Noelle opened the door at the end of the stairwell, her eyes following up the trail of blood left behind until she saw the back of the Knight. He looked up at a large translucent cage containing a large mass of energy that resembles a soul.

The Knight turned around and grinned at the girls, clicking his tongue as he shook his head. “Aha! You all just don't learn your lesson, do you?”

“You're not going to corrupt the World Core!” Noelle said, pointing her staff at him.

“Ha, says who?” The Knight called back with a devilish smirk.

“Says me,” Noelle countered with a glare, raising her staff. A barrier appeared around the World Core, and the Knight turned around, grunting as he saw it.

“Damn it! Just how crafty are you?! You already destroyed my nads earlier, what more do you want from me?! Damn you all, I'll get you again next time!” he spat before he vanished into thin air.

“Geez, what is his problem?” Blair said as she scratched her head.

The door behind them opened, revealing a familiar redhead stepping into the room with other women following suit.

“Hold up- Svenja?!” Blair called out.

“Yep, that's me!” Svenja replied, walking up to the others.

Alice looked at Saturn, Trixie and Draley, raising a brow as she froze in place.

Huh, I remember them from the wanted posters, she thought.

“So you are the other Ephemerals, huh?” Trixie asked as she walked forward.

“I could say the same about you,” Alice replied.

“Well, nice to meet you, I suppose,” Trixie said as she extended a hand for a shake.

Alice gave her hand a gentle hold, which Trixie tightened as she shook it in return with a smile.

“Likewise…” Alice replied, stepping back.

“So, what brought you all here?” Noelle asked.

“We got some info on ya location from a good ol’ Knight, an' here we are.”

“Interesting. We just got done dealing with a Knight ourselves.”

“What'd they look like?”

“Well, he has sharp red eyes, is on the short side, and wears red and blue armor with a hooded cloak.”

Draley's eyes widened as she listened to the description. “That sounds familiar! Are you talking about...Warren?”

Noelle shrugged. “I-I'm unsure… Is that his name?”

“Well, it sounds just like I remember. He was the one who captured me for being an Ephemeral and held me hostage.”

Alice took a small step backwards and her mysterious sword appeared, glowing as it pointed towards the World Core behind her.

Noelle and the others took notice and turned to the scene, watching as a beam of light shot from the sword and pierced through Noelle's force field. Light surrounded the World Core and everyone observed it turning from a dark purple color to a bright white. The Core then disappeared, leaving the cage empty . After the job was done, the sword disappeared, leaving Alice empty-handed as she stared at her hands, blinking in disbelief.

“It's a Twilight Fragment…” Draley said under her breath.

“A what?” Rachel asked.

“Twilight Fragment,” Draley replied. “They're supposedly a key to the Light and the Darkness…at least from what I've heard.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Blair snapped her fingers, her brows raised with revelation. “So THAT'S what the whole ‘Follow the Twilight Fragments' thing from my dream was about!”

“You too?” Draley asked as she stepped closer to Blair.

“Yeah,” Blair replied with a nod. “There was this guy in my dream that told me to follow the Twilight Fragments. Didn't know what that meant, but now I'm seein' it for myself.”

“Same here.”

“So what are ye guys doin'?” Svenja asked as she turned to Noelle.

“Well, we're on a journey to travel across the world to fight against the Darkness and save the World Cores from being corrupted by it.”

“Sounds tough, eh? Well, if ye need a hand, we gotcha. We got a mission to complete, so it was nice meetin' ya fellas but we gotta leg it.”

“Very well. Stay safe out there.”

“We sure will,” Trixie said.

After Svenja and the others left, Noelle turned her attention back to Alice with a brow raised. “So um, Alice… What just happened there with your…Twilight Fragment, was it?”

Alice's brows furrowed. “Ehh…” she replied with a shrug. “Apparently it saved the World Core from the Darkness that had a hold of it.”

“So that's the purpose of them?” Zalgo said.

“Supposedly. So if we find another World Core, we can do the same.” Alice replied.

“Right. So Noelle, do you know where any other World Cores are?”

“The nearest one is in Gloomhand Forest. It's a few hundred miles north along the border from here, between the Ozean Province and Blackwood State.”

Noelle reached her hands out and projected her aura into a large cube, which showed a dark forest covered in dense fog.

“Hmm, interesting,” Sharline said.

“Sheesh, you know your stuff, Noe,” Blair added.

“We should get going then, right?” Zalgo asked.

“Yes, we must save the World Core before the corruption of the Darkness takes hold.”

“Then what are you waiting for?!” Blair boomed, stretching as she grinned. “Let's get going! That World Core won't save itself!”

“Yes, I shall take us there,” Noelle replied, enveloping everyone in her aura and teleporting out of the building.

★

Saturn and the Alliance walked through the Forest, making their way back to the Alliance HQ. Svenja scratched her head and let out an exaggerated sigh.

“For fuck's sake,” she moaned. “This is legit the 8th time we passed this dumb-ass tree!”

“If I could teleport us out of here, I would,” Draley said. “Unfortunately, my aura is almost completely depleted after that fight with the ice-user.”

“Same here,” Svenja added. “I can't use the Memory Portal ‘cause I'm absolutely spent after that scuffle back there.”

