Rachel’s ears tilted to the left as Scarlet double-checked to make sure the area was clear, naturally being a bit self-conscious about how the public viewed her.

In the meantime, she gazed into the heavens, where Cahira’s baby Dragon Turtle caused quite a ruckus among Florida City’s population; a massive turtle in the sky—yeah, it would frighten people to seek shelter—it was a bit of a problem Clay and Tom were dealing with.

Her grandfather drew her attention as he went to bring out more chairs and refreshments with Anthony, the others quickly offering to help; Rachel had to giggle at the sisters’ playful banter.

“Help, Fi? Pfft! You’re like seven and a half centimeters tall!”

“Eight! Eight centimeters! And, hmm-hmm-hmm, I bet you five bucks I can lift more than you!”

“Euros, Sis! You know I don’t have U.S. currency; plus… I’m broke!”

“I guess I win by default then, hehe.”

“That’s not how it works; how about a favor?”

“Ooh—like when we were kids?”

“Hmm—scared what I might have you do—on stream?!”

“I’m not afraid at all; you should be scared of my diabolical audience! You’re on; loser does what the winner says for a day.”

Scarlet laughed as shadows surrounded them, leaving the pair after they entered the hallway, following Anthony and Nia to her grandfather’s storage area; the Vespertine Reaper’s skill had grown, making it so they didn’t need to be so close anymore from all the levels and use it had gotten in Cuba.

Arriving at one of the nearby, empty routes at the National Park’s border, Scarlet’s halo-like crimson irises wandered, nervousness rising a tad by her two visible fangs pressing against her bottom lip.

Wanting to draw her thoughts away from her typical mental death spiral, Rachel leaned in and snapped her teeth beside her ear, making her jump. “Think I’m going to bite you?”

“Eh?! No, eh-hehe—when did you become so—no, I guess you are a Hare; it’s just…”

“Mhm?” Rachel smiled, managing her glowing locks and adjusting her grandmother’s emerald necklace from her previous action.

“Umm… I heard you wanted Anthony and Jaenona to join us back home.”

“Oh! Your hearing is getting better,” Rachel congratulated, holding out her hand to let the girl take it, a thankful smile on her dark lips; Scarlet did well with touch. “Mhm… It wasn’t an easy decision, but I don’t think there’s another way.”

“Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”

Rachel slowly shook her head, fingers tightening around Scarlet’s corpse-cold skin. “No—mmh, sort of… What I wanted to talk to you about is kind of serious.”

“Isn’t that serious?”

“Mmh-hehe, absolutely, but it’s more of a personal thing I’m dealing with—” Catching Scarlet’s furrowed brow, she added, “No, I know it affects everyone; I’ll talk to everyone about that when we get back home, but this is mainly about you.”

“And this?”

She sighed, rubbing the back of her tense neck, unwillingly remembering Anthony’s strong hands tightening in the location to draw her into her first kiss in almost two weeks.

Fighting the blush upon recalling the recent engagement, Rachel tried to get her thumping heart and instinctual urge under control, which she’d need for the conversation at hand.

“Mmh… give me a second to figure out how to word this.”

Naturally, a frown touched the girl’s mouth at the statement. “Is it that important?”

“I don’t know… If it’s true, then yes.”

“But you’re not sure? Okay, I’m confused.”

“Mhm. Eh—I get that… I wasn’t going to tell anyone about these thoughts until I had more proof, but… we’ve got a problem brewing in the future, and I don’t think I can afford to be reserved with what’s coming, even if some of this is reaching a bit far.”

“I’m listening.”

Taking a deep breath, Rachel let it out, studying the starlit heavens as she pulled Scarlet’s arm toward the asphalt walkway and began connecting all the dots for her adopted sister. As she’d figured, the Vespertine Reaper’s already pale face turned whiter as she elaborated on the world forces moving events in the background.

She added the potential dangers Anthony had expanded on his end, illuminating potential other players in this big multi-Existence game they were trapped in the middle of, and Scarlet—a worrywart to begin with—was already shivering.

