Sirens could be heard as police cars and fire trucks whizzed past. Cliff looked out onto the street to see if anyone noticed them going into the alley. "Ok. We're safe." He said as he turned to the others who had changed back into their terra clothes. "So that must be those garment crystals the Arch Sage provided. Glad to see they work. I'd imagine in this line of work, your clothes must get pretty damaged."

"Ok, now who are you?" Nel repeated her question, narrowing her eyes at the man.

"Straight to the point I see," Cliff said as he walked to the others. "Well the short version, I'm what's known as a Hunter."

"Hunter?"

"I was born in Terra, but my bloodline goes all the way back to Avalon. As a result, I can use mana like people in Avalon."

"Y-You're kidding," Allisa said, still finding this hard to believe.

Cliff grinned at her. "I guess this would come as a shock to you."

"How else am I supposed to react to this?! I mean, I know you from around town and you're... well, you're involved in this!!" Allisa stuttered.

"Just imagine my surprise." Cliff then patted Allisa on the head. "I mean, next chosen wielder of Excalibur, 'the hero of both worlds' turns out to be chief of police's tomboy daughter. Come on, that's something out of a comic, you have to admit that."

Allisa pouted, realizing that what Cliff had said was true in a lot of ways. Even if she told anyone the truth, there was a very high probability that she would be laughed at, thinking she made up an idea of a comic or fantasy novel series.

"So what's a Hunter?" Yuki asked, getting them back on topic.

"Oh, right." Cliff leaned against a wall as he thought of how to explain his story. "We're an order set up by the Arch Sages centuries ago to maintain the peace between the worlds. That's the best way I can describe us."

"Maintain peace?"

"Right." he then pointed at Yuki's hand. "Only the Arch Sages can give people permission to travel between worlds, and the void rings you have are proof of that permission." Everyone looked at their rings. "However, there are some bad folks who manage to slip through and reek all sorts of havoc that people here can't deal with. That's where Hunters come in. We take out these bad guys behind the scenes to make sure the peace between the worlds is maintained."

"How long has this been going on?" Allisa asked.

"I think the Hunters were set up around the time of King Arthur, that much I know. But, I'm not sure about a lot of the details." Cliff then walked past the group to a wall. "The others know more about this stuff than me, so you'll get more answers from them."

"Others?"

"Yep. Didn't think I led you all to a dead-end for nothing did ya?" Cliff then put his hand on the brick wall in front of him. Suddenly, the bricks started to part, revealing a stairwell.

"Whoa," Allisa walked forwards to the hole in the wall.

"This leads to our home."

"Quite well hidden," Nel said inspecting the bricks.

"Well, get inside," Cliff said. "Quickly before someone sees." the group then entered the hole in the wall. As soon as they did, the bricks started to close behind them.

"How did you open them?" Melvin said.

"There's a special brick. You just pour a bit of mana into it and they'll part to this stairwell." Cliff explained as they descended the stairwell.

"Only people with the use of mana can enter this place?" Nel asked.

"Yep. Course, you need to know the right place too. We have about four other entrances around town. That's actually our back door." The group then came to a door in front of them. "Let me." Cliff pushed past Allisa and knocked on the door. "Dale! It's me! Could you open up?"

"Dale?" Allisa said recognizing the name. "You don't mean..."

The door then opened and Dale poked his head round. "Cliff. How'd it go?" Dale asked. Cliff simply pointed over his shoulder to Allisa.

"Wait, Dale?!" Allisa's mouth dropped when she saw it really was the Dale she knew, the geeky looking owner of the comic book store.

"A-Allisa?" Dale said, looking just as surprised as she did. "Wait, wait wait! Why is she-?" He then looked at the others. "Are these..."

"Yep, the people from Avalon. There..." Cliff then scratched his head. "Actually, I didn't get your names."

"Oh, I'm Max."

"Melvin."

"Yuki."

"Nel Zepher."

"But if they're with Allisa, then that means...." Dale then approached Allisa looking astonished. "Are you really Excalibur's wielder?" He asked.

"Um, yeah," Allisa said nervously, still having no idea what was going on.

"Wow!" Dale then grabbed her hand. "To be honest, when the Arch Sage said it was you I couldn't believe it since you're the last person I would have expected." Dale then released her hand. "No offense and all. I'm glad it's some hot chick rather than some crabby old dude, but I thought it would be the latter."

