Month of the Dark Moon, the 27th, 2024. Four days until Halloween. Almost a week after Emma and her party, along with Meliana's party, were nearly assassinated.
Hero sighed, looking over Viana as she sat quietly, thinking to herself in the Academy's courtyard. "You've been avoiding me." He groaned.
Viana rolled her eyes. "Does it matter if I am?"
"I think it does..." Hero paused. "I'm just... you're sticking with Emma's party, yeah?"
Viana nodded. "I have no reason not to. Plus, their party is much better suited for someone like me. I didn't like the limelight anyhow."
"I'm sorry that we did what we did."
"So... you knew?"
Hero shook his head. "No... but. I still feel it is my responsibility to some extent to be involved in things like this. Sebastian may be our leader, but I'm second in command. My job is to put the leader in their place if they overstep."
Viana sighed, standing up from her seat and leaving Hero behind.
"Viana!"
She waved from behind. "Watch your back, Hero. You might get hunted as well."
Hero sighed as well. "Damnit."
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"Master, you have mail!" Rider held up a letter, crossed over to her workstation, and placed it on her desk. "It looks important."
"Huh?" Emma glanced down at the letter, "I was just getting finished up..." She looked down at her rifle. "Alright... should give me a bit more of a boost, at the very least."
"Was it really necessary?"
Emma shrugged. "I'd prefer not forcing myself into melee confrontations in the future. Shit is scary, I can barely keep up with these monsters, and the suit has to cause outright injury to save me sometimes. Doesn't help that I'm starting to collect scars too..." Emma sighed, pulling her shirt below her collarbone temporarily to look at the scar created by that Vampire woman. Emma sighed again, grabbing the letter.
"Let's hope situations where I'm separated from you happen less," Rider commented, gesturing to the scar.
"I concur." Emma scanned the letter in her hands. The seal was stamped-- it seemed familiar, but she wasn't sure where she had seen it. "It definitely looks important." Emma huffed, taking the tip of her middle finger, running a line against the seal before digging her nail underneath it, tearing at the letter until it was fully opened. Emma slipped it open, taking out the paper inside before unfolding it in front of her.
A letter from Prince Sebastian reads as follows. "Emma O'Kelly. After our last successful quest, our party believes that further collaboration would be ideal. I would personally like to discuss any potential alliance we could form in the future in person. Of course, further collaboration will also yield greater rewards. I understand that you have managed to poach one of our previous party members. That is of no concern to us, as this plan we have devised. I want to mention that this is partly due to the trust Hero has in your party."
There is a break in the paragraph before continuing.
"For further discussion on the topic, meet me within the noble pavilion on the Academy grounds, preferably alone. If you do bring someone, though, they must be left at the entrance of the pavilion-- this is meant to be a private conversation. The times I will be there are--" It goes on to list out some days and times he typically heads into the pavilion.
Emma scratched her head. "Alright then..." A beat followed by a long sigh from Emma. "I really don't want to go..."
Rider inspected Emma's expression for a moment. "But you're going to go anyway?"
"I feel like I have to. I can't just ghost a Prince."
"I don't believe I would count as a third party, so maybe you could bring me with you as a guard?"
"Yeah... glad you said that. This seems sketch as hell..." Emma looked back at the letter. "Shit... seems we're really riding the time here. He's probably at the pavilion right at this moment."
"Better sooner rather than later."
"Yep." Emma sighed. "I'll text my party about it before we head out." Emma stood up from her workstation, doing exactly as was described just before leaving.
Ten minutes had passed, Emma finally arriving at the noble pavilion of the Mars Adventuring Academy, hair tied up as if ready for a fight. A guard at the door stopped her, a tall elven man clad in golden armor. "Halt."
Emma stopped, just watching the man's hands, taking a step back.
"What business do you have here?"
Emme held up the letter Sebastian sent her. "A certain Prince called me here."
The Elven guard blinked. "I see, you're that one party that assisted in taking down that horrid auction." The man sighed. "My apologies, you're allowed inside." They stepped to the side, letting Emma in.
