The trio stood at the entrance to the museum; there was no resistance from any Amalgamates on the hill climb up, the bramble was the hardest part. It was a giant square shaped building, sporting several flags that had been long since worn away by time, whatever they advertised was now lost. The exterior coated in the vines and flowers of the growing Jinmenju that was now using the building as a flower pot. While he waited, Casper put his gas mask back on, and took a look at the sign outside the building, one clearly left before the Bloom. Wilfreed and Brother’s Historical Museum: New! The beauty of the Jinmenju! Casper’s groaned just reading it… What a poorly aged advert. Turning away from the sign and moving over to the door, he called out to Cho, “So the Amalgamate? What makes you think it’s here? The sapling?” Casper asked, craning his neck to look up at the tree.

Cho was busy inspecting the interior, looking in from the windows, trying to see what was on the other side of the door; had to be careful in the event that there was a booby trap left by the previous occupants. Then, he turned his attention to Casper. “Well, that’s the main reason, obviously. But there is another reason I can tell you once we’re in.” Cho snapped his fingers and looked over to Rakkan, who had been silently hanging by the side; specifically, he sat upon a bench, that was starting to bend under his weight. Quietly, he wished that he had brought a mask like the other two. Cho then pointed to the front double doors, “Door is barricaded, probably by its previous residents, probably by rubble collapsing in front of it… Care to open it for us?” Cho said, giving a quick nod, flicking his head in the direction of the door.

Rakkan frowned, scratching his head, “Ai, but could you please ask like a normal person next time?” But, despite this, he cracked his knuckles and got up, a wide grin on his face. “I’ll do it though! Not because you told me, I just love breaking thing!” Before he got started on his task, he started a series of stretches; always good to limber up after all.

“Gonna shove it? If it’s barricaded, it might need the three of us. Could also blow it up using ma-” Before Casper could continue, Rakkan ran forward with a loud yell, going in for a strong shoulder tack to the middle of the door. With a loud CRUNCH, the door immediately gave way. Both the door and the barrier behind it, was nothing but splinters and dust, scattered into the air. Rakkan looked unscatched, other than a few scratches and chips of wood in his fur and mane. Rakkan: 1, Door: 0. Having seen it, Casper nonchalantly mumbled. “-Or we can do that, that’s fine too.”

“Thank you, Mr. Muscles,” Cho said, as he stepped into the museum, with Casper following after him. Rakkan soon followed in last, brushing dust off his shoulder, smiling proudly as ever.

Well, it was a museum, that much could be said. A large open room, with several display cases, most of which were broken or in a state of disrepair. Above the bottom floor was a balcony that circled the room. To the left of that entrance was a holder for a bunch of brochures, as well as an audio kiosk; Casper even took one of the procures, flipping through it, only able to make out some of it. It was safe to say though that the place had seen better days, the walls and floor were covered in the newly blooming Jinmenju, the roots of the giant sapling piercing through the ceiling and ingraining themselves into the floor. The strong diesel-like smell of unrefined Life’s Blood was strong in the air; even the pollen of the flowers hung in the air, giving it a light purple hew that was illuminated by the light from the windows and door.

“Look.” Casper said with a point, towards a series of tents in the center. Most of them knocked over or collapsed; even one of them had a small Jinmeju root growing out of it. “Guess there were people here… Dammit…” Here was hoping for survivors, that’s all they could do right now. Forced into the final stage of Arborpathy… There was no coming back from that.

Rakkan frowned, putting his hand to his chest, looking at the sight of the massacre. “Rest their souls…” He said, before going to investigate the area further. Looks like most of the objects at the museum were stolen in the years after the Death Bloom. This place was likely a common target for being raided, either by art enthusiasts, historians, or people simply looking to make a huge profit.

Cho too was looking around, kneeling at the destroyed camp site. Sifting through the tents and the piles of clothes that once belonged to the people who were staying here. “They saw it coming, outside in the city. They barricaded the door and waited for it. They must’ve hoped that would be good enough… Or if it did break through, they’d know where to aim.” The wheels in his head turning, he looked around the room. Then, Cho’s keen eyes spotted something else on the balcony that over looked the room; a large hole in the south wall, a giant one at that, big enough to hit a van. Looks like it was was leading into another room. “But it got in through a different room. The Artist is smarter than I thought, instead of breaking down the barricade like they hoped, it snuck up on them.” Rakkan looked to the top floor, not in the best of moods, with all the fresh death surrounding them; either way, he looked for a flight of stairs. As he walked off, Cho called to him, taking up the mantle as team leader, he gave him a short series of orders. “Rakkan, don’t go in just yet, go up there and come back, I need to tell Casper something.” Rakkan gave a silent thumbs up, as he walked up the short flight of stares to the next floor. With Rakkan scouting ahead, Cho looked to Casper. “So… You’re probably wondering why I assumed they’d be here or why he kidnapped the child instead of just killing them?”

