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Chapter Text

Years ago, there was a girl named Irene who had magic that allowed her to heal. Believed to be blessed by a higher power, Irene went around using this power for just causes, or, at the very least, what she considered being the most just.

During her trip to a settlement that complained about a man nicknamed “The Shadow” harassing them for over two years, Irene went into the woods and found the man, who was named Shad. Upon meeting him, Irene referred to him as a “boy” for his “barbarian ways”, which angered him as he revealed he also had magic, but, unlike Irene, he believed that a higher power had cursed him and people didn’t trust him because of that power.

Despite their poor start, Irene and Shad would continue to encounter each other because of Irene believing that Shad had to be monitored, and that she should be the one who stopped him since they had similar power. Ultimately, the animosity between them would fade as time went on. Irene would help many people and come across new allies, such as a witch named Hyria, and people who, alongside Shad, would become her guards.

Eventually, she would come to learn about other dimensions and even how to create them. However, this would lead her to discover an entity that existed between them that was referred to over time by many names, but was most commonly referred to as the Emptiness by her. Realizing that the entity was trying to blot out all distinct realities that existed, Irene attempted to stop it, but realized that she alone wasn’t powerful enough to oppose it.

Believing that the greater good of the world was worth the sacrifices needed to create the power to repel the Emptiness, Irene discovered an ancient weapon built by the extinct civilization of Zi’tah. Inside of the weapon, she met with the last surviving member of the Zi’tah, and, with his help, tricked many people into entering the weapon so she could use its power to convert them into Relics: objects of immense power fueled by the souls of the people they used to be. Of all the people she sacrificed, the most notable one was the daughter that she and Shad had together, whom she sacrificed to create a Relic to give to Shad, without telling him who the Relic used to be.

With the Relics forged, she gathered Shad and her other four guards and gave the Relics to them with different purposes, which Irene claimed was for the sake of “maintaining balance”. Aside from herself, she granted Esmund the Protector, Menphia the Fury, Kul’zak the Wanderer, Enki the Keeper, and lastly gave Shad the Destroyer, which was the soul of their own daughter. Explaining that the price paid for having the Relics was immortality, she dubbed the six of them the “Divine Warriors”.

As time went on, the cost of living for so long became apparent: Irene was able to appreciate life less and less due to not having to fear death and watching so many people come and go so quickly, desensitizing her to the concept of death, and thus, she began feeling empathy towards others less as well, thus making her like a machine. This did not go unnoticed by her fellow Divine Warriors, who began to ponder on what to do. However, unbeknownst to many, Shad wasn’t the only one to have romantic feelings towards Irene: both Esmund and Enki fell in love with her as well, and began thinking Shad was the chase for her despair.

Despite not being in love with Irene himself, Kul’zak also believed Shad to be the problem, as the three of them came to believe that Shad was the source of darkness and the one killing Irene’s emotions. Wanting to restore Irene to how she used to be, the three of them were willing to kill Shad if it meant bringing back the Irene they once knew. However, it was around this same time that Shad had figured out how Relics were forged, and that the “Relic of the Destroyer” was his own child. Unfortunately, Relics have a lifespan, and, once used up, the soul will vanish and can’t be turned back into a human. Realizing that Irene lied to him and tricked him into burning away their daughter's life for power caused him to feel nothing but grief, anger, betrayal, and hatred towards the woman he used to love.

Unfortunately, before he could confront Irene about what she did, Shad realized that Enki, Kul’zak, and Esmund planned to kill him to help Irene. Realizing his own friends had betrayed him and had sided with Irene over him completely destroyed Shad’s trust and empathy as everyone in his life destroyed his family and then treated him like irredeemable evil. Thrown into the thrall of despair, hatred, and spite, Shad used his relic to ascend into a form empowered by his pain and anger dubbed as the “Shadow Lord”.

Fueled by his anger, he caused a war to break out between humans and wyverns, resulting in Menphia and Irene turning against him as well. United against their former ally, the five Divine Warriors fought against Shad and shattered his form, with only his essence surviving as they sealed it away in the Nether. Unable to escape the thralls of hatred and despair that Irene had led him into, Shad used his remaining power to create undead soldiers called the Shadow Knights to restore him so he could finally have his revenge on Irene for what she did to their daughter.

With Shad “dead”, four of the Divine Warriors would choose to die and reincarnate. However, Irene chose not to, and instead would continue living, until one day, she became completely numb and decided she just wanted to feel alive again. Giving her friend Hyria a staff, Irene was sent into her dimension to go to sleep and sealed her powers into a Relic as she erased her own memories, effectively “erasing” Irene from existence as she became a blank slate, with the last thing she told Hyria was to use the staff in a place where the world needed her again.

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Vylad appeared in the forest nearby Phoenix Drop with a mysterious purple staff. He recalled Hyria giving it to him, and had brief flashbacks of his two brothers. He stabbed the stick into the ground, causing a purple light to burst from it. He hid behind a tree to watch, and saw a girl materialize and the staff disappear. When he heard someone coming, he completely ducked out of sight.

Zenix found Aphmau struggling to stand and hit her with a barrage of questions about her intentions and purposes. When she collapsed, he prodded her with his sword to make sure she wasn’t playing dead and was proud of his “victory”. Garroth ran into the clearing and chastised him, especially when he made an inappropriate comment about her lack of decent clothing. So, Garroth ripped off Zenix’s new cape to wrap around her and cover her up. He told Zenix to carry her, but Zenix became apprehensive about bringing an outsider to the village when things are so tense.

