The prince and princess laughed a little before they took their drink. Once they were finished with their toast, Princess Cauladra addressed the Elementals, "Now that the vampiric threat is over, where shall you and your company go next?"

"Don't know yet. We go where the lady goes." Quake sat back down next to Mermidon.

"Your loyalty in following her from one corner of The Realm to the other is admirable." Princess Cauladra noted.

"Yes, it is!" Prince Birch added, "Lady Alyson should be proud to have such stalwart companions as you in her company."

Mermidon nodded, "Yes. Well, lady is most generous to give us free will. Some call it, to be awakened."

"The freedom to come and go as you like," Prince Birch replied wistfully, "The freedom to give aid and comfort when you see fit. The freedom to wander where you like. Accountable to no one only oneself! What a life you must indeed lead! But I am curious, when you are not serving Lady Alyson, what do you do in your spare time?"

Mermidon spoke up first, "I split my time between this plane and serving the platinum dragon on quests. When I have free time, I spend it with the deurgar of Mount Chasme, since we freed them from the mindflayers that had enslaved their king."

Quake shrugged, "Lately, I've split my time between the lady and her uncle, the platinum knight."

******

The black draconian walked up into the space that was the swordsman, "It would be the same reason if you were severed from your other half, human. Yeah, I know about you hitching a ride in a body that's not your own. Thinking you wouldn't be able to survive in the Realm as a human, well you are wrong. Very wrong. We were created to evolve and grow. We were awakened the moment we came into being and allowed to think for ourselves. You hide in the shell of a drow, human. What are you afraid of that you need a suit of flesh armor when you can walk around without it."

"Irzen cannot live without me and I cannot live without Irzen," The Swordsman replied evenly, "He and I are one. Dungeon Master explained to me that Irzen's resurrection after his fall from the not-so good graces of The Dark Lord came with a heavy price! I was bound to him and he to me. If we were separated, neither of us would live very long without the other. His body, our souls, blended into one magical fusion that allows us to exist. Without that fusion, we would surely die."

"Hmph!" Dragolem crossed his massive arms. He wasn't impressed, "A symbiotic relationship doesn't give you the right to inform the Lady that she rents space for being an avatar. So can it, or I will. At least there's no illusion or pretense of her being something else because you don't like being a messily human."

Irzen smiled with an evil grin, "That's why I like you, Dragolem, you don't mince words. You're always direct and to the point. Fair enough, I'll give Alyson a break on the whole avatar thing. I confess this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. You have a deal!" The Swordsman extended his hand for Dragolem to shake it.

He looked down at the swordsman grumbling, "A human trait. Drow, like their surface cousins do not shake hands but if you insist." Dragolem returned the handshake with a near bone crushing grip.

"You got a good grip there!" The Swordsman smiled through clenched teeth as he winced in pain, "May I have my hand back? Thank you!"

Dragolem grinned, "So no more handshakes? Shame."

"I'll always shake your hand, Dragolem," Irzen replied with a grin of his own, "The moment you remember your own strength and loosen your grip a little."

"Oh. I know the true strength of my grip. What you felt was only a fraction of what I'm capable of. I thought you needed a reminder not to piss off the lady again, that's all." The black stepped back into the shadows again only to pop and stake another vampire, who thought they were sneaky.

"That's very thoughtful of you," The Swordsman rubbed his sore hand, "Consider myself reminded. Although, in complete fairness, it doesn't take much to piss off your creator these days. She seems to be living on a razor's edge, ready to pounce on anyone that even so much as steps out of line. Care to explain why that is?"

"Explain what? That the lady is or has been irritable of late. That she invoked the Nine Fold law in order to fight the Legion of Evil because she was uncertain of the outcome between said chaos lord and the Gamer. That what she has done to help guard the Realm against greater evils than the Venger himself, makes her more aggressive. It's a price she chose to pay. A price she has to live with until the end of her life. She will out live you times five unless, one finds a Wish and uses it to free her of said burden." Dragolem snorted.

"Find a Wish?" Izren shook his head, "Dragolem, one does not simply find a Wish. Usually you find someone who can grant a wish and usually it comes with a heavy price attached to it."

Out of the shadows an image of a deck appeared in front of Dragolem, "It's called The Deck of Many Things. One card, the MOON card can grant the person one to three wishes if drawn, a high level spell caster can cast the spell, Wish but the odds of finding such a spell caster here are high. And we both know, anything done with Venger always has a price and it's always stacked in his favor."

"True," Irzen took note of the image, "But finding a Deck of Many Things is a fool's errand at best! Those decks are the rarest of the rare. You would have better luck finding a Deck of Illusions. And even if the near impossible happens and you find a Deck of Many Things, you have a one in fifty-two chance of picking the MOON card and you only get one crack at picking from that deck. Those are long odds at best, Dragolem, long odds indeed. There has to be a better way of obtaining a wish than that."

"Always the pessimist, aren't you," Grumbled Dragolem as the shadows dispersed around him, "What would you do if you found such a card?"

"That's easy, I'd wish for a Chocolate Fudge Hot Fudge Sundae!" Irzen smiled, "I could kill one of those right about now. What would you wish for?"

Dragolem merely shook his head, "Are you for real? That's what you would wish for, some random sweet treat because you have a craving? Forget I asked. A wish granted for the lady must come from the heart, or soul depending on the person excluding Venger. You just don't get it, do you?"

"You asked for what I would wish for and I did!" Irzen responded honestly, "Fine then! What would you wish for Dragolem?"

