"I don't see what you mean by this place being filled with criminals," Malvaron said as the Astromancer's sky ship landed on the old resort. "This place looks so deserted."
"Yeah," Doug added. "Are you sure it wasn't just some rumour going around?"
"I would not abandon this place without reason," Nova Terron said. "There are criminals here."
Malvaron got off of the ship, with Doug and Nova Terron following closely behind. It didn't matter whether or not there were criminals at the resort. All he cared about what getting the Julas root in time to save Zarya. After all, he wasn't just the Mysticons' Solon. He was their friend as well.
He couldn't believe how quickly all this happened. Just the day before. he and Zarya were playing Avatars of the Apocalypse. Even though Zarya said that this happened this morning, not yesterday, part of him wondered if there was some clue that this would happen, and he was just too distracted to see it.
He tried to shake the thoughts out of his head and focus on the task at hand. He had already failed Zarya once before, when he allowed Lovesbreath pollen to distract him from looking for Em and Zarya. If the pollen stayed a little while longer, then Aunt Yaga would have continued the fight. Malavaron didn't know who would win between Em and Aunt Yaga, but he was certain that there wouldn't be time to save Zarya if the fight continued for much longer.
"Hurry up, Malvaron," Nova Terron called. Malvaron snapped out of this thoughts, and was surprised to see the former starmaster get ahead of him. "Can't keep up?"
Malvaron picked up the pace, with Doug right beside him. "Hey, you O.K., bro?"
"Yeah," Malvaron said.
"We'll make the potion," Doug said. "And we will save Zarya."
Judging by the cyclopes's tone of voice, Malvaron didn't know whether or not Doug was trying to convince Malvaron or himself. Still, it did make Malvaron feel a little better.
"Thanks, Doug," Malvaron said. "I know we will."
As they walked, Malvaron wondered what was going through Nova Terron's mind. He was rarely the type to show outright concern for those who worked for him, but sometimes his soft side peeked out of his gruff exterior. And since Zarya was the twin that Nova Terron kidnapped, that may play a role in any guilty feelings he had currently. He thought about asking Nova Terron how he felt, but it seemed so weird.
After a couple hours of silent walking, they eventually reached a small clearing. A thick, white plant stuck out of the ground on the other side of the clearing. "That's the Julas root," Nova Terron said.
Malvaron ran towards the Julas root. It wasn't until he was in the middle of the clearing when he realized that he forgot to check how much Julas root they needed. He decided just to grab as much as he could carry, not bothering to check the list on his phone.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an arrow fly towards him. He had a split second to jump forward, the arrow so close to his back that he could feel it fly though the air.
Malvaron turned to look behind him. One human male and three dwarves, two females and one male, came out of the bushes. As the human stood behind and shot arrows, alternating his targets between Malvaron, Nova Terron, and Doug, the dwarfs split up and charged, one of them going to Malvaron, one of them heading for Nova Terron, and another one heading for Doug. Malvaron hit the the one charging at him with a beam of magic, knocking the dwarf on the ground.
"Get the Julas root," Nova Terron commanded. "We'll cover you."
Malvaron nodded and ran as fast as he could to the Julas root. He managed to grab five roots and quickly put them in the bag he brought with him. before turning around. Nova Terron and Doug were actually holding up the fight well. As Nova Terron was focusing on the human, using his magic to attack without getting too close to the fight, Doug's attention was to the dwarves, using his strength and height to disarm them. Malvaron was glad that they were doing so well, as he didn't want the fight to cause him to lose the Julas root.
Once the group were defeated, Doug said. "I think we should make our way back to the ship in case anyone else comes."
"I second that," Nova Terron said.
They went to the ship, and Malvaron put the bag down. Nova Terron looked at the bag.
"I didn't grab enough, did I?" Malvaron asked.
"We only needed one," Nova Terron said.
XXX
The atmosphere was tense in the stronghold. The movie had ended, and Zarya was lying on the couch, with King Darius and King Goodfey sitting on either side of her and Choko on the floor beneath her. A half-eaten bowl of soup sat on the coffee table.
Occasionally, Proxima would come down to check on Zarya, At first, Queen Goodfey forced a smile and reassured Proxima that Zarya was hanging in there, not wanting to worry the teenager with so much already on her shoulders. However, as her daughter's condition steadily worsened, all Queen Goodfey could do was hug Proxima when she came down.
Queen Goodfey heard the door open, and Gawayne appeared. He didn't say anything as he sat on the opposite end of the couch from Zarya.
"I thought you told me you weren't coming," King Darius said. Queen Goodfey figured that he told Gawayne about Zarya's condition while he was doing research in the palace, and that's when Gawayne refused to come down.
Gawayne shrugged without saying anything. Queen Goodfey looked at her stepson, wondering if, deep down, he did care for his stepsisters.
Queen Goodfey's phone beeped, and she looked at it. It was a glyph from Nova Terron saying that they got the Julas root, which since that was the last glyph she received, it meant that everyone got their ingredient.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud scream. Queen Goodfey looked at her daughter, whose entire body was tensed up in pain.
" Zarya?" King Darius said, his eyes filled with concern.
"Mom," Zarya said weakly. "Dad. Help."
Queen Goodfey put a hand on Zarya's arm. "Just try to relax. Your friends will be here soon."
After what seemed like ages, Zarya finally relaxed. The brief relief that Queen Goodfey felt went away when she saw he daughter's eyes close, and her body go limp as she slumped back on the couch.
"Zarya!" Queen Goodfey called as she tried to shake her daughter awake. "Zarya, you have to wake up."
Zarya didn't wake up, and Queen Goodfey sobbed in her hands. King Darius turned away, tears falling down his face. Choko jumped up beside Zarya and let out a sad chirp as he laid down beside her.
"Everything's ready," Proxima said. "We just need the ingredi..." her voice trailed off as she saw Zarya. "No."
Queen Goodfey gave one more look at Zarya before standing up and walking to Proxima, wiping her tears along the way. Her heart broke when she saw the terror in Proxima's eyes. After giving one more glance at Zarya, she walked up to Proxima.
"We'll figure this out," Queen Goodfey said as she placed her hands on Proxima's shoulders. "I promise."
Note: I added the part about Gawayne because I feel he should be there, and he did start to bond with Zarya in "The Lost Sceptre".