Welcome back everyone! Previously, Marta and Tenebrae revealed what transpired the night before, with Emerald and those joining her heading to Izoold while Marta revealed the truth to the rest of Nova's family, once again being accepted despite falling into a bad crowd.

As they head to Izoold and with their time with the Caravan coming to a close, how will Marta pan out the next step of her journey? We'll find out out after a brief trip to the present!


Grass Field Outskirts [Present Day]

Nothing major happened with this recent recounting. As expected, Marta and Tenebrae told each other what happened to them the previous night, with Marta having to reveal what she knew to the rest of Nova's family. Deep down, Marta figured she should have been able to tell her friends about who her father is and that she was part of the Vanguard, but it was still difficult for her to do so, as evidenced when Zelos deduced Marta ties with them when visiting Tethe'alla's king, which resulted in spears being pointed at her! Not that she blamed them though...

"It's a good thing Nova and his family are pretty accepting." Genis said as he processed the next part of Marta's story.

"You said it Genis. They really are good people." Sheena replied in agreement as Marta felt uncertain about what to say. This didn't escape Emil as he saw her looking downcast again.

"What is it Marta?" Emil asked his beloved as she looked to everyone.

"I... I just want to say I'm sorry for keeping my ties to the Vanguard a secret. I was able to tell Nova and his family after Nova found out, but... I couldn't do the same with anyone here. I was doing the same thing back then." Marta apologized to everyone while noting that she kept everything hidden again. Emil and the others understood that Marta didn't want to be rejected, Emil especially as he knew what it was like to be rejected.

"Believe me, I didn't want Genis or myself to be rejected just because we're Half-Elves, but as you can see, we have friends who accept us, along with Iselia." Raine said, hoping this will give Marta something to connect with. She did leave out that the mayor of Iselia was the only one who didn't care for her or her brother though.

"Yeah... Marta, sorry I nearly got you into hot water with the King and all. I mean, I really did find that unusual for you to know that." Zelos said sheepishly. Granted, he didn't view the Vanguard in a good light, but after getting to know her and Emil, he found that he liked the two kids and understood that Marta had a good reason for leaving. Still, it was pretty lousy for adult men to point their weapons at a kid and he was responsible for that.

"It's alright Zelos, I figured that's what their response would be." Marta replied in an understanding tone.

"Yeah, but I should've waited to say something at least..." Zelos grumbled to himself. Granted, he wasn't hard on himself, but as he said, he didn't like being the bad guy or making anyone feel bad. He knew as such two years back when Lloyd said he trusted him, which meant a lot to him.

"Besides, they shouldn't have pointed their weapons at you like that!" Emil said as he remembered how he feared for Marta in that moment. Yes, he, Sheena and Regal didn't fault Zelos for that incident, but seeing one of their friends being threated like that is concerning.

"Like I said, it's nothing to worry about now. The point is that I should've have told you and the others instead of just being afraid of telling you the truth." Marta continued, knowing she was wrong for keeping secrets.

"To be fair, I was doing the same thing when I helped Richter to find out what he's up too. I wasn't being fair to you either..." Emil said, knowing he was wrong for doing the same thing. Granted, Marta wasn't angry at him for hiding it like she said and she understood how hypocritical that sounded, but she didn't want Richter doing anything bad to Emil as shown during their previous battles with red haired Half-Elf, he was aiming to kill the boy.

"That's why we agreed to tell each other everything from now that point on and not keep things like this a secret. Right?" Marta said with a reassuring smile, now knowing not to be afraid and be honest with her beloved and her friends

"That's right." Emil replied, returning the same smile. If there was a good thing about this, this allowed them to strengthen their trust with one another and they couldn't have been more happy with that fact, with the same thing for his friends.

"Sometimes, we repeat the same mistake twice until we understand not to do it. Even I had to learn my mistake twice..." Colette said, recalling how she hid her own problems twice during her previous journey, which surprised Emil and Marta slightly. Granted she was clumsy, but she kept secrets that shouldn't be kept too?

