Chapter 59: It Came From The Deep

  News From Around The World

  Courts Around The World Rule That Confessions Made Or Evidence Gathered Using Truth Magic Is Inadmissible In A Court Of Law

  "Truth magic is only able to determine what the target thinks is true or false," says Tala Mau In Court Hearing

  The Heroes and Their Legacy: A Look Into The UNDF Xothicans And Their Heroic Parents

  Mars Colony Expected To Be Set Up Within The Week

  Construction of Solar Farm And Autonomous Factory On The Moon Begins. It Will Supply The Earth With Unlimited Free, Clean Energy

  In Controversial Decision, Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, and Denmark Legalize Marriage Between More Than Two People

  UN Advisers Being Sent To Major Cities Around The World To Finalize Plans For A Post-Merger World

  VVVVVV

  Several weeks have passed since the events in France. In that time, the number of transfers has increased to the point where Tom's, Azikiwe's or Garza's squads could not handle alone. Thankfully, by this time, the UNDF had the resources and training to take on the minor threats without any major issue. Sadly, due to Kara's decreasing power, she lost the ability to grant any more quests. Only three quests remained. The two Charybdis quest and the Kraken quest.

  Aside from the monster appearances, Tom and his team had another major mission for the world. The first manned mission to Mars. This mission had the involvement of every space agency on Earth: NASA, ESA, CSA, et cetera. Since the travel method to the red planet was simple, the powers involved wanted this mission to have a metaphorical meaning than just the pursuit of science. They wanted it to represent the unity of Humanity... and Xoth.

  Tom's team would be a part of the first team sent to Mars along with an American, a Chinese, a German, an Indian, a South African, a Brazilian and a Russian astronaut. The manner which they would do the transfer involved the two groups standing on a circular metal platform. In the center of the platform would be a three-hundred-sixty degree camera that would film the event at a high resolution.

  When they all arrived on Mars, they stood there for a moment in shock of the world around them. After the pause, they said the line that was prepared to be the first words uttered on Mars. "On the world of war, we come to seek peace and progress. May it always be our goal."

  After those words, they all stepped off of the platform at the same time to prevent any one person from being the first person on Mars. The angle of the camera and the height of the platform was made so that the feet of the astronauts was blocked. This was to prevent viewers of the footage discovering who was the first person to step on Mars by an arbitrary micro-measurement.

  With the initial step finished, Tom returned to the NASA facility in Cape Canaveral to retrieve the last unused Portal. He teleported it to Mars and erected it so it could connect to Earth. From there, equipment, prefab structures, and personnel were sent through to study Mars and to begin construction of a colony.

  Days have passed since then and with new levels of stability both on- and off-world, Tom was able to get a mission approved by the UNDF. In the Gulf of Mexico, a fleet of Navy ships sat in a semi-circle facing a decommissioned oil rig. The fleet consisted of an aircraft carrier, several destroyers, frigates, cruisers and Littoral combat ships. Around a dozen Apache helicopters hovered in the air over the navy ships. Each of these ships ran on minimal power to reduce the amount of noise each of them made. Every cannon, turret and missile launcher on every ship was aimed at the oil rig.

  All off-shore oil rigs were decommissioned when analysts declared that the expenses needed to defend them would outweigh the profits that could be recovered. This caused oil prices around the world to skyrocket. Countries such as Canada, Russia, the United States of America, and organizations such as OPEC have been pressured to increase oil production to make up for the loss. Until demand can be met, fuel rationing programs have been put into place around the world.

  Tom and every SYSTEM enhanced person stood on the deck of the aircraft carrier and watched as the last helicopter dropped a final load of fish chum on top of the oil rig. Many forest fighting helicopters were commandeered and filled with fish chum so the UNDF could coat the entire oil rig and fill the surrounding waters with fish guts. The smell was overwhelming and even reached the ships near it. Giant flocks of seagulls flew around the oil rig so they could get a taste of what was dropped on it.

  Several of the soldiers near Tom bent over the edge of the aircraft carrier and dry heaved. Reia flew around in order to stave off her boredom. Sylmae twirled an arrow between her fingers. Everyone, who was not heaving, stood with a neutral expression on their face.

  The Captain of the aircraft carrier came out from the door to the control tower. He held a cloth over his mouth and noise. The Captain was dressed in his white uniform and insignia patches on his shoulders. He had a radio communicator on his shoulder that allowed him direct communication with the fleet in the area.

  "I don't know how most of you are still standing with that smell," the Captain said through the cloth.

  "I'm currently using all my strength to hold my stomach's content down," Sylmae muttered.

