《Mythical Fights》


 Prologue + Chapter 1

    Sword''s clang, fire spreads, machines whirl, so much blood, too much blood! Make it stop! Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP! Silence reigns. This war...this war shall repeat itself...over and over again until one day...one day it shall be won! The Darkest Hour is starting once more.


    Chapter 1


    I was out for a small flight when I noticed a small amount of red and pure white in a forest of green, so I went to investigate. As I got closer to the unnatural forest color, I realized that it was a bit of white highlights in red hair which was connected to a boy. The boy was sleeping on the ground, without a blanket or anything. I slowly approached since it was rare for anyone outside of fairies to be inside the fairy forest. The boy was unusual looking with weird, scaled clothes and spikes along his spine. "Um...hello? Mr. Weird Boy? Are you ok?" I asked as I gently landed on the ground beside the sleeping boy.


    I was just beginning to worry that the boy was dead when he suddenly bolted upright, screaming, "No!"


    I flinched away from him as I said, "Dude! You almost just gave me a heart attack! I was beginning to think you were dead."


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    The boy stared at me for a few seconds, to the point I was beginning to get uncomfortable before finally asking, "You''re a fairy?"


    "Last I checked, I was," I answered a little bit confused as I looked at my flame-colored wings that had hints of midnight blue streaks in them.


    "So...that means this is the fairy kingdom?" the mystery boy questioned.


    "Well...I mean it''s called the fairy forest. As far as I know, it hasn''t been called the fairy kingdom in eons almost...but I guess it''s the same thing." I said still confused. He simply nodded before starting to walk away. "Hey! Where are you going? What were you doing sleeping on the ground? Who even are you?" I asked as I quickly followed him.


    He looked over his shoulder as he answered, "I''m going to the Elf Kingdom. I was just sleeping, and shouldn''t you tell someone your name before asking for theirs?"


    "Oh...right. My name''s Flame! Prince Flame of the Fairy Forest!" I answered, happily. "Also, you''re heading toward the center of the fairy forest...the Elven Kingdom is that way," I added as I pointed toward the west.


    He eyed me for a second before turning westward, continuing to walk as he simply said, "I''m Ice." He stopped as he seemed to contemplate something before adding, "Would you mind showing me to the Elf Kingdom?" I thought about it for a bit because on the one hand, I would love to go visit the Elven Kingdom but on the other, my father would be furious with me for leaving the forest. He''s always telling me that it''s dangerous outside of the forest.


    "Alright," I answered, deciding that I wanted to see the outside world...besides it couldn''t be that dangerous, right? Oh, how wrong I was.

 Chapter 2

    "Finally!!" I almost shouted as we came into view of the Elven wall which surrounded the Elven Kingdom.


    "Sorry...I really thought I knew the way from that tree." Ice said.


    "You said that every other tree and you were wrong every time!" I complained, laughing a little. I led the way, following the wall until we came to the gate part of it.


    "Looks like something is going on?" Ice mentioned. I looked over to see an elven girl with blond hair bending over to pick up a little wooden spider with what looked like wings attached to it. She was wearing a yellow t-shirt with brown pants and red suspenders.


    "I''m sorry! I was sure it would work this time." She said to an angry-looking elven man. I noticed that the wood of the spider was bad...it was rotten which is bad for building things with.


    "You say that every time! When are you going to give up this stupid hobby of yours? You''ll never be able to make anything worth-wild...or that works!" the elven man snapped at the girl who looked like she might start to cry.


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    I growled under my breath, but it was louder than I meant it to be, "Way to be a jerk."


    The elven man glared at me, "Excuse me!?"


    I was not one to back down, so I stated, "I mean picking on a girl who''s younger than you is a jerk move." I noticed a pile of wood and walked over, "She''s even starting to cry because you''re being a jerk to her. Sure, she messed something up but that''s no excuse to act like a jerk. For starters miss, you need to pick the wood for your projects better. I can see that the wood used to make that...whatever it''s supposed to be, is rotten so it''s a bad choice for building. This one, however, is a better choice since it''s not rotten or has any visible flaws in it so it''ll be better." I picked up the chosen piece of wood and held it out to the elven girl who hesitatingly took it from me. "Don''t give up! I''m sure you''ll figure it out if you keep finding the flaws in your creation!" I added happily.


    "Thanks." She said, a small smile appearing on her face before she ran off.


    The elven man growled at me, "You don''t know how annoying that little pest is." He looked like he was going to hit me for a second before a blade almost sliced his throat.


    "Ops...Sorry." Ice said, apparently having "accidentally" knocked over a piece of armor that was on sale, including the sword that was now laying on the ground at the man''s foot. "Come on Flame. Let''s go." He added already walking away as if he was done with this conversation. I eyed the man but he seemed terrified of another "accidental" attack from my mysterious friend, so I quickly chased after Ice.

 Chapter 3

    We were standing outside of a blocked-off tunnel as Ice shifted some of the wood planks that were used to block the entrance so we could enter the tunnel. "So...Why are we going into this tunnel? It had to have been sealed off for a reason, right?" I asked, looking toward my mysterious friend.


    Before Ice could say anything, a male voice spoke up from behind us, "You''re not allowed in there." Ice looked over his shoulder while I turned around to face the speaker. Standing behind us was the girl from earlier with an elven boy. The boy had blond hair and sky-blue eyes. He was wearing all regal blue clothes, marking himself as rich.


    "Why?" I asked, confused, "I remember hearing that the underground tunnels were a favorite tourist-type destination."


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    "Because it''s dangerous, stupid." The boy answered causing me to get slightly angry.


    "Did you just call me stupid!?" I snapped.


    The girl spoke before her companion could answer me, "Something''s been attacking the people who enter the tunnels lately. It started about two days ago and the king decided to bane entry until it can be taken care of."


    "Exactly so if you wish to live, you won''t even attempt to enter there." The boy said, all matter-of-factly. This boy is annoying!


    "You can stay out here if you''d like but I''m going inside." Ice told me as he looked at me before he turned around. Without waiting for anyone to say anything he walked into the tunnel, disappearing into the darkness. I thought about it for only a second but...this boy made me curious, and I had to know why he needed to enter a dangerous place that could get him killed, so I followed him.

 Chapter 4

    "Wow," I said as I looked around the tunnel. I had always imagined the elven tunnels as dark and creepy, but this was just gorgeous. The gemstones embedded in the walls gave a light glow around the tunnel. Ice was waiting there, the glow making his hair resemble fire with sparkling snow. Honestly, it was an unusual sight to behold.


    "It''s breathtaking isn''t it." I heard the girl say behind me and looked to find that both the girl and the boy had followed us inside.


    "You decided to come along?" Ice asked although he didn''t sound all that surprised.


    "Of course! It doesn''t look like you have any weapons besides I demand to know what you need so badly that you''d come down into known danger!?" the boy asked.


    Ice stayed silent for a long minute, "I can''t tell you."


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    "You can''t tell me! Why can''t you tell me?" the boy asked.


    I looked at Ice before turning back toward the boy and asking, "Well, who are you? What makes you think we''d answer any question when we don''t even know who you two are?"


    "Oh...We did forget to introduce ourselves!" the girl said, giggling a little, "I''m Invent."


    The boy sighed as he mumbled, "I did forget my manners." He then said in a normal tone, "My name''s Prince."


    "He''s the prince of our kingdom." Invent giggled.


    "Your parents called a prince, Prince...Did your parents hate you?" I asked, slightly shocked.


    Prince ignored me as he looked at Ice, "So, what are you doing here?"


    Ice simply shook his head, "I have no obligation to answer you."


    "Who are you two?" Invent asked.


    "Oh! I''m Flame of the Fairy Forest." I answered, happily. Ice stared at me for a few seconds with a saddened expression on his face.


    "Ice." That was all he gave as an answer before he turned and headed down the tunnel.


    "Hey! Answer me! Why do you need to be down here!?" Prince snarled, chasing after him. I shared a glance with Invent as we followed them.

 Chapter 5

    "Do you even know where you''re going?" Prince hissed-growled. We had been walking through the elven tunnels for what felt like hours now.


    "How could I know where I''m going? I''ve never been in these tunnels before." Ice answered plainly.


    "Then why did you have to come down here!?" Prince hissed again. I swear this guy is annoying, asking the same thing multiple times despite Ice refusing to answer that question. Ice stopped in a cavern for a second as if he was listening to something before, he continued onwards, without another word. Prince looked at me, "And why would you follow him if you have no idea what he''s after?"


    "That''s none of your business but..." I watched Ice walk away until he was out of earshot, "I just feel like following him is the right thing to do. Why are you two following us?"


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    "I have the same feeling oddly enough?" Invent said, looking confused.


    Prince looked down as he answered, "Honestly, I have that same feeling as well. Could something important be about to happen, involving him?" I shrugged but I had never thought of that possibility before. Eventually, we came to a split in the tunnel with one tunnel going to the left and the other going to the right.


    "Which way now?" Invent asked, looking toward Ice. Ice looked left then right and back again but didn''t answer. He looked to be...searching for something, maybe a sign of whatever he was after. Suddenly we heard a loud roar echoing throughout the tunnels, coming from the left one.


    "W-What was that!?" I asked, my voice shaking a little bit.


    "I don''t know but it came from the left." Prince answered as he gripped the handle of his sword.


    "So, you''re down the left." Ice mumbled before he headed down the left tunnel!


    We all stared at him in disbelief and shock before Prince snapped, "Shouldn''t we be avoiding whatever it is!"


    Ice looked over his shoulder as he simply stated, "You don''t have to follow me." We all stared after him then exchanged a glance before chasing after him.

 Chapter 6

    We had been walking for a while again, the sounds of roaring getting louder as we went before we finally entered a huge open spaced cavern. It had green grass and the glow from the gemstones in the walls made the place look ethereal but what really stood out was the dragon in the center of it!? "A dragon!! Those are deceased!" Prince snapped.


    "It''s beautiful." Invent whispered in awe. It didn''t really look beautiful to me but to each their own, I guess. It looked fierce with huge claws, sharp pointy teeth, scales covering its entire body, spikes along the back, and huge wings. It also looked like it wanted to rip us to shreds!


    "So, you''ve lost your mind." Ice mumbled before he suddenly lunged sideways. I looked back at the dragon only to see it coming toward us!


    "Move!" Prince yelled as he shoved me sideways, out of harm''s way. I flapped my wings a bit so I could twist and land on my back. Invent and Prince dove into in the opposite direction of me with Prince lashing out with his sword to do...absolutely no damage to the creature. "What do we do now, Ice!?"


    "Shouldn''t we run!?" Invent asked as she took out a hammer. I guess it was her only weapon. Ice simply shook his head, staring sadly at the dragon. The dragon lunged toward me, claws slashing toward me as I lunged sideways throwing a ball of fire at it. My fire did nothing at all to it.


