Aftermath

Adelyn knew that the aftermath of the messy battle was difficult to clean up. Buildings were damaged, and the street itself was torn apart as a result of the rampage. The guards were hard at work sealing off the damaged area and explaining the situation to the people. An unfortunate impact of this event would most likely be damage to the city’s overall infrastructure.

As for Elaina, she was in the hands of the guards now. It wasn’t really any of their concerns anymore, though Adelyn hoped that she was doing okay. That girl seemed pretty smart otherwise. It was just a bad mistake, right?

The four of them stood outside of the cautionary tape across the street, watching everything get cleared up. They thought they would hear from the governor soon, because a reward for them was promised.

“Well,” Cozy said. “I’d consider this a massive success. Even if we didn’t get to finish the tournament, we still got our goal anyways. Plus, we’re stronger than ever!”

“Yeah, I suppose so,” Ed said, with a shrug. “Mission accomplished, I guess.”

“What’s wrong, Ed?” Teddie asked. “You seem down.”

“Well, it’s nothing major. I just feel a little bit bad about, you know, Joyce,” Ed said. “I thought I got it right this time.”

“We haven’t seen her at all since then, but according to the guards they can’t find her,” Adelyn said. “I’d hope that they realize she’s not at fault because of what happened here.”

“Well, if Ed did have a point and she inhibited a bunch of vampiric signs, then what does that actually mean?” Cozy asked.

“I dunno,” Ed said. “I was probably just wrong, that’s all. I assumed things when I shouldn’t have.”

“If we meet her again, we can apologize,” Teddie suggested. “I… I dunno if she’ll accept, but we can try.”

“Yeah, hopefully,” Ed sighed. He began to walk away from the scene, and the rest of the group followed him. They eventually walked to a quiet park, a nice change of pace from the bustling street.

Glowing flowers lit up around them, as the moon illuminated their resting space. The four of them took a seat on a nearby bench, as the only thing they had to do now was wait. This waiting wasn’t necessarily bad though, as it gave them ample time to discuss.

“Where do we want to go next?” Adelyn asked, taking out Grimace’s encyclopedia. “We still have eight more cities left to go, if you include the capital.”

“I want something lower stakes,” Ed said. “We spent all of our day fighting and training today, so something where we can just walk in and get approval would be nice.”

“Hm,” Adelyn thought for a moment, flipping through the book. “That leaves us with two options. From the encyclopedia, two fun and festive cities in the country. The Lune, the City of the Moon and Asana, the City of Art.”

“Asana, please,” Cozy said, instantly.

“What? Isn’t Lune way closer? I’d say we go there,” Ed pushed back. “It wastes less time, especially on travel logistics.”

“I’m sorry for not wanting to negotiate with a bunch of religious lunatics,” Cozy crossed her arms. “Sometimes you can’t reason with those people.”

“We’re going to have to reason with them anyway, just later. Isn’t it better to do that now?” Ed argued back.

“Are the people in Lune that bad?” Adelyn asked curiously. “We’ve met a lot of nice people in this city and Verdant. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Religion always makes things bad,” Cozy said.

“Whatever, we’re going to have to go back there anyways,” Ed said. “Avoiding it is pointless.”

“The moon is what gives us all life,” Teddie said. “Even the animals appreciate it. I would say that makes it worth adoring…”

“It’s just…” Cozy sighed. “Merchant’s intuition. That’s all, I feel like it’s just going to be bad.”

“I trust you, Cozy,” Adelyn said. “But we’ve also gone through tougher things. I’m sure we can handle it, especially if we have to face it later.”

“...whatever,” Cozy sighed. The girl stared up at the sky, as the rest of them finished their deliberation.

“So that’s three votes to go to Lune?” Ed said. “We have our plan, then. I don’t know too much about the religion stuff, but it shouldn’t be too bad.”

“Festivals are super common in Lune,” Adelyn said, pointing to the book. “Perhaps we just need to help with one of those and we can get approval like that.”

