The Way Back

Kentaro:<I don't know. We were looking for a friend, but he [she?] went to Toros sometime yesterday.>

*Derek holds out his sheathe, readying to stop the beast with it.*

*Crowley still stands there, not a bit surprised at everything that just happened.*

Crowley: <We've come too far to return it now. I'm so very sorry.>

*A small, smug grin crosses his face as he reaches into his pockets.*

~Kari, Kentaro & Kelphy~

Kelphy: <Oh, I see.>

*A maid walks in.*

Maid: <Your Ladyship, His Majesty asked me to ask you if you want a monster tamer to perform at your birthday party.>

Kelphy: <Hum... n-no, thank you.>

*The maid walks out and Kelphy sighs, turning to Kari and Kentaro again.*

Kelphy: <My father insists on making a big deal out of my 17th birthday next week... he's throwing a ball sort of party. Will you... will you two come? And please, invite the others if you see them.>

=====
~Derek~

*The feathered dragon rams the ship, one of its wings grinding across its roof and into Derek. The ship starts losing altitude.*

=====
~Creed & Crowley~

*Spade sneers at Creed and then glances at Crowley when he speaks. He vanishes in a cloud of flames and appears behind Creed, swining a flaming dagger at his neck. The fat bandit hurls himself at Creed, and the blonde thiefess jumps so high in the air they stop seing her.*

=====
~Lucien & Allina~

Lin: <...If it has changed you this much, maybe I should.>

*She walks up to him and leans against a wall, staring at the cave's exit.*

Lin: <Why didn't you come to get me?>

Kentaro:<Um...>

*He looks to Kari like he's pleading for help.*

"We'd love to."

"I was being hunted. The order was to bring me back as a dead as possible. I didn't want to get you involved. As strong as you are now you weren't ready back then to face what I've faced. It was a bastard of a move I know but... I couldn't bring myself to see you die just because of the village's hatred towards me."

---

Creed launches high into the air on a column of ice. The icy pillar then sprouts jagged spikes aiming to impale his aggressors. "That necklace is far more valuable then they know isn't it Fahren?" Creed asks.

*Derek stumbles, but manages to regain his balance. He leaps into the air and draws his sword, aiming to stab the dragon with it and latch onto it.*

*Crowley quickly does a backflip to avoid the ice, and then takes his hands out of his pockets, pulling out a knife per hand.*

Crowley: <I honestly don't give a rat's ass how valuable it is. This is ours now, and we're keeping it.>

*Crowley throws the knives at the boy*

~Kari, Kentaro & Kelphy~

*She smiles gently and gets up, bowing to the two.*

Kelphy: <You....You can stay for as long as you want. A-And if you ever need to travel out of Alda by airship, you can just say who you are at the aerodrome to... be taken in one of my royal airships. I should be going now, do tell me if you remember anything regarding the red m-moon symbol on the map. T-Thank you...!>

=====
~Derek~

*The dragon lets out an extremely loud cry that very much resembles a beautiful singing female voice. Derek's head becomes kind of fuzzy, and the dragon starts flying around at high speed, dragging Derek along. The airship keeps sinking down.*

=====
~Creed & Crowley~

*Spade jumps back to avoid the spikes. He waves his arms and they're enveloped in rings of flames that fly towards Creed when he swings his arms forward. A spike starts stabbing into the blonde thiefess's navel and she starts glowing and fades out. The fat bandit breaks one of the spikes with its bulky arms and starts licking it.*

=====
~Lucien & Allina~

Lin: <You can't imagine how much I hated you for doing that.>

*She finally looks at him, with a serious expression on her face, and sighs.*

Lin: <What happened to you?>

"You're welcome."

Kentaro:<No problem.>

*Crowley stands in place, waiting for what would happen next, drawing 4 more knives as he did.*

"I don't think I could" Lucien affirms her statement. "A lot happened to me. I started a group assassins and thieves. We had moderate success but then I got too bold. I tried to kidnap that princess of Alda. There were 100 men and women at my back and she, Kelphy, had me soundly beat me. I lost my entire group. It was a total and under defeat. I was facing the gallows but Kelphy spared my life and forced me into servitude under her as her butler. However her father, the King, cut me a deal on the side to act as a bodyguard for her" he paused briefly before continuing, "She was attacked by an assassin. I prevented the assassination attempt and killed the assassin in front of her. She was terrified. I swore that day I would never draw my blades again... then... she was kidnapped under my watch 6 months ago. When we finally reunited I made a new vow. I would turn these blood stained blades into her weapons. Swords that protect instead of kill. My vow changed to protecting her no matter what..."

