Chapter 1: How did we get here?

"What the heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-?"
"Whoaaaaaaaaoooooooo!"
"Auuuuuuuuuuuwwwwwwwwww"

A resounding "oof" escaped a pile of three bodies sat majestically atop a table cracked in two, forming triangles with the perfect marble floor which it overshadowed. The fountain that had been atop said table was now spewing it's alcoholic contents onto said floor, creating a contrast between deep mahogany and crystalline snow. Scraps of food lay strewn about in the area surrounding the trio. The food, originally prepared to sate the palate of the Deusdeae, still looked appealing somehow, even on the floor.

The one atop them all, a dark-skinned girl in a battered war-gown like those of the fabled people of the deserts in the south, stood up and brushed herself off.

"I can't tell what's wine and what's blood anymore," she murmured to herself in her Alto voice. She frowned at the thought of cleaning and stitching her trusty battle-gear. She flicked her dark brown hair behind her, a pair of amber eyes beginning to assess her state-of-being.

A curse escaped from behind her in a smooth baritone. "Way to help us, princess." A sarcastic remark which held all the sting that a close friend could put in an insult made her way to her ears. A man of remarkable stature, he stood head and shoulders above anyone even close to his height, his body covered by what remained of his chainmail armor. The only one who boasted a stature more impressive than his was a Boaz man across the room, whose eyes were dim with indignation. A tuft of brunet hair wafted across his face as it escaped the tie he had had it in. Green eyes peered from behind the curtain of strands, looking at the tanned bodice in front of him with annoyance at being used as a glorified spring.

"Yeesh. Keep quiet, you lovebirds. You're giving me a headache." A third voice, deep but not as bassy as the previous, spoke up from the inelegant position it originated from. A figure, cloaked in close-fitting robes resembling those of monks, except stained black and with silver lining, stood up, hazel eyes inspecting the group's condition. Jet-black hair of medium length sat atop his head, impossibly messy for only having its host fall onto the ground. Despite being the middlest height of the three, the atmosphere around him compared to the other two was of a different kind.

Three pairs of eyes looked upon the shocked crowd and past to the regal room which housed the party they had so elegantly crashed. Windows overlooked a city draped in night, the full moon shining through the dark clouds. Alternating between the windows were doors opened to a stone balcony, appearing impossibly high up, where clouds were kissing the bottom of the arches supporting the balcony, and giving a sense of vertigo to all who stood upon them, despite the safety railings standing at chest level for most who went outside. Two identical red carpets spanned the length of the hall they were in, now obviously an extended dance hall upon closer inspection. Glass chandeliers powered by what appeared to be crystals lined the ceiling, and a large main crystal was hanging in the center of the hall. A classical quintet was continuing to play in the back of the hall, ignoring the commotion and performing on a slightly elevated stage made of the same marble below the feet of the partygoers. The stage, gilded in gold, had two steps leading up to the rotund platform. Banners with the separate ensigns of different factions hung at regular intervals across both sides of the hall, mounted to the ceiling.

The people surrounding them were sharply dressed, denoting the event as important, and of high class. Furthermore, it seemed as if every other person present emitted an otherworldly aura, which gave off a strange feeling of curiosity, despite their faces remaining emotionless and passive. The others among the party took up defensive positions, reaching for their weapons, some of which were concealed well, and others not so much. The entire hall was on edge as a stalemate formed between both sides. Tensions in the room rose as eyes darted between the newcomers and those armed, both sides in well-practiced stances which would allow them to react to their opponents smallest movements.

Eventually, several members of the audience realized if a fight broke out, it would be absolute chaos in the hall, and the thought was worrying enough that some began to take position to leave the hall as quickly as possible.

However, before a fight could break out, the silence was broken when-

Squish. The darkly-robed figure looked down at the now-squashed sandwich beneath his feet, ripples spreading through the puddle of red that was being soaked into the sandwich.

A soft female voice, the kind of voice that commanded attention, spoke out in a foreign language, expressing her disdain.

