Felinis: There's a lot of easily forgotten details in this area.

The group sets off the next day heading towards where they believe the Blood Alliance to be heading. With supplies in hand they make their way down the open road.

"Hey Karol, do you know anything else about that city you said was destroyed in an earthquake?" Yuri asks as he kicks a stone down the road.

Karol kicks the stone too and thinks a moment. "Just rumors. Supposedly, it was some guild's headquarters about ten years ago."

"Which guild was that?" Estelle asks but the boy shrugs.

"Sorry, I can't help you there."

Rita turns from reading and walking to kick the stone as well. "I've never heard of an earthquake that destroyed an entire city."

"Well, Aspio is across the ocean…" Karol kicks the stone. "Maybe the information just never made it that far?"

"Hmm, I wonder…" Rita says before returning to her book with a final kick to the stone. When they stop for lunch Rita notes that Repede is once again reading her book. "Okay, this has been bothering me awhile now, but how in the world does your dog know how to read?"

Yuri shrugs. "I taught him." Everyone looks at him like he's grown a fifth head or more appropriately a fifth stomach. He's always hungry lately. "Repede seemed curious so I figured I should teach him."

"I'm surprised you even know how to read." Rita deadpans.

Yuri leans forward angrily. "Why would I not know how to read?"

Karol innocently smiles innocently eating his mabo curry. "You don't even act like you've read a book in your life."

Estelle nods in agreement. "I'm sorry! I was kind of thinking that too."

Well, that's just rude. He hears Repede snickering. "I don't blame them. You're reading skills are paltry at best."

"Hey! I can read as well as any of you can!" Rita snorts. "I'm serious."

"Sure you are…" She starts fishing through her bag and pulls out a few papers. "Here, I dare you to read this paragraph."

Yuri looks at the paper speculatively and raises a brow. "What language is this? Geraios? I can't read that shit."

"Yuri, watch your language!" Estelle shouts.

"Exactly my point." He mutters. "What do you think Repede?"

Repede looks over his shoulder. "That would be pre-modern Tolbyccian. The words are the same the script is just different. Notice the way the 't' is tilted upward instead of on its side."

Rita rolls her eyes as Repede starts explaining to him that the paper is sonnet of some kind. Yuri parrots the words and watches as Rita's face goes red. She was really banking on him not being able to read. "If you can read it don't try to play dumb and claim the dog said everything."

"Repede says that he's insulted that you'd doubt him after so much traveling." Yuri transcribes.

"Oh, did he?" Rita mutters glaring at Repede.

"He also has thoroughly enjoyed reading your notes in that book. Especially, on your theory on core construction and how the current method causes too much degradation because of having too much energy and not enough cooldown time."

"Cute trick. Pretending the dog can talk when you're secretly loaded with the information." Yuri expected that kind of reaction. Even if Rita is a genius it doesn't change the fact that talking to animals is weird even by their standards. "I guess you aren't as stupid as I thought… That kind of act works on dumb kids and not someone like me."

Karol looks at Repede. "I dunno. Yuri doesn't seem smart enough to say half those things." Okay, that just hurts!

"I can buy the dog being able to read, but being able to understand what he says is another matter entirely." Once again Yuri finds that even if he waves the truth in front of people's faces they still ignore the obvious.

It takes three days to reach the forests where the fallen city of Caer Bocram once lay. It's just started raining as Yuri pushes back some vines and finally sees the edges of the city. The buildings are overgrown with plants, but overall intact… What's going on here?

…Help…

The voice is faint and muddles but he hears it. It's familiar like when Krytians speak, but there's a pull. A need to listen to that voice.

"…Get me… out…" Yuri mutters emptily repeating the words in a daze. He needs to listen to the speaker! "Find… me… and free me." Yuri's feet plod on the ground as he moves deeper into the wood. There's other noise, but he can't hear it despite knowing that the shouting is right in his ear. A pain shoots through him and Yuri finds his head slamming into a tree. "Fuck!"

"Yuri, are you alright!" Estelle says as Yuri grips his nose and notes the blood dripping to the ground. "You're hurt! Let me heal you!"

"I'm fine!" He almost screams.

Everyone else caries a skeptic eye. "Right… and that's why you zombie shuffled into a tree."

