"Well, we better get started then," Alipheese the Second said.

"Indeed," Saja replied. The two monsters were now looking down at the black-haired kitsune before them.

"Konno, was it? Are you ready to tell us what you know?" Alice asked.

"Yeah," Konno replied "He was small. Really small, actually. The same height as a fourteen-year-old boy? Though his power suggests a different age, but that's not important right now. He had light-purple hair. It was also pretty messy. What else..."

"Oh, he wore a red cape and had some plain clothing. He wore a belt, he had blue eyes, and... Hmm. Did I mention he was short?"

"Yes," Saja replied "Anything else? Any other distinct features?"

"Let me think... Oh, yeah! He had a really strange sword. It was made of some kind of strange metal and was shaped like a statue of hundreds of little angels. Pretty badass if you ask me, though I wonder where he got it" Konno explained. The young kitsune continued to try to think of anything else about the little hero, but failed.

"Well, this should be enough," Alice said "So, who will paint it?" Konno, who had done her job, sat back down in her chair.

"Well, I can't," Saja said as she raised the two wings which made for her arms "Unless you want me to use magic"

"No, no. We should draw this one by hand. Magic was always imprecise anyway, something like this will need a more delicate touch. Who is our best painter?" Alipheese asked.

"Hmm. I suppose we could get a human to do it. They were always more interested in that sort of thing. Either that or you could try" Saja suggested.

"...Alright," Alice said. And without another word, she left the room. Saja watched as the second of the Fateburns, and the daughter of one of the most feared people ever, went off to paint.

How… ridiculous. How is she going to be able to lead an army?

No. I shouldn't have doubts about the daughter of Lord Alipheese. She's already fought in the war a few times. Although, she hasn't been in any large-scale fight as of yet. Keeping her identity hidden is becoming more and more difficult…

Saja sighed as she thought about Alice. Saja had always acted as the bodyguard for the Dark Lord. And as such, she spent a lot of time around Alipheese the Second. She watched her grow from a little snake girl, into one of the strongest monsters alive. If she were to be trained further, she may even surpass her one day. After all, she was the daughter of a goddess.

Now, Saja and Alipheese were tasked with the job of capturing the Hero Luka. Their role in specific, was to help spread the word. To do this, Alipheese told them to set up wanted posters. The Hero Luka was now to be considered a soldier of Ilias, or on the same level as one anyway. Specifically, though, she wanted him alive. He was far too mysterious to be killed. Tamamo No Mae had suggested they use him in the war, as a weapon against Ilias, but Alipheese refused. Not out of any kindness for the boy, but rather that she wanted revenge for her daughter's death. Her sadness over Kanon's death was not shared by her sisters. Still, all of them agreed that revenge should be taken, lest the status of the ancestors as demi goddesses be questioned.

"Guess I'll see how she's doing," Saja said. As she walked down the hall, she saw many passing monsters immediately bow before her. She was the second most powerful monster alive, after all. She was known for her bravery on the battlefield, and for being the equal of Micaela, the Sword of Heaven. She was the leader of the six ancestors, the ancestor of all lamia's and harpies, and the personal guard of the Dark Goddess herself. Saja was proud of her position, and unlike some of her sisters, took it very seriously.

Leader of the five ancestors now... How could Kanon be so foolish!? To lose to a human, what a disgrace. All she could was eat and fuck. Her power was impressive, sure, but her mind was so pathetic. And now, we are at a disadvantage against Ilias. We were so close... We could've ended this war within the decade.

When Saja entered the room, she was greeted by a splash of colour. Saja did not make a noise as Alice began to laugh. She wiped the paint off her face and looked down at the young woman, who was currently acting like a child.

"Hahahaha! Look at you!" Alice laughed "Heh, I got you good, didn't I?"

A small smile was brought to Saja's lips as she answered "Hmm, a childish prank. But… I should've seen it coming. Did Hiruko teach you that one?" Saja asked.

"Nooope! I learnt it all by myself!" She answered.

