The ship rocked in the waters of the pier. The crew had recently just docked in the kingdom of Garion after having finished stacking up supplies from Vostar and repairing whatever damage they could from the battle with the gryphon.

They were very close to this particular country. They did not have many provisions or resources. They would only have money after they sell the red maiden.

Derek took it upon himself to pay for the expenses. Ezra at first refused, but the vampire was adamant that this was a fitting enough reward for having saved his daughter. The often arrogant werewolf swallowed his pride and accepted the gesture. Now, they had to find a place to rest and find something to eat that was not tropical fruits and unseasoned fish. With the damage taken, the ship had a three day voyage to get to its destination but finally they were there.

“The Meat Shack?” asked Raven, looking at the sign of the building.

“Is this really the best place we can go to get food?”

“Well, the harbor-master said this was the most popular restaurant in town.”

She still seemed indignant of the establishment. The restaurant clearly had some rustic charm to it on the inside, despite its rough exterior and straightforward name. The crew proceeded to one of the tables and requested for a waiter to give them a menu. The waiter was a big person, an orc to be exact. His build felt quite out of place in a restaurant, yet he appeared quite courteous, no different than any other regular waiter.

The options at hand were expensive. Derek willingly offered to pay for every single option on the menu, much to the orc’s surprise. A slight look of excitement could even be noticed on his bulky face. He went inside, shouting about how these newcomers had been truly and surely starved with a thrill in his voice. The orcs in the kitchen began cooking at once.

Almost just as hastily as the waiter had come inside, several servings were already being provided to their new guests. Everyone except Raven began to eat.

“It looks really good, Raven, you should try some.” said Allison, holding out a fork for her with what appeared to be well done beef with a sauce that reminded her of magic residue. It felt as if these cooks fused their food with actual magic.

Biting into the food presented to her, she felt lighter than ever before. It was in every sense of the word divine. The usually reserved Wess ate like his life depended on it. The last few days on the trip had truly worn him out. Allison and Derek appeared to be one of the only ones in the crew to be eating with some sort of self control, despite how utterly delicious the food was.

Juana was trying to contain herself but kept failing. The restaurant was filled with laughter and cheerful banter when all of a sudden, a voice came from behind Derek.

“I was hoping you'd come here...”

Everything suddenly stopped. All manner of enjoyment disappeared as Derek looked over at the hooded figure of a woman. His body grew tense, he knew that voice well. It had aged back from when he had first heard it, but it was certainly familiar to him. She pulled off her hood. Her hair was a yellowish green color, her skin a light tan color like sand, her were eyes gray like smoke and a look of fierce bitterness in them. She was wearing an all black leather suit with black leather boots. Her undershirt was frilly and had a dark purple color.

“Hey lady, who the hell are you?” asked Ezra, still chewing his food. His question was ignored by this new person as if no words were uttered at all.

“A- Azlana?” Derek said.

“Dad, who is she?” Raven asked, putting down her cutlery and looking at her father.

“Yeah, Derek. Tell them who I am.” said the ominous woman.

“Sh-she’s my ex-girlfriend.”

“Really?” asked Juana, confused about the confrontation.

She looked at Azlana then back at Derek.

“You two would’ve made gorgeous babies, such a shame that you two broke up…”

Derek smiled a bit at the comment but quickly retorted.

“Th-that’s not important right now!”

“Aw, you are right, it’s definitely a shame… Maybe you should tell them why…”

Azlana’s smug grin intimidated Derek whose mind was racing. He looked down and frowned. The memory of his parents fill his mind like a river flooding over a city.

“… She...just wanted a cheap fling and someone to pamper her. After she was done with me, she threw me out like trash.” Derek’s voice when saying that sounded sad, yet somewhat forced, although still convincing enough.

“Wow. Some girlfriend she was.” said Juana.

The look of surprise spread all over Azlana’s face and a visage of pure anger started to show. Her eyes started to tear up.

“You…!!”

