Hello everybody I am back for the next chapter. Sry for the wait.

While they knew travelling to the West Wind Forrest would be a long journey, they highly overestimated their own stamina. They had left Yuri's hideout about two days ago and they hadn't stopped walking since they left, aside from the occasional sleep/rest or food, of course, they were only human after all.

Even after their two day trip from Yuri's hideout (let's call it the cove) they still had a very long way to go, especially if they had to make the journey on their own, undetected. They first had to reach the capital and that was still a good week away, but then again they had to take the Forrest routes which got even them turned around.

Yuri looked up at the sky which was being somewhat hidden by the thick coverage of the trees above, it was already night, of course, it was. He was exhausted and he knew Serena was too, it was different when he was on his own, it was easier to hide and easier to get away, so he usually got enough sleep. Unlike now when he was running on about six hours of sleep in the last forty-eight. But now that the stakes were even higher as well as the risks sleeping quickly became a luxury... it didn't help that Serena was stubborn and consistently stating that...

I'm not tired

I can keep going

Stop complaining LILY

So now Yuri was stuck, barely functioning with a very resilient or stupid girl while walking in the Forrest. He had to stop this.

"Serena, we need to take a break" Serena looked back and huffed.

"We can't afford to stop now and I thought you were stronger than that Lilly~, remember we made this a competition so does this mean I win" well this isn't working, Yuri thought.

"Yes I do indeed remember what I said but this is ridiculous, we haven't slept for about two days and that isn't doing us any favours" Yuri crossed his arms and matched Serena's exasperated expression.

"We are practically dead on our feet, our magic power is getting weaker and don't even get me started on our looks" the flamboyant boy flicked his hair out of his face and pointed between himself and the girl.

"I for one enjoy my beauty sleep and personality I think it would do you good" Once again for maybe the twentieth time since knowing her, Serena attempted to swiftly kick Yuri in retaliation but unlike usual her reflexes were nowhere near her usual ability, causing Yuri even in his fatigued state to catch her leg mid-kick preventing him from her scary strength.

"Ok yes what I said may have come out a little bit wrong but see, look for yourself" gesturing to her leg which he just let go of.

"You didn't even have enough strength or speed to kick me, that even in my state I caught it, what if we were ambushed? Do you really this we could fight an entire squadron off?"Serena's face dropped knowing he was right, now she thought about it she was really tired and her stupidity was putting them both at risk.

"Fine, you're right but what can we do now? We are in the middle of the woods and as you said we can't really fight, so our shifts won't really work" Yuri smirked and pulled her over to a tree and summoned a vine from the top of the tree.

The boy faced the girl pulled her closer to him, startling the girl and pulled on the vine, pulling them up into the tree with great speed causing Serena to grip Yuri even tighter.

"That's what you think"

Both teenagers were pulled into the tree and Yuri perched them in the thickest branch best hidden from the ground and lightly covered them from the sky above by the surrounding shrubbery, leaves and other branches. It was so well hidden that the two could barely see the ground themselves, this provided with good cover and a relatively safe place to sleep for the night.

"Well, this seems like a safe place to sleep for the night, just one more thing" Yuri let go of Serena and raised his hand, a magenta light emitting from his hands as he summoned branches and vines building them a safe platform a lay on big enough for the two to lay down comfortably without falling off, making sure to move the branches below to make the platform look more natural, making it practically invisible.

Serena watched Yuri's magic take form, watching the branches form and be manipulated around her. This was quite impressive, she had to admit she really didn't give Yuri enough credit, he had been doing this alone for years so he knew what he was doing.

"Well done Lily this is quite impressive" Yuri moved from the edge and sat more comfortably while wearing a proud smirk.

"Why thank you princess, I do what I can, we are quite lucky that the trees are as thick as they are otherwise this wouldn't work" Serena shuffled closer to Yuri sharing his smirk.

"Lucky us, thank you Yuri... I'm sorry for punching us so hard, I should've known that wouldn't end well" Serena laid down leaving Yuri sitting up and turned over to her side to face him.

"Well...goodnight Yuri see you in the morning" Yuri smiled and laid down next to her continuing to face her seeing that her eyes were barely open.

