Chapter Forty-Three: Shauna's Illusion (Part 2)

Day 4 has come, readers, we're almost done, enjoy the resolution of the 1st part. Cya.

"Getting...married?" Zuka and Oliver said together as they looked at their squadmate and friend with a look of shock.

"Yeah," was the illusion mage's only response, but the tone of her voice was somber.

"But, I thought you didn't want to get married?" Zuka recalled.

Shauna slowly turned around, her back facing them. "Well, things have changed," she replied as she started to walk away. "I'm heading back home with my parents now, the wedding is tomorrow morning,"

The wood and sparkle mages looked in disbelief as their friend soon became out of view, as Shauna was speaking, however, they could've sworn she sounded like she was about to burst into tears at any moment.

"I think we both know that there's no way in hell she's doing this of her own free will, she sounded like she was about to cry," Oliver spoke up.

Zuka nodded. "I agree, we need to find Captain Rill, perhaps he can tell us just what's going on, maybe he could even get her out of this," she said.

The two Aqua Deer knights immediately started running towards Rill's office, but they noticed he wasn't there, they continued running, searching almost the entire base. It was when they started checking the outside of HQ did they find their captain, standing at the entrance.

"Captain Rill!" they exclaimed.

The picture mage turned around at the sound of his name, Zuka and Oliver immediately noticed that their captain's eccentric and childish smile was no longer present, replaced by a sad look.

"Oh, hello you two, what are you doing here?" he asked, the tone of his voice matching the look on his face.

"Rill, it's Shauna, she said she's getting married, but we know she doesn't want to, we need to stop her," Zuka said.

"I'm sorry, but I can't," he stated. "Her parents informed me of her engagement, and now they're on their way to their house,"

"You can't? Why not, you're her captain, don't you have the power?" Oliver asked desperately.

"My authority as her captain can't override the authority Shauna's parents have over her, my hands are tied, there's nothing I can legally do," Rill replied as he clenched his fists. "I wish she could stay here too, she has such great potential and is one of my favorite knights,"

Zuka and Oliver clenched their fists as well and put their heads down, their captain was right, there was nothing they could do to help the illusion mage, the three Magic Knights stood in a mournful silence, not uttering a single word.

Instead, tears dropped down from their faces.

"And we're here!" Rosaline cheered as the three Trixxtons arrived at the estate.

Shauna looked up, her eyes showed little emotion, they were slightly red from her previous tears, but they slightly widened as she noticed that she didn't recognize the estate in front of them, it looked like an entirely different building.

"This isn't home, where are we?" she asked with strong aloofness.

"We were initially planning to come here later in the day, but your mother and I decided that it would be nice to meet your fiancé as soon as possible," Seymour replied. "Welcome to the Sakuraba Household,"

"Sakuraba?" Shauna muttered, the name sounded familiar, she then remembered that they were a pretty wealthy noble family, although not as well-known or influential as the Rossius.

"Let's head inside, we don't want to keep them waiting," Rosaline hummed as they all got out of the carriage they were in and started walking to the estate, they were welcomed by a singular guard.

"Ah, the Trixxtons have arrived, you're just in time, please follow me," the guard said, he led to three through the household, Rosaline and Seymour noticed how extravagant the place looked from the outside, grins came to their faces, their daughter was a different story, however, it didn't matter what she was looking at, her face remained emotionless.

The guard directed them to a small room with two chairs set across from each other. "Please wait here, the young lady will sit on the chair,"

"Thank you very much," they said as the guard walked away, Shauna then went and sat down on the chair, Seymour and Rosaline stood on her left and right.

Just about two minutes later, three figures entered the room, the Trixxtons noted that they all had bright pink hair.

Shauna stood up from her chair and curtsied. "I assume you are Lord and Lady Sakuraba, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, I am Lady Shauna who hails from the House of Trixxton," she greeted.

Her two parents smiled, glad that their daughter still remembered how to greet other nobles like they had taught her to.

The two adults respectfully bowed their heads. "You are correct, it is our honor to meet you as well," Lord Sakuraba stated.

The illusion mage stood up straight, but didn't miss the chance to view her future husband, she noted his features, he had short pink hair, a light complexion, and striking blue eyes with freckles adorning his face, he wore a fancy blue suit with a lime green tie. She watched as he sat down on the other chair, his parents standing next to him, she sat back down herself.

