2025 November 13, 11:00 am

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  Briar walked down a dark hallway, the walls and floors resembled his school’s. White and red blood drenched the ground, making each of his steps be followed by a splash of liquid. Students lined the walls, their heads replaced with arenenna. Brair looked to his left. Walking with him was a purely dark silhouette, its body as dark and empty as a black hole. Briar’s body moved on its own. Each step is an involuntary push forward. The student began to chant “you chose wrong, you chose wrong “

  The end of the hall came in sight, briar saw Aira at the end of it, she stood there frozen, a lifeless expression on her face. He ran down the hall. He reached out his hand. Aira smiled at her, Briar quickly reached and pulled her into a hug. He wailed, tears dripping from his eyes down his cheeks “I'm sorry, it's all my fault! I destroyed everything!”

  Briar wiped his eyes, he looked at Aira. Her head was missing, an arenenna taking its place. Brair stepped back, his voice was broken and his arm twitched “no, no. It's not real! ITS NO REAL.”

  “it’s not real”

  Briar suddenly woke up with a slap to his face. Briar eyes shot open, he was in a cold sweat and panted. He was lying down in the subspace highway train; he was tightly covered in his blanket. Euri sat down on top of him. She raised her hand and slapped him again “hey dumbass we’re leaving”

  Briar sighed “I'm awake, where’s Mr. Moon? Did he fix the train”

  “I'm here wisp”

  Euri tilted to the side allowing briar to see Mr. Moon. He sat down on one of the train's seats, in his hand was a black teacup with a design of white flowers. “Julia is ready for our travel.”

  Euri stands up off Briar. She Looked back towards moon “hey moon. If Julia is up and ready does that mean I can get my armor back?”

  “Oh, I didn’t know that she took it?” Mr. Moon takes a sip “you want all of it?”

  “Just the helmet” Euri pointed down at her boots “I already have the boots, and I just need the helmet to contact my boss”

  “Julia, can you give her helmet please.” Mr. Moon said, placing his cup on the table. The train’s horn went off. Mr. Moon raised a brow “what do you mean which one?”

  Suddenly four U.W.G helmets pop out of the ground. Euri looked down at the Helmets and then at Mr. Moon “I'm not even going to ask where you got the other three from”

  Euri picks up each one and inspects their insides. She puts one of the helmets on her head. She spoke in the same robotic voice as before, “There we go, this is the one.”

  The other four helmets sink into the floor of the train. Euri pressed her hand on a button underneath her ear. A ringing noise rang from her helmet. A voice came from her mask’s eye, the eye pulsating purple in sync with the voice. “Euri, what is the matter? Do you require assistance?”

  Euri beamed. “Hey Aithne! Just checking in to see if you're doing alright.”

  Aithne sighs before responding. “I'm fine as I've ever been. Please, could you refrain from using my line for anything other than business... I’ll be leaving now . . . if that’s alright.”

  “But I just called you,” Euri pouted. “Don’t you have anything to tell me?”

  “Not at all, things have been quieter than usual. Today's a much-needed rest,” Aithne responded. “Are you still with Mr. Moon? Seen anything that you'd need to report?”

  “We’ve been fine, Aithne,” Euri stated. “Actually! They’re right next to me right now.”

  “Right next to you!” Aithne raised his voice. “Euri, is your mask’s speaker on?”

  Euri nodded. “Yeah, I wanted them to hear.”

  “Euri, I swear you’re an idiot!” Aithne yelled. Suddenly, the mask flashed purple with a loud beep. Euri took off her mask, her cheeks puffed, and her face showed a sense of enjoyment. “He hung up on me! How rude of him!”

  Mr. Moon took another sip from his cup. “How amusing. Are you done with the helmet?”

  “I've got one last thing I want to do,” Euri said as a devilish grin grew on her face. She quickly turned around to Briar and threw the helmet down at him. The helmet hit Briar in the chest. Briar coughed as the helmet struck him, the dreariness in his eyes fading. “Euri! What was that for!”

