AN: And here we go. Again, I apologize for somehow forgetting the order of the quests in the last chapter.

Hope everyone enjoys the chapter! :D


Oakfield


"Well Petal, alone again aren't we?" Sparrow asked, walking alongside her dog through the 'streets' of Oakfield.

Her trusted dog barked at the Hero, ambling along beside her. Sparrow grinned at that, as she followed instructions one of the citizens had given her. The Cave was a fair walk away from the Temple, though it wasn't that hard to find really. Walking through shade cast by the many trees of Oakfield, the younger sister had to admit Rose was right about this place. It was very calming to just listen to nature and walk through the trees.

The singing in the background was rather soothing too...wait, singing? Sparrow listened closer, and indeed, she could hear a woman's voice singing in the distance. Following the sound of the voice, the young hero came upon the entrance to the cave. Sitting on a ruined piece of wall by the cave was quite possibly the largest woman she had ever seen. And all of it was muscle, not a hint of fat.

Well, I think I found the Hero of Strength...Sparrow thought, a hint of amusement going through her.

"I knew my beautiful singing voice would draw the crowds," the red-haired woman said, "name's Hannah, though some monks think they're smart and call me 'Hammer'...they're not."

Sparrow snorted, as she nodded at the other woman, "Sparrow. I'm your escort."

Hannah dropped down from her perch, tossing her drink aside. Petal ran up to her, and started sniffing the new woman. Sometimes that dog was really too curious for his own good. Thankfully, the larger woman seemed to have no problems with it. She got on her knees and let Petal lick her face while she petted him. Sparrow smiled slightly...something about her dog seemed to be likeable to just about anyone. Well, anyone but those Hobbes...probably best not to tell her new 'friend' about that...

"Aren't you a good boy! What's his name?" the monk asked.

"Petal," Sparrow replied, "don't laugh at the name...it's a long story."

Hannah grinned, before getting back to her feet and walking over to a jug that was possibly as big as Rose. Shaking her head slightly at how easily the other women lifted such a massive object, Sparrow started walking towards the entrance to the cave. She hesitated slightly at the entrance...that same bad feeling from the Hobbe cave coming back. Shaking her head slightly (why would there be Hobbes in a sacred cave?), Sparrow plunged into the darkness.

Unlike the last cave, this one was much better lit, and seemed to be a more natural formation. The fact there was enough space for both Sparrow and Hannah surprised the young Hero, but then again, it had to be big enough to maneuver that monster of a jug around.

"So, what's the story?" Hannah asked, as the pair walked down a long, winding pathway.

"Eh?" Sparrow asked, looking over her shoulder.

"You said it's a long story about your little friend's name?"

"Oh...that..."

"If you aren't comfortable, you don't have to tell me. Just curious is all."

Sparrow sighed heavily. Turning her head back to walk down the path, she tried to not think about those long years thinking Rose was dead. And tried to convince herself that this was just harmless curiosity on Hannah's part...not anything wrong with it, especially since this far from Bowerstone or the Gypsy camp no one would know about the sisters, or their story. She doubted very seriously that many people this far into Albion even knew Lucien had left.

Knowing that Hannah wanted an answer either way, Sparrow started talking, without turning her head so that the latent Hero behind her wouldn't see how wet her eyes were at talking about those horrible, horrible, years.

"I have an older sister," the Hero began, "she's the only family I've ever known. You see, we were orphans in Bowerstone, never knew our parents...or at least I didn't. My sister said she has some vague memories, but not enough to tell me their names. Anyway, her name is Rose y'see, and she's always been there for me. Until, a horrible day ten years ago. You've heard of Lucien right?"

Hannah nodded, "Yeah, who hasn't? I heard he vanished years ago though, but I thought that was just a rumor?"

Sparrow shuddered as the memories came to the forefront of her mind, her grip on Griever tightening, "I wish they were. Rose and I were poor, Bowerstone isn't a good place to live for orphan children. A trader passed through one day though, with what he claimed was a magic music box. I was all eager to buy it, just because it was magic y'know? Childish curiosity I guess...anyway, Rose and I gathered the money for the bloody thing, and she made a wish on it. Where we lived we could see Castle Fairfax, and Rose wished we could live there...she did it for me, self-sacrificing as always."

