When we finally arrived at the mountain city, (seven hours later) I was blown away by the sight before me.

A large-ass Mountain loomed before us, and I could've sworn that the city radiated with a faint blue glow. Golems also patrolled the outskirts of the city, and their unnatural gaze followed our carriage as we rode past them. Large spires also loomed before us, and I caught sight of a faint outline that indicated we were drawing closer to the outside portion of the mountain city. Speaking of which, it appeared to be comprised of various residential areas made of stone bricks rather than wooden planks. There was a marketplace where various goods were being sold, and judging by the amount of people our carriage had to pass by, I could tell this city was raking in the dough. The taverns in this city were huge, and by my rough estimate, they were three freaking stories tall.

We passed all of this and followed the stone brick path leading to the inner city of Volhime. We reached a wide gate blocking our way into the city, and guards suddenly appeared around us.

"What is your business here?" A guard shouted at me.

"We're here on King Fredrick's orders!" I shouted back, "We're here to help with your city's-um, problem."

There was a slight pause before the gate started to open with a low groan. We began to make our way toward a large-ass structure that looked a lot like a castle. We had to leave the carriage in a stable that was by the gate, so we opted to walk on foot toward the glowing stronghold. Everyone seemed amazed by the sights around us.

Well, except Nova.

She had a cloak on, which did an excellent job of concealing her face. I edged closer to her and asked what was up.

She sighed, "The people here believe that my parents work is phenomenal," She began in a hushed voice. "Don't get me wrong: it is, but my sudden departure probably disrupted their mining operations. My parents wanted to find me, so they probably halted everything for...I dunno, a few days? I'm betting money a fair amount of people in this city are blaming me for disrupting my parents' work...again...I've gotten enough shit from these assholes as it is, so this is just another reason for them to call me a useless excuse of a daughter..."

I smiled, "Don't worry sis, we're here to help you out when you need us. If someone gives you grief, notify anyone in this team, and we'll take care of you."

Nova looked at me in confusion, "Sis?"

"Eh?" I replied, only to cut off when I saw a troop of heavily-armed men approach us. They were all wielding long glowing staves that had electricity flickering off the ends of their weapons.

Because the mere fact that this city exists blows me away, I need to describe just how awesome Volhime is. The inside of this mountain was hollowed out so, you know, people could live in here. Great spires rose all the way to the roof of this artificially-created cavern to ensure that there wouldn't be a cave-in. Artificial light sources also hung from the roof of the cavern, bathing the city in an eerie blue light. Several buildings were arranged in the cavernous space in the same style you'd expect to find in a regular city like Helios or Seris. Only, this one's in a mountain. I wonder if they hired any dwarves to help hollow this place out...

"What is your business in this city?" The lead guard asked me calmly. (If I had a gold mark for every time a guard's asked me 'what is your business in blah-blah-blah'...)

"My team is here to help repel the demon hoard that's been sighted near Volhime. We're here on the orders of the high king," I told the guard.

"Do you have official documentation proving this?" The guard prompted me.

Fredrick wrote out a letter stamped with the house Moreau crest just for this situation. Too bad I left it in Helios.

With a huff, I snapped my fingers and blinked the letter to me.

"Here." I began, offering the rolled up letter to the guard. "Check it for yourself."

He accepted the piece of parchment and unrolled it. after reading over the document for several moments, he nodded in satisfaction and handed me the letter back, "Follow us."

We were escorted to the main stronghold. Along the way, Nova glanced at me, a question in her eyes.

"Why did you call me sis?" She asked me softly.

I cringed , "Sorry, I had a wee slip up. Forgive me if I weirded you out at all."

"Oh...no, it's cool. Don't worry about it," Nova replied with a faint grin.

To be honest, I do consider my team family. They keep my ass in line, and I do the same for them. So yes, I consider Dorrian my brother and Analise my sister. My brain is more than a little confused as to what Luna is to me.

"Do you consider her your sister?" One of my voices asked.

"That...would be strange," Another voice replied.

"How so?" The first voice inquired.

"well, think about it: she's teased us, she's slept in the same bed with us, hell, she's even kissed us a few times," The second voice explained, "You catch my drift?"

"...Yeah, I suppose I do," The first voice muttered, "Well, if she isn't our sister, then what is she to us?"

"How about potential lover?" The second voice offered.

<Err: Mass-system shutdown>

-Trying to reboot...-

-*Err: Brain functionality = 0%-

-Legs functioning? False-

-Vocal output: Shiiiiiiiit!-

I tripped and landed on my face. The guards shouted in surprise, and my group hurriedly picked me up and set me on my non-functional feet.

Luna looked at me in concern, "Helix? Helix, are you okay? Speak to me you doof!"

<Critical malfunction!>

-Brain functionality = 0%-

-Trying to reboot...-

-All basic systems have gone offline-

(How do I even know this shit? Eh, it doesn't matter. Blame the author for this bullshit.)

"Ehm..." I murmured.

<Reboot successful!>

(Whew...) Now that I was able to regain my bearings, I shrugged and looked at the concerned kaitrit before me with a grin on my face, "I tripped."

Luna arched an eyebrow, "On thin air?"

"Yes...it happens," I replied innocently.

Luna grinned, "So you say."

The main guard coughed politely, "May we continue onward?"

I nodded, "Yes, let's go."

About ten minutes later, we entered the castle. The place was massive: guards patrolled the halls, tapestries and pieces of art hung on the gray stone walls, and the pitch-black floor reflected my image perfectly when I looked down at it. Every now and then, we even passed under a large chandelier.

"Ooo..." I mused absent-mindedly. "Shiny..."

