The Lost Civilization

by dashboardgecko

Since beyond living memory, great and fantastic beasts have roamed the world, and mankind has fought them; some for glory, some to protect others, but always the monsters have been there. But when legions of mysterious people appear, engulfed in strange blue light, bearing deep wounds of both mind and body, strange things begin to happen, and a darkness unlike any other awakens. 3U

38. Fortress of Avarice

Fortress of Avarice

Disclaimer: Monster Hunter is copyright Capcom. Most of the characters in this story are mine. Richard Jr. belongs to Hoenn Master96

Edited by: Hoenn Master96

On the southern side of the Loc Lac desert was an area of land that was immensely peaceful, a wide expanse of flat plains that sported only the most passive of monsters. For miles and miles there was virtually nothing but long grasslands and low rolling hills, broken by the occasional river or mudflat. Many of the villages were agricultural in nature, and most didn't even have walls, they were so unthreatened by the creatures that lived just beyond the borders of their homes. So relaxed was the land, that though it had no official name, most of the people that lived there simply referred to the area as the Halcyon Expanse.

That wasn't to say that there were never any problems, just that they were infrequent. Barroths were the greatest threat in the area, but the vast area allowed them to keep to their own territories rather well, and the mudflats were far enough from the roads to keep them from recklessly attacking caravans. And many Altaroth anthills dotted the area, allowing the beasts plenty to eat, making them frequently listless and unconcerned with human activity in the area. Occasionally the local towns were met with a beast that was more aggressive than the rest, but most of the time they were left alone by the monsters of the realm, and with Loc Lac so close, and so many strong hunters passing through the area to head towards the Volcano hunting grounds, any issues were usually cleared up very quickly.

However, despite the peaceful nature of the Expanse, danger lurked just around the corner. Further southeast, beyond the grasslands, the land grew drier and more rugged, the flat land breaking away and transforming slowly into rocky, mountainous terrain. There, the monsters grew terribly dangerous, massive, aggressive creatures that saw threats in all things around them, including, and especially humans. The creatures continued to grow more threatening, all the way into the most dangerous area in the region, the Volcano hunting grounds, where only the most skilled, renowned hunters were allowed to step foot in, searching for even greater challenges. Only a few towns and villages dared to grow and thrive in the region, and attacks were common for them.

And though the Volcano was a dangerous area, even that was nothing compared to what lay further west. The Volcano hunting ground lay on the far eastern end of a long mountain range, and if one were to follow the mountains west, they would eventually reach a wide pass that led south through the mountains, just before the mountains turned and followed the edge of the desert north. If you followed that path south, you would find yourself in dangerous lands, where even the most skilled hunters were hesitant to tread.

There, in that pass, you would find something that was not often found in the land under the Loc Lac Guild's control: a hunter's fortress. These were something only built and manned in the direst need. Tall walls, built to be as impenetrable as masons could manage, towered from one side of the pass to the other, providing a powerful barrier to keep any living creature from passing from one side to the other. Even flying monsters would find challenge in getting past the walls of the fortress; dozens of the ballistae lined the southern wall, prepared to fire at a moment's notice to shoot any monster out of the sky that tried to pass over the high walls.

But for those that thought that the Volcano hunting grounds or the mountainous pass leading to the fortress were difficult lands to traverse, it was nothing compared to what lay beyond the fortress itself. For the walls had been erected for a singular reason: to keep packs of the most powerful monsters from making their way out of the south. For in the area of land between those mountains and the southern ocean was an archipelago that positively swelled with thousands upon thousands of the most powerful and dangerous monsters that existed in the country.

There was nothing new or unique about the creatures, though there were some that had aged enough to change into what the Guild referred to as a 'subspecies' of their kind. But deep in the south of the country, the living conditions were harsh and merciless, and the rough conditions had made them harder and tougher, a great challenge to even the most experienced of hunters. And the lack of human villages and towns in the southernmost part of the continent allowed the beasts to prosper to the point where, even with all the challenges a hunter may have faced before, going into such an area was generally considered suicidal. Hunters were only sent that way in times of absolute necessity.

The wall was there for a reason. The power of the monsters beyond the fortress, and the sheer number of them was too worrying for the Guild to ignore, and the thick, nearly impenetrable structure had been built to make sure that the absolute minimum of monsters could make their way through the pass into safer lands. Of course, it wasn't possible to keep them all from crossing; there were many hidden paths that the Guild didn't know about, and they couldn't barricade the entire archipelago off. The forests to further west were unruly, uncharted land as well, but surprisingly few of the beasts attempted to make their way through the trees that weren't used to life in the thick woodland. But many, many monsters tried to travel through the mountain pass, and thousands of the dangerous beasts were kept at bay each year thanks to the fortress and the hunters that manned it.

The hunters that occupied the fortress were a story of themselves. Most of the hunters that took their place on the walls of the fortress were those that had been drafted into the job. It was little-known knowledge that, once you attained your fifth star in the hunter ranks, you were automatically placed in a roster of hunters that could be assigned to the walls of a fortress for a six-month service, in order to keep the country safe from the waves of monsters that crashed against the walls of the fortress in an attempt to find new territory to claim as their own.

Other hunters volunteered for the work, of course, though it was less common. It was a guaranteed method of gaining plenty of monster carves, as those that battled against the creatures that attempted to migrate through the pass were allowed to keep their spoils of war. Such dangerous conditions required such amenities, considering the threat the fortress presented. Others took it up merely for the thrill of it, when they'd faced hundreds of hunts and come out on top, and were looking for a new challenge to face.

No matter the reason that hunters came to fortresses scattered around the country, whether by draft or volunteer, the fortresses were a necessity. They kept the human-occupied lands safe from too overwhelming numbers of monsters, and did their best to keep the particularly powerful ones contained as well. There were less than a dozen of them scattered about the country, each cordoning off populated land from the powerful and numerous beasts that lay beyond them. They were necessary, for the sake of humans, Wyvernians, Felynes, and any other creatures that dwelled in the safety on the lands under Loc Lac's control. As such, they were given top priority by the Guild when new armor and goods were sent out to restock needed materials to towns and cities. Other cities could wait, the fortresses could not.

All of this was information that Ellie had managed to pick up on their journey south from Loc Lac. Apparently she and the others weren't the first collection of hunters that had been curious about the whole idea of why the fortresses were around. Ellie really had no idea that there was such a dangerous area just south of the mountains. In fact, the archipelago that the caravan drivers had described was just a hundred miles or so south of the Flooded Forest hunting grounds, not that far a distance for a migrating monster. It was rather… disconcerting knowing that such powerful monsters weren't that far away, with all the times she'd gone hunting in that region.

But what really had caught her attention was the chance of being drafted to fight for six months upon gaining your fifth star as a hunter. That was certainly something the Guild hadn't made clear to her! She supposed it wasn't something they really wanted to be really public, but it also wasn't something they could just lie about, so they just hadn't openly announced it. Ellie really wished she had read all the fine print when she'd signed all those papers the Guild had given her upon earning her hunting license…

But all this information seemed old hat to the wayfarers of the caravan. She wasn't the first to ask about the fortresses, and they seemed to have explained them often enough to have the story fully rehearsed. A lot of them liked to speculate about the dangers just beyond the walls of the fortress as well, though none had seen the other side of the walls, and none dared to try. Even the hunters that manned the walls of the fortress usually didn't venture far into the dangerous territory, usually just far enough to chase off an attacking monster before returning to the safety of the walls.

To think, Ellie thought, that Kim and Nat, as well as their hunting master, had possessed the courage to make their way to one of these structures, for the sake of defending the country and gaining experience as well. It had been some time since she'd last thought of the friends she'd made in Orage Dell; her life had been exceedingly hectic for some time now, ever since… goodness, it had been since before they'd met up with Pugnax that they'd really had a break to slow down. Since then, both her and Levin's lives had been one big mess after another. She just hoped Kim and Nat were alright. She hadn't heard word from them either in all this time. Perhaps they were having troubles of their own… These fortresses didn't seem very kind or forgiving.

The wagon drivers themselves didn't see too perturbed by the danger of their work, though. They themselves admitted that they were a special breed of caravan, relishing the danger of their work, rather than worrying over it. Most of them proudly claimed that they had the guts to become hunters themselves, if not the physique and skill, and Ellie believed them. They'd seen large wyverns on the horizon during the journey, and the drivers had shrugged it off rather than worrying about it, which was something the hunters certainly couldn't do. The transporters all seemed to possess a boundless 'whatever happens, happens' attitude toward their work.

The only thing that seemed to bother these wagon drivers on their way south towards the fortress wasn't the danger or the distance, but rather the fact that the Guild had ordered them to take the long way around, which seemed to frustrate the caravan to no end. Every chance they got they complained about the whole journey. Ellie supposed they had the right to gripe; the trip was easily three times longer than it should've been for them, thanks to some random monster than must have managed to get around the fortress' defenses and destroy one of the caravans. Such an overwhelming annihilation of a caravan meant the road was unsafe until the monster had been taken care of. And the drivers were paid per journey, meaning they needed to be quick to get more pay, and tripling the time was not good for profit.

It wasn't that the path they were taking was all that much longer that the other, but took them along the western side of the mountains that traveled north and south on the western border of the desert. Eventually, they'd reach a thin path through the mountains that monsters almost never traversed, taking them almost directly to the fortress. The problem was, while this route was a fair bit longer than the wide pass through the mountains, the road was not meant for wagons, and the going was slow, thus making the journey three times longer than it normally would.

There were a few other hunters acting as escorts as well, another couple groups of four that had joined the caravan on their way to the fortress in order to serve a few months on the walls. They all had quite a bit more hunting experience than even Kerry had, and thought it was odd that the Guild was allowing their little group of hunters to act as escorts to such a dangerous area. And they were just as irked at the wagon drivers at having been sidetracked on such a long route.

And then there was their new handler. He was a tall, rough man named Gunther, one that wore armor made of Barroth materials, and wielded a large, blunt hammer made of the same things. And he was not nearly so kind as Tenebris had been to them. He was rude, brash, and often threatened them with physical violence if they didn't answer his inquisitions quickly enough to his liking. At least Bale had been fair (to an extent) to them when they had him as a handler, and hadn't treated them too roughly during their time under his watch; he'd understood why then done what they'd done, even if he hadn't approved of the action. Gunther didn't understand or approved of them going after the Alatreon, and did not try to hide his displeasure with their actions. In fact, he seemed to openly hate them for what they'd done, and showed them little kindness at all since being assigned as their handler. He hadn't told anyone what they'd done, but it seemed to Ellie that he was perpetually tempted to do so. The other hunters seemed confused as to why Ellie and the others would be traveling with such a crude, unkind man, but none of them really had a good answer for them.

The journey was safe, though, just like Stergo had told them it would be. While the mountains to the east and the area surrounding the fortress were incredibly dangerous and filled with monsters, to the west of the mountains there were little to no monsters at all. The gentle woodlands just didn't seem to appeal to the more dangerous predators. The most dangerous creatures tended to be Ludroth, and that was only if you got close enough to a river to provoke a harem of them. There did see a few exceptionally large Jaggi that were bordering on earning the title of 'Great', but most of them avoided the caravan more often than not. Most of the time, the only work they really did was helping to get wagons out of the mud or over large rocks in the path. Other than that, there just wasn't much to do.

It had been about two weeks of traveling by now, and the caravan found itself still skirting the eastern edge of the forest, heading south along the base of the mountains. The map claimed that the path through the mountains that led towards the fortress was only a few miles further. The last stretch of path was short, but it was rougher than anything else on the journey, so it'd be even slower going than before.

"Looks like Stergo wasn't kidding," Levin muttered quietly, walking up to Ellie as they walked in the rear of the caravan. "He really isn't planning on letting us do anything that could call attention to ourselves anymore. I haven't killed anything more challenging than a Jaggi during this whole trip."

"Well, that was the point," Ellie replied, shaking her head. "He want to keep us out of sight and out of mind. What better way to do it than sending us out on pointless missions over and over and over again until everything in Loc Lac is cleared up? Actually, I'm surprised they didn't just drop us off on the walls of one of the fortresses, to tell the truth. That seems to be a solid way to keep a group of hunters out of the public eye for a while."

"Don't jinx us," Levin muttered. "The last thing we need is to have something like that happen to us. Knowing our luck, one of the walls would fall over and we've have to try and survive a monster rush."

"Ugh. Yeah, you may be right. Have you looked inside the wagons?"

"Yep," Levin nodded. "High quality stuff in there. Lagiacrus armor, Rathalos armor, weapons of every shape and size… I didn't know they made things like that en masse for hunters."

"That's the nature of it when it comes to the fortresses," Ellie replied. "Assuming what I've heard from the transporters is true, that is. From what I've heard, weapons and armor are broken and dented on a regular basis up there. There are just too many monsters, and not enough skilled smiths living inside the walls. Rather nasty place, if you ask me."

"Are there any rumors of what managed to get past the walls and take down that first caravan?" Levin asked.

"Not from what the drivers were saying," Ellie replied. "Best guess from the fire marks and stuff, though, is that it's a Rathalos or maybe even an Uragaan that came down from the mountains or something. Either way, we shouldn't have to worry too much on our end, because we'll be able to see both of them coming if we run afoul with them."

"That's hardly encouraging…"

"Oh, cheer up, Levin. The odds of us getting caught by something nasty in this area are slim. The worst things we've seen on this road are a group of Ludroth, and we didn't even get close enough to aggravate them. And besides… we've got the other hunters around to help if things go sour. There are all of twelve of them around the caravan, and they've got more experience than we do. At the very least we should be able to at least chase them off if we're attacked."

Levin grinned. "I guess you're right Miss Ellie. I suppose if we managed to take down a silver Rathalos together, we can hold off a regular Los, or even an Uragaan. Though, I've never fought an Uragaan, so I really don't know what to expect from a fight like that."

"That's the spirit!" Ellie cheered happily.

Ellie nodded to a couple of the other hunters that were traveling with them as they passed by, doing laps around the caravan as they checked around for monsters. Though from the looks on their faces and bored expressions, it was clear they thought the effort was needless, considering the lack of threats they'd had during the last couple weeks. The hunters nodded back, though nothing was said between Ellie and them. The four hunters had kept to Stergo's orders to the best of their abilities, and none of them were talking to the other hunters more than they needed to in order to keep from standing out or being remembered by the others in the caravan. So to the other hunters in the group, Ellie and the rest were a group of lower ranked and unsociable hunters that kept to themselves, and for some reason, kept company with a rather rude man.

Speaking of which, Ellie saw Gunther looking at them from further up the caravan. He often gave them untrusting or downright accusative looks when they were talking together, and often cornered them to demand to know what they were talking about. He seemed to have taken Stergo's warnings about their trend for strange occurrences very seriously, but believed that they were things that they had done were events that they had planned or purposefully gotten themselves into with the intent of raising their popularity and renown. As such, he often interrupted their conversations with each other, thinking that they were trying to find some way to stir things up again. He seemed desperate more than anything else to find out that they were plotting something, searching for a reason to give them blame for something going wrong.

The only ones in the group that actually seemed to be enjoying the trip were Harker and Kerry. Those two had enjoyed traversing between the rocks and forest, collecting random goods and whatsits from both to experiment with. During the nights, when the caravan stopped to camp for the night, the pair spent the entire time discussing all of the notes that Harker had written down on the towers to the north of Nastre, and all the writings on the walls that the Meridians had left behind. They seemed to be making good progress translating the texts on the wall, if Harker's enthusiasm about the whole thing was accurate, though Gunther seemed very distrustful of them both, and often threatened to take and burn Harker's notes, which required some quick speaking on Harker's part to keep him from doing.

Speaking of which, the pair were coming towards them from the front of the caravan, switching places with another pair of hunters that were moving to the front. Harker grinned at the pair of them as he approached, and Kerry smiled at them as well. Her mood towards them had certainly improved since the Rathalos hunt. As Harker began speaking excitedly with Levin over what he'd translated, the bowgunner walked over to Ellie.

"Hello, dear," she said to Ellie. "I don't suppose there has been anything interesting happening over here at all?"

"You'd suppose right. We haven't seen a thing at all. There was a herd of Kelbis going through the trees a while back, but other than that, nothing at all."

"Well, that may change soon," Kerry said. "Once we begin heading through the mountain pass towards the fortress, we'll be entering a much more dangerous area, where it will be more likely for us to run across a monster or two that will need taken care of."

"Is it weird that I'm not sure whether I want us to fight something or not?" Ellie asked with a sigh. "On one hand, I really enjoy hunting, but… on the other, I realize why Stergo wants us to avoid hunting, and I really don't want to go to prison just because someone digs in and figures out what happened in Hearth."

"Keep your chin up, dear," Kerry replied encouragingly. "I know you've probably heard it before, but I'm sure things will work out somehow."

"I hope so," Ellie sighed. "It just seems like bad luck follows us everywhere."

"Well, you've handled it well enough so far," Kerry said. "It's a painful waiting game, but you've done so many good things for people, even with the… the Alatreon business. I'm sure there's bound to be something that-"

The two bowgunners suddenly froze, a low-pitch whistling sound had caught their ears. It was subtle sound, but one they'd heard many times before, one that most bowgunners were familiar with after a lot of experience. It was the sound of a bowgun round soaring through the air, and more specifically, it was the sound that one of the heavier rounds made once they were fired. Had one of the hunters up front caught sight of something? Ellie tensed, listening for shouts, and Levin and Harker did so as well, noticing the worry in her eyes.

Then a small thump sounded right in front of them, and Ellie looked towards the sound. It had come from the Aptonoth pulling the cart next to them, and Ellie realized that there was a small round object wedged into the pack animal's side, and the creature was wriggling in irritation. Ellie recognized the little object. It was a Crag round. Ellie only looked at it for a moment in shock before diving away.

The blast nearly took her off her feet as the round went off. The Aptonoth squealed in pain as fire erupted across its hide, sending charred flash and muscle splattering across the ground. A moment later the creature teetered in pain, before falling over, smashing into the other Aptonoth pulling the cart and sending both creatures tumbling to the ground. The twisting yolk nearly wrenched the entire wagon to the ground as the driver struggled to keep it upright.

Immediately, the other Aptonoth began to panic at the sound, and the other hunters in the area searched around for wherever the round had come from. Eyes began to flash angrily at the bowgunners in the group, clearly thinking that there had been a misfire. But both Ellie and Kerry had seen where the round had come from; it hadn't come from any of the hunters defending the caravan, but rather from the woods. There was a flash of movement from the tree line as Ellie moved to pull out her bowgun. From the forest to the right of the caravan, red shapes suddenly rushed towards the caravan from the trees. They were hunters, Ellie realized, almost three dozen man and women wearing bloody-red armor, charging at the caravan from the size, shouting threateningly at them as they dashed.

