Unknown Location

Hee hee hee… You're finally here!

Ah, you look so confused. You don't know why you're here?

Why, I used a spell on you of course.

Hm hm hm… Where do you think you're going? You can't escape from this mystery forest unless you help me.

So, what're you going to do?

*(START)

What should I call you?

*(DATA1) (DATA2)

BOWIE [END]

BOWIE… What a nice name, don't you think?

Now, I'll let you decide how treacherous the path ahead shall be.

*(NORM.) (HARD) (SUPER) (OUCH!)

Taking it easy, eh?

Now, good luck! You have no time to waste!

Morning came to the Kingdom of Granseal where nearly all its inhabitants were already awake and tending to their chores and duties. One such soul who wasn't doing so was beginning to stir from his sleep, feeling the pleasant warmth of the morning sky on his skin as he laid in bed, mere seconds before he would finally wake up. When he did, he felt a little drowsier than usual, but it didn't really matter in the end; so long as he was up and ready for school within the next hour, he could care less how energetic or exhausted he was feeling then. Having finally woken up, the boy reached inside the closet next to him and picked out his clothes, and after freshening up on hygiene he was ready for school. Racing down the stairs, the boy almost ran into his mother who was lucky enough to have the reflexes she had.

"Oof, Bowie—almost mowed your own ma down eh?" was the first thing she said to him, chuckling at his embarrassment before she gave him her usual greeting. "Good morning son! You woke up rather late today." Bowie double-checked this for himself by running back upstairs and poking his head out of a window. His mother was right—he did wake up a little late today. That probably explained why he felt so tired when he got up. Regardless, back down the stairs the boy went, careful to not run and fall or run and stampede his mother. "Must'a been the storm from last night that woke you up. Oh, my poor baby, having had to stay up later than usual because of the chaos." Bowie didn't remember any sort of thing from last night, so maybe he was already fast asleep by then. "Anywho, you'd best hurry on to school now! Sir Astral and little Sarah must still be waiting for you by now." That much was usually true; Sir Astral—Bowie's mentor-slash-tutor, and Sarah—one of his friends and classmates, were typically the only ones who were always on the lookout for him on schooldays. Astral always gave him a one-hour grace period for showing up tardy, and Sarah was essentially a teacher's-pet who made sure everyone showed up within the one-hour grace period. If Chester happened to be there, he'd offer his friend a ride on his back.

Taking a step outside, Bowie inspected the water basin outside his house. For some reason he was compelled to take a drink from the soapy water, spitting it out in disgust immediately after a few gulps of it and vowing to never do it again. Though the boy was almost late for class, it wasn't in him to not say hi to everyone before he went to class. Nothing of any real interest happened; aside of a few people greeting him, learning that the ships had left for fish, and a few soldiers stopping him from either sneaking out of the town again or sneaking into the castle, everything was rather normal for the day, so Bowie just decided to go on to class already. Upon making it there, he could see his friend Chester—a green-haired centaur, already seated while Sarah the blue-haired priest was up in the front, expecting him as usual.

"Hooo, I sure am tired…" came Chester's complaint. "Bet'cha Jaha's sleeping like a baby right about now…"

"Yeah, and he'll miss today's lesson while he's at it," was Sarah's response. "But, I'm sure that he needs that extra sleep. He could sure use some extra brain cells in that big head of his." A stickler for the rules and a teacher's pet for certain the little elf was. "Greetings Bowie. Nice to see that you finally decided to join us. Lucky for you that Sir Astral is in the class basement right now so you didn't miss anything, though…something seems to be bothering him. I'd check up on him, but I don't trust Chester to stay awake without me around." Bowie knew the centaur well enough that he sighed out a laugh at the thought. Still, Astral not starting class on time was unusual, so he politely asked Sarah if he could see the man. "Certainly, but I must caution you to not disturb him if he's in the middle of something important." Sarah stepped aside to let Bowie pass through and see their teacher. The school wasn't very large given that it was created and operated by a single man, so it wasn't long until Bowie reached the shallow basement, finding Astral seated at his desk. The old wizard was currently rummaging through papers deep in thought.

