“Wait, is that… the Maroon Spacebridge!?” Noire exclaimed, looking in astonishment as they approached the city of Axria, recognizing the towering structure at the central area.

“That? They call it the Library of Light now,” Tsukihime answered.

“So it survived that massive dimensional warping, huh. As expected of the Reyes twins, they really nailed the foundation of this station.”

“May I ask on what this…space bridge is?” Ren questioned the boy in curiosity, never even hearing that word before.

“Oh, I’m glad you asked,” Noire answered with enthusiasm as he started to narrate the past.

“Those space bridges were, as the name implies, a pathway beyond the sky.”

“People have been up there!?” Ren exclaimed, amazed at what he was hearing.

“Yes! In fact, even before those space bridges, humanity had sent people and animals up there, even putting three on the moon.”

“No way.”

“If you could just see the footage with your own eyes, you’ll be pretty impressed yourself, more so with the sheer size of the rocket that carried just a tiny spacecraft and them in it.”

“Whoa,” Ren was amazed at what Noire was telling him.

“Yeah. Since then, it became clear that the final frontier is out there in space, and so began humanity’s quest for further space exploration. After a groundbreaking achievement and the boom of progress that followed suit, the construction of the space bridges went along smoothly, ten of them finished by the span of only seven years. This one, along with the Magenta Space Bridge on the Philippines, were special for their main purpose as the supply point for the fabrication of the Lunar Misteria Grid System,” the boy narrated further as the memories of the past continued to flash inside his mind.

Visible even from a mile away, the remains of the space bridge were still a sight to behold. An unknown phenomenon caused some of the debris to stay on the structure’s vicinity instead of falling down the ground, resulting in it having a somewhat nostalgic look. Immediately surrounding it was the Paladinus’ Magistrate house, and one other structure that resembled a colosseum. After them were residential and business areas, starting from the high-rise ones, which were reconstructed pre-Catastrophe buildings, to the common houses that surrounded said buildings.

They went to the south gateway, one of the two only main entrances to the city. As they approached with their Kettenkrad, two guards halted them from their tracks and started their usual inspection. Their prying eyes examined almost every nook and cranny of the vehicle, making sure that the passengers do not carry anything dangerous to be taken inside the city proper.

After the inspection, they turned their attention to Ren, their eyes still having the dubious look.

“Who’s he?” one guard asked them.

Tsukihime and Ren were both speechless, they were totally unprepared for that event. They tried to think of an explanation, but their minds were just too exhausted to even utter a single word.

“I’m a traveler from the north. These people just saw me coming down from the mountains and offered me their ride,” Noire calmly said, hiding his left arm from their sight.

Seeing that the stranger had no signs of being a liar, they got out of the way of the vehicle to let them through.

“Nice. That was quick of you,” Ren complemented the boy as they passed through the gateway.

“It was nothing. One needs to adapt when pushed to unexpected scenarios. Always remember that, you two,” he replied with a serious tone.

Back on their home city at last, Ren immediately took a right turn towards their home on the eastern side of Axria, having no idea of what happened two days ago.

***

Plio waited at the north entrance of the city, the sun almost directly overhead, making him and the others sweat profusely. Even with the makeshift tent that they erected early on, they could still feel the heat. The magistrate himself was anxious, his heart beating faster every minute that passed.

“Now, now. You should always try to look presentable in front of the Emissary,” Margaret said, wiping off the sweat on his face with a piece of towel.

“Shut up. I know what I have to do,” he angrily replied as he stared on the path that the Emissary would take.

“I’m just doing my job, geez. No need to be mad.”

“Ugh. I just wish this assessment would end immediately.”

“But it’s routine. It’s been ordained by the Council itself, so you can’t do anything about it.”

Plio did not talk any further. He already knew the rules that the Council has imposed on all the colonies on Earth, including the annual assessment. What he was worried about was them finding out the severe drug problem that pestered the city for the last ten months. Even he could not resist the allure that these substances offered him, and the broken one that he was, Plio took the path of no return.

