PART II: AFTER THE SEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 14: Hero of Justice

At the Shadowdealer headquarters in Savage Terminal, Cadena woke up screaming from a nightmare about Magnus’ attack on Heliseum and decided to go outside for some air. There, she found a group of Hoodlums loitering around and decided to entertain herself by stealing their money. The angry Hoodlums immediately picked a fight with Cadena, who easily defeated them and returned back to the hideout for an important meeting. Gen, the branch leader of Savage Terminal, reprimanded her for fighting without profit, which was one of the Shadowdealer rules. He made her review the rulebook, after which he quizzed her on the rules and maxims. Satisfied with her performance, he gave her medicine in order to treat her wounds from the fight.

As Cadena drank the medicine, the bitter taste reminded her of the day that she had awoken from her coma, many decades after Magnus had attacked Heliseum. That day, Gen had told her that the royal family had been killed, leaving her as the sole survivor. He had also told her that he had only saved her because he had owed a debt to the Nova General. With her awakening, his obligation had been fulfilled, and so he had told her that she would need to learn to fend for herself. Vowing never to be weak again, the princess had chosen to reinvent herself by taking on the new name of Cadena and wielding chains as her new weapon. (A/N: Fun fact: Cadena is the Spanish word for chain.)

Because her horns, wings, and tail had gotten in the way of her chains, she had decided to cut them off, letting the pain serve as a reminder that she would never be helpless again, after which she had decided to climb to the top of the Shadowdealers’ chain of command. (A/N: Cadena’s awakening from her coma is implied to have been fairly recent, possibly even a couple of months ago, as she’s not even 1st job yet and only just starts undertaking missions in the present day.)

After taking her medicine, she reported back to Gen, who taught her several new moves that would aid her on her first few missions. He then told her to go see the Papyrus Brothers, who would assign her first mission. The Papyrus Brothers acknowledged that Cadena was already one of the strongest people in the branch, but pointed out that she lacked real-world experience. Because of this, they told her that her first mission was to repair the hideout and ordered her to bring Cast Iron Plates from the nearby Hedgehogs.

After replacing the old plates, the Papyrus Brothers told her that the toxic air in Savage Terminal had likely caused the original iron to corrode. Believing that the Mutant Hedgehogs were releasing the toxic gas, they asked Cadena to defeat the monsters and bring back their nails. With the nails, the Papyrus Brothers were able to finish repairing the base, but as they were still concerned about the rising number of Mutant Hedgehogs, they asked her to thin their numbers, as well as to bring back their fur for analysis. Cadena brought the fur to Coney, a new member who was intellectual enough to serve as the Shadowdealers’ subject matter expert.

For her next mission, Cadena was tasked with collecting ingredients for dinner. Cadena first collected Nutria hind legs and then decided to take a break. While buying a snack at the Black Market, she was pickpocketed by an orphan named Anzu. Cadena chased him down and took back her money. As reparation, she decided that he would be her servant and forced him to collect the rest of the ingredients that she needed for dinner. The Papyrus Brothers congratulated her for completing all her missions and began preparing dinner. As they needed to finish their own missions, the brothers told her that Gen would soon contact her with her next orders.

Soon after, Gen radioed her and explained that he had gone off-world for a meeting at the Shadowdealer Headquarters. In the meantime, he asked her to collect overdue debts from some of their patrons. In his ledger, Cadena found that Gusto from the Black Market, Corbo at the Mountain of Trash, and Antuin from the Pawn Shop at Brigand’s Row still had unpaid debts. She also noticed that Antuin’s name had been emphasized in the ledger.

She first went to meet Gusto, who told her that someone from the Shadowdealers had already come to see him, though he paid her nevertheless, as he knew that Gen’s records were always reliable. Next, she met with Corbo, who told her that there were rumors circulating of people impersonating Shadowdealers in order to steal payments and asked her to warn Gen.

Finally, she went to see Antuin, who told her that he had no money to pay her. Frustrated, Cadena told him to give whatever money he had stored in his vault. Antuin explained that there was something valuable in the vault which he could use to pay off his debt, but added that he didn’t know the passcode to open it.

