Narrator's POV

The next day, everyone began their search for Lady Irene's staff with Aphmau opening the compartment that Sylvanna gave her. "So where is Lady Irene's staff at anyways?" Spider Queen asked as Aphmau pulls out the scroll and opens it. "I'm not sure, maybe the scroll can tell us something" Aphmau said as Monkey King, Macaque, Tang, the Krew, Mk, Adira and Ao Bing went over while they started listening as Aphmau started reading the scroll.

"Lady Irene was a woman who lived about 900 years ago, who stopped a war between wyverns and humans, able to communicate with the wyverns. She overthrew an evil king and protected villages in the turmoil. She apparently had incredibly strong magicks, able to use many different kinds, as well as possessing the godlike power to open, close, and create dimensions all on her own. The religion believes she is a goddess or an angel, as she is portrayed as a statue in Phoenix Drop, a prosperous village, located in the north of the Ru'aun Region" the group looked surprised while both Macaque and Monkey King only smiled softly at the mention of their mother. "Hey, what is that? It says something about Divine Warriors right here" Mk points out and Aphmau takes a look before she starts reading again, "The Divine Warriors were a group of six powerful warriors: Irene, Enki, Esmund, Shad, Menphia, and Kul'Zak. They were worshiped as gods or goddesses and hailed from different regions. Irene stood out as the most revered in her region of Ru'aun, although the other gods were occasionally worshiped there too. They were originally humans who obtained relics granting them immense power" and this caught the two monkeys attention.

"Wait, what?!"

"Lady Irene was a human before?!?!" Mk asks in shock while Tang was writing this information down in his journal. "Woah... I-I didn't know..." Monkey King said as this made Mk look at his mentor with a surprise look as he asked "Wait, you and Macaque both didn't know about this?" and Macaque shakes his head as he said "Surprisingly kid, no we didn't. I never thought she was a human before. And I thought I should've known by now" and this caught Monkey King's attention as he asked with an eyebrow raised "What does that mean?" and Macaque looks at him and says "I mean she would've told me this a long time ago" and then Ally comes into the conversation as she says while standing beside Ao Bing "Maybe she just didn't say anything" and Macaque shakes his head in denial before saying "But... My mother didn't have a reason to hide this" and then Rainbow says while petting Ender "It seems like she did have some secrets of her own" and Macaque started getting frustrated as he said "NO! My mother didn't have a secret, because if she had an important secret I would have known about it!".

"Lady Irene kept many things secret, even from us" Adira said, making Macaque look at her. "But not from me, I was the one she told everything!!" Macaque says as he starts tearing up, making Lunar worried and then Monkey King comes in with a slight angered look as he said "Hey, you're not the ONLY one who misses her!" and Macaque slightly raised his voice while jabbing Monkey King's chest "YOU can't understand how I feel Wukong, NONE of you had what we had!" and worrying that a fight might break out, Aphmau went between the two monkeys as she says trying to calm down Macaque "She probably just wanted to protect you, like everyone else".

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!?! YOU'VE NEVER EVEN MET HER!!!!!"

Macaque slams his fist into the wall, making everyone stop what they were doing and froze as the T.E.A quickly stopped as Pigsy and Sandy looked back with a shocked look along with everyone else while Aphmau looked like she was ready to cry as she had tears in her eyes while the shadow monkey glares at her. Macaque's eyes widened in realization as he quietly gasped and stared at Aphmau for a second before he kicked the van's backdoors open and runs off into a forest.

Monkey King hops out the van and yells "Fine, Go! Go Cry About It!" and Macaque disappears into the forest. The others jumped out and looked at the forest as Aphmau asked "Where did he go?" and Monkey King says while looking at the ground "Who cares? I HATE it when he gets like this" and then he walks off with Gold and Mk going after him. "Adira?" Aphmau calls out but the female warrior doesn't reply and Aphmau wipes her tear in his eye as she asked "Is he okay?" but Adira does not reply again. "Well, I am going to find him..." Aphmau says with a determined look as she runs into the forest and Adira watches as she mutters "Good luck".

Aphmau arrives at a small meadow and spots Macaque standing alone, embracing something in hands. "Macaque?" Aphmau called out and Macaque flinched before quickly running off while shouting "Leave me alone!" but Aphmau was determined as she begins chasing after the shadow monkey, catching up to him with her portals. "Macaque, wait for me!" Aphmau said, causing Macaque to run in a different direction and shouts "Go away!" but Aphmau refused as she kept chasing after him while shouting "Macaque! Did I... did I do something wrong?! You got to tell me!" and the shadow monkey didn't answer as he looked over his shoulder with an anguished face before shouting "Stay away!" and Aphmau yells with tears at the corner of her eyes with a determined look while running faster "No! I'm Not Letting You Get Away Again!".

