Chapter Text

I wrote out the initial scene at 1 AM and snowballed it from there. My friends and I were playing on an SMP sooooo, here we are. Hope you at least got a chuckle out of this. 

Bolts flew, axe heads were swung and swords flailed about in desperation. 

“IVAN! Retreat-HRRK!” 

In the snowy forests of Ursus’s wilderness, an Infected Patrol thought that they came upon easy pickings. A lone wooden hut in the middle of nowhere? For the five of them, it was almost comical to think about. 

“PYOTR-” 

“LEAVE HIM! WE CAN’T-” A crossbow bolt to the back of his head silenced him forever, leaving Ivan alone as the last man alive in his patrol. 

What they thought was an easy kill…never materialised. Instead, half of their number was cut down, and the rest ran for their lives, though they didn’t get far. 

FWOOSH

“AAAAA!” Ivan collapsed, a piercing pain coming from his right knee. A bolt had pierced right into his kneecaps, immobilising him as he fell onto the snowy ground. Ragged breaths accompanied him as he desperately tried to look for their assailant, though she was more like their predator than anything else. He remembered clearly how the two strongest members of his group were cut down in a near instant, by an auburn-haired girl with a blue, crystal axe. 

“Oh man, you Pillagers never learn do ya? Hopefully you’ll drop a banner for me…” 

A voice, speaking in Victorian, rang out behind him. Suddenly finding strength he never thought he had, he turned his body around a hundred and eighty degrees by only using his arms. 

There. Right in front of him was the source of all of his fears, and the one responsible for the deaths of his comrades. Her gleaming axe shone brightly under the moonlight, revealing the splatters of blood dripping off its tip. 

“You whore! Don’t you know who we are?! We are Ursus soldiers! When my superiors-” 

“Shhhhhhhhhh. You don’t get it, do you?” 

The girl crouched in front of him, axe hefted over her shoulder. A grin plastered all over her face as he saw her green eyes staring right into him. 

“See, everywhere I go, even in new chunks like this snow biome I’m here right now, you Pillagers catch me at the most annoying times. I was just about to go to bed when your patrol found me. A newbie may have died to you, but unfortunately, I am not a newbie.” 

“Pillagers!? I am a soldier of Ursus-” 

“Different skin, same mob. Now, I’ve been told using an axe increases drop rates for heads, and I need one for my fireplace. So, do me a favour and… stay still. ” 

The girl got up again, and her axe was held directly over his head. Ivan seized up, instantly realizing what was about to happen. 

“WAIT! PLEASE! I DIDN’T WANT TO DO THIS, THEY FORCED ME TO RAID THOSE-” 

The axe head fell, and the glint of the blue axe was the last thing he ever saw. 

Snow. 

Among the residents of Ursus’s large mobile cities, its arrival was something to be equally welcomed and feared. Snow heralded winter, and with winter came many things. Depending on where you were on a societal basis, it could mean fun days at the local park, building snowmen and having snowball fights. Or, it could mean another hard couple of months, with the threat of starvation and frostbite an ever-present threat. 

For Alina, she was indifferent towards it. What use was there in cursing a natural phenomenon? It was like cursing the catastrophes, a sentiment many shared to be sure, but one ultimately futile. The Elafian co-leader of an Infected group trekked silently to her destination, a ‘friendly’ village that had traded with them before. Their camp had grown from just her and Talulah, all the way to a respectable size. Though with size, came more mouths to feed. The villagers of Ursus’s wilderness did not have much, and the cold lands often did not allow for agriculture in the same way that other nations such as Victoria did. She did not think that they had much food to trade with, let alone spare. But she still had to try, lest the children in their camp go hungry. 

The snow beneath her boots sunk with every step she took. This year’s snowfall seemed to exceed the one from last year, causing her to be concerned about any spare food the village may have. Regardless, she made it this far, and she couldn’t stop now. Talulah wanted an escort to come with her, but the last time they were here Patriot unnerved most of the village, so she had to come alone instead. The villagers were not often trusting, but she wanted to believe in their kindness, just a bit…repressed by their situation. Yes, she had hope, and that was often more important than anything else. 

Walking into the village, she noticed that there were a lot fewer people out and about than usual. 

Odd, but she pressed on. A minute later, she reached the centre of the village, where any would-be vendors set up shop. Keeping her expectations low, the last time she was here they themselves had few wares to peddle, owing to their material reality. Being destitute that is. 

“Huh…?” 

To her surprise however, the vendors did not have near-empty carts or gloomy faces, but rather, they had ample wares stocked and ready to be sold; their faces cheerful and full of life. Vegetables of all kinds, bright yellow potatoes, vibrant carrots, golden bundles of wheat and even baskets of berries were being sold to the villagers in a vibrant town square. She guessed that the entire village was present, haggling and buying to their heart's content. What was going on? The harvest season was not for another few months, so how did all of this fresh produce get here? 

Never mind that however, this was good for her, she could buy as many supplies as she could carry back with her, or better yet, secure some for now and come back with a cart! First things first, she needed to talk with a merchant…there, the one who had… melons for sale? At least, that was what she thought they were. Growing up in the Ursus countryside, the only melons she knew of were from books, most melons came from other nations whose climates were suitable for growing them. They did look somewhat blocky, however, but the merchant was also selling individual slices so it had to be legitimate. 

Walking over to the old woman, Alina gave her a warm smile, and asked about these ‘melons’. 

“Where I got them? Oh, you’re not from the village. It’s from our Hero of course!” 

“Your…hero ?” 

“Aye. She wandered in a week ago and beat back an attack from some infected creatures. Then she started trading with us! Everything you see here is from her, probably has some storage Arts or something, I saw her pull out these melons from thin air for me!” 

Alina blinked at the old woman, trying to make sense of what she just heard. All of this produce…came from a single person? She initially thought a trading caravan had passed by, but this was harder to believe than the former. However, what the old woman said next made her even more confused. 

“All I traded with her for this was a single Originium shard! Can you believe that?! I don’t know why she accepted the trade immediately, I actually feel guilty about it too…” 

Alina glanced over at the large cart filled to the brim with melons next to her, and she wondered if the going rate for melons was that low, or that was simply how much Originium shards were worth. Either way, neither really made sense, but-

“She’s back! I see her coming in!” 

A shout distracted Alina from her thoughts, and the village square exploded into activity. Excited murmurs broke out among those closest to her, and the old woman got her attention again. 

“Ah, she’s back again now? Probably has more things to trade with us. Go on, best you go and see her as well. Never seen a person like her around these parts, probably a foreigner, but then again, aren’t we all foreigners?” 

With the old woman giving her a smile of encouragement, Alina excused herself from her and wandered to where the commotion was loudest. Though the village square only had a couple dozen people present, all of them were concentrated into one spot, making it difficult for Alina to see what was going on. Height was not one of her strong suits, after all, so she had to take alternative means of finding the source of the commotion. 

Looking around, she noticed a worn-out fountain close by and stepped on top of its aged stones. With a higher vantage point, she could finally see who this supposed ‘hero’ was, and in the very centre of the crowd, she saw her. Wearing a simple green tunic and brown pants, a young girl with auburn hair stood upright among the crowd. In her hands, she held bundles of wheat, eyes darting between various villagers with Originium shards in their hands. The girl in question then spoke loudly, everyone hearing what she had to say clearly. 

“Alright! The least experienced farmers step forward! Gotta level you guys up somehow…” 

A very strange request, but the villagers seemingly followed along. The youngest-looking stepped forward, and they began…trading? Massive bundles of wheat suddenly appeared seemingly in a blink of an eye, and the villagers gave her an Originium shard in trade. Alina watched as this process repeated itself with everything from the aforementioned wheat to potatoes and even beetroots. As the last farmer went away, the crowd seemed to begin dissipating as well. Did this happen regularly? How did they know when to dissipate? 

Alina rubbed her eyes in disbelief, she clearly saw large amounts of produce appear from thin air right in front of her, judging by the farmers hauling it back to their stands and carts. Her eyes flickered back to the auburn-haired girl, who had a dissatisfied-looking face as she inspected an Originium shard-wait a minute, where were the dozens of shards she was given?! Where did they go?!

“Damn, just farmers again huh? It’s been a week, where the hell are all the other trades at?! Ah, screw it, I’m gonna go home…wonder why the Bad Omen thing hasn’t come up yet?” 

The girl in question began walking, in the direction of where the town gate was. She hesitated, yes, this person somehow managed to trade enough food to feed an entire village multiple times over in one go, but was she suitable for their needs? 

“...We do have some unique people already…” Those in the camp were anything but ordinary if Patriot was anything to go by. Reaffirming herself, the shortage of food back at her camp outweighed any other considerations right now, if this ‘Hero’ of the village could solve their food situation several times over, Alina needed to make a good relationship with her. And the first step, as they always say, was the hardest. 

Walking up to her quickly, the girl noticed Alina first and turned around, face somewhat annoyed. “Another farmer? Didn’t get here fast enough the first time?” 

She was taken aback by her at first but quickly recovered. She really didn’t act like anyone from Ursus…

“Oh! I believe you are mistaken. I am not a farmer, but rather a humble villager who needs supplies-” 

“Sure, but what’s your job?” 

“I’m…sorry?”

“Your profession, like, what do you do? I can’t tell from your clothes alone. Damn new skins …” 

What did her profession have anything to do with trading? She traded with those farmers earlier without any difference, so why was she treated differently? Faced with such a question, she fell back on what she could do best, be honest. 

“I…don’t have one…?” 

Her face immediately scrunched up, and her eyes narrowed. “No job, no trades. Sorry, can’t help ya.” The girl swung on her heels again and began walking away, causing Alina to blink at what just happened. Seeing that she was about to lose her chance to fix her camp’s food supply for a long time, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. 

“I can sow!” 

“Whadya say?” 

“I can stitch, sow…and I guess patch up clothes really well?” 

As far as professions go, she could claim to be a seamstress or tailor if desperate-

“Oh, so a leatherworker. Alright, we can trade.” 

Alina breathed a sigh of relief, she began thinking about the various items this girl traded to the villagers. With that amount of wheat, they could mill it into flour, which could then get them enough bread to last them-

Wham

Jumping up into the air at the sudden object that appeared in front of her, Alina did her best to not react to what appeared to be a stack of animal hides around half her height right in from of her. It was just magically there all of a sudden, causing her no end of shock. 

“A stack of leather right here. What’ll you give me? Please don’t give me one em’ for half a stack, I’ll be very cross if you do.” 

Alina looked at the stack of animal hides with wide eyes, she wanted to trade these to her?! She needed food, and though the leather was useful, it wasn’t what she needed at this moment. 

“I thought we were trading in produce…?” 

“Hm? Yeah, I was . But you’re a leatherworker, so we trade in leather and other things. But you’re not high enough level yet so it’s just leather for now.” 

“W-what?!” Needless to say, the Elafia had no idea what this girl was on about right now. She acted as if their interaction was perfectly natural, but all Alina said was that she knew how to sow, so what did that have to do with being a leatherworker?!

“I…don’t need leather. What I need is produce to trade-” 

“You’re a leatherworker, we can’t trade in produce. Duh. So, what’ll you give me for a stack of these?” 

“I can’t work with these materials, and-” 

“You just said you knew how to sow and stitch, ergo, you make leather armour and saddles. Therefore, you are a leatherworker. Now, are we gonna trade or not?” 

Alina rubbed her temple, there was clearly some misunderstanding going on. A bright idea suddenly came to her, and her ears perked up as she realised that there was something she could do…

“What…what if I buy leather and produce from you?” 

“Huh?”

“Both, we trade both in exchange for these Originium shards.” Alina opened her small bag of raw Originium shards, it wasn’t much, but she was hoping to at least get enough to last another week or two for her camp. 

“Villagers going into multi-job now? Damn, this new area is sweet. Guess they outdid themselves huh?” 

“I’m sorry?” 

“Nothin’. Alright, we can trade. Just let me count how much is in the bag.” 

Breathing a sigh of relief, Alina gently handed over her small bag. Usually, when Originium shards were sold, the price that they fetched was counted by weight and how pure it was- 

“Done. Here you go…” She could not have held the bag for more than two seconds, so how-

WHAM

In the blink of an eye, Alina was quite literally surrounded by small mounds of everything from crops to leather. Sacks of beetroot and potatoes quite literally overflowed around her, some of them plopping onto the cold ground. 

“Fifteen shards, so that gets you a couple stacks of everything. See ya in a day or two.” 

Alina was speechless, this amount of food could last their entire camp for a month and a half if they were smart about it. Though that came with another issue, how was she going to carry all of it back? She came alone because she didn’t expect to get much in the way of supplies, but now that she had much more than she ever needed, the regret of not taking someone with her started to creep in. 

“What? Got no space in your inventory?” 

“Huh?” 

“Got too much dirt or something? It’s just a couple of stacks, don’t have any space at all?” 

“N-no…I need a cart, and people to help me move this back to my camp-how did you even carry all of this?” 

“It’s…my inven? You don’t have one-” 

“POGROM! POGROM! THEY ARE COMING!” 

Alina froze, the shouting that came from further down the road immediately alerted her to potential danger. Some villages had lookouts and scouts positioned far away for exactly this purpose. Anyone who has ever lived in an Infected Village knew of the Pogroms. Her own village, the one she originally met Talulah was victim of one such attack long ago and met its end that way. Villages that harbour infected for example often had this fate delivered onto them, and the one she was in right now was no exception. 

“What’s going on? Why’s everyone running?” 

She stared at the girl in disbelief, she wandered this deep into Ursus territory yet didn’t know what the Pogroms were?!

“The Infected Patrols are coming. We need to leave, there’s a camp nearby with people that can help us-” 

“Pffffftttt…leave? Leave a raid? You stay back here and watch this stuff, I’ll take care of it. About time the Bad Omen thing kicked in I swear…” A blue crystal axe suddenly appeared in the girl’s hands, as she walked in the opposite direction of where the streams of villagers were running away. Disbelief was evident on her face as she realised what the girl was about to do. 

“You can’t fight them! They’re Ursus soldiers, they aren’t common bandits-” 

“Those guys again? Guess they really are the Pillagers around these parts…Don’t worry, I took care of them before, they ain’t anything special. Trust in me and my Sharp five diamond axe. Now, how am I gonna build up that cobble wall? ” 

The glint of the axe seemed to shine brighter as soon as she finished her sentence, and Alina could see some ‘glowing’ effects on it, a purple haze waving throughout the entire weapon. Without talking anymore, the girl walked off at a brisk pace, leaving the Elafia even more confused. She didn’t have time for her right now, all she could do was pray for her safety as she helped evacuate the villagers from the raid. Alina hoped that Talulah found out about the incoming patrol, as a village of this size was bound to have those who couldn’t flee. Unfortunately, this always meant that the Infected were left behind. 

Alina was also about to go on her own path, but she realised that she didn’t even know the girl’s name yet. If she fell in battle, someone had to remember her, so she thought. 

“Wait! What’s your name?” 

The girl paused for a brief second, auburn hair swaying gently in the cold winter winds as she replied, back still facing her. 

“Alex.” 

Captain Igor was the leader of team number seven. It was not official of course, just an unofficial way to categorise all of the Ursus soldiers participating in the ‘cleansing’ operations. It was an open secret that these persecutions were conducted within Ursus, and indeed, perhaps even most of Terra knew about it if he guessed correctly. 

Good. They were another way to ensure that other nations were made wary of their reputation. Since the Bloodpeak Campaigns their ‘image’ was damaged beyond what it originally was. Traitors lurked about in their great motherland, and the loss of Ursus’s prestige can be directly attributed to these Infected scum who backstabbed their efforts. For the good of Ursus, he led his men to cleanse the land of the Oripathy-induced filth on their lands. Those that survived their initial purges…could always go towards making up their quota. After all, the Originium mines always needed more warm bodies, and the Infected were already halfway to death, they could spend their remaining time in service of the Tsar. 

The three dozen or so men he brought with him on this operation were less a military unit, and more like a disorganised mob. They weren’t fighting any soldiers, they were fighting Infected, so tactics like formations and scouts were entirely unnecessary. Besides, he wanted to get this over with already, as there was still the matter of patrols going missing in his sector that needed to be dealt with. Coming upon the front of the village, he and his men paused. 

“...How?” 

A three-metre tall wall made entirely of stone, cobbled stone if he was correct, surrounded the entire front section of the village. Did the village receive a warning of their arrival? Impossible, this wall required months, if a full year’s worth of preparations in order to be built, so it had to be recent. As the village was deep in a valley, their advance into the village was essentially blocked by the wall, resulting in him having no choice but to press on, despite the sense of unease filling up within him. 

As he walked ever closer to the main entrance, he remembered what his superiors warned him about, of guerillas against the Great Empire that operated in sectors close to this one. He expected an ambush to arrive at any moment, yet none ever came. At the front of his group, the assault crossbowmen stopped, causing him to frown under his mask. 

“Why have you stopped? I will have you executed for cowardice if-” Captain Igor cut himself off, as he too noticed what gave his crossbowmen pause. At the front of the village entrance, there sat a lone girl on a wooden log, wearing a simple green tunic and brown pants. Her auburn hair flowed in the wind as she was seemingly unaffected by the icy winds whatsoever. Though he did also notice her axe, blue and shining as bright as the stars above him did. 

“Captain? Orders?” His crossbowman asked, causing Igor to grunt in response. 

“Tch. Approach her, she’s just one girl, why are you all stopping? Onwards!” 

With his barked orders, the group got closer, and closer until they were roughly a dozen metres from the main entrance. At that point, the girl finally looked up at them, an annoyed expression on her face. 

“Finally, you assholes decide to finally show. Alright, let’s get this whole thing over with, I still need to finish up on my trades for the day.”  Victorian, and though he wasn’t fluent in the language, he knew enough to know that she was mocking them. 

“You dare?! We will cut you down-” 

“I’ve heard this before, mainly from this guy right here.” 

He was cut off casually by the auburn-haired girl, who then took something from her back, and placed it down on the log next to her. He recognized what it was, it was the head of one of his patrol captains, gently laid down on the log. Some of his men were startled by the display and began drawing their weapons at the girl, who was still indifferent to them. 

“Yeah, this guy…Ivan I think? He said something similar, lost all of his bravado once my axe lobbed his head clean off though. You fine Pillagers on the other hand, have heads and skins that I don’t recognise!” 

The girl said the last part with so much glee that Igor thought it was similar to a child receiving a new present. Only that he was much more disturbed by what she was saying. 

“So, in order to complete my collection of heads from all the new mobs…I’m gonna ask that you don’t move so much when I kill you. Guarantee you won’t die in pain if you do!” 

Igor has heard enough, since she chose to stand between them, he would gladly show her the error of this foolish action. “Shoot her already.” 

Credit to his crossbowmen, they followed his orders immediately, with a well aimed shot at her chest. Unfortunately, it didn’t strike true. 

PLONK

A shield appeared on her left hand out of nowhere, and the bolt was stuck on her rectangular shield instead of her heart. 

“Wow, kinda rude. Also, it's my turn now. ” 

The axe disappeared, and her right hand was instead replaced by a wooden crossbow. Wood? Who even used wood these days? They were all mostly made of steel and other modern materials. As Igor was about to scoff at the archaic version of her crossbow, he noticed that there was no bolt loaded onto it, instead, there was a red and white cone attached to it. 

FWOOM -BOOM

A whistling sound came first, followed by trails of smoke from the projectile. Then, as it struck the crossbowman directly in his chest, it exploded. 

“AARGH!” 

“MY LEG!” 

“IT BURNS!” 

The close proximity of his men to the blast meant that a number of them were also injured as well. In cold fury, he snapped his head to look back at the girl who just killed his crossbowman, only to see her downing…a glass bottle with yellowish liquid inside. After she finished consuming it, she threw the bottle away violently, and her axe reappeared on her hand once more. 

“That hit the spot! Just for that, I’m gonna fight you all without armour, you don’t really deserve me taking it out anyways. Now then! Come at me you bear-lookin ass Pillagers! I need your heads… FOR MY FIREPLACE! ” 

The girl charged, and carnage never before seen in these ancient tundras began with a violent battle cry. 

AN:

I think I’m gonna end this here for now. 

Be civil in the comments.

EDIT-13/10/2024

A few minor edits were made to bring it up to date with the newer chapters.

EDIT- 07/05/2025

I now have a Discord server! Where you can chat and discuss not only this story, but all of my other fanfics. If not, this is also a place where you can submit Omakes and discuss OCs if you really want to, or just come and hang out, I will be sharing some more behind the scenes things there if you want to know what my writing process is like. 

Discord Link: https://discord.gg/9ah73nfATw

Chapter Text

Chapter 2 

“Stay inside, do not come out until the village is completely silent!” 

As Alina gave one final instruction to the old lady from earlier, the one who had the square watermelons, she sealed the entrance to her house as best she could. There was no guarantee that she, or anyone in the village was going to survive the raid, that was just how the nature of them went. Growing up in the Ursus tundra, her father, before his sacrifice, made sure to teach Alina the cruel reality of living here for her sake. 

Huffing, she stacked a broken wagon wheel in front of the door to give it an abandoned look, Alina took one look again at the village square, now completely deserted, the once vibrant stalls and produce chaotically scattered throughout as the villagers desperately fled, the ones who could anyway. It was a cruel joke, wasn’t it? She herself insisted on coming alone, and now she was about to pay the price for it. 

As she looked for a suitable place to hide, dangerous as it may be, she suddenly remembered something very important, Alex. The mysterious trader…the abundant amount of produce meant for her was left on the street, not that they ever finished their negotiations, if you could even call it that. Alina saw no sign of the auburn-haired trader, the last memory she had of her was her predatory expression as she went off to certain death. 

She briefly considered going to find her, but a strange, low-pitched whistling sound distracted her. It was coming…from the village entrance? 

KA-BOOM

Alina covered her ears, the loud explosion and her Elafian heritage made her uniquely susceptible to it. Holding onto a nearby pole for support, as the ringing gradually faded…it was replaced by sounds of metal striking metal…and screaming. 

Lots of screaming. 

“Don’t let her reload the crossbow!” 

“M-melee fighters! Move up!” 

“She just lobbed off Sergei’s head!”

“Where d-did she go?! SHE’S BEHIND ME-” 

“ARTS USER! She can teleport-” 

“Where did this block of stone come from?! We can’t get to you!” 

“R-retreat! She’s a demon!” 

Those screams gradually became more and more desperate as she approached a stone wall that was not there when she arrived earlier. The screams became wails, the wails became final valiant battle cries, and eventually, they became pleas for mercy. 

“Mercy! I surrender! We won’t come back if you spare me, t-that’s why you’re fighting right?! ANSWER ME! STOP APPROACHING!” 

Alone, Alina slowly walked to the small gap in the stone wall, right on the main road leading into the village. It was just big enough for one person to fit through, but she did not dare to go through it yet. Instead, she peeked her head through it, and she saw carnage incarnate. Patriot seldom talked about his past, or the battles he fought in, but the few that he did share, mostly to Talulah, he described battlefields where the dead outnumbered the living. The scene before her, however, made Alina realise Patriot’s experiences were true, for she was currently witnessing a field where the dead were its sole occupants. Save for two remaining fighters...

“I know you’re a spineless piece of shit, but before I do lob off your head, why are Pillagers like you so…cowardly. Hell, your cousins in the North always fought to the last man, or Illager, here? Your men turned tail and ran after half of 'em were cut down, not very ruthless y’know?” 

Alina saw Alex, twirling an axe half her size like it was some toy. She was in the middle of the field, surrounded by the bodies of Ursus Patrolmen, some intact, others with limbs or even heads missing. The sight almost made Alina throw up whatever small breakfast she had this morning but managed to keep it in as Alex leaned above the remaining Patrol Captain. 

“But hey, I’ll get Hero of the Village either way, thanks for making my job much easier. Though you do look different, I’ll give you that. Any grand reasons you chose this village to attack? Oh, who the hell am I kidding, you Pillagers are all the same-” 

“It was an order! We were just following orders!” 

The air seemed to freeze, even more than it already had, as Alex’s carefree expression suddenly morphed into cold apathy, the grip on her axe held even tighter. 

“...just following orders, huh? On whose?” 

“O-our superiors…every patrol unit has the same ones-” 

“I changed my mind, I don’t even want your head for my fireplace anymore.” 

In one swift motion, Alex’s axe was raised up high, the crystalline head reflecting brightly underneath the sun. 

“W-WAIT! I HAVE CHILDREN-” 

CRUNCH

In a sickening crunch, the Captain’s head was split open, nearly down to the throat. This time, Alina couldn’t help but gasp in horror, causing Alex’s blood-splattered face to turn towards her. 

“Oh hey! You’re the leatherworker from earlier. Come to give me gifts? Almost feel like I don’t deserve it with how easy it was this time.” 

Alex’s happy bloody expression was the last straw, and Alina heaved out the contents of her stomach onto the dirt road. 

“Whoa, hey! Hey! Not that kinda gift!” 

Talulah never got used to the coldness of Ursus. From growing up in the relative warmth of Lungmen, to the sudden change of scenery that was the cold Ursus climate, even her Draco heritage, so prized and lauded by Kaschey for his schemes couldn’t protect her from those elements much. However, as she ran through the rarely travelled dirt roads to a nearby village, the cold was the last thing on her mind right now. 

“Please…don’t be hurt…” 

Or I wouldn’t know what else to do…

Following behind her were some of her group’s best fighters, Shieldguards, Yeti Squadron members who stayed behind and whoever she could muster for a rescue. Patriot and Frostnova were not at the camp then, but she could not wait any longer once she heard the news. The village Alina left for was subject to a surprise ‘inspection’ by Ursus Patrolmen, and she was there without any escorts. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid! 

She never should have just let her go alone, even some fighters hanging back outside the village would have been better, instead, she trusted Alina and her instincts about the kindness those Villagers surely had. They didn’t trade them much food last time either, but then again, no one had an abundance of food in the Tundras. 

Breaking through foliage and into the field just next to the village, Talulah was frozen solid by the sight before her. An entire field, littered to the brim with the bodies of Ursus soldiers, some in definitely worse shape than others. 

The fact that the fighters with her did not immediately react showed how disciplined they were. Who could have done this-no, the objective was still to find Alina. Though the level of danger had now risen exponentially if that was the Ursus patrol, then what was the village like? 

“Tight formation, we move quickly, but cautiously. Call out anything you see.” 

Her hurry was no excuse to walk right into an ambush, despite how much she wanted to sprint towards the village. As the group made their way across the field, the apparent signs of a fierce, but quick battle made itself clear. There were no signs of a siege or any prolonged engagement, it was like one of their ambushes against them, only even more brutal and one-sided. How else could she describe it, but a massacre? However, the oddly placed and perfectly square blocks of stone that dotted the field were also suspect, an Arts user perhaps? 

Eventually, they came upon the cobblestone wall surrounding the village, odd, she clearly remembered there not being a wall the last time she was here. 

“Talulah, in front of us.” One of the Yeti Squadron fighters called out, causing her to look at where he was pointing. On the wall, an Ursus Patrol Captain was held in place by perfectly cut stone blocks, almost like he was being exhibited. Next to him, a wooden sign, written in Victorian for some reason, boldly stated: 

‘The fate of all those who claim it was just an order.’

Talulah couldn’t help but involuntarily gulp, was this her fate if she didn’t break free from Kaschey’s influence? Even now, she was sure the black snake had some plan, she just couldn’t figure out exactly what, she pushed those thoughts aside again, she had to find Alina, and make sure she was safe. 

The group moved in, slipping through the small gap in the walls. Entering the village, she could see that it was already deserted, they must have had an early-warning system of some sort-

“Talulah!” 

Brushing aside a Shieldguard in front of the group, she saw Alina, safe and sound, mentally releasing the sigh she held since she first got the news. Running forward, she caught the Elfian and began checking her over for any wounds. 

“I’m fine! There’s no need to worry, Talulah…the village is also safe.” 

“I-but, the Ursus patrol outside-did the villagers fight back?!” 

“No, Talulah.” Alina stepped back, and looked at the direction of where Talulah and her group came from. 

“It was saved by a Hero…I think?” 

“What.” 

Two weeks later…

Things had changed in the camp since that fateful day in the village. The abundance of food, fresh food at that, gave everyone at the camp a renewed vigour that was a long time coming. For the first time in months, the adults of the camp did not have to reduce their rations for the children, everyone could now have enough food to last through the coldness, she was even seeing some of their severely infected recovering slightly now that they had proper food and nutrients. She may not have been a trained doctor, but she knew that infected needed a strict, nutritious diet if they had any hope of living for long, even if their fate was sealed. 

However, that aside, there was the elephant in the camp that was a source of minor frustration, her experience in the village, and the lack of belief in what happened. 

“I…find…that…hard…to…believe…” 

“I…I know how it sounds, but that is really what happened-” 

Patriot held out his right palm at her, gesturing for Alina to stop. With his infection seemingly worse each time he went on a mission, the camp doctors advised him to speak as little as possible, otherwise he may risk further damaging his larynx. Even with that debilitation, however, he remained as one of the camp’s strongest, though Alina had the opinion that Talulah was stronger, even if slightly more. 

“Father, you shouldn’t push yourself, we just came back from a long deployment…” FrostNova, or Yelena in private as Alina knew her by, gently chided as she placed a warm cup of Borscht in front of him. It was a camp favourite, the beets somehow being some of the juiciest and sweetest she had ever tasted in her life. 

“…heal…your…own…wounds…I…will…join…you…later…” 

While the Cautus clearly did not want to leave just yet, Patriot held her hand and gently rubbed a spot where she was bruised. 

“I’ll be back soon.” Exiting the tent she was in, Alina was now alone with Patriot, the Sarkaz general inhaled loudly, taking in the aroma of the soup before him. 

“...this…soup…you…say…it…is…from…this…Alex?” 

Alina nodded, technically it was just the beets that were from her, but she got what Patriot was trying to ask. While she told Talulah and the other high-ranking members of their camp about Alex, their reactions were…mixed. Those who saw firsthand the carnage believed her more compared to those who did not go, Patriot fell into the latter category on account of him being away. She could tell that Talulah was wary of Alex, as in her own words, “No one would risk their lives for a village just like that.”. 

Maybe that was true, Alex was there to trade after all, but she also protected the village without asking anything in return. It was a shame she left soon after defeating the raid, Alina tried to convince her to stay for a bit longer but she rambled on about nonsensical things like ‘The Bad Omen effect is still there! What do you mean this isn’t a village?!’ so on and so forth. If she was being completely honest, Alina was still wary of her, but the fact remains that she saved the village from certain doom, for it harboured infected. A ‘Hero of the Village’ but at what cost? 

“...it…is…good.” Patriot said, after having a couple spoonfuls of the soup, eventually resorting to just drinking from the cup itself, finishing all of it in one go. 

“...I…feel…better…my hunger sated.” Alina blinked at Patriot, it sounded like his voice was slightly less raspy towards the end of his sentence, the pauses between words shorter as well. Actually, the infected around the camp did report having much more energy than usual, she chalked it up to there being an actual abundance in food, but Patriot’s rapid change caused her to eye the remaining chunks of beetroot in the cup carefully. 

“Perhaps…we should…meet this ‘Alex’. Where…is…she?” 

“Oh, um, she is…well, it’s complicated…” 

Alex left Alina with two things. One, a vague promise to return ‘within one to two weeks’, and two, a firework. Alina had seen fireworks before when she was a child, though her original village was poor every so often they could afford a New years fireworks show, a small one, not one of the big ones that the big cities like Chernobog had. Though upon further inspection of the red and white firework given to her, she noticed that instead of Originium dust, there was none, as her Arts couldn’t activate it whatsoever. There was a small fuse attached to the bottom, but she didn’t light it because of Alex’s parting words…

“So I assume you’re a wandering trader of some sort? No biggie, when I’m near the area I’ll launch my fireworks into the sky, you just need to launch your own from where you are and I’ll come to ya. Simple? Alright, toodaloo!” 

Alina did not even get the chance to ask any questions, like where Alex was from for example. In fact, Alina had become more and more anxious over the past few days, as even though it was two weeks since the village raid, Alex had not shown up yet, nor were any fireworks launched into the sky. The scouts reported nothing unusual back either, definitely no fireworks of any kind being launched. Was Alex…gone? She did not believe she was dead, anyone who could take care of a few dozen Ursus soldiers alone was not going to die so easily. 

“Do not…worry. She…will...come…believe in her.” Patriot used one of Alina’s own sayings back to her, she always used to say believe in her when referring to Talulah. The quip caused her to smile, these light-hearted moments were often few and far-between-

“WE’RE UNDER ATTACK! EVACUATE THE CAMP, ALL FIGHTERS TO BEAR ARMS!” 

Alina froze, and not even a second later, explosions rocked the outside of her tent. Shaken out of it by Patriot immediately rising and heading out, the camp was in a flurry, fires raged in their temporary structures, fighters charged towards their defence, and crossbows were shot at from watchtowers. The Ursus soldiers had found their camp, but how-

“Find…the Children! Evacuate!” 

The Sarkaz barked an order at Alina, before raising up his shield and weapon to go join the fight, she herself suddenly remembered the civilians were nearby, and rushed towards the nearest tent where they were housed. 

“Faust! Mephisto!” The two young children Talulah rescued in a mine were out of their tent, frantically looking around for something until Alina called out to them. 

“What are you two still doing outside?! Follow me, we must evacuate together-” 

More screams came from their front, this time coming from the Infected civilians already fleeing. “C-crossbowmen, I see them in the treeline-” Faust pointed out at them, though they were well camouflaged, Alina managed to see their bolts raining down upon them. She quickly realized that they were surrounded, all sides of the camp had at least some soldiers waiting for them, this wasn’t a regular raid, it was an extermination squad. 

“Miss Alina, where do we go?!” 

“W-we can go…” 

Where? It was either through the soldiers, and deeper into the Tundra where the elements were going to claim them or with the defenders who were barely holding on. Had Ursus finally had enough of them? Their little group, founded on Talulah’s ideals for the liberation of all infected, snuffed out before it could even glow? 

Boom

Alina jerked up, as another explosion, this time a distance away was heard. Looking at the direction where it came from, she could see that it was not an explosion aimed at their camp, no, it was at the sky, and the colours it produced could only mean one thing…

Quickly taking the firework she held on her person just in case Alex was near, she used a match to light the fuse underneath the firework. 

“Miss Alina, what are you doing-” Mephisto hurriedly asked, but he didn’t get to finish it before the firework shot up into the sky with a high pitched whistle, before detonating. 

Boom

The firework exploded high up into the air, producing its own colours. 

“What was that firework for?!” Faust cried out, as from his perspective, it only served to draw even more attention on themselves. Alina however, heard another firework explosion in the distance, from the same direction as the first one, but closer this time, a lot closer. 

“I’ve summoned a Hero to help us…” 

“What.”

“Huh?” 

Despite the incredulous looks given to Alina, she could only hope that Alex made it on time…

“Haa!” 

With a cry, Talulah managed to pull her blade away from the throat of an Ursus Patrolman, the eighth soldier she had cut down since the fighting began, with many more burned by her flames. Talulah fell to her knees, allowing herself to take this brief respite now that the attackers had been routed. 

“Do…not…rest yet…we are…not…alone…” 

Somehow, Patriot’s voice was clearer than she remembered, but now wasn’t the time to think on it. FrostNova had appeared beside her, helping Talulah get up while she was still panting. How did their ambush catch them so off guard? There were supposed to be patrols all around their camp, a force of this size must have been spotted much earlier-

She felt it. 

The darkness, the wrongness of the very air in front of her. It was as if the world itself was being corrupted by an influence that was the enemy of all living things on Terra. Patriot had noticed before Talulah did, but now that it was this close, everyone there noticed it. 

From the dark treeline, emerged four trench-coat-wearing soldiers, only that they were not any regular soldiers. The dark armour, crimson-red sabre and red glowing eyes staring at them meant only one thing, their attackers included the Blades of the Emperor, his Royal Guard.

Five of them walked out from the thick shrubbery, all of their gazes focused on her, the dark miasma seeping out from them like an ethereal smoke. Patriot stepped forward, slamming down his shield in front of Talulah, the message was clear, they were not to pass. 

“General Buldrokkas'tee, it is an honour to meet you.” The leading blade spoke with a muffled voice, the armour they wore the cause of it. Talulah had seen them before, talking with Duke Kaschey on a few occasions, things she was never meant to witness. 

“The…sentiment…is…not shared.” 

Talulah knew of Patriot’s past, with him having been a loyal servant to Emperor Vladimir before the Great Rebellion, coupled with his military achievements under the Ursus military which earned him great fame and respect. Yet, he still chose to desert the empire, leading his own band of fighters to free the infected before meeting Talulah and Alina's group. 

“Despite your…transgressions, the Emperor is merciful, he asks for you to serve Ursus once again, your will is much better served in the Empire than with these bandits.” 

“My…loyalty died…with my son’s execution. I…stand with…these ‘bandits’.” 

There was no real danger of Patriot defecting back to Ursus, but hearing the affirmation again gave Talulah relief. Though their gaze soon turned to herself, and she gripped her sword even tighter. 

“Talulah Kaschey, daughter of Duke Kaschey, we are here to assess your situation.” 

Talulah’s breath hitched, and a cold sweat began forming on her brow. Despite the oppressive miasma being released, she could still hear the Shieldguards and Infected fighters around her begin murmuring. 

“W-what did he just say?” 

“Talulah’s the daughter of an Ursus duke?!” 

“Tch, I always knew her clothes were a bit too well made to be one of us…” 

All it took for doubt to form, was from a single instance, which could then blossom into something she could never recover from. No, these Royal Guards knew where their camp was…was this another one of the Black Snake’s ploys? Activated after his passing? 

“You attacked my people, you know we are here…tell me, is this another one of his schemes?!” 

A fire raged inside her, this time eager to get some answers. The huffing of the blade was all she received for an answer, until he decided to break the silence again. 

“We will see if his promise holds any weight, after all, your burning of the regional Fortress forced our hand.” 

What? 

Talulah glared at him, what burning of the fortress? Did he mean the regional base for the Ursus patrolmen? Even if their group mustered every fighter, she still would not have attacked it. 

“What manner of nonsense are you accusing me of?! We did no such thing!”

“The Fortress was burned, the survivors described the auburn-haired headhunter as the one responsible. She is under your command, thus, you are responsible for it by extension.” 

Despite that simplistic explanation, she was even more confused than she already was, what auburn-haired headhunter?! Unless she didn't know her fighters all too well, Talulah was sure there wasn't anyone in the camp who fit the description. Patriot’s voice behind her caught her attention next. 

“Our…patrols…have found slain Ursus soldiers…their heads…often missing…” 

Talulah remembered now, that some of the reconnaissance fighters mentioned this in their reports, but with everything else she had to deal with she chalked it up to a few overzealous fighters or wild animals feeding on the bodies. Though that meant…there was someone else fighting the Ursus soldiers not from her group, so who-

“Enough, we are here to test her potential, not engage with meaningless talk. For those who wish to face us, I commend your bravery, but for those lesser fighters, I recommend you kill yourselves now, this will be the only mercy we will show today.” 

The dark miasma intensified again, and Talulah’s arts once more flared to protect the infected under her protection, even if her past may be revealed. 

“Like hell we’ll-” 

Talulah stopped, a high-pitched whistling sound caused her to stop the Arts cast, causing her to look up for the source of it. Normally a death sentence when facing enemies such as the blades, but as soon as she looked up, a split second later the ground in front of her exploded.  

FWOOM- BOOM

The explosion was aimed, not at her, but at the Emperor’s Blades, the resulting smoke made it hard for her to see, but she could tell that someone landed in the midst of it, the resulting thud indicating that it was from very up high as well. Then, a voice, in Victorian, her old native language that she and her real father used to speak, albeit in a Columbian accent, called out from within the smoke with glee. 

“Fuckin’ finally! A real goddamn raid! You know how long I’ve been attacking you Pillager fucks to trigger it?! Almost like you cunts have been avoiding me this whole time!” 

The…colourful language that appeared caused Talulah to narrow her eyes, and eventually, the smoke began to dissipate, revealing an…auburn-haired girl…with a shiny, bright blue glowing axe…exactly as Alina described the ‘Hero of the Village’ as. She wore a green tunic with brown pants, though her back was facing them, her axe was pointed at the Emperor’s Blades. Even from a few meters away, Talulah could sense powerful Arts cast onto her weapon, the exact nature of which would need further examination-if they survived the encounter. 

“A Columbian…what business do you have within Ursus? You are far removed from home.” 

“A Colombian? Do I look like I speak Spanish? No hablo espanol and all that? Nah, I’m here for you , Blade of the Emperor.” 

At the mention of their names, all of their attention turned to her, more than it already was. A Columbian, or not, falling out from the sky randomly was insane enough, and now Talulah was hearing that she specifically sought out the Emperor’s Blades!? She wanted to pull the girl back, as young as she was before getting killed, unfortunately, the Blade released a concentrated burst of miasma at her before Talulah could do anything. Expecting to see her writhe in pain or insanity, like many of her fellow infected, Talulah saw her…completely fine, was she even yawning?! 

“Oh hey, Darkness , neat trick, only that I’ve seen, and had it hundreds of times already through the Deep Dark. Though if you have it…that means you’re connected to them, right? Some power you’ve got there, messing with things that aren’t entirely of this world.” 

“You…you know of the demons in the north?!” This was the first time the Blade showed any sort of agitation as if a secret had just been spilt out into the open. 

Talulah, despite Kaschey making sure she only knew of certain things, had also picked up a few…taboo subjects. Some of it related to the border of civilisation as it was called, and though books stated that there was nothing beyond the northernmost of border Ursus other than an icy wasteland, she found some reference to creatures that are incomprehensible to the mortal mind. Patriot, on the other hand, gripped his shield even tighter, something Talulah picked up on, could he know what the blade was referring to? 

“If you mean those things in that huge ice biome? Sure, I guess, calling them demons is a stretch though, they’re just something to be dealt with, no biggie. Hell, I even closed a few of those black portals they use to come out, they aren’t so tough when someone comes in with a sword using Sweeping Edge III and Sharp V. Still can’t believe it just led to the End dimension though, does that mean I don’t have to use the End Portal in this world?” 

Talulah had no idea what her ramblings were about, but the very air around the blades changed once more, she was certain that even her Arts may not pierce through their miasma now. Thankfully, however, it seemed to be directed at Alex, who was still unfazed by it. 

“A newbie might get freaked out by this…but I ain’t no damn greenhorn.” 

The Draco’s eyes then widened as an apple made entirely of gold, or at least gold-plated, appeared in her free hand from thin air, which was then consumed by the axe-wielding maniac entirely within a few seconds. Talulah saw a purple haze begin to form on the girl’s body, was that Arts? Or was it something else entirely? 

“...we have no quarrel with you, and yet, you will throw your life away for useless infected, we need not be adversaries today. Why do you oppose us?” 

She laughed, the only one there who found this whole situation funny enough to do so. “Oh, you’re serious, well, me old boy, that’s cause…” Talulah saw her look back, specifically to where she and Patriot were, making eye contact with her emerald-green eyes for a split second. She shivered, those eyes did not belong to any race on Terra. It was something primordial, something which told her to run, lest her home have its fate sealed by an endless tide of…blocks? 

“You fucked with the wrong village, fool, and now, I’m gonna enjoy separating your head for my fireplace. I've never seen a Pillager like you before, and that mansion I burned down yesterday kept mentioning some strong-ass Pillagers, which I presume are you. Normally I’d take my time studying new mobs…but I can always make an exception. Hey…wanna play a game? Let’s play hide and seek! ” 

Alex raised a sealed glass bottle with greyish liquid into the air, then threw it down right next to her feet. The moment the glass shattered, and particles of unknown origin spread in a radius around it, Alex was nowhere to be seen. 

The closest blade drew his sabre, and the battle for the infected’s future began once more. 

AN: 

For those wondering, this Talulah is pre-Reunion. Alina is still alive, and she is still in her idealistic stage, she has not turned into the Talulah we’re introduced to in Chernobog yet. Though with Alex’s actions, who is to say how she’ll turn out now? 

Btw this fic is crack, so don’t come at me for stuff like ‘omg Alex so OP how is this fair?!!!’ or stuff like this, if the crossover combination wasn’t indication enough this fic is not meant to be a ‘serious’ crossover or anything like that. 

Anyways, I’ve recently started playing modded Minecraft again, and this muse wouldn’t go away so here I am lol. Distant Horizons was the sole reason why I started playing again, and man it does not disappoint. I’ll gauge reactions to see if I should continue it, but if you like what you see, don’t be afraid to leave a comment! Hopefully, the next one won’t take an entire year to update…I remember I wrote this back when I used to still have ‘English is not my first language’ warnings on my fics. How time flies, English is still not my first language but writing my fics has made me improve a lot, here’s to another few years of continued writing. 

Also, does anyone know how to search for Minecraft fics on AO3 that don’t include Youtubers? No matter how many tags I exclude they seem to be goddamn everywhere. 

Be civil in the comments below. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 3 

In the brief, but eventful time Talulah has had since leading her group of infected, she thought she had already seen much of the weirdness that Terra had to offer. From the bustling streets of Lungmen, to the frozen tundras of Ursus, she thought nothing would really surprise her anymore. She could not have been more wrong. 

CLANG

BOOM

BONK

Everything from explosions caused by giant blocks of what appeared to be red-coloured explosives to mysterious tridents flung around, which would then summon a strike of lightning were all witnessed by her. Not to mention Alex disappearing from view, only for a floating axe and shield to pop up out of nowhere every so often. Thankfully, however, assuming that the floating axe was her, those attacks were not directed at Talulah or her allies. 

“AHAHAHAHA! You’re so fun to fight against! Don’t die so quickly, I’m just gettin’ started!” 

Indeed, every so often, calls of glee like that would reverb around them, seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. To be honest, Talulah couldn’t help but feel unnerved every time she heard the laugh, however odd and potentially dangerous Alex may be, the blades fighting her weren’t having a great time either. 

“Unmask yourself! Fight with honour, you coward-” 

The blade in question who called that out was met by an axe to his arm for his troubles, he was quickly saved by the other blades before another strike could appear, but by then every blade was visibly worse for wear. Talulah turned to Patriot, having just decapitated another Ursus soldier attempting to charge them, the second wave of attackers so far. 

“Patriot! We need to go help her-” 

“No…let her be…we must…defend our own…” 

“But-” 

“The camp…is targeted…by their…snipers…we must eliminate…” 

Talulah grit her teeth in response, despite the clashes in methods the two often had, in tactical situations like these she knew he was usually right. She looked back one more time at the fight against the blades, turning back around just in time to see a blade stuck with what appeared to be spider webs…followed by a bucket of lava poured right next to him, slowly, but surely, encroaching on him… 

Talulah chose to ignore his alarmed cries as a floating axe prevented the other blades from rescuing him. Seeing once again that Patriot had a point, she quickly nodded and followed him. 

“L-let her handle them for now…” 

She could deal with whatever that was after, right now, she had to save her fellow infected. 

What manner of devilry was this?!

For what was supposed to be a simple mission, Sergei, loyal blade of the Emperor, felt that the difficulty they were facing right now was not what they expected at all. Their primary objective was to gauge the potential of the Daughter of the late Duke, perhaps wipe out her little insurrection in the process if need be. 

Now? They were facing something worse than the demons from the far north, the wounds on his body were something very few on Terra could accomplish…and he was not sure if another Emperor’s blade wouldn’t fall today.  

“Hack at the webs! She will come for us soon, we need to be ready and moving-” 

Following his orders, the blades under his command skillfully cut through the spider webs wrapping the feet of the trapped blade, this act managed to loosen them just enough for the man to escape, narrowly avoiding the lava. 

“Captain, I owe you-”

“The only thing you owe is to not fall into another one of her traps. Damn her, is she one of Columbia’s special forces? How could she match the five of us?” 

It was the only logical explanation. Sergei was not so arrogant as to believe they could best anything on Terra, the campaign against Higashi proved this, with his own former Captain being among one of the twenty who died in the ravine. However, for a single person? Even with all her traps, weapons and items…he did not know where she came from. Could she be…an Abyssal Hunter? Those walking catastrophes heard only in rumours? Even so, nothing on Terra matched her fighting style or appearance, they were fighting a true unknown, and those were often the most dangerous opponents.

“What? Are you guys tired already? Even though I can’t see very far, I can sure as hell see the five of you cunts looking all sorry-like. Never fought a girl before?” 

Sergei looked up, seeing that the auburn-haired headhunter was now visible. She stood not far from them, easily within striking distance with just a leap or two-

FWOOSH

Sergei dodged his head just in time, avoiding a flaming crossbow bolt sent his way from her, he watched her slowly lower her crossbow, now empty. He was about to order an attack, but his gut instinct told him something was wrong. Why did she shoot it? She knew they were going to dodge the bolt, he quickly turned to look behind him, only to hear a faint…hissing sound. 

Tssssssss

“Learned this trick from a show I watched called Manhunt, let’s see if they weren’t faking it.” 

Sergei turned to look back at the headhunter, her crossbow no longer seen in her hands, instead replaced by a fishing rod.  

 The line was cast, but the hook flew far above their heads, landing in the same direction as where the flaming bolt went. 

“Adios.” 

The line was reeled in, and Sergei saw a block of explosives, red and white, the same ones she used every so often before, flying directly at them. 

Unfortunately, the hissing turned out to be the explosives about to go off. 

“Oh.” 

So that’s what the bolt was for-

BOOM 

“That came from the main camp…” 

FrostNova pointed out, causing Talulah to turn her head in the direction she pointed at. 

“It must be her again, we need to head back, if we can’t drive them off, then we can at least buy time for non-combatants to evacuate.” 

Patriot nodded, the three of them having managed to rout the crossbowmen rather easily. Talulah had no joy in leaving a stranger, even if the one who saved Alina, by herself against five blades. She hated running, but against a force of nature like them? No, she had to be very careful, lest she end up dead before doing anything worthy of her efforts. 

They rushed back to the camp’s main entrance, various fighters including the Shieldguard and Yeti Squadron trailing behind them. Talulah realised when they were close that the sounds of intense fighting from earlier had ceased entirely, causing her to slow down. 

Did she lose? 

If she lost, then that was no surprise, though her feat of fighting five blades at the same time and holding her own should have made her a legend already. Talulah arrived, expecting to find Alex on the ground, with the blades remaining there, however…

“Hoooly shit! It actually worked, and here I thought the entire thing was scripted, maybe not, huh? Well, looks like you’re the last one still awake, not for long though.” 

There was a small crater on the dirt road, probably caused by the last explosion she heard. Four out of five blades were strewn out around it, lying on the floor, their clothing and armour ragged and damaged. Though the last blade was even worse, his right arm was missing, and his bleeding wounds were evident to all. Alex, this time with a blue crystalline pickaxe, stood menacingly in front of him, with practically no distance between the two. 

“Y’know, here I was thinking that maybe I had to use an 'End-Crystal', get a little bit serious. But regular old TNT works as well, who knew? Oh well, different tools, same results, you fought well and all that bullshit but you’re no Warden, despite being similar to it. Alright let’s put you outta your misery-” 

Alex raised her pickaxe in the air, ready to plunge the sharp end of it into the blade. Talulah made no action to stop her, still too stunned to really speak, but Patriot had other ideas. 

“Wait…!” 

The pickaxe stayed, and emerald green eyes slowly made their way over to stare at Patriot, surprise evident on her face. 

“So you aren’t a golem after all…sorry, mistook you for one earlier. Alright, why should I not introduce this guy to my mending pickaxe? He did lead a raiding party to your village, it won’t stop until they’re all dead.” 

Alex said it like just another commonly known fact, despite them having routed a large amount of attacking Ursus soldiers. 

“His…armour…will pollute…the land…” 

“His armour?” Alex looked back at the dark-steel armour the blade wore, this time with a much more curious eye. 

“Huh…so that’s how they got darkness, and I’m guessing if I destroy said armour, whatever is inside will escape?” 

Patriot nodded, causing Alex to sigh in response. 

“Similar to sculk, huh? Fuck, don’t really want to deal with that in the overworld…the hell is this data pack? What kinda world did I join…?” 

The pickaxe was no longer held above the blade’s head, instead being stowed…actually, it disappeared from view entirely, where did it go?! 

“You seem like you know these guys, what do we do with them?” 

As soon as she said that, the unmoving blades began to slowly get up, muffled groans accompanying their movements. None of them were in a position to fight any longer, but they still gripped whatever weapons they had on them with the intention to fight. Their dark armour had cracks on them, with miasma beginning to seep out from those. Patriot turned to the remaining blades. 

“Take your Captain…leave…you have…lost…this day…your lives…can still be…saved.” 

“The hell? You’re just letting them go?!” Alex cried out, and while not outright anger was on her face, she was very clearly annoyed. 

“We…will…compensate you…let them be…” 

Alex took a deep breath, clearly considering Patriot’s offer. 

“Hnnnnng-fine! Just fucking go, but if I see any of you fucks in this biome again I’m going after your goddamn Emperor, you hear me?!” 

“You dare threaten the great Emperor?!” 

“Yeah, never committed regicide before, but there’s always a first for everything.” 

Talulah stared at Alex digging an even deeper hole for herself, and the worst part? She could see her succeeding, anyone who won a 1v5 against the blades probably had that bragging right. What kind of monster had come to save them? 

The remaining blades knew they had been defeated, and thus quickly gathered their Captain’s body, before retreating once more back into the woods, limping and battered. 

The day was won, but Talulah did not feel like she had won anything. She did not get the chance to rest now however, for Alex approached them. Though she had undisputedly fought on their side, that did not mean she wasn’t an enemy, the enemy of an enemy may still be an enemy after all. 

She stopped right in front of Talulah, staring at her up and down, as if she was analyzing her for some reason-

“So, whatdya got to trade?” 

Huh? 

“So then, I’m just like, ‘I’m telling ya, there’s an entire bunch of unique looking villagers just beyond the ice biome!’ but they still won’t believe me, tried convincing a few others as well, blew me off as well. Anyways, that’s why I took so long to come back, also besides the whole hunting down the other Pillagers, you call them Ursus soldiers? Yeah, them, and burning down their mansion, all in a day’s work. I think those raids will cease for the time being.” 

Alina blinked at Alex, the two were sitting on a wagon of hey, the only spot not currently busily being worked on by her Infected comrades. So far, Alex had been describing why she was late, and to be honest she lost track of what she said pretty early on. The past few hours were an absolute whirlwind of events, from greeting Patriot and FrostNova back, to surviving an attack on their camp by an elite Ursus military force (according to Talulah) she had long since decided to just ‘go with the flow’ as the Victorian saying went. Well, okay, she was glad to see Alex again, especially after she arrived in their time of need, and apparently was their saviour? Wait, did she mistake their camp for a Village? Was she the hero of the camp now? 

She did not have all of the details, but the fast-spreading rumours included everything from willing explosions from thin-air to fighting five of the Emperor’s demons by herself, and winning. When Alina saw Alex with Talulah and Patriot, she noticed the wary looks those two gave to the redhead, their hands always close to their stowed weapons. 

“I-I see…but it means you’re back again, right?” 

“Oh yeah, totally, I was gonna trade with your leader, Tally? Tiffany? Ah, I suck with names, but she blew me off. Is she unemployed?” 

Alina involuntarily choked on nothing, no one had ever called Talulah unemployed before, but she couldn’t exactly say it was wrong…

The crossbowmen FrostNova had placed to watch Alex seemed to have heard it as well, judging by their faint, but audible snickering. The camp was in a flurry of activity, and in all honesty she should have been helping with those efforts, but Patriot had made it clear that she was to ‘host’ Alex for now. She was not stupid, she could understand exactly why, in their eyes, she was dangerous, even moreso than the Ursus forces who attacked them. 

“Oh hey, I’ve got a question.” 

“Hm? Yes?” 

“I keep hearing the word ‘infected’ thrown around this area, what does that exactly mean? Been trying to look for sick people, haven’t seen anything like that in the villages I’ve been to.” 

“D-do you mean Oripathy?”  

“Uh…maybe? I dunno, never heard of it?” 

Alina stared at Alex, what did she mean by that-

“Miss…Alex.” 

Patriot, flanked by two of his elite Shieldguards, appeared in front of them. Alina was so engrossed in her conversation that she didn’t even notice him approach. 

“Talulah…is ready…to speak with…” 

“I got it, save your voice, I can tell it hurts you to speak. Here, catch.” 

Alex threw a bottle, again, produced from out of nowhere, at Patriot who caught it swiftly. He inspected the bottle, inside it was a glowing, reddish liquid, similar to blood. 

“Pot of healing, it’ll fix up those injuries you have.” 

Patriot stared at it, Alina knew him long enough to know that he was eyeing it suspiciously. He glanced over at her, and she nodded, asking him to trust Alex. With her support, Patriot uncorked the bottle, before downing the entire bottle in one go. A brief haze effect enveloped him, before disappearing as soon as it appeared. 

“These are as powerful…as a confessor’s healing…” 

Even Alina could tell it worked, despite having next to no training in Arts. Patriot’s voice was instantly less gravel-like and clearer. Not to mention the pauses which were even shorter now, was this what he sounded before his infection? 

“Do you have more? Some of my men…are dying…” 

“Damn, how many villagers are in this village? Here, send one of your big guys to take these.” 

Alex brought out four bottles, this time slightly different in shape, but still filled with that reddish liquid. 

“These are the same thing, but splash. Ideally, you have the injured close together, then throw this in the middle of them, it’ll heal whoever’s caught in the radius.” 

It was an area of effect healing, Alina knew enough from their Arts-capable fighters to know what that meant, some of their medics had similar abilities. Patriot nodded, quickly assigning one of his Shieldguards to take the bottles from Alex. 

“You’re just giving them to us? Aren’t they…valuable?” 

She may not have known much of the world, having virtually grown up only in the Ursus countryside, but those things must have still been very valuable, any kinds of medicine were valuable in her old village after all. Especially ones that could treat Oripathy. 

“I can always make more, or buy more, depending on how lazy I’m feeling. A pot of healing isn’t exactly very valuable, if it was a ‘gaple’ then maybe, but it ain’t.” 

Alex hopped off of the cart, Alina following closely behind. The two then followed Patriot to their biggest tent, essentially acting as their ‘town hall’ as Alina liked to refer it by. Its style was decided by the former Ursus general, who had similar camps during his time in the Army. There weren’t many things inside of it, being pretty bare bones and utilitarian, not that they could have afforded anything better, let alone find anyone to trade furniture with them. They made do with what they had, such was life in the tundras. 

Upon entering the tent, Alina saw that most of the camp’s leaders were already present. Aside from herself, and Patriot who had just arrived, Talulah, FrostNova and Mudrock were already present, waiting and sat down at their meeting table, a ramshackle old long table that had seen better days. No one else was present, just the six of them. Alina suddenly felt a bit self-conscious, should she even be here? All she did was usually take care of the civilians…meetings like this were usually left to Talulah and Patriot. 

She was about to step out of the tent, but a pleading look from Talulah made her stay, she knew of her past already, but during the battle, her past was leaked to the wider camp; Alina knew how much she wanted to keep that part secret. So, she stayed, finding an open seat next to Talulah for reassurance. 

“Okay, what’s going on here? Some kinda village elder kinda deal or…?” Alex began talking, taking a seat on the far end of the rectangular table, directly across from Talulah. The Draco in question had a complicated expression, almost as if she didn’t know exactly how to respond. 

“Miss…Alex, was it?” 

“Yeah, that’s me.” 

“From the bottom of my heart, thank you for helping us in the battle, I understand that doing so would have put a enormous target on your back-” 

“Ah don’t sweat it, would killed them Pillagers even if they weren’t attacking.” Alex had a laid back attitude to all this, catching Talulah off guard, she wasn’t entirely sure how to respond judging by her expression. 

“A-are you sure? These ‘Pillagers’ are Ursus soldiers, they will not just simply let you go-” 

“Let ‘em come, it’s just a bad omen, they won’t have enough fighters to kill me.” 

Alex was 100% confident when she said that, for someone who basically just challenged the entire nation of Ursus, Alina stared at her with wide eyes, FrostNova also stared at her as well, as did Mudrock behind her suit. 

“...normally I wouldn’t believe anyone who said something like that. However, after seeing the aftermath of your battle, I am inclined to partially believe those words.” Talulah looked like she just remembered something, before quickly going back into a serious expression. 

“In any case, we would like to maintain a trading relationship with you, seeing as how you previously provided food and other materials to-” 

“Aight, sure.” 

“Just like that?!” Talulah asked, her mouth ajar. 

“Yeah, we trade, we both benefit, that’s how it’s been since like Beta 1.9?” 

“What?” 

“Nothing, nevermind that.” 

“I…see…I thought this would take a lot more negotiation-wait, what do you have for trade? I know you’ve traded food already but-” 

“Everything.” 

“Everything?!” Talulah couldn’t help but exclaim out loud in disbelief. Actually, come to think about it, Alex did trade other things in the village she first met her. But what did she mean by everything? 

“Medical supplies?” 

“Sure, gave some to that…guy over there already.” Alex motioned over at Patriot, who nodded in response. 

“Building materials?” 

“Wood, stone, iron and even beyond if you want.” 

“Weapons?” 

“Swords, bows, crossbows, axes, explosives. You name it, I’ve probably got it.” 

“Industrial equipment?” 

“If you’re talking about redstone stuff then sure, though I’m not an expert in it, I just dabble every so often.” 

“L-livestock?” 

“Cows, Pigs, Horses, Chicken and beyond. Though don’t you call them by other names here?” 

“W-what do you not have?!” 

“Nether stars and Netherite, though I can work on getting them for the right price.” 

Alina had no idea what those were, and judging by Talulah’s confused expression she had no idea either. 

“Just gimme a list of what you need, we can sort out the price on the day or something.” 

“R-right, I assume you’ll take LGD or Originium shards for them?” 

“The hell’s ‘LGD’? Some kinda drug?” 

Talulah looked at Alina, causing her to lean over and whisper in her ear. 

“She just accepted Originium shards last time…the villagers tried to pay with Rubles as well but she didn’t accept any of it. I don’t think she knows what Lungmen is…” 

That brought up even more questions, however. LGD was the most widely used currency in all of Terra, virtually every country, city and town accepted it, often even preferring it over the local currency. Alina thought back to their conversation just moments earlier, she also didn’t know what Oripathy was earlier, those two were things everyone on Terra should know about. 

And yet, Alex here spat in the face of that common knowledge, just where did she come from? 

“LGD is a currency, Lungmen Dollar, have you never used it? Have you…heard of Lungmen?” 

“Nope, I know it means ‘Dragon Door’ but I also assume you’re referring to a place. Am I supposed to know it?” 

“Enough, where…are you from?” Patriot’s voice authoritatively cut through the tent, his tone similar to one when ordering his fighters. He wanted to stop dancing around in circles, and ask the actual important question. 

“Oh, beyond the giant icefield biome, why?” 

“Impossible, nothing but demons…live beyond it.” 

Alex raised an eyebrow at Patriot, before leaning back on her wooden chair. “Well, that’s news to me, considering me and a bunch of my friends live beyond it. Am I a demon, then?” 

Alina may not have been very worldly, however she did know enough that beyond Ursus, other than the Sami who only occupied a small area next to them, there were no other countries. Ursus was as far north as one could get, no cities, towns or even villages existed beyond it. The tundra they lived in was next to the so called ‘Border of Civilization’, named so because no civilization existed beyond it, right? 

“No…but you claim to have fought… those demons before…”

“I did, we call them Ender mobs, though here it seems that the portal they go through gives them extra abilities. You’re lucky by the way, you don’t have to deal with the Nether opening portals and invading.” 

“...there are more of them?” 

