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The passageway proved to be narrow, as Lashanne had predicted - hence her reasoning for lining the group up as she did. She deliberately took point, as she was the second largest among them; anywhere she could fit, Luke would as well, and likely Minato being only slightly larger than Luke. Volcan, being the tallest, brought up the rear because if there was anywhere he could not fit, he would not be trapped and could go back, allowing the others to continue.

So far, the tunnel remained just wide enough for them, but barely. A few times, Luke and Minato felt their oxygen tanks bang against the ceiling of the tunnel, both times making them tense, fearing damaging their air supply. Fortunately, the tunnel started to become wider as they went further in...

Luke did his best to remain calm in the narrow tunnels, feeling a bit claustrophobic and tense during their journey through. He fought his instinct to breathe quickly despite his rapidly beating heart, and a couple times he gave a small pause when he thought he heard something besides his own breathing, looking everywhere around him before continuing onward after Lashanne.

Finally, the tunnel opens into a more open space, slowly growing wider until they find themselves in a wide-open pool. Lashanne looked back to make sure the three were with her still. She snorted a bubble from her nose, and watched the direction it went; up, but slightly to the right, and followed it.

Unknown to the four, however, they were not alone in that cave. From the shadows, an elongated form emerged, making a beeline straight at Volcan, who was at the back of the group. The Blaziken never saw it coming until he felt a bite on his leg, and a jolt shooting up his body, causing him to convulse from the electricity.

A spray of bubbles shot up past Minato and Luke, and the two looked back down to see the Blaziken under attack by a strange, serpentine form in the water, giving the Blaziken another jolt of electricity as it clung stubbornly to his swinging leg.

Minato reacted first, quickly swimming back down to Volcan and summoning his blade, thrusting the sword down at the strange Pokémon and jabbing it hard enough to force it to let go of the Blaziken. When it tried to double back, Luke managed to intercept it with his own Bone Rush, thrusting his weapon forward and pushing it back enough to make it rethink its attempt and swim back into the shadows.

With the threat taken care of, Luke swam to Volcan and checked on him, looking at his leg to see how bad the wound was. Blood was flowing from the wound, diluting in the water, but Volcan seemed to have no difficulty moving the leg as he urged them to keep swimming toward the surface. Looking up, they could see Lashanne was swimming back toward them, having noticed something was wrong.

Minato showed her the blood leaking from Volcan's leg and made a motion for her to go back. She nodded and turned around, leading the way back up to the surface. The four emerged in a dark chamber, scrambling onto a stone shortline Lashanne guided them over to. Luke and Minato helped Volcan out of the water, letting him sit down so they could check his leg.

"Anybody know what attacked him?" Lashanne asked, "I never saw one of those before."

"It was an Eelektrik," replied Volcan, "they were a problem back in the islands. But how'd one get all the way here? We're miles from the ocean."

"It was probably brought over by the assassins as a defensive measure against intruders that tried to enter this way," Luke offered, gently helping to nurse Volcan's leg, using the end of his scarf to try and clean the wound.

"...Guess that shoots my idea that ocean dwellers can't function in freshwater conditions," Minato remarked.

"Technically Eelektrik are not true Water-types," said Volcan, "they may live in the water but they're Electric-types."

"Either way, we'll need to watch out for that little bugger when we leave this place," Minato stated. "Can you walk?"

Volcan tried to stand, putting some weight on his leg. He winced, but he didn't collapse. "Yeah... Doesn't feel like it bit too deep. We'll just patch it, and I should be fine."

Luke nodded, then quickly unwound his scarf and began applying it around Volcan's wound like gauze, tying it tight so it would help stop the bleeding faster. "You're going to owe me a new scarf if this keeps up," he stated as he stood up, poking the Blaziken's beak with his paw.

"I offered to buy you one for your next birthday," Volcan reminded, smiling back at him.

"Then I'll have to take you up on that," Luke replied, smiling and nuzzling him.

"Okay, later fellas," said Lashanne, "take a look at this."

They turned toward Lashanne, and saw she was pointing to a door. It was a fairly plain set of double doors, one of which had been left slightly ajar, and unbarred. Through it, they could make out the start of a gently curving staircase, leading upward.

"Safe bet we found that secret entrance to the fortress then," said Volcan, "all things considered, that was actually quite easy."

"Don't jinx it," Minato stated firmly. "There are probably bound to still be surprises when we start exploring this place. Let's keep our wits up and our senses sharp."

"Agreed," said Lashanne, "let's leave the scuba gear here; make sure you shut off the valves, tight but not too tight - if we need to leave in a hurry you don't want to be fumbling with your air supply."

"Good call," Luke agreed, then he and Minato started taking off their scuba gear and tightening their valves just enough so that no excess air could escape, but loose enough that they could leave at the drop of a hat. Once everyone had their gear off and placed in a pile off to the side, they started up the stairs toward the open door ahead.

"Does it strike anyone else as odd they didn't bolt this?" Volcan asked as they passed through the door, "I mean, why leave it open?"

"Could be a number of reasons," replied Lashanne, "either they really thought no one would find their way in here, or they didn't care. I more hope it's the former, because if it's the latter that would mean there's nothing left in here they think is valuable..."

"I second that opinion. It'd be a huge pain if we travelled all the way over here only to find nothing that could help us in finding where the Brotherhood is right now," Luke commented, clenching his teeth a little as he tried to push that thought out of his head.

They slowly ascended the steps, eventually finding the top of them where they push open another door and step out into a corridor. From where they stood, the hallway split off in three directions, each way shrouded by the gloom of the dusty and lightless interior, limiting how far they could see down each path.

"Nice place to live," began Lashanne, "if you float through the air, walk through walls and shout 'boo' to anyone you pass."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that; this place is giving me the heebie jeebies as it is," Luke remarked.

"Didn't take you as someone who was afraid of the dark." Minato teased.

"...I'm not even going to dignify that with a response," Luke huffed, looking down each path quickly. "Dim lighting and a three-way split... Two of us are going to have to take a path separately."

"You mean split up?" Volcan asked, "You sure we want to do that?"

"We'll cover more ground that way," Luke returned, "We're still on a bit of a time constraint if you recall. Every second we waste means more of an advantage Calhoun can gain on us."

"Now you sound like Zacian," Minato remarked.

"It's the one thing we both agree on," Luke replied.

"I suppose Luke has a point," agreed Lashanne, "we're not even sure what we're looking for but, we'll find it faster by covering more ground."

"What _should_we look for?" Volcan asked.

"Books, records - anything they left behind. The fact that their escape tunnel went underwater might even work in our favour - there's not a lot they could have carried with them through that hole," Lashanne replied.

