Roy edged his way around the clusters of people in the clearing, catching snippets of conversation as he passed by. There was nothing newsworthy or spectacular, only mundane matters that harkened back to the days which had since slipped out of reach.

A small group of students were talking about a baseball game they saw on TV the night before it all began, recounting the pitchers and batters that strolled, dashed, and slid across the green. Roy had always been more an e-sports type of person, even though he was no better at games than he was at physical activities.

Walking past the previously well-adjusted members of society, Roy spotted a familiar tangle of copper hair.

“Hey, Tristan!” Roy’s shout caught the attention of the others gathered around the boy, and as they turned around Roy recognized faces both familiar and new.

“Roy? God, it’s Roy guys!” confusion quickly gave way to joy as Tristan recognized his former classmate. The mirth was infectious as it spread from him to Tom, to Lyn, to Huxley, and even to the new faces.

“Greetings, my man, how goes the questing?” Tom rushed forward, animating the dwarf on his t-shirt with the gesticulations of his oversized gut.

“Questing? Oh, yeah, umm,” he didn’t expect Tom to retain so much of his enthusiasm after the events of the past few days. How could he see it as an adventure, his experiences as a quest, when so much of it had been filled with death and suffering?

“I see you’ve got yourself the panoplies of a chevalier!” Tom pointed at the pitchfork slung on Roy’s back before patting the head of the small mallet tied to his waist with a length of discolored cloth, “I myself prefer the noble and most glorious profession, the paladin!”

Before he could continue any further Lyn stepped in, a smile shakily painted upon her face, “Come on Tom, you can talk with Roy later, I’m sure he’s tired after his quest.”

“Of course m'lady, it would be most uncouth of me to deny Sir Stone his well deserved rest!” carefully, Lyn dragged Tom away. His ranting continued even as he disappeared past the first row of mud huts, rambling on about the fair weather and the fairness of the girl’s skin.

“Heh, kinda awkward, I know…” Tristan started as he scratched his head with one gloved hand, “The first few days were hectic, but things have calmed down since we got here. What about you?”

“Hmm, I guess it was the same for me. I found a group holed up in the big grocery store on Main Street, and I’ve been helping out there,” it was nice seeing his classmates here.

“So you must have been one of the people Meta came back with, I heard you guys were fighters,” the boy looked worried as he eyed Roy’s apparel.

“It’s not that bad, really. The others are really tough, even though I look a bit…” they shared a quick chuckle as Roy’s patchwork clothing made itself known.

“So are you guys coming south with use then?”

“You really are going south huh?” Roy replied, trying to delay the inevitable response. He wanted to go, go with his classmates and his friends. But he couldn’t and the throbbing in his heart soared with every new revelation.

“Yeah, I heard they were talking about it a while ago but Meta wasn’t ready. But then you guys came and suddenly the big guy is ready to go,” Tristan rubbed his chin as he recounted what he knew about their little settlement’s plans. It didn’t seem like the elemental deigned to share the information about the Empyrean Fragment with them.

“I see…” Roy mumbled as he thumbed the shaft of his pitchfork, “Well, I’m glad you guys are getting out of this muck.”

“Right… Wait, you aren’t coming?" the boy had always been quick to pick up subtle clues like those.

“No, I can’t… Some of the people at the grocer’s don’t want to leave, so yeah…” it took a bit of will to force out the truth, the reality. That he couldn’t and wouldn’t leave, at least not now, not before he actually put in an effort to warn them of the dangers of staying.

“I…” they stood there in silence for a while, not really talking and not really moving.

“How about I show you around, introduce you to some of the guys?”

“That… sounds good,” with his assent they walked back to the group Roy had spotted Tristan with.

There were a myriad of faces, and oddly shaped furniture made of rock, and strange organic buildings pulled right from the earth. Tristan showcased it all, all the strange wonders Roy had come to appreciate, especially with the way they could occupy his mind.

The biggest structure was the town hall, it bloomed from the ground at the center of the settlement, big enough for the elemental to fit in with room to spare. It was like a flower, a starburst of mud that projected out from its core. Smooth and precise planes met at rounded edges, and the overall effect was like that of the Sydney Opera House, but eroded and smoothed over with millennia of ancient erosion.

Clusteredaround the megalitic structure were larger houses. Branch like tunnels sprouted from the central cube like construction, connecting desperate units. It would not have appeared out of place in space. Everything followed that trend, the curved edges and flawless planes in between, forming organic flowing structures seemingly grown from the ground.

It occurred to Roy that they had probably been made like that. Sprung from the ground by magic wielded by the elemental. A settlement out of nothing.

There were pipes for running water, and lights, and stoves. The last of which consisted of engraved stone blocks whose top heated up as mana coursed into it. Everything was powered by mana and this was obvious to Roy as he focused on the appliances and his surroundings. His obtuse sensing perk aided him in realizing that the whole settlement glowed as bright as the sun with the magic thrumming in its veins.

