In one of the ruined Worlds...

 

The rays of the rising sun pierces through the buildings gaps, shining its light upon the dark shaded streets. The violet colored birds flew along with its flock under the partially collapsed skyways that remains standing until now. The herd of deer like creatures with long hair like that of an old goat and a size similar to a Clydesdale, was grazing on the lush greenery growing from the broken sidewalk, eating peacefully while bathing under the sun. Every living being was doing its daily routine while the sun continues to slowly rise over the horizon. Everything was going as usual until something broke the usual peacefulness.

"Hey. Look over there." 

A faint voice from somewhere suddenly resounded through the silent and empty streets, followed quickly by someone shushing. The herd of the deer slash goat like creatures immediately stopped what they were doing and stood up on their hooves, their ears perked up as they look around their surroundings, alerted by the unfamiliar sounds.

One of the deer like creatures slowly walked forward, placing itself between the direction of the noise and the herd while it warily watches the surrounding area. The one that bravely walked forth was clearly a cut above the rest, as its size was two or three times bigger compared to the rest of the herd. It stopped beside the rusted remains of a small car. It's large frame was enough to make the car look as small as a go cart.

"Hey guys, i think that thing can hear us." Someone anxiously said.

"Shhh! Be quiet!" Another person shushed them with a muffled irate voice.

By now, the whole herd was looking around their surroundings warily. Meanwhile, the matriarch was now looking at a certain direction, it's ears perked and eyes narrowed. It snorted as it took in an aggressive but proud posture and stomped its front hooves once before its antlers starts to let out a pale white glow whilst the bell flower that is somehow growing on it antlers was now producing white particles, surrounding the beast in a mystical glow that could easily be discerned despite it being broad daylight.

While watching it in both fascination and fear from behind the bushes, the group kept their heads low and stepped back, returning to where they came from as they felt they felt their senses warning them of its dangers.

"I think it's time to back off.

One of them whispers, not breaking their line of sight with the large animal. The group gave a silent nod at those words. Slowly, the group walks back and taking distance from the herd, not breaking their line of sight as they did so. After walking backwards for several seconds, they quickly reached the streets intersection. The last one, who kept their gun pointed at the matriarch, signaled for the others towards the wide support pillar of the skyway. They quietly made their way behind the huge pillar, breaking the line of sight between them and the herd. They gathered around and begin speaking with each other in hushed voices while remaining vigilant against the matriarch and its herd.

"What do we do now? Should we go back to where we came from and wrap around?" A girl with Silver colored eyes and hair asks while keeping her eyes locked onto the bushes.

"Didn't we just escaped those large ass pack of wolves back there? What if we run into those guys again? I don't wanna risk getting spotted and running around again." A guy with white hair rejected that suggestion with a sharp look, his right hand not leaving hilt of his sheathed sword.

"What about the metro station we passed by earlier?" A little girl suggested while looking around nervously.

"I don't know. Mecha, does your map thingy shows a route below?" A guy with black hair and cat ears turns to ask a girl who was warily watching their surroundings.

The white haired girl clad in a somewhat futuristic combat gear kept her rifle up for a few more seconds, her eyes trailing across the bushes before lowering her rifle and starts to fiddle with her vambrace. The protective plate lit up and mysterious symbols appeared in the blue screen. Tapping on the hieroglyphic symbols, the display changes to showing some destroyed buildings in a 3D format. Sliding her finger across the screen, her eyes continue to dart around before she finally spoke up.

"There is something like a small gap between the collapsed tunnels. I don't know how big, but i think we can crawl through it. As for the rest of the way, it looks clear all the way once we get through the rubble." She said. Her voice slightly muffled by the skull mask covering the lower half of her face.

"Before that. Is there another route we can maybe go around to so we can avoid that herd of deer thing?" A black haired girl with a large revolver in hand and a sheathed katana on her back asks anxiously.

Mecha got back to sliding her fingertips across the screen spending several minutes of searching before replying.

"There's another skyway we can maybe take and it will take us all the way near to where the tree is down to the south. Or we can hike across the collapsed buildings while going uphill further north. Or maybe, we can sneak our way around these guys through the mall about 400 meters or so northwest from our position and just hope they don't follow us."

"We can't go back to where we just came from since the pack of giant wolves are still roaming the area behind us. We don't wanna take the skyway either because of those harpy things. So we can only either take the closest route which is the Mall or the safer long path with the destroyed uptown area. Huh." The black haired cat boy mutters.

The group was silent for while, considering their options before one of them speaks up.

"I'm good with whatever as long as we don't take the skyway. Don't want to deal with those flying fuckers again." The silver eyed girl said. Her tone turning cold on the latter half.

"...I'm fine with hiking, but i still think we could try to sneak around these things first before going on a wide detour." Said the white haired young man.

"Let's just go through the mall. Given how smart those wolves looked like, i don't think some predators are not stupid enough to roam around here with that thing guarding the herd. That thing gave me the chills when it started to glow like those fucking things. But this one doesn't look to be that interested on munching on us besides protecting it's herd and it doesn't look like its some pushover either." Said the young woman dressed in an old blue and white dress, putting out her input from her knowledge about wildlife while subconsciously fixing her top hat.

"Yeah, i agree. It felt dangerous but not overly hostile like our previous encounters with wildlife. And those deers scents are all over the fucking place, so i think this place is their territory." Says the black haired cat boy while sniffing the air. His ears and tail flicking unconsciously.

Mecha nods at their replies and looks at the last member waiting for her vote. The black haired girl with the revolver just let out a small defeated smile and a sigh.

"I wanna say that we should probably go around and just hike to be on the safe side but, it looks like everyone's just want to get out of here. So i guess we are going through the Mall." She finishes with a shrug.

Getting her agreement with the plan. Mecha nodded before looking at everyone and tells everyone "let's get ready to move." in a hushed tone.

A minute later. The group has formed a line with Mecha at the front and the black haired girl at the back, ready to sprint out at her signal.