"Well, if we're going through with this, then I pick the path on the left," Minato said.

"I suppose Luke and I will go right then," said Volcan.

"Stay in pairs," said Lashanne, coming to stand beside Minato, "we don't know if something moved in here since the assassins left, so there will be _no_going alone," she stated in a tone that suggested the matter was not up for debate.

"Understood," Luke answered with a nod, then looped his arm around Volcan's. "Shall we?"

"Into the spooky halls we go," said Volcan, tucking Luke's arm against his side as they started walking.

"...We should start walking like that," Minato remarked, watching Luke and Volcan walk away with their arms locked.

"What, in tandem?" Lashanne asked, gesturing to the way the Blaziken and Lucario were walking in almost perfect sync.

"More like with our arms locked," He answered with a smirk.

Lashanne looked after the two again and considered it. She gave a shrug, holding out her arm, "Alright. Let's give it a try then," she said.

Minato gently looped his arm along with hers, gently tugging her closer and started walking with her into the tunnel. "...Huh. It's surprisingly comfortable," He remarked.

"We're made for it," she said, "my fur probably helps too."

"True... your fur is very soft~" Minato added, grinning as he rubbed his cheek with hers.

She smiled, rubbing her cheek against his in turn, "Alright... Let's see if they have library or, some kind of hall of records. We might find the clues we're looking for there."

"Sounds like a plan." Minato answered. "This is more your turf, so you take the lead, treasure huntress."

She chuckled, but did as he said, continuing down the hall as they searched the fortress... Unaware that a shadowy form watched them from the gloom...

Luke shivered as the chill of the halls started to get to him. "Does it strike you as odd that it is so cold in here?" he asked, "I mean, it's still summer, and we're underground."

"The heat of sun probably can't get down this far," offered Volcan, "and there must be vents or something that's letting air into here. They probably come close to the snow caps of the mountain, so the chill coming off the peak is flowing in here along with breathable air."

Luke nodded, agreeing that that seemed logical, but still leaned on Volcan for warmth.

Every so often, the pair passed a door, leading to a room or a hallway leading to more rooms. Most of the rooms they did find were bedrooms, a kitchen, and an unassuming storeroom, until eventually they came to something that seemed more promising; when they opened the door, they were greeted to the sight of a desk, several book shelves, a globe resting on a stand and a wall-mount holding an ornamental sword, situated behind the desk.

"A study," said Volcan.

"This is probably a good place to find information," said Luke, "Fan out - I'll check the desk first."

"I'll take that shelf on the left," said Volcan.

The two went to work; Luke had to use his Metal Claw to pry open some of the drawers, as they were locked. Inside the drawers, he found moldy papers, which had faded to the point of being ineligible, and were written in a foreign dialect that he thought looked familiar.

When Volcan piped up, it was apparent he was having similar luck with a scroll he held in his hands. "What is this?" he asked, looking the scroll up and down, "I can't read a word of it... Is this some kind of runic, or maybe cuniform?"

Luke gently took the scroll into his paws from Volcan and gave it a quick once over, confirming it was the same language he saw on the papers he had found in the desk. "I... can't understand what this text says, but I have seen it before," he said, "I've seen Kage and Katsumoto write in this style. If we take these back, they might be able to translate them."

"All the way back to Azure?" Volcan asked, setting down the scroll to reach for a book on the shelf, flipping through it. "There's so much to carry... How do we narrow it down when we can't even read any of it, and for that matter, how do we even get any of it out through that tunnel?"

Volcan continued to flip through the book until something caught his eye. "Wait... What's this?" he asked, looking oddly at the book he held. He had turned all the way to the back pages when something had caught his eye.

Luke approached and looked into the book that Volcan had picked out. "What did you find?" He asked.

"I'm not sure," Volcan replied.

On the page he was opened to, there was more of the writing they couldn't understand. But in a column below it, arranged in two separate lines, were numbers; two of the numbers were set apart, followed by four more, each with a period sitting between them. To the two of them, it made no sense...

But Luke's instincts told him that this, somehow, was significant. "...Call me crazy," Luke began as he took a closer look at the numbers, "but those look like they could be geographical coordinates."

"You think so?" Volcan asked, arching a brow and rubbing his chin as he considered. "Well... Suppose it's possible," he admitted, "We better take this to Lashanne and find a map - maybe she can make more sense of it."

"Good idea," Luke concurred.

Tucking the book under his arm, Volcan led the way out of the room, with Luke following close behind...

"There must be a few thousand books in here!" Lashanne commented as she took in their surroundings, turning in a circle as she studied the shelves.

They had located what had to be a library, in a room large enough to hold their house and Volcan's side-by-side. One side of the room was filled with dusty furniture that had worn away with neglect, but the other side, towering shelves of books, many of which had likewise suffered from the long years in the abandoned fortress. Even as Minato pulled one out, several pages fell free of it, and a cloud of dust accompanied it, billowing out into his face.

He coughed a few times and waved the dust away with his paw, instinctively dropping the book as he cleared away the dust. "These... Yea, these must have been here for at least a century. There's enough dust in here to pack into a smoke bomb." He added, still coughing.

"You expected it to look like a freshly refurbished hotel room?" Lashanne asked sarcastically, pulling up a ladder to climb up to one of the higher shelves.

She climbed six steps up the ladder. But as she put her foot down on the seventh step, there was a crunch, and she dropped, letting out a yelp as her arms flailed and she fell through the frame of the ladder. Her arms caught on the sides, and the ladder slid away from the shelf to fall sideways, taking her with it screaming as she fell. The racket that followed set Minato's teeth on edge as dust was kicked up as the Delphox fell to the floor, coughing and sneezing.

"Ow," Lashanne groaned, laying on the floor with her body still stuck between the arms of the ladder. "Okay, I probably deserved that."

"...Well, if I were a superstitious Lucario, I'd say you probably angered a lot of lingering spirits with that racket," Minato joked as he walked over and helped Lashanne extract herself from the ladder, "assuming there even are any here."

"Wouldn't be the first time I'd done so," she remarked.

They heard the door open and heard Volcan's voice call out. "Guys? Are you in here? What was that racket?"

"Lashanne had a bit of a mishap! She's alright!" Minato called out just as Luke and Volcan entered the room, helping Lashanne stand while she dusted herself off. "What about you two? Find anything?"

"We think so," Luke answered, gesturing for Volcan to hand the book over.

"This was in a study we found," Volcan explained, passing the book to Lashanne after she dusted herself off, "it has some odd writing at the back of it - numbers, in our own dialect, but the rest of it is foreign. Maybe you can make sense of it?"

Lashanne accepted the book from Volcan, and flipped to the page he indicated, taking a moment to study the numbers. "...Curious," she said.

