With a bouquet of flowers nestled in their arms, Iskall was lightly snoring. They sat just outside the bakery, waiting to speak to Stress. She hadn't left their home since the fight, with her doors remaining locked and her curtains drawn shut.

The purple and pink flowers they had collected were slightly withered, beginning to die due to the lack of water. Iskall had tried to get Stress to open the door, to sit down and talk, but she never responded. She was flat out ignoring them. To her, the relationship was truly over. To Iskall, it wasn't. Maybe that was the denial talking.

For now though, Iskall was snoozing. Who could blame them? The candlelit streets had all gone dim, as the rest of the village was already fast asleep. It was late into the night, cold out too. Iskall only had a thin brown jacket to keep them warm. The cold days of winter were beginning to come to an end, though the nights still remained frigid enough for one to shiver under their thin clothes.

Usually, no one would be awake at this time. But now, things are no longer normal. That left Grian, Wels, and Xisuma rushing through the village, trying to hurry and find Stress in an attempt to formulate a plan with one another. The more people they had on their side, the better. Especially when the group were essentially going up against Scar and his entire army.

Grian practically tripped over Iskall when coming round the corner, causing the pair to fall and get knocked to the ground. That was enough to wake the monster hunter up, though they were left in a daze from the sudden impact.

"A-Ah—! Oh no.." Iskall muttered to themself as soon as they noticed they had fallen atop the bouquet of flowers, leaving them crushed and wilted beyond recognition. Their face fell a little when seeing the flowers die, before they picked themselves, and the pile of crumpled flowers, off the ground.

"Iskall, what are you doing here?" Xisuma raised his eyebrow in confusion, as Wels helped Grian to his feet after being knocked over.

"I've been trying to apologize to Stress," They let out a sigh, gaze dropping to the ground as they hugged the crushed flowers close to their chest. "She won't even let me come inside. She's so mad at me."

Grian ignored Iskall and shoved past them, beginning to pound on the door to try and get Stress to answer. After a long couple minutes of banging, a hand slowly pulled away the curtain, taking a quick peek outside before opening the door.

"Oh thank goodness!" Stress threw her arms around Grian as soon as she opened the door, squeezing him tight in a hug. Iskall looked slightly jealous at that. "I thought the king would keep you prisoner forever! I'm so happy you're out!"

"I'm okay." Grian muttered slightly while returning the hug, holding back tears as he stood there for a few moments.

Suddenly, Iskall shoved Grian aside, breaking the hug apart as they offered the dead and crushed flowers to their ex-partner. "Stress! Finally, I've been waiting to talk to you! I—"

The door slammed in their face before Iskall could say anything else. As they stood in a frozen silence, Wels walked past the bounty hunter, beginning to bang on the door once more.

"Stressmonster! We need your help!" He spoke in a demanding tone, the knight sounding more angry than desperate.

"Tell the king he can shove his demands right up his—"

"Stress!" Grian slapped a hand over his eyes, shaking his head in disbelief. "We aren't here for the king's business! We're here to help the creatures he has locked in the dungeon!"

The door clicked as it slightly opened, Stress peering out to study the four men on her doorstep. "What happened?" She asked, a bit quiet as she spoke.

"Turns out the king is some kind of demon," X stepped forward to explain. "He's the leader of these creatures called vexes."

Her eyes widened at the mention of vexes, and she pushed the door open. "Come in, hurry." She waved her hand, inviting the four to step inside. As soon as everyone entered, she shut the door, placing a wooden plank to block anyone from entering.

"Wait, what is going on?" Iskall looked between Stress and Grian, very clearly confused.

Wels shook his head. "We were wrong, Iskall. The vampires and monsters, they never wanted to hurt us."

They placed a hand over their eyepatch, scowling slightly. "Tell that to the beast that ripped out my eye." Iskall spat.

Stress rolled her eyes and pointed to the door. "I can't believe you. You don't even trust me or my judgment."

"Of course I do!" Iskall dropped the bouquet as they clasped her hand in their own, though Stress pulled away with disgust in her eyes.

"You thought I was a brainwashed vampire slave." She scoffed.

"Both of you, stop it." Xisuma got between the pair, physically separating them. "We don't have time for this. Scar wants to conquer and spread chaos, and TFC said we should come to you for help.

She turned away, crossing her arms to think for a few moments. "TFC told me a bit," Stress thought aloud. "Not much. He didn't like talking about his life before becoming a vampire. It was so long ago he said it was fuzzy."

"Did he say anything about stopping vexes?" Wels asked, the knight placing a hand on the brunette's shoulder.