"Um, ok." Allisa didn't quite know how to respond to Dale.

"So you know this guy too?" Melvin asked.

"Y-Yeah..." Allisa said, completely lost at a number of turns the events of only a few minutes have taken. "H-He runs the comic book store I visit....."

"This is Dale Grinder, a fellow Hunter." Cliff introduced.

"Please to meet all of you," Dale said, sticking out his hand.

Max then grabbed his hand and shook hard. "Nice to meet you too dude." Dale squirmed and jumped up in pain.

"Nice-to-meet-you-too-please-let–go!" he said in one breath. When Max relished him, Dale retreated to the corner holding his hand.

"Is he ok? I didn't hold that hard." Max asked looking down at the hand he used to shake Dale's hand.

"Don't worry," Cliff said patting Dale on the back. "He just has the physique of a stick insect."

"Well sorry if I'm not like the rest of you macho monsters!" Dale said in retaliation.

"Whatever. Least I'm not as weak as to lose to a 10-year-old in an arm wrestle." Cliff mocked.

"Oh come on, Sasha can't count!" He then pointed at Melvin. "I'm sure I could beat him!"

"Scuse me," Allisa interrupted. "Are there others? You know, Hunters?"

"Yeah, they're three others. Two girls and the elder." Cliff replied. "All are pretty eager to meet you."

"Anyway," Dale faced the group again, shaking his hand. "I guess we should introduce you to them." He then walked to the door.

Hunters

The door leads into a massive room, paved white with a kitchen area, a TV with a couch along with a DVD shelf, and other things common for a normal house. There were also 6 other doors around the room.

At the very center was a boxing ring. In the ring were two people. At the very center was a little girl with brown hair tied in pigtails and was wearing a sports outfit. She held a stance and had sweat dripping down her face. Another was a woman who was dressed similarly and had short blond hair. She was sitting on the side holding a stopwatch. The little girl then loosened her stance and held her knees as she gasped for air. The woman then clicked the stopwatch.

"7 minutes, 28 seconds." The woman said.

"What?" the girl moaned. "Still not 10 minutes."

"Hey, I could only reach 5 when I was your age. Your making good progress." The woman looked to the door where Allisa's group entered, escorted by Dale and Cliff. "Looks like we have guests." The Woman said, throwing a towel to the girl. "Let's take a break."

"Kay." The girl said as they got out of the ring to approach the group.

"Welcome back." The woman said to Cliff, keeping her eyes on Allisa and her companions. "Friends of yours?"

"You could say that," Cliff said, turning to Allisa and her companions. "This is Allisa, Max, Melvin, Nel and Yuki." He then turned towards the two girls. "This is Mirage Trador," he gestured to the woman. "And Sasha Blouse. They're both hunters like us." He then gestured to the little girl.

"Allisa?" Mirage looked to Allisa with intrigue. "You mean that Allisa?"

"Yep. The girl who comes to the store a lot."Dale said.

"I see. So it was true." Mirage then approached Allisa. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Um... You too." Allisa responded nervously, still not having a total grasp of the situation.

"Hey," Sasha then pointed at Allisa. "Aren't you Luke's weird older sister?"

"Huh? You know my brother? And... 'weird?'" Allisa asked, a little confused to why she was called weird.

"Yeah, he's in my class at school. He always talks about how weird you are."

"Oh does he?" Allisa said with annoyance.

"Wow. And you're really the hero the Elder's been talking about?" Sasha gawked.

"I, guess... um, Elder?"

"You sure this is right? She doesn't look like much to me." Mirage said to Cliff and Dale, sounding unsure.

"She had the sword and all. Can be no doubt about that." Cliff nodded to her. "I also had a look at her skills back in that fight. Let's just say, she knows how to defend herself."

Mirage then leaned in close to Allisa. "How old are you anyway?"

"Um, fifteen." She muttered.

"Wow, that's young." Mirage pulled back. "I heard it chose a teen but I didn't expect someone like you."

Who exactly was she expecting?

Mirage then glanced at the others behind Allisa. "You guys must be the Avalon people. Good to see those clothes I picked out for you fits."

"You picked these out?" Melvin asked, pointing to his clothes.

