Disclaimer: I do not own God Eater, and any contents already in the game.

Chapter 34: The Strong, and the Unnatural

In the early afternoon in the Crimson Queen's hideout.

"Are preparations complete?" Werner asked.

"Yes, sir," Jaffar replied. "All vehicle inspections are sat, and all equipment and God Arcs are loaded on board, sir. Awaiting your order to depart."

"Mm," Werner nodded. "Very good, captain. Begin boarding, and wait for me to pass our gate before the rest of you follow behind me. Then the watchstanders will offboard and secure our gate, and once everyone is present and accounted for, we will depart. I will lead the convoy, and our escort vehicles will drive on both sides for about 20 miles. We will rendezvous with Commander Brandt's 1st and 2nd Regiment to reinforce our escorts as briefed."

"Understood, sir," Sarah nodded before turning back. "Everyone, get on board. Let's go! Start your vehicles, and all navigators, verify that your vehicles have charts, and your radios working."

"Yes, ma'am!" The rest of the crew including Carol, Lisette, and their other operator Rosa nodded.

"Um, Werner?" Alice tugged him.

"Hm?" Werner smiled at her. "What is it? How is your leg?"

"I'm good now..just like Sister Sarah said," Alice smiled back. "I can walk now, too."

Then Werner chuckled. "I'm glad to hear it, but don't push yourself for now. You might be still healing."

"Yeah," Alice giggled.

"Come," Werner bent down to reach for her, and Alice returned the gesture before he lifted her in his arms. "Are you excited to see your new home? To see the rest of your new family?"

"Yeah," Alice cheered.

And Werner chuckled again. "You'll be happy in our place, I'm certain of it. But I want you to remember something important so you won't feel sad again."

"Hm?" Alice paused.

"Everyone deserves to be happy, regardless of who they are," Werner smiled. "In this dark cruel world, I want to create light in it. A utopia that I want you to be part of. Would you help us make that a reality?"

"Yeah," Alice nodded. "I always wanted to do my best, but…"

Then she frowned. "I…don't know how I could be of help. In Gleip-neer, no matter how I tried, everyone thought I was… usele…"

And just as she was about to sniffle to a cry, Werner nudged her with a chuckle. "That is OK, everyone fails before they succeed. You are also still very young, so stay strong, and do not weep. Free yourself from all negativity people imposed on you, and as well as any contempt you may hold for them. Everyone has their own purpose, and this is a great opportunity for you to start anew, but more importantly, it is never too late to redefine yourself. A past is simply a past, and always doing your best is an excellent start, a strength you already have. Keep working towards it, and you will find yours. You are a representative of our future."

"Okay, but..," Alice murmured. "I'm kinda confused…"

Then Werner chuckled again. "You will understand one day as you grow from here on, but also remember this, your elders in your new family will always be there for you. Our purpose is to guide you to a brighter future, and to protect it. We will do what it takes to ensure it. Believe this with great faith."

"Yeah," Alice began smiling.

"Then shall we begin our journey?" Werner smiled again. "As well as your journey to begin your new life?"

"Yes..sir," Alice grinned.

Then Werner chuckled again before patting her head. "I have high hopes for you. You can do it."

In Ashcrawler Chrysanthemum's Galley.

"Man, what should we do after we clean up here?" Zeke yawned while stretching his arms. "We did our morning workout already, and I'm starting to feel kinda bored."

"Heh, and yet you're yawning?" Jerad chuckled. "Why don't you take a nap?"

"Nah, I think that would weaken me afterwards," Zeke murmured.

"Well, we're all tired from last night," Hugo sighed. "Even I'm still feeling sore."

Then he also yawned. "Crap. I wanna do something that will keep me awake."

"How about some coffee?" Levin suggested. "I'll brew some in the lobby. I could use one myself."

"That definitely works. Thanks," Hugo smiled. "Gonna find something to keep me busy. Hmm…"

He held his chin. "Got an idea now. Since last night was the second time we fought a Ra, I might as well as finalize the data before forwarding it to Garret."

"Tch, even if that one was a bit of a buzzkill?" Jerad shrugged. "Those Crimson guys did most of the work for us, and I don't even think we've learned anything from it. Just felt the same as last time."

"Yeah, you're right," Hugo pulled his tablet out before sitting down on a couch. "It could also mean that we pretty much saw everything, and let's not forget that we already fought one in Burst which is the peak power of all Ash Aragami. I think we're pretty much set before making a copy of this data, and sending it to Garret."

"Garret? Excuse me for asking, but who is this person?" Levin placed two cups on the table for Hugo, and Zeke.

"Thanks, man," Zeke gave him a smile before sipping.

"I'd assume that he's a God Eater in Chrysanthemum?" Levin finished.

"That's correct, and one of my pups," Trista grinned. "He's third after me, and Shin in power and authority."

"Power, and authority..?" Levin raised his eyes.

"Power as in strength, and skill," Trista chuckled. "I picked him, and his childhood friend Amber to be my acting captain and vice captain respectively while Shin, and I are gone."

"I see," Levin returned with another pair of mugs for Jerad, and Trista, who is now also accompanied by Frida, carrying two mugs for Claire, and Lulu. "He must be quite remarkable."

"Damn right, he is," Trista smirked. "The most diligent of my group, and he would have been damn WAY better if he's an AGE. It's kind of..scary to think about it. The other one..was a different story."

"Amber..?" Levin, and Frida finally came back to their couch, and in addition, she gave a mug to Keith.

"That childhood friend of his who is kid minded, and a candy addict," Trista chuckled. "They're complete opposite of each other. An odd pair, I tell ya."

"Candy girl!" Phym beamed.

"Speak for yourself," Jerad lightly bopped her head with a smirk. "Candy girl number one."

Then Claire giggled.

"She's also like Zeke, a hammering American," Trista laughed as Zeke glanced at Jerad, and Misha with a grin.

"OK, don't get me started," Jerad glanced back.

"Me, too, Zeke," Misha murmured before Zeke laughed.

"Ah, I forgot that you're a captain," Levin smiled before taking a sip. "I'm becoming curious, but..could you tell me about them? I figured I should at least start a conversation."

"Ohh, you're definitely in for something," Trista raised her mug at him with a smirk. "Because Garret and Amber aren't the only oddballs in my unit, and as a matter of fact, all of my boys and girls are."

"Huh," Levin smiled in anticipation.

"After those two, there us Gustav Krieger, a bitter ass trash talker," Trista snickered. "He kind of..reminds me of Jerad now I think about it."

And she, and Jerad glanced at each other. "And I think you two will get along."

"We already did..," Jerad murmured while closing his eyes.

"And you do know he hates Gleipnir's guts as much as you do, right?" Trista laughed.

"Yes, the first thing he talked to me about while we're on mission together," Jerad chuckled.

"Oh? Besides that, what did he say?" Trista grinned.

"Something about AGEs, and non-AGEs are all just people on the inside," Jerad shrugged.

"Huh, Gustav seemed to be a good guy," Misha commented. "He didn't come off to me as that, at first."

"Heh, you serious, Misha?" Trista chuckled. "I just said he acts like your brother, and you didn't see this?"

"Well, I don't think I ever talked to him," Misha argued. "Let alone even knowing that my brother, and he did at that time."

"OK, fine…Think about it," Trista turned back to Levin. "I don't think you're around when the owner told us about them. It kinda blew our minds, especially me, and Shin since they're ours. Yeah, that's right. It was while we're eating before we walked back to your manor together after our breakfast. The most mind blowing part my pups shared in common? I'll say..they're all what I personally call AGE sympathizers who used to be in Gleipnir."

Then she chuckled.

"Gleipnir..?" Levin blinked his eyes. "That is indeed, quite compelling."

"I'm curious, myself," Claire also leaned forward.

"Ooh, Gustav would be definitely interesting for you to hear about, Claire," Trista flashed her eyes as Zeke, Misha, and Shin puffed with chuckles. "Anyway, let's continue on with him. That guy fell in love with an AGE, at least I think so. Does that start ringing a bell?"

Then Claire pouted as Shin let out a few chuckles, and Jerad rolled his eyes.

"Now thinking more back on this, now I see why Gustav has been saying this same thing a few times to us before Jerad," Trista continued. "Anyway, this guy got convicted with Insubordination, and Assault on a Superior Officer. His old unit ordered him to retreat, and leave this AGE chic to die so they could escape from some failed mission, but Gustav did not bend. He stuck out with her, and only for her to sacrifice herself so he could live. He gave his captain, and vice captain a good smacking afterwards, and got arrested."

"My lord..," Frida frowned.

"To be punished for doing what's right..," Levin murmured. "Even if it means breaking laws."

"Well, what do you expect out of a big ass organization who likes being just?" Trista shrugged. "It's simply easier for them, and that's just human nature, always like taking the path of least resistance no matter how immoral or detrimental it is. It's part of the reason why we are living in this mess now."

"I cannot disagree," Levin frowned.

"Not that I'm complaining. I'm just simply stating the way things are," Trista shrugged. "Frankly, I could give less of a crap about what happens to the world. Chrysanthemum is all that matters to me, and Shin."

And Jerad glanced at her.

"Trista, that's..," Claire paused.

"Oh, I know what you're about to say, Claire," Trista furrowed her eyes. "That I should be selflessly caring for others regardless of who they are, right? I'll tell you one thing, life is too damn short for that. Not many people don't want to change that, either. Outside of us being caged in Ports by the ash, people are content with the way things are. Getting rich off of our blood, sweat, and tears, and as long as they get that, they could care less about anything else that happens. This is also why Shin, and I are so committed to working with our owner. She is different, and I don't think both of us have completely realized how lucky we've been. I'll be more than happy to someday bore a kid or two in Chrysanthemum, have them live their best lives in it, and then lay my bones in that Port without regrets, knowing that my kids, and then possibly my grandkids from then on would also share in those benefits."

Then Jerad suddenly laughed. "You know what's funny, Tris? Sis, and I kinda had a betting game on this just a few days ago."

"And what's that?" Trista turned to him with anticipation.

"If this Fenrir HQ Reclamation Initiative crap will make people change their minds about us," Jerad snickered. "My bet is no, and my sister says yes."

"Well," Trista turned to Misha next. "About what I just said earlier, I'll have to take your brother's side, if I'm in it."

"Then in that case, I will take Misha's side," Hugo suddenly replied.

"I knew you would," Jerad commented.

"People aren't that terrible, you know?" Hugo put his tablet down. "Look at everyone around you, those in Chrysanthemum, and now even House Victorious. That's not enough to tell you?"

"I get that," Jerad furrowed his eyes. "But they're still OUTLIERS. It won't prove a pinch of shit that most people still suck. You do not, nor should you ever, like EVER, nitpick a minority to represent the majority. You keep going at this, and ohh, that's a huge disaster waiting for you to happen, especially with you wanting to become an owner, and getting involved with politics."

"Then suit yourself," Hugo resumed his work with his tablet.

"I'm not about to have a heated argument with you, anyway," Jerad shrugged with a chuckle. "Remember, this is just a betting game between me, and my sister, so I won't stop you from disagreeing with me, and I won't think less of you for it, mark my words, so feel free to take her side until we see what really happens later."

"I also have to add my comment on this," Claire murmured. "We're probably forgetting that we are not the only ones participating in this. We have Dusty Miller, and then Baran. Everyone wants to make this change."

Then Lulu suddenly felt her blood boil. "I will agree with you about Dusty Miller… HOWEVER, don't EVER think Baran would have any meaningful reasons behind it, and you'd be extremely naive to think otherwise especially after what you've already heard about it. I am warning you in earnest right now, but that Port is full of vile scheming sociopaths who only care about themselves…even at the cost of many lives."

Then Claire made a confronting snort. "But behind everything, there is always…"

"Would you think differently if I told you that even their AGEs are?" Lulu plained raised her eyes. "Yes, it's true that there is always light in all darkness, or whatever you romanticists like saying, but even among AGEs in that blasted Port, me, and the few others I used to know were still outliers. It's a jungle in there, and you can't trust anyone. Jerad made a solid point, and I hate to say I'm also inclined to agree with him. I'm simply doing this as part of paying my debts to our owner, and of course, to help everyone here. I OWED you my life."

And Claire finally leaned back.

"Ooh, you're thinkin' the same way as me, and Shin?" Trista held her shoulder with a smile. "I like ya even more now. You should join my unit."

"I have one more advice for you, Claire, and it's for your own good," Lulu softened her voice. "Please be careful who you exercise your kindness to, because for people like that, it is considered weakness, and they will take advantage of that without hesitation. Baran is no different, and I will guarantee you, you being an aristocrat, they will do it to you at the right time…"

Then Jerad snickered. "I told Misha the same thing."

And he followed with a short laugh.

In response, Claire closed her eyes.

'And you know this better, Claire,' Levin also closed his eyes. 'Take heavy heed on this.'

"Heh, can't process this, can you?" Trista grinned. "Don't get me wrong, but I don't blame you at all since you've probably been pampered until now, mind you, but welcome to this dark real world. Now you're starting to learn how deep the rabbit hole just keeps going. Don't be upset that you're mad about this. Takes time to process."

"Mm," Claire closed her eyes.

"Well, I'm done with this hopeless rambling," Trista leaned forward, picked up her mug, and drank her coffee before putting it down. "Now on to another odd pair that came after Gustav. There is Eryk Larsen, and Adrian Lawrence."

"Wait, excuse me for a quick question but Gustav is a standard God Eater, right?" Levin stopped her.

"Oh yeah," Trista replied. "In fact, all of them are except me, and Shin..so far."

"Heh, if Gustav was an AGE, he wouldn't be in our Port," Jerad chuckled. "Gleipnir would have his head cut off."

"More like be shot in the back facing a wall, right?" Zeke laughed.

"I didn't mean that literally, but yeah," Jerad chuckled again.

"But anyway, Eryk and Adrian have been butt buddies before enlisting together in Gleipnir from as far as I know," Trista continued.

"But buddies..?" Shin curved his lips. "Trista, please. All our pups are straight..including Adrian."

"I know. I'm only saying how close they are," Trista chuckled while shrugging. "Almost like bros. Eryk is this nice guy who seemed the most normal of the group like Garret, and who likes talking to others. Then here's Adrian, a poetic suave guy."

'In other words, a bishounen,' Shin mused.

"Poetic suave person..," Levin held his chin. "I would assume he likes..writing poets?"

Then Trista suddenly laughed. "Worse. He doesn't write them, he chants them. It's even almost his normal way of talking, and now speaking of that, I forgot to mention about Gustav, but compared to him, that guy is a talented voice actor. Everyone of us get our kicks trying to get him to mimic any character from movies we watch together, and I don't remember the guy ever failing."

And Zeke chuckled. "I wonder if he'll do good acting as those characters in Bugarally. Those Far East people are something else. It felt real..like they're actually screaming at times."

"If Gustav knows how to speak my language, I would have no doubt he could do it," Shin commented.

"Damn, if only the entertainment industry was a big thing like before the Aragami stuff, Gustav and Adrian could quickly become famous. Forget about being God Eaters," Trista laughed. "Adrian could play some romantic guy like Romeo in Romeo and Juliet movie, and Gustav can just voice-act any cartoon character. Win-win for them. Anyway, another interesting thing about Adrian is he's kinda like you, a fencer. Don't you practice some long sword martial art?"

"That is correct," Levin replied. "Historical European Martial Art Long Sword."

"Right. You know? You could probably get along with him," Trista smiled before turning to Frida. "You, too."

"Hm," Frida raised her head.

"Not with Gustav, but I'll go over her next actually, and you'll know why," Trista smirked. "So yeah, Eryk and Adrian go ways back, being buddy-buddy with each other until crap happens."

"Them, too?" Levin raised his eyes.

"Heh, every one of our pups went through hell one way or the other, and they happened at different times," Trista noted him. "What happened to these two? When they're new, they got assigned to a bunch of rotten bastards, and have them beat an AGE with his or her armlets linked together as some retarded rite of passage. To brainwash them into thinking that us here with two armlets..are just animals."

"That's horrible," Claire covered her mouth while Jerad glanced at her with a small smirk.

"The two refused, of course," Trista continued. "I don't know much of it, but Jerad here knew the story since Eryk told him to his ears himself."

"Long story short. Yeah, Eryk and Adrian didn't want to, and it just escalated into a fist fight," Jerad added. "Got arrested afterwards, and then accused of being the bad guys."

"Oh, my," Frida murmured. "But..I think something is missing here. What happens to them, and how are they sent here? I mean, your Port?"

"I heard about a penal institution in Gleipnir where they send their soldier convicts to serve their grueling sentences," Levin replied.

"Gleipnir's 9th Assault Battalion," Claire added. "I heard this from Garret myself while I was in their Port…"

"And then it gets more interesting from there because from what the owner told us, the governor-general himself hand picked them to be sent to us, pretty much kicking them out of Gleipnir. Yes, that very same old man who's been sleeping in our ship until last night," Trista shrugged. "His excuse is that he thought the owner needed more GE bodies to protect our Port, and now we know about her past relation with him through his boy..Werner, the now leader of the Crimson Queen who very likely hates their guts, everything just makes sense now. I still kinda can't believe the governor-general still cares about her, though."

"Heh, his would-be daughter-in-law?" Jerad shrugged. "Such a shame…"

"Jerad, that's quite overbearing," Claire admonished him.

"It's the truth," Jerad shrugged again. "His fault for ruining that chance."

"Thinking about it now, that could be the reason why the Crimson Queen never messed with us," Hugo murmured while still staring at his screen. "That Werner guy likely told them not to. They've been notorious for their caravan and Port attacks, and they never once did this to you, right?"

"Heh, been thinking the same," Jerad grinned.

"Not ever a single time," Shin shook his head. "Hell, I didn't even know there were AGE extremists out there, let alone their raids until Sofia told us about it."

"And that's the end of those two. They kept hanging out together in our Port since," Trista finished. "And now, on to the last part. Our kid Wolf girl, Selene Belfiore."

"Ah, that try-hard girl," Jerad chuckled.

"Kid? Did you mean..?" Levin paused.

"Yep, she's the youngest in our pack. Only 15, if I remember correctly," Trista sat back.

"Then must be new," Levin replied.

"You got that, right. She is," Trista smiled. "The cinnamon roll in our pack, and that girl didn't start well with us. It took us some consoling, including myself and Shin from time to time to finally get her to open up. Before that, she was meek and timid as hell almost to the point that I almost thought she believed we're all going to eat her alive knowing that not only she's just a fresh out recruit, but also the only kid. I think she was just overwhelmed by our 'eliteness.'"

Then she turned to Frida. "Now you know why."

"Gosh, am I that bad..?" Frida pouted.

And Jerad laughed. "Yes, you kinda are at first...until we grilled you."

"Oh, jeez..," Frida turned away with her arms crossed, still pouting as Jerad laughed again.

Then Trista also laughed. "I'm serious, but you could definitely get along with her. I mean, Selene could use more friends like you since you're about the same age."

"I'm two years older than her," Frida murmured. "But I will consider it."

"Good answer," Trista smiled. "She's a good girl, so I highly doubt there will be a grate between you."

"Um, excuse me, guys?" Amy suddenly called.

"Oh," Keith quickly tapped his earpiece as everyone quieted down to listen. "You need something, Amy?"

"I've been falling asleep on my job, and I'm out of caffeinated sodas to keep myself awake," Amy complained. "Could you get some drinks for me? It's in the house as the owner always said."

"Uh, we actually made some coffee here, and it's still being boiled hot," Keith replied. "We're also trying our best to stay awake. Would you like some coffee instead?"

"That's actually perfect," Amy seemingly replied with joy. "Could you please get that for me, instead? Two vanilla creamers in it."

"Here comes our errand boy," Jerad grinned. "We got a few empty mugs over there. Grab one, and fill it up for her."

"Um, I actually have a container myself," Amy giggled. "It's a covered one, and I'd rather use it considering our terrain bumps then, and there. I'll give it to Keith once he comes by to fill it up for me. Thanks."

"Alright," Jerad nodded before turning to Keith with a smirk. "What you waiting for? Go fetch her thing, and put some coffee in it. Don't keep a girl waiting."

"Alright, on my way," Keith suddenly stood up.

"Don't worry. We'll wait for ya," Trista flashed her eyebrows. "I don't mind taking a break from storytelling. Go for it."

"Thanks, guys," Keith finally walked to the lobby exit.

"Jerad, what the hell are you trying to pull..?" Zeke furrowed his eyes.

"Huh?" Jerad turned to him. "What's your issue?"

"That face you're making on my lil' bro," Zeke murmured. "You're messing with him, aren't you?"

"What the hell?" Jerad grimaced. "Got a problem with me being happy that your bro is stepping his game up? That he finally has something more to do?"

'You are absolutely lying..,' Claire furrowed her eyes. 'You make that same face to your sister whenever you're…'

"Tch! Never mind," Zeke winced.

"Dude, what's got your goat?" Jerad began laughing.

Then Trista also laughed. "Zeke, seriously. The hell you're onto?"

"I just thought Jerad might be pushing my bro with Amy," Zeke murmured.

"OK? If that's what it is, then can anything go wrong?" Trista turned her face to the side while smiling before their exit door opened.

"Sorry, guys. I'll be done in a second," Keith ran across the room.

"Take your time," Trista smiled before Keith finished filling Amy's container, pouring two vanilla creamers from small disposable plastic cups, and then stirring it with a small wooden stick. Then he hurriedly walked across the lobby to the exit, and turned back to Zeke. "Anyway, so what if Keith gets with Amy? No good man can go wrong with her. Amy is damn nice, and diligent. Can't complain about that."

"Heh, so you're the one trying to pull something," Jerad chuckled.

"Oh, just shut up. Forget about it," Zeke berated him before the exit door opened again.

"OK, I'm back now," Keith sat on their couch before picking up his coffee.

"So continuing on…what's her case?" Levin murmured. "Judging with the way you've been describing her, I'm finding it quite difficult that she would commit such..'crime.'"

"Oh, definitely. I also couldn't believe that when the owner told us," Trista smiled. "But this girl? She was just caught smuggling rations to AGEs in her unit by stealing from Gleipnir's supply, and then got arrested to be sent to their punishment battalion. Apparently, the AGEs in her unit weren't being fed enough, and were out there being starved to death while fighting, so she went out of her way to do it for them."

