"dad isn't gonna believe the adventure we had!" yugo laughed as the polters carried you all back to emelka.

"i do declare, this isn't a bad way to travel," ruel told, the white hairs of his beard and mustache moving as the old enutrof smiled.

unlike ruel's happy-go-lucky mood, though, dally retained a more serious demeanor; the iop turning his eyes to meet yugo's brown ones. "yugo, even if we have to battle every last demon in the world, with iop as my witness, i'll repay my life's debt. my blade is yours," the shushu guardian told, placing a clenched fist over his chest with a noble bow of his head.

"oh, really?" rubilax rolled his one eye. "maybe you should ask me first."

yugo smiled, ignoring the words of the demon-possessed blade to respond to the red-head knight. "thanks, dally! my father and i need to find my family. join us if you want."

"oh!" the boys perked up at your voice and turned to see you raising your hand high up into the air, acting as if you were volunteering for something. "me and evie will come along and help you on your quest, too, yugo!" you exclaimed excitedly.

"what?!" evangelyne's eyes went wide. "but, princess, don't you think you should consider—"

"what my father and brother will think?" you chuckled and shook your head, casually lifting your gaze up to stare into the sky. "evangelyne, you and i both know what they'll think. dad will go crazy at the mere thought of it, and armand will scold me for wanting to go off and explore the world instead of sitting around in my room and acting like every other stereotypical princess."

smiling to yourself, you then locked eyes with evangelyne's emerald green ones once again, and you shrugged. "i'm not going back there. sorry not sorry," you grinned.

evangelyne frowned, looked you up and down, and then sighed; looking away as she finally gave in.

"well, if that's the case, then, i suppose you'll need someone to look after you and make sure you don't try anything crazy ..." she began to trail off.

with a widening grin, you laughed and engulfed your childhood friend in a hug, remaining oblivious to the small hue that decorated her cheeks at the sudden contact.

"thanks, evie!"

═══════ ❃ ═══════

after what felt like only a couple of seconds, your party finally returned to the small village of emelka, which now had a tall tree standing proudly in the middle of it—a reminder of today's events.

the polters got to work quickly. one by one, they slowly separated themselves from your small group and scattered about the village, their small, clawed hands waving around their ealier victims until the bustling green leaves of the bushes disappeared and left living and breathing people in their wake.

and amongst these said people, there was of course alibert, who gasped; his eyes blinking to life with him as he took in the fresh air of the passing breeze. the man turned, taking a moment to gaze down at his moving fingers before lifting his eyes up to make them fall upon his old friend, who grinned at the retired bounty hunter.

"ruel!" alibert released a joyous laugh and pulled the old enutrof into a tight hug, nearly knocking the wind out of the old man in return.

"dad!" yugo cried, running up to the reunited duo. "are you okay?"

at the sound of yugo's voice, alibert gasped again and grinned widely when his eyes landed on the short figure of his son, who stood in front of him, beaming brightly.

"yugo!" without a moment of hesitation, alibert picked his son up and embraced him. "come here, you little piwi!"

watching the father and son laugh together, you, dally, and evangelyne couldn't help but smile at the heartwarming sight.

"you know, i really thought i'd never see you again! we've all been on our feet all day, you know. how 'bout you?"

yugo grinned, looking over his shoulder to meet your eyes. "i learned alot about my powers. right, [name]?"

you smiled, nodding with a giggle as you recalled the small prank the boy had played on ruel and dally ealier in the forbidden forest. "definitely."

"speaking of which," alibert began, suddenly taking on a more serious expression, "we have important things to talk about," the man told.

yugo, with a huff, nodded and met his father's eyes once more. "i know about the message, but i wanted to free you first!"

you smiled warmly at the duo, hands clasping together as you watched the familiar scene unfold. you've always been so fond of yugo's and alibert's dynamic; it's a shame that the two of them barely got any screentime after all of this.

speaking of which, now that you think about it, you suddenly can't help but feel as if you were forgetting something. something ... important. something like—

"greetings. my name is nox."

you stiffened, eyes widening and breath ceasing in your throat.

"do exactly as i say and everything will be ..." the voice—so terribly familiar—paused, pretending to ponder for a moment, "not so bad."

out of anything you could have forgotten, it just had to be him, didn't it?

quickly snapping out of your paralyzed state, you whirled around and wrapped a hand around the handle of your sword, eyes hardening into a harsh glare once they focused on the being—with a face hidden behind a metal helmet—floating atop one of the houses nearby.

"you!" he—nox—pointed a finger yugo's way. "the boy with the blue hat. we have alot to talk about, too!"

alibert growled, pulling his son closer to him protectively. "the inn is closed! come back tomorrow!"

"[name]," evangelyne stepped in front of you and drew her bow, "stay behind me," she ordered swiftly.

as if finding evangelyne's actions amusing, the time wizard looming before you all chuckled. "you're quick, you cra," he began, "but not as quick as i am~!"

evangelyne grinded her teeth and took the shot, her bow flying through the air at a rushing speed as it headed straigh for the xelor's head.

but alas, his words rung true.

just before the arrow could hit, the man lost to madness lifted his hand out in front of it and stopped it midair before teleporting away, the sound of static following after him as ruel gasped.

"he's a xelor! a time wizard!" the old man cried.

oh, no ... you gasped and snapped your head around when you suddenly felt a new presence appear behind you. here it comes!

laughing maniacally to catch the others attention, nox smirked beneath his mask and held his arms out, causing all of you to fly back before inevitably being left to sit unmovingly in the air.

"and my time is precious," nox spoke, playfulness hanging off of his voice like honey, "and your time ... is up!" he laughed.

crap! you grunted, trying to move your limbs, but to no avail. this isn't good! ugh! why did i have to forget that this would happen at the last second?! you had never wanted to punch yourself in the face so much in your life.

