The siblings walked free of the portal and stopped, calmly taking in the crowd of people and vehicles in front of them. They had been expecting some of them; if not quite so many.

“We figured you’d be here.” Zack tossed the device that had been inside Aisha, minus the mana crystal, at Anna’s feet. It skittered across the hard floor and came to a stop several feet behind her. He shrugged. “I don’t think it works anymore, in any case, not after going through the portal.”

Zara moved closer to her brother, ignoring the soldiers as they shuffled about at the sudden movement.

“We were, however, expecting less of a crowd, just you, Second, and maybe a few others. It looks like you brought an entire platoon’s worth of soldiers and then some.”

Anna shook her head, her eyes seething as she coldly replied. “That was my original intent yes, someone else had other ideas on the matter.”

Specialist Jean stepped out from behind a vehicle at the back, her face set into a steely mask that revealed nothing. A man Zack recognized vaguely as the Major was at her side.

“Are you, good?” She asked, clipping the word, her eyes flicking from him to the man at her side. It was a hint that only he would understand. A clue she had laid the groundwork for on a whim, hoping she would never need to use it. Now she had, and she still wasn’t sure why. She was loyal to the Major, not this kid. She just did not want him to go through anymore. Both he and his constantly terrified and timid little sister had gone through enough.

Zack remembered the last time she had said that word to him in this place. His mind raced, putting the different clues from their conversation together.

He paled and remembered what the ruler had just told him as well. He did not belong here. Was that something that the Healer woman had been able to see with her examination spell? Was there something different about him and his sister on the inside that affected their status pages?

No, they were not good. They were as far from it as was possible at that moment.

He swallowed and gave them a tight smile, flicking a piece of dried blood from his clothes. “I believe so. There were more beasts than I was expecting after our earlier visits. Nothing we couldn’t handle though.”

Second, raised a brow at his cavalier attitude and answer. No other two travelers at level one could hope to handle a group of beasts and walk away without injury.

“You can thank me for that, I’m afraid,” Anna glided forward on silent steps. “The actions we took against the Albrights earlier had a rather, shall we say, disruptive effect on their corporation and its current operations. Their teams own the current time slot for the portal and without them actively working to keep the number of beasts down. Well, you saw the effect.”

Second frowned from behind her and spoke up. “I’m surprised you were able to handle them all. How many did you say you ran into exactly?”

“I didn’t,” Zack replied, thinking the same thing. Was it possible the Ruler had been protecting them as they walked towards it, or had they gotten unbelievably lucky, again? What had they done to draw its interest in the first place? Could it smell that they were different from so far away?

Zara gripped his shirt from behind, as the Major walked towards them. He was a man just on the upper scale of average height, thin old scars, lightened by age, lined his cheeks. The worn uniform marked him as a man who was rarely behind the desk. The gleam of his bald head was a new sight to them and matched his gleaming eyes.

“It’s been a while,” The imposing man said, his voice surprisingly smooth and comforting.

“It has. We thought you had forgotten about us for a while there.”

“Not forgotten, just lost, and then when we found you, I was busy.” He didn’t apologize. They were an obligation. There were no personal feelings involved to be sorry about.

“And you are no longer busy?” He probed. Zara, pressing closer behind him.

“No, I am still very busy. I simply received a piece of information this afternoon.” He stopped and pulled out a beat-up old crystal pocket watch. The processed magi-crystal inside was dim and due for replacement soon. “Yesterday evening, that I found rather disturbing in nature. I felt it was time to put my work aside for the moment and come meet with the two of you. Little did I know that you had plans of your own. Anna and Second,” He sneered the name. “Are the ones who convinced me it would be better to not cross over with my soldiers and haul you back safely. That we should wait.”

“That was probably wise,” Zack began hesitantly, unsure of how much to say. Much of what had gone on in there was personal to the two of them and would remain private. Just mentioning the existence of the Ruler, however, might be fine?

“Just mention it as the blob in the sky,” Zara whispered to him, pressing her head against his back.

Everyone leaned forward, waiting for him to finish the sentence.

“A, uh,” Zack scratched the back of his head, sending a wave of flakes down on Zara’s equally nasty head. “I’m not sure how to say this, but we know what’s on the island. Now at least, can’t say for sure how long it has been there.” He dithered uncomfortably, playing it up while smirking inside.

Everyone had been dying to know what was on the floating island since the portal first appeared.

“Well?” Anna snapped in exasperation.

Zack brightened as an idea came to him. “Hey Second, I know I’m telling everyone here, but this info should count for something, right?”

The older man wheezed in surprise and leaned on his ever-present cane. “Sure, if it’s good, then I’ll give you something for it when we talk later, in addition to our other deal.” He smiled good-naturedly and waited with the rest.

Zack wiped the smile from his face and prepared to tell them a bald-faced lie of a story. “It’s a ruler class being.”

Anna was the first to recover. “All soldiers out now!” Her voice roared through the space, near-deafening each of them.

“Now!” The Major shouted a beat later, backing up her order. His lack of protest at her commanding his soldiers revealing the true order of power for the siblings. He held Jean back while the rest shuffled out.

“How do you know about the ruler class existences?” Second asked carefully once they were alone.

“What do you mean?” Zack was confused by the question. “Everyone knows about them. We all know they exist, and that’s about it, since they rarely appear.”

Second sighed in relief. “I understand my apologies. Please continue.”

He studied the older gentleman for a second before turning away. “When we went through the portal, Zara went through the awakening process. Lots of light, sparkles, fireworks, music, applause, you know how it works.” Zara jabbed him in the back as his tongue began to run away from him.

He coughed and continued. “Anyway, the light drew a decent-sized horde of monsters. Luckily for us, none of them were interested in working together. I was able to hold them off until she could help, and then, working together, we finished them off. It was a rather bloody affair, but we managed.”

He waved at the blood that had dried, cracked, and flaked off from all over their bodies. “I admit, some of this came from my scavenging efforts. I’m somewhat out of practice in that regard. Anyway, when we tried to leave the area around the portal, this dark blob with two glowing yellow eyes appeared in the sky above us. What is the one thing that has always been documented in regards to ruler class beings?”

It was Jean who answered. “Their ability to suppress others? It comes out as a kind of pressure, I believe.”

“Yup, and every time we tried to cross some invisible line, bam, we’d get hit with it. Eventually, we gave up, and just waited for me to heal up some more before coming back through.” He hoped that would be enough to throw them off the scent. As a bonus, it would also explain why they hadn’t been able to go far enough inside to get any mana crystals.

“Did it-” Second shook his head. “No, never mind.”

Zack was beginning to think the old man might know something more about the ruler class than he was saying. His reaction, well, all of their reactions had been odd, but his especially so.