"Alright everyone, listen up!" declared Fret, edgily pacing the stage in the castle's Grand Hall. "The old kook got to the Chronicle before we did, and rubbed our face in it. That smug bastard told us that's the last Chronicle he needs to complete the ritual, and when he uses it to bring in the 12th world the One King will descend. I think that pretty much tells you what we're up against."

King Diulf growled. "We need to attack Cynas now, before the chancellor can complete the ritual!"

"We need to make sure we're ready," replied Liu. "Once we head out, there's no turning back until it's all over."

"How much time do you think we have?" asked Chrodechild.

Sophia spoke up. "It takes the chancellor some time between obtaining a Chronicle and being able to fuse a world. He had the desert world Chronicle for quite some time, but Rarohenga only recently appeared."

"And it was awhile between the appearance of the Marsinah Plains and the desert world," added Liu.

"And between Flesaria Forest and the Marsinah Plains before that," remarked Fret. "Well, that tells us all we need to know! We've got some time before Valfred can get the 12th world, but we need to tie up all loose ends and get ready to go to Cynas. We will stop him before he brings the One King here!" The crowd of Starbearers erupted in cheers.

After the room mostly dispersed, Jale came over and slapped Fret on the shoulder. "Inspirational," he said, smirking at his friend. "So, what now?"

"Fret!" exclaimed Moana, running up to them. "We have an urgent request to help the Scribes. Monsters from Rarohenga have been spotted in the Noslaw Woods heading towards their Woodland Village."

"Wh-what?" asked Liu incredulously. "Fret, we have to go help them!"

Fret scowled. "Why are you looking at me like you think you have to convince me?"

"I… sorry…"

"There's your answer, Jale. Go with Liu and Len-Lien on a mission to deal with those monsters. Up to you guys who else you take, though I'd recommend someone strong with a blade. And I know you don't want to hear this Jale, but I think you should take Eunice instead of Erin. The beasts we fought in Rarohenga liked to use magic attacks that inflicted us with various negative effects." Marica nodded in agreement.

Jale nodded in reply. "I understand. We'll take Eunice then, and maybe Meruvis or Yula."

"Sounds good, head out as soon as you can. We'll delay the siege on Cynas until you're back."

"Let me know once the traveling party is finalized, so I can keep track of it," replied Moana. "And Fret, Zenoa also requested that you come see her as soon as possible. She wouldn't say why, but it sounded important." He rolled his eyes in response. The bald witch was always playing mind games with him.

"Come on," said Marica, tugging on his arm. "I'll go with you."

"Fret! Good timing that you've come," declared Zenoa upon seeing the Cherem Company leader descending the stairs to the castle basement. Marica sighed under her breath, though she couldn't say she was surprised that the witch hadn't bothered acknowledging her.

Fret and Marica immediately noticed that Zenoa already had company. With her were Diadora, Diulf, and Ordovic. Fret frowned slightly as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "I take it I'm late to whatever you guys are discussing?"

If Zenoa noticed the annoyance in his voice, she didn't acknowledge it. "We were discussing a strategy of defeating the One King. In each of our original worlds there was a theory that the 108 stars could be united in a single attack to defeat the One King."

"Yes," agreed Diulf. "Each of us heard similar rumors in our worlds. If the same theory existed in many different worlds, it cannot simply be a coincidence."

"Yeah, my friend Atrie said he heard the same thing in his world," replied Fret noncommittally. "So what are you getting at?"

"Are you daft?" asked Zenoa, irritated in general and not just the moment with the young Tenkai Star of this world. "It may very well be the only way to defeat the One King." Gesturing to the others, she continued, "None of the worlds these are from were able to attempt it before they were defeated by the One King."

"So admittedly we do not know for sure," added Diadora.

"But I am convinced there is merit to it, since the theory is so prevalent," stated Zenoa firmly. "But you need to decide whether or not to do it. You will not be able to wait and see how the battle goes, if even one Starbearer falls against the One King you won't be able to complete the unite attack, your opportunity will be lost."

Fret pondered it briefly. "I'm not going to deal with this right now," he replied.

"You are the Tenkai Star!" Zenoa scolded. "It is your responsibility to make the decision, not run from it."

