Chapter 23: The Fairy of Death

Slowly, consciousness returned to Roxy. She groaned and tried to open her eyes. Even the faint light she could see was enough to intensify the pain in her head. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to give them some more time to adjust. Then she peeked again.

She was lying on ice, the cold substance having already rendered her fingers numb. Even more ice had surrounded her, forming a small, enclosed dome of frozen water. A few cracks let in fresh air and through them, the pink-haired girl could hear the sounds of the ocean.

She tried to focus, trying to remember how she got into this peculiar situation. Then her neurons flared up, reawakening her memories. The tower had started falling. When it hit the ocean, it just came apart, falling down in heavy chunks. She remembered screaming, yelling and then darkness. And now here she was, alone.

"Girls?" she tried, her voice weak. "Hello? Are any of you out there?" She shivered and rubbed her arms. She had no idea how to get out of this mess.

A strange, low grinding sound suddenly filled the air of the frozen hollow. Roxy looked up in confusion. A mosaic of cracks were forming in the ceiling of the ice dome. With one final crunch it shattered, raining down as powder, almost completely covering the Earth fairy's prone form. With its destruction, sunlight now streamed in in earnest, fully illuminating the hole. Roxy immediately shut her eyes and raised a hand to ward off the intrusive light. She blinked and squinted, as a shadow blocked out some of the sun. She looked up, praying to God it would be one of her friends.

Her hopes were quickly dashed.

"Hello there," Nebula said, a triumphant smile on his face as he looked down on her. "Aurora did say you would be around here. Got worried there for a second, Roxy. Almost thought she had messed up and killed you." His smile became a touch more toothy. "And we wouldn't want that to happen, now would we?"

"Sta-stay away," Roxy stammered, trying to push her weakened body away. "Or I'll... I'll..."
"You'll what, weakly flail at me?" Nebula asked, as he jumped down into the hole. "I took your little circle of friends for neophytes, rank amateurs. But I must admit, they kinda impressed me. Shame they didn't join the winning side. But you? You may have started mastering your knack, but you've got a long way to go before you could take me on." He grabbed her wrist and hauled her up on her feet. "And that's on a good day."
Roxy gritted her teeth and lashed out with her leg. However, in her weakened state, her kick ended up being little more than an aggravated poke with her foot.

Nebula rolled his eyes, grabbed Roxy by her waist and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Le-let me go," Roxy stammered, as she tried to writhe out of his grab. "Or I'll... I'll bite your ear off."

"Good luck bending your neck that much without snapping it," Nebula said, as he pulled them both up from the hole.

The pink-haired girl went silent as she stared at their surroundings. Bopping up and down in the cold waters, massive shards of the castle and the ice of the frozen oceans lay in a chaotic mess, random shapes jutting out of the sea at odd angles. The frozen tower had been completely shattered upon impact. And she herself had only managed to survive that because the White Circle still wanted her alive for some reason. Her friends were not afforded that luxury.

"Aw, come now, don't be sad," Nebula said, as he walked off with her. "I'm sure most of your friends died instantaneously and painlessly. Some of them probably survived long enough to drown in the cold waters or be crushed between ice floes, but most of them likely died from the impact."

Roxy felt her lips quivering.

She stopped doing that when a large chunk of the ice suddenly exploded in a ball of flames. For a short moment, the melted ice fell as rain upon the two fairies. And then, pulling herself up from the newly created hole, was Bloom, a visible aura of heat surrounding her.

"Well, well," Nebula muttered, as he dropped Roxy in a pile of snow. "Seems like she's tougher than I suspected." He chuckled and stepped forward. "Credit where it is due, you are a hard woman to get rid of. No wonder you've managed to become such a thorn in our side. Unfortunately for you, I don't like thorns, so I kinda have to finish the job Aurora failed to do."
The redhead didn't seem to pay him any attention, as she scanned the surroundings with a look of intense worry. "Roxy," she called, as she noticed the pink-haired girl. "Where are the others? Have you seen them?"
The Earth fairy stared for a second, realising that Bloom was as alone as she had been, before lowering her head.

