Number 100 Red Nova Sorcerer

Chapter 26: Volcanic Surprise

"They could try again at any time, so we need to hurry up and build a strong enough army!" my brother exclaims, slamming his fists on the table and baring his fangs.

One man, an elder that apparently helped my late father with the war, shakes his head. "No, sire. I'm afraid that won't do. We must gather intelligence about the Humans. We need to-"

Blackie slams some papers down on the table; I know that these are the papers we copied from the lab. "There! Intelligence! Now, what do you plan to do with this intelligence!?"

The elder looks at the papers written in the Human tongue. He snorts. "How do you know this has what we want? None of us ever taught you how-"

"Crimson did," I interrupt. "He taught us the written and spoken language just in case as well as the other languages."

"I have more information," a familiar voice says behind us. Footsteps echo throughout the room as the person walks up to us. I turn around to see Coal. Almost nothing has changed about him except for the length of his hair, which is up to his shoulders. His expression is serious now. "The Humans are not only targeting Nova, but they also want any Number with elemental and aerial abilities. Crystal and Ichigo have more information on this." He steps carefully when he walks, as if he doesn't want to disturb the tectonic plates and cause an earthquake.

The people at the table look at him with confusion while Blackie and I get up from our place and run to him.

"Why are you here?" my brother asks.

"Why did you cut your hair?" I follow up.

Coal looks at each of us in turn with those obsidian orbs. He doesn't smile at all. "Crimson said that should something happen to him that would render him unable to battle, the three of us should come as soon as possible. To answer your question, Nova, I've cut my hair so it doesn't get in the way.

"But you shouldn't have been able to cross the border without a Number," Blackie whispers.

Coal chuckles and ruffles his hair. "Who ever said I wasn't a Number?"

My jaw drops. "But...you live in the Lava Territory."

"Well, a Volcasaurus tends to look a lot like a Volcanic Being." He walks up to the table. "A bigger army is coming," he says. "Intelligence is not what we need right now. We need to build a stronger infantry and cavalry. After that, we don't need to worry about them."

The old man sighs. "Very well. You youngsters do what you want."

Blackie nods. "I will tell the captain." He and I leave, and everyone else goes back to what they were doing. We catch the captain of the Number army in the halls of the castle. Blackie stops him by putting his hand on his shoulder. "Captain, we need to train the army for a battle once more."

The captain nods. "I will make sure they are thoroughly trained, my king."

"Good." Blackie waves his hand to me. "Come, Nova. We must find a way to track their movements."

"But how? We have no technology for that, and no one has that ability. Who knows where they could be at the moment?"

My brother takes this into consideration before letting out a small sigh. "Very true."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see two more people walk into the town. They must have had a talk with the border guard, for they do not seem to have any signs of a scuffle.

"Blackie, look," I hiss, pointing at the figures. "Who are they?"

Blackie looks to where I am pointing, his eyes squinting in puzzlement. "I do not know."

The two enter the building, so Blackie and I make it to the throne room to greet them properly. We only wait for a few minutes to hear the knocking on the door.

"Come in!" Blackie calls.

Two women enter the room. One is a light, icy blue with short hair that reaches her ears; it looks like shards of ice hanging off of her head in a very liquid-like manner, but it is not water. Her skin is see-through and has an icy look to it. Her clothes look like they've been made out of freshly fallen snow, and her white eyes hold a light blue hue. The other one is plant-like with leaf-like hair and sleeves and a dress that seems to form a flower if the skirt were to be spread out. Her legs bear tights and flats.

"Your names?" Blackie asks.

"Crystal," the green one states. "Black Rose Dragon."

"Ichigo," says the other one. "Number 19 Freezerdon."

"Your business?"

Crystal speaks up. "We came to help with the war."

"We also have an update on the progress of the Human army." Ichigo plants her hands on her hips. "They have passed the Ice Territory, and they're coming closer." She holds out four fingers with sharp nails. "You have about four months to toughen up, but I'm sure you can do it."

We both nod. "Do...do any of you have a method of tracking without visuals?"

Crystal nods, and she smiles slightly. "Coal can. He can track their footsteps as long as there is no other vibrations. As long as they do not use the borders, he can keep track of their every movement."

"Wait!" Blackie exclaims. "As long as they do not use the borders? How is that possible?"

"All of the territories are connected in a linear fashion," Ichigo explains with a small sigh. "The borders just help us jump from one place to another. Has Sei not told you?"

We shake our heads. Maybe he never had enough time? Whatever the reason, he never told us. Ichigo sighs once again. She seems to be doing that a lot, and honestly, it doesn't look like she wants to be here.

"One more thing." Blackie slowly walks up to them. "How did you make it here? How did you get passed the gatekeeper?"

"Synchro Monsters are allowed in, my king?" Crystal giggles. "Now that we are here, how about we get started?"