image [https://i.imgur.com/xht7Fkl.png]

The unnecessarily large doors to the grand hall of Castle de Belouis began to open, letting in a well dressed man. With his greenish colored robes and regal hat, he seemed to be someone of great importance. With a determined face, he followed the guards to the throne room, ready to have a meeting with the queen.

As they entered the massive throne room, the man marveled at the grand tapestries etched with the crest of Volaire draping down. On the other walls were various elaborate paintings of past Belouis royalty and at the end of the room was a large marble throne sitting atop a set of stairs. The man began to feel anxious among such scale and riches, easily dwarfing whatever kingdom he had come from.

“Your Majesty, Sir Daymond Riddle of the Olun Kingdom has arrived!” The guard yelled out with a deep, authority filled voice.

Sir Riddle stepped forward towards the foot of the steps and bowed his head. He glanced up to see Queen Azhane Belouis sitting on the throne in all her young beauty. Her piercing red eyes met with his and she smiled.

“Welcome Sir Riddle, I hope your travels went well. I hear that you have a message for me?” she asked with soft curiosity.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I come with a message on behalf of King Darius Crane III, ruler of the Olun Kingdom. He specified that this message be brought directly to you to avoid any interception over the airwaves. Shall I read it?”

She motioned her hand and he started to read this letter about a highly valuable object that was recently stolen from their castle in the city of Olunas.

The letter also made mention of other objects that had gone missing in the past few weeks, the king wondering if there was some kind of connection. The letter closed with a sense of urgency, telling them to keep an eye on any valuables within their nation.

“I highly advise that you prevent any of these delicate artifacts from falling into the wrong hands. I trust you will act accordingly.” The letter ended, causing the messenger to roll it up tightly.

“Hmm I see. Seems as though we have a little thief on our hands. Tell King Darius that I’ll look into things on our end and will tighten security as well.” Azhane replied to the messenger as she crossed her legs.

Sir Riddle jotted down the statement before bowing and exiting the throne room. Seconds later, Zalthia came from the shadows just as the doors closed, looking a little puzzled.

“What was that all about? Does the Olun king expect us to find the culprit for him? That’s not our job.” She wondered with a harsh tone, clearly annoyed at the thought.

“No, not necessarily. He’s just making sure that we’re aware of the current situation. Besides, the items he mentioned do raise some concern.”

Azhane tapped her chin for a brief moment, making sense of everything she had just heard.

“The Beads of Oman and the Raven Chalice are especially interesting, seeing as they were purposely kept separated from each other. Whoever is taking these items clearly wants to bring them together.” She added before turning her head towards Zalthia.

“Look into this for me and see what you can find out. And I’m not asking this as your sister, but as your superior, Zalthia of One.”

Azhane commanded as she stood from her throne. Zalthia snickered at the request, amused by the serious tone coming from her sister and with a swift kneel she replied.

“I, Zalthia of One, leader of The Six, shall obey your command, Your Majesty.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she disappeared from the throne room.

“She’s always so dramatic.”

Azhane softly laughed before exiting the throne room as well.

image [https://i.imgur.com/d60vRFl.png]The sun blazed in the sky on this hot, Spring afternoon. As they continued further south, the main path grew more sweltering.

“Ugh, it’s so hot out here. How much longer til the next town?” Rivell tiredly pleaded, sweat furiously dripping down his face.

“I’m not sure, but we really need to get out of this heat.”

Carmen looked at her map, searching for anything to provide them with relief. She spotted another road that led to Cable Village, but it would add two more days to their trip. Despite the extra travel time, the road was within the nearby forest and the trees would provide ample shade from the smoldering sun.

“Let’s go there. It’s a longer trip to Cable Village, but it’ll be much cooler.”

She pointed to the opening in the trees, locating the correct path after matching it with the map. Rivell agreed and they got off of the main pathway to take this separate route.

