As the three of us made our way to some strange business building, I tried to explain to Cyrus about the land Alexandra once called 'home.' A country by default. The core of it was city-esque in nature…but Wight-Led was barely more than the size of a small town. With how defenseless the small country was, it was no wonder that Luis's military managed to take it over so quickly.

The soldiers patrolled the exits but did nothing to the citizens so long as they didn't attempt to leave. We asked around and were told that Luis had taken over the tower at the center. So, that was our next destination.

My partner tried to make a plan on the fly to capture Luis and force him to retract his militia from Wight-Led, but it was all shot to hell the moment we stepped inside the tower. Luis and his entourage were standing there in the lobby, and Alexandra immediately spurred into action. I knew she was the type to attack first and ask questions later, so I supported her efforts from the moment she launched herself gracefully toward the soldiers standing next to Luis and promptly knocked one of them out with a swift palm thrust to the chin. I was right behind her, elbowing the other soldier in the face.

Cyrus soon joined the chaos, using his Vim to politely restrain the remaining soldiers with minimal to no injuries to their person. He shot me a glare that had me rubbing the back of my neck in shame. Lexie and I acted without thinking first, and I wasn't the least bit proud of it.

"Luis, just what in the hell do you think you're doing?" Alexandra outright roared.

"What do we do now?" Cy whispered to me.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking," I replied while rubbing my temples.

"Lexie?" Luis gasped. The man stood rigidly with his hands behind his back as he focused on her rather than his fallen men.

I hadn't realized Cy had thought to also muffle them with bands made of Vim until I noticed the silence in the lobby.

"Why did you insist on rejecting me?" Luis questioned Lexie. His pale blue eyes were a stark contrast to his deep bronze skin. "First, the rivalry with that callous Revelin…"

"Me?" I asked in confusion, motioning to myself.

"Rivalry was all it was!" Alexandra insisted, a blush forming on her face. "I mean, sure, Lin always had a nice butt to stare at, but it wasn't anything beyond-"

"Then, you allowed yourself to be seduced by that wretched Verity!" Luis continued.

"For the umpteenth time, Verity is my best friend!" She growled. "I care about her and Lin a great deal, but that doesn't mean I want to have those kinds of relationships with either of them!" Fists formed at her sides, and I knew she was a moment away from attacking the taller man. "For the love of the cosmos! Luis, this is ridiculous. One does not hijack an entire country just for a damn date!"

"A date?" Was the half-strangled response from Cyrus. "Is that what all this is about? An asshole not handling rejection civilly?"

I couldn't hold back the snort of amusement that escaped me.

"What does a tiny thing such as yourself know about rejection?" Luis replied icily and could see Cy's hackles were raised.

That's when I stepped in. "Luis, is that what all of this is really about?" I questioned.

"Of course, it isn't," Luis hissed as he directed his attention back toward Alexandra. "And though I feel insulted about such assumptions and still believe things would have turned out better had you married me in the first place, there isn't any time to waste." He picked up a remote and aimed it towards the wall of the room. The entire wall lit up like a screen, and footage of several men of high rank sitting in a semi-circle and talking to one another began to play.

"To these men, Wight-Led is nothing more than an indigenous little village nestled into a planet that is ripe for the picking." He explained. "When they asked for a volunteer unit to lay siege to Wight-Led until they raised enough funds to invade it, I took on the task."

"You've been pretending, then?" Lexie deduced, and I thought back to how the soldiers patrolling didn't seem to pay the citizens any mind.

"I can only buy you so much time to decide what to do," Luis concluded as he reached over to lift Alexandra's chin. The expression on his face softened. "Lexie, you've said it before, you made that odd dimension's 'Earth'-"

"It's the Bridgmanite dimension," Alexandra interjected. "Don't you remember anything from the Academy?"

"As you said, you made the Bridgmanite dimension your home and gave up Wandering to become its Idler. But we were both born in this small country. Would you see this planet plundered and its people displaced?"

"Of course not," Alexandra snipped. But I could tell a part of her was shaken. Going up against a small military force was one thing. Going up against multiple forces was a challenge even for the top four Academy alumni.

"Well, we can't quite ask the whole town to up move…" Cyrus grumbled.

"Cyber, you're a genius!" Alexandra exclaimed, taking hold of his shoulders and giving him a shake. "Home isn't where you're born or where you live, it's the people around you. Why don't we just warp all of Wight-Led into a safer dimension?"

I recognized the confusion on Cyrus's face. "Is something like that even possible?" He asked.

"It is possible…though it would take a lot of work," I mused while rubbing the stubble on my chin. "And I mean a lot of work. Why, it would take an entire conductive fleet-" Alexandra and I glanced at one another when we both realized something at the same time. We then turned our attention to Luis.

"You want me to help you move an entire country into another dimension?" Luis asked aloud. From the sound of it, he seemed to think it was as impossible as Cyrus did.

"A country the size of a small town. What was that you said earlier?" Alexandra reiterated as she did her best imitation of his voice. "Would you see this planet plundered and its people displaced?"

"They can't be displaced against their will if we displace them willingly beforehand," I added.

"That wasn't what I meant at all," Luis responded. He then let out a long sigh. "This is one of the most ridiculous plans I have ever agreed to attempt."

"Yes, you're the best!" Alexandra cried as she promptly gave the taller man a loud kiss on the lips. "If we manage to get through this, I'll be the one asking you out on a date!"

I gave Luis a rather critical glance over as if weighing if he were good enough for my violet-haired friend when I felt a tug at my elbow.

"Hey, you can shake him down later." Cyrus insisted.

I sighed, knowing that he was right, and did my best to follow along with the new extravagant plan. When we had enough details sorted out, Alexandra used a charm on her bracelet to contact the others.

"Visual? V-girl?"

The response was so delayed I wondered what kind of mess Verity dragged them into. Then, we all heard my least favorite voice. At least he wasn't possessing anyone that time.

"Master?"

"Cyber and Lin will soon be busy arranging soldiers around the perimeter of the wall." She explained just as Verity let out a gargled whoop. "Is my girl doing alright over there?"

"She may have had one too many Vitarogas..." Darryl supplied.

"Fucking hell!" Alexandra hissed. "That girl can't take her liquor at all, let alone a Vitaroga. That shit's downright mild to those who grew up in Wight-Led, but it's fierce on foreigners..."

"I have a feeling it was meant to intoxicate me instead, but she went and-" Darryl tried to explain.

"Doesn't matter!" Alexandra cut him off. "You get her and Crystal somewhere safe and brace yourselves."

"Brace ourselves?" Vianis questioned. "What are we bracing for?"

"I don't like the sound of that, either," Darryl put in his two cents with a whisper so loud it was hardly a whisper at all.

"Yes." She affirmed. "We're shifting all of Wight-Led's physical bodies into another dimension."

"Crisis in the cosmos!" Vianis squawked.