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    "It''s a DRAGON, you stupid fairy! Dragons are practically immune to fire! Throw some water on it!" Prince yelled at me. I nearly froze in fear at the thought. Before I could do anything, it lunged at Prince and Invent who dove in opposite sides, Prince slashing at it with his sword and Invent falling on the ground. The dragon whirled onto her as she struggled to get back up.


    "Invent!!" Prince and I yelled at the same time as we moved to try to help her. In my mind if one of us died then all of us would die. Suddenly Ice was standing in front of Invent, calmly as the dragon skidded to a halt in front of him. It seemed to be in shock at Ice''s bravery which I understood since Prince, and I was in the same boat.


    Calmly Ice spoke, "Kitty...that''s enough. Do.Not.Hurt.Her!" There was a vague threat in his voice, and I didn''t know why but I had the feeling he could hurt this dragon if he wanted to...or maybe it was more like HAD to.


    The dragon stared at him confused before it finally spoke in a gruff voice that was laced with confusion, "Draggon Maaster?" Ice simply nodded.


    The next thing we knew a puff of smoke filled the area as a feminine voice appeared, "Finally!! I''ve been calling out for you for what feels like forever!" As the smoke cleared, the dragon was gone and in its place was a small cat with wings!!

 Chapter 7

    "What the...What is that!? Where did the dragon go!? Don''t walk away from me without answering, Ice!?" Prince snarled. I laughed as Invent stifled a giggle.


    The cat looked at us, then at Ice, then back to us before finally saying, "My name''s Kitty the dragon cat! I''m Ice''s guardian." She then launched herself into the air and followed Ice, easily catching up to him.


    "That doesn''t answer anything!!" Prince yelled after them.


    "I''m sure Icee will explain it all later...right?" Invent asked. I nodded although Ice''s record of actually telling us stuff was nonexistent at the moment. Prince sighed but gave in as we followed after Ice and Kitty. Eventually we made it back to the cavern where Ice had stopped in, except it was different now. Before it had been an empty cavern but now it was like a lake! The entire bottom of the cavern was full of deep water with no way to walk around the pool of water.


    "This...This wasn''t here when we first came through right?" Invent asked, her voice full of curiosity. Ice shook his head while Kitty landed on his shoulder.


    "She''s up to her old tricks again." Kitty mumbled shaking her head slightly, "Honestly, she should have more control over herself, so she doesn''t cause problems for others."


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    We all eyes her, even Ice before he simply said, "Who just tried to kill three innocent people?"


    "Are you siding with her!? Besides I''m always cranky when I first wake up." Kitty said indignantly.


    "We''ll have to go through it...theirs no other way back to the exit." Prince stated.


    My panic was rising as I stuttered, "W-We WHAT!"


    "We swim...or at least Ice, Invent and I swim. You and Kitty can just fly over it." Prince stated, clearly done with this conversation. I eyed the water as he continued, "At least you should be able to control it to not get you wet, if you did swim."


    "Y-Yeah..." I stammered a bit flustered.


    "Oh, come on Prince. It won''t be that bad." Invent giggled as she started wading out into the pool. Prince shook his head before he followed after her. Kitty flew quickly over the pool as Ice swam out. Oddly enough Ice made it to the other side seconds after Kitty did. I took a deep breath before I started flying over the water. By the time the others were on dry land again, I was only halfway there. That''s when it happened. Something wrapped around my waist, yanking me into the water with a scream on my lips.


    As I was plunged deeper into the depths of the water I heard a voice, echoing through the water itself, "Miiiiinnnneee!!" I started to black out from lack of oxygen, but I noticed a stick at the bottom of the pool. The thing that had me flung me around a bit and as we passed the stick, I feebly grabbed it, hoping to use it to dislodge myself from the beast that had me. I managed to pull the stick free, but I passed out right afterwards.

 Chapter 8

    I gave a groggy type of moaning sound as I woke up, blinking my eyes in confusion before starting to panic. Where was I? This wasn''t my room! It was far too fancy to be mine plus it lacked the earthy tones of the tree. All fairies had their houses inside of trees in a sort of treehouse styled building. Mine was an ancient willow tree that had survived millions of years. Father said the tree was able to protect those who resided inside. Either way this was not my house or my room. The last thing I remember was being thrown around by something...I never actually saw what had ahold of me. "Your awake." came a quiet feminine voice. I looked around but wasn''t seeing anything until a small squirrel jumped onto the bed beside me. "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to knock you out so badly. I was just having a little bit of fun." The squirrel said causing me to scream and fling it out the door which had just opened.


    Invent peeked inside before coming fully in as she said, "Well at least your alright. You had us worried."


    "W-What was that!?" I asked, slightly freaked out by a talking squirrel which even for a fairy was unheard of.


    "Apparently, its name is Kraken, and it protects the wand you pulled free. Ice hasn''t said anything else about it yet despite Prince trying to get him to talk." Invent giggled.


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    I stared at her a bit before asking the obvious question, "Where am I?"


    Invent gave me a tiny smirk, "Prince''s room. He insisted that you be in his room, in his bed and refused to let you sleep in anyone else''s bed. I think he liiikes you~"


    "Huh? Why would he like me?" I asked, shocked at the idea that a guy who seemed to dislike me could actually like me.


    "I don''t know but..." she went a bit quiet before she came over and sat down on the bed, placing her legs crisscrossed as she faced me, "Ice mumbled something about it being the only logical explanation, but he didn''t say anything else. I think he noticed that I had overheard him."


    I stared down for a few seconds as I asked, "I wonder what he meant?" Invent shrugged her shoulders as we thought about the possibilities behind his meaning.


    "Well, I guess it doesn''t really matter right now anyways. The king wants to see us...that''s actually why I came to pick you up." Invent said.


    "A meeting with royalty...maybe you''ll find your future lover?" suggested Kraken who had came back inside and remained quiet on the bedside table.


    "I doubt it..." I whispered bitterly.


    Kraken jumped onto my shoulder, turned around so he/she (what gender even is this?) so it was facing the same way as I was before speaking in its quiet voice, "You never know, my friend. I meet my lover in an unsuspected way so maybe you will as well." I wondered who this little squirrel''s lover could be and where were they now as I followed Invent to the Elven Kingdom''s thrown room. We had more questions than answers at this point and the only one who could answer any of them was a mysterious boy who refused to tell.

 Chapter 9

    As we entered the throne room, I got my first look at the elven king. He was a blond older man with golden eyes wearing regal clothes in varied hues of blue. Ice was nowhere to be seen but Prince was kneeling before his father. "I know what I did was wrong father but I...I felt like I had to go along to help keep them safe."


    The king sighed, "I''m not mad at you, my son. I''m proud that you did what you did to protect others instead of trying to prove yourself or something equally as stupid."


    "Your majesty...Flame is awake." Invent said as she gave a bow which I quickly tried to copy but wound up falling forward, just managing to catch myself before faceplanting.


    "You do not need to bow, young prince." The king said.


    I looked up at him in surprise as Invent asked, "You''re a prince!?"


    "Y-Yes but how did you know?" I asked.


    The king slightly giggled, "I was present when you were born. I bet you didn''t know that did you?" I shook my head no as he went quiet for a few seconds before he added, "I bet there is a lot your father has neglected to tell you...although I guess we all have secrets we have kept from our children...except for maybe Bane and Cynthia."


    "Bane and Cynthia?" Prince asked, hesitatingly.


    The king looked at his son as he answered, "They were my friends and allies twelve years ago." He looked down sadly before lightly shaking his head, "Anyways. You three are here to tell me why exactly you went into the tunnels that at least two of you knew where forbidden to enter due to how dangerous they had become." The king returned to his throne, motioning for us to tell him.


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    "Wait! What about Ice!? What happened to Ice?" I asked, still not seeing him.


    "Ice?" the king asked before he seemed to have noticed the squirrel on my shoulder, "Wait...is that...could it be...Kraken!?" He stood up in shock, still staring at Kraken. I shared a glance at Prince and Invent as we all wondered how the elven king knew Kraken.


    "How do you...wait...Prince Alphonse!?" Kraken asked, her voice sounding incredulously.


    King Alphonse laughed, "It''s king now actually. We all have become kings and queens. It has been twelve years since you were last here...that explains it. Flareson hated him so of course he would try to avoid the rest of us." He sounded sad by that fact.


    "Wait! Dad, you know Kraken?" Prince asked, confused.


    Kraken answered, "Of course we know each other! We met twenty years ago."


    "It''s only been twelve years, Kraken." King Alphonse laughed before adding, "You''ve never been very good with time."


    "Wait! What does my father have to do with this!?" I asked, confused.


    "Flareson was one of the chosen heroes twelve years ago along with Bane and I. We were only princes with no real-world experience at the time when we met him. He was called Dragon Master although I guess you would know him as Ice now." King Alphonse spoke.


    "Chosen heroes? You''ve never told me about that?" Prince questioned.


    King Alphonse gave his son an apologetic look, "I never thought he would return so soon after our time...or get any of you involved in it especially not Flareson''s son."


    "Why wouldn''t he get Flame involved?" Invent asked.


    King Alphonse sighed before answering, "I can''t answer that, Invent. Somethings are not meant to be shared by others...I''ll simply say that it''s a family matter."


    As I wondered what exactly my father had neglected to tell me Prince asked his father, "What about me then. You''ve been keeping this from me!"


    "No, I haven''t. I may not have told you the whole truth or made it sound like it had actually happened, but I have told you about it. The stories I told you as a child all came from my time with the other kings." King Alphonse told Prince.

 Chapter 10

    I sighed as I was once again sitting on Prince''s bed. I was trying to sort through everything we had learned about Ice and our own history. My father and the kings from the other two kingdoms had been apart of a war just before we were born, with a place called the Dark Kingdom. The Dark Kingdom reappeared speriodically to wage a war known as the Darkest Hour with the other kingdoms. Ice disappeared after the war was over only to reappear when it was about to begin but we still don''t know how to end it permanently. All I knew was that I was involved in this now...and I felt like I was destined to be involved somehow. "You should get some more sleep...We have a long day tomorrow." Prince said as he entered the room.


    "Huh? Um...Where exactly is my room?" I asked, eyeing him since no one had showed me to my quest room yet.


    Prince flushed a bit as he avoided my eyes, "You''re sleeping in here with me...the quest rooms aren''t ready for quests yet." I stared at him in disbelief as my face turned red.


    "Oh...S-Should I sleep on the bed, or do you want it?" I asked shyly.


    Prince looked at me before flushing redder as he mumbled, "W-We can just share the bed."


