"So, let me get this striaght," Raya began. "You're saying that before you met me, you met all these other people too?"
"Yeah," Susumu answered.
"And Azamir kidnapped all of us and tried to erase your memory because you were trying to stop him?" Vinny continued.
"Yeah," Susumu repeated, a bit impatiently.
"And now we're all working together to stop him!" Neal finished!
"Yeah... Yeah, I guess we are!" Susumu declared.
Suddenly, Martcha spoke up. "Excuse me... But, did you say that the Dark Lord's name is Azamir?"
"Yeah, it is," Priff answered. "Why? You know him or something?"
"Well, I do know someone named Azamir," Martcha explained. "He's... Something of an annoyance to me, but... He would never do anything like this. Something must be wrong, but... What is it?"
Susumu looked around to see if she saw anyone that looked familiar, when something caught her eye. "...Hey!" she exclaimed. "Check out this painting!"
Sachio followed her over, and his eyes lit up at what he saw. The two were staring at a painting of none other than the Dark Lord himself. "Oh wow!" Sachio chirped. "I wonder... Did Azamir paint this?"
"I don't know, but they actually managed to make Azamir look cute!" Susumu answered. She took a step back to admire the painting more. The detail was remarkable, right down to every hair on the Dark Lord's head. The colors were vibrant, and the lighting was in the perfect place to give off a menacing vibe.
The painting's face looked exactly like Konade.
The two didn't notice it at first, but... That was why the face looked so cute. The painting had Konade's face stuck to it. "...KONADE!"
Susumu and Sachio turned around to find Konade and Yardi standing right behind them. "Yardi!" Susumu quicky pounced on him, scooping him into a hug. Yardi, however, didn't seem too happy about this, and quickly pushed her away. "Y-Yardi... What... Happened to your face?"
Yardi motioned toward the rest of the group, who seemed to be fighting what looked like a haunted suit of armor with his face attached. "Hang on, Yardi! I'm gonna save you!" Susumu started to take off for the rest of the group, only to be stopped by Sachio.
"Susumu, wait! We gotta save Konade!"
"But... Yardi's..." Tears started to fill Susumu's eyes. Yeah, she wanted to save Konade, but... Yardi meant a lot to her.
Yardi, meanwhile, happened to notice this. Susumu... Was that worried about him? Even without a face at all, his face was quite clearly turning red. Though he couldn't talk right now, he put his hand on Susumu's shoulder, as though he were trying to assure her.
"Yardi?" she looked up. "You... Want me to save Konade?"
Yardi nodded in response. He did appreciate how she felt, but the others were doing just fine saving him. In fact, it looked like they were almost done.
Susumu nodded, and stood up, turning back to Sachio. "Sachio! Let's save Konade!" she declared, swinging her microphone at the painting. Sachio jumped up, hurling a fireball from his wand.
The painting, however, was a lot stronger than either of them expected. Not only that, but it was capable of hitting both of them at once. Sachio slumped to the ground. "I can't handle much more of this..."
"H-Hey! Sachio!" Susumu tried to shake him to his feet. "Come on, we're almost done! Just a little more, then we can..." But the truth was, Susumu didn't feel like she could handle much more either. The painting reared up to attack her once more. "T-this is it..."
"Hey! Don't give up now!" Before Susumu realized what was happening, Yardi jumped in front of her, taking the hit in her place. He brushed it off like it was nothing, and delivered the final hit on the painting himself.
"Yardi! Konade!" Susumu pounced on them. "Thank Garaden you two are okay! I... I thought I was never going to see you again!"
Konade was startled by the sudden pounce. "Ah! Susumu!" Konade exclaimed, returning the hug. "I knew you would come for us! But... What about you? Are you okay?"
"I'm feeling a lot better now that I know everyone is safe..." Susumu admitted. "I... I was so scared I'd never see you all again..."
"Hey, we're all back together, aren't we?" Vinny remarked.
Yardi's face was about the same color as Susumu's hair. "Susumu... You.. Were worried about me?"
"Of course I was, Yardi!" she answered, giving him another hug. "You're my friend after all!"
After a moment, Bowyetta finally spoke up again. "Um... Please to be excusing of Bowyetta, but... Should we not be going after the Dark Lord now?"
"Oh, yes!" Samuel added. "Now that there's more of us, we should have no trouble beating him now! ...Right?"
Konade, however, carefully nudged Sachio awake, helping him up off the ground. "If you don't mind, it's getting late, and I think we should get some rest for the night." she said. "This whole trip has been especially hard on Susumu..."
"Hey, yeah! I think I saw an inn up ahead anyway!" Yardi added.
"These inns are very conveniently placed, aren't they?" Raya pointed out.
"Well, at any rate... I think I'd like to join you all, if you don't mind," Martcha said.
"You're... Coming with us?" Susumu was confused. "But... I thought you couldn't fight Azamir yourself."
"Well, no, I can't," Martcha began. "But, I would like to keep an eye on you, either way. In case... Something goes wrong. I'm very worried about you all." Her expression suddenly turned to concern.
"Hey, are we just gonna sit here or what?" Neal said. "Let's get some sleep so we can go take out that Dark Lord!" With that he dashed off towards the next inn.
"He doesn't sit still, does he?" Konade sighed.
"Not at all," Susumu answered. "Now, let's get going, everyone! In 17 hours, we fight the Dark Lord!"
Ooh, I've always wanted to say something like that...