“Well,” I say as I stare at what had once been one of the strongholds of my ancient enemy, “What do we do now?” As if on queue Kate stumbles towards us from the edge of the forest, her eyes visibly softening in relief as she spots me. “Carl! I thought, the explosion, and the Machina… I thought you died Carl,” then she glances to the Machina below me, and then back at me, “Our friend lives too?”

“Yeah, and he just blew up that monolith.” I point towards the spot where the once remarkable structure was. Kate stares in disbelief at the Machina, mouth agape and jaw laxed, but I quickly notice the blood on her hands. “Are you okay Kate?” I ask, motioning to her blood covered hands. “It was an unlucky run in while hunting, nearly dying fighting that Beakle.” It’s my turn to be surprised now, widening my eyes in surprise and awe, “You took down a Beakle? With a bow?” She smirks triumphantly, landing her hands on her hips as she stares at me down, “Yeah I can be a little bit independent myself, you know.”

For a moment I recall the fight that just happened, and reach my hand up to scratch my head, I was a complete deadweight. Then I remember that Kate had been the same just the other night, sad and terrified. Why was she so different now? “Kate, are you okay?” Her eyes glisten for a moment before sharpening, “I’m not hurt, or at least not badly.” she says, not catching on to what I was asking.

“Kate you… are you okay? Not physically… but with the village?” I ask tentatively, hands at my sides, my gaze filled with admiration and apprehension, surely the village had hurt her more than a day’s pain. “I miss them, our families, our friends… but that isn’t what holds us here, sitting around would mean throwing away what they gave us, what they taught.” She pauses, taking a deep breath as her eyes glaze over, “Sometimes I can hear him, my father, like he’s right beside me, urging me on.” A tear leaves her eye as she breathes out, “So I can only try to carve out a life, do what I can to make something that’s truly mine.” Kate glances at me then, only for a moment but I could see it.

“I hate to break this up,” the Machina starts, “But I would like to know where I am and… more about my past, or more accurately, my races.” All eyes return to Machina as he stands idly, watching the two of us in our little moment. Embarrassed Kate quickly offers to explain the events leading up to the current state of the world. Kate gestures to a tree stump, conveniently left over from the explosion, and the Machina sits down.

“This world is a tricky place. There are four main Regions across the world, one of which is an archipelago and the rest of which are continents. Right now we are on one of the continents, owned by the Charlamand Empire. They rule with a cruel fist and a powerful military, invested in taking the secrets of the Machina rather than wiping them out. The Empire has been rather cruel as of late, targeting remote and independent settlements on the continent and destroying them.” Kate’s eyes glaze over as she says this, clearly disheartened at the loss of her own village.

“Why?” The Machina asks with curiosity, and a hint of sympathy. Kate takes one more breath, and a seat, before continuing, “We aren’t sure, they’ve been doing it ever since the war with the Machina ended, shortly after the battle of Guilgenheigm.” Machina's head tilts slightly as he asks, quite predictably, “What was the battle of Guilgenheigm?” I cut in before Kate can speak, wanting a piece of this conversation for myself.

“The battle of Guilgenheigm was an all out war on the race of Machina, the final days of their empire. It was a complete frontal assault using everything we had to fight them, their technology, magic, and all the people we could get. I was young when the recruitment team came, only 7 years old, but my father and brother were not so lucky.” I grimace then, briefly remembering their faces, “But that was a long time ago, I have since come to terms with it.” The Machina sits in silence for a bit, clearly trying to process everything he knows so far. “What about the other continents?”