    "O-Or I c-could j-just s-sleep o-outside!" I suggested, already heading for the door. Prince grabbed my wrist without warning and practically yanked me, so I landed flat on my back on the bed, "Oof. What the..." I began only to cut myself off as Prince pinned me to the bed. I stared up at him as he stared down at me. Something was wrong with him. His eyes were...weird and I was beginning to get more afraid. "P-Prince?" I asked. He moved one hand up to my cheek causing me to flinch a little. He leaned down and I was scared so I closed my eyes.


    "Yeoch!" Prince screamed in pain. My eyes flew open to see Kraken hanging off Prince''s wrist, her teeth in his flesh as her little claws scratched at his arm.


    "Snap out of it!" She snarled as she let go of his wrist, landing expertly onto the bed, staring up at Prince.


    "W-What was I about to..." Prince looked up at me who was shaking in fear, close to crying. He gave me a pained look before looking away again and saying, "I...I think it''d be best if I sleep in my father''s room tonight." He then turned around and left the room, shutting the door behind him.


    "What was wrong with him, Kraken? He looked like he was...bewitched or something." I asked, my voice full of fear.


    Kraken looked symphatically at me, "I think it''d be best if you get some sleep." I sighed a bit but curled under the blankets and drifted off to sleep.

 Chapter 11

    I sighed as I walked around the Elven castle, Kraken sitting on my shoulder. I had awoken at the crack of dawn and was trying to figure out what to do until the time of our meeting. I wound up finding Invent working diligently onto something, so I walked up behind her to look over her shoulder. She was carefully attaching a wooden wing to the body of a wooden spider. "What is that anyways?" I asked.


    She jumped in fright as she whirled around to stare at me, "Flame! Don''t sneak up on me like that!"


    "Sorry Invent...I was just curious on what you were doing?" I apologized.


    "It''s alright Flame." She gave me a gentle smile before turning back toward her winged spider thing, "I''m trying to create a new machine to deliver messages but...I''ve never had any luck in getting it to actually work before." She seemed sad by this.


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    "I can understand that." I said sadly.


    Invent looked curiously at me, "What happened back in the tunnels? You''re a fairy so you should be able to handle water, but it was like you couldn''t do anything against it?"


    I looked sadly down at the ground before sitting next to her as I answered, "For some reason I''ve...I''ve never been able to do anything water related. I can''t even swim."


    We sat there in silence for a while before Invent finally spoke, "Maybe...your waterpower is replaced by something else? We should ask your father to tell us about your mother some time! Maybe she had something that replaced your waterpower!?" I gave her a grateful smile for trying to encourage me.


    "Maybe...Come on. We better get going. It''s almost time to meet up with Prince." I answered as I stood up and held out my hand to help Invent to her feet. She nodded before quickly grabbing a few building materials and equipment to shove into her pockets. How all that stuff fit inside her pockets, I will probably never know. Once she was finished, we both left the room, heading for the throne room and the beginning of a long journey.

 Chapter 12

    We were just leaving the kingdom when we heard Ice''s voice, "So you''re still going to follow me?" We all looked toward the wall to find Ice leaning against the left side of the gate, hidden from those within the wall, staring down. Kitty was perched on top of the wall watching us.


    "Is that a bad thing?" I asked. Ice simply shook his head no then nodded. Why does he have to be so confusing?


    Invent smiled, "King Alphonse said to tell you that he knows you didn''t mean for it to happen and that he trusts you completely with his son." Ice looked a bit shocked before lightly smiling.


    "He and Bane always were the more forgiving ones." Ice whispered before giving his head a light shake, "If you plan on coming with me then let''s go." He started walking toward the north, so we followed him. After a while we ran into the first signs of something terrible happening.


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    "These footprints are huge?" Prince questioned as he knelt beside the massive footprint. Ice seemed to be on edge.


    "We shouldn''t linger here for too long." Ice spoke quietly.


    "I agree with Ice. We should move on before what made those footprints finds us." Kraken spoke in her quiet voice.


    "Why? What made them? I''ve never even heard of anything that leaves footprints that big." Invent asked, using a whisper.


    Ice shook his head, silently telling us that he wasn''t going to tell us when Prince whispered, "Either a giant or a troll!" He looked up at us, "My father once told me inside of his old fairytales that giants and trolls had big feet and naturally leave big footprints. If the fairytale about the Darkest Hour was true than the creatures inside the story would be as well, right?"


    Ice thought for a second before he finally nodded, "Yes but I don''t know which one it is and I...I didn''t want to frighten you." I shivered and saw Invent start looking around concernedly.


    "D-Do you think it''s still here?" She asked.


    Ice shrugged, "If it is then we need to stay quiet and keep moving." I was about to ask just how much danger this mission of ours was going to put us in when the answer came to kill us.

 Chapter 13

    "HEEROOEESS!" The creature yelled as it ripped a tree out of the earth and flung it at us, "I SHAALL DEESTROOY YOOU!" I flew sideways, quickly avoiding the tree while Invent and Prince ran the opposite way. Ice simply jumped forward landing lightly on his feet a mere inch from where the tree hit.


    "Why is it talking like that? And why is it screaming!?" Prince demanded as he yanked his sword from its scabbard.


    Ice dodged a swing from the massive creature as he answered, "It''s a troll. They always shout and speak that way." He said this like it should have been obvious but...trolls didn''t exist!! Yet here one was!


    "Ok. How do we beat it?" I asked but Ice simply frowned before shaking his head, almost like he knew but didn''t know...or maybe he didn''t remember? I saw Invent take out her hammer and hit the trolls arm causing it to roar in pain or maybe anger?


    "Well, we better think of something, or it''ll kill us!" Prince snarled out as he dodged, rolled and then swung his sword, cutting into the troll''s meaty leg.


    "HEEROOEES DIIEE!" The troll roared and I had a crazy idea that hopefully was just crazy enough to work.


    "I have an idea, guys!" I shouted.


    "What is it?" Invent shouted back as she lunged sideways to avoid the troll''s arm.


    "I''m going to try tying it up and then," I quickly flew backward to avoid an arm, "I''ll see if I''ve mastered the earth skill of engulfing."


    "What''s engulfing?" Prince asked.


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    Ice answered, "It''s an earth skill that causes the ground underneath something to...I guess devour would be the right word here...whatever is directly on top of it. Naturally fairies are immune to this particular skill since they can fly." I nodded in agreement with him.


    "Ok but what about the rest of us?" Prince snapped, lashing with his sword.


    "The magic wand should be able to help cause it to only devour your target." Kraken spoke from her position on a tree branch above my head. She then jumped onto my shoulder, "I''ll help you use the wand to channel your magic." I nodded as I pulled the wand from my pocket where I stored it. Once it was out of my pocket it instantly grew to a staff sized weapon. It had intricate designs covering the entirety of it with a brilliant pure white jeweled orb on the top. I took a deep breath before I started. The jewel on the top of my wand turned pure green as vines sprouted from the ground and quickly wrapped around the trolls'' legs. From its legs the vines slithered quickly up its body to wrap its arms together at its body. I didn''t feel the least bit drained like I usually did when I attempted this spell. I then concentrated on the ground. Before long a low rumbling sound could be heard as the jewel glowed pure green. With a sound like lightning, the ground under the troll just caved in. The troll vanished within the ground, and I felt woozy seconds before I collapsed.


    Prince caught me, "Flame! Are you alright!?"


    I nodded as I mumbled, "Tired."


    "Using your magic is always tiring...especially for the higher, more advanced spells." Kraken quietly said.


    "The wand was designed to take some of the energy but not all of it. If the spell is a weak one, the wand can absorb the full amount so you will not use any of your own energy, but the more powerful spells will still take energy from you." Ice explained which was rare. His eyes seemed sad as he whispered to himself, "It was made in honor of someone a long time ago." I don''t think he meant for us to hear that but none of us pressed him for more information. By now we had realized that Ice will tell us things when he deemed us ready to hear.


    "I think we should take a break. It''s almost dark out and Flame should rest a bit after doing that." Invent said and we all agreed, deciding to set up camp for the night when we found an empty cave.

 Info and Bonus scene

    Hello,


    I just want to let you all know about the bonus scenes. These are scenes that are little bonuses that are told from a different character''s perspective. Usually, the story is told from Flame''s pov but the bonus scenes will be told from one of the other main characters. This first one is told from Invent''s pov.


    If you''d be so kind as to also read my other non-fanfiction work: Mystical Realm, I''d really appreciate it.


    As always, tell me what you think. I truly appreciate any comment I receive. Thanks for reading, commenting, and hopefully liking my stories. Now onto the first bonus story


    Bonus chapter 13.5


    <u>Invent''s POV</u>


    We had decided on taking turns for night watch and I had offered to take first watch. I was sitting at the entrance of the cave, fiddling with my flying spider prototype. It had already been a few hours since my shift had started but I had no intentions of waking Ice up who was supposed to take the next shift. I sighed before I nearly jumped out of my skin as Ice spoke up from behind me, "Something on your mind?" I looked toward him and bite my bottom lip, trying to decide if I should tell him what had me down. Before I could decide Ice spoke up again, "It might help to talk about it with someone."


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    I nodded before taking a deep breath and then looked back down onto my creation, "I''m...just wondering...why I''m here?"


    "What do you mean?" Ice asked, confused as he came over to sit next to me.


    "I mean...Do I have a reason to be here? I feel like I need to stay with you and the others but...for what? Am I here to be the prince''s company or do I actually have a bigger purpose? Am I a hero or just an accompanying companion?" I asked, my tone full of confusion and sadness. I could feel the tears falling down my face.


    Ice remained quiet for a second before finally looking up and asking, "Why worry?"


    I looked at him, "What?"


    "Look at the stars...do they ever worry about what their reason is? What is the star''s reason for existing?" Ice looked at me, "There are many questions in this world. Some are easy to answer, others are not as easy but there is one thing I know for certain. We all have a purpose in this world, even the stars, though we may not ever find what it is, we do have one." Ice went quiet for a few seconds, thinking about something before he added, "However I shall tell you that you WILL be a great inventor one day." Ice looked back up at the stars, "I have a good feeling that this time...this war will be won permanently.


    I smiled lightly at him before whispering, "Thank you."


    "You''re welcome. Now it''s time for you to get some sleep and for me to take over. Go on now, shoo to bed with you." Ice added with a tiny giggle. I giggled as well before heading to bed, feeling much better about my role in this war.

 Chapter 14

    We had been following Ice for hours now before Prince finally snapped, "How much longer until we get to the Fire Kingdom?"


    Ice eyed him then looked around before finally answering, "I don''t know? I''m not for sure where we are?"


    "How...Just how did you manage to get lost when there was a ROAD!?" Prince yelled.


    Kitty spoke up from her perch on Ice''s shoulder, "Ice has never been very good at directions. He always gets lost no matter what. That''s why you really shouldn''t let him lead...ever."


    "Why didn''t you tell us that sooner?" I asked, concerned.


    "You never asked." Kraken spoke quietly. This squirrel seemed only able to speak in a very soft voice.