“Potato potato, they’re just mobs to deal with. Anyways yeah, I live beyond the giant ice biome, though not gonna lie, it is considered the ‘frontier’, far away from zero-zero. That’s what you get for living a couple million blocks out from spawn…still not as far as the farlands though. Is that even still a thing? Hang on…” 

“S-sorry, she talks about random stuff like this sometimes…” Alina apologized to everyone there, having experienced Alex rambling about random stuff every so often already. Talulah on the other hand, was trying to process exactly what she said just now. 

“Are you saying…that beyond the endless icefield…is an entire other civilization?!” 

“Civilizations~there’s definitely more than one.” Alex helpfully replied, causing Talulah to abruptly stand up, while slamming the table. 

“WHAT?! That doesn’t, how- hubuh?!” Talulah didn’t know what to say, resorting to just stuttering something out. 

“Duh, did you think the world just ended at whatever chunks you know of? Huge metropolises…floating castles…underwater palaces…markets that encompass an entire mountain-that’s just the top of my head. I’d say the closest frontier town from here is Neo-New Elysium, probably like, two to three days out?” 

Alina had never heard of a town called that ever before in her life, there was no such thing as ‘Neo-New Elysium’ anywhere in this region. So either Alex was spinning an elaborate tale…or she was telling the truth. Alina suddenly thought of something, thinking back to their first encounter, when she gave her a bag of Originium shards for payment. 

“Alex? Where you come from…did you have Originium?” 

“You mean those black crystal things?” Alina nodded, but Alex shook her head casually. 

“Nope, the first time I encountered that mineral was after I crossed the icefield. Never seen anything like that in my long life.” 

Talulah, still standing up, started to unfurl the sleeves covering her right arm. Alina gasped, for that was where…

“Do these crystals seem familiar to you?” 

The table, except for Alex, watched as their leader held out her Infected arm for everyone to see, the black crystals reflected by the lamps in their tent. Alina was the only one to have ever seen them due to how close the two were. Alex’s blank and maybe bored expression told her everything she needed to know. 

“Is that like, a cosmetic thing or-” 

“A cosmetic-!” For the first time since the meeting, FrostNova finally said something, and it was in response to the indifference Alex showed to the most iconic symbol of Oripathy. Patriot quickly held her down however, causing her to sit back down, her scowling expression still remaining. 

“Whoops, sorry, touched a nerve there didn’t I? I suppose this is the Oripathy thing I keep hearing about, huh?” 

Talulah sat back down, covering her arm again. “We…infected, those who have symptoms of Oripathy like my crystals are persecuted across Terra, not just here in Ursus. I am trying to change that, but as you can see from the raid earlier, our efforts are very much unwelcome.” 

That was putting it mildly, but for an introduction to someone entirely unfamiliar with Terra, if Alex really was from beyond their civilization, then it was accurate enough. 

“Yeah…kinda got the vibe earlier from those blades, they don’t like Infected very much huh? Guess I stumbled into a little revolutionary village, didn’t I?” 

Alex scratched the back of her head, clearly looking troubled at something. Talulah sighed. “I understand if you’re having second thoughts on helping us now, it is a very tall ask-” 

“No, nothing like that. Alright, fuck it, why not? I have an offer for you.” 

A mix of emotions spread throughout the table, some were more weary than others. Alina however, perked her ears up, the last offer she had from Alex turned out to be very beneficial, and there wasn’t anything wrong with her; the liberal use of violence may be off-putting but Alex wasn’t that bad once she got to talk with her for a while. Talulah did not speak, instead waiting for the redhead to go on. 

“How about some of you follow me back to Neo-New Elysium? I’ve got an errand to run there anyways, I can guarantee you’ll find some folks willing to help with whatever you need there. Hell, I even know a damn good doctor living there, dunno if she can cure you, but if she can cure zombified villagers, she can probably do something about that Oripathy.” 

As soon as Alex finished giving her offer, no one at the table spoke, all clearly thinking on her words. After a while, Talulah raised her head up, looking at Alex directly. 

“Please, give us some privacy to think about it.” 

Alina watched as Alex casually got up, and left the tent. 

“We should not be so quick to accept, what if she’s a spy? I do not believe someone like that will come from the sky out of nowhere, she must be working for someone else-” 

Talulah quickly shot down FrostNova’s accusation, the girl had her heart in the right place, owing to the secrecy they had to operate in so far. But this was crossing the line, especially after what she had done. 

“If she was working for someone else, then fighting off five of the Emperor’s Royal Guards is an incredible ruse, so much so that she should have an award. No, while I do think we should exercise caution, we should also not alienate her entirely.” 

“...it could also be a ruse, you’ve heard rumours of the blades, who are said to infiltrate other countries, acting as the will of Ursus.” Talulah sighed at the Cautus, caution was one thing, but paranoia was another, and this was treading dangerously close to that. Their argument had gone on for half an hour already, any longer and she feared that the foreign stranger would leave, just like she did before. 

No, her instincts told her that she could not let this simply go, there was more to this, how much more was unclear, but she would be a fool to let this opportunity go. 

“If she wanted to destroy…us…she would have done so…Yelena.” 

FrostNova turned to Patriot with a concerned expression, “But-” 

“Her strikes were meant to kill…each one…she was not…faking them…neither were…the blades.” 

Back to this point again, Talulah felt as if they were arguing in circles. It all went back to disbelief, that there were simply ‘folks who could help’ in some frontier town beyond the icefield. Worst case, she was leading them to a trap, to be sold as slaves or worse. In the best-case scenario however…they would make contact with civilizations no one else in Terra had seen before. At least according to her knowledge. And if its inhabitants wielded power like Alex? 

Then maybe, her group could actually change the infected’s fate on Terra, for good. 

“How about I accompany Alex back to her town?” 

All eyes turned to Alina, who had not said much since the arguing began. Talulah instantly denied it, shaking her head before speaking it aloud. 

“No, last time was bad enough, and now you want to accompany a stranger, whom you only met once beyond Terra’s known borders? I refuse to let you go, this is too dangerous-” 

“Alex saved my life, twice now, have you forgotten that as well? When did we let paranoia and fear rule our decisions? Are we not supposed to be better? That is our dream, is it not?” Alina, when she had to put her foot down, did so with enough force to make everyone listen. Talulah wanted to retort, but any rebuttal died down when she saw Alina’s expression. 

“I-I can’t lose you again, that feeling was not pleasant, not at all.” 

“Then how about assigning someone to accompany me this time? If what Alex says is true, we’ll need extra backs to lug those supplies back anyways.” 

Talulah sighed, Alina spoke as if they were already going to send someone with Alex back. But this was why Alina was so influential in their group, she always saw the best in people, no matter how hard it was sometimes. 

“I can go, me and a squad of my best Yetis.” FrostNova spoke up, her eyes steeled and leaving no room for discussion. Before Talulah could offer alternatives, she spoke again. 

“I am the most well-suited for reconnaissance missions anyways, if we are going for a few days at most, my unit will be able to go through the harsh wilderness the fastest.” 

Patriot turned to look at FrostNova, but he did not say anything. No one said anything for a while after that, and so, Talulah did the only thing she could do now, bring it to a vote. It was what she did in situations like this before, where everyone there had exactly one vote. Thankfully they had an odd number, so ties were usually uncommon unless someone abstained. 

“For those in favour, raise their hands, for those not, stay their hands.” 

Alina had her hand up first, followed by Talulah, then Mudrock, Patriot, and finally, FrostNova, who slowly raised hers. It was a unanimous decision, they were to send Alina and FrostNova, along with a squad of Yetis with Alex. Truth be told, she still did not feel easy, but the camp situation was in dire straits, she could not afford to refuse an opportunity like this, no matter how fantastical it may sound. As she was about to go out and find Alex again, however, she realised that Mudrock had not said anything at all during this entire meeting. 

“Mudrock? Do you have anything to add?” 

The Sarkaz in the suit remained silent, only to shift in her seat uncomfortably. Did she have something to say? 

“I…wanted to ask if she had sugar available to trade…but it didn’t seem appropriate so I kept quiet, sorry.” 

Talulah pinched her nose, while Alina filled the tent with joyous laughter. At least someone found their situation funny… 

AN: 

2b2t vs all of Terra when

TNT will instantly kill you in Minecraft if you stand next to it without any armour, which is why using it with a fishing rod is a thing in PVP, though hard to pull off. Arknights ‘healing’ should also not be taken as face value, obviously Operators (lore-wise) don’t have the same HP system as Minecraft (people? players? builders?) do, so here I’m taking an interpretation on how one crossover item affects another universe. I choose to interpret it literally, healing does exactly what it says it does, it ‘heals’ them just like that, no bullshit involved. Just goes from hurt to not-hurt, simple as. If anyone’s wondering where the other Reunion higher-ups are such as Crownslayer and Skullshaterer, at this point in the timeline they do not appear to be part of the organization or are influential enough. That is also why Mudrock is present, when by Chernobog she had already left. 

I didn’t like the 1.8 combat system, I’m not gonna be sorry about it but if you prefer it that’s your opinion, I don’t get the visceral hate for liking the new one tbh. The new one just feels a lot more natural and tactical, but I guess it’s a matter of what you grew up with/prefer, the new one feels way more consistent compared with 1.8 imo. For most people not into the whole PVP scene like me, it probably fits better for us. But then again I was only ever into casual PVP, I never really touched stuff like Bedwars or the faction stuff all too often. 

On another note, at least Arknights has consistent lore, imagine trying to write a Honkai Star Rail fic, trying to find consistency for that is a goddamn nightmare with how vague a lot of it is. Should probably get back into it, considering there was a new update recently. I’d probably write a Reverse1999 fic first before that though, simply because I like that one a lot more. 

Be civil in the comments below, every comment I get is motivation to keep writing~

Chapter Text

Chapter 4 

“Rations?” 

“Check.” 

“Water?” 

“Enough for me alone.” 

“Winter clothes?” 

“It was the biggest coat I had on hand.”  

“...self-defence?” 

Alina gave FrostNova a deadpan stare, causing her to droop her ears down slightly. 

“I’m just ensuring every scenario is accounted for, Patriot taught me to plan-” 

“Plan for the worst, hope for the best. He says that to a lot of people, I’m sure everyone in the camp knows it by now.” 

The Cautus sighed, they were outside of Alina’s tent, making sure the last preparations before setting off were complete. With Alex becoming their sherpa through the frigid icy wastes, they had to waste no time in making contact with the frontier town supposedly just beyond the field. As it turned out, the raid did more damage than initially thought, and critical supplies like medical and shelter were hit particularly hard. The latter one recovered slightly, with Alex managing to build simple wooden log huts literally overnight for the more vulnerable members of the camp. 

Alina waking up to a giant log cabin next to them was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. How did she even build it without waking her up? Nope, better not to question it, she wasn’t going to understand the answer anyway. 

“I’m sure we’ll be fine, Alex built that cabin for you and your father, did she not?” Patriot and Yelena now had an entire cabin to themselves, with an indoor fireplace for heating to boot. The gesture was something the Yeti leader found hard to accept, but in the end, her father convinced them to move into it for the sake of his health. Though if Alina was right, it was also for hers as well. 

“She…did…and also the medicine…” Whatever medicine Alex gave Patriot, it seemed to restore the general’s health to great lengths. FrostNova was particularly interested in that, asking Alex for further healing items temporarily, even if she had to go into debt for it. Unfortunately, the ones Alex gave Patriot were her last ones, she had more, but they were at her residence. 

“Having some trust is good, Yelena. We cannot shut away the world entirely, this fight we have is not winnable by ourselves. Besides, didn’t Alex mention that doctor friend of hers? Maybe there will be some special remedies you can get at the town?” 

FrostNova took a deep breath, calming down. “You’re right…fath-Patriot has told me to not be so rash. I see that you’ve prepared to leave, I will go meet with my squad, after which we will depart in fifteen minutes from now.” 

She left, walking back to the barracks section to meet with the elite Yeti squad members accompanying her on this journey. Just as she herself was about to leave for the main entrance, however, Patriot emerged from behind one of the cabins, somehow having evaded Yelena’s enhanced senses. 

“Alina.” 

“Patriot? I see, checking on her before we leave I assume?” 

The hulking Wendigo nodded, whenever they were talking Alina usually had to arc her head up to even make eye contact. 

“I was…but, I have a request to make.” 

Alina nodded, and Patriot made his request. “When you get to…the town…if there is…medicine for infected…make her take it first. Do not…have her save it…for me.” 

“You know she isn’t going to listen, right?” 

He nodded, out of everyone in the camp, he knew her the best after all. “Her condition is…getting worse…Alex has told me…of a ‘Golden Apple’...her people use…to treat serious illnesses. Ask the doctor, she knows for…help.” 

Alina remembered seeing Patriot talking with Alex last night, presumably when she was clearing an area for those cabins. This must be what they were talking about last night… 

“I understand,” she nodded, “I will do my best, but that girl is…stubborn to say the least. I will make sure she gets some medicine regardless.” 

“I thank thee. Now go…dawn is fast…approaching.” 

Saying her goodbyes to Patriot, she picked up her large backpack, repurposed from a slain Ursus soldier’s kit, and headed towards the main entrance. The agreement was to meet there, and then head out once dawn came. To be completely honest, she did not get much sleep that night, too busy thinking about what could potentially come. What was Alex’s home like? What kind of peoples, animals, landscapes and civilizations existed beyond what she knew? Though Alina may never have left Ursus in her lifetime, this was still equally exciting and harrowing to think about. 

“There she is!” 

Looking up, Alina saw Alex, along with FrostNova and four of her Yetis, already waiting for her. She was the last one to arrive, seeing them it made her realize that she was the only non-combatant in the entire group. Hopefully, Alex’s home was peaceful, though considering her battle prowess, it was best to think otherwise. 

“Alright, looks like everyone’s here. I’m gonna begin the briefing now.” Alex stood before them, a few curious watchers also stood from a fair distance away. 

“First, we head to the beginning of the icefield just North of us. From there, I have a method to quickly take us across. Then it’ll be through a cave system, shouldn’t be dangerous that one, I’ve explored most of it already. And finally, we should make it back to my place around dusk, rest for a night, and then head into the town the very next day. Any questions?” 

No one said anything, the briefing was already decided on last night, Alex was just repeating it for clarity. “Alright, there are no questions, we’re going to head out now. The quicker we leave, the faster we’ll get to my place.” 

Alex turned her heels in the opposite direction and began walking. From behind them, the camp watchers began giving their goodbyes and waving, Alina tried to scan for Talulah’s presence, but she was nowhere to be found. It may perhaps been for the best, as tensions were running high right now, especially after her secret of being a Kaschey had been found. She and Patriot were going to have their hands full managing things while they were away, it almost made her want to stay, but duty called, and she had to do it for their future. For Talulah’s dream, and her own. 

With the snow crunching beneath her boots, she took her first steps on a journey beyond Terra. 

From the one remaining watchtower leftover from last night’s raid, Talulah watched Alina and her escorts set forth from the camp. While she wanted to be there, Patriot, ever the general, had convinced her that being there may have been bad for morale considering the revelations out in the open. She sighed, only for the Wendigo to place a hand on her shoulder. 

“Trust, in them.” 

“I do, Patriot, I do…let’s hope they’ll come back safely…” 

No, they weren’t just going to come back safely, they were going to come back to an even better camp. Talulah was not just going to give in, not when she had this brief respite from further raids. She was going to take this opportunity to make sure her ideals were known, with every infected under her banner loyal to it, all so that their reunion would be all the happier. 

Hm. Reunion…

It wasn’t a bad name for her ideals, not at all…

Living so close to the border of civilization meant that the region Alina lived in was among the coldest in all of Terra. During the winter months, snowstorms blowing in from the ice fields meant that the environment was harsh to survive in, let alone thrive. And yet, there were still people who lived there, though not a lot, as the scattered Villages were testament to. 

Three hours of walking from their main camp later, with occasional breaks and conversations about Neo-New Elysium, they reached the beginnings of the ‘Infy Icefield’, and she could see why it was called that. As far as the eye could see, there was simply ice, no trees, forests or even mountains for that matter could be seen beyond it. 

Turning to FrostNova, Alex began talking to the entire group. “We’ll continue the talk about what ‘Redstone’ is later, right now, I’ll need everyone’s attention…alright, good. Listen up! Crossing this by foot will take a couple of days at least, and because we don’t have that time, we’ll be taking a boat across.” 

Alina and FrostNova looked at each other, both asking themselves if they heard Alex wrong. Even as she placed down a wooden blocky table, complete with tools and a 3x3 mat on top of it, neither of the two could find it in them to ask the obvious question. Though they didn’t need to in the end, for one of the Yetis asked aloud for them. 

“Don’t boats need…water to sail on?” 

Without looking away from her crafting table, Alex responded. “That’s where you’re wrong, kiddo.” 

“Did she just call me a kiddo? I’m like, middle aged-” 

“Alright, everyone get into one of these boats!” 

In a few moments, four wooden row boats, each perfectly identical with one another appeared on the frozen ground in front of them. The four were connected by what appeared to be a lasso of some sort, there were just enough to fit the seven of them, but what exactly was the point of that? Wait, no, Alina realised it now, Alex was going to do something insane again, wasn’t she? 

“If I were smart, I’d just set up a Nether Portal system to go to and fro, but I only recently discovered this new biome and I’m quite lazy, so this is the fastest method I got instead. Luckily for us, this entire biome is all blue ice, meaning we’ll be zooming across the entire field like a bullet train would. This is how I usually get here anyways.” 

Alex went to go sit in the lead boat, but no one else moved to sit on any boat. FrostNova had the expression of someone realising that they had been duped, while the Yetis were hanging behind her, awkwardly shuffling around. 

“Come on, don’t you want to head into the town? Time’s ticking, you don’t want to be caught outside at night.” 

Alina had to show initiative, or this entire journey could end prematurely. Walking ahead of FrostNova, she sat on the second boat, before gesturing for her to do the same. While the Cautus had a visible scowl, directed at Alex who didn’t seem to realize, she nevertheless sat behind Alina, with the rest of the Yetis occupying the remaining ones. 

“What am I even doing…?” FrostNova mumbled, a defeated tone in her voice. 

“We’re all in? Okay, remember to keep your hands and legs inside the boat at all times, and grab on tight, especially if you’re at the back!” 

Alex began rowing, her two paddles crunching themselves on the cold, hard ice below. Just as FrostNova scoffed, however, about to get up from the boat, a sudden jolt of acceleration forced her back on it, making her clutch the sides of the wooden boat tightly. 

“What the-” 

Alina instinctively gripped the sides as well, the acceleration was not stopping, in fact, it was actually INCREASING-

“The acceleration is the hardest part, we’ll reach top speed soon!” 

Then why was it continuing to increase in speed?! 

Wind began to batter her face, but it was not from the icefield, it was from the speed at which she was now travelling at. Managing to sneak a look back, in the few seconds since Alex began rowing, the could only barely make out the table she placed down…even the forest was beginning to fade into the distance- 

“This is way faster than a car! Too fucking fast!” 

“As if you’ve ever been in one!” 

The passing landscape went by in a blur, the fastest thing Alina had ever rode on was a wagon, and this was definitely not a wagon, not at all. She was hurling towards her high-speed death, and she closed her eyes, not being able to bear seeing whatever wall of ice they could crash into. 

“Aaaaand that should be top speed, it’s all smooth sailing from here. Hah, sailing, get it? Alright that’s your entertainment done, by the way, check out that landscape.” 

Alina heard Alex’s voice, despite the wind howling in her ears. She slowly opened her eyes, only to realize the prior bumping and acceleration had…stopped. The boat was smooth, very smooth, as if they were not moving at all. The ground and landscape around them said otherwise, however, though now she could get a better look at it since the fear of crashing and dying was over. 

All around them, like the previous view, was infinite snow and ice. However, strange structures of ice, towers and mounds of it dotted the path surrounding them, there was even a crater the size of Chernobog which they passed by. Alina had seen the moving city once before when it passed by her old village many years ago. The entire time, Alex continued to row, seemingly uncaring of her feat. She didn’t know anyone who could row on ice, but then again she also built that stone wall in mere minutes the first time they met. Feats like this were going to happen in the future, wasn’t it? She continued looking at the scenery for a few more minutes until the passenger behind her spoke. 

“What is that?” 

FrostNova asked aloud, pointing to her left. Alina had to squint to see it, the sun reflected its light too much for her to get a good look. It appeared to be a giant metal ring, just strutting out randomly in the open field of ice. The top right section appeared to be damaged, but other than that it just appeared to be a giant metal ring in the open, though it was a fair distance away from them. 

“Oh, that? It’s a Redstone portal thingy. You know those End Mobs I was talking about last night? Yeah, they were coming out of it when I first discovered the thing, I went inside and cleared out the mobs. Then came back out and shut it down, all I had to do was break a few Redstone circuits, could probably turn it back on for an easy End Portal but that’s for later. Right now it’s just a ring of scrap iron, though whoever built it knew their Redstone engineering pretty well, it even had Command Blocks as well.” 

Alina had no idea what was just said, and neither did FrostNova judging by her silence. If she said it was just scrap metal, however, it was probably harmless, no need to overthink things she didn’t understand. Alina was good at taking care of people, and that was all that mattered most of the time. 

“And what of the demons! Patriot mentioned those to me yesterday!” 

FrostNova shouted her question at Alex, as the wind made listening to her somewhat difficult. Alina remembered those ‘demons’ Patriot warned them about last night, though he didn’t get to them in detail for some reason. Almost as if he wanted them to know as little as possible, with the only course of action they should do in case of encountering them being ‘run’. 

“They’re cleared out! This path I’m taking at least is, dunno about other parts, maybe they’re still there? They aren’t too hard to fight though, just watch out for them teleporting, and don’t look any of them in the eye!” 

FrostNova looked at Alina, who simply shrugged at her. It was best to listen to her, since she fought them regularly, not them. Alina continued to ride on the smooth boat, enjoying the scenery every so often, taking a few bites of her rations if need be. It was actually somewhat pleasant, she expected travelling this fast would have been extremely bumpy, but so far it was entirely smooth sailing, aside from the wind of course. 

Another half an hour of travelling later, Alex stopped rowing, and she began feeling their speed dropping. 

“Should be able to the see big cave strutting out…over there.” 

Alex gestured to the front, revealing a mountain range, entirely made of ice in front of them. She was about to ask if they were going to climb it, only to see a large hole directly in front of them. Didn’t Alex mention having to go through a series of caves to reach her house? 

Coming to a stop, they slowly got off the boats, stretching their legs right before the hole in the mountain. There were torches, somehow still lit, placed along its path, she couldn’t see too far into it, but Alina assumed the path they were taking was similarly lit. 

“I actually used some TNT to blast through this hole, so that’s why you’re seeing so many ice blocks scattered around the hole, found this pretty much on accident. Here’s the next leg of our journey, and while it is pretty much safe, it never hurts to be prepared.” 

Alex hopped down onto the stone entrance of the cave, before turning back around to face them. 

“Come on, I’ll tell ya as we go, time’s not on our side, you can gawk at it later!” 

She went further into the cave, causing FrostNova to begin walking next. 

“Tight formation, call out if you see anything…I don’t think this cave is as simple as it sounds…” 

Alina sighed, what was the worst that cou-no, bad, she shouldn’t jinx it… 

If she was being honest with herself, FrostNova hated caves. They reminded her of her past, as a infected Originium slave miner, where she along with her entire family were sentenced to, all because of a ‘crime’ she herself did not even remember. The dark stone, endlessly shuffling miners who were one collapse away from death and the haunting laughter of her Ursus guards, who toyed with their lives for fun were all things she associated with the underground. It was not a pleasant experience, and here she was, going through those familiar, yet painful parts of nature once more. 

The moment Alex mentioned going through a cave system, she immediately started regretting her decision to be a part of this expedition. She witnessed firsthand the ‘miracle’ medicine given to her father, and the effects it had on their wounded could not be denied. The only reason she willingly came along was because of Alex, and her promise of finding more medicine and a doctor who could potentially treat Oripathy. Treat, not cure, she did not believe a cure existed, but at the very least the suffering she and her fellow infected faced could be relieved. 

However, there was something odd about this cave they were in. It was fully natural, the mines she worked at before had to be excavated by hand, this cave and its interior ravines were entirely naturally made, almost as if they were created to look that way. Not to mention, these caves began to look…squarish, that was the only word she could describe them by. They were still definitely underground, but those rocks definitely should not be so uniform in appearance-

“And to your left, is an abandoned mineshaft, very spooky, who built them? Nobody knows, but underground they’re a great source of wood if you need it. Say, like you forget to bring sticks for torches, those are able to be used in a pinch-” 

They must have been walking for two hours at this point, Alex was acting as if she was a tour guide the entire way. Pointing at various things that didn’t quite make sense or rare minerals. For example, she had never seen or heard what ‘Lapis Lazuli’ was until today, it was pretty, and Alex let her keep a rock of that mineral she found in a chest. Apparently it was used in their Arts rituals? She said something about ‘enchantment’ but all of that rambling was entirely lost on her, if it was valuable though, she could sell it for supplies, that was why they were here after all. 

“And here we are, the giant ravine or cavern, that marks the three-quarters point to the exit. Not so scary, huh?” 

The entire way through was thoroughly lit, she did not know how, but each torch did not go out, and they have been placed there for a long time. Were her torches lit forever? If so, it was a fearsome Arts ability-

“Whoops, missed an ore of gold, just let me mine that-” 

Their redheaded guide took out her pickaxe from thin air, brief flash of her life back in the Originium mines aside, she appeared to be intent on taking the ore of gold out. FrostNova grimaced, mining that would take at least half an hour, adding to their already extensive travel time. Based on her prior experience working in the mines, an ore of that size was too big for just Alex to-

Dohc Dohc Dohc

Pop 

“Thanks for waiting, let’s continue on…” 

FrostNova had never seen such bullshit before, did she just mine an entire cubic meter-sized gold ore in two seconds?! It took miners their combined efforts to even mind a single chunk of Originium ore without it exploding, with the mining process being a guarantee for instant Oripathy. Here Alex was, just fucking mining a similar-sized mineral effortlessly?! Her jaw hung open, as she stared at the foreigner in a mixture of awe, and anger, however misplaced it may have been. 

She turned to Alina, who had a simple smile on her face. “You’ll get used to it.” 

Was she ever going to? 

“My advice? Just accept it and move on, thinking about it too hard won’t get either of us anywhere.” 

Alina soldiered on, witnessing and accepting it much better than FrostNova herself did, wasn’t she the one responsible for protecting her? Why did it feel like the other way around right now? 

“Euuurggh” 

“What was that?” 

She stopped, drawing her daggers at the odd sound she just heard. It sounded like…a guttural moan of some kind, she was sure it didn’t come from any of them, but from further in front of them. 

“Huh? Wait, oh, I hear it. I know what it is, come on, I was gonna wait until we got to another part, but this’ll do.” Alex gestured for them to follow. The Yetis, seeing their leader with her weapons drawn, also drew their own swords to be at the ready. Going a few dozen metres further, they eventually came upon a junction, with one path lit, and the other completely dark. 

“If you’ll come over here, just on the ledge, careful to not fall down, you will see a regular sight in the Overworld that don’t really appear in your chunks for some reason. I guess you have your own hostile mobs? Either way, come and take a look, it’ll be important for when we get out the other side.” 

FrostNova carefully peered over the ledge, and what she found was- 

“Guuuurgh”

“The most common, or one of the most common hostile mobs in the Overworld, the humble zombie.” 

It had green skin, wore a blue shirt and dark jeans, arms outstretched at them. It saw them, and began making lunging motions at them, but the height difference between them made it all but impossible. FrostNova stared at what she could only call a monster, perhaps it may once have been a regular person, but all semblance of life was missing from what she saw right now. It unnerved her, looking at those cold and lifeless eyes. 

“They might not be very tough, however, the real problem comes when they form hordes, so try not to attract too much attention. Uh, also should mention, since you’re villagers there may be a chance that you’ll also turn into them when attacked, like say it scratches or bites you. However, zombification is 100% curable, so don’t worry about it.” 

“It’s infectious?!” 

“Yeah, but again, it’s curable, so don’t worry. We can tie you up and take you to a doctor if you do get infected. I’m immune to it though, we just die once we get killed by them.” 

FrostNova finished processing her words, and had to ask another question. “...don’t people die when they are killed?” 

Alex thumbed at herself with a grin. “Not this one, I’m too good to be killed.” 

She despaired, for they were trusting a genuine lunatic to guide them through the cave. The consideration to immediately leave and head back out the other way was strong, but Alina placed another comforting hand on her shoulder, however cold it might be. 

“You’ll get used to her.” 

That was the second time she heard that today, and she was nowhere near comfortable with Alex, quite the opposite actually. 

Thwack

“Euuugh.”

They looked back at Alex, and at the ‘zombie’, the latter was nowhere to be found. Alex had her signature axe in hand, wait, where was its corpse? 

“C’mon, let’s keep moving, we’re nearly out into the Overworld, I reckon it’s about afternoon…” 

They continued on, with Alex pointing out various things, and rambling even more about various things. She tried her best to remember the things she said, because now she knew they were probably true. Things like ‘Ancient Cities’ and the ‘Deep Dark’ kept popping up, but she didn’t quite understand Alex’s ramblings about them, especially in regards to having to raid them for some reason. What did wool have to do with it? 

Eventually however, their downward journey started to plateau, followed by them beginning to head up. By her estimates, they were probably deep underground for most of it, with deepslate being a common sight at certain points. She remembered how difficult it was to mine Originium around it, with that rock being particularly hard to break through. Ironic, her past knowledge was becoming useful now of all times…

The climb up was tough, with steep edges and other hazards like sharp dripstones to worry about, but eventually, they could see the light at the end. Sunlight, not the light from torches. The first thing FrostNova noticed as she headed towards the exit was… 

Warmth. 

Despite her Arts having a constant chilling effect on her, she felt the warm winds on her face, blowing gently as she neared the light. The Tundra she lived in, even during Summer, had constant cold winds blowing in. But here? For the first time since she could remember, she actually felt warmth, and not a distant memory. 

The lights still blinding her, she covered them for a few moments, trusting her own instincts to avoid tripping, and then she felt it. She was no longer stepping on hard stone, but soft, green grass. 

“Welcome back to the surface, mighty different from where you were, ain’t it?” 

She opened her eyes, and they were greeted by a forest. 

A vibrant, lush green forest, trees swaying in the wind, animals she did not recognize milling around, a clear sky, no snowstorms or icy hazes blocking it and most importantly, the warmth, again. She looked behind her, the mountain range of ice was nowhere to be seen, the cave they came out of was also relatively small compared to the forest surrounding them. Such a drastic change was not possible, this place should also have been an icy tundra as well, so how was it not?! 

“Yeah, with those caves you often end up in other biomes without even realising. They can stretch on for chunks on end, and whatever exit you come out of could be something else entirely, case in point. We’re in a bog standard forest biome right now, lots of Oak trees, some Birch mixed in, perfect for any beginner to go through. Spawned in one of these for my first world, actually.” 

“What?” 

“Oh look, we’re ahead of schedule.” 

Alex pointed at the sun, by her estimates, she had a few hours until dusk, being right in the middle of the afternoon. 

“Well, we won’t need to hurry back to my place, how about taking a leisurely stroll? My house is built next to a lake, we can take the scenic route back there. Anyone interested?” 

No one said anything, still not sure how to answer. 

“I’m not hearing any no’s, scenic route it is! Follow me, or get left behind!” 

FrostNova had questions, questions that needed to be answered. Just as she was about to call out however, she remembered the advice she was given before. 

Just get used to it. Just get used to it… 

And so, Yelena took her first steps, in this strange and somewhat-squarish shaped land, hopefully there weren’t going to be any more surprises in the future, she wasn't sure if her sanity could take it. 

AN: 

Boat speed on blue ice can reach speeds of 260 km/h, which is faster than the first ever Shinkansen trains, which ran at around 210 km/h. Minecraft logic is whack. 

Anyways, journey from Terra to beyond over, who knew it only took one chapter? They will be going to see Alex's home and rest for a night in the next chapter, followed by the beginnings of Neo-New Elysium where Alex's 'Friends' will be introduced. I have absolutely no plan for where this story is going to go, but we'll see what comes organically, might even set up a few polls if I ever figure out how to do one. 

Be civil in the comments below. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 5 

AN: This chapter contains a mild mini spoiler for what Originium actually is, if you don’t care then ignore this message. 

“Um, Alex?” 

“Yeah?” 

“I keep hearing some faint music, is there a village celebrating nearby?” 

“It’s just the Overworld music, turn it off in Music & Sound Options.” 

“W-what? Wait, it’s going away now…” 

Alina chalked up that song she heard to another part of this land’s unique quirks. So far, however, she could only describe the area where Alex lived as idyllic. There was no coldness, nor was it too hot, there were no rough mountains to go through or military checkpoints to pass. It was just a forest, filled with trees that were called Oak. She wanted to climb them, but other priorities were more important, though that sense of exploration she had as a child somehow came back in full force now. However that didn’t mean she wasn’t curious about some other things, such as…

“Alex, who owns this land? Do you own it?” In Ursus, all land was owned by the government, and if not owned by the government, it went to the local nobility. She could think of very few instances in which a commoner like herself legally owned their own land. Cases of forced eviction all of a sudden were not at all uncommon, usually at swordpoint by the local garrison. Land as pristine and vibrant as this…would have been owned by some noble, using it as their personal hunting grounds if she had to guess. 

“Huh? Hell no, I don’t own the entire biome, what kinda question is that? Maybe if you head to the big cities there are plot arrangements, like those Towny worlds, but here? This far into the wild, it’s just you, and what you yourself can make of it. If you see it unclaimed, then it’s yours to keep, and build.” 

Alina and FrostNova shared a look, the latter had been listening to their conversations as well. 

“T-Then, in theory, if our entire camp moved here, no one would bother us?”

“Eeyup. Well, there are the local hostile mobs you have to contend with, but otherwise, if you’re talking about armed groups, there are really only the Pillagers to worry about. But those raids can be defeated easily, or you just ask for help, I’ll be there to take their heads anytime.” 

That reminded her of the Ursus Captain she witnessed dying from Alina’s axe, she quickly fought down the bile before turning back to her with a smile. 

“I-I see…thank you for enlightening us…these rules are…unique for us.” 

“Anytime. Want an apple? Picked it fresh from a tree back there.” 

Alex held a massive apple in her hands, it was twice the size of regular apples, not that much smaller than her own face. 

“Oh, um, thank you, but this is quite big for myself to-” 

“Give it to me.” FrostNova held her hand out, catching the thrown apple. She threw the comically large apple in the air, drawing her dagger and slashing it twice, the apple split into four perfectly equal parts. 

“Wow, you can do that with apples? I usually just eat the whole thing myself in one go.” 

Taking a piece, Alina only had a light lunch, most of the fresh food was left back at the camp. The moment she bit into the apple, her ears stood upright, they were the sweetest apples she had ever tasted in her life. They weren’t mushy as well, they were firm and had a certain bite back into them, the apples her Village grew were often small and sour due to the harsh environment. She loved these apples, if only Talulah was here to share in them… 

“Okay, just beyond the corner is my house, you’ll have noticed the farms of wheat and other crops by now, that’s all mine, and ready for harvest. My house isn’t that big though, so if you feel like it’s cramped, let me know and I’ll try making some adjustments.” 

Alina nodded, the fact that Alex was graciously letting them use her house was enough, and now she was playing host to them as well. As they walked through the fields of wheat, berries, carrots and…this squarish green block with a vine attached to it, she couldn’t help but think of how much food these fields alone could feed. No wonder Alex had food in abundance to trade, followed by her unique transportation method using Arts she called an ‘inventory’. 

Turning the corner, where a small mound was blocking their view of her house previously, Alina stared with a stone-faced expression as Alex swung an arm out at her ‘house’. 

“Welcome to my place, it’s not much I know, but for a night or two it’s good enough to live in.” 

(Source: https://www.planetminecraft.com/project/huge-wooden-plains-mansion-with-interior-design/ )

Judging by FrostNova abruptly stopping as well, she too was probably staring at the mansion she called a ‘humble house for one’ in last night’s discussions. It was a mansion, there were three floors, a stone and iron gate surrounding it and probably a lavish interior inside. 

“It is a mansion.” FrostNova said in an even tone. 

“Mansion? Naw, this is a house.” 

“It has three floors. Even the local nobility in our region won’t have a house as grand as this.” 

“Really? I think it’s quite small, I considered doing a major expansion but put it off in favour of a future floating castle project, see that floating island behind it?” 

Oh yes, they saw it. The floating island behind the mansion was filled with pink trees, Alina didn’t even know trees could be pink. Was Alex saying she wanted to build on that? 

“...are you a noble?” FrostNova asked carefully, causing Alex to scoff in visible disgust. 

“A noble? Do I look like some stuck-up limey asshole to you? It’s bad enough that their king is on my dollars…don’t need to be like those cunts as well…what kinda question is that?” 

Alina laughed while adjusting the collar of her shirt nervously. Her attempts to get FrostNova to stop were met by indifference, she understood why the girl may not have trusted nobles, but now was not the time to start anything. Thankfully, however, Alex moved on rather quickly, sauntering her way over to the front entrance. 

“If you think this house is big, you haven’t seen anything yet. Alright, come on in, make yourself at home yadadada. I’ll get started on dinner prep and get you all a guest room to sleep in. If the first one doesn’t work out, just pick another one, out of the dozen beds I have here at least one should catch your eye.” 

All her life, Alina had only one bed, after escaping with Talulah, she wasn’t even guaranteed one for many days. Following Alex in, careful to avoid the grazing cows and sheep just outside, the Terrans entered into the ground floor of her not-mansion.

(Source: https://www.planetminecraft.com/project/huge-wooden-plains-mansion-with-interior-design/ )

Entering the lavish, but not overly gaudy interior, they were greeted by a wide open space that seemed to go against their knowledge of conventional house building. Despite that, it seemed to be inviting and cosy enough for Alina to visibly relax, hanging up her coat on a nearby hanger. Since stepping out from the cave, the warm weather meant that she just needed to wear her shirt, jarring as it may have been, it certainly felt nice to be in.

“Just watch your step when heading up, don’t mess with the stuff inside the chests, toilets are in your rooms. I’ll call y’all when dinner is ready, take a walk around the area, whatever. Just be back before sunset, you wouldn’t want to be caught outside lacking.” 

Alex went off somewhere, leaving them alone and awkwardly looking at each other. It wasn’t until when Alina started speaking that they moved further into the house. 

“Everyone, how about we get comfortable? I am sure there are many things to prepare for and see here…” 

The look FrostNova was giving her was anything but comfortable. 

“This fowlbeast is amazing!” 

“Who has the stew?! Give it over here!” 

“These potatoes…they actually have taste to them!” 

“Can someone pass the ‘salmon’ over here?!” 

When Alex told Alina to come upstairs for dinner, she expected a modest amount of food. In the camp where she resided, food often depended on what they had on hand. If Patriot’s fighters managed to attack an Ursus supply convoy? Great, they had an abundance of rations to use for a while. Though in particularly tough times, the food they had could potentially be limited to boiled porridge with wilted vegetable leaves for dinner. Before her, however, was a feast by any standard. 

Stretching as far as the table could hold were dishes of all kinds, meats, vegetables…and even desserts like pies and cakes; made with real sugar. Apparently, Alex had a sugar farm as well, meaning that Mudrock could have actually traded for the sweet delicacy if she so wanted. Alina made a mental note to bring some of it back to her on their return trip. FrostNova’s Yetis, who showed great professionalism befitting being trained under Patriot, lost all sense of it when they started eating. This was their real personalities, shining through during personal moments, even their leader wasn’t immune. 

“Carrots. More.” 

Alina scooped a large serving of oven-baked carrots into her bowl, which were promptly devoured. Her prior coldness seemingly melted away entirely. Wait, even being near her did not feel as cold anymore, remembering what happened to Patriot after eating Borsch made from Alex’s beets, did food from her land have a healing effect? 

“This might sound racially offensive, but rabbits aren’t actually supposed to eat that many carrots because of their high sugar content. You might want to moderate-nope, okay I can see her glare, never mind.” Alex pointed out, only to have the Cautus in question level an icy-cold glare at her. Now that she pointed it out, Alina saw that her plate was filled with sweets, from pies to fresh fruit like ‘Watermelon’ and sweet berries. Alina scooped a spoonful of savoury mashed potatoes onto her plate for balance. Despite being the leader of the Yeti Squadron, FrostNova was only sixteen years of age, barely considered an adult in most of Terra, and she was reflecting that right now. Alina imagined she didn’t get many chances to do so during missions. 

And what of their gracious host? Alex was just watching all of it go down with some amusement on her face, Alina felt the need to lean in and apologize. “They aren’t usually this rowdy…” 

Alex waved her off while taking a bite of her steak made from something similar to a Burdenbeast called a ‘Cow’. “Whatever, it’s been kinda lonely here recently, peaceful as it is, too much quiet can get boring. Besides, from their appearance, it looks like they could use the food more than I do.”

Most of the Yetis were other infected miners FrostNova and Patriot liberated, and as such, their prior treatment sometimes showed itself quite easily. Alina finished off the rest of her plate, what she ate today being minuscule compared to the sugar fiend beside her. The rest of the Yetis were also eating as if there was no tomorrow. 

“Finished eating?” Alex asked, to which Alina nodded. 

“Great, hope you enjoyed it. Hey, uh, I’ve got a question to ask about the Originium you traded me way back when, mind if you could answer a few questions?” 

Alina gave her a nervous smile, unlike the more technologically or Arts-capable members of her camp, asking her about Originium was like asking someone who used an electric blender how Originum was used to power mobile cities. She felt FrostNova gently tap her shoulder, turning around, she could see the Cautus gesturing to herself while chomping down on another piece of pumpkin pie.

“Well…I’m not the best at all of that stuff, FrostNova here knows a lot more about it than I do however-” 

“Not here, I keep all my Originium in the ore room, let’s head up.” 

Alex got up, prompting Alina to do so as well. FrostNova was about to bring her plate along with her but was stopped by the Elafian before she could get too far. Manners were manners, and despite the pouting she gave her, they had to respect them in someone else’s home.

Following their host, the two quickly caught up and followed Alex upstairs, eventually leading them past other chests and rooms with labels she did not really understand. What was the ‘Enchanting’ room for and why was there a floating book in the middle of it? Though they eventually stopped at a door with an iron door, Alex had to push a button to let them inside. 

“This is probably the most valuable room in the house, got all my important metals and gems in here. Which is why the Iron Door was installed, mostly for targeting creepers rather than other players. Here we go, Originium, what can you tell me about this?”

Alex opened a chest, inside was a bottom abyss of pure darkness, but somehow she could always find exactly what she wanted just by reaching in. FrostNova swore it was some form of advanced Arts, like everything else she had seen, but something told Alina this was just how it worked here. Alex then held placed down a block, similar to those blocks of wooden planks from before, but this time made entirely out of… 

“...that is the biggest chunk of Originium ore I have ever seen in my life.” FrostNova said Alina’s thoughts out loud. The black and yellowish glowing rock was Originium ore, but she had never seen one as big as that before, the Tundra villages often used it as a currency every so often. 

“I’ve got a whole stack of these Originium ore blocks, but I can’t seem to find a lot of uses for em’. Found them mainly by mining in your biome and trading, so far I’ve just been using the ingots as a substitute for my blast furnace, but Lava buckets are still more efficient than them. They’re better than coal, but still not very sustainable you get what I mean?” 

The two of them continued to stare at the block of Originium, trying to calculate how much that was worth alone. Alex then went back into her chest and took out a chunk of refined Originium, as big as her hand. That caused FrostNova’s eyes to nearly fly out of her sockets, stuttering as she pointed at the crystal in Alex’s hands. 

“That’s pure refined Originium! How did you get one without a refinery?!” 

All Originium ore had to first be processed, otherwise it was just a dangerous rock that could potentially cause catastrophes and was the main reason for Oripathy. If Alina wasn’t mistaken, that was how FrostNova became infected; Originium Ore dust got into her body. The end result was what truly made the dangerous mineral so valuable, refined Originium, when activated, made all of Terra’s machinery possible. From their camp’s heaters to the Originium engines for cities such as Lungmen. Refined Originium fetched a very high price, an ingot like the one Alex held could be worth an entire year’s salary in a city like Chernobog. No one in Alina’s old village had a piece of refined Originium as big as that, most of the time they came in very tiny containers, no bigger than a finger. Even then those often cost an entire harvest to purchase.

Alex scoffed, while eyeing her ore with a newfound knowledge. “Refinery? I just use the blast furnace and they come out this way in ingots, still not sure what they can be used for though. These valuable for trade in…what was the name again…oh, uh, Terra?” 

Alina simply nodded, again, they were dealing with someone from another civilization, an alien for all she knew. Once, their camp showed a Columbian science fiction movie about invaders from the stars beyond, she thought it was quite silly at the time but now she wasn’t so sure. Terra itself only referred to the continent after all, apparently they didn’t even explore the entire world yet, but such a thing was important to villagers eeking out a meagre existence, at least back then. 

“One ingot of this purity…could probably pay for our entire camp’s worth of food for a month, and we have hundreds of infected.” FrostNova had a better idea of what things were worth, having led supply raids into mining camps every so often. Alex hummed as she went back to scrounging around her chest. 

“I’ve got like three stacks of these ingots, never found a use for them other than being a worse bottle of enchanting. So, theoretically, how much would this cost?” 

Next to the Originium ore, Alex placed down another block, this time entirely crystalline with a deep dark black colour with a yellowish core that pulsed with energy every second. It was a block of pure Originium, as if the ingot she held wasn’t enough, she had an entire block of it. FrostNova couldn’t take it anymore and had to clutch on a nearby chest for support. Alina went to her side immediately.

“H-how?! Pure Originium is never this big, no foundry on Terra could-it’s like you combined all of your ingots together-” 

“Oh, I did do that. Nine of them to be exact.” 

FrostNova went silent, Alina could see that they were too much for the young girl to bear. Though this raised another problem, it was no secret that anyone in the Originium industry, whether during processing or mining, had a very high rate of contracting the disease. With a weary look, she turned to Alex, puzzled at FrostNova’s catatonic state. 

“Alex…have you…contracted Oripathy by any chance? Black crystals forming on your body, a slight fever, anything uncomfortable or abnormal about your body-” 

“Okay, let me stop you right there. I guess this might be different, but uh, no. If I had Oripathy, I’d get a display on my window. And secondly, I don’t get sick, the closest thing to being sick are status effects, which all wear off after a certain time, or I just drink milk. Whatever you’re thinking, I don’t have it. Nothing a bucket of milk won’t solve anyways.” 

Oh no, Alina thought, she was in her denial stage. From what she heard, despite not being infected herself, many newly infected people could not accept they had been infected. And thus, went through every stage of denial possible. Alina approached this gently, Alex was their friend, and thus had to know the effects of her civilization’s greatest natural danger. 

“Alex, if you have inhaled Originium dust or were even scratched by Originium ore while mining, it means that you are already infected-” 

“I ate those ingots, and all I get is a lousy couple exp. Ain’t got no damn disease from it yet.” 

It was Alina’s turn to have her mind shut down now. Though before that could happen, she asked her one more question, just a single word. “Ate?” 

As if waiting for someone to ask, Alex immediately took out her ingot of refined Originium, and put it in her mouth. Alina went to lunge at the redhead, thinking that she was trying to kill herself, but stopped when she began chewing it. She heard the crunching of crystals, watching as the entire ingot rapidly began disappearing into her mouth. A few seconds later, the entire ingot was gone, and she was left to watch in abject horror. FrostNova somehow recovered first, immediately grabbing Alina and hitting the button for the iron door, together they dived right out of the ore room. 

“She’s going to explode, take cover!” 

Alina suddenly remembered, that when infected reached a critical point in their stages, they could undergo a violent spontaneous combustion, in other words, an explosion. In the camps, Alina often heard the experiences of some infected, and in particular, for those who could not carry on in the infected mines, they would deliberately expose themselves to raw Originium, sometimes even ingesting an ore to end their suffering. What Alex ate was an ingot of the purest Originium, which in itself would have proved to be fatal to anyone, but if it was activated…

She and FrostNova braced themselves for the inevitable explosion, hoping that whatever cover between them would absorb most of the blast. Alina kept her eyes shut, fearing for the inevitable worst…

She waited…

Waited…

Continued waiting and fearing…

Until another voice came from the very room that should have exploded. “I’m all for intimate contact between people but how long are you two planning to lie on my carpet? Also, why did you dive out all of a sudden? I wasn’t finished.” 

Opening her eyes, she was greeted by Alex, completely fine, with no visible lesions or horrible black crystal deformities crossing her arms and staring at them with a confused expression. 

“How are you…alive?” FrostNova asked, more bewilderment than genuine amazement. Alex shrugged in response and then went back inside her ore room, still un-exploded. At that moment however, one of their Yetis came up to the floor they were on, an empty plate of fish held in his hands.

“Hey, I was wondering if there were any seconds for that fish-” 

He stared at FrostNova and Alina, still intimately hugging together on the carpet. The two turned to stare at him, and he stared back, frozen at watching his commander and camp caretaker in a situation like this. Eventually, however, he coughed into his fist and turned back around. 

“Sorry for disturbing you, I’ll ask later.” 

Though the Yeti disappeared back down, FrostNova still held Alina tightly, her face completely expressionless, though slowly getting redder by the moment. 

“Yelena, you’re not as cold as you were before…” 

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaa-!” 

Well, at least the girl still knew how to feel embarrassed, as any teenager should… 

After that harrowing experience last night, the Terrans had all gotten a good rest in Alex’s home. For some reason, despite her nerves fraying from Alex’s impromptu display of how Originium slugs got their name, she managed to near-instantly fall asleep after climbing onto her guest bed. They were particularly comfortable and sleep-inducing, Talulah could use one of those back at their camp considering the amount of stress she was under. Now with a full breakfast in their stomachs, they set out for the town of Neo-New Elysium, which was only supposed to be an hour away.

“Just to make sure, you have had no side effects, none whatsoever from eating that last night, yes?” 

“For the last time, yes, I’m completely fine. What, your people don’t eat Originium?” 

Alina slowly shook her head, no, they did not. Anyone who willingly ingested a piece of Originium, refined or unrefined, was either trying to kill themselves or was tricked into doing it. Hiding Originium dust onto food, for example, was one of the crimes that were punishable by death in Ursus. Though it wasn’t a crime when the nobles poisoned a village’s water supply by their mining operations, such was life in the tundra.

“You still haven’t answered my question by the way, how much would a block of Originium like that cost?” 

“The refined one, you mean? Um, probably…” Alina began counting using her fingers, only for FrostNova to step in. 

“That block alone could probably power a large mobile city like Lungmen for two months. So, worth an astronomical fortune…” It was well and truly an insane number, anyone who had a block of refined Originium like that and sold it could probably just retire for the rest of their life. And Alex had ‘half a stack’ of these blocks, so around thirty-three of them, this wasn’t counting her ingots and remaining Ores by the way. So by Terra’s standards, she was already filthy rich even if they didn’t count her mansion. Though she didn’t see it the same way. 

“Uhuh…well it’s kinda useless to me here though. Damn near no one wanted to buy it off me at the town, so I’ve just been stockpiling it, you know how it goes. Hey…didn’t you say it was going to explode? Why can’t I just use it as a TNT substitute?”

Alina blanked, and FrostNova gasped. Using a block of refined Originium as big as that for regular explosives? Half the lake they were living next to would have been destroyed if that was the case, and as such, they quickly dissuaded Alex from trying it, giving excuses like how ‘inefficient’ it would be despite Originium artillery working from the same principles. 

“Is that so? Welp, even that’s not useful then…and mob grinders are still more efficient than eating those things so they’re even more useless…what a shit material, who the hell patched it in?” 

No one said anything, instead continuing to walk along a well-paved stone path. She expected to be trekking through forests and grasslands again, but so far they were on a main road, paved with stone bricks and even rest stations. Someone maintained these roads well, she was lucky to find a well-trodden dirt path in much of rural Ursus most of the time, so this was another welcome change. 

“Who built these roads? It doesn’t make sense for a road like this to exist this far out into the wilderness…” FrostNova asked, roads like these were usually found in mobile cities, not the middle of nowhere. 

“The local highway builders union.” 

“The what?” 

“Basically other people like me who dedicate their time to building infrastructure. They also repair and maintain them, after say like, a griefer decides to show how cool they are by lavacasting a section of the road. Basement dwellers I swear…” 

This was the first time Alex had mentioned other groups. They still didn’t even know what her race was actually, she showed no traits like ears or tails like every other Terran, making identification particularly difficult. She did refer to herself as a ‘Playaa’ one time, was that what her people were called?

Just when Alina was about to ask, however, Alex suddenly raised her hand, causing all of them to stop. “Shit, head to the side of the road, stay quiet and don’t let yourself be seen.” 

“What’s going on-” Before Alina could finish her sentence she was unceremoniously dragged away by FrostNova, heading into the tall grass and trees beside the road. Alex had her weapon out, causing the rest of the Yetis to draw their own weapons as well, FrostNova whispered at Alex. 

“Enemies?” 

“Pillager patrol.” 

Alex pointed at the road ahead of them, and just at the far corner, Alina could make out a group making their way down the road. They remained quiet, following Alex’s advice to the letter. 

“Normally I’d just go and fight them, but since we’re about to head into town I’d rather not have a bad omen effect. We’ll just have to wait for them to pass us.” Alex whispered to them, and she further hid herself from view. 

As the group approached, Alina got a better view of them. Their most distinct features, the greyish skin, elongated flat nose and weaponry they carried told her that they were probably not friendly. The lead ‘Pillager’ as Alex called them had a banner on his back, looking at the road with a hardened expression. 

“Just stay quiet, nice and easy, let them pass…” They were just in front of them now, five of them in total. A few more seconds and they would have been past them entirely, only for Alina with her sensitive hearing to hear…galloping? 

The Pillagers heard it too, evidenced by them raising their crossbows in the direction of where it was coming from. “Talk about good timing…” Alex muttered. 

Seconds later, seemingly from behind them, a horse in shining black and gold armour jumped above where they hid, all but crashing into the hostile group. Though, if that was just the horse, where was its rider? 

“Mind thy head.” 

WOOSH

“Haaunngh!” 

A greatsword nearly the length of Alina herself flung out from the deep shrubbery behind them, landing directly at the lead Pillager carrying a banner. Standing behind the Terrans, was a knight, also in shining black and gold armour, a large red cape hung on her back. If they weren’t noticed before, they were surely under their literal crosshairs now. 

“Stay.” 

FrostNova wanted to jump up, only to be stopped by Alex with a grip on her shoulder. “Just let her solo them.” 

The knight in shining armour stepped out of the bushes, and promptly dispatched of the four ruffians. It was barely a fight, with every swing of her greatsword, limbs or heads would go flying, was this what Alina missed when she first met Alex? If so, she was glad to have, for the sight was the most gruesome thing she had seen in a long while. Not even a dozen seconds later did the road become silent again, they stood up from their hiding spot, only for the blood-splattered knight to turn and look at them. She carried the banner of those Pillagers in her arms, FrostNova and her Yetis still had their weapons drawn, but Alex had hers stowed already. Pushing to the front of the group, Alex stared at the knight, who did the same. 

“Alex.” 

The redhead smirked. “Hey there, xXKnightLeda-” 

CLANG

Her golden greatsword was launched at Alex, landing just a breath away from her legs. Through her helmet, a deep voice and hardened voice resounded throughout the area, it promised great pain and violence but the redhead it was being directed at did not care whatsoever. “My name is Leda. Thou shalt call me that only.” 

“That’s not what your username says~” 

Even from behind the Yetis, Alina could see the dark aura radiating from the knight. Feeling like there was a potential fight brewing Alina stepped in, pushing past her guards and ignoring FrostNova’s warning. “Excuse me, I believe there’s been a misunderstanding here…we’re simply trying to get to the town of Neo-New Elysium, thank you for um, clearing the path, honourable Knight.”

She had heard of knights before, mainly those stories that came from Kazimierz, a nation that bordered Ursus. Gallant tales of them rescuing princesses and saving villages in need, a young Alina wished to meet a knight in shining armour one day, who knew that she would get the chance all those years later? The violence, however, definitely wasn’t mentioned in any of those fairy tails she read…

“Thou art…different for a Villager. What lands do you hail from?” Considerably less hostile, the knight, named Leda turned her attention to Alina. 

Technically speaking, there were no agreements to keep their origins a secret, and if they were mistaken for villagers, no harm done. Why do Alex’s people mistake her for villagers anyway? Isn’t that just describing someone who lived in a village? 

“We’re…from beyond the…which direction did we come from?” 

“The South.” FrostNova helpfully replied.

“The south, beyond the icefield that separates your lands from mine.” 

“Ah, the icefield Alex hath found in her travels. Tis’ good to know there are populated lands beyond it, even if I have no interest in playing explorer.” 

“Can you like, speak normally? I can’t stand your Shakespeare-ass roleplay any longer, you’re just a larper-” Alex complained, only to be shut down by Leda quickly with a simple word.

“Nay.” An awkward silence permeated the gory road around them. 

It continued until Alex sighed, turning around and continuing on with their journey. “Whatever. See ya back at the town after…whatever you need to do.” 

As their guide began walking away, Alina turned to the still blood-covered knight with an apologetic expression. To her surprise, she just waved off whatever apology Alina was about to give. “I have known Alex for a long time, tis not the first time we have quipped at each other. Go, we shall meet again on the morrow, this road only leads to Neo-New Elysium after all.” 

“I…see, thank you, lady Leda for erm, solving the obstacle in our journey…” That was the best way she could put the murder of five Pillagers in front of her. 

“No need for thanks, for it is only a part of my solemn duty. Prithee, what is thy name?”

“Alina, I am a…leatherworker?” Still not sure how to introduce herself here, she reverted back to what Alex called her when they first met.

“Thou hath an actual name in lieu of a numerical value…interesting.” 

Knight Leda did not stop for long, for she quickly mounted her horse again, literally in the blink of an eye somehow. Before she left, however, her armoured gauntlet stretched out, pointing directly at FrostNova, causing the girl to go into a stance.

“You.” 

“...what?” Her hands were placed on her daggers, reading to draw. 

“You are adorable.” 

“Huh?!” The girl in question stared at Leda incredulously, stuttering out a jumble of sounds. Her horse turned in the other direction, but not speeding off until she gave one last goodbye. 

“Fare thee well, thou art in good hands with Alex.” 

Her horse galloped away, kicking up a small amount of dust. What speed! Within seconds she was out of visual range, though that was probably due to her going into the forest again. 

“Are all of Alex’s…people…this odd?” FrostNova asked beside Alina, but the Elafian couldn’t give her an answer at all. A sample size of two was not reliable, though it certainly didn’t bode well for future encounters. 

Walking at a faster pace than before, they easily caught up with Alex and continued heading down the stone brick path. The remaining journey was uneventful, though they did get to the question of how big Neo-New Elysium was. To her, it was about the size of a ‘moderate town’. Before Talulah came into her life, she often went with her grandfather into her region’s trading town, even then however there were not more than a couple of thousand residents at any time. Though judging by how she called it a frontier town, Alina was expecting something similar, frontier settlements were not desirable places to go to for a reason.

They reached a steep incline, with the entrance to Neo-New Elysium just beyond the top. As they were going up, Alex spoke out loud to the group. “It might not look like much, I’ve seen places with better views, but it’s certainly close enough to have folks who can help. Don’t mind its size, it more than makes up for it with the community or something like that.” 

Alina, following closely behind the redhead, repeated the niceties of conversation to make her feel better. She had gone above and beyond for them already, so even if Neo-New Elysium was small they could make do with what they had. “I’m sure we’ll be fine, Alex. If it’s anything like the frontier town I used to go to, there will be people who…can…help…”

(Source: https://www.planetminecraft.com/project/newrise-thanasys/ )

Alina stared. She rubbed her eyes, thinking that it was an illusion. Nope, that magnificent marble and stone arch, leading into a gigantic bridge was still there. Beyond it, appeared to be a stone masterpiece of some sort, with architecture she could vaguely remember being similar to the nation of Minos, a far-off country in the south she had only seen pictures of. This was Alex’s ‘humble house’ all over again, wasn’t it?

Surrounding the entire ‘frontier town’ was an endless valley and field of golden wheat, stretching as far the eye could see. The breathtaking sight made her stop, there was such a place so close to the tundra, where suffering and bleakness were the order of the day? It was cruel to think about, and yet, being here somehow made her at peace. None of the Terrans there spoke as they continued to follow Alex, and upon reaching the entrance of the bridge, Alina saw movement.

What she originally thought was a statue, turned out to not be one. The hulking iron…robot she could only guess as began moving towards them, it had a similar head to the prior Pillagers, but it didn’t make her feel unnerved. Stopping right before Alina, it held out its arm, a pristine rose in its iron grip.

“Is it…for me?” Alina gingerly took it, placing it on her hair as decoration. 

“See? You are a villager, Iron Golems aren’t usually that nice to me. C’mon, I’ll need to register you at the office first once we’re across.” 

Making their way across the bridge, it almost felt too artistic for her to even walk across. Her footsteps were careful, for she did not want to be accused of scratching the wood. Now across, they were in a hollowed-out cave that doubled as a waiting area. There were registration booths, manned by people with a particularly odd appearance. They had the same appearance as those Pillagers from earlier, though their skin, temperament and clothing were drastically different. Wait, were they the ‘villagers’ Alex kept referring to her as? If so, there was absolutely no similarity in their appearance-

“GREETINGS!” 

Alina squeaked in surprise, as a villager holding a microphone suddenly appeared in her vision. She stumbled back a few steps, her heart beating faster to reflect that shock. 

“I’m Villager #39A, would you like to be featured in our brand new show, Why are you in Neo-New Elysium?!” 

“I-um, I don’t, what is this?!” 

“I didn’t hear a no! Roll the cameras!” 

Another Villager materialized from nowhere, this time holding a large, camera-like device. Alina recognized it from whatever movies their camp managed to get from their raids, weren’t those meant for the television-

Oh no, she was about to be on television, wasn’t she? It was too late, for the blinking red light on the camera meant the host had the cue to start. 

“Welcome back to another segment of Villager News! I’m your host, Villager #39A, and with me is…” The mic was thrust at a wide-eyed Alina, she was still completely unprepared to say anything. Mind blanking, she blurted out her name quickly.

“A-Alina!” 

“Hello, A-Alina, why are you in Neo-New Elysium? Remember, all of Villager kind will see this show!” 

How was that supposed to help her calm down at all?! 

AN: 

Villager News is canon based on the trailer that was made for the Pillage and Village update. No one can say otherwise.

Pictures are taken from builds freely available on Planet Minecraft. I would have built the sets myself, and eventually plan to for later chapters, but for the scenes I want those builds will take too much time for me to do. I decided to take a page from my childhood and just grab one from Planet Minecraft, I loved exploring maps from that site even if it seemed a little shady. Images with sources below them are taken from Planet Minecraft and are freely available for download.

My friend owns a rabbit, and she says that they don’t actually like carrots all that much, Bugs Bunny just popularized the myth. What is true however is that they go fiendish over fresh fruits, particularly those high in sugar content. So they will still eat carrots, which do have a relatively high sugar content, but they will always prefer a sweet fruit over them. The more you know~

From my own understanding, Originum needs to be refined to be useful, which is what Originite Prime is. Though there is also an active, and inactive phase, how exactly those go from either is unclear, so I’m winging it there. Let me know if I got that part wrong, I got most of this info from the A1 Reserve Manga.

