Diana started her day off by pushing through the effects of her own sleep aid, a herbal remedy of primarily valerian root mixed to a tablet. Something she had been taking since the assassination and been increasing as the nightmares were still too frequent. The worst part of going without it was that half surrendered state before falling asleep. Snapping violently out of it, knowing that her sister was dead, that she would never see again. Even squeezing Aiko to her didn’t help, as all it could give her was feelings of reassurance and that was building up more of a tolerance than the tablets.

The Druids became part of the sources when they died, souls gliding into the wondrous ever after. Peace, as she had been told. There was no use in bringing any specific soul from it, as there would be no need for a specific grain of sand to be brought back from the shore. It was a worthy reward for their service, everlasting serenity as one with the planet. With her training and continued practice, Diana had secured her way in. Eventually, when she might perish hopefully a hundred or more years from now. That was it, the old died, the very old for Druids. Her own mother was sixty five, still walking as a woman in the prime of her late twenties. A timeless beauty, but one of intense upkeep. She was always testing her abilities in the service of the kingdom and the sources. There were also a handful of jars of creams and lotions on the woman’s vanity, made from the earth, enhanced by her magic. Diana had them as well, no noticeable signs of age since adulthood. She cared, of course, no reason to do it if she didn’t, but it was routine, what she did after every shower.

Luann was just starting and would never finish. She didn’t have jars, she wasn’t even fully grown or fully dedicated to being a Druid. She had even started Wizardry on the side. The alarm that alerted Diana was a Wizardly charm, one of Luann’s finest accomplishments. If Aiko hadn't started swiping her tiara as a joke, then Diana wouldn’t have found her until the morning. That would have been far worse, she figured. At the very least she got to see the man that did it, watch him burn up to dust.

The eldest, the only princess wondered why Aiko had begun to mess with Luann’s crown. At the time she figured it was because the girl didn’t take care of the damn thing. She had a maid, several, yet she would set it wherever. Take it out when unattended, fiddle with it, try to enchant it, fail and throw it aside. It was already enchanted to be resilient, she wanted it to glow, to project images of robins and sparrows, her favorite birds. Even the Queen’s red tailed hawk, Castor, had begun to swipe it and bring it to its master. Did the two avatars of the sources know? That the headwear would alert Diana to the murder? That it would bring the King and Queen home early from a trip to find their youngest dead?

The Druids didn’t believe in trying to predict the future, that was left to the Witches. Their familiars were a mandatory step in their training, one Luann was meant to take soon. She wanted a harmless animal, even though most were some kind of predator or strong beast. A red chested robin was just silly as a Druid familiar, especially for the princess of the Magi Kingdom.

There was no way the Druids knew for their creatures to read the future though, no answer given by the sources. Which didn’t care to answer any prodding questions. It was said though, that familiars were part of something that had seen every action possible. Modern machines and conveniences were only quicker fixes to actions that had been taken before. No action was unique when boiled down to cause and effect. How could they predict the unpredictable? A murder in a time of peace.

Aiko’s desire to be around Jonah, then leaving him, then returning. What did it mean? Of course, the tiger didn’t speak so she was left to interpret.

Over breakfast the two of them spoke of the first location they were headed. A timber town that would be overflowing with Druids, but few of fighting strength, none that she would likely know. Her mother and she often thought of these Druids, ones specializing in the continued reforestation and harvesting of trees, as ones who had given up. It was a worthy pursuit, truly, ones respected openly by teachers. To help prosper from the land and assure its survival. It wasn’t for Diana though.

Jonah hung on her every word, hardly asking a single question. His green eyes were sharp with wonder. It was so banal, really. Most of her friends and non-Druids got horribly bored by her explaining the process of cutting down trees and replanting them. The focus it took several people to apply a good portion of their energy to make a tree go from seedling to mighty in weeks was no easy feat.

“My world could use that, it sounds amazing,” Jonah praised.

“It’s common practice,” Diana brushed off. “The true work is in making sure the Nymphs don’t fight to keep the tree where it is, they despise change of any kind.”

“Wow, Nymphs? This world has everything,” he said, shaking his head.

Many around them had stopped paying any sort of attention. The Witch glanced over at her from across the table as she spoke. Of all the Heroes to stay aboard, to not go out searching like the Rider and Ranger, why did Fia have to stay?

