“And that’s basically why we’re here now,” Yuki said as she finished summarizing her day and what she found in that notebook. “So, any questions before we move on?”

“Can you give me a minute?” Erica asked, rubbing her face. “I need to take it all in.”

“Go ahead. You too Yuna. If you need it.”

“Thank you,” Yuna replied.

Yuki looked at them as they thought silently to themselves, a small frown of concentration on Yuna’s face and a blank look on Erica as she stared at the air. 

“So. Your childhood is pretty complicated,” Erica said at last. 

“You can say that,” Yuki replied.

“The Shikaku have done a lot to you.”

“They have.”

“I guess that means this is going to be about them? The plans?”

“Yep,” Yuki nodded.

“Why can’t you tell us what the objects are?” Yuna asked. “Those things that you said the Shikaku were after.”

“An oath,” Yuki shrugged. “I promised Sophie not to speak about it in detail because the information is so dangerous in nature. I can kind of explain what the objects are though if you want to know.”

“I do,” Yuna said.

“Alright. Well, you know my necklace right?” Yuna nodded. “And how before it was just an earth elemental jewel?”

Another nod.

“Well, the objects are basically more of those. More of those jewels that were on my necklace,” Yuki explained. “They are some of the most powerful earth elemental jewels in the world. And they basically all came from one giant jewel.”

“So they’re being collected to be put back together?” Yuna said.

“Yes. That’s what is happening.”

“Do we know how many pieces have been found by them?” 

“No, I don’t believe so,” Yuki said. “We’re going into the more planning side of what I want to talk about today though, so let’s get into while we’re here. There are a larger number of these objects in the world. Sophie scattered all around, giving some to people and hiding the rest in various locations. She did not have a map of where they were. All I know is that the cities and towns where fighting occurred were places where these objects were being held by people.”

“So we don’t know how far they’ve gone into their plans to collect them all,” Yuna said.

“Exactly.”

“Do we know that they’re still going with that plan?” Erica asked. “They could have given up.”

“Well, maybe, but they’ve gone after the necklace I have and that was quite recent as well.”

“Good point,” Erica frowned. “So what are we going to do then? Since we don’t know how much they got and all that.”

“Well, I think it’s safe to say that they won’t finish collecting them any time soon,” Yuki smiled. “You know why?”

“Because we have one,” Akira finished. “It’s in my ring. They’ll need to come at us in order to finish collecting them all, won’t they.”

“Exactly. Also, I believe that Sophie has hidden one or kept one herself and put it somewhere. I do not know where, but I think that’s a good thing. So we can say that two are secure for now.”

“So what’s the plan?” Yuna asked. “Do we wait for them to come and then counter?”

“No. That wouldn’t be a good idea with a group like this,” Yuki said with a shake of her head. “They work in the shadows and do things quietly. Letting them go at their own pace would only help them.”

“So pressure them?”

“Yes. Only question is how.”

“We can strike them,” Yuna mused. “But that would mean we need their location. Or we can force them out into the open somehow.”

“Can you think of a way to do that?” Yuki asked. 

“Not really. We would need to know what they want which is the necklace. But we can’t exactly parade it about since they can take it easily without anyone seeing them. Is there anything else they want?”

“They’re infiltrating the government and top businesses so they want those as well,” Akira replied. “It’ll be hard to expose them though without it being censored or accidentally exposing our own people.”

“Then I’m not sure how,” Yuna frowned. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, I couldn’t think of one either,” Yuki shrugged. “I was just seeing if you came up with something. My idea is to do what you said first. Strike.”

“So you have their location?” Erica asked, raising a brow. 

“No,” Yuki said, “but I may be able to get that information. The Shikaku isn’t exactly a hidden group among the more informed. I can almost guarantee that the dragons know about them and have been keeping and eye on them. The council might know.”

“And if they don’t?” Yuna said.

“Then we’re going to need to do it the old fashion way and find it ourselves. It’ll take longer. Much longer and we’re going to need to protect my necklace. So let’s hope that they do know.”

“What comes after?” Akira asked. “Did you come up with anything yet?”

“We’ll get to that if the first part of this plan works out,” Yuki replied. “If it does, then we’ll plan that. Together. I’ll need as much input as possible.”

“Alright,” Akira smiled. “Let’s go ask then.”

---

 

“The Shikaku base,” Kilik repeated as he stroked his chin. “What do you want this information for? It can’t just be for your curiosity.”

“To plot out their demise,” Yuki replied. She decided that honesty was probably the best policy here. “Knowing their location would help with that.”

“I can see that. Why do you want to destroy them?”

“They’re a lingering problem that will only grow bigger as time goes on. They’re spreading out in Libra, taking over many parts of the country. If we don’t do anything, Libra will be under their control.”

“I know that,” Kilik sighed. “The fact is, though, is that they haven’t tried any directly hostile actions yet that would threaten demons. I and this council cannot act if we do not have solid proof of this.”

“Why not? Isn’t the possible threat enough?” Yuki frowned.

“You would think so. Let me explain something to you, Yuki,” Kilik said. “You weren’t raised in the cities. The circumstances of your hatching were quite unique. There are some things about dragons that you know nothing of. One of these things is crucial to who we are as a race. Let me tell you about our Great Oath.”

“You seem to quite enjoy oaths,” Yuki said.

“It’s a demon thing. Somehow, we are the most trustworthy people you will find that wouldn’t hesitate to stab you in the back,” Kilik said dryly. “Any how, the Great Oath. It’s an oath that every dragon takes the moment they hatch. It was made many many many thousands of years ago. 

“Dragons are the most powerful demon race. I do not say this to brag. It is an accepted fact by others. On average, a dragon will be more powerful than other demons. Then you compare us to an elf and there isn’t even an argument. That creates problems for us and others in terms of relationships. Our very existence threatens them. If we as a race were to gather and decide to rule the world, we can very well do that or at least get very close to that. Of course, we would never try as that’s not in our nature, but understandably, that is not very reassuring to others.

“To counter this uneasiness that others had in order to work with them in the future, we offered an oath. This oath had two parts. The first was directed at other demons. We would never attack them unless we were attacked first. The second part was to the non-demons. We would never attack them unless they attacked demons first. Of course, it is a lot more complicated than that in the actual wording, but that is the gist of it. That oath binds us to this day and every dragon that was created after that. Except you.”

Kilik smiled at Yuki.

“You were born in the cities. You never took our oaths. Normally, dragons who refuse to take the oath or where discovered to not have taken them would be punished. However, you are a special case. I’ll get into that on another day though. For now, all I need you to understand is that we are restricted in what we can do.”

Yuki smiled. The solution to this was so obvious that it flared like a beacon in her mind. If the dragons couldn’t help her unless the Shikaku attacked demons directly, then all she would need to do is prove that this happened. And that would be like proving gravity existed.

“Kilik,” Yuki said. “What if I told you that the Shikaku have killed and attacked demons?”

“Then I would need proof of that. But if it’s true, then this conversation would be very different,” he replied calmly.

“In that case, I need to show you a few things.”