FSE

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Chapter 14

“Commander Groundwater wishes to meet with all of you.” The ram said blandly. “Or more specifically Commander Reaper, Lt. Hart, Lt. Commander Markson and the younger Reaper boy and his dog friend. The rest of you aren’t needed” He continues, his voice dismissive causing Noah to raise an eyebrow. Just who was this guy?

“Oh, you must be Gabe, Father Bedfords new assistant its good to meet you.” Rex replied getting up to greet him offering him a hand to shake though the ram declined to take it.

“It’s Gabriel Commander, I expect you to be more professional considering your position.” He said his voice firm, looking away. Rex just had a stunned reaction as he let his hand fall to his side and just let an awkward cough before adjusting. “Ah right, Gabriel. I’m sorry, so Rocky needs us? Just give us about ten or so minutes to let us get ready okay?” Gabriel nods stiffly before leaving, not saying anything more.

“That guy is a riot isn’t he?” James let out with a snort. “What a prick, could’ve at least shook your paw Rex. What’s his deal?” Rex gave out a small shrug.

“I don’t really know, never met him before. All I know is that he was an orphan, parents were killed in a Inquisition Raid in a town beyond the wall I believe and Father Bedford’s church took him in since they run a small orphanage. First time I’ve ever met him though.” Rex replied as he looks towards the others. “Okay everyone, get dressed those who were asked for come with me. Everyone else you are welcome to explore the city. Greasham is a pretty safe place believe it or not, they have plenty of trendy shops and restaurants to enjoy plus a few parks. Have a good time alright? We will meet with you guys once the meeting is done.”

“Very well, I’ll keep everyone in line. Tell the Commander we said hello okay Rex?” Elena said before chuckling. “It’s funny, I would have never thought I’d ever be on first name basis with an Elemental Lord, it's quite crazy.”

“I mean, I’m still a person just like anyone else. Sure I have the power of an elemental seal and a powerful position in MODD but other than that I’m just like any guy my age. But yes lets go and get ready.” With that everyone nods and goes their own way to get ready.

…

The Ram was waiting for them outside the door and didn’t seem to look too pleased. “You said give you ten minutes. It’s been 11.” He says extremely annoyed causing James to let out a loud derisive snort.

“Wow, how dare we be only a minute late. Get the stick of your ass Gabey.”

“It’s Gabriel you mutt.”’ Gabe replied icily causing James to glare right and reply just as icily.

“Yeah, don’t give a fuck Gabey. Like I said get that stick out of your ass” Noah sensing thi could be a problem stepped between them.

“Okay guys! That’s enough I think! No need to fight, we are sorry we were late Gabe even if it’s by only a minute.”

“It’s Gabriel…” The Ram replied getting increasingly more annoyed by having to repeat himself.

“No one cares Gabey.” James responds just as annoyed by the ram’s insistence over something he seemed to view as petty.

“James! Please let me handle this?” Noah stated sharply before the two boys started to throw hands at each other. Giving a sigh as he looks towards Gabriel. “Yes, I’m sorry Gabriel. I don’t mean any disrespect but it’s normal to shorten names we mean no ill but I understand not everyone enjoys nicknames.” He gave a glance at the three actual adults to see if any of them were willing to speak up but all three seemed content not to get involved and let him handle all this. ‘Seriously why am I being the adult here?` He thinks to himself frustrated before looking back at the young ram. “Can you lead us to the Commander, Gabriel?”

“I will, follow me will you.” He said before going onward motioning everyone to follow through. As they move through the Mountain fortress they saw various areas passing by what looked by dormitories for soldiers, eating hall, and a few leisure areas like small movie theaters, arcades and even a few bars it was like the Fortress was like a small city in itself/

“This place is wild… all your needs seem to be provided here.”

“Yeah yeah it’s pretty great Iron Helm was pretty similar where most of our needs were met but we still went out. Because well it’s nice to get out of the fortress once in awhile. It’s why most Officer ranked people maintained homes outside like my Father did. It gets lonely when you are just around other soldiers so being around civilians every so often.” Aidan replies with a nod. “Generally most enlisted members live in the dormitories within the fortress but those with families area able to apply for houses outside of the fortress.”