“You wouldn’t like them, trust me,” Diana said. “I don’t, they’re miserable company. Always an air about them, as if they are superior.” She returned the glance to Fia.

The Witch laughed loudly, the early morning light reflecting off her spectacles. There was no food before her. The woman was supposed to be human, but she didn’t seem to partake in any of the normal necessities. “Are you saying you never partook in an orgy at solstice?” she asked with resounding force.

Snapped from his food shoveling, an hour into the meal, the Guardian gagged, beating on his meat wall of a chest. The rest of the table and boat was silent save the deaf automatons mindlessly cleaning the deck. Kalyah and Stephan were also at the table, back to Jonah and Diana, having their own flirtatious conversation.

Diana flushed, refilling with anger. She wanted desperately to swear and maybe strike the interrupting ancient.

Fia scoffed, pleased at how the question hung in the air. “Oh no, is the princess a virgin?” she asked.

The Guardian had downed an entire mug of ale, clearing his throat. “Fia, stop this foolishness at once,” he hissed, leaning towards his fellow, shoulder bending the brim of her hat.

Diana sat up straight and proud. “No, of course not,” she said pointedly. “Nor do I indulge in such debaucherous behavior. I’m not some foolish Witch dancing naked in the woods and rutting with the spirit of the stars.”

The slightest twitch came into the Witch’s eye, her lips straight line.

Kalyah stiffened in her seat.

“Princess!” the Guardian barked, the target jumping at the booming voice. He breathed deeply, calming his voice. “Please do not disrespect your elders… Fia was not right to pester you and neither are you. Understood?” He looked at each of them, hands sanding across the table from all the calluses on them. Each meaty mit was bigger than the serving plates, strong enough to bend steel and crush stone. If he was angry, then few spells could stop the charge.

Diana took a moment. “Yes,” she said quietly.

The Witch balanced her chin on the heel of her hand, perched in her seat like she had been before. Some distance behind her was Angelina watching from the steering wheel. She tapped her perfect face, no sign of age after three hundred years, so close she looked doll-like, uncanny. Impossible, even for a Druid to be so pristine. Age came slower, it didn’t cease. It wasn’t a glamor, or any such spell, that was her face, forever frozen. As if she were dead.

Or as Diana had blurted out, suspicious, a being that had surrendered to the unknown. One of untold power, able to live past most any mortal. When they did cease, they would become what they gave their body to, what lay in the endless expanse. A being that would one day swallow the world. Millions or billions of years, but eventually. If Fia was really sworn to feed a cosmic creature on her death, then she wasn’t just wretched company, she was evil.

Then the Witch’s lips curled into a smile. “And here I thought the princess was just a cranky little child,” she said with a deep chuckle. “You have a sharper mind and tongue than I gave you credit for. Guessing at something like that, for me…”

“Fia stop it,” the Guardian said in a low tone that still shook the table.

Ice climbed up Diana’s spine, marking each vertebrae with chill, she couldn’t help but tremble at the thought. At the sight of Fia’s pleased smirk. Jonah was looking between them, rightfully and terribly confused at what was going on. Diana envied his ignorance, if only she could remove the dreadful cold she felt at such knowledge. A Hero was against the world, sworn her soul to something far worse than a demon or devil. The stars she praised would be her home and her death would feed the creature that would one day swallow the planet and end all life, all sources.

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The Witch burst out into guffaws, loud enough to shake the princess from her icy home, but only in fury. She wanted to kill the woman, but that would only quicken her eventual goal. Fia belonged in the Wood Tombs, just like Blodwyn.

“You’re wrong though,” the Witch said evenly, wiping a tear from her eye, correcting the perch of her frog. “I am Moon Blessed, a much closer and pure lover to take.” Her violet eyes looked over at the place the celestial body had set for the day. “A rare blessing, as I suppose you know.” Her finger was casual in pointing at her. “Can’t you tell with the shine to my skin?” She dragged her hands down her alabaster cheeks. “When I die I will join my sweet, shining on all the lovely Witches. Look at you, you truly believed I was touched by the Eater of worlds.” She scoffed loudly, shaking her head. “As if I would ever let a cock touch my womanhood for such a foul purpose. I have daughters of my own. Little princess, don’t you know an Eater’s consummate love must be to a virgin? You may be deflowered, but you’re as smart as a silly little virgin.”

