Back in Britatona, Rei and her party are navigating down the mine shaft to where the odd noises are coming inside. The deeper that the party goes through the mines, the colder the atmosphere. A torch light was made by Sadako as the party makes their way through the mine.

  "I'm tired..." Marie said. "I don't know how far we traveled through this mine, but it really is cold in here."

  "You're telling me." Naoko said, feeling her fur skin catching the cold. "Brrr! It's freezing!"

  "Get a hold of yourselves." Rei tells them. "I know it's cold here, but...sheesh, it's that cold..."

  "Hmm..." Mizuki looks around. "I sense that there is a source of darkness just ahead of us. If we continue further, we might be able to find the cause of the problem."

  "All right. Let's keep moving." Rei said.

  The party goes up further until they can see that there is light coming straight in their direction. Heading further, they can see that there are two mine carts on the tracks. The carts are wide in size and it can fit a few people in a cart.

  "Mining carts?" Saeko asked.

  Rei looks down at the tracks to see where the trail is leading them. She can see that the tracks lead to a downward path.

  "Looks like the source could be much deeper than we think." Rei said.

  "You mean...we have to travel on these carts to find out?" Marie asked, feeling nervous.

  "What choice do we have?" Rei asked her. "There's no alternate way to head down there."

  "I don't mind the ride, but it does make traveling much easier." Beatrice said.

  "And quicker." Saeko added.

  "I'm too nervous to ride on that thing." Marie said in a scared tone.

  "And you thought nearly drowning was that bad, huh Marie?" Rei asked in a reminding tone.

  "Ahh, I don't wanna go!" Marie cried out.

  "Look, as long as we're here, you got to face your own fears." Rei said to her. "We are riding on these carts, and I hope you board with me at the front."

  "I-is it o-ok that I don't have to l-look?" Marie asked.

  "Sure, you may do that." Rei said to her.

  "...ok..." Marie said quietly.

  "Meh, you'll be all right." Rei said with a shrug.

  Rei takes the first cart as she boards on. Then, the party divides into groups as Rei's cart can hold Beatrice, Marie, Saeko, Sadako, and Tamiko in one cart. The second cart can hold Obsidian, Ferron, Kichiro, Mizuki, and Naoko on board. Rei's cart went first as it slowly moves and is about to ride downhill on the path of tracks. Obsidian's cart followed behind as they are moving slowly with speed on the small hill.

  "Where will these mine carts lead us?" Marie asked.

  "That we'll have to find out." Sadako said.

  As they take the ride on the mine carts, someone watches them from a distance. Hazon can see that Shokei's party is going down deep in the mines.

  "So, they are heading to where the source of the darkness is located..." Hazon said. "This would be the perfect opportunity to take them out."

  During the mine cart ride, Shokei's party is traveling with speed as they are progressing further into the mine shaft. The carts are running smoothly, and Marie looks to see that there are no problems during the course of the ride. Seeing that her party is right behind them, Marie caught her attention to an unexpected figure that is creeping up on them behind.

  "Huh?! What the heck?!" Marie said with her eyes widened.

  "What are you looking at...eh?!"

  Rei paused as she and her party turn to see that a big monster was coming from behind. There were big legs making the scenery and then came an odd sound out from the creature. The party can see that there is a big spider type creature coming after them. The big spider has the figure of a woman with silver eyes and has a fierce looking face with hands that are the size of cws.

  "EEEEK!!" Marie screamed, shutting her eyes as she hides inside the cart.

  "What the hell is that?!" Rei shouted.

  "A giant spider!" Naoko yelled. "It's chasing us!"

  Rei looks back to see that there is a big downhill and everyone can feel the carts moving faster and traveling with greater speed. This advantage was making the party get away further from the spider...

  "Hey! We're going faster!" Rei tells everyone.

  "Whatever you guys do, hang on tight!" Saeko shouted to everyone.

  "I can't watch!" Marie shrieked, keeping her eyes shut as she clings on to Beatrice.

  The giant spider still hunts the party as it moves with quick speed, rushing after them. As the spider continues to pursuit after Shokei's party, the mine carts are speeding up at its fastest speed. The carts are going in high speed as there is no sign of stopping the carts. At full speed, the carts made tight turns as it drifts on the tracks making turns and going through curves. The mine carts are rolling at the speed of sound as the giant spider is further away from chasing after the party.

  Rei cannot find any breaks that will slow down the mine cart. Seeing that the cart is going at a fast pace, she looks ahead to see that the tunnel is approaching a light at the end of the tunnel.