“Right, that’s pretty neat. So what made you decide to go the Officer route Aidan?”

“Pretty simple, I wanted to prove that Asýnchroni can serve in higher roles, that just because we don’t have Glyphs it doesn’t make us lesser soldiers and we can still fight just as hard as those who have them. While Asýnchroni aren’t technically banned from seeking Officer positions is usually heavily discouraged but I proved that I was good enough to pass and was actually top of my class when I graduated and returned home to work under my Dad eventually rising up to the rank of Lt. Just wanted to show that Asynchroni can do great things and don’t have to ive up their dreams just because they can’t synch with a Glyph.” Aidan stated with great pride.

“Fascinating,” Gabriel stated as the got closer to a door with a massive MODD emblem as well as the emblem of the Graesham branch of MODD’ armed forces. “This is the Commander’s office, please keep on your best behavior while in here. The Commander, Lt. Commander and Sgt. Major are all inside waiting along with the Father.” He said as he opens the door and lets the others step inside.

Noah didn’t know exactly what to expect when he entered the room seeing it was an elaborate office with various bookshelves surrounding the walls. The colors were all earth tones and on the back wall was a massive floor to ceiling window showing off the entire city. On each end of the window was the national flag of Weleshna and the Flag of MODD’s Military Division. In the Middle of the room was a massive desk of some very fancy wood and sitting there in her full Uniform was Commander Rocky Groundwater herself. By her side was Sgt. Major Luke Kaminski and on her right side was a man Noah hadn’t seen before, a tall imposing tiger man who was probably around the same height as Flint, his face firm and serious as he looked onward.

‘This must be the Lt. Commander, Commander Groundwater’s Second. Wonder what his deal is.` Noah thought before seeing the last person in the room standing behind the commander was Father Bedford smiling as he saw Gabriel as he approached the group laying a hand on the boys shoulder and Noah could have sworn he saw the ram give the smallest of winces as the man touched him.

“You did good Gabriel thank you. You can return to you room. I'll find you once I’m done here okay?”

“Of course Father, I will see you later.” He said Noah noticed that tiny wince as the man rubbed his shoulder gently.

‘Okay, something is going on between those two…` Noah thinks to himself before Commander Groundwater spoke for the first time as Gabriel left the room.

“Thank all of you for coming.” She stated calmly looking everyone over.

“Do you need anything Rocky? Can understand why you would ask for Myself, Silas and Aidan but why the kids?” Rex asks, being the first to speak up, Noah had been wondering that himself. It did seem odd that she had asked for him and James who were pretty much civilians.

“Quite simple, I had the strangest dream. I saw these two fighting inside a canyon against an evil bear-like creature. I would think it was just a strange dream but I have a feeling that it might not be so simple.” She says looking directly at Noah making him gulp. “I have a feeling you might know more than you are letting on Jacob. Care to explain? We are letting you stay here so I would prefer if you are completely honest with me. What was that Monster? Was that inside my seal?”

“Uh, it’s a long story… I believe it was your seal as for how we got there, no clue… we just woke up there. As for the Monster… that was a Malefactor.” The Commander just looked confused.

“A What? What is a Malefactor? Never heard such a term. Can you elaborate?” Rocky asks curious and Noah could have sworn that the gorilla gave a brief stiffened face before relaxing, it was only for a split second but Noah was left confused.

‘Huh, that was weird… anyway, here we go this is going to be fuuun to explain` He briefly thought to himself before taking a breath and explained but before he could speak he heard the Sgt. Major let out a cough.

“Hey Rocky I’m sure we are all curious but you kinda forgot to introduce someone?” He said before patting the back of the tiger causing the man to let out a small grunt. Rocky seemed to chuckle and look towards the tiger.

“Oh, correct, forgive me Hakeem.” She says causing the man to shrug it off.

“It’s fine, but I can introduce myself. I am Lt. Commander Hakeem Dallai, Commander Groundwater’s Second, and the one who personally oversees Fort Behemoth so it’s not often I get to be in Greasham so glad I’ve gotten to be here. I’m glad you seemed to have found your brother Commander Reaper.”

