Chapter 29

A Place to Call Home

Marietta and Steeg grieved at the news of Dan's demise as everyone began to assemble at the bridge. The Diplo was ready to take off, but to where? Cliff had already decided to settle matters within Vendeen himself. And the Outer Alliance had been almost completely demolished by now since the rest of the Alliance team was already working on carrying out their 'other task'. While the mystery had somewhat been revealed, new ones were instantaneously been created. Why did the Specialists get rid of Shin, the first in-command of the Outer Alliance group? There was surely something within the Alliance which created conflicts between the different divisions of the organization. Was it greed? Was it rebellion? Or was it just pure malice? Cliff was surely in the process of finding out, but the rest of Quark wasn't going to sit in their seats twiddling their thumbs either.

"Marietta, so was there anything else from the report?" asked a curious Mirage as she sat in her seat on the bridge once the Diplo sped out of the Klausian system at cruising speed.

"Not much else, but ever since the Federation has been able to get one over the Alliance with the assault on their shields, it seems an Alliance base located just outside the regions of the gamma sector has raised many suspicions." Marietta informed while looking up some data on a computer screen next to the navigation panel.

"An Alliance base?"

Steeg joined in the conversation to inform Mirage of the specific details, "According to the Federation, the Inner Alliance has kept records of these so-called synchronological experiment data in their stations. Supposedly, this base is no different which the Federation discovered only recently."

"How could the Federation find out something like that?" questioned Maria.

"That location is known as the Alpha base, and it was once claimed by the Panglactic Federation so I guess they most likely have kept some records of that place even after the Alliance seized it as one of its primary bases about two years back." Steeg answered.

Marietta nodded before adding to his knowledge, "Unlike the other bases however, this one doesn't seem to serve any other purpose other than acting as some type of storage place for the Alliance. They have minimal security too, it's like it's been isolated for some reason."

"Now I wonder why that is..." Mirage pondered in deep thoughts.

"If they've really got all that stuff on the Alliance, then I think it's a golden oppurtunity for us." Lieber mentioned giving his opinion on the matter. "What do you think, capt'n?"

This could possibly speeden things up a little, and make things easier on everyone hopefully. Mirage instantly agreed finding no harm in the matter, "Agreed... I suppose it won't hurt to check this place out." Even then, Mirage wondered how the Alliance could be so careless and allow trespassers into one of their primary bases. Surely, they'd have to watch their step in there... after all, it was the first ever Alliance territory Quark was going to walk into.

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Sergo, a resident of Klaus III, was one of Quark's most laid back members leading the security team. Replacing Lancar, many Quark members had a lot of expectations from this man who seemed to be satisfied simply by getting the job done. In Cliff's eyes however, no one could possibly replace Lancar... no matter how well anyone handles the job. While taking a stroll down the aisle of the bottom deck of the ship, Sergo managed to spot a beautiful woman dressed in dark violet robes in the corner just outside one of the guest quarters. It was Misty Lear.

Misty's head was still spinning on the one name... which was Wakou. It was so long ago, how could she possibly remember something like this? This Wakou was the cause of the Alliance, who could possibly turn out to be their archenemy. To lead such a large terrorizing organization, he must have been through a lot and his motivation was possibly bigger than no other.

"You there... Misty, right?" a voice suddenly shook her as she noticed a young man with a headband strapped around his head standing tall just a few feet across from her. "Hey I-I was just..."

"Excuse meee! Coming through!" Welch appeared just that instant as she rushed past both Sergo and Misty bumping them out of her way as she dashed into the guest quarters, "You better come in here too!" she exclaimed pulling Misty by her arm into the room as well before slamming the door shut.

"What's going on?" Misty asked as she studied the expression on Welch's face. "That excitement, the anxiety, and that unhappy look on your face perplexes me."

"Hey, you should watch out for some of the people here! I have been watching that guy for some time now and let me tell you right now... he's baaaad news!" Welch whispered loud enough for the voice to reach outside the room.

"Don't be silly, I can take care of myself quite well."

The young pigtailed Elicoorian shook her head along with the her handstick tapping the desk beside her with it, "Sure you could probably be able to defend yourself with alchemy, but who's gonna be there for you while you cast your spells, huh!"