"Yep. I also dropped them off where you guys would appear." Mirage said.

"How did you know where we would appear?" Nel asked.

"The Arch Sage told us." Mirage then looked at Nel. "You must be the assassin that came before?"

"Um, that's right," Nel said, a little skeptical about how she knew that.

"Let's see," Mirage then took a look at the others. She then pointed at Max. "You must be this Salamander." She then pointed at Melvin. "You're the Arch Sages apprentice." She then pointed at Yuki. "And you must be this freelancer swordsman." The boys could only respond with slight mutters.

"How do you know about us?" Nel asked, still skeptical.

"Arch sage told us about you," Dale said.

"About that," Melvin interrupted. "When you said master spoke to you, what do you mean by that?"

"Oh, we have a crystal ball that we use to communicate with the arch sage in the elder's room. It connects directly to the Arch Sage Dran." Dale clarified. "We'll take you to meet him. He's been really eager to finally meet Allisa in person."

"Before that," Allisa interrupted looking around. "What exactly is this place?"

"Home," Cliff said. "It was built under the town by our predecessors. It's our home as well as our bass. No one knows it exists and it can only be accessed by us."

"Kinda useful too," Dale said. "Since this place is secret and can only be accessed by us. And since no one knows it exists we don't have to pay any kind of tax so that's kinda handy." Allisa looked around at the lights in the room. "In case you're wondering, we're running off the main power of the mall since we're directly under it."

"Isn't that stealing?" Melvin asked.

The Hunters remained suspiciously quiet over that fact, which said all they needed to know.

"My, it looks like we have visitors." A man's voice came from across the room.

"Perfect timing," Cliff said as a large, giant of a man approached the group. Allisa couldn't help but feel intimidated by the man's massive size. He had long blond hair, along with a long beard on his face. He also wore some kind of green eastern robe.

"Elder look." Sasha ran up to the man who virtually dwarfed her. "The Hero's here."

"I can see that." The man approached Allisa. "My name is Grameis. I'm the elder of the Hunters here." He said in a deep, yet polite voice. "But you can address me as 'Elder' if you wish, I really don't mind."

"Um... nice to meet you?" Allisa said in a timid voice.

"Don't let his looks fool you," Dale said. "May not look it, but he's actually 81." Everyone looked surprised.

"Whoa, he's ancient!" Yuki commented.

"He's even older than Rowin!" Melvin commented.

"Well, with age comes experience as they say." The Elder said chuckling.

"Is it just me, or is he as big as that thing from before?" Max whispered to Yuki,

"Sounds about right," Yuki whispered back.

"I'll take that as a compliment." The Elder said, surprising Max and Yuki. "I make sure to keep in good shape."

"H-He heard you?" Yuki muttered.

"Whoa, this guy's got insane hearing," Max said.

"Got that right," Cliff said sounding scared. "The old men can hear a leaf dropping on water from a mile away."

"Its actually quite frightening at times," Dale said, just as timidly as Cliff.

The Elder then looked at Allisa. "So your Allisa Reed, are you?" He then leaned in close to her, causing her to lean back awkwardly.

"Um... is something wrong?" Allisa asked nervously.

The Elder then rose again, stroking his long beard. "By any chance, are you related to Silvia Lockheart?"

Allisa was shocked by hearing that name. "Y-Yeah. That's my grandma."

"Ha! I thought so." The Elder chuckled folding his arms, "Why you look just like her when she was your age. To think that the wielder of Excalibur was Silvia's own granddaughter."

"Y-you knew my grandma." Allisa asked, trying to hide the wave of conflicting feelings at the mention of her name.

"Wait." Max then spoke. "Lockheart? Was that her last name?"

"Yeah, that's my mom's maiden name. Reed's from my dad's side." Allisa said with sadness in her voice.

"Is she, you know-" Max was then jabbed in the ribs by Nel cutting him off before he could finish. "What was that for?"

"Why are you such an Idiot?" Yuki said, narrowing his eyes.

"How dense can you be, you insensitive jerk?" Melvin said, folding his arms.

"I didn't say nothing!"

"Oh," Allisa turned round to face the others. "It's fine, really." She said. "And yeah, she died when I was young."

"I apologize." The elder said. "I should have been a bit more sensitive about the subject." He then let out a large sigh. "I'm truly sorry for you lose. She was a wonderful woman."

