The next morning, the group is still fast asleep when Crystal stirs and wakes up to find herself between Blaze and Wisp. “What happened? Where am I?” Crystal says with a slight slur due to being groggy and dizzy. Blaze stirs awake due to hearing Crystal, “You are safe with your friends, my dear” Blaze replies with a soft motherly tone. Crystal turns to Blaze then smiles at her due to her sounding almost like her grandmother. “Thank you for helping me Miss Blaze” Crystal said with a happy and respectful tone. “Just call me Blaze, my dear” Blaze said with a soft tone. A couple minutes later, the rest of the group started to wake up one by one. When Breeze and Zeus saw that Crystal was awake and safe, they were extremely happy. “Crystal, you’re okay!” Zeus and Breeze said at the same time and ran over and hugged Crystal or at least the best they could hug. Crystal had a slight blush on her cheeks and hugged back with a big smile. “I’m okay guys and thanks for your concern” Crystal said and parted from the hug. Once everyone was up and had eaten breakfast, they continued to walk through the forest. After a couple hours of walking and breaks, they saw a light at the end of the forest. When they exited the forest, they saw the road to the village near the castle. “Where are we?” Crystal asked looking at the village in the distance. “We are at Maluna Village. It’s the village closest to the castle” Nuria answers with a soft look in her eyes as she stared at the village. Crystal looks over to Nuria to see her sad gaze on the village “Are you okay, Nuria?” when Nuria heard that question, she snapped out of her trance and looked over to Crystal. “Yeah, I’m okay. It’s just my parents and I used to stay in this village when we wanted to spend time with one another.” and Nuria gave her a sad smile. Looking forward, Nuria said “I remember there used to be a circus not too far from here. I loved going there and I always had the best time of my life.” Crystal then looked over to her and thought for a minute. “Then why don’t we visit it?” Nuria looked to Crystal feeling touched that she would let her relive a childhood memory that she cherished the most. “We can take a quick look since it’s on the way to the castle
“ with that they set off to see the circus near the castle. Little did they know, that they were being followed by a minion of Azerath. By the time they made it to the circus, it was getting close to night time and luckily the place they will be staying at is close by. “Wow! This place looks amazing” Crystal exclaimed while looking around in awe. Nuria smiled and said “ It’s just how I remembered it to be but we can’t stay long.” while also looking around. Crystal’s trance was broken when she heard something growl not too far from them, “What was that?” and looked to Nuria. “I don’t know but let’s check it out” Nuria said as the group ran towards the sound. When they turned the corner, they saw what looked to be a wolf like creature with a unicorn horn.

It’s fur was a mix of blue, green, pink, and purple while there was a yellow trail surrounding the front of it’s body inside a cage. When it heard them it growled and shouted” Who’s there!? Show yourself” with a rough female voice while getting into a defensive stance. Nuria looked at the creature in shock and relief, moving towards the cage “Gaia, am I glad to see you again.” Hearing Nuria, the creature – or known as Gaia—perked up in relief, “ Your majesty! You’re alright. I’m so happy to see you again!” Gaia said as she made a smile towards Nuria. “I am happy to see you as well old friend. I want you to meet the child of the prophecy, the one who will help defeat the darkness and my uncle.” Nuria said as she gestured to Crystal to come forward. When Crystal ce to the cage, Gaia’s eyes widened and bowed to her, she had believed that the prophecy would never come to be. But now, standing right in front of her is the one who can fight and defeat the darkness. “ It is an honor to meet you, your grace” Gaia said but what she didn’t expect was for Crystal to lift her head up. “ There’s no need to do that, we are equals, aren’t we” she said while smiling at Gaia. ‘She is being genuine, this is the first time in years that a human looked at me, not as a beast or monster, but as an equal.’ Gaia then stands to her full height and smiles back at Crystal. “Let’s get you out of here, ok?” Crystal said as she tries to pick the lock to set Gaia free. When a click is heard, she opens the door for Gaia. “You should head back to the forest, you’ll be safe there and your family is waiting for you.” Nuria stated while looking to make sure they aren’t caught. “Alright, I must head home, I have been gone long enough, but if you ever need my help just say my name two times to summon me.” Gaia bows once more before setting off to the forest. The sun had nearly set so now they must head for the inn they were going to stay at for the night. When they arrived, they paid for a room big enough for all of them and we’re getting ready to sleep. ‘ Tomorrow is the day I set things right, not just for me but for my friends and the people of Rhoswen,' with that thought, Crystal dozes off to sleep.

(Sorry for the long wait. Writer's block is a huge hassle and I didn't want to publish something half done but here is the next chapter. And as always, STAY AWESOME 😎)