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It took Techno quite some time to calm her down but he managed to reduce her cry to a quiet sob in the end, she was still very shaken when they returned home, so she decided to go straight to bed, the king joined her soon after, not wanting to leave her alone in the state she currently was.

"You don't remember?" she shook her head "All i know is that person... Stephanie... was my best friend... but then why..." she nuzzled her head in his shirt "Why does it hurt so much? I can't even remember her face clearly, why do i feel like this?" she mumbled, her voice slightly muffled by the cloth, he pulled her closer, gently caressing her wings, since he found out it had a calming effect on her.

"I think... it's because even though your mind doesn't remember, maybe your heart does" he said in a soft voice, receiving a small nod from her.

"Can..." she sniffled a bit "Can you talk to me until i fall asleep... please?" she asked, Techno let out a sigh, smiling "Of course"

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"Come on! We need to hurry! This way!" Stephanie shouted as she and Angela ran into the forest, fleeing away from the fire that was currently raging in their village, she got separated from her family but promised to meet them back at the volcanic lake, so they were currently heading there.

"Why is this happening? What does that magma spirit and green guy want from us? What do they want from me?!" Angela shouted, running as fast as she could, following her friend "I don't know, but he's not going to get away with it! Don't worry, we have some strong warriors, and i'm sure your dad will teach them a lesson, for now let's just get to safety before the fire spreads any further" she nodded, speeding up a bit, the duo soon reaching the lake, slumping down against a tree, exhausted.

"I could use my magic to put out the fire" Stephanie panted out "I'll help you then" she was about to stand back up when her friend stopped her "No, they are looking for you, not me. You better stay hidden in case they come looking around"

"But then they'll see you!" she said worried "They won't pay mind to me, i'm not who they are looking for" she said with a bright smile, standing up and spreading her wings "Stay here, i promise i'll be back soon with the others, you'll need to be well rested, i'm guessing there's going to be need of your healing magic a lot" she joked a bit, making Angela chuckle.

"Alright, be safe, and run away if you are in danger" she nodded, taking off and soon disappearing into the thick cloud of smoke. Stephanie has been her best friend as far as she could remember, she wasn't like her, as her wings were a normal color, but they still became best friends after meeting by accident in a flower field when they were about four of five.

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'Hi' Stephanie said first, extending her hand 'What's your name? I'm Stephanie!' she said excitedly, putting on a bright smile. Angela was crying, she got separated from her parent and was now lost, so needless to say that she was relieved when someone approached her, especially since she was her same age. She hesitantly took her hand, standing up and wiping away her tears a bit.

'I'm Angewa' she had still some trouble on her speech since she didn't get out much, her parents were really overprotective of her due to the color of her wings.

'Why are you cwying?' apparently Stephanie too had some trouble speaking, but that was normal since she was younger than Angela 'I can't find my mom' she sniffled, rubbing her eyes a bit.

'That's ok, we can look for her together' she proposed, taking her and and starting to walk around the large field a bit, it was a very (and i mean very) large field, many other magical creature came here to either gather herbs or do a picnic, so it was quite popular.

'Excuse me' Stephanie called, tugging the sleeve of another Elythrian that was nearby, a female, catching her attention 'Yes?'

'My fwiend lost her mom, have you seen her?' she politely asked, the older Elythrian kneeled down, causing her to hide behind Stephanie a bit 'Ah, so you're the white Elythrian everyone is talking about, Alyssa's and Quackity's child right?' she asked, giving her a bright smile.

'I think they might be looking for you, hang on, i have an idea' she created a small sphere of light in her hands, throwing it up into the sky, it soon exploded, forming the phrase "Angela is here"

'There, now we just have to wait for them to come, don't worry, i'll keep you company' she said in a kind voice, which helped Angela feel a bit more at ease.