“I feel strange, like something's watching us,” Ahina said.

“Whatcha mean,” Svenja replied, turning around and seeing tens of clones of Ahina.

“The hell is this?!” she said, stepping back and unsheathing her sword.

“Oh no,” Piper said as Trixie stepped back as well. “One Ahina is scary enough, but many of them?”

“Well well, this is fun,” Saturn said as she shook her head with a smirk.

“Stay back,” Svenja said, walking towards the clones, her free hand balled into a tight fist. “I'll handle this!”

As Svenja approached, each of the Ahina clones spoke over each other and claimed they're the real one. Svenja raised an open hand and closed it, the clones becoming quiet and standing still.

Svenja grinned and put her arm back to her side. “Listen ‘ere! If ye're the real Ahina, then put ye right hand on your head.”

The clones all put their right hand on their head, and Svenja nodded while narrowing her eyes.

“Mhm… Now, summon Earthquaker!”

The Ahina on her left side conjured the claymore, with the other ones left stumped. In a flash, Svenja blitzed through the crowd of impostors in a flurry of blade swings, making them all disappear into the fog.

Ahina watched as all the duplicates around her dispersed, dispelling Earthquaker and letting out a chuckle.

“That was a smart move, typical Svenja,” she praised.

“Ay, no prob!” Svenja replied. “Let's report back to Marla before she starts worryin'!”

“Good idea. You know how she is. Off we go!”

…

“So there was a Knight there after all?” Marla asked, leaning forward with her brows raised.

“Yep. An ice user by the name of Irene.” Trixie responded.

“Irene, you say? I heard she's affiliated with the Everest Clan.”

“Really?” Svenja said. “I gotta ask Lynn about this.”

“That'd be a good idea if she wasn't gone for like half the time.” Ahina chimed in.

“Yeah, she's always in her own li'l world. Her sis Echo should be way easier to get ahold of.”

“But where would she even be?”

“That’s the tricky part,” Svenja answered. “I know that the Everest Manor is in Snowclover State, way up north.”

“Holy– isn't it cold as hell there?” Trixie said.

“Eh, not as cold as northern Kamagiri an' shit like that, but it's up there, goddammit. We'll jus' use our Auras to keep ourselves warm there, though.”

“I see.”

“Guess we'll be on it tomorrow, then?” Draley asked.

“Hell yeah,” Svenja answered, a grin spreading across her face. “There's an AstroLand there, so I can check up on the joint an' make sure everything's runnin' smoothly while we're at it.”

“Very well, we've got a mission. Does that sound good to you, Marla?”

“Mhm! Just don't end up as popsicles out there in that cold.” she replied with a teasing smirk.

“Ha, ye still underestimate us! We'll be there an' back before ya know it!”

“I hope so! Now, get some good rest so you can have enough aura to maintain a Barrier for such long periods of time.”

“No need to tell us twice,” Trixie said, putting her hands on her hips. “Watch us succeed with flying colors! See you tomorrow!”

“Likewise. Have a good rest!”

…

Trixie laid in her bed, staring up at the ceiling as her eyes drifted off in thought.

And the surprises keep on coming, don't they…? she thought.

“Hehe, they sure don't,” Piper replied. “There's never been a boring day ever since you joined the Alliance.”

“You’re right about that. We got to meet the rest of the Ephemerals, that was a surprise.”

“Most definitely. From the bit I've seen, they don't seem like the criminals that the government makes them out to be.”

“Right. They're normal people, just like Draley, Saturn and I. We shouldn't be under fire by the Knights and the Imperialists, though, there has to be more to it all. Svenja knows we didn't steal the Platinum Rouge, and the rest of the Alliance doesn't either.”

“This is true. It's as if there's some sort of brainwashing going on within the world's powers. I wouldn't be surprised if they're all simply puppets with a mastermind truly pulling the strings and putting everyone against each other.”

“Me neither. And hey, what's up with Esther?”

“I'm unsure. We haven't seen her for a while, have we? She's here for a moment, and then she's gone. Definitely a mysterious young lady for sure.”

“Mysterious is an understatement for sure, I wonder what her secrets are. The message from her locket still had me thinking about it sometimes. I wonder what her past is hiding… But anyways, how's the Boss been doing?”

“Miss Sarolta is doing well. I've been telling her how great you've been doing in the Alliance.”

“That's good. What did she say?”

“Well… Let's just say that she's not all sunshine and rainbows about it.”

“What do you mean?”

“She feels that you're favoring the Alliance above her and Meteor Corp.”

“Really? I mean, I haven't been given any missions from her… So how am I favoring the Alliance by giving them a hand?”

“Well, there's more to it, but I don't want to stress you out about it right now.”

“Oh boy…”

“I…shouldn't have brought this up at this time… You need rest for tomorrow.”

“Eh, there's no use now. I'll have to talk to her and see what's going on. I just don't have a good feeling about this.”

“Please, Trix, don't get too worked up over it. Besides, the Platinum Army is still alive and well, so she may have something for you soon and you'll have a chance to impress her.”

“Good point. We'll have to hope that ends up being the case though.”

“It's the best we can do. Now please, get your rest.”

“All right, I'll try… Night, Pipes.”

“Nighty night, Trix.”