"No," the Dominian princess whispered, realising the implication.

"Yeah, they're probably gone. And if they aren't, they're not going to last more than a couple of minutes. The spell might have been stopped, but the waters are still as cold as if they had been dropped off at the North Pole," Nebula continued. "But don't worry. I'll send you to meet them in short order."

Bloom's eyes were shut. But when they opened, the flame of the dragon fully glowed through them, two wisps of steam rising from her tear ducts as the intense heat surrounding her powered up, the ice beneath her slowly evaporated.

"Oh, did I touch a nerve? I guess you must have liked them a lot," Nebula continued, as he sauntered forward. "Well, that's war for ya, isn't it? Everything going great and then BAM, all your friends, dead. I would give you my condolences, but I really can't be bothered."
"You," Bloom hissed, as her magic reached its peak. "I WILL CREMATE YOU!"
"Don't be so sure of yourself, girl," Nebula replied, as he began charging his own magic. "They don't call me the Fairy of Death for nothing."

...

Gantlos wiped the sweat from his brow, before starting to make another batch of sauce. With taking in everybody's friends and families, there suddenly were a lot more mouths to feed. And since he felt that their well-being was the Black Circle's responsibility, that meant making a whole lot more food. He had considered asking for help, but he felt that they were already taking enough advantage of the personnel stationed there and he was unsure how many of those people could make food without a deep fryer.

The kitchen floor squeaked and the blond turned to see that Anagan had arrived. "News?"

"Yeah. Ogron just contacted us," the speedster replied. "The ritual has been stopped. It'll take a while for the weather and water to get back to normal, but it has started to reverse."
"Then they succeeded. And the group?"

Anagan shook his head. "No clue. Ogron hasn't been able to contact them and we don't have the resources to go searching right now. I offered to teleport myself there to cross the waters quickly, but with the ritual gone there won't be much ice left for long." He sighed. "That group has been through enough. I doubt Aurora has what it takes to stop them, but still..." He shrugged.

"Then we can only wait." Gantlos returned to his food. "In the meantime, go round everybody up. I've almost made dinner."
Anagan eyed the food the blond had already made. "Did you make for the army too? That's quite the mountain you've made."
"These people deserve some good solid food. Not burgers and hotdogs," Gantlos insisted.

"Your prejudice against American cuisine is showing," Anagan remarked, rolling his eyes. "As long as you don't start feeding them nettle soup or whatever else you all ate half a millennium ago, I think we'll manage." Then he disappeared in a blur.

Gantlos shook his head and returned to his cooking.

A few minutes later, his companion returned. "Alright, that was most of them," Anagan stated.

"Most of them?" the Stetson-wearing man replied questioningly.

"Yeah, on that note, I can't find Klaus. Found Artu, but he was being taken care of by someone else while Klaus..." Anagan rubbed his chin. "Actually, he didn't specify. He just went off to do something, somewhere."
Gantlos blinked. "Well," he drawled. "That's odd."
"I take it he hasn't said anything to you then."
"No. He hasn't." Gantlos closed his eyes, thinking back. "In fact, that guy's behaviour has been odd at several inquisitions."
"What do you mean?" the speedster inquired.

"It's just a hunch, but... I think I know where he is." He took off his apron. "Finish off the sauce and start serving people. I'll be right back."
"Well, at least I can get the serving part done in a jiffy," Anagan commented, as the blond left the kitchen.

...

An explosion lit up the area, reflected manifold in the ice of the frozen ocean. Behind was only left a steaming hole, laying bare the sea's water like a gaping wound.

Nebula whistled. "You've got some power in you," he called to Bloom. "But your aim... Now that needs some work."
Bloom growled. She hadn't thought she would need to aim much with how much power she had put into the attack. But Nebula was fast and slippery. Not anywhere near Anagan's level, but close enough to be an issue. She forced herself to calm down, as hard and painful as it was. After all, she couldn't blow Nebula to kingdom come if she burned through all her magical energy too early.

