In the castle of Voltiana...
The Generals hurried down the castle halls, worry and disappointment on their faces. Xar saw them approaching the throne room.
"Did you stop them from enacting their plan?" he asked.
They all went pale.
"Well, not exactly..." Fujii said. "We...need to see the King, ASAP."
Xar stepped aside. "Be quick about it. His wife is arguing with him."
Inside the throne room, King Ayrad and Queen Ayame were busy having a heated conversation.
"You need to trust my judgment more!" King Ayrad exclaimed. "I'm the King for a reason!"
She folded her arms. "And what reason is that? Your actions continue to lead to more and more death! If we had just used all of our Generals, the Festival wouldn't have resulted in so many casualties!"
He waved her off. "Nonsense. Squad S-1 handled it well."
"And Squads S-3 and S-4 handled the Umego situation better! These are trying times, we must better prepare!"
They stopped as Fujii cleared his throat. "Excuse me, Your Majesties!"
They turned toward him. Queen Ayame lifted an eyebrow. "Yes? Is something the issue?"
"Well, something went wrong...Dachii, Marachii, and Hikari are missing."
King Ayrad's eyes widened. "What? How?"
His wife immediately rounded on him. "So you did something else behind my back? What did you mess up now?"
"After I had him train, his Squad was going to use him as bait, so I had the Generals go to stop that plan!"
She slapped her forehead. "Typical! More incompetence!"
Nakada stepped forward. "What should we do? We don't have any means of locating them, their watches aren't responding!"
King Ayrad moved to speak, but Queen Ayame cut him off with a hand. "We will search land by land, and region by region until we find them."
He batted her hand away. "Ignore that. We'll use a more efficient plan."
She glared at him. "Oh? One that involves them all failing?"
"And your plan takes too long! Searching every region could take forever, and who says they won't get ambushed by a monster pack, or something worse?"
As they began to argue, the Generals shared a look. Morino sighed. "Please, your Majesties. My grandchildren and Hikari are who knows where, and the man who took them seems dangerous. We need to act before it's too late."
They paused, and Queen Ayame sighed. "You're right, I'll decide on a proper course of action, and we will inform you in due time."
King Ayrad narrowed his eyes at her. "Who's WE?"
She scoffed and walked away, dismissing the Generals. King Ayrad gritted his teeth. "Damn woman, I wonder if it's too late to divorce..."
He noticed the Generals were still present. "Oh! You guys can head out, see what you can find."
They all bowed and left, going their separate ways, leaving Morino and Fujii behind. Outside, Kia was waiting.
"Father, did they know anything?"
Morino shook his head. "Other than personal issues, they didn't say much."
She held her head, tears streaming. "I knew it! I knew this would happen! As soon as they begin to warm up to you guys, you betray them!"
She pointed a finger at Fujii. "Your soldier did that! Now both of my kids could be anywhere and we don't know WHAT'S happening to them!"
Fujii held his hands up, smiling at her. "Don't worry, I'm on the case! We'll bring them home in no time! Hikari was just a little confused, that's all!"
Kia just stared at him.
"Yeah, so we should get to finding them, you know?"
Kia stared even more intensely at him.
"Alright, to the S-1 Mansion I go! Goodbye, you two!"
He quickly disappeared in a blur, and Morino watched. "I don't think he has a clue what to do."
Kia grabbed Morino's shoulders. "So what are we going to do? How are we going to find them? Did you see the face of that man who took them? Horrible!"
Morino sighed a long sigh before staring up at the sky. "Any clues they left behind, I'll examine. I'll need to go back to the scene."
Kia grabbed his arm. "We're going back to the scene."
He looked at her for a moment before smiling. "Sure, lead the way."
Meanwhile, in Raijin City...
"VICE-GENERAL?"
Dachii stared at Aoki, almost dumbfounded. "I've never even HEARD OF YOU! I always thought Akari took on that role!"
Aoki scoffed. "That stupid princess? She's just an overconfident rookie, that's all."