"Tch, and my children worked so hard to collect all of the ingredients for those dishes as well. What a shame." A certain golden-honey haired goddess was standing amidst the stunned crowd, many of whom had managed to regain their composure and shut their gaping mouths.

The trio standing opposed to her looked confused as they attempted to decipher what she had just said, to no avail.

"Doesn't look like they understood whatchu said, Big Momma!" A tomboyish voice appeared from behind the golden-haired figure, scratchy and annoying. Red eyes peered ever so slightly out from a scrutinizing stare. "They don't look like they're from 'round here."

The trio before them talked among themselves in a language that neither of the two goddesses recognized.

"Hm, no. I suppose not, Loki."

"They don't speak anything that I can understand." Another figure, draped in orange, piped up.

"That's strange, Hermes, considering you've seen everything past these walls…"

"It is strange, isn't it Demeter?" The Deusdeae named 'Hermes' spoke, a glint of curiosity betraying his impassive demeanor.

The three deities stood before the bewildered trio, who were still on edge at the sight of the slow-approaching figures.

"Looks like they're raring t'fight. How brave…." A bemused sound escaped from Loki, an air of mischief surrounding her. Three figures behind her looked on quietly as they waited for their goddess' next move.

"Finn, capture 'em! I wanna keep 'em!"

"EH?!" Several amongst the crowd were surprised at the goddess' brazen response to the situation.

Finn, surprised at his goddess divine will but not dropping his nonchalant composure, chuckled to himself internally as Loki acted on another one of her whims.

"I was planning on asking them a few questions anyway. Riveria, Gareth, if you would." The accomplished prum quickly assessed the situation, deeming them not a threat due to the lack of pain in his thumb.

"Always makin' us do the dirty work. Jus' like ya' Finn." A complaint rose from Finn's dwarven companion.

"You dwarves always make such a fuss when asked to do something so simple." Gareth's elven counterpart bickered with him, as Loki and Finn watched on, amused at their usual antics.

"They're approaching us…." The dark-skinned girl warned under her breath.

The tallest of the alienated trio scrunched his face, steeling himself for a fight. "I don't like this, Kaelen. What do we do?''

The leader of the bunch named Kaelen quickly checked his shadowy robes for what he had on him before responding.

Tsk, I don't have my blades...that's not good.

"I don't have anything. And something tells me an engagement won't end well for us."

"Me neither, I don't have anything from the battlefield except for my clothing."

"You too, Zoe?" The giant let out another curse. "Well, I ain't going down without a fight."

"That's not a good idea, Rene. Something tells me we're not gonna win this one," Kaelen, said, unblinking, not daring to look away from the two figures of juxtaposed height approaching them. Kaelen's eyes widened as a sixth sense warned him of the attack to come, but when he tried to warn his friends, it was too late.

When the pair had just barely entered fighting range, they exploded together with superhuman speed, all but disappearing from the sight of the defenders. Riveria and Gareth used their countless hours of teamwork to pull off a perfectly synchronised start. If it weren't for the setting they were in, many onlookers would think they were both world-class athletes bolting off from the start of a race, or a pair of dancers working together in perfect harmony.

Riveria, despite her lack of ability as a frontline attacker, noticed the immediately sluggish response from her opponents, and quickly deduced that they were level 1 or even falna-less. Using her level-6 status to overwhelm her opponents, she easily grabbed the fleeing girl, careful to not use force which would otherwise needlessly harm her weak opponent. Her elven figure gracefully danced within the confines of her silky green dress whirling around her, reminding onlookers of a leafy maelstrom.

Gareth, whose trained eye was just as keen as Riveria's and had also recognized the strength, or lack thereof, of his opponents, quickly caught the giant with his right arm, using the same level of carefulness to quickly disarm the character and force him to the floor. When Gareth had lunged forward, however, he had simultaneously reached out to grab the leader of the trio with his left arm, and a feeling of surprise took him when he realized that he came up empty-handed. Deciding to deal with one thing at a time, Gareth focused his attention on pinning his captive to the ground, careful not to ruin the dapper suit he wore, despite his extreme aversion for such dress, where Riveria grouped up with him as she brought her captive to his.