"Goodnight Serena" Yuri let sleep take over soon after that.

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"Hmmm very interesting...".

Soon enough morning came and the two teens were disturbed by the early morning sunlight, the first of the two to truly enter consciousness was Serena. She felt the sunlight resting on her eyelids and slowly opened them trying to adjust to the light. The girl quickly sat up and stretched after a goodnight rest, she really needed that sleep and made a mental note to listen to Yuri more often.

"Morning miss"...wait what? Serena looked up to see a figure in front of her, one that was definitely not Yuri.

"SHIT!"

"WHAT?" The girl's yelling shocked Yuri right up and out of his so-called beauty sleep. Serena's reflexes kicked in quite literally and kicked a figure in front of her knocking him off the platform, confirmed by the yelp of surprise that came from the boy as he fell.

"Who was that?!" Yuri questioned Serena slightly irritated that he had been woken up so rudely, though fully understanding that it couldn't be helped.

"How would I know? I just woke up and saw him standing over me...wait are you alright? Did he steal anything?" Serena frantically searched over Yuri and the area around them. She knew if this person was associated with the king she wouldn't be in much danger but the same couldn't be said about Yuri.

"No I am perfectly fine aside from my sudden awakening and it doesn't appear that we are missing anything" He was right, the girl could see no sign of injury or poisoning and their gear hadn't been touched, but why?

"Ok..so why were we being visited by an early morning stalker?"

"Stalker? How rude...I can't say it's wrong though" a voice laughed from behind them. It was the man that had startled them before, just sitting on one of the branches like sneaking up of someone the way he did was the most normal thing in the world. His calm composer didn't last long though, Yuri now awake quite easily tied the man, though they all looked the same age with his vines and suspended him more in the air.

"Ok who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing watching us in our sleep? How did you even find us?" The spy wiggled around in discomfort but otherwise kept a calm composure and was quite quick to answer their questions.

"Hello, Serena and company my name's Dennis Mcfield and I'm here because I was sent by her brother to make sure she was safe" this caused Serena to flinch, he knew Shun? He has to be lying.

"Why should we believe anything you say? You could be working for the king for all we know" Serena snapped back at the orange-haired boy in front of her and was soon followed by Yuri.

"She's correct, we know by now the king is after Serena so you could just be one of his lackeys" Dennis sighed, well he knew it wouldn't be easy.

"Ok fair enough but do I honestly look like a soldier to you or have any type of connection to the king? But for your sakes how do you want me to prove myself to you?" Yuri and Serena glanced at each other contemplating his question, they both knew this was risky but what could they do now? They would just have to play along.

"Ok how about how you know my brother? Why would he trust you to find me and not himself?" Serena knew her brother didn't trust easily so there had to be some way of finding out if this Dennis guy was lying.

"Ok the how I know your brother thing is a bit complicated but we met through a resistance group of sorts, I don't suppose either of you have you heard of the lancers? Though I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't"

"No, I haven't, what about you Yuri?" Yuri nodded.

"Actually I have heard of them from a few people here and there and the occasional royal guard, apparently they are a group of resistance members lead by an unknown high ranked member, the lancers from what I have gathered a made up from the elite members of the resistance, only the most trusted and qualified are in their ranks" Yuri glances the Dennis, was he really apart of them?

"Thanks for the compliment but yes that just about sums us up, we are made up of what our leader believes are the most useful as well as trustworthy of course" ok they still weren't buying it.

"Still you could be lying, if Yuri knows about the lancers without being apart what stops you?" Dennis smiled.

"Again fair question but I can give your brother's full name as well as a description, his name is Shun Kurosaki and he looks like this" Dennis then started changing appearance and his orange hair and flashy clothes had changed to black and grey hair with a blue coat, he looked just like Serena's brother. This made both Yuri and Serena flinch, noticing this Dennis changed back.

"Ok does this prove anything? You know your brother would never give his real name out to anyone he didn't trust and I have magic so I honestly don't think the king would like me very much" he was right, there were very few exceptions.

"Also Shun found you when you were about eight years old am I right?" Serena looked him dead in the eye, he was right...he wasn't lying and something in his eyes was saying as much.

