--- Sadera, Oprichnina Dungeon ---
December 29th, 2025
Deep in the Oprichnina Dungeon of Sadera, Molt Sol Augustus sits in his cell. The only source of light is the torches that are on the walls outside his cell.
He knows this place well, being built and expanded over the centuries. This place is the open secret of Sadera, where everyone hears it. No one in its history has anyone escaped from. That is because only the Oprichnina knows how to get in and out. Once you come in here, you do not come out, so the legends say.
He reaches down into the bowl, grabbing the piece of undercooked meat. Even though he was the Emperor of the Empire, running it for thirty-five years, he only gets one meal a day.
Right then he hears another scream as someone is getting tortured in another chamber. He tells himself that this one bowl must be the royal treatment here.
He has sent hundreds if not thousands of people here, all he considered an enemy of the State or more importantly, his throne. He never once thought he would end up down here.
As he eats what little he has, he looks up to the ceiling. The ceiling here is small, where you only can sit down in. No one besides a dwarf can stand in them. It is a design to make the prisoner feel small and unable to probably to walk if they are allowed out.
While he does not want to, he is remembering everyone he has sent down here to their deaths. While he has no regrets for the people, he has sent down here, he wonders what has happened to them.
He then looks at his bloody hands and looks at where his figure nails were. The head of the Oprichnina, Lord Svenhard Lupus Moon, takes too much pride in his work. Svenhard is deeply religious which normally wouldn't be a problem except for the fact he worships Siflis, the goddess of evil.
He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. He never could have believed that his stupid son Zorzal would have the nuts to overthrow him. He always has known that Zorzal has wanted the throne, but he is also a coward, so he believed.
Zorzal has made many friends within the government, like Svenhard, Senator Adaulis, Godasen and many more. He always had a knack in swaying people to become his friend, finding the deepest and worse desires of man and bribing them with exotic gifts.
But that does not mean they are loyal; it just means they enjoy his gifts. And they would not dare help him over throne the current Emperor unless it was a sure thing. Spending weeks of thinking about how his son was able to pull off a bloodless coup, the only thing he can think of is that he had outside help.
He knows the Other Worlders would never put him in power, if they had the desire to replace the throne, they could have done it already. He has a feeling that other forces are at play that he does not know about yet. It cannot be the Other Worlders, while they are strong, they are simple to.
"Wow, and I thought this was going to be pointless," A female voice says. "But I actually am enjoying this sight."
Hearing a voice shocks him, especially a female voice. He rarely hears people having a casual conversation down here. The only time is when he hears people yelling a screaming, begging for mercy.
He looks out of his cell and sees this female Draconian standing there. This one has blue scales and skin and with tan symbols around her, not the black, red, or purple ones.
She leans forward to the cell door and looks at him carefully. "How they might have fallen. You were once the most powerful man in Falmart and now you are barely clothed in your own dungeon." She says with a chuckle.
He knows who this Draconian. "Giselle. What are you doing down here? Speaking of, how did you get down here?"
Giselle holds up her hands halfway up, showing how much she does not care. "I serve Hardy, Goddess of the underworld. This is part of my domain." She says in a sassy voice.
He takes a breath as he thinks about that. "Alright, why are you here? You have never been to Sadera before."
Giselle frowns and looks away. "I have a message for you. I do have to say, it was not easy getting in here."
He looks at her confused. This makes no sense, why is the Apostle of Hardy here, giving him a message. "Explain."
Giselle looks back to him, eyes widen. She then crosses her arms. "Wow, even down here you are still strong-willed. I am impressed, honestly."
"Stop mocking me and tell me your intent," He says, annoyed about this.
"Well, sorry my lord," Giselle in a sarcastic voice.
Giselle then creates a big smile on her face and leans close to the bars. "I find it interesting. How easily the Empire is being crushed by these Other Worlders. But I wonder if they are as powerful as they say. We all know the Empire has been in decline. It wouldn't take much to kick you all between the legs." SHe sais with a smirk, glancing at him. "Before I give you the message, why did you challenge them?"
He knows what she means. She wants to know why he attacked the other side of the Gate. The possibilities were endless, access to a new world. The Empire must continue to expand to bring prosperity to its citizens. It is a secret curse of being a power. She is right, he saw that the Empire was going to go into decline in the future and he wanted to be remembered as the man who took something new. If he took the other side of the Gate and annexed it as part of the Empire, he would be remembered forever.