"Th-That is..." stuttered Misty.

"So that settles it! I'm going to have to stick by you at all times!" Welch said as she shook her fists excitedly.

"sigh As you wish."

"By the way... i've never heard of alchemy boasting such an offensive power. How do you manage to do that...? I can put a list of all the famous alchemists i've known... Mackwell, Roselyn, and of course the famous Ansala but neither I nor anyone has witnessed alchemists do that kind of stuff!" asked Welch curiously.

"It's really all just an intuitive thing. It's not really the strength or the intelligence that makes you a better alchemist, but rather the range of your awareness. So really, the more aware you are of your surroundings, the more success you will have with alchemy." Misty stated as she sat on one of the soft cushioned seats inside the quarters.

"Wow, that sounds a lot complicated than I thought. You think I could ever become an alchemist?" asked Welch as her eyes filled with hope.

Misty only smiled in return, "Sure... anyone could do it if they tried hard enough. I was only able to learn it because of my master many years ago on my home planet. But... he's no more now. And that's why-..."

Welch, lost in her own thoughts at the time, didn't notice that she had interrupted Misty due to a concern which she wanted to bring up. "Yeah... you did say you wanted to go along with Quark so you can get something in return right?" said Welch. "What is it? Maybe I could help!"

"Well, then... have you ever heard of the Spirit Stone?" Misty questioned as she placed a cold hand on Welch's forearm.

"Spirit Stone?"

"Yes, the famous stone which is a common term for all alchemists. Many rumors have been produced about the mysterious powers it boasts, and although it's not as valued as a high-priced relic such as the Philosopher's Stone, many believe the Spirit Stone allows an alchemist to perform tasks which people deem impossible."

After thinking thoroughly, a nervous Welch replied, "N-No, I can't really say i've heard of it..."

"sigh It's alright. I'm slowly starting to get my answers now anyway..." Misty shook her head as she turned her eyes over back to Welch. "Don't worry, i'll let you know once I do."

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Both gamma and zeta sectors were not under the Federation's authority and a fair distance from the Sol System which caused both to be in opposite ends of each other. Due to this, the trip to the Alpha base was expected to be rather long, passing through many borders and planetary systems on the way. One planet, known as Grix, isolated for many years and not located in any planetary system, seemed to peak Xeim's interest. Xeim was present on the bridge, and when he heard Marietta announce that they were just about ready to pass through the border of planet Grix, he requested Mirage to set coordinates for that planet.

"Pull over? But why?" Mirage asked, puzzled at Xeim's request.

"There is something that needs to be done... some unfinished business. And this has to do with the Alliance, don't worry... I won't take much of your time." he replied confusing everyone even more with his response.

"Are you sure, Xeim? What could an isolated planet like this have to do with the Alliance?" questioned Marietta turning her head towards Xeim to look for a response.

"Grix, i've known that place for a long time. It definitely holds some significance." said Xeim. "Of course, i'm not going to push you all into fulfilling my request."

"What do you think, captain?" Steeg asked with a doubtful look on his face.

Mirage sighed, 'It's not like we have such an important task in our hands right now, it wouldn't hurt to see what's here. And he mentioned the Alliance'. She didn't find there to be enough reasoning to head for planet Grix herself, but something inside her pushed Mirage to make the decision she was about to, "Alright then... head for planet Grix's orbit immediately."

"Roger, captain."

Xeim gave Mirage a look of gratitude and relief at the same time. This wasn't the first time Mirage had agreed to his odd requests either. First, it was allowing Xeim to join Quark despite the risks they were ready to take. And now, it was going to the planet known as Grix which no one has ever heard having any connection with the Alliance. Despite all that, they were going to look further and investigate more on this mysterious location.

Upon, arriving on Grix as Mirage, Xeim, Maria, Lieber, Welch, and Misty were transported to an area that stretched out for miles without anything significant in sight, the Diplo was ordered to stay in its position in case of an emergency. The ground was rough and rocky, covered with small red-colored rocks which resembled the soil on the Rashfall continent of Vanguard III.

Welch stepped forward before stretching her arms, "Whew! Seemed like we were in there forever!" she yawned before rubbing her eyes. "So now what place is this? It looks sorta creepy if you ask me..."