And with a yell, Aphmau jumps and tackled Macaque to the ground as the two rolled a bit before Aphmau pins the shadow monkey down as Macaque was struggling to get up. "Get Off Me! I Told You To Leave Me Alone!!" and Aphmau yells in his face "NO, MACAQUE!! Macaque, You Have To Tell Me What's Wrong! I Want To Help You! PLEASE, LET ME HELP YOU!!" and after she said, Macaque stopped and stares at Aphmau with eyes widened before tears slowly starts to form in his eyes. Aphmau noticed this and got off him as the shadow monkey slowly got up and walked to the river close to them and sat down as he brought his face to his lap as he says in a low tone "Sometimes, you even sound like her..." and this surprised Aphmau.

The young woman then walked over and sat down next to him as the shadow monkey was staring at his reflection in the water. It was silent for a moment before Aphmau asked "You miss her, don't you?" and this made Macaque sighed sadly and nodded. "I always do. There was never a day when my mother wasn't on my mind. Her voice, personality, everything. I'll never forget her nor everything she's ever done for me" Macaque said and Aphmau nods before asking while she and the shadow monkey didn't noticed her necklace glowing "If she was here... What would you say to her?" and Macaque sighs as he pulls out the gem from his pocket and stares at it before answering "I would tell her that I miss and loved her. That I would never forget about her and tell her how happy and lucky I was to have her in my life and how much... I want to see her again" and then he closed his eyes.

"Then say it to me directly, my son"

Macaque's eyes snapped open as he looked down at the river and saw Lady Irene's reflection in the water. Wanting to see if he was seeing things, Macaque rubbed his eyes and looks at it before he slowly looks up and...saw Lady Irene standing in Aphmau's place. The goddess of peace took over the young woman's body, so now, Lady Irene was seen.

Macaque's eyes widened in shock and disbelief as tears formed once more as he dropped the gem on the ground. "M-Mother..." Macaque asked/stammered and Lady Irene gave a small, yet soft smile as she gently rubbed his head. "MOTHER!!" Macaque cried out as he leaped at her and buried himself in her chest, crying his eyes out while holding her tightly. Lady Irene smiled and hugged him back as Macaque sniffled, making Lady Irene wiped his tears away and kissed his head. "I-I missed you... Mother" Macaque whimpered and Lady Irene says in a gentle tone "I missed you too, my special little warrior" and this made Macaque laugh a bit at the nickname she gave him many years ago. They broke away as Macaque wiped his tears and then Lady Irene says "Liu'er mihou, I hate to say this, but I can't stay like this for long. You must continue on your journey and find my staff to save the world" Lady Irene said and Macaque quickly says "Wait! Can... Can we hug one more time? Please?" and Lady Irene smiled as she pulls him into a hug, making the shadow monkey quickly hug his mother back and then tears began to form in Lady Irene's eyes as they fall while saying "I was blessed to have both you and Wukong as my sons... Never forget who you are and what you're fighting for..." and with that, Lady Irene vanished, replacing Aphmau back in.

They pulled away as Aphmau asked "Feeling better, now?" and Macaque chuckled as he said "Yeah... Thanks Aphmau. I needed that" and then they stand up as Aphmau says "Well, we should probably get back to the other, so we can find Lady Irene's staff" and Macaque nods as they started walking back. "What type of forest do you think this is?" Macaque asked and just before Aphmau could answer, the two suddenly found themselves in a net trap as this made the shadow monkey and the young woman to let out yells of shock and surprise. "What the-?! What is this?!?!" Macaque exclaimed as he and Aphmau tried to get out. "Apparently in a forest filled with booby traps, that's where we're at!!" Aphmau said as she was struggling to move and then Macaque says "Let's hope the others come look for us".

Meanwhile with the Others

It had been a few hours since Macaque ran off and Aphmau went after him, everyone was starting to get worried, including Monkey King as he was getting a little worried for Macaque. "They've been gone for a long time. Do you think they're okay?" Vee asked in worry and then Lunar had a determined look as she said "I'm going to go look for them" and then she was stopped by Pigsy, who had a stern look "Not by yourself, young lady" and this made Lunar nod before bending down to Ender, Mo and Kirby's level and says "You guys stay here and guard the van. I'm counting on you three, got it?" and this made the three companions salute as Lunar and everyone started heading into the forest as Funneh says while everyone walked deeper into the forest "It's almost dark. Come on!" and then Tang complains "I should've stayed in the van".

"WE JUST STARTED WALKING TANG/UNCLE TANG!!!"

