Chapter Text
Cia stood in the inn bathroom washing the blood off her arm. She turned her arm over in her other hand, examining her scar. Maya went around to each of her teammates and taking care of any wounds they had left. She finally came up to Cia.
“Are you doing alright?” Maya asked softly. Cia’s gaze met her soft brown eyes.
“I’m doing fine. Don’t worry about me. I’m sure the others' wounds are worse than mine.”
“Alright, if you need anything, I’ll be with Lily.”
“Thanks, Maya.” Cia heard the click of the door as it was shut.
After Maya had left, she went to the room down the hall and knocked on the door. Maya let Lily know it was her, and they told her to come in. Maya opened the door to Lily’s room. Lily had taken off their armor and was sitting on the foot of their bed.
“How are you doing?” Maya asked them, sitting down next to them, placing her hands in her lap.
“I’m fine. No serious injuries, thankfully.” Lily untied their bun, letting their long blond hair fall around their shoulders. “My armor’s a little damaged,” they added.
Lily reached behind them and grabbed the chestplate. They started inspecting the dent that the Imp had left. Maya didn’t think the damage was too bad. She was just happy that Lily was alright. She watched their face. Lily’s expression only changed very slightly at times. After a few moments, they finally caught Maya staring at them.
“Did you need something?” They asked her. Maya jumped slightly, startled.
“No, no. Just lost in thought.”
“Are you glad we saved your aunt?”
“Yeah. It was scary how the monster she was stuck on did so much damage to our party.”
“And the fact she could have killed us? Yeah. I’m actually a little more worried about this Windsor guy.”
“The Dark Lord?”
“Yeah, him. He said he was plotting to do something to the royal family.” Lily laid back on the bed, their arms tucked behind their head. “What do you think’s going to happen?”
“Given how eager he was to kill Cia for trying to ruin his plans, I don’t think I like where this is going.”
“Yeah. Greenhorne’s so peaceful, I don’t think the townsfolk will know what to do if the king and princess are killed.”
“What about the two royals who ran away? Perhaps they’d take over.”
“I doubt they’d want to come back. They probably left for a reason.” Lily stretched and yawned. “Maybe we should call it a night. We have to go all the way back to town tomorrow.”
“Alright, then. I’ll leave you be.” Maya stood and started to leave. Lily sat up.
“Hey, Maya?” They asked, their tone gentler than how they normally speak. Maya turned around.
“Yes?”
“You should get some sleep, too. I know you’re worried about Cia and Kat’s injuries, but no amount of magic will help them if you’re exhausted out of your mind.” Lily stood up, walked over to Maya, and gently took hold of her hands. “I’ve seen how hard you’ve been working these past few days. Please , don’t overdo it, okay?” Maya rubbed her thumbs on the back of Lily’s hands before letting go.
“Thanks, Lily.”
“Goodnight, Maya.”
“Goodnight, Lily.”
The next day the four heroes made their way towards the town of Greenhorne once more. It was a long journey, and there were a lot of stops along the way, but they eventually arrived. They were greeted by the mayor of the town.
“Heroes! Welcome back!” he declared. “Greenhorne thanks you for your bravery.”
“It was the right thing to do,” replied Kat.
“This isn’t over yet,” said Cia. “The Dark Lord isn’t finished with his plans.”
“I was afraid of that,” said the mayor. He handed Cia a letter. “So that’s why I prepared this note to give to King Reginald. It’s a warning about the Dark Lord.”
“I’ll be sure this gets delivered safely.”
“Thank you. Your aid to Greenhorne will not be forgotten.” Lily then stepped up beside the two, their arms crossed.
“So what are we waiting for? Shouldn’t we get going, then?” They suggested. Cia noticed Kat nod in agreement nearby.
“Right. We’ll start the journey to Greenhorne castle tomorrow.”
