At the crack of dawn, Morio and Daress stood at the edge of the Plateaus, following a grey path carved out in between boulders, bending and twisting, going downwards a very gentle slope. Bits of ash flew down on their clothes, and the clouds stood a mix of beige and orange, battling for dominance over who reigned the sky.

Morians often believed that their deity, Shin, was responsible for dropping hints and signs of existence from above in the forms of different shades. Hues meant contrasting emotions, and Shin was thought to be confused when there were two or more present.

...and similarly to Morio, his head was rather empty and bleak. Each step he took felt oddly meaningless, even though they kept advancing. He wasn't sure if he was moving forward or backwards. He didn't mind the wounds that Daress forgot to heal. He didn't bother to notice the holes in his clothes or dirt on his skin.

Simply, he kept treading a path that he didn't see.

"There! There, Morian!" Daress raised his voice, grabbing Morio's hand and jumping a little. His finger pointed to Mount Aria, which now only grew in size the closer they were. They spotted unclimbable walls, and steep hills stretching into the faraway mist. For a second, one would swear they'd feel the familiar warmth of the cold Shimori Yule.

"Mount Aria," Morio added, without much emotion. "It's in my reach." he continued.

"In our reach, Morio!" Daress said, turning to him and stepping back a few.

"What happens afterwards?" he peered at the Clowinger. "Will I see you again?" Morio asked.

"Of course, of course! I wouldn't leave a friend's side! We'll pass through together, and we'll reach Shimori, Lignoria, Malikan, whatever you like!" Daress counted excitedly, beaming. "It's up to you, Morio! Where are we gonna go next?" he asked, inching closer.

"I'm not sure." Morio moved his fingers. "I-I feel like I need a break."

"No we can't stop now, Morio!"

"Afterwards. I just need a minute to think things through." he shook his head. "That's all."

"Hmm." Daress made a neutral expression. "What things?" he asked, quietly.

"I feel I regret something."

"What do you regret, Morio?" Daress asked, as his face looked serious all of a sudden. "Leaving Jyuzou behind?"

"Jyuzou?" Morio asked. "Where is Jyuzou?"

"He went back home like you told him to."

Morio looked back, seeing nothing but the plateaus they crossed, and more of the dark rocks surrounding Morta.

***

After a calm evening, the town of Magna slowly settled down for yet another night. Through a hard day of work, cleaning up debris and helping people with new houses, equipment and financial issues, most Tributals went to sleep quite early. A well-known fact about them was that they often napped in unison, without really thinking twice. They all fell asleep simultaneously as if their brains were somehow connected.

If one Tributal got tired, the other one would yawn too, for whatever reason. This might sound like a drawback, but Tributals stay awake for as long as weeks. You wouldn't be able to tell that they haven't batted an eyelid in quite a while, and they don't get tired from its absence. However, it only brings them benefits, great ones at that.

Some Paladians thought that if a Tributal went to sleep for a whole week, they'd reach a deity-like status, even though everyone denied that this would ever happen, no one tried. A couple of Paladians from Magna once got so obsessed over this idea that they thought the only logical solution was to test it, hitting a Tributal to the head with a flower pot. As you might have guessed, this didn't work, and the Paladians were sent to jail for, conveniently, a week.

Tributals were strange, but some Paladians wanted to top that.

Mentioning that, because of their deep slumber, someone's sudden arrival was met with silence, amidst the knocking on the thick door to the last standing towers in Swania.

Rain poured from above, and no light shone in the sky. A woman looked up, feeling water on her skin, and kept knocking, yet, no one answered. She jumped up on her horse again, angrily clenching her fist and ran towards the bridges, seldom seeing lit lamps that stood on the windowsills.

She moved through Suspio and saw a familiar figure standing near the pane of a hut. She sped up, and leapt off again, knocking like crazy.

"Jeez, Louise!" A voice sounded from inside. "Guess the rain caught you, huh?" it was muffled, yet deep. "Coming, coming. Give me a second!"

The woman's entire body was soaked, her clothes were wet, and her face spoke of fury.

A sword fell over on the inside, clearly indicated by the 'thwung' sound. "Gah. Okay, okay." The door finally opened. "Did no one else let you-" Elton's eyes widened.

"Yo." she raised a hand.

"Anna? Anna-Pom?" he pointed, shocked.

She moved his hand and walked inside, sitting down, without an invitation.

"Ah..." Elton was still taken aback.

Anna took her hood off and threw it to the side, as it landed in the puddle made from all the drips that dropped earlier. "Y-You should've sent a letter that you were coming to visit! My house is all a cluttered mess!" he started running back and forth. "To think back-"

"Warnings don't announce their arrival," she uttered.

"Eh?"

She breathed out. "I thought no one of importance would welcome me. I was ready to wake up Ella if that would be the case, albeit..." she stopped, smelling her hand. "I can't waste too much of anyone's time."

Elton shook his head. "Why did you come here? I thought you said you were too busy training in Lockum."

"I was until I heard screams echoing through Shimori. Figured that's something that would catch anyone's attention." she blinked, putting her hands together. "I stopped everything I was doing and went out searching to find an empty house in its place."

"Seriously? I don't think anyone lived in these parts..." Elton added, and without being asked to, started boiling water on a makeshift stove on the other side of the room. He ran up to the fireplace, lit a small stick and then set the iron in a blue flame. He turned around, breathing in.

"Thought so too. Turns out it was someone I met once." she closed her eyes, pursing her lips. "You know Bancho?"

