Back once more! Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it!

RECAP:
- Gilbert, Roderich, Tori and Feliks are still captives of the rebels. Tori recognised one of them, but isn't sure why or how
- Lovino turned 20, and found out that his value, as well as those of all the other royals, has increased by 10 billion marks.
- The Bounty hunters + pirates plan to depart Rela for Nyma, starting their search for their friends.
- The spy conspiracy in the Union continues.

WARNINGS:
Language, minor violence

Also, I would like to take the time to dedicate this chapter to Cone_of_Depression. You are an absolutely amazing person, and I really don't deserve the kind words you send with every update! It's people like you who keep me going, and I'm truly grateful that I managed to get someone so wonderful hooked on my story. Thank you so much! :D

Szwicza District,
Bibesti, Rela,
18th Maarch

Arthur scowled as they passed easily through the checkpoints. Try as he might to conceal it, he could tell that Francis was watching him closely. He dropped his gaze to the floor. Seeking out Colin was pointless, in any case. Though his brother had been friendly enough when he'd entered Rela, Arthur wouldn't put it past him to be offended that Arthur hadn't stopped by.

And he'd been close to going, too. He'd sought out the address one day, and stood outside for almost an hour, unable to make himself go inside. He had wanted to, so, so badly, but he just couldn't. He'd tucked the paper with the address on it safely among his possessions, though he almost didn't need it; he'd already memorised it.

But what did you say to someone you hadn't seen in over three years? Arthur had made his choice all those years ago. He had cast away his family in exchange for a life which could offer him what they couldn't. Pirates didn't mix well with normal civilians. He had expected, should he ever see them again, that he would be met with anger and disdain. But Colin hadn't acted like that at all. He hadn't been so much as irritated at Arthur. Clearly, his family knew him too well. They understood his reasoning, and instead of being angry, they still managed to support him. A far cry from their numerous brawls and arguments when they were children.

'Honestly, I'm surprised that you're still alive.'

'Law enforcement can't kill me that easy.'

'You know that's not what I was talking about.'

A chill ran up his spine as he remembered his brother's words. But of course, Colin would be surprised. He was the first one that Arthur told, and the only. Niamh had learned via Colin, of course – she was his wife, after all – and considering the fact that Alistair, Noah and his parents were yet to hunt him down and kill him – they had been told as well.

He winced. They had been away from Reycass for far too long. He was normally very careful about how much of his supply he brought, but this excursion of theirs had been completely unplanned. He had hardly asked for Roderich to get captured. By his count, he had one dose left. It was scheduled to be taken today. And then what? He shuddered to think about it.

His headache throbbed, hammering pain into his skull. Arthur winced, raising a hand to it. As if going through planetary checkpoints wasn't painful enough.

He turned his attention to Vash. Though he was a well-known assassin, he seemed completely calm when going through. Arthur had glimpsed the name on his passport – Julien Keller – and was unsure if it was an alias, or Vash Zwingli was in fact a false name like his own. He didn't ask. Vash was hardly a friendly person, and he seemed to regard people invading his privacy as akin to murdering babies in front of him.

Thankfully, getting out of Rela was far easier than getting in. The only real security parameter was a check of your passport to ensure you weren't a wanted criminal. After that, they were free to collect their ship and fly away. He couldn't help but sigh in relief as the planet vanished into the white blur of hyperspace behind them.

Arthur turned to go to his room and relax a little, only to nearly collide with Francis. His eyes widened, and he stumbled back a little.

"Ugh, mind not standing right behind me, wanker?" he snapped. Francis raised an eyebrow.

"I must admit, it's kind of funny. I was the one who took a knife to the gut a week ago, but you're the one who looks like he's lost a lot of blood." Arthur stared at him, swivelling to examine his reflection in the glass. Shit, Francis was right – he was white as a sheet. He scowled.

"I don't see how that's any of your business." He snapped, turning back around. But Francis' eyes were not on his face. They were staring at the inside of his right elbow, uncovered for once. More specifically, he was staring at the small dots that were scattered over it. Needles usually didn't leave such marks, but when one used them as frequently as Arthur did, scarring was inevitable.