"It's fine," Allisa replied to him, wiping her eyes. "A-anyway, how did you know my grandma?"

"We were old friends when we were young. We were... close."

"Oh, I see."

"But that's a tale for another time." The elder changed the topic, gazing at Allisa and her friends while fondling his arms within his long sleeves. "For now... I have a feeling you're here regarding our 'serial killer,'"

Allisa went quiet, as did the others, recalling the horrific experience at the school. "I take it we'll be getting a proper explanation as to what's been going on in this town?" Nel asked.

"Right," Cliff nodded, glancing up to the Elder, who nodded back with a serious glint in his eye.

"Would you care to follow me?" He then gestured to the door he entered from. "You all can get comfy in my chambers. I have a lot of things to explain to you all."

****

The elder led the group into a large room, which was apparently his bedroom. The entire room had an eastern design, resembling that of a Japanese dojo with a shrine at the front.

"Looks like home in here," Yuki commented.

"Yes, you're from Kugarat too I see." The Elder said to him. "I can tell from that katana you carry."

"You can see it?" Melvin asked.

"Course we can. Why wouldn't we?" Dale said, slightly confused by the question.

"The complex has a barrier around it that nullifies any invisibility or cloaking magic." The Elder said to them. "I assume that's what that tag's for." Melvin and Dale looked at the tag on Yuki's scabbard.

"Why do you need something like this?" Dale asked.

"Cause the idiot won't give that sword up so that's to help carry it around without attracting attention," Melvin explained.

"Why doesn't he use his garment crystal? He has one, right?"

"Actually,"

"The Jerk can't use mana," Max replied for Melvin.

"What he said." Melvin pointed over his shoulder at Max.

"Shut up! I was trained not to, ok." Yuki grumbled.

"Cause you sucked at it?"

Yuki then locked heads with Max. "It's probably a good thing I didn't so I don't go around blasting everything in my path."

"What's that mean, Sword Bastard?"

"You heard me Pyro."

Dale then backed off from the two. "Is this normal for them?"

"Sadly, yes," Melvin said exhaustedly.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Allisa looked at a crystal ball sitting on the table nearby. She recalled seeing something similar in Dran's study. "What's this?"

"A Crystal ball for communication with Avalon," Mirage replied. "We use it to communicate with the Arch Sage Dran."

"So that's how you knew about us," Nel said, also inspecting it.

"That's right." Cliff then approached them. "He told us about you guys and where you would likely appear."

"Well then." The Elder then took a seat near the shrine. "Do make yourselves comfortable."

Allisa, Melvin, and Max approached the Elder, looking around for any chairs. Yuki, on the other hand, took a mat from the floor, placed it on the ground, and knelt on it. Sasha took a mat and sat on it. Allisa, Melvin, and Max then took mats and sat down on them. Nel remained standing along with Mirage, Dale, and Cliff.

"I guess I should start by telling you about the Hunters." The elder took in a deep breath before he began. "We are a secret organization set up by King Arthur himself to maintain the peace between the worlds by hunting and defeating intruders who travel from Avalon."

"It's our job to take out anyone from Avalon who comes to Terra without the approval of the Arch Sage In order to prevent them from inflicting any kind of damage," Cliff said. "You spent time in Avalon, I'm sure you see the clear difference between us." He said to Allisa.

"Y-Yeah..." Allisa nodded, thinking back on her experiences.

The Elder continued his story. "On our founding, we spread through all corners of the globe, fighting a secret battle against those who wish to do wrong to the people of this world. All hunter cells possessed mana users from Avalon, who have gone on to foster new generations of hunters to continue our long battle as peacekeepers of this world."

Nel looked sideways to Cliff. "So when you said your origins were from Avalon,"

"That's right." Cliff nodded. "In fact, the only one of us who's actually from Avalon is the Elder."

"That explains the room," Yuki said looking around.

"So," Allisa looked round to Cliff and Dale. "You all can use mana?"

"Yep." Cliff flexed his arm. "Ours, in particular, is a special Mana Focusing technique that increases the physical strength of the human body to beyond normal levels."

"Oh, so that's what you did back there?" Max said. "So all of you can do that?"

