Rumours about a Navy ship on the shore of the island spread across the village like wildfire.

"Hey, have you heard? We've got a Navy ship on the island."

"What? I haven't heard about that."

"Yeah, it must have anchored here overnight."

"Why would the Navy come here?"

"I know we're pretty remote."

"Weird thing is when people went to look for the boat, they didn't see any Marines there."

"Wow, that is weird."

"It was like a ghost ship, not a single person to be found."

"Come on, now you're just fooling with us."

While they were busy talking, they all failed to notice the man who came ashore last night was walking by.

Meanwhile, the archaeologists at the Tree of Knowledge immediately rushed towards Professor Clover's office.

"Professor Clover! Professor Clover!"

Professor Clover looked upon his work and saw two archaeologists entering his office with frantic looks on their faces.

"My goodness, did something happen?" he asked.

"I hope it's nothing to worry about, but I just heard that there is a huge Navy ship anchored at the seashore."

"We should take precautions; it might be an investigation."

"But at the others, scholars know," said Professor Clover.

Saul had finally finished building his raft at the beach and had just placed it in the sea.

"The raft is done!" he smiled. "All right!"

He then began laughing, but Heather wasn't as joyful as he was.

"So you're leaving already," she said, looking disappointed.

"Now, what with that face?" he said, looking at her. "You but those puppy dog eyes away, little missy." However, she didn't, and they began to have an effect on him. "Actually, I could use a flag, huh? Guess I'll have to stay a little bit longer."

Heather smiled upon hearing this, and the two of them began laughing.

They then both sat down, and Heather told him of her desire when she was older.

"I'll be darned, so your planning to set out to sea too, huh?" said Saul.

Heather nodded. "My father has been away from home for years thanks to all his big archaeological research. He even took my brother with him, but she said that I was too young to travel. But when he comes back to the island, I'm going to ask him to take me along on his next trip. That's why I've been studying so hard; I got my archaeological doctorate just like him."

"You got a doctorate?" said Saul, stunned. "A tiny little girly like you?"

Heather nodded.

"But hold on a second, didn't you tell me that you don't even remember what your father's face looks like?"

"Yeah, but he's still my dad. I want to see him."

She then huddled herself, and Saul didn't know quite what to say.

"Hey, Saul? Did you know that our world has a period of a hundred years that no one knows anything about?" Heather asked.

"Huh-ha, I believe folks call that the Blank Century, don't they?" said Saul. "I'm curious about it myself, but the Government says it is illegal for anyone to look into."

"That's right, but I heard that my dad is travelling all over the world investigating in secret. But don't tell anyone; I don't want him to get into trouble."

"What?" Saul stared. "Are you telling me that your dad is going around looking for those ancient stone tablets things they called Runeglyphs?"

"You heard about Runeglyphs?" said Heather surprised.

"Yeah, but that ain't the point here, okay. You can't go around talking about this kind of stuff in front of other folks out of the blue. And if your papa is out there looking out them, you especially got to be—"

He then stopped when a horrible feeling entered the back of his spine.

"Huh? Is something wrong?" Heather asked.

"Heather, do you happen to know your father's name?"

"It's Oswald… Oswald Owson."

Saul stared at her openmouthed then collapsed.

"You okay?" Heather asked, looking over him.

'Heather is Oswald's daughter,' he said, horrified and then sat up and looked at her. "Wait, does that mean that I've been on Darknar all this time?"

Heather nodded.

"That's terrible!" he cried. "Oh no! Why did I end up on Darknar of all places?"

To be brutally honest, it was his own damn fault; he should have asked Heather where he had landed, and he never asked for her last name either. However, this was no time to kick himself as the situation was bad.

"This is no time to be sitting around, Saul," he said and looked at Heather. "Heather…"

"Yes?" she said, looking scared.

"This may come as a shock, but you got a listen to me and listen good," he said frantically. "Navy battleships are on their way to Darknar right now. They may already be here already."

"The Navy? Why?"

"They're going to wipe out every last scholar on the island."

"That can't be," said Heather horrified. "No."

"So listen, whatever you do…"

"You're lying!"

"…you can't let those Government guys know that your scholar."

"You're lying!"

"You've gotta promise me that, okay!"