When Aphmau began to wake in bed, she overheard some of the conversation between the two guards. Zenix talked of Lord Malik and of his family's deaths in a “fire”, the lack of bodies being found, and how the guards are being blamed for it. He started to craft a scheme where they blame Aphmau for it, but she attacked them when they confronted her. Garroth scolded him and outright refused, but Zenix insisted, telling him Aphmau was dead to the world- when all of a sudden, she pulled his sword from his sheath and threatened him with it. Garroth tried to placate her, but she rushed at Zenix and swung at the both of them, and then ran downstairs where she found Emmalyn wandering in.

While holding Emmalyn hostage and threatening her, Aphmau remained in panic mode. Garroth again tried to calm her down, understanding how scared she must be as she doesn’t know where she is or what’s going on. She said that he was familiar and dropped the blade until Dale drunkenly wandered in and frightened her. Aphmau snatched Emmalyn’s valuable book about Irene and threw it at Garroth’s head, which he dodged… but the book goes directly into the torch on the wall behind them and starts to burn. Aphmau fled the scene, but Garroth called out to Brendan, who was tending the fields in the direction she was running, and told him to do something. He held his shovel out into the path and knocked her out cold, but Molly and Donna saw the interaction and became furious with him. Donna yelled at him, and the pair of women started to punch him.

Donna became upset with Garroth over how he handled the situation once Aphmau was back in bed. He sincerely apologized, and she seemed to accept it… but is still disappointed. She happily accepted when Garroth asked her to care for Aphmau, and when he left she revealed that she knows Aphmau is actually pretending to be asleep- and that it’s safe to wake up now. Aphmau does, and when asked questions about herself, she says she doesn't remember anything. Donna starts rambling to her and fetches her some soup, talking about how she left her mom’s place to become a merchant and how the past isn’t so important after all. All of a sudden, Aphmau tells her what she thinks is her name, Aphmau, much to the delight of Donna.

Upon inspecting the marking on Aphmau’s body, Donna became interested and remembered that she had a friend in town who was staying for a while who might know a thing or two about them, so she brought Aphmau out towards town square to see him. Aphmau approached the crop field outside, noticing how barren it was. Donna told her about how the Lord died and how lots of villages have been having problems lately, then had to explain the concept of a Lord to Aphmau.

In the town square, Donna ran toward Visher and wrapped him up in a hug. She briefly apologized to Brian for his dads drunkenness, before introducing Aphmau to Visher and showing him her markings. He asked her why she didn’t just ask the local librarian who “ought to know more”, and Donna almost immediately insults her, almost cursing before Visher stops her because there was a child near them- even though Brian was sixteen. When Donna told him Aphmau had lost her memory, he wrapped the girl in a crushing hug and fetched her some nice clothes from his wares for her to put on. He asked Donna to talk about something important in private, and so she asked Brian to show Aphmau around while she’s busy… and he accepted.

Brendan worked on demolishing Lord Malik’s burnt home while Zenix and Garroth watched and discussed the demolition. Aphmau and Brian approached, surprising the pair. After a brief conversation, Garroth tried to ask Aphmau if she remembered anything… but, again, she could only remember her name. He introduced himself just in time for Donna to return and whisk her away to go see Emmalyn, in case she knew what the markings meant.

In her house, Emmalyn was still trying to cope with her book about Irene being burned with a hot cup of tea. She became furious when Donna barged into her home, and Donna demanded she stop calling her house a brothel. They argued for a bit, and when Donna tried to introduce Aphmau, Emmalyn became frightened that she was going to be threatened again. After some convincing, she took a look at Aphmau’s markings… and didn't think anything strange of them. She argued with Donna a bit more before it was decided that Aphmau would be staying with Emmalyn- much to Emmalyn’s dismay. Donna left, and Emmalyn gave Aphmau a blanket to sleep with anywhere she would like.

In the morning, when Aphmau woke, she went outside to one of the barren crop fields. When she touched the soil, her markings glowed and she revitalized the crops somehow. She was absolutely shocked, but so was Garroth, who happened to be standing nearby.

Vylad watched the whole thing as well and was also shocked by Aphmau’s sudden ability. Garroth was overjoyed that the soil in the area had been restored, but Aphmau, however, didn’t know what she did or how she did it and was afraid that Garroth was angry with her. He reassured her that what happened was actually a blessing to the village, and that she should feel no remorse. Garroth then explained to Aphmau how Phoenix Drop and other villages in the region of Ru’aun had been failing to sustain life, with Garroth having no explanation as to why. Garroth immediately asked Aphmau to perform her magic again to heal the rest of the crops, but Aphmau needed to recover after having just used it.

Brian then rushed over to the crop field to warn Garroth of a werewolf spotted outside the village. When Vylad accidentally stepped on a stick and alerted the guards, Garroth commanded Brian to check it out, both of them believing it to be a werewolf. After Vylad accidentally caused a bit more noise, Garroth and Brian located and rushed to Vylad’s hiding place, but he got away just in time.

Aphmau then heard a cry from the village. Brendan was stuck at the bottom of the well with a drunk and singing Dale. Molly and Donna were attempting to get them out while sharing some banter about Molly’s poor choice in a husband. The two women then fell down into the well during their rescue attempt and got angry with Dale again. Aphmau then let a rope down the well for the four villagers to escape. Donna was proud of Aphmau while Brendan cried at her feet, thanking her and apologizing for hitting her with a shovel. Molly apologized for her husband's behavior, promising Aphmau that he was a good guard when he was sober. She then took him away to get him some bread and get him back to normal. Donna then leaves after revealing that Visher had gone missing and that she was going to look for him.

