer, and Bach narrows his glare, flush with resolve. A brilliant blue glow flashes out his eyes, and streams of magical energy spiral up his body to his head. Riding the sheer determination, he rears back his head, prismatic energies swelling. Bach and the thudkicker lunge heads first at each other. A thunderous, solid thud bounces off the nearby hills and back into the field. A bright flash wanes from the collision, and the two remain in contact with each other for the moment. Staggering back, the big thudkicker dizzily stumbles over itself into a heap. It releases a loud grunt before a series of gurgling snores. With cracks spidering out from the impact point on his helmet's magical, golden barrier, Bach straightens up with a triumphant ear to ear grin. "Fuck you... Chicken..."

Pain receptors finally inform him of his sheer stupidity, and his bravado disappears before reality. "Oh gods... Why did I do that... OWWW!"

-18-

Within the cab of the humvee, golden eyes peer over the front passenger seat's headrest. Straight, dark red hair flutters with the wind venting in through the lowered door window and strays over swept-back horns. The headrest conveniently obscures Sotalia's ear to ear, highly amused smile. Sitting knees into the seat, she gazes upon Bach, almost fully reclined in the back seat. Exaggerating a breath into a pained groan, Bach winces from the last tap of Aristespha's gloved hand. Aristespha settles into her seat across the aisle from Bach and calmly removes her medical gloves. Slowly shaking her head to rest into her hand, she rolls her violet eyes and puffs surprised. "How you haven't even managed a concussion is astounding."

Sebastian's ethereal voice resonates from the sword resting next to Aristespha's seat. "Honestly, it's genetic. At least that's what mom always said about dad. Then again, dad said the same thing about mom. Depends who you asked and when."

Dretphi carefully lowers a plastic cold pack onto the red, lightly swollen patch in the middle of Bach's forehead. Slowly raising his hand up, Bach grasps the pack and secures it upon his head. "Thank you..."

Patting Bach's shoulder lightly, Dretphi leans into the far back bench. She picks up Bach's helmet next to her and carefully rotates it around, examining the fading crackle in the magical barrier. Furrowing her brow, she gazes at Bach with a humored smile. "Tried to warn you they headbutt. Did not intend for you to..."

Fighting back a humored curl, she tightens her smile. "Respond in kind."

A long groan mumbles out from Bach, and a withering sigh punctuates the embarrassed upwards wave of his hand. "I know. I- Uh... I... Got caught up in the whole moment...?"

Fluttering his blue eyes open, Bach squints through a flurry of memory and glances around inside his head bewildered. "I... I don't know- What the hell was I thinking?"

Sotalia slides her hands over the top of her seat, wraps her arms around the headrest, and plops her chin on top with a radiant, smug grin. "Well, there's a dangerous assumption right there."

Perking her brow, she barely subdues the giggle in the undertone. "Thinking?"

The cold pack gradually shifts back up Bach's head and clears his line of sight of Sotalia. He manages a weak glare at her. Deflating under her unrelenting grin right back at him, he sighs. "At this point, I'm not even going to argue. It hurts too much."

Sotalia unwraps an arm from the head rest, flips open a pouch on her belt and retrieves a vial. Holding the vial over the aisle, she waggles it in sight of Aristespha and directs her inquiry. "Is it safe for a simple anti-inflammatory?"

Aristespha glances up from the windows of text upon her tablet, briefly quirks a brow at Bach, and smirks at Sotalia. "Yes. Go right ahead. I'm sure our brave hero of the day will appreciate it."

Sotalia cranes the vial over to Bach, taps it upon his knee, and offers it. Bach flutters his eyes open under the shadow of the cold pack, spots the potion, and drifts his free hand over. "Thank you."

Briefly lifting his hand from the cold pack, he uncorks the vial, tilts the vial into his mouth, and caps it back. Securing the cold pack again, he presents the empty vessel back to Sotalia. "So... I'm not going to live this one down any time soon..."

Sotalia giggles to herself and dramatically shakes her head side to side. "OH. No. Of course not."

An amused grin widens on her light tan and dark gray face and sun from the window glints in her golden eyes. "Oh, what was the one liner? Fuck you, chicken?"

Cringing into an uncomfortable grimace, Bach exhales defeat. Aristespha closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose. "You are certainly Sebastian's brother."

From the sword, Sebastian adopts a playfully defensive tone. "Hey! I don't know how to feel about that... Anyway."

Brotherly pride radiates from his encouraging tone. "I think it was pretty fucking awesome, bro! Damn, you beat that bird at its own game. You out thudkickered the thudkicker. Seriously, fuck that overgrown chicken."

Dretphi leans forward, rests a hand on Bach's shoulder, and smiles with a slight lip bite. "You have earned a rare honor. Few challenge a thudkicker. None I know have won. None were sober when they tried."

Chuckling to herself, Sotalia crosses her arms back around the head rest. "Gods, I still can't believe you won!"

She furrows her brow at Dretphi and twists a smirk. "Hey! Doesn't that mean he becomes the pack leader or something?"

Dretphi leans back against her seat and searches her thoughts with darting steely gray eyes. After uncertain contemplation, she simply shrugs. "Yes? If the pack had been awake to witness."

The driver's side door opens, and Cideeda hops behind the steering wheel. Glancing down the aisle, she cracks a smile and perks her furry ears. "So, how's patient?"

Aristespha pulls the corner of her mouth into an amused half-grin and flicks her eyes over to Bach. "Oh. He will live. Hard head intact, pride defended, sanity questionable, and ego shrinking."

Cideeda nods, flashes a toothy grin to Bach with a quick wink, and turns forward into her seat. "Well that's good. So, the thudkickers are in the hands of the relocation crew. I got our restraints and rope back, and..."

Reaching into a vest pocket, she pulls out a folded piece of paper and lifts it over her seat to Aristespha. "A delivery confirmation receipt."

Aristespha plucks the paper from Cideeda's hand and opens it for inspection. Sweeping her violet eyes over the paper, she nods and positions in front of her tablet. "Excellent. I will get a photo of it and send it along with the rest of the paperwork."

Cideeda quickly checks over her immediate area of the cab. Inserting a fob into a port on the humvee's dash, she glances over to Sotalia, still sitting knees into the seat. A startled squeak escapes Sotalia. Reflexively tensing up, she wraps her arms around herself low, guarding her sides. She searches nearby and finds Cideeda's claw tip pointing at her. Following it back, she blinks blankly. Cideeda furrows her brow, twirls a finger, points down, and motions towards Sotalia's seat belt. Pouting briefly, Sotalia spins around and sits down properly. "Aww..."

Cideeda flips a series of covered toggle switches on the dash, locks them in place, and presses the ignition switch firmly. "That's enough for now. We can remind him of this later."

A low whirl spins up to a high pitched whine, and a muffled pop erupts to muted roar as the system status lights upon the dash flick to green. Cideeda lowers her head, peers through the windshield, and stares concerned up to the clouding sky. "I want to get home soon."

Her emerald green eyes scan the darker horizon and flick between runs of graying clouds. Wrestling an uneasy frown, she straightens her posture and puts the humvee in gear. "Walking back, the clouds looked really off. I don't want to be driving in whatever they're bringing."

----

The constant drone of heavy rain rolls over the roof and seeps throughout the house. The intensity wavers with the gusts of wind. Rattles of water drops upon the window glass peaks over the stormy ambiance. Snoring against the surrounding din, Bach unconsciously draws up bed sheets and cocoons away from the chaos. A white flash beams in through the windows, and the room lights up brilliantly. Between winces, Bach stirs and crack open his eyes to thin slits. His blue pupils drift side to side aimlessly and wander without consciousness. An explosive, house shaking boom pulses through. Bach's eyes spring wide open, and he waits with muscles tense, surveying the situation. He watches the eerie ambient dim, green glow radiate from the windows above the head of his bed and erratically pulsate upon the plain walls. Sittings up in bed, he groggily fails to catch the warm cold pack, and it flops off his forehead onto his bed sheet covered lap. He pulls off the sheet, and stands up, facing the window. Outside through the window, the rain falls in sheets upon the glass, flooding the view in drenching waves. Dark green, omnipresent light oozes through the clouds overhead, and flickers of purple, pink, and orange streak through the same clouds. Bach slowly blinks to blank stare and clears the sleep out of his eyes, waiting for consciousness to arise. A distant low rumble vibrates the windows, and a wave of tension freezes Bach. Continuing to scan the chaotic scene outside from his bedroom window, he manages to mumble the question his mind provides no answers to. "What the fuck is this?"

Brushing off his shirt and short, he collects his thoughts and glances towards the faint light creeping in under his door from the hallway. After a few distant and muffled voices slip through the hollow door, he ambles over to the exit.

In the living room, the television casts a glow onto the couch and coffee table while a single light in the kitchen illuminates the living area. The door to the garage opens and reveals Cideeda pressing a button on the garage side of the wall. A mechanical groan of the garage door cycles, and the chorus of rain gradually loses out, eventually subsiding to the background noise when the garage door seals up. Cideeda closes the kitchen door firmly, releases a satisfied breath through the drips of water down her light brown face. She brushes back her wet short, multi-colored hair with her fingers and flutters her emerald green eyes with a whole body shiver. After a few moments of twirling the humvee's key fob in her hand, she glances down at her water soaked nightshirt and tugs it away from her figure. It clings back to her upon release, and she huffs out an annoyed sigh. Sotalia stirs within her house coat, turns her head towards Cideeda, and quietly projects from the couch. "You know we have rain coats, right?"

Cideeda steps across the kitchen floor, her bare feet softly sounding out a light, wet pats with clicks from her claws. Putting her hands up to the sides with an acknowledging smirk, she shrugs. "I know. But, honestly, I don't think it would have helped much."

Picking at the clingy and soaked shirt, she coils her water-logged tail around her waist. "I'll be right back. I got to get a new shirt and wring out my tail."

Granting an acknowledging nod, Sotalia slides her attention back to the television. Lifting up the remote at the screen, she turns up the volume, and the audio from the broadcast climbs out of the background storm drone with each tick on the on-screen gauge.

"... we are currently still waiting on confirmation from the Greater Azure Alliance Department of Meteorology. But, from all observations and our equipment, a Maelstrom Warning is very likely for cities within the projected path of the storm. Amaranth Valley and surrounding areas are presently under Severe Storm warning for the reminder of the night and..."

Bach wanders groggily out from the archway leading to the hallway, and Cideeda casually slides past him. Quickly patting him on the shoulder, she smirks. "Morning."

Fighting a yawn, Bach nods towards her. "Technically... Yeah... I guess."

He pauses in thought and notices the wet sheen of kitchen light reflecting off Cideeda's hair. "You've been outside?"

Cideeda nods and sighs with a shrug. "Didn't want to risk our only ride to this mess outside. Got it to fit in the garage. After soaking up a couple liters of water in my tail alone."

Walking down the hallway to her bedroom, she slips through the door. Seconds later a rolled up, wet nightshirt flops onto the floor just outside the door. Bach blinks, turns towards the television, and wanders next to the nearby arm of the couch. "Wait... A maelstrom? I thought we were too far out for those."

Sotalia shakes her head with an uneasy twist in her grimace. "So did I... But, I guess if the storm picks up enough from the weird zone, it can stay near maelstrom stage long enough to get here."

The dim green glow through the sliding glass door flickers pink with bright flashes of white slipping in. Bach and Sotalia snap their heads at the colors and gawk outside at the pulsations to many individual, constant glows. The dim green drifts between a strange range of colors, and the sky paints itself with a fading rainbow of streaks. Mixing with the torrents of rain, orbs of magical light pelt and bounce off the ground. A low distant hum resonates through the structure of the house, and a lightning strike in the distance erupts into a spidering swirl of expanding miasma. The concussion wave from the strike warps through the walls of rain and impacts the house, shaking to a long rumble. Sotalia stares in awe with her jaw agape. Bach slowly blinks in disbelief and stretches his facial muscles in search of a fitting expression. Peering out from the hallway archway, Cideeda's wide eyes and narrow pupils reflect the barrage of lighting from outside. She holds up a finger, points down the hallway, and uses her free hand to pull down her dry nightshirt the rest of the way. "So... I'm going to wake Dretphi up... If she isn't already."

Placing her sock covered feet squarely on the ground, Sotalia quickly stands up rigidly and nods slowly. "Good idea, girl. I'll go get Aristespha up. She'll want to see this."

"This is an update from the Greater Azure Alliance Department of Meteorology! We have confirmations from multiple sources that the storm is now classified a Class One Maelstrom! Residents in the path of the maelstrom should seek shelter within an interior room, basement, or dedicated storm shelter..."

While the alert scroll overlay attempts to display, the picture on the television shifts, shudders, skews, and distorts in a myriad of erratic directions and shapes. Aetherphones throughout the house fire off loud emergency alerts. Seeping into the room, a chorus of sirens across the countryside spin up to a haunting wail, echoing out to swirling glows of the sky above.

----

A tan hand tugs on Bach's foot beneath the blanket. After a quick grumble, Bach tosses in the sleeping bag upon the living room floor, fighting against consciousness. Another firm pull on his foot stirs him from slumber, and he groggily cracks his eyes open. Dretphi holds onto Bach's foot through the sleeping bag and nods. "I apologize. I need your help."

Fluttering his blue eyes, he slowly rises up to a seat on the floor and begrudgingly pushes through the haze of sleep fading away. He rubs his eyes, yawns, and scratches his beard stubble. "Sure... Yeah... So, what do you need?"

Dretphi gazes out towards the sliding glass door and waves to the golden magical barrier encasing the exit. Bach follows her direction and blinks blankly, his brain sluggishly loading memory from last night. "Oh. Right. I remember. Yeah, let me get that down."

Bach unzips the sleeping bag, steadies himself up on his feet, and checks the living area. Cideeda snores quietly on the couch. She unconsciously wraps blankets into the cocoon around her from another spot on the couch, and her tail flicks out from underneath the sheets. Glancing at other impromptu bedding on the couch and the chair, Bach quirks a brow at Dretphi. "So, I guess Aristespha and Sotalia are up already? Investigating outside?"

With a nod, Dretphi confirms and smiles reassuringly, tossing back a stray platinum blonde braid. "House is intact. Both checked for lingering magic. They are now outside. Assessing the property."

Bach stretches his neck side to side, fights another yawn, and scratches his side. "Probably a lot of trees down. THAT was something else last night."

Staring over towards the dining table resting against the wall, he surveys the collection of patio furniture packed in the dining area. "Well, I'm glad we got the patio stuff inside. Gods, after that first chair tried to float away, I'm pretty sure it all would have been gone by now."

Dretphi slightly grimaces with a twist of her mouth and slowly nods at the furniture. "With our security deposit."

Standing idly in a near daze, he notices Dretphi staring expectantly at him. Meeting her eye contact, he ponders through confusion and remembers the task. He rubs his eyes again and tries to mask the embarrassment. "Oh. Right. Yeah. The barrier! Uh, I'll get that down real quick and help you with the patio stuff."

Crossing her muscular arms, she smiles watching Bach groggily step to the sliding glass door. "Coffee has been made. Do you require a cup?"

With slow, exaggerated motions, Bach glances over his shoulder and confirms, fighting down a yawn. "Y-yes. Please."

----

A breeze rustles the leaves above, and water drops patter down upon the soggy forest floor from the canopy. Staring out between the tall trees, Dretphi slowly surveys the sparse destruction within the forest She walks up to a large fallen tree and kneels down with a studious gaze at the aged trunk. Narrowing her steely gray eyes, she picks at the spongey, rotted heartwood within an old hole. She crumbles the weak fibers between her fingers and shakes her head with a frown. She stands up tall, searches the area, and squints down a long, winding erosion in the fresh mud. Stepping over the fallen tree upon the sun spotted forest floor, she cautiously steps upon the wet earth, testing her weight. Bach notices her moving away and follows behind. He slides foot first over to the other side of the fallen tree and studies the torn, snapped roots lying above the ground. "Gods... This is scary impressive. I mean, I knew the wind was powerful, but... Wow. Just wow."

Squatting down, Dretphi examines the damp soil and traces the start of a water worn creek with her eyes. "It is amazing..."

She cocks her head to the side and wanders her investigative stare over the area. "Tremendous amount of water. Lead towards the stream."

Stepping up behind Dretphi, Bach gazes off into the distance and perks his brow. "Yeah. This must have practically been a river last night. All this fresh around..."

Standing back up, Dretphi glances towards the ambient babble of the stream. With Bach close behind, she hikes through dense forest, surveying the area. Both wander closer to the sparser run along a stream, and their footsteps sink further into the earth. Mud and dirt coat the banks, and a constant water flow churns over stones. The stream spreads out into a wide, shallow pool of silt slurry. Sunken into the middle, a large tusked creature lays on its side, murk completely covering its hide. Spotting the creature, Dretphi halts, and a frown drags down. "Oh."

Bach notes the change of mood, gazes out in the same direction, and matches with a similar expression. "Damn... Poor thing. Must have worn itself out and drowned."

A labored breath struggles to get inside the lungs of the creature, and it releases a weak grunt. Dretphi's steely gray eyes spring wide open, and she jogs over to the edge of the pool. She cautiously halts, lowers herself down, and cranes herself close, examining the creature carefully. "It is alive. Could be dangerous."

Bach stands next to Dretphi and shrugs uncertainly. "Umm... Well, even if it is dangerous, I don't think it can put up that much of a fight right now."

He offers a reassuring smirk and motions towards the sunken beast. "I've got your back, if you want to check it out closer."

Dretphi glances over with a reserved smile, nods, and steps into the pool. Her hiking boot sinks into the murk and touches solid ground halfway up her calf. She eases down to a squat next to the meter long boar and gently rests a hand upon it. Feeling the rise and fall of its breath, she moves her hand along its side. Bach trudges closer through the muck and leans down nearby. "So, how's it looking?"

Petting its dense fur, Dretphi grimaces sadly and inspects the large boar. "Do not know. It is weak. Dangerous to treat a boar of this siz-"

Her hand stops. Pressing her fingers into its thick coat around its upper back, and she traces an outline of a small boney bud. Her eyes widen in surprise, and her jaw drifts open. She scoops up water and pours it onto the thick fur. Each handful washes away a layer of the dirt coating and reveals hidden patterns and colors of the fur. Recognition rattles Dretphi, and she gasps in shock. Diving her arms underneath, she strains to dredge the boar up from the mud. "Help! Get him out!"

Dropping down to his knees into the muck, Bach digs through the watery murk. Dretphi struggles to hoist the boar free from the unforgiving mud, suction weighing down each attempt. Bach growls and slaps his hands on the surface, and a blue glow flashes from his eyes. "Fuck! To hell with this!"

With a surge of flow down his arms, a sprawling mesh of magical energy strands erupt from Bach's hands. The threads spread across the surface of the water to the boar and dive underneath the surface. Against an expanding energy lattice, the muck recedes from the body of the boar, clearing out underneath and around its legs. Dretphi quickly slips her arms underneath and hoists the critter free. Steading herself in the murky pool, she strains to pull her boots free. The energy threads swiftly pull back the murk. Stepping upon solid ground, she secures her hold of the weakly struggling boar. Bach slips out from the mire and helps Dretphi get a proper hold of the beast. After a moment of assurance, the two rush back to the house.

----

Staring at the bundled up boar upon a cleared section of living room floor, Aristespha covers her mouth and darts her examining violet eyes between parts of the creature. "I can do the basics."

She twists an uncomfortable frown on her ivory face. "But... I specialized in humanoid medicine. Any specific spells may do more harm than good on him. We need a specialist."

Dretphi gently props the exhausted boar's head upon a folded towel and sighs with a concerned gaze. Sebastian floats over gathering, sorting through his thoughts, and stirs when one idea hits. Cracking a smile on his translucent face, he points at Bach. "Bro! Call Kaleb and Shadeesa."

Bach meets his brother's gazes, thinks with a furrow of her brow, and rolls his eyes at himself. He pulls out his aetherphone and fumbles through the menus to a contact list. "Dammit! That's right!"

After tapping a few on screen buttons, a rhythmic chirp sounds out from the speaker. Kaleb's voice calls out from the speakerphone. "Hey! What's going on? We were just wondering how you guys weathered that maelstrom."

Bach holds his phone out towards the middle of the gathering. "Well, we're all fine. But, we've got a veterinary emergency on our hands. I'll turn on the video."

Kaleb's voice wavers with tinges of confusion. "Okay... Well, Shadeesa just got out of the bathroom. Let me get her over here."

Aiming his phone towards the boar with Dretphi and Aristespha tending at the side, Bach kneels down for a better shot. The phone screen displays Kaleb sitting down and adjusting his view closer to his face. Shadeesa appears behind and wraps her arms around Kaleb's neck. She squints at the other side's camera, appearing to stare out through the screen. "Huh, a veterinary emergency? What kind of-"

Tilting his head side to side, Kaleb scrutinizes the image of the mud-caked boar on his end of the call and hums thoughtfully, mentally flipping through possibilities. "Wow. Well, it looks like that boar has been through a lot. But... That coloration of its fur... I'd expect that from a baby."

Shadeesa leans forward, her green on black eyes gradually closing in on the screen. Reaching a hand out, she directs their phone towards her light gray, white freckled face. Kaleb curiously watches Shadeesa hanging over him, the pupils of her eyes widening. She bites her lip with an ear-to-ear grin and excitedly stammers. "T-t-that's a baby dire boar. An actual dire boar piglet. The coloration of the fur. The size. Does he have the start of any horns, bones, or spurs along his back?!"

Lowing her head into view of Bach's aetherphone camera, Dretphi nods and parts a patch of the boar's fur, revealing a boney bud. Shadeesa locks onto the phone with her full undivided attention. Determination fights to curb her excitement, and she draws in a calming breath. "Okay... Aristespha, could you start giving me basic vitals and information? I'll instruct you on what you need to do to make sure he's stabilized until we get there."

Blinking blankly, Kaleb turns his head towards Shadeesa and stares with a raised eyebrow. "Uh? Get there? We aren't leaving for the convention until tomorrow. I mean, our hotel reservations aren't until tomorrow night, Thursday night."

He furrows his stare concerned. "It's Wednesday, today. I don't feel comfortable with you doing that long of a round trip either and..."

Explanation fumbles to a halt the moment Shadeesa's arm around Kaleb's neck tightens by a slight but important amount. Shadeesa gazes right into Kaleb's light brown eyes. The two maintain eye quiet contact for seconds. Faint shifts in expression relay a silent conversation between the two. A long sigh escapes Kaleb, and he smiles at her with a nod. "Okay, love. I want to help the piglet, too. I just want to make sure everything is in place for you."

Shadeesa pecks Kaleb on the cheek with a loving smile. "Honey, I'm only three months along. You have my full permission to stop me in the future when I get too crazy with traveling. Okay?"

Kaleb shifts his gaze to the camera on his aetherphone and cracks a smirk. "Bach? You hear that? I need a witness here to call up in the future."

Narrowing her eyes briefly at Kaleb, Shadeesa flashes a playful defiant pout. With an uncomfortable chuckle, Bach awkwardly smiles. "Uh, sure. Yeah. Cool. Well, anyways, I'll offer my bed for the night if there's no objections. I think the couch will be clear, since we aren't taking shelter from any maelstrom."

With no objections from Aristespha, Cideeda, and Sotalia, Sebastian gazes down upon Dretphi. Petting and comforting the baby dire boar, Dretphi focus remains far from the current conversation. Sebastian smiles appreciatively at his brother. "Well, since you volunteered, bro. I don't believe anyone has any objections."

Kaleb gives a thumbs up from his side of the video feed. "Thanks, you all. I doubt we'd be able to book a decent hotel at this point."

With Shadeesa's hands sweeping around the phone, he rolls his eyes with a smirk. "Well, I'll hand the phone over, now. Got to get Lagi loaded up and ready."

Bach passes his phone over to Aristespha. Settling down into a chair, Shadeesa readies herself, and her focused, determined, expectant stare fills the screen.

----

Contrasting the looming shadow, pulses of condensation spread out on the sliding door's outside with each breath from the nostrils of the black and blue dragon. Lagi presses his head closer against the glass, and his bright green eyes attentively follow the activity inside the living room. Shadeesa lifts her head back, rolls her shoulders into stretch, and sighs with a smile. "If he's this goofy and worthless now, I think he'll be just fine to stay the night inside."

Dretphi holds another handful of cereal loops in front of the baby dire boar's sniffing snout. Casually licking up the cereal, the huge piglet munches down with a constant, happy wag of the tail. Aristespha props her arms behind and leans herself back on the floor next to Shadeesa. "I hope I am not asking too much, but I would love to get the recipe for that nutrient paste you have."

She cracks a humored smirk and lifts an eyebrow. "I do hope it's not a veterinary trade secret."

Shadeesa shakes her head and brushes her apron off with a giggle. "Oh no! It's something I've worked on for cases like these with exhaustion, starvation, and so forth. It’s actually very similar to the standard nutrient mixes. But, I put a few fast absorption spells on it."

Narrowing her green on black eyes, she twists an amused smile. "I'll warn you, though... It's REALLY potent. So, only use very little once a day."

With a faint shudder, she sighs. "The side effects are annoying and... Messy."

Kaleb sorts through items in a medical pack on the dining table and grumbles loudly with a sarcastic ring. "And make sure you label it clearly when you put it in a cream cheese tub."

Aristespha, Dretphi, and Sotalia glance over to Shadeesa. Momentarily gritting her teeth in an embarrassed frown, Shadeesa bites her lip and quietly whispers. "I changed up the binder and flavoring after that... Incident."

Sebastian slides next to Kaleb, pulls his gaze away from the gathering around the dire piglet, and quietly inquires. "Any more details to THAT story?"

Kaleb sighs and shakes his head. "Three hours at a rundown truck stop bathroom."

Lifting his hand up, Sebastian slowly nods with a tight smile. "Say no more. I know your pain. On and off, half a day, camp ground with an old outhouse."

Kaleb and Sebastian exchange mutual commiseration with glances and stale, pained sighs. Dretphi brushes the clean hair ridge of the dire boar with her finger. With a smile ever present on her face, she puts forth another handful of cereal in front of the critter's snout. Aristespha shifts her gaze over to a paper notepad between her and Shadeesa and studies it further. "I see the similarities between our professions, but the differences are fascinating..."

Bouncing her violet eyes between the dire piglet and Shadeesa, she smirks with a snort. "And, I will admit, quite challenging."

A delighted smile appears on Shadeesa, and she shrugs, resting her hands on her lap. "Some days, I don't know why I signed up for it all. There are many days more I would really LOVE to have the wealth of premade spells, potions, and procedures humanoid medicine has. But..."

Reaching her hand under the chin of the baby dire boar, she scratches underneath with her long, black nails. The boar happily responds with a series of short, muffled grunts and tail wags. Shadeesa chuckles to herself. "I'd miss opportunities like these."

Walking out from the hallway entryway, Bach sniffs the air, searching. "Huh, I still can't smell anything out here."

Cideeda steps past him with a shake of her head. "Don't worry about it. You don't have my sense of smell. Trust me, the bathroom and tub are back to normal enough."

Bach wipes his hands with a towel over his shoulder. He rolls it up and places it in a nearly full laundry basket. "Well, at least the big piglet cleans up nicely. It's amazing how well simple baking soda works for that."

Shadeesa glances over to Bach and Cideeda and returns her gaze towards the baby dire boar. "Yes. I tend to use it to not upset the natural oils in the hair and disrupt any natural scent too badly. Most shampoo detergents and fragrances are too much."

Lightly sniffing the air, Cideeda stares at the dire piglet and furrows her brow. "Its scent is certainly a bit stronger than it was before."

Shadeesa shuffles her legs underneath herself from a seat on the floor and works her way up to stand. "Oh, that's good."

Mid-way through, Kaleb moves to her side and offers assistance up, and Shadeesa lovingly accepts. She steps over and eases herself onto a chair next to the dining table, stretching her legs out inside her scrub pants. Glancing around the imposing figure of Lagi, she studies the bright afternoon scene beyond the sliding glass door. "I think the mother is still alive and well."

Dretphi gazes up from the large piglet and perks a curious eyebrow at Shadeesa. "What makes you say that?"

Shadeesa settles back into the chair and ponders her theory out loud. "Well... It's theorized that dire mothers not only use natural means to keep track of their piglets but a lot of magical means, too. I think the little one got separated in the maelstrom. The mud blocked the natural scent and magical chaos disrupted the magical tracking. So, given how calm and friendly he is..."

Smiling at the ever hungry beast, she watches the piglet devour another bowl of cereal. "He still thinks his mother is still around and has nothing to worry about. Hopefully, if he's outside long enough, his mother will pick up the scent and find him. As happy as he seems, I believe the mother will be..."

She wrestles a surge of unease on her light gray, white freckled face and darts her eyes around. "Amicable... But, we should keep our distance to be safe if she shows up for him. I would hope she'd tolerate us for taking care of her piglet. I don't expect anything more after that."

Sotalia ponders about the theory and wanders her golden gaze close to the sliding glass door, meeting Lagi's longing stare. She pivots in place and observes the dragon. Lagi bounces his bright green, pleading stare between her and the handle of the door. Seconds of inaction from Sotalia later, he repeats the gesture slower and exaggerates the individual motions, tilting his head. Blinking at the antics, Sotalia cocks her head to the side, unconvinced. Narrowing his eyes, Lagi sighs and droops his shoulders slightly, lifting a clawed hand up. With a claw tip, Lagi point at Sotalia. Humoring the creature, Sotalia directs a finger to her chest. Lagi nods, moves the claw to the sliding glass door handle, and pantomimes sliding it open. Sotalia gawks in astonishment and directs her bewilderment over her shoulder towards everyone else. "Um? Is there any reason the dragon would be asking me to open the door for him? If he wanted, I think he could do it himself?"

Kaleb exchanges humored glances with Bach, Sebastian, and Shadeesa and laughs. "Oh! Don't mind him. He's just trying to work the system... Again."

He rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "He's been taught HE can't open doors unless they've been specifically marked."

Sebastian shakes his head and hovers over to glance at the patiently waiting Lagi. "Wow. Still following that rule, huh?"

Grinning at Shadeesa, Sebastian ethereally snorts. "You certainly left some mental scars on him."

Shadeesa crosses her arms defensively and puffs up. "Listen! The first few times he opened the door to the dorm apartment bathroom and stole my clothes AND towels, while I was in the shower... was cute. Everything after the tenth time was aggravating. I HAD to do SOMETHING."

Lowering his head into his hand, Bach rubs his eyes into a pinch of the bridge of his nose. "Oh, man. That summer when he learned he had opposable thumbs. GODS, that was a rough one."

Cideeda twists her toothy grin in thought and glances over to Bach. "So, he can pick locked doors?"

Bach shakes his head and grits his teeth, pulling at the corner of his mouth. "No. THAT actually would have been cheaper. He used to either rip the door knob off, chew a hole into the door itself, or try some kind of magic upon it if it was still locked."

Glancing over to Kaleb with a knowing smirk, he smirks. "Never got that deposit back on the apartment I bet."

Kaleb snorts into a dry chuckle and places a hand on Shadeesa's shoulder. "HELL NO. Of course not. We were lucky after you and Sebastian left to not have to pay extra in damages."

Placing a hand on Kaleb's, Shadeesa sighs with a slow shake of her head. "Gods, I'm just glad we found something else, before he got his first growth spurt. It took FOREVER for him to realize how big he had gotten and not get stuck in EVERYTHING."

Kaleb directs a whisper to Sotalia with a sly grin. "You want him to be your friend forever?"

Sotalia glances over her shoulder and perks her brow. "Sure... I guess."

With a wink and obscured point to the door, Kaleb continues. "Open the door for him. He just wants to stick his head in for a bit, anyway."

Sotalia walks over towards the door. Bright green eyes open wide, and Lagi scoots his massive frame over towards the handle on the sliding glass door. Sotalia grasps the handle with the full attention and focus of Lagi. She clicks the lock open and slowly slides the framed glass over. Watching the door open, Lagi wobbles in anticipation and halts. He waits with eyes upon Kaleb and Shadeesa. Gradually poking his head through the doorway, he constantly checks for any objections. After a reserved minute, he nuzzles his face on Sotalia's side and purrs. Losing a fight against a smile, Sotalia shakes her head and rolls her eyes. She giggles to herself and delightedly scratches underneath the dragon's chin.

----

A calm breeze blows across the brickwork patio and sweeps up a mix of pollen and dirt into the nearby grass. Underneath the noon sun, Sotalia walks off onto a worn path leading towards the picnic table with her aetherphone pressing against her ear. She turns her head to shield the wind from the phone and guides stray strands of dark red hair over her swept back horns. Glancing around the open field, she sighs with a reserved smile. "Yes, mom. I know I should have called you sooner, but yesterday was pretty crazy."

She darts her golden eyes around and slows her pace upon the mix of worn gravel and dirt, waiting for an opportunity. "Anyway, I'm fine. When the maelstrom hit, we put up some wards and camped out in the living room. It was quite the light show, but didn't do too much damage to the area."

She casually strolls and rocks her head side to side with the other side of the conversation. "Well, Bach and Sebastian's old college friends are here, and I think later they're going to head off to their hotels for the convention happening in town."

Blinking a moment, she shrugs nonchalantly. "Oh, some science fiction, adventuring fandom thing. I don't quite know. We're going to go to it. See what it's all about."

With the response through the phone, a smile cracks on Sotalia's face, and she closes the distance between her and the picnic table. "OH. Don't worry. You know I'll get all my nieces and nephews souvenirs. They've sent me plenty of messages about the last ones."

Twisting her mouth, she grumbles in confidence to the other side of the call. "Gods, I still don't think they should have aetherphones at their ages."

She bites her lip into a satisfied grin and stops next to the picnic table. "Well, we'll just have to keep our opinions away from Maelvia and Talelia won't we?"

Her grin softens to a smile, and she takes a long breath in. "I love you, too, mom. I'll harass dad later when I think he's near a phone of some kind. Gods know where he's probably wandering off to now."

With a quick few emin terms, Sotalia finishes up the call, and surveys the gathering at the table. Kaleb kneels down on the ground with a professional grade camera. He aims the lens at the dire boar piglet hunting through the high grass for cereal loops and clicks a number of pictures. Shadeesa and Dretphi take turns reaching into the cereal box between them and tossing grain loops out into the grass in front of the piglet. Scratching a few more notes onto the pad of paper next to her, Shadeesa props a grinning face with an arm upon her lap. "I can't wait to write up my notes. Not many people have ever gotten this close to a dire boar piglet... And this young."

Dretphi holds open a handful of cereal, and the piglet happily presses his snout in. Petting it on his head, she ruffles the bristly ridge of fur on the back of his neck. "A rare honor. Possibly unique. How long will it take for the mother to find him?"

Shadeesa tugs a corner of her mouth and exhales uncertainly. "I don't know. I don't think long. The few people that have been crazy enough to trap and remove a baby from any dire mother usually had the mother showing up within a day or two, despite dozens of kilometers."

Scanning along the treeline surrounding the clearing, Dretphi nods, sighs, and smiles at the cereal crunching creature. Kaleb stands back up, presses a few buttons on the camera, and hovers the device in front of Shadeesa. "These came out pretty good."

Shadeesa lifts her head up, hoods the view screen with a hand, and giddily squirms on the bench. "Those are going to be great! I know I shouldn't be thinking about business at a time like this, but damn if documentation of the treatment of a dire boar piglet isn't going to get some attention for my future practice!"

Nodding, Kaleb rests the camera upon his chest, hanging from the attached neck strap. "Hopefully, we'll be going to conventions for just the sake of going to them more in the future... Despite how profitable presenting a dragon is."

Cideeda slides next to Kaleb, flicks out a blue-black dragon scale in hand, and presents a sly, scheming smile on her light brown face. "Speaking of which, do you have any more of these?"

Perking his brown, Kaleb nods and motions over towards Lagi. "Yes, I do. He typically loses a few when new ones grow underneath. But, I often pluck them before they get too roughed up."

He leans and lowers his voice closer to Cideeda's attentive furry ear. "People pay a lot more when they look nicer."

Cideeda rolls the scale deftly between her clawed fingers and lifts an entrepreneurial eyebrow at Kaleb. "So... How much trouble would it be to get a few more?"

Kaleb laughs with a wry smirk. "Not hard at all. There's a few that are overdue that have been bugging him."

Narrowing a curious stare at Cideeda, he smirks. "Any particular reason? Going to try to magic up your own dragon?"

A disgusted scoff escapes Aristespha, and she rolls her violet eyes. "Oh gods! Do people still believe those myths and legends?"

Bach slowly, dramatically lifts his head up and down and groans with a cringe. "OH. YEAH. There's whole aethernet forums dedicated towards finding the secret, forbidden formulas and forgotten spells to summon all kinds of things. Good for cheap comedy reads. I always wonder what random ancient tome someone is going to try to push as legit stuff."

Sebastian shrugs with his hands out to his sides. "Well, bro, you can't exactly blame them. It's kind of hard to sort out the facts from fiction with a lot of this stuff."

He waves over his ethereal visage. "I mean, I can't say anything. I'm stuck in a magic sword with a number of mages around me, a dragon over there, and a baby dire boar eating breakfast cereal in front of me. I can't fault someone for stretching their beliefs a little.

Narrowing her eyes at Sebastian, Aristespha huffs and returns her stare forward, grumbling. "I still have to question the sanity of anyone expecting to spawn anything other than a biological hazard by mixing household cleaners and yelling a few magic sounding words out of their mouths."

A loud crackling snap echoes into the area and silences all conversations. In the lull, the gathering around the picnic table search for the source. Following her perked furry ears, Cideeda points towards the forest. Out from the treeline through a wide gap between trees, a huge two meter tall creature walks effortlessly through a large bush. Bony armor plates cover parts of her head, large tusks gleam in the daylight, and a ridge of back spines rustle with each shift of her shoulders. The adult dire boar struts with pride and purpose in each step, a strange barely visible miasma wafting out. With glowing green eyes, she scans her head around and settles her stare upon the picnic table. She focuses upon the dire boar piglet and sniffing the passing breeze with her snout. In her pause, five piglets of similar size and fur patterns trot out from the cleared path and wander around her. Wide eyes from everyone at the picnic table affix upon the dire boar mother. Lagi cautiously steps next to Kaleb and Shadeesa, lowers down to the ground and motions with his head back to the saddle on him, whining out a series of low tones. Kaleb rests his hand on Lagi and assures. "Good thinking, but let's not jump to conclusions yet."

Gawking ahead, Shadeesa waves around to find Kaleb and pats upon his arm. She speaks out the side of her mouth and pokes him in the side to punctuate. "Kaleb. Camera. Record. NOW."

Slowly and purposefully, Kaleb lifts the camera up, aims, and presses the recording button. Sotalia steps carefully behind the picnic table, kneels down next to Aristespha, and maintains her watch. "Are you feeling that?"

A violet glow radiates from Aristespha's eyes, and she finally remembers to blink at the sight before her. "I am seeing IT."

Cideeda slinks back in retreat, putting the picnic table between her and the dire boar. Sebastian glances over, nods in agreement, and drifts forward. "Okay, everyone. Let's be ready to run if needed."

Bach regains his awareness enough and notices the dire boar piglet still sniffing through the grass for cereal. Leaning over the table, he reaches over and pats Dretphi's shoulder. "HEY. Point the piglet at his mother. I don't think he's paying attention."

Dretphi blinks her mind back into focus, glances down at the piglet, and rattles her head in confirmation to Bach. Putting her arms on either side of the piglet, she gradually eases him to turn around and aims his facing right at his mother. She slides her hands back onto his back legs and nudges gently but firmly forward. No longer sniffing food, the piglet lifts his head up from the grass, glances around, and stops his head in the direction of his mother. With a series of delighted grunts and a constant vigorous tail wag, the piglet trots down the slight hill, straight towards his awaiting mother. The dire boar matriarch lowers her head, meets her snout to his, and sniffs. Raising her head up, she focuses her piercing eyes at the gathering around the picnic table. The stare lingers and wanders over those present, an odd flicking of the eyes upon each. With final snort and sniff, she blinks long to a final gaze and turns around, marching off with piglets in tow. Everyone watches motionless. The dire boar mother and piglets disappear into the forest. Glancing over the general area, Sotalia strides off towards the house, fighting to keep a collected facade. "I'm going to go inside for a while, anyone is welcome to join. I'm... a bit... thirsty."

The group arrives at a quick agreement and soon make their own ways towards the house, including the dragon.

-19-

A few beams of morning light slip in through the blinds and reflect off the hard armor plates upon the desk. The air current from an oscillating fan gently nudges the soft armor suit upon the hanger stand. Dretphi concentrates on her tan hands and braids the last bit of long hair in between her fingers. With a few twists, she slips on a stretchy band and secures the end. Inspecting the braid, she runs her fingers from the dirty blonde end to the platinum blonde root. She twirls her hair in her fingers a few moments and drops the braid upon her chest. Lifting her head up against her bed pillow, she searches the shelf above, behind the bed. She stretches her muscular, grayish striped arms out and grasps an object. The small fluffy toy boar rides down in her hands into the focus of her steely gray eyes. A smile briefly rises upon her face but fades to a frown. She sets the plush toy boar upon her rising chest and ruffles the wild furry head ridge. Exhaling a long, sad sigh, her blonde eyebrows droop somberly. A knock at the door snaps her back to awareness, and she sits up quickly. "You may open the door."

The door opens slowly, and Bach leans around into view. He politely waves and glances at Dretphi. "Hey, uh, just wanted to let you know, we're about ready to head off to the convention."

He cracks an amused smirk. "I think Cideeda finally figured out all that she's going to try to pawn off to convention folks."

Dretphi nods and dons a faint smile, masking her frown. "Good. I am interested in what will happen today. Much happens at these conventions from what I have been told."

Bach confirms with a smile. Wandering his gaze around the room, his eyes home in on the small toy boar Dretphi holds against her chest. Briefly puzzled, Dretphi follows Bach's eyes and glances at the toy boar in her hands. Biting her lower lip, the realization hits, and she attempts to casually put the toy boar back upon the shelf behind her. With a few awkward stretches, she tries to obscure the flush of embarrassment. Bach blinks and politely averts his gaze elsewhere around the room. "Miss the little pig, don't you?"

Dretphi pauses mid stretch of her arm, returns her hand in front of her with the fluffy toy boar, and noticeably sighs. "Yes."

With tug at the corner of his mouth, Bach nods a similar sentiment. "Well... Glad we found him, and got the help he needed. Back with his mother, too."

Bach glances back over to Dretphi with a knowing smirk. "You really wanted to keep him. Didn't you?"

Swaying her head slowly shoulder to shoulder against an internal debate, Dretphi winces between different grimaces and shrugs uncertainly. "Feelings... Conflicting..."

She holds the toy boar in front of her with both hands and ponders out loud. "Would have been happy to raise the boar. Would have been difficult. Albeit... rewarding. Ultimately, I am delighted that I was not needed. The best happened. I am happy to have made it possible."

Twisting around, she places the toy boar on the shelf and turns herself on the bed, placing her feet onto the area rug. A warm smile returns to her tan face, and she gazes at Bach. "Thank you for your assistance. Did not know how much time we had. You made sure we did not waste that time."

Bach scratches the back of his head and tries to humbly play off the given credit. "Ah, well, you carried him the rest of the way and were at his side the whole time. I'm just glad the mother showed up when we were outside. Sounds like it could have gotten pretty dangerous otherwise."

Dretphi glances over from tying her boots and takes a long breath in with a serious hint in her tone. "Indeed. Walls may have been missing after she was done."

Standing up, she brushes off her shirt and shorts in place, and walks towards the door. "I am ready. I am curious as to what I should expect?"

Bach darts his blue eyes around his thoughts and bites his lip, trying to condense the difficulty in his voice. "Well... Uh... I'll try my best to explain some of it on the way there. It's just hard to explain. Really."

Spotting Dretphi's furrowing brow, he awkwardly chuckles and leads the way down the hall. "You'll understand once you get there. It's just something to be experienced."

----

Crowds of people flow through the divided paths of registration lines and gaps of space between, traversing the snaking runs when people shift forward in line. A floating animated visage drifts above the hordes with extravagant messages heralding the Amaranth Adventure Con in grand spectacles, with colorful logos emphasizing favored sponsors. Intermixed in the masses, people showcase their thematic attire, and discuss topics of fiction and more between themselves. The parallel conversations rise into a low, droning echo, bouncing around the high ceilings of the entryway of the convention center. Small bits of dialog lodge themselves in Cideeda's ears, and she deftly navigates her small frame through the gauntlet of people. A tall emin woman poses seductively in a succubus costume and gives a wink to the photographer. A passerby stops, points out the emin woman's tail, and inquires excitedly. "OH! How did you do your tail?! That's so life like!"

The emin woman giggles with a beaming smile, strokes her tail up into her hand, and wags it slightly. "Oh, THAT is because it's real! My great grandfather was Fvalian, so it shows up in my family. It really sells the whole outfit!"

Cideeda slips in between a few armor suit wearing grath, expertly dodges the swing of an over-sized plastic sword wielding man, and slides by a group of evuukians comparing older era mage robes. With a final dash through a momentary break in the waves of visitors, she rushes clear to the awaiting group of Aristespha, Bach, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia. Retrieving a collection of badges and pamphlets from her backpack, she distributes them to everyone else. "Whew! Okay! Damn, it's been awhile since I've had to dodge that many people."

She sorts the supplies into kits and presents them with a smile barely concealing her excitement. "BUT... Here's our weekend passes, official literature, and guides to all that's going on."

Aristespha clips her badge onto her belt, next to the sword sheath. She flips through a few pages of the guide and wanders her violet eyes around the architecture. "Well, this is quite the place. It feels weird... Feels like I'm in a-"

Cideeda grins slyly and perks an eyebrow. "A shopping mall?"

Glancing over to Cideeda, she slowly nods with the revelation. "Yes!"

After a few claw-tipped page flips in the guide, Cideeda presents Aristespha, Bach, and Sebastian a page with the About headline. "It used to be. But, a few decades back some crazed, rich old adventurer sunk his life savings to buy this place after an economic slump and overhauled it into a massive convention center."

She flicks to the next page and taps a finger upon pictures nestled between the paragraphs. "Offered discounted rates to attract renters. Now, it has some kind of convention every month with this one being THE big one."

Bach opens his guide to the same page and skims down the paragraphs of text, nodding. "Huh. Can't go to adventures, so bring the adventures to you. Well, that's not a bad retirement plan."

Hovering over Aristespha's shoulder, Sebastian's translucent blue eyes wander over the words on the page, and he squints at the biography segment. "Wow! He lived to hundred sixty three. Damn. Not bad at all. Dude must have seen it all."

Aristespha thumbs through another set of pages and flits her brow with a smile to Sebastian. "To think Pre-Cataclysm life expectancy was approaching two hundred. I still find it astounding what they did without magic Pre-Cataclysm."

A segment of the event schedule snags Aristespha’s attention, and her violet eyes widen at the event title. An eager smile cracks upon her ivory face. "Interesting... I did not think they would have something like THIS here."

Sebastian twists his mouth at the title and grumbles with an ethereal resonance. "Well, I guess I'm going with you to that one."

Sliding her finger over to another part of the schedule, Aristespha gazes lovingly with a smile at Sebastian and watches his eyes light up figuratively, also a tad literally. "Oh, don't worry, Sebastian. I think we'll both like THIS one afterwards."

Boyish glee swells up within Sebastian and an excited grin firmly plants itself. "Yes, dear. I believe two hours of Sword Style Demonstrations would be great for the both of us to experience together."

A voice from the crowd calls out. "Cool! Awesome illusion!"

Sebastian blinks blankly up from the page and turns himself to the source of the voice. Assuming a bravado flushed pose, he snaps a point back and smiles heroically at the passersby. "Enjoy the convention!"

The passerby enthusiastically waves back, and the surrounding group of friends gawk in astonishment at the Sebastian "illusion". Hovering his head over Aristespha's shoulder, he chuckles to himself. "Holy shit, I think this illusion ploy might actually work. This is going to be great!"

Bach stops shuffling pages in the guide and studies the schedule closely. "I think I might join you two for the sword style showcase. Might be helpful for me to see some other styles..."

Sebastian stares at Bach with a quirk of an eyebrow and narrows his ethereal gaze at him. "Let's concentrate on getting you proficient with A style, first. That's next on the list after flight."

A low groan rumbles from Bach, and he meets Sebastian's stare. "Man, I know a style!"

Amusement wanes from Sebastian, and he cocks his head back with an examining glare. "So... Bro... Does that style involve THROWING the sword? Because, I distinctly remember THAT."

Bach averts his eyes and grits his teeth against a surge of embarrassment. Attempting to shrug off the unamused gaze of Sebastian, he grumbles back. "Dammit! What the hell else was I supposed to do? I could never match you in sword fighting."

He tightens a smirk and avoids Sebastian's vague annoyed glare. "So... I had to... Improvise."

Sebastian rolls his eyes and sighs with a begrudging smile, laughing. "Well, that instructor learned NEVER to pit us against each other ever fucking again."

Stifling a snort at the interplay between brothers, Cideeda wanders emerald green eyes over to Sotalia and Dretphi. "Hey. You two find anything... Uh... Yet?"

She watches Sotalia and Dretphi stand, idly grasping onto their badges and guides. Both stare off to the convention around them. Dretphi scans the busy scene, riding the edge between chaos and order, and slowly absorbs in the spectacle before her. Delight swells up in her and drives a strong smile upon her face. She continues to watch people in costumes and listen to passing discussions. Activity within a part crowd seizes her focus and directs her gaze upon two grath men hauling a large flat stone grill top. She gawks at a grath woman carrying a collection of cooking utensils with obvious recognition for the tools. Sotalia blinks her wide golden eyes blankly in stunned silence. Managing to break away from the stupor, she turns slowly to the group. Her face remains indecisive on any tangible expression. "So... I've been watching all THIS... For the last twenty minutes."

She drifts her gaze across the group and works through another variation of confusion. "Gods, I still have no idea what is exactly going on here."

Cideeda grins toothily, exchanging humored glances with Aristespha, Bach, and Sebastian. Returning her attention to Sotalia, she steps up to the side and pats her on the back. "Don't worry. It's really simple. Just pick something from the guide and go with it. You'll figure it out after doing that a few times."

Sotalia nods in a daze, lowers her eyes uncertainly to the guide in her hands, and wanders aimlessly through the pages. "Right... Okay... Sure..."

----

Through the wide halls of the mall turned convention center, people flow and pulse through artery passages leading to events and return back through veining detours towards side booths. Individuals dart with purpose in mind. While loose groups wander from one location to the next random choice, experiencing what Amaranth Adventure Con offers. Through the convention chaos, Bach manages to locate a sparse cove out off the main river of traffic. With a few well-timed side steps, he shifts out from the masses into the clearing, slowing his pace and appreciating the space. Benches and chairs offer their surfaces, and Bach gladly uses them. Unfolding his guide, he searches his pants pocket and furrows his brow during the hunt. Finding a in his hand, Bach strikes off list items on the guide's schedule and circles others of interest. Minutes go by, and Bach idly taps the pen upon the page between two events in the same time slot. Lifting his head up, he places his back firmly against the wall behind the bench and closes his eyes. The chorus of sounds from the area wash over in waves. Conversations drift on by. Distant echoes of loud voices escape from a large room with celebrity panels. And, other curious noises pepper the flooded soundscape.

Nearby, a sighing whine from a small child rise above the din and reaches Bach's attention. Opening his eyes, he glances around the traffic tree branch off the main hall. He finds the saddened source over at another collection of benches. A sitting evuukian woman gently rubs the shoulders of a small child standing in front of her, trying to comfort. The little boy holds a wand in both hands, sadly staring with disappointment. He waves it around vigorously, and the wand remains inert. Despite his effort, nothing happens in the space before him. A long, sadder sigh escapes, and he stares longingly at the wand. The evuukian woman leans forward and wraps her arms around the child. She rests her head on top of his, letting her long golden brown hair flow around, obscuring his long but rounded tip ears. "I know my son. We'll try tomorrow to see if we can find that dealer again. Maybe he can get it working for you."

With as much care as his young motor skills can manage, the boy waggles the wand through different motions. "It was working. It lighted up and everything. Am I doing something wrong, momma?"

The boy's mother presents a reserved smile, leans back, and ruffles her son's dirty blonde hair. "No, my dear Mylo. I think it is equipment failure. You had it working just fine. I saw you. It was very good."