Be civil in the comments below.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6 

(Source: https://www.planetminecraft.com/project/newrise-thanasys/ )

Alina wanted to disappear, be as free as the stalks of wheat in front of her. Neo-New Elysium, in all of its wondrous sights, still couldn’t shake her from the blunder she made just half an hour ago.

“Yelena…make me disappear…” Hanging onto FrostNova with a dour expression, it was all the young Elafian could do when faced with embarrassing yourself in front of an entirely new civilization. 

“I’m sure…there won’t be too many people who watch the news-” Bless her heart, the Cautus attempted to placate the Elafian on her shoulder, but alas, there was the small matter of… 

“How do you know? Neither of us have owned a television before, so how do we know the interview hasn’t already been sent across the many cities Alex has told us about? It’s over for me…”

“Umm…at least you managed to get a message for help out?” 

In the half-stammering reply she gave to that Villager reporter, Alina barely managed to eek out a reason why they were here in very simple terms. Her Village was under dire straits, and needed support, the intricacies of Talulah’s ideology to liberate all of the Infected in Terra entirely absent in the brief forty-five seconds she was given in total. 

“As if anyone is going to see that pathetic attempt and help us, I screwed it up for everyone back at the camp…and I will forever be known as A-Alina here!” 

For a brief moment, she could hear FrostNova chortling on something. Though she had the decency to look away, Alina could see her ears were red from the laughter. It was bad enough watching the Yetis barely hold it together back then, if Yelena joined in the dam holding back her sorrowful tears surely would have broke back then. 

“Not you too…speaking of, have you noticed that this city has very few…people like Alex? Or us for that matter…” 

The inhabitants of Neo-New Elysium had a very distinct appearance, these ‘Villagers’ were almost identical to each other, if it weren’t for other identifying marks such as clothing Alina could have swore everyone had the same face. Even among the races of Terra, with their unique traits such as deer antlers in her case, Alina was wholly distinct, having her own face, hair…everything really in comparison to the Villagers in these lands. Oh, did she mention that the name of their race was actually just called ‘Villagers’? Alex was not using a generalization after all. 

“Villagers run the trades, and we trade with them. We do most of the fighting as well, probably why there are so few of us here.” 

Alina turned to her right, that Victorian voice came from an elderly man on the bench next to them. When she initially sat down after being interviewed, he was already there with a newspaper. She did not bother him, and he did not bother them, until now. Unlike the Villagers, he looked closer to some of the older Infected Ursus in their camp, though also without any distinct features, wait, was he one of Alex’s people? 

“That’s how it’s been forever, damn developers, all these new-fangled trading mechanics, I can’t catch up these days…”

“Why are you wearing military gear?” FrostNova asked, eyeing the tactical gear worn by him. Fatigues, a peculiar hat rimmed, and a vest with all sorts of things that Patriot’s Shieldguard usually wore. Alina noticed it before, but again, the general attitude was to not bother someone if they didn’t bother you, at least in Ursus culture. 

“Just a skin, lass, not in the army anymore.” 

FrostNova continued to stare at him until Alina signalled that it was okay. Upon geeting through the registration office, they decided to split up into groups to scout out the ‘town’ quicker; they had limited time after all. The Yetis split into two groups of two, while FrostNova went with Alina and Alex because she needed extra protection. Not that they were expecting any danger here, this place seemed to be very well protected and orderly, nor did they face any discrimination for being Infected. FrostNova had her crystals openly displayed since taking off her thick coat, and no one bat an eye at her. Treatment like this would never happen in the frontier towns of Ursus, for obvious reasons. 

It felt…refreshing, liberating even. Was this the future Talulah wanted to fight for? If so, then here it was, already here and waiting for her… 

“Well, judging by how I don’t see a username, I assume you two are also Villagers? Wouldn’t have been able to come in if you weren’t.” 

“We’re from the lands to the south. We are not Villagers-” FrostNova spoke to the elderly man, only for Alina to stop her before she went onto explaining that bit. 

“Ahaha, we’re from the Southern lands, beyond the icefield! We came here to seek provisions for our Village in troubled times, please don’t misunderstand her, we simply have a different name for Villagers.” The Cautus was trying to pry Alina’s hands off her mouth, but in a strength contest Alina could hold her own against some races owing to her Elafian heritage. 

“Really? What’s the name then?” It was genuine curiosity, but that only made it harder for Alina to think of something to say. Well, they were from a land called Terra, so that would make them…

“We’re Terrans, that’s why we look…like you…?” 

The elderly man dressed in military gear hummed for a second, before nodding with a light shrug. “That makes sense, well, tell me if this old timer can help with finding or getting supplies. Got too much bloody time on my hands anyway…” 

Alina blinked, that was a pleasant surprise. Was this what Alex meant by ‘folks willing to help’? If so, they were a huge margin nicer than the average Ursus, especially towards Infected. 

Before the old man could go back to his newspaper, Alex called out to them from the market square, she was done with whatever errands she needed doing. The two of them got up from their bench, giving thanks to the old man before they left. 

“Thank you, kind sir. I don’t think we’ve introduced ourselves yet, my name is Alina, and this is my companion and protector, FrostNova.” He raised an eyebrow at the mention of FrostNova’s name, but otherwise nodded in response. 

“A codename? Nevermind, ah, everyone here just calls me Captain, guess you can call me that too. Good luck, hope it all works out and everything.” 

He went back to his newspaper, as if nothing had ever happened. Despite his rather strange appearance, he seemed to be nice enough. Walking across the busy market square, Alina began seeing a pattern. Alex’s people, the ‘playaars’ had very distinct appearances. They could look like regular people in casual wear, or they could look like giant green blobs in the shape of a human, anything went. Though the only constant thing was how little of them there were compared to Villagers, at least it was that way until they met with Alex. 

“I see you were talking to Old_Captain_P, did he pretend to be an old-timer grandpa again?”

“Pretend? I don’t think he is faking that…” Alina pointed out, those greying hairs looked real enough to her. Compared to Alex, he was a good couple of decades older at the minimum.

“We’re the same age, give or take a version or two. I started around 1.4.7, he’s also around the same time as that.” 

“Right…” Their dating system was called ‘versions’ which was particularly odd sounding to her. But it seemed to be universally used, however it didn’t mean Alina knew exactly how many years a ‘version’ was, so for Terrans like her, it was next to useless. “How many years do you think that would be?” Alina asked casually, only for Alex to hum in thought. 

“In years? Well, uh, 1.4.7…that’s like…that’s a lot of days ago…like, six-hundred or more years ago? I don’t know the exact date, but I can calculate it somewhere.” 

Alina heard her wrong, definitely. 

“Did you mean s-sixty years ago?” 

“Nope, six-hundred or more, definitely. I’m considered old by a lot of other people, so I get kinda ticked off whenever I see Old-P pretend to be old. I don’t need some newb who started in 1.18 to call me a boomer, ugh, get shivers thinking about it.” 

Alex was SIX CENTURIES old?! Aside from some of the Sarkaz races like Vampires, who usually were…uniquely odd and thirsty (for blood) from the few infected Vampires in the camp, Alina did not know of any other race on Terra that could live that long. She did hear from Patriot that the Aegir had made ‘pacts’ that resulted in them living for centuries, though at a massive cost even he didn’t know the specifics of. Other than the very few and limited examples, most Terran races did not live past a century without artificial means. But here Alex was, casually admitting to being hundreds of years old. Actually, that probably explains why she is so good at fighting, and everything else she did that went against the laws of nature. Yes, turning wooden logs into planks instantly was not normal at all.

“You do not look a day over eighteen…” Alex chuckled as they moved along the market, heading to nowhere in particular. 

“Don’t get me wrong, we change our appearances pretty often. What you see now is…not permanent, think of it like changing clothes, though much more extensive for obvious reasons. Don’t worry, I’m still me, just a different look.” 

Alina didn’t know what to say. Did that mean none of Alex’s people had a ‘true’ appearance? Again, best not to think about it, or the implications may overwhelm her. After a few more turns, and some quick stops at a few stalls, she especially liked the pastry Alex bought for them to try called ‘Baklava’, though the young girl acting as her bodyguard probably liked it a lot more than she did; practically inhaling her piece after the first bite. Eventually, however, Alina had to ask Alex where their destination was, for it seemed like they were taking too many twists and turns. 

“Where are you taking us? Are we not going to the town hall?” She had mentioned that earlier before they split up, Alina practically jumped on the chance considering how hard it was to talk to anyone with authority back in Ursus. 

“Later. There’s a council session slated for two hours from now, I’m taking you to see my Doctor friend I told ya about.” Walking behind FrostNova, Alina saw the young girl perk up. Remembering what Patriot asked of her, now was her chance to hopefully find something that would treat her Oripathy. 

Silently following Alex through narrow streets filled with marble houses, small shops and other things she would like to see in detail later, they crossed a large golden wheat field on the northern end of the town. There, Alina had to squint her eyes, but it appeared to be a…Yanese-style building. It was definitely a Yanese-style building upon closer inspection, those martial arts films she watched with a Yanese Ursine movie star had backdrops similar to what she was seeing in front of her. 

“Don’t get discouraged by the small building, it’s just how Yuè likes her pharmacies to be built. Those potions I gave to Patriot? She taught me how to make them, which is just about the only thing I remembered from her lessons to be honest. Don’t tell her that, anyways, let’s go in!” 

Alex brushed past a piece of cloth in the front door and headed inside, prompting FrostNova to look at Alina. “We’ll find something for you and Patriot, you do not need to be so paranoid.” 

The Cautus sighed, taking a good look at the stone ‘Pharmacy’ in front of them before going in. “I understand, it’s just…so far it seems too good to be true. I fear that I will simply wake up tomorrow, and none of this will have ever happened. I will see my father again, sickly and ever closer to death’s door.” So, that was her concern? It sounded silly, but for them, this really was just like a fantastical dream, one that they didn’t want to wake from just yet. They had to explore more before waking up back to cruel reality, as long as they could.

“Well, in that case, why don’t we make the best of this good, long dream we have then? Until we awake to our bleak reality, can we do that, Yelena?” Alina held out her hand for the young girl to take, and the two went inside. 

(Source: Beiyang, World for Arknights Story Builds, 2024. Accessed August 2024.) 

Entering the pharmacy, they were met by a peculiar sight. Alex was currently being lifted up in the air, by the collars of her shirt, by someone who appeared to be a…Draco? 

“You motherfucker! You dare show your face in my shop again?! I’ll turn you into a slowness potion for taking my Gaples!” 

“I just borrowed it! Here, I even got you a mending book as an apology!” 

Alex held out a glowing leather-bound book at the woman about to strangle her. Thankfully, for her and their benefit, the ‘apology gift’ was accepted, though glares were still levelled at the redhead. 

“Fine, at least you got me something actually useful…these two are friends of yours I presume?” 

The Draco-like woman, with hair in pure white, exactly like the moon turned to Alina and FrostNova. Her horns stretched up high like an older Elafian’s antlers, but the reflective scales underneath her blue robes marked her as something else. Was she a Lung? Alina remembered Talulah talking about her mother from Lungmen, who was a Lung, Draco from Yan essentially. Compared to Talulah, this woman manning the counter seemed to have more traits, similar to someone called ‘Uncle Wei’ she told Alina about, but not to the same extent. Her face was still human-like for one, which considerably softened when she looked up and down at them.

“You poor girls, travelling with Alex must have been a painful and arduous journey, no?” 

“Oi. I’m right here.” 

“Ignore the brute, all those years of being on her own have turned her social acumen into mush. Welcome to the Shifang Pharmacy, I am Yuè, owner and proprietor.  Have a seat, or just stand, I don’t mind. Though if you want free samples I only allow one per person.” Yuè made a point to glare at Alex as she finished, causing the redhead to look away. 

No one in their camp had the guts to insult Alex like that after her display of might against the Ursus soldiers. Even FrostNova was careful with her words, but this woman simply did not care, she must have been one of Alex’s people, and that was the only plausible explanation.

“Still as prickly as ever…anyways. This is Alina, and that’s FrostNova, they’re from the place I was telling you about.” 

“Huh? You mean the new-textured Villagers from beyond the icefield? You actually brought some of them back with you?” 

“Eeyup, don’t think others have set up bases there, I’m acting out my pioneer fantasies.” 

“The only fantasies you have is to con people in your ‘get netherite quick’ schemes.” 

“Oh come on, it was one time! Besides, it’s more real than those horns and tail you have on you. Hey, you two wanna know a secret? Since Yuè is a ‘Bedrock’ user, it means she can buy all sorts of whacky mods in something called the Marketplace-”

As if on cue, Yuè’s tail wrapped around Alex’s neck, preventing her from speaking anymore. “At least I don’t have to deal with optimization issues unlike you, not everyone has a beefy ‘Pee See’ to run Java beyond 40 chunks. Are we really going back to killing each other over our preferences? You and I both know that’s the lamest thing to duel each other about.” 

“Wait…till…Microsoft gets ya…then you’ll be sorry…” Alex got those words out in between breaths, FrostNova wanted to intervene, but was stopped by Alina. Despite how it looked, it didn’t seem anyone was actually being hurt. 

“Doesn’t matter anyways, I have both versions regardless. By the way, Survival Games later? We haven’t played in a while.”

“Nah, not feeling PVP, besides I’m already going to be busy with the stuff beyond the icefield. I’m here to ask for some help, regarding some…medical issues.” 

Yuè scanned Alex for a brief moment. “You?” 

“Nah, them.” Alex gestured over to the Terrans, who had so far decided to keep quiet. It was like seeing two people familiar with one another go through their intimate greetings, with you finding it awkward to jump in and interrupt. Now that attention was shifted back to them however… 

“Villagers don’t get sick, unless they’re zombified. Judging by how you’re in town and not green-skinned, you two are not sick, am I being played by her again?” 

She stated as if just a matter of fact, like some unchangeable law of this world. 

“Erm, Alex described you as a Doctor who could help an issue of ours…” 

“Doctor? Why the hell-I run a Pharmacy, how am I a Doctor? Those are two entirely separate things, related for sure, but I can’t exactly perform miracle surgeries or anything like that.” Yuè’s expression was one of confusion, causing FrostNova to tremble.  

“Wait, hear them out first. This is related to the Originium I gave you.” 

“Oh, that thing? I’ve run some tests on it, other than finding out it can also be in liquid form, I haven’t discovered anything else about it. You find anything on yours?” 

“Uh, yeah. Turns out, Originium can cause a status effect instead of just giving experience.” 

Yuè’s eyes widened, prompting FrostNova to step forward and furl up her sleeves. A stretch of Originium crystals dotted along her entire arm, Patriot said her condition had gotten worse, but seeing it for herself she could see that he was understating it. By her guess, it was already in the mid-stage, not at all great for the young girl’s prospects. 

This time, FrostNova was the one who spoke. “Originium…causes a disease called Oripathy.” 

She then proceeded to explain Oripathy, its causes, symptoms, existing treatments and the inevitable outcome of the disease, for it had a 100% mortality rate. Halfway through her explanation, Yuè began writing down notes on a book and quill, scribbling at high speed and in a language she was unfamiliar with. All in all, explaining it took roughly fifteen minutes, concise and with precision, probably due to Patriot’s training. 

Yuè tapped on the pages of the book with a quill, eyeing her notes intensely. “So, this ‘Oripathy’ only affects the people from your lands. Since from what you’ve told me, I’ve drunk the liquid refined Originium, while Alex has ingested whole ingots, the two of us should be writhing in pain and possibly have already died, yes?” 

Alina was no medical expert, but that sounded about right, so she nodded. 

“It just sounds like another version of the Withering Effect to me.” Yuè turned around, opened a cabinet from behind her and took out a bottle with darkish liquid for Alina and FrostNova to see. 

“This is a concentrated bottle of that stuff, but if I compare it side by side with a bottle of refined Originium…” Taking out another bottle also similarly filled with darkish liquid, though this time glowing a yellow hue, Alina could see the similarities she was implying. 

“I didn’t care much about it at first, but now that you’ve told me ‘Oripathy’ is a thing, guess the colours aren’t a coincidence after all.” 

“Ya sure? Oripathy kinda grows on your body, Withering just damages you over time.” Alex said, only for Yuè to scoff. 

“That’s the effect on us, you should know by now mobs always react differently. You know Wither Skeletons are made by regular Skeletons dying to the Wither effect right? It sounds like a similar principle, though again, could be different, I’m going to need a lot more info to make a judgement.” 

So, Oripathy really did not exist in her lands…and if there was no Oripathy, that meant no Originium. And no Originium meant no Catastrophes either. A world without those terrible facets of life in Terra was just beyond the so-called ‘border of civilization’ after all.

“Then, is there no treatment available? None at all?” Alina asked. 

“I didn’t say that, we don’t have anything specifically for it, but we do have a couple things to try…” 

Yuè placed a few of those healing potions from before onto the table, as well as an entire apple made of gold. 

“These are general-use items, they will heal everything aside from a few specific cases. However, I think we can just start small, and work our way up…” Next, in the blink of an eye, a bucket the size of Alina’s head appeared in her hands, and was placed next to those healing items.

“The classic method, and low-cost alternative to get rid of status effects without golden apples is simply, milk.” Alina looked inside the bucket, it did appear to be filled entirely with regular milk, but that led to another obvious question, how was milk exactly supposed to help them?

“Right then, drink the whole bucket. Make sure you get every last drop.” Those words were directed at FrostNova, who looked between Alina and Yuè with weary eyes. 

“...the whole bucket?” 

“Yes, stop making it sound weird, it’s not that big. Get your mind out of the gutter.” Yuè replied, unimpressed. Sensing another potential misunderstanding, Alina decided to step in before anything could happen. 

“Apologies for interrupting, but generally speaking, most Terrans cannot, or do not drink an entire bucket’s worth of…anything in a short time, do you have anything that is smaller in size?” 

“I mean, I could use an empty glass bottle, but I doubt it will do anything…” As she said, a glass bottle was dipped into the bucket, filling its contents with milk. It was then handed to FrostNova, who took it carefully. Clearly, her expression showed that she did not believe such a thing could help Oripathy whatsoever, but upon being gently nudged in the shoulder by Alina, the Cautus began drinking the bottle, light sips at first. 

From her sip, she did not stop, eventually tilting the bottle forty-five degrees, and drinking all of its contents in one go. Her eyes gradually widened as more of the milk disappeared from the bottle, was it really that good? Or was it another situation where something Alina thought she knew, turned out to not be applicable here? 

“...I feel better…no, how did it-” Her palms were held open, and using her Arts, a small shard of ice, clear as the bright blue sky above them, was summoned floating on top of her palm. 

“It’s…pure…and it hurts less…” To Alina, it simply looked like any regular old shard of glass, but seeing the young girl so out of character, she just assumed the ‘milk’ did actually do something. FrostNova then inspected her arm again, and sure enough, the Originium crystals were still there, she had not been cured of Oripathy. 

“See what I mean? You need to drink the whole bucket-” 

“I need all of the milk you have.” 

Alex choked, Yuè had a mirthful smile, while Alina simply put a hand on the young girl’s shoulder. She decided to drop the code name, as if it were needed here in the first place. 

“Phrasing, Yelena.” 

It took half a minute for her cheeks to reach a cherry red. Oh well, either way, she was going to make sure Yelena took some medicine, one way or another. As the youngest girl among them followed Yuè to see her ‘Cows’, Alina leaned in to whisper at Alex. 

“I may need your help to feed someone medicine…” 

“Moooo.” 

Yelena didn’t understand, the ‘milk’ of these lands, she scarcely believed it was even milk when she drank it. She had drunk milk from burdenbeasts before, they were fine, a number of foods in the Ursus diet were made from them such as cheese. However, this ‘milk’ from the lands she found herself in was unlike anything she had ever tasted before. If it wasn’t for the familiar aftertastes, she wouldn’t even have said the drink was milk, and that Yuè swapped it out for a ‘potion’ instead. It tasted divine, and the feeling she got afterwards was nothing short of it either. 

“See? Fresh bucket of milk, I don’t know why you didn’t believe me, have another bottle if you still don’t.” Yuè held out another bucket of ‘milk’ at Yelena, who promptly dunked her empty glass bottle in it for further verification. She quickly took another swig, and yes indeed, it was the same. Relief swept over her body, any ailments from Oripathy, whether it was the weakness, coldness or even the rashes caused by the formation of crystals seemed to fade away instantly. Though she still had Oripathy, those crystals still present on her arms were proof enough. Still, this was leagues beyond any Oripathy suppressants their camp used, and if she was not hallucinating, it even helped to heal her, however minuscule it may be. 

“Mooooo?” 

Yelena turned to the ‘Cow’, an animal native to these lands that looked very similar to Burdenbeasts. She stared at it intently, studying every single aspect of it, from appearance to unique features-

“Yelena, please stop staring at Yuè’s livestock, I believe you are beginning to scare them.” 

Snapping out of her trance usually reserved for reconnaissance missions, she realised the ‘Cows’ had all huddled up into one corner of the fenced field, far away from her. Could these animals sense danger from her? If so, they were truly smarter than they looked… 

“Yes, please stop. Well, believe me now? Even baby Villagers know milk comes from Cows, don’t you have Cows in your own villages?” Yuè asked, the sarcasm evidently dripping from her mouth. 

“We…do? We just call them Burdenbeasts, though compared to them, these ‘Cows’ seem much more docile.” 

Alina’s offhand remark sparked an idea in Yelena’s mind. If ‘Cows’ produced milk, and she needed that milk to help her father’s condition, then the answer to that issue was obvious. 

“I would like to purchase your entire herd of cows.” 

“Moooo?!” As if knowing what Yelena was saying, the entire herd began calling out in distress. 

Alina was about to say something, but to Yelena’s relief, Yuè simply nodded in response. “Sure, I’ll take two stacks of Emeralds for all of them.” 

“E-Emeralds?” Yelena asked for clarification, hoping that she heard wrong. 

“Yeah, Emeralds, you know, the bright green gems that all Villagers trade with. Don’t you use Emeralds for currency in your village?”

Yelena had never heard of such a thing before. No one, not even the richest nations on Terra would use Emeralds as a currency. But there it was, the most important thing to remember was On Terra, of which they were not in right now. Quickly walking over to Alina’s side, she began whispering in her ear frantically, she was not about to lose her chance of actually helping her father’s condition. She had to secure a constant supply of ‘milk’. 

“How much of each currency do we have?” 

“...I doubt any of them would take what we have, Yelena. Remember what Alex said during our negotiation?” 

She did, and they had nothing that they could trade for. They had a few pieces of gold, things such as watches and other personal effects looted from corrupt senior Ursus soldiers, but even that was just a handful. With how she wanted two stacks for the entire herd, which Yelena learned was about 128 pieces from Alex, the young girl knew they didn’t have anywhere near that amount. 

“H-how much for just two cows?” A far cry from the entire herd, but two cows would be enough for just a few infected, who would all be clamouring for a taste of the ‘miracle’ milk once they began giving it out at their camp. It was why she wanted the entire herd, and besides, knowing her father, he would be the first one to give to others who ‘needed it more’ when given the chance. No, she needed the entire herd to make him accept it. 

“Uhm, I feel kinda uncomfortable right now, but I guess like four Emeralds?” 

Two each, better than nothing, she supposed. But the current issue right now wasn’t the price, but rather they had exactly zero Emeralds, she wasn’t sure if their camp even had any precious gems like that.  Looking at the big bag of currencies Talulah secured for this mission, they weren’t expecting any big purchases, however, Yelena couldn’t wait any longer and simply let the opportunity go for now. What if they get exiled from Neo-New Elysium? What if some freak lightning storm reduces all Cows in these lands to charred meat? 

All things that could happen, Patriot told her to plan for the worst, and she was planning for the exact worst thing that could happen, however improbable! She didn’t even notice Alex slowly approach them until she was literally right in front, peering into their bag of currencies as well. 

“Yeah…that bag might work on Terra, but I doubt anyone’s going to want paper bills or shards for something they have limited use for.” 

Her words cut deep, but deep down, she knew it to be true. “Look, how about just telling her why you need them? Yuè’s not greedy, unlike those merchants who charge twenty-two Emeralds for six loaves of bread. You want them for your old man, I’m guessing. Go on, don’t be shy, Yuè doesn’t bite, probably.” 

That didn’t inspire her with a lot of confidence. Yelena did not ask for help much, even among her small number of friends and family. And now Alex was telling her to ask for help from a stranger? Strangers were…bad, evil, for strangers took her entire family to the Originium mines. Her lips thinned, but faced with no other options, she sucked in whatever pride she had and went to the waiting white-haired woman. She sucked in a deep breath and began earnestly telling her why she needed that miracle in the form of milk.

“I-I know this isn’t much, but I really need those cows!” She started off weak, but gradually got louder to the point of shouting her words. 

“M-my father is sick, and he stubbornly refuses to get any help, saving it for others instead. S-so if I had the entire herd, he wouldn’t be able to refuse. I don’t need all of them, just the two is fine, if you need payment, I can work for you-” At that moment, Yelena felt like a child again, she had not felt that way since the days when her parents were alive, eating together at their large dining table. Those better, bitterly nostalgic days. However those thoughts would not last long, for Yuè quickly raised both of her hands up at her. 

“By the heavens, stop! I was already feeling bad for you, just take half the herd! I can breed more anyways.” 

Yelena blinked and looked at Yuè with teary eyes. She expected to grovel in front of her, or exchange a favour like assassinating someone she didn’t like (within reasonable targets). Yuè instead cusped the palm of her right hand on Yelena’s face, wiping away a tear with her thumb, she felt her smooth scales slide across as she did so. 

“I don’t like children having to act like adults when they aren’t old enough to drink. You are definitely no exception despite how mature you act. Half the herd is yours, you and your father can have all the milk you want and then some. Obviously, you have to transport it back and everything, which is why I’ll be following you back to the Village you’re from. I want information on Oripathy, and you sound like you could use a new Pharmacist. Is that alright with you?” 

Yelena nodded rapidly, it was definitely more than she bargained for, considerably more. She looked upon Yuè like a messiah, coming into her life to bring salvation, and in many respects, she was.  “I-I swear on my life to pay it back-” 

“Hey! None of that stuff, you do whatever teenage girls do in the last few years of your youth, understand me?! You don’t know what it’s like to waste your youngest years, especially when you choose some dead-end career like Pharmacy! I should have just gone into business like my parents told me to…”  

Yelena didn’t understand any of that last part, but she got the general vibe of what she was trying to say. If this was what Alex meant by ‘folks willing to help’ then she liked this place a lot more compared to Ursus, even though they were only here for a short time. Could Patriot be convinced to move here? The idyllic land and moderate temperature could help his recovery even more…

With her enhanced hearing, she heard Alex whisper to Alina while she was occupied with Yuè. 

“She’s venting out her issues in ‘eye-ar-ell’ on Yelena. Guess she sees herself in her…” 

She made a note to remember 'eye-ar-ell’  for future reference. Emotions flaring, and calming, then flaring again, this new sensation she was feeling…was odd, but it felt good. For the first time since she could remember, Yelena could confidently look to the future and expect good things to come instead of more misery, was there a word for such a feeling? 

Hope? If so, then she never wanted it to go away. 

“Enough of that for now, you three have a council session beginning soon. I suggest you begin making your way there.” 

“You’re not coming? What about doing your civic duty?” Alex teased, only for Yuè to wave her off. 

“Yes, the 5% voter turnout rate every election in this city makes me soooo eager to do my civic duty. I don’t care about it enough to attend one. It’s just one giant platform for people to insult each other in, I’ll just meet you outside when it’s over. Why are there even elections here? No one even does anything…” 

“Neo-New Elysium has elections?” Alina asked, this was the first time Yelena had heard anything regarding how the city was run. The only other place she knew that had ‘elections’ was in Columbia, but even that was only for the Vice-President, their real President was for ‘eternity’ or something. 

“Yeah, it’s a direct democracy, but in practice, it’s more like…general anarchy with an agreement to not screw things up. Sorta like being in summer camp, but there’s no instructor so all the kids there do their own thing to varying degrees of success. Also, our council speaker is kind of a nosy dick, so no one really listens to him either way.” 

Open insults of their leader aside, they really had to go soon, so Yelena wrapped up everything that had to do there. Before they left, however, Alex casually asked her if she wanted to drink some more milk for now, only for her to respond by saying she wanted to save as many as she could for Patriot, at least until those cows were delivered to their camp.

It was the wrong answer. 

“I didn’t want to do this…Alex, please hold her.” Alina said in a deadpan, causing her fight or flight reflexes to flare up. 

“Sorry kid, it’s for yer’ own good.” Alex suddenly appeared behind her, holding her in place with two arms. What was her grip strength?! She couldn’t budge her arms at all! Alex could probably punch a tree and have it keel over with how much strength she had… 

“Don’t take this as a betrayal, but I’m only doing what Patriot asked of me, so, do finish this entire plate…” 

Alina held a plate with a perfectly cut Golden Apple in six pieces, it appeared to be the same one Yuè showed her earlier, did she- 

“Alex paid for it, and as your attending physician, I’ll be cross if you don’t finish it.” Yuè stated plainly, and that was the day she found out that gold could indeed be used for cooking. 

Father, why?! 

AN: 

In this AU Minecraft Java and Bedrock players can now play together. Microsoft is never going to let that happen irl but it’s my fic so anything can happen. That’s the explanation, take it or leave it.

From reading the comments it seems that a lot of people aren’t that familiar with Minecraft, so for game mechanics that are included in chapters will be explained in the AN from now on. Milk buckets in Minecraft from Cows or Goats will cure all status effects upon drinking it, doesn’t matter if you’re having Mining Fatigue 3, or Poison 2, Milk will instantly cure you. Making it a good substitute for getting rid of effects if you don’t have a Golden Apple.

In Minecraft days, Minecraft has existed for over 900 years since its release, I don’t know the exact number but someone proficient in numbers can math it out.

Be civil in the comments below. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 7

(Source: https://www.planetminecraft.com/project/roman-senate-house-curia-julia/ ) 

 “And with that, our motion to limit Minecart speeds in response to the recent snapshot has passed! Due to disagreements regarding which speed however, we shall limit it to ‘whatever feels right’ for the citizens of Neo-New Elysium. Any objections?”

“YES! I believe that you, Villager #5040, are a Tyrant! And therefore, you should step down from being the council head!” 

“But, weren’t you the council head before Villager #5040’s term, Villager #231.1?” 

“Would anyone like to buy my flowers? I’m a botanist, and that’s a real job Villagers have!” 

“No it isn’t, you’re just someone who likes flowers a lot, Villager #12-F!” 

Alina was no stranger to arguments and discussions, the way that their camp was run had a similar council system, where the most influential of their camp decided on things as a group. Usually it was Talulah who wanted to go for bigger targets such as mines or even garrisons, with Patriot advocating for conservative measures such as hit-and-run tactics to not draw attention to themselves. Meaning that the two were often opposed to each other in drastic ways.

However, even in their often fierce arguing, there was a clear logic behind them, a sort of controlled chaos where their ideals propelled them forward. Here? It was just…chaos, nothing about it made sense to her. 

“Oh yeah?! Well, you’re a negative number!” 

“How dare you?! My parents were both even numbers!” 

Standing on the sides, away from the actual discussion floor where spectators and people waiting for their turn to speak were, they had been here for half an hour trying to make sense of what they were seeing. Alex, practising axe forms for the better part of it, stopped and leaned in to whisper. 

“Give it another few minutes, eventually the timer will go off and they will have to accept speakers from the citizenry, us.” 

“But…we’re the only ones here…?” 

“Yeah, that’s normal. Actually, anyone ever waiting here for an entire hour is the abnormal part, but, rules are rules, and it has to be followed. This settlement was founded by survivors from the previous iterations after the last two were abandoned or griefed, they established all these rules that didn’t really make any sense but are still followed today. One of them is apparently famous or something, goes by...something with a 'C', Yuè knows, you can ask her later."

Alina looked around, trying to find these Playaar founders around here. Aside from some oil portraits outside of them, including one particularly eye catching one with bright pink, there was no sign of this hall having any other Playaar with them.

“But there are only Villagers speaking in there?” 

“Well, yeah. Only Villagers are insan-I mean, passionate enough to spend a day every two weeks arguing about the most random crap imaginable, you won’t find me, Yuè or anyone else unironically participating. I’m only here because you wanted to make your case, no guarantees they’ll help by the way.” 

Alina nodded, she knew this very well. Everytime her Village asked for official help from the authorities, often the best they got was a cold shoulder, a promise to ‘look into it’ or in the case of particularly corrupt officials, were violently removed from the local government office. The fact that she was given a chance to speak to the council that ruled Neo-New Elysium was already a miracle to the Elafian from Ursus. It was like a peasant being able to see the Tsar himself, inconceivable to most ordinary folk. 

A bell somewhere above them was rung, and the various insults, accusations and just random words hurled across the discussion floor abruptly stopped, with the ‘speaker’ getting up again. “Alright, the floor is now open for the citizenry of Neo-New Elysium to speak! Today it seems like…oh, we do have someone today! Everyone, give cheers!” 

“Hey!” The entire floor said as one, she wasn’t sure if that was just the standard greeting here or not. 

“That’s your cue, go get 'em Tiger.” Alex gestured over to the floor, this was it. 

But I’m not a feline… 

Before she could reply, FrostNova, still scowling due to the force-feeding of a Golden Apple, gave her a pat of reassurance, before leaning to whisper something as well, ominously.  

“You owe me a Golden Apple for Patriot. Whether or not I get it will depend on you now…” 

She was still angry about that, she thought the Apple could have been saved for her father instead. It just got worse when Yuè showed them exactly how to make it. If Alina knew a single one of those Golden Apples cost eight Gold Ingots to make she would never have asked Alex for an I.O.U because she knew her meagre savings could never pay it back. Hopefully, Alex liked payment in scarves and other clothing items she could reliably make…her people seemed to value things differently at least. 

Summoning up whatever courage she had left, Alina crossed the line and into the discussion floor, but not before seeing someone familiar in the stands. 

“Oh! Hey! Remember me? I’m Villager #39-A, the one who interviewed you earlier! Everyone, say hello to Villager A-Alina!” 

“Hello, Villager A-Alina!” 

Inwardly, Alina was screaming in mortification, but outwardly, she had the expression of a serene Higashian Monk. It was what you showed on the outside that counted, not what people didn’t know about you on the inside. The crying could be saved for later. 

Taking her place on the elevated floor or marble, Alina began to speak. Speeches were more of Talulah’s specialty, she had a natural affinity for those things while Alina felt more at home preparing meals and tucking the infected children into bed. Both were important in their own ways, but one was much better suited to her needs right now. 

“Your one minute begins…now!” The Villager speaker announced with his gavel, Alex had told her prior she only had one minute, so every word had to be precise. Whoever thought of this rule was stupid, but she was in no position to oppose it, how was anything ever supposed to get done here? 

“My Village has recently been attacked by a marauding band of Pillagers!” She swapped out her camp for Village, and elite Ursus soldiers for Pillagers, Alex had said she did not have time to explain every detail, and as such had to simplify things. It felt like they were tricking them, but it was countered by Yelena, stating that it was all technically true. 

A loud murmur broke out among the gathered Villagers, she continued on, keeping track of the time. “We lack beds, food and have z-zombified Villagers…” 

Orpiathy to ‘zombification’ felt odd, but it communicated that they had many sick among them. 

“We don’t know how long we can continue on, our Village to the south is in desperate need of assistance-” 

“Okay!” Alina was suddenly cut off by the combined assembly, what did they mean by ‘Okay’?! Was that a good or bad thing?! 

“All in favour of sending aid to Villager A-Alina’s village?” 

“Aye!” The Aye resounded throughout the hall, Alina could not hear any objections whatsoever. 

“The Aye’s have it! Ordah! Ordaaaaaaah!” While the speaker struggled to get the council under control, Alina couldn’t really believe what she just saw/heard. It was that easy?! That was all it took?! 

“We will need three days to get everything ready, so come back in three days! Session is over, everyone go home now.” 

One by one, the Villagers began shuffling out of the discussion hall with precision. Alina continued standing there for a while, until Alex and Yelena shook her out of the daze she involuntarily tranced herself with. 

“This isn’t a dream, right? It actually happened?” 

“Life is a long dream, but to answer your question, yes, you actually did get the unanimous support of the council. Congratulations, it almost never happens. You can be a great politician one day, weaving in lies and half-truths. Have you ever considered a career in office? You’d have my vote.” 

“S-stop it, I don’t think I’ll ever be cut out for it…” Alina’s cheeks became Rosy, no one had ever said she would make a great politician before. That was more of Talulah’s thing, not hers. 

“I expected there to be more opposition, considering they are technically arming an insurgency inside of Ursus.” Yelena pointed out, but they didn’t even get to that part before the vote was passed. They weren’t going to hide it from them, if they asked, Alina would have said something, and Alex waved off Yelena’s worry. 

“Nah, even if they knew, chances are they’ll help. Don’t worry about them being invaded, the Villagers have a military. If they were fighting an army like the ones you fought against, the Villagers are going to wipe the floor with them.” 

“I-I see…I thought they were peaceful just by looking at them here.” She was surprised at the mention of their military because nothing she saw so far indicated that they had one. 

“Peaceful doesn’t mean defenceless, just don’t mess with the Villagers unless you want to fight two hundred Iron Golems, not to mention the Daladas.. .Anyways, what was I going to do-” 

“GREETINGS!” 

“Gah?!” Alina stumbled back, everything about that sudden greeting was a bit too familiar to her. 

“Congratulations on your landslide voting results! No one else has ever gotten anything close in Neo-New Elysium’s short history, can you tell us how you did it?” 

The Camera Villager was recording already, Alina looked to Alex and Yelena for help, but they were already long gone. Where did they go?! 

“Oh-uh, well you see…I-” 

That was it, she hated the news. Hopefully, the next three days were relatively peaceful…

Peace was never an option. 

At least, until now. 

“And last but not least, place an egg down in the centre of the grid, and…” Yuè was looking over Yelena’s shoulders, guiding her in the art of baking, at least, the form in her lands. Here, she was making a ‘cake’, not with ovens or any source of heat, but with just her bare hands. With the need to wait a couple of days before they could leave, it was decided that they could stay and learn more about the strange peoples of these lands who lived so close, yet so far to their home. 

To be honest, Yelena and her Yetis did a little bit of everything. Farming, potion brewing, painting, crafting, trying out new foods and so much more. They did everything that Neo-New Elysium had to offer that didn’t include fighting. Though the first day made her restless at the lack of action, by now, the third day since they left their camp, she could get used to this lifestyle. 

This ‘peaceful’ life was a glimpse into a world she never had, and in truth, she could get used to it. Learning something other than martial skills was what Alina encouraged her to do in their wait, and though she initially thought it was a waste of time, finding out that she could have delectable sweet food with just a ‘crafting’ table and ingredients sold her on it. 

“And done, you have a perfectly edible cake.” Not long after she placed down an egg, the ingredients she placed all came together in the blink of an eye, replaced by a gorgeous ‘cake’ ready to be devoured. Yuè nodded approvingly at her creation. 

“That’s just the base form, I believe there’s a 'pluhg-een' enabled in this world to allow for different flavours. So if you want an apple cake or a chocolate cake, go wild and experiment with it, just make sure you end up with something you can eat. I’m not sure how Oripathy interacts with healing and regen, but you seem to be in better colours than before, keep taking a regular dose, in close proximity to a toilet preferably.” 

Yelena nodded seriously. They had found an unfortunate side-effect of consuming milk of these lands, it caused a condition called ‘Lactose Intolerance’ among Terrans alone. She first experienced it right after Alina gave her speech, Yelena having disappeared to find a toilet when she got ambushed by that reporter again, much to her annoyance later. Alina, and all of the Yetis who also needed the ‘miracle’ milk all had that syndrome a few hours after consuming it, confusing Yuè who had stated it shouldn’t be happening. And yet, visits to nearby toilets were needed whenever she drank milk, though thankfully it was the only side-effect so far. 

“I still don’t know why you get Lactose Intolerance, but thankfully it can be treated.” 

“How do you treat it?” Yelena asked. 

“Easy, you build up a tolerance.” 

The Cautus winced, not liking the implications. “Meaning…?” 

“She means you just have to shit yourself, am I right or am I right?” 

Alex walked into Yuè’s pharmacy, having caught the tail end of their conversation along with Alina. The Draco-like woman sighed, Yelena liked her a lot more than Alex to be completely honest, though Alina tried to be nice to everyone, as always. 

“I wouldn’t put it like that, but essentially, yes. The Tolerance builds up over time, and the more regular dairy you take, the better you fair. Trust me, my people are uniquely susceptible to Lactose Intolerance, I know firsthand what it is like.” 

“Didn’t you say your people cannot get sick-” 

“I know what I said. Anyways, I’ve just finished teaching Yelena how to make a cake, have they delivered the aid yet?” 

“Eeyup, all fits nicely into this Shulker Box.”  

Alex held out an odd purple box with a split in the middle, even if she placed it down, it would be no bigger than a cubic square metre, was that all the aid they were given? 

“I know what you’re thinking, I’ll just stop you right there. There are five hundred apples in here alone, and that’s not even counting everything else. Apparently, a lot of people saw you on the news, so they pitched in as well, I'm not sure what is exactly in here though. They really gave you some of everything lemme tell ya. You can’t see inside of it, but Yuè can, c’mon, check it out.” 

Alex chucked the purple block at Yuè who caught it easily. A second later, she too nodded in affirmation. 

“It isn’t just food, which can probably last you months, but also equipment, building materials, tools, everything you need to repair your Village. How badly damaged was it?” 

“To be honest, we did not have anything permanent built up, it was more or less a temporary camp. We had to move around constantly due to raids, until Alex took care of their local garrison. Right now we can afford to stay for a while longer, though I believe Patriot will be deciding on a place to move again soon.” Alina told them of their situation, which wasn’t anything to celebrate, it was simply the truth. They were due for another relocation anyway, when Alina first met Alex, she and her Yetis were scouting for a suitable location. 

“Well, hope you find a nice place. Here, want to take a look?” Yuè handed over the block to Yelena, who attempted to take it from the Pharmacist. The key word there being attempted. 

“You’re not letting go of it.” 

“I’m not gripping it.” Yuè replied. 

The block was now placed in the palm of her hands, gesturing for Yelena to pick it up instead of grabbing it. Even then, however, despite using both hands, it refused to budge, remaining rock steady on Yuè’s palm. 

“How is it-” 

“Wait, I think I know what’s going on. Try and pick it up from the table.” The block was then placed on Yuè’s shop table, floating up and down, like everything she had seen in ‘item’ form in these lands. Again, Yelena tried and failed to even get it to move an inch, her hands just bobbing up and down along with the block. 

“Here, try and lift this up.” Yuè held a Golden Apple in her hands, gesturing for Yelena to take it. Mindlessly moving to pick it up, the young Cautus was not ready for how hefty the Apple was, she knew her race wasn’t known for its physical prowess compared to other races, but this was just ridiculous. 

“Was it really that heavy? It wasn’t that heavy when I held it up…” Alina mindlessly commented, reminding Yelena of the Golden Apple, the medicine of medicines wasted on her instead of her father. 

“Hey, who knows? Maybe you’re stronger, got those good genes or something.” 

“But Elafians aren’t that strong…are we?” Alina looked at her hands as if she found something new about herself. Yuè took the Golden Apple back from Yelena, the girl almost wanted to hold onto it, but decided that their aid supplies must have also contained Golden Apples as well. 

“If we’re all ready, we’ll begin making our way back to the bridge, there’s another route I want to take back there which will be even faster, but, I’ll tell you about it on the way.” 

Today was the day they all agreed on going back to Terra, the few days they had here had told them that yes, this was not a dream, and two, they were bringing back something which could change the Infected’s fate on Terra forever. A low cost (with it practically being produce), easy to use (again, also being a food item) and extremely efficient Oripathy suppressant. Since taking the regular ‘dose’ of one milk bottle a day, Yelena did not have any Oripathy flare-ups or symptoms related to it, even her body temperature, usually ice cold, was back to normal temperatures; aside from the frequent toilet trips of course. There weren’t enough Rhine Labs Oripathy Suppressants for everyone in their camp regardless, once a viable path from Neo-New Elysium to their camp was created, Yuè could bring her promised half herd of Cows over. 

Who knows? Maybe it could even cure Oripathy in the future. Yelena found the thought to be too far-fetched, but maybe something could come as a result of Yuè researching them. She hoped. 

As they all began making their way back through the town, Yelena’s shoulder was tapped on by Sveta, the oldest Yeti member here. The Ursine was a former Ursus Elite Army Officer, who fell out of favour and ended up framed for a crime she did not commit. She, along with her entire family was sentenced to the same mine Yelena was liberated from, if she recalled, her husband did not make it out of the mines with her. 

“Sveta? Is something wrong?” 

The Yeti shook her head, but from her expression, Yelena could see that she had something to say. 

“We’re really going back, huh?” The older woman never had a tone like that before, usually, she adopted a hard tone, reminiscent of her time in the military. Here, however, Yelena saw that she was simply a middle-aged single mother of two, little shown of her decade's worth of training. 

“I…understand how you feel, but we need to get these supplies back-” 

“I know that. I’m not saying we shouldn’t go back at all. Yelena, do you think Patriot could be convinced to move here?” 

Yelena narrowed her eyes at the woman, she was one of her elite Yeti soldiers, but there were lines that she was treading dangerously close to. “Sveta…” 

“Ignore us being the infamous Yeti squadron for a moment, and ignore being our leader. Imagine that you are just Yelena, not FrostNova, and Patriot is simply Mr.Buldrokkas'tee, your father. Would you and your father settle down here? If there were no obligations, no stated goal to fight for the Infected, would you?” 

Sveta wanted her to answer honestly, in the years that they had known each other Yelena knew she could trust her with her life, but a question like this… 

“I…would. Life is much better here, but that doesn’t mean we can just abandon-!” Yelena hastily said the end part, as if anymore and the sweet allure of simply abandoning her obligations and living in these lands would overwhelm her. Sveta cut her off by placing a finger on her lips, even though they were walking through the busy markets, their conversation may have been too loud. 

“Again, I’m not saying that. Yelena, you know that I would die for your ideals, you or Patriot, but what about my two children?” 

Sveta had two children she raised whenever not on missions, they were around eight and nine respectively. It came without saying that they too were infected, though thankfully only in the early stages, Yelena knew Sveta skipped her ‘milk’ doses for the last two days just for them. She made a mental note to ask Yuè for two more milk bottles later. 

“Like any parent, I want them to have a future, beyond giving their whole lives into a war they did not ask for. Ursus will never give them that chance, nor will any other nation on Terra, at least not in my lifetime, but here? Even in Neo-New Elysium, there are schools, playgrounds, housing, an abundance of food and even aid if you can’t afford it. They didn't even care we were infected, because such a thing doesn't exist here. I was able to go into a Cafe, and get a coffee without being chased out for the first time in eight years, Yelena, I want that for my children as well. I'm not even mentioning the other cities and places your friends have told me about, I want my children to go to university, not to pick up the sword as I have.” 

Yelena remained silent, simply going through the motions of walking. Sveta sighed, bringing her hood back up to cover her head. 

“The others…have similar sentiments. I am not saying we should abandon our cause, but what about those who cannot fight? Are we to subject them to the same dangers we have for our ideals? We only survived the raid a few days ago due to the intervention of the redheaded stranger, what if she wasn’t there? What would have happened then?” 

Their camp likely would have been even more damaged, or worse. Strong as they were, the Emperor’s Blades were more than a match for them, not to mention Alex apparently having reduced their garrison by considerable numbers already, and by considerable, she meant ‘like, a few dozen? Idk?’ which also worked in their favour. 

“You are saying…we should move our non-combatants beyond the icefield?” 

“Yes, at the minimum. It may be difficult…but I’m willing to bet your friends have a way to safely move everyone across.” 

Yelena wanted to disagree, but after these past few days, and seeing more of the world Yuè and Alex came from, the retort found itself stuck in her throat. Inhaling deeply, she turned to Sveta. 

“I will…ask father what he thinks of it.” 

“That is good enough, thank you, Yelena.” 

Sveta went back to her position as if their conversation never happened. A few minutes later, the group reached their destination, the bridge that took them to Neo-New Elysium. Though she passed the bridge a few times already, having rested at Alex’s house every night for the past few days, this would be the last time they were to cross it. A part of her indeed wanted to stay, and evidently, it was obvious enough for Yuè to notice. 

“Don’t want to go home?” 

“Truthfully, no. I do not miss the cold, even though it will soon be autumn in Terra. I know it has only been a few days, but I much prefer the warm breeze here.” 

A frozen wasteland, versus golden meadows of wheat gently swaying in the wind, there was no competition between the two. 

“Hmm. Might be better, but do remember this saying we have here. Nothing built lasts forever, you can interpret that to be good or bad. I’m sure Terra has its own spots where life is good, you just have to find it.” 

Yelena thought about it, but nothing immediately came to mind. Though her experience in foreign nations was practically zero anyways, so perhaps she wasn’t the best reference to ask. The girl began taking a step towards the bridge from the exit area, only to be stopped by Yuè again. 

“Where are you going?” 

Yelena turned to her, confused. “Are we not going across the bridge?” 

“Uhm, no. Alex and I have discussed the best route back, and we’ve decided on an alternate route that will get us back there eight times faster.” 

Eight times faster? Their original route was not that long either, so what did she mean by that? Yuè simply gestured for her to follow, now that Alex had gotten their exit stamps done. This was in order for them to have an easier time getting in the next time around. 

Walking through the same gate they used to get in, they turned to the left instead of the middle path leading to the bridge. Alex pointed at a large sign above a doorway that simply said ‘Nether Portal Access Room’ in big bold letters. 

“Since y’all have stayed here for around five days, a day more than what you originally planned, I’ve decided to take a shortcut back to your camp. If all goes well, we’re gonna be back there in less than two to three hours. Though I will say, it might be a bit…toasty, otherwise it should be completely safe with the three of us protecting you.” 

“Three?” Alina asked. Alex was referring to ‘Playaars’ such as herself, which only Yuè was the only other one present-

“Mind thy head.” 

Yelena ducked, avoiding a great sword being carried over her head. She recognized who carried the sword, only she had the skill to make herself invisible to her detection abilities... 

“I’ve asked Leda to help with escorting across the Nether , considering she is our resident ‘PVP’ junkie.” 

The pristine armoured knight took her place in the center of their group, her greatsword carried on her back. Yelena couldn’t help but to be wary of her, again. Since taking care of that Pillager patrol a few days ago, she saw her a couple times throughout her stay in Neo-New Elysium, usually watching them from afar. It was only when Alex or Yuè pointed her out did Yelena notice her presence, for someone as fearsome as her to be with them…her daggers were ready just in case. 

“No harm shall come, as long as I am here. Would you like to receive a blessing from kindly Miq-” 

“Save your roleplaying for later, we’re going in, people! I wanted to set off earlier, but you know how Villagers work and everything yadadada.” 

Alex ignored Leda, and went into the sealed room. Sealed, as in there were two thick iron doors that enclosed it, they had to push a button on the side just to be let in. As soon as they went in however, Yelena could see a purple haze envelope her vision, with purple flakes floating around the air. At the end of the hallway they found themselves in, she saw the cause of it.

A rectangular portal, made of the darkest obsidian stone, normally they were formed from underground lava sources rapidly cooling. It was considered a rare stone, but ultimately useless to a mine for Originium. Though the most striking, and off-putting part of it was the glowing light in the centre of it. The purple haze was coming from it, causing her ears to stand up straight. 

“What is…this?” 

 “As the name implies from the sign outside, this is the Neo-New Elysium community Nether Portal. A lot of people use it for various things, Yuè probably knows more about Nether stuff than I do.” 

Yuè nodded, she had a bow in her hands, was that her weapon of choice? Like Alex’s axe, it too glowed and pulsed with Arts, and a very powerful one at that. 

“Simply put, the plan is to trek across the Nether to return to your camp. I’ve recorded the coordinates of where it is, so as long as none of us stumbles or attracts unwanted attention, we’ll make it back in one piece.” 

Alina had her hand raised, signalling that she wanted to ask something. “Right, erm, but you haven’t told us what the Nether is exactly?” 

“I haven’t? Swore I have…oh well, it’s better if you see for yourself. See ya on the other side!” Alex just jumped into the rectangular ‘portal’, disappearing entirely within it instantly. Yelena blinked, she really was gone. Leda followed suit next, the clinking of her armour disappearing soon after, thus leaving Yuè as the only one remaining. 

“Oh my god, she just ran in…oh well, come on, you want to save your village, don’t you?” 

Yuè disappeared into the portal next, casually stepping into it, leaving the Terrans alone once more. Alina stepped forward first, but gave Yelena a look of confidence before stepping through the portal altogether. 

“They haven’t failed us yet, we can trust them again, Yelena. It’s not like we are stepping through into Hell, are we? Come on, home awaits us, and the future beyond.” 

Alina stepped through the portal next. Yelena, though her gut feeling told her not to step through, resolved herself to go through as well. 

Eyes closed, she stepped onto the obsidian, and took her first steps into another dimension…

Alina was wrong, she was so, so wrong. 

She did step into Hell. 

The portal must have killed her, and transported her soul into the deepest depths of the underworld- 

“Welcome to the Nether! It’s basically a dimension adjacent to the Overworld, where we came from, with access only possible by a Nether portal, the thing we just stepped through. Please mind your step, Netherrack is pretty sturdy but I’ve seen way too many newbies think it’s just like the Overworld and plummet to a fiery death, losing all of their items in the process. Anyways, respawn anchor is with me, we’ll sync up halfway through.” Alex introduced the fiery hellscape like a tour guide would in old Columbian films (the films she watched were all probably pirated, hence why there were advertisement breaks in the middle of the film).  

“I do not intend on dying, I shall do without.” Leda replied, causing Yuè to scoff. 

“...is it too late to go back the way we came?” Alina asked meekly, the portal was still right behind her…

“Oh, sure, but again, travelling through here is eight times faster, you’ll get home before dinner even starts. Don’t you wanna go see the valley of souls? I’ve got a pair of boots with soul speed just for ya!” Alex gestured to another part of the landscape, this time to their right. 

“Just don’t die there, uh, if you do your soul may or may not get sucked into that sand for all of eternity. Hey, just a tiny warning, other than that the valley is pretty much safe.” 

Alina didn’t know which part of it was safe, getting your soul sucked into sand for all of eternity sounded extremely dangerous! Yuè smacked Alex’s head with her bow, causing her entire body to flash red for just a very brief moment, Alina had learned that instead of taking ‘damage’ in the same way Terrans did, most livings things and beyond in her lands were hurt by their entire body flashing red. Again, she didn't know why, but to ask was also futile.  

“Yeowch! What the hell was that for?” 

“You’re a terrible guide. Don’t listen to her, for most people travelling the Nether is safe. It’s only a concern if you’re alone and unprepared, which we are neither. So, just follow our instructions, stick close, and call out if you see anything concerning. We don’t have enough Elytras for everyone, nor do we have the time to train you on them, so we have to walk through unexplored Nether territory on foot. I’ve brought extra healing pots just in case, it can heal burns in an instant.” 

Speaking of burns, Alina felt like she was burning up. Even the light shirt she swapped out for her clothing felt too much, it was like being in a Sauna, only with the steam replaced by hot air entirely. 

“I-I don’t think I can last an hour in here, let alone three-” 

“Not to worry, I have a potion of fire resistance if you need it. Huddle together, please.” Following Yuè ’s instructions, the Terrans all got closer, having been introduced to the different types of potions already. A splash potion, filled with orange, glowing liquid was thrown at their feet. Instantly, the dry heat that they felt just prior was entirely gone, she was no longer affected by the heat, like a cold spell washed over her to balance out the two extremes. 

“It only lasts for a while, so tell me when you need another one. Come, the more time we waste here, the longer we’ll have to stay in this realm.” The three began walking, away from the portal and presumably to the south, Alina couldn’t tell because this realm did not have a sun. Despite gulping, she took the tender first steps among her group, and soon they all went as one through this strange, and frankly terrifying realm. 

AN: 

I remember when Wynncraft was the go-to MMORPG in Minecraft before Skyblock really took off. Never played Skyblock, but Wynncraft is always going to be the OG and more nostalgic to me, wish I had the time to get back into it. 

Holy shit how did this balloon up to 38k words already? Feels like it’s been a year since I posted the first chapter. Anyways, this should be self-explanatory for this chapter, they went to the Nether, went through the portal, and have instant regret. The next chapter will be their journey through the place, and learn some unsettling yet awe-inspiring things about these ‘Players’. 

Comment below on what you’d like to see implemented in the story! No guarantees on it getting in, but it could be saved for future arcs, Minecraft is a huge game and community after all. The only requirement I have is that it must be either Arknights or Minecraft-related. The latter can include famous mods and spinoff games as well. So stuff like the Aether mod can work, while some random horror mod that only has 10k downloads will not count. 

Also, thoughts on creating a Discord? I'll admit, I've thought about it for a long time, but never got around to it. It'd be a place where I run ideas and snippets, as well as give updates on my works. 

Be civil in the comments below. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 8 

Halfway through their journey, Alex decided that they needed some rest. Even in the desolate wasteland that was the Nether, a part of Alina was relieved to see that things still grew here. So far however, she would not want to stay here a second longer, a brief encounter with Skeleton Archers and stone sword-wielding Skeletons told her that this realm probably didn’t like them very much earlier. 

“Shut the hell up, Leda, we don’t talk about the Minecraft Movie. I swear if Netflix makes it live-action as well…” Alex finished her conversation with Leda, something about a newly released film, and turned to the larger group. 

“We’ll take fifteen and continue on. In case anyone’s wondering, this biome’s called a Warped Forest, the safest zone in the entire Nether. You won’t find any overtly hostile mobs unless you deliberately screw with an Enderman, at which point it probably is natural selection working in practice. Anyways, feel free to explore, just don’t wander beyond the biome itself. Y’all might even want to take a quick dip in the lava just to freshen up.” 

Alina thought Alex was entirely joking about that last part, until she saw the redhead plunge right into the lake of lava behind her. 

“ALEX-wait, wha…” Her cry of concern quickly turned into one of utter confusion, for she was swimming around in the molten LAVA without any concern. Alina put two and two together, and remembered that she took the same potion Yuè gave the Terrans earlier. Turning to the not-Draco woman, (she denied being a Draco at all, quite vigorously in fact), Alina saw that she was talking with Yelena. Approaching them under a ‘tree’, she caught the tail end of their conversation. 

“Leda played a loooooot of competitive Bedwars back in the day, like, an insane amount. She’s probably like top 100 in ‘High-picks-el’ or something, so to answer your question, if Leda and Alex were to fight, my money is on Leda, only on 1.8 PVP though. Beyond that then it’s a bit more even, though Leda does still have more experience.” 

“I understood only a small part of that. Leda is the better fighter, that’s what the main point is, yes?” 

“...sure, there’s more to it but I’m not going into it now. Hello, Alina, the Fire Resistance wear off?” 

“Uhm, no, I mean, I was going to ask a question regarding that, but what was that about Alex and Leda?” 

Yuè gave her a nonchalant wave. “Not too important, just know that Leda is a…really good fighter.” 

As if the prior displays of her in action against those skeletons weren’t enough. Alina had watched recordings of the Kazimeirz majors once, Leda was just like the Black Knight, peerless skill and strength with the sword, she wasn’t sure who would win, but she certainly wasn’t going to watch the fight in close proximity, if it ever happened. 

“R-right. My question is about the…Flame Resistance potion? Alex is currently swimming in Lava-” 

“You can do that too.” Yuè replied instantly, making Alina question her hearing again. 

“ Fire Resistance is actually misleading, the more accurate term should be Fire Immunity. You are impervious to all forms of fire under the effects of that potion, you can literally dip your entire hand in the hottest Lava, and just fling it off like you would water. Go on, try it, you too Yelena.” 

She pointed at the small pond of lava beside them, and just for demonstration, Yuè hopped down onto the pond, literally submerged in waist-height lava. Judging by the fact that she wasn’t screaming in pain, maybe the potion did actually work as she said it would. However, that still didn’t stop Alina from simply using her pinky to test the waters first, or in this case, molten lava. 

“It…it feels lukewarm?” 

Just to make sure that she was actually touching lava, and not something which looked like lava, she scooped a handful of the viscous liquid with both of her hands, and proceeded to fling it at a nearby patch of ‘grass’. 

It caught on fire immediately. 

Yelena dipped into it next, this time with her legs. “It protects our clothes too…I’m starting to suspect this isn’t Arts…it’s too different…” 

Indeed, a potion of this completely negated Talulah’s Arts, or anyone with Fire-based Arts for that matter; leaving her as just another swordfighter. If this got into the wrong hands…she was sure a lot of countries and groups on Terra would kill for just this potion alone, not even counting everything else they were bringing back. 

The consequences of her actions were beginning to dawn on Alina, but she had no choice but to march on, for the future of her people. 

“Hey guys, check it out!” 

“Oh for the love of- what is Alex doing now?” 

Yuè hopped out of her pond of lava like she was getting out of a pool, and proceeded to head towards the larger lake of lava surrounding them. Flinging the rest of the molten lava away from her fingers, Alina followed, curious. 

As she and Yelena got to the shore, she saw Alex riding a…creature of sorts. 

“Alex, get off the Strider.” Yuè deadpanned. 

“You’re not my dad!” Alex retorted, what followed was a nonsensical exchange. 

“Get off the Strider I am your dad-” 

“You’re not my dad~” 

“I AM YOUR DAD-AND YOU WILL-” 

“I’m on a Strider and you’re not.” 

“I don’t care, get off the Strider and put it back to where it belongs!” 

“No.” 

“Okay, you asked for it-” Yuè took her glowing bow out, and began pulling back an arrow. Immediately, Alex dismounted from the strange bipedal creature, plopping herself onto waist-height lava. 

“Alright, fine, chill! You’ve got Power V on that thing, one crit and I’m a goner.” 

While Alex figuratively and literally burned while making her way back ashore, Alina asked Yuè about the strange, but also somewhat cute creature. So far, the only native creatures they encountered in this realm were skeletons, the hostile ones, also straight out of some fairy novel. Though the shock of the Nether itself lessened the impact of seeing them for the first time, Alina wasn’t sure which one was better, if any at all. 

“These adorable little things are called Striders, similar to…horses in the Overworld if you need a comparison. We mainly use them to travel long distances over lava lakes, only when needed. Otherwise, they’re just about the only passive creature in the entire Nether.” As soon as Yuè finished speaking, the red bipedal creature scurried away, but not before snatching a mushroom-like plant from Alex’s fishing rod. 

“Passive?” 

“As in, they won’t fight you no matter what you do to them. Everything else in the Nether is hostile one way or another.” 

“D-didn’t we pass by an abandoned fortress on the way here? Aren’t there natives like Villagers here?” 

They passed by an abandoned section of a fortress, made entirely of red brick on the way to this warped forest. Coincidentally, it was also where they encountered those Skeletons. Alex celebrated over having one of their skulls, called a ‘Wither Skull’ which Alina found somewhat disturbing. Yuè assured her that it was an actually useful item, and not just Alex being…unique. 

“Piglins!” Alex shouted as she finally came shore, molten lava still dripping from her tunic. 

“Pig-Lin…? Is that a Yanese name?” 

Yuè stared at her for a brief moment. “That felt odd just now, but yes, Piglins are another race of native inhabitants in the Nether. We haven’t encountered any yet, but they are human-like, with distinct features of Pigs instead, such as their heads. They are probably the closest to Villagers in the Overworld, at least in the Nether. However, I will warn you that they are…” 

“They’ll kill ya if you ain’t wearing gold, or you accidentally ‘left click’ instead of ‘right click’ when trading with them. Having a horde of ‘em chasing you through the Nether ain’t very fun, just saying.” Alex finished for Yuè, Alina had noticed by now that the latter liked to put things in a nicer way, while the former said things bluntly. 

