Mirany heard the slight alarm in Nero’s voice as he summoned the team to his location. Immediately she pressed the button to view the map, scanning hurriedly until she found the point. Saga exchanged a worried look with her as she did the same. The women made their way to the area with little delay, luckily. Nothing was said as they walked, both sunk in a shared concern. What could have disturbed Nero so much?

The secret hallway they found seemed to go on forever, but Mirany couldn’t tell if it really was that long or if it just felt like it because they were in such a hurry. She decided that of course it didn’t matter--she needed to focus on going faster. Her nerves tightened more and more the closer she got to the blip on the map.

At last they reached an open door, a very old one with an outdated manual opening mechanism. Mirany frowned at it. [i]That's odd.[/i] But when she entered the room and saw the massive creature in the tank, her face went slack. It was unmistakably a Behemoth. She was suddenly glad Nero had been so cryptic over the bluetooth. She wouldn’t have believed him. Likely none of them would. Slowly she came up to stand at Nero’s shoulder. She tried to elbow him in greeting, but the gesture faltered and fell short in her shock. Dimly she heard the others arrive, but she had eyes only for the monster. It terrified her in a way nothing else ever had. [i]Well, almost nothing else,[/i] she thought bitterly. 

Gradually she emerged out of her shock and turned away from the tank, though it chilled her to put her back to the creature. She said, [color=8882be]“Even if Ivalice’s weapons research doesn’t pan out, this…"[/color] Mirany gestured behind her, [color=8882be]“this would be devastating in battle. No wonder they haven’t made any significant progress--they don’t even need explosives.” [/color]

She wrapped her hand around the back of her neck in a stressed movement. [color=8882be]“And I don’t think Algareth is the only place in danger. Ivalice could take out whoever they wanted to.”[/color]