The next day, the four heroes made their way through the Easin Hills once more. It had been a fairly uneventful morning thus far, with very few monsters. Cia looked behind her at her crew. Kat had a bored expression on her face, Maya was looking down at the ground as she walked, and Cia couldn’t quite read Lily.
“Are you guys doing alright back there?” Cia asked.
“I wish something exciting would happen,” replied Kat. “All we’ve been doing is walking for hours . Where are all the monsters?”
“I kind of like not having to fight for my life for a change,” said Maya.
“But isn’t that the thrill of adventuring, Maya? Not knowing what you’ll find? If you’ll see tomorrow to tell the tale?” Kat made dramatic gestures as she spoke.
“I dunno, I’m kind of with Maya on this one,” said Lily. “How many times have we nearly died these past three days?”
“It was fun, wasn’t it?”
“I wouldn’t call nearly getting stabbed by an Imp fun, but to each their own I guess.”
“Well, if something doesn’t spice up today I’m going to go cr-” Kat was cut off by the sound of a neigh. “What was that?” The sound of the neigh rang in the air once more.
“It’s a horse!” Maya declared. “It sounds like it’s in distress!”
“Come on, we gotta help,” said Cia. Kat and Maya had already taken off.
Several feet ahead, they saw a big brown horse with white markings around its legs and nose. Two big, white, curved horns protruded from its head. It was trembling, surrounded by four goblins. The horse neighed in fear.
“So, is this the excitement you were looking for?” Lily asked Kat, looking at her slightly annoyed.
“Absolutely!” Kat was ecstatic. “How about we each take one of the goblins?”
“Sounds like a good enough plan to me,” said Cia, a flame igniting at the tip of her wand.
Cia cast a spell with her wand, and the goblin was set on fire. It rushed to put itself out before hopping up off the ground. It ran in and tried to trip Cia. She was slightly knocked off balance, but quickly recovered. Kat ran in and beat another goblin on the head with her frying pan. The goblin fell over, dizzy. Kat stood above her fallen opponent, holding out her pan in case it got up again. The third goblin ran towards Maya. She gripped her staff, prepared to swing. When the monster got close enough, she struck it with the staff and sent it flying. Lily ran towards the last goblin and landed a perfect strike with their sword. Cia cast one last lightning spell and the goblins were defeated. Maya had started stroking the horse's dark black mane to calm it down.
“It’s okay, they’re all gone now. They can’t hurt you,” she told it softly. The horse nudged her hand with its nose. A smile formed on Maya’s face.
“It seems to really like you,” said Kat. “We should keep him.”
“Would you like to join our party?” Maya asked the horse. It seemed to nod its approval.
“Can it understand English or something?” Lily asked, rather shocked.
“He’s a smart one!” said Maya.
“Well, if he’s a part of our party now, we should give him a name,” Cia suggested.
“How about Dexter?” Kat asked. The horse nodded, seemingly liking the name of choice. “Dexter it is, then.”
“We should get going,” said Cia, “the castle isn’t too far ahead. We gotta get this warning to the king.”
They arrived at the castle a couple hours later. At the entrance to the castle’s gates stood a tall guard.
“What business do you have here?” he asked the heroes.
“We’re here to see the king,” Cia explained.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.”
“I have a warning from the mayor. I was asked to deliver it.” She handed him the scroll. He opened it and took a gander.
“Very well, then. You may enter. Come with me.”
They did as instructed and followed the royal guard. The gates shut behind them, and they entered the castle. The halls were grand, lit by golden chandeliers that must cost fortunes. They were led to a large door. The guard then turned to face Cia and the others.
“You are about to meet King Reginald. I ask you to be on your best behavior. Only the greatest utmost respect is allowed,” he instructed.
“You’ve made yourself clear,” Cia responded. The guard nodded as a sign of understanding and opened the door to the throne room. At the end of the room sat the king on the golden throne. His brows raised slightly as the heroes entered.
“Ernie, who have you brought with you?”