“O-oh, I see. Do they have cities and towns as well? Perhaps we could establish links-” If they were anything like the Villagers, Alina saw merit in trading with them. Yuè interrupted her before she could continue further however. 

“They’re a ruined empire, they don’t have cities, let alone permanent settlements. Piglins are more like nomads than Villagers, their former glory and strength are long gone, lost to the fires of history.” The white-haired ‘Playaar’ said, as if recounting historical fact. 

“Wait, that’s the lore? Where is it from?” Alex asked. 

“Legends, obviously.” The redhead made a shrugging notion, followed by her quietly muttering ‘never bought it…’ .

In Terra’s history, there were many empires that rose and fell. Gaul being the most recent example, with others stretching as far away as Sargon having similar histories. Despite the obvious differences, perhaps the stories of Terra and the civilization beyond it weren’t so different after all. 

“Alright, enough of the yapping, we’ve got to go. Grab your stuff and let’s continue on.” 

The ten minutes were up before Alina even realised. It didn’t feel like a break, but the walk was not very tiring in the first place, having been used to farmwork her entire life. As she grabbed her backpack and continued on, Yelena went to Yuè again with a simple question. 

“What caused the Piglin Empire to fall?” Yelena asked out of curiosity, ever since coming to the ‘Overworld’ as Alex and her people called it, Alina noticed that she was more interested in other things. Generally it was more mundane stuff, such as cooking, painting and so on. The Elafian was glad, now that Yelena did have a long future ahead of her due to the miracle milk, she could afford to take in more hobbies. 

“Hm. How do I put it…? Many, many years ago, they invaded the Overworld.” Alina listened closely, having never heard of this before. 

“We disagreed, and thus, we shattered their Empire. The only remnants of their glory are their once pristine Bastions , like that one over there.” Yuè pointed at a dilapidated fort in the distance, it was another abandoned structure they passed by. Alex said some of her people must have explored this area already, something about ‘chunks loaded already’ when they got here. 

“These days they’re just containers for lost relics and treasures, but yes, you could say they’re like that…because of us. We did it, we ensured that their people would never reunite and threaten our home again.” 

“...you fought in that war?” Yelena asked, clearly getting what Yuè was hinting at. The not-Draco woman chuckled, before walking a few steps quicker. 

“In a way, I guess. It was a long time ago, but I still remember it clearly, like some dream that never was…” 

Judging by Alex’s interactions with those Emperor’s Blades, Alina could believe Yuè. Yelena stopped for Alina to catch up, and then whispered a question into her ears. 

“What are we bringing back to Terra?” 

Alina wished she knew… 

“Okay everyone, we’ve got to go across the giant lake! Hope you know how to swim in lava!” 

Alex flopped onto the massive lake of lava in front of them, with Yuè and Leda following soon after. Once again, the Terrans looked to Alina to make the first step, or in this case, the first swim. 

The things I do for Talulah… 

Yelena huffed, wheezed, and tried to get the sensation of molten lava out of her mouth. Coughing out the remaining specks of lava from it, she never thought in her life that would happen, the Cautus shook off the rest of the lava from her clothes before helping her Yeti squad. Every one of them were fine, Yuè’s potions worked as advertised, but some things still needed time. Though instead of swimming across, Yelena sort of flopped her way across, living in the tundra did not result in good swimming skills as it turned out. The paltry distance they ‘swam’ was only a couple dozen meters, just a tiny length compared to how big the lake of lava was. 

“Everyone alright? Good, let’s get a move on, we should be halfway in the ice biome by now. Just a bit longer and we’ll be right underneath your camp.” Alex said, while gripping a map in her hands. When did she have to time to draw and map one out? Yelena didn’t know, nor did she want to know at this point. Home was in view, damned if she was going to delay any longer-

“FrostNova, there are footsteps here. They aren’t ours.” 

Sveta got her attention. Turning around, the middle-aged Yeti pointed at footprints on the ground, judging by how deep they were on the mycelium grass, they were fresh. Yelena leaned over, not noticing Leda had also leaned over until the knight was literally right on top of her. 

“These belongeth to another, from the world above.” 

A quick deciphering of Leda’s old way of speaking revealed that she meant they belonged to a ‘Playaar’ like herself. Alex and Yuè had come over as well, curious at the commotion. 

“Someone beat us here already, guess that’s who raided those Bastions…not surprised, actually.” 

“Didn’t you say you were the first one to find Terra?” Yelena asked, causing Alex to sigh. 

“Remember what I said? One block here, is eight blocks in the Overworld. I’m the first one to reach Terra in the Overworld, someone travelling in the Nether can reach much further without even meaning to if they ever portaled up from here. There’s a reason why most highways are constructed in the Nether, you can’t beat the distance after all.” 

That didn’t bode well, for Terra. One Alex was already enough for her infected camp, Yelena didn’t want to know what an entire group of Alex’s people could accomplish in Terra. There was also the issue of Ursus seeking revenge on their camp sooner or later, which was why Yelena wanted to go back as soon as possible. 

“We’re not too far from the community Nether Portal, I won’t be surprised if someone else accidentally got here just by ‘ Bed-mining’ . We could ask them for directions, they may know a better path compared to trudging through lava covered forests and lakes.” Yuè suggested, the mention of leaving the lakes of lava got Yelena’s attention immediately. Immune as she was to it thanks to the potion, the sensation just felt wrong.  

“Ugh, fine, let’s go ask. Probably some rando Bastion hunting for ‘pig-step’ or whatever…” 

Yelena noticed those steps were casually made, there was no attempt to hide their presence. Most regular people made steps like those whoever they were tracking, was probably someone just making their way across. Still, she carefully made her way deeper into the forest, her Yetis fanned out in their search formation. 

“Wow, so cool, such seriousness…look, it’s probably just some guy who explored a little further than where the portal was located-” Alex began talking again, only to stop herself when she looked ahead. 

“What in the goddamn…? You seeing what I’m seeing?” 

“I don’t have ‘Opti-fine’ , Alex, I can’t zoom.” The archer replied, her arms crossed. 

“Right, Bedrock, my bad. Leda, you see it?” 

“I do not have the ‘zoom’ key binded.” Leda answered plainly as well, causing Alex to groan. 

“What did you even rebind it to?! Whatever, the rando we’re looking for is there, right in between the two tallest trees, you seeing what I see, bunny girl?” 

“For thy record, I use the key for totem macros-” 

Yelena willingly ignored their conversation, making little sense to her as always. Looking at where Alex was pointing to, she did notice someone in the distance, standing around a clearer patch of the forest with a stand of some kind. Squinting, she could just about identify her general appearance. 

“Blonde hair…black and white clothing…I can’t make out much beyond that-” 

“It’s a goddamn maid outfit.” Alex said authoritatively. 

Yelena’s mind blanked for a split second, before it was able to process her words. 

“Holy shit, I think I know who it is…” 

Alex hurriedly skipped ahead, by now Yelena was used to her signature look of mischief, which did not bode well for their next encounter. She had the same expression when fighting those Emperor’s Blades, the grin the redhead had meant either two things, they were about to meet someone familiar, or two, they were about to get into the fight of their lives. 

“Alright you guys, Terrans, people from a place called Ursus, you’re about to see the lowest form of occupation my people have, worse than the griefers, worse than the item hoarders, I’m talking about…the Streamers.” Both of Alex’s friends immediately facepalmed, Yelena guessed they were used to this by now. It actually brought her back to what Alina said a few days ago, so she wasn’t the only one after all…

“Can we not, Alex?” 

“I concur, they are not all that bad-” 

“A-a-a-a! Shaddup, c’mon, I know who is setting up their camera there. This far out from spawn? There’s only one idiot desperate enough to do something like this…” 

No choice but to follow along, Yelena had her daggers ready just in case Alex dragged them into a fight, which with her personality was probably a given. Approaching the clearing, Yelena had a much better view of who the ‘Streamer’ was, a young girl, dressed in a maid costume which showed too much skin in certain areas. There was a term for this, Gaulish maid? Something like that… 

“We’re gonna interrupt the shot, in three…two…one…” Alex said with glee, while her other two companions hung back, clearly done with  Yelena was going to do the same. 

The young girl in costume finished fiddling with her camera made out of wood and iron, and then took her place right in front of it. With a deep breath, she began to…present in front of it. Yelena didn’t know what she was seeing, only that it felt wrong.  

“What’s up guys?! Welcome back to another episode of a Frontier Life Playthrough! Today, we’re in episode seventy-eight, continuing our hunt for the LEGENDARY pig-step disc! Last time we were unlucky, the last few Bastions didn’t have what we wanted, but today, we’re going to finally find it, as always, remember to like and subscri-HEY! YOU’RE IN MY SHOT-” 

Alex sauntered her way over behind the girl, casually chopping down a mycelium tree. What happened next was too fast for Yelena to keep track of, the girl in a Gaulish maid outfit pulled out a blue trident and then flew right at Alex in a beeline. Yelena drew her daggers, expecting the fight to begin, only that it never came. Instead of moving to impale their guide, the maid instead began pushing Alex away. 

“Hey! What’s the big idea?! You don’t own the entire damn Nether, you ‘influencers’ are outta control-”  

“That’s why I went through unexplored chunks, just go away! Get the hell outta here!” Despite the girl being considerably smaller than Alex, she was actually making good progress in dragging the redhead away. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know you, you’re that streamer who moved into town a couple months back, how’s your fifty-views average treating ya so far? Dunno how you afford rent with that ad revenue, or do you not even qualify for monetisation?” 

“S-SHUT UP! IT’S BECAUSE OF HATERS LIKE YOU MY CHANNEL IS LIKE THAT! I’m a Content Creator , I don’t even Stream! Most of the time…” 

The girl looked as if she was about to cry and fight. Her trident was literally shaking at this point, even Yelena could tell she was channelling Arts into it, what kind specifically, she didn’t know, but any Caster who was channelling like that wasn’t using it for peaceful reasons. Alina stepped forward, again, before Yelena had the opportunity to stop the Elafian. Honestly, it was like she had a death wish…

“Um, excuse me? Miss…” 

Alina got her attention, and her trident was no longer being channeled. “Huh? Who-you’re a Villager, what are you doing in the Nether?” 

For some reason, every ‘Playaar’ they met instantly identified them as Villagers, was there something that only they could see? 

“We are but humble travellers, seeking a path forward back home. Alex is our guide, please, forgive her rudeness but we would like to ask you for a path forwards…” 

Yelena heard the clinking of armour behind her, Leda was now next to her, her gauntlet cusped her helmet’s chin as if she was thinking deeply. Did…she know that her armour was in the way? Nope, better to not question it. 

“I know her…”

“You do?” 

The knight nodded at Yelena. “A month ago, the lady hath asked me to maketh a PVP compilation with her, I humbly declined her offer.” 

“Wait, I saw something in the newspapers a while back. What was the name again…? SpringerJoe’s? ” The not-Draco suddenly appeared on Yelena’s right, how did she not hear her either?! 

“Ah, yes, the minstrel cryer, I believe the entire town ignored her when she first maketh an appearance.” 

With nothing else to do but watch, Yelena decided to join Alina in her quest to seemingly befriend everybody. The worst part? So far, it appeared to work. 

“What the-you’re leading an entire group of Villagers here? What are you, starting a new Village thousands of blocks out? You know slavery is punishable by perma banning , right?” The girl said in surprise as she noticed Yelena approaching, causing Alex to scoff. 

“Trying to cancel me? I have your profile on speed dial, don’t test me! One post is all it takes…” 

“P-please, we can resolve this peacefully…” Alas, Alina tried, but her efforts seemed to be futile. It wasn’t until Leda and Yuè arrived that the girl finally put away her trident, for her attention was now entirely on Leda. 

“Oh shit, h-hey Leda! What’s good? You uh, give some thought to that PVP compilation idea yet? I know you’ve retired from ‘Bedwars’ competitive, but you could like just do one for old times sake right?” The girl tried to put on her best confident face, only for her wobbling legs to betray her anxiety. 

“I hath not, minstrel SpringerJoe.” 

“J-just call me Spring! That’s what my friends say…haha…” 

“Wow, you have friends-yeow!” Yuè once more smacked Alex, causing her to hopefully shut up for good. 

Spring sneaked a glance at Leda every so often, before turning her attention back to Alex with a scowl. “I don’t even want to know why Leda would be with you, but seeing that you’re not just here to ruin my new episode, what are you here for again? Something about making a path?” 

“We’re heading south, which we have been going, until we encountered this giant lava lake area. You wouldn’t happen to know a path through it without needing to swim or get enough striders for all of us, wouldn’t you?” Yuè asked, one hand covering Alex’s mouth. 

“Actually, yeah, I do, been scouting out this area for a while, actually.” The Terrans perked up, they were home free-

“Buuut, we have to go through a Bastion.”  

Yelena blinked, did she mean one of those abandoned forts? If so, there was nothing wrong with that, wasn’t it just a structure they had to go through? Just as she was about to ask however, she heard three distinct sounds, a greatsword being hefted, an axe being sharpened and an arrow notched on a bow. Yelena turned around, only to see the three Playaars with helmets made of gold, Leda included, though hers was much more ornate. 

“Y’all are about to find out what Piglins are! Here, catch, made ‘em just for this occasion.” Alex said, before throwing Yelena a literal helmet made of gold, with two slits on the top made for her ears. When did she even-

“C’mon, it’ll be fun, trust!” 

It was most certainly not going to be fun. 

“C’mon, quick video appearance, in and out within twenty minutes, don’t you wanna chase that 'inter-net' stardom?!” 

“I-I don’t even know what the ‘inter-net’ is…sorry…” Alina politely declined the girl’s offer. The only thing she knew was that she would have to appear on camera again, and after being famous all across Neo-New Elysium and possibly beyond, Alina was completely fine with just remaining as a nobody. 

“Boo, you suck, we would have been viral instantly, cute girls on the thumbnail guarantee views.” 

“Is that why your skin is a fucking maid?! God, you’re pathetic-” Alex’s ear was unceremoniously pulled before she could continue on by Yelena and Yuè. Alina had the distinct feeling Spring and Alex didn’t get along, though the exact reason why eluded her. 

“Bitch, my skin is custom made, your Vanilla-mind can’t comprehend. Fine, if you don’t wanna get on camera, how about that place you’re going back to…Terra. Anything cool to record there? Cool cities, builds, redstone contraptions even. Thought I could have been the next Mumbo , but life dashed those dreams pretty quickly…but you’re never too old to chase after them as a hobby-”

 “You’re a redstoner? I thought you were just a…” Yuè mumbled out. 

“Run of the mill ‘tuber? Yeah, get that a lot. I mean, it’s not that far off from what I study ‘eye-ar-ell’ so…anyways, I started in around Beta 1.8, I know pretty much every big change that’s happened to Redstone. There’s just too much competition for Redstoners these days, so I had to stand out-” 

“By doing what everyone else has been doing? Don’t tell me you’re doing a hardcore 100 days as well.” 

Spring looked away, her ears becoming redder even within the thick haze of the Nether. 

“...I discontinued it…” Yuè pinched the top of her nose in disappointment. 

Alina was getting better at following their conversations, though that understanding was still only halfway, though she did understand their dating system a lot better. She had to ask something though, just to confirm…

“Miss Spring? Can I ask how old you are in years-” 

“Nine-hundred and twenty-three. I’m good with numbers.” Spring answered immediately, due to being mentally prepared for some insane number as well, she processed that information relatively quickly. 

At that point, Spring, the young teenager in her eyes, was actually older than Ursus itself, probably. Alina wasn’t a big history person. 

“I shouldn’t have asked…” 

“That sounds correct, I should be around three hundred myself, Leda is around five hundred. Remember what Alex said about skins, we do not have one appearance, but my advice is to not let it bother you. Actually, the Alex you know isn’t even the only Alex in this world alone, seeing as how she still uses a Vanilla skin. She just got lucky and was early enough in the ‘user-name’ lottery, that’s all.” What did she mean by ‘not the only Alex’, did that mean more than one Alex was running around?! One of her was enough, she didn’t want more Alex's in her life. 

Alina felt Yuè placing a comforting hand on her back, causing her to sigh. “I don’t think I can get the two ideas out of my head…you just look like a little girl to me, apologies.” 

For some reason, Spring choked and violently coughed away, as if some secret was revealed. “S-sure…little girl…yeah…if it makes you feel better… why aren’t there any other dudes in your group…?” 

Alina blinked at her, there were males in their group, two of Yelena’s yetis were male. Though their hoods and face masks covered them the entire time. Just as she was about to say it, however, Spring halted their entire group before signalling them to get down. 

“There it is, I was planning to use a TNT trap to lure the piglins out and deal with them for the clip…but now that you’re here we have options.” 

Alina secured the specially made golden helmet for her, it had two sections from it removed so that her horns could fit inside it. It resulted in the helmet being somewhat unstable, but as long as she didn’t trip, it was going to stay on. Peeking out from the ridge, she saw the Bastion.  

To be honest, it wasn’t much to look at. Though she and her group saw them from a distance earlier, seeing it up front made it even more depressing. She could tell that it was once a mighty and formidable fortress, but evidently, time had not been kind to it. Collapsed walls, collapsing pillars and hollowed-out rooms with their walls missing could be seen by even her untrained eye. Though the most important part was probably the ‘Piglins’ which she saw for the first time. The description given earlier was correct, they did have features of ‘pigs’, an animal she saw in the Overworld. Albeit, with the added addition of weaponry such as Golden Swords and Crossbows, there were probably a few dozen in that Bastion alone. 

“If you don’t know, this world has increased the ‘spawn rates’ for Piglins inside the Nether depending on how many people are within the same chunk, so because there are four Playaars here, we’re dealing with at least a dozen per person.” Spring said, earning nods from her people. 

“Verily so. I shall dispatch of them swiftly.” Leda quickly got up, but was held in place by none other than Alex. 

“Jesus, I know you played against legends like Techno back in the day. God rest his soul, but we’re trying to avoid fights, let’s not repeat a Bedwars match when we’re supposed to be escorting. Can’t we just go past them? We all have golden gear, so as long as no one screws up, we can just make it across.” 

“I was gonna raid it for pig-step though…” Spring muttered before giving up whatever she wanted to do before. “Fine, I’ll just come back later. Only if I get first dibs on posting footage of Terra onto my channel, we got a deal?” 

“Deal, whatever, I don’t care. C’mon, let’s get across.” The entire group donned golden helmets, the Yetis wearing theirs on top of their hoods, while everyone else wore them normally. Wait a minute, Yuè’s horns were there a moment ago, why did it disappear when she wore her golden helmet-

“Time’s a wasting, the Piglins won’t hurt us now, unless you hurt them first. So don’t do anything stupid like taking off your helmet.” Alina secured her helmet even tighter as soon as Alex said that. 

Crossing the bridge of Netherrack, they approached the imposing Bastion with impunity. Despite visible crossbow-wielding Piglins posted atop, they were not fired upon despite being well within range. After that incident in the Village, Talulah made sure Alina knew basic self-preservation skills, trying to train her in self-defence was hopeless after the first two days. All Alina did have in the way of self-defence was just a small pocket knife, barely able to harm anything bigger than an Originium slug. Hence, she was placed smack dab in the centre of their group, away and protected from the fighting if it did occur. 

Walking right next to the Bastion, she could feel the Piglins stare at them, their white eyes staring into their very being. The group suddenly slowed down, though she couldn’t see very clearly, there was a group of Piglins approaching them. 

“Give 'em a wide berth, they’re just coming back from a patrol, we’re not gonna interrupt them…” Alex said carefully, being the first one to move away from their approach. Their group did the same as well, the two opposing sides had roughly one metre of separation, the path they were on wasn’t that big. Sticking close to Leda, Alina was now near face to face with a Piglin, the two passing by each other without so much as making eye contact. 

A few seconds later, the two groups had entirely cleared each other, they were home free. “Alright, nice work, let’s just keep going and-watch out for that golden nugget-!” 

Alex warned Alina, literally diving at her, but it was too late, the Elafian tripped on something stuck out from the ground, she saw the shiny rock too late and faceplanted right into the Nether’s ground. “Ack! I think I’ve got Netherrack in…my…mouth…” 

Alina found everyone in the group staring at her. Not just that, the Piglins, from the bridge and the Bastion itself, were also staring at her. Her head felt distinctly lighter than previously, and after a quick check with her hands, the golden helmet that should never be removed was no longer on her head. 

“WE’RE IN THE DETECTION RANG-” Alex shouted, but that was cut off by a blood-curling screech. It was a cross between a war cry, and the snort of a Burdenbeast. 

“HONK-SCREEEEEEEEE!” 

A Piglin appeared from out of nowhere, brandishing a golden sword and rushed directly at Alina. Thinking she was about to be skewered, the Elafian tried to get up, only to see the Piglin’s severed upper torso dropped next to her. Like every dead animal in the Overworld, it too disappeared into dust and ‘EXP’ a second later. 

“Foul tarnished beast…thou’st would reject our offer of peace?!” Leda, standing in front of Alina like a sentinel, brandished her bloody greatsword at the remaining Piglins. Much to Alex’s audible disappointment. 

“You fucking idiot! She could have just worn her helmet again! Looks like we’re fighting our way outta here, show no goddamn mercy! Sync up if ya need to!” Alex shouted, placing a block down that looked similar to obsidian, only with the purple portal sticking out from the top. A few ‘glowstones’ were hastily thrown inside of it, causing a circle on its sides to brightly glow. Everyone but Leda and the Terrans ‘touched’ it, before pointing their weapons at the Piglins. 

“Just so you all know, this is going into my cringe compilation-” Spring deadpanned, her left hand holding her camera, while the other held her trident. 

“HONG-HONK-SCREEEEEE!” 

As if a dam had burst, Piglins began pouring out of the Bastion like a waterfall, all bloodthirsty and very, very angry at them. 

“I just wanted to go home!” 

Amidst the ensuing carnage, Alina’s cry went unheard. 

Yelena dodged, barely missing the swing of a golden sword bound for her face. A quick flick of her wrists, and the Piglin that charged her was now immobilized with her Arts. Though before she could deliver a finishing blow, its comrades rushed in from the sides, causing her to retreat. 

Something like this had happened half a dozen times throughout the battle, there were simply too many of them for Yelena to focus on a specific target. Though they may not have been as skilled as Ursus soldiers, they more than made up for them in their ferocity and willingness to ignore pain. They did not retreat either, if one of their comrades died, they simply continued charging forward as if nothing had happened. In other words, the perfect soldiers, she could see how they once invaded the Overworld now. 

“Big sis!” Two of her Yetis came in and cut down three charging Piglins, but it was evident that they were barely holding on. Fighting in the frontlines were the duties of Patriot’s Shieldguard, not her Yeti Squadron! 

“Yelena! Huddle!” Yuè threw two bottles at Yelena and her Yetis, one she recognized as a potion of healing, and the other she didn’t recognize. Both found their mark, and she felt her own wounds and fatigue disappear, though when the second one landed… 

“Huh?! I feel-” Yelena felt like she could take on a Shieldguard in strength, and win with just her pinky. What was in that potion?! Noticing a charging Piglin, she delivered a kick to its abdomen, usually just strong enough to knock someone down, it instead launched the Piglin dozens of metres away, straight into the giant lake of lava below them. It squealed the entire way down, and she needed a few seconds to process what exactly had just happened. 

“Strength potion! It’ll give you an edge! Keep fighting, we need to thin out their horde!” Yuè shouted, as her bow loosened an arrow, literally decapitating a distant Piglin crossbowman as it struck true. Whatever Arts were on that bow, Yelena didn’t want to be on the receiving end of it. 

Leda, a fair distance away, was cleaving through the hordes of Piglins on her own. Her style of fighting was nothing Yelena had seen before, with all sorts of erratic movements which somehow made her even deadlier. Eventually, she jumped into the Bastion itself, intent on clearing it out alone. 

“Leda went inside the Bastion!” 

“It’s fine, she can solo them! Make sure the Piglins don’t get to Alina!” Alex replied casually, taking heads with every swing of her axe. Spring, on the other hand, stopped with her…quickly built contraption that shot explosives from a dispenser, and rushed into the Bastion as well. 

“Wait up! Your fighting can make some great shorts! Where you at, Leda?!” 

Suddenly remembering that they were supposed to be escorting Alina, Yelena frantically looked around for the only non-combatant of their group. Initially, she thought Spring couldn’t fight due to her short stature, but seeing her brutally impale three Piglins quickly changed Yelena’s impression of her. These Playaars were all dangerous, no exception. 

“Alina! Where are you?!” 

“I’m up here!” 

Up? 

Yelena looked up, at the crimson trees that dotted around the Bastion. There Alina was, clutching tightly on top of a tree branch, her paltry dagger held as she looked down at her. 

“I, uh, liked to climb trees as a child, so I thought this would be the safest place…” 

Yelena couldn’t actually fault her logic for that, and simply nodded slowly. “Stay there until we say it’s safe!” 

“O-okay…keep going at it…” 

With renewed vigour and newfound (literal) strength, Yelena charged right back into the marauding pigmen. She sliced, stabbed, kicked, wrestled even, all the while her Arts, no longer held back by her Oripathy flaring up, turned the entire area into a miniature snowscape. The only difference from before being that her ice was now completely clear, no longer tainted by the influence of the dreaded disease. Eventually, the horde died down, their advantage in numbers reduced through sheer brute fighting until Yuè shot the last crossbowman. Yelena allowed herself to lean on a nearby true, not due to physical exhaustion, but mental exhaustion. 

“I-is it over?” She looked up at Alina and simply nodded, it turned out the tree she used was the one she climbed up onto. 

“O-oh, that’s quite a lot of blood on you, Yelena…” 

“It’s not mine.” More accurately, it probably belonged to the Piglins. The snow around them was probably half-soaked with it by now, even if the Piglins didn’t leave bodies behind. 

“Sorry, if only I didn’t trip…” 

“It’s not your fault.” 

“Yeah, what she said!” Alex walked closer from behind them, face also covered in blood. In her hands she held the head of a Piglin, exactly like the Ursus soldiers ‘heads’ she showed Yelena back at her mansion. The fact that Alex could instantly turn the heads of anything they killed into decorations made Yelena double lock her room the night she learned it. 

“Don’t worry bout’ it, there were two fuckups back there. You tripping being the first one,” Alina’s face became bright red, but Alex continued on regardless. “The second one was due to a certain jackass deciding to bisect a piglin instead of putting your helmet back on!” 

“Prithee, time was of the essence, I acted in her defence.” 

If Yelena was covered in blood, Leda might as well have soaked in it. Her once pristine armour was now in a shade of red, almost as if it was always the case. Like her own clothes too, the Cautus was willing to bet (and smell) that her new shade of red was blood, just not Leda’s own. 

“She just aggro’d them! You initiated combat! Those are two entirely different things! You just wanted to get some more action, didn’t you?!” 

“Slanderous lies.” 

Judging by the look everyone gave her, no one really believed Leda. Spring, somehow not covered in blood at all barged in with an orange-coloured disc excitedly, showing it off like some war trophy. 

“Behold!  They did have pig-step here, I’m uploading all of this by the way, no backsies now.” 

“Fame and fortune, look how it corrupts.” 

“Indeed.” Alex and Yuè nodded sagely. 

“You guys suck, let’s just get this over with…” Spring’s disc disappeared, replaced by her trident. Despite the battle only ending minutes ago, they had to keep to their schedule. As Yelena got up, she found herself next to Yuè checking over the injuries of her Yetis, anyone wounded was immediately patched up. She would have made a great medic for their cause, but a gut feeling told her that was never going to happen. Despite that, she went to her side, the horned woman immediately knowing she had something to ask. 

“Why did they not retreat? We…slaughtered them to the last man…” 

“Now that’s a question only for them to answer. But if you ask me…” Yuè gestured at the destroyed Bastion, now even more wrecked due to Spring’s liberal use of explosives. 

“It’s because they remember. That’s why they hate us, they remember when we destroyed their home. Honestly, I would probably have a similar reaction. I guess you could call it history, but in the end, the Piglins aren’t that different from us.” 

Yelena took one last look at the Bastion, before moving on. Best to not think about it too much. 

Upon coming up to a ridge not too far from their battle, Alex pulled out her map again. After a minute of double-checking, she gestured for the group to come closer, in the short time between the end of the battle and now, everyone somehow reverted back to their original appearance, the stains of blood from before entirely gone. Alina didn't even question it at this point, had she gone native? If so, that was fine by her, it helped to make sense of these random facts of life here...

“Alright, we should be within five hundred blocks of where we need to go. Just need to figure out exactly where we’re going up from…don’t wanna spawn right in the middle of your camp and scare the living daylights outta Tiffany right?” 

“Talulah, her name is Talulah…” Alina tried to correct, but in all honesty, it probably went in one ear, and out the next. Inwardly, however, the Elafian was glad to be home very soon, despite the landscape saying otherwise, she trusted Alex to lead them back, she did bring them over the first time around after all. As they were surveying the land, Alina noticed white blob-like things in the distance, flying around and bumping into each other every so often. Her ears also heard some noises in the distance, they were sounds of…crying. 

“Oh hey, a Ghast herd.” Yuè commented on her side. 

“Ghast?” 

“Want to take a closer look? With Alex’s expert map-reading skills, we’re going to be here a while.” 

Alina looked back at the bigger group, it had devolved into an argument with various fingers being pointed at random points on the map. Spring especially was very vocal about Alex’s random pointing, not helped by the two apparently disliking each other from the beginning. She didn’t know why, but at this point, she lived by the saying less is more. 

The two went towards the edge of their island, seemingly floating in mid-air and looked towards the white blobs. Now that she had a better picture, they were squarish, with nine tassel-like things hanging underneath them. Though the most peculiar part of them were their…

“Are they…crying?” 

“Yes, I suppose you can interpret it that way. Some of the potions I use actually require their tears, they are potent, but also dangerous to collect. I’ve heard some of my…colleagues say Ghasts are actually lost spirits in the Nether, doomed to eternally roam the fiery wastes, crying out for salvation. But that’s just a theory! A game theo-I’ll stop there.” 

Again, what was Alina supposed to do with that information? It just made her want to leave even quicker. She thought Terra was bad enough, but living here? Perhaps the Piglins did invade the Overworld for a reason, it may not have been a good one, but understandable in the end. 

“Dangerous in what way?” She asked out of curiosity, they didn’t seem all too dangerous-

“They can spit fireballs at you, which explode on impact.” 

Alina understood why they were so dangerous. Was there anything in this realm that was relatively safe?! Even the striders required you to tame them near lava! 

“I can’t believe I am saying this, but the tundra where I am from is a much better place to live in…” 

“Well, anything compared to the Nether is better, except for the End maybe.” 

Alina nodded, she was so close to home, yet so far at the same time. Every journey did have its end, and here she was, simply looking at white square blobs crying and bumping into each other. A thought came into her head not long after. 

“We’re safe watching them here, right? As in, they won’t suddenly attack us?” 

“This far away? No, we have to be in a specific range, they essentially have to be right on top of us to attack. So unless a herd appears from right underneath us, we’ll be fine here.” 

Alina instantly felt something was wrong, as if they challenged the universe, and the universe challenged them right back. Exactly from right underneath them, Alina heard very loud crying , and moments later, a herd of half a dozen Ghasts slowly appeared in front of them. 

“You have terrible luck, you know that!? RUN-” Yuè shouted at Alina, who had already began drawing an arrow with her bow. The Elafian’s fight or flight instincts kicked in, and she found herself bolting for the bigger group again. Alina heard explosions just shortly behind her, but she didn’t look back once. 

“Alina! Behind you!” Alex shouted in front of her, the explosions evidently catching their attention. Her ears caught the sound of something rapidly approaching her, and on instinct, she looked back just in time to see a fireball heading right towards her. 

“Your dagger! Use it to hit it back!” 

“W-WHAT?!” Alina couldn’t believe her ears, in the few, crucial moments it took to process it. 

“JUST USE IT!” 

Drawing her dagger, Alina didn’t know why she couldn’t just dodge it, but seeing as how there were multiple fireballs coming her way, she simply acted on autopilot and swung wildly at it. 

“AAAAAAA-” 

A cry of battle, or desperation, it was the last sound Alina thought she would ever make. As the ball of fire neared, she looked back to all of her fond memories, the life ‘flashing before your eyes’ myth turned out to actually be somewhat real. Then, she felt her small, paltry dagger hit something, and suddenly the ball of fire was launched in the opposite direction, right back at the Ghast who spat it. 

BOOM

“Eeeee…” The Ghast had a final cry of death, more like a whimper than anything else. But above Alina’s head, she felt something appear, and a message blasted loudly inside her mind: 

Alina has made the advancement [Return to Sender]

Looking up, she saw a rectangle floating just in front of her, with some text she was entirely unfamiliar with. 

“H-huh?! What-What is that?!” Alina stared at it, as if it was some form of forbidden witchcraft. Which in these lands, basically anything counted as. 

“Ay, nice work, Alina!” 

“First Nether achievement? Nice.” 

“Tis’ a cause for celebration.” 

Alex, Spring and Leda all gave her their respective congratulations as soon as they caught up, helping to whack away the incoming fireballs. Yelena came to her side, helping Alina up. With a wobbly finger, she pointed at the flat rectangle above her. 

“You see that right?! What is that?!” 

“...have you hit your head? You’re just pointing at the air…” Yelena replied, concern evident on her expression. As soon as Alina looked back to see it however, the rectangle started to disappear, as if it never appeared in the first place. Had she finally gone insane? From the heat? Her two falls? Grasping onto Alex’s shoulders as soon as she approached, Alina shook her like a madwoman possessed. 

“T-there was this rectangle-it appeared with some text as soon as I whacked the fireball away-” 

“Oh yeah, that’s your achievement! Good job by the way, it usually takes a few swings to get it for most people. You have a knack for it, ever consider playing baseball?” Alex said, nonchalantly, like if it was just some fact of life, which to her it really wasn’t. 

Alina wanted to cry, this was too much for one day. Slowly getting up, she realised that she had fallen dangerously close next to a random hole in the forest. Due to what Alex called ‘shitty chunk generation’ their group had to avoid these holes, sometimes leading to fatal falls, every so often. Any more and she would have inadvertently fell into one, and drop at least a couple dozen meteres onto the ground below. Yuè had come back after dealing with the rest of those Ghasts, the consolation prize of a ‘Ghast Tear’ was not worth the near-death experience given to her just now. 

“You seem fine…but I suppose a little shaken. Come on, let’s just portal back up to the Overworld from here, we can figure out where your camp is after we get there.” 

“Y-yes, let’s do that!” Alina nodded rapidly, she was done with this place. 

You know what?! Screw the Nether! I want to breathe air again, see animals that don’t  want to kill me and have clouds over my head! 

Though in Alina’s haste to get up, she had misjudged the distance between her antlers and the nearest person. Normally, for races in Terra with horn-like appendages, they had to be careful in their movements and adapt to certain lifestyle choices. For Alina in particular, she had to watch out when entering doors and wear shirts that she could button up instead of wear over the head. As soon as she stood upright, one of her antlers had unfortunately stabbed a nearby person, Alex. 

“Yeow! What did you-AAAAAAAAAA-” 

Alex’s body flashed bright red for a second, before being knocked back, right into the hole Alina avoided with the slimmest of margins. For the second time in a few short hours, Alina cried out after Alex. 

“ALEX-” 

“Water bucket, water bucket-oh shit, this is the FUCKING NETHER-” 

Alex was doomed to fall by Alina using Antlers

She peered down from the hole Alex fell into, the ‘message’ in her mind still blaring clearly at her. She understood what it meant, but it took her witnessing Alex impacting the ground, flashing bright red and keeling over for her to believe it. Her items, floating up and down were spread out around her point of impact, as if taunting Alina. 

She did this. She killed the one stranger who went above and beyond to help their camp. This was how Alina repaid her, by ending her life in this hellish realm. 

“I’ve never seen a death message like that before, I’m clipping it.” Spring said casually, as if nothing major had just happened. 

“It’s certainly rare, I expected a few of us to have fallen by now. Wait, does that imply her Antlers are a unique item?” 

“I believe so, imagine if we liveth in a hardcore realm. Thank the administrator we do not.” 

Out of everyone there, only Alina showed the most amount of concern. Yet, she remained glued to the sight of her items on the ground, even Yelena had no words for her. 

“Alina? Are you alright?” Yuè asked, shaking Alina slightly as she did so. She was still in a daze but found the strength to answer her. 

“H-how are you so calm? I killed Alex…” Yuè raised an eyebrow at her. 

“You did…I won’t deny that…” Alina felt her heart break even more, only for her grief and guilt to turn into confusion again. An emotional ‘rollercoaster’ from one of those Columbian films to be exact. “But, you know Alex isn’t dead-dead, right? She did mention what ‘re-spawn-ing’ was to you, right?” 

The last word was very emphasised, to the point where Yuè grabbed Alina’s shoulders, turned her around and stared at each other. She had never heard of that word, anything related to death from Alex, was simply that she was ‘too good to die’ or something ridiculous like that. All Alina could manage was to simply shake her head lightly, causing Yuè to have a look of fury. 

“Oh my god, Alex just traumatised you for no reason.” The not-doctor but a Pharmacist declared. Before she could ask for further clarification, she heard familiar footsteps approaching her. Turning around, she, and everyone else there saw a ghost.  

“The respawn anchor saved my ass! Imagine if I had to come back here from the Overworld?! Ah, anyways, sorry for the wait, it was a pretty big climb back up here-” 

Alex, the familiar redheaded guide Alina could call a friend by now, casually walked towards them with her trademark grin. Yuè let go of her shoulders, and as soon as Alex was close enough, slapped Alex so hard she got knocked back a few blocks. 

“What the hell was that for?!” 

“That’s for traumatising her you ginger-knob! You didn’t tell them about ‘re-spawn-ning’!” 

There was a sudden look of realisation in the not-dead redhead as if she just remembered something important. “Ooooh shiiiii-did I forget about that? My bad guys, it wasn’t too big of a surprise, right?” 

“She needs therapy now you inconsiderate-!” Yuè pinched the bridge of her nose before turning back to Alina. “Sorry you had to find out this way, but yes, while you did kill Alex, you didn’t end her existence permanently. Actually, to put it simply, we always come back from the dead, that’s what ‘re-spawn-ning’ is, so don’t worry, you killed Alex, but you also didn’t. Therefore, the two cancel out, and you’re not responsible for any damage, understand?” 

“Uh…uh…uh…” Alina didn’t know what to think, her mind was empty. 

“Great, you broke her now.” 

“Nuh uh, look, just go grab my stuff before it disappears. Spring, get started on the Nether Portal, doesn’t matter where now, let’s just get back up to the Overworld. Leda, go…stand around and look angry or something.” Alex kneeled in front of Alina after ordering the others, putting on the same smile she gave her after splitting the Ursus Captain’s head open the first time they met. It did not help Alina calm down. 

“Hey, hey, look at me. I’m fine, see? No scratches, thought I could do a bucket ‘Ehm-el-Gee’ to break that fall, but forgot it was the Nether, so no water for me here, hah. Anyways, guess it’s a lesson to be careful with those Antlers of yours, huh? We’ll be in the Overworld in a moment, just sit tight for a few more minutes, then we can navigate back to your camp. Capisce? Good, I’m going to check if Yuè’s messing with my stuff, be right back~” 

Alex then immediately ran off, presumably to go and check on her things. Luckily Yuè had insisted on taking those aid supplies from Alex earlier, probably for this exact reason now that she thought about it. Still wobbly from going through all the stages of grief, only for it to be void, Alina could only stand up due to Yelena and her Yetis helping her. Turning to the Cautus with apprehension, she asked her a simple question. 

“Do…you think we’re making a mistake in bringing them back?” 

Yelena looked at Spring, who had just completed a ‘Nether Portal’ and was about to activate it with flint and a piece of steel. The Cautus turned back to Alina with a hardened stare. 

“I don’t think we have a choice anymore.” 

Soon after that, Alex and Yuè came back, having to take a small detour to get Alex’s dropped items. The Portal was ‘lit’ and she saw the familiar purple light from when she first entered this harrowing realm. Alex turned to the group with her axe ready, their long journey (in reality only three or four hours long) was finally about to conclude. 

“Okey dokey, there should be a Nether Portal generated on the other side already. I’ll peek out first just in case we land in some sorta Spider nest or a large ravine, wouldn’t wanna all plunge to our deaths now, right? Heh, anyways, if I’m correct this should be right outside the forest of your camp…” 

Alex peeked inside, only her head went in first. At that moment however, all that went through Alina’s mind was seeing Talulah again, and what exactly she was going to say about this small, insignificant business trip. 

Where do I even begin?! 

Five days, nine hours, and thirty-eight seconds. That was the time when Alina first departed their camp, in search of some mythical land that could potentially help them. The first few days were expected, but they weren’t given any communication equipment because of the great snowfield that blocked communications. Instead, the agreement was that they kept to the schedule of four to five days. Today was the fifth, and beyond. 

Talulah paced back and forth in the loghouse that was built by that stranger Alex, a large collection of charcoal kept the camp warm, and this house was no exception. However, despite being in the warmth, she couldn’t help but feel a cold chill every time one of her scouts came back, and indeed, each time they did, she would ask them the same question. 

“Report!” She barked at the Yeti scout, coming back from a long-range reconnaissance mission. 

“Um, n-no sign of Alina or FrostNova ma’am, e-everything else is written in here.” 

She sighed, head thumping onto her table before waving a dismissal at the Yeti. The report was left on her desk, unread. It was probably more useless information such as the happenings around Terra, the only thing of note was Kazimeriz’s capital apparently victim to a terrorist attack. Leithanian terrorists were blamed, but Talulah knew most of that blame would just shift towards the infected of Kazimeriz. That news was just a distraction however, there was a much more pressing issue closer to her right now. Each time she thought of it, she could imagine that wretched Kaschey whisper into her ears, that she trusted the wrong people, and now Alina was dead because of her. Talulah didn’t know how many more of those dreams she could take anymore, that sight of Alina dying in her arms…

Turning to Patriot, who had just entered her makeshift ‘office’, she opened her mouth to speak, only for the Sarkaz to stop her with a raised hand. 

“We will send, out a patrol, to look for…them.” 

Finally! Talulah mentally cried out. 

The Draco had wanted to send one out yesterday, but Patriot’s insistence on giving them time won out, again by popular vote. Shooting up, she grabbed her sword and began heading out of the house, Patriot following closely behind. 

“Who are you sending? The Yetis will only listen to you, I don’t know if anyone here has superior tracking skills-” 

Just before she could reach the door however, it suddenly slammed open, revealing a panting Shieldguard. He had run all the way here, even his salute to them was sloppy and hastily made. 

“General, ma’am, there is a…rectangular black object that just appeared in the middle of the camp!” 

Talulah stared at him, thinking that she heard him wrong and it was just the Ursus army coming back to finish them. 

“Take us there, now.” 

Rushing out the door, the two followed him back to the camp’s center, whereupon a small crowd had already gathered. A perimeter was made by the Shieldguards already, and upon pushing through them, Talulah was greeted by…a black rectangle, made entirely out of perfectly cut blocks. There was a purple light emanating from the center, giving her a sense of unease. 

“These are…powerful Arts…no, it is Sarkaz Witchcraft?!” 

Patriot’s statement made Talulah instantly wary of the rectangular object. She was not too familiar with the Sarkaz’s unique brand of Arts, but if Patriot was cautious of it, then she should be extra careful of whatever just appeared in their camp. Quickly, she turned to Patriot while drawing her sword. 

“Is it dangerous? Are we under attack?!” 

The Wendigo shook his head, though his shield remained facing the portal. “This is…an ancient ritual…I have only felt it once…in my youth…it can transport things…across vast distances.” 

Patriot was well over two centuries old, and for him to not know something…

Talulah’s thoughts were interrupted by the portal making noise, and the purple light beginning to shimmer and vibrate. She felt a surge of Arts from the rectangle, and called out to everyone present. “It’s reacting to something! Shieldguards, protect the civilians!” Some of the civilians took this que to run away, leaving only the combatants present. A few more seconds had passed, but each second made Talulah even more anxious. 

The vibrating stopped, and she no longer felt a surge of energy from it. Gulping, she slowly approached it, hands still clutching her sword-

“Hello, Overworld!” 

“GAH?!” Talulah shrieked and nearly fell down at the sudden sight of Alex’s HEAD popping out from the portal. She stared at the literal floating head for a few seconds, while ‘Alex’ looked around at the area around her. 

“Whoops, guess I overshot? Anyways, hey Tiffany, sup?” 

“A-Alex?!” 

“In the flesh, ‘scuse me, coming through.” 

The redhead came out of the rectangle and landed in front of Talulah. Trying to process what had just happened, what came out of her mouth instead was a jumble of sounds that tried to form words, but just ended up being nonsense. 

“Uh, didn’t get any of that, but hey, we’re back! And we’ve got supplies for ya. The others should be coming out…now.” 

Others? Wait a minute, that means-

“Talulah?! There you are!” She turned to look at the rectangle again, and was shocked to see half of Alina sticking out from it. Hopping down from the structure, she immediately went and embraced Talulah in a hug. The stunned Draco didn’t know what to do, but slowly wrap her arms around her as well. 

“A-Alina?! You’re back?! This is real…you’re finally back…wait, why does your hair smell like smoke?” 

“It’s…a long story…really long…we can wait until everyone else is out.” 

Talulah looked at those exiting from the rectangle, they included the four Yetis and Yelena herself. She was glad to see all of them unharmed, the Cautus even ran towards Patriot, the two while not quite engaging in hugs, still greeted each other again in their own way. “Everyone is back…you did it…” 

“Yes, but, I also brought some…guests from Alex’s lands with us back…” 

“O-oh! You did? Well, where are they?” 

On cue, the purple light flashed once more, and Talulah could make out three people heading out of it. She had to take a triple take for each of them. 

The first one, a knight in dark and gold emblazoned armour, straight out of the Kazimeriz major stepped out of the portal, a greatsword the size of Talulah strapped on her back. The moment the knight turned to look at Talulah, she insinctually moved in front of Alina to protect her. “Oh, that’s Leda, she protected us during the way back…” 

Next, Talulah thought she was hallucinating. A Lung , dressed in Yanese robes with pure white hair stepped out, scanning the camp with sky-blue eyes. But the most striking part was her face, it was one she only saw in her youth, and in the absence of pictures during her flight from Lungmen, thought she would never see again. It was very similar to her…to her…nevermind. She was gone, the only other person in the world who knew her face was still in Lungmen, probably wondering where her half-sister had disappeared to. “That’s Yuè, she has some medicine that I think will help all Infected…” 

Finally, the last person to step out, and the most random, was a little girl, wearing clothing entirely unsuited to Ursus’s harsh climate. Just what was she wearing?! If it wasn’t for the camera and trident she was clutching, and the fact that she just came out of the rectangle, Talulah would have swore she was just pranked. “T-that’s Spring! Don’t worry about her clothes, she…really doesn’t need them…” 

Of the three newcomers, the Lung spoke first, managing to somehow single out Talulah out of everyone else there. “You’re Talulah?” 

Even the voice and accent was similar. “Yes, I am…” 

Talulah had to show courage, the past few days were hectic, and much arguing was made. But among the most influential Infected here, they had finally come to an agreement. They were no longer just ‘bandits’ and ‘terrorists’ that were used by their enemies. No, they had a name now, and that was often the most important part of any ideals, a name to rally behind. 

“...leader of the Reunion movement.” 

Her head held high, she expected their guests to react in some way, even she felt the piercing stares Alina and Yelena were giving her, it was made when they weren’t here after all. All Yuè did however, was simply shrug. 

“Okay…hey, you got a hospital around here? I was told there were patients that need treating.” 

Talulah was bewildered, how was there supposed to be a hospital here?! “We don’t have a hospital…” 

“Oh my, that simply won’t do. Alex, Leda, clear out the forest. Spring, we’re gonna be building a hospital.” 

“Ugh, really? Can’t we do it later?” 

“Nay, the day is still young, there is much work to be done.” 

Talulah watched the knight drag Alex away, she wasn’t sure anyone on Terra could ever accomplish that after seeing her fighting prowess. 

“You want cobble for that hospital? I can make an automatic farm, save us some mining trouble.” The girl in a Gaulish maid outfit held up a red glowing powder for the Lung, who nodded nonchalantly. 

“You do that, I’ll go get started on taking out the supplies.” From thin air, a purple box suddenly appeared on the ground, with the top half separating from the bottom as soon as Yuè touched it. 

“What are they doing…?” That question was directed at Alina, who only giggled in response, was there some joke she wasn’t aware of? Even Yelena was smirking at her! She never does that! 

“Let’s just say there are going to be a lot of changes around here…and beyond hopefully. Speaking of, have you decided on a place to move yet?” 

Why was she asking about that? Alina never had any input into where they moved locations before…

“Why are you asking? We haven’t decided yet.” 

“In that case, I have a recommendation I think we can all head to, it may be a bit far, but it’s bound to be…a better place.” 

A better place? Did she mean… 

“Let’s head to the Overworld.” 

What the hell was the Overworld?! 

AN: 

So, Minecraft Movie, what’s up with that? Seriously, the 150 million would have been better spent giving it to element animation to make an entire animated film instead of whatever Jack Black ‘Steve’ crap they decided to put out. Honestly though, it took some real courage seeing that, and deciding: “Yeah, they’re gonna watch the fuck outta this!” 

Anyways, next chapter will be the epilogue for this arc. I think this chapter is the longest chapter I’ve put out for anything really, hope it was enjoyable. Remember to leave a comment about what you’d like to see in this fic! 

Be civil in the comments below. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 9 

“From today onwards, you are no longer Talulah Artorius. You are Talulah Kaschey, next in line for the Dukedom of Kaschey.” 

“Talulah! Talulah, where are you going?!” 

Rain poured incessantly, and Talulah’s clothes were soaked. Her hands were wet, but she still held the Black Snake’s hand tightly. At that time, she did not regret her choices. Wei Yenwu was responsible for her father’s demise, and all these years, it was kept from her, for his political games with the elite of Yan. Her blood uncle could not bring himself to love her, even more so after Talulah’s mother perished to disease, taking Wei’s dear sister along with him. She would not miss Lungmen itself, the city was just like Ursus as she would come to know in the future, rotten on the inside, magnificent on the outside. 

However, there was one person she would regret leaving. Looking at the blue-haired Lung, younger than her by two years, Talulah looked at her half-sister with regret, but at that time, she made her choice. Before she turned to leave with that wretched Black Snake, her biggest mistake, she would turn back one more time, to the one person who gave a damn in Lungmen. 

“Goodbye, Ch’en…” 

The girl stretched out her arm, surrounded by Wei’s Shadow Guard.

“TALULAH-” 

Talulah, back in the present, shot up from her desk, only that it wasn’t her desk, it was her bed. Her comfy, red-wooled bed that always made her fall asleep as soon as she got into it. Talulah distinctly remembered working on some documents last night, so how did…

“Wakey, wakey? Sleep well?” 

Alina opened the wooden door to her room a few seconds later, carrying a tray of food with her. She could smell the aroma of coffee and apple jam toast spread throughout the room, what was once a luxury just mere weeks ago, was now commonplace for every Infected under Reunion’s banner. The blinds were unceremoniously opened, letting in the piercing warm sunlight into her room. 

“Ah!” 

“Come now, you’ve had weeks to adjust to the sunlight. I understand the tundra may not have had many opportunities for sunlight, but I now know it is actually vital for something called ‘Vitamin D’, I didn’t even know the sun gave you nutrients before!” 

Alina set Talulah’s breakfast down on the small bed table next to her, but the Draco still felt the morning fog cloud her mind. She reached for the delicious-smelling coffee, only for Alina to whack her hand. 

“Ow!” 

“Milk first, you know it’s your medicine as well.” 

“But it makes me go to the toilet…” 

“It makes everyone go to the toilet. Even though I am not infected, that Oripathy isn’t going to treat itself, now, drink.” 

Alina was not asking anymore. She dumped the small bottle of milk into her coffee before Talulah could object anymore, and the Draco resigned herself to another trip to the loo later. Though the sip of coffee with milk was very much worth whatever inconvenience later, since leaving Terran civilization when she stabbed Kaschey, Talulah did not get the chance to drink coffee again, until now. It only took her moving to an entirely new civilization to try it again, which also brought with it new kinds of foods, things she had never seen before, but had grown to love in the short time frame. 

“I believe this kind of coffee would be called a Cappucino. Sorry, I’m still learning how to make these, hope it tastes good enough…” 

Talulah downed the rest of her drink before turning to the Elafian. “Don’t apologize, I’ll eat anything you give me at this point. Besides, it’s pretty much impossible to make something bad with these ingredients, no matter how bad the chef is-” 

“Hey!” A pillow was thrown at Talulah, who easily caught it mid-air. 

The two shared a brief, but joyful laugh before she looked out of her window again. Aside from the Oak trees and green meadows she had come to familiarize herself with, this new settlement in the land where Alex came from, the ‘Overworld’ was being constructed at a rapid pace. It was in no small part due to the help that came from Alex’s people, the Playaars. 

“Huh, are they building a skyscraper?” She looked at the far end of the fledgling town, noticing a large sectioned-off area with scaffolding everywhere. 

“They are, I believe Spring and the Highway Builders Union were the ones who requested it.” 

Thinking back to last night, she did remember stamping a document with the title ‘skyscraper’ with the ‘approved’ stamp. In her defence, at that point, she was half asleep. “Wait, they were serious?! I thought they were joking, I need to go and stop-” 

“Easy, they may build fast, but they can’t build that fast, you have time to finish breakfast before telling them off. Though don’t wait too long, you know how quickly they finished that tunnel from the icefield to here, I still remember the scramble on our end to get everyone ready…” 

Talulah remembered. When Spring suggested they ask the ‘Highway Builders Union’ for help, she expected a modest dirt path to be cleared or the path through the infy icefield to be flattened, what she got instead was a four-lane superhighway, entirely covered and insulated from the elements stretching from Alex’s land right onto their prior camp’s doorstep. Actually, looking to her left instead, she could see some builders extending the highway again, didn’t she tell them that it was long enough already?! 

“They’re just building the end stop, I believe they’re planning for future additions like a railroad, you’ve ridden on their trains before, I think it would be a great addition to our town!” 

“You just liked seeing the landscape go by. Besides, we’re supposed to be avoiding attention, it was bad enough that we had to convince them to conceal a chunk of the highway…” 

Needless to say, a chunk of well-built infrastructure extending into Ursus wilderness was going to raise a huge amount of attention. Not to mention at the time they received reports of the Ursus Third Army being deployed against them. Luckily, the entire entrance to the highway was converted into one that could be hidden underneath the thick ice, which was apparently just Redstone’s ‘basic’ capabilities. 

They didn't even have to pay them with real currency for the highway,  not that Reunion had large amounts of it in the first place. Instead, they asked for their electronics such as computers and phones, which they weren't using in large numbers anyway; no use for a mobile city’s intranet when you needed food first and foremost. It was still ridiculous to her, that they could build an entire highway in less than a week, while at the same time, they didn't have basic computer technology. Yet, they seemed to know exactly what it was and how to use them for a people who didn't have access to them, every Playaar knew exactly what they were in fact. 

She didn’t really care at that point, they just handed over a few dozen of them, and the very next week, a new highway was built literally right at their doorstep. Though they suggested building it in the Nether, terrifying as that realm was, Talulah agreed with the shorter route, though Alina and Yelena vehemently denied it, and the vote to build it there failed. Was their journey through it really that bad?

Changing the topic before she could think too deeply into it (on Alina’s recommendation for anything to do with Playaars), she turned to the Elafian with a curious question. 

“How long has it been since you came back from the Nether Portal? Four weeks?” 

“Five, I know, I can scarcely believe it myself…” 

Five Weeks Ago…

“So, let me just make sure we have everything that happened on your journey again for everybody here. You successfully went to Alex’s lands, called the ‘Overworld’, met with the leadership of Neo-New Elysium, and then met with Alex’s friends, who just so happen to have an Oripathy Suppressant so strong it puts all of our existing ones to shame, in the form of milk. Then, on your return trip, after having savoured everything the city had to offer and beyond, you went through a hellish nightmare realm called the Nether, where you fought through hordes of ‘monsters’ and beyond, even going so far as to accidentally kill Alex; which you will need to explain again later. Do I have everything so far?” 

Alina looked at Yelena, they had come back to Terra only a brief six hours ago, most of that time spent recounting their tale after greeting their loved ones warmly again. The two made eye contact, asking each other if there was anything else they wanted to add in front of Talulah, Patriot and Mudrock. 

“We are also the owners of half a herd of Overworld Cows.” Yelena added proudly in the end, causing Talulah to drop her pen. 

“R-right, those same cows who will apparently produce all of the ‘miracle milk’ that we need. I do not want to call it that, is there some other name we can use…?” 

At that moment, they heard a small commotion outside. Alina got up to check, seeing as how she was closest to the tent’s flaps. Outside, a moving snowman, with a carved pumpkin for a head was producing snowflakes for some of the camp’s children to play around with. Alex and Leda, who had finished deforesting a good chunk of the land around them were probably the ones responsible for making it, seeing as how they were right next to it. The knight went to the golem and proceeded to lift the pumpkin away, revealing the smiling dumb face of the snowman, much to the children’s laughter. 

“Nothing out there, just the guests entertaining the children.” Alina said with a smile. 

“...huh. While I don’t doubt the supposed effectiveness of this ‘milk’ that you have brought back…” Talulah inspected the glass bottle of milk, Yuè had made sure to pack as many as she could into that ‘Shulker Box’. As it turns out, Alina was right to not underestimate it, compared to Talulah and Patriot who were visibly disappointed at the ‘aid’ they were given. That disappointment soon disappeared as soon as the entire shed was filled with sacks of pies alone, which was only one part of the total food in that box. Why the leaders of Neo-New Elysium thought they needed six hundred pumpkin pies as ‘aid’ was anyone’s guess, but it certainly proved popular in the ensuing hours among the camp. 

Even Mudrock had a half-eaten pie next to her on a plate, how was it even eaten? That armour should have prevented the person inside from eating it at all…

“We…are at a loss, I find it hard to believe anything you’ve just told me, yet at the same time…” They did bring Alex and her friends back, who were currently loudly building up an entire hospital right next to their meeting cabin, upgraded from their prior meeting tent. 

Spring and Yuè had built the first floor by the time she went into the cabin for a meeting, who knows what their progress was at now? 

“So, I will ask you two instead for a recommendation. You have lived among them for just five days, but already I fear we have tapped into something Terra itself isn’t ready for. With consideration to the survival of the Reunion movement in mind-” 

Alina couldn’t help but snigger at the name Talulah chose, it worked, but at the same time, it was just so…her. 

“We’ll work on the name later, stop laughing. With consideration of our continued survival, what do you think we should do in response to our guests from the civilization next door?” 

Yelena nudged Alina with her legs, the girl had discussed something with her earlier before this meeting, about a certain matter her Yetis brought up. She found no fault with it, and so did Yelena, it wouldn’t hurt to bring it up now…

“How…about we move to someplace…warmer?” 

(Source: https://www.planetminecraft.com/project/primorskiy-soviet-city-st-petersburg-downtown-district/ ) 

Now dressed and freshened up, Talulah and Alina made the rounds of their ‘camp’ in the Overworld,  a habit she picked up on soon after moving here. It was obviously no longer just a simple camp anymore but to most residents living there, they did not have a name for their new permanent settlement. Three weeks into moving here, it started to resemble some mid-sized mobile cities, only of course, it was completely stationary. There were no catastrophes here to displace them after all. Looking at the similar-looking apartment blocks built by the HBU, Alina voiced her thoughts on the aesthetic choices made so far. 

“They seem a bit bleak, don’t they?” 

“I suppose, but they do house everyone efficiently. Compared to the literal ragged tents we had before, I don’t think anyone will complain about them.” Not to mention the improvement in hygiene and comfort, the Infected who needed closer medical attention were admitted to an actual hospital which was run by their medics, trained by Yuè on how to use her medicines. Not a single Infected had died due to Oripathy since she arrived from the Overworld, just a month before, an Infected was always on the verge of passing away every cold night. 

“The parks do make a difference, look, over there at the basketball court.” Gesturing to her right, they could see the community basketball court currently in use by the younger members of their camp. The sport, introduced to them by Playaars like many other things they were familiar with by now, proved to be a massive hit among adults and children alike. 

“Oh, is that Sveta and her children? I remember that she made the initial journey with me, but I haven’t talked to her since…” There were a small group of parents present as well, taking their children to play and have fun. A middle-aged Ursine woman noticed them walk past and waved at them, Talulah noticed her Yeti cloak hanging on her waist. She went back to tending to her two children soon after they returned the greeting, sights like that were common now. 

“You know, maybe we could establish a department to make parks or something…”

“Ugh, don’t remind me…we still haven’t decided on a police force yet, and now you want one dedicated to making parks? We’ll bring it up at the next council session.” 

With a permanent settlement, and the need to settle hundreds of Infected, the need for better governance came naturally. For the past few weeks, instead of focusing on which Infected work camp to liberate next, she was busy organising things over in the Overworld, while the military matters were handed over to Patriot and Mudrock for planning. They still had a presence in Ursus, thanks to their new underground base dug out by Alex and her friends in a few days. The Shieldguards, Yetis and now Reunion regulars could discretely operate without attracting the attention of Ursus soldiers on their civilians. 

“Wait, isn’t that…” Talulah noticed something shining near the basketball court, there was a collection of children sitting underneath a large Oak tree with someone appearing to recount a story. Upon closer look, the two children she met at an abandoned mine, Mephisto and Faust, were also listening intently. 

“Yes, you’re right, that is Leda. Didn’t you know? She helps at the local school as a volunteer, she has a ‘Social Worker’ license apparently, I’m not sure what that means but Yuè has told me it means Leda is good with teaching children.” 

Judging by how enraptured the children seemed with the picture book in Leda’s arms, Talulah could believe that statement. Trading swords for books, then books for bricks, bricks to hoes, these Playaars often had more than one profession. They could literally do anything with just a simple will to do it, she was glad they chose to spend it helping them instead. 

“Oh look, those farms appear to be finished, do you think we can move to them anytime soon?” 

Their food situation, while still having leftovers from the initial aid supplies could not be left idly by. As such, in the outskirts of their new settlement, a certain amount of land was cordoned off to be farmland, with the choice of moving there offered to those who could tend to them. Not everyone took the offer, but some of their Infected who were already farmers prior to their infection leapt at the opportunity, which was what resulted in a golden meadow of wheat surrounding them. However, it did come with a certain danger for those brave enough to settle there… 

“Any new injuries from hostile mobs? I shudder to imagine coming across a zombie out there as a farmer…” Thankfully, the few cases of zombification they did have were very quickly cured by Yuè. However that didn’t mean other injuries weren’t present, most notably poisonous bites from Spiders and Arrows shot from Skeletons. Otherwise, with sufficient training, they were quickly able to adapt to those hostile ‘mobs’ in the Overworld. It wasn’t as if Terra’s wildlife was completely safe either. 

“I don’t believe so, other than damage from Creepers-” 

“Creeper?! Aw man-” A passing Playaar, dressed in a black suit and red sunglasses sang upon hearing them mention the hostile exploding mob. He seemed somewhat familiar, but Talulah couldn’t quite place where she had seen him before, probably on the local television network. 