"The future Giselle, " He said. "You Apostles live long and are strong but you don't understand the feeling, the need to build, to pass on a future. To be remembered. When I learned that the legends were true and the Gate and was going to appear, I saw a chance to mark my name in history forever."
"You started a war to be remembered?" Giselle asks.
"As I said, you wouldn't understand," He responds, and he sits there. "I ordered the invasion for the glory of the Empire, the strongest force this world has ever seen. We have the power to Idos and we are the only chance Falmart will have peace."
He thinks back to his history. His teachers told him how the Empire was founded, birth from darkness and spread light to Falmart.
Falmart was in chaos six hundred years ago. A dark age that has already been going on for two thousand years when the old civilizations fell into dust. A goal, a dream of the founders of the Empire to unit Falmart under one banner, and then only true peace will be achieved.
That was the vision of both Apostles, Taylin and Rory. Both helped build this new and mighty Empire. It was Mankind who united and defeated the demon invaders thousands of years ago and it should be Man to reunite Falmart.
"You might be old Giselle, but you are not wise," He said. "We all know without the Empire; this world is lost. The gods have blessed the Empire and it has blossomed under them."
Giselle stands there, hands on her hips. She then burst out laughing. "I love Humans. They always find ways to justify what they did, even though they know they are wrong."
He glares at her but doesn't disagree. "But the Other Worlders are ruining everything."
Giselle crosses her arms. "Because you finally faced an opponent that you can't beat. Maybe if you did not have idiots as your leaders, the war might be going far better for you."
He could not disagree. many of his best generals went through the Gate and died there. Only the incompetent ones like Herm and Calasta came back. Krysist was having a good effect on them but he could not stop them. However, he knows they suffered casualties in trying to save weaker people. That weakness could never rule over this world.
"They are powerful but weak," He says.
He glances down and thinks of that incent in the throne room. That one soldier who his son fears throw everything away for a woman, a slave woman a matter of fact. Then their ambassador explained how it is the responsibility of the powerful to protect the weak. He has thought about it and has decided that even though their technology is far superior, they are weak, unable to handle this world. His only question is why the Gods not intervene and helped the Empire?
"They will not be able to stop Queen Famulis and the Dark Races from spreading throughout the lands again. The Buaven Kingdom will renew their campaigns and the sea kingdoms of the southeast will bring chaos on our weakened state." He says.
"You really think they are they weak?" Giselle askes confused by that.
"I have seen it," He said. "They are willing to sacrifice all just to say one. True power must be willing to sacrifice everything to stay on top."
Giselle thinks about that and smiles. "Maybe. Maybe that is why Hardy wants me to check them out for myself."
"You are going to face them?" He asks as she crawls closer and grabs the bars. He starts to chuckle. "Maybe the gods are finally taking notice of our need."
He smiles, feeling hope. He starts to assume that she must be here to free him and restore order within the Empire. "You came to free me?"
Giselle laughs again. "No silly. I told you, I came to give you a message."
His hope of getting out of here and retaking the throne was just dashed. He should have known better. "What is the message."
Giselle closes her eyes and then open then, looking directly at him. "My Goddess wanted me to come down here to this low life place to tell you…"
---
Prince Diabo El Caesar is walking down the stairs of the Oprichnina Dungeon. He has been trying to see his father Molt since the coup but has been rejected by Svenhard each time. This time he has finally approved a visit, but he does not know why.
Normally he would have overruled Svenhard but now that his brother is in power, he been careful not to cross either of them, not wanting to end up like Molt.
He holds up his torch as he walks down the stairs, getting to level three of the dungeon. This is where he was told that Molt was staying at.
He walks down this hallway and sees his cell. "Hello father." He then notices him sitting there, holding his arms in deep thought. "Are you… you are alive."
He sees his father in rag clothing. There are new scares around him, his figure and toenails gone. He wonders what Svenhard has been doing to him all this time.
Molt looks over to him. "Hello, my son Diabo."
He looks at him confused, never hearing his father address him like that. "I came to see how you are. And to inform you what Zorzal has been doing."
"It doesn't matter," Molt comments.
He is baffled hearing that. He figured that his father would want to know what has been happening to the Empire. The welfare of the Empire has always been the number one thing he valued.
"What do you mean it doesn't matter? Zorzal is going to meet Queen Famulis. Your life is in danger. You know what this will mean" He says.