Mylo squints at the wand and concentrates, furrowing his brow intensely. Across the way, a strong tug pulls the corner of Bach's mouth. He lowers his head back to his schedule and taps the pen idly upon the page.

Within his head, a long ignored motivation stomps around. The drive behind the recent split-second shield saves, heroic plasma barrages, an energy draining D-ball, and a bold thudkicker challenge, now loudly, annoyingly taps a foot over the other thoughts, leveling a demanding glare. Over the span of a minute, a long wince overtakes Bach. He exhales his resignation. Placing the pen back in his pants pocket, he folds the guide back up and stands up, a hint of heroic determination slipping out. With purposeful, calm steps, Bach walks over in front of the woman and child. "Excuse me. I couldn't help but overhear that you have a problem with a wand?"

The evuukian woman blinks her focus away from Mylo, gazes up, and nods with a polite smile at Bach. "Why, yes. I purchased a toy wand for him, since he was enamored by it. Too many stories about his grandfather, I guess.

She furrows her brow at the toy in Mylo's hand. "Unfortunately, I think this one is broken... But, I could not find the person I bought it from."

Bach returns a smile on the edge of a grin and understandingly nods. "He may have left or closed up for the day. If it's not a problem, I could take a look at it and see if there's anything I can do about it. I have some skill in fixing electronics."

The smile on the woman's face grows brighter, and she lowers her head next to her son's. Directing his attention to Bach, she asks in a motherly tone. "Mylo, do you want the man to look at the wand and see if he can fix it for you?"

Mylo glances up at Bach, back at the wand, and back up. Extending the wand in his hands toward Bach, he watches expectant and hopeful. With a slow descent, Bach kneels down and settles on the floor, taking the wand. Mylo's mother softly pats her son on the shoulder and watches. "I greatly appreciate you taking the time to help."

Hints of parental exhaustion slip out, and she smirks with a sigh. "If you can get it working even for an hour, I will be in your debt."

Bach studies the plastic wood-textured toy wand and rests it in the palm of his hand. A confident grin widens on his face. Blue light flickers into his eyes. He hovers his other hand over the wand. With a slow twisting, pull of faint threads of flow to the sides, the wand hovers midair and disassembles methodically in all its pieces. The parts float in the air between Bach's hands, and his glowing blue eyes examine the components. A stray wire away from a solder joint bends around under the influence of magical forces. Perking his brow at the defect, Bach glances over to the awestruck mother and gawking son. "Ah. There's the problem. This one was probably the last one made for the shift, and they skimped on that wire. Give me a moment."

The stray wire end frays out to the individual strands of copper, and intertwine back into a cleanly raveled wire. The cloudy gray, solid blob of solder morphs into a liquid silver. The fluid reaches out and seeps into the wire closing in. The copper settles into the cooling silver coat, securing the connection. With a waggle of a small sensor, the light from the tip illuminates and a small speaker chirps out. Bach watches the floating parts snap and merge into the complete toy wand and thinks with distinctly unimpressed grimace. A bold grin springs up on his face. "Well, it should work just fine now... But..."

Glancing at the mother, he gazes at her son, determination within shining up in a heroic grin. "I don't think you came out just to settle on a simple toy wand."

A bright flash of blue shines from Bach's eyes, and he focuses upon the wand. Thin shimmering fibers of magical flow spring out from his hands, contact the wand drifting in between, and sink in. Pathways of multi-color energy etch onto the surface of the wand in systematic, geometric designs, encasing the entirety of the wand. In between the larger paths, patterns of magical mesh grow into the outer surface and partially embed into the plastic. Brilliant lights shine upon the area and the faces of the mother in astonishment and son in sheer wonderment. The magical flow wanes, the glows fade, and the wand feathers down upon Bach's open palm. Lowering his hand to Mylo, he gestures with a little lift. "Take it. It is yours."

Mylo blinks blankly, his young mind recovering from the spectacle. He reaches out with his hand and grabs onto the toy wand. His mother watches on, her face attempting comprehension, failing halfway. Mylo lifts his hand up, his finger on the other hand approaches the power button. Bach shakes his head with a smirk. "Not yet. It does work as a regular toy wand. But... try it right now, without turning it on."

Blinking confused, Mylo stops, angles his head to stare with an exaggerated attempt to raise an eyebrow, and squints back at the wand. "How?"

Bach chuckles softly, clasps his hands together, and mimics straining in concentration. "You know how you tried to think really hard to get it to work before? Try that again, just imagine all the magic going right to it."

A long, uncertain gaze, tinged childish suspicion settles up Bach from Mylo. Taking the wand in both hands, Mylo stares at it. Moments later, the child fumbles from a faux concentration grimace to properly focused gaze. With a brief flash of determination beyond his age, the pathways of the wand illuminate, and the tip sputters to a shining haze of green magical energy. Mylo's eyes spring wide open. The green glow and joy lights up his face. Waving the wand around, he notices the trail of misty energy lingering. He launches out his mother's arms, twirling the wand in rough shapes around in an empty area nearby. Covering her face with her hands, Mylo's mother gasps. She gazes in disbelief and rushes over to hug Mylo, leading him back. Bach slowly nods, content and satisfied. His mind wanders from the happy scene. Furrowing his brow, he notices something very strange with the acoustics of the space. A tense quiet fills in the normal drone of the convention center. Something muffles the sounds from the background activities behind. Bach begins to pivot in his place upon the floor and catches a glimpse of someone holding a phone recording the scene. He turns the other direction to find another. And another springs forth. Behind Bach, a whole crowd of people watch on, many phones recording Mylo playfully drawing shapes in the air. Bach returns his head forward, wide-eyed. Darting his eyes around, he hunts for an exit route. "Shit..."

Shrinking against the pressure of camera attention, Bach slumps his posture and scoots carefully away to an opening around the gathering. With each kneeling shuffle, he cautiously glances at the camera holding crowd, waits for a response, and continues to slink away. Mylo's mother finally convinces Mylo to go where she keeps pointing him to and walks him there, with wand distraction securing his attention. She glances up to the crowd. Summoning a defensive but respectful motherly glare, most in the crowd stop recording. After a few tense seconds, a few politely ask questions. Many break off into their own debates about the events. Sensing something missing, Mylo's mother turns to the spot Bach was. She snaps her head around to points around the area, staring at the crowd. "Where did he go?"

----

Smells of delicious food from all around the world mix into an alluring aroma, wafting above the high glass ceilings of the food court. Heated sizzling intertwines with rattling cookware and enriching conversation upon the area's acoustic canvas. Bach navigates through the vague walkways between the crowds. Changing between brief routes flowing through people, he finally finds refuge in an unused alcove. He pulls out his aetherphone and checks a message on his aetherphone. Searching the area for anyone familiar, he feels five pressure points gently press into his arm with a slight tug. Cideeda's snicker draws Bach's attention to his side, and she perks her furry ears. "So... What's this I hear about some mystery mage fixing up toy wands into artifacts of power?"

Bach's blue eyes flit wide, and he attempts to casually avert his gaze away from a piercing emerald stare and toothy grin. "Ah... Um... What are you talking about?"

Narrowing her gaze, Cideeda smiles confidently, raises her aetherphone up from her side, and aims the screen at Bach's face. "Oh. Don't play THAT game with me."

She furrows her brow and chuckles smugly. "WHO else could possibly be at this convention and perform such feats. I don't know of many that could manage such."

Scrolling briefly through the comments and back to the video playback, she grins with a glance up to Bach. "And, neither does the rest of the aethernet from the looks of it."

The video replays on Cideeda's phone. It showcases the wand revamp process from a perspective behind Bach and off to the side of his shoulder. A strong twitch yanks at the cheek beneath Bach's eye into a wary, unnerved grimace. Lowering the phone down, Cideeda pats Bach on the shoulder and laughs. "Don't worry. Everyone was too focused on the magic to get a good shot of your face. Most the aethernet's finest armchair mages are too busy in arcane knowledge pissing contests to bother figuring out who you are."

A long sigh escapes Bach, and he stares at the ground with a hand on his chest and relief solidly upon his face. "Oh. Good. I really didn't want to have to dodge attention and questions for the rest of the convention. I just really want to enjoy all this."

Cideeda glances up from her phone at Bach and shakes her head with a smirking smile. "Still questioning the logic behind arming a small child with potent magic."

Lifting head up towards the ceiling, Bach groans with a long eye roll. "It's NOT anything powerful. It's just a simple magical focus. A training tool. Simple energy collector piping to a simple vapor light trail effect. My dad had a bunch of different ones to help refine his magical flow control. It's still just a TOY."

A poke into his side prompts Bach to lower his head back down to Cideeda. Winking, she smiles humored. "I know."

She points to a table near several large stone grill tops. "Anyway... Aristespha, Dretphi, and Sebastian are over there. Let's eat, first. Then, worry about how much you are trending on social media."

Cideeda steps away with a sly grin. Blinking back to awareness, Bach follows behind with worry on his face. "Wait- I'm WHAT?!"

Dretphi sits patiently at the table, her gaze wandering between the stone grill tops and grath cooking. Aristespha taps through menus on her tablet upon the table with Sebastian hovering nearby peeking over her shoulder. Bach settles in a seat next to Dretphi, rests his elbows upon the tabletop, and props his head up. Leaning close, Dretphi keeps her steely gray eyes on the culinary arts around her. "Excellent timing. They are close to completion."

Slipping into the seat between Bach and Aristepsha, Cideeda carefully slides her phone over towards Aristespha and nudges with an elbow. "I see you found the app they posted for the convention."

Aristespha cocks her head with a hint of curiosity to Cideeda. Scrutinizing the urging stare from Cideeda, Aristespha gazes down at the phone with an intrigued corner curl of her mouth. Discreetly tilting her head to Bach, Cideeda glances at the phone and holds a finger to her lips. Aristespha nods back, slides the phone over next to her tablet, and taps a prominent play button on the phone's screen. "Yes. It has really helped with planning everything out, and posts all the updated information."

Cideeda sways her head to face Bach and pokes him in the shoulder. "You have the app, yet? Get your phone out. It allows you to show your schedule to other people and plan with others."

Bach grumbles a moment and reaches into his pocket. Retrieving his phone, he holds it out and wanders through the levels of icons and windows. Cideeda directs, nearly commands, Bach on the setup process, keeping his attention on task. Aristespha focuses upon the video and watches it silently play. Her expression softens over time. A warm smile grows on her face. Sebastian smiles proudly, glances over to Bach in mid-distraction with Cideeda, and unconsciously tries to rest his hand upon Aristespha's hand. Sebastian's ethereal visage starts to pass through. He sighs but halts. Aristespha turns her hand and holds onto his hand. Sebastian gazes at the faint violet glow of her eyes. Both watch happily until the video's end. Aristespha discreetly slides Cideeda's phone back, pressing it carefully against her elbow. Without changing her focus from Bach, Cideeda deftly swipes the phone up, swiftly exits out of the video player, and places it up next to Bach's phone. "Here. Let me add you to the group, and we can see our schedules and choices."

Aristespha's eyes dim to normal, and she gazes at Sebastian lovingly with a happy sigh. Sebastian chuckles quietly and shrugs. Dropping into the seat across, Sotalia blinks wide-eyed to the team. "Okay. I think I'm figuring this all out. I'm going to things. I'm doing things. And, I'm seeing things."

Shuddering out of the over-stimulated daze, she draws a deep breath with a sniff of the air. "Now, it is time to eat. So I can go, do, and see more things."

The alluring odor seizes her and turns her around in the seat. "Wow! That smells amazing! Is that what we're getting to eat, because I'm all for it."

Dretphi nods quickly with a wide smile and keeps her eyes on the grills. "Yes. All cooked properly."

Sotalia leans her head back at Dretphi quizzically. "How so?"

Dretphi lifts her hand to point out and energetically explains. "Stone grills. Dense stone has very small holes. The stone is oiled. Takes time to heat up. It stays hot no matter what food you put on it. When you are done cooking it will warm the house at night."

Shifting her aim, she directs everyone to collections of ingredients nearby on tables, in buckets, and some in water, the excitement welling within. "Main ingredients. Very few other small ingredients. Plenty of spices. Those that you need very little to flavor. Those that are trivial to have great amounts of. Enough to enhance. Never overtake."

Dretphi sits up in her seat and thinks a few seconds, twisting her mouth, testing out words in her mind. With a renewed, calmer smile, she gazes at the group and carefully speaks, her hand gesturing to the grath cooks. "There have been many times in Grath history when we could not anticipate what food would be available. Grath developed streamline, simple recipes. Focus on the preparation to compensate for lack of abundance."

The team pays attention to the careful movements of the cooks. The grath chefs shuffle food around on the grill, cycling ingredients around from the center region to outer areas. Each position carries significance, and each change done with purpose. Flipping through the screen on her phone, Cideeda notices a new update from the Amaranth Adventure Con news feed. She taps the notification, and the article expands out on her phone.

"Mystery Guests of Honor revealed to be The Next Adventurers of Nexus's own Flames of the Phoenix..."

Disgust trickles up Cideeda, and a cringe distorts her light brown face. Snarling her upper lip, she stares at the painfully familiar promo group picture filling the phone screen. She manages to fight back the grit of her teeth and hisses a calming breath through her sharp teeth. "Well... That's... Interesting... news."

Bach tilts his head back and peeks at Cideeda's phone, lifting an uneasy eyebrow. "Oh. Well... There goes the neighborhood."

Craning her head over, Aristespha catches a glimpse of the headline on screen and returns to her own tablet with a few taps. "Oh. I'm not exactly surprised. But, it looks like they are pretty booked for the rest of the convention."

She hovers a finger over a spot in the convention schedule app and waits, narrowing her violet stare. Sebastian leans for a better view of what lies underneath and curiously eyes Aristespha, an evil grin forming on his translucent face. "Really, dear?"

Aristespha bites her lip. A playfully sinister impulse contains the fleeting embarrassment. She presses down on the scheduling selection. An alert pops up on Bach's and Cideeda's phones. Both slowly rotate their stares from the alert and concentrate their collective, awkward confusion at Aristespha. Glancing back down at her phone, Cideeda darts her eyes over at Aristesph, flicking her furry ears with her thoughts. "Whatever are you thinking, woman?"

Aristespha shrugs, feigning coyness, and averts her eyes up and away. "Oh, I don't know. All of them... In one place... In front of a few hundred people... On a question and answer forum. For two hours?"

Cideeda blinks. Lowering her head at the screen, her grin widens, and she taps a spot on her phone. Bach wrestles the options visibly for a few seconds. He firmly places his finger tip on his phone screen, right on the same schedule spot. Dretphi furrows her brow, retrieves her phone from her shorts pocket, and quickly reads through the screens towards the current topic. Cracking a grin, she taps her phone screen and casually places it back in her pocket. Sotalia darts her confusion between the others. "Um? I'm missing something. What is it?"

Aristespha spins her tablet around and eases it over to Sotalia. Golden eyes follow the literature on the screen. Sotalia laughs to herself with a dark undertone. "Oh. Well, I know where I'll be tomorrow."

A directed voice calls out from the grath grills. Dretphi snaps her head towards the source and spots an older grath woman gesturing everyone at the table over. "The food is ready!"

She stands up, halts herself abruptly, and turns to the group, her excitement spilling out. "Please enjoy what you want. I will pay. It is rare to enjoy this away from home. I want to honor all of you with this meal."

She waits patiently for the rest of the group to go ahead, her eyes betraying her desires with longing glances at the fresh stone grilled food. Sebastian smiles proudly at Dretphi and shakes his head. "Thank you for the honor, but there's no need to wait for us. Get over there."

Dretphi bows slightly to the group and happily rushes over, the first customer in the serving line.

----

A chorus of laughter echoes above the crowd around the simple wooden riser, cobbled together stage, bordered by suspended curtains, in a large hallway intersection. Upon set and surrounded by an audience of convention goers, Kaleb secures his pants with a pull, readjusts his helm back upon his head, and twists his fake breast plate back straight on his body. Stomping dramatically up to a large stone prominently in the front center of the stage, he rubs his gauntlet-covered hands together and firmly grips the sword stuck in the middle of the stone. With a heroic grin and nod, he glances over his shoulder to Shadeesa upon a painted castle set piece. "Don't worry my fair princess! I will have this sword out in no time and use it to slay the dragon!"

Shadeesa rests her elbow on a handrail in front of her and props her head with an unamused frown on her light gray face. Narrowing eyes at Kaleb from the platform decorated as a tower balcony, she sighs dismissively. With an exaggerated eye roll, she flows her fanciful green princess dress and shakes her head to the crowd. "Heard that a few times before."

Kaleb's brave grin to the audience wanes with his wary thoughts. He snaps his head back over his shoulder again. "Uh... A few times? Um, how many times?"

With a disinterested wave, Shadeesa poses into a ponder, tapping a finger to her chin, and glances around the stage. "Oh, I don't know anymore. I've completely lost count. How many charred suits of armor do you see around here?"

The eyes of the audience along with Kaleb wander between the many piles of decorative armor pieces littering the stage. All finally settle back on the sword in the stone. Chuckling uncertainly towards the crowd, Kaleb returns his determined stare to sword and frantically pulls at the sword. He tugs, yanks, and exaggerates straining with each motion. The sword remains solidly in place. Wrestling a bold grin on his tan face, Kaleb laughs at the edge between panic and enthusiasm. "Come on! Don't be shy, sword! There's dragon to slay!"

He shakes around with a pull. "FULFILL."

Twisting his body, he fumbles around the handle and fails to wrench it. "YOUR."

With a boot upon the stone, he tilts back. "PURPOSE."

Blinking her green on black eyes dumbfounded, Shadeesa firmly facepalms at the struggle. Witnessing the greater and more ridiculous lengths of the battle with the rock, she groans loudly. "Really? THIS is what it has come to?"

She darts her eyes over the side of the stage and gasps with both hands covering her mouth. Lagi casually and confidently strides on the risers and surveys the crowd. Acknowledging their cheers and gasps, Lagi works the crowd and absorbs the attention. During the distraction, Shadeesa directs a harsh, loud whisper toward Kaleb. "HEY! HEY! HERO!"

Furrowing her brow, she spits out a shout. "BEHIND YOU!"

Kaleb struggles at a feverish pace, trying to work the stubborn sword loose from the imprisoning stone. The children in the audience chatter about the looming Lagi behind. They point, wave, and scream. With each second, Lagi steps closer and closer, his opening maw leading the rest of his body. His loud grumbling and constant pleas to the sword seemingly block warnings from the audience. Lagi his wide open mouth just behind and over Kaleb. Theatrically powering all his remaining strength into one final yank of the sword, Kaleb plants his feet, grasps the sword with both hands, and whips his body up with a scream. "AHHHHHHh-"

The sword shifts up. Kaleb's light brown eyes spring wide open. "Ooooohhh GODS!"

Launching out of the stone, the sword frees itself from Kaleb's grip, and he flops backwards. The prop blade flies right into the dragon's awaiting mouth. Lagi slams his mouth shut around the sword, engulfing it. Kaleb scurries up off the floor to the side of the stage and watches Lagi the dragon warily. Lagi blinks in surprise and staggers in exaggerated steps along the stage, gurgling out dramatic choking noises. He stiffly pauses in the middle of the spotlight upon him. With slow, careful grace, he places one draconic hand on his chest, reaches up towards the light with another, and gazes into the heavens. The moment hangs for seconds. The spotlight cuts out. Lagi unceremoniously flops onto the stage floor, releasing a final contrary death cry. "Bleah."

Sliding step by step up to Lagi, Kaleb checks with the crowd, shrugs, and pokes Lagi with a boot. He waits. He pokes again and waits again. Doubt no longer plaguing him, he assumes a bravado filled, bold stance. He gives a bright grin and wink to princess Shadeesa. "So? This counts, right?"

With a frustrated twitch in her cheek, Shadeesa sternly crosses her arms and turns away with a flowing flare of her green dress. Walking out of view into the castle set, she flings her arms to the sides and cries out. "I can't believe THIS! Years of waiting, and THIS is the..."

With a shrug and pivot to the crowd, Kaleb gazes out with a sly smile. "Well, I'm counting it."

The lights cut out, the suspended stage curtain closes, and the audience cheers and applauds. Noises of movement sound out from behind the stage and stop. The curtains open back up. Kaleb holds Shadeesa's hand up high. Lagi quickly spits out the wooden sword onto the stage floor. Swaying himself over to join in the bows to the crowd with Kaleb and Shadeesa. The curtain closes for the final time. A convention staffer flips the show sign over, revealing no further showtimes for the rest of the late evening.

The crowd disperses over a few minutes, leaving only a group of people standing nearby. Bach fumbles with his phone and fights a bit to get it to playback a recording. Chuckling with an evil undertone, he holds up the screen in clear view of Sebastian. "Man, I'm SO saving this."

Sebastian grins and nods darkly. "Oh yeah, bro. Now... If we could get in touch with that drama professor he took classes from..."

Bach snorts and shakes his head, watching the video. "Oh, YES. I'm sure that the whole department would be laughing their asses off at Mister I'm-Just-Taking-These-To-Kill-Electives."

Waving her hand at Bach and Sebastian, Aristespha catches their attention and directs around to the side of the stage. Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia congregate near Kaleb, Shadeesa, and Lagi. Seizing another chair nearby, Shadeesa slides it over and carefully hoists up her legs, with dress in tow, upon the seat. "Gods, I'm so glad that's the last show until late tomorrow. This princess needs to start wearing more comfortable shoes."

Kaleb slips off the costume slippers from Shadeesa's feet, tosses them into an open suitcase, and glances at the team. "Next script revision, I'll work in the princess having gel insole work boots."

Sebastian floats over to Kaleb and laughs with a smile. "That actually wasn't too bad. Good to know all those theater classes came in handy."

A sighing groan escapes Kaleb, and he rolls his eyes with a finishing shake of the head. "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed the show and didn't add too much commentary of your own.

Cracking an amused smirk, he lifts his brow. "By the way, how's your hologram, illusion act been going?"

Shrugs with his hands out to the side, Sebastian snorts ethereal. "Pretty good, I guess. Mostly getting compliments at how lifelike I am. No one seemed to recognize me, or if they did they just thought I was a joke done in poor taste. Everyone just thinks I'm some really amazing magical illusion. It's been kind of a relief."

Aristespha briefly glances away from admiring Shadeesa's elegant dress with Dretphi and Cideeda, and scoffs with a heavy dose of sarcasm. "Well, there was one exception with that one poor girl."

Kaleb narrows his stare quizzically at Sebastian. With an ethereal grumble and a palm firmly on the forehead, Sebastian grimaces. "You know, dear, the sad part is, I really don't think that the exorcism she tried was an act to her. She was SO into it. I kind of felt bad when I was still standing there afterwards."

With a curious quirk of the brow, Bach glances between Shadeesa and Kaleb. "So, what are you two doing tomorrow?"

Shadeesa gazes at Lagi with a playful roll of the eyes and sarcastic smile. "Well, you know, pimping our dragon out to pay the bills."

Lagi gnaws on the wooden sword from the show and pauses at the attention. Shuffling the sword from his mouth underneath him, he attempts a facade of innocence. Shadeesa shakes her head and returns to face the group. "Any particular plans yourselves?"

Bach digs out his battered guide from his pants pocket, unfolds it out, and flips through a number of pages. "Well, apart from one big event, I think I'm going to wander around the dealer room for a while."

Blinking to attention from watching Lagi, Sotalia scoots over to Bach's side and squints at the page with her phone out. "Dealer room? What's that exactly?"

Opening the guide to a page with a map detailing a section of the mall, he circles out a large area with his finger. "Well, it's a huge area dedicated to shops and vendors of all varieties. They mostly just sell supposedly magical trinkets and..."

Wincing at the realization, the words fumble to silence, and he awaits expectantly. Sotalia's golden eyes widen, and she deftly flicks through menus on her phone to a picture gallery of the location. Her eager stare grows even wider, studying the colorful, captivating commerce. "OH..."

With a glint in her golden gaze, a hungry grin sharpens on her light tan face. "We are DEFINITELY going THERE tomorrow."

In the distance, far away, Samantha and Gerald walk down a hallway of the mall towards the intersection. Samantha taps on her clipboard and nods to Gerald. "Okay. That should all work. They arrive tomorrow, do the first panel and-"

Samantha halts mid sentence with Gerald's pokes into her shoulder. Flicking her hazel eyes up, she stares up from the clipboard. She swiftly hoists her phone up, taps the screen a few times, and smiles sinisterly. "OH. Howie is going to be so happy..."

-20-

Rows upon rows of dealer booths sprawl out along the set paths of the grand hall. People ebb and flow through the aisles between the booths, with individuals stopping to admire merchandise or hear a sales pitch. Magical baubles, reproduction weapons, games, artwork, crafts, and other sundry prominently present themselves upon elaborate booth displays. Their owners praise their products and elaborate on their qualities, hoping to bolster customer desire enough to drive the elusive purchase. Sotalia excitedly zips through the spaces between people from one booth to another, brushing her dark red hair to the side to gaze in wide, golden eyed wonder at what awaits in the next booth. Bach wanders aimlessly in the sea of people, searching the crowd a few aisles over. Scratching his head of brown hair with strands of gray, he expresses honest bewilderment and scouts out the area. "How the... Where the hell did she go?"

Cideeda blinks her emerald green eyes, with the faintest hint of a wince in the very corner of her eye. Her pupils track the energetic Fvalian in front of her. She calmly guides her short cut, patterned mix of brown, white, tan, orange, and black hairs back over her long furry ears. An ear briefly, reflexively flicks against a stray hair tickling the fur inside and levels back to point out from the side of her head. Maintaining a toothy and outwardly cheery smile, she occasionally darts her searching eyes around, and the forced facade wanes thin for a moment. She nods calmly with the conversation washing upon her from a very enthusiastic Deedri. Her light brown hand slides purposefully and slowly into her shorts pocket and retrieves her aetherphone. Aiming the screen of the phone to her glance, she quickly taps a message with claw tips of her other hand and reflexively flexes her toe claws into the flat hall carpet. With a few flicks of her tufted, fluffy tail, she shits her lithe, fit frame to a slightly different standing pose. Noticing the acknowledging nod from Cideeda, Deedri finally stops her long explanation and sighs. "Oh, gods. I'm so sorry... I've been talking your head off. I'm just not used to meeting other Fvalians that aren't family. Especially other adventurers!"

Cideeda grants a nonchalant smile and tilt of the head. "It's okay. I understand, really. It sounds like you've been doing some very exciting things with your group."

Deedri attempts to mirror the expression but honesty sabotages. She settles for an amicable shrug. "Well, you know... They really do try, despite our... interesting... dynamic."

A crack of a grin forms in the corner of Cideeda's mouth, and she perks an amused brow. "That I have seen."

Deedri's eyes awkwardly avert from the subject in her mind. She drops her focus down upon Cideeda's feet and pushes herself to broach the subject. "I HAVE to ask you something... Um... Where DID you get those shoes?"

Blinking through the puzzling moment, Cideeda flutters her eyes back to the subject. She glances down herself and examines the rubber and fabric, individual toed shoes with holes for her claws. Deedri bites her lower lip, takes a deep breath, and sighs with a pleading hint. "I've seen you wear them. And, I'm honestly really jealous."

A faint squirm travels up her body, and she genuinely smiles. "They look so nice. I bet they are SO comfortable, too."

Sliding her gaze up, Cideeda studies the plain canvas top shoes on Deedri's feet. Her attention wanders up, and she scrutinizes the regular knee socks, the tasteful, mundane skirt, and matching blouse upon Deedri. Settling her gaze upon Deedri's pleading, auburn eyes, Cideeda presents a genuine smile and relaxes her body language. Tapping up an aethernet site on her phone, she reveals it to Deedri and scrolls through a gallery of products. "This is the company that makes them. They specialize in custom clothing for Fvalians, for all kinds of jobs and activities. I've used them for many years, and they work with you to get the sizing just right."

Beaming with a bright smile, Deedri shuffles through her few pockets, extracts her phone, and quickly notes the site. "OH! Thank you, so much! These last few small jobs we've been on have left my feet aching. I swear I've spent hours stretching and massaging out all tension."

A commiserating smirk grows on Cideeda, and she nods in agreement. "Yeah... When I first started adventuring, I only had boots that were two sizes larger than my feet."

Darting a surprised glance over, Deedri perks her tufted ears up and cocks her head curiously. "How were you able to walk around in those? Much less RUN?"

Rolling her emerald green eyes, Cideeda snorts while searching through the aethersite's listing of products. "A lot of socks... But, that caused OTHER problems."

Glancing around, Deedri leans closer to Cideeda and whispers with hints of embarrassment bubbling up. "Um... Are there any, um, tail-friendly pants and... panties you recommend?"

Cideeda's furry ear twitches at Deedri's tone, and she smiles reassuringly with a nod. She guides Deedri through the aethersite on Deedri's phone and navigates to the right garment section. Discreetly switching to a dialect of Fvalian, Cideeda regales a bounty of information. Waves of discovery and relief wash over Deedri, and she commiserates back in the same dialect in a natural cadence. Cideeda briefly furrows her brow curiously, and returns to explaining the benefits of another piece of custom tailored clothing. Bouncing their attention between aetherphones, the two share and compare different products in the comfort of the space out of the flow of traffic, within the relative privacy of the ambient drone.

Minutes later, Bach rounds the corner of a nearby booth back. Scanning the area with his aetherphone out, he spots Cideeda and waves. "Hey! Sorry about taking so long."

Staring out to the ocean of commercial chaos, Bach shakes his head and navigates through the thinning crowd. "I lost Sotalia SOMEWHERE in the mix. I tried to find her, but..."

Spotting Bach walking up, Deedri's eyes flit wide and her body language stiffens slightly. Cideeda pivots to Bach and rolls her eyes with an amused smirk. "Not surprised. Don't worry. She'll show back up when she's either too loaded..."

She strains out a stalely frustrated sigh. "Or, too broke to continue."

Nervous energy trickles up Deedri, and she exaggerates a glance at her aetherphone. "Oh no! I'm so sorry, I need to run and get ready!"

Briefly awaiting Cideeda's glance, she happily smiles. "Thank you so much! It was really nice to talk to you!"

She bows quickly and rushes off into the river of people nearby. Watching Deedri slip away into the masses, Cideeda rests her hands upon her hips and ponders about the sudden departure. "Interesting."

Bach bounces glances between Cideeda and the crowd Deedri disappeared into, and settles upon Cideeda with awkward confusion. "Wow... Uh... Sorry, if I scared your friend away. I didn't mean to intrude and break up the conversation."

Cideeda lifts an eyebrow at Bach with a twist in her mouth and crosses her arms. "I wouldn't say friend. More of a... Professional Acquaintance, at the moment."

Recognition dawns upon Bach, and he gawks with a quick snap of the head to Cideeda. "Wait! That was-"

Nodding simply, Cideeda narrows her eyes at Bach with a curious grin, and perks her furry ears up. "Yes, it was. She was really eager to talk to me."

Thinking out loud, she lightly scratches her chin with a claw tip. "But, she was a bit... nervous about you."

Bach shrugs with his hands out to the sides and grimaces closer to a frown. "Uh, I really don't know why. I mean, that's the second time I've actually been close enough to even talk to her."

Cideeda pivots in place, lifts her arm up to prop her chin up, and stares into the crowd, pondering. "I know. Certainly strange to say the least. If I was to guess, probably trying to keep a low profile and dodge too much attention."

Rocking his head side to side in internal deliberation, Bach sighs and scratches the back of his head. "That makes sense."

He motions towards a general direction over the crowd and glances down at Cideeda. "I'm going to stop by Steve's booth for a bit. You want to join?"

Shaking her head politely, Cideeda smirks with a chuckle. "Thanks, but I already checked his booth out."

Furrowing her brow, she pops up on her toes and narrows a scanning stare through the flowing crowds in the huge space. "I think I'll wander around a bit more... Maybe hunt down Sotalia."

Bach coasts his gaze over the swarms of people moving through the aisles and twists his mouth uncertainly. Briefly, a familiar shade of dark hair and black, swept back horns appear clearly. After disappearing back into the flurry of activity, Bach sighs. "Good luck..."

----

Steve rests his elbow upon the booth table and leans his large, heavy frame over, holding his tablet out in view of Bach. Grinning, he enthusiastically points out parts of the video playing on screen. "Come on, man! What's your opinion on this? I've been on a dozen forums. And, NO ONE can agree upon what is going on to make that wand!"

Bach uncomfortably watches the playback and suppresses a twist at the corner of his mouth. Shrugging nonchalantly, he carefully glances over to Steve and averts direct eye contact, focusing upon the array of merchandise in Amaranth's Wrath Game Emporium's booth. "Well... Maybe it's just... Non-standard direct casting?"

Steve sways his head side to side to the internal debate in his mind. Circling a finger over another point in the video, he squints at the pixelated details. "Yeah, I thought about that, too. BUT... THAT doesn't explain all this. This is stabilized magical energy."

He pauses a moment and shrugs with a smirk. "Well, at least, that's what a few people on a few forums think it is. Now that usually requires a whole lab or altar or some kind of dedicated setup to do. That's stuff you just don't hammer out in the field like this."

A low buzz vibrates the loose change in Bach's pocket. He pulls out his aetherphone enough and catches the brief message notification from Cideeda. Sliding out the phone from his pocket, he checks around the area quickly and settles his gaze at Steve. "Well... I'm being summoned. I'll catch up with you later."

Lowering the tablet upon the table top, Steve sits back down in his chair behind the booth and smiles with a knowing wink. "Ah! Yeah. Totally understand, man! Don't need to keep you and get you into trouble with her."

Bach nods appreciatively and pauses a moment. A thought wedges in a flash bit of guilt in his mind, and he sighs apologetically. "Hey. Uh, I just wanted to apologize for not telling you about being part of an adventuring group and everything. Kind of new to it all, so..."

A hearty laugh leaps out of Steve, and he shakes his head with a wide, happy smile. "Dude. It's cool, man! People come to my shop to get away from work. I SO totally understand. I mean, I started the whole thing to get away from doing an actual job."

Narrowing a inquisitive gaze at Bach, he grins knowingly. "But... I FIGURED you guys might be adventurers with the stuff Cideeda sells, or at least have some awesome connections. I'm just totally stoked that you guys come to my shop! Those Next Adventurers guys haven't even looked at my place. So, you all are cool in my book."

Bach extends a hand, chuckling with a smile. He shakes Steve's strong grip and nods, walking off into the flow of people traffic. He searches the vicinity and floats through the flows people, pondering and scratching his head. Peering over the tops of the morphing crowd, he spots Cideeda towards the sidelines. Sliding between the gaps in the groups of people in the busy aisles, he navigates closer and closer to the sparser alcove. Arriving next to Cideeda in a pocket of space, he smiles appreciatively. "Thanks for the message."

Cideeda glances up with a sly grin and winks. "Well, I walked near there and saw Steve trying to get your opinion on one of those videos."

Rolling her emerald green eyes, she parts a smug smile on her light brown face with a wag of her tail. "So... Figured I'd give you an easy out."

A long sigh of relief escapes Bach, and he tilts his head back with an upward gaze. "Yeah... Gods, I REALLY didn't think it'd be THAT popular."

Placing her hands on her hips, Cideeda quirks an eyebrow with a short smile and perks her furry ears. "Didn't think that showcasing an unusual form of magic at a convention dedicated to everything adventuring would be popular?"

Bach levels his head forward and narrows his eyes at Cideeda. Slumping his shoulders down, he stares ahead, the obvious error blatant in his mind. "Point taken."

He thinks for a moment and scratches the beard hairs on his chin. Cideeda focuses her gaze upon Bach, idly shifting her weight between feet with wags of the tail. "So, plotting your next great reveal?"

Blinking back to awareness, Bach shakes his head and crosses his arms. "Uh, um, NO."

He glances to the corner of his mind and twists the contemplation on his face. "BUT, the thought did just cross my mind to maybe make a few more of those focus wands. I know Steve would be interested."

Lifting an eyebrow, he smiles at Cideeda. "Hey, I know you don't usually mess with magic, but would you be interested in one? There's a few simple but really useful effects I may be able to get working."

Cideeda slowly averts her eyes away from Bach and lets them wander around the area. She bites her lower lip and pins her frown up, hints of sadness leaking into her exhale. "No thank you. It'd be useless with me."

A positive tone reinforcing his voice, Bach reassures and gestures confidently. "Hey! Don't say that. It's frustrating initially, but once you get the basics of magical flow, it starts to make sense."

He notices Cideeda's stare into his eyes, the sadness tainting her kind smile. He halts the speech in the midst of concern and confusion. Cideeda draws in a deep breath and sighs. "I really wish I could do magic."

Fighting through a hard swallow, she props up her smile, her furry ears drooping slightly. "But... You're not the only one with a magical disability."

A flush of embarrassment floods up Bach's apologetic face, and he struggles with a few words in his mouth. Cideeda breaks the gloom with a strong grin and shakes her head. "Don't feel that way. No one told you."

She averts her gaze briefly and breathes out the last few clinging bits of melancholy. With a squirming shudder over her body, she straightens herself back to her usual confidence and gazes at Bach. "Long story short. Had a run in with a Nightmare Geist, too. I was really young, and it attacked my town. I guess it grazed me?"

With her eyes sorting through her thoughts, she furrows her brow. "I don't remember all that much from the attack. Just knew some adventurers fended it off and sealed it before I got killed."

Crossing her arms tight, she pulls in a deep breath and glances forward. "Unfortunately, I was somehow left unable to flow magic. Something always disrupts the flow no matter how hard I try. No medical mage has a real clue as to why that is."

Shrugging her acceptance and shaking her head, Cideeda rolls her eyes to Bach with a rumbling sarcastic tone. "Which is a real dampener to a young girl's dreams of being a mage, let me tell you."

Bach blinks in silence and deflates slowly, failing to find something to say. Eventually, he hides the embarrassment upon his face in the palm of his hand. "Wow... I'm sorry. I, uh, really didn't mean to bring stuff like that up-"

A sharp poke in the side grabs Bach's attention. Pulling his hand away from his face, he glances down and meets Cideeda's gaze. Cideeda grins toothy and snorts reassuringly. "Oh, don't worry. I'm okay with it. And, it was over twenty years ago. I'm, MOSTLY, over it by now."

She waves dismissively and shrugs. "I got to go to a nice local college for technology and spent a lot of time with both my parents. It honestly worked out."

With a wink, she parts an entrepreneurial smile. "Saved us all A LOT Of money in tuition that any specialty mage's college would have charged."

Bach rubs the back of his neck and sheepishly averts his eyes with an awkward grit of his teeth. "Cool... But, I still feel a little like an asshole..."

Cideeda pivots around and lifts her hand up to a claw tipped point. Gently pulling Bach's shoulder down with her free hand, she guides his gaze to a spot in the distance. "Well, you can still make something for me. Look over there and tell me what you see."

Squinting through the gaps between people and following the path Cideeda indicates, Bach's eyes open wide and his jaw drops slightly. He lifts his head back up, straightens his stance, and laughs. "Huh, I kind of wondered if that old hag of a landlord had sold my junk yet."

In the distance, through the clumps of dealer hall customers, upon a prominent decorative pedestal, in a booth filled with an assortment of supposed antiquities, resides a single translucent gold cup that faintly sparkles of stabilized magical energy. The man dressed in the flowing robes of a stereotypical mage calls out to passers-by and showcases the wares in his booth with a dramatic salesman's flair. In between the pitches, his demeanor recedes towards a back alley dealer's, examining his merchandise greedily and seeking out another mark from the crowd. Upon the display cases and platforms, cards with extravagant claims rest in front of most items. The biggest and most fanciful resides underneath the golden magical energy cup. Bach squints and shakes his head after a few attempts. "I can't make it out. I wonder what the sales pitch for that one is."

Cideeda snidely pulls the corner of mouth into a half grin and narrows her gaze at Bach with a perk of an eyebrow. "Behold the ancient magical artifact from the First Period. A mysterious item said to empower the liquids poured within it..."

She squelches a snort and snickers. "Or, something like that. Gods, I stopped listening after the first few loads of bullshit."

Crossing his arms, Bach leans his posture back and inquisitively rests his stare at the booth. "So... I wonder how much he's trying to pawn the thing off for."

An evil grin creeps up on Cideeda's face. She draws a long, slow breath, places her hands on her swaying hips, and directs a fast whisper to Bach. The price flies into the air into Bach's ear and stuns him. He bluntly stifles an impulsive snort into a series of coughs, his sheer bewilderment interrupting whatever other thoughts he had. "Really?! What a fuckin' con artist!"

The evil grin pushes Cideeda's lips apart and she lifts an eyebrow to don a plotting expression to Bach. "I know... If he's charging that much to sell it... I wonder how much he'd pay for another "artifact"."

Bach's blue eyes meet Cideeda's emerald green. Gradually, he mirrors a near exact copy of her scheming grin. Cideeda holds a finger up, steps back, and lowers her head. Taking a breath in, she exhales and rolls her shoulders. She lifts her head up, presenting a bubbly smile. Her body language lightens, she cutely sways and bounces with each word from her mouth. "Oh. My. Gods! You actually have one! I've been totally looking SO long for somebody to tell what this is!"

Cideeda pantomimes hoisting a cup up into view, perking her furry ears up and wagging her tail fully for effect. With excitement rising in her voice, she giggles brightly. "Can you, like, please tell me what it is? You SO seem like an expert in this stuff, and I, totally, have no idea what it is... Also, I REALLY don't need it. SO, maybe you'd be interested in buying it?"

Bach fights to keep his hand covering his mouth, mentally processing the theatrics. Laughter escapes through his fingers. After a final perky pose, Cideeda relaxes back to her normal posture and demeanor and presents a confident smile to Bach. "I think THAT will get his greed's full, undivided attention. Hopefully, just enough to be a bit too eager to think it through."

Scans around the area, Bach searches for quiet, secluded spots. "I agree. Now, if we can find somewhere out of the way, I'll form something up real quick. I'm thinking a wine glass. Nothing too complicated."

He glances down at Cideeda with a scheming grin. "If this works, it might pay for some nice meals for all of us for the rest of the convention."

Cackling, Cideeda narrows her eyes and focuses her plotting on the con man behind the distant booth. "Ha! Once I'm done, he'll be paying for our weekend passes AND meals."

----

A chorusing drone of idle conversations flood the long, open auditorium. Convention assistants adjust and secure advertising banners for "The Next Adventurers of Nexus" and scurry off to sides of the large stage. One assistant positions microphones on the long table in front of seats, and another assistant follows behind placing name tags inside holders at the base of each stand. People flood in through the entry doors and filter up aisles towards the front seat. Few break from the pattern and detour towards the very back row. Aristespha, Sebastian, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia shuffle down the very back row and settle into chairs near the middle. After a minute, Aristespha glances around with a playfully guilty squirm and firmly smirks mischievously. "This feels strange. I so rarely sat on the back row of anything, on purpose. I really feel like I am completely up to nothing good."

Leaning forward, Sotalia directs her voice over to Aristespha with an evil grin. "Welcome to the back row delinquents club... Where I spent most of my school years. It's fun back here."

Sebastian chuckles and eyes Bach. "Bringing back any memories, bro?"

Bach rolls his eyes and groans, crossing his arms. "Hey! I tried that whole studious, front row kid thing all through grade school, and even high school. Back row for me after that, for the most part."

An ethereal snort sounds out from Sebastian, and he quirks a brow at Bach. "Hey, I remember you joined me up on the front row for a few classes."

With a shrug, Bach relaxes his shoulders and settles into his seat. "Well, THOSE instructors were cool and pretty fun to be around. They were nothing like that one bitch I had for basic spellcasting form that HUNTED for reasons to fail me."

Shaking his head with a long, hard blink, Sebastian exhales in agreement. "No shit, bro. She HATED you."

Cideeda laughs and stretches her legs out, flexing toe claws. "See. That's why you stick to the middle of the room. Teachers always check the front and back when they are looking for students to single out."

Dretphi squints towards the activity ahead and focuses at the stage. "It is starting."

An announcer sounds out from the public address system. "Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention. Please give our guests of honor, The Next Adventurers of Nexus, The Flames of Phoenix, a proper Amaranth Adventure Con welcome!"

The gathered crowd cheers loud and applauds in an echoing cacophony. Just as noise reaches an apex, the announcer yells out. "Welcome to the stage, the leader of the Flames of the Phoenix, Chad Bosch!"

Chad confidently struts out onto the stage in clean, new armor with the Flames of the Phoenix logo prominently on the breastplate. He waves out to the crowd with a gleaming white smile and nods to a few select areas. Stopping center stage, he bows slowly with a dramatic flair. He stands back up and quickly tosses his head to settle his hair perfectly back in place. Winking to an attractive lady in the front row, he finishes his tour around the stage to his center spot at the table.

"The alluring, mystical enchantress, Tassilda Evernia!"

A long, flowing, form revealing robe trails behind Tassilda, and she steps with a sway in each motion. Stopping center stage, she bows down and reaches her arms inside the opposing sleeves of the robe. The room lights dim. She springs up, flings her arms out triumphantly, and releases a hundred small blue orbs of light out over the crowd, sending them up to the lofty heights of the ceiling. She waves out to the astonishment of the crowd and blows a kiss to a random person in the masses. Following a similar path to Chad and she takes a seat left of him. The lights brighten back to normal, and the glowing orbs featherfall down.

"The strong, tall, indomitable Trakenthin Brecomin!"

Solid impacts of heavy boots resonate out from the stage floor. Trakenthin puffs out his chest and stomps across the stage. Near center stage, he pans a mean glare out to the crowd and shakes his head with a boisterous, dismissive grunt. Flexing his muscles underneath the armor plates strapped to him, he snorts. He turns away from the crowd and walks around the table to take the seat right of Chad.

"The cheery medical mage herself, Deedri Preetta!"

The rhythmic ring of a small collar bell follows Deedri, and she happily rushes out on stage. Her long braided-back hair bouncing on her ornate blouse and tail flowing along underneath her dress. Smiling brightly, she waves out with both hands to the crowd. She stops center stage, straightens her posture, and bows properly with both hands on her apron. She pops back up and nearly skips her way to the seat next to Tassilda.

"And finally, the dark, mysterious, Modoran Lotherin!"

The stage remains empty, upon initial inspection. Members of the crowd search the area. A few camera operators pan around and check various points upon the stage. A faint dark shadow on the stage floor slides along steadily and slows to halt at center stage. Flowing leaks of dark miasma erupt out above the spot and spill forth out onto the floor. Moments of awe-struck gasps later, the dark cloud disperses and reveals the nonchalant stance and casual smile of Modoran. The last few bits of darkness disappear, and Modoran glances around the vicinity. Shrugging his jacket up, with his hands in the pockets of his black pants, he ambles off to his seat next to Trakenthin.

A convention-appointed host steps up to the stage, and he goes into a summary speech about the current season of The Next Adventurers of Nexus. In the back row, Bach aims his head high and studies the glowing orbs with a narrowing stare. "Huh... Why do these things look familiar to me?"

Sotalia quietly and sneakily gestures out an incantation and aims a finger point toward an orb overhead. With careful concentration, she tugs at the air and shifts the orb's drifting fall into a new flight path. Seconds later, the glowing orb lands in her hand. Scrutinizing it carefully, her golden eyes widen with each passing moment. She stops studying it and passes it to Dretphi, motioning towards Bach. Dretphi reaches her long arms over Cideeda and holds the glowing orb next to Bach's face. Turning his head, Bach's eyes flit open at the magical ball. Pinching the orb out from Dretphi's hand, he furrows his examining brow. He places the glowing orb in between his hands, and his eyes flicker a faint blue. Sparks of irritation bubble up to his face. Aristespha, Sebastian, Dretphi, Cideeda, and Sotalia watch expectantly. The orb shudders and pops into a mist in Bach's hands. A strong twitch squints Bach's eye, and irritation pulls the corner of his mouth back to a grin. "Oh... So, you're going to crudely copy my spell... And, use it for your own gain? Okay..."

The grin settles into a dark, scheming smile, and Bach chuckles. "So... You like the glowing orb..."

Over the minutes, the host sits down and reads through a list of soft ball questions to the different members of the team. Queries about leadership land upon Chad. Tassilda receives questions about magical tips and tricks, with a few attempts to delve more personal. A few attempts to get information fall short with the strong stoic and resistant Trakenthin. Modoran casually answers a few inquiries and nonchalantly dismisses a number of others. A few medical mage related questions slip through the onslaught of other general, and some more personal, pries towards Deedri. Finally, the host flips through to the last card of canned questions and speaks loudly into his microphone. "Well, that's the last of the questions I have. Members of the Flames of the Phoenix, The Next Adventurers of Nexus, are there any announcements you'd like to make to our wonderful audience?"

Chad straightens his posture in his chair and beams with a heroic smile. "Why yes, there is!"

Staring out into the greater audience, he leans forward towards the microphone in front of him. "First, I would like to let everyone know that the fine folks at Stalwart Sword have chosen this convention to unveil their latest model, the Storm Striker. And to celebrate... They are putting forth their classic Still Sword challenge. Five swords lay still in stone, only to be moved by their true owner. Please visit, try to pull a sword out, and find out if one is going home with you."

Chad clears his throat. A lone glowing orb, with a tint slightly off from the many above, descends from overhead and lands gently on Tassilda's head, without any reaction from her. Grinning big, Chad gazes out into the crowd. "And second, after THIS very convention, we are going on a mission of GREAT IMPORTANCE. One that is going to take us through dangerous territory as we guard extremely important cargo. Unfortunately, none of us can divulge much more, but you'll see it all on next week’s episode!"

The host nods out to the suspenseful crowd and signals a number of awaiting convention workers. "Exciting news! Okay, everyone, we are opening it up for audience questions! Please line up behind one of our wonderful assistants near you and we'll try our best to get to your question."

Turning around to glance back at the panel, the host quickly spots the glowing orb sitting on top of Tassilda's head. His eyes dart around. Shadowing his movement from the crowd, he points to Tassilda, with hands close to his chest, and gestures her attention to her head. Blinking at the host, Tassilda snaps out of her idle stare to the crowd and calmly brushes her hand through her hair. She feels the glowing orb and grabs hold of it. With a faux laugh, she flicks the orb off towards the crowd. Drifting off, it gradually reverses direction and lines up a return path to Tassilda. Her attention returns to the crowd, and she gazes aimless with a sultry posture. The glowing orb bumps right into Tassilda's forehead. Finding it extremely difficult to keep the facade up, Tassilda flutters her light blue on black eyes in surprise. "What the hell?!"

She swats at the orb, and it zips clear of her hands each time. It looms closer and closer to Tassilda, dodging her attempts to bat it away. A low rumble of laughter rises out from the crowd, and more of the audience watches the scene unfold. Gesturing through a swift incantation, Tassilda swings her hands out with a confident smile and releases a focused burst of wind. The hovering orb strafes out of the way. Blinking in confusion, she snaps a glare at Deedri next to her and harshly whispers. "What's wrong with this thing?! What did you do to it?!"

Deedri shakes her head between Tassilda's stare and the orb and nervously shrugs at a loss. "I-I-I don't know. I followed the same process as you."

Narrowing his gaze at Tassilda, Chad furrows his brow and leans close to his microphone with a smug grin. "Having magical malfunctions again, Tassilda?"

A growing chorus of laughter wells up from the crowd. Tassilda stiffly grins, nearly gritting her teeth, at Chad. Flutters her eyes, she fans an arm out at the approaching orb. "Oh. Nothing I can't handle. Just need to make a few adjustments on this one."

Chad laughs, eases back into his seat, and snidely smiles. "Well, I've heard THAT a few times."

Trakenthin snorts and resumes watching his aetherphone screen in one hand and idly toying around with a bottle of water in his other. With the crowd cheering on, Tassilda's composure cracks against the one light orb assault, despite her best efforts. The part of audience cheers on the persistent orb, and the other part encourages Tassilda efforts. Modoran calmly watches the struggle between Tassilda and magical light ball. Pondering to himself, he tilts his head, an idea manifesting with the observation. He slides his chair back quietly, leans around the back of the chair, and aim a whisper to Deedri behind everyone else. "Deedri! Deedri!"

Deedri's left furry, tufted ear perks at Modoran's voice and guides the rest of her head to meet his gaze. "Oh. Yes?"

Modoran motions to the orb and Tassilda. "I think it only dodges fast movement towards it."

Searching her mind, Deedri nods thoughtfully and blinks with a forming plan. She gives Modoran an appreciative smile and shifts her attention to Tassilda. "Tassilda."

