"Hey Emile," Blue called out from the kitchen area, "Do you mind helping me cut the vegetables? We've got a lot of humans and monsters to feed."
"Sure thing!" Emile shouted as he ran over to her, "I'd be happy to help out with the cooking. I did have to do it a lot when feeding my tribe." He quickly grabbed a knife and started quickly cutting the carrots in a vicious manner. Blue raised an eyebrow of concern.
"I'm not sure your dicing technique is so great," she told him.
"It's fine as long as long as I'm having fun and giving food to the people, right?" Emile replied.
"If you say so," Blue said. Willow walked up from behind her.
"Is it okay if I help too?" she asked.
"Group cooking?" Lance added as he and Artemis walked in, "Sounds fun."
"So, what's on the menu?" Artemis asked, "I can't wait." Blue turned around.
"I was thinking chicken soup," Blue answered, "I figured that it's the best comfort food for these skeletons. How does that sound?"
"That sounds alright." Artemis said, "So, what do you want us to do?"
"I think I could use some spices," Willow told Blue.
"That's a great ide-" Blue said, before stopping herself, "Wait, have any of you guys cooked?"
"Nope," they all replied.
"We figured this might be a good learning experience for all of us," Lance explained, "Mind if we pitch in?" Blue shrugged her shoulders.
"That's fine, I guess," she said, "I'll just stay back and give out instructions."
She took a few steps back and gave instructions to the group. Many of them couldn't figure out how to do it. Blue remained patient and gently told them what to do. However, everything became a disaster when Willow set the stove to be too hot. A fire started in the soup bowl, leaving Blue no choice but to use ice magic to cool it down. She looked around and saw the mess they had created. From Emile's poor dicing to Willow's bad seasoning, the kitchen had turned into a pile of trash. Henry walked in the room with a shocked look on his face.
"Wow," he said, "This... is bad. Why did you let them cook?"
"Because they thought it would be fun," Blue answered, "Though clearly, things didn't go as planned."
"Be we still had fun," Artemis said as he smiled.
"I'll fix this," Henry said, "You guys can go wait patiently for the meal to be ready." Everyone left the kitchen and let Henry take care of everything.
"Was our cooking really that bad?" Lance asked, "I thought it was okay."
"It was my fault," Willow replied, "I made the stove too hot."
"I don't know, my dicing seemed fine," Emile said. Blue stopped and looked out into the distance. Another vision had entered her mind.
"Oh no," Blue said, "Layla's going to be in trouble. We have to head to Aqua Town as soon as possible." Before she could leave, Blue Claire walked up to her.
"What is it?" she asked the little rabbit.
"I think she wants to go with you," Lance told her, "Willow, Percy, and I will come as well."
"It's going to be dangerous for her," Blue said, "But, her power can help me."
"My power can also help," Willow added, "I have the power to destroy."
"Then let's go," Blue stated as she picked up Blue Claire, "We don't have much time."
...
Meanwhile in Aqua Town, Layla was swimming peacefully with the fish monsters in the deep sea near the town. Everything seemed calm as she washed the stress away from herself. As she got out, water particles flung and scattered in an elegant manner.
"That was a nice swim," she told herself, "Now, let's go talk with the rest of the people about the Aqua Barrier status." As she began walking on the beach, she heard a loud noise heading straight towards them. It sounded as if a bunch of feet were dashing towards the town. Layla's smile faded.
"Activate the Aqua Barrier!" she shouted, "Now!" She and the fish monsters then used water magic to create a giant barrier made of water that surrounded the place. She looked forward and saw that the sound was none other than Blue, Willow, Lance, Percy, and Blue Claire. Layla raised an eyebrow.
"What are you guys doing here?" she asked, "That was rather deceptive of you."
"We don't have much time to explain," Blue replied, "Just let us in before something bad happens."
"Alright then," Layla replied as she split part of the water, allowing them to enter.
"So, the barrier's entirely made of water," Percy said, "That's rather interesting."
"It could be vulnerable to lightning and ice attacks," Lance worried, "Do you know what could happen if the barrier was going to get electrocuted?"
"It would get destroyed before it would hurt anyone," Layla explained, "Elizabeth did several test runs with rats before making this one."
"Let's hope it works," Willow said, "It could be fatal to many monsters." Suddenly, Blue heard many horse trots approaching them. She quickly transformed into her Eternal form and summoned the Silver Chaos Saber. Knights wearing dark blue armor rode the horses as they approached the barrier. In front of them was a male wizard wearing blue. He got off the horse and approached the barrier.