"Luke thought the numbers might be geographical coordinates?" Volcan suggested, looking at his husband briefly.

"Not quite," she replied, "it looks like some kind of-" Her ears twitched, and her gaze shot up. "Heads up!" She shouted, pointing at something atop one of the bookshelves.

They saw a cloaked figure, standing easily atop the shelf. Having been discovered, the cloaked figure wasted no time in approaching the closest of the group, that being Lashanne, and a sword suddenly shot out of the figure's cloak before it swung toward her.

In that instant, Minato summoned his own blade and held it perpendicular to the incoming attack, blocking the strike inches before the blade could touch the Delphox. By then, Lashanne drew her branch and fired a Psybeam point blank at the attacker. They did not react.

"Dark type!" She exclaimed.

Volcan lunged, his leg swinging for the cloaked figure in a roundhouse kick from the side. The attacker reacted with almost superhuman reflexes, pushing Minato back with his sword and falling back enough to let the kick fly harmlessly over him. They then turned on one foot and lashed out with a strike from the hilt of the weapon, hitting Volcan's sternum before continuing with the momentum and lashing out with a kick of his own.

When the Blaziken was forced back, Luke stepped in and clashed with the stranger, locking his Bone Rush with the attacker's sword and engaging in a lock for a few seconds before they engaged in a deadly dance. The attacker was quick with both their blade and their footwork, but Luke had the reflexes to parry and dodge around every attack, before managing to parry the sword away and thrust his weapon into the attacker's chest to send him skidding away.

Volcan moved to strike again, this time his fists ablaze for a fire punch, casting light over the attacker and himself. The attacker's hood had fallen back, slightly, the light of the Fire Punch covering some of their face...

But then Volcan stopped. "What the-?" He demanded, squinting his eyes, before they widened with recognition, "Hageshi?!"

The stranger flinched as Volcan spoke the name, lowering his sword and getting a closer look at Volcan now that there was a source of light. He then looked at the rest of those present in the room before relaxing and hiding his sword back in its cloak.

"...You're a long way from home," He remarked as he lifted his hood back completely, revealing to them that it was indeed Hageshi. "What are you doing here... and how did you even get inside?"

"We could ask you the same thing," Lashanne said, paws on her hips.

"You first..." The Greninja insisted.

"There was a back entrance leading in from a glacial runoff." Luke explained before shaking his head a few times. "Nevermind that! Did you really have to resort to violence first?"

"This place was once a stronghold for my father's former clan... You setting foot here is a desecration to this place," the young Greninja answered, "You're lucky it was me you encountered; if you were anyone else, your heads would be rolling along the ground right now."

Luke grimaced, "...Yea... lucky us..." he replied dryly.

"Still a little punk," Lashanne grumbled, crossing her arms.

Volcan let out a sigh, putting out the flames on his arms. "Arceus, we don't have time for this. We-" he perked up as he had an idea. "Hold on... Hageshi, maybe you can help us. We're looking for clues, relating to where the Kaeru Assassins are - we believe they might be in the same place the East Nexus can be found."

That seemed to catch Hageshi's attention, turning to glance at Volcan curiously. "...What have you found so far?" he asked.

"A bunch of scrolls and this book with writing none of us can read, but I've seen the same kind of symbols written by your father and Katsumoto," Luke said, gesturing for Volcan to hand the book over to Hageshi, "Maybe you've seen this style of writing before?"

The Greninja took the book from Volcan and quickly flipped through it, studying each page for no more than a few seconds before flipping to the next. He paused when he came to the same page that had the sets of numbers on it, narrowing his eyes suspiciously as he gave them a double take.

"I have seen this style of writing before... Father taught it to me when I was a hatchling Froakie," he confirmed with them, "Alas, it's been ages since I've seen or written in this language... My retention of it is spotty at best."

"Was worth a try," said Volcan, "At least we know there's someone who can read them. What about the numbers?"

"Before I saw Hageshi I was going to say, the numbers seem to be some kind of code cipher," replied Lashanne, "but without being able to read that language, which probably has a hint, we can't even be sure what we're looking for."

Volcan sighed. "I guess then our last hope is taking this back to this back to Azure," he said, "maybe Kage or Katsu can read it."

"I brought this along," Lashanne said, reaching into the pocket of her vest, producing a folded cloth. "It's a waterproof wrapping I brought along in case we needed to bring something out the way we came in. That book won't survive the water."

Volcan took the book gently from Hageshi, and handed it to Lashanne, "You think ahead," he said with a note of approval in his voice.

"I've been doing this for a long time; I should hope I do," she remarked, and started wrapping the book in the waterproof cloth... Until her ears twitched. "...Hey, Hageshi? Is Wade with you here, by chance? You two left Azure together, right?"

The Greninja shook his head. "We parted ways after we arrived in Calygrad, seeking direction from King Calyrex himself," he explained, "Wade was directed to the Spear Pillar, whereas I was advised to travel further into the Northern Tundra... We have had no contact ever since."

"Then what am I hearing?" she asked warily, her ears flicking side-to-side.

"What do you hear?" Volcan asked, alert.

"...It sounds like stones, falling... Like chunks of the wall are being knocked out and - wait... Metal? Scraping?"

At that moment, Minato and Luke started to hear similar sounds, as it grew loud enough for their ears to pick it up. They both frowned a bit as they tried to decipher what the sound was, but Luke's eyes widened as the sounds grew closer, realizing that the source wasn't from just one source, but an innumerable number of sources.

"Whatever it is, there's a lot of them," Luke stated, looking at the others, "I think we might have overstayed our welcome."

"Time to leave," said Volcan.

Lashanne finished wrapping the book, ensuring that the bindings were secure before tucking it under her arm. "Everyone, back to the tunnel!" She urged.

"Don't need to tell us twice!" Minato added. "Hageshi, you too-" He paused when he saw the Greninja was nowhere to be seen, save for a faint cloud of cold air where he once was. "...Nevermind, then."

"Yea, it runs in the family," Luke said before urging him to get moving.

"Come on!" Volcan called, leading the way over to the door and out to the hallway. "I remember the way back, it's-!" he stopped, and looked up the hallway - in the very direction they wanted to go, and how the very walls themselves seemed to be moving. "What the hell?!" He demanded.

Lashanne, the book tucked under her arm, drew her branch and ignited the tip, letting it grow enough to fill the corridor with light. There, they saw the hundreds of forms blanketing the walls, floor and ceiling alike, skittering as they approached them, their mandibles angrily snapping at the air.

"Durant!" She exclaimed, "A whole colony of them!"

"You gotta be kidding me? That one scuffle stirred a whole nest of these things??" Minato exclaimed.

