After they get back to the Order of Light's base back in the capital, the other paladins go to show the former slaves where they'll be temporarily staying.
"Alright, You two should probably go and see Garvin, now. I'll be addressing the citizens that we rescued, if anyone needs me." Sabelle mentions, as she starts to head off as well.
Caleldes and Nicholas then find Garvin, and he's again training the new recruits.
They wait for a bit, not wanting to disturb them, and they just watch them as they train, for now.
Soon noticing Caleldes and Nicholas, Garvin tells the recruits to take a break, and he then heads on over to them. "Hey. How'd it go?"
"Better then we had expected, honestly." Caleldes admits.
"Yeah, all the people that we all rescued are being settled in, right now." Nicholas adds.
"That's good. Alright, whenever you're ready to leave, you should take Sabelle with you, I believe that you should have already met her, correct?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Well, take her with you, then the rest of the paladins will be sent out, and will be about a day or so behind you all. It'd be best for her to be able to assess the situation for herself, ahead of time. And here's the map from before, it has all the locations that we had discussed previously marked on it. Sabelle would want to see it for herself, as well."
"Alright." Caleldes takes the map, and puts it away.
They then go to find Sabelle, and they soon find her coming from where the rescued citizens are now staying.
"Hey, Sabelle. Garvin said that you should head with us, back to the forest."
"Oh yeah, he did mention something about that, before we had left for the slavers mission. Alright. I Winant to check everything out anyways, before the others get there. We can leave in a few hours, if you'd like."
"Sure. Also, do any of the rescued have life, light, or dark magic? Those magics would be very helpful." Caleldes asks her.
"I don't believe so. Sorry."
"It's fine."
"Actually, I may know someone who could help." Nicholas mentions, herding into the room where the rescued citizens are supposed to be staying.
The room is basically just one huge room that contains tons of beds and some other basic furniture, but not much else.
Looking around, Nicholas soon spots Annabelle and Melody, going over to them. "Hey, Annabelle, Melody."
Annabelle looks over when she hears their names. "Oh, Nicholas, hi. What can we do for you?"
"I was actually wondering if either of you had any magic, and what type? We need as many people helping out as possible."
"Oh, well, I don't have very useful magic, honestly... But Melody might be able to help. She can control light."
"She has light magic?"
"No. A fairy's magic is different. They can't create an element from nothing, like most other magic users, but they can manipulate already existing elements. So, she can use any natural light in the area in a similar way to how others would use their own light magic." Annabelle explains to Nicholas for Melody.
"Oh, okay. That should still be able to help."
"And her fairy dust can be used to help increase the potency of others own magic."
"Really? That'd definitely be helpful. But, any idea if it can be used on dark magic users? If she can use light magic, it may hurt a friend of mine, but he needs as much help as he can get, since he's pretty much the only dark user there."
"Hm... Not actually sure. It could probably go either way, honestly. We could try and experiment, though, if you want?"
"We'll figure something out, when we get there. So, you don't mind helping us, then?"
"Of course we'll help. It's the least that we can do for you, after you all helped us out. Although... Mind if we follow you around, until it's time to go? It's kinda boring around here, honestly." Annabelle timidly asks Nicholas.
"Oh, sure. I'm sure that my mom wouldn't mind. Come on."
"Thanks." Annabelle, with Melody sitting atop one of her shoulders, follows Nicholas as he heads back to where Caleldes and Sabelle are.
"I found who I was looking for. They can help out a bit." Nicholas mentions, once he gets over to Caleldes and Sabelle.
Sabelle looks over to them as they approach. "Oh, the little cat girl and fairy? Yeah, the fairy might be a little useful. What magic do you have, though?"
"Oh, well, I... It won't be useful to what you need, but Melody doesn't like going anywhere without me, so I'll be along, as well..." Annabelle just avoids the question.
"It's not something bad, is it?" Nicholas inquires, "You didn't seem to want to mention it earlier, either."
"No, it's not bad... It's just a little embarrassing, and weak, is all..."
"Well, okay. I won't push, if you don't want to tell."
"Thank you..."
"Of course."
"Anyways, Annabelle, was it? We should probably get you and your friend some proper clothes and supplies." Caleldes mentions.
"Are you sure...? I don't want you to waste any money on us..."
"It's not a waste. Now, you should probably keep a really good eye on your fairy friend when we're out and about, and let's get going." Caleldes takes Annabelle's hand, and they then head off.
After a while, they eventually return, and Annabelle goes off to find Nicholas again, pretty much immediately, seeming almost excited to go and show him her new, non-raggedy, dress. She soon finds Nicholas, quickly heading over to him. "Hey, Nicholas! We're back."
He looks over to her as she gets nearer to him. "Hey."
"So... What do you think...?" Annabelle asks Nicholas, a bit nervously.
Annabelle wears a short pink, frilly and slightly puffy dress, with black lace; and she even wears a similar looking chocker like necklace, which also has a tiny and round silvery bell on it.