Ellie froze. Bandits? They were being attacked by bandits? And worse, they were being attacked by bandits with skills as hunters? How was… what was Ellie supposed to do? She hadn't expected to fight humans! Should she try her best to knock out the attackers? Should she go for heavy wounds, to try and pull them out of the fight? Neither of those options seemed very good to her. She hadn't exactly trained in the best ways to fight and incapacitate other humans; her only experience in such things was her battle against Pugnax up north and a couple bar fights she'd gotten mixed up with in Loc Lac. But other than that, she had nothing!

Was she supposed to kill them if things got bad? She had never killed anyone before… Could she try to avoid the fatal blows? Could she try to avoid fighting at all? Maybe they could run…

But before she could decide what to do, the decision was made for her, as a pair of hunters rushed her from the trees. One was a lancer, and the other was a sword and shield user, both of them heading straight towards her. Ellie spun about, aiming her weapon towards the approaching pair. But she hesitated. Could she really fire upon them? What if she killed them? She didn't know if she could bring herself to…

She gasped in shock as the lancer suddenly thrust his weapon for her, his spear aiming to pierce her arm. But she moved aside quickly, just enough that the point of the lance glanced off her shoulder armor, embedding the tip into the side of the wagon behind her. The man grunted in irritation as he tried to free the weapon from where it was stuck, as Ellie leapt away. But from her other side, the sword and shield user attacked, swinging his blade at her. Ellie swung her bowgun around, using it to block the oncoming edge. The thick frame of her weapon managed to block the swing of the sword, though it was large and unwieldy, making it hard to defend herself from the attacks. The man laughed twistedly as he assaulted her, enjoying every moment of the attack. The sound of clashing steel and bowgun fire rose over the terrified cries of the Aptonoth, as the other hunters defending the caravan rose to push back the rush of red-armored bandits.

Then from his shield-side, Levin rushed in, his own weapon in axe –mode, and smashed his blade into the man's arm, sending the attacking man sprawling back against the trees from whence he'd came. The man was clutching his arm in pain, groaning, but he leapt forward again, charging towards Levin with sadistic amusement in his eyes as Levin swung at him again. This time, the man blocked properly, and only was knocked back a foot or two before swinging his blade towards the switch axe user.

Ellie yelped in shock as the tip of a lance snapped right past her head as the first attacker finally freed his weapon from the side of the wagon, swinging it wildly at her. Ellie pulled back and away as the man jabbed at her again, trying to wound her. Ellie realized that he kept aiming for her arms, never her chest; he was trying to wound her, not kill her! But why? If they were trying to rob the caravan, why would they try and go for injury, but not death? She leapt away as the lancer continued to jab at her, then gasped in terror as the pointed spear shot towards her face, and the bandit roared in rage. He was getting frustrated with her, and didn't seem to care anymore whether she lived or died. Ellie yelped in shock as the lance got closer, and his weapon glanced off of Ellie's helmet. In her panic, Ellie turned her bowgun around and fired.

Her weapon was already loaded, but with pierce rounds that were intended for monsters, not humans. And Ellie hadn't really been aiming. The first round was fired and smacked against the hunter's shield, and the man stumbled a bit, surprised that she was finally attacking him. But as the second round fired, the man pulled his shield to the side to look past it at her, and the round flew straight into his side. The crimson armor was thick and sturdy, but the pierce rounds were designed to break through monster scales and plates, and Ellie's bowgun was particularly powerful for its size. The round ripped through the red mail and tore through flesh and bone, embedding itself deep in the hunter's waist.

Ellie's eyes widened in shock. She'd just fired at a human! The man gasped and coughed in pain, and for a moment, Ellie was tempted to try and help him. But then the man looked up, and a twisted, wild look appeared on his face, and he charged towards her again, blind to the pain or even reveling in it. Ellie yelped and dove to the side, just barely getting out of the way. Ellie stumbled back, nervously ejecting the cartridges from her weapon as the man kept dogging her, jabbing at her. She couldn't even get the time to figure out what rounds she was loading into her weapon in her panic, she just grabbed what she could and shoved them into the chamber, quickly cocking the weapon and turning it to face the man, who actually raised his shield defensively this time.

This time the bowgun bucked wildly as the bowgun fired, releasing a massive round that Ellie realized was a Crag round. The thick round smacked into the lancer's shield, and he pulled the metal wall to the side to smirk at her, thinking she had fired some other round at him, but as Ellie's eyes widened in shock, he frowned in confusion. Then the round detonated and the man was knocked backwards, tumbling across the grass. He was screaming in pain as he leapt back to his feet, and Ellie realized that the Crag round had blown a wide hole in the man's armor, and he clutched the burned and charred arm that had once held his shield.

Ellie stared in shock. She may have just crippled a man! Painful guilt began to seep into her, but before she could consider it much further, she realized that the sounds of battle around her were still going on. The attacking hunters outnumbered them almost three to one, and she could see that several of the other hunters weren't having as good of luck fighting their opponents as she had. Kerry and Harker had gotten caught up in a fight with another pair of hunters, a hammer user and a great sword user. Levin was still going up against the short sword bandit, and was slowly getting the advantage, even though the other man had a faster weapon at his disposal.

The hunter leapt towards Levin, his sword aiming to cut at Levin's arm, but the switch axe user twisted his weapon around. The switch axe wasn't designed for defense at all, but the short sword managed to get wedged between some of the interlocking parts of Levin's weapon. Levin twisted his switch axe around once more, and his attacker's blade was wrenched from his hand and sent skittering across the ground. The man shook his hand in pain, looking towards where his weapon had gone, but Levin immediately swung his switch axe towards the man, catching his opponent off guard and smashing him against the nearby wagon. The man dropped to the ground, groaning in pain and clutching his now-broken arm.

"You okay?" Levin asked. Though he gave Ellie worried looks, his gaze tended to shift to the man he had just bested. Clearly he was just as bothered about having to fight other humans as she was.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just-" But before she could finish, a battle cry sounded behind them, and another three red-clad hunters rushed the pair of them, weapons brandished. One of them held back a little though, letting the other two rush towards them as they pulled out their weapon, a large, powerful-looking bowgun. The two blade wielding hunters continued to charge Levin and Ellie, moving to flank them as the bowgunner aimed down sight through the middle of them to fire.

Ellie quickly turned and fired a quick shot of pierce shot at the bowgunner to try and ward the hunter off, but a twisted, lilting, and cruel laugh came from the bowgunner as they danced out of the way of the shot. Ellie realized that the bowgunner was a huntress as the woman pulled up her visor, revealing a wide, wicked smile below bloodthirsty eyes. The huntress giggled evilly as she looked at Ellie, raising her bowgun to aim at her, before firing at her.

Ellie immediately moved to the side, trying to get out of the way, but realized that she was being cut off, with Levin close to her on one side, and one of the other red-armored hunters coming at her from the other direction. Ellie winced in terror as the round the woman fired, a searing red Flame round, just barely missing her as she pulled out of the way of the attacking hunter's large iron hammer. The massive weapon smashed into the earth, and Ellie swung her bowgun around, smacking the man in the side of the head with the stock of her weapon, and the man stumbled back stunned.

But her focus on the hammer user took her attention from the bowgunner, and Ellie cried out in pain as another of the Flame rounds smashed into her side, the searing heat scorching her through her blue Lagiacrus armor. The huntress laughed then fired again, this time aiming for Ellie's chest. Ellie managed to slide out of the way, turning her bowgunner towards the woman and firing another round at the woman's gut, but the woman leapt out of the way once more.

For the next few seconds, the two bowgunners danced around each other, dodging and firing shots at each other, trying to flinch or incapacitate the other. Ellie tried to get closer to the woman; she felt far more comfortable with knocking the woman over the head than firing on her. But the other huntress kept her distance well enough, staying just out of reach enough that Ellie couldn't outright charge her. Ellie was hit with a variety of elemental rounds that seared and jolted and chilled her, but she managed to hit her opponent a few times as well, which seemed to come as a terrible shock to the other woman. Several times, one of Ellie's pierce rounds managed to catch the woman's armor, breaking through the red metal and cutting into the woman's body. It was never more than superficial, though, and wasn't even enough to slow the woman down.

Then the other crimson hunters began to interfere, coming at Ellie from the sides as she tried to keep out of the bowgunner's fire. Ellie found herself surrounded by three more hunters, while the bowgunner continued to shoot at her from afar. Looking around, Ellie realized that most of the other hunters that had been defending the caravan had been defeated, and the wagon drivers were being pulled from their seats. Harker and Kerry were still fighting in the middle of the pack, up against a lancer and another long sword user. There were a couple hunters way up in the front of the caravan that were surrounded by almost a dozen of the red-armored bandits and were fending them off to the best of their ability, but they were losing ground fast.

Ellie had to move and duck as quickly as she could as a barrage of attacks came at her from all sides, whether from sword or hammer or lance or bowgun fire. Her earlier guess was right: the crimson hunters were trying to subdue her, not kill her. There were too many around her for them to not have ended her life if that was what they came there to do. She found herself diving headfirst into madness, allowing the hyper focus to seep into her thoughts and allowing her to see more clearly the attackers that surrounded her.

The hunters around her seemed shocked when Ellie suddenly began to dodge and duck out of the way at a much better rate than before, sliding out of the path of their blades and hammers, and even managing to dance out of the way when the bowgunner assaulting her fired at her. The focus allowed her to duck and slide away quick enough that the ones attacking her were eventually swinging and firing wildly, angrily, and smashing and cutting each other when they attacks missed, but kept on coming. She even managed to get the bowgunner that was firing on her to hit some of her comrades, though it didn't seem to Ellie that she even cared that much about the other bandits at all, since hitting the others didn't seem to bother her at all. So Ellie continued to battle it out with them, just barely keeping out of the way and attacking when she could.

But there were simply too many of them: The hyper focus helped, but it wasn't made for large numbers of enemies like the ones Ellie faced, so much as it was useful for fighting a singular monster and picking out its peculiarities. So long as two or three hunters were focused on her, she could keep out of the way, but with four of them, one a bowgunner far away, she soon found herself wearing out and not being able to dodge every blow than came her way. And she simply wasn't able to do enough damage with the butt of her gun, since they gave her no time to reload. And she realized also that other red-armored hunters were heading her way, having managed to finish their fights with the other escorts. They were simply too outnumbered…

Then Ellie finally lost track of all her attackers. One of the hunters, a man wielding a short sword and shield, managed to get behind her as her focus was on the others, and with a quick swing, he smacked her in the back of the head with his shield. Ellie's head was ringing as loudly as her blue Lagi helmet did, and the huntress dropped to the ground, stunned. Immediately her bowgun was wrenched from her grasp, and rough hands pushed her down and kept her from getting back on her feet. She struggled when she got her wits about her again, but the bandits quickly bound her with ropes, making it impossible for her to do much more than roll around.

"That's the last of them!" one of the attackers called out. "Line them up, and let's get everything sorted!"

Another of them laughed. "I hope the lapdog's happy. We actually kept them all alive this time! Well, most of them. Only two of the caravan drivers are dead, but they don't really matter. We've got the hunters, that's all we need."

Ellie was roughly dragged across the ground as the bandits began to dig through the wagons to look inside of them. The captives that had been beaten by the bandits were huddled together in two groups near one of the wagons, one side hunters, and the rest being the drivers. All of the hunters looked bruised and beaten, though some were worse than others, and their helmets had been removed so that their faces could be seen. Harker seemed to have a lot of cuts along his arms, and some of the other hunters were just as damaged. Kerry seemed to have avoided a lot of the damage that the others had sustained, though she had a rather nasty welt on her head, and seemed unsteady where she sat. Gunther wasn't far away either, and seemed uncertain whether or not to glare at the red-armored hunters or Ellie and Levin instead. The wagon drivers were mostly unharmed, but some of them looked as though they had been roughed up a bit.

Ellie was shoved down next to Levin. The switch axe user didn't seem to be in that bad of condition; his armor seemed to have protected him from the worst injuries. Likely he had been overpowered like she had. One of the hunters guarding them was hoisting his switch axe, looking at it curiously. The weapon had been dented and dulled during the fight, Ellie could tell that much. Her beloved looked at her worriedly, glad that she was alright, before turning back to glare at the red-armored hunters that were digging around the wagons.

"Not a bad haul this time!" one of them called out. "Looks like they were sending better stuff to make up for what we took last time!"

Ellie's eyes widened at the words, and she and Levin shared a shocked look. These bandits had been the ones that had wiped out the last caravan? But they'd completely swept apart the last one, with almost nothing remaining! If they were trying to steal materials like they were now, why would they go to such lengths to devastate a few wagons if they wanted to steal what was inside?

Then Ellie shivered. She felt as though she was being watched. Looking around, she realized that the bowgunner from before was sitting nearby on a rock, staring intently at her with a vicious, anticipating look in her eye. She'd removed her helmet, and long black hair hung down her back as she kept her gaze on Ellie. When she saw Ellie looking at her, she gave a wide, wicked smile, and moved to stand and walk over to her.

However, before she could make her way over to Ellie a loud laugh echoed from near the front of the caravan. One of the red-armored hunters suddenly strode forward towards Ellie and Levin, pushing his way through the other hunters that got in his way. The bandits that were guarding them parted as he approached, and the dark-haired bowgunner's eyes narrowed at the man's sudden interruption. He must have been one of the leaders, Ellie realized. His face was covered by that odd armor, but he carried a large lance across his back, with a wide shield strapped to his right arm. He seemed intent on them, rather than the other hunters that had been captured. He stopped directly in front of Levin, and stared down at the switch axe user intently, before laughing in amusement. Ellie felt a chill go down her spine; she swore she recognized that laugh.

"Well, look what we have here!" the lancer said excitedly, before peeling off his red helmet, revealing a stern face under tangled blonde hair. Ellie gaped in shock.

"Pugnax?" Levin gasped. "How… what the hell are you doing here?"

The lancer looked down at Levin with a sinister grin. "What's it look like I'm doing, Levin? I'm attacking this caravan and stealing everything of value that the Guild was sending to the fortress! And I'm doing rather well at it as well."

"What? Wait, I don't… why?"

"Well, you didn't exactly leave me many choices, now did you?" Pugnax suddenly growled. "Turns out there were a few folks in Loc Lac that didn't like that I chose to follow Noi's orders and decided to kill the Barioth and its pups. A lot of people that I worked for in Loc Lac decided that I was no longer someone they wanted to keep on as a business partner, especially considering some of the negative reputation I had received. So I was forced to look elsewhere for work. That's how I found myself here, working with this other hunters. It's thanks to you and that damn woman that I've gotten to where I am."

Then the lancer smiled widely. "But that would make it sound as though I'm not actually enjoying this work. I am, don't you worry about that! And now, with you here, it's just icing on the cake! Working here has provided me fun, challenge, and now, the chance to get my revenge on you."

Before Levin had a chance to say anything else, Pugnax's foot swung out, striking Levin in the side. The metal of the armors clanged loudly at the impact, and the switch axe user yelped in pain as he tumbled onto his side. Then Pugnax leapt on top of him, growling furiously and beating his fists against Levin's chest and face, laughing at Levin's attempts to get away from him. Levin's hands were tied, leaving him no way to defend or fight back. Ellie struggled, trying to get over to Levin to shove the lancer off of him or something like that, but another hunter came and held her back, keeping her from moving at all to help him. The man holding her laughed as she cursed at him and Pugnax. Levin struggled as Pugnax continued to strike at him, but he couldn't easily fight back. He managed to get his feet out from underneath the lancer and was able to kick Pugnax in the chest and face a couple times, but even with that, he wasn't able to do much more against the man.

The other red-armored hunters watched on, not interfering as Pugnax continued. Some were laughing and jeering at the fight, watching in amusement as the lancer pummeled Levin. But most of the others looked on in distaste or boredom, shaking their heads in disgust.

Suddenly Pugnax was yanked back, and the man gasped in pain as his collar caught on his throat. Levin groaned in pain as the lancer tumbled off of him, and Ellie pushed past the hunters holding her to get to him. One of his eyes was swollen shut as he sat up from the ground, and he tried to tell her that he was alright, though he obviously wasn't. Ellie wished they hadn't taken away her potions and other goods; he desperately needed medical attention. Ellie glared angrily at the guards around them, but realized that their attention was temporarily turned elsewhere.

Pugnax had leapt back from the ground to his feet, and there was a fury lit up in his eyes as he searched around for whoever had pulled him off of Levin. The perpetrator was another hunter, the one Harker had been fighting with earlier with the long sword. He was maybe a bit shorter than Ellie, and his own helmet was off, revealing blonde hair topping off a face that was glaring at Pugnax with anger that nearly matched the lancer's own. Other members of the group were keeping their distance from him as well, showing that he may be another leader in the group.

"What the hell are you doing, you little runt?" Pugnax snapped at the long sword user.

"I could ask you the same, you brain-dead moron!" the other hunter growled. Ellie blinked in surprise; she thought she recognized the voice of the long sword user, but… she couldn't place it. "I told you and Lilith that we're not going to kill anyone else on these raids. And this one's a hunter! You know we're supposed to bring them in alive!"

"Not this one, Micah, not this time," Pugnax replied, pointing at Levin. "I know that man, and I have a personal vendetta against him. I don't give a damn what Moloch wants, that one belongs to me!"

"Tough luck!" Micah snapped. "You and your hell-spawn woman have already done your fair share of killing on these raids, and you've wasted the lives of too many hunters already. If you want to keep working in this organization, you're going to give up this stupid idea of killing this man and follow the rules that have been set down! I don't care what he did you, he's a prisoner of the organization now, and you're going to leave him be!"

"I'd like to see you try and make me!" Pugnax roared, reaching for his weapon. The long sword user went for his own blade as well, and the surrounding hunters looked on excitedly, looking forward to seeing the pair fight with each other. The pair leapt towards each other, their weapons coming from their sheaths, ready to strike.

But before the two hunters could meet each other, another hunter quickly stepped between them. it was an absolutely massive hammer user, wielding a very familiar black and purple hammer lined with dark jagged teeth. The two fighting hunters paused in surprise at the sudden interruption, which was long enough for the hammer user to reach forward and grab both of their wrists, wrenching the weapons out of their hands before dragging them both back away from each other and hoisting them into the air. The pair struggled a bit at the start, but the large hammer user shook them wildly in the air for a couple seconds, before eventually lowering them to the ground as they wobbled dizzily. Pugnax continued to try and break free of the man's grip once his feet touched the ground, looking angrily at his lance on the ground, but the long sword user, Micah, simply glared in irritation at the large man, who smirked in amusement between the two of them.

"Well, aren't you two the feisty pair," the massive man laughed, holding the two hunters away from each other. Ellie realized where she'd seen the man before; he and the long sword user had been the ones that had attacked the Ludroth nest near Boma Village!"I thought we'd been over all this before. Save your fighting for when we get back to base, then you can settle things however you want."