"Yes you're correct" Serena gave Yuri a little nod and he realised Dennis from his vine bindings. So far he seemed trustable and he was right if he wanted to hurt them he would have already.

"Thank you guys, by the way what's your name I don't believe I got it" looking at Yuri now, he must have missed it when they were talking. Yuri huffed but answer the question anyway.

"My name is Yuri if you really must know" Dennis reached to shake his hand which Yuri reluctantly obliged and was mean with a sweet yet sarcastic gaze.

"You're also the Midnight venom am I right?" Their eyes widened and their jaw dropped.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah I knew all about that so does Kurosaki that's why he send me...aside from the fact his sister is trying to reach the capital with the king's guards after her, he wanted to make sure she was safe even though being with a murderer is a kinda contradictory isn't it" Yuri and Serena both looked at each other, he did have a point, but Yuri was different now...at least he was trying.

"Well I'm perfectly fine thank you very much and you can tell my brother that, by the way, is Shun doing alright?" Dennis smiled and sat down making himself comfortable beside them.

"I assure you he's fine he's helping run a unit for the lancer and training us messenger birds to communicate throughout the kingdom, isn't he smart" Dennis made it a point to heighten the pitch at the end of his sentence, well someone was a fan.

"That's nice to hear...so are you and my brother close?"

"Nope, but he's one of my idols and sorry Yuri for before I just wanted to make sure I was doing my job right, it really is nice to meet you, if Serena trusts you so will I" Dennis flamboyantly bowed causing Yuri to raise a brow. Serena smirked, this was much like how Yuri and she met, how the tables have turned.

"Thanks?"

"Well, where are you guys off to?" Didn't he know? He's been following them for...wait how long had he been tailing them?

"Umm Dennis, how long have you been following us? Honestly, I'm surprised neither of us noticed you" Serena asked.

"Ha ha funny about that I've been on your tail for about a week but I only got close about two days ago" both Serena and Yuri flinched in surprise, that long?!

"Really? How didn't we notice?" Yuri coughed, gaining their attention once again.

"Perhaps...we were tired, too tired to notice" Yuri paused and tilted his head toward Serena "what do you think?" Yuri made sure to emphasize every word.

"Oh for god's sake! Fine, I get it!" Serena huffed and turned away causing both the boys in front of her to lose their minds and laughing their heads off, how rude.

"Oh shut it, it's not that funny"

"Yes it is princess...yes it is" it took a few minutes for the boys to calm down but once they did Dennis repeated his seemingly forgotten question.

"Well that was fun but you didn't answer, where are you going? All I know is you're going towards the capital/palace but we aren't quite sure" Serena and Yuri once again nervously looked at each other, this time Yuri answer his question.

"Well we have reason to believe that we have found an artefact with enough power to defeat the king and his closest soldiers in the West Wind Forrest" Dennis was confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I've heard that the king has a special group of soldiers and an enchanter that is the main reason he is still in power and the artefact we've been looking for has enough power to rival them if not overpower them" Dennis nodded, that made a bit more sense.

"So you're on the way to the West Wind Forrest and you've been weaving your way through soldiers and the royal guard? Nicely done guys"

"Thanks?" Serena replied

"No really, the only reason the lancers and resistance have gotten so far is because we have so many members and allies we have help where ever we go, you two, on the other hand, are own your own"

Dennis was right, they were on their own and they had made it pretty far on their own, they had done a pretty good job so far hadn't they.

"Well not anymore" Yuri and Serena snapped their heads at Dennis who just yelled at them, what?

"Well now that I know...most of the situation I can ensure you have help including back up from the lancers and the Resistance and from the seems of it you can help us in our cause too, ending the king's reign and restoring peace in the kingdom...also by the way Serena you were right" Serena was confused now, he spoke so fast.

"About what?"

"Your sisters Rin, Ruri and Yuzu? They're alive, they are still in the custody of the king" Serena stopped, she was right all along and Dennis just confirmed...they were alive.

"Wait! How do you know? Are they ok?" Serena reached over to Dennis and trapped his collar shaking him around, she need answers. The only way Dennis was able to answer was by Yuri grabbing Serena and holding her back.