"That's just terrible," Claire frowned. "Why would Gleipnir severely punish her for this..?"

"Well, what did I say about them loving to be just?" Trista shrugged.

"I feel sorry for her," Frida frowned. "She was just doing the right thing, and to be punished for this?"

Then she clenched her fists. "To suffer so young like that. I know how that feels…"

"Heh, now all the more reason she could be a good friend for ya," Trista grinned. "But that's it. Selene so far is the last one who joined us, but who knows if there will be more."

"Then we'll just welcome them," Hugo suddenly spoke. "Considering what we know, I doubt the governor-general would send us some unlikeable ones. That won't bode well for Hilda."

"I sure hope so," Trista stretched her arms. "Honestly, I don't even know how much we should trust that geezer. Heh, like how much the Devil here hates his guts, he gets on my nerves, too."

"I'm still trying to let it sink in my head that he's been sleeping in our ship for the past few days since we left that damn Port," Jerad grimaced.

"Oh ho, yeah. I remember seeing you last night when you dusted yourself after he gave you a shoulder pat," Trista loudly laughed. "It was SO hilarious! Even more so that I saw your sister just being scared straight about the whole thing just looking at you, and that geezer back and forth!"

"I thought that was serious, you know?" Misha glared at her with a pout.

"Oi, don't get me wrong. I also felt how tense that was," Trista chuckled.

'Oi..?' Shin raised his eyes. 'Where did she learn that from?'

"I also thought Jerad was gonna knock his lights out at any second!" Trista laughed before sipping her coffee.

"Oh, you ain't that far off, I tell you," Jerad evilly snickered before also sipping his coffee. "I would have been done, if he touched me any more than that. His arm would have been next after his leg."

Then Trista, Shin, and Zeke exploded with laughter while Claire closed her eyes.

"OK, I believe we've had enough of these…dark thoughts," Levin chuckled. "I don't share your resentment with the governor-general, but it's perfectly understandable. I genuinely believe that reforms for AGE laws need to happen."

"Heh, I'm not counting on it, but I guess it also doesn't hurt to hope a bit," Trista shrugged.

"A faint light of hope is all we need," Hugo added before glancing at his friend.

"Don't get me started," Jerad furrowed his eyes.

"I think we're missing something," Levin made a further attempt to change the topic. "I don't think I've heard about Garret, and Amber's case yet."

"Ah, those two," Trista leaned forward. "In my honest opinion, they had the craziest story, only a little above Gustav's. Quite similar, actually."

"Hm," Levin furrowed his eyes with anticipation. "Like Eryk, and Adrian, Garret and Amber suffered together," Trista murmured. "Biggest heroes in my book. What happened was while the two were on a mission together with their unit, something went awry, and a couple of their AGEs got hurt in the process. Their captain ordered them to withdraw, and leave their AGE teammates to die to save themselves..but they refused."

"Huh," Levin furrowed his eyes, seemingly anticipating further what was about to happen.

"By not obeying an order, Garret decided to stay, and then Amber just went along with him to protect them and survive together until they got back to Arrowhead a few days later," Trista continued. "Well, you would THINK that by risking their lives to save their bros, they would be commended for that, but NOPE!"

She shook her head. "Nobody gave a crap about that, only the fact that they disobeyed orders, and then went AWOL. Charged with insubordination, failure to obey a lawful order, and desertion, and Amber got dragged into hell with him as his accomplice. Add to that, those higher up bastards also pretended that the AGEs they saved never happened. Assholes."

"Horrible..," Frida murmured.

Then Jerad suddenly chuckled. "You get what I mean now, right..?"

And he flashed his eyebrows with a grin.

After glancing at him, Frida quietly turned back.

"Garret has always been a no-man left behind kind of guy," Trista chuckled. "It's actually one of the first things Shin, and I learned about him when Gustav got cornered by Aragami once, and told us to forget about him. Ooh, I was gonna chew his ass about that once we get back if Garret didn't console him on the spot. But anyway, before we did something, Garret just went juggernauting them with his big ass sword, and telling him not to give up. So after we saved his ass, and he thanked him, you know what Garret said?"

"I will never abandon anyone," Shin smiled.

"Yep, exactly that," Trista grinned. "Like jeez, it's like watching some American war movie where you see soldiers carrying their injured teammates out of the battlefield while bullets were flying around them when you can see for sure that they'll be better off abandoning him altogether; that it's more dangerous to save him than leave him, but Garret doesn't seem to believe in the latter. He'll do what it takes to save your ass as long as you are on the same side as him."

"A very noble heroic man, indeed," Levin commented.

"That..is why I highly respect him," Trista sipped her coffee until it was finally empty. "And I swear if we get back in Port and I hear any of my pups disrespect him as their acting captain, he or she will get a deep boot mark on his or her ass from me. I chose him for a reason."

"Tris, I don't think you should worry about that," Shin shook his head.

"I get it, just wait for a bit more," Trista replied.

"Heh, my aunt also won't tolerate such misconduct in our ranks," Levin smiled. "Or else, you'll be awarded extra duty for two weeks to start on. Possibly have half of your month's pay taken from you, too."

"Oh, that makes me like her more," Trista smirked. "I love our pups, but if they ever get out of line, my iron fist is ready at any time to fix them. Just glad I haven't had to do that so far."

"That sounded weirdly familiar, Levin," Jerad made a faint smile.

"In what way?" Levin paused.

"The extra duty, and half month's pay being pulled out of your pocket kind of thing," Jerad chuckled. "That also came from the old US military's justice system called the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, or UCMJ in short. Tell you what, there's another punishment among those two in the non-judicial punishment section, which is reduction in rank, in other words, you get demoted."

"Hm," Levin raised his eyes. "You are correct. That is also included in our family's military justice system, too."

"Jerad, what have you been reading?" Claire murmured. "I've never even seen you read a book once."

"I read before going to sleep every night while laying down," Jerad replied. "Whatever I get curious about. Helps me fall asleep."

"And how did your curiosity lead you to that?" Hugo suddenly leaned forward.

"Good question," Jerad grinned. "When I was looking for info on how the US military boot camps their newbies before we grilled this Reaper Cutie here."

Then he roughly stroked Frida's head before laughing.

"Hey!" Frida swatted his hand off before pouting. "Watch it! Now I have to fix my side tie, and hairpin."

"Get over it," Jerad replied nonchalantly before Frida helplessly puffed.

"Hey, I can tie your hair for you, if you want," Trista smirked. "And make you look like Misha so you two will become the Twin Reapers. Haha!"

"Twin Reapers..," Jerad puffed his lips before he burst out laughing, and Misha grimaced.

"No, thank you," Frida removed her tie, and redone her side ponytail again, and then unclipped her skull hairpin before reattaching it.

"I don't think it's gonna work, anyway," Misha giggled. "Her hair is too short."

"So, is that where your aunt got your military laws from?" Jerad turned back to Levin after sighing a few times.

"Honestly, I have no idea," Levin shook his head. "But everything started from Uncle Randall."

Then hearing that name again, Jerad paused before clearing his throat. "Heh, maybe your ancestors might have connections from that country?"

"Hm, that is indeed compelling," Levin murmured. "I mean, it can be trivial, but nevertheless nice to know. I would ask my aunt right now if we're back at the manor, but well, I guess that's on us."

"Up to you. I'm just curious since it got my attention that your military penal codes were so similar," Jerad shrugged.

"Hm, maybe I can start with the origin of our family name," Levin pulled his tablet out. "Let me see."

Then Zeke suddenly chuckled. "So…where is this gonna go? That Levin, and Claire are cowboys, and cowgirls, too?"

Then he, Trista, and Shin laughed.

"But, I don't see anything bloodthirsty about Claire, and Levin," Zeke added.

"Zeke, enough. Stereotypes are not always a good guideline to judge others," Lulu sighed.

"Yeah, Garret isn't," Trista shrugged. "Though, I can't exactly say the same for Amber. She kind of plays around while fighting, like screaming 'heave-ho' when smashing Aragami with her hammer."

"She still ain't a match against the Mad Hammer," Zeke flexed his arm.

"Hmph! If Amber was an AGE, I could definitely say she could probably kick your ass," Trista rebuked him. "Though, think about it now, Jerad. I do see some similarities between you twins, and then Garret and Amber."

"And what is that?" Jerad raised an eyebrow.

"Is that you kinda…look different from other western people here," Trista murmured.

"Explain..?" Jerad asked blankly.

"Hard to put into words," Trista shook her head, staring closely at him. "I'll just say…your faces."

"You mean..facial structure and features?" Claire murmured.

"Yeah, that explains it a bit better," Trista murmured. "And Claire, I think you're also…"

"Huh," Levin suddenly paused. "That's..a bit crazy."

"Ooh, what is it?" Trista leaned forward to try looking at his screen.

"Well, apparently our family name mostly originated from a place called…New York?" Levin murmured. "I don't recall any place like that around here. Let me look this up."

Then he typed the name into a search bar. "Hm..what?"

"Hm hmm, look at that," Trista grinned.

"New York..is in the United States..," Levin murmured. "It's located on the northeastern coast of the country."

"So…you two might have some cowboy blood in you, huh?" Trista snickered.

"Wow," Jerad smiled.

"But we're both born here," Claire murmured. "I want to ask aunt about this."

"I very much agree," Levin smiled.

"Though..," Claire mused. "I just remembered something, but my late mother once told me she was from England, but I still do not know where my father originally came from. Being his younger sister, it might indeed be a good idea to ask aunt. Also before my mother married my father, her surname was Gardner."

"What's your mom's name, if you don't mind?" Jerad whispered with a faint smile.

"Oh, her name is Ellen," Claire smiled back, and Jerad made a split second pause at this.

"Ellen Gardner Victorious?" Jerad resumed his smile. "Cool name."

"Thank you," Claire giggled.

"Mine is Catherine," Jerad replied. "Catherine Alexander."

"That's also a classic beautiful name," Claire complimented before they both chuckled.

"Both English names," Levin murmured. "Well, I don't think we'll ever learn from here if our family did originate from North America."

"Heh, I bet Jerad is getting excited," Zeke grinned. "Ya prideful 'mericans."

"Huh? Why would I? I wasn't even born there," Jerad shook his head while shrugging.

"I'll have to say though," Hugo put his tablet down with a smile. "If what Trista said about Americans in movies is true, you do fit the bill."

"Huh?" Jerad furrowed his eyes.

"You saved lives, it's that easy," Hugo chuckled. "And I don't need to point this out, but you have a knack for fighting, and even kill Aragami for fun. You're everything Ricardo talked about."

"Oh, that again," Jerad groaned before Claire giggled.

"Hey, let's have a little fun here," Trista smirked. "How about Misha? What's American about her?"

Then Zeke made a short laugh. "I'd like to know that!"

"W-what's this all of a sudden?!" Misha stuttered.

"Well, for one thing, sis got some spunk," Jerad flashed his eyebrows while smirking.

"B-bro..," Misha paused as soon as she heard a familiar, yet handsome voice.

"You mean..brave, right?" Hugo smiled. "Her hitting our heads a few months back?"

Then Jerad laughed. "Yep, and my scalp still hurts from that karate chop. That's cute, though. Misha hitting her two bros."

And the two men laughed while Misha fumed before Claire, and Levin also followed with Phym bewilderedly glancing at them.

"You boys…" Misha pouted.

"Wait, what?" Trista chuckled. "You're telling me Misha smashed your thick heads before with a karate chop?"

"Yeah," Hugo chuckled. "She was totally angry with us once."

"What the hell happened..?" Trista smirked.

"It's a long story. Rather not talk about it," Hugo made a quick unnoticed glance at Jerad.

"Okay..," Trista nodded, still smiling.

"Misha was also pretty outgoing," Shin repressed a chuckle. "In some anime I've watched besides Bugarally, American female characters were often portrayed as hyperactive blondes." 'And they usually have big chests, too.'

"And you know I'm NOT blonde, Shin!" Misha scrunched her face.

"And sis, last mission when we had a skirmish, didn't you already start having fun fighting?" Jerad smirked again. "You talked to me about..'letting the banquet begin' and then 'feasting on Aragami together?' You even said something about 'devouring their souls?'"

Then Jerad laughed as his sister pouted again.

"Whoa! The Devil grew on the Grim Reaper now, huh?" Trista also laughed. "Honestly, the 'devouring their souls' part was a bit corny, but I still like where you're going."

"Aragami got no soul, anyway," Jerad shrugged. "Still hilarious, though. Do it again!"

"No," Misha shook her head while still puffing her face. "I shouldn't have done that."

"Come on, sis. You're more fun to fight with that way," Jerad grinned before Hugo chuckled.

Then Claire giggled. "Misha, I think your brother just wants you to be more honest."

"Yeah!" Jerad nodded with a grin. "Have fun with me. Brother, and sister! …And brother-in-law, too!"

Then Misha groaned as everyone laughed.

"Ho ho, these two havin' fun together?" Zeke followed with a short laugh. "We all better run."

"Nah, bro," Jerad shook his head with a grin. "Let the banquet begin!"

And everyone laughed again, and then afterwards, everyone sighed.

"Jeez, we still got two hours until we cook," Trista laid back.

"Dinner, huh?" Jerad smirked at Frida. "Can't wait to get that out of the way before we party for the Reaper Girl, and have her first drink tonight."

Then he snickered as Frida pouted at him.

"Hell, yeah. I'm gonna drink myself to the moon tonight!" Trista excitedly exclaimed before grabbing their stack of cards. "How 'bout some poker? Anyone?"

In the ashlands, it had already been two hours since Werner, and the Crimson Queen Intelligence Division drove northeast after leaving their hideout. Nothing has happened yet. No Aragami attacks, and their cruise has been smooth…so far. With this, Werner could hear the crew in each of their escort vehicles shouting, and laughing, showing signs of complacency in their part, and he sighed at this, for the fact that they are supposed to be on sharp lookouts and quietly maintain vigilance, but at least he can find relief that their gunners sitting on top of their escort vehicles with their vehicle mounted God Arcs in gun forms still keeping a continuous watch for everyone, avoiding lengthy conversations with their crew. These gunners would serve as cover fire to keep Aragami at bay while everyone grab their God Arcs, and fights them at close range whenever an attack happens.

Werner remembered the time during the first few years of the Crimson Queen's foundation that Hector proposed modifying still functional military vehicles they found in their ruined city after the Calamity into something they could also use as escort vehicles by mounting a gunner on top so they could provide immediate supporting fire for those who are fighting threats at close range. With this, several children who are already in their fighting age, volunteered with some already having mechanical experiences such as welding, and fabrications. It was thanks to their craftsmanship that this was accomplished, and became a standard blueprint for all applicable salvaged vehicles found by the organization, add to it with some of them secretly bought from Dusty Miller. Their quality of life began improving further as they brought more AGEs in from the cruel hands of their former owners with some of them having new skill sets to further benefit their organization. He remembered one AGE who was almost in his teens several years ago whose late father was one of the project managers for building satellite bases before the Calamity who started teaching him about carpentry and reading construction plans at a young age. He is now a young adult, working as one of the foremen in Carol's department, and passing his knowledge and skills of his craftsmanship to the younger workers to eventually become foremen after him. Add to it that he was one of the few combatants who fought a territorial Anubis to buy his surviving workers time to escape its onslaught before himself, Hector, and a few other elites arrived to drive the Ashborn out of their harm's way, surviving a tragedy that took many of their worker's lives. These workers are surely talented, he thought, and wondered how much more they would have benefited humanity had they not been treating them so unjustly. These children are bright, and hardworking with a great sense of camaraderie in spite of some of them still suffering from emotional scars from their former owners. What they all have in common, however, is they still kept moving forward..together.

"Hmm," Sitting on his front passenger seat, the long blonde haired young girl now wearing a green and black outfit was staring closely outside with her hand laying on their window as if she had never seen the outside world before.

"What is it..?" Werner glanced at her.

"It's so beautiful..," Alice murmured. "What is that..?"

She pointed at a certain landscape.

"Those are large ravines," Werner glanced at her direction.

"Can we go there?" Alice asked.

"I'm sorry, but we cannot," Werner shook his head as the young girl groaned. "It's not our route, and it's also dangerous there."

"Dangerous?" Alice murmured.

"Yes, Aragami tend to like attacking those below there, so we would prefer to avoid them unless necessary," Werner explained.

"Mm," Alice nodded before staring back at the window. "And what is that?"

She pointed again.

In turn, Werner smiled at this, the common yet adorable curiosities of small children. "That is a spire. There are many of them like that in the Ashlands."

"Ashlands?" Alice blinked her eyes.

"It's what we call this world," Werner explained before he paused, glancing at her. "You..know about the ash, right?"

"I heard..they're bad for you," Alice murmured.

"Correct. A regular human cannot be outside these lands too long," Werner murmured.

"And what will happen to them?" Alice raised her eyes.

"They will die," Werner closed his eyes for a few seconds before Alice shuddered. "But you do not have to worry about that."

"Hm?" Alice raised her eyes.

"You are an Adaptive God Eater, or we call ourselves AGEs in short. Ones who can withstand the ash better than anyone," Werner smiled.

"But they told me God Eaters are bad people," Alice murmured while staring at her twin armlets.

Then Werner chuckled before patting his little passenger's head while keeping his other hand on the steering wheel. "That is not true at all. God Eaters fight Aragami to protect humanity. Remember what I taught you this morning? Free yourself from all contempt you may have to those who scorned you. That is the only way for you to find true happiness starting with putting your difficult past behind."

"Mm," Alice nodded.

"I know this may be difficult for you at first, and that is OK," Werner smiled at her again. "It takes time to overcome them, but as long as you put effort in moving onward, you will eventually triumph. Many of our people like yourself overcame their pasts to move on with their new lives, and worked tirelessly to build a world for us to live happily, to protect each other. If they can do it, then so can you."

"Mm," Alice nodded again.

"Remember that it is not being a God Eater or not that will make you a good or bad person, it is your choices. People make their choices," Werner continued. "Never allow other people to determine who you are. What is most important are the decisions you make. As AGEs, we are the representatives of humanity's future, and I cannot tell you how important this is yet, but you will understand one day. Just remember, you have greater, and meaningful things ahead of you, but how you will use your opportunities will be entirely up to you."

"Yeah," Alice began smiling. "I'll..remember."

"Very good," Werner patted her head again. "Alice..there is something I would like to ask you.., and please forgive me if you do not feel comfortable, but…did you have a mother, and father?"

"No..," Alice shook her head with a frown.

"I'm sorry," Werner closed his eyes before patting her head again. "But worry not. You can still have a family. People do not have to be related by blood to be family."

"Mm, you told me," Alice smiled.

"Yes, I'm glad you remembered that," Werner chuckled.

"Ah," Alice squinted at their direction, and saw dark clouds again with buildings under them. "Werner, what is that? Those…black clouds…"

Then Werner chuckled again in response. "That is our home. We are getting quite close."

"It looks scary..," Alice made a slight shudder.

"It may be. I know it sounds strange, but that is where our family lives," Werner explained. "And yet in spite of that, our family still lived happily there, away from this cruel world. Remember that I want to create light within darkness?"

"Yeah," Alice began smiling.

Then Werner proudly smiled at her. "Yes, the light begins with our family there, and one day, we will turn that dark city into a much more beautiful place where you can live peacefully."

"Ohh," Alice blinked her eyes with a smile. "I think… I'm starting to understand now…"

"Little at a time," Werner patted her head as she giggled before he suddenly heard a radio beep.

"Crimson 1, Crimson 1, this is Berry 4. Do you copy?" A young girl on the radio asked.

"Please wait a moment," Werner held his earpiece. "This is Crimson 1, I heard you loud and clear."

"Good afternoon, sir. We now have resonance radar visual of your location, 30 miles from HQ," Berry 4 reported. "1st and 2nd Regiment are already on their way to your rendezvous point. Distance: 7 miles."

"Crimson 1, this is Garnet 2. Confirmed visual of our reinforced escorts from the 1st and 2nd Regiment," Lloyd reported as one of the gunner escort vehicles while looking through his binoculars. "I see dust ahead about 7 miles."

"Also confirmed visual contact from one of our gunners," Hector suddenly reported. "We see dust ahead. Heyyy Crimson 1, how have you been?"

"Been good as always, my good friend," Werner smiled as Alice watched him.

"Good to see you again, buddy," Hector chuckled on the radio. "Once we get back, we should drink up, and catch-!"

"Contact! Aragami herd bearing 210!" Lloyd suddenly reported. "They are coming fast south from that west hill! Small, medium, and a few large Aragami. Vajras, Chi-Yous, and Kongous identified!"

"A pack of them, huh..?" Sarah murmured inside one of the trailers. "They finally caught up to our dust trails, and noises. Shit..!"

"Crimson 1, this is Crimson 2. We are already heading to your location at full speed to support you!" Hector exclaimed.

"Roger, we will also drive at full speed while we fend Aragami back!" Werner replied. "All combat-able units, full speed and rear guard formation. Begin suppressive fire to repel them until we meet our escorts!"

Then he heard Alice whimper before patting her head. "Do not worry, I will protect you, and our escorts will help us in a moment."

"Roger!" Lloyd acknowledged. "Rear guard formation! Move it, driver!"

And a few seconds later after their escort vehicles formed the rear guard. "Fire! Fire! Don't let them come any closer!"

Then four mounted assault guns began blazing while their 3rd escort vehicle began firing his sniper gun.

"Leon, drive to the left flank of the convoy!" Sarah began unpacking her God Arc. "We're helping them! I'll hop to the roof once we're there, and Leon, act as a rear gunner!"

"Gotcha, sis!" Leon floored his gas pedal to drive ahead of the convoy, particularly Werner's trailer, and strafed left in front of him which made Alice yelp inside.

"Please stay calm!" Werner made a quick glance at the girl before refocusing on the road. "Those are our friends, and they are trying to help!"

"Okay!" Alice replied.

"Feng, let's help the commander, and Leon out!" Jaffar exclaimed. "I won't be much of a help with a shotgun! I'll take the wheel! Hit that auto cruise, and switch fast!"

"Understood," Feng stabilized his trailer in a straight line before hitting the 'AUTO CRUISE' button.

