The sun was beginning to sink below the horizon. Veru was exhausted, and had to be pulled along by a sprinting Reno. His eyes wee set on some goal that lay out of reach of either boy's sight. The older one's pace had been increasing for the better part of two hours, and fatigue was the furthest thing from his mind.

"Whu…Where are we going?" Veru managed to croak through his tired lips. He could barely focus on the boy clutching his wrist, only mere inches in front of him.

Without turning back, Reno answered, "The only safe place I know of – Lestava Castle."

The younger boy knew a little bit more about the famed symbol of Mar-Heaven's freedom than most others would. Almost all his knowledge came from the tales he'd hear from Alviss and Nanashi, but they reassured him time and time again that every part was true.

'At least,' he thought, 'we're going somewhere that I know something about.' He sighed, or at least thought he did. Nothing actually came from him, but he felt relieved all the same. Things were going right today.

Pyromania's Underground Fortress

Phantom had just about had it with Pyromania's arrogance. First he made him a second Knight, and now this – He didn't even scold Phantom in person.

Pangæa strolled in a straight line in front of Phantom. "Lord Pyromania has told me of your insubordination," he said quite calm and robotically. Emotion was nowhere to be found in his tone. "That boy was a key part of our hostile takeover plans, and now you've gone and ruined it." His eyebrow twitched, black eyes staring at the other man. 'What do have to say for yourself?"

"I don't need you talking down to me, you little shit," Phantom said in a scathing voice. He was quite irritated with everyone, but the scientist made his insides squeeze. "I call the shots here."

The first hint of humanity from Pangæa was a small chuckle and an even smaller grin. "Not anymore." With one final, rapid turn, he exited the room, making certain that his long black hair slapped Phantom on the way out.

Once he was out of earshot, Phantom began to yell and thrash about. "AAAGGHH! I've just about had it with these losers!"

"…Phantom…?"

He stopped and turned to the door. Peta stood in the jamb with a concerned look. "Is everything okay?" He stepped inside.

Part of Phantom wanted to cry and let it all out in his friend's arms. But the badass side got the better of his thoughts. He shook his head. "No. I'm not okay." He began to walk towards the door. "Peta – come by my room tonight. Make sure to bring Halloween, too."

Peta opened his mouth to protest, but was gently pushed back by Phantom as he left. "Just do it…"

"But, Phantom…" Peta began reaching his arm out, but the door flew shut. Fingers spread, the hand stopped. Slowly, it came back in a fist. Eyes closed, Peta brought his fist to his mouth. His eyes came back open only halfway.

"Why don't you ever tell me anything…?"

Lestava Castle

It was well past dusk when Reno and Veru arrived at the front gate of Lestava. While Veru's cheeks were a bit red, he had gained most of his breath back, and could easily run a mile.

It was here that Reno decided to finally collapse. His knees buckled and his legs gave out from underneath him. He crumbled to the ground, breathing heavily; his chest rose up and fell down in rapid succession. There he was for a few minutes before he could struggle to his feet.

Reno was supported by Veru's arm. "Th-Thanks…"

Veru smiled. "It's nothing, really."

Together, they went up to the huge front doors and knocked. They heard shuffling within before the doors were opened.

Agatha met them with a smile, but it quickly evaporated into an apathetic frown. She turned her head and quickly muttered something under her breath.

Reno cocked his head to the side. It was as if he was trying to read her lips; if so, he wasn't doing a very good job of it.

The old woman turned back around with another smile, though not as cheery as the greeting one. "Who are you, dears?"

"We're…phew…"

"We're friends of Alviss and Nanashi, who are allies of your queen," Veru interjected, sounding much more mature than he actually was. "We were told to come here."

Nodding, yet looking a bit unconvinced, Agatha yelled at the top of her lungs, "Your Majesty! Two friends are here!!"

Upstairs, Snow raised an eyebrow; everyone was already here. Who could possibly be…A thought immediately entered her mind, and it seemed too good to be true. Still, she believed it. Grabbing Dorothy, she raced out of the throne room.

With delight, Snow jumped onto the rail on the stairs and slid down in spirals. Unfortunately, she forgot how to jump off; instead, she crashed to the floor.

"Gintan-!" Looking up, she realized it wasn't who she thought it was. Standing up, she rearranged her hair and bowed; Agatha did the same, and slowly retreated from the foyer.

"Oh! Veru!" Dorothy appeared at the bottom of the staircase. She walked over to the three. She looked at Reno. "And…you are…?"

Reno bowed, face flushed. "I'm sorry! I forgot to introduce myself. My name is -"

"Geez!" Snow scratched her head. "Stop being so formal! I don't like it when people do that!"

Everyone wondered why this was, when she bowed to the two at the door like a good queen should. Reno shrugged and stood upright. "Name's Reno." He motioned to the boy standing by him. "I'm the one who rescued this guy." Veru was about to say that it was actually Phantom who had opened the cell, but chose to keep his mouth closed.

Snow, of course, was quick to trust anyone; Dorothy, however, eyed Reno with a hint of suspicion. Although this boy had saved Veru, she couldn't help but feel at risk for some reason.

"Um…Where's Babbo?"

Snow's question caused Reno's jaw to drop to the floor. He threw his head into his arms and shook it. "Aw, I knew I forgot something…"

"How could you forget Babbo?!" Dorothy shouted. After a moment of disbelief, she put her hands on her hips. "Whatever; we can deal with it later. C'mon, let's go see the others." And so began a long hike up a winding staircase with seemingly no end.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they ascended he steps and entered the throne room. Veru yelled in joy as he spotted Alviss and Nanashi. He ran to them, right into Nanashi's open arms. Alvis only smiled, much to the chagrin of the thief. "Hey, I thought you missed him…" Nanashi whispered.

Alan stood up, coat sweeping across the marble floor. "I've heard that the Chess are on the rise once again."

"It's true," Reno said. "I infiltrated their base."

Alan stared at him. "Who's the runt?" Reno shook his fist.

"Anyway, we need to prepare for an offensive against them."

"What're you proposing?" Dorothy asked.

With a grin, Alan replied, "The same thing we did last time."

Everyone's heart (except Nanashi, Veru, and Reno's) sunk at hearing this. "You can't be serious," Jack muttered.

"I am – We'll enter the Training Gates."