“Ugh” was the only comment the groggy teenage boy could make as he awoke to sunshine hitting in the face. Opening his eyes, he spotted an intruder in his room. “Hey Sarah, why are you here?”

“Sorry, you usually wake up by now.” The knight turned toward his aching side to see the archer’s knees digging into him, a necessity given the window was at the top of the wall next to the bed. Attempting to return to the ground, Sarah lost her balance, landing on the sleepy teen. Propping herself up, she let her blonde hair droop to the side of Matt’s head. “You know, where I’m from, parents tell their daughters stories of a prince who kisses a maiden to wake her up from eternal sleep. I wonder if it works the other way around?”

“You want to find out?” Matt had hoped he played his cards right, despite not knowing he was playing cards this morning.

“Mmm, nope.” The girl got off the bed.

“Dang, guess I can go back to sleep then.” He turned to face the wall before immediately spinning around to see the girl departing. “Sarah, could you tell the others to take a break today?”

“Sure” she turned her head, “you feeling alright?”

“I feel like I got a human shaped anchor on me. Besides, we got three days, and I’d rather Adriana be fighting fit. I don’t think Jessy will be ready to fight either. Eric probably got roughed up by the sins, and Brian fought Jessy one day and carried me the next, so he’s probably warn down.”

“Guess it’s another day off for me too. Well,” Sarah wandered back to the bed knight, “you take it easy.” The archer pecked him on the cheek, leaving him a fond farewell as she headed out to deliver the news.

“Is Matthew doing okay?” Before Sarah could leave the house, she heard Matt’s father speak. “He’s feeling weak, so he told me that it’s a rest day for everyone.”

“Ah, it’s probably the armor training. I have long forgotten what it can do to the body the day after. Well then, carry on.”

The archer made her way down to the town center, waiting for the others to show. “Wow, I can’t believe how well I’ve gotten to know this place” the girl stated to herself. Looking around there were only strangers. “I hope Jessy believes me now.”

“So where’s Matt?” The cleric had spooked the girl, causing her to jump out of her seat.

“He’s resting today. He said we should all rest today. I hope you don’t mind.” The girl began to calm down, catching sight of the rogue as she approached.

“What’s wrong with Matthew? Did he catch a bug? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m still hurting after yesterday, but we got a big fight soon.”

“Woah woah woah, a day off?” From the sky, the dragoon descended to Sarah’s right.

“Wait, what’s this now?” The mage had completed the semi-circle of people crowding around the poor archer.

“Guys, Matthew has been laying in bed since I left. He usually gets up before breakfast, but now he just wants to sleep. His father says its because of the training, so I guess today we…uh” Sarah nervously paused, watching everyone as they reacted to the news, “guess we-“

“Staycation time!” The dragoon exploded.

“Stay…cation?” The archer didn’t want to draw attention back to herself, but she didn’t want to get into another awkward situation.

“Yeah, we’ll have our own vacation right at home. How about it, guys?”

The redhead walked away silently, Eric helped Adriana as they hobbled away.

“Guess it’s just you and me today. What’s the plan?”

Sarah was surprised to see anyone hang around. She had secretly hoped she could have a day alone or talk with Jessica. “What did you and Matt do yesterday?”

“We went to the top of the east wall, why?”

“Mind showing me as well? Maybe the north this time?”

“Heh, sure I guess. I could make a business out of this.” The dragoon signaled the girl onto his back. “Don’t worry, I carry Matt even though he weighs as much as a building now. You’d weight a feather by comparison!”

The knight got out of his bed, still feeling the pressure threatening to crush him. Standing up, he began to woozily make his way to the door, grabbing the wall for leverage. Making his way down the hall, he began to gain his bearings. “Hope tomorrow isn’t this bad.” As he entered the living room, a different pressure added to his pain.

“Hey, dad, can you take me down to the warrior’s hall?”

Agreeing to do so, the two made their way to the memorial building, a large, open structure with statues commemorating the deeds of brave warriors.

