"Thanos!"

Thanos flinched at the angry shout, looking to the staircase where Alicia was descending and looking irritated. She stormed over to the desk and slammed her hands down.

"Thanos! You gave the crocogator mission to the Hecton Squad! I told you I wanted that mission for Triton!"

Thanos leaned back in his chair, holding up his arms defensively. "Hey, I just do what the bosses tell me. It's the Deputy Chief's call as long as the Chief is sleeping."

"Did you even mention to the Deputy Chief that I wanted that mission?" she demanded.

"You should've told him yourself!" Thanos exclaimed back. "You're always coming to me when you know it's not my decision! I give out solo work, Alicia, solo work! Besides, Hecton has a new member. They need a mission more than Triton."

Alicia groaned at him angrily, rubbing her forehead. "Triton hasn't had a mission in a long time."

"That's not my fault."

"Thanos!"

"What!" he yelled back at her. "You don't like it, take it up with the Deputy Chief! Get out of my face!"

Alicia grabbed a paper from his desk and threw it up in the air before storming off angrily toward the staircase. She heard Thanos behind her cursing and blaming her irrationality on her being a woman. She was used to his occasional sexist remarks, so she didn't turn back around to go back and fight. She went for the stairs and rushed up to the third floor, banging her fist on the locker room door of Gerald's Zweit squad. She threw the door open, rushing inside. Gerald looked at her, not flustered in the slightest by her rage.

"Deputy Gerald!" she cried. "I wanted the crocogator mission!"

Gerald stared at her. "I didn't know that."

Alicia nearly screamed at Thanos three floors below her. "Thanos and I talked about it twice yesterday!"

"He didn't mention anything."

"Clearly not," Alicia snapped. "Triton hasn't had a mission in forever!"

"Neither has Hecton, and they have a new recruit. I would have given it to you, but I didn't know you wanted it. The Hecton Squad already left on the mission."

Alicia sighed, and left his room. She stood in the hallway fuming for a moment, taking a few deep breaths to try and calm down. Rather than going back down to her own locker room, she looked to the other stairs, and decided to go up and check on the Chief instead. She went up and knocked on his door before going in.

She looked to his desk, and was a bit surprised to still see him leaned over on his arms, sleeping.

She walked over curiously. Dennis' flowers were still there, recently tended—he'd been up to see to them after tending the ones in their squad room. Alicia smiled at the flowers, then walked around the desk to stand beside the sleeping Jack. She took his shoulder and shook him gently. "Chief? You're really still sleeping?"

She shook him a bit harder, trying to wake him up. No matter how hard she shook him, he remained still and completely silent. No snoring, and barely any sound of breathing. Alicia stared at him for a moment in disbelief before trying again.

"Chief! Wake up!" She shook him, grabbing both shoulders and trying that, but he still didn't budge. "Wow. You really sleep like a rock."

The door opened and Gerald stepped in. "What are you doing?"

"I came up here to check on the Chief. He's still sleeping! He just won't wake up," Alicia explained. Gerald just shrugged at her. "What? You're not concerned about him, even a little bit?"

"Not for now. The man is sleeping. You're telling me you've never slept a whole day before? I wouldn't believe you even if you did. If he's still tired, let him be. We should just be happy he's out of his depressed episode he was stuck in." He went to leave.

"Yes, I suppose. Wait, Gerald!" she exclaimed, running after him after seeing he'd already left the room. She could hear him headed down the staircase, presumably back to his locker room. "Gerald!"

"What, woman?" he called back.

"Promise you'll give the next mission to Triton!"

"I don't make promises."

"Please, Gerald!"

He span around to face her, and she stopped abruptly to avoid crashing into him. "I don't make promises. But I'll see what I can do. That's all I can offer."

She smiled and let out a satisfied sigh, knowing that was the best she'd get out of Gerald—who continued down the staircase without another word. She headed down behind him, passing his room and headed for her own. She went inside with a sigh, and saw Dennis was again tending his flowers even though she'd seen him in the same spot that morning.

"Dennis! You're watering them again?" she asked, surprised.

"No," he replied. "I added new ones I just found."

Alicia finally noticed the new ones, which were a completely different color and shape from the others carefully organized around them. He was working tirelessly to blend them in with the rest of his arrangement. He always took great care that the entire arrangement was flawless. Alicia walked over and leaned down beside him to examine the new addition.

"Wow, those are beautiful," she said. "Where did you find those?"

"Septem," he answered simply.

"When did you go to Septem?" she asked, shocked by his answer. He'd gone to Septem and all the way back? When?

