Over the past few days, Yua had been staying in her bed recovering from the injury she received from Skadi during the lungs encounter with the future aegir. Now that Yua was able to stand, the white-haired lung believed that she was ready to begin the search for what was left of Reunion. She had to deal with them before confronting the future Skadi again.
Talulah was happy her time-travelling niece was walking about again, but the draco wouldn't lie that she was worried about her, "I hope Yua doesn't push herself too hard. I know we need to find Nine and the rest of Reunion as soon as possible, but Yua comes first. I'm willing to put the search on hold for a little longer if it means Yua is okay." Talulah thought to herself while looking at her niece moving about again. The draco decided to express her concern for her niece, "Yua, are you sure you are alright? I don't mind waiting a little while longer to search for Nine if it means you fully recover. The last thing I want is anything to happen to you." Talulah spoke with the worry obvious in her voice.
Yua turned to look at her aunt and replied to her concern, "I'm fine, Aunt Talulah, there is no need to worry." The draco wasn't convinced by her niece's reply but decided not to question her further, Talulah however, did tell herself that she would keep a close eye on Yua just in case her condition did change. Two people suddenly stepped inside the room, which drew the attention of Yua and Talulah, Mostima and Fiammetta had arrived.
Mostima took a second to look at the draco and the lung. The sankta had a small smile on her face seeing Yua moving about again. Mostima then decided that it was time to start discussing how to deal with the current matter; Reunion. "It's good to see you have recovered, Yua. Now that you are well it's time we finished off Reunion once and for all. We have to find them and stop them." Mostima then turned to Talulah, "Talulah, you said that Reunion is here in Yan. Any ideas on where they could be?" Mostima asked Talulah, being the former leader of Reunion, the draco would understand the organisation inside-out.
Talulah took a moment to think before responding to the sankta, "Our headquarters would normally be far from any civilization so we wouldn't be found. However, Yan is a huge place with plenty of areas Nine could have Reunion hiding in. We did, however, mainly recruit from the slums and the poorer areas of any nation we were hiding in. I reckon if we travelled to a city slum we could find members of Reunion lurking about looking for people to recruit. We should start there, it's the best place to try to find Nine." Talulah gave her thoughts on how best to track down the pythia and Reunion.
Mostima, Yua, and Fiammetta heard what the draco had to say, and all agreed it was the best option they had at this current moment, "Thanks for that Talulah, now we have a good place to start. I have a plan, me, Yua, and Fiammetta will travel to the nearest Yanese city. Talulah, you will stay here so as not to draw attention to us, the whole Yanese army, and all of it's law enforcement will come right after us if you are seen with us. So stay here for now, we will return when we are finished." Talulah didn't like being told that she was staying put, but Mostima's idea made the most sense. They wouldn't last long against the Yanese authorities if she was seen with them.
Mostima carried on explaining her plan, "Me and Fiammetta will head into the city, we have some deliveries to carry out anyway so we will keep an eye out for any Reunion members. Yua, you are heading to the slums." Hearing that she was heading to the slums the white-haired lung decided to ask why she was heading there, "Excuse me, Mostima, but why am I heading to the slums? Surely you and Fiammetta would be able to do that." Upon hearing Yua's question, the blue-haired sankta decided to tell Yua her reason, "Because you can blend in, Yua. You are a lung, Yan is the nation of lungs. If me and Fiammetta headed to the slums it would certainly draw attention. Another lung in the slums however, wouldn't draw attention. You would have the perfect cover. I've brought some clothes so you look the part Yua, your current getup would be the only thing that stuck out." Yua looked down at the clothes she was wearing and quickly realised she would definitely stick out in the slums, Mostima had thought of everything.
"Okay Mostima, when I'm there, what do you want me to do?" Yua asked for the sankta's direction, "Keep a low profile, and try not to just rush into trouble. We are trying to find Reunions' main base. If you cause a big enough ruckus, more than likely, they will run, and we will have to search again for them elsewhere. Just try to find out what you can and report back to us. I'll give you a radio so you can keep in touch. If you do come across any trouble, however, let me and Fiammetta know, and we will come and help you." Mostima told Yua what she wanted the lung to do.
Yua nodded and replied that she would be careful and that she would try not to draw attention to herself. Satisfied with the white-haired lungs response, Mostima told her that they would be leaving. Mostima and Fiammetta left the room, and Yua was about to follow, Talulah however put her hand on Yua's shoulder. Yua turned around to face her aunt. The draco looked like she wanted to speak to her.
