"Show yourselves!" The guard shouted, "You won't get into our Tribe, Raiders!"
Lulloyd looked up in terror, trying to shuffle to his feet. The bag he carried shifted the guns further down, causing him to scrape against the wall to get his grip and he fell. Without hesitating, Monty turned the SoS around in his hand, pointing the hilt out to fling straight at the chest of the approaching guard. As the blunt hilt sent the guard onto his back, Monty ran up and grabbed his shoulders. The man looked up just in time to see Monty's body phasing right into him. He shook for several seconds as the possession took hold, his eyes momentarily rolling into his head. When he finally stopped, the guard twitched as he reached down and picked up the SoS.
"Monty!" Lloyd hissed from the wall. The guard looked up at him, then gestured towards the gates. Monty made the guard walk around before Lloyd could say anything else. Lloyd looked down and clenched his fists, jumping off the wall and landing beside Lulloyd. He wrapped an arm around him and spun into Airjitzu again, the wobbling tornado carrying them up and onto the wall. Harumi nodded to them, and the three ran down the other side of the wall together.
"I-I'm sorry," Lulloyd stammered as they landed, "I-I didn't account for the bag, it's not evenly distributed and-"
"Let's not worry about that right now," Lloyd pressed himself up to the wall, "Let's just meet up with Monty."
The space between the wall and the buildings was small, so the three took a side path out between two stone buildings and towards the path the gate was connected to. Almost immediately, they saw the lights that indicated the gate was at the end of a main road. They walked up an alleyway to see a massive throng of people along a massive stretch. All three drew their disguised hoods as they looked to the massive number of strange, cartoon-like people walking about.
"There," Lloyd pointed towards the gate to their left. The guard Monty had possessed was talking to someone else. The person waved his arm and pointed towards the guard. Monty's guard nodded to them, then walked off through the large crowd of people. When he reached the alleyway, he looked around then slid inside discreetly. Up close, Lloyd saw the guard was tall and chiseled, with sleek brown hair and facial hair that looked in need of a shave. He wore a set of what he guessed was Time Tribe armor, with several ridges and plates layered over plates not unlike the Iron Doom's shoulders. However, the similarities stopped there. He looked as normal as he could be with his skin and very strange looking body.
"Alright, I got him off duty," Monty looked down, "Apparently he's named Jera. Call me Jera for now..." Monty raised his hands up, "Huh… these fingers are weird."
"We don't need to, we're in, you can let him go," Lloyd demanded.
"Why?" Monty asked through Jera, "I'm working on reading his memories so I can learn the layout of this place. Pretty weird they call it a tribe since it's so big."
"You can read someone's memories?" Lloyd asked, "...I guess that's usef-wait, no! Stop that! Let him go, Monty!"
"Found it," Monty turned, "This city is laid out like a clock. We're on the bottom of it. There are hotels towards the 3 hour mark. Let's get going."
"Lloyd has a point," Harumi shook her head, "Reading someone's environment is one thing. Their memories are another! If you've learned enough, let him go."
"Quiet, I'm still learning things," Monty lowered his head, "Huh. People in the Time Tribe have access to one of four time powers, he has a bit of… slow? That's what he calls it. Not much," Monty shrugged through Jera, "He's supposed to sleep early since he's apparently going to some guard duty tow. He also has a girlfriend to get home to, so we should get to that hotel quickly before you all make her start worrying about him."
Monty immediately turned and walked off into the street, only giving them a few seconds of pause to get them to follow before he was gone in the crowd. The three shared a look of worry, but ultimately they knew that Monty had knowledge of this place now. So they slowly followed, slipping out onto the street and making their way after him hurriedly.
"Just so you know," Monty spoke as Lloyd caught up to him, "Jera right now is taking a bit of a nap. Morro didn't do it right. He's not actually conscious right now. When he wakes up, this is all a dream to him. I only hurt people when I need to, got it?"
"I'm not okay with this!" Lloyd hissed quietly, trying not to draw attention from the crowd.
"You all take too much time thinking about things, I act. I'm doing what needs to get done. Right now, that's not ugly yet, so be thankful," Monty reached up, his fingers awkwardly moving to scratch at his chin by reflex, "...Now that's a weird feeling right there."
Knowing he wasn't going to be getting anywhere, Lloyd took a step back and let Monty lead them. Instead, he turned his attention to the Time Tribe. People were flooding around them, all of them seemingly off to do their own things. The buildings looked like more blocky and primitive versions of skyscrapers, with only some of them having glass and the others simply covers. The main path was cobblestone or some equivalent to it. A large amount of metal was also built into many of the buildings, contrasting the stone used for others. The only light sources were those light spheres on poles, laid out almost like street lamps.
The people around them all wore clothing that Lloyd could best describe as 'outdated.' Most of them looked to be made of something like leather or cloth, and the colors were all mainly shades of green, brown, black and red. One thing he noticed right away was that everybody, or near everyone, had colors printed on the backs of their hands in the shape of hour hands. When he looked to Jera, he noticed the man had a blue set on his own. If people had specific time powers, there was likely a way to determine the powers linked to those tattoos.
Many of the homes they passed had vendor stalls outside of them, but almost all were closed by that time of night. A few were still open, and many of them were being run by traders from other tribes. The crowd seemed to be people heading home, rather than milling about. Lloyd saw a woman picking up a frozen piece of food, only to drop it and save it by putting it in a bubble of slowed time. The vendor reached out and frost poured from his hand to cover the food more for her as she dropped coins on his stall. This world was that of elemental powers.
The buildings indeed were laid out like a clock. It was a decent walk until they made their way in, but when they did they arrived at what was clearly the dead center of town. Many more vendor stalls were set up there, and despite the time of night, many people were still milling about and chatting. In the center of it all was a massive statue made of a bronze-like material that showed none other than Krux and Acronix, rendered in the strange body shape of the people around them, standing back to back with some strange clock embedded on each of their left wrists. What immediately stood out to Lloyd, however, was the fact they actually looked like Twins, bcauset Krux wasn't aged in the statue.
"They must have been here a long time for that statue…" Lulloyd muttered, "But… why put one up? It… looks new, but why would they announce themselves like that?"
"And Alacr only mentioned Acronix, not Krux, which is even more confusing," Harumi gestured to the statue, letting her Borg Watch scan the statue, "...This is of recent origin. Corrosion and oxidation isn't occurring yet. But Krux isn't like we know him. If we exist in other worlds, there could be copies of them, too. We need to explore this place more so we can figure out something about-"
Harumi stopped in her tracks as three men blocked her way. The three looked average enough, none of them wearing armor. One was rather tall, and the other two shorter. Harumi took a step back from them, making the three step forward. Monty, still in Jera, stepped in front of the three of them. The three looked back towards the group, but ignored them overall.
"We have nothing to do with those Raiders!" A loud voice tore out through the air, "Let us pass!"
