Before raising a star, Joshua Lonergan had gained his life by being a man of opportunity and making business where he knew they would flourish. He was a higher-up on Oengus, a once small consulting firm that he helped grow until it was a renowned brand. He wasn’t in charge of the firm, but he was important enough to be given some of the larger deals the company had an eye on, and often made them succeed.

He was trying to close one such deal, while one of his associates presented its advantages, when his phone started shaking in his suit. Usually, he'd just dismiss it and continue as if nothing had happened, but he held his gaze on the caller ID for just a moment too long.

Excusing himself, he left his team and their client and picked up the phone on the other side of the conference room door.

"David?"

"Dad, I need your help, there's this girl who's been brought to another world, inside a game and-"

"David, slow down. One thing at a time. Are you and your sister okay? Where's Lenny and Carl?"

"We're okay. I'm at a friend's, and Lenny and Carl are with Christine."

"Good. Are you in Sara's place?"

"No, I'm at her cousin's. Sara's also with Christine, they’re at the hospital."

"At the hospital? Did something happen with Sara?”

“No, with someone else.”

“Okay, David. Listen, I'm in the middle of an important meeting. I'll call you back when it’s over."

"No, no, dad, wait, this is important."

"Can it wait ten minutes?"

There was silence on the other side of the line for a few seconds, while his son struggled with what the matter at hand and the authority of his work.

"Yeah, it can wait."

"I’ll call you as soon as I can. Don't worry, we’ll work it out."

Joshua Lonergan hung up the phone and returned to the meeting, apologising for the inconvenience as he laughed about fatherly duties.

Meanwhile, David wasn’t about to give up. He quickly navigated to a busy Q&A forum where he took most of his internet related questions and started working on a long post describing the situation he found himself in, going out of his way not to give out any names.

“Your dad’s not coming?” Sofia ended up asking, looking away from the television.

“He’ll call back when he can,” he answered.

“Is he bringing someone with him?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. His father seemed to know everyone, with connections reaching far beyond the world of his company or even the show business where Christine made her life. It was extremely likely he knew exactly the right man for the job, as long as he knew what was even happening with Yana. Someone who didn’t participate in the internet forums, using more conservative means to share the information he or she held about what was happening in those chip factories, who had tampered with them, and why.

“Hmm… What would he have done…” the girl wondered aloud, turning back to the television. “Hey, larga isso, Ricardo! Vai começar outra vez!” she shouted to her brother when she realized he wouldn’t let go of his portable console, even as something was clearly stirring up at the camp where the big, bad men had brought Yana and Jack.

Various vehicles, from wheel-less jeeps to robust motorcycles flanked a small clearing in the woods and, after dropping Jack in its centre, the group rounded up, leaving him alone with the leader and another brown-skinned warrior, far less bulky and scarier who, after rummaging over Jack’s vest, handed both of his hidan weapons to his leader. Then he stood on attention by his side, being quickly mimicked by the rest of the group as another man emerged from the circle with a bucket of water. Yana was not impeded to move by any means, but the mere close presence of her appointed guard and the serious gaze of Kuchinja, as he nodded to the man with the bucket, forced her to stay put and watch as he flung its contents at Jack.

He jumped from the floor, snorted the water from his nostrils and looked up to meet his former boss in the eye.

“Had fun in your crusade, little knight?”

Some of the men could not hold back a chuckle.

“Did I give you permission to laugh?” Kuchinja roared, without breaking eye contact with his trainee.

“No, boss!” they all answered in unison, and the camp sank into silence.

Sunlight flickered on the ground, broken by shadows of the canopy, dancing with the gentle, cool breeze from the nearby river, its flow distant, but ever present. Wild birds dared not fly over the heads of people, and kept their song to a minimum, respecting their strange presence. What should have been but a moment stretched for a lifetime.

“Why?” Kuchinja asked.

“Because you are a hypocrite, and a liar,” Jack answered, slowly and bitterly.

“And you’re not? Haven’t you been running amok in Bulgarl, stealing hidan by yourself?”

“You forced me to-!“

“That’s where you’re wrong, kid. We never forced you to do anything.”

“Maybe if you had cut your shitty act before and stopped trying to sweet-talk your way out of this your base would still be standing.”

“You’re right. Talking to you never did any good, did it? Well, this is going to.”

In the blink of an eye the man’s sturdy old boot was making contact with Jack’s flank, making him roll twice over on the floor. Using the distance, he managed to stumble up, only to get punched in the stomach and face in quick succession.

