After their shopping spree, Zee, Bastion, and Greg returned to Allison's mansion halfway up the valley. Despite leaving in the early morning, the sun was already setting by the time they returned.
Bertram bid them farewell once they reached the elaborate gates to the mansion. The well-dressed butler strode away, leaving the three of them alone.
Noting her approach, one of Yukna's guards opened the gate. "Is Allison home?" Zee asked the guard.
"The princess is here yes. Who are these two?" The guard asked, eying Greg and Bastion closely.
"They are acquaintances of mine. I will vouch for them." Zee said.
The guard, nodded, reaching under his silver and blue uniform, and pulling out four letters. "These were left for you while you were out." He said.
Zee took them and gestured for Greg and Bastion to follow. She walked up the cobbled drive, cracking open the letters, and skimming through them.
The first one went up in a puff of blue smoke as she activated spirit echo, disgusted at the contents. The second and third quickly followed, turning to smoke as her skill rapidly decayed the paper.
"What's with the letters, do you have more secret admirers than me?" Bastion asked.
Zee rolled her eyes. "They are not being secretive at all. Two of them just offered to marry their sons to me." Zee said with a grimace.
"I didn't think nobles were so direct. What did you do to become so popular?" Bastion asked, sounding a little worried.
"I didn't do anything. Maldy inflicted all this attention on me." Zee said.
She walked up the marble staircase, between several ornate pillars holding up a roof over the front entrance. Zee used her key to open the front door, entering the mansion.
"Hello! I am back." Zee said.
Yukna and Allison were sitting next to each other on the couch, drinking some tea. They looked up as she entered, eying the people entering the room behind her.
"Princess," Bastion said, giving Allison a nod of greeting.
"Bastion, I see you are well. How is that scummy boss of yours?" Allison asked, looking displeased to see him again.
"We no longer work for the Hall. Jenndeer and I had differing opinions on how to conduct business." Bastion said, diplomatically.
"I hear you two are coming with us to Sphedhara?" Allison asked.
Bastion nodded. "Yes. We owe Zee much. It's the least we can do to repay her for saving our lives." Bastion said.
"Well then. Let's get to some training, we only have two weeks until the tournament." Allison said.
Time flew by, two weeks passing in a blur of training, leaving only one day until they were teleported off plan. Bastion and Allison stood on one side of the training hall, while Zee and Dern stood on the other, facing off.
Allison and Bastion made surprisingly good teammates. Far better than Bastion and Greg. The large archer was good, but Zee and Dern were a bad match-up for him, easily taking him down.
Zee could go in mist form and avoid arrows, while Dern was a hulking suit of metal, that was hard to damage. On the other hand, Greg excelled at long-range, and boxing in opponents.
Greg and Dern actually made a hard team to beat, as Dern was the meat shield, while Greg rained hell with his bow.
Zee shook the thought's from her mind. She needed to focus on the here and now.
The momentary standoff shattered as Dern made the first move. He leaped forward, his steel boots grinding against the smooth back stone.
Instead of retreating like a sane person, Bastion moved in to block the downward slash of Dern's glaive.
It looked like Dern's attack was going to cleave the much shorter Bastion in half. Bastion raised an open palm, catching the glaive, stopping it dead in its tracks.
It looked as though Dern hit into a solid brick of etched metal and not a skin.
Bastion smirked and punched Dern's breastplate with a palm strike. It sounded like a hammer striking an anvil and the breastplate cracked under the deceptively heavy blow.
His simple strike redirected all of the force from Dern's attack, directing the force of that glaive back at him in the form of a simple palm strike.
Allison didn't give Dern time to recover and launched a horizontal crescent of fire at his chest.
Bastion, who was still between them, ducked and rolled. His clothes smoked, as he narrowly avoided getting caught in his teammate's follow-up attack.
The fire struck moments later turning Dern into a blazing inferno. Her spirit companion cracked and fell into chunks of melted metal on the floor, leaving her in a one versus two.
"Shit! Sorry, I messed up." Dern said, suddenly back in her mind.
"Don't worry I got this," Zee said. Bastion rolled gracefully to his feet, patting off his smoking pants, and grinning over at her.
"You might as well surrender now, and save yourself the humiliation of getting your butt kicked." Bastion taunted.
"Bastions right. You have no chance of defeating us without Dern to help you." Allison said, with a cheeky smile.
