My eyes flew open. My room was dark and the clock showed that it was 3 in the morning but I'm not sure if time worked the same  wayon Delta. I sat on the side of my bed and rubbed my eyes, bits of my dream still flashing before my eyes.

The Fire Elemental...Adrian...Harold...

Oh God...Harold...

Adrian had said they weren't going to let Harold go. Clarence and Lincoln said a rescue mission was out of question. In that case, I'll just get Harold on my own. But all I know was that he's in the ship. Andras' ship. The Fire Elemental said he needed time to think, but I'm done waiting.

I have to find a way to get on that stupid hunk of metal.

And I only know one place where I can get answers. The War Room. 

Quietly, I threw on a new plain dark green shirt and some jeans. I slowly opened the door and looked around. The lights have been dimmed for the night. Seeing that the coast was clear, I made my way to the War Room, making an effort to muffle my footsteps by sticking to the carpeted corridors. I creeped my way down the staircases and-

"This is Private Cage. Status report. Patrolling the left wing, twenty-fifth floor with Hanks," I heard a voice coming from behind me. 

Chills ran down my spine. I silently cursed as I wrenched a door open next to me and dived into a dark room that looked like an office. Paralysed, I watched the gap beneath the door in horror as two pairs of feet walked past it.

Please keep walking... I thought feverishly. Please keep walking...

"Hold up, Cage," one of the guards said. The two of them paused. I swore under my breath. 

"I have to submit a report to our dear Water Elementalist first."

The guard knocked on the door twice. "Hello? General Lyndsey?

I inhaled sharply as my head spun around. At the back of the room was a table carefully sculpted out of blue ice. On it was a golden name plate with the words: 'C. Lyndsey'.

I'm in Clarence's office. I thought, my eyes wide.

The guard knocked again. "General?"

Hide! Hide! 

I practically slid across the polished wooden floor on my belly as I took refuge behind the table. Before my body was fully concealed, the door opened. I desperately pulled my legs towards me as I curled up into a ball behind the tiny desk. 

For a horrible split second, the guard's footsteps stopped. Cold sweat broke out on my face. He must've saw my legs retract from behind the desk. I shut my eyes.

Then, the guard spoke again. This time, he wasn't speaking to his friend. "General? Yeah, it's  Hanks. I have the report of the refugee issue you asked me to- yes, I know you're not in your office. Is it okay if I just put it down on your desk?"

My stomach dropped. The desk had to convenient space under the tabletop for me to hide in but it was tiny. Part of my body were still sticking out. The moment the guard gets close enough to the desk, I'm busted.

That's when a brainwave hit me. What Albert had said yesterday.

You Elementalists have this funny aura that causes anything based on electricity or modern weapons to jam around it. Super annoying.

Are communication devices based on electricity?

Only one way to find out.

I pressed a button at the side of my Deltan Device. It disconnected from my wrist with a satisfying click. 

"Where should I put it? In your folder or-" There was a pause. The guard stopped walking towards the desk. "General? Hello? General?" He growled in annoyance.

"Cage, can you try calling General Lyndsey?" the Invictus called out.

Two seconds later, Cage responded. "I got nothing. Comms jammed."

Hanks groaned again. "Must be that new Fire Elementalist. That asshole's Deltan Device must've fallen off when he was asleep."

"You know where his room is?" Cage asked.

"Should be with the younger Invicti. I'll go wake him up. You go cover for me in the rounds."

"Sure," Cage said. "I never liked that kid anyway."

"Yeah, no shit," Hanks growled as his voice grew fainter. "He looks about as deadly as a rubber hammer. Probably as smart as one. At least you can throw a toy at Andras' face-"

The door slammed shut. 

I realised I had forgotten to exhale for the past two minutes.

As I got up to leave the room, I saw a picture frame on Clarence's desk, faced in such a way that no one can see it if they were in front of her. 

In the picture was a tanned man standing in front of an olive tree. His white teeth smiled in amusement as hugged the tree with one hand and made a V with the other. His brown eyes radiated with joy and humour, like he had just told a joke.

Feeling ashamed at prying into Clarence's stuff, I speed-walked out of the room.

It turned out that I was merely five metres away from the War Room. Shutting the door behind me, I carefully switched on the lights and laid my jacket across the gap at the bottom of the door so that the light wouldn't go through it. There was also a gap above the door, but there was nothing I could do about that.

I warily approached the War Room table. After close inspection, I noticed a small button shaped like a sapphire at the corner of the table. I pressed it.

The table glowed as a hologram of a keyboard appeared in front of me.

"Um...okay..." I whispered as I looked in awe at the green projections. "Planet Horia...was it?"

Dubiously, I typed H-O-R-I-A in the keyboard.

The projection of the planet showed up again. To my surprise, it was no longer covered in a black cloud. It was barren, like the surface of the moon.

"Wait...what?!" I muttered as I looked up and down the hologram. "That can't be right..." I looked at the table again and slapped my forehead. "Oh...you're a live footage from a satellite. Andras' ship must've been gone by now.."

