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Chapter III: Stone City Caldera

-AIDEN-

I was sitting on the ledge at the back of the cart with my legs dangling in the air and watching the just barely dawning sun start to peak over the clouds, creating a gorgeous light blue and orange sunrise. I could smell the fresh dew on the grass as the cart rolled beside it on the dirt road and could hear the small chirps of early morning birds past the clunky sounds of the cart wheels and horse steps. It was a nice morning is what I'm saying.

I was perturbed though, thinking about what exactly I had gotten myself into. When Vatra told me about this journey to Caldera I had absolutely zero interest. Well okay, maybe like, ten percent interest on some sort of subconscious level, but that hardly counts. Anyway, even when Tel told me, I still just wanted to stay home, far away from any of this crazy nonsense.

And then Lilac came along.

I don't know if it was her gorgeous unkempt beauty, her dazzling sexy curves, maybe her beautiful scent, that of almond milk and coconuts with a faint hint of, naturally, lilacs. Like I said, I had no idea the reason but something about her was irresistible to me and even in my 'I just wanna stay home where it's safe' bullcrap I knew that I would be a fool to let her go. A coward I may be, a fool I am definitely not.

I didn't want her, or Tel for that matter, to know it though. That either of them knew I was interested in her was no big deal, I mean, of course I wanted her, who the hell wouldn't? But I couldn't believe just how much I wanted her, and for once it wasn't just about lust. I couldn't say that I was 'in love' with her, I hardly knew her, but something about her resonated on the inside with me, and it was impossible to ignore, despite my best efforts. And that I figured I'd be better off just keeping to myself.

I let out a deep sigh. There was nothing to be done about it now, I was on this journey with her and that was that. But honestly, deep down, I was glad to be away from home. Sitting on that cart ledge watching the plains go by, I was really quite happy. And I was glad to have Tel with me too, nice to have a friendly face to keep one company. And of course I was also travelling with someone who I was beginning to think may have been the most beautiful woman in the world.

As that last thought entered my head, I started smiling. This was going to be an interesting trip, and I was going to enjoy every second of it as much as possible.

-LILAC-

It was a few hours past dawn when we arrived in Caldera. The city was much larger than either Reand, or any of the other cities my father dragged me to for his war meetings. And while I was used to seeing a few members of the Disciples in my cities, it seemed like every other person on the crowded roads wore the armor of the Disciples of Strength.

"So what do we do?" I was beginning to feel very anxious in the crowd.

"I guess we just wait for Vatra?" Tel and I both looked to Aiden for an answer, I guess he was our de facto leader.

"Nah, let's go get drinks." Although his answer was less than satisfactory.

"What?!" My anxiety was starting to get the better of me.

"Vatra will find us, she did before." Aiden took me by the hand, causing me to blush. "So let's go get something to eat and drink. And get out of the busy streets." He said softly.

"Y-yeah, okay." I followed Aiden, my hand still firmly in his grasp, to a nearby bar, Tel hopping merrily along behind us.

The bar was a rather seedy looking dump, dimly lit with pools of spilled ale littering the cold ground. I held my nose to try and prevent the smell of what I really hoped was not vomit from getting through, but to very little effect. The place was nearly empty, although it looked like it got a fair amount of business.

"Ugh, what are we doing in this smelly place?" I griped, very much not wanting to be there.

"Well it wouldn't be the first place I'd like to bring a lady, but we don't have much of a budget." Aiden had a point, I was penniless and I couldn't imagine Tel had much money.

"I don't think it's that bad." Tel smiled and sat on a stool in front of the bar. He pounded his tiny fist on the bar and yelled for the barkeeper's attention. "A pint of your finest lager, barkeeping wench!"

"That'll be three gold coins, whelp." The barkeeper was a boar woman, not just overweight and middle aged, but woefully out of shape and not particularly easy on the eyes regardless. She didn't seem too pleased with Tel's yelling orders at her.

Aiden let go of my hand and smoothly glided over to the bar where he grasped the hand of the barkeep with both of his. I walked over and sat on the stool to Tel's right, not wanting to be seated too close to the barkeeper who smelled worse than the place she operated.

"Don't you think three gold is a little expensive?" Aiden's charming smile and soothing voice was working its magic on the barkeep.

"I don't take kindly to strangers barkin' orders at me in my own establishment." She glared at Tel, who lurched back and almost fell off his stool.

"If my friend were to offer an apology, would you reduce the cost of your fine ale, madam?" Aiden began to gently stroke the woman's hand with his index finger. The barkeep giggled and blushed, covering her mouth with her free hand.

"I suppose if he's a friend o' yers." She put her other hand on top of Aiden's, he smiled graciously and nodded to Tel.

"I'm sorry, ma'am." Tel bowed his head. "I won't be rude like that again."

"Well then, I s'pose I could reduce the price down ta two copper pieces." The woman didn't even look at Tel, her eyes were still locked with Aiden's, who seemed to be equally entranced with her.

"If you would please be a dear and procure me and my two friends some refreshments..." Aiden didn't even have time to finish his sentence before the woman was off to pour two mugs full of ale.

"Here y'go!" She loudly set the two mugs in front of me and Tel before quickly turning her attention back to Aiden. "I've got some nicer stuff in the back, I'll go get it fer ya, no charge!"

"Thank you kindly." Aiden replied with a smirk and the woman was off to her back room to fetch Aiden's drink.

"Wow." Tel said, quickly clapping his fore and middle fingers together.

"What can I say?" Aiden's voice rang with confidence. "I'm just a natural charmer, people love me." He grinned at us, showing off his beautiful white teeth.

"No, it's not that." Tel continued after taking a drink from his mug. I still hadn't touched mine, I was afraid it would make me ill. "I'm surprised that you would bust out those charms on someone who's so... fugly."

"All women are beautiful in my eyes." Aiden put his hand over his heart.

"Uh-huh, sure." Tel barely held back laughter.

"Do you use those charms often?" I was beginning to feel a little concerned that Aiden might just be playing me, or even worse, that he was more interested in the ugly barkeeper than in me.

"Are you worried that I might like the barkeeper more than you?" Aiden slyly grinned at me. Crap! He saw right through me!

I blushed and stammered nervously, unable to get any actual sentences to come out of my mouth.

"Well don't worry, Lilac." He walked over to me and grabbed my hand. My face could not have gotten any more red, I felt like I was in an oven. On the bright side, his smoky scent drowned out the smell of the bar quite easily. "No other woman could compare to your beauty."

I knew that was just a line, but the way he said it, with his smile and his tender stroking of my palm, made me melt. It didn't help me much that no one, not even my parents, ever told me I was pretty. It wasn't something I was used to hearing and I loved it.

Tel snorted, trying not to choke on his drink as he laughed.

"Quiet you." Aiden shot Tel an irritated glance who responded by simply taking another drink as if he didn't even notice.

"Thanks." I murmured, curling my hair with my finger and accidently getting it into a painful knot.

"You are quite welcome, m'lady." He kissed my hand. "I only speak the truth."

He kissed my hand.

I felt like my nose was going to erupt in a monsoon of blood, or my head was going to overheat and explode, wiping out all of civilization along with it. You'd think that would be an exaggeration, but those were my actual first thoughts. I'm not a very bright girl.

"I'm going to get some fresh air." I hopped down from the stool and made a beeline for the door, avoiding looking at Aiden and my shaking legs barely keeping me upright.

I sat down on a bench just outside the bar, watching the people of Caldera come and go. I may not have enjoyed being in crowds, but I did enjoy people watching. To think all of these people had a story to tell, one just like my own but different in so many ways. I liked to guess what their stories might be, where they were going or where they had come from. It calmed my nerves pretty quickly. And besides, the smell and brisk air of the stone city was a great deal more relaxing than the overheated stink pit I'd just walked out of.

I thought about Aiden and got nervous again though, I was worrying that maybe he was just saying those things to get me to have sex with him, or maybe he was just a pathological flirt and really couldn't help it, or maybe he knew the influence my father had over the Disciples of Greatness, or-

Stop.

No more. No more doubting and worries anymore.

Maybe he was just playing me, or maybe he wasn't. Maybe my natural inclination for overthinking everything and my tendency to put myself down was going to screw me out of a chance to have something I never thought I could.

I wasn't about to listen to all the voices in my head, the ones that said this is crazy, you just met him or you're not good enough to get his attention or you should just lay down and die. Fuck that!

No, I was going to go back in there and meet his advances head on, maybe even flirt back. God knows I've never actually tried flirting before so that probably wasn't about to go so well, but in that moment I could not have given less of a shit.

I was determined to reach for what I wanted and I'd be damned if I let cowardice stand in my way.

-PHENIX-

I was sitting on the ledge on the backside of the cart, watching the grassy plains pass by in the midmorning sun. Elin poked her head out the cart window and waved to me, so I made room for her on the ledge.