Everyone shouted as this startled and frightened the scholar in the process.

Back with Macaque and Aphmau

The two were still trapped inside the net trap as Macaque was trying to break the net, but with no luck at all. "Still no luck, huh?" Aphmau said and Macaque sighs while nodding and says "It's like we've been here for hours and I'm starting to doubt if-!" but just then he could continue, Macaque and Aphmau heard familiar voices calling for them.

"Mk! Guys!" Aphmau called out, catching everyone's attention as they looked up. "Oh my gosh, Aph! Macaque! Are you okay?" Lunar asked/called out. "Well, We're trapped a few feet in the air in this random net trap. This is not what 'okay' looks like," Macaque remarked sarcastically. "Yes, come on, come on. Let's get him down from there and get out of this stupid forest," Monkey King said as he starts walking towards them. "Hold on, Wukong. We need to think this through" Adira says and Syntax starts to say "Yes, a classic tactic is to set additional traps around..." but was cut off by Monkey King saying "We don't have time to overthink this..." but before he too was caught in a net trap. "Wukong!" Gold shouted, before she and the Krew was caught in a net trap. "Kids!!" Sandy, Pigsy and Tang all exclaimed in worry before they were trapped in a net trap while Mk, Mei, Ally and Vee were all trapped together as they screamed and the spider goons were also trapped as well.

Adira was the only one who wasn't caught when she heard something and pulls out her sword and says "Someone's coming!" and went into a battle stance as someone's footsteps were getting closer before a familiar orange hair young woman appeared. "Lucinda?!" Aphmau and Lunar exclaimed in surprise while Lucinda, who is wearing a white dress with some black spots on the sleeves and a silver sash around her waist was shocked to see her friends here.



"Aphmau! Lunar! What are you guys doing here?!" Lucinda quickly rushed over before she stopped by Adira pointing her sword at the young woman. "Who are you?!" Adira demanded, making Lucinda ready to pull out her staff when Aphmau quickly interfered "Adira, wait! Lucinda is one of us, she's my friend!" and this made Adira pause before she lowered down her sword. "My apologies. I was merely cautious" Adira says as she puts her sword up and Lucinda nods while saying "I understand. So am I, but only when invaders come to the Sacred Forest" and then she walks towards a rope that was tied to a log, pulls out a small dagger and sliced the rope, causing all the net traps to fall down with everyone yelping in surprise as they landed on the ground with a thud. Lucinda then lets out a whistle and an owl flies down and lands on Lucinda's shoulder. The owl has yellow-orange eyes and gray-white feathers, his wings are very tiny and his head is surprisingly big and has little tufty horns on his head.

"Thank you Miss. I like your owl" Vee says and this made Lucinda smile softly at the young basilisk before saying "You can just call me Lucinda and this is my familiar Bigglesworth" and then Stringbean, who was in Lunar's hair noticed the owl and flies towards him, surprising Lunar and Lucinda as they watched their animal companions interacting with each other. "A palisman! Incredible.." Lucinda mutters before she looks at Aphmau and asks "Aphmau, what are you and your friends doing way out here?" and before Aphmau could respond, Funneh placed her hand on Lucinda's shoulder and says "Lucinda, we need your help".

After Aphmau and Funneh both explained what had happened recently and what they were doing, Lucinda was shocked to say the least before a serious, yet determined look appeared on her face as she then gestures everyone while saying "Follow me. I know someone who can help you. Besides it's getting dark and you all need a place to rest" and begins walking off. Everyone didn't move for a moment before Aphmau, Lunar and Funneh looked at each other and nodded before following after Lucinda followed by everyone else. After 30 minutes, Lucinda led them in front of a nice, cozy cottage.



"Is this the place, kid?" Pigsy asked and Lucinda nodded at him while saying "Yes. Well, this is actually my mother's home Mr. Pig" and then she went towards the door and called out to someone "Mom! I'm back and we have some guests!" and then a few seconds after, a woman comes out as she has pale gray with a tint of light blue hair and light bluish purple eyes and wears a witch hoodie on her head.



"Miss Hyria!" Aphmau says in surprise, causing the woman to look surprise for a moment before a soft smile appeared on her face. "Aphmau dear, it's so good to see you again" the woman known as Hyria greeted the young woman. "Aphmau, you know this old lady?" Mk asked.

BONK!!!

"Owww!!!!" Mk now has a huge bump on his head as he rubs it. "I beg your pardon, young man! I maybe old, but I have feelings!" Hyria sneered, making Mk cry out "I'm sorry, Miss!" and this made Mei laugh as she gestures Hyria "I like her!" and then Funneh comes in as she says "Okay, Mk. You totally deserve that, but I agree with your question. How do you know this lady?" and Aphmau looks at her and says "Miss Hyria was a witchcraft teacher at my old school, Phoenix Drop High".