"And do what?" Another voice rose up, "Betray the tribe again, traitors?"
"You know as well as I do that's not what happened!" The first voice shouted back.
"If you apologize for what you did, then maybe we will!" More voices raised up.
"We've sworn loyalty to Acronix, We have nothing to apologize for!" Other voices raised up and shouted back.
"We need to get around them," Harumi hissed, "This sounds like a protest."
Wordlessly, Lloyd and Lulloyd nodded. People were gathered on the other side of the center of town from where the group had entered, blocking the path to the inn. They attempted to rotate around the group. As they did, Lloyd looked to what was happening. A large group of people was being boxed in against one of the buildings and a large crowd that was encircling them. They looked as though they had been cornered on their way home, and there were no other guards in sight.
"Let us go home in peace!" A strong looking man at the center of the cornered group thrust his hands out, "We're all members of the Time Tribe! We live under the watch of the dragon! I followed Krux, yes, but if he had given the order, you would have done the same! I swore my loyalty back to Acronix. I swore my loyalty to the dragon. We all did! That was why we were allowed to return home. What right do you have to punish us?!"
"The right of punishing traitors!" A woman in the crowd shouting. The crowd rapidly raised their voices in assent, "Traitors bring down the whole Tribe!"
"Are we not punished enough by being branded by all of you?" The man put his hand to his chest, "I know you! You know me! My name is Teran, I live in this tribe, like all of you. I would defend it to my last breath. And I'm sure all of you would too! Let us go home!"
"Shut it!" A man from the surrounding crowd stepped forward towards the identified Teran, "These Raiders started up right when Krux escaped. You all have something to do with him!"
"Step away from me," Teran started firmly, raising his hand to show it glowing with green power, "None of us want violence."
"Oh?" The man took another step forward, "And what will you do if I don't?"
Teran eyed him for a long few moments. The air went tense. Lloyd and the others were skirting the crowd, but the throng of people made it difficult. This wasn't a protest… it looked more like a witchhunt. Lloyd saw Harumi had been recording what was going on with her watch. He took a few more steps, only for Teran's voice to ring out.
"Guard!" Teran shouted to Monty, "This situation is growing dangerous. Help us."
Monty turned towards him with an apathetic gaze, "What do you want me to do?"
"Escort us home," Teran ordered, "Please."
"..." Monty turned towards the three behind him, then back to Teran, "I'm escorting them."
"Please," Teran pleaded, even as his gaze hardened, "We need the help."
Monty looked to his allies, then back to the group. Slowly, he walked forward, the crowd parting for him as they did. When he got to Teran, he nodded to the man. As Teran smiled at him, the one that was hassaling him leered at Monty.
"Why are you escorting them, Jera?" The man growled, "You know who they are."
"I'm doing my job," Monty stated coldly, "Back off."
The man stepped forward to try to get into Monty's face. Monty pushed him back. As the man stumbled away, the crowd froze, as if expecting the tension to finally break. Teran gestured to the group of trapped people, nodding for them to follow. Monty slowly guided them out through the path cleared for him. The people looked around nervously, many of them men who had the same look as Teran. When Monty had gotten them out, he gave a tense glance to one of the exits. Steadily, the group made their way there, Teran at the front and muttering thanks to Monty.
Suddenly, someone cried out. Teran turned around. Someone in the crowd had thrown something and hit one of the people Monty was escorting. In the span of a few seconds, the flames of tension lit up like a blaze. People in the crowd began shouting and the one hit, clutching their face, picked it up and threw it back. Someone lunged at him in turn, and then the entire area devolved into chaos. Monty was quickly swallowed up by the throng of people as he tried to act the part of his guard and separate the people.
Lloyd, Harumi and Lulloyd quickly panicked. The three backed off towards the edge of the square, trying to escape the throng. People were flinging time powers everywhere, pausing, reversing and forwarding themselves in various directions. The chaos was rapidly turning violent, and the three needed to escape, fast. Harumi was shoved off into the statue, and Lloyd and Lulloyd quickly grabbed her to help her to her feet and pull them out of the chaos.
While they didn't want to leave Monty, Lloyd knew they had to stay hidden. They'd meet up later. Just as the three were about to exit, someone grabbed Lloyd's arm. Lloyd turned around, only to see the face of Teran. The man, up close, revealed himself to have strong features, a hairless face, and deep eyes. He tugged Lloyd's arm through the cloak and shook his head.
"Not that way, friend," He hissed, "Come, we can make it out of this."
Lloyd turned to the two of thers, who just nodded to him nervously. Lloyd nodded back, and Teran quickly began to tug them towards the other side of the square. The four quickly darted their way to what would have been the eighth hour hand on the clock. When they reached the street, Teran looked to them and pointed down the road.
"The green house between the two red," He leaned in, "Tell them 'Teran sends his time to you.' Go, I'm going to get others."
"Uhm, alright?" Lloyd muttered.
Teran stepped back, "It is no problem. We have to help each other in these times."
Harumi and Lulloyd shrugged nervously. Teran disappeared off into the crowd. Lloyd, not wanting to stick around, decided to follow his instructions. They quickly raced their way down the street, finding their way towards the building in question. Eventually, they came to indeed a green building that was between two homes painted red. The path up to the door was a small set of stone stairs, and Lloyd slowly stalked up and knocked his hand on the wooden door.
"Teran… Teran sends his time to you," Lloyd hissed out, "Teran sends his time to you!"
After a few moments, the door unlocked, swinging open. A woman, dressed in the same armor as Jera, gestured for them to come inside quickly. Lloyd, Lulloyd and Harumi stepped inside without hesitation. The home was one massive room, with chairs everywhere and a few tables to sit at and a stairwell at the back. The three found a small bench they used to take a seat. The guard looked out the door, shutting it and sighing as she brushed her hair back.
"Another brawl?" The woman sighed, "Well, it's good you made it here. Ever since those Raiders started cutting off trade, it's just gotten worse. Do you need any water? I'd offer food, but we don't have a lot to go around right now."
"Water would be nice," Lloyd nodded, tightening the cloak around himself, "Thank you."
The guard left and returned with small cups filled with water. All three took it and drank from it eagerly, as if to calm their nerves after the situation. The guard walked over and took a seat in front of them, sighing as she rubbed the back of her neck. She revealed herself to have -somehow- perfectly blue hair that was tied off in twin tails behind her.
"Hrmm… name's Mirai," She smiled warmly to them, "I'm guessing you three were trying to sneak back home without getting spotted?"
"Yeah, we didn't want to get caught up in that," Harumi lied, "We're… relatives of some of the ones that fought for Krux."
"I understand," Mirai shook her head, "It's a bad situation. People need something right now and it seems that 'Krux supporters' are gonna be it," She sighed and stood up, "Make yourselves comfortable. Teran should be back in a bit, probably with some others. You're free to do what you need to for now."