    I sighed, "Well now what? Which way should we go?"


    "This way!" Ice answered, pointing toward the west.


    "Yeah no." Prince responded, giving Ice a deadpanned look, "We''re not letting you lead anymore." Ice looked a little hurt but seemed to know better than to try and argue.


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    "Do fairies have any way of finding their way?" Invent asked.


    "Well...in a forest you want to head in the direction that the moss is." I answered. I noticed their confused faces, so I added, "The moss on trees...the side of the tree that has moss on it leads to civilization...however I''ve heard that it''s actually reversed when you''re trying to find the Fire Kingdom since they don''t have trees. So.... if we went by that rule then we need to go this way!" I pointed south. We went that way until we eventually came upon some type of huge area. There were remains of old buildings, just the barest hint of an ancient civilization.


    "Where are we?" Invent asked.


    Prince thought for a second before finally answering, "I have no idea. None of my father''s stories ever mentioned this place." I looked toward Ice to see him staring at the ground. His expression a mixture of sadness and anger. For a split second I swore I saw a man standing beside him, dressed in all red.


    "Ice." The man seemed to say sadly before just vanishing as Ice shook his head.


    "This place is long dead. We should go. Dead places like this breed monsters." Ice spoke as he turned to the left and walked away.


    Prince shrugged, "Nothing to be gained from staying here and he''s right that ancient places like this are the perfect spot for monsters to stay." We followed after Ice.


    "Did you guys see that man?" I asked. When both Invent and Prince shook their heads I continued, "Maybe it was my imagination then?" Was he a figment of my imagination or was he a ghost of the past? He seemed to know Ice by name and yet...I had a feeling he didn''t exist. He showed concern for Ice, but he had yet to appear before now. Was he connected to whatever used to be their? I shook my head since there was no point in thinking about it.

 Chapter 15

    "Finally!!" I shouted as the temperature started to climb. As a fairy who specializes in fire element, I wasn''t affected by the heat in the same way as others. I could tell it was getting warmer, but I couldn''t actually feel it. "I thought we''d be lost forever!"


    "What are you talking about? We''re still lost!" Prince snarled.


    "No. Flame is right. We''re close now. The Fire Kingdom is basically on a volcano so the hotter it gets the closer you are to it." Ice explained. While his explanation was good it made me wonder how did he know so much about the different kingdoms. He knew things about them from long before 12 years ago. The more I thought about Ice the more I came to realize that we didn''t really know anything about him.


    "What idiot would live on a volcano!?" Prince asked.


    Before anyone could answer him a bunch of people surrounded us, with their weapons already drawn as one walked forward, demanding, "Who are you? What do you want? Why are you here?" Prince put his hand on his sword''s handle, ready for a fight only to be grabbed from behind. The women who originally spoke, pointed her weapon at Prince as she spoke again, "Insolent Elf! You believe you can handle our heat! You shall burn for your insolence!" I could tell she meant it. She was going to have him burned by the man who now held him.


    Invent spoke quickly, "Please mam! He meant no disrespect to you. He was just preparing in case we HAD to fight."


    The woman turned her eyes onto Invent, "It does not matter why he was preparing to draw his blade. The fact remained that he was going to draw it." Before anyone else could say or do anything, Kitty became her dragon form, roaring at them all which sent several of them backwards and even caused the man holding Prince to release him.


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    She changed back into her flying cat form, landing on Ice''s shoulder as he spoke in a calm manner, "We are not your enemies, great fire spirits. I wish to be granted an audience with the Mighty Volcanoes."


    "The Mighty Volcanoes?" the women spoke, confused, "I have no idea what you''re talking about?" Ice looked so confused before a different man came through the crowd which parted for him with deep respect. The man had flaming red hair that actually moved like fire with a sort of reddish-orange eyes. He was wearing a sort of breathy type of regal red armor.


    "He means me, Commander Samantha. It was a code I gave him, but I neglected to inform all of my commanders and generals. It was meant to be where if someone knew the code then whoever they met out of my commanders and generals would bring them straight to me. Hello Dragon Master, my old friend." The man said.


    "Blane? You''ve changed a lot?" Ice spoke.


    Blane laughed loudly and jolly, "What did you expect old friend? It''s been twelve years since you last walked this planet, so naturally the others and I would change within that time...not to mention that you had a large part to play in who we became."


    "I''m sorry my king! I failed to realize that the dragon scaled one was the legendary Dragon Master." Commander Samantha quickly spoke, bowing.


    "It''s alright, Samantha. If he wasn''t my friend, I probably wouldn''t have noticed him at all. But you have always been quick to do what you could to keep your friends safe...even if you have no skills to use for yourself, old friend." King Blane said before he looked confused for a second. He then yelled, "OH! Cynthia! She has been dying to see you again, old friend. Ever since we got Alphonse''s letter that you were on your way but would probably get lost in the woods." King Blane laughed again before motioning for us to follow as he spoke to his soldiers, "These people are our quests and shall not be harmed by any of my subjects. Ready their rooms!" He then started to lead the way. Ice looked at us before rushing to catch up with the king and talking with him as he walked beside him. I shrugged as Invent, Prince and I shared a glance. None of us was expecting this and who is Cynthia? I thought only father, King Alphonse, and King Blane had traveled with Ice, so who was this woman and how did she fit into Ice''s story?

 Chapter 16

    The Fire Kingdom really WAS inside a volcano! The entire village was in the base of the volcano which was apparently protected by some sort of force field created by the fire spirits for when they have flammable quests. They had some interesting ways for farming and such, although I didn''t know how they did it. Their fields were located just outside by the entrance to the tunnel that lead to the village and was protected by the same force field that protected the village whenever quests arrived.


    "Wow!" Prince said in awe as we entered a huge cavern. It was lit by lava flowing down the sides of the cavern creating an eerily gorgeous type of light. The buildings looked to be ancient, made from some type of dark material? I wasn''t for sure what it was, but it was clearly lava-proof. There was connecting caves that branches off from the main cavern.


    King Blane noticed our amazed looks and giggled, "Yes, it is beautiful. The most amazing place in the entire world." Prince looked like he wanted to argue, and I had the intense urge to defend my home as well, but King Blane continued, "No need to get defensive, young princes. You''ll come to understand one day but every king and queen will claim that their kingdoms are the most amazing and beautiful place. We each have our own ideas on what is gorgeous. For us fire spirits, the heat is our homes. It''s our very blood! When we need to defend her, we jump at the opportunity to repay the volcano for her hospitality."


    Ice spoke in a whisper, "It''s too hot and lit for me." By now we had made it to the castle which was a towering building surrounded by lava right in the center of the volcano. The grand entrance was huge with three thrones although one of those thrones looked like it was for a prince or princess.


    A kind sounding voice spoke as a woman entered, "You have always preferred a darker cooler place, Dragon Master. But the heat and light does start to grow on you after a while." The woman wore a gorgeous shimmering blue dress and had pure black hair with the brightest shade of forest green eyes I had ever seen.


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    "Cynthia..." Ice said, his voice sad and his eyes downcast.


    "Ice." Invent sadly said.


    "Ice? Ah your new name!" King Blane spoke.


    "Ice...I do not blame you for what happened twelve years ago. My sister was prepared to do whatever she had to in order to protect the people she loved. Besides if you are to blame then so is Samuel. Like Blane he should have covered her instead he did not. If anything, you both share the blame." Cynthia said, kindly toward Ice.


    Ice gave her a tiny grateful smile before we heard a male''s voice speak, "Mom have you seen my swords? Are you sure, Mr. Dragon Master will ask for me to be a hero?" The boy who entered the room had flaming red hair (that like all fire spirits looked like it was moving) with bright red eyes, almost like fire itself. He was wearing regal red short-sleeved shirt, shorts that went to his knees, and flaming red shoes. He had a sword strapped to either side of his hips.


    Cynthia giggled as she looked toward him, "Your swords are on your hips dear. Now come over here and met Ice who we called Dragon Master."


    The boy approached and bowed to Ice, "It''s an honor to meet you Sir Ice. My name is Prince Volcan."


    "Hello." Ice said before turning toward Cynthia, "How did you...?"


    "Oh please. I know the heroes are always the royalty with one other from time to time. This elven girl must be the other hero if she is with you?" Cynthia answered.


    "An Elf?" Volcan asked.


    "Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Prince asked, already looking for a fight.


    "No. I don''t have a problem with it. I''ve just never met an elf as gorgeous as her before." Volcan said before seeming to realize what he had just said as he started to blush which made his cheeks seem to glow red. Prince stared shocked at him while Invent blushed as well. I almost laughed at his honesty.


    "Maybe we can have a unio..." Cynthia began before Volcan interrupted her.


    "MOM!!" He shouted his face glowing even redder. His mother and King Blane laughed.


    "My son states his mind with honesty in his heart but he''s a natural strategist." King Blane said, talking slightly to Ice.


    "I can see that." Ice answered, stifling a laugh.


    "A-Am I a hero?" Volcan asked, his tone slightly shaky. Ice simply nodded still refusing to say anything else on this topic. It was decided that we would spend the night then be on our way.

 Chapter 17

    It felt like mid-morning when we all got ready to leave but it was only predawn. I could tell that Ice was uncomfortable despite not showing any physical signs of it. All of us except for Volcan were glad to be heading away from the Fire Kingdom and back into the cool shade of the forest. As we walked, Volcan fell back from his place beside Ice to talk to me, "So, how''s your training going?"


    "Huh? Well...I mean I''m not the worst fairy ever." I stated a bit confused by his question.


    "I don''t mean your fairy training; I mean your succubus training! I''m getting pretty good at using it myself." Volcan said.


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    "My...My what!?" I asked still confused.


    Volcan stared at me as he spoke, "Y-You mean you don''t know anything about your mom?"


    I stared down as I answered, "I know she died shortly after I was born but nothing else. Father always looked so sad whenever I tried to press for more information that I stopped asking."


    "Uncle is an idiot. You don''t even know how to stop from accidentally using it!?" Volcan asked, shocked. Before I could answer he dropped a major fire storm on me, "Our mothers were princesses of the Dark Kingdom. They are succubus and their magic has passed to us. Your half succubus, Flame."

 Chapter 18

    We were running through the woods at pretty much top speed. "No one ever said anything about running from a giant blood thirsty wolf!" Prince snarled. The wolf chasing us was huge, twice our size, with fresh blood dripping down from its sharp fangs. It had black fur which would shine blue as he rose through the darkness, howling for blood. Prince and Volcan had both already tried to fight it but neither of their weapons had done any damage and Ice''s words had us running for our lives.


    "Don''t fight it. Can''t win! Fenrir is not to be fought." Ice said as he hesitated until we had started to run before following us.


    "Well how do we escape it!?" Invent asked but Ice simply shrugged.


