"Let's get set up," Ica muttered, sitting down on a rock and opening his laptop as Lif popped open a briefcase nearby; a number of drones slowly lifted out, whirring readily.
"They will not pass this… pass," Eileen stated flatly, wrinkling her nose and holding her rod comfortably at her side. "If they try, I will not let them."
"Sounds fantastic," Cecil nodded, chuckling and stretching. "With an elf on our side I bet we don't have to do shit."
"Just… be careful," Aurelia smiled tightly, tail thrashing anxiously. "A mountain pass like this might not be fully stable- can't say for sure we won't have to deal with falling rocks,"
"Be careful to guard me," Eileen hummed thoughtfully, twirling her staff slowly and watching as the drones flew off, Ica thoughtfully controlling them. "I am still a human, in terms of fragility."
"Guard you with my life I will, little friend," Lif agreed, smiling warmly and stepping up to her shoulder. "No harm shall come to little friend."
-
"Remember," Charlotte sighed and stretched, tail curling, back arching. "If the Starrians do land some sort of attack here, we have no idea what it'll look like. Could be an assassin, could be a whole troop of planted civilian-lookalikes. Anything suspicious, and you investigate it, alright?"
"Sounds good," Haru agreed, nodding. "We splitting up now- oh, okay," She snorted as Charlotte vanished in a blur of lilac-and-cyan. "So, just you and me, Fox?"
"I wish," The short one stepped forward, briefly throwing her arms around Haru's waist and nodding. "Sadly, the lives of innocents could be at stake, or whatever. Here," She added, tucking something out of her bag and into Haru's jacket- when she checked what it was, a quiet laugh spilled off her tongue before she could stop herself; it was a road flare.
"Let's hope I won't need one of these again."
"You have one in case," Fox nodded, patting Haru's chest and turning. "Be safe. Or uh. Or else."
"I will," Haru nodded and watched as Fox streaked off, slowly turning and inhaling, looking around. She stood, currently, in a shopping center; and things seemed fine. It was hard to believe that a war was brewing- there, a family laughed and smiled. There, a young couple paused to kiss under a decorative tree. The smells of pastries and pastas wafted to her from the outdoor restaurants; things felt fine.
This, the more human-focused district; she wouldn't have to worry about an attack via the dragon's areas or the underground segments; those had no exit that didn't cross the surface. Then, there was the swamps and the woodlands, which Fox and Charlotte had covered.
"Hey! Fancy seeing you here," A voice came from behind her, and Haru turned, wrinkling her nose as she tried to remember; I know this kid. Why do I know this kid.
She might have been fifteen or eighteen- she had one of those faces that made it hard to tell, but somehow she sat firmly in 'kid' status in Haru's head regardless, standing there with a smirk like she owned the world, hands on her hips. Behind her, a long, bushy chipmunk's tail twitched and flicked about, and her smile was buck-toothed- fitting. Green eyes shone from under brown bangs, and her hair was interesting; light brown fading to dark brown to black with white highlights… she was like a chipmunk, through and through. After a moment, Haru remembered.
Feeling half dead and lethargic, still under the effects of whatever spell was used to summon her. A slow fight without bravado. A curiosity. A test.
"Sorry, it took me a second to remember you," Haru spoke, and Lily cut her off, crossing her arms.
"You can just say you forgot me, it's fine."
"I didn't. I had just been introduced to the Queen and stuff, and they were giving me a tour of Mir. You're Lily." For a moment, there was silence, and then Lily nodded.
"What are you doing here?" She, the squirrely girl, asked.
"I'm not supposed to tell you," Haru began, already knowing she didn't give a damn. "War with Starria is brewing. A small task force was sent here to make sure that we're not in danger; keeping an eye out for assassins, any potential threats. If we can, we don't wanna cause a scene, and it'll just be a night of mild stress."
"Let me help," Lily stated confidently, stepping forward and putting a hand over her chest. "I've been training hard, every day- my master says that I'm the best fighter my age he's seen. I'll be quiet, and I won't get in the way, and I have really good eyesight-"
"Okay, thanks, awesome," Haru nodded, blinking slowly.
"-and I'm strong, but I'm super good at walking silently now- wait, what?"