Peeking her head out. Mecha looks out at the line of thick bushes, staring at it for a few seconds before moving her gaze towards the line of buildings. Finding nothing out of ordinary, she runs towards the building. Her steps lithe and silent, making almost no sound as she ran.

When she reaches the building, she immediately puts her back against the wall and looks around before taking a small peek at the herd. The deer slash goat like creatures was still there, looking around their surroundings with a little trepidation but not as agitated as before. As for the Matriarch. It was still standing from its original spot since they last broke line of sight with it, now looking at her with a mix of curiosity and wariness. Thankfully, the dangerous white glow it donned from earlier was gone and has stood there with a slightly lax form compared to its earlier aggressive posture.

Seeing it not doing anything even though it clearly made eye contact with her after looking at it for a while, she gestured for her friends to move up. They ran up to her and put their backs against the wall while simultaneously keeping watch of their surroundings.

"Is everything good? Did the deer thing saw us?" The black haired cat boy asks. His voice tinged with a little apprehension.

"It did. But it looks like it knows we don't want any trouble, let's just not agitate it and keep it that way." Mecha replies not breaking her sight with the animal for a few seconds, before turning to guide the group. 

With Mecha guiding the way from the middle, the group moved in a single file as the black haired woman led everyone from the forefront. They moved down the street like a trained militant group. Except for a certain few, the group moved with lithe and silent steps, all the while keeping watch of their surroundings. 

The group continued to run down the road at jogging pace for a couple minutes. After a while, the group decided to take a small break inside one of the buildings. While fiddling around with her vambrace, Mecha spoke up while looking down at the map.

"We turn left on the next block. We can get to the mall after we get over the pile of rubble. After that, we should be able to see the 'river street' when we exit."

The group relaxed a bit after hearing that, but a second later, a loud growl echoes through the empty room. Everyone immediately looks towards the source of the noise. With all the eyes suddenly on her, the silver haired teen blushed, her face turning bright red as she turned to look away, embarrassed.

The whole group smiled at the girl who was now holding her empty stomach while cursing under her breath. The girl with the top hat scooted closer before leaning forward with a teasing grin on her face.

"Awww! Is your little tummy hungry Cress?" She said in a tone that one would use on a child.

Hearing the annoying tone of her friend made her click her tongue as she blushed deeper in shame before turning to look at the smirk plastered on her beautiful face. 

"Shut the fuck up, Léyah! It's nothing compared to you who was dying from eating poisonous berries at the side of the road." Cress spat back by reiterating the event that took place a few days back.

The smirk on Léyah's face was gone, replaced by a mock hurt expression as she grasped her chest before turning towards the ceiling with the back of her hand on her forehead with the other.

"Oh! How could you say that! I have been running, jumping, and hiding all over the the city searching for you for days with nothing to eat but Magic bell flowers! How could i possibly feed myself in this cruel world without your flavor in it?." She said in a melodramatic tone.

Mecha just smiled at the twos banter before cutting into their conversation before Cress beats her up due to shame.

"Cress. Here, take this. I know you barely ate anything this morning so that should be enough to last you until we get to a safe spot after crossing the river." Mecha took something from the grey sun bleached backpack and hands it over. 

"Oh. Thank you!" Cress receives the ripe blue fruit in a slightly meek manner and thanks her.

She stares at the large blue mango looking fruit, that was as large as a pineapple, in her hands and gulps as she tries to calmly take out an arrow from her quiver. Gripping the arrow shaft near its tip, she uses the bladed arrowhead to cut open the skin. And as soon as she peeled off the skin, the sweet fruity scent flowed through her nose, making her mouth water. She slowly bit into the juicy lime green flesh of the fruit, savoring the sweet juicy fruit with each bite, now completely lost in her own world.

The girl continued to eat slowly, blissfully unaware of her wolf ears was now swept back and her tail wagging. The group grinned at the sight whilst eating a pure white bell flower. 

Léyah took the flowers that was handed over and passed the others to the little girl before going to back to looking at her friend in adoration, munching on the petals as if it were a snack before throwing the stem carelessly into a corner of the room. 

As the group rested. They slowly felt their strength that was consumed during their travel recovering, feeling as if they were taking an energetic drink that lightly fills the stomach like a small cupcake. After resting for about 10 minutes after their light snack, the group started to get ready to move out. 

The black haired cat boy peeks his head out of the broken glass windows, listening for any sounds while watching the streets below. Seeing nothing but the swaying patches of grass on the street, he gives the others a thumbs up. 

With a sword in hand, the white haired young man led the group through the empty dilapidated hallway. Mecha glances at the empty dusty rooms that barely has any remaining functional doors, with some just barely hanging on the hinges. A sense of loneliness and serenity swirls around inside his heart as she looks at the remnants of civilization. She lightly shook her head, clearing her mind off the mood. At this time, the black haired cat boy caught up to them during their descent from the stairs to the second floor. 

Reaching the landing, they once again walk though the hallway towards the stairs at the other side of building. Mecha looks out of the long set of windows, that was broken up into sections by the supporting pillars of the structure, watching the cracked asphalt road below. 

"Eh?" A confused voice came from behind her.

Not hearing the steps from the people following behind them, the front of the group including Mecha turned around to see a confused look over Cress' face who stopped rooted on the spot looking out the window. 

"What's up? Did you see something?" Léyah looks up to her friend who was slightly higher than her and asks.

"Nothing. I just thought i saw a girl with pink hair standing beside that large pink flowers over there." She points at the building at the other side of the road. 

Looking to where she was pointing at. They immediately saw the largest flower they have seen since they came here, beating even the magic bell flowers inside their baggage, something that is large enough to barely cover someone's face.

Meanwhile, the pink flower growing on the terrace could be considered a giant compared to Earths small pretty flowers. As it looks like as if it would be enough to cover someone's turso. Its features was akin to that of a sun flower with its large patch of seeds in the middle and multiple petals circling around it. Except. Instead of the short yellow petals, this one has long and thin hanging pink petals that was long enough to look like its a few feet long and its patch of seeds in the center was clean white instead of the usual black color. As for its stem. It has a thick solid looking stem that is  white in color with a light pinkish hue to it. 

