Keel rounded every which way. He twisted and turned, examining his new surroundings. Sparse trees dripping in ink, the foliage gave way to rough earth and eventual stone. Orange flames licked off his form as he stomped towards the edge of the quarry. His damaged helmet allowed one eye to hone in on the assembled crowd in the center of the crater. His legs bent, power still flooding his muscle, aiming for the center of the action. He leaped.

A vine caught his ankle, and he crashed back into the ground.

Whirling, he aimed a fiery fist. It halted, illuminating two female faces. One was childish, the other slightly more mature but sickly. Rez was pale-faced, and her hair was drained of all its vibrancy. She slumped in exhaustion, held up only by Agatha''s shoulder.

Keel snarled, still fuming from consuming Qwaver.

"Which one of you stopped me? The punishment isn't over yet.."

"It's over, Keel."

"It isn't over until I say it is!"

Shouting, Keel thrust a thumb into his chest before turning back to the quarry. He jumped again, this time he flew for a few seconds before smashing into a translucent barrier. When he picked himself back off the ground, his helmet disappeared entirely. His bright orange hair dimmed visibly. The Qwaver's power was waning.

An armored fist smacked into the barrier, ineffective.

"Who made this barrier? Was it the Speaker's pet acolyte?"

Agatha set Rez down. The poor girl had a fever but still spoke evenly.

"Even if you returned. There's no fight anymore. Look."

Keel blinked several times, removing the haze from his vision. Enhancing it further with a spell, he saw the center of the battle had turned quiet. The remnants were gone, and the acolytes were calmly going about their business as if nothing happened. Everyone was chatting harmlessly.

"Whatever happened, it affected Ji too."

It had been Ji's earth magic that rescued Rez from the center of the fighting. The young boy had pulled Rez through the ground and brought her to freedom. Unfortunately, he got caught near the edge of the memory spell's range. He didn't remember the last twenty minutes or so. He sat nearby, the other boys were shaking him to get his attention.

"It doesn't make sense. Teleporting me should have been impossible. That red-haired man said something and then I appeared here. He's supposed to be an enhancer."

The word rolled off his tongue in disgust. Rez tried to shake her head, but it clearly made her dizzy.

"It's obvious they are strong. Zed, the man who teleported you, was toying with me the entire time. He never took our duel seriously."

"What were you thinking? We forbade open duels. You aren't even supposed to show your face. Now, look at you."

Keel waved a hand at Rez like she was trash. She had been his second—second oldest and second strongest. Now she was weak again. Rez would need more Qwaver to be restored. It was such a waste.

"Forget the stupid acolytes, it's the two newcomers that we need to take care of. Never take your eyes off them. Take turns if you want; I don't care. I'm going to get some more Qwaver. Apparently, someone will die without it."

Keel began turning, but a new voice stopped him.

"Wait."

"What!"

Sean tried not to cower, but he couldn't hold a candle to Keel. Of those left, he was the oldest.

"Do we really need to do this? Can't... can't we stay in the hideout? It's not like anyone ever comes around, except those two strangers."

Keel marched up to Sean, chin out, and pushed the younger boy's chest. Sean weathered the first but stumbled from the second. On the ground, Sean looked up helplessly.

"I'm your leader, and you listen to me. Now, do as I say, and keep an eye on those two red-haired Qorxau pigs."

The insects went silent, subdued by Keel's rage. All the kids stared at him. Sean gulped. No one answered.

Keel stormed off, leaving the kids to themselves.

=

Dewie

The way votes worked in the Big Seven—that was their clan name—was by process of elimination. It was an Elden game of Not It. Dewie was usually the first or second to speak up, but his voice was too quiet. No one ever heard him, so he usually got stuck with the short stick.

But that wasn't the case this time. Dewie raised his hand and volunteered for the first shift. After watching his leader's meltdown and seeing his sub-commander so sickly, Vanguard Dewie decided to take one for the team. He couldn't help in any other way, so eavesdropping on the two strangers was the most obvious choice.

Hiding inside a nearby apple barrel, Dewie peaked through a round hole to get a good view of his targets.

"I think the spell didn't have a full effect on the Speaker. She was clearly suspicious."

The pretty red-haired woman remarked.

"Maybe it was the dead acolyte I had to stash?"

The scruffy and intimidating rust-haired man quipped back.

"That's true. His disappearance will be the biggest gap in logic and will likely unravel the spell. I don't know how much longer we have here, so we should hurry up and finish investigating before the Speaker remembers."

"What about the kids?"

Dewie covered his mouth to prevent himself from breathing audibly. Did they notice him?

"Keel is a problem, but I think we've made progress with Rez. Knowing the others, I think we can still be friends when this is all over. Especially Dewie. He's such a sweet kid."

Dewie's eyebrows parachuted. A noise threatened to escape his nostrils, so a second hand pinched them shut. Unfortunately, that prevented him from breathing entirely. He quickly became as red as the apples around him.

When he woke up, his targets were gone.

=

Bip

He had his hand up first; It was supposed to be him on the first shift. It didn't make sense that Dewie was chosen for the first shift. And look who fell asleep in the apple barrel.

