“We start by making sure everyone knows each other,” Yuki said. She glanced over at Ember. “Ember, want to introduce yourself?”

“Um, sure,” she said. “Hi. I’m, um, Ember, a fire dragon. Nice to meet you all.”

The rest of the table save for Akira greeted her back in kind. 

“Ember is someone I met in the arena,” Yuki explained. “She was a big help in getting out and supported me. She’s family.”

Erica frowned at that, but didn’t say anything. Mathali had no reaction and Yuna didn’t seem to understand what Yuki said. 

“Ember, I want you to meet Erica, Yuna, and Mathali,” Yuki continued. She pointed at each person in kind as she spoke. “I hope we can all get along. Now. Akira, you said you had some things that I need to catch up on?”

“Yes. I have a quick question, though,” she said. 

“Mhm?”

“Will Ember be involved in our business? Even if she’s family, some of the things we do aren’t exactly safe.”

“What are you guys doing?” Ember asked. Yuki considered her question for a moment.

“Do you know the Shikaku?” Yuki asked.

“Of course,” Ember laughed. “Everyone has heard of them. Or at least, everyone I know. Why? What are you doing with them?”

“With them? It’s more against them.”

“Oh. You’re fighting the Shikaku?”

“More or less.”

“Then fill me in,” Ember said. “I don’t know if I can help yet, but if you tell me enough, then I might be able to take initiative.”

“What do you mean by that?” Yuki asked.

“Dragon things,” Ember shrugged. “You’ll understand if we ever go to the cities.”

“Alright. Well, Akira, I guess you can go on with whatever you have,” Yuki said. Akira nodded.

“In the time you’ve been gone, the Shikaku have been on the move,” she said. “Their activities have had a significant spike. Most of their activities have been in the government. There have been attempts on the academy, but the headmaster has become more cautious since the incident with the Jewel of Fire.”

“That’s good,” Yuki commented.

“It is. However, she doesn’t have much influence outside of educational affairs. That means that the governmental sectors are wide open with almost nothing in their way besides the normal red tape.”

Akira tapped the table with a finger. Grains of sand floated in the air, creating the head of a person. A few seconds, the grains of sand began to change color until the head looked like a low resolution hologram. 

“This is the current king of Libra,” Akira said. 

The person had short and choppy blond hair with brown eyes. His face was youthful but stern. Yuki couldn’t discern much about the man without looking at him in person.

“He’s not actually in league with the Shikaku. He’s a puppet,” Akira continued. “The Shikaku supported his selection and gave him the resources he needed to pass the exam.”

“So he’s a muscle head?” Yuki asked.

“Not quite,” Erica said. “King Rodin is of normal intelligence. He’s sharpened it for combat, so in terms of political and economical things, it’s not that good. That’s why the Shikaku gave him help.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, King Rodin has brought in a number of people to help him handle Libra,” Akira said. “What makes him a puppet is that many of these people and all of the important ones are either with or have ties with the Shikaku.”

“Vii has had her spies planted throughout the main government,” Erica added. “They’ve been following important figures. That’s why we know.”

“This brings up a few problems,” Akira continued. She waved her hand, the hologram of sand fusing with the table. “The government is essentially in control of the Shikaku. They now have a worrying amount of room to move about to strengthen their hold. If we include their hold on the entertainment industry, their reach is impressive. They control a number of influencers. All of this together paints a rather grim painting.”

“Are they taking advantage of their control yet?” Yuki asked.

“They have. Subtly. I see articles and various speeches that are beginning to implicitly support a true monarchy. Whatever the Shikaku are planning, it’s in its early stages.”

Yuki nodded, absorbing that information and giving it a moment to digest. 

“There is some good news, though,” Akira said. Yuki looked up at her. “Because of what we did to the weapon they were making and our subsequent leaking of what happened a while later, Mason Incorporated has taken a rather substantial hit in both economic value and reputation. That means that the Shikaku’s hold on the business and technology sectors has lessened.”

