<02/13/1972 – 00:31 | Den of Purity, Junon Region, Sprawn Valley>

  Jane was in for as much of a surprise as Danton was. The red glow in the sky once fueled by the dark magical veil was different now. The sky was pitch black with the exception of nearly invisible clouds blowing overhead, and the temperature both inside and out according to the thermometers were leveling out between seventy-four and sixty-nine degrees. While the monitors in the main room were now running only on the last of their emergency backup power from Brightworth's standard backup generator, the monitors revealed not one single dot of enemy activity. The monsters all around the area were completely gone! Just by destroying the crystal source, the dark zone totally lost all power, all enemy creatures failing to maintain a source here.

  Danton took it in quickly, shifting focus back to another matter with his gestures. "We're not done here. Brightworth knew we were coming to get him from the moment we set foot in Alpha Zero, yet he made no attempt to escape us. I must continue to interrogate the suspect until I find out what he was searching for. I want the other teams to continue searching the house for anything suspicious."

  "I'll check the area outside of the house to see if it is safe." Mainne volunteered herself in a predictable manner. Who wouldn't want to see what it was like outside without the dark veil of evil energy blowing all around? Jane's assigned team naturally agreed to join her in going outside despite how much Mainne stressed that it may not yet be safe.

  With little argument, the teams split up. Jane, Danny, and Taylor all followed Mainne out of the back entrance that they breached earlier, the door broken into small wooden fragment pieces that could never be restored again. Much to her own predictions, the breeze of air was much cooler, though the quality was still dense and heavy. The smell of burnt wood and ash accumulated in the night wind, making it hard to breathe. Jane wondered if all of that burning was from dark magic alone. How have they not been scorched themselves?

  Despite the small changes already made here, even Mainne knew from all of the scars, cuts, and burns on their skin that team JDT suffered extensive real time damage that would take forever to heal. Using their energy scopes as a test would not be adequate to determine whether or not the veil's span has affected the Outback or not. So instead, she stepped further from the house and waited while charging a small amount of her own Leray energy.

  Danny noticed despite how dark it was with no ambient light how the sky returned to normal again. The grey and black clouds overhead were just an overcast covering much of the pitch-black sky, hiding all of their radiant stars. The moonlight seems to be hiding with nowhere to be found, indication of a new moon. Didn't Leray magic have something to do with the light of the moon? Remembering a vague lesson back from his first Leray class wasn't going to happen right now. The environment in the sky seemed like any other normal environment right now, reminding him of the world back home where everything is normal.

  Though it took Mainne much time to get her energy scope up and running, it told her a lot of objective data she was curious about. First of all, using magic right now is still possible, even though it shouldn't be possible. The color of her energy scope was still green. This means that the natural Leray veil of protection is still unable to reach the Outback with the dark veil gone. It's not surprising; though a dark magic veil pushes away affection from the Leray veil, it still enables people in its area to use Leray or dark magic, with the only difference being no protection from death, no pain absorption, and the potential power of Leray type magic being reduced significantly. Point is, in a dark magic zone, one can still use any type of magic in a similar format. Even if that dark magic veil were to disappear, it normally takes a bit of time for the Leray veil of protection and magic to retake the area that it was rejected from. The bigger the dark zone, the longer of time it will take.

  With that said, her neon green colored holographic energy scope indicates that the Leray veil in the area remains out of range because it will take a long time before the Outback area receives this veil ever again. In other words, without a dark magic veil covering them, Mainne and the others should now be incapable of using any particular magic whatsoever. Without either type of veil in place, a person cannot use any magic, hints the purpose of the existing veil coming from Eldora Tower. That means that everybody here is still vulnerable to death, and essentially without magic. Yet the energy scope here in front of her face is of magical essence.