A growl of frustration slips out of Tassilda. "What?!"

Deedri glares sternly at Tassilda and calmly commands. "Sit. Down. Stay. Still."

Tassilda draws in a breath, begins to open her mouth, and the words retreat under Deedri's stare. Lowering herself back down upon her seat, she quickly brushes her raven black hair roughly back in place and adjusts her wardrobe. The light orb gently drifts closer and lands right on the very tip of Tassilda's still, gray skinned nose. Deedri carefully lifts her hands up, keeping both open palms facing the other. Positioning her hands to either side of the light orb, she slowly and meticulously closes the gap around the magical sphere. With a fast incantation and subtle gesturing of her hands, a magical field materializes between Deedri's palms, and she pulls the field and orb away in one swift motion. Cheers roar from the crowd. Chad claps with a smile, Trakenthin pays no attention, and Modoran sneaks a thumbs up and wink to Deedri. After a small, vaguely embarrassed bow, Deedri sits back down. The host seizes the opportunity and regains control of the forum. "Thank you, Deedri! Always there to help the group!"

The host starts summoning questions from the audience and directs them to different members of the Flames of the Phoenix. In between barrages of inquiries, Tassilda and Deedri examine the captured light orb. Finishing up a question with a nod, Tassilda pushes her microphone away and whispers to Deedri. "So, what is going on with THAT one?"

Deedri bites her lip uneasily and anxiously glances back at Tassilda. "Um... It's not one of ours..."

Twisting an uncomfortable grimace, she furrows her brow. "It... It's like... One of the ORIGINAL ones..."

Tassilda blinks her light blue on black eyes and rears her head back. In unison, both Deedri and Tassilda gaze out into the crowd, searching the rows upon rows of people seated in front of them. In the back row, a very amused bunch barely contain their mischievous smiles and watch the realization brew upon Deedri and Tassilda. Bach chuckles darkly to himself. "Oh yes. We are here."

Over the next minutes, the audience ask their questions, and the members of the Flames of the Phoenix answer them. Trakenthin remains a notable exception, either grunting, rolling his eyes, or completely ignoring the attempt. Standing next in line to speak into a convention worker's microphone, Bach glances at his aetherphone and awaits his turn. An imposing figure moves right behind him, and he glances over his shoulder. Blinking his confusion, he cocks his head at Dretphi. "Oh. You have a question?"

Dretphi briefly averts her eyes with a firm smirk on her face. "Yes."

The host catches a signal from an assistant up in the sound booth, turns to the crowd, and projects his voice into the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like we are just about out of time. But, I think we can handle a few more questions. So, let's give the people in the way back a chance!"

The worker presents the microphone up to Bach and nods for a cue. Checking his aetherphone one last time, Bach stares out front to the stage. "Well, this one is from a friend of mine stuck watching the hotel TV feed, and it's for Chad."

Chad's smile faintly sours at the sound of Bach's voice, and he squints with a new interest towards the far back. Bach continues with a smug grin. "How's your car doing?"

Snickers and laughter echo into the open space of the tall ballroom. Each second of the din weighs upon Chad's trademark smile, pulling it down towards an unamused frown. He perseveres despite his ire. "Just. Fine. It took some effort... From all of us..."

Puffing up his chest, he forces his smile back on his face. "But, the Phoenix will rise again."

With a chime from his aetherphone, Bach nods smugly. "Thank you."

Retreating away quickly, Bach sits back down in his seat next to Sebastian. Peering over at the message from Kaleb on Bach's phone, Sebastian snorts with an ethereal echo. "Damn. Kaleb's right, bro. He IS touchy about that SUV. He almost completely dropped that smile of his."

Aristespha curiously eyes Dretphi in line, and ponders out loud to the rest of the group. "Did Dretphi say anything about what she was going to ask?"

Bach, Sebastian, Cideeda, and Sotalia offer only uncertainly shrugs and inconclusive shakes of heads to Aristespha. Dretphi steps up, and the convention worker holds the microphone higher up for her. Drawing in a breath, she pauses in thought. A flowing, fluent stream of the Grath language leaves her lips with an eloquent pace and impeccable pronunciation. At the end, Dretphi pivots and walks away from the microphone, leaving a bewildered convention worker. Grath throughout the audience laugh, gasp, and snort. Other non-Grath respond similarly, including Sotalia. Covering her mouth, Sotalia muffles a snort into a contained chuckle.

Dully glinting in the stage lights, a plastic bottle cap launches up towards the heights of the ceiling upon a jet of water. Trakenthin instinctively crushes the plastic bottle in his hand further. Snapping his head away from his phone, he actively hunting through the audience, an angry sneer blatant on his face. He bellows out a litany of Grath phrases furiously, seeking a reply. Dretphi settles into her seat next Cideeda and Sotalia, crossing her arms. With the trace of smug smile upon her tan face, she notices the quizzical gazes of the group and sighs. "Pity. He CAN speak."

The other members of the Flames of the Phoenix allow Trakenthin space and get up from their seats, leaving the stage. The host quickly calls out with a nervous smile, keeping a watch on Trakenthin enraged glare out towards the audience. "Well, uh... That's all for now folks! Please enjoy the rest of the convention! And, be sure to visit our Next Adventurers of Nexus in Personality Alley for photo opportunities and signatures."

----

Large, long mall walkway skylights reveal the night sky overhead. A low, distant thumping radiates through the airspace in contrast to the ambient convention din. People move between demo and game booths, trying their luck and skill with different goods or services being sold. Aristespha casually strolls down the path between the gatherings of people, flipping through a list of messages on her phone. Sebastian's voice sounds out from the sword on her hip. "So, where are the others at, dear?"

Aristespha's violet eyes sort through a few more messages, and she quirks her brow. "Seems like they ditched the concert now. The opening act was amazing. But, the main act is some pop star from another TV show.

Tossing back a stray strand of silvery blue hair, she sighs with an amused smirk. "They left after the first few songs."

Sebastian hums in thought. "Yeah, I think I remember. She's that crazy half-fvalian girl. Really likes to stir up all the shock and drama. At least, that's what it seemed like on that show she was on."

Sending remaining messages away with finger swipes across the screen, Aristespha puts her phone away into her pants pocket. "They are going to the humvee to clear a path through Sotalia's purchases..."

She rolls her eyes with a snort. "So Dretphi can get in the back. They'll be around the main entrance in a few minutes."

Sebastian chuckles ethereally from the sword. "Figures. Oh well. Hope she didn't go too broke-"

"Lady Aristespha?"

Aristespha slows her steps to a halt and gradually pivots herself towards the source of the voice. Lifting an eyebrow, she tosses her silvery blue hair back and levels her violet eyes upon Modoran. With a simple, casual wave, Modoran smiles in return. "Hello. I am Modoran Lotherin, pleased to meet you. I guess officially now."

Curiosity pulls an amused grin across Aristespha's face, and she confidently walks up to Modoran. With a shift of her posture, she gazes at Modoran. "Official enough. Any camera crews I need to be made aware of?"

Modoran laughs and shakes his head, rolling his dark blue eyes. "Not right now. They have a hard time finding me when I feel like it. I've got about a few more minutes before I need to make my presence, to keep them happy."

A barely audible ethereal grumble resonates from the sword. Aristespha nonchalantly taps the sword handle a few times. Modoran quirks his brow with a sly smile and crosses his arms. "I have to hand it to your group. They certainly know how to rile up the more... prideful of my group."

An equally amused smirk appears upon Aristespha's ivory face. She sighs with subtle shakes of her head and shifts her posture. "If you will excuse me, I have no idea about what you are talking about, sir. I believe you may have the wrong group in mind."

Aristespha and Modoran maintain reserved stares, analyzing expressions and body language. After a few quiet seconds, Modoran laughs into a sigh and lowers his head with a sway. "Oh my. Despite the group I'm with, let me show there's no hard feelings from me to you. How about I treat you to a few games at the archery booth here."

The young evuukian woman running a nearby archery booth perks up in her seat by the register and expectantly awaits Aristespha or Modoran. With a momentary twitch at the corner of her eye, Aristespha gradually turns her gaze and studies the booth near her. She examines the layout and contents of the displays and rests her attention upon the bows. Her chilly, contemptuous glare condenses a swell of harsh disdain upon the stylish wooden bows. With an audible sniff through her nose, she dons her previously sly smile and politely shakes her head. "Unfortunately, I am not much into archery these days. But, I do greatly appreciate the offer."

Cocking her head, she smiles shortly, vaguely dismissive. "It is charming, really."

Blinking confused, Modoran lifts up an eyebrow, genuinely puzzled. "Oh? Really? That IS interesting. I distinctly remember hearing stories of a very accomplished, young evuukian woman performing great feats of archery for the Tarikira family. The descriptions of this amazing woman seem to match you almost exactly."

Aristespha maintains her smile and shakes her head with sigh. "Oh, I am afraid you must have mistaken me for someone else. I have personally moved on from the bow."

An eager grin cracks upon Modoran, he perks an encouraging brow at Aristespha. "Oh, Lady Aristespha, you just cannot say something like that without a demonstration."

Slowly shifting her stance, Aristespha examines the booth tabletop. Her eyes faintly glow violet, and she briefly rests her hand on the sword hilt. Grasping an arrow on the table, she twirls it in her fingers and slides her grip near the fletching. With the arrow firmly in grasp, her arm extends behind her, and her legs move to balance. Her upper body whips fluidly, flinging the arrow through air. Whizzing roughly dozen meters away, it solidly sticks into the target, near the bullseye. She straightens up, brushes her hair back, and observes the dumbfounded expressions of the booth attendant and, specifically, Modoran. Aristespha pivots cleanly and strides away with a wave behind her. "Have a good night."

Once out of ear shot, Aristespha's eyes dim back to normal, and she grins satisfied. "I hope you got to see what I saw, Sebastian."

A ghostly cackle emanates from the sword. Breaking from the laughter, Sebastian ethereally snorts. "I fully approve, dear. That look on his face was priceless."

Biting her lower lip, Aristespha wrestles a grimace and rubs her shoulder, stretching out her arm. "Need to get back into practice. I can already feel that I’m going to be sore in the morning.

A confident smile parts on her face. "But... I still got it."

Sebastian lovingly encourages from the sword. "As if you could ever lose it, dear."

Lowering his hand down from a weak, perplexed wave in response to Aristespha's departure, Modoran gawks at the arrow firmly planted in the target. The young evuukian woman pronounces some incantations and gestures to the arrow. With a few exaggerated motions, the arrow frees itself from the target. It floats over towards the woman and hovers down upon the tabletop. The young evuukian woman gazes at Modoran and smiles surprised. "Wow. That was in there good."

The young woman glances over the stunned Modoran, and watches Aristespha disappear in the distance. After patiently waiting, she eyes at the later night through the skylights above and smirks humored at Modoran. "So... I'm about to close up for the night. Would you like a few free pity rounds before I shut down?"

Modoran blinks back to awareness and meets the amused gaze of the woman. He sighs with a smile and shrugs nonchalantly. "THAT... Actually sounds very nice right now. Thank you."

-21-

Booths and tables bookend a large Stalwart Sword display upon a riser stage. Representatives for the company excitedly urge passersby to try their luck at pulling one of the finely crafted blades embedded in different stones. A young man steps up the plate, stands behind the stonework pieces, and grasps hold of the remaining sword of his choice. Aristespha's faintly glowing, violet eyes examine and study the four swords still present. Guiding back her very long, silvery blue hair, she allows it drape wavy runs upon her back and refocuses her inquisitive stare upon the empty rocky pedestal. She idly runs her fingers along her extremely long, pointed ears, and brushes stray hairs off the tips behind her head. Resting an ivory toned hand upon one side of hip, she shifts her athletically thin frame to another foot and contorts the gray and blue hints of color upon her face with an intrigued eyebrow quirk. "Interesting..."

Sebastian's ethereally transparent form pivots in place, and he gauges Aristespha's reaction. Briefly squinting his blue eyes at Aristespha's face, he gazes over to where she concentrates. He folds his translucent tan colored arms across his shirt covered muscular chest and tilts his head to the side. The loose pompadour on his head settles, and a number of short brown hairs break free, hanging in front of his face. The free hairs distract his eyes enough for him to notice, and a quick hand rakes them back in place next to the white streak. Sebastian scratches the back of his head and leans next to Aristespha. "So... What do you see, my dear?"

A finger from Aristespha leads Sebastian's eyes, and she draws in a breath, hinting her suspicions. "The empty pedestal's magic is gone. Some residue remains, but I believe the locking enchantment is on the swords rather than the pedestal."

Her gazes wander towards the center most, largest pedestal, and stops upon it. Sebastian darts his glances between the center pedestal and Aristespha. "Okay. Makes sense. So, what's wrong with the one in the center?"

Aristespha gradually pulls her head back. Sliding her posture,she rests her hand underneath her chin with a critical stare securely upon the center, sword-housing pedestal. "Originally, I thought the different pedestal explained the slight difference in that enchantment's aura."

Narrowing her intrigue upon the stonework encasing the blade, she twist her grimace uncertainly. "But... If the enchantment is on the swords, then that means the enchantment is different for supposedly the same thing. Unfortunately, the obfuscation and shielding they've used makes it extremely difficult to discern from casual inspection."

A Stalwart Sword salesman notices Aristespha attention upon the display and waves happily. "Hello! I see you have a keen interest in our latest and greatest model. And, judging by the sword at your side, you most certainly have just as keen tastes, that Stalwart Swords aims to please. Please, come over! Let me help you find the sword for YOU."

Blinking from her focus, Aristespha flashes a polite smile and starts to wave off the representative. Sebastian hems with a faint reverb and grins slyly. "Dear. Let's see what he can offer us."

Aristespha halts, lowers her hand back down with an awkward stare at Sebastian, and she lifts a questioning eyebrow. Grinning, Sebastian perks up and eyes over at the rep. A slyness cracks the smile on Aristespha, and shes nods intrigued. Aristespha and Sebastian calmly walk over to the booth in front of the salesman. Behind the table, the representative smiles happily and bows in greeting to Aristespha. "Thank you for coming over and granting me your time. First, I must say..."

He examines Sebastian up and down with honest amazement. "That is a most impressive illusion you have with you!"

Sebastian puffs his chest out, postures proudly with a heroic flair, and winks at the salesman. "I know."

The salesman blinks and slowly returns his head to Aristespha. "Amazing..."

Clapping his hands together, he straightens his posture and grins, a faint entrepreneurial glint slipping through. "I can already tell YOU have particular desires in the swords you acquire. If it is not a problem, I would like to inspect your current sword and see what Stalwart Swords can do to exceed your needs. Do not worry, I am allowed by the convention to undo and redo peace bindings."

Aristespha and Sebastian eye each other, mischief developing in their smiles. Releasing the scabbard's lock upon her belt, Aristespha gently rests the Sword of the Spirit Realm upon the table in front of the salesman. She and Sebastian await for the salesman's response, both fighting to hide their anticipation. The salesman respectfully nods, aptly releases the convention mandated peace binding, and professionally slides the sword out from the scabbard. His gaze absorbs the details and workmanship of the sword. His mind processes the attributes. After a long thoughtful pause, he arrives at the shocking identity of the blade. The salesman's smile wavers against the building astonishment, and his eyes widen to the artifact in his hands. Seconds of stunned silence later, he slowly slides the sword back into the scabbard. Resting it respectfully back upon the table, he stands up straight and releases a composure regaining sigh. A different genuine smile appears upon his face, and he gazes at both Aristespha and Sebastian. "This is a very gracious, surprise honor you have bestowed upon me. To even examine such a fine blade is an amazing experience... As high as I hold Stalwart Swords, a unique blade as this is beyond us..."

The smile upon the salesman's face gradually gives way to an entrepreneurial grin. "BUT. A unique discount for a sword to compliment that fine blade IS well within the capabilities of Stalwart Swords."

Sebastian crosses his arms and smirks eagerly at Aristespha. "Ooo... He's good."

Aristespha lifts the scabbard and sword off the table, locks it back onto her belt, and smiles at the salesman. "I believe we will take you up on that discount. We do need a training blade and a weapon grade blade that's roughly the same size, weight, and shape of my current one."

----

Sotalia stares expectantly at the fvalian woman behind the table. With a graceful flourish, the woman signs her name "Ardere" on a Tinkering Tina comic, adding an artistic flair and a small drawing of the lead character Tinkering Tina. Ardere gazes up to Sotalia with a knowing smile bordering close to smugly satisfied. Seconds of silence pass between the two. A toothy grin springs on Ardere's face, and she tilts her head a number, loosening glinting reddish brown hairs from underneath the large bandanna on her head. "I'm so sorry. You're just going to have to wait until the next issue."

Wrestling an mildly annoyed frown, she sighs with a roll of her bluish eyes. "I already gave away WAY too much at the last panel."

Sotalia draws in a deep breath and strains a long exhale. She lifts her gaze up to the ceiling of the long hallway containing the packed booths and sprawling lines of Personality Alley. "Really?!"

Ardere slides a curious glance to Cideeda, tapping together the large black claw tips on both hands. "New to the series?"

Shaking her head with a humoring smile, Cideeda eyes Sotalia's frustration and nods slowly at Ardere. "Oh yeah. She binge read the series recently."

Patting down the bandanna on top of her head near two solid bumps underneath, Ardere tightens the knot in back. "Oh..."

An amused grin cracks forth from the faint patterns on her cheeks, and she giggles in delight. "THAT explains it. Just got through the Great Contract arc, didn't you?"

Sotalia lowers her head down, crosses her arms, and pouts. "Yes, I have."

Furrowing a seeking stare, she borders on a grumble with a vaguely unsatisfied tone. "And, I have SO many theories... And not evidence to either prove or disprove them."

The pout wears away into a mischievous smile, and Sotalia focuses Ardere. "But, I do have one theory that I do have evidence for."

Quirking her brow with intrigue, Ardere squints and dons a scheming smile. "Which is?"

A giggle escapes Sotalia, and she bounces her gaze between Ardere and Cideeda. "Tina and Byron are SO going to be couple in the future."

Ardere's eyes flit open in shock and quickly narrow to honest examination of the present proposal. "Really? That's an interesting theory."

Cideeda laughs and nods to Sotalia with a tight smile. "Well... I have to agree. There's something there between those two. I don't know what, but it more there than not."

Sotalia counts off points with her fingers, and her eyes hunt through her mind. "Despite all the times Tina's has practically kicked down the door to Byron's place, he's never mad at her for being there. Despite all the questions she asks, he'll always answer them... Even if he's grumpy about it."

Snapping her golden eyes upon Ardere, she smirks with a chuckle. "And don't forget the Embargo Arc!"

Cideeda places her hands on her hips and ponders out loud. "He FORGETS about collecting rent on her shop when business was bad. She's the first to check on him when he hasn't left the house in a few days. AND, he's the one that pushed her to lay down the contracting law upon that general."

Pivoting with a finger raised, Sotalia points at Cideeda. "AND... Don't forget who he calls FIRST when he finds some crazy technology."

Both Cideeda and Sotalia contemplate the growing fan theory. Ardere observes the conversation and listens in, great interest obvious. A muffled buzz and phone chime startles her. Pulling away from the discussion, she retrieves her aetherphone from a pocket. With a few taps of the screen, a text message from "Jasper" appears on the display.

"Hey, sorry about the silence. Just got enough signal from a radio relay tower of all things. Found something from the zone you might like when you get back from your convention. After I get this to transmit, I'm heading to back to Gateway. Here's a picture of the find."

Ardere bluish eyes focus upon the image. Fighting back a wave of giddy delight, she covers her mouth briefly with squirm in her seat. Moments afterwards, she lowers her hand down. The previous giddiness yields to a building revelation. Reading the message one last time with a warm smile, she puts away her phone and returns her attention to the winding fan theory between Cideeda and Sotalia.

Rolling her eyes at Cideeda, Sotalia scoffs dismissively. "Self worth issues? He was THE designer behind major innovations in robotics! How could he feel like he's not worthy enough for her?!"

She snorts and shakes her head of dark red hair. "Gods, why is THAT always the case?

Cideeda sighs and cocks her head. "He lost it all when that competitor company won that ridiculous lawsuit. He's got some royalties, the plot of land his house is on, and the shop that Tina is renting from him..."

A suspecting smirk materializes on her light brown face. "For half market average."

Groaning at the debate, Sotalia shrugs into a trailing grumble. "Well, I don't think we're proving it today."

With a quick nod to Sotalia, Cideeda pulls out her aetherphone and widens a toothy grin. "Before we go..."

An entrepreneurial glint sparkles from her gaze. "Are you still interested in seeing fan findings of ancient technology?"

Ardere's furry ears perk up, and her smiles brightens. "Of course! What do you have?"

Cideeda deftly navigates the phone and turns the screen towards Ardere, remaining silent. Ardere's eyes lock onto the screen, almost reflecting the image of the old security bot head. An ear to ear grin grows more the longer she studies the picture. With a toothy grin, Cideeda aims a quiet, suggestive inquiry. "Would you like to hold it?"

Blinking to full awareness, Ardere perks her head up and nods slowly with a sly smile. "Oh. You know, I think I should take my lunch break now."

----

Leading the way through the vendor demonstrations lining the tall intersection of the mall turned convention center, Sotalia glances between different fanciful displays of products. With a frustrated twist of her mouth, she mumbles to herself and slips between the gaps of the wandering crowds. Trailing behind, Bach lingers a gaze at interactive scroll vendor and nods to himself, a spark of interest flitting up. He searches around, spots Sotalia further down the way, and pushes though the traffic to close in. Closing in, he notices the line up of equipment, lanes of platforms paired with booth. He fights down an uneasy grimace and divert his path away. A firm grip from behind snag his shirt collar, and a tug guides him closer to the demo area. He drifting closer to the destination after each attempt to slip away. Sotalia releases Bach's shirt collar and smiles eagerly. Lifting a hand up with a wave to the goal, she motions to the row of stalls and platforms with a variety of arcane markings and electronics intermingling the structures. "Here they are! These are the magical energy measuring stations I told you about!"

Bach adjusts his shirt back to comfort and pans his gaze upon the magical measurement equipment with an uneasy smile. "Neat. Um, reminds me of the ones back in school. Must be showcasing the newer models..."

Averting his blue eyes away from the scene, he searches for a convenience and nearby divide in the crowd. "Well, that's all pretty cool..."

He warily watches Sotalia's sly grin and stare upon him. Straightening up confidently, she unrolls a wave towards two empty platforms and stalls and concentrates on Bach, an evil tinge infecting her grin. Bach pivots in place, examines the stalls briefly, and faces Sotalia with a pleading expression. "You know I can't beat you in raw power."

Placing her hands on her chest, she smiles full of delighted amusement and giggles. "Oh, I know."

Narrowing her eager stare, she grins slyly. "I figured WE could compete with EFFICIENCY."

Bach bounces glances between the platforms and stalls. He catches hints of the excitement slipping free from Sotalia's dwindling attempts to suppress and sighs with an eye roll. "I guess it couldn't hurt. I'll take the one at the end."

Sotalia rushes off gleefully to one of the attendants next to a "Merlinatech Magical Machinations" logo display. The human woman in branded magician robe gives a quick nod and directs Sotalia and Bach to the platforms. She steps up to an advertisement poster and explains the system with the visual aid. "Thank you so much for coming up and your interest. At Merlinatech Magical Machinations, we specialize in figuring out the quantities of your magical qualities! As you can see here, we have brought our latest line of flow measure suites for you to try out. With newest revisions in the detection algorithms and energy flow sensors, Merlinatech has been able to reduce the size of our professional line of flow meters to allow easy home installation! A mere corner of room is all that's needed where a whole room once was!"

The woman steps around a system and motions to the setup, smiling brightly. "All you have to do is stand on the platform and cast your spells. The system will measure the flow to, from, and within the space of the platform and stall. Then, our patented computers will calculate all the most pertinent statistics for your magical ability."

She leans forward slightly and smirks playfully. "But, for demonstration purposes here, we've put big displays up to show your energy usage. It's the most popular number everyone wants to know."

The woman smiles wide and directs Sotalia and Bach's attention to the nearby stalls. "If you have any projectile, beam, or other types of spells, please feel free to direct your power into our containment stalls. We ask that you PLEASE keep it simple and moderate for safety reasons."

Stepping back toward another group of interested people, she departs with a slight bow. "If you have any further questions, please ask. But for now, feel free to put our equipment to the test, and we'll measure your best!"

Bach thanks the woman and swings his head over, witnessing Sotalia stretch her arms up and cracking her intertwined fingers. "Simple and moderate, now. Please?"

An almost seductive grin parts, and Sotalia bites her lip with a long breath in. "I'll... TRY."

Stepping upon the platform, she gestures swiftly through an incantation under her breath and flicks out a small training bolt of magical energy. It darts from the tip of her finger into the space of the stall, impacts a barrier at the back, and dissipates. Seconds later, a status message pops up on a flat screen monitor near her platform, and a colored bar highlights around the fifty unit range on a sliding number line. Sotalia rest her hands on her hips, sways with confidence nearing pride, and eyes Bach with a smug lift of an eyebrow. Bach sighs, shaking his head. Pulling a reluctant smile, he holds his palm out towards his stall. A magical bolt manifest into existence in front of his palm, darts out into his platform's containment stall. Halting in the middle, it disperses into a fading mist. Bach and Sotalia watch the display near Bach's platform. A status prompt appears on the screen, and a sliding number line charts a much narrower range within the teens, just short of twenty units. A zealous ear to ear smile expands upon Sotalia's face. Bach's jaw drops lower with each moment, his mind analyzing the results. "Hold up. How the fuck does that shitty of a bolt register so low?"

Sotalia's smile collapses to neutral confusion, shifting towards an extremely suspicious glare at Bach. " Shitty bolt?"

Crossing her arms, she tips her head back and bares her teeth in a indignant sneer. "OH... Don't you DARE flub these on purpose.

She furrows her brow and levels a glare at Bach. "Now give me a REAL one."

Bach blinks blankly and droops his shoulders in defeat. Pulling a long breath in, he conjures another bolt into the palm of his hand and flicks into the containment stall. Sotalia's smile returns in full force, witnessing the display show a narrow bar hovering just below the ten unit range.

Over the next minutes, a small gathering forms and murmurs out a mix of conversation. A few people occasionally point towards two displays near the platforms Sotalia and Bach stand upon. Sotalia squints into a grimace, summoning intense concentration upon a forming ball of energy in her hands. Glancing up at the target ahead of her platform, she carefully launches the ball towards the containment stall and watches the ball burst on the surface of the backplate. Bach unrolls his hand out, producing a near mirror match of Sotalia's energy ball. After a gentle nudge, it drifts on its own into the designated stall, halts midway through, and pops into a faint plume on its own. Status messages appear on the displays, the bars narrow, and the indicators settles upon the lowest end of the range. The score on Bach system rattles between the single digits, while Sotalia's score drift higher to the upper teens. Gripping onto her black, swept back horns in frustration, Sotalia growls and winces. "Argh! How?! Just how?!"

Bach attempts in vain to contain the exceedingly amused grin on his face. He averts his satisfaction, dripping with smugness, from Sotalia. "Well... Just a lot of practice, I guess."

Sotalia narrows her golden stare upon Bach and crosses her arms. The few technicians behind a collection of magical machinery and computer equipment stare bewildered, readouts continuing to vex and baffle their knowledge.

"Is it a calibration error?"

"No, we just calibrated it a few hours ago. Are they just less powerful versions?"

"That's the weirdest part! They're actually slightly more powerful. At least that's what the stall sensors are picking up..."

From around the corner of the giant mall intersection, a small horde of recording equipment hauling personnel orbit a singular lone emin woman. Tassilda proudly struts across the floor, granting a small wave to those that notice her along the path. Her pointed ears detect the surge of discussion the small crowd around the Merlinatech demo space, and her head follows the lead to the source. Her light blue on black eyes open wide, spotting Sotalia. She watches Sotalia form another energy ball and Bach idly flicking, very familiar glowing light orbs into his platform's containment stall. A sneer flashes on her gray face, and she summons up a superior, dominant posture, stepping with intent over to the Merlinatech demo stations. Sotalia flings out another energy orb into the containment stall and watches the number calculations. When it barely improves over the previous, she groans out her frustration, eyeing Bach. "Oh, you stop smiling already and start telling me what I need to do!"

Crossing her arms with an upwards hoist, a condescending tone drifts into the air from Tassilda. "Maybe consider a career in stage magic? You seem quite capable of drawing a crowd."

Snapping her posture rigid, Sotalia pivots, adopting dominant pose in competition to Tassilda. She glares with the faintest hint of a grin. "Oh. You flatter me. But, I couldn't possibly compete with your demonstrable abilities upon the stage. Such a fine comedy yesterday! Did you plan all that, or do you dabble in improv?"

A light twitch tugs at the corner of Tassilda's eye, and she cocks her head to the side, allowing her long raven black hair to sway along her revealing outfit. "Interesting. It seems strange for someone of your obvious experience to be instructed by the... INTERN of your group?"

A snide smile creeps widen on her face. "Hmm. What deficiencies could you ever possibly be addressing?"

An evil grin creeps onto Sotalia, and she tips her head up, tossing of her dark red hair. "Refinements, really. As for the INTERN, I saw you have learned plenty from him yourself..."

She gestures with her goldens eyes,and sways head towards Bach. The shift in attention from Sotalia, Tassilda, the crowd, and the camera crew stuns Bach, clueless to the next action. Holding a light orb in his hand, he glances over at the many floating in the magical containment stall for his platform. Sotalia slowly returns her smugly satisfied smile back at Tassilda and tilts her head with a confident sway her of hips. A wave of unease billows through Tassilda's body. An insightful spark emerges from memories and boils up her confidence. "Well. Certainly to be expected from a lady of your... EXCEEDINGLY REFINED AGE."

A noticeable wince cracks Sotalia's facade. Tassilda delightful watches the turmoil and walks to a platform next to Sotalia. Stretching and flexing exaggeratedly to the crowd, she gestures an incantation into a small bolt of energy and flicks it into her platform's containment stall. Staring for a moment, Sotalia responds with a slightly larger bolt at her target. Bach leans out from his platform and cranes his head around for better view of the unfolding event. "Ah, shit."

Jabbing conversation punctuates Sotalia and Tassilda contest, and each conjure slightly more powerful spells to edge out prior. The metrics on the displays grow with volley of growing bolts. Double digits lead the climb. Low triple digits swell with the balls of power forming. Moderate triples digits flicker, and gauges drift higher on the screens. Both maintain indomitable airs of superiority against the other and nearly sneering smiles. During a lull in the action, the two mages summon the powers and build up their finales. Sotalia scoffs defiantly and flows the prismatic energy in her hands. "I grow tired of such trivial displays. Let us make these count."

Tassilda dramatically opens her hand palm up and reveals a growing ball of brilliant green fire. "YES. I agree."

The two glare down at each other, the magical flows condensing in their hands. Merlinatech technicians glance over to the containment stalls nervously. Following the uncertain stares to the stalls, Bach eyes glow blue. He squints at the stalls, rears his head back, and blinks in surprise. He steps off his platform towards the competition. Sotalia readies her energy orb and waits. Tassilda aim her palm out towards the target in her stall. Both glare intensely at each other in silence, cameras and the crowd anticipating the release of their potent spells.

Sotalia flexes her arm muscles. Tassilda flares out her fingers-

Walking right between the two of them, Bach snatches Sotalia's energy orb with one hand and yanks Tassilda's green fireball away with the other. "Okay! I think that's ENOUGH right now."

He grins with a nod towards relieved technicians. "Looks like they need to let the stalls cool down a bit."

Sotalia's energy orb shakes for a few moments and puffs out into a cloud of energy, fading into Bach. Tassilda's brilliant green fireball flickers and snuffs out in a haze, drifting into Bach's hand. Grumbling, Sotalia seizes Bach by the collar of his shirt. "Damn it, Bach! What the hell are you doing?!"

Perking up her posture in the confusion, Tassilda curiously examines the hand that the fireball once hovered near. She blinks in absolute, sheer bewilderment and glances over, pondering the fate of her fireball. Bach narrows his eyes at Sotalia and points to the stalls. "You were about to overload the system.

He furrows his brow and sternly explains. "So. I stopped you."

Sotalia glances over to stalls and squints her eyes to a flickering gold for a few moments. Embarrassment washes over her, and she releases Bach's shirt with a light, apologetic pat on the chest. "Oh. Right. Good call. Sorry."

Rolling his eyes, Bach shrugs and sighs. "No problem. Can we get out of here? Away from the cameras? Please-"

He halts mid thought and rubs together the fingers of hand that seized Tassilda's green fireball. "What the hell? There's something on my hand."

He moves the hand closer to his face. "A powder?"

Sotalia quickly snatches his arm, and pulls his hand close to her eyes. She squints, picks at the reside lightly coating, and puzzles. A sudden flash of shock erupts on her light tan and dark gray face. Covering her mouth, she rears back with a cackle. "OH. MY. GODS! It's copper powder! She's using material components in her magic!"

Sotalia unleashes a loud mocking laugh and stares at Tassilda, incredulously amused. "OH! Really?! You couldn't manage to use magic to make the flames green?!"

Drawing in a long breath, she exhales and calm herself down. With a smug strut, she walks near Tassilda. "So! I have to ask... Which kit do you use?"

Resting a hand on her chest, Sotalia twists up a derisive smile and giggles mockingly. "I have to admit, back in high school, I used them, too. Gods, I liked the one with black candles myself! You know how all the emin girls go through that doom and gloom stage."

Tassilda's normally gray complexion darkly reddens, and she levels a twitching, furious death glare upon Sotalia. When Sotalia leans close with an expectant, smug grin, a harsh spouting of an emin dialect slip out from Tassilda, just above a whisper. Processing the words and Sotalia tilts back. She crosses her arms and chuckles darkly, her eyes widening along with a triumphant smile. "Oh! So, THAT is what you think of ME! Would mind saying THAT lovely term a bit louder for everyone else!"

With dismissive wave, Sotalia perks her brow and tosses back her dark red hair. "Gods, I haven't heard THAT one in a while. Did your racist grandfather teach you that one? I would love to know."

Tassilda whips around without another word. Rushing away in an angry huff, she nearly knocks over a camera woman along the way. Sotalia waves with a delightful smile. Sliding next to Sotalia, Bach glances at the irate Tassilda in the distance and over to Sotalia. "Uh... Um... Everything okay?"

Sotalia sways happily around, grinning satisfied. "OH. Yes. Gods... I, SO, knew it!"

----

Padded training swords impact loudly and echo above in the high ceilings of the enormous storage warehouse. A few people sparring crash on soft mats upon raised platforms with resonating thuds, grumbling their frustrations of defeat. Off to the side of the practice areas, Dretphi converses with two other older grath. Both wear old grath military uniforms. Many prominent awards and ranks sparsely decorate sleeves and front pockets. One grath man laughs out a few words in his native dialect. Patting the empty folded sleeve of his shirt with his only hand, he shrugs with a nonchalant smile. Other man shakes his head with an eye roll, buries his face in the palm of his hand, and rocks with a chuckle. Dretphi stifles a reflexive laugh with a happy smile and continues the conversation.

Behind her, a very old grath slowly steps forward with solid crane presses on the floor preceding his footsteps. With a warm smile and gaze at Dretphi, he orbits around her and stands next to the other two men. Immediately recognizing the very old grath, both men rigidly pause and salute. The elder grath eyes the two with an amused grimace. With some effort, he straightens his posture and properly fills out his uniform. Standing taller than everyone else, he lifts a strong but shaky hand to his temple. With a nod, he releases his salute from the short white hair encircling his bald head, relaxes his back, playful groaning, and chuckles, rolling his eyes. With a sly grin, he turns his head to Dretphi and shifts his support to the cane in front of him. Pointing at finger her with a slight wag, he smiles and speaks a short sentence. Dretphi blinks in confusion and her mind sorts through memories, desperately attempting to identify the man before her. The elder grath laughs, gives a comforting wave of the hand, and shakes his head with a smile. He taps the side of his head a few times to punctuate his words and shakes a point to Dretphi. Carefully lowering his hand down near his knees, he gestures a certain height. He draws himself back up, and joking references a topic. Dretphi immediately blushes in sympathy to her childhood. The other two grath snicker in fun and mercifully push to another topic of discussion.

Across the way, a camera crew catches the tumbling crash of an opponent upon the mats. A triumphant Trakenthin looms above with a practice sword end tapping the fallen opponent's chest. The referee witnesses and confirms with a hand signal to Trakenthin. "Winnner by vital hit, Trakenthin!"

A small crowd applauds and cheers, and Trakenthin absorbs the praise, holding his arms out and up during his circuit around the mat. Cameras focus upon him, and Samantha flips through notes on her clipboard with boredom assaulting her. "Again, he beats yet... another opponent."

Trakenthin scans out around the area, his eyes scrutinizing each person for a possible opponent. His search expands outwards and further out in the warehouse space full of practice mats and rings. A swift double take later, he spots his next target, a hungry grin spreading across his dark brone face. His hazel eyes settle upon Dretphi in the distance. With a loud bellowing shout in grath, he snaps his fingers and jabs a point at Dretphi, issuing a challenge. Dretphi reflexively cringes with low grumble and sighs dismissively. The one armed grath quirks his brow at Trakenthin. The other old grath sidesteps around to block line of sight between the rest of the group and Trakenthin. The elder lifts a brow at Dretphi, asking a question. Dretphi shakes her head and narrows her steely gray eyes with her pupils gesturing to Trakenthin. She gazes to all of them, pointing to the ground to emphasize her query. The old grath men nod, and the elder waves for her to leave for now with an understanding smile. Dretphi respectfully bows, steps away, pivots, and power walks straight towards the nearest exit.

Trakenthin's grimace sours, and he watches Dretphi swiftly navigate towards the exit. Narrowing his eyes, he slides his stance back and thinks. Moments later, a mean grin crackles upon his face, and fully focuses upon Dretphi. He calls out to her, words tinging with arrogance and contempt. Dretphi maintains her stoic demeanor and keeps her attention forward. A long pause swell between Trakenthin and Dretphi. Dismissively snorting, he exaggerates the emphasis on a slow, purposeful derisive grath sentence, anticipation in his eyes. Dretphi freezes in place. A subtle twitch flexes her cheek. She straightens up her posture and drags in an angry breath through gritting teeth peeking through her lips. The three old grath concentrate stoic, harsh glares upon Trakenthin, the face of eldest leaking with his boiling ire.

Dretphi's twists her head to a side and crack her neck. Pivoting to face Trakenthin, she powers forward, cracking her knuckles along the way. The elder grath smiles and examines a nearby rack of training weapons. He spots a weapon and secures his footing. With a strong grip on his crane, he lifts up a training sword with the end. Judging the weight, he calls out to the one armed grath and launches the weapon over. The one armed grath effortlessly snatches the practice blade out of the air and tests it with swings and swipes til satisfaction. Marching over to the side of Dretphi, he presents the weapon to her. The other older grath steps along side her and carefully whispers into her awaiting ear. Dretphi nods confirmingly at each paragraph of information. She gradually wills her focus, and her stare grows more serious and stoic. Finally spotting Dretphi's approach to the ring, Samantha gawks in utter astonishment. "Holy. Shit. Everyone check batteries and storage drives! I want every last bit of this covered! From every angle!"

Trakenthin and Dretphi stand near the middle of the mat, waiting with their padded training blades ready. The referee glances at both of them. He holds his hand in the middle and lifts his arm up with a step back. "Fight!"

Trakenthin launches a flurry of strikes upon Dretphi. Each impact hits solidly against Dretphi's defending blade. The two circle around the surface of the mat, Trakenthin aggressively assailing Dretphi with barrages of swings and swipes. Occasionally, Dretphi attempts a strike upon an opening, and Trakenthin proficiently blocks. The constant exchange of attacks continues. Dretphi's practice sword rocks back more and more with the next wave. Trakenthin mixes in banter and derisive words between his attacks. Dretphi's serious, concentrating stare never wavers. Samantha studies the combat and cocks her head with an emerging suspicion. She catches brief amusement slip from behind the stoic front of the older grath nearby. "What's going on?"

With an elaborate overhead slam upon her sword from Trakenthin, Dretphi drops to a knee. A flare of eagerness ignites Trakenthin's hazel eyes, and he steps forward, pressing down his blade against Dretphi's defense. She maintains the shaking deadlock above her with both hands on her sword's handle. Trakenthin glares down with a clenched grin, unyielding in his desire for her defeat. Dretphi locks eyes with Trakenthin. Her serious expression shatters, revealing a wide, tooth bearing grin and a fire of sheer confidence in her stare. Trakenthin's bewilderment barely manifests, and he feels something change with the blade deadlock.

New lines of muscle definition manifest upon Dretphi's arm, and she powers her blade up toward Trakenthin. Drawing up her knee from the ground, she puts the foot underneath her. A hand frees itself from holding the blade and sweeps forward, a clawing grip around Trakenthin's ankle. Dretphi roars upwards with the defiant flex of every muscle in her body. She yanks out Trakenthin's foot from underneath and hoists upwards. Following his leg, Trakenthin drops flat on his back. A loud resounding slam echoes out into the warehouse. Trakenthin attempts to blink. His eyes flit wide, and he feels Dretphi lever his leg forward. Opening his mouth to growl, the pain of a boot pressing down upon his sword wielding fore arm interrupts any other thoughts. The pressure of a padded training sword on the side of his neck yanks Trakenthin out of the chaotic mental haze from the last few seconds. Dretphi beams a furious glare down upon him and slowly traces the tip of the training weapon symbolically across Trakenthin's neck. The referee observes the action, nods, stands up, and motions towards Dretphi. "Winner by vital hit..."

The referee pauses a moment and directs a police whisper. "Excuse me, what is your name?"

Dretphi releases Trakenthin's leg, exhales calmly with an air sheer satisfaction, and respectfully bows. "Dretphi. Dretphi Prakkenten Reti Veranattin."

The referee confirms with hidden contentment. Dretphi calmly exits the ring. Returning the training sword to the smugly smiling old grath men, she bows and leaves quickly to the exit. Trakenthin sits up from the mat floor. Blinking in sheer bewilderment, he stares out, silently trying to process the last few minutes. A camera close in too quickly. The machine suffers the full ire of a grath, and Trakenthin backhands the lens right off.

----

A large, loosely packed crowd hangs out near the Stalwart Sword demo. A common topic buzzes in the air from the conversations spread out, the last remaining sword in the large center stone. The other four sword stones remain on stage, empty with names and location cards in front to show the new owners of the previously housed swords. Bach steps up to the center platform at the direction of a Stalwart Sword representative. Cautiously reaching out, he firmly grips the sword handle. Shoring up his footing, he readies himself. Pulling up, his arm muscles flex and body strains. The sword remains unmoved, without a single shudder. He shakes his head and gazes up at Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sebastian with a nonchalant shrug and an accepting smile. "Oh well. Guess it's not for me."

"A valiant try! Quite impressive. Really..."

Bach stands back up and glances over his shoulder, watching Chad Bosch wave to the crowd. Camera crews disperse into the area, while Samantha and Gerald maintain a professional distance away to oversee the impending operation. Stepping up to the side of the large center stone, Chad works the crowd and smiles brightly to the masses. With the hilt of the lodged sword still in hand, Bach quizzically stares at the blade curiosity, hints of surprise upon his face. He glances at Chad and returns his stare to sword. Bach's eyes glow blue and search through his mind. Seconds later, he flits his eyes wide and narrows a brief glare to Chad. The expression fades into a scheming smile, and the glow in his eyes dims back to normal. Chad maintains a bright heroic smile and glances at Bach. "If you don't mind... I'd like to give it a try. Sir."

Nodding against Chad's intimidating, demanding stare in contrast to the smile, Bach steps away with a welcoming bowing motion to the blade. "Oh! Yes, of course, and good luck."

He exits off the stage and slips back into the crowd. Chad maintains a stare upon Bach. He only breaks off when he notices a variety of other stares and glares from Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia. When Bach slides in behind the group, Aristespha whispers over her shoulder. "I sensed something strange about that sword's locking enchantment. Did you feel anything?"

Bach grins, a dark tint looming, and laughs quietly. "Oh yes. When Chad walked up, I felt something stir. I think it was some kind of remote trigger syncing. I bet he's got a key enchantment or something on him."

Cideeda shakes her head with a dissatisfied sneer. Dretphi crosses her arms and stoically glares right at Chad. Sotalia leans closer to Bach and comments in a low voice. "Fucking figures. I wonder how much the cheat paid for the privilege?"

Bach chuckles with evil coloring his tone and perks a knowing eyebrow. "Too much for what he's going to get."

Blinking against rising familiarity, Sebastian narrow his gaze and hovers near his brother. "What did you DO?"

Shrugging with playful guilt, Bach merely grins. "Oh. We'll see. I'll have to apologize to Kaleb later."

The group watches on with less-than-kind, anticipating stares. Chad secures his grip around the sword for his attempt. Calming himself, Chad concentrates in the drawn out dramatic tension and quiet of the crowd. He flexes his muscular upper body in an exaggerated display of strength and pulls upon the sword. The initial facade of struggle slides towards genuine strain and significant effort. The seconds wear on, and the sword remains in place. When the determination upon Chad's face cracks to desperation, the sword gradually slides up, and the crowd anticipates. The blade sluggishly leaves the stone platform, ignoring the shakes of Chad's arms struggling against some force. Sliding half out of the stone, the sword slams back into place. Chad unceremoniously smacks forehead first into the pommel. Releasing the sword, Chad stands up and assures the crowd with bold, heroic waves. "Do not worry! It's just a little shy with such a wonderful crowd witnessing."

He squats down and carefully grips onto the sword tightly. Panning a gaze to the crowd, he slows for a passing glare to Samantha and the very confused Stalwart Sword representative. He waits for crowd to quiet down and prepares himself. Mustering all his power, he pulls upon the stone embedded sword with all his strength. The blade gradually moves up, rewarding Chad's outstanding effort. At the halfway point, the binding force completely disappears. In a chorus of laughter and applause from the large crowd, Chad topples backwards and crashes out onto the stage floor with a resounding, echoing thud. Sword still in hand, he summons all his being and contains the irritation swelling out onto his face behind his trademark heroic smile.

----

Within the near empty branch of convention center hallway, Kaleb doubles over from laughing and rights himself back up to face Bach. "Holy shit! Nicely done! Gods, that arrogant prick deserves all he gets. I so wish I could have seen his face. It was probably just as bad as when you asked about his car."

Shaking her head of dark green hair, Shadeesa relaxes in a chair and pets Lagi's head at her side. "We need to be careful. If they keep it up, they'll put our act out of business."

Kaleb glances with a shrug to Shadeesa and Lagi. "They still don't have a dragon. I think we still got them beat."

Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia join the conversation, and the groups converse about the events of the day, exchanging various stories.

"MYLO! Stop running! Get back over here!"

Mylo rushes toward the gathering, waving his glowing wand around, and calls out. "Dragon!"

Mylo's evuukian mother runs after him with human man beside her. The man calls out. "Come on, son! Slow down!"

Mother and father split out to either side, and close in on Mylo charging towards the teams in front of Lagi. After some effort, the parents manage to capture the excited child. With son in arms, Mylo's mother turns to apologize. "I'm so sorry for him-"

She immediately recognizes Bach. "THERE YOU ARE!"

Blinking in surprise, Bach weakly waves. Mylo's mother smiles and bows slightly. "You disappeared before I could thank you. Again, thank you so much! You have saved the day for all us and kept our sanity intact for a little while longer."

The human man, with the same dirty blonde hair color as Mylo, steps forward and extends a hand out to Bach. "Hello! The name is Mason Anderson. Just wanted to say thanks for helping my wife and son out."

Bach shakes Mason hand and humbly shrugs. "Hey, it wasn't a problem, really. Just couldn't leave it be."

Mylo's mother lowers Mylo back down with her hand holding his, securing him from wandering too far. "Oh! I never got your name. I am sorry to have been so rude. I am Lalyanpha. And this wild one is Mylokia, or Mylo."

Lalyanpha lifts her head up towards Bach with a smile and notices Aristespha. A tinges of unease stiffens her pose, and nervous energy seeps out into the building tension in the air. Aristespha's violet eyes widen, and she calmly raises a reassuring hand to Lalyanpha. "Do not worry. I do NOT share those biases. You do not study proper medicine without seeing the fallacies behind those prejudices."

A genuine smile graces Aristespha's ivory face, and she gazes at Mylo. "You two have a beautiful son."

A great weigh leaves Lalyanpha, and she sighs with relief, Mason wrapping an arm around her. "Thank you. That is one of the reasons why Mason and I come to these type of events. There is far more acceptance to be found."

Mason grins and winks out to the group. "Also, I get free tickets from the organizers. Helps when you're the guy they get to come out to fix everything that likes to fall apart around here."

Mylo looks pleadingly to his mother and points to Lagi. Shadeesa meets Lalyanpha's glance with a happy nod and motions for Mylo to comes over. While Lagi enjoys the new attention from little Mylo, the larger gathering converses more about the events of the convention. Eventually, the groups go their own ways, the night sky in the above skylights wearing on. Everyone takes great care to not disturb a sleeping Mylo from the cradle of Lagi's front legs.

-22-

In the brightening morning light, a figure stirs under the covers of the bed in the small bedroom. Bach groggily lifts his upper body off the bed, and sheets roll off. Rising up sleepily, he cracks his eyes open. He slowly pans a stare across the room, blinking hesitantly against the sunlight filling the space. He throws the bed covers off and slides to the edge of the edge, waiting for the consciousness to stand. Yawning, he leans forward, rises up on his feet, and wipes the last remnants of sleep out of his eyes. His hands work out the tangles from his long brown, graying hair and guide the white streak to one the side over an ear. Blue eyes search around the space, and Bach surrenders to another yawn with stretch of his back. Briefly standing tall with proper posture, he sucks in his gut and puffs out his chest in front of the tall wall mirror. For a few moments, he enjoys the heroic ideal in the reflection. Releasing his breath, he slouches and slumps his shoulders. Inspecting the farmer's tan on his forearms in stark contrast to the rest of his fair skin under his shirt, he scratches the forming beard at the chin. A sigh of disappointment slips out, and he places his hand upon his stomach. He stops in surprise. Glancing down, he notices the difference of where his hand rests, expectation twisting confusion on his face. "Huh..."

He darts his curiosity around the room and eyes the door, lifting an eyebrow. "... there is a bathroom scale..."

Bach opens the nearby dresser drawer, puts on a new shirt and pair of shorts over his underwear, and opens the door to his bedroom. He peeks out into the hallway and spots the morning slipping out from the bathroom. Swiftly claiming the space, he closes the door behind him. Minutes pass, and the bathroom door opens to a content Bach, wearing a satisfied smirk upon his face. Stepping out into the hallway, he turns and walks back toward his room. Sotalia's mumbling voice drifts out into the hallway from her room. Bach halts with his curiosity, slowly spins around, and cautiously approaches Sotalia's open room door. He peeks around the door frame, peers into the room, and surveys the situation. Sitting upon her bed legs crossed, Sotalia resides in the middle of a sprawling collection of trinkets, folded space frames, shopping bags, and labeled boxes. Her attention jumps between a single red crystal in her hand and the semi-circle of labeled boxes around her. Biting her lip with blatant deliberation on her face, she gestures the red crystal towards one box. Her head sways and leads it back over to another box. The debate in her mind continues. She idly grabs hold of her foot while her other foot unconsciously fidgets. Blinking hard, she straightens up her back and opens her eyes, noticing Bach in the doorway. Wrestling down a reflexive awkward grimace, Bach weakly waves. "Oh... Hey... Uh, sorry. I didn't want to interrupt anything."

Sotalia perks her brow with a smile and points the crystal at Bach, punctuating her thoughts. "Actually... Perfect timing. YOU might be able to answer this one for me."

Rolling the red crystal in her hands idly, she secures it between a finger and thumb and shows it to Bach. "If you were a seven year old boy, would you be interested in a magical artifact that charges by sunlight and produces an illusion of a flame with light and warmth when tapped?"

Easing fully into the doorway, Bach braces a hand on the frame and ponders the inquiry between furrowing his brow. Lifting an eyebrow, he quizzes back. "Okay... Can it light stuff on fire?"

Sotalia shakes her head slightly and keeps her curious gaze upon Bach. "No. Just light and safe to touch warmth."

With a shrug, Bach crosses his arms, leans his shoulder against the door frame, and hums in thought. "I mean... Sounds neat. BUT, I remember being a bit more into the more dangerous sounding things when I was that age."