"You know, it is a shame," Nebula continued conversationally, as he stepped closer. "You would have made a wonderful addition to the White Circle. You could have gained so much. Power. Prestige. Possessions. Back in the day, we lived like gods."
"Not ones I'd care to worship," Bloom harshly replied, before launching another ball of fire.
Nebula slid to the side, the attack blasting the ice where he had stood into liquid, leaving a slippery crater. Then he dashed forward, gaze locked on his opponent.

Bloom fired a series of smaller fire balls. The fairy general slid under one, jumped over another and danced away from a third. His movements were practised, graceful and fluid. And his eyes never left Bloom, as he got closer and closer

The Dominian princess gritted her teeth and focused, a wall of fire springing to life in front of her.

Nebula leapt through, arms and legs tugged in as much as possible. He landed almost in front of her. A few ashen scorch marks dotted his body and clothes, but he was pretty close to being unharmed. Bloom thrust her hand forward, firing a lance of flame.

Nebula's arm lashed out with the speed of a viper, grabbing the redhead's forearm. The Dominion princess pulled her other arm back, getting ready to sock him, when suddenly a surge of pain hit her. Her arm started sizzling where Nebula held her and she cried out in agony as she felt herself burning.

"Do I have your attention?" Nebula asked nonchalantly, as Bloom feel to her knees, screaming in pain. "Have you ever thought of why they call me the Fairy of Death?" He paused, as the redhead desperately tried to pull away. "No? Well, you should have. You see, my knack is one of those meta-magical things. Like Ogron, funny enough. You know how your magic innately protects you from itself? How magical children can occasionally accidentally hurt themselves with their magic?" The flesh around where he held became black and had started to crack, the effect spreading further and further. Bloom felt as she might black out at any moment as the maddening pain spread further and deeper. "Well, my knack allows me to annul said protection," Nebula continued, as if they were having a calm talk. "And then I can activate your knack, turning it against you. So as you might have noticed, in your case, that means I can set you on fire." He paused. "You have noticed that, right?" Bloom let out another scream of pain. "I'll take that as a yes. Anyway, I just thought I'd let you know that before I kill you. So I guess that in the end, you're the one who's getting cremated. Funny how that went." He paused a moment, smirking. "Anyway, say hello to your friends for me." The pain intensified as the burning agony started spreading quickly.

Nebula's head suddenly lurched forward, as a chunk of ice smashed against the back of his skull, causing him to lose his grip on Bloom. The redhead reacted instinctively, her mind flooded with too much suffering to think clearly. She shot her unharmed arm forward and fired as powerful a blast as she could. The explosion went off against Nebula's midsection, launching both the princess and the general in different directions, while the ice beneath them shattered into powder. The redhead landed hard on her upper back before flipping backwards, finally landing on her stomach. The ice jabbed into her flesh and tears of agony streamed from her eyes. Slowly, she began forcing herself up.

Not far from her, Roxy did the same. As Nebula had wasted time taunting Bloom, she had grabbed a huge chunk of ice that had been launched out of one of the craters the Dominian princess had made, lacking any other offensive options. And then she had run up and hurled it at Nebula. The explosion that followed shortly after had launched her back, the ice cutting a couple of wounds in her back, shredding her clothes in the process. The cold air seeped in through the openings, making her shiver, but she tried to ignore it as she rushed over to her fallen friend. "Bloom. Bloom, can you hear me?"
"Ye-yeah," Bloom replied, as she cradled her right arm. She could barely even twitch her fingers, the deep tissue damage having destroyed nerve and muscle alike.

Roxy's placed a hand over her mouth as she noticed the limb. Most of the redhead's lower arm was just one, big mess of blisters, blackened tissue and leathery dry flesh. She had to fight her urge to throw up at the sight.

Not far from them, Nebula was also slowly getting up. His uniform had been torn open and the skin on his chest and stomach was red and blistery. Every movement of his body sent a new shot of pain through him. Even the simple act of breathing was painful. "You little..." he hoarsely began, as he forced himself up. "Morgana told me not to hurt you more than I had to, but apparently I have to break your..." He was interrupted as he stepped forward and then fell to the ground with a cry of pain. He stared at his leg. He could feel the snapped bones grind against each other. The hard landing had broken the limb and he had not immediately noticed, numb from the shock.