As Sparrow continued to talk, a tone of fondness in her voice when she talked about Rose, the pair of women entered into the central chamber of the cave. Hannah interrupted Sparrow to explain the rooms function, before stepping onto a plate and opening a door. Walking through the opened gate, the pair came upon a large, open cavern. Lights called 'wisps', according to Hannah, decorated the ceiling. The lost souls truly were beautiful, proving such a nice backdrop and lighting to the room.

As the pair kept walking on, Sparrow kept talking. It felt...good...to finally get all this off her chest. She had been holding it in for years, and hadn't really told the story to anyone other than Theresa, who whatever else she was, was not a good listener.

"The music box vanished after she made the wish. So it was magic at least, not that it seemed to help us much...a weeks worth of food that gold could have bought in the cheaper stalls, but we wasted it on a worthless, if magical, trinket. But in the middle of the night, we were summoned to Castle Fairfax."

"Your wish came true?" Hannah asked curiously.

Sparrow snorted, "I wish. When we met Lucien, he told us to stand in a circle in his study. A circle of magic came up around us, and freaked Lucien out. He...he..."

Hannah set her jug down as Sparrow started shaking, tears falling to the ground. She may have just met the Hero, but that didn't mean the monk couldn't try comforting her. It was obvious something very bad had happened in that tower, and she was regretting ever asking about it. Sparrow took a deep breath as Hannah patted her on the back, before getting to her feet again, not even remembering falling to her knees. Rubbing her eyes, she gave a grateful, if watery, smile to Hannah.

"Sorry 'bout that...it's...not easy to think about that night."

"You don't have to tell me more y'know," Hannah replied, picking her jug back up and walking in front this time.

Sparrow sighed, "I've gotten this far, might as well finish. Lucien...he was convinced that either Rose or I would eventually grow up to stop whatever it was he was planning. He chose to...prevent that. He shot Rose, and...it looked like she was dead. She wouldn't move, and I couldn't get her to talk. Then he shot me...I still don't know how I survived falling out of that tower..."

Hannah gasped, "That's horrible!"

Sparrow nodded...she still had nightmares, even with Rose back. Electing to let Hannah explain the system of filling the jug before continuing, the two Heroes (or future Heroes as the case may be) stood together on a platform as water filled the jug. Sparrow stared out at the water surrounding the room, watching as drops from the jug sent ripples spreading out. She was so lost in thought that Hannah decided to just stay quiet and let the other woman marshal her thoughts.

That, and she was still in shock. While Sparrow hadn't said how old she and her sister were at the time...she couldn't be older than 18 at the moment. Unless Rose was significantly older, the two couldn't have even been in their teens at the time. The thought of a man, any man, gunning down two little girls just because he thought they might grow up to threaten him (why not be nice and get them on his side?)...it made her grip on her jug tighten. As a Temple of Light monk, Hannah was at least supposed to be a pacifist. Yet, she felt like bashing Lucien's face in for doing something like that to someone who seemed so nice. She couldn't imagine losing a sibling like that...if her father were shot in front of her, the latent Hero of Strength didn't know if she could take it without breaking.

Sparrow's voice broke into the other woman's thoughts, her voice sounding oddly detached, "I did survive though. Petal found me, along with a woman named Theresa, who nursed me back to health. I'm sure you can imagine why I named my little friend Petal now can't you? In honor of Rose...since I was now alone, aside from Petal and I wanted someone at least to remember my sister existed. For ten years, I trained to get revenge on Lucien. Get the man back for taking away the only family I ever had, the only person I ever loved."

Hannah winced, "Ten years?"

"Yes. I spent ten years with the knowledge that my sister was dead, and the man who murdered her was free to do whatever he wanted. It took all my willpower to not go charging into Bowerstone to try and kill him the moment I woke up actually. As it is, I didn't return until just a few days ago. People kept giving me odd looks, though I wasn't sure why. At least, until I got to my old home...and found Rose alive."

