Evening fully embraced the kingdom of Plegia. The dark orange blanket of the sky above warmed the earth below, somewhat mirroring the orange-beige color of the sea of sand. Most of the residents of the city of Gra retreated to their homes by such an hour, though there was a small handful of people wandering around, most of whom were guards.

One such individual was Lucas. Immediately after interrogating the bartender at the inn he visited minutes prior, he began making his way toward the west side of the city. His black boots slammed against the ground, cracking each tile of stone as he made contact with them. Fortunately, the entire road never crumbled underneath his weight, though it certainly wasn't durable enough to circumvent any damage whatsoever.

Lucas paid little attention to anything that wasn't his destination. The minor incidents of destruction he was causing, the lingering curious stares of the last few citizens that had yet to retreat to their homes - they were only in his mind for a moment each. They faded away, deep into his subconscious, never to be given much thought.

His destination was in sight anyway.

The castle, the very same one the bartender spoke of, certainly showed its age. It was made of the same kind of dull, gray stone as the road Lucas was crushing underneath his feet. Plenty of visual imperfections made it seem as if the castle hadn't been maintained very well during its long life, and the stone itself appeared worn. It also wasn't very big, being somewhat smaller than the average castle.

Even so, it was very much the place Lucas wished to go. Eventually, he made it past the streets and arrived at a clearing where a straightforward path led to the gates of the castle. A pair of well-armored guards stood out front, doing their jobs as perfectly as they could.

Lucas, without hesitation, walked along the path. The guards were alert, brandishing their spears in Lucas' direction as he approached.

"Stop right there! Where do you think you're going, citizen?" One of the guards, a woman, asked.

Lucas ignored the guard as if she wasn't there, and kept moving forward.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" The same guard gently waved around their steel lance, lunging with it a little bit. "Get back!"

Again, Lucas ignored her and kept going, getting closer to the castle's large double doors.

"Damn it! I said, get back!"

The female guard held her lance out to the side and motioned for her male comrade to do the same. The elongated sticks of both weapons were now blocking the way to the doors. When Lucas closed in, he was forcibly stopped by them.

"Phew." The woman sighed. "Glad that worked…"

As she was awash with relief, Lucas stared blankly at the two spear shafts that were attempting to hold him back. His expression remained unchanged.

"Now, citizen, if you could just-"

Within a second, the two shafts were suddenly mostly shattered, much to both of the guards' shock. They looked over, watching as the remains of their lances' sticks fell to the ground.

Lucas looked back up, facing the doors that were only a few steps ahead in front of him. He didn't even acknowledge the two guards, who were both staring at him in utter shock at what he had done.

"Did he just-?" The male guard wondered, having been cut off.

"I think he did. I didn't see him do it, though. Who the-hey! Hey!"

The female guard threw her shattered spear aside and rushed to block Lucas from proceeding toward the castle doors, which he was about to do. For the first time, he acknowledged her existence, though his blank expression still had yet to change.

"You're in my way," he said with a mostly monotone voice, though there was a hint of fury to his words.

"Can't let you in, I-I'm afraid! No visitors from the public are allowed at this time of day! Y-You'll have to come back tomorrow…" The woman trembled slightly.

Lucas scowled at the frightened guard. "You won't move, then."

"Th-that's right! By command of General Omar himself, we must stand g-guard by these doors, no m-matter what! So you should-"

With a single swing of his fist, Lucas knocked the guard unconscious, sending her straight to the ground.

"Wh-what…?!" The other guard began to tremble. "You, you're-!"

Using his other hand, Lucas backhanded the male guard with enough force to knock him unconscious as well. The two Plegians were laid out on the ground, severe cracks in their helmets having formed where Lucas struck them.

He stared at his hands, both of which were only vaguely bruised. Without a word, he lowered his hands and returned to facing the castle doors.

Reaching out, he opened them with a mere tap. He then walked through, entering Gra Castle.

Inside, Lucas was met with a short, ornately designed corridor. The walls didn't look much better than the outside of the castle, but the floor was decorated with a neat, brown rug that stretched across the hallway. Frequently scattered torches that were high up on the walls provided light, truly illuminating the underwhelming appearance of Gra Castle.

Lucas looked around, then frowned. He walked onward, undeterred.

"I must find this 'Omar' person. Where might he be…?"

