Somewhere in the land of Aries lies a cave where all the players of the hidden city evacuated. Thankfully, they were not displaced like the last time they were attacked. The cave provided them temporary shelter, but they knew that it was not enough to protect them.
The brothers Wen and Garth sat and waited anxiously for the return of the girls. For about an hour, they sat in silence, reflecting on everything that took place so far. It was usual for the two brothers to constantly analyze their situation and strategize for the future.
Whenever Wen was deep in thought, Alice would show up to serve him some coffee. This time, she wasn't around and they no longer had coffee supplies. He hoped that she was alright.
Only Anna and Jasmine were on the lookout for a flying carp or dragon in the air. Sphinx was near them, sulking on the ground. He still hadn't recovered from his sister's death.
"So let me get this straight... You've never met me before?" Ileanna interrogated the real Gaylord.
"Milady, many girls have come before me to admire my beauty and I remember them all. You were not one of them." Dick Gaylord did a dramatic pose, hugging himself passionately. Then, he held her hands. "But you are a beauty truly worthy to match with the great me!"
Li Yuan choked Gaylord. "Oops. My hand moved on its own."
"Li Yuan! Don't kill him!"
Meanwhile, deeper inside the cave, Magnus was sweating buckets and looked like he was in terrible pain. Epsilon sat beside the bed where he was resting. She stared at his face, making sure that he was still alive. Her expression showed no apparent concern, but she still worried inside about the fate of her guinea pig.
"You better survive this, Maggie. I still have many poisons I haven't used on you yet," said Epsilon.
"He's going to give up living if you tell him that, you know?" Tank said as he leaned on the doorway.
"My guinea pig is resilient thanks to my training." Epsilon pushed back her hair.
"They're coming this way!" Jasmine ran to them and shouted.
Tank and Epsilon ran outside the cave to see the dragon flying in the air towards them.
***
High up in the air, four girls and one cat were mounted on a flying dragon.
"Anyone know how to pilot this thing!?" Luna shouted.
"Alice, aren't you an animal expert?" Astrid looked at the beastmaster who was covering her eyes.
"I'm sorry! This dragon is nothing like Kimmy!" Alice shouted.
The dragon roared and flew in loops like a drunk pilot on a plane, taking the girls on a crazy ride. Luna cursed as she found herself in the same situation as when the Noctis Noir girls fought the wyvern at Everest Woods.
Frisk's voice came on like an announcement, "We are now beginning our descent. Please fasten your seatbelts and get ready for landing. On behalf of all the crew members, thank you for flying with Frisk Airlines."
"Frisk, now is not the time!" Luna shouted angrily.
They all screamed as the dragon crash landed on the ground. The girls fell off the dragon upon impact and rolled to the side. They were alive, but it hurt like hell.
"Elris really needs to reprogram its landing skills," said Astrid as she got up.
The dragon blew fire on them to help ease the pain of the crash.
"We should give this guy a name," Luna suggested.
"I vote for Molotov because it breathes fire," replied Astrid.
"Alright. From now on, you're Molotov."
The dragon breathed more fire on Luna as a response.
"I'll take that as a yes then."
"Are you girls alright?" Anna ran to them, ready to assist them.
"Don't worry about us. We're fine. We need to hurry to Magnus and heal him," said Lyria.
"Come, Molotov Cocktail! We have work to do," Luna led the dragon closer to the cave.
"Molotov probably can't fit inside the cave."
Epsilon emerged from the cave with her marionette carrying the unconscious Magnus.
"Roast him real good," said Epsilon.
"Magnus, your hair looks like seaweed!" Frisk roasted him.
Molotov breathed dragon fire on Magnus, covering the Jupiter guildmaster with a protective veil of healing flames. Everyone observed Magnus.
"His breathing is improving," Epsilon commented. "Now we just need to wait until he wakes up."
Everyone sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness," said Lyria.
Wen stepped forward. "If you don't mind, I have some questions about the dragon."
The girls weren't sure where to start. Elris bombarded them with plenty of info. Astrid held up the letter Elris gave them.
"Elris made this dragon. Pio is alive and is cooperating with him. He told us to give you this letter," Astrid said as Wen took the letter from her hands.
"Pio is alive!?" Jasmine exclaimed.
Sphinx also reacted towards the news of his fellow guildmate being alive. "Where is he?"
"Pio stayed behind to help Elris," Lyria replied.
Wen nodded as he read the contents of the letter. "I see. So this was Elris' doing."
"What does it say, boss?" Sphinx asked.
"Elris plans to stay in hiding, but promises to deliver us an army of dragons similar to this one. He also gave us a code for a stable portal to the real world, but wants us to stay and fight to recover the Centuris Cube from Cecil."
Jasmine and Sphinx smiled at the news.
"An army of dragons, huh? That sounds like an all-out war," Tank commented.
"It is. And this war will never end until we defeat Cecil. We need to gather everyone for a meeting and determine who is willing to fight and who flees."