Tears were streaming down her face when she woke up. Even if she wasn't in the kid's head, she'd probably still be crying, because...gosh, that was a heavy one. Once the flood of emotions that might or might not be her own faded away, she rolled over, wiping her cheeks with mud-coated sleeves.

One thing was certain. Lynka's decision to shelter Filina must've brought the vengeance of her victims down on her nation. But which nation was doing all the invasions? Lastation City was just backing them, wasn't it?

Normally, she'd decide to screw the alternate dimension politics and go back to sleep, but its relevance to her chances of survival was too strong for her to turn a blind eye now, since her two captors did come from that world. Still, she had no idea how Ryll fit into the big picture—

Oh. There she was, sitting in a corner. Was Ryll not staring at the glowing shard in her hand, she might've mistaken the girl as a curious piece of new furniture that had been moved into the room.

"Oh, hello." She sat up, trying her best to conceal the nervousness in her voice. "How long have you been sitting there?"

No response.

"It's, uh, not creepy or anything. Just mildly unsettling." Sighing, she reached into her pocket, and held up her own improvised light source. "That one's too dim, by the way. You can have mine. Or just pry one off the corridor walls."

Ryll shook her head, and clutched the shard just a little tighter.

"You don't happen to be contemplating a...desperate act and are having second thoughts about it, do you? I mean, you are pretty desperate already, but I'm imagining something that involves more than the two of you—"

"I know you are still angry at me. For being such a terrible person. But no worries," Ryll sounded almost joyful, when she uttered the next sentence. No, relieved. "I'd be gone soon, once and for all. I'll get what I deserve."

"Angry isn't the word I'd use?" She frowned, "And, before you ask, no, I don't hate you. Despite the whole kidnapping thing."

"Why?"

"Okay, your HDD...isn't the friendliest person, and I don't know what you'd done before your death, and I'd be lying to say that I'm not afraid of you right now." She unzipped the sleeping bag, before standing up and turning to face Ryll. "But, as one person Elizabeth had fucked over to another, that didn't make it any less horrible for you to be betrayed and murdered."

Ryll laughed. Not in a mocking, bitter way, like she genuinely found the statement funny. "She said I wouldn't have survived much longer, after everyone had abandoned me. I, I brought it on myself, really—"

"Uh-oh. No. That's just her shifting the blame onto the most convenient target, because dead people can't call her out on her bullshit." She walked to Ryll, and knelt down in front of her. "If you really believed it was all your fault, you wouldn't turn to murder at the first sight of her, right?"

That assurance failed to achieve its intended effect. Ryll flinched, before burying her face in her knees. "And look where that got me. I dragged you into a fight for no reason, and trapped you here, and—"

"And I still feel bad for you." She paused. "Granted, if you are willing to fly me out of this place, my positive feelings for you will only go up from now onwards. But my point still stood. What you did couldn't cancel out the fact that she was a backstabbing, murderous bitch from the get-go."

Ryll sneaked a glance in her direction, without saying anything.

"Yeah, I know you are still feeling too horrible to believe that. Maybe you'd like a...hug, or something similar?" She reached a hand towards Ryll, and, upon making sure that she wasn't going to get slapped away, put her other hand on the girl's shoulder. "You are free to cry or scream while we are at it, by the way."

When she pulled Ryll into her arms, the girl's limbs were as stiff as stone, and she didn't make a sound. Then the shivers and twitches came, washing over the small body like a self-contained tidal wave.

"It...It wasn't even her, I really thought I was fighting for, for a better future, to live up to Mr. Hawkens' hopes," The sobs finally broke out, as she uttered the name, "End all the tyranny and wars. I, I failed, I failed so badly, even without her doing anything, I'd have failed anyways..."

"But I never knew she could hate me so much, while smiling and saying...even if we weren't related by blood, she'd still see me as a little sister." Ryll squeezed the last two words out in a faint whisper. "And Mr. Hawkens would be proud of me. I believed her, I believed everything she said, because I, I saw her as this awesome big sister, not some...terrible LIAR! LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR—!"

Ryll's fingers clenched around her shoulder with each shrill shriek, and the pain almost caused her to pull away. The outburst went away as quickly as it came, however, and Ryll collapsed into her arms, making incoherent mutters that eventually faded into exhausted silence. For a while, she just sat there, awkwardly patting Ryll on the back while she organized her language.

"Yeah, recognizing who she really is, and getting rightfully pissed. That's a good thing." Finally, she spoke up again. "This might be too soon for you, since you clearly have a lot of ugly feelings that haven't gotten out yet. But now that I have time to think about it, making you obsessed with getting even...is just one more way she can still control you, isn't it?"