"What'cha doin' out here, Phenix?" Elin said as she sat next to me, her long, slender legs dangling off the edge and her fluffy and equally long tail wrapping around behind me.

"Well I didn't want to wake either of you up." I said with a smile, reflexively scratching her tail with a single finger and making her purr. "And besides, I enjoy watching the scenery."

"It is purrty." She smiled back at me and winked. "Cat pun!" I couldn't help but laugh at that.

Elin had this infectious energy about her, whenever she was around it just made me happy to be near her. She's cute and adorable and everything seems to excite or interest her.

Her eyes were drawn to every moving thing on the road, from butterflies to centipedes to an occasional hermit crab and she would notice every tiny sound and react to it in some way, with an ear twitch or a growl or feistily swiping at it with her claw depending on the noise.

"Elin?" I tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Yessir?"

"I, uh..." I knew I wouldn't have her focus for long so I needed to just say what I was thinking. "What were you doing in that grove all by yourself?" It was curious to me that someone so friendly and cuddly would choose to be in a place all by themselves for what must have been quite a while.

Her bright, cheerful smile was gone instantly, replaced instead by a bemused frown and cold eyes.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Nah, it's fine." She batted her paw at me as she cut me off. Her smile returned but it was cold and insincere. "I lived in that grove for three months."

"Where did you live before then?" I hesitated to ask, I had a feeling I already knew the answer, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Isla." She growled under her breath, the mere mention of that place making her shudder and it sent a chill down my spine as well.

"I'm sorry." I put my arm around her and she got close to me, I rubbed her arm, hoping in vain to take some of the pain away.

Isla sat on the very edge of the ravaged lands, it was about three months ago that the town was razed to the ground by a combination of Nichts and the Disciples of Clarity who sacrificed the townsfolk to gain an advantage against the demons.

"I'm the only one left." Elin lowered her head, her eyes being hidden by her bangs and her shoulders tensed up, I could feel her intensity just by touching her arm.

"I'm sorry." I didn't know what else to say. I gave her a big hug, holding her as tightly as I could. "If it makes you feel better, you have North and me."

"Really?" She looked up at me, eyes wide and smiling happily as if a switch had been flipped and all her negative emotions simply vanished instantaneously.

"Yeah, of course." I was taken aback slightly by the sudden mood shift but smiled like I didn't notice. "And I promise, I'm not going anywhere." I gently stroked the back of her hair and indeed couldn't feel that intensity even a little anymore.

"Thank you!" She hugged me tight, practically squeezing the very breath out of me.

I'd known this girl for probably less than twenty-four hours by that point but I felt a stronger bond with her than with anyone from my home town, with the sole exception of North. Maybe I just felt kinship with them since they were the only other Fionbri I'd ever met but I felt it was deeper than that. I felt, crazy as it sounds, like we were old friends from past lives, finally meeting each other in this life.

I don't know how to properly explain it and it doesn't even make perfect sense to me, but I was sure of one thing. I had finally found my pack and I was going to take care of them as best I could, no matter what.

-LILAC-

"Lilac, you're back!" Aiden raised his glass as he greeted me. "Are you feeling alright now?"

"Yes I am." I smiled back at him as I took a seat between him and Tel. "I'm feeling a lot better." So much better in fact that I noticed the rancid smell of the shoddy bar didn't even bother me anymore.

"Good to hear." He smiled politely and took a sip from his wine glass.

The bartender was back, and she was still completely enamored with him, not that I expected that to change in the few minutes I had been gone.

"You know," I gave Aiden my best flirty smile "I half expected you and the bartender to be locking lips when I got back, then I could overreact and add forced drama to our relationship."

"O-our relationship?" Aiden coughed, briefly choking on his wine.

"Oh, are you two together?" The bartender asked, not looking too pleased with the idea.

"Of course not!" Aiden turned around to face the woman, getting a slap in the face for his trouble.

"Hey Aiden, she just slapped you!" Tel was again holding back laughter at Aiden's predicament.

"Thank you Tel, I don't know what I'd do without your keen insight." Aiden rose from his stool and tried to take the bartender's hand, but she pulled back and pointed toward the door.

"Will you at least let me explain, ma'am?" Aiden asked, his ears drooped back and a nervous smile on his face. I must've really gotten to him.

"No need, I've seen yer type before." The boar woman grunted, still pointing to the door with one hand and motioning for a group of Disciples seated at a corner table with the other.

This time it was me trying to hold back laughter as we were forcibly ejected from the bar.

"See what I mean? Drama!" My facade broke and I started laughing, Tel joining me soon after.

"Well, that was... unpleasant." Aiden sighed, dusting himself off after getting up off the ground.

"I'm sorry Aiden, I really didn't know she'd react that way." I put my hand on his shoulder, smiling.

"No, of course not. How could you?" Aiden rubbed his face where he had been slapped.

"I thought it was funny!" Tel's beaming smile made me chuckle.

"So, what now?" Aiden said, promptly ignoring Tel.

"Ooh! I have an idea!" Without another word, Tel ran up to the nearest pedestrian, a few feet from where Aiden and I were standing, and tapped him on the shoulder. He had a short conversation with the man before returning to us.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"I asked that man if anything interesting was going on in this city." Tel smiled. "I figured if we're here until Vatra comes and gets us, we may as well kill some time, right?"

"He has a good point." I smiled at Aiden and put my arm around him, making him blush for once. Score! "Why waste time when we could be doing something productive, right?"

"You make a sound case, my dear." Aiden grasped my hand and I smiled at him. Tel just rolled his eyes. "So Tel, what did you find out."

"He said something about some people vanishing." Tel shrugged. "I'm not sure if we can really do anything about that though."

"Well we should get more information at least." I pulled away from Aiden, giving Tel my full attention. "Maybe we can help somehow." I was drawn to peoples' troubles like feral vultures to a rotting carcass. Not the most pleasant analogy, but I digress.

"Are you sure you want to get involved with this, Lilac?" Aiden stood beside Tel and I, a concerned and slightly bemused expression on his face.

"Do you even have to ask?" I was surprised at first, but then realized not everyone was as... cavalier, to put it mildly, as I was about jumping into other peoples' problems. "If there's anything we can do to help people, we should do just that."

"Yeah, alright." Aiden stretched his arms above his head, cracking his knuckles. He didn't seem too concerned, but that was okay. "But where do we start?"

"The Commander's mansion." Tel beamed, putting his hands together and holding his fingers in front of his mouth. "That man told me how to get there."

"Lead on then." I chuckled at the improbable convenience of that and motioned for Tel to lead us to the mansion.

Tel nodded and started running up the street, Aiden and I not far behind.

"Are you okay with this, Aiden?" I turned to look at him as we ran through the city, smiling to make him feel more at ease.

"I'll follow wherever you lead, m'lady." Aiden closed his eyes and smiled, quickly opening them again as he just barely managed to avoid hitting a lamp post and then resuming the gesture after dodging it. "I have faith in your judgment." He said serenely.

I stopped in my tracks at that, just giving him a dumbfounded stare. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. It's like everything Aiden did or said was something completely new I'd never experienced, like an entire new universe was opened up by me meeting him.

And I absolutely loved it.

"Are you guys coming or what?!" Tel shouted from down the road, waving his arms in the air to get out attention.

I chuckled nervously and nodded for Aiden to take the lead, slightly embarrassed by having slowed us up. Aiden waved back to Tel before smiling at me, offering to take my hand. I gently put my hand in his and felt his warmth surging through me, melting away the cold air of Caldera and the needling noises of the crowds and the old, dusty smells of the city.

All I could feel was that heavenly warmth, I couldn't help but close my eyes and smile peacefully as I took a deep breath and felt it embrace me. I opened my eyes again to see Aiden's beautiful smile. He nodded at me and I smiled back, blushing and averting my gaze. We ran after Tel, still holding hands.

-AIDEN-

The Commander's mansion was a towering stone building, more of a castle than a mansion really, with malevolent looking architecture and intimidating gargoyles lining the windows, a fitting home for the commanding officer of the Disciples of Strength. It had a charming elegance to it though, if you could look past the tyrant-owned evil fortress vibe it had going.

As Tel wandered up the steps to the mansion's front door, I took Lilac aside to ask her some questions.

"Lilac dear, why exactly are we here?"

"To find out about the disappearances, of course." She scoffed. Not the answer I was hoping for.

"No, I mean why do we care?" I gave her a bemused frown.

"These are people's lives, Aiden. How can you not care?" She took a step back away from me, apparently offended by my lack of empathy, which I guess I understand.

"I just worry that you're involving yourself unnecessarily." I touched her on the shoulder and gave her a concerned smile, trying to do damage control. "This could be very dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt." I closed the distance between us and took her hand. I saw her blush a little bit.

"Aiden, there are more important things then our own lives." Lilac smiled confidently. I wasn't used to seeing anyone be so openly altruistic, and it really seemed like helping these people, people who she didn't even know, was important to her.