Lady Sakuraba placed her hands on her son's shoulder. "This is our only child, Joshua, and there Joshua, is your fiancé, your future wife,"

"My future wife?" Joshua repeated as he looked at Shauna, he then turned his head away from her.

"Is something the matter?" Shauna asked, her tone still lacking emotion.

"No, it's just…," Joshua began, his gaze still fixated away from the illusion mage, but his cheeks bloomed a light red. "...You're really pretty,"

For the first time since she had arrived at the estate, Shauna's look of aloofness broke, her face expressing mild shock, but nothing that the adults could really notice. "He's...shy? I can't really say I was expecting that, as the heir to a powerful noble family, I expected him to be some spoiled brat that I'd have to tolerate, this is a major curveball," she thought.

"Why don't we give these two some time to talk alone while we work on sorting out the ceremony?" Lady Sakuraba suggested.

"A wonderful idea," Seymour agreed as the four adults left, leaving the two teens alone.

Shauna looked at Joshua, the boy still wasn't looking at her, she couldn't deny that she felt quite flattered by his compliment, especially when she seemed like a good enough person.

"Are you planning on staring at that wall all day?" Shauna plainly joked.

Joshua slightly jumped at her words and looked at her. "I'm sorry this feels awkward, it's just that I get nervous around pretty girls," he explained.

"There's no need to be nervous," she responded as she allowed herself a small smile. "To be honest, you're pretty cute yourself,"

"T-Thanks," Joshua said as he looked down, a big albeit nervous smile appearing on his face as he took multiple glances of his fiancé, shifting from her to the ground.

The young Sakuraba wanted to start a conversation, so he clenched his fists and brought his eyes up, they met with Shauna's, but they stayed there this time as he opened his mouth. "So, I see you're a Magic Knight?" he asked, his eyes quickly falling on Shauna's robe.

"It's true, I've been with the Magic Knights for a year, it can get dangerous, but it can also be fun," the illusion mage replied.

"Cool, I've always wanted to join the Magic Knights, to protect people and keep them happy," Joshua said, his voice growing in excitement before it went back down to normal. "But my parents said I couldn't, at least, not until I get married and have a child to continue our lineage if I happen to die in battle,"

"I see, but regardless, your desire is an admirable one, and if you ever get to join a squad, I recommend the Aqua Deer, you'll have a good captain, and you'll make good friends," Shauna stated, but her voice fell around the last part.

Joshua noticed the fall in her countenance. "You know, we don't have to stay in this room, if you want, we could go to the outside part of the estate," he said as he stood up, hoping a change of scenery would cheer her up, he extended his hand to her, his face becoming red again.

"S-Since we'll be getting married, would it be fine, if I, h-hold your hand while we walk around?" he asked nervously.

Shauna looked up at him, knowing the reasoning behind his action, she was genuinely glad he cared for her well-being, she took a hold of his hand. "You may,"

The two then walked around the estate, Joshua trying his very best not to faint on the spot, Shauna glanced at him and giggled.

"So, what kind of attribute do you use?" Joshua asked.

"Illusion magic," she replied.

"What, that sounds cool, I use Water magic, but yours is definitely cooler," he said back.

"Don't say that, I bet you can do a lot of incredible things with your magic," Shauna told him.

"Thanks, nobody's ever told me that before," Joshua smiled. "You know, I'm really enjoying this, I wasn't sure of it at first, but now, I can't wait to marry you tomorrow,"

Shauna looked away, her expression saddening. "This has definitely gone past my expectations, Joshua, you're shy, kind, and considerate, I've really enjoyed the short time we spent together too, but…," she began to think as she looked at Joshua, seeing his smiling face.

"...I don't want to marry you,"

Hours passed and night fell across the Clover Kingdom, entering Aqua Deer HQ, was Zuka and Oliver, Rill had sent them on a mission, and luckily for them, it was a simple mission, because they couldn't stop thinking about their friend.

"I still can't believe Shauna just left the squad, missions don't feel the same without her around," Zuka said.

"Tell me about it, Rill will have to send us on a combat mission eventually, and as well as losing our friend, we lost our team's support mage," Oliver added.

The sparkle mage slumped as she walked. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that, she was my favorite support mage,"

"Zuka, she was our only support mage, but I get what you mean," the wood mage stated as he too slumped. "Damn it! I bet she's being married off to some cocky bastard noble who can't do jack shit for himself, but still thinks he's the best thing since Magic Items!"

