https://youtu.be/iTCK5_A5wN4

The centre of Arc Town was relatively packed for the time of day and the size of the town. People walked in and out of the various buildings, strolled down the pavements and drove down the streets as normal. It wasn't like Ruben at all - in addition to having a darker palette, people were talking to one another sincerely and openly. It was nice, thought Valerie.

There were many facilities, such as a supermarket, a few food shops like a pizzeria and a kebab place, and opposite all those places was a gym. The building itself was blue, but the walls at the front were made of glass, allowing one to see the exercising inside - laid out on grey-coloured mats, people were running on treadmills, lifting weights, and more. The glass sliding doors were closed, with what looked to be some kind of scanner to the left.

Standing to the right, looking on her phone, was Valerie, dressed in a green jacket, opened to reveal a white tank top with the image of a voyaging ship emblazoned on it, and a pair of men's gym trousers, topped off with a pair of brown sneakers. With her usual apathetic expression, she stared at the phone screen, which had a green social messaging app opened on it, with the words "Agents Group Chat" at the top. Beneath it showed the names of the three members of the chat in order - "Creed, Scarlett, Valerie".

"Hey, guys! :D"

"Got any assignments today?"

That was Creed. Early bird that he was, he was always the first to start any conversation. For some reason that Valerie was unable to truly comprehend, he was always so enthusiastic about work, too. This wasn't even the work-related group chat - it was the private one that they'd intentionally left Galileo out of. Because he was an asshole, honestly, and also being Scarlett's old man, having him around would be awkward.

"Had to give my dad a package (˵¯͒〰¯͒˵)"

"He didn't seem to appreciate it though (－_－)"

"Must've been late or something. Maybe he was in a bad mood ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

"But now I'm free! ⊹⋛⋋( ՞ਊ ՞)⋌⋚⊹"

That, meanwhile, was Scarlett. She was a quick typer, and nobody else - quite possibly in this generation - used emoticons so liberally. Reading her last text, Valerie decided to make a response.

"We're all free. That's why it's called Libera."

"That was sarcasm, btw."

She sighed while looking at the screen, thinking about her situation. Thus far, she had no missions - good thing, too, she could spend all day goofing off and keeping her mind off whatever it was her coworkers had to do. She took a deep breath, seeing Creed was typing, and decided to wait and see.

"Oh, by the way, I've got news!"

"I was out on patrol in Caerulus. Was real sneaky, if you know what I mean."

"( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Go on." Valerie typed, wondering what he was reporting here. She looked up from her phone and examined her bustling surroundings, remaining quiet herself and occasionally looking down at her phone until she saw Creed was typing again.

"Anyway, I was watching over the Shade Squad, and they were fighting the Dawnspear."

At the mention of Makoto's alias, Valerie frowned slightly, taking another deep breath and hoping the poor guy was doing alright.

"They ambushed him in the city square, and he had to fight them all off on his own!"

"His spear was like a javelin of light, and his palms flew like lightning! Honestly, I actually thought he was gonna win...until HE appeared!"

"Uh oh! Who's HE?"

Valerie kept a close eye out for the answer, and her green eyes widened as Creed typed out, "The one!"

"The only..."

"DEVIL'S SPAWN!"

"Iago?" she muttered out loud, re-reading the message to make sure she wasn't misreading things. So Iago was active after all - Kotoba wouldn't give that codename to anyone else. And given Makoto's allegiances, now she was really worried for the boy's safety.

"Are you sure it was him?"

"Uh, yeah!"

"Black hair, pale skin, red eye, spoke like a classic villain. Had to be him."

"Are you saying he might have a body double, Val?"

Definitely not. He was far too arrogant not to do all his work on his own behalf. She sighed and shook her head, typing up her response.

"Probably not. I was just wondering if he'd really show his face like that."

"Hell yeah!"

"Once he got there, I knew I had to dip! Thankfully, the birds I hid among thought the same way."

"And you're sure they weren't getting away from the red stranger in the flock? (ˆ ڡ ˆ)"

"Nah, I'm awesome."

"I knew I had to report this to Kotoba! This was the chance of a lifetime, to get rid of one of our worst enemies!"

"I'm sure she's tracking him down as we speak."

"Well, that's certainly a relief. But can Kotoba really defeat the Devil's Spawn?"

Of course she could, thought Valerie. She'd seen them both in a battle, and evaluating their abilities, there was a very low chance that Iago would come out on top if they were to clash blades.

"Duh! Is that even a question?"

"If she couldn't beat a guy like that, would she even be fit for Libera leadership?"

"Oooh, good point!"

"Hey, Val, think you could defeat him? (ง'̀-'́)ง"

Valerie paused for a moment, taking a little while to collect her feelings regarding the subject matter. Fighting Iago wasn't exactly something she wanted to think about, after all. But they asked, and it was easier to simply suck it up and answer than to explain why she didn't want to.

"Who knows?" A short, simple answer that betrayed nothing. Perfect, thought Valerie. Now she could stew in her feelings in silence.

