37- Under the Insectors' Rule

"We made it!" Hunter cheered excitedly, as he saw the outskirts of Nuuma Kingdom.

The other Riders too looked pleased. Or, as much as they could be, seeing that the war-ridden city was not a pretty sight. It was no fairy-tale kingdom. There were fires burning. Bodies laying lifeless. Most of them had never witnessed a scene this unpleasant before.

"This is the cruelty of Insectors," Magma said. He was the exception. His village was destroyed by an Insector attack, his entire family lost. Magma's fists were clenched tightly, as he was reminded of that day.

"Don't worry, Magma," said Hunter. "Now, we're here, and it's up to us to turn this situation around!"

"Yeah, I know," Magma replied. He was fueled with a fierce desire for battle now.

The group entered the city. Just as soon as they did, Corona got a strange feeling.

'I've been to this place before, haven't I?' she thought. 'That's what the page said, anyway. It feels so nostalgic.' It wasn't that she could even remember anything vividly, but she certainly knew it was true that she was once here.

"Man, this is a spooky city. Why are we here again?" commented Grasshop.

"To save the Nuumans," said Igneous, annoyed.

Buguese had also entered the city, with Aqune alongside him. Actually, Beerain had parted ways, and returned to the Insector lands, apparently. Buguese wasn't really sure what was wrong with her. He'd always known she was attracted to him, but doubted he could ever feel the same. If Beerain too was a loyal warrior of Mantid, then she had to put any useless feelings aside and focus on following orders.

The Insector looked over at Aqune. Yes, he had to do the same. He recalled Hunters words from their previous fight. "Aqune likes you, but she doesn't like to fight! Despite that, you still force that on her?!" Yes. That was the way it had to be, until the war was over, and the Insectors came out victorious.

"Stags," Buguese approached his fellow general, who was waiting in the streets among his troops.

"What are you doing in Nuuma, Buguese?" Stags asked.

"Mantid-sama sent me here," said Buguese. "This is taking too long. I will be the one to capture the Keys. How do we get inside the castle?"

"Rumor has it that one needs the power of a Spider Rider to get inside" replied Stags.

"That I can handle," Buguese answered, looking to Aqune.

"Okay, so, do you think there's a way inside?" Lumen asked, straining his neck to look at the castle above.

"Not unless we could fly," Magma replied.

"Well that's so helpful," Lumen said sarcastically.

"Maybe we don't even have to go inside," Sparkle suggested.

"No," said Corona. "I can sense that we have to go in."

"Corona, is that you?!"

"Huh?" Corona turned around, and she saw an unfamiliar brown-haired man. "Yes, my name is Corona," she answered.

"Thank goodness you've made it!" said the man. "My name is Solan. I'm a page at the castle, and I've been waiting for your arrival. Please, all of you come with me."

"Alright!" Hunter decided for them. "Corona, you guys, come on!"

"Yeah," said Corona. But she didn't follow. She froze for a minute, holding her head in pain.

"Corona, are you alright?" Hunter asked.

"I… I think so," Corona said. "I felt… a memory. I was here in Nuuma as a little girl. I was training to be a handmaiden. It really is true!"

"That's great!" said Hunter.

"I guess…" Corona replied.

"I'll show you how to get inside," Solan said, once they'd all gathered in a certain spot. "You there," he pointed to Hunter. "Release your Spider."

"Umm… okay," said Hunter, rather confused. "Shadow, Spider out!"

Once Shadow came from the manacle, the group was suddenly beamed up into the floating castle.

"I see," commented Buguese, who witnessed this from a distance.

"Woah, that was cool!" Hunter exclaimed.

"Alright now," said Solan. "The Oracle Key is within this castle. It is the Key's power which is keeping the castle afloat. And as for the queen's whereabouts, I believe she's somewhere in this castle, somehow trying to protect the Key. No one else has gone into the castle since the day of the invasion, so no one knows for sure where she is, if she's even still alive. But I pray to the Oracle that she is. It's up to you to find her."

"Alright!" Hunter said.

Corona nodded.

"Really, are you okay Corona?" Hunter questioned.

"This is pathetic of me, I know," Corona replied.

She started walking a bit away from the others, and Hunter followed.

"Lately, I've let everything worry me too much. Everyone else is determined to fight, determined to save Nuuma. I want to feel the same. No, I do feel the same, somewhere deep down. But I'm troubled."

"Is this because of your past?" asked Hunter.

"Well, that's part of it," said Corona. "But, I'm also worried about the prophecies, about Aqune, and mostly, about you."

"Me?" Hunter wondered, not so much registering the rest of what she said.

"When we were fighting Aqune… you wouldn't do anything. You could have gotten really hurt… or worse. It scared me."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she replied softly.

"I'm sorry," said Hunter. "I didn't know."

"I know Brade said that we shouldn't fight, but… it's different when it's a matter of life and death."

"Don't worry," said Hunter, taking Corona's hand in his. "I'll be really careful! I'm not going to die, and I won't let you or any of us die! We're going to save Nuuma, and I can't do it without your help. So stay strong, Corona!"

Her face turned red, in this awkward situation. Though she noticed, Hunter was blushing as well, and let go of her hand. He put his hands behind his back, and started to walk away.

"I… uh… mean what I said, though."

"Hunter!" Corona replied.

"Hey, what's that noise?" Igneous could hear crashing from a distance.

"No!" Solan called. "It can't be them!"

"The Insectors?" Hunter wondered. "I thought you said no one was in the castle."

"I don't know how they could have gotten in," Solan replied. "It's impossible without a Spider."

"But they do have a Spider," Magma replied. "Portia!"

"This is terrible," said Solan. "Stags troops have already done significant damage to the city. But now that they've breached the castle as well…"

"We just have to go and stop them!" Corona declared.

Hunter smiled, seeing Corona's newfound determination.

"We don't know which direction Stags' troops are headed for," Igneous stated. "Why don't we split into groups for now? Hunter, Corona, Magma, you should go looking for the Key and the queen. Lumen, come with me. We'll investigate the source of those noises."

"Yeah," Lumen agreed.

"What about me?" Sparkle asked.

"How about you stay with me and hide?" Grasshop suggested.

"No! I can help!" she argued.

"For now, I'd prefer it if you hid somewhere," Lumen said. "This is going to be extremely dangerous."

"Alright," Sparkle replied, though she was clearly disappointed.

"Guys, let's go!" Hunter ran in the opposite direction. Corona and Magma were following behind him.

Lumen and Igneous rushed to their destination as well. They reached a large balcony of the castle.

"It's a Machine-Sector!" Igneous exclaimed.

"Alright, you know what to do," said Lumen.

"Yeah!" Igneous answered. He lifted up his manacled arm, and called his transformation line.