We were all still a little shaken from the Ramidreju, but we continued heading towards the West. Yoshi was debating if this was even worth it, trying to save my village but maybe dying before we even arrive there.

Lani and I put aside the thoughts that could lead to a bad outcome, but still, we knew the possibilities. 

"What will we do if we run into the Ramidreju again, or maybe even something worse?" Yoshi asked as we walked along a rocky mountain.

"What?" I asked.

"I mean, if we run into another thing, we should have a plan, right? Like for instance, what if a tik tik were to find us, huh? It's almost night, too, which is when they feed." 

"Are you serious? A tik tik? You mean that monster that flies around at night looking for food to eat? You can't be serious, Yoshi." Lani exclaimed.

"Well, we thought the Ramidreju wasn't real, either. Don't you see," Yoshi went on, "We've never been outside of our village before, and maybe all of these 'myths' are actually real, but we were just protected from them."

I have to admit, Yoshi had a point. I didn't want to admit it, but he did. What if they all were real? What if now that we're out of the village, we're in risk of being introduced to them? What if the village was like a safe zone?

I tried to put those thoughts aside again, but I was having a having a hard time doing so. I looked over at Lani and saw that she probably was, too...

We continued walking, shutting Yoshi down every time he tried to talk about the dangers we could run in to. We knew the risk, but that wouldn't stop us from trying to prevent my village from losing the war. First, there was one thing that I had to do before we went, something that I hadn't told them we were doing yet.

"So, umm," I didn't know exactly what to say, "we need to go by somewhere before we go to the West side." I might've put it all on them too fast.

"What do you mean another place? I thought when we arrive at the West, we were done with this!" Yoshi yelled.

"I know, but I can't fight that good as a human. We need to go to Herason Peak so that I can fix my necklace. Tonight's a full moon, right, Lani?" I asked her.

She nodded her head, but didn't look like she was on board with my plan. I don't want to have to travel a greater distance myself, but If we have a phoenix on our team, we have a shoo in for winning the war. There was just no way they could take down a whole army and a creature made of fire! And, to be honest, I was kind of missing my normal self.

"Great, it's settled then. Let's go." I said as I started heading in the direction of Herason Peak.

It was clear Lani and Yoshi didn't want to go, but they knew they couldn't persuade me out of it, not even if they offered me twenty of those Snickers things they have on Earth. Well, maybe twenty. Ugh, now I want to go back to my normal life even more. What happened to the days when I hated working at the bakery? Or when I would go downtown with my kind-of-mom and get some of those amazing enchiladas Mr. Santiago makes? I miss those days, but hopefully we'll be able to go back to them soon.

We, once again, kept walking. About an hour later, Lani had asked a question that I didn't know the answer to.

"So, what do we do if when we arrive, Nimroth and his army have already beat us to the village? Is that just... it? Is the war over?"

I didn't know how to respond. I had though about it, but I never actually thought about it. The possibilities of that happening could be low, but also high. At this rate, we'll be there in two days, but our original plan was to arrive tomorrow at sunrise. The only way we would be perfectly fine is if Nimroth decided to give his men a few days off, which probably wouldn't happen unless something more important came up for him.

"So... exactly how far away is this 'Herason Peak'? I think we're running low on food, so the sooner we get to the village the better." Yoshi asked.

"No, we should have plenty of food, Unless..." I looked in my leather satchel that hung around my neck, "Yoshi, where is all of our food?" 

Yoshi looked away innocently, "Oh, umm, well..." He stuttered as he tried to make up an excuse, "fine. It's probably all in my digestive system by now."

Lani and I looked at him angrily, "That was our food, Yoshi! Plural, more then one." Lani exclaimed.

All there was left in the bag was a piece of focaccia bread and a few croissants, along with crumbs that Yoshi left in the bag. So considerate. 

"Anyways, the answer to your other question, Yoshi. We should be able to see the mountain soon, so we're probably about twenty minutes away." 

Time passed by, but so did the sun. The sun was setting and it started to get dark, which was probably going to be the worst time to be out in the open considering the circumstances. We hurried as we saw the top of the mountain, almost reaching the clouds.

"See, not that big of a detour, and it should all be worth it once I can turn back into a phoenix." I said as we ran towards the mountain.

When we arrived, there was a big stone wall. We walked around it, hoping to find a gate or something. Luckily, we ended up finding one eventually.

We walked inside, not knowing what we were going to do once we reached the top. Are main goals at the moment was to just get to the top, make my necklace work again, and arrive at the village in two days tops. Seemed simple enough, right? Nope.

I guess we didn't realize just how tall the mountain was, 'cause there were a lot of stairs. By the time we were only half way up, it was pitch black, the only light coming from the moon. We continued walking up, trying not to step on any loose rocks that could lead to disaster. 

Finally, after about an hour of pain in my feet and walking, we made it to the top. If I was in my phoenix form, I could've been up here in five minutes tops, but I guess we wouldn't even be coming up here if I was one. 

We saw a stone structure that stuck out of the top of the mountain, so we cautiously walked up to it, hoping nothing was rigged or something. There was a mold of a necklace on the top of it along with a magnifying glass that could easily be moved. 

"So, do I just stick it in here?" I asked Lani.

Lani looked at me confused, "I don't know. why are you asking me?

I looked back down at the stone structure. I slowly took off my necklace, placing it in the mold. It felt a bit weird, taking off my necklace, for I had never actually taken off my necklace before.

I looked down at the pillar, expecting something to happen, but nothing did. I looked over at the magnifying glass and positioned it facing towards my necklace.

The moon light shined on my necklace and a burst of light came from it. We all looked away so it couldn't blind us. Who knew that moon light could be so bright?

It turned dark, almost like it was darker then it was before. I turned around around and picked up my necklace, slowly putting it back on me. 

"Does it work now?" Lani asked me.

"I-I don't know. Siltenio." I said, and I turned back into a phoenix.

"Ha, yes! You can change into a phoenix now!" Lani yelled.

"Yeah, I ca-" Suddenly, a loud screech cut me off.

The big burst of light didn't only fix my necklace, but attracted something. I looked up, seeing a sight that scared me half to death. It couldn't be, but it was. A roc, a mythical creature that was big enough to carry an elephant, flew high above us. Its claws shined in the little bit of light the moon provided, making it able for us to see exactly how sharp they are. Right as I saw it, I remembered something; it never lands on any land except for Herason Peak, which we were standing on.