  “I just like causing you pain,” Euri smugly shrugged. “...I'm joking. I want you to keep it.”

  “Keep it?” Briar responded, inspecting the mask. “Don’t you need it? Why do you even want to give it to me?”

  “Because you're weak. Plus, I don’t plan on getting hit, so why wear armor!” Euri chuckled. “Come on, put it on! Put it on! Do it!”

  Briar brushed the blanket off of him and rose to his feet, mask in hand. He looked inside the mask. Inside it had several bright lights and mechanisms. Its rim looked smaller than his head. He held the helmet above his head. He pushed the helmet down against his head. He felt the helmet's rim expand until it suddenly plopped down against his head on top of his scarf. The helmet was resized to comfortably fit his head. Briar’s vision was slightly tinted purple. He looked towards Euri. Several white boxes with black borders appeared in his eyesight, each with titles such as “Record,” “Physical Description,” and “Emotional Description.”

  Briar felt overwhelmed by the amount of information. He stumbled around, losing his footing. Euri quickly grabbed Briar's hand and rushed towards the door. The three opened the door. The Night of Sin was empty, several of the tables stacked against the wall, and the room lacked any visitors. Phobos stood at the bar, a wine glass filled with a thick black and white substance. Phobos immediately stared at the group as they entered. He slammed the glass on the table, making a massive clinking sound. Phobos' eye drooped.

  "We're closed, Moon."

  "I'm here on business," Mr. Moon walked up to the bar, took the Nova crystal out of his pocket, and placed it on the table. Phobos' eye lit up; he lifted the crystal and inspected it from different angles.

  "Now, what did you do to get this in a day? You usually take ages for this stuff."

  Euri ran up to the bar. She leaned against the table and stared at Phobos; she pointed at his eye.

  "Wow, you really have one eye! That's so cool! You're Phobos, right?"

  Phobos scanned her with his eye, then fixated on her boots. Suddenly, Phobos reached out his hand and grabbed Mr. Moon by the collar. He spoke, a hint of impatience in his voice.

  "Why are you bringing the U.W.G here? You do this every time, Moon. Every time!"

  Mr. Moon waved his hands frantically.

  "My friend, wait! She is not here to arrest anyone! She wanted to join me on my journey."

  "Likely story." Phobos let go of Mr. Moon's collar. Mr. Moon let out a sigh of relief before backing away from the table. Phobos looked towards Briar. Briar felt the same sense of fear overwhelm him from the last time he'd been here, his hands shivering and fingers curling. Phobos laughed.

  "Briar! You're still alive. Ain’t that a surprise. Come over here, join us."

  "Ye-yes, of course." Briar shuddered; he hesitated for a moment before quickly shuffling over to the bar. Phobos snapped his fingers. Three floating hands of purple fire appeared behind him; they reached under the table and pulled out three pictures, slamming them onto the table. The three pictures each displayed diverse landscapes, each one featuring at least one sighting of a Spider Arenenna.

  Phobos pointed towards the first picture. It showed a ruined landscape. Destroyed and collapsed stone buildings littered the area, moss and cracks forming as an effect of time passed. Several plants grew between the cracks in the ruins. The sun shone on the scene, covering everything in a white hue. In the center of the picture, a Spider Arenenna lay dead, a grey and withered sword stabbed in its head, white Arenenna blood spilling from the corpse.

  "This is Moros. Same universe, not far from here. Some snarky kid said he spotted a fresh Arenenna body on his travels. Brought this picture for proof."

  "Isn't Moros a planet with no inhabitants? Why are the Arenenna there?" Euri questioned. "Seems like a dumb idea."

  "The Arenenna have no home planet, the Chordis being their home," Mr. Moon explained. "It is possible that they see the ruined planet as inhabitable."

  Phobos shrugged. "Not that I care, but you should probably be prepared when you go there. Bad rumors about this place."

  "Why?" Briar asked. "Why is the planet ruined?"

