The three of us rode in silence back to the holy armory. My headache came back as we arrived which pissed me off a little.

“You two are free to do anything. My Thor duties are calling.” He said as he stopped the vehicle. “So, are you going to train us?” I asked.

“Another time champ.” He said as he pulled out a cigarette.

“It’s too early for a cigarette, dad.” Naomi remarked.

“It’s just one, relax.” Obi replied as he signaled us to get out.

Naomi exited the car and slammed the door as she walked away.

“Take care.” I said as I exited and closed the door normally.

“Ah, it’s only noon. What should we do?” Naomi said as Obi drove away.

“I think we should go train and work on our teamwork. We can use the simulation rooms right?” I said as we walked inside.

“I think that’s a good idea considering that we are the lowest rank now.” She said while pouting. I pressed the elevator button and turned around to her.

“Just because we are the lowest ranks doesn’t mean we’re weak. We just lack experience in battle. It’s my fault anyways due to my memory loss. For that, I apologize.” I said.

“No, I never blamed you for that. If anything, I enjoy being your partner.” Naomi said while waving her hands.

“Heh.” I said as the elevator opened behind me.

“You’re too good for me Naomi.” I stated. She walked in right behind me confused.

“I’m too good for him?” She thought while we both went down. The elevator opened and two guards stood in our way.

“Is something up?” Naomi asked. Two fans appeared behind the guards and the Queen appeared.

“Hello new operators.” Queen Pearl stated in a gentle voice.

The guards and Naomi immediately kneeled while I continued to stand.

“Hello, ma’am!” Naomi stated. One of the guards noticed me still standing sha and grew angry.

“You shall kneel in front of our highness!” The guard said.

“It’s okay my loves. Stand.” The queen said while touching the soldier’s shoulder. Everyone rose up to her command while I crossed my arms.

“What’s up?” I said.

“I watched the vod from the exams and I just wanted to congratulate both of you personally.” The Queen responded while covering her face with one of her fans.

“Thank you.. But we finished with a terrible performance. And we caused an error inside the exam.” Naomi said with a little disappointment.

“I overheard what Mordecai told you upstairs and I couldn’t help but offer a solution.” The queen stated.

“You heard our conversation?” I thought as fear entered my body.

“On Sunday March 14th, I will be holding a briefing discussing a new operation. I have decided to give you both a chance to prove yourself by personally inviting your team to the session.” She stated as showed her face.

“This will give us a chance to prove that we aren’t the weakest team!” I thought.

“Thank you for providing us with an opportunity. We won’t let you down.” I said unable to hide my joy.

“Ahaha, you look excited to enter the briefing. I’ll see you there at midnight.” She said while her and the guards entered the elevator and disappeared.

“Miracles really do happen.” Naomi said while clapping her hands. I grabbed her hand and ran to the simulation.

“Then, let’s train!” I yelled through the halls.

Naomi and I trained for the next two days with little to no rest. We created our own routines which included morning jogs, sparring, and aura lessons. We even started punching each other’s stomach 100 times to get stronger.

…

Later that day, Luke began to train Jenna and Isabel to discuss their results of the exam. They stood inside another simulation room surrounded by white walls and bright lights.

“So master Luke, what are you going to teach us?” Jenna asked as he held a remote in his left hand.

“Luke is fine. You don’t have to call me that since we are the same age.” He said as he scratched his orange hair.

“W-we’re the same age?” Isabel though while getting flustered.

“When are you turning 18?” Jenna asked.

“Later this month actually. It’s a secret.” He said while shaking his finger.

“Aw, no fair!” Jenna said while stomping her feet.

“Anyways, I wanted to talk about your results from the exam more with both of you before we begin our training.” Luke said as he pointed the remote to the middle of the room. Two red dummies spawned inside and entered a fighting stance as Luke instructed.

“Jenna, you are first. Step forward.” Luke said in a more serious tone. Jenna stepped forward and waited for his next instruction.

“In the exam, I noticed you enjoy hand to hand combat but also wield a spear. Explain your fighting style.” Luke stated.

“Fighting style? Is that something I’m supposed to know?” She asked in a genuine tone. Luke and Isabel looked at each other and shook their heads at her response.

“Your fighting style can dictate how you approach new enemies in the near future. This is something you must find.” Luke explained.

“Well I like hand-to-hand and wielding my spear. What should I do, master?” She asked.

“First thing is to stop calling me master. You’re making me feel old. Second, you need to work on wielding your spear. I want you to use your ‘lighting spear cannon’ and focus on your form when you do it. Watch me.” Luke stated as he pressed a button on the remote and summoned a spear.

He squatted his legs and stretched his arm back before infusing his orange aura into the spear. He threw the spear like a football into one of the dummies and sent it flying into the wall.

“Wow master. That was really fast. I almost didn’t see you throw it!” Jenna exclaimed.

