112 Phase 98: Flight

The flying saucers landed right beside the last remaining settlement on Lamico Continent, six of them with an army of Green Men.

"Where's Colin Rivers, the Forester?" the Green Men wanted to know.

"Colin? He just quit the Forester job and flew off in a spaceship about ten minutes ago." A guy with blue hair and wearing a blue suit told them. "Does he owe you something? Did he do something to you?"

"What happened here?" they did not answer any of his questions.

"Colin destroyed all the towns." A guy with purple hair and a white suit answered.

"What about the girl, Katrin? A Justice Knight?"

"He had a girl with him." The blue guy said. "Why?"

"And Phillip?" they asked next.

"Phillip who?" All of them looked blank.

The Green Men left without causing any more trouble. That continent had already seen more than enough destruction.

***

Colin stared out the window of Sekai's black-and-pink bottle-shaped gunboat as they flew over the open seas without saying a word.

He barely even had time to say goodbye to Kyubia before they left.

[I wish you well, dear Colin. You have left me much to do.]

Colin heaved a sigh. He had, indeed, left a lot of things in Kyubia's furry lap. She had to explain to the other Lords of the Wilds what happened, not to mention all the planting work that Lucy needed to see to, and worst of all, the many new debts he had to the Wilds of the Dungeons. He'd gotten their aid in exchange for promised favors and it was now left to Kyubia to perform those favors for them, mainly in terms of special foods or extending territories, like digging burrows deeper, a feat for the new Megant clan.

He even left most of his Comrades behind to free up space for Katrin's, planning to warp them in once he settled a new Outpost Base. The only one he had with him now was Shiro, and the white wolfcat was exhausted enough to fall asleep right there.

Meanwhile, he was surrounded by all of his old Comrades, all having been given to Katrin at one point or the other. They were amiable to his company, but it still felt weird.

"Where are we going?" Katrin asked, while petting Mika, the Lynxmouse cub.

"You need to lay low for a while." Sekai said, "And you need a place with forests. Somewhere far away from here where people don't know you. I know a place where people don't ask many questions, and bigger ships have trouble landing."

"Where?" Katrin asked again.

"Well…" Sekai paused. "There are two options, actually. The first one, we know as the Uber Marshes."

Colin gulped.

"That's… scary." Katrin whispered. "What's the second?"

"The Eternal Winter Continent."

"That sounds… cold." Katrin said.

Colin paused, though. "May's at the Eternal Winter Continent. I've been owing her a battle for nights."

{Along with… someone else…} Colin frowned. {There was someone else on the Eternal Winter continent that Abby didn't like, someone who caused a whole lot of trouble…}

{"The Gardener just surfaced on the Eternal Winter continent…"}

"The Gardener!" Colin jumped. "He's there too!"

"Who?" Katrin was blank.

"The guy who destroyed Hot Sands Village! His creeper broke the dam and flooded the place! That's why it's Hot Springs Village now!" Colin said. "He might even be angry at me for warning the villagers in time to save them. He's on the J-Knight hit list. Haven't you heard of him?"

"A little." Katrin frowned, thinking back. "Not as much as you, obviously. But what's the destruction of one village to someone like you?"

"I almost died at Hot Sands' flooding." Colin remembered the water, being trapped in a house while the waters kept rising and rising…

Colin glanced at Meek, Warc and Rall, who were now Katrin's Comrades. All three had been with him during the flooding. They had to fight their way out through the roof.

"Well, make up your mind already." Sekai offered. "We're going to need to stop soon if you want the Uber Marshes. Personally, I think the Gardener isn't going to be as big a problem in the Eternal Winter continent as the locals. Getting them to talk to you is hard enough."

"That's good. It means the Green Men can't find us so easily either." Colin said, frowning.

{The Uber Marshes… or the Eternal Winter Continent?}

Colin remembered something else, then. There was another of the J-Knights Most Wanted in the Uber Marshes too. Someone called the Drama Queen.

In other words, either place had a seriously dangerous criminal. The Uber Marshes were overrun by Frenzieds; the Eternal Winter place had locals who didn't like talking to strangers. The only reason to pick the marsh over the snowland, then, would be the cold… but wearing thick clothes should solve that.