He turned to face his squadmate, who was looking at him weirdly, he sighed. "Sorry for the outburst, it's just that I don't know what to do right now,"

"Hey, you wanna stop by Shauna's room with me?" Zuka asked. "I've never actually been in her room before despite it being right next door, but now, I just want to see it, it's all we have left of her,"

"Yeah…," he began to respond. "...That'd be a good idea right now,"

The two walked slowly, neither exchanging another word to each other, some minutes passed and they arrived right in front of Shauna's door, they looked at it intently.

"Just today, you came out of this room, and waited for me so we could go to the showers together, like we do every day, thank you for never going without me," Zuka said. "I'm grateful that you were the first friend I ever made in this squad,"

"I remember the early days of being in this squad, as well as our first mission together, I was being an overbearing idiot, I thought I could fight Annalise alone and that I wouldn't need your help, but regardless, you still were there to support me, and not once did you harshly yell at me despite what I said, I'm grateful to you too," Oliver added.

"Do you think Rill might put a new support mage onto our team?" Zuka asked somberly.

"I don't think he will, Shauna's irreplaceable, even if there is a new mage, it won't feel the same as if she was here," Oliver replied with the same tone of voice.

The sparkle mage moved closer to Shauna's door, she could feel tears about to fall down from her face as she passed her hand over the wooden entrance. "It hasn't even been a day since you've been gone, and yet, we miss you so much, more than you can probably-," she was starting to say, but then she felt something inconsistent.

"Huh?" she wondered aloud as she looked at the door, it appeared normal, but something felt wrong, she dragged her finger along the door, feeling the cold and somewhat smooth wood, but then, she felt something different, like some sort of paper.

"Something wrong?" Oliver asked, noticing his friend's confused look.

"I think I found something," Zuka replied as she pulled on the papery feeling, and then, a small white sheet of paper that was held up by a tack became visible, the sparkle mage ripped the paper off the door. "It was sort of invisible...just like Shauna was this morning, she must've concealed the paper with her magic,"

Oliver walked over to her. "Does the paper have anything on it?"

"Yeah, it's a letter," Zuka replied as the wood mage walked up to her, they both looked at the paper, reading its contents.

Dear Zuka and Oliver, if you found this note, then I would've already left with my parents, I don't want to do this, but I have no choice, my mother threatened me saying if I didn't agree with the engagement, my ties to the Aqua Deer would be cut, and I'd never get to see either of you again, that was a punishment I couldn't bear to endure, so I've agreed to this, I chose not to tell you because I knew you might barge in somewhere and demand my freedom, which would be touching, but ultimately lead to more harm than good. At least I could visit you once or twice a month, that's better than never getting to see your faces, so goodbye for now. -Signed Shauna Trixxton. PS: My days of being a Magic Knight were made better because of you two, no matter what we went through, thanks for letting me be a part of your friendship trio.

Zuka dropped the note once she and Oliver finished reading it, the latter walked over to a wall, and furiously punched it. "It's all because of them! Uh, why?! This is ridiculous, I say we-," he was yelling, but stopped as he turned to his squadmate, tears were flowing down her face.

"I know all parents don't love their children, but why...why did they have to take her away from us," she cried.

Oliver walked over to her, wrapping his hand around her head as he pulled it into his shoulder. "It's going to be alright, okay," he said, trying his best to sound strong. "Look, it's clear we're too emotionally distraught, why don't we get some sleep, we'll be able to think clearer,"

Zuka gently pulled herself out of Oliver's grip, she wiped her face with her hand and lightly smiled. "Yeah, you're right, thanks for that,"

"No problem, goodnight, I'll see you in the morning," Oliver replied as he began walking to his room while Zuka entered her own, they would have a lot to think about that night.

The hours seemed to move slower for the two Aqua Deer knights, but eventually, morning came. Zuka got out of bed and scratched her head, she grabbed her towel and walked out of the door, but she turned to her side, frowning as she knew no one would come out of that door and greet her, with a sad sigh, she made her way to the showers, alone.

She returned to her room a few minutes later and put on her clothes before exiting and heading to the breakfast hall, however, she didn't get any food this time, with what happened the day before, she was hardly in an eating mood.

"Over here," she heard Oliver say, he had no plate with him either, meaning he was feeling the same as the sparkle mage.

She sat down before the two sighed simultaneously, Zuka spoke up. "Shauna's wedding is today," she openly stated.

"I know," Oliver said. "I don't know what she was talking about when she said we'd barge in and demand her freedom, I wouldn't do that...maybe,"

"Face it, she had a point, if we knew that before they got far away from the base, no doubt we would've gone in spells blazing ready to get her out of it," Zuka said.