Upon seeing the gigantic flower, the whole group except for Cress exclaims in surprise. 

"Holy crap! That's a really big flower." Mecha said after roughly estimating size using the door beside it for reference.

"You can say that again." The white haired guy said. 

"Wait. You said you saw someone where that flower is, right?" Léyah asks, a little lost in thought. 

"No. I said i thought i saw someone standing beside it. But it must've been just me seeing things." Cress calmly said with a shrug.

Léyah turns to the black haired cat boy and asks.

"Did you saw anyone near that flower when you checked outside?" 

"Uh, no. I didn't see anyone wandering outside. And i also didn't see that flower either when i looked around." He says with a small frown.

Silence took place for a few seconds when they heard what he said and most people on the group grew tense soon after. After all, when they heard that he didn't even see that flower from the floor above them, they all immediately thought it was impossible to miss something that big since he has a clear view of the balcony as well. They all subconsciously looked at the pink flower growing on the terrace across the street. 

"Let's...just go." The black haired girl said slowly. Something the group quickly agreed with as they warily got out of the building.

They checked their surroundings again before quickly leaving, sometimes looking back at the terrace where the flower is. 

While watching the backs of everyone running into the distance. The girl puts down the gigantic pink flower beside her as she held down her hair that was dancing in the wind. The girl smiled at the travelers disappearing figures.

 

A couple minutes later...

 

After running continuously until they felt there was enough distance from the eerie flower, they stopped to look around before letting out a sigh as tension left their body. While the whole group is taking a light break in the alleyway, the little girl who was silently following the group until now lightly tugged on Mechamaniac's pants.

"Mecha. Are we close to the river yet?" She softly asks. 

"Uh. Hold on a sec."

 Mecha peeks out the alley, lightly checking anything abnormal before raising left her arm up to turn on her map. But before she could even do that, the black haired cat boy spoke up.

"We're close." He plainly said to the two.

"What?" Mecha and the little girl asks at the same time.

This time, it was Cress who piped up to answer the two. 

"We're close to it. I can faintly hear rushing water in that direction." With her wolf ears perked up as she pointed at the direction ahead of them. 

"You can hear it all the way from here?" The black haired girl asks, surprised as she could hear nothing beside themselves and the occasional rustling of some trees. 

"Yeah. It might be because both of us have these for ears instead." The cat boy quipped as the ears on top of his head flickered.

"That's amazing. We are like about a good 70-90 meters away from that river." Mecha added after taking a quick look at her map.

"Wow. That's really fa-" Léyah's words of amazement stopped mid sentence. Her face looked as if she was a little lost before she turns to look deeper towards the alley, her hair lightly floating softly from a nonexistent wind.

"Did you guys just felt that?" She suddenly asks in a hushed tone while taking a few steps forward, her gaze not leaving the alley.

Her sudden odd behavior made everyone tensed, remembering about the creepy event earlier, while leaving some confused at her question. They looked at each other, perplexed. 

"No? We didn't feel anything. What are you on about?" The little girl asks, looking around anxiously. 

She turns to look at the others with a baffled look before asking.

"Wait. You guys didn't feel that wave after the bell?" 

"Wha-" 

The black haired cat boy was about to ask something, but stopped when a soft unfamiliar voice came from the street behind them.

"It's because you are the only qualified user amongst the rest of the group." 

Everyone turns towards the source with their weapons in hand drawn and aimed at the person.

A girl stood still at the middle of the road with her hair lightly swaying from the gentle winds. The girl wore a sleeveless pure white summer dress that reached up to her shins, revealing her unblemished white skin. Her pink hair that reached down to her thighs shined under the sun was decorated with a flower crown made out of several unknown flowers.

"Who are you!?" The white haired young man points his saber and shouts at the girl.

The girl didn't reply and just stood there. Silently staring at Léyah who was feeling uncomfortable from the persistent stare from the girl. Cress stood between the two to block her sight whilst aiming her large crossbow at the mysterious pink haired girl.

"We asked! Who are you!?" The guy asks again, slightly annoyed from being ignored. 

The girl remained silent like last time and just smiled happily as if she pleased with something. She slowly started to walk towards them and in response, the group took a few steps backwards. The girl stopped walking when she set her bare feet on the sidewalk. She then spoke with her gaze locked onto Léyah, who was peeking from behind her friend.

"You should go and answer its call. It has been waiting for someone like you for a very long time." The girl's hair swayed again, but from the nonexistent wind.

"What does that mean?" Léyah asks confused.

"You will find out when you get there. You can take your time in following its calls as its a very patient child, but it might get upset if you leave it behind." She said smiling while a single flower flew in the sky. 

She took her eyes off the girl for a few moments as she thought about what she said before looking back at her.

"Huh!?"

The girl that was supposed to be standing in front of them was now gone. She hurriedly rushes out of the alley and looked around but found no signs of the girl anywhere. She sighs in disappointment as she stares at the few leaves dancing in the wind across the street. Putting her disappointment aside, she turns to look at her friends that has been oddly silent for a while now. She turns and was immediately filled with confusion as she sees her friends still pointing their weapons at the place where the mysterious girl last stood.

"Guys?" She called out to the group who were still frozen in place. 

She walked closer and looked at everyone's expression, hoping this was just a prank even though it was highly unlikely. She waved her hands in front of their face, lightly patted their cheeks, and a few other things. She gave up after a few minutes with no success. 

"Hmm." She closes her eyes and cups her chin with her fingers. went deep into her thoughts. 

'That woman probably did this. She most likely did this because she doesn't want the others to get interrupted. But what was with that obscure way of talking? Does she know what was doing that or maybe it's just some elaborate trap? No. If she wanted to kill us, attacking us while in that state would be way easier rather than leading us to a trap. Unless, she's the type of person who wants to kill people for fun or just wants something else. But wha-'

*THUNG!*

She was snapped out of her train of thoughts from the loud thunderous crack of gunfire that echoes throughout the whole empty city block. Looking towards the source of the noise, she sees the black haired girl with her finger still pulling the trigger.