Almost immediately after entering the forest, the temperature dropped to a much more comfortable degree. Just as they walked past a few trees, there was an old wooden and rotted sign that said: Harlequin’s Thicket. The text was drawn on with fairly fresh paint, insinuating that the sign was recently put up.

“Hmm, that's odd. This isn’t the name that’s on the map.” Carmen remarked as she noticed the path on her map simply said “unknown.”

Rivell shrugged as he looked around at the naked trees towering above, not feeling too concerned.

“Maybe they just never updated the map, but man, this feels much better!” Rivell exclaimed, wiping the sweat from his brow.

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Carmen agreed and the two began to walk the heavily wooded path carefully. The trail was barely visible by all the dead leaves and fallen twigs on it. It clearly hadn’t been used for awhile, but this didn’t stop the duo from proceeding deeper into the forest.

“It’s crazy that we’ve already been traveling together for two weeks, huh Carmen!” Rivell said as they walked through the annoyingly dense forest.

“Yeah, time is really moving fast these days. And aren’t you just now over three months into your awakening journey? Feel anything yet?” Carmen replied, curious about his progress.

“Hmm, nope, not really. Do you?”

“No, but my sister said it felt like a hot fire welling up inside of her. For her it started after she rescued a family from a pack of wild beasts. I guess it just happens when it happens.”

Rivell was satisfied by Carmen’s answer and began to ask questions about her sisters and family. Hesitantly, she avoided the questions and quickly shifted the topic to something else, not wanting to accidentally reveal who she really was.

“You said you’re from Siestro right? What’s it like out there?” She questioned with great interest.

“Ah, yeah I am. Let’s see, Siestro is really unlike anything else on this continent! With it being partly on land and underwater, we have a pretty wide variety of people living there. My family and I lived within the capital, Marillia, so we rarely had to come to the surface since everything we needed was down there.” Rivell’s face beamed as he talked about his home, excited to share such information.

He continued to describe the aesthetic of the city, mentioning architectural details that were similar to a fantastical feudal Japan mixed with Atlantis. The imagery sounded quite impressive and Carmen was rather blown away by the picture he painted.

“That’s so cool! I really hope I get to visit there someday.” She replied, imagining herself among the native Siestians swimming around.

They continued their trek through the woods for a couple days and just as the moon gleamed in the sky, they made camp for the night. They prepared to sleep on the hard and prickly forest floor for yet another evening. However, right as Carmen laid her head down, she jolted up and looked around, having heard something in the distance. She scanned the treeline closely but didn't see anything through the dark woods.

“What’s wrong Carmen?” Rivell asked, noticing her sudden alertness.

“Ah, nothing. I thought I heard something. Sorry.”

She cautiously laid back down and closed her eyes. A few minutes went by and suddenly they heard multiple voices speak in their vicinity.

“Well, well, well boys. I think it’s time we get this started.”

Carmen quickly stood up from the ground and glared at her surroundings with a fierce, yet concerned look on her face.

Rivell followed suit, getting behind her while a man with one eye and a fairly muscular build stepped out from the bushes. His brown hair was dirty and messy, with the bangs covering the large scar across his face and he wore fairly tattered black shorts. He seemed to be quite proud of his muscles as he was completely shirtless, baring his chiseled abs for all to see.

The other trees and bushes in the area began to rustle and more men of various sizes emerged, their number being ten total.

“We’ve been following you kids for quite some time. Didn’t think you would ever stop walking!!” The strange man cackled with a crazed look on his face.

“You all must not be very smart, walking into these oh so dangerous woods by yourselves. Didn’t your mommies teach you better? No? Guess we’ll have to teach you that lesson ourselves.” One of the assailants deviously smiled, stepping toward Carmen.

“Hey Harlequin, can we kill em now? We’ve been waiting so long!” Another bandit said to the one-eyed man, pleading with him to get this assault underway.

“Have patience would ya! It’s no fun to cut right to the chase.” Harlequin replied with a devious smirk, now turning his attention back to Carmen and Rivell.

“Now, if you would be so kind and give us everything you’ve got. And better yet…”

He stopped and admired Carmen with lustful eyes, scanning her body up and down. He was clearly thinking of a multitude of inappropriate things as he stared deeply at her legs.

“You, girly, can come with us. We’d love to see what kind of treasures you have underneath them shorts heh heh.”

Harlequin disgustingly licked the dull side of his blade as he showed a gross smile. Carmen angrily glared at the man as she whispered to Rivell.

“Stay behind me, got it?” Rivell nervously nodded, sticking close to Carmen while feeling terrified of the situation. Carmen composed herself after letting out a nervous sigh and then she carefully aimed her palm towards the man.

“Oh, what's this?” He chuckled, amused by her pose.

Suddenly, a great force came over the man and he dropped to the ground, as though crushed by an invisible weight. Carmen was using her gravity manipulation to subdue the bandit, fully immobilizing him.

“Don’t just stand there you idiots! Grab her!!” He yelled out while firmly pressed to the ground.

The other bandits summoned forth their Manifests while furiously charging her. Carmen, with the swiftness of a bird, weaved and dodged their attacks easily. One by one, the bandits swung at her with their swords and fists, trying their damndest to take Carmen out.

After each dodge, she force pushed her foes away, masterfully sending weapons flying with her ability. One bandit grabbed her from behind, clasping his hands tightly together. Within seconds, she flipped with him still on her back and easily threw the bandit off. As he was dispatched, she immediately shifted her attention to the other assailants, bolting towards them and sending a barrage of forceful kicks in their direction.

Even though these bandits were twice her size and wielded Manifests of their own, none of them could land a hit. They were being absolutely embarrassed by a sixteen year old girl.

'These guys must be Pearl Class Vestas at best, this is way too easy.'

As the fight continued, Carmen felt more and more confident. However, while she was fully distracted with the remaining bandits, Harlequin was able to get free from her gravitational force. Carmen’s focus had carelessly shifted during the assault, causing the release of her ability.

The bandit leader quickly stood up while summoning a sharp, scuffed looking blade. The sword was incredibly jagged along the edge and a single runic symbol glowed in the center. Harlequin's Manifest didn't look impressive at all, but the small burst of Core Energy coming from it was enough to cause problems.

Harlequin dug into his pockets and removed a small vial of greenish liquid. After popping the cork, he poured the mysterious substance all over the blade, causing it to drip onto his hands. Curiously, he opted to utilize underhanded tactics in this fight instead of his own abilities. Once his preparations were complete, Harlequin noticed Rivell struggling to stick close to Carmen.

He sprinted towards Rivell, fully ready to cleave him in two with the edge of his dripping blade. Carmen glanced over and saw the man quickly approaching Rivell from behind, realizing what his intentions were at that moment. She finished off the last bandit and screamed out, “RIVELL!!! Move!!!”

Rivell looked confused as he slowly turned around, now seeing the man getting closer and closer. Completely frozen with fear, he made no attempt to get out of the way. She contemplated using her gravity manipulation to push him back, but the thought was too late as the bandit was mere feet from her Siestian friend.

Just as the blade reached him, Carmen leapt and pushed Rivell off to the side. However when doing so, the blade clipped Carmen’s arm, creating a decent sized bloody gash. She then quickly used all of her strength to send Harlequin flying with her ability. The bandit leader lifted off the ground with immense force and flew out of the upper treeline, nowhere to be seen from then on.

“Carmen! Are you alright??” Rivell pleaded as she laid there with a bloodied arm.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. It just grazed me a bit. Don’t worry.” She replied, grimacing at the pain emitting from the cut.

She got off the rough ground and Rivell quickly acquired a bandage wrap from his bag. He tended to the wound by wrapping the bandage tightly around her cut, stopping the bleed.

“I know it’s late, but we should really get out of this place. If those guys were a class higher we would’ve been done for. It’s too dangerous out here.”

Rivell agreed with her and after they gathered up their things, the duo swiftly left the area, rushing into the late night shadows.