Poppy's stomach sank when she walked outside. Up in the sky were tens of thousands of monsters filling the sky as far as the eye could see. She grabbed a flight talisman and began to zoom across the grounds to her laboratory. She had learned from the Duke that making wind drafts was the best way to slow down, so when she neared her greenhouse she clapped her hands together, "" The draft that emerged from her hands was enough to bring her body to a screeching stop. She ran into the greenhouse then promptly locked the door behind her.

Poppy uses talismans and potions because her body is too weak to handle the repercussions of casting magic. She looked down at her hands and frowned at her bruised palms and fingers. Being a princess she wasn't allowed to physically train to strengthen her body. Her parents also hated seeing her with injuries after she practiced magic, so they told her "either figure out how to do it safely or don't do it at all."

Faced with a challenge Poppy researched ways to use magic without casting it. And now here she is, a master of the arts of potion and talisman making. Poppy walked to one of many cabinets and grabbed a pure white potion. It could easily be mistaken as milk but this potion could do much more than strength a few bones. Poppy poured it on her hands and heaved a sigh when the aching disappeared.

The potion was such a pure white because it was the best healing potion in the kingdom. It wasn't made with holy magic like most healing potions, but instead extremely saturated herbs, and a little bit of magic. Holy magic on its own was far better than this, but potions are just diluted versions.

As she relaxed on the ground she watched the monsters. A small white light was dancing around in the clouds cutting down the monsters. She assumed it was the Duke who probably still had her talisman from the last monster attack.

She noticed that one monster had started to fly down to the mansion. It glanced around as if looking for someone. Then it caught sight of the greenhouse. Poppy watched in disbelief as the monster made eye contact with her. Once it noticed her presence it released a booming roar. It was so loud it made her lab shake. 'Thank goodness I have anti-shake seals on my cabinets.'

The monster shot down towards her greenhouse and slammed into the glass. The reinforced glass held up against the first attack but when more monsters followed she knew it wouldn't last. 'I need to fight.'

Poppy stood up and began grabbing as many attack magic potions and talismans that she could hold. She took one more breath of encouragement before stepping out of the lab. The monsters beating on her lab turned to her. A few more from the sky started to come down as the ones on her lab began to head towards her.

Poppy slapped a shrinking talisman on her outdoor lab that she hadn't yet taken out of it's crate then pocketed it. Then she shrunk the greenhouse and used wind magic to carry it to her so she could pocket it too. Her fingers stung as the wind pricked at her fingers.

Monster after monster, Poppy ripped an attack magic talisman. She took down around ten before more started flying down at her. Loki had cleared a big bunch but still not enough. Not that she felt she could rely on his help anyway.

Loki looked down from the sky and noticed a few monsters coming down to attack his mansion. He used his aura to see closer. It was Poppy. She was using magic and taking down monster after monster. Loki contemplated going down to help but when compared to the thousands more before him he made a choice.

Poppy ripped the last talisman and felt her arms go numb from the recoil. But the more that flew to her the more she knew this was going to be a never ending cycle. She decided then that she was going to fight till the death.

She readjust her witch hat and stretched out her joints. "Let's do this."

Steven looked around the basement frantically but not a single blonde head was in sight. He thought that maybe the light was playing tricks on him but as he checked every face he knew the truth. 'The Duke had left her to die.'