The sounds of alarm echoed muffled in the distance above the slum vents, the city of Dampfstadt buzzing with more activity than in decades before, exacerbated by the fact that the Lebensfest had been just about to begin. The bright cones of powerful spotlights flared through the air, gleaming within the rising steam that endured even through the torrent of rain and broke through the night.

The group of now eight didn’t notice much of that chaos as they had slipped through the threshold separating the Vent Slums and the underground. A natural stone ceiling soon laid above them. The sound of people above was muffled while those below echoed through the tunnels, granting a bit of reprise to the somber silence that had laid itself over them.

Graam’s initial plan to pass by his store first had been discarded as soon as Ruth had joined up with their group. And now the young woman was guiding them through the underground towards the base of operation of the enigmatic organisation that she and Graam were apparently a part of.

The two adults of the group had taken the lead while Jak, Myra and Vee had fallen slightly behind, carrying Rehn and the two kids. Both Vee and Jak had fallen completely silent, brooding over the events of the last hour as the calm finally allowed for realisation to fully set in. All of their tears had already been used up, leaving them filled with a strange numbness as the adrenaline ebbed away.

Myra felt awkward as she walked between them, guilt wracking the bunny cat. Why didn’t she feel as bad? A pang of sadness did hit her heart when she thought of Geen and the other kids that had died or been hurt. But that was all, a feeling brushed aside so easily. She wanted to be active, bright and cheery to make them smile, too… but it felt wrong to do that now. And in turn she brooded just as much as the other two, for completely different reasons.

Meanwhile, Graam was holding a whispered conversation with Ruth.

“… she’s definitely an Arc User, no doubts about that. Teleport or maybe Speed type.”

“Hm. Powerful.” Ruth gave a quiet nod. Despite gazing unwavering forwards, it felt like she glanced back at Rehn resting on Vee’s back. A curious glimmer played within her eyes as she noticed the cat girl twitch lightly at their words. Graam was completely oblivious, however.

“Ugh, the HQ is going to have a field day with her.” Graam groaned quietly.

“Daughter of the Chief Deputy Commander.” Ruth noted idly, making the shark nearly faceplant as he missed a step.

“W-wha…?! Grausige Gräten! This is even better…” Graam groaned sarcastically, massaging his temples. “We’ll be having the City Guard hot on our trails even if I hadn’t painted a big red target on my back.”

She gave him a deadpan look at his reaction and he flushed embarrassed.

“…I, ah, may have only skimmed the files.” He admitted awkwardly, scratching his cheek and averted his gaze.

“There there.” Ruth patted his head monotonously. The fact that she had balance on her toes and stretch herself as much as possible didn’t seem to deter her at all.

Graam stared at her blankly before sighing, slumping slightly forwards which had the added benefit of giving her better access. A disbelieving snort escape him as she patted him again.

“Haa… let’s see what speech I’ll get from Qilby…” He chuckled humourless.

“No speech, probably.” Ruth mused. “Too busy preparing for tomorrow.”

“… thanks for the pep talk.” Graam groaned, feeling like the conversation had just hammered the nail deeper. Ruth’s tiny tug of her lips, the equivalent of a beaming smile, in response was really the cherry on top.

Ever since the group had started to haul her out of the ruins, Rehn had slowly familiarised herself with her new ability. Or better said , she was finally starting to take control of a power that had long since been hers. It was a positively rapturous relief to finally know why she had been tormented by these headaches all these times. And now they were gone! Like she had been stumbling through a maze of stairs in total darkness only to have finally found the light switch.

But the revelation of her Arc had come with a feeling of dread as well. What if someone found out? Actually, how was she going to explain how she just up and vanished out of her room?! Not even her father would be able to keep her from being banished! At least it didn’t seem like her Halo would show when just gazing through her Third Eye. And sitting firmly in the back of her mind was the rest of her power. The ability to teleport anywhere her Third Eye gazed.