Without anything to do, the three stayed silent and seated. Lloyd wanted to talk, but they were too close to Mirai to do so discreetly. For almost a half hour, the three waited, catching their breath and more than once looking out the window to see people passing. Harumi was looking through her video on her watch, discerning what she could from it. A few more people, some of which they recognized from the crowd, filled into the room over time. Finally, Teran himself opened the door and stepped into the door.
"Ter!" Mirai stood up, immediately wrapping her arms around him and giving him a hug, "Hey, how bad was it this time?"
"Bad," Teran shook his head, "A bunch of them must have just gotten off working on fortifying the wall. They cornered us and started heckling us. It got violent when Jera arrived."
"Jera was there?" Mirai blinked, then raised her eyebrow, "Was he trying to arrest more 'supporters' again?"
"He must have," Teran suddenly gestured to Lloyd, "He was escorting these three."
"Really?" Mirai whistled, "I'm glad you pick them up, then."
"What was Jera taking you in for?" Teran walked over and crouched down to look towards Lloyd's face under the hood. Lloyd tightened the cloak, doing his best to act more frightened than he was trying to hide himself.
"He… he just saw us and… and started taking us…" Harumi was the one that spoke up, her voice sounded completely terrified, "He, he asked us who our family was, and when we told him he… I-I don't really want to talk about it... "
"I'm guessing you three are siblings, then?" Teran guessed with a frown, "Or family?"
"Family…" Lloyd added, his own barely passable acting showing as he tried to mimic being scared, "Do you have somewhere we can stay for tonight?"
"Hrm…" Mirai pointed up, "There's a room upstairs that's empty, if you need to stay there. In the morning you should be able to get home well enough. It's not safe to travel at night."
"Use it," Teran extended his hand, showing that he had an orange symbol on it, "We need to stick together right now, more than ever."
Lloyd didn't shake the hand for fear of showing his own strange one. Instead, he just awkwardly nodded his head as if too nervous to shake. Mirai stood up and gestured for Teran to move over. Lloyd moved over a bit towards them to try to listen as they began to talk.
"...This is getting bad, if it's turning into violence, this might end in people getting hurt," Mirai shook her head, "We have to talk to Acronix. He'll listen to you, you're his friend!"
"I know, but he's leaving for the Summit in the Speed cars tomorrow morning," Teran replied back sadly, "He told me that he's working to make sure we aren't hurt. But the guards like Jera…"
"Are you sure you can't go with him?" Mirai waved her hand, "They're going to get locked up! They'll just invent some reason to put them away. Please… at least try to talk to him!"
"...I'll see what I can do, I'll go tomorrow and try to see if he'll let me go with him," Teran nodded his head, "Let's just hope nobody else needs help tonight."
Lloyd saw Teran turning around, and he quickly shrank down to try not to appear like he was listening. Teran, appearing none the wiser, looked towards the group and smiled, waving his hand to them. Lloyd, Harumi and Lulloyd stood up, shuffling after him as he led them to the wooden staircase and up to a second level of the building. Even indoors, the light was being given by the spheres.
"Uhm… this might sound like a dumb question," Lulloyd spoke up, "But uh, where's that light stuff coming from?"
"The spheres?" Teran turned back as he guided them, "Ah, I guess not many people know. They're from the Light Tribe, it's a crystal that emanates light energy," He looked to a faint and dim crystal, "We'll need more shipments of them soon…"
Teran led them to a small door and opened it, showing it was a room with two small beds. It was rather small, and other than the beds there was only one small table between them. He smiled to them nonetheless, "It's not much, but I hope that it's-"
"It's more than we could ask for," Harumi mumbled, cutting him off, "Thank you. Can, we ask for one more thing?"
"If I can spare it, then yes," Teran gave a coy smile.
"Maps?" Harumi asked gently, "We're a bit lost and it would help."
Teran raised his eyebrow at the odd request, but nodded and left the room. A few minutes later, he returned holding three maps in his hands, each of which on yellowing paper. He handed them off to Harumi and pointed to each of them in descending size.
"That's the World map, this is the map of the area, and this is the map of the Time Tribe, is that what you were looking for?" Teran asked, sounding somewhat suspicious.
"Uhm, yes, it's exactly what we needed," Harumi nodded, "We, just need to plan out a trip, and we don't have them with us. Thank you."
"I will need them back, but you can leave them in the room when you leave," Teran turned around, "I have to make some preparations, so I won't be here to see you off. Stay safe."
"We will," Harumi smiled to him. Teran gave a warm if confused smile, then closed the door behind him. As he did, Harumi and the others finally threw their hoods back, quickly moving to lock the door with a key on the bed to ensure their privacy. Harumi hit a few buttons on her watch that produced a little white noise for them to ensure their voices weren't heard.
"What… what was all that?" Luloyd asked, "I, feel like we just walked into something, bad."
"Something similar happened when the Serpentine started integrating themselves," Harumi took a seat on the bed, "From reviewing that video, something happened with Krux, and that's being used to marginalize people that followed him. Teran is someone helping those being attacked. Given how he acted, it's not a good situation."
"So we just stepped into a big social conflict over Krux?" Lloyd asked nervously, "That settles it. This has to be our Twins doing! We have to figure this out. Here, we should be able to get a bit more information from the maps, right?"
"Wait, but, the statue, it wasn't of-" Lulloyd began, but Harumi shook her head.
"That could easily be vanity. Krux would want to look strong," Harumi spread the largest map out, "Let's get some information."
Just as Teran had told them, it was indeed a map of the tribes… and the world they lived on. The map showed a massive stretch of land in a roughly circular orientation. Spreading throughout the map was a large, worm-like road that was labeled clearly against the rest of the map. The path led its way south, bringing them to where the Time Tribe sat in the firm southwest. It looped around as it neared the border of the territory, going back up along the eastern side of the map until it skirted a massive region of drawn bogs labeled as Poison Tribe territory. The path eventually went up north and then moved towards the northeast towards the Great Ocean, where on the coast almost all the region was labeled as belonging to the Water Tribe. When, finally, the path stopped, it nearly intersected itself, creating a rough and jagged circle around the world.
"Poison, Form, Fire, Water, Ice, Lightning, Time… all the elements are here," Lloyd leaned in and pointed it out, "Except Amber."
"They mentioned earlier that Amber was special… maybe it has something to do with this?" Harumi scanned the map, "Most of the tribes seem to occupy a region that's close to their element. The Fire Tribe, lives in a volcano and the area around it called the ash wastes is where the Smoke Tribe is. I think the tribes evolved around those geographic distinctions."
"Look, " Lloyd pointed to the page, specifically to an odd drawing by each tribe name, "Each tribe has a dragon around it… does that mean dragons exist in this place too?"
"Didn't Alacr swear to the, dragon or, someone did?" Lulloyd put forward, "Maybe… uhm, you know how towns can adopt an animal for their flag? Maybe… it's, like that but, with actual dragons?"