"Mmm… Aahh, I see… Oh, yes! It must be… No, it can't be. It's not a…" Curious at his teacher's ponderings, Bowie approached the professor and lightly tapped him on his shoulder while clearing out his throat. "Hmm? Oh, well good mornin' to ya' Bowie. When'd you come in?" The young man explained that he had just arrived late and apologized for his tardiness, though the wizard simply excused his pupil. "Don't you worry 'bout it, you didn't miss anything important. Speakin' of, it's time to start school isn't it? If that's the case, I'll be headin' up in a jiffy; just gotta sort this thing out. Oh, and before I forget, that there vase over yonder has a medical herb. Heard you was interested in 'em so I saved a fresh one for ya'. Go on, take it; it's yours." The young man graciously thanked his teacher and went over to said vase, finding exactly one medical herb inside it. He put it away and was ready to head back up the stairs when Astral suddenly stopped him with a question.

"By the by, Bowie, what'd you think about that crazy storm we had last night? I asked Sarah and Chester 'bout it already, but what about you? You get any weird, wrong vibes from it? Sarah's definitely not too keen on it though Chester could care less." Bowie thought about the storm but he'd only heard of it from his mother, so he didn't have much to go on about. "Really? Darn, that's a bit of a shame. Oh well, maybe I'm just jumping the gun here. You go on up now, sorry for holdin' ya'." With a respectful bow the young man went back upstairs, ready for his lesson. Back in the main classroom, Bowie thought about where he should sit; Chester was busy snoozing away like earlier while Sarah was wide awake. Not in the mood to deal with the centaur's snoring, Bowie chose his female classmate to sit next to, but said elf didn't take too kindly to it.

"Excuse you, Bowie? What do you think you're doing? I am NOT having you sit next to me and copy my notes like you always do; I get enough of it from Jaha and his attempts to hit on me. You are going to pay attention in class in Sir Astral's class like you should be. There are no shortcuts in education for anyone so off you go, and please wake Chester up. His snoring is as grating as ever but I don't want to get ass-kicked like last time; you're a boy, so you can handle it." Shot down before he could take flight, the boy dejectedly took his seat next to his centaur classmate, nudging the centaur to wake up. Rising in a start, the young horseman nearly kicked Bowie while right next to him, though he calmed down in short notice. Almost as if on cue, the footsteps from the basement heralded the professor's arrival, wearing a bright smile through his great facial hair.

"Good mornin' everyone. Everybody ready to start today's lesson off?"

"Almost everyone," came Sarah's reply. This had confused Bowie who looked around to see who was missing. Chester—drowsy as he was—didn't look as though he was going anywhere, and Sarah the teacher's pet was ready and willing to learn. Who could possibly—

"Lemme guess…Jaha overslept as usual?"

"Of course." Sarah and Astral knew full well of the hobbit's track record of tardiness, and Bowie wondered why he hadn't come to the immediate moment he had stepped inside.

"That's the third time this week. That boy'll never learn anything if he keeps this malarkey up… Ah phooey, I can't keep waitin' on him. Let's get started; now, where did we leave off yesterday…?" The wizened wizard walked up to his bulletin board and inspected its contents for a glimpse of the last session's lesson as his students patiently (or impatiently in Chester's case) awaited his lecture. Before the professor could doll out a refresher, another voice not belonging to his students called him to attention.

"Sir Astral!" Turning around to see the newcomer, it was a young soldier from the castle, huff-and-a-puff from breaking speed the whole way. "Th-The minister… would like… to see you… It's important!" This wasn't a sight that anyone wanted to see; it usually meant bad things.

"Hey now, calm down sir. What's goin' on? Why the rush?"

"It's the king! He's in real bad shape right now! We need your medical expertise to see what has befallen him!" This was also the first they had heard of the king in such a poor condition. No matter how old the man seemed to be, he was a bill of perfect health.