Brendan got upset that he had to take the Old Lord’s house down before noon, and with the set-back of being in the well for a couple hours, he would never do it in time. Aphmau offered to help him and Brendan was so overwhelmed with gratitude and joy. Brendan and Aphmau start to take down the Old Lord’s house by knocking the walls out with hammers. Brendan had to teach Aphmau how to do it properly. When they finished partially taking down the house, Brendan tells Aphmau that he must now go and fix some fences that were damaged during the werewolf sighting. Aphmau again offered to help him, which Brendan quickly accepted. With Aphmau’s help, Brendan was able to finish the repairs on the fence rather quickly, although Aphmau’s part of the fence isn’t as pretty as his. In an attempt to fix it up, he accidentally hit his finger with his hammer and began to cry. Aphmau then panicked and hit her own finger with the hammer to calm him down. It really just made him start laughing, and he told her that when someone is crying, the best thing that she can do to help the other person is to make them laugh. He let it go for the time being and let Aphmau know that he was to help Zenix clear out the rats in the guards quarter’s, to which, of course, Aphmau offered to help again.

Zenix was busy chasing and threatening a rat when Aphmau and Brendan arrived to help. He claimed that he didn’t need their help, but when the rat came out of its hiding place, he ordered them to kill it. Brendan told Aphmau to capture it, but not to hurt it. As Zenix ran after the rat, he was tripped by Kiki, who was infuriated that he was trying to hurt her “little darling”. Brendan was horrified that his sister was in town, and Zenix told Kiki that Brendan was attempting to hurt the creature. Kiki got upset, and in her moment of distraction, Zenix chased after the rodent again. He finally cornered it when he was confronted by Aphmau, who told a stupid lie to keep him from hurting it. Kiki then caught up to them and revealed the “rat” was actually a hamster. The “rat” they’ve been trying to catch is the prized hamster of her business “Kiki’s Happy Hamster Party”, and his name is Sean Connery. Brendan got really concerned that Kiki was starting another business where she gave away animals, but Kiki assured him that the hamsters were harmless compared to when her squirrels burned down an entire village. The two siblings then continued to bicker over the hamsters and the squirrel incident.

In the evening, Garroth, Brian, and Zenix meet up at the revitalized crop field, as Garroth explains that some magic that Aphmau had performed that morning had been the cause of it coming back to life. Zenix and Brian didn’t believe him, chalking it up to Brendan’s hard work, and said that Garroth was so desperate that he was starting to see things. After Zenix mentions how he doesn’t trust Garroth because he always has his helmet on, he makes a joking remark about how Garroth is actually ugly. Garroth gets irritated by the comment as he hears it while walking back to the guard quarters.

Aphmau rested on the floor with a single blanket covering her by the firepit in Emmalyn’s house. After sneezing due to the cold, Emmalyn yelled at her to quiet down. Aphmau explained it was because she was cold, and Emmalyn continued to yell at her to fix it. Aphmau complied, falling asleep peacefully.

What Aphmau did not know, however, was that when she was repairing the fence with Brendan earlier that day, Vylad had been watching her, but he had been interrupted by Gene, who attacked him, until Vylad’s sword was thrown out of his hand. Gene reminded Vylad that his only mission was to scout this area and make sure that Lord Malik was dead. Gene then met with Sasha, who told him that she felt a sense of hope in the village, unknown to them that it was instilled by Aphmau, and Sasha showed her distaste in the fact that they were working for Zane. They then both left for O’Khasis. Aphmau has just then finished building her fence, before it fell apart again.

The next day, Brian was helping Zenix practice his archery, but Zenix had a horrible aim, so Brian set up some boxes so Zenix could train by himself. It was then that Garroth revealed to Brian that he found Zenix with no memory and in horrible condition, theorizing that this was why Zenix didn’t like Aphmau. Zenix was suspicious of Aphmau’s helpfulness and went to question her, and he found her helping Brendan fix the fence again. Sean Connery showed up, and Aphmau showed Garroth and Zenix that he was just a harmless hamster. Zenix then finally takes a liking to Aphmau and offers to train her in combat.

Garroth then took Aphmau aside and asked her about her memories, and discovers she still has none. He is then about to ask her about her healing magic, when Paul, a merchant, interrupted them with the bad news about how he has no food to sell to the village anymore. Paul explained that Laurance, the head guard of Meteli, bought a lot of food from him because of a crisis in Meteli. Garroth got upset, so Paul pulled him aside and warned him about the future of Phoenix Drop. Garroth refused to let his village fall apart, so Paul told him that Logan was going to come by and that he was impartial to having a Lord present.

Garroth, excited by the news, helped Brendan and Aphmau rebuild the marketplace, along with Brian and Zenix. When they finished the plaza, Garroth went to meet with Logan. He found Logan to be very blunt about his distaste with Phoenix Drop.

Paul then met with Donna, who told him of Visher’s disappearance.

Logan met Brendan and Aphmau and started questioning Garroth on the presence of a Lord in Phoenix Drop. Brendan lied and said that Aphmau was the Lord, and Logan just barely bought the excuse. Garroth asked Zenix to show Logan the field that Aphmau had previously healed. Aphmau then told Garroth that she was okay with pretending to be the Lord if it helped Phoenix Drop. Logan came back after Zenix abandoned him to chase after a hamster, and ultimately saw Donna and decided to stay in Phoenix Drop.

Garroth then took Aphmau to one of the fields and asked her to heal the crops again.

