Act 1 - Chapter 4

Chapter 14: Zeus; Shauran 10th, 344SR; 1:30

“Hm…” Zeus scratched his head as he gazed at the massive building.

It was the tallest building on the boulevard. Birds lined themselves along the edge of the roof. There were people inside, visible through the windows on the higher floors. Zeus walked up the few steps in front of the building, then looked at the sign once again. ‘Helios Grand Library… Hm… It should be this one… House Rael was huge… And this is the biggest building in the area… But that does say library… A place where Nova went to find… Books…’ Zeus cringed. ‘But House Rael didn’t have its name written on it… So maybe House Rover doesn’t either…’

Zeus rubbed his chin as he looked to the left. There was a daycare with a playground in front of it surrounded by a gate. Kids cheered as they slid down a slide, or swung on the swings. ‘That can’t be it… What are those kids even cheering about?’ Zeus shook his head as he turned to the right. Across the plaza, at the other side of the road, was a small building with blue banners hanging off the walls. The blue banner had the insignia of a mask, but with three slashes over the left eye. ‘That’s definitely not it…’

“It has to be this one…” Zeus walked through the front door. “I’m here!”

“Oh for the love of…” the lady at the front desk slapped her forehead. “For the last time! This is not, House Rover!”

“No! It has to be!” Zeus retorted confidently.

“This is the fifth time you’ve walked in here! I told you! It’s the building across the road!”

“That building is way smaller than this one though?!”

“How would that make it any different from what it is?!”

“Ugh, dammit… Maybe it's on the other side…” Zeus turned and stomped out of the library.

“No! No one can be this stupid!” the lady stood up.

“Who are you calling–”

Zeus froze as he saw the lady’s enraged expression. She stomped around her desk, grasped his wrist, and then pulled him outside. People inside and outside of the library watched as the normally calm librarian seethed. She pointed to the building with blue banners, then looked at Zeus with a glare of hatred.

“What about it?!” Zeus pulled his hand away.

“That’s House Rover! I told you five times already!” the lady's fingers curled as she screamed.

“So… It is that small building?”

“Yes!”

“Are… You sure? House Rael is way bigger…”

“That’s because House Rover was built atop Whitestone Jail! It’s Helios’s primary police station! Over half the building is practically underground- because it’s a jail! What does the size of the building even matter, it's still the same size as House Pendragon's office on the outside?! Agh! Annoying green eyed rascal…” the lady turned and shook her head as she walked away.

“But!”

The young librarian turned around and looked at Zeus with wide eyes, her fist clenched tightly as if she was ready to throw it. Zeus froze again as he saw her expression. Her black skirt swayed in the wind, her face was redder than her shirt. Zeus gulped, and chose to stay quiet. ‘She gets angrier than mom did…’ She walked back into the library, muttering about the current generation of angels. ‘I mean… If half the building is underground… I’m still not wrong… You’re stupid…’ Zeus shook his head and sighed. ‘What’s a rascal?’ Zeus started toward the building with blue banners. ‘Half the building is underground? What kind of weirdo builds underground… Just build up higher…’ Zeus walked onto the road, and then a horse whinnied immediately. The caravan behind it came to a sudden stop as the man holding the reins stood up.

“What are you doing?! Watch where you're going!” the man shouted. “I almost smoked you! If I hadn’t stopped, you’d be dead!”

Zeus reared his head back and smirked. “What? No I wouldn’t…”

“Wha- What…”

Zeus walked toward the building and looked up at the roof, it was about two stories above the ground. Between the building and the sidewalk, was an iron grate. Through the gaps in the grate, Zeus could see barred windows. The sound of someone singing with a low tone could be heard somewhere below. The blue banner flapped against the wind, the symbol of the mask occasionally looked like it was staring at him. ‘At least their emblem is kind of cool…’ He turned and looked at the library one more time. Yycan poked his head out of Zeus’s right shoulder and whimpered at him.

“Don’t worry, not going back there…” Zeus scratched the fur on Yycan’s head, as he walked into House Rover, Yycan retreated into his collar. “She was probably mad because she’s around books all day, just like Nova… Still, I thought she’d hit me from how mad she looked…”

“You should be thanking her for not,” a voice advised from the right.

