"Stell!" Reuben exclaimed happily when he looked up to see the witch stare at his assailant, her heart pounding in fear under his intense emerald gaze. "So good to see you again, I see you've made a few friends as well! I do hope you received a... Gentler welcoming."

"Master, you're back!" Tak greeted the man, losing his shocked demeanor as if there was nothing out of the ordinary. The boy jumped over the tied up people and over to stand below the newcomer. "How was your outing?"

Tearing his eyes from Stell, the man looked down at Tak with the same hard glare. "Fine," he answered, "did you do your chores?"

Stell blinked. Was this normal for these people? One captures a group of people and no one bats an eye? If it was, Stell was surrounded by lunatics.

She quickly fell to her knees to get closer to her tied up companions and began trying to untie them.

"What happened?" Stell asked as she tried figuring out where the man put the knot.

"We went looking for you after you ran off," Alia spat, struggling below Farkas' heavy body, "instead, we ran into this twat who attacked us and tied us up!"

"Well we did kind of threaten him by telling him we weren't going to leave without a fight," Thorne shrugged innocently.

"Now, now girls," Reuben chuckled, "there's nothing wrong with wanting to protect your territory. I'm sure if we all sit down and talk this whole thing over, we can leave without any more threats against your lives."

"Don't you mean our lives?" Stell corrected, still finding no luck in finding the knot to untie the ropes. It was like all the man did was put tight rings around them.

"Oh, did I forget to tell you?" the older necromancer turned his head up to look at Stell. "I'm immortal."

"Will someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?" The girl in the short dress demanded in a loud angry voice, catching everyone in the room's attention.

The man, who Stell assumed was this Kabuto guy everyone was talking about, looked from her to Stell. He narrowed his eyes before looking back down to Tak, who had guilt written all over his body. Stell felt bad for making the poor thing the reason why there were so many questions in one setting, but she was too caught up in thinking of ways to escape this nut house.

"I'd like to know the same thing," Kabuto spoke as he looked back to the others. "Who the hell is she?" he asked with a nod of his head toward Stell. "And how'd she find this place?"

"Take a wild guess." The one-eyed man replied with a sharp glare down to Tak.

"Tattle tale," Tak grumbled soft enough to where it seemed only Stell could hear. He then looked up to Kabuto who looked down at him intently, awaiting an explanation.

"You always tell me to save any damsel I find in distress," Tak began quickly, "she's a damsel who came out of the woods on fire and in distress and so I decided to bring her here so I can help her find her friends! Like a hero!"

"Yes, but I also told you not to talk to strangers," Kabuto told him pointedly. He then shot Stell another hard glare. "Especially when they could be theives."

Stell glared back at Kabuto. All he did was look at her and hear how Tak found her. How could he judge her based on only that?

"We were just passing by!" Reuben smiled charmingly. "And we would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for this meddling shadow and his rippling, sweaty, strong muscles." he drooled, looking Kabuto over.

Stell immediately ripped her hands away from the rope, realizing these were shadows that bound the necromancers. She quickly wiped her hands on her skirt before shooting Kabuto a glare that he quickly took notice of and his glare hardened.

"Please give us back our staffs?" Reuben went on, not noticing the tension between shadow and witch.

"What so you can kill us with them?" The man in the hat asked accusingly.

"We just want to give everyone a big kiss!" Reuben beamed before he turned a flirtatious gaze to Kabuto. "Especially this tall glass of water."

"Can it!" Kabuto demanded harshly as he shot Reuben a cold, green stare. "Where's Master Yama?" he asked as he shot his glare to the other rebels.

"Well, if we weren't loud enough, aslee-meditating!" the girl in the bra responded, her arms crossed over her chest. "Seeing as how he hasn't come here to kill us yet, I'd say he's still in his room."

"What the hell is all this?" an old voice exclaimed from right behind the pink-haired girl. Everyone except Stell and the necromancers jumped higher than the ceiling as they all turned their gazes to a small elderly man, no taller than Tak, supporting himself on a cane. His eyes were nothing but slits, making it hard to tell if they could see anything or what color they were, but Stell could feel them boring down on her, shredding her to pieces with daggers. All the rebels, including Kabuto, seemed to have lost their calm composure and looked to the small man in fear and deep respect, Tak shivering as he hid behind Kabuto. "Who are these people and what are they doing here?"

