Hitori signaled for his team to stop. Elvira made a few clumsy steps before everything settled into silence. After a half hour of travel they hadn’t encountered a single thing, not even a side passage or turn. Just one long, straight tunnel.
Straight to where, Hitori wondered.
Nowhere, I’m sure. It’s a boring old hole. You should turn around before something bursts through the wall and eats you.
Now that he was in it, Hitori knew this tunnel was far too suspicious to ignore—go figure—but he worried they couldn’t finish exploring it before the end of the day. Given how straight it was people were likely meant to use a Longstrider Tech. Manetho’s mysterious friend would be long gone by now. Unfortunately his team couldn’t take advantage of the flat terrain on the trip back. He glanced at Elvira.
She was holding a bright light above her head, a Flare Arte Gordon grabbed for her with a small selection of others. He got her armor back in good condition too, though the rush job cost quite a bit. Hopefully Mr. Foster could get their pay increased after the unexpected difficulty. I wouldn’t count on that simpering coward. Problems for later.
For now Hitori spent a moment listening for metafauna activity. The Sandworm that made this tunnel was unlikely still around, but there was no telling what creatures inherited its ancient handiwork. He didn’t hear anything, so he motioned to continue.
He scanned the tunnel as they walked. There were places where the rough texture of the stone floor smoothed out, but nothing to suggest the passage saw regular use. The walls were approximately cylindrical, without a clear boundary between top, side, and bottom. The material itself was some kind of sandstone, although it wasn’t any natural variety Hitori knew of.
He hadn’t extensively studied metafauna on the Northern continent, focused more on Eastern for reasons which were now apparently invalid. In any case, he did know of Sandworms and the fact they made these tunnels. He supposed the mechanism involved some biological acid or perhaps a natural Flame Arte. Neither option was especially appealing. Probably both, then.
He stopped again.
There was something. Not a sound. Perhaps a smell? He took a deep breath. The air was in large part cool and moist, but he caught a hint of dry, sandy breeze.
“We’re close to an exit,” Hitori said in a low voice. “Let’s give it another fifteen minutes.”
They continued forward. After a short while Hitori had the team cut out their lights. In the near total darkness it was easy to see the approaching glow. Before long, they found themselves in a massive chamber. A hole in the ceiling let in a pillar of sunlight, cut at a sharp angle due to the lateness of the day.
The sides were made of the same material in the tunnel, but the floor was covered in a thick layer of sand. There were four other passages, one of which was considerably larger than the others, off to the left.
“It doesn’t seem we can go any further,” Protius said.
Like he’s actually going to listen.
Hitori scanned the different openings, then sighed. “Yeah, you might be right.”
Took you long enough. Why don’t you head back and interrogate that old Paladin instead? That was a much more promising lead. I’m sure you could get him to talk. Well, I’m sure I could, anyway, even if your arte selection isn’t very good.
“We were trying to follow that guy you saw, right?” Elvira said. “Could he have left some tracks in the sand?”
Don’t encourage him, dammit!
“It’s possible, though with the right tech he could pass through without touching the ground.” Hitori glanced at Protius. “Can you look around without disturbing anything? I don’t see a mark from a high speed turn, but he might have stopped here and Dashed to another entrance.”
“Sure thing,” Protius said. He closed his eyes for a breath, and a faint ripple of white light shimmered down his body. He gently kicked off the floor and floated a short distance into the air. “Give me a minute, I’ll be right back.”
While Protius hovered along the wall, Hitori took the opportunity to check where they walked in. There wasn’t a great deal of light in the chamber, only what little diffused from above. Still, there was enough for Hitori to be sure there was no sign of any traffic here. He relaxed against the wall.
Suddenly, Gordon gave him a curious look. Hitori returned it.
“Is something going on?” Elvira said.
Hitori motioned for her to wait, then turned and gently placed his hands on the stone. He lowered an ear into place between them. A moment later he said, “Something is coming.”
“Something we can handle?” Gordon said.
“It sounds a little… big.” Hitori frowned, then sighed. He turned to Protius. “Have you found anything?”