"Just watch me," Zee said, giving them both a rude gesture, her body fading away, turning into light blue mist.
Her first attack came without any warning, her wooden sword smacking the back of Bastion's leg.
He grimaced falling forwards into a roll before whirling, ready to block a follow-up attack. And attack that didn't come just yet. His eyes darted around the room, searching for her.
There! Bastion whirled and kicked upward, his boot colliding with her sword as it fell toward his ribs. She looked startled, taken off guard by his block.
He didn't hesitate, following up with a swift series of punches and kicks. The blows would normally break bones, but most of their force was absorbed by a thin layer of dark blue mist covering her.
From what she told them, it was the third effect of spirit echo. The new effect made it offensive and defensive at the same time.
The skill was excellent when it came to blocking blunt force trauma, but it had less effect when blocking bladed weapons.
Bastion wasn't intending on breaking through, just putting her under pressure. He was the distraction for the real attack.
Allison flashed in behind Zee, thrusting her practice blade at the redhead's back.
Like she had eyes in the back of her head, Zee reacted by moving to block.
She diverted his punch with her open right hand and in one fluid motion swiped her sword across her back. It was a perfect counter, that left him in awe.
Even after two weeks of sparring with and against her, he still couldn't believe just how good she was with that sword.
Deciding to watch, he held back as the two exchanged blows. Wood met wood, and fists met flesh, both fighters taking any opportunity to kick and punch.
It looked like a choreographed sword dance in some moments and a brawl in other moments. It was a lot of fun to watch as both women were skilled and had very similar fighting styles.
At first, they looked evenly matched, but that was deceptive.
With her longer reach, and E-grade strength the princess should have the advantage. And yet, Zee was pushing the woman back, forcing her on the defensive.
Zee kept teleporting around Allison, striking from blind spots. All the while, a relentless weight pressed down around her.
It made the princess sluggish, unable to react as fast as she wanted. The princess couldn't seem to land any decisive blows, taking hit after hit.
Bastion watched Zee with a smile on his face. She was stunningly beautiful and an incredible fighter. Truly a marvel to watch in a sword fight.
"Hey! Bastion. Stop ogling her and come help me!" Allison shouted, not seeming to agree with his thoughts.
He smirked and rushed into the fight to assist her. With him joining the fight, it was only a matter of time before Zee was forced to surrender.
It might be a different story if they were using all their abilities but this was just a duel. Going all out would be a good way for one of them to be seriously injured, or killed.
Several minutes later, a defeated Zee leaned on the table letting out a pained groan as Yukna pressed a cooling poultice against her right eye.
"Hold this against your wound, it will lessen the bruising around your eye," Yukna said.
"Thank you," Zee said, inhaling sharply.
"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to hit you so hard," Bastion said.
Allison snorted. "Don't apologize, she was asking for it by not surrendering," Allison said.
"You are just being salty that I hit you so many times," Zee said with a pained laugh.
Allison's face scrunched up in a grimace as she glared at Bastion.
"That's because my teammate was too busy staring at your backside to help me," Allison said.
Everyone in the kitchen looked over at him. Bastion flushed, looking towards the balcony window.
"I did no such thing. I was simply admiring your fighting." Bastion said.
His cheeks turned a darker shade of brown. It was an adorable look on him. Bastion cleared his throat and tactfully changed the subject.
"It was a good fight. Our teamwork is getting better. Though I still think we should find another team and all practice fighting together." Bastion said.
Allison nodded. "I have been looking around, but I can't find any suitable teams. Not sure it will even help. We are leaving tomorrow." Allison said.
Bastion sighed, lazily reclining back on his chair. "That's a shame. I was hoping to get more practice as a team. I am nervous about fighting the monsters in the dead world." Bastion said.
Yukna tensed, her gaze snapping back to the princess. Zee got a sudden premonition of danger as the dominative Yukna glared at Allison.
"Allie… What does he mean by dead world?" Yukna asked, slowly.
Zee could hear the princess audibly gulp.
"Uh.. About that. I was going to tell you about that." Allison said.
"When? When were you going to tell me this tournament is on a dead world?" Yukna asked.
Allison wouldn't meet her fiancé's eyes, finding the grains on the table extremely interesting.
"I was going to tell you, soon," Allison said, a flush creeping up her neck.