"No! I'm going to kill him!" Pugnax growled, glaring furiously at Levin. "The old man can have the rest of these pathetic little hunters, but this one is mine! Let me go, you oversized thug!"

The big man laughed in amusement. "All this pent up rage for a boy who made you lose an argument and a bit of work? You're such a petty man, Pugnax. For such a brutal hunter, you certainly care a lot on your reputation. Do you shine your armor and pretty yourself up in the morning so you always look your best for those that see you? I'll wager you spend an hour on your hair in the morning."

"Shut the hell up and release me you bastard! I want him dead!"

"Such a premature group of hunters," the big man sighed. "I had hoped that you would actually appreciate a truly fun fight more than others, but you just don't seem the type to think ahead towards a real fight. Why don't I offer you an alternate solution, Pugnax?"

"There's nothing you could offer be that I would want as much as killing him."

"How about this… you let him live, and that means that you have the fun of facing him back at the base. Wouldn't that be more amusing?"

Pugnax's eyes widened at the words, and a speculative look came over his face as he looked over at Levin. He seemed genuinely torn between the decisions, and Ellie couldn't help but worry. What was back at the base that would keep Pugnax from wanting to kill Levin? If he really hated Levin so much, what was waiting for them back where they'd come from?

Finally Pugnax scoffed, turning to walk away. "Fine. I'll let him go this time. But if anyone besides me fights him back there before I get a chance at him, they'll have me to contend with next."

The large man laughed. "Fine by me, boy. But if it's me, do you really think you can beat me?" Pugnax scowled angrily, before shoving off through the crowd of hunters and back to the front of the caravan. Then the big man looked down at Micah and grinned. "You cooled down as well, kid?"

"I'm fine," Micah snapped, pulling his hand free of the hammer user's grip. "Pugnax is getting far too great an ego, thinking he can go around breaking orders at the tip of a hat. I don't know why the boss puts up with him."

"Well, if you really don't like it, you could just duel him once we get back," the big man replied, and Micah frowned.

"I just might… he's been out of control for too long, and someone needs to bring him down."

The big man laughed. "You're serious! Wonderful! I had thought all of you were all a bunch of hot air, saying you'd duel each other once we got back to base, all fearful of the old man's reprimand, but it looks like one of you has some guts after all! Tell me when you finally get around to the fight! I'd love to finally see which one of you wins."

"We'll see," Micah replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, some of us actually need to do some work to make sure we can get these materials back."

The big man nodded as the long sword user walked away. The collection of red hunters slowly began to disperse now, seeing that the fight had been broken up. One of the hunters walked over to Levin and Ellie, dragging the pair of them back over to the other hunters. Both Kerry and Harker were there to try and comfort Levin, but the others looked fearful, worried that such a punishment might happen to them next. Some had stern, fearless expressions on their faces, but only a couple.

"Wait," Levin muttered at the large man as he began to walk away. He turned to look at Levin with a smirk before walking away, waiting to hear what the hunter had to say. "Why did you… why did you stop him? What did you mean, that I'd be 'facing him' at your base?"

The big man chuckled, and leaned forward over the pair, once he got close, Ellie realized exactly how massive the man really was. He was simply huge. The only people she could think of that compared to him in size were Lynn and Marshall…

"You'll find out about the base soon enough, both of you," he told them. "But not from me, and not today. As for why I told him to spare you… well, partly because it's a waste to kill you. You're both decent hunters, if the rumors I've heard about you are true. And besides… you're Marshall's apprentices, and I'd like to see what sort of hunters he's trained and set loose on the world."

"You know Marshall?" Ellie asked, and the man smiled wickedly.

"Of course, girl. After all, we were hunting partners once."

"You… what?" Levin gasped. "He wouldn't… you're not-"

"Hey! Get to work you big dumb brute!" the bowgunner woman suddenly snapped, appearing from behind the hammer user.

"Hah. What do you want, you damn banshee?" the man growled as the woman approached.

"Get your stupid lackeys to work packing up the materials out of the broken wagon," the woman barked. "Oh, and… the brat wants you to empty one of the wagons for the transporters to get back to Loc Lac in, though I say it's a waste. Just let them walk, I say. Or better yet, let me… play with them a little. It's been too long since I had the chance to toy around with someone. They may not be hunters, but I have no doubt that they'll amuse me. A little bit."

"Let them be, you damn woman. You killed plenty on this trip, you can wait until we return before you satiate your sick pleasures. We have orders from Moloch, and we're letting these drivers go. If that's not enough for you, you've got those minions of your own, don't you? Just pick the one you like the least and 'play' with them instead."

The woman scowled. "Fine, I'll let them be. For now. Just get to work."

The hammer user chuckled in amusement, walking away from the hunters towards the wagons, where the drivers were cowering in fear. As he went, the huntress turned to look down at Ellie, and a sinister smile slid across her face as she leaned in and looked Ellie over.

"You know something?" the woman said wickedly. "You actually weren't that bad out there, girlie. Got some fight in you. Maybe you're actually something to look forward to once we get back to base… Maybe I'll be able to have a bit of fun with you."

The woman leaned forward, bringing her face close to Ellie's and smiling at her while cocking her head. Ellie felt a shiver go down her spine as she met the woman's eyes. The only way she could define the look in the woman's eyes was… madness. And not the same kind of insanity that the Lost had; this woman had slipped into insanity voluntarily. She reveled in her work and actions.

"It'll be fun, little huntress," the woman said gleefully. "It's always more interesting when whoever I'm playing with has a little fight in them, after all. Or maybe… maybe you'd rather join up instead. There are rumors about you, you know, and you might find that the work we offer is… enjoyable."

Ellie glowered at the woman, and as she cocked her head in in amusement, Ellie swung her head forward. The woman's reactions were quick, and she managed to turn her head to the side, but not quick enough to avoid Ellie head-butting her in the side of the face. The woman tumbled back, cursing in pain, and several of the other hunters around her rushed forward, anger in their eyes. But a moment later they stopped, as the woman pushed herself to her feet, laughing hysterically.

"Well, well! You do have some bite, don't you, little bitch!" The bowgunner giggled in amusement as she brought a hand to her face, where a trickle of blood was sliding down her face. She pulled her hand back, looking at the blood on her finger, before grinning widely and licking blood from her hands. "Yes, you'll definitely be a fun one to play with. I'm looking forward to it."

"Gather them up! We're heading back to base!" a voice called from the front of the caravan. The woman continued to grin at Ellie, excitement on her face.

"Nighty night, little girlie," the black-haired woman giggled, a sinister smile crossing her face. "We'll play later, I guarantee it." Then with a swift swing, the huntress cracked the butt of her bowgun against Ellie's head, and the huntress dropped to the ground, losing consciousness.

---

Ellie didn't know how much time after their capture it took for them to be carted back to wherever the hell they were being taken. Once she'd regained consciousness, she'd found herself bound and gagged in the back of one of the wagons, not able to move or speak at all. Her armor was gone as well, and she was only in the underclothes that she wore under her armor. Her eyes had been poorly covered though, and she was able to see around the wagon, though there wasn't much to it.

Harker and Kerry were there, just as tied up as she was, though their eyes were better covered. The other hunters that had joined the escort were there too, as well as their handler, struggling against their bonds in an attempt to escape, though they weren't getting anywhere fast at all. Ellie felt a shiver of fear go through her when she realized that she couldn't see Levin, but shifting around a little allowed her to spot her beloved pinned up in the other far corner. At least they were all still here, and alive. For now.

The hunters and bandits that had captured them chattered cheerfully outside the wagon, and Ellie felt anger and fear well up inside her. They were treating this like it was nothing! Like having nine hunters bound and gagged in the back of a stolen wagon convoy full of hunting goods and weapons was an everyday occurrence for them! But then again, with how easily they had attacked the caravan in the first place, and how efficient they had been about it, it very well could have been. What kind of people had Pugnax gotten himself involved with? And how could he be so happy about it?

Ellie lost track of the days they were traveling as they went. Day and night were hard to calculate in the back of the wagon, especially after their 'escorts' had realized that her blindfold was loose, and had tightened it to make sure she was fully blind. Their captors made sure they were fed and hydrated twice a day, though it was minimal, and gave them time to use the bathroom every now and then, though they usually made their captives beg for it. The opportunity to use the restroom was the only chance for any of them to stretch their muscles, relieving the tension from the ropes that bound them. But the entire time, Ellie and the others were forced to keep their blindfolds on, to make sure they didn't know where they were. All Ellie could tell was that it was that it was slowly getting hotter and more humid the longer they traveled.

There had been some talk between the hunters outside when she'd woken up. Apparently they were only supposed to go back to the base with a small number of the hunters in the group, but Pugnax had raised a fit about it, demanding that he return to make sure he had a chance to deal with Levin himself. Lilith had wanted to go with him as well, but Micah had been adamant against it, certain that the lancer would try something, and he didn't want any of the hunters dead before returning to base, no matter what grudges there were between the prisoners and captors. There had been a bit of a fight, and eventually the plan changed to have most of the group return to base, leaving a small number behind to watch the roads and see how the Guild reacted.

Every once in a while, an argument would break out amongst the guards right outside the wagon they were kept in, and the topics made Ellie shiver. Apparently some of the hunters thought it was fine for them to take 'amenities' from the huntresses they had tied up in the wagon. Terror like she'd never known had welled up inside Ellie for a moment as the hunters outside had discussed the idea, and by the struggling sounds from the rest of the captives, several of the others had overheard the conversation as well. But not long after, there was a sudden sickening splattering sound, followed by a rather pronounced thumping sound. Harsh words that sounded very much like threats came dimly through the thick wagon fabric, and Ellie thought it was the voice of Micah. Either way, though Ellie didn't hear all of what was said, the words 'bury the body' came through clear enough, and no one tried anything for the rest of the journey.

Unfortunately, not all of them made it unharmed from their trip to wherever they were going. Pugnax came by occasionally, demanding some personal time with Levin. Often enough, Micah was nearby and told the man to go away, in less polite terms. But… a couple times during the journey, the hunter wouldn't be around, and the hunters guarding the wagon wouldn't raise a fuss. Ellie couldn't hear what Pugnax did to Levin, but he was always brought back to the wagon by Micah or that big man, Filcher, and Levin's breathing seemed strained. Ellie wished she could do something, anything to help him, but the ropes were tight, and she could barely move at all, much less make her way over to Levin to comfort him.

It was… at least a week, as far as Ellie could tell, for them to be escorted back to these poachers' and bandits' home base. It was hard to tell, considering the guards seemed to take shifts so that they could keep moving day and night. But they finally seemed to be reaching an end of sorts to their journey, as sounds of recognition from the guards outside began to be heard. The guards also kept saying 'not much further now' and other such things as they neared their destination. It surprised Ellie when the sound of water began to be heard lapping against a shoreline nearby on the day before they arrived at their destination. She strained herself to hear what the hunters outside were saying, hoping to get some sign of where they were, but all she could hear was that they were near a lake of some kind.

It was early in the day, not long after the guards had given the captives their breakfast, when the hijacked caravan arrived at the red-armored hunters' base. Calls from the front of the caravan began to be heard, and echoed replies followed not long after from further away. Suddenly, there was a loud wrenching noise, accompanied by a crunching sound of rock rubbing against rock. It sounded to Ellie as though a massive pair of doors were opening. The noise continued for several seconds, before finally cutting off, and the caravan proceeded forwards. They continued for several hundred feet, as far as Ellie could tell, and then the temperature suddenly dropped several degrees. The humidity also began to drop as well, and the air became far more comfortable than it had been. A couple minutes later, the caravan finally rolled to a halt, and the sounds of unloading could be heard.

Eventually, one of the captors came for them, and the hunters were all dragged out of the wagon they were being held in. A pair of guards grabbed both of Ellie's arms, and someone cut the bindings on her legs. The sounds of a quick scuffle could be heard from one of the other captives, but it ended quickly enough with the sound of a punch to the gut and a groan of pain. The guards suddenly lurched Ellie forward, forcing her along to who knew where. As they walked, the pair began to talk with each other.

"Why are we taking them up top? We're supposed to take them to their cells, aren't we?"

"Not this time. The boss wants to speak with them himself, since there's so many of them. You know how he is, dramatic and all. Wants to flaunt a bit, tell them what they've gotten into himself."

"Seems like a waste of time to me…"

"Well, than you can tell the old man so yourself. As for me, as long as he keeps paying me what he does, I'll cater to his whims. Besides, it's not like there's anything better to do, you know?"

"Yeah, whatever."

The guards continued to lead the captives a good distance, through winding halls and confusing directions. They went up and down stairs and up sloped areas. Their footsteps grew close as they passed through tight halls, and echoed softly as they made their way through wide, open rooms. Ellie couldn't help but wonder where the hell they were, to have such drastic changes in their location. And as they moved, a steady roaring began to fill the halls. The further they went, the clearer it got, and Ellie soon realized that it was the sound of cheering and applause. They finally began to climb a long, spiraling staircase as the sound of the cheering reached its peak. Ellie didn't know where they were, but it seemed like whatever collection of people there were cheering couldn't be more than a dozen yards away at the most.

A door opened in front of them, and the hunters were pushed into a room where the sound of cheering was the loudest. There was some talking between the hunters, and a man somewhere was laughing gleefully, seemingly in time with the roar of the crowd. The sounds continued for several minutes, and the hunters were forced to stand in silence for the time. A couple of the hunters tried to struggle again, and some began cursing at the guards that held them, but they were quieted down quickly enough by the men flanking them. Finally though, the sound of cheering subsided. A man's voice whispered something nearby, but Ellie couldn't make out what was said, but she thought that it was being said about them. Then the sound of someone leaving the room followed. Finally, a voice, a calm, soothing voice, told the guards around them to remove the blindfolds from the hunters.

As soon as the blindfold fell from Ellie's eyes, she immediately looked around in search of Levin, blinking through the bright light and finally being able to see again. It didn't take too long for her to find him; her beloved was standing next to her. But the hunter looked far worse for the wear than he had before they'd been packed away into the back of the wagon. He had several more bruises and cuts than he'd had since last she'd seen him, even though he had been only a few feet away from her almost the whole time. His face and arms were purpling from bruising, and he looked wearier than she thought she'd ever seen him, even after some of their more intense hunts. Pugnax really had been ruthless to him, despite Levin being tied up and unarmed. But Levin seemed just as relieved to see her alright, especially considering his own condition, and smiled in relief at her.

The other hunters were all in the room with them, the lot of them gathered around in one corner of the room. Most of the men and women that had captured them were gone now, off doing other work, and only a collection of just enough guards to keep the captives contained were around to control them. Kerry and Harker were nearby, and they both smiled grimly at Ellie. Some of the other hunters looked a little worse for the wear as well. Some, especially those that had tried to escape or tell off the guards, had fresh injuries of their own to accompany the ones they'd received at the hands of the guards in the first battle. Gunther seemed to be the worse off out of everyone, even Levin. Ellie hadn't been sure it was him, but the man must have made several dozen attempts to shake off the guards or cuss them out in the time they'd been captives. The handler was glaring at her and Levin with an absolutely hateful look, as though he blamed the pair of them entirely for the situation they were in.

Then Ellie looked around the room they were in, and was very surprised at what she beheld. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but… it wasn't whatever this place was, that was certain. The room they were in was positively… posh; that was the only way to describe the room. It was something Ellie would have expected to see in one of the large mansions that lined the northern side of Loc Lac, where all the wealthier citizens lived. Fine draperies and carpets lined the room, and a couple plush couches were scattered around the room as well; the walls were covered with a smattering of fine-looking artwork. The hunters and guards that filled the room seemed very out of place here, considering that they all wore dirtied armor; the captives weren't much better, either, with most of them being just as dirty as well as some being bruised and beaten.

There were only a couple things in the room that seemed very out of place, considering the rest of the high class design. Off against the far wall to the left, in one of the corners, was an odd collection of random knickknacks that looked aged beyond repair. They seemed to be historical objects of some kind, maybe something from the Lost's time, maybe not; it was rather hard to tell considering the wear of the things. However, one of the objects in the corner was in far better condition than anything else that the room had to offer: it was a large metallic machine with long round tubes that looked as though it had been heavily refurbished. Ellie realized with surprise that the machine was in fact an old Gatling gun, probably the oldest thing in the room. A couple of small, engraved boxes were sitting next to it, and Ellie was surprised to see that a line of ammunition was actually fed into the side of the machine. Ellie wondered if those were real bullets, or just for show; who was there that had the knowledge and ability to make bullets? Or at least ones that were the right size and caliber for a Gatling gun?

On the other side of the room was another odd thing, but this one was something completely different. It was a control panel of some kind, with dozens and dozens of unlabeled buttons and switches that spread across over a dozen feet or so. Above it, there was no wall, but a wide, clear window. On each side of the panel was a bit of wall, but on the end of one of the walls a section had been left open, a tall gap that lead out onto a small balcony that was only a couple feet long. But it was what was beyond the control panel that Ellie's gaze lingered, and the huntress gaped in shock.

On the other side of the windows was a massive room, which lowered down below where they were into a massive bowl. It was an arena, Ellie realized, with a massive stone circular pit right at the bottom of the room. Large, elaborate carvings lined the floor of the arena, and Ellie realized that the entire structure out there was made of the Meridian's stone. The entire place was made of the stuff; this was a Meridian building!

The layout of the arena was similar, yet at the same time different than the one she'd had her hunter's exam in. It was wide and circular, but several tall pillars sprouted up in the middle of the arena, towering upwards to the ceiling. Sand and dust lined the bottom of the arena, and the indestructible stone was stained in multiple places with blood, though Ellie wasn't sure if it was monster blood or… something else. And there were… protrusions of some kind scattered around, small holes and gaps in in the stone floor and walls and columns. Morbidly, Ellie thought they might be drains for the blood, but figured they had to be something else, especially if they were lined so far up the sides of the walls. Though the floors and walls were made of the incredibly solid materials, there were odd lines and grooves imbedded in the stone, though Ellie couldn't imagine what those could be for, considering all the previous Meridian structures she'd seen had been completely seamless.

Above the arena itself were several tiers, each holding seats with numerous spectators inside of them. Ellie realized that this is where the sound of cheering had been coming from, and was genuinely shocked at how many people there were out there in the stands; there must have been at least a hundred people out there! A majority of them were wearing very fancy fineries and chatting nonchalantly with each other, while others bore the standards and suits of armor, hovering behind certain people as guards to them. Some were looking up at the captives with curious and thoughtful expressions, and Ellie recognized that none of them were concerned or shocked to see the collection of hunters up there and imprisoned by the guards surrounding them. Where the hell were they, where people weren't even bothered to see kidnapped hunters being dragged around by bandits?