With no clues as to where the supposed military general was located, Lucas had no choice but to search as thoroughly as possible. After arriving at the end of the initial corridor, he randomly chose to begin his search through the hallway to his left, as opposed to the one on the right. Only a few doors were up against the walls, which all led to different rooms.

"I will find him…"

Lucas approached the first door on his right and walked right in, as the door was unlocked. The room behind it was of no significance, as it only had several shelves, barrels, and tables inside of it. After deeming the room to be useless, Lucas returned to the corridor, leaving the door open behind himself.

The second and third rooms he checked were of similar usefulness to the first. Which is to say, none. They were all primarily either storage or sitting rooms of some kind, currently uninhabited at this time of day. None of them gave any indication as to where Omar was, therefore they were left behind.

His search was becoming fruitless. Lucas couldn't find anything of use. The other rooms he checked were either empty, locked, or both. Whenever they were locked, it took him only a tiny modicum of effort to bust them open, but even then, they held no secrets intriguing enough to him.

However, there was one particular room that held something of note. As he busted open a lock for a door around the corner from the leftmost corridor, forcibly entering the room inside, Lucas encountered someone.

A mostly naked, wide-eyed man was leaning up in his bed, staring at Lucas with a frightened expression.

"GAH!" The man screamed in fear.

Lucas, unfazed by the sudden loud noise, simply blinked in response.

"Do you know where Omar is?" He asked the terrified individual.

"Th-the general? W-wait…you're a person?!" The person quivered as they pointed at Lucas. "What's with all the blood? Am I having a nightmare? Are you about to kill me?!"

Lucas, again, blinked.

"Tell me where Omar is."

"O-okay! Please don't kill me, nightmare guy! I'm just a humble servant for my lord!" The man paused, breathing slowly in an attempt to calm himself down. "He's, um…he should be in the garrison by now. Is that everything? Are you going to kill me now?!"

"Garrison…" Lucas repeated to himself quietly before raising his voice again. "Where is that?"

"Um, it's…it's down this c-corridor, to the right, then the f-first left, and there should be a d-door at the end of that corridor that'll take you straight to the g-garrison. Now are you going to kill me? Please, just put me out of my misery!"

Much to the servant's surprise, instead of doing any sort of murdering, Lucas left without a word. The man sighed in relief, wiping his brow of the sweat it had accumulated.

"Oh, thank goodness he's gone." He collapsed onto his bed, turning toward the doorway Lucas had been previously standing in. "I wish he would've closed the door, though. At least I'm alive…?"

Meanwhile, with Lucas, he was already making his way toward the garrison, using the directions he just received. He followed the hallway, then turned right past the corner and proceeded down the ensuing hallway. The first left the servant mentioned was coming up - Lucas took it as soon as he got to it.

Generally, all of the corridors and doors looked the same as each other. All of them were made out of the same kind of stone, though the doors had a darker tint to them that made their presence more apparent.

Then there was the door at the end of the corridor Lucas just entered. It was larger than all the other ones, even having some iron strips running through it. Lucas stopped in front of it.

"You're right. This must be the path to the garrison. Omar should be close." Lucas frowned sorrowfully. "Dorothea…I am close to learning where you are. Stay safe, my wife."

He reached out for the door, then effortlessly burst through it with his strength. Wandering inside, caring little for the destruction he caused, Lucas began approaching the garrison.

Though, he was completely unaware of the sounds of clanging steel some distance behind him.

Past the iron-emboldened door, everything became marginally darker. Torches became infrequent along the walls of the narrow, straightforward passageway, though they were still there. Such infrequency allowed many visual imperfections of the inner sections of the passage to be hidden by the shadows, away from the eyes of scrutiny.

Lucas was not focusing on any of that. He kept walking forward, further into the stone corridor, gaining more distance away from the main section of the castle. As he proceeded along the path, he started hearing sounds that caused him to frown.

Cheering, chanting; an un-harmonic chorus of voices was fusing together to form something resembling merriment.

"Something is going on in there, Sothis. That much is apparent," said Lucas, internally. "Perhaps Omar is among…whatever is happening. We shall see."

Lucas continued his walk toward the castle's barracks. While he did so, the voices became increasingly louder to him, evidence enough of what exactly was happening. The prospects of such a situation did not deter him in the slightest.