All of this had been pushed aside by the chaos that had wrought the orphanage. And now that they had moved away from all of it, Rehn found herself able to focus on both her ability… and now the crazy circumstances she had been dragged into.

“Zum Kerzen König nochmal! What the Abyss did Jak get Vee and me involved with?!” The cart girl cried out in her mind as her Third Eyes flitted ahead of the bulky Shark Gaian and that Dagon Mare woman. That guy had a damn Arc! …like her! And that weird gecko woman!

Naturally she wasn’t about to let Graam and Ruth have their secrets. And while her Third Eye couldn’t actually listen to anything, she still had her own ears for that. Growing up in the Dampf Tower had taught her how to listen really well… and how to read lips. With her Third Eye she certainly didn’t have any problems to get a good view of those.

As far as she was concerned, they could have just as much talked right besides her. Blah blah blah. Stuff about getting to their secret hideout. More conspiracy proof! And then the revelation that they knew about her Arc. She had nearly fallen off Vee’s back in shock! But quickly she slipped deeper into her Third Eye vision, her body feeling more distant as if she was asleep, with only twitch flitting over her form.

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They even knew exactly who she was!

…okay, yeah. That was probably not all that surprising actually. She was a pretty important person after all — well, her father was — and there had been more than one attempted kidnapping to get to him. Sometimes she wondered if he would’ve even noticed.

Rehn pulled her Third Eye back from the adult duo and narrowed it at Myra.

“And who are you, Myra…? Since when are you all buddy buddy with Vee?”

No answer was forthcoming but that girl’s weird glove apparatus put her already squarely into the co-conspirator tier, especially since she seemed to know that big shark somehow. Through gramps, was that conspiracy a family thing?

Onwards they traveled, and Rehn was started to feel temped to just fall fully asleep as Ruth’s bizarre route took them all over the place… and with nothing interesting at all. Her curiosity towards Myra had quickly waned as she couldn’t really get any answers half-asleep as she was. And… she just felt reluctant to wake up. What if she lost her connection to her Third Eye? So, she continued to just stay like this, watching bored out of her mind.

The journey was a long and labyrinthian one and more than once intersected with itself. Until finally the group slipped through the back-entrance of the Noctis Xerxes Night Club.

Ruth continued to lead them down into the cellar where she slipped away for a second followed by one of the massive wine barrels rising upwards, revealing a secret entrance. Like a ghost the dragon mare was once more at their side and they wandered down its winding staircase, the entrance sliding close once more behind them.

By now the trio of teenagers was dead on their feet, mental exhaustion now joined by physical and general tiredness. And even Graam was breathing heavily from exertion. Only Ruth looked still perky, which felt weirdly insulting.

“Ugh, did we have to take such a convolute path…?” Myra groaned, letting out a wide yawn.

“Yeah, I’m with fluff tails. Pretty sure we crossed that same intersection at least a dozen times…” Vee grumbled annoyed, adjusting her hold onto Rehn.

“Efficient.” Ruth stated simply.

“If that’s efficient I don’t wanna know what your idea of a leisurely walk is.” Jak deadpanned, staring at her blandly.

“Eh, yeah… gotta say, that was a bit much even for my tastes.” Graam agreed with the kids, rubbing his neck slightly embarrassed. His legs were absolutely killing him and he dreaded how sore they would be by tomorrow.

“Muh…” The dragon mare uncharacteristically pouted in response as they finally arrived at the end of the stairs. Blatantly ignoring the deadpan glares she received form the teens.

A single door awaited them, swinging open after she entered the code of the day… and were immediately greeted by Qilby and two other Gaian, a jackalope and a winged swallow, as they entered a room that looked startlingly similar to the receptions Vee had seen around the City Guard HQs. Open space, brightly lit and of soft colours.

“Ah, welcome! We’ve been expecting you for a while now.” Qilby smiled at them cheerfully and then turned towards his two companions. “Grant, Saia? Why don’t you two show the kids their place to crash while I’m taking these two.”

