“So they’re really trying to take over the kingdom?” I say, as I look at Stallatia’s head… Yeesh, it’s bruised… “Yeah. I was surprised too. He just wants money and stuff? Pretty shallow if you ask me.” She says, as she folds her arms and looks away.

I pull my hand away, and just look at her. “That bruise… How did you get it again?” I ask, as we sit together in this large room. “I don’t know. I think I was knocked out. I looked at it in the mirror... I think my head was slammed into the bars for some reason? As I said, I have no memory of it.” She says, as I rub more of the narcotic salve against it.

“Thanks for helping me out. It’s been hurting all day, and the medicine makes me sleepy…” She says, as her eyes begin to close- “Yeah, no problem. Try to stay awake, I wouldn’t want to break your sleeping schedule.” I say, as I hand the narcotic salve back to her.

She accepts it and stands up, before stretching. “Alright! Feelin’ better! I want you to teach me the elemental styles, Kass.” She says, pumping herself up with excitement, surprising me. “Ah, that’s great to hear. So you decided on the Elemental Styles after all.” I say, as I stand up, and move into position. “N-Not right now, though. I want to help with the investigation of my kidnappers.” She says, making me a little nervous-

I grab her arm, and sit her down. “N-No… They might kidnap you again… You need to be kept safe in the castle. I’m your temporary personal guard.” I say, as I try to calm her down. “No, I had an idea for that. Did you know Ryleth used to have a sort of Hero?” She asks, before expanding further.

Later we find ourselves traveling down a dark staircase… Rubbing my hand against the wall, feeling the dust and complexity of the bricks, they must be date back by many millennia… “And you’re SURE it’s down here?” I ask, as we enter into a VERY dusty and moldy room.

“Could you-” Stallatia says, pointing at what looks to be a war table- I nod and breathe in through my lungs and many gills, then blow away all of the dust that once rested upon the war table. “Nice!” She says, as I breathe in the air.

Stallatia starts coughing, surprising me- “C-Can’t breathe-” She says, as she tries to wave it all away. “Sorry, I guess your body can’t handle it like mine.” I say, before she falls on her backside, clutching her forehead- “Owy-owy-owy- Medicine please-” She says, holding her hand against it…

I grab the narcotic salve from her pocket, and quickly rub it against her forehead. “Seriously, if I just went and got my brother, he’d have you fixed up in no time.” I say, before cleaning my hand off, and putting the narcotic salve away.

She motions a denial of the reinstated offer anyways, as expected. “No! I have to get tougher!” She says, as she folds her arms.

I pick her up, and lift her onto her feet. “Thank you.” She says, as she looks at the now clean war table. “So is this what the ocean used to look like?” I ask, as I look at all of the kingdoms there used to be.

She nods, and rests her hand against the table, a smug look on her face. “Yep, I’ve been down here a ton of times! Yeah, supposedly, it was the puddle kids that destroyed all of them. Monstrous…” She stands there, staring at it, as I turn to look at her, a less than impressed look on my face..

She turns back to look at me, a confused look on her face. “What?” Realization hits her, after I shift my weight, and cross my arms. “Oh, hahah… I guess you kind of know one…” She says, as she nervously apologizes. “Still though… Why couldn’t they have been like uh-” She trails on- “Demitallis” -I correct- “uh- Demitallis. Why couldn’t they be kind, like your sister?” She asks, as we take in the gravity of all of these fallen kingdoms.

“Yeah, you’ve got a point. I mean, if Demitallis could do it… Why couldn’t they?” I ask, as my eyes follow the dotted lines that symbolize territory. “I guess that leaves less competition for good ol’ Ryleth.” Stallatia says, before standing up and walking away.

She approaches a door, and I follow. “I think it should be in the Armory. Now, I’m assuming the costume will probably be a bit too large for us. So I was thinking of rebuilding it with mana. We can probably get that uh- Sari? I think that’s her name? Nevermind-Nevermind- Anyways, I was thinking we could get Sari to duplicate it, but on a smaller scale, and then figure it out from there.” She says, as we we pass by the many doors, until we reach the last ones, and open them.

