Warlord’s smile was wide. “Would you like to meet sometime? For dinner or drinks? Just the two of us?”

Alana tilted her head to the side and tapped her finger rhythmically against the table as she sized up the man in front of her. Powerful, sure, but lacking in originality. Slightly sloppy, as well. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

Chuckling, Warlord nodded. The two were sitting in a small cafe on the East side of Kharon, slowly eating their pastries while sitting at the same table. Alana had been the first one here, arriving quite early for a meeting with another individual when Warlord had turned up. He wasn’t someone she had really planned on interacting with while she remained in Kharon, but Warlord had walked by and greeted Alana, prompting her to invite him to sit down at her table. Now she wondered whether it really was a coincidence that he turned up in the same place as her.

In addition, she was mildly disappointed she wouldn’t even be able to get some information about Zone 11 before she cut this conversation off.

“Not interested,” Alana said shortly with a shake of the head. “Plus, it seems politically dangerous for us to be involved romantically. No need to waste our time.”

In spite of her firm refusal, Warlord’s smile just widened. “Why? You aren’t in any sort of position of power in Donnyton any longer, correct? You left to pursue your own journey, which I have a deep amount of respect for. So I think-”

“In addition, I already have a partner,” Alana cut him off quickly. Not that Warlord wasn’t a very handsome and charming man, but she trusted her instincts on this. Alana would never be anything more than distant friends with the man sitting in front of her. After all, it was difficult to believe that his original name was Warlord. Which meant that he had changed his name purposefully to be Warlord after the arrival of the System. Even with a focus on fantasy games spurring Zone 11, Alana found it distasteful.

Then again, it’s hard to argue that Warlord is a stranger name than Randidly Ghosthound...

Finally, Warlord rolled his eyes. “Your dragon doesn’t count.”

“She would disagree,” Alana said with a slight smile. Then her eyes scanned the entrants and exits to the cafe. Aside from them, there were only two other people and the owner remaining. “But in truth, I meant Hank Howard. We’ve been working together because each of our strengths compensates for the other’s weaknesses quite nicely. And I am well aware of how much you dislike each other.”

This time, Warlord’s smile had a harder edge to it. “Your friend Hank Howard was a little too forward with my subordinates, and I-”

“Just like you are now being forward with me?” Alana asked with as much irony as she could force into her voice.

Warlord at least had the decency to look genuinely hurt by that comment. “It’s not… okay fine. Just tell me one thing, before I leave you alone. And be honest, I’ll be able to tell if you are not. What sort of man are you looking for?”

Alana genuinely thought about the question. Then she chuckled and said. “Not a helpful answer, I know, but… someone who would do for me what Tatiana does for Randidly Ghosthound. Someone who would understand me implicitly, and take all the small steps I am too distracted or busy to notice in order to accomplish my goals. Someone who would take care of the home while I’m away, fighting monsters. Someone who can watch my back with a deep empathy for what I am experiencing.”

The bell on the door rang as someone opened it and walked into the room. Warlord joined in Alana’s light laughter. “So basically you want a 1950s housewife. Wouldn’t we all? But no man is going to just give up his pride and do that for you. Your expectations are slightly ridiculous-”

Warlord paused as the new arrival walked up next to the table and didn’t continue moving. When Warlord finally looked up, Han Yazhu bowed. “I’m sorry that I arrived early, Miss Donal. If necessary, I can wait outside until your current business is finished.”

“You have good timing; we just finished things up here.” Alana glanced toward Warlord. And this time, the Angel of the Red Dust spread her wings. Even though Alana kept her image well under control, the rest of the cafe were frozen. A pale sun over an endless clay desert seemed to appear like a mirage in the cafe. “Don’t bring up this issue again. Understand?”

The angel's wings were so white they couldn’t be looked at directly without being blinded. Such was the force of the phrase that even Han Yazhu rocked back on his heels. An ashen-faced Warlord nodded slowly then departed from the cafe. Alana released her image with a light breath. Although the cafe owner continued to look over fearfully, she didn’t come and talk to Alana about what just happened.

As it turns out, power in moderation is a certain type of currency. Alana thought, her mood morose. I wonder what the woman I once was would have thought about using my image to intimidate others…? Would she recognize who I had become…?

Acting as though the previous display hadn’t happened, Han Yazhu sat down at the table. Or at least Alana thought he was going to let it pass without comment before he grinned. “I shouldn’t admit it, but I am glad to know that the discussions with Zone 11 were not going well. We are certainly looking forward to doing business with you, Ms. Donal.”

Alana smiled blandly. “Certainly, my goal has always been a cooperation with Zone 7. I believe your Zones culture will make establishing some boundaries more feasible.”

“When it comes to honor and understanding, none compare to our glorious republic.” Han Yazhu inclined his head. Then he flicked his hand and produced a stack of documents. “This is the amount of land that we are willing to give to you in order to establish a dragon settlement in Zone 7. I believe you will find everything to your liking.”

As Alana read through the papers, her grin widened.

*****

Rose Calloway sighed and tapped her fingernail against the clipboard in her hands. “Is there any point to being here? The Order Ducis’s patrols are so extensive that we can’t even see Kharon from here.”