"They're blocking our way out!" Luke added, gritting his teeth, "We need to find another way around them!"

Lashanne cast a flamethrower at the approaching Durant, forcing them to back away out of fear of the fire. She looked at the flames, how they reacted to the air, and held up her paw briefly.

"There's airflow in here... Flowing through this hall in both directions - I think it circles back around!" She exclaimed.

"So, if we run that way," Volcan jerked his thumb over his shoulder, "it should bring us back around to where we came in?"

"I think so!" Lashanne replied, casting another Flamethrower at the Durant swarm.

"Minato, Luke, get moving; we'll catch up!" Volcan called before exhaling a flamethrower of his own from his beak, helping Lashanne hold back the swarm.

Luke looked like he was ready to protest, but Minato quickly pushed him back and forced him to turn and run away from the others. "Trust in them. They know what they're doing, and frankly they're better suited for crowd control than we are," the elder Lucario informed Luke as they made their retreat, "They'll catch up."

"...They better," Luke muttered, forcing himself to keep looking forward.

The entire corridor was glowing as the stones were heated by Volcan and Lashanne's flaming attacks, forcing the Durant back. Being Bug/Steel-types, all Durant had to fear was fire, but they were many, and emboldened by their sheer numbers. A few managed to slip by the flames, and one of them dropped toward Volcan from above. The Blaziken brought up his fist, striking the Durant aside with a Fire Punch.

He dared a look over his shoulder; he couldn't see Luke or Minato, and knew they had a good head start as he hoped. "Time to go!" he said to Lashanne, "Start moving!"

The Delphox backed up, casting another wave of fire before she turned and started to run. She made it only ten steps before Volcan, using a Flame Charge for an additional boost, caught up with her. The Blaziken looked over at her, seeing how easily he was outpacing her, and grunted before he fell back to let her get ahead. Lashanne felt hands on her sides, and yelped as she was suddenly lifted, dropping into Volcan's arms as he carried her up the corridor.

She growled and tried to struggle out of his grasp. "I don't need you to carry me!" She scolded, indignant.

"We both know I'm the faster runner here!" Volcan retorted.

"Even carrying a passenger?"

"What, you saying you're heavy?"

The sound of Lashanne's branch hitting Volcan on the head was just loud enough that Luke and Minato heard the resounding 'bonk' as the Blaziken steadily caught up. "Ow! Hey, you implied it, not me!" Volcan shouted defensively.

Daring a look behind them, the two Lucario saw the sprinting Blaziken catching up to them, the Delphox cradled in his arms, her feet arm around his neck to steady herself. "Move move move!" Volcan called as he ran between the two, "we've literally stirred a nest back there!"

"Yea, pretty much said that the first time we felt those things!" Minato hollered, then looked at Volcan out of the corner of his eye. "...Also, really dumb idea implying a woman's weight. Pretty much the same as assuming their age."

"Less banter, more running!!" Luke exclaimed angrily, already pulling ahead of them and taking the lead.

As Lashanne had suggested, the corridor did loop back around. First, they reached a sharp right, following a long corridor past multiple rooms, and then came to another sharp right and another corridor that brought them to a fork. They turned right once again, and ahead they saw the door leading back to the stairs heading down to the pool room.

But it seemed the Durant had already figured out where they were; as they approached the door, at least a dozen of the Bug/Steel-types appeared from holes in the walls, turning on them. Volcan, thinking fast, looked at Minato.

"Catch!" was all the warning Volcan gave before tossing Lashanne over to him, the Delphox shrieking and flailing her arms as she was suddenly airborne.

Minato saw her in the air, immediately casting Psychic on her to guide her back into his arms and letting Volcan take the lead. Lashanne bared her teeth, glaring at Volcan as he pulled away. "I'm gonna kick your ass for that!" She screamed after him.

"Kick me later!" Volcan called as his body ignited with another Flame Charge, "Hey love! Time to make use of that Blaze Kick I taught you!" he added before he rocketed forward, accelerating ahead of Luke and the others at the Durant, "Ex_cuse_ me!" he bellowed as his flaming form scattered them, opening the way to the door they needed to reach.

Luke followed suit, running to the nearest Durant and lashing out with a Blaze Kick, then darting to the next with Extreme Speed and hitting the next at near instantaneous speeds. The combined attacks allowed Luke to clear the Durants out of the way in a matter of a second and a half, skidding a little after he was finished and turning to chase after Volcan with Minato carrying Lashanne taking up the rear.

Lashanne saw more of the Durant coming up behind Minato, and cast another Flamethrower from her branch to chase them away. "Volcan, get down here and shut the door!" She shouted to the Blaziken.

"Coming!" Volcan called out, making one final Flame Charge toward the door as Luke waited at the top step for him.

Once there, the two pulled it shut. But only seconds after doing so, they heard the Durant attacking the door, the sound of wood splintering filling the stairwell as they started chewing their way through.

"Let's not wait around, love!" Volcan urged as he started running down the stairs.

"Right! Booking!" Luke concurred, following after him, "Kinda tired of this place anyway!"

"Likewise!" Volcan agreed as they hurried down the steps.

They reached the bottom of the stairs, entering the room with the pool of water. They saw Lashanne and Minato already scrambling back into their diving gear as they arrived, shutting the second door at the bottom of the steps. Lashanne looked up at them.

"Did you lose them?" She asked.

"Not hardly," Volcan replied, passing Luke his scuba gear, "Those doors won't hold them long; let's just hope we got what we needed here."

Luke was quickly getting his gear on when he heard the door above start to give, making him panic a bit as he strapped on his oxygen tank and adjusted the valve before placing his mouthpiece into his mouth. He then quickly put his goggles on before jumping into the water, letting gravity pull him down a little further where he waited until the others had jumped in as well.

They soon plunged into the pool, right behind him. Lashanne still held the book against her chest, securely in the waterproof wrapping. She nodded to Luke as she swam down past him, along with Minato, and then Volcan. Luke brought up the rear, relieved that everyone had made it out safely.

But in their haste to escape the Durant swarm, they had forgotten about the pool's one resident. The Eelektrik saw the return of its earlier targets, and as before focused on the one at the back of the group - Luke. It swam out for its hiding place, moving slower this time, waiting for the right moment...

Just as Volcan swam to the mouth of the tunnel, it struck. Luke felt something bite hard onto his shoulder, and then something wound itself around his body. He let out a muffled grunt as he was bitten, turning to look at his attacker just as his body was bound. He saw the same Eelektrik that had attacked Volcan before out of the corner of his eye, but before he could try to fight back, he started receiving a heavy shock that caused him to spasm uncontrollably, writhing about and even causing his mouthpiece to fall out of his mouth.

