FSE

MapleStory: Innocence Undone Ch.2 - Oppression

Story by diosoth on SoFurry

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MapleStory: Innocence Undone

Chapter 2

Oppression

Spring had come and Henesys was finally free of the snow, the damp ground no longer felt like walking on a wet sponge and the trees had returned to their preferred green. As was the habit of the town residents, the Chief paced the main street keeping an eye on everything, his younger son studied magical books, his older son moped with desires of going on adventures, and his wife took care of town planning. The Bowman Instructional School trained what newcomers that may wish to join. The dance academy welcomed its own share of new students. Market Street sold its goods to fresh adventurers in need of potions.

Business as usual. The status quo had returned.

Marching to the stores with his weekly shopping list, Diosoth, a former adventurer now retired and married, noticed an odd sight. A woman had set up a table, glass sphere resting in the middle. "Welcome, young man! I am Cassandra. May I offer my services and tell your fortune for a small fee?" The woman appeared to be middle-aged, brown hair beginning to gray, in a long blue dress that did not seem to be anything like what the Henesys townfolk wore.

"Uh... I guess..."

"Good. Have a seat," she requested. Looking into her crystal ball, the woman focused on hazy images reflecting in the round glass. "Ah. Interesting. You may have an unexpected journey in your near future, perhaps to do with family..."

Diosoth figures he was being told absolute crap, vague nonsense that could be interpreted many ways. While his twenty-first birthday was only a day away and Kitrina would absolutely have some sort of surprise for him, even that was a stretch to assume the woman had seen any of it.

He asked, "how much do I owe?"

"Five thousand."

Producing the money, the bowman asked her, "do a lot of business since you got here?"

"Some," Cassandra responded.

"How many predictions come true, or is this just entertainment?"

The fortune teller knew her customer was not dumb enough to buy into this. "If anyone could accurately predict the future, then the world would be different. If I could predict the future in full, I would be much wealthier, my husband would still be with me..."

Dio muttered, "I'm sorry."

"No, it's in the past, fifteen years ago, he was on a hunting expedition. He and I knew what he was getting into, yet it did not prepare me for the eventuality." Cassandra looked into the ball again. "My gift has never given me more than small glimpses, usually. At times I may see more clearly but only briefly into the future, by seconds or minutes and it is still only a flash. The future, for the most part, has not been written and one cannot see what has not yet transpired."

"Ah, no..." Kit whined, hoping to flee as Mrs. Ming-Ming raced towards her.

"Kitrina! Would you be interested in helping bake for next month's town festival?"

Faking a smile, the cat only answered, "sorry, I don't cook."

"Oh?" Jotting down on her list, the woman remarked, "pity. I could teach you, if you like!"

"Um..." the catgirl considered the proposal. "Maybe. I'll think about it, okay? My mom didn't cook either, she didn't have time so we always ate fast food and Dio never had time to learn, since he was, you know..."

Flipping the sheet over, she asked, "would he be interested in assisting? Maybe he could wear that shiny armor and host a few events! It might draw a few crowds!"

Shrugging, Kit only said, "I'll ask, but no promises!"

"I don't see you two out much usually when you're shopping. In a way I envy you, I was that way myself when I first married Stan, family life and duties have a way of changing that. Are you thinking about children, yet?"

She muttered back, "not quite yet."

"You should," the town elder replied, "They can be a hassle but you would regret it someday if you don't.

Within the Omega Sector's military command center was a feeling of dread, much different in tone from the normal threats handled on a daily basis. Even the low rank soldiers who did little more than guard the base knew it. That man did not belong here, clad in a black uniform unlike anything seen prior, trying to obtain classified technology. Determined to be human, almost certainly not an agent of the aliens that remained outside the perimeter, their visitor remained tied up in an interrogation room, having so far not revealed his secrets.

"You've had your turn. Questioning didn't get anything, drugs didn't get anything, now we try it my way."

A pair of red high heels stomped the steel floor as a female agent turned the doorknob. Their prisoner seemed uninterested by the tall female secret agent who had entered, that is until she began to undo the rope binding him to the wooden chair. "It's about time- AHHHH!"

An indescribable pain shot from the man's calf muscle into his back, pain caused by a thin shoe heel jabbing tender muscle. Unable to reach down, lifted up and thrown into the wall hard enough to echo in the small room, their guest felt a hand strike his chest, a faint crack shooting through his ears the tell-tale sign of broken ribs.

"Now, either you tell me why you're here, or I'll do more of the same."

"You're quite strong," he gasped, tasting iron as blood filled his mouth. He hadn't quite noticed before but this new interrogator was rather muscular, even if the black suit she wore did help to hide it to a degree, although not even that hid the agent's arms very well. "But you are too late. HE is about to awake and there is nothing you can do. Kill me if you wish but even if you were able to get from me what you wanted, it would do you no good."

Arm twisting violently, throwing her prisoner to the ground, Agent "E" of the Omega Sector Secret Service picked up the black hat, peering at white emblem. "It can't be..." Rushing out, carrying the hat towards the command center, the agent flashed the emblem towards the Rangers, what few agents were present and Dr. Kim, head of the Omega Sector. "Did none of you notice this?"

Hoony of the M-Force shook his head. "Nope."

Chury also hadn't seen it. "Looks dumb."

"I paid no attention to it," Dr. Kim answered. "Let me look it up." Bringing up a search on the nearest terminal, he entered search parameters and scrolled through a photographic list of known emblems used in Maple World. "Nothing current, let me expand the... oh, no..."

Agent "E" didn't wait for him to go on. "It's the Black Wings. They served the Black Mage hundreds of years ago."

"The Black... this isn't good!" Hoony cried. "He's real?"

"Everyone, this is an emergency." Dr. Kim took a sip of his coffee. "Plans to build the Mesodizer will be made a top priority. Our main focus, of course, is keeping the Mateons and Grays at bay, if they reach the tower they could send Ludibrium into the ocean. This new threat must also be taken seriously as well and prepared for, in the event we have two battles on our hands."

"And we probably will," the female agent grumbled, "that grunt in there said it would be soon."

Deep within the Temple Of Time, a slumbering beast slowly opened its eyes. Aware of its surroundings now, recalling the past, it felt immense power. Time spent at rest had finally given the Black Mage what he needed. Escape may not yet come, but the world would now know he had returned.

Morning's sun peered across the sky as Cassandra polished her ancient crystal ball. Many hears had been spent refining the mystic arts to know what the future held, even if only mere glimpses could be obtained, years showing themselves in hair turning gray. Placing the glass artifact on its pedestal, the fortune teller began to peer inside.

What peered back was most unexpected. "It can't be. The Black Mage? In all my years I- no. NO! What is this? I have to warn-"

The poor woman had no time to warn anyone.

A mushroom house on the edge of Henesys sat quiet, its residents fast asleep even as morning began to take away the darkness. Not far away the town itself was beginning its day, as always.

As if some dark force was ripping the land apart with no thought to the consequences, an incredible sound echoed across all of Victoria Island.

Eyes popping open as he was thrown out of bed, a young man screamed in pain while the entire building rattled. The event lasted mere seconds. "WHAT THE HELL?" The voice came from the other side of the room. Kitrina found herself on a hard wooden floor, dazed from slamming into it while still asleep.

"Kit! You okay?"

"Yeah, I- damn! The leg's broken!"

Shocked at what his wife had said, the Ranger crawled up and ran over to help the injured woman. "I'll get a healing- wait..."

Kit threw the chunk of wood aside. "The beg leg snapped right off!"

Relieved to see his lover was just fine, he reached out and flicked the lamp switch. Nothing. "Power's out. Typical." Feeling for the drawers, the Bowman managed to dig out a flashlight. "Huh... that's odd, it's almost seven, sun should be out by now."

Peeling the curtains open, the catgirl explained, "there's a branch over the window."

"This place is a wreck..." he noted, hoping his PDA wasn't shattered. It wasn't, thankfully. "At least this isn't broken. I hope." Flicking the power button, the device came to life, but failed to connect to the network. "And there's no signal."

"I'm just glad we weren't killed!" Kit whined. Stepping over debris and fallen decorations, she looked out the living room window. "Hey, the whole town's a mess!"

Stumbling towards the window to see, Dio remarked, "no wonder the house was shaken. Must've been an earthquake."

"DAMAGE REPORT! I want to know what the hell just happened!"

Kyrin was quite unsettled by this. Whatever this was had rocked the Nautilus terribly. The radio crackled, "that leak in the bottom deck just got a bit wider!"

Another voice, "we've had storage crates and weapons lockers spill open, but nothing exploded or went off."

Tapping away at the navigational systems, Kyrin assumed this had to be a malfunction in the map systems. She was showing a position some distance away from where they'd been a few minutes before, several miles away in fact, although the surrounding terrain was unchanged.

"I have a real bad feeling about all this..."

General Orchid smiled. "Right now all those worthless heroes and peons know the power of the Black Mage. Even sealed away and with little power, their little island has been forever changed."

"Yes, the Black Mage has rearranged Victoria Island," Gelimer balked, "so what? It seems a pointless display when he could have destroyed the island instead."

"Quiet, old man," his commander shouted, "unless you wish the Black Mage to hear of your disbelief."

With a shrug, the elderly scientist merely responded, "you may have lived for centuries, but I am the one who maintains the experiments and I am the one who makes progress. You may lead but I am the brains, and you need me ESPECIALLY if you wish your brother to ever be revived."

Orchid held back. The old man was right, as much as it annoyed her. "Go back to your computers and leave me be."

"At least the house seems mostly okay..." Diosoth was beyond pissed. "But we'll need someone to look the place over and just hope if we need any work done the repairs won't cost a fortune!"

"Huh, yeah, no electricity, no running water, no toilets, they better fix this shit fast!" the cat whined in anger. "I am NOT going to the bathroom outside!" She looked over their wedding photos hung on the wall. "The glass is broken but the pics are okay... oh yeah, happy birthday, sucks this happened!"

A loud banging almost knocked the front door in. Rushing to answer, Diosoth saw one of the local town women. "Rina!"

"I'm checking up on you, No one hurt?"

"We're fine," he assured the woman.

Rina looked back towards the main residential area. "It seems no one has been injured but things are really strange..."

No one in the town of Henesys had an explanation. Buildings and streets had been shuffled around in seconds, as if rearranged on a chess board, so much so that the main street itself seemed to point in another direction if the compass needles were correct.

Chief Stan had no explanation, not that the old man ever seemed to have much of a grasp on what went on. Not that he would ever admit it but it seemed his role was practically that of a figurehead, as the real work always took place under his nose. Answers would not come easily, unfortunately. Knocking frantically on the door to the Bowman training school, he cried out, "Athena Pierce! Why aren't you answering?"

No use.

Elsewhere, on the edge of town, Pirate captain Kyrin surveyed the changes. "So the whole town was moved. Interesting. But everything's been changed. I wonder if the other towns have the same problem?" Merely traveling to Henesys had taken some time, as whatever magic bound town scrolls to their location was no longer working, although with the towns themselves relocated it was hardly a surprise.

The actual damage had been rather light, whatever unseen hand had done this was careful, though water pipes were broken, underground electrical lines severed and a fair bit of the town needed to be cleaned of random debris. Walking through Henesys painted a better picture of the real toll, unfortunately- lives had been changed and this event would run deeper than merely altering the towns themselves.

Edelstein, a robust city on the edge of the world, was unaware of the events transpiring elsewhere on Maple World. They had not felt the changes or heard of them. The town was under the control of the Black Wings, which meant that the outside world was of no concern, nor would they hear of it. Edelstein was a city separated from the planet.

This morning, on the outskirts near the old mines, children had run off to play. This was not unusual in the least, the children had come this way many times and Stephan, Black Wings Watchman thought nothing of it.

A young boy, part of the group who had wanted to play hide and seek, made the mistake of hiding inside a cave. Within he saw large containers of liquids, each holding a captive hooked up to any number of machines. Within one, a young girl had awakened, a pitiful looking example of humanity, withered from scientific abuse, that had been used for some unknown experiment, as had all of these captives.