The hunters and guards stood in silence for a minute or two, waiting for something to happen. Levin was having trouble staying standing as he was, he was so tired and injured from the journey that he almost didn't look up when a door on the other side of the room opened up and a pair of people walked in. Ellie did however, as did the other hunters in the room. The first was an older man that Ellie didn't recognize. He was several inches shorter than her, but was well along in his years, with short silvery gray hair cut close, including a well-trimmed beard. He was in just as fancy of finery as the rest of the people out in the arena seating, and walked along with an expensive-looking cane in his hand, but the man seemed to hold himself with a very strong controlling aura, as though he were a king surveying his lands. Unless Ellie was very much mistaken, whoever this was, he was the man in charge of the arena, and perhaps in charge of everything going on here.

Pugnax was close behind the man, and had a sour expression on his face. He gave a glare at Ellie and Levin, though the switch axe user was still looking at the floor wearily. Then he leaned in and began whispering heatedly with the older man, apparently continuing some long-running argument they'd been having recently. Pugnax seemed to be seething about something, but the older man wasn't budging against whatever the lancer was trying to convince him of, and actually seemed rather bored with the man's attempts. Pugnax seemed to be getting increasingly frustrated with the older man, and several loud curses from the lancer could be heard, even over his hoarse whispering.

The sound of Pugnax's voice finally managed to get Levin's attention, and the switch axe user looked up at the argument. At first he kept his eyes on Pugnax warily, clearly worried about what the man was doing, before looking at the older man. For a moment, he just stared in confusion, then his eyes widened in shock. "It's you!" Levin suddenly gasped. The man turned curiously, his eyes widening in surprise at the sight of Levin. "You're… Moloch, aren't you? What are you doing here?"

Ellie's eyes widened in shock. Levin knew the old man? But how? The man, Moloch, chuckled a little bit before walking over to Levin. Pugnax growled angrily as the old man pushed past him, cutting off their conversation. "Well, well," he said. "When Pugnax said he wanted full claim over one of the new 'recruits', I never suspected it would be you, Levin. So the Guild has you running around delivering goods for them these days? That's… understandable, I suppose."

"No, you… why are you here? Who are you? I thought you…" Levin's voice sputtered out, and he simply stared in shock at the man, who grinned in amusement at him.

"I suppose I should reintroduce myself to you, Levin," he said. Then he turned to the rest of the captives. "And I suppose that a proper introduction and explanation is in order for all of you as well. You should consider yourselves fortunate, or fortunate enough that I've decided to bring you here. Most people that are brought here are not given the courtesy of an explanation as to what will be expected of them here. However, allow me to give you a brief description of why we have brought you here.

"But first, allow me to introduce myself, as some of you may be wondering as to who I am. My name is Moloch, and I am the owner, controller, and master of everything you see here. It was I that saw the potential of this place and sponsored it, building it into the place it is now. For those of you that haven't guessed already, I am one of the peoples that the people of Loc Lac have unceremoniously named 'the Lost.' It may surprise some of you that one of the Lost is capable of creating such an infrastructure as this place, but I think you'll find that my background certainly didn't stop me from bringing this magnificent structure to fruition… which brings me to where we are now.

"I'd like to welcome you, all of you, to this, the pinnacle of my work here in this world," Moloch said to them dramatically. "And truly, it is the greatest achievement that anyone has managed in our time here in this land. I have taken this elder structure, once only ruinous remains, and brought it back to life, returning it to its former glory, and then some. This powerful structure was once the center of a massive complex, a city designed by a society that came and fell after the Lost. But though their civilization has vanished, their works have not. As such, I dedicated myself to rebuilding this, one of their great works."

"And what is this?" Harker asked, suddenly interested at Moloch's mention of the Meridians. "This structure is not like any of the other creation of the Meridians that I have seen. It's too… focused. What is this thing that you've unearthed?"

Moloch looked at Harker and smiled. "Well, well. It looks as though we have a learned man in our recruits this time. The 'Meridians' you say? That's the first I've heard of their name. How very… appropriate a title. You want to know about this place? Don't worry, I will tell you everything. After all… you will be staying for a while.

"Malefica. That is the name of this place, the one I have given to it. An entire city lies here, buried under the trees and rivers of this forest, hidden underground for centuries. Over time, I have unearthed but a small part of it. Slowly but surely, the full city will be unearthed. I will make it a grand place; I will make it a place to fit the visions that I have made for it."

The crowd down in the arena roared, and the hunters looked towards the windows opening to look down into the pit. An announcer was speaking to the crowd from the other side of the arena, and the arena was being put to use as a red-armored hunter strolled into the pit through a gate. Moloch motioned to the cheering audience. "And this will be the center of it. What you see before you was the first portion of the city unearthed. This massive arena, a pit of violence and death, was the first part of Malefica to be found and unearthed. The Guild ignored it, when its discovery reached their ears, but I saw its potential. Only I saw what this place could become. So that's what I made it. Before you lies the fruits of my labor, my great creation.

"I call it the Crimson Coliseum.

"A bit melodramatic, I'll admit, but I'm fond of the title. Most people simply refer to it as the Coliseum, though, but that's perfectly acceptable, considering the prominence and malleability of the original of its name. And as fortune would have it, the… entertainment this arena provides is very much similar to the Coliseum of old. The arena can adjust, change, and improve itself based on the needs I, and more importantly, the audience, has for it. The Meridians, as you called them, young man, were very thorough in their work designing this magnificent place."

"And why did you bring us here then, if this place is so great?" one of the other hunters in the line snapped irritably, tugging at the bounds that held him.

Moloch smiled at the words. "Why, you ask? For one simple reason: entertainment. That is what I specialize in, entertainment. It has been my specialty in life since I was a young man. I am a provider of recreation and amusement for those benefactors you see sitting and cheering out in the stands. But it's not the arena itself that provides the entertainment, but what you put into it. And what I'm putting into the arena… is all of you. Hunters."

"But I don't want to fight arena battles!" one of the other hunters said, and there were a couple chuckles from the guards.

"Is not about what you want," Moloch replied. "It's about what they want," he said, motioning to the crowd behind him. "And what they want is to see hunter battles like none they've ever seen before. And to give them that, sometimes it is necessary to… allocate hunters, even if they don't want to fight in this arena. And that's why you're here. To fight in this arena. Whether you want to, or not."

There were several shouts and exclamations from the captives, and the guards moved to silence them. But Moloch motioned for them to stop, and allowed the hunters to rage and argue for a minute or so, simply standing in silence. Eventually though, he grew tired of waiting, and motioned to the guards, who quickly silenced those that were still shouting. Then he continued, as though nothing had happened. "But what makes these battles like none they've ever seen before, you may ask? Allow me to explain. There are three ranks for those that battle in the arena for the crowd here in Malefica. Unlike the Guild arenas, higher ranks will be achieved not through advancement via points or any such thing, but rather, you will attain such ranks when you are deemed popular and skilled enough to take on more challenging battles. The first tier is no different than what you'd find in any arena. One or more hunters is sent into the arena, in order to fight and battle one or more monsters.

"However, what separates the coliseum from those Guild-sponsored arenas is a rather… unique attribute that it possesses when it comes to hunter battles. The arena battles that the Guild sponsors are watered-down replications of monster battles out in the wild. They may try to duplicate the thrill and challenge of battles out in the wilds, but there is one very large hindrance that keeps them from matching the same mystique and excitement that true hunts allow. And that is this: they do their best to keep their hunters alive, and here in the Crimson Coliseum, we consider that an unnecessary handicap for a true show of hunting to be displayed."

Dead silence filled the room as the hunters gaped in shock at the man. "Yes, you heard me correctly," Moloch said simply. "You will fight in this arena. You will battle monsters to the roars of the crowd. And if you do poorly, you will not be saved. You will die, just as you would in the wilds. And you will do so in front of an audience who will be watching you with rapturous amusement."

Immediately every captive in the room began shouting in rage and fear, and instantly tried to break free of their bonds. Ellie certainly didn't hold back trying to tear apart the rope bonds that held her, and when the guards controlling her tried to stop her, she managed to head-butt one of them and break their nose. But the ropes were on tight on all of the hunters and the guards eventually did manage to get all of them under control again, though the struggling had left not just one guard bleeding or otherwise wounded. After a few more minutes, the room was silent again, though that was mostly due to a few of the hunters needing to have gags shoved into their mouths to silence them.

Moloch smiled at them once they'd been quieted down. "I suggest you save your… arguments for the end. After all, there is still much more to tell you, and there are still two ranks for me to explain.

"Moving on… The second tier is very similar to the first, though it is far less forgiving than the first, not to mention it sports another unique attribute of its own." The old man motioned to the large switchboard that Ellie had seen earlier, the one that overlooked the arena. "Some of you may be wondering about this control panel here. This panel is the defining feature of the second tier of battles. As luck would have it, what we're looking at is a second tier battle right now, and as such, I'll be able to show you firsthand what will occur, should you prove yourselves skilled enough to earn a place in this tier."

Moloch strolled over to the buttons and looked down into the arena. The guards behind the captives shoved them towards the windows so that they were made sure to see what happened. As Moloch approached the windows, a few of the spectators out in the stands pointed and cheered, apparently looking forward to whatever the man had in store for the hunter in the arena. The hunter in the arena was right in the middle of a heated battle with a pair of Royal Ludroth at the moment. The both of them seemed rather small for their size, but were moving very quickly, giving the hunter a run for his money, rolling around and spitting bile everywhere. The hunter, a switch axe user himself, was having trouble keeping track of them both.

Moloch looked over the odd collection of buttons and levers, seeming to be taking his time deciding which ones he wanted to press or pull. Then finally his hands landed on a small series of bright blue buttons, and he pressed a couple of them in succession, before looking back out into the arena.

The hunter was still fighting the two Royals dangerously, trying to keep out of the way of both of their attacks, and having little luck at it. All of a sudden, several of the small holes that dotted the walls of the arena leapt to life, and jets of bright flame shot out from the walls, tearing through the center of the arena. The hunter cried out in surprise and pain as one of the flames caught him in the shoulder, blazing through his armor and burning him. However, the Royal Ludroths were far larger, and ended up being far more unfortunate than the hunter was. Both of the monsters were caught up by at least two jets of fire each, and the blaze ripped into their bodies and spongy hides, lighting them up and sending a wave of steam into the air as the heat evaporated the water in their manes.

The fires only lasted a second or two before cutting off, and the arena was as it was again. Both the hunter and the monsters were still standing despite their injuries, and now the Royals were even more enraged than they had been before. The battle continued, and the two monsters charged at the only threat that they could see. Once again, the hunter was forced to fight the two Royals, only this time all three of the contenders were injured from flame and fire, and the battle seemed even more desperate than before. But apparently, the jets of fire that had been rigged up to send flame into the arena were on a timer of some sort, because a minute or so later, the arena was once again lit up with the blaze of several jets of flame, but from different holes in the walls, and even a couple holes in the floor. This time the hunter managed to get lucky, and none of the flames managed to hit him at all. The Royals weren't as lucky, and each received just as much damage as they had the first time. Now the hunter had the complete advantage, as the Royals had been worn down and the water in their manes had all been dried up, leaving both of them worn and gasping.

The hunter was quick to collect on the fortune that had been presented to him, and rushed to finish off the two monsters before the fires could burst from the walls a third time. It was close, but he just barely managed to finish off the second one right as the flames in the holes seemed to be raring to fire again. As the Royal let off its death throes, Moloch quickly pressed a button, and the fires died away. The hunter in the arena sighed in relief, and the audience cheered politely, but to Ellie it seemed like they were disappointed, as though they'd wanted to see the man killed by the Royals or burned alive by the flames that had jetted from the walls. The captives up in Moloch's booth were silent as the man turned back to them, a smile on his face.

"As you can see, this arena is quite variable in what it has to offer the audience, compared to what the Guild has to offer its spectators. And I'd like to point out that it is not only fire that this arena can use to… further challenge the hunters that grace the floor of this arena. There is much more that this arena has to offer, but we'll let you all learn of what's in store for you later, shall we? We wouldn't want to ruin the surprise for you, now would we? There's nothing the audience quite likes as much as the hunter being taken by surprise. But should any of you last long enough to find yourself in the second tier, I suggest you stay on your toes; you never will know what to expect or when it will come. And do not think that every second tier battle will be fought by my whims. In Malefica, we cater to the desires of the audience. Every now and then, we give the chance to use this panel to a lucky audience member and their decisions and button presses will be used to determine your fate, not mine."

Some of the hunters looked at each other worriedly, and opened their mouths to argue, but all of them seemed to have realized by now that they weren't going to get anywhere by arguing or speaking out, so only a couple were willing to grumble or shout their disdain for the idea. Moloch nodded at the silence, pleased.

"I suppose you all are slowly learning the value in keeping yourself collected while you are here. It's good that you have the capacity to learn from your mistakes. However… from former experience, I am sure that you will once again speak out, especially once you learn the details of the third tier of battles. I ask that you refrain from doing so, but I imagine you all won't have the self-control to do so. I will keep it simple for you, then. The third tier, like the second, will have random complexities added to the battle, provided by myself or whomever I allow to use this control panel. By the time you have become popular and skilled enough to earn a place in the third tier, there will be little more that the monsters in these walls can offer you in way of challenge. And believe me, there is nothing more numbingly boring than watching a hunter who has gotten talented enough to deal with a challenge with incredible ease. So we've decided that the only thing left to us is the next logical step: find them something even more challenging to fight. Of course, bringing in stronger monsters was a nigh-impossible task; short of stealing foreign monsters, all that remains is trying to capture elder dragons, but that's not something that we're exactly capable of at the moment. Perhaps one day, but not now.

"However, though elder dragons are out of our grasp, we found that there were other creatures, just as powerful, that we could send our best hunters out to fight, challenges that proved their equal, and more importantly, challenges that our audience loves to watch. We found that the greatest challenge that could be offered to hunters, were in fact, other hunters." Silence filled the room, as the captives gaped at the man in shock asking themselves if he truly meant what he was implying. The man nodded to their unspoken question. "You heard me correctly. Should you prove skilled enough to reach the third tier, you will be required to face other hunters in battle. You will fight them with all you have, and you will kill them, or they will kill you."

This time the outburst from the hunters wasn't contained at all. Every single one of the captives immediately began screaming and cursing in rage and fear at their captors, and struggled to break free of their bonds. This time it proved a challenge for the guards to keep them restrained, and there were injuries on both sides as they tried to regain order, though the entire time, Moloch just stood there, smiling in amusement. Ellie managed to kick one of her guards in the face and head-butted the other's nose before they managed to bring her under control again; many of the other hunters, those that were bigger, stronger, or fiercer, were still struggling against the guards that held them. Some hunters even had to be knocked out, they were causing so much trouble for the guards that held them. Ellie was surprised to see that Gunther was putting up the biggest fight of them all, and the two guards that were flanking him were still having trouble holding him down or knocking him out, even when all the other hunters had been brought to heel. Moloch cocked his head in curiosity and walked towards the man as he struggled, and Gunther growled furiously at him.

"You've got quite the spirit, don't you?" Moloch said to him. "You'll be popular one out there in the coliseum, I have no doubt."

"You can take your coliseum and shove it!" Gunther snapped. "You try and put me in that arena, and I'll kill anyone of your guards that tries! You're lucky you've got these guards here, or I'd kill you too. I'm not going to play your games, no matter what you do to me!"

Several of the other hunters nodded in agreement, and Moloch frowned, an expression of disappointment on his face. The other hunters were getting riled up from the words, stern consternation on their faces, and the words seemed to be giving them the determination to not go along with Moloch's whims. Ellie didn't feel much better, though, considering that the man was muttering on about curses and luck, and sending glares over at her and Levin; some of the other hunters seemed to be wondering about that, and began giving the pair untrusting looks. The old man sighed and glanced at the two guards that were controlling Gunther, and motioned at them. The pair nodded in understanding, and pushed Gunther away from the others and towards the other side of the room. Some of the other hunters shouted at the man separating the hunter from the others, but there was little they could do to stop it from happening.

Moloch followed close behind as the guards shoved Gunther over to the balcony that hung over the arena. Down in the arena, several hunters were carting the bodies of the Royals out of the arena floor, and the audience was milling around in boredom, waiting for the next battle to start. When they reached the small balcony, Moloch motioned out towards the audience.

"Do you see all of those people out there? They are here for a show. They are here to be entertained. And Malefica exists in order to provide that entertainment to them. Should a hunter not be able to be deemed useful or interesting, then there is no point in keeping them around."

"Like I care," Gunther snapped.

Moloch sighed sadly, before turning away from the man and walking to the other side of the room, to where his collection of old artifacts lay. "I should let you know, those that don't adjust themselves to the workings of Malefica do not meet pleasant ends."

"Do what you will. You won't find me so easy to bring down, you fat old prick."

Moloch nodded. "Very well: then let me teach you a couple things. Firstly, that those that go against my will while they are here will pay for their insubordination…"

"And second?" Gunther asked with a growl.

Moloch smiled. "Second? The material that this city is made out of is very, very solid."

With that the two guards on each side of Gunther stepped away from the man, and the hunter blinked in surprise as they distanced themselves. At the same moment, Moloch's hand went quickly to the side of the Gatling gun that sat next to him, and rested itself on the crankshaft. Levin and Harker gasped, since only the Lost realized what the machine was capable of, and Ellie cried out in realization and warning, trying to get Gunther to move out of the way, but the handler only looked at her untrustingly as Moloch began turning the crank.

Thunderous rounds erupted from the end of the Gatling gun as the weapon burst to life, firing dozens of rounds from the end of the weapon in a matter of seconds. Gunther's eyes widened in shock as the bullets ripped into him and through him, and a spray of blood splattered across the walls and floor as the weapon fired. Though it only lasted a few seconds, the barrage seemed to last for hours, and Ellie watched in terror as the rounds blasted from the end of the gun and tore Gunther's body to shreds. Time seemed to slow down as the blood and bile splashed across the floor and the walls, and thunderous bursts blasted out from the end of the gun. Some of the bullets went wide, smashing against the archway leading out onto the balcony; Moloch had been serious when he'd said the material was solid, as the bullets didn't even scratch the pristine stone.

But eventually Moloch stopped cranking the weapon, and the gunfire stopped. Ellie's ears were ringing, but even so there was nothing to hear; the raucous gunfire had silenced the room, and the noise had echoed out into the arena, and the sound had silenced even the audience out in the stands, and they were all looking up at Moloch's booth in curiosity. Gunther was somehow still standing, and stared down in shock at his wounds for only a moment. Then the light of life faded from his eyes, and his body tilted backwards, and he tumbled over the railing, there was a moment more of silence, followed by the sickening wet sound of the hunter's body hitting the floor of the arena. The audience looked down at the body in the arena, but few of them seemed to care, as though this was a regular occurrence, or nothing special. A few moments later, the people out in the stands began to chat nonchalantly with each other again.

