I don't know how to write a decent portions of this chapter and at this point, I'm frankly too afraid to ask.

Anyway, enjoy! Next chapter... Red team.

The third and fourth floors had been left to Tadano's group and Flynn was pretty sure he could see why. Tadano or Naoki would both be fine going up to the top two floors, so it was all about the rest of the groups… More accurately, the groups and their humans to non-humans ratio, seeing the difference in endurance levels.

And so, Tadano's fully human (or mostly, Flynn had his doubts about Louis and Nanashi and Hallelujah weren't quite human) group was left with the middle floors. That was fine by Flynn, though. That would just mean they would be able to make it back to the final floor without much issues when they were done investigating.

Well, so long as nothing went wrong for them, that is. They needed to be prepared for anything, after all… Flynn would just hope all would go over well.

Well, it didn't take long for it to become clear things weren't going to go over as well as they could. Nanashi seemed to be in another argument with that Dagda demon and it was starting to affect group morale as a whole… Should he say something?

"Nanashi…" Aleph walked over to the boy, covering the smartphone screen with his hand. "I'm sure what you and, ah, Dagda are talking about is important… But I think it's bothering the others. Is there anyway you two could hold off on your conversation?"

"Ah…!" Nanashi looked at his feet. "Sorry, I was trying to be quiet about it, but…"

"It's fine, it's fine." He gave him a soft smile, putting an arm around his shoulders and walking him along. "If it's that important, perhaps I could help you."

"Help me…?" Nanashi furrowed his brow. "W-what could you do to help?"

"Perhaps speak with your demon friend for you?" Aleph offered with a weak laugh. "Or we could talk to him together… Perhaps we could get him to calm down for the time being."

"I mean… We could try, yeah." Nanashi frowned, scratching at the glowing mark on his cheek. "Though I'm not sure it'll help much…"

"Well, doesn't hurt to try, right?" He pat Nanashi's shoulders, basically oozing paternal vibes at this point.

"Right…!" Nanashi nodded. "Uh, sorry for distracting the group, by the way! Let's get going!"

"Do you all think we could stop for a moment? Please?" Yuji held up a hand, panting as he leaned against the wall. "We're moving pretty quickly and I'm not sure I can keep up this pace without a break…"

"Oh come on, it's not that bad…" Chiaki replied as if she wasn't huffing and puffing as well. If anything, it looked to Flynn like they both needed a break and Yuji was just the one who decided to bring it up.

"You might think so, but I don't… Call me weak if you want, I know Takeshi would, but…" Yuji did his best to straighten himself, despite his heavy breathing. "I need a break and I promise to try and keep it short."

"Good, I don't want to be the last group back because you can't handle some walking and demon fighting…" Chiaki sucked in some breath as she spoke.

"It seems to me like you needed a break too, though.." Yuji frowned. "Your breathing is almost worse than mine."

"I'd be fine… I know you have to work towards your goals…" Chiaki frowned right back at him. "So I'm ready to push through it, are you?"

"It's not as if we can't take breaks, though… If you push yourself too hard, you won't get anywhere." Yuji shook his head. "Breaks and things like that are important to success, you know!"

"You think so?" Chiaki thought for a moment. "But if you sit around too long, you'll get nowhere."

"That's why you need a good balance of work and other things… Don't not work on your goals, but… Don't push on so fast you get hurt, either."

"...I see." Chiaki turned on her heel. "Well, you've gotten your rest, right? Let's move on."

The group was taking another break, this time at Nobu's request. Flynn was almost expecting Chiaki to say something again, but Yuji had made a beeline for her and wasted no time distracting her. Probably a good thing for Nobu, if Flynn had to guess… The boy didn't seem a fan of being questioned, after all.

But then he saw that Nobu was talking at Navarre and he became worried for a number of new reasons. Navarre (at least the one he knew) didn't seem the type that would get along well with someone like Nobu… Now, this wasn't his Navarre, so there was a chance things were different, but… He wasn't so sure.