"Ready..? Go!"

The two captains quickly slipped through each other before Jaffar fastened his seat belt, and then took the wheel with both hands as Feng began unpacking his God Arc.

"I'll start slowing down a bit to support the escorts' right flank," Jaffar glanced back. "Hang tight, Feng!"

"Got it. I'll get on top of the trailer once you're there," Feng replied.

"Lucia, take the wheel! I'll help Noah as a rear gunner while my sister is up there!" Leon glanced back right before they heard Sarah begin laser streaming.

"Understood," Lucia stood up before Leon hit the 'AUTO CRUISE.' "I'm ready."

"Let's do this!" Leon, and Lucia switched positions. Lucia quickly fastened her seatbelt, and Leon began unloading his God arc. "Hang in there, Noah! I'm joining you."

"They're still coming!" Noah kept firing his assault gun. "Shit! I've got to refill soon!"

"I got you!" Leon finally stood beside him, and began firing. "Reload quick, and fire back!"

Meanwhile outside.

"Samuel, stop jerking our jeep left and right!" Lloyd yelled down quickly before firing back. "We're losing speed like this, and then we'll fall behind to get eaten by that herd. Keep flooring it, and keep those damn front wheels straight! It's also fucking up my aim!"

"I'm trying!" Below him, Samuel was already gripping his hands on the steering wheel trying to keep it stable.

"Fuck..!" Lloyd kept shooting at the still closing Aragami herd as a Vajra began closing in on him, being larger and more resistant to his rounds.

"Warning! Resonance radar picked up more Aragami herds approaching from the east hill!" Lena (Berry 4) cried.

"Are you kidding me?!" Leon turned left. "Shit! I see them! They're already coming down the hill!"

"Red 2, and Red 4, concentrate your fire at the starboard side!" Sarah cried while still waving her maximized ray gun. "I'll keep supporting the escorts!"

"I'm with you, Red 2! Let's cover the starboard side!" Already on top of Jaffar's trailer, Feng loaded his sniper gun with custom bullets. "Got explosive rounds ready!"

"Blast them!" Leon replied. "Noah, let's start spraying those bastards until Commander Brandt's men are finally here!"

"Got you!" Noah aimed his gun at the other direction, and began their suppressive fire together.

"Sonia, I have to reload! Cover me!" Being rear gunners in Werner's trailer, Neal laid in sniper gun down to reload.

"Sir..there's only so much I can do with these slug rounds!" Sonia complained while constantly calculating distance between their trailer, and small Aragami that approached them in their left flank. "They can't hit that far!"

"Just keep doing what you can! It doesn't take too long for me to reload!" Neal finished injecting an O-Ampule before raising his gun again. "I'm resuming supporting fire."

"WARNING! WARNING! ASHBORN DETECTED APPROACHING AT HIGH SPEED! DISTANCE 25 MILES!" Lena cried. "ASHBORN IDENTIFIED AS BALMUNG!"

Then Werner groaned at this.

"This is how it is now, huh?" Hector murmured, who was already on top of his trailer with his Evil One in hand after switching with one of his men to drive for him. "Crimson 1, this is Crimson 2. We are close, and once we meet, make a hard starboard U-turn, and we'll have to face them from here. We can't afford to have them chase us anymore, and we'll have to wipe them out together here and now!"

"Understood, that narrow road, right?" Werner murmured.

"Yeah, I was gonna use that as our meat grinder to make things easier," Hector replied. "But with that amount of herd coming after us, and an Ash Aragami on our tail now, we only have one option left."

"Understood, I'll execute the plan," Werner calmly replied.

"Let's do this!" Hector turned back to other trailers who were already standing on top of them as he ordered earlier. "Everyone, listen up!"

"W-Werner, what is happening?" Alice shuddered. "I hear nothing but gun fires, booms, and.., scary roars."

"We'll have to face them now, I'm sorry," Werner murmured. "But I promise I will protect you. OK?"

"Um, OK," Alice hesitantly nodded.

"I mean it, little one," Werner patted her head with a smile. "I said you are the representatives of our future, right? It's our mission as elders to protect you."

Then he tapped his earpiece. "All units, you heard the plan, right?"

"We copied!" Everyone replied.

"Then prepare to brace yourselves soon!" Werner cried.

"Commander Brandt will be here soon, captain!" Sonia cried.

"Keep shooting a bit more!" Neal replied.

"Here they are!" As he also instructed earlier, Hector injected a Burst Inducer on himself just as everyone on top of their trailers behind followed, causing flashes. "We'll stop the horde here! On my mark!"

Then the rest of his men sitting on top of their trailers activated their acceleration triggers. Some of them grunted from the slight pain it caused, but endured them as the safety of their family is more important. "GO!"

And all of them launched themselves in a very long distance jump with their shields up front.

"Sam, faster! FASTER!" Lloyd cried desperately while shooting a Vajra back. "That bastard is coming on us fast!"

"I'm trying! I'M TRYING, DAMMIT!" Samuel gritted his teeth as he was already pressing on his gas pedal to the bottom.

"Shit..! SHIT!" Lloyd desperately kept shooting at the Vajra's face as it ran closer to him, and then his gun stopped shooting, depleted of OP. "Fuck..!"

"Lloyd!" Too busy providing supporting fire for others to notice her two fellow division members in trouble, Sarah's eyes widened. However, before she could turn her ray gun at his attacker and pray to god that she will save him on time, she noticed a shadows looming over her before glancing up, and found the first was Hector, flying with his shield up towards the large Aragami before he slammed it towards its face, stopping it from almost mauling Lloyd from his vehicle, and then behind her fellow commander, several others were also flying behind him. Each of them crashed on the pursuing Aragami herd in different locations, like boulders flung from ballistas onto an enemy army, resulting in some Aragami bodies flying from impact. She saw one of them with a charge spear behind disengage his shield while still airborne, and had the creativity to attack with Stardust Rain, instead. He tore his way on a few small Aragami as he landed on the ground, and she recognized this fellow AGE as Miles Turner, the 4th member of Neal's 2nd Regiment.

"Everyone, brace yourselves!" Werner turned his wheel to the right as the rest of Hector's escort vehicles finally passed their port side, and their mounted God Arc guns began blazing to cover them, and to support Hector and his frontline men attacking the Aragami horde in close quarters before their vehicle rumbled to a stop.

In the aftermath of the clash, the Vajra was still rolling over from Hector's impact from his tower shield, and as he slid his feet from the momentum of his Dive, he charged his blade with the energy of his Adaptive Oracle cells before swinging his giant sword down, ending Lloyd's would-be killer with Overkill.

"Fire! Fire!" One of Hector's male gunners relentlessly kept firing his assault gun. "Cover our guys! Don't stop!"

Then two vehicles behind them, a female AGE with her ray gun mounted on top began streaming her laser, incinerating Aragami caught in its way, and the other female gunner with Accursed Ba'al spraying her bullets at them, quickly shredding them. All seven escort vehicles are now working side by side together, buzzing loudly with their rapid firing God Arcs, and pushing the herd back, protecting the transport vehicles that recently parked beside them.

"Let's go! Let's go!" One of the drivers of the personnel armored transport vehicles yelled as the AGEs behind their drivers quickly disembarked with one of them staying inside to hastily pass their God Arc cases outside to be opened by their owners, and join the battle to help their comrades.

"They're getting pushed back!" One of Hector's gunners cried. "Forward! FORWARD! KEEP FIRING!"

Then the escort vehicles began slowly advancing with their guns still blazing as their comrades behind them began brazenly charging into the battlefield with their God Arcs for close combat, each of them eager for Aragami blood.

"Everyone, disembark!" Werner cried on his radio after all their vehicles came to a stop after a hard right U-turn. "Alice, stay inside here, and hide behind your seat out of sight! Lisette, look after her! Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Lisette nodded.

"Y-yes..Werner!" Alice quickly did as was told, and hid behind her seat as Lisette embraced her with one arm while holding her short blade in the other hand.

As Werner quickly jumped out of their truck with their three escorts continuing to provide cover fire for them to arm themselves with their God Arcs, he found Neal already outside.

"Werner!" Neal called out to him as he threw his God Arc in glaive form.

"Thank you!" Werner caught his God Arc before splitting it into two swords, and swinging them. "Shall we?"

"Yes, sir!" Neal, Sonia, and Carol nodded.

"Jaffar, grab your God Arc! I'll fend off Aragami for you!" Feng jumped down from their truck, and sliced at an Ogretail that slipped through their seven escorts.

"Gotcha!" Jaffar jumped out of his truck, and began running to the rear.

"Sir!" One of his squad members handed him his God Arc in glaive form.

"Good job, Glen!" Jaffar took his glaive. "Let's do this, and stay behind me!"

"Yes, sir," Glen, and a few other squadmates nodded before following him.

"Crap, one Ogretail slipped through! Cover me!" Lloyd cried, but before he could turn his gun…

"You will not pass my spear!" Sonia impaled the small Aragami that slipped through their gunners' net, and raised it up. "Good bye."

She casually said this as she activated her Devour, and crunching the Ogretail in two.

"Gunners, maintain your firing support, and follow behind us!" Werner walked beside them as Sarah, Feng, and Carol began returning fire to help their gunners. "Concentrate fire on those who pass Commander Brandt's line. Let's go. Help him, and his brave men, and women!"

Then he pointed his sword forward. "Onward!"

"Yes, sir!" All seven escort vehicles acknowledged.

"Sam, let's do this!" Lloyd glanced down at his driver. "Keep driving on."

"I got you!" Samuel cried back.

"HORA!" After dashing murderously at the unwary Kongou, an eyepatched female AGE struck the medium Aragami down with her Buster Claymore using her Dividing Edge, and nearby, another Vajra was being barraged by Hector's defense corps members who recently deployed from their three transport trailers, and were using their gun forms to immobilize it. Then two AGEs who are already Engaged and in Burst leapt towards it, one with a variant scythe, and the other with a boost hammer. The variant scythe user swung an uppercut at the large monster to force its head up before the other with a boost hammer slammed it down with Lost Memory to its brutal end. Hector briefly watched their strategic execution of dealing with large Aragami with pride, seeing his people applying themselves with the combat strategies he trained them for.

"1st, and 2nd Regiment, let's show these monsters what we're capable of!" Hector cried after sending several small Aragami flying away in sliced corpses with Spinning Break. "By showing who the real monsters are! Onward!"

Then the rest of the defense corps in the front lines began pushing the herd back, slaying all Aragami that stood in their way.

"All gunners, check your fire!" One of Hector's male gunners cried. "Our people are in close quarters now. Concentrate on firing in the outskirts of the herd! Continue supporting fire!"

"Roger!" The other three gunners acknowledged.

"Move close behind our line, and keep firing! Don't forget what our commander has been teaching us!" The same gunner added. "Driver, let's go!"

Then Hector's escort vehicles began moving forward again.

"HRRAH!" Swinging a Slaughter Fang, Neal sliced several small Aragami in his way.

"Taste my spear, you heathens!" Sonia blasted several more apart with Mocking the Gods. "Mma ha ha! I tire of perspiring for such hordes of small fries."

"Sonia..!" Neal warned as Sonia turned to the direction as a Kongou was already leaping at her.

"How dare you..?" Sonia grimaced as she charged her spearhead for another Mocking the Gods. "For such unchivalrous act, I shall obliterate you!"

As she was about to strike, a familiar eyepatched AGE suddenly pounced on the Kongou with her Buster Claymore on its face, and after both landed, she buried her sword deeper before tilting it to her right, nearly splitting it in two with her large blade, and jumping off its corpse.

"Yuki..?" Sonia blinked her eyes.

"Good to see ya, Vice Captain Jung," Yuki, a black ponytailed AGE with a red eyepatch, and a buster blade on her shoulder, grinned. "Have you been taking care of our captain?"

"Of course," Sonia smugly said. "Tis' my duty as his vice captain."

"Mm," Yuki nodded. "Now, let's…"

"Captain!" They heard a male AGE nearby with a charge spear, and struck a Chi-You with Stardust Rain who was about to attack Neal from behind. The bird Aragami turned to him after taking a hit, and after ducking, swerving, and back stepping a few swipes from its wings and feet, the male AGE made a loud chuckle.

"You're just not as stylish as me," Miles shoved the bird Aragami back with Deathbringer, and with the incapacitated Chi-You still standing, he shot a few custom assault bullets between its feet. In less than two seconds, they exploded, and sent the Aragami straight up. Miles activated his acceleration trigger before aiming his assault gun up with one hand, and barraged the Chi-You with a stream of his bullets. Then he jumped higher, and dove straight down with Fallen Tear, slamming the bird Aragami down and creating a crater from it. "Hah! That's how you kill with one."

He held his spear on his shoulder.

"Oh, hey Miles. How's it going?" Neal smiled. "Thanks for covering my back."

"Captain, sir!" Miles stood straight while planting his spear's hilt on the ground. "This section is clear, sir!"

"Alright, let's start advancing to Commander Brandt's position," Neal chuckled. "We got Sonia, and Yuki with us now."

"Yes, sir! Let's do this," Miles readily held his spear.

As Sarah, Lucia, and Leon fought on in Burst, she spotted a Vajra running towards her.

"So, this Hello Kitty wants to play with us?" Sarah readied her sword. "Have at it! Leon! Lucia!"

"Let's bag this thing, sister!" Leon readied his spear before they jumped apart from each other from the large Aragami's lunge.

Dodging at minimum movement to find an opening, Lucia quickly counterattacked with a few quick slices on its face before Sarah followed with a few Morning Calm strikes, and then while directly airborne on top of the stunned large Aragami, Leon dove like a lightning with Fallen Tear to its head.

"Haha!" Leon backflipped from a swiftly killed large Aragami. "That was too damn easy! Bastard didn't know who it picked a fight with!"

"We're just certainly too good, dear brother," Sarah smugly stroked her hair as a few of Hector's members nearby were stunned by the sight of three elite warriors easily slaying a large Aragami. "Oh, look. A challenger has appeared."

Then the three defense corps members jumped away from another Vajra's landing, and after recovering, they readied their God Arcs, read to confront it along with the other three.

"Sorry, kids. This last Vajra is mine, but watch me as inspiration!" Hector suddenly jumped from beside one of his corps members who was shocked to not notice him, and bashed the large Aragami head with his tower shield, and then he followed it with Nemesis, cleaving the monster's head into two.

"Whoa, the commander was such a beast..," One of his squad members commented.

Then Hector swung his Evil One up, and placed it on his shoulder before turning to them with a smile. "That's how you can quickly kill a large Aragami solo someday when you get stronger."

"Show off," Sarah furrowed her eyes. "I could kill one myself too, you know?"

"Nice to see you again, commander," Hector kept his smile as he proudly rested his Evil One on top of his shoulder. A man of average stature in his late 20s who have straight top red hair, and wears a light green trenchcoat with sleeves rolled to above his elbows. He wears a black shirt inside, and a pair of green pants with black boots worn on top of it that covers his legs up to his kneecaps. He poses a slightly leaner physique than Werner in spite of him wielding a heavier God Arc, and like other Crimson Queen members, he also wears a black, red, and yellow armband with their emblem on it that display a yellow queen chess piece."How you've been?"

"Fine as always..commander," Sarah smiled back.

"Well..let's help our leader deal with the rest now the last big fish is out," Hector turned to Werner's direction. "Oh, there's our boy prodigy Neal, and his vice captain. My old boy Feng, too."

"No need," Werner said while slicing small Aragami alongside Feng, Jaffar, Neal, Sonia, and their squadmates. "I could use a little practice, nevertheless."

Then he stabbed another Ogretail on his left rear with his left sword in reverse hold before abruptly pulling it out. "Rest up for a bit, friend."

"Yes, sir," Hector sighed. "Hm, I guess…wait."

"Warning! Balmung is still on course to your position," Lena warned. "Estimated time of arrival: 2 minutes."

"An Ash Aragami..?" One of the male AGEs nervously murmured.

"I can't believe I almost forgot we have an Ashborn trailing on us, even miles away," Hector lowered his sword. "But that sure is quite persistent. Seems to hold some special beef with us."

And he turned to Sarah. "Didn't you kill one of these last night?"

"Yes, we did," Sarah replied. "We even surrounded it before Captain Long finished it."

"Hmph, I guess the bastard rebirthed itself somewhere, and is now out for your blood," Hector chuckled. "Aragami normally don't rebirth themselves that fast, but no matter. It shouldn't be as stronger as if you guys let it escape. Not gonna be made of the same cells as it was before, so about half of its body will still have to get used to us.., and not to mention, it's a full house of elites in the whole organization now. Let's teach it another lesson not to mess with us again altogether…hopefully."

"Gladly, sir," Sarah readied her God Arc.

"The rest of you listen up!" Hector boomed. "Once the Ashborn shows its face here, back off a safe distance away, and protect our vehicles. We also have non-combatants including a child in one of Werner's trailers, so keep them safe! We'll deal with the Ash Aragami ourselves!"

"Understood, sir," One of the watchful gunners nodded.

"Get moving! Make sure your guns are fully loaded!" Hector waved his hand before everyone including the escort vehicles hustled into defensive positions.

"Looks like I have to bow out on this one," Yuki began stepping back. "Commander's standing order…Sonia?"

"I'll stay, and fight with the captain..," Sonia smiled.

"Hah? Are you..?!" Yuki argued before Neal cut her off.

"It's OK, Yuki. Sonia can handle this," Neal turned to her. "Good work today, but please look after everyone back there. I'll explain to you later."

"Explain..?" Yuki blinked her eyes. "...Yes, sir. On my way."

Then she left.

"Alright, let's get in position near Werner, and get ready to send the bastard packing…well not really," Hector chuckled as he began running.

"We'd kill it again.., or maybe Feng will," Sarah chuckled as they also started running.

"I'd like to see that boy take on that thing myself," Hector chuckled back. "Oh, I've been so proud of how much he has grown. He was like a son to me when he was a small kid, and hopefully my own boy will become like him."

Then in the other battlefield as Hector and the rest approach, Werner sliced a few more Ogretails, and Axe Raiders before Feng managed to plant his sword at another Ogretail's neck before fatally sliding its razor, Jaffar clung on another's back before decapitating it with one of his blades like an assassin's kill, and Carol uppercutted an Axe Raider to send it flying a few yards on the ground before jumping, and crushing it with her boost hammer. In addition, Neal sliced the last few in two with Slaughter Fang.

"All Aragami has been eliminated, Werner," Neal took a few deep breaths while still holding his Jabberwock up.

Then they heard a loud roar from somewhere higher.

"Up there! That cliff!" Hector pointed up after him, and the rest arrived behind them. Balmung was seen standing on the cliff before it jumped down, which seemingly breathed steam in anger.

"You again..," Feng's face scrunched before Carol stood beside him, and he drew his sword in front of her. "Careful, Carrie. This Ashborn probably still remembers you.., but especially me."

"Huh?" Carol blinked her eyes.

"Sad reality of Aragami is that after we slay them, they will always respawn somewhere," Feng murmured. "Sometimes, they carry their grudges with them, and come after their killers for revenge. Keep your guard up."

"Hah, looks like it really hates us, huh?" Hector readied his giant sword. "Nice seeing you again, Feng. I did hear that you're the one who killed this thing?"

"That, I did sir," Feng swung his sword. "If it's me it wants, then I'm right here, but I won't make this mistake again."

"Yep, you gotta share the fun with us, this time," Hector grinned. "Your commander told me this morning that you tried to one on one this thing, and it turned sour that it almost got your girlfriend killed, too."

"Commander..!" Carol's face puffed.

"Don't try playing hero anymore. You get too ambitious, sometimes," Hector chuckled.

"I learned that lesson, sir," Feng murmured. "Never again."

"Good..so," Hector turned back to Balmung. "What the hell is this thing waiting for? Is it gonna stare at us until dark or not? I don't got all day, and I wanna get back to my wife, and kid."

Then seemingly provoked by his smugness, Balmung finally dashed towards them.

"Here it comes!" Werner readied his biting edge as Balmung approached at high speed, seemingly coming after Feng first who was behind Hector.

"Hah!" Hector moved in front of it, and blocked Balmung's fangs with his buster blade, sliding a few yards back. "You already fought him once. Why don't you play with me next for a change?"

Then he parried the white tiger with his sword before spinning backwards, and landed a successful wide swing at it.

"After you!" Werner dashed in, and landed a few slices on its head.

Next, Sonia attempted a stab at Balmung, but it was able to dodge her, and before it could retaliate on her opening with a bite, Carol rushed in and attempted a hammer blow at its head, but Balmung jumped away from her, and launched blue homing orbs at her. With her body now more used to responding to Balmung's attacks, Carol powered her boost hammer, and launched herself out of its way.

"Right here! You wanted me, did you?!" Recently entered Burst thanks to Jaffar's Burst link, Feng jumped up before launching himself with Rampaging Comet, but seemingly remembering this move, Balmung jumped back only to find Neal on its left side, whose Burst was almost depleted, swing a few Slaughter Fangs at it. Already becoming desperate, and tiring out, Balmung dodged a few more of its enemy's scythe attacks.

"Already forgot about me?" Hector landed another side swing blow at Balmung's face, and the monster whimpered in pain. "Let's keep playing, or I won't be your friend anymore."

"It's NOT over yet!" Werner deployed his Devour from his right blade, and successfully caught Balmung's face with it before shoving it against a nearby spire. While restrained against the tall rock, Sarah, being already in Burst from Lucia's Burst Link, fired three Crescent Moon Burst Effects from her Morning Calm, and all three air blades hit, causing the spire to collapse, and bury the Ashborn in its rubble. Werner retrieved his Devour, and entered Burst.

"It's not done yet!" Sarah sprinted towards it. "Jaffar, Leon! Go!"

Then Balmung stood up from the rubble, and began its electrical charge.

"Crap!" While airborne towards it, Jaffar deployed his Devour straight down, and had it bite the ground, reeling him straight down before diving into Balmung's electrical charge. After the Ashborn finished its discharge, Leon began shooting it with his assault gun, and Sonia took the opportunity to have a bite with her Devour on its head. Within a few moments, Carol landed a successful uppercut against it, causing Sonia's Devour to slip its jaws off, and entered Burst after retrieval. Then wasting no time, Sonia dashed in while charging her spear with a cry.