None of the captive hunters could say a thing, they were too shocked by what had happened. A couple of the guards rubbed their ears in irritation at the noise, but otherwise didn't seem too bothered by the whole thing. Moloch shook his head in disappointment, before turning back to the rest of the captives. Many glared at his angrily, though there was no small bit of fear in their eyes now.

"As you can see, I do mean business here. If you do not learn to do what we tell you to do, you will end… poorly, as this man did. I suggest you take his example to heart if you wish to stay as something more than monster food here in Malefica. This is not a game. This is not a joke. This is… business. And I take my business very, very seriously. You will learn to accept your fate here, or you will die in just as unceremonious a manner as he did.

"And now, before I send you all off, there is one final thing I'd like to propose to you all," Moloch said. The hunters glared at him warily, distrust in their eyes. "I'd like to offer you all the opportunity to, rather than fighting in the arena as captives, doing so as members of my organization instead." The hunters stared in shock at the words, and several opened their mouths to tell the man exactly what they thought of that idea, but the old man spoke again before they could say anything. "I'm sure some of you will readily say that you would rather have nothing to do with me at all, and would rather die than work as a member of this organization. But I ask you to reconsider. Look behind you. These hunters and guards that have been keeping you all contained did not all initially come into this structure willingly. Some were exactly like yourselves, hunters picked up and brought in from various places around the country in order. But some chose a different path than that of the prisoner and gladiator. Some joined my ranks willingly, choosing instead to aid me in my desires, rather than thrash and rage from the inside of a cell.

"And I ask you hunters to do the same. What would be asked of you would not change, but your situation, and the rewards for your good work, would drastically improve. Perhaps the ethical implications do not appeal to you, not at the moment, but perhaps some of the other parts of what Malefica has to offer appeals to you instead. Surely there are one or two of you that truly enjoy the challenge of the arena, or simply enjoy the thrill of the hunt in general, and are looking for something more, something greater, something that is more exciting and thrilling than what the Guild has offered you. Not all of you were going to stand on the walls of the fortress because the Guild told you to, were you? Well then, perhaps you should join the hunters that work for me here in the coliseum, and I promise you will find the challenges you seek. Or perhaps there is another reason you would choose to join my ranks instead. Perhaps you simply don't want to spend the rest of your life in a cell. Or maybe you're simply not the person others think you are, and the work I offer appeals to you without reward. Either way, I would be perfectly willing to accept any of you into the folds of this group, and would be happy to receive you.

"But that will be a decision you will have to make on your own. Take them away," Moloch said, waving the guards toward the bound hunters. "Send them down to the cells. Give them some time to think about my offer. I'm sure some of them will realize how generous my offer is. Let them see what awaits those who decline my hospitality. Though… considering what has happened to their late comrade, I don't doubt they understand the severity of Malefica's unforgiving nature."

Ellie winced as two guards grabbed her by the arms painfully, and she bit off several curses as the men forced them towards the door. A couple of the other hunters with them weren't so controlled with themselves, and they flung several swears at the men hauling them, and received a couple swift blows to the gut for their efforts.

However, before reaching the door, Moloch suddenly motioned to the guards carrying Levin, and the pair stopped. "Keep him here for a moment," Moloch told them. "I'd like to speak with that boy for a moment or two before you take him down."

Ellie tried to turn around to look back, but the door to Moloch's booth was already closing, and the next moment slammed shut. What did he want with Levin? And why? Ellie could only speculate and worry as the guard continued to shove her along towards wherever they were planning on holding them.

---

Levin watched nervously as the guards escorted Ellie and the others from the room, off to wherever they were to be held. Pugnax glared at Levin for a long time after the others were led away, before walking over to Moloch and whispering something into the man's ear. For a minute or two, a whispered argument seemed to rise up between the two. Moloch seemed confident about whatever he was talking about, and Pugnax was getting more and more frustrated with the old man. Finally, though, Pugnax turned and stormed out of the booth, giving one last withering glance at Levin before making his way out the door.

Moloch stood in silence for a moment, smiling encouragingly at Levin, though the expression only made the hunter more uncomfortable, considering the smile came while Levin was still flanked by two of his lackeys. Moloch continued to evaluate him for several moments longer before finally speaking.

"So, I hear you've gotten quite a bit stronger and more skilled since last we met, Levin, and quite a reputation to go with it. The Lost consider you a hero of sorts. Your list of accomplishment precedes you, you know. The Rathian armor and the switch axe we have… appropriated are of the highest quality, according to those that know of such things, clearly made from the best materials from the strongest of monsters. It's very impressive, you know."

"What do want with me? Why are you keeping me here to talk to me?" Levin cut in. He didn't like Moloch trying to complement him, not when the man was obviously in control of the situation. The old man grinned at him in amusement.

"Allow me to tell you a story," Moloch said, looking out over the arena battle. Levin glanced down into the battleground. A red-armored lancer was duking it out with an exceptionally large Diablos down in the arena, and it looked like he was losing. But the hunter's impending loss only seemed to be egging the crowd on more, and they were cheering for blood. "Do you remember our old world? It was all skyscrapers and industry, technology and advancement. I was once a rather powerful man in that world. Well, in just one city, but still, power over a city can be quite something if you are able to wield it wisely.

"I was there as I am here: an entertainer. I owned a series of clubs and casinos there, though those were only what I needed to maintain legitimacy with the law. I was always an excellent gambler, so it was easy to make money from those foolish enough to wager against me. But the true power I possessed was in the dealing and work conducted out of sight. Bookies, extortion, dogfighting, conmen, theft, and bribery were commonplace enough, but not the true source of money or power. The real profits lay in other sources: prostitution, drugs and other substances, and even the occasional hit contract provided someone had great enough need. It was a den of vipers and debauchery, but it was one that I owned and controlled."

"And then…" Levin noticed that the man's tone had grown icy, and his grip tightened on his cane. "The war. The sudden and overwhelming devastation. The blue light. You remember it of course. Every Lost does. Perhaps I should consider it a blessing to have been caught by the light so early during the decimation of our civilization, but… I'm never sure. Either way, such rampant chaos, and that blue light, and suddenly I'm here, in this far more simplistic world. With nothing. I am a beggar. I, who ruled over a city, my word and command causing any and all to obey, reduced to just another 'maddened' wayfarer crawling out of the desert, pleading for aid. They call us the Lost; how appropriate, when so many of us had lost everything that was ours."

Levin's eyes grew cold as Moloch grumbled to himself. What did this man know about loss? But Moloch hadn't noticed, and continued on. "But… I would not allow myself to give up. I had lost everything, all my wealth and power. But I would get it back. That I vowed. It was my great fortune to find that the blue light had carried to this place my top lieutenant from my old empire. Micah is young, but dedicated and strong. The best I have… if not sometimes overly sentimental. With him under my command, I could regain my power.

"Fortunately, my skill at gambling had yet to leave me, and the arena wagers were ever in my favor. Soon I had some money with which to reclaim my former power, and after rubbing shoulders with some of the wealthy of Loc Lac, I knew just how to succeed. The prosperous of Loc Lac were the same as our own; dig deep enough and you'll find some that lust for the things society had outlawed. All I needed was a place to build my empire, and thanks to my love of history and archeology, it was easy to do. The Guild turns away so many hopeful researchers looking for funds to study their discoveries, and a few promises of money in the ears of a certain scholar gave me the keys to this very city. In months, I was already on my way to regaining my old status.

"The rest, as they say, is history. All I needed was time; time to unearth and repair Malefica, and time to gather sponsors and subordinates. And the zeal of the men I contacted made bringing this arena to functionality in record time a snap, and enthusiastic hunters were excited to gather the monsters… and hunters I needed to provide the entertainment. And now, here I sit, the master of ceremonies, once again in utter control of a powerful organization, a city at my command."

Levin didn't speak, instead turning his eyes back to the battle below. The hunter was wearing down, and seemed to be having trouble. Moloch didn't say anything either, and the pair watched the battle for a minute or two, before the old man spoke again.

"What do you think of my Coliseum, Levin?" Moloch asked. "Quite the accomplishment, don't you think? Especially for a Lost."

The sight made Levin sick to his stomach. The hunter was down to his last legs, and the Diablos wasn't slowing down or showing any sign of mercy. Suddenly the hunter's shield went flying, the monster's horns having hooked up underneath it and ripped it off his arm. His entire left arm seemed to have been dislocated by the attack, and the hunter was now almost completely defenseless. And still the crowd began to cheer and jeer louder. There was no sound of a hunter's gong ringing, and the arena doors weren't opening so bowgunners could rush in to save the man. The man tried to run, and the Diablos lowered its horns for one last charge.

The crowd cheered and Levin turned away, glaring at Moloch. The man continued to stare down into the arena for a moment or two, until the crowd cheered a final howl, and the announcer congratulated the men and women that had bet against the hunter, jokingly calling in a cleanup crew to take care of the remains. Then and only then did Moloch turn to face him, the same amused smile on his face.

"You want my honest opinion?" Levin asked sourly.

"But of course. I accept all kinds of constructive criticism."

"I think this place is an abomination, and needs to be destroyed, and its remains reduced to ashes," Levin spat. "This place is disgusting! You're killing people for fun! What kind of sick freaks enjoy this sort of thing?"

Moloch laughed and motioned dramatically out at the crowd still cheering the death of the hunter. Some were frustrated at losing their bets, but even then they seemed happy with the show. "These are the people that enjoy this 'sort of thing'."

Levin growled in disgust. "How can there be so many? I don't-" He was cut off, however, when Moloch laughed again. Even the two guards that flanked him chuckled in amusement.

"You think these are all of them?" the man asked. "The terrible, disgusting people you think would find entertainment in this sort of thing? Hardly. This is just this weekend's turnout, and one that I would consider an off week for this organization. Just you wait, boy. A couple weeks from now we're conducting a large gathering to celebrate the Coliseum's success, and I expect there to be five times this number at the very least."

Levin was staggered by the words. There were at least a hundred people out there, gambling and cheering, and that wasn't even including the bodyguards and other members of their entourages that they had brought along. And they were expecting at least five times that number to show up on a single weekend.

"How?" he gasped. "How can… how can there be so many people that…"

"What did you expect?" Moloch scoffed. "Did you thing this world was any different than ours? That it was better? Cleaner? More noble and pure in their intentions? Ha! What a joke. As someone who has studied the history of the world for many, many years, allow me to enlighten you on something: the world we live in may change and warp to something unrecognizable, civilizations and empires may rise and fall, but human beings will never change. Underneath the guise we put up, letting people think we are kindly and generous, there is always greed and lust for violence hidden underneath."

"You're wrong," Levin muttered.

"Am I? Just look out there. Can you hear the cheering, the joy, the sheer amusement so many people felt just now, watching a man die? Do you think a man like me could've had the opportunity to create such an empire as this, with so many hunters working for me, and so many men and women indulging themselves in what I have to offer, in such a short amount of time, if the people of this world weren't just as vicious and bloodthirsty as we are? Don't delude yourself, Levin. The world changes, but people don't. All they need is an outlet. Someone willing to cater to their needs."

"And that's where you come in."

"Exactly," Moloch replied. "A good businessman offers what the consumers want. A wise businessman offers the consumers something they never even knew they wanted. And what makes it all that much easier is that I was a master of such things before the Lost were ever brought here to this world. At the height of our technological prowess, our desires were purified and perfected. Now that we're here, in this world so primitive and lacking compared to ours, all the vices and urges that we once indulged ourselves in are gone, but the human desire for them hasn't changed. For those that specialized in them back in our world, this presents a new opportunity, a guaranteed market yet untapped by the technology that this world has."

"So you're not just supporting this death combat? You're trying to kick start the old vices humanity had as well?"

"In short, yes, though it is still coming along. Do you think Malefica would last and grow with just some bloody battles that those men and women out there haven't been able to see at Guild arenas? Even blood and death can grow bland to those that wallowed in it long enough. Why do you think I offer some lucky guests the chance to actually instill their own misfortune on the hunters in the arena? It's to give them something more, something different. A brand new vice. This city is growing, more and more tunnels and rooms being unearthed, and with it, so grows the opportunities for the expansion of this organization.

"Some vices, certain… addictions, require time and practice to make correctly. For example, many of our clients desire to purchase monsters as pets, but such a thing takes time. One cannot breed a wyvern so quickly, and of course you should be able to offer them the pick of the litter, not just what you first have at your disposal. Then there are their other, chemical addictions. It's rather pathetic, honestly. To think the most popular substance abuses in this world are the numbing effects of Guild potions, and occasionally Felyne-grown herbs and weed. It's so… uncreative. So of course we're producing some more… interesting things for them to try.

"Soon, once we have more power and manpower at our disposal, we'll be able to offer them even more to satiate their new lusts and urges. The thought of having a pet monster is one thing… but what of their own monster hunter? One that's their very own to control, to play with in their own little games and fantasies? You've no idea the number of my patrons have made requests to purchase my current star attractions, a couple huntresses that have become quite popular here, to use as their own, though I suspect they don't want them for hunting…"

Levin was completely flabbergasted. "You… you're talking about slavery! And… what the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I prefer the term 'indentured servitude' myself," Moloch replied. "But such things aren't a reality, not yet. For now we have the arena and the promise of pet monsters, but soon enough there will be far more to offer them, and the power of this organization will have solidified."

"You're just making things worse!" Levin snapped. "You're turning these people into something more terrible than they were by doing these things! If it weren't for you…"

"What? You think they wouldn't be the kind of people they are if I wasn't around? You think they'd live lives of clean fulfillment with no thoughts of illegal or immoral activities if I had not come to them to offer everything that my Coliseum has to provide? Hardly. These people haven't gotten worse since coming here; they've just found a new outlet. If they wanted a pet creature of their own, they'd just go through backroom deals with less-than-honest Guild workers. If they wanted substances to abuse, they'd just buy or make their own. And as for the arena battles… well, I'll admit that letting them actually watch hunters die may be a novel idea to them, but do you honestly think that they never gambled on whether a hunter would live or die out on a hunt? It wasn't something they could do so blatantly at an arena, but there are still back alley bookies that are willing to take on such wagers, when hunters go out to deal with a monster. Betting on a few young hunters going off to fight their first Lagiacrus or Diablos was quite the intriguing gamble in Loc Lac, even when I first arrived in the city. There is nothing new or unheard of in what I'm offering these people, Levin. All I'm giving them is a singular place to do all of it at once."

Levin shook his head in frustration at the words, and Moloch sighed at Levin's refusal to agree with him. Outside the booth, the announcer was introducing the next hunter into the arena. Apparently this was one of the better hunters Moloch had at his disposal, because the odds were weighed far more in the hunter's favor. The announcer was actually wishing those betting against her luck! What the hell!

"People like me will always be around, Levin," Moloch said. "Many people may look at my work with disdain, but an intelligent man finds profit in such work. Now, Pugnax may find you less than favorable, but I know better than to strike down a possible benefit. There is always room for more people in this organization, for those that are willing to see the true advantages of working for me."

Levin gaped in shock at the man, and Moloch smiled in amusement. "You… what? You're offering me a job?"

"I am," Moloch replied. "And I'm willing to extend the offer to your friends as well, provided they accept the conditions."

"Why the hell would I ever want to work for you?!"

"I'm sure you can think of a few good reasons. I once labeled you as the kind of hunter who truly enjoys the thrill of the kill, one that would find pleasure in being an arena hunter. And I still hold true to that judgment. Even if our availability to duel other hunters may not be something that you care for or even approve of, there's plenty of opportunity for you to make your fame hunting monsters here. Just think of the challenge of it!"

"Why would you think I would give up my morals just to fight a few monsters?" Levin growled. "What kind of man do you think I am?"

Moloch smirked. "The driven kind."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you're a man who seeks strength," Moloch replied. "You'd fit right in with Filcher's group. You want to get better, faster, stronger. You need to make yourself greater. Being a hunter isn't just work for you, it's a compulsion, and a means to an end. You could make friends with the hunters under that man, you know. After all, you're not the only hunter out there that would like to venture out and take down the Alatreon."

A cold fear washed over Levin. "How do you know about that? The Guild was supposed to-"

"The Guild has a lot of secrets that they try to keep, but those can be easily uncovered if you know who to talk to and how to get them to talk," Moloch said with a smile. "They take such great efforts to keep information from the councilmembers of Loc Lac and other high-ranking members of the Guild, but it's surprisingly easily to unearth information if you're completely outside the rank-and-file they've created for themselves. As long as the right people in the Guild don't hear about what's really going on, secrets are far more loosely held then they're supposed to be.

"Which brings me to my point. The Alatreon. The Guild and people of this world may consider the creature to be some phantom, a demon beast that is apparently invincible, but here? We know better, you and I. We both know that the Alatreon, no matter how powerful, is just another monster in the end, and like all the other beasts I have stored away in this Coliseum of mine, it can be killed by a hunter that is strong enough and skilled enough. And we're not the only ones in this organization that know this. There are dozens of hunters that work for me, hunters just as skilled as those the Guild has to offer, that would love nothing more than to join you on some heroic quest to go off hunting that dragon, and bring the creature down."

Levin stared at Moloch as the man spoke. Dozens? That was a veritable army of hunters to go after the Alatreon! A powerful elder dragon couldn't deal with that many hunters, surely. From deep within him, a powerful want for blood began to well up from inside of him, the desperate need to chase after the Alatreon again. The creature needed to die! And this was an opportunity for him to get the resources and manpower he needed to find and kill the creature

"I see the idea appeals to you," Moloch said. "Of course I'd be willing to give you access to what I have so that you can hunt and kill the Alatreon. If rumors are true and the beast tries to hold sway over the Lost, it would be in my best interest to supply you with the things you need to take the elder dragon down. There is just the matter of what you will do for me, provided that I do all these things for you."

Levin blinked in surprise. "Like what?"

"Well, you'd have to work for me for a time, of course," Moloch replied matter-of-factly. "And I'd expect you to make a valiant effort to convince your comrades to do the same. You'd play the song and dance of the arena, fighting monsters and other hunters here in the arena. And should we find ourselves requiring it, I will need you to go out and… requisition higher quality supplies from caravans, much in the way my subordinates were when you were brought here."

"What? No. You're asking me to kill people for you?"

Moloch turned and stared at Levin. "In exchange for information, personnel, and materials required to hunt the Alatreon? Of course. You will have to ask yourself how much you desire the elder dragon's death, and how much you would pay for it. Or better yet, how much anyone would pay for it. An ancient creature that has tormented humanity for centuries, perhaps millennia, killing countless human beings? Do you really think the Guild would hesitate to throw all the hunters they could muster at it if they really thought they could win? If it meant the Alatreon's death, do you think the Guild would pause for a second to use you as cannon fodder?

