“Woo!!!” Will shouted stripping off his skirt. “We did it!”

“Oh that was scary…” the wanderer said, collapsing.

“Let’s get these clothes off.” Collin said rummaging through Tella’s bag to find his old clothes.

“Yeah, where are my clothes Tella?” Will asked squatting down next to Collin.

“You’re clothes?” Tella asked. “I didn’t have you clothes.”

“Yes you did. I gave them to you.” Will said. Tella frowned at him and shook her head.

“No you didn’t.” she said. “Check if you want, their not in my bag.”

“But-But..! I know I gave them to someone!!” Will shouted.

“Keep it down, idiot.” Collin growled.

“Yes. We are in Area now.” Demus said finding his own shirt and dressing.

Ah, Will? Fairien said, I think you left your clothes in the clearing where we were…

“What?” Will choked.

“I said we’re in Area now.” Demus said frowning at him.

“Are you just realizing this Will?” Tella asked. Will glared at her, then turned away muttering curses under his breath.

What am I suppose to do? Will demanded. I gave those clothes to you for safekeeping!

You did not! You left them there. Fairien said. You’re just trying to blame me.

“I think my clothes are back where I changed…” Will warbled.

“Oh…” the wanderer said blinking. “On the other side of the wall…”

“Y-Yeah.” Will said.

“Well, we’re not going back.” Tella laughed.

“I know! But… But…” Will sighed and banged his head against a sickly little tree. “What am I suppose to do?!”

“Wear what you’ve got on.” Tella said smiling darkly. Will scowled and was about to protest further when Demus interrupted.

“Come here Will, try this on. I’ve got something that might fit you.” He said opening his bag. Will blinked and moved forward curiously. Demus pulled out a white tunic and pants and laid them on top of his bag for Will to inspect. The edges were embroidered with small golden threadwork in intricate patterns.

“This is…beautiful.” Will breathed, “Where’d you get something like this?” he asked. Demus frowned and dropped his eyes.

“It was mine… when I was younger.” He said. Will looked up at him and paused a moment.

“Oh. When you were still a Prince…” he looked back down at the garment. “I couldn’t take this… I’m sure you’ve not kept it all these years just for someone like me, to ruin. It’s much too nice.”

“No. Take it.” Demus said. “I should have gotten rid of it years ago. I would be glad to see it put to use.” Will touched it gently and held it up.

“You sure?” he asked.

“Yes yes. Go on.” Demus said.

“Alright!” Will said taking it, “I’m gonna go change!” with that he skittered off down the hill and out of sight.

“Well, that was nice.” Tella said. Demus shrugged.

“He needed clothes.” And with that he closed his bag.

“We need to get moving soon,” Collin said. “If we travel the rest of today we should get at least seven or eight good miles in…”

“Jeez, you’re over estimating.” Tella chided. “We could make that if the land were friendly, but this terrain is rocky and hard to navigate through. I don’t think-”

“She’s right you know.” A voice said from behind them. They jerked around and gasped, pulling back in surprise. Mahito smiled back at them. “I really don’t think you’ll get very far at all.”

 

 

“Hehe! Look at this Fairien! Can you believe he gave this to me?” Will said proudly looking down at his tunic. “I feel like royalty.” He grinned.

“You’d better compose yourself better around your friends, or their going to think your crazy.” Fairien said raising a figure.

“They already think I’m crazy. Whee! I’m a hero! Whee!” Will called. Fairien fought back a laugh.

“I suppose you save all your childishness for me then?”

“Of course. You’re the only one I’m comfortable enough around to do this.” He said and sighed. “Well, I guess I better go back.”

“Try and contain your excitement.” Fairien advised him.

“Yeah yeah.” Will said walking up the hill. Fairien turned watching him fondly. His smiled faded after a moment however, and his eyes widened.

Will! he shouted, lunging forward.

“Uh?” Will turned, just in time to see Fairien hit him, knocking him down to the ground. With the air knocked out of his lungs, Will made no noise but Fairien clamped his hand over Will’s mouth anyway.

Your friends are in danger. Mahito is up there! Fairien told him. Will’s eyes widened and Fairien removed his hand from Will’s mouth.

What do we do?

 

“Poor little dears…” Mahito cooed darkly. “It was terribly cruel of me to let you think you’d gotten away from me, and past the Arean wall, all by yourself… And now to come up and burst your little delusion… Cruel indeed.” He said. They all watched him, their eyes frozen to him. They couldn’t run, and even if they could, there was nowhere to go. He brushed a strand of hair behind his shoulder and smiled down at them.

