Avalon.

A world of magic.

A world much like ours, scared by never-ending conflict. Rena had taken us to her kingdom of Aquia, a land of elves like her. To the south lay the hostile kingdom of Rosaria, ruled by a corrupted king, hungry for land. Further south was the growing Miltesa Empire, whom are locked in a terrible war with Rosaria. To the west lay the islands of Fria and Kugarat, both of which were in a civil war seemingly without end. Amongst the chaos of this world lay other threats. Powerful beasts that rack havoc over the lands, outlaws, and cutthroats, and a certain individual whom have terrified the hearts and minds of everyone in this land, known to them by a simple title, the King of Thorns.

To be honest, I don't see how I alone could heal this broken land. my world is broken and fragmented as much as this one, and there is no hope for it to be unified. But Rena's people asked something different of me. They asked for me and my knights to aid halt Rosaria's advance, and kill the King Roudolf. A request that came not from the elves, but Roudolf son, Fredrick. He pleaded with me, claims that his father is under the influence of this King of Thorns. He wants to aid us in our fight with his father. I believe he's expecting too much of us. We are strangers in this world. But he accompanies us, along with Rena and Comiet to the border with Aquia and Rosaria.

****

"Ahhh, my head." Allisa moaned as she sat up. As expected, she had another dream, one that felt far longer than some of the previous ones since they started back up. This one had so much information that she couldn't even remember any of the details of the overwhelming information she, or Arthur revised (Not that she really remembered any of the other dreams). The only thing that really stood out was the name 'King of Thorns.'

She looked over to the other bed in the room. Nel was already up, as usual. Folded close by were her clothes. She had slept in her underwear, along with Nel since Hellina insisted that she give them a wash and repair them following the day's events.

The previous day had been an eventful one. First was being attacked by a group of bandits, followed by the village being besieged by an army. The day didn't end that well either. Following a town meeting, the village Chief, Gimdo, who was allowing her and her friends to stay until the road they needed was unflooded, would be forced to step down if he didn't deal with the issue of Celtic Hoard.

The last Allisa had seen of him was going off into the forest with Bush, and around the time they group had turned in for the night, both men still weren't back. Rodger offered to go out and look for him, which Hellina refused. Nel offered as well, but Hellina refused her offer, saying that she was sure her husband would be all right. Allisa hoped that to be the case, but she couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"I hope he's back," Allisa muttered as he picked up her top.

Then, without so much as a knock, Max burst through the door. "Hey! We got trouble!"

There was a long and awkward pause as Max realised that Allisa was half naked, during which Allisa turned bright red and let out a small yelp.

"Um.... Maybe I should have knocked first.... Huh?"

Allisa equipped her sword and charged Max screaming, "YOU PERVERT!!"

****

"Where'd you get that bump?" Melvin asked, referring to the swollen bump on Max's forehead.

"Um... well...."

"He slipped and fell over," Allisa answered for Max coldly. "Right." She stared to Max menacingly.

"Y-Yeah. Definitely didn't see anything pink." Max stuttered without really thinking, trying his best to avoid Allisa's murderous gaze.

"Pink?" Melvin muttered.

"It's nothing!! S-So what's going on?" Allisa said, desperate to try to change the topic.

Melvin blinked and looked up at Max. "You haven't told her."

"Things got.... Complicated." Max said, choosing his words very carefully.

"A-Anyway, what's going on?" Allisa asked again.

"Oh right, we got big trouble," Melvin said with a great sense of urgency in his voice. "It's Gimdo! He's been taken hostage!"

****

The News came in a form of a projection crystal, one that worked similar to an electronic projector in Terra, which projected an image on a canvas. The image shown was two individuals tied up to a pole, beaten up.

"Grampa!" Dora yelled when she saw the image, nearly crying.

"Wh-What is this?" Allisa muttered in shock. The two hostages were none other than Gimdo and Bush.

A long-faced man with shades then went in front of the two. "Greetings midgets. If you don't know, my name is Dolton Horus, leader of Celtic Hoard. As you just saw I've taken Gimbo and some other guy hostage. You have three days to clear out. If not, I kill the pair of them." The message then ended. The village was gripped with a great sense of shock, seeing their chief stung up like a trophy.

"He properly tried to settle things with the leader." Nel summarized.

