Phase 143: Steps (1)

Over the seas north of Lamico, the battle raged on.

Fire streaked from the skies like rain as the seas roared and ice rose in a thousand lances. Lightning raked across the horizon like an opening fan. The very air shook with a thunder beyond a thunder, amplified by the power of countless furious Wilds.

Before that onslaught, the New Order of Gaia flailed. Their flying saucers tumbled. Their shields collapsed. Their guns were silenced. Their missiles were blown away.

But from beneath the sheltering Saucers, eyes gleamed. Voices called and dragons arose. The Gaians too, had their own Travelers, and they struck back with a vengeance supported by all the power of the now-legal owners of Nakama World. Top class equipment, power-boosting foods, even Comrade gear new to this world were all thrown into play prior to ever being released to the average Traveler. Fire breath that once stretched across meters now flooded kilometers. Sonic screams that once struck in a straight line now burst out in every direction like spheres.

The Gaians could not give such advantages to their Saucers. In fact, the superior technology of their flying Saucers was vastly limited by the constraints on this very Dreamworld, constraints that even they, the legal shareholders, could not lift.

But the enhancements they could afford the Travelers who had joined their cause were very, very much possible... and this advantage, they employed to the hilt.

The Wilds flailed, baffled at this unfair advance. Yet where the Wilds hesitated, the Knights of the Resistance struck true. With diversions and surprise tactics, they leapt onto their adversaries, seized weapons and equipment, overthrew the positions of their enemies, and took up their superior gear. They pounced upon the weakness of the invaders, striking them where inexperience opened up gaps in their defenses, and striking them with their own superior firepower employed in ways only those truly versed in the ways of Nakama World could know.

Saucers and Travelers and Wilds were wiped out by the hundreds on both sides every second. But neither side would give an inch, or a mile, without it being paid for very, very dearly at the expense of the other.

"We're going to lose." Colin said softly as he observed the battle from Ocean Tower. That was as close as even Captain Courageous was willing to go, what with the battle going on in between Ocean Tower and Lamico. Trying to cross that in a ship was sheer suicide, no question about it.

"Why?" Larry didn't understand. "The knights seem to be putting up a fierce fight."

"It's a matter of cost." Colin told him. "Since you lose stuff when you die, both sides are paying a lot for this battle... but in the end, the Gaians have more money. If they keep this up, the knights are going to go bankrupt."

"How do you know that?" Larry scratched his head. "How do you know any of this?"

Colin fell silent. How did he know? He himself couldn't say.

[Colin, we have it.] Alicia thought-sent to him from across Ocean Tower. [We have transportation to Lamico.]

[What sort of transportation?] Colin had to ask.

[Submarine. I found a girl with a pair of adult Softles. We can go under the battle, deep under water where the Gaians couldn't see us.]

Colin watched the battle. He saw Sora and Geoffrey and Val flying side by side as they ripped through a quartet of flying Saucers, four of the few the Cult had left in the air at this point. They had to know this was a fight they couldn't win, but by all they knew and held dear, they were going to make the Cult pay.

{How much does a spaceship cost? Twenty million for a small shuttle. How much would a Frigate-class spacecraft cost?}

Colin frowned. How did he know those Saucers were Frigate-class?

But a price tag swam around in his head anyway. {Somewhere between fifty to five hundred million Clira. With shields and weaponry and atmospheric propulsion... at least two hundred million.}

That means, losing four Saucers would have cost the Cult at least eight hundred million Clira. How much had they lost in this battle alone? In these whole war?

{How much does it cost to buy a whole Dreamworld? How much money DOES this infernal Cult have, anyway?!}

"Do they truly lose the Saucers if they're destroyed?" Colin asked Larry softly. "Are they really gone forever? Or do they, like Comrades, respawn somewhere?"

"I don't know." Larry said honestly. "But we lose items, right? That's what happens in Nakama World."

"But they're not {from} Nakama World. We have no idea what rules these Saucers really play by." Colin said. "All we know is that they're able to send lots of them and don't seem to care about how many they lose."

"I think they respawn." Larry said suddenly.

"You think so?" Colin paused.

"Yeah. They can't have that many Saucers to lose." Larry gestured. "They don't respawn here, but I think they respawn somewhere."

"Somewhere." Colin had to admit that made the most sense. Earlier, they had thought that Saucers didn't respawn, because nobody saw them respawn at Town Centers or such. But why would they respawn at Town Centers? They weren't creatures of Nakama World. "I think you're right."

A shadow passing overhead made Colin glance up. He found Alicia in the air above, hanging from the talons of Foreshadow, her Noble Shadow Hawk.

