Emilia: "What a drag… these bags are heavy."
She collapsed onto a lounger on the ship, tossing her bags beside her. A few shirts spilled out, fluttering in the salty breeze.
Emilia: "I wonder what the others are up to right now…"
???: "Yo! You, up there."
A deep, unfamiliar voice echoed from the dock.
Emilia frowned, rose slowly, and leaned over the railing. Below stood a bald man, a black tattoo resembling an eye inked across his forehead. His smile was crooked, his eyes predatory.
???: "Yeah, you there."
Emilia: "If you want my number, forget it. I don't even have a phone anymore."
???: "Nah. I just want you to answer my question."
Emilia's instincts prickled danger. Her muscles tensed even as her face stayed calm.
Emilia: "What is it?"
The man's grin widened.
???: "You're the Fog Princess, right?"
Her heart lurched. Every instinct screamed the same thing—not block, not fight… run.
???: "Open: Black Veil."
The tattoo on his forehead ignited, black lines spreading across his skin like veins. He raised his hand.
The air split above the ship. A dark-purple portal swirled open, crackling with twisted energy. Out of it lunged a massive skeletal arm, shadow-black, punching straight through the deck.
Wood shattered. The ship's hull groaned as it collapsed inward.
Emilia leapt, her lower body dissolving into fog, launching herself into the air. She glanced back in horror as the boat she'd just been lounging on collapsed into ruin.
Emilia: "…Shit. My clothes!"
The man smirked, stretching his arm again. Another portal tore open behind her. A second skeletal arm thrust outward, trying to seize her midair.
Emilia twisted, dodging just in time. She dove down at him, her right arm swelling into a massive fog axe, crashing against another skeletal limb erupting from behind him. The impact shook the dock.
Emilia: "You'll pay for my clothes… and the ship."
The busy streets of Eryndor buzzed with life—until Jack and Lenny's world snapped.
Lenny: "Back there… what happened?"
Jack: "What do you mean?"
Lenny: "You turned around like you were ready to fight someone."
Jack exhaled through his nose.
Jack: "It was nothing. Forget it."
Lenny didn't believe him, but he dropped it.
Lenny: "Fine. I'm heading to the library."
Jack: "Alright. Let's go."
Lenny: "You really don't have to come with me, y'know."
Jack: "What are you talking about? I want to."
Lenny clenched his fists.
Lenny: "You don't have to be so overprotective! I'm thirteen now. One day I'll be strong enough to protect you."
Jack chuckled, ruffling his hair.
Jack: "You'd have to fight me first."
Lenny: "Then I'll fight you now!"
He swung weak punches at Jack's chest.
Jack: "What do you think you're doing, Lenny?"
Lenny: "I'm fighting you—so you don't have to protect me anymore!"
Jack laughed again—until blood splattered from his lips.
Lenny froze. A dagger had punched clean through Jack's chest, protruding from his sternum.
Lenny: "B… big bro… BIG BRO!!"
Jack was yanked backward, his body tossed aside like a ragdoll. Behind him stood a short figure with a purple bowl cut, twin tear tattoos beneath his eyes, and a chain dangling a bloodied dagger.
???: "Got one. Another to go."
His eyes locked on Lenny.
Panic swept the street. Civilians screamed and bolted, scattering in all directions—leaving only Lenny, trembling, frozen in fear.
The man twirled his chain lazily, grinning.
Lenny's heart pounded.
Lenny: "B-big bro…!"
Jack: "Yo."
The voice came from behind the man.
The assassin spun—just in time for a dragon-scale-wrapped fist to smash into his chest, hurling him across the street into a stone wall.
Jack cracked his neck, blood already fading from his shirt as his wound sealed shut.
Jack: "Yo. You okay, strong guy?"
Lenny: "ARE YOU okay!?"
Jack smirked.
Jack: "Super regeneration. Forgot?"
The chain dagger whipped back toward Jack, but he caught it mid-air, yanking the assassin back toward him. The man lunged with a hidden blade in his other hand—only to meet Jack's scale-arm block, followed by a brutal headbutt that slammed him into the cobblestones.
Jack's mouth twisted into a dragon's snarl. Purple lightning crackled as he charged a ball of storm energy in his throat, the light bathing the entire street.
Civilians screamed from the sidelines, covering their eyes at the blinding glow.
The assassin writhed, panic seizing him. But before Jack could fire, the man's shadow rippled. Small black hands erupted, dragging him into the ground.
A new figure emerged—a woman with cascading dark-blue hair covering half her face. A tattoo on her chin formed a black circle with four points around it.
Sev (assassin): "Thanks, Sill. You saved me."
Sill: "Sev… thanked me…" Her pale cheeks flushed, but her single visible eye glared at Jack.
Sev grinned, licking blood from his lip.
Sev: "Now it's two against one."
Jack rolled his neck again.
Jack: "Give me a break."
Ichiro smiled faintly.
Ichiro: "Man. Four years… You've gotten taller than me."
Henry: "And you've gotten bigger too! But hey—we talked on the phone just last month."
Ichiro: "I actually called you yesterday. You didn't pick up."
Henry: "Oh… right. Don't have a phone anymore. My sis tossed it into the ocean—she's paranoid about us being tracked since we've got bounties now."
Ichiro stared blankly. His brain visibly froze, processing. Smoke might as well have come out his ears.
Ichiro: "Too much info at once. But… your adventure already sounds wild."
Henry: "It is! I even made new friends. You should meet them!"
He stood, tugging Ichiro's arm, ready to head down the street. But Ichiro pulled back, gripping Henry's shirt.
Ichiro: "Wait. I can't—I've got social work." He raised the broom sheepishly.
Henry snorted.
Henry: "Come on. The son of the head of the legendary Taketa Clan can skip some cleaning duty, right?"
Ichiro's smile faded. His gaze dropped to the ground, his face shadowed.
Ichiro: "Henry… I have a question."
Henry: "What is it?"
Ichiro raised his eyes, determination burning in them.
Ichiro: "Let me join your adventure."