"So what do we do now?" Jun asked, breaking the silence between us. I for one was thankful for that, it had gotten too quiet and nobody had any ideas.
"We need to find a cure," Nero replied and Loki turned to him, an exhausted look on his face.
"And how do we do that Nero!?" he shouted and Nero threw his hands in the air.
"I don't know! but we have to do something right?!" he shouted back in question, Arin placed a hand on Loki's shoulder and shot him a look. Loki quickly calmed down after that.
"Look there has to be something we can do right?" Sasaki question and I sighed.
"Jun and I spent hours trying to figure out a solution last night," Loki replied and I frowned.
"Where's Cassandra?" I asked and Cassandra and Leo entered the room.
"Right here," Cassandra said, a sad look on her face. "I'm sorry for involving you all in this,"
"You shouldn't blame yourself," I offered, hugging my bow to my body. "Christa wouldn't blame you either,"
And the silence returned.
Then someone spoke up.
"I might have a solution," Nero said and everyone turned to him.
"What?" Jun asked a look of shock on his face.
"You do!?" Loki excitedly asked, standing up from his seat.
"It's a long shot so don't get your hopes up, but I know a way we can at least find the source of this plague. As long as we know the source we should be able to combat it better than this," Nero explained and Leo glared at him.
"If you knew about this then why didn't you say something at the start?" he asked, rising from his seat and sending a heated glare in Nero's direction.
"That's for me to know and you to find out," Nero replied after a moment. I turned to the ground and took a breath in response.
"So, do you plan to explain or not?" Leo asked and Nero sighed.
"There are a few things I'll need," Nero said before turning to the group. "I'll need some moon dust,"
"Is that found in Valiheim?" I asked and Jun nodded.
"Yeah, right on top of Monolith, I can lead the way there," Jun explained before turning to the rest of the group. "Yuna and I can get the moon dust"
I eagerly nodded in agreement at that statement.
"Next I'll need some Ebony," Nero continued and Arin frowned.
"Are you talking about the ore? Do you have any idea how rare that stuff is?" he asked and Nero frowned.
"Even still we have to try" Loki replied and Arin nodded at him
"Loki and I can handle the ebony then," Arin replied.
"Next up I'm gonna need a human heart," Nero said and we all froze.
"What!?" Loki shouted in distress.
"You must be joking," Arin demanded and Nero shook his head.
"Unfortunately I'm being dead serious," he replied before Sasaki stepped forward.
"Very well, I shall acquire it for you," Sasaki stated and we all turned to him.
"Are you sure Sasaki?" Arin asked and Sasaki just smiled.
"There's already plenty of blood on my hands, what's one more corpse added to the pile at this point," he replied, and for just one second I noticed the haunted look in his eyes.
That look quickly subsided however and Nero spoke up again.
"Alright, then we have ourselves a plan," he said and I turned to him.
"What's your role in all this?" I asked, wondering what he would be doing.
"I'm going to stay here and set up the ritual, as well as keeping Christa alive long enough for this all to matter," he replied and I nodded.
"I'll assist in keeping your friend alive, don't worry," Cassandra said, a small smile crossing her face for the first time today.
I smiled back and Loki stood up from his chair.
"Alright, we know what we need to do, so let's get it done," he said and everyone nodded, all of us more determined than ever.
______________________
"You know, it feels kinda weird," Jun said after a few moments of silence and I turned to him. This was the first thing he said since we had left to find the Moon Dust that Nero needed for his ritual.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Just being back in Valiheim, it feels strange," he explained and I nodded.
"I see," I agreed with a small smile, and Jun pointed at a large mountain on the horizon.
"That's the monolith," Jun said and I looked at it in awe.
"It's massive," I pointed our and Jun nodded.
"It's the tallest mountain in Valiheim and the third tallest mountain in the world," Jun explained and I frowned.
"How are we gonna climb it in time," I asked and Jun smiled.
"Don't worry, moondust doesn't grow on the peak, we'll probably find it on the way up, just keep your eye open for a dark purple flower with nine petals," Jun said, attempting to calm my nerves.
"How cold is it up there?" I asked, gesturing to my current attire, Jun tossed me his jacket and smiled.
"It's better to be safe than sorry right?" he asked as he began the walk and I ran after him.
The trek up the mountain had begun and I could already feel the fatigue setting in, Jun was right that it was better to be safe than sorry. It was freezing up here, especially considering we were in a desert and the trek had only just begun.
I looked down to my left and saw a fall that would absolutely kill me. One wrong move would definitely end my life.
And I also couldn't shake the feeling that something awful was about to happen.
"You okay?" Jun asked and I turned to him.
"I think so," I replied and he frowned.
"You seem worried about something," he pointed out, "you wanna talk about it?"
"Don't worry, I'm fine," I replied Jun kneeled down.
"Hey I think I found it," he said as he picked the moo dust and I smiled a bit.
"Well that was easy," I replied and Jun smiled before I noticed a shadow leap out of the rocks right at Jun.
