Hao and Mentos finished cleaning up the mess that only one out of the two was responsible for. The shattered pieces of the table were taken out and the soiled food was thrown in the bin.

“Whew, that was quite the manual labour.” Said Mentos, wiping sweat from his brows.

“It sure was.” Hao was in the process of washing his biological hand at the sink, careful not to get any splashed onto Wheelz.

“You two clean up nicely.” Lanor commended, observing the spotless floor. She also said to Hao, “That arm won’t clunk out if it is exposed to water, so you don’t have to be so careful with it.”

“I thought that water might short-circuit it.” He assumed.

“Not at all.” She affirmed.

“Oh.” Realizing that Wheelz was more durable than he initially thought, Hao also lowered it beneath the flowing water and washed the stains off of it.

“Hey, save some for me too.” Mentos also went by the sink to wash his hands. They spark a conversation about some trivial matters until it shifted to the children whose absence was noticeable in the quiet complex. "Where did those noisy brats go off to? I haven’t seen them around for a while now." Mentos stared out the window curiously.

"They must be gathered at the shack where Boulder is," Lanor revealed calmly. She had a way of knowing these things.

"The shack? Isn't that where you said our Bastians are imprisoned?" Mentos shot a low gaze at Lanor.

"We should go there. Euphy and Sympy must be wondering where I've been," Hao voiced his thoughts as he backed away from the sink, allowing Mentos to hog the water. His concerns for the Bastians were genuine, only a few days ago, he wouldn’t mind sacrificing them for the sake of gaining an edge in unsheathing Judgment Day but now he was different.

"I agree, that slugger Acadian must be thinking that we abandoned him." While drying his hands in a napkin, Mentos began moving towards the door.

“Hey, let me out first.” Demanded Lanor.

Together they exited the building, being led by Lanor. The journey to the shack was a short one, for the building was just behind Vicky’s warehouse. As they walked, they talked about everything and nothing, their conversation was a comforting background noise to the sounds of the district.

A minute later, they arrived at the shack. "Here we are," Lanor announced to the duo. The shack was a simple structure, its wooden walls weathered by time and the elements. The door was already ajar and their ears could hear faint laughter coming from inside.

“Is there a party going on inside there?” Mentos was eager to find out, thus he went ahead of the group and entered the shack.

Creak!

Inside, they found the children playing with the softly glowing Sword Fishes. The creatures were swimming around excitedly, leaving behind long trails of water with every movement. The children were laughing and splashing water at them; all of their cute little faces were alight with joy.

As for Acadian, he was left out of the festivities. The imposing creature was chilling in the corner, watching the scene with a hint of sadness. Maybe he was wondering why no one wanted to play.

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“Euphy, Symphy!”

“???” The Sword Fishes noticed Hao near the entrance when he called out to them and flew towards him, wriggling in excitement. Hao reached out to touch their slimy scales. It was a touching reunion, a moment of pure joy amidst the crisis of their lives.

"Acadian, my boy!" Mentos ran towards the sulking Bastian with outstretched arms.

A glimmer of life flashed across Acadian’s big eyes upon seeing Mentos, its tail even started to wag slightly, but not too much because it still wanted to maintain an air of toughness.

“I see you holding back your excitement, Acadian. You can’t fool me. Come here!” Smiling broadly, Mentos leapt onto the beast like he would mount a horse.

“Hey, come down from there right now.” Boulder who was standing nearby with his arms crossed beneath his muscular chest, commanded Mentos to desist from rattling the beast.

After sliding down, Mentos asked, "Can you remove the chains from Acadian?"

Boulder shook his head firmly. "We can't have that hulking beast moving freely around the district. Everyone will be too scared of it and it might also attract unwanted attention to our compound."

Mentos tried to bargain with Boulder in a desperate attempt to give Acadian some freedom. "What if he stays here and doesn't go outside? I reckon this space is big enough for him to stretch a few muscles."

Boulder was adamant in his refusal. "Sorry, the answer is still no. I’ve received orders to keep an eye on this beast and ensure it is chained."

“Come on mate, you can bend the rules a little. Just loosen those chains a bit will you?” Mentos gestured to the large hunk of metal keeping Acadian bound.

While they were talking, Hao came along and was searching for something important. “Hmm, where is it?” He was feeling for the great Tokyo bone he had pulled from the Conclave during its collapse. "Last time I saw it, Acadian was carrying it, so it should be here."

Lanor overheard what he said and spoke up, "You’re looking for that old thing? We tossed it out."

Hao was shocked when he heard this. "What! You tossed it out? Where? Do you remember, is it anywhere close by?" Hao was beginning to freak out and invading Lanor’s breathing space.

Hey chill, she told him, "It should still be behind the shack in the dump heap."

"Out back?" As soon as he heard this, like a bolt from a crossbow, Hao was off, legs a-blur as he sprinted out the shack's welcoming door. The sound of gravel crunching beneath his footfalls was a staccato accompaniment to his swift departure.

Mentos, who was still bargaining with Boulder, took a sharp turn of his head upon noting Hao's darting silhouette. “Where is he going? Wait up Vee!” Leaping into action, Mentos was hot on Hao's heels. His long, determined strides were chomping away at the distance that separated him from his friend.

“Those two…” Lanor decided to follow them.

Their destination was a sorry sight, tucked away at the rear of the ramshackle dwelling, a mound of refuse stood tall. Amongst this jumbled collection of discarded items, a bone, monstrous in size, was sticking out awkwardly, clashing heavily with the surrounding rubbish.

To say the smell was dreadful would be a gross understatement; it was a hellish amalgamation of rotting matter, enough to make a vulture keel over. As if the sight wasn't bad enough, the air was filled with the relentless droning of flies, adding an auditory insult to the olfactory injury.

“Uh, that smell.” Hao cringed, hastily pulling his shirt up over his nose to fend off the revolting stench.

"Oh gosh!" Mentos’s muffled outcry bounced off the walls of the surrounding structures.

“You guys.” Shortly, Lanor joined the team, her expression twisting in repulsion at the putrid scent. “Whew, that stinks.” Standing by Hao and Mentos, her attention was firmly riveted on the protruding bone. “There it is. I told you it’ll be here.”

Hao, although blind to its sight, could sense the energy of the bone. Its pulsations seemed to echo his heartbeat, a phenomenon that was more than a little eerie.

"Who's up for a dive in this garbage?" Proposed Mentos. This was his attempt to leaven the gravity of their current predicament.

"I'm not going in there, no way," Lanor's firm rebuttal was accompanied by crossed arms and an unwavering gaze fixed on the bone.

"Somebody has to," Mentos pragmatically responded to Lanor. "Besides, aren't you people the ones who brought it here in the first place?"

"I had nothing to do with that. The strong blokes did it," Lanor defended herself, flitting her gaze between Mentos and Hao.

"Vee, what do you think we should do, up for a dive?" Mentos turned to Hao, awaiting a suitable suggestion.