"Please, come in. It's late and dinner is actually ready" Hyria says as she goes into the cottage with everyone else following behind her and soon everyone was seating down at the table with the food on the table.



"All right then, let's dig in before the food gets cold. If there's anything you don't like please don't force yourself to eat it, you won't offend me in any way" Hyria said and everyone nods before they started eating. "Mmm! This is delicious!" Mei says as she was scarfing down her food along with Mk. "I'm glad you like it" Hyria says while Gold slightly glared at her two friends for their poor table manners. "So... The Lady Bone Demon was released" Lucinda said, making the Monkie gang and the Krew all nod their heads. "And you're all looking for weapons to defeat her?" Hyria asked, making everyone nod again as Syntax says "Yes. All we need are two more items" and this made Hyria ask curiously "And what are these last two weapons you need?" and that's when Tang says "We need one last ring of samadhi and Lady Irene's staff".

Clink

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Hyria, who looked like she'd seen a ghost and had dropped her fork. "W-What...?!" the woman stammered in shock and then Aphmau carefully says "We're looking for Lady Irene's staff... But we don't know where it is" and this made Hyria go quiet, making Lucinda worried as she says "Mom?" and then the elderly woman had a serious look on her face as she says "Meet me in the living room... All of you" and this made everyone look at each other before looking at Hyria.

After eating dinner, everyone was now gathered in the living room with Hyria standing next to the fireplace. "So... You know something about Lady Irene?" Ally asks and then Rainbow asked curiously "And who are you exactly? You seem as if you knew her personally" and this made Hyria chuckle a little and said "I did..." and this shocked and surprised everyone. "Mom?" Lucinda says and Funneh looks at young white witch and asks "Lucinda? You knew this?" and Lucinda answered "No way, I was never aware of this, I- I was aware she was ancient, but not THAT ancient" and this made Hyria snap at her daughter "Excuse me, young lady! I'm old, but I still have feelings!" and Mk coward behind Monkey King as he was shaking in fear by Hyria's anger while his mentor looked at him confused.

Lucinda sighs and says "Whoops, I almost forgot about that" and then Hyria says "Well, at least you're consistent in how you feel about me. I wasn't expecting forgiveness right off the bat" and then Huntsman comes in the conversation as he says "Forgive me for interrupting this, uh, "Sentimental" family moment, but you asked us in here to speak of Irene. The truth" and it was quiet for a moment, making everyone look at the woman before Hyria says "Yes..." and Aphmau questioned "Miss Hyria?" and then the woman says to everyone "What I am about to tell you, you'll never find in any book ever written. Only Irene and those who knew her closely would have known this. It is of her. Her personal life. Her.. death. And her wishes" and this made both Monkey King and Macaque look at each other before looking back at Hyria. "Miss Hyria, are you sure now's the right time to reveal this?" Draco asked and Hyria nodded as she said "Now is the perfect time. Judging by what has happened, it appears she's done exactly what she set out to do".

"What do you mean?" Aphmau asked. "Let me tell you the story. A very long time ago, I was great friends with Lady Irene herself. I was the last person to ever see her before she fell into slumber" Hyria says and this made Lucinda ask "Are you telling me that you've been alive for over a thousand years?" and Hyria says "Oh, much longer than that dear, but the story isn't about me!" and Lucinda asked again "What does this have to do with the staff?" and Hyria gently shushed her daughter while saying "Shh, quiet my child, and let me explain" and then she looks at everyone and began telling the story.

"Now, Irene was a wonderful person. She fought countless wars, and helped the lives of so many people across the world. Not just in this region. She was around long before regions were even concepts. Her love of the world and its people was admirable. She'd help anyone that needed it and always fought for a just cause or whatever cause was the most just. Not every war has a righteous side. But even she, who was a goddess among men, knew when to step aside and let humans fight their own battles. Of all 6 Divine Warriors, she was the only one who didn't go through the cycle of reincarnation through death"

"Forgive me, but I was under the impression that they all lived for a very long time?" Spider Queen said and Hyria says "They did, but Irene was different. She was the matron. The one Divine Warrior who transcended them all. Destined to live, as she watched her friends go through their cycle of rebirth and reincarnation" and Vee says sorrowfully "Sounds like... a horrible life..." and this made Spider Queen gently place her hand on the young basilisk's shoulder. "It was. For Irene, nothing was more painful than seeing her friends die. I remember that day" Hyria says with a sorrow look. "But... There's more to the story" Macaque said and Hyria nodded at the shadow monkey before saying "Indeed. Even though the Divine Warriors were gods, some of them allowed human emotions to control their actions. A long time ago, Irene, Enki, Esmund, Menphia and Kul'Zak had to kill Shad the Destroyer".