"That's… H-Hold on now, I'll be there in a right moment!" Astral hurriedly ran down to the basement, rummaging through all of his equipment and beelined back upstairs. "Sorry kids, I gotta attend to some business. Y'all stay right here yeah?" With nary another word Astral hurried out from the school building and darted after the frantic soldier, leaving his students in a state of bewilderment.

"Dude, did we just hear that right?" the centaur asked. "The king's sick?! Well, he must be! If you ask me, he was acting all sorts of crazy from what I've heard. But holy crap, what the heck happened last night?!"

"Whatever it was, it wasn't good…" Sarah said. Something told the elf that this was no coincidence; a freak storm the previous night followed by the king's sudden severe illness, there had to be more to this little mystery. Despite priding herself on being such a good student of Astral, Sarah would (very rarely) go against her teacher if she thought it was for the better good overall, and right now she knew something had to be done instead of sitting around and waiting.

"Hey, guys? You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"We can go home?"

"And once more, you prove to be a perfect example of why I should never ask this question again. No, what I mean is this: we should sneak into the castle and see if the king is alright."

"What?! Sarah, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one, not the crazy one like Jaha!"

"They say the greatest minds are always prone to a little craziness every once in a while."

"Uh, hello?! We're just kids! The guards won't let us in, especially if something's up with the king!"

"I thought you were tougher than this. Are you a stallion warrior or a gelding pony?"

"Ooh, you are so asking for it fairy-girl! You want a fight, you got one!" Bowie could already see the fists swinging and the hooves flying before they came out, so the brave lad stepped in between his friends before things could escalate (mostly because he knew he'd catch fire from Astral when the wizard caught wind of a fight, and that is if Sarah somehow didn't literally set him ablaze herself).

"You're right Bowie; it's not worth getting into a fight over something this dumb. Anyways, I've got a plan on how we can get in, and while we're at it, maybe we can get the chance to see the princess as well!" 'Not this again' was Bowie's reaction. If he didn't know any better he'd say that the elf was absolutely smitten with the young royal. Sure, she was as beautiful as they came—he couldn't deny that—but more so than Jaha and Chester, Sarah seemed completely taken by the girl's beauty. Jaha made a crass joke about this once and promptly earned a superheated fireball to the face from a furiously flustered Sarah. Regardless of what Sarah's intentions were, Bowie knew that the priestly elf only had good things in mind, so the lad nodded yes to her request.

"Yes! I knew I could count on you Bowie, unlike someone else I know…"

"Aw can it you teacher's pet."

"That's still better than being the teacher's pony."

"Why you—!" Once again Bowie had to between his classmates to stop a fight from breaking out, silently scolding Sarah for her inflammatory comments and likewise doing the same to Chester for his fight-happy rashness.

"Anyways, let's get going! No doubt something new must have developed with the king, and we're going to see exactly what!" Both Bowie and Sarah turned their eyes to the reluctant Chester, the horseman busy tapping his fingers on his hide.

"Oh, alright. Since you guys insist on going inside, I may as well tag along with you. Who knows? This might be the most exciting thing to happen to us in years; a trip to the big castle!"

Sarah the Priest and Chester the Knight have joined The Force.

Having made up their minds, the students grabbed their wooden items and medical herbs as if they were going on a mini adventure, creeping out of the classroom when they thought no one was looking. Sarah had the foresight to close the door and leave the closed sign on it so it didn't look like anyone was shirking school. Before they departed to their destination, they paid the kingdom's local abbey their daily visit. The short elder inside greeted the kids with a warm smile.

"Greetings children," the cleric spoke. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit today?"

"Heya, we're just dropping by, right Sarah?"

"Actually, we have a favor to ask of you sir."

"Go on ahead my child, ask away. I shall do what I can."

"Is there… is there a way we can, um, record our souls in your shrine here?" Instantly the priest's eyes shot open just a tad wider while the elf's friends looked at her with shock.

