September 23rd, 2020.

The wheels of the car scratched as they impacted against the harsh gravel, making a crunch sound. The engine roared with all his might but eventually came to a screeching stop, now only being a faint chug.

The sunrays of daytime shined into the car, reflecting into mirrors and screens, which made it difficult to see. The passengers were forced to squint.

It felt like they had been driving for ages. Eventually, the black car came to a calm stop. The driver tapped his hand on the steering wheel, and the light thud was the only noise that broke apart the endless noise of car horns, engines, and wheels.

Eventually, the cat came back to life after the vehicle in front passed.

Large barricades that stopped the car came forward, painted in red and white, and a tall man came out of a grey and purple booth. There was an old sign that said, “TERRITORY OF THE REPUBLIC OF NOVA. TURN BACK.” in faded paint.

Slowly, the tall person walked towards the car; each step he took only grew in intensity with the loud, ringing thud of his footsteps as he approached the car. The air was stale, and the people in the car held their breath in worry.

“Registration and ID,” he demanded, his words stabbed through their hearts like needles.

Miyuki shuffled around in her pocket and pulled out a badge connected by a long silver chain. The badge was silver and blue, combined with a topaz-coloured highlight. On the front, it displayed “Foundation Hunters Agent. By the agent pact, you are hereby required to allow passage between countries,” and below, “Eluthorn, Elspire, Bosh, and Chthonia are exempt from this pact.” was written in small print.

“I’ll pass it on.” Elijah decided, holding his hand out behind the car seat.

Clutching the ID in her hand, she dangled the chain in front of Elijah's hand before slowly resting it on top of his palm.

“Here.” Elijah handed both his and Miyuki’s I.D.

The menacing guard snatched the silver chains out of Elijah’s hand and brought them to his face. Giving it a twirl in his hands. Elijah gulped as he saw no relent to from the guard. Eventually, the guard gave a small sigh.

“You may pass,” he grunted while pressing a bright red button. Upon his heavy hand slamming into the button, the springs of the gate released, which flung open the metal gates.

The tyres of the vehicle came back in a swirling motion, coupled with the engine being fired up from the slam of the gas pedal.

“This is taking FUCKIN’ AGES,” complained Miyuki. She opted to rest her legs on the car seat, much to Elijah's dismay.

“Get your goddamn legs off my seat.” Elijah demanded, his eyes twitching as he grew annoyed by Miyuki's antics.

Last night, after the gang had made their own declaration to accept this invitation, They started their four-hour car journey to the Fortress City of Chthonia. Having just passed through the Nova Republic checkpoint, they were now past the first hour of driving.

The Fortress City of Chthonia was hailed as having an impenetrable defence.

“What’s so special ‘bout this place anyway?” Miyuki asked while looking at her reflection in the car window.

“Chthonia stands on its own island, surrounded by two walls that stretch across the whole island! It’s said that the walls haven't been breached in over 398 years. Or so I’ve been told,” explained Asher. The friends realised just how much Asher loved to explain these things.

“How do you know so much??” Miyuki was questioned again, this time questioning Asher’s knowledge of history.

“I guess I just learned about it.” Asher muttered while bringing his hand to his chin.

Around the car was an endless grassland, with the faintest silhouette of a city on the horizon. The grass swayed as the car went down the road. There were patches of flowers across the grass, some red and some blue.

The red flower was unique to the fields around Edessa and Nova; this fiery red flower was called "Firelion.” It was one of the prettiest flowers in all of Vesta.

“So that city is Supernova. The capital,” Elijah muttered while looking at the silhouette of a cityscape.

Now that they were in Nova, it was a three-hour drive to Chthonia. Miyuki rested her feet on the chair, with Itzozu screaming at her to not do that. Eventually, everyone but Elijah fell asleep.

The lively air fell silent, as only the noise of the car driving down the asphalt roads. Elijah was lost in his thoughts, his mind tracing back to years and years ago, uncovering a past he didn’t want to remember.

“I’m doing the exact same as him... And yet I killed him.” Elijah thought.

“It’s been years, old friend, and yet I still can’t get over it.” Elijah’s thoughts trail off.

“Though I am doing it for them, So maybe it doesn’t matter? Sorry, I wish I could’ve noticed your sanity sooner. Elijah muttered.

“What was that, Elijah?” Asher asked, leaning towards him. Snapping Elijah back into reality.

“...It’s nothing,” calmly stated Elijah before he gripped the wheel slightly harder.