Sotalia nods satisfied and carefully deposits the crystal into another box nearby. "That's what I was thinking. Well, to Dellena that one goes. I think I got something for Kalant..."

Her golden eyes flick over to a labeled cardboard box, and she grimaces briefly. "BUT, I need to make sure Sontaila has enough small things to keep her distracted from anything I give Kalant."

Sotalia wanders off in a dialog of thought to herself. In the lull of conversation, Bach studies the space and walks into Sotalia's room, closer to her bed. "Just curious. Um. But, what are you doing, exactly?"

Seconds pass before Sotalia registers Bach's question. She blinks away from an internal debate and breaks free from the task with a shake of her head. "Oh. Yes! I'm figuring out what to gift my nieces and nephews from everything I've found and bought."

Bach glances down with a questioning quirk to his brow. Peeking inside the boxes with names written upon them, he furrows a suspicious stare at Sotalia. "So... You are gifting your nieces and nephews possibly potent magical artifacts?"

Sotalia narrows her gaze and distinctively flits eyebrows up in return. "Oh, yes. I believe I'm not unique in the practice..."

A sly grin grows upon her light tan and dark gray face. "As SOMEONE has demonstrated recently."

Releasing a long sigh, Bach buries his face in his hand and groans, mixing acceptance of fact and defeat from counterpoint. Sotalia chuckles to herself and reaches an arm down deep into a thin rectangular frame next to her. "Don't worry. Anything I gift to my little ones I screen personally. I keep a whole stock of detection strips, meter vials, and the usual kits for figuring out what magic might be bound to these things."

Recovering his face from his hand, he glances around Sotalia's room with interest and stops his gaze upon a few square and rectangular containers in the corner. "Huh. I see. How many of those isolation containers do you have?"

Sotalia retrieves a small scroll out from the space frame and slides her glance to the containers. Tapping a finger upon her lip, she sorts out the accounting. "Aristespha and I originally got a dozen of a few different sizes. Two of them have worn out and their isolation enchantments barely work anymore. One was rendered useless when a dangerous artifact we found in a ruin exploded and sprung every safety on it. So..."

Rocking her head side to side, she wanders her gaze between the transparent vessels. "We have nine working ones, hopefully."

She squints her eyes, leans forward across her bed, and cocks her head to the side. "Is that indicator strip blue?"

Bach steps close to the glass box in question. Kneeling down, he scrutinizes the bluish strip inside next to a small metal cylinder with a bright orange cap upon its end. "Pretty much. Huh. What type of indicator strip is this?"

Lifting herself back, Sotalia plays with the small scroll in her hands and ponders the development. "It's a standard two alpha magical type indicator strip. I'm not surprised it changed, since I remember feeling something strong in it when I picked it up at the dealer room."

Bach stands back up, scratching the back of his head. He shrugs, shaking his head in confusion, and glances back. "Okay. So, what magic would be on a paint pen?"

A nonchalant smile appears on Sotalia, and she draws in a breath in, twirling the scroll over each finger of a hand. "Well... That's what I hope to find out. People have put far more powerful magics on stranger things..."

Bach keeps his face away from Sotalia. Rolling her golden eyes with a smile, Sotalia bites her lip. "Speaking of which..."

Lowering his eyelids half mast, Bach grimaces unamused. A smirk creeps out on Sotalia's face, and she tosses back her dark red hair. "I bought some lovely decorative wooden wands that would be perfect for enchanting into practice focuses."

Bach continues to face away from Sotalia, slowly breathes in, and slowly exhales. Sotalia grins with an evil tinge. "Such application of magic would certainly be a great exercise that would most assuredly count for today's magical training session with me."

Wrestling down a few twists of the mouth, Bach pivots around and smirks in acceptance. "Okay. You got a deal. How many?"

Sotalia angles her head away, brushes some of her hair over a black, swept back horn, and casually plays off her request. "Nine."

A few hard blinks later, Bach shudders his head side to side and aims a scrutinizing stare at Sotalia. "Nine?! How many nieces and nephews do you have?"

Still avoiding direct eye contact, Sotalia counts out. "Three nieces, two nephews, and one nephew on the way."

Bach turns his hands up towards him, counts down from nine, and flexes three remaining fingers on a hand, exaggerating his stare to Sotalia. "And?"

Sotalia sighs and sways her head around against a spark of guilt. "Well. My two sisters, too."

Two fingers curl down to the palm. Bach prominently holds up the remaining index finger. He glances between the finger and Sotalia. Under the incredulous stare from Bach, Sotalia crosses her arms and curls an eyebrow, pouting. "Well! One for me. I'm not missing out."

----

At the dining table in the living space, Aristespha presses the play icon on her tablet screen and watches another video highlighting the creation of Mylo's wand. Smiling gently, she watches the reaction of the child and his mother, Lalyanpha. She tilts the tablet up from the papers, notes, and research materials coating the tabletop. Sotalia steps out from the hallway archway with a small scroll in hand, Bach following behind. She steps next to Aristespha and peeks over her shoulder, catching the video on the tablet. "Aww. He is such a sweet little boy."

Bach leans his head around, spots a glimpse of the video, and immediately changes course for the couch. "Great... Yet another video has surfaced."

Adjusting a few pillow underneath her claim of the couch, Cideeda snorts and flashes an amused, toothy grin. With a flick of her long, fluffy tail, she lifts her arm lazily up from the side and lowers the volume on the television with the remote. "OH. THAT's nothing. You should SEE the comments on a video posted of you two and Tassilda. I've seen some aethernet forum fights..."

From her lounging spot, she waves out her hands in the air with an eager glint in her emerald green eyes. "But... These? These are AMAZING."

Stretching out her foot from her half of the couch, she cautiously pokes the side of Dretphi's leg with a gentle toe claw tip. "And... There's rumors SOMEONE might make it into the next episode of you-know-what..."

A low grumble rolls out from Dretphi, and she squirms for comfort on her half of the couch, hints of embarrassment sneaking out. Attempting to maintain her stare forward towards the television, she tries to ignore the focus upon her. Eventually, she sighs with a nearly sneering curl to her upper lip. "I apologize. Did not think about the recording equipment at that time."

Sotalia snickers with a grin and glances at Dretphi. "Girl, what's there to apologize for? He asked for everything he got saying THAT to you. I just hope they got a good shot of you throwing him onto the mat, so I can see it."

Dretphi briefly meets Sotalia's gaze, and a smile gradually cracks. She returns her stare to the television. "I am certain the recording equipment functioned properly at his defeat."

Aristespha rests the tablet down upon the table and turns her chair, sliding out towards the rest of the group. Drawing in a long breath, she sighs into a serious gaze over the group. "As the one that files the paperwork for the group, I would like to remind everyone that such activities can alter perceptions of the group and could affect how mission bids are or are NOT accepted."

A sly grin emerges on Aristespha ivory face, and she perks an eyebrow, tossing back her silvery blue hair. "But... Certain sacrifices need to be made from time to time for all the right, unofficial, reasons."

Smug satisfaction wafts over the living room. Second later, Aristespha's violet eyes home in on the small scroll in Sotalia's hand. "What is that? That script on the outside seems to be... an old high Evuukian dialect?"

Sotalia lifts the small scroll up in her hand and presents it to Aristespha. "Oh. It's that decorative star chart I found a few months back. My little sister, Talelia, mentioned that Kalant is getting interested in astronomy. So, I thought he might like this."

Placing the small scroll into Aristespha's awaiting hands, she crosses her arms and grumbles. "But, gods, I can't remember what calendar it uses when you write in a date to look up. Thought you might be able to figure it out quicker."

Aristespha nods, carefully unrolls the scroll, and examines the changing chart and scripts. After a minute of reading, she reflexively groans in disgust. Momentarily sticking her tongue out, she rolls her eyes at the realization. "Bleah. I remember. I am NOT going to honor that man by saying his name. It's practically the ancient Gregorian calendar."

She wrestles down a grimace and sighs. "But, the year and day offset is based on that bastard's birth date."

With care, Aristespha rolls the scroll back up and places it on the table. "Before you gift it, let us see if we can adjust it to the proper Nexus calendar."

Sotalia snorts with a humored curl in the corner of her mouth. "I still can't believe how many Evuukian high nobles tried to push their own calendars after the monarchy was dissolved."

Rubbing the temple of her head, Aristespha groans dismissively and stalely winces. "None of them were above a vanity project, especially... THAT one."

Bach quirks his brow and gazes over to Aristespha, sarcasm heavy in his voice. "Huh. Certainly sounds like a revered historical figure you got there."

Shuddering up to her head, Aristespha draws in a long breath and exhales out tinges of irritation. "Unfortunately, revered by too many evuukians in positions of power... Even today. That man is responsible for popularizing so many terrible aspects of Evuukian culture..."

She tilts her head over and glances sadly at the paused video of Mylo and Lalyanpha. "And making life hard for those that do not follow those aspects."

Bach nods and gazes towards Aristespha with a cautious curiosity. "I've always heard intermarriage with other races is really taboo with some Evuukians."

Aristespha nods slowly and tugs at the corner of her mouth with distant dissatisfaction. "Taboo is a nice way of putting it. Most are disowned by their own families, and many are forced to change their names legally to strip both house and family names from them."

Crossing her arms, she leans back in her chair and chuckles dryly with a dismissive crack of a grin. "It's just considered the proper procedure in proper Evuukian society for anything that could tarnish a family or house. Gods, to think I was that deluded when I was young."

Sotalia pulls a tight smile and momentarily averts her eyes off from anyone, hinting past reflections. "Well. You know better now. That's all that matters."

Scratching his chin, Bach sits down in his lounge chair next to the couch, eyes Aristespha inquisitively, and ponders out loud. "If I'm not digging too much... Umm... What changed your mind?"

Aristespha smiles with a snort and gazes at Bach. "College, of course!"

She places her hand on the side of her face, and her violet eyes search up in her mind. "Specifically, one project comes to mind. I will never forget. It was the start of my second year, and it was a selected topics course in humanoid genetics and history. Oh, that first major project that sneaky professor gave."

Her hands reach out to gesture and demonstrate vague columns and rows of information. "He gave us a sample set of summarized genomes. We had information about the gender and race of each genome in the set. He wanted us to write up a simple ruleset to help categorize another set of genomes by race, that would be at least better than random chance."

Shaking her head Aristespha sighs, and rolls her eyes. She props her head up with her hand. "I was SO certain I had it figured out. Even tried to optimize it to use fewer rules for identification. I turned it in."

Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia crack amused grins. Aristespha dramatically drops her head forward and covers her face with her hands. Bach grits with an awkward smirk. "Not good, I guess?"

Aristespha lifts her head up, gazes up at the ceiling with her hands up, and deflates. "Significantly worse than RANDOM chance upon the greater data set. I was SO furious."

She hisses in a breath through gritted teeth. "I wrote the nastiest aethermail I have ever written to any person. And, I used my entire spring break to research and show him wrong."

Sitting in silent remembrance for a number of seconds, she pulls in air to speak again. "Sunday before the break, I started my research. Wednesday night, I couldn't process any more information. Thursday, I laid in my bed all day and comprehended how much an arrogant bitch I had been. Then, I spent the rest of the break trying to figure out how to make up for the worst aethermail I have ever written to any person."

Aristespha chuckles and smiles at Bach. "Monday after the break, I tried my best to apologize to him, and he just laughed wanting to know what changed my mind. We had an amazing time discussing all the details of what I found."

Bach nods and shrugs nonchalantly, returning the smile. "I didn't take that many biology courses, personally. But, between talking to Kaleb and Shadeesa, it never seemed like there was that much difference between the races."

Aristespha slyly grins and sits up in her chair. "Oh! There is NONE. Biologically, we are all just post-cataclysm humans. No other species have formed."

Guiding out a bundle of her silvery blue hair over her long pointed ears with one hand, she gestures towards her eyes and facial coloration with the other. "The common characteristics that most attribute to defining a race are just a collection of Pre-Cataclysm genetic modifications that have been passed on in physically, socially, or politically isolated groups for hundreds of years. And, the most fascinating part is that the modifications aren't unique to ANY race."

She eyes Bach, focuses upon the white streak in his hair, and points. "For example, that white streak. You have it. Sebastian has it. And from the pictures Sebastian has shown us, your mother has it, too."

A realization lands solidly in Bach's mind, and he blinks a few times, cocking his head to the side. "Come to think of it... My grandfather has it and my great grandmother had it. And, there's a few cousins on my mom's side that have it."

He furrows his brow and sorts through the dawning revelation. "All in the... Same... spot."

Crossing his arms in thought, he wanders his eyes around his mind, pulling down the white streak in question into his sight. Sotalia grins with a chuckle to herself and walks towards the kitchen. "Oh, that's nothing. You should have been here the first time she ranted about all of this to us."

Fighting a wave of embarrassment, Aristespha twists her mouth and stiffens her posture. "Well, I was a drink too far that night and made the mistake of watching political news. I've learned to never let the two mix again with anyone else nearby."

Cideeda flexes out her hand in front of her and examines the claw tips on each finger contentedly. "Still pretty amazing how it's the same modification that gives Fvalians claws and Emin their nails."

Dretphi raises her arm up and rotates her forearm to show Bach the gray stripes on her skin. "Never thought my skin would be similar to both Emin, Evuukian."

Sotalia withdraws her head from inside the refrigerator, takes a moment to pose her head to showcase the side, and traces the edge of her pointed ears with a finger. "Same old modification on both Emin and Evuukian."

Bach shifts his attention between the different examples with interest. Eventually, he settles down in his chair and shakes his head. "Huh. So, all the same mechanisms with just different settings?"

Aristespha slowly nods in confirmation. "Exactly. Often, modifications are present but have very mundane parameters. So, you will never know they exist normally. There's so much to be researched when it comes to how iterative generations, mutations, and magical influences have affected the modifications."

She shifts some papers on the table nearby to the other of the table and positions the small scroll in the middle of the bare tabletop. "I was VERY interested in that field, but standard and magical medicine captured my heart more. Though, I still read up on the latest developments."

Sebastian drifts through the sliding glass door and adjusts his altitude to coast clear of the television screen. "Well, nothing to report on the neighbors. Looks like they either are busy or not currently trying to spy on us."

Landing next to the dining table on his feet, he glances around to everyone else curiously. "So... Did I miss something?"

Bach directs Sebastian's attention to his white streak and with an amused smirk. "Talking about ancient genetic modifications we inherited."

Sebastian lights up with interest and grins, the thought welling up in his mind. "Oh yeah, bro. It's actually pretty neat stuff they're figuring out."

He smiles lovingly at Aristespha. "What was the name of that paper you got a while back, dear?"

Aristespha carefully unrolls the small scroll out on the table top, pauses a moment, and glances towards Sebastian. "I think it was called New Methods in Detecting the Propagation of Pre-Cataclysm Genetic Modifications, Sebastian."

Sebastian's ghostly form floats up, leans over the table, and peeks at the small scroll. "They talked about how most people have at least one modification somewhere in their DNA, and it reminded me of that lab partner I had for that forensics elective I took."

Moments later, Bach stops sifting through memories and gazes at Sebastian, quirking his brow. "The one with green hair?"

Nodding, Sebastian briefly grits his teeth with an ethereal sigh of defeat. "Yeah. We had a lab using microscopes to analyze hair. I jokingly suggested something about making a bet on what her natural hair was... She warned me that it was green. But, I decided to call her bluff with dinner at a nice restaurant as the wager..."

Sebastian contorts his mouth a few ways, his pride shrinking a bit. He shrugs with his arms in the air. "So. Well. After paying for a very expensive dinner-"

Bach grumbles to himself in the middle of Sebastian's sentence. "And eating all your brother's frozen dinners for a month..."

Furrowing his brow, Sebastian ignores his brother's addition. "I learned there are just some things you take someone's word for. Proved to be a lot cheaper for me when I followed that rule."

----

Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia sit around the end of the dining room table watching the pictures and text upon the small scroll shift and change erratically. Aristespha's glowing violet eyes dim to normal, and she removes her hands away from thick fabric. In moments, the visuals settle down to stable and consistent imagery and script. Sotalia smiles and checks her aetherphone, comparing a picture of the night sky to the diagram upon the scroll. "Looks like a match to me. Well, at least what it should look like tonight."

Bach blinks away the glow from his blue eyes and rests back in his chair at the table. "I would NOT be surprised if they had a huge stock of these and just hacked in that date adjustment."

Closing her eyes briefly, she shakes her head and dismissively rolls her eyes. "I am certain someone tried to make a quick profit by selling these as promotional materials. Thankfully, it was simple enough to undo."

Sotalia rolls the woven material back up and happily holds the scroll in her hands. "Thank you, so much. I hope Kalant likes it."

Aristespha opens her mouth to speak and halts. She glances down at her side towards a chime emanating from her pants pocket. Reaching into her pocket, she retrieves her aetherphone and furrows her surprised brow reading the screen. "It's Nash! And... He's making the call?"

She quickly taps a few on-screen buttons, rests the phone down upon the tabletop, and directs her voice. "Hello, Nash. I have you on speakerphone."

Nash's voice sounds out along with a repetitious background squeak of a rolling chair, wariness hints into Nash's tone. "Good. So... I'd like to make sure everyone can hear this. I've got... News.

Sebastian hovers closer to Aristespha. Cideeda's ears perk up, and she sits up on her part of the couch. Dretphi reaches over to the coffee table, presses the mute button on the television remote, and twists her upper body towards the dining table. After a long exhale echoes out in the distant room and the phone's speaker, Nash resumes. "We've started to figure out the system based on the data you gave us. We haven't figured out what the extra data is all about, but I've been able to map the coordinates to locations using a current standard coordinate system. But..."

The idle chair squeaks stop, light taps slip into the call, and shoes plant themselves upon a tile floor. Nash sighs and groans. "Oh, fuck it... I'll drop it now. I asked myself one of those questions."

He grumbles under his breath and pauses for a breath. "I asked myself, how the hell does anyone know a login to a system this old. Answer? They don't. They crack it."

Aristespha leans closer to the phone, concern growing on her face. "Nash? Are you okay?"

Nash coughs, collects himself, and brightens up the tone in his voice. "Me, personally? Oh. I'm fine. Really... It's just I'm about to tell you all some details that just make room for harder questions."

Tension squelches another uncomfortable grumble, and Nash clears his throat into a sigh. "But... Long story short, someone cracked this system with Grand Library software... Five years ago."

Surprise and confusion spreads through the group. Everyone exchanges reactions, returning full focus upon Nash's voice from the phone. Nash continues the explanation. "Judging from the Oh Shit gasps and silence I heard, you are just as surprised as I was. But wait! It gets WEIRDER. The software used was ten years old. AND... It's not the stolen hacking edition that most of your black market tomb raiders often use. This was the official, tagged, archaeological edition."

Bach squints and grimaces, resting his chin down upon the palm of his hand. "Um. So, what's the difference between the two editions?"

A rolling tap of fingers upon a desk resonates through the speaker of the phone, and Nash thoughtfully breaths in. "Well... The hacking edition is designed to get the job done no matter what. While the archaeological edition is designed to carefully open systems up, preserve the integrity of the target, and leave notes about anything changed for other researchers. It's the difference between drunkenly chainsawing a door open while raging about your ex, versus using precision tools to calculate and create a proper key to unlock the door."

With an understanding nod, Bach acknowledges the statement, and furrows his perplexed brow at the analogy. "That is strange. Why would someone use that software to perform that task? And, huh..."

Nash's voice mirrors the confusion rising in Bach's tone. "No, exactly! The only thing I can think of is that it was the only thing whoever had at the time. Which makes this next detail a bit frightening to think about. That recent login you all suspect that Noxian used to acquire that data set... Was the same login created by that software five years ago."

Aristespha's ivory skin pales further and shock widens her violet eyes. She covers the mouth over her dropping jaw. Sebastian blinks in sheer bewilderment. He shifts his focus to Aristespha and attempts to get her attention, checking on her. An awkward, tense silence looms above the room, and minds process out new possibilities. Nash's voice rises up from the background noise on the other side of the call. "Now! I don't know any more than that! So, PLEASE don't make any assumptions yet!"

Flit of frustration slips out, and he groans. "I want to make sure I get ALL the information first. Especially, before I have to report this to the Grand Library's Powers-That-Be."

After a few waves of Sebastian's ethereal hand, Aristespha shudders back to awareness and draws a careful breath with a nod to Sebastian. "I'll send you anything you need. This is certainly a... Twist."

Chuckling to himself, Nash humors against the stagnant stress. "Oh, yes! This is WAY too much serious business for me. I'm just supposed to babysit graduate students and play tablet games during budget meetings. But... I'll do my best. Well, I really got back to this, but I wanted to pass this info along to you all. I'll send you the mapped out coordinates we've gotten so far."

Aristespha smiles and speaks in a soft, comforting tone to her phone. "Are you going to be okay, Nash?"

A laugh sounds out from the phone, and Nash snorts. "YEAH. Don't worry. It's nothing a refresher course in all the ways I misspent my youth won't fix. You all take care. Really."

Before pressing the hang up button on the screen, Aristespha calmly speaks with warmth. "We will. You do so, too."

The prior awkward silence rises up and hangs above the team. A message notification rings out from the aetherphone. A tablet on the table buzzes moments later. Aristespha checks her phone and reaches out to the tablet. Tapping through screens to an aethermail open on the screen, she sighs to an uncomfortable grimace. "Well. Here is the coordinate list. It seems like he has figured out what timestamp format they were using and sorted by most recent activity. He has put notes on a few entries about anything located near the coordinates."

Aristespha reads out coordinate numbers from the list along with Nash's notes. After a dozen readings, her voice drifts with the monotony of the task, distracting her focus. Mentioning a series of numbers, Cideeda's ears perk up, and her eyes flash open wide, surprise tensing her posture rigidly. "WAIT! What was that one, again?!"

Aristespha glances curiously to Cideeda and carefully recounts the coordinates. Cideeda leaps up from the couch and searches the area in a driven hunt. " Where's THE map?! That sounds familiar for some reason!"

Dretphi thinks to herself briefly, pulls herself to her feet, and holds a finger up with a bite of a lip. She rushes through the hallway archway to the office. The sounds of rummaging and shifting items echo out into the living room. Dretphi steps back into the room with a large folded map in her hands. She spreads the map out onto the tabletop with Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia securing it down. Cideeda slips into a space between chairs, leans over, scans over the entire map. A clawed finger hovers above the longitude axis at the top of the map, and carefully moves down square divisions of latitude. Her claw point glides along, searching. It slows over a familiar, prior made indentation on the material. Resting her point down, Cideeda's claw tip fits onto the spot perfectly. With a toothy, proud grin, she taps the spot and gazes over the team with an air of victory. Sotalia blinks in surprise, dropping her jaw slightly, and rests her hands on her hips with a conceding nod. "Well. I'll be damned. You were right, girl."

Aristespha compares the location and the notes on her tablet. "That is a match... But..."

She squints between the listing on screen and the thick paper of the map. "That location's timestamp is ten years old."

Tilting her head to the side, Aristespha entertains a spark of intrigue and furrows her brow with the fury of thought. Sebastian ethereal form nods with determination and a growing grin and stands up confidently. "I think we found our next place to visit! It might be an old timestamp, but Noxian has been reported to have been spotted around there in the past. And now, the place he visited recently points it out, too."

Sebastian assumes a more heroic posture and smiles at the group. "That's enough to be worth the trip to me. Any objections?"

No objections present themselves over the idle pondering and figuring of the group over the new information. Dretphi enters data into her phone, squints at a sketched out route, and turns the screen towards the group. "Travel will be two days. Location is remote. Need to prepare to establish a camp. Recommend two weeks of supplies."

Cideeda nods in agreement, studying the map closely. "Yeah, that sounds good. If we're there for a week, we'll probably need to come back anyway."

Aristespha sits back in her chair, stretches her arms out with her back, and focuses upon her tablet. "I will inform all the usual people. I will also let the guild and Grand Library watchdogs know."

Bach quirks his brow and seeks further explanation. "Huh, sorry, but guild and Grand Library watchdogs?"

Sebastian gazes to Bach and motions with his hand. "Oh. Yeah, they're groups you let know when you are going on risky trips and quests. That way if you don't check in or respond to calls after a certain time, they know to send people after you."

Pondering a moment, Bach directs an inquisitive stare at Sebastian. "So... Have you ever needed them?"

Collective stale annoyance floats up to the surface from the rest of the group, and Sebastian sighs with a tangible dip in pride. "YES. ONCE."

Narrowing her emerald green eyes, Cideeda shakes her head with a growl and flicks down her furry ears. "Let's put it this way. There's a REALLY good reason there's a lock on the humvee's fuel door and mesh screen collar inserts in the fueling tubes."

Sotalia crosses her arms tightly and sneers her upper lip. "GODS! Fuck that hick town of thieving shits. I still think most courts would have seen fireballing that place as justified."

----

A television flickers out the bright and colorful graphics of a video game on the screen in a modestly decorated living room. Many toys litter the area with a few partially wedged between couch cushions and piled on top of other things on a nearby bookshelf. Sitting next to Mason, Mylo rocks a game controller in his hands with the action on screen. He frantically presses buttons on the controller. Frustrations slip out in grumbles and growls. Flopping back into a blanket covered couch, he frowns at the television playing a loud jingle for the game character's demise. "Not fair!"

Mylo sits back up, gazes pleadingly at Mason, and pushes the game controller into his hands. "Can you get past this part, daddy?"

Smiling at his son, Mason grips the controller and shakes his head with a laugh. "Okay. But, you really need to do these parts yourself. I can't just do all the hard ones for you."

With a quick nod, Mylo snaps his attention back to the television screen. " I know. I'll do the next hard one. Promise."

Mason smirks knowingly, chuckles, and narrows his brown eyes to the task before him. "Sure. Okay. Now, watch carefully. I'll show you the boss's pattern."

With a warm smile, Lalyanpha watches Mylo and Mason together on the couch. Turning back from the archway into the small, simple kitchen, she adjusts a few dials on the oven. She lifts a lid on a pot and inspects the food cooking inside. Opening a cabinet, she reveals a number of mixed style and theme ceramic dishes inside. She retrieves three plates from a stack inside the cabinet to the countertop, opens a drawer below the counter top, and hovers a hand over the utensils. A ring tone sounds out from her apron pocket, freezing her rigidly with the unique and familiar chime. Carefully, she slowly draws out the aetherphone, raises it up to her eye level, and stares at the caller's ID in Evuukian. Closing her eyes, Lalyanpha strains a breath in and releases to slow exhale. She opens her dark yellow eyes and musters a stoic expression upon her face. Tapping the answer button on the screen, she places the phone against her long pointed ear and responds in a monotone proper high evuukian greeting.

An older male voice replies back in an equally stoic, monotone cadence. Both sides of the conversation continue dryly, stilted at each awkward pause. The strain of the exchange wears upon Lalyanpha, chiseling away the edges of her strong facade. Summoning her resolve, she steels herself. The older male voice wavers and staggers. In the moment, Lalyanpha puzzles and clicks the volume up on the phone, furrowing her brow and concentrating on the other voice. Stammers hinder the other voice. Eventually, through the wavering tone, the question arrives to Lalyanpha's ear. Her posture relaxes faintly, her eyes search her mind for the reason, and she answers back in the confusion. "Mylokia."

The silence lingers for seconds. Sniffles lead to sobs. Almost audible tears echo from the phone's speaker. Lalyanpha dark yellow eyes spring wide open, and absolute shock and concern flood her face. Covering her mouth, she desperately searches herself for how to react. She speaks with a shaky, worried tone to the other voice with questioning and confused phrases. After a series of sniffs, the older male voice collects himself and calms himself enough to relay a long careful sentence. He pauses thoughtfully and speaks key, purposeful words. Lalyanpha gasps softly and clasps her mouth with her hand. Firmly closing her eyes, tears gush out down her cheeks. The voice on the other end of the call wanders off in audible, uncertain thought, regret rising through the lost pacing. Lalyanpha removes her hand from her face and reveals a tear covered smile of absolute elation. Her voice fights through sniffles and stammers, and a warm, cheerful statement leaves her. The conversation continues with moments of emotion that keep a smile on Lalyanpha and a happy tone from the other side of the call.

On the living room television, a final power shot and trick slide from the player character drops the boss down in defeat. The level completion screen flies up and a blitz of numbers spin up with elaborate animations. Mylo cheers out and happily rocks on the couch. "That was amazing!"

Chuckling, Mason ruffles the dirty blonde hair on Mylo's head. "Many years of practice, son."

The sounds and music quiet down for the level transition. Hearing a series of familiar sniffs and sighs, Mason glances towards the archway leading to the kitchen and concern tints his expression. He returns the controller to Mylo. Patting him on the head, he smiles and gets up off the couch. "Give the next level a shot. I'll go check to see how far along mom is with dinner, okay?"

Mylo nods quickly, faces the television, and presses buttons on the controller. Mason carefully walks at a normal pace across the living room and passes through an archway. With an immediate pivot towards Lalyanpha, he quickly and carefully approaches. Standing holding her phone to her chest, Lalyanpha stares idly, her head slightly down, and sighs. Mason gently wraps his arms around her and guides her close. "Is everything okay, Laly?"

Lalyanpha breathes out and rests her head against Mason's shoulder. "My father called."

Mason grimaces, nearly frowning, and tries to comfort Lalyanpha. "I'm so sorry-"

A renewed smile appears on her, and Lalyanpha places a hand onto Mason's face. "He- Someone sent him one of the videos of Mylo and me at the convention."

Her eyes search her mind, and she gazes at Mason. "He asked to know his name. He heard the name..."

Darting around her memory, she furrows her brow. "He cried... I've never heard him cry."

Gazing up lovingly to Mason, new tears wait in her eyes, and she wraps her arms around him. "He said... He wants to come meet his grandson. He wants to meet... His daughter's-"

Lalyanpha pauses. Closing her eyes to squeeze out new lines of tears, she concludes the sentence with delight hidden beneath old pain. "...son."

Mason gazes upon Lalyanpha, manages to fold up a clean section of his shirt off his chest, and dries off the tears on her. The two enjoy quiet moments in each other's arms and share a quick kiss. Mason gently sways Lalyanpha around in his arms with her shifting her weight in sync. Eventually, the two let each other go. Lalyanpha moves to inspect dinner, and Mason examines the area. Scratching his head with a tinge of nervous energy, he chuckles. "Well... Any time frame for when he's going to visit? We don't exactly have the biggest place. But, we can manage something... I'm sure."

Shaking her head with a smirk, she opens the oven door. "Nothing yet. We both agreed to talk about it later after we've both emotionally rested. He also has to talk to mother. But, she'll be EASY to convince."

Mason exhales in relief and studies the vicinity. "Good. Good... I just want to make sure the place is presentable-"

With over mitts on her hands, Lalyanpha stands, gripping a covered pan, and lifts an amused eyebrow at Mason. "We live in a house with a four year old. THIS is as presentable as this place is going to get for them."

The groan of an annoyed child radiates into the kitchen. Mason turns with a point towards the archway. "Speaking of which, I better go help him out, again."

A warm smile meets Mason's glance back. With a wink, Lalyanpha rests the pan down upon the counter. "Keep him occupied for ten more minutes, and we should be good for dinner."

Mason nods, gives a thumbs up, and steps through the archway into the living room. "What's wrong Mylo? Another hard part?"

-23-

The humvee rolls along the roughly paved surface of the four lane highway. Thick forests border the cleared, grassy shoulders of the roadway. The many bumps and dips in the roadway rattle the humvee's suspension, regularly rocking the chassis after each shudder. The front wheels turn and lead the old military vehicle out of the way of obvious minor hazards within the extra wide lanes. The road noise suddenly shifts from a constant drone to a gritty rumble, and the humvee rolls from the rough asphalt onto packed gravel. Harsher rises and pits jar the suspension system, and the vehicle slows, large all-terrain tires following into the worn, hard dirt valleys between dusty rocks mounds. Lifting his head up from his seat's headrest with the sway of the cab, Bach blinks into a yawn and glances out the window, peeking downwards. "Well... So, I guess we hit the Greater Azure Alliance road maintenance limit?"

With her eyes continuously scanning the road ahead, Cideeda gently pulls the steering wheel and leads the humvee towards a calmer path in the road. "Yes. I'm guessing in a few hours, I'll be lucky to keep it at sixty kilometers per hour. Don't think this road is a high priority for anyone."

A sigh escapes Aristespha, and she smiles tight lipped. "It is unfortunate, really. These routes used to be maintained so well when the Greater Azure Alliance and United Appaland States had a comprehensive trade treaty."

Stirring from her back seat, Dretphi opens her eyes, and gazes towards the front of the vehicle. "Thought about a route through Hattan. Good roads. Did not save time. This route is faster."

Harsh bumps shake the vehicle, swaying everyone around inside with the upwards and downwards shift. Dretphi reflexively grabs onto the bottom of the back bench seat, securing her position, and groans to herself. "Despite unfortunate travel conditions."

Snarling her upper lip, Cideeda grits her teeth and stares at the road ahead. Fighting her brief frustrations with a wince of her eye, she apologetically calls back. "Sorry about that one. Looks like the storms did a real number on this section. Hope that was the worst of it."

Sotalia glances up from her phone and squints her golden eyes at the road ahead. Resting her gaze back down on the device in her hands, she ponders out loud. "It's still in pretty good shape. I wonder if this is an old road the Train reworked at some point."

Darting her emerald green eyes around, Cideeda examines different aspects of the road design nearby. "Oh, it definitely is. Extra wide lanes. Huge shoulders. And, the actually useful designation markers. They probably used to run some of their triple length haulers down this route... At some point in the past."

Bach sinks back into his seat, a thought pulling at the corner of his mouth. "So... Don't know if there's any truth to this... But, I remember hearing a few rumors that the Train has been working on a new route through the Berland river valley."

Furrowing his brow, Bach bounces his blue eyes to the sides of his mind. "Well, at least that's what the drunks at the bar kept rambling about."

Faintly perking a very long, pointed ear, Aristespha eyes Bach curiously and focuses her intrigue upon him. "Beckerin mentioned similar... Did these drunks wear Train uniforms?"

Tilting his head with a memory, Bach glances over to Aristespha and smirks into an acknowledging nod. "They DID actually. As much of a dump as Tullachester is... It does attract all the Train workers from the Hunt Train depot as a stop along their runs."

He twists his mouth and grumbles under his breath. "Plus, the local bars were about the ONLY attraction to THAT place."

Sebastian's ethereal voice resonates from the sword secured next to Aristespha's seat. "Noticed a few of those less than a block from that shack you were in."

Bach shakes his head with an eye roll and sighs. "Yeah... I stayed away from those places. Too many brawls on my front lawn at three in the morning to make me ever want to actually go into any of them. I mean, if all that spilled over into my yard, I don't even want to know what was going on inside."

A small smile sneaks out onto Bach's light tan face, and he relaxes his gaze up to the ceiling of the humvee's cab. "I usually went to an adventuring themed tavern a kilometer down the way. Nice atmosphere."

He snorts to chuckle and shakes his head. "And, I traded magical tricks and trinkets for free food and drinks."

The pair of swept back, black horns poking through dark red hair in the seat in front of Bach stir. They rotate around, and a head rises up from behind the headrest, revealing a pair of interested golden eyes. Sotalia grins slyly, spins the rest of her body around in the seat, and gazes at Bach. "Really? What kind of magical tricks and... trinkets?"

Flashes of embarrassment trigger a few winces upon Bach's face, and he squirms uncomfortably. "Oh. Uh, um, just simple little bar games and... Other... Stuff. They weren't anything too great, really. Just what I could scribe on these little novelty scrolls the owner bought in bulk."

Sotalia's gaze narrows, eagerness tinging her intrigue. She wraps her arms around the headrest, places her chin down, and concentrates her stare at Bach. "I see. Give us an example."

Lifting his head forward briefly, Bach attempts to nonchalantly dismiss the attention of Sotalia, glancing over to another part of the humvee cab. "Uh, nothing great really. I mean, the old owner retired. Sold the place to his son. Then, he made it into a sports bar. Not really worth talking about."

His wandering stare drifts to another spot. He catches a glimpse of Aristespha with a wicked smile, pausing in the confusion. Aristespha edges close to a grin and narrows her violet eyes upon Bach. "I am actually curious myself. What feats of magic keep someone fed and grant them free drinks? This certainly sounds like useful information that might be good to know."

Bach surveys the rest of the cab. Dretphi angles her head slightly from her lounge on the back seat and perks an anticipating brow. Flicking a furry ear back, Cideeda glances up to the rear view mirror and graces the reflection back to Bach with a toothy grin. Sebastian speaks from the sword with a slight reverb in his amused tone. "Well, bro... We got a few more hours of travel today. Plenty of time for you to entertain us all about your magical tavern exploits. I'm sure we'd all like to hear it."

The peer pressure compresses Bach into his chair, and he awkwardly grits his teeth into a reluctant, strain grin. Silence looms over and eyes watch from around in the cab. Releasing a long sigh, he palms his face and groans. "Ah, shit..."

----

A gust of wind blows bits of debris and flecks of dust across an almost empty parking lot surrounding a single large wooden building. The wooden, rustic theme of the structure blends in with the remote location and surrounding dense forest, despite the more modern underpinnings beneath the surface. A fan inside an air conditioner unit spins up and rattles the system to life. Next to the packed gravel road at the edge of the lot, the internal light intermittently blinks inside of an old sign reading "Cookes Inn and Tavern". The flickering light casts far out upon the lot and mixes with the warm evening twilight, eventually fading into the plentiful ambient light.

Two headlights crest the top of a distant hill and beam down the declining roadway. Minutes later, the humvee's front tires turn and lead the vehicle into the parking lot, the left blinker going off. A slight squeak escapes the brakes, and the ancient military machine slows to a stop within a marked parking space next to the building. From the powerplant under the hood, the turbine spins down and the faint, high pitched whine drifts off to silence. The headlights switch off and doors open up. Cideeda, Sotalia, Aristespha, and Bach disembark, and eventually Dretphi exits behind Bach's slid up seat. Sliding his seat back into place, Bach pushes the door close and scans the huge lot. "Huh. Doesn't look too bad. But, it's a bit... Um... Vacant?"

Sotalia places a hand on her hip, sways to a side, and tosses back a few stray dark red hairs over a horn. "Well, that's pretty normal for these places on the outskirts. Dead for days. Then, everyone shows up."

Walking with a long stretch to each step, Cideeda slowly pulls her arms around to the limits of motion and relaxes her body with an exhale. "Don't let the empty lot fool you. These places make a good bit of money. When you are the only place with beds and bathrooms for kilometers, you can name your price and people WILL pay it."

Nodding his understanding, Bach squints towards a series of long, large parking spaces arranged in a spacious lot with small utility stations rising out of the pavement between each. "So, I guess those spots over there are for the big trucks?"

An outstretched foot taps down next to Bach. Cideeda slides the rest of herself up next to Bach and perks her furry ears in agreement. "Yes, they are. Usually these places have charging, water, and waste hookups rigged up in those stations. Also..."

She sniffs the passing breeze and scans her emerald green eyes towards the back corner of the building. "They probably have a fuel pump somewhere in the back... Don't know if I'd trust what it's pumping."

Dretphi reaches inside the back of the humvee, pulls out a wheeled duffel bag, and carefully lowers it to the ground. Stepping around the side of the vehicle, Sotalia grabs hold of the top handle, pulls it out, and rolls it out of the way. Another gust of wind washes through the area, blowing ripples through clothing and rustling a chorus of leaves in the surrounding trees. Securing another bit of luggage from the back of the humvee, Dretphi rests it upon the ground. Aristespha lifts the bag by the strap over her shoulder and waits along with Sotalia. While Dretphi sorts through other equipment, Cideeda slips over, and a claw tipped hand snagged her backpack. Wandering over, Bach widens his blue eyes in surprise and instinctively opens his arms out, catching a simple draw-string duffle bag. Dretphi hoists up a fancier version of the bag over her shoulder and closes the back hatch. Reaching into her pocket, Cideeda draws out the humvee's controller fob and clicks a series of buttons. The machine blinks its lights and emits a beep. Aristespha sets off towards the front door of the building and glances back, leading the way. "I called ahead and reserved one of the large common room suites upstairs."

Sotalia strides along behind Aristespha, rolling her bag with her. Lifting a brow, she cracks a sly grin, sarcastic toeing the line. "Oh. Splurging a bit aren't we?"

Aristespha shrugs and returns her head forward. "I figured we might as well enjoy it while we can. It was about the same price as a bunch of smaller rooms."

Briefly narrowing her stare forward, she sighs with a hint of a stale groan. "And, we will have that part of the upstairs to ourselves... And not get woken up by any later arrivals."

She wraps her hand around the metal horizontal handle upon the ornate wooden door and pulls it open for everyone else. Sebastian's voice echoes from the sword at her side. "Everyone hit up the shower while you can. Including YOU, bro."

Bach furrows his brow and focuses a glare at the blade. "The fuck is that supposed to mean, man."

An ethereal sign resonates, and Sebastian placates with a genuine tone. "Hey, bro. I'm just saying, if you even feel like you vaguely need to shower, it's A LOT easier HERE than in the WOODS."

Dretphi shudders at passing memory with a twisting cringe across her face. "THAT is the TRUTH."

A sneer perches on Cideeda's upper lip, and she sighs out past frustrations nearing aggravation. "Less leeches, too."

The group files in through the door into a large lobby. Worn but carefully polished wooden floors adorn the area and contrast against the intricate stone tile leading into the spacious dining hall. The tall ceilings provide ample room for local artifacts and other treasures on display. A wiry, muscular older man gazes up with a smile from the handcrafted counter. "Hello! Welcome to Cookes Inn and Tavern. I'm Goff, and I believe one of you is Miss Aristespha."

Aristespha spins around from examining all the details of the lobby area and bows slightly to Goff. "That would be me, Mr. Goff. I called earlier today."

Goff stands up quickly from his seat behind the counter and grins happily, pulling open a jingling drawer on the side. "Just David or Goff, ma'am. Mr. Goff is my father. I appreciate the respect, though."

He rummages around inside the drawer. "Just let me get the key and paperwork up on the counter..."

Fishing out a few keys and a few page stack of papers, he lays them out on the counter's top. "Here! Just got the room ready. Those should be the freshest bed sheets and towels for quite a while."

Grinning excitedly, he motions out towards the large hall. "And, I got some good options for dinner, too!"

Aristespha steps up to the counter and briefly scans over the paperwork. Retrieving a few cards from her pocket, she copies information onto key fields on the forms. "We will certainly be partaking. It was a LONG, ROUGH trip."

Goff nods with an understanding sigh, checking over the sheets after Aristespha fills them out. He shakes his head, filing them away in another drawer. "Yeah... Getting rougher by the day, too. I REALLY wish the Greater Azure Alliance and the United Appaland States would get over themselves and strike a new trade deal soon. I've been real tempted to build an add-on to this place just to sell tires and shocks."

Glancing out the front window to the main roadway, Cideeda lowers her furry ears and flicks out an annoyed flit of her tail. "You have no idea."

Goff stands back up behind the counter, scooping the keys into his hand. Energetically walking out from the counter, he excitedly gestures to everyone to follow. "Come on! Let me show you all to your room. It's got the best view around. After you all are settled, come on down and I'll give you the grand tour."

----

Windows in the walls surrounding the dining hall reflect back the warm light inside, contrasting the darkness outside beyond the glass. Around the largest table in the space, Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia sit with plates of food encircling center serving trays. Sebastian hovers near Aristespha, enjoying the aroma of the meal. Goff settles back into his chair at the head of the table and laughs. "That's an amazing story! Ones like that keep me believing I made the right decision building this place."

Sebastian shrugs and chuckles with an ethereal echo. "Yeah, we got plenty of them. I'm still amazed I'm not the strangest thing you've seen before."

Returning the shrug, Goff waves to the general area and snorts, smirking. "THIS far out? Man, I've seen plenty of crazy stuff. The further you get from a civilization, I guess all the weirder things get more comfortable with being in the open."

Rubbing his forehead around a prior story-worthy injury, Bach nods at the sentiment and grimaces lightheartedly. "Comfort is a nice way to put it..."

Goff motions generally upwards and cracks a proud grin with an adventurous glint. "Plus, I'm originally from much further north, closer to the Lakes. Around there... There's some utterly wild things up there, especially on the Yoop."

Aristespha quirks a curious brow at Goff. "I have to admit, you picked a very nice spot for this inn."

Chuckling to himself, Goff collects his silverware upon his plate and slides his chair back. "Oh, yeah! I figured out the right spot from experience.

Waving out towards the barely lit road beyond the windows, he wanders a pointed finger along the path. "Used to go around with my son and crew down this very road doing tree care. Pretty good work, but I had to travel a bunch."

He stands up, lifts his plate off the table, and walks back to a door behind a bar counter bordering the dining hall. "Man, I lost count the number of times we had to camp out around this very place. One day, I figured..."

Glancing over his shoulder at the team, he cracks a grin. "Someone needs to build a nice tavern and inn along here."

Depositing his plate and silverware into a cart bin just past the doorway, he steps back out and gets behind an ornate bar with a wide selection of beverages upon the display shelf behind him. "When I finally handed over the tree care business to my son, I figured I'd might as well build such a place. That way, my boy and old crew always have a place to stay after a long trip."

Examining the craftsmanship of the woodwork on the table, Cideeda squints at a few of the surrounding chairs and scrutinizes the bar with growing interest. "Is this all your woodworking?"

With a proud nod, Goff grins brightly and places his hand out upon the top of the bar, rubbing the smooth finish. "Yes it is, ma'am. You see, I always saved the choice bits of wood I got from the trees I worked on. After I retired, my wife demanded that I do SOMETHING with it all.

He gazes around the dining hall of the inn and motions to the rafters, paneling, and other wooden details. "So, I built this very building and the furniture in it. I got my place, and she was happy to get the barn back."

Inspecting the woodwork, Sotalia scoots her plate to the side and lifts her head with a smile to Goff. "So, where is Mrs. Goff?"

Goff shakes his head with a happy eye roll. "Oh, she stays at our nice house down the road. She likes to avoid all the chaos here. Always has been the wiser one. Nice to have someone on the outside to bail you out."

Bach glances over to the bar and Goff, scratching the beard underneath his chin. "So, do you get a lot of people going down this road?"

Fingers drum on the counter top of the bar, and Goff searches his mind with a few tugs upon the corners of his mouth. "Well... It has been a little slow leading up to yesterday. I got a few regulars that travel through this area a lot. A few couples that want a taste of the rustic life."

Glancing over the team, he furrows his brow and recounts. "One guy stayed a few days a couple weeks ago. Really nice guy! He had A LOT of amazing stories, and we talked for hours every night. Then, yesterday..."

Quick snort escapes Goff, and he grins slyly with a guilty shrug. "I got my fill of chaos and fun for the month!"

Curiosity seizing Bach, his spoon midway, and he glances towards the bar, at Goff. "Huh, so what happened yesterday?"

Goff whistles in thought and draws in a deep breath. Collecting the timeline of events in his head, a spark of excitement energizes his voice. "Sunday, I get this call from this lady. She says her group and another smaller group are heading out this way, and they will need accommodations. For the first time in a long while, I'm going to have a full house!"

Pantomiming with his hands, he grins during the depiction of the events. "I get all the rooms ready. I even call up my old friend Oyn to come over and start cooking up a storm. Man, I even convince my wife to come down and tend the front desk for me. The time comes when they said they're going to arrive..."

Furrowing his brow, he leans slightly over the bar counter at the team. "And nothing..."

Holding his arms out, he shakes his head, putting his hands down upon the bar top, and grits his teeth. "Here I am... Man, I was starting to think I had made a huge mistake. But, this one lady with a clipboard and a guy with a camera, like one of those television cameras, comes in."

A slight crook warps the side of Bach's mouth. Goff idly rolls his hand, punctuating the situation. "She gives me all this PAPERWORK to sign to allow them to run cameras in here. I'm thinking, yeah, it's strange. But, I don't mind showing the place, and I'm not going to let everything I did to get ready go to waste."

Pointing to large main doors, he wanders his gaze across the big dinner table to everyone. "The second I signed the paper, she radios to someone. The camera guy starts recording. Then, this group pushes the doors wide open!"

Goff flicks his index finger up on a hand. "There was this heroic looking guy with a big bright smile..."

Sebastian halts mid drift and barely contains a cringe, flashing upon his ethereal face. Bach squirms a bit in his chair, glancing around uneasily. Another finger rises on Goff's hand, and he furrows his brow with his memory. "An emin woman with black hair, blue and black eyes, and way more revealing clothes than my wife would approve of..."

A piece of meat flops back into the soup bowl from the spoon in Sotalia's shuddering hand. Goff counts off another description and thinks more into that moment. "A nicely dressed fvalian with this bell around her neck."

A brief twitch squints Cideeda's eye, and a low groan strains out from Aristespha. Four fingers flex in Goff's hand, and he searches into his mind. "And, there was this evuukian guy that seemed nice enough. But, he was scarce most of the time..."

Aristespha rolls her violet eyes, and Sebastian echoes a low groan very similar to hers. Goff closes his fist and holds a thumb up with a final shake for emphasis. "Finally, this BIG grath nearly clips the door frame coming in. I think he was just putting on a show, because I know that door is much taller than him."

The grip tightens upon the fork in Dretphi's hand, and muscles flex in her forearm. With an astounded sway of the head side to side, Goff laughs loudly. "The second they cleared the door and went up the counter... This flood of camera crews just filled in around them."

He snorts and shakes his head. "Oh, the drama between them. They argued back and forth about who would get which bed in the other big common room suite. After dinner, they fought about who should do what and that on this mission. They were a mess! I guess it makes for good television... I guess..."

A heavy silence looms over the group at the dining table, Goff remembering other details of the events from yesterday. After a few minutes, Dretphi raises a hand with an index finger up and snags Goff's attention. "Excuse me. Question. Did they state when they would return by this route?"

Scratching his chin, Goff seeks out the bit of knowledge in his head, between searching flicks of his eyes. "I think they mentioned possibly in a few days. The woman with the clipboard said she'd give me a call if they were coming this way again. And, from where I guess they were going, it'll take a few more days to get there."

A collective release of tension flushes away the heavy silence, and relief finds the group at the dining table. Goff surveys the change in mood and quirks a brow with a curiosity driven smile. "They wouldn't happen to be friends of yours?"

Snickers, snorts, and laughs escape the group with shaking of heads. Goff grins, places both hands upon the top of the bar, and nods. "Well, that sounds like at least a story or two to be had over a few drinks. Consider the bar open! I still got to run a business. But... I'll let the first round go at cost."

Sotalia sips up the last bit of soup, placing the spoon down. Plucking a roll from a basket on the table, and she waves it around in sync to her thoughts. "Speaking of discounts, Bach over here actually used to create this wonderful line of mini magical scrolls..."

She cracks a sly grin and perks a devious brow. "They're perfect for a place like this."

Abrupt gurgling sounds out, and an ill timed gasp of food sends Bach into a coughing fit. Sotalia's expression adopts a playfully sinister undertone. Goff blinks thoughtfully and focuses his attention on the proposed concept. "Well, I'm always looking for things to sell or show. What do they do?"

Biting a piece off, Sotalia waves the roll around in her fingers to punctuate. "There's the random fortune teller, drink tracker, drunk detector, and..."

A toothy grin springs up on Cideeda, and she aims a mischievous gaze towards Bach. "Oh! Don't forget all the games. Bomb defuser, balance the card, and that mini role playing game. I still think that collectible card game would have done well if you had a marketing department behind."

A brief, sudden snort manages to escape Dretphi, and she averts her steely gray eyes away, keeping a small, mischievous smile from progressing further. "Love tester."

Sebastian's ethereal form fails to hold back the cackle, triggering almost the rest of the table to laugh. Bach sighs with twitches of a lip curl and rolls his blue eyes. Moments later, a facetious shrug and shake of the head accompanies a thinly veiled crack of a smile upon Bach. "Well, I mean, that all that sounds great. But... I don't have anything to write on that would fit the bill."

Goff tilts his head down and examines the area behind the bar, a finger hovering with the focal point of his attention. He kneels down behind the bar, stops, and returns with a roll of receipt printer paper in hand. Puzzling over the item, he draws out a long sheet from the roll. "Hey, will this work?"

Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia spot and scrutinize the receipt printer paper roll. Aristespha and Sotalia nod in unison, evil tinges coloring their smiles. Bach only blinks with an awkward cringe. His demeanor stumbles to a recovery, and he tries to adopt the previous facetious shrug. "I mean... That COULD work. But... I would need special pens and inks to-"

Popping the remainder of the roll into her mouth, Sotalia stands up from the table, chewing. She perks an eyebrow to Aristespha and holds her hand open, walking from the table towards the main hall. Aristespha reaches into her pants pocket and tosses the room key with a flick into Sotalia's awaiting hand. "Third zipper pocket from the right. It is the small roll out kit."

A long exhale of defeat slowly vents from Bach, and he pivots his head to the side and tilts up to Sebastian, hovering nearby. "I guess I'm doing this, huh?"

Sebastian nods with his hands behind his back and glances down to his brother. "Yes, bro. You must placate them. Peer pressure and all."

Dropping his head low for a moment, he draws in a long breath. He straightens back up with an accepting semblance of a smile. "Okay... Fine. So, which one first?"

----

The morning light floods the large, long common room. The sun’s warmth beams upon the six beds lined up perpendicular to the outer wall, each just under a wide window, upon the wooden floor. Two tables rest flush against the opposing wall, loaded with a number of chairs each, and lockers line the remanding, clear stretch of wall after the dividing doorway. At the far end of the room, another door opens, and flow of steam and bright light beams in, reflecting off bathroom tile. Sotalia steps out bare footed onto the wooden floor, walking with a relaxed smile. Balancing the towel wrap on her head between her horns, she keeps a hand on the towel tuck over her chest. She glances over at the other roughly remade beds and the personal items arranged upon each. Passing over the unused bed, she pauses and stare at the furthest bed. Bach stirs under the covers, still slumbering. Rolling her golden eyes, Sotalia shakes her head amused and continues to her bed, a quiet chorus of hardwood floor joining the pats of each foot. She kneels down over her open luggage and gazes over the selection. Picking out clothing for day, she notices the hum of her aetherphone vibrating on the bed. With a swift snatch, she reads the message on the phone. Glancing to Bach, she watches. A long intermittent snore from Bach barely graces just above the background noise. Sotalia snorts to herself and shakes her head side to side, her thumb tapping out a reply. Seconds later, the phone vibrates with another message. Sotalia quirks an eyebrow and gazes at Bach. Slyness curls the corner of her mouth, and evil widens the expression.

Bach slumbers on his side, facing the end wall, and subconsciously shifts his face away from the line of sunlight creeping up the sheets. His current snore fades. A faint rush of air echoes out in the room with a muffled sound of flapping fabric trailing. A damp towel impacts the back of Bach's head, and momentum carries over, flopping part of it on his face. Bach startles and stirs groggily from sleep, grumbling incoherently. His hand aimlessly paws at the towel on his face. Soon, enough motor coordination and consciousness reassembles itself. Bach lifts himself up to a seat up in the bed, the towel still covering most of this head. A snicker momentarily sounds out, quickly squelching quiet. Bach manages to finally remove the damp fabric from his head and reveals a chaotic mop of hair. Opening his eyes halfway in a morning daze, he spends almost a minute examining the towel, in between blinking and clearing the sleep from his eyes. Idle mumbles of deliberation lead Bach's attention and sways his head towards the source. His groggy vision watches an hourglass figure finish pulling up a pair of pants to the small of her back. Puzzlement and confusion mix harshly within the morning fog inside Bach's mind, and familiarity tries to cut through the stubborn haze. Bach's blue eyes move up the two color pattern on the skin of the woman's back. Black nailed hands reach up to the towel on her head and unfurl the fabric, revealing dark red hair and black swept back horns. Recognition finally manages to shriek clear through the lethargy in Bach's head. A flush of embarrassment overtakes Bach and tightens his throat. Shock drains the color from his face and forces a gasp into a short lived squeak. The reflexive twist of his head away, nearly sprains Bach's neck.

After the sounds of clothes rummaging, luggage zippers, and button snaps, Sotalia calls out over her shoulder. "You awake, Bach?"

Bach blinks in silence for a few moments, stalling long enough for functional speech to leave his mind. "Uh... Y-yes?"

Other faint noises emanate from Sotalia's direction, and a series of softer footsteps grow in volume. Sotalia snaps her fingers a few times to get Bach's attention and calls out with a curious tone. "Hey... Over here. Wake up!"

Hesitation staggers Bach. With a deep breath, he forces his head to turn the rest of the way. Sotalia lifts an inquisitive brow and stands at the side of Bach's bed, pants, shirt, and socks on. Relaxing, Bach releases the tense breath. Sotalia works a questioning twist to her smirk. "I guess I'll count this as awake enough. We'll be leaving in an hour or so. Shower and come down for breakfast. Your brother's orders... via Aristespha message."

Bach nods a confirmation, fighting a yawn. "Okay... Yeah... I'll be down in half an hour."

Returning the nod, Sotalia spins around with a smile and walks to the room door. "Sounds good to me. I'll let them know."

Opening the door, she goes through the doorway into the hallway, and a guilty smirk curls from the corner of her mouth. Bach watches the door close and stares forward, contemplating. A minute passes in the faint morning din from below and nature outside. Tilting over onto his side upon the bed, he groans and greets the new day.

----

In the middle of a wide, overgrown gravel road, the humvee slows to a stop just before an abrupt, thick tree line. Peering out through the windshield, Cideeda scans the out from the vehicle. Sotalia squints her eyes and seeks anything of interest in the forest bordering the roadway. Sebastian's ethereal form floats out forward from the aisle, between Cideeda and Sotalia, and stares uncertainly ahead. "Okay... Something is NOT right about this."

Cideeda taps her finger on the steering wheel thoughtfully and turns her head to the side, checking out the driver's side window. "We're near the area where people reported seeing someone matching Noxian's description."

Narrowing her emerald green eyes, she wrestles a grimace on her light brown face and flicks her furry ears. "And, this is really close to the coordinates from the research base data."

She leans out the driver's side window and squints down at the packed gravel, her long tail twitching. "But... This is also a road not on any map I have."

Sebastian hovers in the middle, slowly scanning the horizon, and hems to himself. Crossing his arms, he drifts through the windshield out to the front of the vehicle and calls out. "Okay. Let's get out and check around. If there's nothing here, we'll drive around a bit more and see if there's some other route around."

Reaching under her seat, Dretphi rummages around and pulls out a hard shelled case by the handle. "We should verify our position."

Doors open and the team exits out, wondering and wandering the terminal point of the gravel roadway. Cideeda opens the back hatch, and Dretphi reaches in, lifting out three telescopic poles and a tripod. Aristespha, Bach, Sebastian and Sotalia spread out from the humvee, watching the bordering forest. Both Aristespha and Bach blink their eyes to a bright glow, carefully surveying sections of the road and overgrowth surrounding. Sotalia’s golden eyes flicker to a constant dim illumination, and she strains her concentration, maintaining the effect. Sebastian rises high up into the air, rotates around, staring out at parts of the horizon. Dretphi opens up the tripod, rests its feet securely upon the ground, and adjusts it to a level point. Opening the hard case up, she carefully lifts a complicated piece of machinery, incorporating elements of a sextant and other measurement devices, and attaches it to the top of the tripod. Dretphi retrieves a book from the hard case, flips to a worn section, and reads intermittently between tweaks of setting knobs on the device. Cideeda climbs up to the top of the humvee and locks the telescopic poles into welded on mounts. Extending the last pole, she screws in signal cables into each pole's base, connecting to small, rugged electronic device. Flipping a switch and pressing buttons through the thick rubber weatherproofing, Cideeda commands the device life and watches a series of numbers and gauges render upon the protected screen. She leans back and glances over her shoulder toward Dretphi. "It'll be a minute or two. Nav beacons out here are a bit old and use an old spec."

Dretphi nods and returns her attention to the machinery on the tripod. "Similar delay. Want long measurements to reduce inaccuracy."

Scratching the back of his head of longer brown hair, Bach shrugs his shoulders and alternates a glance between Sotalia and Aristespha. "Well, I'm not sensing anything magical around here. Any luck?"

Aristespha blinks her eyes back to normal, pivots towards Bach, and walks with a sigh. "Nothing, either. I really was hoping for at least an illusion spell. That actually would have made some sense."

Closing her eyes to a rough wince, Sotalia rubs her face and shakes her head, stepping back to the group. "Gods. Well, I don't see or feel anything over here. Seems pretty normal to me."

Sebastian flies back down from a lofty height and lands his ghostly self, standing on the ground in front of the humvee. "Anything to report, everyone?"

Aristespha shakes her head and crosses her arms, her mind processing possible next steps. "No magical influence at the moment, Sebastian. If there is anything, it's no stronger than the typical background energies."

Cideeda lifts the radio navigation console and shows the screen towards Sebastian, Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia. "Land navigation beacons put us roughly where we think we should be. I'm waiting for the computer to refine the area down."

Dretphi calls out behind the humvee, squatting down and carefully writing measurements and calculations in a notebook. "Need time difference in measurements to reduce error. We are in the vicinity of where we should be, regardless."

After a few pondering nods, Sebastian points out towards the dead end of the road and drifts slowly in that direction. "I think I saw an odd clearing a few kilometers away. Maybe? I couldn't make out much more than that, but the clearing has a really weird shape to it."

The group roughly assembles behind Sebastian. Turns to face the team, Sebastian smiles and meets eager and curious gazes. "Well... I guess no one is against a bit of a nature hike?"

Grins, shrugs, and smirks appear, and Sebastian leads the group into the woods beyond the dead end.

----

Leaves crackle in a chorus with the occasional stick snap, and the group navigates through the dense forest. Minutes later, Dretphi stops, reaches up to a tree branch, and lowers it down to her eye level. Studying it with intense curiosity, she furrows her brow and contemplates internally between deliberating grimaces. Sebastian glances back and calls out with a hopeful hint. "Did you find something, Dretphi?"

The rest of the group halts, face Dretphi, and wait expectantly. Glancing around at surroundings, Dretphi reaches out for another branch from a shorter tree and brings it down next to the previous. "This Forest... Is not... Natural."

Bach blinks a few times and puzzles at Dretphi's statement. "Uh, how so? There's no magic that we've found so far."

Wrestling the conflict on her tan face, Dretphi lifts her head back, and her eyes search upwards in her head for the right phrase. "Not naturally occurred."

Entertaining her observation and proposal, interest quickly turns to the surrounding forest, intrigue building each second with sparks of suspicion. Dretphi eases down the branches lower and shows her findings. "The tall trees here are not native to this area. The short trees are."

She turns the tree limbs in her hands and angles for better comparison. "Both similar in appearance. From the same family. Different species."

Easing the branches back up to their respective trees, she squints into the forest ahead, eyes out to the sides, and glances behind. "It is strange that the non-native tree is found only in this narrow band here."

She crosses her arms and frowns, paranoia tickling the corner of her mouth. "That species grows fast. Does not live long."

Spinning around gazing up at the canopy above, Sotalia twists her boot on the ground. Patting the sole upon earth a few times, she furrows her brow and heels out the ground. "Okay, has this been like a really easy hike for anyone else?"

She stares down at the ground and motions to the terrain beneath. "I just think this terrain should be... A lot rougher? It's an incline but really consistent?"

A series of long, slow nods punctuate Dretphi's silence. Kneeling down, she digs at the forest floor with her hand and ponders implications between sifting through the dirt. Sebastian holds his chin, thinks, and gradually spins back forward to the direction of the clearing. "Let's see what this clearing is. It should be up ahead. But... Let's approach it carefully."

He waves a hand signal to the team. "Everyone, stay in the forest when we get to the edge. I'll go scout ahead."

Sebastian glides out in front of the group. Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia spread out and cautiously hike on. Venturing forward, they keep loosely behind tree cover. Close to a quarter hour later, the group reaches the edge of the forest and stares out into the clearing. Blinking in disbelief, Bach mumbles astonishment. "What... The... hell?"

Before the group, an overgrown, wide strip of land cuts out into the hilly distance, devoid of trees. Strangely even height grass grows upon the track, matching the oddly flat and smooth topology. Almost hidden, worn ruts indicate the only semblance of path through the stretch of field. Off to the sides of the grassy strip lay different piles of rubble, scattering out into the surrounding trees. The age mounds of debris provide a place for covering undergrowth to root. Sebastian jets back to the group and signals them out, waving his arms. "Nothing dangerous I could find. But..."

He glances over his shoulder and guides the rest of his form. "So... What do you all make of THIS?"

Cideeda's eyes spring wide in surprise, and she points a claw tip towards one of the rubble piles. "Wait! That's broken up asphalt! Gods! There was a road here!"

Dretphi nods with a wave of shock washing down. "Land has been graded to suit that purpose. Felt unnatural. Tilled. Packed tightly. Too even... Too consistent..."

Sotalia puts her hands on her hips and idly gazes out ahead, dumbfounded. "So... Making sure I'm following all this...."

Flicking her golden eyes to Cideeda, she points over to the nearest pile of rubble under the trees. "Someone removed this road..."

She glances back to the forest behind. "And planted trees to hide it?"

Shifting her weight, she gazes between the team and motions behind her. "So, why didn't they just take it all the way to the highway?"

Aristespha draws a breath in and slowly exhales the nervous energy out through her reserved stare at the situation before her. "I would theorize it would be less suspicious to keep that much of the road there than obviously removing it from the main highway. Easier to dismiss it as some old access road or some other mundane thing."

Sebastian shakes his head and sighs with an ethereal reverb. "SOMETHING has been covered up. This is A LOT of effort to hide anything. There definitely IS something here we need to investigate."

Glancing back into the forest, Cideeda growls in frustration and grits her teeth. "I hate to leave the humvee back there. But, I didn't see an easy path through...."

Perking her brow, she tilts her head curiously and crosses her arms with a wag of her tag. "Now that I'm thinking about it, it's like the trees were planted close enough to stop most vehicles."

A sinister grin creeps up on Sotalia, and she stretches out her arms over her head eagerly. "Oh. I'm very certain I can remedy that. I mean, the trees aren't native here anyway. They really should be pruned down."

Laughing, Sebastian stands proudly before the group. "Sounds like a good enough plan to me. Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia get ready to make some lumber. Cideeda and Dretphi, navigate the best you can and see if we can keep the clear cutting down to minimum. I don't know if we should be too obvious about what we're doing."

----

A large furry ear twitches towards a repetitive tapping noise upon the roof of the humvee. Cideeda press down on a control button, rolling her window down. Reaches out through the open driver's side window, she plucks out a small branch stuck in a gap between roof and roof rack. She brings the branch inside, hold it near Sotalia, and aims a brief glare at her. Meeting the attention, Sotalia attempts to innocently play off the accusation with a shrug. "What? That wasn't on my side."

Rolling her emerald green eyes, Cideeda chucks the branch out of the humvee and focuses on driving through the grassy pathway. Humvee rolls smoothly through the field, and only the constant patter of large grass blades add to the background rustle of road noise. The vehicle crests over a hill and coasts through the sea of green. Rubbing her temples, Aristespha concentrates upon her tablet and the sparse mapping data. "We were already kilometers off the main highway. Now, we've gone almost five more. Why is this not on any map? This isn't some kind of forgotten logging trail."

Bach leans over from his seat and peeks at topological charts on the screen. "I mean, I keep on seeing more piles of road they ripped off. All of it dumped off in the forest."

Staring out a side window, Dretphi frowns, concern tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Without the road surface the forest will reclaim the area naturally. This... This was purposeful. Planned."

Cideeda squints ahead down the hill and spring opens her eyes wide. Following Cideeda's stare, Sotalia blinks ahead and tilts her head to the side in confusion. "What? Is that a town up ahead?"

Working her way up from her seat into the aisle, Dretphi stares forward bewildered. Aristespha rolls her window down and leans out for a clear look. Bach and Sebastian peek around the headrests of Cideeda's and Sotalia's seats. Cideeda focuses her gaze harder and ponders out loud, puzzled. "I guess it used to be? It looks like it has been abandoned for some time now."

The humvee drives further towards the collection of rundown, derelict buildings in a larger cleared section of the landscape. The faint squeal of brakes trails off, and the vehicle stops short of a perimeter of uninviting barricades and huge warning signs, encircling the main entry point. In many languages and dialects, the same phrase repeats upon each surface possible.

"WARNING! DEADLY DISASTER ZONE! NOTHING WORTH YOUR LIFE EXISTS HERE ANYMORE! GO BACK! THE DANGER STILL EXISTS HERE! NO HELP WILL COME!"

-24-

Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian and Sotalia stand just outside the perimeter of the imposing barricade of fencing, alert symbols, and warning signs. Wary eyes seek out the elements worthy of the caution and foretold danger. Only the placid fields and peaceful forest surround the team, contrasting all implications. Glancing to either side of himself, Bach gauges everyone's demeanor and pinches the bridge of his nose with a cringing close of the eyes. He draws in a long breath and releases a wary sigh. "I get the feeling we are going to COMPLETELY ignore these warnings...

He shifts his gaze over to his ethereal brother. "Aren't we?"

Sebastian pivots his ghostly form toward Bach and lifts an eyebrow, shrugging his shoulders with a nonchalant smile. "Half the places we usually go to on missions have warning signs, bro. And... The other half usually SHOULD have them."

With a hand supporting her chin and an idle finger tapping the side of her cheek, Aristespha ponders the signage, focusing on areas around the messages. "It is very strange. There are no organizations listed anywhere.... But, these signs are extremely well made. These were not hastily made. Which oddly isn't that surprising when you consider the road removal and tree planting."

With a brief perk of her brow, Sotalia's golden stare wanders between the different alphabets and languages written upon the signs. "There's just about every major language listed here and a few older minor ones, too. I've never actually seen a warning message this thorough in so many languages."

Leaning forward, she reads the smaller text under a large warning paragraph and stands back straight in astonishment, tempering her curiosity. "OH! Wow! Gods, that's a really old dialect of Americ on there, too."

She furrows her brow and chuckles to herself. "Still can't believe the spelling rules they had back then."

Cideeda pans her gaze along the perimeter, and her head halts at a large gate section of the tall, solid metal fence. She focuses upon the thick, long weld running down between the gate and frame. "Interesting..."

Motioning towards the gateway, she squints at the metalwork, curiosity leading to intrigue. "Looks like whoever decided not to even bother with a lock and just welded the thing shut. I don't think they planned on coming back to this place."

Dretphi turns her head to Cideeda and lowers her quizzical gaze. "Strange. The gate must have been used before. Sealed afterwards."

Glancing around the concrete anchors holding metal posts, she wrestles a number of possibilities on her face. "This fence construction is high quality. Built with the town?"

A nod slowly gains momentum from Cideeda, and she meets Dretphi's attention with a thoughtful gaze. "I think so. You can't easily put this much high grade steel up, this good, without some serious planning. This looks like a lot of the old small town perimeter fences my dad would get in the scrap yard when the town upgraded to something bigger."

Placing her hands on her hips, she surveys the work ahead, involving the welded gate. "I should be able to cut that gate open in an hour..."

Her weight shifts with an idea. She twists in her bodysuit and faces Bach with a toothy smirk. "Or... I'm certain Bach could crack it open in a few minutes."

Blinking back to the discussion, Bach catches Cideeda's widening grin. He notices the encouraging attention upon him and stares briefly at the door, lowering his forehead into the palm of his hand. "Yeah... Of course... Let me go forth, ignore all the warnings, and crack open the gateway to our doom. Oh, this makes TOTAL SENSE."

Sebastian rolls his ethereal blue eyes and shakes his head with a ghostly laugh. "Oh, come on, bro! This is nothing on the scale of crazy things you've done, including recently."

Bach removes his head from his hand. Narrowing his eyes at his brother, he groans and returns his stare to the gate. "I know... I know... BUT, at least with those other crazy moments, I didn't have signs, quite literally, EVERYWHERE telling me to do the OPPOSITE."

Sotalia stretches her arms and interlocked hands out forwards, straightens her back, and flexes her head from shoulder to shoulder with a growing grin. "Well, if you don't feel up to it, I'm still plenty fired up from that bit of deforestation. This gate isn't anything that a few plasma flares couldn't fix."

A long sigh crawls out from Bach, and he draws a long, uneasy breath. "No, no. I got it. Despite that little voice in the back of my head telling me not to."

A grin cracks across his face and widens. "Plus, I'd much rather the gate be functional afterwards. Just in case we need it."

A few blinks later, Sotalia quickly snaps her stare at Bach with a quirk of the brow and a reserved, neutral expression on her face. A sly smirk develops, and she perks her brow, resting her intertwined hands on the back of her head. "Fair enough."

Sebastian nods and addresses the group. "Okay, here's the rough plan. Bach will get the gate open. Cideeda and Dretphi, I'm leaning towards camping out in the humvee tonight. Things have been plenty weird, so I think we might need to be ready to leave on a moment's notice. Hence, best to stay in our primary escape."

Processing the situation, Dretphi examines the treeline near the grass overtaken roadway, slowly nodding to her thoughts. "I agree. We should hide the humvee in the forest. Clear a path for escape. Hide obvious traces."

Cideeda motions a thumb behind her and grins to Sebastian. "I saw a spot not too far away that should obscure us enough. And, the humvee should fit into it without too much trouble."

With a gradual pivot, Sebastian's ghostly form faces Aristespha and Sotalia. "Good. Okay, while they get camp ready, I'll scout as far out as I can. Could you two check for any possible magical weirdness nearby?"

Aristespha smiles lovingly to Sebastian, and her eyes illuminate with violet light. "I will see what I can find, Sebastian."

Noticing the violet glow, Sotalia squints hard, and her eyes flicker a golden light. "Sounds like a plan. Gods, I still don't know how anyone does this for any period of time."

----

Faded gray asphalt roadways form a rough mesh around decaying buildings and overflowing vegetation. Years of abandonment eclipse the original craftsmanship of the structures, and the long strain against the environment reveals the shortened lifespans left. With a low whistling, the wind blows by a broken hole in a window, and the traveling sun reflects off the jagged edges of glass. A rusted metal post grinds to the will of the breeze, and the sign face twists with a faint squeak, revealing the stubborn paint outlines around the original message. "Central Administration Office."

Aristespha carefully approaches the sign, grips the weathered edge, and turns the barely legible lettering to her sight. "This... Seems familiar to me."

Darting her stare around her surroundings, she fights against a frown on her ivory face. "The terminology, the layout, and the building designs..."

She releases the sign, straightens her posture, and pivots back to Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia. Her violet eyes search low for an explanation, and she grimaces against the theory forming. "This HAS to be a Grand Library outpost. I've visited many, and most were laid out very similar to this."

Pulling his head back blinking, Sebastian directs a concerned gaze to Aristespha. "But, dear... Wouldn't this have shown up in the searches you did on our map locations?"

Comfort withers from Aristespha's body language, and she grits her teeth in a battle between bewilderment and nerves. "Yes. Yes, it SHOULD have. Something as significant as an outpost SHOULD have a number of entries in the main database... Unless..."

The rest of the teams keep their expectant attention upon Aristespha. Covering her mouth briefly with her hand, she slides her hand down to her chin to speak. "Unless... This place has been... Decataloged."

Aristespha shudders her focus to the group. She watches the confusion and uncertainty wander between themselves before seeking her. Drawing a slow breath, she exhales and explains carefully. "It is a core Grand Library law that data within the main database can never be deleted. But, there have been some... liberties... taken with the catalog that indexes all the data. Unfortunately, I think this is one of those liberties."

Crossing her arms, Aristespha grips her elbows tightly and stiffens her posture. She eyes the area with a new aura of caution and tenses with her thoughts. "We NEED to be extremely careful. I can't imagine what is here that has to be hidden so thoroughly. I've only ever heard rumors about minor items getting decataloged. But..."

She stares out to the aged, weathered, and once orderly outpost. "Nothing like THIS."

Sebastian hovers close to Aristespha and gazes into her eyes. "You okay, dear?"

A long sigh strains out from Aristespha, she nods with a slight smile. "Yes. It's just the situation has changed in ways I didn't think it could."

Bach surveys the streets running between lines of derelict buildings and shrugs nonchalantly with a comforting smile to Aristespha. "Well, I think I know how you feel."

Dretphi glances up to the afternoon sky and checks her aetherphone, stepping forward. Squinting to a point through the broken front door windows, she calls out to Sebastian. "We have four hours left of daylight. Stay together. Clear perimeters of buildings."

She glances over her shoulder and perks her brow. "Search interiors?"

Sebastian nods slowly and pivots his ethereal form towards the large remnants of the Central Administration Office. "That sounds good. It'll take longer to investigate areas, but I would much rather keep everyone close. So, keep within line of sight of someone else, and have anything strange checked for magic before disturbing it. We don't know what happened here, so let's not make any assumptions of what's safe."

Sotalia stares out to horizon down each major roadway path from an intersection, puzzling and furrowing her brow. "So, they built an outpost here. But, WHY? Gods, I haven't seen or detected ANYTHING strange yet.

She waves her arm out and motions towards the abandoned structures all around. "THIS is a lot to build in the middle of nowhere."

Smirking, Cideeda unbuttons a pouch on her vest, draws out a flashlight, and beams a bright spot towards the doors of the Central Administration Office. "Depending on how careful they were on their way out, we might find something in here."

Satisfaction wanes from Cideeda's face, and she thinks about the circumstances around, grumbling to herself. "But... This would be the FIRST place I would clean out if I was getting rid of evidence."

Crossing his arms, Sebastian floats forward and shrugs with a glance back. "Hey, it's still worth checking out. Might be a good test to see if there was some kind of cover up happening. And, if nothing else, maybe they were too busy removing all the secret files to get rid of general stuff?"

Bach scratches his head, puzzling, and asks Aristespha. "So, are Central Administration Offices similar to town halls or city capitals?"

A few hard blinks later, Aristespha arrives back to her senses. Facing Bach with a curious grimace, she internally debates and ponders out. "Oh, yes, for most purposes. It is more structured towards outpost management than legislature."

Pointing at the structure, Bach curls the corner of his mouth and lifts an eyebrow. "Okay. So, you think they have a map of the place in there?"

Aristespha nods with a growing grin and stares towards the front doors with a violet glow to her eyes. "Why yes. They should have at least ONE somewhere."

A smirk sneaks out on her face, and she chuckles softly. "It might be a visitor's pamphlet."

----

Through weathered, dingy glass windows, beams of light reach into the empty offices on either side of the main hallway. Reflecting off the unkempt spaces, the remnants create ambient glows, spilling onto the hallway floor from the doorways. A weak breeze slipping in from all the fractured panes stirs the illuminated dust floating in the stagnant air. Within the Central Administration building, steps upon the simple, smooth concrete floor echo distantly down the corridor, the softest pats still resonating. Dretphi stands in the middle of the central rotunda, scanning down the hallway leading to the exit. She pivots in place and leads her sight to one of the many doorways in the large, circular room. From a heavy duty flashlight, she guides a bright spotlight along the search, keeping the other hand upon her strap-hung submachine gun. Sotalia exits from a doorway and drags out a disappointed sigh. Dretphi lowers the light down towards the floor away from Sotalia and quizzically furrows her brow. "Anything found?"

Shaking her head, Sotalia guides her dark red hair with both hands over her horns and places a hand on her hip with a halfhearted frown. "No. Nothing. Not. A. Damned thing... at all. Whenever everyone left, they must have taken everything that wasn't nailed down."

Aristespha side steps out from behind Sotalia through the doorway, discouragement weighing heavily upon her. "Gods... The times I wish people were not so thorough."

Bach wanders out into the rotunda from another doorway with a shrug, twisting the corner of his mouth. "So, we found nothing."

Toed shoes lightly patting upon the floor, Cideeda shakes her head with her thoughts. She idly scratches a furry ear with a claw tip and grumbles. "There's got to be SOMETHING here. There's always something that gets looked over, especially when people are leaving a place with the intent to never come back. They had to have been pressured to leave..."

She lifts her head up, and her emerald green eyes hunt around the forgotten space, pausing along the way to squint out her theory. Sebastian drifts through a door and releases an ethereal sigh, shrugging with his hands up to his sides. "The rest of the rooms look pretty empty. Some rolling chairs, desks with all the drawers open, and a table or two."

Contorting his smirk, he grumbles. "But overall... It looks like it was cleared out pretty thoroughly some time ago."

Bach walks towards a reception desk off the center point of the room, near the archway leading to the exit hall. Placing his hand on the age-touched rolling chair back, he gradually leads it away from the desk, a trace of a squeak leaving a wheel. He spins the chair around a few times, stops it towards himself, and plops down into it. Dretphi glances up to the domed ceiling's windows and studies the orange light from the dusk sun. "An hour of daylight left. We should return to camp."

Sebastian nods with a frown curling and crosses his arms. "Yeah... We'll try again tomorrow, and maybe check further out. Don't worry, everyone. It's just the first day. We'll find something soon."

Everyone shares some form of agreement to the sentiment. The encouragement from Sebastian subdues the collective, mild disappointment briefly. Bach halts a slow spin in the chair, secures his feet on the ground, and leans forward to stand. He pushes the chair back underneath the reception desk. The chair stops short with a soft thud and lighter, crispier sound. Cideeda's furry ears immediately perk towards the noise and flick around in a search. Her head spins the rest of her body around, and her wide eyes lock on to Bach. "Garbage..."

Meeting Cideeda's gaze, Bach blinks, puzzling a moment at the word. He kneels down, peeks underneath the desk, and rummages around. The crinkle of plastic twitches Cideeda's ears and echoes around the rotunda. A toothy grin flashes wide upon Cideeda's light brown face. She rushes over to the other side of the desk and eagerly greets the plastic garbage bag Bach slides out from underneath the desk. Sebastian flies over ahead with renewed interest. Dretphi steps over and cranes above the reception desk, watching curiously. Aristespha and Sotalia walk around and wait. All witness Cideeda gleefully slice open the plastic bag with a claw. Sotalia wrestles a sneer and rolls her golden eyes with snort. "Gods, this may be another part I'm going to conveniently forget next time I talk to my mother."

Aristespha smiles slyly at Sotalia and lifts an eyebrow at her. Crossing her arms, Sotalia leans her posture back and huffs dismissively, slipping out a finger to point at Aristespha. "Girl, if you can somehow spin taking a two day trip to a forgotten, forsaken town..."

She waves out to the surrounding area, glancing around. "Where something terrible, that drove off an entire village of people, that may very well still exist..."

Resting her point upon the gutted garbage bag, she groans. "To dig through a bag of garbage, and NOT have it sound like a good reason for my mother to suggest a career change... AGAIN..."

She leans close to Aristespha and twists a smirking grin, furrowing her brow. "I'd LOVE to hear it."

----

Reaching to the roof of the humvee cab, Aristespha adjusts a small reading light down upon the document in her hand. Her violet eyes focus upon a sequence of numbers and letters barely visible along the tattered edges of the information pamphlet. Angling the aged paper, she discerns the faded paragraphs upon a web of crumpled lines. "This document is in the database... It has to be. This looks like a valid database address."

She flips the paper around and stares at the "Orth Ridge Archaeological Site Welcome Guide" title font. Carefully folding it up, she places it into a hard, thin case next to her seat, and expels a long sigh, staring at the ceiling of the humvee cab. "I wish we were not so far out. If I could only access the database right now, and get some damned answers to this mess."

The seat back across the aisle reclines, and Bach settles down into the new position, squirming and hunting for comfort. "Honestly, that's still WEIRD you can lose track of information like that with just having the catalog entry removed."

A long boot thuds upon the humvee floor in front of Aristespha, and she flexes her sock covered toes. Wrestling off the other boot, she turns it upside down and shakes it a few times. A sole, singular pebble drops out. Squinting her violet eyes upon the offending rock, Aristespha contorts a twinge of frustration on her ivory face and groans to herself. Dropping the boot, she drapes a blanket over herself and wraps up in it, glancing at Bach with a frown. "It's not USUALLY a problem. But... The infrastructure the Grand Library's main database uses to allow its flexibility, robustness, and capacity can theoretically have such... Issues."

Searching his mind, Bach pieces together a question, furrowing an genuinely curious brow. "So... What type of infrastructure is it... Well, uh, roughly?"

Aristespha fidgets around, finds a sweet spot, and rests her head against a small pillow. Glancing around, she remembers the reading light above and slips out an arm from comfort, turning it off. Her silvery blue hair flows over the cushion, she gazes at Bach, hints of internal unease sneaking through her smile. "Well, it only used to be one big massive, singular database, a VERY long time ago. Unfortunately, a near complete crash occurred, and they nearly lost a massive chunk of the records. Hence, a new design was requested and what was chosen happened to resemble a smaller version of the Aethernet system."

Rolling her eyes dismissively, she curls a vague smirk. "Technically, it could be considered an intranet, but there's debate about THAT being a fitting definition rather than all the others that keep getting proposed."

Bach ponders quietly, furrows his brow thoughtfully, and stares distantly. He turns his head forward, processing the concept, and blinks his blue eyes, pondering. "Wow... I've heard it was big and complicated. But, a Mini-Aethernet?"

A large figure stirs underneath a blanket in the back bench, and Dretphi slowly rolls her head, facing away from the back of the seat. A faint snore drifts into the air, and her platinum blonde braids with darker ends unfurl upon her pillow and tan face. The driver's softly door opens, and Cideeda quietly sneaks in, sliding into her seat. Pulling open the front passenger's door slowly, Sotalia gently maneuvers herself inside. Both softly guide their doors closed and tug, door latches engaging with a muffled click. Sotalia opens a dash compartment and stows a roll of toilet paper inside, closing it back up. "We checked the perimeter one last time. All the magical wards were undisturbed and active. We should be good for the night."

Peeking her head around her seat, Cideeda perks her furry ears and glances at Bach and Aristespha. "So, anyone else got to go before I arm the exterior alarm?"

Both Aristespha and Bach shake their heads. Dretphi sounds out a slow slumbering exhale. Cideeda smiles, returns fully into her seat, and presses buttons on the dash console. With a final dull click of a button on the side of the in-dash display, status messages gradually and continuously scroll on the dimming screen. Sotalia checks around her seat and reclines it down, stopping above Bach's legs. Pausing with a flit of evil on her face, she subdues the urge and raises the seat back, providing ample leg room. She flashes a sly smile at Bach's watchful stare and flops a pillow down, pulling a blanket snugly over herself. Cideeda raises her hand up from the center display and adjusts a few setting knobs on another control panel. Moments later, a barely audible stream of air flows from the front air conditioning vents into the cab. Cideeda coils up in the front seat under a blanket, the tip of her long fluffy tail poking out and covering her neck.

The humvee cab grows quiet, the group slumbering. The surrounding forest tightly pens in the vehicle. In front of the vehicle, the ambiguous haze of night obscures details and dithers any focus upon inspection, flits from imagination transparent to the faint moonlight above. Further out, small metal posts with antennas masquerading as twigs quietly monitor, outside of view behind trees. Near each, thick sticks with magical script barely reveal themselves out of the ground and faintly illuminate in a split second pulses with each other. Further out, the humvee blends into the backdrop of the forest, hidden from the waving tall blades in the grassy pathway leading to the stark barricade.

----

A shock pulses through Bach's body, and his eyes spring wide open. He freezes rigid, mid breath, remaining still in humvee cab. A distant stare silently echoes upon his face. Second of stillness later, he free his gaze away from within. Carefully, systematically, he inspect his surroundings. Aristespha sleeps peacefully with the slight rise and fall of her chest under the cover and a hand resting securely upon the Sword of the Spirit Realm. Slowly peeking behind his seat, Bach watches Dretphi and listens to faint snoring. He turns forward and notices a few locks of dark red hair peeking over the head rest. Carefully lifting himself up, he gazes upon Sotalia's less than glamorous, sleep contorted face. Blinking more aware of the surrounding, he stares out into the darkness beyond the windshield of the humvee and inkiness of night past the hood. Squinting further into the dense forest, he searches between the trace outlines of tree nearby and further into the dark, obscuring woods, sorting reality from imagination.

Cideeda's incoherent mumbling yanks Bach away from growing paranoia, and he watches her grimace. Wincing and cringing, she mouths out unintelligible phrases, clenching her fists around the blanket. Tension travels through her body, claws sink into fabric, and she grits her sharp teeth. Writing uncomfortably, her furry ears droop down, and she mumbles enough to be heard. "...no... ...go away... ...stay back..."

Frowning, Bach witnesses another wave of unease wash over Cideeda and carefully leans forward with a soft voice. "Cideeda... Cideeda?"

A furry ear flicks up, perking towards the source. Bach pauses uncertainly in thought and searches his mind. Returning his gaze to Cideeda, he keeps his voice low and calm. "Cideeda?"

The same furry ear flicks again, perking towards Bach. Cideeda's head turns slightly, and her short multi-color hair presses against the reclined driver's seat. Summoning a smile, Bach gently whispers. "Hey... It's just a bad dream."

Cideeda's light brown face twitches and her lips move, faintly voicing. "...it's back... ...not again...."

Bach states with the most reassuring tone he can muster. "Hey. It's just a bad dream. Just a dream. It's not real. It can't hurt you. You can CHANGE it."

Through the unconscious confusion, Cideeda stirs under her blanket and winces between squirms. "...dream... ...change it..."

Nodding with a relieved smile, Bach softly speaks. "Yes. Just a dream. Change it to what you want. You are okay. Change it to something you like."

Flits of understanding twitch upon Cideeda's face, and her tail tip flicks next to her neck. Moments later, her uneasy expression calms, her body relaxes, and she slips back into peaceful slumber. Bach eases out a tense breath. Staring out into darkness contrasting the moonlit forest, his relieved smile wavers. For minutes, his blue eyes hunt through the voids between the trees around the vehicle. He drops his gaze upon the constant stream of nominal status text upon the dimmed center dash display. Lifting his head up from the display, he halts, closing his eyes hard. He draws in a shuddering breath and lowers himself back upon his reclined seat. Pulling the blanket back over his body, he wraps up a section and hoods his head, warily sighing with his eyes still firmly closed. Sleep eventually finds Bach, at its own reluctant pace.

----

The rusting handle slowly turns, the bolt grinds against the door jam, and specs of dust shake free off the aging door. A claw-tipped hand with a laser pistol slips between the narrow gap and sweeps the aim across the growing span. The door bumps into the crumbling rubber doorstop on the wall. Another hand trains a similar laser pistol across the room. Cideeda glances over her shoulder and meets Bach's glowing blue eyes and waits expectantly. Bach sweeps his vision around the space and shakes his head. Engaging the safeties, Cideeda holsters both her laser pistols and lightly steps, eyes watching and furry ears flicking around. Bach walks into the room and stands just behind Cideeda, panning his dimming gaze at the features of the office. "Huh. Yeah, I don't think anyone has been in here in a LONG while."

Cideeda steps next to a desk and surveys the arrangement of items on top, underneath a faint gray haze. Resting a finger tip upon the surface, she clears a speckled path with a drag across the surface. "Dust and some mold. It's definitely been undisturbed and closed off for years."

Bach pivots slowly in place, assessing the major contents of the room. Old books rest upon the shelves and manila folders occasionally divide sections. Written notes nearly burst out from the gaps between shelves. A drafting table sits at the ready near drawers of supplies and rolls of decaying paper. Large ring binders rest upon the nearby desk corner next to a variety of measurement hand tools arranged neatly. The desk bridges the office half to the other side of the room. Bach wanders his stare over to a child's toy box upon a play rug. The sight twists an unsettling grimace upon Bach, and he gazes back at Cideeda, cautiously inspecting the desk. "Okay. This seems so strange... Especially this room."

Nodding her head, Cideeda sighs and scans the area again. "I know... All the other houses so far were almost completely cleared out... Or just abandoned hastily. This place feels like it..."

Bach turns to Cideeda, frowning. "Was left like this PURPOSEFULLY?"

After a long breath, Cideeda nods in solemn agreement, twisting her mouth uncomfortably. "YES. Not just left behind... But, left like THIS."

Silence looms above Bach and Cideeda. They investigate parts of the room, exchanging glances between possible items of interest. Exhausting other points of interest, both stare at the barely touched desk and approach. Cideeda kneels down, investigates the gaps and joints, and shrugs her shoulders. "So, there's no obvious traps."

Rolling her emerald green eyes, she smirks dismissively. "But, I haven't seen anything resembling one the whole time I've been here."

Bach reaches out a hand underneath the wide middle drawer handle. "So... Open it?"

Cideeda peeks under the desk and scrutinizes the underside of the drawer. Rapping her claw tips upon the thin wood bottom, her furry ears flick with the sound. Cideeda stands back up and steps back, resting her hands on her hips. "If you don't feel or see anything magically dangerous, go right ahead."

A secure grip on the handle, the drawer slides out with a little hesitation. The inside compartment stores a single book, a necklace and ribbon wrap binding it shut. Bach and Cideeda cock their heads in confusion, glance at each other, and stare at the book uncertainly.

Aristespha leans into the room through the doorway and enters, the contents of the room capturing her intrigue. "THIS is very different."

Bach places both hands on either side of the book and carefully raises it out of the drawer. Turning to Aristespha, he angles the front of the book to her. "Yeah. Very different."

Opening her violet eyes wide in surprise, Aristespha carefully reaches out with open hands towards the sealed volume. "Oh..."

Aristespha wanders her gaze around the room, furrowing her brow. "We are going to search this place from top to bottom now. Let's get back to everyone else. They were about to check the bedrooms down the hall-"

Sebastian darts into the room and halts in between Aristespha, Bach, and Cideeda, holding a finger to his lips. Signaling them through the door, he jets out. Sebastian leads Aristespha, Bach, and Cideeda to Dretphi in the dining area. Against a corner, Dretphi waves a point along faint trail footprints pressed upon the hallway carpet leading from the kitchen. Blinking in surprise, Cideeda quizzically perks her brow at Dretphi, whispering. "I thought we checked the perimeter of this place to make sure no one has been in it? Those are relatively fresh in the dust and mold."

Nodding in thought, Dretphi sneers her upper lip and grumbles, narrowing her steely gray eyes under her full face visor. "Back door leads to a brick patio. Connects to the driveway from the street. All surfaces that tracks do not last long upon."

Sebastian floats over and quietly addresses the group. "Get ready. I'll go through the bedroom door and see what's there. Be ready for my command."

The rest of the group moves into position, lining magic and firepower down the hallway at the door. Sebastian nods, and his ethereal form phases through the door. A tense silence swells down the hall and looms over the team. Sebastian's ghostly visage pops through the door. "Okay, no one is in here. Don't see anything rigged to the door, but double check it on this side."

Cideeda slinks up to the door, her eyes guide her head in methodical stare around the frame. Glancing to Sebastian with a nod, she reaches out to the door knob. She turns the knob and pushes the door open, swinging it into the room. A fine layer of dust lightly coats the two dressers, a pair of nightstands, and the large wooden bed frame in the room. The group cautiously fans in, checking the area. Squatting down, Dretphi squints at the area rug upon the carpet. Not able to determine how recent this activity was. Material is old. Dusty room. Closed environment. Strangely preserving. Not within a week?"

A low grumble slips out of Dretphi, and she frowns frustrated. "Could be more? Less? Difficult with countering factors."

Cideeda sighs and drags a finger tip along the top of a dresser, revealing similar results from the office. Sebastian hovers into the room further and puzzles at the environment. "This house has been a real odd one. Figures it would be one of the last we checked for the day."

Pivoting mid air, he wanders his curious concern around the room. The rest of the group expands out into the space, investigating sections. Sotalia places her hands on her hips, lifts an eyebrow, and examines the space unamused. Resting her glare upon the shadowy corner behind the open door, she halts abruptly and her eyes widen slightly. She casually steps over and pulls the door back, removing the shade obscuring a simple wire waste basket. With a nearly reflexive eye roll, she dismisses the object and starts to turn around. A glint off something reflective seizes her attention. Kneeling down, Sotalia peers into the waste basket and plucks out one of many plastic wrappers. She brings it close to her and inspects. Cideeda sniffs the air and pauses perplexed. Her nose leads her toward Sotalia with a breakfast snack bar wrapper in hand. The odd silence draws in everyone else, and they all stare at the discovery. Leftover crumbs fall out onto the carpeted floor, each relatively fresh and mold free. Upon the folded join, the ink of a future expiration date contrasts the shiny coating of the wrapper. All eyes rest upon the extravagant promotional image overtaking most of the label space, featuring a recent group shot of the familiar Next Adventurers of Nexus.

Sebastian drifts near a large window and stares out through the cleaner spots of the dirty glass pane. Through the frame of the window, a long, well-engineered road leads out to a distant set of structures near the base of the nearby mountain. Sebastian addresses the group with an air of determination. "I think we NEED to take a tour of this Orth Ridge Archaeological Site ourselves..."

Narrowing his stare, he wrestles an uneasy frown. "As soon as possible."

Dretphi checks her submachine gun and adjusts the strap to the large rifle on her back. Cideeda nods and subconsciously rests her hands near her holsters. An eager grin emerges upon Sotalia's face. Aristespha nod calmly and straightens her posture with hand on the sword at her side. Bach gives a simple thumbs up gesture with a smirk.

Sebastian smiles proudly and squints through the window. "Good. I'll scout ahead. Move fast there, but keep watch for anything off. This place isn't as abandoned as we thought."

----

Gigantic, ancient structures stand solemnly in spite of the hundreds of years of exposure to the world. Stone, metal, and traces of arcane intertwine and form massive buildings of purpose that remain silent. Between the tall weathered archways, imposing, battered walls, and worn roadways, modern constructions add minor conveniences via stairs, doors, walkways, lifts, and lighting. Massive areas with magical ruins and strange industrial equipment stand beneath the skies above, whether by original intent or the eventual decay of time. Sebastian darts around and scans the path ahead, waiting for the team to catch up. Dretphi and Cideeda lead the group with a submachine gun and laser pistol at the ready. Aristespha and Sotalia follow close behind, pondering the purposes behind each structure. Bach maintains the rearguard, keeping a watchful eye behind. Hearing the murmurs of discussion, he steps up and joins in on the current debate. "Yeah, I have no idea what was supposed to happen here. But..."

He wanders his gaze to the blends of magic inscription and technology upon huge stone and metal amalgamations. "It had to be big and significant."

Aristespha bounces her intrigue between one significant structure to one of the many more littering the area. Pausing to rub her eyes away from the afternoon sun, she slowly shakes her head in disbelief. "I know... And, so much effort and time was taken to set up here. So, why leave so fast? I would be disingenuous to say I am not worried about what such a reason was."

Sotalia rests her stare forward to newer construction industrial doors, standing five meters tall within an ancient archway. Noticing the smaller sub-doors open, she squints her golden stare into the dark beyond. "I've seen a few places with that big and open style, but... I don't think this was a style choice."

Shaking her head slowly, Cideeda's eyes peer into the darkness through the small embedded doorway, in stark contrast to the outside light. "Oh, the construction of this place isn't just for looks. Despite how old this main roadway is, they only installed some up to date safety rails and maybe some basic patching."

She waves her arms out towards the mesh of stonework and alloy framework before the team. "THIS... was made to handle heavy, HEAVY traffic."

The team approaches the tall archway and positions themselves around it. Dretphi and Cideeda ready weapons and aim through the open small doorway into the next area, cautiously seeking. Dretphi steps her large armored boot onto the roadway inside, and a faint echo bounces around the massive, cavernous space. A spotlight, flashlight, three different lights spells, and an illuminating ghostly figure shine out, pushing away the darkness and stretching the shadows. Through small cracks and worn seals in the ceiling, natural daylight creeps in, providing the barest ambient light into the space. The bridging roadway from the entry arches over the floor meters below and meters under the ceiling. The path leads to another archway with a similar configuration of modern doors and ancient archway. The group spaces out on the heavy walkway, cautiously searching out towards the assumed distant walls deeper in the inky darkness. Cideeda steps quietly next to Bach and aims her flashlight down over the guard rail, guiding a circle of light through chaotic, long undisturbed debris below. Wincing briefly, she uncomfortably squirms all over and guides her flashlight ahead.

The pupils of Cideeda's emerald eyes narrow to pinpoints. Her light brown skin complexion drains and pales. In a frantic, split-second flurry, another laser pistol leaves its holster. The flashlight free falls and bounces on the floor. Simultaneously, both weapons aim rigidly ahead and shriek to full power charging. Bach snaps his head to Cideeda's terror driven determination. Following the trajectory of her laser pistols, he blinks to a blue glow in his eyes and searches for the target. Horror stuns him in the moment. A force from within powers through the fright, Bach gritting teeth and a snarling lip. His determined stare explodes with brilliant blue light, and swarms of magical flow swirl within and around him, condensing between the palms of his outstretched arms. Layer by layer of tightly packed, hair thin rings of magical energy build upon each other. Each shell of rings rotate, spin, and turn, forming a growing chaotic maelstrom of visual white noise in orb form. A shrill drone from the ball of destructive energy joins the resounding chorus with the powerful energy whine of laser pistols.

Sotalia and Aristespha shiver from the nearby magic and pivot towards Bach and Cideeda. Sebastian and Dretphi hear the familiar noises and spin around, seeking the source. Quickly hunting through the dark void, Dretphi raises her spotlight towards where Cideeda aims. She instinctively raises her submachine gun, her body tensing in anticipating. The spotlight shines upon the far wall and reveals ancient industrial machinery and arcane components against it. In the middle, one mass remains pitch black. Encapsulated with an outline of illumination, a billowing cloud of black miasma lingers, remaining in place. Spitefully ignoring all light within its aura, the fluctuating entity idly looms, the edges of its twisted, vaguely shaped entity overflowing in black ethereal fire. Weapons and magics ready. The team stands still. The whines of laser pistols and the chaotic shrill drone of a disintegration ball flood the air. Cideeda frantic pants punctuate her terror, her tensing form struggling against frightful tremors.

A still, stifling minute passes. Squinting his brightly blue glowing eyes, Bach gradually tilts his head in thought and breaks the silence. "T-That's... That's not one of THEM."

Suddenly cringing, Cideeda growls back, forcing down panic, and tenses her rattling grip on her pistols. "The FUCK do you mean?!"

Her emerald green eyes widen, her body shakes with her frightened gasps, and she grits her teeth. "I KNOW what IT looks like! It's right THERE waiting for us!"

Swallowing hard, Bach releases a long, shuddering sigh, and drags a long breath in. "That... It... It's not a whole... Working one... It's not all there... It's like the components to make one..."

Lowering her furry ears back, Cideeda defiantly maintains her terrified glare upon the black form engulfing a cylindrical tank. The mass ripples out through a rupture on the side of the container. Bits of arcane material, runes, and equipment rest in scattered fragments upon the floor and stick into other pieces of nearby equipment. Gazing over to Cideeda, Bach waits, struggling to keep the disintegration ball going. Cideeda darts her eyes away briefly and blinks out of the fear into the analytical. Her focus breaks away from the dark shape and wonders upon the whole scene. A long painful sigh struggles out, and the tension releases hold of her body. She concentrates on her breathing and flutters eyes back to awareness. "IT... It... It would have come after us by now."

Laser pistols slowly lower. The charging whine disappears, safeties reengaging. The disintegration ball shrinks with the reverse flows of magic entering back into Bach's body. The last spec of energy fades, and Bach relaxes his arms limply to his sides, panting with his head hanging. A painful grimace flashes upon his face, and he growls loudly. "THE FUCK IS WITH THIS PLACE!? What THE HELL did they DO HERE?!"

Drifting around in her dazed thoughts, Cideeda glances over, feeling Sotalia's hand on her shoulder. She notices the concern on Sotalia's face and returns a weak smile with a nod, glancing over to Aristespha and Dretphi nearby. Bach closes his eyes hard and pinches the bridge of his nose, idly shaking his head. Sebastian slides next to his brother, angling for a clear view of Bach's face. "Hey... Hey, bro... You okay?"

Bach draws in a deep breath and eventually manages to nod. "Yeah... Yeah. But... Oh, holy shit, man."

Lifting his head up, he stares into the darkness at the black miasma fluctuating. "THIS... This is a bit much."

Sebastian stares out solemnly to the black mass leaking out from the tank and furrows his brow against his discomfort. "Is THAT what they look like?"

Swaying his head from one shoulder to another, Bach recollects himself and grimly smirks. "Generally. Well, usually about five meters tall with all the fucking anger, spite, and hate you could ever imagine one damned thing ever having."

He narrows his stare at the nightmare fuel. "But... Mostly... THAT."

Sotalia steps next to Bach, gently bumps her shoulder into his, and gazes at him, masking her concern with a grin. "Hey..."