‘Huh?’ Zeus turned to see a man sitting on a couch by the window. He had dark brown skin and short curly hair, wearing a white dress shirt with blue decals and black pants. The blue insignia of a mask on his chest was the same as the one on the banner. He took a deep breath as he looked down at the large sheet of paper on the table in front of him. On his right was a black cheetah with silver spots on its fur, it narrowed its bright white eyes as it yawned.

“Who are you?” Zeus asked.

“The name’s Ando, first lieutenant of House Rover,” the man nodded without making eye contact. “I don’t think I've ever seen the new librarian lose it like that, I'm a little impressed.”

‘First lieutenant?’ Zeus squinted.

“Is that the highest rank?” Zeus asked sternly.

“Highest?” Ando replied with a puzzled tone. “Well… No… That’d be the noble, first lieutenant is directly under the noble… You… Don’t know this?”

Zeus grinned. “So, that makes you second strongest! I challenge you to a duel!”

Ando blinked at Zeus repeatedly. “Come again?”

“Let’s fight!”

Ando looked at Zeus for several seconds. “I’ll… Pass? Uh, is that all you came here for?”

“Ando! Is that the new lieutenant!” a voice called from somewhere else in the building.

Zeus looked up to a balcony on the second floor, where a lady with brown hair leaned over the railing. She looked quite tall, and was very slim. She wore a similar outfit to Ando. ‘She’s a lieutenant too? She looks really weak… This guy looks weak too… I could probably beat both of them if they ganged up on me…’

“Nah, I don’t think this is the guy Kiril, this is just some kook.” said Ando, his gaze returned to the map.

“Kook?” Zeus repeated.

“Did you ask Angela yet?” Kiril asked.

“Nope,” said Ando.

“Are you here to report something?” Kiril asked while raising an eyebrow.

“I’m here to join House Rover,” Zeus declared confidently. “I’m gonna become the noble of his place one day, and make it three times bigger!”

“Ando he is the new recruit…”

“Yeah… Apparently so… Unfortunately he challenged me to a duel instead of telling me that first….” said Ando, he sounded confused.

“He did what now?” Kiril squinted.

“You too! I challenge you too!” Zeus shouted and pointed up at Kiril. “I’ll be the noble if I'm the strongest, right!”

Kiril raised an eyebrow at Zeus. She simply turned and walked out of sight.

“Angela! The new recruits here! But I think he has a screw loose!” Kiril shouted.

“Screw loose?” Zeus tilted his head.

“So… Isn’t military school graduation late into Vagril?” Ando asked.

“It was, but me and my brother are just that strong, so we were both promoted to noble houses today!” Zeus grinned.

“You graduated early? What’s up with that? You don’t seem very…”

“I don’t seem very… What?”

“Forget that, uh… You got siblings huh?” Ando changed the topic to try and make conversation. “You the oldest or youngest?”

“Second youngest, I have an older sister and an older brother. My older brother is the one who also graduated, he’ll be joining House Rael today. Oh, I also have a younger brother, but we are trying to find him, my mom and him went missing.”

Ando reared his head back as he blinked repeatedly, he put his pen down and leaned forward. He tapped on the desk as he squinted at the floor for a moment. He rubbed his temple, while his eyes wandered back and forth as he thought about what he heard.

“That was… A lot to take in… Where do I start… You and… Your oldest brother, both graduated at the same time? Two seasons early? How much older is he?”

“I’m two years younger than Yami,” Zeus nodded.

“Right, and you said… Your mom’s gone missing? And your younger brother? I… Feel like I should’ve heard about that… Have you contacted authorities about this?”

“Authorities? Who is that?” Zeus replied.

Ando’s eyes widened, he smiled awkwardly as he tilted his head.

“Sorry, I was in the back! You must be the new lieutenant!” A blonde woman stepped down the stairs with her hands in her pocket.

“Uh, ma’am… This guy is a nut job…” Ando said as he pointed at Zeus.

“Hm?” Angela tilted her head.

“Nut job?” Zeus repeated.

Angela looked at Ando for a moment, and he simply shook his head with wide eyes. She was a bit taller than Zeus, with icy blonde hair and yellow eyes. While she wore similar clothes to Ando and Kiril, she had a white coat with blue decals reaching past her waist and down to her knees. Zeus analyzed the shape of her face, her shoulders, and her waist. ‘She looks strong… Shouldn’t she be the first lieutenant instead of that guy? Maybe I underestimated that guy… I wonder what the actual noble is like… ’

“What’s your name?” Angela asked as she tilted her head.