    "As far as I know...no one has ever escaped Fenrir before." Ice stated before whispering to himself, "If he was here, Fenrir would be tamer at least." I opened my mouth to ask him who he was talking about when the ground disappeared and we all fell down a hole, with a scream on our lips.


    I groaned a bit as I woke up only to see that I was laying on top of someone, "Sorry!" I said as I quickly sat up.


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    "It''s alright." Prince answered, placing his hands gently on my hips as I straddled his crotch. "Are you alright?" His face was beat red as he asked, and I felt myself flushing a bit.


    Before I could say anything, we heard Kitty yell, "Ice wake up!" I looked over to see Ice laying down unconscious and there was blood coming down from his forehead.


    I got off Prince so he could get up as I went quickly over to Ice, "What''s wrong with him?" I was worried for our friend even though Volcan had told me that Ice had done something to make my father hate him so much, although he hadn''t told me what that was. Invent, Volcan and Prince came over as well.


    Kitty shook her head before speaking, "He isn''t waking up and he''s bleeding badly. We need to find Uni! She''s the healer of the group!"


    "Well then which way do we go?" Volcan asked, looking left and right down the tunnel. We heard a blood curdling howl coming from the right.


    "I''m guessing the left," I answered. Prince carefully got Ice onto Volcan''s back and we headed down the left. I hesitated before pulling out the wand and casting a growth spell to cause roots to grow and block the right path, buying us more time. Eventually, we came to an open cavern in which dug into the ground in the middle of the cavern, was a sword.


    A voice came from nowhere, "YYOOUU SSHHAALL NNOOTT PPAASS!!"

 Chapter 19

    I was honestly scared. We were being chased by Fenrir, a giant wolf, and now we had to deal with who knows what! "Sphinx! We do not have time for this! Get out of our way!" Kitty snarled.


    The mysterious voice spoke again, "YYOOUU SSHHAALL NNOOTT PPAASS UUNNTTIILL YYOOUU AANNSSWWEERR MMYY RRIIDDLLEE AANNDD PPRROOVVEE WWOORRTTYY OOFF TTHHEE SSWWOORRDD!!"


    Prince, in an angry tone, asked, "So we just need the stupid sword?"


    Kitty nodded, "Yes but Sphinx''s riddles are impossible to solve because they make no sense. It took Alphonse forever to figure out the one Sphinx gave him!"


    Prince rolled his eyes as he strode forward stopping in front of the sword and as he grabbed the handle he said, "Then don''t bother answering and just take the damn thing." We all watched in awe as he yanked the sword from the ground in one swift movement. "There sword obtained let''s go."


    As a brilliant light appeared the voice spoke in a clearer tone, "Heeeeyyyy! You''re supposed to answer my riddle not just take the sword! Also, did you realize that you have forgotten the rules of the challenge and are supposed to introduce yourself first, my new vict...I mean hero?" The creature standing in the middle of the room was a Sphinx. It had the head of a person with the body of a lion, the only difference between the legends and this one was the feathery wings it had. It flew over to look at Ice as it continued, "What happened to Ice? I thought he was unable to bleed cause of his immortality?"


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    "Just because he''s immortal doesn''t mean he''s immune to injury, you idiot!" Kitty snapped.


    Sphinx looked at her, "Ouch. Someone''s pissy today." He then flew over to Kraken, "Hey KrakKrak~ How''s it been, my girl?"


    "Does it ever stop talking?" Prince asked.


    "No/Nope" Kitty and Sphinx answered at the same time. Before Sphinx could say anything we heard that blood-curling howl echo through the tunnels again.


    "W-Was that the sound of F-Fenrir!?" Sphinx asked, clearly scared.


    "Yes and we''re trying to escape these tunnels before he gets here and eats us." Kitty snarled.


    Without any warning Sphinx flew in front before changing into a dog and running down the tunnel, leaving us behind as he shouted back, "I''ll see you at the exit then!"


    "He''s not very brave, is he?" Prince asked.


    All of a sudden, he was back and he grabbed Kraken gently in his mouth as he mumbled, "I am not letting Fenrir eat my Kraken!" before he took off back down the tunnel. We all followed in shocked amusement.

 Chapter 20

    "We made it!" Prince yelled. Sphinx and Kraken were waiting for us curled together rather cutely by a tree. I was exhausted from using so much magic to keep Fenrir at bay, but I managed to collapse the cave entrance before collapsing myself.


    "I''m exhausted," I whined.


    "Here is a riddle: We need to find Uni, but Flame should rest...what shall you do?" Sphinx asked, his tail wagging excitedly.


    "Why does it feel like he''s enjoying this too much?" Prince asked, eyeing him.


    "I-I''ll be fine," I said as I tried feebly to stand.


    Volcan put his hand on my shoulder and gently pushed me back down as he said, "We''ll split up. Invent and I shall look for Uni while Prince and you shall stay here with Ice." He then turned toward Kitty, "Sphinx indicated that Ice is immortal so we shouldn''t need to worry about finding her quickly, so we don''t need all of us looking. And if I''m right, Uni will be guarding another weapon so the only ones without a weapon should be the ones looking for her." Kitty nodded.


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    "I shall accompany you two. That means I''m entrusting Ice''s safety to the two of you.... Kraken don''t let me down!" Kitty said, eyeing Kraken and Sphinx who both nodded in agreement.


    "Good luck guys and keep your wits about you. Fenrir could find another way out for all that we know." Prince said before pointing toward...those ruins we had seen when we were trying to find the Fire Kingdom, "We''ll be over there. For some reason, I feel like it''s safer over there." Kitty and the other creatures seemed to not like that idea, but she said nothing against it either. Volcan nodded before he, Invent and Kitty headed off. I carefully got up but couldn''t move a single step.


    Sphinx came over, changing into his Sphinx form to catch me before I hit the ground, "II''LL CCAARRYY YYOOUU OOVVEERR TTHHEERREE." I simply lay against his fur as Prince carried Ice until we found a safe-looking spot.

 Chapter 21

    It had been a good while now. The sun was just starting to rise, and I felt much better although Prince wouldn''t let us leave saying, "We''re safer here." He had been practicing with his new sword, just swinging it around to get a better feel for holding it...I think. Ice was sleeping peacefully at least despite the amount of blood loss he had already lost and was still losing.


    "Ice is immortal..." I mumbled.


    Prince hesitated before speaking, "It makes sense...I mean he''s only 11 while father is 32 and they met 12 years ago meaning Ice would have had to be older than he looked. I...I just can''t believe we never questioned him before. I mean here we are risking our lives and we know next to nothing about him!" I opened my mouth only to hear a blood-chilling howl close by.


    "W-Was t-that F-F-Fenrir!?" I hissed in a whisper. Prince nodded, looking just as frightened as I felt. Here we were unable to run very well, in a slightly open area, with no way to defeat Fenrir...we are doomed. We heard a low growling as Fenrir slowly came around a crumbling building(?) part. When his eyes landed on us, he seemed to smile cruelly, blood dripping from his fangs. It slowly approached, preparing to attack as Sphinx growled warningly.


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    "L-Leave t-them a-alone!" Sphinx tried threatening but it didn''t really work when his voice was quaking in fear.


    Kraken mumbled under her breath, "Why couldn''t we be near water." As Fenrir lunged toward us, claws outstretched to rip into our bodies a wall of fire burst in between us. Fenrir slammed into it and howled out in pained outrage.


    A boy appeared standing in front of the fire as he spoke in a voice like crackling static, "Fen¡ªEnough¡ªCalm¡ªIt''s¡ªDo¡ªRemember¡ªLeave¡ªalone¡ªplease!" Fenrir growled lowly before he howled again but this time the howl sounded almost...sad. Fenrir turned and ran away as the boy looked at us, "Sorry¡ªFenFen is¡ªhandle¡ª" he looked at Ice''s unconscious body, "Ice¡ªmiss¡ªThis¡ªend¡ªsoon and¡ªmet¡ªI¡ªyou!" The boy vanished. I slumped against the stone.


    "I wonder who he was? He knew Ice!" Prince asked. He then seemed to notice something as he pointed, "This statue reminds me of the Goddess statue!" I looked up to see a statue of a fox-man. I remembered Invent telling me about the Elf''s Goddess statue.


    "Maybe whatever used to be here, worshipped whoever this was supposed to be?" I suggested.


    "This place is better forgotten...especially for Ice." Came a gentle voice and we both turned to see a multi-colored Unicorn walking over followed closely by a green and white with black stripes Bengal Tiger. Walking a bit behind them, looking around nervously were Invent and Volcan.


    "D-Did we just hear Fenrir?" Invent asked.


    "We''ll tell you later." I answered.

 Chapter 22

    We had been walking for a few hours already. Uni had healed Ice and once he had woken up, we had set off again. While waiting for him to wake up, Prince and I had filled Invent and Volcan in on what had happened, so we were all trying to absorb what we had learned so far. Ice was ahead of us, just out of hearing range. "So, what do we know about him?" Prince asked, confused.


    Invent answered, "We know he shows up with the Darkest Hour but not much else." She looked down in thought.


    "Where are we going?" Volcan asked, confused. I shrugged before stopping quickly as I nearly ran into Ice who quickly hid behind Prince as if he was frightened by something.


    "What''s wrong Ic...?" I began before I heard a familiar voice.


    "Flame! Where did you run off to? I''ve been looking everywhere for you!" The man who spoke is my father, King Flareson. He has brown hair and meadow-green eyes with watery-blue wings.


    "Dad?" I said shocked to see him. It was then that I realized we were inside the Fairy Forest, in a part of the forest I had never been allowed to go to, despite all the other fairies being able to enter it.


    "Hi...Flareson?" Kraken quietly spoke causing father to notice the little animals.


    He looked like he had just been told someone he cared deeply for was dead as he backed up, "K-Kraken...no...no, no, no, no...This can''t be." He finally noticed Ice hiding behind Prince. Father actually growled at Ice as he snarled, "YOU! You are not allowed within these woods!"


    "F-Flares..." Ice began, his voice small and scared.


    "NO! YOU WILL NEVER HURT MY FAMILY AGAIN! LEAVE NOW!" My father yelled as the fairies on either side of him, started to come forward. Ice held up his hands defensively but these two fairies where not the most friendly when dad was pissed at someone. They were clearly going to forcefully remove Ice before he could even move. Prince and Volcan pulled their swords out and moved so they were more in the way.


    "Da..." I started only to have to quickly move before I got drenched in one of their water tornado spells. Ice squeaked as he hide behind a tree to avoid the attack and both Prince and Volcan dodged to the side, looking a tiny bit scared. Prince growled clearly not one to give in on this one.


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    Ice spoke from behind the tree, "Please Flareson...you know I have no choice in the heroes...I swear I didn''t plan for this...I''ll leave the forest, just...just call off your people before they hurt someone." Dad ignored him, starting to cast a fire spell that if he finished could destroy part of the forest as well. I pulled out my wand, using it to cast a protective water spell to counter his fire spell and luckily it worked.