The rest of the car journey was silent; everyone was tired and opted to look out of their windows. I saw the same beautiful green fields speed by as the car flew down the roads.

A few hours later,.

“Woah, so this is Chthonia!” Asher exclaimed, peeking his head out of the window.

What Asher saw was a massive fortress with sparkling, blue water surrounding it. He saw the greenest grass and the skyscrapers that reached above the defences; it was an amazing sight to see. Upon first glance, it seemed the walls had no vulnerabilities.

The car came to another stop, this time in front of the gates of Chthonia. It was a tall metal gate that reached a scarily tall height, and behind the gate was a massive stone tunnel that seemed to stretch on for ages.

Itzozu slowly got out of the car, taking a deep breath while clutching the invitation letter in his right hand.

Slowly, he stepped towards the guard at the gate. They were suited in full metal plate armour, which shone as the sun rays reflected onto it.

“Hello! Hello..? We’ve been given this invitation letter, so may we go through?” Itzozu asked.

Itzozu and the guard exchanged looks. Itzozu carefully handed the invitation letter over. Not knowing what may happen.

The guard takes the invitation letter, and he examines every detail of it meticulously. Even going so far as to hold it up to the sunlight. The guard gave a slight chuckle, and he held both hands to the letter and ripped it in half.

“What the fuck?” Itzozu thought, shocked, while standing in complete disbelief. Out of all the outcomes he thought were going to happen, this one was not planned out.

“We have heard no such thing. Cease this activity at once. We will not be letting rascals like you enter.” The guard rejected the letter. Giving a dismissive shoo.

“The fuck is his problem?! We should just kill these guys." Miyuki shouted, infuriated. She pulled out her sword and attempted to jump out of the window, but Asher grabbed her legs, not allowing her.

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Miyuki felt the pressure of Asher’s grip around her ankles, which firmly locked Miyuki in place. She squirmed around, half out of the car window.

“Agh! Let GO OF ME!” She shouted while kicking her legs and arms around.

“Miyuki, That’s a TERRIBLE IDEA” Asher shouted back, refusing to release his grip.

They went back and forth for a while, until Miyuki caught a glimpse of Itzozu and the guard staring at her with weird looks. She felt her entire face flush and slowly returned to the car.

“...Fine.” Miyuki sighed.

The guard looks at Itzozu, as if to say, “You’re just taking the piss, aren’t you?”

“And you threaten the guards.” The guard took a sigh. Getting annoyed at gang antics.

Elijah looked around, fishing in his pocket, and pulled out his ID. He rushed out of the car and dangled his I.D. in front of the guard, who picked it up.

“Huh, Foundation Hunters...” The guard trailed off.

With a brief sigh, he began to put his thoughts together, opting to rub the chin of his metal armour. Itzozu heard the guard mutter to himself before coming to a conclusion.

“Alright… I’ll let you off. May the stars align.” The guard decided to let them through.

The guard waved to another on top of an old watchtower and signalled the opening of the gate. Slowly, the massive gate opened. Both Elijah and Itzozu got back into the car and drove into Chthonia.

“That guy’s so lucky he wasn’t killed.” Miyuki pouted while crossing her arms.

After a long drive through an ominous, pitch-black tunnel, They came out of the tunnel and were shocked by the state of the city.

They expected it to be an oasis of some sort, an enclosed paradise, but that’s not what it looked like. There were massive piles of trash everywhere—ripped bags that allowed rodents to feast. Buildings were old, torn, and rotting.

Sewage was piled up in the small rivers running across, and this rubbish infested every corner of the floor. The smell was horrible too, being a mix of the sewage and rotten corpses.

“This is awful.” Asher looked around.

“Yeah…” Elijah replied, shocked at what he was seeing.

“They sent an invitation to the palace.” Miyuki wondered before looking up.

Above these slums was a massive palace that towered over the buildings. The palace was white and gold; it looked pristine, clean, and royal. It was a stark contrast between the palace and the slum they found themselves in.

“Maybe they deserve to die.” Miyuki thought to herself.

On the horizon was a tall spiralling clocktower that was in the same condition as the rest of the slums; the clock in the centre was smashed with dozens of springs falling out.

“I guess we go and find directions.” Itzozu advised.

The friends could hear the sound of chanting, and a legion of knights marched in their direction. Then, without warning, a fancily dressed knight appeared from the marching crowd.

