Nova came to Cadiarc when she heard her sister had gone missing. Normally she wouldn't mind because she can always track her down. But this time it's different. There was no signal of her all across the whole star system. This is why Nova came with her squad to find out what happened in Cadiarc.

Nova stands in front of the cave in which Monika disappeared; the moment she steps in her head starts hurting as if something is trying to suck away her mind. But when she got out nothing happened. She then tells Noel to get in to see if there's something wrong. But nothing happened. Nova immediately knows that it has something to do with psychic power in this cave because normal people like Noel aren't affected by this phenomenon at all. She then tells the whole squad to go in while she's providing recon outside the cave.

"Are you ok?" Maverick approaches Nova, he senses that something is wrong.

"I am fine, it's just there's something wrong in this cave that disrupts my mind." Nova is checking the imperium database, to see whether there have been similar cases before.

"How does it feel? Does it feel like something is trying to invade your mind?" Maverick asks.

"No, it's more like something is trying to suck out my mind. I had the same feeling when I was in the simulation with the sister of silence. But this time is different." Then when she's reading the Necron section, she sees the Pariah unit description. She's sure that this is what caused the whole thing. But so far no Necron tomb world on this planet's detected by the imperium, and she doubts that Trazyn brings a pariah with him all the time.

At this moment, Noel runs out and hands over a blue crystal that shines with light:" we found some fingerprint on this crystal that belongs to Monika. I think we are making progress, Major."

Nova carefully inspects the crystal and puts it in a bag. She's thinking in the worst case possible maybe she could just clone another Monika, so she doesn't have to find her anymore. But seeing Maverick, she drops that thought. Relationships do change you at some point. Nova isn't that strict anymore and nowadays, she and Noel are kind of in a friend-like relationship. Well of course it's mainly because Noel is maintaining the relationships. Ever since Maverick and Nova started dating, she's always been trying to be friends with Nova. After all, Noel wanted that since she was friends with Monika.

In the town, Nova is sitting on one of the lunch tables with Maverick. Suddenly, Maverick stands up and slowly approaches a commissar from the back. He then tangled him from the back. "Nice to meet you brother!"

Anton hits Maverick's arm telling him to let go:" Alright... Please let me go, this isn't appropriate." Out of all the brothers, Anton and Maverick have the best relationships with each other, maybe because they are at some point having a similar personality. But Anton is more by the book than Maverick.

"What are you doing here?" Anton asks.

"We are here to find a friend, didn't expect you to be here as well." Maverick leads him to the table where Nova is seated.

Nova and Anton give each other a polite nod. Anton sits next to Maverick while facing Nova:" So, who are you finding and what can I do to help?"

Nova gives him a photo of Monika, the moment Anton sees it, he realizes that the person in front of him is the sister Monika sometimes talks about:" Yes, I know her and we worked with each other sometimes. She was one of the best captains I've ever had."

Hearing this, Nova is somehow relieved. At least Monika didn't come here and make a mess. That is what Nova could expect the most from her sister, after a few questions, she knows more about what Monika did in this place and thus is thankful that Anton is taking care of her. Nova suddenly feels like a mother instead of a sister.

"Who else does she talk to?" Nova asks.

"Sometimes she goes to the center of town with a guy called Wednesday. He's an old man with some interesting traits." Anton replied.

"Interesting? What do you mean…" just about Nova ask more questions, a black-haired girl comes over and reports to Anton.

"Commissar, I've already done today's task." She said it while saluting. She then sees the other three people and is suddenly frustrated because she thought they are in an important meeting:" I'm sorry! I didn't know you guys are in a meeting." She lowers her head.

"Don't worry, we are just chatting. You can join if you want." Noel is interested in this teenage girl. Her attitude reminds Noel of when she was just a novice recruit. " What's your name?"

"My name is Kira Vartrix. Lieutenant." She salutes.

"At ease soldier, can I call you Kira from now on?" Noel is a very approachable person, if it isn't because of the uniform, nobody would take Noel as a soldier, needless to say, lieutenant.

"Yes, Lieutenant" Kira seems to have recovered well from what happened weeks ago. Partially because the memory erases trick from Wednesday worked wonders.

"Call me Noel is fine, from now on can we be friends instead of me being your superior? I'm personally not really into those kinds of things. " Noel's face is full of sincereness.

"Yes! gladly! " Kira is very happy about it. It is hard to find a soldier whose acting isn't like an ass in this world.

Everyone else looks at them with a grin on their face, Noel might not be the best soldier but surely, she has her trait that can be useful in the army. Needless to say, the solid fighting skill she possesses can also match Nova to some extent.

"Anyways, Anton, can you forge a report about this person called Wednesday. I need to have a little chat with him." Nova thinks that Wednesday might be the key to finding her sister.

Wednesday is as usual roaming around the city. He's not helping in any way, but people are just generally happy that a goofy old man can stick around despite the unwell living condition of this place.

However today he met an unusual visitor, a blond woman with a long ponytail sitting next to him. She didn't hesitate: "I have some questions that you need to assist with."

Wednesday puts down his newspaper:" And who might I be speaking with?" He's calm because he knows who this person is and what's she's purpose.

"I am Monika's sister. I heard that you were the one telling her to go to that cave. Have you heard what happened to her?" Nova jumps into the topic directly, she's not a person for small talks.

"I had indeed, my condolences," Wednesday replied.

"Do you know anything about where my sister is? I don't believe that she's dead." Nova turns her head and looks at Wednesday, but he did not make eye contact with her. Nova has some psyker's ability, being able to read people's minds is one of them. But it's limited to only knowing the person's intention. The reason that she's asking these questions is that she is trying to guide Wednesday to get her the answer.

"Miss. Terra. Please don't make this hard for both of us. If I knew something I would already tell you." Wednesday already knows what Nova is doing.

He's good, Nova thought. But she then diversifies her strategy, instead of tricks she's gone full confession. "I am sorry for my rude intrusion. However, my sister means a lot to me. Ever since our parents passed away, she is the only thing that keeps me sane and motivates me to become what I am now."