Gene was in Zane’s castle in O’Khasis, telling him of Lord Malik’s fate. He then requested a spot in the Jury of Nine, but Zane declined, telling Gene that he was aware of his partial failure. Because of it, Zane ordered Lillian to cut off Gene’s ear. After Gene left, Janus and Lillian questioned him on the power of Irene that he was seeking, right after Zane revealed that he was not hunting for his brother, but for Irene’s lost power.

After Gene met with Zane, he found Sasha in a forest. Sasha was initially worried about Gene’s ear, but he told her that he’s been through worse. Gene told Sasha that they were going to target Phoenix Drop and make the village suffer to get back at Vylad, who ruined their initial plan by saving the Old Lord’s wife and child. Gene also expressed a want to find the same power Zane sought to have something to hold above Zane.

Back in Phoenix Drop, when Garroth had asked Aphmau to heal the crops again, she was hesitant. When Zenix and Donna came by, Zenix was still skeptical about her power, and called Garroth delusional. When he was distracted by Sean Connery, Aphmau used her magic to heal the crops, but only a smaller portion of the field was healed compared to the previous time she used her power. Visher then appeared and draped Aphmau in a blanket to hide her power. He asked her to meet in a private spot to discuss her power. Zenix came back after the others left, having not seen Aphmau use her power.

In Donna’s house, Visher told of danger coming to those in the world with any sort of power or magic. He asked Aphmau not to show or tell anyone else of her power, or else she might be in harm's way. He asked the same of Garroth, telling him to keep Aphmau’s secret from even his most trusted guards. Garroth left the room to process everything, and Donna and Visher tried to reassure Aphmau. Donna then told Visher about how Aphmau was now Lord and the lie that the village had gotten themselves caught up in.

Later, Aphmau went to Emmalyn, and after asking her why she read books, Emmalyn began to infodump about Lady Irene. When Aphmau told her that she didn’t know who Lady Irene was, Emmalyn started to explain before getting interrupted by Aphmau, who told Emmalyn that she was now the Lord. When Emmalyn tried to refute that, they went to Garroth, who explained the village situation and how Aphmau was posing as the Lord. This upset Emmalyn, and she walked off. Garroth finished explaining to Aphmau who Lady Irene was, and said that she was a goddess of good and peace who left the world long ago. Garroth then left for patrol, but not before expressing his wishes to have Aphmau try and heal the rest of the crops. Visher then showed up and proposed the idea of Aphmau building her own house, now that she was the Lord of Phoenix Drop. He promised to help her, along with Brendan and Dale.

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Aphmau later stumbled upon the previous Lord’s house, which was only a short distance away from the village. In it, she discovered the previous Lord’s journal, which mentioned how the villagers changed, not necessarily in a bad way, as he began to act as their Lord.

Brendan and Zenix decided that they should continue the demolition of the house and utilize the materials for something more useful. They headed out to the house one night to do just as they had planned. However, one evening, Brendan got shot with an arrow, and Zenix returned back to the village with him. Aphmau found out about it, and saw that Brendan was in poor condition. Zoey tended to him and told Aphmau that he could not be fully healed without a specific herb, and that knew that the Doctor in Bright Port carried it. Aphmau then set sail to Bright Port to retrieve the Doctor to help Brendan, who was then successfully healed by the Doctor with the herb.

For a while, everything in the village calmed… until Garroth and Zenix went on patrol one evening. Garroth had gotten shot with an arrow, and Zenix had gone missing. Garroth was unconscious with an injury so critical that not even the Doctor from Bright Port could heal him, thus Aphmau was told to seek out the Lord of Bright Port, who had healing magicks.

As it turned out, the Lord had already been missing for a while by the time Aphmau had arrived at Bright Port. Aphmau decided to go looking for the Lord of Bright Port to help her friend. Whilst looking around, a kid in the village that he could help her find the Lord if she could help him free his wolf friend, Lowell, who was a werewolf pup being held captive in the basement of the local hunter’s house. She was able to free him, and then was told by Lowell that he could also assist in helping find the Lord. Lowell then led her to his wolf village. There, the wolves told her about their other missing wolf pup, Kiva, who was trapped in the Nether. After entering the Nether Portal the wolf tribe had, Aphmau found a Nether Fortress and entered. She found a cage that held Kiva, guarded by a mysterious figure called “The Weakened Shadow King”. She defeated the Shadow King and made her way back to the Nether Portal with Kiva. Once at the portal, she saw her missing guard, Zenix. She followed him out of the Nether, hoping that she could return home with him, but when she passed through the portal and entered the Overworld, she found that the wolf tribe had been set on fire, and Zenix was, once again, missing.

She left the werewolf tribe in search of Lord Burt, the Lord of Bright Port, and found him in a hidden, man-made cave. However, just as she entered, she was attacked by Zenix. She was able to knock him out, by the mysterious person that she had noticed watching her from the outskirts of the village swooped in, picking up Zenix and quickly leaving with him. She hurried down the hall within the cave, leading her to a prison cell with the missing Lord inside of it. She quickly freed him and explained to him how she needed his help to heal her guard. He told her that the Shadow King had drained him of all his magicks, but he had some leftover potions he had made beforehand at his home in Bright Port, and that he would gladly give her one. Afterward, Aphmau rushed back to her own village to get the potion to Garroth. When she finally arrived home, the potion was administered to Garroth, and he was able to return to his guard duties in record speed.