“So… how many sides are we talking about here? And… and Twilight… A part of her actually escaped in Relica—but we killed her? What if Twilight comes for me—why hasn’t she, or Relica is still alive—what would we do?”

“Calm down a little! Hehe. As I said; I don’t know if this is entirely accurate, Scarlet—it may be just Wolfgang and France—then again, maybe this is a part of Twilight that doesn’t agree with her primary consciousness—we can only guess—but without a doubt, we both heard Revilla blame Twilight. Right?”

“She did…”

“Right. So, all of this—my entire train of thought—hinges on the person with the most information… Revilla was a threat to even top-tier gods in our universe, which is probably small scale in the overall picture, and she seems to be just the first thing that could get to us, rushing and brute-forcing her way in.”

Fingers shaking, she tried to strengthen her courage to not freak out. “So… Twilight is…”

“In my thoughts, probably not the biggest player or side… She’s created a stop-gap, so far as I’ve been able to puzzle out, in an attempt to buy time for something.”

“It’s insane… How can she not be the one pulling the strings?”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Rachel muttered, prompting Scarlet further down the path as they moved along the nighttime trail, “I am grasping at straws here, and I’m only laying out the empirical evidence… developing theories of where it leads. Make no mistake, Twilight is pulling many strings, but she is not the only one.”

“B-But if a part of Twilight is—is manipulating things—really, why hasn’t she come for me—even if she doesn’t want to wake the rest of herself… Ugh, my head hurts thinking about this stuff. I can’t keep it all straight; there’s a part of her that’s awake, but she doesn’t want to wake all of herself up, but eh, she leaves me alone for maybe that to happen? I don’t get it!”

A thought seemed to spark in the girl’s mind that caused her fingers to tighten around Rachel’s. “Wait… what if we get close to her—will she be sucked back in?”

Knowing her thoughts were probably on some pop-culture stuff, Rachel giggled and shrugged. “That’s a stretch beyond anything I’ve concluded—pure speculation with the only connection being she hasn’t gotten near you—at least, so far as we’re aware.”

“If she exists?”

“Now you’re getting it. It comes down to two interpretations, Scarlet; either Revilla was truly pissed, and cursed Twilight—because she connected that all of this was due to her direct or indirect interference, or… Revilla could have said that as some clever trap to put me on this line of thinking.”

“No-ho-ho… So it could be a trap by Revilla? My head is going to explode!”

“Heh. Scarlet, who do you think you’re dealing with—I’m paranoid as it gets right now—and yes, it could totally be a trap, but it could also be her trying to get back at Twilight by ruining her anonymity.”

“I’d be pissed at that…”

“No doubt! I’m guessing here based on the scattered data I’ve been able to collect, and Yseress agrees with me…”

“To an extent, Mistress.”

I know. I know.

“Ahem… which is why I didn’t want to bring it up without more evidence; I’m only laying out what I’ve been able to connect, and Anthony’s story brings a lot more clarity to the scope we’re dealing with… I know this is terrifying to you, Scarlet, and I wouldn’t be telling it to you if we weren’t dealing with this Dagon thing, which would definitely be on Twilight’s radar.”

“Brrr…” Scarlet’s shaking hands were already squeezing tight enough to destroy a normal person’s bones. “Dagon’s no joke in Lovecraft, Rachel—like… You don’t beat those things—you just go mad and die or kill yourself. You think Lovecraft actually saw these things and tried to warn us about them?”

“I guess,” Rachel shrugged. “I couldn’t tell you, because I don’t know any of that stuff; Nia was the one to inform us from the knowledge she gained from you.”

“So insane… Does that mean—Nyarlathotep is real—an Outer God that can…”

Rachel gave her a look that made Scarlet trail off. “When you’re around Anthony and Jaenona, you cannot say those powerful Eldritch things’ names.”

