(September 21st, 2017)

Zack

"Aww, man!" Alex complained. "We still have five hours until we reach your farm?!"

"Unfortunately, yes," I replied as we exited the shop and restocked our camping supplies.

We've spent the last day driving from one location to another, killing monsters and claiming bounties on our drive to the Anderson farmhouse, the place where I was raised throughout my entire life. Knowing that it is our destination brought me indescribable joy as fond memories of my years living there rushed my mind. I felt enthusiastic about meeting my old friends and checking on them to see how they're going by their days after the attack.

"Don't worry. You'll spend the entire drive reading, right?" I asked as we walked to the trunk of Justin's car while carrying the groceries and other items.

"But, dude! It's for five whole hours! And that's if we did not even stop anywhere!" Alex stated.

"Zack, can you drive there?" Mia politely asked.

"Huh?" I replied, confused by her request, as she did not care about the driver of the car before.

"I want to sit by Justin while we go there. He is still doing his number 1 nearby, and I haven't told him, but I really can't have enough of him today."

"Oh, yeah? I wouldn't blame you after he bought you an expensive gift for your birthday, saved you from death, gave you some of his blood, and on top of all that, he was the only one to remember your birthday that even you forgot," I explained.

"Way to rub it in, Zack," Alex said as he placed his stuff in the trunk. "I'm sorry I forgot, okay? I am not that good with dates when I'm not in school, okay?"

"I-It's okay, Alex. Really! I don't care about my birthday that much."

"Oh, you don't? I think I remember you spending the entire day with Justin every year," Alex stated. "That's pretty obvious since you kept asking me about special places you can take Justin every year."

"Well, I consider it more of a 'Meeting Justin Anniversary' than anything," Mia stated.

"I still can't believe that you and Justin are so close. He was the first human who showed any form of kindness towards you, helped you find your place in life, and stuck by you throughout everything from when you were seven?" I asked.

"Yeah... He even gave me my name..." She added.

"About that. Why haven't you told anyone about your real name?" Alex asked as he leaned on the car door.

"Because I don't consider it to be my name," She stated, "I was named by creatures that despised me, tortured me, and abused me. My current name was given to me by someone who loves me, cares for me, and... You see?" Mia crossed her arms and looked away, clearly hurt by the question. Her sadness immediately went away at the sight of Justin, who returned to the car.

"Zack, I made the call," Justin spoke while staring at me with a serious expression.

"Alright then," I replied while expressing the same seriousness.

"What call?" Mia asked while staring at us both. I fell silent and waited for Justin to explain to the other two.

"I called Ethan and told him that we will no longer update him on anything. From now on, I want everyone's phones to remain on airplane mode, no use of wifi without the proper royal VPN, and I don't want any of you to contact anyone from back home. We're on our own now."

"But why?" Mia asked with a shocked and somber expression drawn on her face.

"We've been fighting imperial dropships left and right for a while. It's no surprise that they're tracking us somehow. I asked Alex to check the car and our items for any tracking devices and found nothing, Zack scanned our surroundings for any imperial scouts and found nothing. The only logical explanation is that they're tracking our calls. I'm sorry, Mia. I know you want to contact everyone at home and check on them, but we have to stay covert and move without being noticed."

Mia's expression worsened as she looked at the ground and silently nodded. I instantly felt the melancholy within her and understood her feelings as I understood quite well how it feels not to contact your loved ones. I approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder, saying: "Hey, when we reach my place, you can use our wifi and anonymously talk to whoever you want, okay?"

She nodded and watched as Justin walked to the driver seat. Her sad expression did not change by my suggestion. Alex looked at his friend, full of worry and empathy as he wanted to contact his parents, but was unable to. I stopped Justin from getting in the car by tapping his shoulder and said: "Hey, dude. Why don't you let me drive and go sit with your girl, alright?" Justin looked at me and nodded with a smile, grabbing a perplexed Mia and opening the rear passenger door for her to sit before sitting next to her, directly behind me. I sat in the driver seat and started the engine before looking at Mia through the rear-view mirror and seeing her expression return to a cheerful one while sitting next to her loved one.