Bip would never make such a stupid mistake. He was hiding on a nearby roof of an elderly old lady. She was busy meditating and wouldn't get up for anything.

At the next building site over, someone was stacking bricks. Zed worked like an efficient machine. For some reason, the stones were shaped to imitate long logs. They linked together perfectly.

"That is so cool..."

The stone linking logs connected at four corners, creating a four-walled stone cabin. Zed was reaching for another log when he yelped in pain. He hopped around on one foot, cursing obscenities. Bip took note of all the new ones. Best case, there was a clue in those words. Worst case? New battle-cries.

Zed pinched his fingers together and inched them toward the protruding object. Why was he barefoot?

Plucked free, the offending weapon was tossed aside. Zed put his foot down and yelped again.

"Ow! Stupid legos."

His arm swung wide, spilling a bucket of legos over the entire area. Bip took cover as the tiny devices rained over him. When the hail stopped, he peered back over the edge of the roof. To his dismay, he'd been surrounded. Incredibly hazardous pointy caltrops marred the entire area.

A lego minefield.

Bip looked down at his bare feet and cursed colorfully.

=

Sean

Rescuing Bip from his precarious predicament had been Sean's job. Sub-Commander Rez was still resting, and Keel was nowhere to be found. Magic didn't seem to work at cleaning up the tiny caltrops of imminent doom, and it required a lot of patience to pick them up by hand. On the plus side, it gave Sean an exciting idea for a new game to play.

He kept a handful of the "legos" in a pouch at his waist. Coming up with rules for a game shouldn't be too difficult. It would be exciting to play with the lads and Agatha. Keel never played anymore, and playing with the Sub-Commander always turned out unfair. She always won. If neither of them played, it gave Sean a good chance at winning.

Patting the pouch to double-check it was still there, his gaze never wavered from the sneaky red-haired lady. She was working inside the inn rather than under the open pavilion. From his secret hiding place, he could hear her attempt to talk to everyone in the inn. There was the Barkeep, Angry Neighbor 14, Angry Neighbor 9, and Wise Greg.

"About my height, dark black hair hidden underneath a traditional Pelusian headscarf... Broken nose with kind eyes, and he always rubbed his hands together when talking."

The woman levitated the parasol she was working on to demonstrate rubbing her hands together. It made everyone blink twice.

"He wouldn't be hard to miss. My cousin supposedly arrived recently and disappeared just as fast. Please. Has no one seen him?"

Wise Greg shook his head and spoke enlightened words.

"Shaddup! I'm trying to drink over here."

That was Sean's fault. Wise Greg became Belligerent Drunk Greg not too long ago.

"Barkeep, Angry Neighbors 9 and 14, you must have seen him."

Solei didn't call them that, but it is what Sean heard in his head. The Angry neighbors grumbled and turned away, avoiding eye contact and hoping the pushy woman would leave. Barkeep sighed.

"If I tell you, will you work elsewhere?"

Barkeep!? You were nice all along? I need to give you a new name.

Sean was dead wrong. The Barkeep just wanted Solei gone, making him a terrible barkeep. Maybe that was the point of the inn? Terrible water and stone beds weren't great for attracting guests.

"Agreed, I promise to work elsewhere."

Solei was already on her feet, levitating her materials instead of picking them up. Kind Barkeep eyed the floating objects.

"Your cousin tried to join the acolytes. He went inside the temple."

Solei beamed brightly, pressing her hands together in excitement.

"Thank you, Kind Barkeep. I'll gift you this as a show of my appreciation."

Everyone watched in wonder as the materials that were levitating spurred into action. They rushed around a spinning central object, attaching and adhering to it like a wet paper towel. The spinning stopped, revealing a perfectly made parasol with colorful trimming. The bold colors attracted Sean and almost made him give up his secret hiding space. Cooling himself, he reigned in his emotions and watched.

"I don't need your charity."

"If you say so. I'll just leave it here in case you change your mind."

Sean's stomach dropped. He watched helplessly as the parasol flew in his direction. The curved handle spun perfectly and hooked onto his outstretched arm. It dangled back and forth a few times before coming to a rest.

"I noticed you didn't have any coats for your coat rack, so at the very least, this will spice up the entrance."

"I don't remember having a wooden coat rack."

"It's very sturdy. It reminds me of someone I used to know."

Solei giggled.

Sean's eyes were saucer plates, but he didn't dare move now. His eyes followed the tittering Solei as she exited the open doorway. When she was gone, and he double-checked no one else was looking, Sean exhaled.

The sight of a wooden coat rack slumping with exhaustion was something out of a Disney movie. It's apparent that Sean's illusion had been seen through. That was a first. Since his cover was blown, it was time to switch. Sean knew the perfect person for the job.

=

Ji

He went undiscovered for hours, listening to their conversations. Hearing through vibrations in the ground wasn't tricky; Ji just had a short attention span. The two people he was supposed to be watching spoke about strange things. At one point they seemed to be talking to a third person. Ji heard a third person speaking back too. However, when he rechecked the vibrations above him, he didn't feel the third set of feet.