"Haah, I suppose someone else will have to do the painting" Saja sighed "And now I have to get clean…" Saja grumbled. Alipheese laughed a little, but quickly began to help the ancestor clean herself. Once she was done, Saja and Alipheese slithered around the castle. Side by side, one large snake, with harpy wings and a large chest, and one smaller snake, with a more humanoid body than her mother, toured the castle in search of an artist. Alipheese still had the same tail as Dark Goddess but had lost the primal monster look that she had. The Lamia traits of her mother had clearly been imprinted in her, and it seemed that all Fateburns after her would also follow this pattern. When the Dark Goddess got pregnant with Alice, nobody knew what the child would like. She could've been literally any of the major races, or something different entirely. Saja was pleased with how the girl came out, although she suspected she would've been pleased no matter what the girl looked like. It had been many years since then. Alipheese had grown up in a time of war. She knew the truth of the world and the immense cruelty in it. Luckily for her, she was born on the side of the oppressors. The oppressed? Humanity. She had long been taught how humans were to be treated. Saja was glad that she was able to nurture the girl into not being over-cruel to humans. Saja was not innocent of killing humans, especially men, but she got no pleasure from intentionally hurting them.

After a long search, the two finally found the person they were looking for.

"Lisa" Saja said "We have a job for you"

"Oh?" The paintgeist looked at the pair "What is it?"

"Can you draw something for us? We initially wanted to paint it, but that would be hard to mass produce" Saja asked.

"...So just because I'm in the ghost of a painting, you think I'm an artist? That's racist you know!" Lisa responded. Saja looked at the strange monster with slight annoyance. She had been a side-effect of the experiments being done in Remina. She was not intended to be created but was anyway. As she had nowhere to go, Alipheese offered her a position as a servant in the Castle.

"Can you do it? Lord Alipheese wants a few hundred by tomorrow"

"...Yes" Lisa said, "What does he look like?"

"Purple hair, short, blue eyes, young-looking, has a strange, angelic sword, like a strange statue-made sword combination. The statues are all little angels, and there are some wings on it- You know what, scratch the sword, just give him a normal one" Saja described. Lisa nodded as she drew a sketch on a piece of paper. After another minute of drawing, she showed Saja the drawing.

"Like this?" Lisa asked.

"I don't know. Probably" Saja said as she looked at the sketch. It was more or less as she described. "Alright, I'll show this to the kitsune. Thank you" Saja said.

"Yeah, of course, Lady Saja," Lisa said.

"Can we go now?" Alice asked.

"Hm. Learn patience, Alice. You are to be a leader one day, and that day may come sooner than you think. I think it's time you grew up" Saja scolded.

"Jeez. I get it already" Alice said. The two began to make their way back to Tamamo's kitsune. Konno, on the other hand, was currently exploring her environment.

I've never been in the castle before. I've only heard rumours, but it's even grander than they said! This is amazing! I wonder what they have hidden here. But, Saja was even more terrifying than I imagined, although, Tamamo is on a whole other level. Maybe I shouldn't mess around…

Konno pouted as she sat back down, wishing that her more competent and mature counterpart, Yano, had been sent instead of her, but she was busy. Tamamo was reluctant to send the unreliable kitsune, but since the only other people who had seen the hero were her, Kanade and another kitsune, who was also busy, Tamamo had no choice. She herself did not want to go, as she wanted to 'restore' her energy in Yamatai, and she also apparently had to talk to Minagi about what happened with the Lilith Sisters. Kanade… only got a glimpse of the hero. And since she wasn't exactly the most descriptive person ever, Tamamo relented. Thus, Konno was sent out. She was happy to go to the infamous castle, where the Monster Lord herself resides, but was also scared of leaving her home. Tamamo decided Konno would stay at the castle from now on, and serve as a spy for the Kitsune ancestor. When Konno asked why she would spy on her own family, Tamamo said that one could never be too careful.