“Sure!” Saia grinned, the swallow bouncing on her feet as she waved kindly to the six kids. “Hey, name’s Saia. And grumbly over there’s Grant. Come on, we’ll show you the way.”

“Hey, now…! You’re totally misrepresenting me here! Since when was I the grumbly one…?!” Grant exclaimed aghast, a playfully hurt look playing over his face as he grasped his heart was if struck.

“Oh, hush.” Saia teased with a soft titter.

Awkwardly the trio of teens stood there, not really knowing how to take their attitude after everything that had happened.

“They’re alright, just follow them and I’ll try to catch up with you guys later.” Graam reassured them as he noticed them hesitate.

“Not like we’ve got much of a choice now…” Vee mumbled quietly under her breath. The chameleon weasel was starting to have doubts following after Jak’s friend. All of this just rubbed her the wrong way but she had already made her choice.

“Let’s get you settled in, then.” Grant chuckled, a small, lopsided smirk adorning his lips as he took the lead besides Saia. Who promptly overtook him.

Sweatdropping, the trio followed after the now bickering duo.

The simple room they had arrived in turned out to be just the foyer that opened up to the massive cavern that now stretched out before them. A dome of steel and stone illuminated by massive Amber Light embedded into the ceiling, shining like bright Amber Suns. Open fields of sand, dirt and stone covered most of the surface. The field looked like a sports ground… or a training area. Tents stood scattered near the dome wall while the entrance to a massive garage, or perhaps hangar, opened towards the far end. Along western half of the cavern then rose up a vast building complex.

“Woah, what the abyss is this place…?” Vee breathed out with wide eyes, jaw hanging low.

“I have no idea.” Jak mumbled back, eyes just as wide and disbelieving.

“What tech do you think they’re using?” Myra asked with sparkling eyes, eagerly absorbing the architecture of the place. She was practically drooling at the massive Amber Suns and only their blinding shine kept her from staring directly at them in excitement.

Their whispers were interrupted by an amused chuckle from Saia.

“You can look around all you want and ask questions later. Things a bit hectic for that right now, though.” She smiled apologetic and then noted their bloodshot eyes. “And I think you could use a good rest first and foremost anyways.”

“I wanna know one thing first.” Vee spoke out loud, narrowing her eyes at Saia and Grant. “What the fuck is this whole organisation?!”

“We’re a Garden of Babylon. Not that that will tell you much.” Grant smirked. “Let’s just say we’re concerned with the safety of the world.”

“Ugh, really? Did you have to say it like that…?” Saia groaned.

“Oh, come on! It’s a good one!” Grant defended himself. Before stopping and stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Though… maybe Desert of Babylon would fit better here.”

Saia just stared at him deadpan.

The trio of teenagers could only sweatdrop again as their guides began to playfully bicker once more. Vee grumbled annoyed as the topic of he question was promptly dropped but it didn’t feel like she would’ve gotten much more anyways. Not now. Not when she was barely even able to thing straight anymore. A fact shared by the remaining other two teens still awake.

Soon they reached one of the buildings closer to the cavern’s centre area. And all three needed a second as they were unsure if they had already fallen asleep on two feet or there was actually standing a small, cozy two story building. Well, more of a simplistic one with a militaristic feel to it but the initial impression still stood.

“Please make yourself comfortable, we’ve got a stocked fridge in the kitchen. Toilets are over there and the bath there.” Saia smiled at them as she lead them inside, motioning towards the various facilities while guiding through the small house. Finally she opened the last door and the mattresses laid out before them was like a dream come true. “Sorry we don’t got beds for you, but I hope that’s still enough.”

“Oh, and don’t explore too far away from here if you have to. Peeps are a bit more trigger happy about unknowns around here than you would think.” Grant warned them gravely. Not that he was too concerned about that. They all looked ready to fall asleep where they stood. Well, besides the kids and that girl they were carrying.

Grant blinked as he noted the makeshift bandage around Rehn’s leg, soaked in by now crusty blood.

“Hey, ah, you need some disinfectant…?”