"Your bad choices never cease to astonish me." Francis said, his tone falling somewhere between disdain, disappointment and revulsion. "Tell me this isn't some sort of rehab period." He spat. Arthur stared at him, stomach curling with nausea.

"Like I said before, it's none of your business." His voice came out less forceful than he had wanted, and he pushed past Francis, head pounding again. He could feel the blonde's gaze on his back, and took a deep breath, oddly feeling like he was going to cry.

Just ignore him. He doesn't understand. He doesn't know.

But that was, arguably, the whole problem.

Travelling in hyper-speed, it only took them about a day to reach Nyma, though that was hardly a relief for Matthias. Being back here was hardly what he had wanted out of searching for a group of wayward royals, and he frowned when he spotted the dull spot of colour on the horizon which he knew was Aralos. Just six weeks before, they had come here to begin their search. They'd met Tori, welcomed her onto their crew, and from there, things had just become more convoluted. Not that any of what had happened was her fault, oh no. Tori made a wonderful addition to their crew. It was just misfortune that everything had gone to hell before she'd had a chance to actually live life with them and acclimate.

Matthias sighed, glaring at the outfits they would have to wear down on the surface. They strongly resembled those that he had seen people wearing on Aralos; long, loose sand-coloured robes made of a scratchy material, paired up with musty-smelling headscarves with transparent silk folds to protect their mouths and eyes from sand. Underneath that, they'd been advised to wear long pants and shirts, as well as tall boots with zips. Upon asking why his lace-up boots were not appropriate, Matthias had learned about the thirteen different species of scorpion that were native to the Coysashi area, several of which had a liking of small, dark spaces. He stopped complaining after that.

"If looks could kill, I think our clothes would have been reduced to ashes by now." Matthias looked up, grinning when he saw Alfred standing before him. The younger had already changed into the clothes he was wearing underneath – long, dark brown pants and a long but loose white shirt. Pretty sensible choices. His boots were zip-up ones, Matthias noted.

"I know that these are apparently 'optimal' to wear for protection, but I am from northern Rywan." Matthias groaned. "I mean, what's the bet that I die of heatstroke on day one?"

Alfred laughed. "I'm not taking you up on that." Matthias quirked a brow, but grinned, greatly cheered. Alfred checked his watch, frowning.

"As awful as they might be, you might wanna get changed. If my watch is right, we'll be there in an hour or so." Matthias gave a long-suffering sigh, but complied nonetheless. This was not going to be a very pleasant trip, that much he knew already. He brushed down his new-old robes, and re-entered the cockpit, where Antonio was also dressed, though he pulled the look off far better than Matthias did. The Jhobrasian grinned at him, pointing out the main screen. Matthias' eyes widened. They were far closer to Nyma than he had thought. They had entered the planet's atmosphere, and for such a dangerous planet, the view was beyond stunning.

Amber dirt stretched out almost as far as the eye could see to their right, with only a few paler patches of ground that indicated grasslands interrupting the rich colour. On their left, the terrain was more rugged, dark soils decorated with large grey boulders and small clusters of bizarre, smooth-trunked trees. To their far left, an immense mountain range stretched up from the ground to meet the sky, cragged grey and black peaks wreathed in pale, insubstantial clouds. The sky was a rich shade of cobalt, offsetting the warmer colours of the ground nicely. To their east, the sun hung, massive and brilliant, in the sky, far more dominant that it had been on Aralos. Though of course, they'd anticipated this; Nyma's path of orbit was closer than Aralos', after all.

Matthias heard shuffling behind him as the others burst through, eyes widening and jaws dropping in amazement as they appreciated their first proper look at the planet. Antonio began to steer the planet earthbound as Vash pointed out several landmarks.

"Those are the Sulig Mountains," he said, pointing to the dark peaks to their left, "the largest mountain range in the whole system." He gestured to the grasslands further to the north as they flew over them. "Those would be the Dar Hin'zas grasslands. They're about 30 kilometres south of the Gafadari grasslands, in Coysash territory. I doubt we'll see the Dar Hin'zas, though we may cross through the Gafadari." He paused, then pointed out something to Antonio, muttering as he did. "It shouldn't be too long now."

