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Chapter Text

“And the winner is - Lena Chance!” The girl was surprised when her name was called, yes she was talented, but art was never a strong point of hers, usually she’d only get an A-, far away from the straight A+ student she wanted to be.. that he wanted her to be.

She scurried onto the stage, allowing the man to put a medal on her, she felt proud, but as she scanned the audience her pride diminished faster than it usually did, he wasn’t there, again… He told her that he would come though…

Tears began pooling in her eyes, she blinked them back however. This was normal. This is normal. She still won, she was still the best artist in this room! She’d talk to her father later…

”Thank you for choosing my piece! It means a lot to me!” She had said this same speech several times before.

Lena tried to leave as quickly as she could, she didn’t want to be asked how she won another competition at her school. She was liked, yes, but people were getting tried of her winning every other competition.

“Dad, you said that you would come. Why weren’t you there?” She asked, moments away from tears. The only reason that she had entered that competition was to impress her father.

”Oh… that was today?” He had no change in attitude, this was normal for him. This had always been normal.

”Yes! I won an award today! And you weren’t there!” She said, maybe he would be impressed if she told him that she won!

”That’s nice Lena, can you go to your room now? I have something to do.” That something was moping around the small apartment that the two shared, regretting having a child at such a young age.

”Why don’t you ever try to spend any time with me??!!!”

”Oh please, go enjoy your youth. When I was your age I had a one year old and enough debt to make a difference to the King of Greenhorne. Do you know how much I would’ve loved to give you away? Maybe I could’ve actually made something of myself…” He calmly said, his distinct lack of reaction was the most disturbing part to Lena. This was how he actually felt. 

Lena ran into her room crying, it was a barely renovated basement, it smelled of mold, but she was used to this. She fell down onto her mattress on the floor and cried herself to sleep.

Lena woke up in the middle of the night, she didn’t feel any more rested than how she had felt before her father had said that. She was worth nothing to him, did that mean that she was worth nothing to everyone???

She quickly brushed that thought aside, of corse she wasn’t worth nothing! She was a straight A student! Her teachers would always praise her! So would her classmates! …If she helped them… But that’s what friendship is all about! He just didn’t see her potential… He didn’t know how much he loved her! Maybe if she disappeared he would realise how much he cared! Oh! And while she’s away she can get famous and get loads of gold for him! Lena would be famous! And then her dad would see how amazing she was!

Yes! Lena would make him proud like that! This was gonna be way better than her other attempts! He’ll see that she’s strong, smart, talented, and did she mention smart?!

Lena was fulled on new-found determination! She had a plan with multiple steps! How could this ever go wrong?? First she would take some gold from her father’s safe, then she would stage a break-in, she knew that her dad never locked the doors, the locks had been broken for a while and the landlord never fixed them, it wasn’t that big of a deal, this was the cheapest apartment in New Lumos after all! Then she would make it look like she had tried to defend the house and went missing with the gold! Then she could walk to the harbour and get a boat the wherever was the cheapest! It was a perfect plan!

She first quietly walked - avoiding the creaking floorboards, she knew where they were well, she had grown up here after all! Lena then made her way to her father’s safe, she was good at sneaking around, when her dad was really angry at her, she’d have to sneak around to avoid making him even more angry, she knew that he still loved her though!

Her plan went better than expected, she managed to get everything done! Then she packed a bag full of what she thought that she would need! Maybe some food, clothes - obviously, she would need a new journal, she had one that she hadn’t written in yet in a drawer, so that was good. A sleeping bag. A weapon? She’d only really need one if she was gonna go to Peculia, and that was the last place that you’d see Lena Chance!

She made her way to the docks after walking for an hour or two, Lena was a good walker, but she was still ecstatic when she finally arrived! 

“Hello!” She said between breaths, she had to walk the entire way from district four to the district one docks. “Can I get a ride?”

”Kid, umm… how old are you?” The man asked, he was very sceptical.

”Oh! I’m eighteen, I’m moving away!” Lena has always been a very cheerful person, she didn’t like lying much… But this wasn’t a harmful lie!

”Hmm, I’ll believe you, I looked very young when I was around your age, and I’m too tired to check anyways. So where’d ya wanna go?” She had done it! Yes, she felt bad about lying, but it was necessary!

”Umm… what’s the cheapest trip?”

”Let me check… A trip to Greenhorne is the same price as a trip to the Powdered Peaks.”

”I’m interested in a trip to Greenhorne. Thanks by the way.”

”It’s nothing kid. Your ship will leave in a hour, don’t be late, the Captain will not wait for you.”

”Yessir!” Lena excitedly said! She was gonna become famous thanks to her friend here!

The trip was long and it boring, but eventually Lena made it to Greenhorne, the ship stopped near a beautiful mountain range, once Lena was off the ship and away from the others, she began running around the grass, and basking in the shear amount of sun that Greenhorne had to offer! Was it only this pretty in spring? Or was it always this pretty? 

It was amazing, Lena had lived in New Lumos her entire life, so seeing miles and miles of grass with no skyscrapers in sight was foreign to her, but it was so nice and relaxing, so serene, and just stunning. The sky was blue and vibrant, unlike the permanently gray skies of New Lumos. At night, Lena might be able to see stars for the first time! This was just amazing! Definitely the best decision that Lena had ever made!

Lena had a small sleeping bag which she had brought with her, at night she’d find somewhere where the stars were easy to see to sleep, she heard someone say on the ship ‘it never rains in Greenhorne’, she thought that they were delusional at first, but it didn’t rain for the many days that she had slept outside, or while she was wandering around. At some point Lena realised that she was lost, but she was lost in a place where she could see the stars!

A few butterflies caught Lena’s eyes, she wandered over with childlike excitement, she had grown up with stories of them, but she had never actually seen one, Greenhorne is so amazing! She thought while walking up to the pink butterflies.

This is just like all of those stories of great adventures that Lena had heard! Something always went wrong in them… the hero always had a nice time while on their adventure!

17/4/2023

Dear diary…

I’m in Greenhorne right now, it’s so beautiful! I wonder if dad would enjoy it just as much? But, the scenery is just so nice! I wish that I could stay here, but I can’t lose sight of my goal! I need to become known! To be someone! I need to be important to people! I want everyone to know how hurt amazing this adventure makes me! I’m so scared excited for the future!

I’ll write again tomorrow!

Chapter Text

The butterflies were so beautiful, Lena watched them with awe, one even landed on her! She sat down and stared at the butterflies, the one that had sat on her head flew off to continue the dance with its friends! …Lena’s eyes caught a glimpse of something new, a strange blue orb, it latched itself onto the butterfly that landed on her and the other butterflies scattered.

When Lena looked at it again, there were eyes on the butterfly, and it looked angry and confused. Lena ran as quickly as she could, she eventually caught sight of a town and she ran into it - causing a small commotion.

She tried to explain her situation to everyone there, but they just thought that she was crazy, and the fact that she said ‘I am not crazy’ probably didn’t help. She walked to who she presumed was the mayor in a last ditch attempt to try to get someone on her side.

“Welcome adventurer. I’m the mayor of this town. I take it that you’ve spoken to all our townsfolk?” He could make quite an accurate guess by the fact that all of the townsfolk were glaring at Lena like she was a madwoman.

”Yes, but that’s not important, I saw these butterflies and it was nice but then everything just w-“ She manically explained before the mayor cut her off.

”Greenhorne’s a nice town.” Her annoyance was growing rapidly, everyone in this town had ignored her concerns. “But I am a mayor, so I would say that.” Lena was distracted by her own mind trying to think of an explanation to why someone would name a town after a kingdom, when they live in that very same kingdom! But the air suddenly felt off, this was enough to pull Lena out of her thoughts, and the mayor out of his script at the same time. “Huh?” The mayor was confused, that thing was just a legend that they told naughty kids to scare them, it wasn’t real, was it?

Lena looked at what the mayor was staring at, it looked sorta human, but it didn’t have legs. It had eyes that were close to human eyes, but its scleras were completely black, leaving a horrific contrast with the otherwise normal yellow eyes. It wore a ragged robe that looked incredibly old and uncomfortable. 

“What in the world is that?!” Someone yelled, Lena didn’t quite catch their name while talking to them, this was a common occurrence for her.

“Who? Where? What? How?” An old lady said, she looked like she had just seen a ghost, maybe she had.

“What is it, Mommy?” A small child asked, he was more yelling it however.

”Shhh, keep quiet!” The mother quickly and ‘helpfully’ yelled.

”This can’t be good…” Said the most sarcastic person in this whole town.

Many more said things, but the mayor’s shout cut them all off.

”Oh, no… it’s…!” The mayor’s voice came, it was panicked and the mayor himself was blinking frantically like the thing in front of them would disappear all of a sudden.

”Mwaa ha ha haaa!” The cackle sent a chill down Lena’s back, this situation was real, she was in real danger. “I am the Dark Lord, Erix!” Did others call him that? Or did he just call himself that once? “I’ve come to wreak havoc on this miserable little world!” That was definitely not ideal. “And I’m starting with you, people of Greenhorne!” Maybe Lena should’ve gone to the Powdered Peaks after all.. No! Lena was going to be fine! This was all just a joke! This wouldn’t dishearten her! “It’s time for your first taste of true fear!” Lena’s slight amount of regained confidence quickly died at his words. “Say goodbye to your faces!” 