And now I'm stuck here. Well, it is the safest place on earth right now. For a kitsune, at least. And maybe I'll get to visit Remina while I'm here! That'd be so cool!

Konno's thoughts of the future were interrupted when Saja and Alice entered the room.

"Konno. Is this what he looked like?" Saja said as she showed the kitsune the drawing.

"Hmmm, pretty much. It should work" Konno said "Now then, Lady Saja, got anything else for me to do?"

"No. You can go"

"Huh? But Queen Tamamo said I was to stay here" Konno responded.

"Oh? And why is that?" Saja asked. Konno did not respond.

"I think I know why she sent you, but I don't really care that much. She can spy all she wants, I don't see what she has to gain though" Saja said "I suppose you can assist me around the castle, young one"

"Huh, really? Thank you, Lady Saja!" Konno replied, happily.

"Alright, I guess we should start copying them then," Alice said.

"I'll do it," Saja replied. In an instant, the page turned into one, two, three hundred copies of itself. The pages began to fly around and fall to the ground, but Saja, using her dark magic skills, organised them. "Alright, we'll have these disrupted immediately," Saja said.

"Right," Alice replied. Konno followed her new master, and helped carry some of the posters.

"Huh, wait a minute. Why are you two doing this anyway? Shouldn't you have more important things to be doing?" Konno asked.

"The Dark Lord herself asked me to. Plus, I was quite bored. There hasn't been a major fight in years now. Every now and then I help lead my race's, but most of my time is spent here, protecting the Monster Lord" Saja explained.

"And Saja asked me to help her," Alice said.

Huh. They're not nearly as scary as I imagined.

Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

"Wait, why are we going to Remina again?" Sylph asked. All four spirits were currently residing inside the mind of the Hero Luka. There wasn't much to do but talk.

Undine sighed as she answered the spirit's question, for the fourth time now "We're going to Remina to look for someone to fix Luka's watch machine. Or a Makina, as he called it" She explained "According to Salamander, there is a laboratory here, where new technology is made for monster kind. Like that bio-weapon they use in the war"

"Well, as far as I know anyway. I haven't been to Remina in a decade or two. I think the last time I went there was to train a dragon-girl" Salamander explained "Although I was invited there by Saja a few times"

"Really? The only ancestor I frequently spoke to was Kanade, and she wasn't very talkative in the first place. What about you, Sylph?" Undine asked.

"Hmmmm, nope! I didn't like any of 'em!" Sylph said, "And besides, none of them really hang out near my area anyway!"

"Fair enough" Undine said "And you, Gnome?"

"..." The spirit of Earth remained silent, but the others could translate.

"Yeah, I guess. Hiruko wouldn't make for great company" Salamander agreed. A somewhat awkward silence followed. The four spirits were currently sitting on the ground, relaxing.

"At least there's plenty of space in here!" Sylph said "Ooh, we should set up a table, and play cards! Or we could play hopscotch, or-" Sylph was interrupted by a hard smack.

"Hmm, she has a point though. We should probably get used to being here. I think we'll be with Luka for a while" Undine said.

"Yeah, maybe. Speaking of, what do you think of him?" Salamander asked.

"Well, I'm not really sure. He's unlike anyone I've seen before. I can tell he genuinely wants to save everyone, even the angels, from this war. He felt genuine sadness and guilt for what happened with Omori. So I don't think it's an act. He really is a hero. But, as for if he can end this war… Ilias and Alipheese are beings of great power. I know he beat Kanon, and he said he beat another version of Ilias in his world, but he's alone now. If the ancestors grouped up, or if he had to fight a seraph head-on, he may lose" Undine explained.

"Yeah. But… I think he can do it. He came from another world, and besides, I think he could fight a seraph by now. His control over our elements is… Incredible. His sword skills, everything. His lineage as the Daystar's son too. I believe he can grow even stronger than he is now. He still has more potential" Salamander said.