"What is it, Misty?" Maria asked noticing the distressed and worrisome look on the beautiful Misty's face.

"This place holds an unusual aura. It feels so... foreign." answered the lady with the dark hooded robe.

"Man, just hearing that sends chills up my spine!" Lieber shuddered. "How can ya tell, anyway?"

"I can feel its presence. Many wandering souls that seem to be coming from a specific source..." replied Misty once again.

Mirage stepped forward and took a moment to peek in all four directions of the area they were in. "All that definitely sounds somewhat familiar. But what is the Alliance planning to achieve in a place like this?"

Xeim paced a few steps ahead of the rest of the group as he turned around and gave them a concentrated look. "I have a confession to make. The presence of the Alliance on this planet while not impossible, is actually doubtful. The truth is, I needed to get to this place for a long time... I have matters to settle here. Sorry for lying, but I couldn't find a better excuse than the Alliance."

"Say what!" Lieber blurted out angrily.

"Xeim, what are you talking about?" a confused Mirage asked as she looked into Xeim's eyes. "What in the world do you plan on doing here? We can't afford to putter around at a time like this."

"Yes, I realize that." Xeim reasoned as he hung his head. "Like, I promised... I didn't plan on taking up any of your time. That's why i'm going to do this alone, don't worry about me."

"So what? You're just going to walk away?" Lieber questioned raising an eyebrow.

An impatient Maria didn't take this matter too lightly either, "You know... coming all this way did already waste our time. As for worrying about you, I think we're more concerned about what you're brewing up here, especially sinced you mentioned the Alliance."

"Don't misjudge me. Look... I didn't quite plan things to go this way either, but I have no choice in this matter. I must go. You all, on the other hand, should return to the Diplo and settle your own matters. I know we've been quite some ways together, but it's unfortunate that we have to part ways here." the scarfed mysterious man spoke as he turned his back to them.

"Xeim, wait...!" Mirage shouted as he started to pace even further out of their sight, but she didn't get much of a response.

"Thanks for everything you've done, all of you..." Xeim whispered not willing to stop even on Mirage's orders, who technically wasn't his superior anymore now that he was about to abandon them... although 'abandon' may not have been the word Xeim would prefer. The Quark members looked in astonishment as they saw Xeim vanish out of their sight in a mysterious fashion.

"Hmph. I always knew he was bad news." Lieber grumbled.

"What a weirdo. What's he got on his mind anyway!" Welch asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Come to think of it... I don't think we ever figured what he was upto all this time. He just seemed to be someone who tagged along with us." mentioned the blue-haired Maria.

"She's right! We have to be careful with these people we carry around in our ship from now on!" he said throwing a suspicious eye towards both Welch and Misty.

Welch jumped from his comment and shot back, "Hey! Don't look at me! I haven't got anything up my sleeve so stop giving me that look!"

"Mirage, let's just head back to the Diplo. We'll worry about this later." suggested Maria.

Mirage, silent and dumbfounded, just turned her head the other side and gave another small sigh.

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Grix was once known to be a civilized planet with a low-level technology years ago. However, a mysterious group slaughtered all the habitants of the planet not too long ago destructing the life on the planet almost completely. Nothing was really done about this at the time since neither the Federation nor the Aldians bothered to meddle with matters on Grix which had by then turned into a totally lifeless planet. Thunderstorms were nothing new to Grix due to the large amount of moisture in the atmosphere and the cold air temperature. In fact, Xeim could hear the roars of the thunders in the cloud already... there was about to be a heavy rainfall. As the droplets fell on the dark small rocks and the small twigs on the ground, he tried to quicken things up a little more.

'I know it was somewhere here... I better hurry!' Xeim placed both his hands over his head to block the raindrops from falling on his head. There was a large boulder in a distance next to a dirty pond. There were several pieces leftover of the destructed buildings that had been struck by lightning quite some time ago. What Xeim saw next just behind the boulder shocked the life out of him. He noticed a small swirly void open up just in front of him. It looked as if the area was being stretched by an unimaginable force. It looked horribly familiar to Xeim, and the void soon started creating small ripples around the center of the area as a figure slowly approached out of the void as if it had been warped to its current area. There was no doubt that the figure standing in front of him was a female demon which had just taken a physical form in front of his eyes.