“I dunno if it’s that easy,” Teddie said. “But I wouldn’t mind if it was. All of this cheater investigation stuff stressed me out.”

“Gods are weird from what I’ve heard, but they also don’t get too involved. They just watch us, nothing to worry about,” Ed said. However, Cozy seemed to notice someone in the distance and wave.

It was Governor Knox! She seemed to have finished cleaning up her portion of the mess and was approaching the group. Two guards followed behind her, and she looked down at all of them.

“Sorry for the delay, you all may come with me,” the governor said. The four of them stood up and began to walk after her.

“I’m sure you have had time to think about your request, with this and the entire tournament behind you now,” Knox explained. They eventually walked into what seemed to be city hall, though it was currently closed for the public.

“Mhm. We’ve all had the same want, that’s why the three of us entered the tournament,” Adelyn nodded. The group were brought towards a comfy office, and a nice couch was presented for them. All of them took a seat, with Knox leaning on her desk.

“And what shall that request be?” the governor asked.

“We want to request access into the capital. You are the second governor we need approval from,” Ed said.

“We’ve already gotten approval from Mr. Custos,” Teddie said. “Could you please fulfill our request?”

“Hm,” Knox paused to think for a moment. “That man gives away his approval too easily. I never understood the idea of him as a prison warden.” She looked at each of the kids, and then sighed. “So, I look massively hypocritical by also giving you all my approval. But I’d say you all earned it.”

“Really?” Adelyn said. “Thank you so much, ma’am!”

“That lockdown is a pain in the neck for me, you know? I have to support the capital while they’re all flailing to fix a problem that they don’t want help with. I don’t mind going against Rebecca’s wishes every once in a while.”

“So, you don’t know why they’re locked down?” Ed asked. “It’s that much of a secret?”

“Yeah. They ask for my support still though, and since it's the capital I have to oblige. I don’t think you’ll cause too many problems though, maybe you can get in there for me and tell me what’s going on.”

“Sure!” Cozy chirped up. “If you help us with getting the other governor’s approvals.”

“What exactly do you need from me, then?” Knox asked.

“One ride to Asa-”

“One ride to Lune, the City of the Moon,” Ed said. “It is a perfect combination of close and relaxing.”

“Relaxing, you say? I wouldn’t necessarily say that. Luan is a little bit tricky to negotiate with,” Knox responded.

“We’ll find a way. It’s just we’ve fought a lot here, and maybe wanted to try something a little bit less… fighty,” Adelyn said.

“I understand,” Knox said. “I know this tournament meant a lot to you all. I can arrange transport for you as soon as today. But first, let me properly approve you all.”

All four of them stuck their hands out for the governor to apply them. They already had the leaf marking from Verdant on their hands. Starting with Teddie, magic pressed against his hand to create a new marking. A pair of crossed blades, a fitting symbol for the City of Battle appeared on his hand.

Edward was next up, and then Cozy too. Each of them got a new marking on their hand, before it was finally Adelyn’s turn. She stuck her hand out, and felt Knox’s magic press against her hand. A surge of energy and magic flowed into her arm, as she felt a slight burning on her hand. The image of the crossed swords appeared on her as well, as she too gained approval.

But then, Grimace’s encyclopedia glowed in her grasp once again. A similar thing to what happened back in Verdant, but ever so slightly different. The girl opened up her book, and flipped to the glowing page.

An article on arcane golems, a specialty of the city. Adelyn would remember these from the tryouts, but the one in the book seemed bigger and more powerful.

A brand new story for her to tell, and a new friend to help her along the way.

“Once again, thank you Ms. Knox,” Adelyn said. “For the opportunity, and everything.”

“You kids have a lot of potential, if the tournament told us anything,” Knox responded. “Good luck on your further journey, because I do not think it will be easier.”

“We’ll do our best,” Adelyn said.

“Let's talk about your ride, shall we?” Knox said. “I will send some guards to assist with your travel, though the journey to Lune will hopefully be a simple affair.”