"Record our—wait, what?! Sarah, what kooky scheme are you cooking up this time?! I'm trying to get to the castle, not sell my soul for just any reason!"

"Hush you big dope!"

"Why, we… Oops!" The centaur slammed his hands over his mouth letting their secret mission slip.

"Just because I want the priest to record our souls here doesn't make it okay to tell him everything dummy!"

"I thought we were past that…"

"I mean not to pry, but you are visiting the castle for an important reason no? If I may take a stab, it has to do with the king and the storm from last night?" Sarah couldn't hide that that was what bothered her exactly. As Astral's foremost pupil, she felt it her duty to assist her teacher in all endeavors, even if she must disobey him from time to time.

"Yes, sir. I cannot help but feel something terrible is happening right now. Every hair on my body stands up thinking back to last night, and the feeling won't go away. Please, sir…can you help us?" The ruby eyes of the elf priest bore deep into the sky-blue orbs of the elder before her. It wasn't a command, rather a desperate plea to be able to help. The clergyman—seeing the girl's earnestness—couldn't help but nod his head in understanding.

"I see, my child… I believe I can help you in your quest. You wish to record your souls in my altar? I assume that you already know the process."

"Well, we don't!" Chester indignantly replied. "I mean, what does it mean to 'record our souls'? Are we going to have to sign something in our blood or what?! I mean, why is it that we never—"

"Chester will you just keep quiet and trust me on this one?! I know what I'm doing!" Snapping at the scary centaur did not calm the elf's nerves, though the hand on her shoulder from the abbey elder seemed to be doing the trick.

"Relax your mind, young priestess." The elder walked to Chester and Bowie, hoping to soothe them as well. "The process of signing one's soul into the altar is rather simple and requires no sort of occult ritual, neither will it endanger you; it merely requires a short prayer."

"Wait, that's it? Just a short prayer?"

"Not just any prayer. A prayer to the greatest force in the universe: the Shining Force. It goes as such: 'O Great Force of the Heavens, I beseech your light. In this holy place shall I lay my soul bare so that you may guide it back from the unholy darkness.' And that is it."

"Seriously? That's it? We just say that prayer and we're done?"

"Quite right my child. Though for it to work you must also clear your mind of any unwanted distractions and make your earnest desire plain. It is like a confession of sorts."

"So…what happens after we sign our souls here?"

"Oh my God Chester, this is not a game of 'Twenty Questions'. You know what—I'll go first." Before Chester could say anything to convince Sarah otherwise, Bowie pressed a hand against his centaur friend's mouth and simply let the elf be. Sarah stepped up to the podium and placed her hands upon it, taking some time to clear her mind of anything else unnecessary for the prayer to work. Then she finally recited the prayer of the Shining Force.

"O' Great Force of the Heavens, I beseech your light. In this holy place shall I lay my soul bare so that you may guide it back from the unholy darkness…" 'Please, grant me the power to help my master and the king. Grant me the strength to combat this darkness I sense. Come down into me great Shining Force!' Against what Chester and Bowie expected to happen, Sarah was gently lifted into the air whilst accompanied by a golden ray of light pouring down from above. It lasted for a few seconds before fading away entirely as the elf slowly floated down to the ground.

"There," the priest said. "It is done. Should the worst befall you, your soul will be kept here for safety and you can be restored."

"Thank you sir. I feel a little better now."

"Wait," Chester started, "so, when we record our souls here, does that mean that—"

"You can be revived from death," the priest simply answered. "However, you can only be revived in the abbeys that you have recorded your soul at. If, for instance, you were on another continent but did not record you soul at any other abbey, your soul will end up here assuming that this abbey is still standing by then. If this abbey is no more, well, needless to say when you perish your soul will leave this world as per the course."

"Oh, I get it now. So, if we record our souls at multiple abbeys, we can choose where we want to be brought back?"

