You clenched your fists as you stood in the middle of the outcast lands. Kennedy, Sabrina and the other black onyx knights stood behind you, ready to defend the village. You then saw a horde of monsters heading towards the village and saw Dark behind them using his sword to make the earth shake. You turned towards Sabrina and Kennedy and nodded your head.
"Sabrina, Kennedy, get ready." You told. Sabrina and Kennedy took out their weapons and nodded. You then gestured to the monsters. "Now! Sabrina, create the runes to trap the monsters. Kennedy, go into the village and create a barrier! Black onyx knights, follow Kennedy!" You ordered. Everyone nodded and ran towards the village as Sabrina ran forwards and dragged her sword on the ground, creating runes. Dark gritted his teeth as he struggled to control the horde of monsters. With the help of Ajeero and Reno's new invention, Sabrina used her boots to boost her speed and ran around Dark and the horde of monsters.
"Dark, move out of the way!" Sabrina shouted. Dark nodded and jumped back just as Sabrina completed the runes. You held out your hand and closed your eyes. Black markings then appeared on your skin as a scythe formed in your hands. You then opened your eyes to reveal red orbs. You swung your scythe around and magic circles appeared in the skies around the monsters. Dark and Sabrina dashed towards you and stood behind you. You gripped your scythe as chains shot out of the magic circles and pierced the monsters. You gritted your teeth as you struggled to summon multiple chains. Dark frowned. "Y/N, there's just too many! We have to fall back." Sabrina told. You shook your head.
"I will NOT abandon what we've worked so hard to protect! We will get rid of these monsters even if it means the cost of our lives!" You shouted. Your eyes then glowed red as the black markings on your body grew and even more chains appeared. The chains pierced more of the monsters. Dark sighed and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the magic circle below the monsters glowed and a pillar of dark magic power erupted under the monsters. The monsters cried out as they were all killed. Once the magic pillar disappeared, you saw that all of the monsters were dead and sighed in relief. You then fell to your knees as your eyes flashed red for a moment before returning back to their natural E/C. Sabrina rested her hand on your shoulder as she gave you a worried look.
"Are you okay?" Sabrina questioned. You smiled tiredly at her and nodded.
"Y-yeah, just used a bit too much magic is all." Dark frowned at you. He then looked over at the carcasses of the dead monsters.
"There've been a lot of monsters lately. Luckily for us, they've only been coming here at night." You frowned and nodded.
"Yeah, but if they start coming here at night time, then we'd be in a lot of trouble." You told.
"Guys!" Kennedy called out as he ran towards you. You stood up and turned towards you.
"How's the village?" You questioned. Kennedy grinned and gave you a thumbs up.
"Everyone is safe! No monster got in." Kennedy informed. You smiled.
"That's good to hear." You then winced and held your head. You then fell backwards. Dark's eyes widened and he caught you.
"Woah, you sure you're alright?" Dark questioned. You nodded.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. I'm just really tired." You admitted. For some reason your body felt really heavy. Dark frowned at you and picked you up. He then lifted you onto his back and turned towards Sabrina and Kennedy.
"I'm gonna head back to the castle. Sabrina, you should create some runes around the village to keep those monsters out. Kennedy, you stay here with her and provide her protection. I don't know how many more monsters could be out there." Dark told. Sabrina and Kennedy nodded. Dark then glanced at you and saw that you had fallen asleep. Dark sighed and used his ring to teleport back to the castle.
Dark landed on the ground and looked up to see Astro waving at him. When Astro saw you his eyes widened and he ran over to the two of you.
"Dark! What happened to Y/N?" Astro questioned. Dark glanced back at you.
"Oh, Y/N just fell asleep. She used a lot of magic today." Astro frowned and took you from Dark. He then looked down at you.
"Y/N's been getting a lot of missions lately concerning monsters. Exactly what happened out there?" Astro questioned. Dark shrugged.
"Not entirely sure. There have been a lot of monster sightings recently and monsters have been appearing a lot more than usual." Dark then glanced at you. "Actually, I think Y/N should take the day off. She's been using way too much magic lately. She's even gone to the point where she just collapses onto the ground." Astro frowned and gave you a worried look. He then saw a faint outline of the black markings that usually appeared when you used your magic.
"She's used her magic so much to the point that now the black markings are staining her body?" Astro questioned. Dark frowned.
"What are you talking about?" Dark questioned. Astro glanced back up at Dark and gestured to you.
"There's a faint outline on Y/N's cheeks." Dark looked down at you and raised an eyebrow at Astro.
"I don't see any dark markings." Dark told. Astro frowned and looked down at you. His eyes then widened when the dark markings were gone.
"That's strange, maybe they went away?" Astro questioned. Dark shrugged and turned around.
"Well, I'm off to bed. Night." Astro nodded and watched as Dark walked off. Astro then glanced down at you and smiled.
"How about we get you to bed, huh?" Astro then walked towards your room while carrying you bridal style as you slept.
The next morning, you were out of bed and in the guard's room looking over today's mission. You sighed when you saw that there was more monsters on the loose. You then gasped when someone snatched the piece of paper out of your hands and you whipped your head around to see Astro holding the piece of paper. You frowned at him.
"Astro, what do you think you're doing?" You questioned. Astro smiled at you and looked at the piece of paper.