"What the hell!?"

She screams as she looks around in confusion. The others was similarly looking around frantically in search for the mysterious girl who suddenly disappeared. 

Meanwhile. Cress who was covering Léyah, reaches to her back with left hand but felt nothing but the empty air. In panic, she looks over her right shoulder and saw that her friend who should be behind just moments before was now gone.

"Léyah? Léyah!" She called out Léyah's name a few times while looking deeper into the alleys, her legs was shaking as if she was about to bolt off.

"I'm right here." She casually calls out to her friend who was on the verge of panicking.

Cress looks to the right again and saw her leaning on the wooden door. She stared at her for a few second before she releases a deep sigh filled with relief.

"What was with that over reaction? What? Were you worried that i got kidnapped or something?" Léyah asks with a small smirk.

"Of course i am worried. How could i not be worried when you suddenly disappeared behind me after that weird girl disappeared." Cress gravely said while looking straight into her eyes.

She felt her heart skip a beat from the unexpected straightforwardness of her reply combined with the serious look in her eyes. Léyah's heart was beating faster and a blush was attempting to creep up her face but she kept smirk to act like normal.

At this time. Mecha and the others who were cautiously looking around for the mysterious girl was now beginning to calm down and have switched their attention to Léyah who seems to know what happened.

"Léyah. What...just happened?" Mecha asks.

Léyah turns towards them with her face quickly turning serious and calmly told the others on what just went down earlier. It didn't take long for the others to feel like they have just dodged a bullet with some turning pale faced at the thought of dying without being able to do anything and not even know how they died.

Seeing the pale faces of the others. Léyah switched the subject to the object the mysterious girl mentioned to not get their minds stuck on the feeling of death's breathing on their necks.

"What do you guys wanna do? Should we ignore it and just be on our merry way or we check that thing out and find out what's calling her and get it over with?" Mecha asks the others.

"We shouldn't ignore it." Léyah said to the others with a grave tone.

"Why not?" The black haired cat boy asks.

Léyah took in a deep breath before talking.

"Remember what that girl said to me? She said that it has been waiting for someone and it would get upset if we leave whatever it is, behind."

"Hold on a second. You said that it was searching for someone like you right? Do we all have to come?" The White haired guy said with a raised brow.

The others shot him a questioning look and a few gave him uncomfortable looks at his question but he ignored it. Léyah's eyes turned sharp while she faces him and says.

"It's fine if you guys go ahead without me. I will still go there. Last thing i want to do is piss off a god nobody knows about, especially now when we don't have any clue ." she said with determination.

Hearing that, the white haired guy looked at her stunned for a bit before speaking.

"Wait a sec. What if it's really just a trap and you die for nothing!?" He unconsciously raised his voice.

"I would still go there." She said unshaken. 

"What's with you all of a sudden? I thought you wanted to get out of this world, now you wanted to go to some place where you might die just because some mysterious pink chick told you to go there?"

"W-woah there. Let's calm d-" Sensing the tension rising, the black haired cat boy tries to cut in between before it escalates any further, but his efforts was cut short by Léyah's next words.

"That's none of your concern. And instead, what's up with you? Your the one who wanted to kill everything that gets in our way in the first few days when we first met. But now your acting like a big pussy ever since Arnes died." She said whilst clenching her fist.

The white haired young man was shocked by her words, before his face turned red from anger. He opened his mouth to yell at her. But before he could even let his words out, Mecha who was silent watching the exchange until now suddenly shouted.

"That's enough! The both of you!" She said loudly in a commanding tone.

The whole place went silent. No one moved for a while before Mecha spoke up.

"Léyah. You went way too far on that one. I know he's being overly concerned about you and what you do is none of his business, but that response from you was just too much." She said before turning to the white haired young man.

"Darlek. You too. If she says she wants to there then let her go. I know your still bothered about his death and scared to lose another one of your friends. But she is her own person. I know your aware that she knows where she is heading to. But stopping her despite knowing that is, from what i think, is just selfishness at this point." She shook her head and said in a disapproving tone.

"I-i..." Darlek visibly shaken, only manages to choke out a few words before going silent.

Everyone remained silent, waiting for what would happen next as tension still lingers in the air. After a few minutes of silence, Lėyah let out a big sigh as if letting out all the tension in her body. With a complicated look on her face, she turns back to Darlek who was still silently looking down at the floor.

"I thank you, Mecha, for telling me that and also apologize to both you and Darlek for lashing out like that. I shouldn't have said what i did earlier and again, deeply apologize for that. I was just upset, thinking you would try and stop me from leaving to seek out the object the mysterious girl mentioned." She said while doing a small bow of apology.

"No worries there. Just be mindful of what you say next time, okay?" Mecha says in a softer tone, her voice has a tinge of worry in them.

"I will. Thank you." She gives a small nod before turning to the white haired young man.

Darlek meets her eyes for a second before breaking it, turning to look at the moss growing in the wall instead. He clenches his hands a few times before turning back to her. 

"I... I'm sorry about that. And Mecha was right. I still can't get over his death and probably should move on by now but, i can't just forget about him..." He says. His voice is shaking as he clenches hands.

Léyah walks up to him and puts a hand on his shoulder and gives him a comforting squeeze. 

"Darlek. Nobody is telling you to forget about him. But instead, mourn for him later when things have calm down. Just not right now. So cheer up and keep thinking about how we are going to get out of here with that smart brain of yours. And stop thinking about depressing things, it will get us nowhere." She says smilingly while she pats his back.

"Yeah. I will." He says smiling a bit, looking more lively than before. 

Everyone was silent for a while before Cress spoke up.

"So, now that 'that' is out of the way. What's everyone going to do?"

"What do you mean?" The black haired girl asks.

"I'm asking if everyone's splitting up from here since Léyah is definitely going to whatever is calling her, and i'm also coming with her since she's pretty much defenseless." The silver eyed wolf girl declared.

