(Robin's POV):
A new day has passed since me and Jay fought against Arcturus and claimed the zodiac sign Virgo. I returned to my room and immediately started packing up my stuff. I didn't really wait for them to get up as I stayed up the entire night. I highly doubt that people will try to do something funny on them at this point. After packing up all my necessities, I hid them all in my inventory and started checking on the other guys.
The first one to wake up was Grace, she was looking around while feeling a little drowsy and somewhat dull.
"Oh? Morning Grace, had a good rest?"
"R-Robin..." - Grace
"Don't worry, we'll head to the palace soon. Denzel has probably returned by that time."
"W-why?" - Grace
Grace was talking with almost no tone. She really got hurt from the painful emotional attacks by her own reflection.
"They said your boyfriend will be there. Don't worry, everything will be alright now."
When I noticed, tears started forming on Grace's eyes which basically shows how much she wants to meet her lover. I can understand how it feels because it's a person that's close to her heart for a long time. I didn't really manage to learn about their pasts but at least I hope she'll do alright.
"I think we'll travel by carriage this time, since you still need to recover."
"O-okay..." - Grace
"You should start packing up, or do you need some help here?"
"Is it alright?" - Grace
"Yep, just be sure to pack your personal items yourself."
When I looked at Grace, she doesn't seem to be smiling as always. However, this time her non-smiling face doesn't contain any seriousness or whatever. It only contained sadness, despair, and desire to see her lover. I'll get that wish true though, I might as well visit May while I'm at it.
"Ah, Grace is awake! Morning you two!" - Jay
"M-morning..." - Grace
"Yo, done packing up your stuff?"
"Yep!" - Jay
"Good, we should grab a carriage for our travel here. We shouldn't let Grace stress out for the time being."
"Ah, t-there's no need..." - Grace
"It'll be fine Grace. Besides, we're finally meeting Kaede and Terrence again..." - Jay
Grace looked down silently while staring at some pendant that she owns. It seems to be from someone she treasures so it's pretty understandable that it could be from her lover.
"Jay, I think you should keep an eye on her this time. We may have to get some things done pretty quickly."
"Alright." - Jay
The door opened and this time, Ridley and Rylle entered the room.
"Oh, you two, morning! Did you pack up?"
"Yep! Morning guys." - Ridley
"Yeah, we should prepare a carriage for the time being." - Rylle
After some time, we had completely packed up everything and now we set off from the arcana biome towards the Crystal Palace in the snowy area just to our west.
The trip was a slow and long time with a carriage as we had to get through some mountain ranges and it was slowed down pretty well.
Right now, we're just exchanging information while Rylle maintains the reins of the horses.
"So what you're saying is that, they would already be back in the palace without much trouble or so?" - Ridley
"Yep, I think at this point everything will be alright. The owner doesn't seem to respond to my comms which is a little worrying but when May told me it's fine to visit, I think it will be alright."
"Heeh? You have other contacts in the palace?" - Jay
"What do you mean?"
"Do you have a girlfriend or something?" - Jay
Girlfriend? I don't think I have such interest as of the moment. This hell hole is kind of hard for flirting or so...
"I don't have any interest of romance as of now."
"Really?" - Jay
When I looked at Jay, he's seemingly trying to peer into me for completely no reason. I get that you're interested in romance crap but don't look at me.
Grace was just sitting on the side of the carriage while looking out on the window. She seems to be having a faraway look but I guess she's somewhat looking forward to see her lover soon.
After some time in the carriage talking about things and playing cards, we had finally arrived to the destination which is the crystal palace. We had to stop the carriage inside the forest as there is a thick line of tall trees we cannot traverse through. So we had to continue through the path by walking slowly just to ensure Grace can keep up with the pace. Jay and Ridley were getting somewhat excited so I somewhat shined some light using Heaven's Beacon and signaled the palace. I received no response but we continued through the forest until we ended up outside the palace. After some time of walking, we had arrived to the palace. Denzel usually greets his visitors but he doesn't seem to be around. In his replacement, May is the person who greeted everyone instead.