"You kept secrets too?" Emil asked the clumsy girl in regards to what she meant, however Colette just shook her head.

"Maybe some other time, I will explain. But for now, we have a story to get back onto, right?" Colette said as the sun begin to fade, meaning that it must be around 7:00 PM most likely. It's impressive that Marta and Tenebrae are able to recount that much sense two hours ago.

"Right. Everyone... thank you again... for accepting not just me, but Tenebrae and Emil too." Marta replied with a thankful smile, with Emil and Tenebrae also happy that Marta included them as well.

"You're welcome." Lloyd said with a big smile with the others agreeing.

"Now than, while we were traveling to Izoold, Tenebrae figured it was time to teach me how to hatch Centurion Cores..." Marta continued as she recounted the night where she learned the most important thing she needed in her Journey...


Izoold Trail [Night]

Before everyone went to sleep, Marta told Nova and his family that she needed to train with Tenebrae from 10:00 to 11:00 as to not worry or disturb them. However, they wanted her to do her training at 9:00 to 10:00 to ensure that she got a good night's sleep at least. With only six days left, Marta and Tenebrae agreed to the new conditions.

After dinner, they went to a secure spot to discuss the one aspect of training that's been put off since yesterday: Hatching a Centurion's Core. The first thing to do was the usual motions of training, but by now, her body had becomed accustomed to training to the point where her body no longer ached, which is surprising considering that no visable muscles formed on her. Not that she intended to develop muscles on her body to begin with...

"You know Tenebrae, my limbs don't ache anymore. That's a good thing, right?" Marta asked the Centurion, wondering what that means now...

"That's a good sign, but you will no doubt continue to grow stronger and gain more experience over time. Don't forget to keep your training up Lady Marta." Tenebrae answered while adding on the fact to always keep her skills sharp. Marta of course knew that she must be able to defend herself, even once she completed her journey as these lessons will carry her far in life.

"Right. After all... Daddy wanted me to know how to protect myself anyway..." Marta agreed as she recalled her father, clearly longing for the kind, caring man he used to be...

"Lady Marta..." Tenebrae asked out of concern. While he had no parents, he knew that most children love their parents as the mother and father are the first thing they see when they are born, thus forming an attachment to them that lasts a lifetime.

"N-no, it's alright. Hopefully, when we awaken Ratatosk and the other Centurions, Daddy will stop his plans and come to his senses." Marta followed up with a hopeful smile. Deep down, her father's drastic change into a ruthless leader still frightens her, but she knew that she can't remain sad and scared. As she said to Tenebrae when they first started off, Lily would want her to look to the future...

"Anyway, we still have to talk about Centurion Cores, right?" Marta asked Tenebrae, hoping to change the subject and get to the important part.

"Indeed. First, you remember what Ratatosk's Core looks like, correct?" Tenebrae replied, respecting Marta's wishes to not discuss her father at the moment to focus on her training.

"Yes. It's a small round gem before it attached itself to my forehead." Marta answered, recalling how small the Core was despite all the power it held within.

"Precisely! To properly explain what Centurion Cores are, they are a jewel like essence of a Centurion. Even Aqua and myself have a Core form, but as I said before, we fully awakened before Lord Ratatosk was defeated by Richter. However, Centurion Cores have two forms, a Dormant State and a Hatched State." Tenebrae followed up, hoping Marta understood the explanation about the Cores.

"So, the idea is to gather the other six Dormant Centurion Cores and get them into their Hatched State, right?" Marta asked, at least understanding the genreral gist of how Centurion Cores worked.

"A simplified version, but correct. Now then..." Tenebrae said as he grabbed a nearby stick with his tail and started to draw something in the dirt to give Marta a vague idea of how the Core forms looked, figuring that visual aids might help with the lesson. One picture is a slightly oval like shape with leaf like petals and a swirl around the edge, next to it is an arrow pointing to a stick figure holding up the oval above their head and finally is another arrow pointing to a round circle with a symbol inside it.

