Chapter 4

The snow glistened like they were stars falling from the sky; the waves grew rough, as if trying to stop the ship from reaching its destination. Soon mountains appeared in the distance, covered with the white powder. The temperature was below freezing yet Mint stood at the ship's bow, watching the land grow closer. She prayed to Martel that the Vorpal Sword would be here. She wanted to go back to Aselia as soon as possible; something about being in Auldrant scared her.

A flurry whipped across the deck of the ship. With Mint's white healer's gown, she appeared almost invisible in the storm. She crossed her arms and hurried inside, if she stayed out any longer she would risk becoming ill.

Their group huddled around a heater inside the cabins; Mint pulled up a seat and joined them.

"It's a little cold to be going outside, don't you think?" Chester asked.

"I-I wanted to find out if I could see Keterburg yet." Mint answered, chattering from the sudden change in temperature.

"Well? Is it visible yet?" Claus questioned.

"The coastline was coming into view; a snowstorm had whipped up before I could see Keterburg."

"Once we get there, we're going to find a nice warm inn to stay at. It's absolutely freezing in here!" Cress complained.

"And it better have hot water!" Arche added. "I'm going to take a long warm bath when we get there!"

"Attention, now approaching Keterburg Bay. All passengers prepare to disembark." The loudspeaker announced.

The snow covering Keterburg lit up like crystals; lights shone and were reflected by the powder. People hurried by in brightly covered coats; even in the city it was too cold to be outside. Claus pointed out that standing in the center of the town was the famous Keterburg Hotel, complete with a restaurant, shops, and a spa. Sitting underneath the hotel was the casino, where Claus planned to spend his time before their search tomorrow. Mint, Suzu, and Chester went shopping for supplies while Cress and Arche relaxed in their hotel room.

"Hey Cress, can we just ditch the sword? It's so warm in here, I don't want to leave." Arche called from the bathroom.

Cress relaxed on one of the beds, "If you want to stay here in Auldrant that's fine with me, but if you want to get back to Aselia we'll need the sword."

Arche groaned, "Don't put it like that; I don't want to stay here. The people here look at me strangely, like they've never seen a half-elf before."

"Elves and half-elves don't exist here, remember? They only have humans." Cress reminded her.

"Well they're missing out then; we half-elves are the best!" Cress heard water splash out of the tub.

Cress just laughed; Arche was so full of herself sometimes.

"Let's see if we have everything: twenty Pineapple, Lemon, and Miracle Gels, twenty Panacea and Life Bottles, food to make sandwiches while we're out, anything else we need?" Chester read over a list him and the two girls made.

"That sounds like everything." Suzu said.

"Good, then we should be fully prepared to find the sword. Let's just hope that it's there…"

"If it isn't then we'll just have to look for another lead, that's all." Suzu answered. "I'm sure it's there though, it just seems logical."

A Malkuth solder rushed past them on the street to a lady further away from them. She wore a white coat and was holding a stack of papers in her arms. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a bun. She propped up her glasses when she saw the solder.

"Governor Osborne!" The solder saluted.

"Yes? What is it?" She asked.

"The expedition is coming back tonight." He reported.

"Was anything found?"

"I don't know, Governor. We'll have to wait until they return to Keterburg."

She sighed, "Alright then, you're dismissed."

The solder saluted once more then left.

"An expedition? Did they go to Mt. Roneal?" Chester wondered.

"We don't have enough information to know that. We should still go on our expedition tomorrow." Suzu said.

Cress beamed as he, Mint and Chester stood in the middle of Toltus. Finally, it was rebuilt. All that was now needed to do was restart his father's swordsmanship school.

Chester wiped his brow, "Finally, it's done."

Mint closed her eyes. "Are you proud of me, Mother?" She whispered.

Cress looked to the sky, "I did it, Father and Mother. With the help of my friends I defeated Dhaos and rebuilt Toltus. I saw the future; this new town was named Miguel. This is my honor to you, Father."

Someone clapped behind them. "Well done. You three should be proud, or should you?"

They turned around to find Dhaos behind them.

"You ruined my chance to save Derris-Kharlan; I'll ruin your chance for a peaceful future." Dhaos chanted a magic incantation and the three were flung into a dark hole.

Cress found that darkness surrounded him. He tried calling out for Mint and Chester but there was no answer. A light appeared and before him was the Eternal Sword. He ran towards it but no matter how much he ran, he never got any closer to the sword. Determined to grab it, he lunged at the sword, grasping it in his hands.

As soon as Cress got the sword, it shattered into its two separate components.

"Damn you Dhaos!" Cress yelled.

He collapsed onto his knees, drained of all energy.

"Cress…" He heard Mint's faint voice calling him. "Cress, get up."

"Mint…" He responded.

"Get up, Cress, get up." Her voice slowly grew louder.

Mint stood by the side of the bed Cress was sleeping in. "Get up Cress." She whispered, nudging him.

After a few more tries Cress shot straight up. It took him a few minutes before he realized where he was.

He rubbed his head, "Ugh, I had a terrible nightmare."

Mint shushed him, "Be quiet and come with me."