Taking Gareth's role of pinning the giant to the ground, a face of mild bemusement appeared on Riveria's face when she felt the persistent resistance of the captives, whose attempts at escape were futile, having been helplessly pinned down beneath the might of a level-6 adventurer. Gareth, now with his hands free, scanned around him and found the final of the three escapees, and locked eyes with him.

They aren't human!

This thought crossed Kaelen's mind as he saw Zoe and Rene easily taken care of by the two figures, having narrowly dodged the short man's lightning-fast grab at Kaelen. Kaelen, realizing he had a second of thought to escape, tried to think of a way out.

This moment was short-lived, as the dwarf had just made eye-contact with him, and Kaelen's sixth sense screamed for him to move.

Kaelen didn't even see the man move, he was just suddenly next to Kaelen as Kaelen narrowly dodged the second attempt to grab him. He could see the surprise on the dwarf's face now, as this is now the second time that he has dodged an enemy that he can barely register is moving, let alone dodge based on his reactions.

I'm not fighting off reaction, though. Think, predict what he's gonna do next…. Kaelen glanced at his surroundings, mind moving at supersonic speeds when his sixth sense went off again, and he realized that this time, he couldn't dodge it as he heard some words being spoken in that foreign language from behind him.

"Hmph, not bad kid. But you're still too green for ol' Gareth!" Gareth said with a smile as he bearhugged his opponent, making sure to be careful. Even with his attempts to gently squeeze, however, he heard cracking, and then the resounding SNAP of a broken arm before he quickly relieved the pressure he was outputting.

The figure who was embraced by this hug winced, and his eyes turned bloodshot, but his eyes shown with a resolve that hadn't been broken yet.

Gareth sighed, "Sorry, kiddo, looks like I overestimated y'r strength, but could you please give up? Just f'r now."

"They can't understand you, Gareth," Riveria spoke matter of factly, the amused expression not yet having left her face as she kept her two squirming captives pinned.

A grunt escaped Gareth. "Maybe, but i's the thought tha' counts."

Across the hall, a stunning beauty turned away from the commotion, her initial curiosity fading. The goddess of beauty passed her follower, disgust showing on her face.

Ottar noticed his goddess' negative disposition. "Do you wish for me to kill these intruders, my lady?"

Freya chuckled at the dramatic response from her most loyal follower.

"No, that's not necessary." She looked back at the leader of the captured crew, narrowing her eyes in scrutiny.

"I don't enjoy those whose souls are so dark." The goddess, using her divine ability to see into the soul of those around her, stared puzzled at the one whose friends called "Kaelen".

As she walked out, she began to ponder what she saw.

What a shame, a soul so dark at such a young age.

She continued along with Ottar to her personal room in the tower.

Tch, and it could have been such a bright soul too. What a waste.

The surrounding Deusdeae began to break off, despite the events that had just transpired. The first tier adventurers made it so that the fight was barely worth watching, and the hedonistic Deusdeae sought other forms of entertainment among the hall.

Still, some deities remained with their followers close-by. One of those who remained was a vermillion haired goddess who was staring mischievously at the only female among the prisoners, eyeing her still-developing bust. Beside her, Finn looked on at the prisoners that had been tied up with rope that Hermes had graciously procured, a puzzled expression settling on his face. Several questions floated through his mind, because even though the trio had been easily captured, there was still the question as to how they had gotten here, where they had come from, and most importantly, what they were doing here.

As Finn became lost in thought, he heard the bickering of his two friends float to his ears.

"You are rusty, you oaf. That one is falna-less and you still had trouble catching him."

"As if you have any place to talk, all you did was sit on the two we had already caught."