  "Where did you get this idea from again, Tom?" Vivian asked.

  "A giant monster movie from the late nineties," Tom replied. "Terrible movie. The follow up was much better. Have the sonars picked anything up yet, Captain?"

  "The sub below us is pinging every five minutes," the Captain replied. "We'll know if it is getting close."

  "Isn't five minutes a bit long, sir?" Jones asked. "From previous encounters with the Kraken has recorded speeds up to sixty knots."

  "It's a risk, but we don't want to give away our position," Tom said. "We are playing the sounds of dying fish and whales to attract it, and too much pinging might spook it off."

  "The thing took down the drone warships we sent after it without much trouble," Sam said. "I doubt it feels fear."

  "Marine life really don't like active sonar," the Captain interjected. "This Kraken would probably be more sensitive to it than most of Earth's life. We know that the Kraken is in this region. We just need to be patient and let the lure do its job."

  "Are the mines in place?" Tom asked.

  The Captain nodded.

  "Good, good."

  The Captain's face suddenly got stern and he press his hand to his ear where an ear bud sat. The ear bud was attached to a wire that ran to his collar.

  "Our radar just picked up something," the Captain said. "Something big." He grabbed his communicator and ordered, "All units prep weapons. Operation Sea Raiders is a go."

  Everyone on every ship waited and watched with bated breath. After several minutes, a large shadow appeared in the sea in the distance. It quickly moved under the ships. Everyone moved from one side of the ship to the other to follow it. The shadow swam over to the oil rig. It waited at the base of the rig in the bloody red water. Two tentacles erupted out of the water.

  "Jesus Christ..." Garza muttered under her breath.

  More tentacles came from the ocean's water and clung onto the oil rig's supports. They slithered upwards as they pulled up a massive weight behind them. After mere moments, the main body emerged out of the water. The body resembled a cross between an octopus and a squid. Its body was round and squishy like an octopus but with the fins of a squid. In total, the Kraken had ten tentacles. Eight of the tentacles were thick with hundreds of large suction cups on their underside. The last two were long and slender with flat pads at the ends like a squid's feeding tentacles. On these feeding tentacles, it had claws inside the suction cups.

  "Almost," Tom said to the Captain as they watched the massive creature crawl up the rig. "Syl, come over."

  Syl jogged over to Tom's side and placed a hand on his shoulder. The Kraken managed to reach the top of the oil rig and righted itself upwards. Without air-breathing lungs, the Kraken was unable to make any noise, so it was eerie to watch a massive creature crawl up a mega-structure without making any noises except for splashing water and the creaking metal of the oil rig.

  Tom and Sylmae teleported away. The sluggish movement of the Kraken suddenly slowed down further to the point where it didn't look like it was moving. Tom and Sylmae returned to the carrier deck.

  "Now!" Tom yelled at the Captain.

  "All units, commence fire!" the Captain yelled into his communicator.

  Every ship and helicopter in the area unleashed upon the giant cephalopod. Missiles, bullets and cannon shots were off in a continuous succession. For many of the ships, it looked like a wall of fire formed to the side of them as their cannons went off. While the ships attacked, Tom went to each member of all three team to place a Thunder Enchant spell on their weapon.

  The Apache helicopters above let loose all the missiles that they had equipped. Once those became exhausted, they relied on their M197 Gatling cannon. Explosions went off on the Kraken and the platform. The navy tried their best to avoid damage to the structure, but eliminating the Kraken was their priority. After sustaining the barrage for several minutes, chucks of the Kraken came away to reveal its innards. Bright florescent blue blood oozed out of these wounds.

  "Tom, it looks like my Slow spell is wearing off," Sylmae said in concern.

  "We expected this," Tom assured her. "Captain, get ready with the mines. It's going to try and escape."

  "Ready the mines for detonation," the Captain squawked over the communicator.

  The Kraken's original movement speed returned to it and the injured creature moved away from the ships to the other side of the rig. It teetered over the side to ready its escape.

  "Now!" Tom said while pumping a fist.

  "Detonate charges!"

  A dozen massive explosions went off just under the surface of the water on the Kraken's escape route. The sudden close range explosion scared the Kraken back onto the rig's platform.

  A voice chimed in over the Captain's ear bud. "Rail Gun is charged."

  "Fire the Rail Gun," he ordered.

  One of the cruisers in the area had a long barrel cannon that was aimed in the direction of the Kraken. The cannon erupted and a streak of fire went across the area towards the giant monster. The projectile exploded upon impact on the Kraken. Fire and blood went in all directions. When the fiery explosion dissipated, the damage was revealed. A massive hole was left in the Kraken that went to the other side.

