After coming out of the ti mirage that costed her an entire week, Luna decided it was best to stay around for a couple more days and make so experints with it. They threw rocks, plants, tried to tether themselves to a tree, but that kind of rudintary experints didn't bear any fruits other than delimiting the ti mirage's area of effect and mark the exact point where the anomaly began.
Uriel's arrival ant she was out of ti to make further experints, but it also opened new possibilities. Especially with dusa's presence, since she had a better understanding of physics and could potentially explain the strange phenonon she could only describe as a ti mirage.
"All you need to do is cross this line, then count to three. In those three seconds you can do whatever you want, but you must co precisely after three seconds." Luna explained.
"Alright, here I go." Uriel didn't know what to expect, but did as Luna asked him nonetheless.
"One, two, three." He walked around looking at his surroundings without noticing anything strange, though as soon as he turned on his heels to return it hit him. "I'm back where I started."
"Uhm... yes..."
"How long was I gone?" Uriel asked when he realized everyone had moved from their original spots.
"You noticed? While you were gone I counted until 307, so five minutes seven seconds. Professor Lamar and I tried to calculate the ratio in the ti difference, but it's dynamic." Luna explained.
"Do I really need to go? I won't be able to see anything." dusa said embarrassed to admit the phenonon scared her.
"If it makes you scared, uhm... don't go." Despite her monotone, Luna's words were filled with a friendly concern which caused a strange warmth inside dusa that managed to wash away her worries.
"I'll go." dusa said as she took a step forward.
"Easy as pie." Luna gloated after successfully manipulating dusa into going despite her fear.
"You don't even know how to bake a pie, it's not as easy as you may think." dusa replied, causing Luna to gasp without breaking her cold stony face.
"You didn't disappear, why?" Although Luna's expression didn't shift, to both dusa and Uriel it was evident she was beyond shocked, though Uriel had the advantage that he too was amazed at the result.
"Is this the first ti it doesn't happen?" Uriel lifted an eyebrow.
"Uhm... yes," Luna replied once she realized asking dusa was pointless since it appeared she was unaffected by the strange phenonon. "I theorized that the phenonon we experienced was a ti mirage, like a window to the past. But if that was the case, everyone should experience it all the sa. Can you get to that tree?"
"I already did." dusa shrugged dismissively, then showed a piece of wood and a bunch of leaves carelessly removed from the tree.
"This is... unexpected, but we have enough data. We can go back now." Luna nodded and refused to speak about the supposed ti mirage until she made sense of the happenings. Unaware of the events that transpired in the week she was missing, Luna thought they would be going back to the second world and was surprised when Uriel told her they would actually be going outside.
"This is an actual prehistoric sample, it should be impossible!" Lamar almost jumped in excitent when he laid his eyes on the lepidodendrum sample and extended his hand to reach for it, but Luna prevented it with a quick slap on his hand.
"This sample is our company property, no touching."
After asking Chiara to fix the bridge, the group used the Alamo dungeon's ergency exit. Thankfully, after having his wounds treated by Luna and resting for a while Uriel felt refreshed which allowed Uriel to fight in close combat with the 'Red thread of fate' that also boosted his strength thanks to Luna, dusa and Miss Dragonfang being close.
Any cryptid foolish enough to stand in their way was soon torn to pieces by Uriel and had it's life essence sapped by the crimson dagger in his hand.
Once they crossed the gateway, the group appeared in the San Fernando Cathedral that after being repaired by Uriel, beca a gathering spot for people who went to and from the dungeon. This ant that they were bound to et with people from the society who were now declared enemies of the Dungeon Raiders, but those news had yet to reach the outside.
All they saw was a bunch of strange people following the famous 'Bella of the East wind' and her fearso brother, Tate.
Contrary to his sister, he didn't hold any fancy title and even among the society mbers, very few knew of his existence, but this didn't take anything from his imposing stature and stern face, which amounted to Bella's reputation as a troublemaker helped the group pass without any issues.
Thanks to Phlox being on high alert, less than ten minutes happened from the mont Uriel fired the signal flare to when the Pegasus picked them up. "I can't believe no one shot at us while we landed and not even cryptids bothered us. It feels nice for a change." Phlox sighed after her first clean landing ever, inwardly wishing it would earn her so extra credits on her salary this month.
"Miss Dragonfang, take our guests to their rooms, please." Uriel asked the forr Lieutenant inwardly crossing his fingers so she wouldn't ss up sothing so simple. Everyone was tired after their respective experiences in the last week and they could only wish to get a good night's sleep.
Because of that, Uriel sohow forgot to ntion Nika's return to Luna and they stumbled upon each other in the Pegasus hall without so much as a warning. If Luna was happy about it, it would have been impossible to say if not for her turning into a werewolf the mont Nika embraced her.
The transformation happened so suddenly it took everyone by surprise, but Nika refused to let go and went from hugging a tiny huntress to being squeezed by a hulking werewolf with deadly claws and muscles seemingly made of steel.
"My Lunita, I've missed you so much." Nika managed to utter despite the shortness of breath caused by the choking bear hug and Luna replied to her words with a howl that sounded more like a sorrowful wail.
"Well, we can leave the discussion about the ti mirage for another day." Uriel said pretending to be moved by the reunion, though in reality he was just looking for an excuse to get so ti for himself and admire his new artifact.
"No." Luna said in a growl, though still refused to let go of Nika.
"I'm afraid whatever it is you need to talk about can wait. Jon Hunter is still on the ship." Nika said, seemingly shrinking under Uriel's old glare.
"Why is that jerk still here? You were supposed to get rid of him, don't tell you didn't find any hospitals in Hollywood gacity."
"He refused to exit the ship, not just that. As soon as we landed, that annoying busty girl climbed aboard and went straight to his room."
"Seiren? How did she know Jon was here?" Uriel asked, but Nika limiter herself to shrug her shoulders. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it now, did you at least ask him for compensation? If he's using this ship as a hotel he might as well pay for his accommodations."
"Actually, I didn't have to say anything. He offered so artifacts as paynt." As usual, the sole ntion of artifacts lit up Uriel's eyes with greed, but it disappeared as soon as Nika continued speaking. "By the way, after dropping off the hybrids I was left with so spare ti and took the liberty to upgrade the eting room."
"It should suffice." Luna said coldly after regaining her human form.
"I can't see anything." dusa complained.
"How much did all this cost?" Uriel passed his hand over the reflectors and the appliances Nika bought.
"Wow! This is incredible, Nika. Good job! You're so helpful," Nika knew them well enough to expect their reactions, but that didn't an she would miss the opportunity to be sarcastic. Nika put a lot of effort into furnishing the room to make it suit their needs, she even stocked it with snacks, drinks, among which beer was the most common. "I can't believe you guys.
This is the first ti we're together in a very long ti and you don't even value my efforts. You're all so selfish, all you care about is yourselves and your stupid research."
The lights inside the recently renovated room began flickering and the entire ship trembled under an unseen force as Nika's eyes turned into black voids. Everyone inside the room experienced different symptoms due to the vast amount of flux energy Nika channeled outside her body and she finished with a single sentence.
"It's ti to clear the air between us."
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