At the bottom of the planet was another hologram that didn't look like it was from the satellite. It stupidly reminded me a progress bar in a Youtube video. 

I touched that bar with my index finger and dragged my finger to the left. Time on the planet reversed. The black cloud was back, except this time it looked like it was returning to the belly of a-

There. Pause right there.

A dark ship hovered above the planet. It was intimidating during the day when there were other people in the room with me. But alone at night looking at it? It was downright terrifying. Like a floating black hole. I was afraid that if I looked at it for too long, I'll be absorbed by it. 

I tapped the hologram of the ship.

A text bubble appeared on top it, reading 'THE GRIM OMEN'.

"The Grim Omen...so that's its name..." I mumbled to myself. "Let's see what you have on that..."

I typed on the hologram keyboard. G-R-I-M (space) O-M-E-N.

I jumped back when, instead of the old hologram dissolving and the new one appearing, the hologram of the spaceship suddenly shot to twenty times its size.

"Okay..." 

I looked down below the ship. Instead of there being a progress bar, there was a table with the two columns. The table was called 'Location Update Log'. The second-last row of the table was something I already know: Planet Horia, updated at 1.15 a.m by Lincoln Smith two days ag. 

But the latest entry was new to me.

Planet Draco, updated at 4.03 p.m by Albert Kairo yesterday. 

They must've discussed this before I walked into the meeting. I thought. But why Planet Draco? 

I typed in the keyboard again. D-R-A-C-O. What I saw made my blood turn into ice.

Instead of another hologram of the planet, a single, familiar image was projected. The same image with the symbols I had translated.

Six shall perish, only one may rule. All thy need is the beast, the final tool.

"What does that mean?" I reached to touch the image, thinking it might do something. All the sudden, my hand froze mid-air. I didn't know why for a second, but I realised what it was. What my instincts detected before my ears did.

Footsteps outside, coming in fast.

Spurred into action, I flew over to the switch and killed the lights. I grabbed my jacket and swiftly turned off the table. Just before I dived down under the table, I felt my jacket ripping. Turning around, I was horrified when I realised that part of it had been torn. I was holding the upper part of it, but the lower half was dangling off the side of a chair. Tantalisingly laying just beyond arm's length. 

I extended my hand to reach for it, but, just then, the door opened. I recoiled and retreated back to the shadows of the table.

I thought I would see either Cage or Hanks' boots, but instead I saw green sneakers. 

The person with green sneakers sat down at one of the chairs on the side of the table, facing the door. One of their shoes tapped the floor nervously. Then, I heard the door opening the second time. The person with the green sneakers stood up.

"Albert," Aránzazu whispered. For the first time since I met her, I heard true happiness in her voice, quivering from excitement. "Why on earth do you want me to meet you at 3 in the morn-"

Aránzazu paused. Whoever the other person was, he or she shuffled their feet.

"Mira," Aránzazu said. Her voice showed that she was barely restraining her anger. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, sis," Mira said, clearly nervous. "But I can't find any other way to talk to you in private."

"So you lure me in the War Room pretending to be Albert?" Aránzazu's voice whispered dangerously.

Mira stood her ground. "I couldn't find a better way, sis-"

"Don't," Aránzazu said, her voice deadly low and quiet. "Don't ever call me sis. You have never earned the right to do that. Never."

"But I'm your sister-"

"Then where were you when mum and dad divorced?" Aránzazu whispered to Mira. "Where were you when I have to move to Denmark with mum instead of staying home? Where were you when mum died? Where were you when I had to move to a foster family because dad won't take me in? Where were you in Lithas when I tried to save dad?"

"I saved you on Lithas," Mira retorted. I couldn't see her, but I imagine her eyes blazing in defiance. "Dad was as good as dead. I had to get you to the escape pod-"

"You know that as good as killed him."

"So I should've let you die with Dad?" Mira shot back, her voice rising with anger. "Is that what you mean?"

"Is that all that you care about, Mira? Surviving? Even if everyone around you dies?" Aránzazu took a deep breath. "Why am I even wasting oxygen on you?"

"Aránzazu, I know you hate me, but we're sisters. We need to help each other."

"When I look at you, I see no sister," Aránzazu replied coldly. "All I see is a selfish, lucky, pampered brat."

"We are sisters," Mira insisted. "We need to stick together. That's why I called you here in the first place. To make peace," I could see Mira stretching out her hand. 

"You called me? I would say you tricked me."

"Please, sis," Mira begged. "I need someone I can trust."

"You already do," Aránzazu replied. Her voice now no longer angry, but wistful. "Say hi to Albert for me."

"No, wait! Sis!"

Mira tried to protest, but Aránzazu pushed her aside and went out of the room. 

Mira went out to chase after her.