  "Tom, what was that?!" Syl asked him.

  "A Rail Gun," he answered. "A weapon that uses magnetic fields to accelerate a metal slug at an insanely fast speed. As you saw, it literally set the air on fire as it flew."

  Sylmae looked back at the super weapon with a contemplative look on her face. She returned her focus on the Kraken's Status. With her high Perception, she was able to view the monster's Status from this distance.

  "Cease fire!" Sylmae yelled to the Captain.

  "Cease fire, cease fire!" the Captain said over the communicator.

  In moments, all the ships and helicopters ended their attack on the sea beast. All teams gathered on Tom's position to prepare for for teleportation.

  "Get ready!" Tom told them all. "We're going right into it."

  The three teams teleported onto the oil rig. The smell was even worse than before. Each of them nearly passed out from it. The Kraken was too weak to notice their presence. It reared up which gave them a clear view of the creature's beak.

  "Tom, your team go high, we go low," Garza said.

  "Got it!" Tom replied. "Summon your Sprites, girls!"

  The Xothicans summoned their magical Sprites. The creatures did not have a true physical form. Due to their magical origin, they appeared as balls of light. Each Elemental had their own coloured Sprites. Reia's Sprite was aqua-green, Amber's was green, Tala's was red, Sylmae's was light blue, and Vivian's was brown.

  Through training, Tom and the Elementals were able to discover the nature of the Sprite summons. These Sprites are able to act autonomously and by the will of the Elemental. When left to their own devices, Sprites will attack any nearby enemy or buff and heal nearby allies. In case they are not attacking the correct enemy or aiding the correct ally, the summoner can will it to act. With these traits, it was made essential that these Sprites are summoned right before battle.

  With the Sprites summoned, Tom grabbed Tala by the waist and jumped up to a metal support and then to another until they reached the highest platform on the rig. Sylmae wrapped her arms around Amber's shoulder. Amber swung her whip blade and wrapped it around a different support and pulled herself upwards onto a platform so Sylmae and she could be in position to help with the fight.

  "Reia, the air!" Vivian said while she lifted her arms.

  Reia hugged Vivian and flew up into the air.

  Sam quickly equipped her grenade launcher and launched a couple grenades into the Kraken's mouth. The explosions broke its beak apart and the creature let out a gurgling noise.

  "Yeah!" Sam cheered.

  The Kraken's movement ceased and it collapsed onto the deck. The UNDF soldiers quickly, retreated back to avoid being crushed.

  "Watch the tentacles and keep your fire focused around the mouth!" Garza order the two ground teams. "Take advantage of its weakened state."

  "Take it down!" Azikiwe yelled to his squad.

  The UNDF soldiers fired their rifles at the monster's bleeding mouth.

  Up above, Sylmae aimed at the Kraken and let loose arrow after arrow at the creature's opal-coloured eyes. Amber magically formed plants to spew spores to boost the UNDF soldiers on the deck. Reia and Vivian landed on the Kraken's bulbous head and immediately slipped. Reia quickly reacted and stabbed her spear into the monster to hold her into place. She used her tail to grab Vivian by the hand to stop her from sliding down the Kraken's side.

  "I'd rather not go down a monster water slide!" Vivian said. "Did you think this through?"

  "I'm so sorry, I didn't think it would be this slippery!" Reia apologized.

  "Well, we're here. Might as well contribute." Vivian let go of Reia's hand and then grabbed onto her ankle as she slid. "You can still use magic while that spear is impaled. Use it!"

  Vivian then slammed her hammer on the Kraken. The flesh got swollen and bruised from the attack. Reia raised her hand and launched several Wind Blades down the beast's side. The magical blades went down the flesh vertically and sliced its flesh open.

  Tala used Ice Spikes to attack the Kraken. While Lightning Strike magic would be more effective, with Vivian and Reia on the Kraken, she wanted to avoid friendly fire. Luckily the Lightning enhancements to their weapons did not spread as well in a body. The Ice Spikes impaled into the Kraken which caused it great pain.

  Tom jumped towards the Kraken and swung a Surge Strike made from a Fireball. The attack created a two meter long gash in the Kraken's head. Tom impaled his sword into the gash and yanked it downwards. The sword slid through the flesh with ease. The Kraken's tentacles twitched and then moved as its debuff wore off.

  "It's getting back up!" Amber yelled. "We need to finish this fast."

  "Reia, you and Vi get off!" Tom yelled. "We need a Thunder Storm!"

  Reia nodded and quickly flew off with Vivian hanging by her tail. She flew down to Tom and readied for a new attack.