“I have a vague idea.” Casper said with a shrug, tossing the flier over his shoulder. “Is there an art gallery here?”

“No, but you’re on the right track.” Cho nodded, walking around the room, looking at the displays that once stood in pristine condition, now abandoned. All that was left of the museum’s contents were the placards “It will require a bit of story. See, The Artist, or the man who would become the Artist, was an infamous serial killer. Had a short but wild streak 80 years ago… One of the spots he made it to on that streak happened to be the merchant town of Tracks. No one knows how many people he killed before he arrived to the town, but we are certain that the killing there was his last… As a Qestian at least. His preferred target was children.”

“The three at the memorial hall?” Casper interrupted, gritting his teeth, his tone noticeably darkening.

“Correct.” As he spoke, Cho took a look at one of the placards and dusted it off, reading it while continuing his story; a true god of multitasking. He was an odd person. Kept to himself. No one talked to him and he didn’t talk to anyone else. The only thing special about him was he had a passion for sculpting and had a skill in Armament-based Versus. It was soon sound out what he liked to sculpt with when the sun was down. The corpses of his victims.”

Casper’s trigger finger suddenly twitched, his hand instinctively reached for his gun. In the sudden volatile response, he barked out a few words, “Why didn’t they kill him then and there?!”

Such anger was something Cho hadn’t expected from a quiet loner like Casper.

“They tried… So the stories say. But he ran into the forest and was dragged far and away by an Amalgamate. They thought he was dead and that was that. His body was never found after all. But even then it felt as though the souls of the children he killed would never rest.” Cho sighed, shaking his head, before staring off at the ceiling. The bottom of the Jinmenju could be seen from here. “Funny that he became an Amalgamate himself, living in the forests far away for the past 80 years. Only now does he return here.” In a rare moment, Cho’s voice carried no sign of smugness or overconfidence, no pride over his intelligence to be had. “That’s why… That’s why I have my it my goal to put those children’s souls at peace, by slaying him once and for all. Not for myself or for the Coalition. But for Tracks and for all the people from 80 years ago.”

Casper hummed… He never thought he would be empathizing with the Fox after having just met him the other day. It was the sorrow especially, that Casper knew all too well. With a solemn nod, Casper reached over and placed a hand on Cho’s shoulder. With a calm voice, his watery eyes hidden by his gas mask, Casper gave a reassuring, “Hey, I get it… I understand.” Cho took Casper’s hand off of his shoulder, not open to being touched. Casper understood, yet again, “So… You’re very close to Tracks?”

Cho paused again, only to respond with a quiet “Yes.”

Didn’t look like things were open to discussion anymore. Casper moved on to a different subject; from the heavy footsteps on the balcony above, Rakkan was coming back. The giant Lion certainly made stealth out of the question. To break the awkward silence, Casper asked, “Why the museum though?”

Cho gave the quick response of “Before he Amalgamated, he had an attachment to this place. It was where he went when he wanted to be alone. He’s very old for an Amalgamate, not the oldest, but relatively old compared to his bretheren. As Amalgamates get older, they begin to remember…” Cho looked like he was straining to find the right word, Not remember, but they… Have some semblance of who they use to be. They still have the aspects of Amalgamates, only seeking to kill and sow, but they are drawn to places or people they once knew or objects they were attached to. It’s still unknown why exactly.”

“I see, I think I heard of that somewhere. Universal Machine and other groups studying it.” Casper started to walk off, towards one of the doors at the end of the room. “But… As much as I enjoy this, we should get moving. Rakkan’s coming back.”

“Right.” Cho said, as he followed after Casper; he cursed himself for letting himself get distracted like that. At least he gave Casper an idea of what they were up against. Knowledge was power after all.

Before they could move on, they heard a voice from above. The deep, baritone voice of Rakkan. “Ai! Friends! There is a big room ahead but no Amalgamates! No child either!” He said, leaping from the balcony, landing next to Casper with a loud BOOM! He landed on his feet with the force of a boulder that happened to have a lot of finesse. On his head was a pyramid-shaped headware, fitted with gemstones and fancy chains. “Getting a move on without me? How rude!” He said, poking fun at his smaller companions.

With the three reunited, Casper was now walking alongside Rakkan, while Cho quickly put himself at the front of the two, heading down a hallway. The sign outside of it: 1st Wilfreed Planitarium.

Casper looked up at Rakkan, going further with him into the museum, “Nice hat. It’s surprising to see something so expensive here.”