"Alright." I sighed. "If it's that important to you, then it's important to me." I smiled back at her, caressing her hand.

"Thank you, Aiden." She gently took back her hand and did a small bow before beginning to walk away. After taking a few steps she stopped and turned back toward me. "And if you're really worried about me getting hurt, then protect me." She gave me a glowing smile and practically danced up the stone steps to where Tel was waiting for us.

I was left standing there, thinking about what she said. She wanted me to _protect_her. I just didn't know what to say to that, that's not a position I'd ever been in before. Part of me lit up inside at the prospect of it though, as if protecting her had always been my purpose and I just hadn't realized it. That sounds really stupid, I know, and I couldn't help but think that she was going to be very disappointed in my performance as a guardian.

Knocking myself out of my weird, internal monologue driven funk, I joined my travelling companions at the door of the mansion where they were waiting, Tel already having knocked.

A few short moments later, a beautiful, brown furred fox woman opened the door. She was wearing a stereotypical maid's outfit, her long, dark brown hair falling off her shoulders like... something really poetic. And more importantly, her outfit exposed her huge breasts!

"Can I help you three?" She had a beautiful, siren like voice.

I had to turn on the charm, because I was going to fuck this woman. And it was going to be much easier doing it for someone actually attractive, unlike the fat ugly pig-bitch from the bar.

"My name is Aiden, madam." I took the lady's hand and bowed graciously. "These are my companions, Lilac and Tel, and we are here to ask about the disappearances that have been happening in your beautiful city. We are very concerned." I smiled at her and looked into her beautiful brown eyes.

She seemed to be falling for it, her entrancing eyes were locked with mine and her posture became much softer and more comfortable.

"Please, come in." She did an adorable little curtsy. "And make yourselves at home."

She smiled at me as I walked in the door, and I smiled back politely of course. As she turned around to lead us into the home, I looked back to grin at Lilac and Tel. Lilac looked really unhappy for some reason and Tel was just trying to hold back laughter, he'd seen me use my charms on the ladies quite a few times already and he continued to be baffled by the fact that they always fall for it.

The lovely maid directed us to a large sitting room with a huge window that looked out onto a gorgeous, well kept up garden, with flowers of all different colors, sizes and shapes. We sat in soft, plush velvet chairs, the maid bringing us drinks as we made ourselves comfortable.

"Is that your garden, miss?" I pointed to the window.

"Yes, it is." The lady smiled sweetly. "It's my pride and joy."

"It is almost as beautiful as you are." I said smoothly, taking a nonchalant drink from my cup after speaking. The woman blushed and looked away from me. I caught Tel out of the corner of my eye, sitting in the chair next to mine and snickering while rubbing his forehead.

"My name is Piera." The maid said. I complimented her on her beautiful name, causing her to blush and look away yet again. "I'm glad to hear that other people, from out of town I mean, are as concerned about the recent disappearances as I am. The Disciples are just so busy, keeping up with the Nichts."

Caldera was unfortunate enough to be located right on the outskirts of the Ravaged Lands, so Nichts attacking the city was a regular problem for them. That's the whole reason the Disciples of Strength ran this city in the first place.

"Are there any specifics you can tell us?" Lilac asked. She sounded very agitated. "Like a pattern or something?"

"No, people seem to be targeted at random." Piera's voice was hollow, like she was trying to suppress her emotions while talking about this. Fair enough, random kidnappings will put a lot of stress on a woman's mind. "Although, I do have some suspicions, but... no, that would just be terrible."

"Please, share your suspicions with us, m'lady." I tried to comfort her with my gentle tone.

"There is a district, to the west of here, where refugees from the destroyed towns in the Ravaged Lands come." I was listening intently to every word that came out of her beautiful, luscious mouth. I assume Lilac and Tel were listening also, but I kinda forgot they were in the room. "The people there have often complained about the living situations, despite the Disciples being gracious hosts and doing the best they can to look out for all the people."

"What kind of complaints?" Lilac asked.

"It's completely ridiculous." Piera's voice was soft, but she was clearly holding back huge anger as she spoke. "They make up lies like that the Disciples live in luxury while the refugees starve, which is simply untrue, or that the Disciples discriminate against them, suspecting them more often of criminal activity or refusing to let them become Disciples themselves."

Those weren't lies, at least not back when I lived in Caldera. The Disciples of Strength were ruthless, they barely cared about the concerns of Caldera's ordinary citizens, much less the refugees, who most of the Disciples begrudged having to take care of in the first place.

I narrowed my eyes and leaned back in my chair. Piera had clearly been fed lies by the Disciples, which wasn't uncommon in any of the major cities. The Disciples ran the governments, so they controlled the information that citizens had access to. And hey, it was good news for me; if Piera was being brainwashed by propaganda it means she was easily susceptible to suggestion. Wow actually, even I think that sounds awful.

"What have the Disciples done to respond to these complaints?" Lilac sure asked a lot of questions.

"They have mostly ignored these claims." Piera's anger showed on her face, her beautiful smile replaced by a most unattractive frown. "As well they should, the claims are complete nonsense!"

"I see." Lilac said. "We're going to ask some questions around the city, and then we'll head to the refugee district. We'll let you know if we find anything."

Lilac stood up, motioning for Tel to join her. I still sat, mesmerized by Piera's amazing chest until Lilac snapped her fingers in front of my face. I stood up and followed her outside.

"I pray you succeed." Piera said to us as we exited the mansion. I turned back and clasped her soft, delicate hand.

"We will find who's responsible and bring them to justice, I promise." I gave her hand a tender kiss and was on my way, looking back briefly to see her swooning smile, which made me chuckle.

Aiden: twenty-three. All the women in the world: zero.

"Geez Aiden." Lilac groaned, stopping beside a large hedge behind the mansion's front gate and turning around to glare at me. "Could your eyes have been any more glued to that woman's breasts?"

"They were quite nice." Tel happily chirped in.

"Not the point!" Lilac pointed at Tel, putting her finger almost up to his nose. Tel wisely backed away.

"Why are you complaining exactly?" I asked, putting my hand on her shoulder. "She may have a fantastic chest, but she doesn't have your pretty smile, or your delicate hands or your sweetness and generosity." As I spoke I gently stroked the side of her face, her hair and her shoulder.

"Are you seriously trying to come on to me right now?" Lilac pushed me away, giving me an ice cold stare.

"All I'm saying is that you are way more beautiful than she is." I smiled, trying to charm her.

"I'll bet you'd say that to her too." Lilac said mockingly.

"That's true, Aiden." Tel stepped up next to Lilac and nodded. "I've seen you do that."

"Thank you Tel, for your generous contribution." I glowered at him, causing him to slink away again. "Lilac dear, I'm being genuine. I'd choose you over that woman in a heartbeat if you asked me to." I actually wasn't clear why she was getting upset, but I wanted to woo her back to my side.

Without saying another word, Lilac put her hands on my shoulders and pressed her body against mine, brushing hair out from in front of my face and tracing a line on my cheek with her finger. She looked as if she were about to speak but then just smiled at me, and for once it was _me_who was blushing. Then she walked off, her stride showing off confidence and feistiness and leaving me completely dumbstruck by the whole thing, my mouth open embarrassingly wide.

After she was a safe distance away, Tel came up next to me and smirked.

"Someone has a crush." He whispered at me, his grin showing his sadistic amusement at my uncomfortableness.

"Shut up." I pushed him aside as I went to follow Lilac.

Ok fine. All the women in the world: one. Maybe.

-ELIN-

We had finally arrived in Caldera, sometime in the late afternoon. The sun was starting to set and the sky was turning pink. I hopped out of the cart, Phenix helping me get down to the ground, and jumped slightly when I felt the cold stone pavement of the city under my feet.

"Carry me!" I yelled as I jumped on Phenix's back. He let out a strangled yelp and shot me a bemused glare, but I just smiled as sweet as I could back at him. After a moment he gave a defeated sigh and kept walking, carrying me like I asked. North chuckled at this, provoking an annoyed scowl from Phenix.

When we reached the town gate, we were met by a small pink Fionbri fox.

"Well Phenix, aren't you being a dear?" The fox said wryly. Hearing her deep feminine voice startled me, I didn't expect her to be able to talk! I looked around for a sec to see if anyone else seemed to notice, but there was practically no one around, most of the townsfolk decidedly preferring to actually be in the city for some reason instead of hanging around the city gate. How strange, right?

"Phenix, who's that?" I pointed down at the fox.

"That's our guide, Vatra." North answered, kneeling down to pat her on the head.

"Who's your friend, Phenix?" Vatra asked, nuzzling North's hand as he pet her.

"This is Elin. She's part of our pack now." Phenix put his hand on my arm, which made me smile.

"Pack?" Vatra tilted her head. "Hm, interesting." She grinned, looking up at me and analyzing me with her gaze. She was a curious one alright, very cold it seemed but I could tell she was really friendly and loving under the surface, a theory that was supported by her pink and light blue fur.

