Aaron's POV

"Aph, we've been searching for hours... Are you sure we're going to find him?" I groan. 

"I'm positive." She states, clearly determined. 

I sigh, then continue walking. We keep bumping into people, but that doesn't stop her. Aphmau is determined on finding our dad. Since we've been searching for a while, I was suggesting on taking a break, but she said no. 

"Aaron, come on!" Aphmau exclaims. 

"Run... Run!" A person yells, running frantically through the town. 

Aph and I glance at each other for a second, stopping dead in our tracks. I nod to Aphmau, then she continues walking. Aphmau then starts randomly running. 

"Aphmau!... Jess..! Wait!" I pant, trying to catch up to her. I do eventually, "What're you doing?" I ask 

"I think I see him." She states. 

"Him who?!" I exclaim. 

"Dad." She says, simply. 

Our pace picks up faster until we finally see a familiar face, "Dad... Dad!" Aphmau calls. 

I turn the man around and it's not the person we were looking for, "Do you know where our Kevin Obsidian is?" Aphmau asks. 

"Kevin Obsidian? Hm..." The man ponders. I start to grow impatient, "Kevin Obsidian is... He's dead." The man states. 

"WHAT!?" Aphmau and I yell at the same time. 

Aphmau and I look at each other, tears filling her eyes. We both glance back at the man, "H-How'd he die?" I choke. 

"Food poisoning I guess." The man mumbles. 

Aphmau runs off, small whimpers following her, "Aphmau... Jess!" I run after her, pushing past the wave of people in front of me.

I hear people cursing from behind me, but I ignore them. My only focus is Aphmau. I run past Laurance and Vylad, so they start following me. 

"What's going on?" Laurance asks. 

"Aph and I found out that our dad... Our dad died. She just ran off..." I inform. 

"Aren't you bothered by that?" Vylad chimes. 

"Of course I am, but she doesn't need to see that." I state. 

"Agreed. Who even knows what's going through her head right now?" Laurance agrees. 

"I could only imagine..." I mumble.

Aphmau's POV

My dad died... My mom died... A tornado blew down both of our towns... Aaron and I are orphans... I just moved to a new place, new people, yet more tornadoes came our way.. Wait. AARON! I immediately stop in my tracks, just to be trampled on by Aaron, Laurance and Vylad. Laurance and Vylad!? What're they doing here? 

"The three of you are heavy." I struggle.

Laurance chuckles nervously, Vylad just rolling off of Laurance's back. Aaron and I are face to face, our noses only inches apart. 

"Hi there." Aaron chuckles at himself. 

"Why hello there." I reply playfully. 

Vylad falls beside me, him looking up at the sky with me looking at Aaron. 

"Get off of me." I command.

Aaron has a fake annoyed sigh, then has Laurance roll off of him. Aaron then gets up, accidentally elbowing me in the stomach. 

"Sorry!" He apologizes. 

"Don't mention it..." I say, he helps me up. 

We help Vylad and Laurance up then make our way to Jeffory and Cadenza's sowing station. We walk in to see Cadenza picking at Garroth's jacket. 

"Cadenza! Let of go my jacket!" Garroth growls. 

"Garroth. No, it has loose strands of thread! It's bothering me!" Cadenza defends. 

Garroth sighs, obviously annoyed, then becomes a statue. 

"Hey guys." Garroth waves. His eyes widen a bit when he sees me, but go back to normal quickly, "I heard you guys out there, what was going on?" Garroth asks.

Aaron and I glance at each other, "Our dad just died." Aaron states, looking down. 

"I am so sorry.." Garroth apologizes. 

"It's not your fault." I add. 

"All done!" Cadenza chimes. 

Garroth immediately rushes to me, engulfing me in a hug. He pulls Aaron into it, but instead of pulling Aaron, he accidentally pulls Laurance into the hug. 

"Um, that's not Aaron." I muffle into Garroth's chest. 

Garroth pushes Laurance away and grabs Aaron. The three of us stay like this for a bit, until Aaron breaks off, then it's just Garroth and I, "I'm glad you're ok." Garroth muffles. 

