Allison was walking backstage in her wrestling gear looking for Raven. Despite how much time it had been, they still continued searching. She searched everywhere, but still could not seem to find her. This was upsetting, given how long she looked. After all this time searching, her mind was now racing. She was worried sick about her best friend.

Because of this, she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going and bumped into someone.

“Hey, watch where you’re going—”

He stopped himself mid-sentence.

“Allie?!”

“Elisha?!” exclaimed Allison as she stared at the man in front of her.

They stared at each other for a long time, they couldn’t believe that they were seeing each other after all these years. Elisha Lochlan was Allison’s older brother by 3 years. He was 185cm tall and, much like his sister, he had brown hair with purple tips and purple irises. His hair was cut short on the side edges. He wore a blue crop top blazer with a fishnet shirt underneath, pants sharing the same color as the crop top, and black loafers as well. He had an eyepatch on the right side of his face from a mysterious injury. Allison wondered about that. Several ear piercings and eyebrow piercings decorated his face. He wore a golden crown with purple gems on it as well. Both of them are the children of the king and queen of Seratopa. However, Allison had escaped that life. She was never able to conform with it. The fact that her older brother was here could easily mean that he, too, did not agree with the dictates of their authoritative family.

“What’re you doing here?” asked Elisha.

“I haven’t seen you since you ran away from home 6 years ago. I thought you might have been dead… Where did you even go?”

Allison was hesitant to answer him.

“…Bosneria, where we studied when we were kids. I ended up there after I snuck away on a cargo ship. I didn’t have a place to go after that. I ended up starving and begging on the streets… Thankfully, a pirate named Wyatt Wolfshine took me in and made me part of his crew. It sort of became like another family to me. His son, Ezra was his first mate. But, he now owns his ship after his dad died.”

“Why didn’t you come back home? Everyone was so worried.”

“You know what it was like for me, they always—” As Allison was about to finish her sentence, Juana came by in her usual bubbly mood.

“Hey, Allison! Me and you are in a tag team match together! Isn’t that fun?” she said enthusiastically, but paused as she noticed Elisha.

“Oh! Hello! Who’s this guy?”

“Juana, this is my big brother, Elisha.”

“Hiiii! Allison, you never told me you had a brother.”

“Yeah… I never felt that there was ever a good reason to mention him.” said Allison, looking away.

“I see. Oh, Allison! Estelos’ match is happening right now. Let’s go watch! You wanna come too, Elisha?”

“Wait, Estelos? Isn’t that Raven’s dad?” Elisha asked.

“Yeah! You know him?”

“Yeah, we went to his house frequently when we were kids. Wait, he is a wrestler now?”

“Oh, yeah! You should come, too! It’s gonna be fun! C’mon, let’s go!”

“I would’ve never imagined Mr. Astelira would be involved in WME. This ought to be good.” Elisha thought with peaked curiosity.

Juana giddily led the way to a magic mirror on the wall, showing what the audience at home would be seeing. The crowd cheered loudly, waiting for the match to start. Feros and Derek’s opponents already came into the ring: Kovek Elora, a robust and intimidating man. And Argus Ferana who, while not as intimidating, certainly had an ego large enough to match his partner’s size. One could only guess such a perception was not without merit.

The crowd was in a frenzy about Derek, they were so excited to see fresh new faces despite finding out about Derek’s possible newfound reputation.

The referee did a hand motion to tell the bell ringer that it’s time to start the match, and so it began.

“Alright, the match has started. Get ready for some riveting action!” one of the commentators said as the wrestlers decided who would face off first. Derek and Kovek were the first to start fighting. They proceeded to lock up, Kovek—the buffer redhead—putting his opponent in a crossface, wrenching his neck and shoulder.

The commentators began to announce what was happening for the audience at home.

Kovek then threw Derek to the ground as the crowd watched with glee, wondering what he would do in response.

Despite his setback, he stood up and attempted to punch Kovek, however since he was experienced, he dodged it.

“Caeruleum Ardeat!” he said as he blasted Derek in the back with a glowing, blue matter that burned to the touch, causing the amateur wrestler to get thrown towards the ropes. Derek used this opportunity to turn himself around and quickly used the momentum of the throw to slingshot himself towards his opponent, closelining Kovek. Derek finally had the upper hand as he looked down at his rival on the ground holding his head in pain.