"Well anyway..." Vatra stretched her paws and yawned. "Do the three of you mind waiting around town here for a short while? I still have some business I need to attend to here."

"When you say 'a short while' do you actually mean 'like a week and a half'?" Phenix griped. He clearly was not too fond of the fox.

"No, I mean about a couple of hours, maybe?" Vatra smiled sweetly. "I promise I won't be long." She was quite kind but it was obvious she was the boss of this group and she knew it.

"I think we'll be alright, Vatra." North stood up, walking up to Phenix and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Right, Phenix?"

"Sure." Phenix sighed. "Do you have any objections Elin?" I shook my head. I was just happy to be part of the group and was perfectly content to go along with whatever everyone else decided. "I'd rather get on with our vaguely define mission though."

"Mission?" Vatra tilted her head again, grinning not unlike the Cheshire Cat. "Who said anything about a mission?"

"I thought that was why you dragged us away from our homes, Vatra." Phenix growled, his shoulders tensing up. I figured that would be good time to hop off of him and take a few steps back.

"No, I was just bored and figured I'd have some fun with random strangers." Her words and her smile made Phenix incredibly irritated, I didn't have any clue what was going on and North honestly didn't seem all that interested, just standing back behind Phenix and quietly laughing to himself.

"Are you f-"

"Calm down, Phenix." Vatra raised a paw and cut off what I'm sure was about to be a perfectly lovely tirade. "I'm just teasing you." Phenix let out a growly, frustrated sigh. He was not amused. "Our mission will be less vaguely defined once we reach our final destination, but as I said I have a few things to take care of in this city first. Just have a little faith in me, okay?" She smiled serenely, making me more calm at least and Phenix seemed to simmer down a little bit too, albeit begrudgingly.

"Alright." Phenix sighed. "What should we do in the mean time?"

"Caldera is one of the biggest cities in the Humanitas Republic, Phenix." Vatra said. "I'm sure you'll all find something here that will pique your interests." She smirked. "Now if there are no further objections, I will be on my way." Nobody seemed to have anything else to say, North staying quiet like he had been the whole time and Phenix, perhaps wisely, deciding to keep his mouth shut. "Then I will see you all later. And Elin, I hope to get better acquainted with you next time we meet, okay?" She looked right at me and smiled, I could see a lot of gentleness in her eyes.

"Okay, that sounds good!" I said cheerfully, waving goodbye. "I'll be looking forward to it!" I always liked making new friends!

Vatra chuckled and closed her eyes, a bright pink circle of light appearing on the ground around her as before she was enveloped in a burst of pink flame and disappeared. I was a little shocked at first but North and Phenix didn't even so much as bat an eyelash so I figured it was okay.

"So what are we going to do for now?" Phenix sat down on a barrel of what I think were pickles, but I could be wrong, and rubbed his shoulder.

"I'm going to try and find a place to drink." North contemplated for a moment. "One that doesn't smell like piss and vomit."

"Is that really a big problem?" Phenix seemed really tired, all slouched over with his arms resting on his knees. He didn't even look up at North while he talked. "Finding somewhere I mean. I understand why you wouldn't want to be in a place that smells shitty."

"You would be surprised how many people don't take care of their places of business." North sighed, his arms crossed in severe disappoint!

"How about you, Elin?" Phenix yawned, stretching his arms above his head.

"I'm gonna climb up on rooftops and jump around on top of 'em like a ninja!" I said excitedly, a big smile on my face.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Phenix tilted his head quizzically, North giving me a puzzled expression too.

"Nope! Not with my catlike reflexes!" I batted a paw at them and grinned, North chuckled. Phenix let it go, but I could tell he was still concerned. I think he was just being a big worrying worrypuss!

"Well I guess I'm going to see if I can find a decent bookstore then." Phenix stood up from his barrel and smiled. Ooh, it wasn't pickles, it was cheap wine, I could tell from the smell.

"Good luck, Phenix." North said.

"Why do you say that?" Phenix's ear twitched.

"Yeah, reading is cool and awesome! Everyone should do it!" I batted my paw again, I felt like it was starting to become a tic.

"Caldera is run by the Disciples of Strength." North exposited. "While you may be able to find _something_of interest, it's not going to have a large collection of knowledge like you might be used to from Gnosis, or like you'd find in a place like Maorhen, which is run by the Disciples of Reason."

"That's ok." Phenix shrugged, smiling. "I only need to find something to hold me over for a few hours. Besides, finding a good book is half the fun of a bookstore for me, it's like a treasure hunt."

Phenix's adorable optimism was appreciated by North and me, North nodding his approval and me giving a tiny standing ovation. And I was definitely tempted by the prospect of a treasure hunt, but I was in more of a ninja mood than pirate at the moment.

"Well then have fun, my friend." North patted Phenix on the shoulder, Phenix reciprocating by bowing his head. "You too, Elin." North gave me a salute, and I responded in kind, before he ventured off in search of a nice smelling bar.

"See ya, Phenix!" I waved goodbye and headed on my way too.

"Just be safe!" Phenix yelled to me as I ran off, I raised my hand to acknowledge him, but his concern was completely unwarranted.

How much trouble could I get into on my own anyway?

-AUGUST-

The city of Balmora looked gorgeous, bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun. Its large buildings towered over those in Dalo, making me feel very small and out of place in the unfamiliar city.

Noble had nudged me awake, letting me know that we had arrived. It took a few moments for me to fully awaken but I didn't feel all that tired by the time I was on my feet.

Noble and I stood outside a garage that was built to contain off-duty and travelling carts, Grayson handling the process of getting the cart put away and the horses taken care of, with Sylvia's assistance.

"I'm going to see Scarlet. Now." I didn't want Noble to interfere with my only chance in two years to see my beloved sister. "What are you going to do?"

"I take it you wish for me not to follow you?" Noble asked, I just glared in response, he understood what I was saying. "That's fine, I wasn't going to anyway. Although now that you've been so rude, maybe I should..."

Noble grinned at me, I continued glaring.

"Anyway," he continued, disgruntled by my harshness "I was going to catch up with my old friends here." He motioned toward Grayson and Sylvia who were coming out of the garage. "I haven't seen them in too long."

"I know the feeling." I let out a heavy sigh.

"I will see you at dusk at the Atlantis Inn." Noble said. "If you can't find it on your own, I'm sure your sister can direct you."

I nodded in response, but didn't say another word as I was off to visit my sister's place of work.

As I ran through the streets of Balmora, pushing slow moving and irritated pedestrians out of my way whenever necessary, I thought about what my sister might be like since I last saw her, a lot can change in two years.

My thoughts were interrupted by a head on collision with a blue-furred stranger, knocking both of us to the ground.

"Ugh, sorry 'bout that." The blue stranger said as he got back on his feet. "Y'arright, man?" He held his hand out to me.

I groaned as I got back up, refusing his help. Not out of malice or ill will mind you, but I couldn't stand to be touched by anyone even more than I couldn't stand talking to them. Okay, maybe not that much.

"Fine." I murmured and tried to be on my way, walking past him.

"Where y'headed in such a hurry?" He started following me.

"Could ask you the same thing." I was getting severely aggravated, lowering my head and tensing up my shoulders.

"Well me, I'm not really headed anywhere." I stopped and looked back to see him giving a satisfied grin. "I just like to run."

The man's body language spoke volumes about him, he had a very devil may care attitude, not really bothered much by trivial obstacles or petty annoyances and the like.

Once I had seen more than just a glimpse of him, I could tell he was also a Fionbri, and his blue colors told me much about him as well. He was calm and collected, although my own Fionbri intuition told me there was some sort of darkness in him, I could almost see it, an intangible, faint dark red aura surrounding him. But I could also tell that he was unaware of whatever that energy was, it was not part of him but rather something that had latched on. I was very familiar with that sort of aura, I felt something similar on myself from time to time.

"Y'arright, man?" He was starting to give me an odd look, arching his eyebrow and looking at me quizzically. I suddenly realized that I had been staring at him for a few moments. "I know, y'can't take yer eyes off all this." He made a 'presenting' motion toward himself with his hands, smirking like a jackass.

"What's your name?" It was difficult for me to speak clearly and also ignore the man's comments, but I managed. I didn't really want to talk to this person, but something about him was special. He was... important somehow. I didn't have to like it, of course.

"Kavik." He gave me a thumb's up. "What's yers?"

"August." I pulled out and lit a cigarette to ease my growing anxiety.

"Damn, that's pretty badass." Kavik's tone was rather amused and he always seemed to have a smile on his face. I suppose it beat my permanent scowl, maybe he wouldn't be quite such a pain in my ass after all. "So where y'headed? Maybe I can help."

"I'm looking for..." I paused and took in a deep breath. I absolutely hated saying the name of the place. "The Horndog." I almost shuddered out of physical pain as those accursed words left my lips.