"Not quite," Dale said. "The technique is extremely difficult to master, and can rip your body to shreds if done wrong." Dale then took out a wand. "I was never any good at that, but I'm a powerful Sensor, and good at magic, though just support stuff."

"So, are there others?" Allisa asked. "More Hunters around the world?"

She was returned with grim faces from the Hunters.

"Not anymore," Cliff said with a voice full of sorrow.

"In fact, calling us the last of the hunters would be accurate," Dale said.

"You don't know that!" Sasha yelled as she stood up. "There could be others like us out there!" Cliff and Dale remained silent. Sasha immediately turned to Mirage for support. "Right Mirage?"

Mirage simply approached her. "Come on, We should get back to training." She said to her.

"O-ok." Mirage and Sasha then departed.

"Did something happen?" Melvin asked curiously.

"It was during the Second World War." Dale continued on. "Hunters around the world were divided over the war. On one side there were some who believed they should use their abilities to serve their country, you could imagine the kind of impact that could have had on the battlefield. On the other, there were other Hunters who objected to that, stating that it will bring further unbalance to the world."

Cliff finished the story off. "Around that time some powerful people of unknown origins crossed over from Avalon and openly exterminated Hunters one by one across the globe. Because of the disunity and conflict between the different cells, we couldn't put up a decent fight and were practically whipped out. After the war, we reckon around 95% of Hunters in Terra were killed."

"Gosh," Allisa gasped. "That's terrible."

"Yeah. And to top it all off, there was that incident 9 years ago that took a further blow to our numbers." Dale said.

"Yeah, and I rather not talk about that," Cliff said, shying away.

"S-sorry to hear that," Allisa muttered.

"It's all in the past now." The elder said, mostly to Cliff. "What matters now is the present, as I always say."

"If what you said about the other hunters is true then how do you keep up with your original duties?" Nel asked. "What if someone emerges on the other side of the world for example? I doubt you could travel all the way there from here."

"That's a good point," Dale said modestly. "Now when that happens the Arch Sage's send people after them. You could say, we're not exactly needed anymore. We only get missions that are local, like tracking down illegal trespassers or locating something that we don't want the authorities of this world knowing about.

"For example, we were the ones who discovered you." The Elder addressed Allisa.

"What?"

"Well, not you specifically. But we're the ones who found out the next wielder of Excalibur was someone in town." Cliff corrected. "When we told the Arch Sage, he told us that he was sending someone to this world to investigate."

"Really?" Nel looked curious. "I wasn't even told you existed."

"Well knowing Dran," The elder grinned while stroking his beard. "He probably wanted to keep everything a surprise. He does love that sort of thing."

"That sounds like Master," Melvin said exhaustedly. "He's a real sadist when it comes with surprising people with important details he left out."

"By the way," Allisa interrupted. "There's something else I want to ask you."

"I think I can guess. It's about those creatures that attacked you guys at school, right?" Cliff confirmed.

"You know about them?" Max said.

Cliff simply nodded. "Those creatures, we've identified them as ghouls."

"Ghouls!" Nel said with shock.

"So they really were ghouls," Melvin said clenching his fists.

"Um, what's a ghoul?" Max asked.

"It's a corpse that's animated using mana," Nel explained.

"Animated? Like a zombie?" Allisa asked.

"Not quite." Dale interrupted. "While admittedly they seem the same, a zombie is animated unintentionally by its own mana, either from a reaction or outside interference that awakened it."

"Ghouls, on the other hand, are animated by an outside source. Like a wizard." Melvin said.

Dale nodded in response. "Actually, in this instance, we think the culprits’ an Alchemist."

Melvin looked up shocked along with Nel.

"Alchemist?" Allisa said, recognizing the world. "Is it like turning objects into gold sorta thing?"

"I wouldn't put that possibility past them," Nel replied. "Alchemy is an art that involves combining magic and science together."

"Magic and science? That doesn't sound like a likely pairing." Yuki said.

"Admittedly yes. After all, magic involves creating phenomena disregarding all laws of nature. Science, on the other hand, is the opposite, disregarding the thought of creating something from nothing."

"I read the theory of Alchemy in one of Masters books," Melvin said. "They believe with all things, even magic, that in order to obtain something, something of equal value must be given. It's known as equivalent exchange." He then noticed that Allisa, Max and Yuki didn't exactly follow. "It's like, giving someone 5 rubber balls in exchange for 5 rubber balls. It's fair and equivalent."