"Karol, sometimes I just get a little lost in my head."

The boy shakes his head. "Sure, Yuri. I'll buy that."

He subtly pushes the boy to the ground. "Whoops, my hand slipped! Sorry." Karol brushes himself off and yanks his antenna. "Ow! Karol!"

Karol impishly shrugs and strides forward. "Oh, sorry Yuri. I accidently grabbed that while getting up."

Yuri cracks his knuckles. "That's it! Come here, you brat!" He calls as he chases the boy and pulls him into a headlock.

Rita idly turns to Estelle. "Ever notice that male bonding usually comes down to acting like an idiot and beating each other up?"

Estelle sighs. "Unfortunately, yes."

"Should we tell them?" Rita says as she watches Karol; now escaped from the headlock run straight forward.

Estelle shakes her head. "I think it's a bit late for that."

It's then the sound of the two men screaming and a loud crash is heard. "Looks like they discovered the ditch."

Estelle chuckles awkwardly. "Looks like it."

They finally get back on the move and into the city. "Man, this place is a total wreck." Yuri mutters as he looks around the area.

Rita places her hands on her hips as she examines the city. "Do you seriously think anybody would come to a place like this?"

"I wonder if we've been fed some false information." Yuri mutters as her strokes his chin as steps further inside.

"That's far enough! This area is under the jurisdiction of the Hunting Blades." A girl's voice breaks through the rain.

Karol feverishly looks about. "That voice!"

There gaze all turns upward to a young girl about Karol's age standing on the roof with a circular blade in hand. "These measures have been taken to prevent the injury of innocent bystanders."

A wide grin breaks on the boy's face and he calls out to the girl. "Nan! All right! I finally found you!" The girl looks down at him and while it's hard to make out her face Yuri is certain Nan isn't thrilled to see him. "Are the chief and Tison with you? Have you guys been getting along okay without me?"

"Don't take that buddy-buddy tone with me." She spits.

"Aw, don't be like that. I only got a little lost." Karol smiles innocently.

Nan clenches her fist. "A little lost? That's a good one! You know you just ran away!"

Karol shakes his head. "I didn't run away, I swear!"

"Still making excuses, huh?"

"It's not an excuse! I beat an eggbear, just like I said I would!" He protests his smile turning downtrodden.

"More lies. "

Karol shakes profusely yelling. "I-I mean it!"

Nan's cold expression looks at him with no remorse or pity. "Is this how you repay being taken in by the Hunting Blades? Remind me who it was that said, 'I swear I won't run away this time.'" Karol looks like he's about to cry. "You always run and hide at the first sign of trouble. You've been kicked out of every guild in the book."

"Shut up! You shut your mouth!" Karol screams.

While Nan let's out a small laugh. "Even we've already fired you!"

"W-wait!" Karol cries desperately, Nan ignores him like he's a worm at her feet.

"You have been warned by the Hunting Blades! Leave this area at once! If you fail to heed this warning, you do so at the risk of your own lives." With those words Nan leaves and Karol tries to call her but slumps his shoulders in defeat.

Yuri places a gentle hand on his shoulder and Karol finally straightens himself out. The poor kid is an outlier like all the rest of them it seems. He's smiling a forced smile and standing tall despite everything. That voice is still calling out and he's straining to tune it out. "This still doesn't explain what the Hunting Blades are doing here."

"Good point." Rita says striding forward.

"Rita, wait. Are you forgetting about the warning?" Estelle says pulling her back and the mage shrugs her off.

"She never said we weren't allowed to enter."

"But what about the 'risking our lives' part?" Estelle says with that concern Yuri remembers when they entered the 'cursed' woods.

Rita strides onward without a care in the world. "Are you implying that I should listen to that brat? Don't make me laugh."

"At any rate, the Blood Alliance doesn't seem to be here. Let's have a look around." Yuri says and they press on while Karol tags along with empty eyes.

"Man… why did it have to end up like this… They said… they said I was f-f-fired…" He mutters.

Estelle hesitates to say something to cheer the poor guild boy up. 'Karol, keep your spirits up!"

"I can't be happy anymore… It's like her words are a dagger in my heart…"

Yuri ruffles the boy's hair and smiles. "She way just worried it'd be too dangerous for you. There's still hope."