"Hmm. I certainly hope so. Otherwise, Ilias and Alipheese will bring this world to ruin" Undine said "And the longer this war goes on, the more and more likely they will come out personally to fight. If that happens… I'm not sure the world could take it" Undine explained. Salamander remained silent, but Undine knew she agreed with her.

"Hey, so, wouldn't going with Luka make us enemies of the Monster Lord?" Sylph asked, "I mean, we helped him kill an ancestor…"

"I suppose so. But, we knew that when we accepted his proposal. Worst case, Luka fails, and either Alipheese or Ilias win the war, or even worse, the war never ends, and this cycle of death and destruction continues" Undine said "But even if it comes to that, and we are made enemies of Alipheese, they cannot kill us. If they did, our elements would run wild, and the world would pay the price. I suspect Ilias would do it anyway, as she has heaven to run back to, but Alipheese has no other land other than this world. If it is destroyed, her daughters will either die with it or starve to death afterwards. So I'd say we're safe for the time being"

"Unless, they figure out a way to replace us" Salamander suggested "Who knows what they're researching? But I agree with Undine, we should be fine for now. Still, though, I'd much rather Luka not fail. For everyone's sake," Salamander said.

"Indeed"

"Oh, looks like we're here," Salamander pointed out. The others then began to look at the city they had just arrived in. Remina was a fascinating place, and had been the symbol of coexistence since its creation many years ago. Luka disembarked the boat, and walked onto the Hellgondo for the first time, in this world at least.

Ahh, Remina. I've never seen it in the flesh before! Not when it wasn't ruins at least. Back home, we rebuilt the port, and work on rebuilding the city itself is ongoing. Although, the issue of who will rule it is still being discussed.

Luka looked around the Infamous city. There was a large, wide path that went straight from where he was standing all the way to the Castle at the end. The sides of the street were filled with market stands, benches to sit on, and Inns and other establishments. The street was filled with hundreds of people, monsters and humans, all discussing and acting as if each-others presence was totally normal. Luka was ecstatic at the sight.

So, this is Remina. It's just like Tamamo described! I should take a look around before I find those labs. There's so much to see!

But it only took a few seconds for Luka's mood to worsen. He was looking at a bulletin board, and in the very middle was a poster. Said poster had 'Wanted: Alive' in a large font at the top, with a reward on the bottom, 'One wish to be granted by Lord Alipheese: Anything within reason'. This normally wouldn't have bothered Luka, if the picture in the middle did not perfectly resemble him, and even had 'Hero Luka, Human, Swordsman, to be detained immediately' below the reward. The poster also stated that he was 'Short, of purple-hair, boyish and normally wears a red cape' along with the drawing of him.

There's no doubt about it! That's me. Damn, I should've expected this.

Luka took the poster, rolled it up, and put it in one of his pockets. He looked around him and was thankful to see no one had recognized him yet.

Maybe this was the only one?

Luka's hopes were quickly shattered as he looked closer at the buildings lining the streets. He could count around sixty, maybe seventy posters of him, and this was just the entrance!

It makes sense… I'm responsible for Kanon's death. But still, I can't just turn myself in. If I could, I would go back and try to save her, but there's no turning back the clock.

Now, how do I get through here without them spotting me?

Luka, after a few moments of thought, entered one of the many clothes shops that lined the street. There, he bought a set of new clothes for himself. Thankfully, no monster had recognized him.

Maybe they were only put up recently, and word hasn't spread yet?

Luka left the shop and went into one of the nearby alleyways. After making sure no one was there to watch, he quickly changed. He took off his signature red cape and his Enrikan shirt.

Not much I can do about my hair…

Luka decided to just leave his hair as it was and hope for the best. Dying it right now would take too long. He put on the grey jacket he had bought earlier, along with a new, white scarf. Thankfully, the jacket had a hood, so his hair was mostly covered up. Overall, if someone were to look at him closely, they would surely recognize the hero. He decided to spend as little time in Remina as possible.

In and out. Fix the watch, contact Alice and the others back home, and then figure out my next step from there.