  "Everybody fall back!" Tom yelled to the soldiers. "We have a big spell coming!"

  While combination spells are more powerful than multiple individual spells, it has the weakness of less control.

  Tom and Reia reached out with their hands and fired off their spells. Lightning Strike and Wind Blade twirled together and went up into the sky. The Kraken shifted itself upwards as the Shocked debuff wore off.

  "It's getting up!" Jones yelled.

  Dark, black clouds formed in the sky above the Kraken. The clouds growled as lightning streaked across its belly. The Kraken raised two of its tentacles into the air to ready for an attack.

  "Tch, idiot," Vivian sighed.

  Two bolts of lightning came down from the clouds and struck both raised tentacles. The electricity flowed through the monster's body. It loudly sizzles and fumes came off of its body. The clouds dissipated shortly after the double lightning. The Kraken was frozen in place for a minute after the attack before it made a gurgling noise and collapsed onto the rig's deck.

  "It's dead!" Sylmae announced.

  The UNDF soldiers cheered at the announcement. Reia flew up and gathered Sylmae, Tala and Amber from their platforms.

  Tom used his communicator and said to the Captain, "the Kraken is dead. You are clear to retrieve the carcass."

  "Understood," the Captain replied. "You can all head back to HQ. We can take care of things from here."

  "Thank you, sir." Tom looked to every in the area. "We're done here. We'll head back to HQ. There we can rest and, if you levelled up, increases your stats."

  "I got the Giant Slayer Title," Amber said.

  "Same here," Sylmae said.

  "Nice," Tom said.

  "I think I speak for everyone here when I say, we need to leave this rig before this smell clings to us permanently," Sam said.

  Several of the soldiers muttered in agreement. Tom nodded and activated his teleport ability. They found themselves inside the barrack room that was put aside for Tom and others to teleport into and out of. This room was set up due to Tom's random teleports were, at best, a distraction to the base's personnel.

  Everyone tossed their weapons into their Inventory and walked out of the room. There in the hall was a UNDF Cadet who appeared to have been waiting for them. He clicked his heels together and saluted the groups.

  "Sir!" he generally greeted.

  "At ease," Garza said. "Is there something you need?"

  "Supreme Commander Steele asked me to retrieve Everett's group," he replied. "The rest of you can turn in your equipment and take it easy. As he said."

  "Alright. We'll talk later Tom."

  Tom nodded and said, "Later."

  The soldiers walked off towards the equipment room to turn in their gear. The Cadet gestured for Tom's group to follow. It took several minutes before they reached the SC's office. The Cadet walked to the door and lightly knocked on it three times.

  "Yes?" Steele called out.

  "Sir, I have brought Everett's team."

  "Let them in and you can report to Waltz for new orders."

  "Yes, sir." The Cadet opened the door for Tom's team and then left.

  The group entered the large office. Steele sat behind his desk to read one of the many tablets that were piled into a large mound.

  "You seem to be busy of late, Sir," Tom joked.

  "Smart ass," Steele grumbled. "I'm glad to see that the mission was successful. No major injuries or damage. At least for our ships. Royal Petro will not be happy about that rig."

  Tom shrugged.

  "What would have happened if it escaped?" Sylmae asked. "You only gave us a vague overview of the plan, Tom."

  "We had subs in the area that would have come in to finish the Kraken off if it escaped the oil rig," Tom answered.

  "Our analysts are going to need time to check the footage and data, but they are probably going to come to the same conclusion as I did when I watched the operation here. As safe and effective as the mission was, it is not financially viable to continue using this method in the future."

  "Bohalen is our hope for sea travel," Tala muttered.

  "It seems so. We are going to make contacting Bohalen a priority after the fusion so we can set up trade and get their repellent runes. Our infrastructure is going to be one of our greatest advantages in the new world. Now as interesting as geopolitics is, I called you all here for two reasons. RND have finished the design of the helmet for the Wyvern armour. Here, look."

  Steele reached down behind his desk and pulled up a helmet. It was pure black in colour. Half the helmet was a black glass material that was opaque from the outside.

  "This is a damn good helmet, Sir," Tom said.

  "I see you already used Identify on it. This helmet is the pinnacle of armour research. The visor is made from a palladium microalloy to create metallic glass. This makes it tougher than steel. The visor uses a HUD system that is an upgrade to the Land Warrior program the United States deployed. You can highlight people you see and even mark them for your allies. You can view GPS data, weather, news, and footage from the cameras of your team's helmets. In case of gas attacks, the helmet is able to filter your air."

