"Come on! Follow me, hustle up!"
Approximately thirty-four individuals were in the group. Sally, Drimi, and Phthonus were the leaders, while Milmoor's villagers were the followers. They scoured through every place they could find, from the first level of the city toward the last.
"Not in the donut shop!" A man exclaimed as he rushed out of the front door, accidentally scrambling through the miscarried boxes.
Drimi released a deep sigh, gave a thumbs-up, and bobbed her head.
"Alright, then search the restaurant!"
The man nodded his head and raced up the stone stairs toward the restaurant with many chairs.
The Sky invited ever-arching birds upward, a fleet of clouds gently drifted to the east, and the sun's radiant warmth scintillated over the concrete forest.
A girl hollered as she jumped over the fence, hurried up the stairs, and tripped over a twig.
"There's no sign of her here!"
Drimi stomped her foot on the ground, clenched her two fingers together, and dispersed the tendency to rage. As the prodigious group scrambled over each block and corner, Drimi stomped her foot furiously, lifted her arms, and shouted.
"Alright, listen up!"
People outside the group walked back and forth, laughing, chattering, playing, shopping, and continuing their daily lives.
A rush of marching footsteps sounded and eclipsed the bell jingling, each lining up in an organized formation as if they were guards.
"Has anyone found any sign of Aletha?"
A group of children raced across the streets, followed by Drimi, Sally, Phthonus, and the others getting pushed and shoved from the clusters of people.
To make it worse, people shouted at them.
"What is that group doing?"
"Stop standing there and causing a scene for everyone!"
Drimi held her frustration in. Her face boiled and enlarged in red like a tulip preparing to bloom. She stepped forward, gesticulated her fingers, and raised her voice-- trying to eclipse the noise.
"Okay, since."
(Ding!)
The bells were rampant in noise. Phthonus stepped forward and disregarded the noise; he gave a bitter laugh and exclaimed.
"Drimi, I really don't think this is a decent place to gather here--
Chattering, clapping, cheers, and discussion roared frantically from block to block. Blurry streaks of colors flew over and over from their trembling eyes, showing that the city was well dense.
Drimi plucked the cuff of her mask and objected.
"Alright, since we can't find Aletha, and it has been nearly thirty minutes, I order everyone to take a break!"
The ambiance still continued. Sally tried to approach Drimi; however, the stream of crowds obstructed her path.
And then, as Drimi was about to speak, a loud voice blared from a distance.
"Check out this new potion; try it now for three hundred Gincoins!" Advertised a boy with dark hair and gray eyes jolting from the streets.
Even in the densest of places, commercial opportunities always emerged. Maybe even in other nations in the world of Gincad, the same elements might apply.
Drimi shook her head, absolutely depraved in complete denial of the crowd.
"The people here… are…."
Drimi deeply sighed. She never remembered the city being this noisy before; however, pushing stuff aside, Drimi retained her focus, jotted her head upward, and raised her voice.
"Followers, if you need rest, go somewhere secluded from the crowd. I don't want you to be consumed by the abundance of people here. If some of you are still energized, I highly suggest you follow me."
Drimi sounded rather formal than previously. Perhaps it was because she was tackling a large group of people.
From a blurry distance…
"Oh, I want to come with you!" said a bitter voice, followed by scrambling footsteps.
Drimi made a facepalm, seeing the person to whom the voice belonged. Long, sleek, silky platinum hair, bright exuberant pink eyes, wearing a blue and silver tunic. Utterly surprised by Sally's clothing, Drimi swiftly questioned.
"Where and how did you get that tunic so quickly?!"
Sally scratched her head.
"O-Oh, I got it from a dressing store."
"So they just walk up to you and grab it…?" Drimi said.
Sally chuckled nervously, scratching her head and stepping backward.
"Y-Yeah… basically."
Drimi stepped over and patted Sally's head, admiring her genuinely innocent act. Despite the situation, they finally realized Aletha wasn't in danger. And if so, there would be blinding lights scattering upon the streets.
"Okay, fine. Villagers, you may take a break. Sally and I will search for Aletha." Drimi said as she pulled Sally away.
The villagers nodded and scampered across the streets, preparing and relaxing for the oncoming demand.
"Yes, mam."
As the brilliant, vivid rays shone through the matching rooftops, Drimi made a light chuckle and smiled under her mask.