The exchange raised another concern in Finn's mind: How did someone without a falna dodge around the speed of a level 6 adventurer? Albeit, Gareth was holding back a large portion of his speed and power to not hurt him, merely capture him, but still, the difference was enormous. The only answer that came to his mind was that it looked similar to a warrior who knew exactly what was going to happen in a battle, or an adventurer who had spent so much time in the dungeon that a sort of sixth sense forms. But having this ability would require a lifetime of experience in battle to make up for the discrepancy of power in between the two parties, but they were clearly barely older than Ais, if not the same age or younger.

Finn looked back up at his prisoners, concerned expression renewed as he scrunched his face even more, delving deeper into thought.

"Careful, raisin-face! You might hurt ya'self thinking too hard! Don't wanna ruin that nice noggin' of yours, ya know?" Finn turned to his Goddess, losing his train of thought as he recomposed himself.

"Besides, that one is pretty." Finn turned back to where his goddess was looking, directing his gaze to the girl. "And it's been so long since I've been able to play." The mischievous air around Loki became so thick and tangible that the people around her got chills.

Finn, quickly interpreting her divine will, took action.

"No groping them."

"Huh? Why noooot?" Loki let out a whine.

"No groping the prisoners. Riveria, take care of the one with the broken arm. Gareth, head back to the manor, make sure we have a place to keep our prisoners."

"Oh? We're keeping pris'ners now, are we?" Loki inquired, her mischievous tone gone as she became serious.

"I have a few questions I'd like to ask." Finn said, the slightest hint of a smile tugging away at the corners of his lips.

"And yes, Loki. It'd be rude not to care for guests."

For the first time that night, Loki actually showed her amusement on her face at her followers' curiosity. Finn had another puzzle to solve, and it was just like him to get down to business right away.

The city had been quiet after Dionysus' attempt to destroy Orario and all of the adventurers inside of it using the demi-spirits and Nidhogg the Destroyer. To celebrate the first harvest after such an event, all of the factions involved were invited to a gala, hosted by Demeter. Demeter, feeling repentant after her actions which involved her in the Evilus' plan, wanted to pay back the adventurers' who had sacrificed so much because of her actions. And so, Demeter familia hosted a harvest party on the new year, to recognize the adventurers and tell stories of their individual experiences on that day, so that the stories would not be forgotten. Unfortunately, a few familias were unable to make it, as Hestia Familia was on an expedition, and Hestia didn't want to go to a party by herself, and the members of Hephaestus familia didn't want to leave their forge, especially their captain Tsubaki who didn't want to lose to her junior after seeing the power of his Welf special magic sword. Kali familia had gone back to the port city Meren, and the Xenos were deep in the dungeon, unable to attend matters at the surface. This just left the familias on the surface who remained close to Demeter familia despite what had happened, which was still a numerous amount due to Demeter familia's unique position in Orario as the de facto producer of Orario's food supply, and the three deities mentioned earlier.

The City of Adventurers had quickly rebuilt, proving again that they are worthy of the name which hosts the title of those whose will burns strongest and brightest. Adventurers still went into the dungeon every day, and the Jyagamankaru stands still sold the same flavors. The city, powered by magic stones, lit up the night so that many stars were blocked out, and the brightest star for miles was Orario itself. The final Evilus remnants were in hiding, courtesy of the efforts of Hermes familia and Loki familia, but Finn was remaining cautious of the situation, as he had failed to wipe out the Evilus remnants 15 years prior, and he did not wish to repeat this mistake.

"Unfortunately, I don't think we can stay at the party any longer, as we now have business to attend to. We may finally have a lead on the Evilus' remnants whereabouts." Finn expertly crafted an excuse for him and his group to leave the party. So far, Finn's best guess for the reason the three prisoners had fallen from apparently nowhere into the midst of the party was that they were spying on the gathering of the three familias and were planning on taking advantage of the gathering of three major factions in Orario and descend the city into chaos, but Finn doubted the validity of this theory. However, he decided to err on the side of caution and interrogate the prisoners.