"It looks nice on you."
"You really think so...?"
"Of course."
Annabelle then just seems happy, now smiling at him.
Caleldes soon finds where they are. "There you are. You took off pretty much the second we got back."
"Oh, sorry..."
"It's fine, but we'll be leaving soon. The sooner we get to where we need to go, the better."
"Right."
Melody, having been with Caleldes when Annabelle took off, now flies back over to Annabelle. She also wears a new dress, but hers looks almost as if it were made from large golden flower petals, made into the shape of a long and sleeveless dress.
"Oh yeah, Melody got a new dress, too. I think it looks great on her; the flower theme really fits her." Annabelle mentions.
"It does. And I spent my time getting ready, so I'm ready to leave whenever, as well."
"That's good. I'll go get Sabelle, and we'll meet you kids near the entrance." Caleldes tells them as she heads off again.
"Right. So, let's go." Nicholas then starts to head for the entrance.
Annabelle and Melody follow behind him.
Once Caleldes and Sabelle get to the entrance, they head over to them. "So, does everyone have what they need for the trip?" Sabelle asks.
"I believe so." Nicholas responds.
"Alright then, let's get going. The rest of the paladins will be about a day or two behind us, so we'll have a bit of time to figure the details out before they get here."
"Right."
They then start to head for the city gates.
-------
Once back in the ancient forest, CaIeIdes goes to find Duvainion. She soon finds him, along with Hunter, near the center of forest. "Duvainion, were back. Sorry that it took so long. How has everything been, while we were gone?"
"Mostly normal. The darkness has spread some, but we should still have plenty of time, before it reaches the main root system." Duvainion responds.
"That's good. There are still about a few days before the rest of the paladins get here, but one of the higher ranked paladins is here to check things out, before we get started. So, how has your magic training gone, so far?"
"A little slow going, but not too bad, honestly."
"Alright. And while we couldn't find any other dark users, we did discover that Nicholas can use both light and dark magic, right now. So, he may be able to help you out, a bit."
"Really? That sounds rare." Duvainion mentions.
"It is, and apparently, having both makes the other weaker." Nicholas mentions, as he heads over. "If I want to be able to master one, though, I apparently have to help one get rid of the other, but... I still can't decide on which one that I'd want over the other." He admits.
"I'm sure that you'll find what's right for you, eventually." Duvainion says.
"Maybe. But until then, I need to train my dark magic, so that I can help you better."
"Okay. And thanks."
Soon, Sabelle makes her way over to them, followed by Serenity. "Hey, sorry that I'm late, Serenity was showing me about. Anyways, it'd also be helpful for me to see the main tree." Sabelle mentions.
"Right. She's this way." Serenity says, as she starts to head off.
Sabelle follows her, and they soon make it to Asiza.
"This is Asiza, she is the forest. But she's too weak to even do much of anything, right now." Serenity tells Sabelle.
"She's huge. And she's weak because of this darkness stuff, right?" Sabelle asks.
"Yes. We need to rid her of this infectious darkness, as soon as we possibly can." Serenity mentions.
"Well, we'll try our best. It's our job to get rid of any evil darkness." Sabelle declares.
"Thank you."
They soon return to where the others are, and Sabelle then goes over to Duvainion. "You must be Duvainion, correct? Caleldes has mentioned you, before. It is a pleasure to finally be able to meet you, young prince."
Though soon enough, a strange and faint light blue glowing starts to emit, from within both of Duvainions and Sabelles bags.
"What is that?" They both ask.
Duvainion then reaches into his bag, and pulls out the strange weapon shard that has a rune carved onto it, looking at it. Sabelle even does the same, looking over to Duvainion as he does.
"You have one of these, too? How?" Sabelle asks him.
"I, uh... found it. Why?"
"It's said to be the shard If a powerful weapon that an ancestor of mine used to use, until the battle that shattered his sword, and ended his life, at least. It was centuries ago, though, so most of the details have, unfortunately, been lost to time. Though I've been trying to find all the shards so that I could attempt to get it reforged, I really haven't been able to find any others. Only reason that I have this one is because it's been passed down through my family, after one of them found this lost shard a long time ago, and recognized it." Sabelle explains.
"Wow. That sounds like it'd be an interesting tale, if someone actually knew what went on, back then." Duvainion mentions.
"Indeed. But... it seems like this shard, for whatever reason it may have, wants to be with you." Sabelle then holds her shard out towards Duvainion.
"Are you sure...? It sounds pretty important to you, and your family."
"I'm sure. It's not like I'll have any use for it, anyways. Besides, it's said that the truly powerful weapons have a mind of their own, and will only allow those that they deem worthy to wield them. And it seems to like you. Go on, take it. I don't mind."
"Well... Okay..." He then takes the shard from her. Now holding the two shards, he looks at them, and their glow soon dies down, almost seeming as if they were satisfied, now.