Besides, if it really got too cold, they could just leave.

"Let's go to the Eternal Winter continent." Colin said.

***

They were passing by the Uber Marshes when Sekai's sensors went wild.

"What's wrong?" Katrin yelped.

"Nothing. It's not us." Sekai said, glancing at it. "There's a fight going on far behind us."

"Behind us…?" Colin stared. "What kind of fight?"

Sekai grinned. "Looks like the guys after you found the guys after me and they're fighting it out."

{The Green Men are fighting the Deathwrights?}

"The Deathwrights were after us?" Colin stared.

"Of course." Sekai frowned. "I'm impressed, though. Not many can detect their ship, much less dare to attack it, but the Cultists are going all-out. They're even throwing their mothership at it."

Colin gulped. Those Green Men were definitely serious about nabbing the last three of the Eight.

Or at least, about nabbing him and Katrin. Until now, nobody had a clue where Phillip was.

"I don't know much about the Eternal Winter continent." Sekai went on. "I had a forester there during my reign, but he was a quiet sort and there was never any fuss there, nothing like the mess we left behind at Lamico. The guy kept saying he wanted to go to warmer lands and run a high-class Comrade Home or something."

"What was his name?" Colin asked.

"Him? Can't remember… it was a string of foreign words that ended with 'Pan', so everyone just called him 'Pan'."

Colin let out a soft laugh. "Yeah, he's running the Red Valley Comrade Home. Top quality Tames, for seriously high prices."

"Red Valley? I thought he'd want Riverside." Sekai frowned.

"Riverside Home was run by Aoi. At least, it was before the Green Men attacked everything. The whole Riverside Town was gone when we left the Crescent Continent."

"These Green Men…" Sekai paused. "The Cult of Gaia. What do they want with you?"

Katrin raised a hand. "What's the Cult of Gaia?"

"They're fanatics who want an ecologically perfect world." Sekai said. "Quite willing to blow up corporate labs and use chemical warfare on people, in their earlier days. Thing is, ever since Crious came to power, they've been more reasonable. I haven't heard of any stunts like this for a very long time."

"Who's Crious?" Katrin wanted to know.

"He's the High Master of the Cult. I don't think he's personally after you, though." Sekai frowned. "Most likely it's some Zealot Elder under Tisha or Liara."

"Who?" Colin was blank.

"Tisha's the most chaotic of the Directive Board, the wildest of the lot. She's supposed to have a number of pet projects and people say she spends too much on them. Maybe this is part of one." Sekai mentioned. "Liara's their head of research, but some of her 'research' really means spying. If you guys found something important that she wants to keep secret, well…"

"Memory Wipes." Colin grimaced.

"There were rumors. It's the first time I've found proof." Sekai said, darkly. "I didn't think Tisha was capable of that."

"You seem to think it's Tisha, or someone under her, who is after us." Katrin noted.

"It seems likely. Liara wouldn't be so noisy." Sekai said. "But the ability to Memory Wipe is something of a legend, or a horror story, or a myth. Liara might be able to pull it off, but Tisha…?"

Sekai shook her head, making Colin feel all the more uneasy.

"I don't know of any Cult secrets." Katrin protested. She turned to Colin. "Do you?"

Colin shook his head. "Not that I know of."

{But there already IS a gap in my memories. I think I've already BEEN Memory Wiped… in which case, doesn't that mean that I stumbled on something and they've already caught me?}

{But if that's it… why would they still be after me?}

It didn't make sense.

Sekai saw his face.

"Just… avoid them." She told him quietly. "Give it some time. Maybe they'll leave you alone eventually. The Eternal Winter Continent is a quiet place. It's a rough place, but it can be fun if you like snowboarding or ice-skating. Just don't get involved with anything and you should be able to hide."

***

They landed near a snow-covered town after a long flight where none of them felt like saying anything after that. Sekai put her ship down fifty feet from the wooden town walls and said, "Good luck."

"Thanks." Colin told her glumly. This place was freezing.

"Thanks, Sekai." Katrin waved. "Safe trip."

Sekai laughed out loud. "I'll try."

Then she took off into the cold sky, and Colin didn't see her again for a very long time.