She smiled smugly as Diana began to shake with fury. With a click of her heels she stood, sliding out of her chair, her presence looming over the steaming Diana, who had wind swirling about her feet in her rage. “It’s always fun to duel with you, little girl. Always thinking you’re so wise. Now, had you not acted like such a cock, I would have swapped stories of various dalliances.” She gave her a mocking frown. “So long, I’ll see you later, girl…” Her heels clicked away.

Diana burst out of her seat, turning to spew out all the hatred. Her arm was suddenly clutched with intense strength. She was surprised to find it wasn’t Kalyah, but Jonah’s steel grip upon her. The wind dispersed harmlessly, blowing the loose fur from Aiko’s hide. Somehow, the tiger had remained silent, not sending a single emotion. Jonah however had a furrowed brow of determination and a tremble of fear. He didn’t know a damn thing of what they had said, their rivalry. He might as well be a babe or they were people speaking another language.

“Don’t,” he said quietly, his hold loosening, but not slipping a bit.

All the rest of the table had eyes on her, even Angelina at the wheel. Kalyah was up from her seat, as if she wanted to quell the fire. Diana blushed in embarrassment. She had accused a Hero, a woman who had helped take down Blodwyn, of being a monster. That she had sold her soul to a creature of unimaginable scope and power. All she had asked was a question, then another, she had heard before, had shut down before. What a fool she had been.

Quietly she sat down. Jonah’s hand shed from her.

“Thank you,” she said evenly.

“Yeah, it wasn’t going to end well. Not that way,” he said, the words pushing out of him like shards of glass.

She nodded, taking her drink in hand, hiding her face in the long sipping of it.

Jonah struggled to keep up with Kalyah’s rapid short legged steps as she followed Diana down the stairs and into the cabin hallway. The mid morning sun shone through the porthole windows, bright beams of sunlight filled with motes of dust. Diana’s longer legs and skirt disturbed the specs as she rushed through them, arms folded.

“That was so unbelievably stupid,” Kalyah hissed as the top deck door slammed with a deafening sound. “I don’t know why you would be so fucking stupid.”

Diana turned on her heel with a flutter of her dress and hair. Face set in the shine of a sunbeam. “I am well aware,” she said harshly.

Before Kalyah could continue, Jonah spoke up, “She’s just upset at everything, it’s understandable,” he said meekly.

The Druid’s earthen eyes shined at him.

Kalyah poked his cheek. “You don’t understand what she just accused Fia of,” she said. “Unless you were dumb enough to talk about it before.”

“Of course not,” Diana retorted. “I made a mistake, as I have often done recently. I should ignore the woman from here on out.” She exhaled deeply, Aiko moving around her legs. “I am going to read in my room until I am called up to leave. Thank you for stopping me, Jonah. I will see you both later.”

He swallowed. “Yeah, no problem,” he said. “I get it.”

She smirked and walked off.

Kalyah kept shaking her head. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she grumbled.

“She’s just upset,” he repeated.

“I know,” she said. “She needs to let it out in a good way, not on the Heroes.” She yanked him to his room. “Come on, you stink from walking around non-stop.”

There was a call for land at noon. Jonah had set his phone to Hera timing, thankful for a twenty four hour day and Kalyah’s pocket watch. The Pirate’s ship hovered over the town of Rowoak, making its way past the lip of the land jutting out, that shielded the shore from harsh waves. The shore was decorated with stones shaped as an army of statues. The proud warriors of rock were backed with the largest of the town’s famous trees. The bark of which was light brown with a marbling of red, leaves tinted scarlet with paint swirls of green in their patterns. It was the bark color and swirls that extended into the heart of the wood, which was intensely strong. When it was first settled, the Druids took the trees and made their houses, having found it hard and water resistant. So even to this day all the outer buildings along the port and shore were made with unpainted Rowoak logs facing out as support beams.

Jonah tried to place the exact style of the buildings, whether they were Earthen or not. They favored sharp pointed roofs, having many peaks and valleys, all made of braided thatching. They were styled after the town’s famous pie tops. He had grown up with bland dirt colored homes and generic pastel walls, so these were far prettier.