And so, Luka left the alleyway and toured the ancient city of coexistence. He went from the large port he arrived at to the town square of the kingdom. The centre had a large statue of the six ancestors. Luka looked at the statutes with some wonder. It was the first time he got to see how the other ancestors looked. Saja was noble-looking, with two large harpy wings for arms. She had two rings of gold surrounding the spot where her waist would be, on her long snake tail. She wore practically nothing, only covering her generous chest with two snake heads. The rest of her hair also conjoined into a number of snakes, giving the ancestor a very unique look. He looked on to Kanade, who was made of a luminescent blue stone. She reminded him of Erubetie, although Kanade had no tattoos. She had the same red core that Erubetie had, however.

Huh, they look really similar actually. Is Erubetie really closely related to her? More so than a normal slime? That would explain some of her power…

Luka moved on to the two final ancestors he had not seen. One was a small girl, although she was still a little taller than Luka, who had black hair, wore a full set of red clothing, including a hat, and had two tentacles coiled around her legs. This was Hiruko, the ancestor of all tentacled monsters. Last, but certainly not least, was Minagi. Luka immediately noticed her very impressive assets, along with her staggering height. She had many tattoos along her body, along with a single white ribbon which went around her whole body. She had horns, as typical of high-level succubi, and had a full set of six wings. The only other thing Luka could note was her long hair, which had two different colours. Half of it was blueish-white, and the other half was pinker. Luka looked closely at the body of the ancestor of all succubi.

…Wow…

Huh!? What am I thinking!? Think of Alice!

Luka shook off the strange thoughts and focused back on Remina. The streets were still bustling with activity, and he didn't know his way around the city. Finding his destination could prove difficult.

Hmm, how am I meant to find the laboratories? It's not like they'd have a sign with their name on…

Luka's eyes widened as he read one of the signs along the buildings.

'Remina Laboratories, open to all…'

Well, that wasn't hard.

Luka walked over to the entrance and walked down the stairs. Once he got to the bottom, he was greeted by a Minotaurus girl.

"Welcome, human" The receptionist said, "For what reason have you come?"

Well, I can't just tell her I have a makina from the future…

"I was… sent here by Queen Tamamo" The receptionist's eyes widened at the mention of the name "She said she stole it from an angel. She said it's not working for some reason, and thus sent me here so you could fix it" Luka explained.

"Tamamo No Mae!? W-well of course! We'll do everything we can to fix it!" The girl said in a panic.

Huh, they didn't even ask for proof. She's not a very good receptionist, it seems.

The minotaur took the watch from Luka and escorted him into the labs themself. The interior was somewhat mundane compared to what Luka remembered, although he knew that was because they were not as advanced yet.

And those laboratories had Promestein working in them. She really was a genius.

The pair headed further inside the building, until they reached the deepest and largest room. It had four vats filled with fluid in the centre, with pipes coming out of the top and bottom of them. There were panels around them, showing different statistics and vitals for what was inside.

The minotaur watched as Luka looked at the vats. "Wondering what's inside?" She asked. Luka nodded in response. "I've only heard rumours, but apparently, they're testing out new biological weapons, to be used in the war of course" She explained "They've only had one success so far, but she's incredible. They even managed to give her a little personality! At this rate, we'll be able to mass-produce soldiers in a few decades!" The Minotaur said.

She's probably talking about Giganto Weapon. She was a tough opponent back in the Monster Lord's castle, and that was after a thousand years of age! How strong would she be now?

"Hmm, so why haven't they been able to replicate the successful one?" Luka asked.

"..That's a good question actually. She was a prototype, but they can't replicate her for some reason. I don't really get involved with the science myself though. Some say Tamamo No Mae made the weapon, with the help of some of her more scientific kitsune. That's all just speculation though" She explained.

The two moved on and approached one of the scientists wandering the room. He was a human, wearing a white lab coat, holding a clipboard, and had glasses.

"Oliver, can you take a look at this? It was sent by you know who" She said.