The couple was in a foul mood, going over the damage and sacking up trash, made no better by the arrival of a certain Pirate at their front door. "Nice mess." She asked, "no one's seen Athena Pierce, you know where she is?"

"Huh?" The news was a bit of a shock, regardless of recent events. "She's not at home?"

Kyrin merely shrugged. "Her front door is locked. Your town's chief is worried sick, and worst of all... whatever this was hit the entire island."

"Oh wow," Kit moaned. "But if it did this everywhere then- MOM! Damn, I forgot all about her! She's probably been trying to reach me! I gotta get to Kerning! Dio, where's the town scrolls at?"

"They won't work," the Pirate responded. "The towns were relocated, and with the phones and PDAs all down, you better start walking, little kitty." Flinging open the closet door, Kitrina grabbed her dagger, not even stopping to say a word as she ran off. "You have a key to her house, right?"

"A key..." Dio grumbled, searching where they'd usually be. "Hold on... here!" They'd fallen behind the shelf unit, hardly a surprise what with the state of everything. Pushing it just enough to grab the key ring, the Ranger slipped on his boots, racing for the training school. Key in the lock, door open, he found the building totally abandoned. "She's not even here."

Arms crossed, the Pirate captain could only say, "we need to check the other towns. I have a real bad feeling that none of the four job leaders are still on the island."

It was a rare sight to see the chief instructors of the four jobs gathered together, then again it was a rare sight to see an entire landmass torn apart and rearranged. All four had gathered near Orbis, transported by ancient magic to the Chief's residence of El Nath, a building used by the third job instructors. For now it would serve as a meeting place.

"I did not expect such a drastic move," Grendel proclaimed. "We knew the Black Mage's seal was weakening, and the deceased man's note found on the outskirts of Edelstein indicated the time was soon, but THIS..."

"Even sealed away, his power is to be feared," Athena said with a whimper. "Throughout the centuries I have witnessed his power. What has happened today is a bad omen."

Dark Lord shrugged, though it was bravado at best. "Our immediate goal should be to repair the island. Communication lines are down and I know that warp scrolls are no longer working. Relocating the towns has affected the magic."

"We must be cautious." Dances With Balrog felt that the strongest priority now was in keeping order. "The people must be reassured or there will be chaos. If the every day citizen and even warriors feel as if we are not capable of handling this, they may turn their backs on us, or even turn to the Black Mage."

"The lands have also become entangled in chaos," the Elf spoke. "Warriors bicker among themselves. Thieves are now at war with the new Dual Blade faction."

"A minor concern," Dark Lord boasted.

"A concern you will deal with," Balrog shouted. "We can not deal with that, not with more pressing concerns!"

Grendel merely tapped his cane, stating, "we have been training warriors for years yet they have never had real direction. They have lacked purpose. Now is time we give them a purpose, let them know what it is they are fighting for. They are not fighting for money or fame, but to protect this world. We should have made clear from the start what threat loomed on the horizon, though it is not too late."

Balrog responded, "agreed. We must make clear what has happened, who was responsible and what may come if our world does not stand and oppose this evil."

"It is time we return," Athena remarked. "Our absence has no doubt been noticed and we need to reassure the people. We should have told them before we met but circumstances warranted quick action."

Her knocking became loud pounding now, ready to beat the door itself down if she had to. Kitrina's mother had failed to answer since she arrived, leaving the cat worried her mother may be injured or worse.

Rearing back and bracing to slam into the door to do just that, Kit was stopped by a greeting.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Renee had heard the knocking from the other end of the building, hoping it wasn't either burglars or the place falling in on itself.

"Mom isn't answering me!"

Renee responded, "She's not there! She went out."

Kitrina gave her old friend a puzzled look. "What's going on? The PDAs are down, the phones aren't working and I can't get in touch with her."

The girl only shrugged. "I saw her carrying a big sword. Maybe she went to the swamps? I heard they wanted clay from those mud monsters to help repair the damage around the city."

"Great..." The catgirl let slip a rushed breath out of annoyance. "Well, at least I brought my weapon! Never saw mom out fighting monsters, might be fun!"

Cleaning the streets of Henesys had been no simple chore, although this was likely the least damaged down of the five. Kerning was a large city lined with tall buildings that could have easily toppled, Lith Harbor was made of stone walkways and buildings, and both Perion and Ellinia were built on natural structures that likely suffered greatly.

Afternoon had come and gone and sun began to fade in an orange haze across the horizon. Halfway ready to wander back home, Diosoth was too tired to get up off the bench.

"Bad day?"

He looked up to see Kyrin. "Kit's mother is okay but she'll be with us a few days. We have plumbing again but no power until Kerning gets the power plant fixed and all the underground lines checked. We'll need someone to come in and get that branch lifted off the roof and fix up all the spots that were cracked and- hey, who's that?"

Stumbling nearby was a young woman who looked somewhat familiar. "Isn't that the fortune teller who sets up every day?" Kyrin inquired.

"No, that's an older woman. But wait, she is wearing the same dress..."

Striding over, the Pirate asked her, "you need help?"

"Uh... no, I'm just a bit dizzy. I haven't felt right today." Lifting up a fractured crystal ball, the woman seemed saddened. "It's broken."

"Do you know Cassandra, that fortune teller?"

"Don't be silly, I AM Cassandra! Don't you recognize me?" she replied, more confused than ever. "I just told your fortune yesterday!"

"But Cassandra looked like she was in her fifties," the Ranger responded, still with no clue what was going on. "She has brown hair and you're blonde!

Kyrin blurted out, "look at you, you don't have a wrinkle."

Puzzled further, Cassandra looked at her reflection in a nearby window. "Oh wow, I didn't look like this earlier today! Now I remember, I looked into my crystal ball this morning right before that big bang noise tore everything up."

"You looked into... interesting." The Pirate captain was curious. "Did you see anything?"

"Um... I don't remember. I've been feeling a bit weird all day. And my crystal ball is broken. I need to get a new one."

Tapping the toe of her boot against the stone walkway, Kyrin let out a sigh. 'This day just gets worse... first the island is rearranged, now someone was reverse aged. I wonder if that was intentional? Hmm...' Running off without saying anything, the Pirate needed to return to her ship and meet with the crew to discuss the day's events, perhaps determine the reason for all of this if one was known, and if need be, come up with an immediate plan of attack. The longer anyone waited, the stronger the Black Mage's power grew.

But how would one challenge that which is unknown? She had no clue where or who to strike against. Indeed, her opponents had the upper hand and Kyrin did not feel the least bit easy.

Life had finally begun to return to normal for Victoria Island after a long month of hard work to repair the damage, or as close to normal as could be considered with numerous permanent changes brought about. Cleanup had not proven too problematic, restoration of basic services went faster than expected, and no further sign of the Black Mage had been seen.

The situation in Edelstein, however, would soon spill over into the rest of the world, putting an end to this peace. Unknown to anyone, the entire planet was about to become a war zone.

"Hmm... so Schiller is dead, and the only possible culprit is a member of this pathetic Resistance?" Gelimer inquired.

"It seems so," the Watchman answered. "Before he died, we don't know what the name means, if it was the one who killed him, one of his contacts or... even complete gibberish. Furthermore-"

The old scientist scoffed. "Tell me the name!"

"That is another problem," he answered sheepishly. "The name turned up two results, either of which could be the likely individual. One is a boy who lives in Edelstein, the other a man living in Henesys. To make things worse, they are spelled differently but we don't know which one he meant! If he even meant either one!"

"It is possible that one of our own would have recruited a child as a spy, it would be very useful... perhaps a witness. Or perhaps this resistance group had become so desperate they have begun to recruit children? And to think a child being trained to kill, they would have to be incredibly desperate. Where is the boy?"

Hesitant, the Watchman finally responded, "we do not know. He left for Victoria Island but we do not know where the boy may have gone after that."

"You don't know!?" Gelimer screamed. "Then find him! As for this other individual, send someone to interrogate him as well, if he is responsible then he will be dealt with."

"Shall I inform General Orchid of your orders?"

"Do not concern her with this, I shall handle it." The aged scientist would never admit openly that he despised the commander of the Black Wings. In his eyes she lacked any real ambition, being too concerned with her brother's health to really do anything. "Find them and find out what they know. If they will not comply then force it out of them. I want answers!"

"I'm HOME!"

Kitrina made her way to the kitchen, dropping two bags of cheeseburgers and fries without care. Rubber gloves on to keep the grease off her fur, grabbing a burger, wrapper peeled back, the catgirl didn't wait to dig in. Shoveling in a mouthful of fries between bites of cheeseburger, Kit had been waiting all day to eat.

"Save me some."

"They were on sale, I got thirty," she replied.

"Thirty? Well," Dio groaned, "I know what we're having for breakfast tomorrow."

With a shrug, Kitrina opened the fridge and grabbed two cherry sodas. Before she could open hers, the cat saw something that didn't belong. Shadows moved past the window, faint sounds that her ears could pick up. Quietly, she explained, "there are two men outside the house, in black suits. They're whispering something I can't make out."

Grabbing a burger, Dio responded quietly, "that can't be good. Turn invisible and go get someone. I'll get my bow. Now."

Getting up, the cat said loud enough to be heard, "I'll check the mailbox before I forget!" Upon reaching the front door, Kitrina activated the Dark Sight ability, suddenly invisible to the world as she ran for the center of town. Knowing they'd been seen, two men entered the house and shouted out, "you are coming with us! The Black Wings wish you ask you some questions. Come quietly and you won't be harmed!"

Diosoth replied by firing an arrow, nearly missing. "We can take you back beaten and bleeding, if need be." One of the men drew a weapon, although before he could aim, a second arrow punched through his shoulder, pinning his body to the wall. Blood began to pour, painful screaming cutting the silence as the pistol fell.

"I didn't want to do that but you really made me, man!"

Stunned but unwavering, the second man grabbed a picture frame and threw it, charging Dio as the object grazed his arm. The two struggled violently, the large eagle-headed bow swung like a club only to fling wildly away. Kicking and punching, the pair fought like rabid animals until Diosoth felt the gun's barrel. Quickly snatching up the weapon and aiming at his attacker, the Ranger was suddenly caught in a dilemma of whether or not he could actually kill another person. Monsters had been one thing, but another human being was a different moral issue altogether. He merely kept the pistol trained on the intruder.

Whimpering, all the man could do was flee, out the door to freedom, away from death. He'd barely made it a hundred feet before another gun was aimed square at his face. "Good thing I was in town," Kyrin grunted, "and it looks like I've caught one of the Black Mage's underlings."

"There was another one," Kit said, suddenly fearful.

Peering out the door, Diosoth tossed away the handgun. "Someone get in here and get this guy out of my living room! And clean up the blood!"

Further concerned, Kit shouted out, "BLOOD!?"

"I had to pin him to the wall!"

The Pirate captain merely smiled at the sight of a Black Wings Watchman trapped and bleeding with an arrow through him. "Good, he's alive. He'd be useless to me otherwise."

"Help me," he whimpered. Grabbing the arrow's feathered end, Kyrin pressed down, snapping the shaft near the wall. "AH! Get it out of me!"

"You talk and I might. Come on, slime, I'm not going to carry you."

Not far away, a figure clad in black watched as both men were dragged away by the leader of the Pirates, no doubt to be interrogated. As the group left, he followed close by but wisely remained out of sight. He was unsure of what was going on but recognized the two as Black Wings watchmen. The stranger would keep back, for now.

Exiting the interrogation room, Kyrin felt quite smug for she had two members of a mysterious organization loyal to her mortal enemy. For now what little she'd managed to get out of them clarified the immediate situation, although no doubt a bit more time could produce information that would prove rather useful in the long run.

"They were after you," she explained, "but they were going by a name. They were after two people but they don't seem to know why the Black Wings wanted either of them. And knowing how the Black Mage operates, he probably doesn't allow those on the bottom rung to know too much. Still, it might explain why they sent those two rather than their usual goons."

"That doesn't make me feel better," the Bowman shouted.

Waving around an unknown model of PDA, the Pirate assured him, "I sent a message to their boss saying you weren't of any interest. That'll put an end to that! But this won't make you feel any better, either," the captain said with a twisted frown. "They said both people they were sent after have the same name."