"Damn it, I hate it when you're right," Oliver muttered.

"But regardless…," the girl then began. "...Part of me wishes that she told us anyway, you saw how she was yesterday, she looked like she was about to cry, I wish she would lean on us, we're her friends, it hurts to know that she's hurting,"

"That tone sounded oddly experienced, has that happened to you before?" the wood mage asked with a raised brow.

"I'd rather not say," she said, brushing it off. "There has to be something we can do to help her?" she asked openly, but then, something came to her head. "Hey, I have an idea,"

Oliver looked intrigued as he moved closer. "Lay it on me,"

Zuka's sad and exasperated face turned into a grin. "The wedding is most likely starting in a few hours...I say we crash it like a couple of badasses, you in?"

Oliver grinned too. "I like that idea a lot, but how are we supposed to do that when we don't know where the wedding is taking place, or where that exact building happens to be,"

"Don't worry about that part, I know a way to find out," Zuka replied as she got up and quickly walked out of the breakfast hall, grabbing a pastry on her way, Oliver got up and did the same as he followed her down the hallway.

"The day's finally come,"

Around the same time in the morning, in a room on the second floor of the Trixxton Household, was Shauna, those were the words she thought as she stood in front of a mirror while a trio of maids from the Sakuraba estate helped her into her wedding dress.

"And...done," one maid said as she applied the finishing touches to the dress, she and the other maids then backed up.

Shauna looked at her reflection, noting the features of her attire, it was a traditional wedding dress, a white gown that wasn't revealing, yet accentuated the curves of her upper body, a flowing white veil at the back of her head, a very large and puffy bottom which kept her legs safely concealed, and blue streaks across the entire dress to compliment her red hair.

The maid covered their mouths in joyous shock, one spoke up. "Lady Shauna, you look absolutely beautiful,"

"I can't wait for young lord Joshua to see you, after and your parents left our estate, he wouldn't stop talking about how excited he was for the wedding," another added.

"He's always been so shy, but he's also such a great boy, he deserves to have such a lovely bride," the third one finished.

Shauna gave a small smile. "Thank you very much," she said before turning her head away from them, her smile fell as her eyes fell upon her squad robe, neatly folded on top of her daily attire.

"We mustn't waste any time, the ceremony will begin in 15 minutes, we must help Lady Shauna down the stairs so she can make her way to the wedding chamber," the first maid said as the three of them and Shauna exited the room, they then reached the staircase, the maids holding up the large and puffy skirt as Shauna carefully went down the flight of steps. Once she reached the bottom, she walked a short distance before she was right at the gates of the wedding chamber.

"The doors won't open until noon, do you want your veil up, or is it fine down?" the second maid asked.

"It's fine how it is, everyone already knows who's getting married, so there's no point in that," the illusion mage replied nonchalantly as she stood in front of the gates, waiting until the dreaded moment when they would have to open.

While this was going on, outside the estate, was Zuka and Oliver, the two Magic Knights were hiding in a bush as they saw people come to the front of the household that was guarded by guards, one by one, the people started to enter.

"How'd you know the wedding would take place here?" Oliver asked.

"It would make sense that the wedding would take place either at the Trixxton Household, or whatever household the groom is from, but since Shauna's parents were behind the engagement, I figured it would be at their estate, and it seems I was right," Zuka replied confidently.

"And we already know how we were able to get there," Oliver said, remembering that after leaving the breakfast hall, he followed Zuka to Rill's office, and the sparkle mage asked where the Trixxton Household was located. While it wasn't common in every squad, Rill had made it his business to know where each of his squad members lived, whether he wrote it down, or remembered it by heart, just in case an emergency presented itself and he would need to know.

"Now that we've found the place, how are we going to get in?" the sparkle mage asked.

"It's easy, all the people who are coming here are obviously guests for the wedding, so we just have to pretend we're guests too," Oliver replied as the two teens quickly left their hiding spot, going behind a guest as he walked toward the entrance of the estate.

"Alright, you can enter," the guard said, letting the man into the building, but once Zuka and Oliver walked up, he extended his hand.

"Stop, I'll need to see your invitations," he gently demanded.

"Invitations?" they repeated together, Zuka spoke up. "Um, we don't have any,"

"Then I can not let you in," the guard responded.

Oliver stepped up. "C'mon sir, we're friends of the bride, and check out the robes, we're Magic Knights, would we lie to you?"

