A loud knocking came from outside of Nero’s door.

“Wake up Nero, we’re going to be late!”

Nero’s eyes shot open as he jumped out of bed. He ran to the door and swung it open without a second thought in his groggy head. As he looked down, he saw Stella. Her eyes were averted, and she had an embarrassed blush on her face. Nero had forgotten that he was completely naked.

“I-I forgot I was-! Stay there!” Nero stuttered.

Nero quickly shut the door and cursed at himself for this blunder.

“Damn it! This is the captain’s fault! ‘Sleep with no armor on’. What a stupid idea, I just flashed a princess. I’m never drinking again… stupid elven wine.” Nero muttered to himself as he quickly put his armor on.

After a moment, Nero swung the door open and saw Stella leaned against a pillar on the opposite wall. She had a slight look of annoyance, yet she seemed lost in thought.

“You didn’t have to wait for me. It’s better if only one of us is late to the briefing.” Nero laughed.

The two began walking down the hallway leading to the front gate of the castle.

“It’s what friends do. Besides, it seems like you would’ve slept all day if I hadn’t woken you.” Stella replied with a soft punch to Nero’s shoulder.

“Let’s just say I had a late night. I owe you one.” Nero laughed.

“That’s for sure, I’ve also arranged us transport. So, you actually owe me double.” Stella said.

Nero laughed.

“I’m pretty sure I owe you ten times over by this point. I’ll pay it all back one day, just you wait.” He replied.

The two laughed as they made their way to the front gate. To Nero’s surprise, there was no carriage or horse waiting for them, just Princess Alba. She wore her usual attire but was now wielding a white wooden staff. She was leaning against a guard tower and reading a book. She used her staff to turn the pages with some form of magic.

“Hey Alba, we’re off. Are you ready?” Stella asked.

Alba looked up at them with a pretty smile.

“Hey guys, right this way.” She spoke.

Alba led the two around the guard tower and stopped them at a wooden door.

“This one should do.” Alba said to herself.

Alba raised her staff and placed the end on the wooden door. As her kind expression turned into focus the staff began to produce a humming noise. Suddenly, the air shifted, and the sounds of music and voices could be heard from behind the door. Alba turned to the two and gave Stella a hug.

“Please be careful on your mission. We won’t see each other for a while, I’m going back to Lerond. I’m needed at the Mage’s college.” Alba said softly.

Stella hugged her back, then began walking towards the door.

“You be safe too, love you!” Stella said cheerfully as she walked through the door.

Nero was dumbfounded at what he had just seen. Was he to believe that Alba had just turned this random door into the front door of The Brave Cup?

“I just… go through?” Nero asked with a laugh.

Alba giggled a bit.

“Sorry Nero, one of these days I’ll have to teach you a bit about magic. But yes, just head through the door and you’ll be in the tavern.” She replied.

Alba approached Nero and gave him a surprising kiss on the forehead.

“Keep her safe crownsman.” She whispered to him.

During Nero’s shock, Alba nudged him through the door and closed it behind him. He was now in The Brave Cup tavern and could see his squad sitting at a table near the far end of the room. He quickly turned around and opened the front door, but only saw the street outside, not the castle grounds he just came from.

“Amazing.” He said to himself.

Nero made his way to the table and sat next to Stella. The captain took note of their times of arrival.

“Why are you blushing Nero?” Aria asked with a laugh.

“Nothing! Nothing at all!” Nero replied.

The captain cleared his throat.

“Nero, Princess, Aria, Alex. We have another mission to go on. I’ve gathered that all of you have been training. You’re going to need it.” The captain said as he sipped his tea.

“Where are we going?” Alex asked quietly.

The rest of the group looked at him with curiosity. No one had seen him since they returned a month ago. It was easy to tell that he was not the same. His hair was slightly longer and unkept and he had a shadow of a beard on his face. However, his eyes looked more intense than ever.

“Boram. The mountainous nation of the dwarves. The dwarven queen has asked for diplomatic aid from Hevaria because their neighboring nation, Rhug, has broken several rules of their existing peace treaty. The dwarves believe the Rhugians are gearing up for war.” The captain said.

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“Why are we going? I don’t know anything about diplomacy.” Aria snickered.

The captain chuckled.

“Well Aria, if you were a diplomat then every nation would declare war on Hevaria.” The captain said with a smirk.

The group laughed. It was unusual for the captain to joke around with all of them.

“As a golden knight, I am trained in diplomacy. I have traveled the world and I am a very close friend with our king. I’ve been doing this for decades. On top of that, Stella is one of the royal children. She will serve as my assistant when dealing with diplomatic matters. As for the rest of you, you are to guard the group and put down any threats to the dwarven nation and queen while we are there. While the dwarves are our allies, it is important to keep an appearance of strength wherever we go. Also, we will not be the only knights there. There will be another level two squad meeting us in Vim Kahldur, the capital. Their squad will be led by Mezzo Solare, the Prince of Hevaria. Stella’s older brother.” The captain said.

The group went quiet for a moment.

“This mission is a huge step up from our last one.” Aria said with seriousness.

Nero noticed that Stella had gone quiet. The mention of her brother struck fear into her.

“Are you okay Stell?” Nero asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.

“I’m fine, my brother and I just don’t really get along. Or rather, he doesn’t like me at all.” Stella said with a sad tone.

“Will it be a problem?” The captain asked.

“No, we probably won’t speak to each other.” She replied.

“I see. Well, we leave immediately. However, we are not going to be expected there for another two weeks. We will get to Boram in two days, from there we will set up a remote camp for some intense training. Let’s call it ‘hell week’. From there we will go to Vim Kahldur and investigate matters without drawing attention to ourselves. It will be important to get all of the information we can as a third party.” The captain said.

