Arcadia

Nouvelle Luz III : Dawn of the New Era

"Erm, this might be a distracting, but are you alright, Yura?"

"Huh? If I'm not, I wouldn't be able to keep up with you." Yura scoffed a bit while running beside Ren towards the next station of the metro. 

"You got thrown out through the window just like that, of course I'm worried."

Inevitably, the train reached the station far ahead of them, which is where it suddenly stopped. More noises and shouting can be heard from the distance, and a lot of security have been dispatched into the station.

They enter the station shortly after people began flowing out from the station. Moving against the current, both of them managed to reach the terminal to see it completely blockaded by security. While expecting action, they found none, as the angry person has already been subdued by the police.

"It's.. over?" 

While Yura was thinking, Lyra flew by her and landed at her shoulder.

Amaya stood with a snarky and somewhat disgusted face, looking at the man being apprehended. She proceeded to walk out of the barricaded area, and struck one last look at Yura and Ren before walking away.

"She's good."

"Now's not the time to be impressed, Ren-senpai! Something tells me that this is not the end of it."

"It won't. I know something like this would be inevitable after what that archbishop did on live TV last night."

He waited for his companion's reply, but decided to continue on once he got none.

"I assume the next question in your mind will be 'What can we do about it?', am I right? Honestly, I don't see any options right now until the archbishop makes his move. He will surely not just sit idle after getting Accenture at his side." He followed by turning away and looking at the raging man before he was taken out of the station.

"Are you scared? Of more people like them or the archbishop's possible forces. I'm certain it's gonna be sooner than later when these forces clash, and it won't be pretty."

"You know I swore to protect the people of Arcadia from harm! You've seen me fight as well. What are you implying?"

"And you still need a bit of work. There are times where battles are won not by strength alone or resilience, but by well-timed moves and strategy. You should have learned that by now. Always remember, deception and smart gambles in battle are not bad, especially when it comes to crucial moments."

At that moment, Yura felt her cellphone's message vibration. She took a glance at the phone and saw that it was a message from Emi.

Emi, huh? I wonder what she's up to now.

When she opened the message, all she got was a message with one request: Come to the Aegis headquarters ASAP.

"Is something the matter?"

"I gotta go now. Thanks for the help!"

"Help? I didn't do anything. You better thank that transfer student instead."

Ren waved goodbye as he and Yura split ways.

~~~~~

"I'm here~" called Yura. She stepped into the underground laboratory and carefully walked towards Emi's desk. 

She was mostly ignored by the scientsts, who remained busy with their work, except for one. A thin scientist who was about as tall as Yura was the one who approached her. He did so after taking off his round glasses and leaving his work desk near Emi's, which was filled with a pile of paperwork.