Antonio steered the ship up again, soaring over the mountain range. According to their maps, their destination was further north, but Matthias honestly couldn't be sure – seeing things in real life was very different to seeing them as lines and text on a map. They swerved past a particularly steep peak; which Vash announced as Mount Zair'de'baatas, and began to descend again on the other side, where the land once again levelled out. Vash stretched up on his toes a little, squinted, and then pointed. "There."

The others frowned, trying to spot whatever Vash was pointing out. Matthias' eyes widened, finally able to see it when they crossed past a detached peak of the Suligs. A dark stretch of land lay ahead of them, as far as the eye could see. It was pitted with craters and rubble, and smoke hung above the space in massive clouds.

Their unspoken question was answered by Vash. "Katye's Plain. Once a place filled with many of the Iramese minority, and treasured by both the Coysash and Mugarobe for it's fertile soil and water reserves." He curled his lip in disgust. "And now look at it."

Matthias could hardly stand to look at it; Katye's Plain was less of a plain than a narrow, shallow valley. Though he could understand, looking at some of the surrounding land, how it might have once been beautiful, it wasn't like that anymore; more of a dark, vile gash in the earth than a piece of land worth warring over. He turned away, and instead moved back into the living room, where their map was still spread out over a table. Matthias ran his hand over the small mark which indicated the plain on the map. It looked so insignificant there, and yet he could only guess, by the appearance of the plain, how many lives had been lost in the fight to claim it. The Nymian Civil war had been going on for decades, so he knew it would hardly be a petty figure.

Alfred had followed him out of the cockpit.

"It's awful, isn't it?" he said, frowning. "The whole war thing, I mean." Matthias shrugged, trying to conceal how much he agreed with the words.

"People die every day." He said, struggling to keep his tone neutral. "Death is just another part of life."

"800 deaths a day isn't normal, though. Particularly in such a small area." Vash's cool tone interrupted them from behind. Matthias jumped a little, brow furrowing. Nyma didn't conform to the Universal Standard Calendar, and thus used it's own, 400-day year, that he knew. 800 a day….he blanched as his mind filled in the blanks, doing the math without his consent. Shaking his head, Matthias turned away, cursing softly when his vision blurred. Vash hardly seemed to note his discomfort and emotional reaction. "We land soon. Be prepared." Matthias nodded hurriedly, leaping to his feet and rummaging through his bag, mentally going over their checklist. Certain that he had everything, he nodded in satisfaction, closing up his supplies.

"Everyone, you might wanna hold onto something!" Antonio's voice crackled out overhead. "This might be a little bit of a rough landing." Considering Antonio's standards for 'rough' and 'smooth' landings, Matthias knew this would be bad. No later than he had thrown his pack over his back and seized one of the couches in the living room, the ship was suddenly flung to the side. Gazing out the windows wildly, Matthias blanched when he saw the jagged grey rocks which they were hurtling past.

"Antonio!" he bellowed. His next words were swallowed, however, when the ship flipped in the air, plunging downwards for a single, heart-stopping moment before shooting skyward again. Alfred was yelling indistinguishably, clutching the sofa near Matthias. His legs slammed into Matthias' stomach, and, winded, Matthias' hold on the couch slipped. He was slammed into the window with enough force for a worrying cracking noise to emanate from Matthias' side, accompanied by a great deal of pain. Yelping, one of his hands flew toward it, tears of pain springing to his eyes.

Before Matthias could even process what was happening, the ship gave a great shudder, spun wildly, and came to a stop. They had, finally, landed. Alfred slowly poked his head above the couch, looking shocked and confused. Matthias, groaning, curled onto his side, face screwed up in pain as Alfred dashed over to him, firing off questions. He could hear the others talking in confusion and surprise.

Arthur, however, probably vocalised all of their thoughts the best.

