The three stand, weapons drawn, the corpses of countless fiends lying about their feet.

"Heh heh heh... what's this? Feeble creatures dare to enter my domain?" A light green mantis says in a shrill voice, stroking it's bladed forelimbs across one another. "Such a pity. Your last moments may be filled with agony and terror, but at least they will pass swiftly once I... aagh!"

With a single slice cutting from head down to abdomen, the large insect is bisected by Kay's axe mid sentence. Ordinarily, encountering a talking fiend would offer at least some novelty, but this is the fourth group that the three mice had met which was lead by one. They didn't even bother keeping count of how many non-verbal insects they had already dispatched.

"I'm blaming you for this, you know." Kay grumbles.

"What? How is this my fault? Sure, I said I was looking for a fight but I don't see how that would make every fiend, apparently in the world, suddenly come after us!" Frederich replies.

"Hmmm, well, the legend does state that the artifacts have the power to grant wishes..." Mia says, crouching down to examine a severed antennae. "It's not impossible that it responded to your words and brought foes our way."

"Ahh, delicious, delicious blood..." A long legged spider growls, crawling atop a pile of shattered carapaces. "Eeek!"

The armored mouse drives his sword straight through the many eyed face, dropping it instantly. "No way. These must be random encounters. That's just something that happens when you travel outside."

"So fiends just attack mice, even when they're clearly outmatched? Why?" Mia asks.

Fred can only shrug in response. "Who knows? They're fiends. They're stupid. Still, I've got to admit that the encounter rate is way too high. There's no way we should be running into this many."

"I've heard stories of fiends being drawn to magical energies. Normally, it would take a large number of sorcerers gathered in one place to attract them, but perhaps they sense the power from the treasure?" Mia says.

"Ah, good day kind folks! Lovely weather we're having, is it not?" A long, yellow caterpillar says, waving it's many hands.

Mia shrieks in response, pointing her staff in its direction, blasting it with a series of orbs of light which burst against the hairy creature with a heat intense enough to set it ablaze. The creature crumbles into smouldering ash.

"Ugh, gross!" The young sorceress shudders.

"I don't think that one was hostile... and I thought you liked fuzzy creatures?" asks Fred.

"Well, yeah, big ones with four legs! That was just... ughh!" the young mouse turns away.

The three really haven't had an opportunity to discuss their next destination, finding themselves constantly ambushed by small creatures which donn't quite make up for their lack of strength with quantity. Even in large numbers, they posed more of a disgusting nuisance than a proper threat, yet whenever they traveled any distance from a previous battleground, still more of the creatures, usually of a different variety and sometimes lead by an unusually intelligent and talking fiend would await them. As such, Frederich and Mia are basically just following Kay who instinctively followed the path of the next closest pillar.

"Even outside the city, it's particularly rare to see talking fiends, however." Mia continues. "I have little doubt it is due to the influence of the treasure."

"Lucky us." The nameless mouse grumbles. She had fastened a bit of twine in a loop, placing it through the small hole at the base of the key, and settled the new necklace about her furred throat, letting the rather heavy metal item hang across her back.

"Hey, look on the bright side!" Fred grins. "Between our successful missions and all these fights, we might be getting tons of experience points!"

"Lucky us." Kay grumbles once again, figuring the statement doesn't deserve a unique response.

"I suppose we will need to return to the city to gain any levels though, right?" Mia asks.

"Nope! Helena is mostly there for consulting purposes. She can tell you your level, how much experience you have and how much you'll need for your next level, but you can still gain them without her, so long as you're a guild member." Fred replies.

"I see... so I suppose we may have already gotten stronger, but there's no way to realize it?"

"We definitely did. Look at your magic! Now that long ago, you could barely make a warm glow, and now you're blinding Makers and setting fiends on fire!" Fred says, excitedly.

"Please be careful with that." Kay interjects in a low voice, not slowing her pace or even turning to face the others.