Unable to watch, Yana looked down to het boots and closed her eyes for the rest of the beating, leaving only the sound of thuds, footsteps and muffled grunts of pain as the only clues to what was happening for the children in the living room, who watched the darkness and heard the noises with an unusual serenity. Ricardo turned back to his portable, but Sofia was too absorbed on the scene to reprimand him. It was his fault for losing on the important bits of the story.

“Listen up, recruits!” yelled Kuchinja when the sounds became more spaced out, as Jack’s energy waned away. Yana finally worked up the courage to see what the outcome was, finding the boy down to his knees, curled up around his stomach and with new, sticky red stains on his clothes, in front of the unchanged, unwavering leader. “This is what happens to those who betray this team. We are family. Our union is unquestionable. And I am the head of this family, so my orders are unquestionable. If you have any doubts over why you’re here or the nature of your orders, then this is not the place for you. You are free to leave at any time you choose, but if you ever threaten me, or my family, I will tear Hell asunder to make sure you end up like this punk over here. Vilch! Ginta!”

Two of the men in the circle marched forward and, on Kuchinja’s command, seized Jack’s arms, pulling him upward. His right eye couldn’t open more than a crack and his bottom lip had been torn open, but there was still enough energy in him to keep looking at his former boss with hatred. At his signal, the other warrior who had stayed inside the circle knelt behind Jack and took hold of the device implanted on his neck.

“Now, I’m going to start asking questions, kid. If you don’t answer, Sauti pulls. He will pull harder and harder until I hear something I’m satisfied with. And if you disengage that nervous unit, Knox will start breaking fingers, slowly and painfully.”

“That’s not something you haven’t taught me to handle,” Jack answered.

“Who said anything about being yours?”

He looked up and nodded at the man standing next to Yana, who promptly restrained both of her arms before she could even comprehend what was happening.

“What? Hey, I have nothing to do this!” She yelled at Kuchinja.

“You have everything to do with this if you’re with him, missy,” he answered with a tone that made her insides loop upside down. “Now shut your mouth before I have to go there and do it for you.”

Feeling stupid for bringing about such freighting rage, Yana could do no more than bit her lip and keep watching as Kuchinja regained control of the silence around the clearing and turned to Jack.

“Who gave you the bombs?”

“That’s a pretty obvious one,” he answered. Kuchinja signalled and the man holding the device pulled it slightly. The boy threw back his head and grit his teeth.

“Who gave you the bombs?”

“The Hunter,” he answered between his teeth.

“Did you meet him personally?”

“How stupid do you think he is?”

A stronger pull made Jack grunt as he forcefully kept his mouth shut.

“Incredibly so. Did you meet him personally?”

“First time today after the Bulgarl venatio.”

“What’s his name?”

“He calls himself Vandro, I doubt that’s his real name.”

“Where’s his hideout?”

“Electronics shop in Panza street with a Summoner at the counter that could eat most of your men for breakfast.”

He pulled a red card from a pocket one his dark green trousers, flipped it over on his fingers, and finally showed it to him. “Did he give this to you?”

“I found it on the floor. Poor guy must still be looking for it.”

Instead of having Sauti torture him, Kuchinja simply snapped the card in half and returned the remains to his pocket.

“Who is she?” asked Kuchinja nodding towards Yana.

“Who, that? She’s just some random chick I picked up in Bulgarl,” answered Jack, having another jolt of pain delivered to all his nerves for the trouble. “She’s a virgin, man, I had to nail her.”

“Pull it until he cries, Sauti,” demanded Kuchinja. “Virgins in Bulgarl…”

For a couple of seconds, they merely watched as Jack threw back his head, closing his eyes shut and twisting his body in an involuntary and futile attempt for escape from his former companion’s pull. Then he made a strange noise, chocking a scream just as it was about to leave his throat, and Yana couldn’t bear watching any longer.

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“Stop! Just stop it! I was captured by the guys from the Coliseum! He saved me! That’s all he did!”

Her yell was enough to get the attention of the team’s leader, which in turn was enough for his subordinate to let go the pressure on the device, allowing Jack a chance to drop his head and breathe.

“And why did he do that?” asked Kuchinja turning towards Yana.

“Because I can see bugged weapons.”

“Karski, give me your weapon,” he ordered after pondering a bit without taking his eyes off Yana. “That’s mighty interesting, girl. Let’s give that theory a test, shall we?”