Before she could finish her sentence, a shadowy figure appeared next to her and whispered in her ear. Azlana glared at Derek and then disappeared with the figure.

“Well, that was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.” said Raven.

“I wonder what she was going to say.” said Wess.

Derek was caught in a stare. He was dissecting everything that happened just now.

“You okay, dad?”

Derek said nothing. Raven’s concern grew stronger.

“… Dad?”

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine.” He was clearly lying.

“You keep spacing out. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah.”

Everyone grew quiet. The atmosphere was awkward now. No one wanted to say anything, yet they hoped that someone would break the silence.

“We should finish eating. I’m paying for all of this after all.” Derek said, sitting back down.

“Yeah, I think we should.” said Allison as the group enjoyed the remains of their evening with at the all-you-can-eat buffet.

Farther away from The Meat Shack, the woman, named Azlana Kallis conversed with her companions: the shadowy figure, a lost soul named Grust Nattclif was the one who had taken her away from that confrontation and a bearded man named Mordecai Rikor in a blue, gray and black suit and hat.

“Why didn’t you let me finish talking, Grust?” Azlana asked, disappointed with how the confrontation ended.

“It wasn’t the right place. We have to do it in the perfect place.” Grust’s voice was mischievous and yet very easy to follow.

“And where is this ‘perfect place’?” asked Azlana, still upset but now curious about the soul’s idea.

You two are wrestlers in the WME, right?” Grust proceeded.

Azlana started to get an idea of what he was talking about.

“…Yeah.”

“That’s the place.”

“…The WME, huh…? I hope this plan works.”

“It will. Just let me handle it. We should be seeing Derek and the others pretty soon to get this started.”

“What? Really?”

“Yep.”

Mordecai felt that whatever Grust had planned wasn't all that it seemed. But he cared a lot about Azlana, so he decided to keep quiet.

“Mordecai? You seem tense, what has gotten into you?” Grust asked.

“Nothing. Just ready to finally get this over with.”

Before Grust could respond, they heard noises coming from behind one of the alleyways. Someone in the bushes had been watching them, listening in on everything they were saying. Grust suddenly appeared in front of the eavesdropper, startling the person.

It was a woman, about 168 cm tall. Her hair was red and in a neat bun with no fly-aways in sight. She had beautiful blue eyes and was wearing a bluish white loose-fitting dress with pale blue, translucent sleeves. The sleeves also had a flowery design on them. Her dress had a trim on the bottom made of the same material as her sleeves.

The dress also had a red jewel on it just under her breasts. Her sleeves went all the way down to her hands and ended at a sort of point and had a hole at the end for her ring fingers. On one ring finger, she had a golden ring with a red jewel on it. She has red pearl earrings, a yellow cape, and ivory colored heels, too.

An eye appeared on Grust’s face, the sclera an ominous yellow and the iris a hot pinkish color.

“And what’re you doing, you sneaky vampire, you?~”

“I… I just wanted to help out.” said the woman.

Grust stared at her and she tried her hardest not to look away.

“And why would we let you?”

“Really?” she asked indignantly.

“Do you not recognize me?”

“Say what now?” asked Grust as confusion grew within him.

“No... Should we?” asked Mordecai, glad this distraction took the attention away from him.

“I’m princess Elizabeth III of Bosneria.” she claimed.

Grust stared at her. The trio did not seem all too convinced by this act, all of them eyeing one another with eyebrows raised.

“Well, then. Tell me this, your highness. Why’re you so far from home and spying on us?”

Elizabeth had prepared for this. She had rehearsed any potential questions that they could cook up for her reasons for being there. She then spoke in a softer, more saddened tone.

“To avenge my father...” she said, as she looked down. With such a revelation, Azlana and Grust looked at each other almost as if thinking in unison with wicked smiles. This girl could indeed be useful for their plans. Mordecai was the only one who seemed regretful, looking worried, standing between the two and the young lady in front of him.