"What I would wish for is none of your business, bub. Although, your true wish would be to get ultimate revenge on Venger for what he did to you. Every single time we run into horn head, that old grudge comes out. It's getting old. Deal with it and be done. Holding onto it, will dig your grave sooner rather later." The black grumbled loudly.

"My grudge against The Dark Lord was satisfied when I emasculated him while I was rescuing my friends, Zakiyah and Tommy Tanaka," Irzen replied honestly, "And while I hold the The Dark Lord in ill favor, the old grudge I had with him no longer exists. And what grudges are you holding onto, Dragolem? I see that you are seldom around with Lazheros is present. What do you have against The Grand Cleric anyway?"

"It's a dragon thing. Kind of like you staying too long in an elven city when you know you're not exactly welcomed. Mainly because I represent Tiamat and not Bahamut." Dragolem huffed.

******

Madeous kept one eye on the kurori and the other on the shield maiden, "When was the last time you had a full rest, Serna? I'm not talking about a nap, either. I mean a full eight hours of sleep?"

"I've been too terrified to sleep as of late." Serna confessed honestly, "With all of those vampires running around and out for my blood. Why do you ask?"

"Because I've had plenty of experience with Alyson when she was your age. You are over tired and the threat of the vampires is no more. If you continue to avoid sleep, I know of a certain cleric who is very good at getting children to take long naps." Madeous said firmly.

Caliaphy didn't say a word. She knew who the platinum knight was talking about, the Bronze Man.

Serna gasped at the full realization of what Madeous said, "SO HE DID ZAP ME TO SLEEP BACK IN WESTFALL! The nerve of him! I'm going to give him a peace of my mind when he wakes up! I promise you!"

Caliaphy looked at the platinum knight and then at Serna, "All I know is that I was really, really tired after that battle cuz' I crashed on that nice fluffy bed."

Madeous raised an eye brow, "Hmm, perhaps he should do it more. He's had centuries of raising children of the lesser races, Serna. Your problem is you're trying to grow up too fast and be an adult. Don't, otherwise you'll wish you had enjoyed your childhood."

"You and everyone else keep saying that I'm trying to grow up too fast," Serna replied honestly, "But every time I look up, you and everyone else, keep putting me in life-threatening and dangerous situations that are forcing me to grow up fast. I have a childhood-and its a good one. However, its hard to enjoy your childhood when you're running for your life or beating up baddies!"

"And who's choice was it to leave the safety of Deeping Dale? That is where you hail from is it not?" Madeous countered with his own questions.

The kurori climbed back on the edge of the fountain and sat down. She simply sat there listening to debate between the two humans.

"It is!" Serna replied honestly, "And it was my choice. But only after I was given my shield by Dungeon Master and, if he didn't want me to join any of you, then why did he give me this shield in the first place?"

"You believed that Dungeon Master gave you a weapon of power to journey and quest in the Realm. That's part of it, finding your role but the other half is defending your home. You chose to go on an adventure. I did not allow Alyson to go with us because what we were doing and where we were going to was far too dangerous for a child to go." Madeous informed Serna.

"He has a point, Serna. I'm glad Alyson didn't go out into the Realm because like attracts like. She was safe in Asylum." Caliaphy looked from recording their conversation in her journal.

"Alyson also had you as a parent and a guardian, Your Majesty." Serna replied in earnest, "I never had that luxury. I was born an orphan, I worked in Baroness Meleranti's palace as one of her servants and the only family I have ever known has been Kana and Lysana who accepted me as their sister in all but blood. Alyson had YOU to shield her from the Realm, I had NO ONE until you guys came along. So my decision to adventure was mine and mine alone. For what its worth."

"No one? I find that hard to believe, Serna. An orphan always has friends, perhaps not permanent ones but you were never alone. You chose to go onto an adventure because someone else asked you to join them. Either way, this is your journey and how you proceed will be remembered by those who you interact with." The platinum knight sat down on the edge of the fountain.

"True, I had friends but they always came and went like the seasons," Serna admitted, "And I was asked to join you guys and I did. But I always thought that how I would be remembered would be by my deeds." The Shield Maiden held up the bracelet the Elder Fairy in Asylum gave to her, "At least, that is what the Elder who gave this to me told me."

Madeous looked at the charm bracelet for a moment and then nodded, "Hmm, it would appear the Elder sees much potential in you, Serna, for he does not simply give those out on a whim."

"Yup! Exactly!" Caliaphy exclaimed and put her tiny journal away.

"And that's another reason why I am here!" Serna added, "To discover my potential--whatever that may be. And from where I'm standing the only way I can discover that is by helping all of you and by travelling with all of you. But you are right about one thing." The Shield Maiden took a big yawn, "I could do with a little sleep and I am tired too. By the way, were we assigned bedrooms? I wasn't sure with all of the chaos going on."

"Yes. Your room was between mine and Alyson's room. A smaller one for children and just your size." Madeous escorted the two of them back to the palace.

"It would be good to get some sleep," Serna yawned again, "What do you say, Caliaphy?"

"Sleep sounds okay with me. Besides, I like having a snuggle buddy too." Caliaphy gave the shield maiden a thumbs up.

Madeous lead them back towards the guest rooms and opened the door for Serna. It was slightly larger than the one in West Fall but it was all hers. One child sized bed for her to sleep on in peace and quiet. "Get as much sleep as you want, Serna. We won't be leaving East Port for another day or so."

The kurori trotted ahead of Serna and practically leaped up onto the fluffy bed like a cat. She waited patiently for the girl to get in and settle down before snuggling up next to her.