All at once, everyone tried to explain the situation, the house filling with angry excuses. Some blamed one another while others tried sticking up for others. Stell remained silent, watching the uneasy discourse before her as she tried to assess her situation. She now knew Kabuto was a shadow, but what of the others? The man in the hat and the two girls in black could be shadows, but the man in the eye-patch and the pink-haired girl seemed slightly out of place. Who exactly were these people?

"Shut up!" the old man boomed, making the very house shake and silencing everyone. He then swung his cane up to point the bottom of it at Kabuto. "Kabuto!"

"I just arrived back, master," Kabuto began as he crossed his arms over his chest, "these people," he said as he nodded his head to Reuben and his female friends, "were trespassing near the meadow while I was training so I brought them here to see what you'd have us do with them." Reuben began to flirt once again at this, but was immediately cut off as Kabuto continued. "Tak found this girl by the river and apparently thought it was wise to bring her here without consulting me first."

"Y-Yeah, b-but," Tak stuttered from behind Kabuto, his eyes darting back and forth as he tried to think of a better excuse for his actions, "she's... She's a... She's a fire mage! She's a hot fire mage! Literally too! She was on fire when she came running out of the woods! She's just like me, you know my fire ain't so good, master, so we're both victims of the cruel mistress fate! And, well, when you find a mage less fortunate than you, you take them in...! Right?" the boy smiled weakly as he shrugged up at Kabuto, searching for understanding. Instead, Kabuto continued to glare down at him with an unreadable expression.

"Fire mage?" Reuben questioned. "No, no, you're mistaken, my ashy friend, she's no fire mage, she's a-" Stell was about to stop him and keep up with her lie, but the old man, Stell assumed was Master Yama, spoke up first.

"Witch." the old man finished with anger in his voice. "I thought something was wrong with you. You're a witch, aren't you?"

Stell narrowed her eyes angrily down on the red-robed bald man. "What's wrong with being a witch?"

"What's wrong, is that their nothing but a bunch of dark magic abusing scum of Trapario!" Master Yama spat as he pointed his cane at Stell. "What you're doing in Kespain is beyond me, but you and your friends don't belong here!"

"Witches the scum of Trapario?" Stell exclaimed, her fury rising. "What did we ever do to shadows? They're the ones spreading darkness throughout Trapario! All Sefloria is doing is minding its own business!"

"Not all shadows are on that bastard, Alabaster's side!" Kabuto stabbed in, his voice full of malice. "And at least us shadows don't use whatever magic we want, we stick to our own powers!"

"Well, at least us witches don't need a king to take over our lives and tell us what to do!" Stell shot back. "We can live however we want and if someone has the guts to even try taking over our home, at least we're brave enough to do something about it!"

"What was that?" Kabuto growled, his shadow sliding from the ground to his arms, making them bigger.

Stell felt her fingers tingle as balls of purple light surrounded her hands.

"If I may," Reuben spoke up quickly, "if you will just untie us, we'll take our witch and be on our way. We didn't come here looking for trouble."

"Then what did you come here for?" Master Yama demanded while Kabuto and Stell continued to glare at one another, their arms surrounded in their own individual magic prepared to fight.

Reuben took a moment before looking to everyone, eyeing Kabuto and Stell mostly, and answering. "We're... Looking for a witch. Not Stell and we have a good reason!" the necromancer replied before anyone could speak. "You see, we heard the Guardian of Trapario and his wife were here to see what exactly is happening in Kespain and we have a question for the wife, who happens to be a witch."

"And what, pray tell, is this question?" Master Yama interrogated.

"We're looking for an ancient book that has been lost in time," Reuben explained. "I'm a collector of artifacts with great magical powers and I hear this book is the most powerful thing of all. I'm hoping the Guardian's wife can point me in the right direction to where it's hidden."

"Then why'd you bring these brats and their pets?" Kabuto asked coldly, still glaring Stell down.

"Okay, first of all, they're not pets!" Thorne responded as Harry struggled in his bindings to attack the shadow. "They're Familiars and we're here because we are Reuben's assistants and we go wherever he goes when it comes to learning about magic."