I stare at the suit… “So this is really it… The suit worn by the ancient hero known as Esoterrastar.” I say, as I fold my arms, and lean against the wall to stare at it. “Yep. I first learned of this little area, after eaves dropping on the guards. Supposedly, it was worn by the old queen, I heard she was a real piece of work…” She says, as she runs her hand down the side of it, feeling the material and consistency of the suit…

I stand up straight, and walk over to the suit in front of her. “Well, let’s get it down. The sooner we find that Fallengrar guy, the sooner we can get started on your training.” I say, as I pull it down from the stand that holds it.

Stallatia turns to look at me, a bright smile on her face. “Well, let’s get started.” She says, and so we do.

We manage to conceal the suit and get it to Stallatia’s room, where I then proceed to privately call up Sari, telling her to meet us in Stallatia’s room.

“Sari has arrived!” The short girl shouts, as she looks arounds. “Over here!” I shout, catching her attention! “This better be good! Sari is a very busy girl!” She shouts, as she runs up to us. “It is, we need your expertise!” I say, getting her a little excited. “Well, you should have said so! Sari is always pleased to provide.” She says, as we guide her to Stallatia’s bedroom.

“So this is it?” She asks, as she stares at the suit. “Yep! You just gotta’ replicate it, and downsize it maybe. I want one I can wear, so I figured that would be the best place to start from..” Stallatia says, but Sari shakes her head. “No, Sari will just replicate and alter copies of the original. Now come, Sari must take measurements.” She says, beckoning us, as we stare at each other.

The orb finishes building the two suits, both sized perfectly for our exact measurements, as we sit uncomfortably… “I’ve never felt as exposed as I did…” Stallatia says, as she clenches the clothes covering her… “Don’t be a baby, Sari didn’t touch you.” She says, as she grabs the suits and hands them to us.

Stallatia smiles and grabs them! “This one must be mine!” She says, pointing at the openings cut in it for her fins. “Which means this one’s yours!” She says, handing it to me. “Won’t they notice your fins, though?” I ask, surprising her AND Sari. “Wait, who is: ‘they’? Sari seems to have not been given all the information.” She says, placing her hands on her hips.

Stallatia looks at her, and nervously smiles… “Sorry, you see, I wanted to help with the investigation… After what happened, it made me feel powerless, and I don’t want to feel like that again.” She says, surprising both of us, actually. I never thought of it like that…

Sari lightens up a little, and starts thinking. “Alright, Sari’ll help you then. A long skirt, and a generous amount of extensions. Now hand them over.” She says, holding out her hands. “No more measurements?” I ask, as Stallatia and I nervously hand her the jumpsuits.

She sighs. “No, Sari already has all of the measurements she needs.” She says, as she tosses them in the air, and catches them in a new ring.

A little later, she hands us the refitted suits, and we look them over. “Wow, you even left openings for my blades.” I say, as I stare at the fins on the suit. “Make sure to bring it to Sari, when you decide to move on to your next stage.” She says, as Stallatia and I look over our suits.

Mine is covered in fins built to operate with my specific set, while Sari’s has a lot of large skirt-like extensions extending from it. Because of her massive fins, now it almost looks like a crazy dress. “Tell Sari if she’s needed for anything else. Goodbye.” She says, before leaving with the teleporter at home.

A few minutes later, Stallatia exits with the suit on. “A’ight, feelin’ cute!” She says, a happy look on her face, while she poses with it. “It’s kinda’ weak though. What’s up with that?” She says, making me realize that these were made by Sari…

“Right, they were made by Sari. Her magic density is pretty low, so it actually makes sense that it would be that weak…” I say, surprising her. “Dang. Here wait, maybe there’s some sort of function to power it up-” She says, as she starts waving her arms around in open air.

I walk over to and behind the room divider. “I think it uses oculory activation, Stallatia.” I say, as I hang the suit on top of the divider.

I step out, and look at myself in the mirror, my body fully concealed under the costume. Aside from my fins of course. “Alright, I think I figured it out.” Stallatia says, activating the cloaker. “I’m invisible~!” She says, while I watch her try to sneak around.

“You can’t see me!” She says, doing a silly dance in front of me. “I can see you just fine. The suit has multiple sensors that tell me where you are.” I say, causing her to suddenly stop. “That sucks.” She says, folding her arms. “Let’s see now… Did you find anything that can power up the suit?” I ask, surprising her.

She points her finger in the air, remembering what she was doing the entire time I was failing to put on the jumpsuit. “Right, it takes raw energy made from mana. It takes a LOT of it…” She says, probably looking at the power bar on the visor.