"Ah, yer that kinda guy, huh?" He crossed his arms and grinned at me, much to my bemusement.

"No. I am not." I said, exhaling smoke.

"Hey man, I'm not gonna judge." He was clearly enjoying teasing me far too much.

"My sister works there." I paused for a moment. "Much to my chagrin."

"Yeah, I can get behind that." He sighed, it was the first time I hadn't seen a ridiculous smile on his face, and that made me smile a little. "If my sister worked at a place like that, I'd be pissed."

"Right, well. I'll be going now." I turned around to leave but part of me, for some ungodly reason, didn't want to lose this man but I shrugged it off and went on my way.

As I was walking toward... that place I realized I didn't even really know why I told where I was going. I already knew exactly where it was, I'd been there many times before. For my sister I mean! Not for... wait, saying I was there for my sister actually makes it sound worse.

I stopped after a moment, a suspicion entering my brain space. I took a deep breath from my cigarette before turning around, confirming said suspicion. Kavik was following me.

"Do you have business at... that place?" I glared at him.

"Na, not really." He shrugged. "I'm just bored, figured I'd follow you."

"I'd rather you didn't." I took a deep breath and sighed, again releasing smoke from my mouth.

He simply shrugged again and as I resumed walking to my destination he continued to follow me.

"Stop following me." My anger was starting to rise.

"I'm not following you." His tone was drenched in sarcastic 'wit'. "I just have business at the Horndog."

I slapped my forehead and I could hear his muffled laughter behind me. I admit I definitely walked into that and I realized there was no getting rid of this guy at this point, I sure as hell wasn't about to outrun someone who ran for fun.

I simply continued on, Kavik following along all the while, begrudgingly accepting my vexing fate.

-NORTH-

It was not hard to find a place to drink in Caldera. It was however, difficult to find one that did not smell of rancid odor or bodily fluids.

I decided to just find someone in the city and ask if they knew a decent, sanitary pub. I sat on a bench outside the last rundown bar I had been in, scanning the crowd. The streets, even the town square, were not as busy as they had been when we arrived, most folks would like to be in their homes before the sun set, it seemed.

As I watched the few people left going about their business, my eye was drawn to a young man, a light blue, white and orange Fionbri. It was nice to see another familiar face. Even if I didn't know the boy personally I felt a sense of innate kinship among other Fionbri.

"Excuse me, sir!" I called out for him and waved my hand, gaining his attention.

"Yes sir?" As he drew closer I examined his features more carefully. He was very cute, vaguely feminine looking but not so much that his gender could be confused. He smelled like mint, cream and peaches, a very refreshing smell after some of the places I'd been in today. "It's nice to see a fellow Fionbri, how can I help?" He smiled and shook my hand.

"I'm looking for a place to drink that doesn't smell like piss." I considered for a moment whether or not I should have used that word in front of a stranger, but it was a fitting word for some of the aforementioned pubs. "Can you help me?"

"I'm afraid not, sir." The boy's ears drooped and he frowned disappointedly. "I'm not from around here."

"Ah, I understand." I patted the boy on the shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry about it then."

"My name is Tel, what's yours?" The boy cheered up quickly, and his ears perked up to show his enthusiasm.

"North." I took his hand and bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Tel."

"Are you hitting on me?" Tel smirked devilishly.

I let go of his hand and backed up, blushing.

"N-no, I'm not hitting on you!" I would never be so crass as to 'hit' on someone, but it's difficult to explain one's quirks or morals to someone you've just met.

"Ah, that's too bad." He chuckled, I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. "I always see my friend Aiden take girls by the hand when he's hitting on them."

"Well I'm sorry if it came off as such." I bowed. "I didn't mean for it to."

"You're very serious. You should lighten up a bit!" He smiled and batted his hand my way, it was a very cute gesture. "And hey, if you had been trying to flirt with me, I'd honestly be a little flattered."

"I see." I coyly smiled at the boy's charm, he reminded me a little of one of my younger brothers at home.

Tel looked as if he were about to say something else before a man's voice broke out of the dwindling crowd and distracted him.

"Hey Tel!"

As the man got closer, I could see he was also a Fionbri, with orange and white colors and a curly, fluffy tail, rather unusual for our species.

"Tel, let's go, we have a lead." He said as he grabbed Tel's arm.

"Uh, alright." Tel said, being dragged off by the man. "I'll see you around sometime, I hope!"

He waved to me as he disappeared into the distance.

"I hope so too!" I yelled and waved back.

I smiled, he seemed like a really nice kid. It wasn't often that you met kind strangers in foreign cities. At least that had been my experience. I really did hope to see him again.

Oh well, I thought. Time to resume my epic quest to find a decent mug of brandy that doesn't smell like someone's colon!

-AUGUST-

"So what's yer sister like, is she hot?"

As we drew closer to Scarlet's workplace, Kavik began to ask me questions about her. I ignored them mostly, although that last one got on my nerves and it showed in my twitching ears and sudden halt.

"I'm kiddin' man." Kavik said. "Just tryin' to make fun, is all. Don't take anything I say too seriously."

"Just out of curiosity..." I turned around to face him. "Why are you following me?"

"Dunno." He shrugged. "Don't have anywhere else t'be, and I kinda like ya."

"So you ignore my protests for you to leave me alone." I stated dryly, sticking my tongue out.

"Yup, that's about the size of it." Kavik grinned widely with his eyes closed.

I let out a sigh but couldn't help smiling despite myself. I didn't really want to admit it, but I kind of liked him too.

Not long after that we reached the place where Scarlet worked. As I drew nearer to the place, I saw her standing outside by the door and froze in my tracks, my heart skipping a beat. It had been two years since I'd seen her and I wasn't sure how I wanted to approach.

That question was rendered moot when she saw me. She did a quick double take but then ran toward me. I thought for a moment that I might want to get myself out of the way, but that possibility too was quickly dashed as she tackled me to the ground, wrapping her arms around me.

"Long time no see, brother." She said as she had me pinned on the ground. Her voice was just as beautiful as ever, as were her mesmerizing orange eyes and her long white hair.

She was a Fionbri like me, her face and hair mostly white with some red, her markings orange and her body mostly red, with the exception of the white V shaped pattern on her belly. She wore a rather... provocative let's say, outfit, a cleavage and midriff exposing red shirt and tight gray jeans with holes in the knees. She also wore cute, silver earrings, simple yet elegant.

"I-I... I'm happy to see you." My heart was racing like it was trying to run a marathon, I felt like I was inside a goddamn volcano and I barely managed to form sentences.

"Happy to see you too, little brother." She winked at me and kissed me on the cheek before standing up, reaching out her hand to help me off the ground. Funny, second time today I'd been knocked down by another Fionbri.

I took her hand, it was very warm and her fur was soft and delicate to the touch. I wanted to hug her, to hold her, to just be with her after so much time spent apart. And reading that back to myself, it sounds really bad when I'm talking about my sister.

"Hi!" Kavik stepped between the two of us, much to my irritation. "I'm Kavik!" He held out his hand, Scarlet taking it and shaking it faintly.

"I'm Scarlet." She stepped closer to Kavik and smiled at him. "It's nice to meet you." She put one hand on his shoulder and gently stroked the side of his face with the other.

"Sorry hon, I'm gay." Kavik smiled.

"Really?" Scarlet's ears drooped and she wore a frustrated scowl. Kavik nodded silently. "Well that's no fun." Scarlet stepped away from him, putting her hands on her sides and pouting.

"Na, I'm kidding." Kavik slouched forward, his hands in his coat pockets, and chuckled. "I just wanted to see yer reaction to that." Kavik started laughing more loudly.

Kavik had a somewhat wheezy laugh, but one that resonated with joy. He obviously took pleasure in pushing peoples' buttons, or seeing where their buttons were, but there really was no ill intent behind his actions. Scarlet must have picked up on that as well because she joined him in his laughter, and hearing her laugh made me smile brighter than I had in months.

"Auggy, I like your new friend!" Scarlet gave Kavik an enthusiastic pat on the shoulder as she walked past him to get to me, kissing me on the cheek which caused the skin under my fur to visibly flush bright red.

"Auggy?" Kavik snickered. I responded by simply shoving him away from Scarlet and me.

"So how long you in town, little brother?" Scarlet briefly pet my head as she spoke, causing me to recoil.

"I'm not sure." I said, putting a small bit of distance between us. "I'm travelling with someone right now, and it's his call when we leave.".

"Come on, Auggy." Scarlet scoffed and I heard Kavik snicker again. "You're letting people boss you around now? I thought you left dad to avoid just that."

"It's not like that." I growled. I didn't appreciate her bringing up her idiot father. "I'm on this journey because I chose to be. There's something out there for me, and I'm going to find out what it is and claim it."

"And the guy? Who's calling the shots?" Her glare was like ice.