"Die!" a voice screamed and I ran to Jun and tackled him out of the way as the shadow punched the ground creating a crater where Jun once stood.
"What the hell?" Jun muttered as the dust began to clear and I drew back an arrow and aimed it at the figure. I knew this face, I knew those red eyes, I knew that blonde hair.
"I'd heard you were around so I figured I'd pay you a visit," the man said as he turned to us. "But who would have thought you'd actually become strong enough to defend yourself,"
"Yuna what the hell is he talking about?" Jun asked, "do you know him?"
I didn't respond, instead keeping my eye and bow trained on the enemy that stood before me.
"I'm actually a little bit excited now," the enemy said as he turned to me with a wicked grin.
"It's been a while," I started "big brother"
Jun's eyes widened at the revelation.
"Oh come on, you can call me by my name sis," my brother said was a sinister smile and I glared at him.
"Why are you here Kirai?" I asked and Kirai simply smiled at me. His smile seemed genuine and pure but I could see right through it.
"I can't come and visit my only sister?" he asked innocently and sensing my unease Jun armed himself and attached his prosthetic.
"You're outnumbered, leave now or die," Jun ordered and Kirai narrowed his eyes.
"Are you telling me what to do?" he asked with bloodlust pouring from him, I could practically feel his killing intent.
"Get ready Jun," I said, and before I could even brace myself Kirai was right in front of me and grabbed me by my hair. He picked me up and slammed me into the side of the mountain.
"Yuna!" Jun shouted as he tried to stab Kirai who effortlessly dodged the first dagger and then caught Jun's prosthetic. The dagger drove through Kirai's hand but he didn't cry out, instead, he licked the blood off Jun's prosthetic and picked him up, and slammed him into the ground.
I fired an arrow at him but he caught it in midair and stabbed Jun in the shoulder with it, causing Jun to cry out in pain.
Kirai then picked up Jun and threw him into me, both of us crashing into the wall.
I slowly stood up and Kirai shot in front of me and punched me right in the face. Blood leaking out of my, now broken, nose.
"This is boring, I thought you two would be stronger than this," Kirai said as he sighed and began to leave.
"You're just leaving?" I asked and Kirai smiled maliciously.
"Why would I waste my time fighting someone as weak and pathetic as you?" he asked with a sickly sweet smile on his face.
And suddenly he was gone without a trace.
_____________________
"You never mentioned you had a brother," Jun pointed out as he leaned against a large rock by the fire.
"Can you honestly blame me?" I asked and Jun shook his head before frowning.
"I'm just wondering how you're related to a guy like him," Jun said and I frowned.
"He wasn't always like this, one day he just changed. I don't know what happened to him," I said as I leaned into Jun's side, resting my head on his shoulder. I felt his arm wrap around me and I leaned in further.
"We can deal with all this tomorrow okay, so just don't worry alright," Jun instructed and I nodded, finally falling asleep in his embrace.
_____________________
"Man that was lame, and here I was getting my hopes up," I whined as I walked down the narrow mountain pathway. I ran a hand through my long blonde hair and sighed.
I had figured my little sister would have been at least able to land a punch but she was even more pathetic than she used to be.
"Oh well, maybe I just need to wait for her a bit longer," I muttered before turning around and meeting the eyes of another man, "anyways what do you want, can't you see in busy,"
"Are you Kirai Spring?" the man asked and I frowned.
"Who's asking?" I asked, clenching my fist.
"I'm not here to fight you Kirai, I'm here to make you an offer," the man said as the light from the moon finally shined down on him.
He was a tall man with long silver hair and onyx eyes. He wore a black tunic, black pants, brown boots, and a long gray coat. A one-handed long sword was strapped at his hip.
"What's this offer then?" I asked, suddenly intrigued.
"I've been offered one hundred thousand gold to kill the runaway prince of Aria, I've decided to assemble a team for that very task," the man explained and I frowned at him.
"Look the money is nice and all but I don't really care for material value or anything like that," I said and the man frowned.
"You're the type of person that values strength correct?" He asked and I smiled.
"More than anything," I said and the man drew his sword.
"In that case, I challenge you to a duel, if I win you'll join me," the man said and I smirked, cracking my knuckles.
"Sure thing, but you should be careful what you wish for," I started before rushing at the man at blazing speeds before slamming my fist into his face "After all you might regret it!"
There was dust everywhere and my vision was completely obscured, even so, I could still hear the sound of soft laughter.
"You're strong Kirai, I'll give you that" the man laughed and the dust cleared.
He didn't have a scratch on him.
"But with me, you could become so much more," he finished and I stared at him before shrugging my shoulders.
"Oh what the hell, I know when I can't win a fight, sure I'll join you, so long as I don't get paid" I relented and the man smiled and shrugged as well, sheathing his sword and turning away, motioning for me to follow him.
"My name is Leonhardt by the way," he said and I smiled
"So Leonhardt?" I asked and turned to him with a chilling smile.
"How much longer until I get to kill something?"