With his subordinate’s sphere in hand the leader paced towards her, producing a second one from another pocket, and the man behind her momentarily released her arms.

“Change these,” he asked handing her the spheres. Yana briefly looked up to his face, and unable to meet the intensity of his dark, shiny eyes, she looked back down and did what she was told.

“They both have Bugs,” she said quickly turning to the floor, holding the flutes in front of her and hoping he would rid them from her soon.

“Do you know how to use these?” he asked once he took them from her hands. Yana shook her head and he clicked his tongue. “Shame… What were you doing in Bulgarl? Isn’t your family in Ellage?”

“I’m not that girl,” Yana said, thinking of her lookalike. “I look like her, but I’m not her.”

“Who are you, then?”

“Yana Natviski.”

“Natviski? That’s a kilmanesse name, isn’t it? But you’re speaking Ladensse. What are you doing here?” he asked once more.

“I-I got lost.”

“I can put a nervous unit in the back of your neck too if you want to join jackass over there,” the tone of Kuchinja’s voice changed to exactly the same as the one he had used with Jack. “Why are you in Rujad?”

“It’s the truth, I-“

“She says she’s an alien,” Jack said, waiting for Kuchinja to face him before continuing. “A human who came from Planet… Earth, or something, and wants to go back home.”

“And you believed in her?”

“I was going to drop her off in the first madhouse I found. I thought they gave money for that sort of thing.”

Her heart sank and Yana cursed herself for allowing such easy trust to build between her and Jack. She knew from the beginning, as soon as she saw his ugly mug that she shouldn’t have been so easy on him, but she fell for it anyway, and found the hard way he had never even believed in her in the first place.

The interrogation continued regardless of her evolving feelings.

“Why did you steal those Bugs?”

“Part of the payment for The Hunter.”

“Convenient, that you’d stumble into a person that can identify them.”

“Go figure.”

“We’re not done talking, missy,” Kuchinja said to Yana before turning back at his trainee for the last time. “As for you, you are going to rebuild my base, brick by brick, without rest, without sympathy, until its complete, or you die trying. Lift camp! We leave in thirty minutes!”

“Yes, boss!”

Most of the men left the circle and spread into the woods and, after a quick word exchange with their leader, the men holding Jack forced him to get up and hauled him towards one of the big jeeps circling the clearing. The third man also stood up and talked briefly with Kuchinja, glancing at Yana and nodding one final time before splitting from his boss and approaching her and the one man that had stayed with her.

“An alien, huh?” he asked. “What kind of UFO ditched you in the ass of the universe?”

“I don’t have to answer to you…” Yana answered, fighting with all of her might not to break up and start crying in front of those people.

“Come now, that was rude,” the man continued. However, his tone of voice had changed to something that showed concern instead of contempt. “I might not be the boss, but I’m still this team’s second-in-command. You should show me some respect too, right, Knox?”

“That’s right, Sauti,” the man behind her answered.

Seeing Yana would keep her head low and her mouth shut, while she thought of nothing but crossing her fingers for David to call her soon and tell her that help was on the way, Sauti put a hand on her shoulder.

“You know, he is going to put a nervous unit on you, too. You’ve seen what it can do. If I were you, I’d start telling the truth,” he waited for a while for Yana to speak, but the only impulse she had was knocking his hand away from her and the only words that crossed her mind would probably only make things worse.

Giving up on the idea, Sauti turned to Knox and asked him to take her to the van, which he promptly did, letting her sit on the back before shutting the door and leaving her in hushed silence, watching the leaves of a nearby tree swinging in bliss and feeling her mind become clearer with every breath she took.

“Yana?” asked David’s voice in her head a few seconds later.

“Hi, David,” she answered. “Did you see what happened?”

“Yeah, we did.”

“The help that you say you can get. Is it related to O’Claire?” she asked.

“… What do you-?”

“I’ve heard her talk to Sara, on my hospital room, about her last album “Resplendent”, and the new one she’s working on, “Perchance”, with a song she just wrote for it called “Fighter”. Is it true?”

“Yes, it’s true,” he answered.” Those are all correct. I’ve seen her write the lyrics for “Fighter”.”

“Woah, I’m actually being helped by O’Claire’s family… Why is it so easy for me to believe in you when no one here has believed in me?”

“You’ve heard undisclosed information about an album that hasn’t even been revealed yet. It’s irrefutable evidence.”