Before Lena could even wrap her mind around what he had said, faces began flying off of the villagers, screams of terror from those standing nearby was all that Lena could hear. She didn’t know if they could breathe anymore or not…

Everyone was horrified, the entire town went dead silent…

Then the Dark Lord spoke again. “Hmph. Well, I think this should do nicely for now.” Many were spared. Was this Dark Lord just especially stupid? Did he have only a certain amount of faces needed? Did he just not care? Or was he trying desperately to stop what he was doing? Or was he in a hurry? “Now listen here, you faceless freaks!” Said the master of rubbing salt in the wound. “I hope you like a life of wordless terror, because that’s all you’ve got now! And to those of you left behind… Take a nice long look at your friends… AND DESPAIR! Buh-bye!” He then left, leaving the town in a shared state of terror.

It was awful walking through the town, everyone was suffering, everyone except Lena, she was fine, she wasn’t from here so she wasn’t really attached to anyone here, and her face was still where it was supposed to be, so she was fine…

A lady was panicking as Lena tried to make her exit, Lena walked up to the lady to see what was wrong. Her child was notably lacking a face, that wasn’t good, the kid was still alive though, so it could still be worse.

“Alan! My poor baby! Don’t panic… Don’t panic…“ The child in question was small, he barely reached the top of Lena’s legs, did that mean that she was tall? No, it didn’t.

”Ma’am, do you know what ju-“

”Oh! Adventurer! I beg you, please! Pleas help my Alan!” Lena had always wanted praise, saving this child wouldn’t only be doing the right thing, she’d also most likely get praise! She had to do it!

“Of course! I love to help people!” She excitedly exclaimed, but she then realised that she did not bring a weapon, nor did she have any powers, so this was going to be hard… But, she could do it!

”Oh thank you ever so much!” There was no going back now, this lady was counting on her! “…I know! Please take this. It’s our family’s good luck charm.” Lena tried to refuse the payment, it obviously had sentimental value, but the lady seemed intent on giving it away. And supporting that assumption was the fact that the charm teleported into Lena’s bag. “I fear that the Dark Lord still lurks nearby.” Clairvoyant. “Could you look outside town for him?” Asking a child to investigate a very dangerous person? Great idea!

“Of course!” Lena Chance had a death wish.

She saw the Dark Lord once she had left the town, the Dark Lord didn’t see her however..

He was talking to himself, Lena sneakily approached the Dark Lord to listen in on his conversation with himself.

”I have the power here, not you. It’s useless attempting to fight.. You can’t even remember what they looked like, you’ve been obsessing over regaining power for that long.” Lena thought that he was just talking about himself, what else would he be talking about? 

She didn’t have much time to think about it, as she had been spotted.

Chapter Text

This is a picture of Erix’s Mii!

Chapter Text

Spotted, Lena had been spotted! The Dark Lord found this entertaining however.

”Mwaa ha ha haaa! Is someone trying to be a hero?” Lena had made a big mistake, but she didn’t know that yet…

“Give Alan’s face back!” She yelled, her bravado was the only weapon that she had, and she would use it.

”What, you mean this?” He said while levitating a face near him. Lena’s assumption that it was Alan’s face was not far fetched, or creative in the slightest, but it was a correct assumption nonetheless.

Lena nodded, she didn’t know what to say, would anyone know what to say in her situation?

”Hrrm. Maybe I will give this one back to you… On one condition… How good are you in a fight?” Not good at all, Lena was very short for a seventeen year old, and she had never been in a fight before, she usually did her best to deescalate every situation, this is not a good situation.

He summoned a creature made out of slime to his side, in theory, Lena would be able to defeat it! But the problem is that it was almost her height… and she was unarmed.

”Eeep!” Lena began to cower, she was going to be killed by an oversized blob of slime…

Alan’s face was attached to the blob of slime, just like what had happened with the butterfly earlier… Was that the Dark Lord’s practice?

”Be seeing you… if you survive, that is! Mwaa ha ha haaa!” He then teleported away, leaving Lena to fight for her life… alone

“Uhh…” Lena was backing away, but it wasn’t going to do much… She saw her life flash before her eyes, she began to tear up.. 

But then the charm flew out of her bag moving itself between her and the slime, and then it began to glow… A voice came out of the charm…

“Lena… Lena, can you hear me?”

This voice was unlike any that Lena had ever heard before, it was commanding, overwhelming, yet it still had a hind of kindness to its voice.

Lena looked around to see that her surroundings had changed, no longer was she in immediate danger with the slime, she was now somewhere so incomprehensible that it just seemed like a blur, how did that lady get a charm that could do this?! She thought.

“I can hear you! Where am I? Am I dead?! Or dying?! What’s happening?!” She wanted answers, an explanation that made everything make sense, she wanted to feel safe. But she was panicking, all of the questions she asked were all that she could think of, and it was making everything so much worse for her.

“Ho ho ho! What good fortune this is!”

It answered none of her questions, it just moved on to the next point

“Now you may not believe this, but I’m kind of a… guardian spirit.”

Lena had been raised on the myth of the Guardian Spirit, she didn’t know how to process the fact that there was a chance that she was talking to a god…

“Whaaaaaat?!” She questioned, this had to be impossible, she would wake up somewhere in Greenhorne soon enough, this was all just a crazy dream.

”Please, just hear me out. It seems you are in a bit of trouble, my child. Would you like a little help?”

“You’re willing to help me?” Her voice was weak and small as she asked the question. She had never been offered help by anyone above her before… Well, occasionally her teachers, but her dad would always tell them that she was busy and didn’t need them, so she’d usually get friends to help her.

”Of course, my child. Who would not assist one as pure of heart as thou?”

“I… Are there any strings attached?”

“Not at all!”

“Yes! I’d like some help very much, thank you.”

“Ho ho! Excellent, excellent! I, er, bestoweth upon thou the almighty power of the guardian!”

Lena felt no different than she did a few seconds prior, but then she opened her eyes once again to see many symbols, they were all different… and she recognised none of them.

“Whichever symbol -and thus powers- you pick, will dictate who’s domain you are technically under, however, you are still my champion, so they will not be able to alter your course without requesting permission to do so from I.”

Lena had never paid attention when the gods and their gifted powers were brought up, she always thought that she would work in the same place forever, but she was sorely mistaken.

She knew none of the signs - and the Guardian Spirt clearly assumed that she had innate knowledge of the gods and their sigils, so she closed her eyes and walked into a sigil at random.

Her clothes changed while still on her body, her thin tunic was gone, replaced by some sort of robe, it was comfortable, and warm!

”Would you look at that… Wow, I… thank you.” She said, it was amazing, she was like the heroes from the legends, assisted by the gods in the midst of tragedy!

“Ho ho ho! This should be enough for you to deal with the Dark Lord’s fiends! Now fight, O Lena! Give them what for!”

Lena’s world went back to normal, she saw the slime, she was ready to fight!

”Here goes nothing!” She said while full of adrenaline, she was excited for this!

Lena tried to use some spells at first, that proved to be for nought, so she resorted to beating it with the stick that she had. It made its own attack, but a Lena was able to dodge it with relative ease. The fight continued like this until Lena finally managed to kill the slime, Lena was exhausted, she fell to the ground in relief. Lena fell to the floor in relief, she was finally safe! She could use the small amount of gold that she had left to go somewhere else! Somewhere where she would have a good time! Somewhere where Lena wouldn’t need to fight! 

The face that had been attached to the slime flew off, Lena was scared that she had done something wrong and that the face was going to be attached to another monster, but thankfully, she didn’t make a mistake!

”Excellent work, young Lena!”

“Thank you! But it was nothing really…” 

“Now that child should be safe as well. Ho ho ho, things are looking up! Now, return to Greenhorne town.

Lena did as the guardian spirit asked of her, it didn’t take too long to make it back to the town…

The worried mother was holding her child -who now had his face back- in her arms, he seemed fine.

”Yippee, I’m back!” He seemed better than fine actually.

”Oh, my poor sweet Alan! Are you OK? You’re not hurt, are you?” A strange form of sadness washed over Lena, leaving a horrible taste in her mouth and a stinging sensation in her eyes. She wished that someone would care about her like that…. No! She wasn’t upset! She was going to make her dad care about her! He would love her like a dad! Lena just had to do this!

“I’m fine!” The child protested, while rigging around in his mother’s arms, almost making himself fall several times.

”Oh, thank the stars!“ She said, but then she turned to Lena. “And thank YOU, kind traveler! Please take this! It’s a thank-you gift!” She placed a bag into Lena’s hands, it was full of gold, probably enough to keep travelling for a few more months at most, but it was really sweet of her!

Lena started to walk away, but she soon found herself in the guardian spirit’s realm? Domain? Whatever it was, Lena was there again.

”Ho ho ho! Wonderful, just wonderful!”

Lena smiled up at where the light was coming from, she felt proud, why wouldn’t she?

“Now then, Lena my child. I have another task for you.”

Lena was already completely willing to listen to anything the guardian spirit would suggest.

”Erm… you do?”

“You have seen the deeds of the Dark Lord, Erix. He’s made quite the mess, and that’s putting it mildly. And so I must ask you!”

She was excited, a god -the most powerful god- wanted something from her! This was gonna make history?

“Vanquish the vile Erix and save the world!”

“Of course I’ll help!” She said, she wanted to be liked, maybe if she gained the favour of the gods, she would have a comfortable life after this adventure!

