Welcome, one and all! I'll just make a short announcement. This'll be the last chapter I can release this month, because I have to attend private affairs on the literal other side of the globe/disk. With that in mind, I might be able to squeeze in one of those "nuggets" I spoke of in the "after-chapter-rant" of chapter 19. If I get around to writing that, it'll probably be its own story, where I'll archive all these "nuggets". It'll probably be named "´Towbwnb´ nuggets" or something of the sort. Just check if it exists in the FoZ x Gurren Lagann crossover section on the 13th of December. If not, then that's that.

Anyway, to the reviews!

GammaCavy: Probably. I mean, who knows. It could be anyone. For all we know, it might even be Lagann itself that handed itself over to Osmond. Feel free to expect literally anyone. Because if Gurren Lagann taught me anything, is that you can do the impossible (and see the invisible (row, row, fight da power)).

On we go!

„Spit it out, fuzzball."

„Patience isn't your strong suit, is it?" The answer Viral got made him even more exasperated.

"Nope."

"Well, you'll still have to wait till we get to the cave. I'm not explaining myself in this rain." That may or may not be exaggerated. It was rumbling in the distance, sure, but nary a drop was falling on their heads. The most water they'd found so far was a foot wide river they literally stepped over on their way here.

"Why? You scared of a little water?" It became increasingly apparent that Kamina wanted his explanation as badly as he wanted breakfast in the morning.

"No. But I prefer not being and having a cold. It's just up ahead anyway. I can see it already."

Tabitha had listened to the men's conversation with great interest, as it'd given her the opportunity to learn quite a bit about this mysterious Viral and Kamina (although him always wearing his heart on his sleeve made that slightly unnecessary). Back to Viral, for one, from him seeing the cave, and her being unable to, she realized that he must be able to see better in the dark than humans. And from what the other man said earlier, he appeared to be looking for a storyteller named Larive; but unlike her, he didn't seem to notice the fact that Larive was an anagram of Viral with an added E at the end. Adding Viral's attitude of dismissing questions about the storyteller and promising he'd answer later, and she considered her suspicions mostly confirmed. Viral was Larive.

After a moment of silence passed, a drop of rain actually did hit her glasses. She held her hand out to check, and sighed. It was just a stray. Taking off her glasses, she cleaned them with her cape. Unless rain started to properly fall, it would be wiser to keep her glasses clean. You never know what might happen. For instance, another drop hitting the exact same spot. As she put them back on after cleaning them again, the cave the beast (?) spoke of came into view. It was as she had suspected, his eyesight was better than that of a human.

Once the others saw it, they urged to increase their pace, with even more intensity once the rain started coming down consistently and quickly made the warmth of summer disappear from their mind and body. The thing that truly made them go faster, however, was the dog, who'd been growling at her and Viral ever since he saw them and barked once he, too, felt the cold sting hit his skin. Although she wondered about the animal's hostility toward her, the dog wasn't as interesting as the cloaked predator, so her mind dropped the subject pretty quickly. Besides, there was that odd connection she felt toward him she wanted to find an explanation for.

Upon entering the cave, everyone collectively sighed. It had been quite a trek from the beaten path, so the group had been constantly on guard for any more of those Diamond Dogs, as Viral had called them. According to him, they normally lived in the east, far, far into elvish territory. At times, when they ran out of food in their native environment, he explained, they travelled west in search of prey. They also had this odd clock hidden in their instincts that gave them a good idea as to when a return home was feasible. Still, rarely, they went far enough to cross the border to Germania, but only for very short times, as the animals there were too small to nourish them over too long periods. Seeing one in these parts was a first for him, too, because of that; it might be the first recorded sighting of these creatures outside of the elvish lands. As for the unrecorded ones, well, they probably ended up in the east as blind passengers in the Diamond Dog's stomach.

After the group took a look, they noted the fact that this cave was rather small. Too small, to be honest. They barely fit inside, and building a campfire would take up more space than they could afford. But Viral was seemingly unperturbed, standing by the back wall. "Now then, where was it…?" He was patting the stone with his claws, looking for something. He soon found it. "Got it." He pushed his fingers into the wall, making part of it crumble. His hand now around a grip of sorts, he pulled. A dusty box came off, behind it a lock, and, reaching into a pouch, he pulled out the corresponding key. It was coloured red, albeit a bit blanched; its blade was shaped like a star.

