"Where are you taking us, Aster?"

A voice asked from behind him, but Aster couldn't tell who the sound belonged to. If he had to guess, he would say that the voice behind him belonged to his brother Casper, but it was only a guess. He was so focused on deciphering his scribbles and drawings that he didn't really hear the voice behind him; it was just some dull, distant sound like a hum in his ears. He brought the paper closer to his face, squinting his eyes in the hope of uncovering what was hidden between the lines. His face scrunched with concentration, and he focused hard on the drawing, his nose getting so close that it almost touched the paper.

"I thought I did well drawing this map, but..." Aster whispered as he turned the paper in every direction, trying to decipher its deep and hidden meaning.

"What do you mean you drew it?" a shout echoed from behind him, along with a quick tug of his ear.

"Ouch! Why'd you do that?"

"Because you're dumb!"

"I am not dumb Yah-Yah! I drew this all on my own from memory!" Aster's eyes widened as he covered his mouth, dropping the 'map' in the process.

As Aster was about to pounce on the paper lying on the ground, Casper reacted and grabbed it before Aster could get to it. Casper's eyes glanced over the map his brother had made.

"What in the gods' name is this, Aster?"

With a slack mouth, Casper passed the paper to Pit, hoping this 'knight in training' could help make sense of these squiggles and lines. Unfortunately, Pit looked just as dumbfounded as him, both glancing between Aster and his 'map,' or so he called it.

As the pair gawked at the page, they noticed it was littered with rough drawings in all kinds of different colors. This made the pair even more confused since it was rare to see dyes outside of Pilosophis since the process of producing dyes was considered a closely guarded secret by the Alchemic Race. They had a monopoly over these dyes, especially when it came to using them for inks and paints, and only special individuals could bring them outside of Pilosophis. However, the oddity and questions didn't stop with just the colorful doodles. As they looked closer, they realized that there were words behind the drawings, meaning this piece of paper was, at some point, a document. Who knows how important that document was, as it was difficult to even get a glimpse of words below the colors and lines since the colors had bled into the page, making it hard to read. To make matters worse, the map was nothing more than a series of lines and squiggles; it seemed as though this was nothing more than a coloring sheet, useless for any real purpose.

"Aster, what..."

"Give that back, you big bullies!" Aster screamed

With a sudden jerk, he pulled the now crinkled paper out of the hands of the baffled duo, taking a few steps back, trying to put some distance between himself and the stunned pair. Aster's face grew red; whether it was from embarrassment or anger was hard to tell, even for himself.

"Aster, what is... no better yet, what was that paper before you drew on it?" Pit asked

Aster could feel his palms getting sweaty as he stood in front of his brother and Pit, the two of them staring at him with the same angry squints. He knew he was in trouble, and they were angry; however, he felt he had no choice. It was the only paper he had, and he needed it. As he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, he tried to steady his nerves and prepare himself.

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"I don't know what you're talking about."

Pit calmly walked toward Aster with no hurry in his steps and an arrogant, condescending gleam in his eyes. On the other hand, Aster was taking hunched steps back, scared of being caught.

"What's wrong, little Aster? You seem upset. Does it maybe have to do with that map? Or..."

"Pit, that's enough."

"What are you trying to protect him again?"

"It's not like we can do anything about it now."

Pit took a deep breath before nodding his head, "Yeah, you're right, but I will be taking that paper to bring to Ibada and Istina, and you will explain to us what is going on, Aster."

"For once, we both agree on Pit. Aster, we play and act to your whims, but this time is too far. Pit and I had thought that Ibada, Istina, or that old man had given you a map so you could play with the new child, but..."

Both Pit and Casper paused when they realized the situation that they were in.

"Where are we?" they asked, thinking the other knew the way back.

"Of course, you don't know," they screamed at each other.

"Aster, explain!"

Aster let out a dry chuckle as he told about the visit to Ibada's office. He described how the door was left open, which seemed strange, and the others agreed but found it made sense considering how things were today. He described the layout of Ibada's office, the various documents scattered on his desk, and how he had noticed that some of the adults were being sent to different parts of the village for some reason.

But what caught Aster's attention the most was the map he found under some papers, with a note attached that mentioned a meeting at a spot on the map. As he was about to leave the office, he heard Istina returning, making him jump in panic and forcing him to leave the map behind. However, he held onto the paper with a list of names and locations.

Determined to figure out the mystery and go on an adventure with everyone, Aster ran to the old man's room, where he knew the old man had a paint set. He used the paint set to draw a rough map of the location described in the note.

The others could only kick themselves for thinking this impulsive child would be capable of anything but impulsive things.

"So where was this meeting supposed to be, and who was it with."

"I-I don't know. I couldn't read it since it was in Divine Genis, I think."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, it was super smushed together like what they said, but it could have been Advanced Genis. I-I'm still just learning basic the language, so I'm not sure..."

"Pit, this is probably bad the Divine Race only uses that when it is something super important," Casper said

"We should head back. Aster, you should know the way since you led us right."

"Uh, right, let me just look at the map..."

Pit and Casper looked at each other again. It was good that both of them had gone through some basic training for when they became Divine Knights; otherwise, they might be in a lot of trouble.

"Alright..." Pit clapped his hand, taking the lead with a commanding tone, "I am taking over now. First things first, we need somewhere to stay for the night. I will lead, and Casper will stay behind since he is the best at combat between all of us."

Casper took to the situation fast without a word of protest. He made sure that everyone was present and accounted for, gathering Carter and Priya in front of him. Casper was particularly wary of these two, as he felt a sense of responsibility to keep them safe since it was his brother that put these two dolls in danger. As they began to move forward, Casper kept his eyes on Pit but also kept his hand close to the backs of Carter and Priya to guide them through the darkness. The night was pitch-black, and Casper was afraid that if he let his guard down for even a moment, someone might disappear.