“Right…”

“I don’t know much about that guy, but yes… Jaenona said one with that name killed her, which means he probably isn’t here, unless…”

It was Scarlet’s turn to vehemently shake her head. “It’s no different from Twilight! He can take on the appearance of like anything, and he could be using an avatar like Twilight is with me—I wouldn’t be surprised if that story you talked about her going into the Great Deep was actually in this other Grand Eldritch Existence. Twilight could be working with them!”

Puffing out a long stream of hot air, Rachel’s ears twitched, hearing several groups in Florida City playing Call of Cthulhu; all it could take would be someone mentioning the wrong word at the wrong time in Anthony’s presence to draw something terrible to the scene.

These Outer Gods and Great Old Ones were truly a threat to be taken seriously, and if the Deep Ones were powerful enough that a single one would have been a tough fight for her, much less the numbers they’d brought—they might have even been weaker warriors of their race—and had Jaenona’s presence not frightened them off, Rachel might not be having this conversation with Scarlet.

The frightened Vespertine Reaper brought her attention back from the memory of the frightening, fish-like frogs, who were already conquering alternate worlds in the name of their dark god. “How many things are we dealing with, Rachel?”

“Hmm… You’re not wrong that Twilight could be working with these Eldritch—there’s some connection—but I get the feeling she’s trying to escape something from her story, which again, could be manipulation.”

She stopped at the edge of the docks as they reached the swamp area of the Glades, searching the murky depths for the creatures she’d met not too long ago with Scarlet’s terrified gaze on her; Anthony’s wandering, wary eyes was understandable now, and he could probably sense things she couldn’t.

“So far, I see eight factions.”

“Eight?” Scarlet choked.

“The competing Eldritch, these Fate and Destiny factions, the Gods—potentially nine or more if we’re breaking them into sides—Twilight, Humanity, and well… us.”

“B-But isn’t Jaenona on our side?”

“Hmm-hmm… Not necessarily, Scarlet; we have to make an important distinction, which Anthony made very clear… While she is on our side, we don’t know these Mecroaf’s end goal.”

“That’s… a lot. What can we do?”

“Heh. Right now?” Rachel scratched her forehead, brushing off the goosebumps running down her arms. “Relax, go home, see Mom, and let her shower us with kisses and hugs—allow her to freak out about Anthony and Jaenona staying with us.”

Scarlet bumped into her with a short giggle. “I seriously don’t understand you—how can you just not be affected by this stuff?!”

“It’s not like I’m not…”

“But you have no problem confronting it.”

“I don’t know what to tell you; I’d rather fight than not. Okay, what do you think about Mom?” she asked, trying to draw her thoughts away from the unsettling topic now that the first part was laid out before dropping the big bomb.

“Hehe! Yeah, Mom will totally freak.”

“Yeah, she’s going to die! Erm… Hopefully, Dad doesn’t totally shut it down, and if you’re okay with it… Scarlet, can we talk about Twilight with everyone?”

Totally caught off-guard, Scarlet pulled her hand away to press against her breast in fear. “E-Everyone?!”

“No! No! Not everyone! Eh, I’ll clarify… The family—including Fiona and Maria—naturally, as they’ve kind of become family.” Scarlet took a deep breath, and Rachel added, “Obviously, I’m on your side—I can explain it all.”

“Mmh… I’m scared, Rachel… b-but if you're brave enough to bring Anthony home… I want to be brave, too. Erm… So the family is on the same page… Umm, what… about Tom?”

A little surprised at the hesitant addition, Rachel’s brow furrowed. “Do you trust him enough to bring him in on something this big?”

“He can help us if Twilight really is out there, right—and all of the Lovecraft cults? I’m terrified of her, Rachel… I really hope she’s not—do you think Tom’s trustworthy?”

Taking a few seconds to thoroughly process it in an attempt to show Scarlet she was taking it seriously, Rachel folded her arms, glaring at the somewhat dim heavens from the light pollution of Florida City.

“Hmm… I can see why you’d want to bring him in, Scarlet. Uh… Yeah, I think he’s proven to us multiple times he’s willing to work with us to remain in the loop and take what we say seriously. Although we have to consider that his entire job is the safety of the U.S. He… probably can’t keep all of it a secret from the President if we bring him in.”