"I said okay," Haru repeated, smiling innocently. "Why would I say no to help? You seem cool."
"Fuck yeah, let's go!!" Lily beamed, tail wagging, a snaggletooth on the left side of her mouth catching the light. "I'll keep an eye out boss!"
"Alright, alright. You know this city- let me watch the open spaces, you patrol the alleys and scream for me if you hear anything."
"Sure, give me your phone number just in case," Lily hummed, and Haru nodded, rattling it off, proud that she'd already remembered it.
"Hey, are you armed by the way?" The chipmunk girl asked thoughtfully as she turned to go.
"Mhm. I am," Haru nodded- for reasons to do with keeping the people around her calm, her weapons were limited to the knife, road flare and pistol in her dark jacket. "Why?"
"Just making sure. I'm always armed," Lily added cryptically, patting her hip where a curved dagger sat and wandering off.
"By the way, who's your master?" Haru called, raising an eyebrow.
"Someone," Lily sniggered, winking, and vanished into the gap between a bakery and a postal office.
-
"They're coming," Ica muttered, taking a slow, deep breath. "An hour or two away but they are. They shot the drone down but the others can see them, they aren't stopping."
"How many?" Lif asked, looking back and narrowing his eyes.
"Forty. There's an arch-angel though."
"Humans- no, Starrians don't work with angels. What do you mean?" Lif narrowed his eyes, frowning.
"I think Starria must know that they can't win with technology alone," Ica spat, eyes still glued to his laptop. "File reads them as an arch-angel local to Mir. Could be some sort of brainwashing or torture; I'd rather try and talk to him than kill him outright."
"Sounds good. How many arch-angels are there anyway?" Eileen asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.
"Forty one on record, and thirty nine arch demons. We suspect there are hundreds though- they don't tend to like the observation and positions that come with status," Ica murmured distractedly. "It's not like we have a big reason to be scared; we have an arch demon and an elf here."
"Right," Aurelia agreed, quietly, watching the ground and kicking at a pebble. "Well, we can meet them head on and tell them to turn back. If they make us fight, then we will; Eileen, are you able to cast a barrier without them knowing? Something to protect us so we can look like we truly don't anticipate having to fight?"
"An ill idea," Eileen stated flatly, and Aurelia winced. "Let them know that we are fully prepared for a fight, and offer them peace. This is more of a mercy than to appear as easy targets; underhanded, if we win, and deceitful, if we lose."
"Right. Sorry," Aurelia nodded, kicking another rock and shuddering, looking up as Lif patted her shoulder, Cecil rubbing the top of her head.
"We don't hate you," Cecil snorted, smiling.
"This is true," Lif agreed, rubbing her shoulder. "You did a bad thing, and now you have ugly feelings. This is good. You did a bad thing and you deserve to feel bad- but Aurelia, you are not bad person. Bad people do not stop and ask; am I bad? Can I fix this? They continue to bad. You do not want to continue to bad. We forgive you. I think Haru does too. You should kiss her. And I will take photo. To celebrate," He added, smirking, and Aurelia choked, smacking their hands off of her.
"Get the hell off me- yeah I feel like an ass. Whatever. I'm gonna do better."
"I know. We're still tight, right Aurelia?" Cecil chuckled, winking. "I-"
"Cecil," Aurelia snapped. "Not now. I trust you as an ally and as a friend, but let's focus on the fight."
"Okay," Cecil winced, glancing down at his inner elbow and frowning, then shaking his head. "You said we have how long, Ica? An hour or two isn't you."
"An hour and twenty one minutes at their current speed," Ica shrugged, rubbing at his temples. "You gonna remember that in ten minutes?"
"Ouch-" Cecil winced, and Ica shrugged.
"Not my fault your drug-addicted ass hasn't been around."
"Hey, I-" Cecil tried, but Ica cut him off again.
"No no- where were you while we fought the outbreak? Snorting lines?"
"I was going after Aurelia-!" Cecil snapped, narrowing his eyes. "Where the hell is this coming from, sure I like to have fun but-"
"Right. Sorry." Ica nodded, rolling his eyes. "I'm stressed. Lashed out at you. I apologize."