That sure worked on her with an infuriating level of effectiveness. "So, uh, don't give her that kind of power. Don't let her drive you to die again, because you can totally start over, be happy, and make new friends who aren't manipulative bastards."

Ryll shook her head and looked up. There was an odd determination in her eyes. "I'm not doing this to get even. It has nothing to do with her. But thanks. For being so nice to someone who doesn't deserve it."

"What do you mean?" Her scowl got deeper when Ryll headed for the door. With a few quick steps, she was behind the girl, grabbing onto her vest. "Don't you just walk off like that, I know that 'I'm not planning to come back' look, whatever you are about to do, I'm sure there is—"

The forceful shove knocked the wind out of her, and sent her falling on her back. Grimacing, she sat up, just in time to see Ryll wrap her glowing blue chains around the handle of the gate, before dashing off into the darkness.

"Hey! That's not a very nice way of avoiding conversation!" She bolted up and grabbed the bars, trying to pry the gate open with brute force, but these chains had tied it securely to something else. It didn't even bulge at her kicks. "Please tell me you aren't planning to lock me in here, especially when your buddy down there is still trying to—"

The footsteps faded away. Soon, there was only silence. Panting, she leaned against the nearest wall, and slowly slid down to a sitting position.

Darn. For a second, she really thought it could be the start of something special, and this would be the first time her wits (if she had any) and words got her out of a bad situation.

The collapsed dungeon entrance stood in front of her. Some of the volunteers on patrol might have mistaken it as a result of a landslide or some other natural events, but, judging by how far away the debris had flown, there had been an explosion here. Powerful explosion.

This was not good. Depending on how long this place had been sealed off, and what caused the explosion, it would create a lengthy diversion at best, and result in a most terrible finding at worst. She brought up the area map on her GPS screen and marked its coordinates, before continuing forward.

The forest of the northern peninsula was thick and misty. Still, it wasn't enough to conceal the jagged edge of the deep, narrow canyon, which stretched towards the horizon like a fracture line in the frozen earth. Once again, she put her gears down on a patch of snowless ground, raised her binoculars, and started scanning its edge from a distance away, atop a small hill.

She couldn't see much further into the canyon, but after a few stray encounters with local wildlife, it would be best if she knew there was something that would use up her limited ammunition supplies, before it could spot her—

Motion. Motion strong enough to dispel the mist.

Her binoculars went up, together with the object that zoomed out of the canyon and towards the sky. There was a flash of brilliant metallic sheen before it disappeared into the clouds, and she was positive that it looked humanoid. Even if she did have long-range sniping weapons, it couldn't match the target's flight speed.

Her radio was out in an instant.

Asa didn't say anything when she opened the door, after Rubis had made several light knocks. For a second, it looked like the woman was contemplating slamming the door right in her face.

"You are up early."

"I don't want to." Asa brushed her messy bangs aside. Judging by the bags under her eyes, she wasn't lying.

"Why, if you are losing sleep, perhaps we should go for a nice chat outside, instead of sulking in bed?" Rubis asked. "The weather is lovely outside."

"The mist is so fucking thick that you can't see anything past five feet."

"We have different standards of what counts as 'lovely', I suppose. Poets and artists of Lowee have composed many great works about the misty landscape of the northern mountains, and some mages believed that it aided the study of conjuration and illusion—"

"Can you stop beating around the bushes already?" Asa groaned. "Or do you need someone to lead by example?"

"Oh?"

"I don't like you. I have good reasons to tolerate you, which is what I'm doing right now. But it'll be better if we have jack shit to do with each other. Done. Your turn."

A blunt statement, indeed. A thorough, detailed, honest statement, not so much. "First, I want to apologize to you. For asking Rei to talk to you yesterday."

"You should be saying it to her. Not me."

"Indeed, but I like to tackle the more challenging conversation first." Rubis pressed a hand against the door, before Asa could reach out to close it. "Second, I also feel like a more candid talk about our past could help us understand each other better. I don't believe I can persuade you to change your opinion, but perhaps you'll start acting a little less awkward around me."

Asa stared at her for a good while, before letting out a sigh. "If I agree, would you stay the hell away from me afterwards?"

"I promise," Rubis replied. "And we should probably talk outside, just so there are less chances of unforeseen distractions."

And less chance of hurting innocent bystanders, if it ever came down to that. Besides, she was sincere in her adoration of the misty weather.

Asa gave her a look and stopped in her tracks, after the ranger station had faded into the thick mist. There was no need for words. Her body language just screamed alright, get it over with.

"What is the one thing you desire above everything else? I just need an honest answer. I'll tell you mine first, if you still require some time to think about it."

Asa's scowl was a mixture of concern—likely over her sanity—and the usual bitter annoyance. Rubis was expecting her to stay silent, and was ready to speak when Asa muttered the three words in a flat voice.

