Chapter cover: The child version of Lea running forward towards the overwhelming darkness while the present Jake, with desperation etched his features, chasing after the child version of his little sister. Farther front of Lea was a brown-haired boy, his face in the shadows.

…

Date: 24/11/ X643

"Are we there yet?"

The Onyx Dragon flapped its wings to move forward, avoiding the sand on its feet. They were fortunate to find a good shelter from the scorching heat of the desert.

"No,"

"Are we there yet?"

"Mir, we're not even close." Evan answered patiently as they waited for the sun to fall to keep moving. They almost died when they did the opposite – and that is a terrifying experience. He took out his compass and checked if he was going in the right direction.

The needle pointed west, and Evan raised his eyebrows.

"Mir…"

His partner answered cheerily, ignorant to their current predicament. "Yes, master?"

"We're lost."

…

…

"This is the Dragon Master?" Luminous was rather unimpressed. They were observing him with Luminous's floating orb – his only orb, fueled with foreign mana. It projected Evan's image in the sky instead of the warped images inside it. None of the occupants replied to him.

One was used to his sardonic personality, and was forced to be silent due to a duct tape on his mouth – another patient – the third amused – the fourth, concentrating on the clairvoyance spell.

Surprisingly, there was sufficient space for them to gather in one spot – much to Luminous's annoyance. He felt claustrophobic with the tall towers of yellowish papers around him; and the need to be on his toes just sapped his mental strength. At the cardinal points – north, south, east, and west – were the exits from this room of blackboards. How the ashen haired alchemist lived in this place without much trouble baffled him.

The ashen gray alchemist chuckled before sipping her cup of coffee. "The trail is wiser than any men and animals – it is common knowledge among travelers. I must say, Evan is green."

Jake cupped his chin, careful not to move his injured leg even though wound up in thick cast, and was placed straight on the other seat. "Lea…how old is Evan?"

Lea sighed and closed her eyes, still writing in the air with her fingers. The runes glowed blue with power. It was amazing to watch.

Lea's fingers were shrouded with her mana, azure colored mana and as she wrote, and pulled her fingers away from the written runes; little of it went to the vessel and stayed compact.

"One year younger; do the maths." The image fazed for a moment.

Now it showed Evan and Mir panicking in that small cave of theirs. Aozaki was miffed and was even waving her hand dramatically; the coffee threatening to spill. "Read the stars!" Shouted Aozaki, although they couldn't hear.

Luminous scowled. "13…"

"Mm, mmmingmhpm,"

Luminous took this chance to be sassy. "What was that?" He cupped his ear. Phantom was about to take out the silver-grey duct tape, but he hesitated under Luminous's and Jake's eyes. Their eyes were daring him.

"Lucy, Jakey – stop," there was a dangerous undertone in that single word.

"Lucy?" spluttered Luminous; feeling offended. This just took the cake. Even Phantom don't nicknamed him like a girl!

The master thief was laughing, his shoulders were shaking – and Luminous felt a vein throbbed.

"Yes, Lucy," Lea replied evenly. "Jake, you're in charge of taking care of them."

The bishop protested. "You can't! If you do-"

The image fizzled out as Lea lost her concentration. Almost immediately, it went back on.

"Aozaki, please," Luminous saw a flash of anger in her eyes. That's something as she was still maintaining the spell. Aozaki stepped in and took the burden from Lea; whose head snapped at Jake with murderous intent leaking out from her.

"I am aware of the…risks."

Aozaki's eyes narrowed lightly – and Luminous held his breath.

Jake bit his bottom lip. "Then, you should know nobody can protect you!" They glared at each other, but Jake looked away first. He looked upset.

"Nobody can – and none will," Stated Lea calmly, although her hand twitched a little – the heroes noted.

Phantom and Luminous watched the conversation like a ping pong match as their head turned from one sibling to the other.