  "I see a light at the end!" Rei shouted. "It looks like this might be the end for us!"

  "I don't know! I-I don't know what's ahead, b-but I really don't want to dieeeeee!!!" Marie cried out in fear.

  Rei is unable to do anything to slow down the mine cart as she and the rest of her party members hang on for the impact that they are about to get into. The other half of the party can see the dead end as they too brace themselves. The party hits the end of the tracks, sending the whole group flying out of the mine carts. Out in the opening, there's a mountain of dirt all over the field. The party nds on the dirt as they are saved by the fall, tumbling down as they felt the soil preventing them from getting injured.

  The party remains on the soft soil dirt for a few minutes after they were thrown out of the mine carts. Soon, the party gets up from the ground slowly as they have recovered from the terrible crash that they just went through. The party is back on their feet, and they dust themselves off the dirt that is on their clothing. Then, Rei and her party looks back to make sure that the big spider is not chasing after them. There was no sign of the gigantic spider.

  "...That spider...I don't think we seen the st of that big creep." Rei said.

  "That spider looks ugly to me." Marie said. "Thank the gods that we were in those mine carts."

  "Don't celebrate just yet." Saeko said to her, looking back. "We cannot tell if that vicious menace is still following us."

  Rei looks around to see that there was another entrance that leads to another section of the mines. She looks to see that there is light illuminating down the passageway.

  "Hey everyone...follow me." Rei calls out to her party.

  "What is it?" Kichiro asked her.

  "Did you find the way out of here?" Marie asked her, feeling slightly excited.

  "Not so sure, but just follow my lead." Rei tells her party.

  The party continues onward as they follow Rei into the entrance. As soon. As the party reach to where the source of light is, they look to. See that there is a crystallize sphere floating in midair. The light gives off dark energy as the sphere is surrounded with a dark mist.

  "So...this must be the source that is feeding off energy from Britatona." Rei said.

  "Hmm..." Mizuki looks up at the glowing dark sphere. "I can sense that the source is coming from that sphere. Perhaps this is what is making the citizens of that town imprisoned in stone."

  "This is nothing." Rei said. "All we need to do is just destroy this sphere and then hopefully things return back to normal."

  Before the party could make their move, a boom of ughter erupts as the party came to a halt.

  "Hehehehe, I wouldn't think of doing that." A voice called out to the party.

  "What the?!" Rei said, looking up into the air.

  The party looks to see that the Necromutant, Hazon, is spotted in the air, flying above and sets himself behind the floating sphere.

  "I won't let you undo the curse that I pgued around the town." Hazon said to them. "My dark energy crystal is sucking the life out of those humans."

  "We won't hesitate to defeat you. Even if Shokei is not with us, we'll be able to kick your ass." Rei tells him.

  "Who? Me?" Hazon smirked as he giggled to himself. "You expect me to fight all of you? I don't think so human. In fact, my pet will arrive here to take care of all of you."

  Hazon looks up and then the party looks up to see that the big spider that chased them a while back has arrived.

  "Oh noes!" Marie shouted. "Not this creep!"

  "Zhillor the Tarantu! Destroy these infidels at once!" Hazon ordered as he mentions the monster's name.

  The spider sticks away from the ceiling and makes a nding to where the party is standing there. The spider roars out its anger as it is in a state of fury. The spider used its big cws to attack the party. The party dodges out of the way and Rei nds on her feet. Then, she looks back to see that the sphere is being guarded by the Necromutant, who is protecting it.

  "Rei..." Mizuki said to her. "We need to destroy that sphere while that enemy is in the way."

  "We'll have to divide up in we're going to destroy that sphere." Rei said. Then, she looks at her party. "The rest of you guys should deal with that spider."

  "On it!" Kichiro said, taking his weapon out.

  "Let's do this!" Ferron said, gripping his gss bde out.

  The party works together to take on Zhillor the Tarantu. Rei, Mizuki, and Ferron are going against Hazon in order to destroy the sphere that he is protecting.

  I hope Shokei is managing herself in that book she's trapped in... Rei thought to herself.

  In "Wondernd of Dreams", Shokei, Mariko, and Egoh are at the Marsh Woods. The area is entirely a swamp forest that is surrounded in mist and has a chilling atmosphere. The party stays close as they navigate through the forest. Fortunately, Mariko has a ntern that is bright enough for the party to get through the area.