"Interesting," Molt says and thinks on that. "To fight the Other Worlders, Zorzal has decided to form a union with the Dark Races to fight them. Using me as a bargaining chip for that union. That would be clever if it wasn't for the fact that your brother is an idiot. There is no way he would be able to control the Queen. It will end up she is controlling him."
"That is why I hope to put you back on the throne," He said.
He has always known that Zorzal was unfit to become Emperor. That was one of the only reasons he made that deal with Krysist. He fully intended to betray Krysist but Molt figured out what his true plans of seizing the throne away from his brother.
When Molt told him that Krysist was their eldest sibling, a lot of events started to become clear. He was using his alliance with Krysist to stop Zorzal ascension to the throne and remove Krysist once and for all.
He agreed with his father that both must be stopped to save the Empire. Krysist is a bastard brut and Zorzal cannot lead an army to breakfast. The only other person who could lead the Empire right now is Pina, but she defected to the enemy, a decision he understands. Zorzal was stupid to force her to switch sides by trying to murder her.
"I am the ex-Emperor who made a lot of enemies over the decades. Of course, my life is in danger. But it doesn't matter." Molt said. "The Empire will fall regardless of who is on the throne."
He can't believe what he is saying. It is like he is talking to someone else. "We both know the Empire must survive otherwise Falmart will enter into a new Dark Age."
Molt looks directly at him. He takes a slow breath. "I realize this is all my fault. I wanted Zorzal to take the throne because I thought I could control him in my final years. To maintain my power. I see now that I should have been better for all of you."
"Father?" He asks.
"Let me speak, I have no intention of being used as a chip to Famulis," Molt says. "I should have been more of a father then just an Emperor. I got both of your other brothers killed. I sidelined you even though you would have been a better fit to lead. Zorzal, I encouraged the worse of traits in him and intently spoiled him with slaves. A weak spoiled man is far easier to control."
Molt takes another breath. "And Diabo; if you ever see her. Tell her that I am proud."
He cannot believe what he just heard. Molt would have considered what he just said as a weakness. "What about Zorzal and the future of the Empire? What about the coming Dark Age? You even have stated that we need to win because of that? Now you don't care?"
"Son," Molt said. "It doesn't matter. The Gods have never been one our side in this war. The Gate has opened for a reason."
He has always wanted peace with the Other Worlders. Unlike his sister, he does not agree with their values or culture. He just knows that the Empire can't win, the math does not add up in the Empire favor. "Father…"
As he was about to respond, suddenly the room starts shaking violently. He can hear people yelling and screaming in fear. He is scared, not knowing what is happening. He wonders how the ground can he shaking like this.
He rushes to the wall and grabs the cell polls. "What is happening?"
"Is it Giselle?" Molt asks, looking around scared.
He looks at his father, shocked by him naming Giselle. Before he can think about it more, he looks around and sees torches falling.
They hold onto the cell polls as the whole dungeon shakes. With both holding on it and the strong shaking, the cell polls break apart and he falls into the ground.
He looks up his father kneeling there confused. He looks at the bars and sees that it came off.
Molt climbs out of the cell and stands up. He is struggling to balance himself, being months since the last time he could stand.
He tosses the poll cell off him and stands up.
"We need to get out of here," Molt says as he looks around.
He stands up and grabs the wall. "What is going on? What could do this?"
"I have no idea, but it must be the Other Worlders or the gods…" Molt says as the shaking stops.
Both look around and see that everything went back to normal. They both look at each other and start to head out.
He shows his father the way he came. "What do you plan now that you are free?"
"First we should talk to Senators Marquis Palesti, Casel El Tiberius, and Baron Monterey," Molt says. "Then we will try and communicate with the Other Worlders and end the war."
The first two names are the heads of the Pro-Peace faction while the last one is the head of the Pro-Neutral faction. If his father wants to challenge Zorzal, Molt will need both factions to support him. Then they can remove Zorzal and put an end to this mess once and for all.
Moving through the dungeon is taking longer than he would like. He knows sooner or later one of Svenhard Lupus Moon goons will discover that he would escape.
"We are almost there," He said.
"Ok, my son, thank you," Molt says in a tired and weak voice.
As they walks, he suddenly hears Molt start screaming. He turns around and his eyes widen, seeing an arrow in his leg.
He starts looking around and he sees Svenhard walkout.
"What do we have here?" Svenhard asks with a chuckle, surrounded by a few of his guards. "I am happy that you found the escaping Emperor Diabo."