  Mainne wasn't all too surprised by this detail however, since she suddenly remembered all about the accessory of the Mega-Staff. Danton never used to have such a powerful device that can store and channel energy all around him. The Mega-Staff only belongs to the person titled as champion for a minimum time of three months. With that staff, the wielder can actually store Leray magic directly from the core crystals portably, and create a temporary magical field that allows magical projection. Right now, Mainne's magic, and anyone else nearby who chooses to use magic is actually siphoning energy from Danton's Mega-Staff automatically. Of course, that field of magic doesn't provide protection from death like the Leray veil does; it only provides a small Leray veil of magical potential, allowing others to use magic like this. Mainne shut off her energy scope quick, ensuring she doesn't drain the energy in that staff. If they all were to teleport out of here as planned, Danton will need all of that remaining energy left.

  Jane saw that Mainne was a bit focused on whatever ailed her mind. After she shut off the energy scope above her, Mainne crossed her arms and paced slowly in deep thought. Jane had much thinking of her own to do. She wasn't surprised to see that the damage and destruction to the environment here was nearly irreversible. It wouldn't just fix itself overnight, even if the Leray veil had pushed its way over here. Jane recalled the lessons Claudia gave to her about the dark zone, how shutting it down would not fix the environment already damaged in the Outback. It could take months, even years for this place to return to the zone it used to be. As for the Den of Purity, it will likely be destroyed or decommissioned due to the level of danger here. If Danton's suspicion about Brightworth looking for a secret underground object is true, the General Army will likely declare the Outback off limits until they confirm their theory.

  But as much as she missed her home right now, Jane felt much more relaxed. There wouldn't be a single monster in sight; nothing dangerous could harm her or her friends. She actually managed to complete the mission she set out for herself, and be pardoned by Danton for the symbol stuck to her hand. Despite how hard she fought for this moment, it was only now that her knees began shaking. How unbelievable it is to have won a total victory here with her friends!

  "I bet this place used to look just like home, huh?"

  Taylor's thoughts were overwhelmed by Danny's reminder of her town area in Kalamo. Even though her mind was dwelling upon the subject to begin with, she could remember everything so clearly. Danny was of course commenting only on how their town appeared to look, not how it was. If you only went by sight, it was beautiful even in Kalamo. "Yeah. I remember the parks they used to have there, how there was always a perfect blend of houses and trees." Anything that looked like a forest was less than half a square mile dense in diameter. If anyone ever tried to pass one, they would end up on some other road with minor vehicle traffic and automobiles.

  He would skateboard on the sidewalk all of the time, and constantly maintained a reputation to seem flawless to his peers. Of course, anyone a grade higher than him threatened to beat Danny up for his lunch money even knowing he had none. Those were the days...

  Then the sun would set behind the heavy horizon, marking the moment she had to return home due to curfew, but Taylor could never let that scenery escape her eyes. The way the sky would shine with a multitude of colors due to the sunlight's orientation, and how the clouds would dance beside that light as a backdrop to everything else... The Outback could be that place without the roads and houses everywhere. After all, it was supposedly uninhabited all this time except for the man controlling the fate of this building beside her.

  Jane pondered the meaning of their words. They didn't do much to really describe what they were thinking about, but it sounded like they were referencing home. With the perfect blend of trees and houses phrasing, it sounded like they had just described Blue Port Town, but Jane knew better. She struggled to remember some of the rare conversations they had about their home, since they live outside of Sprawn Valley after all. "Kalamo?" Jane wasn't sure if that was correct. If it was, did she pronounce it right? What sort of place is Kalamo anyway?

  "Yep. That's where we're from," Danny proudly answered. Jane certainly was going to cause an issue soon with her curiosity. After all, Taylor never really shared her problems about being a Banshee to Jane, and for good reason. If Taylor were to actually return to Kalamo now, it would mark the end of her very life as she knew it. There was no telling what uncle Nyar would do if they had instead arrived in New York from that cruise.

  "Can't say I miss it though." Taylor wasn't kidding herself either. She missed the scenery, her school, her friends, all of the good times she had there. But since her parents were selling her out, her idea of home was virtually destroyed. "I don't think I would mind checking out New York though. After all, that was the initial destination of our vacation."