“I am so very happy to hear that! These powers should help you contend with Erix. Now go after the Dark Lord, Lena the Cleric! I expect great things from you! Ho ho ho!”

Lena blinked a few times, then she was once again standing in the street of the town. A sign for an inn caught her eye, the owner was most likely outside when Erix attacked, so Lena would just look for a sign inside with the prices on it.

She found a sign soon enough, and she left eight gold on the front desk.

Lena found herself a room and sat at the desk to write in her journal before going to sleep.

The bed wasn’t that comfortable, but it was better than her sleeping bag.

18/4/2023

Dear diary…

Today has been crazy, first I saw a butterfly that had eyes put on it! Then I ran to a town and no one believed me when I told them what I saw! Then we were attacked by the Dark Lord - Erix. I wonder if he called himself that? Or did others call him that first? But it was awful, he stole people’s faces, faces! I agreed to save a lady’s son, and then I was almost killed, but the guardian spirit tricked saved me! I’m going to defeat Erix now! My dad will be so proud of me! 

See you tomorrow!

Chapter Text

Lena woke up the next day and left the town, she was determined to defeat Erix! No, she was going to defeat Erix! Lest she disappoint the guardian spirit.

Lena left the town with the goal of saving people, she left with the goal of impressing the guardian spirit.

Despite her best attempts, she couldn’t see the same beauty in the scenery as she did when she had first arrived, the colours were still beautiful though, and she had a slight smile while walking, so it wasn’t that different!

A monster jumped in Lena’s way, it was clearly looking for a fight, and Lena was willing give it what it was looking for…

She quickly dispatched of it and the face that was attached flew off, this was becoming a pattern now…

“Ho ho ho! You’ve seen the face flying off the monster, I take it? Whomever owned that face has you to thank for freeing it! Just like that young scamp you met earlier… Put it another way, defeating monsters helps people get their faces back. So keep defeating monsters, and help as many people as you can!”

Lena so desperately wanted - no, she needed validation. She was going to save people anyways, but now she can save people.

““Can you do that for me, Lena? Ho ho ho!”

She wasn’t given anytime to answer, because it was never a choice because it knew that she was a good person, of course she would accept!

Lena had been practicing with her staff for a short while now, and she had learned how to use a spell - cure, it was very useful! She could heal her wounds! This also stopped them from being infected! And it removed any scars, as long as you heal them quick enough that is. But the monsters aren’t that bad, Lena wouldn’t need that spell for a while!

She walked in one direction for hours, it was nice! The scenery in Greenhouse had been so beautiful ever since Lena arrived here!

But then, two large butterflies cornered Lena, they knocked her staff out of her hands, then they knocked her to the floor, after that they began circling her. “Erm…” Fear overwhelmed her, this was not good. “I don’t think I can do this…” She was way too weak to fight multiple monsters at once, why did she agree to this?

“Ho ho ho! Looks like you’re in hot water. Very well, help is on the way! Just have patience.”

“Well, this confirms it, I’m lost…” Felix said, he had been going on some tours with his younger sister - Charlotte, after they got ‘removed’ from the Realm of the Fey, the two of them decided to come to Greenhorne, then Charlotte got distracted while they were staying in a small village, Felix said that He’d go ahead and they they’d meet up later, and now he’s lost, great.

He was annoyed, he had been walking for a while, he was hungry, tired, thirsty, and most importantly he missed his sister.

But as Felix was about to pick another direction to walk in for an indeterminate amount of hours, something caught his eyes, a small floating thing that was glowing, he walked towards it to get a closer look, and there was a small eye that was made from a gem in the middle, it seemed to have been made some gold, and other materials that Felix couldn’t exactly guess..

“Hello? Am I being heard?

The voice was unlike anything Felix had ever heard before, there wasn’t a word in his brain that could describe it…

”Yes? Who are you?” He asked, this small amulet was talking to him, yep, Felix had officially lost it.

“This may seem unbelievable, but I am the Guardian Spirit. That does not matter however, follow the charm.”

The charm started moving away from Felix, he chased after it, maybe it would lead him to his sister?

They were closing in! The monsters were closing in on Lena, the antique charm flew off, Lena was alone, scared, and about to be killed by butterflies, butterflies!

But then she saw a figure coming towards her, it had only been a few minutes since the guardian spirit left, how did it find someone so quickly? Lena couldn’t see him well, and she was too scared to move…

Felix saw butterflies, they were huge! And they had… eyes? Felix had no time to ponder how strange the anatomy of these creatures were though, he saw a young teenager in the middle of the two, the creatures were going to attack her! So he ran towards her, stepping on something that snapped in the process.

He pulled the kid up, she seemed relieved, but then she looked slightly more scared.

”Thank you… But, you broke my staff.” She sounded guilty while pointing it out. Felix looked behind him and realised that he did indeed step on her staff and break it.

”Gods… I’m so sorry. Um, I think I might be able to fight them… Just go over there real quick kiddo.” He moved the young girl away from the weird butterflies, and held his microphone, he might be able to kill the butterflies by just slapping them with his microphone… Charlotte was going to call him an idiot either way, so it didn’t really matter what he did, as long as the kid was fine.

He fought decently well, he was still using the stupidest fighting tactic he knew, but it was kinda working! But they managed to hurt him quite a bit, that wasn’t good, not good at all!

But then he noticed a figure out of the corner of his eye, it was the kid that he’d saved, she was holding a piece of her broken staff, she started stabbing at the flying-monstrosities with the sharp end! Soon enough all two of them were dead! It was an extremely amazing show of his talent, but at least the two of them weren’t dead!

Lena had been picked up and saved by who she assumed was an adult, he was tall, yes, but the first thing he did after getting her out of the way was slap the butterflies with what she assumed was a microphone? Then he got mobbed by the butterflies, it was an incredibly absurd thing to do, and not to mention dangerous. But Lena was grateful nonetheless.

She ended up grabbing a piece of her broken staff and sharping the end of it, Lena had once seen the same thing be done in a movie, the movie ended with everyone dying, but it was still a helpful thing that she’d learnt from it.

”I…… Thank you.”

”No, thank you. I was gonna die if you hadn’t been so smart!” He said, he seemed excited? Lena’s plan didn’t even require that much thinking… How had this man survived to adulthood if he thought that making a very ordinary weapon was smart?!

”Excellent job! Now, I assume that the two of you will travel together?”

“Are we?” The man asked, Lena couldn’t tell who the question was directed towards.

”Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“Nope! I got lost while with my sister. It’s a very long -and embarrassing- story.”

”Alrighty! We’re travelling together now I guess! Until your sister can pick you up at the least…”

“Ho ho ho, excellent!”

The charm seemed pretty fine with what had just gone down, and if it was fine with this, then Lena was too!

Lena and the stranger -who was named Felix- walked for hours, while they were walking, Felix spotted a HP banana, a great find! Lena did not see him pick it up however.

Later on, Lena was growing more weary and exhausted, Felix turned to her, holding one half of the HP banana that he had found earlier, Lena graciously took it, and soon enough, she was feeling fine again!

Two more hours passed, the two of them were fighting the urge to fall over and fall asleep on the ground.

”We’re gonna need to set up a tent, do you have one?” Lena asked, she hadn’t thought to bring one, she did bring a sleeping bag, but it was no longer safe to sleep outside in Greenhorne.

”Normally I would’ve said yes to that question, but unfortunately, Charlotte had the tent…” He said, he looked so annoyed with himself…

“How long does it take to die from not sleeping?”

”Too long.” The two of them were dead tired, But Lena saw something that could fix that problem, an inn, she swore that it wasn’t there before… How could that have happened?

She began running for the inn, Felix followed after, keeping up the best he could.

”Wait up!” Lena stopped to wait for him outside of the inn, he made it to her side quickly, they were both so exhausted, they were ready to fall unconscious the second that they found a bed! Well, except for Lena, she needed to write what had happened today, then she could fall asleep in record time. “Praise be to the deity of well-placed inns!” Felix yelling, not knowing that the mentioned deity was listening in, and had great appreciation for the compliment.

Porn entering they noticed the amazing decor, the inn was warm and homely. It was so much better than the inn that Lena had stayed in while in Greenhorne town, this inn was simply divine.

“Wow, what do you think staying here will cost?” Felix asked, the place was amazing, it reminded him of the ‘divine inns’ from old stories about heroes, those weren’t real though, were they?

“You will be permitted to stay here for no cost. As you are here with noble cause.”

Felix immediately knew what that meant, but Lena did not, this wasn’t any ordinary inn, this was a divine inn. Owned by the god of hospitality.

“Wait what?! I didn’t agree to this!” Felix said, he did not want to be a hero! He had to focus on his career!

”And why not?”

The charm… spoke? Either way it sounded like it was getting ready to counter any augment that Felix made, too bad he never learned when to back down… “I need to one: find my sister. And two: focus on my career as a pop-star.”

“Would saving people interrupt thy mortal goals so throughly to not try at all?”

“I… what… sure?” Felix said, not understanding what the Guardian Spirit said at all. It would probably be fine!

“Well, thou will succeed in any future endeavours after this quest, I will ensure thou of that. Would you reconsider your position on this matter?”

“Um….. I…… Sure.” Felix said, once again having no idea what the Guardian was on about.

The situation that had unfolded in front of Lena made her uncomfortable, she didn’t know why, but it felt wrong.

