"Is it safe for us to be walking around like this?" Alexander questioned.
Claymore gave a casual shrug. "Phoenix shot up a flare near the village, so I'm going to assume they're back by now."
Alexander gave a faint nod. "They got back a lot faster than I thought they would."
"They're just that good." Claymore chuckled. "Better than me anyways."
"Hey, don't say it like that!" Evan slapped Claymore hard on the back. "You kept us all safe! I mean, no one came after us, so when you really stop to think about it, you actually didn't do anything, but still! We would have been in slightly more danger without you here with us!"
Claymore let out a dry laugh and awkwardly rubbed his neck. "I guess that's true."
It had been a little over two hours since Cinder and the others left to go battle the villainous team known as the Misfits. None of them had any way of knowing what happened, but he was confident that the good guys would come out on top like they always did. After a bit of waiting he was proven right, when a ball of greenish flame launched its way up into the air and exploded. It was caused by Phoenix, the flame-based hero signaling for them to head that way.
That's what they were currently doing now. They had ditched the cave and all walked down the forest's path, heading back toward Apple Tree Village. He walked up front, holding onto Irene's hand. Every now and then, the young girl would squeeze his hand tightly, and he'd do his best to put her panicked soul at ease. He was her knight, after all. Alexander walked behind them along with Evan, and then finally, all the way in the back were the two siblings Cinder had picked up, Cora and Nikos. It was a little scary walking around the woods like this. At least Claymore thought so. After all, if any villain were to jump out and attack, he'd be the only one who could try to fight it off.
He'd succeed though. Someway, somehow, it didn't matter who he was faced up against with. He was Claymore, a hero who would swing their sword and wipe out all threats. He was the bodyguard to Irene. He was her knight. So he wasn't scared.
Not at all...
"Cinder and the others will be alright, won't they?" Cora asked.
Nikos gave a shrug and rubbed his chin. "It's hard picturing any of them losing. They're all so strong."
Evan let out a chuckle and nodded his head. "Phoenix was my bodyguard even before all of this and he never lost a single fight. At one point he was even considered for the title of Lord of the Sun and Cosmos, because of how strange his fire was, and how strong he is. Sometimes I still think he really is a Lord."
"So you don't think Cinder is a lord?" Irene asked, looking back at Evan.
Evan just gave a casual shrug. "No, I think Cinder is the Lord. I mean, we all heard what the Victorian said during the fight with the Beast. Plus, that fire form she went into was a carbon copy of Full Monarch." The rich boy folded his arms and let out a soft hum. "I think she has his powers for sure. Cinder had the ability Full Monarch wielded, but she doesn't have the same beliefs and values. I don't see the next Full Monarch whenever I look at her. It's not like what happens when I look at Phoenix. He might not be an actual Lord, but the way he acts and the courage he wields makes me confident that if Cinder wasn't around, he'd be the Lord of the Sun and Cosmos and would be considered the next Full Monarch."
Alexander nodded. "I don't think my daughter is really interested in being the next Full Monarch. She's just... Herself."
Nikos and Cora shared a confused look. "Are these more people from your world?" Nikos asked awkwardly.
"It's nothing you have to be concerned with," Irene said in a blunt tone. "We're here."
They had made it to the edge of the forest, and already they could hear the sounds of villagers attempting to rebuild what was lost. Apple Tree came into view as they stepped past the trees, and its people were back. Many of the buildings had been turned down and destroyed, but the villagers didn't seem to be phased by that and were already getting back to work. Several men had chopped down various trees and were dragging them along, while the kids all played in the village square.
Up above, high in the air, Phoenix held his hand out and sent out a spark of greenish fire which flowed over a few of the buildings. The logs and other wood were pulled to the destroyed buildings and the structures seemed to start repairing themselves, all the damaged wood fading away as it was replaced with the undamaged logs.
Alexander felt his breath hitch as he watched it. He suddenly had a better idea about what Evan had been saying. All over the news, years ago, whenever Full Monarch finished a battle, the number one hero would wave his hand, and all the damage to the city or town he was in would magically fix itself. He had been one of the few heroes that actually seemed to care about the destruction he caused, and he was one of the only heroes who could fix all the damage with just a wave of his hand. Phoenix was doing the same. The boy really was like a smaller version of Full Monarch in a way.
Also, in the village, Shift remained standing on one of the houses. His appearance had freaked out several of the people of Apple Tree, so he had decided to stay mostly out of sight. Next to him was Pied, who was seated on the roof of a house and allowed his legs to dangle down.