“Alright, now I’m motivated. I’m going to do 200 just because!” She said while clenching her fist and headed towards the middle of the room leaving Luke alone with Isabel.

“Now it’s the two of us.” Luke said. Isabel nodded her head while trembling.

“Are you nervous?” Luke asked.

“I’m not re-really used to being trained by strangers.” Isabel noted.

Luke chuckled at her response and nodded her head.

“May I help you improve, Isabel?” Luke asked kindly.

“S-Sure.” She replied, feeling a bit more comfortable.

“Your performance in your exam was something many people didn’t expect. However, there are still some flaws in your fighting style. Please tell me you know your fighting style.” Luke stated.

“I am a bow user. When things get rough, I disassemble my bow into two blades and engage in close combat.” Isabel said with a little confidence.

“Alright, then show me your stance. Aim at the dummy as if he is the enemy.” Luke asked. Isabel took out her bow and for the dummy but struggled to focus. Jenna was yelling and throwing spears at one of the dummies which was affecting Isabel.

“Struggling to focus? I will help you.” Luke said as he walked over to Isabel and placed her hands on top of hers.

“You can’t be in control of your surroundings. In battle, you need to find your focus through it all and capitalize on your enemy's weakness.”

“Wh-What is he doing? This is making me more shy!” Isabel thought as Luke was instructing her. Luke’s warm hands helped Isabel’s cold hands pull back and charge an arrow.

“Release on three. 3,2,1…” Luke counted down before the both of them striked the dummy in the heart and melted it.

“Good job. You managed to strike the dummy in the heart.” Luke cheered. Isabel looked at her hand and started warming up from the embarrassment.

“Th-Thank you.” Isabel replied.

“Now try that by yourself 100 times by the end of the day.” Luke said. The two girls began to train and improve on their flaws quickly.

…

Two days past, Naomi and I stood in the Holy armory main lobby night 5 mins before midnight.

“Where did the time go?” I asked as I reminisced.

“It flew in front of our eyes.” Naomi said while fixing her hair into a ponytail. I admired her for a little realizing how much alone time we spent together. Jenna and Isabel walked through the entrance wearing the new white cloaks from the tech tree.

“Naomi!” Jenna said excitingly while running up to her with a hug.

“Hey Jenna.” Naomi said hugging back. Isabel walked over to me and tugged on my cloak to gain my attention.

“Wassup Isabel.” I said looking down at her.

“Hey.” she said softly and stood next to me quietly. The door opened again and the queen walked in majestically. Her earrings glistened even under the purple lights in the dark room.

“Hello my loves. Welcome to the operation IDB!” The entrance door locked itself as the queen finished her sentence. She took out her X-foliate and placed it in her ear.

“Please check your X-foliates to view the details of this operation under the data column. It will give important info of what to expect in this operation.” She said as she pointed to her own piece.

We all turned on our pieces and navigated to the powerpoint filled with a bunch of maps and information.

“The four of you will be traveling into enemy territory, the Jilav Alliance.” The queen stated. I raised my hand and the queen nodded to let me talk.

“Why are we enemies with them?” I asked.

“The Holy Nation is a new city clearly. Because of that, some neighboring countries simply do not like us.” She replied

I nodded in response and she continued to talk. “Moving on, we will focus on retrieving a special item.” She said as she switched slides on all our xfoliates to a golden vase.

“This vase has a special blood called Ice Diamond Blood. Hence, this is why the operation is 'IDB'. This blood has the gift of curing many common diseases and powers to specific people. I would like to retrieve this for testing purposes and create cures to sell around the world.” Pearl stated as she changed the slide to a map.

The map was mostly blue with a sketch of an ocean and a city. There was a red dot near the city that indicated something that I didn’t know.

“Now this map is a guide to the site of the item. It's located inside the ocean near a town called Shell City. I don’t have enough info about the city so you’ll be entering blind. You need to find a way to gain access to the place to get the item. The red dot on the map is the drop off and extraction point. Do all of you understand?” The Queen stated. Isabel raised her hand and the queen nodded.

“What do you know about Shell City? Are there any particular tips you can give us?’ Isabel asked.

“Well that’s a good question.” Queen Pearl said while smiling.

“I know that the people over there are prideful. They love everything the Jilav Alliance has done and will do anything to protect it. I would recommend not mentioning where you’re from and say you all are just travelers.” She answered. Isabel nodded

“Anything else? If not, it’s time to go. Follow me.” She finished and the four of us followed the queen to the roof of the building.

I looked at the vehicle in front of me and didn’t know what it was.

“Naomi, what is that vehicle in front of us.” I asked her. She turned to my direction then looked at the vehicle in front of us.

“I think that thing is called a heli.. Uh.. helicoper… OH.. Helicopter!” She said while jumping up a little.

“I’m so hyped for our first mission. All that training helped with my confidence.” She continued.