"now, my boy," you could do nothing as you watched nox fly closer to yugo, the young boy having fear in his eyes, "you will tell me everything you know about grougaloragran the dragon. and i mean everything!"

"dragon? i ..." yugo grunted, struggling to move, "i don't understand."

at that, nox narrowed his eyes "maybe you'll talk more if i deal with your friends first," the xelor commented.

with a wave of his hand, the time wizard then proceeded to use his abilities by pulling az out of the pocket of yugo's apron, much to the young boy's dismay.

"starting with this little tofu." when the bird was in his tight grip, the xelor smirked and turned his hand around, allowing him to see the blue feather that stuck out of az's yellow ones like a sore thumb. "my machines will pluck it one feather at a time—" nox plucked the blue feather from az's body, earning a small, pained chirp from the small bird, and a harsh glare from you and yugo "—to find out why it is so filled with wakfu."

with the blue feather now in his grasp, nox threw az to the side. once he did so, however, the feather suddenly flew out of his hand and carried itself into the sky, much to the xelor's wonder.

"very interesting!" the time wizard grinned like a maniac when the feather began to spell out words in a circular motion, decorating the sky for but a mere moment. "it's in dragonish!"

❝ eliatrope child. you must set out to find your real family immediately. ❞

with wide eyes, everyone watched as the glowing words descended from the sky and flew right into yugo's eyes, making his usually brown orbs disappear for but a mere moment in their wake.

❝ they live on oma island. ❞

not being able to understand the message, nox growled threateningly and then summoned a sword; pointing the very tip of the blade at yugo's neck.

"tell me what you just heard, you little brat, or i'll crush you and your friends!" 

from the opposite side of the xelor, you saw alibert's eyes widen with horror until the man suddenly slammed them shut. at the action, your breath immediately hitched, and your muscles all went tense in anticipation.

oh, no ...

grunting, alibert slowly moved his hand over and took hold of what was closest to him: ruel's shovel. with the weapon now in hand, the man then went to place his feet back firmly onto the ground, and as he did, he finally spoke.

"don't you lay a finger on my son!"

nox stopped, his eyes widening as he snapped his eyes over to find the source of the sudden voice. before the time wizard could do anything else, though, aliber was already acting.

with a swing of the shovel, the man managed to knock nox's sword from his hand, much to the time wizard's shock. and then, with another swing, nox was knocked back away from yugo. 

"ugh ..." nox lifted his hand, attempting to fight back against the enraged father, but it was already too late.

alibert, with a fiery, protective storm raging on inside of him, pinned nox down; holding the time wizard to the floor with the sheer weight of his foot as he snarled down at him in anger.

yet again, alibert brought the shovel down on nox once more. to the man's dismay, however, the blade of the weapon seemed to stop midair; just a couple of inches from the masked xelor's face. he growled, pushing down harder and harder, with the shovel inching closer and closer to nox's face as winds from below the earth began to rush past them.

alibert was so close. so, so close.

but alas, just before the man could finally finish the time wizard off, nox suddenly disappeared without a trace, and everyone fell back to the floor as alibert crumbled to his knees, breathing heavily.

"dad!" when you looked up, yugo was already at his father's side, and the brown hairs of alibert's mustache were now a winter white. "dad, are you alright?!"

alibert looked to his son. the man smiled. and then, as you expected, he lost consciousness and fell to the floor.

and throughout it all, there was nothing you could do about it.

═══════ ❃ ═══════

"[name], everyone's ready to go." evangelyne spoke, placing her bow over her shoulder. "you coming?"

"hm?" looking away from alibert's slumped over form, you stared at evangelyne for a couple of seconds before smiling and nodding her way. "i will." you turned back to alibert. "just give me a moment, will you?"

although confused by your need to stay back a little longer when you were acting so excited about going on this trip but a couple of minutes ealier, the blonde cra merely sighed and nodded; giving into your small request as she walked away to go wait with the others.

now left alone with no one else to watch you, you walked up to alibert and then proceeded to kneel down in front of him. the man, no longer as young as he was, slowly opened his eyes to meet your own, and he blinked, surprised by the sight of you.

"princess?" he smiled warmly at you. "shouldn't you be going to head out to help my son on his quest?" the man asked.

you smiled, nodding. "i will. but i wanted to do something for you, first." 

the man rose a white, bushy brow. "oh, really?" he chuckled. "and what is that?"

with your smile never wavering, you suddenly placed your hand against your heart and bowed your head. then, as if you couldn't surprise the innkeeper more, you began to speak.

"i, [name] sheran sharm, princess of the sadida kingdom, promise you, brave alibert, that i will place your son's life over my own. with everything in my power, i will ensure that he won't have to face the fear of losing the people he loves ever again."

after what felt like forever, you finally lifted your eyes up to meet alibert's at long last, and your smile seemed to grow. 

"that is my promise to you, sir alibert." you stood back up to your feet, and then bowed your head to the man once again. "and i will do whatever it takes to keep it. that, i swear on my honor as the sadida princess."

alibert could only stare up at you, shock written all over his now-wrinkled face. but then, with chapped lips, the man opened his mouth to speak, but he was unfortunately cut off by the familiar call of his old friend.

"come on, princess, we're burning daylight out here!" ruel stroud yelled from afar. "you promised to help yugo find his family, remember?"

laughing at the old man's words, you sent one last look to alibert before beginning to walk away, all whilst lifting your hand up to wave at the others.

"alright, alright, i'm sorry to keep you waiting!" you laughed, starting to run in order to catch up to them. "i just had some unfinished buisness to take care of, you know?"

... everything within your power, huh? chuckling, alibert shook his head in amusement and averted his gaze to the ground. what a strange princess you are, miss [name].