"Eat this, you vile scum!" Sonia thrusted her charge spear forward, and landed a Spear Requiem. While Balmung was taking multiple hits from her Burst Art, Carol activated her acceleration trigger, and landed another uppercut with her boosting hammer, sending Balmung flying several yards back.

"Ooh, brutal move from the major," Hector chuckled before rushing in with Werner. "And a nice hit from Vice Captain Jung. Nice! Our turn now, Let's go, Feng!"

"Yes, sir!" Feng followed them.

"Ugh!" Sarah slid a few yards back from Balmung's headbutt, keeping herself standing, and felt her blood trickling from the corner of her lips before wiping it. "That was humiliating…I'll slaughter you!"

Confronting Leon, Jaffar, and Lucia in front of it at once, Balmung swung its claw and missed Lucia, and then another at Leon which he jumped straight up from it. Just as it connected its paw pound at Jaffar which he blocked with his twin Ammit 0's, his active acceleration trigger enabling him to withstand its strength, Leon landed on its back, and stabbed his spear down.

"Aww, did that hurt?" Leon began tilting his spear side to side to try further opening its wound, and the pain caused the Ashborn to panic.

"Wow, these people are truly elites..," One of the female AGEs from Hector's Defense Corps murmured. "They're fighting this Ashborn like it's just a normal Aragami. Am I dreaming?"

"Well, you're not," A male gunner still sitting on top of a vehicle chuckled. "This is the second time I've watched them, actually. Is this your first?"

"Uh huh?" The female AGE glanced back in their direction. "Can we also…do that someday?"

"We'll all get there eventually," The male gunner shrugged. "Keep watching, and learning from the pros. That's what Commander Brandt, and Werner would always say."

As they kept talking, Yuki continued quietly watching, wondering about why her captain would allow Sonia to fight with him, and then her suspicious eyes raised.

"I'm back again, and ready to play!" In Burst from his bite earlier, Hector swung his giant sword sideways, and landed a hit, and when he tried to finish his Buster Blast with a jump overhead strike, Balmung made a small jumpback, and tried lunge back with a bite.

"I saw that coming, hah!" Hector blocked its jaws with a parrying upper. "Think I've never fought your kind before? GRRAH!"
Then he quickly swung upwards with Anathema, delivering a brutal uppercut blow against the white beast, and causing blood, and parts from its face to fly.

"Ooooooh! Did you guys see that?!" One of Hector's male gunners pointed. "I nearly pissed myself thinking that he was going to eat it, but damn! That's our commander!"

And as a follow up, Werner jumped up, and dragged the stunned Ashborn back down with Dive to Blue. Then activating his acceleration trigger, he bit the still incapacitated beast, and dragged it on the ground until he slammed it against a wall of a nearby plateau, and then he dragged it again with a cry before throwing it at a nearby boulder, its massive body breaking through it. In spite of his heavy sword, Hector quickly ran with his anticipation that the white monster would stand up again, and with the right timing that it stood with its four legs, he dove and slammed his tower shield on its face. Then while still airborne from impact, Hector followed his attack with Nemesis, landing another grave hit, and then swung his large sword back, and began charging his buster blade for a few seconds while it was still stunned before unleashing his Rising Crush, sending Balmung rolling another few yards back. Sarah also followed with a dive, and landed a Spinning Descent as soon as it barely stood up, sending the Ashborn a few steps back with a large gash on its shoulder. She could only wish she could land as much impact as her fellow commander's heavy sword.

Shocked that it still has the strength to stand up, Sarah took a few steps, and assumed a defensive stance as Balmung began charging its twin jets.

'So, you're going to try devouring me?' Sarah assumed her Zero Stance, firmly holding her sword down, and staring deathly at it. 'You'll pay for this humiliation TENFOLD! Try me!'

And after a few seconds, Balmung launched itself at her, and as soon as its fangs were in perfect distance from her, Sarah quickly executed her Soulsplitter counterattack with split second precision, swinging her sword up, and making a critical strike at its throat. It was then followed with Lingering Fang Burst Effect, slicing the already bloodied Ashborn in all directions by her Oracle cell energy residue. After all the slicing finally subsided, Balmung was full of bloodied lacerations all over its body, but still nevertheless stood.

In turn, Feng dove ferociously with Rampaging Comet, and it successfully connected. "I'll kill you right here!"

Then he followed with a fierce flurry of Gale Dance before jumping back, and finishing it with Stinging Flare, sending the white tiger rolling back. Then it stood up shuddering.

'You just don't want to die, huh?' Sarah grimaced. 'Then suffer more!' "Feng, let's teach this beast another lesson! Engage!"

"You got it!" Feng cried back before another light flashed.

Feng moved in with Schwalbe, raising him into midair as Sarah blitzed with Morning Calm before jumping back and ending her combo with three Crescent Moon air blades. Feng dove in with another Rampaging Comet, causing the Ashborn growl in pain, and then Sarah ruthlessly followed with another Flashing Blade, ending her attack with Lingering Fang that further sliced the already bloodied Ashborn in all directions, causing it to abruptly collapse, and slam its weight on Earth without drawing another breath.

"Oracle dissipation confirmed from the target Ashborn," Lena reported. "Balmung eliminated."

"And now THAT'S our commander," Lloyd grinned at his fellow gunners from Hector's corps.

"They brought an Ashborn down..just like that," A female AGE from Hector corps murmured. "Amazing…"

"Huh," Yuki blankly murmured.

"So, she decided to come up with an answer to that counterattack I just did," Hector scratched his head with a chuckle as Werner stood beside him. "Jeez, it's like a Japanese TV show."

Then Sarah sighed from exhaustion while leaning back, still standing. "As a matter of fact, I began studying them after the last time we collected data discs."

"Huh, you mean, during that time," Werner murmured.

"Commander, you did it," Jaffar, and the rest finally arrived.

"Sorry about this Feng," Sarah closed her eyes. "I figured you'd want to be the one to land a final blow again, but I took it."

"Uh, that's..OK, ma'am," Feng shook his head before smiling. "At least we kept our people safe. That's all it matters to me now."

"Pshh, you could have just said you're glad your woman is safer this time," Jaffar snickered.

"Jaffar, shut up," Carol pouted as Hector laughed.

"I agree with Jaffar. Why don't you two hit it off already?" Hector grinned. "Come on. Mark can't be the only one, plus you've been cooking for him since your mid-teens, right? You'd definitely make a hell of a wife for him."

"C-commander!" Carol pouted at him while blushing as Jaffar laughed. "Not you, too!"

"Feng, my boy. Come here!" Hector suddenly grabbed Feng's head with his elbow to his left waist, and after dropping his God Arc with a thud, began grinding his scalp.

"H-hey! Commander!" Also dropping his God Arc, Feng began struggling himself free with both hands from an older AGE's strong arm.

"Proud of you, son. You're finally getting that pin, huh?" Hector kept grinding his head before he finally released him.

"Son..?" Feng fixed his hair.

"Yeah, you'll always be like one to me," Hector grinned. "Besides your artsy fighting style, I showed you the ropes, remember? You even like talking to Mark, and he's been looking at you like an older brother."

Then he turned to Sonia. "You too, vice captain. I was in a tiny bit of doubt after your captain told me about your performance last night, and now I saw you with my own eyes, I think it's about time that you get one."

"Ah..," Sonia froze. "Commander..you mean?"

"I said it," Hector chuckled. "You're getting one in our awards, and recognition ceremony tomorrow. First thing in the morning."

"T-Thank you very much, commander!" Sonia bowed.

"Just be more careful from now on, OK?" Hector smiled. "Your overconfidence worries me, sometimes. I'm sure your captain would be heartbroken to lose a diligent caring vice captain on his side, so besides that, just keep improving. That's all I ask."

"Y-yes, sir," Sonia bowed again. "I will do my best."

"This bowing thing again..," Hector quietly curved his lips. "An Asian thing…right?"

"Yeah..," Feng replied.

"Kinda hard to get used to, but I really like the sincere courtesy," Hector chuckled.

Then he turned to Werner. "So, about 'that time..?' Did something happen there?"

"Hm, yes, but nothing too impactful," Werner replied. "I met two people in that abandoned facility while I scouted ahead alone. A male AGE, and then a strange looking young girl..without armlets when they were in a dangerously dense ash as well."

"What..?" Hector blinked his eyes. "A child in the ash without AGE armlets? That's just like…"

"Werner, why didn't you tell us about this?" Sarah froze.

"I'm sorry. I simply thought it was too trivial," Werner stared at where the sun would soon set. "But I learned shortly after that they were from Chrysanthemum. Now that I think about it again..that young girl was likely the humanoid Aragami Dr. Inukai used to be in possession of."

"I see now, that's the Specimen One we're going to finally have," Hector frowned. "For a moment, I thought she was like my kid."

Then Werner chuckled. "I thought so as well, but considering her strange characteristics, she did not look fully human. She is a live humanoid Aragami, no more mistaking it."

"Whoa, I'd like to see one myself," Hector smiled. "What did she look like?"

"Well, I can say she was…quite an adorable looking one, and well capable of human speech," Werner smiled back. "She possesses a darker skin tone wearing strange organic-like clothes, and has a small black horn on her left forehead. She was also being taught well, refusing to come with me as a stranger when I offered my hand to take them back to their ship because she claimed her..'mommy' told her."

"That is quite adorable, indeed," Sarah chuckled. "But she said she has a…'mommy?'"

"I heard it clearly from her," Werner chuckled. "I also couldn't help but adore the child."

"I had no idea that they would not be hostile to humans," Sarah murmured. "They're just Aragami in human form, right?"

"Yes, but there might be more about them than we know," Werner murmured. "Most of them throughout the years were often found dead, so we never knew what their true nature was. I would genuinely hope we could coexist with them, if that is how they truly are."

"You know? During my young days in Fenrir HQ, I used to hear some light rumors from people transferred from the Far East that they 'used' to have a live humanoid Aragami with them," Hector said. "Keyword, 'used,' but I don't know any more of what happened to it afterwards."

"That is quite fascinating, but a shame they never reported this to Fenrir HQ," Werner murmured. "That would have indeed been an interesting study."

Then he turned to their parked vehicles. "Let's return to our people before they start worrying about us, but if possible, I would like to take a 20 minute break. Maybe just a little smoke, and scenery."

"Thinking the same thing," Hector tapped his earpiece. "Berry 4, do you copy?"

"Loud and clear, Crimson 2," Lena replied.

"Report any nearby Aragami density or other potential threats near our area," Hector asked. "We would like to take a small break before we return to HQ, if possible."

"Resonance radar detects no Aragami threat nearby," Lena reported. "So I would say..it should be safe enough to stay a little longer."

"Thank you, Berry 4," Hector nodded with a smile. "Crimson 2, out."

Then he turned to Werner. "For once we're lucky enough to enjoy small things outside our home. Let's get a smoke and scenery break before we get out of here, plus our boys and girls might need more time to tend the wounded, anyway. We also have something…important to talk about."

He gave him a hinted eyebrow flash before Werner nodded.

"Yes, something very vital for everyone. Let's take this break now before it's really time to head home," Werner murmured.

And Hector turned to everyone. "You rest take a breather for 20 minutes, but help others when they need it. A couple of our guys probably got hurt."

"Understood," Sarah nodded before catching her attention to Carol as they began walking. "Carol, are you alright?"

"Oh, no. Nothing at all. It's just that..," Carol frowned before she started walking along. "The thought of Aragami taking human forms. It just seems scary no matter how hard I think about it. Are they really that different?"

"From what I have seen of her, my utmost honest opinion of her is that she is definitely not hostile," Werner glanced at her. "She seemed also frightened of me, hiding behind that male AGE."

Then Hector suddenly laughed. "Well…with due respect, you do look a bit imposing. It starts with your big physique with all that gym time you have been doing, and then the amount of clothing and equipment you wear."

"Well, genuinely I never meant harm for everyone," Werner murmured. "I also did notice that some new AGE children we brought into our organization seemed intimidated of me at first, but I'll work harder to become more approachable."

"I don't think it's completely your fault," Hector smiled. "Considering that most of those kids came from those bastard Ports who dealt them bad hands, they can't help but be scared, but at least you know how to eventually gain their trust. Some even treat you like their messiah."

"I only wanted to help those in need, no less," Werner murmured. "And I will keep it that way."

Then after arriving at the convoy area within a few minutes, everyone was socializing with some gunners still stationing themselves as lookouts.

"Werner!" Alice ran up to him, and to his surprise, latched herself on his leg. "You're back! I was so worried!"

"I'm so glad you're safe," Werner put one of his blades down before kneeling, and patting her head. "Did you stay out of sight like I told you?"

"Yeah, and Lisette took care of me," Alice said with a giggling grin.

"Whoa, was this the little girl you guys saved last night I've read about?" Hector raised his eyes.

"Yes, during the time we tried to prevent Chrysanthemum from finding us whom Dr. Inukai set it as a trap for them," Werner kept stroking her head.

"To even use innocent little kids as Ash Storm bombs..," Hector grimaced. "How VERY lowly of them…"

"I'm sorry, Hector," Sarah frowned. "She was the only one we could save. Had I pushed harder with our intel gathering, we could have…"

"Don't beat yourself over it..," Hector shook his head with his eyes closed. "We can't save everyone. That's just the harsh reality of good people. We just have to keep doing our best, and working forward."

"Right," Sarah murmured again.

"Heh, the girl's already taken a liking to you, huh?" Hector chuckled. "You're like her dad."

"Hm?" Werner suddenly paused.

"Did you already think about adopting her?" Hector grinned.

"In..what way?" Werner raised his eyes.

"Seriously..like she's your daughter?" Hector's grin widened before making a joking glance at their comrades, including Sarah, who started curving her lips to avoid laughing.

"Well..," Werner paused.

"You started teaching me good stuff that also makes me happy," Alice giggled.

"Ooh, look at that. Werner started teaching her values?" Hector flashed his eyebrows with a grin. "How about you be her papa? "Men should not pass on without fatherhood, first." Right?"

"B-but Hector, that's just..!" Werner stuttered.

"Um, Werner..?" Alice timidly asked.

"What is it..?" Werner turned back to her as Hector grinned with anticipation.

"Could you be..my papa?" Alice blushed.

"Aww, that's so adorable..," Sarah commented.

"I want to learn more good stuff from you..," Alice continued. "Please teach me everything. I want to do my best for everyone now!"

"Set in stone," Hector grinned as Sarah, and her squadmates finally laughed. Neal turned away, and held his hood while Sonia covered her giggles with her hand. "What a bright little girl. She could be a good scientist like you, someday."

"...Very well," Werner patted her head with a smile. "Then I will begin teaching you everything I know, and also arrange for your schooling."

"Yeah," Alice giggled.

"So, what's your name, little one?" Hector leaned forward with a smile.

"My name is Alice..sir," Alice somewhat hid behind Werner.

"Heyy, don't be scared," Hector grinned. "I'm not gonna bite you."

"I suppose there is also an imposing air about you," Werner chuckled.

"Huh?" Hector blinked his eyes.

"I think it's your..bloodied big God Arc on your shoulder," Sarah noted.

"It is really big," Alice murmured. "Scary, and big."

"Ah," Hector carefully placed his buster blade on the ground. "Sorry about that. Nice to meet you."

He reached his hand out to her.

"Nice to meet you..mister," Alice slowly shook his hand.

"We have a lot of kids like you back home," Hector smiled again. "You're going to make a lot of friends."

"I'm excited," Alice giggled.

"Hector, and I have something important to talk about," Werner said. "Meet with more of your new family, but remember not to wander off too far. Understood?"

"Yeah," Alice nodded with full confidence.

"Heh, laying down his papa rules already," Hector snickered.

"Alice, come here!" Lisette waved her hand. "Come play with us!"

"Coming!" Alice ran towards her.

"Sir, we'll go ahead, and check on everyone to make sure they're OK," Sarah said.

"Very well, but make sure you decompress, too," Werner noted. "In 20 minutes, we will board, and head home."

"Understood," Sarah nodded before she left with the rest.

Then Werner, and Hector walked several yards to a cliff for scenery for the upcoming sunset in the wastelands, and both pulled their tobacco out of their pockets.

"Here," Werner handed him his lighter.

"Thanks," Hector leaned forward while holding his cigarette with his hand before Werner lit it, and then his own. Both men took in, and blew their smoke, which began easing their tension of adrenaline rush still running inside their veins.

"I read your message this morning," Hector murmured. "Gleipnir got to Inukai, huh?"

"Unfortunately," Werner murmured before taking another in, and blowing. "We did everything we could to help him, but his pride and arrogance finally caught up to him. With Chrysanthemum already in possession of the humanoid Aragami, Specimen One has been lost to us before we knew it."

"Hm," Hector tapped his cigarette before taking in, and blowing. "I already spoke with my wife about the other part. Mark was still in the house when I saw your message on my tablet, so I waited for him to finally take off to school, and then I suddenly told her we should sit down, and talk before heading to work. Her verdict is..?"

He turned at his friend. "She agreed."

"Thank you very much, both of you," Werner closed his eyes. "It meant a lot to me.., and the rest of our people, too."

"Though, my wife still wanted to sit down with us," Hector chuckled. "I mean, being once a medic from Gleipnir's 6th Battalion, I figured she'd want to ask more for scientific reasons."

"Of course, I would be more than happy to explain my theory behind it," Werner nodded. "I will answer any question you'll have."

"It's been about a year since she last needled him with a bias factor inhibitor from Dusty Miller to keep his internal bias factor stable before his body finally got used to it," Hector stared back at the landscapes. "Though, I got the feeling he's still afraid of them, and I can't blame him for that. His mother had to do it a lot for him to keep him safe, but nevertheless, he has to learn to face his fears someday since he wants to follow in our footsteps. I also just started teaching him how to fight, and I'll also consider this as one of his rites of passage while he grows up to eventually become a God Eater. My wife has an idea, though. It might be better that she takes his blood herself, so he would be at least a bit more comfortable. How does that sound?"

"I very much agree," Werner nodded. "Please do so. I don't want your child to suffer more than necessary."

"It's fine. It's a good trial for him to get through, and if it works, I'll call him a hero of our people," Hector smiled. "That way he'll learn the rewards of overcoming hardships. Plus, I still owe you for helping me five years ago."

Then Werner chuckled. "You do not owe me that much…"

"Yeah, but I'm still thankful that you consoled me when no one else could," Hector murmured. "That time I accidentally got Amelia pregnant with Mark…I still remembered how scared I was like yesterday. I had no idea how to be a good dad, and most importantly, if us 'more Aragami than human' types can still have kids, and yet you still told me to stay positive, especially after you told me that you were also born from a couple of God Eaters. You also taught me to always look forward, and that no one knows how to be a dad at first. And then Mark was finally born..almost healthy, even."

"Hm," Werner closed his eyes with a nod. "And I'm glad that here you are, a family man working hard to support his family, and building a great future for his child."

"Being a parent was all about commitment, not about whether you'll be good at it or not like you once told me," Hector smiled. "Though needless to say…"

He embarrassingly scratched the back of his head. "I think my wife has been hinting to me that she wants another one so Mark won't feel alone. She often complained about it. I don't really mind, but…"

"What is holding you back?" Werner chuckled. "With Amelia gesturing you on that, it means she is confident in her ability and yours to parent another one."

"I think I would rather make sure that our place is a bit safer before I decide on it," Hector blushed while chuckling. "I still have worries about Mark, but I'll be more than happy to deal with it now. He's truly a gifted boy, being able to completely resist ash from birth, and then last year, he started being able to lift things that no normal kid could ever do. Not even AGE kids around his age would have that much strength he has. Also considering how potent his internal P73c bias factor is compared to the already potent ones we use, I can only imagine how much more powerful his Burst Arts are once he's old enough to have his first God Arc, and I start teaching him how to use them. I'm honestly proud of all the gifts Amelia and I gave him, but it's also scary to think about how humanity would react once they learn about him."

Then he took in, and blew. "It's already bad enough that everyone who aren't AGEs have been afraid of us because of how unnaturally powerful we are compared to those regular God Eaters, but imagine if more of us like the ones behind us grow older, and start having their own kids, too. How will they successfully protect them if humanity starts witch hunting them? The thought of that is really scary, Werner. This knowledge itself could make the outside world start a war with us if this gets out. It could even happen a few decades later, or possibly a bit sooner."

"Hm, I believe your worries are well warranted," Werner took in, and then blew his smoke out. "You are right. Humanity is definitely not ready to learn about the potential of AGE-borned children due to the immense power they could inherit from their parents, but history has also shown that while humanity is not capable of quickly adapting to changes, especially such unnatural things, they also learn to eventually accept it. Time is our worst enemy in this. This is also why building our own utopia was so important, so that we, and the generations after us who would carry on our legacies, will live more happily and safely…without much outside threats to their way of life."

"This is also why I've been so wholeheartedly on-board with your direction," Hector turned to him. "I just wanted to make a good world for Mark, so one day, my wife and I could grow old together, and die of old age knowing that our son, and then our grandkids could live happily behind the safe borders from this cruel world. I've been working my ass off to create an impenetrable defense for our country, someday. It's why I've been training our corps the way I did."

"Mm, you are currently doing an excellent job, my friend," Werner smiled. "I've always been thankful for all your hard work, and everyone else's. But for now, let's not fear the future, and instead look towards it, and see where it unfolds. Then we will act accordingly."

"Mm," Hector nodded before taking in and blowing, and then tapping his cigarette. "Speaking of that now, Gleipnir is trying another Fenrir HQ Reclamation again, huh?"

"It was very much confirmed," Werner also blew his smoke. "Calling in caravans from other Ports to Arrowhead, and then doing a field exercise together, even bringing a few dreadnoughts with them."

"I still remember that disaster," Hector slightly winced. "I wasn't there to see it, but I was being forcefully converted into an AGE at that time by those bastards whom I used to fight shoulder to shoulder with, and heard about what happened. I still remembered you saw the horrors of it yourself."