"His name is Noble. He's..." I thought about it for a moment, I didn't like using this word lightly, but it did apply in this case. "He's my friend."

Scarlet's eyes widened for a moment before she beamed with a beautiful, charming smile.

"Aww, you do have friends now!" She jumped toward me and put her arms around me.

"Friend." I held up my index finger. "Just one."

"What about me?" Kavik said, suddenly appearing uncomfortably close behind me.

"Or me, for that matter?" Scarlet put on her pout face again, which meant I had to do damage control.

"Of course you're my friend, Scarlet." I discretely stomped on Kavik's foot, causing him to limp away. "I just meant new friends."

"Well what about this guy?" She pointed at Kavik, who put on his best charmer smile and acted like his foot wasn't hurt at all. He wasn't a very good actor.

"I barely know this guy." I shot him a vexed glare, he didn't seem too fazed.

"Well I like him." She walked away from me and put her arm around his shoulder, he responded in kind with a thumb's up and his trademark obnoxious grin.

"Lovely." I stepped between them and pushed Kavik out of the way. "Look Scarlet, I was hoping I could talk to you one-on-one while I was here."

"Oh yeah, sure." She batted her cute little paw at me. "Just tell me what inn you're staying at, we can be roomies again!"

The thought of rooming with my sister overwhelmed me for a moment, I thought back to when we were kids and we would sleep in the same room. Or the same bed. I'm not sure doing the same as adults, or teenager in my case, would be a very good idea.

"The Atlantis." I sighed. Despite the red flag in my head, I just couldn't resist her pretty smile and I really did want to spend as much time with her as possible while I was here.

"Great! I know exactly where that is!" She took me by the hand and my face turned red again. "And you!" She pointed at Kavik, who gave a salute to signify he was paying attention. "You can come too! But you have to sleep in a different room."

Kavik raised both his arms in the air and put on an excited face, I couldn't tell if it was genuine or not.

"So, any business before we turn in for the night?" Scarlet said, pressing her warm body up against me and still holding on to my hand with her gentle, tender paw.

"Um, w-what?" I wheezed out.

"I figured why waste time?" Scarlet smirked at me with an eager gleam in her eye. "Am I right?"

"I, I guess so." I stammered.

"Good then! We're off!" Scarlet proceeded to run excitedly at top speed for the inn, dragging me along with her and Kavik following closely behind.

-ELIN-

I was looking around the streets of Caldera for a way to climb onto one of the bunch of rooftops around. I was slightly miffed to learn there weren't any ladders that I could use to just get up there quick like. Or stairs! Building stairs that lead straight to the roofs would've been super considerate of them.

Anyhoo, I finally managed to scale my way up the wall of this weird bar with my super cool cat claws, making it all the way to the rooftop. There was a really tall chimney on top and I decided to look down it.

I couldn't see very far down, it was dark and kinda spooky. I decided to try and get a better look, so I climbed on top of the chimney, my legs digging in to the side of it and my arms on top. Still no luck! Well there was no way this chimney was going to get the best of me, I thought! I climbed all the way up on top of it and dug my hind claws into the top, sticking my head and upper body inside the chimney itself! I am such a genius, I thought!

And then the brick my legs were on fell off into the chimney.

Crap.

I didn't have much time to react, but my amazing catlike reflexes saved my life. I fell to the bottom of the chimney, scraping on the inside bricks trying to get a hold on something. I may not have been able to hang on to anything, but it slowed my fall just enough so that when I fell on my butt, I only hurt my tailbone really bad.

"Sorry everyone!" I rubbed my sore rear as I got out of the chimney, I didn't realize until after I'd spoken that the bar was completely empty.

Heck, the windows had wood over them and everything! The place must've been closed down. How sad.

Well, I thought, since no one is using this place, I may as well look around. I smiled deviously to myself, putting my fingers together for a great evil genius pose. It's really too bad nobody saw it, cuz I looked super menacing.

I looked around, my keen nose sense sniffing every nook and cranny. It didn't smell like any kind of alcohol at all, more like a really high-end bookstore and cleaning solution. Despite it being closed down, the place was in really good shape still and seemed to have had a lot of work put into its finishes. The walls, the bar and the furniture were all still in tip-top shape and really solidly built.

I sighed as I realized there really wasn't anything interesting in the old building though. I figured I may as well just leave, and went to do exactly that but the door was stuck! I pulled and pushed, I even hit it with furniture! It refused to budge!

I was displeased! I stood there, staring the door down like it was my arch-nemesis. After I stubbed my toe kicking the knob, I decided to just say "Screw you, door!" and leave it alone.

I figured I could just climb my way back up the chimney, although I didn't like the thought of something breaking on me again. Or falling on me. Or me losing my grip.

I shuddered at the thought of climbing up the damned thing. I walked toward it and just stared for a moment, before realizing there was something amiss!

I do believe there is skullduggery afoot, I think!

A brick in the chimney floor was discolored and slightly out of place, like it didn't quite belong in this chimney at all. I thought at first that I just dislodged it because I hit it with my butt, but when I looked closer I realized that underneath the chimney... was a secret door! GASP!

I moved to take a closer look. I moved the stupid, lecherous brick out of the way. There was a really warm air coming from the secret pathway. And really, how could I, or anyone for that matter, resist looking into a secret pathway! Impossible!

I moved a few bricks out of the way and started climbing down the tunnel. It looked like the path led underground, and the entrance was uncomfortably vertical. I watched my step as I slowly and carefully climbed down the dirt wall.

Of course I slipped and fell, but at least this time I was only a few inches off the ground by that point.

As I rubbed my poor, abused tailbone I ventured further through the dirt tunnel, a strange orange light illuminating my path and weird voices speaking gibberish coming from the far end. The place smelled completely horrid, I had to hold my nose the further I explored. I couldn't place what exactly the stench was, but it was familiar, I'd smelled it before but it must've been one of those memories that I pushed down into the deepest, darkest parts of my brain so that I don't remember it and start weeping uncontrollably.

As I reached the end of the tunnel, I stood before a nice wooden door with a small barred window in it and looked through to the other side.

I... I'm not sure how to explain what I saw. I'll never be able to forget as long as I live, but I can't recall those images precisely without feeling like they're going to come right out of my brain and devour me alive.

Just like the poor woman on that altar.

That... thing, a monster, ripped its way out of her fucking stomach. There was blood and bile everywhere, and the screaming. Oh God, the screams. They were the most shrill, piercing wails I'd ever heard in my life, I felt like I was being ripped apart just hearing them. I can't even begin to imagine how much pain... that poor woman...

There were men, and maybe women too, they wore masks and robes, I couldn't see any of them clearly. But there was one big man who wore a gold mask, the others all wore silver I. They just stood around and watched as the grotesque act played out in front of them, I think some of them fucking cheered for that woman's demise.

No... it wasn't the violence they cheered for, although I believe the spectacle was a highly appreciated part of the ritual, it was what they had accomplished. They summoned that monster. They summoned a Nichts.

They continued to cheer as the newly created monstrosity looked around itself, its long twisted limbs making unnatural 'clicking' noises as it moved around. The demon quickly decided to devour the corpse of the woman it had just killed. The sounds of its gnashing teeth tearing flesh and crunching on bone... I couldn't stand it.

I audibly vomited on the ground, drawing the attention of all the men inside the room.

CRAP.

I tried to run back to the chimney, but they caught me before I could climb up the tunnel. One man threw me to the ground as three others kicked and stomped on me. A man lifted me up off the ground and pushed me into the wall, thrusting his elbow into my throat.

I blacked out pretty soon after.

-AIDEN-

The refugee district of Caldera was less of a 'district' and more its own village that branched off from the city. The houses and occasional shop were made from wood, with thatched roofs, a far cry from the gorgeous stone architecture of the city proper.

After talking with a few of the refugees, we gathered that the Disciples of Strength acted like a monarchy over the village, dictating certain times when they could or could not leave the boundaries, or sometimes even their own homes.

Darkness was beginning to fall as we made our way through the village, looking for the man who acted as a leader for the people who lived there, or 'the chieftain' as he was affectionately called by his followers.

We walked up onto a wooden deck in front of the large house, which was a good deal bigger than any of the other buildings in the town which raised a red flag with me. Lilac knocked on the large oak door of the man's home and waited for a response.

She had thought that he may be behind the disappearances, kidnapping the people of the city as a sort of revenge for his people's poor living conditions; an idea with a low probability due to the fact that there had been refugees mysteriously vanishing as well, but I had a hunch she was probably right regardless.

Lilac knocked again, receiving no more answer than her first attempt.

She sighed angrily as she realized we probably weren't going to be able to talk to the man. Her idea of why he was kidnapping people may or may not have been wrong, but either way he was still a suspect, and more importantly, we ran out of alternative ideas.

"Maybe he's not home?" Tel suggested, standing off to the side and leaning against the deck's railing.