She winks with a sly tint. "You still have to teach me that spell."

An honest smile surfaces on Bach, and he playfully rolls his eyes at Sotalia. Feeling light but firm pats on his back, he glances over his shoulder and meets Dretphi's warm smile underneath her helmet's visor. Sebastian stares towards the light coming in through the small door within the larger archway door. "Good. Everyone, I'm going to check ahead. Let's see if we can avoid any new surprises like that."

Pauses his flight next to Aristespha, Sebastian hovers in front of her, parsing her expression. "Dear?"

Seconds later, Aristespha turns to Sebastian, relinquishing the tremors of anger, twitches of irritation, and strain of gripping frustration. "I am fine. Sebastian."

Sniffing in a breath, she calms and collects herself. "I am going to get answers to this madness once we get within aetherphone reception. Someone WILL tell me what happened here."

Sebastian waits concerned. Aristespha finally shows a loving smile and motions Sebastian off. The group reforms to the previous marching order. Feeling a set of light pressing claw points on his arm, Bach glances down to Cideeda smiling back. She sighs and gazes at him for a moment. "Hey. Thanks for the backup."

Bach shrugs modestly with a smile and rubs the back of his neck, hinting embarrassment. "Well, I don't know how much it would have helped. I mean, I was just mostly scared there."

Cideeda tightens her wrap around Bach's arm and releases it. "You still stood your ground."

She moves up to the front of the formation, and Bach positions himself to the back of the reforming group. The team approaches the small doorway in the larger archway doors. A powerful low hum resonates throughout the area, startling the group. In between the team's worried glances, a voice echoes from the sword.

"ENERGIES. FLOW. STRANGELY... NOT. NATURAL... HE. RECEIVES. THEM."

-25-

Emerald green eyes peer out through the small, ajar door within the larger modern doorway. A furry ear flicks out and scans the soundscape nearby. A few sweeps later, Cideeda narrows her focus upon an opaque safety panel upon a balcony railing. She lowers herself to a cautious crawl across the ancient stone flooring and slinks silently up, placing her back against the mounted surface. Wrestling moments of suspicion, she hunts for threats around the long walkway, overlooking a massive cavernous space. Satisfying her paranoia, she edges her head close to the gap between panel and railing post. Her eyes spring wide open in surprise, and she snaps her shocked stare at the doorway. Holds a finger to her lips, she jerks a thumb over her shoulder. She points to either side of herself down the walkway and nods silently. With care to angle the contact, a heavy boot slowly presses down up the stonework floor, and Dretphi cautiously creeps in, ducking down low into a crouch next to Cideeda. Her hands secure her sub-machine gun and the large rifle on her back from rattling against hard armor plates. Kneeling next to her railing panel, she watches over the area. A faint ethereal glow illuminates near the door, and Sebastian's transparent face gazes at Cideeda in anticipation. Nodding with a calm, serious stare, she points to the huge circular opening above to the sky, and mouths. "Open air. Bright."

Sebastian reaches his arm out low and watches his visage's glow blend with the ambient sunlight in the area. He silently floats just over the floor to another railing panel. Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia creep out in a loose line and fan out to positions in the shadows behind Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sebastian. Pairs of eyes peek around the gaps between panels and railing posts, and dart wide-eyed upon the vast area. Aristespha mumbles to herself. "Gods... What is this place?

Beams of sunlight flood down upon the massive circular platform, and the shade from overhead clouds drifts across the long diameter. Intricate meshes of ceramic, glass, metal, and advanced polymer form concentric rings around a central disc. Faint waves of white light flow inwards in sync to the low resonating hum. Wavering, snaking shadows develop underneath and contrast the warps of space just above the surface of the platform. From beyond the outer edges, translucent white energy flows into the twisting air and swims through the space towards the middle. Upon the central point, a humanoid figure stands within a gentle vortex of magical flow, energy constantly merging into the person's body. Heavy leather boots shift for a wider stance. Worn cotton dress pants faintly ripple with the waves of power swirling around. Long sleeves cover rising arms, and fingers flex within form fitting leather gloves. The hood of the pullover jacket lifts, revealing wisps of white hair fanning in the aether breeze. A bright blue scarf in a tight wrap obscures most of the tan face, and a pair of gray eyes pulsate white with the waves of energy. Jaw hanging, Sebastian opens up his eyes fully, astonishment overtaking. "Noxian."

All other pairs of eyes immediately lock on to Noxian in shock and awe, certain pairs glowing blue, violet, and flickering gold. A minute later, heads turn back away from the gaps, and the team exchange uncomfortable glances. Aristespha slowly releases a tense breath and blankly stares off in uneasy thought. "I did not recognize him immediately. But... That handle of Elder magic flow is his. With what the sword said..."

Furrowing her brow, she wrestles down her grimace. "That has to be HIM."

Sotalia narrows her stare towards the rest of the team and sneers, confusion tainting her doubt. "How? I've felt his presence before. I would have been able to sense him well before this point if this was him."

Shaking his head, Sebastian frowns tightly and swallows hard. "It's HIM. I know those eyes. He may not have that old mask and outfit anymore."

Glancing over his shoulder, he squints through a nearby gap, a mix of natural sun and magical light casting through his ethereal form. "But... That is HIM."

He attempts a reassuring smile to Sotalia, only managing a reserved smirk. "He's changed his tactics from the last time we ran into him. Even the sword didn't pick him up until now. He's been very stealthy and sparing with his magic lately."

A daring grin pushes away the sneer and doubt, and Sotalia perks her brow with a bright, eager glint in her golden eyes. "He might be low on elder energy."

A curl of a lip quivers on Aristespha's ivory face, and her glowing violet eyes analyze the gentle vortex flowing around and into Noxian. "Might HAVE been. He's drawing in energy from that device."

She squints through a gap and sighs. "It must be a collector? A storage system of sorts? I don't know at the moment."

Peeking through the gap near her, Sotalia gazes over the team, determination bold upon her face, and harshly whispers. "Well! We can't just let him charge back up! We HAVE to stop him!"

Sebastian stares at Sotalia, lifts a calming hand, and nods. "I know. BUT, we are facing a HUGE unknown here. We have no idea what he's like after he tried his power against that rift down in Anta."

Furrowing his brow with his racing mind, he deliberates between determination and caution. The humming peaks and suddenly dies off to silence. The group watches the circular platform and Noxian. Moments of silence later, Noxian's head levels down from basking in the flow, and he glances around in brief bewilderment. His shoulders droop, head lowers, and he pinches the bridge of nose with a grumbling groan. His low growls of frustration echo out against the surrounding, encircling tall walls of the huge chamber. Cideeda's furry ears flick to a string of complaints, and she concentrates on the muffled sounds, curling a toothy smile. "I think the machine down there is a bit cranky from age. Doesn't sound like it's going to plan."

The magic flows fade. Slight warps of light loosely follow Noxian stepping off the center disc. He walks across the circular platform to a lone control station just outside the perimeter. Standing in front of the ancient control station, he stares, huffs, and contemplates the new predicament. Thoughts play out underneath the blue scarf covering his lower face. Noxian presses a series of icons on a changing surface, adjusts knobs, and slides levers. Checks read outs, lights, meters, and other measurement equipment, he waits. Second later, he shakes his head and attempts another series of tweaks. Sebastian flashes an eager grin, turns his head away from watching Noxian, and quietly addresses the group. "Okay. This might be our chance. Cideeda and Dretphi, I need you two to sneak into some opposing cover from good vantage points."

Dretphi peeks her helmeted head just above the top of the safety railing and searches around the chamber. She scrutinizes the large evenly spaced support pillars for the balcony and small awning roof overhead. "Pillars present the better option."

Tilting her head down, she surveys the area below and searches around the circular platform. "Other options below. None grant an ideal firing position. Protective cover. Hiding spots."

Sebastian scans along the outer rim, spotting containers, relics, abandoned machinery, debris, and piles of never deployed safety platform equipment. "Okay. Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia. We need to figure out how to shut that machine down enough to keep it useless for Noxian."

Narrowing his stare at ancient control station and Noxian, he grimaces with a grumble. "Preferably as safe as possible. Of course, given current circumstances, we might need to push it a bit."

He meets Aristespha's and Sotalia's gazes, and cranes his head towards Bach. "Hey, bro? Did you hear what I said?"

Bach stares silently at Noxian, a neutral expression devoid of emotion. Slow shuddering breaths escape him, and a constant slight tremor shakes his hand idly resting on his leg. Dretphi follows Sebastian's concern to Bach, along with everyone else. She calmly reaches her hand out, gently rests it upon Bach's shoulder, and firmly squeezes. "Bach?"

Her hand buffers a tense flex of Bach's back. Startled, Bach squelches an involuntary gasp and blinks back to awareness. He turns towards Dretphi's warm, worried smile. Glancing around to Aristespha, Cideeda, Sebastian, Sotalia, and Sebastian, he shudders back to his senses. "Oh gods. Sorry. Just spaced out there..."

Breathing out his relief, Sebastian nods with a comforting smile. "Don't worry, bro. None of us really expected to find him here. NOW. Maybe signs he was here at some point, but..."

He twists an uneasy smirk and motions towards the center of the huge chamber. "THIS is a bit more than what I expected, to be honest."

After grimacing the emotionally concealing blank expression off his face, Bach forces a slight smile and sighs. "Seems to be the running theme of this place."

The team shares a series of nods, head shaking sighs, and other expressions playing off stress. Noxian stands up straight, draws a long breath, and crosses his arms. Exhaling his frustrations loudly, he studies another series of readings upon a magical screen streaming ancient text. He squints his gray eyes, studies the output, and springs his eyes open, his body tensing. Straightens his posture momentarily, he bounces his eyes around the boundaries of his vision. He relaxes his form and resumes a cool, collected exterior. Calmly pivoting, he meticulously hunts around the arena, paying careful attention to the shadowy areas and the long, surrounding balcony.

Sebastian dons a confident grin and softly addresses the group. "Okay. One last time to make sure..."

He glances between Cideeda and Dretphi. "Cideeda and Dretphi, take hidden firing positions, and be ready for the signal over the radio or by me."

Gazing over the other, he instructs. "Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia, try to get close to the control part of that machine and figure out how to shut it down..."

He furrows his brow and twists an uncertain grin. "Or do whatever the hell will shut it down for good."

Pointing around, he motions towards different sections nearby. "As for getting down, there's some stairs over there. Otherwise, maybe one of the ladders down will work. We'll see. I'll try to keep watch over and be ready to be a-"

A cool, collected voice projects itself out into the area. "Excuse me. Who. Is. Here?"

Tension seizes everyone. Sebastian's jaw hangs open in shock, and his pupils shift to the corner, leading his stare over his shoulder. Noxian steps away from the control panel and walks upon the dusty stonework floor surrounding the perimeter of the platform. "I KNOW you are here. Something has changed in this area recently. You have been detected."

Squinting his gray eyes, he methodically guides his stare along the walls of the huge, circular chamber. "So. Please show yourself. I do not mean you immediate harm."

Noxian angles his head towards suspicious points around the vicinity and pauses, seeking out signs of activity. "To be quite honest, I am actually quite curious as to how..."

Lifting a graying eyebrow, he cocks his head slightly to the side and sweeps his searching stare. "And, WHY are you here?"

Worry weighs down upon Sebastian, and he watches the looming tension press upon the team. They remain silent and expectant. Searches his mind, he lowers his head and his ethereal eyes flip through his thoughts. He stops, lifts his head up with a reassuring smile, and nods. "Okay. Keeping almost the same plan, while he's distracted, try to do your parts."

Aristespha narrows her stare at Sebastian, reading the details on his face. "Sebastian... How are we going to distract him?"

A sly smirk boldly appears upon Sebastian's face, and he quirks his brow deviously. "Well... With the one thing he doesn't expect to see."

----

Tense silence weighs down upon the arena. Standing upon the platform in the middle of the cavernous space, Noxian narrows his expectant stare and hunts for disturbances or movement around him, pausing upon anything vaguely suspicious. He pivots and steps towards the control panel. Leaning forward, he squints at the status messages flowing upon the magical surface. He stares at the screen in contemplation and rereads the same numbers, text color contrasting the other values upon the display.

"So... Noxian! How's it been?"

Noxian's eyes snap wide open, and his upper body swings to the source of the ethereal voice. Glaring at the source, he rears his head back in utter shock. He shudders to his senses, focus renewing upon the visage in front of him. "S-Sebastian?!"

With transparent arms casually to his sides, Sebastian shrug nonchalantly. A smug grin shines upon his ghostly form, and he lifts an eyebrow with a faint chuckle. "Yes. In the... spirit, I guess? Maybe, in spirit?"

Stepping forward towards Noxian, he crosses his arms confidently. "Didn't expect to see me again, didn't you?"

Gray eyes sort through the rush of confusion, and Noxian contorts the bewilderment upon face, underneath his blue scarf. "Well, not exactly... Especially, considering our last encounter was less than... amicable?"

Sebastian's grin deflates to a mere smile, and he locks his stare at Noxian. "You can fucking say THAT for certain."

Straightening his thinner frame tensely, Noxian lifts his head up and returns the stare back to Sebastian. "Speaking of our last encounter, I saw the news report. I need to ask...

Faint pains of worry manifest into a grimace, and he sighs uncomfortably. "Do you know if there were any other casualties besides yourself?"

Sebastian perks an intrigued brow and tugs at the corner of his mouth. "Not really. I caught most of that blast of yours, and the whole aether rift kicked up a serious concussion wave when it slammed shut. Maybe some broken bones and I think one guy got knocked out by some debris caught up in the wave. Chipped a tooth maybe? Of course, I did hear all this SECONDHAND."

Tension eases within Noxian's body, and he relaxes into a reserve, guarded posture. "That is a great relief to hear. I'm certainly glad no one else suffered. I had difficulty garnering any reliable information after that incident."

Drifting gradually closer to Noxian, Sebastian maintains a cautious watch of him. "Most of the aether network towers in the region overloaded, and I think the network news crew's feed got cut. Nothing using the aether relay system worked for days around there, and radio barely functioned."

He sneers and groans to a trialing grumble. "I'm guessing the news producers decided to take some artistic liberties with the presentation to punch the drama up."

Noxian rolls his eyes long and sways his head side to side, the curling of his lip showing under the scarf. "Oh, tell me about it. Depraved and morbid as the usual tactic."

He eyes the control console display momentarily and darts his eyes around the area with an uneasy sigh. "Sebastian. I do not know what has happened to you, but I would be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity to say this."

Through blue scarf, the remorseful frown's outline reveals itself, and Noxian's gaze softens. "I am sincerely sorry for the results of my actions towards you. I had to stop you... But, I truly wanted something far less than your demise."

Sebastian cocks his head and examines Noxian's covered face with an itching glare and an eyebrow lift. "I guess that's the best apology I'm going to get, so..."

Contorting a reluctant smirk, he sighs with an ethereal reverb. "Thank you? Haven't quite made it to forgiveness yet. I'm sure you understand."

With a slow nod, Noxian releases a singular laugh. Glancing back to the control system status display, he subtly seeks around the area within his field of view. "Yes. I do understand. I very well can't blame you, either."

Sebastian straightens up and eyes Noxian with a growing sneer. "OKAY. Noxian. What ARE you doing HERE?"

Noxian tilts his head and flits his brow at Sebastian, a smirk barely perceptible through the scarf. "Well... If you have been here a while, the blatantly obvious. Finding a path towards completing my goals."

Blending reluctance and wonder, he gazes out over the platform and surrounding chamber. "It turns out this ancient place could be of service to me... Still."

Averting his head away from Sebastian, his face winces with a thought. A long mournful breath escapes, and his eyes close tightly, painfully with the exhale. Reopens his eyes slowly, he forces the traces of sadness back down and meets Sebastian's stare again. He cocks his head to the side, puzzling. Furrowing his brow, he squints suspiciously at Sebastian. "So, all in fair play... What are YOU doing HERE?"

Noxian's gray stare pierces right through Sebastian, both figuratively and literally. Sebastian works up to a grin and postures darkly and sinisterly. "Haunting you, of course! Why else would my ghostly form present itself to you? Stranger things happen all the time."

A deep smile manifests underneath the blue scarf wrapping Noxian's face. Closing his eyes hard, he laughs genuinely, echoing into the chamber. His eyes open and emit a bright white light. He widens his stare and tips his posture back, curious. Casually pointing to Sebastian, Noxian motions his hand with his pondering. "Now, that is a curious form of existence you presently find yourself in. Hmm... Interesting."

Narrowing his distant gaze to a thought, he wonders out loud and idly pantomimes a rolling gesture with his hand. "That damned sword of the? Of the?"

Sebastian wrestles down a surge of frustration and groans, blatant annoyance dipping his words in sarcasm. "Legendary Sword of the Spirit Realm..."

A faint sneer interrupts Noxian's smile under the scarf. "Gods. That has to be a translation error. I do not remember anything from that period having that fanciful of a title. But... That unique energy signature is quite unmistakable."

Leveling his head, he stares at Sebastian and draws in a slow breath. With a tinge of warmth and a pleading tone hinting, he calmly explains. "Before anything else happens... Your group has shown themselves to be the heroes that Nexus should have. And, the heroes that will still be needed. Even more so, when I set things right again. So..."

Furrowing his brow, Noxian stares right into Sebastian's translucent blue eyes. "I will make this offer again to you and your group. Stop hunting me. Let me do what needs to be done. And, I will do what I can to undo the harm I've caused."

An eerie silence presses down over the two. They keep their eyes locked upon each other. A minute later, a defiant grin splits wide on Sebastian, and he chuckles to himself. "Sorry. But I'm going to have to go with a solid... NO."

Rolling his shoulders to stretch, Noxian laughs and nods in grim acceptance. "To be quite honest, I would question my judgment of character if you had said... Yes."

He calmly walks towards the control machinery. Maintaining a watch over the surrounding area, he alternates between high balcony spots and low areas around the scattered debris and abandoned equipment. Sebastian's stare follows Noxian. Hovering closer to Noxian, Sebastian flares up his ethereal form brighter. "Stop right there, Noxian! Keep away from those controls. You can stop all this right now. LEAVE. IT. ALONE. NOW."

Noxian halts, glances over his shoulder at Sebastian, and lifts an amused brow. Returning his head forward toward the control system, he reaches out with a finger and approaches a button. "I wonder who will-"

Two blue beams flash out from the darkness near the support pillar. The streaks of light impact a warping coating of space around Noxian's center mass and refract off into chaotic scatters of illumination at his sides. Noxian narrows a humored, smirking glare towards the attack's origin. "Cideeda! I see you brought your laser pistols today."

Eying the balcony support, he lifts an open palm up to aim and furrows his brow. "I'm certain you've slunk off to another position. But, I can't very well leave that convenient hiding spot intact."

A small marble of white energy condenses in front of Noxian's palm. With a sudden flex of his fingers, a ray erupts and digs into the ancient stone pillar, flooding the area with blinding light. A spread of brilliantly glowing cracks overtake the structure completely. With a final flicker, the support crumbles into a pile of large, loose gravel. Newly formed chunks of rock rain down through balcony railing gaps onto the floor below, each impacts cracking loudly. Three pairs of eyes glowing violet, blue, and wavering gold briefly watch the spectacle. From behind the cover of a heavy cargo container, they return their stares towards the control station. Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia exchange understanding glances and nod in silent agreement. Along with Bach and Sotalia, Aristespha ducks back down behind and out of view. Lifting up her aetherphone close to her mouth, she keys the radio function. "Dretphi. Shoot the control console. It drives the logic behind the system to move energy around, but does not seem to be active in controlling any other function."

From behind another support pillar opposite the newly graveled side of the balcony walkway, Dretphi peeks out cautiously. Through her helmet visor, she scans the situation below with a massive rifle in hand. "Need time to prepare the shot. I will be dangerously exposed. Arrange a distraction?"

An eager, confident grin explodes on Sotalia's face, and an orb of fire materializes from swirls of magical flow above the palm of her hand. "OH. One distraction coming up!"

With a fanciful flurry, Sotalia pitches a series of fireballs from alternating hands, traversing the spaces between cover. Noxian cracks a brief smile, pivots towards the incoming projectiles, and extends his arms out. "There you are, Sotalia! I was quite curious how long you could actually wait before taking a shot at me."

His eyes brighten briefly and eruptions of energy burst out from his hands. Within a meter of himself, the projected power pops the fireballs effortlessly, fizzling into drifting, magical mist. Lifting an intrigued brow, Noxian hems and rolls his shoulders. "Well... These feel a little different than before. Interesting."

Aristespha peeks around the container and pulls back, securing a firm grip around the handle of the sword at her side. The sword rattles intensely inside its scabbard, and Aristespha contorts her annoyance out on her face. Tightening her grip on the hilt, she closes her eyes and exhales in concentration. Sebastian halts, briefly diverts his attention inwards, and smirks mischievously at Noxian. Zipping in front of Noxian, Sebastian keeps his ghostly visage occupying the hooded, blue scarf covered man's field of view. "So. About haunting you..."

The humor swiftly drains from Noxian's face, and he glares in sheer frustration at and through Sebastian. "Oh gods! Even in quasi-death you have figured out new ways to be an absolute nuisance."

Aristespha pronounces a fast series of incantations, gesturing rapidly to a final stance. Summon up a surge of flow through her body, she releases a powerful wave of energy across the distance towards Noxian. The narrow wall of magical power glides quickly over the stonework floor and splashes around Noxian, struggling to engulf him. The restrictive field strains against the protective barrier around Noxian. Forcing his movements through the barrier, he fends off magical orbs, bolts, and rays from Sotalia. "Ah! Yes! Your favorite trick, Aristespha! Making things more difficult than they have to be."

Another volley of twin lasers beam down from a section of balcony. Cideeda darts back into the shadowy areas and sneaks off to another spot along the balcony. With a bright flash of white from Noxian's eyes, the swell of his protective barrier rips apart the restrictive wave into misty sections. Snapping an open palm at Cideeda's previous hiding spot, another ray floods the area with light. Energy fractures another support pillar and the sounds of rolling rocks echoes out into the chaotic chorus of the chamber. Noxian focuses upon Sotalia, slight curling to his upper lip. Suddenly his concentration breaks away and he searches the area confused. "Wait..."

Arcing out from behind cover, a large orb jets out in a winding, spiraling path and weaves chaotically through the air towards Noxian. The heavy magical bolt grows closer. Noxian narrows his eyes and puzzles at the spell. "Is... Is that an oversized magic missile?"

Keeping a hand out to deflect and disperse Sotalia's attacks, he squints at the lone flying ball of energy and glances at Sebastian. "Gods. I sincerely hope you didn't drag some poor mage school dropout into this mess."

A bold grin widens across Sebastian's face. "Well... About THAT..."

Noxian holds his other hand out, angling it up high to meet the incoming vector of the missile. Readying a field of energy in his hand, he glares unamused at the target. He flits his glowing white eyes wide in absolute bewilderment. "What was THAT?!"

The singular, large orb explodes into a swirling, interweaving flurry of smaller, speedier bolts. The swarm streams outwards, navigating into an all sides approach at Noxian. Fascination filling Noxian, he watches the smaller orbs fly wildly closer with genuine wonder upon his face. He pulls his arms close to his body, and the warping coat of his magical barrier swells outwards, anticipating the missile pack. "WHO is this? There was an energy surge- I'm actually curious as to how much power is behind these."

Sotalia halts her attacks, drops back down to cover, and watches, eager for the impacts. The swarm of magical bolts zip into close range of their target. Simultaneously, they halt just short of Noxian's barrier and idly hover in place. Each projectile drifts clear of the magical shell's fluctuations and slips back into their holding position. Blinks in sheer surprise, Noxian gazes quizzically to Sebastian hovering in front of him. "Who did you find?! That initial bolt did NOT have the power to do this. And, then there was that surge and..."

He squints at a nearby floating bolt with piercing, glowing eyes and mumbles to himself. "There isn't anything standard about this... Even to the actual construction."

Calmly waving his hand out, he guides a swell of his protective barrier and observes a few bolts hovering back. "How is it reacting to my movement? OH, there's a control mechanism. But... There would be too much interference right now with all the..."

Briefly pausing with a lift of an eyebrow, and Noxian launches his hand out. Snatching an orb, his hand grasps it tightly. A pulse of white energy floods the bolt, and a streak of flow zips through a barely visible, fine magical thread. The overpowering surge burns through the ethereal filament, ignites a path to the splitting point, and lights up the route to the origin. Bach crashes out from cover behind a crate onto the hard floor. "OH SHIT!"

Waving his hand frantically, he frees himself of the magical thread, the white energy burning right up to the end. He curses and flips the visor up on his helmet in a panic. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Noxian cocks his head to the side and scrutinizes Bach. Glancing over to Sebastian, he returns a curious gaze to Bach. He levels a longer stare upon Sebastian and opens his eyes wide in astonishment. Turning his head slowly back to Bach, he curls a smirk underneath the blue scarf over his face, fully recognizing. "The BROTHER."

Bach spins his head toward Noxian and blinks in sheer shock. "Uh?! The what?! How did you-"

Straightening his posture, Noxian crosses his arms, visibly puzzling at the situation. He cocks his head and furrows his brow contemplatively. "Of all the things... I, truly, did not expect this as a practical possibility."

His focus shifts, and he pours his full attention upon Sebastian's ethereal visage. He balances confusion and genuine intrigue upon his partially hidden face. "Why would you bring your adventuring school drop out brother into this? And... How is HE casting these strange spells?"

Noxian catches a glint of the shiny metal pommel of the sword at Aristespha's side through Sebastian's transparent form, and his ears narrow down the source of intermittent background rattling. A twitch tickles the top of his cheek near the corner of an eye. An enthusiastic glare stiffens his face under the scarf, and he draws the outline of a snarling grin, vaguely hinting at his teeth through the fabric. "WELL. That would certainly explain some of THIS. But, certainly not all of this..."

He takes a step forward away from the control console, his stare alternating between Bach and the sword. A streak of mass, fire, and light tears into the space behind him. An explosive, thunderous report violently erupts and savagely echoes within the massive chamber. A thick, foggy barrier flashes up and protectively envelops Noxian. Moments later, the last traces of the cacophony dissipates through the open air above and off the ancient stone surrounding into eerie silence. Noxian slowly pivots in place. Blankly, his wide, glowing eyes witnesses a spinning rifle round hovering a mere centimeter away from the center of the control panel. A warping field constricts and slows the rifling rotation to a halt. Noxian traces the tunnel of disturbed magical energy, following the path cut nearly across his back, and concentrates a hardening glare to a space next to a balcony column. "As patient. Calculated. And dangerous. As always, Dretphi."

He turns away and studies the rifle round and the system controls. Struggling against a thoughtful stare, he hisses a long, deep breath. Enthusiasm fades from him. A stoic expression overtakes him and barely contains the remorseful reluctance leaking around the edges. His eyes flash bright white, and the control station stirs. Underneath a fluctuating field, buttons depress, levers slide, and knobs spin by themselves. The status screen upon the magical machine streams brightly colored alerts, a shrill alarm shrieks out into the area, and the console gauges slam to their upper limits.

"BEWARE. ENERGIES. SURGING... TO. HIM."

A low, resonant vibration pulses through the platform, rattles equipment, and shudders through the chamber. From the central disc, torrents magical flows stream out and funnel into Noxian. The sheer volume twists the air and flexes space. The loose edges of Noxian clothing ripples with the swirling energies. The current lifts the tail end of the blue scarf and feathers stray white hairs from underneath the hood of his pullover. Flinging out both his arms to his sides, he flexes his fingers and feverishly utters incantations. Two massive flaming orbs roar into existence from his palms, rocket out to opposing sides of the chamber, and slam into the balcony walls. Exploding simultaneously, the fireballs burst forth snaking jets of flame. They billow out into all engulfing blazes and erupt out along the balcony walkways.

In utter shock, Cideeda snaps her wide-eyed stare over and witnesses the fiery bright orange-red wall ignite debris along the way to her hiding spot. She reflexively bounds over the balcony railing. The flame flash-fries her hiding spot, belching out smoldering ash. Through panicked gymnastics in the air and haphazard tumbling upon piles of debris, she sticks a serviceable landing upon the lower floor and scampers frantically into cover next to Aristespha. Heavy boots stomp out upon the stonework of the balcony walkway, and armor plates rattle against each other. Throwing herself over the balcony railing, Dretphi crashes upon the top of a large wooden container. The dry rotted framework of the huge crate splinters and collapses, dumping Dretphi into a roll towards Bach. Sebastian flies back away from Noxian, glances over Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia, and yells. "Change of plans! Form up! We're getting out of here!"

Returning his tense stare to Noxian, Sebastian witnesses the slow side to side sway of Noxian. Briefly closing his eyes, Noxian dons a somber frown and remorsefully watches the group form up. Sotalia expediently gestures out incantations and throws an arm out, projecting a protective barrier. With a brilliant violet glow from her eyes, Aristespha concentrates and merges another layer to the forming energy shield. Noxian raises his arm calmly from his side, pointing a single finger at the dual barriers. A white beam of magic flashes out. The energy arcs, sparks, and crackles into the protective fields. Both violently warp, twist, and tear apart, dissipating into shreds of fizzling miasma. Noxian hiss in a pained breath through a grimace. Shifting his aim, he opens his hand, palm out, and sighs resolutely. "I am truly sorry. This world needs heroes like all of you. But..."

He narrows his cold, determined stare. "I need to do what I need to do. Things HAVE to be set right. Unfortunately, you were able to find me. You are trying to regain your ability to stop me..."

A flash of white light pulses from his eyes, and he twists a glare upon the team. "And... You've come TOO CLOSE to halting my progress."

Magic flow erupts out from him and condenses into a bright white ball in front of his palm. "When I am done, I will make sure that people know you all died heroes in their defense... Despite how misled you all were."

Glancing over Sebastian, he frowns sadly and sighs. "And if that damned sword survives this, I promise to find a way to free you, so you may at least join them beyond in peace."

Horror chokes Sebastian, and his translucent blue eyes widen fully in stark recognition of the forming, lethally familiar energy gathering into the orb. Bach spots the terror upon his brother. With glowing blue eyes, he gazes upon the condensing magic in front of Noxian's palm. Rushing out in front of the group, he slides to stop, swings his arms forward, and stares at Noxian. Magical flow gushes forth through and around Bach. Energy flows spin off his body and rush out to a developing hexagonal lattice in front of him. From Bach's hands, translucent hexagon panels fills out the latticework and other magical connections. In mere moments, a golden structured energy barrier melds into the floor and rises up tall, intersecting the line between Noxian and team. Shaking his head, Noxian mutters. "A noble effort."

A brilliant flash bathes the room in light and floods the chamber.

The pure Elder energy beam slams into the golden barrier and splashes explosively over the surface. Individual hexes of the barrier shudder violently, arcs of power crackle between, and the structure ripples chaotically. Magic from the beam infiltrates into structure and flushes out the golden color. Jets of the Elder flow rush through magical conduits from the shield and into Bach's body. Sparks spatter out from the clashes between Bach power and the Elder energies. Tension rips through Bach, he twists against the agonizing strain radiating throughout his being. His eyes pulse a brilliant blue, and the waves of flow push against the power overwhelming him. Noxian blinks bewildered and squints his eyes at the struggle. "What the-"

The overloading flow jolting through him, edges of white Elder power press against the glowing blue of Bach's eyes. Cracks fracture into the blue and sink threads of white closer and closer to the center. A pinpoint of bright white flickers into existence well within the pupils of glowing blue of both eyes. Abject utter terror ruptures any calm within Bach, and he gawks distantly in horror. Gritting his teeth, he winces his eyes shut, grimaces in agony, and roars out in a bellowing howl of absolute defiance. "NOOOOOOOOO!"

Opening his eyes to a solid, clear blue, Bach vents out mists of prismatic magical energy. Streams of gold, blue, red, green, and other colors blend out from Bach, bolster flows, and shove back the infiltrating Elder energies to the barrier. With the gigantic surge through all the channels of flow spiraling from Bach, the hexagonal field expels a massive wave of the invading energy back at Noxian. The powerful pulse crashes into Noxian and hoists him into the air, dropping him unceremoniously upon the floor. Noxian slides up onto the circular platform and stops at the central disc. Blinking back to his senses, he quickly lifts his upper body off the ground and manages to stand back up. In the middle of the maelstrom of white energy seeping into him, he stares upon Bach and the barrier. In addition to the golden hexagonal tiles, blue energies seal the divisions between, red threads interweave inside the tiles, and a green coating rests upon the front of the evolving shield."

Noxian gawks at the energies weaving and shaping together and ponders quietly, perking his brow with fresh interest. The ambient vibration eases into silence. The remaining specs of Elder energy from the central dais and the expulsion wave from Bach's barrier funnel into Noxian. Pausing in thought for a moment, he steps cautiously towards the control console and glances upon final messages upon screen. He stares at the shielded group and glances up into the blue sky above. A swirling vortex of air spins up around him, and he gazes over the group through the barrier. "I do believe I will take my leave now."

Sniffing in a long breath, he sighs with traces of sadness slipping out. "There's... Nothing more for me here."

He levels his full attention upon Bach just beyond the elaborate barrier, and the outline of genuine smile forms underneath his blue scarf. The ends of the cloth flutters around behind him in the air currents, and he narrows a curious gaze. "I do hope we meet again. Preferably, under far less confrontational circumstances. Your name is Bach, if I am correct?"

Fluttering his dimming eyes, Bach pants and fights the haze of fatigue. He summons up enough of his senses and grants Noxian a slow nod. Lifting his head upward, Noxian bends his knees low and lunges up into the air, a gust of air rocketing him up into the sky. Shaking her head, Sotalia regains her senses, notices Noxian gaining altitude, and runs forward. "What the-?! GODS DAMMIT! He's getting away! NOT AGAIN!"

She straightens her posture, positions her hands at the ready for incantation gestures, and gasps breath in. Sebastian snaps a point at Sotalia and yells out. "SOTALIA! STAND DOWN! DO NOT CHASE HIM!"

Sotalia growls defiantly with a sneering glance back to Sebastian and begins to cast her spell. "I'm just going to SEE which way he GOES! I'm not THAT crazy!"

A hand clamps upon her forearm and startles Sotalia. She flashes an irritated, teeth bearing grimace towards the owner of the hand. Finding the outstretched arm of Bach, her anger pops away, and she blinks to a confused glare. Bach lifts his face up and gazes at Sotalia, shaking his head. The physical, mental, and magical drain growing more apparent by the second, he pants shuddering breaths and wobbles with his drifting balance. "No... No... More... Risks... Today. Please..."

Concern overwhelms Sotalia, and she nods slowly, placing her hand upon Bach's. "Okay."

Feeling the trembles through Bach's shaking hand, she gazes at him and rests another supporting hand on his shoulder. "You need to sit down. You can take the shield down. It's okay."

Bach slowly nods and closes his eyes. The barrier fades component by component back through the conduits of magical flow into Bach. Pants of exhaustion slow, and Bach steadies himself upon his feet, the tremors subsiding. He gradually releases Sotalia's forearm, slides his hand out from underneath hers, and lowers his head into the hand to cover eyes and forehead. He steps away from the platform, swaying off balance in the turn. Sotalia slips an arm underneath Bach's shoulder and keeps him upright. Heavy footsteps sound out behind Bach, and Dretphi secures a firm, gentle grip underneath his other shoulder, resting her other hand upon his back. "Slowly. No need to rush."

Dretphi and Sotalia support and guide Bach to a cleared spot on the floor, Aristespha awaiting with medical kits rolled out. Cideeda glances up towards the balcony and the lingering clouds of smoke underneath the roof awnings. "Good. It looks like that flame burst thing didn't catch anything too big or too important on fire."

Relaxing her shoulders, she stretches out her lower back. "We should be able to get back out the way we came in."

Sebastian releases an ethereal sigh, venting his tension. He scans around the area, nodding with his thoughts. "Okay... Okay. After Bach gets checked out, we'll get out of here-"

Attempting to roll on his side, Bach lifts his upper body off the floor and groans in stress shaken fit. "Oh, fuck that! Let's just get out of here right now. I'm okay enough to get the fuck out of here-"

A medical gloved hand grasps onto Bach's shirt collar and gently guides his wandering gaze to Aristespha narrowing her violet eyes. She stares silently, and Bach resigns himself back onto the floor. Aristespha removes Bach's helmet and lightly pats him on top of his head with a slight smile. Bach curls a wary smirk out from the corner of his mouth and closes his weary eyes. A few minutes of resting upon the stone floor later, he tilts his head towards Sebastian. "So... Brother?"

Sebastian hovers over and kneels down next to Bach with a comforting smile. "Yeah, bro?"

Bach sighs exhausted, flutters his eyes, and gazes up into the blue sky above through the circular opening in the roof. "Man, how much longer are we going to be at this place?"

Wrestling an uneasy frown back, Sebastian musters up a reassuring smile and nods to his brother. "Honestly, bro. I think we got more than what we needed."

He searches around the large chamber at the stirred debris, the scorched balcony, the fresh gravel, and the silent platform control console. "I don't think there's anything more we need to experience first hand with this place. Time to turn this over to someone else."

Sebastian slowly glances between the rest of the group, gauging opinion on their faces. "I think we should leave tomorrow. Head back to base. Objections?"

Between silent head shakes and post-adrenaline exhaustion, no one voices an objection. Late afternoon light slips through the circular opening in the roof and casts down drifting shapes of shade upon the stonework floor. The team settles down, resting up and collecting themselves. Noises of idle movement and quiet contemplation contrast the stagnant silence, echoing throughout the chamber. Sebastian gazes over the reflective and concerned expressions of the team, and stares out to the lifeless magical platform.

A large cloud passing overhead obscures the sun, and the room dims. The last flickers of light from the control console fade out.

-26-

Early morning sun beams through the rows of trees and scatters a warming glow upon the humvee. Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia sit within the small clearing around the vehicle. Dretphi slides a spatula underneath the last few pieces of bacon in the frying pan above a small cooking burner. Carefully balancing the last slices away, she deposits them on a transparent green plate on a log nearby. The bacon settles in the space between scrambled eggs, biscuits, oatmeal, and gravy. Dretphi turns the burner knob to an off click, and the blue jets of flame flutter out with a poof. Glancing between the full plate and the humvee, she gazes at the rest of the team. "I know we agreed to let him sleep. Prefer he eat fresh food before it gets cold."

Aristespha lifts her stare up from her tablet towards Dretphi, thinks for a moment with her eyes searching, and nods with a smile. "We might as well wake him. I doubt he will sleep much once we get back on the roadway anyway."

A wicked smile flashes upon Sotalia's face, and her golden eyes light with a mischievous gleam. Pinching the last piece of bacon off her plate, she places the plate to the side. She stands up and strolls towards the humvee, a faint giggle in her tone. "Oh, don't worry! I got it!"

Watching Sotalia walk away from the gathering, Dretphi wrestles down a grimace and turns her attention back to the cooking burner. She rolls her steely gray eyes long and grumbles. "She enjoys the torment."

Narrowing her gaze, she peeks back over her shoulder. "Possibly too much for good."

Cideeda shakes her head and perks her furry ears with an amused smirk. Sipping steaming coffee cautiously from a thermos, she sighs with an ending chuckle. "Oh, don't worry... She's just having fun with his inhibitions. "

She lifts an eyebrow, grins toothily, and slides her emerald green eyes over to Sebastian, floating in thought next to Aristespha. "I'm sure she did worse to you, right, Sebastian?"

Blinking back to awareness and the conversation, Sebastian darts his eyes around confused and finds Cideeda's expectant gaze. He pauses in thought, waiting for the last few seconds to play in his mind, and nods. Twisting a tight smile on his translucent face, she wavers between a smirk and grimace. "Oh. Yeah... She's actually been pretty mild. Probably still gauging his tolerance for being messed with..."

He laughs to himself with faint reverb, shrugs his shoulders, and glances over to Dretphi, amused. "Anyway... My bro will be fine. Really. He's not defenseless here. He just needs to learn how to stop being so awkward, anyway."

Dretphi contorts a grimace between a few variations with her thoughts, mulling over the sentiment. Swaying her head side to side, she shudders out a flit of uncertainty and sighs her reservations. "Indeed. There are lessons to learn."

She furrows her brow at Sebastian and curls a vague frown. "Doubt the effectiveness of present methods implemented."

Biting her lower lip, Cideeda rolls eyes, sweeps her long, fluffy tail behind her, and snickers in between sips of coffee from her thermos. "Well... We shall see."

The smile upon Sebastian fades. Returning his head to a rest upon the fist of his propped arm, his ethereal visage stares distantly in thought. Aristespha pulls her attention away from the events in front of her and gazes upon Sebastian with a quiet, calm voice. "Are you okay, Sebastian?"

Sebastian flutters his eyes back to awareness, returning his attention back to the outside world. He pivots his head upon his fist and smiles warmly to Aristespha. "Huh? Oh. I'm fine, dear. Just... Thinking about... Things."

A curious quirk of the brow poises itself over Aristespha's violet eyes, and she trains a concerned, piercing stare to Sebastian. Seconds later, a long ghostly sigh escapes Sebastian, and his smile weakens. Deeper thoughts rise up his body and play out upon his face. Sebastian smiles lovingly at Aristespha. "It's okay. I'll explain it to you later, in private."

A gentle, ivory hand grasps onto Sebastian's hand resting upon the pants of his transparent visage. Aristespha's glowing violet eyes gaze into Sebastian's with a warm smile, hinting faint concern. "Okay, Sebastian."

Inside the humvee, intermittent snores from Bach softly fill the cab. His head rests upon a small pillow and face away from the morning light invading through the windows. A blanket covering his body rises and with each long breath. Bach twists and turns within the sheet, averting himself away from the imposing sunlight. The front passenger's door opens, and the sounds of the outside world leak into the muted interior. The front seat rocks slightly. A woman with golden eyes, dark red hair, and swept back horns places her chin down upon the headrest. Wrapping an arm around the seat, Sotalia eyes the sleeping Bach with a playful grin. Two fingers secure a piece of bacon between them, and an arm reaches out, slowly waving the slice near Bach's nose. Seconds pass, twitching cheeks contort Bach's nostrils, and his face animates with the first stages of consciousness. His head moves subconsciously and briefly follows the scent trailing behind the bacon Sotalia leads away. Bach's blue eyes flutter open and struggle through the haze of sleep, barely perceiving Sotalia. A crispy snap and muffled crunches kick Bach out from his mental haze. Sotalia presents her devilish grin in between bites of the diminishing bacon slice and flutters her golden eyes at Bach. "Well, good morning!"

Bach blinks the remnants of sleep from his eyes and slips out a hand from underneath his blanket, wiping the stubborn holdouts away. "Uh... Um... Morning?"

Perking her brow, Sotalia rolls her eyes and sighs to a smile. "Yes. Morning. Dretphi wanted you to eat breakfast while it's fresh and hot."

The blanket slides off to the sides of the seat. Bach pulls the side lever and angles the seat back from a recline. "Oh, okay. Yeah... That sounds good... Right."

Sotalia's smile drifts closer to concern, and she tilts her head to the side, her attention fully upon Bach. "Hey. Are you okay?"

Bach blinks and yawns closer to full awareness. Watching Sotalia vainly fail at suppressing a reactionary yawn, he manages to put forth a weak smile and faintly chuckles. "I guess. I think? I don't feel bad or anything."

Drawing a long breath, he sighs and wanders his stare off into the internal distance. "It's just... A lot to process, still?"

Sotalia rocks her head upon the headrest, mimicking a nod, and renews her smile to Bach. "Well... That makes sense. Last few days have been pretty wild."

Long brown hair with rare strands of gray free themselves from last night's arrangement and rest upon Bach's shoulders. He brushes out a few stubborn tangles with his fingers and finishes with an uneasy exhale, shaking head side to side. "I'm going to be honest... Yesterday really pushed me to the breaking point..."

Sotalia's smile lowers gradually into a frown, and she watches the discomfort and tension sneak out through Bach with memories of yesterday resurfacing on his face. Swallowing hard, she furrows her brow. "I know."

She lifts her arm from a wrap around the seat, stretches a hand out, and places her fingers underneath Bach's chin. Angles his head upwards, she inspects Bach's face and gently guides his head, checking a few spots. A smile reemerges on her light tan and dark gray face, and she drops her hand away from Bach's chin. "You are looking A LOT better today. And... Since we're being honest..."

The morning sun reflects the worry in Sotalia's golden eyes. "You really spooked me yesterday."

Bach sadly curls the corners of his mouth, twists a pained grimace, and briefly grits his teeth, averting his eyes. "Ah... Yeah... Well... Sorry about that."

Sotalia slowly blinks her eyes, lightly sways her head, and draws a widening grin from a corner. "Sorry nothing. Thank you. Really."

Wrapping her arms tight around the headrest, she sighs and glances away. "I NEEDED someone to blatantly remind me of the situation, before I ran off doing something stupid in the heat of the moment."

The dry smirk finds its way upon Bach's face, and he chuckles softly. "Hey, I'm glad I could help there. But, I really hope it doesn't require something like that to remind you in the future."

A confident laugh escapes Sotalia, she lifts her head off the headrest, and her hands settle to either side of the top of the seat. "Gods. I hope so, too."

Seconds of silence pass in the humvee cab, the morning light flooding the space more. Gazing out his window to the rest of the team in the clearing, a thought wanders itself across Bach's face. Moment of contemplation later, he gazes back at Sotalia with a wary tense in his tone. "So... I guess you and Aristespha are going to question me how I sent that blast back?"

Sotalia narrows her eyes upon Bach and slowly nods, maintaining her stare. "Oh, yes. Especially since that's the FIRST time we've seen someone pull a return to sender on anything from Noxian."

She cocks her head to the side, her gaze upon Bach. Placing the now short piece of bacon in her mouth, she bites sharply and crunches loudly. "But... THAT can wait a few days after we get back to the house."

She smiles evilly and a hint of satisfied giggle slips out. "That's the least I can do for you after seeing the look on Noxian's face after what you did to him."

Rolling her golden eyes, she vents out her mental exhaustion and combs her fingers through her dark red hair. "AND... I'm all for taking a few days break after all of this. Gods..."

Her golden eyes flick over towards the back passenger's window, and she grimaces in thought. "Anyway, I think Aristespha will be too busy trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with this place and whose head she's going to rip off when she finds out."

Bach exhales in relief. Quickly drawing in a breath, he glances out through his window at Aristespha in the small clearing nearby. "Yeah, I can't blame her. I'd really like to know what happened here, too. But..."

He curls his upper lip into a sneer and groans out his frustration. "Preferably not while we're still here? I mean, I can read about this place from the comfort of the living room couch."

Sotalia draws air sharply through her nose and exhales long with a slow, exaggerated nod that trails off to a blinking sway of the head. Noticing the small silver e of bacon left, she pops it into her mouth and chews it away. Bach squints suspiciously at Sotalia and quirks his brow inquisitively. "So. I have to ask. Was THAT one of MY pieces of bacon?"

A wicked, devious grin flashes up on Sotalia's face, and she nonchalantly slides out of the seat, stepping out the front passenger door. "Hmm. Maybe? You should probably check your plate."

----

An orange glow from the dusk sky radiates dimly through the windows of the inn's decorated, wooden dining hall. Goff adjusts the television out from the wall upon an articulated mount, aiming it towards the table with the expectant team. "Okay! I think I got the roof antenna right last time I climbed up there."

Lifting up the remote to the screen, he presses a few buttons and watches the television. He glances over his shoulder with a grin. "Well, we'll find out soon. I hardly ever turn this thing on unless it's for a special event... And the weather, when it looks like it might be a maelstrom."

Sebastian laughs with an ethereal reverb and grins wide, crossing his arms smugly. "It should be quite the SPECIAL event given the week they probably had. I'm actually curious how they are going to try to spin it."

Snickering with a dark, mischievous tone, Cideeda glances at Dretphi and pokes a claw tip gently into her side. "Oh, I wonder how they're going to frame that ass beating you gave your..."

Her emerald green eyes roll to Dretphi with a parting smirk. "Professional peer?"

A low grumble rumbles out from Dretphi. She averts an unamused, distant stare away from Cideeda's toothy grin, pouring a ladle full of stew into her bowl. "That term is incorrect."

A curl of pride creeps out from the corner of her mouth. "Wishful thinking on his part."

Squirming with anticipation throughout, Sotalia plucks a bread roll from the center of the table and fidgets in the finely crafted wooden chair. "Oooo! Gods, I hope they do a nice segment between me and that Tassilda bitch!"

Narrowing her gaze, she smiles smugly and settles down in her seat. "Oh... I wonder how much the camera caught afterwards. Hope the mic was hot."

Bach fends off his apprehension towards the television and the commercials running in the space before the next show. He focuses upon enjoying the food in front of him and occasionally eyes the screen, deciphering what product the latest commercial tries to advertise. Shrugging nonchalantly, Goff walks back to his spot at the table and slides himself and chair back in. "Well, I think that's the right channel."

He wrestles down a flit of doubt and smiles hopefully. "Anyway... I hope they show this place in a good light, if anything. Wouldn't mind a little extra business."

Aristespha smiles reassuringly at Goff and covers a brief giggle. "Oh. I wouldn't worry too much. Given how they usually act, this lovely inn will seem absolutely wonderful. Again, I want to thank you for having room for us on such a short notice."

Tilting her head to the side, she lifts an intrigued eyebrow at Goff and glances around the mostly vacant dining hall. "If I remember correctly, you said that you usually had a few regulars frequent this inn around this time?"

Goff scratches the graying beard stubble underneath his chin and shakes his head, drawing in a long breath. "Hey, not a problem. I'm glad you all needed a place to sleep."

Gazing over the empty tables, he furrows his brow and ponders out loud. "And, yeah... For one reason or another, all my regulars either canceled or postponed that week. A little weird, but it happens."

Sebastian drifts over near the conversation and perks an interested brow at Goff. "Huh. What were the reasons? If it's not too much to ask?"

Goff gazes up into his head, mentally sorting through a list. Keeping a count upon his finger, he recites through his memory. "Yeah. No. Uh, let's see... A trade group from the Appaland area postponed a few days due to bandits deciding to camp out on their main route down. But, last I heard they got some big mercenary group clearing the route ahead of them. Their partner group is on standby until that clears up."

Hemming to himself, he arrives at the next explanation, flicking up another finger for the count. "Then, these reagent hunters canceled because a Terra Priest group was spotted recently in the place they wanted to explore. But, they mentioned there was another spot they were interested in and would get back to me to make arrangements. Something about having to figure out how to get to the spot safely."

Shifting his weight upon the back, the chair creaks slightly under Goff, and he sighs. "I'm really sad the old guy from a few weeks ago had to cancel. Really enjoyed having him around. I was hoping to hear a few more of his stories."

He shrugs his shoulders and twists the corner of his mouth. "BUT, he said he had something really unexpected come up and had to change up all his immediate plans."

With a frown, he shakes his head slowly and throws his hand up in defeat. "Hell, even offered him a discount. But, it sounded like he needed to take care of some important business first. I can't fault him there. Life happens."

Bach glances over to Goff and wrestles a grimace, a bit of interest tinged with concern. "Wow. I mean, all THAT has to be rough on business."

Goff shrugs and holds his hands out to his sides with a nonchalant smile. "That's the nature of the business. Some weeks are packed. Some are dead. But, it works out. You all needed a place to stay from what sounds like a rough few days, and I'm happy to be able to provide a place."

He furrows his brow contemplatively and chuckles. "Anyway, usually for every thing that stops people from getting here, there's something that brings others here."

Resting an elbow on the table, he waves off the thought. He spoons some stew and cracks a sly grin. "I don't aim to profit from disaster, but that last maelstrom sent a lot of people my way."

He proudly grins and nods to the team. "And, it provided a lot of tree clearing work to my son."

The television blares out a familiar fanfare, and a series of graphics flash up on the screen, prominently displaying the title "The Next Adventurers of Nexus".

"Thank you for tuning in to this week's Next Adventurers of Nexus! We have quite the week to recap! Our adventurers have been quite busy! Tempers flared from confrontation..."

A brief clip highlights the banter between Sotalia and Tassilda. The feed swipe cuts to a split screen graphic of Sotalia grinning menacingly with a fireball in hand upon a golden yellow background. Tassilda's closeup smug, sly grin occupies the other side with her green fireball and a contrasting blue backdrop, clashing with animated sparks to Sotalia's side.

