Day 3

Location: Millory, Bottleneck City

Time: 6:01 AM

The huge factory loomed up over the horizon, intimidating and foreboding, but Darius, Ai and Greg's determined walk didn't faulter as they approached.

Well, at least until they finally reached the gate. When a resounding yell echoed throughout the yard, the three of them were forced to pause, looking around in confusion.

"HEY!" the voice yelled again. Finally, Darius found the source: a guard at the top of a guard tower, frantically scrambling down to meet up with them. It seemed like an odd decision, because Darius figured that if he and his friends had wanted to get in the factory, they easily could while the guard was stuck on the ladder.

...However, no matter how crunched on time they were, or how irritated Darius was finding himself, it would probably not be good to piss off the exact people they were trying to ask a favour of. So, they waited. Patiently.

Eventually, the guard made his way off the ladder, and ran to the little group.

"What (huff) do you (huff) want?" the guard huffed. He must not get a ton of exercise around here. "Why are you here?"

"We need to ask you elder some questions," Darius told him. "And ask for a favour, too."

The guard stared at him incredulously. "At six in the morning?!"

"It's urgent," Darius insisted, but he couldn't hold back a wince. "Technically, we should have done this earlier."

"You should know us," Ai accused. "We were just here."

"I don't know you," the guard replied, giving them strange looks. Then, his eyes caught on Greg, and his mouth dropped open. "Wait, Greg? Why are you outside of Millory?"

Greg beamed at the guard. "I went down a secret passage!"

Apparently, this meant nothing to the guard, as he only could blink at Greg in confusion. Darius looked between them.

"You... know Greg?" he asked, cautiously.

The guard shrugged. "Who doesn't? He became quite popular when he arrived at Millory. We don't get visitors like him often. More visitors like you."

Darius gawked at him. "What? What does that mean? I'm trying to help!"

"We need to stop the bad guy," Greg explained seriously, his big eyes wide. "He's very bad."

The guard looked at Darius, then at Greg. "A bad guy..." he mused. "Who?"

Darius rolled his eyes, trying to ignore the fact that this guy believed a little kid over Darius. But, well, annoying as it was, it didn't matter right now.

"It's Kin," he answered. "He's coming. But if I can talk to your elder, I think I can figure out a way to stop him. But I need to understand, first."

"You really think you can... stop him?" the guard asked, raising an eyebrow. His face was twisted in disbelief.

Darius nodded firmly. "Yes. I just need to talk to your boss first. Would you please take me to her?!"

The guard frowned, and checked his watched. "Well... I guess you're lucky. She's going to be awake at this point, but she's not going to be happy about doing this first thing in the morning."

Ai gave him a strange look. "We're only going to talk."

"Still."

"We can handle it," Darius told him. "Just let us in. Please?"

"Relax, relax, you already convinced me," the guard replied, jerking his head to the door. "Just... if she asks... tell her it was Hess on duty."

Darius was not thrilled about finding the elder and having to go through all that again, and he worried over it as they walked through the halls, trying to find the best way to make his words more convincing, or trying to find the quickest way to tell the elder what he needed to.

But as it turned out, he didn't need to worry at all. The elder seemed to know much more than the guard did, and she took him seriously from minute one, asking his to regal her with what the little group had seen and found out while he was away, all while she was eating her breakfast. For the old women's sake, Darius tried to keep the story and PG as he possibly could, leaving out many details of gore or other... disgusting things.

Finally, as he finished, the room was left in silence, with only the sound of the elder's chewing and fork on the plate, picking up little bits of vegetables, meat (dinosaur meat, Darius wondered), and some mysterious soup think, that Darius didn't think he would eat even if he was paid. The elder seemed to consider all had heard, and when she finished her meal, she still didn't speak for a long time, only wiping her mouth, and looking thoughtful.

"...Interesting," she finally said. "How interesting. That office seems to hold more information than we thought..."

Darius shifted uncomfortably. Perhaps it was ironic that he was only worried about timing when time had already run out, but he could help but imagine the seconds ticking by in the back of his mind... and Kin getting ever closer.

The elder shook out her hands, looking at Darius with piercing black eyes. "It really is fascinating, is it not? All you learned has merit... however, I fear I still do not understand what this has to do with Kin. This information seems more useful to us than your quest to get rid of Kin."

Darius' mouth fell open. "W-What?!" he cried out, shocked. "But-But you said in order to help I needed to understand more!"