The Eelektrik pulled on him, trying to drag him further away. But fortune was on Luke's side; the Eelektrik wasn't strong enough to pull him before he struck the floor of the cave, causing his scuba tank to let out a loud clang as it struck the rock; Lashanne heard the clang, and turned sharply to see Luke was being attacked. She waved her arm at Volcan to get his attention and pointed.

Volcan's eyes went wide, and he scrambled to swim back over to help Luke, followed by Minato. The Electric was still biting and shocking Luke, attempting to paralyze him as its tail remained wrapped around his chest, keeping him from pulling it off.

Luke was also running out of air, having partially exhaled after losing his mouthpiece. His body continued to convulse as he was shocked, his eyes starting to roll back as he felt his need for oxygen start to overtake his survival instinct. Thankfully he was spared from that fate when Minato created his sword and thrust it right into the Eelektrik's body, causing it to writhe and unwind from Luke, giving Volcan the chance to catch the younger Lucario and drag him away from his attacker.

Volcan saw Luke's mouthpiece was missing, and hurriedly felt around for it. But he pulled the end of the tube back to find that the respirator was missing, having broken off in the struggle. Volcan was about to grab his own respirator to offer to Luke, but his was designed for a beak, and would not work for Luke. Lashanne swam up, putting a paw on Volcan's arm, and then took her own respirator from her mouth and brought it to Luke's lips.

As Luke bit down on it, he felt oxygen flowing into his mouth again, and took a breath. He snapped back to alertness, his eyes opening to see Lashanne staring back at him. She gave him a nod, and then looked to Volcan, passing the wrapped book to him and pointing at the tunnel with her other paw.

Volcan looked worriedly at Luke but decided to trust Lashanne. He nodded to her, taking the book from her and swimming toward the tunnel while Lashanne removed Luke's now useless scuba tank from him, letting it fall away to relieve him of its weight. She motioned to Minato to help her as she swam beside Luke toward the tunnel mouth. The two shared their oxygen with Luke as they swam back down the tunnel, staying beside him for as long as they could, until halfway through it grew too narrow for them to remain beside Luke.

Lashanne looked at Luke, having not yet taken back her respirator as she began pantomiming with her paws to convey her next instructions. She directed Minato to go ahead of them, and then turned to Luke, directing him to take a deep breath, as deep as he could, and then swim as fast as possible the rest of the way down the tunnel.

Luke was hesitant at first, but soon nodded to convey he understood what needed to be done. He took in a long, deep breath, taking in as much fresh oxygen that he could before he released the mouthpiece and began swimming through the narrow passage as fast as he could. At the end of the passage, Minato waited for him, offering him his respirator to replenish his oxygen as they swam up together, Lashanne emerging a second later to follow them.

Volcan broke the surface first, scrambling onto the shore and setting down the book before turning to help the others out of the water. He lifted Luke out of the water first, and seated him on the grass, letting him collect himself while Volcan helped Minato and Lashanne onto the shore next.

Volcan then turned back to Luke. "Love, are you okay?" he asked, worriedly.

Luke coughed heavily and rolled onto his back, grasping his wounded shoulder with his opposite paw and groaning as the adrenaline started to wear off. "Owww... That's three times I've nearly died from drowning," he remarked while nursing his shoulder. "That's gotta be a bad omen for things to come..."

Volcan let out a relieved sigh. "Damn glad we had Lashanne with us here," he said, shaking his head.

Hearing her name, Lashanne came up beside Volcan, looking past him at Luke "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's alright," he said.

"And the book?"

"Right there," Volcan replied, pointing to the bundle that held the book. "I just hope whatever is in there is what we came for..."

"We'll know as soon as we can translate it," she replied, nodding, "In the meantime..."

She turned, and punched Volcan hard in the shoulder. The Blaziken jumped, and fell onto his side with a yelp, grabbing his shoulder and looking up at her with disbelief. "Seriously?!"

"Never. Throw me. Again," she said in a tone of warning, "I can levitate, you know."

"It was a decision made under pressure - give me a break!" The Blaziken retorted angrily.

Lashanne huffed and levitated the wrapped book into her paws. She carefully unwrapped the waterproof bundle from around it and tucked it into her pocket as she checked the book, for any sign of damage. "Looks like it's okay," she said.

"Is everything alright?"

The voice of Zamazenta made her turn to look behind her, seeing the Royal Knights walking over to meet them, having heard them when they came up onto the shore.

"We're okay," she said, nodding, "We ran into some trouble in there, but no lasting damage."

"What happened to Luke? He's bleeding," Zamazenta stated, looking over at the Lucario.

"An Eelektrik - I think that's what Volcan called it - was down there; it ambushed us on the way in and back out where it took a bite out of Luke," replied Lashanne, "Also we stirred a whole colony of Durant; apparently they moved in after the fortress was abandoned."

"Unfortunate... A situation that none of us took into consideration," Zacian remarked.

Minato turned to her in astonishment. "Do my ears deceive me? Was that a genuine admittance of humility?" he asked, then started to chuckle, "Holy shit, she can be taught!"

"Silence, knave," The Sword wolf shot back firmly, then turned her attention back to Lashanne, "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Hopefully, yes," replied Lashanne, showing them the book, "At the back of this book appears to be some kind of code cipher, but the book itself is written in a dialect we don't know. Luke said it seems to be in the same language one of our teammates uses, so we were going to head back to Azure and let him translate it for us."

"May I see it?" Zamazenta asked.

Lashanne shrugged and opened the book to the page, turning it over to let the two wolves read it. To their surprise, it was Zacian who spoke up first. "This language... It is similar to the texts I saw when I visited Maelstrom Isle as his Highness' escort."

Minato cast a glance her way. "You've seen this before?" he asked. "...Can you understand it?"

"Hmm... It is of an older dialect, but I think I can decipher most of what it says," She answered, "It reads..." she narrowed her eyes, reading the words carefully. "'Seek the location of our new home from the founding history of the enemy'."

"Seek the..." Volcan started to repeat before he stopped and began scratching his head, "Now what does that mean?" he looked at Luke, puzzled.

"I'm... not sure," Luke answered honestly, rubbing his chin in thought as he mulled over the words for a while, "'Seek the location from the history of the..." he paused for a moment as a thought ran through his head, "Wait... Let me see that book again."

"Did you think of something?" Lashanne asked, turning to Luke to show him the page again.

"Yes, and I might have been wrong about my initial assumption," Luke answered, looking at the page and putting his paw over the numbers specifically, running it along them for a moment before his ears perked up in realization. "...What if the numbers aren't coordinates like I initially thought... but rather, they're _page_numbers?"