Aphmau looks down for a moment before she grunts in pain while clutching her head, catching everyone's attention. "Aph?" Funneh asked in worry as Mk went over to her and sat down next to Aphmau, who says "I'm fine, sorry. Just... Something bothering me" and Hyria says "I see. In any case, Shad loved Irene deeply and Irene loved him back" and this shocked the two monkeys by this information as they thought to themselves 'Mom/Mother was in love with someone?!'.

"However, their love was star-crossed for the fates destined Irene to be a champion for peace while Shad was destined to be the warrior of chaos and destruction. Good and evil, they were caught in a constant cycle of conflict. But Irene always brought him back. She would throw Shad into different realms to fight their battles, which he eventually learned to break. Thus, giving him the title, Realm Breaker. Even though Irene loved Shad, she always put others first above her own needs and desires. She was forever compelled to resolve conflicts and help others in this realm. Then, there was Esmund the protector. Esmund was a shield for good. He would fight by Irene's side. However, the fates work in cruel ways, and eventually he fell in love with Irene. This caused conflict between the 3 warriors very often, but this greated on her. And over time, she forgot how to love, how to feel empathy. She lost her emotions for everyone and everything. Being the longest living of the Divine Warriors... Well... You can only live so long before you disconnect from human emotions" Hyria says and the two monkeys were completely silent by this as they began thinking about something from a long time ago.

'That's why Mom/Mother lost her emotions?! It wasn't because of-!'

"Hmph.. you think..." Lucinda huffed and this made Hyria snapped "Tell me that after YOU'VE lived over a thousand years!" and this confused everyone before Hyria continued the story, "As I was saying... Irene continued to do good for the world, but she was no longer able to return feelings of love to those that loved her. Even me... During this time, Esmund, Enki and Kul'Zak together determined that if Shad was gone, there would be no darkness in this world. And maybe Irene would learn to love again. How they came to this conclusion still remains a mystery to me. I never believed he was the source of darkness in this world. Darkness comes from the hearts of humans" and Funneh comes in as she says "True" and then Hyria says "In any case, Shad found out of this betrayal and lost all reason. He ascended, and turned into something pure evil. What we know as the Shadow Lord. It was Irene's greatest fight. She ended up creating the Irene Dimension for the sole purpose of containing Shad there. It was a fight that lasted ages. In the end, the 5 Divine Warriors banded together and managed to break Shad and his relic into pieces scattered throughout the world. And locked his soul away in The Nether. After all that, Irene didn't feel anything, and in a twisted way, this actually hurt her. She wanted to feel sorrow for Shad's death, but she could not. Eventually her fellow Divine Warriors died, leaving her all alone in this world".

Everyone was completely silent as they were all stunned and shocked before Aphmau grunts in pain again. "Do you feel anything Aphmau?" Hyria asked and Aphmau says "...I-I don't know..." and then she rested her head on Mk's shoulder as he didn't mind. "Hmm... then let me continue. Irene came to me one day and said, "I want to learn how to feel again" She decided to seal away all of her memories and go into slumber in the realm she created. The Irene Dimension. She took her powers from herself and left them in a relic in her realm. As she sealed away her memories, she gave me a staff and said, "Take this. When it glows, place it somewhere where I can be woken from my slumber. Place it somewhere that needs my help." And with that, she vanished into her realm".

Everything was quiet before Lunar said "And you said, "Take this to somewhere that needs the help of Irene." but... I didn't think you meant the help of the actual Irene" and this confused everyone, especially Aphmau, who asked "Wait, what?".

...

"Aphmau, YOU are Lady Irene"

...

"WHAT?!" Aphmau exclaimed/shouted in complete shock and disbelief. "WHA/HUH?!?!?!" Everyone was completely shocked, especially Macaque and Monkey King. "There's... no way..." Funneh breathes out in shock. "You can't be serious Mom!" Lucinda says in disbelief. "Oh my god!" Ally says. "YOU'RE TELLING ME.. THAT 'I' AM IRENE. I HAVE NO RECOLLECTION OF THAT, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Aphmau exclaims in denial, but Hyria calmly says "You.. ARE Irene, and you know this" and this made Aphmau silent before flashbacks of memories with the others gods came into her mind. The first memory was Lady Irene and Enki, the second memory shows Lady Irene with Esmund, the third and four memories showed Lady Irene and Shad battling each other as the last memory showed Lady Irene and Shad both embracing each other in a lover's embrace.