    "DAD! Stop!" I yelled but he was too angry to listen to me. The other two fairies where fighting with Prince and Volcan, trying to get at Ice who was refusing to fight.


    "YOU WILL NEVER BE ALLOWED IN MY FOREST!" Dad screamed at Ice who looked like he might start crying.


    "Enough!" Invent shouted but was drowned out. The fighting was starting to get more intense as more and more fairies joined in the fight and all I could do was stand there, unsure of who to help, my fellow fairies or my new friends. I gritted my teeth and joined in, deciding that this wasn''t right. Ice was willing to leave peacefully so this fight was unnecessary but dad was too far into his hate to see reason. A few minutes later and we were nearly running on fumes, facing the entire Fairy Forest vs the five of us (Ice joining in with a small dagger as his weapon)...technically ten of us if you included the animals.


    I finally lost it as I heard a female voice from behind me, although no one was there, "Use the reunite spell...it''ll stop this fight...and...she will answer some questions for you...Use it now."


    "But I don''t know that spell...I''ve never even heard of it before?" I answered.


    "The wand knows all spells...simply trust it and let it guide you" The female said, her voice starting to sound static-like, "I...go...tell...Water...hi"


    I took a deep breath before looking down at the wand, "Help me to cast this spell, please." I could feel the heat coming off the wand as a gentle breeze filled the forest. A giggle came through, almost as if the forest itself was laughing. Everyone froze as a different womans voice filled the area, brought about on the breeze.


    "Flameson~" the voice said, in the sweetest tone. The tree leaves started swirling as a woman started to appear, at first barely visible as she walked toward us, becoming more visible as she got closer. Her hair was a barely visible blackish color but her sky-blue eyes shone brightly and her smile made me feel so safe for some reason. Her appearance made everyone stare in shock, awe, and amazement but it was Ice''s regret-filled voice that caused everyone to snap out of it.


    "C-Crystal?" He spoke causing her to look at him and smile.


    "Mom?" I asked, remembering what Volcan had said about Crystal being my mom''s name.

 Chapter 23

    The appearance of my mother caused everything to stop. It was almost as if the entire forest was silent in shock. Ice looked away from her before turning and dashing out of the forest, completely unchallenged. "Ice..." Invent whispered, sadly.


    Mother said nothing at all which seemed to piss off Prince who snapped at her, "So...that''s it!? You just watch him go! You''re not going to try to stop him!?"


    "You stay quiet when you know NOTHING of his SINS!" Father snarled.


    That really made Prince angry, "I DON''T CARE! IT DOESN''T MATTER WHAT HE DID! HE CLEARLY REGRETS IT! NOT ONLY THAT BUT HE WAS TRYING TO LEAVE PEACEFULLY BUT YOU," He suddenly moved so he was right in father''s face, stabbing a finger into his chest, "YOU WOULDN''T JUST LET HIM LEAVE PEACEFULLY! YOU JUST WANTED TO FIGHT HIM BECAUSE YOU WERE MAD AT HIM FOR SOMETHING HE APPARENTLY CAUSED IN THE PAST!"


    Volcan moved forward to try to stop him, "Prince...stop it."


    "HELL NO! HE DESERVES TO HEAR EVERYTHING I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT HIS INABILITY TO LISTEN!" Prince snapped back.


    "Prince..." I spoke.


    Repeating his name a few times until he finally looked at me with a snappy "WHAT!?"


    "Calm down~ I''m sure father has a reason for being mad~" I said, noticing the look change on Prince''s face as a blush started to form across his face. I turned to look at my father and mother as I asked, "What DID he do? And don''t you DARE tell me that I have no right to know."


    I could hear Volcan laughing behind me as he asked, "Are you all right their Prince? You look like you''ve been put under a Succubus spell~"


    "S-Shut up!" Prince snarled, embarrassingly. I was going to ask what he meant but decided it might be better for me to focus on finding out what happened in the past and worry about whatever spells Prince fell under later.


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    Father opened his mouth, his stance telling me that he was going to deny me the information I needed but mother interrupted, "Nothing that was his fault."


    Father looked furious, "Nothing that was HIS fault! HE CAUSED YOU TO DIE!!" The silence that filled the forest after that was almost deafening. Mother simply looked down in sadness.


    "H-He...He caused m-mother''s d-death?" I asked, feeling my body shaking in both confusion and sadness.


    Everyone was quiet before mother finally spoke again, "He did but it was not fully his fault..." She sighed before continuing, "Ice has a special type of magic...one that is very effective against the people from the Dark Kingdom...and those that have the blood of a Dark Kingdom resident. He can only use it during very specific times." There was a long silence again before she continued, her voice gaining more sadness as she went on, "You had only just been born when it happened. We were heading toward the Elven Kingdom when father attacked. He was beating us, and it caused Ice to use his power...Blane understood what was about to happen and shielded my sister with his own body...I choose to shield you instead of protecting myself and Ice''s magic killed me." She shoots father a glare before turning a softer look onto me, "He didn''t mean for it to happen. He never meant to kill me but...he has no control over it...he has never had control over his power...and he will probably never have control over it."


    "He still was the death of yo..." father began only to stop at the glare she gave him.


    She turned her attention back to my friends and I as she warned us, "No matter what happens...remember Ice will help you but you must protect each other. Ice cannot protect you, but he shall try his hardest to do it anyways. He feels deep regret and that will cause him to work extra hard, but he will also keep more secrets than ever before so you will need to rely on each other the most."


    "What do you mean, Ice has no control over his power." Invent asked, confused.


    Mother stared at her for a few seconds before giving a tiny smile, "I don''t know the full story but...there was another at the beginning who forced his power to come out. That is why he cannot use it whenever he wants...I''m sorry my love," mother gently touched my cheek, "I must go now but I shall always be watching over you, however Flame, a word of warning. Just because you can use a spell does not mean that you should use it...do not use the reunite spell again unless you absolutely need assistance and remember I might not even appear...the reunite spell pulls the soul that''s best needed in the current circumstance. I love you." She slowly vanished becoming nothing but air once more, leaving me with tears running down my face. I felt arms wrap around my shoulders and let myself break against Prince''s chest.

 Chapter 24

    I woke up with a tiny groan before realizing that there were arms around my waist, and I was in a bed. Oh god, what did I do last night? I almost panicked when Prince''s voice spoke from beneath me, "Don''t panic, Flame. It''s just me."


    I relaxed against his chest, feeling comforted by his presence before I remaindered what had happened last night. "Ice?" I asked, concerned for his well-being.


    Prince was silent for a few seconds before he finally answered, "We heard from Kitty that he''s going to wait outside the forest for us if we choose to continue after learning the truth." We remained quiet for a while before he added, "What do you make of everything your mother said yesterday?"


    I hesitated before I finally answered, "I''m not for sure what to make of it, to be honest..."


    "Yeah, same with the rest of us." Invent''s voice came up from the direction of the door, so I looked toward it to see her and Volcan coming in.


    "Sorry if we are disturbing something but we could barely hear you two talking and wanted to discuss everything as a group," Volcan said smirking at us. My face heated up, but I couldn''t get up because Prince''s arms were wrapped around my waist. Prince moved so he was no longer underneath me and sat on the edge of the bed, face slightly red around his cheeks.


    "It was confusing..." Prince added.


    I sat up, pulling a pillow over my lap as I spoke, "Ice caused mom''s death by accident-causing father to despise him."


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    Invent added, "And apparently Ice can''t use his powers unless certain circumstances are met."


    Volcan joined in, "That explains why he never tries to attack and is always quick to run or focus on supporting us from the back...and why he always carries a lot of healing items." We all were silent for a bit before he added, "No offense to your father, Flame, but it sounds more like your mother''s death was partially his fault."


    "How so?" I asked, confused.


    Volcan hesitated for a few seconds before finally answering, "Well according to the story your mom told us...she and my mother are susceptible to Ice''s type of power. They must have told our parents that when they were heroes otherwise my father wouldn''t have covered my mother with his body when Ice lost control, but your father didn''t think to cover your mother and you. Instead, your mother used her own body to block the attack from getting to you, so it seems to me that your father is partially to blame for her death. If he had covered the two of you, she wouldn''t have died but at the same time if Ice hadn''t lost control then the situation wouldn''t have been there but according to your mother, he has no control over it so who''s really at fault for it?"


    Another span of silence engulfed us before Invent spoke, staring at one of the family photos hanging on my wall, "I don''t think anyone was really at fault. I also don''t think the past matters right now...no! The past matters so we don''t make the same mistakes. Volcan and Flame are both half-succubus, meaning Ice''s power can seriously hurt them. Now that we know that we can be better prepared if the same circumstance happens this time. Who caused her death doesn''t matter right now because I know that I trust Ice, no matter what."


    We all nodded in agreement to her words before Prince stood up, offering me his hand to help me up as well, "For now, let''s just enjoy this reprieve we have and stock up on what we can. So, Flame...show us your home forest." I nodded and took his hand as I got off the bed, heading for the door out of my treehouse.

 Chapter 25

    I showed them around. All of our houses were built up in the trees oftentimes built with the tree inside the house. We had no walls because we had walls of vines instead. It was a type of spell that kept anyone who''d do us harm out although it didn''t always work so we all still knew how to fight as well. There was a small lake in the middle of the village. In front of the lake was a statue of a man. "Who''s that?" Prince asked, pointing at the statue.


    "That young elven prince is the god of creation." My father said as he came over, "However due to time, all have forgotten the god''s real name. According to legends, he protected our world once long ago using his unheard-of magic. We fairies built this statue long ago as a memento for all he did for our world."


    "Father...Are you calmer now?" I asked, eyeing my father, "Are you ready to talk to me about Ice?" I crossed my arms and held his gaze with the sternest look on my face ever.


    He sighed, "I will never forgive him for killing your mother. That''s all there is to say about that monster." Father said before looking sadly at me, "How did you even become entangled in his affairs?"


    "I...I happened to find him asleep in the woods, just outside of the village." I responded. "I never bothered to ask him why he was there...or at least I never bothered to find out why."


    Volcan spoke up in a confused tone, "He was sleeping in the woods yet you''ve never met him before that day?" I nodded causing him to frown more as he thought about that.


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    "Of course you didn''t...he never stays permanently. That monster doesn''t truly care about anyone, only himself and how he feels. He uses everyone for his own ambitions and once he obtains that he lives again. I don''t know where he goes once he''s done toying with everyone but that''s what he does. He''s a heartless monster who only cares about his own ambitions, nothing else." Father snarled causing me to frown.