"Let's test that," Harumi opened up the next map, that being of the area around the Time Tribe. Just as they'd seen going in, the entire region was mountainous, with only one main road leading in and out that went directly to the town they were in. The majority of the region was undefined, save for a lake in the top corner of the area. Behind the Time Tribe was a small path that led to 'Muto's Dwelling' with a dragon drawn into it.
"I think Muto's a dragon," Lloyd nodded, "Maybe… the tribes are protected by the dragons?"
"That explains why nobody is afraid of them, and why we didn't see any wild dragons out in the open," Harumi affirmed, "I'd even go as far as to say maybe the dragons have something to do with why the tribes are like this. First Realm dragons are elemental, remember?"
"Let's uh, look at the last map," Lulloyd shook his head, "I don't, deal with real dragons, they kinda scare me. You two are like, an exception so far."
Harumi finally opened up the map of the Time Tribe itself. It looked fairly new compared to the other two, with updated names and the location of the statue newly drawn in. The wall was included in clearly recent revisions. The town was laid out like a clock. Harumi scanned the paper until she pointed to something in the roughly 7 hour mark on the town.
"Speed depot?" Harumi rubbed her chin, "Didn't Teran mention something about the Speed cars? Is that some sort of transportation here?" She pointed down to how the road coming out was drawn with what looked like rails rather than a path, "And that's where Acronix would be?"
"That sounds right," Lloyd affirmed, "There's something big going down tomorrow. They mentioned a 'Summit.' Didn't they say Lloyd was some sort of Dragon Lord? He could be there. We need to check it out."
"If it's a transport, let's sneak on," Lulloyd put forward, "I mean, we are ninja… right?"
"Sometimes I wonder," Harumi shrugged, "Yes, we should. What about Monty?"
"Monty may be rude, but he's smart," Lloyd sighed, "We'll just have to hope for now he gets the message to go to the Summit. If not, we'll get a message to him somehow."
"Sounds like we have a plan then," Harumi scanned each map with her watch, adding it to the many maps she had already, "Hopefully my watch should act as GPS once I give it some more information."
"Then we should get some sleep now," Lloyd pointed to the beds, "We have places to go tomorrow. It's already late, we need all the sleep we can get."
"Agreed," Harumi yawned, "We've been running around all day, after all. And, well, Monty also used me as a joyride, so I'm pretty sure once I lay down, I'm out."
"Look out, Acronix," Lulloyd smirked, "We're coming first for the Summit, then for you!"
Tomorrow, as it turned out, came far faster than any of them had expected. Given how late the group had already set out into the night for their initial incursion, they only got around six hours of sleep before Harumi's daylight sensor went off to indicate they needed to get moving. Lloyd had tried to think of a way to contact Monty, but they came up with none. Just to be safe, Lulloyd continued to haul around his gun bag, trying to make it look like a traveling sack.
Following Harumi's digitally scanned map, the group made their way towards the area of the city the cars were meant to depart from. Thankfully for them, the buildings left no shortages of shadows to hide in. Harumi muttered something about how it wasn't a tribe if they were in a city. Lulloyd and Lloyd simply agreed with her for the moment as they made their way through the city in the low light of the dawn.
When they arrived at the 'Speed depot,' the group saw something rather strange. Large white, open window cars, 10 of them to be exact, were hooked together like a train and waited on sleek metal rails. There didn't seem to be any motors on them, and instead when they looked further inside, the rails were completely filled with water. Harumi's fascination with the system was undercut as they snuck forward behind a nearby corner to look over.
Surrounded by several men in that stylish armor, each painted with different shades of time power, was Acronix. He looked like everyone else around him; that was to say, he actually looked like an hand drawn person with fingers. He didn't wear any face makeup, and his hair was cut far shorter than Lloyd's counterpart. On one hip, he had a massive sword strapped down across his back, with a hilt pulsing with blue runes ready to be drawn. He had his face down in the middle of several papers, reading through them almost frantically.
"That's… Acronix?" Lulloyd asked, "...He uhm, looks, different."
"Yeah… is that even him?" Harumi squinted, "Maybe he's just a counterpart of this world."
"The Vermillion can absorb powers, remember?" Lloyd pointed out, "He could easily be disguised and just waiting for his move to strike."
"Look!" Harumi pointed. One of the guards standing with Acronix was the familiar face of Jera, "We got lucky with this. Let's not blow our luck."
The three remained silent after that. The carts looked to be half passenger and half shipping, with the front cars being made for passengers and the back for storage. The three silently agreed they'd sneak aboard the storage carts if they could. The Acronix they had their eyes on shifted through more papers before handing them off to one of the guards, sighing and rubbing his face.
"That's… not like Acronix at all…" Harumi paused, "He must be a really good actor."
"His brother pretended to be a sweet old man in a museum for months to gain our trust," Lloyd pointed out, "I wouldn't put it past him."
A loud shout caused the group to wince. Behind Acronix, the three saw a familiar face moving in. The face was none other than Teran, who was promptly blocked by the guards. Acronix, turning around, waved his guards off, who released their block and allowed Teran to approach.
"Acronix… we need to talk," Harumi could just faintly pick up Terna's words, "Please, allow me to accompany you to the Summit. The situation is getting worse."
"Teran, there is a time and place for these things," Acronix responded, his voice identical to the one they all knew, "I am about to go to a very important discussion. Is it truly that urgent?"
"I caught one of your guards trying to arrest three 'supporters' last night," Teran responded, Harumi quickly realizing he meant them, "This is indeed that urgent. Had I not stepped in, they would be imprisoned. Please, I must speak with you."
"..." Acronix turned to the Speed car, "...I… I suppose I can make time for you. I won't have much but, please, join me in my cart," He turned to his guards, "He is a close friend, let him in."
The guards stepped aside, letting Teran enter alongside Acronix. The guards, including Jera, followed soon after. As they did, one of them grabbed a door and closed it.
"Why didn't we try to sneak aboard with Teran..?" Lulloyd asked quietly.
"Because we don't know him that well, and we don't want to draw attention to ourselves," Lloyd pointed out, "Plus he said he was trying to get on board, so it might not have worked."
Suddenly, there was a sound of electrical discharge. The sound was a rapid crackling, and Harumi could see the water begin to froth underneath the carts. The carts began to lurch forward, propelled by it. Lloyd, Harumi and Lulloyd tensed up in slight panic. They needed to get onboard and do it now.