"Precisely. However, there is a catch…"

"Aw, why did I think it'd be free and easy…"

"Unfortunately, as per the laws, resurrecting someone is considered to be akin to a medical service; as resurrecting the dead is becoming more of a commonplace practice these days, it is required that a fee is paid. This fee is increased for each repeat resurrection of the same person, and we are only able to resurrect those who have fallen to illness or injury; those who have passed on via old age or have committed suicide through any means cannot be brought back."

"Ah, gotcha; hopefully we won't need to bring back anyone too often. Alrighty then, my turn!"

"Sheesh, aren't you eager all of a sudden," Sarah huffed. Chester was eager to get the whole thing started but received a gentle hand on his shoulder from the priest.

"I understand your eagerness, but the rite will not work unless you clear your mind and make your prayer earnest."

"Oh, um, sorry about that. Uh, what is it that I need to say again?"

"Just repeat what your friend has said then make a silent prayer to yourself. Nothing particularly extravagant." At the priest's words, Chester nodded and calmed his mind, trying to remember the words Sarah had said. At first the words didn't come to him, but he was able to recall them soon enough. After reciting the words and making a silent prayer to himself, and once he was done he felt himself being lifted into the air, but he did his best to stay calm and let the light uplift him. Soon, it was over, and he was gently sat down on the floor.

"Huh, that wasn't so bad."

"See, Chester? Told you to trust me on this one. Alright, you're up next Bowie!" Bowie nodded and walked up to the front of the podium, reciting the words his friends spoke and saying a silent prayer to himself as well. Just as it did with his friends, he was lifted into the air by the light for a few short moments before he was finally let down gently. Bowie looked to his friends smiling, and he thanked the priest for allowing his friends to do this at his abbey.

"Think nothing of it my child," the elder said.

"I guess we've overstayed our welcome now," Sarah said. "Please forgive us for leaving so soon."

"Oh, it is quite alright my child. Now Be careful, and remember: the light is always on your side." All parties gave each other a respectful bow, and the trio of kids left the abbey.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way, it's high time we paid the king a visit. Maybe we'll even get to see the princess!"

"Don't go and get yourself carried away and get us in trouble Sarah," Chester warned.

"Oh please, I'll make sure we stay out of any trouble. Now come on guys, the castle awaits us!" At Sarah's behest the trio made their way from the abbey straight for the castle gates. Predictably, there was a pair of guards stationed there, and once the children drew near the guards quickly mobilized to block them from entering.

"Halt!" one of them called out. "Where do you think you're going?" Bowie and Chester were none too quick enough to think up an excuse, but Sarah—ever the clever one—came up with a little lie convincing enough for the guards.

"Well, if you must know, Sir Astral needs us as soon as possible." The elf said this in her most convincing tone, but the guards weren't immediately buying it.

"What for?" the other one demanded.

"For one, we're his students. Two, in his haste to the castle he left behind a very important package, so…"

"Ah, I see. Yeah, that does sound a lot like something he'd do. What do you think?"

"Well, if he really needs it, I guess we can let these kids through. *ahem* Of course, just make sure to be on your best behavior inside. Don't go doing anything foolish you hear?"

"Of course sirs. Apologies if this is inconveniencing you in any manner." The two guards stepped aside once Sarah made it clear that they would behave, and the three kids respectfully nodded as they passed through the grand castle gates.

Once inside the castle walls, the kids could not help but marvel at the sheer size of the castle, there was so much to explore while inside, and who knew how long it would be until they ever got a chance like this again. Quickly, the kids made themselves scarce from the gatekeepers' sights heading west. Up ahead was looked like it could be some weapons storage, and with curiosity stealing the kids they couldn't resist going inside despite the funny looks one soldier had been giving them. From the dust that had gathered on the door, it was fair to assume that the place hadn't been frequented for quite some time given how peaceful things were in Grans. Inside, the kids stared in awe at the many suits of armor and spears stashed away, collecting dust as they sat but otherwise in well-to-do condition.

