It was silent as the group made their way towards the prison. The translator held so coldly onto Daiki’s ear. But he quickly got used to the feeling. It was actually quite nice. 

Zakuvo shrank in size and rode on Nolowi’s shoulder. Shrinking or expanding in size took up a lot of his energy so he saved it for the most important occasions. Right now it was important for him to be in the vicinity of his comrades in case of an emergency. Everything was silent. The night was still and there was a cold beam of light coming down from somewhere. 

Is that the moon? Daiki wondered as they walked, nah it can’t be. I mean how can they transport the moon? Do they even have a moon in their world? Where is this light coming from?

He looked around, wanting to ask someone. Nolowi was closest to him but he didn’t feel like talking to her – or Zakuvo, for that matter. He was still pretty upset that they lied to him. Daiki was under the impression that they were in this together. Maybe he was too trusting of strangers. 

“Zyc-san”, Daiki quietly called out.

Daiki couldn’t see him. By now he had gone invisible again to avoid risk of being spotted from the prison’s watch posts. He’d planned to be invisible throughout the mission. 

“Mm?”, Zyc answered indifferently. 

“Uhh w-where is this light coming from?”

“Oh, it’s the Milly”

“Ohh? The Milly, o-of course..”, he nodded briefly but cluelessly, “And uh.. What’s that?”

“Haha it’s like a.. Mock moon”

“A mock moon?”

“It’s a fake moon”, Bavaka answered, “While traveling to distant planets we use fake stars and satellites created by harnessing the energies of the real deal”

Daiki looked at Bavaka, a little mind blown.

“We do it to maintain life and balance while we travel”, Zyc added in a reassuring tone, “Our moon. It’s called Milly, back home. So we call our fake moon Milly too” 

“Ohh”, Daiki paused for a second and asked a new question, “Zyc-san, that bug..thing earlier.. What was that?”

“Oh QomQom?”

“Yup.. that”

Zyc turned around playfully, excited to answer the question, but Bavaka stopped him. 

“Zyc, we’re in enemy territory now. I want you on full alert. Talk later, okay?”

The spark in Zyc’s eyes vanished.

“Aww fiiine”, he scoffed and turned towards Daiki, “I’ll explain later when we’re done with all this, okay?”

For the first time in a while, Daiki felt strangely hopeful. Zyc’s words had managed to bring him hope that maybe there actually was a good ending to this whole plot. One where he didn’t end up in even more trouble. 

Then there was a soft whisper right next to him, “Daiki..”

He looked to his right. Nolowi. It was her. She looked guilty. 

“Are you mad at me?”, she asked, apologetically. 

Daiki rolled his eyes and turned away. 

“Come on, Nolowi, not right now”, he whispered, “We have a big mission coming up and I’m..nervous”. 

“I’m really sorry. I mean.. Zakuvo and I both are. We shouldn’t have lied to you.”

“Hm, that’s right, you shouldn’t have”, then he turned to her with a serious expression, “I thought there was some camaraderie between us, you know. I was confused and alone and vulnerable–”

“I know.. And scared..”

Daiki frowned, “I wasn’t scared”

“You were!”, Nolowi winked, “You said you were!”

“Then why did you lie to me if you knew that???”

Nolowi’s smile vanished and she looked solemn, “You’re right. I’m sorry. We won’t lie to you again, Daiki. We promise. Right Zakuvo?”

Tiny Zakuvo nodded from Nolowi’s shoulder. 

“Hm whatever” 

“Daiki..”, a whisper again. A bit softer this time. Daiki glanced at Nolowi. 

“What??”, Daiki hissed.

But this time, she looked at him, totally confused.

“Huh??”, she asked.

“Why did you call?”

“I didn’t”, she replied.

Is she lying again, Daiki wondered. She watched Nolowi’s face. Her confusion seemed genuine. He decided to drop it for now. He turned away again and continued to walk. 

Soon, they reached the prison gates. 

The distance between their hideout and Roggenkoh was larger than Daiki had imagined it to be. They had walked a lot more than he’d expected. 

