When Jon went to sleep, he had two dreams. The first one was of him sitting at the beach. Specifically the beach near the Vindhazi embassy. He was by himself, sitting on the sand and watching the tide ebb and flow.

He woke up in between the first in the second dream. He felt a huge knot in his knee, but he still couldn’t move, so he stared up at the darkness.

“Hector?” Mallory had spoken up. Jon didn’t know he was still awake.

“Yeah?” Hector asked.

“Up in Amalia's room... " Mallory continued, "That was really brave of you. Like, stalwart, brave. Like… you were awesome in there.”

“No I wasn’t,” Hector replied. “I ran away. I insulted Cecil.”

“You told him the truth,” Mallory explained. “The truth I don’t think either of you knew before that point. It was his fault that he was embarrassed.”

“Yeah, well… it can’t be right…” Hector said. “It didn’t feel good.”

“...I don’t believe you,” Mallory responded.

There wasn't a response as Hector had already started snoring. Or was that Tallow?

Jon didn’t know. He sunk into his dreams again.

This time, he was at the farm. Which farm? He didn’t know, since it was a single-story building, reminiscent of Farmer Dan's, as he was one of the only farmers Jon knew who lived by himself. Jon wondered if this house would be big enough to have a family lived in, but he decided not to focus on that thought for too long. Instead, he just wistfully watched the sunset with his pet caiman. Or was it the sunrise?

Jon couldn't tell which one. He also couldn't tell why he had a pet caiman, but he was happy for the company.

It felt like Jon had known the pet caiman his whole life, or its whole life in any case.

He knelt down to the Caiman, which had its red leash wrapped around its neck that dragged on the floor behind him as it crawled up to Jon. Jon picked it up and cradled it over his shoulder, rubbing his hand on its scraggly back. The caiman made the occasional guttural sound seemingly in response to the petting, but no snapping. Jon had taught it not to snap anymore some time previously in this dreamworld. Jon had enough snapping for a lifetime.

So, of course, the caiman snapped once, and Jon woke up from his windy dream.

It was definitely daylight, with the sun shining through the open door.

He was staring up at an object covered in sheets hovering above his head.

What is that? He wondered.

It suddenly snapped back down, and Jon realized that it was him.

Is that my leg? Jon forced out his right leg.

It snapped right back again into the air before quickly coming down.

Yeah. He continuously kept kicking and kicking and kicking. Every time he did, the leg would snap out and then back into its place onto the bed.

“Okay, that’s really weird now.” Jon stopped as he saw Tallow sitting at the bed next to him. He suddenly felt embarrassed.

“Sorry,” Jon said.

“Don’t apologize!" Tallow's eyebrows had raised high, but she didn't seem to be having an extreme response.

"I’m glad your leg’s working again." She assured. "Wanna try walking?"

Jon nodded.

Tallow came around and helped Jon to his feet.

“...I still can’t move,” Jon said, still holding on to her and trying to keep his balance. His legs were both unresponsive. His toes could still move, though.

“Alright, in the chair you go.”

As Tallow put Jon in the chair, he noticed that she had equipped all of her usual weapons and accessories again. The nunchucks, the dagger, and the golden claw were all equipped on her. Her sword was at its usual place on her side.

“We could go outside,” Tallow said. "Just for whatever.

Jon nodded.

It didn’t take long to get out back to the outside of the castle. Since they weren’t in a rush, Tallow didn’t seem to be in a rush to get anywhere.

“You slept in late again,” she explained as she pushed him. “But that's expected."

She continued. "The show starts at sunset, around. I suppose we have some time left.

Show. Jon grimaced. She meant the fight. Jon probably wouldn't be fighting in it, because of the state of his body. He lamented the fact that he couldn't be available to stand in for Hector, even if he didn't quite trust himself to do so.

Jon looked up at the sun to see where it was at. It was definitely past noon. It bemused him to think that he had slept in so much after waking up so early day after day on the farm for years.

Tallow stopped pushing him at a good clearing of grass.

“Do you want to try to walk again?” She asked.

"Sure," Jon said. He was ready to go for it.

"...So, first let's see what you got." Tallow crossed her arms and stared at Jon.

Right.

Jon tried to move his legs. Like before, his right leg kicked out of the chair.

“Hmmm…” Tallow went in front of Jon and kicked him in his left knee.

She stepped aside just as it kicked out as well. Jon was mildly surprised.

“...Okay… let's do this..." She had Jon place his arm around her and she lifted him up.

“Oh brother,” Tallow muttered once they got Jon standing. “Here comes the princess…”

“Hey, guys! Are you walking? I can help!” Amalia's voice appeared with the crunching of the grass underneath her feet before her face finally came close. She had leaned over to help Jon from the chair before Tallow scared her away.

“We don’t need help!” Tallow called before Jon and Amalia could interact at the slightest. “He’s fine.”

Jon kicked out as much as he could with his right leg again.

"Whoa!" Amalia said. "He's moving again! That's great! It's a matter of time before-"

"Uh, huh." Tallow didn't seem at all interested in what Amalia had to say. "Jon, tell Amalia you don't need her help."

Jon shrugged. He could've used the help.

“...Okay, fine,” Tallow said. ‘Release him in 3… 2… 1…”

They both let go. Jon wobbled on both of his legs.

He strained as hard as he could and his right foot stepped forward.

He was about to fall, but Tallow kicked his left knee again, and he took a step with that leg as well.

From there, they took turns between Jon stepping with his right leg, and Tallow kicking his other knee to help make the next step. Sometimes, she had to kick it in a different place, or even step at a different angle. Eventually, she had to kick the leg more than once to get it moving, and Jon was beginning to feel his leg get tired.

“Aren’t your legs sore?” Amalia asked after a while.

Jon nodded. His right foot suddenly buckled.

“Jon!” Amalia tried to stop him, but they both tumbled to the ground, Tallow rolling her eyes and sighing as they did.

“Yep.” Tallow said to herself. "Of course."

“Sorry, Jon,” Amalia said, even though he had ended up on top of her.

“It's okay," Jon responded. "I"m sorry."

He groaned as pushed himself off of her. His arms were starting to get him exhausted as well.

“Alright, let me get him back,” Tallow started, "I'll get his chair-"

“I can do it!” Amalia said, “If Jon would let me.”

“Yeah,” Jon groaned from the floor.

“Well, he’s a lot more-” Tallow watched with reluctant interest as Amalia hosted Jon onto his back.

“Right. I forgot you’re a warrior princess,” Tallow muttered. “But, it does nothing if you can’t support your strength.”

“Right,” Amalia acknowledged as she carried Jon over back to the chair. “I still lack experience…”

“Yep…” Tallow sighed and waddled alongside the Amalia and Jon pair back to his seat.

Eventually, Tallow was close enough to the chair to bring it up to Amalia and Jon, allowing him to be placed back inside comfortably.

Jon didn’t realize how exhausted he was until he was sitting back down; he was glad that Amalia was there to help.

“Thanks,” he said with a nod.

“Anytime, Jon,” Amalia said. “I…”

She looked at Tallow, not finishing what it was she was going to say.

Stolen story; please report.

“So…” Tallow clearly felt caught in an awkward moment, “You’re gonna help us out? Like in the deal?”

“Well, the thing is…” Amalia picked at the dirt with her feet in embarrassment. “I have to babysit Duranny. Sally and the other nurses are on call, so he’ll be with me, especially ‘cause Daddy doesn't want me or Duranny to see the violence.”

“Violence?” Tallow asked. “Isn’t Duranny gonna be future King? He should be seeing this stuff.”

“My father doesn’t want to wait for Duranny to grow up,” Amalia responded. “He wants to have an earlier retirement. Hence the proposed marriage between me and Hector you guys thoroughly interrupted... with good reason."

“And why doesn’t he just give it to someone else?” Tallow pressed on.

“...As lethargic as my father’s habits can be, not even he would just hand over the throne to anyone. Things need to be managed, and he will still be in charge of most of it. Hector was considered the strongest candidate to take-"

“And you’re just gonna take that?” Tallow crossed her arms. “Aren’t you like the second most powerful person in the Kingdom?”

“That would be Lord Luther, maybe, probably. I rank below Lord Luther and my father's advisors… and whomever I’m to marry…”

“Well, it’s not my place to say,” Tallow said, "But it sounds like you want to be in control.”

“I don’t want to…” Amalia said, giving a sad look to Jon. “But some say would be nice. I think I have things I can offer.”

“Then either you can wait for your dad to die, or…” Tallow shrugged. “Marry some other tool.”

“Why?” Amalia asked stunned. “Why would I do that?”

“Cause you can change the rules, right?” Tallow grabbed Jon’s chair. “If your husband is in control, then you can have him change things so that you’re in control.”

“...I’ve thought of that, but…” Amalia shook her head. “I don’t know who would marry me and take on such a burden.”

“Yeah… can’t help you with that.” Tallow shrugged. “Finding good friends are hard.”

“You have good friends,” Amalia said. “How I envy such good company you have.”

“...They’re the same company you have,” Tallow replied. “Jon here seems to be keen on you. And Hector still trusts you. So… yeah. Just keep being warrior princess and you’ll find your friends too.”

Tallow looked down at Jon and met his eyes. “We have to go now. It’s near time.”

“Right.” Amalia nodded. “I understand. Many graces.”

She walked away back towards another area of the castle.

“...Jeeze, I’ve had enough princesses for a lifetime,” Tallow said. “Ready, Jon?”

“Yeah,” Jon said.

Jon suddenly had an idea.

“Can I… shoot something?” He asked.

Tallow reached in her bag and pulled out a potato.

“I knacked a few from the kitchen,” she said. “By that, I mean I asked very nicely, but without Hector knowing.”

Tallow quickly threw the potato into the air, and Jon shot at it. He didn't want to make a mess, so he adjusted the blast enough for it to soften the potato's momentum and let it fall onto the ground harmlessly.

They did this a few more times, Tallow throwing in different directions for Jon to shoot at. It was nice to get some aiming done.

Eventually, she took him back to the front of the castle. Going through the front entrance, Jon saw that the large tables were lined up in two rows, like when he first came. At each table, he could see that for the most part, they had their own group of color-coordinated groups. At the yellow table, he could see Cecilia, Cecil, as well as some other people who may or may not have been related to them

Of course, at the green table, he could see Sherry among her other green-clothed compatriots.

At another table, he saw Liz. She was wearing her usual clothes for battle, but the rest of the table was filled with people who wore white outfits, making her stick out. Jon could tell that the white outfits were much more trimmed to fit them. There was definitely neater than the other tables.

Close to Liz's table, Jon could see Lester was leaning with his back on the wall with his arms crossed. He saw Jon pass by, and gave him a solid nod in acknowledgment.

Jon returned the nod before Tallow pushed him away.

Jon took a short look at the other tables. One was full of people who wore brown clothes, but they didn't seem to have as many people.

He saw Robert sitting with a family where they wore orange clothes. Robert was also wearing orange, as opposed to the purple he usually carried.

Lysenthia and Gerald were at one of the tables at the front, where others were wearing blue clothes as well. Gerald seemed to notice Jon, but Jon didn't know if he should wave or not.

As they rolled past the tables, Jon then saw that there was a large open space with nothing in between. He saw a side door that led into the directions of where the hallways to the rest of the castles were, but he didn't know where that particular door led.

To the opposite side of the door, on the wall sat Junwata, crosslegged and his back against the wall. He had a large mat under him, which matched his outfit’s colors of grey and black. Behind him, two black banners were hung on the wall of either side of him.

Junwata didn’t seem to react to anything, and his eyes were closed, but Jon felt like he knew that Junwata was aware of Jon’s presence. Something in Jon’s chest just told him that.

On the other side were Luther and Harris, who stayed next to the side door. Luther stopped whispering and stared at Jon and Tallow as they passed by.

Jon didn’t say anything, and neither did Tallow, yet both of them stared back as they went by. Jon didn't know why, but something told him that it wasn’t prudent to do so.

To either side of the side door, and Harris and Luther by extension, were a row of guards in full armor standing with their backs to the wall. Jon saw Avery among the guards, who gave him a wink.

Jon also nodded back to him in return. Having a familiar face among the cold line of armor made Jon feel a little safer.

Past the large space and facing back towards the entrance of the castle and the rest of the room were two thrones side by side.

In one throne sat Hector who wore his golden armor, but also a red cape that was so large it dragged out of the chair and splayed under his legs. He was slouching heavily in the chair with his hand leaning on his fist and elbow.

Mercy, however, was sitting with a proper posture and a drastic wardrobe change. She was wearing black, like always, but she wore a large dress where the bottom of it seemed to force itself into the shape of a bell. Up top, she wore complete sleeves, and it almost appeared like she was wearing a jacket.

Hector picked up when he saw his friends approaching.

“Jon!” Hector called. “You’re here! Tallow!”

“Guys!” Mercy held out her hand towards them calmly. “There you are!”

“Yeah, yeah, didn’t want to be in the way while this was all getting settled,” Tallow mentioned.

"Yeah, I know. It was perfect timing," Hector muttered. He began to sink back into his chair.

She parked Jon in between Mercy and Hector’s seats. Jon grabbed on to Mercy's outstretched hands and they held on for a while.

“How was your sleep?” Mercy asked Jon.

“Good,” Jon said. “How was yours?”

“Just mildly difficult enough,” Mercy said. “I didn’t know Tallow was such an active sleeper. It at least kept me ready enough for today.”

Jon nodded. He had been through the experience of sleeping next to Tallow, and he wondered if he still had some of the bruises to prove it.

Jon looked at Hector and Tallow to watch them talk. He didn’t get to listen as Mallory had come out through a door behind the throne.

“Hello, guys!” Mallory said, causing the group to turn around in their chairs. “Big day, ain’t it?”

“Yeah…” Hector said, looking back to the rest of the room. Everyone else followed him.

Jon finally let the entire energy of the room wash over him. It felt weird to think that he was at the end where he was the center of attention, but he also didn’t feel scared, like he did at the Farmer’s Consulate. There, he felt small and insignificant, although people wanted to hear what he had to say.

Here, he felt as average as everyone else. The situation was big. It was on everyone’s shoulders. When he looked out to the crowd, he could see that everyone was either moderately nervous or just a bit bored. Seeing all of these powerful people look normal and in a situation they couldn't quite control made Jon feel like he shared a similar burden to everyone else. He didn't feel alone.

He turned to his friends. They were all watching the environment in different ways. Mercy looked on calmly. Tallow's eyes shifted across the room like always. Jon wondered if she was trying to catch anyone staring at her, or if she was just nervous as well. He started to understand that Tallow was just extremely aware of her surroundings all of the time.

Hector looked the most nervous. His mild annoyance had turned to a mixture of concern and trepidation that Jon had never seen on Hector's face before.

Jon traced his eyes to see that Macy had just entered the room. She was standing alongside Harris and Luther, with her arm in a sling.

"She's still..." Hector didn't finish as he was interrupted by a familiar voice from behind.

"Hey, guys!" Everyone in a chair turned to see Mallory close a door behind them and powerwalk his way to them. He was wearing a slim pair of sky blue robes with golden engravings down its center.

"I'll be back," he whispered, rushing past the thrones and heading straight to Luther and Harris.

After the three men talked, Mallory went into the nearby side door. Eventually, Macy caught Jon's stare.