"He said they feed off of chaos. They like causing problems on purpose, since it means more food for them."

"I thought they fed off of other creature's magic?" X shared a confused look with Wels, though Stress shook her head.

"Nono, that's a vex king." She pointed out, "I remember TFC mentioning those a few times. Vex kings are born human, they only have powers if the vexes find the heir worthy. Then to strengthen those powers, the kings need to harness the magic of other creatures."

"And Scar's got a whole basement full of them." Grian's eyes widened in realization.

"You're saying that Scar could become even more powerful if he uses the monsters he has caged?" The vampire hunter asked, as Stress shook her head with uncertainty.

"I don't know. Everything I've learned about vexes was from TFC."

"You sure spent a lot of time with him.." Iskall muttered to themself, staring out the window with their arms crossed. Stress scowled at them for a moment before turning back to the conversation.

"Look, we'll just have to go back and see if we can get any more info out of him." Grian said to the group, looking around at the four. "X, Wels, can you try to sneak back to the castle? Maybe try to free some of the beasts to prevent Scar from gaining anymore power."

"What are you gonna do?" Wels asked.

"I'm gonna see if I can get Mumbo out of that tower. And—, u-uh, any other monsters Scar took out of the dungeon." He explained, slipping up as he spoke and blushing slightly in embarrassment.

"What can I do?" Stress asked, though Iskall shook their head before Grian could answer.

"You could stay here, away from those beasts!" They scoffed, still staring out the window.

"Those 'beasts' are kinder than you."

"I—"

Before Iskall could snap back and continue the argument, there was a sound that shook the entire village. The hunter watched as the tower's wall exploded, some kind of horrific creature breaking free from the dungeon it was being held in.

They reached for their silver dagger, pulling the weapon from their belt, before running towards the door. "Stay inside!" Iskall yelled as they tossed the wooden plank aside, opening the door. However, Xisuma placed his gloved palm on the door and shut it before Iskall had the chance to leave.

"What the hell are you doing, X!?" They asked, anger flashing across their expression. "Don't you know what that thing is?!"

"I do." Xisuma responded with eyes frozen in seriousness. "That's why I'm not letting you out."

"That—, that's a vampire!" Iskall gestured towards the window, where the beast could be heard faintly screeching. It was hard to tell what the creature was, as its black fur blended into the darkness of night, but the bat-like wings and ears of the creature were a dead giveaway.

"If I don't kill that thing, it'll kill the entire kingdom!" They yelled, but Xisuma held firm.

"We were wrong." He spoke, calm and firm. "They aren't what we thought. The vampires I met weren't bloodthirsty or deranged. My damn uncle is apparently a vampire, and my grandfather gave his life to protect him. So that's what I'm going to do as well."

Iskall looked pissed, lowering their weapon with a scowl. They glanced towards Stress, who no longer seemed angry. Rather, she looked disappointed. As if the person who stared back at her wasn't who she was expecting.

Iskall's expression softened at that, their grip on their dagger slightly loosening. After taking a deep breath and letting out a sigh, Iskall tucked their weapon back into their belt. "I want to help. I don't trust those creatures, but..I trust you. And I trust Stress."

X smiled behind his mask before looking over towards Grian, who was staring out the window. "Alright, what were you saying? What's the rest of the plan?"

"Change of plans," Said Grian as he turned to face the group. "I'm going after that beast. I'm going to save Mumbo."

"How can you be so sure it's him?" Stress asked, placing a hand on Grian's shoulder.

"He was stuck in that tower. Scar must have done something to him, I gotta go help. You go find the other creatures Scar took out of the dungeon. We need to make sure he can't gain any more power."

"Let me go with you, Stress." Iskall insisted, only to receive a scowl from their ex. "Please. I want to make things up to you. Let me help you save those monste—, y-your friends."

Stress stared at them for a moment, frowning deeply. She sighed quietly, shaking her head. "This doesn't mean we're back together.." She huffed, though Iskall's smile spread to the edges of their face as they scooped Stress into their arms and a gigantic bear hug. She blushed slightly at the contact.

After a moment of realization, Iskall set her back down, stepping away awkwardly. "S-sorry," they muttered. "I just got excited."

Stress turned to Grian, noticing him watching the vampire beast rampage through the kingdom. "Donk is out back," she said, causing Grian to perk up at the mention of his donkey. "I've been taking care of him. You can use him to get to Mumbo faster."

"Thank you." Grian said, forcing a weak smile, despite the anxiety that plagued his thoughts.

"Go save Mumbo."