-=Convergence=-

*Amazing. That Dark Lord sure knew a lot, despite the mystery of everything. It really helps to know I have a decent foundation to start investigating with.*

Shadow’s mind was brimming with eagerness, knowing that he’d managed to find the master of ninjas and get a decent grip on the trouble going around Maple World. He still had a long way to go before figuring out the great evil’s identity, but that didn’t faze him in the least. All that mattered to him was getting the quest started right away. He considered options for a moment. Eventually, he reached a decision:

*Even though Dark Lord didn’t have every answer, maybe the other three job masters do. I wonder which one I should start w-*

Shadow’s thoughts were held up by a terrifying distraction. An unusually loud explosion coursed through the air. Looking around, he caught sight of what was possibly the source: a long line of darkness, though far to the east of the city, became visible in the sky for a good five seconds. The sound and sight sent everyone around him in a panic. Some looked around with weapons drawn, others ran off the streets, still others fell to their knees, visibly shaken. From the chaos, an unknown voice shouted out: “The Victorian Oni has struck again!” This news soon had just about everyone running off the streets. Shadow, however, stayed where he was, his eyes open at their widest from what he saw.

*That blast….that darkness…what…how….*

Shadow shook off his clustered thoughts and broke into a mad dash, headed towards where the scene had come from.

-Woobledywop!-

The maroon moon girl had cried her red eyes dry. Now, she was sitting on her bed. She breathed in and out, trying to regain whatever composure had stuck with her. While she did, her ears picked up soft voices coming from somewhere. She discovered them to be coming from one of her room’s air vents. She walked over and bent down to listen. At this range, she quickly identified one of the voices. *Him again,* she thought, greatly annoyed. She bolted out of her room in frustration, slamming her door loudly. *Honestly, can’t that guy be more than five miles from me anymore?!* Frustrated, she headed towards the outskirts of town to train.

A few minutes passed. The girl was still angry. No matter how many green mushrooms she killed, last night’s events simply wouldn’t leave her at all. The images of finding her cousins brutally killed in the L Forest among the spectators replayed itself in her mind. With an agonized scream, she gave up and stormed off back home.

As she got closer to her house, the door beneath it opened, and Shadow emerged. This led to the maroon girl ducking behind a building. Shadow never looked her way. *Phew, that was close,* she thought with relief. That, however, was instantly interrupted when a heavy explosion sounded, quickly followed by a line of shadow emerging from far to the east, right before her very eyes. Her look of calm changed to one of complete horror.

*Oh, no….not again…not NOW!*

She watched as Shadow quickly headed off towards the blast, and headed towards it in the opposite direction.

-Woobledywop!-

Skye had just made it into Kerning city on the other side of town. Earlier, she had made plans to meet Lance there after she finished some errands at home. Now, she had finally arrived, her mind on little more than seeing her boyfriend again. At first, he was nowhere in sight, but moments later, he suddenly appeared out of thin air. An open scroll in his hand was disintegrating. “Lance!” she cried out with joy as she ran towards him. “I finally made it!”

“So did I, and in the nick of time!” Lance replied. They embraced and shared a kiss. “I just got back from doing a quest. How’re things at home?”

“Everything’s going very well right now,” Skye said brightly. “I did a little training while I was there. I can’t wait to become an archer!”

“Yeah, me neither,” Lance said. “As far as I go, I should finally be up to warrior status by tomorrow.”

“Awesome!” Skye cheered. “That’s great to hear, Lance. You’re so cool…” She hugged him a little tighter.

“Aw, shucks,” Lance said, blushing. “Thanks, Skye.”

The couple were about to kiss again when out of nowhere, a loud explosion was heard. They looked around with worry. “Holy crap, what was that?!” Lance asked, scratching his head.

His response was a scream from Skye. “Lance, over there!” she called out, pointing east. Lance looked over to see a faraway vertical stretch of darkness piercing the blue sky. His worry quickly turned to dread. “Oh, not good,” he groaned. “The Victorian Oni is back.” He grabbed Skye’s are as he began running east. “C’mon! I know this may sound crazy, but maybe we can help out somehow.”

Skye didn’t resist as she went along, even when fear began to grip her senses. “Maybe…” she said quietly. “I hope…”

-Woobledywop!-

In the village of darkness, the five elders sat together patiently as they always did, continually resting to regain their powers. However, the rest was interrupted when a sense of alarm crept upon each of them. They all looked at each other with an amount of concern so strong they didn’t hear Lord Scorpion walk in. He was carrying a tray of rice balls. “Anybody hungry?” he asked eagerly. None of the elders answered; they simply looked down at the ground.

Now it was Scorpion’s turn to be worried. “What’s wrong?” he asked them.

Elder Hakkera looked up as he answered. “We felt a terrible presence with our insight,” he explained. “It was as if a young voice cried out in horror, and was suddenly silenced by…something…something ominous.”

Scorpion didn’t even notice himself drop the rice ball tray as sudden urgency pumped through him. *Shadow…* he thought. “Do you want me to contact Shadow?” he quickly asked.

“Please do,” Hakkera replied. “We must make certain he knows of what we felt.” Scorpion nodded in reply and quickly dashed off for the red orb.

-Woobledywop!-

Three ninjas, one in red, one in blue, and one in yellow, all meditated silently with closed eyes inside the dungeon far beneath the island. No outside activity of any kind broke their concentration, whether it was the chittering cackles of the two-legged, one-eyed creatures that skittered across the rocky surface, or the battlecries of tauromacis and taurospears as they fended off adventurers that fought against them. They weren’t even fazed by a sudden, loud rumble of an explosion that boomed from above them. The monsters, however, were either momentarily distracted or frightened off.

After the rumble, the ninja in red opened his green, glowing eyes. “Excellent,” he whispered. The other two ninjas nodded approvingly.

-Woobledywop!-

Time passed. The adventurers that had been attracted to the mammoth explosion were all now very close to Ellinia. Shadow, Lance, Skye, and the maroon moon girl were all taking their own paths to get there. Even on foot, they all moved quickly through the maze of branches and vines, everyone but Shadow aware of what had transpired. They didn’t let anything stand in their way, not even the bouncing green slimes or the lumbering one-eyed stumps that populated the region, acting as obstacles to all adventureres.

Though oblivious to the situation, Shadow was just as attracted to the momentous blast as the others. As unexplainable as it was, he felt an enormous prescense of evil in the forest the moment his eyes met the pillar of darkness. That alone was enough to warrant to him the potential danger that may have befallen the forest. Most of all, though, was the possibility that the evil he was going after was beginning to make itself known. That fact, no matter what peril it carried, was something the one-armed bandit wasn’t about to pass up.

Eventually, a village opened up to him, a settlement within the forest comprised of homes embedded within trees. He looked above him as the village extended vertically, a layout that coincided perfectly with the forest. He was about to go on when a small whimper caught his ear. He looked over to see a red-haired girl who looked about his age sitting against a tree, wincing in pain. Blood flowed from a wound in her side. She looked up at him. “Help….me…my…potion…can’t..reach….” His gaze shifted to a bottle of white liquid sitting ten feet from the girl. Without thinking, he snagged it, popped the cork open, and helped the girl drink. Within moments, her wound was visibly healing; the bleeding stopped, and the rescuee managed to stand with some effort. “Thank you…so much…” she replied gratefully. “However, there is….still trouble ahead….our village was….graced….no, cursed….by the prescence of….The Victorian Oni.”

There was that name again. Shadow heard it once before. “The Victorian Oni?” he repeated. “What the devil is that? Did that thing cause the explosion?”

“Yes, it did,” the girl answered. “And believe it or not, he did it by himself….so you don’t want to know what he is….please, enough talk for now….help me get home…I must see if my family made it there…”

“Alright,” Shadow said, offering his arm. Together, they slowly made their way into the town itself. As soon as they made it in, they heard footsteps from behind them. They turned to see Lance and Skye run towards them. “Shadow!” The couple called out.

Shadow turned to them. “You two,” he began, “did you two come because of the explosion as well?”

“Absolutely,” Lance said, catching his breath from the earlier run. “To be honest, I’m suprised the entire ISLAND doesn’t gather in the target spot every time this happens!”

Shadow became perplexed from Lance’s words. “Every…time?” he asked. “You mean…this has happened before?”

Lance and Skye quickly remembered that this was Shadow’s first visit to Maple World. “We’ll talk about it later,” Skye said. “Right now, it looks like there isn’t much happening in terms of chaos, so the oni must be gone. C’mon, let’s see if the other villagers need help. Oh, and by the way, Shadow, welcome to Ellinia.”

“Ellinia,” Shadow repeated, recalling the name. This was where the spellcasting sisters Genya and Emma lived. The ninja bandit only hoped they were okay.

Together, the four teens made their way up the ladders and ropes that kept the village together. They were about halfway up the village when they found a very large group of people standing in a circle, all of them appearing to be in grief. Shadow and the others made their way into the circle. Within, they found Genya and Emma, holding each other in sorrow.

The red-haired girl approached the sisters. “Genya…” she said. “Thank goodness you’re safe…and your sister as well.”

Genya looked over, gasping at seeing the girl. She ran over to her, and they hugged tightly. Emma walked over to the others. “That’s Amber,” she explained to Shadow upo seeing him. “When Genya’s time of silence began, Amber was the only person in the village to help keep Genya happy and strong. They’ve been close friends ever since.”

Shadow nodded, and motioned to the couple behind him. “They are Lance and Skye,” he said. “I met them on my way to this island. They’re willing to help however they can.”

Meanwhile, Genya and Amber halted their embrace to speak. “I was out watching my family train when the oni suddenly appeared out of nowhere,” Amber explained. “My mother chose to hold him off, giving my little brother and I time to run. I’m guessing the oni threw something at me, because I suddenly felt a horrible blast of pain in my side. The jolt sent me falling to a lower level of the forest. I ran into a cluster of trees to avoid being spotted. Along the way, a wayward slime bumped into me, knocking my only potion out of reach. I tried to get it, but my blood loss had already sapped my strength. Fortunately, he came along and helped me.” She pointed to Shadow. “So…have any of you seen my brother? He was ahead of me as we ran. I only know that we were headed for Ellinia as we ran.”

Genya looked over at Emma, worry and sadness decorating her face. Emma swallowed before answering. “A…a little boy challenged the oni when he passed through Ellinia. This…is all that remains of him…” she gestured to the pile of ashes.

Amber was immediately heartbroken as she walked up to the remains. “Kyle…” she whispered through tears. “He wore this hat every day, ever since it was given to him as a baby.” She then looked around. “Mother…where is my mother? Did she at least get away from the oni?”

Emma was choking up in her attempt to answer. Genya walked over to Amber and whispered some words into her ear. “What…what did she look like?” Amber asked. Genya whispered more words, and Amber’s emotions began going wild. “And…and he just CARRIED her out of here?!” she screamed. The two girls soon held each other once more, Amber sobbing heavily into Genya’s shoulder.

Moments later, the maroon moon girl joined the cluster of people, panting heavily and fighting her own tears. “That…that demon..” she spat in anger. “There…there are twenty more dead above us…twenty more lives lost…” She stopped when her eyes caught sight of Amber’s grief.

“They’re gone…” Amber uttered. “My entire family is all gone…”

Emma walked over to the pair, adding what comfort she could give to the distraught girl. “You will have a home with Genya and I,” she offered. “I mourn your loss, though you won’t be alone.”

“Thank you,” Amber whispered.

The maroon moon girl couldn’t believe what she had just heard. The girl had lost her entire family, and yet she was accepting help from strangers? The assassin was not one to believe any lost family could be replaced. “So, you are as alone as I am,” she said to Amber. “I highly doubt you can find comfort with anyone other than your family. They were the ones who truly took care of you. All you’re getting now is pity.”

Lance, Skye, Amber, and the Raine sisters looked at the newcomer with sudden disbelief. Shadow wasn’t quite as suprised, knowing she wasn’t at all receptive to him when they first met. Standing in front of the others, he spoke against her opinions. “You’re wrong; she isn’t alone. At the very least, she has friends to aid her. She has us by her side, along with our trust. If you ask me, as long as we’re around, she’ll never be alone. In fact, you aren’t alone, either. We would be happy to help you in case you needed it.” He was, of course, referring to the loss of her cousins.

Despite Shadow’s words, the maroon moon girl simply turned her back. “I don’t NEED your help,” she scoffed. “More importantly, I don’t TRUST any of you. In fact, I learned a long time ago that the only people I could truly trust were those that were my family. Now that they’re gone, I am alone, and nothing will change that.”

Shadow wouldn’t give up as easily this time. “I do not deny the importance of family at all,” he said. “However, having friends around is just as important. I also lost my family long ago, and I was scared of strangers when I was alone. That changed when two friends I made helped rescue me from danger. I was suspicious at first, but I eventually opened myself to them. Right away, we became the best of friends, and they even took me into their home. You might say I even gained a new family. I know that sounds odd, but believe me, it’s possible.”

A new family….

Once again, the maroon moon girl shunned the offer of hope. “A NEW family?!” she blurted, facing the others. “Impossible. The only family you have is the family you start with, no more. That girl is a fool to simply throw her trust around to any stranger, and so are you. Believe me, when you lose your family, you are alone. Not even ‘friends’ can replace them.”

Shadow could tell he wasn’t getting anywhere, so he simply returned focus to the others. “Believe what you want, then,” he said. “However, know that we’ll be standing together for a long time nonetheless. They may not be my original family, but these friends have been a welcome addition for me. All I ask is that you at least think about that.”

The maroon moon girl simply snorted and began walking off. She stopped abruptly for a moment, and turned to Amber once more. “I…I’m sorry about your family,” she said. And with that, she took off, heading for the bottom of the village.

Shadow simply stood and watched her leave, a look of disdain on his face. *Please, think about it,* he thought silently. The others gathered around him and thanked him for his words. Lance, Skye, Emma, Genya, and Amber were inspired by his ideas, especially since they seemed to bring about a renewed sense of hope in times of tribulation.

They all stood in silence, even as the rest of the townsfolk began to break off, some gathering Kyle’s ashes. Finally, Lance spoke up. “So, what do we do now?”

Genya motioned up to what appeared to be a rather large house at the summit of Ellinia. “We go to Grendel the Really Old,” Emma clarified. “No doubt he knows what transpired here, and I’m certain he can help.” Agreeing on the decision almost immediately, the group set upwards in hopes of finding a way to stop the insidious attacks that were a threat to the peace of Maple World.

———————————————————-

Last one for now. One last time, thanks for the patience of all readers. As you can see, an unfavorable delay due to lack of net will never stop me from continuing the story I love so much. A special thanks to Fenrir for his supporting comment on my first blog in a while, and a special thanks to Silver for welcoming me back. Also, congratulations on your ascention to Rangerhood, Silver!

Previous Installments:
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