"You too.." I reply. 

We then release, me sniffling and about to wipe a tear. Garroth takes my hand down and wipes it with his thumb. 

"Thank you." I sniff 

"No problem. If you need anything... I'm here." Garroth smiles. 

"I'll remember that." I smile weakly. 

"Garroth, get over here! I need to sow you some gloves and need your hand size!" Cadenza orders. 

Garroth rolls his eyes, "I'll meet up with you later." Garroth says. 

I chuckle softly, "You too." I say. 

I then walk out with Laurance following me. I think that Aaron's with Katelyn. Since they're both fighters so they train together when Katelyn's free from her job thing. 

Laurance follows me out, "Are you still thinking about what happened?" I ask him as we walk through the town. 

"Of course I am. I haven't been in.. That form in a long time. Tu'la brought something in me out and I became a Shadow Knight. Like I said, I haven't been in that form in so long... Of course it boggles my mind." He explains. 

I take that in for a secong, "How long have you been a Shadow Knight?" I question. 

"It's a long story. Want me to explain it?" He offers. 

"Sure." I reply. 

"Well..."

~Flashback, Laurance's POV

I was about 8 years old. Cadenza, Hayden and I were on a small vacation in a village, while Hayden was out on a meeting, Cadenza and I decided to venture through the town. That wasn't a very good idea, we were in the woods and something jumped out. I had grabbed some dual swords on our way out, so I had Cadenza stand against a tree. I stood in front of her. I tried to swipe the thing off, but it grabbed me and took me into the Nether portal. Cadenza screamed my name, also trying to get help, but nothing worked. 

"Run Cadenza... Get help!" I screamed. 

"I will.. I love you Laurance." She replied. 

Those were the last words I heard from her before being thrown into the obsidian portal. The Nether was dark and eerie with red and black lining everything. Ghast's floated around me, fireballs occasionally spitting from their mouths. The Nether fortress was tall and broad with a dark red filling every brick. Torches lit the place, the light reflecting off of Shadow Knight armor. My eyes trailed down their shiny red swords. The tips were sharp, blood dripping off of some swords. Shadow Knight's cackled and snickered, watching someone be sacrificed or turning into one of them.

I was thrown into a jail cell, the bars made out of titanium and red granite. I sat there for three days, the sound of Cadenza's voice whirling around my head. I honestly thought that it was the end for me. I knew I would become one of them, and if not that, a sacrifice to the Shadow Lord. I wanted nothing of it, I'd rather be a sacrifice than one of them. Unfortunately, I was turned into one of them; a Shadow Knight. Pain surged through my body as my veins turned orange. I could feel myself changing, my eyes becoming a darker green and my hair thickening. I struggled, but the more I moved, the more pain I would feel. I screamed and yelled for help, but no one came. Cadenza was my only hope, which sadly failed me.

I knew she would get me out of here, just not in time for me to still be human. I stopped screaming, the hope leaving my body. My mind was blank, my body numb. I was lifted off of the altar and carried into a room similar to the cell from before. They laid me on a bed, my veins now slowly becoming their normal blue color. My arteries didn't change color, but they were more visible than normal. 

I fell into a deep slumber. I woke up hours later, my skin now looking normal. The only thing was that I had their armor on; the Shadow Knight armor. I knew the only thing that would keep me from turning into a complete Shadow Knight was humanity. I held onto my humanity with everything in me. Cadenza was the one that kept me sane, her smile, her laugh, her charisma. I couldn't bear to lose it, and I couldn't become one of them. Not a backstabbing monster like everyone else in that dreaded place. 

I waited for weeks, weeks full of somber and training. I could feel myself getting stronger, I didn't want to do it, but it was the only way that they would keep from killing me as a sacrifice to the Shadow Lord. Soon, there was a flash in the sky. Ender colors illuminated the eerie aura, making it somewhat brighter. Cadenza, Hayden and some of his guards flew out of the light. Hayden spoke with Cadenza, most likely telling her to stay there. He had one of his guards stay with her. She protested, but Hayden refused to let her go. Hayden ran to get me, most of his guards following.