  "Money. Goddamn money," Phobos chuckled. "Used to belong to Vultas, but the planet became uninhabitable once they started to use nuclear energy. Massive explosion, deadly radiation, everybody left, end of story."

  "How are we going to go there then? I don’t know about you two, but radiation will probably kill me," Briar pointed out.

  Mr. Moon spoke. "The evacuation was about one thousand two hundred years ago when—"

  "One thousand three hundred and eighty-nine years ago," Euri butted in.

  Mr. Moon continued. "One thousand three hundred and eighty-nine years ago... how do you know that off by heart?"

  "They drill the dates of tragic events into our heads every day at the U.W.G," Euri clarified.

  "Interesting," Mr. Moon nodded. "Anyways, the radiation has cleared since."

  "But the bastards don’t go back because it’d be too expensive to repair. The idiots turned it into a historical site and taxed anyone who entered!" Phobos added. "Fucking Vultas, all the same."

  "I changed my mind. I don’t like this guy," Euri thought aloud.

  Phobos chuckled. "Same with you, darling... Now, moving on."

  Phobos tapped on the second picture. It displayed a vibrant town covered by a blue, calming moonlight. Buildings of wood and cloth stood beside the dark stone path. Several small street vendors sold items, food, and clothing. The streets were filled to the brim with people. The citizens shared orange hair, big pointy fox ears, and an orange tail with a grey tip at the end of it. The outfits of the citizens were diverse, each person looking like they came from a different time and place. In the crowd, Briar spotted one person that stood out—a woman with no head, and in its place, an Arenenna. The person was circled in red ink.

  "Lealaps. Some of my..." Phobos glanced at Euri before continuing . "Totally law-abiding friends spotted that guy while 'doing business' and took this photo for me. Little bugger sticks out like a sore thumb."

  "Now that makes sense," Euri spoke. "A populated planet, that’s where I’d look for them."

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  "There’s only one," Briar pointed out. "I was expecting to see hordes."

  "They don’t always aim to invade planets. Sometimes they just look for information or make deals undercover."

  Briar looked at the Arenenna in the picture. Images of the carnage in his school flashed through his mind. A feeling of dread washed over him, and he mumbled, "They didn’t do that for me..."

  Phobos looked at Mr. Moon. "Can’t go guns blazing. This place is the home of those Vultas. Don't bring too much attention to yourself, alright?"

  "I never do, Phobos. I never do." Mr. Moon bowed, a confident smirk on his face.

  Phobos grunted. "Yes, you do! All the time!"

  "How dare you," Mr. Moon scoffed. "I am the greatest when it comes to being under the radar."

  "And also, the greatest pain in my ass!" Phobos yelled, slamming his hands on the table. The two yelled back and forth at each other, hurling insults and dramatic remarks.

  Euri laughed. "Changed my mind again, that guy’s funny. How’d you meet him, Briar?"

  Briar didn’t respond, his attention fixated on the second picture. Euri looked at Briar—his face was empty, his body shivering, and his eyes wide open, staring at the Arenenna. He had gone pale. Euri tapped him on the shoulder.

  Briar snapped out of his trance, his body still shaking. Euri asked, "You look terrible. You alright, dude?"

  Briar paused before shaking his head. "No... I don’t think I can focus right now."

  Euri picked up his hand in hers, palm to palm, one hand on top and the other below. She looked him in the eyes, showing a kind-hearted smile.

  "Wanna talk about it?"

  "I don’t think it would help," Briar monotoned.

  Euri nodded. "That’s alright, I'll make you smile without knowing!"

  Euri let go of Briar’s hand, thinking to herself before devilishly grinning. She giggled. "Hey, Briar, wanna see something fuuuunny?"

  Briar sighed. "Hit me."

  Euri held out both her hands, closed her eyes, and concentrated. Her hands suddenly changed shape into a miniature version of Briar’s head. She moved it around. "I'm Briar! I'm SOOO stupid and clumsy!"

  "That’s not funny," Briar scolded. "Stop that."

  Euri stuck her tongue out. "Make me, dummy."