"Gramps...." Rodger muttered, gritting his teeth.

"The attack must've hit him hard," Cliff said, bowing his head.

Max stood with Allisa and Melvin, barely containing his anger. "Those bastards..." he growled.

"That's bandits for ya," Melvin said.

There was a lot of mumblings from the villagers until eventually, someone yelled out. "We gotta rescue them!"

"First they attack us! Now they're taking us hostage!"

"No one takes the Chief and gets away with it!"

The cries for retaliation got stronger, with many of the villagers supporting the growing notion of retaliation. Even several of the people who supported Dorian the other day were all in favor of rescuing the chief.

"Everyone silence!!" A voice called out over the town, quelling the tension. Dorian then took the stage, along with the three elders of the village. "We will do nothing." His announcement both shocked and confused the village.

"W-What did he say?" Fred said.

"Wasn't he saying yesterday that they would attack in force?" Melvin said, equally as baffled.

Dorian raised his hands to once again quell the mutterings. "Believe me, I am just as outraged by this recent transgression. But that's all the more reason why we shouldn't rush in. The humans may have been dealt a serious blow yesterday, but this tactic is designed to provoke us into rash action.

"They know we won't leave the village with this.... ridicules demand, and fully expect us to rush in to save him. We know the forest better than anyone, but these humans have been here long enough to know the route from their camp to the village, and will very likely ambush us along the way, picking us off one by one. Therefore, the best course of action is to hold our position, strengthen the defenses of the village, and prepare for the next attack by the humans."

There was a lot of muttering from the villages, some of whom agreed with some, reluctantly seeing his point and a few who were about to openly object until someone beat them to it.

"What about my Gramp?!! We're just going to let him die?!!" Rodger yelled.

Dorian let out a sigh of exhaustion. "I know that's how it sounds, but with him gone, I'm in charge of the safety of this village, and as such, I must make hard decisions to ensure its safety."

Rodger gritted his teeth. "And that means ya gonna abandon Gramps and old man Bush?!"

"If it means the village will survive then yes!" Dorian yelled back.

"I'm afraid I must agree." One of the village elders, a man with a staff and a beard that was longer than his own body, walked forwards to the end of the stage.

"Elder Junbi." Dorian bowed as he passed.

Junbi looked at Rodger and bowed. "Son, I'm afraid this is what must be done. Even Gimdo would understand and accept his fate."

"What...." Rodger growled. "You're taking his side?!"

"Dorian is right. The safety of the village must always come first." Junbi looked towards Dorian. "That is why Gimdo did what he did, regardless of how others would perceive it."

"Can't tell what side that old geezer's on," Cliff commented.

"He's trying to stay neutral," Nel said. "I must agree on Dorian's evaluation though. They know that the ransom for the village will fail, but they must have anticipated that some will try to rescue Gimdo. It's obviously a trap intended to buy Celtic Hoard time to recover, and hopefully, pick off several warriors if they're lucky." She evaluated. "That said, Dorian is letting his own personal goals slip."

"Not surprised you'd pick that up. With Gimdo out of the way, he can take over."

Allisa, Max and Melvin kept quiet, not liking the sound of Dorian, the human hater of the village, taking over control of the village.

"So your saying we should just let Gramps be killed?!" Rodger yelled. "There's no way I'm gonna accept that!" he then pointed his finger at Junbi. "My Dad said when someone's in trouble, you don't abandon them no matter what!!"

"And that's what got that fool killed!" Dorian snapped back.

"Least he wasn't a coward like you!!"

There were a lot of mutters from the onlookers of the crowd, Dora and Fred full of worry.

"Well then, if you want to risk your like to save that old man, then don't let me stop you!!" Dorian snapped.

"That's enough!" Junbi interrupted. "And I can not allow you to leave on a fool's errand, Rodger. As Dorian said, we need everyone who can fight to defend the village in the case of another attack."

Allisa then spoke up. "What about us?!"

Everyone turned to look at the giants at the back of the village meeting. They weren't alone, Allisa's companions were now staring at her.

"We'll rescue Gimdo," Allisa announced.

"Huh!!" Melvin and Cliff exclaimed.

"Y-You mean, 'we' as in us we?" Melvin asked.

"And what would you gain by helping that old man?" Dorian asked.

