Meanwhile, some place else, Kira used her magic to lift the gems and polish them to make them shiny. She couldn’t believe she had gotten that many and in such a short amount of time. Just then, another man entered the area; a gold light shone behind his back.

“Excuse me, Kira, but we’ve returned.”

“Ah, do tell. So, how was the expedition?”

“Err, well, we had to get away.”

“What? Did you at least get the gems?”

“Yes, with this scepter.” The man revealed from his back that he had a golden scepter at his disposal.

“Good work, Stels.”

“However, we couldn’t capture anybody—”

“You are insolent! Where’s the rest of the team?”

“I’m afraid we lost track of them, including Antonio...”

“Ooh, is that so? That’s unfortunate.”

A teleportation beam appeared, and another male showed up before their eyes with a white crystal in one of his hands.

“Did you guys miss me?” He spoke up with a smug grin.

“Antonio, you’re back!” Kira exclaimed.

“Of course, and I also brought you the ice gem.” Antonio lifted the light blue gem out of his pockets.

“Brilliant, but why haven’t you teleported to—?”

“The answer’s simple. I had to return this to you. It’d be a shame if the enemies would take it while I searched for the last gem.”

“Genius move. Now go, hurry to the Onyx Pinnacle, find that last gem, and bring it to me. Then, we can move to the next step.” She said as she took out the crown with some gems engraved inside, only one empty slot remaining.

“Sure thing.” Antonio bowed. He took out the teleport gem and prepared its magic to leave the scene.

“Wait, let me go with you!” Stels proclaimed. “You’re going to need some backup, since you’ll be outnumbered and surrounded...”

“I can take care of myself; I don’t need your help. And besides, you need to stay here and—”

“Very well, go on ahead,” Kira responded.

“Wait. What?” Antonio questioned, his mouth gaped open.

“Don’t worry; I’ll be okay taking care of myself, especially if someone were to break in.”

Much to Antonio’s dismay, he nodded his head, not wanting to disobey or go against her demands.

“All right.” He and Stels replied.

More rumbles happened as the ground continued to rock. Realizing time was of the essence, the two grabbed hold of the white crystal and exited the scene altogether.

.-.-.-.

Papeht and Ruth headed back to the Orso Looba village. Once they arrived there, the two came across another Orso Looba running amok, staggering.

“Hey, look, it’s Bob,” Ruth pointed out, as he waved to get his attention. “How’s it going?”

“Ruth, where have you—?” Bob jumped back when he noticed Papeht next to him. “Oh no, another Mileti? Look out!”

“Wait, no, calm down. This guy’s a friend of mine. Where’s my father? Is he not in the village?”

“He’s not here; he went off to take part in some kind of war.”

“What? But why?”

“Well, some of your people have recovered from their sickness, and your dad heard you were in trouble, and... well, he didn’t take it very well.”

“Oh, no...”

“You had just missed them, too; they went that way.” Bob pointed.

“Where’s everyone else? Are you the only one here?” Ruth asked, exchanging glances.

“No, they’re hiding and getting ready for healing once the others come back.”

“I see...”

“We better hurry,” Papeht told him. “Let’s get going before anything bad happens to them!”

“Right.” Ruth nodded.

.-.-.-.

A team of Miletis and Orso Loobas marched toward one another and stood in line to face each other with poised bodies and serious-looking expressions on their faces.

“Well, well, look who showed up.” A Mileti taunted.

“You will pay for your treachery and insolence.” Ruth’s dad, Cedric, retorted.

“You knew this day would come.”

“I’ll save my son and avenge my dad!”

“Bring it on!”

The two groups then clashed into a fight with their weapons and artillery without holding back.