“That was weird…” 

“There sure are more Playaars here now, but that’s a good thing, right?” Aside from the existing Villager and Playaar population in nearby Neo-New Elysium, the establishment of a new settlement here was increasingly becoming known among their civilization. Most of them were just curious, seeing Terrans as ‘custom-skinned Villagers’ but some had offered their services and expertise upon hearing Reunion’s goal, easily sympathizing with their struggle once they heard Talulah’s broadcast.

“I still can’t forgive you for making me go on Television by the way…” 

“Pffft, if I could do it, you certainly could. Besides, the response you got from other cities and countries was positive, so it all worked out in the end, right?” Talulah grumbled at the memory, a week ago Alina ambushed her with a Villager camera crew and a notice to do a live broadcast in five minutes. That in itself was scarier than fighting the Emperor’s Blades for the young revolutionary… 

So far, however, the letters Talulah received were cordial, if a little bit weird due to their…naming scheme. For example, while she appreciated the gift of five Diamond axes, she wasn’t so sure about receiving them from the ‘Creeper Booty Shakers’ who wished her luck in taking heads. She was not surprised when Alex mentioned that she knew them prior to coming here.  

Others were relatively more normal, such as Yuè’s former city-state of the Millennium Palace replying that they were interested in finding a cure for Oripathy, their leadership apparently made up of many medical professionals. While on the other hand, religious organisations such as the Vatican wished to establish relations, Leda in particular said they had to be cautiously handled, having been with them before her retirement to Neo-New Elysium. Though by in large, aside from the occasional Pillager raid that was repelled easily by their garrisoned forces (and enthusiastic Playaars), they had managed to peacefully settle here. 

Continuing their daily rounds, the two came across more sights of the Infected living their lives. Yelena and Patriot were present today, having just returned from another mission last night, bringing with them another few dozen liberated Infected. Thanks to those easily built apartments, they had rooms to house all of them easily. At this rate, they were going to hit a thousand before Winter really set in, on Terra, the Overworld didn’t have seasons the same way Terra did. So for their settlement, it was perpetually warm and sunny, aside from the occasional rain Talulah was completely fine with it. 

“Oh, there’s Yelena, and she’s with Mudrock and…Spring? What is she up to now?” 

At a newly opened Cafe, as in, it only opened a week ago, she saw the two Reunion commanders with Spring, the little girl who was older than Talulah dozens of times over was enthusiastically pointing to her reverse-engineered mobile phone. Upon hearing Yelena groan, the Gaulish maid tried to get the Cautus to reconsider (beg), but to no avail. Mudrock simply took another bite of her cake, having been removing her armour when in the Overworld. 

Talulah and Alina made a silent agreement to not intervene, but they still caught a small part of their conversation as they passed by. “...I got like 20,000 views on the last video that you were in! I’ll give you 20% of all the ad revenue, just make another appearance! It doesn’t have to be long, just a five-second cameo-” 

“I don’t care, find someone else to corrupt with fame and fortune…” 

Talulah wasn’t going to touch that even with her fire Arts, which were much more powerful now that Oripathy wasn’t too much of an issue for her. Mudrock noticed them pass by, and the Gargoyle Sarkaz gave the two a brief wave before polishing off the rest of her cake. 

“Is it weird I didn’t know she was actually a girl underneath her armour until two weeks ago?” Alina asked innocently. 

“Don’t worry, half the camp couldn’t believe their eyes either…” Talulah still remembered the uproar that day, though to be fair, she always appeared in their meetings wearing armour. It wasn’t as if she actively hid it, no one just thought to ask which really said something about them instead of Mudrock. 

A little further more, into the undeveloped lands that were made flat, but without any structures yet, they found Patriot training the new Reunion regulars. With medical concerns such as Oripathy no longer being as debilitating as it once was, the old General decided that now was a great time to bolster their numbers with new recruits instead of only relying on Shieldguards and Yetis for most of their fighting. Using the Overworld for their safest training grounds, Reunion’s fledgling military was slowly, yet surely increasing, with every liberated Infected camp adding o their numbers. Though, it appeared that a certain Playaar from Neo-New Elysium was not in agreement with current training methods. Loudly, an old man wearing tactical gear with a long ‘Gun’ was arguing with Patriot over exactly what ‘training’ should consist of. 

“You want to win the bloody war, then you need to use everything at your disposal. You’ll never get far with just crossbows and swords-” 

“And in the process, attract…Laterano’s attention…” 

“Horseshite, you want to arm your soldiers, yet won’t cross some imagined boundary…” Though firearms were not Talulah’s area of expertise, she was surprised to learn that they were present in their civilization, though like Terra itself it was not all too popular in comparison to their other weapons. The reason given was that they weren’t ‘big damage’ dealers compared to other things such as End Crystals , of which Talulah was still confused as to how those were a method of fighting. They edged close enough to the field to listen, but not close enough to be dragged into their argument. 

“Is Captain still arguing with Patriot? I thought the two agreed on something by now.” 

She remembered when the old man first barged into her office two weeks ago, lambasted the poor training of the new regulars and stormed off to do it himself. While Talulah was glad to have more instructors with actual army experience, perhaps it was time they had a real discussion with the old Captain. It was hard to believe that man was younger than Spring…

“They agreed on something, then went right back to arguing I think. Though Yelena has told me the two do actually help with training when they’re not at each other’s throats.” 

Patriot was the old General, while Captain was even older, the two argued for entirely different tactics which honestly wasn’t Talulah’s area of expertise. She made a mental note to intervene in their arguing soon. Moving on to the final stop of their rounds, they came upon the main council chambers, where Talulah’s new workplace was. 

“And here we are…another day of work ahead of me…” 

“If you want, we can swap places today. I’m helping with running the Cafe later, you could try your hand at being a waitress.” 

Talulah thought about it, seriously considered it, but turned the idea down. “Tempting, but we’re nowhere near stable enough for us to switch yet. Maybe in the future, though, who else is going to serve me breakfast in bed if you’re gone?” 

“You’re getting breakfast yourself next time, today was just me feeling nice.” 

“Can’t you feel nice every day?” 

Alina faux punched Talulah’s shoulder, but right before they entered the building, they saw a familiar shade of red walk past them. Alina turned around first and called out to her friend. 

“Alex! I haven’t seen you…in…a…did you change your clothes?” 

‘Alex’ turned around, red hair swaying with the gentle wind. Talulah had to do a double take, it was Alex, same face, same height, but completely different in everything else. Her ponytail was gone, replaced by a half-braided hairstyle, with it instead being let loose, her tunic and brown pants were gone, instead replaced by a floral green dress that reached down to the earth. Even her aura was different, gone was the cocky and crass appearance, but instead replaced by the tender goddess of nature. 

“Greetings…I don’t believe we have met before?” Even her voice sang melodiously, something was wrong, and Talulah knew it. 

“Um, Alex? Is t-that you?” 

“I am Alexandrina, I believe I’ve seen you on the television before…but here, have a floral wreath, tis’ my blessing towards thee.” It was like seeing Patriot don a skirt and perform ballerina, Talulah’s mind refused to make sense of what she was seeing. Alina too wasn’t making sense of things, judging by how she didn’t take the offered floral wreath. 

“What is thy matter? Are you injured? Do you require assistance-” 

“Hey wassup Alina! How ya doin?! Haven’t seen you in a hot minute!” 

Turning just slightly to her right, Talulah saw another Alex , this time the one she was familiar with in appearance, jog towards them. As soon as she got there, she and ‘Alexandrina’ shared a look. 

“Am I interrupting something?” 

“Y-you two…” 

“Yeah? Something up? This a new friend of yours?” 

“Greetings.” 

Talulah pointed between the two of them, rapidly alternating before her brain finally came up with an explanation. “You didn’t tell us you had a sister…” 

Alex raised an eyebrow, looking between Talulah and her doppelganger, a Leithanian term for identical people. “We’re not sisters, I have never met this woman before in my life.” 

“Indeed, we have never met before today.” 

She was right back at square one, then how did another identical Alex appear-

“It seems there is some misunderstanding, I shall take my leave now. May Titania bless you!” The doppelganger ‘Alex’ literally hopped away, flower trails following in her wake. The much more familiar Alex scoffed, looking at the trails with disdain. 

“Bedrock user, she bought that off the marketplace as well, ain’t that pretentious, huh? Anyway, haven’t seen you two in a week I think, anything new here? I know a few shops were opening up, but I’ve only been to one or two so far.” 

“Wha-oh forget it, I’m not going to even ask.” Talulah dropped the previous topic, other things taking priority right now. “Hello Alex, I haven’t thanked you for the previous mission you went with Yelena yet.” 

Every so often some Playaars would ask to ‘tag along’ on their missions, which usually resulted in the total annihilation of whatever they were raiding. Each one brought their own unique brand of fighting with them, greatly boosting Reunion’s strength, even if it was never permanent.  Her latest unfortunate target was an Ursus Third Army outpost that thought it could stay in the forests and not be disturbed, all the while being a checkpoint for further Infected miners to be shipped through. 

Alex and Leda went in, the outpost ceased to exist afterwards. By the report’s account, a liberal use of explosives ensured no trace remained. Did Yelena try and stop them? No, not that she wanted or could stop them regardless.

“Ah, don’t worry about it, I don’t usually get to play Griefer so…anyways, I just came back from seeing Yuè in the general hospital. She wants to talk to you about something, don’t know exactly what, but it sounded important. I’m just the messenger.” 

“We’ll head there now.” Talulah declared, anything to get away from the literal pile of paperwork surely waiting for her. 

“But didn’t you say we had to-” 

“Not now Alina, the future of the Infected awaits us.” The Draco marched off before she could say anything else. 

“For the love of-don’t just ditch me!” Alina shouted, and they began a small chase all the way to the hospital. 

“I…win!” Alina huffed in exhaustion but still managed to get those two words out to rub it in. Despite clutching the hospital walls for support, she could see that Talulah also had fun on their way here. 

“When was the last time we chased each other like that?” 

“Not long after you first arrived in the village, I think…” Her original village, the one Talulah escaped to. 

“Ugh, we’re getting too old to play games like this.” 

“Age is just a mentality, if you feel young, you are young!” 

“We’re not Playaars, it doesn’t work that way for us…” Alina pretended to ignore Talulah. With their inner child’s indulgence out of the way, they went inside the general hospital. This was actually a one-to-one replica of the initial one that was built in their former camp five weeks ago since torn down of course, but the general design was kept here. Whatever medical personnel they had from prior found work in this newly constructed hospital, and though the equipment was still a work in progress, they found ways to make do just like in their original camp. 

Heading up to the second floor, a few nurses and doctors greeted them, but otherwise let the two be. Reaching their destination, they found the office of one Doctor Yuè, self proclaimed Head of Medicine for the Hospital, nothing was official about it yet. 

“There you are! Alex found you two quickly, didn’t she?” Yuè took off her glasses and instantly stood up the moment they entered, Alina wondered what magical breakthrough she found about Originium this was about. 

“Any new major developments? Say, like a cure…?” Talulah probed, ever since she saw the combination of a Golden Apple and a Regeneration potion remake the limbs of an amputee Infected Miner, the Draco had shut up regarding any doubts about her medicine. Yuè shook her head at Talulah, meaning there wasn’t a cure, yet hopefully. 

“Work in progress, I learned that active Originium can revert back to a de-activated state by milk if that’s what you wanted to know. No, I’m here to ask you about a research trip.” 

Bringing up her tablet, which was reverse-engineered from their technology, she showed the two of them what appeared to be a map of Terra. A bit of information exchange had happened ever since the Terrans moved to the Overworld, and while she did like their films as well, Fallen Kingdom (the original) was her favourite so far, the two civilizations were still getting used to one another. However smooth it may have been there were things that the other side found odd, such as Playaars who could speak fluent Ursine somehow, surprised, and often angry that there was still a Tsar in Ursus. 

“So, the closest mobile city or whatever you call it is Chernobog, right?” 

Talulah nodded, before a look of horror dawned on her face. “Yes…wait, no! You’re not going-I mean, you cannot go to Chernobog!” 

“Uh, I wasn’t even planning on going…” Yuè said, and Talulah breathed a sigh of relief. The not-Draco scrolled further down instead, showing the region between Yan and Ursus. 

“I was actually planning on going to Lungmen.”  

“That’s even worse!” Talulah blurted out, horror returning back to her face. 

“Why, exactly? What’s so bad about going to Lungmen? Isn’t it one of Terra’s most cosmopolitan cities or something?” That latter part was true, but Alina guessed Talulah’s fear probably had something to do with a Playaar heading so far south, and into a major mobile city. Alina saw this coming for a long time however, in the return journey back from the Nether, she and Yelena often talked about Terra to pass the time, or more accurately, distract themselves from that nightmare realm. 

“Yes, well, but it’s just that…” 

“And because it’s one of the biggest and most cosmopolitan, cities, I can easily find research on Oripathy, which is severely lacking here I might add.” 

“But…you…don’t have to…go yourself?” Talulah was busy wracking her brain for an excuse, this was evident enough to Alina. 

“Actually, I do, who else are you going to send that knows exactly what they’re looking for? It will also be a long assignment for whatever fighters you have, I’ve taken the liberty of asking two Reunion members to accompany me already.” 

Defeated, the leader of Reunion acted more like a boss trying to reign in their unruly employees who were too valuable to be let go. “W-who? Please tell me you picked sensible people…” 

“Alex and Mudrock have said yes, the two are ready to depart at any time.” 

 “Alex?! How is she even-oh forget it, I’m not going to convince you otherwise…Mudrock however…” Talulah was in deep thought for a few moments, before voicing her opposition. “Mudrock is not suited to these missions, why did you even ask her? Redblade is a much better choice for infiltration.” For obvious reasons due to her armour.

“But we’re not infiltrating, I need Mudrock to look intimidating when I ask for information, isn’t Lungmen teeming with organized crime like some 90s triad movie?” 

Talulah palmed her face, and Alina saw her signature look of irritation. She needed to step in, lest some other stressful incident cause her blood pressure to shoot up, another thing she learned by sticking close to Yuè. 

“How about I go with Yuè? ” 

“Again?!” 

“It works, alright then, see ya tomorrow Alina!” 

“No she isn’t! She can’t go!” 

“I mean, I don’t exactly have a role here unlike the others…” Alina didn’t have a role in comparison to someone like Yelena who had combat duties, unless you counted her doing odd jobs here and there such as helping to prepare food. 

“What?! Of course you have a role, you’re our…moral compass. You help keep morale up!” 

Alina gripped Talulah’s shoulders, hard. The Draco let out a squeak due to the amount of strength she was applying. “Is that all I am to your movement?” 

Sweat dripping down her face, Talulah eeked out a reply. “N-no…” 

“Then it’s settled. With Alex and Yuè with me, I will be sufficiently protected, so don’t worry about me getting hurt in the process. Someone has to make sure the two of them don’t destroy Lungmen, right?” 

“You should be worried about Alex, not me. I’m a model upstanding individual in society, just ask the Reunion medics, I’ve helped them a lot!” 

Soon after, Talulah and Yuè went into planning their long journey. Alina saw that she did not have much to add towards their plan, and quietly exited their room. As soon as she came out, however, Alex called her name. The redhead had been waiting outside this entire time. 

“Hey there, guess you’re joining us for that trip to Lungmen.” 

Alina nodded, she had heard the loud commotion outside easily, those wooden doors were quite flimsy at keeping noise in. “You should know all about that already.” 

“Whoops, didn’t mean to keep it from ya. So, seven weeks since we met, feel any different yet?” 

Alina thought about it, and she was right, it had been seven weeks since they met. In those seven weeks, her entire life was uprooted, whether by knowledge that no one else in Terra had, or by the rapid changes to her surroundings. 

“Seven weeks ago I thought you were an insane trader from Columbia who was trying to get herself killed by Ursus soldiers, now? You’re just my odd friend, Alex.” 

“Glad to hear! On my end I thought you were a leatherworker at first, then a wandering trader, and now, you’re my deer friend Alina.” Alina paused, did she just-

“That was terrible. Never say that again.” 

“I had to try it. So, with everything else being built, any future plans right now? I know you’re going to be following us to Lungmen, but I’m more interested in what you’re planning for this town. Mighty big ideals you and your movement are trying to push, not everyone in Terra is going to take kindly to it. But, that’s for the long future, right now, what are you thinking about this place? Somewhere you can call home?” 

They came upon a large window in the hospital. It was an area where patients could see the sun outside and relax, it had a great view of not only the surrounding area but also the nearby lake where Alex’s mansion was and the various floating islands in the distance. She didn’t know what kind of view would be there in one, three or even ten years, but Alina knew one thing. 

“I guess…I can just look forward to tomorrow. Even if it’s a distant dream we have…that’s what is most important, to me, and everyone else here. The ability to hope for tomorrow.” 

Alex hummed in thought before replying. 

“You know, there’s an old poem we know here, long as it is, there is one lesson it teaches us. The Universe is kind, and though it lets that kindness known through a myriad of ways, every day when we can go to bed, and dream of tomorrow is how that kindness is shown. Or in other cases, it can be through meeting the right people, at the right time willing to help.” 

“Like you?” Alina asked with a giggle, seeing through her quickly. 

“Like me.” Alex replied with a grin. 

The two remained silent, simply looking at the Oak trees sway, the wheat flowing with the wind, birds chirping and life happening, as usual. It was all serene, and Alina could breathe a happy sigh-

“Alex!” Alina pointed at the celestial object out the window with trembling fingers. 

“What?” 

“The sun is square!” 

“You just noticed that?!” 

AN:

And with that, the first arc for this fic is complete. I honestly never thought it’d get this far. I mean, there was a whole one-year gap between the first and second chapters, I was content with letting this become a one-shot or something. Unless it hasn’t been clear enough, the second arc will be in Lungmen . Of course, due to the change in locations, that will mean seeing a different cast of characters, some of you are all hopefully very familiar with. 

Be civil in the comments below. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 10 

(Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aceship/Arknight-Images/main/avg/backgrounds/bg_lungmen_n.png ) 

Full moons tonight. 

In the offices of the Lungmen Guard Division’s headquarters, the police officers of the department were working there twenty-four-seven. Those were usually the lower-ranking officers doing the night shift, handling anything that might happen in Lungmen at night from domestic issues to armed robbery, it was simultaneously more peaceful, and more hectic depending on who you asked compared to those in the day shift. 

In the Special Inspection Unit’s offices, however, the lights were still on, specifically concentrated in one area out of the entire floor. A blue-haired Lung, wearing the jacket of the LGD was still going through reports and after-action reports from the day’s earlier incidents. 

Her name was Ch'en Hui-chieh (陳暉潔), and she was not having a great time. 

“How the hell did that logistics company get into another mafia skirmish?!” 

One of these days, Ch’en was going to cut that penguin in half, damn whatever her uncle said about him. Leaving it on her pile to do later, she sighed and rubbed her temples, though overall crime rates had been going down, large-scale crimes seemed to be ever on the rise. Lungmen’s status as the financial hub of Terra, literally replacing the Victorian Pound as the continent's most used currency brought with it equal amounts of wealth and trouble. It was the duty of the LGD to safeguard that continued prosperity, no matter what sacrifices had to be made. 

Hearing the door into the office open, Ch’en already knew who just walked in based on her footsteps. Why was she even given an office this big? There was even an entire conference table, with black and white tiled marble flooring, something simpler would have been entirely fine with her. 

“Hoshi-” 

“Working late again, are we?” 

Ch’en looked up, and saw the horn of Hoshiguma first, before finally seeing the rest of her head leaned into the office. 

“I’m just finishing up.” 

“You say that every time I catch you in here, don’t you know staying up so late is bad for your liver?” 

The Lung grumbled, and the green-haired Oni went into her office proper. In private settings like this, when everyone else in the SIU had gone home, Ch’en allowed herself to show her true self to Hoshiguma. Out of everyone in the LGD, she knew the Oni the best, and vice-versa. 

“Here, I got you some herbal tea from the place you like. Also, they gave me a mini-mooncake with my purchase, hope you like lotus root.” 

“I like coconut, but thanks anyway…” 

Ch’en took both from Hoshiguma, taking a sip from the herbal tea first. Looking at the mooncake, she suddenly remembered that Lungmen had a major festival coming up soon. She, like most people in the LGD came to dislike them, because they meant a rowdy city, and a rowdy city meant more crime. More crime meant more work, and to the officers of the LGD who were already busy, that was extra unwanted time in the office. 

“By the way, Swire is getting everyone premium mooncakes for the Lunar festival, so don’t buy any if you were planning to.” 

“I don’t buy them regardless, my Aunt gives me a huge box every year. I used to give them away until that Kunoichi of hers found me giving them to my fellow officers two years ago. Besides, knowing that bitch-cat, she’s going to give me a flavour I hate.” 

“Please don’t call Swire that…you know how she helps the LGD in her own way, right?” 

Ch’en just grumbled in response, muttering a few words of *Lungmen Profanity* here and there. Sighing, she began taking a bite of her mooncake while the Oni sat down, both of them admiring the same view of Lungmen from across Victoria Canal, the city’s main waterway. Named that way due to help from the Draco dynasty of Victoria, before their disappearance entirely. 

“Gah, better if she transferred out, why is she even in the same department as me? It’s because of my uncle’s politics that’s why, if she wasn’t heiress to that stupid company…” 

“When are you two ever going to get along? You’ve known each other for months now…” 

Ch’en quietly continued sipping her tea and taking small bites from her mooncake. A thought suddenly came to her mind, “How did you know I was in here? Random guess?” 

If it was true, Ch’en knew she was seriously overworking herself, though her reputation was being a workaholic, even she wanted days off here and there. To her relief, Hoshiguma laughed a bit before shaking her head. “Don’t worry, you’re not that bad, yet. Nine told me you were here in the main lobby, we bumped into each other as she left home for the day.” 

Nine, Ch’en’s senior in the LGD. Though the two were close before, ever since that fateful mission…their relationship became more distant. She was convinced to remain in the LGD, with Ch’en even wanting her to join the newly formed SIU, but she refused, finding a spot in intelligence gathering instead. The last time they met was a month ago, and even then that was an accidental meeting. 

“Ah…is she okay? Did she say anything about-”

“She asked if you were fine, I said you were, but I think she knows I wasn’t telling the whole truth.” 

Of course she knew, Nine was her mentor for a good few years, and the Pythia knew her pretty well. “I’ll…talk with her soon. Anything else I should know?” 

Hoshiguma shook her head, and she went back to organising her files. At some point the Oni began helping her as well, she always did this before heading home to retire for the night. As she was picking up another bunch of files however, a file dropped down onto her desk, causing Hoshiguma to pick it up. 

“You dropped-a report about Ursus? You’re still keeping up with information from there?” 

“...yeah, you know why.” 

Hoshiguma was close enough to Ch’en that they shared a few secrets, though her past wasn’t exactly all too secret, everyone in Lungmen who lived through that tumultuous day all those years ago could remember. 

“Well, anything new? I’d read the report myself, but I want to hear it from your words.” 

Ch’en sighed as she took the report back, there wasn’t anything substantial. Other than the death of Duke Kaschey finally being reported on by Ursus media, there really wasn’t anything to go off on. “Not a lot, some rumours of their Third Army being deployed to the tundras, as well as them taking massive amounts of casualties fighting…something. Foreign intelligence is trying to find out what, and so is everyone who has any interest in Ursus.” 

Due to Lungmen’s close proximity to Ursus’s border and major cities such as Chernobog, much of Wei Yenwu’s foreign concern stemmed from that troublesome nation. She was interested in Ursus due to a personal concern, though she accepted that her chances of finding anything about…her…were slim to none. 

“Well, you know how hard it is trying to get anything out of that country, just give it time. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find whatever you’re looking for on a silver platter, heading to Lungmen as we speak.” 

Ch’en snorted, even Hoshiguma probably knew that was a pipe dream. “Yeah, sure, that info is coming to Lungmen as we speak, in a car, straight from wherever Tal is right now…I just want to know what she’s doing now.” 

“You mean how she’s doing?” 

She knew it wasn’t anything pleasant, killing an Ursus Duke got you assassinated for obvious reasons, their penchant for using assassination was widely known among political circles, though none would ever admit it publicly. There was also that pesky issue of there being no evidence, she was sure some operated in Lungmen itself. 

*Ping*

Her computer sounded off, there was a new notification. Quickly checking it, she found it was just some routine person(s) of interest flagged by their Immigration officers, it usually took some time for those reports to go through, inefficient as their current system was. “Ugh, probably more smugglers, I’ll handle it tomorrow.” 

“Mhm, best to get some sleep, we have the Lunar festival coming up in a few days, and you’ll want to get as much rest as possible before then.” 

Switching off the computer, she turned off all the lights in her office and followed Hoshiguma out, into the bright neon-filled lights of Lungmen’s Central district. Yawning, she turned to Hoshiguma with a grin as they walked together. “Wanna get a drink?” 

“For your sake, not tonight. Besides, you never handle alcohol well.”

“That’s because you’re an Oni! I’ll have you know that can be counted as racial discrimination-” 

Under the bright moonlight of Terra’s twin moons, the two officers continued on their merry way, bickering and teasing each other the entire way. Rounding a street corner, they paid no attention to a green Ursus model SUV slowly making its way through the still-busy streets of Lungmen’s night markets. However, Ch’en did hear a shout coming from it, which she ignored as tourists trying to find their way through this maze-like city. 

“We have to take a right, Yuè. That’s what the map says-” 

“Shut the hell up, Alex! I know these streets, they feel familiar to me…” 

“That’s not how navigation works!” 

Hoshiguma heard it too, and turned to Ch’en with a grin. 

“You know, those two sound just like you and Swire arguing-”

“Not another word.” 

She hoped those tourists managed to find their destination eventually. 

Six days ago…in the Overworld…

“Hey, have you seen where I put my command blo-oh, nevermind I found it! Go and ask the others if they’re ready, Alex, I’ll go and check the engine.” 

At the crack of dawn, Talulah watched as Yuè and her newly formed ‘Research Team’ were making final preparations to leave for Lungmen. Though they initially wanted to leave yesterday, Talulah had made them wait for a day longer just so Alina had time to prepare, and for the leader of Reunion to arrange for one extra person with them. 

“All good on my end, you wanna ask Crowny over there?” Alex lazily replied, already setting up her seat in the back of a (formerly) Ursus Army SUV. Most of Reunion’s current vehicle stock was looted from whatever work camps they liberated, or bases they managed to successfully raid. This SUV, a brand-new model, was no exception. It came from Alex and Leda’s latest mission to Terra, the same one where they made an outpost cease to exist. With the Playaar’s knowledge of Originium refinement that put any Terran refinery to shame, they were easily able to get precious liquid refined Originium to fuel them, and they were now able to have a regular highway service entering back into Terra for their fighters, at least until the train service began operation. Yes, she caved in and approved its construction after Patriot supported its creation. 

On a nearby road railing, Crownslayer, a relatively new addition to Reunion’s forces was standing idly by. In the few months since she came to fight for their cause before Alex messily came into their lives, the Ursus Rebbah had come to prove her worth many times over, particularly in the infiltration and stealth needs of their fledgling movement. Upon being called out, the girl simply shook her head, preferring to remain silent. 

In truth, while she was in fact better suited to Yuè’s research mission than Mudrock was, Talulah also gave her a secondary objective. It was to gauge the situation of Lungmen’s local Infected and see if she could make contacts there. Though Reunion was obviously at no stage to operate in Lungmen right now, it helped to make early connections for the long run. 

With everything prepared, Talulah walked over to Alina, still wearing her grey dress, albeit shortened to fit the Overworld’s warmer weather. “Talulah! Come to see me off? I distinctly remember you being missing the last time…” 

“You remember why, right? This time, I’m glad I could make it.” 

That was back when her secret was just exposed. With their situation now, however, Talulah had weathered the proverbial storm and came out stronger as a leader because of it. Of course, she still felt the Black Snake’s thoughts in her mind every so often, particularly when it came to matters such as which direction Reunion should take. But at the end of the day, when she came back to Alina’s simple cooked meals, those thoughts went away like a Creeper after exploding. 

Wait, was that a bad metaphor? Didn’t Creepers die after exploding-

Either way, the Black Snake was under control, though she was sure his lingering Arts was still inside her. 

“I’ll just be gone for a few weeks, Reunion is still going to be standing in that time, right?” 

“Who knows? Maybe because our caretaker has left, we’ll all devolve into civil war and kill each other.” 

“Don’t even joke about that, I’ll bring you back gifts from Lungmen, anything in particular you want? I know you used to live there and all…” 

“Now that you mention it, there was this dish called Egg Waffles that I used to enjoy, though I don’t think it will survive the journey back. Just get me whatever you think is right, and remember, try not to spend all of your money, I know Yuè and Alex are literally filthy rich, but Lungmen is often called a bottomless pit for a reason.” 

Lungmen, the financial capital of Terra, and also the city where you get chewed for everything you were worth and spat back out an empty husk. The hordes of salarymen leaving work and going home empty were a sight Talulah could not forget. 

“Don’t worry, with the three of them with me, I’m sure I’ll be safe from anything. Even the bandits on the way to Lungmen won’t be a match for us!” The briefing yesterday included warnings about potential dangers, with Lungmen being a rich person's prime destination, the areas around it were often teeming with road bandits looking for an easy ransom. However, Talulah was not concerned about that, if anything, she was concerned for the bandits considering who was travelling. She hoped there wouldn’t be reports of headless bandits all along the route from Ursus to Lungmen anytime soon…

“I’m not worried about your safety, I’m worried about Lungmen’s. Look, your role is to essentially make sure they do not destroy Lungmen or raise too much attention to themselves. Crownslayer knows this too, but ultimately you’re the one who is familiar with them, so…” 

“I can see your point.” Alina nodded seriously, she knew their capabilities better than Talulah did after all. Alex and Yuè were pulled aside in the briefing yesterday, with Talulah essentially begging them to adopt Terran identities to blend in easier, in reality, it was just her trying to keep the civilization next to Terra a secret, for now. It did Reunion no good for the major powers of Terra to learn of this land, and for as long as possible, she would like to keep it that way. 

Alex was a ‘Columbian’ tourist, she had the right attitude and accent for one, while Yuè was a rural doctor from ‘Yan’, who was in Lungmen for research and medicine purchasing. Talulah watched as Yuè pulled out literal ingots of gold before it disappeared from her hands, because most people in Terra paid with gold ingots, right? 

“I do not expect their disguises, if they even try, to last for long. At which point you will have to remind them, or convince them to practice discretion. Ask Alex or Crownslayer to eliminate people if need be. Though, I suppose you could rely on Yuè’s Lung-like traits for an easier time while there…” 

“Talulah!” 

“I’m just laying out all possible options, you wanted a bigger role, you have one now. That’s what we have to consider, Alina.” 

Talulah didn’t want to lay out those ‘responsibilities’ on Alina all of a sudden, her plan was to ease her into it over time, but with Yuè suddenly announcing her trip…

“Though you do not fight with us on the frontlines, you are no less important to Reunion because of it. Just…stay safe, and try your best to ensure they don’t turn Terra upside down in a few short weeks. Also, if you do encounter any bandits on the way, make sure they discretely dispose of them. Actually, knowing your group, you will probably run into Lungmen’s underworld, dispose of them discretely as well, the Victoria Canal is a good option for it.” 

“We’re not going to kill anyone there, it’s just a simple trip! The last time was just me being unlucky, twice…I see what you mean now.” Alina, finally seeing the point Talulah was making, conceded. From her story, the last ‘trip’ she went on had a death toll measured in the double digits, Talulah had no confidence that no one was going to die in Lungmen because of them. Thankfully, the type of people to mess with them probably deserved it due to being in the underworld, she just hoped they dealt with reasonable people. 

“I am glad you do…” Talulah began reaching for something behind her, only to stop halfway. Alina noticed it immediately, she knew her too well. 

“Is there something else? What’s behind your back?” 

It was too late, and Talulah took out the letter she had written last night. The process took her a few hours, with all the rewrites and writer’s block stopping her ink from flowing. Just half an hour before they left, however, Talulah finally managed to write it to her liking. Slowly letting Alina see it, she hesitated to hand it over. 

“A letter?” 

“Yes, it’s addressed to…my half-sister.” 

Her half-sister who she abandoned in Lungmen, Ch’en. Talulah’s feelings on it were complicated just to put it simply, and while a singular letter wasn’t nearly enough to convey everything that had happened since then, it was at least a start. Only Alina knew of her existence, having confided in her about Kaschey as well. 

“You took my advice! I assume this is for her, then?” 

Talulah nodded, Alina had pestered her to reconnect with Ch’en for a few weeks now, but circumstances and the move to the Overworld kept her busy. With them going straight to Lungmen however, she knew this was the best chance she could get in a while. 

“I don’t know where she is, or what she’s doing now…but I would appreciate it if you could try to find her. Don’t let it replace your mission, just consider it as something to do on the side, you are spending a few weeks there after all.” 

“Don’t worry, even in a city as big as Lungmen, I’m sure we’ll find her. Anything else I need to know?” 

“Other than her being a spoiled brat, not much. Though if you do somehow manage to meet, no matter how unlikely, don’t tell her everything, just that I am fine, and if the future permits, we…never mind, just try and give this letter to her, alright?” 

Alina took the letter and put it in her new leather bag for safekeeping, if she recalled, it was a gift from Alex. The leather was apparently taken from a creature called the ‘Hoglin’ which was slain during their shortcut from the Nether, Alina didn’t quite appreciate that it came from there, but liked the build quality nonetheless. 

“That’s enough from me, I’m sure you need to head towards the car now. I’ll say a few words of goodbye to the others before I go back.” 

Talulah and Alina walked to the front of the car, where Alex and Yuè were currently…frozen? Alex was holding up a chest, while Yuè inspected the Originium engine, she turned to Crownslayer, who was watching them with a curious stare. Neither of the two Playaars were moving at all; as if they had been frozen by time.

“...what’s wrong with them?” 

“They’ve been like this for the past thirty seconds, they were arguing and then all of a sudden-” Crownslayer was interrupted by the two suddenly moving again, carrying on as if nothing just happened. 

“You’ll need a melee weapon, I’m telling ya-whoa, new update just drop?” 

“I think so, we finally updated to 1.21, took the ‘Ahd-mins’ a while…who did we even elect the last time?” Yuè mused, looking up at the sky, Talulah looked up as well, finding nothing out of the ordinary. 

“Beats me, but their terms are about to end-the hell you guys staring at us for?” 

Alex finally noticed the three Terrans staring at them, prompting Alina to ask exactly what just happened to them. “Are you two alright? You just stopped moving all of a sudden…” 

“Oh, don’t worry, the new ‘ser-var’ update just got released, happens to everyone in this world. Usually lasts for a few seconds, don’t mind it.” 

“...this won’t be a regular occurrence, will it?” Talulah asked, some concern in her voice. 

“Eh, once every few months to a year? It doesn’t happen often, and we’re invulnerable during that time so…huh, planning to PVP us during that freeze? You sly devil, you~” 

By now, Talulah understood that ‘PVP’ meant ‘Playaar versus Playaar’, a shortened term for general fighting. Quickly denying it, the last thing she wanted was a misunderstanding to turn into a conflict between them and Reunion, no matter how unlikely it would happen. “No! We wouldn’t even dare!” 

While the Playaars were very friendly with Reunion, with even a few integrated into their operations such as the old military Captain in training, and Yuè with the hospitals, they were still not officially allied in any way. Talulah wasn’t even sure they were organized enough to ally with, any help so far had been individual initiatives, and they were still guests of the Overworld, not natives here by any means. Reunion’s continued progress hinged on their cooperation with these Playaars, who so far seemed to be very sympathetic to their cause. She hoped that it would last well into the future… 

“What Alex meant to say was that our…unique circumstances here are somewhat different compared to other living beings in this world. From what I have heard, Terran races each have their own unique characteristics, no? That just now was simply another facet of living here for us, nothing to worry about.” Yuè answered, having finished her inspection of the engine. 

“The engine seems to be in working order, though I won’t pretend to know how it works, I just know it runs with liquid Originium. As long as it will get us there, I have no complaints about it. I personally would have preferred going through the Nether again just for the speed, but a road trip isn’t bad either.” 

Alina’s ears twitched, she was the one who insisted they travelled by land, finally convincing Yuè of all the wonderful sights that they would see on the way there. There was nothing worth seeing other than endless wilderness, there weren’t a lot of towns in between Ursus and Lungmen. 

“Since I’m leading the group this time, I guess I’ll handle the briefing now that everything is packed.” Yuè was the one who initiated the journey, so it was only right that she briefed everyone now. 

“With a route planned out, Crownslayer and I will be taking turns driving all the way to Lungmen city, we aim for arrival within six to seven days if the road conditions are good. Once we arrive at Lungmen, and pass through their border control, we will begin looking for avenues of Originium research, both from legitimate, and non-legitimate sources. Though as agreed, we will try not to draw too much attention to ourselves, understand, Alex?” 

“Crystal, also, fuck you.” Yuè ignored her and continued on. 

“We do have a time limit, roughly being four weeks or so, after which begin the journey back, also taking roughly six to seven days. Hopefully, we will have gained a wealth of knowledge, and Crownslayer will have completed whatever she needs to do. Alina and Alex…you two go have fun I guess, just don’t break or kill anyone while you’re there.” 

“Why am I being lumped in with Alex…?” Alina muttered, only for Talulah to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder. 

“If no one else has anything to say or do, please get into the car, we will be departing shortly.” 

Yuè got into the right side of the driver’s seat, while Crownslayer got into the driver’s seat. Alex and Alina were bound to the rear seats for the entire journey, neither of them knowing how to drive a car, or in the redhead’s case, a lack of trust in her driving. Alina fiddled with her seat’s window, before finally managing to roll it down. She and Talulah shared a brief final few words before departure. 

“Hey, I’ll be back before you know it. I expect to see a town even bigger than what we have now!” 

Talulah grinned, “Be careful what you wish for…” 

“I’d tell you two to get a room, but you already live together so…” Alex whined from her side, causing a shade of red to appear on both of their faces. 

“A-anyways! Good luck on your journey, and may Terra be kind to your journey.” 

It was a saying she heard among catastrophe messengers, wishing each other luck when delivering messages due to the job’s hazardous nature. It seemed to be appropriate here, with the Playaars taking their first steps into wider Terra. A brief wave later, the SUV took off, heading out of their apartment complex and into the expansive highway that stretched across civilizations. Talulah watched it continue on for a few more seconds before she too went back, the work she had today wasn’t going to be done on its own…

“Ah, they have left. I wish them a pleasant journey, to and fro.” 

Right behind Talulah was Leda, who only started speaking when she was only a ‘block’ behind her, giving her quite the jumpscare. Even more so considering Leda had her signature greatsword on her back, what was she doing with that? 

“Forgiveth me, ‘twas not mine intention to scare thee. I am simply passing through, on my way to the trial chambers.” 

“T-trial chambers? We have trial chambers for the courts already?” Talulah heard they were still being built yesterday, to think they worked that quickly…

“Nay, trial chambers of a different kind. I am to test mine skill against dangerous foes alike, good meeting thee again, lady Talulah.” 

Leda then mounted her white stallion and quickly galloped away towards the rising sun. Talulah blinked, and decided that wasn’t her problem or a problem to deal with. 

These Playaars…best not to be too nosy into their business. 

Six Days Later…in the Outskirts of Lungmen…

“So, that’s the difference between build limit, and height limit. While this world has custom plugins to increase the former, in practice it isn’t really needed. Besides, if you go far up enough, you’ll eventually reach one of the two moons anyways, where I used to live.” 

“I may not be a scientist, but isn’t there supposed to be a ‘false-sky’ surrounding Terra? It was discovered…twenty years ago I think, by some Columbian scientists. At a certain height, you apparently cannot go further, so does that mean they were wrong?” 

Six days had passed since their initial journey, from the wilderness of Ursus all the way beyond its border, which in itself was a story-filled journey. From encountering bandits looking for easy pickings to towns in need of aid, their journey was one Alina would never forget. However, with each passing day, they made good progress, especially with the unique and extremely powerful Arts Yuè and Alex both commanded. 

Need fuel? Just brew some more. Need to clear a path? The two had their trusty tools, which cleared everything out in mere minutes. Encounter dangers on their way from bandits to Originium beasts? The less talked about the aftermath the better, Alina had to convince Alex to not go after the fleeing bandits most of the time, terror-stricken as they were. 

Now, however, they came upon their latest obstacle just when they were about to reach Lungmen, a massive ravine. 

“Who knows? But, after you reach roughly six thousand blocks in height, you eventually start to load in ‘chunks’ from either of the moons. In most worlds, there is only one moon, guess whoever made the world also made the second moon. The Millennium Palace is located in the slightly smaller one, I think it was the only part of this world pre-built, aside from the ‘spawn’ region that welcomes in new Playaars. I do miss living there every once in a while…” Yuè said, as she continued to place blocks for them to tread through. Alina had tried to do the action Playaars used to place blocks before, only for there to be no response. She chalked it up to something only they could do. 

“I’m sure your friends from the…moon greatly miss you, Yuè.” Alina had a relatively easy time believing that Yuè used to live on the moon, or that the Playaars had conquered the so-called false sky and beyond. Though considering their feats so far, it should not have been so surprising, so why was Crownslayer still so shaken up by it? Was there something her peasant-level education should have taught her? The only thing she knew of ‘outer-space’ were from fictitious Columbian films, and she wasn’t about to accuse Alex and Yuè of being aliens from beyond. 

“I’ll take you there one day, there should be a portal system for you to head up from…Alex, more sandstone.” 

Alina watched as the redhead threw a stack of the items to Yuè, catching it and continuing to ‘bridge’ across the giant ravine. While Crownslayer had initially wanted to drive around it, looking for a suitable place to cross, Alex and Yuè had another idea. Getting out of their car, they began placing blocks, and they were currently doing that exact thing across the ravine. The act of ‘Bridging’ it seemed, was literal, they were placing blocks to bridge across the giant ravine, big enough for their car to go through. 

“Are you alright, Crownslayer? You seem to be a little…”  

In the days since meeting Crownslayer, she had revealed her name to be Lyudmila, which was about as far Alina got into knowing about her. Though Talulah assured her she was skilled, Lyudmila was much more reserved compared to Yelena, the two did seem to have similar personalities. 

“...I’m fine. Just a little…” 

“Surprised? You’ll get used to it.” As they went through block by block, Crownslayer slowly followed them in the SUV, inching ever closer on the bridge that they were creating. It was only three blocks wide, just enough for the car to comfortably move on it in a straight line. 

“...there’s nothing supporting this, we should all be plummeting into the ravine…have I died already? Is this just a dream before my death?” 

 The assassin commented, gazing at the scene before her with wary eyes as if expecting everything to go wrong at a moment’s notice. An odd quirk of those ‘blocks’ was that the majority of them did not follow the laws of physics, not that Alina ever studied them, but even she knew that things that went up must go down. A block of stone for example, when all of the supporting blocks were removed, remained indefinitely up into the air, refusing to fall. 

This baffled a lot of Reunion members when they first saw it, most notably during the hospital construction where a section of the roof had to be remade. All of the supports were ‘mined out’, but the stone floor above it remained perfectly still, no amount of effort from Talulah or Patriot got it to budge when they went to test it out. 

“If you’re wondering, only a few blocks are affected by gravity, like sand and gravel, sandstone, on the other hand, acts like regular stone, therefore it is not affected by gravitational forces.” Yuè explained casually, causing Crownslayer’s eyes to narrow. Even though she had a mask on, Alina could tell she was near hyperventilating. 

“But that’s not how gravity works-it doesn’t just stop for certain materials?! 

“Ahahaha…you seem invested in the sciences, did you have a background in them before Reunion?” 

At her question, Crownslayer promptly ceased her ranting and turned back to looking at the ravine. “No, nothing of that sort.” It was a quick answer, she left it at that. 

Looking back at their starting point, they were roughly three-quarters of the way through the ravine, having just passed the deepest point. She hoped no one was going to mind a random bridge that appeared from out of nowhere, if anything, they were doing a service for anyone seeking to pass the ravine as well. A few minutes longer, and the nearly two-hundred-metre-long ravine was completely bridged through, and they all got back into their car. Alina was glad to soon be in Lungmen, the past few nights were either spent in the car or in a tent outside their car. Though whatever Alex and Yuè built was comfy, she did want to have a true roof over her head again. 

Continuing along the path, Crownslayer used an application on her phone to locate Lungmen, which was close enough to now send and receive signals again. “Keep heading north…maybe turn a right in five hundred metres…” 

“Keep your eyes peeled, Alina. If you see a city in the distance, that’s where we’re going.” 

Alina scanned their surroundings. So far it just seemed to be more empty grasslands, roving meadows of tall grass that stretched on forever. If that sight hadn’t been all Alina had seen for the past few days, she would have liked to frolic around in them. 

“Hey look, there’s a van in front of us.” Yuè called out from the driver’s seat. Alina looked ahead, there was indeed a van on the road in front of them, roughly a hundred metres from them, parked on the dirt roadside. There also appeared to be…three people waving them down. 

“Could be bandits, step on the gas.” Alex suggested, her crossbow already taken out. 

Their car’s speed remained steady, and Alex’s advice was not taken. Upon being even closer, Crownslayer called out further observations. “A Lupo, a Sankta and a Forte, odd group for bandits.” Alina leaned forward to get a better look, indeed, she saw the distinct Halo of a Sankta among those attempting to wave them down. While she had never actually met a Sankta before, even among the many Infected of Reunion, she did hear stories and hearsay about them in her daily life. How many of those were actually real was another matter, but what was true was the ‘gun’ the red-haired Sankta held. 

“I don’t think they’re bandits, we could at least try and help? We’ve done it before for those villages we passed.” From scaring off bandits to providing food, they helped whoever needed it to the best of their ability, this didn’t seem any different. 

“You and your bleeding heart…fine, not everyone on the road are bandits, right? We can just pull up next to ‘em.” Alex relented, causing Crownslayer to sigh. 

“We could have made it to Lungmen a day earlier if we hadn’t stopped for everyone that needed help, some of them I might add turned out to be traps.” 

“But we lived through them, and if it is another one…we know what to do, right?” Yuè answered for them and began swerving slightly to the side of the road, eventually pulling up next to the parked van. Alex rolled down her window, and a second later, a very enthusiastic Sankta popped up. 

“Oh thank the Law! Someone actually stopped, you wouldn’t happen to have an extra can of Originite fuel, right? We’ll take anything you can spare!”

“ Yuè? Got anything to spare?” Alex asked Yuè, who took out three glass bottles filled with Originium fuel. Handing it over to Alex, who then handed them over to the Sankta, she looked at it with some amount of confusion. 

“Wow, uh, never seen fuel come in glass bottles before…I’ll return these bottles to ya, wait a sec for us to fuel our tank up.” 

“I gawt it, we’re finally leavin’ this place!” The Forte took those glass bottles and proceeded to fill up their van, leaving the Lupo and Sankta to talk with Alex and Yuè. 

“Thanks for helping! We’ve been stuck here for the past three hours after our fuel ran out, totally not my fault by the way.” The Sankta had a carefree and friendly attitude, while the black-haired Lupo sighed, taking out a stick of some kind and began to chew on it. 

“She left the engine on for the better part of last night, we got this far until our fuel finally ran out…” The Lupo answered, causing the Sankta to scratch the back of her head, the perfect picture of someone guilty. 

“Yeah? No one else stop by to help you out?” Alex asked. 

“Nope! We did see a car in the distance an hour ago, but it probably didn’t notice us. This far out from Lungmen, you’re basically on your own. Oh, shoot, forgot to introduce ourselves. I’m Exiusai,” She gestured over to the Lupo next to her, “She’s Texas and the one back there is Croissaint, we’re couriers for Penguin Logistics. You caught us on a return trip after a delivery, it’s a miracle you showed up here…” 

“Penguin…logistics?” Alina asked, wondering how penguins had anything to do with logistics. 

“Hah! Everyone has that reaction, wait till you see our boss, then it’ll be clear why.” Exiusai answered, Alina was still confused. 

“Exia, the fuel’s filled,” Texas called out, the three glass jars given to them in hand. 

“That was fast, thanks for giving us some fuel, here’s your glasses back. Haven’t met anyone who’ll put it in glass bottles, but guess there’s a first for everything…” 

“Will just the three glasses be enough?” Yuè asked, a look of contemplation on Exiusai’s face before she nodded. 

“Yeah, I think so, Lungmen’s just down from the hill in front of us. We honestly considered pushing the Van back there, so thanks for saving us the trouble. Oh, wait, you four going to Lungmen too? First time?” 

“...yeah, you could say that.” 

“You wouldn’t happen to already have passes or documents ready for entry, right?” 

“We were just planning to go through immigration-” Both of the Penguin Logistics couriers suddenly looked apprehensive, was there something wrong with going through immigration? 

“Oooh.”

“...you might want to reconsider.” 

“There a reason why we can’t just go through? I mean, it can’t be that bad.” Alex asked with a raised eyebrow, it should be noted that at this point neither of them had ever entered a large Terran city before. The Overworld did not count. 

“Well, assuming you’re coming in from Ursus, and you don’t have any pre-approved passes, you will gain entry anywhere from a few business days to never.” 

“That is if they are feeling generous, with what I’ve heard regarding their immigration policy, there is a good chance they will simply turn you away at the register. However, because you have a Lung with you, your chances may be higher.” Texas gestured over to Yuè, or more specifically, her traits that made her a Lung in the eyes of many Terrans. Even Alina thought she was a Lung at first, only to find out that Playaars could be absolutely anything, even sentient eyeballs in a suit, that particular ‘skin’ scared her the first time, even though he turned out to be very nice. 

“Racial discrimination and a gangster-infested city? It sounds exactly like home…I don’t know if I should be glad or disappointed it works in my favour…” Yuè deadpanned, before asking them another question. 

“Is there no way we can apply or buy a pass? Most cities have something like that, do they not?” 

“Well, there is one thing you can try…but it requires you to have a lot of money, like, at least an entire gold ingot per person-” 

Alex and Yuè cut Exiusai off, immediately laughing with a certain malice to it. Alina knew that laugh, it wasn’t going to be anything good… 

“Holy shit! Oh, you got us there, thinking that we went all this way for nothing…ah, that’s funny. Anyways, if you know the way to Lungmen, we’ll follow behind you, better than navigating through a stupid app that doesn’t work.” 

“But it does work, Lungmen is literally in that direction-” 

Crownslayer’s input went in one ear, and out the other. 

“B-but, it costs a lot to even-” 

“Ex-something, right? Chill, we got this. We’ll follow you back to Lungmen, I assume we’re heading in the same direction anyway.” 

Leaving a confused, but also sympathetic Exiusai back to her Penguin Logistics van, they were able to start it again and beckoned them to follow. Passing through bare dirt roads and grassy dry lands, they eventually reached the top of a nearby hill, and once they were past the peak…

So that’s Lungmen.

(Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aceship/Arknight-Images/main/avg/backgrounds/bg_lungmen_m.png)

Alina glued herself to the window, intent on looking at those sparkling and shining towers in the sky, so far, the only images she had seen of Lungmen were from the film, and those did not do their actual appearance justice. Alex tapped Yuè on the shoulder, getting her attention while she was still driving. 

“Remind you of home?” 

“It does…just a bit. For all the good and bad it has…” 

Alina didn’t say anything for the remainder of their short journey to the entry gates, but she had to wonder then, which home was Alex referring to? Those thoughts were soon dashed away, replaced by the approaching gate. In the traffic lanes separating entry, they were unfortunately split off from the Penguin Logistics van, leaving them alone once more. Finding an open parking spot, Alina noticed there weren’t too many people there right now, even considering that it was a major point of entry. 

“We’re still technically outside the city. Once you’re ready, we all need to head up the giant elevator into the actual city, I’ll stay here with the car.” Crownslayer switched positions with Yuè, taking the driver’s seat. 

“Fair enough, you two, follow me. Let’s get those entry passes.” 

Walking into the office reminded her of the initial entry for Neo-New Elysium, only much more modern, and less welcoming. Gone was the wood construction and veneer, replaced by sterile monotone office spaces and border guards that weren’t at all friendly compared to those Villagers. Walking up to a large area filled with counters, they scanned the area before Yuè found the one responsible for ‘credit passes’. 

“There it is, let’s get this over with, I want to check into a hotel before dusk.” The desk they were heading to was the only one that was empty, the other counters had people audibly arguing, or even begging for entry. The middle-aged clerk noticed their approach, looking at Yuè with a surprised stare. 

“U-um, my lady, entry for nobles is in a separate gate-” The voice came out through a speaker, but everyone could see that he was nervous upon seeing Yuè for some reason. 

“We are not nobles, I would like to apply for four passes,” Yuè said with finality, causing the Kuranta clerk to immediately bow upon hearing her. 

“O-of course, w-what will you be presenting the credit check with?” 

“Gold.” 

“E-excuse me?” 

WHAM

A pile of neatly arranged gold ingots, the same ones she used to create Golden Apples, appeared on the dingy counter, all in all, Alina guessed it was half a stack, not a significant amount compared to the amount she brought. Which she was told was ‘two stacks of Gold blocks’, the math may have eluded her, but she knew that was a big number. The clerk widened his eyes, disbelief at the sudden thirty-two gold ingots suddenly on his desk. Alina began noticing the stares from other people, and armed guards at them, so far, they weren’t exactly being very ‘discrete’. Alas, it was too late, and she could only pretend this was their initial intention. 

“Will there be a problem?” 

“I-I’ll need to get my manager-”

“ Mou mantai. I’ll wait.” 

The clerk nearly tripped in his haste to get up, and through his window, Alina could see even more curious employees peeking in, and widening their eyes in disbelief. Yuè turned to a nearby guard who was keeping an eye on them, he flinched as soon as her attention was on him. 

“Is there a brochure to read around here? A tourism one perhaps?” 

“Y-yes my lady, I’ll get it for you at once!” 

The Pharmacist then turned back around to face them, a grin on her face betraying her intentions. “Something is telling me we’re going to be just fine here…” 

How exactly was she going to reign that in?! 

AN: 

In a mid-autumn festival collaboration event, Ch’en’s favourite mooncake flavour is apparently coconut, I’m more of a lotus root purist myself, same with Swire, minus the egg yolk. 

It’s a few days early, but happy Mid-Autumn festival! If you don’t celebrate it, I wish you a happy week nonetheless, if you want to try a Yanese dessert ‘Ey-arr-ell’ then go to your local Asian supermarket and buy something called a Mooncake, guarantee they’ll have them in stock now. I recommend eating it with plain tea, as some of them do get quite sweet. 

In Minecraft, there is a difference between the build limit, the Y-coordinate being 320, and the actual height limit. The build limit is the maximum height in which you can place blocks, builds rarely exceed this limit, custom servers with data packs and worlds with mods can change this easily. In Java edition, there is no height limit, meaning that Players can move up as high as they want to. Technically speaking, there is a height limit when flying only by creative mode or an elytra, but the height limit for that is Y, 4,503,599,627,370,496. Those are a lot of blocks, and with each block representing one cubic meter, that’s a hell of a lot of height for Players to go through before running into game engine limitations. 

Bridging, every Minecraft player has done this before. As the name implies, it is the act of literally using blocks to bridge yourself across an obstacle, there are various methods to it, including ones used in competitive games such as Bedwars.

There are Minecraft mods that include space travel and chunk generation for it. 

As soon as I came back from my trip my friends roped me into buying the new space marine game. I don't like Warhammer at all but the game is fun. Black Myth Wukong is still better imo. Anyway, the Credit Pass thing is an original idea, with a city such as Lungmen I felt that it was appropriate for them to have something like that. There’s a hint of that here, but I do have a very personal connection to Lungmen, considering I have spent the majority of my life in ‘Eye-arr-ell’ Lungmen. I do have my own ideas about Lungmen, which will hopefully be presented in this arc. 

Be civil in the comments below. 

EDIT- 07/05/2025

I now have a Discord server! Where you can chat and discuss not only this story, but all of my other fanfics. If not, this is also a place where you can submit Omakes and discuss OCs if you really want to, or just come and hang out, I will be sharing some more behind the scenes things there if you want to know what my writing process is like. 

Discord Link: https://discord.gg/9ah73nfATw

Chapter Text

Chapter 11 

“Are my eyes finally going bad, or is that a goddamn Kentucky Fried Chicken?”

“Your eyes aren't going bad…that is a KFC.” 

Passing through the expedited immigration process by virtue of just being really, really rich, not even fifteen minutes after they walked into the office were they able to get back in their car and drive into Lungmen proper. They had to put up with some stares then, many envious, some in outright hatred, but the two Playaars weren’t phased at all. They went through the giant elevator with many other vehicles and were brought up to be level with the city itself. Of course, they still had to drive in and find somewhere to stay. Luckily, the poor guard who was all but interrogated by Yuè about Lungmen’s places gave them a few options to stay comfortable. Naturally, the two Playaars went for the grandest and most luxurious option. Right now, on the way to said grandest hotel, they were currently stopped next to what appeared to be a ‘fast food’ restaurant Alina had only seen on film, Alex spotted it first and insisted that they get a closer look. 

“It just looks like a regular restaurant, why are you two staring at it so intently?” Alina asked, for Alex was literally looking at it from her side of the car, needless to say, she was feeling very cramped right now. The red and white decoration stood out among Lungmen, but that was about the only thing she could say about it. 

“That fast food chain is everywhere, even in Siracusa. I don’t get why you two are so interested in it-” Crownslayer commented, her seat was also currently being invaded by Yuè for a better look. 

“Nah, nah, nah, Crowny, we’re seeing something that shouldn’t exist here,” Alex said with conviction, somewhat like Alina the first time she entered the Nether. Of all the things that would hopefully blow her mind about Terra like Alina was subject to for the Overworld, a restaurant was somehow doing it?! 

“It looks like a perfect carbon copy of a KFC, and you’re saying it’s a global chain on Terra?” Yuè questioned, only for Crownslayer to sigh and nod. 

“We’re supposed to be checking into our hotel by now…” The mask muffled her words slightly, but the intent was still easily conveyed. Alex ignored it, as expected, and unbuckled her seat belt. 

“I need to go inside and check, be right back-” The redhead sprinted into the restaurant, nearly knocking bystanders over. 

“...I still don’t get it, it’s just a ‘fast food chain’, right?” Alina asked the one remaining Playaar, but Yuè did not answer her. Another few dozen seconds later, Alex came running back out, with what appeared to be a napkin in her hands. Jumping back into her seat, she held out the napkin for all of them to see, aside from its logo, Alina could see a smiling old man printed in the center-

“Holy fucking shit! It’s Colonel Sanders! The same menu too! There’s a goddamn conspiracy going on! I don’t care about what you need to do, I’m spending my four weeks here investigating why there are KFC’s here!” Alex exclaimed, equal parts surprise and seething anger. 

 “Are you seriously investigating a fast food chain?!” Crownslayer shouted, having had quite enough of this nonsense.

“We can make it our side objective, four weeks is a long time…” Yuè mused, any hope that she would have been the sensible one vanishing as well. 

“Why did I agree to this mission…?” 

Alina wanted to tell her ‘You’ll get used to it.’ but she figured the poor girl had heard enough of her saying it for the past six days already. With that out of the way, Yuè had decided to move on from what was technically their first destination in Lungmen proper and drive to their hotel. On the way there, she took in more of the city itself, the busy streets, street food vendors and just…how many people there were. How did anyone get anywhere? This city must be extremely cramped…

“This is just uncanny now, they even have the same neon signs…are those curry fishballs? No, those are-yeah they are, just with a different name…”  Yuè kept muttering things like this the entire way, looking at the sights not with newfound wonder like Alina was currently doing, but with confused familiarity. 

In her daze, she even made a mistake while driving, or at least it seemed that way, another car entering from an intersection nearly collided with their vehicle. Immediately, Alina heard some very ‘colourful’ words from the feline that poked her head out. From the expensive-looking sports car window, Alina saw her holding onto her beret while cursing at them. 

“Nei goh pook gai! How are you driving here?! Goddamn tourists trying to drive without knowing how Lungmen’s traffic laws work!” 

Yuè snarled at what Alina guessed was an insult, already demonstrating that she somehow knew how to speak the local language fluently before. Rolling down her window, she poked her head out as well. “Ngo diu nei loh mou! You came in so fast, you’re lucky we didn’t crash! Calling me a yow haak as well, you wanna fight?!” 

The feline grimaced upon seeing Yuè bite back with equal ferocity, causing her to dip her head back into her car. “Ah screw it, why are all Lung so bone-headed?! Not even gonna bother writing you a ticket, I’ve got a meeting to get to!” 

With the screech of her tyres, the feline sped away, only leaving the smell of burnt rubber behind, unfortunately blowing in from the opened car window. “ Baat po, yeah, even the people behave the exact same way…Lungmen politeness I guess.” Alina wanted to point out that both of them weren’t being very polite back there, but refrained from doing it in the end. 

They continued on their journey, this time there weren’t any near-collisions that happened. Driving up a ramp, they came upon a building seemingly made entirely out of marble combined with mixed Yanese and Victorian aesthetics as its choice of decoration. Just seeing the lobby from the car made Alina feel like she didn’t belong here, which was probably by design, just like the houses of nobles in Ursus. 

“Here we are, the Grand Mandarin Peninsula Hotel… that name sounds so stupid to me but it is one of the grandest hotels in all of Lungmen, we’ll have a comfortable four weeks here.” With everyone else disembarking, Alina did so as well. Alex and Crownslayer immediately went to go and get their luggage claimed by a bellhop, while Yuè handed over the keys to a valet. Alina thought those were exaggerated for the movies she watched, but no, they turned out to be real. Was she in some sort of film right now? She sure felt like it… 

Going over to Yuè who had just finished speaking with the Valet, Alina tapped her shoulders and whispered a question at her. “C-can we even afford this? This seems a little too expensive for us to be here…” 

Yuè turned to the Elafian with a deadpan, as if she couldn’t believe she asked a question like that. 

“You literally just saw me place down half a stack of gold ingots, Alina. We can stay here for an entire year and still have enough money left over for whatever we want. Look, places like these, whatever hotels that have ‘grand’ in their name are selling you the idea of luxury. The truly obscenely rich and upper-class clientele prefer exclusivity, not whatever these hotels offer. Fancy decor…big spacious rooms…if you strip away all the glamour, you’re just left with a regular old room to sleep in with room service that they overcharge you for. Don’t be intimidated by them, that’s what they want you to think and believe.” 

Alina thought about it and found that the explanation made sense, somewhat. To her experiences so far, however, she couldn’t quite shake that feeling away, yet. 

“Oh…do you have a lot of experience living in them?” ‘Wealth’ in the lens of a Playaar was flexible, one could have an entire house made out of gold, but still be considered ‘poorer’ than someone with an antiquated castle that was built magnificently. To Alina’s surprise, however, Yuè shook her head, she even had a small mirthful smile on her face. 

“Haha…no, Alina. I just lived around them for…most of my life, their secrets aren’t that hard to discern if you live near a few of them for years on end. Come on, let’s go and check in while they handle our luggage, you can help me pick out a room.”

Alina followed Yuè , into the grand halls of the hotel. Attendants garbed in Yanese robes bowed to them as they passed, or as Alina noticed, bowed to Yuè mostly. Putting two and two together again, coupled with the Yanese dress she wore…were they mistaking her for someone else…? Eventually, they came upon the desk, and the Zalak receptionist bowed deeply to them. 

“Huānyíng guānglín, the Grand Mandarin Peninsula is honoured to receive your grace, do you have a prior reservation with us?” 

“I do not.” 

“Of course, that is no issue. Will your grace want the Executive room or the Penthouse suite?” 

“What do you think, Alina? We need one that will fit our needs.”

Not used to being suddenly put on the spot, Alina stuttered out her answer, “T-the biggest one?”  