Ai looked surprised. "Oh. That's why we went there?"

The elder blinked at him, seemingly taken aback. "Yes, I did say that," she began, slowly. "But, while the gas is important to the politics of Bottleneck, it's still hardly all there is to it. When I said you didn't understand, I meant more broadly than that. I... hm, perhaps there's I different way to explain it. You're knowledgeable about dinosaurs, aren't you?"

Darius blinked. "I... yes, but how did you...?"

The elder waved a hand. "You weren't quiet about it, and people around here talk. I heard about it. In any case, think about that, and how dinosaurs used to live, all those thousands and millions of years ago. When predators and prey lived together in, well, not exactly a balance, but in a stable harmony. When each animal provided stability to where they lived. When the land and the animals together helped each other in different ways. You can picture it, correct?"

Darius nodded, wondering where this was going. "An ecosystem," he said. "I know what they are."

"Good, I wasn't sure," the elder hummed, and, at Darius' offended look, she continued. "Well, on the moon, there wouldn't be much of that, so I was wondering if they would even teach that up there. But never mind. I want you to think of Bottleneck in this way: an ecosystem. Now, do you know what happens when one part of the ecosystem is removed...?"

Of course he did. Suddenly, and very clearly, Darius understood exactly what the elder was trying to explain. He slumped back down in his seat in despair. "It falls apart," he answered. "Because the ecosystem needs every part to operate."

The elder nodded. "That's right. It's the simplest way I can explain it. Unfortunately, it's a lot more complicated than that, because there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other variables, but the bottom line is the same: It will only mean disaster."

Ai leapt up from her chair, startling Darius. "But we can't just let him get away with this!" she cried, looking almost embarrassed when everyone's eyes turned to her. "He's evil, right? That's means we have to stop him! ...Right?"

The elder considered her. "Unfortunately, we are rabbits, and Kin is a wolf. I am not saying that because I don't think we can fight back, or that we can't do any number of things to 'solve' our problem, but no matter what we do to Kin, it will almost definitely not matter. Kin is undoubtably bad, but he is far less evil that the system that allows him to do what he can. The system, or the 'ecosystem,' I supposed. In any case, if we get rid of Kin, another one like him will easily take his place.

"To truly defeat the evil, we must dismantle the system, and that will take a lot of hard work, sacrifice and, most importantly, time."

Darius' stomach twisted. Time they, or more specifically, he, did not have. If Darius was going to find Brooklyn and the rest of his friends, there was nothing he could do. Not according to the elder, at least.

He sighed, and the elder looked at him sympathetically.

"It is unfortunate," she said, sorrowfully. "I know that more than anything. Sometimes I wonder. Am I making a new hell, or am I actually helping? Will what I do matter, or am I fighting the impossible? It's hard to say, but I refuse to rush it, or get reckless. I have chosen peace and kindness, and if I give up those, I give up all."

Ai sat down in defeat. Darius crossed him arms, decidedly unhappy with the new turn of events. It was almost embarrassing how much this did not align with the fantasy in his head, but he supposed it just went to show how quickly childish ideals collapse under logic and reason.

But it definitely didn't mean he had to be happy about it. He missed the power of being one of the only people on Isla Nublar....

...Okay, on second thought, no he didn't.

Suddenly, Greg, who Darius hadn't even thought was paying attention, spoke up.

"Can I see the cool dinosaurs again?" he asked, and, even in the midst of his despair, Darius' head snapped up.

The elder smiled, much kinder than she had been last time. Perhaps after hearing everything the three of them went through, she was feeling a little more sympathetic.

"Of course," she answered, nodding. "In fact, you might even learn something."

They were lead by a person named Vitla. Apparently, she was the dinosaur version of a veterinarian, which, Darius supposed, would still be a veterinarian. Also, she loved dinosaurs just as much as Darius did, and, as soon they discovered that, they were deep in conversation, with Darius telling her about everything that went down on the islands, and Vitla telling everything about Millory, and what they did.

"The gas is a big help, actually," the girl said, barely paying attention to what she was even saying. Even as Darius froze and stared at her. She continued walking and talking, unaware of this new complication, she had just dropped on all their heads. "It's a good thing we have so much, actually, because we owe practically everything to it!"

"Wait," Darius spoke up, his mouth dry. "The... gas? The gas that's under Millory? The really dangerous kind?"

