The cheers grew louder, and everyone was glad to see the love between their lord and his lady.
The Moon Maidens were happy but also a little envious.
Alex took Debbie's hand, and they walked off the stage as the party continued with music, singing, and dancing. Everyone was having fun.
"Let's go for a walk," Alex whispered to Debbie, leading her out of the hall. Outside, the moon was bright, the temperature was cool, and the air was fresh.
Alex hugged Debbie, trying to keep her warm.
They sat down on a rock, whispering sweet nothings to each other, and Alex wrapped an arm around her.
At midnight, fireworks burst over the dark sky, creating beautiful patterns in many colors. Combined with the stunning scenery, it was a particularly romantic night.
"Hey," Alex said, glancing at Debbie, who was watching the fireworks with a rapt expression.
"What?" she asked, turning to look at him.
"It's a full moon," Alex said, giving a loud howl and making Debbie laugh.
"Debbie's smile is more beautiful than the fireworks", he thought.
He pulled her in a little closer, squeezing her tight and kissing her lips. Debbie responded, kissing him back.
They forgot all about the cold as they lost themselves in romantic kisses, feeling that this was the most perfect moment of their lives.
A man approached them from the direction of the Moon Palace. His name was Rocky Dalton, and he was the leader of the Grizzlies, one of the gangs that had previously attacked the palace.
When Rocky noticed that Alex was kissing Debbie, he was embarrassed and coughed a few times to get their attention.
Alex and Debbie sprang apart, startled by the interruption, and Debbie hid her face, which had turned bright red with embarrassment.
"Rocky, it's late," Alex said. "Did you need something?"
"I'm sorry to disturb you," Rocky said. "But I just got the news that the Blood Brothers have declared war on the martial arts community. In the past two weeks, Lee Harshaw has killed the leaders of the Black Swallow Academy, the Spitting Cobra sect, the Death Masters sect, and the Golden Warrior Academy. Because we're in such a remote location, it takes a while for the news to filter through to us."
Alex was surprised. "Was it possible that the Blood Brothers had gone to Baltimore to avenge Damon's death?", he thought. If so, that seemed to mean that he was responsible for what was happening.
The Blood Brothers had killed the leaders of four martial arts sects, so they were clearly out of control. How could the community resist such an attack?
Unless someone stopped the Blood Brothers, the martial arts community wouldn't survive.
"Sir, I heard that you defeated Damon," Rocky said. "That was really impressive."
The fighting in Baltimore had happened a while ago, but this was the first time these local gangs had heard about it.
In recent days, information about the war had begun to reach them, and they knew Damon had killed the legendary Paul Novak. Then, during the fighting in Baltimore, Alex defeated Damon, displaying a spectacular level of skill.
Everyone had been shocked when they learned that Alex had defeated Damon. When the gangs had attacked the Moon Palace, they hadn't thought much of Alex, and they had expected to defeat him easily. But he had turned out to be much more skilled than they had realized.
"Thanks, Rocky," Alex said. "What's the situation now?"
"Lee contacted all the martial arts groups, asking them to meet at Silver Lake in Baltimore," Rocky said. "He plans to take his revenge later today."
"Today?" Alex asked. He thought quickly.
If Lee had dared to challenge the whole martial arts community, then he must be confident of success. If he failed, he would pay a heavy price, so he wouldn't have made the decision lightly.
Alex felt responsible and knew he would have to stop Lee.
"Debbie, we need to go home," Alex said, looking at her. She was completely healed now, so they didn't need to stay any longer, and Alex was needed elsewhere.
"Okay," Debbie said, nodding.
Alex, Debbie, and Rocky returned to the Moon Palace, where the party had finally ended. Alex went to the stage and announced his decision to leave immediately. The Moon cult disciples all began to speak at once, not willing to let him leave, and the four Moon Maidens were worried.
"The Moon Palace is also part of the martial arts world," Alex reminded them. "And it's my fault that the Blood Brothers have gone to Baltimore, so I have to go and fix this."
Some of the disciples understood and offered their support.
One woman stood up and called out, "You must go!" She turned around to look at her sisters. "We can't make him dishonor himself by forcing him to stay. Do you want him to be ridiculed by the martial arts community? I support his decision to go!"
Others began to join in, and they all shouted at once.
"Support the lord!"
Alex was deeply moved by these women who believed in him.
The Moon maidens walked over to Alex. They all wanted to go with him. Rocky had said that Lee was extremely dangerous, so they wanted to be able to protect Alex.
They begged to be allowed to accompany him, but he denied them, shaking his head.
"I know the Moon Palace has a lot of important business coming up over the next month," he said. "You four are the backbone of this group, so you must stay here. I can't leave the Moon Palace unless I know you're here to take care of everything."
"But who will take care of you?" Celeste demanded.
"We worry about you," Selene said.
"Take us with you," Callisto begged.
"Yes," Luna agreed. "Take us."
The Moon maidens knew Alex was right, but they just wanted to be with him. They pouted at him, their eyes sparkling with tears, making Alex feel guilty.
"You're being silly," Alex said, patting their shoulders. How could he possibly disappoint these sweet women? "Fine," he conceded. "But I can only take one of you, and the rest will have to stay here. You can decide which of you will come with me." He had no intention of choosing between them, so they would have to make their own decision.
"Me!" cried all four of them at the same time.
Celeste shook her head. "Okay, let's use rock, paper, scissors to decide," she suggested.
The others agreed, and soon Selene and Celeste were eliminated, leaving Callisto and Luna to battle it out.
They each made a fist and shook it as they counted. "One, two, three." Callisto made the scissors gesture, while Luna held her hand out flat to indicate paper. Scissors beat paper, so Callisto had won. She would be the one to go with Alex.
Callisto grinned, but the other three women were disappointed.