"I would rather not speak of it again," Werner took in, and blew. "It was crazy at that time, seeing children in their early to middle teens robbed of their lives when they turned into monsters because of improper P73c dosage from their pair of New Type armlets, and then Gleipnir, mainly my father, placed the blame on them just to save their faces. It was when I witnessed what Gleipnir has become after seeing what they designed our armlets for, and I would never stand for that. The thought of betraying our young for our own ends always sickened me in no end."

"Yeah, and in contrast, most of us fellow founders including Amelia owed our lives to you," Hector murmured. "We can't thank you enough for warning us, and then helping us escape from that soon to be hell hole of a Port. We barely even escaped alive fighting our way through before we hijacked a ship, and took off for good. You are definitely the hero of us AGEs."

"But I wished I could have helped more," Werner tapped his cigarette. "I knew there were still a few others, but you're all I could save. You, Amelia, and several more who are still with us."

"And I know this is seven years ago, but do you mind if I ask something more personal?" Hector murmured.

"What is it..?" Werner smiled, who seemingly anticipated what he would ask.

"You once wanted to drop by to pick someone up before we fled Arrowhead together," Hector explained. "Who is that lady you tried to reach your hand to? Sorry for asking, if that's not OK for you."

"Hm," Werner smiled again. "I knew you'd get curious one day. That was Hilda Henriquez, my faithful companion."

"Your ex-lover?" Hector made a slight smile.

"She is the current governor of Port Chrysanthemum, an orphanage Port," Werner explained. "Hilda has always been attached to children, and as a matter of fact, we used to frequently visit an orphanage in Fenrir HQ to try gathering information on what people would want in our dream of utopia together by building Ports that would be impervious to Aragami attacks. Then we traveled to other satellite bases together to gather more feedback…until that global disaster happened."

"Huh," Hector murmured. "Now it made more sense why you ordered Sarah, and her Intel Div not to build hideouts near that Port, and to never mess with them for any reason."

"It wasn't just for personal reasons," Werner murmured. "Hilda would also never condone such cruelties even if she had her own AGEs. I know her that much, and I also don't want good people to cross their God Arcs with each other, AGEs or not."

"I see now," Hector chuckled. "You still love her, right?"

"...I cannot say I don't," Werner closed his eyes. "But we're never meant to walk the same paths again. She had her's.., and I had mine."

"I'm so sorry about that," Hector blew his smoke out while closing his eyes. "Must have been hard to leave a loved one. You two would have been a good pair, and you'd raise Alice together along with your own." 'It's a good thing I did this…'

"I realized this when she refused to take my hand," Werner closed his eyes. "We have changed after that disaster, or perhaps..it was just me. I don't think she saw me the same way again."

"Hm, I can't say how you were before that Fenrir HQ Reclamation disaster," Hector murmured. "But in the end, you are still a great guy. The Messiah of AGEs."

"Thank you. I only wanted to do as much as I could to help others who are unjustly wronged," Werner murmured. "And with the way the world is, it cannot last. Any society that abandons meaningful principles, and betrays their young for their selfishness is doomed for downfall. This cannot be allowed, and as my response, I want to create a nation of AGEs who will live in traditional principles. One where people will work, and thrive together, and raise good nuclear families, nothing less. We are perhaps the only future of humanity."

"Definitely," Hector nodded. "Even now, I still can't process how low can people outside of us keep sinking. It's really like they don't care anymore. Just how deep would this rabbit hole keep going?"

"Between the past, the present, and the future, selfish vile sociopathic kinds care for only one thing," Werner took in, and blew. "The present. It's also worse that the majority of the ruling class are such, which is exactly why I want to create our own utopia instead of trying to change society; to glow a light within the darkness, and shine brighter from within it. You cannot hope to change anyone who cares not about anything but themselves, and it is better to enlighten the young to break that generational cycle instead of the elders who have been rotten to the core. Great men always look into the future, not the past, not the present, and such great men are what historically built strong nations."

"Yeah, that's the way it's going to be," Hector sighed.

"I cannot think of anything else." Werner shook his head.

"Here's one more thing I want to talk about, but besides being a fortress, why is Gleipnir so obsessed with taking Fenrir HQ back?" Hector furrowed his eyes. "Didn't they already establish themselves a solid foothold in Arrowhead?"

"I am not completely sure myself," Werner shook his head. "But during my youthful days there, I have heard that besides the Ragnarok Project, they were also developing a top secret superweapon beneath that fortress, which was meant to devour Oracle cells in a mass scale."

"You're telling me that Fenrir could actually develop a massive weapon like that?" Hector raised his eyes.

"I do not know much of the details, and not even my father, who was one of the Gleipnir's commanders at that time, would tell me," Werner explained. "But whatever knowledge he has about that superweapon's capabilities, he must think it was worth that immense amount of risk."

"And with Fenrir HQ being close to us, which I want to address right now," Hector furrowed his eyes. "They will eventually have to cross our territory with several ships of their combined military force from other Ports to get there. How should we respond to this?"

"Hm," Werner paused. "I've already started thinking about it, in fact. My plan is to issue an order to avoid contact with Gleipnir unless absolutely necessary, and halt our habitability expansions until further notice. I also believe that Gleipnir already suspected that our HQ is in the Restricted Ash Zone, and would possibly send their scout units to locate us during their main operation. I also planned to hold a meeting with you, Commander Castillo, Major Yu, and the rest of the commanding officers tomorrow morning. I will also inform Sarah, and Carol tonight once we return."

"I see," Hector nodded. "Then I will tell all my captains, and vice captains about this. This is definitely important."

"Mm," Werner nodded.

"And thanks for telling me some of your personal stuff," Hector smiled. "I think I got to know you a little better now. More specifically how you think."

"It's fine. I'm actually thankful that you asked," Werner chuckled. "I still have fond memories of those times, and still like reflecting on them. But…"

He frowned. "It was also ironic, wasn't it? The Ports that Hilda and I designed together that were supposed to be safe haven for humanity turned into death camps for children instead..by their elders who were supposed to protect, and nourish them. I was once an altruist, but after learning how terrible people are capable of, I decided to abandon such principles, and only help those with genuine heart. But in spite of my only current solution, I could not help but keep wondering..if I am truly making the right decision."

Then Hector laughed. "As far as I'm concerned, I believe you only did what you thought best like you said earlier. We're all just wisening up."

And he took in, and blew. "I was also betrayed by the very same people I once swore to protect, and what only matters to me now is my family, you, and the rest of us. There are really a lot of vile people out there, and thinking about it, if it wasn't for your creation, none of us would have had the chance to survive the ash. Maybe we'll just have to take it in our own hands to right the wrongs someday, and add to it that Hilda and a few other owners like Port Fellenwort and Belladonna Lily put your design to good use, and you protected them. I'd say, your design of Ports was a blessing, too."

"Thank you.., my friend," Werner smiled again. "Perhaps my naive altruism still lingers in me, and I must be naive myself to have believed that I shut these all away a long time ago. I have read many philosophies in my youth, and even now, I still have much to learn."

"You're a truly good man," Hector nodded with a smile. "I hope more of us will learn from you as time goes. The great things you have been teaching us, and especially the younger ones..is what's keeping us going. I honestly don't know what would have happened to all of us without you, Werner."

"I didn't do it all alone, please remember," Werner shook his head. "We worked together to make all of this happen. Without you, and everyone's hardwork and unique expertises, we wouldn't have made it this far. It was thanks to you, and your family that we may be able to finally live almost infinitely with the ash. I'm truly proud of all of you."

"Yeah, and it is amazing how far we've gone already, right?" Hector nodded before he finished smoking, and dropped his cigarette on the ground before stepping on it. "These kids grow up fast. We went from being a small group to slaying Ashborns that Gleipnir could still hope to do. Me forming our defense force to protect our people, late Major Michael Patterson coming up with the Logistics and Labor Department before Major Carol Yu took over so those who can't fight can still find their meaning in life by becoming artisans to have pride in their craft, and Sarah forming the Intelligence Division to become our eyes and ears, and build more strategic hideouts so we can better save more AGEs to add to our growing family. We did quite a lot."

"And we still have ways to go," Werner finished smoking, and stepped on his burned out cigarette. "I am still starting, so I'll continue to work hard to improve the lives of everyone, also so they would eventually become confident enough to start their own families, and raise their own children in a much better environment. All great nations started with strong nuclear families, and you, and Amelia were the beginning of hope for that. You weren't alone in your insecurities, and now with your child being born healthy, he has become the symbol of hope for the Crimson Queen's future. Our people very much cherished him, especially girls close to adulthood who may be aspiring to become mothers someday, and I can see it in their eyes. Perhaps your union with Amelia birthed the first AGEborn child in humanity's history."

Then Hector laughed. "Please stop. You're making me blush."

"I'm simply stating a highly possible fact," Werner chuckled. "Though before we finish, I have an interesting theory about your child now that you mentioned his gifts earlier. Would you mind hearing me out?"

"Huh," Hector paused. "Please go ahead."

"I believe your son may not need AGE armlets to wield a God Arc," Werner murmured. "Because if you think about it, the P73c bias factors are also called Adaptive Oracle Cells, and that truly showed with us being the first generation to wield other God Arcs with little to no risk of being devoured by them. Your child's internal Adaptive Bias Factors are also more potent than ours, so I believe he should have much less problem bonding himself with one. This is all speculation for now, and I will not push this experiment on him to prove it. It will be entirely up to him, and especially you, and Amelia as his parents to try, but please take measures for his safety. It would be very beneficial for our future AGEborn children, if my theory is true."

"Hm, being a bias factor scientist yourself, I'm already inclined to agree," Hector murmured. "But yeah, I'll think about this while he grows up until that time comes. I'll talk to my wife about this, too."

"Mm," Werner nodded. "We spent our break a little longer, but it was certainly a worthwhile conversation."

"Definitely," Hector chuckled. "In two days, my wife, and I will have to deploy, and leave Mark with a caretaker for a bit. Our guys in old Pennywort are trying to salvage our equipment that are still intact in our defunct hideouts, and also go for the ones left in that ruined Port after an Ash Storm wiped it out. They also needed more trailers to bring them back, and then Aragami also started pestering them. I would like to ask your permission to take our 3rd Regiment with us to cover them."

"Do what you must. I'll look after our organization in the meantime with the Intelligence Division, and also your men who will remain behind," Werner smiled. "Thank you for helping."

"I got your back, no worries," Hector smiled back. "Please keep me updated about the Reclamation."

"Also, another thing," Werner murmured. "I suddenly have this hindsight, but with this Reclamation happening, I'm gravely concerned about Commander Castillo, and of course her brother. I've already observed that the psyche of those two have improved over the years, but…"

He closed his eyes. "I believe they still harbored an immense amount of hatred for non-AGEs. I fear that the strong presence of Gleipnir close to our home might reignite that vengeful flame again."

"Huh," Hector furrowed his eyes. "I see what you're getting to. I still remember what happened in Tigridia two years ago."

Then he winced. "I still couldn't unsee that. That poor young lady…If only we acted a bit sooner..!"

"Yes, I still regret that to this day," Werner slowly shook his head. "I think the siblings' hatred for non-AGEs still runs deep because of that."

"Hm, I simply hope she won't do anything so atrocious," Hector sighed. "Or I'll stop her myself. I know it's hard to let go of traumas like that, and those two definitely didn't deserve it. But then, has there ever been a time she disobeyed an order from you?"

"Certainly not," Werner shook his head again. "Besides you, and Major Yu, she is one of our most loyal members, but for now, let's keep an eye on them. I do not want them to ever commit the unthinkable. Vengeance will only beget more vengeance."

"I couldn't agree with you more on that," Hector sighed. "I know how those two felt. When we had Mark, I suddenly hated Gleipnir a lot less than I used to. I just couldn't help but only think about our family, and how I'd best keep them safe. All of the Gleipnir blood I had in my hands over the years has been nothing personal for a lack of better word. I just wanted to protect our people…That's all."

"Yes, you certainly learned what's most important," Werner murmured. "Unfortunately, I don't think those two have reached your stage yet. They're still clouded by their hatred for those who wronged them, but at the same time, we cannot blame them. But the unfortunate fact is, it also completely falls on their heavy shoulders to eventually free themselves from that, but we can always keep supporting them until they finally understand. They will one day. They must."

"Mm," Hector nodded.

Then the two elders of their organization picked up their God Arcs, and walked back into the group, whom they see enjoying their time together with some of them playing with their little new family member.

"Alright, boys, and girls!" Hector boomed. "It's time for us to go home. Oh, hey Jack, and Liam!"

"Yes, sir?" A pair of male AGEs holding a boost hammer, and a variant scythe stood up.

"Good job, TOODAY!" Hector grinned. "Saw you two take that Vajra down, and in Engage, too? SPLENDIDLY DONE!"

He flexed his arm. "You all did exactly how I taught you how to kill the big bad guys."

"Thank you, sir!" Liam nodded. "We'll keep doing better."

"I'm gonna expect more out of you," Hector flashed his eyebrows. "Keep it up!"

"Papa!" Alice ran to him as everyone who heard her froze.

"I'm back," Werner patted her head. "How is everyone?"

"Everyone was so nice to me," Alice giggled with a grin.

"Yep, just so you know but our leader is a dad now," Hector laughed before everyone cooed.

"That's so cute," One of the female AGEs cupped her cheeks.

"Heh, now I'm feeling a little jealous," Yuki curved her lips.

"Woo! Finally, our boy prodigy Neal is back!" Hector suddenly grabbed Neal's head with his elbow as several people laughed. "Nailing another Ashborn with just his vice captain. Our Crimson Prince Charming! Hah!"

"What..?" Yuki froze before she turned to her orange haired superior. "Sonia..?"

"Hmhmhm," Sonia smirked. "I..am also finally earning my pin. Please do try to catch up, Yuki."

"I see now," Ivy glared. "Congratulations…vice captain."

"Oww! Me, too, commander?!" Neal irritably held his elbow to try breaking himself free from his rear chokehold.

"What do you mean you, too? It's just your turn after Feng," Hector snickered while grinding Neal's scalp through his hood for a few seconds before releasing him.

"Um, Papa? Are they fighting?" Alice nervously asked.

"Not at all," Werner shook his head with a chuckle. "They are just bonding."

"Alright, let's go so we can all have time to chill tonight!" Hector circularly motioned his index finger. "All captains, and vice captains, we have a morning meeting tomorrow at 0700 sharp. Be there on time!"

"Sir?" Sarah turned to him.

"Yes, Sarah, and Carol, please inform your captains, and foremen to attend the meeting tomorrow," Werner murmured. "It's an important discussion about our next plan once Gleipnir launches the Fenrir HQ Reclamation Initiative. I don't think it will be long before they do."

"Yes, sir," Both Sarah, and Carol nodded.

"Other than that, I don't care what you do once we get home!" Hector boomed again. Hold lovey-dovey hands together, start a bonfire, hit the sacks, whatever! Get on board!"

"Woo! We eating ramen again this time, huh?" Trista grinned while stirring the pot. "What's this again? Tank-caught-sue?"

"Shin, please correct her this time," Lulu closed her eyes, and curved her lips.

"Tonkotsu," Shin chuckled. "Say it like tong-caught-sue."

"Ugh! I hate ching-chong words!" Trista held her forehead with one hand. "Just can't get used to it."

"Yet, you can say ookami kanojo just fine..?" Shin shyly murmured.

"Like I said, that old man Jun drilled it into my head," Trista glared at him. "He never gets tired calling me that!"

Then Jerad suddenly snickered while cutting vegetables. "Shin's tip actually helps a bit. Tonkotsu, right?"

"Yep," Shin nodded.

"How about you, Phym? Say it," Jerad's grin widened.

"Tonkotsu!" Phym quickly answered.

"Nice," Jerad turned back to cutting.

"Jerad, I know what you were up to," Claire pouted.

"Yep, Phym is safe this time," Jerad snickered as Phym shuddered.

"If anything, Phym said it better than you did," Shin chuckled. "Maybe she should tickle you for outdoing you instead."

"Yeah, I wanna tickle daddy!" Phym curved her fingers with a mischievous grin while Shin laughed.

"Uh uh, don't think about it," Jerad nervously shook his head as Claire giggled. "I'm your daddy, so you can't do that." 'You'll probably break my ribs, too.'

"Haww, why?" Phym whined.

"Because authority," Jerad smiled.

"I'll say though, Phym can probably speak good Japanese," Shin chuckled. "Kon'nichiwa, Fimu." He waved.

"Kon'nichiwaaa..Shin," Phym waved back.

Then everyone laughed while Lulu turned around, and leaned on the countertop. Noticing this behavior in his peripheral vision, Zeke turned his head to Lulu's direction, and found her shuddering. Bewildered, he furrowed his eyes, and tilted his head for a few seconds before he decided to dismiss it, turning back to everyone.

"Aww, Phym was such a cutie," Misha cooed.

"That was excellently done," Hugo chuckled while cutting vegetables together with Misha. "At least from the sound of it."

"Do you know what that means, though, Phym?" Shin smiled.

"Um.., no," Phym embarrassingly replied.

Then Shin chuckled. "That's alright. It means 'good afternoon.'"

"How I say good morning, and good night?" Phym excitedly asked.

"Good morning is ohayo, and good evening is konbanwa," Shin replied. "Try them."

"Ohayoo, and um..," Phym paused before springing. "Kon..banwaa, Shin!"

Then Shin laughed. "That's..very good, Phym."

And Phym giggled.

"Wait a minute, Shin. Did you read Phym's name as Fimu earlier?" Trista stopped him. "I'm not sure if I heard you right."

"I did," Shin nodded. "That's how we read English in Japanese."

"That's just kinda weird," Trista furrowed her eyes. "I can only imagine what mine sounds like."

"Oh, it does," Shin snickered as Trista quietly waited for him in anticipation. "Turista."

And Misha suddenly laughed.

"Oh my god..," Trista rolled her eyes.

"Does my name sound weird, too?" Misha asked.

"Not really. Some names will sound the same," Shin explained. "Besides yours, just Hugo, and if I have to list those who aren't here, Amy, too."

"So the rest of us got some weird pronunciation of our names in your eastern tongue," Trista murmured. "Can you say them all? Let's start with…Jerad."

Then seeing Jerad pause with a groan, Trista chuckled.

"Jerado," Shin grinned before everyone burst out laughing.

"Great, I'm being put on the spot again," Jerad murmured as Claire almost cried from laughing while covering her mouth.

"And then there's Revin, Furida, Kito, Ziku…"

"Damn, my name just sounds weird," Zeke complained.

"You're telling me," Keith murmured.

"Ruru, Rikarudo.., and with all due respect for our owner..," Shin curved his lips. "Hiruda."

Then everyone laughed.

"Hilda definitely sounded the best there," Trista commented.

"I agree," Shin chuckled.

"I noticed something, but your language seemed…aversive to Ls," Levin murmured.

"That's correct. L is not included in the Japanese alphabet," Shin replied.

"Lulu's sounded kinda funny," Trista further commented.

"What do you expect out of a primitive sounding name?" Lulu shrugged.

"I have to say, but Levin, and Claire's also sound really cool," Hugo chuckled.

"Of course..they're nobles," Trista smirked at them.

"Also, there seems to be some added syllable at the end of some names," Levin continued asking. "Like Zeke, and Keith's."

"This..I cannot explain," Shin scratched his head. "Being born here, I didn't receive Japanese literature education myself as a kid. I only know as much as I spoke with my late parents, and don't think I would last a long conversation with a real Japanese one, which is going to feel embarrassing for me to be honest."

"Ah," Levin blinked his eyes.

"I'm honestly hoping I'd find a data disc that teaches me the rest so I'll know," Shin murmured. "And if I do, I'll get hot on it. It's likely what my parents would want, and I'd stay up late for it."

"Aww, I was gonna ask you to teach me," Phym murmured.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Shin patted her head.

"Hey, Shin. Do you know any cuss words?" Zeke grinned.

"No! Not with Phym here!" Jerad suddenly turned to him. "If you push this right now, your ass is mine."

"Yeah, Zeke. Don't make Jerad kick your..tamakins," Shin snickered.

"Shin?" Jerad glared at him.

"Don't worry. It's not profanity," Shin flashed his eyebrows.

"Ah, I think I get the idea, but I'd rather not guess for Phym's sake," Trista smirked. 'His family jewels. That's a new thing to learn.'

"Heh, learning different languages. I had no idea you'd be interested in that," Jerad chuckled.

"Lang-goo-age..?" Phym murmured.

"It's uhh..how should I explain..?" Jerad scratched his head. "A different kind of way people could talk to each other. Like up until now, your mommy and I have been teaching you English, for example, and then Shin just now taught you some..Japanese?"

"Yep," Shin nodded. "One of the eastern languages.., and there are many more. Chinese, Korean, a LOT more."

"You know? It looks kind of amazing that you can speak two languages," Hugo chuckled.

"Huh," Shin blinked his eyes.

"Really? When I was a kid, I met a few kids in school who had English as their second language," Jerad told him. "And they're the ones struggling to learn it. They told me they were born somewhere else, and some who had moms and dad taught them their native ones before school."

"Wow, is that so..?" Lulu murmured.

"Oh yeah," Jerad nodded.

"That is called bilingualism," Levin suddenly spoke. "It's for people who can speak two different languages."

"I wanna learn more languages!" Phym gleefully cried.

"Whoa, Phym! Hold it right there for a second," Jerad waved his hands. "There are HUNDREDS of languages in this world, and this world might be bigger than you think."

"But I still want to learn them," Phym confidently replied.

"OK..," Jerad slowly nodded. "I ain't stopping you, but good luck."

"Here is the problem, however," Levin murmured. "After the Aragami Outbreak almost 40 years ago, many civilizations collapsed, taking their languages to the grave with them. That was also the time Fenrir made English the universal language for the rest of humanity that survived, and ever since then, every child born after the year 2050 was taught English in schools. I don't think you will ever meet anyone who cannot speak English these days, but, I am also certain there are still people who can still speak their native languages since some parents who were around the time before the Calamity still taught their children for cultural reasons. It was perhaps their attempt to preserve their traditions."

"Hm, that was really interesting," Hugo stopped stirring his soup. "You said the Aragami Outbreak happened almost 40 years ago, and then children born after 2050 were taught to speak English. So Aragami has existed since around 2050?"

"That is exactly correct," Levin nodded.

"Then what year is it now..?" Hugo hesitantly asked.