Upon opening the lock with some difficulty, the entire cave shook, and they watched in astonishment as the back wall slowly moved aside. What lay behind? Total darkness. Anything beyond a foot in distance was obscured in this ever hungry black sheet. However, Viral just stepped in, felt around the corner a bit, then something clicked, and the veil was lifted. A light went on in the centre of the room, which was easily as big as at least three of the Academy's noble-sized bedrooms put together. The beast (?) turned around, and did a small flourish.

"Welcome to my humble abode."

After everyone filed into the room, he went over to an odd contraption in the back and pressed another button, though its effects were easy to decipher as their shivers began to lessen over the next few minutes. The warm air made Tabitha's mind race all the faster, but before she could indulge her curiosity, Kamina waltzed up to Viral and demanded an explanation for his being here. Sighing, he walked over to a set of chairs and a table beneath the lamp. He gestured for everyone to take a seat, a suggestion they accepted all too happily. Once everyone was comfortable, he began telling his tale. To Kamina, at least.

"Let me first tell you what has become of the Dai-Gurren Brigade. After they took the Dai-Gunzan, or the Dai-Gurren, as they called it, their journey went on as it had before. However, after your sudden disappearance, spirits were low. Simon was in his room all day, creating statues in your image, or so I heard. The only one to get him out was a girl he rescued." It appeared that he wouldn't be kind to those out of the loop, as evidenced by the general confusion. Siesta, too, wasn't familiar with all these terms. But the leader of the Dai-Gurren Brigade, apparently, knew more than even he should.

"Nia, right?" After a brief period of shock, Viral visibly tried to restrain himself from yelling at the sheer impossibility of the situation.

"How the hell do you know that?"

"Yoko told me in a dream." The ridiculous answer confused the others even further, but surprisingly, the beastman seemed to settle down slightly after that.

"So I was right. Anyway, after he finally accepted your death, he went on to destroy every last of the remaining four generals and their Dai-Ganmen. Eventually, he stood before the Spiral King himself. Their battle…it truly was a spectacle to behold. Two spirits, clashing with all they had…it was unlike anything I'd ever see again." Impatience, sorry, Kamina, spoke up again.

"I don't care about your feelings. What I want to know is how to get back home." What a terrible listener, Viral thought. Probably came with the territory of telling so many stories himself.

"I'm getting to it. Skipping the repopulation of the surface, seven years ahead to be precise, we arrive at the day after Dayakka and Kiyoh's child was born. It was a harrowing day for humanity; it was the day the Anti-Spirals attacked."

"The what now?" This was getting annoying.

"The Anti-Spirals. A, uh…it's hard to define what they were, exactly, but let's call them a different kind of humanity. They kidnapped Nia and threatened to destroy the planet."

"As if they could actually do that." Kirche interjected, and the storyteller, slowly building up the desire for murder due to these constant interruptions, now even from a second source, explained himself.

"Sure they could. Dropping a moon on a planet is quite effective at eradicating it." Kirche still wasn't convinced.

"Bullshit! How would they do that!" Oh, that was an easy one.

"With Ganmen. Naturally. Once it became obvious that the Dai-Gurren Brigade was unable to deal with the problem in a safe manner, Rossiu assumed control and sent Simon to prison for endangering the citizens of Kamina City."

"So he named a city after me, huh…?" Viral turned to find a somber looking man staring at the core drill hanging below his head.

"You were his role model. Your ´death´ left a deep scar in him. He may have accepted it further up the road, but he never forgot what it was you did for him, and all of humankind." Kamina's expression dropped, and Viral realized that he could probably continue with less interruptions. "After he ended up in prison, we met for the first time since the war. Had a really good fight, too; it was the most alive I'd felt in ages. Of course, the moon falling on our heads kind of undercut that, so Yoko bailed us out to save the day."

"She thought saving your sorry ass was a good idea?" So much for that. At least he wasn't being a prick about it.