"Yua, please be careful. I know you are a very capable fighter, but Reunion is still dangerous even though they are weakened. Don't get in over your head. If you aren't careful, they will kill you without a second thought." Talulah warned her niece of the danger. "Don't worry, Aunt Talulah, I promise you I will be careful." Yua promised Talulah. Yua then left the room, and Talulah watched her leave. The draco feared for her niece's safety. She wanted to go with Yua, but Talulah knew that it was too dangerous.
Talulah was one of the most wanted criminals in Terra. If her presence was known by the Yanese government, a fight would surely happen, and Yua would be caught in the crossfire. As much as the draco hated the idea of staying put, it was the right call to make. As the sounds of a vehicle driving off were heard, Talulah prayed for the safety of her niece...
The drive to the nearest Yanese city took several hours. During this time, Yua had changed into the Yanese clothes that Mostima had brought in the back. Looking at herself, the lung believed she truly looked like she was a commoner from Yan, "I hope this works, Reunion needs to be stopped as soon as possible. Who knows what they will do if they are given enough time to rebuild." The lung pondered about Reunion. Yua really wanted to stop Reunion from causing any more harm to anyone else. Enough lives had been lost because of the organisation.
The vehicle that herself, Mostima, and Fiammetta were in soon came to a stop. They had arrived at a security gate. A guard walked up to the vehicle and asked Mostima, who was driving some questions. The blue-haired sankta pulled out a document from the glove compartment and showed it to the guard. The guard gave it a quick look over and handed it back to Mostima. The guard shouted to another guard to open the gate, Mostima then drove into the city. Mostima then drove for a bit longer until they came to a parking lot and stopped there. The three then got out of the vehicle.
Looking around, Yua could see that they were not too far away from the slums; her objective. "The slums are that way Yua, be careful when you are down there. Reunion isn't the only thing you need to worry about. A lot of criminals will be down there as well." Mostima told Yua the dangers of the slums. "Are there any guards in the slums? Surely someone has to be there to protect the innocent?" Yua asked genuinely curious.
Mostima shook her head, "No. As far as the Yanese government is concerned, those in the slums are not important. To them, it keeps the crime from happening elsewhere, so they don't care what happens to the poor." Yua was disgusted hearing this, as far as she was concerned those in power should do whatever it took to look after their people, rich or poor, or regardless of race. Seeing this, Yua could understand why the slums were a hotspot for Reunion recruits, "It makes perfect sense. Enough people will be angry at those in power for failing them that as soon as a group like Reunion appears, they will see joining as a perfect opportunity to strike back. Plus, if they are infected, a group like that is the only group that will accept them for who they are. That plays right into Reunions hands." Yua summarised Reunions recruitment methods.
Mostima could see a scowl appear on Yua's face, and the blue-haired sankta could understand why, "I know you don't like it, Yua, I don't either. But focus on what we came here to do. Me and Fiammetta will be in the city looking for any information. Look around the slums for anything you can find. You come across any trouble, you know what to do." Mostima told Yua. Yua nodded to show that she remembered why she was here.
The white-haired lung said her farewells to Mostima, then headed into the slums. Once in the slums Yua could see the horrible conditions people were living in, many of them her own race. Yua was appalled by this, she could see many sick and elderly lungs begging on the streets for anything anyone had to spare. The buildings were run down, and in desperate need of repair, litter filled the street. "People shouldn't live like this. It reminds me too much of the future. When the seaborn were destroying everything." Yua could see similarities between this and the future. Yua decided that it was best to focus on her task and begin looking for any signs of Reunion, she had to put her personal opinions aside and focus on her mission.
As the white-haired lung was walking through the slums Yua could feel many of it's residents were looking at her, "They suspect I'm not supposed to be here." Yua thought to herself. Yua could begin to feel more and more people gazing at her as she carried on walking, she did have her sword on her and slowly began to reach for it just in case anyone thought to attack her. Her hand was on the hilt and Yua was ready to draw if necessary, this action caused much of the staring to stop, those who were staring didn't want to take their chances with the white-haired lung. Yua started to feel at ease again once she was sure the gazing had stopped. However, she still kept her hand close to her sword just in case that changed.