    "I don''t think you''re right...," Invent spoke, thinking for only a second longer before she added, "He''s comforted me when I was hurting. He''s tried to keep us all alive. Telling us not to fight but run when we''ve come across an opponent too powerful for us." She looked at us, her eyes full of determination and once we all nodded, she looked back at father, "He cares about us, even if you can''t see it. You just can''t let go of the past long enough to realize how much he truly does care about everyone!"


    "Careful little elf girl, you don''t know that monster like I do..." Father began but she interrupted him.


    "NO! You don''t know him like WE do!" Invent snapped at father.


    "Invent is right! We know Ice and you clearly never did know him if you could say that about him! Ice cares for us! He wants us to be safe...he..." Prince looked like he just thought of something and after a second he continued, "He doesn''t want to do this but then why does he do it? He''s already defeated the Darkest Hour at least once before so why does it reappear? Why does he come back? Why is he the one who has to find the heroes? What is Ice''s role in the Darkest Hour?" No one had an answer for any of those questions.


    Father finally spoke up, only to tell us something unbelievable, "As far as I know, that monster has fought at least 50 battles against the Darkest Hour and is over two million years old, yet he''s never grown older than he already is." The silence that followed that bit of information was almost deafening.

 Chapter 26

    We finally left the Fairy Forest to see Ice sitting on a log on the outskirts of the forest, talking to Kitty, "I wish this would end already...this has to be the last time...I can''t take anymore of this...Oh," He noticed us and went dead silent before asking in a worried type of tone, "How did it go?"


    "Well dad hates you still and he told us some interesting things...some unbelievable things..." I answered.


    Prince spoke, "He said you were over two million years old but that''s not possible right?"


    After a long silence, Ice finally spoke, "Who says it''s not possible? I don''t know why I''ve lived this long, just that I have..."


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    We all stared at him before Volcan asked, "Where have you been between the different Darkest Hours?" Ice stared at us for a few seconds before turning and starting to walk away, clearly having no intentions of telling us the answer...or maybe he couldn''t tell us the answer. Sharing a glance with the others, I shrugged and followed him. I don''t know what will happen next or even if Ice is a good guy or bad guy but...something inside of me is telling me that we have to trust him in order to end this nightmare. I don''t know how we will end this nightmare just that this time we would permanently end this war. However, I did know one thing...we needed Ice to do that, somehow he was the key to ending this

 Chapter 27

    Several days after we left the Fairy Forest and so far we had only run into more and more creatures, creatures straight out of a fairytale. We had managed to defeat them all but we were running on fumes and exhausted. Two days ago Prince and Volcan started fighting each other. "Would you stop walking near me! Your body is giving off too much heat for anyone''s comfort!" Prince snarled at Volcan.


    Volcan snarled back, "How dumb are you? I''m a fire spirit! What did you expect? A cool breeze?"


    Ice frowned as he listened to them, worrying over this infighting as Kitty spoke, "Sphinx, Chimera...get your people under control!"


    Chimera speaks, "You don''t think we''ve tried? Volcan isn''t in the mood to listen to reason."


    Sphinx chattering, "Prince is being stubborn. He says Volcan is annoying and too close to...someone..." He eyes me for a second before looking back at Kitty which makes me worried that he was thinking something about me.


    I looked at Invent who shrugged but then smiled and grabbed Volcan''s arm, gently pulling on him to lead him away from Prince, "Hey, why don''t we go collect firewood for a fire? I think we all could use a break."


    Ice nods his head, "I think Invent has a good idea and we should set up camp for the night," he looks down at Kitty, "Let''s go find something to eat." The six of them *Kitty, Uni and Chimera went with them* left to go find firewood and food, leaving me with Prince, Sphinx and Kraken.


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    It was awkward as silence reigned supreme until finally Sphinx spoke."You know this is a very beautiful spot. Perfect for a little romantic snuggle or some deep confessions. What do you say, Kraken, shall we take a nice little nap over in the shade of that tree?" Kraken nodded and the two went over to the specified spot where Sphinx continued talking to Kraken.


    I waited a few more seconds before I asked, "So...what''s really got you so upset?" Prince looked at me surprised for a few seconds before he looked away, blushing lightly. "Their seems to be more to the story then just Volcan being too hot."


    "I''m just sick of all this traveling and fighting! It feels like all we do is travel and fight! I miss my home..." Prince finally responded.


    Gently touching his shoulder, I responded, "I understand you but it''s not fair to be getting mad at our friends. Volcan didn''t cause this and he doesn''t want this to continue either. Maybe we could go visit the Elven Kingdom if we asked Ice." Prince looked at me for a bit before he finally gave a tiny smile and a nod making me smile back at him. We got a temporary shelter set up which was just a tarp tied to the branches of a few trees to create a canopy over the spot where our sleeping bags were.


    He gave a sigh suddenly, "Look Flame...Thanks. I guess with the increase of attacks on us, I''ve been really worried about my kingdom. I hope Ice agrees to..."


    "I agree to what?" Ice asked as he approached, carrying an armful of apples and pears. The others where following shortly after him carrying more food and firewood.


    "We were hoping we could take a small trip back to the Elven Kingdom." I answered, "You know, to check up on the condition of the kingdom."


    Everyone stared at Ice hopefully as he contemplated before he smiled and nodded, "Alright. We don''t have anything better to do until it starts..." He goes silent again, a clear sign that he was done talking about whatever it was he was thinking about. We all smiled and the mood drastically improved as we continued our camping. Setting out in the morning for the Elven Kingdom, we never imagined it could be our last night as a group.

 Chapter 28

    "FINALLY!!" Prince shouted as we found the main road.


    Invent chuckled, "We probably should have known that we shouldn''t have let Ice lead at all."


    "How come you are so bad at directions but knows so much?" Volcan asked, looking at Ice.


    Ice shrugs, "Things change over the years but I''ve always been bad with directions..." looking down he added, "Plus I''m only ever around for a few weeks to a month at most every time so I don''t have time to learn the routes..." We all stared at him in surprise causing him to look at us and blush lightly, "W-What?"


    "Nothing, we''ve just never heard you talk about your past so much before." I gently responded, smiling lightly at him earning me a tiny half-smile.


    He opened his mouth to respond but a cold laugh echoed around us suddenly, "Mwahahahaha" We all started looking around, grabbing our weapons as the sky started to darken, the ground rumbled and shook as tons of monsters appeared out of thin air.


    Ice looked around, concernedly but when he spoke, his voice was small and sad, "The Dark King...he''s here..." We all glanced at Ice and followed his gaze to a skinny man. His hair was pure black while his eyes were a dark brown. His clothes were a black regal suit and the sword he carried was the same black material that was used on the buildings in the Fire Kingdom.


    The man smirked at Ice and his voice had a sadly cold tone to it, "We meet again, Ice."


    Prince spiked in shock before growling, "How do you know his name?"


    King Darkness briefly glanced at him, "We have known each other for centuries now...always fighting each other." He looked almost sad about that and when I took a guick glance at Ice, I saw pain and sadness mirrored on his own face.


    "Whatever, we''re going to send you back to your shadowy home!" Volcan snarled, pulling his weapons from their sheaths. The rest of us followed suit, pulling our own artifact weapons from their sheaths/holders.


    King Darkness began to laugh, "If you think you have the time to be worried about me, then your more of a fool than Ice is." Suddenly we heard multiple sounds coming from all directions. As we looked around we saw them, the hoard of monsters coming toward us. Fenrir, giants, Ogres, all different types of monsters approaching us.


    "Shit..." I whispered staring at Fenrir who was the only monster that we couldn''t defeat, "How do we deal with Fenrir?"


    Prince gripped his magic sword, clenching his teeth as he snarled, "We can''t beat him so what else can we do against him?"


    Volcan looked thoughtful before he finally responded, "If we can''t beat him then maybe...we could trap him? Flame, you focus on Fenrir and see if you can''t use your fairy magic to trap or bind him, the rest of us will deal with the other monsters...Ice go hide until we''re done." We all nodded and ran to do our part, but Ice made no move at all. Oddly enough, the monsters seemed to ignore him completely as if they could tell he wasn''t worth the effort. Oh well, I had bigger issues to deal with right now, Fenrir wasn''t going to give me the time to think too much on Ice''s situation.


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    "Hey! Fenrir! Over here!" I shouted at Fenrir as I approached. Fenrir snarled at me, baring his blood-soaked fangs at me and I almost fled but managed not to. I took a deep breath and looking down briefly at Kraken, came up with an idea for how to prevent Fenrir from attacking us. "Kraken...if I use the magic wand do you think I can manage this?"


    "You can do anything so long as you have the magic wand to assist you." Kraken answered simply, jumping onto my shoulder, "I''ll help you."


    "How?" I asked.


    Kraken''s smile was sad as she responded, "It''s almost over, we just need to last until after this battle and then...it''ll be over so I''ll lend you this knowledge...." Kraken''s body glowed a brilliant shade of red for a split second and it was like I suddenly knew even more magic then before...and one of them was going to be perfect for this moment. Closing my eyes, I focused my magic and my thoughts onto the spell I needed.


    When I felt the power grow to it''s absolute max, I opened my eyes as I spoke, "Elemental binding!" As if on cue, several things happened at once. First was the earth, vines that suddenly had flames wrapping around them, along with water, these vines wrapped around Fenrir''s legs and waist to prevent him from moving. The last thing that happened was the wind picked up so fast that it sent Fenrir flying. "Wow..." I whispered amazed by the high leveled forgotten magic but why was it forgotten? I looked toward the others to see a fierce battle going on.


    "Come on uglies, you can do better than that!" Prince shouted at the Ogres while Sphinx ran around barking. Prince was fighting much better than he ever had and he seemed much more advanced, his sword seemed to be glowing.


    "Ugh..." Invent grunted as she was helping Volcan to take on the giant. Both of them seemed to be even more powerful as well. Invent was slamming her hammer down onto the giants head, looking like an amazing warrior. Volcan was using his double swords to slash at it''s legs and arms when they slammed down onto the ground. While they were all fighting, I noticed Ice watching sadly but I also noticed that King Darkness was also watching sadly before he spoke coldly to Ice.


    "They will lose to my blade," He had a sword in his hands and was heading toward Prince, "Too bad you''ll always be the useless one in the group, always unable to fight or protect anyone."


    "PRINCE!!" I shouted about to run toward him. It felt like time had slowed down so much as Volcan and Invent looked over. At the same time, I saw Ice, glaring at King Darkness, he''s body starting to glow in a strange light.


    We all watched him in confusion before Invent seemed to realize something as she suddenly shouted at Prince, "Prince! Cover Flame now!" She tackled Volcan causing him to give a surprised scream. Prince moved quickly, just managing to tackle me before a blast of light and power zapped through the whole area. It lasted for a good few minutes before it finally faded and Prince slowly got off of me, blushing a bit.


    "Wow..." Prince whispered as he looked around. King Darkness was gone along with the remaining monsters. Invent had also gotten off of Volcan who like Prince was prepared for another attack. Ice was standing there a sad smile on his face.