"To the Anderson household, here we go!" I exclaimed before driving.

As I drove our car towards my childhood home, I glanced at Alex to see him wearing his headphones and reading the book about his golden arm while learning how to dematerialize it and return to his original look and rematerialize it at will without removing it. He turned to Justin and said: "Hey, Justin! Look at this!" conjured the gauntlet in his left hand, similar to how one would conjure a weapon, and wore it in his left hand, triggering his transformation to the cyborg crusader.

"So you can dematerialize it, now?" Justin asked, impressed by his friend's ability.

"Yeah! Now I don't have to worry about hiding my identity all the time. But I can't summon it on me just yet. I have to summon it and then put it on," Alex replied.

"Oh, that's nice!" Mia exclaimed.

"Impressive," I stated as I drove.

With one hour left, I glanced at the group to see that both Alex and Justin were asleep, while Mia was taking selfies and reviewing the photos on her professional camera. She leaned in closer to me and asked me for the time to which I stated: "10 AM." She sat back down and began admiring the scenery around the road and the beauty of nature while taking photos and smiling at the good ones while deleting ones she did not like. I turned on the weather forecast to see that it will be clear throughout the day. Soon enough, the area around me began to feel very familiar, filling me with a sense of nostalgia as we got closer to our destination. I glanced at the boys and saw that they were both waking up. Mia kissed her boyfriend on the cheek and watched as he woke up.

"Someone's happy," Alex stated when he took a gander at me.

"I fondly remember this place," I stated, pointing to the area around us. I got even more excited when we entered the city where my high school is located, New Horsepeaks.

"We're here?" Justin asked.

"Yes!" I replied with enthusiasm, making Mia giggle. However, my spirit did not last long as I noticed that the city was unusually empty, with no one to be found anywhere.

"Zack, stop the car near that store!" Mia shouted, prompting me to park the car immediately and exit the vehicle along with the group. She began to sniff the air around her while cautiously walking to the store. We followed her closely while readying our weapons for any attack. However, Mia told us to lower our weapons as there is no one on the premises.

"I don't smell anyone," She stated, "However, I smell blood... spilled blood."

We went inside the store to find that the cashier was on the ground, dead, and his organs popping out of his body. Alex jumped out of his skin at the sight of the murder that occurred and took a few steps back while readying his assault rifle. Justin stared at the body with horror as Mia approached it casually and began to smell it and lick the blood of the body and the counter.

"Could you not disrespect the dead?" I asked of her.

"I'm trying to find a difference in the blood. This was obviously a struggle," She said, pointing at the shotgun on the ground. "AHA!"

"What?" I asked.

"There is the blood of... werewolves?!" She exclaimed as she jumped backward in shock of her discovery.

"Here?!" I asked. "Daylight is striking everything outside! How could they transform?!"

"Here's a fact I think you should know," She stated. "Some werewolves don't need the moon to transform into their werewolf bodies. This crime took place very recently and judging by the city's emptiness, there's probably a ton of them."

"But how can these many werewolves attack the city at once?" Justin asked.

"They were probably citizens living here," Mia replied while continuing to taste the blood and analyze the situation while I looked around the crime scene for any other clues to the whereabouts of any enemies and was shocked by the discovery of a giant wolf claw mark on a nearby wall.

"You're right, Mia. Werewolves." I pointed at the marks as Justin and Mia approached me.

"GUYS!" Alex shouted as he shot a werewolf in the head, killing it instantly.

We rushed outside the store to see a body on the other side of the street with a bullet wound to the head. "That guy was running towards that direction," Alex said, pointing towards my high school.