Emma couldn't help but be surprised by the sudden shift in mood, but, as was directed, she went inside. It looked almost like a cathedral, the architecture entirely made up of marble, with the floor clean enough to reflect the outside sky, the light hitting the ground and stretching out to the other end of the room.
Emma went inside, searching for the red-headed Prince with her eyes, her gaze soon landing on him a few dozen meters away, sitting out on a balcony at the far end of the pavilion. The pavilion itself sat at the very top of the school, closest to the Principal's Office. This place had a view of the whole school. Emma crossed over to the Prince, Rider at her side.
Sebastian turned to look at her, the sound of her boots hitting against the hard ground below giving away her position, not that she was hiding it to begin with. Those amber eyes of his scanned the girl before he gestured to the empty seat in front of him.
Emma complied, sitting across from the Prince, arms wrapped around her own body with anxiety, stuck in a completely unfamiliar environment compared to her own.
"So... you wanted to talk?" Emma questioned, letting out a sigh to help herself relax.
"I did want to talk."
"I'm surprised you want an alliance to begin with... especially with me of all people."
"Your party showed that they are an exceptional bunch, time and time again. Why wouldn't I want an alliance?" Sebastian looked like he was going to stop, but instead, he placed his hand on the table before continuing, "That's what I would've said if some new information hadn't come to light."
Emma straightened herself up in her seat, brow knitted tight with concern. "W-What do you mean? What new information?"
"I was confused when I first saw you in person." He pointed at his own hair. "When I saw your hair."
"What about my hair?"
"Fiery red, like mine."
"What about it? A bunch of Jotunn have similar hair colors."
"You're no Jotunn, though."
"L-Look." Emma leaned into the backrest of her seat with a sigh. "I-I'm just sayin' that it shouldn't be too crazy that we have the same hair color. The hair colors of so many other people are wacky, right? There's a statistical likelihood that isn't that slim that I ended up with the same hair color."
"No, it is. You want to know the actual statistic of people who actually have a hair color like ours, actually?"
"What? What is it?"
"Barely a percentile, and you want to know what encompasses said percentile? My family... unless..." He licked his lips, hand reaching out to Emma's hair, who batted away his advance. "They're a bastard."
"W-Wait, what?" Emma shook her head. "What are you implying?"
"A bastard child." Sebastian crossed his arms, leaning back as well. "You've heard of the missing Princess of Agnesta, right? Emadia Rox Tachyon."
Emma blinked. "W-Wait... I... no." She shook her head incessantly. "No, no, no. Nope... I refuse to entertain this."
"Emadia Rox Tachyon was assassinated in the Month of Fading Suns, 2006. Or... well... it was waved off as an accident. Whoops, cat's out of the bag." For the first time since Emma had seen Sebastian, he chuckled.
Emma stood up from her seat. "I-I think I have to go."
"Why? To ask that 'Uncle' of yours what the truth really is?" Sebastian smiled.
Emma's face paled, her whole world shaken in but a few seconds, as she struggled to comprehend the situation she truly was in. Her mind spiked with knowledge for a moment, almost as if her body was telling her to move. She jumped to the side, a massive halberd splitting the table in front of her in two.
"I figured I'd do a little test if this didn't work out how I wanted it to. Don't worry, I'm not your enemy," He smirked as Caspian loomed over Emma. "I'm just trying to test my cousin's skills. Think of it as a DNA test."
"S-Sebastian... wh-what the fuck is this?" Emma growled, the tail on her suit whipping wildly as Rider got into a stance.
Caspian sighed. "I'm comin' at you with all that I got. You're strong, after all."
Combat Begins!
Emma's fist sparked with electrical energy before she booked it for the opposite end of the pavilion, attempting to create as much of a distance as possible as Rider stayed behind as a distraction. She sped across the room, running about 27 meters in the span of six seconds.
Rider mimicked the sound of someone letting out a sharp exhale. "I'm your fight!" Rider lunged forward, jabbing at Caspian, who dodged deftly around his attacks.