After the flashbacks ended, Aphmau was completely flabbergasted, shocked and was in disbelief "Oh my Irene- I mean... oh my... me!? What?!" and Hyria says in a gentle tone "I know it's a lot to take in" and then Lucinda breaks the silence as she says "While this IS crazy, I... I believe you. You have no reason to lie" and Hyria says with a regretful look "Forgive me for leaving you Lucinda, but you see, Irene was right. The longer you live, the more you forget how to love".

After explaining the story and the truth of Lady Irene, everyone was stunned to hear this, especially for Monkey King, Macaque and Aphmau as the three were completely silent. Mk noticed Aphmau hadn't said a word as he asked in concern "Aph? Are you okay?" and everyone looks at Aphmau, who has her head was down as her eyes were shadowed in concern before she slowly says "I-I just... need some time to take this in..." and with that, Aphmau simply gets up and runs out of the room and this caused Mk to stand up, "Aphmau!".

Sandy stops him even though he was worried for the young woman calmly says "No, little man. I think it's a wise idea to give her some time alone to let her process this" and Mk only looks at the door with a worried look. Aphmau runs out of the cottage and runs down the rock path for a little bit before she then sits next to a tree that was near a small pond. Aphmau's eyes begin to water as everything that has been told runs though her head, she covers her face with her hands and begins to cry as she only had one thing on her mind.

'Who really am I... Aphmau or Irene?'

Meanwhile Somewhere Else

Unknown to Aphmau as she continues crying, someone was watching her through a crystal ball as they had glowing red eyes before they had a sinister grin and then says malicious "I've finally found you, my little bride~" and then they looked over their shoulders and ordered "Bring her to me~".

Back with Aphmau

After a few moments of crying, Aphmau began to calm down a little before wiping her eyes and standing up while muttering to herself "Okay... I better get back to the others before they start worrying about me" and then she starts walking back to the cottage before pausing when she hears some rustlings from a nearby bush. "Hello? Is anybody out there?" Aphmau called out, but was met by silence before she muttered "Huh... I guess it was nothing" and began walking back to the cottage while unknown to the young woman, something or someone was following her.

Timeskip

Aphmau arrived back inside the cottage as everyone rushed and surrounded her while asking questions.

"Aphmau, are you okay?!"

"Don't scare us like that again kid!"

"Where did you go?"

"You're not hurt, are you?"

Aphmau gave a small chuckle and says "I'm okay, really. I just needed to think for a moment" and everyone smiled feeling happy that their friend was alright, but Vee heard something coming from outside as she says "Uh, guys... Something's out there" and this caught everyone's attention as Aphmau says "Now that you mention it, when I was coming back, I felt something was following me" and Strong spider says "Maybe it was a small bunny or a small critter" and this made Gold start to say while looking out the opened front door "I don't see any-!" but then gasps in shock when a snake demon appeared out of nowhere as it was in front of her while hissing, making Gold shout while quickly stepping back "Snake demon!".

Everyone gasped in shock when more snake demons broke into the cottage as some were on the rafters, making Vee and Ally both scream in fright and hugged each other as everyone went into a battle stance. The snake demons hissed at the group as some pulled out weapons, causing the Krew, Aphmau, Mei, Ao Bing, Adira, Macaque, Hyria and Lucinda to pull out their weapons. "Tang, take the girls and hide!" Sandy said as the snake demons, who were on the rafters jumped off and started attack the group. Tang quickly grabs the two girls, ran off and hid under an antique blasius & sons custom carved grand piano while everyone else began fighting off the snake demons. Pigsy grabs a nearby frying pan and swings it at a snake demon in front of him while saying "Get back, you demon punk!".

Funneh jumps on Ao Bing, who was crouching down for a boost and kicks a snake demon with a yell as the kick directly hits the snake demon in the face, causing it to fly off and crashed into three more snake demons, who were battling Lucinda and Hyria. "There's too many of them!" Lunar said as she and Macaque were both fighting off the snake demons together as a team along with Gold and Monkey King. "What do we do?!" Mk asked as he was using a wooden chair to smack the snake demons away from him and Aphmau. "Someone must've sent them here! It's obvious someone wants something from us!!" Lucinda said as she sent a snake demon out of the window with her staff. "Well, whatever they want, they're sure going to be disappointed!" Hyria says as she was holding her ground before she yelped when she was tackled to the ground by two snake demons.

"Mom/Miss Hyria!!" Lucinda and Mk both shouted as they quickly rushed over to help the elderly woman. Aphmau saw this and was about to rush over to help when she was cornered by a snake demon and a different demon, who looks like a tall young man with a lean muscular build and narrow deep green eyes as he had a huge leaf-like fan on his back.