Bloom stared at him and realised that she had to grab the chance. Charging her energy into her good arm, she fired a searing lance at the downed general. Nebula looked up to see the blast coming, realising that he was unable to dodge.

There was a flash of light and an explosion.

Bloom was temporarily blinded, but as the glare faded, she tried to focus.

Chunks of ice rained down, a gaping, steaming hole evident in the wall of ice that had sprung up between the fairies.

"Wait, what?" Roxy asked. "How..."
"I noticed you were taking your time," Aurora explained, as she rose from the ice next to Nebula. "This is what you get for toying with your opponent."
"Oh do shut up," Nebula hissed, as the white-clad fairy general created a cane of ice for him to support himself with.

"Now then," the fairy strategist said and turned her attention to Bloom and Roxy. "I recommend that you surrender. You do not have the strength left to fight me off as well."
"We'll see about that," Bloom growled, charging her energy in her hand again.

"Very well then. Have it your way," Aurora replied, as she prepared to unleash her magic.

Both were interrupted as the ice not far from them detonated in huge chunks, which immediately sunk beneath the waters in defiance of their buoyancy.

The four fairies blinked, unsure what to make of it.

Then a huge bubble rose through the hole. Inside, on a plate of ice, stood the rest of the gang. As the massive bubble popped, Sky drew his sword and shield, a furious expression on his face. "You two..." he began, pointing his blade at Aurora and Nebula. "ARE GOING DOWN!"

...

Gantlos opened the basement door and slowly walked down the stairs behind them. In order to prevent a repeat of the incident at the junkyard, they had constructed another techno-magical device, this one blocking magic coming from the outside. Not always successfully, but so far it had confounded the White Circle. They were no doubt looking for the base, but could only invest so much energy into doing so what with everything else going on. Of course, if it was to be destroyed, they'd probably have Nebula, Aurora and Sibylla bearing down upon them in seconds. So it was a critical resource in their attempt at protecting neophyte Black Circle members.

The Stetson-wearing man opened the door and entered the large underground room. On the opposite side sat the generator, humming away with a few lights glowing a pleasant green. Sitting on the floor in front of it was Klaus, a toolbox at his side.

Gantlos wordlessly strode over and sat down beside the bar owner. The two of them sat in silence for a while.

"So," Klaus began. "I guess you're here to haul me off."
"Generator is still working," Gantlos replied nonchalant. "So it's no problem."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Really."
The silence continued.

"So what changed your mind?" the blond inquired.

"Roxy did," Klaus sighed. "I suppose a bit delayed."
"Children can have a profound effect on you," Gantlos said sagely. "We like to frame it as us teaching them, but in truth, I think parents learn as much from their children as the other way around." He was quiet for a moment. "Start at the beginning."
"Beginning. That's a long time ago," Klaus sighed, leaning back and using his arms for support. "I know you guys like to frame it as the White Circle stomping on all normal people, but we were many who had good lives. I certainly wasn't complaining. I had everything I really needed. Food, a roof over my head, a soft bed. If that meant being at the beck and call of a fairy, I thought it was worth it." He shook his head. "And then you guys ruined that. I was angry."
"Well, I can't blame you for that," Gantlos replied earnestly. "But there were still many who felt it was slavery. Certainly, they deserved to be free."
"I guess." Klaus got up and began pacing. "The White Circle knew they were losing. So Morgana choose me for a special task. She handed me a magic pendant and told me to unleash its power once I was certain the Black Circle's rule had passed."
"There it is again," Gantlos noted. "People thinking we just wanted to create our own regime."
"So I fled my home. I fled deep into Europe. Moving from city to city, sustaining myself off odd jobs. Occasionally, I could stay and create a life for myself for about a generation before I had to move on. You see, as part of my job, Morgana enchanted me. I no longer age. I'm not immortal exactly. But I'm a fair bit tougher than your average human." He scratched his neck. "As I travelled around Europe, what did I see? War. Terror. Conflict. It felt like the entire world had lost its mind in the White Circle's absence. I felt, more than ever, that we needed the rule of fairies back. Finally, I had enough. I decided to flee to the colonies to escape the conflicts. After all, things had seemed to calm down over there." He paused, chewing his lips. "That was back in 1857."

