Last time on the Awakening...

Light, Cooper, and Aqua made their way to the Forbidden Forest after the chaos at The City of Hex. They had camped out in front of the forest that night, when they were captured by mysterious people who took them into the forest! Who are these people and what do they want with Light and Company? Find out now!

Light had another strange dream that night. He was in the strange vortex again, just like in his last dream. Then suddenly, nine bright lights surrounded him, each a different color. Find us… you have one, now go find the other eight… Suddenly, one of the lights came toward him, the color changing from bright pink, to a snowy white. The rest of them started to spin all around Light, and suddenly shoot off in all different directions. When he looked back at the ball of light he was holding, it was suddenly a white orb, which looked strangely familiar… But before he could remember, a bright light surrounded him, waking him up from his dream. He woke up so suddenly that the room around him was still a little bit blurry. After a couple of seconds, his vision came into view, which was… a girl starting right at him.

"GAHH!" Light screamed, as the girl screamed as well, and fell backwards. Light's vision had come back finally and it was… a girl, but not just a normal girl… one with… cat ears and a tail!?

"WA-what!? How do you have- wait…. are you a neko like those things from anime!?" Light said, as he looked down, and saw he was tied up, and he also saw that Cooper and Aqua were tied up as well.

"Wait, why are we tied up!? And you still haven't-" Suddenly, the girl put a finger on Light's lip.

"You're fine, and in good hands, unless we find out you're working for Gias…" The girl said, as she scratched her cat ear. "Anyways, we saw you three camp around the Forbidden Forest, and we didn't know if you were good or bad, so we brought you back to the village, and might I say…" The girl suddenly wrapped her tail around Light and sat down next to him. "You and your friends are very, very cute, and I hope I get to stay with you longer…" The girl said, as she kissed Light on the cheek. "My name is Lilly by the way, and I'm 16 years old by the way… See you all later!" She said, as she closed the jail cell door, winking at Light as she walked away.

"Ah, such an interesting site!" Light looked to his right to see that Aqua was looking at him, very amusingly.

Light groaned. "Please don't tell me you saw all of that…"

"Oh, I did, and might I say, she definitely has a very special bond with you." Aqua said, he looked around.

"Hey, Aqua, do you know where we are exactly?"

"I'd say that we're in the Nekordian's base, in a jail cell to be exact."

"Wait, a nekordo… what!?"

"Nekordian. It's the tribe that lives in the Forbidden Forest. Only a select few have ever seen them, and I guess we were lucky… If we don't get cooked or killed off…" Aqua said, as closed his eyes." "It's a long shot… but there may be a Legendary Element living here…"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm almost positive. I remember my dad saying something about the Nekordians when he was telling me about his story… Plus, their village is close to the ruins of the Hexsword. Another name for the Nekordians is The Protectors of the Blade, which makes sense, being they're so close to the ruins. Anyways, we shouldn't waste our energy, let's just try to get some more sleep before they come pick us up for… whatever they're planning…" Aqua said, as he closed his eyes, and fell back asleep, and after a few moments, Light too, fell back asleep.

"Alright you lazy oafs, time to get up." Light opened his eyes up a bit, to see what the commotion was about, but then shut his eyes again.

"HEY! GET UP!" Suddenly, Light felt a blow right in his stomach, which got him instantly awake. He felt like he was about to throw up, but looked up at who kicked him, which was a boy Nekordian, with a blue tail and ears.

"Ouch… was that really necessary…?" Light groaned, as the guard went behind him, untied the rope, helped him up, but then put rope around his wrists.
"Hey! What's the big ide-"

"Don't worry, you're all just going to see the village elder for a little chat."

"...And what exactly is this "chat" going to be about exactly?" Light asked, ash saw other guards with Cooper and Aqua; Cooper looking terrified because the guard was about two feet taller than him, and Aqua looking calm as he always was.