Wednesday is interested, he knows that the woman in front of him is probably one of the most dangerous people on this planet. But the fact that she's showing her true heart to him starts to convince Wednesday to help her. " Your sister told me about you."

"What did she say?" Nova is interested in what her sister thought of her, despite both of them constantly having fights. They usually say good things about each other behind their backs.

"She said that you are the best sister in the world. However, her pride doesn't allow her to get close to you." Wednesday said calmly.

Nova's face blushed a bit, but just a bit:" I am glad to hear that, so for real, do you know where she is?"

"I do indeed, however she's in another world with her mechanical friend," Wednesday said

Another world? That's the answer that Nova did not expect:" Is there a way to take her back or go to that place?"

"I know of a way to send you there, but I have no way to bring you or her back.".

"How long do you think it's going to take?" Nova wants to know as much as she can before going in.

"Their time works differently than ours, for you, it's going to be probably years, but for us, it's just a few months. I also have no guarantee where you are going to be landed" Wednesday means that this is a suicide mission.

Nova thought about it, the reason that she wants to find Monika is that Trazyn is untrustworthy. That time in the oil rig Nova has already seen his schemes. So, this time it's probably the best chance to clear him off. Also, the fact that she can find another world can be beneficial to the imperium of man.

After a few minutes of weighing the pros and cons. Nova told Wednesday she approves the risks. But before she leaves, she needs to let people take over her place, because a missing major is quite a big deal.

Two days later, after Nova bid farewell to Maverick and his squad. She has gone into the portal Wednesday prepared. After a dizzyingly flash of light, the portal closed.

Nova wakes up near a beach. She quickly checks her backpack with the weapons and the essentials, then she proceeds to the stealth mode on her suit. Due to the harsh training of the ghost unit, Nova can overcome most of the obstacles on her way and within a day she reaches a small village near the sea. She realizes that the sea is full of black oily matters instead of sea waters.

Just as she disables the invisibility check of the seawater, she suddenly saw some half mechanically people walking towards her. She quickly turns on the language decipher system on her combat goggle.

"Do you know anything about the defeat of the green praetor?" one guy with a fish face said.

"Yes, I did. His heart was pierced by some kind of lance weapon. Imagine the terrifying power it gives to pierce through the hard shell of the green praetor." The guy with the half mechanical bird beak replies.

As Nova tries to invade their mind to find more information. She suddenly feels a wave of intense head pain. But her mind overcame the pain. As she tries to stop using her power, the pain is gone.

However, she did not realize that her invisibility was also disabled while she was having a mental snap. The phyrexians started to attack Nova, but Nova reacted quickly, she first killed two phyrexian with her sniper rifle in close range then quickly leaps away killing the rest except the bird's beak one with the bolt pistol.

"Talk, what do you know about this green praetor?" Her face is emotionless, she's been doing this way too many times.

The phyrexian told Nova everything about the fight and their current location. At this point, Nova can already be sure that Monika and Trazyn have something to do with the fight. She quickly executed the bird beak phyrexian and started heading to the green tangle location.

From what she understands, she needs to pass the realm of the blue praetor in order to get to the Tangle. By the time she's done making notes about today's event, it's already night. She deactivates the stealth option of the suit. Because she figured that the best way, she can find the blue praetor and get information out of him is by letting him find Nova first. She then starts a decoy beacon next to her. As she sees the beacon starting, she falls asleep.

A few days ago... In the middle of the night, Monika suddenly hears a noise that sounds like an object falling on the ground. She sees Trazyn is picking up something.

"I'm sorry, my hands slipped." Trazyn said it in an apologetic tone.

"What… never mind, I'll just go back to sleep." Monika uses another pillow to cover her head soon she falls asleep again.

Trazyn slowly puts the object in the bathtub and closes the door. Throughout the whole night, the bathroom is full of unusual light.

When Monika woke up, she felt a slight headache, probably because of the noises Trazyn made last night. Just about she gets up for the shower. She suddenly noticed something. A man who has blond hair and yellow-colored eyes is looking at Monika in a spine-chilling way, his nonformal suit is seemingly made of some strange material that seemingly absorbs light.

"Hello there~," he said. But almost at this very instant, Monika's sword is already on his neck.

"Who the hell are you and where is Trazyn?" Monika intimidatingly asks.

But the guy didn't really say more, he just slowly pushes away the blade and reorganizes his tie. "Trazyn? Is there a second Trazyn in this world? I've always been like this." he said.

Monika is dead confused, but she does recognize this face. She just couldn't really recall it anymore. "Speak, before I slice your face off."

The guy drops all his acts, and says in a 'come on' tone:" Really? I've been with you for ages, and you can't recognize me from the act? I even told you my name!"

"Wait... you are Trazyn?" Monika is surprised wordless or more like she doesn't know what to say, but she needs to make sure of her suspicion:" Tell me something that I've never told to anyone besides Trazyn."

"Oh, so many things. Which one do you want to hear, the dancer one or the…." Just when Trazyn is about to go in, Monika interrupts him. She's embarrassed about a lot of things she said.

"Alright good enough, you don't have to say more." she approaches him, she kinda likes this new feeling, a feeling of familiarity yet still different than before. She touches his cheek, it feels soft and full of life. Then she takes a step back.

"Wait, where did you get this body?" She asks, meanwhile she's excited. Because not long ago she had the thought, now it becomes real over a night.

"Is this what you focus on? I mean look at me! I literally did what the silent king wanted. I solved the problem!" Trazyn is very excited. He's still not used to the flesh and bone body. This is why he made some adjustments. For example, enhanced strength and brain capacity.

"Well, anyways. I need to go take a shower." As she opens the bathroom door, she sees Trazyn's mechanical body seemingly sleeping. " Did you transfer your personality and memory to this host?"

Trazyn said it in a proud voice:" Yes! and I am very proud of myself for doing it on a biological body. I might be the first-ever person that has done this!"

"Alright… move the body away, I'm going to take a shower." Monika points her finger at the mechanical body. She's acting like she doesn't care but the reality is that she doesn't know how to react in this situation. In the shower, Monika's heartbeat is constantly speeding up, it feels like having a little deer in her chest. Is this love? She thought. When she's about to get out, she realizes that she forgot her towel.

