Darius thought to himself as he paced around in his bedroom, looking through various books on his shelf as he tried to find even a hint as to what John was doing in their world. He knew John wasn’t from there with how he had acted, but this was a mystery to him. His books gave vague concepts of what dimension traveling could be, but never a concrete answer seen. Darius grunted a bit as he set aside the third book and placed a hand against his chin, wonder clouding his mind a bit. “The mystery runs even deeper when we take into account that our version of John died when he was born, and the king had been grieving ever since. Is this King Inferno’s method of handling that grief? Did he send someone to retrieve a different version of John, just to see what his son would become had he lived?” Darius thought before he grabbed his weapon and gently attached it to an article of clothing as he prepared to leave, he had to get an answer out of Inferno, even if he had to force his way to the castle. Cerin heard from outside the door as he shook his head to himself, he didn’t want to let Darius go alone, but he had a weird feeling that he would be denied the chance to join, Darius didn’t want to risk Cerin’s life after all. The young dragon sighed silently, due to his mute nature, before turning and leaving,but not to his room. He left before Darius, getting a head start against his better judgement.
        John walked out of the room and saw Darius leaving, the man nodding at the timing. “Perfect, get yourself ready, I am going to need you. We are going to get an answer from Inferno himself, maybe he knows what dragged you here.” Darius told him, motioning John to follow, the teen confused but he didn’t argue as he went to retrieve his lance and following Darius, examining the dragon. He could tell Darius was a very skilled fighter, so he wasn’t really worried about anything happening since Darius seemed like he would be capable of defending John from any conflicts that he himself wouldn’t be able to handle. “Aren’t we going to tell Cerin about this? He seems like he’d be able to help us.” John asked, Darius sighing in reply as he shook his head, but would soon grow to regret that as he walked. “No, Cerin mustn’t get involved. He is strong, and skilled, but even he has his limits. I trust Cerin, but I would never live with myself if I let him get hurt, especially in a battle like this. If he became an enemy to the kingdom, I’d probably sacrifice myself to make Cerin stronger. Me becoming their enemy isn’t the same.” He said, John gasping as he realized Darius’s intent, if he didn’t get an answer from the king, he’d push, even if it made him a rebel to the kingdom. John shook a bit for a moment, before he steeled his emotions and nodded, he didn’t have much choice if he wanted to get home, especially since his own guardians and parents were probably worried sick.
        Darius walked John out of the house and headed towards a forested area nearby, it was the quickest way to find the kingdom gate. John looked around as the woods were quite dark, it was so dense that even sunlight couldn’t pierce through the leaves, it made John slightly uneasy as he walked. Darius noticed John’s unease as they walked and slowed down a little to walk alongside him to help ease the nerves. Darius smiled softly at John, though the darkness made it hard to tell, something about John made Darius think of John, unaware that in John’s own dimension, he had a Cerin, and they were close. John looked ahead for a moment, before the sound of branches snapping were heard, and Darius quickly pulled out his blade, throwing aside the sheath holding it, while John grabbed his lance and activated it, sparks of electricity surging through the weapon as it helped somewhat illuminate the forest. The two stood back to back and gently looked around as they walked cautiously on the path. Before long they heard a voice, one circling them as it casually spoke, the sound echoing in all directions. “Heh, so this is the ones he was worried about? He did say that the prince he was looking for was formidable but he really doesn’t look like much. Why do you bother coming through here warriors, just to die?” The voice was feminine but rough, like a battle hardened fighter. John couldn’t exactly pinpoint where the voice was coming from, but Darius shut his eyes gently and threw his blade into the ground, causing a few soundwaves to surround him, he was using that to try and find the strange fighter.
        “Oh? You think something like that will work, than you clearly have no clue what you are up against.” The voice said as a dagger flew through the air, Darius gasping as he shoved John, who fell to the ground and Damien quickly sidestepped, the knife barely grazing his cheek as he grunted and put a claw to his face, feeling some blood but not enough to worry. He wiped it off and grabbed his sword, yanking it from the ground as he ran and quickly charged up a tree, much to John’s surprise as he gently got up but rushed to hide behind a fallen tree stump, watching as Darius leapt from a tree and landed on one above John, the woman laughing once more as she threw another knife. “Quite cute that you think you will be able to do much of anything against me, as they always say, it is impossible to find your mark when you can’t even see it. Or something like that. It doesn’t really matter, since you have to die now anyways.” She laughed sadistically as Darius angrilly looked around, gently placing a hand against the tree as it vibrated a bit, seemingly still under the influence of his soundwaves. Darius smirked a little as he suddenly realized something, glancing down to John. “Hey kid, do me a favor and shoot a bolt down the path we were just coming from.” He instructed, John giving a quick nod as he grabbed his lance again and charged it up, standing up before swinging it around, a ball of electricity rushing down the path, a gasp heard as Darius then felt movement, the woman was seen for a brief second.
