The Uninvited Guest

"1978!" Hector called out.

"Ryuji," Wata said softly, supporting him as they stepped out.

"Henri..." Ryuji muttered under his breath.

The name was barely audible, but Wata, standing close, caught it.

"Yes?" Wata replied quietly.

"I'll kill him," Ryuji declared, his voice a low growl. His eyes narrowed with fierce intensity just as the lift doors closed in front of him, sealing him away from the others.

"Floor 1925!" Aymara and Xalatl got down. Only a few people remained in the elevator now.

"Hector!" Leonardo shouted, his voice cutting through the thick silence. "What was that for? I mean, I know why you did it, but it was unexpected." He paused, glancing at Anna, who looked like she was on the verge of exploding. Her clothes, already disheveled from recent events, now seemed even worse.

"Ahem… Anna will want you dead for that stunt," Leonardo added, attempting humor, though it failed to diffuse the tension.

"Hector," Shadow blade said slowly.

"Ah, which floor do you stop at again?" Hector asked, seemingly unfazed by the chaos he'd caused.

"Floor 1873," Shadow blade replied.

Hector quickly halted the lift at that floor. Shadow blade and his guide stepped off.

"I can't wait to get home," muttered Shadow Blade to his guide. His guide, dressed in the standard blue coat and pants nodded in agreement.

"Hector, I have a year to prepare. I really don't know anything about this place," Leonardo stated.

Hector looked at him, puzzled by the abrupt declaration. "Oh? Well, alright then. The Sky District should be suitable for that."

"Districts? How many are there?" Leonardo asked, curiosity piqued.

"About twenty-one. Each district has its own set number of divisions, but the Twenty-First District... that one's unknown," Hector said, his voice low as he pointed downward.

Below them, the vast sprawl of the Sky District came into view. It stretched out like a vast, glittering cityscape—towering and expansive, yet still incomparable to the near-boundless ground below.

"Similar to the number of realms..." Leonardo murmured, speculating aloud.

"You old man!" Anna yelled, attempting to slap Hector. Leonardo intercepted her hand.

"Anna! It's alright. He slowed it down, didn't he?" Leonardo said, trying to calm her.

"He could have done it five minutes ago! And when did you get all father-sonny with him, huh?" she snapped, her voice a mixture of frustration and concern.

"C'mon, Anna, let's go home first. I'm tired. I've been standing for a while now—well, not really standing, but still," Elara added, recalling how she'd been stuck to the wall.

"Conductor, my floor is here," Mei-Ling called out, stepping closer to Hector.

"Ah, my fault. Floor 1534!" Hector shouted. The lift screeched to a halt. Three people stepped out, including a pair of heirs. A towering figure followed Mei-Ling, his presence commanding. Seven people exited.

Leonardo couldn't help but feel a sense of unease as he observed the figure. The dim light filtering in from the sky bathed the lift, making the man's mane gleam like molten gold.

"Why does he look like that?" Leonardo thought, squinting for a better look.

"He's human—most of the time," Mei-Ling said, catching his curious gaze. She studied him, amused by his naive fascination.

"What do you mean by 'most of the time'?" Leonardo asked, not fully grasping the deeper meaning.

"Anna, you'll need to take him to the Grand Bibliotheca. Your guide seems... ignorant should be the right term," Mei-Ling suggested, making a subtle gesture—two fingers pointing down, as if implying something Leonardo couldn't yet decipher.

"Where did you find such an idiot? Let's go, Leontis," Mei-Ling remarked, her gaze resting briefly and coldly on Leonardo.

"Yeah, we do have to go to the Bibliotheca," Anna said with a heavy sigh. 

he looked at Leonardo, realizing just how little he knew about the structure they were in. "And that'll give us time for more questions…" she added, her eyes narrowing in thought.

"See you later, Anna, Elara," Mei-Ling said, stepping out with her guide.

"First we get to the floor, then we'll head to the Bibliotheca," Anna said to Elara, who nodded.

Leonardo turned around to see only five people left in the elevator. Excluding Anna, Elara, and himself, only two others remained. And who else could it be but—

"Yo! Didn't expect to see you here—or maybe I did. Hey, Elara," said the knight casually, hands resting comfortably at his sweater's sides, reminiscent of Marquis.

"Hoody Knight?" Leonardo muttered, recalling the name Anna had used earlier.

"What?"

"Floor 1307! This is the final floor for the heirs! See you later, Leonardo!" Hector shouted as the lift reached the last designated stop.

The knight turned to Elara, giving her a knowing smile. "Walking together again, eh, Elara?"

Elara gave a slight nod, a soft smile crossing her lips as the lift doors opened.

"See you later, Hector—" Leonardo was saying as he stepped out of the lift, only to be hit by a surreal breeze.