"Can you please hand me over the towel?" She asked, Trazyn hands over a towel to her through the door gap. Their fingers touch for a second, and Monika quickly retrieves her hand back and closes the door. It felt real, she lightly pinched her beautiful cheek, it hurts. She gently opens the door and tells Trazyn to face the other way.

Trazyn usually doesn't have the problem, but this time, the biological body keeps trying to fix the eyes on Monika. No matter how hard he tries, he just couldn't help it. Until the point, Monika and Trazyn's gaze fixed on each other.

At first, it was a few seconds of absolute silence. Then the body of Trazyn suddenly collapsed and the mechanical body activated:" What is the silent king's name was that?!" He sounded really scared.

"What happened?" Monika asks she was mad about Trazyn but now it turns into worries.

"For that few seconds, my mind was not in control at all. My blood stream's direction is going in different directions and all I could think about is to have my eyes on you…" Trazyn suddenly realizes something he said is going to get him into trouble.

Monika just quickly puts on her clothes and crosses her arm looking at him. She doesn't blame him, after all it's kind of normal for girls of her looks, getting constantly checked out by men on the street and occasionally dealing with harassment, but she's still annoyed by his blunt and rudeness. "Now you know how every man around me feels like…. What more do you want to say?" she said with a cold tone.

"I am sorry, this is very new for me. I probably need to take some time to get used to it. I can stay in this mechanical body if you want." he said, sounding very sorry about his action.

Monika gives out a small grin:" well, if I can't even help you get through this then what kind of person I would be?" she said it while having both of her hands on the back, she shyly looked at Trazyn:" after all, you helped me plenty, I would gladly help you through this. I promise." But she suddenly made her face serious:" However you need to keep things appropriate. Do not get weird thoughts about me. Am I clear?" She slightly squinted her eyes to intimidate him.

Trazyn nods and he transformed his consciousness to the biological body.

When Trazyn and Monika go into the main hall in the hotel, most of the old customers think something is different. But they don't really pay too much attention to the people who live in the hotel anyways. After all who has the effort or the time to do that.

Except for the owner of this hotel. Elrene sees Monika eating breakfast with a man instead of a robot. Usually, she won't mind, because everyone has their needs. But then she realizes that the guy seems never to have eaten before. The way he chews on the food is like an animal compared to a fully grown man.

Monika couldn't hold her laughter, despite Trazyn's method of eating being correct, he can't get the swallowing part correctly, thus making a mess on the table. She uses the tissue to wipe off some of the food on his face.

"I feel like taking care of a disabled old man." she's really happy that she can be part of this growing experience. It's like having a puppy and seeing it grow over time.

"Damn, it is hard to do things like that, how can you do it without any problem?" He meant eating.

Monika is constantly smiling, she hasn't had this much fun for too long:" well, maybe you shouldn't try to control every single aspect. Why don't you try to let the body itself do the work for you?" She then passes a piece of grape to Trazyn.

Trazyn listened and put it in his mouth, after chewing for ten seconds and a swallow, he successfully ate a grape. "I did it!" He's happy that he learns the first step of being a living being.

Monika is really glad that happened, she's really just enjoying the moment. The fact that both of them are making such a mess, is starting to annoy the other customers. But Elrene just let it slide. After all, not a lot of people would have fun in Tangle. Especially the much like Monika is having.

"Are you done messing around?" Trazyn is looking at Monika like his usual self, but this time he looks more intimidating instead of having a never-changing robotic face.

"Emmm" she does a thinking face by putting her finger on her cheek. "Nope, I am enjoying this."

"Do you enjoy seeing an incapable man keep hurting themselves?" Trazyn is a bit frustrated but seeing Monika is happy somehow, he wants to keep going like this. He then goes to the reception to pay for the food.

Elrene asks Trazyn:" Have you seen the robot she's friends with?"

"No, never heard of it. Why?" Trazyn wants to know what Elrene is trying to say.

" Well, apparently that robot is capable of some really impressive things. For example, it made a fortune over a night. Maybe you want to stay away from the girl. She's not some simple girl that you can fool." Elrene said while keeping her voice down.

Trazyn gives her a small grin:" Well, I guess I'll find out by myself."

Elrene replied with a comfortable grin to Trazyn:" Good luck to you then."

As Trazyn steps out of the hotel, he feels the heat from the sun. It is a feeling that he has long forgotten. "I thought I would never feel something like this ever again."

Monika blinks her eyes a few times:" what do you mean? Is the sun somehow making you uncomfortable?" She said it with a concerning tone.

"No, not really. From my home planet, our sun was way more violent than this, so we feared it in our culture, but this…." suddenly he wraps his hand on Monika's shoulder unconsciously:" This is good. I start to understand why you like the sun."

Monika is surprised by his boldness, she wants to get out of this situation, but when she sees Trazyn's comfortable expression. She suddenly felt…. Peaceful. She hopes time would stop and just fix on this moment longer. Instead of resisting, she decides to let it happen, but during this period she thought through a lot, she feels like something is going to happen.

When Trazyn gets back on his senses, he realizes that he was holding Monika the whole time and thinking about what Monika said to him in the hotel, he slowly retrieves his arm. "So… should we get going?" Trazyn asks with a tentative tone.

Monika didn't really respond, instead, she looked Trazyn in the eyes. Unlike the happy look, she had a few minutes ago. She looks conflicted. Something that Trazyn never noticed from her eyes. On the edge there's a bit of tear, it's like that time in Dreyer's hub. But this time instead of craving for fulfillment it's something more potent and more sincere.

She holds both of Trazyn's hands, her hands are cold. She's stressed out, her heart is pounding. Trazyn feels all of that, he realizes that this girl in front has gone through so much with him. Gently, he pulls Monika closer. Both of them can feel the heartbeat of each other. Trazyn reaches out his hands and gives Monika a tight warm hug, he wants to feel it, the feeling of hugging someone you care about. He wanted to understand what kind of feeling Monika felt in the hub before they bid farewell last time. Just when Trazyn is about to let Monika go, she suddenly pulls his tie, making his face closer to her. She bit her lip and kisses Trazyn on the lips. Her lips brushed his, softly, delicately, like butterfly wings, just long enough that he could inhale her breath, feel the warmth of her skin, and the taste of her lipstick lingered far after she had gone.