Looking over his shoulders to where Riveria was casting a healing spell on the one with a broken arm and cracked ribs, he suppressed a playful chuckle as he saw the obviously confused patient squirm profusely as his wounds were healed.

No. If they're confused about something as simple as a healing spell, then they are not informed of the workings in this world, and therefore are from nowhere that has even heard of Orario, let alone from Evilus.

Turning to the exit, Finn felt nothing as he left the hall with his familia members and his new prisoners in pursuit.

I have no idea where we are. The thought crossed the trio's minds as they were transported to someplace. Somebody had brought sacks that smelled faintly of potatoes, oddly enough, and had sacked them. The rope that had bound them had been switched to metal chains and shackles, and they were being walked across the city. However, whenever a sound of people got close to the makeshift caravan, they would quickly take a detour down another street. The intent was clear: nobody can know these prisoners exist. Why the prisoners were being hidden was unclear to them, however, as they continued to some destination.

After what felt like an eternity of dodging potential witnesses, they heard the creaking of a gate, and the terrain beneath their feet switched from the cracked stone of the street, to the bumpy and uncomfortable cobblestone, and even sooner after that to the interior of a building. Light beamed into their potato-sack helmets through the holes of the stitch-work, indicating this change as they were led higher and higher into the building, twisting and turning. Kaelen and Zoe, who had both tried to keep track of their progress on their way here, lost track after the umpteenth turn, unable to memorize such a large swath of directions and distances, especially since their gaits were staggered due to the shackles around their ankles.

Eventually, they entered a dark room where their march was halted. They felt the chains binding them build tension as a click resounded throughout the room. Then, their captors removed the bags on their heads, and the three's eyes quickly adjusted to the room, having been in the dark for the past few hours.

Kaelen, Zoe, and Rene looked down simultaneously at their bindings, and traced the silhouette to where the chains were fastened into the walls via a lock. The shadow of a table and two chairs hid in the back of the room, hidden away from where the light hit.

So that's what the click was.

Three pairs of eyes wandered around their new home as all but 2 of their captors had left, the women from earlier and the blonde man who had the body of a small child, but the air of a ruler.

The other man from earlier brought back 3 chairs for the comfort of

"Zjothas tem whevuhre?" The golden haired leader stared at the chained silhouettes, expecting an answer. "Zjerum tem upoisepur?" A mix of gibberish exited his mouth, obviously beginning an interrogation, but unable to get his point across.

An uncomfortable silence grew in the room as the two sets of three person's stared at each other, daring the other to speak in a language they could understand. All was silent for a moment, before the door burst open and rays of light shot into the room.

Finn felt a headache growing inside his head. He had prisoners with possible information on the whereabouts of the final Evilus, but no way of extracting that information out of them. Plus, there was also the fact that he didn't want anyone to hear Loki familia was keeping prisoners, meaning that the number of people who knew about them even inside the familia must be small in number Finn dived deeper and deeper into thought, entering a state of focus so deep that he didn't hear the two Amazonians waltzing down the hallway with a male human and female catwoman in tow.

It came as no surprise, then, that he was the most shocked person in the room when these intruders exploded into the room.

"Hey, Captain! Come home without even saying hi to me? How cruel!" The well-endowed Amazonian bumbled about the room semi-haphazardly, though she still was nowhere near as bouncy as her sister.

"Wooooow! I didn't even know we had a dungeon! Though, I guess it's not a dungeon if it's not underground….Oh, I know! It's like one of those citadels I read in the stories! The one where dragon's kept princesses for knights in shining armor to arrive and save the day! OW!" The local-resident air-head yelped in pain when her sister knocked her on her head not-so-lightly.

"Enough with your stories! Can't you see the Captain is busy?" Tione chastised her sister, unable to read the mood of the room as six people looked on at shock at the four people interrupting what was supposed to be a serious interrogation.

Another, more timid voice, piped up from behind the two sisters. "H...hey captain. Welcome back. I hope that you enjoyed the party…."