"Hold on just a minute. We don't even know what that thing is calling her in the first place. Forgive me for asking the same question twice, but how can we be sure it's not some sort of trap?" The black haired girl asks worriedly. Darlek also nods a little at the question.

"I don't think this is some sort of trap to kill or capture us for some sort of ritual. If it was, the girl could've just taken us all out just like how she stopped your time." Léyah answers confidently.

"That's true, i guess." The black haired girl muttered with her free hand rubbing her chin in contemplation.

"So i guess the only question now is what's everyone going to do from here." Cress chimes in.

"I agree. And so that we don't waste to much time, just raise your hand if your in favor of these options. Is that okay with everyone?" Mechamaniac asks the group. 

Everyone nods in agreement a moment later. Mecha nods back and raises her own right hand before proceeding.

"Who is going with Léyah?" Mecha asks with her hand still raised.

Cress was the first to raise her hand, followed by Darlek and finally the black haired girl. Darlek who raised his hand got some lightly surprised looks.

"Who wants to stay here and wait for Léyah to come back?" Mecha asks, still raising her hand.

The cat boy, the black haired girl, and the little girl simultaneously raised their hand.

"Who wants to go ahead towards the tree?" This time no one raised their hands including Mecha.

"I guess we have our answer then. The only question now is for you and me. Are you coming or not?" Mecha turns to the black haired girl asks.

"I'm fine with either one. But if there isn't someone with a weapon staying here then i would be the guard until you guys come back." The black haired girl shrugs.

"Then in that case, i am staying here as well. Léyah's group have two fighters already. Anymore and it might be a bit overkill." Mecha declares.

"Now that we have settled on our course of action. Let's get going shall we?" Léyah turns towards her two excorts.

"Wait. You know where your going, right?" Mecha asks just in case.

"Yes. I can still feel its call, if that makes any sense." Léyah says while putting a hand above her chest.

"Nothing about this situation is making any sense to begin with." The black haired cat boy quipped.

"True. Anyway, good luck out there." Mecha nods at her.

"Understood. We'll be going then." Léyah nods back before leading the way.

The three bolts off at great speeds, their figures quickly turning distant.

"Be careful!" The black haired shouts at the group before disappearing when they turned the corner.

The Mecha and co stares at the alley where Léyah's group disappeared to for a while before the black haired girl comments.

"You know. I really find it impressive that she is able to run in those heels without tripping or spraining herself."

"I know. Heck, you should've seen her make a 10 meter long jump with little to no instep." Mecha says as she recalls the other ridiculous stuff Cress and Léyah did during their first days together after finding themselves in this world.

"Really?" The black haired girl asks shocked.

"You already saw her do it a few times during the ambush at the skyway." The cat boy joins the conversation.

"Wait, when exactly?" The girl tilts her head.

"It was when part of the bridge collapsed under us while we were under attack by those harpy freaks. She freaking jumped from a falling rock and landed next to us." The cat boy crosses his arms while his tail was swaying behind him.

"Oh shit. I thought she just managed to grab on to a ledge or something." 

The cat boy suddenly felt someone lightly tugging on his shirt. Looking back, it was the little girl who was silent until now.

"Serina was too busy shooting at the harpies." She softly said with her adorable high pitched voice.

"Ah, i see." The cat boy hums as he pats the little girl's head.

The little girl squints and leans in at the touch while her slender pink cat tail was swishing around behind her.

"Hey Mecha. How old is CakeBits again?" The black haired girl who was called Serina asks.

"She's 14-15 i think?" Mecha looks at the sky, trying to remember her exact age.

"I'm turning 15 next week." The little girl chimes in while still snuggling close to the cat boy.

"Aw. Then how do you want to celebrate your birthday?" Serina asks smiling.

When the cat boy heard that, he froze. Mecha raises a brow while CakeBits hugs the cat boy tighter and said,

"I want to spend the whole day with bro in bed." 

The instant the girl said that, as if everyone was a hit by a time stop spell like the one from earlier, everyone froze on the spot. While the girl was blissfully unaware of the strained awkward air and was just nuzzling her head against the cat boy's chest. Slowly, Mecha and Serina looks up at him. The cat boy felt like his blood will freeze from the cold stares he was getting from the two. To makes matters worse for him, he could see Serina slowly reaching for the katana on her back and hear the faint click of Mecha's rifle safety being turned off. 

"Wait, this is a misunderstanding! It's not like that!" He screams towards the two, trying to calm down them down.

The two with their smiles still on their faces, approaches him with malicious look in their eyes. Mecha places a hand on his shoulder and was about to say something until she was interrupted by the loud sound coming from behind, the same direction where Léyah and the others headed to.

*DUNG DONG DUNG DONG*

"What the hell?!" Serina screams as they all turn to see a golden pillar of light rising towards the heavens, then quickly followed by a shockwave of golden light that knocks them all down. The golden shockwave repeated 4 more times whenever they hear the bell rings.

Mecha quickly gets up and darts towards the ladder to her right and climbs the 3 story building, after reaching the rooftop in less than 5 seconds. She looks at the pillar of light that was already growing smaller by the second. She clicks her tongue at the building that was blocking her from seeing the origin point.

"Mecha!" Someone calls her from behind.

She looks back and saw the others also followed her up here.

"I am guessing that it's probably them." Serina says with conviction.

"Maybe. But i need to check out where it's coming from first. Hold on to it for me a sec."

Mecha says as she puts her rifle onto her back and mysteriously connects to something before bolting straight towards the cell tower. Before she crashes towards the metal, she run up the thick metal beams while using her forward momentum pushing her towards the metal, essentially gaining pseudo gravity. She managed to run up 10 meters high before the momentum pushing her against the tower dissipates. Gravity quickly took hold of her as she could feel it starting to pull her down. But in the split second where her upward momentum was equal to the pull of gravity, she puts all the force she could muster on both of her arms in that split second and launched herself upwards by another 3 meters. She repeats this a few more times until she reaches near the top.

The three on the ground could only awe at the series of superhuman feats as she instantly climbed the 20 meter tall cell tower in less than 5 seconds.

"Holy shit!" Someone shouts just as another series of ringing of church bells echoes throughout the empty city.