He takes a step back and glares. His tone showed that he did not think he was trying to stop his father. Svenhard is toying with him.
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Molt looks to him and he snaps the arrow and pulls it out. "Svenhard. I am surprised that it took this long. Your security is horrible."
"That is one way of looking at it," Svenhard responds and points to his men to take them.
"You planned this?" He asks. He thought it was funny that he could come down here. He thought there might be some price to pay but he did not expect this. "You do realize that Emperor Zorzal wants him alive. Killing him will only anger your new master."
Svenhard laughs. "I have no plan on killing him. We would have stopped you earlier, but that shake was... interesting. I thought it was you at first, but you don't know magic."
Three guards walk over and grab Molt and start to pull on him. But Molt twists one by the arm and pulls out the Gladius sword on one of the guards and slay one of them down.
He sees this and takes a step back. He barely knows how to use a sword. He has always seen the value in knowledge than learning swordsmanship, believing it to be more effected then senseless killing.
Molt swings his sword, so the guards take a step back. "I will not be used as a bargaining chip for my son. I will not endure that bitch wrath!"
He thinks back on what his father said. Thirty-five years ago, Molt and Famuilis fought a massive war in the far east. It was a bloody war, but he was able to defeat Famulis and stop her rise as a regional power. He forced her to bend the knee and submit to his rule. Since then she wanted revenge against him. After that war is how he became Emperor. His victory propelled him to the throne with no real competition for it. Around the same time, Krysist was born.
"Old man, you think you can kill us?" Svenhard asks as he prepares his bow. "Look, you can barely hold that sword. Surrender now and accept that your fate."
Molt takes his sword and swings it at another guard, keeping them back. "You and Zorzal are insane for allying with Famulis. She will bring down the Empire from within."
He looks around trying to figure out how to get out of this mess. He then looks to his father and sees him about to do something radical.
"Svenhard," Molt says. "You will get what you deserve. I will not be a tool for my son madness." He then takes his sword and slices his throat.
Blood spills out and he falls to his knees. Seconds later Molt falls forward dead on the ground.
He looks down at his father, shocked that he just did that.
Svenhard walks over and kicks Molt in the side, checking if he is dead. "Hmm, I will respect that."
"You know Zorzal will be angry with you," He states, walking forward and looking down at his father. "This can't be happening."
"This is not ideal, but it was expected," Svenhard says in a calm tone. "Famulis will just turn him into a Ghoul. She won't have the stratification of killing him herself, but she will get what she wants in the end." He then looks up to Diabo. "He would have escaped if it wasn't for you leading him into our trap."
"What are you talking about?" He asks. He feels this chilling fear moving down his spine as he looks in Svenhard eyes.
Svenhard starts to walk over to Diabo. "This is how I see it. Molt here was never going to allow himself to be given to Famulis. Now 'we' just guaranteed it without a fight. And I couldn't have stopped his escaped without you."
"You have gone too far," He said. "This was not the way..."
Svenhard walks over to him and places his arm around Diabo, showing that he has no fear of him. "I have this theory for a while. Zorzal is the character of Molt. Pina is the determination of that old bastard. Krysist was the warrior side. I am not going to bother talking about your other two brothers since they are dead. That leaves you, the smart one. But you are a coward and that is why you are not on the throne. But you are alive."
He looks at him, eyes widen, not knowing what to do. He realizes that he walked into his trap.
"Now I have a choice," Svenhard said. "I can go tell your lovely brother that you freed him and tried to overthrow the government. Or I can tell him that you helped me and put down a potential rebellion, saving the Empire."
He sees what Svenhard plan has been. He allowed him to come down here now to try and blackmail him. While he does not think Svenhard planned on killing him or events going this far, he is capitalizing on it. The choice is clear, bend the knee or die here.
"What do you want?" He asks in a nervous and exhausted voice.
Svenhard pats him on the back and starts walking away. "You are a smart one. You will figure out what I want."
He looks at the guards as they pick up his father's dead body. They start dragging him away in a disrespectful manner. With all his faults, he did lead the Empire well during his rule, he believes he should be treated with more respect.
Seeing that his life is no longer in danger, he leaves the dungeon and head back to his palace room.
On his way home, he thought about today's events. He remembers Molt mentioning Giselle, the Apostle of Hardy. He did not have a chance to ask in the dungeon, but he wished he did. She told him something and it seems to turn him into a different person. It must be something related to the Gate, whatever that means.