"I am not going to make a decision right now about something I intend to prevent from happening in the first place!" he shouted, glaring at the ebony witch icily. "One thing at a time! We take out Valfred before he completes the ritual and stop the One King from even coming here to begin with!"

Diadora smiled warmly. "That's the Fret I like."

"Yes," agreed Ordovic. "A good leader does not concede a battle before it is fought or plan to lose."

Zenoa sighed, exasperated. "Fret is such an easy one to agree with," she muttered.

Fret and Marica went back upstairs, heading towards the tavern. He was still visibly on edge, but Marica felt like she needed to talk to him anyway. "Hey," she said, "You know you've got to at least consider the possibility that if it comes down to it you might have to unite all the stars to defeat the One King."

Fret shook his head. "Why is everyone so eager to sacrifice themselves? I'm not even convinced we can't beat him straight up."

"It's not that we're eager to sacrifice ourselves, Fret. It's just that we don't know of any other world that has won against the One King, and uniting all of us might be the only way." They'd entered the crowded tavern by this time, and Fret was getting even more irritable as his eyes scanned the room for an open table.

"Think about what you're asking me to do, Marica!" he blurted out loudly in anger. "Unite all the Starbearers in a single attack against the One King? Even if we do win, where does that leave everyone? Dead!!" he shouted. All conversation in the tavern stopped as everyone stared at the arguing couple.

"I'm not asking you to sacrifice all of us!" Marica shouted back defiantly. "I'm asking you to stop being so damn stubborn and at least consider the possibility that it might be our only option to win!"

"I can't! I can't let you all do that for me, even to defeat the One King!"

"This war isn't about you!" she reminded him angrily. "We wouldn't be sacrificing ourselves for you, we would be doing it to save the entire world!"

His expression went from infuriation to sullen, and she knew her words connected. As the last of the anger drained from his flushed face, he threw up his hands in exasperation. "I need to go get some air," he said, sighing and striding back out of the tavern. Marica let him go, knowing he needed some time to think.

Fret didn't have a conscious plan for where he was going, but his feet took him outside to the courtyard with the castle's gateway portal. He was lost in thought until a voice jarred him from his walking daze.

"Fret!" the voice shouted.

"Atrie!" exclaimed Fret in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see you again. We're getting ready to go fight the main bad guy in our world, so I probably won't get to see you again for awhile."

"Yeah, same here. We're going to stamp out this old kook who's trying to complete a ritual to bring the One King here."

"Wow, we've got the exact same thing going on in our world. I wonder how many other worlds are fighting the same battle simultaneously?"

"Dunno. Wonder if the other Marica is? I haven't seen her in a long time…" He trailed off and got lost in thought again.

"Uhhh… you okay, Fret?"

"Huh? What do ya mean?"

"You seem a bit… distracted," Atrie explained.

Fret shook his head, sighing. "Sorry, getting pressured from some people here about uniting all the Starbearers in an attack against the One King. My opinion hasn't changed since you first mentioned it to me, but it's wearing me out."

Atrie nodded sympathetically. "If it helps any, I took your advice. I'm not going to think about it. If we prevent the One King from descending, it doesn't matter anyway."

"Thanks, Atrie."

"Well, I'd better go. Good luck with your bad guy too," said Atrie, smiling before turning around and strolling back towards the gateway.

Just before stepping into the gateway, Atrie had a thought and turned back around. "Fret?"

Fret had only taken a few steps. He glanced back around. "Yeah?"

"Remember that older guy I told you about, the one I used to come to visit at this castle, who wore the armor you've got on?"

"Sure…"

"He told me once that he and his wife had a son, but that there had been some kind of weird accident with a gateway portal that caused the baby to get warped to another world."

"Wh-what?!" asked Fret. "Did they ever find him?!"

Atrie shook his head. "He said they looked for him for close to 10 years before giving up. I… I suppose their son would be about my age right now, about 16."

Fret stared at the ground in front of him, speechless. Atrie didn't know what to make of Fret's reaction, so he simply wished him well again and returned to his world through the gateway.

Fret stared at the gateway, still flabbergasted. Hotupa and Diadora had witnessed the exchange, but only Hotupa had a suspicion of what it meant. He started to walk towards Fret, who quickly waved him off and spun on his heels, staggering back indoors under the weight of the revelation.