Vitla stopped, giving them all an odd look, smiling awkwardly. "Yeah, that's it. It's gets into the pipes and we trap it, and then regulate it into the levels we need."

Vitla frowned at the blank expressions Darius, Ai and Greg gave her. Well, and Darius and Ai's expressions, anyway, Greg wasn't paying attention. She sighed, shaking her head, and turned around.

"Here," she said, not unkindly. "I'll show you. It really is magical."

She quickly led the little group the rest of the way, towards a big, steel door, that Darius first thought was keeping the dinosaurs inside. But Vitla reached out a hand and pushed it open easily, making Darius revaluate his first assumption. If a mere human could push it open, most dinosaurs probably could, too.

As Vitla easily pushed open the door, the first thing that hit Darius was the humidity, making sweat bead on his skin and his nose feel itchy. It was a big change from outside, which, while not noticeably cold, was still kind of cold. And... great. Well, Darius wasn't going to be able to forget that now.

The second thing Darius noticed was the noises. Shrieks, calls, and low rumbling noises came from the place beyond the door like a symphony. It took Darius back, way back, to living in their makeshift treehouse, when these noises were all around them, constantly. For a moment, Darius could close his eyes and go back to that time, surrounded by friends and danger on all sides... it was tinged with nostalgia.

"You're the one who brought in those dinosaurs from before, right?" Vitla asked, breaking Darius out of his memories. "Yesterday? The saltasaurus, the borealopelta, the utahraptor and the pachyrhinosaurus?"

Darius nodded. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure? Unless there was someone else..."

Vitla laughed, as if Darius had just told a joke.

"Right," she said. "Well, most of them are in extensive care right now, but I can take you to see one of them. Come with me."

She stepped into the room, and Darius followed closely, hardly able to contain his excitement. Despite his experience of living on a whole island with them for... an indetermined amouth of months, Darius' love of dinosaurs had not dampered, in fact, it had only deepened; his head on a swivel as he looked around at every corner of the room. A pinocosaurus, a baryon, a coelurus, an albertosaurus... and more! They were in various cages around the large, open room without a roof that Darius had found themselves in, and although Darius thought that most of the cages looked a little too small in Darius' opinion, he remembered what Vitla said about how they only keep most dinosaurs for a night or two while they treat them, and then the dinosaurs can go back out. There wasn't any illness, sickness or injury that they couldn't heal.

Most of these dinosaurs would be gone the next morning, or the morning after that. It was a little hard to believe, Darius thought as he passed a pachycephalosaurus missing a leg, but he didn't dwell on it.

"Here, here," Vitla said, waving Darius forward towards on particular table in the back. Darius' eyes widened as he saw the creature sitting on it, an uncomfortably familiar sight. Vitla's hand was on the little saltasaurus, and she was gently patting it as she gave it a small, sad smile.

"This one, and the other ones you brought in, will probably have to stay longer than most of the other dinosaurs," she explained. "Because it's not just physical ailments they suffer from, it's mental, too. Those... are harder to deal with, but don't worry! They're still treatable."

Darius breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that's good," he said, and was about to ask Vitla just how they were treating them, but a low moan from the saltasaurus drew his attention away. It was a long and grating sound that made the hairs on Darius' arms stand up on their ends.

"It sounds like it's in pain," Ai mumbled, and Darius wholeheartedly agreed. Vitla nodded.

"She is," Vitla told them gravely. "But don't worry, that's a good sign."

"That she's in pain?" Darius asked, taken aback. Vitla shook her head quickly.

"No, no, that she's making noise like that at all," Vitla reassured them. "It means her mind is healing, that she can communicate pain like that. It means she's feeling it, and that means her mind is healing."

"Is she going to be okay?" Greg asked Vitla. He reached out, and Vitla nodded. Greg gently pet the saltasaurus.

"We can't say for sure," Vitla replied. "We haven't seen injuries like these before, even though we know they can happen. But I'm hopeful... this gas seems to be able to do anything."

Darius' head snapped up. Right, the gas. "Can... Can we see?"

Vitla smiled. "Of course. That's while a brought you here, anyway. Stay right here."

Vitla left them with the saltasaurus, but she didn't do far. Only to the wall, where a bunch of pipes were attached to the walls. Vitla took a hold of a wheel, and a canister attached to some strange looking mask with her other. She attached the canister to the pipe and twisted the wheel, filling the canister up with gas. When she finished, she twisted the little wheel again and brought the canister over. Darius eyes it curiously.