"Anyway, I'm gonna be offline for a bit."

"Silas should be arriving any moment now."

"Alright, alright!"

"Gotta go lift those weights, I see you!"

"Have fun! ✺◟(＾∇＾)◞✺"

And at that, Valerie set her phone to silent and stuffed it into her pocket, sighing. Perhaps a few minutes around Silas was what she needed - a good dad joke or two might just take her mind off things.

.........

https://youtu.be/mX9si-MymwU

"I'm telling you, mom, you've gotta take a day off sometime!"

Silas strolled down the streets of Arc Town, his yellow-cased phone pressed to his ear as he looked ahead. His destination was the gym, one he frequented whenever he had the chance, so he knew where he was going. Dressed in his usual yellow jacket, he wore a red tank top and a pair of beige joggers. He had a slight smile on his face, his eyes facing forward. Hearing his mother's voice on the other end, he sighed.

"You know I can't do that, Siley. You know how Acedia feels about holidays! Besides, I have to provide for the two of us, right?"

"One day can't hurt, right? You never know what a nice day all to yourself can do for you, maybe take a walk and admire the trees..." Silas mused. "I really think you need the rest, mom. Those guys are working you like a dog, you know?"

"...I know. But people like us have to do whatever it takes, you know..." she murmured. "Don't worry about me, though! I wouldn't be a Landkeep if I couldn't take it!"

"If you say so. Just...don't wear yourself out, okay?"

"You'd better follow that advice yourself, you know!"

"Mom, I'm going to the gym, getting worn out is the point." Silas rolled his eyes playfully. "You need to take care - I need to take my lumps."

"Haha, if you say so." his mother laughed a little. "I love you, Silas."

"Love you too, mom." Silas smiled happily. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"I'm looking forward to it."

As the two exchanged their farewells, Silas hung up and smiled wistfully, looking around and noticing he was nearing the gym now. He saw Valerie standing there, observing her surroundings listlessly, her hands in her pockets. The pockets of her green denim coat. That was probably from a designer brand. He couldn't help but wonder how much it cost - he didn't dare buy nice things like that. He somewhat envied her for being able to afford...well, a fashion sense. His yellow jacket...call that a special circumstance.

Still, he smiled cheerfully, putting his phone in his pocket and waving at her, approaching the green-clad tomboy. "Hey, Valerie! Hope I'm not late!"

Once she heard his voice, she looked up to see him drawing near, and took her hand out of her pocket to return his waving gesture. "Nah, haven't been here too long." she said. It wasn't untrue, either. He usually got here around this time - five minutes past six, give or take a couple minutes. Must be nice having such an organised schedule, she thought - to always know what you had to do at any given moment.

Silas chuckled at that, crossing his arms. "Good thing it wasn't too big a wait." he said. "Otherwise, you'd have to 'work out' what to do without me!"

Valerie smiled a little. She found that pun - like most puns - amusing in how stupid it was, and expressed this by blowing some air out of her nostrils. "Oi, I can lift weights on my own."

"Yeah, but then who'll be there to lift your spirits?" Silas grinned widely, leading her to roll her eyes. He chuckled lightly, stepping closer to the entrance and pulling out his phone. "C'mon, we can talk more about how necessary I am when we're in."

"If you insist." Valerie shrugged. "Though personally, I'd rather we had some kind of discussion."

Another laugh from Silas' end, one that Valerie couldn't help but partially return. The two got their phones out, opening an app and scanning them onto the scanner at the left, allowing the door to open as they walked in. Once they were inside, a blast of cold air hit them - with the grey colour scheme and the overall coolth of the place, it felt like some kind of exercising dungeon, for lack of a better term. It hadn't been hot outside, so 'refreshing' wasn't the right term to describe the winds of the air conditioner, but still, it was nice - and if nothing else, it made them want to work up a sweat for the sake of warming up.

"Alright, I'll meet you at the yoga mats. We can get changed." Valerie said, watching as Silas raised his arms protectively, smiling cheekily at her.

"Woah, woah, dinner and a movie before the pants come off!"

"You're not changing your pants, you shite." Valerie raised an eyebrow. "You never do."

"Haha, okay." Silas chuckled, nodding slowly. "See you."

Those were the last words exchanged before they headed over to their respective changing rooms, each one opting to take their minds off things through the power of exercise. It was strange. They enjoyed one another's company, but there was still an underlying covetousness whenever they laid eyes on one another. One that went unexpressed, yes, but they felt it nonetheless, even if the reason was different in each case. One that they tried to ignore, but couldn't do so as successfully as they did the sense of unease that came with knowingly consorting with the enemy.

Eventually, they came out, dressed in their training gear. Both had their jackets off, with Silas wearing the sweatpants he'd come in alongside a bland yellow tank top, while Valerie wore a green, short-sleeved shirt with a black pair of gym leggings and shorts. Silas, naturally, had arrived first, and stood by the mats waiting for Valerie to arrive. Which she did, a little while later, and the two of them met up, standing beside each other, a few feet apart.