  Briar reached out to grab the copy of his head. Euri moved it out of the way before he could grab it. Briar swiped again, Euri dodging each time.

  Euri suddenly stopped and returned her hands to normal. "Alright, alright, there you go."

  "That was... disturbing," Briar stated. "Didn’t know you could do that."

  "Hey Briar, hey Briar, hey Briar," Euri chanted, pointing at his face. Briar hadn’t realized a smile had grown on his face.

  Euri poked his nose. "You should smile more, silly. Looks better on you."

  "I— You— Why... Thank you, Euri," Briar stuttered.

  Phobos slammed his fist on the table. "Well, why don’t we finish here so you can prove me right!"

  "Why don’t we," Mr. Moon retorted. "I'll show you just how great I am!"

  A hand of purple flames appeared and grabbed the last picture, holding it up. It showed a dark cave. The cave was in a thick darkness that blocked the sight of anything. From the darkness, four massive white eyes pierced through. In the background behind the cloaked creature were several other pairs of white, shining eyes.

  Phobos took the picture out of the floating hand’s grasp. "Achlys. I was looking through the caves on this planet and saw these freaks, took a quick picture to remember."

  "You got out unharmed?" Briar questioned. "There’s a lot of eyes in this picture."

  Phobos chuckled. "I don’t get harmed, unlike the rest of you. There was even an adult."

  "An adult? They get bigger?" Briar inquired.

  Mr. Moon butted in. "Yes, they do get bigger. The ones we encountered were only the first stage of their lifespan."

  Briar looked back at the eyes in the third picture. "How many stages are there?"

  "Four. Four distinct stages," Mr. Moon stated. "First, they are created as small eggs that find their way into a host. They linger onto a common thought to properly identify and locate other hosts of the same species. After a while, they burst out of the host’s head in stage two. These are the spiders we saw earlier. In this stage, they control the host by mimicking the behavior of its brain. They use the host to spread instances of their eggs to infect as much as they can while slowly decaying the host."

  "Like a parasite," Briar noted. "What happens next?"

  "Right away, Wisp," Mr. Moon continued. "After getting enough nutrients from the host, they fully devour it. After this, their size and strength grow, and they become adults, as seen in this image. The adult’s purpose is to fend off predators."

  "That’s what we’re going against!" Briar said, pointing at the picture.

  "Yeah, dude! Isn't it awesome!" Euri chirped. "We get to knock the heads off of Arenenna!"

  "I think you’re all going to die," Phobos grumbled. "Messing with Arenenna..."

  "Have a little faith, Phobos," Mr. Moon bantered. "Now, onto the last stage—the Elders. After a long while, adult Arenenna undergo a change. They enter a more humanoid state, mimicking the appearance of the host they had at birth but with Arenenna features such as spider appendages or fangs."

  "Wait, if they could be humanoid, why wouldn’t they help during invasions?" Briar questioned.

  "There are just not enough," Mr. Moon answered. "The overall Arenenna population is only in the tens of thousands, and out of those, only a couple hundred adults. With such small numbers, only two Elder Arenenna have ever been seen, mostly sitting and plotting from within the Chordis."

  Briar repeated, "Only two Elders, out of over ten thousand?"

  "They are able to live up to five hundred years, but due to their massive appetite, they rarely live to see a week. Even those two Elders have only been alive for two hundred," Mr. Moon explained.

  "Who are the two Elders?" Briar asked.

  Euri quickly butted in. "Oh, oh! I know this one! They’re on our wanted list. Griffin and Anastasia! We're actually ordered to kill them on sight."

  "On sight? No punishment, just death?" Briar restated.

  Euri nodded in response. She moved her thumb against her neck. "Straight execution. That’s where destroying planets gets you."

  "Enough of this stupid conversation," Phobos interjected, slamming the third picture on the table. "I showed you everything I know. Now get out! I'm supposed to be off work right now."

  "Appreciate it, Phobos," Euri thanked before quickly rushing back outside, closing the door behind her.