Sebastian shouted. "Running away-- maybe you actually aren't as related to me as I thought! Tachyons never run away!" He laughed.
The end of Caspian's halberd slammed against Rider's stomach, sending them staggering back into a nearby table before reeling the halberd back once more to swing down at the machine once again, using the falling table behind them to avoid one of Caspian's attacks.
"Uh oh!" Rider rolled over, getting back onto their feet, once again avoiding another one of Caspian's attacks as he cleaved various tables and chairs in half.
Emma takes a deep breath, pointing at herself. "Nah! I don't run away from fights!" She's only a few meters from the door of the pavilion now, but she stood firm. "I just don't like havin' shitheads like you have their way! You have to come to me, bozo!"
Caspian, under his breath, spoke up. "I'm taking out the machine first."
Sebastian nodded. "Makes sense," he whispered back, a smile still on his face.
Caspian's eyes widened, "Shit!" He raised his shield as a massive kick from Rider slammed against it, causing the sound to reverberate throughout the marble structure of the pavilion. Rider attempted to kick him again, but Caspian jumped back just in time.
"Rider is enough!" Emma smirked.
"We'll see!" Sebastian yelled back to her.
A wide swing from Caspian, Rider ducking underneath it before rolling to the side as he used the momentum to strike down at the ground. Whilst on the ground, Rider raised his body in one, swift, smooth motion as he kicked at Caspian's shield once again, causing him to trip over himself, almost falling onto Sebastian.
"Got you!" Caspian shouted, as in that moment the tip of his halberd stuck against Rider's head with a loud cracking sound.
"Oh!" Rider jumped back, the halberd striking at his feet as it narrowly missed the machine. They squared themselves, once again forcing themselves into Caspian's range.
Caspian was prepared this time, shifting the movements of his shield with the momentum of Rider's strikes before taking a step back and swinging once more, but Rider was the same, both of them perfectly reading the attack patterns of the other.
They both needed a change in strategy.
Rider rushed to Caspian's blind spot, jabbing him in the side, but just in time, Caspian prepared himself, putting his shield in the way before backing away. Caspian could still feel the impact, however.
Caspian raised his halberd before witnessing Rider sprint away a good nine meters away. "W-What!?" Caspian growled, rushing over to Rider, who slammed their foot straight into the man's shield right as he entered their range, causing them to stumble. "What!?"
Rider in this moment had decided that, in a fight with someone like this, someone focused so heavily on keeping their defenses up, someone wearing such heavy armor. The best move was to exhaust them, to beat them in a battle of attrition, because, without a doubt, the one who had the most stamina here was Rider. The question was, could Rider withstand Caspian's attacks long enough to win? Rider knew it, but their body was falling apart, the damage from Caspian's massive attacks accumulating within their metal frame.
It didn't help either that, in this fight, Caspian had the greater range.
CRACK!
Rider stumbled back as the halberd cracked against their body once again. They could feel their consciousness flicker for a moment as Caspian reeled back for another attack. Rider fell to the floor, the halberd narrowly missing their head as it swung overhead.
Caspian scoffed, "You said that your machine would be enough, no?" Caspian turned to look at Emma, chuckling. "Clearly the--"
Emma was right in front of him, eyes wide like a crazed animal. "One thing you have to know about me is that..." BOOM! The knuckles on her suit explode outward against Caspian's shield, sending his arm flying back; his hand suddenly receives a surge of electricity, causing him to wince. "I never play fair!"
Rider jumped out from their downed state, swinging at Caspian, who retaliated by batting their fist away with their shield. "Fuck off!" Caspian screamed, slamming his halberd into Rider's body, sending them spiraling into the ground a few meters away before taking the momentum of their swing and bringing it down onto Emma.
Emma jumped out of the way, keeping a boxing stance. "You know, now that I think about it..." Her fist crashed against the shield, creating a massive dent in the metal before spinning, splitting it slightly open with the tail attached to her back. "You were never gonna win this!"
Emma's fist barely grazed Caspian's face, causing him to jump back, brought to his limit, his shield arm shaking in pain as exhaustion overtook his body. "There's no way..." He growled, holding his halberd high in the air.