Lashanne was dumbstruck, standing straight up as if she had just been shocked. "...Leaving a message for any stray assassins," she turned the book around, her eyes studying the code cipher intently, "to find their way home. 'Seek the location from the history of the enemy'... Yes!" She let out a guffaw of laughter, nearly dropping the book as she threw her arms up.

"Luke, you're brilliant!" She exclaimed, before she turned and ran toward the airship, nearly colliding with the royal knights as she strode.

"Lashanne! What's going on?" Volcan called after her.

"We need to get back to Lindenberg, pronto!" She shouted back but didn't stop running.

Minato looked between Lashanne and Luke in a confused manner, blinking a few times as he tried to process what just happened. "...Did... Did you actually manage to figure out something that my girlfriend excels at?" He asked.

"I... Guess even I have my moments?" Luke answered sheepishly.

"Well let's not get left behind - she's on a roll," Volcan suggested.

"No argument there." Minato agreed, running after Lashanne. "Hey, slow down hon!"

"Don't we need to return the scuba gear first?" Volcan added, collecting their oxygen tanks and harnesses to carry back to the ship, but even as Luke and Minato came back to help him, the Delphox was already scrambling up the rope ladder to the deck...

~~~~~

Much to Lashanne's annoyance at being delayed, the group returned their scuba gear at Gildhorn, and received the deposit for three of them, due to having lost the fourth in the Eelektrik attack. Afterwards, they returned to the airship, and - motivated by Lashanne's insistence they hurry, set their course for Lindenberg where they reunited with Neilla and Aerendyl who had been waiting. Unfortunately, by the time they arrived, the library had long since closed, annoying Lashanne to no end.

"Dang detours!" She exclaimed, ignoring the others even as they tried to ask her what they needed at the library, "If we didn't have to return that scuba gear, we could have made it! We need to see the history books of the Kingdom of Nido!"

Fortunately, Aerendyl offered an alternative solution; he stepped forward, clearing his throat to get Lashanne's attention. "The books you require, I have them at my library in Hadleigh," the Espeon offered.

"_Yes!"_Lashanne exclaimed. "Come on - let's hurry! I need to-"

But Volcan couldn't take it anymore; ever since they had left the lake, Lashanne had yet to tell them what she had figured out and continued pushing them to move quickly despite the lack of context. He stormed over to her and spoke sharply to her. "Lashanne!"

She stood rigidly, taken aback by the fierceness of his tone. "Would you explain to us what's got you so worked up?" He demanded, "What did you figure out?"

Lashanne cleared her throat. "Alright, alright - let's return to the ship - I'll explain on the way," she promised.

"Fine," agreed Volcan. "You've been giddy like a schoolgirl getting a Ponyta ever since we left the lake."

"I'm just excited is all," she replied, "solving ancient riddles like this is my thing, you know."

Back on the airship, the team - rejoined by Aerendyl and Neilla, sat around the deck as Lashanne explained herself. "Okay... So, I think Luke was on the right track, with those numbers being indicative of books, but not _only_page numbers."

She opened the book they brought to the page with the code cipher, gesturing to it with a digit of her paw. "Look at how these numbers are arranged. Single figure at the start of each column, before a seemingly random number to follow. Like here; four, nineteen, sixteen, and then one. Notice that all of them are arranged like this, but different numbers each time?"

"Right, we see that," Volcan agreed, nodding. "That's how you knew it was some kind of code cipher, right?"

"Well look at the first number in each row," Lashanne explained, "all of them, single digits. One through six, but no higher."

Aerendyl perked up. "Six... The founding era, around Zenayda's time when he unified the kingdom," he said, "there were six encyclopedic volumes from before he became the king."

"Exactly!" Lashanne replied, pointing at Aerendyl, "Each one of these lines following that volume number refers to a single word in the Kingdom's own history books! The first number indicates the volume, and the rest of the numbers will help us find the word, and when we arrange them all together it'll spell out a secret message!"

"A message only someone affiliated with the Assassins would figure out," Luke remarked, shaking his head and rubbing his temple with his paw, "Lashanne, you've done it again."

"Well, she is the ancient history buff of our group. She was bound to figure it out eventually," Minato added with a hint of pride in his tone.

"Let me see if I got this straight," began Neilla, "they wrote a hidden message in a language no one from this part of the world would know, and that leads to _another_hidden message anybody could read but they don't know it's there?" She rubbed her temples, "Ugh... This is making my head spin."

"You pretty much got it," said Lashanne, "hiding their location right under the very noses of the same people who chased them from their home. I imagine that we could have found the books we need in that library too."

"If there hadn't been a swarm of Durant trying to munch us," Volcan reminded her.

"Yes, well, thankfully, the books themselves are easy enough to find," said Lashanne, nodding to Aerendyl, "Especially when we know a librarian. It even comes with the added security of only someone possessing all six volumes being able to complete the message; so simple in plan, yet so brilliant!"

"That's a simple plan?" Volcan asked. "I think I'm with Neilla."

"Either way, we'll have this mystery solved in no time now; we'll know where the assassins went, and it's just a matter of time until we get there," Lashanne concluded. "We're halfway there, fellas!"

"I... Do not think I've ever seen anyone get so excited over solving a mystery than this young Delphox," Zacian remarked, stunned.

"Would you believe she used to make a living doing this sort of thing?" Minato asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "She was a treasure huntress before joining up with us."

Zacian glanced slightly at Minato for a moment, then allowed herself a small smile, "I will admit... Your partner is certainly interesting."

"And now a compliment, on my woman?" Minato asked, arching an eyebrow at the sword wolf. "...Are you sure you're the same Zacian that we first met?"

"Well, it is as you said... Perhaps I can be taught after all," she replied.

Minato found himself smirking back at Zacian. "I guess so..."

Zamazenta was looking at his sister, clearly as impressed as Minato at how she had put aside her usual prideful arrogance and seemed to even get along with the Lucario. But he did not speak out, letting her have that moment... But allowing himself a small smile of pride for his sister.

That evening, at Aerendyl's library, the Espeon collected the six volumes they needed, bringing them to Lashanne who had seated herself at the table. The others offered to help her decipher the code to make things move faster, and each of them was given a book to read from, as well as pen and paper to write down what they found. The numbers arranged in the code indicated the volume of the history books, followed by page, sentence and then word. In execution, the code was indeed simple to decipher once they knew what to look for.

They were however thrown off by the standalone numbers that did not seem to be part of the columns of the code. Their search was fumbled - albeit briefly, and they had to start over. With the initial confusion pushed aside, it took only minutes for each of them to find the words indicated by the code. They arranged the words accordingly, and spelled out two sentences...