"So, do all ghosts look like little green guys with pompadours?" Nobu tilted his head to the side as he stared at the ghost. "Because if they do… I don't wanna be a ghost."

Navarre scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous! I am one of a kind…! And what do you mean you wouldn't want to be one if they looked like me?!"

"No offense, but you look pretty stupid…" Nobu shrugged. "But hey, sounds like I wouldn't have to worry about looking like that. That's good enough for me!"

Navarre let out an offended whimper. "Do I truly look that stupid…? Perhaps that's why I've been met with so much pain since my death…"

"There, there, little buddy…" Nobu went to try and pat Navarre, only to pull his hand back before he actually tried to touch him. "Uh, by the way? How did you die, anyway?"

"Ah that… I-it's truly not worth going into!" Navarre shook his head. "There's more interesting things about me to talk about."

"Yeah, sure… But I wanna know how you died." Nobu looked right at him. "Tell me how you died."

Navarre looked to Flynn, as if begging the other for help. He really didn't want to talk about how he died with Nobu, then? Well… Flynn wondered, was there something he could do to possibly help him?

He finally settled on trying by telling Tadano that he was sure everyone was ready to move on. Navarre would have to make it a point to fly alongside a different part of the group as they moved, but it was probably a way out…

He hoped it helped.

Flynn had noticed Hallelujah falling behind the rest of the group and had been worried. He wanted to fall back with the teen, ask him what was happening, but Isabeau was quick to beat him to it. Impressive how quickly she moved in to try and talk to the boy.

"Hallelujah, are you feeling alright?" Isabeau tilted her head to the side as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "You seem distracted."

"A-ah… Fine!" Hallelujah gave a forced laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It's just… A lot of this is weird to me, I guess?"

"Is that so?" Isabeau thought for a moment as they continued to walk behind the rest of the group. "Would you like to talk about it?"

"Well… One thing that's kind of weird is, well, no offense to you and Flynn, but… You two. You two are weird." He swallowed. "N-not in a bad way! It's just that you guys are from another timeline, right? It's weird that you aren't the Flynn and Isabeau that we know!"

"Ah yes, that must be confusing. I'll admit, the fact you all seem to know us when we don't know you is strange…" Isabeau frowned, hand on her chin. "But perhaps this is a chance for us to get to know you when we wouldn't usually have the chance."

"G-good point…" Hallelujah gave an awkward laugh, shoulders deflating. "Guess I was weirded out about nothing."

"Nothing wrong with having worries, as long as you speak to someone about them." Isabeau pat the shoulder her hand was still on. "And please, feel free to speak with me when you're worried about anything. I would be honored to try and help you."

"Ah… Thanks a lot!" Hallelujah gave her a somewhat natural smile. "I'll keep that in mind."

Flynn, Tadano, and Louis were the only three to step into a nearby room when everyone else decided on a break, and, well… Lucky that they decided to do that, Flynn had to think. The box in the middle of the room could hold exactly what they needed, after all.

Tadano looked to Louis and Flynn before taking a step forward and opening it. "It's a… A…"

Louis looked over his shoulder. "Oh, a bowtie! How funny… Didn't think that would be what we needed."

"It doesn't fit the shape of any of the indents, though…" Tadano stood up, frowning at Louis. "Could this really be what we need?"

Louis shrugged, a smile on his face. "Not sure, but we should probably take it with us, don't you think?"

"...Ah, probably…" Tadano placed it in a pocket. "I'm not sure I like the idea of carrying it around, though…"

"Why is that?" Louis tilted his head to the side. "Does it remind you of someone?"

Tadano made a face. "How did you…? I mean… Yes, it does. Commander Gore…"

"Commander Gore, huh…?" Louis put a hand on Tadano's arm. "He must be pretty important to you."

"...I didn't know him long, so I can't say that's the case." Tadano shook his head. "But he did…"

Louis shook his head. "Don't force it, take your time! For now let's just head back. You can always tell me more later."

Tadano nodded slowly, a bit out of it (which Flynn honestly found worrisome). "Yes, let's go."