"Took a bit of convincing on Simon's part, I'll admit. We learned a lot about each other through our fists. Enough that he thought it to be a good idea to let me borrow Gurren for a while. Then we went to space." A palm hit the table.

"How?! Why?! This story is utterly ridiculous!" Enough was enough, Kirche thought as she gave the thoughts of the sane people a voice. She was waved off, though, with little respect from the storyteller for being rudely interrupted once again.

"Correct. But that's how the Dai-Gurren Brigade rolls."
"…the Dai-Gurren Brigade rolls."

Viral took a moment to realize what Kamina had just done. Heh. Guess he finally accepted that he had been part of the Brigade. After all, only insane people who thought the inconceivable was completely normal were allowed join. It was kind of a bar of entry, to be honest. "You need to be this stupid and/or crazy to join." Not like any sane people would ever consider it, for better or for worse. Probably the former.

"I think it's best I fill you in on the fact that about half a million people were being brought to outer space by the Arc Gurren, a Ganmen at least a hundred times the size of the Dai-Gurren. It was Rossiu's idea to save humanity that way. Didn't exactly help with his plan that the Anti-Spirals brought a giant fleet to obliterate them. That's where we came in."

"How many did you get with your battle-cry alone?"

"'bout a hundred of them." It was at this point that everyone with an ounce of sanity lost the ability to follow anything that was happening in this crazy mess of a story.

"Not bad. So then you obviously combined with the Arc Gurren, right?"

"Yep. Even twisted space-time while we were at it."

"And the moon?"

"Darry and Gimmy had to take control of the Arc Gurren Lagann while Simon and I shoved a Giga Drill into its core. Turns out, it was another Ganmen. We named it Chouginga Dai-Gurren, in homage to the Dai-Gurren they busted in the fight against the Spiral King."

"It's a good name. Not the best, but a good one."

"Yeah, but the fight wasn't over yet."

"Of course it wasn't. You have yet to tell me how you assaulted their home base."

"I swear, it's almost as if you know the story better than I do."

"Hey, you told me I am Simon's role model. Also, we both know the Dai-Gurren Brigade's approach to things."

"True. We opened a portal with Chouginga's power and put the real moon back where it belonged, then another to attack the Anti-Spirals where it hurt. And just between us, we changed outfits for it, and Yoko's was straight bangin'."

"What are you two whispering about?" The germanian interjected again, feeling rather left out – it was more of a conversation between Kamina and Viral, to be honest, and the fact that so many names popped up that the others, her included, had no way to follow what the two were talking about, only frustrated them further. The beastman, annoyed once more at her rude interruption, dodged the question by answering truthfully.

"The meaning of life. So, once we arrived, we were immediately, and I mean immediately fucked. After trapping us in some kind of weird space, they unleashed huge warships on us, even larger than the Chouginga. The drill of Arc Gurren Lagann did nothing."

"So you combined with the Chouginga."

"Indeed. But it took a lot of Spiral Energy to power up, so the Anti-Spirals didn't just leave us to it. No, they threw us into the Sea of Despair."

"Sounds like that bathhouse Ganmen."

"Pffft, that hunk of junk? You still remember that?"

"Let's just say those mosaic things really got to me."

"The Sea of Despair was a terrifying place. Imagine being crushed to death by all sides in perfect darkness. That's what it felt like. We were constantly being pulled further in by its core, and we knew that we'd eventually turn to dust if this kept up. So Kittan, with one of Gurren Lagann's drills, made the ultimate sacrifice, and carved a hole right through it. But not without stealing a kiss from your girlfriend."

"That dirty son of a bitch! I'll fucking kill him!"

"Kamina…don't you want to honour his sacrifice?" Siesta seemed to be down upon hearing of this heroic deed, and Viral made sure to keep the damage from his baiting as low as possible. Because he knew that beneath all the desire to rip Kittan a new arsehole, there was some deep respect for the man.

"Oh no, that's not it. I just slipped him some info he, and only he would be keen to know. Let's leave it at that. So, once the core was gone, the Sea of Despair dissolved into pure Spiral Energy. It was more than enough to make the Chouginga transform. We tore those bastards apart in seconds. But…"

"There's more? How could there possibly be more?" Kirche was a horrible listener, which Viral was all too keen to let her know with a baring of his fangs accompanied by a frightening glare. She shrunk back the tiniest bit, but stuck out her tongue at him in defiance a second later. Sighing, he continued, hoping this was the last of it.