After several more minutes of waiting, their lookout came running towards them with an urgent update.

“They’re here! The Emissary is coming!”

That announcement made Plio stiff, eyes up the road as he saw the chariot looming towards their location. Pulled by two large Sleipnirs, the ivory white chariot soon stopped at the gates. Exiting the carrier was the Emissary himself, greeting the Magistrate in a monotone.

“Good day, Magistrate Plio. I hope you’re doing your job well. You know the procedure, right?”

“Yes, your Grace,” Plio muttered.

“Good. I expect only good things on my stay here.”

Plio responded with a bow as Julius climbed back on the carrier, but not before inviting the magistrate in.

“Come, let’s discuss matters inside.”

With the magistrate inside the chariot, the vehicle began its slow stroll towards the Administration area.

After taking a look around, Julius turned his attention to Plio, which still had the stern look.

“It’s ok now, Plio, you can relax now. What’s with that face, though? That definitely does not look like you,” Julius said with a light-hearted tone, his demeanor shifted.

The magistrate let out a frustrated sigh, releasing himself from his anxiety.

“Even if I’ve known you for a long time now, your presence still is overwhelming. You being an Emissary after the last war certainly did not help.”

“Haha, am I now,” Julius chuckled.

“Also, I don’t trust you completely after what you did the last time,” Plio retorted, his brown eyes then showing his anger.

“Easy there, tiger. Just remember, I’m also the one who pulled you out. Without me, you’ll be still on the frontlines, with one leg always at the grave.”

Emissary Julius’ grin was unsettling, yet Plio gave it no mind. He had always been a schemer, but Julius was right. Without his help, he would have been long dead on the battlefield.

“When I said I wanted a peaceful life, I did not mean this.”

“What? You don’t like being an overseer? This has to be the easiest job that I can offer you. Maybe you should try being with one of the Cardinal Saints, I bet you won’t even last a day. Geez, just be thankful that you’re not a farmer or something,” Julius uttered to him.

“Easy my ass,” Plio replied begrudgingly, averting his vision towards the window.

“Hahaha. You never cease to amaze me, my friend, the Emissary closed their talk as they arrived at the Magistrate house beside the Library of Light.

As they walked towards the House’s entrance, Julius heard the loud cheering of people on the other side of the Library.

“Wait, did you reopen the Coliseum again? I thought the last Magistrate ordered its demolition already,” he curiously inquired Plio.

“Not yet. I figured that I would give it one last grand event before the teardown begins,” Plio answered with a leering visage.

“Oh, interesting. This is what I like about you,” the Emissary complemented him, displaying the same grin.

“What made you do it?”

“Well, I got ahold of some rebels from one of our raids two nights ago. As the ‘benevolent’ ruler that I am, I’m going to give them a chance for redemption,” Plio said, already rehearsing the lie since the time he released the order.

Seeing an opportunity for a change of pace, Julius wasted no time and went to the direction of the Coliseum, following him were Plio and the newly arrived Margaret. The cheering and shouting of people got louder as they arrived at the massive walls of the Coliseum, and the Emissary liked what he was hearing, reminding him of the time he was still in the Legionnaires.

***

“Something’s not right,” Ren said, observing the neighborhood that they were passing though.

A supposedly busy district at that time, the place was unusually empty when they arrived. Less people were outside, and they looked strange, as if they experienced a disaster that they could not run into. Some houses were outright empty, devoid of any occupants and obviously looted of property. Even worse, some have burn marks both inside and out.

In need of answers, they approached a person to ask about what happened.

“It was chaotic. Everyone was running away from them, the soldiers of the Empire. They arrested whoever they caught in the name of the Empire, no one was safe. They even abducted my child, who has done nothing wrong. I could not do anything at all. They said something about purging the drug addicts, but my child has not taken anything. Not at all. He was a good kid…and they took him just like that…”

After recounting his horrible experience, he broke out and started crying in front of them. The girl tapped his shoulder in comfort, and the man just bowed down as he continued to anguish his losses.