"We are in the year 2087," Levin replied.

"Almost forty years..," Lulu murmured. "Somehow, that felt short…yet also long. We've only been fighting Aragami for 1-2 generations so far, and I wonder what the world was like before that. Must be much more peaceful."

Then Jerad suddenly snickered after he finished cutting his vegetables. "Ideological conflicts, territorial disputes, invasions, genocides, and all other bullcrap, if you can still call that peace."

He stared at Lulu with a smirk.

"I..see," Lulu paused.

"It's funny don't you think?" Jerad grinned. "Without Aragami, people will still kill each other. I guess if you give humanity peace, they'll just find an excuse to war with each other, and with that, it's hilariously ironic that in order to achieve peace, you have to be ready for war."

"That is…pretty dark," Lulu froze.

"Dark as it is, I nevertheless agree with him," Levin smiled. "To protect your peace, you need power, or the barbarians will be at your doorstep. Evil men will always see kindness as weakness, and you recently taught Claire this."

"You're right," Lulu smiled back. "It was hypocritical of me to think like this. Thanks for correcting me."

"Yep, you wanna protect people, you gotta have power," Jerad plainly flashed his eyebrows. "It's that simple. I'd like to call it 'peace through power.'

Then he stared up. "Going a bit further on this, with all this idiocy people have been doing in the past, maybe some god out there got fed up with us, and decided to end us altogether with Aragami."

Then Shin raised his eyes at this, wondering if Jerad somehow knew the meaning of that word…

"What makes you think that?" Levin raised his eyes. "I'd rather say it's just a natural way of things."

"Aragami..," Shin murmured. "Do you know what it literally means..?"

"Oh? What is it?" Jerad also murmured. "I never even thought it was your language, but I did wonder where it came from."

"It means 'raging god,'" Shin replied. "'Ara' means 'violent, raging, or monstrous, and 'kami' means 'god.' I don't know the exact reason why but I think the 'K' was changed into a 'G' just to make it easier to say…Aragami."

"Huh," Hugo blinked his eyes.

"That fully makes sense now..," Claire frowned. "Aunt once told me that Aragami was made as a world ending mechanism."

"Heh, so nature was indeed trying to kill us all," Jerad chuckled. "Damn…"

"Please don't despair, friend," Levin smiled. "For many centuries, humanity has proven to be capable of surviving against all adversities. We do not easily go down without a fight."

"I agree with him, buddy," Hugo held his friend's shoulder. "We won't go down without a fight, and because people only kept looking forward that we're still alive today. Keep your head up."

"Oh, jeez. I didn't say we're all going to die," Jerad shrugged before Hugo pulled his hand back. "Though, I'm starting to feel a bit more..interested in your Japanese, Shin. So 'kami' or 'gami' means god, how do you say 'death?'"

And Shin raised his eyes again, knowing where his friend's question would lead to considering his quick glance at Misha. "Death is 'shine,' spelled the same way the English 'shine,' in fact.

"So, your people would call my sis..," Jerad smirked at his sister, to which she responded with a pout. "Shinegami?"

Then Shin laughed. "You almost nailed it. It's 'shinigami,' meaning 'death god.' It's what we call them in my people's folklore, actually."

And Jerad laughed. "Hm, I guess my sister will keep her Grim Reaper."

"Do what you want," Misha crossed her arms before wincing, and Hugo chuckled.

"I'll call you that instead, Friday," Jerad flashed his eyebrows at her. "Shinigami."

"Gosh, that's not any better," Frida winced with a pout. "I'm not even Japanese."

"Another interesting thing is you can use that same word to tell someone to die," Shin sharply glanced at the nearest person beside him. "I'll show you."

"Augh..!" In a flash, Zeke found his neck locked by Shin's elbow before he swiftly grabbed a nearby red kitchen knife plastic cover with his right hand, and placed it below his jaws as if he was holding a knife.

Everyone also jumped from Shin's sudden aggressive movement before he muttered. "Shine…"

With a deadly cold stare, he gently slid the plastic knife cover on his neck as if he was slitting his throat for a silent kill before releasing him.

"Hey, what the hell, man?!" Zeke glared at him before stroking his neck as Lulu laughed at him.

"Like an assassin," Trista chuckled. "Zeke was dead before he knew it."

"So, you literally said 'die,'" Jerad also chuckled.

"Yep, that's how you use it," Shin grinned.

"Hey, Shin. What is Devil, then?" Misha smirked at her brother.

"It's either oni, or akuma," Shin quickly smirked at Misha's gesture to her brother. "Depending on which one you want to use, but for me, how would I call your brother as the Devil of the Chrysanthemum is..?"

He cleared his throat. "Kiku no Akuma."

"Whoa, now that has a scary tone to it," Trista commented. "Especially the 'akuma part.' I'm shaking right now."

Then she laughed.

"'Kiku' is short for 'Kiku-no-hana' which literally means Chrysanthemum," Shin explained. "'No' means 'of' or 'from,' and then you know it, 'akuma' means 'devil' or 'demon.'"

"Aww, I thought I could use it to get back at my brother," Misha whined.

"Too bad," Jerad snickered.

Daddy..the Kiku no..Akuma!" Phym cheered before everyone chuckled.

"Kiku no Akuma, huh?" Trista grinned. "I really like it."

"Ah, you finally getting the hang of it, huh?" Shin grinned. "That's not the easiest one to say."

Heh, you better start getting used to it, anyway," Jerad made a smirking tease.

"And what are YOU trying to imply?" Trista glared at him.

"Nothing, it's just the fact that you'll be around him for a veeery long time, just saying..," Jerad turned around to stir their pot as Misha giggled.

"Cheeky bastard..," Trista grimaced as Levin made a quiet chuckle.

"Shin, you really seemed like you could hold a conversation well with other Japanese people," Hugo commented.

"I only made small phrases then, and there," Shin shrugged. "That's easy, but that's also as much as I can do."

"Speaking of bilingualism, who else do you think can speak another language besides English?" Levin asked.

"Ricardo..," Shin replied. "He's the only other one I can think of, and I remember him claiming he knew what Selene's family name 'Belfiore' was, which means a 'beautiful flower.'"

"He did," Trista added. "Before that, I had no idea he had another tongue that he could speak. What language does he have again?"

"Italian," Shin replied.

"Oh, that's definitely a whole another language to learn," Trista chuckled. "Probably easier, too."

"Feel free to try," Shin shrugged.

"Heyy, looks like everything in our pot has softened now," Jerad turned to them. "I'm already drooling just staring at those soft pork strips. Boss, what do you think?"

"Me?" Lulu pointed at herself.

"Ah, yeah. You're our master chef," Jerad smiled. "It's a compliment, just saying."

"Thank you," Lulu smiled as Claire crossed her arms.

Then Lulu moved in to stir the pot. "Yeah, this is definitely ready. Let's wrap it up here, and begin setting the dinner table."

"I'll call the owner," Jerad said.

"Hm," Hugo paused. "OK, please do."

Then as everyone began leaving the kitchen with Lulu carrying their pot, Jerad tapped his earpiece. "Ma'am, this is Jerad."

"Oh, uh," Hilda paused for a few seconds. "Hello, Jerad. Is there something you need?"

"Ahh, nah. I just wanted to tell you that dinner is ready," Jerad curved his lips. "We already started setting up."

"Ah, I see. Thank you," Hilda replied. "I will let Amy, and Ricardo know right away. We'll be coming."

"Understood. We'll prep, and wait," Jerad murmured before he heard the radio cut off, and then he glanced at three people who were watching him with their lips curved. "What's so funny..?"

Then Hugo, Trista, and Misha laughed.

"Seriously..," Jerad murmured.

"How was it?" Hugo chuckled.

"How was what?" Jerad furrowed his eyes.

"You're talk with the owner, obviously," Trista laughed.

"It was fine," Jerad shrugged. "Though, she sounded like..she was taken back a bit."

And the three laughed again.

"I was looking for something like that," Trista chuckled again. "Because you sounded a bit awkward..especially at the end when you tried to be a bit more formal."

"It's fine. It's just that I don't think Hilda saw that coming," Hugo chuckled. "It's always been me who's calling her for meals."

"OK..," Jerad nodded. "It might be better that you call her, then."

"Up to you, buddy," Hugo shrugged. "I don't mind at all if you do it time to time. It's a good phase of change."

"Ah, whatever," Jerad waved his hand before they finally left the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Hilda, Ricardo, and Amy finally arrived, and they all sat on their table.

"Ooh, another big soup," Ricardo rubbed his hands.

"Maybe I could use some," Hilda replied. "Been quite a long day doing a lot of paperwork, and eating soup is so relaxing. No need to worry about chewing a lot before swallowing."

"Ah, I'm glad to have chosen this one," Lulu commented.

"Jerad, I'm sorry about earlier," Hilda said after swallowing.

"Mm?" Jerad glanced at her while sucking ramen into his mouth before biting off, and swallowing it.

"I..must have made that awkward for you," Hilda giggled before seeing Hugo, Misha, and Trista laughing. Hugo did his best to suppress his laugh while he still had ramen hanging from his mouth before he bit, and swallowed. Then he let out a few chuckles.

"Did…something happen?" Frida glanced at the three.

"What is this about?" Hilda closed her eyes with a smile. "Were you three listening to our radio?"

"No, wait. We weren't, ma'am," Trista shook her head. "But we were standing beside Jerad when he called you, and we thought how he talked was hilarious."

"Ah," Hilda paused. "Yeah..I was just a bit surprised, that's all. It's always been Hugo."

"Heh, I thought so," Hugo wiped his mouth with a napkin before chuckling. "I thought it was a bit unusual that Jerad decided to call, but I was perfectly cool with it. It's a good change of phase."

"Wait, you think Jerad is awkward on radios?" Amy shook her head. "I mean, from my experience whenever he's in the field, he always sounded fine. Brief, clear, and precise. I won't complain at all."

"It was me, Amy," Hilda chuckled. "I was caught a bit off guard, that's all. But yes, if you want to be the one to make meal calls, you're free to do so."

"Mm," Jerad nodded while chewing his food before swallowing. "Alright."

"I'd say keep going, kid," Ricardo chuckled. "You gotta try new things, and start upping your ante bit by bit."

Then after almost another half an hour, everyone finally finished.

"Hoo," Jerad leaned back. "Seven servings of ramen this evening. Gonna feel sorry for my toilet seat tonight."

And everyone chuckled.

"You AGEs definitely have incredible stomachs," Hilda giggled. "I have to head to work to finish a few things before I'm finally finished. The governor-general contacted me, and informed me that we will arrive in Arrowhead tomorrow early afternoon."

"Whoa, that's quite a long trip," Hugo commented.

"Yeah, it's a safer route back," Hilda replied. "Also added with Inukai's Ash Storms causing a lot of Aragami to be displaced from their natural habitats. This secret route has also been known for having less Aragami activity which is used for VIPs. Not even other Ports know of this, and it doesn't have beacons as part of that secrecy. Gleipnir commanders and navigators simply rely on memorizing the route based on charts, and their resonance radars which is why we have to stay behind them to rely on their navigation. We do not even know this region."

"Why would Gleipnir keep it a secret if it's safer for people to travel?" Hugo furrowed his eyes. "Won't they want to share this?"

"Because stronger human presence, and more activity in this region will attract more Aragami," Hilda explained. "Protection of VIPs always takes more priority than others. It's how the world always works."

"I see..," Hugo sat back. "Understandable."

"I heard you guys are running a small party tonight for Frida," Hilda smiled.

"Yeah," Jerad smirked at his former pupil, to which she responded with a pout.

"Just…please don't over indulge yourselves to hangovers," Hilda stood up with a smile. "We are still away from our Port, so we cannot afford any of you not being fully fit for duty due to intoxication."

Then Trista laughed. "We'll make sure, ma'am."

"Very well. I'm trusting you," Hilda closed her eyes. "Please enjoy yourselves."

"Um, Jerad. I finished baking our large cheesecake," Amy smiled. "Before dinner, I left it in the lobby, and had Faith look after it."

"Heh, thanks," Jerad grinned.

"You're welcome," Amy giggled. "I'll see you all later."

Then she finally left.

"Jerad, when was this?" Claire crossed her arms.

"Last night," Jerad replied. "Before going to sleep, I asked Amy on the bridge to bake a couple of cheesecakes for tonight, and then apparently she did it this morning while everyone was still asleep. I don't know when she brought them to the lobby, but probably while we're still cooking dinner here."

"You do understand that Amy is a very busy girl, right?" Hugo asked in monotone.

"I do, which is why I asked if she could, and she just agreed without a second thought," Jerad explained. "I even thought I shouldn't have asked, but she just told me she was more than happy to, since she said we've been risking our lives for them."

"Hm, looking at our kitchen before we cooked our breakfast, I failed to see any signs that she was there," Lulu murmured. "She must have some incredible cleaning skills to cover her tracks."

"Oh, covert stuff is just the tip of the iceberg for her," Trista grinned. "This is among the many reasons why I've been warning you guys not to ever cross her. I can see in her eyes that she can screw you over a hundred ways in her line of work, and you probably won't even notice it. Gonna be like a disease killing you inside before you start feeling it."

"Huh, by the sound of that, it is kinda scary," Hugo nodded.

"She's an admin, and the one who personally handles paperwork for the higher ups," Trista explained. "If you think about it, she has that MUCH power, but good thing she's a nice person. Imagine other admins like her from some crappy Port who might be abusing their positions?"

"Yeah," Hugo nodded.

"With great power comes with great responsibility, right?" Trista continued. "This is also consequently why she has been busy. You all gotta respect her for that, and she's been trying to make our lives easier."

"Damn, now I really shouldn't have done that," Jerad scratched his head.

"At least you considerately asked, and she agreed," Trista replied. "Frankly, that was on her after."

"Anyway, I won't do it next time," Jerad murmured. "Now I got to know her job a bit better."

"Well, let's get to cleaning now," Trista grinned. "I can't wait to have a drink."

Then everyone began their usual routine of cleaning. Wiping the deck until it looked like a mirror, all dishes washed, and all their cleaning materials properly stowed.

"Woo! Can't wait to drink up, and try Amy's cheesecakes!" Trista boomed. "You know by now that Amy is good at baking, right?"

"Yeah, I love her straw..berry cakes during our party!" Phym cheered. "But what is cheese..cake?"

"Cheese..cake," Jerad smiled. "Take a guess."

"Cake with cheese?" Phym mused. "Does it taste good?"

"Amy baked it," Jerad shrugged. "So it will definitely taste good."

Then Claire crossed her arms again.

"Oh yeah, I'm just curious, Lulu," Trista turned to her. "But can you bake?"

"Well, baking is slightly different from cooking," Lulu replied. "I have yet to try it myself."

"I'd say let's give it a shot, sometime," Zeke grinned.

"OK, but we have to be more careful. It seems more sensitive to things like time, and room temperature," Lulu murmured.

A few minutes later in the lobby.

"Heyyy, guys. I've been waiting for ya," Faith grinned. "I've been drooling just by staring at these cakes. Go ahead already, and get your slices. I'll take after you."

"Hey, while we wait for 'em, how many packs do you have?" Trista leaned forward with a grin.

"More than enough for this party," Faith grinned back.

"Done! Four packs for us!" Trista slammed her FC card on her counter.

"Make that three!" Jerad cried across. "I'll foot one pack. Here's my card!"

"Very well, Devil," Faith took his card before swiping. "Here's a pack for ya."

"Thanks," Jerad snickered.

"Oh, jeez..," Trista noticed her friends cutting large slices for their styrofoam plates, and a few others like Zeke and Phym who had two slices on theirs. "Hey! You guys better leave some for me, and Jerad, and on top of that, also think about Amy, Ricky, and the owner! I'm sure they'll also want their pieces, too!"

"You know what? I'll do that right now," Keith murmured after his first bite, and then he put his plate down.

"Nice one, Keith," Trista gave him a thumb up. "Do make sure those three get theirs, too."

"You got it," Keith began gathering three styrofoam plates with a plastic fork for each of them before slicing moderate blocks of it, and placing one on each plate. After he finished, he rolled his left sleeve back before placing a plate on top of it, and then picked up the other two with one hand each beginning leaving the lobby.

Once on the bridge, Keith steadily walked at a consistent pace as he headed for Amy's console, especially the downslope bridge to keep the balance of the left plate on his wrist.

"Uh, Amy. I brought one for you," Keith stood on the left side of her console.

"Hm?" Amy turned before her face slowly went blank. "Uh…"

"Anything wrong..?" Keith blinked his eyes.

"Please do not move..!" Amy carefully reached her hand, and slowly lifted the plate laying on his left arm. Feeling her soft smooth fingers slide between under the plate, and his skin due to his long jacket sleeves being rolled back earlier, Keith felt something he had not experienced before. Strange, yet..good. "I'll take this one. You could have accidentally dropped this, you know?"

"It's fine," Keith sighed. "I've been used to carrying many tools whenever I work, and at times, I even wished I had more than two arms."

Then they chuckled together.

"I honestly wasn't expecting this, but that was very sweet of you," Amy smiled, and took a bite before Keith felt heat blaze around his face, another unknown feeling he felt not just by her compliment, but also by simply watching her eat her cake so..adorably. "This is really good. I'm glad I baked it the way I did after waking up earlier this morning, and I could definitely use some tonight. It was worth it."

"Oh..really?" Keith blinked his eyes. "I had my first bite earlier, and really liked it. Pretty sweet."

"I'm glad to hear that," Amy giggled. "Sugar, or more technically called glucose revitalizes you, just so you know, and I like them to keep me awake. Do you by any means have a sweet tooth?"

"A sweet tooth..?" Keith blankly asked.

"It's what everyone call people who like sweets," Amy smiled. "Some people in Chrysanthemum called me that."

"Ah, OK," Keith nodded. "I don't think I do, but I could definitely use some of that when I need it. My work gets pretty exhausting, sometimes, so thanks for the protip."

"If you want, I can bake a few sweet cupcakes for you," Amy smiled again. "They're easy."

"I would definitely appreciate that," Keith chuckled. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Just ask beforehand," Amy kept her smile. "They take a bit more time, and planning."

"Understood," Keith nodded. "I..have to get going to deliver these to Ricardo, and the owner."

"Oh yes, please do," Amy blinked her eyes. "I also don't want you carrying those too long, and you have to eat yours, too."

"Got it. I'll see you later," Keith turned away, and began walking towards the uphill bridge.

"Keith, please wait," Amy called him.

"Hm? What's up?" Keith turned back.

"If there are leftovers, would you mind bringing more to me?" Amy murmured. "Of course I want everyone to have their share first, but in case I baked too much."

"Oh, of course," Keith nodded. "I'll bring you more, if there is still some."

"Thanks again," Amy smiled.

"I'll see you later," Keith nodded before heading to the elevator.

"Alright, who's down for poker?" Trista began flipping her stack of cards after drinking.

"Let's do this," Hugo leaned forward. "You deal."

"Gotcha," Trista began shuffling her stack of cards. "Let's get this started."

And then a few minutes later.

"Woo hoo, I win!" Trista raised her arms. "Down for another round?"

"I think I'll bow out on this one," Hugo laid back. "I wanna finalize the Ashborn info before they're ready for selling."

"Hah? You working during our little party?" Trista grimaced.

"Don't get me wrong. I enjoy doing this, too," Hugo chuckled. "You guys go on ahead. I'll finish this up."

Then Keith finally returned.

"Hey, Keith. The hell took you?" Zeke furrowed his eyes.

"Uh, I gave Amy, and the rest their cakes, that's all," Keith replied. "They said thanks a lot."

"Ah, fine. Get over here, and finish yours," Zeke gestured him to come over. "Been watching it for a while now."

Then an hour passed.

"Hey, buddy. Can you do me a favor?" Hugo held his tablet in front of him.

"Hm?" Already slightly dazed, Jerad turned to him.

"You seem pretty literate, so do you mind proofreading all this info for me?" Hugo smiled.

"Heh, asking me to read your stuff when I'm already a bit drunk," Jerad grinned. "Fine, gimme."

Then Hugo passed him his tablet, and Jerad began reading while also drinking then, and there at the same time.

And after 30 minutes passed, Jerad finished, making taps on Hugo's screen.

"Alright, I don't think you're illiterate at all, brother-in-law," Jerad chuckled. "You write just like normal. Better than Zeke for sure."

"Yeah, I think you type and spell pretty damn well, Hugo," Shin commented. "You have good vocab, in my honest opinion."

"Here's my only major complaint, though, but I think you need to organize it a bit more," Jerad suggested. "How about splitting them more into smaller paragraphs, and..making bulleted or numbered lists whenever you list stuff like their characteristics, and their behaviors? I did one for you as an example."

He gave his tablet back to him.

"Hm," Hugo raised his eyes.

"Here's the thing, sometimes you gotta treat your consumers like idiots when it comes to writing a lot of info," Jerad chuckled. "Also, don't write any complicated words unless you really have to. Write it in such a way that even five year olds will get it. Not everyone reads like a rocket scientist like Keith, and also not everyone likes reading longgg texts like Claire."

"Hm, what do you mean?" Keith turned to him.

"Explain," Claire grimaced.

"I don't mean this as an insult at all, trust me," Jerad drank his can. "Not everyone thinks like engineers, and not everyone could stare at walls of texts all day. Some people could fall asleep on those."

"Well, I'm not writing this to entertain people," Hugo argued before Shin took it to examine Jerad's small edits. "This is about valuable information."

"It's not exactly about entertainment, it's about..convenience," Jerad stirred his can before gulping. "But putting in tiny bits of entertainment could be good, too. You are selling them, so you also have to market it that way, and you could also raise the value by organizing them before it hits the streets. Tell me, if you have two people in front of you with the same amount of info selling to you, one was well proofread and organized, and the other was just lousily written like an elementary kid, who would you rather buy from?"

"I get your point," Hugo chuckled. "You're right."

"Yep, gotta do our best to make all that we shed our blood and sweat for as highly valuable as possible..starting with convenience," Jerad flashed his eyebrows before drinking with a snicker. "Because I'm definitely not gonna let you sell any of those precious pieces of info for cheap. We ain't a charity, and also, add a table of contents in the first page. Makes it easier for them to see exactly what that info is about."