Hannah nearly dropped her jug at that, as she looked at Sparrow with wide eyes, "She's alive!"

Sparrow nodded, "Yes. You have no idea how happy I am about that too. Anyway, now you know the story. Told ya it was long."

"You've got that right...I don't know how you got through all that," Hannah replied, as she lifted the full jug, "ugh, this thing is even heavier now."

Sparrow chuckled, and stepped off the platform with the other woman and Petal following behind her. The little group walked back in the 'wisp' room, expecting to just have a long walk back up to the central chamber, nothing else. Of course, in the life of Sparrow, nothing was ever easy. She walked up the ramp, only to look up and see one of the wisps coming down from the ceiling. Tilting her head at it, the Hero watched curiously as the blue light entered the ground.

Of course, that curiosity turned to shock...and a fair amount of fear as a corpse came out the ground. Dressed in old rags, the corpse was little more than a skeleton, holding a pair of rusty blades in its hands. Sparrow backed up, as Hannah shouted out the name of the terrifying creature...a Hollow Man. The corpse ran forward, swinging its blades at the young Hero.

Sparrow ducked the first swing, bringing Griever up to counter the Hollow Man's strikes. The corpse was deceptively strong...likely magic of some sort. Its rusty blades pushed the fiery Griever back, as Sparrow was forced to jump back to avoid another swing. Making another attempt to take the monster down, she turned her sword and brought it down on the Hollow Man's arm. The bone shattered from the blow, as the dusty old clothes that garbed the Hollow Man caught alight thanks to the katana's fire augment.

Sparrow's blade continued on past the broken arm, slicing through the center of the Hollow Man, and bringing the creature down. Sparrow was about to turn around and grin at Hannah...when Petal started growling. Turning back to the path ahead, the Hero's eyes went wide at the sight of even more Hollow Men rising from the ground further up the path.

This could be a problem...


Temple of Light


While Sparrow was fighting for her life in the Cave, Rose was twiddling her thumbs in the Temple of Light. With little to do, the elder Sister was stuck worrying about her little sister, and knowing there was nothing she could do to help her. The Abbot tried to reassure her that nothing was wrong and that the cave was perfectly safe, but it did little to calm Rose down. She was a habitual worrier at the best of times, and with the fact she'd only had Sparrow back for a few days...being separated this long did not help her nerves any.

Damn it...why couldn't they have let me go with her!

Part of Rose was fully ready to march down to the cave, regardless of the Temple's traditions. But the rest of her knew that Sparrow wouldn't want her doing something like that, and thus, Rose stayed in the Temple.

"I know you are worried about your sister," the Abbot was saying, "but it is perfectly safe."

"Then why did you send her down there instead of one of your monks?!" Rose snapped, before apologizing quickly.

The Abbot waved off her apology, "No need to apologize my child. While I am sure it is perfectly safe, I felt better if someone who could fight was with my daughter."

Rose winced as she remembered that...it was the man's daughter down there with her little Sparrow. He probably wasn't anymore happy about the situation than she was. Apologizing once again, Rose got to her feet and left the Temple to get some fresh air. Perhaps that would help her nerves more than just sitting around doing nothing at least. Walking out of the Temple, she nodded at the few monks walking the grounds, before walking down the hill's reverse side, and sitting in the shade of one of the many trees growing on the hill.

Taking out her journal, Rose started to write down the events of the day, from the Hobbe Cave to the worries she had about Sparrow. As she wrote, the tension slowly left the older Hero's body. Sure, she was still worried about Sparrow, but there wasn't anything she could do, and if Rose did need to do something, she needed to be at the top of her game...not a tightly coiled bundle of useless nerves. So, forcing herself to relax, Rose leaned back against the tree and just listened to the sounds of nature around her.

I worry too much...can't help it though. Sparrow is all I have, and I can't lose her again...I don't think I could survive it.