Cadena wondered whether Antuin’s excuses were the reason why Gen had emphasized his name in the ledger and radioed Coney to come over and open the vault. Though he was nervous to be in Cadena’s formidable presence, Coney stammered that the Shadowdealer Code prevented him from helping Cadena for free and offered to help her in exchange for her helping him with his own mission.

Cadena agreed and brought back Still Fluid from the Ooze Wastes, which Coney needed for an experiment that he was conducting on the Papyrus Brothers’ orders. After Cadena brought back the fluid, Coney told her that he had figured out the passcode, but that there was a strong adhesive keeping the safe shut. While he worked on melting the adhesive, he asked her to collect Unburning Flames from Flame Wastes for his experiment.

After Cadena returned, Coney told her that he had successfully removed the adhesive and asked her to pound open the door, as he was too weak to open it. Cadena broke open the vault door with ease and Coney told her that their deal had been concluded before leaving. Antuin then scraped together the money from inside the vault, which was coincidentally the exact amount as his debt to Gen.

Just as she was about to leave, Anzu, the orphan who had pickpocketed her, arrived and demanded to know why the safe was open, reminding Antuin, his grandfather, of his promise not to touch the safe, which had belonged to his late father. Swearing to never forgive his grandfather, Anzu ran off, leaving Antuin to apologize for Anzu’s behavior, explaining that it was likely due to losing his parents in an accident. Unable to shake her feeling of guilt, Cadena decided to repair the safe with Soft Scrap Iron from the Scrap Iron Wastes.

Just then, the Papyrus Brothers radioed her and explained that their trading partner, Corbo, had sent a distress signal, and with Gen off-world for an important meeting, they needed to deal with it immediately. After tracing Corbo’s signal, they determined that she was at the Brawl ‘n’ Bash Club and asked Cadena to extract her.

At the club, Cadena rescued Corbo, who explained that she had been kidnapped by the same people whom she had told Cadena were pretending to be Shadowdealers, and that they were demanding her to pay them taxes. Cadena confronted one of the kidnappers, who merely laughed and told her that their boss, Mr. Hazard, was the owner of the club, and that he had also replaced Gen as the Savage Terminal branch leader, meaning that all Shadowdealers, including Cadena, now worked for him. Because of this, they explained that they also outranked Cadena, and so she was to follow their orders.

Cadena scoffed that there was no way that she would listen to them if she never listened to Gen to begin with. She then began fighting off hordes of Hazard’s lackeys herself until the Papyrus Brothers arrived to back her up. After seeing the enemy’s numbers, however, the brothers determined that it would be best to retreat. Before they could escape, Mr. Hazard himself arrived and released a toxic gas which immobilized the group. He reminded them that infighting between Shadowdealers was against the rules and explained that he and Gen had come to an understanding. He decided to overlook their infraction and told them that he would see them again, disappearing soon after.

The Papyrus Brothers recognized Hazard as the second-in-command to the leader of all the Shadowdealers, explaining that it was said that Hazard sowed chaos in his wake, and that the planets he visited all fell to ruin. (A/N: A lot of the older Grandis storylines refer to the other bodies in the solar system as planets, but the Cernium storyline has retconned them all to be moons.) The Papyrus Brothers arranged for Corbo to be escorted to safety and soon received a message from Gen, who had returned from the meeting.

Back at the hideout, Gen explained that Mr. Hazard had told them that Savage Terminal was under a threat of attack, and so he had successfully petitioned the Shadowdealer High Council that he be allowed to take over the branch in order to protect its members. Though he didn’t like the arrangement any more than they did, Gen emphasized that they all needed to cooperate with Hazard and his cronies until the situation deescalated. He also told Cadena that based on how things were going, there wasn’t much for her to gain by staying, and so he gave her permission to leave if she so desired.