"Looks like." Lilac grumbled, agitatedly ruffling her hair. "So now what do we do now?"

"Hey! You there!" I called out to an old woman who was carrying a laundry basket back to her home and hopped off the deck to stand in front of her.

"Yes sir?" She replied.

"Is the chief home?" I asked, giving her my charmer smile. Let's get this over with as fast as possible, I thought.

"No sir. He's away on business." She said, smiling back at me, no doubt enamored by me already.

"Right, of course he is." Lilac sighed in irritation.

"What kind of business?" I asked the woman, ignoring my pretty friend.

"Don't know." She shrugged. "He does this sometimes, goes away for a while, but he always comes back, don't you worry." She gave a cheerful smile and was on her way.

"Suspicious?" I grinned slyly at Lilac after the woman had left.

"Definitely." Lilac scowled in return. She was very serious about these kidnappings, very intense. It really didn't suit her, she was much more beautiful with a smile on her face.

"So what do we do?" Tel asked, folding his arms on the railing and resting his head on them.

"We break into his house of course." I put on a sinister smirk.

"That's a terrible idea, Aiden." Lilac sighed, giving me a tired and frustrated look.

"Maybe, but I don't trust this guy." I stepped back up onto the deck and put my hand on the door to get a feel for what it was made of.

"How can you not trust him, Aiden?" Tel asked. "We haven't even ever met him."

"True, but anyone who can do magic is suspicious in my book." As I spoke, I touched the walls of the house with my palms, moving my hands around on the cold wood and hoping desperately not to get a splinter.

"What makes you so sure he can do magic?" Lilac asked, standing behind me.

"Look around." I didn't look back at her, still focusing on the house. "This house is the only one that's not uniform, and more importantly, tiny."

"I suppose you're right." Lilac said, looking around like I asked. "But how does that equal magic exactly?"

"Given the Disciples' less than helpful attitude toward the people in this district," I explained "I'm guessing they didn't put what basically amounts to a mansion, at least in comparison to the homes around it, in the goddamn refugee district."

"I suppose you're right." Lilac sighed. "So he made it himself, is what you're saying?"

"He must have at least built additions to it." I turned back toward Lilac, and Tel who walked up to stand next to her, my frisking of the home finally complete. "And thanks to the Nichts functionally destroying to thirds of our continent, there's a sharp lack of good building materials, so no one can build practically anything anymore without using magic."

"I see what you mean, I think." Lilac said, crossing her arms. "But how did he manage to build this huge home without the Disciples noticing?"

"Maybe he pays them off." Tel suggested, his tone suggesting the idea just popped into his head.

"Like with money?" Lilac tilted her head. "How could he get enough money to pay off the Disciples, who run this whole damn city, from here? And why would they even need to take his money?"

"I didn't say he paid them with money." Tel replied.

Lilac just looked at him confusedly but I caught on to what he meant.

"He pays them off with people!" I exclaimed, pointing at Tel who nodded back at me.

"What?!" Lilac took a step back and shook her head apprehensively. "That's awful! And besides, what would the Disciples even do with those people?!"

"New recruits, menial labor, punching bags, the list goes on." I shrugged. "Doesn't matter 'why', we just need to stop him, right?"

"I guess if that's true, but we don't know that it is." Lilac started messing with her hair again, a tic she did when she started getting incredibly anxious. "All we have is a theory!"

"True." I nodded seriously before shooting her a wicked grin. "But I guess we'll find out when we break into his home."

"Again Aiden, you can't do that." She gave me a stern look and stepped in front of me.

"No, you can't do that." I smiled at her before turning around and grabbing a small jagged piece of rock out of my pocket, carving into the door with it.

"What are you doing, Aiden?" Lilac grabbed my shoulder. I looked back at her but didn't try to remove my rock from the door. "What if this guy had nothing to do with this? Then we just broke into some guy's house, some guy who, might I add, has a lot of clout among these people."

"But what if he is responsible?" I shrugged Lilac's hand off and continued carving into the door. "If so, then we'd be idiots _not_to break into his house. And if he's not, then he should be happy to help us stop this threat to his people, even if it means inconveniencing him a little."

"I really don't think we should be doing this, Aiden." Lilac whined. She then grumbled and stamped her foot on the wooden deck when I ignored her. "Tel, what do you think?"

"Well, do we think this chieftain guy is really the culprit?" Tel asked. I stopped what I was doing to hear his two cents, if I was outvoted than I really didn't have a leg to stand on here. "If so, shouldn't we do whatever it takes to stop him?"

"What, you mean just take the law into our own hands?" Lilac griped, her hands falling limply to her sides. "That's not the right thing to do!"

"You just say that because you were raised by the Disciples." I stuck my tongue out at Lilac.

"No, I say that because I am a law abiding person." She growled, glaring back at me.

"Duly noted." I shrugged before placing my hand back on the door, causing the symbols I carved on it to glow.

My magic made a large portion of the door simply disappear, leaving a big enough hole for the three of us to fit through.

"Ladies first?" I grinned at Lilac who looked less than amused.

"Aiden, what was all that stuff you said about not trusting people who know magic?" Tel said mockingly.

"Well I meant besides me, obviously." I actually didn't, but they didn't need to know that.

"Oh, well that's good to hear." Lilac growled. She walked a few steps away, almost off the deck, all the while looking like she was trying to pull her own hair out "I'm not going in there, Aiden. I'm not breaking into that man's home."

"Fine, then you can wait here." I replied. A bit cold in retrospect, but I didn't have much patience for people getting in the way of things. "How about you, Tel?"

"I'll go in there with you." Tel smiled and hopped up beside me. "I have a bad feeling about this guy."

"Are you sure you'll be alright here by yourself, Lilac?" I walked toward her but she deliberately kept me at a distance.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She sat down on the deck's wooden steps. "As long as I don't get seen next to this huge hole in the wall, I guess."

"I don't think you will." I looked around at the eerily empty town. "People in this place are supposed to be in bed now under the Disciples' orders. That lady with the laundry was probably the very last person to be wandering around here tonight, unless there are other visitors in town but what are the odds of that being the case?" I smiled and bent down to touch Lilac's shoulder. She still didn't seem pleased and just brushed me off.

"Just be careful." She said under her breath, just barely loud enough for me to hear.

"You too." I replied, standing back up.

I took Tel by the wrist and we went inside the house. It was fairly nice incidentally, with several lovely statuettes decorating shelves lining the walls or sealed in glass cabinets. There was a big round table in the living room that took up a lot of space but was probably a lovely place to have meals, and the kitchen was practically spotless.

"Man, I wish I lived here." I chuckled. I was whispering because if there was anyone home, I'd rather they didn't know we were here.

"Let's just focus on finding what we came in here for." Tel replied sternly, also in a hushed tone.

"What exactly is it that we're looking for?" I looked back at him.

"What?!" Tel almost broke his whisper yelling, recoiling after he realized it and looking around to make sure nobody heard. "It was your idea to break in, and you don't even know what you thought you'd find?!"

"Well I guess I was hoping to find like, demonic pentagrams, or blood all over the walls or something." I realize in retrospect that was not a very realistic idea and tried to cover myself by smiling as genuinely as possible at Tel. It wasn't just ladies who could fall for my charms!

"Maybe Lilac was right then." Tel grumbled, flicking his fingers reflexively. "Maybe we should just get out of here and hope the Disciples don't throw our butts in jail for this."

"Tel, what does your gut say?" I put my hand firmly on his shoulder. "My instinct tells me something's not quite right with this house, or with this chieftain guy, even if his house isn't decked out with satanic imagery. What about you?"

"I..." Tel paused for a moment before answering. "I agree with you." He sighed, begrudgingly relenting.

"Then let's keep going." I gently ruffled the fur behind his ear, making it twitch and him pull back, playfully batting my hand away. Granted, when I did turn on the charm it was very difficult to turn back off.

We went further into the house, into the bedroom, scanning the walls, floors and ceilings for something, anything that might be suspicious. Luckily, I am a very suspicious person.

"How about that?" I pointed to the large bed in the center of the room.

"What about it?" Tel clearly didn't see the trap door lying underneath the bed.

"Help me move it." Without explaining, I just started pushing the bed aside.

"Sure." Tel shrugged, his tone somewhat beleaguered. He obviously realized by this point that arguing with me is pointless!

"What do you think is under there?" Tel asked after we got the bed out of the way, the trap door plain to see. His reaction to it was surprisingly low key.

"Dunno." I suddenly had a very bad feeling about being here. "Y'know, maybe we should leave it alone."

"Wait, now you think we should leave?" Tel looked at me with befuddlement.

"Yeah, I just... I have a bad feeling about this all of a sudden." There was something in my gut warning me about... something, I wasn't sure what, but I knew it wasn't good.

"I'm not happy about it either, but we can't back out now." Tel crouched near the trap door. "I'm going in."