"We can give it five minutes." Alicia called down.

"Give {what} five minutes?" Colin wondered.

"The battle of course. You're not really going to hide away underwater without taking at least one shot at the Gaians, are you?"

Colin paused. He thought about it. {If I set Ocean Tower as a temporary respawn point, Alicia and I can attack the Gaians and then die our way back to make our trip...}

One quick glance at the battle told him all he needed. {We could join Sora's Team. That's the fastest attack run we can make. But...}

He thought about it some more. Then he frowned. His lips twisted. Then he growled to himself, sounding a bit like Shiro. But at last, he shook his head. "No."

"No?" Alicia dropped from Foreshadow's claws, and stood there next to him and Larry.

"No." Colin said again. "Think about it. The Cult of Gaia is looking for me. If I attack them, I would show myself right in front of the biggest force they've got here. Why would I do that? For fun? For revenge? It's not worth it."

At that, Alicia turned to Larry with a meaningful look.

Larry glanced from her to Colin. He scratched his head. Then he sighed. "You're right. He {has} changed."

***

"What was that all about?" Colin asked Alicia as they waited for the Softles to be prepared for their underwater trip.

"Oh, nothing much. It's just that you used to be a sulking, whining brat who pestered us all the time." Alicia said in an off-hand manner. "Now you seem a bit more grown up."

Colin wasn't sure what to say about that. "Thanks... I guess?"

"We're ready. Let's go." The girl offering them a ride looked like some sort of lifeguard, wearing a life vest over a dark blue t-shirt and jeans with a whistle slung around her neck.

Colin peered at her through narrowed eyes. Something about her seemed oddly familiar. "Hey... have we met before?"

She turned, gave him a closer look and her eyes widened. "You!"

"Me?"

"It's {your} fault we lost everything!" She barked.

"What did {I} do?" Colin had to ask, though he had a really bad feeling about it by now.

"My family! Our lands!" She spluttered. "The Republic! The Protectorate! The Union! All of Lamico! You destroyed everything!"

"Oh..." Colin was starting to get the idea now. This girl was from Lamico. "Um... have we met?"

Alicia facepalmed. "Oh my. Now I get it. I should have realized it when I heard her name."

"What's her name?" Colin asked.

"Umi." Alicia said.

Colin looked from one girl to the other. "Huh?"

"That's her first name." Alicia glanced at the girl again and went on. "But if I'm guessing right... you're Umi {Melody}."

{Melody... wait, isn't that...} "You're Sora's sister? And Sekai's?"

"Yeah." She said shortly. "Now do you get it?"

Colin gulped. "How much did you lose?"

Umi stared at him. "House Melody {owned} a good part of the Republic. Houses. Factories. Shops. Farms. We were rich. We worked hard to build all these things. Our entire family spent two years putting it together since the Closed Beta. For once, we didn't need to worry about money, we didn't have to worry about paying bills, or college, or anything because we were rich. Sekai and I could go shopping without counting every Clira we spent. Sora could take his girlfriend out on an ocean cruise in real life. Riku could have any toy he wanted. We were happy. We worked together as a family for it. We {earned} it. And {you}...!"

Colin glanced at Alicia. "Who's Riku?"

"Sounds like a younger brother." Alicia grimaced. "We never asked Sora how many siblings he's got."

"Three." Sora's voice said behind them.

Colin turned to see the Mountain Prince looking pale and wan on the docks of Ocean Tower. Sitting on a cloud-like Comrade of some sort, he was sniffing some sort of stone as if it were a Life Leaf. {Well, I guess the mountain has something to help cure respawn-sickness just like the Forest does. He must have gotten killed in battle.}

"Umi, don't." Sora told his younger sister. "It's not exactly Colin's fault."

"Then whose fault is it, exactly?" Umi flared.

"Everybody's. Nobody's, exactly. People just got greedy and started fighting over stuff. We were in a civil war." Sora paused for a bit. "It's true we lost a lot. But we didn't lose everything."

"Oh yeah?" Umi folded her arms. "What didn't we lose?"

"Family. Friends." Sora began.

"{Girl}friends." Umi retorted.

Sora grinned. "That too."

Umi rolled her eyes.

But then Sora's face grew serious as he said, "Power."

Umi snorted. "You won that all on your own. You fought for the title of the Mountain Prince."

"I still had my Comrades." Sora agreed modestly. "But I'm not talking about that. Umi, even if the house and the land and the property are all gone, people know House Melody. They remember us. And we remember them. Even when everything's destroyed, they still listen to us. How do you think I managed to rebuild Lamico so quickly?"