"Good." She mumbled as she crossed her way through the traffic. Hearing that reply reminded her of being the young captain she was on her ship when she was at sea. It almost made her shed a tear, remembering how good her leadership skills were.
Sally grabbed Drimi's arm, bent her head, and asked.
"Why are you crying?"
Drimi's eyes widened. She wiped the glistening droplet off her face, smiled softly under her mask, and replied with a honeyed voice.
"N-Nothing… it's just memories; that's all."
As they stepped forward, preparing to venture through the city, Sally pressed her hands to her cheeks and shouted with excitement.
"Let's find Aletha!"
Drimi sighed and clasped Sally's soft hands. She slowly nodded, remembered the events, and pondered.
"I wonder… where did Belial go? I hope… he's somewhere safe…."
* * * * * * * *
Meanwhile, in the backroom of the pawnshop,
"I think it was yesterday that the Queen decided to capture me. I was only trying to sell items to generate funds for my immense debt. You know… Wraileza's taxes are hefty nowadays." Brich uttered as he made a gesture, trying to imagine the scene aloud.
"Huh… well… that's strange," Aletha mumbled.
They lay against the wooden walls, one on the first side and the other on the back. The doors were locked, the shelves were placed all over the doors, and the windows were covered. Safely secured, away from the wandering guards.
Aletha turned her head toward a dark corner and stared intensely at the vases over the area. She looked at the bright patterns traced over the exterior and the diamond printed on the base.
"They look like the halos of Cleira's angels." Aletha thought.
Fallen into boredom, fiddling with the locks of her hair, Aletha pondered.
"And… Why did she try to capture you?"
Brich shrugged his shoulders.
"I have no idea. But I heard that it was because of my scent…."
"Your scent?!" Alexa staggered, backing up toward the wall.
"Yeah... I think it was related to Sadiki's… scent. Strange, I know."
Brich didn't want to leak more information to Aletha, mainly because the guards may be proper outside the door-- eavesdropping on their conversation.
A somewhat sharp and incisive voice traced out from Aletha's lips.
"S-So you're saying that The Queen just teleported Belial out of existence? And he turned into a monster-- And that Asahi wasn't captured by guards, but The Queen herself?! What even--
(Plop)
Suddenly, Brich slapped a hand over Aletha's mouth. Aletha tried to scoot over, but the hand followed like a blindfold attached to their eyes.
She noticed Brich was nervously and cautiously turning his head left and right. Footsteps sounded behind the walls, indicating that it could be guards or people making the noise.
Shunned with shock, Aletha took quick, trimmed breaths and closed her eyes. Her heart raced, diverting her gaze to the half-shut door.
The lights buzzed, and Aletha relaxed her shoulders. The noise stopped. Brich sighed in relief.
"Thank you."
Brich slowly slid his hand away from Aletha's mouth and lifted his shoulder in a half shrug. Brich's stubble on his chin flinched; his eyes mumbled fear.
"My apologies…"
Aletha dearly understood Brich's reasoning. Given Brich's trustworthy, pure, and innocent actions, he gained Aletha's trust. As noted by her smile, he knew well that he was responsible.
After a brief silence, Brich's nostrils flared and whispered softly.
"Please, be a little quieter. The guards could be outside the door. I didn't know that the four were against their master; I thought they were still with The Queen. A-Anyways, I'm pretty sure that your brother is safe. The Queen didn't show any menacing or intimidating looks to him while I was fleeing. However, I DID see her show signs of… affection? Strange. You know, It's pretty rare--
He caught his breath.
"No, it's excruciatingly rare for The Queen of Pladtioa to show affection or even love to someone other than herself. So, when I saw her carrying your brother with a relieved smile, I questioned her intentions. And that if she really does have a liking for Asahi."
Aletha shook her head, jittered her teeth, and bit her nails, falling into anxiousness on imagining the horrible things that The Queen could do to her brother.
"N-No… that… t-that can't be true…
Aletha nervously bit her bottom lip and cocked her head to Brich.
"I hope nothing bad happens to him. We were never supposed to be split apart."
"..."
Brich fell silent, unable to believe that the girl in front of him was or used to be a Goddess. He often questions himself if the world is much older than he thought; it had been bugging him ever since he met the wanderers.
"How are they, gods?" Brich thought.
Nevertheless, Brich pulled Aletha up, dragged her out the door, commanded, pushed all thoughts aside, and revealed abruptly.