"I know, I know." Mia says in a soft voice, well aware that the ability to actually burn things with magic, while occasionally useful can also be very much a double edged sword. "It's strange. It just sort of came to me, the method of expanding on my existing knowledge. I had no idea that his experience system could be so powerful!"

"Well, normally it's really slow going. We're advancing a lot quicker than normal thanks to the dangerous mission the constant fighting and the, um..." Fred says, frowning a little as he thinks of the last part.

"The curse mark. You can just say it. I'm well aware that it's there." Kay says.

"Um, right! Anyways, we can level up on our own, and I'm sure we have! I just wish we could tell how much. It's probably a lot, considering how much we got from fighting some simple centipedes earlier."

"You're both level seventeen now." Kay interjects once again.

"Huh, how do you know?" Fred asks.

"It's listed right over you head, along with your name." She says.

"Wow, could you always see that?"

Kay stops walking for the first time since the trio had left the Maker's domain. "I-I don't know..." she says, pausing, in deep thought. "No, I definitely couldn't. I didn't even know what levels were before I met you. Really, I still don't quite get them."

"Perhaps it was due to finding the treasure?" Mia says.

The naked mouse pauses once more before closing her eyes and shaking her head. "No, it was before that. I don't have any real memory of that 'turning on' though, which is why I didn't think it was unusual until you mentioned it." she says, turning back to Frederich. "Huh, how strange..." she looks to him, and raises an eyebrow. "Wait, I didn't notice that before... your name isn't Frederich, it's..."

"Don't say it!" Fred blurts out, sighing with relief as she doesn't continue that sentence. Thankfully, Kay is not the sort who needs any extra motivation to stop talking. "Frederich is my real name, it's just not my birth name."

"You were lecturing me not long ago about how important names are." Kay frowns.

"Well, yeah, they are! They're an important gift, and I decided to treat myself to a better one!" He says, fidgeting under her annoyed glare. "Look, this situation is different! Your parents probably gave you a great one, unlike mine!"

The naked mouse looks to him, nodding her head. "Well, I'm not sure how great mine is, or how much it matters either way, but I'll admit that yours... it isn't the best."

Frederich sighs. "That's an understatement. Just... please just call me Frederich... or Fred... or Master F!" he grins briefly, the expression fading at Kay's disappointed reaction. "Um, I guess the first two will do, but, you know, if you ever want to follow them up with 'the Mighty', I won't complain!"

Mia interjects at this point, her voice uncharacteristically curt. "So, where are we going now? Should we head back to the city and resupply?"

"The next treasure isn't too far from here." Kay says. "Well, closer to here than the city is, anyways."

The younger mouse simply nods, wearing a light frown on her face. She has nothing in particular to say, which is convenient, seeing as how the group finds itself surrounded once more by small, dark-shelled creatures. The constant battles make what should be a comparatively short trip, at least relative to the journey from the mouse city to the hardware store, a long one. Similarly, even though none of the opponents proved to be a proper threat, fighting them does deplete their very limited energy reserves, well at least those of Mia and Frederich.

Before long, and not a moment too soon, the constant ambushes begin to thin out. Perhaps this is due to sheer coincidence, perhaps their population has simply diminished due to the constant slaughter, or perhaps it is due to their growing proximity to the flowing water, a location which holds no shortage of fiends, but apparently less hostile varities of them. Before the three can see it, the sounds of the raging river fill their ears, but it doesn't remain invisible for long. Despite both Mia's and Frederich's interest in going closer to examine it, they instead follow Kay's path which completely ignores it. Still, the two find their wishes granted as the path the adventurers follow and the road of the cold, shimmering water gradually begins to converge until the mice find themselves walking directly alongside it.

"We should rest here. We can restock on water, clean our gear and cool off after all that fighting." Frederich says. The second point is a particularly valid one, as slaying insects with swords and axes is rather messy work.