Allisa didn't quite understand the explanation. "So, how did you find out?" she asked the Hunters.

Cliff thought for a second before replying. "Think it started about four weeks ago. There were a few people who started disappearing without a trace. One of which was someone Dale was dating."

Dale nodded. "I did some looking around-"

"Against our advice," Cliff added.

"- And while I was looking into it I got jumped by some of those things. I managed to fend them off thanks to my magic and escaped. Fightings not really my forte"

"It was around then when the killings started occurring. We did our best to try and keep it from going public, but there were just so many of them, and they hit multiple places so we couldn't keep up. At the very least, I like to believe we prevented further casualties."

"How were you able to identify it was the work of an alchemist?" Nel asked.

"We brought some of the ghouls back to study," Dale said. "While doing so, I noticed that the mana used to animate them were identical, which identified them as ghouls."

"Meaning?" Max asked, struggling to follow the conversation.

"It means that they were created by the same user," Melvin explained to him.

"We also learned that it wasn't the work of a wizard because of the barrier." Dale continued. "If it was brought to life by a spell, the barrier would cancel it, meaning that I wouldn't be able to sense anything from them. Another clue was that I noticed some marks on some of the limbs that weren't natural, and pointed to Alchemical transmutation."

Allisa was now even more confused. "Transmuwhat?"

"The main ability of an Alchemist. It uses mana channeling through a symbol to manipulate matter." Nel explained.

"Exactly." Dale nodded. "We don't know what this alchemist is after by killing so many, but it's clear that we need to stop them."

"We could use your help in this." The Elder said. "The more hands available, the sooner this madness can end."

"Dale is getting close to finding the culprit. When we find him, we could use the help given how many more ghouls they could have." Cliff said.

"Well, I'm in." Max replied, "No way I'm letting this continue."

"So am I," Melvin replied. "I can't stand these abominations."

"And I thought this world would be boring," Yuki said.

"I'll help as well. We're already involved as it is already." Nel replied.

All eyes turned to Allisa who remained silent for a time. She then spoke in a clear, determined voice. "Count me in. I want to put an end to this."

Her phone then buzzed. She took it out and looked at it. "Oh crap!!" she then shot up. "It's after 6! I need to get back!"

"You're leaving?" Dale asked.

"Sorry, my dads gonna worry if I don't get home soon."

"No problem my dear." The Elder said getting up. "Mirage will show you out."

"Thanks," Allisa said as she walked to the door. "Oh, one more thing," She turned and pointed at the boys sitting on the floor. "They stay here."

"Huh?" the guys said in unison.

"You too," Allisa said to Nel.

Cliff was a little confused at what Allisa said. "Where have they been staying before?"

Allisa's face cringed. "Don't ask."

Nel turned to the Elder. "I hope this won't be a problem?"

"Not at all. We'll be happy to have you." He replied.

"Huh!" Dale and Cliff turned to the Elder as well.

"H-hold on, Don't we get a say in this?" Dale said.

"I'm sure it won't be a problem." The Elder then walked towards Allisa. "Let's find Mirage." He then left with Allisa, leaving them alone in the room.

"Guess we're staying here," Melvin said.

"Looks like it," Cliff said with a sigh. "Don't know why, but I'm getting a bad feeling already.

Nel then approached Dal "By the way, can I ask you something?" She asked.

"Um, sure what?"

Nel looked down to the ground as she thought on how to phrase her query. "Can... can ghouls speak?"

Dale rubbed the back of his neck as he thought. "In theory, they shouldn't. Even if they had a brain, without a proper soul the least they can do is grunt."

"I see." A concerned look came over her face.

"Something wrong?"

"I think so."

****

Mirage led Allisa up another flight of stairs to a wall. "Ok, stand back." She placed her hand on the wall. As she took her hand away, the wall started to open up into an office-like room, though very messy with a small kitchen.

"Where are we?" Allisa asked.

"This way," Mirage said by a door. As Mirage opened it, Allisa immediately recognized where she was.

"This is... The comic book store?" She walked behind the counter looking at her surroundings, which was indeed the comic book store she visited frequently.