When they finally stood facing the magnificent structure up close, Daiki couldn’t help feeling intimidated. He could tell that the feeling was unanimous. Even Bavaka, who stood fiercely ahead of the rest of them, gazed at it with awe. Even though she’d been there before, she was still fazed. 

Daiki glared up, taking in the ominous building at its great height. Up above, clouds seemed to gather over it. He could have sworn he even saw a dark big bird or two circle the rooftop like vultures. On the building there were no visible doors or windows. It was one dark completely seamless surface. From the rooftop, cascaded a solid beam of orange light. Everything was silent. Maybe it wasn’t on the inside but the sounds surely didn’t bleed through. 

Roggenkoh was perfectly menacing. 

Suddenly a voice called out. It was quite loud.

“HALT!”, it bellowed, “State your purpose!” 

"Who was that??", Daiki hissed. He’d figured by now that the translator was doing its job and translating the Mirzil that was being spoken. 

"A guard..probably", Bavaka answered indifferently and straightened up. “We’re bringing in a prisoner!”, she yelled back and tugged on the chain, “Earth scum!”

Ouch, Daiki flinched, she really called me scum.

“Careful now.. The General doesn’t like it when you insult them”, the guard warned.

Bavaka then went on to fabricate specifics about their fake mission, that she’d come prepared with. After an exchange that lasted about two or three minutes, a great sound filled the atmosphere. Daiki gasped and glanced at the front of the prison. First, there was a tall crack on its seamless surface. But then it became bigger. Slowly, but heavily. Daiki wasn’t sure at first what he was looking at so he squinted. Then he realized. 

The gate is opening, he thought. He felt his stomach begin to turn. 

Are we really gonna make it?? Are we gonna be okay? What if they put me in a cell? Bavaka-san and Zyc-san..will they come to rescue me? Or is it just Takashi they wanna rescue? What do they want with Takashi anyway?? Are they only rescuing him because of the rebellion?? Or..? Why? Why else? 

His head was swarming with a billion things. It was almost too hard to focus. The colossal gates slid open with a thunderous metal grating sound that echoed through the flat land. It rang far, as Daiki and the rest could hear, and disappeared into the night. 

Fuck

Daiki felt his chest sting. 

Something’s gonna go wrong. Something’s gonna go wrong.

“You ready?”, Bavaka whispered. 

Daiki glanced at her and slowly nodded. 

“Let’s just get this over with”. Then she pulled on the chain, “LET’S GO! I don’t have all day!”

The act had begun. 

Daiki put on his best pain-stricken face and followed. Nolowi joined in with a stern expression. She got behind him and began pushing and shoving him forward. Zakuvo was still on her shoulder, holding on tight – the once giant bird was now a tiny little critter.

So ridiculous. Everything is so ridiculous, Daiki’s thoughts echoed.

They slowly entered through the colossal gate and stood on a cobbled corridor. It was a dark little spot. A pair of bioluminescent-looking blocks with a purple-orange ombre softly pulsated on either side of the corridor’s arched walls, dimly illuminating it. Daiki couldn’t help but glance with awe for a second. He couldn’t help remembering fantastical places that he’d seen in games that Takashi tried to get him to play when they were kids. 

“Ahem..”, Bavaka cleared her throat.

Ah yes.. Gotta focus. 

There were two guards in the cobbled corridor. Weird body parts of different sizes and colors protruded from their bodies. They had barky skin and looked like something straight out of a fantasy game. Permanent frowns were etched into their faces as they grumpily went on about their paperwork, without a clue of what was about to happen.

"ID?", one guard asked absently.

Bavaka handed him something that looked like a chip. The guard took it, brought it really close to his eyes and inspected it. Then he picked up a pocket-sized block from the table in front of him and placed the chip on it. 

Daiki watched as the chip sank into the block and a tiny green hologram of Bavaka popped up. 

"Mm", the guard grunted and nodded blankly. He then took the chip out and handed it back to her. 