Sighing, Rose looked up at the tree above her. The leaves cast a pleasant shadow, providing shade from the hot weather in Oakfield. While the town was beautiful, it was summer. And Albion was famous for its hot summers as much as its bitterly cold winters. Perhaps she would have been better off siting next to the waterfall. Still, Rose let out another sigh and just let the wind blow her long hair loose, and cool her face down. As worried as she was, at least the town was relaxing.

Or was relaxing at any rate. As Rose started to drift off slightly from the cool breeze, she was suddenly startled fully awake. The sun had started to go down, letting the first stars come to the sky. That wasn't what had drawn her attention however. Rose heard shouting coming from the Temple above her, frantic shouting that sounded scared. The first thought that ran through her head was something happening to Sparrow, and that got Rose to her feet and running up the hill faster than she thought possible.

But she nearly slipped and fell face-first into the wall surrounding the Temple when she heard a distorted male voice, "Where is your daughter? Lord Lucien requests her presence!"

Lucien? Oh no...oh no, no, no...he must know about the other Heroes!

Slowing down, Rose crept the rest of the way up the hill quietly. Looking over the wall, she saw one of the monks running towards the cave, likely to find Sparrow and the Abbot's daughter. Rose was extremely tempted to follow herself, but knew that would just be a waste of time...that man Lucien sent had to still be inside the Temple. Crawling over the wall, the young Hero moved silently up to a window, and looked inside the Temple. The Abbot was being held at gunpoint, calmly staring down a man in an odd uniform. The man, who could only be Lucien's man, was huge. And the gun he was pointing at the Abbot was high-quality.

Leaving behind his fortune in Castle Fairfax or not, Lucien obviously still retained influence if he could get such fine weapons, and such massive men as guards. Ducking down to avoid being seen, Rose tried to think of a plan. She couldn't just charge in the Temple. If she tried, the soldier would probably just shoot the Abbot to prevent Rose rescuing him. And she wasn't confident in her ability to take that big of a man down before he shot her either.

But by the same token, she couldn't leave the Abbot to his fate. While Rose wasn't as self-sacrificing as Sparrow was, she wasn't going to have such a kind man killed on her watch. So she had to find some way to save the Abbot, without getting herself killed in the process.

Think Rose...how can I get in there without getting one of us killed...lightning? No, that's too risky, I might hit the Abbot instead. Rifle? Too confined a space. Sword? That man can probably take a couple hits without flinching. Damn it...is there nothing I can do?

As Rose was trying desperately to think of a workable plan, she was distracted by the sound of someone sprinting up the path to the Temple. Turning her head, the young Hero saw a massive woman running up the path, her red hair flowing behind her head, as a massive hammer was slung over her shoulder. That had to be the Abbot's daughter...the Hero of Strength. That could only mean that Sparrow was close behind...but if Sparrow just charged in the Temple behind the other Hero...that may make Lucien's man kill the Abbot.

And Rose knew very well that her sister wouldn't stop to think, and would just charge in blindly.

"Okay Rose...you can do this..." the older sister muttered to herself, raising herself up to point her rifle through the window.

Lucien's soldier was looking in the other direction, his gun held to the Abbot's head as the man's daughter threatened him with that massive hammer of her's.

"Come with me, or I'll kill 'im," the soldier said, his unnatural voice grating on Rose's ears.

"How about you let my father go before I break you in half?!" the other woman replied, anger in her voice that made Rose flinch.

Hearing the sound of more footsteps, that could only be Sparrow, approaching, Rose looked down the sights of her rifle, aiming directly for the soldier's head. Taking a deep breath, Rose fired. The bullet slammed into the man's head, sending him spinning to the ground...but also discharging his pistol as muscle spasms went through his dying body. The pistol's shell slammed into the Abbot's side, wounding the man and leading to a gasp of fear from his daughter, who had swung her hammer at the guard on reflex...thinking the first shot had been him.

Shaking slightly, Rose lowered her rifle as Sparrow ran up to her. Turning to look at her sister, Rose nearly had a heart attack. Sparrow was covered in cuts and bruises, and was walking with a limp. Petal seemed okay, thank Avo for that, but the younger Hero was hurt pretty badly. Upon spotting Rose though, a weary smile came to Sparrow's face. Walking up to her sister, Rose shakily brought a hand up to brush some bloody hair out of her face.