"I can't know that for sure, Magic Knights may wear similar clothing, but they're all different people, for all I know, this could be a lie just to get in and do something mischievous," the guard replied. "If you don't have an invitation, then I must kindly ask you to leave the estate,"

"Sorry mister, but we can do that, our friend is in there, we're coming through, whether you like it or not," Zuka said seriously.

"Is that so?" he asked as he clapped his hands once, only a few seconds passed before more guards came up and stood beside him, their numbers now 10 to 2.

"If you won't leave here of your own volition, we'll just have to remove you from the premises by force," he stated as he and the other guards took out their grimoires.

"So that's how it's going to be, aye? Fine then, you ready, Zuka?" Oliver asked.

"Of course, Shauna's in there, and we're this close, there's no way in hell I'm going to let some damn guards stop me," she replied.

The two teens then took out their grimoires, letting them flip through pages.

"Sparkle Creation Magic…,"

"Wood Creation Magic…,"

"Let's do this!"

The gates to the chamber then opened.

Shauna saw the medium-sized room before her, filled with blue and white decorations, within the chamber were many seats, each one filled by a body, but she didn't recognize anyone but her parents and Lord and Lady Sakuraba, who were seated in the front row.

"I guess these are Joshua's relatives, he has a lot, it's either that or friends of the family," she thought, and speaking of Joshua, at the far end of the room, on top of the altar, he was standing there, he wore a blue and white tuxedo, his cheeks were blooming a light red due to his natural timidity, beside him was the ordained priest.

Shauna then stepped forward, her peripheral vision immediately noticing the two guards to her sides who opened the gates, one of them walked over to her and handed her a bouquet of flowers, each one a different color, she nodded her thanks before he returned to his post and with the help of the other guard, closed the gates.

With the bouquet in hand, the illusion started to walk down the aisle, the guests all started to stand up once the bride passed their row, she kept walking and they kept rising until she walked up to the altar, and stood across from Joshua, the priest now between them.

The priest extended his hands up into the air. "Everyone, please be seated," he commanded as they obeyed and sat back down.

He coughed to clear his throat as he continued speaking. "Thank you for gathering here today on this beautiful afternoon to witness the union of Lady Shauna of House Trixxton, and Sir Joshua of House Sakuraba, truly a lovely day indeed,"

The congregation silently nodded as he continued. "Before the young couple read their vows and are bound in holy matrimony, is there anyone in the audience who believes these two should not get married, because if there is, speak now or forever hold your peace,"

Not a person in the congregation said a word, Rosaline and Seymour grinned at each other, there was nothing to get in their way now.

Or so they thought.

"Okay then, if no one is opposed, then we can-," the priest began, but was interrupted as the gates of the chamber were suddenly kicked open, a cloud of dust came with it.

"Just wait there a moment," a voice began.

"We have an opinion on this," a second voice finished.

Although they couldn't be seen, Shauna recognized the voices of the two mysterious figure, her eyes widening, as the dust cloud settled, they came into view, and had proven her mental assumption correct, standing side by side was the sparkle mage with her lance in hand, and the wood mage with his hammer in hand, dust was all over their bodies.

"The two of us are opposed to this bullshit wedding!"

The people were incredibly surprised, whispers erupted among them.

"Magic Knights,"

"Look at their robes, they're part of the Aqua Deer,"

"What do you think they can be doing here?"

"Zuka, Oliver," Shauna muttered.

"Shauna!" the two teens exclaimed.

Rosaline arose from her seat, she looked at the two wedding crashers. "They're from the same squad as Shauna, they must be those friends she was talking about," she thought. "Where are the guards, apprehend these intruders!"

"Yeah, we sort of handled all of them outside, well almost all of them," Oliver explained as he turned to the two guards posted at the gate. "Wood Binding Magic: Constraining Thickets!" he exclaimed as thick branches of wood appeared, restraining the guards where they stood.

Zuka walked through the aisle, nobody either brave or stupid enough to get in her way as she stood at the foot of the altar, she looked up to see her friend.

"Hello, Shauna,"

"Um, excuse me, w-who are you?" Joshua politely asked.

"She's a good friend of mine," Shauna replied.

Oliver then ran over to them before he pointed at Joshua. "You're the groom, right? We're not letting Shauna marry you, you damn good-for-nothing!"

"G-Good-for-nothing?" Joshua repeated shyly.

