Bards. This was the name given to anybody who decided to practice music alongside whatever class they had acquired.

You could be the most magical of mages, or the strongest of knights, or the sneakiest of thieves. But as long as you played some music as well, or even better, played an instrument to bring up the mood with some melodies, you were considered a Bard.

Truthfully, Sam Sharp was the kind who'd rather be remembered as a Bard and nothing else. Not her family name, not her relationship with Luna, and most certainly not the class she chose when she became of age. She liked nothing more than to play her harp or flute in peace, trying to come up with new melodies to help the environment around her.

And yet...

"Ugh, this is so troublesome! Why did they pick me of all people?!"

...

Sam stood in front of the Great Lakes Castle, looking at the monarchs with wide, shocked eyes as she said:

"You want me to make a serenade for an announcement?"

Maria nodded. "After several years of relying on the Loud family-owned guilds, we've finally found a group of travelers who're willing to lend their services to us."

"It's quite the good news; we've been looking to create a new guild for years, and now, in the blink of an eye, we're about to get a new one!"

"Yeah, it's really great and everything, and I would never want to offend your kingdom or Your Majesties," Sam frowned. "But you do know I can't whip out a serenade overnight, right? I'm just one of the many Bards who work under Luna Loud, wouldn't it be better to ask for her help-?"

Suddenly, the monarchs flashed intense glares, their eyes glowing as they hissed in unison:

"Absolutely not."

Sam took a step back, utterly stunned at the sudden surge of rage the monarchs demonstrated. And they seemed to notice too, as they quickly regained their composure and calmed down:

"We don't want to depend on the Loud family as much as we once did," the king spoke. "And besides, we've heard that out of the Rocking Demon Slayers, you're almost as good at playing your instrument as the actual guild leader."

Sam blushed and looked elsewhere. "Ah geez, Your Majesty, I'm not really that good-"

"Regardless of whether you're that good or not, you're a Bard. Creatings songs for these events is in your blood," Maria interjected. "We believe there's no better person to ask for this job than you."

Hearing that, and seeing the reassuring expressions of the monarchs, Sam took a deep breath and stated:

"Even if I say yes, it'll take time for me to compose the melody and lyrics. May I inquire when will this new guild be announced?"

Maria smiled and answered bluntly:

"It'll be in a week's time."

...

"It's one thing to try make a specific serenade for a new guild, but to do so in a week's time is impossible!" Sam cried as she leaned back. "They didn't even tell me anything specific about this guild! It's already hard to write something for next week, how am I supposed to write about something I know nothing about?!"

"Another one of your ramblings, Sam?"

The blonde bard winced and stood up, before she turned around to see the source of the voice being none other than the guild leader of the Rocking Demon Slayers, Luna Loud, who also happened to be her girlfriend.

No, that had nothing to do with her being part of her guild, why did you ask?

"Sorry, Luna, I know you don't like it when I do that, but I just can't help it!" Sam sighed. "The monarchs of the Great Lakes Kingdom asked me to compose a bard for a new guild, but they didn't even tell me what the guild was about!"

"Hmm, sounds rather troublesome," Luna folded her arms. "It's a good thing I got something to help you keep your mind off it for a moment."

Sam perked up. "And that would be?"

Luna smirked. "Follow me."

Meanwhile, back with Lincoln's team, the group gathered inside one of the rooms while Lincoln asked something to Ronnie Anne, who showed them inside:

"So, you asked a bard to commemorate the creation of our guild?"

Ronnie Anne nodded. "It's a moment worthy of a big celebration, so we asked a well known bard to compose a melody to act as background noise while your creation ceremony begins."

"Aren't you blowing things a little out of proportion?" Lincoln asked worriedly. "I mean, you've had guilds before. Why are you having an entire announcement festival for a brand new guild?"

