The first thing that he noticed were the sounds of the airship's engines as his consciousness returned.
As his mind cleared he began to hear what sounded like the growls of beasts and shrieks of frightened birds.
Nichols slowly opened his eyes and like a wave the memory of where he was and what he was doing returned to him, he quickly stood up and prepared to help his men, but he found that the fighting had long since ended.
He was surrounded by injured men and women, but they weren't alone, strange creatures that were more beast than men looked at him with smirks on their faces.
"Sit down old man, We are taking you Humans back to your kingdom." A strange lizard Faunus says to him.
The lizard only has a breastplate covering his chest, and Nicholas wonders if it's wearing it to protect its only vulnerable areas, as the rest of the creature's body seems to be covered with what looks like scales.
"My men." Nicholas says to the Lizard men.
'We managed to save what we could, but you lost a lot of soldiers, and several of your ships, the birds are carrying everything that we could scavenge." the Lizard Faunnus answers him.
'How can I?" Nicholas starts to ask the Lizard faunus who glares at him.
"Sit down and shut up."
" We're almost there, you and your men have nothing we want."
'Your food tastes weird, your weapons work on the Dark beasts but are nearly useless on everything else and you're not even from this land."
'So sit down because you are now a part of the human kingdom."
Nicholas doesn't say anything, he knows better than to start a fight now, he needed answers and these creatures seemed to have them, so, for now, he would do what the lizard faunus said.
Nicholas pressed a button that he had inside his pocket and activated the antennas and rescue bots.
Both machines were experimental technologies that Atlas was working on, both only activated if he was close enough to turn them on, but far enough that he needed them to work.
The antennas were supposed to help him connect to the network so he could communicate with the outside world.
The rescue bots were supposed to either save anyone who was injured and bring them to wherever Nicholas was or simply hide the antennas so that they weren't destroyed if no Humand or Faunus were in the area.
Nicholas wondered if either of the machines activated as if neither had been tested, they were both deemed useless because neither machine could stand even the weakest Grimm attack.
"Well we are here, Take a look Humans Home Sweet Home." the lizard faunus says to everyone and Nichoas opens the airship's side door.
The wind forces him to step back but he can stop himself from giving more than a single step, and as he forces his eyes open he finds himself wanting to laugh.
The sight before him reminded him of home.
A kingdom surrounded by certain death and yet it refused to give in.
There was a massive fortress floating in the sky, while underneath it was a kingdom that was surrounded by protective walls.
The chaotic wasteland of beats and Grimm surrounded this small patch of order.
It was as if he was looking at Mantle and Atlas.
"Keep going straight but land outside of the walls if you try and cross them the kingdom's defenses will destroy the airship." the lizard faunus says to the pilot who nods and does what the lizard faunus says.
As the airship lands Nicholas finds himself wondering if Willow and Whitley are here, he wishes that his eyes could show him where exactly his family is, but they can't, they can only show him that they are alive and where to look, but not where they are.
"Hey open up!" A Faunus whose species Nicholas could not describe yells at the guards who are watching them from above.
"Not until you explain why you brought them here!" the guard shouts back.
"They're from Atlas, They came here looking for the people we found earlier!" the faunus answers the guard before he throws what looks like a crystal to the guard who catches it before it has a chance to fall.
"They're telling the king about your arrival and he will decide if you and your men can enter the city." the lizard faunus from before says to him.
'I'm sorry but I didn't get your name, maybe you did tell me but I was unconscious and." Nicholas says to the faunus who snorts.
'I never gave it to you."
"What would be the point, I don't trust you and you don't trust me, so let's leave ourselves nameless and call ourselves by what we are Lizard and Human." the lizard says to him.
Nicholas looks at the fanus and can't help but smile, the man before him speaks to him as an equal and doesn't look down on him, nor does he treat him as anything more than another person.
"Agreed Lizards, but may I ask why haven't your men entered the kingdom?" Nicholas asks the Lizard who snorts.
"Axel is the kingdom of men, and perhaps the Faunus, we Beasts men live in Aincrad alongside the beasts and Human Knights." the Lizard answers him before pointing at the fortress in the sky.
"I see." Nicholas says to the Lizard before turning to look at what his men are doing.
For a moment he wishes that he hadn't, more than half of the defense bots are gone and the other half need to be repaired.
His men are all injured and while most aren't suffering from life-threatening injuries, he knows that some of his men won't make it passed the night.
"Captain!" the faunus from before calls to the lizard who turns and receives a cristal from it.
Nicholas watches as the crystal begins to glow. "You and your men will have to spend the night outside of the walls, healers are coming but someone has to be willing to let you in before you can go inside." the Lizard says to him before he lifts his hands and signals to the rest of the faunus to leave.
"Word of advice old man, keep your head down. The Adventurers are good people, but they will kill you and your men if you give them a reason to."
"And if you think that you can escape we will hint you down and finish the job." the Lizard says to him before he starts to walk away and vanishes from sight.
