Saturday
{Would it be okay if I asked you… to explain this to me and my brother?}
Princess Nora Ofilis had never felt such nerves in her life. She snuck out of her dorm, hair tied back, cloaked to hide her identity, and met at Dan’s shack at the crack of dawn.
“Wow, you’re early,” Dan said.
“Mr. Fury? What’s with the house?”
Nora pointed at the barricades the three residents had set up.
Every door, window, even the smallest gap, was boarded shut. Even the chimney.
Dan tossed a snow shovel into a pile of snow out front, sliding down from the roof.
“No one’s staying here until school reopens,” he said.
“Even Mrs. Casca?” Nora asked.
“I’ve got business to handle. Back in five days,” Casca said, emerging with a brown suitcase and travel-ready attire.
“But I’ll drop you off with them,” she added, winking at Nora.
“Being the only human among those ugly mugs? If your nerves aren’t steel, you’d drop dead mid-air.”
“Hey!” Dan put his hands on his hips, glaring at his wife.
“Don’t trust me?”
Casca gave a faint smile, no answer.
Dan stepped over and smacked her backside with a loud pop!
“Ugh?!”
“Ugly, huh? You’re gorgeous, you mean?”
“Ugly but loved~ coo coo,” Casca teased.
“Flirting at dawn? Gross, I’m gonna puke,” Zeedee muttered, locking the door with a backpack slung over her shoulder.
Casca strode up, breathing in Zeedee’s face, finger raised.
“Five days gone, don’t forget the rules, Skank. If I don’t touch him, you don’t either.”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it!” Zeedee snapped.
“Mr. Fury, how do we get to your people?” Nora asked.
“We walk,” Dan replied.
“We gotta hurry. They’ve already docked.”
Nora swallowed hard.
ALLIANZ PORT
6:01 A.M.
Despite the early hour, the port buzzed like a riot.
Artheris’s authorities, all elite black-armored knights, were spread across the bay, forming a human line to block thousands of civilians from crossing into the restricted zone. Behind them, Diablo’s delegation ship loomed, docked within a 20-meter radius where not even a rat stirred.
Civilians stood stunned. A child clung to their mother, crying. Teens huddled, peering curiously from beyond the line—Diablo’s people weren’t a common sight.
Homes in higher latitudes opened windows, telescopes trained on the scene.
What they saw was a massive black steel ship at anchor, dwarfing any warship from the five kingdoms. It rivaled the Titanic in size, but its eeriness lay in its design—no windows, no doors, no visible openings.
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A floating “black box,” painted pitch-black, it left imaginations running wild about what lay inside.
Was it their imagination, or did the ship… breathe? Like it was alive.
Nora craned her neck, awestruck by the colossal vessel.
Without trusted allies by her side, she’d never dare approach it.
She held up her thumb, gauging its size. From here, the ship was as tall as her thumb.
“Mr. Fury, why’s no one outside the ship?”
“They might not like what they see,” Dan said, turning to grip Zeedee’s shoulder.
“Go ahead, Freya.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Zeedee replied, then turned to Nora.
“See you inside, kid.”
She walked off.
“With this crowd, how do we get in? Everyone’ll see us,” Nora said.
“Scared? I’m right here,” Casca reassured.
“She can handle it.”
“Wait for Freya to get there first,” Dan said.
“How’s Freya getting in?” Nora asked.
“There’s an entrance under the hull.”
“Oh… diving, huh?” Nora said.
“Exactly,” Dan replied, crossing his arms.
“Now we wait a sec.”
Nora nodded. Then, glancing at the civilian crowd—
“Mr. Fury.”
“Yeah?”
“I see our classmate.”
“Really?”
Dan followed her gaze, shrugging.
“Never seen this before, so they’re curious. Normal.”
“Looks like the authorities cleared out all the merchant ships,” Casca noted.
“They shut the port for your crew this whole week.”
“Quite an honor,” Dan quipped.
“Everyone probably thinks you’re on that ship,” Casca said.
“That’s why the whole city’s swarming,” Nora added.
“If I were them, I’d want to see you in the flesh too, Mr. Fury.”
“Didn’t you say you were scared of me? Why crowd around then?” Dan asked.
“’Cause it’s cool…”
“You humans are hard to get,” Dan muttered.
“Shut it, you disgusting monster,” Casca shot back.
“Ouch. Divorce me already, Casca.”
“Hold on, I’ll clear the way,” Casca said.
Her form began to fade, vanishing completely—a high-level spell called Light Refraction.