“Hmph, I’m glad. You are definetely strong. I think the both of us can do anything together.” I responded while we walked closer to the helicopter.

“Th-The both of us ca-can do anything?” She thought while blushing slightly.

“He has so much faith in me.” She said walking behind him.

“Isabel, we’re gonna go fighting!!!” Jenna said with lots of hype.

“Yes I know Jenna. You said that like 15 times today.” Isabel said while stretching.

“Yes, I know. But I can’t believe it's happening!” Jenna said while clenching her fist. Isabel laughed a little and nodded at Jenna.

“Let’s do our best.” Isabel said while making a fist.

“You know it.” Jenna said while pounding fist with Isabel. We all reached the front of the helicopter which was starting up. The doors opened and inside the driver seat was Dove.

“Dove!” We all said with smiles on our faces.

“Get on kids. We got an operation to complete.” She said while nodding to the queen.

“Remember new operators, your life is important. This is not a simulation anymore so be safe. I love you all.” Queen Pearl said as we all boarded the helicopter. I turned around to the queen and nodded my head.

“You have an amazing nation Pearl. I have enjoyed my time here so far and for that I say thank you.” I said over the loud noise.

“I have faith in you dear Mordecai. Do not die on me..” She said as she walked away and disappeared into thin air. I closed the door and we took off into the night sky.

…

I sat across from the three girls who were chatting and giggling. The fatigue from the two days of training finally set in and I fell asleep. I opened my eyes and the little boy stood from my dreams in front of me.

“It’s you again..” I said looking at him. He pointed into the darkness and I looked to the basement.

“What is that?” I said turning back but he disappeared. I walked into the basement and noticed the blood dripping from the ropes that used to hold him. A trail led up the stairs which appeared and I followed it upstairs into a kitchen. I could smell something burning and followed the smell to a stove with burnt eggs in a pan.I looked over to the sink left of the stove filled with dirty dishes and black blood bubbling.

“This is weird. But it seems familiar.” I thought as I looked at the sink. The trail continued into a living room where a blank TV was emitting static. Broken glass scattered across the floor as I stepped carefully to another set of stairs.

“What the hell happened here?” I thought while slowly walking up the creaking stairs. I arrived at the top of a closed-door and heard the faint sound of the boy crying behind it. I slowly opened the door to him covered in the black blood crying. As the door finished opening, the boy immediately stopped crying and began laughing like a lunatic.

“Moyasu..” He said as a dark purple flame similar to mine suddenly grew closer and consumed the both of us.

“Mordecai!” I woke up back on the helicopter with my nails digged into my head again.

I looked up to Naomi who wore a sad expression on her face again.

“Another nightmare?” She said softly. I nodded my head and sighed as blood slowly raced down my face. Naomi used her healing ability on my forehead again and the wounds quickly disappeared.

“You know you can talk to me. We’re partners and trust will only benefit our relationship.” Naomi remarked.

“You’re right.. I just don’t want you to look at me differently after.” I said trying to hide my embarrassment. Naomi gently lifted my chin and looked at me straight in my eyes.

“I will never look at you differently despite the actions you make. You inspire me to be the best I can especially in these last two days.” She said. Her words echoed in my mind as her eyes glistened in the moonlight.

I grabbed her hand and sat there in the darkness of the night feeling her warmth.

“Thank you, Naomi.” I finally said smiling.

“H-he’s grabbing m-my hand!” She thought, flustered.

Dove looked up from the mirror to the two of us sitting in the back and noticed my smile.

“Wait, that kid can smile? What the hell?” She thought. She looked over to the other two girls who were both sleeping next to each other.

“Well shit, those two are sound asleep. Looks like they didn’t rest up either.” Dove looked forward and sat up in her seat.

…

The sunrise pierced through the clouds as we arrived at the dropoff point.

“We are here.” Dove said as tapped her xfoliate and entered a channel labeled ‘IDB.’

“Everyone, we have arrived. As we reach towards our drop off point, please make sure you understand the goal.” Dove said via X-foliate.

I woke up to Dove’s message first and felt something heavy on my shoulder. I looked to my right

“You guys slept well?” I asked the other two girls as they started putting their white cloaks on.

“I didn’t even realize that I fell asleep.” Jenna said while laughing a little.

“You knocked out on my arm silly.” Isabel responded while laughing.

“Aha, guess all the training Luke put us through kinda had a toll on us.” Jenna said while fixing her hair. I looked out the window to the rain falling all over the region.

“So this is Jilav Alliance, huh?” I said.

“Alright guys drop off eta 10 seconds, get ready to jump down.” Dove said as the helicopter doors opened. I put my hood up and looked down to the blue wet grass.

“I love the rain.” I thought.

“Go now, good luck.” Dove said over the loud noise of the helicopter blades. The four of us jumped out while thinking the same thing.

“We can’t fail.”