“Is it just me, or is something in your coat glowing?” Wu asked, pointing past Lera’s face and her hair while she lied on top of Wu’s stomach and pressed her body against his.

“Since you are not paying attention, I have to give you a small punishment,” Lera joked before giving her hands a little squeeze as Wu squealed and became nervous.

“No! For real though!” Wu said, grabbing onto Lera’s shoulders as she sighed and followed his directions. He’s right, however, as the piece of Kraken’s shell that Ver had given Wu and Lera was glowing straight through her coat pocket.

“Did you leave any of my Casts on?” Lera asked, rolling off Wu’s body before both of them stood around the jacket butt naked. Lera reached ahead, picking out the glowing piece of shell that became as even brighter upon contact, illuminating half of the room by this point.

She looked towards Wu who shrugged. Then, she placed the shell onto the table as Wu covered her shoulders with a blanket and stood behind her, naked still.

“Hello?” Ver’s voice came from the other side, “Wu? Lera? You still alive?”

“It’s be a while, Ver.” Lera smiled before picking up the shell, “How have you been?”

“Long story.” Ver said quickly, “Are you able to get to Ethereal Realm soon?”

“Ye…yeah.” Wu continued, his hands still touching Lera’s shoulders and massaging it slowly, “We can set out tomorrow morning.”

“Good.” Ver said, “Follow the shell. It will guide you straight to me.”

“What’s going on over there?” Lera asked before she tilted her head back as her eyes glowed in the dark, “PORA?”

“Yeah.” Ver lowered her voice, “They are here.”

It was a two-day journey riding the fastest chariot Cast in Varous before Wu and Lera arrived at the outskirts of the Fog city. Ver, knowing exactly where they were located ever since they entered Ethereal realm through the Kraken’s shell, waited out in the woodlands at the bottom of the mountain with sets of normal clothing for them to blend in.

“Ver!” Wu jumped up at her before she approached and hugged both of them lightly before letting them go.

“It’s been a little while, hasn’t it?”

Ver smiled lightly before glancing back and forth in between them, quickly noticing the rings on both of their fingers, “Congratulations…I guess?”

“It has been a little while.” Lera said.

“Then you better tell me all the gossip.” Ver smirked, pressing Wu on the chest, “You cheeky little one. Doing all of this while I am away~”

“What can I say.” Wu chuckled, “Being cheeky is certainly one of my powers.”

Ver lead the two of them back into her main room at the Vaughan family mansion, though both were surprised at how when Ver moved through the house, the kids running in the corridor greeted her before carrying on with their games.

“I thought you and the Vaughan’s…” Wu said, when Ver pressed her finger up against his lip and gave him a look. After they were safe inside the room and the Kraken filled the entire walls with a thin layer of its fluid to prevent any sound from getting out, she finally opened up to everything that had happened since her return to Vaughan family.

“And so…Stark turns out not to be an asshole, and my mother turned out to be a little sick, but it’s no big deal.” Ver said, tossing the poster she collected from the Guild of Mercenaries towards Wu who caught it with one hand, “What is a big deal, however, is this.”

“How much can you trust this?” Wu asked, handing the poster to Lera as she examined it closely, “Could it be a trap?”

“If it is indeed a trap, then that means PORA is the one setting it up.” Lera said, looking up at Ver.

“And if it’s legit, it means PORA is here.” Ver nodded, “Either way, it doesn’t change what we need to do.”

“This Ethereal Conference…will you be there?” Wu asked, “I presume there are at least some level of security that accompanied the heads of the Houses, similar to those that went to the Summer Selections.”

“Nobody from Ethereal Realm goes to Summer Selections.” Ver said.

“And all those from other kingdoms who went were replaced by meat puppets controlled by those who are next in line for their power.” Wu said.

“What do you mean…?” Ver tilted her head, as neither Wu nor Lera had completely caught her up to PORA’s tactics in the other countries.

“Meaning that to take control of the Ethereal Realm, they would have to do it the old-fashioned way.” Wu said.

“Well, there is only one way to take control of this Realm.” Ver shook her head, “The Tournament. Once you became the number one ranked House, you effectively control the entire realm through the respect and influence alone.

“But that’s next year, right? I doubt PORA will wait that long, not after all of the turmoil that they had been causing in the past few months.” Wu pointed at Ver’s bed before she nodded. Then the two sat down on it at the same time, “Say, what if they decided to hijack all of the head of houses at this conferencce and make all of them submit to PORA, would that work?”

“Even if they overcome the mightiest military powers in all of the realm, the people won’t submit to them.” Ver said slowly, “But…even if they control a majority of the houses through the less obvious means, then that will still strongly enhance their chances at the tournament. Plus, they can easily sabotage the other houses in the dark through assassination and cohersion…”

So this is an extremely dark version of if there’s a will there’s a way.