“Right…” as she started to think what sort of evidence she would need, another door opened and Jack was sat next to the driver’s seat. Then the man in charge of him closed the door and turned around, standing guard.

“You shouldn’t treat him like an ordinary main character, Yana,” David said after a pause, while she focused only on the trees outside. “In any normal story, no one goes through what he just did, especially not the designated hero.”

“What kind of story is this, then?” she asked.

“I can’t really say it’s an abnormal story,” he answered. In the corner of the television, Jack could be seen turning around in his seat, looking at her puzzled. “But it’s not a story about saving people, or doing the right thing, like the ones we are used to. It’s just a story about things that happen, in a world different from ours.”

“And what does that make him? Just someone trying to survive in this different world?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Who the hell are you talking to?” Jack asked at the same time David answered her.

“A voice in my head,” Yana answered bitterly, without taking her eyes off the window. “I’m crazy, right? Crazy people do this all the time.”

“I’m an amazing liar,” he said, clicking his tongue.

“What do you mean?” Yana asked looking back at him. The bruises and wounds from before had all vanished, making it almost seem like there had been no beating at all, save for a couple of dry blood stains in his clothes, hard to see thanks to their dark colours.

“I had to tell him that, or he’d probably shoot you to just to see if you’re really hidanna or not. And then he’d shoot me for believing in your little story.”

“You weren’t going to throw me in a madhouse?”

“I was. Gimme a break, Yana, would you believe that, if someone else told you they were an alien that looks exactly like your own kind?” he continued once she started looking furious.

Being forced to face the facts, she bit her lip and admitted it with a frustrated sigh.

“It’s impossible to believe something like that without evidence.”

“It’d be a lot easier for him to believe in you if you had that. At least you could get away without a nervous unit.”

“I wish I had that sort of thing.”

“For what’s worth, I think you’re telling the truth now, anyway.”

“Why?”

“You can’t fight like you did back in Bulgarl if you’re crazy,” he answered. “You need the focus of someone who knows what they’re doing. So, there are only two explanations for what you did back there. Either you’re telling the truth, and really are someone who landed here and got stuck in the body of a hidanna because… I dunno, stuff; or you belong to Secret Services of some other country - you’re here on a mission, and that is the best cover story you could come up with. I don’t think you are smart enough for the latter,” he ended with a mischievous smile.

“Gee, thanks,” she answered, unable to hold back a chuckle.

“Oh, you humans can laugh, too?”

“Shut up. All right, then… We have to get out of here and then we can go back to finding a way to get back to my world.”

“Sure. How are we getting out of here?”

“They didn’t lock the car,” Yana whispered, slowly pulling the handle of the door she was leaning on. The door clicked, but the guard didn’t seem to notice. “And that guy is looking out for you, not for me.”

“Are you insane? Oh, wait,” he hissed, making Yana frown at him. “No, listen. Team Steel is a Summoner School only as a front. They’re actually mercenaries. They’re trained to take down armed guerrilla, sometimes they fight armies. You can’t sneak past them.”

“Most of them are gone. Besides, I sneak past my grandparents all the time.”

“You can’t compare-!”

“It’s our only shot. Do you want me to do this or not?”

“… I need my weapons. He probably left them in his jeep, that one out in the front,” he said pointing towards a green jeep a few feet ahead, in front of which Kuchinja, Sauti and two more men were discussing their next course of action. “I’ll distract them so you can get in and take them before they catch you. Then make a run for my bike.”

Nodding, Yana looked back out to make sure there was nothing but trees on the other side of the door before slowly pushing it open.

“Oh, wait,” he said, making her turn back. “Don’t change my weapons. You won’t be able to handle them.”

“What do you mean, I-?“

“It’s complicated, I’ll tell you if we manage to get out of here. Trust me on this one. You don’t want to change them.”

“Alright,” she said, feeling a little taken back with his seriousness. However, she didn’t really think he would tell her why when the time came.

“Good luck.”

“Thanks,” she said leaning the van door close. She crouched on the floor beneath the windows, and after again making sure there was no one nearby, she tried calling for David, but no answer came to her. “I’ll keep trying to get out on my own,” she said to the air, hoping the boy would listen. “There’s way too much stuff that can happen until the people you’ve called actually get there. I’ll stay out of trouble and find somewhere safe to wait for you.”