Yukna's face scrunched up, and she folded her arms, her usual placid demeanor gone.
"You were going to wait until the day of the tournament to tell me?" Yukna asked accusingly.
Allison looked like a lizard caught stealing. "I didn't want you to worry," Allison muttered.
"Worry? It sounds like you didn't want me to come with you." Yukna snapped.
"I know how you get. I didn't want to put you in danger."Allison said, straightening her back.
"What about me, Allie? How do you think it makes me feel that you are going into such danger." Yukna asked, wiping her suddenly wet eyes. The dominative woman clenched her hands into fists.
"You almost died last time you went on a dangerous mission. It made me feel so useless, sitting at home, worrying about you for months. I will not go through that again." Yukna snapped.
"But, Yuky. You have a non-combat class. It will be too dangerous in there for you." Allison said.
Yukna glared defiantly. "Are you saying I cannot handle myself?" Yukna asked.
"No, I am not. I am just saying that I don't want you to get hurt." Allison said, backpedaling.
"And I don't want you to get hurt," Yukna countered.
Allison gestured over at Zee, and Bastion, who were all wisely staying out of the argument.
"I have them for that."
Yukna adjusted her glasses higher on her nose, defiance in her soft brown eyes.
"I am coming with you, and that is final. Now if you will excuse me I need to pack my things." Yukna said, striding across the living room into her bedroom.
"Please, reconsider," Allison said following close behind looking unhappy about this outcome.
"I could say the same about you. If you are going, so am I." Yukna disappeared into their room.
Bastion turned in his seat once the two were out of hearing range, facing her. "Well, that was unexpected. I guess we have a new teammate now." Bastion said.
Zee hesitantly nodded, cradling the poultice against her eye. "Looks like it."
"Sorry about giving you a black eye. Didn't mean to hit you so hard," Bastion said, glancing at the poultice.
"I would have been disappointed if you held back. Besides, I am going to get you back next time we spar." Zee said.
Bastion gave her a mischievous smile. "You and me sparring, alone?" Bastion asked, bobbing his eyebrows at her.
She laughed. "Don't get any funny ideas, we are just sparring."
"I would never presume. After you milady." Bastion said, bowing theatrically towards the stairs. She shook her head at his antics.
"Come on, I need to work on my aura control while we spar. And you better not stare at my backside." Zee said.
He laughed. "I would never do that," Bastion said, clearly lying.
Halfway down the stairs, she paused, turning back to him. "Oh, I almost forgot. Here." Zee handed Bastion a small locket. "Dern says the materials are not suited for making a spatial storage. Something about the locket decaying and imploding on itself from the overflow of energy. Or some such nonsense." Zee said.
Bastion took the locket back, slipping the delicate chain over his head. She offered him another necklace, one of the ones Malden gave her for practice.
"This one isn't great, but it still has quite a bit of storage space," Zee said.
"Thanks, I owe you one," Bastion said.
"He owes me one too," Dern said.
"Damn, straight you do. Oh, and Dern wants a favor as well." Zee said with a cheeky smile.
"Should I be worried about owing Dern a favor?" Bastion asked.
Zee shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it depends on if he is hungry. He is a soul-sucking monster after all. No telling what kind of favor he might cash in." Zee said.
"I am strongly considering returning the necklace already," Bastion said, a tinge of concern crossing his face.
Zee laughed mischievously. "It's too late, you have already offered him the favor, no taking it back now." The next afternoon, Zee stood on the summit of the valley overlooking the valley that housed the city of Carden. She stood on a wide plateau, surrounded by two hundred warriors.
Arrayed next to them were four massive stone pillars in a triangle, each radiating immense pressure. She wasn't alone but with a small group. Allison, Bastion, Greg, and most concerning, illukna.
Allison was the least happy about this predicament, looking peeved that her fiancé was coming.
Zee could sympathize. Yukna was a noncombat class user, and they were headed to a planar space on a dead world.
Despite having a shouting match the night before, and even this morning, nothing had changed. And from the looks of it, neither of them was happy about it.
Allison was intent on going, and Yukna was too stubborn to let the princess go to such a dangerous place without her.
Zee was broken from her musing as Bastion nudged her with his shoulder. "What has him so upset?" Bastion asked, gesturing towards Prince Malden, surrounded by his own team of five guards.