"Of course, how wouldn't I?" Elton dragged a wooden chair from the side and pulled it towards Anna, putting down two empty cups on the nearby table and pouring some of the herbal tea he brewed. "Well, I still have yet to shake the guy's hand." he poured some for himself. "D-Drink, Anna. You might get sick after that rain. It's your favourite. I know you didn't say anything, but-"

"Bancho's not here?" she raised a brow.

"No," Elton answered.

"I've been to Mistwick, and then, even Wendigo. Not there either." Anna-Pom folded her arms.

"Now that you mention it." Elton looked at his weapons, sharp swords, and many axes, even ones resembling Bancho's weapon, unable to perfect his craft. He made a weird face and brushed through his hair. "I've heard. Everyone is looking for him. I mean... he's known for disappearing and travelling, but usually, someone has heard and passed it over, with rumours spreading, then even reaching one page of the Weekly Magornia."

The Weekly Magornia is a paid newspaper distributed every second day of the week in Midcity. It contains news from the previous week, including information that one may have never heard of. Behind all these articles stood Rhumau Khapo, known as the town's creep, sometimes even seen stalking people to fill the weekly quota. He's been the subject of many discussions, and many people demand his dismissal, yet, Eryk Nuil-Tukman enjoys a light, interesting morning read (of course, read by Lamon), so, to protect Rhumau, he allows him to live in a room in the basement of his castle.

Anna took a sip. "The empty house belonged to Bancho's friend, Lisa Pluton. An elderly lady now, but she was in her forties or so when I first met her." she put her hands down. "A person like her, I guess, didn't have to worry about demons. They weren't as common as they suddenly appear to be nowadays. I have all the right to think that she wasn't killed, however."

"Huh?" Elton scratched his neck.

"Bancho's friend, Bancho goes missing. Tsk." she moved back. "Normal demons wouldn't kidnap an old lady for whatever reason. One rule I've heard outside of Mainland was that fresh blood was the tastiest." she closed her eyes, sniffing a passing smell.

"You mean, like-" Elton stopped, gulping.

"Precisely. I'm talking about Shi Hon, or perhaps whatever his pawns are. They took her hostage so Bancho would come and rescue her." she stood up. "Walking right into their trap, but I doubt they'd be able to defeat him. Still..." she closed her eyes. "Better to blow on cold than be surprised."

Elton covered his face, grinding his teeth.

"You scared?" she asked.

"I mean..." he shook his head. "Shi Hon?"

"Heh, it's a cruel reality, but at least you know it's there," she smirked. "Not a dream, or some foreign concept far from our reach." she put a blanket over herself and looked out the window. "Because it's there, we can reach it. We can strike where it hurts."

"We?" Elton looked up. "I'm not a D-Demonear."

"Maybe not you, but everyone else." she squinted her eyes. "Everyone else willing to save what barely lasts." for a moment there, she saw a sparkle between the drops of water. Anna breathed out. "Hope."

"Hope," Elton repeated. "Hope?" he looked a bit confused.

"As long as we live, humans are bound to stumble upon obstacle, after obstacle. In the darkest of caves, a small light sometimes shines in. That's hope." Anna clenched her fist. "...and whatever knows how dark the world would get if that little glint would die out."

Elton put his hands together, frowning.

"Words of a wise man." she grinned. "I'd never forget them."

The Paladian nodded, putting his hands together.

"Don't tell Ella that I'm in Magna." Anna shut the curtain. "I plan on contacting the royalty, as well as the Tributals who are enough to stand for yet another fight. However, the more time we waste, the more clouds will tower over Mount Aria." Anna sat down on Elton's bed. "I'm not sure if she'll even be awake when we set out. There's no need to worry her in the first place," she added, with a softer voice.

"I think it'd be fairer if you let her know." Elton slowly nodded.

"If this is nothing but a fuss, I'll be going back to the Lockum Mountains to finish my training. My hands are quite tied, and I suspect three to four seasons before I'm back to how I once used to be." she put her clothed weapon down.

Elton sighed, standing up, obviously worried. "I-It's your choice. You can sleep here for the night, the floor's comfy for me." he smiled, awkwardly.

"Thank you, Elton. I wasn't planning on leaving this bed anyway." she slammed her head on the pillow and closed her eyes.

"Man." Elton put on his leather helmet and opened the door, stepping out to the rain and dragging Anna's horse by the ropes attached to its back. "Herbes just started and it won't stop raining," Elton muttered, walking around the hut and to a small roofed pen, leading the horse inside. Rubbing the water off his forehead, he turned towards Mount Aria, which stretched above the headless statue.

***

Jyuzou watched as the clouds that had formed slowly turned back into the unsure grey mess they once were, as warned by Daress.

The moon wasn't visible, but oddly enough, he felt sleepy. He crawled inside the hole, finding a rock he could move and placed the boulder in the front, covering his body. He sank his head into his arms and closed his eyes, drifting off. Eventually, however, his rest was halted by noises coming from the outside. He unsurely watched through a small hole, hoping that what he heard were sounds of perhaps, someone coming to rescue him. Instead, he cluelessly and silently observed as three demons fought for the body of a big centura that almost climbed into his hole.

For an hour, they went for each other's throats, piercing through skin and flesh and ripping off limbs, before one remained. He took the Centura's body, sat on the edge of the cliff and started tearing through, putting his hand into the acid Daress warned of as if it was surprised that it started hurting. Afterwards, the demon met its demise, falling to the ground from the excruciating pain and rolling off the Plateau.

Jyuzou didn't write anything down, even though on other occasions, he'd want the things that occur to him, to be noted and as detailed as possible. He gave up on that thought though.

In the morning, he set out following the paths they trod, and in the direction of the highlands, seeing the Karaia Springs from afar, and passing by the destroyed arena.

The way back home wasn't going to be an easy one.