“Thank you Hakeem, glad you could be here as well. How’s Yazid? Hope your stationing hasn’t put too much strain on things between you two.

“He’s doing well, obviously hates that I am away so often and is often worried given it’on the front lines against the Inquisition. But we talk everyday that I’m at the fort and I plan on spending the next few days with him after we finish the meeting here.” He seemed to catch on the curious look that Noah and James both were giving him and smiled. “Yazid is my husband, he’s one of the Mine’s Foremen and thus helps leads operations there. He’s a nice guy and love him very much but we don’t often get to spend a lot of time together because of my work.” Hakeem says with a sad smile. “But enough about me, tell us Jacob, what is a Malefactor?”

“They are basically the embodiments of the worst of mortal emotions… basically pure evil incarnate. They can possess people and take them over, corrupting them. One of them somehow got into you and tried to possess you but somehow James and I found ourselves inside your seal and managed to kill him before he could fully take control. Weird thing though is that he was randomly bringing up the Inquisition.” This caused the bear woman’s eyebrow to raise.

“The Inquisition? I haven’t heard anything about them working with strange entities like this. How strange.” She says with a sigh before speaking once more. “But I’m curious the Seal is supposed to protect those who own them from such things but it somehow slipped past? How did that happen.”

‘Oh was hoping she wouldn’t ask that… oh boy this is going to be fun…` Noah thinks to himself before letting out a sigh before speaking once more. “How to explain this… um… they aren’ from this reality?”

“They aren’t what?” The woman asked visibility, confused. Well everyone looked confused really including the ones he had explained it to before, not that he blamed them. He was still confused by everything himself as it truly was baffling.

“They aren’t from Mortaelis they are foreign to this world which is why they could get past the defenses your Seal would normally had. I don’t fully understand it but that’s the best explanation I got.”

“So you say… You know, I’m not even going to think too much of it. I’ll just take you at your word. It hurts my head less to do so.” The Commander said with a shake of her head. “Either way thank you for saving me from being possessed by one of those monsters it would probably have ended poorly if I had been overcome.” She stated with a shudder before becoming serious. “But there is something I wish to speak to you about. Follow me.” She says getting up and looks towards Belford. “You can leave Father Belford. Thank you for being here. As usual I request you do not spread word of this to anyone Understood?”

“Of course Commander, I will see you later. Goodbye and good to see all of you again.” He said says to the rest of the group paying close attention to Noah before leaving the room. Once the man was gone and the Lt. Com starts to speak.

“Hey Commander, can I leave now? Or Do you need me for something else.”

Rocky let out a sigh and started speaking once more. “Sure, have a good rest of your day Hakkem, see you tomorrow.” The Tiger grins and thanks her before heading out of the room humming happily. She gave a brief smile before looking towards the others and starts to speak once more.

“ As you know Greasham is not just for mining that ore that MODD needs to make it’s weapons ad technology we are also the first line of defense for Weleshna against the Inquisition but we have another purpose.” She says going to one of the bookshelves and moves one of the books causing the shelf to rumble and move to the side showing a hidden elevator. “What I’m about to show you something that is strictly confidential, I’ll not going to expect you to keep this from the rest of the group but I request beyond them you keep this secret.” She says as she motions everyone to get into the elevator.

Once everyone was in the elevator Rocky pushed a button to send them down and going by how long it felt like it was possible they were going under the mountain. Eventually the ride came to an end while the elevator gave out a quiet rumble and stopped moving.

“Where are we?” Rex asked, confused as the door opened into some kind of facility, one that felt almost familiar to Noah for reasons he couldn’t fully explain. Rocky let out a sigh before looking towards the other Commander.

“This is a secure facility one, one were he handle a lot of research that MODD wants to be hidden. Part of being Commander here is maintaining secrecy and making sure what we have here does not get out.

“I’m surprised they don’t let any of the other Elemental Lords know about this.” Rex stated clearly not sure how to feel about this an Noah was still struck with how familiar this place felt, he wasn’t sure he liked being here much. “Just what do you here Rocky? Why does MODD want to keep things here secret?”

