THIS CHAPTER IS ALMOST 3000 WORDS

BE PROUD OF ME

So I'm pretty sure the main reason I was really lowkey salty all day was because I was writing this XD

I think once I post this I'm going to go to one of my other big stories I'm working on at the moment so it might be a while before the next update.

And ok so apparently the end scene for Fantasy Life in the British version is different than the Murican version because I swear when I played it it did not give the the details the playthough of the British version I watched for reference of the prologue did.

So I'm now aware Yuelia's dream is not 100% accurate, or that Laura's monologue is totally off too.

BUt since this is a different timeline, I CAN GET AWAY WITH IT OK

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Purity awoke with a stretch and silent yawn.

Morning, Val- By Lunares, damn it.

Purity's thoughts suddenly swarmed with painful memories.

NO Purity. You can't think about... him! You have more important things to worry about. I need to see what requests I can get today... She shook her head to (unsuccessfully) get back to the present.

Sighing, she slid out of bed and picked up her armor that she had thrown on the floor last night. She hated the Steel Helm she got from becoming a Hero Mercenary, but she needed it for the defense of her head it gave. Honestly, how can people like... Odin, go with having this sort of heavy metal thing on their skull twenty-four-seven? She strapped on the Berserker armor and slid her feet into the Steel Toed Boots.

Right. Ready to start the day! The irony of the phrase always made her laugh. Purity stood in front of the door to unlock it but paused when the stupid idle remembrance of her routine caught her.

No Purity. I'm trying to move on from that. But then she felt guilty.

She sighed and looked back at the one picture in her room.

"Hey, Valor. I'm going out, and I'll keep an eye out for you, okay?" It was a desperate attempt to bring back her missing friend. As stupid as it was, it kept Purity's hope of finding him ignited just a little longer.

"I'll find you... I promised and I'll keep promising. Until then... hang tight, okay?" the drawing of the little white-blonde girl and the auburn-haired boy playing in red- and whitebells gave no reply.

Why do I keep trying... Valor's been missing since I was eleven. I've gone everywhere possible in Reveria that is accessible and safe. He's not here! In this land! He's dead, and you know it Purity... Why can't I get that through my stupid head?!

Purity nearly slapped herself in frustration. "Maybe it's the helm..." she laughed at her own comment.

Wow. I really am a disappointing being, talking to myself all the time. Travelling the world alone with no one to accompany me when I might need it... I really need to actually go.

Purity sighed once more and finished unlocking the door and stepped outside into the ever-cool orangy darkness of the Castele plaza.

"Umm... excuse me miss..."

A young Alchemist in the Novice attire approached Purity. The Wanderer blinked and turned to the evidently nervous boy. He kept his head down and was trying not to make eye contact, but at the same time was.

Oh goodness. Another nervous one...

Many young people for some reason always felt nervous when asking Purity for a request. She hummed in greeting of sorts, and the boy only seemed to get jitterier. Isn't this Mister Rupert's boy?

"H-hi! So, uhh... I-I'm trying to make this p-potion, y'see, and I need some Saltless Seawater, b-but there's no more in stock..." Purity nodded and smiled, understanding his meaning. She held up a few fingers, and the boy looked at her curiously before realizing what she was asking. "Oh! I-I need five, if that's o-okay... I can totally understand if you don't have time or I'm not worthy or anything-"

Oh my... This boy reminds me of... NO.

Purity placed and hand on his shoulder and smiled. She gave him a thumbs up and then gestured for him to stand up straight.

Have a little confidence! Only reason you would not be worthy of asking for help is if you didn't try to get some in the first place.

He straightened his posture and stood more alert, holding his chin up high in attempted confidence. Purity gave him a thumbs up. Then she pulled out her request book and wrote down the information for the request.

"Oh yeah! Y-you probably want something in return, don't you?" She chuckled. Yeah, kinda do in order to make a profit from this. I'm gonna have to go all the way to Tortuga Archipelago for this... Ugh...

The boy frowned in thought. "Hmm... I can give you five hundred Dosh and a Lucky Charm. Is that okay?"

Purity nodded and wrote down the reward in her notebook. She closed it and this time with a farewell nod, she hurried down the path to Southern Castele to make her way to the Grassy Plains and make it all the way to Port Puerto.

HiYAH!

Purity swung her heavy great sword over her shoulder at the Bull that had decided to wander in front of the entrance to Port Puerto. Eh, it's a bounty. It's some Dosh, even though bounty clerks rip you off for how much they can give you for the amount of work it takes to defeat whatever strong monster decides to sneak up on you...

