A tingle coursed down her spine and the knot in her throat stopped like a moving elevator before reaching its destination- the anxiety floor. If what Feth told them was true, this situation was the worst situation they could have found themselves in. No matter what, the girl couldn’t touch the book and reveal to the Tuatha the origins of her pact partner. Or so they believed.

Lian- “If what I just heard is true, then he isn’t aware of what the scribble means. “ Ogda, trying to keep himself as out of sight as possible, shook with fear when he saw the girl extending her arm. Feth, shocked, almost leaped out of his seat, silently cursing the girl in his head. He and Ogda shared glances carrying all of their concerns. Using the back of her foot, Lian slightly tapped the dazed water firbolg.

“Middle one…strike…together with Index”, commanded the harsh voice once more out of the blue, with someone extra this time. Feth was included in it as well; for the first time since he came to this world, he was privy to a direct command from it:

Feth- “ This…is…the voice of the Fabricator…”, he said with gentle reverence and awe, almost coming to tears. Ogda said nothing, thinking about what to do, but the tap brought his attention back to the present. 

Lian- “ Trust me, ok?”, she asked with a reassuring smile, which gave him confidence which he found troubling. His doubts and fears were being fought by his instinctive feelings of trust and reverence for the girl; combined with what he now suspects are commands built into him, they easily won and he just replied with a slow “...Okay.” 

Ogda then heard a clinking sound. The girl held a small spoon in her hand, played around with it behind her back, and hit the buttons on her sleeves with it. He then realized that she was nervous, doubts eating at her psyche just as they did to him. 

The book of pact records came closer to the girl, the water firbolg, the Nordic illustrator, and his adopted brother from another world. In front of the amnesiac, the book closed suddenly, unwilling to open up no matter in what direction Ecne would move it around. 

Ecne, a bit frustrated and embarrassed by his lack of control over the situation, swung it around. “Darn thing!…excuse me”, he asked awkwardly, before trying to force open it. “Blasted thing”, he screeched through his helmet-like face while pressing and touching the record on whatever he considered a button.

Tommen- “ Um, should..I mean, do you need any help with that?”, he asked, taking a step closer, which made the record activate itself. 

Ecne stared at it with disbelief and switched its position between which human was closer, Lian, then Tommen, and so forth, watching how the book shut down completely and then its pages browsed as usual. 

Ecne- “ Right…Wonderful, just great. I believe it would be wise if you two just sign the book”, to which Tommen and Giol both pressed and swiped on the black page it stopped on. A white ink scribbled the young man’s name, followed by an X, and scribbled white over where his firbolg’s name was supposed to be.” The Tuatha’s face wrinkled in rage, and his eye sclera shined in a flash of yellow; his teeth ground together as he cursed like a sailor; all triggered by the unknown to him scribble. To end the session, he violently closed the record. 

Tommen and his partner shared confused glances, then reminded themselves of another confused by the scribble. They checked on Arim, but a spine-tingling feeling came down when they saw most of the Union having the same shocked visage on their faces. This daze gave Victor the slip to drop the polite act and confront Ecne before the others could stop him. 

Victor- “...What is the meaning of this?”, raged the man, towering over the demigod. “Why is the sign of a deceased appearing for them?”

The Lord was taken aback by the brazen act, instinctively considering it a threat, reacting without thought, and he stroked faster than any sight could withhold. Only a yellow flash masking his thin left hand was visible for a moment; It hit Victor’s leather pauldron and obliterated it immediately, but when it struck the shoulder, his hand only grazed the scaled layer, only drawing a bit of blood. 

Ecne- “ What, ugh, no”, reacted the Tuatha, who just came to his senses. His reaction included two realizations: firstly, that he jeopardized a possible alliance; and secondly, that the Union members' strength was underestimated. His pupils constricted in fear when he saw Victor’s condescending smirk. 

Victor- “ Now...mighty Lord of Masks, answer my question…please”, he added, sinking his left arm firmly on the Tuatha's shoulder. “

Ecne- “ …I…I don’t…”, but before he could continue, a buzzing sound came into his earpiece; a message, sent by his contractors back on the ship.

Temitayo- “ My Lord, we heard the entire discussion and searched the vessel’s archive about it. We weren’t able to find out much, except that it's considered an error when a being is outside the registry’s capabilities; the rest of the information is locked. For the fiars. “

The Tuatha nodded and then slowly raised his glowing arm, shocked at how little damage his strike did.