In due time, he arrived at another stone-cross-iron door. The uproaring sounds of joy coming from within were approaching the apex of their volume, the door being the only thing preventing it from fully assaulting Lucas' ears.

Without hesitating or faltering in any way, Lucas tapped the door with one of his knuckles. It blew open, smashing against the wall to the left due to the force applied to it. Lucas laid his eyes upon the source of all the noise that was now invading his brain.

A spacious, well-lit room filled with stone tables, desks, chairs, and shelves, all of which were made with a different kind of stone than the castle itself. The furniture in the barracks was of a darker shade, almost appearing to be black in color, though the room was made with the typical gray kind of stone.

Many, many Plegian soldiers occupied the room. They were all unarmed and lacked the helmets that generally covered their faces, which was for the better, as every single one of them was carrying a glass of beer, wine, or ale.

Lucas glared at the sight of the lively barracks, and sighed.

"They are all drunk. They won't be helpful. Drunkards never are," he remarked in his mind.

He began to step inside the barracks. Everyone was absorbed in their conversations or the games they were playing - nobody turned in Lucas' way.

"These people…an outsider is within their midst, yet they do not notice me. Another example of how unhelpful these kinds of people are. Omar best not follow suit-" Lucas stopped moving. "Hmm?"

Looking down, he noticed a Plegian soldier that was laying down on the floor just in front of the door, entirely unconscious. A circular pink bruise was on their forehead.

Lucas' glare darkened as he stepped over the unconscious Plegian.

"Ridiculous…" He muttered under his breath.

After passing over the soldier, Lucas made his way further into the barracks, his glare permanently on his face.

He was soon amongst all the Plegian soldiers crowding the barracks' common room. Lucas searched through the massive gathering for any sign of Omar, yet he had no luck in that endeavor. Some of the Plegians noticed him and his frustrated look, but they always shrugged him off and let him be, continuing to chug the rest of their drinks.

A particular inebriated soldier suddenly approached Lucas.

"H-hey, buddies…!" The soldier slurred, their cheeks flushed as they flailed about. "What the heck are you two wearing? That's not-" They hiccuped. "That's not the Plegian Guard unif-uh-uniferm!"

"I-" Lucas tried to reply but was cut off.

"Oh, w-wait, your face…issat dirt or blood? I c-can't tell. It's so dark here! How are you not dying?!"

"You-" Lucas was cut off again.

"I gotta say, you are, uh…" The soldier paused, eventually hiccuping twice. "You are certainly dressed. I think. Where'd you g-get those clothes, anyway? You look kinda like a noble. B-but that doesn't make 'ny sense. Why would a n-noble be here?! I'm not a noble, so why would…"

The soldier paused again. Lucas kept silent, waiting for the drunkard to speak again, but they never did. Sensing an opportunity, Lucas took the initiative.

"I am looking for-"

"You know what?" The soldier interrupted him. "You say you're looking for something, but'cha you know what? You know what I'm sayin', pal? Friend? What am I fuckin' saying?! Huh? Huh?!"

Lucas sighed, the frustration in his expression becoming palpable. "This is getting annoying," he attempted to mumble to himself, but he ended up being louder than anticipated. He grabbed the soldier by the soldiers and glared into their eyes. "Listen to me. I am-"

"The dark lord Grima? I doubt it. You don't seem dark-y enough. All that nonsense the Grimleal spout - pah! It's all-"

Out of nowhere, Lucas' fist came careening into the soldier's face, which sent them straight to the floor.

"Ow! Wh-what the-" Another hiccup. "Why'd you do that?"

"Listen," Lucas said with heavy emphasis. "I am looking for a man named Omar. Where is he?"

The Plegian narrowed their eyes. "Huh? G-General Omar? You want that guy? He's a rock in the quicksand, that guy. No fun at all. Why do you want him?"

"He has the answers I need. As do you." Lucas pointed at them. "You have wasted enough of my time with your ridiculous, drunken antics. You will tell me Omar's location…now."

"Alright, alright, lighten up already! It's Aadil's birthday today, don'tcha know. Relax a little. But if you really wanna be all annoying about it, I guess I could get you outta my hair. Just gimme a moment."