"If you take me up on my offer, and work for me, and kill… even as many as a hundred hunters within my arena, even if every person in Loc Lac was told of what you did here in extreme detail, do you imagine that the generations to come will think you are anything less than a hero? Do you think that a hundred people will make a difference to them, knowing that the Alatreon was killed? The Alatreon's death would override every sin you've committed in the people's eyes, and then some. They would think you a saint, not a butcher.

"So, what will it be?" Moloch asked, smiling and sitting in a nearby chair. The sound of the crowd cheering in the arena roared through the overlooking booth. "I have seen what the Guild has on your relationship with the beast. It's consuming you, isn't it, knowing that the beast still lives though it deserves to die so badly? Will you work for me in exchange for the Alatreon's head? Are you willing to do what is necessary to take the elder dragon down?"

Levin was quiet for a moment. What Moloch was saying rang somewhat true, even if it was painful to hear. Even if it took many lives, wasn't it worth it if it meant that the Alatreon would be defeated? He'd heard stories of how the Guild had sent dozens of hunters off after other elder dragons that had caused trouble for the world. What was the difference between them and what Moloch was asking for? What made Moloch worse? And for that matter, what made the Guild better?

But…

"No."

Moloch blinked in surprise. He clearly hadn't been expecting that answer, at least, not so quickly. "I… excuse me?"

"I said no. Are you deaf? I won't work for you. Not even… not even if it gets me what I need to hunt down the Alatreon."

Moloch scowled at him. "And may I ask why? Perhaps you think that the Guild wouldn't throw you away if it meant killing the Alatreon?"

"No, they probably would, if it meant killing the thing. Hell, they probably wouldn't even give me a choice in the matter."

"Then why decline my offer?"

"Because they care," Levin replied, and Moloch frowned. "It's not… about whether or not they're willing to throw away hunters' lives to kill an elder dragon, but… why they're willing to throw the lives away. When the Guild sends hunters off to their deaths, it's because they need to. Lives are at stake, and that's why they're willing to send hunters to die; they're doing it for the greater good.

"But that's not what you're doing, Moloch. You're doing it for profit. For control. What would you gain if I managed to kill the Alatreon? A lapdog? A peon? I'm sure that would be a profitable advertisement, wouldn't it, having a hunter in your Coliseum that fought and killed the Alatreon? Just think of the bets you'd have placed on me, or better, against me. He killed the Alatreon, he could take on anything, and they'd put down the money. And once the profit of a fight exceeded the value you have on me, suddenly my odds are more than I can handle, and the Alatreon killer is no more. And your reasoning for having the Alatreon killed in the first place; do you expect me to believe you're doing it to be altruistic? For the betterment of humanity, or even just the Lost? You know what the elder dragon is to the Lost, and you want it gone to remove a threat to yourself, to your own life, not anybody else's.

"And besides," Levin continued, "I refuse to believe that the Alatreon can only be killed by throwing hunters at it until someone succeeds. There has to be something people haven't thought of, or some attack method that's never been tried before. You said it yourself: it's just a monster. And even the most rookie hunter can defeat a powerful monster with skill and a lot of luck. So even if sending waves of people after the creature is the Guild's plan and yours, I won't subscribe to it. I'll find my own way to kill the thing, one that doesn't require needless deaths or deals with the devil."

Moloch's smile was gone, and the leader of the organization glared at him. "I'd be careful with your words if I were you, Levin. This is not an agreement I offer lightly, and if you decline it, it will not be offered again."

Levin scowled at him. With a moment to gather up, the hunter leaned forward and spat on Moloch's chest, leaving a trail of saliva on the old man's fine silk coat. "I'm not a politician, so for lack of a more poetic way of saying this, you can take your agreement and shove it. Don't expect me to work for a degenerate like you, Moloch! You may act all high and mighty in this pretty little booth of yours, but you're no better than the filth out there in the stands, and you're worth less than the slime on the booths of the people dying in your Coliseum!"

Moloch's eyes burned with rage as he stared holes into Levin. The hunter could almost grin; it looked as though the man was trying to make Levin burst into flame through sheer intensity of fury. "You have made a foolish choice, boy. You were offered a chance at a more comfortable life, and you've thrown it in my face. You will not find any happiness here, and you will find that your chances at surviving my wrath will vanish far more quickly than you think."

Levin laughed. "You think that scares me? Risking my life with odds stacked against me? Please. I've faced monsters older than all the Lost combined. I'm one of the few living humans on earth that has fought the Alatreon and lived to tell about it. I've had so many brushes with Death since becoming a hunter that I should start giving him high-fives when I pass him."

"Get him out of here," Moloch snapped at the guards. Immediately the pair of guard grabbed Levin by the arms, and they weren't gentle about it. "Take him down to the detention cells and put him in the training program. It looks like he'll be working for us under less comfortable conditions." As the two men began dragging Levin away, Moloch turned back to face the arena, as the death throes of a monster warbled through the window. Right before they reached the door, Moloch growled in anger. "And let Pugnax know that he was right. The boy wouldn't see wisdom, so he'll be with us for a very long time."

---

It took roughly ten minutes for the guards to drag Levin down to the lower levels of Malefica, where the cells lay below the arena, and throw him into a small cell of his own. The guards had been less than gentle with him, considering his rude words to Moloch, but Levin took it. It wasn't any worse than what Pugnax had did to him after being captured in the first place. That had been rough, but it would have been worse if that long sword user and hammer user hadn't been untrusting of the lancer in the first place.

What had happened to Pugnax after the incident in the Tundra? For most of the time Levin had hunted with the man, he'd seemed like a fairly honorable man, even if he did enjoy hunting more than what seemed healthy. But… the man had gone way overboard when Levin had tried to stop him from killing the Barioth and its pups, but even then, Levin wouldn't have thought that the lancer would stoop to whatever he was doing here. Levin wouldn't have thought anyone in this world would have stooped to the crimes that were being committed in this place.

But here he was, in the odd remains of an old Meridian complex. Moloch had called it Malefica, a sinister name for a sinister place. And the place was designed to tend to the desires of the wealthy, with the blood of hunters. It was just his luck, to fall out of one miserable situation and into another.

The cell block they were in seemed to be dedicated to men, from what Levin had seen on his way in. Not a female huntress in sight, meaning they kept genders separated. Every cell he had seen was occupied by a hunter or two, depending on the size of the room. The cell he was in was very stark. Plain, white stone walls bordered each side, each one made of the stone that the Meridians liked to use, that unbelievably impenetrable material. So trying to break through the wall wasn't going to happen. There were only three gaps in the walls: the cell door was made of thick iron, with a small barred hole in the middle to see out of, and there was a small barred window on each side of the cell as well, allowing Levin to look in on his neighbors if he had the inkling.

"Levin? Is that you?" a voice called from the next cell. Harker's face appeared through the window to the right. The man smiled thankfully. "You look rather worse for the wear, my friend."

Levin groaned as he pushed himself back to his feet. His bruises and muscles ached in pain from the beatings he'd received from Pugnax during the journey. "Yeah, I've felt better. At least I can move around a little now."

"For what little movement these cells allow," Harker nodded. The long sword user glanced out the bars, and Levin did the same. A couple of guards were talking quietly nearby, across the hall a few cells down, playing cards with each other. They didn't seem to care about the two hunters' conversation, and blatantly ignored them. "Are you certain you're well, though? I never imagined Pugnax to be so petty and underhanded in getting his revenge on you."

"Well, I ache all over," Levin replied, sitting on the cot in the cell. "Those other two hunters kept things from getting too bad for me, but… he certainly wasn't gentle about it. I'll live, though. I've taken worse beatings from monsters we've fought. I'm more concerned about this place… Malefica, and the Crimson Coliseum."

"Yes, this place is… troubling. I did not imagine a place like this could exist in the world as it is. So much death… I did not care much for Gunther, but even so, I wouldn't have wished such a terrible death on the man. I thought I knew about the Meridians and their works, but after seeing this place, I don't-"

Harker stopped mid-sentence and the quick sound of armored boots echoed from the hallway, heading their way. It was at a quick pace, too. The guards at the table suddenly leapt to their feet upon looking down the hall, giving themselves the appearance of being alert, but the sound of boots walked past them. The next moment, a face looked into Levin's cell. Pugnax's face. He was still wearing full armor, as well as his helmet, but his faceplate was up. The lancer smiled wickedly at the sight of Levin, and the switch axe user glowered at him.

The lancer turned for a moment, and whispered quietly to the guards out in the hallway for a moment. There were a bit of an argument, with the guards replying uncertainly to the man's words, but they didn't seem to be putting up much of a fight against the man. It didn't take that long for the guards to cave into Pugnax's words. A few moments later, the sound of footsteps began again outside the door, and the pair of guards began walking away from the cells. Levin could still see Pugnax outside the door, though, watching the guards walk away, and he felt a cold feeling go down his spine. Then Pugnax turned, walked right over to the cell door, and unlocked it, walking into the cell and grinning at him.

"I knew you wouldn't take Moloch's offer," he said after a moment. "You're too stuck up in your ways. You didn't have the guts to kill monster pups, I knew you wouldn't have the ability to do what Moloch wanted you to do."

"What do you want, Nax?" Levin asked irritably, and Pugnax laughed.

"I'm surprised that you still refer to me so familiarly. I would have thought you would have gotten over that by now. But as to why I'm here, it's mostly to enjoy seeing you in the position you're in. I had hoped there would be a chance to see you so broken and beaten, but I never imagined it would be so soon!"

"I'm not beaten yet," Levin replied sternly. "A few stone walls and being watched over by a few dozen assholes with a superiority complex? I've been in worse situations."

Pugnax frowned at the comment, but it was quickly replaced by a confident look again. "I think you underestimate the power of this place. I don't think you realize exactly the position you're in. Not yet, at least. I doubt there's anything you've done that could match the terror of Malefica. And I don't think there's anything you've fought that matches how dangerous I could be to you, Levin."

"I very much doubt that," Harker said suddenly from his cell. Pugnax's eyes snapped over to the window, and he glared at the long sword user as Harker grinned. "Tell me Pugnax, have you ever gone toe-to-toe with a Rathalos? Or, more precisely, a silver Rathalos?"

For a moment, Pugnax's eyes widened in shock and uncertainty, but it was quickly replaced by anger. "You expect me to believe that a couple of sentimental weaklings like you two managed to fight a silver Rathalos and live? You're a pitiful liar, Harker."

"Big words from a man who thinks himself a great hunter because he can kill Barioth pups," Levin growled. "I bet you asked for a trophy when you killed your first Great Jaggi." Pugnax glared furiously at him and took a step towards him, but Harker quickly began speaking quickly, pulling the lancer's attention back to him.

"You're right, I am a bad liar," Harker agreed. "So you should be able to see the truth in my words. You may be confident for an armored man facing an unarmed opponent, but I would not talk down to someone that's killed a creature with power on par with an elder dragon."

To Harker's credit, his words gave Pugnax pause. However, after a moment, he turned his gaze wickedly back to Levin. "I don't believe it. It's a fanciful tale, but I don't believe a word of it. You think I can't find out what you've been up to recently? I have men that will gladly go out and find out what you've been up to recently. Moloch isn't the only one in Malefica with information sources. And even if you weren't lying…" Pugnax took an intimidating step closer to Levin. "I may not have fought a silver Rathalos before, Levin, but I can guarantee you that I am far, far worse, and far, far more dangerous. You may try to act strong and unafraid, but that will change, sooner or later. I guarantee it. And as for you not being beaten yet… well, I can change that."

For a moment, Levin thought he could hear motion in the other cell across from Harker's, but he was quickly distracted as the long sword user began to speak again. "Perhaps you should keep your distance Pugnax," Harker said quickly, though there was a tone of nervousness in his voice. "Moloch didn't seem the kindest person to me, but he didn't seem to think highly of your treatment of Levin during the trip here, and I doubt he'll enjoy hearing about this."

"What, are you going to rat me out?" Pugnax laughed. "It doesn't matter either way. Thanks to Levin's little show in Moloch's booth earlier, I doubt the old man cares either way right now what happed to him. So…"

Without another word, the lancer's fist swung out at Levin. The switch axe user figured it was coming, though, and ducked out of the way. With a jab of his own, Levin's fist snapped out, catching Pugnax in the nose and knocking him back a step. But the other hunter laughed in excitement, swinging at Levin again and catching him in the side. Levin grunted in pain as the man's gauntleted fist smashed into his waist, the metal joints biting into his skin through the thin shirt he wore. Levin swung again wildly, this time catching the man in the gut. But his fist clanged loudly off of the man's armor plates, nearly breaking his hand from the impact, and the hunter winced back in pain.

Pugnax grinned mockingly, pressing closer to Levin. Harker was shouting in anger, much to Levin's surprise; he rarely heard the man lose his temper. But Levin realized he was in no real condition to fight Pugnax as he was. He was just too tired and bruised from the trip from the place they were captured to Malefica. Between the light rations, the lack of sleep, and the beatings Pugnax had already given him, he was in no condition to get in a fist fight with the lancer, especially when the other man was wearing full armor, and he had only the clothes on his back.

It showed even more when the lancer reached towards him, and Levin tried to block, but only managed to deflect the arms a little bit. Pugnax's hands grabbed hold of Levin's shirt, and the next thing the switch axe user knew, he was being hoisted into the air. Levin grunted in pain as Pugnax laughed, slamming him up against the wall. "How's it feel, Levin, being helpless again? Once again, I stand over you. And this time, you don't have a Gobul around to save your skin."

Levin swung his fist at the man again, but his blow just ended up hurting him as his fist bounced off the man's thick helmet. Pugnax laughed, backhanding Levin across the face and throwing him to the ground. Levin scooted across the floor, backing up against the edge of the cot against the wall. There had to be something nearby he could use to fight back with! But nothing was available to use; everything was embedded into the walls. Short of taking his clothes off and trying to strangle Pugnax with them, he didn't have any options.

Pugnax's hand brushed against the wall as he closed in on Levin. "I suggest you get used to this Levin. I'm going to enjoy making you pay for embarrassing me and destroying my reputation like you did. I've been looking forward to this for a long time. And now I have all the time in the world to-"

Suddenly a flash of motion snapped out from the side, and several fingers slid into the gaps of Pugnax's helmet. Then the lancer was tugged abruptly towards the wall. The hunter's helmet clanged loudly as it was smashed hard against the metal poles that barred the window between Levin's cell and the one next to him, and Pugnax staggered as his brain was rattled inside his skull. Levin looked up, realizing that someone in the next cell had reached through the bars and grabbed at Pugnax.

Pugnax wavered on his feet for a moment after the blow, and the person on the other side of the bars quickly popped the helmet from Pugnax's head with a condescending snort. A moment later, an arm stretched through the bars and wrapped around Pugnax's now-exposed neck, before pulling him back and slamming him up against the wall. Pugnax gasped and choked in pain as he found himself in a headlock, his feet being pulled off the ground as the arm pulling him tighter.

"Let go!" he gasped. "Let go, damn you!"

A growl of menacing anger rolled through the bars from the other room. To Levin's dizzy and tired mind, it sounded similar to the growl of a monster. "How's it feel, Pugnax, being helpless? Who's standing over whom now? And you sent away all the guards who could save you. You strut and preen like a Peco does with its feathers, yet when it comes to fighting you act like a spoiled child. You are nothing to me, peon."

Pugnax's hand went towards his belt, where his hunter's knife sat sheathed in its scabbard. However, at the sound of the blade being pulled from the scabbard, the man in the other cell slammed Pugnax's head against the bars again, even harder this time, and the blade clattered to the floor as the lancer grunted in pain. Pugnax's face began to grow blue as he gasped for air, his armor clattering against the wall as he flailed around, trying to free himself.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing! Release him, now!" Levin blinked in surprise at the voice. One of the guards had returned, apparently at the sound of Pugnax's armor clanging loudly against the wall. The sound of rattling filled the room as the keys to the cells were shoved into the lock and the cell door swung open. "Get back!" the guard snapped, rushing to Pugnax's aid.

The man in the other cell grumbled, pulling Pugnax tighter for a moment. "Just remember, I let you live," he growled, before releasing the lancer, pulling away from the window of the cell and retreating back, allowing Pugnax to fall to the floor. Immediately the lancer reached for his helmet, gasping for air and rubbing his neck in pain. Another guard had appeared, and the pair of extras were shouting at the man in the other cell as the lancer recovered. The sound of rattling once again filled the room as the other guard began unlocking the next cell.

However, a sudden rush of anger seethed through Levin as he looked down on Pugnax while the man was recovering, and he leapt to his feet. As Pugnax looked up in surprise, Levin kicked him across the face, knocking him on his back, before Levin jumped on top of him and began to pummel his exposed face, cursing at the man. It took a moment for the guards to realize that Levin had jumped Pugnax as the lancer tried to defend his face from the assault, but soon enough they realized what was going on, and they rushed to the aid of the man.

The first of the guards shoved Levin off the lancer while the next, who had given up on going into the next cell, quickly dragged Pugnax to his feet and helped him out of the cell. One of the guards punched Levin in the gut once, before hurrying out of the cell and slamming the door shut. After the beatings Pugnax had given him, a single blow from a random guard didn't seem like much anymore. But the sound of Pugnax cursing and raging, swearing revenge on Levin and the man in the next cell, echoed down the hall as the guards escorted him away.

"Sweet mercy! Levin, are you alright?" Harker asked worriedly, looking into the room. "Forgive me my friend, but I couldn't help at all! If only I could have…"

"Harker! Harker, it's alright," Levin said quickly, stumbling over to his cot and lying down. "I'm fine… I'm fine now." Then he chuckled a little. "At least I managed to get a few hits in this time. It made me feel a little better returning some of the pair from the trip up here."

"Yes, yes… very fortunate for you, my friend. You really should learn to pick your fights better, Levin. I know Pugnax likely didn't come here with good intent, but you really needn't have egged him on. It seems we owe your neighbor our thanks. Had he not stepped in when he did, I fear you may have come out of this far worse for the wear than you did."

"Yeah, I guess we do," Levin muttered, trying to push himself upright. However, his injuries go the better of him and he flopped down onto the cot again in pain. For a moment, he listened, but no sounds of guards could be heard from the hall. They must have gone with Pugnax to make sure the man was alright… "Hey! Um, anyone over there?"

"Yes, I'm here," the voice said from the other side. There was motion, and a man looked in from the window. He was a tall, blonde-haired man, with a clearly unkempt beard growling from his jaw; and he was one that looked like he had seen his fair share of monster hunting of his own. "Are you alright? Don't get up; it sounded like you took quite a beating before Pugnax got close enough for me to reach out and grab him, and injuring yourself further isn't wise here."