The charm flew into a small hole in the wall that looked like it was made for similar charms… How odd..

Felix began to walk off, and Lena followed him, he pushed open the first door that he saw, inside of this room was two beds, two desks, a desk, and two armchairs.

Felix flopped down immediately on one of the beds, he looked exhausted, and Lena was too, she just wanted to write down what had happened today. She quickly completed her task, and then she practically threw herself on that bed.

19/4/2023

Dear diary…

I met a guy today! His name is Felix, he gave me half of a HP banana! Do you know how expensive those were in New Lumos?! He’s my friend! And he feels like a real friend.

But I met him when I was in a lot of danger, the charm flew off and came back about five minutes later with him in tow. He They saved me! We’re gonna defeat Erix, and then we’ll find his sister! It doesn’t really matter which order we do those in though.

Chapter Text

Lena woke up in the early morning, Felix was not in the room, and there was a strange smell coming from what she assumed was the kitchen.

Lena got up and stretched, it was going to be a long day, but it was nothing that she couldn’t handle!

Lena made her way down the hallway, she was too far away from the kitchen, so she arrived quickly. She saw Felix cooking something, it smelled good!

”You… can cook?” Lena asked groggily, she was still slightly tired, but she was excited to hear her new friend had to say!

”Yep! I’m not as good as my sister, but I try my best.” He had his bag nearby, he probably had the ingredients stored in it.

”Well, what are you making?” Lena asked, she was curious.

”I’m aiming for pancakes, but anything that isn’t a fire would be good.”

”You’ll do great!” Lena said, she was slightly off-put by the idea of a fire, but Felix had this covered!

Felix managed to finish the pancakes without burning down the inn.

After the two had finished their meal, Felix went into the lobby to grab something, he came back with a squeaky hammer, he handed the item to Lena.

”I got you a new staff! Well, the sign said that it was a staff at least…” Lena was very grateful for the gift, despite how odd it was.

”Thank you! Where did you get it though? I didn’t see any nearby stores while we were travelling.”

”I got it from a store that’s in the inn, it’s near the back. I think it runs off the trust system, because I didn’t see anyone looking after the shop. They were also selling HP bananas.”

“I might check that out. Thanks!”

”No problem, I think we should head out now though. Ready to go?” Lena was still slightly tired, but she was ready to go! She was ready to be a hero!

”Yep, let’s go! Have you got all of your stuff?”

”Yes.” That was good.

The two walked together for a while, they didn’t know what they were exactly looking for, well, Felix had his sister. But Lena wasn’t sure what most of the villagers looked like, she silently cursed her poor memory.

They encountered some monsters, which they dispatched quickly. Surprisingly Lena’s new staff was actually quite an improvement.

”Do you think we’ll find a villager’s face anytime soon?” Lena thought to herself, but she ended up vocalising her thought.

”Villagers?” Felix asked, Lena had forgotten to tell him exactly how this situation came to be, the only information that she had told him was; we’re fighting the Dar Lord Erix, Erix is bad, and he steals faces. None of that clarified anything about Greenhorne town at all.

”Yep, so I came here from New Lumos, I spent a while wandering, and then I saw a butterfly with a face.” Lena started, but Felix cut her off.

”You mean those things we’ve been fighting?”

”Yep. I ran to a nearby town, and then Erix attacked that town. And now I’m trying to save everyone from that town.”

Felix gave a nod before walking ahead of Lena, he might’ve heard something…

As Lena followed behind him, she heard a distant yell of “What in the name of the gods.”, Felix had probably found something, so Lena sped up to get to him.

Once she made it over a hill, she saw a huge butterfly with a face stuck to it, it was so big, it was taller than Lena herself, yep he definitely saw this thing, she thought. She also thought that the face might belong to a resident of Greenhorne town.

”So, do we have to fight that thing?” Felix asked, he wasn’t scared, more astonished.

”I think so…” 

“Something is telling me that I should’ve told my sister that joke I wanted on my gravestone…”

“My guardian…. We actually did it!” Felix said, he was slightly bleeding, but nothing that casting cure couldn’t fix.

”We did… didn’t we?” 

After the adrenaline had died down, Felix and Lena began walking in a random direction again, they managed to fin another divine inn by nightfall.

They had dinner, Lena wrote in her journal, and then the two of them went to sleep, they were going to head back to Greenhorne in the morning, and then they’d continue looking for more faces.

20/4/2023

Dear diary…

Felix gave me a new staff today, I forgot to write this down, but he stepped on my old one. My new one is better than my old one!

We left the inn, and then we fought a giant butterfly, I’m not lying when I say it was giant… It was defeated by us, and then we walked for a bit to find an inn.

Tomorrow we’re gonna head to Greenhorne, we are gonna go there to see if the face that was attached to the butterfly belonged to a villager.

I’m excited to write how that went!

Lena and Felix woke up and had breakfast, the two of them were excited.

After they had everything they needed, they left the inn and went back to Greenhorne, Lena saw someone whose face had previously been stolen by the Dark Lord, he seemed relieved, but still horrified by what happened. He thanked Lena and Felix, he also gave them some money.

After that Felix and Lena left to go save some more people.

Their day was otherwise uneventful, monster attacks that were quickly dispatched, Lena healing Felix or herself every now and then, they soon found another divine inn, Lena was beginning to think that they were being intentionally placed.

A routine was beginning to form, Felix would usually be the first to go to sleep. Lena would write in her journal and then she’d rest.

21/4/2023

Dear diary…

Today was pretty busy for me, I first went to Greenhorne, it went pretty well, the guy  -Dave- gave us some money, well, he more insisted that we take his money.

Then we started walking around to try and save some more villagers. It doesn’t sound that busy when I write it all out, but it felt busy to me!  See you tomorrow!

Lena woke up the next day, she heard some talking coming from the foyer, she couldn’t tell what the words were, but she heard Felix… and someone else.. Lena made her way towards them, Lena wasn’t worried, just confused.

“So, you’re telling me a kid is trying to save the world?” Charlotte asked, she couldn’t believe what she was being told, nor where she was. She was walking around looking for her brother, and then she found an inn in the middle of nowhere, her brother was inside this inn, and then he told her that this was a divine inn!? 

Not to even mention that apparently he was fighting ‘monsters with faces’! Or the fact that a CHILD was the only other one trying to save the world! Charlotte was going to have an aneurysm.

”Well…. Yes? She’s slightly more capable than me! So it’s not that bad!” Felix said, Charlotte felt her brain cells dying.

Charlotte sighed, if this was true -which it most certainly isn’t-, she would need to help this CHILD who apparently had no responsible guardians around. “My guardian… Felix, it doesn’t take much to be more capable than you.”

”Ouch… Anyways, wanna help us defeat the Dark Lord?” He asked.

”Fine… But don’t think that I believe this absurd story. I’m glad that you’re alive, but I just don’t know about this…” Charlotte spoke. She heard steps coming from the hallway, they must be the steps of the kid.

”Oh, hello! Lena! Good morning!” Felix said. The kid entered the foyer, she had long blue hair, it looked like she had dyed it herself as it didn’t look professional at all, but she did manage to get her roots. She was presumably a cleric, judging by her outfit and… staff? But she was still a kid, and she looked like a kid.

”Hey, Felix! Good morning to you too! Who is this?” She asked.

”I’m Charlotte, Felix’s sister. And I assume that you’re Lena, correct?”

”Yep! How did you find the inn?” Lena asked.

”Well, after someone told me that could use a map, and got himself lost because he could not, I bought a new map for myself from a shop there, then I began to search for him, and then I found this inn this morning. Anyways, I hear that you’re chasing down this ‘Dark Lord’, is that correct?”

”Yes! He stole faces from the people of Greenhorne town! We’re trying to save everyone there!” She excitedly explained. Charlotte found the ‘face stealing’ part odd, who wouldn’t?

”I’ll join you.” Charlotte said, she was only going to stay to make sure that Felix and this kid were okay though.

”Great! We’re gonna leave after we have breakfast!” She said, this was an opportunity for Charlotte to show off her cooking skills.

”Alrighty, I’ll make breakfast.”

Charlotte was a very good cook, she went to school for it after all.

Charlotte was a cook, she had blonde hair with a pink fade at the bottom. It was similar to Felix’s hair, blonde with a light blue fade at the bottom.

But, she was really friendly, and the breakfast was great! Charlotte was a very good cook! After that the team set off, excited for what the day would bring!

Chapter Text

The team were walking, but then they saw the Dark Lord, he was staring at a circle of large rocks while mumbling to himself, it was an odd sight, but the team wasn’t going to walk away!

Unfortunately, the Dark Lord heard the team approaching, he made a sharp turn around to face them, he wasn’t suprised, but he wasn’t enraged either, rather he was amused by their foolish nature.

“Hmm? Well, look who it is!” He said, as his eyes scanned the team of three. “You just keep turning up like a bad penny!” A strange phrase to be sure.

“Dark Lord Erix! Prepare to taste defeat!” This was not a smart idea from Lena.

“Pffffft… Aaaahhh ha ha haaaaa Oh, that was a good one! Well since you want it so much…” He prepared a magical attack, it was purple, it was going to be most likely lethal for Felix or Charlotte, but especially so for Lena - the person that the attack was aimed at. “Let’s dance!” He said before he launched his attack. Lena screwed her eyes shut, preparing for what would hopefully be a quick death.