“It’s simple, things here could be considered unethical. I don’t personally agree with everything but can’t exactly argue with MODD but that’s not what we are here for. Follow me.” She says as she continues on deeper into this faculty the walls are sterile white with buzzing lights also off white leaving this place feeling uneasy. Soon enough they found themselves in an overlook and below them was a semi-large room an what he saw honestly surprised him. They looked like people only completely made of a green stonelike substance. They're chugging about almost like something out of some zombie flick.

“Rocky… what are those things?” Rex asked surprised as they watched the strange crystal creatures move about in an almost mindless fashion.

“Nobody really knows, they showed up a few months ago in the mines. And started attacking miners. Thankfully most of our miners have an Earth glyph to defend themselves but it’s alarming, they appeared out of nowhere.” She says rubbing her chin. “They are strong and durable but can easily be broken with earth based powers and hammers and the like. We’ve tried to figure out anything we can but no luck so far.”

‘Why do these things seem almost familiar… how strange.” Noah thinks to himself as he stares at the crystal beings. “So they just appeared? Like overnight?”

“Pretty much, it was a worrying thing. We lost a few of our miners when they attacked out of nowhere and it’s been messing with our production output. If we don’t put a stop to this we might have to shut the mines down and that would be devastating not just for Greasham but to the entire Weleshnan economy and it would also cause problems with the entire supply chain of MODD and well that would not be good for anyone.”

“So what do you want us to do?” Noah asked in a mildly worried tone.

“Quite simple, help us figure out what these things are and where they came from, once we learn those we might have the ability to stop this issue from getting worse. I understand it’s probably a massive ask but I have the gut feeling that having you around would be very useful in solving things I think.”

‘Okay maybe this is why I came here? Those things are really creepy though.’ He says looking down towards the crystal creatures. “Yeah, sure I guess? I came here for reasons not even I really understand so this could be it? Yeah, I’ll do whatever I can to help Commander.” The bear woman just chuckles and speaks. “Just call me Rocky, you are Rex’s brother so it’s fine. But thank you Jacob for your help.”

“Oh it’s no problem…” The young boy says sheepishly and awkwardly. “So, um… is there anything else?”

“No, that should be all, after today you are free for now. Enjoy Greasham, it is a nice city.” She says as she leads the group back to the office and Noah couldn’t help but still find the place still creepily familiar. He still wasn’t fully sure why but he just couldn’t shake the feeling. Once everyone was back on the surface the group went their separate ways while Noah wondered just what they got himself into.

…

The City was surprisingly nice Flint found. He wasn’t really sure what he expected honestly. Then again he did grow up in an Elemental City himself. He was an Angelsea kid born and raised. He missed it so being in another Elemental City almost made it feel like home. He just wished Bryon was here to see this. No mate, don;t dwell on that… being sad won’t bring him back besides you gotta look after these kids and Elena. Put the smile on your face. If you break who will keep the mood up?’

“Flint? You okay there?” He hears a voice say from next to him and he looks down to see a concerned looking Emily. “You spaced out a bit there, was calling on you for a minute or so. We wanted to see if you were willing to eat at this place? It’s a Crescentese place I believe and you are from Crescentia right? Given your accent?” Flint gives a small smile and nods,

“Sure, why not? Let’s try it.” He says with a smile though he didn’t really feel it in all honesty but he did his best to make it not look hollow. He wasn’t really sure why he was feeling so off. It was confusing for him.

“You sure you're okay? No offense you seem kinda off? I mean I can’t say much since I only really know you for a day.” She asks, causing him to give a tiny wince.

“I’m fine, let's get some food. If it’s good we can recommend it to the others when we see them again.” He says as he heads on.

“Noah, he told me that you lost your fiance during the Eldra attack but you never talk about him. What was he like? Sorry if I’m digging into a sore subject but just want to see if you are.”

“You… want to know about Bryon?” He asks, a bit surprised, his voice a tiny bit shaky. Before Em could say anything he saw Elena place a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey Em, you mean well but I think it’s a bit of a sensitive topic for him right now.” She tells the girl, causing the younger girl to suddenly look guilty as she looked towards Flint.