  Except, the way Taylor mapped it into her mind, Danny was certain that it would be more of a staycation. Taylor would have saved her time until running away from Nyar before getting sent back. At least that is what he felt would happen if it weren't for their amazing detour.

  "Initial destination? New York?" Mainne knew that the three of them forgot she was here listening to them, but was overcome with curiosity about the two of them. She had the idea that Danny and Taylor were accustomed to Sprawn Valley with how well they could battle beside Jane.

  "Yeah, they're not actually from around here." Failing to take a hint from her friends, Jane simply handed over the short summary of the tragedy following the incident of the Tidal Max. That incident was in fact something that Danny and Taylor shared with her long ago, something she couldn't forget about due to the rarity of the situation. "They got sidetracked here, and that's when I taught them everything I knew about Leray magic."

  Liar! It was much more than that. Danny knew Jane would cut out the other details, but with Mainne about to drool over their story, it was probably for the best. At least she can keep one secret.

  Mainne's sudden concern seemed motherly like towards the teens. "What about your family? You're in contact right? Are they coming to get you?"

  "Don't worry about it." Danny finally stepped up to end this charade before it could turn into anything else. The last thing he wanted right now was to drag uncle Nyar or his parents into this, particularly for Taylor's sake. Besides, he could actually take care of it once they get out of this hellhole. Lennith City has plenty of phones he could use internationally. "They're well informed. We've got that situation under control."

  So they are returning home soon. Jane never got many details from them about that particular situation. Danny and Taylor both seemed to keep that information more private than what color underwear they wore each day. At least that was the vibe. But she quickly turned her thoughts to the fantasies she created for herself. Despite how the outside world never has the ability to use magic, it must still be incredible. Humans that don't rely on magic may be capable of building such amazing things! New York was apparently the destination of their supposed vacation?

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  Jane couldn't resist feeding her curiosity, unknowingly taking away attention from whatever Danny was getting nervous about. "Hey you two? Tell me more about New York and the United States! What's it like there? How many people are there? Do they know about Leray magic? What do they eat? How do they live? I bet they have amazing sports there!"

  Jane managed to speed up her speech to further include everything she wanted to know in less time to ask it, making Danny overwhelmed to the point where he wanted to passively ignore her. It figures Jane would suddenly ask about a topic impossible to explain in a single night. With a sigh of mild stress, Danny huffed a breath as he prepared to give Jane only the information she needed.

  Meanwhile, after emerging from the chambers where Brightworth was kept below ground, Danton gave his final report regarding the situation to the rest of the team. Mainne and the others were standing outside, but it wasn't that important to have them in the same room. "If I may have everyone's attention..." He continued only after the aimless chatter of rumor died down. "Our mission objective here is complete. Brightworth was in fact searching for an underground temple, chamber, or artifact of unknown origin or detail. But he won't admit to the fact or any other related activity. Despite further interrogation, the man is no longer talking. So we will bring him before the grand council of mages where he will face trial. As for the upcoming procedure to search the entire Outback for this underpass, I am hereby canceling that hunt until further notice."

  Just now, his directive to cancel the search for the unknown underground structure raised alarming gasps and murmurs of surprise across the room, which was the same time Mainne and the others walked in. After all, Danton has not yet even assigned which teams will search for the hidden structure, nor had the search begun its conduction. So he really canceled the event ahead of time no less. Danton found good reason. "The Outback will still remain restricted to civilians until restoration processes are complete, which could take up to several months. In the meantime, I will later be assigning scouts in and out of this zone to keep an eye on the land. As for the council, no details about the interrogation of professor Brightworth are to ever leave this room. Is that made clear?"

  From the men and women wearing helmets all yelling "Yes sir!" with a passion of loyalty and duty, Danton seemed suddenly relaxed. "You should also note that Jane Venn, our symbol wielder is no longer under any branch or jurisdiction of the military, and will be ejected from the army upon our arrival back in Lennith City, where we have officials waiting on Brightworth and so forth. However, her crimes of symbol wielding are to be officially pardoned under my own executive order. I want no incidents of malicious behavior from any of you."