"What the actual fuck was that?" he yelled as he staggered through the entrance to the living room, death-glaring at Antonio as the Jhobrasian sheepishly left the cockpit. "Were you trying to kill us all?" Antonio shrunk away a little, then shrugged. Arthur positively lunged for him, scowling. "Stupid bloody cunt–" Ivan yanked him back, frowning.

"It wasn't my fault!" Antonio cried out, holding his hand up in a gesture of surrender when he seemed to be certain that no-one would punch him in the face. "There was an airspace enforcer tracking us. I had to avoid it!" Arthur paused in his futile efforts at getting Ivan to release his hold on him.

"An airspace enforcer?" he echoed. "But the Sulig Mountains' south-western stretch is neutral, isn't it?"

"Apparently not." Vash said sharply. "The Mugarobe have been advancing around this area for a while now. It only makes sense that they would annex it." He picked up their map from the floor, surveying it with a look of discontent. "If they control the south-western stretch, that means that they also control the mountain passes. If we want to avoid capture by them – which we will, since they'll assume we're Coysashi and execute us – we'll have to travel deeper through the mountains." He rolled up the map, a disgruntled look on his face.

"Will that be a problem?" Mei asked, looking anxious. Vash sighed.

"It might be. We'll have to be very discreet, and move quickly. We don't want to antagonise any of the mountain tribes around here." No-one was eager about meeting any of them, that was for sure. They all nodded, and silently collected their things, disembarking without further discussion.

Even though the landing hadn't been ideal, their ship was in surprisingly good condition. It had skidded along the ground a little, and as a result, had had long streaks of its paint worn off. Other than that, however, it looked the same as ever. Matthias, having been helped out of the ship by Berwald, looked around. They had landed deep in the mountains, on a small, sandy cliff which hung in the shadow of a massive, twisting black mountain peak. Turning around, Matthias' eyes widened as he took in the view beyond the landing. Gradually shrinking cliffs stretched away in a haze of grey and white. Red dirt lurked beyond, the land they had soared over just before little more than a smudge of bright colour on the horizon. It deeply contrasted the vibrant colours of Nyma's surface that they had seen before. It was as though, within the mountains, all colour had been drained away, leaving them in a sepia-toned landscape. Only the vibrant blue of the sky remained unchanged.

Despite the intense heat which had greeted them when they'd stepped outside, Matthias shuddered, pulling the rough folds of his robes closer around him. His side was throbbing painfully. He saw Berwald throwing him a concerned glance. He forced himself to smile reassuringly, turning away to again survey the sharp peaks. They seemed to be almost stranded. They were hemmed in by dark rock on two sides, and the other side yielded a sharp drop. He didn't see how they were going to get out.

The thought had no sooner left his mind when Vash, seemingly doing a final rundown of his personal inventory, pointed to a small, dark gash in the rock. Alfred's eyes virtually bugged out of his head as the assassin walked toward it.

"You're kidding. That's where we're going?"

Vash turned, disinterested look once again present on his face.

"Of course," he said, "it's a rarely used mountain path, but it should serve us our purpose." Groaning, the others followed him reluctantly. Ivan hesitated.

"Shouldn't someone wait with the ship? What if it gets stolen? We'd be stranded here."

They all paused, considering the idea. Of course, having known Ivan for a while now, Matthias was acquainted with the idea that the imposing man was a bit of a claustrophobic, and he knew that Ivan's concern over safety wasn't his only motivation here. He was nodding even as the others turned to get his opinion.

"Good point. I don't want to spend any more time on this hellhole than necessary because we had to buy a new ship." He made eye contact with Ivan, smiling. "Why don't you stay and watch it? You're a lot more intimidating than the rest of us. I doubt even the Mugarobe will mess with you." Ivan nodded.

"Alright." He shot Matthias a grateful look as the others shrugged in agreement and began to file through the hole. Matthias winked.

"See you on the other side, Ivan." He said, accepting Alfred's helping hand up into the hole. The tall man waved.

