"Haah, it feels good to be back home no?" Luke said as he stepped out of the cab and stretched.

"Imagine how I feel, you pulled up in those clothes and I've been in formals all day, it's tiring, I'm beat bro," Nate replied as he walked towards the house, "Uh...where's Liam by the way? We haven't seen him at the event as well..."

​​

"I'm not sure...by now he probably knows who I am so, if he actually is Sephiroth then I'll need to talk to him. Oh yeah, since we were talking about the event, we should get an email in-game or something, I'm not sure what they're gonna give us but yeah,"

"Mhmm, I wonder as well, anyway let's login? It's been a long ass time, and the sooner we make it to Vraun, the better,"

It felt comforting to be back with Shade and Noctis, it felt like forever but in reality, it was only a single day, however, it was weird for Luke to log in as Night and not have his two buddies around him. His surroundings hadn't changed a bit, there was really no reason it would, they were travelling from the Norse Kingdom to the Aeternum, it was quite peaceful, lush green lands with the rare sounds of monsters moving. A calming breeze blowing through the blades of the grass.

'I like this, this place feels nice,' Night said as he took a deep breath, however, before he could fill his lungs completely, two distinct noises that hit home entered his ears.

"My Lord!!" Shade said as he knelt in front of Night.

"Never get's old," Nate commented, "where's the little one? Ah there he is,"

*KRUUUUUUUUUUU*

"Woah, someone's been eating huh?" Night joked as he poked Noctis's stomach, "Shade, I've missed you, truly. Yes yes, I've obviously missed you as well Noctis, I was getting to you, and no you haven't gotten bigger, don't panic," he patted the owl-dragon that was seated on his shoulder.

"What were you both doing while we were away?" Night asked curious as to how NPCs that were subjects or pets acted when the master or trainer was away.

"Well, we weren't doing anything important, it would be unwise of me to move around too much, it was too much of a risk for me to not be here when you were to come back," Shade said with his hand to his heart, his dark hair fluttered about, it looked like it grew a little since the first time Shade took this form. "As for the little one, I assume he patiently waited for your return and only moved when he had to,"

"I see...." Night stuttered, he knew Shade was loyal but his actions always surprised him, and Noctis's actions were quite the surprise as well, he just assumed Noctis was asleep the whole time and didn't notice his absence. "You don't have to worry about that, next time, if you feel like you need to move, simply leave some kind of a sign or something. Besides, Noctis has a skill that can let me see through his eyes, I don't even want to know how it works but apparently, it works no matter the distance so that's pretty scary.."

"As you wish My Lord,"

"Anyway," Nate coughed, the whole reason they logged in was to make sure they got to Vraun early, not to witness a tear-jerking reunion between two subjects and their lord. "Let's move, we need to go to Vraun, oh and Shade, we have some work for you,"

"Work? What kind of work, Sir Nate?"

"I'm sure I can help you understand it even while we're on the move, it would be better if we reached Vraun early, so let's go,"

From the rumors regarding the disappearance of the Guardian of The Forest of Silence to the threat, it poses for Vraun, Nate carefully explained Shade's role in the future plan. They weren't in the position to actually fully territorialize the forest, financially and in terms of strength. However, this was only an issue because of the aggressive nature of the Imperial Kingdom.

"I understand," Shade nodded without questioning a single thing.

"Uhm...you have no questions? Like, none at all, so you're not going to ask me why or aren't you like...attached to the Forest of Silence? Wouldn't you want us to NOT make it a territory?" Nate asked taken aback by Shade's straightforwardness.

"None at all. I understand the reasoning behind what I must do. Besides, the forest was once my territory, it only makes sense that it is now My Lords. Attachment? Hmm....I'm not sure...other than the deafening silence that arose from loneliness, there was nothing there. People would always avoid the forest, which made sense considering we Guardians are extremely territorial, however, I am different. Ever since I've met My Lord I am a new being."

"Alright then. I appreciate the honesty." Nate said before he turned to Night and said, "We should focus on leveling him up, it'll be a sight to see, however, I think we can use what's to come to our advantage and allow him to level up,"

"What does that mean? What's a sight to see?"

"His ascension... You do know that he's YOUR subject right? so I'm assuming something happens to you as well once he ascends. Besides, it'll be interesting to see him evolve? If that's what's going to happen,"

"Oh, that's what you meant? I'm sorry I was just thinking about something else..." Night scratched the back of his head, "I have this vague feeling that something's going to happen that's all..."

"It's weird to see you uneasy, so I don't think it makes sense to ignore that feeling, but since, there's nothing we can do about it, let's just rush to Vraun okay? Can you carry me? I guess that'll help us cover more ground?"

"Hmm, you're right. Alright, hop on, let's go," Night said as he gestured for Nate to hold onto his back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They said they'd be here...I guess I just wait for a while?" Everzone said as he looked into the Forest of Silence, "but what's this feeling? Is it just the forest or something else...? I feel like there's something in there...."

"Yo!" a voice resounded from behind Everzone who was somewhat startled by the sound. "Calm down....It's just me...the others should be here soon,"

"Senior Aurora, I mean Eve!" Everzone replied while visibly sweating profusely.

"Call me anything, It doesn't matter. What were you doing out here anyway? Isn't the rendezvous point Vraun?" Aurora said as she walked past Everzone and looked into the forest.

"It is but the thing is....I'm not sure but It felt like there was something inside there, so I was a little hesitant, I'm sorry," he bowed his head, the drops of sweat fell to the ground and instantly vaporized.

*Hizzzzzzzzzzz*

Why would water evaporate so quickly? Especially in a place like this, the Forest of Silence was moderate, it wasn't too hot nor was it too cold. It was slightly breezy from time to time which added to the overall creepy and paranormal feeling.

While Eve only actually met Everzone once, in reality, that is, she knew that he was usually nervous and not confident, however, it was still out of the ordinary to see him sweat so much. His entire face was dripping, and yet he didn't seem to notice anything wrong.

"Oy, are you alright? Do you feel weird?" Eve asked while looking back.

"I am...I just feel a little hot, unusually so," he replied while waving his top to cool himself.

'This has nothing to do with my ability, heck it would be amazing if it did but what's causing this. Does my elemental affinity have something to do with why I don't feel any different? Hold on, the kid did say he felt something inside and he was standing here for quite a bit so it's natural he would feel it. Is this the work of something in there? But what is that something...'

"Did you see something go inside? What exactly did you mean when you said you felt something inside?" Eve asked out of curiosity.

"N-no...I don't..think so, nothing from this side at least," he replied as he increased the speed of which he waved his top. It was just awfully uncomfortable to be the only one sweating, it wasn't painful but it was annoying.

'Is it the monsters? Is that what's happening here? I don't get it but I should tell Nate and Night just in case. Fck! Mocha, Davinky, and Noxx are on the other side, Layla should be here soon, so if there really is something in there, it's just going to be Layla, me, Sage, Night, and Nate. No wait, there's Shade and Noctis as well. Alright, I guess we wait until they come..'

"Let's wait for a bit, just until the others come," Eve said told Everzone before contacting Nate and Night regarding the situation.