One morning, Aphmau found a baby in a chest outside of her door with a name tag on it that read “Levin”. She contemplated over whether or not she was capable of stepping up to take care of a child, but decided to do so unless his birth mother turned out to be searching for him and she could return him to his biological family. A few days later, a new girl named Sasha moved into the village, and Brendan developed a crush on her.

World eventually came around to Aphmau that a mother in the region, specifically from Scaleswind, was missing her child, but no one was sure yet whether it was Levin or not. So, to find out, Aphmau decided to visit the “searching mother” herself. On her journey to Scaleswind, she met many new people and discovered so many new places and things. Her first notable stop on the long journey was at the Crazy Cat Lady’s island. There were hundreds of cats floating in the surrounding sea, and the island was drenched in cat pee, including the Cat Lady’s bed. However, the Cat Lady had been hospitable, allowing Aphmau to camp there overnight until the next morning, when the Cat Lady found that her most precious cat, Mittens, had been magically turned giant overnight. The Cat Lady then realized that Aphmau owned a dog, and being an avid hater of dogs, she pinned all the blame for her cat’s condition upon Aphmau. The lady then demanded that Aphmau head to the nearby village of Meteli to get a potion that would turn Mittens back to normal.

Aphmau didn't like the Cat Lady's attitude at all, but, regardless, chose to help her. Upon arriving at Meteli, she found that the village was enduring a period of political tension, due to their late Lord being assassinated recently, and the fact that two political candidates seeking to assume the title of Lord were butting heads. Looking for answers that would get her the potion the Cat Lady demanded, she sought out their help, but did not receive very much information from them. Deciding to look elsewhere for answers, she encountered Laurance, the head guard of the village, who gave her sufficient information and also flirted with her. From him, she learned that his adoptive sister, Cadenza, had gone missing, and that her disappearance was the central conflict between the two prospective lords. She also learned that the Chicken Shaman was a local potionmaker that she could try to seek out for answers. Aphmau decided to keep an eye out for Cadenza while she went looking for this so-called “Shaman”. On the way to the outskirts of Meteli, she saw a red chicken surrounded by roses. She investigated, but suddenly got knocked out.

Aphmau woke up to find that she was in the Chicken Shaman's hut, and that the red chicken was, in fact, Cadenza. In exchange for the potion that the Cat Lady demanded, Castor (the Chicken Shaman) told her that she had to make chicken houses for his "people" ("people" being his large assortment of chickens). After hours of hard work from Aphmau’s side, he declared that every attempted chicken house Aphmau built for him was awful and thus ended up building his own. Still, he gave her the potion she requested, to which Aphmau offered a potion Sasha had made and gifted her in return, only to find out that it was harmful and not "fire-resisting" as she had been told by Sasha. Aphmau told Castor about Sasha, and Castor confessed that he knew of Sasha, too, that she had apparently died horribly in the Nether. They were both left unsure of whether the Sasha they both knew were one and the same. Shaken, Castor retreated to his hut in his shock, and Aphmau left back to Meteli and told Laurance about Cadenza's situation. In response, he assured her that the Chicken Shaman meant no harm, and to tell Hayden and Kenmur that she found nothing, lest they began to antagonize Castor. Hayden was very upset, but Kenmur took the news (or lack thereof) much more calmly. Kenmur's guard then confided to Aphmau about Kenmur's past, and that was how she found out that Sasha was his old lover. Aphmau headed back to the Cat Lady's island and left with four new dogs that had appeared on the lady's island that had been gifted to her because of the Cat lady’s hatred towards dogs.

Continuing on with her journey, Aphmau came across an ongoing murder investigation in the Neapolitan Villages and had accidentally gotten herself involved in it, hoping to help. She was briefly apprehended as a potential suspect after being caught inspecting a crime scene, but Garroth and Laurance both came to vouch for her and bail her out. She spoke with them quickly before they both left and she continued to try to solve the murder. After gathering as much evidence as she could to solve the mysterious crime, she reached a conclusion and told Barrett, the investigator, that the murderer was the baker, then she left and continued on with her journey.

Further along on the way to Scaleswind, Aphmau discovered a maid café situated atop a large hill owned by a girl around her same age named Kawaii-Chan. She decided to check it out and ended up befriending Kawaii-Chan. After being gifted a little maid of her own, Aphmau left. She ended up getting lost in the woods, but, whilst wandering, found an old man named Elder Kain who asked for her help, requesting that she collect Wyvern Lair logs for him to rebuild his village, stating that his old one was burnt down and that those specific logs were fireproof.. Aphmau, ever the kind soul, agreed, and he granted her his staff, which had the ability to transport her to the Wyverns' realm. After getting some sugar to feed her maid, she used the staff to spawn into the Wyvern Lair (the name of their realm). There, she encountered an Elder Wyvern, who explained to Aphmau what actually happened between Wyverns and Humans centuries ago. The Wyverns were led into war with the humans by the Shadow Lord, but one day, a powerful and mysterious woman managed to bring the war to a stop. She spoke and understood the language of the Wyverns, and cleared their hearts that were shrouded by darkness from the Shadow Lord. Additionally, the elder told her that Wyvern Lair logs carried great power with them and should not be put into the wrong hands. Aphmau stopped what she was doing, went back to the Overworld, and told Kain that she wasn’t able to get any for the sake of the protection of her world and the Wyverns'. Kain got very upset, and revealed that he was actually Zenix in disguise. He threatened the safety of Phoenix Drop before Aphmau was knocked out cold by him, waking up to find herself in the safe haven of Kawaii-Chan's café. Kawaii-Chan explained that Zenix had wreaked havoc in the woods and that she had sent her maids out to help Aphmau and fight him off, and ended up losing almost all of her maids in the process. Kawaii-Chan told Aphmau that she needed to leave immediately, but offered Aphmau her horse to help her get to Scaleswind as fast as possible.