The boy's face lights up a bit. "Huh? Y-you think so?" Karol stops and turns away when he sees the happy glint in Estelle's eyes. "... Uh, whatever, I don't care about what she thinks!"

"The problem is your guild, right? I get it." Yuri says with a smirk. The poor kid has definitely got it bad.

Karol laughs. "R-right, yeah. I don't care about Nan…"

Rita sighs. "This hurts to watch."

Estelle grips the boy up with determination in her eyes. "I'm rooting for you, Karol!" The boy's face turns red and they make their way through the rubble and plants They come across a warp blastia and decide they should look into finding the control circuit.

As they're walking Estelle brings up what Yuri has noted from the beginning. "Was this town really destroyed by an earthquake? The buildings all look kind of strange…"

"Yeah." He says noting that there isn't much evidence of personal things around either. "They don't really look like they collapsed from the ground shaking… Something's weird." More than just the voice in his head.

Karol looks at the building and knocks a hand on one. "Yeah, so… how were they destroyed, then?"

Yuri shrugs and keeps moving onward doing his best to tune out the voice. "Got me. Maybe we can find out by asking someone who used to live in the town."

"That's not really why we're here though, so why should we care?" Rita notes as she looks inside one of the broken buildings.

Yuri nods. "You actually have a point there." Huh, another blastia lock on this door is still working. That makes even less then the fact that the warp blastia is still intact and functioning. If this place was truly abandoned then they would have taken the machinery with them.

Get me out...!

The voice is giving him as splitting headache. Estelle and Karol are talking with each other about the nature of the Hunting Blades. "The Hunting Blades don't just kill because they're asked to. Monsters are evil. This evil must be punished. That's the creed of the Hunting Blades." Karol chimes with a smile.

"Since Krytians were born from monsters does that make me evil?" Yuri jokes as they come into view of a lake.

Karol laughs. "Monsters are evil because they're monsters. It's not like they talk or have feelings like us."

"Thanks…" His voice trails as the voice gets louder. It's here and he walks up to the lake surface glazed eyes.

…Below…

Yes, the voice is below… Right below waiting to get set free. His hand gently settles on top of the water and jerks back in pain. It's a barrier! A barrier in the lake that actually stung him! Now Yuri must investigate this by all means. He pulls himself up quickly and moves till they reach a dead end. "Should we head back? Or...?"

"Hold on, I'm going to have a look around." Karol says as his foot hits something metal. He leans down wiping off grass and mud to reveal a trap door. "Weird, there's not a keyhole or anything..."

"Really...?" Yuri grins leaning over Karol's shoulder.

Yuri delivers a harsh kick to the side of the door. "Yuri, an amateur like you would never be able to open a door like-

Whoosh!

The door thrusts open as Karol stares dumbfounded. "What the...?"

Yuri grins and ruffles the kid's hair. "I wouldn't want Captain Karol to dirty his hands on such a filthy door!"

Karol laughs awkwardly looking down the ladder. "Oh, uh, r-right, ah hah hah..." Rita let's out a tired sigh." Well, shall we?"

The boy is about to climb when Yuri sadistically grins. "Wouldn't it be crazy if a monster just gobbled up your foot right now? Just a giant munch, and oops, no more foot." The boy leaps back in panic screaming and Yuri laughs. "Heh, looks fine to me. Let's go inside."

Karol pouts and climbs down bitterly. "What am I, your test dummy?"

Down below they find a control switch for what Rita assumes to be the warp blastia. Once injected with aer they find that the warp blastia is now functioning and the locks are broken. Yuri rummages through the houses and notes the books that seem to be about blastia. It reminds him of the labs in Aspio. What's going on here?

After almost an hour of exploring they come to the conclusion that the Blood Alliance isn't here. As they stand on the upper levels of the town by the waterfall Karol points out a group of people in the distance. "That's the Hunting Blades!"

Estelle's eyes widen and Yuri can guess why. "Th-that man… we saw him in Deidon Hold."

"So he's the leader of your guild, then." Yuri watches the man pulls out his giant sword and holds back his man against a giant monster. "Is he gonna fight that monster all by himself?"

It's a shock for everyone as the man's feet fly across the ground and he cleaves the creature in two as blood and guts fly everywhere. Karol proudly explains the leader of the guilds skill and Rita crosser her arms. "You really want to get back into your guild, don't you?"