Ronnie Anne's smile slowly vanished, replaced by a frown as she sighed and explained:

"Lincoln, I'm gonna be blunt with you: the reason we're celebrating the creation of this guild is because when we made our deal with the Loud family for their protection, the Great Lakes Kingdom hasn't been allowed to create their own guild. We've had to depend on the guilds they control since we made an agreement."

"But wait, if that's the case," Chandler blurted. "Wouldn't that mean you're technically breaking the deal?"

Ronnie Anne smirked. "With your and the Wendigos backing, we don't need to worry about the deal anymore. We can start moving away from our dependency on the Louds, and become an independent kingdom once again."

"The wendigos backing?" Lincoln asked.

"Dude, you have a Wendigo on your team," Ronnie Anne stated. "That alone will make people believe you have their favor even if it isn't true. And I suggest you take advantage of it, considering your current reputation."

Lincoln frowned and looked elsewhere, Meli putting a hand on his shoulder as Ronnie Anne rubbed her hands together and stated:

"Alright, if that's all you wanted to say, I'll take my leave now. There are some things I'd like to discuss with my parents before the ceremony, so please sit down and stay calm."

With that said, Ronnie Anne bowed down and left the room, closing the door as the group obliged and sat down.

"You have the same feeling as I do?" Lincoln asked.

Chandler nodded. "Something seems off about all of this. I mean, one doesn't just casually break a deal with the Louds and expect to live to tell the tale."

Then, Lincoln turned to Meli. "Say, Meli, do you know where Polly went? She kinda disappeared a while ago."

"She left to tell Lynn about me joining your group," Meli answered. "I got a little worried, given how violent Lynn can be, but she told me that she'd be fine before leaving."

Lincoln frowned and nodded, scratching his chin as Eleanor walked to his side and sat next to him.

"Hey, Lincoln, it might be a little sudden, but could you do me a favor?"

Lincoln shrugged. "What is it?"

Eleanor spread her legs slightly and patted her lap. Lincoln didn't initially get it, but once he did it, he looked back to the girl's lap before she flashed a reassuring smile and nodded in approval. The snow-haired guy looked surprised at this before he shrugged and rested his head on the lap, taking a deep breath all while Eleanor petted his hair.

"I always wanted to have my laps used as a pillow, just like my Mom did back when I was younger," Eleanor chirped. "Are my laps to your liking, Lincoln?"

"They're pretty nice, but I'm not quite forgetting about what just happened," Lincoln sighed. "First Ronnie Anne seems friendly, then she attacks us, then she joins us for the Wendigo tea party, and now she's friendly again... don't you find that... ?"

Eleanor paused her petting, and took a deep breath. "I'll admit, it's really weird, but unless we find out more about what's going on, we should keep our distance. We came this far, so let's try not to render all that effort for nothing."

Lincoln nodded and decided to keep quiet as Eleanor kept petting him. Things were gonna be hairy on their end enough as it was, no need to make it worse by adding

Meanwhile, with Sam and Luna, the duo walked into one of the storage houses in Royal Woods, the latter sliding the doors open with her guitar while the former looked around with worry.

"Um, Luna, isn't this one of those places where only the Louds are supposed to go?" Sam asked out loud. "I don't think I should be here-"

"Oh be quiet, Sam, you're my girlfriend, remember?" Luna responded. "That means you're a member of the Loud family as far as my siblings are concerned."

"Still, what are we doing here?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "You already have an urn's power, don't you?"

"I do," Luna faced Sam with a sultry look. "But you don't."

Sam winced and took a step back, blushing up a storm as Luna added:

"Sam, you know about how urns work in this world, right?"

"I do, actually," Sam lowered her eyelids. "But I get the feeling you're gonna tell me anyway."

Luna snapped her fingers and flashed a cocky smile before taking a deep breath and explaining:

"When a person with incredible magical power in this world dies, they leave behind a certain object containing their power: an urn," Luna's smile grew wider. "This urn then can be destroyed so that the power within it can be inheritted by whoever broke it. And those who inherit power can't leave urns of their own... but they compensate by becoming stronger with those powers than the original ones."