"Going somewhere, princess?~" the young man demon says, making Aphmau gasp. Lucinda and Mk managed to get the snake demons away from Hyria as they quickly helped her up before they heard Aphmau in distress "No, No! Put Me Down!!" and the three turned their head to see a different demon has Aphmau over their shoulder as the young woman was struggling to get free from the demon's grasp. "APH/APHMAU!!" Mk and Lucinda both exclaimed, catching everyone's attention. Seeing her friend/sister figure in danger, Vee growled before she got out of her hiding spot and ran towards the demon holding Aphmau hostage, making both Ally and Tang shout "Vee, wait/No, Vee!!" but the young basilisk ignored them as she raised her fist while yelling "Let Her Go!" and seeing this, the demon laughs as he says "What a cute attempt" and simply draws back his arm and hits Vee's cheek, making the young basilisk cry out in pain as she was sent flying away before she crashed into a wall, making her go unconscious.

"VEE!!!!" Aphmau, Funneh and Ally screamed in horror while the demon laughs. Funneh growled as her eyes glowed blue and charged towards the demon with a yell "You're Gonna Regret That!!" but then a snake demon, who has a very long and curving neck, has magenta eyes and black gloved hands and his skin is purple with black markings and gold spines along his chest, forehead, and light blue gems on his head and chest has had enough.



He pulls out a small vial as it contains some type of green substance before throwing it on the ground, making green smoke come out as it starts spreading everywhere. Hyria smelled it before she falls to the ground, catching Lucinda's attention as she screamed "Mother!!" but then she also smells it and falls to the ground as well. And one by one, everyone began knocking out while the snake demons quickly left before they could get infected too and Sandy tried to fight it but couldn't as he falls to the ground, breaking the bottom part of the wooden stair's handrail. "MK!!" Aphmau screams as the demon runs out of the cottage with Aphmau while Mk, who was still conscious tried running after them as he weakly says "Aph..." but then he knocked out and collapsed on the ground.

The Next Day

Sandy slowly wakes up with a yawn as everyone else were either awake or just waking up and then Sandy starts to say "What a nap. I had the strangest dream, some snake demons-" but was cut off by Mk finishing his sentence as he had his head down and eyes shadowed "Took Aph! That was no dream, Sandy" and then Lucinda says while helping Hyria up "He's right. But what could those demons possibly want with Aphmau?" and this made Ally say with a worried look "No idea, but we can't just sit around and do nothing! Aphmau's in trouble!" and Adira placed her hand on the young girl's and said "You're right, but we have no slight idea on where they took Aphmau".

Meanwhile inside the cottage, Vee was sitting on a wooden chair while hissing in pain as Funneh gently wipes her bruised cheek with a wet cloth with Strong Spider getting the first aid kit. "What were you thinking Vee?! You were supposed to stay hidden and now you're hurt" Funneh says with a soft, yet stern tone and Vee says "I just wanted to help Aphmau because all of you were busy and I couldn't just do nothing" and Funneh shakes her head and says while Strong spider came back and starts putting a bandage on Vee's face "But still... You shouldn't be running into a situation without thinking" and after Strong Spider bandaged the young basilisk's cheek, Vee stands up and glares at Funneh.



"Or maybe you just think I'm completely useless!"

Funneh was taken aback by Vee's conclusion as she starts to say "Wait, Vee. That's not what I-!" but she didn't get to finish her sentence as the young basilisk runs out of cottage, catching some of the group's attention. "Vee, wait!" Funneh called out as she watches the young basilisk run up to a nearby tall tree and began climbing up, making Funneh sigh. "What's wrong with Vee?" Huntsman asked and this made Funneh sighs sadly and looks down at the ground and says "Vee thinks that she's useless to the team, but I don't think that. All I want is to keep her safe like I promised Vulko that I would" and then a hand was placed on her shoulder, making Funneh look up and sees Ao Bing as he had a soft look. "Don't worry. Just give her some time and she'll understand" Ao Bing says and this made Funneh stare at him for a moment before she leaned her head against the dragon prince's chest, making Ao Bing pull her into a comforting hug.

Vee climbed up to the highest tree branch and sits down on a high tree branch as she sighs sadly with tears forming at the corner of her eyes, but quickly wiped them away. She then pulls out something from pocket as it is revealed to be a red and silver switchblade knife that Vulko gave her.



Vee stares at it before a memory appeared in her mind.