"The only reason the witch is with us is because she wants to return to Sefloria." Alia spoke, less enthusiastically than her two fellow necromancers.

"What were you doing here if you just wanted to return to Sefloria?" Tak asked in deep curiosity as he looked to Stell from behind Kabuto's leg.

Stell looked away from Tak, unsure of how to answer. She didn't want to have to lie to the poor thing twice, but she couldn't let these people know she once worked forcefully under Alabaster. Kabuto could've been a spy ready to take anyone against the king in to the Mallors to collect bounty or be promoted. Same went for everyone else. They could call themselves rebels all they wanted, but anyone of them could turn greedy and turn her in for running away from the royal family.

"I came here to find out why shadows are attacking Trapario," the witch lied, "I was hoping to stop Alabaster, but his army is too strong. They're somehow raising the dead to make more shadows. So I've been told."

Kabuto's eyes softened from anger to shock as his arms returned to normal, his shadow returning to the flat shade it was on the floor.

"How do you raise the dead if you're not a necromancer?" Tak asked in pure shock.

"Seriously?" Reuben agreed, his face contorting into a disturbed look. "Only necromancers should he able to raise the dead! Anyone else from Sefloria knows that's a forbidden spell if you're not built for that sort of magic!"

Stell's magic faded as her face went pale. If they knew she was the reason the Mallors had a bigger army because of her use of forbidden magic, they'd turn her in. She didn't know what the punishment was for using a spell that raised the dead when she wasn't qualified to do so, but from how disturbed Reuben looked from the news, she guessed it wasn't good at all. 

"What exactly happens to spell casters who aren't necromancers that raise the dead?" Stell asked, trying to sound more curious then fearful. 

"Well, there hasn't been a problem like that since the Silver Storm," Rueben began raising more questions than answers, "but from what we can gather, you get banished forever to someplace where you might be forgotten for eternity."

Stell froze and felt all the color in her body, including her cloths, fade to a ghostly white. She didn't think the Mallors could ruin her life anymore, they could've just been the reason she'd be banished to someplace where she would be forgotten. She didn't want to be forgotten. She just wanted to go home and return to her normal parentless life in her small home town. Why did the Mallors take her? There were billions of witches in the world and as far as she knew she was most likely the weakest. 

"Stell?" Thorne's voice snapped her from her dark thoughts. "Are you okay? Your feet are turning to ice."

Stell let out a cry as she jumped from the floor, the ice around her feet shattering into pieces and her boots protecting her from frost bite. 

"Cool!" Tak exclaimed, his eyes wide in awe as the ice melted. He then noticed Kabuto giving him a glare before he spoke again. "I mean, you know, for a filthy witch."

"Get out." Master Yama ordered after silence fell over the group. He then waved his cane, the ropes around the necromancers gliding off their and their Familiars bodies to the floor and to Kabuto's shadow, making Stell cringe. 

"Do you mind if we borrow some supplies?" Reuben as he stood and grabbed his staff with Thorne and Alia. 

"Yes, get out!" Master Yama shot.

"Hold it!" Stell shouted, regaining herself. She had to put the Mallors behind her. They weren't going to get to her when she was miles away from them and finally regaining her freedom in years. "We're not leaving until you give us some supplies or at least some directions to the nearest market!"

"Are you daft?" Master Yama growled. "We're not helping a witch of all things, if it were just your stupid necromancer friends here, I'd be more lenient, but witches and wizards have no place in Kespain. Take your pathetic broom and fly back to that disgusting display you call a home!"

"I don't have a broom," Stell hissed through gritted teeth, "and I'm not leaving this God awful kingdom without seeing this Guardian's witch wife: I have my own questions for her and I'm not leaving until they're answered!" 

"We already have issues with Alabaster, we don't need more with Sefloria's lousy Spell Casters!" Master Yama shot, hitting the bottom of his cane on the floor. "Now leave before I let my students here make you wish you never even breathed!"

Stell began to protest once again, but stopped when she felt hands on her shoulders. "Excuse us for one moment please!" Reuben smiled with a wink to Yama as he pushed Stell over to Thorne and Alia who petted their Familiars comfortingly in the corner. The older necromancer shoved Stell gently to stand between his assistants, shooting the rebels one last fake smile before looking back with deep worry. 