"Alright, before we begin..." Silas began, smiling and turning his head to face her.

"We've gotta 'get our stretch on', right?" she finished for him, sharing a smile with him. "Come on, let's start."

.........

https://youtu.be/byTldJdeg3M

In the confines of Libera's hideout, it could be difficult to track the passage of time, and the ever-ticking clock on the wall could get frustrating. These were things Kotoba knew more than anyone else. So when she made her rounds from her office to the dungeon, she always made sure to take a small detour just to examine the situation outside while she was already up and about.

It really wasn't too long a walk from her office, either. If her private quarters laid at the penultimate floor of Libera's main base, that was because the dungeons made up the only floor beneath it. She exited the office, only to be met with a menacingly bland corridor that she stood at one end of. Each surface was coloured a distinct silver - though the floor was covered in a grey carpet with no sheen whatsoever - and on one of the walls, the sliding doors of an elevator could be seen. On the other end, there was a set of stairs leading downwards - while next to her office door was a similar staircase heading up.

She headed downstairs, seeing a complex matrix of orange light rays standing at the bottom of the stairs. The laser maze she had installed as a security measure. Wordlessly, she took out a remote control and tapped some of the buttons on it, causing the lasers to vanish. Satisfied, she walked through, slipping the remote into her pocket and folding her arms behind her back.

This room was yet another corridor, made from black, cold and hard stones, with multiple cells in the walls barred in with thick metal bars and separated with walls - special walls, enchanted with a special spell for safety and security purposes. Behind each set of bars was a malnourished, miserable pile of crushed hopes and sheer defeat. Emotionlessly, she walked through, examining each individual cell like a cruel warden in this prison of joy, and counted exactly sixty-four people in her custody. Some were bruised, some were bloodied, some maimed, and a good few seemed catatonic.

She wasn't surprised. This was all her doing - sometimes directly, sometimes by proxy. It was simply her part in the well-oiled machine of Libera. They had their private operations simply to make money to fund things like this; and she wouldn't keep someone like Galileo around if he wasn't useful for that. But when she came across a target - a threat, or someone who might know something about Apex, she'd send Creed and Scarlett, for they were good at gathering information and keeping tabs on the target. Depending on the threat level, one of her henchmen would then be assigned with capturing them. And then, if there was a practical use for it, she would obtain what she needed from the prisoners by any means necessary, breaking their will to facilitate the process. Some particularly unruly Libera members were dealt with this way, too. The Mikado needed to be harsh, after all.

It was why, despite his insistence, she'd refused to allow Galileo anywhere near this part of the job. Nobody was more aware than she was just how cruel her arrangement was, which was why she limited the direct suffering to what was strictly needed. Knowing Galileo lacked those same restraints meant she was fine restricting him to black market dealings. Practicality and efficiency were valuable things in the life of a crime lady.

She quietly remained submerged in the miasma of fear, emptiness and hatred that filled the very air. It was an aura of her own creation, and she was all too familiar with it; after all, it seemed to permeate everywhere she went. But it was especially concentrated here. She sighed, feeling the weight of Libera's iron crown on her head, but didn't stop doing what she needed to do.

She examined the empty cells, too, knowing that one day, one of them would have the Red Joker in it, even if just for a brief while. She looked forward to that day, so that her duty could finally be done. She looked around, finishing her inspection and heading out, only to feel her phone vibrating in her pocket.

She didn't hesitate to take it out, finding a string of messages from an unknown number - to say the least, she was instantly suspicious, because how would a stranger get her number? At the same time, though, she didn't think it was a telemarketer or anything. As she walked up the stairs, she read the messages, feeling quite curious.

"Good evening, Mikado. You may call me Solar."

"I come to you not with an alliance, but with a simple warning that you'll be wise to heed."

"You have an enemy. A nemesis. One who wants nothing more than to see you destroyed. And to this end, countless of your peons have fallen to his blade."

"And I know where he is. I can be your eyes and ears. All you have to do is trust me."

"Should you choose to put your trust in me, you'll know to centre your search around Arc."

"He won't be too far from your current mark, the Red Joker."

"Signing off, Solar."

"Trust" them? How could she possibly trust this mystery confidant when she didn't have a name or face? All of this struck her as way too suspicious. Perhaps she could hire a hacker to learn who they were. But not trusting Solar didn't mean she couldn't use Solar. So perhaps she'd act on this information, at least until further notice. And she remembered one message that had been sent to her by Creed an hour ago;

"Yo, Kotoba, I found the Devil's Spawn in Caerulus. What do we do?"

He'd always been so casual with her. Almost every morning, he'd do things like greet her and check up on her. She couldn't claim to understand his thought process here, but she didn't discourage it. But this piece of information...combined with what Solar had told her, it began to make sense. And she knew good and well that it'd be foolish not to be proactive now of all times.

She returned to her office, brainstorming on how next to proceed - how best to divide her resources to make sure she got everything she wanted.