After all this time, Monika finally opens up for someone. Someone that she would never have guessed. And Trazyn found something more important than anything he's ever collected. After millions of years of endless life, he found the new true meaning for his life. And it is at this moment, he feels a sudden fulfillment in his mind. The indescribable emptiness is gone.

Even after their lips separated, they were still holding on to each other, they closed their eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun and the heat radiating from their body. Then Trazyn feels Monika's long eyelashes brush on his face. They looked each other in the eyes then both smiled at the same time.

They sit on the bench near the hotel while Trazyn is wrapping his arm on Monika and Monika is laying her head on his shoulder. Both of them didn't talk, they all just enjoyed this peaceful moment in their life.

"Do you love me?" Monika suddenly asks Trazyn while looking at him as an innocent puppy, her beautiful eyes reflecting the sunlight making it a memorable scene just by itself. She's not a cliche person so it's more like a question to find a topic to talk about.

"Love ? What is love? " Trazyn wants to tease Monika more, she's more fun when she's not asking those worthless questions.

"Emmm, I think love is wanting to let someone accompany them." She's naive like a child. She's not childish or stupid per se, it's more like simplicity for her emotions. For too long she's not able to trust anyone, not even her own sister. But at this moment she feels that she can depend on someone, she doesn't really feel the need to prove herself in front of Trazyn. She's tired of all of those worthless efforts to try to impress people that don't seem to care about her.

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Trazyn leaves out a small chuckle, he likes this answer. For a person who read countless books about romance and relationships, this probably describes the best of their current situation. He then playfully plays with Monika's ponytail. He thinks it's fun.

"You know I feel like this is like a dream. If this is a dream, then I want to be here forever." Monika is really cheesy when she's in her non-defensive mode. She then swipes her ponytail on Trazyn's face to tease him.

"What a beautiful…. beautiful thing to be able to dream when you're not asleep" he lightly pats Monika's hair then leaves a kiss on her forehead.

After around half an hour, both of them seemed to be relieved from what happened. They hold each other's hands while walking to the 'tree' deep inside the 'forest' called tangle. Well, it's not really a tree but a giant tree-like copper structure. It's encased in green verdigris and mold, with wires and metal extensions serving as leaves and vines, is the closest thing to a forest on Mirrodin.

With the advance of Phyrexia, the tangle is infected by the growth of lamina, a species of dark green, fleshy fungus. The floor has become spongy and mossy as the lamina contaminates the metal ground and inches up the trees. The ground seeps a substance like yellowish pus, which emits a rotting stench like overripe fruit. Only the largest beasts can navigate the rotting floor of the Tangle.

"Well, so much for the holy tree." Trazyn looked at this giant copper structure and left out a cold scoff. No matter how many other planets he has seen throughout his life, all cannot compare to the Necron race.

Monika is just amazed by the beauty of nature. This copper structure isn't man-made but generated by nature itself. Just about she touches the copper branch coming out from the tree, an arrow pinned right in front of her fingertip.

Trazyn somehow couldn't find the source of the arrow, just when he's scanning the area. Something landed behind them. Something light yet alive.

"Do not turn and drop your weapons." It's a woman's voice, she sounds calm but the coldness in her tone gives her identity away. Monika and Trazyn immediately realize that this person is not something that can be easily dealt with.

"We don't have weapons," Monika said with her hands on the head. She then slowly turns around. She sees a woman in a big dark blue cape and dressing in a dark blue rogue armor. The cape and the hood almost cover her face.

"Who are you? What are you doing here." her arrow is pointing to Trazyn, somehow she isn't pointing towards Monika. Maybe because of her harmless look from outside, while Trazyn looks like a villain coming out straight from a book. Despite his human look, he still reeks with the aura of trickster and evil.

"We are just tourists; we are here to visit the holy tree," Trazyn said. The archer fixes her gaze for a few seconds on Trazym, but that's where she made a mistake. When she's looking at where Monika was, Monika's already gone. Suddenly, three swords flew towards her from above. The archer quickly rolls away and shoots arrows back to where the sword came from.

But more swords are coming, at first, the archer can still deal with it with ease. But after then she realizes the swords are coming from all directions and doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. She suddenly puts her finger on the lips, then a sudden wave of snow comes out from nowhere.

It didn't hit Monika, but it made her expose her trace. Within the time of a blink of an eye, the archer aimed and shot an arrow at Monika, but it was just a hologram decoy from her. From the same hologram, a Necron sword flies towards the archer. She thought it was a hologram because her arrow went through the sword. But it was not a hologram.

The sword suddenly materialized the moment it got in contact with the archer's cape. The cape is pinned and the archer got dragged down by it, making her fall on the ground. Monika suddenly appears and kicks away the bow and points her sword on the archer's throat. Knowing her defeat, the archer stops resisting.

"Who are you?" Monika asks, but the archer does not answer. Seeing this Monika slices away her hood. Under it's an elf with light blue skin. She has snow-like white long hair and light blue eyes. Also, she's not happy about what happened.

Monika slowly retrieves her sword and backs up to where Trazyn was. The archer picks up her bow and puts it on her back." I am Traxex. People call me the Drow ranger."

"Drow ranger? What's that supposed to me?" Trazyn is curious to know more about this world.

"I was raised by a group of troll-like creatures called Drows. That's how I got the nickname." Her voice is calm even after what happened. Trazyn and Monika can sense that she was or is an assassin or a trained soldier at some point.

" Why did you attack us?" Monika asks, she's wondering why they always meet with some of the strangest people in the world.

" To protect you guys from the tree." She's still replying with her never-changing tone.

" What do you mean?" Monika frowns.

" The tree is now tainted by the Phyrexians. When a living organism touches it, it will slowly corrupt you." Traxex replied.

Looking at the enormous structure, the amount of area tangle covers is unimaginable. " Are you doing it alone?" Monika asks.

"No, but now they are here." Suddenly dozens of elven archers appear from the trees. All aiming at both Monika and Trazyn.'' Now you are under arrest." Traxex points her arrow at Monika. She will not let her escape this time.