“The one you’re looking for is Derek Valtaheim, right? I want my father’s killer to suffer. I don’t want anything else other than justice and I saw you guys following him. That’s why I followed you, I want to help... if you’ll let me.” With that explanation, Grust appeared satisfied with himself and warmly said. “Welcome to the crew!”

Elizabeth had succeeded, she had earned their trust. Farther away from this realm, up in a calm and tranquil white void, a ghastly female elf floated about.

A purple dress with a black vine pattern all over it’s cloth covered her elegant figure.

Her hair was a pale turquoise color and in a twin tail style, and she had a shiny golden crown on her head.

Her skin was a light tan color and her eye color, a light gray. She sighed out of sadness and disappointment.

“Grust… You don’t have to do this…”

✽ ✽ ✽

Having paid their dues to their orcish hosts, Derek and the rest made their way back to the ship. Derek had insisted to pay for lodgings but Ezra would not have it. They would be resting on the ship. By that time, it was already fixed.

The two Valtaheims had not spoken about the incident ever since it occurred, and the often hotheaded fairy’s patience disappeared as she finally broke the silence.

“I wanna know why that Azlana person suddenly disappeared, and what that thing was that appeared next to her.” she said, clearly annoyed at her father’s complacency.

Wess scratched his head. “Beats me. It was creepy as hell. I felt a dark aura just like when we were on the island. Whatever it is must be really powerful.”

“Well, that don’t matter now. We got the Maiden, we ate, and now we should get back to the ship and rest up. We leave at dawn.” Ezra commanded.

Back on the ship, they started sailing again. Derek sat on a barrel next to the edge of the ship and looked at the sky. The sky was yellow, the clouds were a pinkish color. Seagulls flew across the sky, looking for prey amongst the waters of the sea. Derek looked away from the sky and looked around. Raven was nowhere to be found. He stood up and started searching everywhere, receiving confused looks from other crew members.

“What’s he looking for?” Allison asked in concern.

“No idea.” Wess responded, scratching his head.

“Derek, did you lose something?”

“I can’t find Raven.”

Allison looked around. Raven was not on the ship.

“Huh?! Where did she go? She was just here!”

Desperately looking through the ship, the only thing they found was a piece of paper. Derek picked it up, it had the WME logo on it. It showed Azlana and another woman on it. They had a match tonight.

WME stood for "Wrestling Magic Entertainment."

Derek’s eyes grew dark, and his lips curled into a slight snarl. This clearly infuriated him; He understood this reference quite clearly. She must have been behind this. Whatever kind of shadow had vanished with her at the restaurant must have helped her kidnap Raven. Derek was always pretty protective of Raven, he’d kill for her sake. Derek looked up at Allison and Wess.

“I think I know where she is…”

“What’s going on? Why aren’t you manning the ship?” shouted Ezra as Juana seemed to have also joined the group in their conversation.

“Raven had been kidnapped. Thanks for your hospitality, Ezra. But I've gotta go.” the vampire finished, giving him a bag of coins as payment.

Ezra was stunned at the realization. He didn't notice Raven at all ever since they had boarded the ship. He assumed she had been avoiding him, given her usual attitude towards him. As Derek started to leave, Ezra noticed and quickly grabbed his arm, turning him around.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Excuse me?” Derek questioned, confused at the retort.

“You ain’t going nowhere. You’re part of this crew and you’ll stay part of this crew. If you’re gonna go find Raven, we’re all finding her together. Allison get us out of here.”

“Alrighty! Where are we headed, Estelos?” asked Allison. Derek could barely process the deed of charity the crew had just volunteered for.

“Well uh… To Grovia."

“You heard the man, Allison, get to it.”

Allison gave a thumbs up to show that she understood. Allison made her way into the navigation room. Derek could not help but wonder why exactly they’d be so keen on helping him.

“Why’d you help me? A few days back we were just stowaways on your ship.”

“You’re part of my crew now. We never leave anyone behind.”

Coincidentally, the kingdom of Grovia was right across the river from Garion. Grovia was where WME Headquarters were. Derek knew it better than anyone, given his appreciation for the sport back in his youth. It didn’t take long until they docked at another port.

The headquarters was not too distant from the port. Given its status as a tourist attraction, being so close to the waters certainly helped with the transit of new patrons and workers from abroad. The group reached the entrance. They all agreed it might be better for only two of them to go into the reception area. Who knows if they could be ambushed at once if they came in together.

“Can I help you?” asked the receptionist, looking at the two tall men displayed in front of her.

“We need to talk to the head of the WME.” said Derek.

“You mean Charlotte Pavlos…?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

Derek looked a bit defeated.

“N-No. But we need to talk to her, it's important!”

“I’m sorry, but you can’t see her without an appointment.”

The assembled duo were about to get into a hearty haggle with the receptionist to let them see her, but before that could happen, the receptionist’s phone rang and she had to be excused to talk with whoever had just called her. Derek and Ezra just stood there, a bit out of sorts with the whole situation. When the receptionist finally got done talking to whoever was on the phone, she hung up the phone to tell them the news.

“Let me do the talking.” Derek whispered.

“Sure.”

“Ms. Pavlos, will see you now."

Both of them were even more confused with this new development. This starting to feel like a trap.

“She also requests that you bring your friends with you.” She pointed to the others outside through a window.

The rest of the crew quickly made their way in as two cyclops bodyguards in suits escorted the group to Charlotte’s office. In the hallway, they scanned for Charlotte’s office. The hallways were long and clean. The floors were so shiny, the reflections could pass for a mirror dimension.

“Which room is she in anyway?” Allison asked one of the guards who did not seem to care much for her question.

The building was quite substantial, the group had to walk for several minutes until they had reached the office. Sitting in a chair at a desk was a small goblin, definitely very young from what Derek could guess. She was 12 years old. Her very rich parents passed down the company to her simply because she was bored and happened to enjoy watching her parents run WME.

“Thanks for bringing them in, Terios and Yosef.

“Yes, Ms. Charlotte.”

“You’re dismissed.”

The tall guards then proceeded to leave the office. The room was dead silent, apart from the wind chimes outside her office window.

“So... You guys wanted to see me?” she said with a big smile full of sharp teeth. Her golden eyes inspected every bit of the newcomers. She fiddled with her hair which was of a dark burgundy color.

“We want to join your company.” said Ezra in a very rushed tone, his overconfidence showing again much to the dismay of Derek. The room fell silent again. Then, the silence was replaced with the hysterical laughter of the little goblin. She picked up her phone and talked into it.

“Terios, Yosef, get back to the office, please.” she said mid-laughter as the previous bodyguards came back. They looked at their boss who could barely say a word. As she tried to catch her breath, she explained what Ezra said and the cyclopses ended up laughing hysterically as well.

Derek planted his hand on his face from the embarrassment. Finally recollecting her composure and thoughts, Charlotte leaned back in her chair as her guards took their positions next to the door.

“That was a good one.”

“Don’t mind him.” proceeded Derek, pushing Ezra behind him. Ezra looked at him feeling disrespected for being pushed.

“He tends to think a bit too highly of himself.”

“I can see that.” said the goblin, grinning and crossing her legs.

“But, he is not exactly too far from the truth, Ms. Pavlos.”

“Oh really? Why should I let you? None of you look interesting enough.”

“Because you let us in your office, you probably have a personal interest, yourself.”

“Yeah, I do. But that’s not important right now. Now, tell me why you’re really here.” she said, glancing at the guards.

Derek explained the whole situation, leaving out the framing part. He only told her about Raven being kidnapped.

“So, that’s what happened. Is that a good enough reason to join?”

“Maybe…” She thought about it for a bit. She then looked up with an adorable, yet intimidating smile.

“You’ve got a deal! Besides, your builds are perfect for the ring. Except you. You’re too thin, but we can make that work.” she said pointing to Wess.

“Thank you.” said Derek.

“Don’t thank me yet. You’re gonna bring me lots of money, I can sense it.” said the goblin, smiling from ear to ear.