Flashback

Vee was waiting patiently for Vulko to come back as she was practicing her aiming with a slingshot she made. "Steady... Aim... And fire!" Vee lets go as the rock went straight and it hits a wooden tea cup, knocking it down. "Yes! See that, Linny? Right in the middle" Vee says as she looks up before an adorable baby mouse pops out from her head as it cutely squeaks at her.



"What are you saying? I was aiming for the middle" Vee said before the baby mouse squeaks again, making the young basilisk say "I'm glad you agree" and then suddenly the door opens as Vulko's voice called out "Vee" and this made the young basilisk gasp in surprise before she quickly hid the slingshot behind her back as she replied back with a nervous smile "Yes, master?" and Vulko comes in as he notices the knocked down wooden tea cup and sighs before asking with amusement "Busy with your chores, I assume?" and Vee nods as she quickly picks up a broom next to her and sweeps around her a bit while saying "Yes, master".

"Oh"

"Practically finished" Vee says and then Vulko comments playfully "Seems you certainly haven't been idle" and Vee chuckles as she says "Oh, idle, no. I've been sweeping and dusting, mopping. Just can't keep up with it" and Vulko closes the door and chuckles before saying "Well I have a present for you" and after he said that, Vee dropped the broom and zoomed towards him as she asked excitedly "What is it? What is it?!" and this made Vulko let out a heartwarming laugh before he pulled something from his pocket as it revealed to be a small silver and red-jeweled dagger and then two dual blades appeared on each side as Vulko says while balancing it with one finger "Look. Pretty, isn't it? Perfectly balanced. As all things should be. Too much to one side, or the other... Here. You try" and Vee gently takes the switchblade and also balances it on her finger and Vulko smiled softly as he says "There. You got it" and this made the young basilisk look at her mentor before she smiled and hugged him, surprising Vulko before a soft smile appeared on his face and hugs her back.

Flashback Ends

Vee sighs as she continues looking at the switchblade and then suddenly a semnopithecus monkey appears and goes near the young basilisk as it let out some squeaking noises while Vee stares at it for a moment before looking back at her switchblade as the monkey lets go of the branch and sits down a few feet away from her.

"Go away" Vee says in a low tone, but the semnopithecus monkey chatters at her instead, making the young basilisk say again "Get away from me" and then the semnopithecus monkey chatters in a mocking way at her, making Vee look at it with a slight irritated look as she said "Stop it" but the semnopithecus monkey chatters once more mockingly before as if it was saying 'Hey, I'm talking to you' while slightly smacking the young basilisk's arm shoulder as it made her move a bit, making Vee glare at the annoying monkey and shooed it away as it jumps back while the young basilisk exclaims angrily "Get Away From Me!".

Suddenly the semnopithecus monkey let out a chatter while looking up at something before Vee was suddenly lifted up by a pair of lion-tailed macaque monkey arms, causing the young basilisk to let out a scream as she was being passed/taken away by other semnopithecus monkeys. "Funneh!" Vee's voice was heard, catching everyone's attention as they looked up at the tree where Vee was at and saw a troop of monkeys taking her away. "Vee!" Ally exclaimed as she, Funneh, Ao Bing, Huntsman, Syntax, Strong Spider, Adira, Hyria, and Draco ran after the captured basilisk, but not before the elderly woman told the others to go find and save Aphmau. Vee was getting passed by gibbon monkeys as she was screaming in fright before the young basilisk was grabbed by the ankle by a lion-tailed macaque monkey and was tossed before another one grabs her by the waist and starts swinging away. "Young one, hold on!" Adira called out before Hyria quickly climbed a tree as she just missed them with Vee exclaiming "Miss Hyria!".

Hyria jumps down the tree and runs off as Funneh asks in worry while the group follows after the elderly woman "What was that? Where are they taking her?" but Hyria replied back "This way" and with Vee, she was screaming as the lion-tailed macaque monkey was swinging through the branches while carrying the young basilisk with its feet before the monkey tossed Vee towards another one as the lion-tailed macaque tossed her into air as Vee saw the sky for a moment before falling down. The group was still on the monkey troop's tail as Funneh shouts "We see you! We see you!" and Ally was ahead of everyone before she quickly stopped her tracks when she saw a rushing river in front of her and noticed the troop of monkeys were getting farther away.

The group caught up and Hyria spins her staff and points it at the river as giant roots burst out from the ground side and created a bridge for them to cross. "Come on, we have no time to waste!" Hyria says as she let everyone cross first before she follows behind them. Vee was on a gibbon monkey's back hanging on for dear life as it navigates its way through the trees before jumping onto a cliffside and climbs up along with the rest of the monkeys while Vee was screaming as she was completely scared and meanwhile the group made it to the cliff-like mountain but saw that the monkeys had already reached the top.

"No..." Funneh breathes out.