“Tsuki, we have to go. Mom and Dad surely is worried sick about us at this point.”

Hearing Ren’s words, she climbed back aboard the Kettenkrad, leaving the poor guy alone once again. She then had a look at Noire, and at that moment, she saw that face once more, the same one that she saw on the night of his awakening.

The face of someone who had experienced violence… a killer…

Noire then noticed her glare, so he assured her with a smile.

“Do not worry. Whatever happens, I’m always going to be here for you from now on.”

Hearing those words, the girl somewhat felt better, but the feeling of worry was still there.

“But something DID happen here. Your parents might be in danger, Ren, and we must find out immediately. I can already smell the scent of blood from here.”

“I know, I know. I’m going as fast as I could,” Ren answered, himself starting to be distressed at the very thought of his parents captured by the soldiers.

The Kettenkrad went on quickly, passing through blocks and blocks of houses, until they arrived at the district where Ren and his family lived. It had an upward slope, so the vehicle had difficulty traversing the road. They saw the same scenario as the other districts, with houses either empty or had only few people in it. It made both Ren and Tsukihime even more agitated at they neared the house itself.

As soon as they got off the vehicle, the girl almost went unconscious at what they saw next.

A large trail of bloodstain could be seen into the hallway of the house all the way to the operating room. The tools used by Arthur for surgery were left either on the floor or on the operating table itself. More blood could be seen into the table itself, and a pair of bloodied gloves could be seen lying beneath a stool.

Most importantly, both Hailey and Arthur were nowhere to be found.

Tsukihime began to break into tears, her fears basically confirmed, but Noire held her face and forced her to look at him.

“Do not cry, Tsuki. They’re still alive. The blood is most probably from someone else. Ren, you said that your father is a doctor, right?”

“Ye---yeah,” he answered, also almost crying at that point.

“Then he has been doing a surgery operation with a different person before they got caught. Tell me, where do you think they would have taken the captured ones?”

Wiping off his tears, Ren thought hard.

“The prison cells underground would not fit all those people, and they could not just risk a mass murder because of… holy mother of heavens, no way!”

“What!? Where did the soldiers take them?” Noire asked again, grasping Ren’s arm.

“There’s no time to waste! We must move!!!” he answered as he pulled Tsukihime and Noire on the vehicle, started it almost immediately and throttled it to full power towards the center of the city.

“If what I’m thinking is correct, then they would have been taken to the Coliseum. They’ll be used as gladiatorial pawns!! Damn it!!”

The two were shocked at Ren’s deduction. Tsukihime was still on tears, now fearing that both of Arthur and Hailey, who she considered as parents at that point, were already dead. Passing through blocks upon blocks of houses, they soon arrived at the high rise area. After turning a hard left, Ren made a mad dash towards the circular arena, but due to the strain that he gave to the Kettenkrad, it broke down before leaving the area. No matter what he did, Ren could not get it to start. Mad and upset, he kicked the vehicle several times, his eyes already red due to him crying.

“Don’t lose it, you idiot!! You can follow after me, I’m going ahead!!” Noire shouted at Ren, giving him a hard slap to get him off his distress.

“Noire, wait!!” Tsukihime yelled, but the boy was already far away from them. Now taking the still-grieving Ren’s hand, they followed Noire towards the Coliseum.

As fast as his legs could muster, Noire made a run towards the inside of the arena, completely ignoring the guards who tried to halt his charge. Weaving through people and walkways, he finally made it inside the Coliseum proper after multitudes of turns. Seeing the current situation inside and grasping any information that he could perceive, the boy made a final dash towards the center of the arena, narrowly preventing a tragic end on the person who seemed to have already accepted his fate, surprising the audience above him with his sudden entrance.