“We can ask, though—for him to tell us if it is getting too much—what he would need to share?”

“I think he’s a good enough guy to do that, but it is a risk.”

“I know… I think I want his help. He’s been really good to us—and is really trying to help Cuba, too—and if France, and… and I can’t believe Jeanne d'Arc would work with Twilight—how could she work with something like her?!”

“To be fair,” Rachel slowly whispered, “I don’t think she had the full picture, Scarlet… We can probe her for information if we come across her again.”

“Tom could set that up, too?”

“It’s possible.”

“Good. I just… she seemed like such a good woman… She said she’d fight for my mother to live… I want to think she’s a good person.”

“Hehe.” Rachel stepped forward to ruffle her hair, forcing the girl to glare up at her while attempting to fix what she’d messed up. “I can’t always be your voice of reason and doubt, Sis; don’t trust people so easily.”

“I know… I’m being honest, though.”

“Me, too, and I’m worried about you. Can you promise me to build up some skepticism?”

“Okay…”

“Alright. We good? Ugh… really…”

“Hmm?”

“Oh, nothing,” she grumbled, ears twitching and forcing her to scratch the left one as she shifted to look at the big turtle, hanging over her grandfather’s house and barely visible from where they were. “Just Nemesis trying to intimidate Anthony.”

“Ugh… I hate that guy.”

Rachel was happy to hear Scarlet’s haughty tone return at Nemesis’ mention. “Oh? I couldn’t tell! Hehe. Are you good?”

“No… but I know I have you to help me through it… Thanks, Sister,” she smiled, closing in to hug her, and Rachel returned it.

“Of course.”

“Ahem… Let’s get over there before the dumb Lion starts something—no, maybe we shouldn’t!”

“Hmm?”

“Think about it!” Scarlet giggled, black lips parting to show her fangs. “If things escalate, Jaenona can eat him, and that will be that—no more annoying lion dude!”

“Haha. Let’s go.”

“Ugh… why did you even allow him to come to Miami; he’s not even a U.S. citizen!” she growled, trying to distract herself from the bombs Rachel just dropped on her.

“Er-heh, well… not yet, but we will see what happens to Cuba…”

“Mmgm… I’ll correct myself; he’s not even a Cuban citizen! Mara can stay; she’s fine.”

“Haha. You’re great!”

“I’m totally serious, Sis…” she grumbled.

Shadows surrounded them, and when they left, Rachel mirrored her vocal exasperation, dully looking at the massive lion towering over a confused Anthony and defensive Nia; the giant, over-seven-foot-tall beast’s fur was bristled, muscles tight as Jaenona curiously stood behind her master, bewildered by the Mythickin’s intense glare.

“Erm… Rachel, back already… You know this dude?”

“Nein—bad lion!”

Mara had a hand on his stomach, trying to guide him away. “Nemesis… let’s not be rude—we’re guests—chill. Eh-heh—sorry, Rachel…”

Hot air shot through the beast’s black nose, blowing back Anthony’s flaming, copper hair. “Hmm… You are powerful, boyfriend of Rachel… I can see why she would choose a man like you, but I will not be intimidated by your unsettling scent and presence. Fight me!”

“Cut it out,” Rachel growled, popping the tense atmosphere as she stepped forward and forced him back—Nia taking it as an open invitation to help—he had a pretty firm stance, requiring a bit more strength than she would have liked.

“Back! Ten feet—don’t you intimidate my little sister!”

“Haaa… This isn’t Cuba, Nemesis; if you want to start crap, then go back. Anthony’s my boyfriend, deal with it.”

“Yeah, Stupid! Plus, Jaenona is precious and adorable, and you can’t hurt her! You gotta go through me—and Rachel!” Nia shouted, sticking her tongue out at the disgruntled lion.

“Hmm. Can I not fight for the right?”

“Stupid! You’re so stupid; Rachel, get your whip out—dang it; it’s still recovering—gah!”