"Alright, things are kind of setting us back," Reuben began, "and I think it's best if we spend the night here before continuing on our journey."

"Why?" Thorne asked. "It's still daylight out and these people don't even seem to like us." 

"No, not right now they don't, but I think we can kill two birds with one stone," Reuben told his student, "or three in my case." the older necromancer drooled as he looked over to Kabuto's back, which was turned to tell Tak off for bringing a witch to their home. "I didn't care for this whole King Alabaster issue until I found out he's using magic that only necromancers should be able to do." Stell flinched. "Plans have changed, we're still going to find the Guardian's witch, but once we find the book, we're going to join the rebellion!"

"Kespain has nothing to do with Sefloria," Alia told Reuben sharply, "why should we care if their shadows are using magic forbidden to our home?"

"Because shadows can't use Necromancy," Reuben told her, "it's impossible! Unless a shadow and a necromancer had a child, but I seriously doubt that. I want to know how a shadow is able to perform such a feat. They should only be able to do the magic of shadows."

"Is this some weird research you're doing?" Alia asked unenthusiastically.

"We could go down in history for bringing this information to Sefloria!" Reuben exclaimed excitedly. "Just think of the recognition we could get from this discovery!"

"No," Alia spat, "we came here for one thing and one thing only. We're not going to join the rebellion for one of your stupid go-down-in-history-quick schemes! We're going to find the witch, go home, find the book, and go home! End. Of. Story."

"I'm with Alia," Stell spoke up, "I'm all for dethroning a shadow king, but I'd rather stay home in silence than help a rebellious shadow." she finished her statement by shooting Kabuto another death glare, wishing he and his Master Yama would just drop dead.

"But aren't you curious as to how King Alabaster was able to raise the dead?" Thorne asked. "Like Reuben said, it's impossible for shadows to use magic outside their own. What if they're not the ones using magic, what if they're keeping one of our own in their home and having them raise the dead. It's a mystery we, as magic researchers, should try solving."

Stell blinked. Thorne was smart for her age for getting so close to the truth from all that. But Stell couldn't let them know the truth about how the Mallors were able to summon the dead to join their army. And what would the rebels do to her when they found out? She was the reason they were ants compared to King Alabaster. The law of Sefloria would have her head for sure.

Then again. Viva herself was practicing the dark arts while Stell was there. She had visited Sefloria to retrieve the spell that rose the dead. If the Mallors had decided they'd rather have Stell dead than find her and cage her again, they'd definitely turn to Viva to perform the spells they needed. Stell still hadn't forgiven her for going to Sefloria to steal a spell. Placing the blame on Viva would kill two birds with one stone of Stell's own personal gain. Viva would be punished, the Mallors would have a weakness, and the rebellion would win, leaving Kespain in Sefloria's debt. Stell couldn't lose.

Unless the Mallors remembered Stell's face upon seeing her during a fight. She may have changed her clothing, but they'd still be able to pick Stell out by the color of her hair and by the sight of her face.

Still concerned on what would happen to her in the long run, the chance to rid the world of the Mallors outweighed Stell's certainly of safety. No one deserved to be put under the rule of Alabaster Mallor. Even shadows like Master Yama or Kabuto.

"She's right," Stell finally responded, receiving surprised looks from the necromancers, "we have to stop this bastardization against Sefloria and get the Mallors to step down from the throne. Abusing magic for your own chances of spreading fear through Trapario is something I can't just stand idly by for."

"I like that spirit, Stell!" Reuben complimented. "What do you say now, Alia? Want to just stand and watch the shadow king make a mockery of your magic, or fight and return Necromancy to us necromancers?"

Alia lowered her head in thought before rolling her eyes with a defeated sigh. "Very well, but once we stop Alabaster from using forbidden magic, we're out. I don't care if he's king or not, Necromancy belongs to necromancers, not shadows."

"Perfect!" Reuben beamed as he spun to face the rebels who turned to look at him from his sudden outburst. "We'd like to join the rebellion against King Alabaster and make him pay for his discrepancy!"