"So, Dormant Cores look like that, like Ratatosk's Core, and the Hatched Cores look like this. That much I get, but what about this part in the middle?" Marta asked as she pondered about about the stick figure drawing.

"That is a visual aid of you hatching the core." Tenebrae clarifed, knowing that Marta is trying to process it. He recalled that Marta said spthat she's not good at memorizing specific things that come off as little, fortunately hatching a Centurion's Core isn't very complicated.

"Alright, so how do I hatch a core?" Marta asked as she needed to at least know how to do it.

"Well, as you know, you have Lord Ratatosk's blessing thanks to the core on your forehead. With his blessing, all you need to do is to hold the core and let it's power flow into the Centurion's Core. Then you need to let it float above you as it hatches and that's it. It doesn't even take too long, only a few seconds." Tenebrae explained as Marta followed along and fortunately for her, it was a simple process. Too simple in fact...

"So, nothing major or elaborate?" Marta asked with a bemused look, wondering if that's all there is to it. On the bright side, at least she didn't have to memorize it every time she does it.

"Nothing major at all. However, there are some important things to make mental notes of." Tenebrae followed up before his tone of voice became more serious. With that, Marta nodded and payed close attention to head Tenebrae's advice.

"As I said, Lord Ratatosk gave you his blessing thanks to the Core on your forehead and with it, grants you protection from the Cores in their Dormant State." Tenebrae continued, prompting a look of confusion on Marta's face.

"Protection? Protection from what?" Marta asked Tenebrae as she wondered what he meant by that. What can a simple jewel do to harm a person.

"Dormant Centurion Cores possess a dangerous power. As long as they are dormant, their power runs out of control to the point they attract monsters with their presence and they begin to cause abnormal phenomenons in nature itself, hence the strange weather around the world." Tenebrae said to Marta as he explained everything he knew about the Cores. Marta understood the weather part, but the fact it attracted monsters? That's concerning, yet Marta kept listening and nodding to show Tenebrae that she's listening.

"However, that's not the only problem. People without Lord Ratatosk's power or protection are unable to maintain their sanity while in direct contact with a Dormant Core. As a result, they get drawn into it's warping power, causing them to get sucked into it's chaos and destroy their mind." Tenebrae continued, explaining the most drastic thing Dormant Cores can do and with that, it spooked Marta as she stared at her gloved hands.

"No way... they can do that much damage?" Marta asked in shock and surprise, completely taken aback by how much harm they can cause just by being asleep alone.

"And... I'm the only one who can hatch them without any ill effect?" Marta asked, knowing that even though Tenebrae wouldn't lie to her, she at least wanted to be sure that it won't warp her mind as she wakes the Centurions.

"Exactly. The only other person who can hatch Centurions is Lord Ratatosk himself, but now it falls to you to do so in his stead. I guarantee that your mind will be unharmed. However, it's other people we'll need to be mindful of." Tenebrae replied in response to Marta's concerns and upon hearing it, her anxiety lessened. After all, it wouldn't do her or anyone else good if she went insane. However, it brought another thought of concern...

"Wait, what if the Vanguard tried to grab Centurion Cores? Richter and Alice for instance?" Marta asked, clearly hoping that they wouldn't try to grab them. Even though Richter is currently not on her good side and even though she hates Alice, she didn't want them to go mad and insane.

"I can understand your concerns, but I don't believe Richter has any use for the Centurion Cores, considering Aqua is with him. Besides, I don't think Richter would gain any benefit from driving his own organization mad. It would be detrimental in fact. But, if the Vanguard does try to target them, we'll be sure to get them first before they do." Tenebrae explained while reassuring Marta that they won't let things get to that level.

"Alright. But first, we need to know where they are, right?" Marta said with some anxiety, as she's still concerned about the Vanguard potentially grabbing the Cores without knowing what they'll do.