They watched Jake getting more frustrated and agitated his broken kneecap, fortunately, before more damage could be done, Lea pressed his leg down onto the chair; none too roughly.

"Jake, as the squad leader, I'm afraid you have to obey my orders if I do." Lea swallowed. There was reluctance in her gestures. Jake stared at her and blinked before sighing in defeat. However, there was defiance in his eyes.

"I hear and I obey."

Interesting, thought Luminous.

There was a yelp from Phantom – and the siblings plus the light mage stared at his red mark from the silver duct tape. Phantom folded the duct tape before rubbing his mouth.

"I'm never doing that again!"

"Nobody asked you to." Luminous muttered, but Phantom ignored him.

Phantom asked curiously, "Lea, what you're going to do?"

Lea had a grim look and told them her plans. Phantom's face blanched, along with Jake's. Luminous just backed away from Lea as calmly as he could.

"May I say this?" Aozaki started; eyes not averting from the spell. "The Stellar clan won't like it, you are too…interactive with them."

"Well, squad six is already hated by most of our family – I don't why this will make anything more different. We did this – went there, and got the T-shirt." Lea was closed to snarling. "We know the rules, and we just choose to break them."

The conversation ended as Lea stomped off, ignoring the cries of Jake.

"A woman to woman talk?" Phantom pinched the bridge of his nose. "So unpredictable of Lea."

Luminous couldn't deny it. It is a big risk to take – the elves will either choose to distance themselves from the humanity – or become closer to them for the first time in Maple History.

…

…

Location: Somewhere in Edelstein

Koli fiddled with his purple Fenrir necklace while sitting on a metal chair of the Resistance hideout. The air wasn't stale nor damp as most underground places tend to be, but it hummed with machineries. The wooden planks and floor were clean – if you don't count the old and new burnt marks.

Fluorescent lights lit up the underground nicely. Some of the rooms were swapped for warm lights. Even if the members of the Resistance were right in front of his eyes, he ignored them, and kept thinking.

It took him almost two months to find the moles. The underlings of the Black Wings were small fries, and not much to worry about even if they come in numbers.

None of them infiltrated the Resistance of Edelstein – much to Koli's surprise and that knowledge alone was enough to make Koli wary.

It was out of experience and Lea's advice that kept him on his toes. Chances of them infiltrating may be nil – but, what happened to those that were caught?

That alone was enough to send cold shivers down to Koli's spine.

"Good job," said a voice. Koli Ayers turned around with a polearm in hand, and relaxed when it was just the headmaster of the school of Edelstein, also the mastermind behind the creation of the Resistance. Koli chose to nod instead of speaking.

The simple door closed lightly. The orange light made the Headmaster's features murky, and his clothes in a shade darker. Koli stood up and bowed in greeting before sitting down.

"I daresay, when I first saw you – I thought you were a spy." The Headmaster started and readjusted his monocle, waiting for Koli to say something. When there was none, the Headmaster smiled and leaned on his walking cane. "You looked like those heroes." Koli stared at him, lips pursed.

"So…are you here from the Alliance?" The Headmaster managed to inject venom into the single word. Koli merely smiled.

'Be as vague as possible.' Lea's advice echoed in the mercenary's mind.

"I take it as a 'yes'…" The Headmaster's bushy eyebrows furrowed, and caused wrinkles on his forehead.

"Although I forgive Ereve, my colleagues – especially the elder ones, are not willing." He paused. "You're not much of a talker, aren't you?"

Koli grinned. "I prefer not to say much – sir." He added.

The old man was not convinced as he let out a long hm. Koli leaned back onto his chair and relaxed as best as he could – it has been a while since he last saw his employer and fellow colleague.

"Have a good day…" The Headmaster went out with the tailcoat bouncing on the back of his legs as he walked.

...

A/N: Expect slow updates from here on. God, multitasking between studies and writing is difficult, but if push come to shove, I'm sorry - the studies takes priority. Thank you for waiting patiently for the next update!