Ace leisurely tossed his black motorcycle helmet from one hand to the other. “There is definitely meaning in being here. I know you don’t have a top-tier grasp of images, but can’t you feel it? Every second that Kharon remains in place, a little bit more of that image seeps into this place. Randidly’s power has reached the point that he affects the terrain around him. Feeling that power… it helps me understand the way I need to improve.”

“And yet you seem to think that fighting against him is a smart idea,” Rose shook her head.

“I’m not fighting against him, I’m helping by serving as a foil. Look at all this,” Ace waved a hand at the peaceful woods and low hills between their current position and Kharon. Below them, a few groups walked along the low road that led to the nearest Manatech Rail Station. “Randidly Ghosthound forcefully founded the greatest alliance on Earth since the System to fight the first of many dangerous threats coming our way and people walk away from it feeling relaxed. Although Randidly tried to use his power to make them feel threatened, it has paradoxically only deepened their misunderstandings about the System; they feel like they can always rely on him to save them.

“Since explanations from the Ghosthound himself seem ineffective, someone else needs to step up in his place and teach these people a lesson. He will be the carrot, and I the stick.”

Rose scribbled something on the clipboard in front of her, looked down at it, and then frowned. “You are using Rousing Speech again. You know I hate it when you try to influence me with Skills. It’s pointless, too. Aren’t I already your subordinate?”

“Bah, just a habit at this point.” Ace waved a hand. Then he clenched that hand into a fist. “The Earth has to survive. And Randidly and I are the only two who see it. We are the only ones willing to put ourselves out there to save this world. I won’t let him down.”

For a moment, Rose opened her mouth. She thought about pointing out the fact that she had watched Ace slowly lose himself to the inferiority complex that he felt toward his former friend. Or she thought about addressing the deep loneliness growing in Ace’s chest that Rose Calloway had been helpless against since things fell to pieces between Roy, Sydney, and Ace all those years ago.

She thought about pointing out that Randidly definitely did not think they were in this together, and would likely have responded very violently to many of the things that Ace had been doing for the sake of the ‘Earth’.

But deep down, Rose shared the same pessimistic view on people that had driven Ace to this point; she didn’t believe they would come around on their own. They would continue to fall back on selfish infighting at the first opportunity. So even though his methods were growing increasingly wild, Rose closed her mouth and said nothing as Ace looked with almost feverish eyes in the direction of Kharon.

Her thoughts would likely have turned into a stewing form of depression if not for her hand quickly sketching out something on the clipboard. She glanced down out of reflex, then groaned in pain as the strange sigil her hand had carved onto the paper seemed to pierce upward through her eyes and directly into her soul. Someone was utilizing their Fate, and considering the power-

Hastily, she shouted. “Ace!”

“I feel it. Heh. Tell him hi, from me,” Ace said with remarkable cheer for a man about to abandon a comrade. Then his whole body turned red and he exploded in a wave of blood that splattered across the stones beneath them.

Rose was just about to frown in annoyance, but then the world behind where Ace had been standing parted and a taloned hand reached out and ripped through the air with enough violence that Rose’s hand spasmed trying to capture the Skill he used. Then there was a slightly awkward pause before the very human form of Randidly Ghosthound stepped out through the portal and looked around.

Rose hadn’t seen Randidly Ghosthound and several years, and he hadn’t really changed physically. But his force of presence… almost immediately, to Rose’s senses that detected the use of Skils, he became the center of the world. Even just standing there, there were at least a dozen powerful passive Skills operating.

He pursed his lips when his eyes landed on Rose. “I felt the Creature’s memories so I… huh. I suppose that makes sense. So it was you and Ace who took them?”

“...yes,” Rose said as she raised her chin. The very air still trembled from the ferocity of that last claw attack that had missed and her heart was pounding at the lie, but Rose refused to be cowed. She stopped marking down Randidly’s Skills; there wasn’t any point. Besides, there was no reason to throw their two companions under the bus, especially when Ace had been effectively monopolizing the memories for himself. “Ace says hi, by the way.”

Randidly’s expression creased in a dark expression. His emerald eyes glowed brightly, despite the afternoon light. His black hair fell messily across his head, but the intensity of his person seemed to seep slowly out and fill the air. It was like the longer she stood near to him, the more she could feel him. I get it Ace, this is why you still wanted to look toward Kharon. Because you could feel this influence.

After clenching his jaw, Randidly shook his head. “...so he has a surprise for me, huh?”

To her surprise, the physical presence of Randidly Ghosthound was enough to make Rose open her mouth and prepare to tell him about it almost immediately. And her hand didn’t even move; so he hadn’t used an extra Skill. He just has enough force to him that I instinctively wanted to explain the plan…? He has become even more monstrous.

“...yes,” Rose eventually forced out through gritted teeth.

After clicking his tongue, Randidly Ghosthound turned away and took a step back through the portal. As it slowly began to close, he looked back over his shoulder. “Fine. Let him know that if he attempts to do anything foolish with those memories… I’ll have a surprise for him.”

Then the portal closed and Rose collapsed, struggling to control her breathing.