"Who's there!" Xeim yelled in a deep voice which was muffled slightly by his scarf. He quickly put up his guard focusing on what was happening in front of him carefully.

The figure quickly stood up straight from its kneeling position and struck a mocking pose towards Xeim before letting out a bewitching laugh, "Oh ho ho ho ho! I had figured some peasant was lurking around this area and my suspicions were absolutely correct! Although I could have sworn there were more than just one."

"So another demon, huh? And I suppose you're here to try and stop me as well!" said Xeim making sure not to drop his guard for even a second.

"That is what i'm ordered to do of course, silly. You made a verrry poor choice to come into this place!"

Xeim nodded and smirked cunningly as he threw a look of despair towards the demon, "Then it's just as I thought..."

"Oh ho ho ho! Don't give it another thought, filthy human! Someone of your breed could not possibly stand a chance against me. Wouldn't you agree?" the demon asked in a very comforting, yet teasing tone.

"Why don't we put that to a test and start by this...! Force Wave!" Xeim yelled at the top of his lungs as he held both his palms forward generating a swirling wind in front of him blowing the female demon out of his way. As Xeim began to leap forward, the slender demon was quick in pulling herself back up with her arms and acrobatically sending her right foot straight into Xeim's jaw knocking him back down onto the ground. She darted quickly behind her opponent as she fluttered her large wings before wrapping them around Xeim completely locking him and leaving him breathless as he stood helplessly.

"Mmmff!" Xeim struggled to escape from the hold but could not find a possible method of escaping from her move. The giggles were only making it harder for him to bear the pain as an a surge of anger rushed through his body. Without much room to draw his fist back, Xeim was able to throw a light jab towards her abdomen weakening her hold a little. This allowed the man to strike his elbow onto her with a deafening blow. As, the winged demon released Xeim completely from her wings, Xeim followed it up by leaping over her just barely and grabbing her head along with him on his way down delivering a powerful neckbreaker sending her to the ground. Thinking, that move did the job... Xeim gave her another kick to make sure she stayed down before walking past her without saying a word.

"Ho ho! You are strong, boy..." the demon spoke before getting back up on her feet to Xeim's surprise. "But I won't let you take this any further! Radial Shot!" the demon's fingerstips began to glow a red light as her eyes started filling with the same aura. Then, the next instant... she flung her fingers releasing five energy shots from each of her fingertips which hit Xeim like a flurry of bullets. Being half Klausian, the bullets didn't annihilate him instantly, but he instead took a fall right away onto the ground laying helplessly. Other than coughing out blood onto his scarf, there wasn't much else Xeim could do at this point, not even flinch. But the female demon on the other hand was almost suddenly taken down that instant as she suffered a devastating blow behind her almost splitting her backbone in two as she fell down. The impact felt like a large blade had just struck her on the back as the object had fallen on her. As it descended, it left a red fiery streak in its tracks like a meteor.

"Aerial assault!" descended the Klausian leader of Quark, who was the last person Xeim expected to see. As he slowly wiped the blood off his mouth he looked on ahead as Misty and Maria followed their leader. And then came Lieber and Welch just behind. Everyone was here and they had surrounded the terribly wounded demon who was now kneeling on the ground helplessly. She looked at everyone around her with an alarmed expression as she pressed her glossy lips together nervously.

"Ugh... hey! This was a trap! You call that a fair fight!" the demon yelled as she put one hand on her stomach in agony while still kneeling on the ground on one leg.

"Xeim! Are you okay!" Mirage ran towards Xeim's aid who in return didn't like what was going on.

"Think we should take him back to the sick bay?" asked Lieber.

Xeim retorted in an unusually aggresive fashion, "No! I'm fine as I am right now..."

While all the attention was spanning around Xeim and his well-being, the female demon found her chance and began to retreat in a secular area where she gave another laugh. "Oh ho ho ho! Well since you seem very keen on entering into the realm, why not come inside and take a nice little peek at your deaths yourself!" she spoke before a similar void, which Xeim saw earlier, appeared just behind her as she slowly vanished into it. The void, however, didn't disappear this time. It looked like a whirlpool in mid-air which instead, grew wider and wider as if to welcome the group and to follow the female demon's trails. It was distorting the area within the void, stretching it and then creating ripples once again. Xeim got up on his feet once again and began walking towards the swirly void ignoring everyone else as if they no longer meant anything to him.