"Oh nothing big, just between if we should spare you or kill you off one by one…" Light couldn't see him, but he knew he was smiling evilly at him. After Cooper and Aqua were tied around wrists, they led them out of the jail cell, and out the door into the village, where it was surprisingly light out. Light looked around as the villagers went about their business; the children bustling about through the streets, some of them looking at Light, Cooper, and Aqua as they went along, giving them confused and mystified looks. The men of the village were busy doing several different things; such as building new huts for the village or fixing the roof on old huts. The other men were walking around the village in simple leather armor with either an iron sword, long sword or rapier. Some of them gathered together at one point, whispered among each other, and then ran off in different directions into the woods. Some of the women were bustling about through the village as well, carrying food, water, or supplies to different people, and all of the elderly were all on one hut, talking among themselves, playing card, or doing some other things. After walking along, for a bit, with the soldiers behind them of course, into a small hut that looked over 100 years old. A they entered the hut, it was very damp and dark, and the only lighting in the room was a single candle. The soldiers behind all of them pushed them to the ground, and went to guard the door so they couldn't get out.
"Elder, I have brought you the captives, you can decide their fate now."

"Very good Varbodus, wait outside for further instructions…." The elder said, as the soldier nodded, and went to go guard the door with the other two. Light struggled to turn around, but finally was able to turn around to see the elder, that didn't seem to be very elderly. She looked to look only about 50 years old. But she still had bright yellow ears, and a bushy white tail.

"So, you are the ones who were found by my people… So, I must ask you, why were you planning on entering the forest?" The lady said, as she looked up at them.

"Uh, we three are a part of a group called the Legendary Elements, and we've come to retrieve the Hexsword. You see, two of our friend who are a part of the Legendary Elements were captured by Gias, and we need to-" Light suddenly stopped to see the Lady was crying.

"I-I never… I never thought you would return… I thought you were dead because of that…" The lady shook her head. "I'm terribly sorry for the misunderstanding, please… continue on with your- Oh! I one thing I forgot…" The lady said, as she clapped her hand, as what must have been a servant for the elder, brought a star shaped jewel to her. "Please, take this to the shrine… It's the only way into to shrine where the blade sleeps…" She grabbed the jewel, and gave it to Light. "One more thing I forgot to ask of you three… what are your names? I know one of you is Jacob's son, the wielder of the Hexsword, but what are your names?" Light then knew at that moment that she was one of the Legendary elements that went alongside his father during his travels.

"My name is Cooper mam. My father's name is Albert, I'm his son, who is also a professional blacksmith." The elder chuckled. "Why, good ol Albert, always had a way of making us smile… Plus he has a wonderful son!" She said, as Cooper turned bright pink.

"My name is Aqua; Benedict, my father, is the commander of the Hexxtoria army, and I'm his son."

"Oh, is that so? Feisty Benedict, always had smart remarks and kept us motivated… If only I could see him now… " The elder shook her head. "But with all of that aside, I need to make a request for you three… Of course, I have given you the key to enter the shrine, but… our village is in grave danger. About a month ago, vicious monsters have been appearing around the outside of the ruins, and around the shrine. We've been able to deal with these monsters in the past of course, but more and more keep appearing each day, and our supplies for defending our village is running low. Plus, we get all of our medication from the shrine as well. There are special flowers that grow there that help us to make our medicine. So, if you don't mind when you're in there, to defeat the monsters inside, and destroy whatever's causing them to come back every day…. Also, I'll need you to grab a couple of flowers from the shrine while you're there as well." The elder clapped her hands again, and this time, the girl that Light saw before came in. "This is my Daughter Lilly. Just as I was chosen, she is one of the Legendary Elements. I'm sure her white magic and healing spells will help tremendously throughout your travels… And Lilly, try not to flirt with so many guys." Lilly walked over by Light, and winked at him.

"Here, you'll need this satchel to store the flowers in as well, once you've finished taking care of business at the ruins, you can come back here and rest for a few days to restore your energy." The elder then gave Light a small satchel, and smiled at Light.

"Good luck, young hero." And suddenly, the elder vanished without a trace.

What happened to Lilly's mother? What's going on inside of the ruins? Will Lilly ever stop hitting on Light? Find out next time on THE AWAKENING!