As for Kay, she's not entirely fond of the idea, eager to continue onwards. Still, she can't deny the general logic. She doesn't even mentally complain about the pair slowing her down as she's well aware that retrieving the last treasure would have been far more difficult, perhaps even impossible, without their presence. Mia, on the other hand, has been uncharacteristically quiet all this time, simply nodding, avoiding meeting the armored mouses gaze. The two both walk over to the edge of the refreshing water, Kay simply sitting in the grass some distance away. There is much to be seen here, different stone patterns, different grasses, different fiends (mercifully non-aggressive ones), yet Mia works to rub the stains from her robe in complete silence, her body tensed, focused on her work. Frederich, at first just relaxes, cleaning his armor and enjoying the cool water but the silence gets to him, especially as he starts to feel like it is focused in his specific direction. Naturally, silence rarely is known for being directional, but when it is pointed your way, you really feel it.

"Okay," Frederich sighs, completely out of his armor now, working to restore its shine as much as possible. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Mia replies with a quick, curt voice, still looking down, deliberately away from him.

"Are you mad at me? If so, I'm sorry." he says. "I'm not exactly sure what I did, though..."

The small sorceress stops in place and sighs, looking up to him for the first time since they had made camp here. The slight hardness of her expression fades away, leaving a little hint of shame in its place. "No, it's not your fault. it's just... well, I guess I'm a little mad that you won't tell me your name. Your real one, that is."

Frederich blinks. "Um, I'm sorry. It's just kind of personal..."

"Oh, I know, I get that! It's none of my business!" Mia says, eyes wide, wet paws out in front of her. "It's just that, well... if only you knew it, it would be fine. But, you know, Kay does too. I know you didn't intend for her to know it, it was just due to that strange power she has. It's just that..." she pauses, smiling shyly. "I guess it's the fact that I'm the only one who doesn't made me feel a little excluded. I'm sorry, that's just me being silly."

"Wow... well, I didn't mean to..."

"Oh, I know! And you're not obligated to tell anyone." she grins, although the smile falls away just a little. "Both you and Kay are all strong and know what you're doing. Okay, maybe Kay isn't the most experienced adventurer, but she's powerful and catching on quick! Meanwhile, I worry I'm just slowing us down. That I'm just following you two, not really a proper part of the group, and well... things like that make me feel just a little less like I belong."

The currently not armored mouse sighs, shaking his head. "You have to promise you won't laugh."

"What? Oh, no, you don't have to tell me!" She squeaks "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything! You're entitled to your own little secrets, just like me or Kay or anyone else. It's not your fault that I feel inadequate sometimes."

"Heh, I'm a hero. My job isn't specifically to fight monsters or find treasures or rescue damsels in distress. It's to make people feel better, and if I can do that with just a simple word, well, what kind of man would I be if I refused?" he grins, standing proudly. For a moment, at least, before uncertainty begins to set in. He hesitates as long as can be reasonably justified, perhaps just a hair longer. "Phyllis. My name is Phyllis" he finally says.

He fully intended to explain further but found himself cut off by the sharp, enthusiastic laughter of the small mouse. His proud posture wanes, and even as she's doing it, Mia feels terrible about it and knows it's completely inappropriate but simply can't stop herself. As a general rule, a promise to not laugh at something is a very dangerous one to make. It's similar to promising to not be angry. Finally, her laughter fades, her chest aching, as she wipes the tears away from her eyes and looks to him with an expression of shame. "I-I'm sorry..." she says, doing her very best to look sympathetic. It's no lie either, of course, but even as she meets his dejected gaze, her lips quiver and she finds herself on the verge of another bout of braying laughter.

"It's not your fault." He sighs. "Trust me, I'm used to it. It turns out names are hard, and my parents came up with a list of them when they first got together. They seemed to get it in their head that children are born in set patterns: boy, girl, boy, girl, and apparently when I was born they only had the one name left on the list."

"I... see..." the small sorceress says, her impulse to laugh having died away entirely.

"I know, right!" He exclaims. "They couldn't even be bothered to change it or come up with something new! They just figured they'd already done this so many times, that it didn't even matter what I was named! It's not even a proper name for a young girl! Anyways, I knew nobody would take me seriously as a hero with that name, so I had to come up with something new. I didn't want to go with anything too elaborate... the last thing I wanted people who heard it to think was that it was made up. I needed something that sounded noble, with a little bit of mystique to it."