Derek looked around, taking in his surroundings. He couldn’t believe that he was actually wrestling in the WME. This excited him. So much so, that he stopped paying attention to the match. As he turned around, Kovek was already standing up and jumped onto him. He ruthlessly punched his stunned opponent in the head, not letting him up. The fans cheered loudly for him. The pain wasn’t too much for the vampire, he had experienced far worse pain.

Finally letting the vampire up, Kovek tagged in his partner. Derek quickly made his way over to the corner that Feros was in and tagged him in. Argus and Feros went at it for a bit until both were down, too exhausted to do anything. All of a sudden, an unfamiliar entrance theme came on. Everyone turned to the entrance ramp and out came Raven, skipping and dressed in an outfit that Derek easily recognized. It was his everyday outfit. Her irises had an orange lining in them, She had a continuous deadpan stare as she skipped around the ring.

The crowd and everyone in the ring, barring her dad, were confused as to who she was.

“What the…!” exclaimed the commentators.

“Who the hell is that?” asked the first commentator.

“I’m getting word that this is Raven Valtaheim. Apparently she’s Derek’s daughter.” informed the second commentator.

Derek watched as she pranced around the ring.

“Wha–… Raven??”

As she headed backstage, Derek jumped down from the ring and chased after her.

Feros, noticing the commotion, began yelling at his confused tag partner to come back.

“Get back here! The hell are you doing?!” he shouted.

Unfazed by Feros’ yelling, Derek proceeded backstage as Feros got attacked and pinned. Kovek and Argus won as the defeated demon laid there in pain and defeat.

“The winners of this match, and still the Extreme Magic tag team champions: Kovek Elora and Argus Ferana! The Imortals!”

The crowd cheered loudly for them.

“I… Man, I can’t comprehend what just happened.” said the first commentator, scratching his head.

“I’ll tell you what happened, this Raven chick ruined a hell of a good match.” the second commentator said in response, sounding quite annoyed.

In the backstage area, Derek grabbed ahold of his daughter whose inexpressiveness disappeared as her father shook her out of her haze.

◆◆◆

“Where were you??” Derek desperately asked.

“I… I don’t know. It was all a blur. The only thing I remember was how damp and dark it was. I remember seeing this thing, it looked very creepy. I think it was called Grust. My memory is still fuzzy.”

The rest of Ezra’s crew had made their way to Derek and Raven with haste to boot.

“Oh, Raven! Are you okay??? We’ve been looking everywhere for you.” said Allison.

“Even in the bathrooms!” added Juana with a smile as Wess nodded to his friend’s silly response. “You have no idea how long we looked. But it’s all good now. Everyone, pack your bags, we’ve got a red maiden to sell.” finished Ezra with a greedy smile and a shine to his eyes.

“Um, I don’t think Charlotte will approve of you leaving yet.” Elisha said hesitantly.

“Who the hell are you?” asked Ezra.

“This is my brother Elis...” Before Allison could finish her sentence, a small green figure joined them, followed by her much bigger bodyguards.

“No one’s leaving until I say so. You’re still under contract. You guys belong to me…” finished Charlotte with a big money-hungry grin.

“What if we leave anyway?” asked Ezra.

Charlotte smiled smugly as her bodyguards cracked their necks and knuckles as two more enormous figures joined them, giving a claustrophobic feeling to the air. The four beasts cast a shadow so large that it enveloped even Derek.

“I would rather, you didn’t.” Charlotte said, quickly changing her smile to a much more serious look.

“Now, are we going somewhere?” Before the werewolf could answer, Derek stopped him and answered instead.

“No. No we weren't.”

Shifting her attention to the vampire in front of her, Charlotte seemed more relaxed.

“Well, good. At least someone seems to have a brain around here. Alright, boys. Let's head out. I’ve gotta go call mommy and daddy.” The small goblin left to go back to her office, leaving Derek and the rest standing there in silence.

“Well, I guess we’re stuck here…” said Wess in a monotone voice.

Derek looked at Raven, who still seemed a bit off.

“Raven… What did they do to you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You seem off…” The orange lining appeared in Raven’s irises for a split second. “I’m fine. I’d be more worried about yourself.”

“Wh…What?”

Raven looked at him with a dead look in her eyes. Derek couldn’t fathom what could’ve happened to her, but it worried him greatly. Extreme Magic in Rokranz had ended. Now, everyone needed to proceed to a new location for the next show, Magic Madness. Fortunately, Charlotte was kind enough to provide a free ride on her airship to each new location, surely making the little goblin’s operations run much smoother.