However, Cadena refused and reminded Gen that she still had things to learn from him first. Gen was pleased by her loyalty and gave her a special mission to investigate Mr. Hazard, suspecting that there was a spy within their branch, as there was no other way that Hazard could have taken over so easily. He told her to come to the Back Alley late that night, where a fellow Shadowdealer would fill her in on the details. With that, he taught her the new skills that she had wanted to learn from him.

That night, Cadena went to the Back Alley, where she found a disguised Coney. Coney gave her a robe to conceal her appearance and told her that their objective was to infiltrate the Brawl ‘n’ Bash Club. He explained that all the strange events were connected to the club, as Hazard had built his hideout there and had installed the emitters for the toxic gas which had immobilized them, adding that even the monsters in the area had been mutated to varying degrees based on their proximity to the club.

The pair arrived at the club entrance, where they pretended that they had come for advance registration for the Coliseum Arena, for which they had brought Wriggling Tails from the Specter Stray Dogs as payment. While the pair were investigating, the security guards noticed that they were poking around and decided to pick a fight with them.

After Cadena defeated the guards, Coney realized that there was something at the other side of the club and told Cadena to covertly infiltrate the area. She managed to sneak over to the other side, where she defeated the guards patrolling the interior. Coney discovered reagents, which he believed were connected to the Mutant Hedgehogs, whose toxic gas had been corroding the metal in their hideout.

While gathering the reagents, they came across a Popoh bird, which had been captured in order to be experimented on. Feeling bad for it, Cadena released it and allowed it to escape. She and Coney then grabbed as many reagents as they could before returning to the Back Alley, where Gen was waiting for them. When they explained that Mr. Hazard had been injecting the reagents into the local creatures, Gen told Coney to return to the hideout and analyze the reagents.

After Coney left, Gen told Cadena that he had looked through Hazard’s trade log and had determined that a suspicious trade would be taking place later that night. He asked her to spy on the trade in order to determine who the vendors were. Using a reagent that Gen had given her, Cadena transformed into one of Hazard’s cronies and told Hazard’s group that the order had been cancelled. Just as they were about to leave, a Lab Tech bot arrived to deliver the shipment.

(A/N: This robot belongs to the Angler Company, an arms dealer group with a fearsome reputation on Grandis. Senya and T-Boy are both members of the organization and children of the company’s founder.

Please note: the following text contains major spoilers for the Karote and Odium storylines. If you don’t want spoilers, skip to the end of the author note.

While the Angler Company has only been mentioned a few times in the game, the Karote storyline delves into the origins of the company and reveals that the company founder was a failed experiment created in Odium, a laboratory created by the elders from the realm of the sages, where the elders had conducted experiments to artificially create cyborg Adversaries. The realm of the sages is a mystical land where Hoyoung’s master, Tai Yu, comes from.)

The cronies quickly realized that Cadena was lying and moved to attack. She transformed back into herself and defeated the cronies, forcing them to retreat and allowing her to take the shipment from the bot, which had been broken in the fight. She discovered that the shipment was a document called Report X-9, but as the rest of it was written in strange letters, she decided to bring it to Gen.

At the Back Alley, Gen was unhappy that she had resorted to force, as it would mean that Mr. Hazard would soon learn about the altercation. Nevertheless, he took the report from her and called Coney to decipher the code that it was written in. Coney realized that it was double-coded and managed to break through the first layer of encryption. However, he was concerned about the second layer, which had a particular phrase constantly repeating.

After some time, he decrypted the phrase and learned that it referred to the reagent which he and Cadena had found at the club. He told Cadena that they needed to both decipher the code and figure out the mystery of the reagent at once, and so he asked her to help with the reagent while he continued decrypting. He then instructed her to bring Mutant Nutria blood samples, believing that it was the key to figuring out the reagent.

Using the samples that Cadena brought him, Coney was able to complete his investigation. He explained that Report X-9 was a blueprint for a bioweapon called the Heliogene Device. Based on the schematics, it appeared to be a bomb made from a type of bioenergy, and Coney realized that it was likely what the animal experiments had been for. Gen concluded that Hazard’s scheme was to sell dangerous weapons to the warmongers of the galaxy.