"Hey Rose...sorry for taking so lon..." Sparrow began, before grunting as Rose latched onto her in a tight hug, crying into her shoulder.

"What happened down there?" Rose got out somehow.

Sparrow patted her sister on the back, wincing slightly at the movement, "It's a long story. Is Hannah okay?"

"Hannah?"

Sparrow pointed at the Temple. Quickly remembering the Abbot being hit, Rose let go of her sister (albeit very reluctantly), and walking by her side into the Temple. The soldier was dead, the bullet and hammer blow leaving his body a bloody mess. Hannah for her part, was crying at her father's side. The tears were of grief...and relief at the same time. For while her father was bleeding and groaning in pain...he was at least alive.

Turning her head to look at the sisters walking into the Temple, Hannah gave them a weak smile before turning back to her father.


The next morning found a group of monks with a bandaged Sparrow and an exhausted Rose standing on a hill overlooking the ocean. Sitting in the ground between the group was the young Golden Oak, being watered by an injured Abbot. The man was weak, but still alive. Hannah stood by his side, looking out at the ocean, seemingly deep in thought. She still held the hammer from the previous day, holding it over her shoulder.

Sparrow and Rose wondered what that meant. Both had heard from Monks about their vow of pacifism, something they could never break and still remain a member of the Order. However...Hannah had broken it. It didn't matter that Lucien's soldier was already dead from Rose's bullet...the fact was, she had swung that hammer with the express purpose of killing the guard in revenge for shooting her father. That was likely what Hannah was thinking about...how she could go on, now that she couldn't possibly stay with the Order.

A flash of light brought attention away from the Oak however, though by that point it was just the Heroes and Abbot still on the hill. Appearing in the blue light was Theresa, who ignored everyone else in favor of walking up to Hannah.

"Hello Sister Hannah," the old Seer said.

"Who're you?" Hannah asked, not even turning her head from the Spire in the distance.

"I am Theresa, and I have come to ask for your help in stopping Lucien."

Sparrow and Rose shared a look at that. With everything that had been happening, neither of the two had been able to inform Hannah of what she was. So the woman didn't know she was the latent Hero of Strength, her unusual abilities aside. Thus, Hannah turned around, a look of confusion on her face.

"Why would you need my help? I'm just a useless monk, who can't even keep her vow," the redhead said bitterly.

"Hannah...I told you, you did what you had to," her father said, wearily getting to his feet and putting a hand on his daughter's shoulder.

That got a small smile out of the large woman, before she turned back to Theresa...expecting an answer to her question.

"You are the Hero of Strength," Theresa replied easily, before explaining Lucien's plan.

At the end of the explanation, Hannah turned out to the Spire again. Now that she knew what the structure was, it suddenly looked a lot less impressive, and a lot more foreboding. And it was where Lucien was. Hannah hadn't had a reason to hate Lucien before, just to pity him for losing his wife and daughter. Now? Well, she had many reasons to hate the man. He had tried to kill her new friend and her sister. He had sent someone who tried to kill her father. Could she stay behind, and risk her father and Oakfield again?

And could the latent Hero of Strength justify not fighting anymore? Her vow may say she shouldn't fight. And she had always stuck to that, no matter how much it bugged her. But now...now, she needed to fight. Lucien had to be stopped, before he hurt even more people. Who knew how many had already died, trying to put the Spire together? And Lucien would stop at nothing to get the Heroes he wanted.

So turning back to Theresa, Hannah nodded her head once, "I'll help. I'm sorry father."

The Abbot sighed softly, "I understand Hannah. Please be careful."

"Take my hand Sister Hannah, and I shall explain your role further," Theresa said, sticking her hand out.

Hannah looked down at the hand, before saying, "Call me Hammer."

The two women vanished, leaving just Sparrow and Rose on the hill with the weary Abbot.


AN: There we go. Let me know what you think!