Sitting up with pride, Sotalia widens a smug grin across her light tan face and points a partially eaten bread roll towards the screen. "Ooo... Backgrounds that match our eye colors. Gods, that's actually not too bad. Almost looks like something from a fighting arcade game."

"Emotions exploded from unexpected defeats..."

On the television, the camera frames Trakenthin sitting unamused in the interview room. His body language borders on irritable, hints of frustration slipping out from his stoic facade. Crossing his arms, he glares harshly into the camera and growls low. A woman off-screen questions. "Trakenthin, what are your feelings towards Dretphi? Given your last match with her..."

The woman's tone pries, jabbing a point. "And the question at the panel?"

Trakenthin remains quiet. The glare intensifies upon the camera focal point, and a persistent twitch forms in his eye. The woman continues her queries and shuffles some paper off-scene near a microphone. "We have the original audio, but we actually have a translation of the exchanges that I'll read off, too. First, let's play the question at the panel."

An audio clip of Dretphi's voice filters into the airspace of the room. Sotalia snickers, covering her mouth. She winks to Dretphi, a wicked smile escaping the concealment of her hands. Satisfaction fills Dretphi's grin. Noticing attention from Sotalia and the rest of the group, the expression deflates towards neutral and stoic. Bach discreetly leans close to Sotalia and whispers. "So, uh, what did she say anyway?"

Sotalia bites her lip mischievously, under the watchful eyes of Dretphi. Rolling her golden eyes, she softly slips an answer back. "Oh. It doesn't have the same punch translated. All the cultural contexts make it REALLY cutting. It would be too much to explain."

The woman off-scene draws breath for her next statement. Loud cracks of clenching knuckles echo out into the room, and Trakenthin pulls his hand back. A fist impacts the protective glass of the camera, and the lens shatters. The view abruptly falls backwards, hazily focusing upon the lighting rigs above and spooked camera crew around. Heavy footsteps stomp away from the microphone, and a door slams powerfully with a faint crackle of splintering wood.

Wagging her long fluffy tail, Cideeda playfully pokes Dretphi with a claw tip and barely contains her laughter. "WOW. I can't believe how far under his skin you got! He can't even stand to hear your voice."

A content smirk sneaks out upon Dretphi's tan face, and she relaxes her stoic front. The television cuts to another segment and the announcer's voice calls out.

"Curious covert conversations were had..."

In a distant shot across a huge space, Cideeda stands along with Deedri in the dealer room at the convention, talking to each other. Cideeda blinks in shock, her jaw drops, and her eyes widen in sheer bewilderment. "HOW. THE. FUCK?! I checked around the floor before and afterwards!"

Studying the screen, she squints and angles her head to the side. Her stare studies the dynamics of the camera shot. Pantomiming the physics behind the shot, she alternates glances between the television and her clawed hands. One hand serves as the target and the other as the camera location. Cideeda gawks at the screen, curiosity tempering frustration. "Wait! That's a downward overhead shot."

Her tail tip flicks around, and her furry ears flick back. "Someone actually climbed up into the maintenance walkways up in the rafters... Found us... And recorded us?!"

Her jaw hangs open, and she blinks her emerald green eyes in utter disbelief. "GODS. That's it! I see support beams around the edges of the shot. Who the hell does THAT?"

The imagery on screen morphs to another theme, and the music mixes with a pop rhythm. Scene transitions to a camera moving forward down a dark walkway towards a figure on the center stage.

"But, FIRST... The announcement you've all been waiting for!"

A video flashes up upon the television and overlays on top the stage scene. The clip shows Chad standing up from a large, immediately familiar table in Goff's dining hall. Hemming loudly to capture the rest of the group's attention, Chad addresses the assembled team. "I know you all have been curious as to the exact details of the assignment, and who exactly we are escorting back to Amaranth Valley. I believe it is safe to reveal the details, now. After the last show of her tour, we are going to escort back the pop star, Veevi Valiant."

A mild mixture of reactions stir in between Deedri, Trakenthin, Tassilda, and Modoran. No strong acceptance or rejection manifests, a generally bland reception overall. Chad grins brightly and draws a deep breath. "After which..."

His brown eyes gaze over the team. "She will join our group as a short term intern to experience the adventuring life herself, first hand."

Modoran's eyes flit open, and he barely halts the sharp inhale of water from his glass. Dropping his head forward, he dumps the contents of his mouth back into the glass and yanks in a rough gasp. A wave of unease strains through Deedri, and she fights an involuntary cringe upon her fair face. Trakenthin slowly lifts his head back, away from his meal. Slowly pivoting his head to Chad, he concentrates a glare of brewing rage upon him. Tassilda crosses her arms with a hoist and flips her head up defiantly at Chad, curling her upper lip into a disgusted snarl. Tense moments of silence loom over the Flames of the Phoenix. Stifling peace shatters into tumultuous objections from Trakenthin and Tassilda. The video window shrinks away into the background, and the focus shifts to the stage lighting up. A half-fvalian girl struts across the stage to the walkway in front. Tossing her vibrant pink, long hair around, she sways her long, short-haired tail in sync with each step. Her short, upright fuzzy ears perk, and she lifts a microphone to her mouth, singing to the music playing. Clips of her career flip up onto the screen, showcasing a variety of pop phases and themes along with segments of her scandals and drama. Cutting through the din, the yells of Chad to the team rise out from the background. "It's ONLY for ONE mission! Just ONE!"

Aristespha widens her violet eyes in disbelief. Her jaw hangs agape, and she cups her mouth and nose with both hands. Sebastian snorts and fails to contain his ghostly reverberating cackle. An ear to ear grin spring up on Sotalia, and she props her arm upon the table. Resting her head upon her hand, she delightfully watches the chaos upon the television. Cideeda blinks hard a few times and slowly shakes her head. "Okay. I have to admit... THAT is a little cruel and unusual."

Dretphi quirks her brow and glances at Cideeda quizzically. "She is the same one from the concert... I believe?"

Nodding slowly, Cideeda furrows her brow at her memory and exhales to a slight whistle. "Yes. YES, it is. I think she's on a show called The Next Star of Nexus..."

She snorts and contorts an amused smirk. "Oh. I bet this is some kind of cross promotional ploy."

Bach grits his teeth and squeezes a sigh through, eyeing the simultaneous progression of drama and derailment of normalcy on the television. "Well... I guess the good news is that they'll be a little, uh, preoccupied for a while. Hopefully, they'll leave us alone."

An awkward tension wafts across the table. Each member of the team individually ponders the implications. Goff shrugs nonchalantly and smiles humored. "Well, looks like tomorrow night is going to be really exciting again!"

Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian and Sotalia snap full attention upon Goff, a mix of curiosity and dread playing out upon faces. Working his mouth side to side, Goff hems with an ending chuckle. "Yeah. As much as I'd love more of your business this weekend..."

He shrugs his shoulders and sighs. "It might serve you all better to head straight home tomorrow morning."

----

From the sliding glass door, late afternoon light illuminates the familiar and comforting living area. Dretphi sits upon the floor, sorting through the first load of dry laundry, and places folded clothes in the baskets with name labels upon them. Cideeda's claws pick through the exposed components of her laser pistol, scratch at a layer of soot, and pry out a fleck of rock from the end of the focusing barrel. Sitting on the couch, Sotalia counts vials of potions and inspects the parts and pieces of unrolled equipment kits upon the coffee table. Bach hoists up a large metal case onto the kitchen floor from the garage steps. Summoning up the strength, he lugs the box over to another similar container by the dining table. Moments later, Aristespha walks in from the hallway archway and stands straight with a neutral, serious expression. Sebastian hovers through immediately afterwards, moves next to Aristespha, and gazes across the space at Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia. Putting forth an admirable effort, he maintains a confident smile that roughens around the edges with the prominent thought in his mind. With an ethereal cough, he addresses the group, tone lacking the typical bravado. "Everyone. If I could have your attention... I need to say something pretty serious."

Sebastian's off tone carries across the room, yanking everyone's focus away from their respective chores. The room fills with uneasy tension and eyes fall upon Sebastian. His efforts to keep a smile fades quickly. With a wary smirk, he gazes out at the group and exhales somberly. "I've been thinking about it for the last two days. Reviewing the situation... And... How things are looking."

Lowering his head momentarily, he ethereally sighs and lifts his face up to meet the expectant stares. "We got ridiculously lucky Thursday. There was a damn good chance that we could have all met our ends."

Sebastian’s face contorts with a flood of emotions, fighting to break the surface. "I know our profession is risky in general. But... I feel that some misjudgment on my part put us in that situation..."

Furrowing his brow, he shifts his stare inwards. "That was completely avoidable."

He stiffens his lip, blinks hard, and gazes out to the group. "I know situations can change at any time, any way on a mission, and all of you have been extremely supportive. But, this last encounter with Noxian was too close... Again."

Visibly swallowing hard, he pauses to collect his thoughts. "And... Way too familiar to THE previous time we encountered him."

A shaky undertone infiltrates his voice, and he concentrates upon the team, glancing over to Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia. "I... I... I'm glad no one paid a price this time... Like I had to last time."

Aristespha winces slightly and fends off a forming grimace. Frowns weigh up faces, and gloom looms into the room. Rolling the faint tension out of his shoulders, Sebastian straightens his posture and addresses the team. "I can accept my fate..."

He briefly averts his eyes to the side, a hint of frustration rising. "Eventually."

Returning his attention to the team, he continues. "But... I do not want anyone else to suffer a worse fate because of my failure of judgment."

He grits his teeth into a grimace and sighs remorsefully. "We had NO BUSINESS confronting Noxian this time, especially THE last time down in Anta. As much shit as we give those guys in Flames of the Phoenix and previous groups on Next Adventurers of Nexus... I can't rightfully say my judgment was any better than theirs. I've been pushing the group too hard, too fast, and without being careful enough."

His shoulders slump, and he frowns heavily. "I thought we might be able to catch Noxian when he was weak and just solve everything quickly. But... Noxian has changed his tactics. And... I don't know what he's up to anymore."

With distant stare forward, a head held up high, and stiff upper lip, Sebastian carefully speaks in a calm, wavering voice. "That's why in good faith, I can't ask any of you to continue on this path against Noxian. If anyone wants to stay away from him, I'll understand completely. We'll continue on as a group for as long as we can. We'll enjoy the time we have before circumstances catch up to Aristespha, and by proxy of the sword... Me. And... If you want to leave the group... I can't blame you. No shame at all."

His stoic demeanor cracks, and his words shudder with his trembling frown. "Truth be told... There's part of me that would be so happy to know you wouldn't be steered towards Noxian's direction anymore."

Wide-eyed gazes search around the room. The heavy atmosphere flattens down and compresses the mood into the floor. Traces of tears form in Aristespha's eyes, and the silent collective contemplation lingers in the room. A minute later, Sotalia mutters and swears under her breath to herself, lifting off the couch and standing quickly upright. She marches around the coffee table and glares up into Sebastian's face, with a fury welling behind her golden eyes. "Fuck. You. Sebastian."

Sebastian's dour expression flops unceremoniously off his face, and his translucent blue eyes widen with shock towards Sotalia. Focusing her stare upon Sebastian, Sotalia's eyes pierces through his very being. "Fuck. You. Don't you DARE kick your own ass in front of us and act like we didn't have a part in the whole thing!"

Sotalia firmly places her hands on her hips, perks her brow, and concentrates a hard stare upon Sebastian. "You've always involved us in every big important decision. You always considered our safety above anything else. And, you have ALWAYS reviewed any plan with us and asked for our input. We've been a part of all this the whole time and made our own decisions about being involved. So, fuck you for dumping this bullshit all on yourself like you're some kind of martyr."

Softening her expression quickly, she gazes into Sebastian's eyes and blinks hard, wetting her eyes. "And, fuck you... For not being solid enough for me to slap some sense into you."

A small smile graces Sotalia, and she winks to Sebastian and pivots to face Aristespha. "So... I'll do the next best thing for you."

Aristespha blinks with glistening tears hanging in her eyes and puzzles at Sotalia's attention. Smiling, Sotalia opens her arms up, steps forward, and hugs Aristespha with a soothing pat on the back. "There, there, girl. I am going to help you kick Noxian's ass and get Sebastian back whole again. Don't think I'm going to leave that easily."

Tears finally escape and trail down Aristespha's face. The initial stun wears off, and she wraps her arms around Sotalia with a meek whisper. "Thank you."

A warm smile grows on Dretphi, and she gazes toward Sebastian with a calm, bright tone. "Important decisions rarely have best options. Right for the time, not best. I believe we have taken the right option with the decisions presented."

She smirks confidently. "We will continue to make those decisions in the future."

Exhaling slowly, a tension in her voice. "Noxian's actions concern me. Do not want to experience what they will become if unhindered."

Flicking a furry ear, Cideeda stares at Sebastian with an amused, sharp smile, and slowly shakes her head of short-colored hair with a long, exaggerated eye roll. "Please. You can't get rid of me that easily."

Gesturing with her hands, she emphasizes and punctuates her points with a toothy grin. "Hey, don't beat yourself up on my account. I'm smart enough to know damn well enough what I'm getting into. Anyways, I really doubt that letting Noxian mess with a magical rift or continue to charge up with some ancient artifact was going to lead to anything good for anyone. So, don't work yourself up with the thought I'm going to leave NOW."

A strong smile forms on Sebastian and relief loosens his stiff posture. He blinks, and the semblance of tears reflect on his ghostly visage. Seconds later, he gazes upon Bach in silent contemplation and humbles himself. "Bro... You put yourself in the line of fire, yet again, and saved everyone. I..."

Wrestling a surge of guilt, he musters up a hopeful smile. "I've already put you into harm's way enough as it is-"

Lifting his hand up, Bach halts his brother's speech and snorts, contorting his mouth into a reserved smile. "Brother, I promised to help you. And, I am going to whether you fucking like it or not at this point. I mean... it's not like the broke-ass quasi-mage life is calling me back."

He perks up an eyebrow, strains his marginal smile, and exhales with a slight hiss, his eyes wandering, analyzing the situation. "I'm still pretty clueless to all this adventuring stuff."

Squirming faintly, he chuckles. "I'm still scared by some of the stuff we do. And, I'm just NOW feeling USEFUL overall."

A solid grin pushes through the waves of doubt upon Bach, and a moment confidence washes away the uncertainty in his body language. "But, gods dammit, you all are going to need my help to stop that crazy bastard from doing whatever he's got planned."

Gazing at everyone else in the room, he draws a deep breath and sighs in an awkward laugh. "And I'm sure we've all seen, heard, or read enough stories to know that anyone messing with power like that... Shouldn't be left alone with it."

Sebastian closes his eyes for a few moments, sniffs a couple times, and ethereally exhales his remaining tension away. "Thanks, bro. That's good hearing it from YOU."

Projecting a renewed aura of bravado, Sebastian smiles confidently to everyone and nods. "Well, I'll do my best to lead us right in the future towards our goal of stopping Noxian. But..."

He furrows his brow and shakes his head. "For now... Let's take the rest of today and tomorrow to relax. We'll sit down Monday and rethink our plan of attack. The situation has changed again, and I want to make damn sure we change accordingly."

Biting his lower lip with an eye roll, he shrugs off a wave of embarrassment. "Sorry for any unnecessary drama, but I had to say something and make sure for everyone's sake. I consider you all family, and I want to do what's best for everyone..."

He lifts an eyebrow up and snorts. "Well... The best that's possible given the likely world ending dark lord we have to somehow triumph against."

Gazing proudly over the team, he grins. "Thank you, everyone."

Sotalia releases Aristespha. Eyeing Sebastian with a quirk of her brow, she shakes her head with a smile and walks back to the couch. Dretphi resumes digging through the dry clothes in the laundry basket and figuring out who they belong to. Cideeda turns herself back around in her chair at the dining table and picks up a cleaning cloth, focusing upon her partially disassembled laser pistol. Bach gives a quick thumbs up to his brother, pivots, and then steps back towards the kitchen door to the garage. Aristespha gazes up to Sebastian's ghostly form and waits for Sebastian to meet her violet eyes. He smiles warmly back to her, and she nods happily.

----

Bright white light shines from the headlamps on black sports utility vehicle and down the narrow residential road. Through the night covered rural landscape, Chad gradually guides the steering wheel, following the winding contours of the dark road. "Almost there."

Tassilda tips her head back into the headrest and flicks her light blue on blacks out the driver's side rear window. Groaning, she rubs the bridge of her nose. "I can NOT believe we're going to try to teach that girl ANYTHING about adventuring. I sincerely hope whatever mission we have to bring her on is VERY easy. It will be trying enough as it is."

Squirms of nervous energy work their way through Deedri, and she grits her teeth briefly, staring out the rear passenger's window. "Well, I just hope she doesn't get hurt. It's dangerous enough for us, much less someone with no experience."

Rolling her head on the headrest, Tassilda faces Deedri across from her with an amused curl to her upper lip. "Well, I do, too. As if we need anything more for her to COMPLAIN about. I am just glad she's staying at that hotel for the night, at least. A little reprieve for now."

Deedri bites her lower lip and eyes Tassilda warily with a nervous twist. "That... Too. But, if she gets hurt, I'll have to treat her."

Furrowing her brow, she wrestles down an uneasy grimace. "And... She gives me strange looks that really make me think she's more than I want to deal with. Especially, alone."

Modoran's dark blue eyes dart between Deedri and Tassilda's conversation, lowering to whispers. Easing himself forward from rest upon the third row seat, he trains his full attention upon the discussion between Tassilda and Deedri, curiosity tinging the intrigued smirk. From the front passenger's seat, Trakenthin tends a near sneering glare out the front windshield with arms crossed. He squints abruptly to a section of road in the closing distance. "Something ahead."

The vehicle slows to a stop, and the lights project forward onto two blockages upon the road. On one side of the road, a gigantic plant stalk arches from the nearby forest, and a large circular flower of seed pod lays crashed on the pavement. Huge leaves springing from the stalk shake, and an animal pushes against it. A large boar with patterns on its back fur sniffs and snorts over the pavement. Opening his mouth, he bites down on a large seed and munches contentedly. Chad tilts his head to the side and mutters to himself. "What the fuck is that?"

Deedri, Tassilda, and Modoran work their ways forward in the cab and peer out, studying what lies ahead. Deedri points a claw tip towards the gigantic plant, and her auburn eyes widen in astonishment. "That's a protellow plant. And a huge one! Wow! I didn't know there were any around here."

Trakenthin grunts and narrows his stare upon the creature through the windshield. "Resembles a boar... The markings are strange."

Furrowing his brow, Chad watches the boar delightfully eat seed after seed, happily ignoring the headlights illuminating the area. He presses a thumb on a steering wheel button, and the car's horn blares out in the surrounding dark roadway. The boar stops and briefly glances to the vehicle. The creature promptly resumes eating another seed, tail wagging without care. Chad blasts the horn out a few more times. The boar pays absolutely no attention. Chad ponders a few moments, and a smirk grows. He stares at Trakenthin, shifting the gearshift to park. "Okay. Well, if you know what it is, then you can deal with it."

He waves out to the road through the windshield. "Get it out of the road."

A low growling grumble rises up from Trakenthin, and he releases his seat belt buckle, pulling the handle of his door. Placing his heavy boots firmly upon the pavement, he stands up behind the open car door and glares at the boar. He ponders a moment. Loudly clapping his hands together,he bellows out aggressive phrases in Grath to the boar. In a respite from eating, the boar glances at Trakenthin for a moment and consumes another seed from the huge, round flower. Trakenthin blinks blankly, shakes his head incredulously, and steps cautiously towards the creature. Standing right beside the boar, he studies the creature and scratches the back of his head, shrugging at Chad in the sport utility vehicle. He lifts up his large boot and lowers it firmly onto the backside of the boar. Gradually applying pressure, he guides the boar forward on to the other side of the road. The boar tenses his body and stubbornly leans his mass and muscle against Trakenthin's foot, in passive defiance. Trakenthin stops pushing, placing his boot back down. Watching the boar settle his footing without interruption, a greatly amused grin appears upon his face. He chuckles to himself with a quip in grath, kneels down, and strokes the boar's back ridge of hair. Chad's jaw drops in astonishment, and he throws his hands out to his sides. "Wh- What the fuck, Trakenthin?"

Deedri spots Trakenthin petting the boar and smiles excitedly with a bright glint in her eyes. "Aww! He's friendly. I want to pet him!"

Chad undoes his seatbelt and shoves his door open. Hopping out of the vehicle, he narrows his eyes at Trakenthin. "Get it out of the road already!"

Trakenthin glares back at Chad and growls, calmly stroking the back fur of the boar. "I am TRYING."

Frustration overtakes Chad's tone, and he shakes his head angrily. Walking up to the boar, he glowers down at him, pouring the full ire of his scowl upon the critter. "What's wrong with this thing? I mean, shouldn't this pig be scared of us or something? Big truck, big people, good reasons to move out of the way?"

Contorting the corners of his mouth with his thoughts, Trakenthin shrugs uncertainly, petting the boar. "Maybe. Not familiar with this fur pattern on a boar. Look like a piglet? Strange."

An amused smile grows on his face, and he chuckles softly. "Friendly. Indifferent. Stubborn. Respectable."

Chad buries his face in his hand and grumbles loudly. "Well... Just pick him up and drop him off the side of the road. Or, something! Tomorrow is Monday, and I really want to be able to rest SOMETIME this weekend."

He huffs and groans. "Gods. I just want to get back before anything else happens!"

A loud cascade of snaps and cracks merge together into a chaotic cacophony, echoing forth in the vicinity. Another gigantic plant stalk slips between the gaps of nearby trees and free falls down, crashing with a resounding metallic, dull thud upon the roof of the black sports utility vehicle. A shriek and squeak intertwine into the background noise under the cascading rainfall of large seeds upon the vehicle and pavement. In the following eerie silence, Chad slowly pivots and gawks astonished at the huge circular, flowery seed pod resting within the fresh dent into the roof. Trying to form words, he manages to only move his mouth with the mere starts of phrases. Trakenthin blinks blankly and surveys the scene carefully. He glances over to the boar, happily grunting and wagging his tail. Feeling the boar shuffle in place and excitedly squeal, Trakenthin lifts his head and freezes in place, his eyes wide. In mere moments, Trakenthin scrambles from the boar, plants himself back in his seat, and slams the door shut. He points out something to the rest of the group inside the cab. Chad regains awareness and witnesses Deedri, Modoran, Tassilda, and Trakenthin staring in unison into the forest bordering the road. Pivoting slowly, his eyes spring open fully, and he races into his front driver's seat. "Shit!"

The door closes. Snapping and crackling noises burst out from the dark forest. A large two meter tall dire boar mother plows effortlessly through the underbrush. Her eyes follow the stalk to the vehicle, and she steps proudly up on the road. An accompaniment of five other dire boar piglets spread out from the flowing magical miasma, radiating from the mother. Clamping her maw onto the stalk, she drags the giant plant and slides the seed pod off the roof of the vehicle with a dull metallic scrape. The flowery seed pod crashes down on the pavement. The piglet swarm descends upon the scattered seeds around the scratched and dented, black sports utility vehicle.

The initial shock fades. Occupants of the vehicle deal with the situation in their own ways. Trakenthin smiles and watches the piglets challenge each other for choice seeds. Tassilda stares in sheer fascination of the power and aura of the mighty mother dire boar. Modoran deftly picks off seeds from the roof through the open sunroof, giving handfuls to Deedri. Carefully, Deedri feeds the piglets through her window. Lifting his head briefly from the steering wheel, Chad weakly glares at the lone piglet in front of the car and drops his head back down into a frustrated grumble.

Timeline

March 3017

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

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6

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Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

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Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

Episode 7

Episode 8

Episode 9

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Episode 10

Episode 11

Episode 12

Episode 13

Episode 14

Episode 15

Episode 16

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Episode 17

Episode 18

Episode 19

Episode 20

30

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Episode 21

Episode 22

April 3017

Sunday

Monday

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Wednesday

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Saturday

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2

3

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Episode 23

Episode 24

Episode 25

Episode 26

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Episode 26

Blaureiter Lecture

In a large lecture hall, conversations merge into a constant drone that lightly drifts above the background noise. College students of all races gather in the rows of desks and mingle idly. Fleeting moments of attention rest upon the prominent digital wall clock over the large white board at the front of the classroom. The clock flicks over to the next hour. A tall imposing figure calmly walks in through the side doorway, closing the door behind him. In the middle of his stride, the man faces the classroom of students. The ambient noise wavers with each contributing conservation resolving. A humored smirk cracks upon the man's aged, hard-edged face, and he steps up to the lectern. Each military boot contacts the floor solidly with the full mass of a muscular frame. With a prompt pivot, the man gently lowers a heavy-duty animal carrier upon the floor next to the lectern and releases his cybernetic grip of the handle. With his other synthetic arm, he neatens up his stack of papers on top of the lectern and quickly flips through the first few pages. Eyeing the text upon the page, a brief sigh of relief escapes his collected demeanor. With a swift brush of dirt off his camouflage military pants, he discreetly inspects his sleeveless, lovingly-worn jacket for anything else and settles his sights on the quieting class. "Hello! The name is Professor Blaureiter. I will be your instructor for this selected topics course, Modern Dragon Biology, History, and Psychology, this semester."

A serious expression emerges on his face. He scans his blue eyes across the classroom, firmly gripping the sides of the lectern. "If this is not the course you are signed up for..."

The stoic aura fading, a smile breaks through with a chuckle, and Professor Blaureiter combs his synthetic hand through his swept-back silvery gray hair. "You might want to hurry and find it. But..."

He shrugs his artificial shoulders casually. "You are more than welcome to stay and learn. There's always a few who do every semester."

Lifting up his arm, he holds up a single finger and addresses the students across the classroom. "Before we get too far... I'm going to answer a few of the questions I usually get and save everyone some time."

He raises both his advanced, cybernetic arms out to his sides, and the artificial muscles define themselves underneath the polymer outer coating. He flexes through a few different motions. "Yes, both my arms are cybernetic. They are very powerful. And, no, I don't feel like demonstrating at the moment. Feel free to come to the Cybernetic Support Group sponsored sporting event this weekend on campus. And, I'll leave the story behind getting the arms to the usual rumors for the foreseeable future."

Amusement fills his face, and he cracks a humored grin, watching the reactions in the gathering of students. He puts his arms behind his back and stands up straight and proper. "Yes, I was part of a now defunct private military contractor that specialized in dragon riding. The unit had no public name. Since the absorption of certain territories into the Greater Azure Alliance, I'm not sure what I'm cleared to know or say anymore about my service. And no, it wasn't Vukasin. But, we both share equal hatred for Red Gears. Overall, I tend to avoid the subject. Anyway, I've LONG since been discharged, retired, or whatever they are technically calling it these days."

A gray brow perks on Professor Blaureiter's face, and he slyly smiles at the growing attention from the audience. "And YES... We WILL talk in greater detail about my dragon, known by most as... The Night Terror."

Pausing momentarily, he stands in silence with a slow sigh venting out through his smile. "But... She will always be Nachta to me."

With a side step, he settles behind the lectern, flips over a few pages of notes, and searches with a finger for a particular spot. "That all will come much later in the semester after we cover the basics. So, any pressing questions at the moment?"

Blaureiter quickly seizes of the moment of silence from students trying to form questions and continues on with his lesson. "Okay, excellent! Don't worry. I'm available in my office after class for other questions."

He spins around, walks over to the white board, and hunts down a working dry erase marker from the tray underneath. "Most of what we will talk about in this particular class focuses on modern dragons and related creatures. And for all practical purposes, there are three main categories of dragons."

In large letters, he writes out each category name on the board near the top and underlines each. "Whelps. Pseudo-dragons. And, Dragons."

Turning around to face the class, he gauges the attention upon him, letting the dry erase marker in his hand hunt around the audience. "Quick survey for my understanding... Raise your hand if you are a biology major."

A few hands go up. Professor Blaureiter nods and darts his gaze around to those who have their hands up. "Good... Veterinary sciences?"

Previous hands go down, and a new scattered batch rises up. Blaureiter counts to himself and mentally notes the faces in the class. "Magical sciences and or Adventuring?"

Most of the unaccounted hands rise up for the first time, and Blaureiter searches the room, glancing between sections of the room. A few seconds later, he pauses and aims a pointing marker to one student in the front row. "I think you are the only one who hasn't raised his hand. What's your major?"

The student blinks awkwardly and shakes his head out of the momentary stun. His large furry ears perk up, his posture straightens upon the seat, and he gazes right at Blaureiter with his red on black eyes. "Uh... Um... Computer science, sir."

Professor Blaureiter halts himself a moment, thoughts going to the back of his mind. He develops a sincerely surprised, amused expression. "Huh. That's a new one. Any particular reason for this class?"

The fvalian man squirms through a fit of unease and shyly scratches the back of his head of wild, long white hair with thick black claw tips. "Uh, I needed an elective, and I've been interested in developing a game around dragons for my senior project, Commander-"

Professor Blaureiter hems firmly, lifting an eyebrow at the fvalian man. "Just Professor, please. Or, Mr. Blaureiter."

A nervous cringe pulses through the fvalian and tension stiffens his body. Blaureiter opens his hand, shifting the marker between his fingers, and waves down in a calming motion. "Don't worry. It's more of a formality to keep the university from getting into trouble than anything to do with me."

He twists his mouth and rolls his blue eyes. "Long story short... Old politics between my prior associations, the founding members of the GAA, and Vukasin."

Cracking a comforting smile, he chuckles. "I'm just a professor now."

A wave of relief washes over the fvalian man, and he exhales, slightly deflating his posture. Blaureiter maintains his gaze upon the fvalian man, twirls the marker back into his closing hand, and points once last time to the fvalian. "What's your name, by the way?"

Honest surprise overtakes the young fvalian man, and he toothily smiles eagerly. "Um, Tellerran Argos, sir."

Blaureiter nods, wags a marker at Tellerran, and smiles, pivoting towards the whiteboard. "Now, that's a name. Hopefully, I can give you some good info for that game of yours. Don't be afraid to stop by my office if you need anything specific."

He studies the whiteboard with the three categories. Spinning to face the class, he flips the marker in his hand to tap the board underneath the Whelp category, and quizzes the class. "So... Whelps. I want to hear from you all what traits you would use to describe them? Raise your hand if you have something to add."

A few arms extend up with open hands from the audience. Blaureiter surveys the class, settles his glance upon an evuukian woman in the middle rows, and points to her. The woman lowers her hand, guides some of her curly dark green hair back over her shoulder and flits an equally hued eyebrow, donning a confident smile upon her face of walnut colored eyes and skin hints. "Very, very small creatures."

With a quick twirl of the marker, Professor Blaureiter writes on the whiteboard. "Yes, they are. I would go so far as tiny, especially when you compare them to a proper dragon. Their size is interesting, as it seems to be a genetic protective limiter that stuck. The original whelps hatched from full size dragon eggs and stayed that size. Even after generations of wild whelps, they only ever get to roughly four kilograms and a wingspan maybe a few centimeters over a meter."

Aiming the tip of the pen out into the crowd, he locates a large grath man and confirms his attention with a nod. The grath man lowers his long, muscular arm down, darts around his mind for the right words, and focuses the gaze from his pale golden eyes. Contorting an uncertain expression on his gray toned face, he twists his brown haired brow. "Proportional to the original?"

Professor Blaureiter nods firmly to the proudly smiling grath man. Adding another descriptor to the board, he addresses the class. "Another interesting trait of whelps is that they maintain nearly exact proportions to the dragons they derive their lineage from. That's actually one of the reasons they are known as whelps. Those that hatched eggs away from a proper parent initially thought they were just slow growing dragon babies, pups, or whelps."

Contorting his amusement on his face, he chuckles with a sigh. "After a considerable amount of investment and no growth, they realized something was WRONG. But... The term whelp stuck more than any other they try to classify them with."

He finishes the last few letters of the note on the board and seeks another eager student from the crowd. The wandering marker tip locks onto a emin man with prominent forward protruding horns that curl slightly back at the tips. The emin man lowers his hand,flips through a few pages of his notepad, and rests the pen in his lowering hand upon a particular section. Glancing up from his notes, he pushes his glasses up his light blue skinned nose, focuses his violet on black eyes, and brushes stray short, dark blue hairs back. "From research and, well, obvious results, it seems the whelps are quite... Prolific."

A light chuckle works its way out from Blaureiter, and he shakes his head amused. "THAT is a very nice way to put it. That was one thing early dragon egg thieves, poachers, and other less scrupulous people found out. It seems that EVERYTHING was scaled down but kept INTACT. With recent investigations into whelp genetics, this was not an accident or glitch. There's evidence that genetic engineers took effort to make sure whelps could breed. No one expected that hundreds of years ago when they just threw them out into the wild or sold them as exotic pets. Now they're pretty common."

Blaureiter gently taps the chisel-shaped felt point upon the whiteboard over the last part of a word, ponders to himself in thought, and squints into the classroom of students. "There's one more major trait for whelps that ties all these together..."

He spots a young woman with an unamused expression hanging upon her face. The woman idly twirls her red hair and props her dispassionately raised hand on top of her desk, her green eyes reading messages off her aetherphone. Blaureiter points to her and maintains a fix upon her with the marker, waiting for her notice. The room quiets up, and the attention of peers shifts, watching the unaware young woman continue playing with her phone. Finally notices the sudden silence, she lifts her head up and sees Blaureiter with a sly grin on his face. A flush of bright red emerges through her dark tan complexion, and she stumbles through her thoughts with embarrassment. "Oh! Uh! I-"

Settling to a reassuring smile, Blaureiter guides her back to the current topic. "You had your hand up. Do you happen to know of a trait that helps tie all these others, for whelps, together? Something that defines them as the creatures we know today?"

The young woman bites her lip nervously and places her hand with phone down, flipping through her mind with her eyes. "Um... I don't know of anything like that. I was just going to say they are... Uh... Mischievous?"

An eye brow lifts up on Blaureiter's face, and his genuine interest concentrates on the term. "Now, why do you say they are mischievous? You are not wrong, at all. But... What do you think the main reason is behind that?"

The young woman's confidence drains, and she continues to ponder Blaureiter's question. Eventually, she sighs and voices her mind uncertainly. "Well... Back home they often got into everything. They would open doors, break window locks, and..."

She shrugs her shoulders and wrestles a flit of old frustration. "Just play with anything they couldn't eat. Which turns out, they'll try to eat anything. Gods, raccoons don't give us half the troubles they do. It's like they are too smart for their own good."

A proud grin returns upon Blaureiter, and he starts writing upon the board again. "Too smart for their own good. THAT sums it up. They are extremely clever creatures, and THAT intelligence gives them quite the advantage for surviving out in the world, but makes them troublesome to deal with."

He stands back from the board, examines the very clean, calligraphic handwriting. Flipping the marker to the other end in his hand, he taps out a summation. "Tiny, proportional, prolific, and clever. With these traits you have a TERRIBLE PEST to unleash upon your enemies when they steal your genetically engineered creature's eggs and try to raise them as their own. Current research points to this conclusion for many reasons. Historically, we have found records of diplomats writing detailed reports of seeing whelps resembling their dragons when visiting rival nations and other documents noting the growing troubles that whelps were causing. And, we don't have to look too far for examples today with wild whelps."

Blaureiter writes down a few more prominent discussion points upon the board. From behind the slits of the heavy metal animal carrier door, a silvery, round eye peeks out. The pupil darts around the immediate area, inspects surroundings carefully, and focuses fully upon the door itself. The eye shifts up and angles its aim down, disappearing from view with another similar eye replacing it. The head of the small creature presses close to the cage door and alternates which silvery eye peers through the slits in the cage door. A simple key lock shut upon the door release attracts most of the critter's attention. From lower gaps in the cage door, a pair of tiny scaled, clawed hands reach through and feel out the lock with sharply developing zeal.

Professor Blaureiter finishes a few remaining words on the board under the Whelp section, side steps over, and stands in front of the Pseudo-Dragon category. He spins around with marker felt hunting for another student. "Let's shift over to pseudo-dragons. Please, raise your hands if you have something to add."

A few seconds pass, Blaureiter scans the audience, waiting for the first batch of hands to rise up. He primes the student participation with some commentary. "Similar to how whelps are the interesting result of anti-theft measures and genetic protections, pseudo-dragons are the result of such mechanisms directed towards a different end. What characteristics are common to pseudo-dragons?"

His eyes jump between the different hands rising up, and he quickly and precisely levels the chiseled felt of the marker in hand to a fvalian woman. Pointing to herself to confirm her selection, she places her hand back down on the desktop and her claw tips contact the laminate wood surface with light clicks. Her cyan blue eyes blink, her long, fluffy ringed tail wags upon the floor underneath her seat, and her long, furry ears perk. She straightens up her posture and addresses Blaureiter, working out an awkward smile upon her tan speckled face. "Well, I don't want to sound too mean. But... They all seem so deformed. At least in comparison to an actual dragon. Some really look like cute, cartoon versions of what a dragon should be."

A light chuckle sounds out from Blaureiter. He nods his head, pivots in place, and writes upon the whiteboard. "Yes, they do. Their physiques vary greatly. There are many that are completely unlike a dragon and much closer resemble dinosaurs or creatures from monster movies."

Glancing over his shoulder, he lifts his brow towards the class. "BUT, there are few that are almost close to looking like a dragon, just lacking one thing or another. With modern dragon lineages, it's actually not uncommon to get a pseudo-dragon despite all the proper care measures taken."

A few last delicate strokes complete the last part of a letter, and Blaureiter spins back around towards the class and searches for another raised hand. He chooses an attentive grath woman. She meets his gaze the moment he pans his head over towards her section of the room. Blaureiter directs his hand to the grath woman, awaiting her response. A smile graces her, and she nods her head momentarily, shifting a few of her brown to black braids across her dark tan face. "Pseudo-dragons are not... very... intelligent creatures."

Slowly rocking his head up and down with a jocular eye roll, Blaureiter shakes his head with an amused sigh. "THAT is an understatement. They can learn to do simple tasks and be trained well enough... with dedicated effort. But, they don't have the capacity of understanding that dragons or even whelps have."

He squelches a snot. "I will never forget the time I visited a pseudo-dragon rescue with my partner."

Shifting over from the board, he motions out to another person next to him in the story. "We were waiting for the owner to come back with some paperwork, and we heard this odd crushing noise."

His head shifts down, and his hands pantomime towards the floor with his eyes wide. "We both look down and see this young pseudo-dragon eating..."

He tilts his head to the side and flutters his eyes with a dumbfounded stare. "Gravel. Regular road gravel. The pseudo-dragon looks up to us."

Slowly turning his head towards the audience, he blinks to exaggerate his astonishment. "As happy as can be, he smiled. Gazed upon us with that goofy demeanor. Then, he went back to eating rocks, tail wagging like nothing was wrong."

Classroom lights up with laughter, snickers, and gasps of astonishment. Shrugging with both his hands on his sides, Blaureiter relaxes both arms down, faux confusion mixing with amusement. "So... There are SOME that are much smarter than THAT. But, it's really not that high of a bar to get over."

Carefully sneaking below the sharp jump of room noise, a small pair of clawed paws tug and jerk the lock of the cage vigorously, each attempt rattling metallic into the background drone. Blaureiter waits a few seconds and seeks out another comment from the class. A young man in a suit of old, worn out polymer armor catches Blaureiter's curiosity. Blaureiter quizzically examines the student. The man's green eyes notice the attention upon him and lead his head of wild brown hair to either side. Gazing back to Blaureiter, he musters up a response. "Um... Back home, we actually have a few of the large pseudo-dragons on the farm. If anything, they are never mean. I really don't think they can get mad. At least none of the ones we've ever had."

Professor Blaureiter gives a confirming wag of his marker and turns around, scribing a few phrases upon the whiteboard. "They can get irritable, but it's quite rare. Some studies have shown that there are signs of genetic protections in place that trigger a drastic change in their brain biochemistry. It effectively renders them completely docile and completely incapable of being overtly aggressive."

Writing more upon the board, he keeps a pointed finger at the young man. Contorting his light complexioned face, the young man wrestles down a sting of nervous energy between the few small stick-on bandages. Blaureiter finishes and returns his gaze upon the young man. "Quick question. Your armor-"

The young man averts his eyes away in embarrassment and rubs the back of his neck. "Oh! Um, sorry. I have my martial defense course in the rec center after this course. I thought I could save time wearing it to this course, since I live in Lysander hall."

Blaureiter waves away the response with a calming smile and perks his brow. "Perfectly understandable, and I'm completely fine with that. I'm actually curious as to where you got it. The design looks familiar."

The young man glances down at his armor and gazes back to Blaureiter with a simple, nonchalant shrug. "Ah... It was my grandfather's. He used it when he was part of the Perimeter Defense Force."

Alternating between key spots on the armor, Blaureiter analyzes and searches for unique markings. Moments later, he visibly puzzles at empty sections and furrows his brow at the faint outlines of missing identification marks upon the polymer plate suit. Releasing his squint upon the young man, he dons a smirk and inquires. "What's your name?"

After a blinking idly, the young man catches back up to the conversation and stiffens his posture slightly, respectfully. "Rhavae Riasremua."

Blaureiter darts his eyes around in his mind, awaits a flit of familiarity, and narrows his inward stare at the void of recognition. He grins to Rhavae and nods. "That's good armor. I actually know someone who would probably help you fix it up. Stop by during my office hours."

Rhavae smiles eagerly and drops his nods in agreement. Pondering the information on the board, Blaureiter glances back to the class with a sly smile. "There's one more thing... But, it's not all that common of knowledge. You've all been really good so far... So, I'll give you all a chance to guess it."

He watches hands lower, rise halfheartedly, and lower back down. A few remain up after scattered deliberation, and Blaureiter gestures towards a woman with bright pink, long hair flowing out from underneath her hoodie. She lowers her light brown toned hand down and quirks an eyebrow with a twist to her mouth. "They're herbivores?"

Blaureiter sways his head side to side. "No. As much as people think they are, they have the same digestive system as whelps and dragons. Most people just usually feed them leftover vegetation, because it's cheap. Also, pseudo-dragons really aren't that picky."

The interest from the audience piques, and a few put writing utensils down upon writing material, recording notes. Blaureiter points out to another student with his hand up. The dark gray skinned evuukian puzzles briefly within a last moment fit of doubt. Darting his dark purple eyes away, he reconsiders and shrugs his shoulders, shifting his silvery hair in resignation. "I always heard they can't flow magical energy."

Blaureiter shakes the marker in his hand gradually and lifts a gray brow with a grin of amusement stretching across his face. "Actually... They CAN."

Another portion students snap to attention at Blaureiter and eagerly await further explanation. Professor Blaureiter calms his grin to a contented smile, noticing the eyes upon him. He projects to the attentive group. "Recent studies and field tests have confirmed pseudo-dragons can willingly flow their magic energies. The trouble is..."

Twisting a humored smirk on his face, he sighs with a roll of his eyes. "They usually don't figure it out. At least, not on their own. But, when placed in the same areas with dragons and even whelps, they can eventually learn to work their magical flows. They still can't manage much with it, but it does show they can will magic like any other living creature."

He scans across the entirety of the lecture hall, halts, and slowly slides back to a student. The petite, orange haired, and orange eyed woman rests her raised arm on the desk and props her head upon the other arm with an unamused expression firmly over her face. Blaureiter motions to her and curiously quirks an eyebrow. The petite woman sighs and grumbles. "Pseudo-dragons become sterile after one or two generations."

Blaureiter firmly blinks, flits his eyes wide open, and stares at the petite woman. Remaining silent for a few seconds, he slowly nods his head in complete agreement. "Yes. Yes, exactly. Pseudo-dragons fertility is fleeting at best and, usually, there is only one viable generation."

He squints his eyes and recognition itches. "Very impressive answer. I get the feeling you have some firsthand knowledge of pseudo-dragons."

Contorting her mouth, the young woman frowns and crosses her arms, disappointment heavy in her tone. "My family breeds Dragoon lineages... But, I always had to take care of the pseudo-dragons."

Furrowing his brow, Blaureiter cocks his head to the side, his mind actively hunting through memory. "Any particular reason why?"

The woman rolls her eyes away with a squirm in her posture and grumbles out. "Because the dragons are always spooked by me and stay away from me."

Briefly widening his eyes in recognition, Blaureiter grins with a chuckle and shakes his head. "Of all the people. It's been a long time since I last saw you, Lina. Studying magic, I assume?"

Lina beams with a wide smile and happily nods. Turning towards the board, he places the marker down upon the plastic surface and writes out Lina's answer exactly. "If you could, stick around after class, I'd like to hear how everyone is doing."

He returns his gaze to the class, flips the marker around deftly in his hand, and taps the end to board. "Back to the subject at hand... You are exactly right. As part of the protective and anti-theft measures, it seems that pseudo-dragons quickly lose their ability to breed. Which is usually something most people don't notice, since there are a fair number of pseudo-dragons around. Typically, many small dragon breeders will also breed pseudo-dragons from their stocks and sell them for domestic purposes."

A solid clack of marker end against the board sounds out, and Blaureiter iterates through the bullet points. "So... Deformed, dumb, docile, and infertile. As I mentioned, it's a different tactic to discourage theft and misappropriation. Instead of a small, frustrating pest that infests your country, you have something of very limited military use."

Stepping over to the column reserved for Dragons, he grins proudly. "I'll take it over from here. I'm very impressed with the answers you have all given. No need to quiz you all with trivia that, obviously, is well known by this class."

Blaureiter readies the dry erase marker for another sprint of writing. From the sturdy animal carrier, frustration lowly grumbles out, and claw tips on dexterous paws fumble with the key lock on the front door. Observant students gaze upon the hands of the creature working to get the lock open. Blaureiter hems to the students and immaculately writes out "Fake Lock" near the edge of the board. Waving his finger side to side, he underlines the two words. "Don't say this out loud. He's learned what these two words mean, and he'll try something else if he thinks that's what it is."

Moving with his lecture momentum, he scribes out the first terms underneath the Dragon category. "There are many types and breeds of dragon, but common categorization uses two dimensions. Adult wingspan and Limb count."

He searches for landmarks in the room. "While there's debate on whether other metrics should be used, these are easily identified by observation and genetic testing."

Pointing to pairs of front row desks spaced approximately for the category, he addresses the class. "When it comes to wingspan, anything under five meters falls under Small."

He motions to another pairing for the next range. "Five to ten meters is within the Medium category"

Widening the arc between his hands, he glances to points of reference. "Ten to twenty meters is Large."

He holds his arms out towards the side walls of the huge hall. "And anything above twenty... Well, that's just plain Gigantic."

Professor Blaureiter steps back up to a blank board section and speed sketches three caricatures, labels neatly out to the side. "When it comes to Limb count, only three types have ever been known to exist in the modern day. Tetrapods, which usually have a pair of wings and a pair of legs. Hexapods, that have a pair of wings with two pairs of legs. And finally, the extremely rare Octopods, that have two pairs of wings and two pairs of legs."

Glancing around to the class, he lifts an eyebrow at a rising hand from Tellerran and motions the marker towards him. "Yes?"

Tellerran tilts his head slightly to one side and blinks his red on black eyes. "The Night Terror, um, Nachta was categorized as a gigantic octopod, correct?"

Blaureiter smiles and simply nods. "Very much so. She was well in the gigantic category. And took immense pride in it."

Writing on the board, he fills in a few more sentences of information under the dragon category. "While there is a good degree of variance, dragons are typically very intelligent creatures. Modern specialized breeds can easily learn commands, communicate simply, and coordinate with each other."

He narrows a stare across the class. "Dragons of certain lineages are considered sentient and sapient. Shared languages between long-term groups have been observed, and there are some that can fully understand our languages. While their biology doesn't lend to easy vocalization of our spoken language, they can with practice. Some have shown the ability to will magic energies to compensate."

Lowering the marker down, he starts to fill in empty spaces. "While this intelligence grants them unique personalities that can be... difficult to deal with, presenting a challenge when interacting with them... It allows dragons to will their magical flows in a direct manner. In fact, the stereotypical dragon fire breath is fully magical."

Blaureiter finishes his statement and closes off his comment upon the board, standing back and checking it over. Nearby, a pair of clawed hands furiously slam the lock upon the metal slotted door of the cage. Fast, sharp clangs ring out into the room. Students turn their full attention upon the cage, waiting expectantly. Glancing over with a smirk, Blaureiter roll his eyes and laughs. "Well, sounds like he's getting a bit angry. Okay, just a few more points I'd like to cover before I let him out-"

The paws slip quickly back inside the confines of the metal animal carrier, and soft pats of movement sound out against the very back. A dim glow illuminates the dark interior, and a few beams of weak green light beam out from the many small cage openings. The audience perks up and watches with intrigue tempering their developing astonishment. Blaureiter's eyes flit wide open, his jaw hangs down slightly, and he tilts his head back confused. "What? There's no way you are old enough to do anything like that..."

An audible hoarse hum rises out from the background, and Blaureiter rushes over towards the cage. He reaches the carrier, and the building drone silences abruptly. A cloud of green magical miasma vents out of the cage, along with high pitched coughs, snorts, and whines of disappointment. Blaureiter places a hand upon his chest and exhales blatant relief, shaking his head. "Whew. Damn. You had me going there little one. Looks like someone has earned themselves a magically protected cage next time."

Laughter and sympathy sound out from the class, and all pay attention to the creature hidden in the cage. Blaureiter scans the lecture hall and shrugs his shoulders with a nonchalant grin. Capping the marker, he places it upon a tray below the whiteboard. He kneels down next to the cage, puts one hand on the fake lock, and another on a camouflaged locking bolt on top of the cage. "Okay. I think it's time for you to come out. I don't think anyone is going to pay much attention to me after that demonstration."

With a few false motions upon the fake lock, he twists and pulls the real mechanism, opening the cage door. "Come here."

He rests his cybernetic arm down in front of the animal carrier for a few seconds. The same pair of clawed hands reach out, and a silvery gray draconic head follows behind. The creature swiftly walks out onto Blaureiter's arm, each paw securely clasping on. Blaureiter smiles and hoists the beast up high. Unfurling silver scaled wings to over a meter wingspan, the small dragon proudly poses upon the impromptu roost. Professor Blaureiter shakes his head with a playfully dismissive eye roll and addresses the class. "Our guest today is Argent. High Alton University runs a program to help educate people about modern dragons and assist the little ones in getting socialized with people. So, I am able to steal him away for a class or two."

Lowering his arm back down to just below his shoulder, he perks an eyebrow towards the class with a tight, humored grin up his face. "As you can see... Some, like Argent, excel in accepting the attention of people more than others."

He furrows his brow with a faint sigh. "Especially Argent."

Argent subtly shifts his posture upon Blaureiter's arm, purposefully catching the overhead light upon his reflective scales. Lifting his head high, his nose aims upwards. He peeks out of the lower corners of his silvery eyes, staring expectantly to the classroom crowd. Blaureiter jokingly rocks his arm up and down, shaking Argent out of his radiant aura of arrogance. "Gods. Only a few months old, and you have gotten THIS full of yourself."

Argent ducks down and stabilizes himself on Blaureiter's arm, waiting for the shaking to stop. Sweeping his head over to Blaureiter, he narrows his eyes and manages to squirm up the courage for a quick, weak hiss. Blaureiter laughs at the meek display of defiance and scratches underneath Argent's chin, amusement filling his face. "Aww... You're already trying to keep up appearances in front of others."

Gazing out into the classroom, he smiles. "Well, we'll take a break from the serious information for today. We'll start back up with all the little details about whelps next class period. For now, I want to give Argent a chance to stretch his wings and socialize with all of you. Feel free to come up and pet him. He may even perch on a few arms and shoulders if he feels like it. We'll see."

In a rough order, people wander out of their seats and congregate around Blaureiter and Argent. In the sea of attention, Argent swims effortlessly through the admiration. He receives scratches under the chin, strokes down his back, and light touches upon his reflective wings. Lina navigates through the small gathering and manages to get to the front, Rhavae granting her his previous spot. She excitedly reaches out to scratch underneath Argent's chin. Her hand comes close. Argent's eyes lock on and immediately trace the arm to petite Lina. His head shifts away from Lina's hand, and his eyes open wide to her presence. She twists her mouth in frustration and extends her short arm out further. Argent retreats in pace to her approach onto Blaureiter's shoulder and behind his head. She snarls her lip and crosses her arms in thought. "OH, come on! You don't even know me! Even this young, and they are bothered by me."

A sly grin cracks upon Blaureiter's mouth. "Yeah, sorry, Lina. If I had known you'd be in the class, I would have brought a whelp for you."