The following morning, Aphmau finally reached Scaleswind riding Kimi-Chan. With some difficulty, she found Matilda, Levin’s biological mother, being held in a cellar underground after finding a note that clued Aphmau in to her whereabouts. Aphmau rushed to help free Matilda, but she told Aphmau that she needed to leave and take care of Levin, revealing that Levin was a descendant of Lady Irene, and that his power was sought after by dangerous people like the Shadow Knights, saying that it was too dangerous for him to remain with her, his birth mother. Matilda also revealed that she was the wife of Phoenix Drop’s previous Lord, Malik, making Levin the rightful heir to Phoenix Drop. Aphmau understood and respected her wishes and took a music box for Levin that Matilda wanted her to give him. On the way back, stopping at the maid café, she found Laurance with Ungrth, his Wyvern. He offered Aphmau a ride back home, which she originally hesitated to accept, but her desire to get back home as fast as she could outweighed her skepticalness.

Upon returning back, Aphmau found Phoenix Drop in ruins, surprised to discover that it was all because of Zenix. Thankfully, it seemed that no one was severely injured. She gave Levin the music box that Matilda had given her and went to go check in with the villagers. Then she proceeded to head to the mines, where she saw Garroth's face for the first time, because he never showed it and instead chose to keep a helmet on. Aphmau took Laurance out of the lasso he was stored inside and chatted with him for a bit, until Laurance suddenly saw Sasha, and at the sight of Laurance, Sasha ran away. Aphmau then went over to Sasha's house, but Brendan told her that Sasha had just left the village. However, inside her otherwise emptied out house was a book that was sealed and needed a spell for her to be able read it. The next day, Aphmau talked to Laurance and he told her about his past. He also told her about what was going on in Meteli and how The Chicken Shaman still hadn’t returned Cadenza. Aphmau volunteered to find the Chicken Shaman as soon as she could and convince him to return Cadenza.

In a while, Aphmau was finally finished repairing the village, and was also able to add renovations to her house. She continually checked in with her villagers, but Donna suddenly took Aphmau aside and announced that she had gotten engaged to Logan, and that she wanted Aphmau to be the maid of honor for her wedding… but with a twist. Aphmau has to plan the entire wedding AND set it up. Annoyed but overjoyed for her friend, Aphmau accepted and then headed to Meteli. Once there, Aphmau talked to Laurance, Hayden, and Kenmur before heading to the Chicken Shaman’s house. What she discovered there was a person named Dr. Bees, who told her that there was a slaughter inside the Shaman's house. Aphmau went inside and found a note from Sasha saying that if he “wanted the rest of his people”, he needed to go to the Nether to get them back. Aphmau, worried for Cadenza and the Shaman’s safety, headed for Bright Port to use the Nether Portal in the Wolf Village. Laurance tagged along and they got the permission to use the Nether Portal from Bodolf, their leader.. After charging through the fortress and defeating the enemies along the way, they finally reached the top floor. They snuck around the weakened Shadow Lord to get to the Shaman, but, at the last second, were unfortunately noticed. Castor made a barrier with his magicks, but it didn't hold for long. Laurance said that Aphmau and Castor should go on ahead without him and that he could hold his own. Aphmau hesitated, but finally went along his wishes and left Laurance behind to fend for himself. Castor and Aphmau came to the overworld. She asked some questions to Castor, and since she saved him from the nether, Aphmau asked him to undo the spell binding Sasha's book. But she was still determined to get Laurance back from the Nether. They returned to Phoenix Drop and Castor undid the spell. Aphmau read the book to find out what happened during that mission, the one that Castor said Sasha had allegedly died during. However, the shaman told her that what was written in the book was all wrong, and told her that what must have happened was that Sasha had her memories altered by a person named Gene.

Walking toward the docks, Aphmau asked Castor about Cadenza, and found out that she was okay. She said her goodbyes to the Shaman and started planning on how to get Laurance out of the Nether. Aphmau then was able to witness Levin standing up for the first time, then quickly went to Bright Port since Garroth requested her there. On her way to the docks, she came in contact with Ungrth, who said that Laurance was alive but had changed. Going into the Nether was a trap for Aphmau so he could complete his transformation into a Shadow Knight. She arrived at Bright Port and went to the secret location Garroth had asked her to meet at.. There she found Garroth, Azura, Kenmur, Hayden's guard, and Brian. They were holding a meeting in which they planned on changing the sacred scroll of the guards, the new one stating that if you become tainted, you must kill yourself. Everyone agreed, except for Hayden's guard. Aphmau left the area, torn over whether or not to save Laurance since he sacrificed himself to save her and Castor, or follow Garroth because he took that oath to protect her.

Aphmau then went back to Phoenix Drop to find Garroth with Levin. She wanted to go back for Laurance, but Garroth wouldn’t allow it, saying that Laurance could take care of himself. Garroth instead gave Aphmau the idea to take Levin out and let him see the village. After her short outing with Levin was over, she decided to fix up the old Lord’s house so that when Levin got older, he could have a house of his own. Aphmau also decided that when Levin was old enough, she would give him the position of Lord since it was rightfully his, that is, if he wanted it. As the sun was setting, Aphmau decided that that was enough building for the day. Suddenly, Levin stood up and waddled over to the front of the house. There, outside, was Laurance, but he looked different. Aphmau was relieved to see him, but something about him was off. She shouted a few words to him, but Laurance quickly fled the scene, leaving Aphmau and Levin all alone. Soon after, Aphmau and Levin also left. They quickly met up with Brian and Garroth and then headed back to her house, where she explained the whole situation to them. Dr. Doctor suggested that it would be best to have a playground nearby the house instead for Levin’s safety, and suddenly, Levin was levitated.

