Okay, another chapter! I'm totally not neglecting other stories to get this one updated frequently! XD

Anyway, not much to say here, so let's get going!

Lucy and Lynn sat down at a table, Haiku serving them both a pair of teacups with some tea in them. Duh.

"Thanks for accepting my proposal for a tea party," Lynn remarked. "I know this is more Lola's thing, but alas, she's busy so-"

"I know what you mean, sister, and I don't mind," Lucy sighed. "We should better enjoy the few times like these we'll have before we have no choice but to address that can of worms."

Lynn scoffed. "Lincoln's mistake… to think he'd be the one to destroy that urn."

"Though, to be fair," Lucy remarked. "Who the hell leaves such an important item in the middle of a training area?"

"There you go again, minimizing and justifying his blunder," Lynn sighed. "Need I remind you that because of the urn's destruction, we can no longer delay the inevitable?"

Lucy fell silent, then gestured Haiku to leave her and her sister alone.

The one-eyed Healing Raven member nodded and left the room, taking a peek of the duo before closing the door.

"We have a choice, Lynn. We're not being forced to make a decision now-"

"And when will the time come to make a decision? Next year? Next month? Tomorrow?" Lynn responded, sipping her tea before adding. "Just because we're allowed to make a choice doesn't mean we're not gonna be tempted to make the obvious one."

Lucy shook her head. "You've always been like this. Thinking that there's only one way to solve things, and that is with violence-"

"And do you see any other possible way to resolve this conflict?" Lynn scoffed. "In that case, I'm all ears! So, what do you-"

"Diplomacy."

Lynn raised an eyebrow. "You realize that's Lori's thing, right? She tried to sue my team when we tried that with the Wendigos last month, how are you gonna get away with it?"

"I've already tried making a compelling argument to convince Lori to let me try this," Lucy answered. "Sigh, but there are a few… kinks that need to be worked out."

"A few? More like a ton," Lynn snickered. "Lori's easily the most stubborn of all of us, you're never gonna get her to agree to let you try to talk to M-"

Lucy immediately shushed her older sister, who seemingly realized what she meant and closed her mouth.

"Remember: if you mention her name, she'll appear immediately. We already tried so hard to erase every record of her name in this household, the last thing we need is to summon her over tea."

"Right, you're right, sorry… still, my opinion stays the same," Lynn shook her head. "You're never gonna convince Lori to let you do this."

Lucy sipped her tea, clenching her fist as she thought about it.

Outside the door, Haiku leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath as she rubbed her forehead.

"So, I heard the Healing Ravens fought a new guild team."

Haiku flinched and turned around, calming down once she saw a member of Lynn's guild standing next to her.

A girl with a butler outfit by the name of Polly Pain.

"How did that go down?"

"It was pretty close: Lucy defeated the supposed leader, but their spellcaster beat Silas," Haiku sighed. "It all came down to me and the last member before the fight was cut off."

"Tsk, of course the only being able to beat a spellcaster would be another spellcaster," Polly quipped. "Though to be fair, all three of you are spellcasters. I'm surprised only one of you wiped the floor with the other team. Sure, said member was the leader, who's expected to be stronger, but-"

"Polly, please."

The butler girl chuckled and waved her hand. "Sorry, sorry. Still, you think you would've won?"

"I wanna say yes, but…"

"But?"

Haiku looked around, then whispered to Polly's ear:

"Lucy straight up told me she was convinced Lincoln would win our fight."

Polly's eyes widened. "Wait, are you serious?"

Haiku nodded.

"Lucy Loud, one of the biggest detractors of Lincoln, actually thought he'd win?"

"I was pretty stunned too," Haiku put a hand on her cheek. "Lucy's the type of person who analyzes the situation to determine what has the better chance of happening, so the fact she thought Lincoln would win…"

"Well, to be fair, I heard her brother's a Magic Knight," Polly put her hands behind her head. "Those are the only people capable of standing equal to Spellcasters."

"Even so…"

Polly hummed. "Say, where's her brother now?"

"He and his team were recruited to act as bodyguards for Lola, Lucy's Weredragon sister."

Polly lowered her eyelids. "That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen."

"I'd agree, but I dunno, I get the feeling they'll be just fine," Haiku smiled. "Lori was nice enough to lend one of her guild members to them. So, they're not on their own."

Polly's eyes widened. And as they widened some more in shock, she grabbed Haiku's shoulders and asked:

"Lori sent one of her guild members with them?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"Who?!"

Back with Lincoln's team and the caravan, they kept walking through the forest while a group of winged serpents flew above them, Ronnie Anne staring intently at them as they flew by.

"Geez, there sure are a lot of Wyverns today," Eleanor remarked while looking at the sky. "It's a good thing we didn't go with my original plan."

"To think, Spellcasters are overpowered, and yet you couldn't overpower these winged rattlesnakes," Chandler quipped. "You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Le gasp!" Eleanor put a hand on her cheek and faced Chandler. "I have failed my OP kind!"

The duo exchanged smiles, then burst out laughing, leaving Lincoln to talk with Lola:

"So, Lola, what's the plan once we reach the Great Lakes Kingdom?"

"We'll look for the rulers of the place, who just so happen to be Ronnie Anne's parents, and then we'll have a peaceful conversation with them," Lola answered. "That's, of course, assuming that they don't get the wrong idea and try to attack us."

Lincoln narrowed his eyes. "And why would they do that?"

"Don't look at me like that!" Lola snapped. "I've already told you, I've done nothing wr-AUGH!"

Lola dropped down and covered her ears, crying in pain as the caravan stopped and Lincoln's team ran to her aid.

"Lola, what's wrong?!"

"Stop it! Make it stop! Make it-oh, it stopped?"

"What stopped?" Chandler asked.

"The whistling! Didn't you hear it?!" Lola snapped. "It was loud and sharp and it gave me great pain!"

"We heard nothing," Eleanor answered. "It must've been done in a frequency that only draconic creatures can hear-"

"GRAAAARGH!"

The team looked up and saw the wyverns diving towards them.

"Okay, let's speed up!"

Lincoln slapped the horse, causing it to gallop faster as Eleanor used her magic to make herself and Chandler float up.

"We'll take care of the wyverns! You keep Lola safe!"

Lincoln nodded and jumped onto the caravan, only to clash with Ronnie Anne…

Whose sword nearly struck Lola.

Blocking it with his own, Lincoln only had enough time to help Lola stand back up before he sent himself and Ronnie Anne on top of the speeding vehicle.

"Ronnie Anne, what are you doing?!"

"What I came here to do," Ronnie Anne stated as she narrowed her eyes.

Then, she aimed her sword at Lincoln, who readied for battle as Ronnie Anne proclaimed:

"Take back what rightfully belongs to my family!"