"Well, she has the strength to back it up," Dachii remarked.
Aoki laughed. "Poor, misguided child."
Venus clasped her hands together. "Well, I'll leave you two to get acquainted with one another!"
"Wait!" Dachii called out. "Who's the rest of my team?"
Venus turned back, giving him a sly smile. "That's the fun part! Since you arrived late, you get to choose your next two members!"
Dachii tilted his head. "Hmm, that doesn't sound too bad..."
"I know! The Games will begin tomorrow morning! Don't be late!"
Venus gracefully waved and exited, leaving Dachii and Aoki alone. Aoki sized Venus up as she walked away.
"That woman is weird. Don't listen to her, don't trust her, and don't make eye contact with her."
Dachii watched her graceful stride as she turned the corner. "Well, that is DEFINITELY a human walk, but I've been tricked before..."
Aoki rolled her eyes. "Pathetic."
She walked around the room, examining every corner of it. "Almost as pathetic as this terribly designed living quarters. Never in my years have I seen such a disgusting accommodation."
Dachii took note of her youthful appearance. "How old are you?"
Aoki glanced back at him before inspecting the bathroom. "Over a thousand years old, give or take."
"WHAT?"
Aoki closed the bathroom door, holding her nose. "Ew, smells like humans."
She walked over to the fridge, which appeared a bit old, and opened the door. "No food as well. They've gotten worse at this."
"So," Dachii said. "You've been doing this a while?"
Aoki shut the fridge door. "Over five hundred years. You ask a lot of questions."
Dachii scratched his head. "Well, when you get dragged out of your normal life into a life of magic, dwarves, Zharians, and so on, you tend to question a lot of it."
Aoki walked up to him. "Speaking of a question, how do you have an Elemental Power? TWO, at that?"
Dachii shrugged. "I touched a crown."
"A crown?" Aoki asked, confused. "A crown gave you that long-sought-after ability?"
Dachii nodded. "Yep! Wait, how do you know about Deity anyways, what are you—-?"
"Dachii? Dachii! Are you here?"
Dachii recognized a familiar voice calling for him outside. He turned and threw open the door, and found Hikari walking the streets, calling his name.
"Dachii? Did I walk into the wrong city or are you here?"
Dachii stepped outside. "Hikari?"
She immediately turned and noticed him, gasping and running toward him.
"Dachii! You're okay!" she said, hugging him. "I was looking for you for hours, I got so worried!"
Dachii looked away. "It's okay, I'm fine."
She began to tear up. "Look, about this whole situation, I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry! I messed up, we shouldn't even be here!"
He looked at her for a long moment before sighing. "Don't worry about it, it's alright."
She released her grip. "Really?"
He straightened up. "Yeah, we just play these games, and we should find Marachii. Maybe that guy took your sister too, and we can find her in the process."
Hikari wiped her face. "Games?"
Dachii looked around, noticing various competitors training themselves. "They call it the Raijin Games or something, and I was forced to play. They've allowed me to add two people to my team, so do you wanna join?"
As she stood there for a moment, silent, they both heard a voice behind them.
"Who the hell is she?"
Dachii jumped back as Aoki sized up Hikari, looking at her disapprovingly.
"This is Hikari. Hikari, meet Aoki," Dachii stated.
They both shared a tense look, which made Hikari back up. "Why is she looking at me like that? Why is she wearing one of our uniforms? Who is this girl?"
Dachii leaned up to her ear. "She's...our Vice-General."
"SHE'S WHAT?"
"You heard him, now LEAVE," Aoki ordered.
Dachii stepped in front of Hikari. "I was going to invite her to join our team! She can help!"
Aoki drew her katana. "No. She's weak."
Hikari clenched her fists. "You...you...you...!"
Dachii attempted to calm her down. "Hikari, it's okay, she'll understand!"
Aoki held the blade up, checking it out. "No, I won't."
Hikari held out her hands, and a portal opened above Aoki's head. It dropped a spear on her, but Aoki deflected it with ease.