This knight had deep black armour with a red fur cape. His armour was decorated with pearls and jewels, which could only be assumed to be war spoils. The knight held a sword with a large, red jewel in the centre.

“Welcome! Welcome to our glorious city. My name is Styrke, the Royal Knight.” Styrke introduced himself.

“Me and my legion shall guide you to our pride of our nation, The East Palace.” Stryke followed up. The dozens of knights behind Stryke slammed their spears onto the ground in unison.

“That makes it easier,” Itzozu muttered.

The friends followed Stryke and his army of knights up a paved path; it was quite steep, which made Miyuki complain.

“I’m surprised that the royals have taken an interest in you. Though I can definitely understand not to underestimate you all, I know our country looks in a sorry state. It used to be a great place, but nowadays... It’s worse.” Stryke confided in the friends, hoping that the bad impression would fade away from them.

Eventually, they reached the palace, and with a pull of the gates, the inside was revealed to the friends, who promptly entered the palace.

The halls were decked with gold and expensive jewellery, large gems, and crystals on massive displays. Paintings of posh-looking people were hung up at every opportunity. The floor had an expensive-looking red rug laid out beyond their sight.

”Disgusting,” Miyuki chastised, taking her sword out and slashing one of the paintings beyond recognition due to her distaste for the royals.

They all found themselves in a corridor that split off; to the left was another corridor, and to the right was a door with a window. Miyuki leaned into the window, her breath clouding it as he stared inside. Everyone was wondering what she saw until she made a loud gasp.

“It’s a storage room... FILLED with riches!” She shouted.

“Sweet holy.” Itzozu thought to himself.

“If we were to sell these off... Money wouldn’t be a problem anymore, right?” Elijah asked while looking around suspiciously. His hands moved across in the same way he uses liminal space, and a few of the luxury items were shoved into liminal space. Ready to be sold at a later date.

“Ooo, a new sword.” Miyuki laughed as she noticed the katana hung up on the left wall. She gave it a swift tug, pulling it out of the wall like it was a sword in the stone. She inspected every inch of the blade and handle before putting it in her empty sheath.

“Do you just carry an empty sheath?!” Asher questioned.

“Yes.” Miyuki simply replied.

The friends heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching. A shadowy figure turned the corner and thrust their sword towards Itzozu. He was caught completely off guard in the moment. “Essence Technique: Enchain.” Itzozu muttered as he was about to be impacted.

Upon casting his technique, several silver chains sprouted out of his body; they clashed and scraped against the walls, then pierced straight through the strange person’s stomach. The other chains then sliced off their arms. They quickly fell down.

Several more people came from around the corner, attempting to ambush the friends from behind. Miyuki impaled one with her stolen sword, turning its pristine condition into something used and bloodied. She was overwhelmed by the sheer number of people attacking her and got a dozen cuts across her arm; she quickly retaliated by thrusting her sword into the neck of one.

Asher threw his arm out to the right, immediately summoning a dozen arrows made out of ice to fire. The endless barrage combined with Miyuki’s combat effectiveness made easy work of the guards.

“It was a trap.” Miyuki snarled in between heavy breaths.

“Gotta say… It’s weird how my eye didn’t know they were coming.” Itzozu pondered, giving himself some space to think.

“Guess we don’t need to act professional anymore.” Elijah affirmed.

“Orr, we could keep playing pretend? Get to know the royals, and then... Asher made the gesture of slitting their throat.

They moved away from the bloodstained corridor and into another clean one. “Why do all these look the same?” Miyuki shouted, aggravated that it all feels the exact same. “IS THIS A MAZE?” she shouted again.

“There’s a door there.” Itzozu pointed at a double door with red accents.

The door was locked, but through a peephole, they could see a gathering of people. These people wore white suits and white dresses. Some had fur coats hung up on the backs of chairs, and there was loud ballroom music blasting through the speakers. They were all oblivious to the murder that was outside.

They needed to find another way in. They noticed another hallway to the left, and after they continued down that hallway, they found an unlocked door.

This door takes them to the supply closet just outside of the room.

Inside the supply room was pitch black, with the only light being the cracks that light from the ballroom seeped through. The walls were extremely thin, and they were reduced to being as quiet as possible.

"Well, what do we do??” Miyuki whispered, annoyed that they were just mere seconds away from the royals. As they continued walking through the supply closet, they realised that there was another door in the closet that opened into the ballroom.

Itzozu and Elijah both exchanged glances to signal to each other. The dark made it hard to see, but they managed to convey, “You know what to do.”