Mecha looks towards the origin of the pillar of light as it slowly disappears into nothingness. There, in the far off distance, was a large clock tower that was being encircled by rings of golden light. The Clock tower looked massive even from afar, standing at what looks to be a hundred meter tall and 20 meters wide, and made her wonder as to how did they not see it before. After staring at the sheer scale of the clock tower and the light circling it for a few more seconds, she jumps off and rolls on the ground to redirect her momentum. 

"I know where they are now, let's go. They're four or five hundred meters out."

Mecha says as she takes her rifle back and quickly heads for the ladder. The others was quick to follow suit as Mecha jumps at the down facing the ladder and catches herself midway through. The others also replicated what she did and catching themselves using the ladder. She waits for all them to get down before leading the way. They sprinted through the alleyway at great speeds, heading straight towards the location where they think Léyah and the others are.

While they are running at ridiculous speeds in a 3 meter wide alleyway, Serina calls out to Mecha from the back of the group.

"Mecha, do you think they are okay?"

"I think so. If it was something bad then i don't think something that big is going to happen out of the blue." Mecha replies while running on the wall.

"I see. Hut! So you think something good is happening?" Serina says as she jumps over a 4 meter tall wall.

"I don't know, but we have to make sure they are okay." Says as she squints her eyes from the sudden brightness after exiting the shaded alleyway.

The group stopped in the middle of the road for a few seconds to let their eyes adjust to the brightness before they immediately returned to running again but at a speed faster than a human could ever achieve. While running on the straight road, the others keep glancing at the golden rings of light floating in the air. After a while, Serina who couldn't help it anymore shouts to get everyone's attention.

"Hey guys!"

"Yeah?" Mecha who was at the front replies. 

"Is it just me or does everyone feels like they could keep running like this forever?"

"I do! But let's figure that out shit out later and keep moving!"

"Gotcha'!"

After sprinting for several minutes, the group was finally able to see a large open field at the end of the road. Mecha who was at the front of the group slowed down and the others also matched her jogging pace. 

"BlackBits, CakeBits. Stay between me and Serina. Serina guard the right flank. And Black in case something happens, just focus on protecting your sister."

"Always have been. You guys will always be second priority." BlackBits scoffs.

"Bro!" The pink haired cat girl said in a reprimanding voice.

"Don't worry Cake, it's fine." Serina pats the pink haired girl a little before drawing the katana on her back.

When they got to the end of the road which abruptly cuts off and meets the grassy plains and with the buildings gone to block their sight, they were greeted by a fantastical sight that made them slowly stop in their tracks. Standing in front of them was a large stone bricked spire with a large clock perched at the top of it. It looked old yet maintained as indicated by the copper gears poking out from inside the building was reflecting the golden light above like it was just polished recently.

"Come on, let's go." Mecha calls out to the three who was still admiring the sight of the clock tower up close.

The group marched towards the tall double doors, where they immediately saw Léyah's group inside. Upon seeing the three's figures, Serina instantly calls out to them.

"Hey guys! We're here!" She shouts as she waves with her left hand holding the oversized revolver.

Darlek and Cress turns around and saw Mecha's group approaching. Darlek greeted them by the entrance while Cress remained close to Léyah who was still holding the glowing sword. The four new arrivals looked confused at Léyah didn't respond to their call. Walking around the small lifted podium where Léyah currently stood, they could see her holding the hilt of what looks to be a sword with a very unusual blade geometry stuck on a brass pedestal. Looking up at her blank expressionless face, they were surprised to see her eyes glowing in a golden color while looking at the sword.

"Cress. What happened?" Mecha asks while staring at the unresponsive Léyah. 

Cress just shook her head before turning to look at her from the side.

"We don't know. Ever since she held the sword, she has been like that since. We tried calling out to her but she just doesn't respond like she can't hear anything." She says with a worried look, her eyes turning teary.

"Have you tried forcing her to let go of it?" Serina joins the conversation.

"Darlek said that it might be a ritual of sorts and that we shouldn't touch it or things might turn for the worst."

"If we consider what Léyah said about earlier, then that is something worth taking caution of." Mecha mutters while playing with the fire selector switch of her SCAR-L.

"It's not just that. That flower girl also said it might get angry if Léyah leaves it behind." Darlek cuts in.

"Meaning it has a life of its own." Mecha concluded, surprising a few people.

Darlek nods and glances at Léyah's back for a second before continuing.

"The only question now is what exactly is it doing?" 

"The ritual huh." Serina takes on a brooding look.

"Yeah. For all we know, it could just be some sort of magical contract or something. But it could also be just some sort spell designed to take over her body, or worse she got cursed by that thing and is just frozen in time. Hell, she could even be dead by the end of this."

The instant he finished speaking, something flew past his nose and struck the 2 feet thick wooden door. He turns to the projectile that almost reaped his life and saw the butt end of a steel rod barely visible inside the wood.

"Don't ever talk like that about her again!" Cress screams as she glares at Darlek.

"Holy shit! Cress! what are you doing!?" Serina quickly drops her weapons and arrested both of Cress' wrists.

The ornate metal crossbow made a heavy thud as it hit the floor. 

"There is no way Léyah is dying! She is fine!"

"Cress, relax! No one is saying Léyah is in any danger right now. We are just trying to figure out what's going on with her." Mecha tries to placate her.

"Yeah! Look, let's just calm down and wait for her to-"

Serina also tries to calm down the angry wolf but was cut off mid sentence when a golden shockwave suddenly blew them all away from Léyah. While everyone was sent tumbling to the floor, Léyah who was unmoving like she was frozen in time begins to slowly pull the sword out of the brass pedestal. While pulling the sword out of the pedestal, a powerful gust of wind was was billowing around her. 

"Léyah!!" Cress screams her name all the while resisting the strong gusts of wind that threatens to topple her over.

"What the fuck is happening!?" 

"I don't know! Just keep your head down!"

