The Last Shard!

4 years and 360 days had passed.

The search for the shards continued.

Saikou was the only one that found another shard the entire time, having crammed himself through a slight crevice in a cave that led to a glowing light. The shard propped itself on top of a stone pillar and he used a Wight Chaplet to coat himself as a ghost along with the shard to get back out. This was evidence enough to keep going, knowing that the last one was somewhere.

Everyone was exhausted and Welpen had grown into his body as a teenager. His hair was long now, but surprisingly, Saikou had remained the same. They had become so focused throughout the years, that they didn’t even question it, and Welpen had changed, seeing how harsh this was. He had trained with his new sword through endless nights, a sword that was legendary because of his and Michiaki’s efforts through crafting.

A half orange and half yellow blade with a white handle that specialized in the mastery of realms called ‘Juntapoa.’ He could recreate anywhere on the planet into a powerful realm that controlled the elements of whatever it was. Michiaki praised it as one of the more powerful swords in the world as it was legendary, although its attack abilities were not the highest and anyone with powers high enough to break out of false worlds could easily beat him.

He didn’t care though.

His eyes were focused more than when he was a kid. Even though he hadn’t aged more than close to 5 years, he was a whole different person and that happy side of him had somewhat faded along this journey.

They had not seen Goro and Astro since, nor had they seen Natsuki and Iki. They would’ve come to them if they had found a shard, but they hadn’t since that day. They were running out of time and the strategy with the Tracker Chaplet and Luck Chaplets did not work.

Michiaki had kept sending out the army of skeletons, but they kept bringing back useless chaplets everyday. He had also been visiting his wife and kids every night when they took a break, which is when Welpen would train even more. The three of them seemed more distant than ever, but Saikou had just sat there, watched, and listened to what was going on. He was just along for the journey and trying to help.

With only 4 days left in the sky, they were losing hope. They had all agreed at the start to come back to each other with 3 days remaining and to meet at Moonshadow Village. Michiaki sat in front of the fire drinking black tea and staring at nothing. He had begun to slowly diminish in his mind, but he finally spoke out loud in a soft tone…Something they hadn’t really done in a while.

Michiaki: “I’m taking my family to the World of White. I can’t take anybody else. I’m sorry. We failed. Once that timer hits zero, multiple entity’s powers will start to take over the world and kill everybody. Maybe someone is out there that is stronger than me, but I can’t stop the incoming results. We’ve searched a lot of places, but it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. We haven’t covered the Frostlands of the North, controlled by Aelig the Ice King yet. It’s our last spot. If everyone did their assigned spots throughout the years, Goro and Astro should just have Alkeron City left and Natsuki and Iki should be finishing up Lorenzo Cain’s land.”

Welpen: “Let’s get going old man. We’re wasting time here. Let’s head out already.”

They teleported to the frosty and cold area, specifically looking at Aelig’s territory first. They walked and looked around his castle, first seeing Aelig and a small robot clashing swords together. Water and ice were halfway out of their hands, but frozen in midair. They looked in every crevice, but found nothing.

They checked the land throughout the night until coming across a log cabin. The three of them opened the door to a man who sat in front of a fire with a hot towel over his face. He said, “Ah, have you come to free me, Isara? It’s been quite a long time.”

When nobody said anything, he took the towel off and slowly turned towards them.

Kaibo: “Ah, you’re not her. What do you want?”

Welpen: “Isara? What the hell do you know about her? Answer me.”

Kaibo: “You’re a hot tempered one, aren’t you? I’m going back to sleep.”

Michiaki: “What is your name?”

Kaibo: “What’s it to you?”

Michiaki: “Well, I guess that to me, it doesn’t mean much, but to you, answering that could be the key to me breaking you out of here.”

Kaibo turned back at him with serious eyes. His faded and tired look went away.

Kaibo: “What did you just say? You have the sword that controls this place?”

Michiaki: “Well, no, but I know what it is, and I know exactly where it is. Now, why don’t we chat for a little bit. We’ve been on the road for a long time. We’re a little worn down and don’t have much time for bullshit. My family’s lives are on the line.”

Kaibo: “Is that so? Take a seat, hotshots. Let’s get this party rolling.”

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Astro: “We don’t have much time left. We’re supposed to be meeting everyone in half a day. We’re not going to have time to search every single crevice of the Royal City. Maybe if one of the groups is done, they can come help us. This is just stupid. My shadows can’t even get extended that far. What the hell was that stupid food from the Garden supposed to do if it doesn’t help me.”

Astro said this in frustration, however his powers were significantly better since eating the food from the Garden. He knew this, but always thought he was weak and wanted to gain more strength.

Goro: “I’m not giving up hope. I was given 5 years and that’s what I’ll take. I’m checking every single person, place, and thing in this city until I know it’s not here. Then I’ll think of something else we can do. I didn’t sacrifice all this for nothing.”

They checked everything as they went, but first headed to where Mugen resided. They checked his office where he sat there frozen in his chair and then every inch of the building where Astro found a huge machine in the basement that was housing chaplets. There were 35 of them in this strange machine. Goro came downstairs to look as well, but disregarded it. He took every single chaplet and headed off.

Goro: “Come on. We aren’t looking for anything else but the shard. Even if it’s something like that. Something that could be dangerous and we don’t know about, it doesn’t matter. If we don’t find the shard, the world is doomed.”

They looked around until the sun came up.

They had less than 10 minutes until they had to meet. That’s when a miracle occurred. It was as if every god ever had come together and granted these two something out of pure joy. A girl, not much older than 11 years old with black pigtails and overalls started skipping down the road. She saw them and waved and on her sword was the last shard. A golden, shining tip that they needed. Astro and Goro did not hesitate and ran as fast as they could to the girl. They reached their arms out to tackle her when she turned towards them and said, “Wand of Glory.”

Both of them were sent back inside Mugen’s office. They panicked, not wanting to lose her and raced back downstairs.