Allisa took in a deep breath, trying her best to keep cool despite all the eyes on her. "We owe him. He's letting us stay here so we can't just abandon him."

"Bold words human." Dorian mocked. "The only reason you want to save that man is because he's the only one who's allowing you to stay."

"So what if he is?" Allisa snapped back. "He's a kind and gentle man, who cares about everyone here. He's a much better chief you could ever hope to be!"

"Why you!! You have no right to-"

Junbi then raised his arm in front of Dorian, cutting him off. "What's your name human?"

"Allisa Reed."

Junbi looked up and down at Allisa. "Dorian is right in saying it's a trap. And if I'm not mistaken, one of your followers is down. Do you really think just the five of you can do it?"

Allisa took a quick gulp. Being honest to herself, she wasn't that confident the group could free Gimdo and Bush from Celtic Hoard, even if Yuki we’re consious. ".....We... We have to try." Allisa said, putting on a determined face. "And we're gonna prove to you that not all humans are bad." She said to Dorian.

"Ha! You five can't take on the entire-"

Junbi cut off Dorian again. "Very well. We'll leave it in your hand of you humans." Junbi said with a smile. "And if you're successful then we'll allow Gimdo to remain chief."

"What!?"

Allisa smiled and bowed. "Thanks. We promise we'll save him. No matter what."

The Rescue mission

"I can't believe you actually agreed to that! You really think we can save the old man on our own without any help?" Cliff exclaimed.

"Sorry... I guess I got a bit carried away." Allisa groaned, regretting her bravado earlier on.

"What's the problem? We beat them once." Max said with his arms behind his head.

"Yeah, a small camp with one Magitek weapon that you and Yuki destroyed on your own! This is their main camp with more weapons and guys who were able to fight off that swordsman yesterday without getting killed!" Melvin said to him, feeling a great sense of foreboding about what they were about to do. "I mean seriously, do we even have a plan?"

"Yeah. Go in and beat the crap outta them!" Max said with a smile.

"I was afraid of that..." Melvin groaned.

Following Allisa's declaration at the town meeting, the five of them had regrouped outside the village, in the valley where Celtic hoard had been the other day, with the scars of that day still remaining between the battle and Rodger's fight with Steve. Yuki was still recovering from his injuries from his fight with Gai so he wasn't present. This worried Cliff and Melvin since they were down one of their strongest fighters.

"Surprised you didn't object to this," Melvin said to Nel.

"I did say Allisa was our leader. She's the one who makes the decision so we can't really argue." Nel said.

"I thought that was to avoid making the decision to take the midget with us," Cliff said. He then sighed and spoke to Allisa. "Look, I'm not against this. I want to save the old man just as much as you. But I'm also a realist. And if I'm honest, just the five against an entire gang of cutthroats and villains with powerful weapons to boot... do you really think we can pull this off?"

Allisa didn't answer at first, her back turned to the others, her gaze falling on her right hand. "I'm.... to be honest, I'm not so sure. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try."

"Even if it's a trap?" Nel asked.

Allisa slowly closed her fist. "I don't care about that. I won't let anyone I know die."

The memory of the Alchemist, Luvia Roswell was still burned into her memory. Despite the horrible things she had done, she still blamed herself for not being able to save her from dying. Not again....

"He's not gonna die," Max said with a grin. "Cause we're gonna save him and show up that coot along with it."

"Nothing ever dampens your spirits," Melvin commented on Max before giving out a huff of agreement. "I guess we do owe the old man for letting us stay here though. It's the least we can do."

Cliff let out a sigh followed by a small smile. "You kids are gonna be the death of me. Oh well, I can think of worse ways to go."

"Looks like we’re all decided," Nel said, pulling out a piece of paper. "That woman from the Samiet Council gave me a map of where we need to go. It's a place to the Southeast of here called Deadman's End."

"That doesn't sound very attractive," Cliff commented.

"Apparently it's a large grotto were the source of this river comes from." Nel pointed at the cracks in the ground. "There's a clearing in the forest that's about the size of the village."

"Why's it called 'Deadman?'" Allisa asked, losing a bit more of her earlier bravado.

"Apparently it's where people go into this forest while on the run from a crime they committed end up. When they lose their way and end up on the verge of death and die in the Grotto. That's what the woman said anyway."