  Mr. Moon looked toward Briar. "Well, I guess we should get going too."

  "Actually, Moon, stay here for a moment," Phobos said, looking directly at Mr. Moon.

  Mr. Moon stood silent, returning his stare. Briar nervously muttered, "I'll leave you two alone," quickly turning and leaving the Night of Sin.

  Mr. Moon cleared his throat. "Well, what do you have to tell me?"

  Phobos hesitated. "Someone is after you, Moon. An Inrana."

  Mr. Moon paused before laughing. "You had me worried, Phobos. There’s always somebody after me."

  "This one was different," Phobos reiterated. "He was wrong. Disturbing. He called himself the Inquisitor."

  "Aww," Mr. Moon cooed. "Is someone worried about little old me?"

  "I couldn’t give one shit about you, Moon, you know that" Phobos badgered. "You have two people with you, Moon. Two people that aren’t ready for the shit you cause just by existing... Just don’t get them killed, Moon. And don’t traumatize them either."

  Mr. Moon smirked. "I wasn’t—"

  "Seriously, Moon!" Phobos interrupted. "Don’t! Get! Them! Killed!"

  Mr. Moon stayed silent.

  Phobos sighed. "Sorry... got a bit carried away."

  Briar and Euri sat inside the subspace highway train, side by side. Euri laid back, her legs on the table. “Damn it, what's taking him so long?”

  “He’s talking with Phobos,” Briar answered. “It looked serious… might take him a while.”

  Euri jumped up from the seat. “I'm bored! I'm going to start breaking things!”

  Mr. Moon stepped onto the train, holding three pictures in his hand. He looked at Euri, one brow raised. “You're going to do what?”

  “Nothing,” Briar nervously responded. “You're old! You're hearing things.”

  “I'm not that old… for my species,” Mr. Moon sniffled. “Sit down, we’re leaving.”

  Euri quickly rushed back to her seat, Mr. Moon sitting after her. He placed the first picture on the table. “We’re going here first. It's the closest of the three. We'll go there, check it out, and then leave.”

  “Let's go there right away!” Euri spoke, excitement in her voice. “Not a moment to waste.”

  Mr. Moon smirked. “I love the energy, but first, we need to return to the highway.”

  “What?! Why?” Euri complained. “Why do we have to go back?”

  “I need to stock up on gear. We shouldn’t go to any of the three locations with our guards down.”

  “Fine,” Euri said, her cheeks puffed. “Just make it quick.”

  The train’s horn blared as it started moving, entering the streamlines. Briar looked out the window, feeling a sense of peace seeing the streamlines again. It was the only place he understood, even if it still felt unknown to him.

  The train stopped, returning to the subspace highway. Mr. Moon stood up. “You should stretch your legs. I'll be a while.”

  The three exited the train, stepping onto the subspace highway. Briar looked around and then at Mr. Moon. “Where do you keep your tools and stuff? This place is pretty…”

  “Empty?” Mr. Moon finished. “It would look that way, wouldn’t it? At least on the surface.”

  Mr. Moon suddenly sank into the ground like it was sand. Briar jumped back. Euri chuckled. “This guy is so cool!”

  Mr. Moon's voice emanated from the ground. “Maybe someday I'll show you all of the subspace highway.”

  Briar touched the ground. It was solid despite Mr. Moon passing straight through it. He muttered to himself, “Stranger by the day.”

  Euri stretched. “He’s going to take a while. I'm going to see how endless this place is.”

  “Actually, could you wait a moment?” Briar asked, standing back up.

  Euri spoke. “Yeah, dude, what’s up?”

  “I don’t know how to say this… one second.” Briar pondered, constructing his sentence in his head. After a bit, he continued. “Could you… train me?”

  “Huh? What?” Euri responded, confusion lingering in her voice.

  Briar faltered, madly gesturing with his hands as he spoke. “It's—it's just that I—when we fought that big robot, we—I couldn’t really do much by myself, and I'm just worried I'm a liability to you guys. And—and I thought since you were a U.W.G. officer, you could give me some training—if that's alright with you!”