“Yes, actually,” Protius replied. “It looks like a four legged creature entered this tunnel very recently.” He was standing next to the big one to the left.
Hitori hummed.
“What are you thinking?” Elvira asked.
Hitori gave her a thoughtful look, then said. “I’m worried whatever creature that was might have called for reinforcements.” When Elvira remained curious, he added, “The giant, underground tunnel building kind of reinforcements. I really don’t want to be down here if that happens.”
“Please don’t leave me behind,” Elvira said, half playfully.
Hitori laughed. “I wouldn’t dream of it, though on an unrelated note, how do you feel about being thrown.”
“A bit mixed, to be honest.”
“Oh, it’ll be fun… probably.” He turned to Protius and yelled. “Alright, enough of this. Head to the surface and we’ll walk back from there. Can you and Gordon handle pulling the girls up?”
“Sure thing boss,” Protius said. He disappeared in a plume of black mist.
“Don’t gotta tell me twice,” Gordon said. He snapped to the center of the chamber in a blink, splashing sand where he landed, then launched himself skyward with a whiplike crack.
Hitori, Chandra, and Elvira walked to the center. Elvira was looking at the spot Gordon took off from.
“You know, I’ve been wondering,” Elvira said. “My Dash Tech launches me the same distance every time, but you guys seem to be able to control where you land. How do you do that?”
Hitori smiled. “That is an excellent question, which we’ll discuss at length during our next training opportunity. For now, Chandra?”
“Try not to flail around,” the Paladin said as she grabbed Elvira by the belt and collar. Before Elvira could respond she was flung upwards out of sight. When she didn’t come down a moment later Hitori assumed a teammate grabbed her successfully. Chandra turned to him. “See you in a bit.”
A few seconds later, Hitori found himself alone. He looked around. It was rather pretty down here, in its own way. The way the light bounced off the red stone from the walls and the yellow sand on the floor gave it a pleasant, somewhat exotic atmosphere.
It was a good thing too, because he got to spend the next few minutes enjoying it while he traded in a High Jump Tech. What was less good was the faint rumble moving into the audible range. Had he misjudged how much time there was? Thinking about it, Chandra could have thrown him too.
He started to pull out his WebComm. Wait! This could be so much fun! He felt a strange urge to let it be, and instead to wait for the Sandworm to arrive. What was going on? There was no way he could fight a Sandworm alone, and even with his whole team it would be suicide to fight it underground. Don’t be such a wimp, I could totally take it.
He checked his Vital Net. It had almost finished unloading and compressing an attack tech, which made enough space for his High Jump. He had to decide if he could risk loading it. He would be unable to use techs until it finished; somewhat problematic if a one hundred ton metafauna was trying to flatten him. On the other hand, without it he lost his primary means of escape.
Hitori took a few seconds to consider his options. Up top was Chandra, an alternative he apparently rejected for some reason. Was he was worried it would put her in danger? Who cares about that? It’s boring! He could also start loading High Jump, and hope to survive two minutes without techs. Not promising. You could stick around and fight it.
He looked at the tunnel he came in from. He didn’t have his Longstrider loaded either, but he did have a Dash Tech. It wasn’t anywhere near as efficient, but with his pouch of Wolf Stims he could make it back to the White Temple in a matter of minutes. Come on, don’t run away, that’s so boring.
He decided to go with that, just as effective, while keeping his whole team safe. He wanted to talk with Manetho anyway, and that path ran straight past his office. Oh, fine, whatever. The rumble grew even louder, and the sand shifted on the ground. He had to move immediately.
Before he could start, the noise stopped. Then a whole new sound rose to replace it. It was less the dragging of stone, and more like the cracking of a mountain. The ground in front of his escape glowed red, and before he could react something burst from the earth. Thank the gods!
The creature that emerged was more than twice as wide as he was tall, covered in thick, sand colored scales. Its front end narrowed to a point, and a wreath of flame and molten glass dripped from it. It drew itself from the hole, body seemingly without end as it slithered into the cavern. It stretched up to the ceiling when finished, with twice that length coiled on the ground in support.