"Bad timing," Gantlos stated.

"Yeah. So because of that and because I needed to keep my immortality hidden, I travelled back to Europa, settling in Germany. In 1911." He paused, a pained look on his face. "I didn't manage to get back out before 1952. I went back to America." He rubbed his temples. "A couple of years later I was drafted and sent to Vietnam."
"You've had a rough life," Gantlos commented.

"I hated it. I hated everything. I wanted nothing but to see all of this world, this fairy-less war-filled hellhole, burn to the ground," Klaus hissed. "I wanted to see all these people, these pain-mongers, bleed to death in the streets. That's when I decided the time was right. I unsealed the amulet and freed Roxy from it. She was but a baby, but in time, she would grow up. And she would free the White Circle." He paused, a sorrowful glimpse in his eyes. "But whereas I continued to hide my bitterness, Roxy embraced this world. And I never noticed, so fixated was I on my own hate. I expected her to become a front runner for the White Circle. Instead, she chooses to fight them. And when she refused to give up, I decided to force her. So I snuck down here to sabotage the machine. I was about to do it, you know."
"And that's when it hit you?" Gantlos asked.

"Yeah." Klaus rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. "How blind I was. Roxy is right. The White Circle isn't one iota better that all those people I've been raging against. I've helped encourage her to free the White Circle. I'm as guilty as can be. I've helped throw the world into war. I haven't put an end to suffering, I've expanded it."

"I see." The Stetson-wearing man paused. "You gonna tell her?"
"Roxy? Yes, I should probably do that," the bar owner replied. "Probably not right now though. She has enough to deal with. I'll tell her when this is all over." An awkward pause hung in the air for a moment.
"Look," Gantlos said, as he got up. "We all make mistakes. But it sounds like to me you've learned something. So if you're quite done feeling sorry for yourself, then dinner is ready."
The bar owner stood as if frozen for a moment. "You're right," Klaus sighed, shoulders slumping. "I need to do something. I need to fix things. Roxy is right. Things have gotten better. I should have seen that instead of fixating on how everything was wrong." He took a deep breath and the two men headed upstairs.

Once back on the surface, Klaus thanked Gantlos and then headed off to eat.

The blond stood for a moment, watching the bar owner head off. Then Anagan suddenly appeared beside him.

"You do know that the security system downstairs involves microphones, right?" the speedster brought up.

"You do know that you aren't going to do anything about it, right?" Gantlos echoed.

"Heh, well, if you think we can trust him, sure," Anagan replied. "You can have the kitchen back, by the way. Really not my thing."

...

Aurora took a moment to observe the charging horde of thoroughly pissed off soldiers and fairies. Then she raised her hands. The ice began cracking and reshaping itself, walls, pits and other difficulties manifesting from the frozen water.

Brandon leapt as spikes of ice shot up in front of him. He gritted his teeth as he felt one of the sharp points rip against his legs, leaving a shallow wound. He took a second to inspect it as he landed, before rushing forward again.

Riven dodged to the side as the ice in front of him struck up as massive pillars. He dashed forward, crossing a relatively flat area, trying to shorten the distance. The ice suddenly gave way beneath his feet, sending him falling into the cold waters. "Oh FUCK!" he yelled, moments before hitting the surface of the ocean. To his surprise, it felt less like water and more like a very big mattress. Then the water lifted him up and slid him onto the ice again. Riven looked around confused for a few seconds, before spotting a nearby, haggard looking Aisha. "Thanks," he yelled, before moving on.

Timmy and Stella paused as a giant wall of ice rose before them.

"Wish I had more grenades," Timmy remarked.
"Like, who needs grenades when you got someone as totally awesome as me?" Stella asked with a smirk, before charging power into her staff. A blinding beam of light fired from it, which the Solarian princess used to casually cut a round chunk of ice.

Timmy walked up to the piece and kicked it, causing it to slide out of the wall. "Neat," he commented, as he and the blonde jumped through.