"I'll live, I'll live," Levin replied, though his body ached, disagreeing with his words. "I guess I owe you one. Thanks for the save back there."

The man nodded. "Think nothing of it. I've wanted to do something like that to the man since he brought me here a few months ago. Admittedly, I had hoped to do it under different circumstances, but I'll take what's offered to me."

"Yeah, well, hopefully it'll be a while before he tries again," Levin groaned.

"With luck, he won't try again at all," the man said. "Moloch, the ring-leader that stands at the top of this organization, seems to like seeing his captive hunters in top fighting form, at the best of their abilities. If word of Pugnax assaulting you in your cell gets out, I think Moloch will take steps to make sure it won't happen again."

"I wouldn't put money on that," Levin replied somewhat tersely. "But thanks for stepping in anyway. Oh, uh, by the way, my name's Levin."

"And I am Harker," the long sword user added.

"A pleasure to meet you both," the man replied. "My name is Richard. I assume you two were just recently captured? I haven't seen you around before."

"We've only just arrived today," Harker said. "We were escorting materials to the fortress to the southwest of here when we were set upon by several dozen hunters and captured."

"They're attacking caravans now? Bah, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, considering what else is going on here in Malefica. Moloch is getting bolder and bolder these days, if he's openly attacking Guild supply runs."

"Yes, that long sword user, Micah, said something to that effect," Harker mused idly. "Though, I cannot see the goal in letting the Guild know of their existence… I'm a scientist, not a politician, so I cannot guess at the implications."

"So the Guild knows that this place means business now?" Richard asked. "Hmm… I'm not sure if that's good news or bad news. And now Pugnax likely has an eye on me… Well, so much for keeping a benevolent reputation… heh," Richard sighed, and Levin heard the creaking of a cot as the man sat back down in his own cell. "I imagine that once word gets out about this, that imbecile Pugnax will be out to avenge himself against me…"

"Were you trying to keep incognito or something?" Levin asked. "If so…"

"Don't apologize or anything, if that's what you're planning to do," Richard rebuffed calmly. "I may have been trying to stay out of people's sight by keeping benign, but I wasn't completely inconspicuous; that large hammer user Filcher, and that long sword user Micah you mentioned don't trust me, and have been watching me pretty carefully since I arrived. The fact that I was able to stay out of Pugnax and Lilith's sights was only because I haven't made a show of myself in the Coliseum."

"But I guess that's changed," Levin muttered darkly.

"Maybe, maybe not; it depends on how you look at it," Richard replied. Then he chuckled a bit. "First rule of dealing with prisoners: Keep away from the bars, or you deserve what you get." There was silence for a moment, then Richard turned the conversation back to Levin. "So how are you acquainted with Pugnax, anyway?" he asked. "He obviously doesn't care too much for you, considering his less-than-honorable attack earlier, which means you're likely a decent person by all rights. What exactly did you do to earn a personal vendetta from him?"

Levin sighed. "We used to hunt together, but… On a hunt, I decided to spare a Barioth and its pups. Pugnax disagreed with my decision. We had an… altercation after that, and he nearly killed me and the girl I love. We only managed to come out on top thanks to a… a Gobul attack, I suppose. After that, once word of the fight got out, a lot of people didn't think too highly of him anymore. I think that whole 'destroying his reputation' thing might be a bit of an exaggeration, but he clearly doesn't like me anymore."

"Clearly," Richard agreed. Then he paused. "What was that bit with the Gobul about?"

"Oh, geez, I don't even know," Levin groaned. "A Gobul popped out of the ice in the Tundra and chewed on him, and he probably blames me for that too."

"In the Tundra? I didn't know Gobuls lived that far north."

"Neither did I," Levin replied. "It just showed up there and chomped on him for a bit, and then it took off without even battling anyone. I don't even know why."

"That's… an odd story," Richard admitted.

"What of Moloch?" Harker asked quietly. "I've been meaning to ask you about that Levin. What did he want with you? A man like that… I doubt he singled you out for small talk."

"You spoke to Moloch?" Richard asked, suddenly intrigued. "I've never met the man, though I've seen him before, up in that booth of his. Why would he want to speak with you?"

"We've met before," Levin admitted shamefully. "It was… a while ago, in Loc Lac. I met him at an auction house, and he asked if I was interested in arena battles. He told me if I wanted to, he could… ah, never mind. Arena battles never really interested me. Anyway, after he had everyone else taken away, he tried to convince me to join his organization."

"And by your current incarceration, I can assume you turned him down?" Richard asked.

"He offered me… a lot," Levin admitted. "He offered me many things that I really wanted, but… I didn't take his offers. Not from him. Not with this place being what it is. Though… I may have turned him down a little harder than I should have. I don't think he expected me to turn him down so quickly or so hard. I doubt he's going to be very kind to me considering what I said to him up there."

Harker laughed. "I doubt life here was going to be easy either way, considering Pugnax is here. He may not like you, but his opinion of the rest of us is not exactly glowing either. As I recall, before you created your own issues with him, he had something of a vendetta against Lady Kerrigan. Ah… wait… I made myself worried."

"If it makes you feel any better, I can try to tick him off next time he comes by," Levin said. "Maybe if I get him angry enough, he'll forget about any issues he had with Kerry."

"Ha. Well, don't go too far. If you can get his attention away from Lady Kerrigan, I would greatly appreciate it, but don't overdo it. It's not as though we can do much to avoid the man while we're here."

"Yeah, if it's not one thing, it's another," Levin sighed. "Even if I escape from this place, the Guild will probably just throw me into another prison all the same. It seems like I'm doomed to spend my life in prison either way."

"Keep your chin up, Levin," Harker told him. "There's no certainty that the Guild will imprison you in the end. If they haven't done so yet, there's still a chance that you'll find a way to stay free. Besides, even if the Guild wants you in prison, surely it doesn't sit well with you knowing that Ellie and Kerry are here, not to mention countless undeserving others as well. Surely they deserve freedom?"

"Yeah… yeah, you're right," Levin agreed. "Even if I'm doomed to life in prison, I don't want to serve my sentence here. We do need to find a way out of here, but… I noticed you didn't put yourself on that list, Harker."

The long sword user chuckled. "I guess not. I didn't want to appear narcissistic, and besides, my own thoughts are on Lady Kerrigan rather than myself. Though I imagine the Lady Kerrigan and Miss Eleanor are having the same worries about us."

"You're a criminal?" Richard asked in surprise, interrupting the two. "You… don't seem the type."

Levin sat quietly in thought for a moment, weighing the risks of telling this stranger his story, before laughing mirthlessly. "Oh, what does it matter if I tell you or not? I guess it doesn't really make a difference either way… I tried to hunt the Alatreon, and now the Guild wants to throw me in prison for the rest of my life. The only reason they haven't yet is because the rest of the Lost like me, and if I get publically sent to jail they'll probably burn Loc Lac to the ground or something like that."

"Quite the political conundrum," Harker agreed.

Richard was quiet for a moment. "I think… I may have been away from current events a little too long. I don't recall Loc Lac being quite so… volatile the last time I was there. Would you mind telling me the whole story? I'd like to hear about this."

Levin sighed and shook his head. What did it matter, either way? He supposed that no matter what, whether he escaped from this place or not, his fate was sealed. So he gathered his thoughts, took a breath, and began his story from the start. Richard sat in his cell quietly, occasionally asking a question, but otherwise keeping his silence. Harker added in thoughts of his own every once in a while, but usually let Levin tell the story himself.

Once Levin was done, Richard sat in silence, contemplating the tale for a while. "Things have certainly gotten worse in Loc Lac since the last time I was there… I always was worried that the Lost would have trouble settling inside Loc Lac, but this is far beyond what I feared would happen. And the Alatreon… that's a whole other issue of its own. I can certainly see why the Guild wants you in jail now."

"You agree with their assessment?" Harker asked.

"No, no," Richard replied. "I understand where you're coming from. The Lost are suffering because of the Alatreon, the creature that destroyed their civilization and brought them unwillingly to a world that didn't know what to do with them. All of their troubles in Loc Lac can be traced to the beast. I don't blame you for your desire to see the elder dragon dead, especially after knowing what it intends to do with the Lost. But then, on the other hand, I do understand the Guild's reasoning. The Alatreon is a very dangerous, very vengeful creature, and it reacts violently and mercilessly when threatened, so of course they'd want to keep from aggravating it, thus the punishment they've given you. Hearth was very lucky to survive an attack from the thing. And with the knowledge that the creature will toy with and tempt the rest of the Lost into attacking it, one at a time… that's quite the conundrum you've placed at the Guild's feet, and not one with an easy solution."

"What other options would they even have?" Levin asked curiously.

"Hmm… Well, the most obvious one would be a full assault on the elder dragon, with the most experienced and willing hunters they have at their disposal, but… well, the location of the Alatreon's lair is not entirely well known. In fact, if any human does know where it is, it's the greatest kept secret known to man."

For a moment, Levin recalled the image of the fiery peak of a volcano, where the Alatreon kept its 'prizes' of victory over those that had challenged it. He considered mentioning it to Richard, but… it didn't seem like there would be a point. It could be any mountain in the world, and even in just this country, who knew how many there were?

"Besides that," Richard continued, "I guess there really aren't that many options for the Guild. They can't protect every single town and village out there. If they knew where the creature was going to attack, that's one thing, but records don't show the elder dragon ever having any truly predictable pattern."

"You certainly are well-versed in knowledge about the Alatreon," Harker noted, and Richard chuckled in reply.

"If every hunter out there was completely honest about it, the amount of hunters that have at least thought about hunting the Alatreon would be far higher than the Guild likes to think. You're not the only ones that have desired the fall of that particular elder dragon, even if you are of the few that have actually acted on your desires, and are of the impossibly small number that have managed to fight the creature and walk away from the battle."

"A happy bit of fortune," Levin replied dully, "though the aftermath of our survival has been less than pleasant."

"Perhaps our thoughts would be better spent on other things," Richard suggested. "Like a possible escape plan. There's time enough to dream of killing elder dragons once we're free from Malefica. I've been here far too long, and though this is your first day here, I would say the same for you. You asked if I was trying to be inconspicuous, but I never told you exactly why. I've been trying to find a way to escape this place since I first arrived here, and I figured that it would be more prudent to be subtle before I was aggressive."

"Do you have a plan?"

Richard shifted uncomfortably in his cell. "Not a complete one. This place is a veritable fortress from what little I've seen, and seems more than anything else designed to keep things inside. I'm not sure what these walls are made of, but they seem almost completely impregnable from what I've been able to conclude. I've got a couple ideas I've been thinking over, but… it may be a while before an opportunity arises. There's just so much of this place that I have yet to see, and it's such a maze. Also, I cannot in good conscious escape and leave all the other prisoners behind, and even if I could, my escape would give the leaders of this place time to flee and cover their tracks. If there's going to be an escape, it has to be everyone at once, and I want to be able to capture as many of the leaders that I can. And I don't know enough of this place to do such a thing, not yet. Truth be told, you may have more important information than I've been able to collect so far, having been inside Moloch's booth."

"There wasn't much to see," Harker said. "It seemed designed almost entirely for show, to give a display of the man's strength and wealth to anyone that enters. And then there was the Gatling gun… ah, I had thought that there would be some years before the war machines of the Lost began to reappear in the world, but not so quickly, and not aimed against humans instead of monsters. The only truly important thing I recall seeing in that room was that panel of buttons and levers he had laid out overlooking the arena, but none of them were labeled so I am uncertain what they all did."

"None? None at all apart from the… the Gatling gun? Curses. I was hoping that that panel could be used to our advantage, but if it's not labeled, I don't see how it will, short of pressing buttons at random, and that would most likely be a very bad idea."

"Why the panel?" Levin asked. "I didn't think it did anything more than control those traps in the arena."

"Maybe, maybe not," Richard replied. "I have… sources that have led me to believe that there is something in Malefica that gives Moloch control over most of the things that happen inside of it. I was thinking that the control panel in that booth of his might be it, but I'm not sure."

"It wouldn't surprise me," Harker admitted. "The Meridians were a very meticulous type of people, and having control over their surroundings would be something they would do, I am certain. But who was it that told you this? I imagine Moloch's guards wouldn't be too free with such information, and I can't imagine any of the captives that have been kidnapped would have been able to discover that information on their own."

"Ah… well, to be honest-"

"Is what you said true?" an unfamiliar voice suddenly asked, one aged, weary, and broken. "You said you were trying to kill the Alatreon? You have fought it and lived?"

Levin looked around in surprise. Where had that voice come from? He hadn't seen or heard anyone in the other cells since arriving, and had assumed they were all empty, but… where had the voice come from, then? Richard was suddenly moving around over in his cell. Did he have a cellmate or something? One that didn't talk much?

"You're speaking again?" Richard asked the voice hastily. "It's been some time, sir."

"Hah! Not long enough, if Moloch had his way," the voice replied in that wheezy, tired voice. "I have not had the fortune yet to die, and end this torment I have been damned to. But boy, you must tell me, is what you say true? Have you made a foe of the Alatreon?"

"I… yes, it's true," Levin replied. "It attacked the town of Hearth up north, and we managed to scare it off with an exceptionally powerful flash bomb. We didn't manage to hurt it or anything… just caught it by surprise and confused it. I don't think it expected to be blinded."

"Then it hunts you? The elder dragon is not known for being kind, but vengeful in its actions. It will come for you, surely?"

"You seem very interested in this," Richard noted. "What does the Alatreon mean to you, sir?"

"Tell me!" the man begged, ignoring Richard. "Will the Alatreon come here to seek retribution?"

"I… no, no it won't," Levin replied. "It… it won't come for me. It told me so. It wants me to suffer for going against its wishes, and it knows that I want to fight and kill it. It… it told me that it will destroy everything around me, but it will never get close enough for me to fight it again."

"Hah, what great misfortune…" the man wheezed. "I would have wished that the Alatreon sought revenge for its embarrassment. I would have hoped that its fury would come down on this place, and reduce it to rubble as it should have long ago… but it seems that this place will not fall."

"What do you mean?" Richard asked. "You… want the Alatreon to destroy this place? You would have the elder dragon bring it down around us, and all of the innocents that are forced to be here?"

"This place consumes those within," the man said tiredly. "It eats them alive, and turns them against one another. It was designed to hold the most powerful and dangerous creatures, and press down on them. That the Alatreon has not already ruined this place is a mystery. The elder dragon was marked by the architects of this place. Its image covers the walls in the deeper rooms. They meant the beast to be killed in this place. This city, this… Malefica, is a place of the dead, for the dead. It was meant to be a prison, a torture chamber, and finally a coffin for the Alatreon itself. The beast held sway over so many creatures, and this place could contain and destroy those that were sent against it. But… it was never used for its true purpose. Nothing was ever enough to stop that beast, and it wouldn't be coerced into trapping itself here. All that find themselves here cannot leave, not without permission. It is the ultimate prison."

"But there must be a way around that!" Richard urged. "There must be some way to break out. You say this structure was built to contain an elder dragon, not humans, than there must be a way to escape for us that monsters wouldn't be able to enact."

"It won't work… it can't work," the voice muttered. "This place will kill those that try to escape. It is in the walls, in the very stone. This was made a building of death. Only the master of this place can spare the lives of those inside. He that stands on top, steps on the ones below him."

"What do you mean?" Richard asked. "Are you talking about Moloch? Does he have something that gives him leverage? Is it… is it that control panel up in his booth? What kind of power does it give him?"

The tired voice sighed miserably. "Yes, it's true. The entirety of Malefica as it is can be controlled from within that man's chambers. I know that he plans on expanding the city outwards as his power and wealth grows, and the danger of that panel will no longer be all encompassing. But as it is, that single panel holds complete bower over everything within this city's walls."

"Then you know what it does!" Richard said excitedly, relief clearly in his voice. "Can the panel free everyone inside the arena all at once? Could it seal off the guard's quarters? Could it release the monsters? What can it do? Which buttons would you have to press to do it?"

"I don't know," the voice sighed. "I have no doubt that the man has changed things since he imprisoned me. As long as I still live, he must still consider me to be a threat. So he has likely long since changed the organization of the control panel. Any that tried to use that panel to their advantage would just as easily kill themselves and any that they were trying to save as they would save themselves."

"There must me something more you can tell me! Please! Innocent lives are at stake!"

"No, no… I have spoken too much. I have committed crime enough today, offering needless hope in such a miserable place as this. I have spoken of life in a place of death, and I will do it no more."

"Wait, wait!" Richard called out to the man. "Sir! Please, there has to be more you can say! There must be!" But the voice would say no more. The man seemed to have sunk fully into silence once more, and Levin couldn't even hear the man breathing on the other side of the bars.

"Who was that?" Levin asked quietly.

"The architect of this place," Richard replied dully, coming back to the window. "He was decieved by Moloch, and rebuilt this place into what it is now. He blames himself for everything that has been done here."

"So wouldn't he know how to get us out of here?" Harker probed. "Know a weakness in the design in this place or some secret passage that might get us out of here?"

"If he does, he's not saying anything about them. He seems to think that escaping is completely hopeless."

"That's rather disheartening," Harker muttered.

"Well, it could be worse," Richard replied. "I do have a few… friends and contacts spread around Malefica, so hopefully we'll be able to get in contact with a few of them soon, and see if they have anything to work with. I haven't heard from a few of them recently, though, but hopefully they're still alright with helping me out."

"Well, I'm sure Ellie and Kerry will be willing to help us out," Levin said, "provided we can find a way to-"

The sound of boots clacking against the stone floor could be heard coming down the hall, and Richard hissed at them, stopping their conversation abruptly. The shifts had changed, and a guard was finally returning to post. Levin wished the doors allowed more of a view; he couldn't see anything through the small window that was on the cell door.

The footsteps continued, until they stopped maybe ten feet from Levin's door. A bit of muttered cursing could be heard on the other side of the door, followed by the sound of the guard slumping wearily into the chair on the other wall. "Damn it all, of course they're away from their post, especially on a day like today. I never get a single chance for a break, do I?"

"Another bad day, Stephan? I hope I didn't cause too much trouble for you," Richard suddenly said calmly, walking over to the cell door.

"Well, you certainly didn't help things," the guard outside, Stephan apparently, scoffed. "Pugnax is in a rage over something, and he had your name on his lips when he was doing it. He wouldn't say what happened, though, but I'd prepare for the backlash if I were you. What exactly did you do to him?"

"Nothing much; I was just making sure the oaf knew to keep the Coliseum's manpower in good condition. They can't just let him go around damaging company property, now can they? If I hadn't stepped in, Moloch may have lost a new recruit. Honestly, I should get a reward or something for curbing that idiot."