Slumped against the wall of the Nautilus, Dio merely grumbled, "then they didn't even know who they were after. I suppose that makes more sense seeing as I don't know these people. But who else would have MY name?"

"That's gotta be a mistake," Kit responded. "When we registered for our wedding, there weren't any problems. No one even had a close match in their system!"

The Captain explained, "one of them said the person they were after may have been a contact. I know you're not working for them but someone could be using your name, or they got the name wrong. Those two idiots didn't know anything else. What I want to know is..." Eyes closed tight, she continued, "if the Black Wings really are back, where are they located, and who was put in charge"

"Back?" Kit begged.

Kyrin elaborated, "they were a group back in the days of the Black Mage, his army of enforcers. Their leader was a woman named Orchid. I doubt either one is still alive after more than four hundred years but with the seal weakening he's likely found someone new to lead them."

"Miss Kyrin!" Black Bark, one of her crew was leading a young boy towards them. "This kid here says he needs to talk to you about those two goons we dragged back."

The newcomer was a young boy holding a crossbow, dressed in cheap Bowman clothing. "I think they were after me."

Eyes glanced around the room, back and forth nervously. "You, kid?" Kyrin asked.

"I-" He was hesitant. "I'm from Edelstein and I killed a man."

"That's not funny," the catgirl shouted.

"But I did! He was one of them and he was going to kill me. I didn't want to! I- I couldn't help it. he knew I was in the Resistance and-"

"The Resistance?" Kyrin had heard of the group before. "They're still around then... funny, Edelstein was always so cut off but they reopened travel a week after all that happened here."

The child said with a whine, "the Black Wings controls the town. They took over the old mines and have a base there and I found people inside glass containers. I rescued one but that man found out and-"

"Okay, okay, calm down, kid," Kyrin said gently. "What's your name?"

"Dyos. I mean, Dyos Oth." Showing his PDA, again of an unknown model, the kid wanted to prove his story. I think that man must have told them my name before he died. I'm sorry, I didn't know someone else had my name."

Stooping down, Kyrin planed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's not your fault. Come with me and tell me everything."

Locking the door to her private quarters, Kyrin sat in her favorite chair. "This is worse than I imagined. The Black Wings aren't just reformed, they've taken over Edelstein, and if the town resists they'll blow up the power plant, which would take out the town and probably reach all the way to the ends of El Nath. The Resistance has become desperate enough to recruit children."

"He's just a kid and he killed someone, that's screwed up," Dio said with a grunt.

"The boy rescued a little girl from their labs. He said they have a laboratory room filled wall to wall with people in vats. THAT is screwed up," she replied. "This goes beyond what you could imagine! He said their leader might be a scientist, an old guy named Gelimer. I've never heard of him. The Resistance has been recruiting whoever they can trust but they have to be very discrete."

Biting her lip, Kit inquired, "but if they own that town then why'd they open up travel again?"

"Probably to show everyone they don't fear us. They're confident enough in their hold on Edelstein that they don't believe anyone can challenge them, especially not the job leaders. And if I walked in and started shooting, they'd either kill their hostage, or blow up the power plant. They're right, we can't take them on, anyone who tried would be killed. Unless they did it in secret."

Diosoth could only sulk. "That's wonderful. That means they get away with whatever they're doing and - eh, AH!" Spitting onto the floor, he commented, "I think a bug just flew in my mouth. I don't need that! So how'd the kid become a Bowman? Athena Pierce said she'd never met him," the Ranger asked.

"It seems a few members of the resistance engaged in some magic trickery to create offshoots of the job classes. He told me that the Mechanic leader is a guy in a bear suit. Now that I think about it, a few years ago some oddball in a bear costume did come by asking to join up. I humored him, seems he was being serious. Anyway... I have some things to do. Wait here and I'll have the kitchen send up dinner."

Latching the door behind her, the Pirate captain made her way to the hall, handing the napkin to the weapon's master, Shulynch. "I hope your little hunch about the boy is wrong."

"Me too," Kyrin responded, fearful that he name wasn't a coincidence. "I'll send another message clearing the kid, then after that get word out we have them."

"Gelimer! Why did you send two of our men to the mainland?"

General Orchid hovered into the lab, her usual angry self barely surprising the scientist. "I was merely following up on something Schiller said before he died, little girl. Don't-"

"I don't care what he said. He was a failure. No one from that pathetic city would have dared attack us, it was no doubt that Resistance organization. Thanks to you, the Pirates have those men and have likely interrogated them by now. You screw up like this again and I will have you head as a trophy."

Eyes focused on paperwork, Gelimer simply responded, "very well, I shall not pursue the matter further, if it will please you. For what it is worth, they did contact us before-"

"My brother must be revived. Focus on your duties and stop wasting time on such meaningless tasks, or I'll take your skull as a trophy."

"Yes, of course," he said just to get rid of his master. 'Still,' he thought, 'she has a point. It's unlikely we'll get anyone else onto the mainland so easily if that Pirate captain captured two of our men, and they have done their jobs. Thankfully they know almost nothing useful, let them waste time on interrogation. They shall pay the price for failure.'

Kyrin joined her guests in the mess hall. "That boy does look a lot like you," she remarked, "same hair and eye color. He has your name, too. Might be spelled differently, but don't you think that's just a bit of a coincidence? Your name isn't common and the way it's spelled is very strange."

"Like someone heard it before but didn't know how to spell it?" Kit pondered. Dio, babe, could he be related?"

"I don't think so," the Ranger answered back, thinking it over. "Mom died when I was six. He's what, twelve?"

"Thirteen," the Pirate captain replied. "With almost a year for the pregnancy I guess he could be... but that would mean your father met another woman."

He shot back almost in anger, "no. Not possible. He sat around and drank his cares away. He didn't care about anything else. He barely left the house and stayed in Henesys the rest of his life. Wait... when I was six, not long after mom died, he did go away for about two weeks on some trip but he never said why. I was looked after by neighbors. But that-"

The cat looked her husband in the eyes. "THAT could mean he's your brother!"

"Half brother," Kyrin clarified. "We need to find out and maybe get someone into the city to look around. I'll have two of my crew sent in. I would go myself but they'd probably recognize me."

"No." Diosoth had made up his mind. "I need answers. I have to go myself. But I can't, they'd probably check my PDA when I got there and get suspicious."

Hesitant now, Kyrin explained, "I have a way around that... it's not really legal."

"Big surprise," Kirina scolded.

"I have a few PDAs that are totally blank. They can bypass the bio scan and be programmed however I want. I can set one up with a fake name, no explorer rank, fake everything."

With a sigh, the catgirl whined, "guess we have no choice!"

"Not you, kitty," the Captain shouted. "You would stand out too much and I need someone who knows how to go about this. I have the perfect travel companion in mind..." Leading the couple down the main hall, Kyrin saw a young girl showing a photo to several of the crew. Short blonde hair, perhaps no older than thirteen and dressed in basic adventurer clothes, the child had a desperate look on her face. Approaching her, realizing it was a Mage, the captain asked, "can I help you?"

"My parents went missing last month, have you seen them?" the girl inquired, handing over a picture.

"No, sorry,"

"Thank you," the girl replied, wandering off.

"I feel so bound in this thing!" Shulynch tugged at the long dress. "How does any woman wear this? It's too much!"

"Don't rip it!" Diosoth felt odd in his disguise as well but was in no mood to complain. "So these are going to pass?"

The Pirate pocketed her new PDA. "Absolutely."

Their clothes were magical covers, the kind typically sold for a large sum of cash. By all outward appearances he was in street clothes, hidden from view was his full armor and the bow pocketed away. "Keep your gun in reach but don't flash it unless you have to."

"How do we get there?"

He answered wearily, "ever since the island got torn up, they relocated all air travel to the center near Sleepywood. The kid said he flew in there. He told me his mother's name. I'll see her, did you find out anything?"

Still struggling with her hair up, bothered by the way it was pulled back, Shulynch responded, "he told us where to find the Resistance HQ. I think he's scared. Think maybe he is your brother?"

"If I didn't I wouldn't be doing this. I should talk to him but..."

"Don't know where to begin?"

He let out a sigh. "Kid just wants to go home but right now I don't think it's safe. Kyrin said he's safe here for right now. She wouldn't let him contact anyone in case, it sounds like they have the whole town on a tight leash. Last thing he needs is for someone to be monitoring his mother's phones or PDA."

Highly uneasy, the Pirate gunsmith only said, "follow my lead. Don't attract unwanted attention, don't act like you're there to cause trouble. We're a married couple looking to buy a home. We'll look around first, then we'll see his mother. After that we look up this Resistance and get some answers but make it clear we're not their enemies!"

"Married couple... your ring?"

"Damn!" Fishing through a nearby drawer, Shulynch found a plain golden ring. "Just fair warning, this could go all wrong and I think your wife would go ballistic if I came back without you."

"Yeah..." Diosoth preferred to stay behind, Kit was nervous as all hell and he did not like being dragged back into this way of life. "Well, time to get this over with!"

Exiting the gate, "Zabel" and "Denise" looked upon the city of Edelstein. An older city, unchanged over the decades except for the evil forces that maintained a stern grasp on the populace. The trip had been uneventful and so far the borrowed PDA had offered no issues with identification.

The main street sprawled forth. Dio had no idea where the house was beyond an address and directions, although being a stranger here he had no clue where to start. Walking along, a voice greeted him out of nowhere. "You are new here."

"Yes, I am."

A wicked looking man in a long purple coat stood beside an ornate structure. The man's mustache curved along with his vicious smile. "I am Anthony, council president of Edelstein. May I ask, why have you chosen to visit our fine city?"

Thinking quickly, he responded, "My wife and I are looking for work and a new home, for better opportunities than we've had so far."

"Excellent! Perhaps the Black Wings would offer the job opportunity you seek?" he suggested, straightening his hat.

"Yes, perhaps," Dio lied. "Right now I want to find someplace to eat."

Anthony merely responded, "yes, of course. We will welcome you anytime you wish to join."

Walking off, hiding his disgust, the Bowman found a food stand and purchased a sandwich, simply to keep up appearances. His Pirate traveling partner simply looked around. Content that the man who'd greeted him wasn't looking, they slipped away, searching for the street he'd been told to find.

There. Turning down the road, then down another, the small house with a yellow wooden door seemed rather plain, much like the town itself. Knocking, the bowman waited until a woman opened the door. "Yes?"

"Belinda?"

"Yes?" she asked again.

"I'm here about someone you may have known in the past."

Peering down the road, the woman only answered fearfully, "I don't know anything, I'm sorry. I am loyal to the Black Wings!"

Could this organization have planted listening devices in homes? That didn't seem very likely. As tightly held as the city was, they'd not even known who they had been looking for. Diosoth was already convinced now that the Black Wings operated more by fear and propaganda than in actual effort. They were a group that had grown too confident.

"Johansen Xevion! Does that name mean anything to you?"

She gasped in recollection of a name not heard in many years. "I-"

The Pirate leaned in closer. "Your son is on Victoria Island. He's safe, the Pirates are keeping an eye on him for now."

"Oh, my..." Belinda said with a faint sigh. "I was worried. So many people in the city have vanished recently. But what does... please, come in!" Inviting the strangers into her home, the poor woman went to the sink to finish her dishes. "I was afraid he had been taken!"

Dio thought quietly, 'maybe that explains those people in vats he mentioned?' "I'm here because... my name is Diosoth." Startled and stunned, his host dropped the plate she'd started drying. "I know that's your son's name too, but he spells it differently."

Tears welled in his eyes. "I met him before the Black Wings turned this city into a prison. He came here one day and we met. He said he had lost someone but didn't tell me who. I... I thought he loved me. We made love one day and he disappeared right after that! Then I got a phone call a month later... I didn't know he had a son. I didn't even know his wife had died! He mentioned your name and... I named him that. I didn't know until later that I was pregnant and when I tried to contact him I saw he was left to raise you by himself. I knew we would never be together."

"I know. I need to leave, I can't stay here too long, but he's safe. Maybe someday I can come back and we can talk further."

"Yes, of course." The woman merely sat still as her guest left.

