"Are we going to visit the western coast, before heading south?" asked Alfred, as they prepared to head out. Because Aella could teleport them back each evening, to rest in safety, they weren"t taking a lot of things they would normally take."I"ve waited too long to head south, as it is, and I have people on the way to check on the west already. Is everyone ready?"
"I"m ready," said Josephine, rushing into the room, holding her daughter Pearl.
"Josephine, we talked about this. You should leave her here with her friend, where it"s safe. We"re planning on coming back each evening, and you will get to see her then," said Alfred with a sigh.
"No. I had to leave her to go off with you before, but I"m not leaving her again," argued Josephine, hugging the little girl to her and giving them all a glare.
"Josephine," said Aella, having foreseen this problem. "What are you going to do, if we are trying to sneak up on some monsters, to fight them? Or if we get ambushed? I can"t guarantee her safety in the middle of battle. You can"t hold her, and fight monsters."
"I have a carrying backpack, that she sits in, so she won"t be in the way, if we need to fight," said Josephine, as if she had already considered that.
"And what are you going to do, when she gets fussy, because she is tired, or hungry, or wants to play, while we are trying to sneak somewhere?" countered Aella. "I had to start training, at her age, and I don"t think she should have to do that. She should be allowed to play and grow in a place of safety, where she gets to see her mother each evening, until she is older and can contribute to the party in a reasonable manner. What will you do, if she get"s hurt while we"re out? Sure you can heal her, but do you really want to risk her getting hurt?"
Josephine looked down at her daughter, who was looking at Frederick with big wide eyes. It was obvious to everyone that she was struggling.
"You could stay here, and not travel with us," suggested Alfred.
They all looked at him. The thought of not having her go with them, had never occurred to any of them. She was their healer.
"If anyone got hurt, I could teleport them to you," mused Aella, thinking through the thought. "Curt could stay here, too. I don"t know that we actually need everyone to go. It wouldn"t be bad if the two of you stay here and keep an eye on all of the humans I have in the palace, instead of having Firion watch over them. They would respond better to a hero, than a demon, I think."
Curt looked over at her and nodded encouragingly. As they all seemed to be alright with the idea, Josephine grudgingly nodded. "Then I guess, if you need me, I will be in the room with Pearl?"
"I"ll go with you," said Curt, leaving his bag of things for them to deal with.
"Alright, so that means it"s me, Alfred and Frederick?" said Aella. They both nodded.
"Let"s go," said Alfred, as they picked up their bags.
Aella grabbed each of their sleeves, and teleport them to the south. They ended up several miles south, which was the furthest she had seen from the spire, but as they all took stock and started heading south, Aella"s vision started to fade. Frederick caught her before she hit the floor.
"What"s going on?" he asked, glancing back and forth wildly at Alfred and her.
"I don"t know," she said faintly, shaking her head to try and clear the cobwebs. Her vision kept wanting to fade, but she knew she hadn"t been hit in the head yet.
"It would be a good time for Josephine to be here," said Alfred bitterly.
"No, just give me a bit. I should be good after a few minutes."
They stood there, looking around, as she lay on the ground, resting. The sky above her was bright and sunny, and the breeze felt awesome as it blew past her. Closing her eyes for a moment, she focused on the feel of her blood flowing through her veins, and the beat of her heart. It wasn"t long at all, before she felt much better and was able to get up.
"All better?" asked Alfred, watching her carefully.
"I think so. I"m not sure what that was all about. Maybe I shouldn"t teleport so many at a time?"
"Did you sleep last night?" asked Frederick, his eyes narrowing as she ducked her head.
"I never felt tired," she said, wondering if that was really what the problem was.
"Regardless, you should try and sleep. There"s no telling what magic is working on you, as the Demon King, while you"re at the castle. I imagine when you left, if the missed sleep hit you all at once?" said Alfred.
"I don"t feel tired, thought," said Aella as she flexed her neck. Her muscles were a little tight, but she was sure that was because she hadn"t been fighting and stretching regularly. She hated sitting and reading all day. How could anyone do that?
"If you"re feeling better, then let"s go," said Alfred, picking up his bag and heading south.
They walked over the washed landscape, noticing where the water didn"t flow by the debris lines. It was obvious the water hadn"t flowed as hard this far south, and the damage was less. The village they encountered, as the sun started to fade, was still standing, and people were heading towards their homes, finished with the work for the day.
"Let"s keep going, since it doesn"t look like this town has had any problems with humans or the flooding. We need to get as far as we can, before we head back to the palace," said Alfred.
"Why don"t we fly then?" asked Frederick. "Aella and I can fly, and I can carry you. We should be able to cover way more ground that way?"
"I can move faster, and keep up with you from the ground," said Alfred, thinking about it.
"That"s a good idea. I wish we had thought about it sooner, and not have wasted so much time today," said Aella.
"You almost fainting, caused us to not think about a lot of things," said Frederick, giving her a worried look.
"I don"t know what that was about. Not sleeping last night should not have caused me to faint. I"ve gone many nights without sleeping. And I"ve teleported plenty of times, so I don"t know."
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Both of the guys glanced at each other, as if sharing a guy moment, so she flew up into the sky and left them behind. There wasn"t time for them to be doing c.r.a.p like that. She had already wasted too much time. Those troops in the south needed her to get there and help them. There was no telling how much damage the humans and monsters had done.
Frederick caught up to her pretty quick, and they flew together, scanning the ground. She saw Alfred occasionally, as he jumped ahead with his super speed, and waited for them to catch up.
The moon was full, so they opted to keep going well into the night, until the burnt remains of a town showed up. There was still a faint glow from embers that hadn"t burnt out yet, as Aella landed next to Frederick. Alfred appeared next to them.
"We need to see if there are any signs this was started by monsters or humans. If there are any survivors, they might be able to tell us what happened. I didn"t see anything while we were flying, but that doesn"t mean someone, or something, isn"t sleeping nearby," whispered Aella, looking around.
They began making their way around, stepping carefully over the charred debris. There were still a few signs that the flood had reached this far, but it wasn"t anything that would cause anyone any trouble. Aella couldn"t believe there had been so much water in that storm monster. She couldn"t comprehend of the damage an earth monster would cause.
Alfred found the survivor first, waking him as he turned to wave at Aella and Frederick. Aella watched as the figure stood up, pulling a fur loincloth up. A white handprint was obvious on his back, and she knew immediately, this person was not a demon. As he turned to look at them, Aella"s heart beat funny, confusing her, and preventing her from calling out a warning. Frederick flew at the new person with a roar, knocking him to the ground and raising his arm to slash at the guy with his claws.
Alfred jumped out of the way, pulling his sword out, and then watched as Frederick and the new figure wrestled on the ground, punching and grunting as they flailed around.
"What"s going on?" he asked, turning to see the odd look on Aella"s face.
She was watching the fight with intense concentration. For some reason, it really mattered to her, who would win this fight. The moon shone on their heavily muscled bodies, as they worked up a sweat trying to subdue the other.
With no response from Aella, and the two having seemingly lost their minds, Alfred picked up a board and broke it over both of their heads, knocking them out.
"What is going on!?" Alfred shouted, confusion and anger obvious on his face.
Aella wasn"t sure she could answer, but whatever it was, she was furious he had stopped it.