The lung carried on walking through the slums. She didn't spot anyone or anything suspicious until she came across a group of lungs talking in an alleyway, their weapons clearly on display. Yua could hear the words "Reunion" and "Mountains" while the group of lungs were talking, none of them realised Yua was listening to them until one of them noticed someone was listening to their conversation.
It was a male lung who was somewhat taller than the rest of his companions. He had black hair and was carrying a greatsword. He was about to tell Yua to scram until his eyes widened, "By the gods! It's her! The one who was with Talulah back in Ursus?! What is she doing here?! Is she looking for us?! Never mind! We have to kill this girl! If she's here, then Talulah must be nearby!" the male lung thought to himself. "Boss, what's wrong? You look like you have just seen a ghost." One of his subordinates asked when his expression changed.
The black-haired simply pointed towards Yua and shouted towards his subordinates, "Kill her! Kill that girl! I don't care what you have to do! Just kill her!" The other lungs turned around and saw the white-haired lung standing there. None of the other lungs knew why their boss wanted Yua dead, but they didn't question it. All of them got their weapons ready and charged at Yua with the intention of killing her.
Seeing the danger Yua drew her own weapon, the first lung tried to cut her in half but Yua blocked the strike with her own sword, after a quick struggle Yua managed to knock her enemies weapon out of their hands then stabbed then in the chest once they were disarmed. Another lung came towards Yua holding a chainsaw. He was swinging wildly at her with a manic grin on his face. Yua dodged and weaved every strike, being careful to put distance between them as if she was caught by the chainsaw, it would tear her apart.
The fight happening between Yua and her enemies had caught the attention of all those around her once it spilled into the main street, people began to run as they could see one lung swinging at the other with a chainsaw and the other doing their best to avoid being hit. Nobody wanted to get caught in between them. The manic lung kept swinging his chainsaw and Yua kept trying to put distance between them, once she was certain that their was sufficient space between them Yua jumped up high to use one of her mother's techniques.
The manic lung could see Yua spin in the air and head towards his position. He brought up his chainsaw to block the incoming attack. However, due to the momentum she had once her blade connected with the chainsaw, it shattered into several pieces. The manic lung was defenceless, and Yua cut him apart with her attack.
Two other lungs then tried to attack Yua once she was on the ground, but Yua saw them coming. She quickly disposed of them as they tried to cut her down. Seeing all his subordinates dead the black-haired lung from earlier drew his greatsword ready to fight his enemy. Yua, however, could see his legs shaking. He clearly was scared with the idea of having to fight her. "Listen, you don't have to fight me. I know you don't want to. Put down your sword, and we can talk, I only came here for information. Nobody else has to die today." Yua tried reasoning with her enemy with hopes of preventing more death.
The black-haired, however cleared didn't want to talk, "You only wanted information?! No! I know you are working with Talulah! Where is she?! I bet she's ready to kill all of us! No way I'm telling you anything, girl!" The lung shouted at Yua.
Yua only sighed. She didn't want another fight but knew by her enemies' response that she would have to fight whether she liked it or not. She brought her sword up, ready and charged at the black-haired lung. Her enemy saw Yua coming and tried to swing his sword at her neck. Yua rolled underneath the swing and had her sword ready. The black-haired lung expected Yua to swing at him and had his sword ready to defend himself. Yua, however, surprised him.
Instead of swinging her sword, with her other hand, she hit her enemy in the jaw with a vicious uppercut. The force of the blow caused the black-haired lung to stagger and then fall to the floor unconscious. The white-haired lung waited a few moments just in case her enemy got back up. Once she was certain her foe was out for the count, Yua grabbed her radio to contact Mostima. Yua informed the blue-haired sankta that she had got into a fight but found someone who had information. Mostima asked if she was okay, to which Yua replied that she was fine. Mostima then said that Fiammetta would head to the slums to help her with who she found.
Yua waited for some time until she saw a red-haired liberi coming towards her, "Glad you're here, Fiammetta. Give me a hand with this guy. We will take him back to the vehicle and then head back to our hideout. He knows where Nine and Reunion are, I'm sure my aunt will want to know." Yua told the liberi. Fiammetta nodded, and the two of them grabbed the black-haired lung and began to leave the slums. Once they were back at their hideout, Yua was certain her aunt would do whatever it took to find out what information this man had, "I feel sorry for this guy. Hopefully, Aunt Talulah isn't too rough with him." Yua thought to herself. The white-haired lung hoped that Reunion would fall soon, and she would get to play a part in it...