Hitori backed away until there was a short distance between him and the far wall. He needed to save a little space to maneuver.
His options were not great. Without knowing the layout of the other tunnels, there was a real danger a Dash Tech could slam him straight into a wall, and without a High Jump there wasn’t a way to make it above. Even worse was the possibility of his team jumping down to help. Hopefully Protius or Gordon had enough sense to stop the others from trying.
Given its size, the Sandworm would struggle to move in any but the largest tunnel. That would be his best bet then. Hitori turned towards the passage opposite the one he came in from. He was confident their mysterious bandit took it, so there was sure to be another exit at some point.
The Sandworm sensed his intentions, and before Hitori could Dash into it, it spit a thick stream of reddish liquid at the tunnel. The stone dissolved with alarming speed, collapsing the entrance and leaving it buried under a mound of sand. See! Acid and fire, I knew it would be both. It quickly did the same with the other passages, save the largest one.
Hitori frowned. He wasn’t about to get outsmarted by an overgrown worm. Not that sticking around to fight was a better option. The beast inched forward. It didn’t have any kind of eye he could see, but Hitori was confident whatever sense it did have was fixed on his position.
It arched back its head, and then spewed a stream of acid straight at him. Hitori dodged easily, careful not to get closer. The red liquid hissed and sizzled in the sand, not settling until a plate of red stone remained in its place. Meanwhile, the creature tried a few more shots at Hitori. It seemed to be testing his reactions, judging how best to strike.
Finally, satisfied in its plan, the Sandworm attacked. It drove its massive body towards him, swinging its tail up and over to block the space above. Hitori watched it come in, unable to see an opening. The world crawled to a stop.
Finally! Sometimes you can be too… too much…
He felt something pull on his hand.
The warm air carried a scent of dry grass and wet earth, still moist from a recent storm. There was a hint of spiced incense, pleasant and familiar.
I was standing on the open plains of the Central continent, roughly halfway between the school and Mairtala. My twin swords were held at the ready as I scanned the earth around me. To my left, a creature burst from the ground, claws poised to strike. It was a Trapper, a mole-like metafauna notorious for ambushing travelers, and regular job for low ranked mercenaries to drive them away from the city.
It didn’t seem to move through the air with any great haste. Easy work for a quick tech. Before I could launch my attack, Hitori swooped in from the right and cut it down with a pair of downward strikes.
“Gods, Little Seishin,” he said, “there’s such a thing as being too cool, don’t you think?”
“I totally had it!” I tried to resist a pout. “And don’t call me that!”
“Ah, sorry, sorry.” Hitori laughed. “I’m sure the mighty Nova third year doesn’t need a big brother any more, but I still see the small girl who ran around getting into mischief with my sister.”
I frown, which only drew even more laughter from him. I turned my glare to his face. It failed to still his gaiety, but did afford an opportunity to study his features. It’d been almost a year since we reunited, and I still couldn’t accept how much he’d grown in the half decade we were apart.
He was taller than the average Seitojin, fitting for a noble, and built like a professional soldier. If it wasn’t for his handsome face, I wouldn’t believe this was the scrawny bookworm from my memories. Not that I was complaining.
Hitori settled and returned my gaze. He smiled. “Now what are you staring me down for?”
I blushed and turned away, drawing a chuckle.
“For someone so scary, you can be awfully cute too.”
My cheeks burned. We sat in silence a few minutes.
Eventually, Hitori turned to me and said, “I’ve been thinking about the future.”
“About what you’ll do after you graduate?” I replied. “You’re taking a commission in Mairtala, right?” Staying here… with me.
He looked down, conflicting emotions obvious on his face. “That is what I told you, and”—he sighed—“I thought it’s what I wanted but…”
A ripple of thunder tore through the world. The scene fractured and reformed.
“The Sixth Wing!” I almost choked on the absurdity of it. “They’re psychotic brigands!” And weak.