His eyes widened as he took in the vast expanse before him. "How can this be inside the Stem?" he asked, stunned by the impossibility of the scene.

The lift doors closed behind him with a faint metallic gleam. They looked like ordinary elevator doors, yet they exuded a strange newness—as if freshly minted from a futuristic forge.

"You'll get used to it," Elara said with a playful smile, stepping beside him. "The lift is way better than the last method."

Leonardo's gaze swept across the landscape.

They stood on a cliff overlooking a sprawling mansion and vast acres of land. The sky above, though expansive, felt artificial—a patchwork of pale blues and muted sunlight that gave the illusion of openness.

But the ceiling wasn't all that high, at least not compared to the summit; he estimated it stood about as tall as two skyscrapers stacked on top of each other.

"This... this has to be the same size as Volnia," Leonardo muttered, disbelief coloring his voice. "Three thousand-plus floors, all as big as Volnia..."

"Which floor is Volnia again?" the knight asked, trying to place the unfamiliar name.

"It's kind of like a town I'm from…" Leonardo hesitated as he caught Anna watching him intently. "I can't explain, but it's huge."

As they made their way down the cliffside, Leonardo noticed the trees—fewer than back home, but their leaves rustled in a way that reminded him of the grasslands near Volnia.

Mei-Ling had told him he didn't understand anything, and as he looked around now, her words echoed in his mind—words he hated to admit felt true.

Leonardo's head spun with questions, but before he could voice them, Elara chimed in.

"Yeah, if this shocks you, you're in for a treat. The Bibliotheca is just below the highest floor regular folks can access."

His jaw set. Restricted floors? and the heirs are allowed into them. Jackpot.

"I'm Kaelan—Kai, Silver-Shield, whatever you want to call me. I realized we haven't introduced ourselves properly," Kaelan said. His voice had a monochrome quality—part metallic echo, part warmth—that felt oddly comforting.

"I'm Leonardo, but you can call me Nard, I guess. I'll call you Kai," Leonardo replied, cheeks flushing slightly at the awkwardness.

"Nard? Really? You didn't tell us that," Anna teased before Kaelan could respond.

"Well, I just thought of it right now," Leonardo admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's alright," Kaelan said with a nod. "And this is Astraea." He gestured to his guide, who stood quietly by his side.

"Where'd you find a wizard?" Elara asked, curiosity piqued. "You'd think they wouldn't stray far from where they get jobs."

"It's a long story she's from another district—one Dad and I visited two months ago,but she agreed to help me," Kaelan explained.

"Which—oh. I just realized. Where's the Draconic Hogeol?" Elara asked, recalling the elite group's reputation.

"They don't change sides that fast. Don't worry," Anna interjected, taking the lead as they approached the mansion below.

"The chance of one of the Five being here, too? I doubt it," Kaelan added thoughtfully.

Five? Draconic? Leonardo wondered. "Are they some sort of guards?" he muttered aloud.

Elara nodded.

"The Five Guardians of the Stem," Kaelan explained. "One usually hangs out here—it's peaceful."

"I doubt it, he's a white-haired maniac" Anna added posing with a spear, slashing the air.

"He shouldn't be here, though. The explosion probably caught their attention," Anna continued, glancing at Kaelan.

"Explosion? What do you mean?" Kaelan asked, concern tightening his voice.

"There was an explosion near Uncle Richard's mansion—the Right Star," Anna explained.

"Wait, what? When? Is Uncle Richard okay?" Kaelan asked, his voice rising.

"Yeah, he's fine. It wasn't that close to his mansion. Don't worry about it," Anna reassured him. Then added, "How about we go to the Bibliotheca together?"

Kaelan turned to Astraea, who had been silently observing. "Astraea, you coming?"

"It will be my pleasure to guide you," she said, her tone rich with respect—a rare display that even Kaelan seemed caught off guard by.

They continued their descent, the path winding down the cliff.

Soon, they emerged from the tree-lined slope into open grassland. 

"Marquis's floor had more trees, and he was the only one living there," Leonardo noted thoughtfully.

"He's higher up in the hierarchy," Anna reminded. "Remember what I told you?"

"Then Takashiro isn't?" Leonardo asked, trying to piece it together.

"He is—but he also lives in another city," Anna clarified.

"And the light? That's just… God, I guess," Kaelan said with a shrug. "No one really knows. The Heads probably do, but we're kids—even though we're going on a five-century-long quest." He shrugged again.

Leonardo stared at the boy. 

He's angry. He has the right to be. I'd be furious too.

"We should probably stop talking about the Sage," Kaelan said, his voice lowering.

"I don't want what happened to Leonardo to happen to me," Elara added.

"What—" Kaelan began, then realized. "Oh. How's your first time?" he added with a grin.

Leonardo tensed he looked around; he knew this feeling. The feeling of being watched.