“The Penthouse suite then, and your three servants will each have their own separate rooms instead, yes?” 

It took a while for Alina to understand what she was implying, but Yuè beat her to the punch instantly and with a scowl visible on her face. “They are my companions, we will all be living together.” 

“My apologies your grace! Forgive this lowly servant for assuming…” Alina saw two rapid-fire deep bows given to them, she felt extremely uncomfortable in this situation, only contrasted by Yuè being the picture of calm. She blended in much better than she did…and here she was thinking their trip would be like one of those Victorian spy films…

“Hmph. Do not make that mistake again. I will be staying for four weeks, I want to get this done with, we have a busy schedule.” They did not, but it made the receptionist work faster. Was this technically exploitation? Talulah often ranted about that in her drunken mumblings…

“O-of course, may I know the name of your grace…?” 

“ Yuè. Character for the moon. Do you accept alternative currencies?” 

“Yes, your grace. We accept the Wen in addition to the Pound in lieu of LMD. Which currency will you be paying with? We have some of the best exchange rates for either-” 

“Gold or Emeralds. Choose.” Alina mentally kicked herself, she should have seen this coming…

“I’m sorry? Did you mean to say…eep!” 

WHAM

Well, at least this time she gave her the additional choice of emeralds… 

Lyudmila was starting to question the wisdom of Reunion’s General Secretary, Talulah. While she was glad to see the movement itself grow to new heights every single day, there were also the odd parts of their partnership that made her…question some of the decisions made so far. Her circumstances of joining the movement were notably different from most other members, with her primary goal being revenge against the ones responsible for her mother’s demise. That was her long-term goal, however, right now, she was devoted to the ideals of the Reunion movement, putting her skills as a Fang of a Signore Dei Lupi to good use other than in the Great Game. 

If it wasn’t for Talulah’s order to protect Alina as well, she would have gone her separate way immediately, entering through different gates in Lungmen just for added anonymity. Instead however, Lyudmila was dragged along from public place to public place, raising attention everywhere she went. This latest example, their Penthouse suite in Lungmen’s most luxurious hotel was another string in annihilating any semblance of discretion. 

“Look Crownslayer, every room has a personal bathroom and a balcony! Oh, what’s this? These toilets have a thing that comes out-aaah!” Alina cried out from her ‘assigned’ room, it was just whatever Yuè pointed at her to head inside of. Which just so happened to be the one next to her own room, an overly gaudy and spacious room that had too many vantage points to be sniped at. She didn’t feel safe in here, if there was an ambush…

“That’s a bidet, Alina. You’ll get used to them!” Alex casually said, lazily lying in the main ‘living’ area of their suite, a combination of modern and old Eastern aesthetics. 

(Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aceship/Arknight-Images/main/avg/backgrounds/25_g11_yanroom.png )

If she was in charge, her choice of accommodation would have been a dingy motel somewhere near the slums, with payment only in LMD and with as few questions asked as possible. Unfortunately, she was not in charge, and Yuè did her best to act like a Yanese highborn client, which honestly, was very convincing. If Crownslayer didn’t know any better, she too probably would have acknowledged her as some stuck-up noble cunt-

“Crownslayer!” 

Speak of the Lung, and she shall appear. 

Pulling her face mask back up, it was bad enough that she caught the ‘servant’ line from the staff here until Yuè corrected them, but she had to deal with her for the next few weeks. “Can I help you…?” 

“Yes and no, assuming you’re asking about my goals here. But first, how’s your room? Are you satisfied with it? Want to change? It’s not big by Overworld standards but I guess being in a city means having to put up with smaller spaces. If you want, you can have my bigger room instead, I’ll be spending most of my time outside anyways.” 

An even bigger one? Crownslayer’s room was already big enough to do a leap across and still have some room left, she did not need the enormous master bedroom. 

“N-no, I’m fine…but I need to ask, is it wise to be…here? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we aren’t exactly inconspicuous, paying with gold ingots everywhere also isn’t smart in a city like Lungmen. Y’know, where there are criminals everywhere?” Aside from the local criminal syndicates, there were also a number of foreign ones because of course there were, she knew of mafioso groups from Siracusa who had set up shop here. While she was confident in their strength, with Yuè and Alex showing how monstrous in combat they really were, she wasn’t sure how to react when the LGD started asking pointed questions at them. Reunion was never going to be popular among the major powers of Terra, and as such, the secrecy of their group needed to be maintained. 

Who was she kidding? The LGD probably had them noted down during their immigration process already, so much for remaining incognito. 

“...no, not really. Also, I offered Emeralds as well, it’s not my fault they didn’t accept gemstones. Doesn’t this work in your favour, actually? With a group like Reunion, being with me masks who you really are, right? No one is going to expect an unpopular revolutionary to live in a hotel like this.” Yuè answered, a stark difference from the haughty aristocratic attitude she had given earlier. 

Crownslayer narrowed her eyes, thinking through exactly what she meant. “So…you’re saying that I should adopt a false identity of some kind? That’s…actually not that bad…I don’t prefer it, but it could work…” 

She was trained in subterfuge and assassination but also dabbled in infiltration as any Fang should be proficient in. With Yuè’s seemingly endless money, and whatever status reputation they could bullshit on…Crownslayer was actually in a good position to ‘make connections’ with whoever she could. They were creating something new after all, it didn’t hurt to have some sort of sway for a new movement, hell, Alina could help her in that regard. 

“But I get it, you assassin types have your dingy motels and secret spaces. So if you need some funds for a separate accommodation, you’re welcome to take it. However, you will miss out on the benefits here.” 

“Benefits?” 

“Yes, you’re a paying guest here regardless, you have a hotel card to access every service here without extra charge. I got the best package for the four of us. Here, it’s a pamphlet for everything available to us.” Yuè handed her an ornately decorated card, the things listed there were…extensive. Some she didn’t even know was a thing. 

“I personally want to try out the personal masseuse and one-on-one grand-tea master experience, however, you’re welcome to try everything on that list. You might find the combat simulation gym and all-encompassing spa to your liking. I think they even have a rooftop hot spring here, but again, it is your choice. If you won’t be staying here, I could use an extra hotel keycard in case we lose ours…” Yuè began reaching for the keycard she held in her right hand, Crownslayer found herself ‘involuntarily’ flinching away from her reach. 

“W-wait a minute, this could be beneficial to…socialising…yes, it says here I can bring a guest with me in each of these sessions…” 

Looking back at the not-Lung, Yuè had a smug-like grin as she looked at Crownslayer. She had been seen through, but no words were said further about it. 

“Well, in that case, enjoy your new room. I’m going to go make sure Alina knows what a bidet is actually used for.” Yuè left the room, leaving Crownslayer to go over the full list of ‘activities’ available to her for the next four weeks. She was going to try each one on that list, they already paid for it with gold, so why not use everything available to them? 

Waste not, want not… 

Not even a minute later, another shout came from Alina’s room. “A bidet shoots it into your…rear?! I-I don’t want that to happen to me, I’m still a maiden!”

Her walls were either thin, or Alina had left her doors completely open, either way, she was in here for the next month or so…best to get used to her new roommates. Two of them, obscenely rich. 

“Shrimp dumplings, clay pot rice, siu mai, fried shrimp wonton, char siu bao, fried spring rolls and fowlbeast feet. Soy sauce?”  A feline waitress held a bottle with dark liquid inside, only for Yuè to wave her off. 

“No need. Mm-goi sai~ ” 

“Hey, where’s General Tso's chicke-” 

“If you finish that sentence I will pour a potion of poison on your hair right now.” 

That threat made Alex shut up, but judging by her expression she was deliberately teasing Yuè about something. Now their first ‘proper’ day in Lungmen, last night consisted of them familiarising themselves with the place, with just aimless driving around in their car to any place that had their fancy. Alex and Yuè did also argue with each other for the majority of their journey about navigational issues, but otherwise, Alina was introduced to the high-rise spectacle that was Lungmen. They did attempt to discuss their future plans upon returning to their hotel for the night, but it was just filled with random banter before they all decided to call it a night. 

So, with that unproductive session, they decided they would leave it to the next day over brunch. Yuè had decided for all of them to eat a Lungmen speciality cuisine called ‘Dim-Sum’ , which was just about the only thing Alina knew about Yanese culture from martial arts films. A quick question to the front desk about nearby places to eat later, they had all driven to a ‘cha-lou’ for brunch, Yuè having ordered everything for them. 

“What did Alex ask about-” 

“Nothing you should concern yourself with. She asked about a bastardized cuisine if you must know, I am not sure if Terra has its own version of that , but know that you are eating authentic Chi- Yanese food.” Yuè cut herself off at the end, what was she about to say instead? 

“I-I see…wait, but you don’t come from Yan, how do you know what authentic Yanese food is?” The Pharmacist already had a dumping in her mouth when Alina asked her question, she finished eating before answering her. 

“Hmm…” She looked at Alex, who simply shrugged. “Let’s just say that the cultures of Terra are not as foreign to us as we first thought. Where I…grew up you could say, that place had a very similar culture to Lungmen right now. It is why I know what everything is on the menu, and also how I can speak the language fluently despite not being able to read it with full comprehension. Some of the grammar rules and accents are different, some only slightly, while others need some thought before I can understand it.” 

Yuè took a sip of her tea, in the busy and huge restaurant they were in, her words were barely above a whisper to Alina, that was how loud it was. Thankfully, however, her Elafian ears allowed her to hear them easily. 

“Then…is that similar to how some Playaars can speak fluent Ursine?” A few, not many, Playaars managed to speak in fluent Ursine to her, a pleasant surprise back then. Alina herself only learnt Victorian through Talulah by necessity in their fledgling movement, with it acting as a common language for the many members who often did not get along with their myriad of differences. She could barely read or write in Victorian by the way, she could not tell you what a Victorian novel contained even if her life depended on it. 

“Yep, though you also may have noticed their…unique opinions about your Emperor-Tsar or something.” Alex answered in between stuffing her face with food. 

“That is due to historical reasons which is not our place to tell, but suffice it to say they are not very sympathetic to the idea of an Ursus ‘Empire’ in any way. Doubly so after they found out what the average Infected experiences over there.” Yuè followed up on, finishing her cup of tea and pouring herself another one. Crownslayer, sitting next to her, was also listening with her full attention, anything that was about Ursus had her attention. 

“Interesting…would you say they are willing to fight against the Emperor?” Crownslayer asked, Yuè shrugged, while Alex adopted a more neutral expression. 

“Shit, you’d find some volunteers to assassinate him, but you didn’t hear it from me. Actually, nah, you did hear it from me, I ain’t afraid of no bear-ass Pillager roleplayers. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t have the best relationship with Ursus right now.” 

Probably an understatement, considering Alex was now actively wanted in Ursus even if she barely stepped foot outside of the tundra. They came across her wanted posters in a few villages near the tundra, her likeness was not captured at all, so no one ‘recognized’ her while there. 

“Saying something like that is asking for a Blade to visit you…” Crownslayer said quietly, only for Alex to laugh. 

“Let’em come, I’m ready for round fucking two. I fought them 1v5 the last time, I want to fight ten this time. My new Netherite axe is waiting for blood.” 

Alina had full confidence in Alex’s abilities, it wasn’t as if she’d stay dead after all; as she unfortunately found out through the hard and traumatic way. 

“Alright enough of that, we’re here to talk about our respective missions. Starting off, I will be heading to the library. I spent a few hours last night searching for Oripathy research in this city’s network on my tablet, however I quickly realised it was all pretty useless in terms of actual useful information on there. Probably because it’s an intranet system instead of a worldwide internet…Therefore, I will be heading to the local library, Alex?” 

Alex, expression turning entirely serious, said with conviction, “I’m going to be hunting for the Colonel-”. Crownslayer’s head hit the table, muttering Ursine obscenities at the redhead. 

“He’s a fictional character created for marketing purposes you cyka…” 

“While I’m not going to say what you should or should not do here, why are you so obsessed with that chain? Is it in the Overworld as well?” 

“Well, no, but we know it from somewhere else, so finding it here is kind of uncanny for us. Look, I just tagged along when I first agreed to come, but now that is apparently a thing here, I might as well find out the truth.” 

“Agreed, there is no way a coincidence like that just happens out of nowhere.” Yuè added as well, nodding sagely. 

Crownslayer piped up next, seeing as it was her ‘turn’ now. “I’ll be heading right into the slums. No need to wait for me. I’ll also see if I can find anyone to turn gold into LMD, we don’t have that much cash on hand.” 

Short and to the point, all that was left was now Alina, with the three of them turning to her. “Oh! Uh, I will…uh…I have to find someone…? Talulah asked me to give a letter to somebody, but I don’t think I know exactly how…” She was given a mobile phone, like most higher-level Reunion leaders, of which she only knew how to call someone with. Living in the rural Tundras did not exactly give her opportunities to use these devices before. 

“Come with me then, the library should have a directory for you to check.” Yuè said, Alina found that suggestion agreeable. 

“With that settled, we can move on to more fun things. You two, eat, they aren’t as good when they’ve been cooled.” Pointing at the steaming food in front of them, Alina realised she hadn’t eaten anything yet, but when she went to pick some of it up, she realised there were no forks. Only two wooden sticks and a ceramic spoon on her bowl. Too shy to ask, she picked up those wooden sticks and went to go stab it into a shrimp dumpling like one would with a knife, Yuè stopped her at the last moment with her own pair of sticks. 

“What are you-oh, right, you don’t know what chopsticks are or how to use them. Look at what I’m doing, it’s hard at first, but you’ll get the hang of it in no time…” 

So Alina took her first steps into wider Terra, but she couldn’t help but wonder how she could find this ‘Ch’en’ in a city as big as Lungmen, which exceeded all of her expectations already. Maybe she too was searching for a sign of Talulah, not that she would ever know. 

“Wait, you all know about the LGD right? They’re the last group we want to get the attention of…” Crownslayer commented in between bites of her food, she was somehow proficient in ‘chopsticks’ already. 

“What? The local police? It’s not like we’re doing anything illegal, ignore them.” Yuè dismissed her worry quickly, and went right back to teaching Alina how to use the Yanese utensil. 

LGD HEADQUARTERS

Central District 

Another day, another small mountain of cases they had to process. Ch’en’s daily routine was often a meeting with all of the various detectives and officers of the SIU just before lunch, just so that any bad news was balanced out by them immediately going for lunch break. 

“Everyone dismissed, I want all of you to focus on that D’Angelo case for the foreseeable future.” 

Chairs scraping, documents collected, one by one, the officers streamed out of the conference room, some stretching their legs and arms. Ch’en herself stayed behind just so she could get a moment’s silence before-

“THERE YOU ARE!” 

That happened. From the door into their conference room, Ch’en saw a haughty feline come swinging back in, Swire was back, with Hoshiguma in tow. 

“Trying to ignore me?! I know all of your dirty tricks!” 

“Wow, late to our daily meetings twice in a row now, are you sure you’re actually a dutiful officer in the LGD? Someone of your talents can surely find work elsewhere…” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?! Yesterday was because some damn tourists nearly t-boned me, while today was because Hoshiguma called for backup!” 

Ch’en couldn’t help but smile at the first image, her expensive Columbian car totaled by some tourists…shame it never came to pass. 

“You were only late by a few minutes yesterday, Officer Swire, while today you missed the entire meeting, I don’t need to be a detective to notice a negative trend there…” 

If looks could kill, the two would have already been dueling inside their conference room. Hoshiguma quickly stepped in between them, the sparks dying down as an image of her replaced their glares at each other. 

“Ch’en, Officer Swire has been with us for a few months now, please make sure you don’t cause unnecessary conflict…” 

“Tch.” 

“Officer Swire, Ch’en is also technically your superior, so please show some respect to her position…” 

“Ugh, bloody hell, fine.” 

Needless to say, but their relationship went about as well as hot oil and water in a wok. Hoshiguma often the poor chef who had to be in range of their explosive contact. 

“If there isn’t anything else, I’m going back to my office-” 

“Actually, there is. I was going to bring it up at the meeting, but someone told me to drop everything I was doing and help out a situation that was already pacified!” 

“To be fair it wasn’t pacified when I called for help, I just didn’t know Ch’en would send you to me…” Hoshiguma added in the end, doing little to help calm the tiger’s nerves. 

“You’re wasting my time, what exactly did you want to bring up? Is it a case or something?” 

“Yes, the POIs the immigration department flagged yesterday, you’ve seen it already right?” Swire said, her tone expecting Ch’en to have seen it already. 

Ch’en however, had to think about it for a while, which POI case was she referring to? They got them every so often, and yesterday was already hectic enough with the bulk of Penguin Logistics coming back and immediately stirring shit up. 

“She’s referring to the one sent last night, I believe you said we would handle it tomorrow?” The green-haired Oni added for clarity. 

It suddenly clicked for her, she did remember something like that before she retired for the day. This morning had an influx of new cases that required her immediate attention, thus that one was probably left unread on accident. “Oh? Have you not read it yet? For shame, Superintendent…” 

“Cease your lies, of course I’ve read it…” Ch’en answered, unfortunately a little too quickly. 

“You haven’t! I know your tells by now, bring it up, Hoshi, we’re going over it now!” Swire celebrated as if she had won a victory over Ch’en, only for the Lung to scowl. It was just one report missed, anyone could have made that mistake! Besides, it was probably some smuggler group who were good enough to pass through initial inspections, the LGD would take care of them soon enough. 

“Why are you so giddy about it? It’s just a routine smuggling round up.” Ch’en asked, seeing no reason why Swire was so enthusiastic about a case like this. 

“Ah, but you see, they’re actually the reason why I was late yesterday! Couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw them in the report pile this morning, their driver was a Lung as well, reminded me a lot of you, no-offence~” 

Ch’en didn’t buy it at all, and sighed. “So, you’re doing this just because of a personal vendetta? What did they do? Curse you out on the street? I’ve seen you do that before, not very professional…wait, did you say there was a Lung as well? Can I write her up for discrimination, Hoshiguma?” 

“Please don’t drag me into this…” 

“Yeah, yeah, call me vindictive or whatever. But look, this isn’t like any potential smuggling case I’ve seen before. Like, who the hell would even buy a Credit Pass with gold ingots?!” 

On their projector, it displayed a set of four documents, each a vaunted ‘Credit Pass’ that was an initiative of her uncle that didn’t pan out as he had hoped it would. Lady Fumizuki gave him a lot of grief over it when the first numbers of how many passes got issued were published, calling it a waste of administrative time. There were no pictures attached to them, the idea of those passes was that they were a ‘skip’ for first-timers into Lungmen over the bureaucratic process, therefore some procedures were omitted entirely. All in all, the streamlined process only took fifteen minutes, at an exuberant cost that only worked for six months. 

Most people just applied for regular entry permits, as those lasted for years and could be renewed easily once inside Lungmen, unless they became Infected. 

“Credit Passes are already extremely rare, but four of them in a day? And with a group like that? From CCTV footage and application description, their leader appears to be a Lung, staff at the immigration office described her as a Yanese noble, but she herself denied this during the application process. Then there’s an Elafian and a Reproba, both from Ursus with her, and finally, a redheaded female with no discernable traits, we have marked her down as an Aegir temporarily.” 

Ch’en looked at the grainy camera footage, how did Swire put together a presentation that quickly? Ignoring that for now, she looked at the low-quality images of them, until she landed upon their supposed Lung leader. She understood why they thought she was a noble, Lung in Yan and Lungmen often occupied high-social positions, whether they were officials or actual nobles. Any Lung could potentially be someone of great rank, which you did not want to cross, even Ch’en often had to be careful around Lung suspects despite being a Lung herself. 

She was also intimately familiar with the politics involving the True Lung, having a deeply personal connection to past events because of them. That was for another time however, there was a case to follow up on right now. 

“Wait, it says here all of them paid with gold, and of a very high purity as well. How did they-” 

Swire did not let Hoshiguma finish her question, instead showing them another security camera footage of a stack of gold ingots magically appearing on a clerk’s desk. Ch’en and Hoshiguma were speechless, from their view, it quite literally appeared from out of thin air in an instant. Arts could do a lot, but will gold from thin air? That was quite unheard of, she understood why this was flagged by the officers there, even though she had not done anything specifically breaking the law. 

“Okay, while that is a new form of Arts I’ve never seen before, what has she actually done to warrant arrest? She brought in a large amount of assets, but that in itself isn’t illegal in Lungmen.” If anything, Lungmen wanted more people to bring money in but that was not her jurisdiction. 

“We can’t just go and arrest her for having money, Swire. Besides, with a Lung like her, it reeks of Yanese political trouble. We can let my uncle know, but that is about it. The LGD cannot act on just suspicion alone, we need evidence or sufficient intent.” 

Swire had a scowl for a brief moment, before returning to normal. “Ugh, fine, but they’re at least a bit suspicious, don’t you think? So I used one of my connections to find out where they were staying-” 

Ch’en and Hoshiguma gave her a look, to which Swire quickly retorted back, “Oh come on, it’s not illegal! You can’t prove it either way. They’re staying at the Grand Mandarin Peninsula, Penthouse Suite, and for an entire month. Also paid in gold, but they offered to pay in emeralds as well, to which the hotel denied.” 

“Gold and emeralds, but again, it’s not illegal. We don’t have anything to arrest them on. Look, we can keep an eye on them, but as far as the LGD is concerned, they are law-abiding citizens, even if they’re openly flaunting their wealth which this city has no shortage of. Actually, you’re probably guilty of that-” 

“ Sei hoi! Fine, be a buzzkill…we can get them on dangerous driving-” Hoshiguma placed a hand on Swire’s shoulder, causing her to stop before giving another stupid suggestion. With no more cases to be discussed, Ch’en could finally take a break. Before she could finish packing up, however, Swire’s phone suddenly buzzed. 

“Oh wait, the hotel sent me a picture of the Lung-stop looking at me like that! Just check it out, it’ll do well for us to remember her appearance I think.” 

She gestured back to the screen, flicking to another image instead. It was the same Lung, only at a much better angle, they could see her from the front this time, talking to the Elafian from their group. 

“Huh, I can see why she was called a noble, if I didn’t know any better I probably would have done the same as well. Actually, she kinda looks like you, Ch’en. No wonder I was so taken aback when she poked her head out…” Swire said nonchalantly, the last part turning into a mumble at the end. The feline turned to leave, along with Hoshiguma. Just before the Oni left the door, however, she noticed her longtime friend and partner remain glued to the conference room screen. She was still as a rock, not even moving subtly to breathe. Concerned for her friend, she called out to her. 

“Ch’en? Are you alright?” 

The Lung did not answer. Her back was facing towards them, if they had stuck around to check her face-to-face, they would have found her dumbstruck, an expression Ch’en never showed in all her time as an officer of the LGD. 

She remembered. A faint memory, but one that became clearer upon seeing the image of that Lung. A young Ch’en, in the house she used to live in, by the bedside of an older bedridden Lung. 

'Goodbye, my little fighter…If only fate was…kinder to us…'

She looked upon the image, finding a mirror between the Lung on the screen, and the Lung in her memories. 

Quietly, whispering so that only she could hear it, Ch’en scarcely believed the word that came out of her own mouth in her native tongue. “Mother?” 

(Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aceship/Arknight-Images/main/avg/backgrounds/bg_lmstreet_1.png)

A Pineapple Bun was held in Alina's hands. 

What were pineapples? Alina didn’t know, they had the word apples in their name, so she assumed it was a fruit of some kind. She looked at the brown bread bun in her hands, the top layer being a crispy crosscut that was supposed to be sweet. Biting into it, she tasted the honey-like mixture of crunchy and soft parts of the bun, it wasn’t quite like anything she had before in Ursus. 

“Good, right? It’s a childhood staple of mine, these aren’t as sweet as the ones I remember, but the texture is still there. Probably because sugar is very expensive in Terra for some reason…” Yuè commented beside Alina. 

The two sat at a nearby park, in a more ‘local’ area of Lungmen called Kok Mong . A fair distance away from the hustle and bustle of those skyscrapers, they were there after their library excursion that turned out to be fruitless for the both of them. Who knew that just searching ‘Ch’en’ on the local intranet would turn up 10,000 results? Almost as if it was a very common last name in Lungmen…

There was one result that listed a superintendent ‘Ch’en’ for the LGD who seemed to sound about right, but there was no picture of her. Besides, Alina didn’t exactly feel comfortable calling her listed number considering how high up she was, what if she distracted her from solving a crime? Thus, the library session wasn’t very productive for her either, but at least she knew how to search for things online now, only under supervision. 

“I think I prefer your pies in the Overworld, but this is still very good. You know, Mudrock did suggest Reunion fund its activities by creating a fake company and trade sugar at extremely low prices considering how easy it is to farm it there.” 

“Hm, probably would work, you’d just need a large water source and an area big enough. Or just ask Spring for a fully automatic design and she’d build it in a day.” 

Yuè took another bite of her bun, a brief look of nostalgia accompanied her the entire way. Though she initially thought the Library would have something they wanted, she was right in the sense that there was more information, just not the information Yuè wanted. 

“Guess that was a bust though, we spent how many hours in there? Six, seven? All the way until closing time, but we did pay for two library cards so that’s something at least…” 

Alina remembered the mountain of books Yuè had apparently gone through, and asked another question. “Was nothing in there what you wanted? I might not know much about medicine, but there was something useful in there, right?” 

Yuè had a mirthful laugh before responding to her question. “Sure, if you count them having an entirely different medical practice and knowledge useful. Like seriously, I thought I finally found something useful when I found a book on medical drugs, only to find out a good chunk of it was based on things synthesized from Originium SLUGS! I suppose it’s useful, for a Terra-trained doctor. For me? Pretty much useless, and nothing on Oripathy that was new either, I guess all the good research is locked behind somewhere. Might try the local hospital or University next, those two might have what I want…” 

“Oh…I suppose Overworld medicine and Terran medicine are different…” 

“Medicine is medicine, but if you’re not trained in it, there’s nothing you can do…I’ll keep running my Originium experiments in the meantime however, don’t you worry. This Pharmacist remembers her University experiments, hopefully. Can’t believe I’m using it now in ‘Mine-craft’ of all things…” 

Yuè stared at her half-eaten bun, she had specifically requested a small slab of butter to be placed inside of it, apparently the authentic way to eat the bun here. 

“So…why become a doctor? You’re the only Playaar in the Overworld who has offered to heal us so far. Is it a rare profession among Playaars?” Alina asked, this question had been on her mind for a while, but never found the right time to ask. With their healing ‘items’ and the fact that they were literally immortal, she saw not much need for them to have hospitals or doctors in the first place. 

“Pharmacist, not a doctor. Though I guess there’s not much difference between the two here… Anyway, what did you ask again? I’ll answer the second question first. I did have to learn how to become a ‘doctor’ like everyone else, so don’t go telling people I’m a quack. You’re right by the way, it is a rare profession, my patients have almost exclusively been Villagers or the rare Playaar who needed healing items before a big fight like Leda. Other than that…I guess the reason why I opened a pharmacy in Neo-New Elysium was that I just wanted something new, living on the moon is cool and everything, but sometimes you just need to feel something else. I have experience in them before anyways, it wasn’t too hard to run my own Pharmacy in a frontier city. Getting items kinda sucks, but it gives me something to do in this world.” 

Yuè had another look on her face now, as if remembering a joyful moment in her life. “As for your first question…it might sound cliché, but it was because of a friend of mine. Every year, during major holidays or whatnot when I was still growing up…I went back to my hometown in the north. There was a weird kid who lived there, let’s call him Lin, owned like a bunch of cats like an old lady…” 

Alina could imagine it, and continued to listen to Yuè. 

“Unfortunately, he was a pretty sickly child while growing up, had a genetic heart condition I think. Always was in and out of hospitals, but I did try and see him every time I went back. Years passed, then when it came time for me to choose my career, I guess I remembered his condition and chose pharmacy, you know, since people needed medical drugs to heal their illnesses.” 

“That’s very noble of you!” Alina cheered, she knew Yuè was a good person at heart, and this just confirmed her views of her. However, the not-Lung instead had a barely visible smile in response. 

“...sure, I guess that was what I thought back then too. If you’re looking for a happy ending, you won’t find one here I'm afraid. Lin died a year or two into his University programme, psychology if I remember correctly, I only found out a while after his death during another visit to my hometown. It was an acute heart attack, one that could have been prevented if he had better access to his medication.” 

Alina cringed, hard. She suddenly felt very bad for asking the question in the first place, she was just trying to change the topic from earlier! 

“I finished the training, but as it turned out, Pharmacy wasn’t all too noble in actual practice. Too much corporate squabbling…people not being able to afford medications, hospitals treating us like garbage… and so on. In Neo-New Elysium and Terra though? My work actually makes a visible impact, and that’s why I keep doing it, even if it’s just part of another long dream of life…” 

There it was again, ‘long dream’, Alex mentioned that before a few times, but Alina never got a straight answer out of it. Seeing as how they were here already, Alina opened her mouth to ask another question. 

“What do you mean by the long-” 

Alina was cut off by a loud screech, exactly the sound a car would make when suddenly coming to a stop. It came from the street around the corner, her ears picked up some sounds of yelling soon after the screech. 

“You okay? What did you hear?” Yuè asked, taking the final bite of her pineapple bun. 

“I heard…an accident. Some people are yelling, I think they’re calling for an ambulance?” Compared to the rural area she lived in, Alina did have some trouble filtering out the sounds of the city, too many things were happening at the same time, Crownslayer told her this was normal for races with superior hearing on Terra. Like most things, she would also just get used to it. 

“Huh…no rest for the wicked, let’s go check it out.” Yuè got up before Alina could ask her what she meant. About to be left behind again, she stuffed the half-eaten bun into her bag before quickly hurrying over to her companion for the day. Zig-zagging across parked cars, they came upon a small crowd in the middle of the street. 

“Where’s the ambulance?!”

“They’re on their way! But, she went under the wheels, she might not…” 

Alina managed to get a glimpse of the scene, a young Liberi was lying on the ground, unconscious. An older, middle-aged woman was desperately clutching her head, a large pickup truck stopped in the middle between them, and the girl’s lower torso was underneath the truck bed with a small pool of blood forming beneath her. The scene was clear to her, it was a traffic accident, these things usually occurred when the driver or the person hit wasn’t paying attention, either going too fast or just distracted enough. Judging by how big the truck was, she guessed it was the former, the driver couldn’t even see the person in front if they were too close. 

Trying to find Yuè, Alina looked around for the Lung, only to see her pushing to the front on the other end with fewer people. “Coming through, I have first aid training!” 

Some people had their phones out already, Alina found it distasteful to record these things but kept silent, Yuè was already there, so she knew all would be fine.

Alina could at least trust that much in her, the miracle healer who was looked upon as a Saint by Reunion’s Infected. The most ironic part? 

Yuè herself seemed entirely oblivious to her status, to her, this was just another day in her duties. 

“Possible internal-oh what am I saying? She definitely has internal bleeding…she’ll need the whole potion just to be safe.” 

Among the crowd, the blood of the divine, as some of Reunion’s medics had come to call her healing potions, was brought out. It glowed under the neon-light-filled streets, the more Arts sensitive members of Reunion swearing that the potion itself was ‘enchanted’, as were the weapons and armour of those Playaars. 

The cork was removed, and the contents splashed onto the injured girl. A few seconds later, she awoke, her bruises disappearing in the span of a few seconds, the only sign she had been in an accident was her ruffled and dirtied clothing. 

As the mother embraced her daughter, Alina nodded, a sight like this was common for the many Infected Yuè healed in the past few weeks, brought back from the brink of certain demise as if it was trivial. Arguably, she was used to these, but the awed muttering of the Lungmen locals around her was another story. 

Unfortunately, what Alina failed to realise was the power of social media, on account of her being a country bumpkin. 

Far away from the hustle of the market and residential districts, there was a traditional Yanese mansion sequestered on one of the few mountains Lungmen had dug underneath for their mobile city. In truth, it was barely a mountain, just high enough to have a small hike, but not big enough to be any serious strain on the anti-gravity engines of their mobile city. 

It was a financially responsible investment, for the property prices of Lungmen’s richest. 

However, within that Yanese mansion, there was a simple couple eating dinner together, as they usually did on most days. Only if the ‘simple’ part was actually true, they were in fact the two most powerful people in Lungmen. 

They were Wei Yenwu, the Chief Executive of Lungmen, and his wife, Lady Fumizuki. The latter of which, arguably had more power due to reasons the former would never admit in public. 

“You haven’t touched your Udon much, dear.” 

Peering down upon his ‘plate’ of plain chewy noodles, Wei couldn’t find much appetite in himself to eat them. These were cold noodles, meant to be eaten plain with only a dipping sauce on the side to eat them with. While they were perfectly edible, his wife was an amazing chef, after all, he just wanted something with more…flavour. 

“I had a…heavy lunch today.” 

That was a lie, he had a simple bowl of egg noodles from a local cart vendor he liked. This food just wasn’t very appetising to him right now, but he’d never say that to his wife. Wei wanted to live for centuries more thank you very much. 

“Hm. My efforts seem to have been wasted tonight, or is it that you don’t find the taste to your liking? I do remember how you like foods that are…heavily spiced and fried. Higashian cuisine is not to your liking after all.” 

Wei buckled, and began eating the cold dish with vigour to show his appreciation. A few minutes of silent eating later, with Wei wishing the sauce was at least spiced with some chillies, he decided to turn on the television, as was done often during their meals. It gave them something to talk about, usually about Lungmen’s day-to-day happenings. 

The newscaster droned on, usually about Lungmen’s newest financial news or stock market rises and drops. Then it moved on to foreign events, the only thing notable here was that the Kazimeriz Major was to resume soon after its delay because of the terrorist attack. Of course, he knew that it wasn’t so simple, but for a simple news story, it was enough for the citizens of Lungmen. Besides, he also knew of a much more worrying trouble in the north of Ursus that had everyone’s covert attention right now. Even he had spies trying to find out what they were fighting, but the Emperor’s Guard was keeping whatever happening in those tundras tightly sealed. 

“And now, to local news. This evening, a thirteen-year-old girl was struck by a truck in the district of Kok Mong today, her serious condition is described as ‘healed’ after a miraculous passerby healed her with a strange form of Arts. The thirty-nine-year-old driver has been arrested by the LGD for reckless driving.” 

“What did they mean by healed?” His wife asked, listening to the news report. While an unfortunately common occurrence for Lungmen, Wei was half-interested in the event, particularly about the ‘Healing’ Arts used to heal the girl. He continued to watch the television as it pivoted to scenes of the event after it occurred, the amount of blood on the ground remained uncleaned as the LGD secured evidence. Whatever her injuries were, they must have been severe,  and he prayed for her speedy recovery. 

“The girl’s initial injuries were life-threatening, according to eyewitness accounts, with bleeding and deep bruises visible on her body. However, her death was prevented after a Lung woman, name unknown, pushed past the crowd to administer healing Arts, we have obtained a video posted online about the incident. Viewer discretion is advised.” 

“How-?!”

Wei looked up from his near-flavourless dish, and immediately choked on a particularly long noodle. After making sure he wasn’t going to die of choking, he glued his eyes to the screen, his attention not on the blurred injured girl or the strong healing Arts he was seeing, but on the Lung shown in the video. 

He recognized that shade of white, those horns, and even her scales. Then, as the video showed the Lung woman getting up, Wei couldn’t help but hang his mouth open in disbelief. 

The face…was exactly the same. The eye colour may have been different, but he damn well knew what his family looked like, even if they were long dead. 

“Mèimèi…”

He was seeing his younger sister, alive and well, on Lungmen’s nightly news. He still remembered the last words she spoke to him, full of malice, for the things he had done. 

'Even on my deathbed, you still come, dearest brother…? In my next life…I wish never to have us meet, begone, and do not bother me again…you’ve done enough for one lifetime.'

Wei snapped back from the memory, she died only a few days after their last meeting. He did not ask her for forgiveness, not that she would have granted it in the first place, but there was not a day in which he hoped things had gone differently. Talulah would still be here, Ch’en would have had a happy family growing up, and most importantly to him, his younger sister would still be alive and well. 

All of it, destroyed because of political games in Ursus and Yan. 

“...are you alright, dear?” 

Wei turned back to his wife, a clear look of concern on her face now. He stopped with these distractions, his younger sister was dead, and this mysterious Lung was just someone who had a similar appearance, there were enough Lung in this world for coincidences to occur, nothing more. 

“Yes, I just suddenly remembered something about work, nothing to worry about, let’s continue eating.” 

The Elder Lung went back to his meal, now appetizing for its welcome distraction. As he continued to eat, however, he couldn’t escape that nagging thought, ‘What if?’, that question remained with him, long into the bright lunar night sky. 

His younger sister loved watching the moons, surely, it wasn’t a coincidence, right? 

AN: 

Popeyes and Church’s Chicken are better. This opinion is not-controversial at all but I’m just making sure it’s reaffirmed here. 

My special power is that I understand *Lungmen Profanity* because I hear and use it in my daily life. If anything, Lungmen is tamer than ‘eye-arr-ell’ Lungmen in their portrayal of locals, they are nice, just don’t commit to an argument unless you can escalate beyond their level. Another strategy in these kinds of scenarios has been to mix in English insults just for added effect. 

I don’t think a lot of Arknights fanfics have actually delved into Ch’en and Talulah’s mother, there is also not a lot of lore for it other than her being Wei Yenwu’s beloved younger sister, we don’t even have a name for her. This is going to be my original interpretation of what happened, just a warning that any further lore about her is my original creation. Now that I think about it, Ch’en and Talulah’s childhoods were kinda shitty, wouldn’t wanna be in their shoes…

I’ve read some questions about the timeline in the last chapter, so just for clarity, this fic is currently set around Autumn of 1094, three years before the start of the Chernobog incident. The timeline often doesn’t include specific years, for example, there is no time listed for when Alina died exactly, only a range of dates. However, do keep in mind that this time is flexible, and not a core part of the story, canon dates will be changed around if story flow needs it to, hence why the AU tag is there. 

Anyways, a question about chapter length. Do you guys prefer longer or shorter chapters? In most of my other fics I usually keep to around 2-4k words, while here, the average is around 7-8k for the latest chapters. Let me know so I can make the reading experience better. 

Be civil in the comments below. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 12 

For the past two days, Alina was given a crash course on the other side of Terran life. She, who spent virtually all of her life outside of mobile cities had the opportunity to experience what it was like through their current ‘research’ mission. That original goal of theirs, to find information about Oripathy itself, seemed to be ever more distant as Yuè’s spectacular act of kindness had an unintended effect on their little group. 

It made Yuè an overnight celebrity in Lungmen, which in this city meant…

“There’s still a crowd outside…” Alina was peering down at the hotel lobby from their penthouse suite, the crowds from yesterday night were still present, if anything, they seemed to have gotten a bit bigger. How did they even find out where Yuè was living? Were they followed back home that night after slipping away? If so, how did those crowds only come last night? 

“Those aren’t people, Alina, those are paparazzi, lower than scum, worse than the rats in Lungmen’s sewers…” Alex muttered in utter contempt next to her, she ambushed the two the night they came back, bringing news of Yuè’s appearance on Lungmen’s nightly news. 

“Oh come on, they’re not that bad…” Yuè tried to placate, she was arguably the one responsible for the current attention on themselves. Though of course, her actions were done for a good cause in the end, Alina would never fault her for that. 

“They tried to fly a drone up to the penthouse one time, we were lucky I was the only one here. I would have shot it with my crossbow but it dipped after seeing me here.” 

The Elafian grimaced and made a mental note to keep the blinds in her room shut at all times. City life was scary indeed…

Hearing a thump in the main living room behind them, the three of them turned around, only to find Crownslayer looking at them with their arms crossed. A large duffle bag was set down on the expensive obsidian table. 

“You won’t believe how hard it was to slip back in here…thanks a lot by the way, you’ve made our mission much harder than it needed to be.” 

“Crownslayer, you’re back!” Since they parted ways at the Dim-Sum restaurant, Crownslayer had been off doing her own thing, giving periodic updates in their ‘group chat’ with Overworld-made phones. Those apparently could not be tracked by Lungmen’s ‘data provider’ for some reason that flew over Alina’s head. Crownslayer did not return last night, citing a need for further reconnaissance in the slums, though judging by the duffle bag she thumped down, she must have done other errands there as well. 

“What was I supposed to do? Let that child die? That is callous, even for you, Crownslayer.” Yuè rebuked the rogue, causing her to sigh as she unzipped the duffle bag’s contents. 

“I didn’t say you should let a kid die, I meant to do it in a covert way, like splashing the kid with the healing potion while you were invisible. I used the one you gave me by the way, very useful, I will need a few more for the rest of my mission.” Yuè’s potions, part of something the Playaars called ‘Pot-brewing’ had a myriad of different functions, true invisibility, with the exception of items they were holding was just one of the functions they were capable of. 

“I didn’t have one on me at the time, though I probably wouldn’t have thought about it even if I had one…wait, you used the one I gave you already? I don’t have an unlimited supply of those, I will need to brew more if you need them.” 

“Psssh, as if you can’t just brew them with an alchemy stand, the only thing that’s a bottleneck is the time needed to make them. Anyways, what’s in that duffle bag?” Alex replied, turning her attention to the contents of that bag. 

“I traded five gold ingots for cash, we have 1.8 Million LMD for use now.” Alina peered into the bag and found bundles of cash, neatly bound in stacks with plastic strings. The amount nearly overflowed the duffle bag itself. 

“So that’s why you asked me for gold ingots yesterday!” Alex exclaimed, Alina wasn’t there when this happened since she hadn’t heard of this until now. 

“Yes, I found a fencer in the…shadier side of Lungmen. He asked no questions, but it is slightly less than the market rate, but at least we won’t need to register or pay any potential tax. I’m surprised you just handed me five gold ingots when I asked…” Crownslayer muttered at the end. 

“Five gold ingots is also…not worth too much for most people in the Overworld, if anything I’m surprised at how cheap things are here. Wait, is the only reason why items must be paid in scarce Emeralds because the Villagers have a monopoly on its trade there?!” Alex said, as if she came to a sudden realization. 

“Wow, took you that long to figure it out? Honestly…well, I suppose we’re dividing this up, right? How much is this exactly in terms of value? Or, what can we get for this?” Yuè asked, LMD was worth more than the Ursus Ruble the last time she checked. 

“A lot, probably a luxury apartment here or a famous grand piano just for reference. Though this is your money, you do get final say on what it is used for. I am hoping some of it will go to Reunion’s cause-” 

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Take what you need, just leave a good chunk for our use. We might not be sneaky-beaky like you are, but we still want to get some good food every so often.” 

Crownslayer quickly took out a few bundles of LMD, a small chunk in comparison to the overall amount she had exchanged back. “Reunion thanks you for your donation.” 

“I’m not even going to ask what you’re going to use it for, the less I know, the better off I am in court later. But, how’d you even get a fencer to exchange it that fast? We just arrived a few days ago.” Alex asked, genuine curiosity in her voice. 

“...contacts from Siracusa, don’t ask any further. By the way, the LGD is also watching us, and by us I mean the only one who’s remotely famous here. I’m going to bed, find me if you need to. ” Crownslayer responded quickly, before taking the duffle bag with her again straight back into her room, her door shutting with a soft click. 

“Damn, what a ‘NEET’, can’t believe you paid for her stay here as well…” 

“Oh let her be, we all have our roles to play here. At least we can use our minerals for something useful, if I knew Terra was a thing I’d have spent most of my time here long ago. Wonder how this place got added to the ‘ser-var’, do you think it was from a mod or someone who built it?” Yuè asked aloud, only getting a shrug from Alex. 

“Now that we’re loaded with cash, I’m gonna head out, got more secrets to find.” The redhead got up, taking a stack of the LMD with her, it disappeared into her ‘inventory’ a moment after she picked it up. 

“Oh wait, take Alina with you!” Yuè said, causing Alex to turn around casually. 

“Aight, any specific reason why?” 

“Well, I can’t exactly take her anywhere with all those…reporters following us around now.” Alina grimaced, she remembered when she followed her out yesterday. Never in Alina’s life had she ran that fast and with such distances before. 

“Uhuh, you reap what you sow, not my problem. But, there’s a lot of ‘em downstairs, you mind being a distraction?” 

“Distraction how?” Yuè sipped some Yanese tea after she asked. 

“What do you think? Big open buildings, urban environment, a bunch of easily scalable walls…” 

“Par-kour?” Yuè asked, Alina did not know what ‘Par-kour’ meant, but knowing them it was something she was to be surprised with very soon. 

“Par-kour.” Alex replied, nodding in the process. Yuè got up, for some reason taking out a pair of glowing leather boots and wearing them, Playaars had a way of instantly ‘wearing’ armour by just holding them in their hands, and she was just given another demonstration of it. For some reason though, most Playaars she met rarely wore armour, even during their combat in the Nether. Was it just not fashionable or was there an actual reason? 

“Um, do I get a say in this?” Alina asked, but it was more like a mumble to herself than any serious question, thus it went unanswered. 

A few minutes later, their elevator arrived to the ground floor, and Yuè stepped out of it, in full view of the Paparazzi just waiting for her to appear. Alina and Alex, two not-famous people, hid on the sides of the elevator away from view. 

“Alright you two, have fun today! I’m going to show them what a Parkour master can really do.”  

She took out a potion of switfness, now often used by Reunion’s scouts to quickly get back from missions and sprinted out, ignoring the shocked cries of Paparazzi who had disguised themselves as guests in contrast to the ones who had to wait outside by hotel security. Just how far were they willing to go? 

“There she is! She’s-” 

“Wait, miss! I’m from the Lungmen Herald, can we have an interview about-” 

“Damn it, she’s getting away, after her you idiots! I’m not letting this scoop get away!” 

Thinking it was safe to peek out, Alina saw Yuè literally jump past groups of people with cameras, hopping off lights, sofas and more things she didn’t know could be used for jumping until she cleared the main door. Her superior speed meant that no one was able to catch her, only Kurantas with their superior running speed could probably match her. Yuè ran for the hills, jumping over obstacles and even structures such as newspaper stands in the process. Like moths attached to a flame at night, the crowd of Paparazzi dispersed, seemingly following her as if she was a beacon. Alina thought this behaviour was akin to starving peasants asking for food, a sight she had seen many times already, but those people were not starving in the literal sense. 

“Is she going to be alright? Those were…” 

“She’ll be fine, Yuè ’s great at Parkour, better than I am. Practically an expert at it.  Anyways, let’s get going, we have the car for the day. Ya think we can get a new car? That pass of ours includes an automatic vehicle licence as well, I can see so many issues with that from a legal standpoint but we have it now so who cares.” Alex and Alina walked out of the elevator and to the now-clear lobby, the crowds who were there earlier had dispersed, thus leaving camera crews hastily packing up to leave. Walking out to the front, Alex asked for their car through the valet, and the two waited for their vehicle to be returned. Alina hadn’t actually done anything major with Alex since coming here, the past few days were spent almost entirely with Yuè. 

“What are you doing today? If I remember correctly, neither of us have anything important to actually do here…” Other than deliver that letter of course, which was very much a work-in-progress. 

“You mean what we’re doing today?” Alex grinned, nudging Alina in the shoulder. She didn’t like where this was going…

“Ever seen a cop show? Where the two police characters have to do a stupid stakeout like once every few episodes?” 

“...no?” Alina answered honestly, but that didn’t deter Alex at all, rather, it seemed to encourage her further. 

“Well, you’re about to find out today! We’re gonna go and stakeout KFC Lungmen headquarters, since I can’t barge in and demand where their Overlords are, and research into it has reached a dead end with typical corpo-bullshit, I’m going to have to take matters into my own hands.” 

Their car had finally arrived, but Alina was having second thoughts about going inside. Alex’s planned activity for the day wasn’t all too appealing… 

“Come on, it’ll be fun! So, Kentucky Fried Chicken , there is neither a Kentucky on Terra or an animal called a Chicken in your domesticated animals. Yet, it sells deep fried fowlmeat that is supposedly a recipe from Colonel Sanders, who is Colonel Sanders? The corp says he’s a veteran from the Columbian Army…” Alina really didn’t want to hear anymore of it, but soldiered on, Alex was very enthusiastic about it. Though at the same time, having her mention an Army made her think about Reunion. Just what was Talulah doing right now? 

Probably having fun in the Overworld, she missed being there already… 

Meanwhile in Ursus…

“KILL THE TSARIST SCUM! LEAVE NONE ALIVE! URA!” 

“URA!” 

“URA!” 

“URA!” 

From her command hill, Talulah oversaw the storming of Mining Camp ‘Volga’, the camp itself didn’t have an official name, but was instead named that by their Playaar allies joining them for this raid. From her binoculars, she saw their vanguard of Ursine-speaking Playaars, all five of them, charge the lines of the Third Army’s eighth regiment, with their numbers depleted over several days of guerilla action and an underground explosion which crippled the walls of that mining camp. All of those were primarily conducted by the Yeti squadron and those Playaars, Talulah was very glad they were on Reunion’s side…

“Their…battle cry is worthy…of any Shieldguard of mine…” Patriot commented at the Playaars charging, the old general deciding to act as reserves just in case while offering command support. 

“Couldn’t we just have tunnelled into the camp? I’ve seen the tunnels they are able to make.” Talulah commented as she saw the unfortunate lines of Ursus soldiers were rocked by explosions, from crossbows loaded with fireworks shot by Reunion’s new ‘artillery’ units. Who knew they could be used like that? Lungmen used to launch them during the New Year festivals, though the blood and body parts being flown around now made that memory slightly more disturbing now. 

“True…but it would have taken longer…we need to send a message. The Third Army can no longer take these…casualties…they will withdraw soon…” 

It would certainly ease up the pressure on them, however, it could also mean fighting an even bigger Ursus army the next time, provided if they couldn’t just hide in their underground base and recuperate in the Overworld. So, in reality, it wasn’t too much of a concern. 

Talulah winced from her binoculars as the main defensive line into the camp was breached by the Playaars, the defenders being cut down as their attempted orderly withdrawal turned into a mass panic. Swords and other crossbow bolts against the Playaar armour just pinged off like pinballs in an arcade machine. Talulah briefly considered buying the Playaar-built ‘Netherite’ Armours for their troops, but the price was simply leagues beyond what Reunion could afford right now. Their glowing armour made them stand out to be sure, but if anything it caused the morale of those Ursus soldiers to lower even more. 

“Send in the Shieldguards, we are about to take the camp, what about the units outside?” She turned towards the radioman behind them, their equipment made by Redstone engineers and reverse-engineered Terran technology. 

“They’re reporting no signs of movement, but the Elytra squads are currently bombarding their position from above. They are also asking for permission to begin their TNT bombing runs, high leader.” Talulah preferred to be called General Secretary, as was her official title of Reunion, but high leader worked better in a battlefield setting. 

“I’ll allow them, we don’t want them to be surrounded.” 

“Relaying orders.” 

Talulah heard the familiar sound of pistons moving behind her and saw the ‘redstone’ contraptions that could scarcely be called flight begin to move in rows behind her. Pistons pushed blocks forward, which were itself pushed by pistons to move the entire contraption forwards, in each one of them, there was a Playaar ‘piloting’ it, in reality just a minecart they somehow repurposed for its use. She didn’t want to nor try to understand it, Talulah just knew they could dispense deadly explosives over a large area. Within a minute or two, they reached their target destination, and the landscape began to explode in an ear-splitting display. 

“The outer units are routing ma’am, the ‘bombing run’ has worked.” The radioman called out, and through her binoculars, it did appear to be the case. While the mining camp was being fought hand to hand, with Playaars in virtually impervious armour making quick work of Ursus soldiers, and the units outside beginning to rout, victory was achieved. All in all, the battle took less than thirty minutes, a frightening, but also hopeful prospect. Maybe their movement could liberate the Infected of Terra itself, even beyond Ursus…

It was all because of these Playaars, Reunion would never be here today if it weren’t because of just a few of them. She didn’t want to know what became of their actual enemies, the ‘Pig-Lin’ fallen empire in Yelena’s initial report painted enough of a dark picture. Speaking of…

“Where is FrostNova today?” It was rare for her not to be at Patriot’s side. 

“She is tending to her herd…of cows…I am proud of her for…finding a hobby she likes…” 

That was surprising to Talulah, who knew the Yeti Ice Queen had that side to her as well…

The radioman shouted from behind them after a few more minutes, an urgent report judging by his tone. 

“Ma’am! Emperor’s Blades spotted at the edge of the battle, we think they’re advancing…the scouts count thirty of them at a minimum!” 

Talulah felt the urge to draw her sword, which had since been altered with the ‘enchanting’ Arts of the Playaars. Among them, she had Sharpness , Mending , Fire Aspect and Unbreaking , she did not understand what a lot of them exactly did, but they made her sword ‘kill better’ in the end. Though this was unneeded, as her radio came to life with the voices of the Playaars volunteering to help them, who came in all shapes, sizes and even colours. Enthusiasm was the order of the day, somehow. 

“Fellas, Blades are here!” 

“Oh shit, for real? LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOO-” 

“LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOO-” 

“LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOO-” 

“LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOO-” 

The ‘elytra’ Playaars immediately stopped bombarding the routing Ursus regulars and switched to the Emperor’s Blades. They emanated a dark, misty cloud over them, but by now Talulah knew those didn’t work on their newfound allies. Knowledge of potential enemies to fight in Terra had spread quickly among the Playaars, Talulah suspected they had some sort of shared information space because this was just ridiculous. The Blades especially, were ‘hunted’ for their ‘great loot’ in the few conversations she had with Playaars fighting with them. The only stipulation they had with Reunion was items they came across first, such as the armours of those Blades, were their property, the rest was free for Reunion to loot. She found this agreement to be very acceptable …not like she had a choice in the first place…

“What do you think? Will they be able to handle them?” Talulah asked aloud, watching as the vanguard Playaars rushed out of the mining camp and right at the Blades. She was almost sorry for the Blades, almost. In the last few skirmishes where the Blades appeared, the aftermath wasn’t pretty to look at. 

“That is…a foolish question…by now, you should ask how many Blades will die today…” 

Talulah was wondering how the other Great Powers of Terra were reacting to their victories, if it even got out. That, however, was not something she had to worry about right now. 

“Oh shit, did I miss the Blade fight?!” Spring asked, suddenly appearing beside them with a pop, did she teleport here?! Talulah eyed the Trident and a Laterno-style ‘gun’ of all things held in her hands. Her head also wore a headband-mounted camera, she was probably recording things for her ‘channel’, wasn’t she? 

“N-no, they’re about to fight them however-” 

“Sweet! By the way, they installed Timeless and Classics, so we got better guns now! I gotta go make them feel my Second Amendment rights, LET'S FUCKING GOOOOO-” Spring hopped down from the cliff, rushing towards the dark miasma with reckless abandon. Normally Talulah would have stopped little girls in Gaulish maid costumes running towards highly dangerous enemies, but today was different, as were most days before today. At some point, she just got used to the changes, no, she wasn’t insane, hopefully. 

“I wonder if Alina is having fun in Lungmen…” 

She certainly wished to be in Lungmen right now, next to Alina, even if she had to face the not-Lung who looked exactly like her dead mother. It felt awkward enough talking to her, Talulah wasn’t sure how Ch’en or even her uncle would react to her. 

The best case scenario was if they didn’t meet, but knowing their group, the best case scenario was for Lungmen to still be standing in four weeks. 

“Oh, look, there’s-aw nope, damn, just a regular dude…we’ll keep looking, gotta be something for us to find…” 

Alina jerked awake from her seat, Alex’s sudden voice roused her from deep slumber, caused primarily by boredom. In a city like Lungmen, who knew that was even possible? Checking her surroundings again, the alley that they parked in remained unchanged, their front was facing a bog-standard skyscraper, with the main offices supposedly here. 

You see, Alex had already tried going in once but was quickly escorted out by building security after they realised she didn’t work there. Alina was very nearly dragged into it before she put her foot down, thus resulting in their current predicament. Of course, the redhead could just fight her way through, but that would have led her into a fight with the LGD, of which she wasn’t sure who would win. 

“Alex…” Alina whined, their lunch was also from the company she was investigating, no ‘irregularities’ were found in it apparently. 

“Yeah? You notice anything?” 

“Can we just go…? I don’t think they’ll let you in anymore…I want to eat dinner…” This was futile, why did she even follow her today? She could have just stayed at the penthouse, probably bug Crownslayer for help in finding this Ch’en, her mission was also from Talulah as well! Just lower priority…

“I can make a run to another-” 

Alina gave her a glare, and the redhead promptly shut up. She was going to suggest another ‘fast food’ run, wasn’t she? 

“Nevermind. Aight, let’s go and get some actual food, you know, all food is just how you fill your hunger bar, so it really doesn’t matter what kind it was.” Was that how she looked at food?! Alina realized that made so much sense now, at how Alex could survive on only baked potatoes for weeks on end! 

Just as they were about to drive away however, Alina noticed a familiar group of people exit the building. “Wait, do they do look familiar to you, Alex?” 

“What?” 

A Sankta, a Lupo and a Forte, all coming out of the building with a box in each of their hands. The Penguin Logistics van, now much more obvious in Alina’s view turned out to be parked right in front of them. “Penguin Logistics! Don’t you see their van? It was parked in front of you!” 

“Penguin-what now?” 

“The group we met outside of Lungmen?” 

“Oh! Those weirdos we gave some gas to?” Alex exclaimed, recognition finally coming to her. Alina thought Alex had no right to call them weirdos considering her own quirks, but refrained some saying it. Though considering it took until her pointing it out for Alex to notice, maybe Yuè told her to come along here for a good reason…

“...yes, them. They’re coming out of the building, what are they doing inside?” 

“Doesn’t matter, come on, follow my lead. Act casual.” Alex hopped out of the car without warning, and Alina scrambled to catch up with them. Walking across the not so busy street, Alex went up to them with open arms and smiles, thankfully Penguin Logistics also recognised them judging by the Sankta’s smile. 

“Heeeeey…remember us?! We gave you that fuel outside of Lungmen?” Alex shouted as she came close, Alina closely behind her with smiles as well. As if they weren’t there for hours beforehand…

“Oh! Guys, look, it’s them! The Boss is gonna give us a raise now-” 

“Exia.” The Lupo quickly shut the Sankta up by kicking her, both of her hands were already busy with holding boxes. 

“What was that?” Alina asked, catching what Exiusai said, something about their boss? 

“The cat’s outta the bag now…” The Forte, named after a pastry for some reason, muttered. It was amazing and sad how many people forgot Elafians had better hearing compared to most races. Though it seems the Lupo also caught what she said, her eyes narrowed a bit more after hearing Croissant. 

“Don’t mind them…you two-I’m sorry, but I don’t think we actually got your names…” The Lupo, Texas if she remembered correctly, asked. 

“Oh, did we not? Swore we did…anyways, that’s Alina,” Alex pointed at Alina who gave them a small wave, “I’m Alex, the other two aren’t here right now. But the…Lung is Yuè, and the other redhead in a hoodie back then was Crownslayer, we got through immigration alright by the way.” 

“Well, seeing that Lung with you on television clued us into that…wait, Crownslayer? Is that a codename?” Texas asked, causing Alex to snort. 

“Maybe, are you telling me your names are actually Texas and Croissant? Wait, why does she have the southern accent while you don’t? Your name is literally Texas-” 

“Alex, be polite.” Alina gently chided. 

“Hmm. Fair point. Anyways, our…boss told us to keep an eye out for you, he wants to talk with your Lung friend about something.” 

“That’s an understatement! You should have seen him yesterday when he saw the news! I’ve never seen him like that, as if he just got a new lease on life or something…we were actually planning to check on the hotel you were living in, but the paparazzo there seemed to have beaten us already. But hey, here you guys are! The Law really does work in mysterious ways!” The Sankta exclaimed, nearly butting into the Lupo in her excitement. 

“Uhuh, you wouldn’t happen to also be working for a certain fried chicken chain in Lungmen, deliver a few things for them before?” Alex asked, the real reason she went to go and say hello to them.

“We may have, or may not have, but that stuff is for our boss to discuss. We’re on the clock, and have also signed a lot of contracts saying we can’t divulge anything about our clients, so you gotta ask him instead!” 

Alina looked at Alex, who had a contemplative look on her face. “...I dunno, this seems like a setup, not saying y’all seem untrustworthy but-” 

“He’s willing to throw in free drinks at a bar P.L. owns.” The Lupo pointed at her phone, they messaged him that quickly?! 

“Well, far be it from me to decline…Alina! How’d you like to experience the good life, guarantee it’ll be more fun than being with that bookworm!” Did she just call Yuè a bookworm? It wasn’t exactly inaccurate…

With all eyes on her, these scenarios were uncomfortably common for some reason, and Alina just gave a simple nod. She was here to experience Lungmen, was she not? Might as well try out everything this city had to offer. P.L. seemed to be nice people at the very minimum. 

“Let’s go! We have a bar called ‘The End Of The Earth’, normally you need to wait outside for hours to get in or be on a list, with us however, we can just breeze right on through~” Exiusai cheered with a fist raised into the air, nearly dropping her box as well. 

“You have a car, right? Follow our van, we’ll head there right now. Our boss is already there waiting for you.” 

Alina wondered who their boss was, someone who ran P.L. must have been eccentric, maybe it was an actual penguin? She laughed away the idea in her mind, something as ridiculous as that wouldn’t happen…

(Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aceship/Arknight-Images/main/avg/backgrounds/bg_bar_1.png)

“Hot damn! I goddamn knew it! I wasn’t going insane after all!” 

At this point, Alina wondered if she should have just shut up in regards to her predictions. Time and time again, everything she thought turned out to be different, she was wrong about the Nether, the ease with which she could find Talulah’s half-sister, and now she was wrong about Penguin Logistics’ boss. 

He was. An Actual. Penguin.

As soon as they walked into a high-scale penthouse bar in downtown Lungmen, Alina heard a shout directed at them. The entire place was empty, the venue cleared out for their private use. The Penguin, dressed in a beanie, sunglasses and an oversized T-shirt exclaimed while flapping his…flippers on his belly. What was so funny? Was it their appearance or-

“Holy shit, a penguin? Didn’t they lose the ‘mob vote’ when they were up…?” Alex said beside her, confusion evident in her tone. 

As the boss of P.L. waddled his way to them, Alina was given a quick introduction to him by Exiusai. “Yeah, we figured you’d get a reaction like that, a lot of people do…anyways, he’s our boss, he goes by Emperor. Only call him that or he will shoot you, he has a gun from Laterano so don’t think he won’t do it…” 

“Um…” Alina was taken aback by the warning, but as Emperor waddled his way towards them, he completely ignored her. Instead, his attention was focused entirely on Alex, looking at her with a very intense stare, she assumed, his sunglasses made it somewhat difficult to look at his eyes. 

“Ogle me anymore and I’ll show you what a mob-vote reject you really are.” Alex deadpanned, only for the sentient Penguin to scoff. 

“There ain’t much to look at, sweetheart. Besides, didn’t you guys vote for the damn ‘Armadillos’ instead? Can’t keep us Penguins down just with that! You wouldn’t believe my eyes when I saw your friend with that potion on the news, nearly spat my good wine out!” Alex narrowed her eyes, was there something between them or…

“Is the ‘Ender Dragon’ still alive?” Alex suddenly asked, waiting for an answer from the Penguin. 

“Assuming you’re asking me for verification, the answer is no. The ender mobs in the north are enough proof. What, want me to show you my disc collection for you to believe me? Bitch, please.” Despite being insulted, Alex’s expression slowly morphed from suspicion to understanding, eventually turning to Alina. 

“Huh, so there are mobs in the know here, you lied to me, Alina, for shame…” Alex said with a disappointed shake of her head, Alina looked between her and Emperor, what did she lie about exactly?! 