Lastly, that left Cinder. She had tried to help out with the repairs in the beginning but made almost no progress as she instead had a large mob of the villages swarmed around her, all asking dozens of questions. As they neared it became obvious why she was the only one that had so much attention on her.
"Are you related to the Queen?"
"Are you the Queen in disguise?"
"You must be the sister of the Queen?"
"You're the Queen's daughter, right?"
"You look so similar to the Queen!"
"Are you a blessing the God's sent us?"
Cinder let out a small sigh and did her best to compose herself. She was surrounded by all sides from the villages who were all trying to see her from different angles. Queen Cinder was a living legend. A figure almost every person in this world seemed to care for and love. Looking like her was a real pain. It didn't help these people knew she was a mage. She had hidden that fact in Cora's village because it was easier to pretend to be a normal person, but the cat had slipped out of the bag for Apple Tree.
Claymore chuckled as they entered the village. "Seems like she's quite popular." He let go of Irene's hand and went to push his way through the crowd but gave up on it due to how dense it was. "Nah, she's stuck in there. Nothing I can do."
"You didn't even try?" Evan shook his head and waved up to the air. "We're back, Phoenix!"
Phoenix noticed them and dropped down from the sky, landing in front of them. "Are you okay?" He quickly looked Evan over.
Evan whacked his friend on the shoulder and rolled his eyes. "Duh. We're not the ones who got into a fight with a bunch of bad guys. Are you okay?"
Phoenix nodded his head. "Yeah. We managed to capture Phantom and Royal. Glacier died in the process, though." The boy winced a little.
Claymore let out a whistle. "Whoa. Didn't think you had it in you, man."
"I didn't. I wasn't the one who did it."
"Then who-"
"Who's that boy." Irene looked directly at where Shift and Pied were. Her eyes were locked onto Pied. "He's a villain, isn't he? He's Pied, the villain that mind-controlled all these people."
Phoenix waved his hand down and shook his head. "Don't just blurt something like that out. It's kind of complicated, but he's on our side right now."
"Can you trust him?" Alexander asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Your daughter does."
"Oh." Alexander looked away awkwardly. "I guess I do as well then."
Nikos and Cora looked through the crowd and began to move through it, seemingly heading toward someone. Evan watched them leave and gave a small shrug. "So, we now have a guy who can mind control people. What does that do for us?"
Phoenix looked back to where Pied was. "I had a plan that needs him. With any luck, it'll let us get rid of the biggest obstacle we'd have to face."
"The biggest obstacle? His power doesn't work on Supers or Monsters, does it?" Claymore asked. "We all plan on attacking the source of this game, the place where that Queen is at right? Good chance she won't be alone and will guarded with a few Supers. Pied's power won't do anything to those guys."
Phoenix shook his head. "I know his power won't work on the Supers. That's not what I'm worried about."
"Then what is it?"
Irene nodded and looked back at Pied. "I think I've figured it out. That's smart, Phoenix."
Claymore made a face and huffed. "Am I the only one who doesn't get it?"
Evan laughed and clapped Claymore on the back once more. "Don't worry, I'm totally lost as well!"
"I'll need to speak with Pied a bit more and run a test or two on his power," Phoenix stated. He reached out and placed a hand on Evan and began to lift into the air, carrying the boy with him. "I need to borrow you for a second."
Evan chuckled and shrugged. "Sure! Run whatever experiment you want on me!"
Back in the crowd, Cinder finally decided she had enough as she listened to more of the nonsense the crowd was spouting off.
"She's got to be the daughter!"
"I think she's a twin sister!"
"What if she's the mother?"
With a bit of a grumble, she crouched down and jumped into the air, soaring over the crowd. That caused several of them to cheer for some reason, the people seemingly excited to see her powers. She landed on the roof of a house and waved her hand. "Alright! No more questions! Sorry folks, but I got other things I need to do!" Mainly, she just wanted to check on her dad. She stepped off of the house and dropped to the ground, landing next to her father. "Are you okay?" Some people in the crowd looked like they were about to surround her again, but Kevin dropped down and began barking orders for the people to get back to fixing their houses, which managed to make the villages get out of their weird fascination mood and put them back in work mode.
Alexander managed a smile before he turned to look back at his daughter. "Why wouldn't I be okay? It's like Evan said: you guys are the ones who got into a battle."
"You look tired." She said quietly. Her father's eyes had bags under them despite the fact it hadn't been that long, and he had become a little pale and was sweating pretty badly. It hadn't been a long walk, but he seemed like he was out of energy.
"Just a little winded." Alexander moved past her and found a barrel, which he took a seat on. He looked back at, and noticed the look in her eyes. "Really. I'm fine. You can trust me. I haven't gotten a good meal in a while, and I'm tired from running around so much. Believe it or not, I don't quite have as much energy as you kids do."