"Hello everyone, this is the Crystal Palace. Visiting for the time being?" - May
"May, can you call out some of the newest residents here?"
"Eh? Oh sure! You guys can come in now!" - May
May went back into the palace and urged us to follow in. It has been a while since I entered the palace but it still amazes me how Denzel can create something as beautiful as this.
"K-Kaede!!!" - Jay
Jay immediately dashes towards a girl with a similar stature and hair color. That person is definitely his twin sister.
"Terrence!" - Grace
Grace started dashing in the same direction but was even faster than Jay. She immediately landed on his arms and hugged him tightly. Well, that's a wish fulfilled.
"You two, aren't you gonna give them hugs?"
"Nah, let them have their time first." - Rylle
"Yeah, these two need their time right now. We'll give them greetings later." - Ridley
"You guys will be staying in guest room. Maybe those two would sleep with their partner but... Who is that guy? He seems to be burning in hate."
"Eh? Oh, it's Lester, Gayle's boyfriend. There seems to be an extreme hate relationship between Lester and Jay so I mostly think this isn't gonna end well that much." - Rylle
"I see, what's wrong with that?"
"The thing is, even if he's her boyfriend, he doesn't really give time for her. He just pours everything into enjoying his own life without letting her enjoy her time. He does get jealous to us too when Gayle starts talking to us and joking around." - Ridley
"Toxic huh... Aight, guess you two will have a word with them now?"
"Yep! Thanks Robin!" - Rylle
"Yeah, thanks for letting us reunite with them." - Ridley
"No problem, it's somewhat pretty essential so I'm rather happy you guys are back together."
When I noticed, the person who Rylle regarded as Lester looked at me with a somewhat displeasured face. I started wondering if he might have complaints with me reuniting these people. May moved close to my spot with mixed feelings.
"How nice for them to be reunited... How was your time on them?" - May
"They're excellent, I'm really glad to have these guys on my team."
"I see, well I think your timing is kind of bad right now..." - May
"I thought I timed it well, I guess something did happen."
"Yeah, Denzel killed his own girlfriend due to betrayal along with other two members. We had to get Seymour into the battle because nobody was able to stop him. Even the most powerful members in the palace aren't able to handle him combined." - May
"I see, let me pay him a visit."
Me and May walked towards the spiral staircase which is like the greatest part of the palace.
"You guys, I think just grab a tour from one of the members holding a blue coin. They'll give you a full tour of the palace. Wait, where's Grace?"
"Ah, she already went with Terrence. She really wants to feel comfortable under her lover's arms again." - Ridley
"Done with your greetings? I'll greet the owner of the palace so tell everyone to wait for me in this area."
"Got it." - Ridley
Me and May started going up through the spiral staircase. The staircase itself is made up of beautiful materials so I might've just let myself enjoy seeing through the rooms and various other things in here.
"So, what happened to him?"
"He's in the broken state, he doesn't seem to recover easily because of the occurrence of betrayal. He deeply cared for the girl but yeah. I guess there is some trauma included but I hope nothing bad will affect Denzel at this point." - May
"I see... Where's Seymour?"
"He already left, he was the one that actually made the palace back to normal after he made Denzel execute the three traitors. I'm more worried about his state right now but I'm really glad that you're safe." - May
I looked at May with a somewhat happy look since I never really expected her to care for me a lot. After that, we ended up in the top floor in which is called the sky floor. It only has one room and it's quite a nice room. The only difference is that Lilith was actually at the door sitting down with her face buried on her knees.
"Lilith, what happened?" - May
"Ah well, yeah... Ahahaha..." - Lilith
Lilith also doesn't seem to look okay because of the occurrence with Denzel. She's the first one to see Denzel in the worst kinds of states but she's also somewhat suffering due to her parents.
"Is it okay to enter?" - May
"Mhm... I'll open alright?" - Lilith
When the crystal door was opened, the first sight I saw was Denzel completely emotionless. Damn...