“Zeus.”

“Last name?”

“I’ve only had one name? Also, where's the noble of this house? I wanna challenge him to a duel!”

Angela blinked repeatedly, her blue eyes slowly turned to Ando with an awkward smile. The first lieutenant sighed as he held his forehead. Kiril walked forward and leaned against the wall.

“I am the noble of House Rover…” said Angela. “You… Don’t know this already?”

“What?! Are you… Are you a guy?” Zeus pointed at her. “I thought you were a girl…”

“I… Am…” Angela raised an eyebrow. “You’re right Ando, he is a nut job… But… He is the guy…”

“I don’t even like peanuts…” Zeus cringed as he tilted his head.

“He said his older brother just graduated at the same time as him… Even though there's a two year gap between their age? Also said his little brother and mom went missing, and… I don’t think we have a search going on for a mother and her youngest son? Should we ask Arthur to check his head out?”

“Do you have a certificate? Something they would have given you when you graduated?”

“Yeah,” Zeus reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded envelope. “This is what they gave me…”

“Why didn’t he just start with that…” Ando muttered to himself as he groaned.

Angela took the envelope, her eyebrows quickly rose as she saw the seal. She looked up at Zeus in disbelief before she opened it. Angela’s eyes scanned the contents of the page as she put one hand to her chin.

“Wait… That seal… The king ordered for this?” said Ando.

“Yeah… He isn’t lying… He really did graduate today…” Angela nodded. “Well… That’s really sudden… So, Zeus… I don’t really know what job to give you right now…”

Zeus' eyes widened. “How about fighting demons! Me and Yycan are really strong!”

“You and who?” Angela stuttered.

Zeus stretched out his arm, a black and white liquid flowed off of him. Ando and Angela were once again surprised, as the mass of liquid splashed against the ground. It slowly rose, taking the form of a wolf. Yycan’s black and white fur stood up as it looked at all the new people in the room.

“And… He has a gift…” Angela nodded as she squatted in front of Yycan. “This… You didn’t conjure it… And how did it do that, it looked like… Goo?”

“Yeah, Yycan can change its own shape.”

Yycan made a lap around Angela and started to sniff her. She crouched down and analyzed Zeus’s fur, scratching him at the same time. Yycan happily allowed it, wagging his tail and letting his tongue hang out while he enjoyed the attention. The black cheetah next to Ando rose, pulling its head back, analyzing the wolf curiously.

“Not just shape…” Angela pulled Yycan’s upper lip and observed the black teeth underneath. “It can alter its own density too… This gift is amazing?! How haven’t I heard about this?”

“He’s almost as big as Silver Shadow… And I'm surprised how well behaved he is… Compared to… His owner- Mhm!” Ando coughed.

“Silver Shadow?” said Zeus.

“Ando, have you gone out for your scouting run?” Angela asked, her eyes still on Zeus.

“No, I was just about to go,” Ando replied.

“Take Zeus, show him the basics of scouting.”

“On second thought… Can you go with him?” Ando smiled awkwardly.

“It's your job, that isn’t changing… But if Zeus has a similar gift to yours, he could help.”

“Patrol? That sounds boring… What does that even mean…” Zeus butted into the conversation.

“You don’t know what that means?” Ando muttered to himself. “Uh… Patrol just means we're going to make sure there's no criminal activity or enemy forces behind our borders… Check up on-”

“Wait… We're gonna fight demons?! Already? Yes!” Zeus’s eyes lit up.

Zeus jumped as he pumped his fist. Ando and Angela stared at each other again. Kiril sighed and walked back up the stairs as she shook her head. Yycan looked excited as well, they both turned to the door. Ando shook his head, silently expressing his reluctance to go with Zeus.

“Well, let me know how it goes,” Angela waved as she walked back up the stairs.

“Come on Andy! We got asses to kick!” Zeus excitedly ran outside.

"It's Ando you dunce!"

"Dunce?"

* * *

“Ugh…” Zeus muttered as he looked up at the cloudy sky. “Holy crap, I think… I think I'm really going to die… I can’t do this… Yycan… I didn’t think it would be like this…”

Yycan walked over to him and licked his face, whimpering at Zeus’s weak appearance. He laid back on a stack of hay. He leaned forward and sighed, Yycan tilted his head before prancing around the patches of grass and dirt. ‘I’m actually going to die of boredom at this rate… Holy crap… We’ve just been going from place to place across the city for hours… Man, how are you even able to have fun right now…’ He was perplexed at how easily Yycan managed to entertain himself. The black and white wolf rolled around in the dirt, dug holes or pounced onto weeds.