"Princess, he can't answer if you give him brain damage"

"He is right, I can't but to answer your question we have a secret source of intel in the palace that relays intel to us every fortnight and he recently came into contact with Ruri I think her name was, I accidentally came into contact with this info because I found the messenger bird on the way here and they seem fine as they can be"

"That's good to know...but who's giving you intel, who would risk being that close to the king without getting themselves killed?" Dennis laughed nervously.

"Well, the ironic thing is, our mole within is none other than the first crown prince himself, Reiji Akaba ta-da," Dennis said waving his hands jazz hands style emphasising the comedy in the irony of his statement.

"The WHAT?! are you kidding? How do you know he's trustworthy? He's the king's son for fucks sake" Serena yelled at the orange-haired boy startling him to the point he almost fell off the platform if it weren't for Yuri summoning a vine behind him to prevent gravity from doing its job.

"Please calm down I know it's sound bad I didn't trust him at first either, most of us didn't but he has more than proved his loyalty, hell! He founded the Lancers division and supports the resistance through his intel and the occasional resource drop off, we all know we can trust him now he's safe"

"Then why doesn't he leave the king then or start more of a coup, if he's prince surely people would listen" Yuri spoke up, Dennis turned more towards him.

"He doesn't have much of a choice, the king has leverage over him...his little sister Reira"

"He has a sister?"

"Not exactly, he adopted her after he found her at a ruined town when he found out the truth about his father" what Dennis said made sense, the king had him in a corner, if he acted up or was found out with his connection to the lancers Reira would pay the price.

"The king is a coward and a tyrant, using a child to hold against his own son just to stay in power" Yuri spoke once more, voice dripping with venom, why would he fight his own battles.

"Well, I'm sorry if I offended you and your leader I just...didn't want to fall right into the king's hands as all" Serena ducked her head feeling slightly guilty, she was a little bit impulsive but she was working on it.

"Nah don't worry I can't blame you for that reaction it's to be expected I probably would have been the same if I wasn't so young when I joined the resistance" this perked Yuri's interest.

"Young? What do you mean? When did you join?"

"Well I was about eight or so and I was messing with some guards as a kind thinking I was the funniest thing on the planet and somehow never thought it would blow up in my face, the guard was about to put me in my place when a boy about my age...knocked him out with plant...magic" Dennis trailed off and stared Yuri in the eyes watching his face flicker into one of recognition.

"IT WAS YOU WASN'T IT!" Serena just stared feeling very out of the loop.

"What's going on?" Serena was quickly cut off.

"You saved me when I was little, it was you!" Yuri nodded.

"Oh my god, it's you!" Dennis rushed to hug Yuri only to be flung back busy yet another vine.

"Ok no hugs please, but yeah that was me and my brothers" Yuri smiled, so he had gotten away... their sacrifice wasn't in vain.

"Thank you because of you I got to meet everyone in the lancers and kick the king's royal ass"

"Glad I could help" Serena by now had pieced the puzzle together and figured out Dennis was the boy from all those years ago, that was quite the coincidence. Serena looked up and noticed they had been talking for a few hours and it was about noon, they should have left by now.

"I'm sorry to break up this lovely reunion but we should probably leave, we can't end a tyrant's rein without moving a single step can we" Yuri nodded and put a hang of Serena's should lightly pushing her towards the edge of the platform.

"yeah she's right, it was nice meeting you and I'm glad you're safe after all these years but we should really start moving, bye-bye Dennis" Yuri tried to rush them, it's not that he didn't like Dennis...he just wasn't the biggest fan of his company, that's all...

Dennis slung his arms over their shoulders and smiled as brightly as he could.

"What do you mean Bye? I'm coming with you"

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"Wait WHAT!"

Well, this chapter is done and I'm sorry I took so long it had stuff on and honestly got kinda lazy...again I'm so sorry so I'm not going to promise any more times and when I'll update (not that I did before...) but the one promise I will keep is that I will continue this story. Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I just wanted to let you know this might be a two-parter but this chapter is still to be decided. Please be patient and I'll continue to update and feel free to comment/review but as usual pls no flames. Bye bye

~luna