”Hold it right there!” Someone shouted, a bolt of lightning hit the Dark Lord’s attack, Lena also noticed that the sky had gotten a lot darker.

“Who dares…?” The Dark Lord asked, he was angry, but Lena was safe from his wrath as the stranger stood in front of her and her teammates who were frozen in terror.

“Hmm. So you’re this Dark Lord I’ve been hearing so much about.” They said, they were amazing, their cloak -or robe?-, had an incredible gradient from white to mint on it. Their hair was black, and it was slightly curly. They were confident, their voice showed it. They held themself high, and they were probably intimidating the Dark Lord! “You won’t be getting your way much longer…” They were so confident! Lena wanted to be just as confident and powerful as them, maybe finding where they bought that robe would be a good start? “Not if I have anything to say about it!” They surrounded themself with magic, it was swirling around them, they were so talented.

”Didn’t anyone ever tell you nobody likes a party pooper?” The Dark Lord said, he was annoyed. “I might just let you live… This time!” He was definitely scared of this stranger He was fighting to protect them, Lena was so grateful to them for saving her and her teammates! “Bye for now! Mwaa ha ha haaaa!” He then teleported away, the stranger stared at the place where he was for a few seconds, most likely to make sure that he wasn’t going to come back.

“And breathe…” Lena said, her teammates her still frozen, but they were fine.

”How do you do?” The stranger asked, while facing Lena, their eyes were an ethereal black. “Most call me Great Sage Alexis. I am a travelling mage.” They explained.

”I’m Lena.” Lena explained how she got into this situation, the Sage listened intently to every word, lightning was flashing in their hair.

”Intriguing! So you’re on a quest to defeat the Dark Lord?” They asked.

“Yeah. But…” The Sage cut Lena off.

”…But you feel you’re not strong enough?” They said, what they said was accurate, Lena knew that she wasn’t strong enough, maybe she was with Felix and Charlotte’s help, but what if they left?

Lena stayed quiet.

”I sense a strange power within you, though.” Maybe they were talking about the charm? “You might not think it’s much now… …but continue your journey and you’ll go from strength to strength! So just hang in there.” They said, they were very wise.

“Got it!” Lena’s excitement had returned! She was excited to make both her father and the Sage proud! Unfortunately, she had forgotten the Sage’s name however…

”If fortune is on our side, we’ll meet again. Until then!” They then left.

After Felix and Charlotte were ready, the team set off towards the Strange Grove.

The grove was beautiful, everywhere Lena looked, she saw verdant colours! This was becoming more common for her, but in New Lumos, the areas with grass were far and few between, people would gather near the grassy areas just to look at something other than a sidewalk.

”I wonder who that Great Sage is…” Lena said while walking, Charlotte paid no attention to what she said, but Felix was interested in them too.

”How cool were they…” He said.

”’You won’t be getting your way for much longer…’” 

“‘Not if I have anything to say about it!’ Right?”

”Even Erix couldn’t come back from that tongue lashing! They were so cool!” Lena said.

”So cool!”

The team continued to walk, it was nice, Greenhorne was beautiful! Such an amazing, beautiful, idealistic place! What would Lena be like if she was raised here?

The grove held some new monsters, ones that could make the party laugh uncontrollably, no one could fight in that situation, so the team usually let the person laughing sit behind the rest of the party. Other than that however, it was still very nice!

Felix saw something shiny in a bush, he decided to walk up to it, he could catch up with the team later!

As he approached, he felt eyes on him, but then he was tackled from the side. He didn’t see much, but he knew that it wasn’t a monster that tackled him, it was a person.

There was a person sneaking up closer to her area, she protected it well from the monsters, and she hid it well too! So Felicity tackled that invader! That showed him what for! But it seemed like he wasn’t trying to steal from her, more he was just stupid and wanted to investigate…

But Felicity heard some more people running towards them.

Charlotte heard something fall, it was probably just a monster, but then she checked behind her to see if a monster was going to attack, Felix was missing…

Charlotte ran in the direction of the noise, she heard Lena following, so that was good. She stopped when she found him near a few bushes, with some random person laying on top of him, pinning him down, they were obviously intending of attacking her idiot of a brother, but wether it was justified or not would have to wait for later, she had to defend her brother!

Something fell, it was probably nothing though! But then Charlotte began running like an athlete, so Lena followed, whe Charlotte stopped, Lena saw someone on top of Felix, they didn’t look that angry, but Charlotte sure did.

Felicity rolled off the random man, the people she heard were here, and they had weapons, one looked angry, while the other looked more surprised, the angry one was a cook, the other one was a cleric, but she also looked like a child. Whoever they were, Felicity didn’t want to fight this close to her bush, not after her last home was raided by the monsters!

But she still would if she needed to protect herself, so she readied her claws, if a fight is what they wanted, a fight is what Felicity would give them!

The person was getting ready to attack, she had rolled off of Felix, but now she looked ready for a fight, Lena needed to try and desculate this right now!

“Hey! We don’t want to hurt you! We are just travellers!” Lena asserted, she didn’t want to fight!

Felix stood up, brushing dirt off himself. “Yeah, we’re just here to save some people!”

The person seemed to hear them, and she eased up a bit, but she still seemed a bit distrustful of them.

”Are… you sure?” She said.

Charlotte dropped her frying pan, she was aware that she was the most threatening one in the group, so she dropped her weapon to help the team build trust with this stranger.

The stranger retracted her claws, she seemed to slightly trust the group a tiny bit.

”Why were you so close to my area?”

”I didn’t know that you were staying here, I just saw something shiny, and I wanted to see what it was… I’m so sorry.” Felix explained.

”Oh… So you aren’t a threat?” The stranger responded.

”No, no, the day he’s a threat, is the same day Peculia becomes normal.” Charlotte said.

”Hm… So… what do you mean by ‘save people’?” She asked.

”We’re trying to save the people of Greenhorne town, after Dark Lord Erix stole their faces.” Lena explained.

”Is he by any chance, placing these faces on monsters?”

”Yes! Wait, how do you know that?” Felix asked.

”Well it was a normal day, but then a bunch of monsters bust in and everything went to chaos - well more than usual at least. The monsters took over our area, and we’ve been scattered since then. So you will defeat them right?”

”I mean, sure? We were probably gonna do that already, but if you tell us where to go, we can help you. Why not join us?”Lena suggested.

”Sure, what are you gonna do after you save those townspeople?”

”We’re going to find and defeat the Dark Lord!” Lena explained.

”I’m up for that!”

The stranger walked with the team, eventually the tension died, the stranger was pretty energetic, and she was actually pretty friendly!

So the team was getting very friendly! She asked everyone for their names and she told them hers - Felicity.

Then the team found a divine inn, Felicity and Charlotte seemed surprised, but after Felix and Lena explained how the divine inns worked, they seemed to understand it.

Once they were inside, they all smelled something nice, they made their way towards the dining hall, there was a feast on the table, but no one else was there…

Felicity was the first to accept this and walk up to eat, Felix followed seconds after, Lena and Charlotte sat at the table at the other’s insistence.

And Lena thought that now would be the perfect time for a speech! 

“Felicity joined our party!” Lena announced.

“Welcome to the team!” Charlotte said, Felicity seemed to appreciate the consideration.

“I’m sure we’ll get along just fine!” 

“With that, we have a four person party! Our journey has a very important goal! To save all of Miitopia… …from the dastardly hand of the Dark Lord! And it’s sure to be an arduous journey…  But we will prevail no matter what comes in our way! Now-“

”Uh…” Charlotte started.

“Hey, Lena.” Felix followed 

“You done? We’re hungry.” Felicity said.

“Oh… Toast! To happy, harmonious, and heroic travels!” Lena projected, this was going to be an amazing adventure!

After the team was full, they began to head to their rooms, Felix and Felicity were sharing a room, and so were Lena and Charlotte.

22/4/2023

Dear diary…

Today was very busy, first I met Charlotte this morning, she was talking to Felix about something. And then we stumbled into the Dark Lord, who almost killed me, but I was saved by the Great Sage, they are so powerful! But they didn’t stick around for long, I wonder where they went…

We then decided to go to this grove, and then we met Felicity, she thought that we were attacking her, so she almost attacked us, but we managed to calm the situation down! And now we’re gonna help her save her village! And then she’s gonna help us beat the Dark Lord!

Chapter Text

“Gods above…Is everyone alright? Lena, you’re not hurt too badly, right?” Charlotte asked, everyone had just encountered the Dark Lord, he summoned an enemy, a powerful enemy.

”I… I’m alright. Does anyone need to be healed?” She asked, Charlotte turned to look at the child, she seemed fine, Charlotte couldn’t see any blood or scars, so she was fine.

Felix and Felicity were also fine, Charlotte didn’t know what she expected to happen, everyone had gotten hurt, but why did she expect it to be awful?

”Okay, let’s see if we can find a divine inn. We’ll go back to the town tomorrow, is that sounding like a plan?” Charlotte said, she had started to be the one to plan the team’s moves, she wasn’t the best, but she was alright.

All of them found an inn soon enough, as per usual, they ate, and then they left to go to sleep, Charlotte was in the same room as Lena, and Felix was rooming with Felicity.

“So, Charlotte?” Lena said, her voice was small.

”Hmm?”

”What are you gonna do after we defeat Erix?” Lena asked. Charlotte stayed quiet to ponder for a moment before responding.