"That's full of the gas, right?" he guessed. Vitla nodded.

"We have a million of these," Vitla explained, holding up the mask. For a million different dinosaurs in a million different sizes. The only reason we wouldn't be able to treat a dinosaur is if we didn't have a mask in their shape or size. But that just means we need to take a little longer to take the mask, and then to treat them. Simple."

Vitla gently took the dinosaurs head, cupping it gently and putting the mask to it's face. The saltasaurus breathed in deeply, and Darius saw that... familiar, terrible grey smoke curling in the transparent tube connecting the gas canister to the mask. He was certain he would have nightmare about that, whenever he was allowed to sleep next.

He cringed as he saw the saltasaurus suck in the smoke, but unlike the corpse in the basement, the saltasaurus didn't turn into a monster. Instead... the cuts on its body were becoming smaller and smaller, and eventually disappearing into tiny little scars. Also, as it breathed, the pupils of the saltasaurus eventually grew more and more focused, instead of looking into the distance like before. It did certainly look like the saltasaurus was becoming better, but... how?

Darius didn't realize he had spoken the question out loud until Vitla looked up at him. She looked down at the saltasaurus again, watching the last of the gas disappear into the saltasaurus. Then, gently, she sat the saltasaurus' head down, and put the canister aside. Then, she looked back to Darius, adjusting her glasses.

"What do you know of the gas, so far?" she asked him, tilting her head. "It'll be easier to explain if I know what you know."

"It took a lying down person and made him dance," Greg told her. Vitla looked at him, and Darius winced.

He quickly covered Greg's ears. "It's... it took a corpse and... possessed it? Also, it kills people, I think. And, um..." Darius hesitated. Vitla gave him an encouraging nod.

"Go on."

"It's alive...?" Darius guessed, and immediately felt embarrassed. "I don't know. It seemed intelligent, I guess. I don't know another way to describe it."

Vitla looked thoughtful. "Well, I can't say that, because I don't really know how the gas works. I have heard things... well, that's leave it at that. Anyway, yes, you're right. From what we know, the gas can kill people, and after they're dead, it seems like it... well, for lack of a better word, 'reanimates' their corpse, somehow. We don't really get it, and its kind of hard to study, but, yes, that does seem to be what's happening."

"However," Vitla continued. "There's something else, too. Only a little bit ago, the group that now resides at Millory was nomadic, like most of the groups in the Badlands. We were the first to come to Bottleneck, and when we arrived, we saw something amazing: dinosaurs! Real live dinosaurs! And we obviously couldn't leave after that, because, well, it's a miracle! Amazing! So we set up in Millory, and started studying the dinosaurs.

"The first thing we discovered was the connection between the dinosaurs and the gas. Well, not exactly a 'connection', at first... but we all agreed both were weird, so we looked into it. We discovered what you did... that the gas can do terrible things to people... when it consumes you, not only does it kill you, but it distorts you into a horrible monster of your former self. And then it can come back and... yeah, 'possess' you, as unscientific as it sounds.

"But that's the thing!" Vilta suddenly cried out. "You need a lot of gas to do it. But we don't use it! We found that if you only use a little bit of gas, it can return you to a previous state!"

Darius was taken aback. "What?"

Vitla pushed her glasses up, looking smug. "Basically, that means that it can heal you. Well sort of. Lets say I give you this right now, and then cut off your hands. If I gave you more after that, you'd regrow your hands!"

Darius stared at her, and then blinked at the pipes in the walls. "That's... how on earth... That's amazing!"

"I know right?!" Vitla nodded, getting she excited her voice squeaked. "It's so cool! But it's not completely foulproof. Like, say, for example, if I cut off your hand and THEN gave it to you... any harm I did to you before I gave you the gas wouldn't heal. Get it?"

Darius nodded, hiding his hands behind his back. "That... wow! It's so interesting!"

"Yeah!" Vitla nodded so hard her glasses nearly flew off her face. "It really is. It gave us the gift of dinosaurs back, though only in Bottleneck. It's incredibly rare and special to have a gift like that... I'm glad I'm here."

Darius could only nod, brain spinning. That was... well, he just couldn't wrap his head around, and even with the dinosaurs all around him, he couldn't quite feel as excited as Vitla was. After all, he'd seen it make a monster.