---

Creed deftly flips in the air and slams his blade into the pillar of ice. The pillar explodes outward sending jagged shrapnel everywhere and blowing away the attacks aimed against him as well as creating a vision obscuring mist of ice.

*Derek's grip begins to slip, but he manages to keep a hold and push the blade deeper into the dragon.*

~Kari, Kentaro & Kelphy~

*Kelphy bows once more and smiles, heading out of the dining room.*

=====
~Derek~

*The dragon dives down towards the ship and opens its mouth, gathering a purple sphere of energy in it.*

=====
~Creed & Crowley~

*Many flaming knives start swirling around the three bandits, protecting them from the ice. Spade dashes forward holding two knives in each hand and his arms are enveloped in flames. He swings the knives at Creed repeatedly, so fast all the knight sees are red beams shooting towards his body.*

=====
~Lucien & Allina~

Lin: <You're in love with her.>

"Yes" Lucien answers hesitantly.

---

"You have good eyes" Creed blocks with his sword as best he can but one shot slips by and grazes his shoulder. Creed winces but pushes Spade back.

Kentaro:<Have I ever told you that I'm not very keen on formal anything?>

"I'm sure it'll be fun."

Kentaro:<I hope you're right.>

*Derek realizes shit is going down, so he puts his sword as far into the dragon as he can, then puts his feet on it and runs down, pulling his sword right through the dragon in an attempt to cut it in half.*

*Crowley still stays back, calm and without concern. He throws out more knives. One aiming for the boy's head, one for his leg and another for his chest.*

~Kari & Kentaro~

*They should figure out what they want to do next. I've described the city, the palace, and the kingdom in general.*

=====
~Derek~

*He doesn't cut the dragon in half but the sword does drag along quite a tad, tearing through its body. The dragon starts falling, spinning around, and throwing Derek off of it. Meanwhile, the airship starts rising again and flies beneath Derek just in time for him to land on the roof. As the dragon is about to land dead next to Derek, its body starts glowing and turns into a sphere of light that fades out.*

=====
~Creed & Crowley~

Spade: <What?>

*Spade leaps back and takes a deep breath before blowing a jet of flames at Creed from his mouth. The fat bandit runs forward, holding up a fist, but trips and rolls forward, advancing towards Creed like a goddamn boulder, even through Spade's flames.*

=====
~Lucien & Allina~

Lin: <I see. So what are you going to do now?>

*Derek stumbles to his feet.*

Derek: <I think I've gotten my exercise...>

*He walks back into the airship.*

The fat band hits empty air because of the thick mist obscuring everything.

Creed dodge rolls out of Spade's flame and vanishes into the mist also avoiding Crowley's attacks. Creed launches a wave of ice at Crowley from inside the mist. Somehow he can see even though the others can't.

---

"Head back to Alda. I've got Shadow. All that's left is to find Volt and Maxwell... you want to come with Lin?" Lucien asks with intrigue.

*Crowley starts running, not aware of the wave of ice. Through sheer luck he escapes the wave and jumps into the air.*

Crowley: <Come out already!>

*Crowley pulls out more knives, 10 in each hand, and spins around in a circle and throwing them at random intervals. 3 of them randomly fly in Creed's direction, and 1 accidentally goes off course and heads for Spade.*

*They begin to wander around the castle.*

~Kari & Kentaro~

*They end up at one of the backyard frozen gardens. There's a small waterfall and lotsa leafless trees.*

=====
~Derek~

*Inside the airship, he realizes the Jade Rabbit is the one steering it. The pilot is still unconscious and being utterly ignored as all of the soldiers are gathered around the wheel gawking at the rabbit in awe. Soon they land at Alda, and the Jade Rabbit wrecks the nose of the airship. No biggie. He then climbs on to Derek's right shoulder.*

=====
~Creed & Crowley~

Spade: <What?>

*Spade kicks the knife away and dashes through the mist, a furry of flaming knives darting about and storming the mist away. He spots Creed and his whole body catches fire. He tackles the knight at great speed. The fat bandit keeps rolling until he falls off the mountain, but they never hear a "splash".*

=====
~Lucien & Allina~

Lin: <I'm... not ready to leave the village yet. Follow me, you and your friend must be hungry.>

*She slowly walks out after glancing at him. Outside, Allina is whistling by the entrance to the cave. She smiles to Lin.*

Allina: <Oh, hey. I'm Allina.>

Lin: <Lin.>

*Derek steps out of the airship nonchalantly considering the circumstances.*

Derek: <Are you feeling alright, friend?>