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Image link
https://imgur.com/BhaE68K
(Author's note: The map uses icon representation. That means, when you see three or four houses in a row, it's really more like thirty houses. One factory icon means a whole bunch of factories in that area. Some places like the Grand Arena, however, remain a single structure.)
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Tony was looking wistfully at the Grand Arena when they stopped for a rest at the Port Rachel Comrade Home. Ginny shook her head when she saw him, then turned to Katrin. "Hey, Luna, I was wondering about your Comrades."
"My Comrades?" Katrin blinked. The ones she called had arrived by now; two bears and a desert wolf to add to the two Lynxmice in her pockets.
"Yeah. I can't figure out your theme." She said.
Colin winced. Katrin's theme, the one thing her Comrades all had in common, was the most unusual one he'd ever heard of. Some themes followed shared traits (like 'bristles' for Ginny or 'stony' for Tony) or shared terrain (Forest Comrades, for Colin) or categories (Lynxmice, bugs and plants, etc) or even size, but Katrin's Comrades… well…
"My theme…" Katrin smiled. "Is that they're all given to me by a certain someone."
Ginny's eyes widened and she pointed at Colin. Katrin nodded slowly, with reddening cheeks.
{'Given by Colin'. That's specific enough, Aoi said… I checked with her just to be sure and she said that Katrin's theme is actually stronger than most… stronger than mine, for sure.}
"Then… all your Comrades has to be Transferred?!" Ginny stared. "That's… cruel."
"Not really." Katrin said. "Let me show you. Hey, Last Rites, can we go shopping?"
"Now…?" Colin winced.
"We're already at the Comrade Home. It's the last chance before we reach House Earnest." Katrin pointed out. "And it's not like I'm trying to stay at a low ranking for the sake of tournaments."
"Me neither." Ginny frowned. "But I don't think now's a good time to get new Comrades. There's no time for my old Comrades to get familiar with them before battle."
"That can't be good." Colin said in a tone that said he agreed, even though he hadn't thought of it before. Ginny was right though. It would be better for Comrades to know each other well before going into combat together.
Katrin sighed. "Well, the point is, he can give me Tames. He doesn't need to Transfer them. I'll just tell him what I want and he can buy it for me."
"Sounds like shopping with your boyfriend." Ginny said mischievously.
"Exactly!" Katrin grinned broadly.
Colin thought about disappearing somewhere and leaving Katrin behind for a few nights.
{But I can't leave the Continent as it is. Not yet. Not until the war's over.}
{Then again, with Sekai around…}
Colin glanced south again, where lots of smoke was rising from what used to be Benjamin Town.
{There might not be anything left to fight for, by the time she's done.}
"Are we going?" Tony asked then. "We'll need to head east towards the Grand Arena anyway. House Earnest is just down the road from there."
Colin glanced east. "That doesn't look good."
There was a crowd gathering at the Gym. The Protectorate's forces, mainly, all looking ready for a fight.
"There's another way east farther ahead." Tony told them. "We'll pass by the mall."
Ginny's eyes lit up at the word 'mall', but Katrin, Colin noted, didn't share the excitement. She was looking worriedly at the Gym. "Those people are going to die."
"They'll just respawn at their Starting Locations." Ginny shrugged. "It might even be fun for them going up against someone like Sekai for a change."
"Fighting strong opponents is fun," Tony coughed. "But this is suicide."
"Let's go." Colin said, turning away and heading out.
{There's not much I can do anyway. If I call the Lords and the Forest Clans here, I'll expose myself and probably still not be able to stop Sekai. It would be for nothing and we'd lose our chance at rescuing Sora and solving this at the root of the problem.}
The trip to House Earnest was tense. Colin and Tony kept glancing south to see more and more smoke rising; Sekai was getting closer. Protectorate forces were hastening south too, joining the army gathering at the Gym.
Ginny, on the other hand, kept glancing at the mall.
"Not now." Katrin nudged her. "Later."
"It may not be there later." Ginny said. "Think about it! They'll be having last minute clearance sales!"
Tony groaned out loud.
The technique exhibition appeared to have been postponed at the Grand Arena. People were gathering there too, though for what reason, Colin didn't know.
"Is that it?" Katrin pointed.
"It is." Tony said, leading them onwards. "That's Earnest Mansion."
Earnest Mansion, the base of House Earnest, was actually a castle. Colin couldn't figure out why they called the Earnest family a 'House', or why they called the castle a 'Mansion', but there was no doubt that it was where they had to go. Even at a time like this, Colin saw guards at the gates and Comrades patrolling on top of the walls.
Lucy was nowhere in sight. Satrox, however, was watching the gathering at the arena from an abandoned hot dog stand in a small park nearby.
