Maxwell, Aeris, and Matilda stood on the outskirts of the small rabbit town, Tarideaux seeing them off. Maxwell said,
"Well, Terry, looks like this is goodbye."
Tarideaux nodded, and said,
"It appears so."
Aeris said,
"Good luck with that Cockatrice control, buddy!"
Tarideaux grinned, showing his large front teeth. Matilda said,
"Thanks for the tips. They'll be put to good use."
Tarideaux said,
"I wish you all the best of luck on your journey."
Tarideaux turned around, and hopped back to the village, as Maxwell, Aeris, and Matilda turned around, and set off for the Free Warrior's base.
As they walked through Kliffwood, weapons holstered, Maxwell clutching the yellow orb, there was another blur of motion above them. It was below the canopy, but it was moving fast. They looked up, and saw a blur streak through the forest, make a bank turn, make another pass above them, then climb above the trees, out of sight. All the while, it dodged trees and branches like it was no problem. As Maxwell looked in the direction it had flown, he saw the massive building floating above a cluster of clouds. The Free Warrior base! Suddenly, there was a thump from behind them. Maxwell, Aeris, and Matilda snapped around to see a Valkyrie man standing behind them, girded with the same purple armor that Maxwell had seen the other Warriors wear. The backs were taken out of the helmets, so their crests could be clearly seen, and their helmets were kept on tight by a strap across the bottom. Suddenly, all around them, Valkyries fell through the canopy, landing all around the group, surrounding them. One of them talked to the other, saying,
"Well, well! Looks like we've got some Ambros on our turf!"
They laughed. Maxwell said,
"Hey, look, we don't-"
Matilda put her hand on his shoulder, and whispered,
"Let me handle this."
She walked in front of Maxwell, and said loudly,
"Commander Xaadril reporting! Ten-hut!"
Their eyes widened for a moment, then they stood at attention. Maxwell mumbled to Matilda,
"I thought that they didn't use your chain of command."
Matilda shrugged. She said,
"I didn't even think that would work. Maybe my name means something?"
She looked around. There was an assortment of Valkyrian men and women, the women's helmets having backs on them. One of the men winked as her eye passed him, and he turned his head slightly sideways, showing his crest. Matilda said,
"I said Ten-hut, soldier!"
Quickly, he stood at attention again. The man next to him chuckled. They were an unruly group. Matilda said,
"At ease!"
The solders relaxed a bit. One of the women said,
"Commander Xaadril, we have orders to escort you to our base."
Matilda turned to her, and said,
"Alright then, take us there."
The group spread their wings, and Aeris and Matilda followed as they took off. Maxwell looked up from the ground, and said,
"Hey! What about me?"
They looked down at him. One of the men sighed, and said,
"I've got Wingless."
He flew down, grabbed Maxwell by the arms, and took off. With one flap of his wings, him and Maxwell were halfway to the canopy. Another flap, and they were well on their way to the base.
Maxwell was set down on the front balcony, where Matilda and Aeris were waiting. They followed the warriors in through the large open door, and down some hallways. Maxwell saw occasional glances from the others out of the corners of their eyes. Soon, they entered a large open chamber, and the group of warriors parted, and Maxwell, Aeris, and Matilda stepped inside. In the center of the room stood a massive Gilded oak tree, it's golden dust falling slowly to the ground. Maxwell looked around, and in one of the branches, he saw something. And it moved. It turned to face them, and Maxwell heard someone say,
"Did you find them?"
One of the men said,
"Yes, sir. We found them wandering around in Kliffwood. Two of them are Ambros, but one of them's a..."
He turned to Maxwell, and said,
"What are you things even called?"
Maxwell furrowed his brow, and said,
"Humans."
The man turned back to the figure in the tree, and said said slowly,
"Hyoo-min. But there's more."
"What?"
The figure asked.
"One of the Valkyries. It's Matilda Xaadril."
This caught the figure's attention. It spread it's wings, and flew down from the tree, and landed in front of them. It was a Valkyrie woman, dressed in a leather tunic. She had pale blue hair and wings. She said,
"Oh, a Xaadril, huh?"
She walked up to the trio, pointed to Matilda, and said,
"I'd be willing to bet anything that it's you."
Matilda nodded. She said,
"Matilda Xaadril, Platoon 78. And you are?"
The woman straightened up, grinned, and said,
"General Hermia. Free Warriors."
Matilda cocked her head. Then, her eyes widened. She said,
"Hermia?! How did you-"
Hermia grinned even wider. Maxwell asked Matilda,
"You two know each other?"