Every beam of light hitting Casca was deflected back or bent around her, rendering her invisible. She hadn’t moved; the light simply didn’t reflect her image. Side rays curved around her, creating a “bend” in the air.
If you looked closely, you might notice a strange distortion from the bent light, but in this chaos, Casca was confident no one would.
Nora sketched the massive ship in her trusty notebook. Dan leaned against a wall, arms crossed, watching her.
“You know what? I’m really into that ‘camera’ thing,” he said.
“The one Freya was messing with?” Nora asked.
“Yeah. With that, we wouldn’t need to waste time drawing.”
As they chatted, Dan glanced past Nora—and his eyes widened.
In slow motion, among the crowd gawking at the demon ship, he spotted Rafinya… a bandage on her chin.
And Rafinya, for some reason, felt eyes on her. Her fighter’s instincts kicked in, and she turned—
Their eyes locked.
“…Crap,” Dan muttered.
“Mr. Fury?” Nora asked.
He turned away, but too late.
Rafinya had seen him.
It didn’t take long for her to realize the person scribbling beside him was Nora Ofilis, who had no business mingling with commoners.
Here it comes…
She was moving.
Heading straight for him.
“Nora, follow me.”
“What?”
She asked but moved instantly, no hesitation.
“Rafinya’s here.”
“!”
Nora’s eyes widened, but she didn’t look back.
“She’s following us?”
“Don’t know, but we can’t let her from here on.”
The later it got, the bigger the crowd, the harder to move.
Dan and Nora weaved through the crowd. At the same moment, Rafinya pushed through, hot on their trail.
Since waking up after yesterday, the one person Rafinya most wanted to confront was Dan.
She had to know what secret technique he used.
If not now, when? She knew he’d avoid her during the week’s break.
Here… with Nora too?
Rafinya kept her suspicions buried, chasing them relentlessly.
But as Dan and Nora ducked into an alley between buildings—
Rafinya rounded the corner, barely a split second behind…
And found nothing but an empty alley.
“…”
She took three or four steps forward.
Hand on the wall…
Peering into the distance, unwilling to believe it.
Unknowing that what she sought was mere inches away, close enough to feel her breath…
Dan and Nora hadn’t vanished.
They were crouched together under Casca Saint-Maximin’s cloak, her invisibility spell saving them just in time.
Under the cloak, their faces were close—sweat beading like glue between them.
They breathed as softly as possible…
Nora stared at him. Dan’s eyes were closed… She heard Casca’s calm heartbeat, but Dan’s raced, likely from being so close to her.
!
It sent Nora’s heart racing too—not for Rafinya, but for the boy pressed against her.
“…”
Rafinya stepped back, scanning elsewhere, assuming Dan and Nora had gone another way, and took off.
Casca pulled off the cloak.
“That was close… Good thing I made it,” she said.
“Yeah…” Dan agreed.
“Damn… kids these days are relentless,” Casca muttered.
“Kids these days…?” Nora echoed.
“You too, Nora,” Dan teased.
“That stings, Mr. Fury.”
“Alright, the ship’s gate’s open,” Casca said, grabbing both their shoulders.
“Come on. Hold tight.”
Dan and Nora each clung to one side of Casca.
“Princess, no need to be shy. Grip hard,” Casca urged.
“Is that okay?” Nora asked.
“Yup. I’m moving fast. Over those knights’ heads,” Casca said, turning to Dan.
“You’re gripping too tight, Fury. I can’t breathe.”
“What’s wrong with hugging my wife?”
“Wrong when I can’t breathe, you rotten lizard.”
“That stings, Casca,” Dan said, mimicking Nora.
“Don’t throw her words back at me,” Casca snapped.
She draped the cloak over them, a golden glow enveloping her. Nora felt the surging magic coursing beneath the cotton she clung to.
“Here we go. Ears might ring a bit. Close your eyes unless you want to puke.”
Nora/Dan: Eyes closed.
“Three… two… one—”
Whoosh!
“Huh?”
Nora and Dan slowly opened their eyes…
They were in darkness.
Or rather… already inside the ship.
Casca’s movement was insanely fast, not even a fraction of a second.
Nora felt only a brief jolt, then a floating sensation from inertia, like jumping in a descending elevator.
And they were aboard.
Casca released them…
The ship’s lights, likely from some illumination device, flared on.
Flash!
Dan squinted slightly… Then a young man’s voice—distinctly human—spoke.
“What’s up, big brother? Been years. Miss me?”