"'From Island of Whirling Waters'..." Lashanne read the first sentence aloud.

"'From Throne city of enemy'," Aerendyl read the other.

"Whirling waters... Like a whirlpool?" Neilla asked.

"Or, a Maelstrom," said Volcan, "the first sentence must refer to Maelstrom Isle."

"And the second is obvious," added Aerendyl, "It refers to GIldhorn, which was Zenayda's capital when he ruled the Kingdom."

"...But what do these other numbers mean?" Lashanne asked, looking once again to the standalone numbers that had initially muddled them in their decipher. Thirty-nine and seventy-one, neither of which had any significance to the two sentences.

Luke and Minato looked at those two in particular, cross-referencing them with what they had deciphered so far. "Something tells me my initial hypothesis might still have some merit to this," Luke remarked, "I think these two numbers are more like coordinates than locations."

"Or at the very least, directions leading to a coordinate," Minato piped up. "Seventy-one. Thirty-nine... They might indicate directions we need to face to progress further."

"Worth a try," said Lashanne, "Aerendyl, do you happen to have a protractor and a map?"

"Most certainly," the Espeon replied, hopping down from his seat, and walking over to his desk in the corner.

Volcan stood up then, taking a moment to stretch his legs and walking over to a nearby bookshelf. The sign atop the shelf indicated 'Myths and Legends', arranged in alphabetical order. Though he hadn't initially thought of picking anything out, one book caught his eye, the title on the spine reading only one word - or rather, a name.

'Giratina'

Curious, Volcan picked the book out, and flipped it open to read a few pages. Meanwhile the others, were looking over a map that they had unrolled onto the table. Neilla and Luke held down the corners, letting Lashanne use the protractor to find their directions.

"Okay, so... Let's assume they intend the map to be held north-to-south," she said, sliding the protractor over the location of Gildhorn first. "Let's see... Thirty-nine from Gildhorn, that's - no, no, wait a minute; that goes west, straight to the ocean, and there's nothing else along that line. Okay, Let's try seventy-one from there... Yes! That goes up to the boglands! Seventy-one degrees, going north from Gildhorn."

She slid the protractor over to Maelstrom Island, indicated on the map. "So, if we go thirty-nine degrees from the island here," she began, using a pencil to trace her line. "That goes..."

The line traced from the island crossed the line she had drawn from Gildhorn. Forming an 'X' directly above the Aporagorev Boglands.

"...Right where we need to go!" Luke exclaimed triumphantly, his expression brightening once they figured out the exact location.

"Accounting for a slight margin of error," Lashanne said, drawing a circle over the X that the two lines had formed. "Somewhere, right in there, is the hideout of the Kaeru Assassins. We finally found them."

"I knew you were exactly the right person to bring in for this mystery, Lashanne," said Aerendyl, "Well done."

"Thanks, Aerendyl. But we couldn't have-"

Thump!

The sound made them jump. The five of them turned in the direction of the sound, which led them to Volcan standing by the bookshelf. A book lay open on the floor at his feet, but the Blaziken was completely immobile, staring at his hands as though they still held the book though he had dropped it.

Luke quickly trotted over and stood before Volcan, looking up into his eyes and noticing the utter fear present in them. "Love? Love, are you alright?" He asked, trying to get his attention by waving his paw in front of his face. "Is it another panic attack? A flashback?"

Volcan didn't respond. His gaze was fixated on the place where the book had been in his hands, yet did not seem to be looking at anything, nor did they seem to have the same glazed-over look that he usually had when having a flashback. His hands were trembling, and his breathing was coming slowly.

"Volcan, hey!" Lashanne said, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. "Snap out of it!"

Volcan blinked, his head shooting up and looking hastily around the room. His knees wobbled, and he had to lean on Minato for support lest he collapse to the floor. Aerendyl levitated a chair over to them and directed Minato to sit the Blaziken down. Slowly, he seemed to come back to himself...

Neilla picked up the book Volcan had dropped. "What the heck was he reading?" She asked, studying the cover. "'The Revenge of Giratina'," she read aloud, opening the cover to read the inside, "'a retelling of the devilish work of the dark cult that sought to free the Lord of the Lost'."

She grimaced and looked at Volcan. "I grew up with a few scary stories about Giratina, but he looks like he just had a panic attack."

"Let me see that," Minato offered, gently taking the book from Neilla to give it a read over for himself. "What's got you so shocked, bud...?" He muttered softly.

"It..." Volcan said suddenly, his voice coming out in barely more than a gasp. "It can't be... How... How can he be-?" He choked on his words, unable to finish what he was saying.

"How can who be?" Luke asked, trying to get Volcan's attention. "Love, what are you talking about? You're scaring me, honey..."

Minato read through what he was sure was the page Volcan had been reading. In summary, the book told of a cult that worshipped the dark god, Giratina, and sought to free him from his prison. It spoke of their efforts in the construction of four shrines, built across the world, meant to gather the power needed to free Giratina from his imprisonment - it clicked then. The book was talking about the four Nexuses.

He remembered what Luke and Volcan told him, having initially heard from Chen about the Nexuses - that they were built over focal points where the boundaries between the two worlds thinned. But what it was describing, Volcan already knew about; that the Nexuses were conduits, intending to be used to _free_Giratina, but the cult had been stopped and four guardians were assigned at each Nexus to prevent further use. This, they all knew - why would this cause Volcan to panic so?

Minato kept reading and came to another passage that he found more alarming. "'Guided by their master's will to challenge the gods that imprisoned him'," he read aloud.

Will... To challenge... The gods.

Immediately, Minato's mind flashed back to his home - to Arc Island. Of the Dark Blaziken, standing atop the Arceus Shrine as it burned. He could even imagine the diabolical grin on Calhoun's face as he admired his handiwork.

His eyes widened greatly after he read that passage, his paws now starting to tremble slightly as he lowered his arms and nearly dropped the book himself. "...No fucking way," he breathed softly. "Calhoun... He didn't make the Shadow Curse his own power."

"Honey, what do you mean?" Lashanne asked, seeing the look on his face.

"Okay, they're both freaking me out now," said Neilla.

Minato slowly turned to look at Lashanne, his expression still shocked. "Calhoun didn't conquer the Shadow Curse... he bonded with it. He bonded with Giratina's power," he explained as best he could.

With Minato's words, the entire room seemed suddenly colder to those standing in it. Luke, Neilla, Lashanne and Aerendyl alike all began to connect the dots, to understand what Volcan had discovered and why it scared him so. The focal points, bleeding dark energy from the Distortion World - a world created by, but also used to imprison, the dark god... Energy that Calhoun had absorbed.