While the soldier struggled to pick themselves up, they massaged a wound that appeared on the back of their head. Both nostrils on their nose were also bleeding, which also prompted a slight massage.

"Well, General Omar is…" They hiccuped again after returning to a standing position. "He's in his room. You know where that is?"

"I do not."

The Plegian frowned. "What kind of soldier doesn't know where their own general sleeps? You musta been drinking a lot, huh?" They shot Lucas a teasing look. He did not flinch. "Anyway, it's down the hall there-" With their thumb, they pointed to an open hallway that stretched out from the right side of the common room. "And it's the largest door on the left, way down the corridor. The general sure likes his stuff all grandiose, or whatever. Fair enough to the guy. If I were him, I'd…huh? H-hey!"

Lucas had already begun walking toward the aforementioned hallway. He ignored the Plegian's confused stares and bewildered exclamations, carrying on without a care.

The soldier remained in the common room. They slowly turned to their half-consumed glass of beer, which was still firmly in their grasp.

"So he musta been the one who chugged the rest of the ale earlier! Explains why he was actin' so weird," they said, squinting suspiciously at Lucas' back. "I'll remember this transgression, friend…"

As the Plegian began to think angry thoughts, Lucas continued toward the hallway that had been pointed out to him. He had to shove past a few people just to move around, but eventually, he made it.

He left behind the party in the common room.

Following the directions he had been given, Lucas power-walked his way through the ensuing corridor that was around the corner of the slightly lengthy hallway he initially arrived at. Thankfully, the place he needed to go wasn't too far away. No longer bound by the restrictions of sand or the party crowd, he could move as freely and speedily as he pleased.

Which meant that he was able to arrive at the biggest door of them all, the same one the earlier soldier mentioned to him. The same one that was to house the person he needed to see.

Not wasting any time, Lucas kicked the door open, shattering the lock in the process. A bald, aged man, who sat at a stone desk in the room behind the door, flinched in response.

"What in the name of-"

He turned around, his hefty brown armor making clunking sounds as he moved. His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Lucas.

"You're not one of mine," he spoke with a deep, authoritative tone. "You don't even look Plegian. A Ylissean spy, perhaps?"

Lucas blinked, his demeanor unwavering. "You must be General Omar."

"Hmph. What if I am, boy? Are you here to kill me in the name of the Exalt? Go ahead. Try me."

"No." Lucas shook his head. "If I were to kill you, I wouldn't get the answers I need. I do not serve this 'Exalt', whoever that may be. I only want to speak with you."

"I have heard better lies from smaller men. You'd best come up with something far more believable than that, else you won't be standing there much longer." General Omar shuffled his chair to the side, allowing Lucas to see the axe that was on his desk. "Speak, boy."

"How dare you…!" Lucas grit his teeth in anger. "I would never lie about this. I will spell it out for you. I have been told that you are a general of the Plegian Guard, I believe it's called. You know about the ongoings of the military this kingdom wields. As such, you would know if my wife has been found."

"Your…wife?" Omar tilted his head in confusion. He fully turned his chair around, the countless wrinkles around his face now clear to see. "Interesting. Of all the thieves and spies I've taken care of in my time, you must be the most interesting one yet. Consider me enthralled by your lie. Come."

The elderly man wagged his finger in his direction.

"Let us talk. At the very least, I will be entertained."

Lucas' expression relaxed, but only slightly. He still remained on guard as he entered Omar's vast quarters, standing a short distance in front of the aged man while he continued sitting on his wooden chair.

"Talk, intruder. Let's see if you can convince me not to kill you straight away."

"You wouldn't be able to. I would never allow myself to die before I can find her again." Lucas returned Omar's confident gaze with a determined expression.

"A confident one, eh? Usually, someone like you would have crumbled by now. And yet, you're still standing, making false claims such as the one you've just made. Heh." Omar chuckled. "You say I might know where your 'wife' is, but your accusation has quite a significant leap of logic to it. You assume I know what the other generals are up to, and what their men have discovered."

"Is that wrong?"

Omar grinned. "No. That's what makes you so interesting. You've certainly done your research, at the very least. I know a thing or two about what the other generals of the Plegian Guard are doing."

"Then tell me." Lucas leaned forward, stepping forward while intensifying his frown and gradually increasing the volume of his voice. "Has my wife been found? Have you heard anything about a woman named Dorothea? Anything at all?! Tell me!"