Cinder gave a faint nod. She didn't exactly believe what he was saying. She'd have to remember to make Paragon double-check and even triple-check him once they all made it out of here. After some time, she finally nodded her head. "Alright." She turned away from him. "Why don't you get some rest? We still need to figure out what we want to do next."
Claymore watched the exchange and shared an awkward look with Irene, but the little girl just gave a casual shrug, and decided it would be best to stay out of the family drama.
"Ms. Cinder!" Cinder turned when she heard the voice and saw Nikos and Cora walking toward her, helping an elderly man along. "We found him!" Cora said excitedly.
Cinder raised an eyebrow and looked the old man up and down. He looked to be in his nineties, being very frail, with long gray hair and loose red robes that clung around him. He had a walking stick in his hand, but even that was barely enough to keep him upright, and he mainly leaned against Nikos. Being controlled by Pied and forced to stand out in the cold also hadn't done anything to help the older man. He didn't look like he had that much time left in this world, but despite that, his eyes held a strange determination in them as he stared at her.
"Who is this guy exactly?" She felt a little bad about asking it like that, but she was at a loss. Nikos and Cora looked excited, but she was just confused.
Nikos helped steady the older man. "You said you wanted to know where the Queen was, right? The whole reason we took you back to my village was because the scholar there could help, but then we found out the scholar had moved to Apple Tree. Well, this is him! He's one of the few people that can tell you for sure when the Queen will appear and what time!"
The elderly man reached out with a shaking hand and placed his fingers on Cinder's face. She flinched a little but didn't move back as he traced the outline of her head and looked her up and down. "You really do look so much like her." The scholar mused to himself. He spoke in a quiet tone, and if not for her enhanced hearing, she'd have missed what he said. "You aren't her, though, are you? You don't carry the same divinity that she does. You're different. Something else... Are you lost and needing to find your way back to her side? Like a piece of the Queen which broke off and became its own person."
Her eye twitched a bit as she heard the old man's theory. Like the others he was still under the assumption she was just the fake Cinder. That ticked her off a bit. She really wanted to punch Skin Walker when she got the chance. With a sigh, though, she nodded her head. "If you could help me find the Queen, I'd really appreciate it." She forced a smile.
The scholar let out a series of hums and kept scanning her face. "She appears every ten years in one of the great cities of our world. During that time, we're all put into a state of peace, and all battles are ordered to stop. You're lucky, as she is soon to appear. Tomorrow is the day she will show up. This time, the city that will be graced with her appearance is Magnolia Tree."
As the old man finished speaking Nikos and Cora both had a change in looks. "Magnolia Tree?" Nikos sighed and shook his head. "Damn it."
"What's wrong with that city?" She asked curiously.
"It's too far away," Cora explained. "About a week's travel on horseback. Your wolf is fast, but it'd still take him at least three days."
Nikos nodded. "Looks like we'll have to wait ten years for you to meet her-"
"Not happening." Cinder made a face and shook her head. "Do you know the direction to where the city is?"
"I guess?" Nikos made a face. "Why?"
"I'll get us there." She pointed her thumb back at herself and smirked. "Trust me, if I really tried, I could get there in less than a day. I'm cool like that."
Nikos rubbed his neck and sighed. "Even if you can make it there, though, Magnolia Tree isn't a really good city. It's an enemy of our village, and are the ones who have been building those golems. They've been using them for warfare with the other cities and causing widespread chaos."
"Yeah, but wars won't start when that Queen is around, right?" She shrugged.
"Maybe not human wars, but mages seem to break the rules..." Nikos muttered.
"I don't really have a choice. I have to get there, and I have to do it now." She explained. "Trust me, we only have a few more days until Lucifer decides to act, and once he does, we're all going to be in trouble."
Nikos looked conflicted but finally nodded. "Okay. I- I trust you."
She gave a thankful nod. "I do have one question, though." She turned to look back at the scholar. "How do you know the Queen is going to be in Magnolia Tree? I can get how you'd figure out the time; if she really pops back up every ten years on the dot, it'd be easy to figure that part out, but you're so sure that she's going to be in that city? How come? Is there some sort of pattern or something you used to figure it out?"
"The Queen always appears in a random city whenever she shows up," Cora explained. "There isn't a pattern. Scholars are tasked with letting the villages nearby know which city and what time the Queen will appear. Villages that are near the cities are tasked with heading in that direction to pay respect to the Queen, but whenever you have a case like this village, where they aren't close enough, the people of that village will hold their own festival. It's one of the reasons no war goes on during the day of the Queen because all villages are either empty since the people are headed for the city or are busy celebrating in their own way, trying to make their cheers be heard even if they couldn't show up in person. Almost every village has a scholar for this reason; that way, they can let us know when we need to start getting ready for the celebration."