"You're the Mountain Prince..."

"Which doesn't help all that much in building a city." Sora pointed out. "Wilds aren't much good at building spaceports, you know."

"Who cares? All of it looks like it's about to get wiped out again anyway!" Umi threw up her hands. "The Gaians have taken over the place and the Destroyer of Lamico is right here, about to go there on my Softles!"

Alicia cleared her throat. "Hey, if you don't want to bring us..."

"I don't! But I will, because I {said} I would! House Melody's word is true!" Umi growled. "Even if the house is gone!"

"You see?" Sora said softly. "{We} still remain the same. Everything we've learned and experienced in getting what we had... we still remember. What exactly are you doing here, anyway?"

"It's the Fire Seas season." Umi growled. "I figured {someone} was going to want to go there for Nova Gems or something. I didn't have much left, but I put together what I had and started a transportation service. I figured I could charge a really high price if I could prove my service was safe and reliable and people would call it a fair deal."

"I do." Alicia said. "It's expensive, but it's exactly what we need at a time when we need it most, and there's nobody else, no better means of getting there that I would rather go with. {I} call it a fair deal."

Sora grimaced. "I won't lie, Umi. Losing everything hurts. It hurts like crazy, it hurts every day, and it hurts every time I look at a bill. It hurts even with everything I've gained and I know it hurts you even more. But you and I are as much to blame as Colin is."

"What? What did I do?" Umi protested.

"Nothing different from the rest of us. Tell me that you didn't like the idea of owning even more. Controlling even more."

"What?" Umi stared. "I mean... um..."

"You were greedy too, weren't you?" Sora pointed out. "We all were. So we started fighting for more and we lost what we already had."

"You're still fighting." Umi pointed out. "It's just a different enemy."

"It's also for a different reason. A better one." Sora pointed out.

"You just like fighting." Umi accused him.

Sora shrugged. "Maybe."

"Fighting does seem to get you more in Nakama world than working." Larry pointed out of the blue.

"That's true." Sora agreed. "It's weird and probably bad, but it's true. It's like sports in the waking world, I guess?"

"It's not the same thing." Umi flared.

"It's somewhat similar, maybe." Sora said thoughtfully.

"Whatever, that's totally off-topic!" Umi said.

"True. What's on-topic is that we're going to be late." Alicia said. "If we don't leave this very minute, we'll be off-schedule. We are in a hurry."

"Right." Umi stomped off toward her Softle. "You can sit with me. I'm not sitting in the same Softle as that boy."

"Fine by me." Colin half-growled.

***

Iylara was a couple of hundred feet underwater in some sort of submarine command center with the Lords of the Ocean Wilds. She glanced up as they passed by, and waved to Colin. [Hey there. What's up?]

[Finishing the Journey and getting out of here.] Colin replied, mind to mind. He felt a tad guilty about not joining the battle and running off for a moment.

[Don't feel guilty. You're doing the right thing.] Iylara assured him. [Nobody expects to win this fight. We're just throwing the Cult a welcoming party. As warm a welcome as we can give them.]

[More like 'unwelcoming'...] Colin began and then froze. [Wait. That word... I get it!]

[Get what?]

[Two more answers for the Epic Treasure Hunt!] Colin grinned. [Thanks, Iylara.]

[You're welcome.] Iylara mused. [Say, what are you going to do after you complete the Journey?]

[Adventura, hopefully.]

[Ah. Oh well. I was kind of hoping you would join me in Techon. Running around in Adventura with swords and whacking stuff just isn't my style.]

[Really? What's Techon like? I heard there were giant robots there.]

[It's a high-tech Dreamworld. It's all about technology. I mean, Adventura has its share of that but most of Adventura revolves around hand-to-hand combat. Techon is more about vehicles, which does include those giants robots you mentioned. They're called 'Mecha'. Among all the Dreamworlds I know so far, Techon is the closest to the Higher Plane.]

[And how active is the Cult of Gaia there?]

Iylara's reply came over as a grimace. [They're a major faction. Their Mecha are quite popular. Last week, the Gaian Feral Mk III was the bestselling Mech in the Midlands. Bio-armor has a ton of advantages in terms of maintenance costs.]

[Bio-armor?]

[Armor that's supposedly alive. Like the Saucers we're fighting now. Nobody else knows how to make armor that grows back by itself.]

[Then the Saucers ARE alive.] Colin gulped. [Does that mean they respawn somewhere...?]

[I should think so. But even if the ships respawn, they lose equipment, and I'd hate to think of the fuel it's costing the Gaians to send them all back here over and over again.]