“These four were sent by the mayor,” Ernie replied, gesturing to Cia and the others. “Supposedly, they have a warning to give you.”
“Is that so? Very well, go on then.” Upon the king’s invitation, Cia stepped forward.
“There’s been a terrible crisis going on throughout Greenhorne. Someone called the Dark Lord has been going around stealing the faces of civilians, and using them to control monsters.”
There was a moment of silence before the king burst out laughing. Cia’s expression slipped from concerned to perplexed. Lily narrowed their eyes, glaring daggers. Maya and Kat seemed to have been taken off guard by the king’s reaction. Lily finally snapped, and without another thought they shoved past Cia.
“Hey! What’s so freaking funny about all of this? People are in serious danger!”
Lily was still fuming. Cia caught the guard’s disapproving look. After a few seconds the king finally recollected himself.
“Now that’s certainly a fine joke if I’ve ever heard one! Are you trying to lighten the mood before you tell me the terrible news?” Cia shook her head.
“No, your majesty. I’m afraid what I’m saying is true.” She could tell King Reginald was holding back another fit of laughter, keeping it back behind a humored smirk. Cia sighed, dropping her formal stature. “You still don’t believe us, do you?”
“How could I believe it? It sounds like utter nonsense!” The king declared. “Stealing people’s faces? How could that even be possible?” Before another word could be said, the king’s face started to drift away from him. He reached up to where his face once was, panicked.
“That’s how,” Lily muttered under their breath crossly.
“Come on,” said Maya. “Let’s go save him.” Lily followed Maya and the others out of the castle. When they got outside, Kat immediately hopped onto Dexter.
“Let’s ride!” She declared. “We’re off to save the king!”
A few hours later, the team had ventured deep into the Wayward Woods. Kat climbed off of Dexter. There was a rumble in the ground that almost knocked all of them off their feet. Cia wobbled for a moment before maintaining their balance.
“What was that?” She asked.
“Maybe there’s a monster nearby,” said Maya.
“Anyone wanna bet it’s the monster with the king’s face?” Asked Lily.
“Probably,” Kat responded. Cia kept an eye on the undergrowth, and she thought she saw a giant mossy rock shift.
As a matter of fact, she did see a giant mossy rock shift. She cocked her head to the side slightly, her flame-colored hair falling behind her left shoulder. The rumble returned, and Cia felt herself falling back. She waved her arms frantically trying to maintain balance before completely falling backwards. Kat caught her just in time.
“What was that?” Maya queried.
“Whatever that is.” Lily pointed to the mossy rock Cia was looking at. After a little more shaking, the rock came to life. It opened its stony eyes, and after getting a closer look, they saw that the rock resembled the king.
“It’s a monster!” Kat exclaimed. “With the King’s face!”
The monster revealed its grand, stony, arms, coated with moss, and slammed the ground in front of it. Cia and the others jumped back instinctively. Kat twirled the frying pan in her hands. She dashed forward, taking a swing, the monster took a step back, causing her to trip and fall. Cia cast a fireball, the monster swung an arm, smacking the flame back at her. She couldn’t get out of the way in time, the brim of her hat sparked into flames. Cia took off her hat and threw it to the ground.
I don’t need it that much, anyway, she thought. Lily swung her sword; metal colliding with the rough stone surface. However, they barely caused a dent, leaving a small crack in the rock. Kat had gotten back up. She ran behind the monster, swinging the pan into the back of one of its legs. The monster kicked behind itself, hoping to take out its attacker. Kat was knocked to the ground once more. Maya ran around to join Kat, hitting the monster with her staff. The monster turned around, and raised an arm high above its head.
“ Maya!” Lily screamed. Maya had not seen the danger. She glanced back behind her, catching only Lily’s fearful green eyes before a large weight of stone was slammed down upon her. Lily ignored everything else, running past Kat and the monster to Maya’s side. They knelt down beside her, examining her limp body. Blood pooled from the back of her head. “Please don’t be dead.” Their voice shook. They carefully picked up her body and pulled her aside, away from the danger.