Anthony gave Rachel a look that said, is this guy serious? “What the heck is this guy even talking about… He wants to fight me to be your boyfriend? What, is he in junior high? Because that’s some wack crap.”

“He’s from Africa,” Mara interjected, forcing a laugh.

“Like that explains it?”

One hand on her hip, Rachel glared up at Nemesis, making the man’s tight expression falter. “Listen, Nemesis… Learn more about my culture before trying to make a move; that’s an order!”

“Humph. Understood…”

Anthony and most everyone else breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped away, tail flicking with agitation as he sat on the side of the raised, wooden floor. “I understand… I will observe your culture since I am your slave.”

Rachel’s left fingers curled into a tight fist at Anthony’s mystified expression upon the Lion King’s reveal; she wanted to punch the beast so badly—it’s the only thing that got through his thick skull—but knew it would only further cause a misunderstanding.

“Come again… Slave?”

“From Africa, Cuz?” Mason mumbled in shock, catching Jessy’s uncertain look, totally wanting to be left out of the conversation as she backed up.

“Ugh… Way to set the mood and make Rachel look terrible,” Scarlet growled. “Basically, he wants to be Rachel’s plaything—he’s an idiot.”

Glad Scarlet was sticking up for her, but internally groaning at the connotation that could be drawn from her statement, Rachel tried to shut it down.

“We can talk about that later.”

Fiona giggled. “He used to be one of the Cuba Warlords; Rachel beat him, and so he’s now like… her follower or something like that—leader of the pack and whatnot.”

“Interesting,” Nora snickered, eyeing him, and Rachel wondered if her Cheetah form would naturally be attracted to him; the thought was quickly brushed away.

“Weird dude,” Anthony mumbled. “Anyway… what’s up, Rachel?”

Only Nemesis, Mara, and Vasishtha had come down and, as could be expected, the Indian Legendkin had only laughed at the confrontation in the corner; he’d made a few moves on Mara over the trip, to no avail.

Rachel breathed out a long sigh, noticing all the work they’d done to prepare for the new guests. “Sorry, Grandpa, but we’re going to have to cut our stay short.”

“Ah, of course; please, go see your mother—hmm-hmm, she’s been a mess since you left, as you could have guessed.”

“Eh-heh, it does sound on brand.”

Of course, she hadn’t always thought that way, but so many things had come into perspective since her change; her family wasn’t perfect, but they tried.

Mason got up, stretching out his big, bear-like arms before turning to his girlfriend. “We should get our stuff ready.”

“E-Eh—me?!”

Nia giggled, playing with Jaenona’s hair and showering her with affection; Rachel knew she was being overprotective with Nemesis still nearby—or using it as an excuse—which was completely in line with her personality.

“Mhm! I heard everything; Mom’s totally hyped to have everyone come over. She’s making a big feast! Hmm-hmm. She was practically in tears—so happy everyone’s back and safe—Mom’s the best.”

We’ll see what they think.

* * *

Cahira leaned back in her chair, legs crossed as she glared at the letter and map on her desk; it had been dropped from a seagull, according to Wilkins, her First Mate, and inside was something grand, yet she had to wonder if she should bring the others into it.

All of us nearly died the last time we went on a Legend’s Quest… And this is a Linked Legend’s Quest… Whatever that means. We were way underleveled before, and a lot’s changed since then… Still.

This wasn’t some expedition to fight random pirates or ships as she’d done with Selvaria; the sender of this letter and map brought chilling memories of one particular disguised legend to her mind.

Rachel and her little sleepover group had left ten minutes ago, and she could sense the children in a gloomy state since as Clay put into action the plan Maria and him set up to screen the people trying to adopt the children. All of that was in the back of Cahira’s mind, though; trouble was brewing.

Lifting the open letter with a low growl in her voice, she mumbled the name of the fancy cursive at the bottom. “Raguna… What voyage are you sending me on?”

The dark laughter of the ancient Pirate Lord—hidden at the back of some old, unassuming pub on a distant island—rang through her apprehensive mind.