"Ooh, you should have gone with Frederique!" Mia says, "That sounds more exotic!"

"No, I..." he pauses, deep in thought. "Damn, that does sound better. I wonder if it's too late to..." he pauses, shaking his head. "No, no, it's definitely too late."

He continues thinking about the idea, wondering if there was any possible way to justify the shift when he feels a small, wet paw on his shoulder and looks up to see Mia's smiling face. "Thank you. I know that must have been difficult, but it really means a lot to me."

"Heh," Frederich says, looking away, a faint flush to his cheeks. "Don't worry about it. And don't think for a second that you're not an important part of this group. You ran in to save me when I was grabbed by that Maker, and that magic... that was amazing! I've never seen anything like that!" he says, and now it's Mia's turn to blush. "I know you're only going to get stronger, too. We all will! I mean we've already infiltrated a Maker lair and collected a legendary treasure! How many mice can say that?"

The small, robed sorceress isn't exactly convinced, but the words certainly don't hurt, either. She nods in agreement she might not quite feel, but for an insecure person, a little reassurance can sometimes go a long way. During all of this, Kay similarly found herself along the waters edge. She has no desire to grow closer to the pair, physically or otherwise, of course, but she just couldn't resist the temptation of the cool water and the refreshment that only a bath in a clear stream can provide. Another sleepless night follows for the nameless mouse, but it passes with remarkable swiftness. She finds herself staring at the strange, glowing key for hours on end. She senses no great hidden power within it, and it offers no change to her body. Looking at it doesn't even fill her mind with ideas or concerns, it simply leaves her devoid of thought and completely at peace. So much so that she feels a sense of dread as the sun rises, revealing the harsh world about her once more. Reminding her that her work has just begun.

All three hold similar concerns going ahead. Sure, right now they're walking alongside the river, but earlier their path took them towards it. What happens if the pillar of light ends up in the middle of the water, or on the other side of the stream? Mice are decent enough swimmers, but that's only when unburdened by weapons, armor or clothing, and they certainly can't breathe under water. For the moment, their objective is too far away to tell exactly what sort of environment it may land upon, with only the general direction known, and little sign of which way the stream might bend or twist. Still, all they can do is continue forward, hoping for the best, and will cross whatever obstacles they encounter as they reach them.

They do encounter a few more fiends, but the numbers are nowhere close to the levels they had faced before, instead only proving the occasional small nuisance rather than a constant bombardment. As for Mia, her earlier has disposition returned in abundance, perhaps to make up for when she was so reserved earlier. For a mouse scholar who could find so much to discover and analyze even in the most empty of fields, a waterfront proved a virtual treasure trove of research potential. While she technically spoke to the others about all these exciting findings, she was largely talking to herself, at least so far as her allies were concerned. That, of course, left Kay and Frederich to keep one another company. One of the two had little desire for conversation, and the other far too much.

"You still haven't told us much about you." the armored mouse, his mail now looking especially shiny after having been cleaned, says.

"You're right. I haven't." Kay replies bluntly.

Mia notices this interaction and, still feeling a debt of gratitude towards Phyllis, sorry, Frederich, tries to assist with the matter. "You don't have to say a lot. It's okay if you don't want to tell us about your life or your past or anything." she says, to which Kay simply grumbles. "...but there must be something to talk about. Oh, I know! Tell us about the dark lord you met before."

"I already did." the older mouse replies, tensing a little at the subject.

"Be a little more specific. Who knows? Maybe we'll learn something useful about that mark of yours." Mia says with a smile, one which Kay doesn't return by any means. "Like, um... what did it look like?" she asks, a little more nervously now upon meeting that annoyed look.

"It looked like a dark lord."

"Come on! You can do better than that! I've done a lot of research on dark lords, and studied Rowan's notes. Perhaps the creature is documented in them, which may give us some clue as to its powers and vulnerabilities." she says. "What color was it?"