Monika looks at Trazyn, she's asking what should they do? Because for them, it wouldn't really be a problem to take down a few primitive archers. But since they are here to explore, why don't they just play along with them a bit more. Monika and Trazyn put their hands on their back, letting the other elven archers take them away.

After half an hour of walking, both of them arrived in a bastion-looking place. Then they are brought into a palace hall. There is an elven girl with long ears sitting on top of the throne. She wears black rogue-like armor while having daggers on her shoulder. She has blond hair and a pair of piercing red eyes.

Monika whispers to Trazyn:" I think this one is their leader." but then she got poked by the elven soldier behind her. Reminding her to remain silent.

Traxex and the other elves kneel themselves in front of the girl on the throne. " We have returned with two trespassers, my majesty."

"What happens to your cape?" the red-eyed elf asks.

"It was torn in battle, my majesty," Traxex replied while avoiding eye contact.

The girl left out a sigh and told Traxex to get changed. She apparently doesn't want people who dress inappropriately in this place. She then stops herself in front of Trazyn. Using her finger to tilt his head upwards, making him face her. She then gives him a deep kiss on his lips.

Monika suddenly stands up, but she gets hit on her knee by the guards. The girl looked at Monika and left out a scoff. She then comes to Monika and gives her a hard slap. The contact part becomes red.

"Do not stand up without a reason. I will not kill you since you guys are travelers from another world." She has a light voice similar to Monika's but hers is full of pride of supremacy. " Do not speak, because I already know your question when I was communicating with your spouse."

Monika is dead confused; she didn't see the girl and Trazyn or talking at all.

"I can gain knowledge from the past few weeks, as long as I contact others with my lips," she answered the first question Monika had. "I am Glissa, the sun seeker. I am the local resistance leader, and yes, I do know Ria Ivor of bladehold. We used to repel phyrexian together. I am also the queen of the elves who used to live near tangle." she then does a playful face to Trazyn:" And thank you for your compliment, I do like make myself smell good. But I do it mainly for my own joy."

Trazyn looks at Monika, her face is full of both pain and jealousy. But it's still within Monika's character.

"But I am more amazed by your relationships with the girl. A machine and a human. Huh. Now that's something new." she then suddenly stops walking:" you guys just made out today? I guess that explains the girl's reaction. But there are more juicy things, I can't wait to share it with everyone!" Glissa is excited, but when she's about to say more. Trazyn stopped her.

"Enough," Trazyn said. His tone is filled with rage, not embarrassment. He noticed that Monika is on the verge of a mental breakdown. "Yes, you know a lot. But sharing the private matter that isn't concerning you or this place is too much."

"I like you; you have the courage to protect the person you care about. Surprisingly a twist from your usual self." She then orders the guard to unbind Monika and Trazyn. The moment Monika is free, she charges in and pushes Glissa against the throne while having a dagger against her throat.

"Push it, you and your friend will die. Let me go and I will let it slide this time." Glissa isn't scared or angry, her emotion was unchanged. She then gives a sign to let the guard stand down. She's going to take care of it by herself.

Monika's senses came back to her. Just about she retrieves the dagger, Glissa suddenly wraps her legs around Monika and does an impossible spin in the air. Making Monika face to the ground while Glissa puts her knee on her back, she twists Monika's arm and whispers next to her ear:" You think you can threaten me? Like I said I will let it slide this time. But it doesn't mean that I will not let you suffer before I do that." she then twits Monika's arm harder. Monika leaves out a scream of pain.

After that, she tells the guard to lock both of them in the prison.

Monika isn't happy about what happened, it's not written on her face, but everyone can tell from her action. She sits on top of Trazyn's lap and stared at his eyes:" So, what do you like about Glissa?" she asks sarcastically.

Trazyn rolls up his eyes:" Really? You would believe the words from an elven witch? You know me, and honestly, you are the perfect girl. Also, do you think I can be swayed away just because of a person's scent? What am i? A puppy?" A lover's quarrel, to be honest, Monika doesn't really mind all of that, in fact, even herself loves the scent of things, like rose cake. She's more unconsciously thinking about the kiss from Glissa to Trazyn, it might mean something else and Trazyn didn't seem to resist it as well.

Monika lays her head on Trazyn's shoulder: "Well, I guess it makes sense. How about the kiss? Was she a good kisser?"

"I thought you would never be bothered by things like this." he touches Monika's bang.

"Just give me an answer…. I want to know." Nova told Monika once. If a man is avoiding a question, then it means that he probably did something bad.

"If i have to be honest then….i prefer your kiss." of course he wouldn't say anything that would make your girlfriend mad at this point. "Her kiss was very dry, like tasting sand."

Monika was teased, she's no idiot but she's glad that Trazyn is taking efforts to make her feel happier despite knowing the truth, she's not really a good kisser or being a good partner of any kind but at least she's doing her best. The guards outside however were not amused by what Trazyn said. The guard hits the metal gate to tell them to be quiet.

"Hope you are enjoying your imprisonment." it's Glissa. She looks at the couple on the bed. "Trazyn, we are in need of your assistance if you don't mind." Her expression did not change, as if she's ordering Trazyn to help them instead of asking for aid.

Trazyn isn't amazed by it, he just hugs Monika like a cat on his chest, " pass, you are already imprisoning us, and now you are expecting me to say yes?"

Glissa's is triggered by this, not by his words but by his general lack of concern:" We are fighting for our survival, and you are just enjoying yourself while thousands are struggling!"

"I watch beleaguered populations from the dying planets struggle tirelessly in the futile pursuit of betterment or prosperity or survival like yours. But none got my interest like what I have right now. " It's true that Trazyn finally found something that he cares about more than his mere collections. A companion that can understand him and cherishes each other's existence.

Glissa hits the gate with her fist making the noise that the whole underground facility could hear. Then she storms out from the prison area. Her little speech didn't get through Trazyn, but it got into Monika's head.

She sits up from Trazyn's lap and moves on the edge of the bed:" Honestly, I feel like we should help her."