"Stop lying to me!"

"It's true, I swear; I would joke about something this serious. Get the town as quick as you can and see if anything strange is going on. I know it sounds crazy, but your father may be there too."

Heather's father was indeed on the island, and in fact, he had managed to reach the Tree of Knowledge.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" he said as he removed his hood.

"It's Oswald."

"You came back?"

"We heard the news that you had been captured by the Navy."

"Don't tell me you came back on their ship?"

"I hate to have to tell you this as soon as I returned, but the news you heard is true," said Oswald.

"It's not your fault; we knew that the government would set its sights on Draknar eventually," said Professor Clover folding his arms.

"I'm not sure how much you know, but the Runeglyph search we set up six years ago was annihilated by the Marines," said Oswald. "33 researchers were killed; I was the only survivor. I only just managed to get my son on a small boat to escape. Fortunately, I was only captured, but I overheard the Marines talk after they rummaged through the search teams belongings. They soon realise that we all came from Darknar. I will make any excuses; all of you are in danger because of my carelessness."

"Stop it!" said Professor Clover. "Thinking like that won't do any good; those who set out to sea and those who stayed behind are all part of the same team. After what happened, if anyone should apologise, it's us. We know how much you suffered."

"Professor," Oswald smiled.

"For years now, the World Government has seen Darknar a threat to their rule, but all we can do is believe in the truth of history and its value to all generations to come."

"Be that as it may, they have put us in quite a compromising position," said one of the archaeologists. "I just don't know how we're going to get out of this one."

"I admit it doesn't look good," Oswald admitted. "But we are fortunate to have discovered this information when we did. We know that the Government is hunting down all the scholars on the island. So before they make it to the library, we have to escape from Darknar."

"You have a point," Professor Clover admitted as he sat down. "This time, I have a feeling we won't be able to slip past their investigation like we have before. But if they're committed to killing us, they won't listen to reason either."

"Then hurry up and run!"

"I'm sorry, Oswald, I can't let myself escape only one of mankind's greatest treasures behind. You should know that."

"Everyone else here feels the same."

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?" he said, looking at them all.

"We still don't know what the Government is going to do when they get here."

"But we do know if we run, we can't protect all this precious knowledge."

"We're planning on dying here. Don't worry."

"More importantly, I know that you have something else weighing on your mind," said Professor Clover.

"I can't," he said, knowing that he was referring to his daughter. "It's too late for that."

When Heather was two years old, Oswald was setting sail in order to find the truth to the Void Century. Her son, Dagur, had inadvertently discovered the truth, so he was forced to bring him along for his protection, but it was a different story for Heather.

"Make up your mind Oswald, are you going to board the ship or not?"

"If you want to stay with your daughter, we can settle your wife's unfinished business for you. Though we do insist that you keeping your son with you, I doubt we'll be to control them."

"No, I'm not turning back," said Oswald. "I am a scholar of Draknar; it's my duty to carry out the will of those who came before me. Forgive me, Heather; I swear I will solve these mysteries and come back to you someday."

With that, she got onto the boat and set sail, and Heather began chasing after the ship crying out to him.

Heather was then put in the care of her aunt and uncle. She began crying her eyes out.

"Where's my daddy!" she cried. "Where he go?"

"Your father had to go out to sea for a job," said her uncle gently. "You'll be staying here with us for a little while, okay."

"That's enough!" her aunt snapped. "If you don't shut up, I'll hit you!"

"Honey, stop it," said her uncle. "She's only two."

"And so is our daughter. Listen, I don't care if she is my brother's child; she's a burden. This was a mistake."

Heather then one day made her way to the Tree of Knowledge to get away from her family. She began looking through the books with her eyes filled with wonder.

"Who's there?" said a voice, and then approaching her was Professor Clover. "What are you doing here?"

Heather was afraid that he was going to be angry with her. "I-I was—I mean I was just… I'm so sorry!"

Professor Clover then laughed and rubbed her head. "If you want to read a book, all you have to do is ask, all right?"

"B-but I can't because I don't have any money."

"Well, looks like you're in luck because you can read everything here for free."

"For free?"

"Uh-huh, after all, this library is the best in the world."

"It is? Really?"