‘I haven’t been this far out of the city though, today was the first time I saw the outer city as well… It’s been a while since I've seen grass…’ The outskirts of Helios were nothing like the inner or even outer city. The houses were widely spread out, usually surrounded by an abundance of farmland. The fields were full of evenly spaced crops, each field seemed to have a unique kind of crop. The one closest to Zeus had a spiky yellow fruit growing at the top of it, while many of the others he saw just seemed to look like green or red foliage. ‘And the noble of House Rover is a girl?! What… Here I thought Nova would be the first girl to be a noble…’

A man carrying a bag of seeds on his shoulder walked past Zeus, smiling as he noticed his bored expression. He approached Ando, who was leaning against a small wooden fence not too far away. The fence surrounded a coop full of turkeys and chickens, clucking and chirping in fear of Yycan. Everytime the curious wolf tried to get closer to observe them, they’d run to the other side.

“I’ll send someone to collect this yield… I know the answer, but I have to ask anyway… Do you see any suspicious individuals around here? Any demons?” Ando tried to sound imposing.

“Heh, haha…” the man shook his head. “The crops aren’t doing so well, last wet season didn’t last too long…”

“Right…” Ando sighed. “Least we have a lot of potatoes from the last harvest… Can’t stand pickles…”

“What?” the man laughed. “You should try out one of my new sandwiches, I've been putting pickles in them to make it a bit nicer on the gut, you won’t even notice it.”

“You have no idea Amalun, I hate pickles… Speaking of that, how's the business in Logos doing?”

“Pretty good, there’s not many regulars, but this one guy really loves sandwiches. I thought he’d get tired of it by now, but he just keeps coming back…” Amalun shrugged. “I better get ready, I’ll be heading to Logos in a few hours to set up shop.”

Ando nodded. “Alright, I’ll be heading to my last checkpoint. Yo, Zeus, get up.”

‘Ugh…’ Zeus yawned as he pushed himself up. “Yycan, let’s go...”

The five foot black and white wolf hurried over, then lowered itself. Zeus climbed onto its back. Ando walked toward the shade of a tree where the black cheetah with silver spotted fur rested. He put the paperwork and reports into his bag, then mounted the four foot tall black cheetah. Ando started toward the trees. Yycan followed behind.

“I thought we would be fighting demons…” Zeus groaned.

“No… If that’s what you hoped for, you might have joined the wrong house,” said Ando.

“Which one should I have joined?” Zeus asked.

“Probably Rael, or Pendragon… Or you could have just joined the military… Not sure how often they fight demons but… They are usually called to the front lines to combat the Hirian resistance…”

“Ah damnit! Then Yami got lucky! Aaugh!” Zeus groaned to the sky.

The wall of inner Helios could be seen just over the rows of buildings that surrounded it. The outer wall was only half the height of the inner one. Ando and Zeus rode their mounts parallel to the city, they approached the forest quickly. Zeus’s hair was pushed back by the wind, he gazed at the Celestial looming over everything from the center of Helios. ‘I’ve never been this far from Helios… It’s kind of nice, feels less stuffy out here…’

“Don’t worry, the next checkpoint is the last…” Ando reassured him. “Yami… That’s your brother, right? What are your sister and younger brother’s names?”

“My older sister is named Nova… And my younger brother who went missing is named Eos…”

“Huh… Interesting names… Never heard them before actually… Which part of Helios are you from?” Ando asked.

“The mountains,” Zeus answered casually.

“What?”

“Hm? I grew up in the mountains.”

Ando slowed down to a halt as he passed under the shadow of the Celestial. “The mountains? Which mountain?”

“In Helios? Where else…”

“There are no mountains in Helios? I mean maybe the cliffs on the west end, those have some small caves but… But no one lives there…”

“Huh?” Zeus tilted his head. “But… I clearly remember growing up there? We even had a house, it was in the middle of a forest, and there were mountains all around us?”

