Everyone looked at Christian in disbelief. "You?" Jasmine asked.
"Yes me. I"ve got a letter here from old Albus who managed to dig something up out of those old records in the archives. It came with the other letters." Christian defended.
"Oh, if it"s from old Albus, then it might actually help." Jasmine"s eyes lit up. "Read it, please?"
Christian gave Jasmine a princely stink eye before begrudgingly obliging.
"The Hero sleeps once to save the young,
and sleeps again to save the mountain.
Where the Dipper meets the Spine,
The Hero"s foe you shall find
And the past emerging truth fountain.
From foe"s mouth, a companion shall leap
To harbor from darkness the hero"s sleep.
And maiden"s heart, though hidden, true,
Shall be cleared of all errs of view,
Though heavy trials, love be wrung.
In leaving, one more lesson learned,
Companion gained, and worldview spurned,
Bidding goodbye through fire and war,
Erasing emnities, two score
Before the hero"s grand return."
Christian, finished, sighed. "The problem is, what kind of dipper and spine are they talking about?"
"Obviously, it is a kind of location." Robin replied. But then an idea came to her. "...Hey...can I take a look at that map you have?"
"Huh? Um, sure, but there"s no city called dipper or spine, I already checked." Christian warned.
"It isn"t a city we are looking for." Robin replied, opening the map on a nearby table.
"Then what are we looking for?" Christian asked.
"Possibly...a landmark?" Jasmine asked.
"Mmmn....what kind of landmark looks like a spine?" Robin asked.
"I know, I know!" Gerard raised his hand. "A mountain range!"
"Then the dipper should be some sort of large lake or huge pit." Robin said, looking at the map. There were several mountain ranges on the map. Incidentally, the mountain they were on was also on the tail end of a mountain range.
At that moment, Ayva walked in with a tray of food.
"Oh, thank goodness, ye"r awake!" She exclaimed, in relief. "Ah almost couldnae believe mah ears." Then she noticed Robin poring over a map.
"What"re ye looking for, deary?" She asked, curious.
"A round lake that touches on a mountain range." Robin replied.
"Now where have Ah heard that "afore?" Ayva murmured, placing down the tray. Then she snapped her fingers.
"Aren"t you talkin" about Peg Lake, down by Peg Lake City?"
"Peg Lake?" Robin asked.
"Aye, tha lake is sa round, and tha walls so smooth that et looks like some giant as with a peg leg stepped there. It"s nearby, bordering between tha elves and tha dragon lands. But some think it looks more like a ladle, as tha lake is fed by a wide stream." Ayva happily spilled everything she knew.
"Are ya going ta go there fer sight-seeing?" She asked.
"Of a sorts." Robin said, not wanting to worry her. "I think there might be an acquaintance of mine near there." Since it was near the elves territory, where Dirk was, then technically, she wasn"t lying.
"Is there anything special to see in Peg Leg City?" She asked.
"Well funny ye should mention that!" Ayva nodded. "Et"s practically the trade center between us dwarves, elves, and dragons. But there"s a substantial amount of merchants from other races as can be found there as well. Ye should drop by tha merchant"s guild ta see if"n ye kin find any rare ingredients."
Robin"s eyes narrowed. Of course. Where would you look to find a trader? If following the phrase "To hide a tree in a forest" Obviously, the largest amount of traders would be in a merchant"s guild.
She glanced over to Christian, who had also noticed. He nodded lightly. Chelsea answered in Robin"s stead.
"Oh ho~ Sounds like it"s gonna be a lot of fun! We"ll be sure to bring back lots of goodies, Queen Ayva." Chelsea smiled.
Robin frowned. "I want to go, but Aunt, how far away is it? I still need to go visit the other guardians, so I"m worried we won"t have the time to go."
"Not an issue." Quinn piped up from the corner of the room. "I happen to have a clone over there." He was looking particularly pleased with himself.
Robin shrugged. "Okay, so looks like we"re going-" Suddenly, a very p.r.o.nounced growling sounded out.
"-In a bit." Robin replied, sheepishly. In her initial panic, she had completely forgotten the fact that she had been sleeping for over a week, without eating anything. "But first, I need to eat something. I"m starving!"
The whole group laughed as Robin began taking food out of her storage bracer.
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"But why are you cutting off connections with your duplicates? Aren"t you afraid one of us will become strong enough to overtake you?" The masked woman asked through the magic eye.
"We"re all me anyways, so it doesn"t matter. This is merely a precaution. I feel the presence of a rather powerful spirit master nearby. He"s already purged Ekkinshire Capitol and Ragnok City. It"s best not to call upon their aid unless necessary, at least until the danger period is past." A young man wearing a golden mask replied.
"Well, if you need our help, you know what to do." The woman replied.
"I know." He replied, ending the conversation.
In an unknown city, the masked lady grit her teeth.
"You think we don"t know that you"re trying to take over that spirit master? You think we don"t know that you"re trying to regain your power!? We"ll just see which of us becomes in charge!" With that, the lady quickly got busy contacting others through her magic eye.
-------
The young man had just put away his golden mask when his butler knocked on the door.
"What is it?" He asked. Of all the people he had been able to take over, only this butler had been un-possessable. It was as if there were an impenetrable shield around his soul.
Thus, despite all his machinations, he had to exercise caution about the old butler.
"Young Master, I"ve received word that a new shipment has arrived from Ragnok City. The special ores you were looking for might be among them."
"All right, prepare the carriage, then! I"ll go and have a look." The young man replied, thoughtfully. Why was that little girl from the other world in the Hero"s dream? And why did that spirit remnant he had absorbed in there seem so familiar?
----------
"There"s one thing I don"t understand about all of this..." Christian frowned, as he once more read through the prophecy, and pointed at the pa.s.sage.
"This hidden maiden"s heart part, what does it have anything to do with the hero?" He asked. Robin suddenly descended into a coughing fit as she accidentally almost sent food into her lungs.
Chelsea smiled secretly. "Who knows?"
Jasmine rolled her eyes at Christian. "Dummy! What was written in the section before?" she teased.
"So, the new companion will be a girl?" Christian narrowed his eyes. "And this girl...will suddenly see things clearly and through trials discover her one true love?"
Were they going to meet Robin"s one true love in the future? The thought pained him deeply.
"You said it, not me." Jasmine snorted.
"My brother once said "don"t try to interpret prophecies. They have their own method of coming about that does not depend upon the understanding of the uninformed."" Chelsea warned. This was the only way she could keep herself from saying "That"s incorrect".
Robin, finally recovering, exclaimed. "You guys! Stop talking about this! And Christian, you outta know better. I told you before. I"ve made up my mind. And no pretty girl"s face is gonna change it!"
"But, Robin," Christian counter-argued. "What if it"s the maiden who falls in love with you? What then?"
Robin suddenly felt really annoyed. "What does that have to do with me, huh!? What love!?" She snapped. "Can one-sided love ever amount to anything? I"ll destroy it, if I have to!"
With that, she hopped out of bed, and made her way out of the room. Everyone was shocked at Robin"s sudden outburst. Christian followed Robin out.
"Robin..." He called softly. Robin paused, waiting for his question.
"Why?" He asked.
Robin"s resulting painful smile seemed to sear itself into Christian"s brain.
"There"s no need to have another idiot walking around like me." She said, before continuing down the hallway.
All was silent but for the sound of her footsteps.
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