"Surely is; let's see if I mistake in your Oswald's daughter. You like to read books?"

Heather nodded.

"She's just as curious as you when you were that age, and I'm proud to say that she is every bit as clever too," said Professor Clover.

Oswald smiled. "So long as she's safe, that's enough." He then turned his back on him. "When I decided to join you, I severed all bonds with her. I can't let her be the daughter of a criminal."

An archaeologist then immediately rushed into the library. "Bad news! Another ship came, with the World Government's flag!"

"One of the high ranked officials, coming all the way here to the West Blue?" said Professor Clover looking deeply troubled. "My goodness, it would seem this is quite serious indeed."

After then made his way to a shelf and moved it slightly, revealing an assortment of weapons behind it.

"All right, everyone, listen," he said as he grabbed a rifle. "For now on, you and I are neither colleague nor acquaintances. You have to stick to that no matter what. Farewell!"

Then before anyone could stop him, he immediately rushed outside.

"Oswald, wait!" Professor Clover yelled. "What are you going to do?"

Spandine and his men had landed on the island.

"All right, HQ that we've arrived," Spandine ordered as they began to disembark. "Let's do it! I want this over with! What a pain; they had better give me a promotion when this crap is over. Hey, I want you to hunt down every scholar on the island and restrain them!"

"Yes, sir!" his men yelled.

Heather was running towards the Tree of Knowledge, and everyone in town was running in the opposite direction. They were running from Oswald, who was running around with a rifle on his back.

"What's going on?"

"Some man is running around with a gun!"

Oswald was running down the street, and Heather was running in the opposite direction; the two of them ran past one another without even noticing.

Saul was still on the beach, clutching his head as if he had a massive headache.

"This is an awful mess," he said. "I'm sorry, Heather."

Another Navy battleship was also making its way towards the island.

"Vice-Admiral Asmund!" said a Marine.

"Huh?" Asmund yawned. "What is it?"

"We've been informed that CP9 Chief Spandine has arrived at Draknar."

"So what? Did you really have to wake me up, just to tell me that!" he snapped.

"I'm sorry, sir!"

Heather had reached the Tree of Knowledge.

"What's the matter, Heather?" Professor Clover asked.

"You have to tell me, did my dad come by here?" she asked.

All the archaeologists were completely shocked. If she had been a few minutes sooner, the two of them would have met.

"Now, hold on a minute; where did that come from?" Professor Clover asked. "Why would you think your father was back on Draknar?"

As much as they wanted to tell Heather the truth, they had to respect Oswald wishes. Plus, telling her anything would only put her in more danger.

"I wish he was here too, but he's not," said Professor Clover.

Heather looked disappointed and then looked back at them. "Oh, yeah. We're in trouble. I heard that there are Navy battleships coming to the island right now. They're trying to get rid of all the scholars on Draknar."

"The people in town must be staring up bad rumours," said Professor Clover calmly. "The truth is that no battleship, and they will be getting rid of anyone." He then went over to her and bent down towards her. "The Government is paying us a visit, though, and that means this library will be under an investigation a harsh one. So listen up, no matter what those Government agents say or do, you absolutely cannot let them know that you're an archaeologist like the rest of us. Since you're so young, as long as you keep quiet, no one will think that you're a scholar. You understand?"

Then suddenly, the door opened, and Government agents entered.

"Move it!" said an agent shoving an archaeologist.

Everyone turned around and saw the agents all aiming rifles at them.

"Stop what you're doing! Put your hand in the air and go outside!"

"Don't you think you're being a bit violent?" said Professor Clover rising to his feet.

"The research is here at the Tree of Knowledge are being charged with a heinous crime of deciphering Runeglyphs. We will be investigating the library, so everyone get out of our way and leave the building."

Professor Clover made his way over to the agent, narrowing his eyes. "You had better treat this place with care! The value of this collection is way beyond your imagination, I assure you."

"I don't have to listen to a word you say! Take them outside!"

"Yes, sir!"

At the same time, agents were telling the people town to evacuate.

"Attention citizens of Draknar, I regret to inform you that the scholars of this island may be devils in disguise plotting to destroy the world!"

"What? But why?"

"Our scholars are the pride of every person in Draknar. They would never dream of doing something like that."