Once he gets into his room, he sits down on his bed. His personal slave walks over and helps him takes off his boot.
Unlike his brother who treated slaves as his own personal toy and his sister who had slaves to take care of her, he preferred only having the bare minimum to take care of his chores. He never had an interest in dealing with them like that or bring harm to them. Not that he thinks their lives are equal like the Other Worlders do, he just does not find thrill in hurting them like Zorzal and another does. Seeing it pointless to project power over the weak. Besides, Augush has been good so he is good to her.
This High Elf walks in and takes off his boots and brings him some new clean cloths. "Here you go, master."
"Thank you Augush," He said as he changes into his dark rob.
Augush takes his dirty clothes and starts walking away. She stops and looks back at him. "Master, you have a guest in your office waiting for you. He expects you, sir."
He looks at her. He was about to yell at her for setting up an appointment without his permission. Then he wonders who could that be? He thought it might be Svenhard but they just had a chat. Anything he wanted to say he could have down in the dungeon. "Thank you Augush. Have a good day."
Augush bows and then leaves.
He takes a deep breath and walks into his office. He walks to his desk and lights up his three candles for light.
"What do you want?" He asks. "Are you here to assassinate me?" He then glances over to the dark section of the office. The candlelight starts to light up the room and he can see a man sitting in a chair.
"That all depends on what kind of life insurance policy you pick Prince Diabo El Caesar." The man says.
***
--- Alnus Community, Liberty Apex ---
December 29th, 2025
Sharpe notices that the earthquake is over. He looks over and sees Rory and Selina holding onto each other, scared out of their minds. He realizes that they have no idea what is happening and wonders if they never experienced an earthquake before. Selina, he can understand but he is shocked that Rory never experiences this before.
He looks over to Sarah and notices she is a bit worried. She grew up in Wisconsin, not many earthquakes there.
He looks back at Rory and Selina. "Everything is ok. It was just an earthquake. A powerful but it is over."
"Earthquake? What the hell are you talking about? Is this another one of your weapons? How can Earth do this?" Rory says as she looks around scared.
"Rory…" Selina says and then looks to him. "How can Earth do this?"
He takes a slight breath realizing the confusion. We call these quakes earthquakes because Humanity evolved on Earth, so we call them that. They would have no attachment to that label, the Earth part just confusing them because it makes them think of planet Earth, not the quake.
He holds out his hand for them to grab. "Girls look at me." He says in his command tone. "The quake is what we call it back home. I experienced them many times in the South Pacific and Japan. They are ground quakes. Trust me, everything will be ok."
He sees both look at each other and grab his arm. He pulls them out from under the table. "Right, stay ahold of each other." He then lightly grabs Selina's hand and have her grab his belt. "Stay close."
Selina nods as the fear starts to disappear from her eyes. "Ok."
He stands up and looks around. He sees most of the windows shattered, all the tables and chairs tipped over or broken. One of the ceilings beams halfway down, hitting the bar area. Outside of all that, the building seems intact and no danger of collapse. The Army Engineers made sure that the bigger buildings were more structurally sound.
He sees the people inside Apex, many are helping others, some are crying or moaning from the event or wounds. He can see everyone has this confused shocked of fear in their eyes. Some are panicking, wondering what just hit them and what might happen next.
"Attention!" He yells at the top of his lungs but in a controlled manner. He understands during any crisis, one of the most important things is to show a sign of confidence and strength, otherwise, there is panic.
Seeing that he got everyone's attention, he starts barking orders to everyone. "All of you, what you just experienced was a shake in the ground. It is common on my world. Listen to me very carefully. Help the wounded and we all need to get to the center of the street. Be careful with the glass on the ground. The ones in bare feet raise her hands and we will make a path. Avoid the windows and head to the door."
Everyone looks at each other but slowly doing as he said. He looks back down to Selina and Rory, seeing the shock starting to wear off. While it is his responsibility to help the people here, his number one priority is both of their safety first.
He looks up and sees Sarah standing there. To his confusion, she is smiling at him. He is struggling to see why she is smiling during this situation. "Captain, deploy and organize everyone."
"Sorry, yes sir," Sarah says and goes help everyone.
It took longer than he wanted to get out of Apex, but everyone did get out and organized in the center of the street. Just in the bar, people are scared, many are hurt and trying to figure out what just happened.
He sees Delilah, Bailey and Tyuule rush out of the building. It seems like they came from the back of the building.