"Fret?" a female voice called out from next to him, though it sounded distant in his head as he struggled to focus. "Fret, what's wrong? Talk to me!" An older male voice joined in, trying to get his attention.

"I… I…" began Fret, mumbling something about a baby gateway in sky blue armor. He shook his head, as if the physical act would somehow clear his head of the stupor he was in.

"You're not making sense, Fret. What happened?" He latched on to the voice, recognizing it was Erin. "Where am I?" he asked himself. He heard the older man's voice again. "Logan… I must be in the tavern… why am I here? Did the gateway take me here?" His thoughts were a jumble. He tried to speak, his mouth moved but nothing came out, or so he thought.

He was only vaguely aware of being lifted up and carried, though it wasn't enough to yank him from his reverie. Some time later he became aware of being laid on a bed, and of several voices around him. A sharp female voice ordering everyone to leave. Another female voice demanding to stay. The first voice relenting, but only for the other female voice. A light shining in his eyes. His mouth pried open and closed. A loud clap right in front of his face that jarred his senses. A male voice laughing as Fret blinked in surprise. Dr. Zahra.

"Wh-what? What's g-going on?" asked Fret.

"You tell us," replied the doctor flatly. "Nothing appears wrong with you, but you were in quite the daze."

Marica waited impatiently, desperately wanting to talk to her husband but knowing she needed to let Zahra work. Or else Eunice might make her wait outside after all.

"Atrie. My father. Baby. 16. Accident. Gateway. Sky blue armor. Lost. Gave up," he rattled off in a rapid fire staccato, the words there but order and context were missing. No one knew what he was talking about.

"Whoa there, chief," replied Zahra with his trademark laugh. "Wanna try that again?"

"Doctor, perhaps it would be best if we let him rest for now? He doesn't seem to be in any danger, maybe a good nap will clear his head."

Zahra rubbed his chin with his hand. "Fair enough, and it's not like we don't have the bed to spare." He waved his hand and walked back over to his lab bench.

Eunice turned towards Marica. "You are welcome to stay with him, just please don't push him too much to talk right now. It appears to me that he had a kind of stress reaction that caused his mind to lapse into a trance. But he needs rest right now, not an interrogation."

Marica gulped, nodding. She lay on the bed with Fret, who had already closed his eyes. She laid her head on his chest, listening to the steady heart beat and feeling the gentle rising and falling in concert with his breathing. She knew he was falling asleep, and so she closed her own eyes and held him tight, silently asking for forgiveness for pushing him on the One King issue.

As was typical, Fret's body awoke before his brain did. By the time his mind gained traction on reality, he had already become somewhat aware of low voices in the room with him. That immediately struck him as odd, and as he blinked his eyes to gain focus, he realized that it must be dark outside because the room was dimly lit only by lantern. Rolling his head to the side towards the voices, he saw a bed next to him that Marica and Erin sat cross-legged on, facing each other. He didn't immediately recognize where he was, only that it wasn't his room. And wherever he was, he didn't know how or why he got here. The girls didn't notice him turn his head, but when he turned to prop himself up on his side they both jumped.

"Fret!" exclaimed Marica in a hoarse whisper.

"Mmm… hey guys," he replied sleepily. "Guess you'll fill me in on what's going on?"

"Uhhh… to be honest, we're kinda hoping for the same thing from you," Marica said softly.

"I'll let you guys talk," Erin said, starting to stand up to leave.

Marica grabbed her by the arm, shaking her head. "No, Erin, it's okay. Stay with us." Erin nodded, smiling. She hadn't really wanted to leave anyway, she was just doing it to be polite.

Fret glanced around the room. "So I've at least figured out I'm in the med clinic. What happened to me this time?"

"You were completely out of it, babbling about baby gateways and giving up on lost sky blue armor and such."

"And the number 16, that seemed to matter for some reason," added Erin.

The thoughts came flooding back into Fret's consciousness. His eyes went distant, and the girls knew he was gone again. "Fret?!" they both worriedly asked in unison.

As quickly as he was gone he was back again. "Huh? Oh, s-sorry… I-I'm okay. Well, not okay, but I'm okay… I think."