“Won’t they just branch out to other businesses?” 

“If they do, we have spies watching them,” Erica answered. “All of the big corporations have at least one person in them. If a smaller one begins to rise, we’ll look into it.”

“Good. Any more good news?” 

“There is, in fact,” Akira smiled. “Yuna, do you want to tell Yuki what that is?”

Yuna blinked at her name being called and gave Akira a hasty nod. She sat up straighter as she began to speak.

“The good news is that the Shikaku doesn’t have as good of a hold on the military as they think,” she said. “They do have people in the headquarters, but they don’t seem to realise that soldiers are inclined to not follow orders they don’t believe are right. Especially in the L-taf.”

“What do you mean?” Yuki frowned. “The Shikaku haven’t made attempts to change the way the military is thinking?”

“They haven’t. I don’t know if it’s oversight or if they just didn’t realise that soldiers can think for themselves,” Yuna shrugged. “But I’m sure they aren’t completely oblivious. They just don’t realise how deep the tradition of mutinies runs. There’s a reason why a lot of lieutenants and captains try to bond with their subordinates.”

The Shikaku lacking control of the military was good news. Yuki agreed with Yuna though. The Shikaku had to know about the feelings of the military. 

“I see. Anything else?” Yuki said. Yuna shook her head. “Akira?”

“Nothing in the way of information that’s super pressing,” she replied. “You said that you had something?”

“Yes. It’s about Yuna.”

“About me?” Yuna said, frowning a bit.

“Yes. How have you been feeling, lately?”

“I’ve been fine. Why?”

“Hmm. Well, the Fiddler told me of some things,” Yuki said. “I’m not sure how trustworthy he is, but he seemed sincere.”

“What did he say?” Akira asked.

“He said to take Yuna to the angels,” Yuki replied with a shrug. “I don’t know where they are, but Ember said she did. The Fiddler said it was important.”

“Angels?” Erica interrupted. “The Fiddler said that?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Then we should follow what he says,” Erica sighed. “He’s an angel as well. His backstory is complicated, but something like this wouldn’t be in character for him to lie about. I can take you the angels if Ember needs to go to the Dragon Cities.”

“Oh, you’re from the Gaeto?” Ember asked. Erica nodded. “No wonder. If she can take you there, then I won’t be needed for that. I’ll be talking to the council about everything you said.”

“Then she’ll be able to discern whether or not she can help,” Erica completed. 

“I see,” Yuki said. “Then I guess we have a plan of action for now? Ember will split off from us and go to the Dragon Cities. The rest of us will follow Erica and go to the angels, wherever they are, and see why the Fiddler wanted to send us there. Once we resolve all of this, we’ll start focusing on the Shikaku.”

“Sounds alright to me,” Erica said.

“When do you want to start going?” Akira asked.

“Tomorrow morning,” Yuki replied. “Unless you all want to start right after this little meeting?”

“No, I think a rest would be good,” Akira said. “We’ve been hurrying here for a while and you two just escaped from a prison.”

“Then tomorrow morning. I think this meeting is done. We’ll set up camp.”

Yuki tapped the table, and it disintegrated into dust that was absorbed back into the ground. She stood, the others following her lead, and the chairs soon followed the table. 

“Akira, want to help me with the camp?” Yuki asked. Akira smiled and nodded. 

They found an area in the trees that gave them good cover. Akira took out a few sleeping bags as well as tents. Together, they cleared the area and set up the tents. With a wave, Yuki sent leaves and twigs flying about to cover the tents until they blended in with the surrounding. 

“You’ve gotten better with your magic,” Akira noted.

“I’ve had a lot of time to practice,” Yuki shrugged. “There wasn’t much to do in that coliseum except fight and train.”

“You need to tell me what happened in there,” Akira said. “I’m curious.”

“Tonight. I’ll tell you tonight.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“Let’s get the others and get some rest.”