She tied its hooves together and starting dragging it passed the Port Puerto guards, dressed in Shell armor with their traditional garments over the top. They were smiling and clapping. One of the young men whistled.

"That was some show, Miss Purity! I might have to become a Mercenary to do some of those combos." He winked.

Purity almost laughed and rolled her eyes. These guys are such flirts.

Even though Purity despised coming to Port Puerto because of the amount of water and Zombie Pirates and Piranhas that get under the rotting wooden boardwalks, the Port Puerto guards were some of the friendliest people in this day and age.

"Good thing that Bull wasn't Doomed, for our sakes!" One of the guards laughed.

"You going to be around for long, Purity?" another guard questioned curiously.

Purity frowned in thought, then shook her head.

"Aw, okay. Next time mind coming to the barracks and telling some of your stories? Metaphorically."

That one almost made Purity laugh. She grinned and nodded, and that guard fist pumped and high fived the second.

"Yes!"

He started talking excitedly and his two friends started trying to calm him down.

Ah, good times. Now if only the Castele guards weren't so uptight. Isobel, head of the Castele guard and the Paladin Life Master, was strict in enforcing the Paladin's code of conduct and dignity (although Purity had seen her lose her professionalism when there was a puppy or stuffed animals nearby.) Meanwhile the guard trio moved out of the way and let the Wanderer continue on her way.

She waved as she walked by, then continued walking to the beach front.

Purity felt the soft wood bend under her metal-clad foot as she hopped back and forth between the rotting boards and the somewhat-sturdier pillars that made up the old boardwalk to Tortuga Archipelago.

This place was one of the most dangerous terrains in Reveria. Zombie Pirates of all types roamed the sandy beaches, Piranhas and Bitey Sharks were easily Doomed by the contaminated water, and the two caves located here were not only spooky but also terrifyingly dangerous. Purity had gone into Deepsea Cave once, and had been that close to being bit in two by the Doomed Great Serpent that lived down there.

If someone wants some Mangrove... I'm so glad no one wants Mangrove to work with anymore. At least not from me.

Purity had a feeling word had gotten around when she got back to Castele still looking thoroughly shocked a week after. She had defeated the King Jelly that lived in Nautilus Cave with some difficulty beforehand, but not too much. But it was not possessed by evil and ultra hostile and powerful. I got cocky. I learnt my lesson that day.

She hopped from the strangely warm wood to the sand, shivering at its eternal coolness as well as the sight of the eerie abandoned shack-villa-place.

By Lunares, that place gives me the creeps. Definitely one of the spookiest places in Reveria. I still can't top the Castele graveyard.

Right off to the side at one o'clock there was Purity's first victim of Zombie Pirates that were her easiest source of Saltless Seawater.

"Okay you undead robbers of the seas, time to meet your Doom."

Not that they won't come back from the double-dead in a few hours.

Purity reached back and grabbed her huge sword's handle from over her shoulder, then let is drag loosely in the sand as she snuck to approach her enemies. A normal Zombie was the first to spot her and growled in hostility as it lumbered forward.

Purity took two steps forward and threw her greatsword overhead to cut straight through the Zombie- of which it died immediately. The next two noticed her, also growling and stumbling over their own feet to approach the Wanderer. Purity spun on her heel and did a side slash across the two of them, then back again and they fell to the ground into a heap of rotting flesh.

Still no water... The heck? They always drop this stuff. I mean, I guess these sacks of coins and stuff are useful... Just not what I need.

Purity fought three groups of Zombie Pirates before getting to the shipwreck on the far north side of the Archipelago.

"Why aren't any of these stupid Zombies giving me what I need! This ain't fair!" She yelled to the night sky.

She had gotten four of the five she needed, but that had been the last group of Pirates for a few hours.

"I could go to the camp that's near here... But that means going through a bunch of Piranhas and Sharks and stuff that are probably Doomed and I don't want to have to deal with that. I'm tired. I guess that means..." Purity sighed as her gaze settled on the shipwreck.

Guess it'll have to do... The boards were creaky, but surprisingly not as fragile as the boardwalk. Guess this must be made out of Mangrove Beams. Even if it's impossible to get, its water repelling properties and overall strength is impressive.

Opening the door, Everything seemed to get a little bit darker in the hold of the ship. Purity stepped down the short stairs, each creaking at every movement of pressure on it.