  Smart! Mainne sensed the tensions in the air rise and then fall so quickly. Since Jane Venn wasn't helping them anymore, it meant people could then focus on the fact that she carries a highly illegal and dangerous symbol of power firmly attached to her skin. Members of the army don't naturally take kindly to people like that. But if Jane is pardoned this way, she can never be brought to face trial for having the symbol alone, at least not that particular symbol. It means nobody is allowed to touch her!

  "We will all be teleporting together with one massive spell that will include prisoner transfer protocol using the remaining magic in my staff. Since other use of magic siphons energy from this device, I urge all of you to restrain the use of all magical energy until we make the jump in fifteen minutes. With that, I will allow you all to remain at ease."

  He spoke so simply, so easy to follow what he wanted out of this. Danton was simply doing the right thing right now, and his soldiers knew of it too. Jane could feel the positive energy of the room rising as everybody began to relax. Having this evil doom over everybody's head lifted had her heart fluttering, the sensation of freedom surrounding her again.

  Danton made his way over to Mainne and Jane's team, where he addressed Jane directly, sparking their curiosity. Though everyone in the room was actually at ease talking amongst themselves, the noise level was suddenly cut in half to determine what other business Sir Danton had with Jane. "With all of this moving behind us, I must admit how impressed I was today with your performance on the battlefield."

  "Oh." Jane tilted her head slightly, flushed by how one of the most impressive figures so easily gave his gratitude for her. And to think that just this morning, he had the opposite untrusting attitude. "Well I did have the symbol save me again."

  "Hmmm." After loudly giving it more thought, Jane's battle skills were quite impressive in any case, and the symbol - whether it be active or partially active had nothing to do with her personal style. "I think that with or without that symbol on your hand, you are quite capable of more than you think Jane. It does sting that you had to be sucked into a mess that wasn't your own, but I see now that you've grown as a person from having to endure those experiences. As natural as it is, everybody does."

  Danton waited for Jane to say something in return, but she was silent. Her confused expression stated to him that she had no clue what he was even talking about anymore, and Danton decided to get right to the point. "If you can use your power and training side by side like you've done against the championship match and the incredible monsters you've faced today, then I see little to stop you from accomplishing your dream."

  What you don't realize is that this symbol prevents just that! Jane knew Danton was impressed by it, but all she wanted since learning Leray magic was to become a powerful Leray fighter, but this symbol is simply cheating against everybody she battles. It gives her unfair advantages nobody could ever hope to achieve. No single person in the world could actually knock her out with how strong it has made her become, unless they cheat too. Jane wanted to rebuttal this, but found the words hard to place in front of her.

  "I would be interested in training you personally, in the Eldora Elite academy of Leray warship." With that, jaws around him dropped with more gasps. The school Danton just mentioned was top of the line. It was highly expensive and defiantly worthy of high appraisal. In fact, you normally have to graduate at least six out of seven grade classes before one is allowed to become a Leray elite that can be part of the Eldora Tower guardianship. It is literally a place of high honor, where only the best of the best go. "There, I can see you achieving great things with my supervision to help you float to the top."

  Mainne was in shock too. Danton wasn't being rational at all allowing Jane to do this. Was he that impressed by her skill to let her have a position in Eldora Tower? If so, whom would she end up replacing? Or was he actually interested in Jane's raw power, the energy she could draw from her symbol? That couldn't be the case. Danton would never seek to benefit from using any type of magic other than Leray magic. After all this time, it isn't possible!

  "I..." At first, Jane was frozen in thought too. This offering was a dream come true for her, and Danton didn't even care about the symbol thing. She could learn all sorts of new powers there. What an incredible honor... The attention of those two caught her eye, Danny and Taylor. The both of them were thrown into this crazy world without warning, and they somehow learned to love the people in it so willingly. Soon it would be their time to return back to where they came from, out there. And yet...