“And I suppose the death of that little boy was a blow to you as well.” He said. “Pity. He was a good singer.” Tella frowned at this and managed to speak through Mahito’s magic.

“What are you talking about?” she asked. Mahito looked at her a moment.

“That boy… With the hair. You know…” he said.

“You mean Will?” the wanderer asked. Mahito blinked.

“Yes. That’s him.” He said.

“He’s not dead.” Collin said glaring at him. Mahito squinted at Collin a moment.

“What do you mean? I caught him back that the base and fed him to the dogs. Of course he’s dead.”

“You what?” the wanderer asked. Mahito growled at them. What was their problem? Were they more delusional then he thought?

“If he’s not dead where is he?!” he shouted. The group remained silent, realizing that maybe they had blown a good chance.

“Dead.” Tella said.

“Yep. Dead.” Collin said.

“No more life in him.” The wanderer agreed.

“Quite deceased.” Demus nodded. Mahito stared at them in fury.

“How dare you lie to me!” he shouted. “Do you think I’m that stupid?! Where is he?”

 

From the side of the hill Will and Fairien watched them.

Your friends need to learn how to lie better. Fairien said.

This is going to be hard to explain… Will sighed.

 

Mahito glared at each one of them, but no one said anything further. He was getting angry now.

“It doesn’t matter.” He said smiling. “I really don’t care if he is alive or dead. You’re the ones I’m really here for.” With that he moved forward, drawing out a small sword. The handles sprung out with a sharp metallic sound, curling forward around the blade. They began to glow softly, charging with Mahito’s power. He looked down on them. Demus slid in front of the others, glaring up at Mahito.

“If you were a gentleman you would fight us.” Demus said softly, his voice full of malice.

“Mmm. I would, but I don’t have time.” Mahito said softly, bringing the blade’s point to Demus’s neck. Collin whimpered softly, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes.

“Please, stop.” The wanderer pleaded. “He has nothing to do with this! You don’t need to kill him!”

“Wanderer, dear,” Mahito said, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this… But I like the sight of blood. Very much.” Mahito grinned and pulled back his sword to strike. The wanderer squeezed her eyes closed and let out a small cry of horror. There was a metallic sound and a sudden clanging noise. The wanderer frowned and opened her eyes to see Mahito turned around, his sword locked with Demus’s broadsword. However, it was not Demus that wielded it, but Will.

“Will!” Tella shouted, “You idiot! You don’t know how to use a sword!” Will scowled at her.

“Yeah, but you didn’t have to tell him that!” he shouted back. Mahito grunted and struck the broad sword again. Will cried out and barely held his position. “By the way, you guys are really bad about giving away advantages!” he shouted.

“Come on!” Demus shouted, “Move! Let’s help!” he stood up and moved around Mahito. Everyone else stood up as well, finding that now Mahito’s attention was concentrated on Will instead of them. Tella and the wanderer drew out their staves and pointed them at Mahito.  Collin held up his hands and drew together a small glowing ball of power. Mahito froze, realizing that he was surrounded.

“Give up?” Demus asked. Mahito stared at him a moment, then laughed. He laughed, bellowing until the terrain echoed with his voice. Will flinched back, lowing his sword watching Mahito. Mahito grinned, his eyes dancing widely. Collin gasped softly, his body trembling.

“Watch out…” he said quietly, his voice shaking.

“What? What’s going on?” Demus asked.

“… He gets dangerous… When he…” Collin squeezed his eyes shut, shuddering, his spell dissolving as he gripped his own shoulders. No one else moved, their weapons trained on Mahito. Mahito opened his eyes and gazed out at them smiling.

“How interesting.” He purred, “How interesting indeed. You all want to kill me? Funny. I have the same intentions for you.”

“Look, just leave us alone and we we’ll leave you alone!” the wanderer shouted. Mahito cut his glare over to her, silencing her.

“Ooohh… Dear little wanderer, no. I’m afraid not. You’ll have to learn the hard way about our world. Won’t you? Won’t you? Hehehe…”

“Mahito…” Demus growled. “What are you doing?”

“What am I doing?” Mahito repeated. “My job. That’s all. That’s all I can do. I see you have all the talismans. How nice for you. But it won’t help.” Tella frowned at his remarks, but remembering their earlier mistake, did not give anything away.