“Well, I’ve got a bit of Mana.” I say, as I stare at my own, and start pouring mana into the suit. “Yeesh, it really does take a ton though.” I say, as I sit back and stare at it-

I look at Stallatia, and then at the suit… “You don’t… You don’t think that it could alter its shape, do you?” I ask, surprising her. “No… Couldn’t… Oh lord… NOPE! Sari made these for us, I don’t care!” She says, as she sits down and pouts.

I roll my eyes, and pour my entire supply, draining it into the suit. “Maybe we can take some from the original.” I say, surprising her. “Yes! Great idea!” She says, running over to- “Suit says it’s almost empty itself…” She says, as she rests her hand on it. “I guess that’s what happens when it’s been around for so long.” I say, as I try and activate whatever function looks at the other suit’s energy source.

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I continue to drain my mana into it, as I start looking through the other abilities, after having lost interest in the original thing. “Now what else do we have here…” I find one, and look over to an open area in the room.

A clone of myself runs out into the open space, and turns around to look at me… I wave at it, and it waves back… “Oh cool, clone ability.” Stallatia says, as she walks over to touch it- Her hand phases right through it… “Hologram?” She asks, as she repeats the previous action multiple times…

It just stares at her, then looks back at me, expectantly… “Can you stop that?” I ask, surprising her. “Sorry.” She says, before backing away, while my hologram thanks me with a bow.

She walks back over, and I deactivate the hologram. “Let’s get going already. The more time we waste, the less time we’re spending helping track down the bad guys.” She says, before we finally depart.

We find ourselves outside of the castle. “At the first sign of danger, you grab me, and we teleport away.” I say, causing her to simply nod in agreement.

We swim through the ocean, scanning the area, trying to figure out where they were holding Stallatia. “Right, it was that Steriya girl who saved me… Right?” She asks, as we continue to swim around. “Yeah, she teleported your entire cage out of the building. The building disappeared quickly after. How’s your head doing?” I ask, reaching for the narcotic salve. .

She however rejects the advance with a wave of her hands. "No, the suit seems to have healed it for me… Or it’s numbing the pain. I haven’t taken it off to see, so yeah...” She says, as she rubs it curiously...

“Isn’t that Steriya girl a type of Mechonica, or some’n?” She asks, looking at me. “No, she’s a porcelain elemental. She wields the very powerful dimensional magic, which is what lets her teleport around so freely.” I explain, as we pass through a coral reef.

Stallatia sits down on one of the large corals, and I sit on another to join her. “Man, twenty thousand different siblings… You’d never have trouble finding a playmate at that point.” She says, chuckling at the thought. “Yeah, I guess. Problem though, is that I still don’t know all of their names. I try to spend as much time with my brother Dart as possible, because he needs help. There’s something… Wrong with him, I think? I don’t really know what it is, but I can kind of tell? I don’t really know. But I don’t want to make too many friends right now, while Dart still needs me.” I say, as I think back to all of the time Dart and I have been spending together…

“You think so? Do you think it might be some sort of mental disability like my mom and I’s?” She asks, making me realize that they actually share something in common. “I guess, yeah. But it’s like, the opposite of what you have? I don’t really know what it is…” I say, as I try and put into words what my brother is going through…

“Well, I’m just unnaturally happy… So would he be unnaturally sad? Or is he more circumstantial?...” She asks, as our stop begins to devolve into more of a break. “I guess? I just… I think we should get going, we’re not making any progress like this.” I say, as I stand up, followed by Stallatia.

We move on quickly, exploring for hours, swimming by many fish, whales, and other such creatures that live beneath the depths.

We find an old, run down house… There seems to be something you could call a garden, but it’s run down, and unkept… Whoever owns this place doesn’t even care enough to clean it…

I look over at Stallatia, who’s sitting in front of a bit of kelp, most likely surprised anything is even living here. “You think anyone’s living here? Maybe we can investigate, on the off chance we might find SOMETHING.” I say, as I walk over to the haphazardly placed door.