“Oi, don’t blame her for that. Time’s made their memories and knowledge all mushy, not this Emperor though. Come on, we’ll talk inside my office, you can fill me in on what happened to you guys since the sky got boxed in. I honestly thought the ‘Wif-ers’ killed most of you folks, that’s why you fled underground to those cities…” 

“That piece of lore? Goddamn, you really are old…” Alex followed the Emperor into an office in the back, leaving everyone outside confused and blinking. 

“Ayo, I’m not the one who took this long to get their sorry ass back to Terra-” 

WHAM

The door to their private room closed with a large slam, rattling the nearby glasses prepared for them outside. 

“What just happened?” Exiusai was the one who broke the awkward silence. 

“The two seemed like they knew each other…maybe from Emperor’s music career? She sounded like a Columbian after all.” Texas answered, but Alina knew Alex was not a Columbian, even many of Reunion initially assumed she was based on her Victorian. 

“Boss is boss, are we gonna question him? Besides, when have we ever gotta worry bout’im, he always comes back anyway. Oh! What if yer friend is like that? Can she come back from the dead like nothin’?” Croissant asked Alina, her tone was entirely joking but right then and there Alina internally panicked as if a secret had just been openly said. After seeing she wasn’t entirely serious, the Elafian could breathe a sigh of relief, if it got out that they were immortal as well…

“Chill ma’ gurl, you seem tense. Want a drink? Everything’s on the house today, the boss said so, order anything you’d like.” Her accent made ‘boss’ sound like ‘baws’ instead, just another quirk of Victorian dialects she supposed. 

The four of them sat down, and Alina was given a crash course into the myriad of alcoholic drinks Terra had to offer after she revealed this was her first time in any big mobile city. This went on for a while, with them going through each and every drink the bar had to offer, all the while arguing with each other over which one was the ‘perfect’ beginner’s drink. 

“I’m just saying, a Pina Co Lada is perfect! Alina drank straight vodka before, she can handle her stuff.” Exiusai made her opinion known, while Texas and Croissant disagreed. 

“An Aperol Spritz, you are overestimating the alcohol consumption of people from Ursus, which is also stereotyping.” Texas offered, a drink Alina had also never heard of before. 

“Don’t listen to em’, my advice is to get a Mojito, Minos style. The refreshing lime is what you need on a hot, summer day. Like now!” 

“But, it’s autumn-” The Sankta helpfully added, only to be cut off. 

“I know what what I said!” 

“I think I’ll just have the Pina Co Lada! Please stop fighting over it!” Alina shouted, the past half an hour spent in a discussion like this, she just wanted a drink, and probably some food for her efforts today, spent entirely in their car watching Lungmen office workers go about their daily tasks. Fun. 

“Yeah! Victory! Pay up!” Exiusai exclaimed, causing the other two to groan and fork over a bunch of LMD over to the excited Sankta. 

“W-what?” 

“It’s a game we like to play, every time we get an unfamiliar person in here, we convince them to get the drink we want. You just made us lose the bet.” The Lupo took out her pocky and began chewing on it. 

“Oh…” 

“Aw, don’t be like that, Alina. On the bright side, you now know about Terra’s many alcoholic beverages, I’ll get that Pina Co-Lada of yours-” 

Exiusai hopped off her sofa and towards the bar section. Was she going to make it herself? Before Alina could watch her hop over, she saw the backroom suddenly fling its door open, with an annoyed Alex walking out of it at a brisk pace, Emperor following closely behind. 

“Oh come on! It’s not that dumb, that’s just what happened, you can’t change history, kid!” 

“Like hell I’m gonna believe that’s why Terra doesn’t have regular mobs! Whiskey, now. ” Alex gestured at Exiusai, who dutifully passed her an entire bottle of whiskey. 

“That’s worth 50,000 LMD by the way. Look, you and I are not so different now, why don’t we work together? Lords work together, or at least they don’t actively kill each other, law of the jungle type shit. We’re not quite kin, but it’s damn close judging by what you said. So, accept the deal, or nah? Terra has been going to shit for the past few years, so you might not even have time to say nah.”  Emperor hopped up on the stool next to Alex, Alina and the rest of Penguin Logistics respectfully keeping their distance, while also listening to it intensely. 

“You realize this is only an agreement between us, right? The others aren’t bound to it.” 

“And it only takes one of you ‘builders’ to kill that ‘End-Lizard’, your point?” The Penguin slightly lowered his shades, as if he had made his winning move. 

“God I hope ‘̴̻̩̱͖̇h̶̞͆͌ȇ̷̩̌r̶͇͖͍͖͊̂ǫ̴̲́͗͑̈́-̷͉̅͜b̸̛̙̳̼̝ř̷̛̯̬̀͜i̸̛̺͋̒̚ǹ̶̫̪͍e̵͇̳̗̳̿͑͂̃’̶͚̳̈́̈ haunts you some day-fine! You get a deal.” Alina winced, something Alex said made her mind feel nauseous, for just a tiny moment. What did she…

Emperor turned towards his employees, his flippers triumphantly raised. “You hear that?! We got a deal! We’re gonna be rich!” 

“Aren’t ya already kinda rich-” Croissant asked. 

“We’ll be even richer and more famous! Say hello to P.L.’s newest associate partner!” 

“Y-yeah! Sure boss, whatever you say…” Exiusai was the only one who offered any sort of congratulations, still not quite knowing exactly what transpired between the two. Just what deal did Alex make with him in the backdoors? 

“We party! Turn up those vibes-” 

BLAM

As soon as Emperor shouted, the door into their club burst open, two dozen armed and angry men, they belonged to various races, but the common factor was all of them wearing similar suits and fedoras. Alina felt this was oddly familiar, a certain bridge crossing in the Nether told her this much, and as such, took precautions by quietly climbing underneath the table next to her…

“Well, I sure as shit don’t remember ordering pizza today for this party, this is a private event, you boys have somewhere else to be?” Emperor casually said, while the rest of Penguin Logistics slowly got up from their casual positions. Alex was still clutching her bottle of whiskey, a bit tighter now. 

“Listen ‘ere you fucken Penguin, no one messes with the D’Angelo Organization without getting a blood vendetta! Our boys are sittin’ in the slammer cause of you!” One of the gangsters, as Alina had come to realize, stepped forward, brandishing a handheld crossbow. 

“Christ, even Terra has Godfather rejects…” Alex mumbled from her stool, paying no mind to the dozens of potential adversaries around her. 

“Now, there ain’t need to be no mo’ bloodshed here today. Either you come with us, or we bring you there in a bloody bag, capisce?” At his word, knives, knuckledusters and even warhammers were brought out, they meant business, but Alina could only pray they had the wisdom to leave, immediately. 

“Yeah, how about you stick it up your ass, Fat Tony.” Emperor said, and that was that. Much violence was going to occur soon. Why did Alina get herself into fights every so often? It wasn’t like she was actively looking for them! 

“Alright, you asked for it! Come on boys! Let’s-ARGH!” A whiskey bottle found its way onto the head of ‘Fat Tony’, upon further inspection, Alina saw that Alex’s bottle was no longer to be found anywhere. 

“Don’t kill anyone, Alex! I don’t want to go to jail for murder!” Alina shouted before ducking back under her table, and once more, the carnage began anew. 

(Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aceship/Arknight-Images/main/avg/backgrounds/bg_motorway.png ) 

On one of Lungmen’s many highways, there was an LGD van currently speeding towards the downtown district with speeds that would merit a license suspension. However, because its sirens were currently running, traffic laws did not apply to it. Besides, no traffic officer would be brave enough to stop the infamous madame Ch’en from doing her duties, her furious face alone would have been enough. 

“Once again, Ch’en, I will remind you that Emperor is not a valid target for you to use Chi Xiao on…” 

Hoshiguma gently reminded her old friend, the expression she had upon receiving news of another mafioso-brawl in Lungmen, this time at the bar that Penguin Logistics owned, was nothing short of apocalyptic fury. The Oni may have had her rage-inducing moments throughout her life, but Ch’en seemed to often be in a permanent state of it these days. Though, ever since she fully took over the POI case from Swire, quite forcefully if she may add, Ch’en had not been the same since. 

A few times, Hoshiguma even caught her intensely staring at the images and videos they had of Yuè, the prime ringleader of their group in closed doors. Her face always had a complicated expression. Yet, in every attempt to ask her about it, Ch’en always blew her off, citing that she was just committing her face to memory. 

Ch’en never did that before for any criminal they arrested, she had a good memory after all, so why was she so invested in her specifically? 

“Yeah. Sure.” The Lung answered robotically, not even bothering to be insulted by what Hoshiguma was insinuating. This wasn’t like her, not at all. 

“Have the officers found the whereabouts of the target yet?” Ch’en suddenly asked, she wasn’t referring to the incident they were heading to at all, but rather about the LGD officers tailing this Yuè. 

“Aside from investigating the area around Lungmen University where she appeared hours ago, none. It’s like we’re finding a ghost, appearing in and out whenever she likes.” 

Hoshiguma eyed Ch’en’s grip on the steering wheel, tightening ever more, any more strength on it and the wheel itself might break. 

“Diu… if it wasn’t for that damn Penguin I could have been out there by now…” 

Ch’en had been out of the office the entire day, using her position on the SIU for ‘field investigations’ that somehow coincided largely with the areas around where Yuè was staying. Hoshiguma and Swire noticed it quite easily but refrained from saying anything about it. This weird behaviour was starting to become quite worrying, should she intervene soon? No, Ch’en was her longtime friend, she could trust in her, just a little longer…

After another five minutes of driving, they exited the highway and down onto street level, heading towards the penthouse where the mafioso were supposedly ‘all tied up’ by Penguin Logistics and their new associate partner. Who were they? Dispatch didn’t say, but Penguin Logistics was the SIU’s responsibility due to Wei Yenwu’s order, and thus they had to deal with this right before clocking out. 

Arriving at the cordon, they greeted the armoured officers after getting out of their van. “Report!” Ch’en barked out, she was pissed. 

“Ma’am! We arrived after reports of disturbances in the area, by the time we arrived we found a large number of suspected Siracusan Mafia all bundled up together, many unconscious and injured. Emperor from Penguin Logistics is waiting for a ‘superior’ to come here so he can talk-” 

“I got it, secure the area, the reporters will arrive soon.” They crossed the police tape and into the crime scene, Ch’en’s scowl deepened upon seeing exactly who was tied up and waiting for them. 

“D’Angelo Org, don’t tell me they’re fighting against P.L. now? We have enough to do with them already…” Hoshiguma commented, recognizing their unique suits that doubled as their uniforms. 

“You, where is the Penguin?” Ch’en asked a nearby patrolman, who simply pointed her head upwards. 

“Damn him, making me go up…” Grumbling aside, Hoshiguma patted her shoulder for reassurance before the two went up to the top floor. Right out of the elevator, Hoshiguma was greeted with the sound of broken glass under her boots. The rest of the penthouse bar was not much better, chairs thrown everywhere, windows shattered, holes in walls somehow, but the most ‘interesting’ part was Penguin Logistics themselves, all sitting around the carnage around them with nary a care. 

“One of these cases again…” Ch’en muttered before barging in. At that moment Hoshiguma was concerned she would actually draw Chi Xiao, or at least attempt to but nothing of the sort happened. Emperor saw her approach and lifted a bottle of expensive-looking alcohol at her. The rest of P.L. made no attempt to stop her, this scenario had happened a few times already. 

“Superintendent! Glad you could make the party. Wanna have a drink in my crib? Vibes are kinda shot, but the booze is still great I’ll tell ya.” 

“You-!” Ch’en’s right eye began twitching, Emperor was exactly the kind of person she hated, those who thought they were above the law, which in this case was exactly the reason why he was untouchable. 

“Before you explode at me again, take it up with your uncle first of all. Second, not everything here was done by me this time, we have associate partners now.” His flippers gestured over at the ruined bar, and Hoshiguma had to do a double take. Wasn’t that one of the four POIs they were-

“How is she-I’ll deal with you lot later.” Ch’en immediately said, walking right up to the slouched-over redhead, several bottles of alcohol drained next to her. From behind the bar, they saw a pair of antlers slowly rise up, followed by another POI. 

“Alex! I found some ice water, it’ll help with your hang…over…” Her glass of water was held in place, as she furiously nudged the redhead to wake up. 

“What is it? God, how do I even get drunk in this body-” The redhead muttered and turned around, now face to face with Hoshiguma and Ch’en. 

“LGD. I’m Superintendent Ch’en and that is Special Operator Hoshiguma of the SIU. We would like to ask you to follow us back to the station to help with an investigation.” Ch’en quickly rattled off, Hoshiguma elbowed her before talking in Lungmenhua so the two suspects wouldn’t understand. 

“We don’t have a warrant, we can’t officially arrest them yet! What are you doing?!” 

“I know, but they don’t know that, do they? J-just follow my lead, okay?!” Ch’en answered back, with a few stutters, she seldom stuttered. Why was she doing this now? 

“Damn, the coppers got me after all. See, I told you that’s why Yuè is a bitch for making you come with me…where is she? Is she here yet? I called her and everything…” The suspect known as ‘Alex’ was completely flushed, this was going to be a mess, wasn’t it? 

“Oh no, I can’t get arrested! Um, we have our Lung friend here as well. She can explain everything!” The Elafian blurted out, Hoshiguma felt very guilty over scaring her like this considering she technically did nothing wrong, yet. 

“Your…Lung friend-wait, that means-!” Ch’en realised it first and frantically turned around to scan her surroundings, only to find the bathroom doors fling open. A white-haired Lung walked out of it soon after. 

“Alright Alex, let’s get that hangover sorted. I got you your bottle of milk! Woah, your skin kinda looks like mine..." 

Hair as white as the moonlight, horns as tall as Wei Yenwu’s, and scales that reflected the light brightly, this was their target, Yuè. Ch’en stood there, stunned, and Hoshiguma saw her friend’s fearful expression. As Hoshiguma looked between her and an awkward-looking Yuè, she realised the two were quite similar in appearance, were they somehow…

“Hey Yuè , these officers of the LGD were just making sure everything’s alright. We uh, called her here to make sure we didn’t rough up those D’Angelo boys too hard. She is also an associate of ours now, get it?” Emperor called out from his sofa, nursing the side of his head with an ice-cold beer can. 

"H-hey Alina, we got two of Yuè now! That means double the potions...wait, aw shit, she got blue hair now..." The redhead drunkenly slurred out.

"You're...actually not wrong, Alex, they do look exactly the same...and a bit like..." The Elafian trailed off at the end there, but even Hoshiguma had to agree Ch’en and Yuè looked like carbon copies of each other with minute aesthetic differences. Even their height, discounting their horns, was exactly the same.

“Is that so? Well, Officers, this is just a big misunderstanding…” The Lung began to speak, walking towards them slowly, but Ch’en didn’t allow her to finish whatever she was going to say. Strutting right up to her, Ch’en stared intently at her face, causing the Lung to be taken aback, going back a few steps. 

“...Ch’en? What are you…” Hoshiguma started, only for her words to be ignored. Her friend then slowly raised her hand up, to touch the white-haired Lung, eventually, she made contact with her arm as if verifying she was indeed looking at something real. 

For a brief moment, Ch'en and Yuè held their ground, the moonlight from Terra’s twin moons reflecting bright behind the lunar coloured Lung. There was a Yanese legend in there somewhere, but the Oni was more concerned about her friend's stillness. The silence was finally broken by Ch'en, having since gotten everyone's awkward attention there.

“...you’re here…you’re actually here…” Ch’en whispered in Lungmenhua, Hoshiguma barely able to catch it, to which Yuè responded in the same language as well. 

“I am…but, who are you? Have we met before?” Ch’en instantly recoiled her hands back, shaking her head as if the words Yuè said physically impacted her. She tried to hide it, but Hoshiguma saw the hand she used to touch her ball itself into a fist and tremble. 

“...we would like you to come back to the station for a witness testimony about a recent traffic accident you were involved in. Please cooperate with our investigation.” 

Click

Hoshiguma looked down a bit, at the source of where the click came from, and saw Ch’en handcuff herself with Yuè’s arm. 

“Did you just handcuff me-?!” Yuè shouted indignantly, rightfully so, but all Ch’en did in response was repeat her words, this time more forcefully. And if Hoshiguma was right, based on the years she knew her longtime friend, pleadingly as well.

“Please cooperate with our investigation.” 

Hoshiguma should have realized then and there, this was going to be a long night… 

AN: 

I’m an evil bastard for that cliffhanger. 

Periodic updates about Reunion will appear in later chapters. Mostly to showcase what’s happening on the ‘home front’ while they’re having fun in Lungmen. Can be in the form of Omakes as well. 

Regarding LMD here, I doubt the amount that is given to you in game is the actual lore value. Gold is exchanged for 500 LMD while completing stages nets you around a couple thousand LMD, both don't really make sense when you look at actual lore prices of things. Swire once gave the value of a famous Grand Piano at 1.8 million LMD which was then unceremoniously destroyed by fighting, for simplicity, this story will treat it like the real-world currency it is based on, HKD. It's not perfect but for the story, it is good enough. 

Look up TNT bombers on youtube for what I’m referring to, Terra is now introduced to mechanical warfare in the form of flying blocks. 

Also shoutout TenPen for doing statistical analysis on the question of longer or shorter chapters, it is without a doubt the highest effort comment I’ve ever received. Kudos to you my friend, all that effort has gone into helping me make my decision regarding Chapter length. Chapters will remain at a roughly 7-9k word average due to this story being comparatively easier to write than my other fics for reasons. Though this can change depending on story flow, that will be the new ‘standard’ for this fic moving forward. 

Be civil in the comments below. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 13 

There was a common trope in literature and media that Hoshiguma should have realised by now. In movies from popular new directors such as the Lung who went by her pen name of Nian to classic novels, the Oni should have stopped her longtime friend and partner before making the blunder she was going through today. Now back at LGD headquarters, Hoshiguma pushed the door open into a spare conference room they had, this late into the night meant that they had many spares available for use. 

“Miss Yuè, thank you for waiting, I know the conduct of my colleague has not been…ideal, I thank you for cooperating with us nonetheless.” 

Looking at the Lung that was the source of Ch’en’s weirdness for the past few days, the Oni couldn’t figure out what exactly made her friend so anxious around her. So much so that she was given an entire sheet with pre-made questions that she ‘must’ ask the Lung, Hoshiguma had to remind her Superintendent that she was not in fact, under arrest, and was just her to give a witness testimony about a prior traffic accident she helped with. She was the one who quickly removed the handcuffs on both of them earlier as well, Hoshiguma shuddered to imagine if that part got out to the press…

“Konbanwa, Oni-san.” 

Hoshiguma thought she heard wrong, only to realise Yuè just spoke in Higashi, her native language. Quickly switching to it, she was pleasantly surprised to hear it spoken by someone else in this scenario. “You speak my language? I’m surprised, not many Lung from Yan know it…” 

Yuè shook her head, taking a sip of the tea offered to her, standard protocol in these scenarios. “I had a brief exchange during my education in Toky -a town in Higashi, which is why I can speak it a little. Though for the purposes of this testimony, we should switch back to Lungmen’s languages, which one do you prefer?” Hoshiguma felt like she was about to say ‘Eastern-Capital’ for some reason, which didn’t exist in Higashi, but let it go to move things along. 

“Victorian, it makes for much easier reports…do you mind if I record this? It will help me with the write-up later.” Hoshiguma was technically telling the truth, only that she omitted the part where Ch’en insisted she record it, no matter what. The Lung was probably watching them on the security cameras, she’d bet her horn on it. 

“I don’t mind, by all means. So, how can I help the fine officers of the Lungmen Guard Division today?” Yuè placed both of her hands on the table, sitting opposite from Hoshiguma on the table too big for either of them. Ch’en wanted to put her into an interrogation room for the added secrecy in fact, only for her to gently dissuade her from doing so, considering she was the one doing the interview in her place. She’d never seen Ch’en pass responsibility onto others like that before, and thus wanted to understand what Yuè’s relationship was to her, it was quite obvious to anyone there. 

“You could help us by answering a few questions…because of your unique entry status into Lungmen, we are also missing quite a few details on your personal information, nothing illegal I assure you, but it would help us in our investigations.” 

“I understand, I was surprised that pass even existed, but I shall do my best to help.” Yuè said, causing Hoshiguma to blink at her. She expected there to be much more resistance, as per her usual experience with asking Lung to cooperate with investigations. Most officers didn’t want to even bring Lung in, on account of the potential trouble they could bring upon their investigations, or in the worst circumstances, their careers. Meeting a Lung like Yuè who she was sure was a noble of some kind, judging by her wealth and abilities, was like a breath of the freshest air in this city. 

Hoshiguma had a genuine smile on her face as she opened her file, tempered by the fact that her partner technically deceived her into coming in, even if Penguin Logistics and her two other companions were all waiting outside. The redhead in particular was snoring loudly in the hallway, though the Elafian seemed to have it under control. 

“Alright then, let’s begin.” She switched on the standard-issued voice recorder and asked her first question. “For purposes of confirming your identity, please state your full name and place of origin.”

“ Yuè, I do not have a last name, though I suppose you can put Liàng if you need to.” 

“And how would you write it?” The white-haired Lung gestured for a pen, and Hoshiguma slid her a piece of paper along with a normal pencil. 

“Here, I’ve noticed your writing in Lungmen is somewhat different from what I am used to, but the characters should still be the same.” The Oni nodded and inspected the written name for her. It was different from the one Ch’en provided for her, not at all similar, so that was strike one. Unless of course, it was a fake name, which was not beyond the realm of possibility. Taking the paperback, Hoshiguma read it in her mind, first in her native language, 月亮, Tsuki Ryo, or simply Yuè Liàng in Yanese. 

“Heh, the name fits you very well, miss Yuè.” The name essentially meant ‘moon’ in both languages, though odd for an actual given name, she had to admit the name definitely fit her very well. 

“Thank you, and as for my place of origin…I doubt you’ve heard of it, but I come from a small village, not even a mobile city, by the name of Kowloon.”  

Hoshiguma noted it down, she was right, she had never heard of a town called that before, probably one of many numerous small towns in the large nation of Yan. “Am I right to assume the meaning is ‘Nine-Dragon’ based on how you said it?” 

“You are right. I doubt it is even on a map, there weren’t too many people living there…” Hoshiguma’s instincts told her it was a half-truth, though which was true or false eluded her for now. 

“I see…so it’s a rural town, then? Most Lung live in mobile cities, usually as high-ranking officials. We thought you were a noble seeking to remain anonymous during your entry, we have a lot of those cases coming into Lungmen for various reasons. Still, if you could enlighten us as to your occupation and purpose for being here, it would be greatly appreciated. You do not have to answer if you are uncomfortable-” 

“Ah, it’s no secret. I am a practising Pharmacist, I came to Lungmen for research.” She answered readily, Hoshiguma thought she was going to receive a nonsense answer. 

“A Pharmacist? What research in Lungmen if I may ask?” 

“Simple, to cure Oripathy.” The Oni leaned back on her chair with a sharp inhale, Oripathy was one of those hot-button topics gaining traction in the city over the past few years. With the slums of Infected continuing to rise in population and general rates of Oripathy contraction at an ever increasingly high rate, the issue was something no one wanted to discuss, and yet, it was steadily approaching them like a Catastrophe, only this time they were unable to avoid it. 

“To cure… Oripathy?” She asked just to make sure she heard her correctly. 

“Indeed, why does everyone have that reaction? It’s a disease, and therefore, can be treated, cured even with sufficient time and effort dedicated to it.” The Lung stated calmly, a hint of annoyance in her words. 

“But…it’s Oripathy, the incurable disease since Terran civilization’s beginning? We are talking about the same disease, right?” 

“Symptoms include mild fevers to black Originium crystals sprouting on body parts, yes I know what it is. I am here in Lungmen for research about the disease, though so far I admit that part has not been going too well…” Hoshiguma thought back to earlier today, she was spotted at the local medical University…was that why she was there?! 

“Even the best doctors in Yan and Columbia can only stall it, and you are here to research how to cure it?” She was either crazy, or just insanely optimistic, it was a simple fact of life here that Oripathy wasn’t ‘cured’, managed at best, disposed of at worse, Ursus knew a thing or two about that. 

“Now that is just defeatist, Hoshiguma-san, my methods…are not found anywhere else in Terra.” From thin air, Hoshiguma stared at her hand as an identical glass bottle, the same one she used in that traffic accident appeared in front of her. The blood-red liquid and the entire bottle to be honest, glowed with a purple hue, even though she wasn’t a Caster, Hoshiguma could feel the Arts radiating from it. 

“This is…the thing you used on that girl…” 

The so-called miracle potion as Lungmen’s intranet had come to call it. Part of the reason why there was so much attention on her was due to the potion’s miraculous healing abilities. Normally, healing by Arts or drugs synthesised from Arts required a lot of R&D, or for the user to know exactly what they were doing to the body. As a result, healing in that way took a lot of money, and was generally reserved for people with money to spare, not for most common people who had to go through the traditional routes. Even then, medics who use Arts weren’t that much better than just taking one to the hospital, often the best they could do was relieve pain or start closing up small wounds. Anything major required an entire medical team, such as being stabbed in the gut for example. 

What made the potion so eye-catching was its sheer potency, from the brink of death, the young girl was instantly restored to full health. Those usually came from long-lost legends and fairy tales, it wasn’t supposed to be real in this age of science and modernity. Yet, the results didn’t lie, the paramedics on site stated there was enough blood on the ground to be life-threatening several times over, and the speed in which she was struck should have been a death sentence. Not even a full day later, she was happily talking to local news the very next day, the perfect picture of health. Though people didn’t really care about that, Hoshiguma knew that they really cared about those potions. Not all of those camping at their hotel were paparazzi, some were from organizations that were set up in Lungmen, such as Rhine Labs just to name one. 

She would be surprised if their Chief Executive didn’t have his Shadow Guards watching her, for her potential usefulness to Lungmen; just one of many secrets Hoshiguma knew existed in Lungmen. 

“The entire city in a small frenzy because of this, how annoying. I can’t go anywhere without nosy people sticking into my business, so much for Lungmen hospitality…” 

Hoshiguma was speechless, what was she supposed to say here? Wordlessly, she struck out another question on her paper, strike two. This wasn’t going at all how Ch’en thought it would, and she asked to come back to her immediately afterwards. 

“I would recommend you keep it in your person at all times, do you have a method of self-defence?” She asked because the number of groups gunning for the potion would be…a lot, which could be a potential headache for the LGD. Such a potent miracle cure, in the hands of one person, she quickly handed the potion back to the Lung, something like this was not meant for her to hold. Not to mention the worth it had. 

“I can always make more, these are valuable, but not priceless. Also, my companions and I can handle ourselves, anything this city can throw at us as we have demonstrated already. From what I heard, Alex was holding back just now.” Hoshiguma looked past her, and back to the hallway where they were waiting. 

“The redhead? She’s marked here as a…Columbian.” 

“Oh yes, you know those Columbians, always so rowdy and with no concept of tact. But she is great in a fight, and you know how those roads to Lungmen are treacherous.” The Oni hummed in agreement, there were many such instances of rowdy tourists in Lungmen, not to mention the Columbian mafioso groups. 

“For the final question, please state how old you are, and we can move on to questions about the incident.” Looking at the Lung across her, she appeared to be in her mid to late 20s, roughly the same age as Ch’en, only much more sophisticated in appearance. However, the answer Hoshiguma expected to receive never came, for she heard a frankly ridiculous number. 

“I am more than three-hundred years old, I lost count a while back, but it should be around that number.” She looked up at Yuè with a hardened expression, thinking that she was being punked right now, many criminals she interrogated before had a similar act of lying, giving nonsensical answers as well. However this time, it felt…

“...you’re not lying, are you? This isn’t a small prank from you?” Hoshiguma asked just to make sure, but Yuè showed no signs of laughing. 

“Why would I lie about my age? Aren’t there long-lived species in Terra as well?” Yes, but they usually weren’t three hundred years old or more, unless…

“Do you perhaps have vampire ancestry?” 

“What?! No, I am a pure-blooded Lung, how did you come to that idea?” 

“N-nevermind, I think that will be all, miss Yuè. Now, could you tell me what happened on the night of…” Hoshiguma discretely crossed out another question on her paper while asking her about the traffic incident, which was strike three. Sighing internally, she was not looking forward to meeting Ch’en right after this, and thus tried to lengthen the interview for as long as possible. As it turned out, Yuè was quite pleasant to talk to, even if she had not stated the whole truth, but then again, who was completely honest in a city like Lungmen? 

“Damn it, she’s going into shock! Inject stabilizers in three…two…” 

“Vitals are dropping, hard! Where aren’t the Casters doing anything?!” 

“We’re trying! I’ve told you the Arts have been less effective since her last episode-” 

In the hallways of her house, Ch’en was used to waiting outside of it as those doctors worked on her mother. This time however, it felt…different, like she was saying goodbye for a long trip. Talulah was outside with her this time, and so were all of her uncles, aunts and other people she had seen only a few times before. Again, this was…different, her mother never said goodbye to her before, it was always a form of ‘see you later,’ whenever she was healthy enough to talk with her. 

The shouting inside her mother’s room abruptly stopped, and Talulah gripped her shoulder even tighter. A few of those doctors came back outside, their faces did not say anything, but to those adults, they knew everything that had already happened. 

“What’s going on with mama?” 

“Mother…is far away now, Ch’en.” 

“Will she come back?” She clutched her sister’s hand tighter, but she did not smile back. 

“I…don’t think so, Ch’en, we’re going to be living with Uncle Wei from now on.” 

Ch’en didn’t like the sound of that, her mother said Uncle Wei only knew how to trick people, was he going to trick them? 

“But…you’ll be with me, right?” 

“Yeah, ‘course I will. Don’t you think otherwise, okay?” 

“Pinky promise?” Ch’en held her pinky out, and her older sister shook it with her own pinky, to the young girl, it was the most ironclad promise anyone was going to make. 

“But…you’re going to have to get used to her being away now, can you promise me that, lil’ sis?” 

“Okay…” 

Ch’en paced incessantly in her office, awaiting a very important document currently making its way up to her. She gave her longtime friend a simple piece of paper with three questions she had to ask, Hoshiguma had the skills to sneak them into casual conversation, so she didn’t worry about that. Instead, she worried about the answers she was going to receive. 

It was her, it had to be, but at the same time, this ‘Yuè’ did not show any reaction to Ch’en, other than her surprise at being suddenly handcuffed. Hoshiguma quickly put an end to that, snapping Ch’en back into reality, her mind still a flurry of thoughts, but her training kicked in, and the detective part of it worked into overdrive. She had to find out the truth, whatever it was right now. 

“Ch’en, I’m coming-” 

The LGD officer leapt at the door, quickly ushering her friend inside while making sure no one was ‘eavesdropping’ outside, this was too sensitive for anyone else to stick their noses in. 

“Do you really need to-” 

“Report first.” 

The Oni sighed, and handed her a file with one page in particular sticking out slightly. Quickly taking it out, Ch’en audibly voiced her confusion, these were not the answers she was expecting, not at all. 

“ Yuè?! Last name Liàng?! Her name is Wei Lan-Mei, what’s this about being a Pharmacist?! She was a gōngzhǔ in The Imperial Capital, not some no-name doctor in… Kowloon? Where even is that?! Huh? You have a written error here, she should be in her late forties, not her early thirties-wait, you wrote over three hundred years?!” 

Ch’en read the piece of paper again, all three of the questions she marked down there were crossed out, aside from their common origin of being from Yan, which said basically nothing considering how many people and settlements there were. 

“There is the possibility she is lying…but I don’t think she is deliberately omitting anything. Everything there is reasonable, I don’t think this Yuè is whoever you think she is.” 

Ch’en couldn’t accept this, the nagging thought in her mind refused to at least. “Is she still here? I’m going down to-” 

“Wait, stop. She already left. It was getting late, she asked us to contact her over the phone if we needed her for anything else. Technically speaking, she has not been officially arrested, and we would be breaking department rules if we held her here against her will, it was already a stretch to bring her back here after you pulled out the handcuffs. You know she has the right to submit a complaint to the board for that, right?” 

The pointed reminder bit into Ch’en, perhaps her sense of justice, or just the fact that she was jeopardizing her continued role as Superintendent, but she mentally took a step back and thought things through. 

“...maybe she isn’t after all…I must have looked insane back there…” 

Her mother had been long-buried, adjacent to one Edward Artorius as per her last wish. Besides, even if her three-hundred-year-old claim was false, she still appeared too young, being roughly the same as Ch’en now. Exactly as she had remembered her mother to be, but by now she would have had to be in her late 40s. No, it was just their appearance, which seemed to be a big coincidence after considering all the details carefully. Terra was big enough for two people to look alike, that was all. 

“If you’re back to relatively normal now…do you mind if I asked who you thought she was? Who is Wei Lan-Mei? A relative of yours?”

Though Hoshiguma knew a lot about her own life, such as who Talulah was to her relationship with Wei Yenwu, she never told her about her own mother. Ch’en thought she had moved on, evidently, however, the five-year-old who lost her mother then never quite moved on from her mind. With a deep sigh, and making sure the door was shut, she started at the beginning, it was what Hoshiguma deserved to know after the past two days. 

“Wei Lan-Mei …was my mother…” 

Who was long dead, wasn’t she? 

(Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aceship/Arknight-Images/main/avg/backgrounds/bg_lungmen_b.png)

Beyond the glamour of Lungmen’s financial and business districts, the city held an ugly facade to its otherwise modern appearance. In the early days of Lungmen’s history, it was some no-name backwater fishing village, like all sedentary settlements. Over decades, with it being a point between Yan and Ursus trade, it slowly attracted more and more residents, first it became a town, then it became a small city, and eventually, plans were drawn up to turn it into a mobile city. Those initial residents had long since moved into the glamorous towers that Lungmen was now famous for, though what about the original buildings that were built there? 

Initially thought to be temporary, it remained standing on small parts of Lungmen’s mobile city platforms, home to the poor, illegal immigrants and increasingly, Infected. Who were often both of those on top of having Oripathy, which was why Crownslayer’s mission was focused in this area of Lungmen. Though all of her efforts so far were threatening to unravel itself, as three unwanted guests had tagged along on her solo mission today. 

“Damn, Crowny, you’ve been working here?”  

Crownslayer’s eye twitched, this was the third time Alex made a comment like this as they progressively got deeper into the slum area of Lungmen. She was this close to just slamming the brakes and reversing out of here, scheduled meeting be damned. 

“Yes. Please. Shut. Up.” It was made worse by Alex sitting in the front seat, Yuè was relegated to the back with Alina, since she was now famous, they couldn’t risk being followed by whoever wanted a drop of that miracle potion. If what the LGD said to her yesterday was true, to which, she was simultaneously impressed they got a partnership with the goddamn Emperor and disappointed they were brought into the LGD headquarters. 

“You still haven’t told me what the deal with him entitled from yesterday, this won’t jeopardize my mission here, right?” Crownslayer asked the redhead beside her, who stopped taking in the sights to give her an answer. 

“Nothing you need to be concerned with, as it turns out, Emperor is tight with us, he knows something, I know something, and we both have things we want from each other. I can’t believe he asked for an entire ‘Tu-pac’ album…will I get copyright striked in a 'ser-var'?” Alex quietly whispered the last part, something about an album? Whatever, as long as it helped Crownslayer to make contacts in the city, with one of the four ‘dragons’ of Lungmen, she could look the other way in their weird relationship. She was actually kind of…miffed, if that was the right word, even though it wasn’t their mission, Alex and Alina got further in making contacts than she did right now. 

Though perhaps that was because she was targeting the ‘Rat King’ of Lungmen, arguably the one most suited to Reunion’s modus operandi. 

 However, their car soon came to a stop, they had arrived at their destination. Exiting their vehicle, all four of them got out, this was a rare case in which all of them had the exact same goal in mind. 

“This is where Lee’s Detective Agency is? It’s an…odd place to set up…” Alina commented, looking at the trash-filled alleyways in front of her with wariness. 

“Actually, if noir films are any accurate, this is the perfect place for a detective agency to be in, some dingy alleyway, pitch dark even thought it’s morning, definitely going to get mugged in…that’s perfect. I have high hopes for whoever this Lee guy is.” Alex had a remarkably different expression, but that was just her being herself. 

Making sure the car was locked, Crownslayer began heading into the alleyway, only for Alina to stop them by calling for Yuè. “Are you alright? You’ve been spacing out ever since we came in here…” 

The not-Lung of their group shook her head as she approached them, while still looking at their surroundings. “Nothing, just thinking about this area…feels like I’m in a period film about my old home city, even the airconditioner placements are exactly the same…” 

“This is just the Lungmen slums, unlike the rest of the city, the last time any development happened here was when it was built. Roughly a third of all residents here are Infected, though the true number is hard to estimate, many of them illegally enter Lungmen when it’s stationary, while also hiding their Infected status from other residents.” It was a sad cycle, not only did they have to hide being Infected from the authorities, but also often other residents here who still had the same prejudices despite their identical situations. 

“Am I in the Walled City…? It’s just like home, though even worse somehow…” Yuè commented as they moved along. Crownslayer noticed a few stares, mainly from the odd worker or beggar they passed by, some who saw Yuè, attempted to get her attention by rattling their begging bowls, but they swiftly passed them by instead. Alina of course wanted to help them, but both Alex and Yuè stopped her, at least the two had some common sense. 

“Not now, I know how you feel. I have seen this exact sight many times, this isn’t something you can change by helping one person, Alina.” 

“But-” 

“Unfortunately, she’s right. This is a systemic issue, take it from someone who went to Law school-wait, bad example, but I did take sociology as a minor in college. If you really want to help them…you’ll need to do a lot more than just an impulsive act.” 

Alina thinned her lips, but she did not stop walking. It was the same mostly across Terra, and part of why Crownslayer fought for Reunion, was due to its ideals for change. She, whose family was the victim of Ursus’s status quo, felt this keenly. 

“We’re here, this is the street the Emperor gave you, yes?” Crownslayer asked Alex, and she nodded. 

“Yeah, I asked him for an informant, and he gave me this dude’s recommendation. He got us in the know, says we can just waltz right in. How do you know this guy? He a contact you’ve been trying to reach?” 

“No, Lee was on my list. I considered finding him as a priority, but he isn’t as well-known compared to other groups in Lungmen.” Crownslayer lied through her teeth here. There wasn’t anyone remotely connected in the Underworlds of Terra who didn’t know of Lee in Lungmen. If you had an issue or wanted to make connections, he was often the go-to person to resolve things to everyone’s satisfaction. He also worked as a Private Investigator on many occasions, so that was why Yuè was interested in him as well, he could probably get the Oripathy Research not available to the public easily. 

“You think he could help me find this Ch’en? I mean, he probably knows who I’m talking about, right? Talulah was quite famous in Lungmen before…” Alina said, only for Alex to shrug and knock on the decrepit wooden door. His office was partly hidden, above a ruined tofu shop. They did exactly as the instructions said, only for there to be no answer. 

  “I think we got punked. Hang on, I’ll call Emperor-” Before the redhead could finish the sentence, the door suddenly sprung open with a pop. 

“Ooooh, I like this guy’s style. I’m going in, if I start screaming, blow the place up.” Alex went right in, without checking for traps or any other potential hazards like Crownslayer was taught to. 

“Wait…oh forget it, she can’t die anyways…” The Elafian sighed, before joining her up next. Then Yuè went up, and finally, she did as well. Heading up through the narrow stairs, they found that it only led upwards a few floors. The wall paint and posters scattered on the stairway both looked decades out of date, but these sights were things she was used to by now. Eventually reaching the top floor, they found a pristine wooden door with tinted windows, inscribed on it was ‘Lee’s Detective Agency’ in a fancy Victorian font. 

“I think this is it. Chances I open the door and we all die in an explosion?” Alex joked, but only Yuè found it anywhere remotely amusing. Just as Crownslayer was about to tell her to open the damn door, a suave and welcoming voice came from beyond their door. 

“Come in, ladies! I’ve got enough tea for all of us today…” 

“Ugh, let’s get outta here-” 

“Just open the damn door already, might as well hear him out.” Yuè stopped her from turning around and was instead the one who opened the door first. Crownslayer peered into the room, only to be very confused. In huge contrast to the building they entered into, the interior they were looking at…could be confused for a Victorian manor house. 

(Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aceship/Arknight-Images/main/avg/backgrounds/33_g7_reception.png)

Right in the middle, however, was a Lung, wearing an eccentric outfit that combined Eastern and Western elements, all topped off with a fedora on his head. His appearance was closer to Wei Yenwu, indicating his Elder ancestry, a trait that the majority of Lung did not have. 

He stood up, before giving a dramatic bow towards them. “Welcome! Dear ladies, to my humble Detective Agency. I am Mister Lee, and a certain Penguin has told me you need my services on this merry day. How can I be of service?” 

‘Lungmen private investigator Lee, open to requests for help no, matter the trouble or challenge.’

That was the motto he lived by, and printed on his business cards. In the years since moving to Lungmen, he had seen nearly everything this city had to offer, which was why most new changes to the metropolis came from external factors, such as the recent potion frenzy that the city got itself into. 

He himself had half a dozen inquiries sent his way, mostly from less sociable groups like the local underworld organizations, though even large corporations, who normally didn’t associate with the likes of him (publically, at least) had reached out in hopes of finding any information about that Lung. Lee was an honest man however, and dutifully informed them that he unfortunately had no information, nor would he have given something sensitive like that out so easily. 

So to have the Emperor of all people, a busy man in his rap career, reach out to help a mutual ‘partner’ already piqued his interest. He just didn’t expect to meet the Lung responsible for the chaos around the city currently. Or her ‘companions’ for that matter, of which there were three of them, all equally unique in terms of this city. This interested him, very much so… 

“Well, now that we’ve established our introductions, and you know why Emperor has recommended me to you, let’s talk about your issues. Does anyone care to go first? Don’t be shy, the others can just drink tea while they wait their turn.” 

Negotiation was an art form, one in which Lee had sufficient experience already. In this scenario, trust had to first be established, for at least half of them didn’t seem to trust him currently. The four of them sat across from him, crowded on a sofa meant for three people. 

“I’ll go first, Oripathy Research. I need everything, including things that are…not meant for the public.” The ‘Lung’ of their group, Yuè, asked first. Lee had a suspicion she was not quite Lung, minute differences, such as her scales, horns and general demeanour meant she wasn’t like the majority of his kin he had known. But at the same time, those traits she had were not fake, so what was she? A Lung with mixed Elder blood? A possibility, considering what the nobles in Greater Yan do to preserve their ‘heritage’, but he wasn’t about to fling such accusations out, that was quite rude after all. 

“Assuming you are asking me of all things for that, no luck in your own research? Someone as knowledgeable as you who can create a potion like that must know more than anything Lungmen already has.” 

“I found a few papers for free, one in particular caught my interest. It was from a new Pharmaceutical company called Rhodes Island, though they are new, only having been established for a few months.” Lee had not heard of them before, but he made a mental note to look into them later, it would help him understand what Yuè really wanted. 

“I can…think of some contacts, a few companies in Lungmen also dabble in Oripathy research, though that route may be pricey-” 

“I am willing to pay, if not, I need a place to conduct research, without interference," Yuè stated, the perfect picture of a Yanese noblewoman in her demeanour. Well, he didn’t doubt she was from Yan now. 

“Not to worry, we can help you fulfil both within reason. However, do you not want to talk about the bigger issue you are facing right now? Letting the world know of such a potion, on camera no less, is not wise in this city, lady Yuè.” His warning was brushed off by the woman, clearly having considered it before, or was arrogant enough to ignore it. 

“Emperor has given me sufficient warning, which is why we will soon be working with him to distribute it, among other things… damn it Alex, why did you make that deal?” She switched back to Victorian at the end, cursing her redheaded friend in the process. 

“Oh come on, what he said was kinda dope, we needed that!” Not long after, the two soon got into a bitter argument, various obscenities in Columbia’s Victorian dialect thrown around for good measure. Their argument eventually had both of them shooed away by the Elafian with them, thus leaving him with the hooded Rebbah for now. 

“And you? Anything you would like to inquire about as well? You don’t seem to be footing the bill here, so-” 

“I would like to arrange a meeting with the Rat King.” Lee sipped the rest of his tea before answering, this was certainly…a strange request. 

“The Rat King himself…my, you aim big, don’t you?” 

“I have my reasons. Will you help or not?” Lee knew what her personality was now, he dealt with a lot of these cloak-and-dagger types before. 

“The Rat King won’t just see anyone because they ask, you need to show him what you’re worth. Fortunately, you have a companion who just so happens to have a lot of worth in Lungmen right now.” He eyed the arguing Lung over there, their argument appeared to be dying down, Lee wasn’t in the habit of eavesdropping anyways. Information best came from sources that willingly divulged them. 

“Ugh…” The Rebbah grimaced, he knew despite her face being covered. “Am I really going to ask for her help…?” 

“I don’t see you having any other choice, unless you want to give up on meeting the Rat King. He is a patient man, an expert at playing the long game.” 

The Rebbah didn’t say anything, instead sinking ever deeper into the sofa. Which wasn't very deep, considering it was an antique. Not long after, however, the other three came back from their minor argument, Lee was just glad they didn’t come to blows. 

“Sorry about that! Did anything happen while we were away?” The Elafian asked, causing him to smile and shake his head. 

“Nothing my dear, just a small chat about Lungmen’s underworld. Now, were we? Who wants to go next?” 

“Oh! Me! I want you to investigate everything about-” Without warning, the redhead’s mouth was covered by the Rebbah and the Elafian, preventing her from speaking anymore. Lee raised an eyebrow, only for Yuè to speak for her. 

“She wants you to investigate a fast food chain, KFC to be exact. Just find everything you have on them and give it to her, I’m afraid she won’t be satisfied with anything less.” 

“Why did you ask?!” The Rebbah shouted with despair, causing Lee to simply nod and add it to the list. He had not investigated a fast food chain before, but it appeared there was a first for everything. 

“In that case, it seems that everything is in order, unless the young miss over there has a request to ask of me as well?” His gaze was directed at the Elafian, who so far had not said much since entering. If Lee had to guess…her role here was essentially a babysitter, the Rebbah seemed to be fine, but the other two, in particular that Lung, were magnets for trouble. He liked their merry little group so far, but if his hunch was correct, they were originally supposed to keep their presence here quiet, why else would Rebbah be with Yuè?

“C’mon Alina, here’s your chance, we’re paying him so might as well…” The redhead gently nudged her forward, earning her a small squeak. 

“Um…you wouldn’t happen to have information about a Ch’en…?” 

“I’m afraid you will need to be more specific, there are many people with the name Ch’en in this city. That is akin to finding someone named Ivan in Ursus, no offence young miss.” Her face instantly reddened, did he go too far there? Thankfully, she quickly recovered from her shyness, and blurted out another question. 

“N-no! I mean, yes I want to find someone named Ch’en, but um…how do I say her name…? Ch’en…Huweee…Cheeeeh?” 

“Oh give me that, she wrote her actual name on the letter right?” Yuè took a letter from the Elafian, and read the name out loud in fluent Lungmenhua. 

“Ch’en Hui-Chieh. Do you know her appearance as well?” 

“She’s also a Lung…um, blue hair…same age as Talulah…” 

“Talulah? Talulah Artorius?” Lee quickly asked, leaning in with extreme interest. That name in Lungmen was considered taboo, and though he wasn’t in the city when those events happened seventeen years ago, there wasn’t anyone in the city who lived through it and forgot what happened. He knew more than most, at least among the factions in Lungmen. 

“Y-you know her?!” The Elafian exclaimed, it was an odd question to ask, but considering this must have been their first time in Lungmen, it wasn’t so surprising. 

“Not personally…though you seem to know-” 

Shing

“Crownslayer, stop!” By the time Lee managed to raise his fan for a block, the Rebbah was already halfway through the tea table, her skills weren’t for show after all. The dagger was unsheathed, and she paused with one leg on the floor, waiting to pounce. 

“He knows.”  

“You didn’t even hear him out!” 

“I wasn’t going to kill him.” ‘Crownslayer’ as she was now known, did not back down even an inch. 

“Yes please, I would like my neck to be intact. Besides, violence is such an uncivilized way to resolve things, would you like to hear about what her reputation is in this city?” 

“Jumped the ‘gun’ there, don’t ya think?” The redhead commented, cusping her teacup in the process. With her fellow companions chastising her, the assassin backed down, Lee guessed she was a Fang of Siracusa, many of them often operated in Lungmen. 

“Ooh, lore of Tiffany, I wanna hear this.” The redhead’s comment earned her a swift whack to her head, by none other than the good lady Yuè. 

“You know her name is-forget it. Yes, we…know Talulah, I know a bit about her past, but do you know who this Ch’en is? I have been asked to deliver this letter to her…” The Elafian held up a letter, sealed, with just a name written in Yanese characters on the front. Lee didn’t even need to think about it, there was only one Ch’en she was talking about. 

“Ch’en Hui-Chieh , the Superintendent of the LGD’s Special Inspections Unit. Though her uncle may desire to keep Talulah’s existence under wraps, just as part of Lungmen’s tumultuous history, it appears she has finally come back to this city, albeit indirectly.” Lee mused aloud, and judging by their reactions, he had gotten somewhere close to the factual truth. 

“Well…yes…and no? Wait, Ch’en…Superintendent…don’t tell me-” The girl had a look of sudden realization, akin to one who had left their air conditioner on and forgot to turn it off before leaving their house. 

“Yes, Alina, we did meet her already last night…you know, when you were scared out of your mind that we were being arrested.” Yuè stated plainly, so, they met her, but didn’t know she was who they were looking for? 

“She handcuffed you!” 

“I’ve been told she was acting off her instincts after a continuous twenty-four shift, I can give her a pass for that behaviour. Now, what is this about Talulah we should know? Or do you want us to leave? Your call, Alina.” 

“...no, I know the gist of what happened, besides, she did say it was an open secret by now…I’m sure she wouldn’t mind a few people knowing…” 

“Then it’s settled! How do I begin this tale…?” Lee contemplated between going for a straightforward approach or adding some dramatic flair to it. It was a piece of Lungmen’s history, though not one many looked back on fondly. 

“Picture this, seventeen years ago, on a rainy day, Lungmen was a stone’s throw away from entering Ursus’s borders…” If background was what they wanted to know, Lee would provide, and any good background needed a good story to accompany it. 

(Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aceship/Arknight-Images/main/avg/backgrounds/bg_lungmen_d.png)

Ch’en did not have a good night's sleep. Not that she often got a great night of sleep in her work as a member of the LGD. Though events last night made her practically an insomniac at this point, thankfully Hoshiguma was very understanding of her past. It didn’t excuse her breach of protocols however, it should be a learning experience, not to project her own feelings into cases and the people of Lungmen. 

It was why she was so distraught this morning when her uncle ambushed her at work today. 

He wanted to ‘invite’ Yuè for a brief ‘chat’ about her potion, and somehow he found out Ch’en had brought her into the office last night. Her department had an informant for his office, as she had suspected before, but that was not the issue here. Ch’en had vehemently protested, of course, even going as far as giving him Hoshiguma’s paper she recorded her information with…only for him to dismiss it with a few words. 

‘I will trust her own words, not what was given under duress inside the LGD.’ so he said. 

She was no idiot, he too must have seen her similarity, but they both somehow agreed to tiptoe around this issue rather than talk about it directly, as they had done for ages. Just your average Lungmen family dynamics, nothing to worry about…only this time it involved a complete stranger, who bore a very strong resemblance to her long-dead mother and his long-dead little sister. 

Here she was, however, avoiding responsibility by going on a random patrol out at the slums, Ch’en didn't know why the SIU was called out here when they had other pressing duties, but dispatch was dispatch, and they had to help Lungmen remain safe just like regular officers. Though getting called here of all places was a bit suspect, there were no gang-related activities here, so why were they told to come here? 

“Film cameras, huh?” 

Ch’en’s breath hitched, before quickly calming down. Next to her, right in front of an abandoned electronics store was Yuè herself, holding a traditional umbrella to protect herself from the light drizzle. She was alone, none of her companions from last night with her. Ch’en knew she wasn’t actually there, it was her sleep deprivation causing hallucinations, it had to be. Why else would she randomly show up next to her in Lungmen’s slums? Someone like her should be back in the financial districts or something peddling that potion to the highest bidders, that was what most people would have done. 

“I used to take pictures with a camera like this, only that buying film these days is much more expensive. Don’t you agree, Officer Ch’en?” 

“...yeah, I had an old picture with my sister taken with one of these…” The model they were looking at was an antique, in this age of digitization, no one needed to take pictures with film anymore. Though, if you asked her the grainy effect from old pictures made them much more endearing than any high-definition camera. 

“Would that happen to be with one Talulah Artorius?”  

Now this really was a hallucination, there was no way Yuè would know about her. Damn, so this was what sleep deprivation did to someone, wasn’t it? 

“Wouldn’t you know…what am I doing? Talking about these things with a stranger…” 

And an uninvited hallucination of one no less.

Ch’en leaned on the rusted railing behind her, hoping the hallucination would go away, though, to her surprise, it simply continued to talk to her. 

“While I may not be a psychologist, talking about things with strangers is often precisely the thing you need to do. Though, you did sort of arrest me last night, I still remember those handcuffs on my arm.” 

Ch’en scoffed, her self-conscience in the form of Yuè seemed to be prickly today…

“But I won’t bring that up now. Though, do enlighten me about that incident last night, why exactly did you so intensely demand my stay? There are better ways to make me compliant, no offence to your police methods.” Ch’en quickly became annoyed at this figment of her mind, the audacity to demand herself to admit to those feelings deep in her mind, she hated it, and more importantly, herself. 

“Do you want me to spell it out word by word? Gah, it’s because you look like my long-dead mother, okay?! Whenever I see you, it’s like I’m looking at a mirror image of her…it’s just so…can’t even describe it, but you’re not actually her, get out of my mind!” 

Ch’en was still awake enough to know they were alone, or rather, she was alone in this street. Imagine if Swire saw her now…

“Oh my, I’m afraid I can’t get out of your mind, but I can get out of your sight if that is what you wish for. Though, when my companions do arrive, I cannot say for certain we won’t meet again.” Yuè quipped back, a slight tone of amusement in her voice. 

“Your companions?” 

Yuè leaned out of cover from the building, her umbrella hitting the rain once more, and a few water droplets managed to splash onto her face. It was then that she realised something that didn’t quite add up, if she was a hallucination, then what were those droplets she felt splashing on to her? 

“There they are now…Alina, my friend, has a letter addressed to you. I suggest you stay here and take it.” 

Ch’en slowly looked at where the ‘hallucination’ of Yuè was pointing to, down the street, she saw Hoshiguma, her partner, and the Elafian they brought in last night as well. Her name was…Alina if she remembered correctly, and she was waving at Ch’en as she approached, or rather, Ch’en and Yuè. 

“Officer Ch’en! Please, wait!”

“There you are-oh, Lady Yuè! You’re here too!” Hoshiguma was clearly not looking at Ch’en when she said that. Without looking, Ch’en gulped, and with a finger, went to poke at who she thought was a hallucination. Her finger felt an arm, poking at Yuè’s flesh. 

“You’re…r-real?” 

“As real as I am in this ‘ser-var’, and in the flesh. How are you, Hoshiguma-san? Forgive me for interrupting your patrol, but Alina here has an urgent letter for Miss Ch’en she should read immediately.” Her Oni subordinate and friend were greeted, the two had a very friendly conversation last night apparently.

“Y-you heard me say all of that…” Ch’en essentially told a stranger, who as it turned out was not a hallucination of her mind, that she had the spitting image of her late mother. Emotionally as well in fact. She felt the adrenaline rush into her mind, usually only reserved for combat situations. 

“Mister Lee was right…you were just around the corner! Excuse me, but I have a letter from Talulah for you!” Alina took out an envelope, neatly sealed without any crumping and held it in front of the stunned Ch’en with both hands. Was she going insane? Or did she just hear that Talulah, her long-lost half-sister suddenly wrote her a letter out of nowhere?! 

Ch’en simply stared at the letter, reading the characters over and over again, it looked exactly like Talulah’s sloppy handwriting, she had never been too proficient in writing in Yanese. Though unmistakable, was her name written on the front. With both hands, she accepted the letter and tore open the envelope to read its contents. 

This time, her breath hitched for a while. 

“Talulah is fine, we’re her friends-” 

“I don’t think anyone back there believes you two are just friends-”. Yuè deadpanned, Ch’en ignored her for now, instead focusing on the letter’s contents. 

“N-not now! Talulah wants you to know she’s doing well…obviously, she can’t be here because of reasons like being arrested…I know she still cares about you. Actually, she talks about you every so often, though it has been seventeen years-” 

“Tal…you’re okay…” A single tear dropped down onto the paper she held, it was a long time coming. In this dilapidated street, where Lungmen’s former businesses had long since disappeared, she learned that her half-sister was still alive, and doing well by her own writing. She went from dead tired, exasperated, to adrenaline-filled and now with massive relief all in the span of a single day. The contents of the letter were only known by Talulah herself, this proved it was her…who else knew of her embarrassing incident on her first day of school with such agonizing detail? Also, the handwriting was a dead giveaway, she always took after their mother in writing Victorian sloppily. 

“U-um, this feels personal…we’ll leave you to process it for now…have a good day, Officer Ch’en-” Alina began turning around, but before she could make the full one-eighty the other way down the street, Ch’en had shot her arm out and gently grabbed her shoulder. She could hear her let out a small eep, but this was too important for her to simply walk away from. 

“This letter…doesn’t say what she’s doing now. Do you mind filling me in on what Talulah is up to these days? You said you were her friend, right?”  

The Lung emphasised the last word with a lean into Alina’s personal space. Ch’en was going to find out what happened to her in the past seventeen years. 

Every. Single. Detail. 

She was Superintendent of the LGD for a reason, damned if she was going to let such an important witness go… 

Omake: I am become death, destroyer of blocks

Shortly after the liberation of Mining Camp ‘Volga’...

“Spring? Are you in here?” Talulah walked into a large warehouse, far off in the section of their Overworld city reserved for use by Playaars, basically a plot of land where they could develop anything they wanted as long as it was without danger to them. Reunion was still guests here, she and Patriot were careful to make sure they didn’t overstay their welcome. 

“Oh hey! I’m testing out a few things from the update recently, what’s up?” 

Talulah looked at the young girl, she still didn’t believe she was over nine hundred years old, and at the frankly giant vehicle she was building. It looked like an arrow, but at the same time, had tubes strutting out at the end for some reason. “What is this…?” 

“A ‘jet fighter’, they installed a few new things like Create, so we can soon take to the skies without shitty Elytras! Still working out the kinks though, a few of my friends here are Aeronautics engineers, so we should be flying soon.” Spring gestured towards the large collection of Playaars tinkering around the area, she thought they were at least because none of them were uniform in shape or appearance. 

“...right.” 

“Heh, you’ll believe it when you see it. Anyways, what can I do for ya?” 

Talulah was here for one thing only, Reunion was soon to test its newly formed Regulars against the Ursus army, in limited open combat judging by the way things were heading. While they already had a plethora of things never seen before, such as ‘Enchanting’ to work with, and mass-produced ‘Iron’ armour that was most definitely not Iron, Talulah still wanted the edge over the Ursus army. There was one thing in particular she wanted to acquire about, heard over casual conversations among Playaars over the past few weeks. 

“I wanted to know if the ‘Formidi-bomb’ can be deployed from-” 

CLANG

Talulah was interrupted by the sound of tools dropping to the ground, and the stares of each Playaar on her. Spring herself had her usual jovial expression morph into thinned lips, as she looked at her with apprehension. 

“...did I say something wrong…?” 

“Where uh, did you hear about that?” 

“...in a few passing conversations, why?” 

Spring and the rest of the Playaars shared a look, Talulah didn’t like it, not at all. 

“Show her Blockenheimer.” One of the Playaars, a Victorian-looking man with a moustache and suit plainly stated. 

“...yeah, that’s a good idea…” Spring muttered, before grabbing Talulah’s hand. 

“Hey! Where are you taking me-” 

“We’re going to the cinema, there’s a film you need to watch about it.” 

Spring’s iron-like grip didn’t let her go. 

3 Hours Later…

Oppenheimer Ending - Minecraft Animation

Talulah sat at the comfy leather seats of their newly built community cinema, Usually playing films from both the Overworld and Terra that they managed to smuggle through. However, the film she just watched was an Overworld production, Terra could not produce anything like that. She simply sat there quietly, as the images of a world in flames played through her mind, Talulah simply repeated the question in her mind, she was about to ask the Playaars for that? Spring was with her the entire time, though her presence here didn’t stop her from imagining Reunion annihilated, a massive mushroom cloud signifying their grave. 

“...that wasn’t fiction, was it?” 

“Kinda, the real events still happened though. Still want the Formidi-bomb? I won’t stop you from having it, but do you really think it’s worth it?” 

Talulah shook her head. “I will not become the destroyer of worlds.” 

Spring nodded, content. “Atta girl, alright, let’s get you back to the hangar, there are better ways to fight than subjecting Terra to hellfire.” 

The Draco didn’t sleep that night, similar to her half-sister across Terra as well. Though, who could sleep after knowing they lived in a world that could be annihilated at any moment? What Gods had she allied herself with, in the form of these Playaars? 

Talulah didn’t know, but she certainly would be even more careful around them from now on. 

She wished Alina came back already, she could use the emotional support right now…

AN: 

Not much ‘Minecraft’ content compared to the last chapter, but the potion (and everything the Playaars brought along) will be coming in clutch real soon. Unless you count the Omake, it’s just my movie itch needing to be scratched don't worry. I found that animation on Youtube and had to make an excuse to put it into the fic. 

Just to be clear, Wei Lan-Mei is an original creation, there is no current Arknights lore for Ch’en and Talulah’s mother other than simple background text flavour. If you find it odd that I am including so much original lore for a literal background character, I am setting up a future Yan arc as well. No, it’s not a spoiler, if you’ve been following the story closely, I sprinkle in future plans for each Player as I go. 

As for a question I got through FFnet PMs, this fic currently has no plans to be on FFnet. Since one of my fics got randomly deleted and support ghosted me, I am hesitant to put any new fics on that site (plus the user base there is kinda weird at times ngl). I am perfectly fine with it just remaining on Ao3 for now, there are more Arknights fics here than there anyways. I think I’ve mentioned this other fics of mine before, but Ao3 is my preferred platform solely because it is better from an author’s perspective, editing on FFnet is a hassle. 

Be civil in the comments below. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 14 

Among the various establishments of Lungmen, one enduring type of eatery, called the Cha Chaan Teng had remained throughout the long years of development in the mobile city. Inspired by the Victorian teahouses that were popular soon after its incorporation into a mobile city, these eateries were initially local, Yanese copies, utilizing a mixture of traditional and foreign ingredients in an attempt to imitate them for the common people. They were cheap, fast, convenient and everything that a working person in Lungmen would want from a local restaurant. It didn’t serve high-class food, but for most people in them, that wasn’t important, they just wanted a good meal of noodles, toast, some kind of meat and a good drink to get on with their day. 

This was exactly why Ch’en brought Yuè and Alina to a Cha Chaan Teng , just a five-minute walk from the LGD’s headquarters. Their other companions weren’t with them, something about having errands to run but that wasn’t important, Ch’en just had to know more about Talulah’s current situation. Thankfully with Hoshiguma’s help, they managed to convince them to get into their LGD van, the Elafian had to be reassured she wasn’t being arrested, not that Ch’en had the heart to do it to Talulah’s ‘friend’. 