"Ha! Got too close to the bars, didn't he? Honestly, that's the first thing they tell you not to do when you're a guard. Nice to hear someone smacking that egotistical prat around a bit," Stephan chuckled for a moment longer before sighing. "But I suppose that's the only good news I'll be getting today. Moloch's in a bit of a state, after today's big fight. And Micah… oh boy, I've never seen him so lit up."

"What happened?" Richard asked worriedly. "Today was… they were bringing out those two girls today for the fight, Kimberly and Natalie, right? How badly were they-"

"Kim and Nat?!" Levin cut in, perking up at the names and rushing to the cell door, despite the pain. "They're here? What! How? How long? What happened to them? Are they alright?"

Stephan, a rather normal looking man a few inches taller than Levin, blinked in surprise at the outburst, and glanced over at him in confusion. Richard seemed surprised at the sudden shout as well. Harker appeared at his own cell door, curious and worried as well, and Stephan gave the both of them an uncertain look. "You, uh, must be the new ones. You… know those two girls?"

"We're friends of theirs, yes," Harker said quickly. "Now, what happened to them?"

"Ah, well… this is bad," Stephan replied apologetically. "Today was a big fight, and one of the benefactors got the chance to play with Moloch's control panel up in the box, and… well, I'm not sure exactly what happened up there, but…"

"Tell us!" Levin pleaded, and Stephan winced at the volume.

"I'm not sure what the full story is," Stephan admitted. "I don't know about that Kimberly girl, but… word has it that something happened in the arena. And from what I've heard, it seems like Natalie was really badly injured. Some claim… some people are saying she's dead."

"That doesn't bode well…" Richard grumbled, a solemn look on his face.

"Oh no…" Levin legs gave out from underneath him, and he found himself kneeling on the floor, gasping for air as shock overwhelmed him.

"I'm really sorry about this," Stephan said quietly, honestly apologetic, but Levin hardly heard him. Harker had a stunned and disbelieving look on his face through the bars.

"Oh no…"

---

"Get in there!"

Ellie stumbled and fell on her backside as the guard shoved her into her cell. She rubbed her wrists painfully, trying to soothe the painful rope burns that lined her arms. It was the first time in what seemed like a very, very long time that she'd been able to move freely. But now that she could, all she had was this little space to move around in.

"Ellie?" a voice asked through the bars on the left. It was Kerry's voice. "Ellie? Are you alright, dear?"

"Yeah… yeah, I'm alright," Ellie replied, pushing herself to her feet. "Just… a little sore."

Her friend was looking in through the bars with a worried look on her face, though she relaxed a little upon seeing that Ellie wasn't hurt too much. "That's good. That's… good."

The sound of cursing and yelling came from further down the hallway, from one of the other huntresses that had just been thrown into her own cell. Threats of vengeance filled the hall outside as the woman raged in fury at her captors, demanding freedom, and that they try and fight her in a fair battle. Several of the other prisoners sighed at the woman's ranting, but didn't feel like calling her down for it. But the guards simply laughed it off, chuckling between themselves as they walked back to their posts, talking lightheartedly over something that Ellie couldn't hear.

There had been a bit of a struggle to escape once during their trip down to the cells, when one of the huntresses had head-butted one of the guards in the nose and tried to break free. But despite their time hunting monsters many times their size, these guards apparently had gotten plenty of experience keeping hunters contained, and after some work, the captives were contained again, with a few more bruises on each side to show for it.

"What do you think Moloch wanted Levin for?" Kerry asked quietly.

"I don't know," Ellie sighed. "How could… how did Levin even meet a man like him? I don't think he even mentioned knowing a man like that. Though, I guess he seemed pretty surprised to see Moloch."

"I don't think Levin would make friends with bad men, dear," Kerry said. "If he didn't support Pugnax's actions, he definitely wouldn't get along with Moloch. He was likely tricked or something like that, I'm sure of it."

Ellie nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. But… what about this place? Malefica? What do we do now?"

"I wish I knew, dear," Kerry sighed. "But there has to be something that…"

Then was a sudden rush of activity, and footsteps began thumping down the hall. The two huntresses paused their conversation, and Ellie wandered over to the cell door, looking out as a collection of guards suddenly appeared from around the corner down the hall. The sound of screaming and crying followed them down the hall, and Ellie felt her skin crawl at the sound. The voices of the guards rose over the sound of pained sobbing.

"Why are we bringing them to these cells?" one of them asked. "They're supposed to be down in the cages, not here!"

"Look at them," another voice replied. "Does she look like she be making an escape attempt anytime soon? Doctor says she probably won't last the night anyway. And her partner's not going to be doing much with her partner like this. Moloch said to just bring them down here. We'll be fine."

"Damn, what happened to her anyway?"

"It was a second tier match against a Rathian, and Moloch had one of the well-to-dos up in his booth for the privilege of playing with the arena buttons. It was the same thing as normal: spikes, pitfall traps, flame jets from the walls, that sort of thing. Then the rich guy found the button that drops barrel bombs from the ceiling."

"Oh, ouch."

"Yep. The first few bombs actually dropped on top of the Rathian and blew it all to hell. But the rich guy got a little trigger happy, and kept the bombs falling, even though the Rathian was already dead. One of the bombs dropped toward the other girl and landed right in front of her, and this one jumps over and shoves her out of the way, and the bomb goes off and… well, this happened."

"Well, that was stupid. Should have just let the bomb take her instead."

"Hmm. Well, they're old friends, so I've heard, so I can see why she wanted to save her."

"In a place like this? Friends or no, it was still stupid. You have to look out for you and yourself, and only yourself in this place, nobody else. She got what was coming to her anyway, considering all the guards she's killed. I don't think anyone will be sad to see her go."

Ellie kept away from the doors as the guards passed. There were four of them that she could see, and through the bars she could see that the first two were carrying someone between them, someone limp and injured. Behind them were the next two guards, trying to hold back a struggling huntress that screamed and cried between them. Ellie suddenly felt a cold shiver go down her spine. She thought she recognized the voice of the girl screaming.

"Nat! Oh, please, Nat, say something! Let her go, you bastards, let her go!"

Ellie's heart sank, and she dashed to the cell door, looking out. Kerry was near the door of her own cell, next to Ellie's, staring out as well. A few of the guards gave them sidelong looks as they passed, but Ellie's eyes were on the two huntresses that they carried between them. Two very familiar huntresses. It was Kim and Nat, from the Hunter's Exam from Orage Dell! Why were they here? They were supposed to be up in one of the northern fortresses with their hunting master!

Ellie gaped in shock as they carried the pair past her cell to the empty one to her right. She could barely see Nat between the two guards that were carrying her, but she did seem really badly injured. Burn marks and scars covered what skin she could see, and the woman looked very worn. Nat was just as bad behind her, as three guards struggled to keep her contained. The woman was fighting against them viciously, but at the same time, her sobs and misery weren't letting her put up enough of a fight to break loose.

One of the guards passing by growled menacingly at Ellie, as she looked through the bars, and swung a club at the window, making her flinch away from the door. The guards continued to the empty cell to her right, and after opening the latch, unceremoniously tossed the two huntresses inside. For a moment, Kim lashed out against the guards holding her when they released her, but quickly went after Nat when the guards tossed the woman's unconscious body into the cell. With a resounding clang, the door was slammed shut and locked behind them, and the guards wandered away, grumbling between themselves. Ellie waited until they were gone and their voices had vanished before quickly making her way over to the window and looking into the cell.

That's when Ellie finally managed to get a real look at Nat, and her eyes widened in shock and horror. Massive, terrible burn wounds stretched across the woman's lower torso, spreading across her waist and back. Burnt skin was covered haphazardly by poorly-applied bandages. But that wasn't the worst of it. Both of Nat's legs had been blown off. Both appendages had been violently and terribly torn apart from the explosion of the barrel bombs, and now both limbs simply vanished just around the knees. The bandages had been wound a little tighter around the legs, but still seemed roughshod in Ellie's opinion. The only bit of good fortune about the whole thing was that the explosion seemed to have cauterized the wound, and there was little bleeding from the missing legs. The former lancer's expression was pained and delirious, even despite her being unconscious.

But it was too much for Ellie, and she stumbled away from the window in terror, her stomach heaving in sickness and horror. The lack of much food from the journey here was the only thing that kept her from vomiting all over the floor of her cell. She'd heard of hunters returning from battles with truly terrible wounds, but she'd never seen something so terrible, at least not before it had been tended to by doctors. Doctors that actually cared, at any rate.

A hand rested on her shoulder, and Ellie nearly screamed in fright. But she realized that she had wandered back far enough to have reached the other wall and was shivering and crying. The hand was Kerry's who had reached out from her own cell to comfort Ellie. "What's happened, dear?" she asked worriedly. "What's wrong? Are they hurt?"

"Nat is… they… her legs are gone!" Ellie gasped, and Kerry's eyes widened in shock. "Why would… why would they do that? Why are they doing all this?"

Kerry didn't have an answer for her, and Ellie slumped to the floor miserably, listening to Kim sobbing in the other room. Nat's ragged breathing could also be heard as well, only making the silence that much more palpable and painful. The entire cell block had gone quiet as the two huntresses had been dragged past, and even the woman that had been raging at the guards had been silenced. But eventually, the sound of Kim's weeping got the better of Ellie, and she pulled away from Kerry to head over to the other end of the cell and look through the other window.

"Kim?" she said quietly. The lancer's eyes shot up threateningly, glaring angrily at the sound. But when she caught sight of Ellie's face through the bars of the window, for a moment she looked confused and uncertain, then recognition lit up in her eyes.

"Ellie?" she gasped. "No. You can't be here! They couldn't… they caught you too? Oh no…"

The lancer made to stand up for a moment, but looked down at Nat again, and quickly stooped to cling desperately to her friend again. "Nat! Oh, Nat, please say something…"

"How did this happen to you?" Ellie murmured. "I thought you two were up at a fortress! How did… when did they get you? How long have you been here?"

"I don't… we couldn't…"

"Ellie? Is that… you?" The huntress looked down in shock at the words, and nearly began to cry again at the sight of Nat opening her eyes, even if only a sliver. Immediately Kim cried out in joy, and her arms wrapped around her friend, squeezing her thankfully, protectively. "You're… here? Why… are… you here? You shouldn't… shouldn't…"

"Don't talk, Nat!" Ellie gasped. "Save your strength! You'll… you need to save your strength."

"Ha. Ha… this is nothing…" Nat said, before coughing fitfully. "I just… Kim? Are you… there? Are… you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Kim sobbed. "Just stay still! Don't move… oh, please, don't die!"

"I can't… I don't think I'll…" Nat's eyes drooped for a moment, before turning back to Ellie. "Ellie… you… can you…"

Suddenly, the urgent sound of footsteps filled the hallway outside. A person shot past Ellie's cell, and looked in on Kim and Nat. It was a young man, the one Levin had fought defending the caravan, with light blonde hair and a long sword strung across his back. As he stared into the cell, dozens of emotions danced across his face, jumping from anger to fear to uncertainty and frustration.

However, when Kim caught sight of him, her face immediately turned to seething rage. With a scream of fury she leapt at the cell door, moving so quickly that the man on the other side just barely managed to get out of the reach of her arm as it shot out after him, desperate to grab him and hurt him.

"You did this!" she screeched in vehemence. "It's your fault this happened! I'll kill you! I'll tear you limb from limb! I'll make you regret ever being born!"

Ellie blinked in surprise as Kim unleashed a string of curses and threats that she never thought the once bubbly hunter could even comprehend. But the man outside seemed to take it all in, his face a mask of guilt as the huntress screamed at him. One of the other guards looked at Kim irritably, and moved to quiet her, but the man grabbed hold of the guards arm and twisted it until Ellie swore it would break for certain. The hunter certainly looked tempted to do so as the guard cried out in pain, if for no other reason than to vent his frustration.

But he eventually released the guard, even with Kim still cursing at him. "Get a doctor," he snapped at the man. "Get several. I want her healed to the best of their ability."

The guard sputtered. "But Micah, Moloch said that-"

In a flash, the hunter Micah's long sword was out, the blade pressed menacingly against the guard's throat. "I. Don't. Care. Get the doctors. NOW."

The guard cringed as the blade pressed even closer to his face, lightly cutting the man's throat and releasing a trickle of blood. The man's eyes widened in terror, and Micah let the man feel it for a moment longer before pulling the blade away. "Go," he growled, and the guard leapt to his feet and bolted down the hallway.

Kim continued to curse and hiss at the hunter, even as Micah watched the guard run off. Micah sighed as he looked at her, simply standing in silence as the huntress through insults and threats at him. Ellie watched in silence as the man simply took the verbal abuse, allowing the huntress to vent her frustration and anger at him.

It was almost ten minutes before the guard reappeared, three doctors in tow. By now, Kim had worn herself out from screaming at Micah, and had now been reduced to panting. She still flung threats and curses at him, but it was tired and quiet, even if it did retain the same vehemence and rage that it had before. The doctors seemed irritated at having to come, especially in such numbers and against Moloch's orders, and went as far as to say so, but a glare and sharp word from Micah had them moving just as quickly as the guard had to get into the cell.

"No!" Kim barked angrily, however, as the doctors approached the door. The three flinched back fearfully as the huntress growled menacingly at them. "I don't trust them! I won't let them hurt her!"

"You have to let them in!" Micah replied. "If they don't tend to Nat, she could die. You don't want that to happen, I'm sure."

"She wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for you!" Kim snapped. "If it weren't for this whole damn place, she'd be fine, you bastard!"

Micah frowned at the statement. "…Either way, you have to let the doctors in, otherwise-"

"I don't have to do anything you ask me, you son of a bitch!" Micah's eyes darkened at the words, and he seemed to be growing frustrated at the huntress. "I'll tear apart anyone that tries to come in here! Just you try!"

"Kim," Ellie said softly, and her friend looked over at her. "You need to let the doctors in. If you don't, Nat might die."

"No! No… I can't! I don't trust them! Any of them! They'll just try and kill her, finish her off!"

Ellie's eyes snapped to Micah. The man had a very desperate look on his face as he looked through the bars at Nat. He caught Ellie's look though, and shook his head. "I won't… I promise that I won't let them do anything to her, that I'll make sure they do whatever they can to help her." Then he shot a dark look at the doctors. "And if I find out they haven't… they'll be next ones to try their luck in the arena."

Ellie eyed Micah warily. He was likely lying. She couldn't trust anyone that worked here any further than she could throw them… but… Micah truly seemed desperate, and genuinely worried about Nat's wellbeing, though as to why, Ellie couldn't guess. He so easily had captured them back with the caravan. But he had also kept Pugnax and that psychotic bowgunner from butchering the transporters. Ellie was having trouble figuring out whether to trust him or not.

Suddenly, Nat began coughing painfully, and both Kim and Ellie's eyes darted to the woman as speckles of blood sprayed from her mouth and she groaned in pain. Kim groaned in misery at the sight of her partner, and another choked sob escaped her mouth. In that moment, Ellie made her decision, though she certainly didn't like it.

"Kim," she said softly. "Please. Let them in. I know you don't like it. I don't either, but… we don't have any other choices right now."

"No… no no no…" Kim moaned miserably.

Ellie held out her hand through the bars, and Kim looked at it warily. "Please Kim. Just long enough to help her. If it looks like they're doing something bad… then you can kill them, okay?"

She shot a look at Micah through the bars, and a couple of the doctors growled irritably. However, Micah nodded. "Fine by me." The doctors paled visibly.

Still Kim was hesitant, but eventually she slowly moved away from the cell door, taking Ellie's hand that reached through the window of their cell and squeezing it tightly for comfort. The cell door opened with a click from the other side, and the doctors were thrown roughly through, and immediately the door slammed shut behind them. "Do your work," Micah said menacingly. "And do it well. Your fate is in Kimberly's hands right now. If you don't satisfy her… I don't think I need to tell you what she'll do."

The doctors cursed in anger, but nodded in disgruntled understanding. With a wary look at Kim, who glared at them angrily, they pulled out their medical tools and made their way over to the cot where Nat lay, breathing heavily in pain. Ellie had to keep a tight grip on Kim's hand as they began; the huntress still didn't trust the doctors, and tried to pull away from her to get the doctors away, but Ellie kept hold of her, not letting her try and stop the men. She would, though, if the doctors tried anything.

Micah's eyes were downcast as he passed Ellie's cell door, but he looked up at her as he passed. "Thanks," he muttered quietly, making her blink in surprise. It was almost too soft for Ellie to hear, and the man continued walking before Ellie could think of a reply. She watched him walk away for a moment, then turned away, intent on keeping Kim company while the doctors saw to Nat.

"It's all right," she whispered to Kim as she clung to her friend through the bars. "Nat will be all right, I promise." However, even as the doctors worked on improving Nat's condition, Ellie couldn't help but wonder if what she said was true. Kim was close to falling into madness, and Nat… there was no recovering from losing both her legs. But if Kim was losing her hope, Ellie had to do her best to give it back to her.

A cold feeling of determination welled up inside her chest. Her friends had been here for too long. They had suffered more than anyone deserved. Somehow or another, she was going to get them out of there. No matter what Moloch or his lackeys threw at her, she would fight through it. She'd get revenge for her friends.

One way or another.

---

Author's Note: Please Review! I'm a right bastard aren't I? I'm expecting a lot of you to tell me as such after reading this chapter, considering what I did to Nat. This was actually very hard for me to write, I'll have you know. I spent the entire chapter wonder 'should I do bad things to them or not?'

Geez, Moloch takes a long time to write. He's a man who enjoys monologues, so I ended up spending hours writing out his scenes then speaking them aloud to make sure they sounded right. Luckily, he won't show up all that much in the next chapter… hopefully. I'm never really certain until the chapter's done and sent to my editor. Speaking of which, the next chapter might take a while to write, considering that I'm moving close to 1000 miles away from the Midwest down to the south.

With MH3U coming out, I was hoping that, when the game finally arrived, playing it would help inspire me to write my monster fights better. Just my luck the game comes out when I get to the part of my story where my characters likely aren't going to be fighting monsters, but rather… other hunters. And yes, for those paying attention, I actually did manage to get the money for the WiiU and the game! Hot dog! Look me up if you want to play some time! I might spend some time building myself up offline first, but if I'm online, you can find me as 'That Spy.' It looks as though you have to go through Nintendo IDs to friend people though, so you'll want to look for 'almanorigin'.

Reading: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, Nurarihyon no Mago by Shiibashi Hiroshi, The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien, Horimiya by Hero, The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Voynich Hotel by Douman Seiman
Playing: Black Mesa, MH3, Lego Lord of the Rings, Nintendo Land, MH3U
Listening: The Album Leaf, Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine, Animal Collective, The Mountain Goats, Mika, AC/DC, Queen, Radical Face, The Polyphonic Spree
Watching: Freeman's Mind, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy