Joan was quickly running out of ideas. She felt like she had been running for days. She was tired, soaked through, been through more weather patterns than she should have in a year, nearly drowned in leaves, mud and flash floods and she couldn’t even make a small spark in her fingers anymore. Even if the air was full of magic she didn’t have enough to draw it in anymore, no matter how much blood she offered in sacrifice. She’d used every tool she had, even her magical shield had been used in another trap.

Where were the Chosen? She just wanted to rest, just for a minute. But once again she could hear the hounds behind her. “I hate this place,” Joan said before giving a light yawn. “Do you know how much longer I have?”

“You’re almost halfway there,” Flickerpuff said.

Joan nodded, though it did little to help. Things had been good incredibly well for her, but that didn’t mean as much when she was already dealing with a whole pack of fae. Maybe if she could just disable their hounds. Or better yet, if it was just Neverdale. She could handle him.

Her foot hit a particularly slick piece of mud and she toppled forward with a shriek, landing face down in the flowers with a groan. “I really, really hate this place.”

Then, suddenly, it was dark. She glanced up and saw stars in the night, making her sigh. “So, I didn’t just pass out for a few hours, right?”

“Weather shift,” Flickerpuff said.

“The time of day is not weather,” Joan said bitterly. She slowly climbed to her feet and wiped off the mud. She’d been running for hours, she really wasn’t sure she could keep this up much longer. If they didn’t hurry their--

‘Joan?’ Andreas voice filled her head and she went still.

‘Andreas?’ Joan asked.

‘We’re almost there, hold on,’ Andreas said before she felt the bond close once more.

“Finally,” Joan said outloud.

“Finally what?” Flickerpuff asked.

“It’s almost done,” Joan said. “I’ve almost won. Oh, Neverdale is going to be furious.”

“You have?” Flickerpuff asked. “How?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Joan said. “Oh, right. I should keep my end of the deal, shouldn’t I? Forgotten One. In my realm, near the southern coast in elven territory there’s this really old plant dragon thing. Look for the forest with weird spiked vines growing rainbow berries. Not very hostile, but very protective of its trees nearby.”

“And the Forgotten One is near there?” Flickerpuff asked. “In the Realm of Convergence?”

“Yeah, in the-- wait, what? Convergence?” Joan asked.

“That is where you’re from, is it not?” Flickerpuff asked.

“Maybe?” Joan said with a shrug. “I’ve never heard it called that. Is that what you fae call it?”

“Perhaps,” Flickerpuff said. “The Forgotten One. They are there? Where?”

“They are the dragon,” Joan said. “They just don’t really know it, yet. See, they’re wrapped around this big scale-like thing and it’s tampering with their mind. The chosen need to destroy it to free them. But don’t worry, I’ll have them get on it once the world is saved.”

“I see,” Flickerpuff said. “That won’t be necessary, though. I’ll find a way to--” His words were cut off by another howl and Joan quickly turned around towards it. Damn it, were they already catching up? She tried to cast the spell to allow herself to see better in the dark, but her magic reserves refused to function.

“Come on, let’s go,” Joan said before she started walking again, ignoring the pain in her feet as best she could. Her feet were soaked through and they hurt so much, she felt like they might start growing mushrooms. They were going to be wrinkled for days after this. At least it wasn’t--

Rain started to drizzle on her and she let out a mild sigh of annoyance. “Almost there, Joan. Almost there,” she said to herself.

“Almost where?” Flickerpuff asked.

“Out of this mess,” Joan said.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Neverdale’s voice came out from behind her, making her jump. She turned around, but he wasn’t there. She gave a shrug and turned back around to start walking. “Are you ignoring me? How dare you, mortal!”

Joan turned around again and squinted. It took her a moment to realize there was a figure off in the distance, their form near impossible to see in the darkness and rain. “Neverdale? Is that you?”

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“Are you blind, human?” he asked, his voice filled with fury.

“I can’t see in the dark and it’s raining!” Joan yelled at him.

“You humans are so pathetic,” Neverdale said, his voice filled with disgust.

“You’re the one trying to pose dramatically in the rain,” Joan said under her breath, barely resisting the urge to yell it at him. As much as she’d like to, she knew as the Hero there had been more than a few times she had posed dramatically while things exploded behind her, or the lightning cracked or any number of other silly things that, in retrospect, were just incredibly arrogant. “You know you’re about three feet from triggering another one of my traps!” Off in the distance she heard another howl.

Wait.

The hounds weren’t with him this time? Why weren’t the hounds with him? Why--

For a moment the world shifted and suddenly she was directly in front of him. “What?” Joan asked. “Flickerpuff!”