    "Good job everyone..." Ice spoke sadly.


    "We won...WE WON!!" Prince shouted, "Alright! This means the Darkest Hour is fully gone right?" We all started celebrating, not noticing the sadness deepening in Ice''s eyes until Kitty spoke.


    "Ice..." She whispered. We all looked toward Ice only to see that he and Kitty were faintly glowing.


    "Ice?" I asked, taking a step toward him.


    He smiled sadly at us, "Congratulations chosen heroes. You''ve won this battle but not the war...I have to go now...back to sleep until the next battle...Thank you for being my friends...goodbye..." We all reached out our hands toward him but it was too late, Ice and Kitty had vanished, leaving us behind.

 Chapter 29

    It had been several weeks since the battle with King Darkness and his dark forces. I watched my father as he lead us fairies to the Elven Kingdom for a celebratory feast and public thanks for the heroics but...this day was marred by the lost of Ice. "Are you feeling alright?" Kraken asked as she sat on my shoulder.


    "Mhm." I responded.


    When I heard a shout, "FLAME!" I looked toward the left to see Volcan running over to me, his parents leading the fire spirits after him.


    Queen Cynthia smiled at father, "Hello...it is good to see you again." Father simply gave a tiny nod and continued onwards. Volcan chuckled as he fell into step beside me.


    We both stayed quiet even when we got there, until theceremony was starting and I suddenly spoke as a thought came into my head."What happened last time?" I asked causing everyone to look at me in confusion.


    "What do you mean?" Invent asked.


    "The artifacts, their guardians, what happened last time to them? If they had stayed then wouldn''t our parents have them around more often than never?"


    Queen Cynthia was the one who responded, "They went with Ice, same as all other times..."


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    "But they didn''t this time...," Prince began, "that must mean something, right?"


    I thought for a second before a question that was never answered resurfaced to my mind, "Queen Cynthia...You act like you''ve known Ice for a long time...Where does he go after the Darkest Hours?"


    Queen Cynthia smiled lightly, "He stays inside my hometown...He''s always asleep though on mother''s throne. I asked father once when Ice would wake up so we could play together and he simply said, when the war is done and the mistake is rewritten is when he shall wake up...I never did find out what he meant by that."


    Volcan spoke up while watching me, "Ice stays in the Dark Kingdom, asleep until the next Darkest Hour, a mystery mistake that needs to be corrected, our artifacts staying...," he had a look like he suddenly thought of something, "Guys, hear me out here but what if...the artifacts are connected to Ice?"


    Sphinx spoke up, "They are! He made them along with us, to add a bit of challenge for the chosen heroes and to allow them to grow and become even stronger but continue please."


    Volcan nodded, "Since the artifacts are connected to Ice..."


    Invent finished for him, "Maybe we could use the artifacts to get to Ice!"


    Prince smiled, "And if we get to Ice...."


    "We could find the way to finish this war!" I finished, "So how do we use them to get there?" I tapped my magic wand lightly against my palm as I contemplated an answer. As I did so another thought hit me and I held out my wand, "Put them together!" Prince smiled and nodded as he pulled his double swords out of their sheaths and placed them both directly over my wand. Volcan and Invent did the same with their sword and hammer. At first, nothing happened but after a few seconds, our artifacts started to glow and just like that, the world vanished around us.

 Chapter 30

    When the light died away, we were standing right outside of the gates of a kingdom. The gate was just an archway with ancient words written across the top. "I think we made it to the Dark Kingdom...let''s go find Ice!" The others nodded and we set off inside the Dark Kingdom. The people looked haggard and worn down, like they were starving. The buildings were all constructed of the same black material that the Fire Kingdom buildings were made of and were still in great condition. As we walked, we saw the people look hopelessly at us but no one made a move to fight us as we headed for what we assumed was the Dark Castle. It was a building that jutted upwards toward the darkened sky, made of that black material and oddly enough gave off a tiny darkish sparkle that seemed to resemble stars. As we entered the castle, we drew our weapons when our eyes fell onto the Dark King sitting in his throne.


    "Lower your weapons, chosen heroes. You''ve already won. There is no point in fighting you now." King Darkness spoke, his voice full of sadness. Ice made a tiny noise in his sleep, curled up in a ball on the Queen''s throne.


    "Ice!" We all said in unison as we lowered our weapons, choosing to trust the Dark King for the time being. Ice did not wake or even steer once in his sleepat the sound of our voices.


    "Why isn''t he waking up?" I asked.


    "Ice can''t wake up until the next Darkest Hour or until this is finally fully finished...he seemed to have high hopes in you being the heroes to end it." King Darkness answered, moving some of Ice''s bangs out of his face, almost in a fatherly way.


    "You know how to stop it though don''t you?" Prince snarled. King Darkness said nothing, just watched Ice sleep.


    "Please Uncle! We need to know how to stop it!" Volcan begged.


    "Uncle?" King Darkness spoke, finally looking at us. For a second, he simply looked at us before he seemed to realize something, "You and the fairy are...my daughter''s sons, right?"


    "Yes uncle. I am Prince Volcan of the Fire Kingdom, son of King Blane and Queen Cynthia!" Volcan gave a tiny bow.


    I gave one as well as I answered, "I am Prince Flame of the Fairy Forest, son of King Flareson and Princess Crystal...please uncle, tell us how to stop this war!"


    Invent looked at him, "What caused this war?" We all looked at her, realizing that we didn''t know that either. Their was a lot about the Dark Kingdom we didn''t know anything about.


    As King Darkness spoke, we all turned to look back at him, "It all started the day we met Ice...


    *flashback*The Dark King is standing before a group of people, three of whom are from the other kingdoms. He is asking, begging for help with food and wood while offering the Dark Stones in exchange. The group of people refuse his offer even when he warns that without that his people would starve and die, even when he threatens to go to war for the supplies his kingdom so desperately needs. Afterward, the group of people decide to show King Darkness what happens when you threaten the Council and assign someone to go kill the pregnant Dark Queen. A younger Ice approaches the King and Queen of Darkness. The Queen is a gorgeous woman with long black hair and bright golden eyes, wearing a regal dress of shimmery dark blue. The boy announces that he''s an assassin here to kill the Queen on orders of the Council. Despite the Dark King''s insistence that he leave, the Queen stops him and asks if he''d be willing to wait to kill her until after she gives birth to which Ice agrees and starts living with them, helping the Queen and spending time with the King. It becomes clear that he is an orphaned child that the council took in and are using for their own purposes. After several months, the Queen gives birth but that day turned out to be the darkest day for the Dark Kingdom. As Ice refuses to kill the Queen having come to think of the royal dark family as his own family, something happens to Ice. Pain shoots through his body and he begins to glow. The Dark King grabs his daughters and shields them behind a wall, however the Dark Queen didn''t escape and wound up dead. The Dark King enraged declares war on the other kingdoms and Ice uses his newfound powers to create the Darkest Hour.*End Flashback*


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    "And that is the whole story of what happened that day" King Darkness finished his story.


    "So...you pleaded for help and in response they sent Ice to kill your pregnant wife? How could they be so heartless!?" I asked, looking down.


    "What is Dark Stones?" Prince asked.


    "Dark Stones are a very rare material that can only be found here in the Dark Kingdom. They''re the strongest stones in the world and can be used to create lots of strong and long lasting weapons and buildings, even furniture, if you know how to do it. We in the Dark Kingdom, know how to use the Dark Stones to make a variety of things...The Dark Stones are said to have come from a powerful evil force long ago, a final gift from the banished god who created our kingdom."King Darkness spoke.


    "So...you were going to trade these powerful Dark Stones for food and assistance from the other kingdoms and because they refused and sent Ice to murder your wife...the two of you created the Darkest Hour...which would mean...?" Prince asked confused.


    As I thought about it, I realized it was the answer, "Which means this all started by a refusal to provide assistance for help!"


    Volcan caught onto what I was implying as he stepped forward and bowed to King Darkness, "If you''d allow it King Darkness then I''d like to offer a trade. We of the Fire Kingdom can provide means to create heat and ways to live in abnormal conditions in exchange for your services with the Dark Stones."


    Prince caught on as well and moved forward, bowing as well, "The Elven Kingdom would also like to offer a trade of our skills with jewels and clothes in exchange for your services with these Dark Stones."


    I bowed as well, "King Darkness, the fairies would also like to offer our food in exchange for your services with the Dark Stones."


    King Darkness laughed coldly at us, "You are only princes, not kings! You have no rights to do this."


    Invent spoke, "Maybe not, but they are the future kings of their kingdoms so when they take over they can fullfill this promise...plus I''m sure the kings and queens want this war to end just as badly as we do. Is there any harm in placing your trust in us?"


    King Darkness burst out laughing before he bowed to us as well, "The little elf girl makes a good argument in your favor, young princes. I accept your trade offers." We all smiled and then looked at Ice but he wasn''t stirring.


    "Why isn''t he...?" I began before noticing that we were glowing again as our artifacts began to glow a brilliant shade of golden white. "Wait! What about Ic..." Ibegan but we had already vanished and reappeared on the stage back at the Elven Kingdom, "e...We failed afterall..." We told everyone everything we had learned and our father''s agreed that making that deal was for the best.


    "Maybe in a few years, when you are ready to take over, the Dar..." King Alphonse began to say only to be interrupted.


    "YOUR MAJESTY! INTURDERS ARE APPROACHING THE CITY GATES!" the guard shouted toward us from the top of the gates watchtower. We all rushed over to see what he meant. I smiled as my eyes landed on Ice amongst the group of strangers approaching.


    "ICE!" Volcan, Prince, Invent and I shouted as we stared at him in surprised happiness.


    Ice let go of King Darkness''s hand as he dashed over to us and hugged us as he spoke, "You did it! You stopped the Darkest Hour! I knew you guys would do it!"


    "We couldn''t have done it without you. Thanks for always believing in us." Ianswered causing Ice to smile more. King Alphonse and the other kings were talking with Darkness about the trade deals between the four kingdoms. It sounded like they would need to work out the details more but the Dark Kingdom would be getting what they needed to survive. Everything was going to go great from now on!

 Epilogue

    The Darkest Hour has ended but the story is far from over. The next war must be fought and lives might be lost as the past returns to haunt them all. Will the heroes survive the next chapter of their story or will they fall in despair and death. Find out in the next story: Mythical Fights 3 Years Later!


    Hello everyone. I''d like to thank everyone for reading this story and my other ones. Also a bit of added information about the next story in this series since I plan on it being a series, I am currently still working on the next story, Mythical Fights 3 Years Later but new characters will show up in it and will be mentioned in some of my other posted stories along with a new threat to them all.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    Again thanks for reading and hey leave me a comment to let me know what you thought of the story. Until next time everyone!