After Brian and Garroth left, Zoey told Aphmau about her past, and Aphmau discovered that Zoey was an immortal elf, and that she missed her son. This is what led to Aphmau letting her watch over Levin. Then, Logan started coming down with a fever, and Brendan kept "seeing" Sasha even though she had left the village a while ago. Aphmau thought he was just seeing things, until a few days later, she also saw Sasha. Trying to distract herself, she remembered that Logan was sick, so Aphmau visited him. When she arrived, Kiki explained that Logan was not actually sick, but was turning into a werewolf. Kiki then said that Aphmau had to make the tough decision on whether or not to let Logan stay. She told Garroth about the situation, and they both agreed to let Logan stay even if he turned into a werewolf. Garroth then told Aphmau that since she was looking for Raven, she could find him at the west end of the village. She found the cave he resided in just as she was heading home. There were five Wyverns inside the cave, which is when she realized that, Including Ungrth, she had found all of Gaia's children. She talked to Raven and told him that she wanted him to go back, but due to certain reasons Raven stated, she couldn’t convince them. One of the Wyverns had a letter for Aphmau from Kawaii-Chan, asking if she could stay in Phoenix Drop. Aphmau replied with an ecstatic yes. She headed back and found Donna on the docks. She asked Donna if she liked werewolves, but Donna replied that she was afraid of them. Aphmau was very worried about how to tell Donna the news of her fiance turning into a werewolf.. Aphmau gave the village some more upgrades and also planned on building Garroth his very own guard tower. She soon heard a commotion and went to the plaza to see what the local dispute was after being told to by Brian. What she saw was that Donna and Kiki were having a verbal fight on how Kiki “stole Donna's man". Not sure of how to resolve this issue, Garroth left it in Aphmau's hands. She calmed Donna down and then told Kiki to distract her while she talked to Logan. Inside the mines, she saw that Logan had fully transformed into a werewolf. Aphmau still accepted Logan for who he was, and then he requested that Aphmau bring Donna down to the mines tomorrow, right before sunset, to see if she still loved him. The next day, Donna arrived at the mines and reassured Logan that she still loved him no matter what form he took. Soon after, Kawaii~Chan arrived and settled into the village. Aphmau then found Cadenza at Molly's house, where Molly was going to cook the still chicken Cadenza when Aphmau interrupted. Aphmau stole Chicken-Cadenza and left. She then checked in with Kawaii~Chan to discover that she could fix Cadenza with the help of Zoey. The next day, they transformed Cadenza back to her human form. Aphmau promised to bring her back to Meteli, since Cadenza needed moral support to tell her father she wanted to stay in Phoenix Drop.

The next day, Cadenza was waiting at the dock for Aphmau so they could leave for Meteli. Before they left, Aphmau checked on her villagers to make sure they were okay.. After that, they headed to Meteli. Inside Hayden's home were the rivaling lords and their guards. Everyone was so happy to see Cadenza back. There, they discussed Cadenza’s return, when she suddenly asked her father for permission so she could move to Phoenix Drop. After that Aphmau went back to Phoenix Drop to give them some time to discuss it. After some consideration, Hayden accepted her proposal, and Cadenza moved into the house across the street from Emma. Zane, the High Priest of O’Khasis, then came to the village to perform the wedding ceremony of Donna and Logan, because he was, specifically, a High Priest of Irene. Zane came because of a favor he owed Donna's mother… who happened to be the Crazy Cat Lady. They got married, and after Donna and Logan leave for their honeymoon and the party is all wrapped up, it is then revealed by Zane that he is Garroth's younger brother, and that Garroth is the heir to the throne of the kingdom of O'khasis. The reason Garroth was working as a mere guard was due to the fact that he was being forced to marry the heir of another powerful village, Scaleswind, to stop a war. Garroth ran away before the wedding and didn’t want to go back, so he had hidden his face from everyone as long as he could remember to avoid this burden. Laurance then returned from the Nether, because Ungrth had been able to set him free, at the cost of his own life. Aphmau was immensely relieved, but upset at Ungrth’s death. The village slowly calms. Molly and Dale have another baby, a daughter this time, named Alexis, who is Brian’s younger sister. Emma gets married to a farmer named Corey, and they also have a baby son named Kyle. Laurance slowly gets better, but he is blind. A joint baby shower was thrown for both Alexis and Kyle… and Zane showed up. Zane accused Aphmau of being in a romantic relationship with Garroth (which she isn’t) and to protect her from being arrested by O’Khasis, Laurance lied and said that Aphmau was his fiancee. Zane got angry, upset that his trap did not work, and attacked Alexis, giving her an amulet that tortured her until she became a Shadow Knight and was fully grown. Aphmau saved the village from the muck created by Alexis by creating a statue of Lady Irene, and the destruction all turned into diamond and crystal blocks, and is able to save Alexis in the process, although she fell into a coma. Laurance was entrusted with the amulet for safekeeping, as Garroth had fallen ill and was under the care of Lillian, a traveling doctor, so Laurance had temporarily become the head guard of Phoenix Drop. Then, Kiki suddenly falls ill, so she heads to the wolf village, but they were captured on the way by Zane in Bright Port, and she met a runaway girl named Nicole who was able to break her out, and she agreed to let Nicole live in Phoenix Drop.