"What are you doing! Don't step into that thing!" shouted Lieber as he slowly walked in front of him to get in his way.

"And why's that?" Xeim questioned solemnly.

"It could be a trap for all you know."

Xeim simply shrugged and took a good look at everyone in the group, "I thought I told you guys that i'll settle matters here."

"You didn't expect us to just abandon you here, now did you?" Mirage asked with a smirk. "Especially since your training is far from over. And until then, you're sticking with us, understand?"

"Yeah, I do." sighed Xeim as he confirmed Mirage's order. "But I kind of figured it would be only for the better when I walked out on all of you earlier."

Mirage looked him in the eye and spoke in a gentle and compassionate voice. "Oh, right. About that..."

Mirage paced a few steps directly towards Xeim before stopping right ahead of him. Suddenly, Xeim felt something that he had never gotten a chance to before. And those were Mirage's knuckles which dug into his right cheek. The impact of the punch proved just how physically fit she was for a leader, and Xeim was just in the process of realizing that as he suffered a punch that brought him to the ground. Meanwhile, Mirage simply stood in her place firmly crossing her arms and looking away with a frustrated look on her face.

"You had some nerve to pull a stunt like that!" yelled Mirage strictly.

Xeim layed on the ground rubbing his cheek from pain as he let out a slight moan. "Ugh! That one almost knocked my head off!"

"I'll also say it was definitely quite rude of you, but seeing as you got caught up in trouble here as well... this place has started to raise my suspicions as well." mentioned Maria.

"Yeah, whatever it may be... we're in this together now." Misty nodded.

"Heh. And to think... by now I should have known you all would have dragged yourself back here anyway. Although rest assured, you won't really like the sound of it... but this is more of a personal matter." said Xeim as he stood back up and looked towards the void ahead of him once again which was even larger now.

"Well whatever it is, it's definitely a lot spookier now. Who was that girl anyway?" Lieber scratched his head in confusion as he looked on at the void as well.

"It looked very much like a demon from what I saw," answered Mirage. "Although I don't quite know what its purpose would be in a place like this. It can't be just coincidence that both her and Xeim would end up in a planet like Grix. Maybe you could elaborate a little more on this, Xeim?"

Xeim sighed and let out a huge breath as he slumped slowly and shook his head, "It's a long story but i'll try to make it short. This void that appears before us is known as a space-time vortex, which utilizes a special type of warp to transport beings between this universe and its parallel universe."

Maria threw a puzzled look at him. "Parallel universe? Are you talking about...?"

"Yeah, Daemonium. Of course, these portals are much more commonly seen in Daemonium than here. And for some reason, that female demon is allowing us to use this vortex at our own will. I admit that this could possibly be a trap, but i'm willing to take the risks."

"Daemonium? A space-time vortex? What are you trying to do anyway, Xeim?" an irritated Welch asked with a slight does of fear running in her heart.

"This is the place that once used to be my home. Of course it's just a pile of rubble to me now, nothing more." he noted as everyone looked at him in surprise. This man was actually an inhabitant of the parallel universe Daemonium?

"Huh! Are you trying to say that you're..." spoke Maria in a shocked tone.

"Wh-what?" Lieber exclaimed taking a few steps back. "But you d-don't look anything like a demon...!"

Xeim looked straight towards the void once again as he took a few steps towards it. The ripples were much larger now as if it were waiting impatiently for their arrival. Deamonium was the home of the demons which was known for its incredibly uncanny nature. Every aspect including the inhabitants there resided in spiritual matter, whereas the universe they were currently in was consisted of everything that existed in physical form. This could be one of the few possible explanations of the demons' strange behaviours such as teleporting to small distances in no time. Xeim acted a little anxious as he slowly stepped towards the translucent portal.

"I'll explain everything soon, right now we have to hurry. I'm going in there, so I guess you're all coming along too, right?" Without turning back, Xeim stepped over into the void creating even more ripples on the surface before entering the realm of the demons.