  There was more, a lot more than what Danton could possibly have to offer. Even though she would never get this chance again... Jane cleared her throat before answering so formally. "I'm sorry Danton. I must decline." With that powerful response, Jane even had her friends in shock. They didn't know what the Eldora Elite academy of Leray warship is, but it was easy enough to imagine how high of an honor it is to be let in just like that.

  "Decline?" Danton flustered. "Well this is unexpected, a first in my experience... I must ask why. Pardon me if I am intruding too much into personal business."

  Jane nodded her head with a smile on her face. "No, it's not that. It's just..." After freezing Danny and Taylor's faces in her mind again, she was finally certain. "I've been hearing a lot about the outside world, and I've determined that I have to go and see it for myself."

  "But, that world doesn't have magic!" Mainne stressed. It's dangerous to be anywhere outside of the veil of protection. It would actually be much the same right here in this zone if Danton's staff weren't charged up with magic. A world outside of Sprawn Valley is an ordinary world where humans live facing certain death by any particular accident or criminal intent. Immortality doesn't exist out there, and neither does magic. Why the hell would Jane of all people want to go see that?

  "I thought you had a future to fulfill here." Even Danny jumped on that bandwagon, but he was quickly faced with Jane's reasoning.

  "I never said I was leaving forever. I want to simply take a vacation, to the New York of the United States nation."

  Taylor almost laughed, wanting to face palm from how silly she just spoke of the location, but it was very obvious by now that Jane wanted to explore the world outside of Sprawn Valley while traveling with herself and Danny at the same time. Jane simply didn't want to part ways. Taylor's expression faded after little thought. She'll likely never return to such a cruel world.

  Jane continued taking no such care of the atmosphere she created around her. "So I won't get to use a little bit of magic. So what? There was once a time when Sprawn Valley didn't have any magic either, right? I want to take my time exploring other places, and find excitement there too."

  "A journey of your own in a far off land?" Danton hadn't considered that thinking or behavior before, but Jane had a good idea. Traveling outside of Sprawn Valley for a field trip wasn't something a normal person here would want to do. Yet it was also something Danton knew he couldn't really offer since it is something anybody with a little amount of money can do on their own power. Plus, in all things, being stuck outside of the country would naturally buy Jane time against the Scarlet enemies soon to be searching and hunting for her, for their symbol experiment. "But what about your training here?"

  Jane replied, "Training doesn't always have to involve magic. I'm sure I can get all sorts of interesting experience out there. And when I do get enough of it, here and out there, I'll come back to Eldora Tower to challenge you personally. I don't want another official match though Danton. I just want to battle against you for fun."

  Danton didn't know what to say next, and allowed three solid seconds of silence surpass his lips. I can't read this girl. She's excitable, well determined, mysterious, and caring all at the same time. But even that doesn't describe what kind of person she is. Jane loves Leray magic so much that she wants to battle a champion just for fun, not even to bare title or honor, and is willing to decline a once in a lifetime offering in faith to begin her own journey with so little of thought. And she's only sixteen years old? How does a person this young have so much sustenance and enrichment?

  After realizing he was silent for a moment too long, Danton simply gave into Jane's kind passion. "I'll be waiting for the day you are ready to challenge me again. When you are prepared to fight a very hard battle against a personal match, I'll be ready. But you should know that I won't lose to you again Jane Venn." Danton's promise immediately and noticeably gave Jane an excited expression. Just like that, Jane was in kid mode again.

  "I'm sorry to interrupt," Krysta telegraphed over the room. "But we shouldn't waste any more time here. Danton's staff is providing magic, right? Well I think we should remind ourselves that the restraints on Brightworth's hands are of a magical spell, and are using the source as we speak."

