Upcoming story plots (in sort-of order):
Strike out: During a downpour, Ark Light’s electrical power is sucked out and A.C.E. and Dicer follow it to see what’s going on. They come to find it was borrowed by the Coast Guard of the Sea Glass Shelf; Raiko to fend off an enormous hybrid from getting to shore, and that by the time the got there, Raiko had already returned the power. seeing that they missed out on the action, Raiko suggests a spar 1 vs 2 to test how well A.C.E. and Dicer work together. They battle on a training ground over the ocean and ultimately do better together but still lose to Raiko’s Speed and super charged electric ability. As they leave for home, she invites Dicer to train with her anytime and suggests if they have time, they should go visit the Trove Museum and look for a pair called Dio and Scuba to see how they communicate.
The Trove Museum: A.C.E. and Dicer take Raiko’s Advice and on their next slow day, they go and visit the Trove Museum which is stationed in an underwater ocean subspace. They arrive, but can’t seem to find anyone to admit them in, after some time, they are able to wave over a skittish employee who lets them in, but acts suspiciously when they ask him about Dio and Scuba. The man says Scuba is out but Dio can be found further in the museum and gives a description of him. He slips away and A.C.E. and Dicer get to tour and enjoy the museum that is filled from salvaged and expertly restored items from the sea floor. They come to a big aquarium room, and in the room they find a man that matches the description the employee gave of Dio prior. They try talking to the guy, but he says that Scuba is out but says that Dio is on the other side of the museum and gives a description of someone who looks a lot like the original employee they ran into. The two suspect they are being lied to but it’s not the end of the world if they don’t find the people they came for. A.C.E. lets it go, but Dicer expresses disappointment as they move to leave the museum. They were about at the exit when Dicer tried to ask A.C.E. a question, but he isn’t looking where he is going and one of his metal tipped straps catches on a vase artifact, essentially throwing it off kilter and it smashes against the floor as the alarm system goes off. The commotion causes the first employee to reappear in a panic. They are shouting and mourning the broken vase as the guy from the aquarium shows up as well. Through their conversation with each other (which consists of the new guy telling the employee to “calm down” which is not helping), A.C.E. is able to confirm for Dicer that the employee is Dio and the one from the aquarium is Scuba. Turns out they both don't like dealing with the public and that normally people just leave with no complaints without breaking anything. Dicer sheepishly, and profusely apologizes and promises to fix it. Dio says that his carelessness has earned him a 6 month, no 1 year, no lifetime ban. Scuba says that that's kind of harsh seeing as Dio could just use his Reskining ability to fix it like new, but Dio says he restored that one by hand and that it wouldn't be the same.
A.C.E tries to defuse the situation and says he can empathize with wanting to do things by hand and not rely so heavily on his ability. Dio says he tries not to use it at all because he has been made to use it in ways that have haunted him. They find out that when he couldn't take the work anymore, he ran away and eventually bumped into Scuba while sitting by the sea side. Scuba and he struck a deal where created the underwater subspace and the museum for him with his Ability, and he let Dio stay in exchange for running the museum that would allow Dio to stop working. A.C.E. thinks that this arrangement seems a bit unbalanced, but it must work for them, even if the two seem very incompatible as people. Dio has had enough, and tells the two to leave. A.C.E. sinks the pieces into a void for later so Dicer can keep his promise and Scuba walks them out, telling them to give Dio some space and to come back another time. The two head back to Ark Light and Scuba closes the museum for the afternoon to deal with Dio. Dicer wonders if they are a couple, but it is neither confirmed nor denied. He thinks that even tho the two bicker, they seemed supportive of each other, and he hopes that he will be able to be helpful to A.C.E. one day in a similar way.
Dicer spends the next few days gluing the vase back together and filing the cracks in with gold. He ships it back to the Trove Museum, and even though Dio is impressed by the care put into the restoration and finds personal significance in filling the cracks with something beautiful, he's still holding a grudge. A letter saying that Dicer’s ban has been reduced to 6 weeks arrives back at the Ark Light and he guesses that's fair.
The Tower: A.C.E., C.O.C.A., and T.O.M.O. are all invited to a ball hosted by the neighboring city of Dawn Set with special instructions to meet with The Architect (their monarch) for a special assignment if they have the time. T.O.M.O. refuses to go because of the bad blood between him, the city, and their class system based off of perceived power levels, leaving enough room for Dicer to go along, even though he was not invited. They agree to meet at the gate the day of to proceed in together due to visitors needing to be granted a temporary class pass based off of their ability and City being built more favorably for those who can manipulate their powers for “flight”. Unfortunately, Dicer is late, or at least he thinks he is, so he proceeds on his own, up the tower to get to the party. On his way, he runs into an Angel Watch member (Dawn Sets Defensive team) named Yuki who takes pity on him and helps him ascend the tower with her ice powers. they talk all along the way, and Dicer learns that Yuki, even though she is one of the strongest appointees in the Angel Watch, she is not happy with her job and would like to take on a simpler job within the organization but just can’t find the right words for it. All the while, A.C.E. and C.O.C.A., who have been waiting for Dicer at the main gate, can’t wait any longer and A.C.E. takes them both up the tower with his ability to Architect. They talk with her and find there is a fire bug within their midst, and they are burning the tapestry of dreams that keep Dawn Set’s world intact. In exchange for their help catching the cultrate, they are promised a favor - and the two accept and head to the party.