"Fine," Kay growls, "It was..."

She freezes in place.

"Um... Kay? Are you all right?" Mia asks, stepping in beside the larger woman.

"What color was it?" The naked mouse mumbles to herself, looking straight ahead, seemingly deep in thought. "I-I don't know. I got a clear look at it, much clearer than I would have liked, but..." she trails off.

"Did it have dark fur or light?" Mia questions once more.

"It was dark... no, no, wait... that's not right..." Kay says, her voice little more than a concerned mutter. "It's like I know every color that it wasn't, but I can't nail down what color it was. Same with the eyes. I remember looking straight into them, and they were the most terrifying thing I ever saw, but when I try to form a picture in my mind of what they specifically looked like, I just can't."

"Maybe it's some power the dark lord has?" Frederich says, himself a little concerned by the anxious expression of the naked mouse. "Kind of like how it made you forget your name? Maybe it made you forget its appearance."

"No, it's different. When I try to think about my name, it's like there is a hole in my memories. When it comes to that creature, I know it was a feline but that's it. It's not just the colors, either, it's every individual feature. I know it had eyes and ears, but not how large they were. It's like... it's like it had a shape but it didn't. It had a color but it didn't. At the time it looked distinct, it had all the basic features of such a creature but it's like they were... interchangeable."

"I don't really understand." Fred replies.

"Neither do I." Kay sighs, shaking her head. "Wait, there is one thing I remember... snow. It somehow looked like... snow?"

"Oh, so it was white?" Mia says.

"No. It definitely wasn't quite. I just remember when I looked into those eyes, somehow they got me thinking of snow." Kay lowers her head, pinching between her eyes, annoyed by the lack of sensation. "What does it matter, anyways?" she barks at the smaller girl.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I just thought maybe it would help..." Mia replies, tenting her furless fingers, averting her gaze. "I just wanted you to talk a little, and thought maybe we could learn something important about what happened." she pauses. "Or, even just about you."

"Again, what does it matter?" Kay furrows her brow. "Let's just get this over with, so we can all go our separate ways and forget any of this ridiculousness ever happened."

"Come on! Don't be like that!" Fred says, grabbing her pale shoulder. "She's just trying to help! Sure, I get it, sometimes it can be hard to talk about stuff, but after you do, you'll feel a lot better in the end, I promise!" he smiles over to Mia, who returns the grin, pleased to know that he didn't regret telling her his true name.

"Oh, please." Kay practically snarls. "If you really want to know about someone, why don't you ask Mia why she's really here."

The armored mouse stops in his tracks. "What-what do you mean?" he says, looking back to the smaller mouse who finds herself embarrassed to be put on the spot.

"Come on, think about it. She spent a large amount of money and left the city on a whim, and for what? To research dark lords, creatures we aren't even hunting?" Kay continues, still sounding annoyed, but the sharp anger audible in her voice fading to her usual apathetic tone. "Then she mentioned her parents, who she implied are still very much alive, and yet she didn't bother to say goodbye to them before we left, despite how young she is."

"I'm not that young..." Mia murmurs, head still lowered.

"Hey, don't repurpose Kay's catch-phrase!" Frederich says.

"My what?" the naked mouse replies, and eyebrow raised.

"Anyways, lots of mice don't have the best relationships with their parents." Frederich says. "And as for leaving suddenly, maybe she's just impulsive?" he adds, but even as he says the words, he knows they aren't very convincing.

"She came to us looking for an opportunity to run away, and it didn't matter where. Just to end up anywhere but there."

"I mean..." Frederich stammers, unsure exactly what to say. "Even if that is true, and you don't know it is, it's not really our business. We've all got our reasons, right?"

"You're right. It's not our business. No more than my life is any of yours." Kay says, looking ahead, the blue glare in the distance stinging her eyes but still more comforting that facing the gaze of her companions.

A good few minutes follow, the three walking in silence, all held for their own reasons. It's finally Mia that breaks it.