"Aletha, I know how much you want your brother back. So… I'm going to risk it; I'm opening the windows."
Aletha's dark gray pupils expanded, shocked that Brich could abruptly change directions of his emotions.
"H-HUH?!'
Brich silenced Aletha and continued.
"If we are in danger…
He pulled out weapons from the shelves.
...We will always have these. Now… help me open the windows; in fact, open the doors. I want The Four to find us. I want to change Pladtioa, and I also wish Sadiki returned."
Aletha raised her eyebrow and walked through the aisles of shelves toward the window. While pressing her hands against the window's seals, Aletha turned to Brich and asked politely.
"What happened to Sadiki?"
Brich closed his mouth and roughly grunted. He tried to fall silent and not respond, but Aletha's look on her face was something he couldn't ignore, or could it be his doubts?
Brich thought.
(I can't simply refuse to answer a goddess. If she and her brother really are my world's gods, I shouldn't DARE to refuse. I must.)
He sighed deeply, starting to regret his decision when he drew the first letter off his mouth.
"Aletha…"
She inclined her posture and smiled, showing anticipation beaming on her face. Disregarding the noise happening outside, Aletha responded.
"Yeah…?"
"Sadiki…"
Before he could say a complete sentence, a loud thump, followed by ferocious screams, trembled the entire shop. Bottles flew to the floor, shelves toppled down, and wood chips started to fly away.
Aletha asked again, ignoring the loud noises.
"What is it… Brich?"
Brich released a sigh of disappointment and mumbled frustratingly.
"Nevermind… I'll tell you later!"
Brich closed the door and turned the lights off, hearing the footsteps gradually grow closer.
* * * * * * * *
On the other side…
"Why is it so packed?"
Drimi knew the ways of the city despite starting her legacy from Wraileza... Every shop, every nook, every cranny; she knew the grid, layout, and even the vehicles. In contradiction to that, the people, on the other hand, were not familiar with her.
Passing by the staircase, through the winding bridges, wandering the tavern and streetlights, Drimi glanced at the people walking toward her.
Brown, gray, blue, yellow, green, and the hair colors were a wide variety. The shapes are tall and thin; some with animal ears, others with fully anthropomorphic features. The point often overlooked by the individuals was the attire. Most of it was utterly alien to her.
Recognizing some matched the style of Zomrack and others from the outskirts of Destia.
Though Drimi knew Pladtioa from the skin to bone, she knew nothing about the outside world. And so, instead of kind greetings, often there were curious stares.
While passing through another bridge, grabbing Sally's hand, they approached yet another narrow area of buildings. Drimi's eyes flashed in shock, her nose flared, and swiftly, she pulled Sally, urging her.
"That scent… it smells like my weapon! Sally, I believe we are close to our weapons. Check every building in here."
"But what about Aletha…?" Sally asked.
"We'll worry about her later… maybe if we have our weapons…."
Suddenly, Sally raced across the street and approached a shop. She stared through the windows and noticed that all were sealed. The sniffling aroma burned brightly. Her eyes wiggled in shock.
"Drimi! Over here!"
Interrupting Phthonus' conversation with Drimi, they gasped, jolted toward Sally, and asked.
"What, dearie? I was just speaking to Phthonus. He said he wanted to come with me."
Phthonus scratched his head and left out an anxious sweat.
"Y-Yeah… my apologies. I noticed that the scent of my weapon lingers here, too."
Sally slammed her fist on the door.
"The scent is so strong here. Drimi, I think the…."
(Click)
Furthermore, a click sounded behind the door. Immediately, Sally, Drimi, and Phthonus froze in shock, wondering who was beyond the door.
"Who's there?!" They said as they prepared to fight.
Suddenly, peeking from the wooden door, we glimmering golden eyes and a long nose. Though Drimi and Sally couldn't recognize the pattern, Phthonus knew vividly who was beyond the door.
"Brich…?!" Phthonus whispered confusingly as he pulled his scarf off.
The door swiftly slammed shut.
"Eh?!"
And then it opened once again, revealing a tall male figure and a petite white-haired, silver eye girl.
"Aletha?!" Drimi choked as she skidded backward.
"Drimi?!" Aletha shouted as she jumped up.
Brich slowly shook his head, tensed his shoulders, and scratched his chin, mumbling.