Ecne- “ An error”, he replied in a low tone. “ It’s just an error of the device”, he then remembered something. “ Giol, right? Did you say you grew up in the human world?”

Giol, unsure why that was important nodded. “Wait…uhm, sir…you mean to say that has som-”

Ecne- “ Maybe. It's just a guess, but maybe that’s the cause of your error. Your origin is a peculiar one, so there are a lot of unknowns at play here.” He then scratched the temple of his nose and turned to Victor. “Is this enough?”, to which the giant grunted and replied with”‘yes”.

Ecne then looked at the small wound he inflicted and thought of apologizing. But then the cook swatted his hand away.

Victor- “ Don’t even think about it, Tuatha. The Platinum Union accepts your king’s challenge, and let this be a reminder that ‘acceptable’ was a grave underestimation on your part.”

…

 While not entirely happy with the outcome, Masso allowed Ecne to return to his vessel, but with a warning. “Your strike isn’t something that we’ll brush away, young Tuatha. Understand that your ship is grounded until I clear things with your superiors…Understood?”, which, to Masso’s surprise, the Lord of Masks agreed without much fuss. 

While happy that they got over the ordeal unscathed, Lian and Ogda’s attention was now on Arim and Giol; they knew the truth about the scribble, but telling them about it could complicate matters. 

Lian- “ Right?”, the girl asked her pact partner, looking for disapproval more than anything. 

Ogda- “...Hmm. I don’t…like that?”, replied the firbolg, as unsure as the girl. But since both of them wanted to help out, threw caution out of the window. 

After dragging the pact partners, except for Emile and Ashen,  to a room away from the Union, Lian explained the connection between the world of the dark ocean and the scribble. 

Giol, deep in thought, felt like the pieces somehow also made sense to him. His eyes widen just like Ogda's when he gets an epiphany:

Giol- “Huh”, he paused for a while, unsure of what to even say, settling on basic questions for now;”! Are you telling me this Dubnos place is my homeworld?”

Ogda- “...Yap. And truth be told, it looks like so am I. So we’re something like…countrymen…I guess?” His attempt at attenuating the shock didn’t fall as he wanted though, as Giol didn’t look shocked at all. In fact, his stoic expression was hard to read.

Giol- “ I mean…what does that even mean? I don’t seem out of place from the firbolgs from this place…but I guess that explains why I never felt at home here either”, casually revealed the insect warrior.

Tommen- “ Ah, so we’ll get to visit more places then?”, he smiled at Giol, letting him know that he had his back.

While that was being taken care of, Lian was keeping an eye on Arim, Zinc, and Brigit. A concerned one, though, as the three were probably aware of Dubnos's existence; she expected them to be more surprised, but their total lack of it confused the girl. Arim appeared caught in his internal struggles, while Brigit seemed content that no major fuss came from this.

Brigit- “ Truth be told, the Union has a secret but you should never let out in front of strangers. Especially that Tuatha fellow. Dad and the rest have made some…friendly contacts with some fellows from Dubnos. They seem like normal people, some of them are even…interesting.”

Lian- “ What about you, Arim? What are you thinking about?”

Arim- “ Huh?”, he seemed as though he was looking through her, but then realized what she meant. “ Oh, uh, right. Ogda was always under suspicion of being a firbolg from the other side…don’t know how that involves you; and Giol is a surprise, but…”

Lian- “ But if the scribble is about Dubnos being, then…”

Arim- “ But I can’t let myself or the others start dreaming of false hopes again. When the Union lost him…it almost destroyed the group. I…I want to tell you a story, later, if that’s fine”, he asked, looking at Brigit. 

Brigit- “ Ah…well…Right. Maci, can you bring the others to the communal building I brought you before?”

Maci- “ Oh? That place? Sure, but what are you-”

Brigit- “ We’ll let everyone know we’ll have guests over. And we also have to celebrate, right pact partner?”, the hooded fighter replied, fistbumping the teen. 

Maci- “ Right? RIGHT! Forgot for a moment, but you’re right.”

Brigit- “ And remember to bring Mincha and Finley as well”, to which the teen made a puking noise- “ Also, you can ask the newcomers as well. They seemed like nice people.”

Lian- “ Uhm, should we also invite the other successful pact partners as well?”

Brigit- “ Nah, Ashen and Emile have their plans already. Perren had been looking for drinking buddies for days now, the Union will celebrate with them, no worries.”