“Why did you wish to come here?”

“I wanted to talk to you about, what I said. I don’t know how to put this, but I feel I was kind of harsh about what I said. I still mean most of it, but…”

“I understand son. The way I treated your brother is inexcusable, and I haven’t been a much better father to you.” The man looked away from his son, toward one of the statues in front of them. “The truth is, I never intended to have children. Your mother and I, we were young and naïve; we didn’t know nor fear the consequences of our actions. The worse part is, we regarded you as an accident, and Luke as a mistake.”

“What’s the difference?” Matt could feel anger inside, though he instantly regretted it as pain joined suit.

“There exist happy accidents. We never intended to have a child, but we couldn’t have asked for a better one. We had another, still ignorant of how events would unfold.” The knight watched as his father looked longingly toward the floor. “Matt, when you love a woman, you’ll eventually have kids. What no one tells you is that women go through excruciating pain when giving birth. When she gave birth to Luke, she nearly died; that incident had caused her to retreat emotionally for years.”

The knight felt a chill run down his spine. He knew where babies came from, his classes made it quite clear. For reasons unbeknownst to him, his mind went to Sarah when he thought of dying in childbirth.

“When we took you to the Seer, he was shocked at how powerful you were. It helped that that was after your brother was born, as it was the first thing that helped your mother recover. I had taken us all to see my sister, your aunt, who also helped her.”

“I guess that’s why she’s so distant. She seems better.”

The man shook his head, “She’s become less distant, but the carefree Catherine I married died on that day. Where you get with that elf, or that girl Jessica, or whoever, be careful about having children. As for your brother, well…”

“Go on.” The knight had shrugged off the suggestions of his future partners, he was more interested in his father’s justification for his parenting.

“All I remember is the Seer fearing for his life, taking him to the queen to see if there was anything that could be done. They said they tried everything, that he would die soon. He didn’t however. It’s both a miracle and an anomaly. Seeing how strong you were, I couldn’t understand why your brother was this way. I blamed him, unable to accept the reality that he wouldn’t live up to you, or me, or your mother. Your rant the other day was not out-of-line, and you shouldn’t feel about it.”

The anger from earlier was replaced by a hollow feeling. It took a knight a moment, but he realized that he could differentiate between what he felt now and a feeling of emptiness. He felt a peace of mind, a more modest, small victory.

“Still, please take your brother to live with Shelly. She can raise him better than I ever could, especially here in Lumina.”

“Yeah, people here bullied him, and even me and my friends want to leave this place.”

“It’s not just that. The adults who’ve lived here for a long time have begun to sense something vile in the air. No one can put their finger on it, but Matthew, I fear something bad is afoot, and I hope you and your friends can leave soon.”

Those words left ice in the boy’s veins. Though he was distant from the man, he still trusted his father when it came to such a serious matter. The two left, Matthew able to walk by himself, though slowly as to remain stable.

“Nice view, huh? Usually I go to the east because it’s closer, but the north is cool too.”

Sarah ate up the view exuberantly, amazed at how a simple structure could turn a mundane setting into something majestic. From just below, she could see the trees as they threatened to devour a town. Beyond the trees were plains that gave way to desert, with rising to obstruct the rest of the continent.

“I live over there” the archer pointed outward, the dragoon having to imagine a location beyond the mountains. “It’s past the mountains of course. Umbro is pretty different place, ya know.”

“What’s so different about it? I’ve been to Temperas, so I can imagine.”

“Well, unlike Lumina, the biggest city has no walls, and it’s not much bigger than the other cities.” Breaking away from the scene, Sarah looked to her companion. “I hope you don’t mind taking me here.”

“It’s no biggie. I’m happy doing what others ask.”

“You planning to move out of Lumina?”

“You and Matt think a lot alike. He asked me that same question yesterday, and I’ll tell you the same thing I told him: wherever he goes, I’ll go, if he doesn’t mind.”

“You haven’t really thought about going somewhere on your own.”