The gale continues to blow wildly as Léyah lifts the sword to the air. The sword shined brightly in a golden color while small wispy streams of golden light was coming out of Léyah's body and getting sucked into the sword. Seeing that light, Cress pressed forth while screaming Léyah's name.

"Léyah!!"

While everyone was just waiting for the winds to stop, Cress who somehow managed to get close to Léyah, closes the gap and embraces her from behind. With her arms wrapping around her waist tightly as to not let her go, she calls her name one more time.

"Léyaaah!!!!!"

A few second after she yelled her name, the golden streams of light leaking out of her begins to slow down. The gale around her was also beginning to dissipate slowly. After a while Cress could feel someone holding her hand. She looks up to see the familiar teasing smirk on her face.

"Aww~ Did you miss me already, Cress?" She said with a small lilt in her voice. 

"Léyah!" Cress cries out. The relief in her words was clearly apparent.

"Give me a moment dear. I'll just finish up what i started."

Returning all her focus towards the sword. She starts to absorb the power that it stole and as well as the swords own power. As expected, she felt resistance when she tried to absorb its power and was even fighting back by trying to absorb hers instead. She tightened her grip on the sword and grit her teeth.

'There's no way i am losing!' 

With all the willpower she could muster she fights back by sucking the Sword's quintessence. The action was taking a lot out of her and she felt like she is about to burst as pain shot through her entire being, causing her to shudder. Her vision turned completely white for a split second. Although she kept her body firmly rooted, she staggered a bit and her focus loosened, causing the Sword to start siphoning on her again. 

Then, she felt the arms around her waist tighten and a squeeze on her hand as if reassuring her. The gesture felt like it was empowering her and although the pain she was feeling throughout her body was still there, she felt like she could endure more.

With renewed vigor, she tightens her grip on the hilt once more and hits the blade onto the marble floor. The blade sunk more than she anticipated but paid it no heed and immediately start absorbing the sword's power again. Again she felt it's resistance and another wave of pain shot through her arm and into her chest before spreading to the rest of her body. She endured the pain and redoubled her efforts and continued her siphoning. 

The Sword vibrated in her hand as she feel its resistance getting stronger, strong enough to make the flow of golden light move at a snail's pace. In response to that, she also starts absorbing much more aggressively. The invisible tug of war continued for what seems like hours until the Sword's resistance suddenly vanishes. With the abrupt loss of resistance, she couldn't adjust in time for the recoil as the sudden surge of it's powers rushes through her. While feeling the elation of it's power surging through her as she adjusts the amount of power flowing, she begins to feel something else. She focuses on that sensation while still absorbing the Sword's power.

'What is this...? Emotions? Wills and... intentions?'

She thinks to herself as she tries to understand what she was feeling from the will that was mixed into the power coming from the Sword itself. She tries to understand what the will was trying to convey to her.

'It's willingly letting me absorb it? You are... Test? What? You...were testing me? Hmm.. I see. Successor? Ah, i see now. Search for the others? I don't even know where most of these places are! Relics and Artifacts? Regalia? No time...Trust? What on earth are you doing? I...' 

"!!?!?!!!?!" 

She let out a voiceless scream from the pain that suddenly struck her as the unfamiliar memories and knowledge comes flooding into her mind. Her knees buckle from the searing pain in her head continues until it lessens to the point she could think again. When she gathered her bearings, she found herself kneeling and was only managing to do so with the support from Cress who was hugging her this entire time.

"Léyah!!" Cress screams worriedly from the sudden lost of strength of her friend.

She tries letting go of the sword but found that she couldn't. Her hand won't let go and instead grips the hilt tighter. She stares at the glowing Sword in her hand through her teary eyes and asks.

'What... is this? What are you doing to me? Mixing our souls? Let me absorb you? To save everyone you say...But we don't even know what is going on in the first place. Shut up and accept your memories...? Fine, then.'

Meanwhile. While she shut everything out as she sunk deeper into her consciousness, the people around her was wrapped in anxiety as to what they had just witnessed.

"Léyah what's wrong?! Talk to me Léyah! Léyah!" Cress asks as she felt her go rigid in her arms. 

"Cress! What's happening!?" Mecha comes over and checks up on the two.

"I don't know! I think she's fighting the sword!" Cress says in the verge of panicking.

"Let's get rid of it then!" Darlek says, about to motioning to reach out to the sword.

"Wait! If the sword's causing this then what would happen to Léyah if we remove it then? We are not even sure if getting it out of her hands is the right choice to begin with." Serina grabs his wrist to stop his.

"Then what do you suggest we do?! Sit around and do nothing?! I already lost Arnes back there and i am not going to lose another friend."

Darlek shoves Serina away and reaches for the sword. But before he could even touch it, Léyah who was ignoring everyone suddenly grabs his hand.

"Trust me." She said and lets go of his hand while still down staring at the blue jewel embedded in the Sword's hand guard.

"Léyah." Said anxiously as she felt Léyah's hand grab hers. 

The group remained silent and just watch Léyah's whole body glowing in golden light. Then a while later, the Sword's golden glow dimmers as the wispy wavy streams of light becomes less and less until it finally stops, like a container that has been dried up. And just when they thought it was all over, the Sword suddenly exploded into particles of golden light in a silent manner, spreading throughout the entire floor. 

"What the hell?!" Mecha peeks below the arm she used to cover her face.

Right after she said that. The particles of light slowly begins to get sucked into Léyah's body, the parts touched by the particles of light remained glowing as it melded into her body. The group squinted as her body was getting brighter and brighter until they could no longer stare at her as she shined brightly like the sun. The room was painted golden once again by the bright light radiating from Léyah's silhouette that was barely recognizable through the light. The group at this point was now shielding their eyes from the bright light, waiting for whatever was taking place to finish. 

The group didn't have to wait for long as after a few minutes, the light starts to dimmer. While everyone waited for the light to dissipate, Cress who was worried for her friend's well being stared at the still glowing silhouette of Léyah. As the light subsides, she instantly noticed some changes on her friends features that she grew familiar with in these last two weeks.