Finally they came to a stop where they had begun, the time was up and Roy had to go meet with the others.

“Well, I’ve got to go,” Roy said, a kind of pseudo good bye.

“No need for the drama, take care and I’m sure we’ll meet again, maybe by then Tom won’t be so out of it,” a nervous laugh complimented his wave which continued until Roy found his view obstructed by the other groups in the plaza.

---

Home, or rather the grocery store rose out of the mist to meet them as they neared. The faces of the group during the trek spoke of varying emotions, and varying degrees of success in finding their friends and family. But it was all dampened by the fact that even had they found who they were looking for, they would not have brought them to the grocery store.

They would not have chained the ones close to them down alongside themselves as they held a desperate position against time, the most insidious foe.

Only Madelyn seemed unaffected, and it reminded Roy of what she had told him. What had she learned, what was it that she realized which had brought her out of the melancholy she entered after seeing the bloated form of her mother?

There were no suspicious individuals outside this time, only a small field of debris greeted them. Owen sat on the roof as usual, and a bit of maneuvering along the ladder that had been set up brought him down to ground level.

“Welcome back!” he announced as he looked over the people assembled before him, “You didn’t find anyone?”

“We found others alright, a whole group camped out in the east side of town.”

“Tens? Hundreds? Did you mention joining us? There is strength in numbers,” Owen’s questions came one after another, his large frame brimming with energy.

“Hundreds, and they're not joining us. They’re going south.”

“South? In this weather and with conditions as they are? Did you try convincing them? Maybe I could give it a go,” his well chiseled features shifted into a thoughtful frown as he considered his own words.

“Don’t see why you need to worry, they’ve got a big dirt thing guarding them, and anyplace has got to be better than here,” Nolan shrugged off Owen’s concerns and began to make his way to the door.

“A big dirt thing? You mean a monster, you left American citizens in the charge of a monster!” his voice steeled as he looked from Nolan to the rest of the group.

“It wasn’t a monster, it was kinda nice and all,” Dan cut in, trying to placate Owen.

“You idiots are willing to risk hundreds of lives on those premises? Protecting civilians is my job and I don’t trust some monster to perform it!”

“What would you rather have Owen?” Nolan turned around to face the incensed officer, “You think we can feed another two hundred mouths? Do you know how long our food’s gonna last? They’ve got a better chance if they head out of this god awful swamp!”

He pointed at the floating bits of debris and Roy realized that they were actually bits and pieces of pale fungal tissue. Giant sponge like slaps poking out of the water or drifting on the surface. All newly minted and hinting at a recent conflict.

“How long do we need to last? We last until help arrives! It could arrive today, it could arrive tomorrow, it could arrive the day after that. But it won’t ever come for the people on the road, it won’t ever come if they’re gone!” his whole body shook now as his words came charging out of his mouth.

“What if your help doesn’t come, what if it never comes? Can’t you see how things are? It could be like this everywhere!” Nolan shouted, voice creaking as he neared old age.

“How can you assume that? Are you going to risk their lives on those assumptions?”

“Open your eyes it’s obvious!” his veins showed and the whites of his eyes shone as he shouted back.

“Is it really! It’s obvious they’ll die out there!” the two men stared at each other, neither giving in to the other's way of thought. “You need to think things over before you put anyone else in danger. You're dismissed, I’ll find someone else to run the Task Force.”

With a parting glare, Owen climbed back up the ladders and took his position on the roof.

“Somehow, I don’t think he’ll approve of sending more people over…”

“Shut up Dan,” Nolan grumbled as he stalked back into the grocery store. Leaving the other members out in the mist.

“Soo… who do you think Owen’s gonna put in charge?” Dan forced his face into a smie, as if he were making casual chit-chat.

“Our glorious leader works in mysterious ways, how can you presume to know who he will give this honor to?” Madelyn directed a pitiful gaze at the man as she began to preach.

“I certainly hope it isn’t you!” he retorted.

“This servant is not worthy,” she brushed of his remark and seemed to look down on him even though she was a head shorter.

“You know this is like, totally serious right? I mean, it can’t be Owen, Greyson, or Lestrat right? Cuz, they’re really busy, but I like, don’t know anyone else who is alright for the job,” Lucy cut in and began to ramble, drowning out Dan’s remaining protestations.

Despite the delivery, the though muffled their voices, and put them into thought. Roy had seen Nolan in action, the way he braced against the charge of the vineborn brute. There was no doubt in his mind that he himself would have been unable to pull off the feat, and this was likely true for the others as well.

They had specialized and now their tank was missing.

“Maybe we can try to persuade Owen? It’ll be dangerous without Nolan at the lead,” Dan suggested as he paced from side to side.

“Fuck the old man, I can handle his role,” Mato spat out as he grew sick of the conversation and followed Nolan’s lead.

Now there were only five and with a few more parting remarks , the group dispersed.