"Ouch," Shulunch said with a feeling of sympathy she rarely felt.

Head down, all the Ranger could do was mumble, "I can deal with it later. We need to check out the Resistance and get the hell home."

His brother mentioned where the entrance was, in case he'd had any problems. An old pipe on the side of the school, big enough to crawl through but otherwise inconspicuous, held a gate that opened easily. Not far inside, a ladder dropped to the main room. Climbing down, Dio could see the leaders having a meeting. The lead woman wore some sort of black mask, and as he'd been told, a man in a bear suit was among the group.

"Unexpected visitors!" The masked woman commented. "I don't recall those two being recruited!"

"Easy," the Pirate woman shot back. "I'm from the Nautilus. Captain Kyrin sent us."

"The..." the bear became uneasy. "That means the Pirates know about us." The bear demanded, "and you're here because...?"

Diosoth responded, "I am here about one of your members. A boy named Dyos Oth. Two members of the Black Wings were after him. They came after me, too. My name's spelled differently but it's pronounced the same!"

A woman holding a crossbow looked a bit worried. "Uh oh..."

"I've got some problems with all this. Yesterday I was minding my own business, sitting home back in Henesys with my wife. Today two men I'd never met from a group I'd never heard of tried to attack me. Thankfully I'm friends with the Pirates, so both of them were captured but I had to put an arrow in one of them." Before any of them could speak, he went on, "then I meet this kid who has the same name as me, and find out he's my brother, and I had no idea he existed until now, AND I learn those men were after HIM because he killed a member of the Black Wings!" Moving close, leaning in towards the bear, Dio shouted, "a KID killed a man because of this group! I think that's a terrible thing, I don't care if the man he killed might've been asking for it."

The woman wielding the crossbow was at a loss. "It explains that..."

"We knew they were looking for him," the bear spoke, "Jay said he had killed Schiller. But the report we got back was that they found him and said he was just a kid Schiller was trying to recruit at the time. But that other stuff... how did they get those reports if they weren't real?"

Shulynch explained, "we captured them. Captain Kyrin sent fake messages to call off the search. Then we let it leak they were captive."

The woman wearing the black mask stepped forth. "I know how you must feel, but we're fighting a war. I'm sorry if the boy was forced to do such a thing, but if he hadn't then it may have been his body lying there instead. You may have problems with the situation, but I'd wager you know there's no other way." Her calf-high brown boots and the corset worn over her shirt seemed an odd choice of wear, as did the top had with a skull emblem. If anything, it was an intimidating look that got attention, if unusual, though certainly noticeable compared to a man in a cartoony bear outfit.

The bear asked worriedly, "who else knows about this?"

Dio replied, "We had to tell Athena Pierce. Kyrin might have already informed the other job leaders since I left."

"I suppose," the lead woman remarked, "that also couldn't be helped. But the last thing we need is-"

The Ranger cut in, "I know. He told us they'll blow up the power plant if anyone makes trouble. They're staying out of this for now."

"Then we can trust you. You may call me Claudine," the leader said. "Belle is the master of the Wild Hunters, which your brother joined."

"Hi," Belle responded.

"Brighton leads the Battle Mages and Checky is in charge of the Mechanics."

Looking at the man in the bear suit, Dio commented, "Kyrin remembers you. Doesn't that thing ever get hot?"

Checky simply said, "not really. How did you get here if they knew your names?"

The Pirate answered bluntly, "hacked PDAs with fake names. Not legal but much safer."

Claudine was impressed. "I need to show you something." Motioning for their guests to follow, Claudine led them into the next room. "We operate in secret under the noses of the Black Wings. We've been low key for years but the events last month changed things. The Black Mage's powers are growing and we've taken to recruiting. However, most of the adults are afraid so we've had to turn to the children at times. We need whoever we can get. I'm sorry your brother had to kill, I'm sorry he had to get involved in this, but innocence has been lost these days. I don't know what promises of adventuring they fed you before, but the stakes are much higher now than ever."

A small girl stood in the main hall. "Vita. Are you feeling better today?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Your friend Dyos should be back soon," Claudine said, assuring her.

Dio asked her, "is he the one who saved you?"

"Yes, he found me and broke me out of there even though he could've got in bad trouble. I don't know what would have happened if he hadn't found me."

The Resistance leader said, "You rest, Vita, okay?"

"I will."

Claudine smiled as the child left. "She's been unhealthy since being brought here, I don't know what they were doing to those people and a part of me doesn't want to know."

The bowman wanted to vomit. "She looks like she's been abused."

Such emotion was foreign to her, having been raised without manners, but Shulynch almost started crying. "I'd like to find the asshole who did that, shoot his kneecaps out and let him go for a swim in the middle of the ocean!"

Feeling she could trust them, Claudine offered, "if you want you can talk with anyone you want to get a better idea of what we're doing. Some areas are restricted but if I felt you weren't being honest, you'd have been locked up. I thought you and he might be related, you look a lot like him!"

Regaining her composure, Shulynch suggested, "split up. Talk to whoever you can, find out what you can, meet me by the entrance in about an hour. I don't wanna stay here too long and Kitrina is probably going to start clawing at people if she doesn't hear from you soon!"

Nodding in agreement, Diosoth took a stroll through the dark hallways, suddenly startled by a woman cursing and complaining. Nearby, one of the large mech riders used by the Mechanics sat on the ground, its owner working on it and managing to complain more than she worked.

"Can I help you?" Dio asked her.

"No."

Tossing aside a wrench, the woman, covered head to toe in machine dirt, only managed to say between stifled coughs, "hardly." She appeared to be in her twenties, clad in cheap Pirate gear, oil and filth smeared in her yellow hair. "You must be new to the Resistance. You can call me Greased Babe, and that's not a sexual thing so don't bother trying to hit on me."

"I'm married. I'm guessing that's not your real name?" Dio commented.

"I don't have a real name anymore. And I'm married, too!" Tossing aside a wrench in frustration, the woman slumped down. "My husband went missing a few months ago and with all the people who disappeared I don't think he left me. I need to find him. I only joined to find him. I'll have a real name again when I find him. Everyone else in this run down city might be too scared to fight back but I don't have anything to lose until I find him. And most of the new people, they're all kids, what a load of shit! I don't like Claudine, she's a bitch if you ask me. I'm surprised they got a new adult recruit!"

"I-" He knew this would disappoint the woman. "I'm not. I found out I have a half-brother and he's involved with this."

Wiping her face and tossing the rag, Greased Babe spat out, "cute. He's the kid that went missing? The one who offed that Black Wings guy?"

The Ranger nodded. "Long story but he and I have the same name, it turns out."

"Sucks you found it like this! Now let me fix my mech, you got your own crap to deal with, I got mine."

Some distance away, Shulynch saw a small girl chatting with what looked to be either a nurse or a scientist.

"... is this a joke?"

"Uh... no, I'm so sorry, I didn't even think!"

Shrugging, the girl slipped on the glove. "I guess I'll go train some more." Short, dark-skinned and looking annoyed, the girl began to walk away, stopping when she noticed the newcomer. "Hi!"

"Oh, hello," the gunsmith answered back.

"You join up?"

"Oh, no," Shulunch responded. "I'm here to look around, I work with the Pirates on Victoria Island. I'm Shuynch."

The girl said back, "I'm Lutia Travern."

She looked at girl's new glove. "Oh, I get it!" Lutia had received a blue Lutia magician glove as a prize. "How old are you?"

"Twelve," the girl answered without hestiating.

'Son of a bitch!' the Pirate thought to herself. "Hey, do you know Dyos?"

"Sure, he's a friend of mine, we go to school together. He got me to join. I'll save the town!"

Doing her best to hide sheer disgust at this mess, the gunslinger only managed to say, "I have to go, you be careful!"

"You see what we've been driven to," Claudine stated. "How some of us can be pushed only so far. You should return home. I suspect that since those two men are in Pirate custody, they may not attempt anything further. Gelimer has probably heard of it by now. He won't risk sending more men to Victoria Island. This does confirm my suspicion that they have some means of travel between the Verne Mountains and Victoria Island that we haven't been able to uncover. I need to find out how they're doing it."

"I have to go back," Dio said with a wheeze. "The air in here is a bit stale." Shulynch, used to stale sea air, also found the place to be intolerable.

"The price of having to run low key, using too much electricity would attract attention."

Remorsefully, he said, "keep an eye on his mother, in case. I don't want anything happening to her. I still have a lot to talk with her about but I can't stay now. I don't feel safe in this city."

Claudine merely thought to herself, 'join the club.'

The flight back was slow and boring. "Well, I'm hungry!" Shulynch remarked, pulling a lemon from her pocket, peeling and sucking on it with one bite.

"AH, no..."

"What?" the Pirate asked, confused. "It's good!"

Shivering, the Ranger could only remark, "I can feel my lips wanting to suck in!"

"Typical land lubber," she commented. "You given any thought to what Captain Kyrin proposed?"

"I- what?"

"About you, her, Kitrina and maybe me doing it?"

Giving her a stare, Diosoth shot back, "NOW? You want to talk about this right now?"

She shrugged. "We have time. You got a lot of shit dumped on you, you could use something else to talk about. So?"

'Oh well,' the bowman thought to himself. "Kit's still interested. I, uh... it's not that I mind but..."

"Think you'd be cheating on her?"

"Kind of," he responded, "she says it wouldn't be since she's there too, and holy shit she's insatiable when she's in heat. Maybe it would be nice having help. This is probably gonna mess with that though."

Smiling, Shulynch asked, "like my tits?"

"Oh..." Almost red now, he only thought to answer, "yeah."

"So does she. I guess we need birth control?"

He answered back, "yeah. Kit takes pills, I guess she gets them from a doctor so they should be easy to get."

Peering at the ground below, the Pirate admired the view. "Never get to see up this high, not from sea. You're worried about him. I don't know my family, they abandoned me or they died, whatever happened the Nautilus has really been the closest to a family I've got. You plan to tell the kid?"

"Not yet." Slumped over the side of the flying craft, "he doesn't need that dumped on him now. I don't know how I feel yet, or how he'd handle it. He's grown up under a boot heel, how do I tell him the father he never knew is dead and that the man was just too much of a coward to ever see him?"

"It's not like he could," the Pirate woman explained, "they restricted travel in and out of the city years ago. And did she even tell him?"

"I- I didn't ask..."

With a shrug, Shulynch could only say, "some things get twisted into a mess. Some messes can be cleaned up, maybe not the way we like them but we make do. Sometimes things go wrong and you can't do anything about it." She decided not to bring up Tyran for the time being. Despite her usual lack of tact, the Pirate recalled the stories and felt that particular ghost may haunt him for years, without being reminded.

Athena Pierce could not believe how bad the situation had become. In mere seconds the world had changed forever. The land was torn apart, the role of every adventurer had been forever changed, and whatever innocence the world had was now undone. A shadowy hand was manipulating events like a puppet master pulling strings.

The boy was of further concern. "I do not believe the child has fully realized what he's become involved with. The impact of being forced to kill has yet to take its toll, although someday soon it may very well hit him terribly."

"He seems like a nice kid," Kitrina mumbled, "too bad he's got himself in this mess."

"And what about us?" Dio asked. "I mean the heroes and adventurers. How are we supposed to handle all this?"

The Elf responded, "no one can force you to do anything, but remember, this will affect the entire world. Many have begun training much harder although with news of the situation in Edelstein still quiet, many do not know the full meaning of what has transpired. The power of the Black Mage is great, it is a power that may frighten the world if it ever becomes known. I fear that many may refuse to fight when the time comes. But we have an advantage, for the Black Mage does not have full strength and the world has many more heroes now than when he reigned four hundred years ago."

"You want to meet the kid?" Kyrin asked.

"Yes, I must."

The captain explained, "he's in the training room. You have to see this kid on his jaguar!"

Following their host to the main training area, they were quite shocked to see the boy riding a large black cat. Moving swiftly around the room, arrows fired rapidly from mystical crossbows, the beast swiping massive claws at any target in range. Upon spotting the four, Dyos whistled and jumped off, sending the animal into a miniature vortex. "I'm sorry those men came after you. If I knew they were following me I could have done something," the boy said.

