The air around the marble began to vibrate and swell heavily. With a loud, atmospheric crash, the ether shocked, and in a single instant, the Goats stood there in their full combat gear.
Davinci stood at the front, a dark pair of shineblock sunglasses pressed tight against his nose to filter the brightly flashing light. Behind him stood the entire class. Upon landing, everyone synchronously assumed an iron-clad, legendary pose. Their chest plates featuring the sun emblem glowed brightly, the golden veins along their temples pulsed in unison, and their heavy cloaks fanned out wide across the marble floor.
The chatter across the intermediate plaza fell dead silent in a single blow.
The Griffin who was about to speak froze with his mouth half-open. The Chameleon beast-human stared with wide eyes at the sudden spectacle. For a moment, nobody knew what to say.
The leader of the Behemoths was the first to break the silence. He burst out laughing, shook his head in full respect, and clapped his hands together hard once. “There you have them… Better get acquainted quick, now that you’re finally here for once!”
With a calm, confident stride, the Goats walked out of the circle toward the center of the plaza. The surrounding Alliances, a few guilds, and present Ciphers slowly shifted over and encircled them with curious glances. Fukarou, standing at the edge near the Ciphers, gestured quickly and subtly toward Silarias with a nod as if to say: Man, that looks insanely cool.
Silarias’s sharp look briefly shifted into a small, invisible nod back.
Suddenly, Davinci broke his tight, stoic posture. He brought his hand up, pulled the shineblocks from his face, and chuckled softly. He looked toward an older, imposing figure standing at the edge of the circle.
“Solomon… Good to see you. I really need to speak with you about something in a moment.”
Davinci turned halfway toward the Goats. “Guys, take some time to get acquainted here. Maybe you can pick up a thing or two about what that Tryfest actually entails.”
His gaze glided through the group and settled on Nicola. He beckoned the boy with a short jerk of his head. “Nicola, come over here.”
Nicola stepped forward curiously and came closer. Davinci looked at the boy’s facial features. In his mind, a warm, old memory flashed past: Ohhh, little builder… He looks just like her.
Davinci leaned lightly toward Nicola and asked in a low tone: “Can you figure out what that Tryfest actually is?”
Nicola looked at him questioningly for a moment and answered directly: “Officially, it’s supposed to be an orientation competition.”
Davinci raised his eyebrows and looked at him sideways. “But you’re already assigned to a class and Ward?.. So there must be more behind it. I trust you to figure it out.”
Nicola let out a short laugh, shook his head, and said: “Will do, boss.”
Lyn, who had overheard the short conversation from a distance, stepped quickly up to Nicola as soon as he walked back. “What was all that about?”
Nicola explained it to her in a few quick sentences. Lyn nodded along slowly, her gaze drifting thoughtfully. Mmh yeah… what would that competition really be for then?
Meanwhile, the Chameleon beast-human tried to make cautious contact.
Silarias was staring fixedly at the plaza when suddenly a voice came straight at him out of absolute thin air. Right in front of his face, it sounded:
“Hmm… So you’re the new Goats?.. Aren’t you a bit young?”
Silarias focused his eyes instantly. He looked behind and beside himself at lightning speed, but saw no one standing there.
Right before him, the chameleon lifted his invisibility. The air distorted with a crackle, and there stood the beast-human, clad in his armor with all the flashing crystals around his neck. Before Silarias could react, the chameleon enthusiastically grabbed Silarias’s hand and shook it firmly.
“I… mm… I am Kamelo of the Chameleon Alliance. May I?..”
Silarias looked sideways at Nyx and then cast an inquiring glance at Nicola. “Ehh yeah, sure. Only if you tell us first… what that Tryfest actually is. Nice to meet you by the way, I’m Silarias. That’s Nyx, he’s Nicola, and that’s Lyn beside him.”
Lyn waved cheerfully with the large hammer floating lightly beside her.
Kamelo began to laugh merrily. “Pleasure to meet you all! Well, the Tryfest isn’t just an orientation competition. It’s mostly a homage and an old tradition to honor that we were once liberated. Besides that, it’s just insanely cool. You have the PreFest, the festivities before the tournament itself… And the tournament is the whole deal! Everyone goes all out against each other, and there are special games where you have to steal points from one another.”
Kamelo reached for his chest, pulled out a clear crystal, and held it up to his eye. “Alright Goats, stand together for a second!”
Nicola looked at it with a questioning and surprised face, while Nyx and Silarias immediately began to laugh with full hype.