The general's mouth hung open in surprise.

"Your words…they feel genuine. Either you are an actor, or you are telling the truth. I wonder which of the two is the case. Though, I must say, looking at you-"

Omar stared at Lucas' expression, which remained mostly unwavering, except for the melancholic glimmers in his eyes. The old man chuckled again.

"You certainly are interesting."

"I don't care for what you think of me! All I need to know is where Dorothea is, or where I might be able to find her. Anything that can point me in her direction. So do not waste my time with your pointless remarks! Just give me what I need…" Lucas breathed a self-calming sigh. "And I will be on my way."

"Calm yourself there, boy-no, wait." Omar put a hand over his bare, wrinkly chin. "Hmm, now that I'm getting a proper look at you - you don't seem much like a boy. You seem…experienced, but perhaps not in the same way as I. You are far more interesting than I initially-"

In an instant, the jagged blade of the Sword of Seiros was pointed at the Plegian general. Lucas' eyes were wide, his entire face bearing a maddened expression.

"Do not waste my time. I need Dorothea. She's the only thing that matters to me. I need her!"

Omar's eyes briefly widened due to a sudden surge of shock. "Fine. I suppose I'm going senile, anyway. Let me think."

Entering a moment of contemplation, Omar stared at the ground, keeping Lucas' sword out of his vision. As the old man thought, Lucas glared at him, ensuring his weapon was poised for a kill. Though, his hand trembled slightly as he kept it held in place.

A moment later, Omar spoke.

"I'm afraid I don't know anything about your wife in particular. However!" He raised a finger, halting Lucas before he could begin his assault. "I have an inkling as to where she might be."

"Tell me, then! Where might she be?!"

Omar sighed. "Do you know of the Grimleal, perchance?"

"Grimleal?" Lucas raised a brow. "I have heard of them, but I know little about them. What do they have to do with Dorothea?"

"Hopefully nothing. The Grimleal is a religious cult that has spread their influence all across Plegia by now. I've heard they even have members in places like Regna Ferox and Valm - that's how widespread they are." Omar shook his head. "They're a dangerous bunch. I'm not particularly fond of them. Thankfully, we haven't had to deal with many of them over here in Gra, but I feel like it's only a matter of time before they send someone out here. I've heard even the king himself is in talks with a Grimleal mage. They are-"

"You're wasting my time again," Lucas interjected, waving around the Sword of Seiros. "Get to the point. They're religious, you say? Why would they be interested in my wife?"

"I'm not sure. It's only a hunch I have. There's been a lot of strange things happening around here as of late, and coincidentally, at the same time, the Grimleal have been growing in power. I can only speculate, but perhaps, with how widespread they are, they might have her. For what, exactly? I don't know. I don't have the mind of a mad cultist trying to resurrect a dead dark dragon."

Lucas blinked, then untensed. He sheathed the Sword of Seiros and sighed.

"Where can I find their headquarters?" He asked, his tone of voice also somewhat relaxed.

"They're everywhere, but you can mostly find them in the capital, Doluna."

"And where is that?"

"To the southwest of here, almost a week's worth of travel away. I'm guessing you want to go straight there."

Lucas swiftly turned around, facing the door he forced open earlier. "If it's where Dorothea is, I'll go anywhere. Even to the very ends of this world. I will do anything for her."

"Heh." Omar smiled. "Reminds me of how I felt about my wife back in the day. I can understand where you're coming from, friend."

"Hmph."

Lucas began walking toward the forced-open door, only stopping when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Hold on there," Omar said, retracting his arm as Lucas turned toward him. "Let me escort you out of here. You're technically an intruder, so if anyone sees you on your own, they would try and detain you. In all honesty, I should be doing that right now. I have no idea how you got in here in the first place. Actually, how did that happen?"

"I walked in."

"You…walked in? But how? I have guards posted all around the castle. How did you get past all of them?"

Lucas raised a fist, then stared blankly at it. "They fell unconscious."

"Hmm?" Omar followed Lucas' gaze. "Oh, I understand. You attacked my guards."

"I did." Lucas solemnly nodded.