“Oh! That’s a pretty ship!” said the ever cheerful Juana.

“Wow, I have never even flown in one before.” Allison said.

“Well, I can say for sure that I have. My parents and I used to ride one for a family vacation. Flying in general is fun. I wish I had wings. Although, it reminds me of that house that tried to eat us a few days ago.”

“Oh yeah… the gryphon.” Allison recalled.

Following close behind them was Elisha, who the group had become quite acquainted with. Charlotte had tasked him with showing them the ropes of WME. He also showed them where they’d store their belongings on the ship. Ezra had made sure to bring the red maiden along for safekeeping. He feared leaving his father’s ship behind for so long under the care of strangers would end with the ship being ransacked, but there wasn’t much of a choice for him. In the end, he would just have to hope for the best.

“Dad, I wanna be alone for a bit. I need room to think.” Raven said, turning to her dad.

Derek took a while to respond to that request, still shaken by her recent disappearance. But, he had kept her by his side in a rather obsessive manner for years, albeit with good reason, in his opinion. He decided that now would be a good moment to ease his leash. “Well… Okay. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

With her father no longer tailing her, Raven went over to a space on deck to be alone with her thoughts and sat on one of the benches. She thought about everything that happened, that she could remember anyway, and wondered what all happened. Nothing fit together as if there were missing pieces to her memory. Meanwhile, Feros watched as the solitary fairy sat alone from afar. His interest in her formed after her distraction during his match hours ago.

He decided to go sit next to her. She noticed him sitting next to her despite the many empty spaces he could have chosen. Her action was immediate, and without even acknowledging his presence, she scooted farther from him.

“Hey, you’re Raven, right?” he asked, trying to sound approachable.

“Yeah… Why?”

“I just wanted to get to know you. You’re new here and I wanted to make you feel welcome.” he smiled to complete the welcoming gesture.

“Thanks.” she said in the most sarcastic and skeptical tone she could muster.

There was a tense silence after she spoke. Eerily, he sat there next to Raven in contemplative silence as he stared at her. It unnerved her.

“Look, I don’t know what your deal is, but I’d really like to be alone right now.” said Raven, getting a bit irritated.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll leave you alone.”

He then got up and went somewhere else on the ship, still keeping her in his view.

Raven’s attempt at collecting her thoughts had been dashed. Her concentration had turned awry after such an encounter and she could feel a lingering sensation that she was being watched. On a different side of the ship, Elizabeth observed Derek, watching his every move.

She took one step forward when all of a sudden…

“What’re you doing?” A cheerful voice came from behind her, startling her.

Almost falling to the ground with such a commotion, she gathered herself and responded.

“You need to stop doing that.” Elizabeth said, slightly displeased.

“Doing what?”

“Scaring me.”

“Don’t scare you? Well, that’s not part of my nature, I’m afraid.”

“It’s rather annoying.”

“That’s nice to hear. You still haven't answered my question, though.”

Elizabeth sighed.

“I’m watching Derek.”

“Ah, planning your revenge I see?”

“What? Revenge? Oh… Yes. My revenge… I’m still planning of course, and it’s sure to excite you when it’s executed.”

“…Fascinating! Well, I’m gonna go see what Azlana and Mordecai are up to.” said Grust dismissively, reverting to his previous cheerful self.

“Okay.” Elizabeth said, slightly unnerved with the encounter as Grust disappeared. She sighed once more and continued watching Derek as he went and sat next to Raven.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Raven?” Derek asked, searching for reassurance.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” she paused pensively.

“ I don’t really know what happened. I’m just glad that it’s all over.” she said scratching at the wood of the bench she was sitting on.

Derek looked up at the night sky.

“You never know, maybe being in the WME could be a great new life for us. It’s definitely fun being in the ring and hearing the crowd go crazy.”

Raven looked at her dad.

“I guess so... Although, you looked ridiculous in your wrestling gear.”

“N-No I didn’t! I thought I looked cool!”

“You looked naked. Everyone could see the outline of your dick.”

Raven’s comment caused Derek to blush.

“W-What?!”

Raven snickered. Juana, Allison, and Elisha rose up from behind them, startling Derek.

“We sure could!~” they said, teasing him.

“And it was pretty big too.” whispered Juana to Derek.

Raven laughed hysterically as Derek grumbled to himself. Elizabeth, still spying on Derek, turned away and leaned against a mast pole. She sighed.

“How could he be the one that killed those kings… That’s just not like him…”