"They still had a whole pocket universe waiting for us, in which our deepest dreams were reality. Once we realized that, we pulled out with the help of Gurren Lagann and rescued Nia. Then…it's hard to describe. Imagine your insides becoming your outsides, in emotional terms. I felt…whole when the entire Brigade combined. The Ganmen was bigger than the universe itself. It's name was…"

"Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. The heaven-piercing Gurren Lagann." Kamina knew. He just knew what it had to be called, the Ganmen larger than the heavens themselves…he wondered just how big it had to be. The storyteller nodded, but kept his solemn attitude.

"But not even that was enough. Our bond was torn apart, and only with another sacrifice did we find the willpower to combine again. Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. For the first time we had surpassed the Anti-Spirals. I felt like my soul had grown in that very moment. With one last Giga Drill Break, we destroyed them. It was finally over, and a week later, whilst we were still celebrating the liberation of mankind, Simon and Nia were wed. However…" The way Viral trailed off made Kamina's eyes widen, and his hands curl up into fists as it dawned on him.

"…don't tell me…"

"Nia was a creation of the Anti-Spirals. Without them, she vanished right after they kissed." The man's fist hit the table.

"Why? Why can't my brother ever be happy?! First, I have to go and vanish on him, and then the woman he loves dies! Fuck!" Kamina nearly smashed the table as he continued pounding on it. It was the only way he could deal with this harsh truth. He was so happy to hear his brother had surpassed him, and yet, the universe just kept trying to keep joy away from him! If anyone should have a happy life, it was Simon! So why?!

"Listen, Kamina. I know you're not in the best state right now, but I have worse news to tell you." It wasn't over?!

"What could be worse than Simon not getting what he deserves?! Huh?! What?!"

"Time is a cruel mistress. I know this'll be hard to swallow, but…the story I told you just now took place over five thousand years ago." His brain did a full stop.

"I hope I misheard." It was all it could muster to protect itself from the onslaught of despair welling up in his chest.

"Did you hear me telling you that this happened over five thousand years ago?" He felt faint.

"Yeah." He barely managed to answer.

"Then your ears are fine." His vision went dark, and he fell on the table, unconscious. The others jumped up to check on him, and Viral went over to the back of the room to press yet another button which made a mattress and pillow drop from the wall. "Drop him on here." He advised Tabitha, who had raised the unconscious Kamina into the air with a spell. Nodding, she did as he said, and silence sounded through the room. Eventually, Siesta spoke up.

"Sir Larive…sorry, Sir Viral…are you really responsible for Kamina's scar? And is what you just said true?"

"Yes, I am. I'm sure he told you of the beastmen. And yes, everyone Kamina knew and loved…is now dead." The maid nodded with tears in her eyes as she stroked the man's face. Upon hearing the maid know what a ´beastman´ was, Tabitha's curiosity turned into frustration. It felt like she was the only one out of the loop. And whilst the story had been interesting, she didn't have any context, meaning she couldn't understand any of it. Before he knew it, she sat beside Viral, and poked him in the side. "Hm? What is it?"

"Story." He blinked.

"I just got done telling one."

"Context."

"Oh, so he didn't tell you about the war against the beastmen?" She shook her head. "Alright then, let me start at the beginning. It all began with a boy your size drilling a hole into the ground…"

As the story went on, something dawned on Tabitha. Viral's way of speaking about these events from a time apparently long past almost sounded like he was immersing himself in a time during which he was happy. It was a wistful tone, and she could hear the punch in the gut that was his being stuck in a time where all his friends were gone. All but one. And even that was a debatable relationship, judging from their earlier spat. So that was the reason behind the connection she felt. She, too, was yearning for a time when things were better.

Once the story was over, he asked her whether she was satisfied. The truth was, she had no idea if she'd ever be. Staring him in the eye, she demanded an explanation of a certain word she didn't understand. "Spiral Energy?"