"Frederich is right. I... don't really have the best relationship with my parents. They weren't cruel or abusive or anything, quite the opposite!" she says. "They always took care of me, protected me, gave me opportunities. I was the problem. You said it before, I can't hold down a job, I don't excell at anything. I'm completely hopeless."

"Mia..." Frederich says, trying to offer a little comfort, knowing Kay will obviously not. It turns out his judgement isn't entirely correct, as the naked, cream colored mouse looks to the smaller one with surprise. Her earlier words were simply intended to end the conversation, she didn't imagine that the shy girl would actually explain herself.

"They knew I couldn't properly do anything for myself... and that includes, um... starting a family." the small mouse says, her voice softening further as she speaks, ending in barely a whisper. "They... arranged a husband for me."

"Wait, are arranged marriages still a thing? Are they even legal?" Frederich asks, eyes wide.

"Of course they are." Kay says. "They aren't legally binding agreements, but anyone can tell anyone to do anything, including marry someone. That other person is, of course, free to say 'no' though." she adds. In truth, she can't say this with full confidence, it's only an assumption, but considering the fact that life within the city was, if anything, less conservative than her own small village, it seemed a fair assessment.

"I... see." Frederich says, immediately recognizing the problem.

"He-he's a good man! Has been my friend since we were pups! And, and his family is wealthy and strong. It would probably be the best thing for me..." she says, again barely whispering, eyes closed. She opens them wide, her voice changing to a quick and excited tone. "But-but it was too soon! All I needed was some time to think about it, about myself, about everything, but they wouldn't have that! So, I, um... left."

The other two mice simply watch her in silence.

"I know it wasn't the right things to do, and I'm going to go back! It's just that... well, this was my last chance to really do something! To see new places, and have new experiences! Once we get back, though, I'm sure I'll be ready to marry and be a proper home-maker!" she continues.

"You know you don't have to get married if you don't want to..." Frederich says, looking to her with a sympathetic expression.

"Yes. Yes, I do. Everyone's worked so hard to help me, I can't just turn away from them." she pauses. "Well, I guess I am turning away from them now, but only for a little while. I guess I should have told you this earlier. I didn't think it was important, but here I am expecting others to reveal information about themselves, all the while I'm keeping secrets."

"Hey, don't worry about it! We've all got out little secrets, and I know I don't think any less of you for it. Fleeing from arranged marriages is a common adventurer starting point after all!" The armored mouse grins.

Kay, on the other hand, looks to her with cold eyes, even by her standards. "You shouldn't be here."

"I... I know, it's just that I wasn't quite ready to..."

"If you weren't ready to get married, you shouldn't have." Kay glowers. "You claim to love your parents, but didn't even say goodbye to them. How are they going to feel if you never return?"

"I... I said I'm coming back... eventually..." Mia whispers, shying away even further.

"What do you think we're doing out here? Do you think this is some field trip? You could die. All of us could. Easily. If things went just a little bit differently in the Maker's store, we would have. Even those smaller fiends could have taken your throat out with a single bite, and now we're going who knows where, facing unknown dangers."

"We're not going to die." Frederich says, hugging Mia's shoulder, whose eyes grow particularly wide at Kay's words. "Sure, it might be dangerous, but if we're careful, and take care of ourselves, we're all going to get through this." he looks to Kay. "And that includes you, too. I don't care what the guild master said, we're not going to let that weird mark of yours kill you, no matter how powerful the dark lord who cursed you is."

Kay glares, clearly fuming, before abruptly turning away. "You're not going to die, huh? Everyone says that, and everyone still does eventually. Both of you are nothing but stupid children."

Frederich takes no offense to the insult, quite the contrary, he smiles wide. "Yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe that's a stupid thing to say, but that doesn't mean it's not true. Whether she gets married or not, she's not going to die before she can properly choose for herself, and neither will I."

The nameless mouse simply narrows her unnatural eyes and turns away.

"Is it... still okay if I travel with you?" Mia asks, meekly.

"It's your life. Do what you want." Kay grumbles, continuing towards the blue pillar. Both Frederich and the young sorceress give one another a light smile before following as well.