Matthias planted his feet on the jagged rock as Alfred hauled him up. He staggered slightly as his side burned with pain, so intensely that he felt his stomach twist with nausea. Forcefully ignoring the feeling, he placed his hands on the rock on either side of him. The small passage was very narrow, to the point that he had to backtrack a little and turn his body sideways to get through the end.

Beyond the passage was a narrow path. Rock rose on either side of them, towering above and blocking out their view of everything but the sky. The path here wasn't much wider than before. Taking a deep breath and rubbing his side, Matthias moved on. This was going to be an unpleasant trip.

When Lukas was little, he had played with a wolf in the palace gardens.

It had only happened once, but he remembered the day with stunning clarity. He had been maybe four or five, and still ignorant about what was dangerous and what was not.

He had been sleeping under one of the benches when he'd been woken up by fearful screaming. By the time he had fully come to, it had been silenced, and he had spotted the animal.

At well over a metre tall, it towered over his small stature. With it's black and white fur, golden eyes, black claws and blood-red gums, it might have been intimidating to other people. But, having explored Oslaholm and seen countless people with small wolves as their pets or hunting companions, he hadn't felt afraid. He remembered having been enraptured by it's tail. It was much longer than that of a normal wolf, and almost seemed smoky, like it faded into air by the end. He had been intrigued, and thought the wolf was interesting.

Being the sort of child that he was, he had walked up to the wolf and tried to pat it's muzzle. Being so small, he had been upset at not being able to reach. The wolf had been silent and still, regarding him almost with interest for a moment before it dropped it's muzzle slightly so he could reach. Laughing in delight, Lukas had patted the soft fur, reaching for it's ears. The wolf again complied, dipping it's head even further so he could touch them. He had spent a little time just petting it, before trying to play with it. At first, the wolf had seemed disinterested, but had quickly started to follow him, gently nudging him.

He had ended up running around with it, giggling. Whenever he fell over, the wolf would walk over and pick him up by the back of his shirt, gently setting him back on his feet. Despite the creature's fearsome appearance, Lukas had never remembered feeling afraid or threatened. More like the wolf was an exasperated babysitter who was mildly annoyed by him, but generally entertained as well. No-one came to bother them for nearly an hour.

He had been seated on the ground, giggling madly as the wolf had licked his face, when his mother had speedily turned the corner, guards in tow. Upon spotting the wolf, she had screamed in horror. Offput, the wolf had backed away, showing it's side teeth. Lukas had complained and cried when the wolf went bolting in the opposite direction. His mother had stared at him for a moment, seemingly stunned, before she had come to her senses and scooped him into her arms.

Later, he had been told that the wolf was quite dangerous, and shouldn't be approached. The reason that no-one had bothered them before then was that everyone had bolted for their rooms and locked the doors when they saw it in the hall. When he complained and told her the wolf was kind to him, she had smiled sympathetically, messing up his hair.

"I know. But it's still a dangerous creature." She said. But, even at a young age, Lukas had seen the odd look in her eyes. It resembled a half-processed shock, fear and stunned confusion combined with a strange anticipation.

When he got older, he was able to appreciate exactly how his mother had felt then. Watching a dangerous and potentially life-changing creature circling her son. The panic and fear she must have felt still drove guilt deep inside him.

But the feeling he could relate to; something dangerous was circling, and yet he bore a feeling of both fear and anticipation.

That was how he felt now.

Vlad gave him a sidelong look as they exited the prison cells. He wanted nothing less than to talk about what that girl had said to him, but knowing the incessant monster which was Vlad's curiosity, he had no choice.

"What was that about?" he inquired. Lukas shrugged.

"I'm not sure." Vlad raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" he said, sounding thoroughly unconvinced, "She seemed convinced that she knew you."

"I don't know her." He said. Vlad frowned, still looking doubtful, but the other man, thankfully, dropped it.

"Anyway, we have bombs to get to!" he said excitedly, though his happiness seemed a little dampened from what it was earlier. Lukas followed him, letting Vlad's one-sided chatter flow over him.

This whole thing was getting too convoluted for his liking.