"Oh, no!" I exclaimed as the four of us got in the car, and drove towards the high school, parked our car directly outside, and kicked the front doors. With a bunch of werewolves in our sights, Mia unleashed her bow and fired dozens of arrows in quick succession nearly as fast as a machine gun and killing a few of them before Alex sprayed the rest with his assault rifle. We rushed inside the high school, killing many monsters and attempting to find any students. Mia led the way in our search for survivors using her sense of smell that can distinguish humans from werewolves.

I watched in horror as one of the monsters was clawing and biting at a class door. I immediately conjured my sword and stabbed it in the throat before slicing it. I tried opening the door, only to find that it was blocked from the other side by large objects. "Justin!" I called and watched him kick the door open to find a bunch of frightened students and teachers.

"Any others?" I asked.

"There are m-many students and teachers left, but we don't know where they are!" A teacher exclaimed. I nodded and exited the room to continue our search.

While ending the miserable life of one werewolf, I was caught off guard by the sound of screaming coming from inside a nearby classroom, I rushed in that direction and found that the door was open and that two werewolves had already made it inside. I jumped inside and threw my polearm at one, making the other turn around and charge at me. I conjured my shield and propelled him upwards before conjuring my polearm once again and stabbing him with it. Then, I stabbed him in the head.

"Ryder?" A student said my name.

"Put some barricades back up! Hurry!" I shouted.

"The gym!" She shouted. "Lots of people are holed up there!"

I nodded and rushed to the gym alongside the other crusaders, killing, and rescuing students along the way. We found the most significant number of werewolves all trying to bust open a door that leads to the gym. Justin conjured his crossbow and fired at them, killing them with beautiful precision. I watched as Alex punched the door with his bionic arm, opening it with ease before unloading his assault rifle on the werewolves that already made it inside the gym, cornering the massive amounts of people trapped inside.

The ones that remained charged at us with murderous intent, but were no match to the might of my sword and shield, Justin's daggers, Mia's scythe, and Alex's assault rifle, dying immediately. As I killed the werewolves, I heard my name being cheered by the people in the room. It gave me a burst of enthusiasm and energy, making me kill enemies faster. Once we finished the remaining werewolves, we went to check on the survivors.

"Anyone injured?" I asked.

"Zack?" The voice of Jessie striking my ears. I looked around to see her running towards me, wrapping her arms around me and embracing me in a hug. "You're back!"

The room began to slowly empty as Mia informed them not to gather around in one place as one large group. The survivors took to empty classrooms to find refuge, leaving the gym for the four of us along with Jessie and Trevor.

"Dude!" Trevor exclaimed, rushing towards me. "You're here?! I can't believe it!"

"I just had to come by! How are you two?" I asked.

"Surviving, as you see," Jessie stated. "These werewolves attacked yesterday. I can't believe there are so many of them!"

"They somehow managed to cut off all signals from our phones and the power along with it, leaving us stranded and unable to call for help. The police had to fend off a lot of them, but there are so many!" Trevor explained. "Jessi and I managed to gather people in here alongside the help of some hunters and officers, but the town's already taken over."

"If you hadn't shown up in time..." Jessie trailed off.

"Hey, calm down. It's gonna be okay. My friends and I are here to help," I stated.

"Name's Justin," He said as he walked and introduced himself.

"I'm Mia! Nice to meet you!" She stated cheerfully.

Alex, who dematerialized the mask covering his mouth, said: "Hi, I'm Alex."

"Trevor, you know Alex from the RPG days," I stated.

"Wait, you're the guy who led us through those three high-level dungeons?" Trevor asked, approaching the cyborg and shaking his hand. Jessie shook Mia and Justin's hands before they switched to where Trevor properly introduced himself to the god and the demon while Jessie greeted the cyborg.

"Jessie, Trevor, these are my friends from the capital," I stated. "Mia, Alex, Justin, these are my childhood friends."

"Such strength! Such skill! Such kill count! You four are truly amazing!" Trevor exclaimed with passion.

"We need to get to Rob's place. You two are coming?" I asked.

"Most certainly!" Jessie answered and followed us along with Trevor to the exit where we parked our car. Astonished by it, the survivor duo walked towards the car and began to examine it closely.