Finn, feeling slightly sorry for his apprentice, cleared his throat and fixed his posture. "Thank you, Raul. I hope that you had fun at the festival."

What Finn was referring to was the public festival. Finn and the other high in commands of the invited familias had enjoyed their party in private, away from the public, partially so that Demeter could thank the other Deusdeae and their children in person more easily, and partially that some of the guests did not enjoy being in the public attention for too long, like Freya, who believed that her presence would ruin the party for her followers, which it would have, as they would have fawned over their goddess the entire time. When asked why Freya did not want this from her followers, she replied with, "I wish to socialize from time to time as well, and while good intentioned, they would cut me off from everyone else with such vigor that the only thing that would result from their aggression would be more aggression, and possibly violence." When faced with such simple reasoning, many agreed that this was the correct choice. And so the party was divided into two parts: the public festival, where most of the children were, hosted on the streets of Orario, and the private party, in a suite high in the Tower of Babel.

"Oh! Yeah….It was...A lot of fun." Raul struggled to push out a reply to his idol, only managing to fluster himself more and blush a deep crimson.

The last one to say their greetings was the catgirl, who gave a curt nod to those in the room and hung at the side of Raul, as if protecting him from the potential dangers of the dark stone room.

Finn sighed deeply as he thought about the implications of these four knowing about the prisoners. They were going to find out anyway, but I wanted to at least attempt to interrogate first. Finn cast a sidelong glance to the shackled guests, and looked back to the newcomers.

Welp. It's not like I could interrogate them now anyway.

"Perfect. Raul, Tiona, you will take first watch over our prisoners while Gareth, Riveria, Loki, and I will decide what to do with them." Finn wasted no time before getting into action, not losing any bit of momentum as his quick mind played out countless scenarios in his head, already attempting to figure out a way to decipher information from the captured. "Tiona, Anakity, you'll take second watch after midnight. Keep going on rotation for the time being. I'll get more volunteers to take turns for a watch, but until then, it will be just the four of you."

"'Till midnight?!" Tiona asked incredulously. "What am I supposed to do until then?" Just the thought of sitting still that long was daunting for the jumpy Amazon.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out." Finn said, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips before he left out of the room with Riveria and Gareth.

This is so boooooooooooring. Tiona lay on her back with her legs riding up the wall, forming an L with her body as she carefully lined her legs up vertically. It had barely been half an hour since Finn had left her and Raul in charge of making sure the prisoners didn't escape. Riveria had come back to inform them of the situation, and both Anakity and Tione had gone back to their respective rooms, telling Raul and Tiona to wake them for the next watch. She looked to her left, where the prisoners appeared fast asleep, bodies piled next to each other. However, despite their best efforts, she could tell that they were all wide awake and paying close attention to their surroundings, keenly away of any danger that may attack them.

Suddenly, in a rare instance of thought, Tiona had an idea.

"Raul, you take care of stuff here! I'll be right back!"

"Huh? W-what? Wait where are you going!" Raul called out to Tiona, caught by surprise.

Yet his efforts were futile, as the speedy girl was already halfway down the tower, heading straight for her room with a specific object in mind to help her enact her plan.

When she came back, Raul was anxiously sitting across from the bewildered prisoners. When he noticed her entering the room, he also took note of the objects in her arms.

"Tiona...Is that a candle, and…a book?"

"Yup! When I was learning how to speak Koine, a book always helped me! Especially the ones I wanted to read, and this one was my favourite!" She was practically shouting in excitement. "Don't worry, Raul, teacher Tiona is here to save the day!"

Raul sat on the floor with his mouth wide open at the idea she was suggesting, groggily beginning to process.

"Wait….WAIT! You're not planning...on teaching them Koine, are you?!" The idea was ridiculous! It would take so long, and, and...and. Well, it was just ridiculous!

"What do you think they're making all this commotion for? A book? What's so special about that?" A figure whose black hair matched the shadowy room spoke after opening just one eye, disinterest prevalent in his manner.