(A/N: This weapon was created to sell to the High Flora. One of the main plot points in the Grandis story is that the High Flora seem to be collecting large quantities of bioenergy from the moons of Grandis, such as how they drained the bioenergy out of Verdel in Ark’s storyline, or how Senya Angler attempted to destroy Savage Terminal in order to obtain the pure concentration of bioenergy that its destruction would leave behind.)

Coney told them that the good news was that they knew why Hazard had picked Savage Terminal, as according to Report X-9, the weapon parts needed were scattered all over Savage Terminal, with the report showing exactly where they could find each part, meaning that they had a chance to prevent the Heliogene Device from being built if they could get the parts first.

Cadena asked why they had to stop it in the first place, as she assumed that Hazard would leave after he finished building it, and so Coney explained that creating the Heliogene Device would destroy Savage Terminal., as when the device was detonated, it would release a powerful, poisonous gas, similar to the poison gas released by the reagent lifeforms, but on a much stronger level.

Gen realized that Mr. Hazard had been planning to destroy them all along, and that the competing Shadowdealer crew was just a ruse to cover the bigger operation. They decided to gather their team and invade Mr. Hazard’s hideout with full force while Cadena gathered the remaining weapon parts to use as proof of Hazard’s atrocities. 

Coney told her that the weapon parts were located at the Shaded Dump Site, Stray Dog Alley, and the Pawnshop. Cadena obtained the first two easily and headed towards Brigand’s Row. At the Pawnshop, neither Antuin nor Anzu were there, and unlike the first two sites, she was unable to find the part easily. She began searching around the safe, where she found some sort of blueprint and a family photo.

(A/N: We never learn what’s so important in the safe, but I’m guessing that it’s probably the blueprint, which is never mentioned again. I have this theory that Anzu’s parents used to work for the Angler Company, as the blueprint might’ve been for a weapon that they were developing for the Company. Anzu’s parents were said to have died in an accident and the Angler Company’s headquarters were also said to have been destroyed in a large explosion, which forced the Company to operate in the shadows. In just a moment, it’ll be revealed that the last part of the weapon is a living person, for which Antuin and Anzu were kidnapped. Since Hazard is a major client of the Company, it might be that he knew about Anzu’s parents, which is why he kidnapped Antuin and Anzu specifically.)

In the garbage bin, she found a pile of half-written notes from Anzu, thanking Cadena for fixing the safe. On the floor, she found crack marks, indicating that there had been a fight. Still unable to find the part after searching, she decided to radio Coney. Before she could, however, Coney radioed her first and explained that he had discovered that the last piece of the weapon was actually a living person. He told her that the crew was preparing to invade Mr. Hazard’s hideout and asked if Antuin and Anzu were at the Pawnshop, as he was worried about the report mentioning their shop specifically. Cadena had a bad feeling and decided to return to the hideout, which she found empty.

Just then, the radio buzzed and she picked it up, expecting it to be Coney, but she was surprised to find that it was one of Hazard’s lackeys, who explained that they had captured Coney and the rest of the crew. He told her that the rest of her branch was going to be killed for betraying Hazard, but added that she could still survive if she brought them the weapon parts. Cadena immediately rushed to the Brawl ‘n’ Bash Club.

As she prepared to fight her way through, Gen and the Papyrus Brothers arrived to back her up, having defeated their captors. Gen told her to sneak through the back in order to stop Hazard while they covered her. Just then, the Popoh bird which she had freed appeared and led her through a secret entrance to Hazard’s lair. (A/N: This bird is so adorable and yet so random. I wonder if it has some sort of backstory that’ll be revealed later.)

Cadena fought her way through the guards and rescued Coney, who was tied up at the entrance of Mr. Hazard’s lair. Coney thanked her for rescuing him and ran back to support the rest of the crew fighting Hazard’s cronies. Cadena thanked the Popoh bird and warned it to escape before the situation grew dangerous. She then entered Hazard’s lair, where she found Antuin and Anzu hooked up to the Heliogene Device. Antuin asked whether she had come to rescue them, but Cadena replied that her only objective was to take down Mr. Hazard.