"Indeed. But for now, your lesson on hatching Centurion Cores are complete." Tenebrae said with a small smirk, prompting Marta to look dumbfounded.

"What? I thought there would be more to that. Like actually practicing the motions and all that." Marta asked, clearly knowing that the lesson can't end just like that.

"We'll practice the motions of doing so tomorrow when I quiz you. Don't forget. For now, let's practice on your spells..." Tenebrae said as he got Marta to train with her magic. Marta continued to train till 10:00 while memorizing everything Tenebrae told her. When it comes to important things, she can remember stuff like that pretty well.


Izoold [Twenty-Six days after meeting Nova]

After two days of traveling, Marta and the others reached Izoold. Yesterday night, Marta learned the motions of how to hatch a Centurion Core while recapping what Tenebrae told her. This pleased the Centurion as Marta knew the situation with Ratatosk is not a small detail worth forgetting.

"We're here." Marta said softly to herself as she dismounted Tenebrae and look around the small fishing town, complete with a small port and boats. The area looked so peaceful and tame, as if the unnatural weather never did anything to this place.

"Hmmm... this place is surprising calm. This must be one of the few places that wasn't struck with abnormal weather." Tenebrae said what Marta was thinking about as Nova and his family got out of the Caravan in a clearing and met up with Marta.

"Peaceful place, isn't it?" Nova said with a smile as he looked out to the ocean.

"Yeah, it is." Marta replied with a smile before rubbing one of her ears, which the Zoologist took notice.

"Is something wrong with your ear, Marta?" Nova asked in concern.

"No, not really. For some reason last night, it felt like someone was whsipering in my ear. It wasn't windy last night if I recall." Marta said as the urge to rub her ear stopped. Little did she know, Tenebrae smirked to himself with pride as his "midnight hypno-study" talent has gone unnoticed. He hopes that when someone asks her about Izoold, she'll be ready to give that info out thanks to what he learned about the fishing town from Nova.

"So, where are you to meet your friends here?" Nova asked Marta, wondering if they'll meet her in the city or somewhere close by like around the entrance.

"Tenebrae?" Marta asked the Centurion, wondering if he gave them a specific spot to be at. At this point, Tenebrae groaned to himself.

"Oh... I told them to be here, but I didn't think to give them a spot. All I know is that this is Emerald's hometown." Tenebrae said with some disappointment in himself for overlooking that.

"It happens to the best of us." Nova said with a small smile while Marta chuckling in response. While it would have been easier to have a rendezvous spot, it was kind of funny that even Tenebrae can mess up.

"It's alright Nova, we'll be around the entrance and wait for them. I... just hope the others will be okay with them... being former... you know..." Marta said before changing her words, not wishing to cause a scene about former Vanguard members walking around Izood.

"As I said, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and I'm sure Sarah and the kids will like them. Besides, if this is young Emerald's hometown, she has every right to return here. Just don't stay out too long." Nova replied as he went to meet with his family.

"Shall we, Lady Marta?" Tenebrae asked the young girl as he walked to the entrance.

"Yes!" Marta said with a combination of excitement and anxiety as she will be able to meet some of her old Unit again. While she felt sad that she won't see Scarlet and Lavender, Marta hoped that deep down that they will come around.


Izood [Entrance]

Marta and Tenebrae waited around the entrance for about 30 minutes, with Marta sitting down on a rock, her eyes closed while holding her chin with her hand. Tenebrae on the other hand kept on lookout for any sign of the Former Special Unit. As it got closer to 11:00, Tenebrae spotted something...

"Lady Marta. They're almost here." Tenebrae said as Marta jolted awake and after rubbing her eyes, she heard some faint voices coming from a few distant figures.

"My feet hurt... can't we rest here?" Said a familiar voice that sounded like Selene. No, that was Selene's voice...

"B-but we're just getting close to the entrance! You can just stop now!" Yelled a slightly panicky voice, which Marta knew that it was Emerald's voice.