  "I...don't really like the looks of this forest..." Mariko said to Shokei, feeling afraid. "I-its too s-scary a-around here."

  "As long as you stick by me, there's no need for you to feel worried." Shokei tells her.

  "This pce is kind of dark around here..." Egoh said, checking around. "Worse, there could be monsters around this Marsh. We got to be very careful on where we walk here."

  "Even if its that dark, yet this world of yours is still trapped in daytime." Mariko said.

  "I know, I know." Egoh said. "Like I said, the world is cursed. Without nighttime, no one can dream of anything."

  The party continues onward into the woods. Just then, the party can hear a scream.

  "Ahhhh!! Nooooo!!"

  "Who in the world is that?!" Mariko asked.

  "C'mon! We need to get over there now!" Shokei said.

  The party heads to the source of the desperate sound is coming from. There, the party can see that there are two vicious looking man-eating pnts trapping the victim. The victim appears to be a Hare as she is struggling to get the vines off of her arms while trying to prevent herself being pulled into the mouth of the man-eating pnt.

  "Oh no!!" Mariko said in fear. "She's going to be eaten!"

  "No! We cannot let that happen!"

  Shokei finds a long stick near her and takes it to light the end of the stick by using Mariko's lighted ntern. With enough fire, Shokei holds the stick like a torch and she goes over to help out the victim.

  "Shokei! Be careful!!" Mariko calls out to her.

  "Well...if she's going to risk herself..." Egoh sees another long stick and lights it up through his magic.

  Shokei and Egoh work together to fend off the man-eating pnts. The man-eating pnts were trying to pull their victim in as the Hare tries to break free from the vines. Shokei quickly uses the torch against the vines, causing the strings from the pnts to catch on fire. The vines loosen as the Hare feels free from the grip of the monster's hold. Egoh used his lighten stick against the other man-eating pnt's vines as it caught on fire. The Hare felt free from the vines as she backs away safely.

  The man-eating pnts roared viciously as they approach Shokei and Egoh. The two have their lighted sticks in pce as they are trying to figure out what to do in their situation. Mariko can see that Shokei and Egoh are in trouble as she takes immediate action.

  "Time Control!!"

  Mariko pulls off a spell that caused the process of time to slow down. Shokei can feel the effects of the spell in pce. She notices that the man-eating pnts are moving slowly and not aggressively charging after her. Then, Shokei looks to see that the fire on her stick is starting to grow. Egoh noticed the same thing as the fire is building up through the process of time slowing down. Shokei gets Egoh her attention and then she points out that they should toss the sticks at the monsters. Both of them did as they threw the sticks, aimed towards the pnt's mouth. The toss became more effective as the throwing of the sticks were directly on point. The fire on the sticks builds up and when they went into the monster's mouth, Mariko stops using her spell as she makes time flows normally.

  The man-eating pnts felt a burning sensation coming from their mouths. Shokei and Egoh backs away as they return to Mariko and the Hare. Everyone watches as the man-eating pnts can feel the fire burning through their bodies. The man-eating pnts roared out in pain as they felt scorched inside. The party watch as the man-eating pnts succumbed to their deaths as the burning sensation is coming from the inside. The man-eating pnts were no longer a threat to the Hare.

  After the rescue, Shokei, Mariko, and Egoh confronts the person that they have saved.

  "Oh, thank heavens...I thought I would never be freed from those monsters." The Hare said, feeling gd that she has been rescued.

  "What the heck happened?" Egoh asked in confusion. "We were trying to fight those monsters and then we got caught in a time trap.

  "I know..." Shokei said. Then, she looks at Mariko.

  "Umm..." Mariko wanted to say something, but her shyness came over her.

  "You...must have done something to us." Egoh said. "I felt myself caught in a slowdown and then the fire on my stick started to grow."

  "Me too." Shokei said.

  "Oh. I never told you all..." Mariko said, clearing her throat. "I am capable of using Time magic."

  "So that's what it was." Shokei said.

  "Ye-yes." Mariko said. "It's a long story but yes, I have the ability to control the speed of time."

  "Interesting." Shokei said.

  "When I slow the process of time, the effects of my spell cause things to expand." Mariko expined. "Like the effects of that lighted fire has caused it to build up in your hands for example. That's a demonstration to what my magic does."

  "I see." Egoh said. "Thanks for telling us."

  "Ahem!" The Hare clears her throat to get attention. "It seems that I'm being ignored here..."