“Hell Week?!” Aria asked in shock.

“Is that all you gathered from the briefing?” Alex asked with impatience.

“Captain, what horrors do you have in store for us?” Nero asked with a laugh.

“It will be no laughing matter. That is all I will say.” The captain said sincerely.

The squad had some small talk for a few moments. Occasionally even Alex would join in, to the team’s content. Eventually, the knights left the tavern and headed for the harbor. Once there they boarded a sun sailor and went into the deep blue.

“Remember, this is a two-day journey. I suggest all of you get cozy.” The captain said.

“Oh, yes sir. My ass is very comfortable on this wooden deck.” Aria said.

“Good.” The captain replied sarcastically.

Meanwhile, Nero was leaning on a side rail. He looked deeply into the sunset. The setting sun in Hevaria was normally unmatched, but out on the ocean it was even more beautiful. The water around them turned to liquid gold as it was touched by the light. The clouds above looked like great palaces of the heavens. However, his gaze could not escape Stella. She stood at the bow, staring directly into the sunset. Her hair was like golden fire in the wind. Her tan skin seemed to shimmer in the magnificent light. All Nero could do was stare in wonder. Incapacitated by her beauty.

Eventually she turned to him.

“It’s amazing right?” Stella said loudly, accounting for the wind.

Nero smiled at her.

“You’re one of a kind.” He said quietly.

“I couldn’t hear you!” She replied, with loud wind in her ears.

“It’s awesome!” Nero shouted back.

She nodded and smiled, then turned back to the sunset.

Nero laughed a little and turned around but was surprised when he saw Alex staring him right in the face. He had a mixed expression of anger and disappointment.

“Is everything alright?” Nero asked cautiously.

“ ‘one of a kind’ huh?” Alex replied.

Nero was quiet for a moment, staring Alex down. However, he simply turned back to the rail and leaned on it.

“Am I wrong?” Nero said with a sigh.

“No. You’re correct. That’s why you should know your place.” Alex said quietly.

The two looked at each other for a moment, Nero was confused by his aggression. Alex was clearly trying to pick a fight for no reason.

“Relax Alex, I didn’t mean anything by it.” Nero said.

Nero looked around the ship to see if anyone was watching. Aria was sleeping, the captain was on the other side of the boat. When Nero turned to look at Stella, Alex got in the way of his view. Nero was starting to get annoyed. He took a step towards Alex; they were now face to face.

“You’re going to embarrass yourself. Walk away. Now.” Nero ordered.

“Make me.” Alex replied.

The two stared at each other once more, until Nero finally snapped. He began laughing.

“Your breath… is that liquor I smell?”

This had started the fight. Alex threw a wild left hook at Nero’s face, who knew it was coming. Nero ducked under with ease, then swung his head upward, hitting Alex directly in the nose. The blow sent Alex backwards a bit, whose nose was now bleeding.

After the small exchange, the two looked around quickly to see if their teammates were aware. No one had noticed. They exchanged smirks and then proceeded charge one another. Nero dodged Alex’s strikes with ease and proceeded to land quick blows on his abdomen. To Nero’s surprise, Alex did not buckle over. Instead, he raised his arms above his head, clasped his fists together and brought them down on Nero’s head. Nero withstood the blow and the wood floor beneath them cracked a bit. The loud noise had drawn the attention of everyone on board.

Alex and Nero were now surrounded by their team, who were all completely confused.

“Are they fighting?” Aria asked.

“What are you guys doing?!” Stella asked.

Nero chuckled a bit.

“You been working out?” Nero asked sarcastically.

“Fuck you!” Alex roared.

Alex attempted to tackle Nero, but the captain intervened by tackling Alex first and using his free leg to push Nero back.

“What the hell is going on here?!” The captain asked angrily.

Nero and Alex were quiet for a moment.

“We were just training a bit, blowing off steam. It got a little heated, that’s all.” Nero said sincerely.

The captain looked skeptical and then looked down at Alex.

“What he said.” Alex said.

The captain got off Alex so he could stand.

“Right… Well, knock it off, this is a boat not a fortress.” The captain said sternly.

He looked the two up and down again with skepticism then walked below deck.

With the captain gone, all false emotions went away. Nero’s expression had returned to anger as he approached Alex.

“Next time, I won’t just use you as practice. I’ve tried being friendly towards you, if that’s not going to work, then you will fall in line. Believe it or not, I outrank you.” Nero said.

“What do you mean ‘outrank me’?” Alex scoffed.

“That information is above you.” Nero smirked.

Suddenly, Stella got between them.

“What’s going on with you guys?! Everything was fine a few minutes ago.” Stella asked.

Aria tried to put her hand on Alex’s shoulder, but he brushed it off and began walking to the other side of the ship.

“He has a problem with me, and I don’t know why. I saved his life, helped him avenge his family. I thought things like that would mean everything to a man like him.” Nero said.

“He’s just going through a lot. We all know that.” Aria said sadly.

“That gives him no right to attack me. He’s no match for me.” Nero replied.

“Are you sure?” Stella asked.

She ran her hand over the back of Nero’s head and revealed a bloody cut from where Alex had struck him.

“Has he been training? I could’ve sworn he’d been spending most of his time at the tavern.” Nero laughed.

“Let me heal you.” Stella said.

“No. I don’t want him seeing that.” Nero said proudly.

“But-“ Stella tried to say.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about me, you know I heal quick. I’m going below deck for some rest.”

Nero left the girls above deck, who were concerned for their friends. Once he was alone, he went into a storage room and gripped the back of his head.

“Fuck, that hurt.” Nero muttered to himself.