Mia's POV
At the Red Keep...
I sat on the ledge of the tower in the Red Keep, looking off towards the highlands. It felt really weird coming back here. It's been two years since the Armenbrine attacked, which means it's been two years since my last archaeologist team was killed. Their deaths still haunt me. I felt like I should've done something, but...
When I heard about this place having been liberated, I didn't believe it. But now having seen it, repaired and full of life that doesn't want to sacrifice you to a demon, I feel happy for the people living here. Supposedly, there were cultists here that were trying to capture a high traffic area where they could collect more sacrifices. Then, their leader was assassinated by the "new sheriff in town." After he and a lot of his followers were eliminated, the new Imperial Resistance came in and defeated the rest. Now it's one of the best outposts in the Badlands. People and Pagnum alike trade and live here, and the Magi Guild here was recently restored.
What brought me and Cross here in the first place was to see if these rumors were true, which I can call mission accomplished. But we have stayed here for about 2 days already, preparing for anything. What made us stay so long was one of the new people of the Magi Guild. He said that he could feel a strange magical presence near the coastline, but that nothing has been there in a while. I knew that Drake was a natural mage and he also had an inborn sense of magic, so I had a firm belief that this was my first lead to finding my friends. If I can find Drake, we can then find Grayson. I just don't know what to expect. It's been two years since I've seen either of them. I don't know if they even remember me. I haven't had a lead on either of them since we separated, but I never gave up hope looking for them. I've just been... sidetracked by a few things. One was the job I got nearly a year and a half ago. It was a special hybrid of an archaeological research and thievery. Me and Cross would receive a message by courier to go to a certain site that was being targeted by mercenaries employed by the Empire to recover any artifacts and eliminate any would-be bandits. Then we deliver the artifact to a dead drop and by the next day or so, we get our payment via courier. We weren't rich by any means but we had more than enough to keep us afloat for a while. The other thing was...
"Heya!", said a voice that I knew well. Cross teleported to me out of nowhere, which he just always seems to be in the habit of doing. The first few times I would jump or let out a yelp, but as time went on, I've grown accustomed to it. He grew well, all things considered. The one thing I've never figured out was why he never really changes clothes. He always wore the same outfit from when I found him, and he's never changed it. It must've been enchanted or something. I had changed my outfit from before, at least. I wore a pink shirt with my family's symbol under a dark blue jacket with a black hood and collar. I had black shoulder pads with silver outlining, and I had one belt that connected to the dark blue tattered skirt I had. I wore two organic-looking bracers on my arms which connected to the finger-less gloves I had on. I still wore my leather pants, but I replaced my leather boots with black boots with pink highlights. I brought myself out of my thoughts to notice that Cross had his arms behind his back. "I come bearing gifts!", he said, while taking his arms out to reveal two of one of my new favorite desserts: Sea-Salt Ice Cream. It was a nice light blue ice cream bar on a stick that was salty but had a very sweet aftertaste. I immediately smiled and took one while he sat down next to me.
"Y'know, when we find your friend, we should bring him here.", Cross said, unexpectedly. I hadn't thought about it, but he was right. The view from the Red Keep's tower had a great view of the rolling hills and peaks of the Badlands and the sunset made the view even more pretty. It seemed like a more like a spot for a date but maybe we could all hang out here. "So, you ready for this?", he asked. I knew in my heart that I wanted to see them again very badly. I would do anything to help them. And maybe once we find Drake, I can ask him a few things about the Keyblade. I've had it for a while and have gotten extremely good at honing my dark abilities, but I still had questions about it: Why did it choose me? Why did it only appear that night? What was that dream all about? I was brought out of my thoughts by Cross' snoring. I swear, the dude can sleep standing up. I poked him in the face with my ice cream stick and proceeded to walk down with him to the inn. It was easier to do business around here, now that Paginums weren't the only species living here. With some human and elf influence, the Red Keep was a solid area to live in. They finally decided to have some separate rooms, so that people like me can have some goddamn privacy, praise be to God!