His first instinct was to look up various styles on his phone, but was reminded of the lack of service. He felt like a gunslinger that pulled out a busted and jammed gun. It was incredibly frustrating to have half his brain turned off. He wished the damn thing had just fallen into the ocean and been found by a mermaid or something. What was the point of it having a full charge if it had so little function? He had considered getting rid of it, handing it to Stephan and calling it a day. The mechanic was clearly adamant to discover all it could do. When he showed him music, of which he had gigabytes, the man was intrigued, but Jonah hated how it sounded. Besides a bunch of pictures he probably needed to delete, all the thing really had was music on it. Some of it was his own projects, very few finished. He wished for speakers, decent headphones at least. Once again, he put it in his pocket though.

He rested on the taft rail as the boat took its place over the docks of the town. There weren’t a lot of other ships, this was a timber town. The Pirate was idling for a half an hour waiting, as some boats floated and some flew away. He got to see all the humans swarming out from their homes, cheering for the Pirate’s arrival.

They filled the railing protected port and watched from the cobblestone streets. Being a plain town in rather chilly weather, they wore various tunics, trousers and dresses. Most similar to what he had picked out. The most unique feature being that their sleeves, male or female, were braided like the roofs of the buildings. There were a variety of colors of well, cool forest tones to warm ones and even pastels. From a distance, they blended into a mix like candy. He couldn’t wait to walk among them and see it all up close though. He could walk easy enough, it shouldn’t matter if he tagged along. Why else was he brought to this world in such a pivotal moment?

As the boat lowered, he clutched onto the railings, not expecting such a quake as it went straight down. He was supported as his legs slipped along the deck. Regaining his composure, Diana grinned at him as the ship splashed into the water. She wore her armor, an extra addition on her neck, a white choker with inky etchings about it.

“Protection against the bodily harm of an Ash Maker,” she said, tapping the item.

“Wow, you have to wear it all the time or… something bad happens?” he asked. The word, “Die” got caught on his tongue, stopped just in time.

“Yes, sadly. This is, however, a temporary fix,” she said with a sigh. “The permanent guard takes much longer to prepare.”

Jonah jumped as tiger Aiko brushed into his leg and sat against him.

Diana and her familiar met eyes. The tiger chuffed and brushed its mighty head into him. He took a deep breath and did his best to calm himself. It was still difficult to push back an old baseless fear and the more primal one with it. He kept thinking of the cat that dwelled within.

“Your highness, we’re ready to leave,” called the Guardian. Now he wore a close fitting metal armor with flared ends to the pauldrons, and a rather polished shine to it. Under his shoulder was a winged helmet and on his back a colossal sword nearly his full height in length.

Beside him was a Hero that Jonah had yet to see. A man close to his height, a scraggly beard on his face, dirty blond hair flowing down his head. He leaned casually on a spear with a blue head that softly glowed a crystal blue. The man’s chest was bare and his pants were held down with riding chaps. There was also the Pirate, her normal clothes supplemented with the holster of a metal butted gun and a sheathed saber on the other hip. She fit on a pair of leather gloves, beckoning for the princess.

“I’ll be leaving for now,” she said.

“Yeah, I’ll see you,” Jonah said. He felt a weight on him, and knew it was stupid to have expected to go with her.

Aiko chuffed before its master could leave.

Diana twitched her lips in thought. “We will be entering a cave and walking across the entire town to get there,” she said, the cheers loud behind her. They had their backs to the main crowd on the dock, Jonah didn’t want to be too close to them too fast.

“I um, couldn’t make that. I don’t have any magic or protection,” he said, looking about, trying to avoid the sympathy on her face. “Still trying to walk normally…”

“It will be far too laborious, I’m sorry,” she said with a frown. “I doubt we will find anything, the sighting is a few days old now.” She kept glancing at the tiger, gripping her staff tightly. “I have enjoyed our time together, Traveler. It’s nice to have someone my age, someone who understands what has become of me.” She breathed softly, speaking lower. “I will help you when I return, I hate how long I was stuck at that table yesterday. You had my staff and Aiko watching over you, so I did assist.”

“Yeah, thank you, so much,” he said, a bubbly lightness growing in him. It washed away the sudden anger at himself. Kalyah was a ways off, having left him to fetch something from downstairs. She held a bag now, smiling, hearing his heart beating excitedly as he was given a more positive expression by Diana. That promise, it relieved his fear so quickly.

“So long,” Diana said with a nod.

“See you,” he said.