I heard swords clang and people's footsteps. Soon, Hayden managed to come to where I was. I ran to him and we made our way to the door. A Shadow Knight hopped in front of us as we were exiting. It fought Hayden, until Hayden collapsed to the ground. I tried to help, but Hayden persuaded me not to interfere. That I would only get myself hurt, so I listened. 

"Run, Laurance!" Hayden calls out as his sword falls from his hand. 

"B-But--" I start 

"No buts. Go! Save yourself, and save your sister..." Those were his last words. 

I ran out, tears streaming down my face. I didn't want to leave him, but I would've died if I stayed.

"Cadenza, run!" I command. 

The guard leaves, in attempt to find Hayden. He'd find a terrible surprise. I lead Cadenza out of the Nether, us trudging thru hills and encountering creatures (That ignored us). We ran thru the portal, both of us falling into the dirt. We slid for a bit, but not much. Cadenza and I got up, both of us brushing dust off of our clothes. 

"W-Where's Dad?" Cadenza asks.

 I look back at the portal, then at her. 

"H-He passed. He died protecting me." I explain, trying to be soft but fail. 

Tears start to fall down her cheeks. 

I engulf her in a hug, "Lets go back... I think we've had enough wilderness for one day." I try to give her a weak smile after we release. She nods, sniffing. 

She wraps her hand with mine, "Don't leave me again." She demands. 

"I won't." I assure. 

We hold onto each other's hands the whole way back, making sure not to lose each other. We walk into the town, getting weird stares left and right. My armor clanks together, not making it any better. 

"HEY! IT'S A SHADOW KNIGHT!" Someone yells. 

Chaos raises in the town.

People come towards us, "P-Please! Don't hurt him. H-He's my little brother, we just lost our f-father. Please don't let me loose him too." Cadenza pleads.

I look at her, sorrow draining in both of our eyes. Sympathy has no affect on the villagers. Cadenza and I stare at each other again. I try to turn out of that form, but it failed. The people were getting closer, so Cadenza and I made a run for it. My armor didn't help, so people followed us. Luckily, while we were in the woods, my armor disappeared and my eyes turned to their normal, green color. The footsteps stopped and we finally slowed down. We came across a town called Phoenix Drop. 

"This is our new home..." I mumble. 

~End Of Flashback, Aphmau's POV

"Wow... Laurance, I am so sorry..." I mumble. 

"It's not your fault." Laurance shuffles around uncomfortably. 

I stop Laurance immediately. He stares at me, "You can tell me anything." I say as I hug him. 

He wraps his arms around me. We release to the sound of Aaron yelling. 

"Aaron!" I exclaim. 

Laurance and I rush over to him. We find Aaron on the ground with blood pouring out of his arm. Katelyn is trying to help. 

"Katelyn, what happened?" I ask, kneeling down to Aaron. 

"We were sword fighting, and my sword slipped out of my hand. It hit him in the shoulder. I am so so sorry." She apologizes. 

"Laurance, you're going to have to carry him to the small clinic." I command. 

Laurance nods and hoists Aaron up. He rushes away with a limp Aaron in his arms. Katelyn and I follow shortly behind. 

"Katelyn, get the medicine." I demand. She nods, rummaging thru the cabinets. 

She soon hands me some medicine, and Laurance lays Aaron on a small bed in the middle of the room. I start tending to Aaron's wound until it's time to wrap it up. 

"Katelyn, can I have some wrap?" I order. 

She hands me some rough cast cloth. I wrap it around Aaron's arm, the bleeding now completely stopped. Aaron falls asleep almost immediately after I cut the wrap. After Laurance, Katelyn and I finish cleaning up, Laurance carried Aaron to an actual hospital bed. 

"I think we're good.." I mumble. 

"Again guys, I'm so sorry." Katelyn apologizes. 

"It's fine. At least he's ok now." I reply. 

Laurance doesn't say anything, he just starts to check on some of the other people in the tent. Katelyn and I take a sigh of relief, then leave Aaron to have a good and peaceful rest.