Hey! Hi here! Long time no see, huh? Sorry hehe. I didn't think my time could go by so fast TwT. My habit of always putting off until the next day is awful. Since May you have been waiting jsjsjs. That's why I made a 4,000 word chapter as if to make up for 2 chapters.

Good reading !

"Macy? Why do you look like that?" Aaron asked confused when he saw her. They were all gathered happily in the central room. "And where is Clay?" When he asked this question, Macy bit her lip with more sadness.

"He's probably off eating something." Said Axl as he had his fruit tray in his hand. "He needs strength with his powers."

"Or he's gone for training!" Said Lance with a smile and a wink.

"Guys, get serious." Aaron said as he could see Macy's expression very clearly. "I don't think Clay went and did one of his things, did he?" He looked at the princess, who simply shook her head with her head down.

By now, all eyes were on her. Even Ava had taken her eyes off the screen, and Robin had stopped drinking his soda through a straw. Lance and Axl fell silent as the atmosphere grew slightly heavier.

"What's going on, Macy?" Merlok asked, worried mostly about his nephew. Since he was in a situation where his magic was awake, he couldn't imagine the best. Especially when he wasn't well because of his mother's nightmares.

"C-Clay..." She began before bursting into tears, and falling to her knees, putting her hands over her face. "H-He...!"

"Macy!" Aaron ran to her, followed by others. "What's going on?! What happened?!" Aaron grabbed her by the shoulders. "Hey! Look at us! Calm down!" He told her as the girl looked desperate and kept dropping tears.

"Clay...!" Everyone looked at her wanting to know the rest. "Clay has been kidnapped!" She said as this caused everyone to gasp. Could they have had a heart attack over this news?! Yes!

"Huh?! How?!" Lance asked, as if panicked. "We just saw him a few minutes ago after the sand dragon was defeated!"

"After you all got home, and I was waiting for Clay..." Macy had a fucked up look on her face. "I saw him like sensing a presence further up the hill. I think he had sensed his mother. So I followed him because I was imagining the worst...And I did." She clenched her fists with a grimace of emotional pain. "The person who sent us that dragon...Wasn't Ruina, or even Monstrox." This drew the attention of the others. "It was another person, one who seems to possess powers as strong as any we know of with Clay." She herself didn't know if the amount of magic was equal or greater. "And she's on Ruina's side." She sighed, "I don't know how she got to his side, but the most important thing is to find Clay!" She looked at the others with a serious face and some tears.

The others looked at each other, taking the situation extremely seriously too, since it was their friend who had been kidnapped. Besides being the best knight, he was also the best magician. So if something bad happened to him...Knighton could well lose a big advantage to his protection.

ON THE OTHER HAND

Ruina set her son down on a bed as they stood in the forest, in a house made by request by the witch to her ally.

"So, what are your plans now?" Asked the green-eyed girl with a small smile, leaning with her arms crossed on the front of the bed. "I know I'm going to do well with this young boy, but what about you? Are you still planning to make your master and your monsters stronger?"

"Of course." The mother nodded. "I hope that's not a problem for you." She looked at her with her hands on her hips, as if to say she didn't want any opposing answers.

The girl closed her eyes keeping her good humor, "Of course not. I'll be happy to bring up your son. I assume the plan is to feed him, protect him and train him in magic?"

"Basically, that's it."

"You're in luck. He looks to me like someone with powerful magic. Which means he's not weak, and I like that kind of person." She stared at the young knight asleep under the sheets.

Ruina crossed her arms. "Of course he's not weak, like his mother." She rolled her eyes, telling herself that was obvious. "You will give him this." She said, pointing to a vial. "I've already given him some, but this will allow the effect to work longer-" She didn't have time to finish as she felt the vial struggle to get out of her grip.

"I get it. I'm not that stupid, you know?" Her accomplice smiled as she had just received the vial in her hand. She had just controlled the object with her magic to avoid physical contact. "I appreciate your efforts in giving me this explanation." She continued in her polite manner. "But I can handle it just fine on my own. You should already be on your way with your master. That's a tip, since those knights look like you went to a lot of trouble to conquer such a small kingdom." Ruina raised an eyebrow at the mention of 'such a small kingdom'. She thought her kingdom was already big enough. Aren't the others about the same size? "Anyway." She put the vial in her pocket. "Make sure you come back unscathed."

"Don't underestimate us." Ruina said as she rolled her eyes and looked at her sleeping son. She smiled a little unconsciously probably, and stroked his hair a little with a mother's delicacy. Perhaps it was her maternal instinct speaking... "Protect him from possible threats. That's your biggest mission."

The girl smiled, "Stop talking to waste time. The boy needs quiet."