Trazyn is interested suddenly, Monika must have been through a lot to be able to forgive a person like Glissa:" Oh? Why is that?"

Monika let out a long sigh:'' when I was in Cadiarc I've seen similar things. And the only thing I wanted, was to hope that someone would help earlier than I did." She then told Trazyn about what she saw in the ork stronghold and the incidents relating to Kira.

Trazyn realizes that within a few months of separation, Monika has grown up, she's not like the reckless brat who harms people for no reason anymore. She starts to think about other people and is willing to act on them. He sits up and calls the guard said that he changed his mind, he then turns to Monika: "Let's help these people."

In the main meeting hall, Trazyn and Monika stand in front of Glissa:" We will help, but on one condition: you need to apologize thoroughly to my lovely companion. Make sure you bow before her." he emphasizes the word 'bow'

Everyone was gasping in the hall, some of them even wanted to slit open Trazyn's throat. But they can't, because now they are in need of Trazyn and it all depends on what the queen decides.

Glissa walks down from the throne, standing in front of Monika, the air in the hall is tensed up and full of killing intent. But she suddenly kneels on both of her knees and leans her body forward:" Please forgive me for my rudeness and ignorance. My people and my land are suffering. Please give them a chance of survival. You can do whatever you want to me but don't let the others suffer." Her words are full of sincerity.

Monika's heart was touched by what she said, despite whether it was fake words or not. She was moved by Glissa's selflessness. Monika was the one who proposed to Trazyn to provide help, but he insisted on embarrassing Monika in front of everyone. Because he told Monika she looks cute when she's embarrassed. She just did a simple nod as a reply.

After that, Monika and Trazyn attended the feast that's prepared by the elven people. Despite what happened during the day, all of them were having fun regardless. It's kind of like celebrating one's doom at some point. Glissa later promised everyone that when they return victories, they shall celebrate once more. Then they set their course to the hideout

"Trazyn, do you have a plan?" Monika walks closer to Trazyn. She's glad that they can help the elves.

Trazyn however is still being neutral about all of this, because from what he saw being ruled under phyrexia isn't that bad. Yes, they are all half mechanical beings but at least they have peace and can be free instead of fighting constantly. That's why he's not going to do more than he should in this case.

"I am just going to help them locate where the green praetor is," Trazyn said. "From what I've learned: the green aligned Phyrexians were among the first to strike, dominating the Tangle quickly. Like all Phyrexians, the members of the Vicious Swarm believe that flesh is weak, but unlike the other phyrexians they believe that New Phyrexia should progress in a more natural way, based on the roles of predation, allowing the strong to emerge triumphant over the weak. They believe that artificial engineering should be restricted to make predators more efficient, and that sentience and sapience are curses, inadequate when compared to the raw power of instinct. Lacking any sort of organization whatsoever, they are merely a massive variety of creatures that kill each other for the purpose of selecting the strongest." he then gives a smirk of intelligence to Monika.

"They are basically beasts that roam in the forest?" She always likes Trazyn to explain things to her. Because he always makes it understandable even a kid can understand.

"Well, yes. But they are also very strong since they are doing a natural selection type thing here. So, the praetor is going to be hard to fight. But it's not really our problem." Trazyn put his arm on Monika's shoulder.

Glissa heard all of it. She's Glad that Trazyn agreed to help, but she's still not sure whether they can take down one of the phyrexian generals. Glissa looks back at the few hundred soldiers at her back. She's not confident about this strike plan at all. But she has no more choices. If the corruption continues the elves really have no more places to retreat to.

"Trazyn." Glissa came to Trazyn and Monika:" What do you think of our strike plan?" Her tone is very tentative. As if she's not trying to piss off Trazyn and Monika.

"I am never a plan person. In fact, if you want to ask for a suggestion, you should ask her~" he then lightly pushes Monika on the back, making her walk alongside Glissa. Monika replied with a few blinks of confusion with her eyes. It's true that Trazyn is bad at planning even when he was a lord of his army. He usually just brute force it and steal the artifact he desires.

Glissa and Monika aren't really on a good term, but their relationships should get better the more they interact with each other. She's also a queen and a fighter but her pride is making it difficult. Meanwhile, Monika is just looking at her cluelessly. Glissa clears her throat and projects out a local map with her magic:'' So, our plan is straightforward, we will first surround Vorinclex's hideout then me and Traxex will take on him. If he tries to escape, the soldiers will slow them down to give us time to slay him."

Monika thinks for a few seconds and points out there's a problem with their plan:" What happens if he also has an army? If he's the leader of the group, then it usually means that there's an army around him. I suggest that you make an assassination instead of assault. You don't really want to draw out so much noise. If he gets away, then the army in the forest will ambush him so we can kill him once and for all. We don't need an army at all if we can strike him down before he can call for help" She then draws the ideal ambush location on the map.

Glissa is amazed by this. This is something that she's never thought about. But she still has some doubts:" but… I don't think me and Traxex can take him out…" she then looks down on the ground.

"We will help." Monika gives her a confident grin.

"What? I thought the deal was you provide the location, but you won't engage in the fight." Glissa is surprised.

"We were just messing with you, otherwise we won't even follow you guys." She then gives Trazyn a look. Trazyn just replied with a grin. He couldn't really care less about those things. He just wants to do some stuff. Even though it might break the non-interference rule.

After dozens of more minutes of walking, they arrived in a nest. Trazyn points at it saying this is where Vorinclex is. But he then let everyone wait a bit. He sees a small meteor in the sky, then with some strange force, it suddenly changes its direction. After a few minutes, it landed on top of the nest.

From the fire, a large beast-like figure covered in armor comes out. When the flame is off, it seems uncatered from the pain. It's around three meters tall, it suddenly spoke, sounds like an untrained werewolf:" YES!... More prey to KILL!"

Then it suddenly jumps into the direction where there's a lot of soldiers. But it gets pushed away by Traxex's 'gust' ability. Glissa stands in front of him, his massive size making Glissa look like a doll. But she's no doll. Just when Vorinclex is about to grab her with his hand. Glissa lowered her body and rolled under Vorinclex, she then used her dagger to slice through his stomach. But even the meat part in its body is still tougher than the strongest elven armor. Seeing no success, she quickly phased through further from Vorinclex.