After taking a deep breath to push away the freighting words Jack had said about his old team and focus, Yana crawled to the end of the vehicle, and slowly peeked over its hood. Other than the man standing by the front door, she saw no one nearby. Looking down to the path between the vans there weren’t too many things that could snap under her weight but running from one side to the other would make sufficient noise for Jack’s guard to notice. On the other hand, the natural noises of the canopy would help mask the sound of her footsteps, if they were light enough. Bit by bit Yana crept from one car to the back of the next, always making sure there was no one that would catch her in their line of sight and keeping as low as possible.

Just as she reached the back of the second van, she looked back at Jack’s guard to check if he had sensed her and realized he could spot her so long as he looked to the side and stretched his neck a bit. Feeling a new surge of adrenaline, she faced forward and moved over to the side of the second van. A couple of trainees were checking the front tire on the other side. After agreeing it was okay, they moved over to the back tire, letting Yana rapidly check if there was anyone else capable of seeing her before rotating to the next hiding place.

Her nervousness calmed somewhat after moving from one pick-up truck to the next without being seen, and she started feeling confident she would be able to make the final stretch towards Kuchinja’s jeep with ease before an agitation on the woods warned her of several people approaching from the forest side.

Yana rolled under the truck and held her hand over her mouth, feeling her heartbeat accelerate rapidly as their boots approached the underside of the car and their voices became more distinguishable.

“That’s how the boss wants to do things this time,” said one of them.

“That’s weird. Very unlike him,” said the other. Several objects fell into the back of the pickup truck, making never-ending thuds right above Yana’s head.

“By the way, what was that girl’s weapon?”

“She turned them into flutes. Didn’t you see them?”

“I know, but wasn’t there something else on record?”

“Oh, yeah, now that you mention it… Think it was a bat.”

“Think she’s telling the truth about being an alien?” asked the first as their sturdy, military style boots left her direct line of sight.

“If she’s related to the Neal she could be anything,” said the second one with a mocking voice.

The Neal? The Neal-Hidanna…? She thought as their voices became fuzzy in the windy, noisy background. Most of the members of the team had returned and were making the final preparations to go, leaving her with little time.

Peeking over the chassis of the truck to make sure there was no one between the woods and the car, Yana rolled from under it and lifted from the floor. Just crouching was enough to see most of the team members moving into position, talking to each other and carrying the last supplies into the trucks. Even the four discussing leaders of the team were positioned so that they could cover all angles between them.

One of the engines started and Yana instinctively turned her head towards the sound, thinking why was there a car that had started before all the others were ready.

It was the one where she had left Jack in.

That’s his distraction?! You’ve got to be kidding me…

Before she had even finishing conjuring the thought, several members of the team took notice of what was happening as well. The guard turned around and reached for the door handle, and the van dashed forward the moment he grabbed hold of it, yelling at Jack inside. As soon as the leaders turned to see what the shouting was all about, Yana jumped from the ground and ran towards the front of the jeep. She opened the door and checked the glove compartment. There were two white spheres inside that Yana quickly seized before turning around and leaving.

Keeping close to the trees, she kept running and looking over to the clearing, watching as Jack’s van skidded madly around, until he suddenly erupted from the driver’s seat, rolling into a somersault to break his fall and letting the van crash into one of the pick-ups. Yana cut through the clearing to reach the bike while Jack mounted on it, only to be suddenly stopped by an arm wrapped around her waist.

“I got her!” yelled a man’s voice.

“Let me go!”

In a reflex she tried turning around, but the man’s second arm quickly found its way to her wrist and his legs positioned themselves so she could not move hers without losing her balance.

“Yana!” she looked in Jack’s direction, seeing him slipping by another man and driving towards them with his arm held up. “Throw it!”

Without being sure whether it would be the real thing or the spare, she threw the sphere in her free hand just the same.

“Form Change!” Jack said as soon as it made contact with his hand, turning the sphere into the white scythe with shining blade of Sunshine. Using the bike’s speed, he threw the bottom of the weapon to the man holding Yana, knocking him out and releasing her from his hold. Some were already mounting vehicles of their own and others were closing in on them as Yana dashed towards the bike that skidded sideways and stopped at the easiest position to let her hop on.

“Close your eyes!” Jack warned when the dust that enveloped his scythe in an instant solidified into the familiar form of Moonlight and he held it as high as he could above their heads.

“Paka!” someone yelled. A bright yellow flash was all that could be seen from the darkness of Yana’s eyelids, and then the engine of Jack’s bike roared, and the wheels pushed the soil beneath as they made their way into the heart of the forest, unimpeded.