Emperor Minami bolted upright from his desk as his palace suffered the aftershocks of a nearby explosion.

He rushed to the window of his room, which was located at the top of the spire in the middle of the complex.

That’s the east wing, which means… Rexir! Gods damn that foolish son of mine! What has he gotten himself into now!?

The emperor was about to open his door when he heard a knock on it instead. “Enter!” He barked, and watched as a nervous maid entered the room.

“S-sir, Jeeves sent me here to report to you what he’s figured out about the explosion.”

The emperor sighed and forced himself to calm down. He knew he shouldn’t let himself get annoyed in front of the hired help, especially if they weren’t the ones who caused him any problems.

He mechanically walked back to his desk, and took a seat. “Sit please. It would be rude of you to decline.”

Unused to being pressured by the emperor, the maid timidly tucked her dress under herself as she sat down.

“Now,” Emperor Minami began, leaning forward in his chair, “What was so important that Jeeves sent you to me instead of coming himself?”

“It… it has to do with Prince Rexir and Princess Leresa.” The emperor nodded, having already foreseen the subject of this particular talk.

“They… they have both disappeared from our range of tracking.” Emperor Minami could feel his heart drop at the sentence. They had found a way to escape the castle’s surveillance.

“I see. Does Jeeves have any leads on where they could have gone?” Emperor Minami was many things, but a bad judge of character wasn’t one of them. Jeeved hadn’t been hired merely for his excellence in butlering, but because he excelled in surveillance and tactical espionage.

Of course, it had helped that the two had grown up as childhood friends, but he would never admit that reason for hiring the old man to Jeeves himself.

“Actually, we know exactly what happened, sir. Several eyewitnesses have reported witnessing Tirania’s light in the courtyard, and a presence that debilitated their movement descended in the eastern wing.”

They summoned a goddess!? That’s imposs- Leo’s visage cut through the emperor’s thoughts, and he sighed. Impossible for my son, at least.

“And? What happened from there?” Emperor Minami took a sip of his tea, and let the fragrance and heat of the beverage relax him.

“Jeeves was walking by with Zare, and the two of them witnessed the goddess incarnate create a portal, where they all walked through.”

“I see. Well, I suppose the only way he’ll come back to this world is when he’s finished whatever task the goddess has in store for him.” The emperor took another sip of his tea, and waved the maid away.

“Actually, there’s one more thing sir.” The emperor urged her on with his hand while still savoring the tea in his mouth.

“It seems that Princess Zare got excited, and charged into the portal after her brother and Leresa.” Needless to say, Emperor Minami apologized profusely to the maid after spitting out his tea in her face.

---

“Signal confirmed, Sir! It’s Honeybee’s energy signature!” Alpha nodded, and stopped looking at his grey hairs in the mirror before beginning walking down to the decontamination dock, where the girl would be returning to.

In all his years as a member of the Zodiac, she had been his finest pupil. Each task he set Katherine to, she excelled in, and she always went above and beyond when delivering results.

He was certain that this time would be no different. The girl had a way about her that drew people in, and a unique mindset that stirred the curiosity in others.

He walked into the University of Massachusetts Amherst basement, which had been repurposed as a testing chamber of sorts after Christian’s hostile takeover of the United States.

Alpha had decided to move his faction as far away from the new capital of America, Los Angeles, as soon as Christian had attained the presidency. He had always been wary of the venom and vitriol in the Supreme General, but never imagined it could spiral this far out of control.

“What is the status of the gate?”Alpha finally reached the test chamber, which was a rectangular chamber with clear walls, and two women on either side using their photon powers to stabilize the black hole in the middle.

“Portal is stable, sir. We are just awaiting her arrival.” The woman on the right, Tina, said. She was a lady with dark brown hair and pale skin, and the leader of Alpha’s subordinates.

“Arrival in t-minus two minutes!” A technician who was monitoring the photonic activity in the room said.

Alpha walked over to the front of the aptly named ‘Warp Chamber,’ and raised his voice, “Very well. All hands, prepare for arrival!”

“Sir, yes sir!” They shouted back, and save for the photon users, all the technicians set into a flurry of motion.

Amongst all the chaos, only Alpha was wearing an optimistic smile. Come on, Katherine. You can do it, I know you can.

“Arrival imminent!” The technician shouted, and the portal started to fluctuate, spewing lightning inside the test chamber.

There was a great flash of light that temporarily blinded the crew, Alpha included. “Well, this place looks like shit.” A feminine voice said.

When alpha finally regained his vision, he was greeted by a sound of discontent coming from the direction of the portal. Only one person would openly insult him like that-

“Vanessa!” Alpha grinned like a fool as he laid his eyes on her. “Leo too! Wow, you haven’t aged a bit, huh? And… looks like there’s more of you here than I was expecting.”

His eyes cruised over the three other people in the chamber, including a simply scandalous looking… elf?

“Well, please, come out and get decontaminated. Oh, and is she all right?” All six people standing looked behind them to see an unconscious and mumbling Zare Minami.