The most distinctive one was her blue and white dress. Previously. Her dress looks more in fashion to the late gothic period with all the frills and ribbons. Now, while most of it stayed the same. Her long waist high skirt that hid her legs was now a two tiered skirt .

The first new layers length ended where her knees would be while the original blue skirt stayed the same length with just a small diamond cutaway near the ruffled trim revealing the black fabric beneath with golden roman numerals written on it. As for the first tier, it wasn't that much different except that it has large inverted triangle below the trim with also some roman numeral written in gold on it.

The white Jabot style shirt with puffed up sleeves was still the same except for the few additional thin blue leather straps wrapped around her arm and a tight fitting vest wrapped that was open around the chest area, making the vest look more like an under bust corset as it hugs her waistline perfectly and emphasizes her chest more.

"Enjoying my new look?"

The question made her look up at the owner's face as they approach her. She stood in front of her with a confident yet warm look paired with her usual teasing smile. Looking at her in the eyes, she was surprised to see the changes. Her beautiful blue eyes now had a different color on each eye. Her left eye color stayed the same but with specks of gold, while the right eye color changed to gold but with blue specks instead. But the most drastic changes was the shape of her irises. Her left eye looked more like a gear while her pupil looks like an 'I' while the right eye looks like a clock with its hands changing positions whenever she blinks. 

"Léyah...?" Said Cress, baffled by her changes.

"Yep. That's me!" Léyah chirps and skips to Cress and hugs her. "Did you miss me?" She whispers with a small lilt in her voice.

The familiar teasing tone shook Cress out of her stunned state and looks at Léyah in a serious manner and asks.

"Are you okay? What just happened?" 

Léyah smiles at her worrywart of a friend while quelling the rising feeling inside her heart that she just recently discovered. She took a glance at the others who were making their way towards her before looking back to Cress with a smile.

"Don't worry. I'm fine. I'm just mentally tired, is all."

She said while burying herself into Cress' shoulder for a couple seconds, then she separates herself and greets the others.

"Hey guys. I thought you guys were waiting for us. Did something happened?" She tilts her head in curiosity at Mecha's group.

"We were. Until we heard a loud ass bell and a pillar of light shooting up into the sky before a freaking shockwave knocked us all over, so we came here since we don't know what the hell was going on." BlackBit said in a sarcastic manner which earned him an elbow to the side.

Mecha ignored the cry of pain behind her and looks at Léyah worried.

"What Black said. We came here to investigate what was going on and when we arrived, you were already holding the sword frozen in place. Speaking of which. What happened to the sword?" 

The question made Léyah sigh, thinking how long it would take to explain everyone everything.

"It's going to take a long time for me to explain what i just learned. Is that okay with you guys?"

She asks everyone in the room and all nodded at her. She sighs once again before gesturing for everyone to gather and stood at the center of the podium. Everyone gathered around her while wondering what she is up to.

"Stand inside the podium and don't step out okay?"

She waits for everyone to gather inside the circumference of the platform before she puts her right hand where the hilt of the sword would be if it was still in the pedestal. Everyone gave her a confused look except for Cress, before they all exclaimed at the sight of a familiar looking hilt of a sword, that should've exploded into particles of golden light, slowly materializing from her hand wrapped in a golden glow.

The sword came to existence as it slowly forms the cross guard before forming the blade. Once it came to be, she sheaths the sword's blade into the pedestal and turned it like one would turn a key to open a lock. The pedestal turned and blue lines emerges on the swords blade. A second later, they could hear something rumbling deep below ground and the large gears around them starts to turn. Then, a rail rises around the podium and stops at waist height while they could feel something vibrating coming from beneath them, before the platform they are standing on suddenly starts rising. The ones close to the railing instinctively grabs holds on to it and stiffens, but once they realize they are safe they relaxed and starts to curiously look around. 

"Holy shit! We're on a levitating elevator." Serina exclaimed as she stared at their reflection on the brass square pillar. 

Mecha looks at their reflection and sees a large blue orb encased in a glass dome reinforced with brass. She stares at the glowing orb for a few seconds before tearing her gaze off it and looks around. As they ascend, they pass through several floors filled with mechanical gears, wires, brass steam gauges and pipes. Mecha notes that it looked similar to an inside of a steampunk engine.

After a while, their ascent slowed down to a stop at what they assume to be the top floor as the railings goes back to the platform. The group stayed in the platform for a while, looking around the room. Just as they stepped outside of the platforms circumference, red lasers from multiple angles was suddenly aim at the whole group except Léyah. The group tensed up as they watch turrets unfold and aim at them.

"What the fuck?!"

"Léyah! What the hell is this!?"

"Calm down! I'll turn it off." 

Léyah pulls the sword out of the pedestal and raises it in the air. Then she starts releasing small amounts of wispy particles of light from her hand to the sword, and then the sword flashes in gold light. A second later, the turrets starts to fold into the floor, walls, and even inside the furniture itself. While watching the guns fold back into it's hiding spot, the group stayed tense for a minute or two before they all judge that it was safe. They turn to Léyah who leisurely walked towards one of the four islands and sat on a two person seat sofa.

"I apologize for that everyone. Please do not worry. This place is safe, as you can see from the defensive measures. Please take a seat." She said as she sunk herself deeper into the soft cushion.

The group walked down to the island a little apprehensively and sat on the sofas around surrounding a coffee table. Cress who had just picked a spot to sit on was suddenly called by Léyah. She turns to her and saw her patting the space beside her with a smile on her face. She sighs at the gesture as if she finds it troublesome but still complied and sat next to Léyah.

After seeing everyone sat down, Léyah clears her throat to gather everyone's attention back to her.

"I'm sure everyone is exhausted from all the events that took place today and would very much like to rest, but i know some won't be able to relax properly with all those thoughts bothering you. So please pay attention to what i am about to say as we also need to discuss our course of action from here on. After all, we need to plan what we're going to do in the future since we now have a way out of this World."

When she mentioned a way out of this World, everyone froze for a second before they all stared at her intensely. She smiles at their predictable reaction before taking a deep breath and start talking while thinking that this is going to be a long day.