Vorinclex is a social Darwinist, and the fact that he's the praetor of the forest realm means that he's the strongest fighter among all other beasts who lived or transformed as half-machine in the forest. Its fighting skill is unquestionable and his savagery is unmatched by any other praetors.

It starts to charge towards Glissa, but then it gets stopped by having two swords bounced off its armor. It looks at Monika, suddenly changes its direction. Monika isn't scared of the beast-like Vorinclex, she's been single-handed taking care of countless monsters throughout her career as an imperial captain. She takes out her power sword and waits for the contact. After a bright light, one of Vorinclex's claws got cut clean off from its arm. Monika splashes the blood away from her sword and signs the monster to come again.

While they are fighting, Trazyn gives an arrow to Traxex. It's made by an unknown crystal; he tells her to shoot when she sees an opening. The moment she holds the arrow, she feels a surge of power through her body. As she was charging her shot, the unprecedented force just reeked out from the tip of the arrow.

As she sees Monika retreat herself from the fight, the arrow becomes a line of light, pierces through Vorinclex's heart, and explodes. However, despite the joint effort, the praetor is still standing and seeming tireless from the fight. Just about Glissa trying to give him a backstab, it suddenly grabs her by the waist. Then he slams her down with his mighty force.

Blood came out from Glissa's mouth, but she still managed to dodge the following attack from Vorinclex. She wipes out the blood on the edge of her mouth, then channeled out a glowing whip. As she unleashes the whip, Vorinclex's body is bound but it isn't enough, it suddenly uses one of his hands to pull the whip. Just when Glissa is going to be hit by the incoming fist, Monika blocks the attack, but it also causes her to fly dozens of meters away. When she got up, it seems like that fist broke her right forearm.

Trazyn couldn't stand it anymore, he sends out a swarm of nano scarabs that enters Vorinclex's body, it suddenly starts screaming as the scarabs attack him from inside. He takes off his jacket and throws it on one of the soldier's faces. This fight has gone far enough

He takes out a Necron Warscythe, swinging it with extreme proficiency. He usually doesn't use this weapon because most of the enemy isn't worthy to even take it out. But this time, he sees this almost invulnerable beast. He finally can unleash his might on the worthy ones.

As Vorinclex commences his assault, Trazyn decides to take him head-on. The clash of pure strength causes the air around it to start to accelerate. Suddenly he raises his war scythe up and is about to chop down, Vorinclex uses his forearm's armor plate to block it but it didn't do anything, the war scythe phases through his body and stopped at his heart. But Vorinclex didn't stop, inside its body, there are three hearts constantly pumping blood to his massive body. Just about everyone thinks Trazyn is going to get torn apart, suddenly a power sword wrapped around by a plasma bomb stabs inside Vorinclex's head, just when it's about to explode, Glissa uses her magic to create a forcefield to contain the explosion.

After a loud explosion, Vorinclex disappeared from the smoke. Just when everyone thought it was finished, it suddenly popped out from underground, appearing behind Monika and Traxex, its head is already half gone but it's still alive. Just about it crashes Monika and Traxex into minced meat, Trazyn throws his Warsynth and pins it on the last heart. The force is so strong, it pinned Vorinclex on the tree a few meters behind Monika.

Vorinclex is defeated.

The moment Vorinclex is down, Trazyn rushes towards Monika:" are you ok?" he asks. Monika wipes out the blood that got splatter on her face, replying to Trazyn with a grin.

"I am good, are you worried about me? ~" She stands up and leans her head on Trazyn's chest. But her broken forearm isn't really helping as well.

Trazyn didn't notice it, he's too worried about Monika's condition that he unseen her broken arm. Glissa came in with her half-broken armor. She quickly ripped some parts on her legging and made a small arm holder for Monika.

She then scolds Trazyn for not taking care of Monika well. But in fact, the person who's really sorry is Glissa, if it isn't because of Monika, she would be dead now. Her armor is broken because it absorbed most of the impact from that slam.

But in the end, no one died, that's the best news that they can hope for from this mission. Trazyn doesn't know how to treat human wounds, because he was never injured with flesh and bones. That's why Glissa who's currently treating Monika's broken arm. Despite being a fighter, she's also the best wound healer that the elven stronghold can offer.

After they returned from the stronghold, Glissa went away to prepare for the feast at night. Monika and Trazyn were put in the room where it's prepared for the most significant guest. Monika is a bit tired from all of this fighting, she did not expect a simple helping mission for a weird old man can turn out into this. But when she looks at Trazyn, she's glad that all of this happened.

Trazyn is examining the claw which was from Voricnclex. This is deemed to be a worthy collection. Monika takes a chair and sits beside him. She's enjoying too much of herself:" Traz." This is the first time she calls Trazyn this:" What are we going to do after we finished all of this?" She's expecting a cheesy answer.

"I have no clue, so far I've been focusing on collecting items and waiting for Imotekh to finish his little project." Trazyn is a bit swayed away from what he's doing right now instead of noticing what Monika wants.

Monika is understandably disappointed. She's really no person who would create drama for no reason. But when she's moody she at least wants Trazyn to notice her. She puts her legs on his lap while purposely looking mad:" Are there any more things you want to do?"

Trazyn puts away the claw and carries Monika like a princess. He then puts Monika on the bed:" Rest, I need to do some errands. We will talk about this later." Then he left the room.

Monika is getting madder. Her arm is broken, while Trazyn isn't even willing to stay with her to make her feel better:" What kind of errand is more important than…" she suddenly stopped herself from talking. She just realized how ridiculous she sounds. Even 2 months ago, she would never have thought of herself saying silly stuff like this. Thinking about this, she slightly bites her lips, she trusts and respects Trazyn. But sometimes those kinds of emotions just come out of her for no reason and it is very hard to control.

This is happening again, she starts to think that she probably depends too much on Trazyn, last time she had the same thought, she went to Cadiarc. Then it got both of them here. What happens if she does the same thing again? Will everything stay the same? She starts to have weird thoughts about it. She doesn't want to lose what she has, and she wants to have some changes.