"Oh, yeah. I guess you wouldn't know about it. You mages actually copied something there – you know the term ´willpower´? It actually originates from Spiral Energy – it's the will to succeed, to progress, to evolve, this everlasting belief that nothing is impossible."

"Hope?" She stated, and after a short period of thinking, the beastman nodded.

"That's another way to put it." Now that her curiosity about that was satisfied, she pointed at a big red button that was placed in the darkest corner of the room. His gaze became much harder. "That button will not be pushed, unless it's a dire emergency, and I allow it. Got it?" Nodding at his wish, yet disliking his harsher tone, she asked for one last explanation.

"Five thousand years?" He seemed to become even more downtrodden as he pulled a crossbow from his belt and loaded a bolt. She watched curiously until he held it to his head. Her tongue wasn't fast enough to yank the weapon from his hands before he let it loose. The bolt got its first half through his skull before getting stuck, and Tabitha watched in horror as the hand carrying the crossbow dropped toward the ground. Her thoughts drowned out the others' shocked cries. W-why did he do that? Her feelings…were they to be trampled yet again?

"I will never get used to that." He casually said, slowly pulling the bolt from his head to make sure the prongs left him exactly the way they entered. No need to add another cross-shaped hole in the side of his head. Her eyes wide, she could do nothing but stare at a completely fine and healthy Viral. "If a master of Spiral Energy wishes, they can make you immortal. My King did this, a long time ago. Still hurts like hell, though." The best way to digest this revelation was to hear another story, said Tabitha's mind, continuing to tune out everyone's (mainly Kirche's) anger-filled yells. She was quick to ask for it.

After putting away his weapon, and telling those shouting to shut it by ignoring them, with a softer demeanour, Viral began telling a tale. It was the tale of a man who continuously fought against destiny, willing to destroy himself and all he cared for to do it. His best friend, who trusted him with his life? Betrayed for the greater good, but to no avail. Yet, he was forgiven for his transgressions, against himself and his friend. After getting a good punch to the face, of course. And so, a new sun rose for that man as his friend saved the day before disappearing into the shadows forever. The man became the leader of their world, and under his reign, everything prospered. Until one day…

"But that is a story for another time. I need to get some shuteye." Viral said, yawning as he leaned back in his chair. "You know, you might just be the best listener I've ever had. Thanks for that." He added before dropping into the land of dreams, like the rest of their motley crew already had. It was only now that Tabitha noticed it. She had been so enthralled by the tale of President Forehead that she completely forgot about the existence of everyone else. Perhaps, that feeling…was it hope? Brooding over it, she muttered an incantation with the staff leaning on her shoulder as she closed her eyes for the night.

Thunder cracked outside, loud enough to jolt Siesta from her dream. Her eyes darted toward the entrance, where a shadowy figure was standing, staring out into the woods. She checked on the others, who were all dozing in their chairs, like she was just a second ago. The only one missing was Archie. Getting up from her chair, she silently crept toward the figure so as not to wake the others, and figuring it was Archie, tapped him on the shoulder.

"Don't bother." Oh. He must've heard her getting up. These chairs made an awful lot of racket, whatever it was they were made of. It wasn't metal, wood, and must definitely not anything close to leather. She went up to his side, and stared out the opening, seizing up with every flash, which was followed up quickly with the rumbling of thunder. She doubted that she could sleep with the storm this close by. So Siesta, with all this time on her hands and nosiness in her blood, decided to take this chance to finally badger out the man's reason for being here.

"I guess I do owe you an answer." He said, holding up a bronze pendant. "This was Salvatore's, and contains a picture of his loved one. Or so I was told. I never actually checked, nor will I ever do that, or let anyone else, for that matter."

"But how will you find them?" His response was pointing at the beastman sunk in his chair, carelessly snoring the night away. Confused, she kept prodding. "Sir Viral? How would he know…?"

"I have it on good authority that the storyteller known as Larive once helped Salvatore hide his wife in Tarbes. That's how."

"H-hide? Why would she need to hide?" The words chosen unsettled Siesta slightly. Just what would someone need to hide from?

"Because of me." From Archie? No offense, but she doubted that he was terrifying enough to force someone into hiding. The sombre way he said it took her aback, however.