I'm not sure where his confidence was coming from all of a sudden, but I couldn't just let him go down there by herself. Or could I? ... no, I couldn't. Damn.

"Alright." I took a deep breath, trying to center myself. "If you're sure you want to go down there."

"Oh please, Aiden." Tel scoffed. "There's nothing down there that the two of us can't handle. Trust me." He smiled optimistically up at me, slightly calming my frayed nerves.

And perhaps he's right. I'm sure there's nothing to be afraid of.

-PHENIX-

As I left the bookstore I'd been reading in, located in Caldera's rather downtrodden refugee district, I was rather dismayed to see that night had fallen without my realizing. I hadn't seen the others in about two hours and Vatra hadn't contacted me, so I headed for the cart stop to see if they were waiting for me there.

I couldn't help but notice as I exited the store however, the house that stood next to it, a house much larger than any of the others in the small village, had a huge freaking hole in the wall and I'm pretty sure that wasn't there when I walked by the house a few hours ago. Naturally, I decided to take a closer look.

I hopped onto the large wooden deck in front of the home, cautiously moving up toward the door; whatever blew this hole in it, I didn't want it to blow a hole in me too. I sniffed around instinctively and caught the scent of coconuts and almond milk, along with a flower that I wasn't familiar with. I immediately recognized the eclectic scent to be that of a Fionbri and looked around to try and find who it belonged to.

I followed my nose around to the backyard of the large house. The lawn was mostly nondescript, a flat grassy plain with no garden or even any decorations, really boring honestly. But I did see the Fionbri. She was purple and white, with green markings and wearing casual, feminine clothes. She was very pretty, in a sort of unkempt beauty kind of way.

"Excuse me, miss?" I politely beckoned her.

"Oh, um... yes?" She seemed startled by my sudden appearance, which was suspicious but I didn't want to believe a pretty young lady like herself was responsible for the break in I was investigating. Besides, I had a good instinctive feeling about her. "Can I help you?"

"May I ask what you're doing back here?" I walked closer, but not too close so as not to threaten her.

"I could ask you the same thing." She replied, nervously playing with her hair.

"I'm trying to find whoever blew a hole in this person's house." For future reference: when someone answers you with a question, don't just answer their stupid question. "Doesn't seem like the type of thing to be left unchecked." Oh well, doesn't hurt to be honest I guess.

"Wouldn't it be more productive to look inside the house then?" She tilted her head slightly and arched an eyebrow.

"Well yes, but I smelled you and... wait no, that sounds really weird, let me start over." I put my hand over my eyes and disgruntledly flicked my wrist.

"Don't worry about it." The woman chuckled. "It's hard to resist the smell of another Fionbri, right? You smell pretty nice yourself." I blushed and backed up. "What's your name by the way?"

"Phenix." I bowed.

"My name is Lilac." She returned the gesture in kind. "And as for what I'm doing here, it just so happens that I'm looking into the same thing you are. There have been a host of disappearances in this city over the last few weeks and I think the break in is probably connected."

"Can I help you in some way?" I asked. What she was doing sounded dangerous, so I couldn't just let her do it by herself.

"I guess if you want." She paused, seemingly to collect her thoughts. "Actually, can I ask you a favor?"

"Of course, miss." I put my hand over my chest, trying my best to act like a knight, I guess.

"Well, to be honest..." She started lightly pulling on her hair, a couple strands appearing to come off in her hand. "A couple of my friends went into the house about twenty minutes ago and haven't come back out. I'm worried about their safety."

"Say no more, my lady." I gave her a salute. "I'll go in there and find your friends for you." Phenix, you moron! You're doing that stupid 'white knight' shit again that women hate!

"I would like to go with you." She said.

"It might be dangerous, you should stay out here where it's safe." I raised my hand in front of me.

"I can defend myself if need be." She had an austere look in her eyes. "And I want to make sure my friends are alright."

I thought about it for a moment. I didn't want her to get hurt but I couldn't really argue with her either, especially not when she seemed so serious.

"Okay, I guess." I sighed, giving in. "Let's go together."

"Thank you, Phenix." She held her arms down in front of her and bowed, smiling. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

-NORTH-

My quest to find a decent drink was a failure. I wandered around the city for two hours with no luck. It wasn't a complete waste of time, I did enjoy walking about and admiring the city's architecture, but I was disappointed with the lack of any good pubs.

As if to mock my torment, I saw a sign hanging on a building that advertised it as a pub, but it was closed down, the windows completely boarded up. I rested my head on the window and sighed. There was a small hole on the board and I decided to indulge my curiosity and look through it. To my surprise, I saw Vatra was inside.

"Come inside, North. The door's unlocked." Her lackadaisical tone was somewhat off-putting.

I wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but she hadn't led me astray so far, I didn't believe she would start now. I walked inside the bar and was surprised by how clean it was; I expected an establishment that had been closed down to be dirty and wrecked, but the place was close to spotless and I could still smell the cleaning solution.

"What are you doing in here, Vatra?" I asked as I shut the door behind me. "What is this place?" I suppose I got what I asked for, a clean pub, but this place was more than a little suspicious.

"There's something you need to see." She motioned toward the chimney at the back of the room. I got closer to find what looked like a secret passageway, one that had seemingly remained hidden until recently.

"Why are you showing me this?" I believed I already knew the answer, but I wanted my thoughts to be confirmed.

"You need to go down there." She said, smiling, providing the confirmation I needed. "I will be watching over you, but be careful."

"Is it dangerous?" An obvious question at this point, but I was hoping she would give me a more detailed response.

"Just be safe." Apparently not.

I looked back at her for a moment, wondering why she would ask such an odd request of me, but she simply had her eyes shut and was smiling at me. As I said, she hadn't led me astray thus far so it didn't take much for me to decide to put my faith in her.

I jumped down the no-longer hidden passageway and landed in an old dirt tunnel. The air was quite warm, even warmer than inside the building above, but something wasn't quite right and I caught faint traces of bad smells, like blood and vomit.

I started walking cautiously down the tunnel, looking back for a moment to see if Vatra was following me, which she was not. It wasn't until I walked a little ways down the tunnel that something occurred to me.

If Vatra had been standing even inches to the left or right of her position when I looked at her through the window, I wouldn't have been able to see her. Why was she standing right there, did she know I would come by? She must have, but if so, how?

I shrugged it off. There were more important matters at hand.

I continued down the tunnel, following the scent of some blood as it got stronger the further I walked. I came upon a wooden door with a barred window, in surprisingly good shape considering its location underground.

As I put my hand on the knob, I could hear God speak to me. Not in a physical sense, but just a feeling in my gut, I just knew what She wanted to tell me.

Be ready. You are not prepared for what lies beyond that door, but I will be with you. So you need not fear, my beloved son.

I couldn't help but smile any time I heard her voice. After a brief pause to take a deep breath, I steeled myself and opened the door.

The room was unlike anything I expected to see underground. It was like an ancient sanctum, a manufactured room made to look as nice as possible, perhaps in even better shape than many of the buildings above ground. The bright orange walls were covered from floor to ceiling with blood stains and the stench of it was overpowering.

There were several figures in dark red robes, most wearing silver masks but the tallest figure's mask was gold. I counted seven in total, including the leader, but couldn't tell anything about their build or appearance due to their inane costumes.

There was a grand altar in the center of the room, every inch of it covered in blood. It was elevated off the ground so I couldn't see very well what was on it, but I could tell something, or someone was tied to it.

I took a few steps into the room, the cloaked figures watching me but not reacting to my presence. I didn't think there would be much use running from these people, and God would not have allowed me to come down here if She did not know I could handle whatever I faced.

As I got closer, I suddenly realized what was on top of the altar.

It was Elin.

"Elin! Can you hear me!?" I yelled, desperate to hear that she was okay.

She struggled furiously against her bonds, letting out several muffled screams through the gag in her mouth. I was relieved that she was still safe, at least relatively safe, and that the masked men did not react violently to my shouts.

I drew my sword and my eyes darted around the room at the seven men who were about to die.

The cloaked men all drew swords as well, but it did not matter, no weapon formed against me would prosper, not as long as I had the grace of God behind me.

Before any blood was shed another door, to the left of my position, opened. Coming through it were Phenix and a young woman, a purple Fionbri whom I did not recognize.

"Wh-what the hell is going on here?!" Phenix stared in horror at the grisly scene he had stumbled into.

His focus immediately gravitated to Elin's panicked muffled cries for help. He ran up the steps to the altar, two of the cloaked men brandishing their swords at him as he approached, causing him to stop in his tracks and stare down both of them. The cloaked men didn't attack him, they held their position. It seemed they didn't want a fight if it could be avoided.

Unfortunately for them, the time when a peaceful resolution could be found here had long since passed. Even for Phenix.

"Get out of my way. Now." Phenix drew his rose red sword, bright red flames beginning to flicker in his eyes.