”Hmm, well, I’ll continue on with my career, me and Felix will probably continue to do concerts, write songs, and just, go back to normal. But we’ll still visit you, if that’s something that you’re concerned about.” She said.

”Thanks, I just, we’re so close to the end of our adventure, we’ve saved everyone from the town, and now all we need to do is defeat the Dark Lord, and all of you are my friends, so I don’t know what I’d do if we lost contact. I was just… worried.”

”No problem. Goodnight, kid.” Charlotte laid down, pulling the covers over herself.

”Goodnight!” Lena excitedly said, not realising how loud she actually was. “Sorry, goodnight.” She whispered, Lena heard Charlotte chuckle before she fell asleep.

After Lena was sure that Charlotte was asleep, she turned on a lamp to start writing, she made sure that it wasn’t that bright so it wouldn’t wake up Charlotte.

16/5/2023

Dear diary…

Today we found the last villager’s face! We’re so close to defeating the Dark Lord! Tomorrow we’ll go back to Greenhorne town, we need to make sure that the villager we saved is okay!

I don’t know how we’ll find him, but we will! We will defeat Dark Lord Erix! For Miitopia! For them

After talking to the lady, Lena walked up to the mayor.

”What? When did the town get back to normal? Oh, that’s good news. Very good news indeed! Oh, adventurers.” He said.

”Uh…”

”Sir, the Dark Lord is heading towards the castle…” Charlotte explained.

”What? The Dark Lord is going to the castle? That’s bad! We’re done for! Adventurers… Would you go after the Dark Lord?”

”We were planning on doing that anyways.” Charlotte said.

”Well then…” He handed Lena a piece of paper. “You’ll need this to get in the castle. Oh…and please take care.”

The team quickly left, they headed towards the castle.

Everyone was making good time, they’d hopefully arrive at the castle by the end of the week!  Or sooner.

Lena heard something. “What’s that sound?” She asked herself. “Let’s go and check it out!” She announced.

After a shot while, the team saw a horse being attacked by a bunch of goblins, it looked scared.

”We have to save that horse!” Lena yelled.

The goblins were dispatched easily, the team was growing very strong! They would soon defeat Erix!

The horse calmed down after a few minutes, Lena walked up to it.  “It’s all right now. Be good!” The team left, they needed to get to an in after all!

But the horse wasn’t content with that, it followed them.

After a short while, Lena noticed it, how long had it been following them?

”Oh, it followed us.” She made a very obvious observation. “You want to join us?” The horse seemed to want to stick with the adventurers, so there was only one person Lena needed permission from, the team’s token adult, Charlotte! “Can we keep it?” She asked.

”Sure.” Charlotte responded, not knowing why Lena would consult her for permission.

”Yes!” Lena excitedly exclaimed. “Come along then!”

When they entered the divine inn, a feast was once again prepared for them.

Lena attempted another speech, after all, that’s what all cool heroes do!

”In a surprising turn of events… The horse joined our party!” Lena kept her speech sort and to the point, she was really getting used to all of this!

”It’s a big one!” Felix said, he also seemed excited!

”And it looks pretty powerful…” Charlotte said.

”Don’t forget about how cute it is!” Felicity chimed in.

”What should we call the horse?” Felix asked.

”What do you think Lena?”

”I guess it’s Lena’s call!” Felicity added.

”Hmmm… Jasper? How about that? I’ve always wanted a pet, that was something on my name list.” Lena suggested.

”Jasper… Charlotte… What do you think?” Felix asked.

”That has a lovely ring to it! Jasper!” Charlotte said, she was smiling.

”Yes! That’s a cute name!”

”Ok! It’s settled then!” Felix asserted.

”Our horsey new friend will be called Jasper!”

After everyone had finished eating, Lena made her way into the stables, she hadn’t seen them before, the divine inns were incredibly odd.

The horse -Jasper- was lying down, he looked very comfortable. when Lena entered, he stood up, towering over the child.

”You’ve got a name now! Ready? It’s… Jasper!” Jasper seemed happy with the new name, he gently tapped Lena with his head. “It suits you!”

Lena grabbed her journal from her and Charlotte’s room, so was going to stay the night in the stables! Charlotte gave her an amused look when she was leaving their room.

17/5/2023

Dear diary…

We went to Greenhorne town today, the villager that we saved yesterday is fine, she gave Felicity some stuff to hold onto.

We then went to go talk to the mayor, he gave us a piece of paper to get into the castle, hopefully, we’ll get there before Dark Lord Erix does!

And while we were walking to the castle, we saw a horse that was being attacked by some goblins, we defeated the goblins, and the horse decided to stay with us! We named him -well I think the horse is male- Jasper! He’s my first pet!

This adventure just keeps getting worse better! I’m so scared excited to see what happens next!

Chapter Text

Charlotte watched Lena grab her diary and go to the stables, the kid was nice, Charlotte had only known her for a small amount of time, but she knew that the kid was really sweet. Charlotte did worry about her though, where were her guardians? Why was she the first one that the Guardian Spirit picked?

She put those thoughts aside, Charlotte needed to sleep, she didn’t want to make any mistakes while preparing breakfast tomorrow.

Charlotte woke up the next day, the blonde was up early, she had always woken up first. She made her way down the hallway, she could make breakfast while everyone was asleep, Charlotte liked the quiet.

She finished the food quickly, while she was still busy, her brother came into the kitchen, he helped her by grabbing ingredients from her bag for her, she’d probably needed to buy some new ingredients soon.

Felicity came in a few minutes later, she looked excitedly at the meat that Charlotte had prepared, giving her compliments on how it was cooked. Charlotte appreciated the compliments.

Soon Lena made her appearance, looking excited for what they were going to do today.

”Someone’s excited.” Felicity remarked.

”Yep!” Lena exclaimed.

After the team had finished eating, all of them started to leave the inn, Jasper also came along.

They found a guard by the castle’s walls, the castle was so big!

“You are approaching Castle Greenhorne. I’m sorry but I can’t…” Charlotte pulled out the piece of paper that the mayor had given them, the guard looked at it for a while, and then began to speak again. “Oh, you have a letter of introduction from the mayor! My apologies! Go right ahead!” The team was able to bring Jasper with them, the castle was huge! Even bigger than Lena had guessed!

The team was walking quite quickly, they were all quite excited to get to the castle, not to mention that Erix was already on his way there! If the team arrived first, then they could set up a trap for Erix, defeat him before he even knew what hit him! Lena had loads of motivation! She was gonna save Miitopia, then go back home and her dad would actually show that he loves her!

Lena ran ahead of the team, she was so excited to defeat Dark Lord Erix! She just had to get to the castle before him! Then she could save Miitopia!

”Wow! You can see all of the castle from here!” Lena exclaimed.

”Now THAT’s what I call a castle!” Felicity excitedly yelled.

”I wonder if that’s where we’ll find the King?” Felix assumed.

”I’ve never met royalty before!” Felicity said.

Felicity then ran ahead, the team quickly followed her.

While on their way, they fought some monsters, they were dispatched easily, everyone’s power was growing so quickly! They would definitely defeat Erix soon!

Soon enough, it started to get dark, and the team was tired, they soon found an inn, it was comfortable as usual. Lena went to the stables, Charlotte brought a bed in for her with Felix’s help.

It wasn’t the easiest to move in, but Lena wasn’t going to sleep on the floor now, so it was worth it.

“Thanks.” Lena said.

”No probs!” Felix exclaimed.

Charalotte gave Lena tired thumbs up and left, but not before wishing Lena a good night. Lena pulled out her journal, she used some of the light coming from the windows to read what she was writing.

18/5/2023

Dear diary…

Charlotte made breakfast today! She’s a really good chef! Way better than me, even though I used to have to make my food every day! 

But, I think we’re gonna make it to the castle tomorrow, and then, if we arrive first, we can defeat Erix!

 

My plan is for everyone to get ready and out of sight, Erix will arrive and attempt to steal everyone’s faces, but then Felicity will jump on him! And then we’ll all attack and he’ll be defeated! 

It may sound like an out there plan, but I think that we could pull it off! 

 

I’ll write down what happened there tomorrow! Maybe Greenhorne will be safe tomorrow?

Lena woke up early, she was excited! Ecstatic even! Today was the day! This was the team’s chance to defeat the Dark Lord once and for all! If they failed here, when would they get their next chance? But Lena was confident that he would be defeated today! So that wouldn’t matter!

Lena bolted down the hallway to find Charlotte and Felix cooking together, it looked like they were almost done.

After they were ready, the team left, with Lena running ahead.

today they would defeat Dark Lord Erix!

Soon the actual castle came into view, the castle where the King lived, the castle where the Dark Lord would attack.

It was an amazing piece of architecture, it looked old, very old. But it also looked like it had been cared for well, it stood tall and strong.

They entered this castle, it was even better on the inside, the decor was immaculate, it had gold and silver ornaments everywhere, Felicity questioned how much this place was worth…

The adventurers were guided to the throne room, where the King was sitting.

”Welcome, travellers.” The King said, as his guards dropped him on the ground. “What business have you here?” He asked the adventurers.

”The Dark Lord attacked Greenhorne Town!” Lena probably should’ve told him that he was in danger first, but she wanted to explain the full situation. Lena explained everything that happened quickly.

”And this miscreant stole the people’s faces, you say?” He began laughing hysterically. “Of all the ridiculous stories…” And then his face was ripped off by magic.