  "Um, what about the opaque visor?" Reia pointed out. "It would be hard to talk to someone face to face."

  "The visor can open by pressing this button." Steele pressed a small button on the lower right section of the helmet, around where the jaw-line would be. The visor glass quickly opened upwards to reveal the face area. The movement took a split second. "And you press it again to close it."

  "Oh, cool!"

  "Next time you come to base, we'll be able to set you all up with your own helmet." Steele took the helmet back and placed it on the ground. "Now onto the second subject. We just got a new lead on Mordiggian and Wendigo."

  Steele handed Tom one of the tablets on his desk. Tom looked at the tablet and found it had a series of images displayed on it. The first image was of the world map with dozens of purple dots all over it. Tom held it at stomach level so Reia, Vivian, Sylmae, Tala and Amber could see it. Poor Vivian had to stand up on her toes.

  "Using the research that Umbra gathered on the transfers, we were able to modify modern doppler technology to detect the specific type of storm that forms when creatures transfer from Xoth to Earth."

  "And do these the dots display the storms that have happened so far?" Sylmae asked.

  "Those are current storms."

  "What!" everyone exclaimed.

  "We didn't know about them since they are all in isolated locations. Away from civilization. A gift from Umbra to Mordiggian."

  "Kara, is there a reason why you didn't sense all these storms?" Tom asked out loud.

  Tom looked to Steele and said, "Kara doesn't know how these storms formed without her knowing. Do we have more Intel on these storms?"

  Steele nodded. "We sent drones to a dozen of these sites to take pictures and, in each case, they were destroyed by lightning. Before they crashed, they managed to take pictures of the site below the storm. They are on the tablet."

  Tom swiped to the left to view the next image. It displayed a mountainous forest. Lightning struck the ground in several places. Parts of the forest were on fire. Tom swiped away and saw that on the ground, below the center of the storm, was a tall stone-like structure.

  "An obelisk," Reia said. "It looks even bigger than the one I saw on Xoth."

  "What is that around it?" Amber asked as she pointed to a mass around the base of the obelisk. It was shorter than the trees and was brownish-gray in colour. "Definitely not trees."

  "The next image was the last one we could take before lightning struck the drone," Steele said.

  Tom switched to the next image which was a close up of the mass. The mass was actually an enormous mob of zombies and animated skeletons.

  "Jesus..." Tom muttered. "Just how many are there?"

  "Hundreds, possibly thousands," Steele replied. "And this is just one site. The drones we sent to other sites have found similar defenses."

  "Mordiggian must have created them," Tala said. "To create so many... He must have been gathering bodies since he came to this world. Look. There's very few Xothican people and monsters in the crowd. It's mostly Humans."

  "Gathering?" Steele repeated.

  "Necromancy requires bodies. They can be recently deceased to long dead, but the longer a creature is dead, the weaker will be when it is reborn as a monster. The news we have heard for the last half a year about grave sites being desecrated around the world was likely Mordiggian's doing. No. It was his doing."

  "That bastard," Steele growled. "How strong will these monsters be?"

  Tala thought on the question before she answered, "Not too strong. All undead are born weaker than their original self at level one. They will get stronger as time goes on and as they kill. Seeing how many undead there are and how we haven't heard of any attacks, they are all probably very weak."

  "Quantity over quality, eh?" Vivian remarked. "Mordiggian was probably desperate."

  "Can they change other people into zombies?" Steele asked Tala.

  Tala nodded her head. "They can but not as easily as your movies. Only a zombie can spread the infection and a bite won't immediately turn you into a zombie. The infection is rather weak so a person has to die within a certain amount of time after a bite. If they don't, the infection wears off."

  "So Commander, what is the UNDF's plans to dealing with these obelisks?" Vivian asked. "We need to buy time for your world."

  "Aircrafts are out of the question for taking out these obelisks," Steele said. "Artillery is the best option. They can be protected by an escort of tanks and soldiers."

  "How soon can we get this mission going?" Tom asked.

  "Several days to a week."

  "That's a bit long, isn't it?" Sylmae asked. "With those drone crashes, Mordiggian and Wendigo are going to know that we know of their obelisks."

  "This operation is likely going to be one of the largest and complex military operations in Human history," Steele explained. "We need to gather our equipment, weapons and soldiers, and then transport them to dozens of remote locations across the world. At the same time, we have to be wary of two ancient powerful beings. If it wasn't for the fact that these obelisks were draining away the time we have before the merger, I would have requested more time for preparations."

  Tom placed the tablet back on his desk.