“Okay. Point to it,” Ando asked simply. “Point to this mountain…”

Zeus looked up, he turned all the way around. There was a grey pillar of smoke beyond the forest, and just past that, were the large grey walls of the Logorite mines. It was the only mountain in sight, but it was south of Helios. Further to the east, beyond the straits that separate Hiria and Kamino were another set of mountains. Zeus looked toward Helios, scratching his head as he squinted. ‘Mountains are supposed to be big right? I don’t see anything in the city though…’

“You’re… Right…” Zeus scratched his head as he looked down, his head started to hurt as he tried to remember where it was.

“Yeah… Members of House Rover are expected to know all of the different districts in Helios, and trust me, I've never once heard of anyone living in any mountains…”

“I’m… But… It’s…” Zeus shook his head.

Zeus scratched his head. He looked around once again, but there were no mountains near Helios. ‘Am I forgetting where it was? Was it even in Helios…’ Zeus squinted at the massive city while he held his head. Ando looked down, then reached forward and patted Zeus on the back. It shook him out of his daze.

“You seem like you’re telling the truth, that's for sure… Whatever, it doesn’t matter too much… I’m sure you’ll find your mom and Eos…” Ando pointed at Yycan. “You name this guy yourself?”

“Huh?” Zeus tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“Where’d the name Yycan come from?”

“It… Didn’t come from anywhere… When I got my gift, I just knew his name… Isn’t that how it works for everyone?”

“Huh… I didn’t get a name when I was gifted…”

“It was the same way for my brothers and sisters… When we got our gifts we all knew their names immediately…”

“Wait… You and all your siblings got gifted spirits?” Ando raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah…”

“Okay, now I think you’re lying!” Ando laughed.

“What about your spirit, what’s his name?”

“She, not he… I named her Silver Shadow,” Ando nodded with a smile.

Zeus choked on his spit. “Heh- hahahaha”

“What… Why are you laughing?”

“That name is so lame it's funny!”

“Huh?!”

“Why’d you name her that?” Zeus's shoulders shook as he chuckled.

“It sounds cool?! You’re the first person who called it lame! I knew you had a screw loose!”

Zeus laughed cheerfully as he shook his head, he struggled to breathe. “I have no idea what that means!”

“Oh yeah, what does Yycan even mean?! It sounds like you’re saying- I, I can!” Ando mocked him with an accent.

“It’s- It’s still better than Silver Shadow, haha!”

“Nah, no way… We’re settling this with a race…” Ando shook his head and grinned.

“A race?” Zeus’s eyes lit up, the offer of competition caught his attention. “To where?”

“Whoever is first to reach the east outpost wins, it's passed the forest, at the left side of the Logorite mountains. See that pillar of smoke across the forest?”

There was a pillar of smoke rising from the other side of the forest. It was in front of a low peak on the mountain where the Logorite mines were. Across the field of grass ahead of them, the forest looked dense as the peaks of the trees seemed to descend down the hill, only to rise back up closer to where the factory was. To the left were the edges of the cliffs, beyond it the sea.

“Alright, I think I know where to go…” Zeus nodded.

“Are you sure? You had a hard time finding House Rover earlier, don’t go back to the library now!”

“Huh? I didn’t have a hard time! I was just….” Zeus paused. “Disappointed.”

Ando pointed south, “It’s that way, if you just go straight in that direction, you’ll end up seeing it no problem. Loser is on cleaning duty!”

Silver shadow kicked forward and started in the direction Ando pointed at. Zeus hesitated as the cheetah suddenly shot into full speed. ‘Holy shit- They’re fast!’ Silver shadow’s arms and legs almost became a blur as it repeatedly kicked against the ground. Ando leaned forward, holding tightly to the fur, allowing Silver Shadow to go even faster. Silver Shadow had accelerated to her top speed in a matter of seconds.

“Hey! You didn’t count down!” Zeus shouted.

“I know!” Ando yelled back.

“Shit! Yycan, let's go!”

Yycan pressed its feet into the ground and pounced forward. His paws skipping against the ground as the wolf sprinted toward the dense thicket of trees. Zeus lowered his head as he held on tightly to Yycan’s fur. Ando and Silver Shadow disappeared behind the tree’s. ‘Damnit!’ Zeus cursed as he descended down a short hill, he continued to gaze at the smokestacks of the outpost across the forest. However, as Zeus reached the foot of the hill, he couldn’t see past the jagged tips of the tree’s. ‘You might be fast! But you’re nowhere near as fast as Eos! And I won’t accept losing to anyone but him!’