The witch sighed and separated herself from her son, walking towards the exit of the room. "Don't do anything foolish. Most of the monsters I've known are either stupid, or weak."

"I'm neither, just your luck."

Monstrox's accomplice nodded, as she saw the happy girl. She then walked out to join her master, trusting this young person who seemed aware of the situation. When she had made contact with her, her accomplice did not seem to disagree with her in any way. She agreed directly when she spoke of her son, to look after him. Of course, it would seem that she was not looking to be a nanny but rather to learn more about her son, but as long as she did not betray them or jeopardise their plan, she agreed.

When the girl saw that Ruina had left, she turned her gaze to the young boy and smiled a little. "Well, well... You're kind of a prodigy to be able to be so talented in your kingdom...Though with me, magic will come easier to you." She said as the wooden shutters of the house closed directly. This was to let the child sleep more peacefully. Sleeping in the light is not a good idea.

Then she got up and thought about what to do.

FROM THE KNIGHTS

"What do you think of the person's level? What are his intentions?" Aaron asked, as all the knights were in training sessions. "It's weird that she joined Ruina. Does this girl have an interest in wanting to help Monstrox?"

"I don't know about that, Aaron." Macy sighed. She remembered that smile as she watched them disappear. She looked down, thoughtful. "I don't think her goal is to conquer Knighton like Monstrox and Ruina. But I still don't know if her true intentions are good. She may be hiding it very well."

"Maybe she's helping Ruina and Monstrox so she can have food for a lifetime." Said Axl as if it was the best idea and guess. "I would understand her."

"I don't think so, no..." Aaron scratched his head a little, with a not-so-convinced face. "If she has powers, I don't think she needs allies to afford that luxury..."

"Maybe because the king's castle has entire rooms of massage and luxurious chairs." Lance offered with a sparkling smile. "She would have the perfect life, pampered by maids."

"Hm..." Aaron shook his head, even less convinced.

Macy sighed, putting her hands on her hips, "Be serious. Her purpose has nothing to do with a comfortable living. When I saw her, she looked very well and healthy to me. I don't think these little needs will change her life."

"Maybe it has something to do with magic." Aaron offered, as everyone looked at him. "Whether it's Monstrox or Ruina or Clay, they're all holders of magic. And she herself has mastered magic and sorcery. Don't you think that's fishy and weird? Why would she agree to be with such special people? Surely she must have her own plan in mind. That doesn't sound like a good fairy."

"Aaron is right." The princess said as she closed her eyes. "Her powers are immense. Maybe...That by being around them, she wants to know if she can learn more or...I'm not sure."

"If she's that powerful, it'll probably take a lot of help to help us defeat her." Said the green knight. "I could call Jestro."

"Jestro? What? You want to call that good-for-nothing?" Lance asked in dismay. "He can't even act like a jester or present the weather when those are the easiest things. Maybe the best thing he knows how to do is to pass the tea towel on the floor." The white knight crossed his arms. "It's no use calling him. Even my darling would do better, wouldn't Hamletta?" He asked as the pig was seated against the wall, watching them.

"Oink-oink! (Groin-Groin!)"

"She agrees!" Lance said with a proud face. "That idiot should be punished instead!"

Aaron and Macy looked at him with jaded faces, and almost despair at the thought of their colleague. As for Axl, all he did was eat.

"We're not going to punish anyone, Lance." Said Macy with a touch of annoyance.

"What a shame-" Lance started to complain again but a voice interrupted him as it echoed around the room.

"Knights, I need you here." Said Ava as she looked at her screen, with Robin beside her. "This is urgent. We might have a lead on finding Clay." When she finished saying that, Macy's face changed as if she'd just picked up a drop of hope.

"We're coming!" She shouted as she walked out of the room first. The other three knights looked at each other and followed her.

"What's going on, Ava? Did you find something?" Macy asked as she came up beside the girl.

"Yes. There's an area where the magic radar doesn't go. We suspect it's because of too much magic. There is a minimum and maximum power level for our radar to work. In this forest here." She pointed to a spot on the screen that was dark green. "Go take a look, but be careful."

"Okay!" They all said at the same time.

"Let's find Clay!" Said Macy in a determined tone.

ON CLAY'S SIDE

After a few hours, the young boy woke up in the same bed where he had spent the last few hours. He wasn't sure what was going on. He didn't remember much. One reason being that he needed time to recover his memories and for his memory to come back. When you wake up, it takes time to remember what you did the day before.

But even so, his memory no longer held the information from before. Without him knowing it, he no longer saw knights, nor Nexo Knights. He saw himself with a woman, whom he assumed to be his mother. And another magician...Merlok. He saw him turning his mother into stone, while he was hidden behind a tree. He saw himself with her all the time. He only knew his mother.