"Gotta give this Dolton guy some credit for setting up in a place like that," Cliff said.

Allisa took a look at the map Nel had. It was hand-drawn but showed the rough root and landmarks they had to go. What was worrying was that there were a lot of areas drawn with a skull. "What are those?" She asked, a little concerned to find out the answer.

"Areas to avoid. Like when Rodger led us here and took us on paths that avoided areas like this." Nel clarified. "The main problem for us is the possibility of Celtic Hoard setting up ambushes along the way."

"You're a sensor, right? How far is your range?" Cliff asked.

"Not that far. About two miles at the most. Though the forest seems to dampen my range too, well the area around us."

"I was afraid of that."

"Huh?" Allisa looked at Cliff for clarity.

"Basically we won't be able to realize that there's an ambush until right at the last second with Nel's sensor ability."

"We got Max though," Melvin said. "With his sense of smell, he'd be able to sniff out the enemy before they jump us."

"I can do that," Max said confidently.

"Oh! And to add to that..." Melvin pulled out his wand. "From the gates of the Underworld, I summon you to my side, Cerberus!" There was a small puff of smoke with a small Cerberus appearing at the center, giving out a small yelp. "His sense of smell should be as good as Max's, so it should give us more of an edge." He crouched down and stroked the fiery fur of Cerberus. "Counting on you boy."

"Looks like we're all set then." Nel nodded. "Ready?" She asked Allisa.

Allisa nodded. "Alright! Let's save Gimdo!"

"Yeah!" Max and Melvin yelled.

****

"What were you thinking sending those Humans out?!" Dorian yelled at Junbi.

"And you suggest we do nothing?" The woman countered. Her name was Welma F. Sawes, a member of the council and Fred's mother, as well as one of Gimdo's advisors.

"You're the one's who wants to do nothing! That's why we're in this mess in the first place!"

"And you're the one who wanted to drive them from the forest. And now want us to do nothing while Gimdo's life is on the line. You advocated your goals a bit too keenly back then."

"Just what are you trying to say you hag?"

"Enough!" Junbi broke the two apart. "Now's not the time for this." He turned to look at Dorian. "I am afraid that Welma is correct in her assertions that you seemed a little too keen in your desire to be rid of Gimdo. However," He then turned to Welma. "That doesn't change the fact that he is correct in his assertion that the enemy would expect us to mount a rescue. Even Gimdo knows that his duty is to the safety of the village, even if it costs him his life."

Welma looked down. "Of course I know that."

"But why send those Humans to save him?" Dorian asked.

"Even you can't deny that this is the right course of action. They are outsiders, but they are offering to save the man nonetheless. I say let them while we strengthen the defenses of the village in case they fail."

"Do you really think they can pull it off? There are only six of them, no, five of them, against over a hundred of Celtic Hoard."

Junbi turned away and faced a small statue at the back of the council room. "Do you know of the Goddesses prophecy?"

Both Dorian and Welma were a little confused by Junbi's question. "Of course, but what does this have to do with our current predicament?" Dorian asked.

"It speaks of a savior, one who will drive out the darkness, and bring balance to the light." Junbi continued, ignoring Dorion's question.

Welma managed to pick up on what Junbi was trying to say. "You.... You think one of these humans.... Is the savior?"

"That's preposterous!" Dorian exclaimed. "The Prophecy has already come true. The hero Arthur saved our world 1500 years ago. Everyone knows the story."

"It's true that Arthur brought peace to this world, but he failed to bring balance to light and darkness. The five Arch Sages have debated for centuries that the hero Arthur was not the one the prophecy spoke of."

"What?" Welma exclaimed with confusion. "Then that means... you believe one of them is.... The true Goddess' chosen."

Junbi turned to face the two. "That woman, Allisa Reed.... There's something about her that seems a bit.... Off."

"Her?!" Welma exclaimed.

"That girl?! But she's just a child!" Dorian exclaimed.

"And yet she managed to stand up to you." Welma chuckled. "But... She didn't strike me as the 'goddesses chosen.' She may have braved the forest, but like Dorian said, she's still a child."

"I'm not so certain myself," Junbi said honestly. "So... let's call this a test." Junbi looked back towards the statue. "To see if she really is the Goddess' Chosen."