Dicer and Yuki continue to brainstorm ideas, but as they are ascending floor by floor a glow catches Dicers eye. He asks Yuki what it is, and she is not sure - she says that not many people are up here around this time and goes to check out the activity. They descend to find fire creatures chewing a hole in reality in the alley. Yuki Quickly encases them in ice and as they rapidly melt they are extinguished by water. Dicer asks what that was, and Yuki mentions that there have been more and more fire incidents lately and that it’s becoming a problem that even their monarch cannot ignore. Dicer wishes to help, and offers to help her hunt the for the creatures so that there at least aren’t so many to deal with later. Yuki hesitates in that Dicer will probably miss the party, but he says that his department head wouldn’t mind, especially not for a reason like this. Yuki Agrees and they fly around looking for more fire sprites.
At the party, A.C.E. and C.O.C.A. are at a loss, and are getting frustrated at the lack of leads, together, they are too high profile for anyone to let their guard down around them. They decide to split up, and because C.O.C.A. is more diplomatic, she should work on seeing if she can charm information out of people on her own. A.C.E. leaves the party and looks around outside, and he sees a light in the distance. He goes over to it, and sees the fire creature, moments before it is frozen in a block of ice and snuffed out. He looks up to see Yuki and Dicer arrive, and he expresses surprise to see the Dicer made it all the way up there on his own. Dicer tries to introduce A.C.E. and Yuki to each other, but it seems they already know of each other. He then continues on to say they have been hunting fire sprites. A.C.E. says that he and C.O.C.A. have been looking for what has been causing damage to the tapestries, but that it seems like Dicer beat him to it. Yuki speaks up and says Shes been taking note of where the fire sprits were being spotted and has a guess as to where they have been spawning from, but before they can go there, a fire explosion comes from the direction of the party. A.C.E. and Dicer run to help as Yuki flies away to see if she can’t stop the fire bug spawner. As they get closer, they can hear singing and see C.O.C.A. guiding people out of the area. She sees A.C.E. and tells him that she couldn’t persuade everyone with her Ability and that he needs to get everyone else out with his Voids and do something about the fire. A.C.E. quickly summons a large set of Voids and heads in scooping up anyone he can see and opens a void in a nearby fountain outside and starts flooding the room. The area is swiftly secured by high-ranking members of Dawn Set and all seems well, till they are all caught off guard by a blast of artic cold. Dicer looks out and sees that an area nearby has been completely sealed in ice and any remaining fire has been snuffed out. Yuki comes back to them and says that the issue has been delt with, but she looks relatively sullen about it.
later on, after a bit of cleaning up, the members of Ark Light are reporting back to the Architect with the events of the day. She is unhappy about the damage done to her tower, but is happy the fire bug has been apprehended properly. She also says she no longer needs to offer them a favor, since it was one of her own that took care of the problem and is about to send them on their way, but Dicer speaks up and says that even if they don’t get the favor, then the monarch should offer Yuki one. the Architect finds this funny as it is their job to serve her, but she will allow it.
She rings for Yuki and the Angel Watch member appears. She tells Yuki that she has been granted a favor and to tell her if there is anything she wants. Yuki hesitates but confesses that she feels as if she is not suitable for the job as it is written for her and the events of today just confirmed it more for here that she does not want to continue this kind of work.
The Architect asks her if she intends to leave the Order entirely and seeing Yuki fidgeting, she asks Yuki to speak freely. Yuki looks at Dicer for strength and then back at the Architect. She says that she would like to take on a support role as a healer even if it would drop her standing in society. The Architect agrees to this, but allows Yuki to keep her lv. 2 ranking. Upon thinking they are done the Architect turns to her work but is stopped by Yuki. Yuki asks for one more favor - she requests being able to assist Ark Light on the occasions that they need a healer. The Architect cites her boldness, but agrees to it as long as it does not affect Yuki’s work for Dawn Set.
With their transaction is complete, the Architect asks them to leave so she can get back to weaving back the parts of the dream that were lost. They bid her farewell and Yuki escorted the Ark Light group out of the chambers and back down to the entrance of the town with the use of her ice. She thanks Dicer for helping to give her the courage to express her wishes. She then waves them off, wishing them a safe passage back home and promising that they will see each other again soon.