Harumi did a quick spot check to see nobody else was watching, then rushed forward to the first cart they could see boxes inside. She reached out to grab hold of the door, but it wouldn't open. Her eyes widened, and she rapidly spun up a Rhotatae disc and tried to blast it open. The door refused to open still. The cart lurched again. Lloyd, seeing this, grabbed Lulloyd's hand and tugged him along. The two rushed to the cart in front of the storage carts, an empty passenger cart. When he tried the door, it slid open. The cart began to accelerate, and Lloyd threw the door fully open and pushed Lulloyd and the bag inside. Harumi, seeing this, ran forward and grabbed hold of Lloyd's outstretched hand. He pulled her inside and slammed the door shut just as the world outside began to rapidly blur as the cart fully moved.
The passenger cart seemed to be made of a concrete type material, with chairs set into both sides. There were no doors to the carts in front and behind. The three hunkered down onto the floor to avoid detection, finding the cart felt as though it was made out of some sort of concrete. Once they were moving, Harumi looked up. There was no way to see from the second cart into the first cart, and thus she slowly moved over to one of the windows.
Outside, the cart was pushed from its position. It looked as though the cart was gliding on top of the water, cutting through it like a boat on a calm lake. The cart went down a small slope, leaving the gate they'd exited from to close behind them. As soon as it did, the village quickly turned into a spot in the distance. Harumi watched curiously as the cart was pushed along inside the track. Every so often, they would pass by what looked like small terminals with a glowing yellow crystal inside. Each time they went past, what looked like a spark went down into the water. After a few passes, Harumis' eyes widened.
Harumi slunk down from the window, "I think those terminals are pumping lightning into the metal track, and that's conducting through the water to generate a magnetic field that's pushing the carts down the track! Oh my gosh, it's so simple it's amazing!"
"Uh… what?" Lulloyd looked out, "I… just see the metal track and the water…"
"Whenever you create an electric field, you create a magnetic field around it," Harumi explained, "If those terminals are pumping electricity into the water, it's going to create a magnetic field all around it. Pump that in perpendicular to the way we're traveling and it'll create a field that's pushing on the cart. There must be some sort of magnet on this cart! It's like a subway without the engine!"
"That… makes a little more sense I guess…" Lulloyd muttered, "Uhm… they seem to be in the early stages of like, development? If, from what I learned at school is transferring here."
"At least they're not completely underdeveloped," Lloyd turned to Harumi, "Harumi, do you think you can see where on the map we're heading?"
Harumi pulled the map up. Once she did, she looked outside. As they passed by a small lake, she began to look through the map of the territory, "I think I can. We're moving pretty fast, we'll probably be out of the territory in a little while. Once we get out of the mountains I'm sure I'll figure out where we're going."
"How long do you think it'll take us to get there, Harumi?" Lloyd looked to the map.
"Let's see… judging by the distance we've traveled… should be about an hour to the edge of the territory. After that, I don't know where we're going. We should just go ahead and rest until then either way," Harumi looked up, "Once we get where we're going, we'll be able to get off."
It was with that the three did just that. Harumi would occasionally look out the window and chart their progress, confirming they were going to be leaving the territory if they continued on their path. The landscape began to shift from rocky terrain down to gradual green fields, and eventually the fields took over and began to dominate the terrain. As they continued along, small villages and farmlands could be seen. None of them looked particularly advanced, but as they went along, Lloyd watched as people would use form to turn from large beasts of burden as they worked the fields. The carts flew by the landscape, and as they did, many people waved or called out to them. Given what they'd seen, the world was likely in the early stages of industrialization.
"...Uhm, I always hated taking long trips…" Lulloyd shook his head, "I uhm, does anyone have a topic they wanna talk about?"
"Hrm… not really, but," Harumi tapped her watch, "The Borg Conversation Prompter is here," She hit it, "Carnelian and I have gotten into some pretty long talks using it."
Her watch beeped for a few moments, then, with a sweet female voice, it spoke: "DO YOU HAVE A SIGNIFICANT OTHER, USER?" Harumi suddenly blushed and went silent, leaving Lloyd to take the first question.
"Uh… no, actually," Lloyd coughed, "Haven't, really had much time for that sort of thing. Never even gone out on a date..."
"Wait, what?" Harumi sat up upon hearing that, "Not even once? Just, going out with someone you like? Not at all?"
"No," Lloyd shrugged sheepishly, "I mean… I just don't have a lot of time for it, you know? And uh… I mean, it's kinda hard when, everyone knows you're the Green Ninja."
"I've gone on a few," Lulloyd responded, "I mean, uh, my mom always said to just get back at a reasonable hour."
"You have?" Harumi leaned in, "With who?"
"Uh…" Lulloyd shrunk back from the question, "You wouldn't know her. I'm almost certain there's no counterpart in your worlds. We're kinda, an odd couple, you know?"
"Wait, you're dating someone?" Lloyd turned, "Does, she know that you're currently off in the multiverse?"
"My dad said he'd tell my mom, who I'm sure will tell her," Lulloyd looked down, "N-Not that I haven't wanted to, tell her myself, you know. B-But, I mean, we were kinda trapped and, I didn't wanna make the situation worse by, you know, mentioning it to anyone. It uh, kinda not the best time."
"Once we get a chance, we'll make sure we go back to your universe and you can tell her that you're okay," Lloyd smiled, "We won't let anything bad happen to you."
"Thanks… what about you, Harumi?" Lulloyd changed focus, "Uh... What about you, Harumi?"
"..." Harumi was silent for a few moments before she gently moved a hand up to her face, "It's… uh… I-I mean you've met them."
"We have?" Lloyd asked, "The only ones we met were the Elemental Masters… it's one of them?"
"Y-Yeah…" Harumi coughed, "Sorry, I'm just, getting some really weird flashbacks here."
"Of, what?" Lulloyd asked curiously, "You uh, I mean they all seemed really nice?"
"I uh… don't know what the stance your worlds take, on uh… the couples thing," Harumi rubbed her hands together, "I don't know where you'd be if I said anything."
"I don't get what you're saying, Harumi," Lloyd leaned forward, "We won't judge you, you know that, right? If you're dating them they must make you happy. So, don't worry about it."
"S-Stop!" Harumi put her hands up, her face dark red, "Y-you're sounding exactly like what, ugh, my dad, what he said when I told him!"
"I am?" Lloyd paused for a moment, feeling some gears previously unspun starting to turn, "Are… you a lesbian, Harumi?"
Harumi put her hands on her face, "Y-Yep, this is the same feeling when I told him. I-I'm bi, actually. I'm… you met Carnelian, right? We're… we've been together for a few years. I, think our anniversary is coming up soon too…"
"The one that tried to copy our powers?" Lulloyd asked, then gulped, "I-I mean, she seemed nice!"
"You were worried we wouldn't be accepting?" Lloyd blinked in surprise, "I mean, I wouldn't say it's common but I don't know anyone that's going to be against it myself. I mean, I've always kinda taken my dad's opinion on these's things: let a person be themselves and only speak up when you think it might affect you. I'm glad you have someone… it must be nice."
