Epilogue

A few weeks had gone by. Lord Aruran had his hands full explaining what was happening that night, but came out of it with more renown than ever before. And by extension, the adventurers guild. The week after the vampire incursion, the guild house was flooded with buckets and bouquets of flowers, symbols of thanks from the people that lived in the city. Yes, the numbers dwindled over the weeks, but members were very amused at Miyabi's expense when he spent most of his time trying to find space to put everything. Eventually, most of it was sent and distributed among those that responded to the noble's call for aid, much to their amusement.

But that was their issue. The members went through their own things. Every member was given the next few weeks off, including Nene and her friends. Polka decided to try and learn fire-eating.

"Blergh! This tastes bad!" exclaimed the fennec fox girl while making a face after tasting a bit of fire-water straight from the bottle, "How could you stand this?"

Camryn laughed as he took the bottle out of her hand, "That's not for drinking. It's too concentrated for that. I soak my performance torches in them so that I can light them easily. It burns up really fast so once I put out the torches in my mouth, I don't taste it."

"So, can you teach me?" she asked eagerly.

"Sure, sure," he replied with a smile, "Just be sure not to them. You'll get poisoned by it, for one. And I rather not have to wash them."

"No problem!"

"Alright," he stated as he lit one of the torches with a flame he produced from his fingers, "Now, the thing about eating fire is..."

Lamy took time to write a few letters to home with details about her adventures so far. She also took time to get to know the other notable people that helped them out that night.

The half-snow elf slowly picked up the cup of tea and enjoyed the heat as the hot vapors wafted around her face. Taking a careful sip, she found the drink of unique taste and said, "Thank you for the tea. It is delicious."

"Thank you, Lamy," replied a smiling Fubuki as she pushed a plate of treats nearer to her, "Please, have some more."

"Ah, if I must. Thank you for having me today," she replied as she picked up a tart to nibble on.

Botan took Rushia up on her offer and decided to learn how to weave necromantic energy in her arrows.

"This has a wrongness to it," the lion girl said with a frown as she watched the sickly green energy swirl around the arrowhead.

"Obviously," snarked the necromancer as she looked over her work, "Necromancy isn't meant for sunshine and rainbows. It is meant to weaken and debilitate. To speak with the dead and gain insight from the knowledge of those long past. And maybe animate some bones and rotting flesh."

"You seem very calm about that last part," replied Botan as she wrinkled her nose at the thought of undead running around, under supervision or not.

"Keep in mind I am not a stranger to such things," the pink-and-black-clothed necromancer said simply, "And, I did make sure to ask permission before I raised them."

"Hmm?"

"Anyway, let's see how well this holds… Shoot the target."

Meanwhile, Nene worked with Towa and Priestess Ina'nis to find Aloe. This produced interesting results.

"Why did you bring me here, Towa?" asked the lore bard in puzzlement as she stood in front of a single modest-looking house that was facing the richer side of the city right across the main road.

"You'll see," the half-devil replied mysteriously as she knocked on the door.

It opened a crack, a strange yellow eye peeking out before it was opened. "Hurry up, come in before anyone notices," a hushed voice requested.

As the both of them hurried inside, Nene was quite surprised to find a zombie in a maid outfit holding the door open. The red-headed zombie quickly closed the door and then ushered them to a sizable dining room. There, seated at the table, was Rushia. In front of her was a crystal ball.

"Thank you, Ollie," said the necromancer teacher as she stood up.

"My pleasure, my lady," replied the zombie maid as she took the chair away.

Turning to them, she asked, "Towa, did you bring it? And what is it that I should be looking for?"

Clearing her throat haughtily, the warlock stated, "Yes, I did. You would be looking for its sister stone that I gave to the succubus."

The lore bard's attention zeroed on her. "You found Aloe!?" she asked eagerly as she turned to grab her shoulders.

"Let. Go."

As she did so, the half-devil harrumphed and continued, "Yes. I have thanks to Miss Ina'nis' information." Taking something out of her pocket, she added, "Here. Hold this."

It was a black, smooth obsidian stone with red lava-colored streaks going all over it like lightning. It felt cool to touch and smelt like brimstone. In the background, she could hear Rushia chanting something.

"This is a specially crafted sending stone," she explained as the bard stared at the stone, "Your friend has the other one. With it, you can communicate with her. Twenty-five words each use of it. I will have you know that while the stones are specifically tuned to each other, you won't be able to use them for long periods. After an hour of use, you will have to leave it alone for a week before it restores the connection. So, take care not to take too much time for this."

"...Thank you," Nene replied in awe as she continued to stare at the stone.

"I see her," announced Rushia, "Is she supposed to be in her room?"

"Yes, I told her to stay in today," informed the warlock. Turning back to the bard, she said, "Go. See for yourself."

Slowly, she walked over to the necromancer, who gestured to the crystal ball. Taking a look, she gave a soft gasp. On its clear surface, was Aloe. She was seated in front of a dresser in a room of sorts. It looked like a simple room, maybe a little small, and it reminded her of the dorm room she had in the guild house. She was wearing her normal clothes and additionally, her shorter horn seemed to be a little longer and almost the same length as the other.

Grasping the sending stone nervously, she asked mentally, "Hello? Aloe?"

A few seconds went by before the succubus in the ball gasped and almost dropped the stone. Another few seconds went by before she heard a reply.

"Nene? Is that you?"

Small rivulets formed at the edge of her eyes as she gasped with relief.

"Aloe! Oh, my gods! Are you alright?"

"Of course, I'm fine! I can't die there! I'm way too great for that… Did we win?"

She laughed as she replied.

"Yes. Yes, we did."

"Heh, nice… alright, so… what else happened? Tell me everything."

While all this was happening, Ina'nis had been observing everything else quietly. She knew, after some words with the Ancient One, things were not resolved in their entirety. While the vampires were destroyed and their coffins burned to ash, their followers still remained. Reyo, primarily. Out of all of them, he presented the most trouble and no doubt, he will lead the rabble in the absence of the von Christners. Still, there was still time. Korone will be sent to hunt him down and failing that, get as much information about him and whoever he has around him. Things will be resolved soon enough.

AN: Hello, readers. Thank you for coming along with me on this journey called Wanderlust 2. This had been a long ride and I hoped you all enjoyed yourselves. Now, while this is done, there is still an enemy unaccounted for. He will be one of the main antagonists in Wanderlust 3. I already have it somewhat planned. Plus with the debut of Holo-council, I have more characters to make up to flesh out the world a little bit more. Not to mention, a new place to explore. But, not just yet. As per usual, I want to build up/stockpile some chapters first. Wish me luck.

Until next time, thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.