After pushing the curtain aside, John and Dennis entered the hole in the tree. A winding staircase awaited them, only wide enough for one.

‘... They’ve probably done this for extra security. Very few beasts would be able to get through here. But a demon would destroy the tree if it knew people were inside.’

He had decided to put the questions away for now, waiting for the two girls to return instead. The sight of a pale Rain still gnawed at him, though.

They walked up the stairs, eventually opening up to reveal a wide-open room in the middle of the tree. It was lit by strange spheres of light hanging in the ceiling, and looked to be the gathering hub for the group living here.

Judging by the detailed and homely feel of the room, they had been living here for a while already. Three people were sitting inside it, looking back at the two of them: the man from before, another man with a missing arm, and a woman with long black hair.

John and Dennis bowed in greeting, “Hello, I’m John, and this is Dennis. We’re both aspecters, and we have traveled far to get here.”

Their reactions were a mix of surprise, joy, and a hint of waryness. But it made sense to be wary of people just arriving, despite their goals likely being in alignment.

The man in armor stood up and bowed back. “It’s nice to meet you. I am Carver, and this is Ralf and Isabella. We have made this place our base of operations and have decided to wait for someone to rescue us.”

John nodded, but he put on a slight frown. “It’s understandable, given the situation. But we have reason to believe they won’t send anyone after us. Our group has been traveling for thousands of kilometers in hopes of finding… Well, partly for finding the portal.”

Carver frowned and looked at the other two before responding. “We won’t be able to travel very fast, and these two are quite vulnerable as they are both breakers. What grounds do you have to say they won’t send anyone?”

John looked at Dennis, who replied in his stead. “I was once part of a different rescue mission for a similar situation, and we lost far more than we gained. Four aspecters on the rescue team died.”

His words came as a blow to the two breakers, making them look panicked. Isabelle shook her head, biting her lip. “But… we just arrived! How can–how many have died already?!”

Dennis sighed, probably thinking of the same thing John was: the meeting with the sage. “Too many. But without finding the portal back home, there will only be more. And let me tell you–” He pointed at John excitedly. “–this guy can make it happen! He’s beaten a horror single-handedly, and he was still a breaker when he came here!”

A wave of disbelief traveled through the room. John felt embarrassed, but he couldn’t deny his words. It was all true. But then something occurred to him. “Hey, since you said these two are breakers, does that mean Serah is an aspecter already?”

Carver smiled. “She sure is. I’ve never seen anyone as talented before. Not only does she control her essence like no other, but she’s a genius of strategy as well!”

Dennis seemed slightly offended on John’s behalf, but John simply nodded. “Heh, I’m glad it’s that obvious to others as well. She has me beat in both of those areas. But when it comes to fighting instinct…”

‘I’m the best!’

Carver looked at him thoughtfully. “... So you’re the one she’s been waiting for, then? I can’t believe she ended up being right. Childhood friend, right?”

John stared at Carver for a second. “... I’d say we’re a bit closer than that.”

The trio looked at each other and chuckled. Carver turned back to John with a smirk. “She said the same thing about you. You don’t have to worry; no one else is in her heart. But you will have to be patient, I think. Just a tip, man to man.”

“Uh, thanks…” John could feel himself blushing slightly, looking around the room for something else to discuss. “Right, shouldn’t you guys know each other?” he asked, pointing at Dennis.

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“I don’t recognize any of them, so they must all be from your group. Right?” He turned to the trio and asked.

Carver nodded. “Yeah, I’m one of the aspecters that joined the expedition. I didn’t wear the armor back then, so that might be why you don’t remember me, John. We all came from there by some strange twist of fate.”

John searched his mind, unable to recall seeing Carver before. However, he had arrived later than the others due to his meeting with the Lady of Fate. He recalled Invoker Hans, but that was primarily due to his speech.

It made him feel some respect for Carver, understanding that he had taken care of three breakers on his own before Serah broke through. It would have been no easy task.

“You’ve done well to stay safe here for as long as you have. The monkeys never bothered you, then?”