But on the other hand... dinosaurs!

"Can we see more of them?" Darius asked, making Vitla jump from the abrupt change of topics. "The dinosaurs? I think I want to see them."

"Of course!" Vitla said, beaming. "Come over this way, I'll-."

"Wait, Darius!" Ai suddenly spoke up, stepping forward. Darius looked between them. Vitla was looking at Ai, confused, and a little concerned, and Ai... Ai just looked worried.

"Just a minute," Darius told Vitla, turning to Ai. Vitla nodded, still looking a little concern. Darius couldn't blame her, he was, too. Which is why when Ai took his arm and hurried him to a secluded corner of the room, Darius hurried after her.

When they arrived, Ai didn't waste any time. "What time is it?"

Darius had to check his watch. "Um... now? It's 6:57. Why?"

Ai looked at him strangely. "It's nearly been an hour. What are why going to do about Kin?"

Daius blinked. Oh. Oh no. Oh no! How could Darius have gotten so easily distracted?! He'd already forgotten about Kin, and Brooklyn, and even Greg's quest to find his brother... dammit, how could he have gotten distracted so easily?

But... at the same time... Darius didn't want to think about all of that, especially when all of this stuff was so close by and significantly more interesting.

Darius shook his head, already ashamed of what he was going to say. "Ai... I don't think we can do anything about that."

Ai looked taken aback. "What?"

"You heard her, right?" Darius pressed, already feeling guilty. "We can't do anything without causing MORE trouble. It's better-."

Ai narrowed her eyes. "Why do you trust her? We don't know what's she wants, other than what she wants us to think! Right?"

"Because she has something to hide," Ai answered easily. "Remember the mayor? In Thrifort?"

Darius' eyes widened, but he was still doubting. "He didn't exactly lie..."

"Well, no, but he had some reason to keep Kin around and to help him," Ai replied. "And that reason was to trade those dinosaurs, remember?"

Darius winced. Now he did remember. Something else we shouldn't have forgotten.

"Maybe these people have something in this, too," Ai mused when Darius didn't reply. "It's clear Kin is the bad guy. If we stop him, maybe we can go home."

Darius' chest tightened. "We can't."

"What?"

"Brooklyn," Darius said. "I need to-."

Darius couldn't finish, but Ai was nodding in understanding anyway. "No, no, you're right. From what you told me, Nightlight City is worse. But then we definitely need to stop Kin! If we stop him, destroy the... ecosystem...? Maybe we can fix all this other problems just by stopping him!"

Darius frowned, looking at his feet while troubled thoughts whirled around his head. Maybe the Elder was right. Or maybe Ai was right. Or maybe neither of them were...

But all Darius knew was that he had decided to listen to Ai. He nodded, once.

"Okay," he said, firmly. He glanced back at Vitla, who was showing Greg an edmontonosaur. They were both completely preoccupied by it, so Darius didn't bother hiding his nervous face.

"I think I learned all I need to know," he continued. "About the gas. But we'll need to hurry... we already wasted enough time here. And... Ai?"

Ai looked over to him, looking surprised by the tone of his voice. "Yes?"

Darius couldn't look her in the eyes. "I'm sorry."

Ai gave him a small smile. "Hey... it's okay. There's still time! We can fix this!"

Darius smiled, too, despite himself. "Yeah... yeah! Let's get Greg, and go."

Darius took a deep breath, and then pressed that familiar button on his watch. Engine answered almost immediately.

"It's too late, kid."

"I know, I know!" Darius said, allowing his nervousness to creep into his voice. He was aiming for panic, but nervousness would work, too. "Everything's fine-!"

Engine snorted. "Are you sure?"

"Look, just... listen," Darius told her. "Where's Kin?"

"On a jeep, already on the way," Engine told him, but now she was starting to sound curious, "Why...?"

"Listen, you need to get a message to him," Darius told her, urgently. "I know he wants to walk up to the two front doors of Millory, but he can't! You have to stop him!"

"What?!" Engine cried. "Why?!"

"There's a groupof Tyrannosaurus in front of the gate!" Darius yelled back. "Right in front! They saw all the people leave, and I think it tipped them off that that would be a good feeding ground!"

"...Oh, just that?" Engine finally asked. She groaned, and Darius's stomach twisted in fear at her suddenly nonchalant tone. "Kid, call me when it's important. We will just pick those things off when we see them."

