Sorry that i didn't upload like I was supposed to yesterday guys. ANYWAY, idk if you guys heard, but @Kimmeg13 and I made a goal for me to have 5k views by Christmas... THANKS SSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH 4 UR SUPPORT GUYS! It means a lot, it REALLY does!

Enjoy!

-♥ZombiLuva♥

YOUR POV

We headed into Metalli, holding our horse's reins as we lead them through the streets. Zoey had decided not to come. We dropped our horses off at the stables and walked over to the clinic.

"Well, here we are! You ready Kawaii~Chan?" Aphmau asked. Kawaii~Chan nodded and we headed inside.

As Kawaii~Chan checked in, Aphmau and I sat down in the waiting room.

I raked my mind for something to start a conversation with Aphmau.

"Do you like it when people call you Aph?" I blurted. I almost immediately wished I hadn't said it. She stared at me in surprise and then burst out laughing.

"I guess I don't mind it, but I don't really like it. I can tolerate it though. It's really cute when Laurence calls me "Aph" though. It's funny, 'cause you can tell he's nervous about something or he's just being lazy..."

It was my turn to stare. Except I was staring in disbelief.

"What?"

"You and Laurence really have a thing going, don't you?"

She blushed. I choked down a laugh as I listened to her stutter and then answer. "Uhh, I guess... Why? Did he say something about me?!?!?" She sub-consciously checked her hair and make-up.

I laughed as she continued to twirl her hair on her finger.

"Ya' know, Laurence and I were having a similar conversation like last week..."

"Huh? Wadidhesay?"

I laughed again. "The same thing as you actually. He stuttered and then asked if you had said anything about him..."

"EEEEEEKK!" She screeched and I covered my ears, although it wasn't that loud.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, come ON, (E/C)! So, did he was anything?"

"Nothing... other than he really enjoyed kissing you and that he was going to ask you on a date sometime soon..."

She stared at my with her mouth open. I swear, her jaw reached the basement parking lot. "Really?! EEK! So when is this "date" supposed to be?" She looked all giddy and was scooting closer by the second.

I moved over one chair and replied, "He was supposed to ask you last week. Didn't he ask you?"

The smile quickly left her face and was replaced by a frown. "He didn't mention that to me before..."

"Maybe he got nervous."

Aphmau laughed. "Laurence? Getting nervous? Ha! I guess you never heard how I met Laurence."

She continued to tell me how they met in Metalli, where he was the head guard, and that he asked her on a date without even knowing her.

I laughed and we talked until Kawaii~Chan walked over. "Sorry (E/C) and Aphmau~Senpai. We had a problem at the desk." She sighed. "I guess that's what I get for letting Dante~Kun schedule it."

We all laughed and Aphmau admired our rings until Kawaii~Chan's name was called.

We headed down the sterilized hallway. The white walls had a couple paintings on them. The nurse showed us into a room to the left.

"Room 152. The doctor will be here soon. Sorry for the wait. We've had a busy morning." She closed the door and Kawaii~Chan laid down on the bed. Aphmau and I sat down in the plastic chairs that were by the bed.

"So... is it a boy or girl?" Aphmau asked.

"It is a baby girl and her name is Nekoette~Tan. She's due in two months!" Kawaii~Chan had a huge smile on her face.

We both smiled back. "I like her name. Did you or Dante come up with it?"

"Nekoette~Tan popped into my head when Dante~Kun asked about it. Dante~Kun liked it."

Aphmau nodded, "It's a great name Kawaii~Chan!"

"Hello, Kawaii~Chan! You ready?" The doctor walked in the room and started chatting with us.

After the appointment, the three of us headed over to the nearest restaurant.

One of the guards stopped Aphmau and she stopped Kawaii~Chan and I. He started flirting with her and then all of a sudden, she started laughing. The man stopped for a moment and asked what was so funny. I was also curious.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just how I met my... good friend, Laurence. He used to be head guard here and this is how we met. He started flirting with me. He was a HUGE Casanova back then. He's gotten better."

Kawaii~Chan nodded her head. "Laurence~Kun is funny. He used to be like you. And then we all went to the nether and..."

Aphmau shook her head, signaling Kawaii~Chan not to talk about it. She became quite and the guard grew a little smile.

Aphmau, Kawaii~Chan and I excused ourselves and walked over to the restaurant.

When we walked in, the smell of pizza filled our noses and I smiled.

LAURENCE'S POV

"I just don't get it! Why did she even need to take my amulet? Couldn't she just have grabbed yours, Garroth?" I said as we walked down the streets of Metalli.

I had decided that Garroth and I needed to make sure the girls would be okay. Especially Aphmau. Especially her.

"She'll be fine..."

"No she won't. And it'll be your fault. You need to protect her. Don't give her space, that'll push her away."

"Shut up, Shadow-Laurence!"

"No."

"UGGGHHHHH!"

"Uhh, Laurence, are you okay?" Garroth looked concerned.

"Huh? Yeah, it's Shadow-Laurence... HE'S SO STUBBORN!"

He patted me on the back. "Just ignore him."

"It's kind of... oh, I don't know... IMPOSSIBLE! He's literally IN my head."

Garroth shrugged, "I guess. Hey, I'm getting hungry. You want to eat? I brought extra diamonds. I can pay."

"Sure, I guess. Why did you bring so many diamonds?"

"Oh! I have to get the remaining supplies for mine and (E/C)'s house. I was planning on starting it next month, but I guess I'll start it as soon as possible, because we're constantly doing something. So, we'll probably be super busy right before the twins come, so..."