Antuin begged her to at least save his grandson before Hazard’s cronies returned. He told Cadena that the machine drained one’s life force, but Anzu was just a boy who had many more years of living yet to do. Just then, Mr. Hazard arrived and demanded that Cadena hand over the rest of the parts. When Cadena refused, Hazard put on a gas mask and told her that he would simply take them by force. He then turned up the Life Force Conductor to drain Antuin and Anzu’s lifeforce faster and laughed that once the battery was fully charged, the weapon would be ready and he would be rich. He then suddenly grew much larger and began to fight Cadena.

(A/N: If you look closely during this fight, you’ll notice that he has Specter markings on his arms. Though it’s not explicitly confirmed, it’s highly likely that Mr. Hazard is a partial Specter, similar to Ark and Limbo, which explains why he was able to grow larger.)

After a vicious battle, Cadena was able to defeat him. She demanded that he leave Savage Terminal immediately, but Hazard merely scoffed at her thinking that he had been defeated. He then activated the toxic gas emitters to paralyze her, and as she fell, her emblem of the Nova royal family fell out of her pocket. Mr. Hazard was amused to learn that Cadena was a member of the Nova royal family and told her that the High Flora would love to hear the news that there was still a survivor.

He attempted to blackmail her by promising to keep the news to himself if she were to give him the weapon parts, but to his surprise, Cadena merely laughed and got up, explaining that he didn’t understand what he had just done. Rather than finding something to hold over her, he had ensured that she would go to any lengths to stop him from telling anyone her secret. She then damaged the Heliogene Device, causing a large explosion that freed Antuin and Anzu. Together, they escaped, with Cadena leaving Mr. Hazard for the Shadowdealer High Council to deal with.

In the aftermath of the battle, Hazard’s treachery was laid bare to the Council. Though no one knew what happened to him afterwards, his reign of terror over Savage Terminal was finally over. After the incident, some fled the moon in fear. However, Cadena knew that others would replace them in time. In Hazard’s absence, Gen had found himself at the top of a large and lucrative trade empire, although most of the money had gone into repairing the hideout and paying for his crew’s medical bills.

Meanwhile, the people of Savage Terminal had given Cadena the title “Hero of Justice“, much to her annoyance. Some time later, Cadena went to the Pawnshop on a mission to deliver a package to Antuin and Anzu. Anzu thanked her for rescuing him and asked her to teach him how to use chains once he had recovered, to which Cadena reminded him that he owed her for saving him, plus interest. Cadena then gave Antuin the package that she had been sent to deliver and returned back to the hideout.

There, Gen gave her the details of her next mission. He explained that Mr. Hazard had been dealing with many partners that the Shadowdealers didn’t approve of. The High Flora, in particular, were rumored to be some of his best customers, to whom he had given Vision Bomb tech. (A/N: Vision Bombs were revealed to be poison bombs in the Arteria storyline.) He told Cadena that she was to break into Hazard’s old office and get his papers to confirm the rumors of his clients. He then introduced a special new recruit with whom Cadena would be completing the mission, which turned out to be the Popoh bird.

After clearing out the remaining guards, she entered Hazard’s office and found a blank piece of purple paper hidden away. Upon examining it, she realized that the purple color was saturated over the words, making it difficult to remove. She radioed Coney, who suspected that the color had come from the poison gas and suggested using the Poison Remover that Hazard’s cronies were carrying. Using the remover, Cadena discovered that the page revealed the identities of Hazard’s secret trading partners, along with a log of when and where he had met them.

She returned to Gen, who was pleased by her success and told her that the Shadowdealer High Council was impressed by her actions, meaning that she ought to expect bigger and more dangerous missions in the future. He also told her that she would be taking over managing one of Mr. Hazard’s contacts and referred her to the Papyrus Brothers for more information. The Papyrus Brothers assigned her a trade in East Pantheon and gave her the shipment to deliver, instructing her to pick up the payment that she would find there.