Argent hisses warily. Lina blinks her orange eyes, tugs at the corner of her mouth into a smirk, and sighs, accepting defeat. "Figures. Still, he's a pretty one... Even if he won't let me near him."

Lina steps away, giving Tellerran her spot. Argent returns to his perch upon Blaureiter's arm and pridefully awaits attention. The minutes pass. Blaureiter discusses today's lecture, answers questions, and assists in handling Argent.

----

The commotion of college students in the hall between classes echoes into the nearly empty lecture hall. Lina happily laughs and passes through the doorway, leaning back with a wave to Blaureiter. Argent peeks out from behind Professor Blaureiter's head of short gray hair, inspecting the area cautiously. Moments later, he crawls to his roost upon Blaureiter's shoulder and confidently poses. Tellerran approaches Blaureiter, furrowing his brow. "Um, Professor Blaureiter?"

Blaureiter glances over and nods with a curious curl at the corner of his mouth. "Yes, Tellerran?"

The fvalian man taps upon a tablet and swipes through numerous images on rotation. His short tail idly twitches in sync to his eyes scanning through the pictures. Lifting his head up to face Blaureiter, he awkwardly explains. "My friend and I are part of an aethernet dragon fandom forum... Well, I know how geeky that sounds, but... So, um..."

A snort escapes Blaureiter, and he lightly chuckles with a smile, shaking his head. "Hey, sounds fine to me. I often, well, lurk around many of those forums. So, nothing wrong there."

Tellerran brightens and musters up new courage in his tone. "Well, we're currently working on creating a master family tree for all the famous and notable dragons. But..."

Furrowing his brow, he briefly squints at the parade of pictures on his tablet. "There's one dragon that we can't figure out."

He bites his lip, showing his prominent canines, and sighs, pondering the situation out loud. "We've ALL got theories, but we haven't found any way to verify them. So, I wanted to show you a picture and see if you had any ideas."

Blaureiter reaches a hand up, scratches underneath Argent's chin, and wrestles his mouth side to side, mixing amusement and genuine interest. "Sure. I'll take a look and see if I remember anything. There were quite a few off the record dragons during many past conflicts. So, it'd be really hard to get any information about them."

Tellerran perks his brow and double taps a single image. Turning his tablet around, he presents the screen to Blaureiter. "Well, it's actually a recent dragon. In fact, my friend went to a fan convention a few months ago and got a few pictures."

A warm smile grows on Blaureiter's face, and he reaches a hand out, sliding his finger through the catalog of pictures. Each image showcases Lagi, the large octopod dragon with blue-black scales, white-armor boney plates, and a friendly temperament. Unaware of Blaureiter undivided attention upon the tablet, Tellerran rambles through his thoughts. "The only official record we've found is an old guild form that just lists the dragon's name, Lagi, and his caretakers. We can't find anything about Lagi's parents. And, there's so MANY theories about who could possibly be his parents! The armor plates are of an old design that we've only found in ancient books..."

Blaureiter quirks an amused brow at Tellerran, watching him continue his deliberation. Tellerran turns his tablet back around and flips through menus, claw tips clacking upon the screen. "And, strangely a lot of Lagi's features seem directly derivative of your dragon, Nachta. BUT... That's impossible. I mean, her eggs were given away to settle that peace treaty. So, it's just strange all around, and no one can find anything concrete. There's just so much speculation going on now."

Tellerran rambles on. Argent rolls his head one way and rolls it the other. Eying Blaureiter, he rests a stare upon Tellerran, puzzling between wags of a finned tail. After a minute of the solo debate from Tellerran, Blaureiter shakes head and hems, startling Tellerran out of his dialog. "How about this, Tellerran..."

A smile widens on Blaureiter. "Towards the end of the semester... I think I might be able to arrange a, well... Special guest appearance."

A sly, tooth revealing grin emerges, and he stands reassuring and confident. Tellerran blinks a few times, his mind rejoins the current conversation, astonishment quickly overtaking. The proposal from Blaureiter sinks into Tellarran's mind, and the young fvalian nods eagerly.

Beckerin Deals

In the back of the spacious cab, a pile of blankets upon a bunk stirs and rolls away from the morning light creeping through truck window blinds. A muffled whistling leaks in from the outside, ringing clearly when the driver's side door opens. The round form of Beckerin hoists himself up into the worn, padded seat, and compresses the spring suspension tightly, rocking the cab. A weakly defiant groan grumbles out from the mound of covers, and the mass shifts. Beckerin turns his head towards the back of the cab and aims his half ear to the noises, slyly perking his brow. Resting a large paper bag on the middle console, he opens it up and reveals a bounty of wrapped fast food breakfast. He fans the fresh aroma out into the cab. A minute later, the blankets retreat back, and the Valavera's golden locks emerge from the fabric cocoon. Her eyes flutter, and she sniffs the air. A happy grin appears on Beckerin's face and chuckles. "Good morning. Late morning. But, still morning."

Valavera gradually lifts herself up and seats herself up on the bed, wrapped in covers. "Morning, Uncle Becker."

Beckerin reaches into the fast food bag and tosses a paper wrapped biscuit into Valavera's awaiting hands. "You put that old tablet to use last night."

Embarrassment flashes upon Valavera's face, and she averts her gaze, unwrapping the fast food. "Uh... Yes... But, I was just reading up on the news and-"

Beckerin laughs with a smile and rolls his eyes. "Playing games all night and chatting with all your friends that you missed."

Valavera blinks and bites her lip in with a nod. Shrugging his shoulders within his trench coat, he plunks out a few choice bundles of breakfast food. "Just because your uncle has half an ear, does NOT mean he has half his hearing. You were quiet last night. But, not that quiet."

He points around the large travel cab of the truck and smiles. "Despite this being a big cab for a big truck, it's still a small room for everything else."

With a quick glance and wink, he cracks a grin and chuckles. "So, how are all your friends doing?"

Valavera quickly swallows a bite of the biscuit and smiles. "Oh, the usual drama. Which means most of them are doing just FINE."

She furrows her brow and darts her green eyes between her thoughts. "Though, I still haven't heard anything from Faelatelia..."

A frown weighs down her light, blue and yellow hints face. "I'm starting to worry about her."

Beckerin pauses from unfolding the fast food wrapper out in his lap. Twisting his mouth in thought, he nods his concern. "If we don't hear from her, we do know some good people to go find her. But, I am sure she will turn up soon enough."

The frown upon Valavera's face fades, and she smirks with renewed hope. After a few bites of the sausage biscuit, she contorts her face and releases a contemplative, long sigh. "I hope so. But... Now, I need to figure out what I'm going to do."

With a curious quirk of his brow, Beckerin gazes over to Valavera and patiently waits. Brushing back her golden hair over her very long, pointed ears, Valavera gradually tilts her head to one side and settles into an introspective, distant stare. She uneasily twists the corner of her mouth. "I don't know, Uncle Becker. I really thought I had things figured out. I hate to admit it now, but I really felt like I was doing something..."

Her shoulder slump, and she trials out a lost sigh. "A part of something... Now... I don't really know what I'm supposed to do..."

Valavera averts her green eyes down to her hands around her breakfast. Beckerin shakes his head with a calm, comforting smile. "Ah. It is okay. No one knows what they are supposed to do. When you are young, you think you are supposed to do something. So, when you do something, you think you are supposed to do it. It's self-fulfilling."

He rolls his eyes at himself, draws a long breath in, and chuckles. "And, you start to like that way of thinking. Even more so than you like what you are doing. So, you tell yourself you are part of a great thing. And, you start to like that feeling, more so than you like what you are doing. That way you like two things ABOUT what you are doing, even if you don't like what you ARE doing."

Valavera blinks, lifts her head up, and sways her head to either shoulder, pondering out loud. "That... Strangely... describes it. Everything felt okay at the beginning. But... Gods. I really was trying to come up with all kinds of excuses to keep the whole thing going."

Nodding understandingly, Beckerin swallows down a bite of breakfast and clears his throat with a chuckle. "It is okay. We ALL have done it. Many just don't admit to it, or don't know they should be admitting. Your Uncle Becker..."

Grumbling at himself, he sighs with personal frustration and narrows his green eyes into a distant glance. "Well, I have had to learn the hard way. And... Well... Relearn the hard way, too. Many times."

An appreciative smile emerges upon Valavera's face, and she gazes at Beckerin. "So... Any advice you can share about what I should do? Well, after I go to school."

Beckerin shrugs nonchalantly and grins. "Try. Just try things out. They may not work out. And, that is okay. There's no map to life. So, you are going to go down wrong paths. All you can do is figure out they are wrong and try another path."

Valavera nods, allowing Beckerin's words to sink into her mind. She picks up a worn, old tablet from a nearby mesh pocket hanging off the back of the passenger's seat. Disconnecting the charging cable, she taps the screen to life. After a few idle moments, she lifts her head back up and smiles brightly to Beckerin. "Thank you, Uncle Becker."

Beckerin nods back and glances over to the clock in the truck's dash. Mumbling in a dialect of Evuukian, he reverts back to Americ. "Oh! We need to get moving soon. I have a special task for the both of us today. You are going to get to see a little more of what I do."

A spark of excitement lights up Valavera's eyes, and she dons an anticipating smirk. "What would that be?"

Beckerin winks and grins eagerly. "Getting information about the location of a SPECIAL find. I sent you the address. Use your tablet and work up a route there. You get to be the navigator again."

Rolling her eyes playfully, Valavera waits for the older tablet to process her request. "I'll try. But this thing is a bit old. And..."

She tips the device towards Beckerin. "What did you do to scratch it up this badly?"

A bit of embarrassment sparks into Beckerin's expression, and he averts his eyes ahead into the windshield. He mumbles a few phrases in Evuukian and grumbles to himself. Valavera snickers and rolls her eyes, weaving a reassuring sentence in the same Evuukian dialect. Seconds later, she blinks through a dawning realization and cocks her head curiously to the side, relaying a query. Beckerin pauses a moment, glances over puzzled, and shrugs out a response in Evuukian. Valavera thinks for a moment and dismisses the quandary with a similar shrug. Her focus returns to the mapping program on her tablet.

----

Sitting in a roadside diner booth, Beckerin smiles and, with a wave, suggests the waitress to leave behind the carafe of coffee in front of the man across from him. "My friend here will need most of this to wake up."

After a quick glance at the wild, brown haired man in worn adventuring clothes, the waitress nods in agreement and fills the mug a little more. "Sure thing. I'll be back in a bit."

Valavera eyes her uncle next to her and trains a curious, analyzing stare at the tired looking human across the table. Beckerin snorts and slowly shakes his head. "See, Mavian. This is why you should have a good sleep schedule. Meeting at noon would not be so bad."

Grumbling to himself, Mavian barely opens his eyes and scrutinizes the diner menu in front of him. "I know... But, you know I work best at night. There's a lot less trouble in that line of work at night."

Beckerin sighs and shrugs his shoulders. "I know. But, I just think a talented man like yourself could put your skills to use in a much nicer line of work."

A sly grin creeps across Beckerin, and he focuses a mischievous stare at Mavian. " And, I believe a certain lady..."

Mavian's eyes spring open, and he locks his uneasy attention upon Beckerin's words. Valavera notices the shift in demeanor and watches closely. The stoic, gloomy aura around Mavian falters, and he attempts to hide his mix of embarrassment, shyness, and nervousness. Loosening the nicely knitted, green scarf around his neck that contrasts to the rest of his clothing, he wrestles off the obvious nervous grimace on his face. Beckerin picks up his coffee mug, smiles with playfully wicked intent, and perks his brow. "...would be absolutely delighted to help you transition to a nicer lifestyle."

Blankly blinking his green eyes, a hint of red flushes upon Mavian's face, and he vainly tries to recompose himself. "Uh- Um- I'm doing fine. What I do pays well, and I get by."

Beckerin chuckles lightly and narrows an inquisitive stare upon Mavian. "Yes. I am sure it does get you by. But, wouldn't it be nice to live in a nice house. Have nice meals. Have nice clothes made lovingly-"

Mavian narrows his glare at Beckerin and snarls his upper lip. Observing the overall change in expression, Valavera notices a faint, constant glow in Mavian's eyes. With a grumbling tone, Mavian directs a whisper to Beckerin, and his initially harsh stare fades to an awkward gaze. "Gods dammit, Beckerin... Did Rhian put you up to this?!"

Beckerin simply smiles smugly and rolls his eyes with a shrug of his shoulders. "That is an answer I think you know."

Mavian remains silent and crosses his arms with a hint of a pout. Beckerin lifts up an eyebrow and smirks. "Should I tell Lady Rhian you'll be visiting?"

Valavera's interest piques, and she attentively watches the exchange with a gossip consuming grin. Mavian halfheartedly puts up some kind of resistance during his contemplation. "Uh... Sure... Yeah..."

He averts his attention away from Beckerin and focuses upon the curious, eager gaze from Valavera. "Uh, yes?"

Smiling wide, Valavera points to the green scarf around Mavian's neck. "Did she make that scarf for you?"

Mavian's tough exterior wavers, and he sheepishly admits. "Um... Yes..."

Squirming in teenager glee, she tilts her head curiously. "It matches your eyes. Which are glowing?"

Glancing away from the attention, Mavian picks up his mug of coffee, takes a long sip, and nonchalantly states. "I was born and raised in the Perimeter Weird Zone. The Zone Glow is a common magically reactive biological trait out there."

Valavera unconsciously leans a little across the table and studies the faint illumination coming from Mavian's eyes. After a few seconds, Mavian musters the nerve to continue his explanation. "It allows me to see magical energies and spirits. It's similar to Mage Sight, but allows me to see spirits, too."

Valavera blinks in thought and grins excitedly. "That's SO COOL! I have to cast a spell to see spirits, but you just do it! That would save me so much time and effort in school if I had that ability."

A bit of pride rises up within Mavian, and he sits up straighter with a confident smile. "Yeah. It helps in my line of work, too. Speaking of which..."

He narrows his gaze upon Beckerin and twists his mouth. "It turns out that your target is in a hot bed of spirit activity. I scouted around the area and found it. The map wasn't the best, but I updated it for you. Didn't see anything bad around. But, for as old as the thing is..."

Scratching the back of his head of wild brown hair, he furrows his brow uncertainly. "It's in REALLY good shape."

Beckerin levels a questioning stare at Mavian. "How good of shape?"

Mavian retrieves a bundle of white bordered, thick film pictures from a nearby satchel and hands them over to Beckerin. "Pretty photogenic if I do say so."

Grasping onto the images, Beckerin holds them in between himself and Valavera, and slowly sorts through them. Valavera's eyes widen in amazement, and she studies the photos. An extremely satisfied grin graces Beckerin, and he nods to Mavian contentedly. "Fine photographs. Worth every bit I pay you."

The waitress arrives and surveys the party of three at the table. "Have you all decided what you want?"

----

The large cargo truck slows to a halt right before the underbrush border of a narrow clearing. A reddish orange to blue gradient paints the dusk sky, the sun disappearing below the horizon. Growing blue hue tints the dimming ambient light. Specks of illumination sparkle brighter within the surrounding forest. Flits of activity flicker out between the pillars of trees, and colorful phenomena drift aimlessly before fading out of sight. The driver's side door opens, and Beckerin climbs down onto the tall grass. Scouting around the vicinity, he lifts up a folded paper map and orientates himself. "From what Mavian has written, our target is half a kilometer..."

He lifts an arm and points towards the dense woods. "That way."

The passenger's door opens. Valavera jumps down and excitedly gawks out into the forest. Her green eyes open wide and absorb all surrounding activity. "Oh! Mavian was right! There is A LOT of spirit activity in the area! You can actually see a few WITHOUT magical help."

Beckerin shifts his attention to his niece. Blinking back her composure, Valavera calms herself with a careful exhale and closes her eyes in thought. With purpose and precision, she slowly pronounces an incantation and gestures with her hands. Flows of energy wrap around her arms and condense between her hands. Moments later, she flings her hands apart and releases a faint pulse of magic into the area. The bubble expands, coating previously invisible beings in a shimmering skin of visible light. Tiny, wandering specks travel across the surfaces of trees. Small entities float, drift, and meander around in the air. Larger, articulate manifestations briefly pay attention to Valavera and Beckerin, and quickly resume their chosen tasks. The dome of energy fades. A huge mass shimmers and shakes off the illumination, ambling away. Valavera gawks at the scene, beholding in sheer wonderment. "Look at all of them..."

Walking up to Valavera's side and awkwardly folding the map up, Beckerin stares astonished at the sight and nods with a proud smile. "I see them. They are wonderful."

Valavera glances over amused and suspiciously smirks to her uncle. "Did you bring me along BECAUSE there were possibly spirits?"

Blinking a few times, Beckerin meets the inquisitive gaze and presents genuine puzzlement with a shrug of his shoulders. "No. Not at all. I had no idea until Mavian told me. This far out, you expect some spirits. But..."

He wanders his stare across the forest full of light and activity. "THIS... is beyond what I thought it would be."

A plotting, entrepreneurial grins emerges upon Valavera, and she rests her hands upon her hips with a confident stance. "WELL, if I help out... Do you think I could get paid a contractor's commission?"

Narrowing a scrutinizing stare at Valavera, Beckerin hides an amused smirk at the corner of his mouth. "Of course. But, I am afraid there will not be much left. I do have to deduct the expense of transporting you, lodging costs, food, equipment..."

He focuses his calculating attention fully upon Valavera. "AND... There is the matter of certain unique skills I have in providing..."

Narrowing his stare, he sternly states. "Political and legal obfuscation services for your recent activities?"

Valavera's bold exterior wilts against the reality, and she sheepishly crosses her arms. With a long, accepting sigh, she bows her head down and apologetically sounds out a gentle phrase in a dialect of Evuukian. Beckerin softly pats Valavera's back and musses up her long, golden hair with a proud grin. "Hah! Do not be that way! It never hurts to try."

He smiles and searches the top of his mind for resolution. "But... Opportunity has presented itself to you. I am not great with spirits. And, you are here. So, I will give you a cut of my finder's fee-"

A hopeful grin creeps onto Valavera's face. Beckerin perks an eyebrow and levels a professionally stoic stare at Valavera, extending his hand out to shake. "IF... You do good work for me. Deal?"

Valavera dramatically waits in thoughtful silence. She grips Beckerin's hand and shakes in acceptance. "Deal."

Pride grows within Beckerin, and he gazes up in the dark, night sky. "Good! I am happy. You are happy. It's a good end to the day. Let us get ready for the night. Our target will be there tomorrow, and we will have guests, too!"

Valavera follows behind, combs her hair back behind her long ears, and curiously gazes at Beckerin. "Really? Are they going to help us?"

Nodding, Beckerin walks along the side of the truck towards the back. "Of course. Nice people. Very knowledgeable."

Pausing a moment, he glances back to Valavera. "Oh, before I forget. It's-"

An extremely similar but minutely different phrase of the same dialect of Evuukian elegantly flows from Beckerin. Valavera briefly cringes and grumbles in mild frustration at herself. "That inflection is always so weird to me."

Beckerin smiles tightly in commiseration and shakes his head. "The Old Form is like that. Your parents still have taught you well. You still need practice. Which I will help you as much as you help me with keeping my Americ decent."

Valavera nods in agreement and lifts a curious brow towards her uncle. "Was their Americ really that bad in Sian?"

Rolling his eyes with a sigh, Beckerin shakes his head and grimaces. "Yes."

He holds up a finger. "Very nice people. Most smart and very crafty. But..."

Wrestling a bit of discomfort, he sighs with a shake of his head. "I think their ancestors lacked the teeth to keep their Americ taught right."

Unconsciously moving her tongue in her mouth to inspect each tooth, Valavera twists her lips and nods slowly. "Next time we are near a town, can we stop so I can get a new toothbrush?"

Beckerin nods eagerly. "Yes. Remind me. I need a new one, too."

----

Beckerin stops his hike through the dense forest at the crest of a hill. Glancing up from the map in his hands, he blinks into a delighted stare down the slope ahead of him and signals a wiry man behind him. "Oh... Just exactly where Mavian marked on the map. Come on up, Jasper."

Jasper narrows his pale blue eyes at Beckerin, snarls the upper lip on his tan face, and flicks off some debris out of his short, white hair. Trudging up to the top of the hill, he rolls his eyes dismissively and grumbles. "Okay, Beckerin. Let's see this random heap of forgotten tech trash that you've conned me into trying to fix today. Mr. Bosch was wondering why I was asking about the large cargo trailers, so it'd better be something big."

He steps up next to Beckerin and gazes downwards. His face blanks to astonishment. While the two men stand and stare in silence, a fvalian woman proudly shows pictures on her aetherphone to Valavera. She stands with a toothy, triumphant grin, tosses her auburn hair back and perks a brow. "You have to see my latest acquisition."

Valavera's interest piques, and she studies the picture of a large robotic head. "Wow! Where did you get that?!"

Rolling her yellow eyes with a bit of embarrassment, the woman bites her lip and adjusts the bandanna over two small bumps on top of her head. "Well... I got this at a convention I was at. A very nice fan gave me a good price on it, after I signed a few Tinkering Tina collectibles."

Her long, short haired tail wags excitedly, and she taps her large, black claw tips on her aetherphone to the next picture, showing the first stages of dissection. "There's some really neat and old parts in it! It's absolutely fascinating seeing the designs they used all those years ago."

Shaking his head, Jasper recovers some situational awareness and directs his voice behind him. "Hey, Ardere? You'll probably want to come up to see this."

Ardere blinks to attention and glances over to Valavera with an eager smile. Quickly scaling the incline, her claws clamp onto tree trunks along the way for support. Valavera cautiously steps uphill, following the footprints left by Beckerin. Ardere hops up next to Jasper and traces his stare. Her gaze widens with her grin. Valavera reaches the top of the hill and gawks down in bewilderment. Columns of sunlight beam through the overhead forest canopy and cast bright spots upon a humongous figure. The clouds briefly occlude the sunlight, and metallic reflections shine through the overgrowth of vines and ivy. A red bird lights upon the motionless robotic hand of a gigantic humanoid mech and flies off with a gust of wind. The leaves obscuring the machine flutter back in the wave of air and reveal the armored two legged, two armed frame beneath. Jasper squints his eyes and mutters a count underneath breath, angling his head towards Ardere. "I'm guessing around nine meters tall."

Ardere's eyes quickly scan and dart between the major sections of the mech. She slowly nods with her thoughts and wags her tail. "Close to it. It's in... Outstanding condition."

Tapping her claw tips together on both hands, anticipation bubbles up onto her face. "Oh! I think I remember reading up about this model. But, I need to get closer to confirm..."

Valavera cocks her head to the side and blinks stunned. "Wait... Why would a military mech be... HERE, of all places?"

Searching up in her mind, Ardere ponders out loud, excitement in her tone. "There were a few battles around this area by a bunch of old countries that no longer exist. THIS probably belonged to one of the armies. It is strange that it's specifically here, though."

Jasper scratches the back of his head and crosses his arms in thought. "Point. Must have been abandoned in a retreat and forgotten about. They may have been hopeful enough to think they could recover it later, since it's not a pile of melted parts."

Ardere contemplates, her furry ears flicking. "I wonder if it's still functional enough for it to move on its own?"

Lifting a curious brow towards Beckerin, Jasper smirks dryly and lets a single laugh escape. "Well... I hope it does for Beckerin's sake. Because if we have to chop trees and drag this thing out, I'm charging by the HOUR."

Beckerin maintains a nonchalant smile and chuckles with a shrug of the shoulders. "That is the cost of doing this business. I am sure you and the lovely Ardere will get it moving. Mavian said it looked very intact."

Jasper groans and rolls his eyes with a dismissive snort. "Listen. Mavian is good at scouting. But, I don't trust his technical prowess. You ever seen him fumble with a tablet?"

A long sigh leaves Beckerin, and he grits his teeth with a nod while glancing down at the paper map. "Yes, unfortunately, with my old tablet. He did finally get a decent aetherphone."

Ardere grins slyly and snickers. "You can thank Rhian for that. She absolutely forced him to get a new one last time she hired him for a job as a requirement to get paid."

Beckerin nods satisfied. "Very good. She took my advice."

He gazes down at the mech and places his hands on his sides, furrowing his brow. "We can talk more. But, let us go down. Then, we can talk and work."

The four approach the mass of military machinery slowly but eagerly.

----

Sitting on a log, Ardere adjusts the pad of drawing paper on her lap and sketches out a rough caricature of the old mech. Valavera lifts her gaze from her worn, battered tablet, and watches the artistically graceful strokes upon the medium in Ardere's style. "I bet jobs like these give you plenty of inspiration for your comic books."

A smile appears on Ardere's face, and she glances over to Valavera at her side. "Oh yes! I mean I did a lot of book research about all this old, ancient tech and all the history behind it all..."

An eager spark lights up her yellow eyes. "But, until I actually got my claws on it..."

Pausing from her drawing, she gazes with an exhilarated grin at Valavera and flexes her clawed fingers. "It was a whole new experience! It's just hard to put into words! Just holding something that's over a hundred years old that was part of something significant is such a... UNIQUE feeling."

The radiating excitement drives Valavera curiosity. "So, how did you start going out to all these jobs?"

Ardere smirks amused and points over to Jasper climbing out of the head cockpit of the mech. "Jasper. I helped him out of a bind, saw what he did for a living, and as repayment..."

Curling a sly smile, she perks her brow. "I wanted to tag along. Ended up really loving it."

A bit of embarrassment trickles upon her face, and she briefly grits her teeth. "Also... I used A LOT of the experience in the first big arc of Tinkering Tina. Which happened to be the first popular arc that got my series noticed."

Valavera watches Jasper walk around the chassis of the massive robot and cocks her head to the side in thought. "Okay. What do you two do when you go out on these recovery jobs?"

Grinning brightly, Ardere rests her chin on her hand. "Jasper handles a lot of the technical work, but he's teaching me a lot in that regard. I help him on the historical and information gathering side of things."

Lifting an intrigued brow, Valavera gazes at Ardere. "Such as?"

Counting off the major points with her fingers, Ardere recites a list. "Identification of the target. Getting exact specifications. Finding oddball parts for bigger projects. Translating manuals in ancient old languages. And..."

She shrugs simply. "Occasionally, finding buyers."

A sly smile graces Ardere. "Coincidentally, creating fiction that appeals to a number of fandoms gives you really amazing connections to handle all kinds of strange tasks. Fans of my own work have been ridiculously helpful. Jasper is very talented and educated in getting ancient tech to work. He knows the sciences behind the technology and theories of the applications."

Winking to Valavera, she sits up with a proud smirk. "But! Getting all the hard to find info makes it A LOT easier."

Valavera cracks a grin with a giggle. "And, I bet it ALL makes its way into your stories."

Ardere rolls her eyes at herself and shrugs her shoulders. "Well, of course! I spent that much effort learning about it. I mean, I might as well use it."

Jasper's heavy boots softly clunk upon the dense metal surface of the mech, and he jumps off the ankle of the mechanical monster onto a cleared path in the overgrowth. Beckerin glances over from a rough camp of test equipment and tools, and motions inquiringly. Jasper contorts his face briefly, sighs, and shrugs his with hands out to his sides. He scratches the back of his neck, approaching Ardere. He stands in puzzling thought and gazes down to Ardere. "Okay. So... This thing was supposedly overhauled close to two hundred years ago by some war lord... From a stock of ancient Pre-Cataclysm mechs?"

Nodding slowly, Ardere tilts her head to the side. "Yes. That's what everything I found says, and a few historians I know all agreed from what they know. The identifying marks Mavian told us are very similar to those styles."

Unease trickles out upon Jasper's face. Twisting his mouth, he warily glances back at the military machine behind him. "Okay. And... When you two were opening up all the access panels..."

He squints curiously at Ardere and Valavera. "Did you notice any bad spots of rust, corrosion, decay, dirt, staining... Well... Anything?"

Ardere and Valavera exchange glances, pondering. Valavera gazes up to Jasper and blinks, recalling. "No, actually. It did smell a bit musty and stale."

Ardere's yellow eyes search her mind, and she bites her lip. "Nothing I could find. All the cabling and piping seemed in really good shape. But, I figured that'd make some sense since all the access panel seals were still good."

Jasper nods, processing the information. Drawing in a long breath, he tries to exhale his unease. "Well... The startup batteries are charged."

Silence hangs overhead. Ardere focuses her scrutinizing gaze upon Jasper. "That's not too unusual-"

Jasper simply interrupts. "Fully charged."

Surprise grips Ardere, and she stares bewildered. "Okay. Um. THAT is REALLY odd."

With a long uncertain sigh, Jasper crosses his arms and slowly shakes his head. "The onboard computers booted up. It passed internal integrity checks. And, a full sensor inspection of the mech..."

Glancing over his shoulder, he stares suspiciously at the dormant mech. "Passed... The reactor core passed pre-ignition checks and has enough fuel to start."

An eager smile cracks from the corner of Ardere's mouth, and her yellow eyes light up with excitement. "Are you telling me that it might walk out of here on its own power?"

Jasper blinks and grimaces reservedly. "Uh... One thing at a time. I mean..."

Noticing the growing intensity of attention from Ardere, he averts his pale blue eyes. "Right now, I can't find any obvious reason to not attempt a remote startup of the reactor. But, I don't know how to feel about that at the moment."

Ardere closes up her sketch pad, sets it aside, and hops up with a toothy grin towards Jasper. "Well! If you want a second opinion, I say you SHOULD!"

Jasper darts his eyes around, bites lip, and grumbles. "I think I'm going to get a third opinion-"

Valavera springs up with an expectant smile. "Yeah! Let's try it!"

Glancing over to the approaching Beckerin, Jasper side steps away from the excited duo and dons an awkward smirk. "And... A fourth opinion..."

----

Jasper taps onscreen buttons upon a rugged laptop and peers over the crest of the hill at the military mech. Glancing to Ardere, Beckerin, and Valavera taking cover nearby, he hovers his finger over the initialization prompt. "Okay... If that thing starts to make any weird noises... Or alarms go off..."

Wrestling an uncomfortable twist of the mouth, he breathes in. "RUN."

He presses down on the display. Lines of terminal output stream through menu windows, status graphics change on screen, and a prompt pops up.

"Remote Reactor Initialization Starting!"

A low, deep pulse vibrates the area, and a background hum rises up. Ardere's furry ears flick forward and focus, and she excitedly stares at the huge robot. The din builds up quickly, floods the vicinity, and... promptly drops off, whining into silence. Anticipation gives way to puzzled confusion, and eyes turn to Jasper. Typing in a number of debug commands, Jasper cocks his head to the side and scratches his head. "Okay... The fuck is going on with this thing?"

Ardere sits up and leans over to peek at the output on the laptop. "Did some safety engage? Or, did something break?"

Jasper swipes his finger on the display and squints at the scrolling system log. "Uh. No. It actually didn't log any error."

Furrowing his brow, he squints at the mass of text. "It just stopped. Cold. I'm trying to run some diagnostics and-"

He cocks his head to the side and puzzles incredulously with his hands motioning. "What the fuck?! I just got disconnected?"

Ardere visually traces the reinforced cable attached to the computer, going down the other side of the hill and running into the cockpit of the mech. "I don't think the cable has moved at all."

Crossing his arms, Jasper glares at the strange output on live data monitoring feeds and grumbles. "It's a shield, armored, screw-locked fiber optic cable. So... How the hell am I getting interference, just now, after perfect signal quality for the last hour?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Beckerin sighs. "Figures. The moment it needs to work, it breaks. Murphy has visited us today."

Ardere, Beckerin, and Jasper examine the strange debugging information on the laptop. Valavera scans the area and ponders. When her gaze wanders towards the forest surrounding the mech, she notices the familiar flits of distant spirit phenomena. Her eyes widen, her suspicions gaining traction in her mind. "Spirits."

Ardere, Beckerin, and Jasper halt their debate and glance over to Valavera. Pausing his thoughts, Beckerin nods in agreement. "Yes. They are very active here."

Intrigue drives a growing, excited grin upon Ardere. A wave of unease overtakes Jasper, and he squirms uncomfortably. "Oh. Well. Uh, that could explain things. Many things..."

Nervously eyeing the surrounding area, he grits his teeth. "Also, that's why that thing is going to STAY THERE."

Beckerin lifts an inquisitive brow to Jasper. "Going to stay there?"

Jasper narrows an unamused glare at Beckerin. "You damn well know what I mean. I. DON'T. DO. SPIRITS. I stay away from them and give them no reasons to bother me. So, if something has infested that mech, it's best if we leave it alone! Period!"

Shaking his head, Beckerin rolls his eyes disappointingly. Valavera narrows a stare at Jasper and tilts her head inquiringly with a resolute smirk. "So, if there's no spirit infesting it, you'll still work on it."

Searching for a response, Jasper slowly and awkwardly nods in a tentative agreement. "Sure? I mean, I guess?"

A grins cracks from the corner of Valavera's mouth, and she winks to her uncle Beckerin. "Time to earn my keep."

Beckerin proudly smiles and stands up with Valavera. "Of course! Tell your uncle what he can help you with."

Valavera nods and cautiously walks down the hill to the large military machine. She carefully gestures out an incantation, flows threads of magical energy into her hands, and closes her eyes in concentration. With a swift throw of her hands to sides, she releases an expanding bubble of transparent energy out into the area. At the encircling perimeter, meters away from the mech, spirits flicker into opacity and keep their distance from the machinery. Valavera puzzles at the behavior and notices a single strange magical manifestation at the center of the humanoid robot. A flurry of rigid shapes, angular overlays, discrete disembodied lights, and a mechanical form floats up into view from the body of the mech. The magical creature turns its attention fully upon Valavera, emitting a synthetic series of sharp tones. Cringing from the jarring shrill noises, Valavera green eyes glow brightly and astonishment erupts on her face. "By the gods..."

Squinting in disbelief, honest wonder overtakes her. "It's not a spirit. It's an anima!"

Ardere gawks in a sheer delight. Beckerin watches in wonder. Jasper visibly pales. Grasping hold of the top of his laptop, he carefully closes the lid and slowly disconnects the cable link. He starts to slide down away from the hill. Ardere's hand reaches over and tightly grips onto his shoulder. Firmly pressing her large, black claws down into Jasper's jacket, she halts his escape. Valavera circles around the entrenched anima, studying it carefully. It focuses upon Valavera and occasionally snaps its form back towards spirits near a perimeter, hunkering down into the body of the mech. A large entity deeper in the woods flits in view and disappears. The anima sinks deeper into the robotic military machine and expands its angular roots along the frame of the mech. Valavera searches her mind and glances over to Beckerin. "Uncle Becker? Could you get the tablet you gave me? I have an idea."

Beckerin nods, ambles his round form up the hill, and takes the device offered by Ardere. Rushing down next to Valavera, he hands the old tablet over and gazes concerned at her. "So, what is this idea of yours?"

Valavera points over to the anima and motions out towards the surrounding forest. "It's acting defensively. I think this is its home..."

Twisting her mouth, she hums in thought. "Or... The best shelter it has. Maybe, if we offered it a better home, it would leave the mech?"

Mulling the idea over, Beckerin shrugs with his hands out. "I don't know. You know more than me. It could work. A decent tablet and getting out of this neighborhood sounds like a good deal. But..."

He furrows his brow uncertainly. "Would it understand that?"

Valavera smirks and tilts her head towards the anima's extended form curiously angling itself for a view of the tablet. Beckerin glances over to it and nods to Valavera. "Oh. Might be an easy sale. Be careful."

Relaxing her body language, Valavera slowly approaches, stepping closer to the anima, and presents the tablet. "Do you understand me?"

The anima's form shifts, a series of light patterns flicker inside, and synthetic tones shape into a voice. "Yes."

Jasper leans away from the scene, wincing against Ardere's secure grip, and mutters. "Oh, gods... it can talk..."

Valavera maintains her composure and musters up a calm, purposeful tone. "Why are you here?"

The anima's modulated sounds fashion out a response. "Familiar shelter. No alternative."

Tempered concern colors Valavera's query. "Did you stop the reactor start up?"

The anima flickers and sinks into the mech's chassis. "Yes."

Valavera calmly and politely inquires. "Why?"

The anima's synthetic tone resonates with a tinge of worry. "Prevent shelter removal."

Nodding understandingly, Valavera perks a curious brow and holds out the tablet towards the magical manifestation. "I understand. What if I could provide a new shelter?"

An unconvinced voice emanates from the anima's form. "Small for here."

A sly smile graces Valavera, and she dons a pleasant cadence. "Yes. But, you get to leave with me, and I'll see about getting you a better home in the future."

She clicks a button on the side of the tablet, and the display lights up to a menu. The anima's form extends out closer towards the device, and its attention affixes upon the screen's activity, Valavera demonstrating the different programs. Minutes of quiet contemplation later, the magical creature breaks from its fascination. Twisting its form and glancing back at the mech, it returns a stare at Valavera. "Accepted."

Angular threads of energy swirl dart out and swirl into the tablet. In a swirling flurry of magical flow, the anima condenses its malleable form into the confines of the device and transfers itself completely into the new shelter. The last traces of magical light fades from the surface of the tablet. Valavera blinks in awe, staring in sheer wonder upon her handheld computer. Beckerin rests a hand on her shoulder and grins proudly. "While your uncle has never sold a home to an anima... I think you did a good job?"

A low pulse vibrates the area and a background hum rises up. The din floods the area with sound, rumbles to a peak, and gracefully levels off to a muted, dull noise. Jasper blinks out his fearful daze and shakes his head back to awareness. Quickly reconnecting the cable to his laptop, he opens the lid and types in a few commands. On screen graphics report nominal levels, green indicators illuminate normal function, and proper status messages describe typical operating conditions. Jasper sighs out some relief and rubs his temple. "Okay..."

He calls out to Beckerin and Valavera. "I guess we can attempt to get this thing upright. It might take awhile with all the vines still tying it up."

A smug grin appears on Valavera's face, and she cocks her head confidently. "THAT I can take care of."

----

At the wide, well-defended entrance gate, two armed guards stare in unison down the empty paved road leading to the entry. Within the armored gatehouse, a large grath guard glances over from his chair and sighs out his boredom. "Past noon... Nothing. Another slow day."

The uniformed human guard shrugs and picks up a nearby magazine, flipping through a few pages. "Shit. Fine with me. We get paid the same."

The grath ponders a moment and taps upon a computer display. "Hmm. One large trailer rental, scheduled to arrive this afternoon."

Leaning over, peeking at the screen, the human guard shrugs and rolls his eyes. "Yeah... I was there when he left that day. Guy looked like one of those wasteland junkers. Probably all excited about some scrap metal he found and trying to haul as much away before someone catches him doing it. Zach over in the shop is half expecting to get a call from either the GAA or Appaland impound lot."

The grath guard snorts and shakes his head with a wry smirk. "It will be a FUN day for legal."

With a chuckle, the human guard shakes his head and points to the grath, smiling. "Yeah, but if they offer a travel bonus to go pick it up, let's do it."

Nodding, the grath guard grins and ponders to himself. Seconds late, a series of alerts pop up on overhead screens. The two guards snap their attention to the above displays. Staring out the post window, down the road, the grath guard picks up military binoculars and scans the horizon. "Vehicles. Large trucks. One with a trailer..."

He remains in stunned silence. The human guard notices the blatant, shocked expression. "You okay, man? What's going on?"

The grath guard hands over his binoculars, picks up a phone handset, and dials a number. "Look."

Squinting through the binoculars, the human locks onto a distant, gigantic, robotic humanoid sitting upon a large cargo trailer. The powerful whine of the large truck's engine rises out of the background din through an open window in the guard house. The man's jaw drops in awe and tinges of confusion trickle into his face, and he observes an excited fvalian woman waving out the window of the truck.

The grath speaks with a calm, collected voice into the phone. "Mr. Bosch. You have a delivery."

----

Sitting upon modest, comfortable chairs around a nicely made, large oval coffee table, Jasper, Beckerin, Valavera, and Ardere wait. Valavera plays with her tablet, and Ardere watches eagerly curious. Jasper and Beckerin discuss talking points and quietly write out large numbers on a piece of paper. Going back and forth, the two agree upon a sum. The door to the moderately decorated meeting room opens. A heavy set, older man walks in with a happy smile and greets everyone openly. "Well! This is certainly an occasion and an interesting group of people to have here!"

Quickly eyeing Beckerin and Jasper, he flashes an amused smirk. "Especially these two men."

He glances over to Ardere and Valavera. "You are certainly brave women to be going where these two like to wander."

Beckerin rolls his green eyes and shakes his head of short golden hair with a laugh. "I go nowhere near the type of places you have already gone well before me, William."

Jasper quirks his brow and grants a reserved smile. "I hope you've registered my return of the trailer in all the excitement, Mr. Bosch. I don't want to get charged an extra day."

William Bosch snorts and sighs. "Yes. Again, sorry for that one time. We were trying a new system then."

Sitting down next to Beckerin in the chairs circling the coffee table. He bows slightly to Ardere and presents a gentle smile to her. "It's nice to see you again, Ardere. My employees, family, and I enjoyed the latest issues of Tinkering Tina."

Ardere's furry ears perk up and a bright grin graces her face. "Thank you so much! It's always so good to hear that."

Bosch nods to Valavera and dons a genuine tone. "Pardon my rudeness. I'm William Bosch, one of the owners of Mercenary Equipment Rental Company. Or, MERC for short. You must be Valavera. I've heard much about you from your uncle."

Glancing briefly at Beckerin, he cracks a humored grin. "I do hope he's actually teaching more good things than his bad habits. He, admittedly, has plenty of both."

Valavera bows respectfully and smiles. "Yes, he is. It's been really educational and fun. It's actually the first time I've been part of something like this. So... I'm trying to help out where I can. It's a bit overwhelming seeing what everyone does."

Bosch laughs with an agreeing nod and sighs. "I remember when I first started out. Many adventures. And... Many strange and interesting situations. I unfortunately don't have any recent good stories of my own, but I love hearing them from others. Running MERC is more than enough excitement for me these days."

Intrigue tickles Valavera, and she lifts an inquisitive brow at Bosch. "I'm sorry to say, but I've never actually heard of MERC itself. I've heard of MercMart."

Bosch shrugs his shoulders and nonchalantly dismisses. "MERC has no real ties to MercMart. Different markets and business models. We buy supplies from them when they go on sale, and that's about it."

A sly grin travels across his face, and he chuckles confidently. "As for MERC, we're actually intentionally unknown to most of the public. Any mercenary or adventuring groups that are large enough eventually get referred to us, or we reach out to them when we hear they are doing the types of quests we can assist them with."

Valavera nods understanding and tilts her head to the side. "So, that's why there was no big company sign near the gates."

Bosch smirks amused. "Well, somewhat. It also helps hide us from those who want our wide selection of powerful equipment on a more... unauthorized, permanent basis. We can defend ourselves just fine, but it just gets costly."

Rolling his eyes in jest, he chuckles. "And for some of our customers, they are really picky about paying the rental fees if there's battle damage on the equipment before they rent it."

Beckerin shakes his head and glances over to Bosch. "THAT I never understood. I keep explaining, if it came back with only a dent-"

Bosch choruses the line with Beckerin. "It is money well spent."

Two older men snort into laughter. Settling back down, Beckerin elbows Bosch. "So, how is that son of yours doing on that reality show?"

A bit of unease briefly stiffens Bosch with an awkward grit of his teeth. Sighing out some relief, he smiles with a bit of pride. "He's doing good. I personally could never really stand being the center of attention in such a public way. I'm certain that's his grandfather's influence showing through now. I hope he gets his fill and figures out what he wants to do afterwards."

Twisting mouth, he mulls over thoughts and grins slyly. "But, I'll do what I can to help him for now. I had the techs fix up one of the sports utility vehicles that had been out of the rental pool, and I drove it over to him."

A happy, fatherly smile appears on his face. "He was really happy to have it."

He quickly rolls his eyes and groans. "And gods... It beats that van they were having to use. I still have no idea what the smell was in it."

After a few reflective moments, Bosch pats his hands on his knees and scans over the group with an analytical stare. "Before we lose ourselves talking about all the latest things, there's a matter of a mech I MIGHT want to buy?"

Beckerin dons a calculating grin, and starts recounting all the basic information about the huge piece of machinery. Carefully elaborating on key points of the humanoid robot, he subtly embellishes the intriguing selling points. Bosch lifts a well trained, cautious brow, nodding in reserved agreement. Glancing over to Ardere, he inquires further. With an on point description of the military mechanical giant's lineage, Ardere flips through her sketchbook, explains the unique identifying marks, and enthusiastically explains the history surrounding the mech. Humming in thought, Bosch takes a moment and processes the information. Valavera remains quiet, watching the exchange keenly. Bosch focuses his attention upon Jasper and cocks his head to the side. "And... I'm certain you can verify all this. What kind of shape it is in?"

Jasper smirks confidently and crosses his arms. "The only dings you'll see on it are from the trees I had to clip to get it to walk out to the main road. You won't even find any drag marks or scarring from chains. It starts up like a dream and is FULLY functional."

With a sigh, he shrugs his shoulders. "Admittedly, no weapons. Those were probably stripped when it was abandoned, but all the mounts are intact."

Bosch settles back in his chair, maintaining a stoic business demeanor. He visibly thinks about the situation before him. "Okay. I'm certainly... Interested. What's my price to have it?"

Beckerin presents a piece of paper with an imposing number of many zeroes written on it, staring at Bosch with a confident smile. "Don't be afraid of the price. That's all it will cost you. It was pulled from clean territory. So, no pesky government scavenging fees to worry about. Your costs are all upfront."

Squinting at the piece of paper, Bosch hums with obvious reservation. After a minute, he eyes Beckerin and holds up a finger. "I will admit, that's not an awful price. BUT-"

He focuses a stern stare upon the group. "I will need to have my technicians verify all this before we go any further-"

A calm, confident woman's voice calls out. "Oh, that's already been done."

Carrying a tray of glasses around a pitcher of cold tea, an older, elegant woman steps through into the room. She places the tray upon the coffee table and rests her hands on her wide hips, smiling to everyone. "I apologize for the delay. I do actually love entertaining guests. But..."

She glances down at Bosch and grumbles, annoyance tinging her tone. "I had to get the broom out and teach our technicians some manners. They needed to be reminded how the acquisition process goes."

Shifting her gaze to Beckerin, she tips her head up and furrows her brow. "Gods almighty. Whatever you dragged in THIS TIME, it certainly created a buzz in the yard. I almost broke my good broom getting Zach back into the shop."

Beckerin grins proudly and shrugs, feigning innocence. "I always try, Eva."

Eva sighs, notices the number on the paper, and pauses in thought. She and Bosch exchange a series of expressions, gestures, and quiet signals, a conversation uniquely between the two. Finishing up a brief non-verbal debate, both nod in agreement. Pulling out a pen from his pocket, Bosch writes a new, respectfully lower number on the paper and presents it Beckerin and Jasper. "That's what we think."

Beckerin contorts his mouth, internally deliberating the amount. Jasper meets Beckerin's glance and nods. With a happy smile, Beckerin reaches out and shakes Bosch's awaiting hand. "Ha! By the gods, you always can sniff out that right price."

Bosch squeezes Beckerin's hand and cackles. "That's because I know what your shit smells like!"

Eva sits down next to Valavera. "Hello. My name is Eva. And I believe, if my husband has told me right, you are Valavera."

Valavera nods her head respectfully. "Oh! Yes, ma'am."

A warm chuckle leaves Eva, and she pats Valavera's shoulder. "Please, call me Eva. I get enough pleasantries due to being married to William and being the other owner of MERC. You don't need to worry."

Gazing out to the rest of the group, she points to the glasses and pitcher of tea. "By the way, help yourselves. Business is done. Let's enjoy each other's company. I'd love to catch up and hear all about something other than keeping technicians and pilots in line."

----

Beckerin and Valavera wave to Jasper and Ardere in the cab of a large truck. Leaning her head out the window, Ardere waves energetically and points to the tablet in Valavera's arms. "Goodbye, you two! And keep me updated on whatever happens the anima!"

Jasper briefly grimaces, sighs, and nods to Beckerin and Valavera. The huge vehicle accelerates out the main gates by itself. Beckerin and Valavera walk towards Beckerin's cargo truck. Smiling happily, Valavera glances over to her uncle. "Wow... It's been a crazy few days. Is it like this all the time for you?"

Beckerin chuckles and shakes his head. "Ho, gods no. I am happy for that. A little excitement is good..."

An entrepreneurial smile appears on his light skinned face. "Especially when it is quite profitable."

A sly grin creeps across Valavera's face, and she focuses her gaze upon her uncle. "So... What will MY percentage be from this job?"

A calculating stare narrows upon Valavera, and Beckerin methodically ponders the figures. "A good question. Let's see... First, I need to deduct our expenses throughout the job. The payment to Mavian for locating the mech. Paying Jasper and Ardere for their help in further identification, diagnostics, and moving the mech onto the trailer. And, I need to account for rental of the trailer and Jasper's expenses for hauling that big thing. There's also some local government taxes for the sale to keep them happy enough to not delve further into details."

Valavera's eagerness wanes with the litany of descriptions for each profit deduction part. Beckerin retrieves his aetherphone, quickly taps a number into the calculator app, and continues the explanation. "Now, while the price we negotiated with William was good. It wasn't as good as it could be. If the machine still had even one weapon, it would be worth MUCH more. But, it was in wonderful condition. We probably got what we were ever going to get out of William, so that's a victory. He's been doing this longer than I have..."

Drawing in a long breath, he sighs out tinges of defeat. "And, your uncle must admit, he knows his business far better. He had a unique position in the negotiation."

Valavera frowns slightly, and her long, pointed ears minutely droop with a sigh. Beckerin smiles, pats Valavera on the back, and shows her a number on his phone. "Since you are my niece and I want to motivate you, I gave you a little of my cut as a bonus."

Valavera glances over. Recognizing the numbers on the screen, her expression blanks, and she opens her eyes wide in shocked glee. "T-t-that much?! Are you sure?!"

A proud smile grows on Beckerin, and he nods. "Of course! You did good work that we needed. You should be rewarded. I keep my promises to you."

He pulls the phone away slowly and leads Valavera's eager gaze to meet his stern stare. "Now. I think most of THAT should go to help your schooling. You need to go to a good college. Learn more about the world and yourself in a safer environment."

Contorting her mouth, Valavera grumbles in begrudging agreement. "I KNOW, Uncle Becker. I should save it for the coming semester."

A sly smirk creeps out from the corner of Beckerin's mouth, and he playfully rolls his eyes. "Yes. But... You should always pay yourself first and enjoy a little of it. Keeps you from going too far when you save up a lot of money. For example, a new tablet for yourself? Especially, since something is using that one now."

Glancing down at her tablet, Valavera thinks a moment and shakes her head. "I don't think that will be needed. It seems to be working really good now. The anima is... happy? I think it likes the new home."

Beckerin quirks a curious brow at the device, puzzles at the screen, and points out a section. "Strange. I thought there were more scratches on that screen. I remember a big one right there. It's smoother now?"

Valavera squints and brings the tablet closer to her eyes. Intrigue sparks in her gaze, and she studies the changes with absolute fascination.

Guild Registered Group #8080: Quick Physical Identification Guide

Chad Matthias Bosch, 24 year old male Human, 188cm, muscular

Tan skin. Short light brown, coiffed hair. Brown eyes.

Leader of group. Often in prominent armor with Flames of the Phoenix logo. (Registered Logo #8080-02)

Tassilda Marina Evernia, 23 year old female Emin, 181cm, Hourglass

Gray, patterned skin. Long, straight black hair. Light blue on black eyes.

Swirling horns that point back starting above temples toward front of head. Short pointy ears. Naturally long, thick black nails.

Trakenthin Stakken Olig Brecomin, 24 year old male Grath, 201cm, Large, muscular

Dark bronze skin. Short, styled dirty blonde hair. Hazel eyes.

Prominent small discoloring, scars along arms and legs.

Modoran Anatolin Lotherin, 25 year old male Evuukian, 184cm, Athletic thin

Dusky bluish gray skin. Short, white to light gray hair. Dark blue eyes.

Very long pointy ears that extend behind the head.

Deedri Preetta, 25 year old female Fvalian, 157cm, Hourglass

Fair skin with various markings and variations with a thin hair covering that grows thick in some areas. Long, multi-color hair often tied back or braided: Red, blonde, white, and tan. Auburn eyes.

Long furry, tuft tipped ears that articulate and rest angled from the head. Claws on fingers and toes. Sharp pronounced canines. Long tail with medium length fur, tapers with long hairs.