“Yycan that way!” Zeus pointed forward in the direction he last saw the smoke.

Zeus grit his teeth, grinning as he forced his eyes wide open against the strong winds. As his mind was further absorbed into the thrill of the competition. Yycan felt his drive, and sped up. The two zoomed through the field of grass, and into the forest. The rhythmic stomps of the spirit's paws were broken as Yycan passed over the edge of the hill. They flew off the ground as they soared over the hill's descent. Zeus’s heart skipped a beat, the only thing he could hear was the wind being left behind as they descended. ‘Don’t slow down! We need speed!’ As Yycan’s paws reached the dirt, the wolf immediately started kicking. The two hit the hill, accelerating with the descent, carrying the momentum as they hit the bottom.

“Huh-” Zeus uttered as he noticed the trees directly in front of him.

Ando was nowhere to be seen, and that thought made Zeus anxious. ‘That lame spirit of his is pretty fast! But not faster than Yycan!’ Yycan continued at that speed, the spirit’s paws were barely making contact with the ground. They zoomed past tree’s, collided with bushes, crushed roots and branches. Yycan entered a focus of his own, his paws tearing through the dirt with each kick forward. However, his feet dragged against the dirt to a sudden stop. Zeus almost flew forward, but two tendrils extended out of Yycan’s body and wrapped around his waist, keeping him mounted. As they stopped, Zeus opened his eyes and blinked repeatedly.

“Huh…” Zeus squinted at the wall in front of him.

Yycan and Zeus were on a faded dirt path that separated the forest and the mountain. Zeus looked around in a hurry. ‘This isn’t right… The outpost was…’ He looked to his left, and then up, and noticed smoke stacks in that direction beyond some more trees. He looked at the black smog rising into the sky as his brain processed what went wrong.

“Ah fuck! We went the wrong way?!” Zeus shouted as he held his head, Yycan yipped as Zeus realized. “That way! We can still win!”

Yycan took off once more, Zeus kept an eye on the rising smoke. ‘We can still win! We can still win!’ However Yycan stopped as they reached a bend in the path. The path led away from the mountain, and around a massive dirt hill. There were a multitude of trees on the slope, some of their roots visible amongst the trees that appeared to be sliding down. Zeus squinted for a moment. ‘We can climb this…’ Yycan barked nervously.

“We can! We can do anything Yycan, now sharpen those claws!” Zeus roared.

Yycan paused for a moment, and then looked down. The black claws stretched forward and bent towards the ground. Three jagged, talon-shaped claws grew out of the wolf’s paws. At the top of the hill, was a single tree that obscured the smoke stack. ‘It’s just past this hill!’

“Yeah! Attaboy!” Zeus cheered. “Now, go! As fast as you can!”

Yycan jumped forward, digging its claws into the dirt and latching on, then jumped once more to get higher. With each jump, the wolf scaled the hill. About halfway up, Zeus tucked his chin and held on tightly, they were almost completely vertical. Yycan kicked up once more, but just a few meters from the top, his claws cut through the ground and lost their grip.

“Ah!” Zeus felt his heart sink as they started to descend.

Two more white tendrils sprouted from Yycan’s back and latched on to the tree at the top of the hill. Zeus held on tightly as Yycan remained vertical. The wolf grunted, then kicked against the ground, tearing through the piles of leaves and dragging through the dirt. His speed picked up, and they returned to their original speed as they climbed the hill

“Ha… Haha! See, you can do it! Why didn’t we just do that to begin with…” said Zeus.

“Arf!” Yycan barked.

“We’re not cheating! But he cheated already so who cares!”

Yycan pulled itself up the hill, climbing up the vertical wall of dirt and roots. As they got closer to the top, the slope of the hill was no longer as steep. Yycan opened its mouth, firing a black bladed tongue connected to a white tendril forward. The blade stabbed into a tree, only to retract and pull Yycan forward. Yycan ran to keep his speed, the moment he reached the top, the wolf lunged forward as it released its tongue. Zeus raised his arms high as the two flew over the top of the hill at high speed.

“Woo!” Zeus howled as Yycan descended.

The outpost was in front of them, a building made mainly of stone. It sat at the top of a hill, right next to the cliff’s edge where the mountain appeared to drop off. A large gate surrounded the stone building, beyond the gate Zeus noticed a large garage door and several smaller buildings around the main one. Yycan landed in front of the building, and with enough speed to send Zeus flying off his back. Zeus tumbled against the ground, tucking his arms in and rolling to a stop.

