As soon as Emerald arrived at Rudick's hollow, she knew where she was going. She had to check on her family.
Of course, that would be difficult. She would want to know if they noticed anything, but only her dad knew that she was a mysticon. If she asked anyone else about the strange fog, they would begin to ask questions.
She arrived at the house and saw her dad, Malachite, working on a cart in the front yard of the house.
"Hi, Dad," Emerald said as soon as Topaz landed.
"Emerald," Malachite said.
They hugged, and Emerald smiled. Even though she knew they became close again, it was nice to be greeted like that by her dad.
"How long are you staying?" Malachite said.
"Not too long," Emerald said. "Are Mom, Halite, or Ferris home?"
"No," Malachite said. "Your mom's running some errands, and Halite and Ferris are at a friend's house. If you want, I can ask them to come home."
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something," Emerald said. "It's about the mysticons."
"What's going on?" Malachite said. "Is everyone O.K.?"
"Yeah," Emerald said. "But last night, we all had the same dream. We think it's connected to us being mysticons."
"Really?" Malachite said.
"It was about this black fog making people sick, and there was a strange masked man laughing while watching it happen," Emerald said. "I was wondering if you've seen anything strange."
Malachite thought for a moment. "Can't say I have."
"That's O.K," Emerald said. She noticed the cart Malachite was working on. "What's that?"
"A specialized cart that can leave the mine on its own once it's filled, making it possible to save the time it takes to move the carts ourselves," Malachite said. "It can be either controlled while someone is inside the cart to help if a miner is injured, or can memorize the path it took and to find its way to the entrance."
"Cool," Emerald said. "It sounds like you have everything."
"Not exactly," Malachite said. "I'd like to have something to protect the minerals to make sure no one steals them."
"I'd love to help, but I really have to figure this out," Emerald said. "Tell Mom and my brothers that I said hi."
"Alright," Malachite said.
Emerald untied Topaz to get her ready to go when she heard screaming coming from nearby houses. Without a second thought, she changed into her mysticon form and ran towards the noise. She froze when she saw what was happening.
The black fog from the dream was in the village. People were scrambling to get into the houses, and many of them were coughing violently. Everyone got into a building before Emerald could do anything, but she saw the black fog rolling towards her, and she knew her dad would be next.
She ran as quickly as she could back to the house. "Get inside! Quick!"
She saw her dad look confused for a second before his eyes widened. "Hurry!"
Emerald ran as quickly as she could to get her and her dad to shelter. She looked behind her, and noticed the fog was catching up.
She fell to the ground, and noticed a tree root sticking up from the ground. She couldn't believe that she tripped over a tree, especially during such an important mission. She looked behind her, and realized that she had no chance of escaping the fog.
"No!" Malachite exclaimed.
Emerald quickly put an energy field around her in an attempt to save her self. She smiled as she saw the fog go around the energy shield, but then realized that her dad was still in danger.
"I'm O.K!" Emerald called. "Just get inside the house!"
Malachite nodded and ran towards the house. She saw Topaz, untied from earlier but waiting for Emerald. "Go!" Emerald said. "I'll be fine!"
Emerald watched with relief as she saw her dad get inside safely and Topaz flying away from the town. She hoped that the griffin would go back to the stronghold, so Arkayna would know that something's happening.
She knew that her energy shield wouldn't last forever, and ran to the house. Luckily, Malachite seemed to read her mind, as he opened the door right as she reached the house. Emerald entered, careful to make sure that her energy shield blocked the door until her dad could close it. As soon as the door was closed, Emerald turned off her shield and went back to her normal form.
"Are you alright?" Malachite asked.
"Yeah," Emerald said. "Thanks for getting the door."
"You should tell the others what happened," Malachite said.
"You're right," Emerald said. She pulled out her phone, but noticed there was no signal. "The fog must be messing with my phone signal."
"Stay here until the fog clears," Malachite said. "I'll look for your mom and brothers."
Emerald shook her head. "I have my energy shield. I can use that to protect me."
"Are you sure it will last long enough?" Malachite asked. "I don't want you trapped out there."
"Don't worry," Emerald said. "I can keep my energy shield up for hours."
Malachite nodded. "You can use my cart to get around town. It should be faster than walking. Be careful."
"Don't worry, Dad," Emerald said. "I will."
With that, she went into her mysticon form, and Malachite opened the door for her as she was leaving. She hoped that she could hold onto her energy shield for long enough, and that her dad believed her.
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Meanwhile, Zarya went to Kitty Boon's ship. Zarya knew that since they travelled around the realm, they may have saw something. Kitty was on the deck, and she waved as Zarya boarded the ship.
"Hi, Z-Star," Kitty said. "What's up?"
"Hopefully nothing," Zarya said. "But have you seen anything strange lately?"
"Yeah," Kitty said, pointing to the ship in front of them. "People from that ship were unloading something, and they were all wearing face masks."
Zarya looked down, and noticed that she was at Rudick's hollow. "I bet Mysticon Knight saw something. I'll call her."
Before she could, she saw black fog coming into the air. "No!" Zarya exclaimed. She tried to call Emerald, but there was no answer.
"I have to go," Zarya said, changing to her mysticon form. Before Kitty could say something, Zarya hopped on Archer and took off. She stopped when she was as close to the town as she could be without being affected by the fog. "I'm coming, Em."