“Like you said, it doesn’t change what we need to do.” Lera said, putting down the poster and reaching her hand towards Ver, “Come, I think your head of house needs to hear about this, if you think he can be trusted.”

“Hmm…” Stark Vaughan sat in his desk with his head obscured by his massive calloused hands as Ver, Wu, and Lera sat and waited on the other side, “During our Sky Guardian Corp reserve duties, we have encountered the likes of PORA before, but they always retreated back into the shadows as quickly as they emerged once they spotted us…”

“That’s because they weren’t ready.” Wu explained, “the generals of Varous didn’t think they amounted to much, until they dropped an island on the realm.”

“This realm.” Ver said quickly, “they are finally here. They were at the Academy, Varous, and Talonia, and eventually, their reaches will taint our land.”

“From what I’ve heard, they have had substantial presence in the Western continent.” Stark acknowledged, “Some of the smaller Kingdoms have yet to acknowledge them, but Yarka seemed to have, and whatever Yarka says, the West do.”

“They will not have their way here in the East.” Wu said, “We made sure of that both in Varous and Talonia, and now…we are here to help ensure that it won’t happen here in the Ethereal Realm.”

“I will have you know that this realm will not fall this easily to their control.” Stark scorned, “that’s not to be prideful, the system of houses had been so ingrained in the people of this realm, that any other system will just lead to utter chaos. To be frank, I don’t think they really care for the Eastern continent either.”

That sentiment was not without reason. Yarka Kingdom, the strongest and largest country, and Eternal Xia, the richest country, are both located on the Western continent, alongside the small military powerhouse of Kingdom of Eastern Sun, the mysteriously powerful Necrovia, the religiously devoted Basha…

The majority of the world’s strength, population, belief, economy, and more are in fact gathered in the Western continent. Therefore, it is certainly sensible for PORA to focus more of their efforts in the West. In comparison, Ethereal realm is a political mess, Talonia is just an Popsicle, and Varous’ technological advancements had been in ruins ever since the destruction of the Pinnacle Research Institute in PORA’s attempt to manipulate the summoning of the Fourth Savior.

“And that will be good for us.” Ver emphasized, “That means that this is where we take a stand against PORA.”

“I don’t disagree.” Stark finally unwound his hands as his glorious mustache became revealed to Wu and Lera. Wu unconsciously rubbed the top of his lips, wondering if he could pull it off as Lera thought the same. Ver, on the other hand, never really noticed the mustache since she spars with Stark every day and it was hidden behind helmet most of the time.

“However, you will not be accompanying me officially.” Stark stood up from his table and pressed his finger onto one of the security Casts as the doors swung open. Then, a pair of senior councilman and woman from the House of Vaughan walked in, “I will be accompanied by Madam Madelaine and Sir Frost, as per tradition to the conference. I will also have the most elite of Vaughan fighters as our guards.”

“If the other fighters are any good, you would have sparred with them instead.” Ver shot back as Stark walked straight past them and bowed his head slightly towards the two who bowed back.

“This time, I will follow the rules.” Stark said with great finality, “Now if you would excuse me, I have actual political matters to discuss.”

“Hey! We are not done here!” Ver protested, but before she could chase after him, Wu reached out and grabbed onto her hand. She turned back sharply and glared at Wu, “What?!”

“Did you catch his subtext?” Lera asked with a murmur before swirling her finger. Ver blinked a few times before warping them back into her bedroom.

“He said that we will not be accompanying him officially, and he had shown plenty of care and concern for the PORA threats before.” Wu said as he let his eyebrows dance with every word.

“And he said that he will follow the rules, but that doesn’t mean you have to…” Lera said.

“Hmm…” Ver sat back onto the bed and nearly crashed into Wu’s body before she kicked him back slightly.

“Remember Stark’s position, little one.” Shrak’Ahk, the Kraken, reminded.

“He only came back recently, and is still trying to gain his footing and support within the House of Vaughan…” Ver murmured, recalling the things her mother told her about Stark Vaughan, “And that explained his official stance…”

“So? Shall we head to the conference?” Wu asked, poking Ver in the shoulders as she turned around and pushed him under her as the bed bounced.

“Let’s go to the conference.” Ver said, leaning in and pretending to kiss Wu before Lera freaked out and picked her up with her trapping Cast.

“Alrighty.” Sitting up onto the bed, Wu clapped his hands together, “A new mission is now set! Honestly, after what happened in Talonia, I am so excited to visit another country! Let’s just hope things are less messy here than up north…”

“Yeah…about that.”