Not far from them, Sky and Flora were stopped by a different problem. A vast hole in the ice.

"You got any ideas?" the Eraklian prince asked, eyes still locked on the two fairy generals in the distance.

"I do," the Limphean noble said, pulling out a handful of seeds, blowing them into the water. Soon, giant lily pads started growing, forming a crossable series of platforms.

"That will do," the blond noted, as the two of them started leaping across.

Techna was closing in. She pulled out her gun, getting ready to fire. That's when a large plate of ice beneath her feet suddenly started flipping. Her arms spun like windmills as the frozen chunk started turning over, in an attempt at sealing her beneath the thick ice. Just as she felt gravity drag her down, two massive claws locked around her shoulder and pulled her away from the frozen deathtrap.

"Whev, thanks for the save, Birdbrain," Techna remarked.

"You're very welcome," a transformed Nabu replied.

Nebula growled as the people continued to advance. "You're barely even slowing them down," he remarked. "Call in your men or something. Anything."
"No," Aurora noted. "My men were already recalled to help fight against Black Circle forces in England. Morgana did not expect this plan to fail so thoroughly. I am amazed that any of them had the strength to pull themselves from the wreckage, let alone all of them."
"Would you stop praising the enemy and DO SOMETHING!" Nebula furiously yelled, as he staggered over to her.

"To fight now would win us nothing. We will strike back another day." Aurora raised a hand, forming a shield of ice around her and Nebula. Then, as the other group closed in, she used her magic again, sinking into the ice, a new layer forming above her, erasing all traces of their escape.

"Oh, come on, you fucking tease," Techna groaned as Nabu let her down. "You can't just do all that setup and vanish before I can beat you up."

"Apparently, she can," Riven commented.

They all looked to the side, as Roxy helped a weakened Bloom over to them.

"BLOOM!" Sky erupted and ran over to her. "Are you alright? Does it hurt?"
The redhead glanced at her ruined arm. "Yeah," she said, her voice tiny and sounding almost ready to break. "It kinda does."
"Here," Timmy said, as he pulled a flask from his backpack and opened it. "I've been saving these for a rainy day in case someone got hurt bad. It won't fix it immediately, but it should make things better until we can get some professionals to look at it."
"Thanks." The redhead poured the clear liquid on her arm, wincing as the wound began stinging.

"So what now?" Musa asked. "Do we just wait to get picked up? Because I don't think the plane survived the fall."
"Maybe they'll come pick us up now that Aurora's castle is gone," Helia suggested.

"Maybe we could call them," Mirta offered

"Yeah. Except did anyone actually get their phone number during all the chaos that's been going on?" Musa asked.

"No," Brandon groaned, slapping his forehead. "We've been using Mitzy as a go between."
"Wait, I have Mitzy's number," Bloom said, as she gingerly picked her phone out of her pocket. "And... It's dead. From all the water I guess."
"Yeah, I think we can fix that," Techna said and grabbed it, before handing it to Aisha. "Here, mind getting the water out?"
"Not at all," the princess of Tides replied.

"So how did you guys survive?" Roxy asked, as the two girls continued fixing the phone.

"Well, we were just about done for," Riven admitted. "Then Aisha managed to pull us all inside this giant bubble. Really did a number on her. And while we hang there in the water, Timmy and Techna merged all their grenades together into an improvised demolition charge."
"Impressive," the Earth Fairy replied, nodding her head.

"We actually thought you and Bloom might have died," Stella admitted. "So we were very relieved to see you both okay... Well, relative okay." She glanced at Bloom's arm again and shuddered.

"There you go, Firetop. It's working," Techna said, as she handed the phone back.

"Great," Bloom said and looked at it again. She allowed herself to chuckle. "Think you can also magic up some coverage for me," she said, handing it back. "Otherwise, I won't get a signal."

...

The two helicopters slowly lowered down, landing on the private London airfield. Ogron strode towards them, as the group slowly got out of the transports. Already, the weather was becoming much warmer.