“Imperial lies,” Hitori said. His eyes burned with passion. “The Sixth Wing is fighting to overthrow an unjust system, to end the depravity the corrupt nobility.”
“What are you talking about? Hitori, we’re both nobles.” I was almost pleading with him. “Sure, things were strict, but I could hardly call them evil.”
“You’re from a branch family, so far removed from House politics you may as well have been common.” Hitori sighed and shook his head. “Do you remember Mizuna?”
“Your… little sister? She died, right? What’s that got to do with this?”
“You never found it odd?”
“I… I…” I didn’t want to think about it, but dying so young was unheard of. Everyone politely ignored the blatant lie it was normal.
“And your friend Tsumi, you ever wonder why she had a full Shadow Mark the day you met. Is that normal for a ten year old?”
“D-don’t…” Nova Shades wouldn’t finish their mark until well into their teens.
Hitori!
The scene lurched forward.
He stood with his right hand out, eyes fixed to my own.
“I… I can’t go with you,” I said. Why not?
His body sagged as he dropped his arm. “And I can’t stay.” He sighed. “I hope you find the peace in life I could not.”
He walked away.
I… I knew… He wouldn’t really. He couldn’t. Next week, he would call me from the city to help with a mission, and things would go back to normal. The next time we saw each other, he would be the sa—
Hitori!
A sudden impact. The vision of a young Seitojin man slowly fading from view. He looked weatherworn, an air of manic desperation in his eyes.
Why am I thinking about this?
“Try not to flail around,” Chandra said.
Elvira didn’t find the advice particularly helpful. Her Paladin friend hefted her up by the straps and tossed her skyward before Elvira could so much as blink. In her brief moment of flight she vowed not to leave Nova Academy again until she rounded out her list of techs. Getting chucked like a spear was the last straw.
Elvira popped into the open air with enough momentum to carry her halfway above ground level. Gordon guided her to her feet, then turned around a second later to do the same for Chandra. Protius was waiting eagerly on the opposite side, then quickly scooted around once Chandra was with them.
They found themselves on top of a low mesa made of a similar red stone as down below. The yellow sands of the desert stretched out beyond the horizon, broken up only at a great distance by a few similar mesas of different heights. The White Temple sat shining and alone relatively nearby.
After looking about a moment Elvira turned back to the hole, watching it expectantly. “So… when is Hitori coming up?”
“Switching techs,” Gordon said.
“And… how does that work?”
“Slowly.”
Elvira glared at him.
“There’s a special function you can develop in your Vital Net,” Protius said. “It allows you to save techs in a compressed form so you can carry more of them.”
“Sounds helpful,” Elvira said.
“It can be,” Protius said. “It’s called a tech library. It’s less helpful if you rely on artes, but I’m sure Hitori will have you learn it soon enough.”
“I’m assuming it’s not a quick process?”
“It takes a minute or two for each tech, and you’re vulnerable during the operation.”
“Oh, really…” Elvira looked down the hole at Hitori, then glanced at Chandra. “Hey, don’t you think—“
Elvira was interrupted by a whip like crack, which she quickly turned to face. Standing at the source of the noise was a tall man wearing loose clothes. She couldn’t guess his nationality, though nothing about him ruled out a Bachijan. Dressed as he was, covered in a fine layer of dust, he looked like a desert bandit, with a scimitar on his belt to complete the ensemble.
The man shot up his arms, his eyes alight with surprise. “Whoa, easy there,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting to find anybody up here.”
“Who are you?” Protius said. Elvira quickly looked back to see the whole team moved into formation behind her.
“I’m just a Tag Hunter,” he said. “You can call me Virgil.”“You’re rather far from home, it seems,” Protius said. “They run out of easy pickings near Duroterra?”
Virgil pulled down his hood and mask, then smiled. “I guess the name gave it away.”
“Actually, the accent. Your Mairtalan could use some work.”
“You have keen ears. You must be mercenaries then.” He gave them a careful look. “Or, uh, in training, at least.”
“What are you doing out here?” Elvira asked.