When I got to my room, I took off my armor until I had was my pink shirt and my black undershorts and drifted off to sleep. But lately, my dreams have been anything but pleasant. In my dreams, I always start on the Star Emerald. I have remembered this ship from my childhood, but not when it was burning to splinters. I make my way to the top deck, only to find the captain of the ship, the dreaded Red Queen of the High Seas, facing off against the source of Drake and Grayson's pain. Herobrine. The Red Queen actually manages to hold her own against the demon for a while, but then he flies straight to the top of the mast. The Red Queen then jumps on some boxes and literally defies the laws of physics by running up the mast to meet her enemy. She manages to get the upper hand and sends him crashing down to the main deck, but soon, he has her back in his grasp and slams the pirate to the floor. The Red Queen gets up, but then Herobrine grabs her by the throat and proceeds to dig her left eye out with his finger. I avert my eyes but I still hear the blood-curdling screams as the organ is gouged out of her socket. Once the screams have stopped, and I feel brave enough, I spare a glace at the monster, only for him to hold the bloodied face of the Red Queen to me, and say: "Mayadriel, tell me. Do you remember who this is to you?". The Red Queen then looks at me, her one red eye staring with an expression that begged for help or mercy. The duo then distorted and shifted to Cross being in Herobrine's grasp, with that same look he had the night we were attacked. I wanted to cry, to scream, to run, but I was paralyzed with fear. All I saw before waking up were His blank, white eyes.
I woke up with a start, but I managed to keep myself from screaming and waking everyone up. I didn't even bother trying to put my clothes on as I walked into Cross' room, which coincidentally was the room right next to mine. "Hey, Cross, are you awa-", I began to say, before realizing that in the room was not my friend but a pen animal. "Oh my God, you're a goat!", I yelled, before Goat-Cross charged me, making a squealing noise.
I woke up again, the events of my little nap dream still in my mind. I went into Cross' room again, hoping I wasn't still dreaming. "Cross? You awake? Are you still a goat?", I whispered into his room to see him sprawled out on his bed, his scarf practically a second blanket. I sighed happily to myself knowing that he was safe and not a goat. I went back to my room, and got my self ready for the journey south. I put my clothes and armor back on and brushed my hair, which had grown out since the last time I've seen Drake and Grayson, making me wonder if they'd recognize me now. Getting my boots on, I walked back into Cross' room to see that he was already up and moving, using his psychokinesis to make his bed. I made sure to grab everything we needed, like our money and plenty of healing potions, and waited for Cross downstairs.
Once he walked down, we began our journey out the gates. I have to admit, while the Red Keep itself was repaired well, the roads outside it were total garbage in comparison. At least the path was clear enough where we could know where we were going. We carefully crossed a few bridges, going one at a time to keep the weight load at a minimum. We then passed a small ruin built into the mountains, with a statue of the Armenbrine outside it. I don't know why but Cross was looking at the sculpture with an intense expression, like he was trying to reduce it to rubble by staring at it. Then the unexpected happened, he started hacking at the statue with his knife. I decided to not interfere because Cross is a untamed beast when he's angry. After a few minutes of watching my friend beat the ever-living crap out of a statue, he just kept walking like nothing had happened. I decided to ask him about it later. But before we crossed another bridge, I swore I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It looked human, but what I saw was similar to a black trench coat with red highlights. Before I could take a closer look, the figure disappeared.
Was that Drake, or has desperation caused me to hallucinate? Either way, I can't get distracted. I continued down the path until we reached the forest...
??? POV
I watched from afar, seeing the object of my journey walk along the path south. She was traveling with a human boy in a monochromatic outfit with a thing for giant knives, apparently. Ever since the fire, I thought I'd never see her again. But I expected as much, she was only a little girl when it happened. And now she knows the secret, but how much of her power has she truly unlocked? I will have to intervene to make sure she is prepared for the coming storm... and if not? Well, I just better hope it doesn't come to that. I opened a Corridor of Darkness and retreated back to my base.
Welp, here it is. I'm so sorry that this came out super Mcfrickin' late, but I've been having school problems and I'm in the marching band for my school so I've been having a lot of competitions lately. I swear to get back on top of this story, and SonicTale, soon. But now, I need to talk about something. I may need OCs for this story, to use as Rogues for Grayson to lead and befriend. However, I have a few rules. One, they cannot have had anything to do with Herobrine. He really isn't the main antagonist of this story; that's role goes to the Empire. If your OC has a grudge with the Empire, feel free to leave it down the comments below or Message me. Two, they shouldn't be related to any of the main characters. I know people who like to have their OC be Drake's sister or something but please don't do that. Three, they cannot be OP. If they have like a large amount of powers and junk that just make them too powerful, they will not be used. The Rogues are more flesh and steel, with only a few mages. Also, please leave me some feedback as to who you want me to start with next. Armen's journey with Mia, Drake doing his "job", Grayson finding some leads? Leave it in the comments or message me what you'd like. Bye!
Also, see if you can guess who that person was in the black coat. I won't confirm anything, just guess.