"I left earlier this morning, after I finished watering all our flowers. And the Chief's. I just got back."

"Wow, you must have been really going for it to get there and back so quickly."

"Not really. Septem isn't that far." Though Alicia couldn't see his face, she could tell he was smiling at her. He looked in her direction. "I take it we didn't get the crocogator mission."

"No, that ass of a receptionist didn't even mention it to the Deputy that we wanted it," she snapped, already angry again by the thought of it.

"Well, it's not his job," Dennis said weakly.

"What?" she exclaimed. "You're taking his side?"

He waved his hands defensively at her. "It's the truth!"

She sighed loudly at him, and sat at the table.

(Meanwhile)

The two warriors trekking along the dirt path of the Tria Region were certainly a noticeable pair. Both armored and carrying heavy weaponry, they drew the looks of everyone they passed. Somehow despite their heavy equipment, they weren't intimidating to those who saw them. The taller man was showing signs of an obvious hangover, and the shorter man was as fat and round as an oversized marble.

Every few minutes or so, Ganz would have to do a quick jog to catch up with his new sergeant Jarvis. Ganz was already panting twenty minutes into their journey around Radiata all the way up north to Elf. Jarvis would glance back every few moments or so, between his inaudible curses. Ganz could catch some of them if he listened hard enough. Jarvis was mostly ranting to himself about Daniel's refusal to take part in the mission, and he would throw the occasional insult at Ganz's weight and inability to keep up.

"Double time, fatty!" Jarvis barked as Ganz jogged to keep up. "Hecton moves fast and I will leave you behind if you fall too far back."

"Yes, sir! I am doing my best, sir!" Ganz replied, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"You ought to lose some weight," Jarvis mumbled, audible enough for him to hear. Ganz sighed to himself. "How in the world were you a knight captain?"

"I'll have you know, when I was captain, I would not make my brigade members run unless there was a need!"

"We aren't running," Jarvis complained. "I am walking at a comfortable speed."

"Hardly!" Ganz panted, jogging again. "You are much taller and thinner than I! Can we not meet in a comfortable middle?"

"I am the sergeant, not you! Daniel has no problem keeping up with my speed. You'll need to adapt."

"But sir!"

"No buts! Do you want to stay in this brigade or not?"

"Yes, sir," Ganz replied, defeated. There was no arguing with this man. Especially when he was not irritable from a hangover! Ganz, beginning to resent his sergeant, continued to struggle keeping up. He stared with great dislike at the back of Jarvis' head, puffing out air. He jogged again.

Suddenly, Jarvis was mumbling rants again. "Speaking of Daniel, the little shit…"

"I beg your pardon, sir?"

"Nothing!" Jarvis snapped. "I wasn't talking to you, fatty! I was talking to myself. That little shit of a corporal, I'm going to beat his—wait. Wait."

They came to an abrupt stop, with Jarvis honed in on something in the distance. Ganz tried to see around him.

"What is it, sir?"

"There's a skullhead. Just around this bend."

"A what?"

"A skullhead, you dumb knight wannabe. Have you never left the city?"

Ganz's anger was getting worse. "I'll have you know, sir, I have left the city plenty of times! I have even met a blood orc in battle—"

"Yeah, a blood orc that nearly killed you and wacked out our Chief. Doubt you did much in that battle. Now shush. We're going to ambush it." He started to creep forward, readying his sword the Fathmil. Once he was on the move, Ganz finally saw the enemy that Jarvis spoke of. He had indeed encountered one before, he just hadn't known its name. It was a massive turtle inside a giant skull, which could breathe out a particular nasty stream of fire. As soon as the beast turned around to face the opposite direction, Jarvis let out a war cry and charged it. It turned around to face him before he could even land a single strike on it.

Some ambush.

Ganz rushed forward to aid his sergeant in battle, pulling out his massive sword. The skullhead's full attention was focused on Jarvis, who was attacking its head. So, Ganz ran around to its rear to attack from behind. After landing a few hits, the beast span around quicker than Ganz could react, and released a spout of fire from its mouth. Ganz fell back, rolling away from the fire before scrambling back to his feet. The beast resumed attacking Jarvis, angrily spewing fire toward him. Jarvis was too sluggish to escape its attack. His tunic caught on fire, and he started rushing around trying to douse it, jumping from the pain. With Jarvis beyond its reach, it turned its attention back to Ganz, who readied to defend himself. He continued to struggle in the battle, with Jarvis attacking from the rear—until finally, one forceful hit to the skullhead's face finished the battle. The skullhead fell to the ground in a cloud of dust, still as stone. Ganz stood their panting, while Jarvis walked over to stand beside him.