That just caused her suspicion to grow. "So it's not because of some sort of pattern? Scholars just sort of magically know?"
"We're told." The old man muttered out. "When the day begins to approach, the heavens smile down upon us and let us know. They whisper it in our ears over and over again. Sometimes, it can drive us mad, so only those with a will of iron can be scholars. Even now, it whispers to me."
Cinder nodded and then enhanced her hearing to its max, as well as her sight. She suddenly had a feeling she knew what this was. As the sound around her grew, she heard something. It was a whisper in a voice she recognized. "Magnolia Tree City, Before the evening sun. Magnolia Tree City, Before the evening sun. Magnolia Tree City, Before the evening sun-" Over and over, it repeated the message on a loop, in the voice of Avalon. As her eyesight enhanced, she was able to see what would normally be so small it'd be invisible. In a flash she reached out and grabbed something that was next to the man's ear. It was about the size of a flee, and she had to carefully hold it between her fingers.
The man gasped and fell back. "T- The voices stopped. W- What did you do?"
She ignored him and stared down at the small drone that was now held between her fingers. One of Avalon's drones. She hadn't even considered that. The man knew she was aware of his fly drones, so of course, he'd just make even smaller robots to spy and record. Always so fascinated with watching everything. It made her wonder just how much he knew. How long had he been watching her for?
"Damn." She squeezed down and popped the small drone, crushing it. "I seriously need to take that madman out before he becomes an even bigger problem."
"I guess that explains how the scholars always seem to know." She nearly jumped as Irene suddenly spoke up. She had forgotten that the girl was even standing there.
"Yeah." She nodded down toward the little girl. "I just have known Avalon had something to do with it."
"I thought Avalon died?" Claymore said sheepishly. That was the story the public had been told. The Branch had kept the fact that Avalon was a traitor for years and working with the Emperor this entire time as a secret. "You're saying he's alive and working for the bad guys?"
"It's complicated." She turned away and looked back out at Apple Tree. "We should get ready. I want to end this soon, now that I know he's involved. The longer we wait, the better his odds will go up."
Irene gave a small nod. "I agree. This should end tonight."
Of course, it wasn't going to end tonight. Unknown to them all, this was just the start. A single step into what would soon become a long, drawn-out battle between good and evil. This was simply nearing the beginning of what would later go on to decide a battle that would hold the world itself as a hostage.
The beginning of the end was finally starting.
They didn't remain in Apple Tree for much longer. They had stuck around for only one more hour, helping the villagers put everything back together. Apple Tree wasn't quite back to how it had been before the Misfits attacked, but it looked better than they had left it. The villagers all waved them goodbye as they headed out and made their way to an empty field. Lycaon, much to Kevin's sadness, had to remain behind. There wasn't really any way they could take the massive wolf with them quick enough, as he was just too big.
During the walk, she had explained her plan with Phoenix on how to get to Magnolia Tree so fast, and in return, he had explained his plan on how he wanted to use Pied and what they would do once they made it to Magnolia Tree. She wanted to get there as soon as possible, preferably a day or at least a few hours before the Queen was supposed to arrive, so they could set up Phoenix's plan.
That was why they made their way out to an open field, where she wouldn't have to worry about holding back.
"So, how are we going to get to the village?" Claymore questioned. "I mean, that brat said it was a week away, right?"
"My name is Nikos..."
Alexander looked at his daughter and let out a small sigh. "You're going to do one of your jumps aren't you?" He asked, shaking his head. He was already dreading what was to come.
Cinder just gave a cheeky grin and pointed at Phoenix. "Normally, carrying you all would be impossible, but with him, I can do it." She had super strength and speed, but the others didn't. She could jump, holding her father, and get to the village in no time, but doing that would kill any normal human. That was where Phoenix came in, though. "Do your thing, bird guy!"
"Bird guy?" Phoenix frowned and then shook his head. "Whatever." He held his hand out and formed a large cube of green fire around him and the others. Cinder, however, remained outside the cube. "I'm going to put you all in a state of suspended animation," Phoenix explained. "I'm durable enough to survive moving at her top speeds, but you guys aren't. Once we land, I'll turn my power off and free us." He explained. He stood in the cube and caused the fire to slowly spread over the others. If they were frozen in place inside of the cube they were in, then it wouldn't matter how fast or hard they moved. None of it would affect them.