Stallatia quickly runs up next to me. “I doubt it. I guess this could make for a good hideout though… So there’s that.” She shrugs, trying to find some excuse for our desperation. I knock on the door lightly, causing it to fall over and lightly land on the floor…

We stare at the pathetic state of the door until a voice rings out from the depths of the dilapidated building…. “Who’s fuckin’ wit’ mah door?!” He calls out, as he starts stomping down the hallway- I grab Stallatia, and dash out of the building, but tentacles suddenly appear around us, blocking our path-

“A kraken!” I shout, as I move into a combative position- “The hell?” He asks, in confusion. “Wha’da’ya’ brats want?” He asks, as the tentacles suddenly disappear. “And why are you dressed that dumb hero?” He asks, reminding me that I’m wearing the jumpsuit…

“Oh hey! Yer’ a performer! ‘Thought I recognized that pose somewhere…” He continues, as we just stare at him in shock. “It’s a martial arts stance!” I shout, surprising stallatia. “Alright, well do ya’ need some’n? ‘Cause now I gotta’ door to fix.” He says, his tone growing a little more annoyed.

I relax, and walk up to him. “Sorry about that, all I did was touch it, and it fell over…” I say, as we look at the door, still resting there… “Anyways, I was hoping to investigate the building, to see if it had anything to do with a man named Fallengrar. At this point we’re kind of desperate, and we’re looking for anything that’ll give us a lead. So unless you know anything about him, I think we should probably get going.” I say, surprising him.

He lifts an eyebrow, and walks inside. “Come on, I might actually be able to help you!” He says, surprising us. “Are we sure we can trust him?” I ask, staring at Stallatia…

She nods, and heads in after the man, forcing me to run after her, for her protection. “Come on, he’s our only potential lead! I’m not losing this chance!” She says, as I quickly follow behind her.

We find the kraken man standing in front of a strange, yet old looking device, tacking away at it. “Sorry, ‘seems the others aren’t here, ‘probably busy, or asleep. Ya’ know how us old guys are, always tired…” He says, as he lies back in his chair, seemingly drifting into sleep...

I simply look at Stallatia, as she stares at him expectantly… “Well, we’re not getting anything out of this. Can I get you home, yet?” I ask, but she shakes her head. “No, Fallengrar is still out there. Will your friends reply soon? Can we wait here until they do so?” She asks, waking him up from his stupor- “Oh, uh, sure I guess… What are you kids really afta’?” He asks, as he sits up and turns the chair to look at us.

Stallatia speaks up before I can- “Fallengrar, he was trying to capture Ryleth for himself, and use its resources to get into a position of power. We’re hunting him down, so we can bring him to justice.” She says, summarizing what’s currently happening.

The old man nods, and sighs. “Damn kids… Screwin’ wit’ others like that ain’t gonna’ getcha’ what you want..” He says, as he scratches the back of his head leisurely.

“Right, I’m Castor. What’s yer’ names?” He asks, making me realize we never even introduced ourselves. “I’m Kassinkamble, and this is uh-” I trail on, waiting for Stallatia to speak up, but she stares at him for a moment. “Stalla. I’m Stalla.” She says, hiding the rest of her name.

Castor nods, and lies back again. “Well, feel free ta’ make yer’selves at home, I guess. Oh, ya’ know, muh Nephew came ta’ visit me. Didn’t even know I had one’a’those!” He says, just now thinking of something to talk about.

I look around for some chairs, while Stallatia sits on the floor. “That’s so nice. What’s his name?” She says, as he takes a moment to think. “Right- Uh… Right, I’m old, so mah’ memory’s a little bad… Anyways, his name’s Sirius-” He says, surprising me, and I assume Stallatia too…

I rush into the room, as he continues- “Right, don’t tell anyone I told’ja this… But he went out’a few days ago ta’ kill ‘a puddle kid. I taught’em well, so he’s probably already taken care’a’it. So ya’ got nothin’ ta’ worry about. Yep, that’s mah’ nephew, almost makes me proud, knowin’ there’s anotha’ in our line that has’a kill’a their own unda’ their belt...” He continues, as I walk up, and take off the mask, surprising him.

“Um… I should probably tell you that he didn’t… You see, Demitallis is my sister. When Sirius came to kill her, I had to help her out.” I say, worried he might be angry, but he nods with mild interest. “Hey, it’s okay. Tell me what ‘appened then.” He says, as I think about all the cuts I left on the kid’s body…

I sit down, and put the mask back on. “Right. I fought Sirius with Demitallis. We were fighting for a while, I was using my martial arts, but he kept overpowering and biting me. Although, I may have covered him in tons of light cuts… Halfway through, I think I was even trying to kill him… After a while, he had me worn out and beat, and I had to retreat. Demitallis told me they continued to fight for a little while longer, until he nearly killed Demitallis. She said he tried to zap her to death. As I said, it almost worked, but my sister Steriya got there just in time and managed to knock him out somehow. Although, when he got up, it at least calmed him down. After that, I’m not really sure what happened. Supposedly he’s dating my sister Celest? She’s a Nine Tailed Fox.” I say, surprising both of them, as they listen intently.