He heard footsteps, coming closer and closer to where he was. He didn't know who it was, but he sensed it wasn't his usual mother figure.

He heard a sigh, "Looks like my shield will have to stay up, even here..."

Clay raised an eyebrow when he heard this. He didn't understand. Thanks to a spell, he'd been turned into a 5-6 year old. And the potion was meant to change his memory and make him join the side of Monstrox. Information he did not know, of course.

The door opened, and he saw a young woman, perhaps in her teens or early twenties. She had nothing. No shield as he heard her say, or weapon. It made him confused, and still wary.

"Nice to see you, little prince." She said in a serene tone as she approached him.

He saw that she was wearing simple but dark clothes. Dark green and black. Her trousers were black and went to her knees while the ends were folded up. She was also wearing what appeared to be a t-shirt with sleeves that went up to her elbows, also folded. A dark green scarf, while she had a belt that he assumed was dark grey. Why did everything look so dark? Was it a coincidence? She had low black boots and no accessories. Her eyes were light green.

"Who are you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "And why are you here?"

"Hm...I'm sure you're very curious." She said as she crouched down by the bed, watching the wary boy in the bed as he sat down. "But to tell you the truth, I am with you too." She gave a small smile as she held out her hand to him. She had no gloves. "What do you say? Why don't you let me take care of you? Your mother asked me to after all."

"Huh? My mother has you-?"

"Yes." The girl nodded. "My mission is to train you." She no longer spoke in a polite manner, but rather sought to gain the boy's trust. Being on familiar terms with him was a way of talking to him in a close manner. "But for that, I need your trust." She told him gently.

The former knight looked at her warily for a moment, but then reached out his smaller hand to touch his host's. "Okay... But I need mum to confirm." He said as he quickly withdrew his hand and crossed his arms, turning his head away from looking at her and closing his eyes.

"Oh... Suspicious youngster." She perked up with amusement. "Well, so be it. Would you like to eat? I already baked an apple pie with hot chocolate." She said lying as she created the pie and everything with her magic, and had put one of the vials in the food.

Clay looked directly at her, hearing what was in store for him. His belly seemed to be filled with joy, and he showed it with the innocent and joyful face of a child. He rose from the bed and accompanied the girl to the living room.

"Good manners would be to eat at the table, in the dining room." She said as she brought the meal to a small coffee table in the living room. "It's with your mother you'll do that but...For your luck, I'm not your mother." She said with a kind of enthusiasm that encouraged Clay to let down any guard and distrust of her.

The young boy nodded with a smile and began to eat, under the girl's watchful and once again serious eye.

FROM THE KNIGHTS' SIDE

"Guys! Can you find anything?!" Lance asked. "Because I can't find anything at all!" He said as he complained that it was a false trail. Axl was with him.

"We're finding some good rabbits to cook, but nothing more." Said Axl with a shrug.

"We don't find anything either. And no trace of an enemy either." Aaron was also confused, because usually there's always something. Of course, he knew it was just Ava's guess, but still... No trace of malice anywhere.

"There must be something..." Said Macy, looking around. "If the radars are bellowing this much...-"

"AAAAHHH!!!" Axl and Lance shouted at the same time, as their screams had just nearly deafened Macy and Aaron.

"What's going on?!" Aaron shouted into the earpiece. "Hey! Answer!" Signal cut off. "Macy!"

"I got it!" The princess nodded, as they both climbed into their vehicles.

"Ava! Give me Lance and Axl's last location!" The green knight shouted in a voice that was in a hurry.

"Turn left, and 58° North."

The two knights followed this trail with their GPS of sorts. When they arrived, after passing through the thick forest, their mouths were agape.

"What is this?!" Aaron and Macy shouted at the same time as they saw a second huge dragon. But this time there was no sand...it was made of vines!

"Help!!!" Lance shouted as he was shaken. "I have an incredible but unbearable urge to vomit...!" He said in disgust as he was trapped by the green dragon's tail.

"The one in charge must have anticipated our arrival." Said Aaron. "Or she's here too..." He looked around but there was nothing. And the landscape was quite overcast.

"The most important thing is to get Lance and Axl, and get out of here fast!" Said Macy as she ran towards the creature with her mace.

"Wow!" Aaron laughed. "I love your plan!" He went straight for the dragon on his flying shield. The creeper dragon looked towards Aaron and opened its mouth wide, as if to eat him alive. The green knight was not afraid, and charged forward as if to be swallowed.

"Aaron!"