        “Just as I thought, she is invisible, if her feet are planted to the ground she can keep herself cloaked thanks to the darkness. So we just gotta put the pressure on her.” Darius told John, who nodded as he suddenly realized this, noticing how this was going to work. The woman growled as she quickly got herself to a new position and sneered at the duo, throwing more knives, but this time they were ready. “Damnit! Damnit! How did two IDIOTS like you figure out my trick!?” She growled out in anger, clearly losing her composure thanks to their plan. “No matter. I will just kill you pathetic little maggots before you can exploit that knowledge.” She laughed maniacally, slowly losing her mind, if she even had it to begin with. Darius smirked and motioned down to John to start using his lance a bit more haphazardly. The boy was reluctant but realized that if he didn’t they’d have a much harder time surviving this fight. He resolved himself and nodded before he spun the lance in his claws before gripping it and charging up. “Alright! Let’s do this!” He said and quickly fired bolts in four different directions, quickly speeding himself around to make sure they sporadically flowed down different paths. The woman was heard moving and running to avoid them.
        Darius used this to his advantage as he leapt from the tree and followed the noise, his soundwaves now picking up a physical form since she couldn’t stay invisible. “You damn BRAT!” She yelled at John in anger as she lunged at him, where he turned and gasped as he quickly leapt into the air and backflipped, her right foot shooting up and smacking the woman right on the chin, making her yell and fall, hitting the ground with a hard thud as she rolled a little, but stopped herself and punched the ground, throwing herself into the air and threw three daggers at John. John gasped and covered his face with his arms, waiting for the impact, but it never came. He carefully lowered his arms and looked, seeing them suspended in thin air, Cerin standing before him using his wings to make a reverse air flow, holding them in place before they fell to the ground. The assailent gasped and growled “Another one?! He didn’t mention this!” She yelled and quickly ran at Cerin, about to swing, but he leapt back and swung his staff forward, and out flew Avalian, who charged at her and used his wing to smack against her abdomen, knocking her back as Darius ran up.
        “What are you doing here?” He said in shock, before shaking it off, and turning to the attacker “We will discuss this later Cerin, for now, lets stop her.” Darius said as the mute dragon nodded and they charged at her, she drew two daggers from her cloak and clashed with them, their swords smashing against the daggers and they held a colliding force. The two grunted and backed up and swung again, in which she blocked again. John thought for a second and scanned the arena, noticing that every time they clashed, she was left open. He then charged up a shot and aimed himself at her, watching the two carefully. They clashed once again but this time a bolt of electricity flew by, and when she guarded, the ball struck her chest and she screamed, flying backwards a bit and hitting her back and her head against the forest floor, Darius rushing over and holding a sword to her neck. “Who are you?”
        She just smirked watching him, as she lied there, she was stubborn to the end though. “Heh, so, just because you won, you think I will just tell you everything? Fat chance.” She smirked a bit. “All I will say is… you guys aren’t going to find your answer. We will continue coming for you as long as he is here. We WILL kill that prince. And his family won’t ever know.” She laughed wickedly, John shaking a bit hearing that as he was suddenly overwhelmed with a fear. He might never see his family again, and that scared him, a few tears filling his eyes as he backed up, falling back and landing on his backside, Cerin noticing and rushing to his aid, seeing him like that. Darius growled a bit, a blind rage suddenly overflowing in him, Cerin covered his and John’s eyes with his wing, and all they heard was the sound of a sword ripping apart flesh, and an agonized scream from the woman. They couldn’t see it, but they knew she was dead, brutally ripped to shreds by Darius, who walked over to the two, and without a word picked John up, who was crying now, he wanted to return home, and Darius now made it his resolve to make sure this happened, no matter what. He looked at Cerin and sighed. “Let’s forget the talk about you being here. Our mission is now clear, we have to get John home and end these bastards who are after him. Let’s get going.” He said and began walking down the path once more, holding John in his arms, noticing he slowly fell asleep, he was a trained soldier but John was also a young teen, he wasn’t fully sure what to do. Darius nodded as he carried him, the kingdom in sight. They could rest and find their answer there, hopefully.