"What useless magic."
As Hikari began to turn red with anger, Dachii stepped in between them. "She has an Element too, you know! It can help!"
Aoki mockingly laughed, before her serious expression came back. "I don't care."
Hikari growled and tried to punch Aoki, but she caught her fist without even looking.
"Go play somewhere else, little girl, I have business to handle. Get rid of her, Dachii."
She turned and walked inside, leaving Dachii and Hikari to stare at her.
"She can't be one of us!" Hikari exclaimed. "She's so rude, so judgmental, so—-!"
"Ruthless?" Dachii suggested.
"That too! I'm joining and we're gonna find Himeka and Marachii, whether she likes it or not!"
"You tell her!" Dachii said, hiding behind her. "But, please be the first to go in."
"Dachii!"
As they walked up and threw open the door, there was no trace of Aoki.
"Well...forget everything I said," Dachii remarked. "Guess she left."
Hikari relaxed a bit. "Good. Now that she's out of the way, what do we do next?"
Dachii tapped his chin. "I need to find another teammate. Did you see anyone out there who would be of use?"
Hikari thought for a moment. "Not really. There are a few monsters outside, a couple of dwarves, and even a few orcs, but nothing of note. There's not even a single Voltian here, besides me and that girl."
Dachii plopped down on one of the beds. "I have to find someone by tomorrow morning, maybe one of those humans will do!"
Hikari eyed him, curious. "Humans?"
A few minutes later, Dachii and Hikari walked down the street, and sure enough, Dachii found Ayana still practicing with her sword.
"Hey, Ayana!" he called out.
She stopped practicing and approached him. "Dachii? Need anything?"
She noticed Hikari at his side and studied her with an unreadable look. "Oh, you found another of them? I thought Aoki was the only one."
"Her? This is Hikari, she's...a friend. Somewhat."
Hikari gently elbowed him. "Somewhat?"
Ayana looked between them before continuing to practice her moves. "Well, what can I do for you?"
"We need one more member for our team! Do you wanna join?" Dachii asked.
Ayana stood still for a moment.
"I would love to, you know, but I'm already part of a team. It's me, Haruto, and a couple of dwarves."
"Aww, man. Do you know anyone else who'd be willing to join?"
Ayana looked around, seeing a few creatures glance Dachii's way. "You're the 'special guest.' I'm sure that more than one of these guys would be willing to join you."
She gave him a playful punch to the shoulder. "Hope you go far in the Games, Dachii!"
He nervously laughed. "Thanks! You too."
As he and Hikari left, Dachii looked back one more time. "She was kinda cute, don't you think?"
Hikari rolled her eyes. "Let's just go."
They walked down a few streets, heading past various monsters and dwarves, all of whom gave them creepy looks.
"So, who should we look for?" Dachii asked.
Hikari scanned the streets. "We should look for an orc. They're strong, durable, and excel in combat."
"Sounds good, only issue is I don't see any."
Hikari walked up to another corner. "They should be around, I saw a group of them earlier."
"HEY!"
As soon as she walked past the corner, a giant green fist struck her in the face.
"Ow!"
A giant orc, dressed in barbaric clothing, stepped in front of her, and three similarly dressed orcs stood behind him.
"You're one of those murderin' elves!" the leader called out. "Who invited a scumbag like you to this event?"
Hikari wiped her mouth and got up. "I invited myself, now if you're not going to join us get the hell out of the way!"
The orcs shared a look before laughing at her. "The girl thinks she's tough!"
The leader cracked his knuckles. "Let's see how tough you are."
Dachii jumped in front of her. "Come on, guys! You won't hit an unarmed girl, would you?"
The leader pushed Dachii aside. "Move, kid. It's time to break every bone in her body."
The others quickly surrounded Hikari, laughing and preparing to attack.
"Let's CRUSH HER!"
But as the leader swung a fist at her, a smaller green fist met it in midair, causing a massive shockwave.
BOOM.
—-