"Is this yours?!" Trevor asked.

"No, it's Justin's. I'm the one currently driving it, though."

"Well, I'm gonna go get my dad's pickup truck. It's nearby. Jess, are you coming?" Trevor asked before he and Jessie ran to get the truck. The four of us got inside the car and followed them towards their vehicle and watched as they drove ahead of us to Robert's farm, which was ten minutes away.

"Your friends seem very nice," Mia stated.

"Thanks! They're good people, more importantly. I grew up with these two, much like how you three grew up."

"I think I like Trevor already!" Alex stated.

"You'll like him more once you get to know him," I replied.

"I can see why you're friends with them," Justin said.

When we finally arrived, we spotted that the area was completely devoid of life. Mia exited with Justin and Jessi and began sniffing the area for werewolves while the rest of us searched the area on our own. Suddenly, I heard the voice of Jess scream: "ZACK!" I booked it as fast as I could with the other two to her direction, where we found them fighting werewolves.

"They already made it inside!" Justin shouted. "Search the house!"

With my heart racing and the anxiety building up, I ran to the house and searched every room for Rob and Amanda Anderson, finding neither of them. I shouted as high as I could and ran outside, screaming their name, but no response was given back. Justin and the rest arrived, having finished off the group of werewolves that were approaching the house. The six of us ran towards the fields where the sounds of howling and roaring were heard. As we ran, we spotted multiple werewolves running on all fours towards the barn and others heading in our direction. I helped the others fend off the incoming enemies by throwing my tornado grenades at them and attacking the ones in the distance with my sniper rifle, keeping them out of the barn. However, before we arrived, some werewolves already made it inside minutes before we arrived, evident by the signs of claws, bodies, and blood all over the walls. I kicked the door open and aimed with my rifle at the head of a werewolf that was standing over an injured Robert, shooting it dead.

Justin entered and aimed his crossbow, killing two others. Trevor threw a spear at one, striking it in the chest. Jessie finished it off with a couple of bullets to the head with her enchanted UMP. I sighed a breath of relief as the barn was emptied of all manner of evil monsters. Mia confirmed that the barn and the area around it were cleared of all enemies, making the area safe for the meantime.

"Zack?" Robert called, who was injured and on the ground. I rushed to his side and helped him sit. His injuries were not very severe but were numerous. I took out a magic potion out of my pouch and gave it to him, healing some of his less severe injuries and helping him stand on his feet. Suddenly, I felt arms wrap themselves around me. I turned around to see a crying Amanda embracing me in a hug.

"Aunt Amanda..." I trailed off. "You guys are safe!"

"Zack! You returned!" She cried. "You went to the capital and the empire attacked! I was so scared when you didn't call or answer your phone!"

"I owe you one, Zack," Robert said as I took him and walked him outside the barn with the others.

"Oh, shut up, old man. You owe me nothing," I replied while walking him to the house.

I sat him down on his couch and helped him relax and stretch his legs. He winced in pain at the slightest movement but pushed on regardless of his injuries. Amanda came back from the kitchen with first aid supplies and began tending to his wounds while I watched. I felt the anger boiling my blood as it was the first time I ever saw Robert injured like that in my entire life. He did not look happy to have me watch his injured self struggle in front of me either, but my anger surpassed his sorrow. I could not bear to watch him suffer, so I walked to the kitchen to see Mia and Jessie preparing coffee for all of us.

"Jess, you know this place better than anyone. Do you recognize some of the faces on those bodies?" I asked, making her stare at the kitchen table silently, confirming my question without a word spoken.

"Y-Yes," She said after a solid fifteen seconds of pure silence. "I do."

"So that's how they attacked this city. They didn't need to put too much effort into it because they were all citizens of this stupid city!" I yelled, slamming my fist onto the table.

"W-What if a spell made them turn? O-Or a curse?" Jess suggested, but Mia quickly answered her.