"What?" Darius cried. "No! You can't! Tyranosaurs are ambush predators-" They weren't. "So they will be hiding from you, and they'll pick you off as they see you!"

Engine paused, and then swore violently. "Really?"

Darius nodded. "Yeah! But don't worry, there's another way in. Just meet me on the corner of Vodka lane and Cherry avenue, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Engine muttered. "Thanks, kid."

Darius smiled to himself, but made sure to put as much relief into his voice as possible when he next spoke. "No problem."

Kin arrived sooner than expected in his big jeep, nearly going one hundred miles an hour straight at Darius until Darius thought that Kin intended to run him over.

But Kin stopped just in time, skidding the jeep to a stop right beside Darius, who breathed a quick sigh of relief at not being run over.

Kin stepped out, a frown on his face as he looked around. We're awfully far away," he mumbled, seemingly more to himself than to Darius. When his eyes finally did catch on Darius, he smiled. "Ah. There you are. Glad you pulled through, little guy."

Darius gulped, and then smiled as best he could. He inwardly yelled at himself for acting suspicious, but thankfully, Kin just smirked at him. Luckily, Kin seemed to take Darius' nervousness as a powertrip.

"So where is this other way in?" Kin asked him. By his feet, the troodontid curled around his feet like a cat, hissing quietly. "Better be a shortcut. I've been waiting a little too long for this to be... too patient."

"R-Right over here," Darius replied, waving him over. "You know the tunnels that run under the city?"

Darius was too turned away from Kin to see his face, but he heard the hard edge in his voice when he next spoke. "...Actually... no, I did not. Although, I have suspected. Tunnels, huh? I see, I see..."

"They lead into Millory, too," Darius told him. "That's how we'll get around the Tyrannosaurs."

"I see, I see," Kin said, a smug tone in his voice. "You've truly went above and beyond, kid. I won't forget this."

Darius didn't respond to that, instead kneeling down and pulling open the hatch that would lead down into the tunnels. It was pretty wide, and it looked like it could fi a person much bigger that either Darius or Kin inside. Lights lit the ladder, and the rest of the tunnel all the way to the bottom. "Here."

Kin peered down, and smiled. "Perfect," he said, before reaching into his jacket and pulling out a small handgun. Darius' eyes widened, and Kin couldn't seem to stop himself from snickering. He pointed the gun right between Darius' eyes. "You first. You don't think after all this I trust you, right? No... I've heard what you've been up, too, you little brat. I've heard about that heroic streak-GAH!"

If Kin had been even slightly paying attention to something other than Darius and his monologue, than maybe his fate would have been different. But unfortunately, he wasn't, and Ai snuck up behind him easily, and shoved him inside the hole.

Kin screamed as he went down, but as Darius and Ai pushed the hatch down and closed, it was suddenly muffled, then completely cut off.

Darius and Ai sat beside it, on the ground. Shaking, and breathing heavily.

"I... didn't know it would be so easy," Ai observed, looking shaken. Darius nodded.

"I guess some of the simplest plans are the best plans?" he guessed.

Suddenly, they both froze as a small scraping sound startled both of them. Darius slowly looked to the side, and saw Dragon, the troodontid, looking at both of them with its wide, intelligent eyes. Troodontids were smart, Darius remembered. Like dogs. But were they loyal, too?

Dragon seemed to consider this as well, but finally, it made its decision. It turned tail, and ran away. Apparently, Dragon didn't seem to like Kin, either.

"Oh!" Darius and Ai suddenly heard a shout from beside them. They both glanced over, and saw Greg running full tilt towards them, looking panicked.

"I forgot!" he cried. "I forgot to come and help!"

Ai and Darius looked at each other, and then laughed.

"Don't worry, Greg," Ai giggled. "It's over. Kin's gone."

"A simple plan," Darius said again, chuckling. Greg frowned.

"But... Wasn't I supposed to do something?" he asked, looking troubled. Darius shook his head.

"Don't worry about it," he told Greg, repeating Ai. Darius reached into his pocket, and pulled out the piece of paper he had forgotten about earlier.

"Here," he said, showing it to Greg. "I found this, earlier. It talks about a... community hall? Maybe-."

"Maybe Wirt's there!" Greg finished, grabbing the paper with wide eyes. "Let's go! Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Darius laughed again. "Of course!"

Footnotes:

You have unlocked the Path of the Hero. Are you sure this is the direction you want to go?