....NO SPOILERS...

After a quiet trip towards the housing district where Chastain could pick up her three team members, the now five-person party walked slowly towards the outskirts of the village...

As they walked, the surrounding people became less abundant, and eventually, only the five people remained in the area, walking in utter silence. The one leading the group had a happy smile while the rest had a serious air about them...

This is because, after meeting up, Chastain singled her squad with hand signs (that she taught them after they pledged to join her guild) that they were going to apprehend this so-called "native", Tracha...

Chastain, of course, couldn't specify the reason for apprehension through subtle hand signaling but they trusted their leader and if they needed to capture the Moga Chief's son, that's what they would do...

On the other hand, Chastain was mulling over if this was the right course of action....there was only one reason why Travelers would not admit their status to fellow divers once they discover one another within a world..... especially a dangerous one like Monster Hunters. That reason was easy to guess...the Traveler was most likely part of a dark guild, such as The Rooks.

'I can't be sure that he's one of those guys.....and he seems harmless enough but I can't be certain.... I need to at least apprehend him to question him....I know for certain he's been lying...' justified Chastain to herself as she was feeling uneasy.

Although it seemed like this was a drastic move, such actions were not uncommon.....since everyone can simply reappear in Dome City (or Altissia) after dying, similar decisions have been made when coming into contact with suspicious Travelers while diving...the practice was created after too many people were backstabbed, tricked, taken advantage of, etc...while simply working with one another.

Thus, the unspoken 'full-transparency' rule was put in place after ascending to Dome City..... within which the most powerful and influential Travelers currently explore...

...

The tense atmosphere continued until, about two minutes from the abandoned farmland, Tracha slowed slightly allowing himself to fall into step beside the woman who he knew was planning something...

"Young lady..." he said in a whisper that allowed no one to hear him except the intended target..."our time together has been all fun and games...I hope you don't take anything I've said to heart..."

Tracha looked down at the startled Chastain with sincere eyes while she looked back at him incredulously...' did this guy mean that?...no, this has nothing to do with his attitude.....he has broken the transparency rule and my squad needs to find out if he's one of those killers...'

Raven saw the firm look that appeared on Chastain's eyes, and he could only shake his head inwardly....' this poor girl....what will come, will come....but maybe this is my chance to satiate my burning curiosity....'

He was very interested in Chastain as an individual but, before anything else, he needed to get the answer to the question that has been plaguing his mind since its inception...

......

After the group made their way to the abandoned farm, words could not be spoken before the four-person squad headed by Chastain spread out, facing Raven in a semi-circle...

Raven had his back facing the individuals who all sported various bladed weapons and serious expressions...

A tired sigh escaped the man's lips as he felt the atmosphere change and heard the tell-tell sounds of readying weapons.....he turned around nonchalantly as he met each of the hunter's eyes before his sight fell on the seemingly conflicted Chastain...

"May I ask what this is about fellow hunters?..."

The conflicted look on Chastain's face vanished with that stupid question and she looked angrily at Raven before she withdrew the long sword and spoke...."You still pretend....you're defiantly one of those killers....why else would you hide your status as a traveler!?..."

The heated question ended with udder silence as, even though she was confident in Raven's identity, she wasn't one hundred percent.....so after a few seconds passed when nothing happened, no punishment or forced ejection due to breaking the privacy agreement.... each of the four-person squad readied themselves.....they now knew that all along, Raven was hiding.....but for what purpose? They were going to find out...

....

*Sigh*

"Well, a man can't even play around anymore without being punished.....this must be what they meant by the cancel culture being taken too far..." said Raven quietly, only a few of the words reaching the hunter's ears...but before they could respond, Raven took action...

He knew he couldn't take out his gun, unfold it, load it, and fire in time to combat each of the blade users so he used the simplest tactic...

He quickly took out a ball with a yellow beetle inside, throwing it on the ground while covering his own eyes.....when the ball hit the ground, a flash of light so bright that it blinded all present except Raven sprung out...they each shielded their eyes in pain...

After uncovering his eyes, Raven withdrew two poisoned throwing knives from his pouch, and while running at the third member, he sent both knives flying at number one and two, penetrating one's neck and the other's chest...

Right as the third was about to remove his hands from his burning eyes, he felt utter pain assail him as Raven just ran him through with his carving knife...

....

Chastain wiped the tears from her eyes and opened them as best as possible, only able to make out blurry figures at the moment....she saw the last of her new squad members being run through by "Tracha's" carving knife....she saw him remove the blade from her teammate's gut and then focus his attention on her...

She saw him take the folded gun off his back and assemble it, loading what she knew to be bullets in the bowgun...she couldn't act or stop him in any way as she could barely see and remain standing as her ears rung and eyes remained blurry...

Through the ringing, she heard the man she was about to apprehend's voice...

"Drop the blade, Ms. Grey.....it's over now...."

The commanding voice drew her full attention and the contents of his order caused her to go into a full-on daze as she dropped her weapon...

'What?....how?...I never even told my teammates.....I've never told anyone....someone, who knows me? No that's impossible....' after half a minute of thinking, her intelligent mind quickly came up with an answer even through the fog that her brain was now filled with...

With wide eyes and a speechless expression, Chastain watched as the creator of this universe walked over to her slowly, pointing a gun at her head....ready to kill her at any moment...