"…what…?"

"Salvatore used to be a romalian knight. Heard of the Knights of Undine?"

"Of course! They were a travelling group of warriors that were tasked with helping those in need by the church!" They were famous throughout the lands for being honourable and just. Sorry, actually honourable and just. Those words became more and more meaningless as more and more nobles decorated themselves with them.

"Exactly. I guess you'll need to know this, too. I was born into a family that served an albionese noble. The one from the stories." Again, she immediately knew who he was talking about.

"You mean the Archduke that-"

"Was attacked by the King of Albion due to heretical practices? Yes, that's the one. The charges were complete horseshit, but the raiders didn't care. Every last soldier and servant, no matter how old or willing to fight was slaughtered. The only reason I survived was because I managed to hide in time. The fire, however…" He held up his scarred arm. "It made one of the beams fall down right next to my hiding spot. I should be grateful, honestly. It's how I managed to get enough air to survive a few hours, which was when Salvatore pulled me out."

"B-but…! That doesn't have anything to do with his wife, r-right?"

"Siesta. If you saved a servant of someone branded a heretic, what would the church do?"

"I-I don't…"

"Yes, you do. You just don't want to accept it. Neither do I. Which is why I promised him eternal loyalty. He and his men were the only ones that stood by my side and defended me, even if it meant throwing away their livelihood. Once we got out of Albion, we went underground as mercenaries in La Rochelle." After being confronted like that, the only thing she could do was press further. Even if it meant asking obvious questions like…

"The port? Why there?"

"It becomes much easier to hide in a place where people come and go like clouds. Anyway, Salvatore left us for about three weeks before we could carry on. We took on a few jobs here and there, and decided at one point that hiding in plain sight would be best. So we found a baron in some random germanian province and guarded his estate. It went well until a few months back, when our hirer croaked, because Germania is a giant cesspit of greed and betrayal. I'm actually surprised he made it that long. Anyway, after that, Salvatore insisted we go serve Count Mott."

"Why would he do that?"

"Something about the count living in an isolated corner of Tristain. We left for his estate soon after. It was easy enough to get hired, as he was running low on manpower at the mansion. I guess you know why." Yes, Siesta had overheard Colbert reading that sickening diary. She would rather forget it existed entirely. "After the only servant disappeared three weeks after we arrived, we got a little suspicious. Everyone wanted out, but before we could, you showed up."

"And I know the rest?"

"Yeah. Unless you want to know what stuff Salvatore read in his free time. Stuff like ´Stirring her insides´. Not like you'd be into-" The rumbling of thunder did nothing to save his ears.

"I love that piece! The way the man stands up to the noble with all his heart, knowing that he must protect his pregnant lover, it's such a wonderful story!"

"Are you trying to wake them up?! Calm down!"

"Oops. Sorry. I guess I got carried away when you mentioned my favourite." Favourite?! Perhaps Salvatore was wrong in calling this one a child. Scratch that. If that book was her favourite, then he shuddered to think what other things she read. That piece was among the more extreme ones to ´grace´ the market. He should stop thinking about it.

"You guess?" He sighed. "Whatever. Can you even read?"

"No, but my mother can. It was one of my bedtime stories." Oh. Well in that case, maybe she might still be a ragazza.

"So she told you a story in which the main characters do…that? Really?" Actually…if this was one of her bedtime stories…

"True…it might not be suited for children, now that I think about it."

"You think?!" She stuck out her tongue at him before going back to staring into the woods. He joined her in that, squinting at the flashes of light every now and then. After an eternity and a half, she spoke up.

"Archie, would you mind letting me help you find his wife? I feel like I have to." He could hear the guilt in her voice, clear as day.

"Fine. Under one circumstance. Don't take responsibility for his death. He called you ragazza for a reason. There was no blood on your hands in his mind. So don't besmirch his memory like that."

"Alright." Siesta spoke, before going back to her chair, feeling satisfied and tired from their conversation. As her back faded into the dark, Archie put the pendant back into his pocket, sighing at the incredibly stressful memories being stirred up again as well as the idea of that book, and all it…entailed. Geez, everything he thought sounded dirty when he put it in the same sentence. He was never the best at handling physical proximity to anyone, really, but women especially. Call him shy if you want, he called it healthy disthrust. Wait, that wasn't supposed to come out like that…! He banged his head against the wall to stop the pain. Well, it was a nice attempt, but now he bore both the embarrassment and the sensation of literally running into a brick wall.

