As the group continued on to Brodia, villagers from a nearby town tell them that bandits have robbed them of their cherished possessions and have taken residence in nearby ruins, so the group sets their sights for the ruins, unaware of the encounter they'll have with someone they'll find familiar.
At the ruins, two of the bandits were headed to report to their leader, Mitan who was very annoyed.
"Ngh, you still haven't found her?!" Mitan asked in annoyance.
"Sorry, boss! The thief was too quick for us. We lost track of where she went!" the first thief said.
"We're supposed to be the thieves, you bums! We steal, we don't get stolen from! Well, she can't have left this fortress yet. Go catch her! No excuses!" Mitan ordered.
"Yes, boss!" the first thief complied.
"Boss! Bad news!" the second thief called as he ran up.
"Am I about to hear an excuse?!" Mitan asked.
"There's a tough-looking bunch headed right for us. They're armed too!" the second thief said.
"Typical! How much worse can today get?" Mitan asked. "Whatever, this won't stop us either. Battle squads, in position and ready to move! I want our thieves in the treasury now. Once the treasure is secure, get to a safe place." she ordered.
"Got it, boss!" the first thief complied.
Meanwhile in the treasure room, a certain redhead was looking at the treasure chests with excitement.
This particular girl had her hair in a ponytail, and unlike most other versions of this particular individual, she was much shorter and younger. She wore a red and white tunic dress along with a cloak around her neck, and black gloves as she held an axe.
"Ooo! A whole room full of treasure! I'm sure no one will mind if I help myself." she said. "Hey, is someone talking? Sounds panicked, whoever they are."
"Move your butts and get in position!" a thief ordered.
"Is there about to be a fight? I'd better find someplace to hide!" the girl said as she looked to an open treasure chest. "I guess this is my best option…" she said as she hid inside just as the thieves got into position.
"Can you believe the luck we're having today?" the second thief from earlier asked.
"Less talking, more stalking. Make sure your gear is ready before things kick off!" the first thief from earlier said.
"Uh-oh. This is way too many bandits to make a clean getaway." the girl said as the group soon arrived in front of two different entrances into the ruins.
"This is definitely the place." Balthus said.
"Look at the bandits swarming the place. Seems like splitting up was the right call, Leopardmon." David said.
"This is strange, I'm detecting a heat signature from inside a chest." Hermit said.
"Do you think someone could have wandered in here?" Nesma asked.
"They picked a bad time to in this case, with all these bandits swarming around. We'd better take them out quickly." Cheetah said.
"This won't take long." Yuri said as he readied his sword and unique dagger, the Abyssal Blade.
A fight soon broke out between both sides as a few of the group went to check on the treasure.
"We hit gold…now let's see what's in golden goose chest number 1." Vector said, opening one of the chests to find the girl inside. "What the heck!?"
"Wait, Anna?" Hapi asked.
"Huh, another one from the family." Zi-O remarked.
"Except this one is a child." Geiz added.
"Seems like there are Annas everywhere in these kinds of worlds." Sectonia said..
"Kinda like the Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys." Cure Starlight mentioned.
"You know, Paimon kept seeing Katherynes in Teyvat, too. And they share the same look. Paimon can't tell if it's teleportation, robots, or family genes." Paimon also mentioned.
"Why are you even here? And in a treasure chest?" Vector asked.
"Well, I was looking for treasure myself but…then those thieves came and I kinda ran outta time to escape. I'm on a journey to find my family." Anna explained.
"Well we actually know of some of them, your sisters." Yuri said.
"There's a chance we'll run into them at some point. So you should come with us." Alear said.
"Sounds like a good proposition. But first you gotta get me outta here." Anna said.
"Yeah…that's not gonna be a problem." Vector said.
Of course, those words would ring true as the rest of the group was already taking care of and finishing off the thieves with ease.
"Wow…that was incredible." Anna said.
"Glad you enjoyed the show." ZS replied.
"You guys are pretty strong, for sure. So, does the offer to join your team still stand?" Anna asked.
"Sure does. But are you gonna be okay from here on out? We'll be fighting way worse than bandits out there." Zephyr said.
"I know I look small, but I pack a punch! I can take care of myself, guaranteed. Besides, I've got nothing better to do. Not until I figure out where my family went." Anna said.
"You've got a pretty big family from what I've heard." Connor said.
"Understatement." Hope said.
"HUGE understatement." Zi-O, Geiz and Cure Starlight added.
"Yes. But don't forget…I'll be sure to charge you all for my services." Anna said.
"You…expect us to pay you for letting us let you come with us?" Connor asked.
"I accept." Anna said as she headed off with them.
"Wait, did I just agree to her deal?" Connor said.
"She is a very shrewd business woman." Theo said.
"Just like her older sisters." Zi-O pointed out before shrugging. "Oh well, more allies for us."
"Hopefully, Brodia isn't too much further away." Connor said.