Author's Note: I don't own the White Knight Chronicles series, ergo; I don't own any of the characters, settings, plots and so on. The concepts such as the Crystalis and some characters that will feature in this work are my own creations, however.

I deeply apologize for the hiatus this series has been on for so long. I've been somewhat caught up with real life for a while, and a bit of writer's block, and it's only now that things have settled down enough that I feel I can pick this up again.

The Bunker Lode Caverns - Depths

11:38 PM

Within the furthest reaches of the Cavern, far away from any of the current mine shafts, Boreus was stood examining several different metal alloys, and comparing them to research notes he'd "Borrowed" from Balandor. Though he'd been caught by surprise with the Meteor Cronic had all but dropped on him, he'd made it out in one piece, albeit with damage to his back, and a few bits of debris lodged in his system, the latter of which had since been removed, but he still needed to heal naturally.

"That rotten pactmaker won't get the drop on me a second time…" Boreus said as he put pressure onto his back to dull the pain.

"Madoras was a genius in developing the knights. But his primary flaw, in my honest opinion…" The exile said as he looked over a cliff edge to a large expanse below.

"Was only building five." He said, a devilish smirk appearing on his features as he shifted his hair to one side, his other, concealed eye shining a bright crimson as he gazed down upon what appeared to be rows upon rows of incomplete incorrupti.

"The researcher from Balandor really needs to keep better security with her research notes. No matter. Her loss, my gain~" Boreus said as he returned to his examination of the metals, chuckling as he did so.

Frass Chasm - Station

Time: 10:49 AM

Cronic and Serena departed the station and began to make their way down Frass Chasm… The former holding a bag of crushed ice against his head.

"That Kara woman is very quick to resort to violence… Is she always that difficult?" Serena asked, Cronic shrugging his shoulders in response.

"I just wished she hadn't. My head feels like it was just used to break down a wall…" Cronic said, involuntarily reflecting upon the encounter.

Earlier

Caesar's Manor

Time: 8:17 AM

Going to check up on Cronic to tell him Breakfast would be ready shortly, Caesar naturally saw Cronic and Serena sharing the same bed… The former of which proceeded to tell Caesar who she was and why she was here… And once the two proceeded to where Breakfast was being served where Kara was waiting… She took the news about as well as you'd expect her to; An unknown person managing to sneak into the manor, even if she didn't mean harm, caused her to knock Cronic to the floor with a well-placed kick to the head.

Once she'd finished her share of the morning meal, Kara then left the room in a hurry while Cronic, Caesar and Serena ate in awkward silence, Cronic taking a napkin, creating a chunk of ice in his hand before crushing it, and using it as a makeshift ice pack for his head. Given her state of mind, coupled with the sounds of people yelling in pain outside, it's quite likely Kara was taking her frustration out on the guards as a punishment for not being vigilant enough.

Back to the present

As the two descended the trail, once his headache had lessened enough, Cronic recounted the events he was personally present for that lead up to him taking up residence in Vellgander, within moments of calm when the local wildlife decided they'd try to take a bite out of them, from his brief employment at a winery, all the way through to the events at Garmatha fortress, before the final encounter with Madoras at the apex of Vellgander.

"We knew that things were a little hard to believe down there, but hearing you recount the events makes our reports seem like pamphlets by comparison." Serena said, arms crossed as she mentally processed all that Cronic had told her.

"If you'd told me several years ago I'd be at the forefront of the second coming of the Dogma War, I would've called you crazy." Cronic said to himself, having finally managed to shrug off his headache and discarded the now slush-like ice pack.

"Anyway. The time for reverie is over. We should be approaching the end of the trail." Cronic said, stopping for a moment to set down his backpack.

"Why're we stopping?" Serena asked, as Cronic removed the upper half of his robe, leaving himself only in his vest from the waist up, folding it and putting it into his backpack.

"We'll be crossing over into the Lagnish Desert soon. And given how clear the skies are today, it's going to be boiling hot out there." Cronic said, Serena seemingly unconvinced by his warning.

"Alright, but don't blame me if you feel like you're about to melt out there." Cronic said as the two proceeded into the Desert.

Lagnish Desert - En-route to Albania

Time: 1:26 PM.

Sure enough, Serena herself was delirious from the heat, while Cronic himself was having to all but drag her over to a shaded spot.

Uuuugh… I reaaaaaally don't want to be here anymoooore…" Serena said, shortly before Cronic held up some water to her lips which she promptly downed.

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you." Cronic said as Serena essentially drained the contents of the waterskin.

"You win this round…" Serena said before removing a few layers to her outfit, leaving her in a short-sleeved white shirt as Cronic took the clothes and packed them into his backpack much like he did with his robe earlier.

"I was hoping to skip Albania, but I only packed enough water for one person to make it all the way to the abandoned mines up north. We might end up having to stay the night." Cronic said, as he took out a map, retracing their steps from the Flandar Trail through to where they were in the desert.

"Provided we go from A to B without pause, we should be able to get there within the hour." Cronic said as he put the map away, put his backpack on once more, having been keeping his staff to hand in the event of attack, and helped Serena to her feet as they resumed their journey.

"Albania's walls will shield us from the hot winds, and there's an abundance of shaded spots in the city we can use to cool off before we continue on our way. Frankly I hope we can get there before a sandstorm kicks up. The last thing I want to deal with is trying to navigate this desert in poor visibility." Cronic said as the two continued on, Serena handling the heat somewhat better now that she wasn't wrapped up from head to toe.

"I don't know who'd think it's a good idea to live out here in this heat…" Serena said with a groan afterwards.

That's it for this chapter. Once again, I apologize for going away for so long, but I've been caught up with university, so something had to give. After that it was a matter of finding employment and settling into the new job.

I'm hoping I can pick things up again now that I've gotten things back on track and work off this rust.

As always, feedback is appreciated, and I'll see you next time for chapter Six!

Cronic out.