-=Athena Pierce and the Second Lightbringer=-

Much time had passed since the sudden attack on Cecelia and her older sister, identified as Marlene. With help from various adventurers, Cecelia’s body was defrosted, and the girls were carried back to town. There, their bodies were covered in blankets and taken out to the nearby canyons for burial. Everyone but Shadow attended. The one-armed bandit sat alone in the darkness of his room, looking at a miniature Lord Scorpion in the palm of his hand. Even through stress and emotions, Shadow managed to update the assassin on the progress he was making.

“Okay, so two lightbringers are known for certain, and a third exists somewhere,” Scorpion said, making note of the info. “Alright, excellent work, the elders will be glad to know of this….in the meantime, are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” Shadow muttered, wiping tears from his eyes. “I know I’m getting closer to this evil, but it seems like the closer I get, the more death I end up seeing and hearing about. I hate this, Scorpion, I really do.”

The other ninja nodded. “I’m sorry to hear about it all, I really am,” he said. “Still, please keep fighting. You’ve made a lot of progress. Eventually, the evil will be destroyed, and all the killing will finally stop.”

“Yeah,” Shadow agreed, forcing a half-smile. “I’ll keep going then…for the sake of Ryu and Yuka…for everyone who lost their lives…I’ll stop this evil no matter what!”

-Earlier-

Down in the sunny, calm village of Henesys, the sun was rising. The population of adventurers were coming out of a night of rest, wherever in town it may have been, readying themselves for more quests and battles with monsters. Many of them talked with eachother as they made their way through the small town. Others perused the town shops, which, like the other houses, were in the shapes of large mushrooms. Still more simply relaxed by resting on the benches and checking out the mini-games.

Just outside the town, Damien was opening his eyes to the rising sun after eight hours of sleeping by a tree. The Crow and Moira were still resting near him. The warrior stood up, rubbing his eyes. *It was quite a walk we took getting here,* he thought as he looked over at the village. *At least it was uneventful, though.* He spent the next few minutes taking practice swings with his zard. After his muscles felt loose, he woke the girls up. “C’mon, let’s see if we can find the other two chosen ones.”

They walked throughout the town, inquiring with various adventurers and townspeople as to the whereabouts of their targets. They gave what descriptions they could: a short, young, up-and-coming magician with brown hair, dressed in blue; and a dark-dressed, one-armed rogue wielding a rare dagger. Unfortunately, they were unable to come up with any good leads. Even after asking nearly everyone in town, the only people who knew anything were a few people who had seen similar-looking adventurers passing through town in the direction of Ellinia, which they already knew.

After a solid hour of questioning, the trio took a break by having lunch in Mushroom Park. They discussed what they could while they ate, even though they didn’t have any new information.

“The last we heard, the group had left Ellinia,” Damien said. “If no one here had seen them recently, then it’s likely they went to Perion, and are still there.”

“It’s understandable,” Crow added. “They had a warrior in the group, so they probably thought he was one of the chosen.”

“Yeah, but it’s been a while since they left, from what we know,” Moira thought aloud. “It’s more than likely they know their warrior isn’t the one.”

“Meaning they’ll leave soon,” Crow concluded through a mouthful of rice ball.

“So we have two options,” Moira suggested. “Either we leave here and try to intercept them again, or we wait here for them to arrive.” She then looked at Damien, as did Crow.

Damien let out a metallic sigh through his mask. “We stay,” he said, and nothing more.

The girls nodded. As they ate, Crow looked at Damien again and chuckled. “You know, you haven’t eaten anything yet,” she said with a raised eyebrow.

Damien was taken aback. “Oh, right,” he responded dumbfoundedly. He then grabbed a sandwich, and turned around, his back facing the others.

“Um, how do you eat, anyway?” Moira asked curiously.

“Pretty much how any other person eats,” Damien responded. “The only difference is, well, you really don’t want to watch me eat.”

The two girls merely shrugged before they started eating rice cakes.

After lunch, the trio walked around town for a while. Eventually, their stroll took them to Mushroom Park. As they took in the sights and warm air, Crow spotted a tall building built into a tree near the end of the park. “Hey, I know this place!” she announced all of a sudden. “This is Athena Pierce’s home. She’s the job master of archers on Victoria Island. Moira, you’re one of the four chosen, according to those I used to work with. I bet Athena would like to know that.”

“What interest would a job master have with the four chosen ones?” Moira asked, confused.

“According to the forces of darkness at work, the job masters are working to get the four prophecized adventurers together, so they may be accounted for and ready to fight. Athena is one such person, and she’ll be sure to help.”

Once the trio were at the house, Crow eagerly knocked on the door. “Come on in,” a fair voice called in response. Inside, the group looked around at the well-kept interior, made mostly of oak wood and filled with books and antiques. “Looks comfortable,” Damien remarked.

“Athena? Are you here?” Crow asked, not seeing the job master around.

“One moment, please,” came a voice from above, followed by softer voices. It was evident Athena was talking with another person at the moment, so Damien, Moira, and the Crow each grabbed a chair and waited.

A few minutes passed before a pair of archers, one male and one female, came down from upstairs, both of them chatting to each other excitedly as they left the house. Athena came downstairs seconds later. “Sorry I kept you waiting,” she said as she descended. “I had just promoted those two to their second jobs, and-” she stopped suddenly when her eyes saw Moira. “You…you’re here…the one I saw in my dream.”

Moira looked up in response, and she herself gasped as well. “You…I saw you in MY dreams as well,” she said.

The job master approached Moira with an interested look on her face. Her long, white hair flowed as she walked. Her golden headband glistened in the light coming from the windows. She found another chair and sat with the group. “So we’ve seen eachother in our dreams,” Athena said to Moira. “Then it’s certain: you are the second lightbringer. Come upstairs, all of you. We have much to discuss.”

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Ngh, short chapter this time. This section was a bit harder to put together. Mayhaps if I end this chappie now, I’ll come up with more later. Hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

Previous installments:

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