"I don't know," Zoe responded as she shifted at the lefternmost edge of their group. "But this ground is cold."

"We've slept on colder." Rene stood up from his position in the middle, barely having any room above his head. A dark expression was on his face, and he scowled. "Something just came to my mind, sorry."

Another period of silence broke forth as they once more became still as statues.

"You remembered, didn't you? How we di-" but before Zoe could finish, the girl in charge of keeping watch over them bounded forward, interrupting.

She spoke some words excitedly in her foreign language, and then set down the candle, which she had lighted with one of the torches in the hallway onto the lone table in the room, onto the lone table in the room that her partner had brought in between the two parties. After pulling up a chair, she opened to the first page in the book, where an illustration of what appeared to be a gallant knight stood on a cliff virtuously, claiming victory over whatever calamity they had overcome.

Zoe looked at the invigorated warden with unease. "Is she...Is she trying to teach us to read?" If so, it was the craziest idea.

Kaelen, finally moved from his statue-esque state, gave a low chuckle as he sat up, placing his hands behind him to hold himself up. "Man, these guys are almost as crazy as you are, Rene!"

Rene, unamused at the joke directed at him, only gave a snort in response.

"Well, if we ever do plan on escaping...We probably should learn the local language," Kaelen continued, glancing around their cell and at the guards that were likely of equal strength to their captors, "Plus, looks like we're living here now."

The entire time this was happening, the warden watched on very interestedly as they spoke what could only sound like gibberish to her untrained ears while they jabbered away.

"Fine, fine." Zoe sighed. "If we're gonna do this, let's do it right. First, we start with introductions." She looked at the amazoness mirror across from her, their dark skin tones a mirror for one another. Zoe took a deep breath in before finally gathering the courage to speak.

Zoe pointed at her chest, stating, "Zoe. Zo. Ee. Zoe."

Then, she turned around and pointed at Kaelin. "Kaelen. Kay. Lin. Kaelen."

Finally, she turned to the hulking mass who stood above them. "Rene. Reh. Nay. Rene."

The Amazon, understanding the gesture they were making as an introduction, introduced herself in turn, pointing at her chest and saying, "Tiona. Tee. Oh. Nah. Tiona!" before excitedly turning to her fellow guard. "Raul! Raul!" she shouted, ecstatic at the efforts to work with her, though it wasn't necessary for her to shout at all in the small room. Tiona had barely managed to get Raul's name out of her mouth before she started bouncing off the walls and almost knocking over the table, crying out "Yippee!", excited to do something for the first time since she was placed as the guard a few hours ago.

Once her initial excitement had subsided, she led the prisoners to the table, where she began to read quickly, much too fast a pace to learn at.

Her partner, who they now knew as "Raul" noticed, and stopped Tiona, explaining to her that she was going too fast for them to understand.

Suddenly, a laugh burst out from Kaelen. He had just noticed the density of the words on the page, and burst out laughing at the realization. This air head hadn't brought an easy book to start on, she had brought a very advanced one! Kaelen's laughter even caught his friends off guard, as they cocked their heads and locked eyes, a silent thought passing between the two as they wondered what he found so funny.

"Sorry for that outburst guys." Kaelen said, leaning onto the table. "But this. This is gonna be interesting."

Once Kaelen spoke these words, Raul said something to Tiona, and then Tiona handed the book over, dejected at whatever Raul had said. Raul moved his chair to be closer to the trio, like a mother reading a book to her three children. Raul carefully pondered over every word, trying to enact the verbs, form the shapes on the nouns with his hands, and emphasizing direction with the prepositions. It was slow going, and arduous, but the excitement of Tiona kept the crew going.

And so they continued, managing to finish the first chapter right as the sun started rising. The contented crew began falling off into sleep, tired after a long night of studying, but then they stopped themselves, their will to continue overcoming their bodies demand for sleep, determined to make it through.

Thus was the first night of the newcomers, beginning their fateful adventure in the city of Orario.