Shauna stood in front of her future husband. "You're wrong, Oliver, this may be a forced engagement, but Joshua's a really nice person,"

"Oh, really? Never mind then, forget what I said," the wood mage casually apologized.

Zuka spoke up. "Shauna, we're not going to let you go through with this, you don't have to get married,"

"You're wrong, Zuka," Shauna said as she frowned. "I don't have a choice,"

"Yes you do, we found the note last night, we know about what your mom said, but regardless, you shouldn't let your life be dictated," Zuka said back.

Seymour walked up. "Don't fill Shauna's head with your crap, she has to do this, for the sake of the Trixxton House,"

Zuka sucked her teeth. "What? I don't get you nobles sometimes, you're her father, and yet her own happiness doesn't come first in the subject of marriage, you don't deserve a child,"

It was Oliver's turn to talk. "I'm a noble and even I don't get this," he turned to the red-haired girl, his eyes slightly indifferent. "Shauna, forget about your family for a while, do what you want to. You said that before you joined the squad, you felt like your life wasn't real, so live your life so it does feel real, don't worry about your parents,"

"To make it feel real?" Shauna repeated as she clenched her fists and turned to the pink-haired noble. "Joshua, I'm sorry, but I can't go through with this,"

Joshua's eyes widened. "Y-You can't?"

She slowly nodded. "I was forced to do this against my will, now I need to do what I can to make my life feel real, and as well as that, you're a really sweet guy, you deserve to marry a girl who genuinely loves you, and that's just not me, I hope you can understand,"

To her surprise, Joshua smiled. "Of course I understand, I can't let you marry me if you don't feel that way about me, even if I do about you,"

Oliver moved his head towards Zuka. "Holy crap, this guy is awesome, I wouldn't even mind if Shauna wanted to marry him at this point,"

"Thank you," Shauna said as she walked over to Joshua and gave him a peck on the cheek, his cheeks turned red as the illusion mage smiled and stepped off of the altar. "I'll see you around sometime,"

During that entire exchange, the priest and the congregation just watched, doing nothing else, but as the bride stepped off the altar, her mother stood up and walked to her husband. "You can't do this, don't forget what I told you, don't try me!" Rosaline screamed.

Oliver turned to the annoying woman. "Oh really, I wonder what would happen if Shauna just suddenly became the only Trixxton, right now, I don't think anyone would really mind, I know I won't," he said smugly as he slung his hammer on his shoulder, successfully shutting up the noble.

The three friends then began walking to the gates, Rosaline shakily extended her hand. "Wait, Shauna, my daughter, y-you can't do this us, y-you can't," her voice now sounded desperate.

Shauna turned her head around and spoke, her voice serious and cold. "Yes, I can, my life isn't going to feel like an illusion anymore," she said as they walked out of the chamber, then exited the building, Shauna in between the other two.

"Hey Oliver, you weren't actually going to kill them, were you?" Zuka asked.

"Of course not, it was just a threat, gave that bitch of a mother a taste of her own medicine," he replied before looking at Shauna, scanning her up and down. "That reminds me, you're really rocking that wedding dress,"

"Why thank you, I don't mind wearing this to my actual wedding, it goes great with my hair," she said with a smirk.

"It's great to have you back, you wouldn't believe how messed up we were last night, Zuka was actually crying," Oliver said with a joking tone.

"Don't act like you didn't cry when you got to your room," the sparkle mage said back.

Oliver's face turned slightly red with embarrassment. "I-I don't know what you're talking about, sure I was mad, but I wasn't c-crying,"

Zuka gave a smug smirk. "You don't need to feel bad, it's-," she was in the middle of teasing the wood mage when she was cut off as Shauna pulled both her and Oliver into a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry, you two, I'll never do anything to make either of you cry again, thank you so much for coming here, you're the best friends I could have ever asked for!" she cried happily.

Zuka and Oliver both gave a warm smile before Shauna let go of them, the former spoke up. "Oh yeah, we have something for you," she reached into her satchel and pulled out Shauna's robe and daily attire. "After we got inside the building, it took us a few tries to find the wedding chamber, and by mistake, I stumbled upon these,"

"And this too," Oliver added as he pulled out her satchel and grimoire.

Shauna took the latter object from Oliver and strapped it around her waist. "Thanks,"

"No problem, our brooms should be around here, I can't wait to tell Rill the good news," Oliver said as they went to the hiding spot and pulled out the two brooms.

Shauna mounted behind Zuka, she smiled. "Let's head back to base, then let's do something, together," she said as they flew into the sky.