"Yeah… I left her, a really long note," Harumi sighed, looking down, "The last time she saw me I was… still really upset about Olive. I forced myself to, straighten up and wrote her everything she needed to know. I… told her to not tell the others I was gone just yet. I was so focused on not getting depressed again and, taking down the ones that hurt Olive I… I didn't even think I'd be gone this long. She… she's probably going mad not being able to tell everyone where I am… oh god… she must be… she might think I'm dead, in some random world… all alone…"
Hurmi reached out to start to pull her knees up to herself. Before she could fully curl up, however, Lloyd reached out and tapped her shoulder. As she looked to him, he pulled himself over and sat beside her.
"How about this, once we get a break in all this… this, we'll make a stop at both your universes and Lulloyd's universe to make sure they know you're okay?" Lloyd smiled, "We're doing some crazy things, here, we might as well let them know that we're not crazy enough to get hurt."
"I… yeah…" Harumi slowly sighed, "I… I really rushed into it, I don't, want her to think that I… I…"
"We know we can get home now," Lloyd affirmed, "We can go and see her whenever we have Monty. You're not actually hurt, and that's what really matters. As long as we're all still okay, then we don't have to consider those 'what if' things. We'll make sure it happens, because we're all ninja. And ninja never quit."
"Did… you just relate your battle motto to my love life?" Harumi asked, turning to him with a confused expression.
"...Uh… well, it's just the easiest thing for me to work with!" Lloyd shook his head, "I mean, you said your dad trained you, or at least I heard that, so I mean I figured you were a ninja, so-"
Harumi snickered, reaching up to put her hand over his mouth. After a few moments to let herself laugh out, she slowly sat back up and got the last giggles out of herself before wiping her face off.
"No way you're my dad," Harumi continued to chortle, "He wouldn't have ever used that trying to talk about me and Carnelian," She worked the mirth from her system and then let out a sigh, "But I really appreciate it… Lloyd."
"We're all a team here," Lloyd affirmed, "And that means we're friends. Don't worry about it, you're welcome."
Soon, the terrain once more shifted to rocky. After a short ascension, the cart suddenly seemed to go right on top of a massive body of water. Harumi watched this and pulled her map up, staring at it to glean where they were going. The terrain remained a massive body of water, and the track seemed almost to be floating on top of it. As she looked to her map, she pulled the map up of the entire nation and muttered out.
"Are we going to the Water Tribe?" Harumi pointed to her map. The Water Tribe territory seemed to be a massive stretch of terrain to the west of the Form Tribe, and the cities that were painted appeared to be on top of an ocean themselves. Lloyd looked to it in confusion himself, attempting to piece it together as he looked to the large display.
"I don't know…" Lloyd pointed to the map, "Maybe that's where they're holding this Summit?"
"Maybe…" Harumi nodded her head, "Well, let's see where this goes."
The cart continued along the track for a long while. Soon, just as Harumi had pointed out on the map, they came across what looked like large floating buildings. A large platform of some sort of strange green stone was floating in the ocean, and atop that stone were buildings that reached up towards the sky. The track was connected to it, and as they got closer, they saw the buildings were in a similar state of technology to that of the Form Tribe: everything appeared to be lit by strange yellow oil, and nothing appeared to be using any sort of electricity.
"Guys, we're coming up on a station," Harumi pointed out, "Let's get ready to get going."
Harumi trailed off. Lloyd and Lulloyd perked their heads out the window to see why. The station was filled with guards, and standing in the middle of them was Nya. She looked older than Lloyd remembered her being; she looked at least in her mid twenties, and she was wearing what looked like a glistening set of blue fabric draped over a skintight silver bodysuit. Her hair was much longer than Lloyd remembered it being, going almost down to her waist. She had several guards around her, just like Acronix… had...
"Guys…" Lulloyd muttered as he saw it, "That place has a lot of people there…"
"...Oh no," Harumi looked at the empty cart, "Guys, this cart wasn't empty for no reason. The Summit isn't going to be held here, this is a cart meant for Nya! We have to get out of here, fast!"
The two didn't want to test the validity of Harumi's claim with anything other than affirmation. The three quickly looked outside, but the cart was already pulling into the station. Once they had stopped, the three looked around. Both sides of the platform were filled with guards, and there was no way for them to get out without being spotted.
"Nya!" Acronix's voice came from the cart in front of them now that the sound of travel was gone, "The cart's all ready for you. Hope you're fine with us showing up early."
"I've come to expect it from you, Acronix," Nya chuckled to her, "I figured you would probably leave early."
Nya made her way up towards the cart Lloyd, Harumi and Lulloyd were in. As soon as she approached it, her shadow cast in through the window. Once it did, Nya seemed to stop. The three held their breath, not sure what to do.
Without warning, the doors to the cart burst open. Guards clade in silver armor rushed inside, quickly identifying the three prone figures and grabbing them. From the water inside the cart, Nya drew up a long tentacle and held it threateningly beside her. The guards quickly dragged Lulloyd, Lloyd and Harumi to their feet.
"Acronix, you didn't by chance have anyone else join you besides you, right?" Nya growled, "I just found three people in the back here."
"...What?" Acronix stepped out behind Nya, leveling his gaze towards the three. Lloyd froze upon seeing it.
"Let go of me!" Harumi gasped, "We just wanted to get to the Summit, that's it!"
"Wait a minute…" Nya looked at the three closely, staring at Lloyd in particular, "That.. shape…" Suddenly, the tentacle of water shot forward and held itself at Lloyd's chest. Lloyd looked to Nya in confusion.
"They have the same odd shape as that armor we found from those Raiders..." Nya pointed out, "I think we've found some of them, Acronix."
"Wait!" Harumi was about to say more, but one of the guards produced a piece of cloth they used to gag her.
"They must have been hiding here to…" Acronix gripped his fist, "We'll take them with us, then. They might have some valuable information."
Lloyd wanted to say more, but a gag was forced into his mouth as well. Before he could even attempt to say more, a band of water wrapped around his eyes, and his vision was cut off. The three were forced down onto the ground, their weapons and Lulloyd's mechdragon taken. As they were dragged back up, Lloyd and the others were left stunned as their goal of getting anywhere unseen was completely dashed.
"Get up," A gruff female voice commanded Lloyd.
Lloyd didn't have much choice as something grabbed his shoulders. He was hauled up to his feet and dragged somewhere. Beside him, he heard the struggling hissing of Harumi and the shuffling of feet which he assumed was Lulloyd.
The cart had been traveling for what felt like hours, and during that time Lloyd had heard other people getting on simply by the buzz in the station. He wasn't sure where they were, for each time he would try to move he would be pushed back down. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew that Harumi had tried twice to cut through her bindings with Rhotatae. At some point, the three had been put in cuffs, and just from the telltale feeling of them, Lloyd knew they were either vengestone or something similar. He'd heard them have trouble with Lulloyd given the way his arms didn't seem to bend the way they wanted them too.