“Having a little bit of trouble?” Asked the heavenly voice of Divi.
“A bit of trouble? She’s dead! ”
“Not to worry! I have a solution for this!” Something fell from the sky, hitting Lily on the head.
“Ow! Hey, watch it!” Lily snapped.
“My apologies. However, that should get you through your predicament.” Lily picked up the object that had landed beside them, turning it over in their hand. It was a small bottle, and its contents were a bright pink.
“What is this?”
“This is a life serum of sorts. You can revive any fallen teammate with this, but its use is limited.” Lily opened the capsule, pouring the liquid onto Maya’s wound. It closed up with magic, like it had never been there at all. Maya opened her soft brown eyes. Lily sighed in relief.
“Oh thank goodness.”
“Lily? What happened? Where’s Cia and Kat?”
“You got knocked out. Cia and Kat are still fighting.”
“Are you okay? You look terrified.” Lily helped Maya get to her feet.
“Thought I lost you, is all. I’m glad you’re okay.”
“You were really worried about me, huh?”
“I like you. Of course I was. But how about we talk about this later? There’s still a fight going on, you know.” They ran back into the battlefield together.
“Maya!” Kat exclaimed excitedly.
“What did I miss?”
“Nothing much. Cia could do with some healing.”
“On it!” Maya cast a healing spell, and some of Cia’s injuries faded. Lily went right back into the battle, chipping away at the stone monster. Cia cast a lightning spell, but it missed its mark.
“Cia!” Kat called. “How about a flame spell for this?” Cia cast a fire spell, the swirling flames heated up Kat’s frying pan. Kat swung for the monster, landing a hard strike to its face. “Yeah!” Lily ran in with their sword, dealing the final blow. The stony limbs fell apart as the face flew off the monster and back towards the castle.
“We did it!” Cia cheered.
“Please let this be the end,” Lily groaned.
“Well, nothing left to do but head back to the castle.”
When they arrived, the king was looking at himself joyously in the mirror. He finally looked up and noticed the heroes.
“Ah! You’re back! Thank you dearly. This is certainly a much bigger threat than I once thought.”
“That’s what we tried to tell you,” Cia said softly.
“Please warn my daughter, Avis about this. She’s just in the next room.” A guard escorted them to the princess’s room. A young woman with long blond hair and a pink gown sat at a vanity, running a brush through her hair.
“Here she is,” said the guard. He left the room, leaving the heroes in the vast, pink room. The princess turned to face them, her bright blue eyes fixated on them.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hello,” said Cia. “I’m Cia. These are my friends. We have something we need to tell you.” Avis stood up.
“What is it?”
“There’s been a series of incidents.”
“So I’ve heard. People’s faces being stolen? It’s terrifying.” She turned away from them, a look of concern on her face. “What about Aegis? It would kill me if something happened to him.” She turned back to the heroes. “Do you think you could do something for me?”
“What is it?”
“Could you go to the town? Check on Aegis for me? He’s a close friend of mine. I’d hate for anything to happen to him.”
“We can do that.”
“Thank you so much.” Avis smiled. Cia turned to the others.
“Come on team, let’s go.” They left the castle.
Cia stepped back into the little town of Greenhorne. It was nice to see it had been restored to its former glory. The townsfolk seemed lively as they did when she had first initially arrived.
“It’s nice to see things looking normal again,” said Maya. “It actually looks like home.”
“Agreed,” said Kat. Just then, the woman they had helped before ran up to them.
“Cia!” She cried out. “I need the help of you and your friends again.”
“What’s the problem?”
“Rascal has run off somewhere. I can’t find him anywhere in town. I just hope he hasn’t gotten himself hurt. Can you please find him for me?”
“Of course,” Cia replied, nodding.