“YES! GOATS TOGETHER!” Silarias called out, laughing. “Yeah, this is going to be really fun! It’s like a painting, but different and faster!”
“It just needs a few seconds,” Kamelo added with a laugh for clarification.
Within a few moments, all twenty Goats gathered into a tight, legendary formation. Silarias stood shoulder to shoulder with Nyx. Nicola and Lyn put their arms around each other. Apollo and Beat decided at the very last moment that if this was becoming a painting, they had to pull the most ridiculous faces they had in store. Jane and Aurelius stood rigid and majestic side by side. Kaelid held onto Lila. Little Miki and Ren popped up right in front; Miki saw the funny faces of Beat and Apollo and immediately joined in with enthusiasm. Balamore and Izamaro stood shoulder to shoulder, Vulkan and Valeria looked powerfully into the lens, and Zax and Bonk assumed a heavy combat stance.
Renuardo and Faustus shared a brief glance. Right as the countdown began, Renuardo leapt upward, let his etheric wing unfold, and hovered above the group, floating over the photo at the very last second.
Kamelo began counting down out loud while holding the crystal steady.
“Three… Two…”
The perspective shifted briefly to the corner of the hall.
Davinci stood there out of sight of the crowd, deep in conversation with Solomon. They both looked at the twenty youths striking funny and tough poses for the crystal.
Davinci looked at the group, nodded with a proud, satisfied feeling, and looked Solomon straight in the eye.
“Yeah… Over there is what I want to talk to you about, Solomon… I’m quitting.”
Solomon looked at him in total shock. “I… uh… Then we need to go find a replacement and—”
Davinci reached out his hand and gripped Solomon’s arm firmly. “I want you to hire me again as Leonardo. I don’t want to lie to them anymore. If they open themselves up completely to me and lay all their trauma and their past before me… then let me at least be honest. That is at least how an Etherheart ought to do it. I can no longer go against my own senses.”
Solomon stayed silent for a moment, looked at the determination in the old master’s eyes, and then burst into a short laugh. “Yeah… All right. No problem.” Solomon shook his head with a chuckle. “Neat move… I had hoped we wouldn’t have to serve up your real name on a silver platter right away, haha! Still, it’s a thousand times better than lying, you’re right about that… AGREED.”
Leonardo let out a relieved sigh and walked back calmly toward the Goats, who were just beginning to disperse after the flash of the crystal faded.
Meanwhile, a few key figures from the Phoenix Alliance came walking up to introduce themselves properly. Among them were graceful fighters like Ignis and Pyra, with their blazing fiery attire and noble posture.
On the other side of the plaza, a small group of Griffins also tried to approach them. One of them carried a hot kettle of steam and dropped it with a loud thud right next to Miki and Ren to startle them.
Miki and Ren looked at the Griffin with a lethal, heavily irritated glare.
“Mmh… Are you still acting so childishly angry?” Miki snapped.
Without waiting for an answer, Ren and Miki turned around in unison. With their arms tightly crossed, they stomped away like angry children toward Silarias.
The noble Griffin who saw it happen reached out hurriedly with his hand. “No, no… Sigh. We’re not like that at all!”
But it was already too late; the two little ones had already disappeared among the rest of the group.
Cassian, the leader of the Griffins, stepped forward calmly and laid a massive hand on the young Griffin’s shoulder. “Better luck next time, Lucius… Maybe that joke of mine went a bit too far last time as well. This is on me.”
Lucius immediately turned red and looked up, agitated. “Don’t say that, my lord! We’ll just regroup. Next time they’ll see for themselves that we don’t mean any harm.”
Thorne came walking over with a few steaming mugs of drink in his hands and looked at the pair with a grin. “Why the sudden change of heart, gentlemen?”
Cassian and Lucius both burst out laughing. “Come by the PreFest later,” Cassian said. “We’ll talk about it there over a few nice goblets of Wardshine.”
Thorne nodded in approval and joined them.
The scene shifted to the Goats.
Silarias, Nyx, Leonardo, and the rest of the group left the intermediate plaza and walked down a long, monumental hallway toward their assigned sector: The Goated Outcasts.
They arrived at the end of the corridor. Before them stood two grotesque, ancient stone doors. With a deep, creaking sound, the heavy doors swung open slowly inward.
The view behind them was breathtaking. Softly glowing green moss grew everywhere on the rock faces and walls. Fireflies floated in dancing patterns through the warm air. Beautiful, exotic flowers had bloomed fully all throughout the room, and countless pink and golden petals drifted slowly through the airflow.