  "I want you to take this." Steele reached into one of his desk drawers and pulled out a device that looked like a cross between a smart phone and a walkie-talkie. In his other hand was a charging cord. "It's a satellite phone. I want you to take this."

  "The last phone we were given didn't work out for us, sir," Tom said.

  "That was a mistake on our part. But Phoenix and Umbra is gone. And we took extra steps for the security of this phone. While this phone is encrypted, it no longer relies on cellphone networks. It now relies on five satellites that we just launched through the ISS' portal. No one can hack into that phone and locate you. At this point, we can't rely on you showing up at certain times. We need to be able to contact you any time when issues arise."

  Tom reached out and took the phone and cable. He tossed them into his Inventory.

  "Anything more, Commander?" Tom asked.

  "That is everything. We'll call you when we are prepared to initiate the operation. You are all dismissed. Take some time for yourselves and rest."

  "Thank you, sir," Tom said. He looked to his companions. "Let's go home."

  They teleported out of the office. Steele stood up from his desk and went over to a nearby window and opened it. He then took in a deep breath.

  "That smell," he mumbled under his breath.

  VVVVVV

  Safehouse Island

  Later that day...

  The sun slowly sank past the horizon. The sky turned into beautiful shades of orange, purple and blue. Tom, Reia, Tala, Amber, Sylmae, and Vivian sat around a bonfire on the black sand beach. IZ played on a nearby stereo. He played the ukulele and sang the song Over The Rainbow.

  A rotisserie spit with several chickens on it hung over the fire. The six drank beer as they relaxed in their foldout chairs. Occasionally, Tom would spin the spit to evenly cook the chicken.

  "I can not get enough of this beer," Vivian sighed after finishing her bottle. She let out a burp. "Beer me."

  Reia reached into the cooler and tossed it over. Vivian used her thumb to flick the bottle cap off.

  "You know you don't have to do the grocery shopping alone, right?" Sylmae said.

  "I know," Tom said. "It's just since you all sleep several hours longer than me, I find grocery is a great way to fill that time. Also, I don't think the reactions of the people would be as amusing."

  "Reactions?" Amber repeated.

  "Well... If I brought any of you along, I would have to use Disguise to prevent people from swarming us. When it's just me, I like to not use Disguise."

  "Oh?"

  "I go to a random grocery store in Canada. Usually in a small city or large town. I go around getting groceries and I notice everyone's bewildered looks. They all recognize me, but they aren't one hundred percent. I mean why would Thunder come to this grocery store?"

  "You're such an ass," Reia muttered in jest.

  "Hey, to my credit, if someone does ask if I am me, I say yes. Maybe give an autograph or take a selfie with them. I'm not a complete ass."

  They all laughed.

  "We're getting close to the end, aren't we?" Tala asked out of the blue. She stared at her bottle of beer.

  "Of this part of the journey at least," Sylmae said. She noticed Tala's hands were shaking. Sylmae placed her hand overs hers and said, "It's going to be fine."

  "So much has happened in the time since we came here," Reia continued. "Fought monsters, unite a world, fight terrorists-"

  "Fall in love," Sylmae interjected with a blush in her cheeks.

  "Fall in love."

  Everyone lovingly glanced at one another.

  "Finally made that harem I always wanted," Vivian said under her breath before she took a sip of beer.

  "What was that?" Tom asked Vi.

  "Nothing," she giggled.

  "We found out who our parents were," Tala said. "Knowing they are the heroes is... overwhelming. It's a lot to live up to."

  "I guess living in our parent's shadow is something we all have in common," Tom muttered. He was quiet for a moment and looked down at his beer with a contemplative expression.

  "You don't really talk about them much," Sylmae said.

  Reia knew the situation with Tom's parents, but knew it wasn't her story to tell.

  "Well... My father was a doctor. My mother was his assistant. They were smart, compassionate and friendly. They raised me well and were very supportive of me. I wasn't smart enough to get into the medicine, but I did try to go into computer science. Sadly, by the time I got out of college, the field was so saturated with people with computer science degrees, that no one wanted to hire a fresh-out-of-college person. I failed repeatedly to get a job until I got one at a distribution centre."

  Tom finished his beer and gestured for Reia to toss his another. She tossed him one and he opened it in the same manner as Vivian.

  "I lived a quiet, shitty life just so my own parents didn't know how much of a failure I was. Not long after, a mutated strain of Spanish Flu appeared in our world. H10N11. Also called the Samoan Flu. This flu wiped out seventy million people worldwide before they found a vaccine. My parents happen to be two of them."

  "I'm so sorry for your loss," Sylmae consoled him.