"I'll be handling your mission today, you're taking the day off." Astro told. Your eyes widened.
"What!? What do ya mean taking the day off?" Astro folded the piece of paper and put it in his pocket.
"You've been working yourself too hard lately. You need some time to rest before you do any damage to your body. I happen to be free today so I'll be taking over the mission of handling these monsters." Astro told. You sighed. No matter how long or hard you tried to convince Astro that you would be alright, he wouldn't budge. So, you decided to give in. Besides, a day off didn't sound too bad.
"Alright, I'll take the day off. But I'm getting right back into action tomorrow!" You told sternly. Astro smiled and nodded. He then kissed you on the cheek and walked out of the guard's room. You blushed slightly. You still weren't used to the idea of you and Astro being a couple.
Dark was pulling on his gear when he saw Astro approach him and raised his eyebrow at him.
"What are you doing here?" Dark questioned. Astro smiled at him.
"I've decided to take your advice and get Y/N to take the day off. I'll be taking over her role for today. Hopefully we can stop this monster problem." Astro told. Kennedy and Sabrina glanced at each other then back at Astro. Sabrina then walked up to him.
"Well, Y/N does need her rest, so this should be okay for today." Sabrina stated. Astro grinned and nodded. A serious look then crossed his face.
"These monsters, you said that they've been appearing quite regularly. Have you tried to find the source?" Astro questioned. Kennedy shook his head.
"No, but that's because Y/N is usually too tired to do any more work." Kennedy told. Astro frowned. He then sighed.
"Well, then we'll have to go and find the source today. There must be a lot of monsters if it's tiring Y/N out." Sabrina nodded.
"Then we'd better get going now. Who knows how far the monsters have gotten." Astro nodded and teleported to the outcast lands with everyone.
Everyone appeared at the outcast lands and their eyes widened. Monsters were banging their fists and scratching at the barrier that surrounded the village. Kennedy clenched his fists.
"Oh no, the monsters have reached the village! It was a good thing we put up that barrier before we left." Kennedy told. Astro nodded and raised his hand up in the air. A group of swords appeared in the air and rained down on the monsters surrounding the village. In a matter of seconds, the hordes of monsters were dead. Sabrina smiled and nodded in satisfaction.
"Heh, you got rid of these guys far quicker than when we fought them yesterday. Y/N's still got some practice to do." Sabrina joked. Astro sweat dropped and looked at the monsters' corpses.
"Hmm, you're right. There are way more monsters than I've ever seen before in my life. Where are they all coming from?" Astro questioned. Kennedy shrugged. Dark looked over the monsters and looked up at the horizon.
"I could be wrong, but I think they're all coming from the ancient guardian grounds." Dark told. Astro raised his eyebrow at Dark.
"The ancient guardian grounds?" Astro questioned. Dark chuckled and patted Astro on the head.
"Ah, I sometimes forget how things have changed. This country doesn't just end with the outcast lands. It has way more land than you think it does. The ancient guardian grounds is one of those areas. It was originally used to initiate a guardian of the two pendants, but those lands were abandoned over two hundred years ago due to the great war." Dark explained. Astro's eyes widened. He had never known that there were more lands other than the outcast lands. Dark turned around and faced in the direction of the ancient guardian grounds. "We should head to the grounds and check it out. Who knows what's there." Astro, Kennedy and Sabrina nodded. The four of them then started to make their way towards the ancient guardian grounds.
You sighed as you sat on your bed. You then glanced at the time and groaned. Two hours hadn't even passed and you were already bored. Why did you have to take the day off? You were fine. You sighed again and sat up. Maybe a nice bath would help you relax. You stood up and walked over to your mirror to grab your towel. As you grabbed it, you looked into the reflection and gasped. You then dropped your towel as your hands immediately went to your face. You then felt around and your eyes widened in shock. Black markings stained your face, the same black markings that would appear whenever you used a large amount of your powers. You reached up and touched the markings and frowned. Your eyes then flashed red and you fell to your knees as a sudden wave of dizziness hit you.
Tobio walked through the hallways towards your room while fiddling with his fingers. Honestly, he had been avoiding you ever since Astro had announced that the two of you were in a relationship. Tobio reached your room and breathed in then out. He then raised his fist to knock on the door when he heard a crash and his eyes widened. He then burst through the door and into your room.
"Y/N!?" Tobio cried. When he saw you on the ground he gasped and ran over to you. He then bent down to your level and held his hand on your back. You held your head as Tobio gave you a worried look. "Y/N, w-what happened? A-are you okay?" Tobio questioned. You looked up at him and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just felt dizzy is all." You told. Tobio nodded.
"O-okay, as long as you're not h-hurt." You smiled at him. Tobio then helped you stand up and walked you over to your bed. You then sat down and sighed and held your hand to your head. What was going on with your body? Had you overexerted yourself? Tobio frowned. "I-I think you should lie d-down." You nodded.
"Yeah, I think I will. Thanks Tobio." Tobio smiled at you while blushing slightly and shook his head.
"N-no p-problem, it's what friends d-do." You grinned at him. You then watched as Tobio turned around and walked out of the room. You then sighed and lied down on your bed. Maybe getting some shut eye would make you feel better.