“Monkeys?” Carver asked, searching his mind. “Oh, you mean the Kokos? No, they’ve been quite reasonable, honestly. We stay out of their business, and they stay out of ours. Why, have you had problems with them?”

John and Dennis exchanged nervous glances. “Uhm, we had a bit of a fight. And… I probably killed one of their leaders…”

“What?! You were serious about killing a horror?” Carver exclaimed, looking at John like a madman. “Is that why they were so aggressive? Well, no wonder!”

John shrunk, fearing that he might have caused the group problems. “It was just a series of unfortunate events. We couldn’t have known what would happen. But I apologize if it has caused you any trouble.”

Carver sighed, but he brushed the apology away. “Never mind, they haven’t attacked us or anything like that. Haaah, that’s… We believe they are the original inhabitants of this planet. And that’s probably why they didn’t get spread around like we did during the inversion.”

That made sense to John as well. He had never seen any beasts in groups as large as the monkeys were, which seemed to imply they were together through the planet reshaping itself.

“Yeah. Their city seemed to be made by them as well, so I’m not surprised,” John replied, thinking back to the sight of an alien but primitive civilization living their daily lives. It had come as quite a shock to both of them.

‘... I hope Rain is okay. But Serah seemed to know what to do. I’ll count on her.’

“A city? They have an entire city?” Carver asked, surprised by the revelation. “Well, since we never went closer to them… And that’s how you ended up fighting, I reckon?”

Dennis scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously. “Heh, it’s a long story. But it’s not that simple, no… Do you guys have any idea where the portal is?” he asked, changing the subject for now.

“None. I had hoped you might know since you come from the outpost. We don’t even know what continent it is on… How would we ever reach an entirely different continent?” Carver asked heavily, making it clear he had little hope in such a trip.

John shrugged. “If that’s what it takes… But we might have a way to figure out where the portal is. There’s a reason we were able to find you guys.”

His words lit the room, igniting a spark of hope in the three of them. “It wasn’t a coincidence, then? How?”

“That girl with the antlers, Rain. She pointed us here, starting all the way back near the bottom of the continent. Or top, depending on how you look at it. If you’ve seen the holes in the planet, that’s where she and I met.”

“Pointed you? Is it some sort of aspect?” Carver asked, confused.

John and Dennis shared a look of helplessness. “Uhh, we don’t know. She seems like an average human without essence if you don’t consider the antlers or the pointing thing. But I’ll take care of her if we have to travel anywhere, so don’t worry.”

“... That’s not really what worries me, John. She sounds suspicious, doesn’t she?” Carver asked carefully, measuring John’s reaction.

John scoffed slightly, failing to see the problem. “If you knew her, you wouldn’t say that. She’s as human as everyone I–”

“John,” Dennis interrupted, looking at him hesitantly. “You can’t deny that there’s too much we don’t know about her, can you? I agree that she’s kind and nice to have around, of course! But…”

The tension in the room heated up as everyone turned silent, waiting for John’s response.

‘... Even Dennis, huh? I know there are reasons to suspect her, but…’

“Okay, you may be right. But what would she have to gain by deceiving us? What would be her goal? And how well could she possibly act when she barely knows the language?”

Dennis bit his lips, carefully molding his response before replying. “That’s what we want to ask her, John. Has she said anything about what she wants to do? Would she react so strongly to getting here unless something extremely important to her was affected? I think… I think we need to question her when they return.”

John swallowed, feeling his heartbeat turn heavy. His entire heart told him Rain was a good person, but a tiny part of his mind knew Dennis was right to be suspicious of her intentions. But how could that small part win over the heart?

“You can ask your questions. But don’t expect me to stay on your side,” John replied tersely, turning to leave the room.

Dennis spoke after him, trying to reason. “John, don’t make this an us versus you thing. We all want to return to Earth safely!”

John kept walking down the stairs, choosing not to respond. He needed to clear his head, and the tree was filled with stale air and unpleasant people.

‘Questions, he says… I hope you’re ready to answer, Rain.’

But on his way down, the curtain to the outside opened, and the two girls entered.