At the wolf village, Aphmau found out that Kiki was given a pendant from Zane when he flirted with her at Donna and Logan’s wedding that gives birth to a kid if a male and female both prick their fingers on it. Meaning that Kiki was about to have a child, but it was unknown whether it was Zane’s or not. She sees Donna with a strange man, and when asked why, she revealed that Logan had been captured by a nearby wolf village during their honeymoon and this nice guard she met had been keeping her safe while they tried to get him out., She traveled to the neighboring wolf village with Dante (the guard) after finding out that a war between the two villages was also imminent.That was when they were both attacked and forced into an abandoned castle Inside the castle was a ghost child named Malachi, who can show people their greatest fear and trap them inside of it. Malachi showed Dante his fear of his Shadow Knight brother coming for him, and Dante passed out. For Aphmau, she saw Phoenix Drop burning to the ground as her friends and loved ones all perished. When they woke up, they were hung high above the castle foyer, and watched as Laurance and Garroth arrived to help Aphmau and the child showed them an illusion of their worst fear… Aphmau and Dante kissing: a projection of their worst fear; Aphmau choosing someone other than them to be with, which is when Aphmau realizes that they are both in love with her. Laurance ran to attack the projected Dante, and the illusion broke down as the ghost child broke down crying. Aphmau ran to him and comforted him, and Garroth and Laurence in the process as they saw she wasn't kissing another man. She found out that his name was Malachi, and decided to take him in as her own and adopt him alongside Levin. They then continue on to the wolf tribe and get captured. In the dungeons, they meet Lucinda, a captured witch, who helps Aphmau transform into a wolf cub for a short period of time so that she can investigate. Logan is in one of the cells as well, but he is very ill. Aphmau manages to trick the wolves and get them out of the village, but not before they find out that the entire village has been burned in an assault, and almost every wolf is just about dead. The Chief asks them to take care of his son, Yip, who was just a puppy.

They pass by a village called Pikoro while taking Lucinda home and find out that their Lord is missing. Aphmau finds the Lord and Lord Burt, the Lord of Bright Port, beneath a well guarded by Jeffory the Golden Heart, one of the Jury of Nine, Zane’s elite circle of guards. She managed to get him to soften up enough and let her go free with the Lords. She found out that Lucinda was the Lords daughter, and they finally reunited after years, but she still had to leave because the village still hates witchcraft users. Aphmau returned home and Levin has grown a little, to her joy.. She also created the Phoenix Alliance, an alliance between Lords of different villages (Bright Port, Meteli, Phoenix Drop, Pikoro, and the wolf tribe) against Zane. Lucinda and Kawaii-Chan meet and have a showdown because Kawaii-Chan is a magicks user and witches and magicks users have a long standing conflict, and both of them have a personal conflict as well.. Luckily it was all in good fun. Then Katelyn the Fire-Fist, a member of the Jury of Nine, showed up at Phoenix Drop in a huge boat and asked Aphmau some questions and, surprisingly, gave her guards armor upgrades. Alexis was finally completely healed and Molly, Dale, and Brian rejoiced, along with the rest of the village. Kiki's pendant finally releases a baby girl, who is named Leona. Remodeling is done to the village and they now have gates and better watchtowers, preparing for Zane’s wrath.

Just like they had predicted, Zane showed up… and threatened war if NICOLE was not handed over. That was when they found out that Nicole was the runaway to-be-heir of Scaleswind, and the girl who Garroth was supposed to get married to, and the Lord of Scaleswind was manipulated by Zane ink thinking that Phoenix Drop had abducted her. When they went to fetch Nicole, they could not find her, and that was when they found out that there was a traitor in the village who was supplying Zane with information this whole time and who had just kidnapped Nicole. The children and those who weren’t fighting were sent away by boat to keep them safe. Aphmau said a teary goodbye to Levin and Malachi and headed into battle. Nicole was finally found by Emmalyn and Kenmur, and she punched her father to snap him out of his lethal daze, and make him stop the battle midway, although many lives had been lost after Brian was revealed as the traitor as he opened the gates of Phoenix Drop for Zane and Scaleswind. Laurance had been holding onto the amulet, and Garroth, who was finally well and had participated in the battle, asked Aphmau where Laurance had gone after the battle. She said he was at Ungrth’s grave, and told him not to worry and that the amulet was under the safekeeping of Laurance to not fall into the hands of Zane. Garroth made his way to Ungrth’s grave, and when Laurance turned around to greet him, Garroth knocked him out and stole the amulet.

Chapter Text

Aphmau moved into a new village, and shortly after she did, a few scientists ended up moving there as well. These scientists were named Modzilla and Polly.

Modzilla revealed to Aphmau that he was originally from a different realm where he and Polly were friends, but while testing a device that would send “monsters” to different realms, it ended up knocking him into this realm when he tried to use it on bandits that came to his village when he was seven to try to steal the gadget, and it backfired on him and sent him here, where he and Polly were not friends, but rivals. So, instead, in this realm, he and Polly compete to see who can be the better scientist, although Modzilla has a bit of a crush on Polly, even though they are both exes. After a long-standing rivalry and trying to open the realm barrier once more, Modzilla finally was able to achieve it, and he went back to his Old Realm and his Old Polly, leaving his seven year old son, Tommy (who was a clone of him) under the care of Aphmau.