"These look like old treasure chests...? Empty. Darn." Purity whispered to herself as she peered into the chests that sat collecting dust on the old shelves. Going down the slant of the ship, Purity scowled at the sight of the skeleton. It didn't spook her, she just didn't like it.

A wave of exhaustion suddenly washed over her, and her legs practically collapsed under her. Guess I didn't get nearly as much sleep as I thought... She decided it was safe enough in the wreck, so Purity let her heavy eyes close and she quickly fell asleep.

Her eyes fluttered open as something light almost woke her.

"What the..." she yawned and rubbed her eyes. She blinked, trying to get her eyes to focus.

"Why is it so light in here...?" She got up from the splintered wooden siding and glanced around.

A stream of mysterious light shown down through a hole in the wreck.

What is that? I've never seen a light like that before... It's eerie. It almost made Purity want to shiver, but not at the same time. Purity approached the area cautiously, unsure of the source of this light.

Something outside is making that light, which means I might not be alone out here. I hope they didn't hear me mumbling to myself, oh dear...

There was a paper held down by some rocks in the floorboards it shone down onto. Why is there a piece of paper all the way down here? Wouldn't have gotten soggy and stuff by now? She reached down and slid the paper out from underneath the rocks and realized it was some sort of journal entry.

It's dated to almost thirty years ago...

"This is it. The moment of truth. Reverians all across the world are looking up at us- hoping, urging- wishing for us to succeed and stop our home from being destroyed. I honestly had no idea what was going to happen that day that first Doomstone crashed into my roof. But when I think of all the friends I have made throughout every Life and journey, I know... I know we have to stop this. This is my home! So many amazing people, creatures... it can't just all go to waste, can it? I think I finally get why Yuelia is so in love with Reveria. I just hope all the wishes she has been collecting will be enough. I'd like to actually have a chance with that amazing girl-"

The ink scribbled and shot across the page as if something had lurched the surface the author was writing on. Despite it being incomplete, it was enough for Purity to know exactly what this was.

This is from... the LAST day. Heck, this could have been written on the freaking blimp ride to Lunares! At least from the urgency it was written. Okay maybe like right before. But what is it doing all the way out here in Tortuga Archipelago? The Deep Elderwood is a good three hour trek away. Whatever, this is pretty cool!

There was a barely visible, ghostly shimmering glow from the pit underneath the floorboards that Purity recognized.

"Wish Shards?" She asked quietly to herself and collected the three individual ones. Like the one in her home, it was barely any different from regular rocks as they gave off a quiet glow from their cores. She held the first one up to her ear.

"My dream is to higher than anyone has ever flown! Yeah!" A young, energetic, and determined boy's voice stated.

Purity laughed at the optimism the voice held. "Passionate," she noted, and moved onto the second Shard.

"I wish to live in Reveria! To return to that wondrous place, feel the sun on my skin, live Life and collect Bliss and do everything there is to do there! That is my wish!"

Purity's light feeling from the last wish dimmed as she heard this wish.

Yuelia's. People always speak of her being absolutely fascinated with Reveria. It's too bad this wish won't ever come true...

The Wanderer sighed and tilted her head to the sky.

"This is the world I live in..."

She opened her eyes and had fear lace through her. Purity suddenly lost her balance and stepped backwards, then totally fell and continued scrambling backwards to the wall once more. The image of what she had seen only for that moment was etched in her mind.

A silver disk, glowing golden white with a large "x" greyed into the side, sitting still in the blank black sky.

WHAT IS THAT?! THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE SKY?!

That was what her mind was screaming. Out loud, Purity was saying:

"There's something in the sky. There was something in the sky. This is completely fine! No big deal! Don't freak out Purity! There hasn't been anything except for some clouds in the last thirty years... OHWHOAMIKIDDINGTHISISHUGE?!" Purity was nearly screaming.

"This isn't possible! I... I need to go tell someone... Queen Laura, yeah! She'll know what to do! She was there when the sun went away before, I'm sure she'll know what this means!"

Purity shoved the diary entry and the three Wish Shards into her pouch and whipped out her map and Fast Travel stone. "I don't normally do this but..."

Purity placed the stone on the location of the Castele Guild Office, and it slowly started glowing. She looked up once more to make sure she wasn't dreaming. But nope, the impossible silver circle with the obvious grey "x" was still hanging in the sky as if it was totally supposed to be there.

The next moment after Purity was whisked away and the cool dampness of the pirate wreck was replaced by the slightly uncomfortable warmth of the streetlights in Castele.

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Ok I might have lied I accidentally already started the next chapter XD

Auf weidersehen!

-Becca out