Luke dared to speak first, gently taking his attention away from Volcan. "Are you saying that," he gulped nervously before he continued, "that Calhoun... Is Giratina's Blessed?" He finished, and when Minato gave him a small nod, his face almost went sheet white as he realized what that truly meant.

"If that's true," Luke went on, "then that means that when Calhoun absorbed the Shadow Curse from the Northern Nexus... He basically became a living Nexus himself; bleeding the curse into anyone he came into contact with and further spreading his influence... All to wear down the seals containing Giratina's power."

"It all makes sense," Lashanne added, "A horrifying amount of sense... Calhoun took all the power from that Nexus - power that should have turned him into a mindless monster, as it did anyone else who ever became corrupted - any other Shadow Pokémon across history. But it didn't... Minato said it right - he bonded with it, learned to control it."

Aerendyl took the book from Minato, reading over the same passage the Lucario had been reading. "'By their master's will to challenge...'" His eyes widened with realization. "His first attack... Arc Island; the Arceus Shrine located there."

"And here in Hadleigh," added Neilla, "the temple the guilds are using as their hall - it was built to honour Groudon."

"It's like Torolf said," Volcan spoke up suddenly, "when he told us about how Calhoun seems to be targeting places like Arc Island - with places of worship to the gods..." He sat up in the chair. "This whole time, we thought it was his own hubris leading him to do it... But what if there's been something guiding him all this time? The will of someone far more powerful?"

"But if that's the case..." Luke began, all eyes being upon him now. "...Why hasn't he shown any sign of being able to transform into a Blessed state?" He continued. "Take Sol for example. When he accesses Reshiram's power, he takes on a fierier form that further enhances his powers and abilities, such as giving him wings for flight and immolating his paws for enhanced striking power."

"That's just it, Luke," Volcan continued, looking up at his husband still wearing that horrified expression, "Sol's bond with Reshiram was incomplete, until that moment we saw him take on that form - when she willingly shared her power with him. But it's the same scenario; power forced upon him against his will, unable to fully channel it, yet still enhanced by it... For Sol, it gave him Reshiram's blue fire and incredible strength, even before the bond was completed."

Volcan fell back in the chair. "Calhoun is exactly like Sol... The result of an incomplete bond," he said, almost breathlessly, "and he's infused with the power of none other than Giratina himself. That power granted him limitless stamina, the ability to rapidly repair any injuries he sustains, and pass the corruption onto others with his touch. But he also gained Giratina's will - his desire for revenge."

"So, Calhoun is acting on Giratina's behalf, getting his revenge on the gods and trying to free him?" Neilla asked.

"Calhoun himself may not even be aware of it," said Lashanne, "but his motivations - his attacks, and finding the nexi and creating more Shadow Pokémon. Who else gains from that but Giratina?"

"If one of those Nexi gathered enough shadow energy, and Calhoun is able to open it," added Aerendyl, "Giratina would be free!"

"And with Calhoun as his enforcer, raining hell across the world, he weakens everyone who could threaten his return," Lashanne added.

With that, Luke snapped out of his own trance and put on a hard, stern expression. "We need to return to Azure now and start putting together a plan for locating the Brotherhood's hideout and sealing that Nexus before Calhoun finds it."

"Then that's what we're going to do," agreed Lashanne, heading back over to the table. "Aerendyl, may we keep this map?"

"By all means!" Aerendyl replied, anxiousness clear in his voice. "This situation is more dire than I dared to believe - we must find the Nexus at any cost!"

"And if the assassins get in the way, we're just going to have to knock them aside too," Neilla added, punching her left paw into her other fist.

But Luke came over to her, resting a paw on her shoulder. "Sorry, Neilla... But I have to ask that you stay in Hadleigh, along with the rest of your team," he said solemnly to her.

"What? But this is serious - how can I just sit this out?" She asked, mortified, "The whole world's in danger if we don't stop Calhoun and his cronies."

"I know that," Luke answered calmly, but firmly, "But you heard what we just talked about. Calhoun is targeting cities and towns that contain symbols of the Gods that imprisoned Giratina. Arc Island was the first, as it had a statue of Arceus himself, and if I'm not mistaken, Hadleigh has a statue of Groudon, correct? That was the reason they attacked Hadleigh in the first place, and now that it has become the new central HQ of the Guilds, that makes it an even larger target for the Crusade; this city _needs_you to stay and defend it."

Neilla opened her mouth to retort, then shut it again as a flat look crossed her face, a groan rumbling from her throat. "Damn it, you're right," she said, annoyed, "Hadleigh is high-risk now... If I leave it, and the Crusade comes back..."

She threw back her head and groaned loudly. "I hate sitting on the sidelines, but it seems I have no choice."

Luke gently slid his paw up from her shoulder to her cheek. "Any other time, I'd more than happily let you come and fight with us, if it's any consolation," he offered. "Considering you managed to hold your own for a fair bit against Eberon, I'd say that would make you as big a threat to the Crusade as it does me, or Volcan, or any of us involved in this war. But this city needs its best Rescue Team to stay and protect it."

She sighed, lifting her paw to rest atop his, holding it for a moment before she let it fall. In an effort to save face from her despairing disappointment, she crossed her arms and gave him a hard look. "You screw up, and I'll kick your blue hiney," she said, but her smile betrayed the good humour behind her words.

Luke smiled back and withdrew his paw from her cheek. "You'll have to catch me first," he countered, his smile turning into a cheeky grin of his own.

"Consider it, on," she said, winking at him.

Volcan stood up from his chair, taking a few more steadying breaths to collect himself until he was calm. "Okay... We know what we need to do then," he said, turning to look at his husband and teammates, "It's time we get going."

The others nodded in agreement, and Neilla brought Luke into a hug, holding him tightly as she spoke, her voice soft as she made no effort to hide her concern. "You be careful out there in the swamps," she said, "and especially when you find the assassins."

"Trust me, after my last two encounters in an area that could smother me at any moment's notice, you can bet I'll be triply careful out there..." Luke answered just as softly, rubbing her back slowly.

"You better," she said, pulling back from him, and turning to Volcan to give him a parting embrace as well.

"Thanks for all your help Aerendyl," Lashanne said to the Espeon, shaking his paw, "good to know I'm not the only scholarly type in our band of misfits."

"Likewise, and happy to have been of help," Aerendyl said, wearing a proud smile, and then looked between her and Minato. "I hope you two will look after one another."

"That's the plan." Minato answered, nodding and sliding a paw around Lashanne's hip.

With their goodbyes said, Volcan, Luke, Lashanne and Minato left the library, and hurried back to the ship, knowing no - more than ever before, that they had to hurry and find the East Nexus... Time was running out.