"My name is Sapphire," he told them, "Thanks for bringing me both the rabbit and Layla. Soldiers, electrocute the barrier." The soldiers then pulled out bows and docked arrows of lightning. In unison, they fired the arrows at the barrier. The electric shock caused the entire barrier to be destroyed.
"Okay, maybe Elizabeth didn't quite think this one through," Layla said to herself.
"I was sent by Nova himself to retrieve the rabbit and defeat the Integrity Star Fairy," Sapphire told them, "Now, prepare to face your death." Lance pulled out his sword, Willow summoned a scythe, Percy summoned an axe, and Layla revealed her weapon, being a silver trident.
"I'll make sure that doesn't happen!" Willow shouted as she dashed forward and swung her scythe at him. Sapphire transformed himself into a puddle of water, causing Willow to crash into a nearby house. The water crawled over to Blue Claire and grabbed her little legs. Sapphire then transformed back into a human holding the rabbit tightly. Blue Claire began to scream at a high frequency, hurting his ears.
"Soldiers!" he shouted, "Attack the people in this village!" The soldiers obeyed and started to attack the fish monsters.
"Lance, Percy, you guys need to take out the soldiers," Blue commanded, "Willow, Layla and I will take out Sapphire." Everyone nodded and proceeded to do their tasks.
"You think you three can stand a chance against me, the master of the water element?" Sapphire asked them, "Oh please."
"You're going to eat those words," Layla told him as she pointed her trident at.
"Layla, we need to be careful," Blue told her, "We don't want to hurt the rabbit."
"Very well then," Layla replied. She put the scythe down and summoned two water arms. Using one of them, she concealed Blue Claire in a water bubble and pulled her away from Sapphire. With the other, she began to use it like a whip and beat him repeatedly. Blue Claire escaped from the water bubble and hid somewhere safe. After being beaten for a bit, Sapphire transformed back into water and drifted away from Layla. As soon as he reformed, Blue shot him with a blast of ice.
"Willow, do you wish to do the honors?" she asked.
"Of course," Willow replied. She swung her scythe at him, causing him to explode, leaving his SOUL behind.
"Sapphire has been killed!" one of the soldiers shouted, "Retreat!" All of the soldiers fled in a panic.
"Thanks for helping us," Layla said, "Though I have the feeling this isn't over yet." Not long after she said that, she began to be pulled by a mysterious force.
"What's happening?!" she shouted in a panic. Blue looked over and saw Amethyst holding her hands out, controlling Layla.
"Do I really have to do everything myself?" Amethyst said with annoyance, "These wizards are useless!" She began to pull Layla away from them.
"Wait!" Blue stopped, "Where are you taking her?"
"If you want to recuse your friends, come to the CORE of Mt. Ebott," Amethyst told them, "That is, if you're up to it. Bring the rabbit with you as well. If you refuse to do so, there will be consequences." She then teleported away, along with Layla.
"This is all my fault," Blue told herself.
"No it isn't," Willow told her, "She would've found us eventually."
"We have to tell the others," Lance told her, "They need to know about this."
...
"Another wizard has fallen?!" Nova shouted as he knocked the cauldron on its side out of anger.
"Professor, I just need more time," Amethyst told him, "We will be able to defeat the princess and capture the rabbit eventually. But, I have good news. I have captured the Star Fairy of Integrity."
"And how is that good news?!" Nova asked, "We only have three wizards left! Were you able to get any information from the other two you captured?"
"The blonde one refuses to tell me anything, no matter how many times I threaten her, and the boy just gives me useless visions," Amethyst reported, "That's all I could get out of them. However, I decided to use them as bait to lure the princess and the rabbit here."
"That might work," Nova replied, "Now, leave while I clean up this mess."
"Yes Professor," Amethyst replied. She turned away, feeling shameful.
"If only I could please you," she told herself as she left the room.
"Wait one moment," Nova told her, "I have a task for you."
"What is it?" Amethyst asked as she turned around.
"I need you to kill Lance," he told her, "It's the only way to awaken the Lavender Demon." Amethyst gasped.
"You want me to kill your own son?" she asked, "But why though?"
"There is only one way to win this war, and that's by awakening the Lavender Demon," Nova explained, "As far as we can tell, she can only be awakened after losing something close to her."
"But, that would mean-"
"I know," Nova talked over, "Now, go."
"As you wish," Amethyst said with defeat.
... to be continued.