"Whoa, so this is where they stash all the goods," Chester said. "Maybe I can use one of these suits once I finally become a paladin and all."

"Don't count on it too soon," Sarah said. "But, maybe we can make use of whatever's in these chests. They're even slightly open, and I doubt anyone will even notice that whatever's in them is gone."

"But…isn't that kinda stealing?"

"We're not stealing anything Chester. We're just borrowing it for the time being. What do you think Bowie?" Bow wasn't entirely sure of the situation but he could admit to being curious to see what was inside the chests at least. Walking over to them, he cracked the first chest open and found an antidote inside. Antidotes were already fairly common, so he doubted that anyone would miss it if it was taken. The second chest on the other hand contained a single angel wing inside. This sort of item was common too and allowed one to escape any bad battle they had gotten stuck in; pricey for some, inexpensive for others, but always a boon to have regardless so Bowie decided to pass it on to Sarah just in case. The last treasure chest contained a single medical herb; again this item was particularly common and sold everywhere, plus Bowie and Sarah already two each so he passed it on to Chester. With nothing else to see the kids decided that they had spent enough time in the weapons storage room and saw themselves out. Not wanting to get sidetracked anymore, they made their way towards the main body of the castle, running into a pair of royal guards.

"Ah, you must be Sir Astral's pupils," one of the guards said. "Up ahead is King Granseal's audience chamber, but if you kids have come looking for a job I think you're a tad too young to work for the king; just stay in school for the time being before looking to work here."

"Speaking of Sir Astral," the other guard started, "Sir Astral was headed straight for the king's bedroom, but boy was he in such a hurry. I haven't heard anything particularly serious going on—any idea what's going on? We've been told to stay guard here in case anything happens, but hopefully it's just nothing. You kids just be on your best behavior alright?"

"We will," Sarah replied. "Come on guys, let's go find Sir Astral." The kids walked past the royal guards and briefly ran into a bishop who was beside himself with worry and muttering to himself.

"What's has befallen the king?" he said pacing back and forth about the room. "He's normally down here by now… Surely, he is the last one to think of when it comes to oversleeping, but I pray that it is nothing more than that." Now more than ever the students were concerned, the three of them made their way upstairs to the next room, finding a soldier they didn't recognize along with one of their elders.

"Ah, hello there," the soldier said. "You must be here to see the king. I was actually sent here by King Galam to meet with the king and discuss important matters, but it seems like he may still be sleeping… Perhaps I've arrived to early?"

"One of the chefs has said that the King has yet to eat anything today," the elderly lady said. "He must be up, but if so, I wonder why he wasn't eaten… I pray for his health and hope it is nothing serious."

"Ah, I see. Perhaps I'll have to wait here a little longer. You young'uns do be on your best behavior you hear? Wouldn't want to upset the king if he is not feeling well now." The trio nodded and made their way up to the stairs. Faintly—very faintly, they could hear voices further up, recognizing that as Astral and what also sounded like the princess. Sarah nearly ran up the stairs but Bowie had to reign her in; after all, they were here to see the king and make sure Astral didn't need their help. Sarah relented, and with caution steps the kids advanced up the stairs. Eventually, the students finally made it to the king's own bedchambers, and before them was Astral, Princess Granseal, the Minister, and King Granseal himself in bed. The king's face was flushed, he was twisting and turning, and he didn't seem to acknowledge anyone else's presence in the room—assuming he could tell that anyone else was there.

"Oh, dear father…" the princess sighed, kneeling at the side of her father's bed. "Please, wake up!" The Minister could only shake his head at the king's state, soon turning his attention to Astral.

"Sir Astral…?" he asked. "Have you discovered the cause of the king's state?" The old wizard's gaze remained hard, keeping his eyes trained on the king in case of any anomaly.

"Hmmm… Well, his body's in good physical condition, but…"

"As we can see clearly, he is suffering terribly from something, but…from what…?"