"That's… Forkscar." Colin remembered to use Satrox's nickname just in time.
"Where's Huntress?" Tony frowned, as they went to meet him.
Satrox didn't stir until they arrived. Then, he held out a hand, gesturing broadly at the abandoned stall. "Hot Dog?"
"No thanks." Katrin wrinkled her nose. "What happened to the seller?"
"Ran away when he saw the smoke getting closer." Satrox told her. "Sekai, I assume?"
"Obviously." Colin shook his head. "I think this city's the next to go."
"I'm not so sure." Satrox said. "But anyway, we have to rescue those two."
"Those two?" Tony's head snapped up. "What happened to Huntress?"
"When she respawned, she sort of… well…" Satrox winced.
Colin didn't need him to explain the rest. Lucy respawned back at her Home Base, probably right in her own bedroom. It was very likely she was discovered at once. If those at her home recognized her, she'd have been locked up to keep her from Sora. If they didn't, she'd have been locked up as an intruder.
"Good news is, we've been hired officially." Satrox went on. "Bad news is, Lucy's now held under house arrest."
"Okay, so our boss is a prisoner in her own home and we can't find the sixth member of our team." Ginny groaned.
{Ginny still hasn't realized that Lucy IS Huntress…}
"Huntress is in there trying her best to get Lucy out." Satrox mentioned, winking at Colin.
"Great. So, what do we do?" Tony asked.
"We just walk on in. We're not only expected, we're late for work." Satrox told them, straightening and wolfing down the rest of his hot dog. He turned to an owl sitting in the tree above him. "Autumn! We're going!"
Autumn, Ashen Owl from the Lamico Forest, glided down softly to land on Satrox's shoulder as they made their way to Earnest Mansion as a group.
A yellow haired guy with a Viking helmet stopped them at the Gate and asked, "Wotcha doin' here?"
"Let me handle this." Satrox said, stepped forward smoothly. "We're the Forkscar Team. We're expected."
"The new lot, eh?" Viking said, stroking his yellow beard. "Kinda late, aren't cha?"
"Cha." Tony murmured softly. Ginny giggled.
"We got held up." Satrox said, nodding to the mess brewing up behind them.
"Whatever. You gotcha duty in the main hall." Viking told them, gesturing them in. "Step to it!"
"Let's go." Satrox led them in. Then, he paused. "Uh… which way is the main hall?"
"Just go straight!" Viking growled, looking worriedly at the increasing smoke and the gathering armies. "Hurry up!"
He slammed the gate shut loudly behind them, locking it up quickly, as if that was going to help. If Sekai wanted to bust her way in, Colin knew, neither the lock nor the gate, nor the wall for that matter, was going to keep her out.
Earnest Mansion would have looked rather grand on a normal day, but after seeing Sekai and Yggdrasil, those solid walls didn't quite look strong enough, and the expensive carvings and decorations around all looked like they were going to get easily smashed if Sekai ever found her way here. Colin looked at the big bears guarding the place and thought, those bears wouldn't last a second against Yggdrasil.
They entered the castle by the front door, grand double doors that were kept open for people and Comrades going in and out. Colin recognized Silvero Earnest in the main hall, sitting at the end of a big table with a purple-haired guy wearing a long white coat.
Satrox stopped so suddenly, Colin almost crashed into him. "Hey!"
"What's the All-Trader doing here?" Satrox asked. "Is the Underground involved with the Protectorate?"
"They trade in smuggled goods right? It's probably just business." Tony shrugged. "You should check their offers too. They have some good bargains from time to time."
Satrox frowned. "They don't look like they're bargaining."
He was right. If anything, they appeared to be having a casual chat, like two workmen relaxing over a drink after finishing the day's work. Two colleagues who just completed a project together.
"I don't like the looks of this." Satrox said again.
Colin had to agree. "Something's up between those two."
"Maybe." Tony shrugged again. "Maybe it means more work for you in the future. Right now, I just want to find Huntress and Lucy."
"You guys stay here. I'll go find them." Satrox said.
"Whatever. Just make sure we'll get paid." Tony snorted.
Colin prepared himself to just hang out and wait, but Satrox grabbed him by the hand and dragged him along.
"Huh?!" was all Colin managed before they were marching off down the corridor at a fast pace.
"We have to find Sora." Satrox whispered.
"I thought we were going to get Lucy." Colin protested in a low voice.
"She's safe at home. It's Sora we came to pull out." Satrox said. "Remember? We only brought Tony and Ginny along so we can get in easier."
"What about Kat…?"
"Too many people disappearing at the same time would be suspicious."