On the day of the trade, she made her way to the trade site and found a large pouch of payment. Just as she placed the shipment on the ground, she began feeling as though she was being watched. Suddenly, the ground began to quake and dozens of Specters appeared. Cadena fought off droves of them, but there seemed to be no end.

Just then, Magnus appeared and asked her why she was attacking his minions when he had come to trade. Cadena immediately recognized him as the man from her nightmares, the same one who had destroyed her life decades ago. She immediately charged at him, but Magnus easily defeated her, knocking her unconscious. 

Cadena woke up at the hideout, where she found Gen tending to her wounds. He explained that he had followed her after hearing about her trade at Pantheon. He berated her for acting foolishly and told her that it was only through luck that he had been able to get her out safely. However, he suspected that Magnus may have figured out her true identity and advised her to leave Grandis for some time, as it would be safer for her not to be around any potential spies in the hideout.

(A/N: They never resolved this plot point after making such a big deal about there being a spy in their ranks. It might be the topic of a future story point. I can’t tell if Cadena’s story was meant to have so many open plot threads or if her story was just poorly developed and the writers forgot to wrap it up.)

He also added that she had outgrown the Shadowdealers, and that training on her own was the best way for her to grow stronger, especially in a new world where she had no reason to hold back or fear getting noticed. Cadena was surprised by Gen’s words and told him that she needed time to think about it. After some reflection, she realized that Gen was right, as being defeated by Magnus so easily, even after she had made so much progress, had made her realize that she still had a long way to go.

She then felt a throbbing ache on her shoulder and wondered briefly whether Magnus had done it, though she quickly remembered that it was an old pain from her cutting her wings, horns, and tail off. The pain helped her remember the oath that she had made to herself to get stronger, with her self-inflicted injuries serving as a permanent reminder of her commitment.

After telling Gen that she would follow his advice, he directed her to the Great Temple at Pantheon, where she was to go through the Interdimensional Portal. He told her that the Heliseum branch of the Shadowdealers would be in touch soon in order to help her out. Soon after, a Shadowdealer named Romero radioed her and explained that he had made all the necessary arrangements for her passage to the Great Temple.

She traveled to Pantheon and entered the Great Temple, where she met Fenelle. Fenelle felt as though Cadena seemed familiar and asked if they had met before. Cadena remembered that the priests would sometimes visit the castle and wondered if Fenelle recognized her from then. However, Fenelle then said that she must have confused Cadena for someone else. She told Cadena that the Shadowdealers had vouched for her strength, but that she wished to test Cadena’s strength, since they didn’t know what dangers awaited them in the new world.

She then asked Cadena to see Beldar and Cartalion, who would each conduct a test of strength. (A/N: Every other Grandis class who wants to use the Interdimensional Portal is only required to have Fenelle gaze into their soul in order to determine their moral alignment and intentions.) After passing Beldar’s test to collect Onyx Stonegar Magic Stones and Cartalion’s test to defeat Gravi Stonegars, Cadena received permission to use the Interdimensional Portal.

Before Fenelle could show her how to use the portal, Cadena felt a sudden rush of homesickness and ran back to Savage Terminal to say goodbye to Gen. Though he made fun of Cadena for her sentimentality, Gen told her to take care while in the new world and explained that he would tell the other Shadowdealers that he had sent her on a special mission in order to cover up her absence. (A/N: It’s a bit sad that she didn’t say goodbye to Coney or Anzu, but I guess Gen is more like a father to her than anyone else.)

With that, she returned to the Great Temple, where Fenelle instructed her on how to use the portal. She also mentioned that Cadena could use the Interdimensional Portal in the Six Path Crossway to return. With that, Cadena began her journey in Maple World. During her travels, she honed much more of her power and eventually returned to Gen, who taught her the last of everything that he knew, after which he warned her that she would soon need to create new skills for herself if she wanted to become truly strong.