"Not bad, fatty," he said, with significantly less hostility than before. "Keep this up and I may have underestimated you."

"You cannot reach that conclusion from this battle alone?" Ganz demanded.

"You might have gotten lucky! Come on, fatty, we've got to keep on. We've got a long way to the Elf lands." Jarvis started walking ahead along the road, and already Ganz was jogging to keep up.

"Why must we take the long way around?" Ganz questioned. "We could not pass through Fort Helencia?"

"The guild doesn't have permission to pass through the fort unless we're on a mission with the knights. Which we are not."

"I may have been able to get us passage."

"Too late now. You need to lose weight, anyway."

They continued on that way along the road, killing all hostile beasts as they passed. They worked semi-well as a team, never struggling to much to defeat any skullheads or willows. However, Jarvis didn't quite respect Ganz's abilities, and Ganz could sense it. The tension between the two prevented them from working well as a team. They finally entered the forests of the Nowem region, where it was fall-time year round. While Jarvis charged forward at his ridiculous walking pace, Ganz was distracted, looking up into the trees and watching the red leaves fall.

"I wonder how Lord Nogueira is doing," he asked himself.

"Hey!" Jarvis called from well ahead of him. "Remember when I said I would leave you behind?"

Ganz sprinted to catch up with Jarvis, who continued on.

"May I ask you some questions, sir?" Ganz asked curiously.

"Depends on what they are," he replied.

"Well, I have always been curious about your guild, and of course your Chief. I idolize Chief Dragonheart very much, and have my whole life. What can you tell me about him?"

"Huh?" Jarvis grumbled. "What can I tell you? I dunno. He has mood swings. What kind of answer are you looking for?"

"What kind of life does he live?"

"He's the Chief of the warrior guild. Again…what kind of answer are you looking for?"

"Have you seen him in battle?"

"Now, that you mention it, I don't think I have."

"I would love to get to know him better. What do you know of the rumors about him?"

"The rumors, huh?" Jarvis slowed his pace a little. They were already nearing the exit of the Nowem region, where they'd cross the ravine into the Cuatour region. "I know there are a lot of them. Some of them are ridiculous if you ask me. I have no solid proof that any are true, if that's what you're curious about. If you ask me, I think that the Chief isn't a single person, but several."

"I beg your pardon?" Ganz asked, surprised. "How so?"

"People claim that the Chief has been around as long as anyone can remember. From the parts of his skin you can see, he obviously isn't that old. I'd bet you money that as the Chief gets older, he chooses a younger man to secretly replace him. I bet it's been going on like that for decades."

Ganz's eyes were wide with wonder. He fell silent, thinking to himself on Jarvis' theory. It made perfect sense!

"Not that it bothers me, of course," Jarvis added. "It's none of my business. The Chief is the Chief. I respect the man like no one else in the city. We all do. You better do the same, fatty."

"Believe me, sir, I do! I have respected him for years, and my beliefs were only solidified when I saw him in battle against the blood orc. He killed the blood orc like it was merely a dog, nothing more. I have never seen a man more powerful."

They reached the massive fallen tree, and carefully climbed the rocks on its side to reach the top. They crossed the ravine, headed down from the log onto the dirt road in the Cuatour region. They continued along their way, fighting hostile animals, until Fort Helencia was within sight. They looked at it as they passed; neither said anything, but continued along the road toward the Elf region. It was a straight shot, and they met minimal resistance the rest of the way. A few wolves, but that was the worst. Finally, the yellow grass turned into lush bushes and swamp. The Elf region.

"You've been here before, right fatty?" Jarvis inquired.

"Please, sir, address me by my name!" Ganz complained.

"Answer my question, private!"

"Yes, sir, I travelled to this region with my knight squad, in an attempt to communicate with the light elves."

"Where would you say there would be a crocogator?"

"Furthest north, the road goes into the river. They are likely there, bathing in the waters."

Jarvis heeded Ganz's advice and led the way along the path. Within minutes, Genius' house came into sight. The two teamed up on a pesky gobpakken, killing it with ease. They continued up the hill to pass the small hut. Ganz stared through the window curiously, but he didn't see Genius within, and he wasn't outside. Ganz couldn't help but wonder what he was up to, as well. Jarvis was well ahead of him once again, and he jogged to catch up.

They continued along the road through the crack in the rock, emerging from the other side. Finally, they came to the crevice behind the waterfall—the entrance to the City of Flowers. Again, Ganz was distracted. He didn't stray from the road, careful not to get too close to the entrance and provoke its light elf guards. He stopped completely, and Jarvis kept on going. Ganz stared into the darkness of the crevice, tempted to approach it, if only to speak to its guards.