“Ah… sorry I didn’t mean to stir up sore memories Flint. Just always heard that talking about your feeling helps but can understand why you might not be comfortable being able to talk about your love. But I’m here if you need to talk. You are a nice guy and I guess part of me worries that you might neglect your feelings for the sake of others. You kind of seem like that type ah no offense.” Flint could only give the smallest wince at being read like a book but maintained his smile.

“Thanks, I appreciate it Em. I’m good though, if I need to I’ll be happy to talk to you. But you shouldn’t have to have an adults issues put upon your shoulders. You, James and Noah are still kids and you have enough going on in your lives without us adults putting more on your shoulers.” He says patting her head. ‘I am supposed to be supporting you guys, you’ve had your entire worlds turned upside down. I’m the adult here so let me shoulder things.’

“Adults still need emotional support though… but you aren’t wrong either… just I can’t really fight like the boys can and I just want to be useful somehow.” She says looking down. “I just couldn’t stay home while the boys fought. But I just don’t have years of football training like Jay or the seeming knack for fighting like Noah.”

“Hey, you can always learn. Plus not everyone has to be a fighter. The only reason I know how to fight is because I’m a massive VRCS nerd and was on the teams since middle school. So I got years of experience with that. Even still it’s obviously nothing like actual combat experience Aidan or Dolan have as they are trained soldiers. I’m just a jock who likes VR games.” He says with a grin. “But I think you can help ground the two and I think they need that. So don’t worry if you aren’t a fighter just be there for them and you’ll be good okay.” He says, causing her to give him a small smile.

“Thanks Flint.” She says before walking off to catch up with Loni leaving Flint and Elena alone for now.

“You really do put people before you always.” She tell him gently. “Not a bad thing of course but I worry you’re going to burn yourself out one day. You don’t have to shoulder all this alone… I miss Bryon as well you know and it’s sad you haven’t really spoken much about him since Eldra.” Elena says with a very sad smile. “Just talk to us if you really need to is all I can say.

“I will, just doesn’t feel right. I’ve always been a caretaker by nature. It's why I want to be a doctor in the first place so I could take care of people. So having other people taking care of me is weird, especially the kids. They really have been through enough as is. Noah and James lost one of their parents and Em left everything behind to help us and adults shouldn’t be putting their issues on kids.” He says with a sad smile. “I’m fine, it’s hard but I’ll live. I’ll miss him for the rest of my life but can’t roll over and die because he isn’t there. He took the blow that was meant for me so giving up would just be an insult to his sacrifice.” He says looking up to the sky.

“Do you think you’ll ever find someone else?” He looks towards her with a confused look.

“Huh, what do you mean?” he asks, confused.

“I mean, do you ever think you’ll find someone new? A new love? You are a good looking guy so shouldn’t be so difficult to find someone plus you are one of the nicest people I’ve ever met on top of it. I just want you to be happy, buddy.” She says, patting his shoulder.

“I don’t… know. Maybe eventually? Right now I don’t think I’m really ready for a new relationship right now. Right now I just want to help Noah with his stuff and whatever he needs to do here.” He says with a smile. But let's head on okay?” He says heading to catch up Loni and Emily who were chatting up a storm but something caught his eye as he noticed another tiger heading down the streets dressed in a pair of shorts and a band tee and well frankly he looked super hot, maybe late 20’s or early 30’s and was ripped as hell almost certainly a military guy from what he gathered the man seemed to notice Flint’s staring and gave a grin as if he recognized him.

“Oh, I think I know you! You are part of Rex’s entourage right? Flint McCormick right? You were part of the force that beat Hydra in Eldra.” Flint raised an eyebrow unsure how to really feel on any of this. It was cool being recognized and by a total hottie but the fact this random person seemed to know so much about him. It was kinda creepy. Thankfully the man seemed to realize this and laughed.

“Oh, you have no idea who I am, especially since I’m out of uniform. I’m Lieutenant Commander Hakeem Dallai the Second for Commander Groundwater and the Commanding Officer of Fort Behemoth. It’s good to meet you.” He says shaking the fellow tiger’s paw while poor Flint was trying to understand just what the hell was going on since he was oh so confused but everything clicked quickly enough. He was shaking hands with a Lt. Commander someone who held at least half of the Elemental Seal of Earth and one of the most powerful people in Mortaelis and he was shaking his hand telling him that he the potential next Elemental Lord of Earth was glad to meet Flint, a relative nobody from Angelsea who far as the tiger himself was concerned had done nothing really of note to warrant it. It was Noah who took out Hydra after all.