Luna shook her head. "You are easily distracted, Helix."

"You know it," I replied with a wink. Analise groaned, but Luna chuckled.

Instead of a throne room, we entered a room that had blueprints everywhere with prototypes in various stages of completion laying on tables. As far as I could tell, this place looked like a planning room due to the fact that blueprints were on tables, on the walls, stuffed in drawers, or stacked up in piles on the floor by desks. There was a large table in the middle of the room, and sitting at two chairs around said table was a man and a woman.

"Shit..." Nova breathed as the man and woman looked up from their work.

"Ah, Greetings. I am Richard, and this is my wife Giana." Nova's father began as he stood up from his seat. "How can we help you lot?"

Richard had a pair of glasses on. His black hair was slightly messy-almost as if he forgot to comb it this morning. His dark blue eyes were calculating as he looked at me and my team one by one. In contrast, Giana had long, light brown hair, and her purple eyes glittered with a slight mischievous light in them.

"Hello," I replied in kind, "My team and I have been sent here to help deal with the hoard of demons that have been pestering your city"

Richard looked up from a piece of paper he was looking at in his hands. He quickly set it down, stood up, and strode over to me: "You are? Oh, thank the gods!"

"Richard..." His wife began nervously.

"R-Right," He replied, regaining his composure. He ran a shaking hand through his hair and smoothed out some wrinkles in his light gray tunic before continuing: "Forgive my outcry. I just got a report today that one of my surrounding settlements has been sacked by...them. My guardsmen have been spread thin trying to help everyone at once. I've...had to recall squadrons so they could protect Volhime..."

I nodded, "My team is here to help in any way possible. If there's anything we can do to help ease the burden on your shoulders, just let us know."

Richard sighed in relief, wiping the sweat off his brow, "Thank you...Nova, please take your hood off indoors."

She flinched, then slowly threw back her hood.

"I should've known you would run off," Richard began quietly.

"I had nothing better to do," Nova grumbled, "I tried talking to you guys-I tried asking for help, but you two were so absorbed in your...work," She almost spat the word out.

Her father sighed, taking his glasses off and setting them on the table as he backed away from my group, "I understand Nova, and I'm sorry. I understand you're mad that your mother and I haven't even been able to check up on you. It's just...we're trying to deal with too many things at once: angry chieftains that want to know why I pulled my forces out of their villages, entire settlements being wiped off the map, innumerable amounts of people being slaughtered like animals, and the growing threat of a demon hoard that could easily conquer this city. If I didn't have to worry about all of this, I would've been able to help you-to say hello to you at least..."

Nova hung her head in shame, "I shouldn't have left. I just gave you one more thing to worry about..."

"Forgive my interruption, "I began, "but this isn't the time to feel sorry. This is a genuine emergency that requires immediate attention. These creatures aren't of this world-they will show us no mercy, so we need to focus on what we can do now so we can beat them at their own game. I honestly apologize for my interruption, Nova. I mean you no offense."

She nodded in resignation, "I understand. I just wanted to apologize to my parents before we had to get serious."

Richard nodded, "Yes, you're right. Forgive me, my good sir. I haven't been myself lately."

"Don't worry about it," I replied casually, "And please, just call me Helix."

Giana walked over to her daughter, saw the hand cannon, and smiled, "How's the prototype coming along?"

Nova shrugged, "Third try: hasn't blown up yet, so I'm hopeful this one will work."

"Yet?" Her mother inquired with an arched eyebrow.

Nova smiled, "I think this prototype will be the one that'll work. I used a sample of ethridium that is the purest I've used for any weapon I've ever created. I'm still not sure though: I'll need to test it out."

I chuckled, "Trust me, you'll be able to test your weapon out on a few *cough* dozen *cough* demons when we meet them in open combat."

"Meet them?" Richard demanded incredulously.

"Yep," I replied, "My plan is simple: my team intercepts the hoard and thins out their numbers a little. We won't be able to stop them from getting to Volhime, but I'm planning on taking down as many demons as possible before they do get here."

"That's...that's suicidal!" Richard stammered.

Dorrian chuckled, "You don't know this team then, my good sir."

"Reel yourself in Dorrian," I retorted before clearing my throat: "I'm sorry Richard, but this is how we run. If we can't settle things peacefully, we settle it with bloodshed. I don't want an entire hoard of demons standing on your doorstep in the coming days, so I'd rather meet them in the middle and dish out as much punishment as possible."

He nodded slowly, processing the information I gave him, "You're going to fight them in open warfare? Just your group of six?"

"I'd like to hope there'd be some guards to provide some backup at whatever village we go to, but yes that's my plan." I explained. "We can't reason with them: they're demons. They don't reason-they kill and they corrupt. To beat a demon, you have to fight fire with fire, so yes, my team and I will be taking the fight to them and slaughtering as many of the bastards as we can manage before we have to fall back to clean our wounds."

"That's crazy thinking, but I can at least understand where you're coming from," Richard replied.

I grinned. I loved the next question I was about to ask: "Are there any weapons we can...um, borrow?"

Richard smiled, "Talk to Dante. He'll set you up."

Nova's face went deathly pale, "No, no, no...not that maniac..."

Her father shrugged, "He's our best supplier of ehtridial weapons in Volhime, Nova. As unhinged as he is, Dante is irreplaceable."

"ethridial weapons?" I inquired in wonder.

"Yes, they're extremely useful. As long as you don't look him straight in the face, you'll be alright."

I looked at him in confusion, "Why's that?"

Richard opened his mouth, only to close it, "Just...go to Dante's shop and see for yourself."

Nova facepalmed, but didn't say anything.

I shrugged, "Okay...let's go then."