"I see one!" Jarvis called back from a bit further ahead. "Hey, fatty—hey! What are you doing?" He stormed back toward his private angrily, shoving him in an attempt to pull him out of his apparent trance. Ganz stared up at him in surprise. "It's a crack in the wall, fatty. Are you gonna help me with this mission, or not? I have no problems taking all the pay for myself."

"Sorry, sir, I was distracted. You've seen a crocogator?"

"Yes, up there in the water like you said. Let's get it. I'm hungry."

Jarvis turned and went back the way he came, headed for the river with Ganz in tow. They both readied their swords, thankful that the beast wasn't facing them. Much like the skullhead back in Tria, they attacked quickly—this time quietly! Jarvis once again went straight for the beast's face while Ganz ran around to its side. They attacked together, and the reptile was confused. It focused mostly on Jarvis, who of course was right in front of its face. It chomped at him, although Jarvis was under enough of an adrenaline rush to avoid its bites, despite his hangover. Ganz was comfortably attacking its side, safe from direct attacks. He aimed at its back leg, hoping to immobilize it. He managed to put a deep slash on its thigh, causing it to let out a pained roar. Near the same time, Jarvis cracked it on the skull with the hilt of his sword, making it dizzy. Both disoriented and wounded, it fell onto its size. Jarvis continued bashing its head while Ganz went for the tummy. With it immobilized on its side, it wasn't hard to finish off. With the final blow, it turned onto its back, going stiff.

Jarvis, panting heavily, waded over to Ganz. "Not bad. I've underestimated you. Nice job. Let's get the hide and head back." With his sword in hand, he went for the stomach to get a piece of hide to present to Anastasia. Ganz turned back to stare at the distant waterfall, where he knew the City of Flowers was concealed. Surely on the way back, Jarvis would allow him some time to approach…they weren't in a hurry.

"All right, I've got it," Jarvis said, flaunting the thigh-sized piece of hide. "Let's head out!"

They waded through the water back to the road, following it back the way they came. In a few minutes, they were in front of the crevice behind the waterfall once again. Ganz slowed to a stop, and a few seconds later, Jarvis came back.

"Listen, fatty, I don't know what your obsession is with this crack in the rock, but I'm getting' real sick of it."

"Don't you know, sir?" Ganz asked, looking up at him. "This is the entrance to the City of Flowers, where the Chief was cared for a few nights ago. I'd like to speak with them, only for a moment. You may go on without me if you wish. I will meet you back in the city."

Without waiting for a reply from the visibly surprised Jarvis, Ganz took a few steps closer to the crevice, going off the road into the water. When he drew too close, finally two shadows were cast over him as two light elves descended from high above the ground. They floated down, looking angry and staring at the two hatefully. Ganz recognized them—they were undoubtedly the two elves who had stopped their entry when he was a knight, trying to enter with the aid of Genius.

Fan and Shin looked less than thrilled to see the two humans standing there. Shin was visibly angrier, and exclaimed, "You again! Why did you come back?"

"Was our threat not clear the last time?" Fan hissed.

"Please, I have no desire to enter your city, friends," Ganz said with a smile. "I wish only to ask you a question or two."

"We have no time to answer your questions, human," Shin spat. "We're busy. Move along!"

"Please, just a minute or two of your time, and I will be on my way."

Shin wasn't having it, but Fan looked less intolerant and more curious.

Ganz took Fan's hesitation to threaten him as permission to ask his question, and, looking directly at her, he said, "A few days ago, Lord Nogueira of the Forest Metropolis brought our Chief here to be healed from injuries sustained during a battle with some blood orcs. I am curious as to what his injuries were. Was he terribly hurt?"

Shin looked ready to threaten them again, but after thinking about what Ganz had said, he was quiet. Fan replied, "He wasn't hurt by the orcs at all, he hurt himself. We didn't heal him. We just gave him time and a safe place to recover. And we returned him without harm, so what's the problem?"

"I promise there is no problem. I am not here with hostile intentions, only innocent questions. How did he hurt himself?"

"You were there, weren't you?" Shin demanded. "You saw exactly what happened."

"I did see it, but I did not understand it. Will you not explain?"

"It's none of your business. Why should we reveal his secrets to you?"

Jarvis charged forward, alerting the light elves who readied themselves to fight him. However, he didn't attack. "Who are you to say that to us, like you know him better?" Jarvis demanded angrily.

"Shut up, human!" Shin yelled. "Don't talk about him!"