'Let's make a flower crown for them!' Stephanie proposed, dragging her towards a small batch of daisies, the older Elythrian always being sure to keep an eye on them. They made some half-destroyed flowery decoration, which were still pretty good for a four year old, Elythrian kids are taught when they are young how to intertwine things like twigs and hay, so to be able to make some small baskets for them to play with.

'You are weally good Angewa!' she complimented, seeing that her's looked a lot better, Stephanie was about to pick up a red rose so to add it to the creation but Angela stopped her.

'No! Don't! It's spiky!' she warned 'You have to pick it with magic, like this' she used some of her magic to pluck the rose, carefully giving it to Stephanie, earning a squeal of excitement from her.

'Wow! You can do magic?! That's cool! Do mowe!' she asked excitedly, making her smile, she had never had a friend to talk to before, so this was all quite new to her. They kept playing for a few more minutes until Angela's parents arrived.

'Angela! There you are!' Alyssa breathed out, relieved to find her child safe and sound, Quackity was close behind, soon catching up to her. He was a well known and respected person among the Elythrians in the village, since he had fought in many wars before the Elythrians stopped attacking the void demons, his face brought the signs of it. The left side of his upper lip had a deep cut that had scarred, which ran up to his eye, from which he was blind due to the gravity of the injury.

'Don't ever scare us like that! Your mother and i almost had an heart attack mi dulce pastel!' he was an outsider from another colony on the far west, so he still sometimes spoke his native tongue, but no one really minded.

'I'm sorry papà' she mumbled as he picked her up, holding her in his arms, she nuzzled her head in his shirt, liking the smell of wood and leaves it always had.

'Mommy, can i come back to pway with Stephanie?' she asked shyly, the two only then noticing the other smaller Elythrian brightly smiling at them 'Oh, did you make a friend?' she eagerly nodded, earning a chuckle from Quackity 'As long as you promise to not scare us like that again then we'll allow you to play with your new friend, ok?'

'Ok!'

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After almost two hours of waiting Angela started to get worried and decided, against her better judgement, to go look for her friend, as well as her family.

"If i fly above the smoke, then they shouldn't be able to see me" she kept repeating to herself as she flew high in the night sky, following the crimson light generated by the fire.

She soon found her in the same flower field where they first met, not moving "Steph!" she dove down, quickly landing and running up to her, noticing that she was injured.

"Don't worry, i got you" she assured, starting to heal her, she soon woke up "A-angela no... it's a... t-trap" she gasped out, Angela warily looked around, not seeing anyone, but she still raised a defensive force field, just in case.

"It's ok, i'll heal you and we'll leave soon, you'll be fine" she had a deep wound on the right side of her abdomen, but she could still heal it given enough time.

Crash.

She turned around, seeing a green hooded figure break her barrier with a black sword, the magma spirit quickly running towards her, she tried to create a sword to defend herself but he was faster, managing to hit her in the head.

She fell to the ground, stunned and confused, her vision blurring up.

"We got her, let's leave now, that Quackity dude sure knows how to fight" Sapnap commented "We better go, there might be other fighter as skilled as him nearby" Dream added, picking her up and starting to walk away, she weakly tried to reach for her friend, her vision soon going dark.

"Ste....ph...."

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"NO!" she shot up on her bed, her eyes darting around the room, looking for someone who has never been there to begin with. Techno soon woke up, grabbing his sword reflexively, thinking that someone entered their room, but upon noticing her shake and the room empty, he understood that she just had a nightmare, a really bad one seeing how shocked she looked.

He went in to hug her, hushing her "Shhh, it's ok, it was just a nightmare, it wasn't real" he assured, but she knew that was a lie. That wasn't a nightmare, it was a memory. Those things really happened, the fire, the fight, the laughs... the blood... it was all real.

She clenched his shirt tightly, crying on his shoulder, letting out all the grief and sadness that she didn't knew had kept inside for so long. They were gone, she always hoped that maybe her family survived the attack... but she knew... deep down she knew... that was a lie too.

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