"Oh. Well, at least you're honest about it. You said you only knocked them unconscious, which I suppose is better than outright killing them. I guess it's their fault for letting their guards down, but you shouldn't have attacked them in the first place…" Omar scratched the back of his bald head. "Normally, I would detain you for what you've done, but considering how most of my soldiers are celebrating right now, I'd rather not ruin their fun, even if I'm not participating in it myself. I'm not that kind of general."

"Get on with it," said Lucas, narrowing his eyes at the old man.

"Right, right. Apologies. Anyway, here's what we'll do. Since you haven't done anything that bad in my books, I'll let you go. You just want to find your wife; I get that. I do. If I were in your shoes, I'd be doing the same. I'll let you go off to Doluna or wherever else you want to go, as long as you don't cause any more problems for me. Hurt any more of my men and I'll be inclined to go after you. Does that sound fair?"

"It does. As long as you don't impede my search."

Omar grinned. "I won't. That would be too wasteful on my part. We've got too much to worry about lately, what with all those bandits, the king's rumored attack on Themis, the supposed war with Ylisse - we just wouldn't have the time to go after you. Assuming you don't suddenly become a serious threat to our kingdom, or anything like that. Speaking of bandits, I hope my son makes it back home soon. It's been far more than a week since I sent him out on-"

"Is that everything?" Lucas raised his voice, a slight agitation added to it.

"Ah, no, heh." Omar smiled. "Come on. Let's get moving. I think we're about finished here."

Giving the Plegian general one final glance that combined suspicion and vexation, Lucas sighed, returning to his departure efforts. He left out of the door he forced open, with Omar following right behind. The two headed back through the party in the common room. Although they were drunk, the soldiers under Omar's command stood aside, allowing him and Lucas through without much trouble. They then exited the barracks, eventually doing the same with the castle as a whole, leaving from the same point at which Lucas entered.

Outside, the evening sky was almost completely eradicated in favor of the dark of night. Stars were beginning to form and a half-moon was making an appearance.

The two guards posted at the front door were still unconscious.

"Ugh. I'm going to whip these two into shape whenever they wake up," Omar commented. "They deserve it. Last time something like this happened, I gave them both some serious training drills. I really should stop posting them here, but they seem so adamant on-"

Much to the general's surprise, Lucas began silently walking away, heading down the path to the city.

"Hey! Leaving without so much as a goodbye?" Omar called to him.

"There's no need," Lucas replied as he kept walking. "I have something I must do."

"Fair enough. Don't cause any trouble out there, alright?"

"I will do whatever is necessary…for her."

Without any further words exchanged between the two, Lucas disappeared into the city of Gra as Omar remained in front of the castle. He glanced at both of his unconscious guards and sighed.

"Whatever am I going to do with you two…?"

Meanwhile, Lucas proceeded through the city, shuffling through the stone-bound streets to get to exactly where he needed to be. The stable was his next destination, the very same place he stored his horse. Once he arrived there, with minor help from one of the stablehands, he found the animal in the same open, outdoors pen he left it in earlier that day. The cart was unattached at first, but the stablehand helped to put it back on the horse.

When Lucas returned, the horse stared at him for a moment then let out a small, tired neigh.

"I think he wants to stay here for the night. Poor boy looks exhausted. What have you been doing to him?" The stablehand, a short-haired Plegian woman, asked, as she and Lucas stood in front of the horse's pen.

Lucas turned to her with a curious look. "Him?"

"You didn't even know his gender?! What kind of horse rider are you?!"

A small drop of sweat appeared on Lucas' forehead as he looked away, facing the horse. "None of this matters. We'll be moving - now."

The stablehand huffed. "You are a terrible person. I hope you know that."

"I do."

With a shrug and a suspicious, spiteful look, the stablehand left Lucas and his horse be. He proceeded to climb up onto the animal and take the reins, driving it toward the southernmost gate of the city. The guards let him out without any issues.

As he and his horse stepped out onto the sands of Plegia once again, Lucas pulled out Basilio's map from the satchel behind his cloak.

"South west…" Lucas' gaze lingered at the map for some time, then he looked up and raised a finger before pointing in a particular direction. "That way."

He looked toward that direction, turning his horse in the same way.

"Doluna, the capital." Lucas' face bore a determined frown. "Please be there, Dorothea…"

Atop his steed, Lucas rode into the distance, beginning the long journey toward Doluna, the capital city of Plegia. The next step of his search had begun.