"They're here..." Marta smiled to herself, but wasn't sure how to greet them as she hesitated slightly. She then felt a slight nudge from Tenebrae.

"Go on. Don't keep them waiting." Tenebrae said, encouraging the young girl to go greet the people who wanted to assist her.

With that, Marta smiled and began to walk before breaking out into a sprint toward the group until it became clear that it was indeed Emerald, Topaz, Azure, Vermillion and Selene. While it's only been three days since she last saw the kunoichi, it's been too long since she saw the others.

"EVERYONE!" Marta shouted as she happly called out to the others, getting their attention as she stopped in front of them, catching her breath as she looked to the five girls in question.

"Marta!" Emerald said in happiness as she ran up and hugged her former captain with Marta returning it. As soon as they broke the hug, Marta turned to the others and as they stared back at each other, Marta knew she needed to say something.

"Topaz... Azure... Vermillion... Selene... I... I'm... I'm sorry I left like I did and... I..." Marta said as she tried to apologize to the four girls she left behind along with Emerald, but before she could say more, she was pulled into a huge hug by Topaz.

"You don't need to say anything right now... all you need is a nice hug from your big sis here..." Topaz said with some tears coming out with Marta returning it as Azure, Vermillion and even Selene joining in the hug.

"We missed you so much, Lady Marta..." Said Vermillion of all people as her voice cracked slightly, which is a rare thing for her to do.

"And I missed you girls too..." Marta said as she allowed a few tears to fall down her face as for the first time she left the Vanguard, outside of Tenebrae, Nova and his family, she is with friends once again. As Emerald smiled, she kept her distance as she had her reunion with Marta...

"Emerald." Marta said as she and the other had their arms open for the kunoichi to welcome her in. With a huge smile, Emerald ran toward them and joined in their reunion hug.


Izood [Coastline]

Marta, Tenebrae and the rest of her former Unit sat nearby Nova's Caravan around the coastline clearing as they told each other of what happened. While Marta and Tenebrae recounted their journey up til now, Emerald and the others told Marta about what happened, clarifying what Emerald told Marta three days ago in regards to the Vanguard. Eventually, after about ten minutes on conversation, they eventually finished speaking...

"I know Tenebrae already told us, but this is a lot to take it..." Topaz said as hearing it from Marta's mouth made it pack a lot of weight then Tenebrae's words.

"So, you've been learning how fight in preparation for the journey ahead?" Azure followed up while pushing up her glasses a little bit.

"Yes, thanks to picking this up form the armory and lessons from Tenebrae of course." Marta said as she pulled out her spinner from her pouch, surprising the others as no one else in the Vanguard ever used this particular weapon.

"That's... an Iron Spinner!" Selene said with some semblance of surprise, never mind the fact that she and Alice fight with riding crops...

"Unique, easy to carry and yet still surprisingly effective. It suits you well Lady Marta." Vermillion followed up with a curious figure to her helmeted chin.

"Thanks. I pretty much took what I knew and applied it to my fighting style." Marta said with a degree of pride as she looked at her Spinner. After all, it allowed her to (barely) defeat Alice's monsters and fend off Richter to an extent.

"At least you learned how to defend yourself, but you didn't need us for that after all." Azure said as she smiled in acknowledgement.

"This does lead me to ask something of you all." Tenebrae said as Emerald and the others looked at him. Tenebrae glanced back at Marta for approval to ask them, with the young girl nodding. After all, she did agree to train further.

"As you know, Lady Marta has mastered the basic of combat and has understanding of hatching Centurion Cores, however it would be of great help if you all aided her as sparing partners for the next month." Tenebrae continued as he explained to the former Vanguard girls. They all stood surprised for a moment until...

"You want us to do mock battles with Marta?" Topaz asked while pointing at herself. Her expression is that of complete dumbfoundness. Weren't they part of the Special Unit to protect her?