Karol's face flushes. "Wh-what makes you say that?" As Estelle tries to reassure him the boy brushes her off. "No way! I'm sick of monster hunting."

Rita snorts. "Can't or won't go back? Doesn't look like you have a choice since you were fired."

Karol stops his feet in protest. "N-no way. I had been planning on leaving for a while."

Yuri nods understanding a little. A kid that doesn't belong anywhere… the irony is so close it kind of stings. "Mmm, is that so? Well, no matter, then." As they spy on the guild from a distance something begins to creep in Yuri's nerves. "What do you think they're doing with such a large contingent?"

Estelle nods as she notes the groups movement. "Yeah, if they wanted to take out that monster we saw, one person would've neem enough."

Karol counts them up on his hands and looks confused. "This is actually the first time I've ever seen this many guild members gathered in one place."

"Really?"

"Yeah, a lot of the members are loners. They tend not to travel in groups. And the Chief being here is out of the ordinary, too." All very curious and Yuri's tempted to follow, but for now he wants clues on the other matters.

He notes as they head further in that some of the houses still have working lamps or that the research papers are just sitting on desk like the person had just gotten up to get coffee. It's bizarre to say the least.

As they're going through the thought idly passes in his head and Yuri looks at Estelle. "Why didn't you go back to the capital while we were in Torim Harbor?" She's silent with guilt. "Isn't your quest over?"

Estelle idly hums. "Well… you see…"

"Flynn's mission was to find Ioder wasn't it?" Yuri has a vague reasoning why Flynn is letting her run lose.

"I don't really know the details myself." She says shaking her head.

"Well, whatever. That's not what I wanted to talk about anyway. Estelle, are you really okay with coming with us?"

Estelle shuts her eyes and grips her hands. "Let's see. It's true that I ended up coming with you because I was so caught up in the events at Torim Harbor. However, I think I wanted to continue traveling with you…" Estelle's posture relaxes and she smiles. "That's why. On top of that, we haven't yet recovered the blastia core."

"That's true, but that's my goal, not yours."

Her voice quivers. "Can't it be mine too?"

Yuri shakes his head and smirks. "Well, if that's how you feel, you're free to tag along."

"Thank you very much!" She says with an eager bow. They find in one of the houses a long spiral staircase leading downward to a basement with a vault door. That's totally not suspicious.

Get me out!

The voice is clear as day and Yuri shudders in realization. The aer is thick and sweet and Yuri for once finds he doesn't feel sick from the intensity if anything he's… hungry. Yes, like in Shizontania when the air got too thick and he started having episodes. It's the kind of hunger that makes him want to lurch over and vomit.

"Wh-what's up? I feel kind of sick all of a sudden." Karol moans clutching his chest.

"Even someone as dense as you can feel it?" Rita sasses as starts heaving.

"Who are you calling-Wait, does that mean you can feel it, too?" Karol says. Yuri nods and finds himself needing to sit and to his surprise Estelle is too. "Yuri...Estelle, too?

Yuri hears that that voice and the aer is crawling around his skin making his stomach queasy. "The aer is really thick."

"Don't overexert yourself. We can rest here and have a look around." Estelle says rubbing his back as Yuri grips his head. It burns and that voiced is so loud. It's a jolt running through him that he wants nothing more than to silence.

Rita straightens herself, but is still as pale as the rest of them. "Seriously, what's going on? Ever since we got here..."

"If a monster attacked us right now, I don't think I'd be up to it." Karol whines.

Yuri huffs and stands as straight as he can manage. "Saying stuff like that is the best way to attract monsters, you know."

Estelle starts to wobble in her feet and he catches her as she falls. "If you're going to keel over, couldn't you do it in the middle of a crowded city street? I can't be expected to be there to catch you."

"Y-yes, thank you. I'm still doing okay." She looks awestruck and Yuri sees her hand reach out and touch a piece of aer floating by.

Rita looks at the aer bubbling at their feet in amazement. "...This is aer."

Karol stares at the aer with wonder and Yuri can't blame them for being shocked. Hell, Yuri grew up seeing this stuff so it's not a shock. "What? I thought aer couldn't be seen with the naked eye."