The dragoon sighed, “Not gonna lie, I just do what others tell me to do. I don’t do well thinking for myself, so I just listen to Matt, or Eric, Adriana, or even Jessica. Heck, I did what you asked. Sometimes you need that guy that speaks out against the consensus, and other times you need that guy that’ll take orders without giving you trouble. I’m the latter.”

“That seems, kind of sad.” Sarah hadn’t considered someone like Brian existed, and she had hoped she could change his mind.

“Not really. It makes life easier when you have people that do things. Sure, you can question everything, but I find that just wastes time. Besides, a lot of times I just don’t really care one way or the other. I just go where the wind takes me, and I don’t worry where I end up.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Hey, you’re up and at’em! I guess that day of sleep did you well.” Sarah hadn’t talked to Matt the previous day, given he was in his room most of the time.

“It helps my father and I are on…I guess ‘better’ terms now. Not great, but I don’t feel guilty anymore. Probably only going to get one day of training if I use this armor technique, which I need to. Let’s give it our all today!” With that rousing speech, the two ate their breakfast post-haste and left to meet the others.

“Matt! You ready for this?!” The dragoon’s chipper attitude was contagious as the knight was now eager to get started.

“Yes. Today will be THE training day. Given how bad the armor technique hits, I’ll only get one, so I’ve made a plan: we’ll fight in a free-for-all. Now, I want you all to both fight and help one another. Since we’re expecting to fight seven powerful enemies, the battlefield will be chaotic, so expect to have to jump between hurting and helping. Having each other’s back will be key.”

The group followed their leader, Jessica lagging back to meet Sarah. “So I guess you were right about the tower. Sorry about not trusting you.”

“I understand why. I felt I was jumping to conclusions, but I had never felt so sure about something before.” The mage attempted to keep pace with the knight, but she felt the archer grab her shoulder. “Oh, and today I’m going to prove I deserve to be on a team.”

“I look forward to it.”

As the group entered a sparring court, they had spread out, leaving an even room between the six. “Face the person opposite of you, and don’t gang up on anyone. Ready?” The other teens felt their bodies freeze with tension, their eyes locking with their rival’s. “Go!”

At Matt’s signal, Adriana shot forward as a streak of lightning, targeting the dragoon. Brian had managed to leap up, but his victory was short lived as the rogue flew at him. Jessica slid toward the Knight, forcing him to hop to the side. Forming a pad, the Mage launched herself toward Matthew with claws made of ice. Sarah fired arrows at Eric, the cleric stopping them dead with a wall of water.

The dragoon had regretted going skyward, as anytime he tried to rain down fire, the rogue would bolt past the flames and closer to him. Descending to the ground quickly, the dragoon was saved by a platform of ice that the rogue ended up crashing into. Turning his attention to the person who just helped him, he attempted to whack her with his halberd, but only smashed an icy figure that mirrored her appearance. “Was that an ice clo-“

Before the dragoon could finished, he was whacked away by the knight’s shield, then flung upward by the archer, bringing up the ground he was just on. The archer turned her attention to Matthew, who was dealing with an onslaught of attacks by the rogue. Blowing a gust of wind, she managed to throw the rogue off her balanced, giving the knight a free strike.

Suddenly, the knight was struck from behind. Turning around, he saw Eric, who continued to whip him with water. Unfortunately for the cleric, he hadn’t watched his step, as he began to slide across an ice path before being kicked to the ground by the rogue. “Sorry honey!”

“It’s okay.”

The chaos had stopped, the dragoon descending to the ground, the archer bringing the cleric to his feet. Looking around, Matthew could see all eyes were centered on him. “Oh no.”

“Well Matt, let’s see what that armor of yours can do!” Adriana’s announcement cued the others to prepare their weapons for an all-out assault.

Pulling liquid metal from the ground, the knight formed a light armor than the one from yesterday, faster and feeling less drained once the armor solidified. “Alright then, come at me!”