"All good", he said and then held out his hand again, "Arrest warrant?"

Out of the pocket of her bottoms, Bavaka produced another chip.

"Here you go", she said, not an ounce of anxiety or panic on her face.

The guard took it hesitantly and examined it – this time a little closer than before – then gave a brief side eye. 

Bavaka kept a straight, cold face as he then took a good long second look at it.

“Hmm”, he smiled oddly from the corner of his mouth and inserted it into the block. Then a long weird beep. Almost like something from a xylophone. This seemed to be a green light also as he then pulled the chip out and placed it on the table.

There was a very crafty smile on his lips. 

This didn’t look good. Daiki’s stomach rumbled and he had a sense of impending doom. He looked around. Nolowi stood right next to him. Her face was tightened and her eyebrows were furrowed. It was obvious. Even she had noticed. The atmosphere was off. Something wasn’t right. 

He wondered if Bavak also had a bad feeling. And Zyc. And Jupong. Maybe they did. Of course. They were professionals. Bad feelings were a part of their job. 

Bavaka reached out to retrieve the chip.

“Daiki..”, suddenly someone whispered in his ear. Daiki flinched. He’d heard it before. It was that whisper. From earlier. When he was talking to Nolowi. “Daiki..”, it came again. He couldn’t really explain what he felt but it was something in between creeped out and marveled. The voice echoed so uniquely in his head that he’d felt nothing like it before. 

He looked around desperately, trying to see if anyone else was having the same reaction. But no. Looked like only he could hear it. The others seemed to be far too engrossed in what was happening in front of them. 

Just as Bavaka touched the chip on the table, the guard smirked and grunted. 

“Lady..”, he began to say in a condescending tone, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Taking the warrant back, what do you think?”

The guard chuckled. Then he leaned across the table slowly and looked right into Bavaka’s eyes.

“Did I say that you could take it?”

Daiki felt Nolowi tense up next to him. “Bavaka-”, she began to whisper. Her voice quivered. Zakuvo seemed to tense up too. 

Bavaka was unfazed though. She glared down at the guard. 

“Oh, pardon me”, she retorted, “Didn’t know you were colorblind. The #%&$#% turned green if you didn’t notice, you #%&$#% vermin” 

Some words didn’t quite translate from Mirzil. Daiki looked on in confusion. He tried his best to hide it though. He doesn’t hold well under pressure like Bavaka does neither can he play a completely different character like that. Come to think of it, they probably chose the worst guy to play the prisoner. 

“I know.. you can hear me.. Daiki…” 

Fuck. There it is again. Where the fuck is it coming from?? The whisper sounded strained. As if they were in pain.

"Do I need your permission to get the arrest warrant back?", Bavaka barked at the guard.

“Well..”, he said, cockily, “Not mine..”, he picked up the block and pressed something on it. Like pressing a button. He then picked up the arrest warrant, slowly, still fixating on Bavaka with a smirk. 

She clenched her fists. This isn’t right, she thought, If the chip gives a green then it’s cleared. They shouldn’t have to check again. 

The guard wasn’t stopping. Bavaka knew. She knew what he was about to do. She knew what the button that he had pressed was for. It was there to make short, direct calls. 

He was calling head of security. 

Shit. She knew how this would go down. Very badly. But why? Why did they suddenly change the system? It wasn’t like this. They never used to double-verify the arrest warrants. Why now? Does this have something to do with the rebellion? 

Do they know? Does the general know? What is happening? 

Bavaka acted fast. She moved steadily, without causing alarm. Effective just enough to stop the guard before he makes the call. 

Something sprang out from her tailbone and swiftly moved behind the guard. He couldn’t see it. He didn’t get the chance. Because she was already leaning across the table, glaring at him, distracting him with a deviant smile. 

The other guard froze. For a second. Or a full minute. Before he noticed something else. Something creeping up behind his colleague’s back. Something like a long tail. It reached the first guard’s ear and snatched a small white device off of it; her eyes still glaring manically into his. 