"From this point forward, we will be conducting a large-scale search of the entire island! During that time, all those who are not related to the research centre must take the form of identification and head to the evacuation ship on the west seashore!"

"Evacuation? That's ridiculous!"

"Even if the scholars did do something wrong, that still has nothing to do with us. You can't kick us off our own island."

"Our only obligation was to pass on this message to you," said the agent. "Disregard our warning if you like, but we won't be held responsible should any unfortunate accidents occur."

The townspeople realised that he was not joking around and decided it was better to be safer than sorry.

"You heard him!"

"Everyone abandoned the Westshore!"

"We don't have any part in this mess!"

Spandine, meanwhile, was walking through the forest when suddenly he was shot and began crying out in pain.

"I've been shot!" he cried. "This is it for me! I'm a goner! Dammit, a goner! Contact the higher-ups, tell them that I want my son to take over for me!"

One of his aides merely just stood there folding his arms. "Calm down, chief. Just take a look; the bullet went through your sleeve that all."

Spandine stopped flailing around and noticed for the first time that he was right; the bullet hadn't even grazed him.

"Oh, I see," he said.

Then stepping out of the trees with a smoking rifle was Oswald.

"I'll aim to kill next time," he said.

"Well, if it isn't Oswald Owson," said Spandine. "I find it hard to believe that a devious criminal like you would end up on this island completely by coincidence after your daring escape. In other words, despite the fact that you denied your connections to the scholars of Draknar, you've shown up at their doorstep just in time to warn them of our little investigation. Now in my humble opinion, that clearly labels them as your partners in crime."

"You have no idea why I'm here," said Oswald. "That doesn't prove one single thing."

"Hmm, I'm sure that you've cooked up plenty of excuses to cover for them. You are a clever man, after all. But that doesn't really matter because we don't have to prove your connection to the Draknar scholars anymore. Now that we're here, we can search every nook and cranny. I doubt it will take long before we find evidence of their Runeglyph research; the Government is quite confident in this, and you know they're never wrong.

This has been in the works for a long time; capturing you after six years of hide and seek was nothing more than the final push. There are plenty of Runeglyph researchers around the world, and each time we capture what, we try to find any connection they might have to Draknar. Can you guess why that is?"

Oswald's eyes widened in horror. "Don't tell me… you're making an example out of us?"

"Exactly, if we crushed this holy ground of archaeology, the entire academic world will take notice," he said, brushing himself down and rose to his feet. "It's the perfect opportunity to show the world exactly what happened to those who research the Blank Century."

"Then the battleships from headquarters waiting on standby are here to—"

"Well, look at that, you are a clever man, aren't you? Yes, as you might guess, they are here to ensure that not even a single criminal escapes. However, as a matter of form, we still need to vilify their guilt. We aren't pirates, after all, so I came all this way to conduct an extensive investigation of the island and chase off anyone who's not involved. It's curtains for you and your friends; there's no escape. Take him down."

The two agents standing next to him then suddenly moved with incredible speed and struck Oswald down before he had a chance to fire his rifle.

Meanwhile, the agents in the Tree of Knowledge began ransacking the place.

"Hey! What are you doing?" a researcher yelled. "All the books here are world treasures!"

"Take him outside and shut him up!"

"Move it!" said an agent dragging the researcher.

"You bastards!"

"They must have a secret room somewhere around here!" said an agent. "Don't stop until you find it!"

Saul was standing on the shore of the island look at to sea, horrified.

"This is worse than I thought," he said as he saw several Navy battleships approaching the island. "Battleships are here already, and there's a whole mess of them."

The agents had gathered all of the scholars outside the Tree of Knowledge and surrounded them. They had also purposely put them out in the view of all the townspeople.

"That should be everyone!"

"Good, now don't let them go anywhere."

The townspeople stared in shock.

"Look, they've gathered up all the scholars."

"What did they do wrong?"

"They say that they were cooking up a plan to destroy the world."

"That can't be true."

"Where is the evacuation ship?"

"It's on the west seashore! Hurry!"

"Everyone run! Who knows what might happen!"

Heather watches all the townspeople left the scholars, making a break towards the west side of the island.