“I asked someone else to help, but he hasn’t returned yet. I suppose you might find him as well.”
“Got it.”
“Perhaps that could be Aegis?” Lily suggested.
“It might be,” Kat replied. “Let’s check it out.”
It wasn’t a far journey into the Easin Hills before Rascal had been found. He was standing beside a noble man, and the two were surrounded by goblins. The man noticed the heroes.
“Hey! We could use some help here!” he called.
“Already on it,” said Lily, unsheathing their sword. The four of them each swiftly took out a goblin. The man breathed a sigh of relief. Meanwhile Rascal shook in fear. He seemed to calm down however, knowing he was safe with the heroes.
“Whew, thanks, um..”
“Cia.”
“Cia. Thank you. I offered his mother to help, but I, uh, don’t exactly know how to fight.”
“Yeah, that’s quite a predicament there.” Cia crossed her arms. “You wouldn’t happen to know someone named Aegis, would you?”
“That would be me, actually.” Aegis presented himself proudly.
“Oh really? Avis was looking for you.”
“Really? The princess was worried about me? I better go visit her.” He started walking off. “Perhaps I’ll see you around.” After he left, Cia turned to Rascal, who was only just slightly shaking.
“We should get you home, then. You look pretty shaken up.”
After Rascal was returned home, the sun was beginning to set, and the stars startled to sprinkle across the sky. Cia and the others decided to stop at the inn for the night. Kat crashed in a room with Maya, while Lily stayed with Cia. Lily untied their hair from their bun, combing it out with their fingers. They sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Cia asked.
“I just hope all this running around is worth it.”
“Are you essentially asking ‘what’s the point?’”
“That’s exactly what I’m asking. We’re sitting here running the King’s errands while the Dark Lord could be out destroying another town for all we know!” Cia was silent for a bit. She had to admit they had a point, but she didn’t know what else to do.
“We’ll get this taken care of. I swear. These errands are just a little detour we have to go through first.”
“Stars, I sure hope so,” Lily responded bitterly, though Cia sensed that the bitterness was not was not quite directed towards her.
The next day they had returned to the castle. When going to check in with Avis, she seemed very pleased. Aegis had apparently already visited her. Just then, King Reginald entered.
“Dear, you’re not talking about that Nobleboy Aegis again, are you?” Avis sighed.
“Father, please don’t start this again.”
“You must move on from such a pointless relationship with this fellow! You’re engaged to Prince Dustin after all!”
“Father, please.”
“Don’t argue with me, Avis. I’ve made my decision. On another note, since you heroes are back, why don’t you heroes go look for him?”
“Are you kidding me?! That’s not our-” Lily started to protest before Maya interjected.
“What they meant to say is that we’ll take care of it.” Maya glared daggers at Lily as she spoke.
“Great! Be on your way, then. If you take the road to Neksdor you should meet him. Good luck!”
It had been about an hour or so of travelling on rocky terrain, and to Cia it felt as if they were climbing a mountain. Everyone in the party had grown weary due to the beating sun and the harsh ground beneath their feet.
“You know, Avis seemed really against seeing this prince. I wonder why?” Maya questioned aloud, although to no one in particular.
“He might just be an awful person to deal with,” Cia replied.
“I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he’s not so bad.”
“Are you four my escorts?” Piped in a new condescending voice. “Tsk. Took you long enough. I was hoping you would arrive quickly, though it seems my expectations seemed to be far too high.”
“You know that whole ‘benefit of the doubt’ thing? Yeah, I take that back, this guy sucks,” Maya muttered to Cia.
“Well, don’t keep me waiting too much longer now! Let’s go!” Prince Dustin snapped. However, before anyone could take another step, a Griffin jumped out at the party.
“A Griffin!” Cia declared.
“Aw, it's actually pretty cute,” said Maya. Dustin valiantly stepped forward. “Fear not, ladies, I’ll take care of this beast!”