"Then why bring me along?"
"The Mansion has two wings, east and west. Right now, we don't have a guide. We don't even know where Lucy is and can't afford the time to find her. We'll need to split up and search both sides on our own." Satrox told him.
"But…"
"Go!" Satrox said, and dashed towards the west wing. "We're running out of time! Sekai's on her way!"
Colin scratched his head for a moment, then ran for the east wing.
***
It was Sekai, in the end, who saved him.
Colin dashed east with Sonia, Foxie and Kyubia poking their noses into every doorway or corner they could sniff at, looking for anything resembling a dungeon entrance. He didn't bother to hide or sneak around – with all the ruckus going on outside, the guards of House Earnest were all running around in no particular order. Colin found a half-dozen of them huddling down in a place to hide and another two trying to find an escape route from the castle.
Sekai was headed this way, there was no doubt about it now. The gates were barred and nobody was allowed to leave, especially not the guards who were hired to defend the place. Whatever army the Protectorate had thrown at Sekai, it definitely hadn't been enough to stop her.
With all the panic starting up in Earnest Mansion, Colin was able to run around freely and nobody even paused to question him.
He didn't find Sora. He did, however, find Lucy.
"HEY! LET ME OUT!" he could hear her yelling from two corridors away. From that point, it was simply a matter of following her voice all the way to her rooms, currently barred from the outside.
Her guards, if any had been posted, were long gone by the time Colin arrived. Colin wondered about how the doors were able to hold Lucy in.
[High Powered Barrier Field. No comms or warps allowed. With a field this strong, even the Import Link's disabled.] Kyubia explained. [It's all over her room.]
"How do we get her out?" Colin asked.
Kyubia snorted and lashed out her tail, suddenly back to its normal size. The doors crashed inwards, and Lucy yelped, but Kyubia wrapped her tail around Lucy before she could get injured, and pulled her out safely.
"Colin!" Lucy breathed. She had lost her Huntress disguise and was back in her normal 'Lucy' look. "Where's everyone else?!"
"Looking for Sora." Colin replied, just to keep things short.
"They'll never find him." Lucy shook her head. "The entrance is hidden."
Colin tapped his watch. "Satrox… I found Lucy."
"Where's Sora?" Satrox asked at once.
"The fireplace in the main hall isn't really a fireplace…" Lucy began.
"Meet me there!" Satrox replied at once.
Lucy darted down the hallways of her home, Colin at her heels.
"Lucy!" someone gasped, as they ran past too quickly for Colin to see who it was.
"Natalia! We must escape!" Lucy called back over her shoulder. "Get mom!"
"No! We must defend…"
A loud BOOM outside made her eat her words. Colin glanced out the next window to see Yggdrasil looming over the outskirts of Port Rachel. There was a huge fireball gathered over the Grand Arena – the crowd there was combining their powers or something, it seemed – but Sekai had already made the first strike and there were still pieces of Grand Arena wall falling out of the sky.
[What are they doing…?] Kyubia wondered. [If they want to use combined attacks, the best mix would be lightning, water and wind.]
[A thunderstorm?] Colin mused before they followed Lucy down a stairway and lost sight of the battle.
Lucy nearly crashed into Katrin and Ginny coming up the other way. "Eeek!"
"Lucy!" Katrin gasped. "You're okay!"
"Last Rites got me out!" Lucy, even in the middle of all this, still remembered to use Colin's nickname. "How did you find us?"
"Lynxmice. Tracked his scent." Katrin said. "What…"
"We need to meet Forkscar at the Main Hall. That's where the entrance to the basement is."
Ginny tapped her watch. "Tony! We found them! We're on our way to the main hall!"
Colin winced. I should have done that myself… called them to let them know the plan…
Kyubia nosed him with a whuff. [You're such a cub.]
[I don't remember YOU thinking of it.]
[I don't normally need to work with others.] Kyubia said loftily.
The next BOOM made the walls of Earnest Mansion shake, and some of the dust landed squarely on top of her head, sending her into a fit of sneezing.
Colin dashed to a nearby window to take another look at the battle, just in time to see Yggdrasil batting aside that giant fireball into the sea. The huge tree seized up the Gym and threw that at the Grand Arena.
Lightning struck down from the sky, slamming the flying Gym downwards, and a visible wave of wind slowed its flight, causing it to hit the Arena's outer walls rather than the seating inside.
Then dark clouds started gathering over the city.
Kyubia nodded to herself. [Finally. I was wondering when they'd get around to it.]
Colin sighed. [Guess it's a thunderstorm after all.]
Kyubia sneezed again.
"Hurry!" Lucy said "She's almost here!"
They scrambled into the main hall.