Before Matt could brace himself, he felt impact from various locations. All he could do was watch helplessly as arrows pelted the metal, bolts shocked the armor, and various clangs came from behind. Eric had gotten in close, whipping at the armor with the water. As the onslaught continued, Matt hadn’t felt a bit of pain, but he had felt himself grow weary.

“Alright, that’s enough!” To his relief, his friends had let up quickly after he finished. Hastily, he let the armor fall apart, Sarah grabbing him to keep him steady. “Are you hurt?”

“No, that armor does its job. Only problem is that it eats mana fast. I trust you guys won’t let me get attacked from five or more places.”

“Guess that’s it for today?” Everyone nodded, the group disbanding as their day was done.

“Are you feeling okay? You don’t seem as tired as the other couple days.” The archer and knight sat on their bench besides the house. “Father forgot what the armor technique does to the body, which probably means I’ll adjust eventually. Even so, I think I’ll just work on making a better armor. The one from earlier felt too flimsy.”

“By the way, what did you mean from this morning when you said you and your father were on better terms?”

“I mean what I said. We talked about what he did, and now I know a bit more about how they felt about me and Lucy. He said I was an accident, a happy accident.” The knight’s previous smile had melted away, replaced by a controlled anger. “He said Lucy was a mistake. He didn’t expect me to be so strong, and he couldn’t handle Lucy being weak.”

“I know that feeling. My parents couldn’t accept that I was a fighter. Our village trains us in archery for self-defense, but my parents always saw fighting as being for idiots and poor people.”

“It’s funny, it’s the opposite here. If you’re a fighter, the kingdom loves you. If you’re a worker, you’re lucky to be here. If the queen really will give us anything, I think that proves being a fighter is for rich people.”

“If you don’t mind, I want to see the queen.” Matthew rose from his seat, heading to the castle. “I’m going to tell her about what’s going on, I think she should know.”

The archer had sat inside, reading a book she had recently gotten. Sarah was fifty pages in, before she began to nod off. “Kreeen” the sound of a door opening had awoken the girl. Putting the book on the desk, she got up to find Matthew walking in. “You’re back!”

“Yeah, the queen was very talkative. Tried to leave about five? Fifty? Five hundred times? Lost count after sixty-seven, but I told her everything.”

“Matt, would you mind helping with something?” Sarah led the knight into her room, stopping in the middle. Turning around, she had surprised the knight as she leaned in close. The knight, taking the hint, closed the gap.

“Tomorrow night, let’s go out somewhere nice, just you and me.”

“Anywhere special?” The knight tried to retain his cool, but inwardly his mind was on fire and his heart was racing.

“Surprise me.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Don’t you think you two are going a little, fast?” Eric and Adriana had decided to spend time with Matt.

“Maybe, but I’m not complaining.” The knight held out his legs, letting metal boots form over his normal shoes.

“I mean we had years to figure it out. But I guess some people know sooner.”

“What you two do, we’ll wish ya well.” Adriana watched the knight intently, remembering what she wanted to tell him. “Eric, would you mind getting me ehem while I talk to Matt?”

“Oh, those. I mean, the clerk is probably going to look at me weird, but alrighty.” The cleric departed, his girlfriend rolling her eyes as she sat next to the knight.

“Matthew, it’s time we talked about…Lucy and you.” Sighing, she prepared herself for Matt’s obstinance. “I know you care about her, but don’t you think she should face some kind of punishment for doing all this? Maybe have her father and mother raise her?”

“Adriana,” the teen put the metal in a jar, his attention on the rogue, “yesterday me and John worked out this issue. Even he said that she should be raised by her aunt. Besides that, what more could I do to punish her? I could throw her in a jail to rot, but what good would that do? I didn’t let those thieves just sit in jail because I didn’t think that was right.”

“Yeah, well your definition of ‘right’ isn’t objective.”

“Sure, but how would you punish someone who couldn’t do anything previously? We can’t just take her abilities. Besides, she a twelve-year-old who practically raised herself.”