“Not exactly a lady but alright dude,” Lily muttered under their breath. Kat whipped out her frying pan.
“We’ll handle this!” She told Dustin. Lily slashed at the monster’s wings with their sword. The Griffin cawed and snapped back, just missing Lily. Kat smacked it on the head with her pan, knocking the monster out. Dustin pushed past the two, declaring “without my brave efforts, we wouldn’t have felled such a horrible beast!” Lily moved like they were going to attack him, but Maya rolled her eyes and held them back.
“I’m going to kill him,” Lily hissed.
“Don’t do that,” Maya replied softly, with a hint of aggression in her voice. “The king would have our heads if we didn’t bring him back alive.”
Prince Dustin burst through the door of Princess Avis’s room.
“My dear Avis, your betrothed is here!” he declared. Avis and Aegis quickly turned to face him. Dustin was rather shocked by Aegis’s presence. “Avis, who would this be?”
“I could ask you the same question,” Aegis retorted.
“Well I’m none other than the princess’s fiancé!” Avis stood by and watched as things got more heated between the two. She glanced over and noticed Cia and her team standing awkwardly in the doorway. She walked past the pair of rivaling courtiers towards her.
“I’m so so sorry to send you out on another quest, but I’d hate to see this escalate further.”
“It’s alright.”
“There’s something in the forest not far outside the castle gates called a calming fruit. Perhaps that could…deescalate this.” She gave a glance to Aegis and Dustin.
“That won’t be hard for us at all.”
“Thank you. Greenhorne shall greatly be indebted to you.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Nobody deserves what the Dark Lord has been doing. We’ll be right back, Avis.” Cia rounded up the others and left to adventure for the fruit. Cia looked over at Lily, who definitely didn’t seem pleased to be on yet another fetch quest. It didn’t take too long to find the little blue fruit that grew in the bushes, right where Avis had said they’d be. Kat plucked two of the berries, and twirled them in her fingers.
“You know, all of a sudden I have a really bad feeling,” she said.
“Is something wrong with the fruit?” Maya asked.
“No, it’s not that. Maybe I’m just being superstitious or something. I’m sure everything’s fine. Let’s go back to the castle.”
So that’s what they did. When they arrived, the guards were not at the gates like they usually were. No one thought too much of it however and went inside. It didn’t look like the same castle, however. The lights were off, and everything was in shambles. The grand golden chandelier had been smashed on the floor, and there were rips on the wall and carpet.
“Oh stars, I knew I had a bad feeling about something…” Kat murmured.
“We weren’t even gone that long! What the hell happened?!” Lily asked.
“That doesn’t matter right now,” said Cia. “Let’s go find Avis and the king.”
They ran into the throne room, and found the king on his throne, shaking. Dustin, Aegis, and Avis were nearby. Dustin had his arms crossed as he tapped his foot on the floor rapidly, meanwhile Aegis tried to comfort a faceless Avis.
“What happened here?” Cia knew her question was redundant. She knew exactly who had done this.
“It was that cursed Dark Lord!” The king cried, “he destroyed my castle and stole my daughter’s face!”
“So, what are you going to do about this?” Aegis glared at Dusty.
“Me? What in Miitopia am I supposed to do?”
“Well, Windsor took her face to Nightmare Tower, and if you’re not going to do anything about it, I will.” Aegis walked over to Cia. “I want to join you on this mission. I need to save Avis.”
“Welcome to the team.”
Cia stood at the entrance of Nightmare Tower, her hair flowing in the wind as she looked at the threatening, looming building in front of her.
“Here we are,” said Aegis. “The sooner we do this, the better.”
“So let’s go.” Cia shoved open the door.
“Oh my,” said Kat. “That’s a lot of stairs.”
“Then let’s climb.”
After running for a while, they finally made it to the top, exhausted. There was a roar from a pink gorilla-like monster. The monster had Avis’s face.