Castor adjusts himself a little in his seat, and speaks up. “Mm… I see. Surprised ya’ could even stand up to’em. He’s still ‘a Kraken afta’ all.” He says, as he begins to stand up. “Right… Didn’t that all happen, after I was captured? Right, Castor, I’m Princess Stallatia, heir to Ryleth.” She says, not surprising him at all.

He nods, as he steps into the hallway. “Well, since ya’ two’ll be ‘ere for a’while. I was hopin’ you could get some work done around ‘ere.” He says, motioning us to follow him.

He shows us to the door, that I accidentally knocked down… “Yeah, I ordered it online, afta’ what mah nephew did, but I’m too old ta’ actually install it.” That explains the mess… I grab the door, and place it next to the wall. “Where’s the…” I spot the hinges, just left on the floor…

“I get that you’re old… But shouldn’t you still be strong enough to like, bench press a kingdom?” I ask, as I grab the nails and hinges, and start driving the nails through the holes and into the wall. “Ah’ guess. I’m no fighter… I’m not like those blowhards on Pangaia, tryna’ gather power, thinkin’ they can take over the world…” He says, as he rests against the wall.

I finish nailing the hinges into the door frame, and grab the door. “Stallatia, can you hold the door still?” I ask, and she quickly complies, holding it up as I have it. “So is that just your excuse to be lazy?” I ask, annoying him, as I gently slide the nails through the stone door.

He looks at my handiwork, as I hold the original hinges and nails in my hand, while Stallatia picks up the pieces of what must have been the original door. “Alright yeah, I’m lazy, shaddup.” He says, as he walks back into the hallway, most likely to check if his friends are on…

Stallatia walks back over, all the pieces in hand… “Stallatia, what the hell are we doing here? How’s his lazy old friends going to help us?” I ask, but she just stares at me, the mask making it hard to discern her expression…

“Kass, please… He’s been around for almost two thousand years, he’s got to have SOME SORT of connections!” She says, as she heads into the house. “Hey! Anything else for us to do?!” She calls out, most likely bored herself.

For a few more hours, that’s what we do. We clean up around this place, while arguing about whether or not this guy has anything for us.

Just as I finish replacing the windows, I hear him call for us- “Hey! Get in’ere!” He shouts, causing me to quickly dart into the room, followed by Stallatia.

I look stare at him, expectantly. “Well?” I ask, as he stares at his device… “Fallengrar, right? He’s holed up on one’a’them ancients. Mah friend ‘ere says he’s most likely layin’ low, he’s in one’a’those’ah…” He pauses for a moment, as though his brain has seemingly flatlined…

He finally snaps back into reality, and continues. “Right, he’s in one’a’those satellite cities, owned by a world power. The one who rules over light, or some’n? Buddy says it’s called Salvicity, or some’n.” He says, surprising us.

“Wow, we would have never found him… Looks like I was right!” Stallatia says, smugly… “Whatever, let’s just go find him.” I say, as I make my way to the door. “Thanks for the help!” Stallatia calls out to, but no reply…

We step outside, and I look at Stallatia. “So, what’s the plan now? Tell the authorities?” I ask, but she shakes her head. “No, if he’s not within Ryleth’s territory, then neither the police nor military will be able to do anything.” She says, as she tries to think of a way to deal with this situation, but unbeknownst to her, that I already have the answer.

“I’ll just tell Demitallis and Steriya, they should be more than capable enough to find him.” I say, before Castor surprisingly rushes out of his home with some sort of object- “Hey, kids!” He says, as he stops in front of us. “If ya’ see mah friend, give’em this. He’ll know what it means.” He says, as he hands us some rolled up piece of paper.

“It’s’a’scroll. Don’t open it.” He says, as he heads back inside. We just stare at it for a moment, before we activate our cloaking devices, and I grab Stallatia to teleport us to the floating island.

End of Chapter: 6√C “From hunted to hunter!”

Thanks you for reading.