The Dark Lord didn’t give them time to prepare their plan, he just attacked, now they would have to save the King.

And Felicity saw where it flew off, it’s time for a rescue mission!

Chapter Text

22/5/2023

Dear diary…

We’re very close to where Felicity thinks the King’s face will be! I didn’t write last night, we got lost and couldn’t find an inn, so we all set up Charlotte’s tent, Felicity was guarding it, I came out in the middle of the night, and we talked for a while!

We’ll probably save the King tomorrow!

I’ll write how that went!

The team was awake much earlier than usual, they were all preparing for a fight…

After everyone had finished eating, Felicity stood up and started making her way to the foyer, everyone followed after her, they were all ready.

The team walked through the forest, they swore that they could hear whispering from the trees, but when they looked over, it was gone…

But other than that, the forest was serene, it was amazing. Lena had never been as amazed as when she had first stepped foot into Greenhorne.

Now it was time to fight for the safety of Greenhorne!

After a while of walking, the team saw the King’s face, it flew onto a golem… made of rock…

They needed to win this fight!

It attacked Lena first, she was thrown back, but other than a few scratches, she was fine. It went for Felicity next, she was injured, but she latched her claws into the golem, she managed -with Felix’s help- to push it to the ground.

Charlotte started hitting the thing furiously with her frying pan.

Lena joined in.

But then it got up, the thing attacked Charlotte, she tried her best to guard herself, but she was struck by the stone golem.

Felicity sharpened her claws, then she jumped at the golem, scratching at it with determination!

Lena healed herself, her wounds sewed themselves together as she watched.

Felix ran at the golem, he hit it with his microphone, it didn’t do much damage, but the golem was getting weaker!

And it was getting angrier, it hit Lena in rage, the Celtic fell to the ground, as the creature prepared to hit the child again, Charlotte got in front of her, Charlotte took the hit, and after she was struck, she was still standing tall.

Charlotte leaned down and started to clean Lena’s wounds, she winced as Charlotte put a cold disinfectant on her hands, after Charlotte was sure that her wounds were clean, she bandaged them. This child will not die while she is here, not over her dead body.

Lena stood up, her wounds felt slightly better, but while she and Charlotte had been distracted, Felix was badly injured by the golem, Lena used her divine powers to heal some of his wounds, he looked much better after she healed him.

Felix ran up to the golem to strike it, Charlotte and Lena followed, Lena and Felix didn’t do much damage, but Charlotte did quite a bit.

The golem was angry, it hit Lena twice, she fell down, her world went black, everything was fuzzy.

Charlotte saw her fall, Lena fell over, she was unconscious, she had been hit twice by the golem, and she was unconscious.

Charlotte needed to defeat this golem now, she powered up her frying pan, divine energy warmed it up without any other power source. She hit the golem with it.

Felix was the next one to hit the golem, it looked like it actually hurt and golem, despite his awful plan. The golem hit him quickly as retaliation for his attack.

Felicity was the next to get hit.

But that didn’t stop the golem’s rage, it attacked Felicity and Felix again.

Charlotte did her best to bandage both Felicity’s and Felix’s wounds, and she made good progress.

Felix attacked the golem, he wanted to win this. Felicity attacked next, she scratched at the golem, she sunk her claws into it, despite the materiel that it was made out of, Felicity was breaking it down.

Felix saw the spot that Felicity had weakened, he struck that spot, the golem began to stumble.

That made it even more angry, it aimed at Felix, but Charlotte pulled him out of the way.

Felicity was ready, she had prepared her attack, she jumped at the golem, scratching at the weak spot that she had made, the golem fell over with her attached, it disintegrated with her on top of it, the King’s face flew off, but Charlotte didn’t care about that, she needed to get Lena to an inn.

”Felix! Felicity! Help me carry her!” Charlotte yelled at Lena’s side, the kid was bleeding from her head, not much, but it still wasn’t good.

Felix came over, he was muttering expletives, Charlotte could tell that he was also worried about the kid.

Felicity made her way over too, she helped the blondes pick up Lena and carry her to where the last divine inn was.

Lena opened her eyes, she was lying on a couch, a comfy couch. Her head hurt, the last thing that she remembered was fighting the… golem! The golem! Where was it?

She then noticed Charlotte, Felix, and Felicity sleeping on some nearby chairs, she then noticed her bandaged head, what had happened…?

Lena tried to get up, but her legs hurt. It felt like she had been hit there, had she? She couldn’t remember…

She tried again to get up, this time she was successful, she walked to a window, she saw that it was dark out, how long had it been since the fight? It was day when the fight started…

Lena heard some movement from behind her, she tuned around, Charlotte was awake, she looked shocked for a second, before Charlotte stood up, turned around and looked at Lena.

”Lena, you’re awake! Thank the stars…” Charlotte said. “How are you feeling?” Charlotte sat back down the the couch where she was sleeping, she gave the space next to her a pat, inviting Lena to sit next to her.

Lena took this invitation, and sat next to Charlotte, her head was starting to hurt anyways.

”I feel awful… My head hurts, my legs hurt, my arm hurts, and my back hurts.” She jokingly said. “Did we defeat that golem though?”

”Yeah, Felicity got the last blow.”

”Nice, that’s good.”

”Anyways, Lena, what was your life like before you started adventuring?” Charlotte asked, she wanted to know more about this kid that she was in charge of, where were her parents?

”Well, it was pretty good! My dad loves me, but he hides it really well.” Lena said while chuckling. “And well, one time he missed one of my things, so I was a bit dramatic and complained to him, and… he got mad. I was sent to my room, and then I decided I would just give up on a normal career, I wanted to see the world! Be a dreamer! Y’know? I wanted to be like that amazing Nimbusian adventurer! Orion, you know the one. I wanted to dream as big as him! And well, I have!” Lena was smiling, despite the pain she was in, she still loved this adventure! It had been amazing!

What had Lena just said?

It didn’t sound good… Her dad sounded neglectful at best, and he seemed to have crushed her, and she was a runaway, who was currently trying to save the world! She had just been injured on this quest! Why was she so happy?! …Was abuse… normal for her…?

Charlotte sighed deeply, Lena was such a nice kid, why did that have to happen to her?! Charlotte knew so many others that deserved something like that to happen to them, but Lena? Lena was the sweetest kid she knew! She was hopeful! Kind! A little bit naive, and over confident, but …that? Lena deserves better parents.

”Um… Charlotte?” L she was obvious to Charlotte’s mood change, and Charlotte didn’t want to be the one to tell Lena that her childhood wasn’t normal…

”Oh! Sorry, I zoned out… What about your mom? Was she nice? I bet so!” Charlotte asked, Lena had to have had some kind of supportive parent, how was she so nice? Charlotte was under the impression that Lena’s attitude was nurture, not nature.

”Oh… my mom?” Lena’s face fell, Charlotte knew that she would not like what she was going to hear… “Well, I never knew her, my dad says that she…” Lena took a deep breath. “She… took her own life a little while after I was born, her parents kicked her out when the found out that she was pregnant. She lived with dad for a while, but dad’s parents couldn’t afford to take care of her when I was born…” She shouldn’t know any of this! Who told her that?!

”How did you find out?” Charlotte said, she pulled Lena into a hug, Lena wasn’t crying yet, but Charlotte knew that she was close. 

“My dad reminded me on every birthday… It’s kinda like a tradition at this point. He brought me to her grave, and he made me apologise to her.” Her father is evil, pure evil. Worse than the Dark Lord even!

Charlotte wrapped her arms tightly around Lena, she didn’t deserve any of that! She was just a kid! And she is the nicest kid that Charlotte knows, what kind of monster would do that to someone like Lena?

It wasn’t her fault, but Charlotte could tell that Lena felt like it was. And that sick bastard brought her to a grave on each of her birthdays just to make her apologise? Apologise?! If Charlotte ever sees that stone-hearted bastard, she will one: make him apologise to the poor child that he has hurt. Two: beat him within an inch of his life. And three: kill him in a torturous way. Charlotte was not usually a violent person, but she wanted to kill that man. She will kill that man. And she will make him suffer, just like he did to Lena.

She had more hatred for that stone cold monster than she did for the Dark Lord. 

”Charlotte?” She had been quiet for too long.

”Oh! I zoned out again. Do you want me to tell you about my life?”

”Yes!” Lena smiled.

”I was born to my mom and dad, Felix was two when I was a newborn, and I was always taught different things about music, everyone in the family knew at least two instruments. We all loved music. My and Felix especially. Mom and dad did it as a hobby, but me and Felix wanted to be famous for our talent. We started going on our first tour a few months ago, we haven’t made much, but we love the work.” Charlotte hated talking about her past to Lena, Lena deserves good, loving, caring, and anything other than what she had! She deserves so much better! She didn’t want Lena to feel awful.

Lena gave her a warm smile, if this kid was upset, she was amazing at hiding it. “That’s so nice! Your parents sound amazing!”

“They are…” Charlotte was tired, she relaxed on the couch, holding Lena, this poor child, this child who is so bright, so precious, so sweet, and yet has been hurt so much.

Lena laid down on the couch too, she was also tired.

It was time to rest, tomorrow the team would check on the King. But now, it was time to rest. Charlotte was almost asleep. But then she felt Lena move, Lena jolted up.

”Lena…?”

”I need to get my journal.” She said.