“I knew you would make excuses.” The rogue put her head in her hands. “I guess I can’t stop you, I’m just worried she’ll go and do something else terrible.”

“If she does, I’ll make sure she’s punished.” Matt put his hand on the girl’s shoulder. As she faced him, she saw into his eyes. “I promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that promise, I swear it.”

“Well, I’ve got to get going, got to find a nice place to eat.” The knight stood up and began to walk off before he was stopped by the rogue grabbing his attention the same way he got hers.

“Good luck, Matt.” The knight continued, his confidence refreshed. “Rock her world!” And then the boy felt both excited and a bit embarrassed she had shouted that next to his house.

The two teens stood outside a clean looking establishment, the building adorned with singular colors. The overall was modest.

“I hope you don’t mind. It’s nothing fancy, but I know it serves fowlcrow and rainbow salmon.”

“That’s fine, I actually don’t care for fancy, you wait too long and the food isn’t worth the hype or the price. I’m surprised you remembered my off-hand comment about rainbow salmon the other day, but do you know what my favorite fowlcrow is?”

“Uh, a cooked one?”

Giggling, the girl waved her arm, “I mean, sorta. I like the spicy sauce some places have. I’m a real fire eater.”

“You and Brian. Not sure what it is with blondes and spicy food. Also curly haired girls and being weird. First Jessica then Anita.”

“Oh yeah! I bought a book the other day by Anita Wellsprout, it had your names in it.”

“Huh, so she put our names in a book. I’ll have to take you to Temperas, whether we meet Anita or not, just seeing the place would be worth the trip.”

“In the book, you guys were said to have fought some kind giant, blue boar.”

“Oh man, that was not fun. He was giant, mean, and I think Eric said he only used earth. He was at least courteous enough to throw the earthwyrm’s body away.”

“Oh, I hadn’t heard about an ‘earthwyrm’. What’s that?”

“Heh, I think I’ll leave you to find out that bit. Spoilers, we won in the end.”

“Matt! Why do you got to be so mean?”

As two large plates were put in front of the couple, Matthew watched disturbed yet endeared by how the girl dug into the roasted bird. With speed and ferocity, the archer tore apart her meal like a wild animal that hadn’t had a meal in days.

The knight had risen from his seat, after the two finished their meals.

“You missed a spot” Matt had the archer wiping her mouth in attempt to clean the spot, taking her by surprise when he kissed her. “Oh Matt, you’re so cheesy!” Sarah embraced him, the two leaving for home.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“We’ve gotten our lovely dovey things done, right?” The two couples had nodded, relieving the dragoon. “And me and Jessica managed to deal with our crippling loneliness, so we’re prepared. Matt, take it away.”

“Today we head out to Gnash, the final battle awaits. As a recap: Greed turns into a gargoyle, Sloth becomes a shell, Lust is a succubus, Gluttony is a ceaseless consumer, Pride is a seer, Envy is a shadow sneaker, and Wrath is a guardian, I think. Got all that?”

“I mean, I don’t know what any of that means, besides the guardian thing.”

The group sighed, nodded their heads, and looked at Jessica. “C’mon Jess, pay attention. You don’t want to end up with another bloody nose, do you?”

“Do you want a bloody nose Brian?”

“Cool it you two!” The two stopped, sitting down and forgetting the strife.

“Nice Sarah, good to know I don’t always have to raise my voice. Let’s go over it again.”

As the knight recapped the information the team had gathered, the group began to move to the city gate, heading out for the final battle.

“To think, we left this gate over two years ago for the biggest quest of our lives. Now we’re doing it again. Feels a little nostalgic.”

“Yeah Eric, it’s pretty incredible to think how far we’ve come. Let’s hope its enough to take down the sins.” Matt’s words had caused doubt to spread.

“It will definitely be enough!” The archer’s reassurance had the others recalled their training, both in the arena and before.

“Let’s get this show on the road.”