Somewhere among the dunes of Plegia's wildlands, amid the blue morning sky, the wildlife was roaming free. Scorpions, birds, and all sorts of harmful creatures were crawling and/or flying around the area in a carefree, peaceful manner.

They were disturbed only by the obnoxious sounds of a small group of horses galloping along the sands, kicking up the gold-brown substance as they hurried across the landscape. They were ridden by lightly armored soldiers, natives of the kingdom, who traveled alongside their allies who were not aided by the speed of a steed.

The captain of this particular detachment of the Plegian Guard rode at the front of the pack.

"King Gangrel, heh heh…" He maliciously smiled. "You will most certainly be pleased by what we have done for you. Those thieves, they-"

"Sir? Are you talking to me?"

"W-what?!" The captain flinched in surprise. He turned to his right, quickly discovering that one of his men was staring at him with a curious gaze. He let out a relieved sigh. "Oh, thank Grima it's just you. I was only talking to myself, for your information."

"Oh, okay. It just, to me, sounded like you were talking to the king. He's not here, so what were you-?"

"Enough!" The captain raised his voice, causing a minuscule reaction from his subordinate. "I don't need you questioning me right now."

"It's okay, sir. We all have our weaknesses."

"I-" The captain frowned. "Am I that much of an open book…?"

"With all due respect sir, yes. Absolutely. You're as easy to read as a children's picture book."

"A…what? Never mind. Let's just focus on returning to the capital."

"Whatever you say, sir."

The unit of Plegian soldiers redoubled their efforts toward returning to the capital of their kingdom, Doluna. Their march was rather lengthy, as they kept going for several hours, only occasionally taking short breaks whenever needed.

But as they dashed along the sands of their home, a crackle of energy appeared in the sky. It was there for only a moment - only one person saw it.

"Did anyone see that?" One of the Plegian soldiers asked.

"Huh? What is it now? We under attack, or something?" A soldier that was walking beside the previous one responded.

"I don't think so. It didn't look anything like an attack to me. It was…"

Another crackle of energy appeared at the same point in the sky as the last one. Both soldiers raised a brow.

"There it was again! Did you see that?"

"I did. What the hell…?"

Seconds later, another crackle appeared, which was followed by a fourth momentarily after. They started appearing rapidly, which got the attention of everyone in the group.

"What in the name of the Fell Dragon is that?!" A different soldier exclaimed.

Something started to form in the sky, around the same spot where the crackles of energy had been appearing. A light blue circle took shape, created from the same magical energy that made sudden appearances moments earlier. Initially, there was nothing inside the circle, it being merely a window to the rest of the sky behind it.

But then a turquoise-white space materialized inside of it. Within the space, the faint outline of a person could be seen. Their figure became larger and more noticeable over time, as if the person in question was getting closer.

"My l-love…!"

They reached out, touching the other side of the circle from the space they inhabited. After doing so, their white-skinned arm started coming through. The rest of their body soon followed.

A woman with long, brown hair, green eyes, and a particular white battle outfit that showed lots of skin came through the circle.

"Wh-where-?"

The circle dissipated behind her, along with the entire space she ran through. She promptly fell to the ground, unconscious.

All of the Plegian soldiers stared at each other in a shared sense of astonishment.

"What just happened?" One of the soldiers asked loudly. "Anyone got any ideas?"

"Maybe she's a Ylissean spy that tried to use magic to warp to the capital so she could assassinate the king! That's gotta be it!"

"No way! What kind of magic looks like that?!"

"You never know what the Ylisseans are up to these days! I hear some weird stuff's been showing up over there, out of the blue! I bet they're preparing a secret weapon against us!"

"Don't be ridiculous! There's no way the Ylisseans have anything like that! If they did, they wouldn't have let us destroy that one city of theirs!"

"I'm not ridiculous! You're ridiculous!"

"Oh for the love of…"

As the arguments continued, the captain grinned maliciously to himself.

"King Gangrel…I've found someone very interesting for you."

Author Notes: Lucas' journey continues, and now Dorothea finally enters the picture. But where did she end up, exactly...?

Shoutouts to Frost for beta-ing!

Review responses:

blueassassin996 - His zeal is certainly doing a lot of damage to himself, yeah. Hopefully it doesn't undo him in any way.

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