  "Whoops!" Egoh said, raising her eyebrows. "Sorry for having us ignoring you ma'am!"

  "No need for the 'ma'am' beling." The Hare said. "And I must thank you and this human here for saving me."

  "Sure!" Egoh nodded. "No problem."

  "I am Ann Young." The Hare introduced herself. "But you can call me Young instead. Who are you, human?"

  "The name's Shokei." The blonde-haired girl introduced herself.

  "And I'm Mariko." The witch girl said, also greeting the Hare.

  "What brought you two in this world?" Young asked.

  "I...well, it's quite a long story." Shokei said to her. "But we are trying to find a way out of this world."

  "Same here." Mariko added.

  "I'm sure you are aware of what has been happening in this world." Young said to them.

  "Yes. We have." Shokei said. "Your world has been cursed if I remember."

  "Especially the people at Hogsfeet right?" Young asked. "My people have been under a curse that is making them all depressed and despair."

  "That's right." Shokei said. Then, she asked her. "But...how come you're not affected?"

  "I have been away on a journey." Young said. "Then, as I was exploring around here, this strange atmosphere made me lost in this Woods. I hear odd noises around me until I came across a Pyromaniac witch. I ran as far as I could to escape her fiery magic until I ended up being caught by those monstrous pnts."

  "Really?" Shokei asked. "We were told by Queen Ogiva that there are witches that is making the Woodnd of Dreams into a nightmarish world of despair. Worse, the daytime does not appear to be ending when we realized what else was wrong in the world."

  "You don't say?" Young asked. She blinked once.

  "It's true." Egoh said. "This world can't move forward unless we defeat the source of the evil that's taking control of this world."

  "Hmm, so that's why I was curious why outside was still daytime." Young said.

  "Yeah." Egoh nodded.

  "And we're here to find and hunt down one of those witches that is taking control of this world." Mariko said.

  "Since you say it that way, allow me to aid you in your quest." Young said. "We could face that vile being that tried to attack me back there."

  "You will?" Mariko asked. "You'll help us with our cause?"

  "I don't know..." Shokei said. "If you join us, how will you fight? You must be capable of doing something."

  "I...I'm not so strong to handle anything dangerous...but I guess I can be of good use for a distraction." Young said.

  "Are you sure?" Mariko asked. "It might be dangerous if you come with us."

  "I can handle anything...no matter what the danger is." Young said. "I'm an adventurer you know."

  "Then it's settled." Shokei said. "You should lead the way to where you have st saw that witch."

  "Will do." Young said. "Everyone, come this way."

  The party continues onward into the Marsh Woods. Young is leading the group to the site where she has st seen the witch and they are navigating their way through the area. Shokei remains cautious in case there were more monsters that came out hiding to strike at her party. Later, the party finds themselves to an opening where there was less tress surrounding the area. They are now at a ke where the field is grassy.

  "Here." Young said. "This is the spot to where I have st seen that witch."

  "Hmm..." Shokei observes the area. "Looks quiet here..."

  "I still say this pce is scary." Mariko said, feeling unsafe. "I-I'm not used to being in spooky areas like this."

  "In fact, Marsh Woods isn't supposed to be like this." Young said. "It used to be calm and quiet. Now it looks terrifying and dangerous."

  "Like a nightmare?" Egoh asked.

  "Yes. It is exactly a nightmare." Young said. "I have been trapped and lost within these Woods as I have been stuck here for a few days."

  "Wow." Mariko said.

  "I know." Young said. "I can't find my own campsite here. The mist makes it harder to see through and there is no telling what kind of nightmarish creature that would come out to haunt me."

  "I see." Shokei said. "But it looks like we cannot tell where that witch is. Maybe it went off in hiding."

  "...huh?!"

  Suddenly, a spread of majestic fire surrounds the party. Shokei can see that she and her party are trapped in a ring of fire. The fiery fmes rise as they quickly spread up, making the party become alert of evil in their presence. Just then, Shokei looks up to see a wave of fireballs being aimed towards them.

  "Quick! Take cover!" Shokei shouted.

  The party did as they avoided the fireballs being targeted. Once they evaded, all of them heard an evil ughter occurring out in the field. Shokei looks to see someone appearing in a elegant sorcerer outfit, in which the figure appears to be a halfling.

  "W-what the?!" Mariko said, seeing the enemy in her eyes.

  "W-who a-are you?!" Egoh asked, feeling a bit nervous upon seeing the enemy.