Marica jumped off the bed and knelt down next to him. "Hey…" she said softly. "Slow down… tell us what's wrong."

Fret took a deep breath and exhaled. "This is tough… bear with me…"

The girls nodded. Marica moved up on to the bed beside him, while Erin came over and sat on the other edge of the bed. Fret explained what Atrie had told him, choking up a couple of times during the telling.

"Wow…" breathed Marica at the end. "So Atrie just dropped that on you and left?"

"Yeah…" he sighed.

"Doesn't that seem kind of rude of him?" asked Erin.

Fret shook his head. "I'd never told him my background. I mean, he knows I can't travel to other worlds through the gateways, but I never told him that Hotupa said it meant I wasn't originally from this world. And I'd never told Atrie about being found as a baby and raised in Citro Village and no one knowing where I can from."

"This is a lot to take in," admitted Marica. "No wonder you flipped out." She ran her hand lightly over his chest. "I can't believe the sky blue armor you've been wearing all this time was your dad's."

"My birth father, anyway. I'll always consider Elder Rajim to be my dad. But yeah, that's freaked me out more than a little bit."

Marica smiled, appreciating him not just for saying that when he didn't have to, but for really meaning it. "Do you think you'll ever find him?" she asked, not having thought through the question to come up with the obvious conclusion.

Erin cringed at the question, already knowing the implications. Fret stared at Marica in disbelief.

"What?!" she asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Marica…" said Erin softly. "The castle ruins you found the armor in showed up in our world during a fusion."

Marica's eyes grew wide as realization set in, and she felt horrible for being so insensitive. "The Flesaria Forest fusion… I-I c-can't believe I d-didn't think of that. I'm so sorry, Fret."

"It's alright… I know you wouldn't have done that on purpose. But yeah, I guess his world fell to the One King and Valfred fused it to ours. I don't know which is worse, not knowing anything at all about my parents, or finding out their world was destroyed by the One King and I'll definitely never meet them."

Marica suddenly gasped as another thought came to her. "Fret, the vision from Shining Legacy! That must have been your father!"

Fret nodded solemnly. "I thought of that too. We saw the final charge to their death against the One King."

"Oh, Fret, I feel so bad for you," cried Erin.

"I think I'm coming to grips with it all, but thanks for being here for me. Sorry to have worried you guys earlier."

A sarcastic voice called out, "If circumstances were different I'd think you were the luckiest guy in the world, having two beautiful girls in bed with you and all."

Heads whipped in the direction of the voice. "Jale!" they exclaimed.

"Ha ha, buddy. What are you doing up?" asked Fret, grinning.

Jale shrugged, "Couldn't sleep, just out for a late night stroll. You look like you're doing a lot better now."

Fret nodded in unspoken understanding of what Jale was really saying, he was concerned about his friend and wanted to make sure he was okay. Fret filled him in on the story.

"Dude… that's unbelievable. I mean, I believe you… but… you know what I mean."

"Yeah… I think I'm getting through it though."

"Good deal," remarked Jale. Smirking, he added, "'cuz I'm getting tired of this angsty version of you. Hurry up and get back to being the hopeless optimist." Everyone laughed.

"Thanks, Jale," grinned Fret, winking at him. He knew his friend was just covering up his concern with humor, and he appreciated that Jale cared enough to come check on him in the middle of the night.

Jale nodded, grinning back. The friends didn't need words to communicate the deeper meaning of the exchange they just had. "Well, if you're done with my girl, I think I'll take her back if you don't mind. Besides, the one of your own should really be enough."

"Jale!" exclaimed Erin in mock indignation before joining the others in laughter. She knew he was kidding around, but she still liked seeing that little bit of possessiveness in him come out.

Fret shook his head, chuckling "I'm going to resist the urge to say something that will get me beaten up by anywhere from one to three friends."

"You'd better!" Erin retorted, having a sneaking suspicion about the nature of the comment he was referring to. She leaned forward and hugged him though and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek before also hugging Marica and standing up to leave with Jale.

"Zahra and Eunice will probably get mad at me, but I'm not hanging around here until morning," said Fret. Standing up and helping Marica to her feet, he added, "Let's go to our bed."