Ta mi aspirin’, shapely Pirate Queen… Ol’ Raguna has come by a story ta fit yer fancy. The sunkin’ temples be stirin’ and the black fiends of the Great Deep be risin’ ta break inta the Island of the Singin’ Lefay… I owe the finned lasses a favor from times past, an’ left word I be sendin’ a capable crew in their times o’ need, hehe. If ya got mi map, ya should be up to ol’ Raguna’s task… Remember mi words, Lass? Adventure awaits ya!

Cahira didn’t like the timing; the Deep Ones from the tales told by Lovecraft made an appearance to Rachel and Anthony, and now she got this message. It felt like a trap.

Fingernail tapping against her desk, Cahira reached over to grab one of her bottles to take a swig, only for her mouth to be met with air—empty.

Growling at the inconvenience, she moved to the second—empty, as well—she didn’t recall finishing them, but whatever; she had plenty stocked up from the island she’d obtained her crew of four from.

Getting to her feet, she went to the door and opened it to find a total stranger in the process of knocking, yet the thing that stunned her to silence was the uncanny resemblance to the most popular pop-culture pirate of her generation.

“Ah, brilliant, Love—yer ol’ boys kept a tight ship; actin’ as if ya be too busy to be acceptin’ guests, mi Pirate Queen!”

“Who…”

Long dreads shifting around his shoulders, an amused half-smile on his lips, the Jack Sparrow impersonator sallied forward, causing Cahira to step aside as he shamelessly went to her wardrobe to browse through it.

“Hmm… ya be smellin’ rum as I, Captain Cahira—adventure on the breeze? Aye, a nice belt ya be havin’ here…”

Cahira hadn’t even sensed him board her ship and had no clue if this was an imposter or some event in preparation for the Legend’s Quest.

A pistol emerging from flames in her palm, she directed it at the man with a snarl. “Could ya get yer grubby hands off mi merchandise, ye scallywag!”

“Oh!” He backed away, belt dropping to the floor as a grin split his handsome face, hands rising in surrender instead of going for his gun or sword; the cosplayer didn’t seem too perturbed though. “No need ta be so forward, mi sweet, hehe—we could get to the rough play later, if ya fancy!”

“Who ya be, sneekin’ onta a lass’ ship and makin’ yerself at home, eh? Ye give a gal the wrong impression, aye?!”

“Mmh?” Hands still high, the man pointed to himself with a charming smile. “Ye be inquirin’ ta know of me that I be that ya fail to see that I am?”

“Aye, I be askin’ fer ya ta claim to be!”

“Ah,” her pistol followed him to her desk as he grabbed a bottle with a wry grin.

“Why ya temptin’ me ta put a hole through that fine cap?”

“Hmm-hmm. A shame it be empty… As to me, tis’ be the sparrow on the winds with a bottle on mi breath and hair on mi chin, Lass.”

“Yer playin’ me fiddle ta think I believin’ ye be Jack.”

“Aye, ya be a fool to be thinkin’ such, and a fool ye be not, Legend of Grace O’Malley,” he took his hat off, hand flaring back as he took a bow before swiftly rising, a pistol flashing into existence in his grip to grin at her. “The Legend of Jack Ward, Love. Savvy—”

She fired, sending the man off his feet and on his back, yet no blood showed as he groaned, right hand grabbing his hat and lifting it into the air with a chuckle, the glint of a gold medallion showing where his heart had been.

“Hehe. Luck o’ O’Malley, eh-hehe—ya got a shot on me!” Rising to his side, he gave her a smirk as her crew came running at the sound, “Mind havin’ a drink now?”

“And who be havin’ the luck?” Cahira grinned as he pulled out a bottle from underneath her bed; one from her private stash. “Ye got mi ear, Jack… Best ye be playin’ nice.”

“Gotta have a tad o’ trouble in a good man, Love; hehe—ya need a little devil in ya, aye?”

“Aye! Wilkins, fetch another chair!”