"No way! Really?" Oliver asked. The minotaur girl nodded. "T-Then we better get to work," He said as he took the watch. He began to inspect it up close. "Wow, this is unlike anything I've ever seen. And from the looks of it, no magic was used in its creation. Incredible. What does it do, Carol?"

"I… don't know actually. Hey, boy what does it do? Oh, and what's your name?"

"My name? It's… Heinrich" Luka said "And the watch is made for communication. It can send signals through the air, and they can be picked up at electronic terminals" Luka explained "For some reason, it won't turn on anymore"

"Hmm, I see. So, it uses radio waves to send out a message, which is then interpreted by a receiver…" Oliver said. Luka tuned out of the conversation as soon as the man started mentioning sciency stuff. "And then, it's displayed on a screen, and the message can be read. The only thing is, I don't understand why Tamamo No Mae would want something like this. Wouldn't she just rather use telepathy?" Oliver asked.

"Well, those messages can be intercepted by other monsters. I think Lady Tamamo wants to try a more secretive method of communication" Luka explained.

"Ah, I see. So she'll probably encrypt the messages then. Alright, thanks, Heinrich. We'll see what we can do. It shouldn't take longer than an hour or two to find the problem" Oliver explained. Carol, the minotaur, guided Luka to a chair to wait on. She then went back to work. And so, Luka waited.

"Really? Heinrich? Didn't you say he was a legendary hero from the past, or from our perspective, the future?" Salamander asked.

Yeah. I've always looked up to him. He was a great hero! And besides, I couldn't really think of any other name, other than my father, and that just felt strange.

"And calling yourself after a legendary hero is completely normal?"

Look, it was all I could think of.

"Hmm, fair enough I suppose. It's a miracle you haven't been spotted yet. How many humans do you think have purple hair?" Salamander said.

"Not a lot!" Sylph said "Actually, it's pretty weird that you do! How'd that happen, Luka? Get in a freak accident or something?" Sylph asked.

What? Of course not. My father had purple hair, and his father before him, all the way up to Heinrich. And probably even before him.

"He must have had strong genes then. And you're his descendant. You know, you could meet his ancestor and not even know it" Salamander said.

Well, they'd probably have purple hair too, so it wouldn't be that difficult.

"Yeah, I guess not. Anyway, what's the plan after you get this watch fixed?" The fire spirit asked.

I'm not really sure. I can't just march into the Monster Lord's castle like I did back home.

"Why not? I'm sure you could take 'em, Luka! Just go pow, boom! Daystar them to dust!" Sylph said.

"I would advise against that. We've all seen your strength, but fighting multiple ancestors at once, or even the Dark Goddess herself, is a challenge on a whole other scale" Undine explained "For now, I think making contact with your home is a good idea"

Yeah, I think so too. Plus, it'd be nice to talk to them again…

The spirits dissipated as Luka began to think of his home once again. This world he found himself in was so unlike the one he knew. Most monsters, or at least a large number of them, viewed humans as food, nothing more. Angels were completely loyal to a goddess who did not care for them, and couldn't care less about humanity, at least the ones who don't follow Ilias. And humanity seemed to becoming more and more content with living under either species, all of them fearing death if they were to rebel. Slowly, over time, humanity would become more and more like mere cattle. Luka could not let that happen, no matter what.

Luka was surprised to see the scientist from earlier approach him. It had only been twenty minutes since he sat down.

"Heinrich. We've found the issue" Oliver said "It was… pretty simple, actually. I'm very surprised Tamamo did not see it herself. Don't tell her I said that. Please"

"Of course. So, what was the problem?" Luka asked.

"Well, you see here?" Oliver said as he opened the back of the makina up. He pointed at one of the components inside "This is the self-charging module. It seemed to be damaged somehow. Did you drop it or something?" Oliver asked.

"Uhh, yeah, something like that" Luka responded.

"I see. Well, we can either repair the self-charging feature, or give you some batteries for the time being" Oliver explained.

"Oh, how long would it take to repair?"