"I haven't the foggiest idea, but…" Just then Astral turned about the room, wondering whatever the cause could be, and that's when he spotted his students. "Ah, there you kids are, I was wonderin' where you might be. Now, where was I…?" Astral briefly turned his attention back to the Minister to brainstorm for possible causes behind the king's state, but then he remembered that he specifically told his students to stay at the school before he left; remembering this made him do a double-take at his students who were now looking at him with sheepish embarrassment. "Wait, what in the—" The old wizard was quick to march right up to them with one of the most indignant looks he could manage. "What in tarnation are you kids doin' here?! Didn't I tell all of you to stay put?!" At that the students yelped with the Minister eyeing them with a stern look as well.

"Yikes! We're, uh, super sorry sir!" Chester blurted out.

"Well…we were just coming to make sure that you were okay…" Sarah said, any boldness left having vanished the moment Astral's narrowed eyes met hers.

"No—don't give me none of that Sarah. You youngsters just wanted to wander yourselves around the castle, didn't you?"

"I…well…"

"I…apologize, Sir Astral, but, who are they now?" Astral had nearly forgotten that the Minister was still there, and given how strict he was with anyone entering the castle unless they were on official business meant Astral had to choose his next words carefully.

"Oh…well, you see…there my students."

"Your students, you say? Well, they certainly look like good kids if I must say so. Surely there must have been a special reason you've invited them to the castle." Astral, now knowing the position he was in, had to invent something and fast—he didn't want his students getting in trouble for entering the castle uninvited, but not without discreetly glaring at each of his students.

"*ahem* Apologies, I had forgotten that I had summoned for them a little while ago. You mentioned something about the door to the Ancient Tower being open, right? Think about it—this door which has never been open before is now mysteriously open, and on top of that the king is suddenly sick despite being the healthiest person in the kingdom. Normally I'd investigate this myself, but here I figured that my students could use a very valuable learning experience and had them here with me to see about this tower too. Pardon me, dear Minister, but as much as I'd hate to leave you so soon with the king's condition and all, you wouldn't mind if I went on ahead to check this thing out would you?"

"Certainly not. I trust your judgment Sir Astral. You children be sure to follow your mentor's instructions, understood? Who knows what mysteries that tower holds."

"Aw, don't you worry 'bout these kids, they're real good about following instructions, right?" Despite smiling through his beard, Astral was giving his students a hidden dangerous glint in his eyes, and each one of them nervously nodded and gave him their understanding. "Glad to see it. Now, come along everyone. We've got ourselves a tower to inspect. Come and grab us if anything goes down here, alright?"

"Will do, Sir Astral. Take care of yourselves." With the Minister's blessings, Astral motioned for his students to follow his lead down the stairs to which they quickly obliged. Passing through everyone, Astral and his students made it to the next room, but before going any further the old wizard stopped to look his students in the eye.

"Now that we're outta that mess, can I ask you three to not give us anymore trouble while we're here?"

"O-Of course, Sir Astral," Sarah replied. "We will be on our best behavior."

"I'll believe it. Anyways, I didn't really want to get you kids roped up in this, but maybe this is actually a good opportunity for you kids after all. You'll need to learn how you'll be of service to his majesty in the future, so before we go any further, I must ask you all this: are you ready?"

"We're ready, Sir Astral," Sarah replied.

"Me too," Chester said.

"And…what about you Bowie? You need anything before he head off?" Bowie shook his head and assured Astral that he was on board with everyone. "Alright then, students. We're heading to this Ancient Tower. You never know what'll be inside, so stay on your guard at all times." With that, Astral took off with his students trailing him up the stairs, though they fell behind a bit. By the time they made it up the many stairs, Astral was nowhere in sight, and only a guard stood in front of the passageway. Upon seeing them, he let them through, informing them that Astral had already made it to the tower. How such an elderly man like him could already make it to the tower was beyond the students, but they didn't question it for much longer and simply made their way through what looked like a cavern of sorts. Eventually, they found themselves outside surrounded by many trees, having emerged from a cave that was apparently in the back of the castle, but what caught the three students' attentions most was the Ancient Tower standing tall and proud before them. A tower of such mystery, and it was just a skip and a hop away from them through the castle.