Strange.

Then something interesting happened an hour later. The two people were alone in their recently built house.

"No one's watching. I think it's time."

"I told you no. Not until this is over."

"What is a date without a little romance. Hrm?"

"Lizzy. No. Bad Lizzy. No! What are you doing. Get off me!"

"Mwahaha~ There's no escape."

Ji listened intently, trying to understand why one of them turned from a man into a woman. The changy woman attacked the usual woman. There were more cries for help, but Ji couldn't blow his cover, and no one seemed in danger. He went back to daydreaming, waiting for something interesting to happen.

=

Agatha

Finding Ji was easy if you knew where to look.

Agatha was the latest replacement. Ji said nothing interesting happened yet, so Agatha was optimistic that something would occur during her shift.

The ordinarily energetic girl reigned in her stray thoughts and focused all her attention on spying. The man and woman were going over plans in their stone cabin. A map sprawled out over a smooth table, the details depicting what it looked like inside the temple.

"The sonar mapping stopped at this point. It's just blank. There is something down there blocking my scans. I can make guesses, but there is no way to tell until we check it out in person."

"I have a feeling the Speaker's memory has returned by now."

"What makes you say that?"

"I can see her walking this way."

Agatha freaked, ducking down. Indeed, the Speaker was speedwalking in her direction. Agatha turned back to the inside of the home, eyes bugging out.

She ran. As fast as her short legs could carry her. She utilized Ji's earth spell in short bursts to jump between cover. She was no good at it, but she didn't care. Getting caught would be the worst and Agatha needed to report what she'd seen immediately!

=

Rez

A hasty Agatha crashed through the doorway.

"Rez! Sub-Commander. I... It's terrible. Disastrous. I messed up so bad."

Hands on her knees, Agatha panted for breath. Inside the abode were a sleeping man and a teenage girl. The girl looked terrible with her dusky yellow hair, and her complexion was no better.

Rez's recovery was only beginning when her father, Wael, started to Fracture again. With no one else to rely on, she needed to give away what little energy she had left to heal him.

Agatha held up a finger, catching her breath.

"It... It's them. They disappeared. Invisible. Speaker. Temple. What do we do?"

Rez rubbed her weary eyes, fixating on fixing her father.

"Sub-commander?"

"I can't go. Find Keel."

"But..."

"Keel is the one who wants them watched. Talk to him."

"But I can't sub-commander. The leader is scary."

Rez sighed, waving over the concerned Agatha. The younger girl paced through the spartan abode. The walls were unfinished, cracked from overuse. Rez overtaxed them in an attempt to recover quickly. Even now, energy was being drawn in from the rock, and Wael's condition continued to get worse. Twice, Rez slipped up and triggered secondary cascades. Her errors nearly broke her father.

"I need to borrow your mana. I'll show you how."

Rez held out her second hand without looking. Agatha fiddled with her green hair, hesitant.

"Um... Will it hurt?"

"No. Not if we both accept the transfer. I watched those two do it flawlessly. There's no pain or loss of energy, and the spell was perfect... Unlike the Speaker. Or maybe she just enjoys causing pain."

Rez clenched her teeth, warding off the memory.

"Here. Place your hand in mine."

Agatha was cautious but trusted her Sub-commander. Rez was her idol, after all. Strong, pretty, and the other boys listened to her.

"Like this?"

"Yes. Do you remember how to cast mana vision?"

Agatha's eyes grew brighter, ringed by mana. Rez made herself smile.

"Good. Do you see my mana?"

By how Agatha recoiled, Rez assumed it was even worse.

"Look where our hands meet. Try letting the color in your hand free. Imagine a gate creaking open, that your mana is a herd of animals and they need to roam in the pasture. That pasture is my hand. The exchange is good for both of us. The animals feel cramped inside your pen and would love to run free outside. You'll feel more relaxed. Do you feel it?"

Agatha cracked a smile seeing her flock of mana flow into Rez's hand. It didn't hurt at all.

"Good. Keep it like that. Not too fast, but don't close it yet."

Rez felt the energy vividly. It was rejuvenating and could be used to heal her wounds. Instead, she ferried the mana from one arm to the other. The finger repairing the cracks in her father's skin glowed. Like magic, she trailed the repairs back to where the Fracture originated. It took thirty agonizing seconds, but the damage was finally repaired.

At this point, Agatha's hair had lost a lot of its color, returning to a darker brown. There was still no pain—only kindness.

She could have taken it all. Rez could have forced it all out and drained Agatha dry just as the Speaker did to her.

Rez removed her hand from the link.

"That's it? I still have more."

Agatha watched Rez rise from her seat, dusty blonde hair falling over her eyes. Rez embraced the younger girl, sniffling.

"Sub-commander?"

Agatha's voice was confused, but she allowed the hug to last a second longer.

"Thank you, Agatha. I won't forget this."

"We're friends."

Spoken like there was no other possible reason for helping.

They separated, and Rez wiped her eyes.

"Can you stay here and look after my dad?"

"I can, but... What are you going to do?"

Rez looked back at her dad, finally understanding what to do.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of everything.