"Hmm, well, we have a lot to do right now. Currently, we're prioritising weaponry over everything else. If I were to guess… Maybe two weeks?" Oliver said.

Two weeks? I can't wait that long. I'll definitely get caught by then, and besides every second I waste, another person could be dying in this war.

"I'll just take the batteries, thanks. I'm sure someone back at Yamatai could fix this" Luka said.

"Alright, here," Oliver said. He handed Luka a handful of batteries and showed him how to place them in the Makina.

Wish Tamamo gave me some of these. Although, she probably didn't expect the watch to break so easily…

Luka thanked Oliver and left. As he did, he heard some monsters talking near the entrance.

"Did you hear about what happened to Kanon?"

"Of course I have, who hasn't?"

"Well, did you know that they say it wasn't the Daystar who did it, but a human!"

"Pfff, that's ridiculous. That's obviously just some made-up rumour"

"No, it's true! See that kid on all those wanted posters? That's him! And did you see the reward they're giving? You could become a queen with that!" The monster said "And they don't say it on the poster because not only would it be embarrassing, but also because nobody would believe it!"

"Yeah yeah yeah, I'm not buying it," The other monster said. The two continued to bicker as Luka walked off, pulling up his hood as he did.

As he walked past them, he heard yet another group discussing the rumours.

"I heard it's all a conspiracy, set up by Alipheese! She made up some news about one of her daughters dying, so that the angel's with be overconfident, and push too far! And that's when she strikes! It's so obvious!" A Monster said.

"That's ridiculous. And besides, I'm pretty sure Ilias would verify she's actually dead before doing anything" Another monster replied. Luka walked past them.

Better get out of here quickly. But first.

Luka looked at the watch on his wrist. For the first time in weeks, it was on. The small screen lit up, and Luka watched as many notifications came in. Before reading them, Luka went back to the docks he arrived on, sat down on the pier, and looked at the sea as he read.

'Where did you go? Black Alice is gone, Respond ASAP'

'Luka, this is Tamamo, respond immediately'

'Luka, what happened? Are you there?'

'I looked into it. These messages are not being received. I'll figure out what's happening soon, don't worry, Luka'

'The world is okay. Black Alice has not reappeared. Most of the world does not know you're gone, yet'

'It's been a week. Alice is getting very worried. I am too. I'm not sure why this isn't working'

'I looked at the coordinates we received from you. They don't make any sense. How could you be both here and outside of the universe?'

'Neris is acting up. Nero is trying to calm her down, but I can tell he's worried too. We all are, Luka. Come back soon'

'It's been two weeks since you've disappeared. Work to bring you back is ongoing. I finally decoded those coordinates. Hang tight, Luka'

'I'm not even sure why I send these to you anymore. Progress has been fast. Were putting a lot of resources into this. Shouldn't be too long now, Luka'

'We've found you. You are… in a whole other universe. This is a huge revelation. I never considered the possibility of other worlds. We're figuring out how to get to you now. If Black Alice could do it, so can we'

'Three weeks in. Progress is slow. I'm looking into alternatives methods of travel now, but transferring living matter across universe's seems near impossible'

That's it. The most recent message.

They've been looking for me this whole time…

I'm sorry, everyone, for making you worry like that.

Luka began to type a new message on the watch.

It had been a long day for Tamamo. She had been busy educating Nero and Neris, and comforting the latter, she had also stayed up late for the last four days in a row, trying to figure out a way to get to Luka, which was terrible for the kitsune's normally fluffy fur. She looked haggard, tired, and overworked. Tamamo sighed and booted up the computer she used for research.

Alright… I guess I'll look into technologically-assisted soul magic today.

Huh? What's that?

Tamamo looked at the new notification that appeared on the screen. She didn't believe her eyes when she read it.

I'm alive. In another world. One thousand years in the past. Trying to find a way back as well. Tell Alice I love her.

Tamamo, after a few moments of disbelief, began to silently sob.

Luka… You're alive…