"Salvatore, I think I found the person who'll take over your job of making my head a disorganized mess. So you can stop worrying about my life being simple." Something soft hitting the back of his knee then did what the wall couldn't, and distracted him from his thoughts. Sighing, he sat down cross-legged, and let Chaplin curl up in his lap. "Sorry that we woke you up, bud." The dog snorted mockingly at that, and closed his eyes. Archie watched the steady up and down of his back, and realized that his eyelids were becoming heavier the longer he looked at it.

Shaking his head, he did the best he could to stay awake. Standing guard was his job. But at the same time, the temptation to sleep was beginning to overwhelm his senses. His fight against his instincts became harder and more desperate by the second; he wanted to make at least half a decent contribution to the party. A furry tail smacking his chest made him snap out of it. Smiling, he thanked his friend, and gave in. Chaplin turned his head toward the entrance, taking over the first shift. He might not be able to smell any intruders through the rain, but his nose did pick up on something else in the air a second ago. He didn't like it one bit; hoping his nose was simply playing tricks on him, he lowered his head onto the fool's thigh. Not that it was comfortable, there was too little fat to properly rest, but it'll do.

Archie was woken by another tail whip. Grunting, he opened his eyes, and was surprised to find the sunlight shining outside. He blinked first, then looked at the snoring dog in his lap. "Don't worry, he got his fair share of sleep." It was also certainly unexpected to find the storyteller himself sitting next to him. After he settled down, he glanced behind him to find the rest of the group sleeping. Now followed the questions.

"So you took over a shift?"

"Yeah. Dog was real persistent 'bout it. What's his name?"

"Chaplin. Say, could you tell me a story?"

"Sure. It's kind of my job." Came the answer from the beast's mouth as he began aimlessly carving spirals into the wet rock. Archie prepared for tension as he spoke a name feared and respected throughout Tristain.

"According to the Lion, you once helped a man called Salvatore hide his wife from the church right here, in Tarbes. Tell me her name." Naming that person made Viral stop in his tracks, before continuing again, albeit the carvings were thicker and deeper.

"And why should I tell you?"

"Because of this." He held up the pendant, and the slit eyes widened.

"I see. So the crazy bugger died. Shame. He was such a sucker at cards that he funded entire nights at the bar." His tone didn't match the words he spoke, and the man was all too aware as to why. Speaking with the Lion meant to be a part of his family. And if you messed with his cubs, then the father would tear you to shreds.

"Sounds like him, all right."

"Just do me a favour. Once all is said and done, don't ever speak that name in front of me again. Got it?" Archie couldn't guarantee anything. The Lion was whimsical with his favours. But it seemed as if he had no choice in this regard. Like with the favours he'd undoubtedly have to deal with in the future.

"If it means I get to put Salvatore's soul to rest, I'll do it. Now spit it out."

"Alright. Her name was-" Apparently, someone was still a horrible listener, as evidenced when Viral was cut off once more.

"Hey, I am the only one feeling that?" The two glared at Kirche for a second, but then they took notice of it too.

"…tremors? The hell is causing these?"

"Probably whatever is behind that smoke." As Archie shot up, stirring Chaplin from his sleep, the dog's hairs stood up. So his nose had been right all along. That smell, that pungent smell of foreboding death that just took over his nostrils every time it was near. War was upon them.

Well. I busted out that invasion quicker than a hentai protagonist would his dick. Though I wonder, considering this is a surprise attack with what equates to bombers, would it be alright to be compared to Pearl Harbor? Tristain got Pearl Harbor'd. Actually, since the invasion happened in Tarbes, it might be better to call it Tarbes'd. Tristain got Tarbes'd. Oh yeah, and that whole "Everyone Kamina ever knew and loved is dead" thing. And that little detail about "His partner is nowhere to be found". This'll certainly be an interesting sequence of chapters to follow.

Bye!