"I'm not one of those "bad-people" Ms. Grey...I just like to embody the character I become....it's more fun that way...especially if teasing such an interesting person as yourself goes along with my "Acting"..." Raven responded to the flabbergasted look of Chastain with a simple explanation....now it was time for her to answer his question.

When he finally stood in front of the shocked young woman, he stuck the barrel of the gun under her chin, ready to blow her brains out while also lifting her eyes to meet his...

"Ms. Grey.....are you with me?..." asked Raven whose tone has become softer and his voice barely above the level of a whisper...

Chastain stopped her mind from spiraling further and, upon realizing she had almost recovered from the flash bomb's effects, her curious eyes bore into "Tracha" who she now knew to be Raven Oscar's masquerading as one of his creations...

"You.....it's you isn't it?..." whispered Chastain, completely ignoring the man's question...before he could respond, she continued...

"It is....you have to be....the only one who could know who I am is you..."

The man, still holding the gun to the woman's throat smiled slightly before tilting his head and replying...

"I don't have to be him.....I could've learned your name from that stream you have going to record all of your adventures..."

Chastain quickly shook her head from side to side as her eyes continued to light up with fire...."No, I don't show my real name to the stream...plus I already stopped the stream as I didn't want them to know what I was going to do with Tracha....seeing the dark side of interpersonal relationships between Travelers is not something I wan-.....WAIT, don't distract me...you're THE RAVEN OSCAR'S..."

Raven's smile widened slightly as he pressed the gun into the woman harder causing the woman's complicated expression to turn stiff as she realized the current situation...

"Let's forget about the details and cut to the chase.....you attacked me Ms. Grey and quite frankly, I'm not happy..." although Raven said this, his face showed a leisurely expression with an underlying hint of curiosity...

Chastain didn't look afraid of dying, she simply held eye contact with Raven while processing everything that has happened so far.....after a few seconds she responded: "What can I do to rectify this situation, Mr. Oscars?..."

The smile on Raven's face vanished as a serious expression took over and he leaned in towards Chastain....he used his hand not holding the gun and placed it on the nap of Chastain's neck pulling her close with their eyes now only a few inches apart....their breathing each being felt by the other.

Chastain's face reddened and before she could make sense of anything, she heard Raven's serious voice pose a question...

"Do you resent me, Ms. Grey?..."

Chastain was stunned, but with everything that has happened in the last few minutes, she couldn't seem to pull herself together, and again, she couldn't respond before another question came...

"Are you angry at me for creating the universal structure that forced you and Sokka to be apart?...are you thankful to me for creating the man you love?....does it anger you that I, the man before you, created everything you love in this universe but in the end, am just like you?...."

Before he could continue to pose questions that he wanted to know the answer to, Raven felt that the barrel of the Bowgun was moved away from Chastain's neck but she didn't pull away....she pushed herself forward...

Their lips met and before he knew it, Raven was being kissed passionately by the young woman....they kissed for a solid minute before they separated by only a few inches...Chastain's voice rang in his ears...

"I....*breath*...didn't know how I would respond when I finally met you.....all I can say is that I fill too many conflicting emotions towards you to answer any of your questions and yes, I was extremely mad at you for many years in TFNs.....but I've learned to take things as they are..." small tears appeared at the corner of Chastain's eyes....confusion etched across her face.

Raven stared dazedly at Chastain who was talking, he didn't know what was happening but in his moment of weakness, his grip on the bowgun lessened even more and without him being able to respond, Chastain interrupted her speech by grabbing the gun and kneeing him in the groin...

*arggghh*

As he grabbed his jewels and fell to his knees, he felt a familiar barrel shoved into his neck while his chin was lifted to look at Chastain who had tears running down her eyes...

"I fell in love with Sokka.....but he was just a character.....do you know how that makes me feel?..." tears fell as she shoved the gun into his throat even more...

Before he could recover from the injury she continued...

"Then what? You make rules that won't allow me to live with the man you created .....now Sokka is reliving the same life over and over again with a different woman while I have to sit and watch...do you even understand what you've done...?"

........

Minutes of badgering went on with Raven not being able to say a word....his question was defiantly not answered but Chastain was allowed the chance to vent...

After ten solid minutes, a panting Chastain stared down at Raven....she now grabbed him by the nape of the neck and kissed him again, more deeply this time, and after they separated....she whispered to him...

"Thank you, Raven.....you have given me the purpose and happiness I could only dream of....please don't stop what you are doing despite what I've said to you today okay?..." Chastain's expression, while talking all along, kept shifting....it was obvious she didn't know what to think or how to feel....just like Raven, she found this whole situation to be a conundrum...

Raven could only nod his head in response...he only got a couple of nods in before he heard her voice again....this time it was accompanied by icy cold eyes...

"Also, GO TO HELL!!!..."

*BOOM*

Without Raven even comprehending what the last few minutes were about, his head was blown off by a piercing round from his beloved bowgun...

...

In Dome City, in the ocean somewhere in the depths o the surface of the beautiful water, a man with black hair and piercing blue eyes just surfaced...

He was breathing heavily as he simply faced the sun overhead with a shocked look on his face...

Slowly, time passed and his expression shifted from shock to confusion, to reflection, and finally, contentment...

"Ahh... women are awesome..." said the floating man who simply basked in the sunlight. His recent trip gave him much to think about...