"Whoa-ho-ho! Look at the size of this badboy!" Chester was in pure awe of the tower's sheer size, though Sarah was more concerned about what it was that Astral was already doing inside of the tower.

"This tower is grand, but we'll have more time to admire it later. For now, let's catch up with Sir Astral and—Bowie…?" For a moment the boy hadn't heard his other two friends, instead focused on a strange energy he could feel in the air. While it looked like he was looking at the tower, he was actually looking through it, and without thinking he began making his way around the tower to the other side. "H-Hey, Bowie, where are you going?" The boy had took off, causing his friends to chase after him as he ran toward the back of the tower. When they had caught up with him, they were both ready to chew him out for leaving them the way he did, at least they were until they could see what he was looking at so intensely. It was a strange but beautiful, shimmering piece of ore. How Bowie had managed to guess that something was even there behind the tower was beyond the other two students but they weren't about to question him about it so much. Bowie himself had tossed the piece of ore to Chester for safekeeping, in which the centaur awkwardly accepted before the three of them finally made their way back around to the front of the tower. Briefly, the three of them had to steel themselves for whatever they were about to find, and then they braved the entrance of the tower.

"Sir Astral?" Sarah called out. "Sir Astral, we're her—" The young elf stopped in her tracks when she found their teacher staring off into the distance. "Oh, thank goodness we've found you, we were—"

"Shhhh," the wizard shushed. "Hang on for a second. Something don't feel right about this tower… I'mma take a quick looksie here." The old mage took in every corner of the structure, looking for anything particularly strange. "This place sure is chock full of secrets… I wonder who built this old thing?" As he advanced up the stairs he was facing, the feeling of unnatural wrongness only strengthened, making every hair on him prick up in anticipation as he shuddered. "Oof, I ain't got a good feeling about this place…" Soon he ascended the small stairs and came face-to-face with an eerie red octogram carved into the floor. "What the… Now this is definitely somethin' funny, though it feels like I've seen it somewhere before…"

Before anyone else could comment on it, a horribly bright light flashed from seemingly nowhere in particular, and immediately the group was looking about their surroundings in a start.

"What… What was that?" Chester said rearing up in danger.

"Look!" Sarah exclaimed. "Something is…manifesting… Sir Astral, what is that…?" The wizard in question quickly turned his attention back to the magic octogram, and before him was some sort of mist swirling together to form…a face. A demonic face at that. The sight was enough to make Astral jump backward, not knowing what he was dealing with here.

"Yikes! You kids be careful; this thing's a Gizmo—a person-possessin' devil!" The malignant mist attempted to move past Astral but he was having none of it. "Oh no you don't—you ain't getting' outta here to posses nobody!" The devil before him let loose a fierce snarl and began spasming—Astral prepared himself for an attack, but it never came. Instead, the Gizmo devil exploded into blue mist before changing itself back to red, but the blue mist that had exploded from it grew into what looked like six more Gizmo devils like it. The devils effectively had the old wizard surrounded, and he clearly couldn't take all of them on. "Hoo boy, this don't look good here… Kids!" At his voice, the students stood at attention. "We need to stop these fiends before they escape and wreak havoc; I'll keep this red one here busy, you all draw these weaker ones your way and take 'em out! You got that?" Though the students were a little frightened at the prospect of fighting actual devils, they stood their ground and pulled out whatever weapons they could to fend off the monsters.

"Alright, I'll stick it to these creeps!" Chester declared.

"I'm not much for fighting but I'll do my best too!" Sarah said.

Bowie need not say anything, merely drawing his sword and readied himself a battle stance. The fate of their kingdom depended on them now, and they would not let these monsters overtake their home. Standing together, they prepared themselves for their first real battle…