"This is our main entrance. We have three other backdoors, like the one you entered." Mirage then handed Allisa a key. "This is the key to the store. If you come by to visit, you go through the store. You'll always be welcome."

"Ok, thanks." Allisa then took the key.

"Oh, almost forgot." Mirage then walked back through the door they entered, walking to the wall with the passage which was now closed. Allisa walked up to her. "Place your hand on the wall." Allisa did as instructed. "Pour a bit of mana into it." Allisa did and the wall then opened up like before. "It stays open for about 30 seconds. So when it's opened up, get inside quick." The passageway then sealed up as quick as it appeared.

"Ok, got it."

"Oh, and gimme your phone."

Allisa handed over her phone to Mirage, who brought out her phone. She then tapped some buttons quickly.

"Ok done." She then chucked Allisa's phone back to her. "I put my Cell number into your phone. Any problems, gimme a call."

"Alright," Allisa put her phone back in her pocket. "Thanks for everything."

Mirage then stroked the back of her head. "I... also what to apologise for before."

"For what?"

"What I said when we met, about you not being what I expected,"

"O-oh no it fine, I get that allot. It's no problem, really."

"Ok, just wanted to say."

Allisa then turned back to the door and was about to depart-

"Doesn't it scare you?"

-but was then stopped when Mirage spoke.

"I mean, I know how dangerous this life is. Trust me I've had my fair share of life-threatening situations. I know you didn't really choose this, and I'm sorry to say that the road ahead will only get harder. Aren't you scared at all?"

Silence followed for a few seconds before Allisa answered. "Yeah. I am scared. In fact, I'm terrified of what could happen." She then turned to Mirage smiling. "But I'm fine with it. I can't really explain it, but I'm actually happy. I may not have completely accepted it, but I don't regret what's happened to me."

"Really?" Mirage chuckled. "You are a strange one."

Allisa chuckled as well. "That's just me I guess." She then turned back to the door. "Thanks for everything. Let me know when you find this Alchemist."

"Will do." Mirage waved as Allisa left the room.

****

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!!!"

In a large dark room, a small girl, wearing a dress and an apron stained with blood, short brown hair and bunny ears wept over a bath of pink mush.

"My dolls..... They’re ruined." She then turned round to the boy sitting behind her. "Frosh you bastard, what did you do?!"

"What? I had to clear up the evidence so I used the Vacuum pack 8000 to clear them up."

"Why did you do that?!" The girl looked over the mush again. "The lurkers were one thing, but do you know how much work I put into making that titan!"

"So what?" Another boy sat close to Frosh. He looked like a teenager and had green hair and brown freckles on his face. He was bare-chested, some parts of his body had several stitches around, and his arms were completely black from the shoulders to the elbows, while everything underneath glowed a dim yellow. "You get way too attached to those things."

"That's because there works of art that I put my heart and soul into!"

"Yeah Thatch. You don't have any respect for the work Sharly puts into making the dolls." Frosh said to the boy.

"Like you can talk! That titan was a masterpiece! Now it's literally mincemeat because of you!"

"It's in there somewhere, just in smaller pieces."

Sharly then picked up a butcher knife and threw it at Frosh, bearing it in his head. "That's the last time I lend you any of my dolls!"

"Fair enough," Frosh said, hardly noticing the knife embedded in his skull. "But it's not my fault they were completely useless against these guys."

"Speaking of," Thatch said to Frosh. "Why didn't you go in to kill them you little parasite?"

"Are you nuts." Frosh then freed the butcher knife from his skull. The large gash that was left behind instantly regenerated, leaving no trace that he was ever wounded. "These guys were insanely strong. I would have gotten destroyed." Thatch then grabbed Frosh's head, which then exploded in his palm in a loud blast.

"If you could be destroyed that easily, don't you think you'd be dead by now?!" Thatch yelled as Frosh's head regenerated. "And Weedree!" Thatch then looked up at Weedree, who was hanging upside down near them. "You said you were attacked by one person, the red-haired chick." He then held a picture that Frosh took to Weedree's gas mask. "So who the hell are these other guys?!"

There was no response.

"He's blind, remember," Sharly said.

"You can be such a moron Thatch," Frosh said.

"Shut up!! If he couldn't see, then how'd he give us the description of the red head?!"