"Major!" Myuute yells as she rushes over with Alnus Military Police and Wolf.
He sees them coming to him. He looks down and Selina. "Kid, I have to get back to work. I want you to stay here and…" He glances around everyone and decides something. "Keep everyone here and keep everyone safe. Can you do that?" A helpful task is a great way to trick the brain out of fear.
"Ok," Selina says, taking a deep breath.
He nods and looks to Rory. "Rory, I need you. They are probably people stuck inside buildings. I need your strength out there."
Rory takes a deep breath and stands up. She then slaps herself and looks up at him. "I am ready."
He stands up as they all gather around him.
"What is happening?" Myuute asks, scared on what is going on.
Delilah stops and looks to Myuute. "Bailey said Earth is shaking us."
"That is not what I said," Bailey states frustrated.
"Knock it off. Earth is not attacking, and we have more important issues to deal with." He says and then points to a smaller building that cave in on one side. "Until help arrives from base, we need to start search and rescue operations."
He then looks to the two Warrior Bunnies. He then notices Delilah is just in a large green t-shirt and Bailey is just in a pair of pants. They must have been having a good time together until this earthquake interrupted them. "Delilah, Tyuule, I want your ears to locate people that are trapped."
"I am sorry?" Tyuule asks. "I am not someone you can command…. Hey!"
Delilah grabs her and pushes her aside. "Don't worry Major, she will help. I promise."
"Start sweeping the area. Prioritize helping the people who are easy to get to. Let the Engineers with the proper tools get to the most at risk. We don't want to risk making a situation worse." He then looks over to Myuute. "Myuute and all of you MPs, start crowd control. When help arrives, they need to get to where they're needed quickly. Don't want people blocking the roads."
"Yes sir," Myuute salutes.
He turns around. "Rory, Wolf. Once we found people trapped, your job is to help lift the rubble. The muscle of the operation."
"Right," Wolf said.
"Roger that boss man," Rory says with a smile.
He sees everyone move out into other directions. He looks at Sarah. "I want you to coordinate everything between the groups. The last thing we need is people trying to be a hero and going alone."
"I know what to do," Sarah said. "And the number of times you gone off alone and, being a hero."
He looks at her, not knowing how to respond. Everything he has always done had a logical point to it, not trying to be something more. "Not now Captain. We have work to do."
---
It has been about fifteen minutes since the earthquake hit Alnus. Noriko is sitting there in the corner of her room. Her son Tenchi is crying uncontrollably.
She looks around trying to figure out what to do. Her only window is partly caved in and for some reason, she cannot open the door, like something is blocking it from the outside. Half of her room is caved in.
"It is ok Tenchi," She says as she rocks him, struggling to prevent herself from crying. "Shh, please. I can't think when your crying like this."
She can hear people yelling down at the street. She tried to yell but it seemed like no one could hear her. She does not have a loud voice anymore, thanks to the abasement from Zorzal. Now she is just hoping that someone is coming.
She thought about using her phone, but she could not find it. She set it down on her small table next to her bed as she was breastfeeding Tenchi but when the ceiling started coming down, she panicked and did not grab it. The table was destroyed, and she cannot find it. Right now, the only source of light is the broken TV.
"Everything will be ok Tenchi," She says, speaking more to herself. "I promise someone will come."
Right in front of her, this other beam falls and hits her bead. "Ahh!" She screams which just makes the baby cry more, which makes her cry, not knowing what to do.
She looks around, struggling to figure out what to do. She tells herself that all she wanted to do is half a quiet life and now she begins to think she is going to die here. She holds Tenchi tighter, covering him up with her body. If she is going to die here, she wants Tenchi to live though.
"It is ok Tenchi," She says, looking down at his growing blond hair. "You will make it. I promise. I won't let anything happen to you."
"And nothing is going to happen to you."
She hears this voice and looks to her window. She sees that Imperialist leader Princess Pina. "What are you doing here?"
Pina sits on the edge of the window and uses all her strength to push this beam out of the way to make room for her to get inside. "I came for you. Everyone else is busy…. Urgh!"
Pina pushes the beam far enough away, getting it jammed into the ceiling and creating a hole in the ground.
Her eyes widen and take a relieved breath. Out of everyone who could come, she didn't expect her to come. "How did you get up here? I am three floors up." She then coughs a few times.
Pina moves through, cutting her arm from another beam. "Well, I had to steal a man's pants. This had to happen on the one day I decided to wear something nice. But I climbed up to get here." She finally gets through the debris and lands right next to her. She starts breathing heavy as she catches her breath. "I am not letting anything happen to my nephew."