Having no desire to stick around, I hastily left the room after counting to fifteen minutes, grabbing the remains of my jacket along the way.

~~~~

"How are we getting to Nekros?" I asked Real over breakfast, dark shadows under my eyes. I hadn't slept a wink for the rest of the night.

"Jump Points."

"What?"

Real stuffed his mouth with more rye bread. "Jump Points are these giant devices made by the Space-Time Elemental. A person inside a Jump Point and teleport to another Jump Point regardless of the distance. They were used throughout the Elemental Wars to transport key personnel."

"So they're portals?"

"No. Jump Points are like the giant furniture version of portals. Less flexible and way more bulky. Only the Space-Time Elementalist can create portals. All he has to do is think of a place and-" Real snapped his fingers.

My hot dog froze halfway to my mouth. "So Adrian can bring an army over here at any time?"

"Only Space-Time Elementalists can use their own portals and come out in one piece. And he has to have been to that place before. Don't worry. Apparently our last Magic Elementalist made some sort of shield that specifically blocks portals."

"You met them?"

"No. They died long before I was born. Raider ambush."

"Oh," I hurried to change the topic. "So when are we going?"

"Lincoln's only instructions are as early as possible, which means 3p.m considering Ará sleep schedule."

"I heard that," Aránzazu said, holding a plate with pastry on it. She plopped her plate on the table and threw a tart directly at Real's face. Real caught it with ease.

"Your reaction time improved," Aránzazu commented before digging in. To be utter surprise, she seemed way more cheerful than I thought she would be. I analysed her face, but all I could see were very discreet shadows under her eyes.

"What can I say? I've been playing video games during my time on Terra," Real mumbled, his mouth filled with the tart. "Kinda wish I can bring a PlayStation over here too."

"Believe me, there are a lot of things I wish I can bring to Delta," Aránzazu said whimsically. "Why did Lincoln have to ban playing cards, of all things?"

"If you think you can beat me at poker-"

While Real and Aránzazu talked about who would be a better gambler, I was deep in thought.

What is Planet Draco? Why does Andras want to go there next? And- I winced a little. what's the deal with Aránzazu and Mira?

"You don't have any luggage?" Real suddenly asked me, jolting me back to reality.

"Oh-uh, n-no. I didn't bring any. I was in a coma, remember?"

"Real took the liberty to go back to Earth and grab some of your stuff," Aránzazu said. "There's a box in your closet."

I looked at Real, saying curiously, "How did you even get into-"

"Albert helped me. Apparently, if he ever gets tired of the Alliance, he can make a living as a bank robber. Don't tell Lincoln. He'll go berserk."

I forced a smile and nodded my head before quickly making my way back to my room.

I hadn't checked my closet yesterday. I just crashed on my bed. As it turned out, there was a pretty big cardboard box at the bottom of it.

I rummaged through it and found my school bag and a watch that my parents got me for my 13th birthday. There were also pictures of my family, my friends and even trophies I got from school. I even found a camera and a tripod from my fleeting interest in photography. Real also packed my favourite snacks from back home. Twisters, gummy bears and Oreos. Lots of Oreos.

Five minutes later, I threw two water bottles, three Twister packets and too many Oreo packs into my school bag. My communication device started beeping.

"The Jump Point is right next to the War Room. Aránzazu and I are already there. We're waiting, James."

"On my way," I said, gulping. My breakfast threatened to make a reappearance.

I made my way to the War Room, as I walked past Clarence's office, I couldn't help wondering who that man was. Then again, I doubt she would appreciate other people messing with her stuff.

As I reached Real and Aránzazu, I noticed Private Cage and Private Hanks glaring at me. Last night, I reached my room to see them knocking on my door. I lied, saying that I was trying to find the bathroom and accidentally unclasped my Device. I still remembered Cage saying I never liked that kid.

Well, don't worry. I thought. Once Harold is safe and sound, I'm leaving.

Right now, my best bet is to play along until I get more information.

I walked into the Jump Point Room, which immediately reminded me of the transporter from Star Trek. In the centre of the room was a giant glass chamber in the shape of the cylinder, with metallic beams on either side of it.

"María, Klausen and Dalton, bound for Nekros, correct?" a person in a white coat asked. The three of us nodded. 

"In that case, please stand in the Jump Point and be as still as you can," another person in a similar white coat said.

We stood side by side in the glass chamber. 

"Will it hurt?" I asked Real, half-glancing at him.

"Only a little," he said. I couldn't tell if he was joking. 

"Okay, travelers," the person said. "Initiating transport from Delta to Nekros in three...two..." she flicked a switch. "One."

The metal beams on either side of the chamber began turning. They begun picking up speed and spun so quickly I got dizzy.

"Woah!" I yelled. My body started floating in midair. 

The inside of the chamber glowed. I forced my eyes shut, but I can still see everything that's going on. 

I hovered alongside Real and Aránzazu in the chamber. Just then, it was like a patch of light exploded in my eyes, blinding me. 

The next thing I knew, I'm opening my eyes in the chamber.

"Wait...did it fail?" I said, worried. I turned to the person operating the machine. "Hey, I think- AGH!"

Instead of a human, there was a tall creature with a lizard for a head a long tail protruding from its back decked in armour. In its hands was a strange rectangular device with an engraving on it. The picture of an O with a snake curling around it and a sword going through its centre.

"Good evening, Dalton, María and Klausen," the serpent creature said. "I am Lieutenant Ferodis, and I am here to humbly welcome the three of you to Planet Nekros."