“No no, nothing you do will help.” Mahito fixed Will with his eyes. Will gasped softly, feeling their power on him.

“You’re property. Merely property. My property.” Mahito growled softly. He then turned his eyes back on them all and shivered, lowering his sword.

“Mahito?” the wanderer asked. Mahito blinked at her, looking up. His eyes had lost their insanity but he still looked quite angry.

“Leave me alone.” He hissed. “I’ll deal with you all later…” with that he drew himself up into the air and disappeared. They waited a moment in silence. Demus frowned and shook his head.

“That was strange.” He said softly. “What was he talking about? Property?”

“And what did he say about the talismans?” the wanderer asked.

“C-come on.” Collin said shaking himself. “We can talk while we walk. We need to move or he’ll just find us again…”

“He may be able to find us wherever we go.” The wanderer said. Collin shivered and began picking up their bags and handing them to people. They departed quickly, heading south. The horizon was pretty clear, the land being nearly flat and quite bleak.

 

Mahito appeared in a desolate place, not very far away. He was sweating heavily, and panting. He fell to his knees and shivered, holding himself up by gripping an old dry tree stump. He ran his hand over his face to try and wipe the sweat off.

“Not again…” he breathed.

I thought I had it beaten… he thought frantically. But now… It had returned. Those voices… Those deafening voices that blasted through his mind. It had been years since he’d heard them… But just now… He shuddered, remembering them and their nose, taking hold of him and he, too weak to overpower them had submitted.

“I wonder what I did this time?” he asked himself softly and shuddered again.

 

 

“He said we had all of the talismans.” Tella said as they traveled.

“But we don’t,” the wanderer said, “We’ve only got two. My staff and Collin’s mirror.”

“Well, at least you guys didn’t give that away, like everything else.” Will commented. Tella shrugged.

“It worked out, didn’t it?”

“But the way he was talking…” Demus said shaking his head. “It’s like he knew something we didn’t…”

“Could we have the talisman? The sword?” Collin asked. Demus shrugged.

“The only sword we have is mine.” He said pulling it from the sheath.

“So what’s the history on that sword?” Tella asked.

“Well, it is old…” Demus said, “I don’t know how old. It was a treasure of Deocrates and has been passed down through the royal lineage… But it’s a Hailian sword. The Sword talisman, was made by Minerva of Iyokia and Michael of Betamy. Azrael had nothing to do with it.”

“Michael…?” Will said softly.

“The Spirit of our world.” Tella said glancing at him, “… Well, are you sure it’s Hailian? I mean, it could have just been in Hailia for a long time…” to this Demus shrugged.

“I don’t know. Anything is possible… But then again, Mahito could have been wrong, just assuming that because we had two, we had all three.”

“But does he even know about the mirror?” Tella asked. The conversation continued on and on, without anyone getting anywhere.

“Will,” the wanderer said softly breaking out of the conversation, “What was that Mahito said about setting dogs on you?” Will paused, blinking.

“Oh yes. He did.” Will said. “But… I got away.”

“He acted like you died. He was certain of it…” Tella said. Will shrugged.

“Well, apparently he did a bad job of it.” Will said shrugging. The other looked at him a moment then nodded.

                “I guess so…” the wanderer said.

                “When Mahito wants you dead, he usually does a good job of it.” Collin muttered. Will squirmed uncomfortably, trying to think of a way to change the topic.

“These lands here, their getting rougher, aren’t they? And the air stinks… Why is that?” he asked. Collin blinked at him then began to speak.

“That’s because we’re entering the wastelands of Area.”

“Wastelands?” Will asked.

“Years ago, this place was a fertile plain, but Areans unfortunately,” Collin paused, “…used this place as a chemical testing ground. The result was a spoiled land. Nothing grows here anymore and no one comes near this place, because even the air is polluted. We can’t use any water we find from this land, so try and conserve what we have.”

“The air? And yet we’re going trough it huh?” Will asked. “What about us? Is it okay for us to die?”

“We won’t be here long.” Collin said. “The chemicals have to build up in your system for there to be an effect.”

“Oh, that’s reassuring.” Will grumbled. “So instead of dying at seventy, I’ll die at fifty, is that what your saying?”

“Will, you’ll be lucky if you live through this month. Now quite complaining.” Tella said. Collin laughed lightly.

“You can always try breathing less.” he said.