Luna looked at her hands.

"Gaining powers from an urn is a double-edged sword, though. You might get a power that brings you nothing but joy... or you could get a power that's practically more of a curse than a blessing."

Then, she clenched her fists.

"Which is why urns are watched by specific people in order to determine which ones should be broken by certain people. I'm one of those people, and after all your amazing deeds and a lot of consideration..."

The duo stopped in front of a purple urn adorned with purple highlights, one depicting a crescent moon inside the sun, in such a way that Sam was mesmerized by its look.

"I believe this is the urn for you."

Sam said nothing, silently walking up to the urn and getting ready to smash it with her flute like it was a guitar... but then she stopped. "Can I really do this?"

"Of course," Luna smiled. "It's your very deserving reward for your hard-urned work."

Luna winced and closed her mouth, but it was too late; Sam had immediately noticed the little joke.

"Hard-urned work, huh? Funny you mention that... Luan."

Sam faced Luna, and the rockstar smirked before morphing into a puddle of orange goop, right before said goop morphed yet again into a humanoid form, resembling a brunette girl who looked similar to Luna, but with buck teeth and braces, an orange suit and shoes and white gloves.

"Well, you caught me!" she giggled. "But hey, you gotta give me credit; you took a while to figure out it was me this time!"

"Not really," Sam responded. "I had a feeling you were imitating her as soon as you decided to take me here, no questions asked; Luna's not the most responsible person around, but she wouldn't do something like that on a whim."

"Tsk, buzzkill," Luan smirked. "I can see why you and Luna got together."

Sam took a deep breath, trying not to lose her composure over the slime girl's attitude. "What do you want?"

"Nothing, I was feeling bored and decided to play a little prank on you to pass the time," Luan shrugged. "But I spilled the beans before I could fool you and ruined my own prank. What a bummer!"

Luan snapped her fingers, and the urn turned into goop that merged with her shortly after.

"Where's Luna?"

"She's busy getting ready for a meeting," Luan responded as she rolled her eyes. "I'd go help her, but I'm banned from meetings ever since the last one I went to ended in... quite the bloody mess."

"Meeting?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "What meeting?"

Lori walked along darkened hallways illuminated by torches, eventually arriving at a large room with a big table surrounded by crystal balls. These balls eventually lit up, then unleashed a stream of fire that created fireballs that eventually expanded to reveal a screen. Within the screens, shadowy

"Greetings, fellow sisters, I thank you for accepting this mee-wait a minute!" Lori winced. "Why literally are you in shadowed mode?! We only do that with foreigners and tourists!"

"I'm pretty sure we aren't?" the figure on the green fireball said. "At least, mine wasn't."

"We can talk about that later, there are more important things to discuss," the figure on the navy blue fireball interjected. "For example, I still haven't figured out who it was that released the Behemoth onto the farm that Lincoln's adoptive family works at. I've found a few clues, but they're not very conclusive-"

"And they're literally irrelevant," Lori interrupted. "We're not here to discuss rogue Behemoths, but to discuss the succession issue regarding our family. We all know that Lucy's going to take over the Duchess' urn."

The figure on the dark grey fireball winced.

"But we have yet to find a candidate for the Duke's urn ever since Lincoln's little blunder made him inelegible," Lori continued. "And the rest of us have already decided to adopt one of the Ducal Sisters' urns. The date for the succession is fast approaching, and we need to find someone to replace Lincoln as the heir of the Duke's power and right to rule Royal Woods-"

"But our ancestors are very peculiar over who gets to inherit said title," the figure on the purple fireball pointed out. "They said it once, and said it many times after; they want Lincoln to inherit it, one way or another. If not him, then who?"

Lori flashed a confident smile, and reached for her pocket.

"I believe I may've found a suitable candidate."

The woman took out a photo, and threw it onto the table, allowing the figures to take a look at a certain dark-skinned guy, the one she was suggesting could be Lincoln's replacement.

Clyde McBride.