Matilda nodded, and said,
"When I first went to warrior training."
Hermia, smirking, held out her hand, and said,
"How's it been, Matty?"
Matilda grinned, and shook her hand, saying,
"You have no idea."
As Hermia, Maxwell, Aeris, and Matilda walked through the hallways of the base, talking, Hermia asked,
"So, what brings you to my corner of the Aether?"
Maxwell said,
"Well, we need to get to Vulcaneum, and we had to stop here for lodging."
Hermia nodded. She said,
"Why do you need to go there?"
Aeris said,
"We need Obsidian for a Nether portal."
Hermia cocked an eyebrow. She said,
"The Nether? You do realize that that's almost a death sentence for a Valkyrie, right?"
Matilda said,
"We're gonna have to take our chances. We need to get to the dark side of the Aether."
Hermia looked at Matilda, and said,
"That's Gravitite's domain."
Matilda nodded gravely. Hermia looked at the trio in disbelief, and said,
"You're kidding. You three are going to go defeat Gravitite? Look, I hate Gravitite as much as the next guy, but that's even crazier than the Nether!"
She gestured to Maxwell and Aeris, asking,
"Do you two even know how to fight?"
Maxwell said,
"I trained at the University of Minecraft down on Earth."
Hermia looked to Aeris, saying,
"And you?"
Aeris said,
"I have a specialized set of armor that increases my speed, and I use it to ram enemies."
"Uh huh. And where is it now?"
"Well..."
The group made it out of the hallways, and into a large chamber. Maxwell was met with the sight of about 50 pairs of Warriors sparring with each other, leaping into the air, swords clashing, ducking, rolling, parrying, flying into the air, and landing behind their opponents to strike another blow. Hermia led the trio through the room, and the commotion slowly stopped. Most of them watched as Hermia walked to the other side of the room, and called to one of the Valkyrie men,
"Oberon? Come here."
As the Valkyrie walked up to Maxwell, he rose above him by about four inches.
"Human? Meet today's sparring partner."
Oberon pulled out his sword. Maxwell grinned. This was child's play. He was the best in his class in sword fighting, it was something he prided himself on. He brandished his wooden sword, and Oberon rushed at him. Maxwell blocked, and parried. He swiped his sword, Oberon jumped back, and took advantage of the opportunity. While Maxwell was recovering from the swipe, he leaped forward with the sword, but Maxwell rolled to the side, and brandished his sword as Oberon moved past him. He turned quickly, and Maxwell grinned even wider. The man smirked, and rushed at Maxwell. The two continued to fight for another five minutes, until finally, he lost his balance, fell over, and Maxwell held the tip of the sword in front of Oberon's face. Maxwell holstered his sword again, and held out his hand. Oberon took it, and Maxwell helped him up. Hermia said,
"Not bad. Especially since you don't have wings. Matty, you're up."
Matilda took Maxwell's place, and a Valkyrie woman walked in front of her. They sparred for about one minute before Matilda won out. Hermia grinned, and said,
"Still the polished warrior I remember. Alright kid, your turn."
Aeris walked up to take Matilda's place. She pulled on her sword for a moment, before finally getting it out of her scabbard. She held it out, and a girl about her age walked up to her. Hermia said,
"This is our newest recruit, Titania. She's been here for about two weeks."
Titania smiled, and nodded. She pulled out her sword. Aeris fumbled with her sword, and after a few seconds, she was on the ground, Titania's sword in her face. Titania helped her up, and Aeris looked over to Hermia. Her brow was furrowed. Aeris stood next to Maxwell and Matilda. Hermia pointed to Matilda, saying,
"You're good."
She pointed to Maxwell.
"You're serviceable."
She pointed to Aeris.
"You need some serious training. And you guys won't be leaving until she's improved."
Maxwell held out his hands, and said,
"Woah, woah! How long does that take?!"
Hermia shrugged, and said,
"If all goes well, a few days should sharpen her up."
"You're keeping us here for a few days?!"
Hermia looked at Maxwell, and said,
"I'm not going to make you stay, but something makes me think that you'll choose that for yourself."
Matilda asked,
"What?"
Hermia simply started to walk into the hallway, and said,
"Follow me. I have something you might want."
The trio followed her through the hallway, and finally, they came to a button on the wall. Hermia pushed the button, and a section of the wall slid away. Maxwell understood what was in the secret room before Matilda and Aeris did. Matilda asked,
"Is that..."
Maxwell nodded. He said,
"Aeris? You may want to get ready for training."
Aeris slowly nodded. Because in the secret room behind the wall...
Was Neptune's armor.