“Satay-Burdenbeast noodles, and cold milk tea…enjoy. Anyone a friend of Ch’en’s is a friend of mine.” A few more dishes were placed down by an Aegir server. The burly Caprinae owner of this eatery was a former triad member turned informant, Ch’en personally helped him achieve a new life in the restaurant business. Surprisingly, a good number of these places were run by former triad members, they produced the best food despite having next to no background in cooking. 

“Thanks, boss! I wonder how Lungmen’s version is different…” Yuè took a bite of the Burdenbeast covered in sauce, her initial cheery expression turned plain. “...it tastes the same…what did I expect here?” 

Ch’en however, couldn’t help but remember her late mother occasionally taking her to eat at places like these, even their voice and tones were eerily similar…

“You speak Lungmenhua like a native…you even know all of the classic foods here. Isn’t this your first time in the city?” 

If you asked her, there was virtually no distinction between how Yuè acted and a native Lungmenite, wasn’t she from Yan? Usually, she could pick out a Yanese tourist instantly based on a few things like speech and mannerisms, Yuè , however, acted as if she had lived here her entire life, save for a few gaps in knowledge. For example, she inquired about Lungmen having an underground subway, but they didn’t, they had a monorail system above ground for easier connection with their mobile city platforms. 

“I…watched a lot of Lungmen crime dramas…anyways, we should switch back to Victorian, poor Alina here is very lost right now.” 

“I heard my name! What did you say about me?” The Elafian was enjoying an egg tart, abruptly stopping soon after hearing her name; another staple of the eateries here. 

“Nothing, Alina. She was just asking about my language skills, anyways officer Ch’en, are you satisfied with everything she has told you yet?” 

“...no. I just want to clarify a few more things…” Ch’en took out her notebook, while Hoshiguma drove them here, she asked Alina a few questions already, and she got the gist of what happened to Talulah in the seventeen years since. 

“Are you sure we can talk about it here? I mean, we are pretty open…” 

“Don’t worry, the noise with all the other people here will drown you out. I know this place, anyone who wants to eavesdrop won’t have a good time, the owner watches the place tightly for unsavoury types.” Or rather, his mother did, that woman watched the place like a hawk from the second floor…

“A-alright then, ask away?” 

“Thank you. So, if I have it correct, after…escaping Kaschey,” Mentioning that bastard’s name flared Ch’en’s anger for a brief moment, he was responsible for her family’s misery after all. “Talulah ran into your village, where you lived in seclusion for a few years, is that correct?” 

“Three years, those were nostalgic times…at least until an Infected Patrol came by.” Alina grimaced, clearly remembering a dark time, a lot of people Ch’en interviewed while in the LGD had a similar reaction. 

“...if it’s too much, you can leave out a few details, I think I understand what happened.” Ursus’s pogroms were an open secret, a good portion of Lungmen’s illegal immigrants were Infected Ursine citizens in the latest report. It was the least desirable place for Infected to go in all of Terra without exaggeration. 

“Thank you, long story short, Talulah fought back and we had to flee the village. Just as a hypothetical…what is your stance on the Infected?” 

Ch’en eyed Hoshiguma, seeing if she had anything to say before giving Alina an answer. The Oni didn’t have anything to give, so, Ch’en gave her…an honest answer. 

“Lungmen…recognizes citizens who are Infected, but only if they were citizens prior to their Infection. As an officer of the LGD, I must respect Lungmen’s law in that regard. As a person, however…” Ch’en wanted to laugh at herself, she could still remember that medical report all those months ago about her new condition. “The Infected are people, even if society often does not treat them that way.” 

One day, you could be living a regular life, then receive a report that you were Infected. Suddenly, everything you had built up over painstakingly long years could evaporate almost instantly, it wasn’t fair, there was no justice involved, it was simply how most of Terra worked in regards to the Infected. Ch’en didn’t have this fate thrust onto her, only due to her uncle’s influence within the LGD. Nines, her superior, refused to follow Ch’en’s advice and hide her new Infected status, resulting in her current career stagnation. 

Alina let out a big sigh at Ch’en’s answer as if there was an invisible weight on her shoulders lifted. 

“Thank goodness…but I must ask you to prepare yourself. Talulah is…has…” 

“She is Infected, right?” 

“How did you kno-” Alina placed a hand over her mouth, cutting herself off from shouting. Sighing, Ch’en took out the folded-up letter in her arm for her to see. 

“I guessed from the letter, she didn’t say it directly, but I could read between the lines. You just confirmed it…” 

You’re so stupid, Tal…why did you go to such lengths just to escape Kaschey?

“Huh, I forgot you are a Police Superintendent, should have told her from the start, Alina.” 

“Ugh…I was worrying over nothing…” Yuè patted Alina on the back to reassure her, Ch’en then got their attention by coughing into her fist. 

“Can I ask what her condition is right now? Is it serious? Does she…have a lot of time left?” If it was serious, Ch’en would have immediately cashed in her vacation days and headed to wherever Talulah was right now, after wrangling it out of the two of course. 

“I’m not her doctor…but Yuè here is! She’s been helping us a lot lately. Can you…?” 

“When did this turn into a patient consultation? You also know that patient confidentiality is a thing, right?” Yuè said, her tone not at all sarcastic. 

“It…it is? I didn’t know-” 

“I’m just messing with you, the oath I took didn’t include patient confidentiality, at least not specifically anyway…” 

“Oath?” Hoshiguma asked, Ch’en remembered she was oddly interested in these things, probably due to her upbringing in Higashi. 

“Yes, the oath that all medical workers take? Do no harm? Is…that not a thing medical students have to take before graduating?” 

“Not to my knowledge…Ch’en?” She shook her head, also never having heard of such a thing for doctors. Didn’t they just have to graduate medical school? 

“...that is absolutely horrifying, and explains so much about Terra…” Yuè said with apprehension. “I’ll come back to that later…but for now, Talulah’s status…I’d say she’s effectively stable now, I was her acting physician for the better part of a few weeks.” 

“Effectively stable? Did you give her one of those…miracle potions?” Ch’en perked up, if those potions could bring a person back from the brink of death, they could in theory, also do something for Oripathy…

“That? No! Why would I use something so valuable on something so trivial? I used something else to keep her condition stable, it’s an…extract from an animal native to where I’m living right now. It works wonders for halting the spread of Oripathy, I’d say it makes it inert, though they are still living with it. But hey, at least it isn’t spreading anymore and burdening them, so that’s nice.” 

“R-right…so her condition is stable? No sign of it further worsening?” 

“I would categorize it as in the middle stage, as long as she doesn’t strain herself by overusing Arts, she won’t be affected by the condition in day-to-day life. Oh! Also with regular doses, though I don’t need to be there for her to take them, it’s quite easy for anyone to drink for themselves.” 

As it stands, Oripathy suppressants were the only drug on Terra which could do that, Ch’en herself knew of them with great familiarity over the past few months. However, one thing so far seemed off, the letter did not mention exactly where she was living whatsoever, only that they were living in a place with ‘grasslands and idyllic forests’ where peace was the norm? It sounded like a fairytale place the more Ch’en read, so she would like a clear clarification from the two now. 

“If you don’t mind me asking…where exactly are you all living with her? Because so far you haven’t actually mentioned where or how you all know one another. Did you come from Ursus? The vehicle you registered is a model from there, but two of your group members are not Ursus natives…” 

Yuè was from this place called ‘Kowloon’ that no records of Yan had included, while their ‘Alex’ was just listed as Columbian, with no city attached. That left the two Ursus members of their group, one of which, was right in front of her. 

“Ooh…I mean, yes, we’re living nearby…together…in the North of Ursus…” 

“In the tundras? Where there is constant snow and blizzards?” Hoshiguma asked, the map of Terra included the northern icy wastes for a reason. 

“The letter from her says she’s living in a moderate, sun-filled patch of rolling green hills and serene forests, none of those things can be used to describe the North.” 

“Why did you write that down, you’re just making it harder for me!” Alina muttered in Ursine to herself, unfortunately for her, Ch’en knew a bit of that language, useful for eventually finding Talulah in Ursus if need be. 

“So it’s true? You are living in that kind of place?” She immediately latched on to her blunder, this felt less like a friendly chat about their mutual friend and more like an interrogation now. 

“Ah! You understood me?! Um…um…help me Yuè!” 

“Did you just-ugh… Ch’en, a word?” Yuè asked her in Lungmenhua towards the end, causing her attention to shift again. Nodding, the Lung who looked exactly like her mother began to talk directly to her; they simply looked too much alike for Ch’en to ignore the connection at this point. 

“Talulah told us to keep where we’re living a secret. You know why, the Infected aren’t treated well in Ursus judging by what my friend, Alex, tells me.” 

“Aren’t you from Yan? Why are you in the north of Ursus?” Few Yanese would ever choose to willingly move away, compared to the rest of Terra, Yan was practically a safe heaven. At best they would move to neighbouring countries like Higashi or even to Lungmen, Ursus would definitely not be their first, second or even third choice, hovering somewhere around dead last probably.  

“Can’t a person move? Besides, it helps to see more people, meaning more patients to treat, and more experience to hone my craft. I encountered Talulah and her merry group after a mutual friend introduced me to them, ever since, I’ve been helping them as a doctor. Ask Alina if you don’t believe me.” 

Ch’en didn’t buy what she was saying, but decided to ask Alina to verify, the Elafian had patiently waited for them to finish their conversation. It wasn’t as if she understood what they said, right? 

“ Yuè says she’s been helping you as a doctor, is that true?” 

“Yes! She’s been invaluable to our group so far.” 

“And what is the name of your group called?” 

“It might sound a bit on the nose, but it’s called Reunion , Talulah came up with the name, she wanted all Infected to be able to have good reunions with each other…” 

Ch’en chuckled to herself, it sounded like her even after all this time. In primary school, she tended to get involved with bullying, the kind that dished out punishment against those doing it with her fists. Nice to see she was continuing along with her roots here, Ch’en didn’t know what to expect from her seventeen years on, but this Reunion group indicated she was still herself. 

“Yeah…that sounds like her alright. So what kind of group is Reunion? I’m sure the Ursus authorities don’t like your activities very much.” Again, probably an understatement, but she did want to know how exactly they operated in the land famous for Infected persecution. 

“It's a mili-” Yuè opened her mouth first, only for a half-eaten egg tart to be stuffed into her mouth. 

“Support group! It's a support group for Infected!” Alina hurriedly said, tugging at the collar of her shirt. 

“W-we’re sort of underground, as you have mentioned…quite literally sometimes…” 

“You mean the underground base we helped dig out-” Yuè said while chewing, only to be cut off by the Elafian again. 

“We do get around, sometimes we need to protect ourselves, but we survive largely by being hidden and helping where we can! It was all Talulah’s idea really, I just help out with managing the Infected under our belt…like a happy little family you could say!” 

If Ch’en’s deadpan weren’t enough to show that she didn’t believe her, nothing would. However, what she did know was to read between the lines, Talulah didn’t want them to tell her where they actually lived for security reasons. Though she didn’t like it, Ch’en nonetheless understood where her sister was coming from. Ursus was indeed, a major threat to this fledgling Reunion’s existence if it was an Infected support group.  

“You don’t need to say anymore, I understand.” 

“Eh? You do?!” Alina exclaimed, causing Ch’en to nod. 

“Talulah is a smart leader, the less information that gets out, the smaller the chance their main base or location is compromised, right?”

Alina didn’t answer for a few seconds, before suddenly having a bright expression on her face. “...yes! That’s exactly right, so forgive me for being so vague, Officer Ch’en, it’s just…you know…” 

“No need to say anything more. Oh, by the way, if your group is situated in the North of Ursus, you wouldn’t happen to have heard of rumours about the Ursus Third Army taking massive casualties, right?” It was the talk of their intelligence department in Lungmen, so Ch’en was just asking out of curiosity considering they lived there. 

“...erm…” 

“Bandits, a massive bandit clan moved into the region, we had to avoid them to get to Lungmen. That and the Third Army being unaccustomed to the harsh climate meant a lot more injuries like frostbite, our group operates away from them as much as possible.” Yuè answered with much more detail, with the reasoning sounding about right to Ch’en. During the Bloodpeak campaigns, the Ursus army underestimated the local climate and fauna, resulting in many unnecessary deaths all those years ago, she studied that war from her time at Victoria. That and roaming Bandits were endemic in pretty much most of Terra’s wilderness so that was not a surprise, she herself kept up to date with nomadic bandit tribes near Lungmen every so often. 

“Ah, must be dangerous living near them…if you need any support, don’t hesitate to ask, all within legal boundaries of course.” There would be many opportunities to further connect with them, Ch’en didn’t need to rush things so quickly. Though, with that out of the way…

“Now, what exactly is your relationship to my sister? Don’t think I didn’t catch what Miss Yuè said back there. Please, as much detail as possible.”  

Hoshiguma sighed next to her, though she wouldn’t realise it then, Ch’en had adopted her pose used for interrogating suspects for Alina. While the Elafian began sweating, the Lung wondered what Talulah was going through right now, probably more charity work judging by what Alina told them just now. 

Meanwhile in Ursus… 

(Source: https://aceship.github.io/AN-EN-Tags/akgallery.html ) 

“Colonel Anastasia, we must retreat!” 

Anastasia Nikolaevena Petrova, glorious daughter of the House of Petrova, and Colonel in service to the Ursus Third Army’s Logistics Battalion grimaced. The thirty-five-year-old was a brand new Major just three weeks ago and was recently promoted to a fully-fledged Colonel just four days ago. The promotion ceremony didn’t even occur, on account of them dodging a bombardment again. For her family, she was the youngest to ever achieve the rank, a rare honour which improved their standing within Ursus’s Imperial houses, if news of it ever got back to home. By the way things were looking now, she would be lucky to have a corpse left, most of their dead were literally in multiple pieces. 

That rank was attained after the previous Colonel was killed in action by a ‘stray’ crossbow bolt. As if crossbow bolts had a firework attached to them… Then, his replacement, a Lieutenant Colonel who was Anastasia’s immediate supervisor was also killed in action, this time by an exploding cubic meter of explosives that landed right in his tent. She had come to fear the colours of red and white ever since, like most other surviving soldiers in their Army. Offered the chance to move and take his duties along with rank, she refused, clearly remembering the fates of the first two, and thus passed it to an aspiring Captain just below her, she knew he could do a good job, they went to the same school after all. 

He was killed two days into his new post, this time by a combination of a flying TRIDENT , a shot to the legs by a Laterano-style rifle, and then was finally struck by lightning, ending the poor man’s misery; all happening during a night raid she thankfully hid in a hole for. 

General Samsonov, their overall Commander, forcibly promoted Anastasia after that. In those few days since their rout, the Third Army had been pursued relentlessly by those demons lying in the frontiers of their Empire. Now however, they were taking a valiant last defensive action in order to prevent a total rout, and she had the unenviable job of making sure what little supplies they had left made their way to the fighting soldiers. This was a last stand, all because their general wanted to squeeze out some amount of glory before the inevitable. 

She didn’t even dare ask for a transfer to another part of the Third Army, for the Logistics Battalion was hit comparatively less compared to the frontline troops. Hell, she heard that most Kapitans had been replaced by former Sergeants , also hastily promoted like she was and they weren’t even commissioned officers! 

Ignoring the explosions currently happening outside of her flimsy tent right now, she calmly spoke to the panicked Lieutenant who ran into her last remaining refuge before the inevitable. His problem was still fortunately not her issue, on account of there being a General above her. “Please take it up with General Samsonov-” 

“General Samsonov slit his own throat five minutes ago! You are the highest Commanding Officer left in the entire Third Army!” 

To her credit, Anastasia didn’t immediately react, for she was frozen in pure fear. This was her nightmare scenario, joked about in a self-deprecating way when her Commanding Officer(s) first died but was now a cold and brutal reality for her. 

“We need orders! Our frontline has collapsed, and the enemy is currently rushing in-” 

“There will be no retreat, you spineless cowards.” 

Anastasia knew who that voice belonged to. Accompanying their Army was a unit of the Emperor’s Blades, formerly thirty members strong, the last few battles had whittled their number down to single digits, with only three or four still capable of fighting. The rest were lost, she didn’t want to know what happened. 

“General Samsonov took the coward’s way out. We will fight to our bitter end. Order the men to have their last stand, under threat of execution.” 

“S-Sir!” 

Anastasia remained quiet, completely due to being frozen in fear at him. A dozen ‘examples’ were made of soldiers who whispered thoughts of retreat or defection, almost all of them were killed by the Blades. She wasn’t about to be their next victim, besides, she wasn’t going to survive the fighting creeping ever closer to her tent in the backlines…

However, she suddenly felt something behind her, only possible due to her Ursine ears picking up the sound of metal clinking on her wooden plank floor. 

“Another rendition of No-Step-Back? That trope has gone on, for long enough.” 

The voice, coming from right behind her, was in Ursine, though in a dialect she had never heard before, Anastasia could still perfectly understand it. It appeared to be filtered through a speaker, the grainy texture of it only came from older radio sets. Her immediate concern however was the Emperor’s Blade drawing his sword right towards her, or rather, right behind her. She was unfortunately in the way. 

CLANG

A simple broadsword gleaming in a blue crystal appeared from thin air and blocked the strike, saving her from being certainly split in half. Darkness clouded her vision, and even though she was screaming, her own senses were diluted to the point where she was just remotely aware of what was happening. The suffocating and frankly terrifying sensation passed by quickly however, and as soon as her vision came back, the Blade’s arm had been lopped off, his sabre stuck into the cold dirt ground. On the ground as well was the Lieutenant, he seemed to be fine in comparison to the Blade. 

Remaining sat clutching at her simple wooden chair, Anastasia saw a collection of bubbles in front of her, like a children’s playground on a summer day. A glass jar filled with white liquid then appeared next to those greyish bubbles, the contents seemingly disappearing inside of them when tilted up at roughly where a head should be. 

“I never liked invisibility, potions, too easy to abuse.” As soon as the glass bottle was emptied, there was an odd collection of ‘people’ before her, all wearing different costumes, in different shapes, sizes and skin tones. Some in frankly ridiculous costumes, but it only clued her into who these ‘people’ actually were. She herself had a close encounter with a vaguely humanoid-shaped green blob that played this unsettling techno-music when approaching. They appeared from thin air in a blink, taking the place of where those bubbles were. The injured Blade was ignored beneath them, for their attention was solely on Anastasia. 

One ‘woman’, or a science-fiction depiction of a robot shaped like a woman, walked right up to her desk. ‘She’ had no face, and her body was entirely made of metal, the Ursine could see her own reflection on those shiny metal body parts. Judging by the sword in her hands, her life was saved thanks to her. Where her face should have been, all Anastasia saw was her own reflection on that ‘woman’, peering down at her with an interested pose.  

“You are Colonel Anastasia Nikolaevena Petrova? That is what it says, on your identification documents.” She asked in a clear, crisp voice. It left no room for ambiguity, and thus Anatasia just nodded. Wait, how did they read her identification- 

“Hey, what are we gonna do with this guy? He’s the last Blade, Spring just confirmed it.” A voice in Victorian called out behind her, and she turned around to answer. 

“Take him outside, use the lava method, we can at least test for a higher drop rate for their armour that way.” The metal woman replied back, Anastasia was nearly fluent in Victorian, she had studied in their prestigious academies for years before her career in the Army. 

“L-LET ME GO YOU DEMONS! I AM THE WILL OF URSUS-” The injured Blade was carried out without a care, the air around him literally seeping with the terrorizing darkness the entire time. Though she still began choking at the miasma, thankfully not directed at her anymore, those demons carrying him out simply went on without a care. 

“Oh, you’re calling us demons now? That’s rich, wait till you see what we have in place for ya!” 

The metal woman sat down in front of her, using an unopened crate of rations as a chair. Anastasia planned to use those for her escape into the wilderness…

“Greetings, I am Pravda, currently fighting for the Reunion movement. I am here to negotiate the terms of your surrender.” 

Anastasia gulped, her eyes wandering to the sword ‘Pravda’ held every so often. 

“Your army is decimated. You have no more troops left, they are currently surrendering, being turned into experience, or are fleeing for their lives into the wild. Please, choose from the two following options.” The Ursine coming from her was so robotic that she felt like she was being questioned by one of their new military robot drones. Only this Pravda was much, much more capable than they were. She had seen the ‘battles’ from a distance, they should have been called massacres. 

“One, surrender, live and be captured. Two, refuse, fight and die. I will promise you, a quick death, for the second option.” 

Anastasia heard muffled screaming outside, and briefly directed her attention to where the Blade had been taken. He was currently surrounded by perfectly cut one cubic meter blocks of a dark purple glass, a glowing orange viscous substance was then poured right underneath him with a bucket. As the seconds went by, she was literally seeing him melt in front of her eyes.

“FOR THE TSAR! FOR URSUS! AAAAAAAaaaaaaa…” 

As soon as she saw his torso disappear from view, she heard a small pop sound, and those demons that dragged him outside were inspecting a copy of his armour in their hands, albeit very damaged. “We can repair this with an anvil right?”  

“Yep, just need a ‘nether-ite’ ingot, it has some cool bonuses when you put it on. The whole setup is similar to those Iron Golem farms, took a few tries for us to finally get the method right, so keep that in mind when we find more of em’ Blades. Strange that they only drop broken armour sets though…did you know they're actually using the same ability the Warden uses? So it’s actually from the Deep Dark…” A barely teenage girl in a Gaulish maid costume loudly commented outside, she carried both a trident and a Laterano-style gun on her back. Anastasia vividly remembered what happened to the second officer who took command of the Logistics Battalion. 

“Here are a few words of advice before you make your decision. My family fought for, a Tsar as well.” Pravda said, getting Anastasia’s full attention, did that mean she was also Ursine…? 

“However, they then fought in the Revolution, and in the Great Patriotic War. You will not change the course of history, this is a fact. So you can either choose to be history, or live to see it. Make your decision, now.” 

Anastasia didn’t need to think twice here, and quickly unbuckled the straps holding the Petrova family sword in place on her hip. It was a relic given by her old cunt of a Grandfather, who wished for her to find glory with it, well, there was glory in living, right? 

“I, speaking on behalf of the Ursus Third Army, surrender unconditionally…” She held her sword out for Pravda to take, but all the robot woman did was push the sword back at her. 

“You may keep, your sword.” 

Anastasia was surprised, she fully expected to be ground up for food like those rumours had been claiming. Perhaps…they weren’t completely demons after all. 

“Could I also ask for a clean pair of underwear? I haven’t been able to wash anything for a week…” 

If she was going to be captured, Anastasia at least wanted to wear something clean. 

(Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aceship/Arknight-Images/main/avg/backgrounds/bg_lungmen_n.png ) 

The power to save others was always precious. To have a power like that, whether in Arts form or in technology, Ch’en could have saved her mother from whatever illness took her eighteen years ago. Yet, a miracle cure didn’t exist, until roughly around four days ago when this group from Ursus came and bought their way into her city. 

“Here, before yours get cold. They’re best enjoyed while crispy.” Ch’en snapped out of her daze, Yuè had come back with a paper bag filled with an Egg Waffle, a common street food in Lungmen. Like the Victoria Canal before them, it was also made with Victorian influence, being another one such fusion food between two cultures. And again, Yuè knew exactly what they were, she did the ordering for all of them at the stand earlier. 

“Thank you…how much was-” 

“Don’t even bother, it’s as cheap as I remember it to be. Did…they really have to name it the Victoria Canal? Like, I get why, but it just feels lazy…” 

Most tourists went to the canalfront to gawk at its splendor, but here Yuè did not seem impressed at all, as if she was quite bored at it. “Even looks the damn same…” 

“I…nevermind, I can’t figure you out…” Making sure that Hoshiguma and Alina were still waiting for their Egg Waffles at the stand, Ch’en verified there weren’t anyone else near them. She took them here after eating because she knew this place was quiet, nearly deserted after a certain time on weekdays. On weekends she didn’t even bother coming because of how many people there were here. 

“Like you tried to figure out what Alina and Talulah’s relationship was? By the way, Alina wants to bring these Egg Waffles back to her, I told her to just buy a machine for her on the return trip. You happen to know where we can get one?” 

Ch’en was surprised, even after all this time, Talulah still liked Egg Waffles, it was a taste acquired from their mother according to her aunt-in-law. The two had known each other before, ironic that it ended up causing her to be married off to Wei by the Kougon clan, to secure better relations with Yan. A time-honoured act, Ch’en had this irrational fear in her youth that would be her fate too, which partly motivated her to study abroad in Victoria. 

“Do I look like I work in the food stand business?” 

“Maybe, I don’t discriminate based on appearance, I would hope an officer of the LGD knows that by heart as well.” Ch’en’s sarcastic response backfired, and she was given a reminder about stereotyping. 

“Tch.” The blue-haired Lung felt like she was being scolded like a little kid, but the brief feeling of annoyance quickly washed away as she remembered the thing she wanted to ask. “Listen, about that thing earlier where I thought you were my…a hallucination of sorts…” 

“Ah. Awkward as that is, I am not in the business of sticking my nose into personal matters. Rest assured, I will keep it to myself, a Pharmacist’s promise.” Yuè winked at her, for some reason Ch’en felt it was genuine instead of mocking. Was this the power of actually having charisma? She needed to work on that skill, a lot of civilians and colleagues found her scary for good reason, unfortunately. 

“Though…as a medical professional, if you do need someone to talk to, I can lend you a shoulder. I took courses on psychiatric help in my studies, extra credit, you know how it goes. I can’t promise to be as good as a psychologist in diagnosing you, but I can do my best, and sometimes, that is what’s often needed.” Yuè went over and leaned on the railing next to Ch’en, below them was the canal, many evidence of crimes were under these waters, so much so that the LGD had a full diver team just to recover things from it. 

“Ugh…” Ch’en felt the fatigue beginning to catch up and gripped the handrails a bit harder. The adrenaline from earlier at knowing Talulah was alive kept her running for the few hours since. 

“What are you…let me guess, sleep deprivation?” 

“How did you…” 

“Cause I was exactly like you during University. Show up to lectures half awake after a night of panic studying or completing projects, and look like a jiangshi to your classmates. I think you should go to sleep, Madame Ch’en.” 

“No…no…I can go on…I still need to take you back-” 

“Hoshiguma can take us, you can just call a cab and- we’re not alone.” 

The sudden change in tone and switch from Victorian to Lungmenhua startled Ch’en, and then all of a sudden, a glowing wooden bow radiating with enough power to rival a partially drawn Chi Xiao was in Yuè’s arms, she didn’t even see her take it out-

FWOOM

She loosed an arrow in a split second, a trail of white stars flowing behind it, impacting a nearby tree. Ch’en thought she was insane, and harshly began reprimanding her. “What are you doing?! That’s public property! It’s just a tree-”

“Then why do my subtitles say ‘Sarkaz Mercenary Footsteps’?!” Yuè shouted back, another arrow notched and drawn back already. Where did she even get them from?! There was no quiver on her back!

“What are you talking about?! What subtitles-” Ch’en cut herself off soon after, her right hand moving to grab the hilt of her LGD-issued sword. Not Chi Xiao, there was no need to draw it, yet. From the dark treeline behind them, figures in tactical gear began emerging from them, sweeping across, she counted nearly two dozen silhouettes, all armed with crossbows and swords. They were all approaching them in unison, a trained unit, wait, didn’t Yuè say they were…

“Lady Yuè. Come with us, and no one needs to get hurt.” 

A Sarkaz woman with long blonde hair, carrying a heavy bowgun and wearing a simple face mask calmly said to them, though evidently, it was directed at Yuè rather than Ch’en . 

“Sarkaz mercenaries…” Ch’en muttered, her sword now drawn and pointing at them. They waited until they were alone and away from the restaurant…This wasn’t good, they were outnumbered nearly twelve to one. Unless… 

“Madame Ch’en! I’ve called for backup!” Hoshiguma landed right in front of her with a grand slam, her Hannya shield facing the kidnappers. Backup was great and all, but it appeared they weren’t going to wait until more LGD officers arrived judging by their continued approach. Ch’en however, suddenly remembered someone else who was supposed to be with Hoshiguma. “Wait, where’s-” 

“Alina told me to go on…she noticed them first. Drank a potion or something and literally vanished from plain sight, though I could still hear her voice…” Hoshiguma quickly reported, causing Yuè to nod. 

“Yep, she followed my instructions to the letter. Don’t worry, Alina will be practically invisible to these guys. Now then…” Yuè stepped away from Ch’en and Hoshiguma blocking her, and despite her harshly whispering for her to get back into the shield’s cover. Ch’en was trying to think of how long they could hold, these were Sarkaz mercenaries, probably from nearby Kazdel who got hired by someone to kidnap Yuè for her options . This was a concern she had earlier when she still thought her to be Wei Lan-Mei,  which was now playing out in reality before her very eyes. 

They were not run-of-the-mill gangsters, these mercenaries fought in the Kazdel civil war and were some of Terra’s most experienced and brutal fighters. All fighting now for the right price, and unfortunately, Yuè’s miracle potions were exactly the right price, if not more. 

“Normally, I don’t follow menacing people back, especially ones who look like Pillagers… I’m afraid I will need more information. Is it a good cause? Should I be helping you? If the answer’s good enough, I’ll follow you without a fight.” 

“She’s stalling-” One of the mercenaries said behind the ‘leader’, who was quickly silenced by her fist raised at him. 

“...our benefactor has promised to share the secrets of your Arts potions with us. Know that I do not do this for personal gain, I do so for the good of all Sarkaz on Terra. We are not the only group after you, I promise to treat you well, a guarantee they might not give-” 

“Damnit, don’t listen to her! Get back behind the shield!” Yuè held her hand out at them, as if signifying that she was fine. 

“Sarkaz, correct? In that case, Shalom,” Ch’en didn’t understand that word, but to the Sarkaz however, it meant something important judging by their gasps and whispers. 

“She knows the ancient language!” A surprised Sarkaz mercenary shouted in surprise. 

“I recently met a Sakraz, by the name of Buldrokkas'tee, better known as Patriot of the Ursus Empire to you. He told me many things about your homeland, Kazdel. I…can sympathise with it, but are you sure kidnapping me is the right way to go? Whatever your benefactor has promised, they most certainly do not have your best interests in mind, groups like them, never do. Not in a city like Lungmen.” 

If she was stalling, then by Terra, it actually seemed to be working. The ‘leader’ of their group even slightly lowered her crossbow, clearly considering Yuè’s words. 

“...if only we met first…” The muffled voice behind her mask lamented, Ch’en grit her teeth, negotiations had failed. 

“A pity…I don’t like to break my oath, but for the sake of playing my role, I must disagree with your intent for me. Before we begin, can I have a name? I’d hate to refer to you as just a Sarkaz mercenary.” 

“...Meteorite, that is, my codename. Do not kill any of them! Non-lethal attacks only!” 

Ch’en let out some Lungmen profanity, Hoshiguma sighed, and Yuè notched an oddly-coloured arrow on her bow. 

Just another night in Lungmen…

“Charge! For our homeland! For our people!” 

Gritting her teeth, the Hoshiguma finally understood why Sarkaz mercenaries were so feared and sought-after for their skills on Terra. Unlike regular gangsters, Hoshiguma felt as if she was fighting Veteran Ashigaru of the Kougon clan in southern Higashi, despite fighting not to kill, they fought to wound, and were expertly trying to do that right now. Already, she had to dodge crippling strikes a few times in the short minute or two since their fight began, if she was any slower, her knee or abdomen would have received a debilitating strike. 

Hoshiguma deflected another blow with her Hannya, the shield with her had been expertly forged by Higashi’s master blacksmiths, a simple strike was never going to even dent it. Yuè’s bow on the other hand…

“Hoshiguma-san! Deflect it!” Snapping over to Yuè, Hoshiguma looked just in time to see her aiming directly at her with an arrow. Instincts flared, and she raised her Hannya to block it, only to hear a loud ding followed by a scream of absolute pain. It was an arrow, it had to be, and deflecting it caused her arm to feel like mush, nothing had ever made her feel that way before, Oni prided themselves on their strength, so what did…

“What the…?!” The Sarkaz brute that attacked her with an axe was lying on the floor, writhing in pain with a grey arrow sticking out of his thigh. Inspecting her Hannya, there was a very obvious dent where her arrow impacted, no one had ever managed to do that before in Lungmen…

“Decay arrow, he’ll be fine!” Yuè shouted at Hoshiguma in her native language, then quickly dodged an incoming grab by the slimmest margins. Jumping up in the air, she repositioned herself on a nearby tree, her skill in ‘parkour’ had been recorded in the LGD’s file on her already. 

This fight was a lot easier to manage with her providing sniper support, especially with those Arts enhanced arrows she used. So far, she had already seen a variety of effects, like when she launched a mercenary into the air, Yuè shot him with another enhanced arrow. Glancing back, he was still slowly floating down, having remained airborne since. 

CLANG

“SLASH! FLASH!” Ch’en shouted while fighting two sword-wielding mercs, the two were essentially fighting back to back while Yuè ran around them with ease. Hoshiguma only just noticed, but when did she wear those leather boots?! She was wearing a pair of traditional Yanese shoes when-

“Argh!” Ch’en stumbled back a few steps, clutching at a slash to her arm. The Oni moved to block her friend from anymore strikes, but their sniper had something else in mind. 

“Ch’en! Don’t dodge this one!”  Yuè shouted from her tree, with Sarkaz mercenaries attempting to hack it down. 

FWOOM

Hoshiguma looked on in horror as an arrow with a red trail struck Ch’en directly in her back, but rather than seeing her cry out in pain or collapse, Ch’en simply got back up, even with the arrow lodged in her back. 

“My arm…t-thanks!” Ch’en continued fighting as if nothing had happened, her arm seemingly no longer injured. Hoshiguma and probably a few of those mercenaries she fought stared at the arrow in her back however, still there, and very obvious. Did she…even know it was there? 

“Hoshiguma-san! Don’t dodge this either-” 

Realising she was aiming at her again, she quickly shouted back with a bit of fear in her voice. “D-don’t! I’m not injured!”  

“You sure? It’s a strength arrow, it’ll help you out!” Yuè replied, as she dodged another bolt sent her way. It exploded a fair distance away, just what were these mercenaries packing?! 

“I’m very sure! Keep it for yourself!” While she wasn’t afraid of needles, she was definitely afraid of arrow-sized Arts enhanced drugs, even if it could benefit her in some way without injury…

This went on for a minute or two longer until the sound of sirens in the distance got closer and closer…all manner of things had happened in the short time frame. From explosions to glass bottles with Arts effects being thrown, this was just about the most unorthodox fight she had ever been in over her entire career so far. 

“Little help here?! I screwed up by getting into melee range!” As Hoshiguma was fighting the last few mercenaries, she found Yuè locked in a melee fight their leader, the former of which had a knife. Yuè was using her bow as an impromptu staff, but it was clear she needed help, fighting up close and personal was not her forte. 

“Ch’en!” She was also preoccupied, blades locked with the last sword-wielding mercenary on her side. 

“Diu! Yuè, catch! You can’t draw it, but you can use the scabbard as a club!” Ch’en unbuckled Chi Xiao at lobbed it over to Yuè, catching it with ease. Seemingly ignoring everything she just said, Yuè placed a hand on the hilt, with the scabbard moved downwards in a drawing motion. No one, other than Ch’en herself could draw the blade from its scabbard, Hoshiguma tried herself with all her might before only to fail to even budge it. Even its own wielder could only draw it with significant effort, and never fully drawn, Hoshiguma nor Ch’en had never seen the blade only, it was always in its Raythean-made sheath. 

Today, that changed. 

“What is this-Chi Xiao?! This thing does more damage than a fully enchanted ‘Nether-ite’ sword! Oh whatever, can’t complain!” Yuè pulled on the hilt, and Hoshiguma may have hallucinated it, she heard the roar of a heavenly Lung reverberate through the area as she heard the familiar sound of a sword being drawn. 

SHING

The park ‘broke’. 

Reality ‘broke’. 

Her vision was blinded by a blue searing light in front of her, Hoshgiguma instinctively raised her shield to block her eyes, but even that wasn’t anywhere near enough. 

“What the hell is happening?!” Hoshiguma heard Ch’en shout, as she heard endless cracks and things toppling down, it was only when the light began to die down did she dare to look again. 

“Masaka…” In a perfect circle around where Yuè and the mercenary leader fought, the once pristine bricks that made up the park’s ground had been raised, leaving only the concrete foundation for the two to stand on. Though the most striking visage was not the ruined public property, no, it was Yuè standing over the mercenary, the leader's right arm missing. Chi Xiao, the blade no one had been able to draw other than Ch'en's uncle, pointed at the mercenary leader, the scabbard absent from it. This was the first time Hoshiguma, and Ch’en judging by her dumbstruck expression had ever seen the blade in its full form. 

“...I stood…no chance from the beginning…” Meteorite, the mercenary leader had lost her mask as she was on her knees, one arm clutching her bleeding stump. She then looked at Yuè, a content expression on her face, one usually reserved for people who had accepted their fate, Hoshiguma knew this expression well. 

“...I lost. You are the victor, my life is yours to take…I couldn’t defend my people after all…heh…” Upon hearing her, the remaining Sarkaz mercenaries dropped their weapons and knelt down towards her, the fight was over…Yuè however, had a different idea. 

“Now you’re making it like I’m the villain here…one second, keep pressure on that wound for me.” Sheathing Chi Xiao, Ch’en still had her eyes glued to every motion Yuè made with it, the blue-haired Lung went behind the bushes. Just as Hoshiguma was about to call out, she saw her return with Meteorite’s perfectly severed and bleeding arm, she wanted to expunge the contents of their Cha Chaan Teng meal just earlier upon seeing it but managed to keep it in her. 

“Here’s your arm, now, could you take your hand off that stump of yours for me? Thank you…” Following her requests for some reason, everyone’s eyes widened upon seeing what Yuè held in her hands all of a sudden, it was the miracle potion. Hoshiguma guessed what she was going to do with it. 

“The stinging will last for a brief moment, after that, it should be completely fine…” 

“You’re using it on me?! But…I tried to kidnap-” 

“Ah! No talking, the more you move, the more chances we can mess up here. Try and stay still…” 

The arm was connected back to the stump, causing Meteorite to hiss in pain, but soon after, the red contents of the potion poured directly onto it. As soon as all of it was emptied, Yuè let go of the arm…and it remained connected. The Sarkaz woman gingerly began moving her arm, until swinging it up and down as if to verify it actually was connected again. Hoshiguma did not miss the look of awe-struck wonder she had, for she and Ch’en had a similar expression. It was one thing to hear it on television, and another to literally see its ‘miracle’ up close. 

“It…it…the potion actually works…” 

“I’m not a snake-oil merchant, my medicines work as intended. Alright, now you can arrest her, Officers.” 

“H-huh?!” It took until Meteorite’s audible confusion for Hoshiguma to snap out of it, and remember that she was in fact, an attempted kidnapper. As she slowly placed handcuffs on her, she got a better look at her arms. The only evidence that it was ever cut cleanly was the clothes that got cut, but looking at the flesh itself revealed no injuries at all. There was no struggle in the arrest either, Meteorite was staring at Yuè the entire time. 

“Damn, Alex was right, I needed a melee weapon…thanks for lending it to me, I didn’t know ‘modd-ed’ weapons were here this far out but you learn something new everyday, right? Here…you gonna take it back?” Yuè held out a sheathed Chi Xiao back to Ch’en, when she sheathed it she didn’t know, but the powerful blade remained held in the air between them, its owner making no move to take it back. 

“...Uncle said only those with True Lung blood could wield Chi Xiao…are…are you…?” Ch’en said with a trembling mouth, eyes darting between Chi Xiao and Yuè herself. 

“Um, y-yeah, I’m a Lung! Definitely, of course, I’m indeed a Lung, no question about it…Wow, even your weapons discriminate against races? Not cool, whoever made this damn thing, huh?” Chi Xiao was then quickly shoved into Ch’en’s arms, her friend could barely hold it in her arms by that point. 

“Sorry, excuse me, let me just grab that arrow on your back…” With a clear pop, Yuè had cleanly removed the arrow that was stuck on Ch’en’s back, though Hoshiguma stared at it in horror, the Superintendent made no reaction to it, her gaze continuing to stare at Yuè as if doing so could reveal every answer she ever wanted. 

SCREEEE

Moments later, half a dozen LGD vans and patrol vehicles screeched to a stop right in front of them, and nearly two dozen officers swarmed the scene expecting a fight. All they, however, was a ruined park, surrendered mercenaries, and an unresponsive Ch’en. Seeing a familiar face approach, Hoshiguma turned and faced the last person the Superintendent wanted to see right now, probably. 

“Backup is here! Aaaaand the fight is over already…why does this keep happening…who are you-hey! You’re that potion Lung I was investi-why are you with Ch’en and Hoshiguma?!” Swire, who Hoshiguma guessed had gone home for the day already, somehow showed up to their backup. Looking at the collection of vehicles that arrived just now, there was an out-of-place luxury sports car among them, she guessed it was hers. 

“You-you’re that bitch who cut me off in traffic a few days ago! You’re a police officer?!” Yuè bit back, an unhappy familiarity judging by her expression. 

“You can’t say that to me! I’ll have you arrest-” 

“Please don’t arrest us, again!” 

“UWAAAAH?! WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?!” Swire jumped up high into the air, her tail and ears shooting up ramrod straight in response to the new voice that suddenly appeared behind them. Hoshiguma recognized that voice, it belonged to…Alina?! She was now visible again, even her years of honed senses didn’t hear or see her approach…

“Hello…I drank some milk to clear the effect…are we being arrested again?! I don’t want to spend another night at the LGD headquarters…” She blinked at her, what did milk have to do with this?

“Don’t worry Alina, not this time, we’re the victims in this scenario, isn’t that right, Officers?” Her question was directed at the three police officers, but in that scenario, only Hoshiguma could realistically answer. 

“We might have to ask you to come back for a witness testimony-” 

“Sure, we can do that. See, Alina? We’re not in trouble again, I’m not like Alex who goes and finds it!” 

But the trouble came to you, didn’t it?! Hoshiguma mentally pointed it out, this was the second incident in two days that she was a part of, though there weren’t enough data points yet, trends so far pointed to something she didn’t like. 

“Bloody what? Ugh, Ch’en, the hell is going on here-” Swire began bugging her rival/superior only for the Oni to turn her around, with a fair amount of force. 

“Ch’en’s currently busy with these two, so could you please ensure all the mercenaries are arrested? Thank you…” 

“What? But I just asked her a question…” 

“Just go! Take her with you!” She lifted the Sarkaz Mercenary leader up with one arm, before shoving her over to Swire for her to deal with. Despite her audible grumbling, a patrol officer asked for her attention, and she had to go and deal with it. 

“I’m gonna go check on the guy I shot a decay arrow with to make sure there aren’t any side effects, find me later!” No one moved to stop her, not that Hoshiguma had the confidence she could stop her now. Ch’en was still unresponsive, still as a statue, she wasn’t even sure she was breathing. 

For some reason, however, Alina placed a hand on Ch’en’s shoulder, causing the Lung to look at her with wide eyes. The former had a sympathetic expression as if she knew exactly what her friend was going through. It…unsettled Hoshiguma, just what did Alina experience to have an expression like that? 

“You’ll get used to it.” 

Ch’en’s knees buckled, and she promptly fainted in Hoshiguma’s arms. 

“Goddamnit! I need a medic! Call an ambulance! Oh wait, Yuè! Come back, Ch’en just fainted!” 

AN: 

That tidbit about triad members being great cooks in Cha Chaan Teng places is a meme, but there is an inkling of truth in there judging by how many triad fights take place in them for some reason. No relation at all…

Unless it’s not clear, Playaars are not usually referred to by their full usernames, Alex is the sole exception to this. So, not so fun fact, Subtitles in Minecraft are only limited to the Java edition! Bedrock players don’t have this, so if you’re hard of hearing or have a disability where that feature would benefit, Bedrock says ‘Good luck lmao’ and doesn’t do anything to help. Microsoft, do better, man. In this AU they do the bare minimum for accessibility and add subtitles to the Bedrock edition as well, I’m surprised no one has called them out for this yet on social media, this would be the rare instance cancelling would be justified. 

For people who need a further explanation of what it does, Subtitles tell you by text what a sound being played is, as long as the Player character can hear it from their position. So everything from a block being broken to a zombie’s groans will be represented in text, literally. That is how Yuè instantly knew they were Sarkaz, kinda broken honestly, I don’t makeup Minecraft’s features, I just add them in. 

Tipped arrows work exactly the same way potions do, only with the effect triggering upon being shot by an arrow with a specific effect. So, an arrow of healing? Get shot by an arrow to heal, it’s video-game logic but it’s in Vanilla Minecraft, and Yuè is an archer by style so…

If you’re wondering how Yuè knows the name of the sword, it’s in her inventory, duh. 

Be civil in the comments below. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 15

(Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aceship/Arknight-Images/main/avg/backgrounds/25_g11_yanroom.png )

“…barely a week since arriving at Lungmen! And we’re already fending off Veteran Sarkaz Mercenaries…” 

In the comfort of their hotel, Alina enjoyed their room service breakfast as they finished recounting the events of last night to the two who weren’t present. Given prior instruction to drink a potion of invisibility and then run for cover in case of a fight, she witnessed the entire ‘battle’ from a good vantage point. So far, it seemed to be standard Playaar abilities, nothing she had not seen before other than Yuè’s attack with Superintendent Ch’en’s sword. They didn’t get a straight answer as to why she fainted last night, though something about exhaustion was the reason judging by the dark bags under her eyes. 

“I mean, it wasn’t as bad as the time we fought that Piglin horde…wait, you weren’t there for that, never mind.” Alina commented, while last night was hectic, from her view it wasn’t as bad as her time in the Nether. That was horrifying to see and be a part of, her words were backed up by Yuè slowly nodding her head in agreement, some documents held in her hand. 

“...none of you are taking this seriously.” Crownslayer accused, she had the most visceral reaction among them when Yuè first casually mentioned their fight last night. 

“I don’t get your hysteria, if anything, I should be the one worried about our safety. They are, after all, coming for me, and not you. Sure they might come after Alina but as long as she sticks close to either one of us, our odds of victory are quite high.” Not even batting an eye from her ‘Brewing’ stand, the self-proclaimed Pharmacist responded as she held up another completed potion of healing. Alex on the other hand, was hard at work whacking away at her anvil on…something; which definitely did not come with their hotel. Did housekeeping ever discover it? Or did they just not ask any questions at this point? 

“Do you at least know who ordered the hit? Any leads, goals…other than getting your potion that I will remind you, is extremely valuable?” Crownslayer’s desperate question caused Yuè to chuckle mirthfully, throwing her finished potion at the assassin soon after. 

“Extremely valuable…as if a glistering melon, a nether wart and glowstone dust are like Diamonds. Any ‘noob’ with a picture guide and a Nether Portal can brew this thing in under ten minutes if they really tried.” Alex commented between anvil whacks, it appeared that she was working on a sword of some kind, she only started after being asked to by Yuè begrudgingly. 

“Oh come now, you know it’s different for them. Though it does seem suspect they don’t have anything related to the Nether…there aren’t even ruined Portals here if what Emperor says is true. Anyways, do you need anything else, Crownslayer? I doubt one potion is enough to do whatever you need it for, but do let me know if it’s not enough. Ingredients are the one thing I don’t have a bottleneck on right now.” 

The assassin inspected the bottle, verifying that it is indeed what she needed. She placed it in a foam-padded suitcase, locking it with a heavy-duty padlock. Crownslayer had requested this the first thing in the morning, right after Yuè woke up, another quirk about these Playaars were their ability to instantly wake up refreshed immediately after awakening. “No need…stop handing these out like candy by the way, it might de-rail any negotiations on my end. Also, this is a…very small possibility I might need your help, so just keep your phone nearby. Now that we have confirmation that certain groups are targeting us, what will be our response?” 

“Let the LGD handle it?” Yuè suggested, only for Crownslayer to glare at her. 

“Be serious.” 

“I am.”  

“What makes you think they’re going to-” She took a deep breath, before continuing. “Assume they aren’t going to do much about it, do we…you…have a plan on how to deal with them?” 

“Murder. Or if you want to be legally correct, self-defence. Interrogate whoever’s left about their boss, go after them, and if it’s some big corpo then even better. Go all ‘Cyber-punk’ on their ass, burn their HQ down to send a message.” Alex flippantly said, causing the two Terrans to stare at her with wide eyes. With her, it was better to assume any outrageous thing coming from her mouth was true. Alina looked to Yuè, secretly hoping for her to disagree, but she instead just nodded in agreement. 

“They did hire mercenaries, so they don’t deserve the lenient treatment in the first place. Unfortunate as it sounds, an eye for an eye is a very clear and easily understood message. I still have my ‘Griefer’ kit from the great invasion, you remember that right, Alex?” 

“Fuck yeah, that shit was epic. Shame most of them are gone now, remember the early days in this ‘ser-var’ when like one outta three people were griefers? Way more anarchy back then, can’t say I exactly miss those days now.” 

“Griefers are the Playaars who destroy things indiscriminately, right?” Alina asked, this term came up from time to time in the Overworld settlement, though she never got a straight answer from Leda about what they were. 

“Kinda. In general, they’re dickheads who destroy things just because, but Griefing is more like a state of mind than a description for certain Playaars. At some point, most Playaars have been Griefers, whether for a day or for most of their lives, even Yuè and I have burned entire cities down.” For a brief moment, she could imagine Lungmen’s iconic skyline, on fire, with blocks of TNT knocking entire skyscrapers down, all the while with Alex’s maddening laughter reverberating through the ruined city. 

“Um…” She was given another reminder into their differences, which at certain times, were as big as the ravine they crossed on the way to Lungmen. 

“Don’t scare her like that! It was for a good cause, there was a war back then, don’t worry about it. Practically ancient history at this point. That aside, Crownslayer is right, now that we are being targeted, we should have more precautions. Alex?” 

“Already ahead of ya. Alina, catch!” Alex threw a pair of glowing leather boots at her, the same ones that Yuè wore when she went to 'Parkour'. 

“Oof! What…are these?” 

“Leather boots, normally a waste to add so many enchantments to it, but there’s Thorns III, Protection IV, Feather Falling IV and Unbreaking III. It’s not as good as a full set of armour, though considering that you still want to go out casually without eye-catching full diamond armour, we decided this was a good enough compromise. You’re still going to be running away from fights, but at least this time you won’t only be relying on just an invisibility potion.” 

“A-are you sure? This is an enchanted item…” These were some of the more valuable items in the Overworld, with their value worth more than ‘unenchanted’ items several times over. 

“I’ve got too many levels, Alina. A good chunk of it from killing Ursus soldiers so think of it like a repayment of some kind. Luckily they had a mini-library in here already though, we didn’t even have to build one for our enchanting table!”  

Ah, the altar-like object where there was a floating book that opened if you got close to it. It appeared in their suite two days after they first moved in, she didn’t really know what it was for until recently. What language was it even in? Alina tried to read it once, only to find out she had no literacy in whatever language was written on it. At least she understood where their enchanting came from, which was more ‘magic’ than Arts at this point. 

“Wait, that altar-like object with a floating book was you?! I thought it came with the room!” Crownslayer exclaimed, as if suddenly realising something very wrong. 

“Why the hell would you think that? Did the floating book not clue you into it already?”

“In my defence, in Yanese action movies there are floating Arts objects all the time…” 

“...those are special effects. Wait, I thought you were relatively well-travelled, how did you-” 

Ding-Dong

The four of them paused to look at the door, their room service arrived half an hour ago, who else could it be? Crownslayer drew her daggers, Yuè readied her bow, while Alex took out her axe, giving it a final sharpening on her anvil. Alina braced herself for more fighting, this time with the very real possibility of death now that Alex was here. 

“Not it.” Yuè replied first. 

“I’m not a sociable person.” Crownslayer denied next. 

“Alina! You’re-” Alex said next, only for the three of them to deadpan at her. 

“Okay fine, that was just a joke…” Twirling her axe, the redhead approached the door while Alina took cover behind a sofa. In hindsight, not the most secure of locations to hide behind, but any fight with them wasn’t going to last long. Peeking out from her cover, the door was opened, and instead of hearing bloody murder, Alina heard a familiar voice. 

“Hello, I am Officer Hoshiguma of the LGD, and this is Officer-” 

“Beatrice Swire, we’re here about an incident last night in the Victoria Canal Park? If you could get the attention of your Master, that would be greatly appreciated.” 

“Did I hear wrong, or did you just assume I was Yuè’s servant?” 

Alina gulped, from that tiny exchange, she could already see much violence in her immediate future. Quickly getting up, she sprinted to the main door where Alex’s axe was being twirled in her hands, an unimpressed expression on her face. The two police officers from last night, the kind Oni and the not-so-pleasant Feline from last night were standing right outside the main doors. Appearing right behind Alex, she could see Officer Hoshiguma with a hand placed over the Feline’s muffled mouth, an apologetic expression on her face as well. 

“She hasn’t been made aware of your…personal background, please forgive her…Oh! Miss Alina, you’re here! Then does that mean…” Clearly wanting to move on before another scene is caused, Alina did her part and made herself known. 

“She’s here! Didn’t you say we should be giving our testimony in the station…?” 

“Aha…well, with how hectic last night was, we decided to come to you this morning, did we come at a bad time?” 

“Anytime is bad when you cops show up-” Before Alex could finish her sentence, Alina ushered them in before any punches could be thrown. Leading them back into the main lobby, the previous brewing stands and anvil were gone, with Yuè being the only person there. She did not ask where Crownslayer went, as asking would probably have resulted in her being stabbed at night. 

“Oh! Officer Hoshiguma, no injuries from last night I hope?” Yuè greeted them first, Alina was still in awe over her ability to slip in and out of character depending on who she talked to. Apparently, most Playaars were doing some sort of ‘role-play’ with an implicit agreement in their culture to reveal as little as possible about their ‘true’ selves. That was how Talulah explained it to her a few weeks ago, which Alina didn’t quite buy into. 

“None at all, Lady Yuè, this is my partner for the day, you’ve met her last night as well-” 

“Yes, Officer Swire, I unfortunately know her quite well, or rather, the business her family is part of. Tear down any affordable housing lately? Evicted any local tenants for new shopping malls?” She sharply asked, causing a low growl to come from the Feline officer. 

“What is your problem with the Swire name?! We just develop property!” Alina was not quite sure why, but Yuè had a bone to pick specifically due to her family background, Hoshiguma seemed to equally perplexed judging by her sour expression, the two did not let their animosity go. 

“If that’s what you’ve deluded yourselves into thinking then I won’t burst that bubble just yet. Is Officer Ch’en not with you today? I administered as much aid as I could before the ambulance arrived…” 

“Officer Ch’en is taking a medical leave of absence today, she awoke a few hours ago, the acting Doctors say she’s just exhausted. I actually came from the hospital, there are a few things I’d like to follow up on about that today.” The two Officers took a seat across from Yuè, flipping open their notebooks in the process. Alex on the other hand, tapped Alina on the shoulder before leaning in to whisper.

“Actually, I’ve gotta run, have an errand to do with Emperor today.” 

“Oh. In that case, I’ll be with Yuè today…can I ask what you’re doing with the Emperor?” It was odd that Alina did not hear from them after their bar fight of epic proportions, but it appeared Alex was the one who kept in touch for them. 

“Just a few contracts, ownership agreements…the boring stuff. Don’t worry, I do shit like this in my ‘eye-arr-ell’ job all the time…contract lawyer work essentially. By the time I come back, I will hopefully be the proud co-owner of a brand new food and beverage company.” 

Alina blinked, why exactly was Alex going to be the co-owner of a food and beverage corporation? Before she could ask, however, Alex had quickly made her way out of the door, leaving Alina alone with the two officers and Yuè. 

“In regards to the…mercenaries we arrested last night, I am afraid to say we haven’t made much headway into finding who exactly hired them. They definitely live up to their reputation, if anything.” 

“I’ve had better luck talking to a brick wall than trying to interrogate one of them…” Swire grumbled, while Yuè placed a hand under her chin, Alina copied her, feeling like that was the appropriate thing to do since she was also present for that incident. 

“So, we were hoping if you had any idea of who exactly would want to kidnap you, it would greatly aid in our investigations. Aside from groups interested in your potion, any enemies…people you have wronged-”

“In the course of our…careers, we have made some enemies. You know how it is, to get anywhere, you eventually have to step on the toes of other people. Though I doubt they would attack us here in Lungmen for that. Too much distance.” Yuè answered in a terse manner, knowing her, she was probably telling a half-truth again. 

“R-right, I’ll just mark down unknown assailants at this time…are you sure you haven’t received any offers to buy or lease it? In Lungmen alone the local Pharmaceutical industry is in a mess over, has no one approached you before last night?” 

“None, last night was the first, and I would like for it to remain that way. Not like I would share how I make it just because they asked nicely, nor do I need the money. I am quite well off already.” 

“Psssh, as if renting out an entire suite is enough to show off-” 

WHAM

Alina guessed that would happen. In the blink of an eye, an entire solid ‘block’ of gold appeared on their living room table, if the creaking of wood was any indication, it weighed as much as it looked. 

“Nani?!”  

“Ding nei gor fai!” 

“As you can see, I am quite well off. Now then, is that everything you wanted to discuss about last night?” Hoshiguma looked at Alina, as if asking her whether or not this was a regular occurrence, with empathy, she simply smiled and nodded at her. If they thought this was already mind-boggling, they should have seen their structures made out of solid diamond…those ‘beacons’ the Playaars often used in the Overworld were made with an expensive base. For some reason, whenever she approached, she could feel herself literally empowered by them, no other Terran felt the same way when asked. Seeing an entire miniature altar made of solid gold made the singular block not so impressive at this moment. 

“I-is that even real? Hang on, I’ve gotta take a picture and send it to my family goldsmith-” 

“You have a-oh of course you do…please, remove it and keep it safe, Lady Yuè, there are unsavoury types in Lungmen who would stop at nothing if they knew you had something like this. Well, in addition to those potions I suppose.” Hoshiguma pleaded, only for Yuè to shrug. Standing up, she rested one arm on it and gestured for the Oni to continue. 

“Ahem, t-that aside, there are also the charges we are placing on them, aside from the usual attempted kidnapping and usage of violent force, was there anything else you want us to include? Mental damage, emotional…even physical but I don’t see how that one is an issue for you.” 

“Hm. Alina? Anything you want to add?” Instead of answering them, Yuè turned to Alina for an answer, catching her off guard. By this point, she really should have expected to jump into their conversations at anytime…

“No…I don’t have anything to add. To be honest I did feel kind of bad for them in the end…” Their leader, a Sarkaz woman called Meteorite seemed to be genuine, like the numerous Sarkaz members of Reunion. Alina knew of their homeland, Kazdel, and the numerous tragic events surrounding it. She heard Talulah reacting to recent news of a Kazdelian incursion into Londinium, Victoria’s capital city shortly before she left for Lungmen, but other than that, it was quite distant to her present concerns then. 

“I would like to ask how exactly they got into Lungmen, unless there was a secret mercenary pass I wasn’t made aware of when entering.” 

“Ah, that is partly why we asked if you knew of any leads. We traced their corporate-sponsored entry passes to a shell company, still investigating who exactly ran it, however, it is shaping itself to be a long case. As much as I would hate to admit, this practice is relatively common for companies who want to hire extra…help for their activities. It is perfectly legal, even if it does cause us trouble every so often.” 

“Lungmen made its prosperity by welcoming all…even if some people are more equal than others.” Swire added at the end, the slums they visited were firsthand evidence of that fact. Yuè got all of their attention by knocking on the solid block of gold, her hands clasped together in contemplation. 

“Lungmen has a bail system, correct?” 

“For most offences that don’t include murder, yes. Why exactly are you asking?” 

“Hypothetically speaking, can this solid block of gold be enough for the bail of all twenty-four arrested Sarkaz mercenaries from last night?” 

“We haven’t had the chance to review the bail amount but it would probably be way more than enough-” Hoshiguma cut herself off, realising where Yuè was going with her line of questioning. 

“You cannot be serious.” 

Yuè’s grin was predatory, Alina felt like she was no longer looking at Reunion’s friendly healer, but at a true Lung bearing down upon the mortal earth below. She thought back to last night, and whether or not that roar she heard was really a hallucination…

“On the contrary, you will find that this is not a hypothetical. Please, tell me where they are being held, Officer Hoshiguma.” 

For only a quarter of the way through their ‘business trip’, Alina sure felt as if they had accomplished way more than they should have. 

Meanwhile in the Overworld…

It was a time of celebration. 

Reunion had just won its first engagement against the Ursus Third Army. No, he knew their entire army had been decimated. He had some hesitation for their newly trained regulars at first, he knew General Samsonov who commanded the Third Army, he was a capable man and a valiant comrade when he still fought for Ursus. And yet, when he saw his body, throat slit, Patriot could not help but feel some sorrow for the man. This was no place for someone like him to die, not in the backward forests of Ursus, against an enemy that thought of them like a simple ostabcle to be crossed. 

That was what the Third Army were to the Playaars, simple obstacles, barely worth a fleeting thought before running them over with their otherworldly might. This victory, though nominally in Reunion’s name, was not truly theirs. It belonged to the inhabitants of this civilization, he, Talulah and the commanders all knew it, but for the sake of their movement and ideals, they kept that opinion to themselves. Their soldiers needed this morale boost, the beginning stages of any army’s formation were its most crucial, this was drilled into him through his time in Kazdel and Ursus. 

Walking away from the celebration, the recently looted Vodka bottles had long since been broken out, Patriot simply…wandered. 

The newly constructed housing for their now-thousands of Infected proved to be sufficient for their needs. He as part of the senior positions in Reunion was privy to future plans, and existing maps for their ‘town’ had zoned out a city that could rival Lungmen in size. Of course, only a bare fraction was built, even for the Playaars, building something of that scale would take time. 

It was the start of something, and now that his Oripathy was stabilized, a thing he never thought would happen, was real, and he could live to see its full creation. He now had to plan for his future again, with Yelena, Reunion…and so on. The future of Terra maybe? 

Regardless, Patriot simply took in the sights of his warm home, every day it seemed, had new structures available for him to gawk at. There was a ‘sky-arena’ project Talulah recently denied that would have blocked sunlight for a good portion of their city, so perhaps it was a good thing they took it slow. It still amazed him that these Playaars followed their laws while in Reunion lands, with their strength, they could simply have enslaved all of them in a single battle, that was what Ursus would have done. 

There it was, another reminder that he no longer fought for Ursus, but instead for Reunion’s ideals. Suddenly feeling the warm sun stop caressing his exposed scalp, he found himself next to a massive stone structure, one that he had not seen yet; too busy in his duties as the grand military commissioner of Reunion. 

(Source: https://www.planetminecraft.com/project/gothic-cathedral-350-blocks-tall-with-full-interior/ ) 

It looked like something that should be in Victoria, or even Laterano, just missing the pure white marble the city liked to build in. The grand structure was almost out of place in the otherwise bland-looking city, if it weren’t for all the other super-structures currently in progress as well. He found the wooden doors into the structure slightly open, and through it, he could hear…a voice inside. 

Normally, such structures were easily understood to be Playaar-made, and thus an understanding was made for Terrans to generally leave them alone. Aside from a few buildings like office and administrative spaces, Patriot strictly kept to his own business, unlike Talulah or his daughter, he saw no need to frivolously interact with them. He was not a diplomat, he was a general, who usually were not the first to send when trying to establish friendly relations. 

This structure however…perhaps as a form of curiosity, or otherwise, he decided to go in just as a distraction. If anything, he would learn more about these Playaars and their culture. 

(Source: https://www.planetminecraft.com/project/gothic-cathedral-350-blocks-tall-with-full-interior/ ) 

Patriot was impressed, very much so.