“Haha!” Zeus laughed as he rolled onto his stomach with wide eyes.

“Ruf!” Yycan ran over in a mix of worry and excitement, jumping on Zeus.

“That was awesome!” Zeus scratched the excited spirit's fur.

“Yeah! That was quite the sight to see!”

“Yeah, I know right! Huh? Who said that?” Zeus turned toward the gate.

In front of the gate was a guard, wearing white robes. He waved toward Zeus to get his attention. Their face obscured by a cloth with two holes in the front to see through. He stood alone in front of the outpost. A gust of wind blew against the cloth and revealed his green eyes and wide grin. He quickly held the cloth to keep his face covered.

“That's your gift?” the guard asked Zeus.

“Yeah…” Zeus stood up and looked down the hill, he couldn’t see Ando anywhere. “Alright! He’s not here yet! We won!”

Zeus turned to Yycan, but Yycan was still staring at the guard. The wolf’s tail was completely still. His excitement from earlier was replaced with a keen focus. ‘Huh? What happened? You were really happy just now…’

“Yycan, what’s up?” Zeus asked as he huffed.

“Hrgh…” Yycan grumbled.

“He does not look like me… What do you mean?”

“Is that what he said? Heh, maybe he's onto something, we both have black hair and green eyes, I'm way skinnier than you though…” the guard mentioned. “By the way… Were you looking for someone?”

“Yeah, I was in the middle of a-”

“Arf!” Yycan barked at the guard, interrupting Zeus.

“Huh…” Zeus turned to Yycan.

The guard turned away from them slightly.

“What do you mean he smells weird?” Zeus asked.

“Uh… I… Had some bad food recently, uh… Been… Really doing a number on my stomach, haha… Been farting all day,” the guard laughed. “That might be what he smells…”

“Hm… If that was the case he usually just walks away…” Zeus tilted his head.

“Uh, besides that… You said you were in the middle of something? A guy from House Rover just came by riding his spirit… It was black and silver.”

“Huh…”

Zeus stood there for a second as he put the simple information together.

“Fuck! When did he get here?! ” Zeus whined.

“You went the wrong way didn’t you?” Ando walked past the gate with two more guards.

“You! You cheated! That means I win by default!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, let's go, we're done here,” Ando stretched as he started down the hill.

Zeus shook his head, then sighed and followed Ando. Yycan stood still, looking at the guard they spoke with. ‘Dammit! It must have been because I went the wrong way… Dammit, dammit, dammit!’ Zeus stomped as he twitched, but stopped as he noticed Yycan was still watching the guard.

“Hey, Yycan, come on, we’re leaving…” Zeus called. “What’re you standing around for?”

Yycan turned, but kept his eyes on the guard.

“Nothing out of the ordinary I assume,” the other guard asked, he sounded older.

“Yeah, nothin’ but the wind… I have to use the bathroom, I'll be right back…” the other guard replied, the same guard Zeus spoke with.

“When the heck did you get here!” Zeus asked with a fierce tone.

“Like… five or ten minutes ago? I waited for you, but then I figured I might as well just finish up what we came here for… You’d have probably found it boring anyways…”

The two of them reached the bottom of the hill, and they continued back through the forest. Zeus couldn’t stop glaring at the back of Ando’s head, he was still annoyed at the fact that he lost. Yycan walked next to Zeus, but he kept looking back at the factory. ‘Can’t believe I lost… I knew something was wrong when I couldn’t see him anymore…’

“You cheated…” said Zeus.

“Yeah… Sorry… I guess? I didn’t think you’d take it so seriously…”

“That doesn’t make it any better! You said you got there five minutes ago, right!”

“Right.”

“Well if that's the case I basically lost even if you didn’t cheat! And that's not okay! We need to have another race, you and the lame named cat!”

“Lame? Come on man, it can't really be that lame”

“It is lame! And now I feel lame because I lost!”

“How’d you fly over the hilltop earlier? I wasn’t expecting that…”

“I used it as a shortcut to try and win,” Zeus grumbled. “But it didn’t work…”

“You used a shortcut? Isn’t that cheating in a way?”

“Yeah but…” Zeus paused as he looked to the left. “Shit… Okay fine, you won…”

“Hahaha!” Ando broke out into laughter.