  Euri chuckled to herself before harshly patting him on the back. “Sure, bud.”

  “Really?” Briar responded. “You will?”

  “Why not?” Euri shrugged. “I'll teach you how to use those guns of yours. That way, I won’t have to save you all the time.”

  “Thank you, thank you!” Briar said, a cheerful smile hitting his face. “Where do we start?”

  Euri suddenly kicked Briar in the stomach. Briar flew back, crashing onto the ground. He grunted as he collided with the hard concrete.

  Euri grinned. “First thing—you can’t fight hand to hand yet, so keep your distance.”

  “You could have just told me!” Briar coughed, lying on the ground.

  Euri pointed her thumb to herself. “That’s how my mentor taught me, so that’s how I'll teach you. Now get up!”

  Briar slowly rose to his feet, struggling to catch his breath. Euri poked at his waist. “You're going to need your guns for this.”

  Briar took out both of his revolvers. He stared at the two in his hands before his gaze turned up to Euri. “So, are we going to a real lesson now, or are you going to keep hitting me?”

  “Both!” Euri said, pumping her fist in the air. “Practical tests are the best tests, so we’ll do that.”

  Euri turned away from Briar, walking heel to toe as she counted each step. “Seven, eight, nine—done! Ten paces away!”

  Euri turned around, crouching down with both hands on the ground, one knee in front of the other. “I'm going to run at you, full speed of course. If I catch you, I'll hit you, and then we’ll start over. You pass if you can shoot me once.”

  “But what if I hurt you? Or worse?” Briar questioned. “Can’t we use a dummy or something?”

  “Nope. This is more helpful,” Euri smirked. “And plus, even if you do hit me—which you won’t—I won’t die. Plasmoids don’t bleed or really have vital organs. Even our flavi?e regenerates over time, so I'll be fine. Worst-case scenario, I'll have to wait an hour before fully healing. Any more questions?”

  Briar fretted. “But what about—”

  “Too bad!”

  Euri’s boots immediately lit up as she boosted off the ground toward Briar.

  Briar scrambled to raise his revolvers. Before he could even aim, Euri closed the distance. She struck Briar in the gut before delivering a crushing roundhouse kick to his chin.

  Briar fell backward onto his back. Overwhelming pain shot through his chin—it felt as if that kick had shattered bones.

  Briar looked up at Euri. She looked back down at him with a cocky smile.

  Briar winced. “Did you have to hit me… twice?”

  Euri suddenly stomped on Briar’s chest, causing him to grunt in pain. She chuckled. “Three times. I'll hit you three times every time you fail. Ready to try again?”

  “Can I get a break?” Briar whined.

  Euri shook her head. “You have until I'm done with my paces. One, two, three…”

  Briar raised himself to his knees, then struggled to his feet, lifting his revolvers. “I regret everything.”

  “Ten!” Euri turned around. “Here we go again!”

  2025, November 13, 8:00 AM

  City Ruins, Moros

  Bugs and critters scattered and moved around a ruined landscape. Fallen stone buildings were abundant, their structures lost to time. Plants and moss had long overtaken the area. A suit of stone armor lay slouched against one of the ruined walls. The chest plate and sharp shoulder pads were donned in thick green moss, its arms and legs covered in scratches, barely holding itself together. Its knight’s helm had vegetation growing through its visor, with a bird’s nest on top of it. Its back had an engraved symbol of a crescent moon. Flowers adorned the entirety of the armor, and in its hand was a long stone claymore, its edges dull and blunt.

  A small purple bird landed in front of it, its beak white and its left wing damaged and frail. It looked at the armor. The bird chirped as it tried to flap its wings but couldn’t take off.

  Suddenly, the armor started to shake. Its helmet looked down toward the bird. It reached out an open hand toward it. The bird climbed on, and the armor gently placed it on top of its head before returning to its idle state.

  The bird lay in its nest, falling asleep.