Once the three were up and moving, Lloyd at first did his best to try to get anything from listening to the people around him. The three were led away from the carts it seemed. They went through doors that didn't sound like prison bars, however, and thus it was hard for him to tell if they were in some sort of they were funneled further into wherever they were, Lloyd felt wood underneath his feet from the sound it made.
"Take them to the holding cell, I'll call on them when I'm ready to present them," Nya ordered harshly, "Do not let them escape. They might be the key to this entire mess."
"Yes ma'am!" The woman dragging Lloyd along shoved him forward, "What should we do with this… girl? She seems the feistiest one here."
"She tried to get out three times," Nya mused, "I'll see if I can get one of Karlof's guards to come and perhaps make us bindings so she can't use that strange hand trick. In the meanwhile, if she keeps this up… do what you must to make her docile."
"Understood, ma'am," The female guard tugged on Lloyd, "Seems like the other two aren't putting up much of a fight. They know what's good for them."
Lloyd wanted to try to talk to Nya more, if only to actually see more of what she was like, but they were moving before he could. The female guard opened a door and threw Lloyd inside harshly. Lloyd felt as though he landed on marble, his body rattled from it. He tried to sit up, but he felt someone thrown on top of him. From the weight, it had to be Lulloyd.
Something cold wrapped around Lloyd's wrists and seeped between his cuffs and skin. From the way it slithered, he suspected it had to be water. His body was suddenly jerked up in the air and dragged through it until he hit a wall. His arms were raised above his head, the water pulling them upwards while keeping his legs on the ground. He heard two more thumps beside him, one with a massive snarl of protest.
"You three are going to stay right there," The guard, likely controlling the water if Lloyd guessed right, sneered, "I don't know what sort of plan you had with Lady Nya, but if you think we're going to stand for it, don't."
Lloyd heard Harumi violently snarling and thrashing against the wall. In response, there was a sound of gurgling and then slams against the wall that vibrated through Lloyd's body. Harumi's cries quieted down, even if they didn't fully tamper out.
"Good, so we understand each other," The woman sighed, "Don't worry, I'll make sure that none of you have any issues when we present you to the other leaders. And if any of you even so much as think of raising a hand against any of them, not only are they all the most powerful elemental wielders out there, but the Dragon Lord is there too. You even try to mess with him, I can guarantee you he'll make sure you regret it."
Lloyd was silent partially from compliance, and partially from thought. Apparently, they shared the same look as these intruders. That was good, for it meant that most likely whatever these intruders were, they had to have come from his universe, which meant the Time Twins. Likewise, they were at a gathering of leaders and the Dragon Lord was there, meaning that they were at the Summit if he had heard Monty correctly. Of course, being captured like this wasn't good, but he had to roll with what he could.
"Oh?" The guard spoke much to Lloyd's shock, "You want to say something, stiffy?"
Lloyd held his breath. The guard walked off to his right it seemed, most likely where Lulloyd was being strung up as well. After a bit of noise, Lulloyd gasped and spat a bit with the gag that had been in him as well.
"I, uhm, wanted to ask, what makes you so sure we're these Raiders you're sure we are?" Lulloyd asked cautiously.
"What makes me think that?" The guard spoke in shock, "You all look like… well like nothing we've ever seen! You look exactly like the armor the Dragon Lord captured said you would!"
"We…. came from the Form Tribe," Lulloyd lied, "What, uh, makes you think we aren't just some common thieves that tried to look like this to disguise ourselves and rob Chamille blind?"
"You think I'm stupid?" The guard spat, "I know a form user can only take on a form of something they've seen before. So, even if you say that you took on a form like this, it means that you've seen them. Plus, stress makes it easy to drop forms, and clearly your friend over there hasn't yet. So you all are either committed to this gambit, or you're with them. So either way, you're what we want. That all you got to say?"
"Uh… well, that and uh… you ever heard of the silent shark gambit before?" Lulloyd asked.
"What" The guard was about to say more, but the sound of something striking the back of her head silenced her. Lloyd heard her collapse to the ground, and once she did, another voice came in her place.
"Okay, Lulloyd, next time you try that, don't actually say what I'm about to do," Monty growled, "If she'd turned around…."
"I didn't, know what else to say!" Lulloyd protested. Lloyd felt the water around his bindings dissolve and let him lower his arms. Once they had, something pulled the cover off his head.
"Next time you all make me get so close to someone wielding water again I swear I'm going to leave you to die," Monty growled, his hand shaking as he held the cover. Lloyd saw the bottom of it was slightly wet. The ghost flung it away fast, holding the SoS in the other hand.
"Monty?" Lloyd shook his head, "...Where's Jera?"
"It turns out that Jera is one of the guards for Acronix," Monty crossed his arms, "I told you. I have possession down. Had to make sure he doesn't leave anyone that might miss him, so to speak."
Harumi thrashed with renewed energy. Monty walked over and, instead of touching her, blasted her with wind. The water on her body from the binds was blown away, but in turn it left Harumi frazzled and pressed into the wall. Monty curled his hand towards him, causing the wind to rip the gag off her. Once she had her lips free, her eyes were furious.
"What was that?!" Harumi spat, "You could have just used the SoS to do it for you!"
"Okay, first, I never agreed to call it SoS," Monty pointed out, "And you were wet. You understand that if I get enough water on me, poof, right? You were captured by Nya too. I would have gotten you out a lot sooner if I was sure I wouldn't have gotten blasted to… I don't even know where I'd go. Now show me those cuffs."
The three turned around and held their arms out with the cuffs on. Lloyd saw now that Lulloyd's cuffs were extremely loose given his rigid arms and barely even staying on. Monty drew the SoS and gave it a swing overhead twice for practice before he cleaved each of their cuffs in half with three strokes. With the connection broken, Monty took each of their hands and used the space between skin and cuff to blast wind inside until the cuffs finally strained enough they could be slid right off their hands. For Lulloyd, a simple tug was enough.
"Where are we?" Lloyd asked as he rubbed his wrists.
"From what I got, you're in a holding cell," Monty looked around the room, directing his attention to what looked looked like a regular room that'd been converted to a dungeon by putting bars on the door, "This building is basically a big meeting ground and inn all in one. I'm pretty sure that the Summit takes place here."
"So it's a place to receive foreign dignitaries," Harumi mused, "That's probably why Acronix picked up Nya."
"More to it than that," Monty crossed his arms, "I saw a few leaders when I was sneaking over here. Every elemental master from Chen's tournament is a leader here. Turner, Penser, Kai, Cole, Jay, all of them. They're all older too, or at least the ninja we all know. Well, not for you, Rumi," Monty waved his hand to her.
"Don't call me Rumi," Harumi narrowed her gaze, "Just… don't."
"Fine then, Hari," Monty continued, much to Harumi's annoyance, "This building was apparently built after the war, there was a whole plaque dedicating it to stopping Chen. Apparently this war that took place, it was against Chen. I tried to get more, but some guards came by when I tried to get more."