"Werewolves don't instantaneously get cursed and morph. It's a long process that could not have happened so quickly with a simple spell or curse. Also, most spells that make werewolves usually abide by the moonlight rule. These werewolves were fully-functional and dangerous." Mia explained. "Moreover, if a curse were to turn these large amounts of people into werewolves, then they could not retain their intelligence easily and would rabidly terrorize the town. These monsters were fully articulated, composed, intelligent, and coordinated. If anything, they became werewolves a long time ago, but lived in society and waited for the right time to strike. But there's always an exception to most rules when it comes to magic. These people could have been turned into werewolves on the spot while retaining their full intelligence, but I doubt such a large number of them would all retain their intelligence."

"B-But I knew some of these people! They were very nice and wonderful!" Jess wrapped her arms around me and rested her head on my chest, wetting my jacket with her tears. "Why would they do such a thing?!"

"They were not the people you thought them to be or something made them change. Not all werewolves are evil, after all," Mia stated. "But that does not excuse their actions. They must be stopped, Zack."

"I know. We will put an end to this," I stated. The coffee soon finished and the girls brought it to the rest of us who were all sitting in the living room.

Robert looked at the four crusaders, admiring us and smiling at the heroes who were foretold to be the ones to save the world. "So you are the prophecied four," He stated. Jess and Trevor were not near to hear the conversation. "The man with the golden arm, the winged lady, the sword-wielding warrior, and the god of dragons himself."

"Here we are," I said while resting my back against a wall. "Ta-da."

"Cheer up a little bit, Zack," Robert replied. "I know the situation is dire, but you cannot continue beating yourself over it."

"Alright, old man." I sipped some of my coffee and tried to relax.

"So, where has your adventure taken you?" Jessie asked Mia after returning from the kitchen, who began to tell our journey to her.

"This place is so nice, Ms. Anderson," Justin stated.

"Why, thank you, Justin!" Aunt Amanda complimented. "It's nice of you to say that."

"Tell me, Trevor. How do you like this bionic arm?" Alex asked the man who entered after checking the premises.

The voices of everyone speaking in the room fainted as I got lost in my thoughts and the delicious coffee Mia made. Finally being back at my old home brings back so many good memories. Wherever I looked, my mind kept flashing back to a time where I was a child, tending to the fields and training with Robert. Remembering these moments brought me so much joy that I shrugged off the thoughts of the werewolves for a bit and enjoyed the moment.

"Zack?" Robert called. "Why don't you come and sit here?" He tapped the empty seat next to him on the couch. I nodded and sat next to him.

"How was your time in the capital?" Robert asked.

"It was nice. Sadly, though, it got cut short," I replied, taking a sip of my rink after that.

"Any nice girls?" He tapped my shoulder with his own, teasing me about the ladies.

"Oh, no ladies. But I did meet Emma. That girl who graduated last year and left after one date," I informed.

"Oh? And how is she doing?" Rob asked.

"She's fine. She got a job at the hunter's guild as a booth lady. She signs in people and stuff like that," I explained to Rob, who immediately realized that I did not enter the hunter's guild headquarters just to meet her.

"You know what? I won't get mad at you for signing up. You're mature enough for it, anyway,"

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "Finally, you get it!"

"Well, he can't do anything about it anymore," Trevor stated. "You're the prince, after all."

The happiness in the air vanished like a candle being blown out. The expressions of joy on our crusading faces disappeared instantaneously. Alex even choked on his own drink while Mia gasped loud enough for everyone to hear. I stared at my shaking hands as the memories of my dying father rushed my mind. A perplexed Robert looked at me, holding my shoulder in his hand. "What's wrong?" He asked, oblivious to the truth and unaware of my new title.

"Justin?" Jessie asked the blond boy that sat on a couch next to me.

"H-He... Let's just say that... Zack is no longer a prince," Justin stated, not wanting to say the truth outright.

"Wait? What does that mean? He's the son of his majesty, the king. How can't he be a prince?" Trevor asked. "What's going on?"