"If it's dense enough it can be. How's that aer allergy treating you?"

Yuri glares at her as he huffs clutching his head. "Terrible. But we still haven't made sure if the mercenaries are here or not."

Estelle shakes her head. "But, Yuri you're not okay!"

Yuri raises a hand. "We're going forward."

Rita looks at the control panel for the door. "It seems that we have to carefully put together the symbols to form the right phrase."

"Wouldn't it be faster to break it?" Yuri huffs pulling out his sword.

"That's not a good idea. What if it makes the door stop working?" Rita says looking at the keys closely. She ruffles through her bag and pulls out some notes. "Got it!" She types something in and smiles when the vault door swings open. "As always, I'm a genius."

"And humble." Karol mutters sarcastically and the mage smacks him upside the head. When they step through the door Yuri taken in awe at seeing the lake above suspended in air by a blastia. "That water is...floating?"

"It looks like that blastia is causing it." Yuri says as he hears that voice calling for him.

"And probably this strange feeling as well..." Estelle notes as she looks at it's strange glow. The blastia is screaming incoherent words like it got lost halfway through what it's trying to scream.

Rita looks at with curious eyes. "...Huh? He's similar to the ones at Ehmead Hill and Capua Nor."

"Is it broken...?"

She shakes her head. "When a blastia breaks, it loses its ability to take in aer. There's no way it would get like this."

Estelle narrows her eyes as she looks at the blastia's bizarre shape. "So... What's going on...?"

"I don't know... What could he be trying to do?"

Get me out! Now! I know you're here!

The voice screams as a loud deep monster cry tears through the air and everyone turns to listen. The voice wasn't a Krytian… But, a monster? What does that mean? Yuri's chest is in pain and he looks and realizes the cry came from below. Karol screams and everyone sees below a monster the size of large building crawling around in a pit below. It's covered in dark scales with a strange mane that glows like crystals and a face pointed in a beak. Yuri feels like he might scream, because it's the same feeling from the dragon rider.

Karol is holding his weapon at the ready, but Yuri pulls him back.

"Take it easy-you're not feeling well. And there aren't any doctors around here." Yuri says the creature's eyes look up at him and he freezes.

You! Lowell… You traitor!

"Don't worry, that's a reverse barrier." Rita says. "It's a powerful barrier for holding monsters. He won't get out of there any time soon. But, the aer here. This isn't normal." Yeah, this stinks of the empire.

"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Yuri mutters as the monster screams again.

You put me here! You ruined us!

What the fuck did his dad do? Karol shouts pointing out the way the barrier is sparking and tearing apart to pieces. "...Calm down... I'll have it fixed in no time..."

"Yuri, we have company!" Repede barks as they see three figures running in. It's Nan, Chief, and a creepy guy in a hood.

"So who're the numbskulls that decided to go and ignore our friendly warning?" The hooded one says.

"Sorry. None of us here are nice enough to take your 'friendly' warning seriously." Yuri says readying his sword.

"Humph. You don't say... Well now, if it isn't that runt Karol who got his sorry butt cut from the team. The aer must be affecting 'em. It looks pretty thick over there." Hoodie smiles confidently.

"That's just what we want. You all just sit tight and behave yourselves. We're only interested in taking out this big brute." Chief grins readying his sword.

"You sure talk big. Taking care of a pet is a big responsibility, you know. Don't go abandoning him for someone else to take care of." Yuri sasses as Repede barks again telling him to look up.

Bursting through the water falls the dragon rider who's spear bashes breaks the blastia into shards that fall like stars with the lake water. The aer quickly starts to clear and relief floods into everyone as the dragon calls.

Please don't fight! Leave now everyone!

The monster below is lashing out the hunting blades baring its fangs and ruffling it's feathers even larger. The dragon erupts fire at the group who manage to avoid being hit again

Stay out of this runt!

The dragon flips through the air with determination.

I refuse!

Nan's blade cuts through the air as the creature dances around the sharp edge. The hooded one runs the wall and backflips through the air landing on the dragon. The rider punches at him and makes every attempt to knock him off. She manages to eventually, but not before the monster bellow lashes with its tell screaming revenge. Its feet stomp the ground and the groups cries as the floor falls out beneath tossing them to the ground.

Felinis: DUN DUN DUN!