"You're acting like you are the ones here who know him! He's our leader, not yours. He's a human!"

Shin laughed once at him, and spit at him. "Once he returns to us where he belongs, you'll be put in your place, human. When the time comes, you'll be the one under his axe, not me."

"Shin!" Fan exclaimed.

Jarvis and Ganz were both staring in shock at the elf's angry outburst. They were both hostile now, even the previously-calm Fan. They stared at the two.

Shin yelled, "Move along, humans!" The elves drew their weapons, threatening them. Jarvis went to draw his in retaliation, but Ganz quickly pulled him out of the water and back onto the road. Jarvis struggled against him for a moment.

"We're leaving! We don't want any trouble," Ganz insisted, pulling Jarvis down the road with him. Shin and Fan stayed ready to fight until the two humans were a fair distance away. Quickly, the ascended back over the waterfall.

Jarvis yanked his arm free of Ganz's grip. "Let me go, fatty!" He took a few steps away, and turned back toward the city entrance.

"No! They will kill you! You are severely outmatched, sir," Ganz insisted.

"How dare they speak that way of our Chief! Who are they to say he will turn against us?! Talking about him like they know him."

"Let us return to the city, sir!" Ganz cried. "Leave them be!"

Jarvis let out an exasperated sigh before storming past Ganz back toward Radiata. Ganz, deep in thought, followed behind him. For a while, he didn't try to keep up with Jarvis, who was walking even faster than before. Finally, realizing how far behind he was, he ran to catch up.

(Later, back in Radiata)

"I'll never ever hunt crocogators! No matter how many times you ask! I won't do it even you fire me! Try it and see!" Daniel took off running down the street, turning and headed for Vancoor Square.

"Boy, the kid is pretty ticked off," Jarvis grumbled.

"I understand what he is feeling. I believe I'd feel the same way," Ganz said.

"Anyway. The squad mission is done. That'll be all for today. You're dismissed."

"Yes, sir! Thank you, sir! It was an honor!" Ganz said, standing up straight and giving a salute. Jarvis rolled his eyes and turned to head for the bar, grumbling angrily to himself about the encounter with the elves. Ganz watched him go before headed through the door into the guild. Thanos was sitting at the desk, looking uninterested in the activities around him. Ganz waddled his way up to the desk.

"Welcome back, tubs," Thanos greeted, shuffling through some papers. "How'd it go?"

"We were able to retrieve the hide, although the client unfortunately was not very fond of it," Ganz replied.

Thanos chuckled. "Lady Anastasia never is."

"Tell me, sir, has the Chief woken up?"

"Not that I know of," he said. "I think he's still up there sleeping like a rock. Haven't seen him come down and haven't heard that he's awake." Thanos shrugged. "You can go up and check, but he's probably still out."

Ganz nodded to him. "Thank you, sir!"

"Stop calling me sir, dammit," Thanos spat at him. Ganz ignored him and made his way toward the staircase, where he climbed all the way to the top, passing all of the locker rooms and headed straight for the Chief's office. Standing outside the door, he debated going in. He wanted to know exactly what Shin had meant. The moments dragged on, and he didn't find the strength to knock.

"What did the elf mean?" he asked himself. "When the time comes, we will be under the Chief's axe, not them…what on earth could that even mean?"

Halfway down the flight of stairs, David was standing there in silence. "What?" he mumbled to himself.

Ganz shook his hands to try and get rid of his nervousness. "The Chief wouldn't betray us…the elves had to be lying."

"The elves said…" David said quietly before turning and going back down the staircase carefully and quietly, trying to avoid attracting Ganz's attention.

Finally, Ganz reached out and knocked on Jack's door. He waited a moment, and when there was no reply, he tried again. He was met with only silence. In a fit of bravery, he opened the door and waddled inside quietly. Surely enough, Jack was still asleep, leaned over his desk. Ganz carefully approached, going to stand beside his chair. He reached out, and shook Jack lightly. Jack showed no signs of waking, and the room was dead silent.

"Are you human, Chief?" Ganz asked aloud, knowing he would receive no reply. "No one has ever seen your face, so no one knows the truth…"

Ganz took a deep breath, and reached out. He ran his finger along the edge of Jack's lizard-like helm, feeling its surreal surface. It sent shivers down Ganz's spine. It even felt strange. He leaned in close, admiring the helm up close. It's chartreuse color was beautiful, seeming to shimmer even in the dim light of the office. Placing his hand on Jack's back, Ganz could feel the slight movement of his peaceful breathing.

"Are you human?" he asked again.

He slowly reached up for the helm.