Then he leaned back while placing his hand on his forehead. "Ah, shit…Other than that, you did write a lot of good stuff in there, and I got nothing to add. Just organize the stuff to be more approachable to read, and let me see it again later…"

"I have to agree with him," Shin murmured. "His edits on the first page did make it seem more..readable. Not to mention with the way it was broken into sections, I can easily go back to a specific part, if I want to remember something."

"Alright, I got you guys," Hugo took his tablet back. "I'll get it done."

"Feel free to ask my sis, too, if you want," Jerad murmured. "She can read, and write as much as I do."

"I'm quite amazed you know so much about marketing..for a lack of better word," Claire murmured. "How do you know about these things?"

"I never did, and was just using my head..," Jerad replied.

"I just remembered that Jerad is an organized person," Hugo chuckled.

"I'm gonna close my eyes," Jerad murmured. "Until my drunkenness wears off a bit."

Then another 30 minutes passed.

"Here you go," Hugo held his tablet in front of him. "You awake?"

"Yep," Jerad opened his eyes. "Let me see."

Then he took his tablet, and after scrolling down and reading a few words, he slowly grinned.

"How is it?" Hugo made a plain smile.

"Hell yeah, brother. Much better. Now it's ready to be sold," Jerad turned to his right. "Hey, sis. You busy? Come over here."

"Huh? What is it?" Misha irritably turned to him, who was also flushed from drinking.

"Here, check this out," Jerad gave Hugo's tablet to her. "Hugo typed this out, info about Ashborns, and routes. Whaddya think?"

"Well..," Misha made a slight hiccup. "What am I supposed to look here?"

"Eeevrything," Jerad grinned. "Grammar, punctuations, how they're written, etc.. Don't have to read word for word since I already proofread it. Whaddya think?"

"Hm," Misha tried her best to skim in detail while lightly dazed. "It's definitely well written, and got a lot of information, yet doesn't look too dense."

"YES! That's what I wanna hear!" Jerad raised both hands before gulping his can, and then he gestured his sister to give the tablet back to him.

"Here ya go, brother-in-law." He gave his tablet back. "Product ready to be released! Send it to that Garret guy, first."

"Yep, that's the next step," Hugo took his tablet. "Hoo! Finally done…"

"Can I see, uncle?" Phym raised her hands.

"Ah, of course," Hugo nodded before he tapped the screen a few times to turn the file into read-only to prevent any accidents. "Here you go."

Then Phym took the tablet, and began reading. "Ashborns..Ra..Nuadha…Bulmung…"

"Wait, what?" Jerad shook his head awake. "Say that last word again..?"

"Bulmung..," Phym muttered.

"Again..," Jerad furrowed his eyes. "One more chance to read that right."

"Bulmung..!" Phym raised her eyes.

"Alright, Phym..," Jerad placed his can on the table. "It's Balmung. I thought I taught you how to read, but I guess I still didn't. Come here..!"

Then he snatched Phym into his arms.

"But..!" Phym desperately protested while still holding Hugo's tablet. "Daddy, it's spelled..!"

"It's now spelled as T-I-C-K-L-E-S..," Jerad made an evil grin. "From hell!"

And he began ruthlessly poking various points of Phym's sides while she helplessly laughed.

"Daaaddy! Nooo!" Phym kept wiggling side to side from Jerad's finger pokes, and his gripping arms.

It lasted for almost one minute before Jerad finally paused.

"Now spell it again, Phym," Jerad smirked. "Directly from that tablet."

"B-U-L..," Phym murmured.

"Really..?" Jerad grimaced, partly in disbelief of how unusually bad at spelling Phym currently is. "Gimme that for a second."

He took the tablet. "...Oh."

"What is it? Did you miss a spelling error?" Hugo asked.

"Ohhh, if he did, I'll tickle him myself," Misha snickered while curving her fingers. "For such injustice to my niece…"

"Dead pixel..," Jerad murmured before he showed the tablet in front of them, and scrolled up and down. "See?"

Misha, and Hugo stared at it as it was spelled 'Bulmung' before Jerad scrolled it down, and it now spelled 'Balmung.'

"Huh," Hugo took the tablet back. "I guess it got damaged.

"Wear n' tear, I'd say," Jerad murmured. "Just keep it for a while. It ain't too bad yet."

"Alright," Hugo closed his file before safely setting his tablet down, and then Phym groaned.

"I'm so sorry, Phym," Jerad gave her a repentful hug. "Two extra bags of orange flavored candies for you, OK?"

"Mm, okay," Phym hugged him back before Jerad stood up to buy candies from Faith.

Only less than a minute later, he came back. "Here ya go."

He gave her two orange bags, and patted her head.

"Thank you, daddy," Phym began smiling.

Then Jerad groaned as he sat down, and began finishing his drink. Meanwhile, Phym also began opening her candy bag.

In a few minutes later after Hugo doubled checked his notes.

"Alright, work for this is really done," Hugo sighed. "Proofread it again. No spelling errors."

"Yeah..?" Jerad threw his empty can into a trash bin like a three point shot before he took two cans from his pack. Then he stood up, and walked over before sitting beside Hugo and putting his arm over his shoulders. "Now work is done. How about ya drink another one?"

He held a sealed can in front of him with a grin while holding the other in his left hand.

"You know, I just finished my first," Hugo chuckled.

"That's it?" Jerad raised one eyebrow. "I'm about to have my third! You don't look red, and sweaty at all, and if you don't look like it, then ya ain't havin' fun enough."

"Yeah, I agree with brother, Hugo," Misha sat on the other side of him, and even leaned on his shoulder. Too close to him for comfort, and it does not help that now he is being pestered by the drunken twins.

Jerad simply snickered at this. "There ya go. How about ya have another drink with us? You, me, and..your wife I already gave ya?"

Then something struck Hugo, seeing his best friend act so unusually cheerful while intoxicated, and wondered if this was his true nature if their upbringing did not corrupt him. With that in mind, he decided to encourage this behavior, hoping that it will help get him out of his rut of negativity.

"Alright," Hugo nodded before taking the can from him, and pried the tab off.

"Hell yeah! Let's all have a drink an' toast!" Jerad pried his can's tab, and it made a hissing sound. "Let's do this!"

And the three toasted their cans, and after drinking half of it.

"Ahh..!" Jerad made an obnoxious sigh after drinking. "How's it? You feelin' it now?"

"I'm starting," Hugo gulped a few more.

"You're so warm, Hugo..," Misha wrapped her arm around his, and leaned harder on him, closing her eyes.

Jerad suddenly laughed. "Aww, that looks soo cuuute..!"

Then without a care, Misha simply giggled, tightening her arm around him.

"Ooh! Looks like I'm gonna be an uncle soon, brother-in-law," Jerad grinned. "Niece, and nephew. When?"

"Definitely not now..," Hugo curved his lips.

Unaware of being watched, Claire smiled at this, seeing Jerad so happy in the moment.

"Mommy..?" Phym tugged her after placing a candy in her mouth. "Daddy is acting a little weird…"

"He is..just happy, Phym," Claire giggled.

Only a few moments later in his peripheral vision, Jerad saw a silhouette suddenly move in front of him, and raised his hand. "Really..?"

He laughed again after seeing Zeke take a one-handed picture of them, and showed it to Trista and Lulu. Then the group on the other couch exploded with laughter.

"Hey! Lemme see that! I have a right to know!" Jerad dove onto the other couch, and snatched Zeke's camera. "Ooh, YEAH! Me, my sister, and brother-in-law."

And everyone laughed again while Hugo chuckled with embarrassment, but Misha did not seem to hear nor mind their loud teasing.

"Eh, guys..?" Keith murmured. "We still have some leftover cakes from the other table. You're all done, right?"

"Oh yeah, so what?" Trista wearily squinted at him.

"Amy asked me to bring more over to her, if possible," Keith explained.

"Ooh! Keith, what the hell you're onto?" Jerad wrapped his arm around his shoulder the same rough manner his older brother always did. "You hitting on Amy, huh?"

"W-what are you talking about?" Keith grimaced, but Jerad remained with an unfazed grin.

"Hey, I'd say go for it, alright?" Jerad flashed his eyebrows. "Amy is such a cutie, anyway, and that smile she always makes will make any guy see sparkles around her, nomsayin? Follow your big bro's footsteps, too."

"Hey! What the freakin' hell, man?!" Zeke exclaimed while almost crushing his can.

"Go get her," Jerad patted his shoulder before releasing him, and Keith quietly proceeded to place more cheesecakes onto a new plate.

"The hell you mean by what?" Jerad sat back down. "I thought you both like mama girlfriends."

"Oh, shut up," Zeke winced as Jerad snickered.

"Alright, who's down for some poker?" Trista slammed her hand on the table to grab her stack of cards. "You? Or you?"

"I think I'm gonna bow out," Jerad murmured. "I think I'm dazed from too much fun."

"Alright, suit ya self," Trista wearily turned back to their table. "Y'all ready to lose against the Poker Queen?"

Then Jerad sat back on a couch beside Hugo, whom Misha was still leaning on, and was seemingly asleep.

"Had enough, huh?" Hugo chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm gonna have a bit of a shut eye until I get a little better," Jerad closed his eyes.

On the bridge.

"Here you go, Amy," Keith held a plate of sliced cheesecakes to her.

"Ah..so they could not finish?" Amy murmured.

"I guess..after they finished their share, they all just got into drinking," Keith scratched his head.

"Oh my..must be feeling a little left out not being able to drink and have fun with them," Amy frowned.

"It's fine. Besides not being old enough, I'm not interested, anyway," Keith shrugged. "I've tasted those things before back in prison when Zeke had me try it, but it tasted bitter."

"I see. Yes, I heard alcohol tastes like that," Amy replied. "Sometimes I could not understand why the owner likes them."

"Eh, I guess we'll never know," Keith murmured. "There must be something about them that makes it worth that bitter taste, but I did notice that people tend to act..more happy with them. Jerad, and Trista being the most notorious of them right now. Jerad even picked on me not long ago."

"Oh? What did he do to you?" Amy raised her eyes.

"Uh..nothing too bad. Just a short tease," Keith chuckled. "I'm not worried at all about it."

"I see," Amy nodded.

"So, I'm starting to get curious about your job," Keith stared at her again. "Trista told us you're a very busy person, but I often see you on your console all the time. No offense meant, but I thought there might be something I don't see."

"Ah, I understand, and you're right," Amy smiled. "My job is indeed demanding. I have to look after our ship pretty much all the time using our system indicators shown in these screens, and as well as observing our resonance radar. Then at the end of my shift, I have to deal with admin paperwork, mainly reports and ship's logs daily."

"Oh, that can be indeed exhausting," Keith commented.

"Yes, but I still love it," Amy smiled. "Though it can be lonely sometimes, the job itself is fulfilling. I'm always happy to be able to support all of you in the field."

"Oh," Keith paused. "I wonder if I could learn to be an operator so we can take shift turns, and you don't have to work long hours."

Then Amy giggled. "I appreciate that, but it would take proper training and certifications to qualify this watch station. Unfortunately, I cannot train anyone yet."

"Hm?" Keith raised his eyes.

"You'll have to ask to be trained by Mia, my former mentor, and also with the owner's permission," Amy explained. "She was qualified by Fenrir at a young age a few months before the calamity, and then she ended up in our Port. She is the only person who can train people to become operators."

"Mia?" Keith held his chin. "Why do I feel like I have heard about her before..? Ah, Daris…"

"I am sure you have seen her before," Amy smiled again. "When the owner introduced you when you first arrived in our Port. But wait..did you mention Captain Daris..?"

"Yeah, he talked to me about her a bit once," Keith explained. "When I was installing acceleration triggers on him, and his unit before I gave him notes about proper adjustment."

"Ah," Amy blinked her eyes. "I had no idea you provided those to his men. Thank you very much for doing that. You might have saved their lives."

"It was nothing," Keith murmured. "I was just doing my best to be helpful."

"I..don't think you truly understand the value of your work, I'm afraid, Keith," Amy shook her head. "I agree with what the owner, and Ricardo said during our lunch. Your skills are more valuable than you think. If a system breaks down here, depending on the type of mishap, I might not be able to fix it, and I do not know the systems inside as much as you probably do, and this could be life threatening for the whole crew if the breakdown could force our vessel to a halt. It was also you who made our engines run again. I do not know what else could have happened without your help, and it was still scary for me to think about it."

"Ah, yeah. You're right," Keith scratched his head.

"We do not have many technicians, and mechanics in Chrysanthemum," Amy closed her eyes. "The few proficient ones had to stay home because our Port's safety and functionality definitely takes precedence over us, which is why the owner was proud to have someone like you on board, and while it was true that our systems are reliable, it was always good to have someone as back up."

"Hm," Keith closed his eyes.

"Please do not underestimate yourself, Keith," Amy shook her head. "If anything happens here, you are definitely going to be my first person to call for help."

"Heh, thanks," Keith embarrassingly scratched his head. "Then if you need me for something, you can count on me. I have the most experience with radios, but I will do my best to fix your other systems."

"That's the spirit," Amy smiled.

"Though, if you need someone to talk to during your shift, just call me for that as well," Keith scratched the back of his head again. "I could maybe at least start learning about your job and systems, and.., I know how it's like to be lonely..."

Then Amy paused for a few seconds before forcing another smile. "Thank you. Though I cannot make this a habit due to being on watch, I can at least start teaching you about my systems. That would be good enough."

"Deal," Keith chuckled. "Is there anything else you need?"

"I think I'm good here," Amy kept her smile. "Thanks for the interesting conversation. Enjoy your party, and thanks again for the cheesecakes."

"You're welcome," Keith nodded with a smile. "I'll always be here to help."

Then he walked up the bridge to head back to the lobby as Amy watched him, and then she resumed her watch while taking a bite of her cake.

"Ohh, hell yeah! I've won!" Trista raised her hands. "Ready for round two?"

Meanwhile, Jerad opened his eyes, and glanced at Frida, who had been quietly watching them play poker. Almost forgetting what he planned for her, he slowly started grinning. "I think I'm about to get to the fun part."

He snickered.

"Huh? What fun..?" Hugo turned to him as Misha was still asleep on his arm.

"Just watch," Jerad sprung from their couch, and swiftly grabbed a new can from his pack.

While Frida continued watching poker, she felt a strong presence close to her, and as she turned, Jerad stood tall in front of her.

"I see you're done eating there, Friday." His grin widened before sitting beside her. "You don't seem to be having enough fun right now. How about you do what you 'owe' me right now?"

"Excuse me, but what exactly do I owe you?" Frida furrowed her eyes.

"This," Jerad placed his can on the table in front of her, fresh, new, and still sealed. "It's time for your final rite. One drink."

"Um..," Frida froze. "You know I never drank before."

"Of course you haven't, but you gotta start somewhere," Jerad flashed his eyebrows, and his vile grin made her feel more uneasy.

"Ohh, is Frida about to have her first drink?" Trista turned another grin at her. "Hah! I'd like to see where this goes!"

"Haha! You hear?" Jerad flashed his eyebrows again. "Everyone is counting on you now."

"J-Jerad, please don't force her if she really doesn't want to!" Claire grimaced.

"Hey, remember what I said a few days ago, she's gotta get used to this. Part of the high class life," Jerad smirked. "Otherwise, she can't drink those fancy wines at parties. Not a good way to stand out…"

"If anything, I won't worry about it too much," Levin shook his head.

"Ooh, fine! If this is really my last test," Frida abruptly grabbed the can. "Then so be it!"

"Hell yeah, that's the stuff," Jerad kept his grin as more people, including Zeke, and Shin who had been intoxicated began watching her.

They anxiously watched Frida pull the tab back, causing the can to make a hissing sound, and held the can in front of her, seemingly hesitant.

"Go..go..," Jerad began encouraging her. "Go! Go!"

And everyone with the exception of the few who remained sober began following.

"Go..! Go! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!"

Everyone, including Phym who just wanted to follow along, were flexing their arms in each call until Frida finally began gulping.

"Aww, why is everyone so noisy..?" Misha opened her weary eyes. "Will you all be QUIET! I was having such a nice dream with Hu…"

And she paused.

"WOO!" Jerad cried as Frida kept gulping until she pulled the can out of her lips.

"It's so bitter..," Frida held the can in front of her, and stared at it with disgust. "Yuck..!"

Then she suddenly raised her eyes as she felt something hit her, like her head being bashed by a boost hammer.

"Oh yeah, it's gonna be bitter at first!" Jerad explained. "After a few drinks, you'll feel too good to care! Keep going!"

"Just about halfway through..," Frida placed the can on her lips again in spite of her rapidly worsening daze, and raised her head for the final chug. 'Only…ha…'

With the content suddenly flowing from her mouth before dropping her can, and spilling it on the deck, Frida suddenly fell back on the couch with her eyes closed.

"What the hell..?" Jerad, and everyone froze.

"Frida!" Claire moved quickly to grab her wrist to check her pulse, and then her breathing.

"Is she OK?" Levin also sat beside his unconscious bodyguard. "Claire..?"

"Oh, thank goodness," Claire sighed. "Her breathing is stable. It's likely she just fell asleep."

"Uh, OK," Jerad murmured. "Cool…"

"Jerad!" Claire turned to him next. "I told you!"

"Huh?" Jerad blinked his eyes with bewilderment.

"I told you not to force her!" Claire furrowed her eyes.

"Hey, if I knew this, I wouldn't have pushed this on her," Jerad shrugged. "She could have said something."

"Well..if anything, I don't think I have ever seen her drink any sort of liquor," Levin murmured. "This could be her first."

"You're telling me this girl can't take a booze even with just a sip?" Trista laugh. "I've seen first timers in Chrysanthemum before in Daris' unit, and I have never seen anyone pass out after their first can. Most of them just get pretty ditzy."

"Same here in my first time," Jerad also chuckled. "And even my sister in that."

"Ooh, I HATE you guys," Misha groaned before diving on Hugo's chest much to his embarrassment. "I was having such a great dream. Just me, and him, doting on our boy and girl together. They're both so cute, and I wanna SPOIL them!"

"Huh? That's what you're dreaming about?" Jerad laughed. "I'm their Uncle Jerad in your dream? Nice!"

"Uh, well..," Hugo paused, trying to talk through his embarrassment.

"Aww, look at him. Hugo is starting to be all red," Trista grinned. "A rare sight."

Then everyone laughed before Misha simply giggled while nuzzling on his chest.

"Let me say one more piece, but genetics can also influence how your body can handle liquor," Claire murmured before turning to Jerad. "And with that being said, no more drinks for Frida because next time, she might not be as lucky since over intoxication can also become fatal. Is that understood?"

"OK, OK," Jerad leaned back while waving his hands. "No more drinks for her, I swear."

"Hey, let's not ruin the last moments of this party by playing poker again," Trista chuckled. "Who's down?!"

"I am..," Jerad raised his hand. "I need a little vent."

"Hell yeah! Let's do this!" Trista volunteered to be the dealer.

And a few minutes later.

"Oh, dammit. I got beat?" Jerad threw his stack down. "Freakin' four of a kind, too?"

"Hah! You sucked at bluffing!" Trista grinned. "Saw your face earlier, and I knew I had to bet more to get above ya. Ready to try me one more time? Let's spice it up a bit. Shin, you're the dealer!"

"Aye, aye, captain!" Shin took the stack of cards.

Then another few minutes.

"Royal Flush, are you kidding me?!" Zeke dropped his cards, and clutched his head.

"HA! I call myself the Queen of Poker for a reason!" Trista sneered. "Not even Captain Daris could kick my ass!"

As Hugo watched them from afar, he suddenly saw Frida begin rising up from their couch like a zombie waking up, but he was too far to check on her with Misha still lying on his chest. Everyone else was too busy either watching, or playing poker together to notice…

After Levin laughed at the outcome, and Trista's sneering comments, he noticed a shadow looming over him, and feeling a slight unease of this atmosphere, Levin slowly turned to its direction. In a flash, he found himself firmly pinned against their couch by a pair of inhumanly strong yet delicate hands on his shoulders.

Above him, Frida was staring down on him, her lips plainly wide, and her eyes affectionately furrowed at him. "How are you, my lord?"

Then she kept her loving smile as everyone was suddenly shocked by her sudden move.

"Frida..?" Levin nervously froze by this, also noticing that her face was completely flushed. "I'm..doing great."

Then Frida's affectionate grin widened as her seemingly lustful eyes further narrowed before she followed with a seductive giggle, and the next thing Levin knew, she slowly shifted closer to him, her breasts almost touching his face before carefully settling on his lap with her slender thighs wrapped around his.

"Ever since I laid my eyes upon you, I always thought about you dayyy and night..," Frida began slowly slipping her warm hands around the back of his neck, which caused Levin to make a slight shudder. "I always dreamed of spending the rest of my life at your side, my dearest. Would you like to have children? How many would you like?"

'This is..bad!' Hugo raised his eyes before turning to Misha, who was still tightly asleep in his chest. "Sorry, but I gotta go."

"Mm!" Misha shook her head while tightening her superhuman arms around his waist, threatening to crush his ribs. "Let's stay this way. Just you, and meee…"

"But..!" Hugo paused before glancing at the scene, and then back to her. "Dammit..!"

At this point, he is left to rely on others to stop this unwanted obscenery from escalating…

"Uh, well..," Levin slowly glanced at the closest person for help, who grinned before leaning towards him for a whisper.

"Ten children," Jerad almost murmured to a whisper before snickering.

"Ten children?!" Levin felt his heart jump at the thought of having that many children with her, and suddenly dumbfounded by his hindsight in loudly repeating it, he quickly turned back to see her reaction in spite of everyone's laughter.

Intimately in front of him, Frida paused for a few seconds by his response before returning to her loving smile, and another lewd giggle. "Oh, Levin, my love! I will gladly bear you ten children! Ten times we will consumate our passionate love!"

Then she leaned back tall over him, and began unclipping her coat, never taking her desiring lustful eyes off of him. After she finished, somehow in spite of her intoxicated state, she was still considerate enough to carefully yet still seductively place her white coat on their side.

"Frida..what are you?" Levin began shuddering. Ignoring him, however, she slowly crawled back, and kneeled in front of him before she began reaching for his zipper.