“Avis!” Aegis called out. It fell on deaf ears, as the monster did not respond to him. Instead, it swung its arm, ready to hit Aegis. Cia caused a huge fire blast, knocking the monster back. “Thanks,” Aegis breathed.
“Don’t mention it.” Cia kept her eyes locked on the monster.
Kat tried to take a swing, but the monster sidestepped her, and slammed its fist down onto her. Kat raised her pan above her head to protect her. Lily cut at its legs from behind. Cia cast a lightning strike, just missing the monster. The monster swiped her away, knocking her to the ground. Maya helped her to her feet. The monster turned around to attack Kat again, but Maya pushed her out of the way to take the hit.
“Maya!” Kat cried out. Maya used her staff to try and block the hit, but the staff broke, and she fell. Lily dragged her off the side of the battlefield.
“Stars, why does this always happen,” they grumbled to themselves. “Please be alive.”
“Don’t worry, I’m alive.” Lily breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness. We can’t lose you.” They paused for a few moments. “Maya, I can’t lose you. I care about you too much.”
“You care about me?”
“Listen, now’s not the time to talk. There’s a battle we need to-”
“WAR CRY!” Cia shouted, sending a fireball at the monster, bringing it to the ground.
“Well, there was a battle. Can you walk?”
“Not really? I might need to lean on someone.”
“I’ve got you.” Lily picked up Maya.
“Oh, not exactly what I had in mind.”
“This’ll be faster. Let’s get to an inn. Kat can take care of us.”
At the inn, Kat cooked a meal for everybody, despite how tired she was. Everyone else sat at a table nearby.
“Kat, if you need any help, I can be of assistance,” said Maya.
“So can I,” chimed in Aegis.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got this.”
“You guys were awesome back there,” Aegis told Cia. “Sorry I wasn’t much help. I’m a coward.”
“You’re not a coward,” Cia told him. “Going in there with us is the bravest thing you’ve done.”
“Yeah, I don’t see Prince Dustin going in there trying to save his beloved, now do I?” Lily added.
“I guess you’re right.”
The next morning, they returned to the castle. Both Avis and the king were overjoyed that the princess’s face had been returned.
“Aegis, heroes, thank you. Because of you I’ve been saved,” she told them.
“Yes. Aegis, that was rather brave, risking your own life for the princess’s sake. Perhaps I was wrong about you.”
“Father, do you mean?”
“Yes, I do. Aegis, in honor of your brave acts, I will allow you to marry my daughter.”
“Thank you. This is an honor.”
“Cia, I’d like to thank you for everything you’ve done for this kingdom. I’d like to wish you luck on the rest of your journey. Go defeat that vile Dark Lord.”
“We will, thank you. Come on, guys, let’s go.” They left the palace for the final time.
“So where are we headed next?” asked Kat.
“To Neksdor!” Cia cheered.
“To Neksdor!” chimed in the rest.
After a day of travelling, the crew stopped at an inn for the night. The next morning, Cia woke up with a strange ache all over her body.
Yikes. That battle must have really took a toll on me. Everything hurts. Maybe I should go find Maya. However, despite looking all over the inn, she couldn’t find Maya anywhere, nor Kat or Lily. She couldn’t even find her own wand.
What happened here?
“I see you’ve run into a bit of an issue, my friend!” said the voice of the Guardian Spirit.
“Divi? What happened?!”
“It appears the Dark Lord has kidnapped your teammates, and taken your powers.”
“That son of a–He did what?! Kat, Maya, and Lily are just gone?!”
“I’m afraid so.”
“What am I supposed to do now?!”
“Get a new job, head into Neksdor, and make a new team. I’m sure making some friends should be no trouble for you.”
“Stars, I can’t believe they’re gone. I wish I could have done something.”
“I’m sorry, there’s nothing you could have done. What job would you like this time?”
“I guess I’ll pick thief.”
“Very well, then. Go, thief Cia, and finish what you and your friends have already started!