"It's okay," the Ranger assured him. "Your mother is safe and we let Claudine know where you are."

"Okay," the boy exclaimed. "Can I go now? I need to keep training."

Hesitant, Kyrin said, "sure."

Shocked, Diosoth began to say, "You can't be-"

"He's not a prisoner. I can't tie him up."

"I agree," the Elf muttered, wishing she could disagree and fight this. "He must choose his path."

"Thanks for the food and for helping me out!" Calling his steed back to him, the boy ran off.

"He seems like a nice kid," Kitrina mumbled, "too bad he's got himself in this mess. Why didn't you tell him?"

Diosoth groaned. "He's got enough to deal with. I can get into that later."

Kit was not thrilled. "But there might not BE a later!"

"I KNOW! I want to tell him, I want to invite him into my life! It's been eight months since Tyran died and this kid's not even as old as he was! I thought all my family was gone, that you were it, Kit! But the planet's in real danger and we can't just sit back and pretend it's not!"

"Yeah..." the catgirl sighed. "I'm kinda worried about the kid, too."

"I should warn you," Athena spoke, "that the recent changes affected more than the landscape. Some monsters are weaker and some are stronger than they once were. It seems there was also an unexpected side effect which has caused certain pieces of equipment to contain an extra power. Keep careful watch for these as the extra bonuses they contain may be of use." Reaching into her pocket, the Elf bowmaster gave her student the clock-like medal he had given to her months before. "This has a powerful enchantment. You should keep it, in case."

"Real nice..."

Disgusted by the buzzing of gnats, Kitrina picked up a leftover sack of uneaten fast food, tossing the contents outside. "I'll go get fresh burgers in a bit. We should have told him!"

"Not now," Dio replied, "I think we'd just burden him. He's dealing with killing someone, he's dealing with being in a strange place, he can't even go home right now. Kit? Want to maybe get in bed?" he asked, hoping to change the subject.

"well..." For once in her life, the usually amorous cat was not in the mood. "Maybe. Just this has got my mind in a mess. Hey, at least they cleaned up and patched the hole," she noted, looking at the living room entrance. "Maybe we should train again. If we have to fight I'd rather be prepared!"

"Yeah..." Diosoth sat back in the couch. "I bet we could take the fourth job test and pass!"

Plopping down beside her husband, Kitrina smugly said, "easy! How about we stay in tonight, like we've got used to, and go out tomorrow and train, then go take the test when we're sure we can pass it! I did NOT want to do this again! Maybe we don't have to, the planet's got a lot of explorers who could deal with this but even mom said she might. Just, we'll hang back. Deal with the lighter stuff to lighten the load on everyone else!"

Kissing her gently, the young man could only think to say, "one night for us. We'll deal with that later."

A stench permeated the old caves beneath Sleepywood, foul air poisoned by the undead mushrooms and reptilian beasts that made it their home. The child chose to ignore the aroma, focused merely on his task. He needed to earn money, he needed to become stronger, and slaughtering these monsters was merely one more step in a long journey. He saw these creatures as mindless, they attacked on mere instinct without thought. Nowhere near the level of a man who put thought into his actions.

His jaguar ran, leaping across a gap in the pathway, mentally doing as its owner wished. Dyos allowed the beast to be his legs while taking aim, arrows piercing the creatures one by one, his PDA recording the kills so that the Maple Administration's system could pay the promised bounty. Dyos would stop frequently to collect whatever odds and ends items the monsters had dropped, be it coins, random armor or goods stolen from shops or adventurers, or even body parts that could be sold to the stores. The child did not know why shops bought random mushroom caps or horns, nor did it concern him. The intricacies of the world were quite unknown, regardless of the growing up he'd been forced into already.

It was the humming of a machine that caught the Wild Hunter's attention. Heavy footsteps across rock followed by the burst of machine gun fire that ripped apart a small herd of Drakes. The lizards, much larger than men, fell quite easily from the onslaught.

"I've seen you back at the Resistance base," the woman greeted. "You're the one who had to kill that Black Wings agent. You've got more guts than most of the city."

"I-" Dyos paused. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, then did you know two people have been following you?"

The child hadn't noticed. Peering around the corner, he could see a man in red armor and a woman with a long tail. The pair were dealing with monsters, a rather easy task for ones so well trained. They were far beyond whatever challenge these tunnels offered. "That's that man who has the same name as me," Dyos explained.

"I know," she said. "He came to the base the other day. He-" The woman hesitated. "I think he's worried about you!"

"What do you want?" he asked.

Resting her mech, the woman responded, "we're allies, kid. You need someone to help you and I want help of my own. The Black Wings took something from me."

A scream echoed from some distance down the caves. As if by instinct, the pair ran towards the sound, down the edge of a sharp drop to find a young girl cornered by several beasts. Taking aim, the Mechanic opened fire, clearing out the beastly gathering. "Another kid running around here, what's the world come to?"

"Thank you," the girl choked out. "I got lost down here. Um..." taking out a photograph, the girl asked, "I'm looking for my parents, have you seen them?"

Dyos looked at the photo. "Sorry, I haven't seen them."

"Hm... wait, yeah. I saw them in Edelstein about a month ago. It was the same day the island was changed. At least, I think it was these people."

Her eyes lit up. "Can you help me find them?"

"I-" She couldn't simply brush the child off. If these people had been in the city, especially before travel was reopened, then her enemies may have been involved. "If you go off on your own you might get hurt. Maybe it's better if you stay with me. What's your name?"

"Ameliorata," the girl answered. "I became a Magician so I could look for them." The girl looked to be only around Dyos' age, at most. "I became a Cleric so I could heal them if they were hurt."

"You can call me Greased Babe. It's not really my name but it's all I have now. They call me that because I'm usually covered in grease from this mech. The kid here is Dyos Oth. I hope we can find your parents."

The boy was puzzled. "I thought we-"

Taking him aside, Greased Babe whispered, "I think the Black Wings have her parents. If they're not dead already they will be soon. You said you saw all those people in tanks of liquid, you want to bet her parents might be in those?"

"Uh... we need to get in there!"

"And the faster we get the money and experience as fighters to do it," the Mechanic shot back, "the more likely we are to find her parents still alive. I really hope they are still alive... my husband might be in there too, we need to get this done as fast as we can!"

Returning to the girl, the Mechanic offered, "come with us. You'll be better off with companions anyway, and we could use a healer."

Ameliorata's eyes lit up even brighter. "You'll help me find my parents?"

"Yes, kid," G-Babe responded. 'I only hope we find them alive.'

Some distance away, above the drop, Diosoth watched the three, but was too far away to hear their conversation. "That's the girl who was on the Nautilus yesterday."

"I wonder what they're talking about?" Kit wondered.

"She was asking about her parents, I think," he replied.

Sitting on the ledge, Kitrina remarked, "hope they find 'em."

"With the way things have been going lately," Dio mused with a bad sense of dread, "me too."

Gently pushing open the door to the Henesys Bowman Instructional School, Kitrina wiped her feet on the mat, silently cursing her lack of footwear. Waiting until a small crowd left after receiving the instructor's blessings, she approached and asked, "hey, any idea on how the monsters changed?"

"We wanted to train at golems but they're dropping too easy," Diosoth explained, "I didn't think they were that weak."

"I know they weren't," Kit grumbled, recalling the time she faced a horde of them. Training wasn't merely exercise, adventurers relied on the energy they absorbed from defeated monsters to grow in both physical and magical strength. Skin and armor enhanced by magic, skills required magic, and that was taken from the fallen foes they left behind in the wake of battle. To kill the weak gained such little strength that anyone of sufficient power would find their progress slowed considerably.

Puzzled now, the Elf asked the couple, "does your PDA not have the new guide?"

Slipping them out to check the map information, the feline groaned, "nah, nothing, looks the same to me!"

"Sure, they'll get that update out right away! I think some of these new maps are broken too, that one path around Lith Harbor had us in the ground." The Ranger bad become tired of the Administration's lack of effort into keeping the system running, and ever since the disturbance it had been a constant stream of issues. Getting the network to play nice with the Edelstein models had also been slow, but that at least could be blamed on the uncooperative nature of the Black Wings, which ran their own separate network and refused to share information.

Going through a nearby stack of papers, Athena Pierce proved the couple with a revised report on worldwide monsters. "That should suffice until the network is updated. I am pleased to see you are so dedicated to fighting."

"Uh... if it wasn't for Dio's brother we'd still be at home." Kitrina was tired of the rhetoric. "Don't take this the wrong way, but we're doing this for him, not you."

"I- I meant no insult," the Elf said sheepishly.

"AH! I'm sorry, I didn't-"

The Ranger cut in, "we're tired. That's all. Thanks for the list."

"I am pleased to be of assistance."

As they left, the catgirl let out a loud, exhausted sigh. "I need to sit down..."

"Kit? You don't know your father or who he is... think maybe you have someone out there?"

She thought it over for only a few seconds. "It's possible. But I don't really worry about it... I'll probably never know who he is and I doubt I'd know who they are so I guess it's no big deal to me." Checking their inventory, the cat grumbled out, "we're low on healing supplies. Before we head out tomorrow we better get to NLC and buy more."

Kerning's old alleyways betrayed the sanctuary hidden within a dingy corner of the city. Kyrin felt the setting appropriate, in the backyard of the woman's hated enemy. High heel boots striding into the Dual Blade's hideout, the Pirate was hardly surprised to see Lady Syl surrounded by bodyguards.

"The leader of the Pirates?" Syl smiled at the opportunity. "An unexpected yet pleasant surprise! I've been looking forward to meeting you. I believe we could be powerful allies."

"Can it!"

Syl's grin turned to a look of anger. "Oh?"

Kyrin wisely kept her weapon holstered as she said, "you and the Dark Lord need to end your feud or people might get hurt. I don't mean all the kids you suckered into joining you, and they'd get hurt in your war bad enough but the Black Mage was responsible for the big bang that almost ripped the world apart!"

That name sent chills up Syl's spine. "Black... Mage? He's here?"

"Not yet," the Pirate scoffed, "but he will be. The Black Wings are already manipulating things in his favor. You need to make peace with the Thieves and work with them. The wants you fighting, it means you're not fighting him!"

The Dual Blade master hesitated, finally managing, "I will consider it. It will depend on how stubborn Jin is, naturally..."

"Oh and," Kyrin added in anger, "I have a friend that's part of the Thief class. She doesn't ally with Dark Lord but in case you ever do decide to start a little war and one of yours hurts her... lady, the ocean's a big place. They might never find you. Don't do anything stupid. You hurt my friend and the Black Mage will be the least of your problems."

Syl was furious, yet understood the threat. "My fight is with Jin himself, not those he trains."

"So... how do we destroy this thing without them knowing it was us?" the bear asked, arms crossed in dismay.

Claudine pondered their options. "It won't be easy, someone will have to infiltrate in disguise and destroy the machine without any witnesses, and hope they believe it malfunctioned. That means it's a solo mission, possibly a suicide mission." Scribbling down notes in the mess of paperwork scattered all around, the Resistance leader nearly stabbed the desk with the pen tip in anger. "Gabrielle can't be rescued, the kids tried that and she refused to leave. But she has a point, if she vanishes they'll know we rescued her! Albert's just going to have to be patient. Right now we have more important threats to deal with..."

Belle tried to hide her disgust but was hardly doing an adequate job. "I don't like sending in kids. It's bad enough they're hardly experienced or trained in combat but they're just children."

Tossing the broken pen aside, Claudine wanted to scream. "And we might be recognized, we couldn't possibly blend in. We only have one adult member with us and I don't think she likes me. The kid's show enthusiasm and we've trained them the best we can in the time we have, what choice do we have?" Wiping her sweaty brow, the stale air of the old storage tunnels only worsened her agitation. "I need to check on Vita, she's still frail. I don't know what those monsters did to her but I think the boy who rescued her would break down if something happened and I did NOT become a doctor to see people die!"

Evening fell on the small town and Kitrina was ready to go to bed. The long day of training had worn her out, all she wanted to do was sleep. "Can we take tomorrow off?"