“Umm… It’s good to meet you Lt. Com Dallai… I uh… had your trading card in my collection back home. Just never thought I’d ever meet someone like you.. Don’t really know what to say Sir.” Hakeem just let out a laugh and smacked his back heartily.

“Call me Hakeem, I’m off duty right now and we’ll probably be working close together so might as well be friendly. Plus always good to meet another tiger. Nice accent though guess you are Crecentiese? And if I am right judging by your accent in particular you are from a certain floating city off the Crecentiese coast.” Flint just stares even more slightly unnerved that this man could figure out so much from him just by his accent. Then again he was military so he was probably taught how to spot these small things especially given his high rank.

“That… is unnerving not going to lie, Hakeem.” He says before another voice joins their talk.

“Are you bothering some poor stranger Keem? For shame?” The voice said lightly with a grin in the voice and both turned around to see a tall dragon man slightly shorter than Flint but just as ripped though Flint could tell he had a bit of a belly on him but his arms and legs were strong and he had a Vendoka Trimancers tee-shirt (One of the most famous VRCS teams in Mortaelis who happened to be based in the Weleshnan capital of well… Vendoka.) The military tiger brightened up and brought him close and kissed him deeply.

“Yazid! Sorry, got sidetracked meeting our friend here. How you been Babe? I’ve missed you so much.” Only then did Flint spot the two matching wedding bands on each of their ring fingers causing his stomach to squirm a bit as his hand went to the cord around his neck where his and Byrpn’s engagement rings were.

‘Damnit… what’s wrong with me? I should be happy for them… why does my heart feel like it’s about to shatter into a thousand pieces?’ He thinks to himself and before he could stop it he felt the hot tears crawl down his face. The dragon seemed to spot this and look at him concerned.

“Hey, are you okay buddy?” He says reaching out while Flint recoiled a bit before looking embarrassed.

“I’m fine! No problem ah.. Yazid wasn’t it? Are you part of the military as well?” He asked with a smile his voice still shaky despite his best efforts to hide it and he mentally cursed himself for that weakness.

“No, I’m a Miner. One of the Foreman of the mines actually. But you sure you are okay? You looked a bit upset. Uh what’s your name by the way, Hakeem forgot to actually mention it.

“It’s uh… Flint… Flint McCormick…” This seemed to catch the dragon’s notice.

“Oh, you were one of the people who survived the Unsealed assault on Eldra… you lost someone there huh?” Flint couldn’t hide his stricken face as he looked away holding the rings hidden under his shirt wishing he could disappear. He didn't want to talk about this? Why did everyone keep bringing it up? He didn’t want to talk or even think about this but why did people constantly make him think about it? He jumped when he felt a hand lay on his shoulder snapping back to reality as he saw the other tiger had been the one to do so. He also noticed that Elena had suddenly appeared next to him looking concerned.

“Excuse me who are you and what are you doing to Flint? He’s clearly upset!”

“Ah sorry Miss, I’m Lt. Commander Hakeem Dallai. My husband here, Yazid noticed he looked sad when he saw us kiss and asked if he had lost someone in Eldra since we both recognized him from the news regarding Eldra. Now that I mention it you must be Elena Morgan it’s good to meet you Ma’am.” He says offering a hand to shake which she reluctantly took and shook with a firm grip. Yazid however continued to keep an eye on Flint which tested the tigers resolve until.

“It was my fiance… that’s who I lost… we were planning on getting married after graduating. This was supposed to be our last vacation before we finished University. I was going to go Medical School…” he blurts out tears streaming down his face. “He… he had wanted to go to Pollenburn but I kept on insisting on Eldra because I had always heard the Armistice Day Festival there was awesome and I eventually wore him down. If I hadn’t been so insistent he would have still been alive. He died because he shoved me out of the way of a Unsealed’s blast attack. He took the blow for me and I couldn’t do anything to help him.” He says tears spilling down his face as the dam began to fully break.

