Warnings: Language, blood, dead stuff, violence, more dead stuff, magic explanations.

A/N: Hey, all, it's been a while. Here's the usually-annual Halloween fic, except long. There's some humor, friendship, action suffering, the whole bit. a I'll be posting all the chapters at once. I hope you all enjoy!

The bright sun shone down on the markets of Goldenbrick when Matt abruptly bolted off into the crowded market, leaving a startled Natalie and Anna to stare after him in confusion.

"Lance! There you are! Where've you been, man?"

Anna's eyes widened at Matt's words, barely heard over the bustle of market goers. Her face split in a smile of disbelief and she shot after him with Natalie close behind her. They caught up to Matt standing with a confused looking Lance in front of an oddities stall.

"Lance, it's been months! At least leave us a message next time," Natalie scolded, causing Lance's confused expression to grow even more confused.

"Er... Who are you?" Lance slowly asked with a disturbed expression. His eyes flickered to the weapons each of them wore and he adopted a more wary stance. "And what do you want with me?"

"Very funny, Lance," Anna snorted.

"My name is not Lance. I do not know who the hell you three are, but leave me alone," Lance growled.

Matt, Natalie, and Anna all stared at him in worried confusion.

"...Did you hit your head?" Matt asked uncertainly.

"No. Maybe you hit yours?" the not-Lance snorted as he turned around. "Now leave me be. I do not have a lot of time to shop."

Natalie set a hand on Matt's shoulder to draw him back, and shook her head slightly. She watched Not-Lance melt away into the crowed before saying, "Something's not right with him. We'll tail him for awhile—see if he's being extorted or something."

"He is a really good liar," Anna conceded hesitantly, "but he still usually has a couple of tells, and I didn't see any of them."

"Amnesia?" Matt suggested as they set off into the crowd again, his eyes fixed on a shaggy head of red hair bobbing in and out of the crowd. He frowned as he noted that Lance's clothiers were very different—the same color scheme of black with warmer highlights, but the cut very fine and noble-esque.

Neither of the women replied, and silence fell as they carefully tailed their friend. Three streets later, and they froze in the shadow of an alley to gape at the sight of Not-Lance climbing into a decorated carriage drawn by a pair of pure black horses. An older man watched him with an irritated expression, and his mouth moved in a rant they were too far to hear. A retinue of a dozen guards surrounded the transport, each heavily armed and alert. A sigil of two intertwined black dragons on a crimson background was emblazoned on the guards' armors.

"What the hell?" Natalie breathed in shock.

"Probably not amnesia, then," Matt weakly stated. He shook his head in stunned amazement. "Lance is... royalty? Is he just not allowed to associate with us common folk, then? Is that why he's acting like he doesn't know us?"

Neither Natalie nor Anna had any answers. The three watched in silence as the carriage pulled away.

OOOOOO

"Gods, it's good to be back," Lance sighed as he stepped down the gangplank to weave his way through the bustling crowd on the dock and into the city proper. "Now, where to find the others? I'm sure they'll want to give me an earful."

He paused in the shade of a palm tree and stared thoughtfully out across a crowded market street. Finally, he decided that he'd stop in at Greenwood. Anna usually left word with her family and friends about where she would be heading, and while the team rarely stayed in their decided destination for long, it would be a good starting point. With a nod, he set off at a brisk pace for the slimecat and warped himself to Greenwood.

The quiet village looked just as it always did with green haired figures working diligently in fields, or kneeling before tanning racks, or simply lazing in the shade of the tall trees of their houses. One or two briefly waved greetings to him with bright smiles, and he took a moment to just breathe the clean air. As much as he railed on Anna's way of life, he had to admit that it was really nice to have genuine people who knew and recognized him be happy to see him.

"Looking for Anna, Lance?"

Lance turned at the call to see Sarah walking past with a basket of fresh fruits over her arm. "Yeah, I'm about two months overdue for a lecture," he replied as he made his way over to her. "Got a direction to point me in?"

Sarah shifted her basket to her other arm and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "She and the other two left a couple of weeks ago to follow you."

"Great, so they could be anywhere. Well, I guess I'll just wait at my place, get some upgrades done, and run some tests," Lance sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"You know, it's weird," Sarah mused with a frown. "They seemed pretty convinced you'd gotten on a ship."

Lance arched a brow at that. "Well, I did board a ship, and I'm pretty well known, so finding out how I traveled wouldn't be so weird."

"And you just got back recently?" Sarah pressed with a growing frown.

"This morning, yeah," Lance agreed. He frowned when Sarah only looked more concerned and baffled. "What's up?"

"Anna said she saw you board the ship two weeks ago, but you say you've been gone for months. And since you're here talking to me now, then who did they see?"

Lance shook his head in confusion. "I have no idea. I mean, I like to think I'm a pretty distinctive individual, and as dumb as the others can be, I'm pretty sure they know what I look like."

Sarah frowned thoughtfully at him. "Any family they may have confused you for?"

Lance barked out a short, bitter laugh, "Ha! No, I don't have any family. I've been raising myself for as long as I can remember." He ignored the shocked, pitying look Sarah fixed him with and turned away. "Well, better find out what ship they got on and follow them. Gods only know what mess they're getting into now."

Sarah nodded, though she knew Lance wouldn't see it with his back turned, and watched as he warped away.

OOOOOO

In pursuit of answers, Matt, Natalie, and Anna followed Lance until he boarded a large ship. They'd long since missed the opportunity to get passage on the same vessel, but a few questions around the docks about the unusual retinue got them a destination: a distant port city in a land called Ralven. It didn't take long from there to find a second ship heading the same way, and after nearly a month of sailing, the trio huddled in the edge of a pine forest, staring up at a castle.

Black stone walls and parapets soared high overhead—taller than any building they'd seen before. Arches connected the sharp spires of the towers, the walls were lined with spikes, and large pendants emblazoned with twin dragons fluttered from every roof. A moat surrounded the base of the castle, and dark shapes lurked beneath the surface of the water. The small shapes of archers could just be seen patrolling the walls.

Matt whistled as he peered up at the imposing structure. "Nice house."

"Yeah, I don't think we're getting in there," Anna snorted.

"Not by stealth, no. And it's too fortified and large for just three people to attack. Besides, I doubt Lance would forgive us if we blew up his castle," Natalie agreed with a contemplative frown. "We'll have to wait until he comes out if we want answers."

Matt blew out a sigh as he threw himself to sit down on a rock facing the castle. "I hate waiting."

A/N: Sorry, this first one is a bit choppy. I wanted it done, but i needed the team somewhere else, and I hate travel sequences. The rest are a lot better. Anyway, please leave me some reviews! The next author's note will be at the end, enjoy!