Lila’s eyes began to glisten. She looked up at Kaelid. “Oh… It’s time, Kaelid! It’s blossom time… Look!”
The entire group stood still. Even Leonardo remained at the threshold with his mouth slightly open in awe.
One by one, the floating flowers opened. The delicate petals detached and swirled in circling patterns through the hall. The magical light falling through the high windows made the floating particles sparkle like diamond dust. An intensely familiar, delicious, and sweet scent filled the entire room.
Miki took a few deep sniffs with her nose and looked around in surprise. “Do I smell… chocolate cake?!..”
Lila burst into laughter and squeezed Kaelid’s hand gently. “Yes! How beautiful nature can be…”
Slowly, the group stepped inside through the entrance.
Only two small, mischievous Goats remained behind on the threshold. Miki and Ren sat crouched on the stone floor, their hands full of swirling petals. Ren was already bringing one toward his mouth.
From inside the hall, Lila’s voice suddenly rang out sharply: “It’s not edible!!”
Miki and Ren looked at each other at lightning speed. They dropped the petals from their hands instantly. Miki dived forward and slammed her arms around Ren’s stomach so he spit the petals out, after which both ran inside in a frantic rush.
The transition shifted to the interior of the living space.
The entire group was spread across the quarters. Completely exhausted from the intense day, they all collapsed into the soft, deep chairs and large couches situated in the common area.
Leonardo stepped into the circle as well, sighing deeply while leaning against the edge of a wooden table.
“Whew… Ehh, listen up everyone. It could be that I haven’t been completely honest about myself.”
Balamore, hanging exhaustedly over the armrest of a couch, looked up tiredly. “Davinci… What do you mean?”
Vulkan and Silarias asked in unison with raised eyebrows: “Yeah, what?”
Leonardo tapped his cane on the wooden floor. “NatureNull.”
The air around him rippled violently. His goated attire remained exactly the same, but his physical posture changed visibly. His shoulders broadened, his muscular torso swelled, and his stature grew considerably larger. His gray hair took on a deeper shade and began to curl more strongly, while his eyes glowed with an intense etheric power.
He looked at the group. “Leonardo Corazon Da Ether is my official name… But you probably know my surname better as Etherheart.”
Nicola bolted upright from the couch with a jerk. His eyes grew as wide as saucers. “UNCLE!?!!”
Silarias leaned back in his chair deadpan. He looked at Nyx and muttered completely dryly: “Knew it.”
Nicola looked in disbelief from Leonardo to Silarias and Nyx. After a short, surprised laugh between him and Leonardo, he bounced back up: “WAIT! How did you guys know this?!..”
Silarias and Nyx looked at each other with a faint smirk.
“Nothing bad…” Silarias said with a shrug. “You two just have the exact same look in your eyes. That look Galahad has too, so to speak.”
Nyx nodded in agreement with her cold calm. “Yeah, exactly that.”
Leonardo looked at them completely astonished. “Wait… The legendary look, or what do you mean?”
Nyx laughed softly. “No, well, that… And the ‘WHO ARE YOU GUYS’ look.”
The moment Nyx spoke those words, it dawned on the rest of the room as well. Beat, Aurelius, Jane, and Lila all began laughing at the sudden realization at the same time.
“Right?!” Beat called out, laughing. “It’s literally the exact same thing!”
Leonardo burst out laughing out loud and looked dryly at Nicola. “So they know Galahad too… How is Galahad doing, actually?”
Nicola’s gaze turned serious instantly. His voice dropped. “Ever since Aunt Lisa died… it has really hit him hard.”
Leonardo lowered his head briefly. His voice sounded full of restrained pain. “So after all… She was everything to me. I missed her so intensely as well. After being together for over thirty years… losing her so suddenly…”
Nicola looked at his uncle with a slight, emotional intensity. “Yeah, him too… He lost his mother. Where were you actually, Uncle?..”
Leonardo fell silent. The room became tense and heavy.
He looked at the floor and spoke in a trembling tone: “I only heard about it far too late… I knew nothing at all. I am so deeply sorry…”
Nicola looked at his uncle’s broken gaze. He didn’t even truly blame him, but the question had bothered him all this time. Still, he felt the relief that he could make things right at this moment.
Leonardo remained motionless and quiet, staring straight ahead, as the room wrapped itself in a deep, meaningful silence.