“Aren’t you the inquisitive sort,” Virgil said with a smile. “I could ask the same. It’s fair to assume a Tag Hunter goes where he does to hunt for tags, but you can’t say the same for a mercenary. You aren’t trying to horn in on my spot, are you?” He gave them another look over.
“No, we’re, uh…” Elvira looked back at her team.
“Exploring,” Protius said.
Virgil still seemed to be checking them out. His eyes settled on Chandra. “Exploring, huh. I suppose you must be here from Nova then.”
Elvira glanced at the Paladin, then said, “She’s taking us on a tour.”
Virgil laughed. “Of course, of course. Still, to be all the way out here, your tour passed by Brother Manetho. Did you happen to meet earlier?”
“Did you?”
A look passed through Virgil’s eyes, then he said, “In fact, I was with him not long ago. He’s an old friend of mine, so I visit whenever I’m out working. I was actually about—”He was interrupted by a low rumble from underground. Virgil looked down with alarm. “Shit, I didn’t know Muraq was in the area. It’s probably not safe in the tunnels.”
Elvira was about to say something, when a loud crash then a roar bellowed from below. She gasped, and yelled, “Hitori!” She stepped towards the hole, but before she could jump in, Virgil appeared in front of her and held her back.
“Are you mental!” he yelled. “You don’t stand a chance against a Sandworm!”
Elvira wrested herself from his grasp. “Our friend is down there, we can’t leave him.”
“I’m not saying to! But if you jump down it’ll make things harder for him. I’ve got to call Re— my boss. They can get Muraq to calm down.” Virgil stepped a few feet away and pulled out a WebComm. After an urgent conversation with someone on the other end he returned to the group.
“Do we really have time to wait?” Elvira said, looking Virgil in the eyes. To her surprise they appeared as worried as she felt.
“It shouldn’t take long,” he said in a cold voice. He was leaning over the pit, and winced with every terrible sound that emerged.
The rest of the team was nearby, doing much the same. Protius and Chandra were watching expectantly, though Gordon was circling the entrance.
“Fucking dust,” he said, rifle at the ready. Judging by a glow on the sides Elvira supposed he prepared some arte bullets hoping to get a clear shot.
The terrible clash continued a minute or two, though to Elvira it seemed like hours. Then, after one final crash, everything turned deathly silent. Even the quiet rustle of dust in the wind was deafening. Elvira felt a terrible pit in her chest.
“Don’t,” Virgil said, blocking her with an arm. “It could be waiting for you.”
Elvira was about to throw him aside and jump down anyway when she was interrupted by another loud crack. A mysterious figure in black appeared on the low mesa. They approached quickly, saying nothing, sparing only a sharp glance for Virgil before dropping into the chamber. Virgil followed immediately, and Elvira and the rest of the team just after.
Down below Elvira discovered the corpse of a massive worm creature. It had scales thick enough for tank armor, yet somehow the creature was torn apart. Or perhaps dissected would be more apt. The ground was littered with shattered plates, and huge chunks of its body had been cleanly separated.
Virgil’s enigmatic employer was standing nearby. Elvira decided to name her Ms. Noire. Not for any particular reason, but the way she walked reminded her of a rich woman she once knew. In any case, Noire was looking over the ruined body of the giant worm. She sighed. “Poor thing.”
“What, did something happen to Hitori?” Elvira rushed to Noire’s side.
She looked at her, and Elvira could see a strange glow in her eyes. “I meant Muraq. I’m sure he was trying to be helpful, in his own way. Anyway”—Noire placed her hands on a chunk of Sandworm. Shimmering lines slithered inward to her fingers.
“What are you doing?”
A wave of light rippled between the creature’s detached segments, coalescing at the point of contact and seemingly absorbed into the mysterious woman. She muttered, “Little miscreant brat.”
“What was th—“
“Hitori!”
Elvira was interrupted by a yell from nearby. She ran to the source, where she found Virgil standing a short distance from her team captain. For some reason the apparent desert bandit was caught in a half step, like he almost meant to run to Hitori in relief. Elvira didn’t have time to ponder the strange pose, as she was too busy running to Hitori in relief.