"You all have unique styles of fighting. It would help Lady Marta in the long run as she would need to know about different opponents. These can also be applied to monsters as well." Tenebrae followed up whipe explaining the purpose of this proposal.

"Hmmm... it would be good if Marta knew what to do if she ran into another magic user like that banshee Alice..." Selene spoke up, delighted at the though of Marta kicking Alice's sorry butt.

"True, part of our purpose WAS to guard you until you knew how to fight... Aw, what the heck! I'll be happy to give you some pointers!" Topaz said after thinking things through, complete with a smirk and punching her fist into an open hand.

"So, you help me train?" Marta asked with a hopeful smile upon hearing Selene and Topaz's response.

"Of course! That's what friends are for!" Emerald replied with a bright smile on her face.

"Indeed. We are comrades in arms and companions through and through. It would be my greatest honor to train you as a fellow warrior." Vermillion said while placing a fist over her heart to renew her loyalty to her former captain.

"Thanks everyone..." Marta said with a thankful smile as the other girls returned it. While she wished thay Scarlet and Lavender were here, for now, she's happy to have friends from the Vanguard here.

"Oh um Marta? Can I ask you something?" Emerald asked somewhat nervously.

"What is it Emerald?" Marta replied to the kunoichi, wondering what she wanted to know.

"You were traveling with the people in this Caravan, right? D-do they know about us?" Emerald asked again in a neverous tone. The girls are fully aware of the Vanguard's declining reputation and understand that the townspoeple won't be too thrilled about their presence here.

"Don't be mad, but they do. I had to come clean with them two days ago. However, they're willing to give you the benifit of the doubt. Besides, in four days, I'm planning to part ways with them to begin my journey proper, so I hope all of you understand." Marta explained herself to the girls in regards to what occurred some time ago as they all took it in.

"If you say so Marta, we'll trust you." Azure said as she readjusted her glasses.

"O-okay." Emerald said as she got up from where she sat and began to walk away.

"Where are you going Emerald?" Marta asked the yound kunoichi as she turned around for a moment.

"To take a look around... after all I haven't been here for a long time." Emerald said as she went further into Izoold. Marta then recalled that this place is Emerald's hometown from what little she said.

"Right... this is where Emerald was born wasn't she? How could I be so ignorant! " Marta asked while calling herself out for not realizing that Emerald was probably feeling somewhat homesick.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up over. She just needs time to look around her old home. For now, why don't you introduce us to these Caravan guys?" Topaz said while reassuring Marta. Hearing this, Marta perked up a little bit as she stood up.

"Sure thing! I'll introduce them to Emerald later. There right around the shop here, let's go!" Marta said as she lead Topaz, Azure and Selene with Tenebrae and Vermillion following close behind them. Although her face is hidden, Tenebrae could tell something was bothering her.

"Ms. Vermillion? You appear to be troubled..." The Centurion asked the lady knight as she turned to him.

"I... I just have a strange feeling that we may be involved in a conflict of sorts. I only hope I'm wrong..." Vermillion replied with a sense on concern.

"For now, just keep this between us and we'll notify Marta later tonight." Vermillion asked Tenebrae for his silence.

"Understood." Tenebrae replied, secretly hoping that Vermillion's "hunch" will not come to pass. The last thing Marta needs is a town potentially coming under attack, especially from Richter.

"Tenebrae! Vermillion! What's keeping you guys?! Hurry up!" Marta called out to the two as they already several feet away.

"Y-yes, of course Miss Marta." Vermillion replied as she followed quickly behind them.

"We're coming Lady Marta!" Tenebrae said as he began to pick up the pace to catch up to the young girl along with the lady knight. This was going to be an eventful day...

To Be Continued...


Marta has reunited with five of the girls from the Vanguard Special Unit and they are now her traveling companions along with Tenebrae! What will the town of Izood think of the returning Emerald and what is this strange premonition thay Vermillion has?

Uune in next time when we will find out!

Update: Grammer Check.