Shift grumbled as he felt the fire climb up his body. "Are you sure about this?"
"Nope," Phoenix said flatly.
"Is this safe?" Pied asked.
"Nope."
"We're still going to do it, though..."
"Yep."
Pied sighed and shook his head. He had left one crazy group, only to have joined a second, even crazier group. At least this one wasn't as bad though.
As the fire finished climbing up everyone's body, time seemed to freeze for everyone but Phoenix. He silently stared at all his frozen teammates before getting himself ready for what was about to happen. "Alright, Cinder. Do your thing."
Outside of the cube, Cinder approached it. It was pretty large, being big enough to fit all the others inside of it. Despite being made out of pure fire, it was solid, and she was able to get her hands beneath it and raise it up. It had two straps on it, and she hooked her arms through them, wearing the cube as if it were a backpack. She had to arch herself forward so it wouldn't touch the ground, and it took her a few moments to get her balance. Once she did, though, she took a deep breath and focused her strength into her legs.
Nikos had given her a rough series of instructions. Things like 'go north ten miles, then turn north east and go in that direction till you hit a mountain, and then use that mountain to go further east till you're at a different mountain' and so on. She had already forgotten most of it and decided to just wing it and hope for the best.
"Are you ready?" She called out to Phoenix.
Inside of the cube, the hero nodded before he remembered Cinder couldn't see him. "Yeah." He said. "Ready as I'll ever be. How bad could it even be? I mean, it's just a jump-"
"Threetwoonego!"
Phoenix felt himself be smashed hard into the ground as Cinder jumped. She used all her strength, holding nothing back, shattering the ground beneath her and leaving behind a crater. In only a few moments, she was well past the clouds and coming down hard. The force of the fall caused Phoenix to be lifted up, and he smacked into the roof of the cube. Before he could even think about recovering, Cinder came back down and hit the ground hard, using the momentum to kick off of it and spring herself forward, which caused him to go flying into the back of the cube, smashing painfully into the wall.
It had just started, yet he was already out of breath.
Again and again, Cinder jumped forward. She would go up, reach past the clouds, and then use her fall to rocket herself forward and smack off of the ground, allowing her to cover a massive distance in only a matter of seconds. She never got to do things like this in a city because she was leaving a trail of destruction in her wake with every hop, blowing away a massive portion of the ground. It felt kind of good to fully cut loose and use all her strength.
With her speed and power, she was going to turn a week-long trip into something that would be done in less than an hour.
Phoenix let out another yelp as he was smashed around the cube. Over and over again, he went forwards and backward, left and right, up and down. It was taking all of his willpower to not throw up on the spot. His head was aching, and he was having a hard time focusing on anything as he was thrown around like a pinball in the machine. It made him wonder how the other heroes put up with something like this.
So many heroes had gone to battle with the Beast. The feeling he was undergoing now was surely what all the other heroes must have felt trying to keep up with monsters like the Beast, Battery, or the Victorian. Seeing just how futile it was in the grand scheme of things. He really hadn't stood a chance in his fight with Cinder. How much had she been holding back on him?
A lesser hero might have felt jealousy or anger at the knowledge they were worth so little, but for him, it did the opposite. If this was her level of strength, then they really did stand a chance. It wasn't useless. Not anymore. With Cinder, they could actually have a shot at getting out of here.
Phoenix felt the first bubbles of hope emerge within him.
A hope that would soon give way to absolute despair.
"I think that's it!" Cinder came to a sliding stop and bucked her knees as she landed on the ground. The cube she wore formed a small crack, and Phoenix fell out of it, awkwardly landing on his face. "Do you think that's Magnolia?" She asked.
He groaned a bit, but slowly, Phoenix managed to force himself up, and he stared out across the field at the city that stood before them. It was absolutely massive, especially compared to the villages they had seen. A gigantic stone wall stood around it, and past the wall were large buildings that went up. It wasn't quite on the level of a modern city, not even close, but it was far more advanced than any village. Down at the wall, a massive gate stood and dozens of guards patrolled the area. There was a large path that led to the gate, and hundreds of people, all likely from different villages, were entering as the day of celebration came closer. They were about two miles away, keeping a far enough distance where they wouldn't have to worry about being caught.
"That's it." Phoenix nodded. "I'm sure of it."
She nodded as well and placed the cube down. "Then this is it, right?"
"That's right. Tomorrow, the Queen will appear, and we'll make our escape out of this hell. Tomorrow, we'll be free and ruin Lucifer's game."
She managed a smile. "Alright. Then, in that case... Here goes nothing."
Tomorrow, everything would go horribly wrong, and the good guys would lose the battle.