"Fine by me," her husband responded. "You don't have to wear twenty pounds of crap everywhere!" Popping open a bottle of ice cream soda, the fizz burning his throat didn't matter, his thirst was too great.

Leaning against an old wall right outside of the general store, the couple was suddenly greeted by a woman Diosoth had known for years, if not well. "Anne? Anna?"

"Anna," the woman answered. Evan's mother had made a run for supplies. "Have you seen my son recently?"

Shrugging, the bowman only responded, "no, why? He in trouble?"

"No," the woman answered back. "But he hasn't actually been home in days." Pausing briefly, she went on, "is there any way you could convince him to come home and stay? I'm proud of what he's doing but I'm still so afraid he's going to get hurt! I don't like this, ever since the island was changed everything feels worse! And you're doing this again, too, when you said you were quitting!"

In no real mood to discuss it yet not wanting to brush Evan's mother off, all he could say was, "I tried. He's determined to do this and right now the world needs heroes, all it can get. I told him to be careful, I think he's smart enough to stay alive, and we had no choice, either!"

"Yeah," Kit added, "Dio's brother is out there too, in bad trouble. I don't wanna hear he got hurt because I was sitting on my butt instead of being a hero! I don't like it but if we don't fight things are gonna be bad!"

Nervously, Anna demanded, "what's really going on? No one will tell me anything!"

"I don't think anyone really knows," Dio grumbled in anger, "or they won't talk to us. Something about this Black Mage and a group that works for him. They've been- well, maybe they don't tell you because the truth is so bad you don't want to hear it. I know. I know more than I wanted to know. You think you're worried now? The answers won't help you. My advice, let your son do this and save the world, and even if something happens at least he might go out saving a lot of people, and I know that's going to suck BAD but the only other choice is we all die."

Despite all this, Anna smiled. "My son is braver than I imagined. Thank you. Would you two like to come to the farm later for dinner?"

Kitrina's ears perked up. "MEAT! Yes, I want meat! But..." The cat let out an exhausted yawn. "I've been up since early. I don't know what time we got up... can it be tomorrow? If I don't get home I..."

"KIT!"

"Huh?" The catgirl shook herself out of near sleep.

Evan's mother understood. "Tomorrow, then!"

Kitrina felt like dead weight. Dinner had ended without any of the conversation turning to uncomfortable topics. Evan's father had led Diosoth outside, no doubt to try and talk about such things in private, concerns over his son's well-being being the big topic that the family likely wished to know, yet didn't want to ruin dinner over.

"I'd help with the dishes but I only bought one pair of rubber gloves. You probably don't want cat hair in everything."

"That's perfectly okay," Anna responed with a forced smile, "you're a guest. So, you live in the large house on the edge of town? I heard that place was a fortune!"

"Yeah, but not too bad, I guess," Kit mumbled. "We got it at a bargain. Someone needed money. Look, you wanna hear about your kid, Dio was right, he tried to talk him out of this but I guess he feels like he has to. Something about an ancestor. I put up with that s- all that when one of my friends died." Kitrina carefully silenced her usual preclusion to foul language. "But that's changed. Dio's got a brother he didn't know about and that kid's out too. But we've seen fight and he's good! He's got two friends with him, so we've stayed back, you know, let him do his hting and get better without us holding his hand."

Gritting her teeth, the cat continued, "that town the kid's from has been run by bad people. They're fighting back. It's so bad they need the kids because the adults are scared. We had it good. We just got a wake up call. They got pushed and they pushed back. We just hadn't been pushed hard enough yet but I guess we're starting to. I heard recruitment's been going up all around, I think people are getting the idea bad things are happening. A lot of us are fighting even if we don't want to."

Leaving her pile of dishes alone, the woman, with audible worry, asked the feline, "do you think Evan's going to be okay?"

"Uh..." Kit wasn't sure if she should lie or be honest. "I can't... he's strong. He showed up and got that girl from the golems. I was there! I could have handled it until the big one crawled out of the ground! I only weakened it some but he took it down. I think if your kid wasn't there I might've been hurt. It's hard to say it but there's always a chance. My mom's been training too, I really worry about her, she says she's okay and I should train myself. She's a brawler, I don't want something to happen to her but I guess some people, they wanna fight back."

Feeling almost at ease for the first time since the island was torn apart, Anna resumed her chores. "How come whenever see you around much? I know Diosoth left on an adventure but he quit when you got married. We were hoping he would sell firewood again but that didn't seem to happen."

"OH! Yeah... we have enough money he didn't need to and..."

"...oh. I think I know what you mean," Evan's mother said, turning beet red. "I was a newlywed once, myself!"

Laughing it off, Kit went on, "yeah, well, people in Kerning aren't that big into talking to their neighbors, either. I didn't think about it until I moved here but I didn't have many friends. People just stick to themselves and some people aren't really people I can trust. Guess I'm not real used to Henesys yet. Maybe I should learn how to cook. That was the bets meal I'd had in a long time! I mostly eat store food and microwaved cheeseburgers. Mom never had time to learn either."

"You own a microwave?" Anna said in disgust. "I would never allow one in my kitchen!"

"Mrs. Ming-Ming said she'd teach me. But I haven't had time since all this went down!"

"Would you like me to teach you? She's a good cook but also overworked with town affairs, I have free time and I could use the distraction so I don't worry about Evan so much."

Grinning, Kitrina blurted out, "hey, yeah, sounds great!"

Despite the man's claim to dislike emotions, Gelimer felt giddy as his latest device neared completion. "This had better work," his commander scolded with disdain, "your last weapon blew up! Keeping the citizens in line is getting harder! The Resistance is growing in power daily. If not for security I would have blamed them rather than your own incompetence."

A desire to slap Orchid was overruled by the knowledge that his superior could kill him in mere seconds should he dare show such insubordination. His time would come but he had to be patient.

"Do not worry, I intend to test the poison gas dispenser thoroughly, as a demonstration to Edelstein of what will happen to them if they and their Resistance fall out of line!" He was lying, of course. Geliemr planned to use the gas regardless of Orchid's orders, which would either turn the citizens into his mindless, emotionless slaves, or kill them. Perhaps both, perhaps a fate mixed throughout the town. In fact, Gelimer did not care which outcome happened.

Sliding the red helmet off, glad to be free of the thing, the Ranger only wanted to go home, get a quick meal and resume his training. He and Kit tad been at this two long, painful weeks, his body yearned to stop and lay in bed for two days straight, his mind wanted to stop this, he had made a promise to stop this, to his wife and to himself. A promise broken by necessity was still a promise broken.

He had seen little of Henesys. Dragging his catgirl wife around the planet, they had now trained well enough to stand against the monsters of Leafre and would soon be eligible to take the advancement test. Days of challenging weakling slimes and angry mushrooms, days of a simpler time, all gone. The old hunting grounds outside of town had been ripped apart when the lands changed, often used as a social gathering even for those too advanced to require killing snails or other simpler beasts would show off to those just starting their training.

So much was gone, taken from them by an evil willpower, and if they did not fight back the rest would soon be ripped from their grasps.

Diosoth let out a mix between a sigh and a roar when he saw the town chief and his wife approaching. "Ah, there you are!" He said nothing and just kept walking. "Is everything okay?" Stan pressed.

Stopping by the old home he had grown up in, the Ranger came up with a daring idea in only seconds. The town may have been using it as a warehouse but it was still his property. "I want all your junk out of my house."

Surprised by the request, Chief Stan asked, "would you repeat that?"

Manners went out the window now. "I said I want all the town's stuff OUT of my house, and I want the place cleaned. I don't want excuses, I want it it done NOW. I'm not in the mood for any crap right now!"

Mrs. Ming-Ming gasped, shocked at the outburst. Stan would have normally refused to tolerate such attitude from any of his town's citizens, but a look in the bowman's eyes told him something that words could not convey. It was a look of desperate worry.

"Of course. I will have it done by tonight!"

"And get two beds and some food. I'll worry about more furniture later," Dio demanded, "two of my family are moving in within the next two or three days. I don't have time to stick around, just get it done!" He left without further explanation.

"Did he say family?" the woman asked, confused.

"He did... I think something terrible is happening." Groaning as he thought it over, Stan admitted, "I haven't been able to get any straight answers out of anyone! Athena Pierce is too afraid to tell me, that Pirate woman won't cooperate, the Warrior chief told me to not ask him, and that Thief won't waste his time with me. Whatever is oging on though, we have our part. Arrange to relocate everything in the warehouse immediately."

Angered Kentaurs, large four-legged beasts that had once been civil yet turned to war and their intelligence lost, charged the two adventurers. Arrows flew and the dagger's blade cut through, bodies turning into a haze and disappearing. "So where do we find those two we're supposed to beat and get those medals from?"

Climbing on a vine, well out of reach, Diosoth check the map on his PDA. "Not too far... if we can get past these damn things!"

Cutting the crowd down, the catgirl deflected a spear against her shield. "I miss the slimes..."

Watching from a hill above, the warrior leaped down, her blade swinging a wide arc into a gathering of the beasts, slicing through as if they were not there. Grunting as each swing took down more of the creatures, the stranger allowed some breathing room for the couple to deal with the last few surrounding them. The last of the Kentaurs finally vanished in the flurry of combat.

Hey, long time!"

Kitrina stared in amazement at woman before her. White hair, tanned skin and a weapon that looked to weigh as much as she did. A long cape flowed behind her, lined with fur, outlining a body barely clad.

Planting the polearm firmly in the dirt, the warrior woman leaned against it. "I owe you for what you did for me," she said. "Name's Aran. Back then I didn't know who I was and if you hadn't given me a push I would have been in BIG trouble."

"Did you say Aran?" Diosoth inquired. "You mean like the hero from the old legends? Are you named after her?"

Giggling now, she answered back, "No, I am her! I was frozen in ice until they found me! I see you're a fighter, last time I saw you, you were just walking around. She your girlfriend?"

"Wife, actually," Kit responded.

"NICE!" Hoisting the weapon over her shoulder, a move that left Diosoth wondering how her arm wasn't broken trying to lift it, she went on, "you out training or you taking that job advancement test?"

He answered, "the test. My brother's in trouble. He might need me by his side, thought maybe I should get stronger."

Aran's look turned rather stern "I'll help you get to Manon and Griffey. Be careful, they're strong. Every time they're killed they come back." The warrior let out a sigh. "Leafre's cursed by evil. All these monsters, we kill them and they come back. It never ends. We grow stronger but they keep coming. I can't help you fight them, it's against the rules and they will know if I help, but I think you can take them! No, I know it! We always win! Anyway, I owe you for helping me out, wish I could come along after you're done but I've got things I have to take care of!"

A simple, quick plan. As the ride landed in Edelstein, the catgirl activated the Dark Sight skill, invisible to all, remaining here should there be trouble. Diosoth, with his hacked PDA, ignored the town's goings on and made his way towards Belinda's house. His knock was answered quickly. "Pack whatever you feel is important, you're leaving here now! Don't talk, just pack, take whatever you can fit into your storage pocket, leave the rest. You don't need furniture or dishes, just the important stuff you can't replace!"

"But... Dyos isn't here!"

"He's at the Resistance HQ," Dio assured her. "I'll get him in a bit. Don't spend more than an hour, we'll have the Black Wings distracted so you can get to the airport and leave with us!"

"I have nowhere to go!"

The bowman responded shortly, "My old house in Henesys is empty. It's yours. Or do you want to stay here and be afraid all the time?"

Belinda shook in fear but managed to whimper, "I'll do it! But how will I leave? They will check my ID and I don't have even enough mesos to buy a ticket!

Producing a small bag, he untied the sack and gave her several bills. "This is hacked, they won't know who you are, use it, and toss your old one if you have one. You can't come back to this city, either."

Taking the money, the woman, riddled with fear, only managed to stammer out, "find my son! Find your brother!"

"What do you MEAN he's not here!?"

Claudine was unsure if she should brush the Ranger off or be terrified. "We had a situation! Belle, Brighton and Checky were captured while infiltrating the mines! I had to send someone in and they volunteered! I didn't have a choice or any time to find anyone else!"