She looks at her, not knowing how to feel. Last time she saw her she told her to screw herself. When she was Zorzal slave, Pina stood there and did not do anything. She never knowledge her existence until she learned she had a baby. But now she is her only source for her and Tenchi's survival. "Ok…"
She looks at Pina and sees she is wearing these green military pants that are way too big for her. But her upper part looks like those robs she saw in Sadera, tied around her to act like a country girl t-shirt. "You really stole someone's pants?"
Pina chuckles. "No way I could hey up here in a rob. Let's go."
As they both get up, they fall onto the floor. The room starts shaking a little and some more debris comes down. The room starts to tilt, and some things start sliding.
"The room falling!" She yells as she looks for something to grab.
The room stops moving. While the room has not tilt enough to prevent them from standing, they both notice that the window has collapsed on itself.
"How are we getting out now?" She says nervously.
"It is ok," Pina says as she stands up. "Just watch Tenchi." She then moves to the door and starts trying to open it.
"It is blocked from the outside," She said. "I already tried."
Pina starts ramming at the door but stops after the second time, rubbing her shoulder. "Ouch… how do guys do that without getting hurt…" She then looks back at Noriko. "Do you have that small talking box?"
"A phone?"
"Yes."
She glances down, thinking to herself how much of a failure she is. "I am sorry, but I lost it." She said as she starts to cry. "I am a failure..."
Pina looks at her and starts looking around. "Don't give up." She says in a panic voice, trying to look for an escape.
A few moments later, they hear this Japanese pop song. The song is the ringtone of her phone. It seems like it is still working. "That is my phone."
"On it!" Pina yells as she bends around the beams, following the sound. "Found it!" She reaches down and grabs it. She pulls it up and moves back over to her. "I don't know what to do with it."
She takes her phone and looks at it. "I got it…" She then notices that her screen is nearly shattered. She cannot tell who is calling but press the green to accept button.
She then notices that it did not do anything. She presses the button again and then again. She starts to panic again, scared that the caller will stop and then he will not be able to call out. She presses and presses and finally the call is accepted.
She takes the phone to her ear. "Hello!"
"…. Noriko? Are you ok?" Selina asks.
She takes a deep breath and smile. "Selina, that is you?" She takes Tenchi and holds him away, so his cries do not affect her hearing too much. She is hoping his cries are not preventing Selina from understanding how bad her situation is.
"Yes," Selina replied. "I didn't see you or hear from you. I got worried."
"Thank you, Selina. No, I am not ok. I am with Tenchi and Pina. We are stuck in my apartment and can't escape." She says, trying to make sure she understands.
There is a short delay over the phone call. "I will tell my dad. He is with me."
She smiles and looks to Pina. "Please tell him to hurry."
She then feels the floor shake a little.
"That ground isn't secured," Pina says. "Stay still. We don't want to add any more pressure."
She looks to Tenchi and holds him close. "It is ok Tenchi. Calm down. Everything will be ok."
She then looks to Pina and angles herself so Tenchi can face her. "You see, that is your aunt Pina. She came to say hi to you."
She looks up and sees a big smile on Pina's face.
"Hi, Tenchi…" Pina says. "Let me sing you a song that my mom sang to me when I was little."
She holds onto this beam to help balance herself. She listens to Pina sing this strange song where half the words she does not understand. It does seem nice, how the world is a beautiful place. While Pina will not win a singing contest, she finds it relaxing. Even Tenchi stops panicking and slowly stops crying.
Once Pina stops singing, she takes a deep breath and starts singing a song she remembers from her childhood. She starts to sing the 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' song to Tenchi, hoping to keep him calm.
For the time being, they trade small simple songs as they buy time.
They start to hear cracking sounds and the floor starts to feel like it is sliding down again. She looks down and her eyes widen seeing that. She wonders how much longer her room will last before it breaks free and fall to the ground.
She looks up and grabs Pina's hand. "Look, I am sorry for yelling at you like that. Thank you for coming for me and Tenchi. I am sorry for trying to keep him away."
Pina grabs her arm. "Look, I am sorry for everything. It was all my fault and I should have done something. I don't like that side of my past anymore. Tenchi is in good hands with you."
They both hear this loud noise and look to the door. The door breaks open, swinging in the wrong direction.