"A normal life."

"Ah, a wise answer. I always wonder, if a Goddess represents the strongest will and desire of our people, then why shouldn't all of us want a normal life? If there is ever a consensus on what constitutes 'normal', that is."

"You just answered your own fucking question."

"Perhaps I've made so many mistakes because I don't want a normal life. No, I want a life that is fully devoted to bringing Lowee to greatness, regardless of what it takes. I didn't matter, the opposing voices didn't matter, and even those whom I love...didn't matter. Because when you were so devoted to an ideal, the mere idea that your efforts might all be in vain was enough to terrify you."

"For now, I just desire to understand. To truly grasp the reasoning behind people's actions, no matter how absurd or simple or contradictory," Rubis reached into her skirt pocket, still carefully maintaining her smile. "Even if they might be a potential threat. So please, do me a small favor, Asa. Would you help me understand why you had been staring at this object? Before you went to bed last night?"

Asa's expression faded into the same stiff, war-ready blankness when Rubis held up the shard, wrapped in a piece of sketch paper. She wasn't reaching for the identical one Rubis knew was inside her pocket.

"You creepy fuck," she growled.

"Rest assured, I have no interest in further invading your privacy, because, as Planeptune's third CPU once said, I'm 'the biggest prude ever'." Rubis unfolded the paper with her other hand, revealing the little stick figure doodle, and let it make a wink. "Also, activating the teleportation spell with an animated doodle is hard. I don't need further distractions."

"...When did you replace it."

"Right after you put it down and fell asleep. The teleportation spell is designed to swap the position of two identical objects, but it wasn't completely silent. You must be dead tired to not even make a stir."

Slowly, Asa reached into her pocket and gripped the shard. For a moment, she just stood there motionlessly, before hurling it in Rubis's direction. Rubis dodged it with a well-timed sidestep, mustering all her concentration not to let her excitement bleed through, as she bent down and picked the shard up.

"Careful there. I spent a lot of time carving it. To be honest, I'm a little attached to my handicraft at this point." Rubis paused. "You never gave me a chance to say my thanks, by the way. It is a real shame that I have to repay you with...this. Still, just because I wish to understand a potential threat, doesn't mean I won't take precautions."

Asa shook her head. "I'm not gonna say I regret it. What's done is done. Go on and finish the job, since you clearly know everything so damn well. Have it all wrapped around your fingers."

"Don't be so eager to jump to conclusions. There are a lot of things I still don't understand, and perhaps you can offer some help," Rubis said, before holding up the other shard. "In exchange, I'll give this valuable piece of mineral back to you, and, as I promised, stay away from you afterwards. For all we know, this conversation never happens."

"What the fuck are you playing at here."

"Don't you think people would be perfectly happy to overlook certain things, after you saved their life?" Rubis raised an eyebrow.

Asa's lips were pressed together in a thin line. After a long, dead silence, she nodded.

"Here you go." Rubis tossed the shard towards her with a playful carelessness, like the piece of shiny pebble it was. Which Asa quickly found out, judging by the way she tensed up as she clutched the shard to her chest, without achieving the intended result.

"You..."

"Thank you for handing it over to me willingly," Rubis held up the 'fake shard' Asa threw at her. "Oh, if only it was so easy to write a teleportation spell into an animated doodle. Dameko would have had a field day with it, and turned our Basilicom upside down with her extended prank arsenal."

Asa laughed, after the shock in her eyes had faded away. No, hollered. "You are every bit the manipulative liar I remember you to be."

"You are welcome." Rubis smiled. "But you are no better in this regard, aren't you? You know who they are all along. You could've stepped in and told the truth at any point. Even if you didn't believe these two were involved in the archive incident, you should've owned up right after the attack on the Basilicom. What are you scared of?"

Something creaked in the distance. Rubis kept her gaze focused on Asa, and readied the cards in her right sleeves, just in case.

"I'm not helping them."

"You aren't helping us by staying silent, either." Rubis narrowed her eyes. "If I were you, I'd speak the truth now, while there was only one listener. Before someone else spoke it for you. In front of everyone."

"There you are!" Ruffling and splashing sound suddenly came out of a nearby bush. "What are you two chatting about? I'm sure it's very exciting and all, but we have more important matters at hand! The special agent lady just called, and the big fishes had shown up!"

Mr. Esaka moved faster than she expected. Seconds later, he was right behind her, his pink cape flying in the wind.

"Oh? What's that shiny rock?" He squinted at the shard, before giving her a thumbs-up. "Ah-ha! I don't know you are a geologist! I mean, you are probably super smart and have done a lot of fancy scholarly stuff in the past hundred years—"

Rubis felt the sudden tension in the air, before the blur of orange flared up at the corner of her eyes. She dodged just a second too late, but not before casting a barrier in Mr. Esaka's direction.