"Yeah, wow. You and Dante are going to be husbands and fathers. It's so weird!"

Garroth laughed. "I guess. You're the middle one to. Dante's younger and I'm older than you. It's funny because WE have fiancés and you don't even have a girlfriend. "

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Aphmau and I are... close. You know, why didn't Dante come? His girl is out here too."

Garroth laughed at me. "True. I guess he's more responsible than us. Shoot. If Aphmau's here, gosh. I keep forgetting I'm the head guard... I should get back. Are you coming?"

"Nah. I'll stay here and watch the girls."

He shrugged and ran off.

I sighed and looked around. So, this was Metalli, now. Back when I was the head guard here, it looked different.

I headed over to the main guard tower that was to the left of the plaza. I knocked on the door and a young guard opened the door.

"What can I do for... you...?" He looked at my armor and frowned.

"Oh man! Cloud? Is that you?!" The young guard was questioning me and then all of a sudden, his eyes widened in realization.

"Laurence?! Oh man! What happened to you?! You're hair, it's brown, and your eyes... they're blue!"

I chuckled at the sight of Cloud. He had been in guard training when I left Metalli.

"This is all natural. I dyed my hair that red/orange and I had green contacts. This is what I really look like."

"Woah. Say, why are you in Mettali?"

"Oh! Do you remember that lady I talked about all the time?"

"Oh yeah! Her name was... Aphmau? Right? Wasn't she a Lord?"

"Yeah. Well, my best friends' fiancés brought her here on a girl's day. I just came to check up on them. They don't know I'm here. Then I saw the guard tower, and was wondering if I could recognize half of the guards still."

"Well, come on in then!"

I stepped inside and looked around. It sort of looked like our new guard towers in Phoenix Drop, except it had wood flooring instead of stone.

"It's looking good!"

"Yeah! The new head guard..."

"Cloud! Where is that Shadow-Knight presence..." A man with black locks of hair came down the ladder and ran over to Cloud.

"Shadow-Knight? No one's here except Laurence and I. Laurence, meet Vincent, the second in command of Metalli."

I stared at him. He was a shadow knight. His presence filled my sensors and it was all I could do but stare. He stared back.

"Laurence, is it?" he started.

"Yeah." I replied with an edge to my voice. Aphmau, Kawaii~Chan and (E/C) were in this village with a guard that was in second-in-command that was a shadow-knight.

"Wait, that's how it is in Phoenix Drop... but they can trust me. I don't know if they can trust this creep..."

Cloud waved a hand in front of our faces. Both of us snapped out of our little staring contest.

"I'm going to go find Aphmau..." I turned around. As soon as I did, I heard the slicing of a sword. I whirled around and pulled out my emerald sword.

Cloud stared at Vincent and I as we locked gazes and our swords. His face told me he wasn't happy to see another shadow-knight.

"Whatever you're thinking of doing, shadow-knight," He spat out the words, "You're going to have to go through me first." He said through clenched teeth.

"I don't know what you're thinking, Vincent. But, I'm not planning on getting into a big fight today. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find m'lady."

He snickered. "You mean that Lord, Aphmau? We TOTALLY hit it off. She's supposed to go to dinner with me tonight. She just fell in love with me."

I could feel my face growing red, "Stay away from Aphmau, shadow-knight."

He grimaced. "At least I'm a mature shadow-knight. I don't have a reason to kill my Lord to gain eternity. I already did that, and it's off my plate."

"I love Aphmau. I would never harm her."

He smirked. "Yeah right. You'll probably kill her in her sleep."

"THAT'S IT! UGGH!" I grew to my full shadow-knight form. I felt Cloud's stare as I transformed.

Vincent smirked and dropped his sword to his side.

"So I WAS right. You ARE a shadow-knight, and you ARE going to cause trouble."

"Not if you stay away from Aphmau. Leave her alone." my voice was huskier than usual.

"Laurence? Ah man, Laurence. When did you become a shadow knight?"

I turned to Cloud. The look on his face said it all. He was scared to death. I sighed and stood in front of him, with my guard down.

"It's a long story... my friends and I were in the Nether, and I had to stay behind to save Aphmau... and of course everyone else, but especially her."

Another slice through the air, except this time, I wasn't face enough to counter Vincent's attack. The last thing I remember was hitting the cold hard ground, and that I was going to have a giant headache.

YOUR POV

After we finished eating, I went onto the front porch of the restaurant to contact Garroth. Hopefully he has his amulet on him.

"Garroth, Garroth, are you there?"

"Huh? (E/C)? Is that you?"

"Yeah! Great I was hoping to know if Kiki has woken up. We didn't want to wake her or baby Leonia so we left a note and took the horses. Hopefully she doesn't mind..."

"I think it'll be fine. Also, have you seen Laurence yet?"

"No. Why would he be in Metalli?"

There was a long pause.

"He was supposed to check on you three to make sure that you weren't in any trouble..."

"Oh. How much trouble could two pregnant ladies and a friend get into?"

I heard him sigh. "Well, we didn't know, so that's why Laurence is there. So if he doesn't show up in the next hour or so, could you please tell me? I have a feeling something could go really wrong..."

"Of course, I'll let you know. Got to go get the girls. I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"Love you too."

I put the amulet in my backpack and went back inside.

"If Laurence is in trouble... I don't know if we'll make it on time. And if we do, only Aphmau can fight."

"So, just kill Aphmau and then no one can save Laurence! Then you'll gain immortality and..."

"STOP RIGHT THERE Shadow. Laurence and Aphmau are my friends. I'd never do that."

"We'll see... We'll see..."