“It’ my fault I should have just shut up and went with his idea to go to Pollenburn he would still be alive and that kills me inside. He died because of me and I’ll never forgive myself.” He admits as he pours his heart out he probably would have kept blabbering if it wasn’t for the dragon giving him a deep and tight hug.

“It’s not your fault, you couldn’t known what was going to transpire in Eldra. It’s not your fault that Hydra got released. He loved you and that’s all that matters.

“But…” Flint started before swiftly being shushed by the dragon.

“No but’s, please stop blaming yourself. It’s not going to bring him back from the dead and it’s only going to hurt you the longer you dwell on it. Trust me on this okay?” He said moving back a bit. “Either way, it was good to meet you Flint, hope we run into each other again. We will see you again but right now my husband owes me a dinner since we haven’t gotten to see each other for a month.” He says before writing something down and passing the paper to Flint.

“Here is my number, if you ever need to talk I’m happy to lend an ear. I might not look it but I went to school to be a therapist but I found I preferred being a miner more. But I do keep myself updated with the new stuff in the field. But really was nice meeting you. I’m sorry for your loss.” He said before dragging the other tiger away who just gave a friendly wave goodbye as they eventually went out of sight.

“Those… two were certainly an interesting pair weren’t they? But… you okay Flint?” Elana asked gently, patting his shoulder. Flint just nodded, it felt weird. He felt almost lighter somehow like a weight had been lifted off him to a degree.

“I’m good, or at least I think I am? I don’t know.” He said with a bit of a sad smile. “It was nice meeting them, I do admit… part of me was seriously jealous seeing them together knowing I’ll never have that with Bryon. But even still I’m glad they have each other. But let’s go find the other two. I'm pretty hungry aren’t you?” He said with a small grin as he guided the vixen with a hand to her back and the two just chatted happy to have each other as friends no matter what was to pass,

…

After the group had finished with the meeting with Rocky, Aidan had taken them to one of the VRCS Chambers insisting that now would be a good time to fully train both Noah and James’s new powers. Noah grimanced hoping it would have been a lazy day possibly but the older wolf stated that if they were to face off against those stone monsters it was important for them to be as skilled as they could with the powers they now had, which was logical that much as Noah loathed to admit the man had a point he couldn’t truly refute which was how he and James were now in this digital arena with what seemed like endless numbers of mooks rushing after them.

Noah did his best to dip in and out of the shadows while attacking where he could but James seemed to have a harder time still not fully used to his own powers as he kept dodging and weaving trying not to get hit while he changed his weapons between dagger and pistol mode.

“They just keep on coming… what type of game is this?” James shouts out towards the watchful older wolves who were viewing them from the side.

“It’s an endurance game that keeps going on until you lose all your HP! That’s the green bar that’s floating above your heads.” Rex explains helpfully. “Once you lose all your hp you are logged out from the game and once you both lose your hp the game will end. When that happens we will just restart and keep going.”

“Isn’t this a wee bit excessive?” James asks as he is forced to dodge a strike from the enemy at the last second. “Fuck!” He says blasting the enemy with his light enhanced laser blasts ripping several of the enemies into dust as he activates his sigil and makes another large group float in the air as he activates his gravity powers before picking them up one by one while Noah continued to go in and out of the shadows created by James’s light bursts backstabbing the enemies before diving back into the shadows. The longer this went on the more numerous the enemies became causing the two boys to eventually started to be swarmed and overwhelmed until both their hp hit zero ending the hologram putting them back in the real world panting in exhaustion.

“Damn… that was intense… was this how you trained at the academy Rex? Aidan?” He asks the two older men, causing Rex to chuckle a bit.

“Actually by the time we entered our second year which is where most people get their Glyph’s we started at the level you guys lost out on. It got pretty intense and it would last for hours on end.” Aidan could only grimace and nod.

“Yeah it was even harder for those few Asýnchroni who kept on with the academy. The vast majority of them drop out as I stated before since they are generally looked down upon.