Matthias had predicted that the trip would be horrible, and he was right. It didn't really help.

They had been trekking through the narrow mountain path for hours now, to the point that Nyma's massive sun had sunk out their vision, and the sky had turned indigo. The path was hardly smooth, either. Every few minutes they were sliding through a very small gap, in which they had gotten stuck more than once, clambering over fallen rocks, or scaling steep cliff walls to get to the next section of path where some had collapsed.

They were so deep in the mountains that all sound from outside seemed to have been blocked out. Even the cries of birds which they had heard when they disembarked had gone silent.

He was suffering greatly for the pain in his chest. He had clearly hit the wall hard enough to break something, though considering the pain in his chest, the blunt force trauma might also be seriously damaging. He was starting to lag.

Luckily, for his own dignity, he wasn't the only one struggling a little. Arthur, who had looked pale and drawn since they left Rela, wasn't doing much better. According to him, he had a vicious migraine, though judging by the almost grey colour of his complexion, he wasn't feeling very well either. At least, since Arthur was hanging back with Matthias, he was helping him up over the rocks, which he appreciated a great deal.

Arthur had been looking a little better in the past few hours, but the climbing and walking clearly wasn't doing him much good.

The two of them staggered weakly through a final rock cleft, with Matthias' legs giving out under him when he landed. He coughed, chest tightening painfully as he looked around. They had finally caught up to the others, who had evidently stopped to rest. They were in a small clearing space, perhaps barely large enough for the 13 of them to all lay down. A large rock blocked their exit. Arthur groaned to his left when he saw it. Francis laughed at his expression.

"We're stopping here for the night. We'll scale it tomorrow."

Matthias started coughing, wincing as a sensation of stabbing pains filled his chest. He had already been finding it hard to breathe while walking, and he pressed a hand to his mouth and the coughing continued to rack his body. He saw Louise send him a worried look, and she stood, approaching him and kneeling.

"Are you okay, Matthias?" she asked, voice laced with concern. He tried to answer her, but was racked with another bout of coughing. He could hear the others talking distantly, and felt Louise's hand on his shoulder. Finally, he felt some sort of pressure lift from his lungs, and sucked in a breath in relief. But a sharp, metallic taste on his tongue, and abrupt wetness on his hand made him pause. Cautiously, he drew his hand, blanching when he noted the blood splattered across it. Louise also noticed it, yelping in shock.

He must have fainted, because his next memories consisted of the others leaning over him, his head turned to the side, and someone's cold fingers probing at his chest. Blinking in confusion, he attempted to sit up, before quickly being pushed back down (gently) by Antonio, who looked very concerned. His shirt had been pushed up, and Vash was poking and prodding around his ribs. Nodding about something, Vash withdrew his hands and allowed Matthias to pull his shirt back down.

"Pulmonary contusion." He said simply. Though Yael and Arthur seemed to know what that meant, everyone else looked as confused as Matthias was. Vash sighed. "The trauma from your impact with the wall has bruised your lungs." He explained. "That's what the blood is from." He looked up again. "Not super serious."

Everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at that, relaxing a little. Vash frowned. "If I were a doctor, I would recommend you don't exercise too much, but we don't really have a choice here." Matthias winced at the thought of throwing himself over those rocks again tomorrow. Alfred frowned.

"Can't we like, carry him or something?" Vash nodded slowly.

"That is an option," he conceded, "though it'll slow us down a bit." He looked around at them all. "It's a shame Ivan stayed behind. I would be correct in assuming he is likely one of the strongest of you, yes?" they all nodded.

"I can carry him." Berwald mumbled. Matthias grinned at him weakly.

"Thanks, Ber." He whispered, clutching his chest when it filled with stabbing pain again. Vash frowned.

"Don't talk too much." He said, standing. "Anyway, I suggest we all get some sleep. Unless someone else is dying on us?" he asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. The others laughed a little, though Arthur looked too tired to join in.

Within a few minutes, they had all managed to find enough space to lie down. Matthias slumped back on the ground, closing his eyes as exhaustion overtook him.