"Okay. Okay. Fine. Whatever," Cecil nodded, leaning against the rocky wall of the pass. "Forgiven and forgotten. Whatever."
"Let's do this later," Aurelia mumbled, kneeling and pulling a little loaf of bread from her pack. "We need to be calm when the enemy arrives. We let them live if they back down, understood?"
"Yes." Lif nodded confidently.
"I will," Eileen agreed.
For a time, nobody else spoke.
They were ready.
-
Haru had been pacing peacefully for two hours, wandering the markets without anything of note happened- and then someone raised her eyebrow. There; a young boy in a dark cloak- when he saw her, his eyes widened and he turned his hood down, starting to walk away. Curious, narrowing her eyes, Haru followed immediately, setting off at a jog.
For a bit, the boy just walked, but when Haru got close, he bolted- she reacted in kind, weaving between a few people, accidentally shoulder ramming someone and shouting a sorry over her shoulder as she raced after the young figure, catching up quickly.
He tried to disappear into an alley much like Lily had, but Haru grabbed the cloak and the back of his shirt in one handful, ripping him toward her and glaring down.
"Why are you running?!"
"I'm sorry!!" He pleaded, fat tears spilling out of wide, innocent eyes; under his arm, he clutched a few loaves of warm bread, and Haru felt her heart melting a bit. "I'm j-just- my family is poor, and my momma and papa are struggling to pay the bills, so I thought that if I could just- make things a little easier-"
"Oh gods, get out of here," Haru sighed and let him go, patting his back. "I'm looking for a bad guy, not a hungry kid. Go on."
"R-Really?" he asked, staggering forward slowly, and Haru nodded.
"Yes. Really. Go," She added, and turned around, yawning, and jolting as the cobblestones underfoot seemed to vibrate. "Shit,"
Another vibration; stronger this time, and Haru jolted in horror- there was no way for an attack underground, right? Everything down there required an exit via the surface, via covered ground- unless-
In a flash, she bolted toward where she vaguely remembered seeing one of the exits to the undercity, pulling out her phone and texting Lily.
[Underground. Go.]
Pocketing the phone, knowing Fox and Charlotte wouldn't need texted, Haru ran harder, faster, briefly closing her eyes as she reached one of the gateways underground and flew past, darting into the undercity itself.
People were scrambling everywhere as she reached one of the markets, confused, hurrying to get home, but she pushed on as another wave of vibrations made her legs wobble, staggering, pressing on.
"I'm here!!" Lily called from behind her, but she pushed ahead silently, following the sensations through the ground- it never registered to her, why she might be so attuned to the vibrations, but she was and she used it, sliding down an alley, past the hot springs and the theater, pushing through rocky roads and alleys; soon, the ceiling was so high over her head that she almost might have been outside after all.
Again, there was a tremor, and this time Haru cried out in pain, hitting the smooth tunnel wall- and then, a streak of color, and she was being steadied by Charlotte.
"You're going the right way," She snapped. "Can I pick you up?"
"Bet," Haru agreed and hopped onto Charlotte's back, hugging her neck and wrapping her legs around the catgirl's waist, yelping as they flew off.
The world spun, and Haru closed her eyes as a mess of sensation washed over her… and then they'd stopped, and Charlotte was setting Haru down, walking forward; she tried to focus, but the world was spinning in a mess of sound and color; something was coming toward her fast, and even without her vision intact, Haru managed to lurch out of the way and spin to her feet, throwing out a kick that connected with something- a man with an axe, yes, he was recoiling. Taking no time, for there were others, Haru pushed through the dizziness and leapt, wrapping a leg around his neck and using it to spin, throwing him and landing on her ass with a grunt- I'm not so great at athletics yet.
When she looked up, Charlotte was dusting her hands off, eight or ten bodies lying around her. She looked appreciatively at the unconscious axe-man Haru had knocked out, though, nodding.
"You really are getting good at this," She hummed. "We're in one of the more recent renovation projects. There's an old cavern they were trying to reach to turn into a new farm area."
"And…?" Haru angled her head, clearing her throat.
"That's where they entered from. Come here," Lottie added, reaching down and gently grabbing Haru's hand, helping her up, starting to walk.