“Sorry, Joan,” Flickerpuff said. “But I have what I wanted. Besides, Neverdale and I already had a deal.”

Neverdale stared down at her and she felt a chill go down her spine. She reached down and gripped the hilt of her sword, slowly pulling it from the sheath. Even in the dark and rain she could see he looked more amused than frightened. “So then, human,” he said before taking a step towards her. “You’ve ‘almost won’, have you? Tell me, where exactly were you headed? You didn’t really think I’d allow you to pull off your little escape, did you?”

Joan blinked a few times, holding the blade tip up towards him. He didn’t look the least bit worried, not that she could blame him. She was so tired and cold the sword was shaking in her grip. How much information had Flickerpuff been feeding him? But then a moment of hope filled her. He thought she was GOING somewhere. “You’ll never know,” she said, before taking a step back.

“Oh, you’ll tell me soon enough,” Neverdale said with a light chuckle. Then he was gone.

A moment later she felt something behind her and she tried to turn to slash at him, but her sluggish arm was too slow and he caught her wrist. She was pulled back against the fae, his other hand moving down to grab her chin and force her head up.

“You are a tricky one,” Neverdale said with a laugh. “But I’ve won. Every little trap, every spell, the daffodils, the temple, the little trick with that pond? I will admit it was amusing seeing your little ploys. But now? You’re going to suffer for it severely,” he said. The rain came to a stop, but she felt just as cold when she looked up into those cruel, black eyes. “Know that your suffering will AGHHHH!”

Joan had flicked her other wrist to make a knife appear in it, then stabbed him in the leg. With the momentary distraction, she managed to pull away from him, swinging the sword once. He disappeared before the blade could connect. This time, however, she dropped and rolled away, narrowly avoiding him grabbing her again. Clumsily she rolled to her feet and ran, only for him to appear in front of her once again. His hand lashed out, backhanding her across the face so hard she was almost lifted into the air before she stumbled back and fell to the ground, her sword tumbling from her shaking fingers.

“Foolish creature,” Neverdale said, his eyes narrowing. “Your suffering will last for decades. Were you only longer lived so your suffering could be prolonged.”

Joan spit out a little blood before reaching out for her sword, only for his foot to come down on it a moment later. Joan gave a light squeak and stared up at him. “You haven’t caught me yet.”

“Really?” Neverdale asked before giving a light chuckle. “Stupid human. I could have caught you at any time I so chose. Did you really think you could avoid me?”

“I mean, no, not really,” Joan said sheepishly.

That, at least, made Neverdale pause. “Excuse me?”

“I mean, I already knew what you were capable of,” Joan said. “Besides, we’re in the Realm of the Fae.”

Now Neverdale was starting to look angry again. “Still you mock me?”

“I mean, yeah,” Joan said. “You may be bigger than me, stronger, faster, have more magic, probably smarter in some ways than me. But you know what I have?”

“What do you have?” Neverdale asked.

“This!” Joan said before holding out her right hand and trying to cast a small fire spell. Not much, just enough she hoped her sword would trigger. Sadly, she made little more than a small spark. “I mean this! This! Come on! Come oooooon!”

Neverdale stared at her for a moment before, very softly, he began to laugh. “You humans truly are stupid.”

“And you are incredibly arrogant,” Joan said. “Because I--”

The ground began to rumble underfoot.

“Oh finally, thank the gods,” Joan said.

“What?” Neverdale asked.

“I wasn’t running anywhere,” Joan said with a wide grin. “I was waiting for something to run to me. Say hello to the Chosen!”

“What?” Neverdale said before recoiling from her and looking around.

The ground stopped rumbling. Joan sat there and waited.

And waited.

And felt fresh dread wash over her. WHERE WERE THEY?

“I said… the Chosen!” Joan said again, before looking around wildly. Wasn’t that rumbling a sign? Weren’t they supposed to be here?

Neverdale lunged at her.

Joan shrieked and tried to crawl away.

Suddenly a shadow fell over her, and a figure appeared between the two, moments before blinding light filled the area, burning away the night and causing Neverdale to shriek. It took Joan a few moments to be able to see through the spots, but once she could what she saw was wonderful.

Searle standing in front of her, his shield up, interposed between her and the fae. He was looking back towards her, offering his other hand. “Joan? Are you okay?”

Joan blinked a few times, her heart beating a little faster and red flooding her cheeks. Was THAT what she looked like whenever she did stuff like that? She took every wisecrack thing she said back about looking silly or over dramatic. He looked AMAZING!

“Uhhhh… yes,” Joan said before reaching up to take his hand.

Her hero.