Just when she was thinking all of that, Trazyn suddenly enters the room with a plate full of dessert. He sees Monika's half-mad, half surprised face he burst into laughter:" What were you thinking, you silly creature." he then pinches lightly on Monika's cheek. "The hall is having a small party right now so I went in and grabbed some sweets for you~" the sweets are all delicious, Monika is embarrassed to have all of those bad thoughts about Trazyn.

Before she eats, she gives a deep kiss to Trazyn. Trazyn is amazed by Monika's improving kissing ability and teased her about it. He then went down to the hall to grab some nice elven ale for Monika.

The elven sweets are good, but it's not as good as the rose cake in Cadiarc. She suddenly reminds herself of something and asks Trazyn about the rose cake recipe. "I have no idea what that is. But I will make sure to learn about it when we get back."

When do we get back? It's only been a month and Trazyn said sometimes it might take years until they reconnect to the interdimensional network. She feels strengthless and sad at some point. But seeing what Trazyn did to cheer her up, she feels like being here isn't even that bad.

Then both of them start goofing around and soon it's already night. They are called to attend the feast that is prepared by Glissa.

Despite the lack of resources, the feast in the place is still plentiful and does not spare resources at all. However, such events are usually done on a few occasions, the birthday of the queen, before the conquest, and return as victories.

Due to the occasion, Monika and Trazyn are forced to dress fancily. Trazyn couldn't really care, because his body is interchangeable. However, Monika has to dress in a high society dress and high heels. Both were the things she hates ever since she's a child.

"Damn it." she almost twisted her ankle again while trying to walk for a few meters. Despite having the ability to stand on tree branches without problem, the reason she couldn't hold her balance is more because of the repelling feeling she has towards those clothes.

Seeing Monika dressing like a princess, Trazyn is more sarcastic than usual:" My majesty, may I assist you on your daily routine of walking?" he holds Monika's hand while she's trying to get used to the elven standard heel.

"Not helping at all." She stands still and tries to figure out tactics, but after a few mins of trying she eventually sits on the bed and gives up. "Why do I have to wear those cursed shoes… During the last feast, I was fine by dressing perfectly how I was." In the last feast, she dressed normally because there was no dress code. But this time it was reminded by Glissa herself while Glissa was tending Monika's arm.

Seeing Monika lying on the bed, He comes up and checks the design of the shoes. It is a genuine golden laced high heel that covers the toes. It combines the design of both beauty and mobility. Trazyn doesn't see the problems at all because the heel provides perfect balance already. Then he realizes it's Monika who doesn't want to go to the feast.

"What's the problem?" Trazyn puts his hands on the waist and looks down on Monika:" What's bothering you?"

Monika is acting like a little girl who doesn't want to visit the dentist:" I don't want to go!" She sits up with a pillow on her lap. She's embarrassed and stressed, because Glissa said that she needs to do a little toast before the feast, it can't be Trazyn but in the end, they used Monika's plan instead of Glissa's. But after she's done being childish, she eventually tells Trazyn about the toast.

Trayzn left out a chuckle:" Really? That's what you worried about?" He then tidies up Monika's dress, making sure that it doesn't look messy and unorganized. "If I have to be honest, I would love to see you more in a dress or maybe a skirt."

"Oh? Why?" she's interested.

"You will look less tensed up if you dress more…. Relaxed" he didn't want to use cute because that's a word that Monika doesn't want to hear while describing her. "Also, you will look good on those if I have to be honest." he's referring to Monika's good body line. She would indeed look good if she would loosen up her dress code a bit. "Also, you are already capable of doing a lot of things. You surely can pull out a little speech. After the speech, you don't need to do anything besides enjoy the event." Trazyn calmly sat next to Monika:" You also look beautiful today."

Monika is a bit blushed; she indeed likes this dress but her tense up mind is screaming like a haunting ghost. However, after hearing the reassuring words, she feels better:" Fine… I will do it ONCE and once only. Just for you." She then stands up and walks towards the door. This time she did not lose her balance at all.

In the hall, Monika is surprised by the decoration. Instead of a big feast like last time, this is more like a small dinner. There are only four chairs and plenty of food on the table. Glissa slowly walks up to Trazyn and Monika, but instead of her emotionless face, she has a full grin on her face.

"Welcome to the feast, heroes of the other world." she dresses in a white long dress, compared to the black armor Glissa used to wear, the dress truly makes her majestic. Traxex has also loosened her serious face and is wearing a good-looking skirt. Which is surprisingly different compared to her usual self.

Just about Monika and Trazyn the bow, Glissa quickly runs in front of them, stopping their action:'' You don't' have to do that anymore. You are the saviors of our land and people. From now on you guys are the most precious guest in his land."

"Where are the others?" Trazyn asks.

"I thought that Miss. Terra probably will not enjoy such an event. So, I made it something private." Her red eyes are full of sincerity, completely different from a few days ago when they met. Trazyn is amazed at how much a person can change.

"I love it!" Monika is relieved from all that stress. The ice between her and Glissa is completely gone. Even within the span of a few days, she's already made a friend within this strange land.

On the dinner table, before everyone starts eating. Instead of letting people remind her, Monika stands up and does the toast: "Good evening, everyone. Before we start, I would like to say something." Even with only three other people, she's still a bit shy about doing this. But then she sees the warm expression on everyone's face. This time Trazyn doesn't look sarcastic or full of judgment at all. Instead, is the face when they were talking on the bench. The face of happiness and calm.

She gulps and holds her glass with both of her hands:" I would like to thank Glissa and Traxex first for preparing this event. We only met a few days ago and to be honest we didn't start on a good term. But later on, we managed to work together to defeat an enemy that had been threatening this place." she then looks at Trazyn:" but the person that I need to thank the most today is Trazyn. He was always there to help me and comfort me. Many say that he's not the best person in the world, but I always believe that people can be versatile, and there's always good among people. I don't care for others but he's surely the best person I've met in my life." surprisingly she didn't have a problem delivering the little speech. She then raised her glass:" To friendship and companions!"

"To friendship and companions!" their glasses make a comfortable noise when they touch each other. After a few hours of drinking and talking. They called and went back to their room.