Jon expected her to blow a kiss like always, but instead, she gave a small smile.

Jon didn't have a chance to think about what it meant before Mallory walked back out the door with two large unopened blue sacks.

He caught eyes with Luther, who gestured for two of the guards to take a bag each from Mallory. They walked up to the large space, ripping off a corner of the bag and pouring white powder onto the floor.

The two men walked away from each other, each drawing their end of a circle around the large open space until they would eventually meet back on the other side.

Jon was reminded of the similar thing he did with Mallory as they worked together to draw the larger circle back in the barracks for sparring. This time, the circle looked slightly bigger than the one Jon drew, and one could immediately tell that it wasn't flour coming from their bags. He had helped his mother cook more than enough times to tell.

Mallory, while not acknowledging Macy before, gave her a small back rub before walking away. She quickly gave him a small smile as he walked away back to Jon and his friends.

"It's almost time," Mallory said. "How you feeling?"

"Horrible," Hector growled. "Like my whole world is about to come crashing down."

"That's a good thing, right?" Mercy asked. "Isn't that what we're supposed to be doing?"

"The girl's got a point," Mallory said. "I would have said it if she didn't say it."

Hector sighed. "Still, all this... disorder and chaos... it's..."

"Well, actually..." Tallow cleared her throat, "this is for the par for you people. Draw a circle and watch everyone resolve their problems by fighting. I mean, tell me if I'm wrong or not, but isn't that how you met Jon?"

"It's not the same!" Mercy said, slamming the arm of her throne with her fist. "That was senseless!"

"It was for a point," Hector muttered. "It's all for a point..."

"I have a feeling you're not the only one who feels that way," Mallory said, watching Luther and Harris talk.

The two men had finished pouring the circle and took the bags out of the side door without any need for instruction.

"...I should say," Mallory added, "I'm not allowed to favor either side, but I may or may not be rooting for you guys."

"Ah, please," Tallow said, "don't be wishy-washy. Do your job properly."

"Sucks that I'm the only person in a several-mile radius who knows what they're doing... even though all I had to do was read a book..."

He looked up at the window behind them. The sun was coming down.

"It's time..." Mallory said softly.

"About that time," Hector muttered. "Don't let anyone kill each other."

Mallory nodded. He looked at Mercy.

She gave him a small nod.

"Go be pretty, pretty boy," Tallow said to Mallory.

Mallory then looked at Jon.

"You're the vanguard from here on out," Mallory said to him. "You make sure these guys don't kill each other here while I'm doing the same out there."

Jon nodded. Jon was slowly starting to understand the responsibility aspect that Luther was talking about. His friends were starting to reach a height not found on their journey there. This would undoubtedly be stressful for everybody.

"Mallory!" Luther called. "Don't lollygag!"

Mallory turned to Luther with his hands on his hips and pointed to the window.

Luther looked up at it, then his eyebrows furrowed.

"...Fine. I suppose you're on time."

Mallory crossed his arms.

"Ah, shut up and do your job!" Luther turned away from him.

"Alright." Mallory gave a final salute to his friends before walking up to the large circle.

He rubbed his hands, knelt down, and put his hands on the ground at the edge of the circle.

His familiar blue circle appeared around his robes, before a large circle before tracing the circle around and connecting at the other side.

When Mallory stood up, the circle stayed at its newly christened glowing state.

"Right," he muttered. He shuffled around to the front of the circle.

"Hey guys, we're gonna start!" Mallory yelled.

Most of the room had already descended into chatter during the lighting of the circle.

"Hello!" Mallory waved his hands.

A select few, such as Liz at her table, had noticed that Mallory had started calling for everyone's attention.

When that wasn't enough, Luther walked up to Mallory's side.

"Ah, Shut up!" Luther yelled.

The chatter suddenly subsided as everyone's attention was drawn to the center of the room.

"And keep it that way!" he added. He walked back to Harris's side.

"Alright!" Mallory gave a wide smile. "Let's start!"