Emma prepared for an overhead attack but was surprised as he swung straight into her ribs, causing her to roll across the ground, clutching her side in pain. Emma coughed, stumbling back onto her feet before her tail pushed her back onto the ground, forcing her to roll once more, avoiding another attack from Caspian. Emma sighed, "Can I get a fuckin' break!?"
Caspian let out a long sigh before walking back over to Sebastian.
Emma is left confused as Caspian crosses to the Prince. He stopped in front of Sebastian, his eyes tired. "I forfeit, I lost..." He sighed, "Somehow."
Sebastian nodded. "I figured it would happen."
"Ugh, I hate this." Emma straightened her back, still clutching the spot Caspian hit her in with his halberd. "So? I don't think this proves shit!"
"You're still in denial, I understand. Well, ask your 'Uncle' about all of this, why don't you? Maybe he'll give you the answer you seek?"
"Shut up. I'm done here." Emma crossed back over to where Sebastian was sitting, grabbed her bag, and headed for the door to the pavilion, along with the broken body of Rider. Emma sighed, taking out her phone to check if Dahlia got her message. Unread? Emma stopped just before the door, scratching her head. At this time of day? She usually is up and responding by now... is she asleep?
"That was quite the fight, you two." An unfamiliar voice echoed throughout the pavilion, licking their lips as they picked clean a slab of raw meat.
The only ones in here-- or at least, should've been the only ones within this pavilion-- were Sebastian, Caspian, and Emma. They all turned to look at the figure.
A middle-aged man wearing round sunglasses with light brown hair, a beard sat on their face. He sipped at a wine glass, making a sour expression before placing it back down before him, licking his teeth with satisfaction. "Awe-inspiring stuff."
"Who the fuck are you?" Emma hissed.
The man put a bag on the table in front of him before letting it go. "I just wanted to talk, y'know? You know, the funny thing about being an Adventurer-- especially on an official scale like this... You can easily find information online about your excursions, y'know? It's not like you're vigilantes. Your face is put out to the world and you're treated as if you're officially a part of the government because you guys can do the jobs no one else can~!" The man snickered before licking his lips. "So... it wasn't too hard to pin down locations."
Emma leveled her rifle at the man. "Who are you!?"
"You're... Emma O'Kelly. You're really close to that mixed-breed girl, right?"
A beat.
"Oh! Don't worry." He tapped the bag. "This is someone else."
Suddenly, Emma felt ill, reality crashing down onto her like a pile of rocks. "W-Who..?" She could barely force the words out.
"No one you have to worry about." He unraveled the back, letting a head roll across the floor. "Or... well. Technically, it was someone you knew. Not too personally, though, right?" The head of a Minotaur half-breed. The owner of the club where they found all of the kidnapped students from the Academy. Kylika was her name.
Emma recoiled, stilling, aiming the barrel of her rifle at the man in front of her.
"I can't teleport, y'know? I wouldn't have been able to retrieve the head of your little girlfriend in time for the main event anyway.
The Academy shook as, from where they stood, an explosion went off at the very edge of the city, and the sound traveled, their ears rumbling with the blast's booming. Those in the room couldn't help but flinch, Emma rushing to the balcony to look outside to see a massive plume of smoke looming in the sky.
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Jror'an Stormbreaker, the Guardian/Barbarian teacher, Enneli Spar'vatsva, the Fighter/Champion teacher-- a pale Elven woman with lithe features clad in Stalker Armor, Vattabiatta Mercedes, the Inventor teacher, Hecate Aneram, the Witch/Kineticist teacher-- a smaller young woman with goat-like features, looking as if to be some variation of Hellspawn, all gathered together around the Rogue/Investigator teacher, a younger-looking catfolk man with completely black fur, name: Unknown.
"You managed to lock down on Simon's location?" Jror'an asked, standing over the smirking catman.
The Rogue Teacher held up a tablet. "Not exactly from Simon himself, but assuredly, if we go to a lot of hot spots his gang frequents, we'll square down the bastard's location eventually. We need to remove those guys anyway-- they got this new drug they've been transporting, it's like... blood." He shrugged.