"I'll meet you there, Axl!" The knight said with a laugh, as he was inside the beast. As he had expected, there was nothing. It was like an empty shell. The walls were thick as it was made from vegetation. But they couldn't be digested or anything. And when the dragon opened its mouth, he knew they couldn't run out of air. Not long after he slid inside with his shield against his belly, he saw the end with a certain knight using his axe to get out. "I found you!" He said with joy and excitement. "Can I give you a hand?" He asked as he had his crossbow in hand.

Axl nodded, "Let's go out fast to eat! I don't have a spare on me!"

Aaron laughed, "As you say, buddy!"

The two began to destroy the vines with their weapons.

While on Lance and Macy's side...

"Move it, princess! This disgusting thing is messing up my hair!" He had forgotten all about his stomachache...

"Lance, stop grumbling!" She had the dragon moving to attack it, while she had to deal with freeing Lance at the same time.

"That thing will see when I'm out of here!" He tried to move, but to no avail. "Nobody touches my hair-!"

"Merlok! We need a nexo power!" Said Macy as she dodged an attack from the dragon. 

"We're close enough. It's okay, anytime, Mr. Wizard!" Said Ava, as the Fortrex moved closer and closer to where they were.

"Get ready for the nexo scan!"

Aaron and Axl heard and smiled as they raised their shields. Macy raised her shield as well, while Lance was still stuck and couldn't make a move.

"Nexo power!" Merlok shouted, hologram of the Fortrex. "Hurricane of flame!"

Every knight, except Lance, received the nexo power.

Macy ran towards the dragon, and when it tried to attack her with its tail, she cut it in half to free Lance. "Ouff! Thanks, princess!"

"Shut up! We have to finish this creature off!" She didn't like it when people called her 'princess'...

Lance smiled mockingly, and the two saw the dragon that seemed to be breaking from the inside. He opened his mouth, as if there was a kettle inside him and he wanted to cool down. But it was no use, except that it exploded, turning into hundreds or even thousands of pieces of vines. Macy and Lance saw Aaron and Axl safe and sound, even happy.

"Too easy!" Aaron said happily as he went to slap his hand into Axl's. But that joy of having something reciprocated was dashed when the knight ignored him to go get his food from his vehicle. After about ten minutes, he was hungry! "Hey! Thanks for the wind...!" Aaron pouted like a child.

Macy sighed, reassured that everyone was safe, but serious because they hadn't found anything but that dragon. She looked towards what was left, and seemed to think. "We could keep looking to see if there's anything in this forest, but I feel like it's some kind of trap... Or bait to lure us where we don't belong..."

"We're going to the Fortrex to talk it over with Merlok." Said Aaron as he walked over to her.

"Yeah...I guess there's not much more we can do..." Macy sighed again, as they all headed back to the Fortrex, as if to have a reunion about what had just happened.

CLAY'S SIDE

He had just finished eating, and had a full belly. "You cook very well." He remarked to his nanny. "Even if there seems to be something missing..."

The girl raised an eyebrow but didn't pay much attention to this remark. "I'll probably do better next time. You tell me what you want to eat, and I'll give it to you-" She stopped talking as she felt a wave of energy come over her. Although as far as Clay was concerned, he hadn't felt anything at all and was still looking for what was missing. The nanny looked towards the window, towards the direction she felt the wave of power. Only she could feel because it was her creation that had just been destroyed... . "So they are at this forest..." She closed her eyes and smiled a little. "This better work. At least it distracts those knights for a while..." She opened her eyes to look at the young boy. "Ruina better thank me for camouflaging them and creating false leads." She said with a small smile as she levitated the empty dishes to the sink. "Clay, is that right? Would you like me to teach you some spells?" She asked as her attention was turned back to the young wizard and sorcerer.

Moorington nodded, somewhat eagerly but also afraid to learn spells. He wanted to, but he didn't know how dangerous it was. "What are you going to teach me?" He fell silent when he saw the girl crouch in front of him and hold out her hand with her palm up.

"Basic spells..." She whispered, staring at him intently. "The elements that make up our land..." She said as she conjured up a flame. "Whether it's fire, water, earth or air, I will teach you." Of course, the mastery of energy...She kept her secret to herself. "You own a great deal of energy, but...it must be controlled so that your magic is not wasted." She closed her hand to make the flame disappear. "Let me guide you, son of Ruina. You will become the most powerful wizard in your world." She smiled a little.

The little boy nodded very slightly, not sure he had such a bold goal. But if his mother wanted him to... "But tell me...what is your name?"

The girl smiled, "Just call me 'Y' if you want to call me by a name so badly." Even Ruina doesn't know her name, she thought. "But it doesn't matter that much." She walked towards the exit of the house. "Are you coming? We're going for a walk." She said amiably, thinking rather to train him with the elements since there was a river nearby.

The brown haired boy nodded and ran towards her to follow her.