"H-He's... Zack was coronated a few days ago. The king is sitting right in front of you... " Mia revealed to the rest. Amanda was so shocked that she dropped her coffee mug.

"No... No, no, no! This cannot be true. Zack, tell me this isn't true," Robert desperately pleaded for me to deny that fact, but to no avail. I got off the chair and stormed out of the house with Justin following me. His old friend died and we couldn't do anything about it.

"Zack, wait!" Justin shouted. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know!" I shouted back.

"Then let me go with you," Justin suggested, much to my surprise.

"O-Okay."

Justin and I walked towards the barn, passing by the dead bodies of the monstrous werewolves that lay on the ground. I opened the barn door and stepped inside. I told Justin to wait while I walked towards a wall and flipped a switch, revealing a trapdoor that led down towards a secret room under the barn. Justin looked at the entrance with perplexion evident in his eyes. I walked down the stairs and watched as he followed me down immediately. I flipped the lightswitch inside to reveal a vast room filled with training equipment and a forge for making weapons. The place was kept clean and tidy despite me not entering it for weeks. The last time I ever set foot inside this room of escapism was when I prepared to crash the ascension festival. Justin examined the room in the wonder of its beauty and its contents. He observed the training weapons, dummies, and gym that were all inside of the room, being separated from the forge by a glass wall and door that I placed there to prevent any smoke or other hazardous materials from affecting the people and me inside, not that anyone ever entered this place.

"Hey, do you want to wrestle in that ring over there?" Justin asked while pointing at the wrestling ring near the far corner of the room. Seeing it brought back fond memories of the time where I wrestled Robert, earning my fair share of victories and getting my ass handed to me equally as much. The best memory of this place was when my father visited on my fifteenth birthday, and I challenged him to a wrestling match. I won that match despite him being a combat veteran and a pretty formidable opponent. It was the first time I showed my old man any form of respect as he accepted my challenge and did not hold back. Allowing me to properly fight him despite being mad at him for the circumstances of my life.

"Justin, I realized something. I should have thanked the old man for sending me away to live and grow up under Rob's care. Otherwise, I would not have met these wonderful people or became the person I am now," I stated.

"You're right. He worked so hard to give you, me, Mia, Ethan, Alex, and others the best life they could wish for despite knowing that he did not have much time left," Justin answered me. "The day that I met Alex, Mia was on her lonesome at her home. Your... Our father approached her in secret and gave her food while encouraging her to stay with me. I did not know that until we moved to the condo where we lived for a few years."

I took off my shirts and grabbed a pair of workout shorts from the locker inside the gym, throwing it to Justin while grabbing one for myself. We took off our tops and wore the shorts, readying ourselves to wrestle and take our minds off of the melancholic memories that plagued us. I got inside of the ring and watched as Justin, who was already in it, shirtless and his muscles, which were more defined than mine, popping out amazingly. He cracked his knuckles and watched me as I cracked my neck and stretched my hands, readying myself for a fight of a lifetime.

"Why don't we ditch the wrestling and fight how we please?" Justin suggested. "I don't know a lot about wrestling except for the moves I see in some videos online."

"Alright. I know you specialize in fighting with martial arts and weapons, so I'll accept your suggestion. However, so we don't accidentally chop our heads off, I suggest that we fight without using any powers at all. No additional strength, speed, or anything else. We'll fight like human beings in their peak physical condition, and that's it, alright?" I explained.

"Oh, of course. I wouldn't want to trash this nice place while we're at it. But I cannot promise not getting too excited and throwing fast punches, okay?" Justin stated.

"Alright, then. I'll use some of my abilities while you use some of yours. I will accept some enhancing of strength and speed, but no magical trickery, okay? I will not tolerate spells that slow me down or punch me one hundred times or whatever. Only strength, speed, durability, and fighting prowess. Nothing else," I explained.

"Alright then, your majesty," Justin replied. "Have at you!"