Colin paused. [What sort of equipment?]

[Judging by the firepower they're throwing at us? Probably the cheap stuff. I've only seen a handful of decently outfitted ships so far. Those are the ones our forces are having the hardest time with. That's another reason I'm going straight to Techon rather than Adventura. Everyone there has a lot more firepower. If it comes to fighting Gaian Saucers, I'd rather do it in a Heavy Mech armed with missiles than waving a sword around in leather armor.]

[You're still going to be fighting the Cult? Even there?]

[Of course. When the Gaians invaded Nakama World, they made an enemy of me for life. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for green technology and taking care of the environment on whatever planet I'm on, but I would much rather support the Eden Initiative than the Cult of Gaia.]

[Eden...? What's that about?]

[It's another ecology group, but they're focused on human needs rather than planet-worship. They'd rather terraform a planet than idolize it.]

[Terraform...? They want to change planets with dangerous climates to make them comfortable for people to live in? Isn't that rather hard?]

[It's hard, and it's slow. Too slow for most people. That's why they're not popular. They've only just started branching out to areas the Cult is known for. Recycling, pollution control, renewable energy... they're new, but they're in.]

The Softles were getting deeper now, way past Iylara and her command center. Colin saw numerous Ocean Wilds swimming in and out of there like message carriers and had an idea. [Say, Iylara? Could you anything to send a message to Philip?]

[Sure. There's lots of little willing Wilds out here who can't even touch the Saucers with their best shots. What's the message and where is he?]

Colin paused, hesitant to take a risk by telling Iylara where Philip could be found. [On second thoughts...]

[Worried I might be captured and tortured for information?] Iylara paused. [I understand. Let's see... I'll tell a whole bunch of little fish the same message, and they can go out in every direction passing on the message in case anyone's seen the Ocean Prince. It will be like a worldwide broadcast. So, what's the message?]

['Welcoming' and 'Unwelcoming'.]

There was a short pause. [That's all?]

[That's all.] Colin confirmed. [Thanks, Iylara.]

[No problem. I'll see you around. You have my contact listed, right?]

[Yep.]

[Don't lose it. We'll meet again someday.]

[Someday.] Colin agreed.

***

The message spread like a wildfire that only the Wilds knew about. In no time, all the Wilds of Nakama World, whether they belonged to the Ocean, the Forest, or the Mountain, were passing on the message just for the heck of it.

It went like this; [Message for the Ocean Prince from the Ocean Princess and the Forest Prince: 'Welcoming' and 'Unwelcoming'. Pass it on, please.]

Philip got it from a flock of Quadwing Gulls as they were passing over Skycrown Hollow. He got the same message again about fifty times over before reaching the South Pole.

He sent a counter-message. [I got the message 'Welcoming' and 'Unwelcoming' already. Stop repeating it!]

"You do know what it means, don't you?" Katrin asked, as Swift took them in for a landing that felt more like a meteor strike.

"Yeah." He called up the Projection of their objectives and amended it.

Hot

Cold

Dry

Wet

Welcoming

Unwelcoming

NGRIOI

"So we basically know almost all of them by now." Katrin pointed at the last word. "Any idea what this is?"

"What do you think?" Philip asked.

"Hmm. Grinoi? Groini? Ringio? Irinog? Ogirin?"

"Origin." Philip tossed in.

"Origin?" Katrin blinked. "Like... the place where it all started? Boom City?"

"Maybe. Or maybe it's not where the Treasure Hunt started. Maybe it's the place where we first started the Journey. Sunshine Town." Philip thought for a bit then sent a reply message to the Wilds around him. [Message for the Forest Prince from the Ocean Prince. 'Origin'. Please pass it on.]

Katrin peered at him in a queer way.

"What?" Philip asked mildly.

"You seem... I don't know. Like you're rather satisfied with something. Something naughty." Katrin said, her lips tight.

"Me?" Philip looked at her innocently. "Whatever are you talking about?"

"What did you just do?" Katrin's eyes narrowed.

"I just repaid Colin a favor." Philip said with just a little bit of a smile. "He sent me a message with the clues for two of the words we needed to unscramble. I sent him back a message with the last one."

"And how did you do that?" Katrin looked a bit baffled.

Philip's smile broadened. "In {exactly} the same way."

***

Colin heard the message about sixty times over by the time he reached Lamico. [Okay! Enough! ENOUGH! Stop sending the message about 'Origin'!]

Losing comms was a lot more troublesome than he'd thought.

"Approaching Port Rachel." Larry mentioned unnecessarily. Colin could see Umi and Alicia surfacing at Lamico's only seaport. Their Softle followed suit and soon the glass-like shell above them peeled back and allowed them to exit.