Sharpe appears through the door. "I swear I can't take you two anywhere. Especially you princess."
"Well if you weren't late then we would be…" Pina said before being interrupted by Noriko.
"Don't start now you two!" She yells.
Sharpe moves around and slowly sides to them. He stops at the first beam and reaches down to her. "Grab my hand."
She looks to her side and slowly moves to him, trying not to slip. She gets to him and grabs his arm. She then feels him pulling her closer, moving through these two beams until she is right next to him. "Thank you, Sharpe."
"All good Noriko," Sharpe said and helps hold her steady. "Head to the hallway."
She grabs the door frame and pulls herself forward and walks to the hallway. Once she gets there, she can feel that the hallway is more stable. But above she can see the ceiling of the hallway cracking away.
She turns around and sees Sharpe doing the same thing with Pina. She uses her free hand and grabs Pina's shoulder and helps pull her out.
"Thank you," Pina said as she regains her footing.
Pina then turns around and grabs Sharpe by his military shirt. She starts to pull, and her eyes widen. "God, you are heavy!"
Sharpe gets out of the room and starts breathing heavily. He looks to Pina. "I am heavy?"
"Yes!" Pina yells.
"Guys? I think we should go." She says as she glances up, hearing more cracks.
"Go!" Sharpe orders.
All of them start rushing down the hallway as the ceiling starts breaking. Noriko and the other rooms fall forward, crashing into the ground.
They stop and turn around, looking at the new hole in the building.
"Well… you are not getting your security despot now," Sharpe said in a sarcastic voice.
She takes a deep breath and starts crying. She then rushes to Sharpe and pushes herself against his chest. "Thank you! That was nearly me and Tenchi. We both nearly died."
Sharpe pats her on the shoulder. "It is all ok kid."
"What about me?" Pina asks crossing her arms.
She turns around and rubs her eyes. "Thank you, Pina. If you didn't come, I never would have been able to find my phone when Selina called."
Pina stands there and smiles. "Now, can we get out of here?"
---
Borqual moves through Alnus. He looks around the corner. "There is a lot of destruction."
"Not as much as I would expect from a quake," Jaruki said.
Borqual looks to the Dark Elf. "You know what hit us?"
"You Humans are stupid," Jaruki said. "There are common in the mountains of the far east."
"That is where you met them?" Borqual asks.
"Yes, before we formed our alliance with the Empire," Jaruki said. "But I never felt one this strong before though. It makes me wonder."
"We can wonder later," Borqual states with some frustration. "Our alliance will mean nothing if we don't find a new hiding place."
Jaruki stands up, finishing binding up this child. "We will get moving. But the quake did provide a chance to take our next target with ease. Everyone too distracted to notice."
Jaruki then hears this person walking. He pulls out his sword and aims it to this other direction. What he sees is this soldier standing there with his rifle pointed to them.
"So, you been the bastards who been taking the kids," First Sergeant Miloslav Suchanek said. "Let go of the kid now or I will blow you head off."
Jaruki can hear Borqual turn around but standing still. He holds onto the boy closer, using him as a body shield. He has learned that these people are soft and will not hurt a child. "If you do anything, I will kill this boy here. I don't care if he lives or dies."
"You are outnumbered Other Worlder," Borqual says. "You can't take us on."
"I can easily take both of you," Miloslav said as he aims his rifle. "Even so, one shot and everyone will be rushing here."
Jaruki smiles what the Other Worlder said. "Maybe but there are three of us."
Then this Haryo pig appears behind from the darkness and attacks the Other Worlder. It is his master Hargus, the leader of the Haryo and Oprichnina spy network in Alnus. He takes a bit on the Other Worlder arm.
Miloslav falls forward, trying to get Hargus off him.
Borqual rushes forward and grabs the rifle. He then punches Miloslav in the head, knocking him out. He pulls out his dagger and is about to slice the Other Worlder neck.
"Stop," Hargus said as he stands up, wiping the blood off his mouth. "He is one of those Military Police. We can use him."
Borqual looks to Hargus. "How? When he awakens he will tell his friends about us. I worked hard to keep my identity secret here."
"He has a point master," Jaruki said. "It is degrading to me a clothing maker here but everyone byes it."
"Herm is located here, and we need a way to free him," Hargus said. "We can't get close without someone in the inside." He then looks down at the Other Worlder. He then smirks getting an idea. "We will take him to our lair. I will put a mind control slug in him. He won't remember a thing and will accept our command."