After a few minutes, Nova stopped in front of the condominium where Miyu lived.
'She's probably asleep by now, but…'
It would be worth taking her along to see more Elite Empaths.
He approached the condominium. It was a two-story building with apartments spread out along its length, with brown wooden walls and dark, metallic ceilings.
The place wasn't covered in vegetation, since people here had all kinds of different preferences. It was better to leave it that way so the tenants wouldn't complain.
Miyu's apartment was right on the second floor. He climbed the stairs and stopped at a door with the number 23. He knocked twice and waited.
'No one?'
Nothing. No answer.
On second thought, he took his communicator out of his pocket and dialed Miyu's code. The call was answered with a very cheerful and adorable ringtone that echoed from inside the apartment.
The noise seemed to wake Miyu up, as there was a sound of something falling to the floor.
Finally, she answered the call.
[What?!]
Nova had to move his ear away from the communicator. Miyu's voice was very loud—he almost went deaf.
"I'm outside. Open the door."
[What? No. Wait.]
More banging was heard. Nova raised an eyebrow, wondering if coming here was the best decision. When the banging stopped, Miyu opened the door.
"Seriously. I'm going to kick your butt. Why are you always so untimely?"
Nova smiled casually.
"Maybe it's one of my Spectrum abilities."
Miyu sighed. Her clothes were messy and wrinkled, as was her red hair. She looked sleepy, so Nova's deduction was correct. She had been sleeping. She must've fallen asleep pretty quickly after getting home.
"It doesn't matter now. What are you doing here? I've told you many times not to come to my house."
"Okay. I wanted to tell you to get ready because we're going to Lightflower."
"What?"
She opened her eyes with a glimmer of hope. She looked around as she tried to find the right words to continue the conversation.
"To Lightflower? Just the two of us?" she said, slightly excited. It even seemed as if all the sleepiness and hangover she had before had completely vanished.
"No. Elara and Rober are coming too."
But Nova's response was completely disappointing.
Still, why would Miyu find that disappointing? It was a trip to Lightflower! The entire city was empty due to government safety regulations! It was a great opportunity.
"Oh... Sure..."
"So, do you remember that my uncle went to that city because other factions called him?"
"Yes...?"
She was still disappointed, but she looked curious to know more.
"It turns out that, right now, there's a big incursion across the entire eastern mountain range of the asteroid. Many portals are opening, and there are very powerful Empaths fighting to close all the portals."
That really interested Miyu. Her disappointed expression changed quite a bit. Now she was really focused on what Nova was saying.
"That's... interesting. Tell me more!"
'Perfect. I've got her.'
That had been enough to convince her. Nova continued:
"I talked to my uncle earlier and he said we can go. What do you think? Do you want to see crazy, disastrous battles?"
Miyu lowered her head. She put a hand on Nova's shoulder, and when she looked up, she gave a thumbs up in approval.
"Let's not wait any longer. Let's go right now."
'That was easy,' Nova thought, glancing aside with a wry smile.
If there was one thing this team agreed on, it was that they loved battles against Aberrations.
Many legends of local heroes arose based on raids in the Calem Mountains. And seeing something similar is the dream of every promising youngster in the world of Empaths and Factions.
"Excellent. So... you're going like this?"
Nova looked her up and down. Her clothes were still a mess.
She already knew that, so she slammed the door in Nova's face. The boy raised his eyebrows when multiple bangs, things falling, and meows were heard chaotically from inside the apartment.
When the door opened again, Miyu was ready for battle. She was wearing her adorable fish-shaped bag, her big red boots, and her fighting clothes.
"Now we're ready. Let's go!" she said happily.
Nova nodded, and together they set off in search of the other two team members.
***
Next on the list was Rober. He was the closest. Elara lived farther from the city center.
His house was located in the suburbs of Luminaris. It was a marginal area, so to speak, where people who don't have much money live. But in itself, it was not a place where there were poor people or homeless people.
On this side of the world, that is something very rare to see.
The place was full of single-story houses made of bricks that were less resistant than those used in the houses in the city center. In addition, there wasn't much vegetation because it can cause buildings to deteriorate more quickly.
Rober's house, in particular, was located at the entrance to the suburb. It was only one story high, like most of the houses here. As they passed by, a motorcycle was visible in the open garage, whose door was open.
Someone was there, repairing the motorcycle. His hairy ears stained with grease gave away who it was.
Rober was dirty and stained with grease, but he looked calm and happy putting the parts on the motorcycle.
"Rob! We're here!" Miyu exclaimed, bursting into the house and kicking open the wooden gate that marked the boundary of the property.
Noticing the visitors, Rober brought his hand to his face in exasperation. He smeared his face with some of the grease from the motorcycle as he did so.
'I understand you perfectly, bro,' thought Nova as he walked behind the girl.
Having a wild Miyu storm into your house was a very difficult situation to handle. As someone with experience, Nova knew exactly what to do to keep poor Rober from getting too angry that day.
The canine boy got up from the ground where he was sitting and looked at Miyu with annoyance.
"You have no right to step foot in my sacred home, cat woman. Get out. Only the big brother stays here."
"Huh. How bitter," Miyu countered, pretending to be offended.
Nova had to intervene between the two.
"You just saw each other and already you want to fight. Calm down a little."
Rober sighed. His eyes, which had turned crimson for a moment, returned to their original dark color.
"Yeah. Whatever you say, boss. Why are you here? Aren't we supposed to use the communicator to meet up?"
"Oh. Right. We didn't come here specifically for a meeting or a fight against the Aberrations."
Miyu interrupted, grabbing Nova by the shoulders.
"We're going to Lightflower. There's a big raid going on over there, so you'd better not come!"
Rober raised his eyebrows, interested.
"You should have started with that. I don't have much to do anyway, so when are we leaving?"
"Right now," said Nova.
Rober's tail began to wag from side to side at the good news.
Miyu was noticeably disappointed that this guy was joining the trip, but they were a team. So when it came to Aberrations, they were inseparable. Besides, Rober was the strongest physically speaking.
His height and age might fool anyone, but that was just his appearance. His strength would one day rival Kayn's.
"Right now? Great. Give me a moment."
Closing the garage door to store the motorcycle, Rober looked at one of the windows of the house. Then, when he was close enough, he shouted:
"Finn! I'm going to another city with my friends!"
A male voice responded from inside the house, shouting back.
"I don't give a damn, loser!"
"What?! You're the loser! Get a job and a girlfriend!"
"Fuck you!"
A vein bulged on Rober's forehead.
"No! You fuck off!"
Nova raised his eyebrows in surprise.
You two never change, huh. What a strange pair of brothers.
Finn is, after all, Rober's real older brother. Apparently, they loved each other very much. Like real brothers. Right?
Now that they had Rober, they could leave for the grand mansion of Miss Luzbel, that is, Elara.