"Frida, enough!" Claire suddenly sprung from their couch, and held her back with both arms. "You don't know what you're doing! Please do not do anything that you'll regret later!"

"Regret..?" Frida wearily furrowed her eyes at her. "As long as it's for my love, I have no…"

And she fainted again before Claire yelped trying to prevent her from falling on the deck, and hurting herself.

"Lulu, please help me!" Claire exclaimed while still holding her. "Let's put her back on the couch!"

"Understood!" Lulu also sprung up, and grabbed Frida's legs. It was also thanks to the superhuman strength of God Eaters that the two young women were still able to carefully place Frida back on their couch.

Holding her coat, Levin carefully placed it on Frida's chest to give her more warmth and comfort in her sleep. "Goodness…"

"Damn..," Jerad chuckled. "Friday was really into it, huh? Ten kids?"

Then everyone including Hugo laughed.

"Please…in all honesty, I don't want that many children," Levin facepalmed.

"Hey, I just wanna ask, but how many kids do you really want?" Jerad flashed his eyebrows.

"...Just one..or perhaps two, at most?" Levin shyly replied.

"Heyyy, that's good for a noble guy like you. Good answer," Jerad clicked his tongue while waving his half empty can, and then gulping a few. "Let me tell you why. Like Ricardo once told me, and also what I learned from history, kings or other powerful guys who had many kids often end up killing each other to be the next sitter of the throne, especially those pigs who were greedy enough to have other women besides their queens to have kids with. You definitely would not want that on your own kids, so with this, I think you're on the right track."

"Yes, indeed," Levin chuckled. "I don't plan on having multiple wives, nevertheless. Let alone, I do not ever think our aunt would approve of it."

"Haha! Yep," Jerad raised his can to him as an agreement. "Your aunt was smart. Think about it, though. If say, your aunt were to learn about this idea of you having ten kids, what would she say?"

"Oh, brother. She already once teased me about it," Levin facepalmed.

"Oh? What did she tell ya?" Jerad grinned with anticipation.

"She told me that our family needs to grow again," Levin chuckled.

"Hah! Your aunt definitely wants you, and Frida to breed a whole squad of House Victorious God Eaters," Trista, and everyone laughed. "You're not gonna be the only one, though. There's also these two pumping little devils out."

And with the exception of Jerad, and Claire, everyone laughed again.

"Little devils..?" Phym beamed. "Baby brother! Baby sister!"

"Phym..enough," Jerad grimaced.

Afterwards, Claire suddenly gasped. "Levin..?"

"Hm?" Levin suddenly turned to his cousin. "What is it?"

Following the direction of Claire's eyes, Jerad paused. "Whoa! Did you piss yourself a bit?!"

Then he laughed as Levin glanced down.

"Huh?" Levin stared at his stained groin. "I certainly did not! I was not scared enough to urinate myself!"

"Well, considering that she sat on you earlier..," Trista murmured, seemingly knowing where that stain likely came from. "...Never mind. Forget it."

Then she turned away before Lulu glanced at her, who was suspicious that Trista was hiding something.

"Still, though. Thinking back on it," Jerad began snickering. "That last part was really hilarious. Frida trying to draw your long blade out, and I bet after she heard about your Excalibur from that shower fiasco we had last week, she wanted to..claim it."

Then everyone loudly laughed.

"Great, the Arthurian legend, huh?" Levin closed his eyes with a chuckle.

"Jerad, please enough of your obscene humor," Claire closed her eyes. "We have Phym here."

"Yeah, yeah," Jerad raised both hands. "But I swear, I haven't had a good laugh for a while."

"Long blade? Ex-caliber?" Phym glanced at everyone.

"It's a western story," Jerad explained. "A sword that only the worthy of a king can draw from a stone."

"We only got a little left before we have to wrap this up, and take our showers," Trista said. "Down for a couple of more pokers?"

"But what about Frida? What if she was still asleep?" Levin asked.

"I'll carry her myself, don't worry Prince Charming," Trista grinned. "Unless…you want to princess carry her yourself, hm?"

"Uh..that might not be appropriate, so please do," Levin awkwardly smiled. "Thank you."

"Aww, that would actually be more fun to watch, but whatever," Trista shrugged.

"I..hope she won't wake up again until tomorrow," Claire murmured.

"Yeah, unless she wants to finish the job that badly," Trista flashed her eyebrows before everyone laughed. "Does she seriously want to get pregnant?"

"We are still minors, so no," Levin shook his head.

"I also have another concern for her," Claire frowned before glancing at her direction, who was still innocently asleep. "Knowing her, once she sobers up, she would consider this display as being dishonorable for House Victorious, and might turn herself in. What should we do about this?"

"Ah, you're probably right," Trista smirked. "BUUT, seeing that Frida got into something like a hangover, it's possible that she won't remember anything once she wakes up, and all that is worn out. I got into a hangover myself a couple of times, and I don't remember a damn thing."

Then she laughed. "Let's all bet on that. You hear that, boys and girls?! Tomorrow, every damn one of you will not ever talk about this, and if this shinigami girl does forget, keep your mouths shut, and move on! Cover her ass! If she remembers, tell her that we got her back! Not even the owner should know. Got it?!"

"Gotcha," Jerad enthusiastically agreed.

"I get you, big sis..," Misha raised her hand before letting it drop down, and snuggled on Hugo again, making a short giggle.

Jerad laughed at this. "Wow…Misha be having fun with every second of it."

"Quiet..," Misha groaned. "Don't disturb us."

Then Jerad laughed again, and glanced at Claire, who responded with a giggle.

"You must be dying inside right now, brother-in-law," Jerad flashed his eyebrows.

"Can't really say I do," Hugo curved his lips as Jerad's grin widened, and then Misha giggled, and tightened her embrace.

"Oww, hey!" Hugo held her gripping arms. "Not too tight..! You're gonna break my ribs!"

"Mishaaa, remember what I warned you," Trista made a suggestive smirk. "Don't break him."

Then she, and Jerad laughed.

"She's gonna give him the snu snu..," Shin whispered before Trista laughed again.

"That's so wrong," Trista let out a few more chuckles. "I had no idea you knew about that."

"Just happened to," Shin chuckled.

"With sis' big stamina?" Jerad smirked. "Man, she's gonna suck your soul out dry…Good luck, brother-in-law."

And the three laughed while Hugo sighed.

Then Claire groaned. "Jerad, come see me in the Medical Ward after we finish here…privately."

"Wait, huh?" Jerad turned to her.

"We need.. to TALK," Claire grimaced.

"Oh ho ho! Jerad is going to be busted," Zeke laughed.

"Uh, OK," Jerad dryly replied.

"Haha! For a moment, I thought Claire also wanted some hot act..," Trista paused after Claire turned her glaring eyes at her. "OK, I'll shut up now."

Then thirty minutes passed.

"Hoo, I'm totally spent now," Trista stretched her arms. "You guys wanna wrap this up?"

"Let's do this," Jerad laid back. "Time for a cold shower."

"Medical Ward..first!" Claire furrowed her eyes.

"Oh yeahhh, I almost forgot..," Jerad slouched.

"What about..Frida?" Levin murmured while staring at her. "She is still asleep."

"Here, I got her," Trista walked over to the sleeping girl, and lifted her above her right shoulder with Frida's arms hanging down behind her back. Frida remained deeply asleep.

"Whoa, wait!" Levin stopped her. "That's how you'll carry her?"

"Hm? What's the problem?" Trista furrowed her eyes as Jerad laughed.

"That's..not very comfortable," Levin complained.

"I agree considering how intoxicated she is," Claire murmured. "She might vomit."

"Great, I'm not gonna princess carry her, obviously," Trista groaned.

"...Then I'll do it," Levin murmured.

"Woo! Levin, you're the man," Jerad patted his shoulder.

"Please place her back on the couch. I'll pick her up," Levin closed his eyes.

"Hey, no problem," Trista carefully placed her comfortably back down, and Frida made a short groan.

Levin took a deep breath before he placed her coat back to her chest, and began to carefully lift her up, making sure her head was resting on his arm instead of hanging back.

Jerad suddenly chuckled. "Damn! Ya look gud doing that!"

And after his comment, Levin heard Frida moan, and as he glanced down at her, she was snuggling her face on his chest. "My prince…"

"Aww," Trista sneered before cracking a laugh.

"Ohh, I'm so jealous..," Misha curved her lips before turning to Hugo. "Hugo, carry me, too."

Then she hung herself around his neck.

"Whoa, hey!" Hugo tried to catch her so she would not fall down, and Jerad laughed. "I'm drunk, too, you know? I can't carry you like this, or we both might fall down."

"Aww," Misha whined.

"I'll just hold you instead, alright?" Hugo began holding her around her waist as Misha slowly stood on her feet.

"Fine..," Misha tightly wrapped her arms around him. "There..!"

"Hey, not too tight. Jeez..!" Hugo held her gripping arms before she made a child-like groan.

"Hey, sis. That's enough," Jerad chuckled. "We all gotta take a shower, and hit the sack, so don't give your husband a hard time when he's already helping you. I still have to get chewed up by Claire."

Then Trista, Shin, and Zeke laughed.

"Alright," Misha groaned.

Then once they're at the bridge, Amy saw them passing through, and her eyes raised seeing Misha having her arms around Hugo, and Levin carrying Frida.

"Uhh, is everything alright..?" Amy blinked her eyes blankly. "Everyone..?"

"We're fine. We all just got wasted," Trista grinned. "We're all gonna shower an' go to bed."

"Oh..I see," Amy smiled. "Hope you enjoyed yourselves."

"Is there anything you need?" Keith asked.

"I'm all set now, thank you," Amy smiled. "I'll be up for another hour, and then I'll go to sleep as well."

"Gotcha," Keith nodded.

"Good night, everyone," Amy waved with a smile. "Good night, Keith. Thanks for all the help."

"My pleasure," Keith nodded with a smile. "Good night."

Then they headed towards the elevator, and as soon as it opened, they entered with Hugo, Misha, Levin, and sleeping Frida coming in first.

Once in the Residential Hall.

"You guys hit the showers, I'll catch up," Jerad waved as he remained in the elevator with Claire who was just watching him, and everyone turned around and laughed. "Just go. Levin, get that girl to her bed before she tries latching you again. Phym, get your stuff ready before mommy comes back, got it?"

"But daddy, can I sleep with you..?" Phym pleaded.

"Nope, not until I'm sober," Jerad shook his head. "Get your towel before mommy comes back. Don't make her any more mad."

And he chuckled.

"Okay..," Phym nodded.

Then Jerad pressed a button before the elevator door closed.

"Well, let's get your gurl to her bed as Jerad said," Trista pointed at their cabin. "Don't worry. She'll take her shower first thing in the morning."

"Right," Levin nodded before heading to the Female Cabin while the rest of the men headed for the Male Cabin to prepare for a shower.

Once in the Female Cabin, Trista pointed to where Frida's bed is, and Levin laid her there before placing her blanket. However, while Levin was rolling her blanket up over her chest, Frida suddenly yet tenderly held his hand to his surprise, and smiled in her sleep.

"That girl is definitely all over you, huh?" Trista chuckled. "Have you made any moves yet?"

"No," Levin shook his head.

"Why not?" Trista tilted her head. "It's not like she'll ever say no to you. If you ask her out, she'll take it without a second thought. I can almost guarantee it."

"It's..just not the time yet," Levin murmured. " I still have to work on myself, first."

"Ha, I see," Trista smiled. "Tell you what, you're having it easier than your cousin."

Then Levin turned to her.

"You know by now your cousin has been chasing Jerad, right?" Trista murmured.

"I know it quite well," Levin also murmured. "But..why won't he?"

"It's pretty complicated," Misha murmured. "I'm just going to start with that."

"Hm?" Levin turned to her.

"He feels too different to her," Misha explained.

"I don't understand at all," Levin furrowed his eyes. "What is it about him that makes him feel different to her? From what I've seen, they've been getting along."

"Well, remember what we talked about a few days ago?" Misha frowned. "How we AGEs have been treated, and how he's been looking at himself for it."

"Hugo…talked to me about this earlier, too," Levin murmured. "He asked me if aunt would judge him, and as best as I could, answered that she wouldn't at all."

"That's the thing," Misha replied. "He believes she would in the end, otherwise."

"That is absurd..!" Levin grimaced. "He should at least know by now that our aunt would never do such things. I don't even think he left any bad first impression from her at all..!"

"But he's a stubborn idiot," Misha closed her eyes. "I think deep inside..he is just scared. He's pretty much tired of being judged negatively by others, and wouldn't want to face this with your aunt because of your cousin. I'll tell you one thing but…he's already been heartbroken about her once."

"What?" Levin raised his eyes.

"When we learned that Claire was an aristocrat, I saw how hurtful that was for him, and yet he still pretended it didn't matter to him after," Misha murmured. "He never talked to any of us about it."

"Stoicism is one thing," Levin frowned. "But excess of that can also be self-harmful. Though, I would now understand why, but one thing I could tell you about our family is…"

He turned to her. "We're actually quite 'notorious' for marrying commoners that other powerful families have been ridiculing us for."

"Nah, fuck 'em," Trista shook her head. "That's none of their damn business."

"Indeed, we don't believe in political marriages. Frankly, we don't need them," Levin explained. "My late mother also wasn't born of nobility, and it wasn't even that long since our family rose to that high position. Claire's father was the first head of the family, and then our aunt."

"I see, then..," Misha paused. "That's…something my brother needs to know, but for now, please don't try persuading him. It might make things worse. Let me, and Hugo handle this."

"I understand," Levin nodded. "I've already learned how emotionally sensitive he can be."

"To deem himself unworthy of the one he loves," Lulu murmured. "I can only imagine how painful that can really be…"

"If the things I've seen in some romance movies are accurate," Trista shook her head. "Yeah, that can really hurt…"

"I'll have to take my leave. You'll have to prepare for a shower and I also have to do likewise," Levin stood up. "Thank you for looking after Frida."

"No problem," Trista shook her head. "We'll look after your princess until tomorrow."

Then Levin chuckled. "Good night."

And after several minutes in the men's shower room, Levin finally arrived with his shower materials with him.

"Heyy, look who's here now?" Zeke grinned. "It's Prince Charmin'.

"You guys haven't..," Levin paused.

"Nah, we're all waiting for our star here," Hugo smiled. "We're all in this together."

"Ah," Levin blinked his eyes. "Indeed."

Zeke suddenly chuckled. "So, that..shigami girl or whatchamacallit almost dug into your pants, huh?"

Then everyone chuckled.

"Please, guys," Levin closed his eyes. "Not you, too."

Then Jerad finally arrived with a towel on his shoulder, smirking. "Sup, guys?"

"Heyy, finally got done getting ass chewed by yer lover?" Zeke laughed.

"Worth it," Jerad flashed his eyebrows with a grin before turning to Levin. "I'm really starting to get the kicks pissing your cousin off. I'll definitely get used to this!"

And he loudly chuckled.

And Levin also laughed. "Please do. I believe she needs to move out of her reservedness a bit."

"So…what did Claire chew ya about?" Zeke grinned.

"About how nastily crude I was around Phym," Jerad laughed again. "Honestly, I didn't care at all. I just pretended that I was listening to her like herself..a teacher's pet."

Then everyone laughed.

"Let's hit it. Can't wait to take a cold one," Jerad groaned. "I'm just about ready to snooze."

A few hours earlier in the Crimson Queen Headquarters.

The fleet of trailers finally arrived in their underground hangar, and everyone including Werner disembarked.

"Good work, everyone, and thank you," Werner smiled.

"Alright, guys! Get everything stowed away, and your God Arcs stored!" Hector boomed. "After this, take a well deserved break. It's been a long day, and work starts again tomorrow."

"Yes, sir!" Everyone acknowledged.

"Finally home," Sarah sighed. "Can't wait for another well deserved shower tonight."

"Your long beauty shower..," Leon murmured.

"Did you say something?" Sarah glared at him.

"Nothing..," Leon quickly shook his head.

"Hoo..! You guys ready to start a bonfire together with some barbecue?" Jaffar smiled.

"Let's do this," Feng smiled. "Neal, you joining us?"

"Definitely," Neal smiled.

"We're in, too," Carol, Sonia, Miles, and Yuki waved.

"We'll come, too," Sarah, and Leon also waved.

"Nice. The more, the merrier," Jaffar grinned.

Then they suddenly caught the attention of a familiar red haired boy running across the hangar.

"Dad!" Mark came running to his father, who was helping in unloading their trailers.

"Heyy, come here!" Hector bent down, and extended his arms as Mark ran to his father's loving arms.

"I missed you already..!" Mark embraced him.

"I missed you, too, son," Hector carried him, and patted his head. "How's school today?"

"Great! I finished my homework," Mark replied. "I practiced today, too. Two hun..dred swings an' one hun-dred push ups!"

"That's my boy," Hector chuckled with pride.

"Welcome back," A female AGE in her late 20s smiled. Like the rest of the organization, she is also wearing black and green themed military clothes with a short, but long sleeved jacket, black shirt inside, a Crimson Queen band on her right arm, and green pants with black boots. Similar to Sonia, she also has a well groomed bob cut orange hair that reaches just over her shoulders, making her look dazzling as ever for her husband.

"Always will be back for you," Hector smiled back, and as eager as he is, he would normally give her a good kiss and a hug, but due to still currently in the line of duty, he will have to save it for later.

"Good to see you again, Amelia," Werner smiled.

"Good to see you, sir," Amelia smiled back.

"Um..," Alice glanced up at Werner.

"Aww, is she the new one?" Amelia bent down, and gave her a warm smile.

Then Alice groaned as she hid behind Werner.

"She is..not used to strangers yet," Werner chuckled.

"He is her 'papa' now, too," Hector grinned.

"Hm?" Amelia blinked her eyes.

"Got a fun little story for that tonight, honey," Hector flashed his eyebrows with a chuckle.

"Alice, this is Amelia Brandt, and this is Mark Brandt," Werner patted her head. "They are good people. Please do not be afraid."

Trusting him, Alice shyly waved. "Um, hello."

"Hello there," Amelia waved with a genuine smile. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," Mark reached his hand, and Alice hesitantly shook his hand.

Then Amelia kneeled down with her son. "Sweetie, your daddy is still at work, but we will finish soon. Sarah, and Feng are here, too."

"Maark, we're here," Sarah waved.

"Want to join us in our bonfire later?" Feng added

Then Mark gasped. "Feng, and Sister Sarah!"

And the boy turned to his mother.

"Talk to them in the meantime. We'll finish work, OK?" Amelia tilted her head with a smile.

"Go for it, son," Hector also smiled. "We'll catch up to you."

"Okay," Mark nodded. "Let's go, Alice."

Then he dragged the shy girl with him by her hand.

"He's as energetic as ever," Hector chuckled. "Curious, always running around, and wanting to see the world. Sometimes, it just totally gets him."

Then as Mark and Alice reached the Intelligence Division, Sarah bent down, and made a high five gesture as their usual greeting with him before Mark palm slapped all their hands in turn.

"Ready to hang out, and have fun?" Feng chuckled after high fiving the boy.

"Yeah! You got a new battle story to tell us?" Mark excitedly asked.

"Heck yeah, we do," Feng patted his head. "We actually have quite a lot to tell you. Awesome stuff!"

"Yeah!" Mark flexed his arms.

"Alice, please join us in our bonfire tonight," Sarah patted her head. "We'll make barbecue for you."

"Mm, yeah..," Sarah murmured. "I'm hungry…"

"Then you'll definitely eat like a queen," Sarah giggled. "Carol, and I will grill lots for you. No more starving once you're here."

"You know? I haven't talked to you yet," Yuki grinned. "I'm Yuki. Yuki Kobayashi. Nice to meet you. I serve under Captain Neal."

"You-Key..Co-ba-yashi..?" Alice tipped her lower lip.

"Yeah! You got it right!" Yuki grinned. "The one with a big sword that cuts all…except my commander."

"And this master of coup de grace is Miles," Miles smugly pointed at himself. "Miles Turner, the lancer of grace and style! The most stylish of Captain Neal's 2nd Defense Regiment. Nice to have you."

"Good call, Feng," Hector suddenly held his shoulder, and whispered while Amelia and Werner stood behind them. "Keep Mark entertained for a bit. Amelia, Werner, and I have something important to talk about, and it's a bit about him. Cool?"

Then Feng raised his eyes. "Mark? What is this about..?"

"It's nothing too bad, but very important," Hector smiled. "It's about our bias factor upgrade, if you catch my hint. We'll join you after, and I could also use a little drink, and some cuddle time with wifey in front of a nice warm fire. Thanks, and please keep him entertained. Tell him your accomplishment story, and we all know Mark likes those..."

"No problem," Feng nodded. "I got your back."

"We really appreciate it, Feng," Amelia smiled. "Thank you."

Two hours later.

Werner, and most of the Crimson Queen were sitting together around a bonfire. Sarah, and Carol continued marinate pieces of meat before placing them on sticks, and sticking them near their bonfire while Mark continued playing with Alice, and listening to Feng and Jaffar's war stories. Werner watched them with a smile as he drank from a bottle, and nearby, Hector has his arm around his wife with also a bottle on the other hand.

"It's always nice to see everyone happy, even in a place like this," Amelia glanced at her husband with a smile before turning back to watch their son happily talking to their friends. "I hope it stays like this forever."

"Yeah, I'll make sure it happens. Whatever it takes," Hector drank his bottle. "For Mark's future.., and everyone else's, too."

"Mm," Amelia nodded, leaning warmly on her husband's shoulder. "We've been in this together..ever since we had him."

"Yeah," Hector glanced at her. "And we'll grow old together to see it happen. I swear it."

And in turn, Hector stared up at the green full moon that now looms above their bonfire. In hindsight because of the Fenrir HQ Reclamation Initiatve approaching, a dreaded feeling of uncertainty began haunting him, and he could only wonder with Gleipnir's grand plan to recommence the Reclamation to save humanity from the Ashlands, how will this affect the future of his family, especially Mark's. In turn, he turned to their son who is currently enjoying himself listening to Feng, Carol, and Jaffar before he shook his negative thoughts away, remembering Werner's advice to look into the future, not the past. He took a slow deep breath while still staring at their son, only hoping for the best.