Holding back a desire to slap the woman, Diosoth knew that whatever was going on, the Resistance leader probably had no choice in the matter. "Great... I better go in myself and find him! Now who's going to distract the town so I can get his mother to the airport?"

"Can I help?" It was the young Battle Mage he had met prior.

"Uh... maybe. Lutia, right?"

She shook her head.

"Okay... maybe we can think of a little plan that won't be dangerous." How Diosoth wished none of this had ever happened, but as Shulynch had said, sometimes a mess can be cleaned up.

Looking around the airport, the bowman whispered, "KIT!"

"Right here," the cat responded, remaining hidden. "She coming? And where's your brother?"

"Things are going to shit. We have to get to the mines! He's there. So are that Mechanic woman, that girl and a Battle Mage they took along. Their instructors went in and got captured, they had to go in and rescue them!"

"SHIT!" Dio could just see her expression of disgust without needing to look at her. "Glad we passed the fourth job test? We'll need it. What about her?"

He answered, "some of the kids are working on a distraction. I left a Henesys scroll with Claudine for her."

Kitrina groaned in anger. "If we don't get him out she'll probably... and you... okay, I'll stay like this until we get in, we might have to fight, you know that..."

"Yeah, I know, I don't like it but I know..."

Their assault on the base had been going poorly, as if Greased Babe expected a smooth operation from the fools she had joined. They had no plans, no direction, the idiots had run in and got themselves caught. She cursed Claudine for not coming along. It was only their three instructors missing, three who could be interrogated and blow the entire operation apart, three who could be easily identified if anyone in the Black Wings bothered to check them out.

She was thankful that these fascists showed a degree of incompetence and laziness. They ruled by fear, not efficiency. Security was a complete disgrace, the hats they bought from a traitorous Watchman enough to get through the door and no one asked them questions. It was merely assumed that any individual within the mines belonged. The Mechanic contemplated if they actually would destroy the power plant, if they were courageous or willing enough to sacrifice themselves. All she ever saw from these pigs was a selfish need for personal gain. But it may only take one person making the decision with no concern over killing their own to spite any dissent.

Separated and wandering aimlessly, G-Babe tried to use the friends list to locate the others but had no luck in the uncharted tunnels. Dyos was probably pushing on to find them. Their Battle Mage contact was certainly either brave or filled with bravado but perhaps too much for his own good, she almost expected the kid to get himself killed. Poor Ameliorata, not even part of the Resistance, had come along to serve as a healer but that did no good unless they were together. Greased Babe had no choice but to look around and wander until she bumped into someone, preferably without anyone becoming suspicious.

And to make the situation worse, those town scrolls did not work here and the only means of an easy exit had to be saved for the three captives. "I think I know where they're being kept," Dyos explained.

"More visitors..." the Watchman commented. "We've had a lot lately."

"I need to get into the mines," Diosoth said. "I heard you might be able to help."

Grinning now, the man cheerfully replied, "certainly! Call me Stephan. You will need a hat! Without it you won't be allowed inside. I can sell you mine. Only a hundred thousand mesos!"

"A-" He was furious. "Or I could just beat you and take it!"

"You could... you'd be doing me a favor by killing me, actually!" The attitude stunned both of them. "I would no longer have to live in fear of Gelimer or Orchid killing me if I don't please them. I would no longer cry myself to sleep every night thinking of the lives ruined by us, I would no longer worry about the greed so embedded in me that it keeps me a coward too afraid to fight any of this... in fact, now that I think of it, I don't deserve to die. That would end my suffering and for my part in all this I deserve to. Here," handing over his cap, "I may never have the courage to do this again but I get the feeling you are not here to actually join the Black Wings. Do be careful."

Simply taking the hat and slipping it on, he mumbled, "I almost felt bad for him. Almost."

Kit agreed. "Even knowing you're doing wrong doesn't mean shit if you keep doing it! I'll keep invisible until we're in, we only have one hat!"

Ameliorata's eyes had trouble focusing in the dimmed caves. Certain areas of lesser importance were almost dark. Pacing slowly, she finally saw to Black Wings Watchmen near a lit console. Wishing to avoid direct contact to avoid any trouble, she looked out anyway and was startled to see familiar faces.

Racing forth, the girl screamed, "mom! Dad!", the alerted pair facing the child. "Is it you?" Suddenly realizing that something wasn't right about this, the girl asked fearfully, "why are you dressed like that?"

"Oh, no... it's the girl." The man mumbled.

"That brat! It was bad enough we had to keep her for the cover story but I thought she would starve or something!"

Grabbing his rifle, the man only blurted out, "we can't let her go!"

"No," the woman laughed with a despicable joy, "I never liked the rotten little anchor and we don't need her anymore!"

No amount of combat skill or strength was of any use to Ameliorata now. Her parents wanted her dead. The parents she believed were in danger, the ones she loved so much, were going to kill her. Sudden depression drowned her, the life she knew was twisted and taken away by a harsh discovery. The girl suddenly wanted to die.

By pure chance had she found the specimen vats. Rows and stacks of people in jars, hooked up to monitors and tubes, abused for the unethical experiments the Black Wings wished to perform. No concern for life, no kindness, no remorse, people were a commodity to these villains. Running along, looking at every face, almost ready to fall down and give up as each face failed to register, Greased Babe wanted to scream out and start crying. She could not find the man she loved. For all the worn Mechanic knew he wasn't even here, this tiny bit of hope had been no comfort or guarantee.

There.

The face.

"Jacobian..."

Tapping the glass, hoping to wake her husband, the weary woman wondered if he was sedated, and how hard it would be to shatter the glass. Pounding harder, she realized the man was not breathing or moving. Her missing husband was gone. She had found only remains. To come this far and fail in such a manner felt like a stab in the gut. Even expecting this could happen, the pain was beyond tolerance. Fists pounded in anger, she did not care if anyone heard, let them come.

Finally slinking away, dazed as the hard truth had sunk in, Greased Babe knew any name she had before was gone. That name had no meaning. Nephele was deceased as far as she cared, dead along with Jacobian. Their hopes, their love, all gone.

Greased Babe had been born by cruel hands. Greased Babe would show the Black Wings that her new name was earned through a trial of metal and fuel. The grease that helped the Mechanics operate their rides would keep her going. It was all she had.

Running through the caves, not yet ready to unleash full fury, not yet ready to let anyone hear her, the voices caught the angered woman's attention.

"Oh, no... it's the girl."

"That brat! It was bad enough we had to keep her for the cover story but I thought she would starve or something!"

"We can't let her go!"

Ameliorata was at the mercy of two of the Watchmen, the child holding back tears.

"No, I never liked the rotten little anchor and we don't need her anymore!"

Her parents? Were Ameriorata's parents really going to do this? Greased Babe was no longer surprised. The Black Wings were evil and served only the Black Mage for whatever personal rewards life offered. She knew the hard way that everyone else was to be walked on, in their eyes.

Calling forth the mech, the footsteps were not enough to drown out an angered scream. Distracted by the sound, the male Watchman had no time to fire before being picked up and slammed into the mine floor. Spinning quickly, G-Babe aimed both cannons and fired at the woman without mercy. No parent who would murder their child deserved mercy.

The Black Wings trained their soldiers, for it took several shots to wear away at the magical enhancements to the woman's health, each bullet bouncing off yet the damage whittling down what strength she had as the final few shots tore through the weakened body. Attention turned now to the man, G-Babe stomped on the rifle and began to drive the large metal fists down, beating her target senseless, his own health depleting, until blood splattered from a broken frame that had once been an evil man, ready to kill his own child.

Calling off the machine's fury, the Mechanic let out a painful scream of agony and victory. Her lover was dead but she had taken two of them down as punishment. Mind finally focusing on the girl, G-Babe slowed her breathing enough to send the machine back into its storage pocket. Grabbing the child and holding tight, she managed to whisper out, "I'm sorry, I didn't want to but-"

"They were going to kill me... thank you."

The Mechanic was shocked. Had the child forgiven her? "I'm so sorry... you didn't find what you wanted and I didn't either, he's dead, he's dead and..."

Uncertain if it would help, Ameliorata sent a wave of healing magic through the unsettled woman as a voice called out, "there!"

The two looked around to see Dyos and their Battle Mage companion. It was time to finish this.

Kitrina hated the way this place stank, she was almost positive the smell was dust that she shouldn't be breathing in. Aside from a few random monsters, no one had given them any notice whatsoever. Not even a bikini-clad catgirl drew any real attention. For the impression the Black Wings gave of having eyes everywhere, they did not feel watched.

Gelimer almost screamed. Two mangled bodies was a sight beyond anything he had hoped to see today. "Oh wow!"

"What did this?" one of his assistants asked, horrified yet unwilling to run away lest Gelimer punish him.

"It was big... it must have been an ore muncher or a sentry machine that malfunctioned! Clean this mess up, we have work to do! We need to make sure the poison gas dispenser is fully operational!"

Turning a corner, Diosoth nearly ran headfirst into Greased Babe. "There you are! What-"

"We don't have time..." she gasped, panting as exhaustion overtook her body. "We just destroyed a machine...."

"Gelimer was going to use it on the city!" Dyos clarified. "I'm glad you're here!"

Ameliorata hit both of them with healing magic. "Hey, isn't there another one with you?" the cat asked, noticing their party one short.

"He... thing nailed him," G-Babe said with a disappointed whine. "It wasn't just a machine, it had magic! Reflected his attack right back, strong enough to kill him a hundred times over, I bet! We need to get out of here! I'm gonna strangle Claudine!"

Recalling their way through the inner sectors of the mines, the cat blurted out excitedly, "there was an elevator a couple rooms back."

"YES!" G-Babe fished into her pocket for a paper ticket. "They have a quick way back to town! I forgot all about it!"

Making their way to the platform, the five stepped on, the Mechanic slipping her lone ticket into the reader. "Hey... hold on... oh, can we be so lucky?" A quick press and the platform lifted, moving quickly upward only to take a sharp turn straight ahead. Holding on by the railings, they were jolted as an upward path resumed, finally slamming to a halt.

Kitrina was certain this was not Edelstein. "We're home?"

"Son of a bitch," Dio groaned in anger. "This is how they get here! Better let Kryin know!" The group stood at the Six Paths Crossways, the hidden door slamming shut, concealed as a large chunk of tree bark.

Kit looked towards the local guard, or what was considered a guard. "And naturally, the great hero is doing his job!" Indeed, Mike, the suited man who kept an eye on this area, was asleep. "I'd wake him but fuck him!"

Realizing they had escaped, the trio slumped down, exhausted and mentally drained. It was now that Greased Babe began to weep, followed by Ameliorata. Beyond any tears, Dyos only huddled into a ball as all of their pain surfaced, every bit of reality slapping them in the faces now that they had no distractions.

"Hey... come on," the cat whined, "you won! You got out, you-"

"He's dead," G-Babe spat out. "My husband is dead, and I killed that girl's parents!" Wiping her eyes on a dirty sleeve, the Mechanic wanted to crawl away and pretend the world didn't exist. "They were Black Wings!"

"They tried to kill me..."

"I killed a man!" Dyos Oth had been forced to grow up too quickly, to do things most people would never choose to do, and his boyish mind finally began to process what he had done. "And that Battle Mage, he's dead too!"

Dio had no idea what to say as nothing would really comfort either of them. Concerned over what had happened, he asked, "his body, where is it? If they find it they'll know it was the Resis-"

"What body?" G-Babe recalled in horror what had transpired. "His own attack came back at him. He was torn apart. Nothing left. Just a cloud.

Nearby a wheezing groan caught their attention. Mike had woken up. Beyond pissed, Kitrina only thought to shout, "hey! You lazy prick! Get over here and help us!"

"We need to get to Henesys," Diosoth muttered, handing each of them a town warp scroll. "Your mother should be there by now if nothing went wrong!"

"Mom... she..." It was the first bit of hope the boy had been offered in some time.

Gelimer was fuming now. "First the power machine, NOW this! What is going wrong with my machines?" Without having seen the fight, all the mad scientist could tell from the twisted pile of scrap was that his super weapon had ripped itself apart. "Ah! Useless junk!"