Zee smirked, noting Malden's glare, which was directed right at her. "I have no idea." Zee lied smoothly.
He didn't seem convinced in the slightest, but Bastion didn't argue.
Zee shifted, her shoulder brushing his while they waited. Being so close to him, she caught the faint smell of freshly baked bread and roasted meat.
After spending the last two weeks in his company, she was starting to realize he always smelled like that. He had a smell you might expect from a chef, or baker, not a fighter.
It was a nice smell, and she found herself making excuses to get close to him at every opportunity. And today was no different. She stood there, seeing no reason to step away, as she idly scanned the crowd of warriors.
The warriors were separated into two groups on the summit. Carmanah in uniforms of green and white, and the Allevark in blue and silver trim.
Surprisingly, the majority of people were in small groups of five or seven.
This was supposedly the norm when heading into a planar space. Moving in overwhelming numbers could be an advantage, but it could also draw unwanted attention.
On the other hand, too small of a group made the risk of dying to a much stronger monster, or even overwhelming numbers.
Their group should be small enough to be sneaky, and large enough to not be overwhelmed so easily.
But that was mere speculation. Their team was untested. That was okay though. They had over half a year to learn to work together.
Her eyes snapped up to the sky, as a single figure appeared, hovering above them. Lady Petrie looked down on them with cool disdain, her expression cold, and uncaring.
"For those that do not know, I am Petrie of clan Lauraunt. As a representative of the Kelvish dominion, I will be activating the teleportation array.
Due to the interference of the planar space, I will be teleporting you a short fifty-mile walk to the south of the planar space.
From there, you will make your way north, on your own. Those who are too weak to make it to the planar space will not be retrieved." Petrie said coldly.
She clapped her paws together, the action disturbing the air around her.
"You have ten minutes to get inside the teleportation array. Any who are not will be left behind." Petrie said.
Zee glanced over at her teammates. Bastion shrugged. "Should have expected this," Bastion said. Greg grunted in agreement.
Allison gesture towards the teleportation array. "Shall we?" She asked.
Zee nodded, and they all moved across the plateau, joining the hundreds of others. Curiously, she noted several groups that looked hesitant, standing just outside the ominous stone pillars.
The minutes passed, and a thrumming rumble filled the air, the stone pillars of the array vibrating. Petrie reappeared above them again, her tail swishing playfully behind her.
"Stop your diddling, and get ready. Remember, once I teleport you to Sphedhara, I will not teleport anyone back until the end of the tournament."Petrie said.
Her comment caused two groups on the edge to back away. Judging by their mid-f ranked auras, it was probably the right decision.
Petrie raised her paws, and the pillars of stone flashed. They fell, entering the all too familiar darkness of the null realm. The disorienting weightlessness and lack of any light only lasted for a brief moment, but it made unpleasant memories resurface.
The next moment, they were on another planet, Sphedhara. Or at least she was, facing Petrie, alone. Zee swallowed hard, uncertain what was happening.
She glanced around, noting the sandy dunes and the yellow haze filling the sky.
"I was wondering when you would confront me again," Zee said.
Petrie smiled, the expression unkind. "We don't have time for a chat. I only came to give you the methods to find and take the heart of the planar space." Petrie said.
The woman held up two items that hovered over, settling on the sand in front of her. "Put these inside your spatial storage. Do not tell anyone about them, or I will kill your friends." Petrie said.
Zee reluctantly put both of the odd items inside her recently created spatial storage.
"And what if I can't retrieve the planar seed?" Zee asked.
Petrie's smile turned predatory. "Then I will kill your friends before I turn you over to the blood gorgers," Petrie said.
Zee glared at the vile woman, wishing her gaze could kill. Petrie smirked at the hate-filled glare.
"How do I even find this planar seed thing?" Zee asked.
"It's pretty straightforward. Use the astrolabe I gave you and head to the heart of the planar space. Bring me the planar seed without letting anyone know you took it. If you return it to me, you may freely go on your way." Petrie said.
Zee didn't trust Petrie in the slightest, but she didn't have much of a choice. "Alright, I will get you your stupid planar seed," Zee said, unhappily.
Petrie smirked. "Good. Oh, your friends are just over that dune over there. You might want to reconnect with them and get to cover. It looks like a sandstorm is coming in." Petrie said casually.