She led him outside and onto the dark snow covered streets of Keterburg.

"What are we doing out here?" Cress asked.

Mint shrugged, "I thought just the two of us could go for a walk."

Cress smiled and took Mint's hand. "Ok then."

Mint blushed and pulled her hand back. "Let's not hold hands right now."

They walked up into the park behind the hotel. Everything glistened with the snow. It really was a winter wonderland.

"The untouched snow is beautiful; don't you think so, Cress?" Mint asked.

"Yea, it's like everything is covered with thousands of little crystals."

Mint smiled, "You know, this reminds me of that time in Arlee, the night before we went off to Dhaos' castle. I had asked you to come outside of the inn with me then."

Cress nodded, "I remember."

Mint took Cress by the hands, "Even though we're stuck in a foreign world, with you it feels like I'm still in Aselia. Probably because of our first adventure; we were never separated. Cress, I…" She cut off, a group of Malkuth solders appeared in the north entrance to the city. One of them carried a shining indigo sword.

"The Vorpal Sword!" Cress let go of Mint and rushed towards the solder with the sword.

Before he could even comprehend what had happened, Cress took a battle stance before the solders.

"Where did you find this sword?!" He questioned.

"On Mt. Roneal." One of them answered. "Now give it back, that sword is property of the Malkuth military!"

Cress scoffed, "This is the Vorpal Sword! It, along with Flamberge belongs to me!"

"Take it from him!" Around ten solders rushed at Cress.

"Chaos Blade!" A wave of blue energy emitted from the sword and covered the solders, knocking them all out.

"Erg, he's strong. Where's the Colonel?"

Cress smirked, "Give it up! I'm leaving with my sword!"

"O darkened storm cloud, loose thy blade and run mine enemies through! Thunder Blade!" Cress fell to the ground as a bolt of lightning struck him, shocking even the ground he stood on.

"Cress!" Mint screamed.

Cress tried to stand but paralysis stuck him. He watched as a man walked out from behind the other solders. He must've been with the military; his uniform was similar to the others. He kneeled in front of where Cress was slumped over.

"Well, well. What do we have here? A thief perhaps?" The man tilted his glasses down to get a better look at Cress' face. His eyes were blood red, he smirked, and he seemed used assessing his victims.

"How can I be a thief?" Cress struggled to speak. "This was my sword to begin with."

"Oh, so you're connected to the recent upsets?"

"What do you mean?"

"Around two weeks ago, the sky darkened during midday. It caused quite a stir. The only light to be seen were two beams; one blue, the other red. One beam touched down here at Mt. Roneal."

"And the other?" Cress asked.

"That is confidential. You've already came after this sword, I would presume that if you knew where the other was, you'd chase after that one too, am I correct?"

"I-I need these swords to get home."

"Ah, so you do admit that you are connected to the recent events?"

"Yes." Cress confessed.

The man stood up. "Take this boy into custody." He commanded.

"W-Where am I going?" Cress muttered as he was lifted by two solders.

The man propped his glasses back up. "The Grand Chokmah Penitentiary." He looked over and noticed Mint watching.

She saw that she was spotted and ran. Cress was already captured; she had to get back to the others to tell them what happened.

"Colonel Curtiss, should we pursue her?" A solder asked.

"Leave her. We have the boy. I'll get all the information I need out of him."

Mint rushed into the group's hotel room. The noise woke everyone up.

Arche rubbed her eyes, "What's with all the noise; it's not even morning yet."

"It's Cress!" Mint panicked. "He's been taken away by the Malkuth military!"

"What?!" Chester exclaimed.

"Cress and I were taking a walk when a group of Malkuth solders came in from the north entrance. One of them was carrying the Vorpal Sword. Without a second thought, Cress rushed towards them. He was able to get the sword, but their commander struck him with a powerful Thunder Blade." Mint explained. "Cress became paralyzed and they took him away."

"Did you hear where they were taking him?" Claus asked.

"Yes, to the penitentiary in Grand Chokmah. I'd assume that the Vorpal Sword is headed there as well."

"And so are we. We leave for Grand Chokmah first thing in the morning. Now, let's all get some sleep."

Mint sighed. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep; she'd stay up all night thinking about Cress, praying that he would be alright.


Arche here again! MintxCress anyone? Anyways, so Cress has been taken into custody by the Malkuth military and it's up to us to save him! Team Phantasia go! It's all that stupid colonel's fault in the first place. If him and his troops would've just left the Vorpal Sword alone, tomorrow we could've found it and been on our merry way to finding Flamberge. Oh well, every story needs a plot twist I guess... Speaking of stories, here's Seiyru with the author's notes!

*Wow this chapter came out fast! Last night I started typing in the evening and once I noticed what time it was, it was already midnight! So, today I finished it and let me tell you, this was my favorite to write so far just with the plot twist and Jade entering. And thank you Yue Asuka for reviewing! If you can review please do! I want to know how you feel about the story and if you have any ideas for it! The entire plot isn't set in stone yet! Don't forget, you can follow me TheEpicMichelle on Twitter for story updates also!*