"Congratulations are in order," he said, as he got close to them. "Already, we are seeing large scale improvements in the weather. Unfortunately, the true cost in lives and material is yet unknown, and might be so for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, you have prevented much greater harm from happening."

"Most people would just start with a 'Hello' or 'Are you okay?'" Musa groggily commented.

"I figured asking if you were okay would be a rather redundant question," the Black Circle leader replied. "A medical team will await you once you have been warped back to our base. They will make sure you are all back on your feet before long."
"Before that, there's something you should know," Brandon said. "The whole thing was a trap. They wanted to get rid of us."
"Well, besides Roxy. They just wanted to get her," Riven added. "They are really focused to capturing her, for some reason."
"It is weird," Timmy agreed. "You'd think that now that she has helped get them out, she would be less important. But no, they went out of their way to capture her."
"Nebula even mentioned he was under orders not to hurt her more than he absolutely had to," Bloom agreed.

"I see," Ogron noted. "I will keep that in mind. In that case, it is even more imperative that you come under proper medical care and regain your strength. The White Circle never were ones to take defeat lying down."
"Like, how much more can they escalate?" Stella asked. "Wait, I tots don't wanna now."

"Let's just go home and not think of that, please," Mirta begged. "I want to go soak in a tub full of hot water for a few hours."

"I think most of us can agree with that sentiment," Sky added. "My feet feel like two blocks of ice."

...

It was a tired and spent group that came together for dinner that night back in America. Bloom had had her arm healed, though the regrown flesh was somewhat itchy. The rest had whatever minor injuries they'd suffered cured and now they were all just relaxing, trying to recover their energy and eating dinner, consisting of a mix of potatoes and roast pork.

"So, now we've been up against all of the four generals," Techna remarked in between bites. "We just need to fight Morgana and we'll have the whole set."
"Yes, but we've only managed to stop Diana so far," Musa added. "Until we actually manage to put a stop to them, I won't say we're quite done."
"Let's not underestimate the power of the losses we've inflicted," Brandon added. "We pushed Sibylla out of Italy, and even if Aurora can create a new flying tower, it will take her considerable effort and time to do so, during which she won't be able to help elsewhere."
"She did say she was evacuating her people. You think she got the polar bears out too?" Roxy asked.

"Dunno. It's possible," Sky said. "I mean, I sure hope so. Fearsome beasts, but they didn't deserve to die."

"We'll ask, like, next time we see her," Stella commented. "Because I'm tots sure that'll happen."
"With our luck? Of course we will," Musa grimly added.

Aisha yawned and added: "I for one think we have done a fine job and..." She yawned again. "Oh my, I do apologise. Anyway, we have done well."
"Truly, she is as wise with her words as she is beautiful," Nabu added with as much energy as he could muster. "We have indeed done well."

"Yes. Everyone and their grandmother has heard about what went down," Bloom commented.

"Which means you're going to be famous here on Earth too," Riven added.

"Yeah, it sucks," the redhead grumbled.

"And it's not really like we're going to be much better off," Timmy added. "We'll probably get swarmed every time we come visiting."

"We seriously need to consider getting involved in less adventures," Musa groaned.

"That would require us being capable of ignoring people in need," Flora said. "And I do not think there is a single one of us who is capable of such callousness."
"Well, I think that's a good thing," Mirta said.

"Yeah. I mean, sure, there's some difficulties, but we're doing good by people. If all that results in is having to deal with some extra journalists, I'll be able to sleep soundly at night," Helia added.

Suddenly, a beeping emitted from Techna's pocket. "Got another one hooked I see," she said, as she fished the device from her pocket. "Let's see, if I dial like this... Alright... Yes, yes... Okay, I think I've got the signal."
"This is Jonas Hamilton, paladin of the Roccalucian order," came a stern voice from the device. "Can anyone hear me?"
"Yes, this is squad captain Brandon Hauser of the Red Fountain military academy," the squire said, as he leaned closer. "We're reading you. What's the situation?"
"I'm here with a vanguard coalition unit representing multiple realms. We've managed to cross over," came the reply. "We'll need help determining where we are needed."
Techna smirked. "Awesome. Cavalry's here."