"Blood?"
Hecate rubbed her chin. "L-Like... Vampire stuff?"
The Rogue Teacher shrugged. "A little bit weirder than that. It's something that can give people vampiric abilities temporarily. That's all it does, though. It's a temporary affliction that can alter a person's physiognomy to resemble that of a Vampire Spawn. Additionally, we can confirm that these unknown suits of armor, similar to the Stalker Armor and the Berserker Armor, seem to have been distributed by this organization. My team and I have no idea who could be making these suits of armor, though."
Jror'an shrugged. "Then, the hunt is on!" He crossed to the other end of the room, grabbing a massive stone slab of a sword before leaving.
The Rogue Teacher chuckled. "Guess we're going?"
Two groups were sent to investigate, which switched periodically. Jror'an's group was the one who most frequently went out, shutting down as many organizations as possible during the first two days of the week.
Quickly, they got a lead. Some ways out of town, set in an underground warehouse, was apparently the headquarters of the main headquarters of this operation. If they couldn't get Simon, they could at least get those closest to him.
Combat Begins!
They stormed through the facility like a violent wind. They were level 15, a group of warriors that could be considered the most powerful on the continent, tearing through Vampires like common beasts.
"They don't have blood banks!" The Rogue Teacher shouted to his teammates, dissecting the corpse of one of these blood suckers in the middle of battle, a smile spread across his face.
"Wouldn't matter either way!" Jror'an shouted back as his sword cracked against one of the vampires' bodies, nearly splitting them in half as their gore was thrown across the room.
Enneli snapped across to the other end of the room before throwing herself around a Vampire, snapping their neck and, whilst they're stunned, stabbing them in the throat. "These guys are pathetic."
As they began to explore further into the warehouse, their search was suddenly interrupted by the thumping of boots—the sound of metal. Revealing themselves, a creature reached around the corner. Their head peeked out before stumbling forward, flail in hand. Where their head would be is a skull with the flesh sloughed off, bloodshot eyes staring at the party in front of them. Their armor and bodies are covered in blood and viscera, slack-jawed. With a hand, it snapped its jaw back into place before adjusting the crown atop its head.
"That's a fuckin' graveknight!"
"Wait... is that the one that was released back then? We couldn't even find it before, and here it is!" The Rogue laughed for a moment before his expression dropped. "Wait... but..."
We cut back to where Emma is at the Academy, an explosion sounding off in the distance. Her head whipped around to look at the man sitting behind her. "Who the fuck are you!?"
"HA!" He laughed, leaning into his chair, going completely straight-faced. "You know me. At the very least, you've already figured it out. Don't go doubting yourself now, you're smart, aren't you?"
Emma spun around, pointing her rifle at Simon.
"I kinda had to do everything in a rush--" Another explosion from a distance in a different part of Mars that couldn't be seen. "I wanted to be better prepared, but then... You all got involved." He snickered. "Kids ruin everything, don't they?"
The sounds of a gunshot cut through the panicked voices below. With a single hand, Simon caught the bullet. "Where is Dahlia?"
"Dead, probably." He stood up from his seat, the Prince ready for a fight, and even in his injured state, even Caspian was prepared. "You all have until Halloween." Simon took something out of his pocket, crushing it within his hand.
Emma lunged forward, attempting to grab him before he teleported away, missing him by just a millisecond, hand passing through the ethereal remains of his body as it's deconstructed and placed somewhere else.
"Fuck!" Suddenly, screams erupted from outside the pavilion, all across campus. "What the fuck is going on!?"
Sebastian rushed to the balcony, looking out onto the campus as Vampire Spawn and the Undead swarmed in, followed by a rushing wave of red filling the clouds in the sky like some infection. "Get as many of the Guard as possible, Caspian!"
Emma immediately went onto her phone, texting her party about what had just happened before sending spam messages over to Dahlia. "C-Come on! Answer! Answer!"
A lone phone sits buried under rubble, vibrating with each text sent.