"Lily and Fox-"
"Much slower than me," Charlotte spoke quietly, walking forward, toward the end of the tunnel, and turning; here, indeed it looked like an excavcation site, lit by the usual warm amber lights embedded in the ceiling but also brighter, starker work lights. There was a wall- perhaps the last barrier to the cavern, with holes broken through- and not intrinsically holes for entry.
No, they spelled out a sentence in the dark crags.
'Angels and Demons are Insanity Incarnate, and it's Time Earth Belonged to Humans Again'.
Spanning thirty paces up and down and left to right, the words made Haru's nose twitch, made her heart sink into her belly.
"This…"
"Yeah," Charlotte agreed and walked forward, looking out into the cavern beyond. Curious, Haru followed, boots crunching on the loose stones underfoot- the cavern looked like nothing special; just stone and dripping condensation.
"I want," Charlotte muttered, peering through one of the letters. "To destroy this message. So nobody sees it… but I've got no idea what's above. I could sink half a block underground if I'm reckless. Fuck." Haru, for her part, looked down, a strange quiet falling over her mind.
It's time Earth Belonged to Humans Again.
"What are you thinking?" Charlotte asked, sighing quietly and leaning against the wall. Haru shook her head, eyes soft, a strange kind of acceptance- or maybe just resignation- in her gaze.
"Just… that I don't mind killing people like this. Not all of Starria, but people like this," She added, walking forward slowly and looking down at the soldier she'd incapacitated. He was starting to stir, hand reaching for the gun at his hip, one arm trying to grab his axe off the ground.
"You wanna make sure they're dead?" Charlotte asked curiously.
"No. I'm sure some want us dead," Haru added, stepping on the man's hand- the one reaching for his gun, watching him grit his teeth and groan with pain. "Then, what if some are just following orders, sent to die by leadership that'll kill them? I don't want genocide."
"Not a Starrian. Good," Lottie snarked. "A few of mine are dead. Nobody will miss them."
"Be nice. Maybe their mothers will," Haru added, putting her foot down harder, listening to the man below her start to scream. There was, for just a moment, a sick temptation in her chest; do it. Slam her foot down. Make him scream until the sound faded. Frowning, she slammed her foot down, breaking his wrist, and backed away.
"Stop reaching for a weapon and you can spend the night in a cell instead of dying," Haru whispered to him, and he glared up at her, fire in his eyes. "-and remember that a demon had mercy more than the humans did tonight."
Some time later, the badger girl with black-and-white hair walked outside and past the CA and the reporters with Fox holding her arm worriedly.
"Are you okay?" She, Fox, asked, tail flicking anxiously. "You don't seem like yourself."
"Just… think I'm coming to grips with what war is going to mean. Charlotte took down ten men as easily as taking the trash out to the curb- and even with my world spinning, I had no problem launching one across the room. People are going to die, aren't they? A lot of them."
"Yeah," Fox agreed, slowly putting a hand on Haru's chest, stopping their walking. "People are going to die, and there's nothing we can do about it."
"I didn't kill them. Just broke a wrist." Haru nodded, swallowing. "I want to think that I'm a good person, but what if I'm not?"
"Make you a deal," Fox smirked, stepping closer and looking up, hugging Haru's neck.
"Yeah?"
"I ever catch you going crazy killer chick and I'll stop you. Step in front of the gun or whatever. Bring you back. I don't think we have anything to worry about that, you're a hero summoned to another world, aren't you?"
"Fuck off," Haru laughed and leaned down, finally kissing Fox- it was hard, deep, and Fox eagerly melted into it as Haru blinked rapidly, having surprised herself, only to close her eyes and melt, shoving Fox back against the back of a bench nearby, breaking the kiss to breathe- even when she did, Fox's lips were on her neck, a leg wrapping around her waist.
"Fucking finally," Fox whispered as Haru kissed her pulse, then slowly leaned back, eyelids heavy.
"N-Not here, someone is gonna see,"
"Keep snapping on me, hero girl," Fox whispered, panting. "Don't care if they see~"
"B-Back to base, first," Haru repeated, panting harshly. "That k-kid might come back…"
"Fine, fine…" Fox sighed, rolling her eyes and slowly allowing herself to be set down. "Let's g-go…"