"What's all the yelling?" A large brute then entered the room, only just fitting through the doorway with his massive bulk. His skin was a dark blue color, with pale hair. His body was covered in various stitches, from his massive hands to his large feet. "You're disturbing mother." He said in a deep, booming voice.

"Oh hey Edasa," Frosh said.

"I'm just giving these idiots a piece of my mind." Thatch said.

"That's what I'm doing!" Sharly yelled.

"Well, try making better dolls than the crap you usually give us!"

"You're no better than Frosh! Last time you blew up nearly all of the dolls! And they were some of my finest works!"

"Least I didn't let the authorities capture some like this stringy idiot!" Thatch pointed at Weedree.

"Enough!" Edasa boomed. "What's this about?"

"Apparently that red haired chick Weedree told us about had friends." Thatch held up the picture.

"Yeah." Frosh nodded. "Along with her, there was a blond chick who could summon a sword out of thin air, a kid who could burn stuff, a smaller kid about Sharly's height who could use magic, a sword guy and a big guy who beat up Sharly's titan like it was nothing."

"That's a pretty vague explanation," Sharly commented.

"I see," Edasa said. "They still live?"

"Fraid so. There was nothing I could do."

"Not that you actually did anything." Thatch commented under his breath.

"Sometimes watching is better than blowing stuff up." Frosh retorted.

"Regardless, mother found three sacrifices," Edasa said.

"Three?" Sharly said surprised. "All at once?"

"Correct." Edasa then faced Frosh and Thatch. "We want you two to find them."

"Why us?" Thatch protested. "This Rubrik or Weedree's job? We should go after these Avalon guys instead of wasting our time hunting small fires like sacrifices!"

"No. Mother says these sacrifices are important," Edasa said to Thatch in a loud imposing voice.

"But why do I have to team up with him?!" Thatch pointed at Frosh. "Can't I just go alone?"

"You can't sense the one's mother needs," Frosh said.

"Take the dolls you need," Edasa said to them. "Then proceed to-"

"Hold on!" Sharly protested. "I'm not giving these hooligans any one of my works!"

"Like we really need those skin bags you call art!" Thatch retorted.

"Fine then," Edasa said. "Then how about you two take Gamda."

Thatch fell silent after hearing the name. "G-Gamba? The New Guy?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Gamba's more unstable than Thatch." Frosh said.

"Good point," Sharly said. "When I attached his weapon, first thing he did was to try and kill you two to test it out."

"I remember. He sliced me in two, cut my head off, cut my legs off, then my arms." Frosh summarized. "He really enjoyed my immortality cause he kept cutting me up."

Teach touched one of the stitches he had on his body. "I still have the scars from when that bastard cut me."

"That was quite a show," Sharly said, slightly amused.

"Weedree doesn't like Gamba." Weedree said.

"Still, some time outside his cell might help his homicidal tendencies."

"But why us?!" Thatch complained. "Send Rubrik to deal with him!"

"He's busy assisting mother." Edasa said. "And mother wants Weedree to remain at the layer for now."

"Our hands are tied bro." Frosh said to Thatch.

"Aw man." Thatch groaned. "Just what I need."

****

Thatch and Frosh approached the massive steel door and unlocked it. It opened up into a large dark room. The sound of sharpening metal could be heard from within.

"Frosh. Thatch. It's been a while." A voice said from within the dark confines of the room

"Hey Gamba. How you doing?" Frosh asked.

"Not bad. Just a little twitchy from not being able to kill anything." Something then flew at Thatche’s feet, which in the light revealed to be ahead. "Those dolls don't quite suit me." as light from the corridor illuminated parts of the room, bodies, and blood could be seen everywhere.

"How'd lurkers get in here?" Thatch asked.

"He was bored so I gave him something to play with," Frosh said.

"Sharly's gonna kill you 20 times if she finds out about this."

"Don't excaudate. It's more like 16 times."

Thatch ignored Frosh and approached the figure in the darkness, remaining some distance from the figure inside. "You're coming with us. Mother wants us to find the sacrifices."

"Will there be killing involved?" The voice asked.

"Probably. We'll say who you can kill. That's the condition."

"And if I don't get to kill anyone?"

"Then.... you can kill Frosh as many times as you want."

"Sounds good. I need a change of scene." The man in the dark then dropped a rock and stood up. "So, when do we leave?"