"How was it?" Umi asked, looking a lot calmer now than she had when they left.

"Sort of like sitting on a leather carpet under a glass dome." Colin mentioned. "I thought we were going straight to the Fire Seas."

Umi snorted. "That's nuts. The seas around the Northern ruins would already be boiling by now. I have no intention of cooking my Comrades, thank you."

Both her softles nodded earnest agreement.

"Hey, Umi... for what it's worth..." Colin cleared his throat. "I'm sorry about your losses."

"Never mind." Umi said. "This isn't the world for it in the first place."

"What do you mean?"

"Factories and property... stuff like that..." Umi shook her head. "We should never have done all that in a Dreamworld like Nakama World. The only reason we did that was because Mom and Dad wanted it to be a family effort, and this was the only Dreamworld in which Riku and I were old enough to really do stuff. But that's all over now."

"What?" Colin blinked.

"The Gaians are taking control of the economy." Umi grimaced. "Even if you hadn't wiped out Lamico, this would be the end of our prosperity here. We would end up either controlled by the Gaians or leaving anyway. As it is, Mom and Dad are already setting up businesses in the Higher Plane. That's where this sort of thing should be done."

"So... what are you going to do?"

"Go play somewhere else, I guess. Maybe Adventura." Umi shrugged. "Maybe I'll find you there and bug you for favors since you're so guilty about what you did here."

"Uh..." Colin didn't know quite what to say about that.

"At least, keep me in your contact list so you can warn me before you destroy any towns there." Umi prodded.

"Um... okay..." Colin felt his Watch twitch and knew that she was added to his contact list. "You too."

She tried to smile. She really did, but the best she could manage was a twitch of her lips. She turned to Alicia and waved and then all but ran back to her Softles to make a return trip.

"Well... she sure seems to be in a hurry to make more money." Colin said as they watched her leave from the docks.

"I don't think that's why she was running." Alicia told him.

"Then?"

"I think she was trying hard not to cry." Alicia said. "I mean... this is Lamico we're at. To have come back here after everything..."

"Oh." Colin scratched his head and glanced at Larry only to see him scratching his head in almost exactly the same way.

"So, what are you going to do?" Alicia asked. "Are you really going to let her bully you in Adventura."

"Yes. No. Maybe." Colin rubbed his forehead. "I don't know. It depends on what she wants, I guess."

"Do you think she'll really go there? I mean, there's nothing there for her. At least here, her brother is the Mountain Prince."

"That doesn't count for all that much, sometimes." Colin said, thinking of Gracie. "It might even make things harder for her."

"You really think she'll go to Adventura at the same time we do?" Alicia asked next.

{At the same time we do...} Colin paused. "I guess."

"Well, seeing how many people we know who are going there, I guess we won't have to worry too much about party members."

"About what?" Colin blinked.

"Adventurers in Adventura form groups called parties. Teams for dungeons and missions and stuff." Alicia said. "You'll see."

They made their way to Port Rachel's central square.

"Lamico sure has changed since the last time we were here." Alicia nodded to a map displayed on a board.

Colin took a look.

https://imgur.com/0ZBV642

"Why are Lost Paradise and the Creepy Ruins bigger than the other dungeons?" Larry asked.

"Probably because they're literally bigger." Alicia figured. "And the entire forest is named the Dark Forest now."

"At least it's not a dungeon any more. The Lamico Forest Wilds should be happy about that." Colin mentioned. "I think."

"Want to go visit them?" Alicia guessed.

"Yeah. But they're probably all busy right now." Colin glanced to the north where Lynn and Iylara and Sora and the knights with them were fighting the Gaian forces.

Speaking of knights... Colin searched out the ex-Ocean Princess and called. [Say, Iylara?]

[What is it?] Iylara sent back sounding very distant.

[The Phalanx Knights kinda joined the Gaians. Just letting you know.]

[Yeah. We know already. Thanks.] Iylara assured him. [Good Journey.]

[You too.] Colin ended the link and then nodded to himself. "Okay. Let's go see the Fire Seas."

"Are you {sure} you don't want to visit the forest?" Alicia asked. "You did work there for a week after all."

"I'm sure." Colin told her. "From what I'm sensing, most of them aren't even there any more. I think they're either out there fighting now, or they've moved to Sanctuary."

Alicia rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just don't regret it later when we're far, far away that you didn't have time to say goodbye."

"I'll be seeing them again later." Colin told her. She didn't seem to believe him, but she would, eventually. Assuming they won the Treasure Hunt.