The guard began to say something. But Bavaka was faster. She nippily turned her head towards him. Suddenly his eyes shot open wide. And he froze again. As if he was in a trance. Her "tail" then jumped at him and snatched another small white device off his ear. All while she fixated on him.

Then his eyes fell heavy. He looked at Bavaka longingly. Both of them did. 

They were under her charm.

"Tch", Bavaka clicked her tongue and sighed. "I didn't wanna have to do this", she said. 

It all happened so fast. Daiki wondered if no one was watching them through any cameras. In his world, they always did. 

She grabbed the chip off the table and looked at Daiki. “HURRY THE HELL UP!”, Bavaka pulled on the chain, “I don’t have all day!”. Daiki followed along, realizing quickly that they were still in the act. 

The entranced guards slowly got up and began escorting them. At Roggenkoh only guards and wardens were allowed to register prisoners and escort them into their cells. And in this case, it helped Bavaka keep the guards within her range and under the influence for as long as she wanted. Once they were under her spell she could manipulate them however she wanted. 

They moved through the cobbled corridor and entered the prison courtyard. Roggenkoh had two courtyards. One at the entrance and one inside the premises. The entrance courtyard wasn’t accessible to prisoners. It was meant for something else. 

When they walked through the polygon arch at the end of the corridor, Daiki was greeted with something magnificent. It was strange, unexpected and breathtaking. In front of him, laid out across this frightening building’s courtyard, was the most beautiful garden he’d ever seen. 

A garden?? Daiki marveled. As they made their way through it, trees flanked the significantly wide promenade. Trees of all colors. There were purple trees, white trees, pink trees, yellow and blue trees, red and burgundy trees, luminous trees that glowed with neon blue, pink, and green. There were some normal green trees too of course but even they looked magical in this place. Nothing like the boring trees Daiki saw everyday in the city and in Haguko. These trees were a brighter green and their leaves swayed with a soothing gentle sound. And their trunks weren’t all brown. They were also in different colors and textures. They almost didn’t look like trees at all. 

And these trees were so beautifully planted by a master landscaper, so that they looked like a work of art. Like a painting from the Edo era but more magical. Daiki didn’t want to move. He just wanted to get lost in this place. 

How could something so beautiful exist in this ominous prison?? 

The next second, Bavaka turned towards them. There was suppressed urgency in her voice.

“We don’t have much time. We’ve got to hurry.”

“What do you mean??”, Nolowi whispered.

“They’ve got surveillance bots. In every corner of this prison. And they’re watching us. Even now. I thought the – tch”, she hesitated, clearly frustrated. “I thought the arrest warrant would work. But the damn guard got me.”

“Bavaka-san.. earlier.. W-what did you do to them? The guards..?”, Daiki asked.

“I had to use nua”, she admitted, “Siren’s veil. It’s an entrancing technique I use to manipulate my subjects. If someone is watching, they'll notice easily that I did something to them. Then it’ll be just a matter of minutes until they start coming for us” 

“What?? What do you mean??”, Nolowi hissed.

“It means that we’re on the clock”, Zyc urged, “No time to be jaywalking, now come on!”

Then suddenly, a shadow. A dark big shadow. 

It flew out from the prison building and landed in front of them – with a thunderous crash. Daiki’s eyes widened, his heart began to pound. He noticed Nolowi’s face go from worried to straight up terrified. Zakuvo’s too – through his thick feathers. 

Daiki then looked ahead. At the thing that had landed in front of them. 

And suddenly he couldn’t believe his eyes. 

He had half wanted to believe that this was all a dream. But there he was. Daiki had seen him before. At Yua Fujisaki’s backyard. He slowly stood up, a great big monster coming into its true size. No distinct facial features, a gnarly horrifying face, A tall, lanky, and crooked body. He looked much more horrendous than Daiki remembered. 

Then he slowly reached out and extended his arm. Daiki froze. Everyone froze. Just one sound escaped his invisible mouth. 

“He..llo”