Charlotte needed a reason to actually go to her room, and this was definitely one.

”Alright, where did you leave it?”

”I left it in my bag, which you probably brought in…”

“Alright, I’ll get your bag, and then we’ll head to our room. Sleeping on the couch will definitely give the both of us back problems.” Charlotte said.

”Alright, thanks, I’ll go to our room.”

Lena shuffled her way to the room, upon entering, she saw her staff sitting on the bed next to Charlotte’s. Lena healed her wounds, she was pretty successful, it didn’t hurt at all, and Lena could tell that there wouldn’t be any permanent scarring. Which was good.

Charlotte came in soon, she held Lena’s journal, she handed it to Lena, giving her a small pat on the head, before she went to lie down on her bed.

“Night, Charlotte.” Lena said.

”Goodnight, kid.”

23/5/2023

Dear diary…

I got hurt when we were saving the King, I am fine now. But I was unconscious for a few hours, I woke up and everyone was asleep, I walked around and Charlotte woke up, we had a nice talk!

I told her about my dad! And some other stuff! She’s a really good friend! She also told me about her family! She has a mom and dad that actually show that they love her! I know that my dad loves me! …But I wish that he would’ve shown it before I started adventuring..

While I was talking about my dad, Charlotte went quiet a lot! I think that she was really tired! She’s going to sleep right now! So I’m trying to be very quiet!

But, after I defeat Erix, dad will tell me that he’s proud of me, and that he loves me!

Tomorrow we will talk to the King! I’m very excited!

Chapter Text

The team walked in on the King looking at himself in the mirror, he looked extremely happy about what he was seeing.

”Oh, thank goodness… The Royal countenance is restored! THANK YOU! THANK YOU THANK YOU! AND THANK YOU!” He said, each thank you was directed at a different member of the team. “ACCEPT OUR ROYAL GRATITUUUUDE!” Felix was handed a giant bag stuffed to the top with gold, no one in the team had ever seen that much gold in one spot at a time. The King let out a sigh, he was definitely calmer now. “Now we must replenish ourselves.” The King started eating from a large plate, he picked up a large piece of meat on a bone. When he was done, he spoke again. “But you know, that Dark Lord Erix is certainly no joke! We’re all in a lot of trouble with that scoundrel running around… Go and warn the princess while we take care of this…” He said while doing the opposite of ‘taking care of this’.

Charlotte asked a guard to show them to the Princess’s room, they did so gladly.

The room was beautiful, the decor looked more expensive than Charlotte’s childhood home.

”Hm?” The Princess turned around, she looked only slightly younger than Lena, they were both kids… Kids that were in danger because of the Dark Lord. “And who might you be?”

”I’m Lena, we are here because the Dark Lord attacked Greenhorne an-“ Lena was cut offf by the young royal.

”The Dark Lord’s been to Greenhorne? Oh dear… Is Andrew ok?!” She worriedly asked. “Oh, I’m sorry…” She sewed together a calm, gentle, and unfazed attitude, Charlotte knew that this was false though, especially because of how she acted when she was asking about her friend. “I’m worried about my friend in town…” She calmly said, but Charlotte could see her shaking. “Would you check on Andrew for me?” She had a slight crack in her voice while asking.

”Of course!” Lena energetically said.

”Oh, thank you, thank you! …Please tell him that… Calista is worried about him.”

”Will do!” Lena smiled, she carried so much light, the Princess - Calista looked much more relaxed with Lena around, she was really a social butterfly.

Walking to Greenhorne town again was exhausting, Charlotte made Lena ride on Jasper for the trip, Lena was absurdly underweight, so he didn’t notice her much. That made Charlotte want to maim that excuse of a man who raised her. This kid was almost malnourished, she had gained some weight while travelling, so there was that at least.

After a long and tiring walk, they arrived at Greenhorne town, it wasn’t dark out, so that was good.

“We’re here!” Lena said, she was excited.

But Charlotte saw a woman looking around, she had worry in her eyes.

She saw Lena and then ran up to the team.

”Oh, adventurer! Alan’s gone missing! I can’t find him anywhere! Would you help me look for him? …Please?” Why was this Lena’s responsibility? She is a kid, not a babysitter.

But Lena smiled at her. “Of course!”

”Oh… Thank you ever so much! Actually, I asked someone else too. Maybe this is a bit rude, but… I don’t think he’s up to it. So it’s a relief that you’re here! My child shouldn’t have gone that far. Could you search near town for me?”

”Alright!” Lena cheerily said.

“H-here goes… Alan! Where are youuu?!” Andrew said, he was scared, but he had to do this!

”No! Stay Away!” He knew that voice!

”That voice!”

He looked over, he saw the small boy surrounded by goblins, usually friendly -if mischievous-, but now menacing and horrifying. They were surrounding the child!

”Somebody help me!” Andrew was so scared, for both himself and the child, But he couldn’t turn into a plant! Not now! He wanted to, but he shouldn’t!

”I-I’ve got to do something…” Half of his mind wanted to turn into a plant to hide, he knew that he might not be able to turn back, but it could protect him… And the other half wanted to fight! He was going to be a hero! He was going to save this child! “You-! You get away from him!!!” He waved his arms around.

His bravery was not rewarded though, the goblins attacked him, he saw bruises forming on his ocean-coloured arms. How hard had those goblins hit him for bruises to be forming this quickly??? Should he turn into a tree now?! No!

Andrew saw four people run up to him, one leaned down, she asked him if he was okay. That didn’t matter.

”There’s nothing I can do… Please, save the boy!”

“Waaaaa! Mommy!” Andrew thought that he heard the child running back towards the town, that was good. His legs hurt too much for him to get up though…

But he saw the people walk up to him, one had an inflatable hammer, she used that to heal his legs, they felt fine! Good even!

”Thank you so much for your help.” He sat up, his saviour looked similar in age to him. “My name is Andrew.”

”So you’re…” She looked shocked. “Princess Calista is worried about you.” Callie?! She was worried about him?! Why? He was fine, he wasn’t outside when the Dark Lord attacked…

”The Princess… is worried about me…? Oh! Never mind that, what on earth happened to those goblins?”

”The Dark Lord, he attaches faces to monsters, and I think it’s fear that makes them attack… But, I don’t know…”

“I turned my back and all this happened… And the way you handled those monsters… You were incredible! And I was as useful as a chocolate teapot. I-I think I’ll be leaving now!” Andrew then ran off.

“So Andrew is safe… That is a relief! Please accept this reward!” Calista said as she handed Lena a bag full of gold, it was so much, Lena was shocked that she was even holding the bag, and it was heavy.

”Now, now, child…” the King started. “You must forget about that Andrew chap. You are betrothed to Prince Cassius after all!” Lena saw the Princess’s posture change, if she was staring at her, she probably would’ve seen her face fall too. “Is that clear?”

”But Papa…” Calista weakly started. “I love him…” she mumbled, Lena heard it though, and she would try her best to help her new friend, because, dads were just like that sometimes.

“The Princess’s fiancé should be on his way. Ah, since you’re here… Would you mind seeing him to the castle?” The King asked.

”Alright…” Lena agreed.

”Much obliged! The Princess’s fiancé is from yonder kingdom, it used to be a part of Greenhorne. He should be waiting at the Arid Frontier. Could you head to the frontier?”

“Well, the King was an ass, don’t you think?” Charlotte said to the entire team as they entered the divine inn.

”Yep.”  Felicity affirmed.

”Absolutely.” Felix bluntly stated.

”Maybe…? I mean, dads are just… like that sometimes. It’s normal.” This earned Lena questioning glances from the team, that sort of parent was normal for her? “I’m gonna go to bed…” Lena said while grabbing her journal, she would come back out for dinner, and then she would write with Jasper sleeping next to her.

“Goodnight everyone!” Felicity yelled, she was tired, but also excited, this Cassius person might have a chance of being nice.

”Night.” Charlotte said. She was glad that Lena had come for dinner, but she was worried that Lena said that the King’s attitude was normal, maybe she thought it was even better than her father? But Charlotte wanted to sleep well tonight, so she pushed those thoughts away. Lena was safe now, that was all that mattered, the kid is safe, happy, and will only get hurt by the Dark Lord over her dead body. It’s no use trying to find out why she was hurt in the past, because that can’t be changed, but Charlotte can change if she’s hurt now.

Lena and Felix said their own versions of good night before leaving, Lena stayed with Jasper that night, she liked hanging around Jasper, she hadn’t been around that many animals growing up, especially horses, so this was magical!

24/5/2023

Dear diary…

Today we checked on the King, he is fine, we then met his daughter - Princess Calista, she is really nice! She has this friend - Andrew! On our way to the inn, Charlotte said that she saw someone who looked like him in history class once, that’s really interesting!

I think she said that the class was talking about the ‘War of the sky’ (???), it sounds familiar-ish, but I can’t remember anything about it for the life of me! Since it involves the sky, maybe avariels were involved? 
But that doesn’t make much sense, as avariels have been counted as Miis for about a hundred and fifty-ish years. Maybe it does, if I remember, I’ll ask Charlotte about it!

Anyways, Andrew is a dryad, he’s also a year-ish younger than me. So maybe me, him, and Calista could become good friends after we all defeat Erix! Like I could help them!

Now we have to see this guy that Calista is engaged to - Prince Cassius. She doesn’t seem to like him much.

I’ll write what happens tomorrow!