"GELIMER!"

"Damn..." He knew trouble was floating its way in.

General Orchid stared at the remains of the poison machine. "I see you failed again! Two times! I'm not giving you a third chance! Focus on my brother's revival. Your toys keep breaking."

"Yes, as you wish." Gelimer only thought to himself, 'someday it will be I in charge, little girl...'

Belinda was far too worried to pay much attention to the tour of this small mushroom house. Despite a safe trip to Henesys she had heard nothing about her son's whereabouts, and Diosoth had not been at the airport as promised.

"...we've cleaned the place and provided some basic necessities, for now this should do until proper furniture can be purchased." Chief Stan could tell the woman was elsewhere but had no idea what to say to offer comfort. All he could think to do was give her a tour of the home and the area until some word came around. Potential for bad news was still strong.

The door wasn't even knocked before flinging open. "MOM!"

"DYOS!" Grabbing her son in a tight hug, they ignored everything else. For now all either one cared about was being together after so long.

"Yes, well..." The town Chief excused himself. "We will talk more later." Exiting the mushroom, he spotted the others. "I take it your escape plan was successful."

"Barely..." the Ranger groaned softly.

Figuring it best to leave the matter alone, the Chief merely left to resume his duties and only gave a soft nod.

Stepping inside, Diosoth waited for the woman to notice his presence. "I'll be buying furniture tomorrow, I'd do it now but I need some time off. Did they give you beds?"

"I don't understand..."

He answered back, "this is my house. Well, it was, and it is on paper, I grew up here. Kit and I moved out before we got married but I didn't get around to selling it. It's old but it's better than what you had."

"I can't pay you-"

"You don't need to. Take it. I don't need the money and the place isn't being used. Take some time to get settled in, if you want I think I can find you a job."

"Oh... sure..." Belinda was still somewhat disoriented. Stepping forth she asked, "did you tell him?"

He answered with a whisper, "no. I think you should but give him a few days. He's been through a lot, he's had to grow up years in weeks and he's seen too much. Let him have some time off before he has that dumped on him. I have to go, I've got other stuff to deal with, two others escaped with him. Just be with him for right now!"

Greased Babe stood by the doorway. "You did them good. I guess I'll be heading off, I lost everything. Only thing I have left is payback."

"I can call Kyrin, she probably has room on the Nautilus she could spare for a few days. Or I could ask-"

"No," G-Babe shot back. "Um, I mean, yeah, the Nautilus sounds good. But I can't stay with them," pointing inside, "I don't belong. I need to get back to Edelstein eventually and work with the Resistance. Claudine's got her head up her ass half the time, sometimes I think she's as bad as they are but those bastards took everything I had. Don't worry about them coming after her, they probably won't even know she's gone and if they do they'll probably just think they took her to the labs. I don't think they keep track of why they take, none of the tanks had names. I bet they don't care who they take. I'll see you around!"

Kit paid no attention as the Mechanic left, more concerned what to do with the young Cleric. "You okay?"

"Yes... no." Ameliorata sat on the grass, her blue robes still covered in dirt and grime. "Mom and dad, they... but she saved my life."

"Do you have any family we should contact?" Dio asked, unsure of what to do.

"No," the girl answered.

Thinking over what options he had, perhaps letting her stay with them for the meantime, a better idea popped into mind as he went into the friends list of his PDA. "Fighting Bear, you better answer me..."

Perion had once been a thriving land, before the monsters drained all life from the ground and left nothing but barren rock. Despite the harsh conditions, the residents were proud of the town they had built.

Standing before the large hut, Ameliorata had not been told why she was here. Staring in awe at the warrior who exited, the girl could tell this man was strong, yet felt the sense of loss that still lingered around him, a weakness that had felled a mighty fighter.

Diosoth greeted him, "this is the girl I told you about. Her parents were traitors, they also tried to kill her. She doesn't have anywhere to go. I thought maybe-"

"Of course."

"Let me finis-"

Fighting Bear did not need to hear more. "I have felt empty since Tyran's death. The child needs a family. I will care for her as if she were my own."

"She's a mess right now," the Ranger said to his friend's father. "She's not a Warrior either. I don't know if she'll ever want to fight again but-"

"The girl will choose her path, as my son did. I will guide her and care for her." Looking her in the eyes, the old warrior said, "Ameliorata. I am Fighting Bear. If you would like I will welcome you into my home and care for you as if you were my own daughter. You have suffered a great loss, it is one I know well. I may never be your true father but I will raise you better than one who would join the Black Mage, if you will allow me."

Smiling for the first time in months, the mage cheerfully answered, "yes! Thank you!"

Feeling further accomplished, having given to families a a chance at a better life, Diosoth turned to leave. "If you need any money, just ask. I can spare a bit."

"No need," Fighting Bear replied, "you have done more than enough to bring joy to my life this day!"

Gustav waited by the farm's entrance. "I wonder what he wants?" Anna asked, not really expecting an answer.

"He didn't say," the elder farmer answered anyway, "only that he wanted to see us right away. I hope it's not about Evan..."

They did not have to wait long. Diosoth made hsi way to the pig farm quickly. "Hey! Any chance you need extra help around here?"

"Huh?" It was an unexpected question. Gustav asked, "Why? Are you looking for a job?"

"It's probably going to be boring," Utah exclaimed, "it's nothing like being an adventurer and it's hard work! But yeah, ever since Evan left we've been a bit overworked."

The Ranger explained, "there's a new family in town. One of them needs work."

Gustav was welcome to the idea of someone to ease their workload. "Sure but, does she have any experience on a farm?"

"She... look, I rescued her from Edelstein. She needs something to forget what she went through. She can learn. She's family."

Smiling now, Anna answered him back, "of course! We can at least see how she handles it!"

The bowman responded back, "good. Just be easy on her. She was oppressed. You don't know what the Black Wings are doing to that town. She lived afraid. Afraid to speak out, to not behave a certain way or even being taken for experiments even if she did behave. Just give her a new start at life. That's all I want."

Feeling a knot in his throat, Gustav asked worriedly, "is that what my son is fighting?"

Dio took in a deep breath. "Yes. And he might actually win. And you can fight it too, maybe not like he does but getting their victims out and doing what you can also fights them. Hey, give her a few days to settle in, she came here with almost nothing. My brother needs time too, but he won't be here. I think he needs to fight, unless I can- nah, he won't give up. He's already hurt them bad but I think he's not going to quit. She's going to worry just as much as you are, you're not alone in that."

"Oh, boy..." Utah felt drained. The harsh reality of the world was a heavy weight to bear. "I thought it was bad when Camila was kidnapped!"

"Call us when she's ready," Anna responded. "I'm sure she will like it here."

Thee days had passed, allowing some time for everyone to calm down. Word from Edelstein had been quiet, though what little Greased Babe had found out, no one knew the Resistance had destroyed the poison machine. It had been written off as a mechanical failure.

Loitering around the large submarine, Greased Babe, for once, did not live up to her name. The Mechanic woman had forgotten what a bath even felt like. Stretching out against a wall, she was surprised to see Diosoth approaching. "Heard you found the girl a place to stay."

"Yeah," he answered, "for what it's worth she doesn't hate you. She knows you did what you had to do."

"That's nice, but..." G-Babe crossed her arms. "Still, I can't look her in the eyes. I maybe did what I had to but I still want to puke! I went crazy, like a wild animal. She saw it. It's less offing two of the Black Wings, they were horrible people, but she saw it." She heard a trade request chime on her PDA, and seeing Dio typing on his, figured he wanted go give her something. It was several million mesos. "OH? Huh... free?"

"You need better stuff and healing goods. Take it."

Clicking the acceptance button, Greased Babe almost smiled at the generosity, if not for the sight of a wizard and an Elf headed her way. "Ah, Diosoth! I did not expect to see you here."

"Yes," Grendel clarified, "we are here to see this young woman. We wish a full report on the recent events in Edelstein. I thought perhaps one who was involved may be able to tell us everything!"

He gave them a stern look. "Hey, not now. Okay? And don't even think of asking my brother or the girl, they-'

"It's okay," the Mechanic spat out. "I'll get a piece of paper and write it all down. Give me an hour or two."

Knocking at the mushroom house door, Diosoth was greeted by the very woman he had rescued from the oppressed village. "Dyos here?"

"Yes, he's here. I told him last night, everything, he's been eager to see you again!" Belinda led him inside. "I appreciate all you bought but we didn't really need so much! You also did not need to find me work but I'm glad to start next Monday!"

From the back, the boy ran out, giving Dio a hug. "Is it really true?"

"Yep," he answered. "Hey... how you doing?"

"Okay, I guess..." the kid sighed. "Anne and Maya and Camila are nice. I miss Ulrika and the others, and Vita..."

That name made the bowman feel somewhat let down. "I wanted to get her out too, but they said she's not in good shape. She needs medical attention constantly."

"Yeah..." Dyos recalled what shape the child was in when he broke her out of the base. "Ameiloirata tried to heal her but it didn't do any good."

Belinda was appalled. "Is she really that bad?"

"It's like my dad's leg, I guess," Dio said with a hint of sadness. "Damage to the body without magic to absorb it is harder to deal with. She might need years before she's better. Anyway..." He withdrew an adventurer's data pad. "I know you're probably going to keep fighting and I can't stop you. I don't blame you. But if you need to go to Edelstein, use this. Fake name, so they won't catch you at the airport. Vita can't come here but you can see her."

The kid's eyes brightened with excitement. "Mom? Can I?"

"I suppose, but BE CAREFUL!"

Dyos could hardly wait, shouting, "thank you, brother!" Grabbing his crossbow from his bedroom, the boy left without another word, stunning half of Henesys when he summoned his jaguar to race faster to the center of Victoria Island. "At least I gave him money for better equipment. Guess I should buy something, too, that armor might be fancy but it's hardly the best"

"So... you live in that big house west of town?"

"Yeah. Oh, yeah, call before you stop by, it might be a bit awkward if you just show up, Kit... uh, well..."

Giggling, Belinda knew what he meant. "I will keep it in mind!"

Night was soon to fall on the island. Stan, Chief of Henesys, was prepared to return home to his family. Standing by his door was a town resident he had not expected to see. "Diosoth."

He handed an envelope over. "That woman who came back with us, she wrote a report for the job instructors. I wanted you to have a copy, in case they didn't give you one."

Taking the offering, Stan replied, "thank you. I will read it tonight."

"Yeah, just...." The bowman trailed off briefly. "It's bad. Be ready for it. Anyway, I need to get home."

"Wait!" Stan's expression turned to one of sadness and regret, one he rarely showed to anyone. The town was familiar with his stony, stern expression. "I watched Johansen waste away for years. I should have done more to help him. I was too focused on my duties, perhaps, and for that I am sorry."

"Don't be." It was certainly an unexpected response. Dio only said, "dad made his decisions. He was gone a long time ago. I tried to help him but he wouldn't do it. You couldn't have done anything for him."

"Still, I-" Stan let the matter go. "Thank you for this."

The Ranger added, "hey, if you want, I can get my brother to talk to your sons. You wanted them scared off from being adventurers? He's lived the worst of it. I bet if he tells them the horror stories they'll stay well away from it! He's about their age so they might listen to him better than anyone else."

"Ah... yes, if he will, and again, thank you."

"Hey, how did your cooking lesson go?"

"Good," Kit mumbled, almost ashamed of the cheeseburgers that she called dinner. "It might be a while before I'm really good at it though."

"I'm not picky."

The cat slipped on her gloves and dug in. "Well I'm glad this shit's done with."

Dio grumbled, "for now."

"Ah... yeah." Managing to eat her first burger in one quick bite, the cat whined, "I still don't wanna do this every day."

"So we don't," her husband suggested. "I think the planet's waking up and will have it's share of warriors. We'll still train here and there, so we can fight if we have to, but we can stay around and get back to our lives."

With a smug grin, the catgirl only said, "fine by me!"

"Speaking of which," he muttered, "I have to cut some firewood tomorrow. Gustav is running short and I owe him for letting Belinda work there."

"Want help?"

Smiling, the Ranger answered with glee, "yeah, would make the job faster!"

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