  "It's okay. After their deaths, I was just... I don't know. In shock? I didn't really feel anything afterwards. I just lived. I got a righteous kick in the ass the day of the test. When that cyclops chased after me, I realized that I wanted to live. When I was given power afterwards, I knew I found what I wanted to do with my life." Tom took a sip of his beer and happily smiled at everyone. "It's also an additional... bonus to find love."

  Vivian got up from her chair and kissed Tom on the cheek before she sat back down again.

  "If we are doing confessions here, I have one to add" she said. A sudden unfamiliar look of guilt came across Vivian's face. "I didn't quit the Bolaweth army." She took a good long drink of her beer. "I was kicked out."

  "What?!" Reia yelped. "Why?"

  "Officially, it was because of insubordination and assaulting a superior officer. Unofficially... it was because of insubordination and assaulting a superior officer."

  "I don't follow," Sylmae said.

  "I joined the military when I was sixteen. Right out of school. Turns out I was really good at being a soldier; however, my skills attracted the attention of a certain General. General Kehtan Coppertoe. The most lecherous General you could know."

  Tom clenched his hands into fist when he heard the description.

  "He confronted me alone behind the armoury and tried to proposition me. Gain military ranks in exchange for sexual favours. More ranks if I agreed to become his woman. I refused, of course. I wanted to earn my ranks through effort. He didn't take too kindly to my refusal. Coppertoe got more aggressive and didn't want to take 'no' as an answer. When he grabbed my arm, I kicked him in the balls. I kicked so hard, I'm pretty sure that I popped one of his testicles. Maybe both. I ran after that. The next day I found wanted posters being put up all over the kingdom of me."

  "Wait!" Amber said. "Wanted posters?"

  "I'm also... a wanted criminal in Sogen. Vivian Terrabane. Wanted for insubordination, going AWOL, and assaulting a high-ranked officer. I left the Bolaweth Kingdom after I saw those posters and joined the Adventurer's Guild in Erlonia. Since Adventurer's Guilds are isolated to each continent, there was little chance of me being hunted down by other adventurers."

  "I'm sorry to hear that," Tom said.

  "Hey, if it didn't happen, I might not have ever met any of you. Maybe it was meant to be. However, this will make it difficult to get my father's hammer."

  "Your father's hammer?"

  "When my father died in the battle against Hastur, his body and weapon was returned to the Bolaweth Kingdom. It's a rare bloodline weapon so only those of his bloodline can actually use it. Anyone who tries to use it as a weapon, they will be attacked by its magic."

  "So by right, it's yours?" Reia asked.

  "It is. The problem is that I would have to prove that I am his daughter."

  "We Humans can do a DNA test using his remains and your blood sample," Tom suggested.

  "They aren't likely going to exhume his corpse to disprove the claims of a criminal," Tala replied.

  "When the time comes, we'll find a way."

  "I believe Syl, Reia and Tala have weapons from their parents as well. Where they are, I don't know."

  "F-Father's staff is at the Magic University in Skysign," Tala said. "It gets brought out during the magic competition every year."

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  "Oh, that makes things easier," Reia said. "didn't you participate in last year's tournament, Tala?"

  Tala nodded. "I didn't make it past the first round though."

  "Won't they be in for a surprise this year," Sylmae giggled.

  Tala smiled and blushed at the comment.

  "For me, my mother's bow would be in the Duellia Kingdom. Also... Since my mother is Evaline Acer, it means that I'm an Elven noble of the house of Acer. My mother was the daughter of the Duke. She became an adventurer after his death."

  "I guess we're both of nobility," Amber teased.

  "I thought that's not how Dryads work?"

  "Don't take away my fun of teasing you."

  "What about you, Reia?" Vivian asked. "Any dark secrets you want to share?"

  Reia's happy demeanor vanished from her face. She leaned forward with a look of dread.

  "We've been doing so much for the last while that I had forgotten," she said. "The prince of the Eikoryu Empire has made claims on me."

  "What?!" Vivian yelled. she nearly choked on her drink of beer when she heard the news. "How? When?!"

  "What do you mean 'made claims'?" Tom asked. He felt his heart furiously beat.

  "It means he wants me to be his wife," Reia answered. "It happened about half a year ago. I mean half a year ago before we came to this world. Prince Uraki Eikoryu and a group of soldiers had stopped in Skysign on a diplomatic mission. He happen to visit the smithy I worked at and spotted me there. I don't know what his mindset was in that moment, but as soon as he saw me he said, 'I'm off to war with Zokot Kingdom, but as soon as I return I will make you my queen.' Wait for me till then."

  "That sounds like a fairy tale."