Elijah took a deep breath and slammed open the doors to the meeting room. The entire atmosphere of the room fell silent as they all stared at the friends with small blood splatters. One of the guards took a deep breath to quell their worries.

“This way, please.” One of the guards stammers out, gesturing towards the far end of the dining table.

As they sat down, they came face to face with a finely dressed man. He had auburn hair that curled down towards his ears; he wore a white suit with red and gold highlights; and on his chest was a gold rose flower made from metal. This man looked frantic, like he was hiding a big secret.

"Ah, my fine gentlemen and milady. I am Augustus. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance. I see that you’ve already attended to several of my royal guards. No worries! I expected that much.” The frantic man introduced himself.

“Welcome to my glorious home!” Augustus announced.

“What do you want?” Miyuki questioned him, not refusing to relent her stare while she tapped the table aggressively.

Upon hearing that question, Augustus had a small sliver of sweat fall from his forehead onto the table. He looked around frantically before leaning into Miyuki.

“It’s nothing like a devil’s deal. It’s something quite easy to tell the truth.. Augustus grabs Miyuki and whispers into her ear.

“I need you all to break me out of here.” He whispered, and his tone completely changed upon saying that, like a huge burden had been released from his shoulders. He took a brief sigh before standing back up.

“The other royals wouldn’t dare let it happen, but if it were to say... Be a kidnapper. And plus, I’ve seen your stories; you don’t seem to care about law or order.” Augustus encountered his friends.

“What’d he say?” Itzozu asked, almost casting a technique.

“He wants us to break him out; he’s trapped here.” Miyuki relayed the information to everyone else.

“Now what are we talking about, Augustus?” Another man jumped into the conversion, firmly gripping Augustus’ shoulder. This new person had jet black hair with silver roots combined with a singular dark aquamarine streak in his front hair.

“None of your concern, Julius. Anyway! I hope you enjoy this plentiful feast we have prepared.” Augustus huffed as Julius walked away, opting to speak with the other royals rather than Augustus.

Itzozu could hear muttering from the other side of the room, where Julius had walked off too. Inquisitive, Itzozu perked up, attempting to listen into the conversation.

“They’re rotten to the core! Did you not see how they slain our guards?” Julius quietly but harshly chastised the friends.

“So they saw it all?” Itzozu thought to himself.

“If we help you out…We’ll get some rewards, right?” Itzozu asked Augustus while looking over at all the riches.

"Yes, you may.“

Shall we do this then?”

“After the dinner.”

Just as Augustus spoke, he gave a clap, and a dozen people holding gigantic plates of food came rushing out of the door. They dressed the table in a quick yet elegant manner, and within a few seconds, all the food was laid out.

The friends dug in almost immediately, eating large chunks of meat still on the bone and scooping up all the fancy deserts on other plates.

“So good…” Miyuki muttered, entranced in a food coma.

After they had finished eating their meal, they all gave a thumbs up of approval and then exchanged glances. They look around before equipping their weapons.

“YEAH! Let’s mess them up!” Miyuki shouted as she jumped onto the white-clothed table with her silver sword outstretched towards the royals.

The loud, piercing sound of gunshots filled the room as bullets flew everywhere, smashing cups and destroying the tables, and the gunfire only seemed to ramp up.

“Over here, Augustus.” Elijah shouted across the room, opting to shield him from the others’s stray attacks.

“Guards, after them all!” Julius shouted as the friends attempted to make an escape with Julius.

Several guards attempted to grab Augustus but were met with an end quickly by Miyuki slicing through their hand like butter. She gave a powerful kick to another, sending them tumbling down onto their backs.

Asher made a massive scythe out of ice and swung it, the shockwave sending multiple members into the wall and crushing them immediately. Then he dropped a massive block of ice on a door, blocking the way for more guards.

Everywhere they went was overrun by guards, blocking all of their paths of escape. Eventually, they were forced into a corner with no immediate way of escaping. At the end of the corridor was a singular window.

“We’re going through the window.” Elijah declared.

“We’ll surely die from this height!” Augustus argued again, not sure why they would even suggest such a death sentence.

Elijah held his gun to the window as he was about to approach it. With the snap of his finger, the bullet flew out of the barrel and smashed through the window, shattering it into thousands of little pieces.

They all got up to realise the horrible situation they were in. The day was ending, the cold wind had picked up, and the friends had looked around to see that they were surrounded by dozens of guards on every front.