Rakkan looked down at Casper, giving him a thumbs up as he tipped the brim of the crown. The vines growing along the walls were getting denser. This place must’ve been overgrown long before the camp in the other room was destroyed, judging by the amount of vines, the stink of Life’s Blood in the air was growing strong in the confined room. Looks like there were signs and displays up on the walls, relating to the exhibit, now eligible; didn’t stop Casper from trying to rip one off the wall as he passed by. “Ya like it? The display case was knocked over and I guess it went undiscovered til now! Super dusty though. It said it was a crown of Xha royalty. I don’t like stealing but the owners of the museum are dead, so are the Xha. So exceptions can be made, no?”

Soon, the path came up to a flight of stairs, that the group descended. The hall, getting darker and darker, made the two Byakko of the group thankful for their superior eyesight; yet the darkness didn’t seem to bother Cho. “Xha royalty? Gems? It’s fake.” Casper remarked incredulously, “It follows the fashion and aesthetic of the Xha, but it has gemstones so it’s fake.”

The stairway made it to a door, a thin push door that Cho brutally kicked, immediately causing it to give way. It lead out to a large circular room with a dome shaped roof, the floor of the room dipped towards the center as well. The room was lit up, by a large hole in the ceiling, letting in both warm sunlight and fresh crisp air; looks like they found the place the Amalgamate goes in and out The room was positively huge… Especially visible with the lack of chairs and the empty center where a projector once stood. Looks like this place was salvaged decades ago. The same people that looted this place all that time ago took all the chairs and metal from the projector, but didn’t take the crown Rakkan wore upon his head. That was the apocalypse for you; comfort and salvage were worth far more than a useless crown that was immediately deemed fake.

Such an accusation caught Rakkan off guard, “Eh?! Fake? How can you tell? Something wrong with gemstones?”

Cho went further into the room and stared up at the hole in the ceiling as the others walked in, his back to them. There was nothing to be had here. Other than a pile of rubble from where the hole was made, lying near the center. He sighed in annoyance at Casper and Rakkan’s antics. Although, Casper’s remarks caught his attention in particular.

“Right.” Scratching his head, Casper had his eyes on the crown. “Whoever donated it to the museum, they forged it or mistook a different culture’s work for Xha.” Rakkan nodded, looking genuinely invested in Casper’s burst of appraisal. The Sphynx continued. “Xha Studies were new then. Very new. This was before the Bloom after all. But again, it has gemstones, which might be fake too, but the Xha believed that crystals were the solidified souls of the dead. Only religious officials and the families of the recently deceased wore gemstones; that isn’t the design of any religious headware I’ve ever seen either, so that belonging to a religious official is out of the question.”

Rakkan, again, was stunned.

Cho, staring at Casper, called to him, “What’s this then? I think we should address the Melphant in the room.”

“Hm?” Casper turned his head to Cho.

“You want to get help from the Coalition, so you decide to help me despite not getting a guaranteed reward, you don’t look like a researcher yet you seem to know an awful lot about the Xha, you know about Sowing and even are willing to take on an Amalgamate who is a B-rank at the least, and there is that gun.” Cho pointed to the giant revolver at Casper’s hip. “Where did a man like you get one of the Maizer Arms? That pistol especially.”

“Maizer… Arms…?” Rakkan scratched his head, now confused. New words hurting his head.

Casper gave no response, each question jabbed him in the chest. The silence in the room: Palpable. There would be a time when he had to unveil his past. Especially with where he was going. Casper opened his mouth to speak…

Then, a sound caught the attention of the trio. The very specific sound of something dense but light hitting the carpeted floor of the planetarium; a chunk of Jinmenju. The leaves of it rustled about loudly, before rolling to a stop near the trio.

Cho readied his crossbow, a bolt manifesting in the middle of it. “They’re here…” He said quietly, the subject being hijacked away from Casper. Dust was falling from the hole above them, a loud thumping sound crawling up the side.

Casper and Rakkan too readied themselves, Casper taking his gun out and Rakkan cracking his knuckles.

The creature that emerged from the hole was enormous, even from far away, as it walked with a lumbering gait, before leaping to the floor below. As it landed, the whole room shook, even leaving a sizable crater where it landed. Standing on two legs, it was ever imposing, even the 7 foot tall Rakkan was only about half its height. While its build was roughly similar to a muscular, male Qestian, two legs, two arms, attached to a torso, its body was covered head to toe in brown, conical scales that rumbled with each movement. Its head was flat and rectangular, with the largest surface facing the group, looking like a painting of a giant mouth full of teeth and gums that clacked and ground against each other. Its weapon of choice, a long, thick tail that ended in a hammer shaped club, that thumped against the ground, kicking up dust. At the sight of the group, it slammed both hands to the ground, getting down on all fours, letting out an ear piercing metallic screech, repeatedly slamming its tail to the ground, enraged.

The Naked Cat, Casper

The Wandering Fighter, Rakkan

and the Fleeting Blade, Cho

vs The Artist