"Well… what's the plan now?" Lullloyd asked, "They took our weapons and my dragon, and we're already b-"
"They took the gun bag?!" Monty suddenly was up in Lullyod's face with a burst of wind, "Where'd they take it?!"
"T-They took it when we were on the carts!" Lulloyd took several steps back, "I, imagine Nya probably has it, or, her guards do."
"Great… great!" Monty threw his hands up in the air, "They have our weapons, Lulloyd's getaway and all the guns I took with me for the sole purpose of not being caught with just my pistols!" Monty put a hand on his face, sheathing the SoS in the process, "...Just, wonderful."
"Look," Harumi stepped forward, "I doubt they'd get rid of them. They'll probably try to present them as evidence against us. We need to get going so they don't take us before the Summit, assuming that's what the meeting is. They think we're the Raiders and the way we were treated, I doubt it'll be easy to give our side."
"We should sneak our way back to the carts and try to start them up," Lloyd surmised, "Forget meeting the Dragon Lord, we'll have to find another way. Right now we'll have to just get out of here and deal with getting to the Twins another way."
"Wait a minute," Harumi stepped in, "We don't have to leave, but we can at least sneak around and see what else we can find. We're in a literal world gathering, we can find something!"
"Lloyd's right, Haru," Monty turned to her, "We stay here too long, we'll be caught eventually. They know we're here, and I'm the only one who can disappear if I need to. We should just get out while we have the chance."
"You're just a mercenary!" Harumi growled, "Of course you'd want to leave!"
"I assure you there is a surprising amount of overlap between ninja and mercenary when you use silenced pistols," Monty threw back plainly, "We can hide near the building and wait until the commotion has died down if you really want to, but right now running is our best option."
"I uh, think Monty's right, Harumi," Lulloyd responded while looking partially at Monty, "We have to at least get out of here. It's the best option."
Harumi looked to the room dissenting with her. Lloyd wondered if her team ever disagreed with her the way they were, especially given that they all seemed to live in a time of peace. After taking the time to cool down, Harumi didn't say anything but gave a little nod of her head.
"Alright, let's get moving," Monty turned to the door, "I'll take lead. If I vanish, stay still, got it?"
The three had no objections. Monty opened the door to the room they were held in, showing a somewhat normal looking hallway Monty made his way out into the hall and down to the far right, looking around a corner and waving his hand for them. The three filed out after him, sticking close to the wall and letting Monty guide them through the building.
As the group soon found out, the building was multi floored with stairwells interspersed throughout it. The exterior was likely circular given the way the hallways seemed to all come to a point like the spokes on a wheel. Hallways perpendicular to the main ones were slightly circular as well, giving the impression of a wheel even further. They continued their way through the hallways, having to stop and make their way in a very roundabout path to finally get to the hall that seemed to stretch the circumference of the building.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me…" Monty growled under his breath.
The group made their way into the outer hallway, seeing that it had large glass windows at even intervals that stretched to the ceiling. Outside the window, they could see a massive thunderstorm pouring rain over a rather dry looking landscape with small trees interspersed throughout it. From the height, they were likely on the second floor, and out the left edge of the window, one of the metal water filled rails stretched out into the distance.
"That's… unfortunate," Lloyd looked over into the rails, "There don't seem to be any coming in."
"If the system relies on the current to be delivered right into the water then rain would make it impossible to use," Harumi groaned, "We're stuck here until the rain blows over."
"Also the fact it's basically raining death out there for me," Monty scoffed, "Ghost, remember?"
"Couldn't you just surround yourself in a blanket of wind and do it that way?" Lloyd pointed out, "I mean, not that we're asking you to but, is it possible?"
"If I lose concentration for one second, like, say, being attacked, then it'd drop and I'd poof instantly," Monty shook his head, "Not really a fan of that prospect."
"Let's see…" Lulloyd made his way up to the window, looking out curiously, "Guys, let's see if we can find anything we can use."
Lloyd and Harumi snuck up to the window, looking outside to survey the landscape. Monty stood still a good three feet from the glass.
"Look, you do realize that if I'm beside a window it'd be like you guys in the middle of a lake of lava, right?" Monty shook his head, "I'm not getting near that."
"I was just, saying it to the group, you know? It's, thunderstorming out there." Lulloyd responded nervously, "Didn't mean anything by it."
"Well how about we worry what's inside this place and not what's outside? Clearly something is up and we're in a gathering of literal world leaders," Monty scoffed, "Might be better to worry about our own skin rather than that. You're not exactly sneaking around like ninja."
"Don't go telling us whether or not we're qualified to be 'ninja' when you're walking around carrying I don't even know how many guns on you!" Harumi snapped at Monty, "We're trying to find a way out of here, you know! If we can't get outside we might as well see where we are!"
"Don't go attracting attention with your loud voice then," Monty rolled his eyes, "Look, let's just get moving and get out of here before someone sees us."
The three stepped away from the window and silently agreed, even if Harumi wanted to say more. They were about to do something, when a white flash suddenly appeared in front of Monty. When it ended, someone leapt up from it in the air and landed right against Monty. Monty's eyes widened as he instinctively reached for a pistol. Harumi took one look at the figure and quickly darted over and swatted her hand at him. Monty stopped drawing it only by the thought behind the gesture.
"You're a ghost?!" The figure, a child dressed in golden robes, gasped, "Hi! I'm Lloyd, Lloyd Garmadon, Dragon Lord and all that! What's your name?"
The group took a long moment to analyze the boy. The resemblance to Lloyd when he was still young was… uncanny. He had blond messy hair that attempted to be drawn into some sort of brush but seemed to simply refuse to do so. He was only as well as Monty's chest, lending credence to the fact he looked like a child. His eyes sparkled with green irises. His robes were a bright gold, with a pattern of a dragon wrapping around the back and up towards the left shoulder. His robes had a piece of cloth tied around his waist like a belt of a sparkling golden material. He had his hands in tight fists in front of his chin, eyes sparkling in adoration towards Monty.
"...Monty…" Monty coughed out, "You… you're Lloyd?"
"Yep! Lloyd, Dragon Lord, savior of the world, but forget all that, I've only seen ghosts in books, how are you a ghost?!" Lloyd leaned in, nearly pressing into Monty, "You're all green and see through! How?! Why are you here, why do you look like a flattened person, is this what all ghosts look like when they die?!"
"Sure," Monty stated plainly, his eyes still widened from the shock.
"Really?!" The boy gasped, "Oh my gosh, can you tell me more about it, please?!"
"You're, Lloyd?" Lulloyd stepped forward, "You're, the Dragon Lord?"
The boy turned, his smile still enthusiastic, "Yep! It's a pleasure to meet you guys! Whoever you are! Now, tell me more about yourselves!"