"Heather," said Professor Clover. "They said that there is an evacuation ship waiting. We don't know what the Government is going to do anymore. You should get out while you can."

"No way!" Heather yelled stubbornly. "There's nothing but mean people on that stupid boat! I'm staying here with my friends!"

"Heather…"

"I'm the same as you are!"

"That's enough!" Professor Clover snapped. "Just go!"

They then heard laughter and watched as Spandine approached them. One of his aides was carried Oswald on his shoulders, who appeared to be unconscious.

"Looks like you got the situation under control," said Spandine looking pleased.

"Thank you very much, chief!" said the agent standing to attention.

"I was quite surprised; nobody warned me that they were such ferocious beasts wandering the island," said Spandine pointing his eyes towards Oswald, much to the horror of the scholars.

The agent then carrying Oswald then tossed him onto the ground in front of the scholars.

"But it makes for a fine trophy, huh?" Spandine smiled. "All right, listen carefully; this man is an escaped prisoner. We executed his comrades after we found out that they had been deciphering ancient texts, but we still have a couple of matters left to clear up. So let me be frank here; if he's your partner, just come out with it already so I can get this over with and go home."

'How awful them to hurt someone like that,' said Heather.

"Heather, for the last time, go!" Professor Clover hissed. "Go!"

'Heather?' said Oswald opening his eyes. He looked up and then, to his shock, saw Heather standing there. 'Heather…'

Heather's eyes widened, and then looked away. 'My little girl,' he said smiling. 'You've grown so much.'

'Oswald,' said Professor Clover feeling powerless.

Then suddenly, they heard a huge explosion coming from the Tree of Knowledge, much to the shock of the scholars.

"W-what are they doing?"

"If they're not careful, they going to burn the whole tree down."

"I never thought they would take such drastic measures!" said Professor Clover looking appalled.

"Whoa, they aren't holding back, are they?" said Spandine.

They then heard the sound of a transponder snail ringing, and Spandine answered it.

"Hello, is this the chief?"

"Yeah, it's me," said Spandine.

"We've found a hidden room in the basement. They have a huge tablet there, probably a Runeglyph and a massive collection of research documents discussing the ancient texts."

"Nice work," said Spandine putting the receiver down. He then began laughing maniacally. "Well, scholars of Draknar, I'm afraid your death sentence has already been decided. It's a pity, I hate to lose so many fine scholars, but you're really forcing my hand here. Wow, what a letdown. I came all this way just to say that? I guess we had better report of the Five Elders Stars."

"Roger," said an agent as he beat for the transponder snail.

"Professor?" said Heather looking at Professor Clover. "They aren't really going to kill you? They wouldn't do that for someone just learning about history, would they?"

"Stupid brat! What do you know!" Spandine spat. "They may say they're learning about history, but the truth is they are learning how to revive an ancient weapon so they can commit mass murder."

"You're wrong! They would never do anything like that!"

"Don't bother Heather; it's pointless discussing the matter with an errand boy like him," said Professor Clover.

Spandine glared at him. "What's that?"

"Is it really the ancient weapon itself the World Government is afraid of?" Professor Clover asked, rising to his feet.

"Professor!"

"Be careful."

"They're on the line now, chief," said the agent holding out the transponder snail.

"Good," said Spandine.

"Hold on," said Professor Clover. "Before you put all of us to death, allow me to speak to the Five Elder Stars. Although we still have much to learn, we have proudly continued research for many years, so at the very least, I would like to share our hypothesis on the Blank Century with the world's leaders."

"Stubborn old fool," Spandine muttered and then looked an agent. "Hey!"

"Yes, sir?"

Professor Clover looked at Heather. "I'm begging you, please get out of here. If you hear what I have to say, you will become a criminal."

"Professor…" said Heather looking at him.

The townspeople making their way to the evacuation ship.

"Hey, it sounds like about the people from the library guilty."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Bad news, there's a bunch of Navy battleships closing in on the island from the East!"

"This is about to get real ugly; we had better evacuate now."

Then suddenly, the ground began to shake, and to their shock, they saw Saul approaching them.

"What is that?"

"It's a giant!"

All of them began running for their lives as Saul made his way towards the Tree of Knowledge.

"Where are you, Heather? We've got a get off this island before it's too late," he said frantically.