“What’s so funny!” Zeus shouted.

“You’re unnecessarily honest, haha!”

“How is that? What- Ah nevermind…” Zeus shook his head.

“Yeah yeah…” Ando waved his hand as he chuckled. “But since you also cheated, that makes it fair and square, so you lost and I won.”

“Yeah, I know, that’s what I am trying to say…” Zeus squinted.

“Yeah, I just want you to know… You lost,” Ando pursed his lip, trying his best to hold back his laughter.

“Again, I heard you…”

They walked in silence for a few seconds. “Loser…” Ando whispered.

“You wanna race again! I’m ready! Yycan is even faster after that last race-”

A green light shone through the gaps in the leaves above. The light suddenly smothered the trees and ground in front of the two of them, and the booming roar of an explosion cut Zeus off. The ground suddenly rumbled, a strong gust of wind hit Zeus and Ando, causing the two of them to crouch instinctively. Yycan barked nervously, the wolf’s pitch sounding more frightened and unsure of the sudden noise. Zeus blinked repeatedly as the green light seemed to fade, the forest returned to its normal colours. ‘What!’

“What the fuck?!” Zeus skipped a breath.

“Oh shit…” Ando uttered as he turned and looked in the direction they had come, the same place where the explosion was heard.

“That was loud!” Zeus exclaimed with wide eyes, his heart beating out of his chest, a mix of excitement and nervousness rushed through him at the same time.

A massive pillar of grey smoke rose from the outpost, reaching into the sky. It was even larger than the pillars of dark smog coming out of the smokestacks at the outpost. ‘Something exploded? Weren’t we just there? Everything seemed normal?!’

“Zeus, you head back to House Rover and report this right now! I’m gonna go see what happened!”

“The hell? I’m coming too! This is what I've been waiting for!”

“Zeus, I am not playing around right now, this is serious! I am ordering you to-”

“Yycan, let’s go!” Zeus commanded as he mounted his wolf.

“Hey, wait-” Yycan took off before Ando could finish. “Yo!”

Zeus went back along the forest path, and then reached the bottom of the hill the outpost stood on. The building still stood, but green flames could be seen rising from the back of the back, before joining the dense black smoke creeping into the sky.

“Zeus! We don’t know what we’re dealing with! Don’t just rush in until-”

A strange sound could be heard at the top of the hill. It sounded like the grumble of a massive beast. The sound seemed to whistle, before a bright green light flew into the sky. The two of them watched in awe as it rose over the peak of the mountain. ‘Holy shit… It’s flying… But… It has no wings? What is that?!’ Whatever it was bursted through the smoke, climbing even higher into the sky. It was too hard to tell what it was from so far away.

“Woah…” Ando was at a loss for words.

“Is- that a demon?!” Zeus asked, his voice trembling.

“I don’t know… I’ve never seen one myself… But…” Ando squinted at the figure in the sky. “It looks like a… Like a person…”

The figure in the sky flashed green once again, and then soared to the west. Zeus was taken aback by the speed at which the figure crossed the sky. It had to have flown over all of Rover’s wood in just a few seconds. Ando and Zeus sat at the bottom of the hill, trying to make sense of what they just witnessed. ‘That… That was way faster than both of us… What the hell was that?!’

“Zeus… I need you to report this to Angela…” Ando ordered.

“What about that thing?” Zeus asked.

“Zeus, that is an order. I am going to see what happened at the outpost…”

“But, I can help-”

“Zeus… This could be a declaration of war! Letting the nobles know, is top priority! Go, now!”

Ando hurried toward the outpost. Zeus stood there, dumbfounded by what he witnessed. Yycan looked back at him, whimpering. ‘Dammit… Dammit, dammit…’ Zeus looked at his hands, he couldn’t stop shaking. ‘Even if I was there to help… It made that huge explosion, and flew at that speed… Would I even be able to stand up to that thing?’

“Arf!” Yycan barked.

“I hear you… He is probably right…” Zeus turned, but looked back up as he passed under the trees.

Zeus looked down as Yycan ran through the forest, an uncomfortable feeling rose within him. ‘The world is… A lot bigger than I thought it was…’ The sight of that thing made him feel something he wasn’t used to. He grit his teeth as he felt ashamed of that feeling. The fear gripped his heart like an icy hand, but something about it bothered him. ‘Why do I feel like this… I’m afraid… But why does it feel so familiar…’