  Danton's eyes opened wide in the realization. He had totally forgotten that Light Lock disks constantly use magic from the person who inflicts them if not for the normal veil. Since it comes from Danton, his staff is providing that power! Danton took a deep breath to calm himself down. It should be fine. Those restraints don't really use a lot of magic, and there should be plenty of it left to make one teleportation. Without the dark veil, teleportation won't be blocked either as it was before. But if Brightworth is smart enough to figure this all out, he would have escaped just now. All he has to do is bang on his restraints and force the power flow to the disks to increase due to the anti-projection field they create to prevent damage to the devices themselves. Danton immediately ordered Cleo to bring the prisoner back up here. "We'll begin multi-teleportation shortly." Thank you Krysta. This is why I always want you on this team. The day will eventually come where our lives will depend on your individual skills. The same goes for the rest of you; Cleo, Brock, and Mainne.

  Cleo brought Brightworth up from the chamber, still tucked safely in his restraints. He nodded to Danton, confirming to him that Cleo already double-checked the prisoner to make sure no dirty tricks were afoot before they perform this risky prisoner transfer protocol. With everybody ready, Danton took his position, asking everybody to huddle together very closely.

  Brightworth no longer seemed as smug as before, perhaps being that he was a bit nervous that he wasn't getting away with this after all. Was he expecting something to happen in the meantime to prevent their exit out of here? No. Mainne was sure that wasn't it. There was no way for him to get out of this right now. After everyone took their positions, Danton began his infusion of magic from the Mega-Staff. The staff held the rest of the stored magic, and thus had enough juice for one teleportation of this many people, size, and distance transference, perhaps just barely, so it has to go correctly.

  As the staff lit up with a bright magical light of green Leray essence and energy, Danton rehearsed the sacred phrases elites are to use when teleporting a big or important mass, typically called for good luck. The growing magical release created a drowning noise too that became constant. "Too-ha-rue-sha-roru-tee-faa! Sacred nexus of Lunessence, take us to Lennith's north gate!" The bright and large sized teleportation symbol opened up on the floor beneath everybody's feet, which sort of represented a massive glyphring that was stuck in a two-dimensional mode to the ground of the floor. As the light became brighter, everybody began glowing as well, beginning the transfer process.

  It was actually quick and painless, but for Jane and her friends who were doing this for their first time ever, it was terrifying. The white light blinded their view until it was the only thing they could see, and a loud ringing in their ears maximized itself until it was the only thing they could hear. Then they were suddenly floating off the ground without gravity's force for a short moment, only for all of reality to return to them again. With their senses dulled and then reborn, the environment all around them totally changed. Everybody in that room was now standing outside, right at the gate of Lennith City where much natural light was provided for them.

  Danton checked to see that everybody was here. Brightworth was the same as ever, and the restraints were functioning again. Despite his staff being out of energy, Lennith City was in range and covered by the Leray veil of magical protection and aura. That means that their magic would return to them in mere seconds, as his staff would recharge with just basic Leray energy. Danton would again need to recharge his staff using core crystals again, but there wasn't any emergency urgency to do so right away. On the other side, where the other metallic armed soldiers awaited their arrival, they were met with the surprise when Danton's entire herd appeared before them in phases of light that reformed into the persons they have been all this time. That was teleportation, not to be confused with transference, which is similar to short-range teleportation used in Leray battles.

  "We have a prisoner for you," Danton announced to the second in command army general, already waiting for him to return successfully with the target. Danton made sure to use every precaution, keeping alert and wary while handing over Brightworth with those magical cuffs.

  But it appeared that with such fine ability to see in the nighttime with the lights of the town going everywhere, the team also met others who were waiting on them to return. Jane and her friends could see Claudia speed walking towards them, with Alyssa in tow as well. There were three more figures as well. Jane didn't recognize the other three adults, and their faces were barely visible in the light provided, due to the angle of the provided light.

  But Danny recognized those faces, his heart thumping and his body slowly sinking down as a result. Taylor too reacted with much fear, apparent by her slow back-step into Danny, not wanting to accept what was in front of her eyes. Walking in a pair of three together, the strangers immediately recognized and called the two of them from afar. Danny recognized the man on the left with his dark hair and reading glasses. Taylor recognized the man on the right and the lady in the middle, who were both somewhat aged, yet walking quickly because of their worried minds. These are Taylor's parents! And on the left, the other guy was Danny's current guardian, uncle Nyar!