  "I could see that from your point-of-view and basing it on the children's movies here, but I know the kind of person Uraki is. He's a man that no one, who has had power, ever said no to him. That bastard has a slave harem of dozens of women."

  "The Eikoryu Kingdom itself has an extremely poor reputation in the world, despite not having an association with Hastur," Tala added. "Exploitation of their civilians, slavery, horrific crimes committed in war. The list of problems goes on."

  "Why didn't you tell us this?" Sylmae asked Reia. "We're supposed to look out for each other!"

  "I-I don't know! I panicked and tried to resolve the problem myself. Then our Governor threw me under the carriage. She refused to grant me protection and even suggested I leave Skysign to avoid bringing trouble to the city."

  "Bitch," Vivian cursed under her breath.

  "I wanted to try and earn money for us to move, but I could only earn so much from the smithy, so I tried to become an adventurer to earn some extra cash."

  "Wait, I thought you became an adventurer because you wanted to be one?" Tom asked.

  "That's half the reason. Tala, Syl. I was planning to tell you soon, but I just didn't know how to bring up the news."

  Tala and Sylmae got up from their chairs and went over to her. They tightly hugged her.

  "It's okay, Reia," Sylmae cooed. "We're family. We can get through this."

  "Thank you," Reia said with tears in her eyes.

  "You are a citizen of Canada and a member of the UNDF," Tom reminded. "You have their protection as well as Humanity's gratitude. You will be protected. No one is going to take you away."

  "It's really a relief to hear that. Before I came to this world, I was consumed with anxiety about this."

  "Just remember that you're ours," Vivian said. "No way in hell we're letting anyone take you away."

  "Thank you for reminding me. Eventually we'll have to deal with him. My mother's spear is inside the royal family's vault." Reia wiped her tears away and asked jokingly, "So what about you, Amber? Any confessions to add."

  "You already know everything about me," she said in feigned indignation. Amber looked away is a suspicious manner. "Not sure what else I can say."

  "You sure?" Tom asked again.

  Amber fidgeted in her chair. "Well... When I was in your room as a plant, any time any of you got intimate, I watched every time."

  "Fucking knew it."

  VVVVVV

  Somewhere in South-East Asia...

  The storm raged in the sky above. The purple light from the clouds and lightning casted a purple hue across the rocky forests below. Several forest fires burned in the vast forest. Near the glowing blue and black obelisk was the charred remains of the drone that crashed not long ago. Mordiggian stood over the remains. Wendigo was just behind him to the side with a look of worry on his face.

  "There's no body," Mordiggian said.

  "Might being one of those living machines that the Humans like to use," Wendigo suggested. "Wait!"

  Wendigo reached into the flaming wreckage and pulled out a metal and glass ball. He looked directly into the glass and growled. The sound that came out of his mouth was a loud wheeze followed by a high-pitched holler.

  "A camera! It's a scout!"

  "Then they know," Mordiggian said. His eyes landed upon the UNDF letters on the side. "It won't be long before an attack. A moment, young master."

  Mordiggian pulled out a black glass sphere from his chest and held it between his spindly hands. A grayish-blue mist appeared inside the orb. Mordiggian grunted as the orb activated and two words escaped his mouth in a gasp.

  "Lord Hastur..."

  Wendigo watched Mordiggian go into a trance. He looked at the downed drone and glanced at the UNDF letters. Wendigo snarled and slammed his foot into the machine directly over the letters. The attack tore the aircraft in half.

  Mordiggian grunted as he broke his trance. "We have to step up our plans," Mordiggian said as he placed his orb into his chest.

  Mordiggian moved towards the obelisk and Wendigo followed closely behind.

  "What did my father tell you?"

  "We need to build the last two obelisks to complete the ritual," Mordiggian explained. "With them we can finish the ritual."

  "And where will these two obelisks go?"

  They stopped in front of the obelisk.

  "Where we can get many souls and bodies."

  Mordiggian pulled a dagger out of his chest and tossed it towards Wendigo.

  "You'll be able to resurrect the dead with this dagger. Now follow me. I will take you to where you need to go."

  Mordiggian then entered the obelisk to travel through its joint network. Wendigo followed him into the magical structure.

  -------------------------------------------

  Character Stats:

  Tom Everett

  Spoiler: Spoiler

  Amber Everett

  Spoiler: Spoiler

  Reia Zyer

  Spoiler: Spoiler

  Sylmae Lyvan

  Spoiler: Spoiler

  Tala Mau

  Spoiler: Spoiler

  Vivian Terrabane

  Spoiler: Spoiler