He was standing, propped on his sword, somewhat between a pile of fallen rocks and a slab of worm meat. His gaze was vague and unfocused, like he was looking into the next world.
Elvira yelled, “Hitori!” and plowed into him, pulling tight into his chest. He absently returned the gesture.
“Oh, hey, are you alright?” Hitori said. “Ow! Watch it!” He laughed, trying to wiggle out of her grasp.
Elvira gave him an extra hard squeeze then pushed away. She wiped her eyes. “You absolute ass!” She said with a faint smile. “I thought you were dead!”
“Sorry, sorry.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “Honestly, I’m a little confused.”
“You mean you don’t know what happened?” Protius said. He arrived shortly after Elvira, along with the rest of the team.
“Not really,” Hitori said. “I remember the Sandworm bearing down on me, and then… uh, well, I guess Elvira crushing me. It was… weird.”
“You think you had another critical tech?” Protius said.
“Is that your theory?” Ms. Noire said. “Those are very rare.” She was standing nearby, with Virgil.
“Do you have a better explanation?” Hitori said. “Also, who are you?”
Noire studied him, like she was deciding something about him.
“I guess she must be Virgil’s boss,” Elvira said, pointing to the woman in question.
Virgil laughed abruptly. Elvira gave him a confused look. “Sorry, sorry,” he said to both Elvira and Noire. “It’s just, he struck me as a woman too when we met.”
“Does the mysterious stranger have a name?” Hitori said. He seemed to be fighting the urge to glare at Virgil.
“He, uh, prefers his—“ Virgil was interrupted by a gesture from his boss.
“You can call me Reaper,” he said.
“What, really?” Elvira exclaimed. “We were looking for you.”
“I know,” Reaper said. “Though at the time I would have preferred not to be found.”
“At the time?” Hitori said.
“Yes, recent events have given cause to reevaluate,” Reaper said.
“Oh?”
“Do you have any idea how impossible this is.” Reaper motioned to the discarded remains of Muraq. “You defeated an elder Sandworm, underground, by yourself. There’s no one alive who should be able to do that.”
“Makes a good point,” Gordon said. “You Super Hitori now?”
“It’s a total fluke,” Hitori said. “I don’t even remember what happened.”
“Is that so?” Reaper passed her inquisitive glance over to Virgil. He frowned side-eyed for a second, then shrugged.
“Anyway,” Gordon said. “Not that pestering Hitori ain’t a joy, but I bet you have that stone we’re looking for.” He unslung his rifle. “Might as well jump to the ‘beat you up and take it back’ part.”
“Aw, really?” Elvira said. She drew her sword. “I already took a liking to them.”
Virgil bellowed in laugher. “Hitori, you’ve got such lively friends!” He drew his own sword and stepped away from Reaper into a ready position. In a few seconds everyone formed into a reluctant battle line.
Everyone except Hitori and Reaper. The two shared a flat look, then turned to their respective companions. Hitori spent a particularly long time glaring at Gordon, who had a hint of mischief in his eyes.
He turned to Reaper. “He does make a good point. We really do need to retrieve the Ex Stone.”
“Of course,” Reaper said. “Though perhaps we can discuss this somewhere a bit more“—he looked at the leftover remains of Muraq. A reddish green ooze was seeping out of them—“ah, shall we say, a bit more comfortable.”
“And who doesn’t love a good ambush,” Gordon said.
Reaper gave him a grim look. “If I wanted you dead”—his eyes flashed and Elvira felt cold—“you would be.”
“Ah, Reaper,” Virgil said. “You don’t need to be so melodramatic.” He turned to Elvira and the others. “Come along kids. I’ve been hoping to— I mean, the base could use some more charming company. Reaper and the girls can be so standoffish, and the, uh, well, you’ll see about them yourselves, I suppose.” He motioned for them to follow as he stepped off. Reaper gave them a final glance, then turned after him.
Elvira looked at Hitori, who was frowning deep in thought. When she caught his eyes he relaxed, then shrugged as he gestured forward.