“Never had that problem thankfully I did get a Star Glyph before I matched with the Seal itself so I had amble time to train with how to work with my powers. But either way the training in the academy was much harsher than what you are getting now, it’s not just a high school after all, it is a military faculty that trains the next generation of MODD Soldiers. Plus since it’s in Minetrocia most of us are away from our families for most of the year so it also encourages bonding with your fellow students especially the ones who you match Glyph’s since they in particular are the ones who you’ll be working alongside once you graduate. Aidan’s Brother for example matched with a Lighting Glyph so he was stationed in Oxis with Custer along with his fellows.”

Noah and James both nodded, taking all this in as they continued to pant in sheer exhaustion which Rex seemed to notice and let out a small chuckle. “Okay, I think that’s enough. Go get a shower, we will do another session tomorrow alright?” He says dismissing them and the two got up and left and headed back to the Guest Commander suite to get washed up.

…

The bathroom was unsurprisingly extremely luxurious and the shower was massive and very fancy with all kind of nice doodads. After a few minutes luxuriating in the wonderful hot water the two split off, James going to lay down for a bit while Noah stayed in the shower for a bit longer before finally deciding to get out and dressed and as he exited the bathroom he saw Flint sitting at the small bar in the corner facing the window nursing a bottle of what was probably some type of alcohol. He was mumbling to himself occasionally, taking a swig from the bottle. He noticed the others seemed to be giving him a bit of space though Aidan and Rex would occasionally give him concerned glances while Silas just seemed to be reading something leaving the tiger be. But for whatever reason Noah felt compelled to walk up to him.

“Hey, you okay? No offense but you look really down.” Flint just sighed.

“I don’t want to talk about it but nobody else seems to care about that so guess I have no choice.” He says his voice far more harsh than Noah had ever heard it far from the usually jolly tone he usually had causing the young wolf to flinch a bit but Flint seemed to notice it and sighed. “Sorry, just been having a rough day, I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. You’re just a kid after all.” He said lightening up a bit seeing how his mood had effected the younger man.

“Sorry to hear that?” Noah says as he sits down next to the tiger. “If you need it I can lend an ear. I know I’m younger but I still want to help. We are friends aren’t we?” Flint groans and takes another swig and seeing the label he noticed it was apparently some very nice Crescentese whiskey.

“You are a good kid Noah, you really shouldn’t be asking for adults to put their troubles on you. I mean you’ve got enough on your plate as is. I don’t want to dump even more on you.”

“You aren’t dumping, I’m asking you because I care. You are a person as well after all and you’ve been through a lot as well. You always seem so happy but I’m sure you do hide a lot of pain in yourself.” Flint just gave a sad grin and sighed looking away for a bit before he started speaking.

“I miss Bryon… but I don’t want to think about him because I’m afraid if I dwell too much I’ll be such a wreck I won’t be able to function and help you guys. But it hurts you know? I thought i’d spend my life with him and now? I can’t have that, and I just feel lost. Honestly part of me joining you guys was me basically running from my problems. I’m still taking online classes to continue my schooling when I have time. I might as well finish my last year. But Don’t think I could stand being on campus or in my flat right now.”

“Regardless of your reasons I’m glad you are here, you always try to make sure the rest of the group is happy and it means a lot. You are a good guy, plus I can understand your loss. I miss my dad too and I know I’d never be able to stay in my home or go to school after that… not that I really could as a minor plus the only real memory I have of my biological dad was his murder,” He says a bit glum.

“You really have been through a lot haven’t you buddy.” Flint said, laying a hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “Kinda makes me feel a bit of a chump given how well you are handling everything while I am barely avoiding falling apart.” He says with a small chuckle, “But thanks man, I’m sure you will get more memories of your bio dad. He seemed like a nice guy.” Flint said and Noah took him by surprise by giving him a hug causing the larger man to let out a small grunt before smiling and hugging him back just as that happened Aidan started to speak up sounding confused.

“Hey guys… um… both of you are glowing?” He said as Noah looked towards Flint as his own glyph activated and a glow started to shine around the tiger’s body starting from his shoulderblades before spreading around his entire body. ‘Wait… did I just somehow give Flint a Glyph,’ He asked himself as Flint looked over himself in awe. ‘Well, I guess it doesn’t take sex after all. Didn’t expect this to happen, guess my life just continues to get even weirder.'