All the riches in the world can never buy back a life that had ended.

It is late midnight and the sky is lit by the yellow crescent moon. Lania wakes up from her sleep, and rolls to the side of the bed. She is unable to calm her mind. It has been a week since Luminous was out in the forest. He never returned. When she asked Arwen about it, the fairy looked at her with the same worried look. No one knows where he went and what happened to him.

"Mreow, Penny can't sleep too." The usually uninterested cat says, and stands up on her blanket. "You are too noisy, mrow. And this is not Home." Indeed, this is one of the room in Arwen's house. She had generously let her stay until she is fully recovered.

"Are you concerned about Luminous too?" Lania asks.

"Mrow! That destroyer of our home? No way mreow! He will come back to be punished by Penny!"

"Oh, Penny... I'm not sure when he will be back. I am so worried." Lania clutches her blanket. "Please don't let anything bad befall him," she says, more to herself than to anyone else.

In the morning, Rowen comes in with a bowl of gruel. She has been feeding Lania gruel for a while now. "Rise and shine! How are you feeling today, Lania?"

Lania looks at her with bloodshot eyes. "My injuries aren't hurting now, but I'm not having good sleep lately." She says honestly.

"Ah," Rowen's expression turns sour. "Is it because of that abomination of a mage?"

Lania gasps. "Rowen, that's a very terrible thing to say!"

"You tell me, how is he not an abomination? The way he threatens Arwen, and even attacked you, it is not normal." Rowen passes the bowl of bland gruel to Lania.

"It is not his fault, Arwen said he is taken over by the Darkness." Lania says defensively.

"All the more reason to be wary of him, Lania. If he can't control it, he is a monster." Rowen warns. "Anyway, you are recovering well. Just another week and you are free to go home." Then, the fairy leaves the room.

Lania sighs, and looks at the gruel thoughtfully.

A man with extravagant outfit walks into the town. His feathered hat is adorned with jewels and his fingers are decorated with precious rings. His smug smile reflects his huge confidence in everything he does. He sees a passing fairy, and asks graciously, "Good day, your beauty, making the most beautiful rose shy away, compels me to speak with you."

The fairy stares at him and visibly blushes. "Why, thank you, stranger."

The man bows widely. "The name's Phantom, my lady. May I ask where does Grendel live?"

"Oh, Grendel the Really Old lives in the Magic Library, over there."

"Thank you for the directions," Phantom smiles enthusiastically before heading to the direction the fairy pointed.

The man sneaks into the library, like he always do. He heard rumours about a tree that is the last one of its kind in the world. It is something he never thought he will be interested until it is nearly gone forever. After gathering enough information, he finally pinpoints the rough location of the tree.

"Why are you in my library?" An ancient voice asks.

Phantom turns around and sees the old wizard floating in the mid-air. "Old Wiz." He acknowledges.

"Here to steal my books?" Grendel asks sternly.

Phantom laughs. "Hardly." He steps down from the second floor and lands in front of Grendel. "I'll get to the point, where is the glowing tree?"

Grendel raises his hand in the sign of halt, "Before we get to that," His expression becomes very serious. "Did you know about Luminous?"

That name rings many bells in Phantom's head, and they are not a particularly fond sound. "What about that guy?"

"He has awaken from the curse, like you, years ago."

"Surprising," Phantom says sarcastically. "And? Don't tell me you just want to let me know that the guy I do not fancy is out there roaming about?"

"He went to find my helper, and didn't return. Do you want to guess where he went?" Grendel asks with raised eyebrows.

Phantom understands the meaning behind that question almost instantaneously. He groans. "Typical of him, appearing in places that he shouldn't be. So where can I find him?"

Grendel shrugs slightly. "You can check out Lolo's house for clues. Although, to be honest, I'm not sure if Luminous really did found the place. Everyone lost contact with him when he left the town to the forest. "

Phantom is getting just a little impatient then, he is not interested to know about the stuffy Mage of Light. "Old Wiz, just tell me where is Lolo's house, and I will figure it out from there."

And Grendel tells Phantom exactly what he said to Luminous. Phantom nods to the wizard and prepares to depart, but the wizard says more. "Save Luminous, if you can."

Phantom scoffs. "As if that boring mage needs any help."

"It's different this time, Phantom." Grendel says, his eyes are shrewd. "Much different."

Phantom says nothing. He bows, turns and waves before closing the door. Something about the tone Grendel used bugs him. Perhaps it is worth investigating, he is a curious person after all. Even so, it certainly has been a while since he had met the other old heroes.

When he finds the humble little house, he enters it without any sneaking about. There is no need. Once he steps in, he feels a little distortion in the atmosphere inside. It leads to a map that lies neatly on the table. The dust had been cleared off the surface, indicating it had been recently used compared to everything else in the house. He looks at it, and the obvious marking on the map shows him the place he is looking for. However, when he touches it, an aura of Darkness emits from the marked spot. Then, it dawns on him. The Darkness has returned.

"Luminous, you fool. What are you doing?" He mutters under his breath, and hastily takes off.