The moment the shard was snatched out of her hands, a white beacon of light engulfed her vision.

"She's in the air? No prob! I'm flying too, and I'll call Blanny while I'm at it!" Dameko yelled, "Time for a reeeeeeematch!"

With a loud rumble of the engine, the radio call ended. C-Sha cracked her knuckles together, as she made her way towards the half-open door. Not because she was expecting a fight or anything, but because they were finally making progress—

Light. White beacon of light that pierced through the mist.

C-Sha activated her Gold Form, before she started running. It would be really funny if it was just Blanny, ready to take off again, a stray thought flashed across her mind as she shoved the shrubs and vines aside. If it wasn't Blanny, please let her be nearby.

Because if it wasn't her transformation, it could only be one other person's...

"Woo-hoo! I've awakened from a hundred years of sleep to kick! Some! Butts!"

Right after C-Sha heard the loud, blooming voice, the vegetation thinned, allowing her to see Rubis and Mr. Esaka. The former quickly stood up from the ground, and casted an additional barrier around herself, while the latter just stood there, frozen.

Asa was nowhere to be seen.

With the aid from the wings on her waist, C-Sha leaped over them and landed right in front of the unknown figure, her blaster charged and ready. "Not theirs, I hope?"

"Of course not! Only bullies beat up kids and old geezers! No offense on the last one! Old geezers can be badass too!"

Okay, this CPU here was definitely not the one they were after. Not without some implausibly good dye job and a Processor Unit overhaul. Upon a closer look, the blue streaks in her amber hair might be closer to cyan, but the giant gauntlets, the truly impressive amount of skin her bikini suit didn't cover, and the four orbs of flames floating around her were entirely new.

"Who are you?!"

"The hottest, spunkiest lady 'round the block, Amber Heart!" She pouted a little, as she twirled a strand of her blue hair with her index finger. "Golly gee, you'd think I'd have gotten some cool ice powers by now, with the whole blue dye job that comes with the HDD package? Just to steam the egg noodles a little?"

"I don't think you can steam anything with ice power."

"Eh, make ice cream out of egg noodles? Or smoothies? Whatever!" The flame orbs glowed brighter when she raised her voice. "Ice and fire make a great duo, and anyone who says otherwise are giant sucking babies!"

"Asa girl..." Mr. Esaka mumbled behind her.

"Yeah, where is she? We could really use some help right now—" C-Sha's eyes widened, as Mr. Esaka pointed towards the CPU wordlessly. It took awhile for the realization to sink in.

"Oh. Man. You gotta' be kidding me."

"You recognize me," Rubis stepped forward, "Yet I don't remember a version of you in this world."

"Oh yeah, Ruby Babe! I felt a lil' bad for kicking you...the other you into the strait. Or was it me? Maybe it's Asa. I totally delivered some sick burns to your sister, but hey, she's not a kid in HDD." Amber Heart scratched her head, "That's one of the few downsides of ruling over such a tough n' rowdy bunch! Like they said, on Shin-Nikin, even the cats wear brass paws!"

"Woah. Hang on a sec, Asa. Why have you been hiding your—" C-Sha bit into her lips, "You aren't spying on us, are you? For those two?"

"Heck no! I love y'all too much to ditch you for some cat girl and her beetle buddy! Golly, just thinking about her rainbow attacks make my head spin." Amber Heart waved her hand, and the flame orbs began spinning around her.

"Love is the best strength, and Asa's such a weakling 'cause she kept hiding her love." Amber Heart flicked herself on the forehead. "Oh, Asa, ya' big silly. You can't hide anything from yourself, y'know?"

"If you know about them, it wouldn't hurt to share some information with us, right?" Rubis spoke up again.

"Sure thing! But—" Amber Heart shrugged, "Under one condition. I've been itching for a good fight for too long! Lemme see, who's not a kid or an old geezer here? You, of course! You look like a fighting type!"

"The fighter type, you mean?" C-Sha winked at her. "'Cause I'm not a Pocketed Monstrosity."

"Ahh! Words! It's so hard to tell them apart! Anyways, let's fight! If you win, I'll tell you everything. 'Bout me, my world, and all that jazz." A huge smile appeared on Amber Heart's face, as bright red flames enveloped her gauntlets. "So c'mon, c'mon! Prove yourself! Are you a weenie, or a real hot dog?"

C-Sha sighed, before shifting into a combat stance. Not gonna lie—she was actually looking forward to the fight a little. "You are making me hungry with all these food talks."

"Well, I won't leave ya' starving!" As Amber Heart took off into the air, the flaming orbs soared up with her, burning with the intensity of four fiery mini suns. "LET'S FINISH THIS! BEFORE BREAKFAST!"