"Oh… Drimi… is that you?! How have you been? Is that Sally as well, next to you too?"
Sally shuddered in anxiousness, having no familiarity with conversation. She quivered her lips and answered anxiously.
"Y-Yeah…"
Jotting his eyes to the right, he saw Phthonus, who waved his hands awkwardly and smiled.
"No… way. Phthonus, the original part of the knights; you also have arrived? I haven't seen you in forever… how have you been?"
Phthonus answered as he placed his scarf over his mouth.
"I'm trying to change my ways. It's a pleasure to meet you as well, master. You've trained us so well… I seriously don't know what happened with us. We all used to be strong… and now, we're all divided."
Aletha-- having absolutely no idea what was happening, backed away and questioned.
"Brich, you know them! I thought you said that you saved me from them because they worked for the Queen!"
Brich gave a light chuckle.
"I was just giving a reason to show you my shop. Also… to hide you from the guards."
As the birds chirped and the ambiance continued, Drimi interrupted the awkward silence and asked.
"So… Master, do you have our weapons? We almost forgot that we made you keep them captive just in case something went wrong."
"Oh, of course!" Brich said with a smile as he invited them to the shop. But then, as they stepped forward and Brich grabbed the weapons upfront on the shelf, he turned to Drimi and asked.
"Where are Belial and Akwan?"
Drimi drifted her eyes to the ceiling, closed her eyes, and took a deep sigh.
"I don't know…."
As Brich closed the door and fixed the shelves, he answered softly.
"Okay. Well… if they are still here, just let them know that their leader is here with their weapons."
"Okay…" Drimi said as she turned her head to the floor.
Not knowing where Belial went, Drimi and the others pushed the shelves away to the walls. They skidded spare chairs near the table and gathered up in a group on a long, sturdy bench, and as the hanging ceiling light shone on all five of them… they started explaining their motives.
* * * * * * * *
Tall trees, lush foliage, and stuffy, warm air.
Seagulls chirped, insects buzzed, running water filled his ears, and the densely packed grass cradled his head.
He was situated within a hot, moist biome where it rains frequently. A place where animals thrive, activity blares from corner to corner, and plants seethe in the nutrients that clump together.
"You're in Obrus!" A distant voice sounded out from the vines.
The droplets from the previous rainstorm flew from the leaves onto the ground.
His eyes parted, he lifted himself up, and from out, he saw dense canopies of vegetation sprawling from layer to layer. It felt like the damp, groggy bog of a densely packed jungle-- an epicenter for life.
The sounds of the jungle began to ebb. Uncertainty hung in the warm wet air as the creatures emerged from the long stretch of darkness.
Footfalls and the rumbling growls of predators walking their hunting ground alerted him to flee away.
Dusk stained the glistening foliage with shadow and musk, and an immense pool of tepid water glowed from below.
The stifling aroma of bunches of flowers tingled his nostrils. Belial emerged from the bushes, approaching what he thought was the tallest hill in this… jungle.
Explosions, fire, and distant gunshots sounded out from the natural wall of Earth in the distance. Farms sparked from one packed forest to the next, sapping away the animal's food.
Belial sprinted across the pathways but soon bumped into…
"My, what do we have here?" A deep, throaty, husky voice said.
Belial bumped into a tall man. He had long snow-white hair stretching down halfway his back, tied up in a ponytail, with a beefy, muscular build and having a rock-hard six-pack.
He wore aggressive dark attire, not matching this world, stretching from his ankles toward his sharp shoulders.
A rough and vivid black tattoo stretched up from his exposed right arm toward his chest. The pattern… of an 'S.'
Belial was speechless. The man towering over him looked awfully like…
"That smell… hmm, I recognize you."
His heart raced, sweat slid down his face, gulping in pure fear from the sight of the man. Heavy oppression brooded upon the air as the deep footsteps stepped forward.
"W-Who are you…?"
Kneeling downward, his face covered up by a wooden mask, the tall white-haired man replied.
"You'll know soon. Come, and take a seat. I know the scent… that touches you. A scent from my loved ones… ones that I never expected…."
And so, staring at the fawn-colored sea streaked here and there with tins of orange, the tall man and Belial sat near a cliff, talking while gazing at the wondrous sigh of Obrus.
However, despite the breath-taking view… the thought of his friends being in danger; will still lurk inside Belial.
All he could do from such a far distance from Pladtioa was hope they were safe.