  "I am Chae the Pyromaniac!" The Halfling said in her introduction. "I am one half of the Three Little Evils. And I have seen that you, young one, have brought back more toys for me to scorch around with."

  "Not you again." Young said to her.

  "I am curious to why you brought them here...state your purpose!" Chae said, igniting fire through her hand.

  "So...you're one of the Three Little Evils I take." Shokei said.

  "Correct!" Chae said with a grin and asked. "By the way, who sent you?"

  "The Queen of Hogsfeet sent us." Shokei replied. "We came here to confront one of you three evils and take back a piece of fragment that was broken apart."

  "Oho! You mean the fragment for that Medallion, right?!" Chae asked with a grin. "If that's what you seek, then you'll have to fight me to retrieve it. But just remember, I can burn all of you to a crisp! Starting with you, sheep boy!"

  "Ehh..." Egoh twitched his eyes, not liking what he heard from the Halfling.

  "Now, get it while its hot!" Chae shouted as she builds up her fmes and tosses it at her foes.

  The party moves out of the way to avoid the fmes being hurled against them. Shokei quickly unsheathes her sword as she is commencing the fight.

  The Pryomaniac, Chae, used her pyro magic against her enemies. Shokei and her party avoids her attacks as the fmes burn to the ground. Shokei keeps her ground as she is trying to find a way to attack the enemy. Mariko has her staff equipped as she waits for the enemy to make her move. Egoh and Young gets ready to evade in case the Halfling try to make another attack. Chae did something else as she generates her magic into a Fire Whip. She wields the whip against her opponents as she swirls and waves the fiery whip around. Shokei avoids the whips as she manages to avoid the fiery edge from the whip. Mariko evades the attack, and she manages to avoid the fmes touching her. Egoh and Young take cover as they stay far from the enemies attack, but they avoid the fmes behind them as they are trapped in the ring of fire.

  "O-oh geez!! This is too much!!" Mariko cried out.

  "We can't give up now! We need to find some way to defeat this creature!" Shokei tells her.

  "W-what should we do?!" Mariko asked.

  "Hehe! Might as well give up while you can!" Chae said with ughter. "My fearsome fmes will soon burn all of you to ashes and I'll make sure that these fmes will be rolling around me for all of you!"

  "Don't bet on it!" Shokei said to her. "Bring it on!"

  The fight continues as Chae used four sets of pying cards in her hand. She tosses the cards at her targets and the party avoids the enemies attack. The cards touch the floor and then it exploded into a bursting fme. The Halfling pulls off the attack again as she used her deadly cards. Seeing how the cards have exploded, Mariko can see that there is an opportunity for the enemy to run into her own attack.

  "I have an idea." Mariko said.

  "What's that?" Shokei asked.

  "When the time is right, see if you can lure the enemy into her own fme." Mariko said.

  Shokei thinks about what her ally is trying to say, until she understood the situation.

  "I think I got what you're saying." Shokei said. "Let's give it a shot."

  The party gets ready as they wait for the enemy to attack. Chae teleports and then tosses out another deck of exploding cards. Before the cards could touch the ground, Mariko cast her spell in action. Using her Time Control, the effects of the cards begin to slow down. Shokei moves ahead as she waits for the enemy to make her appearance. Surprised, Shokei can see that the enemy has teleported right in front of her. The cards exploded as the effects of the fire bzed in a high hierarchy surrounding. Shokei goes straight toward a thrust as she strikes Chae in the chest. The enemy felt the stab as she teleports immediately from Shokei. Only that when she reappeared, she mistakenly forgot about her own attack has been surfaced into a scorching heat. Chae was unable to escape her own attack as she felt engulfed in fmes. Mariko keeps her spell in effect as she mustered her mental health to make the surrounding fmes trapped the enemy. Chae gets caught by the intense heat as she feels the fmes burning her skin in a third degree. Her own fmes wrapped around her and then time resumed normal once Mariko exhausted her time magic.

  "E-ehaaaaaaaahhh!!"

  Chae felt her skin burning as she feels the fmes burning inside. She tries to find water nearby, but Shokei was quick enough to finish her off by going for a thrusting strike. Chae dies instantly by Shokei's sword as she dies while the fmes burn the remains of her skin.

  Shokei and her party can see that Chae the Pyromaniac died in battle. The party watch as they see that the Halfling's body is burned into a crisp until the corpse has been turned into dust. With the first of the Three Little Evils defeated, the fires were put out instantly. Then, an aura of life was coming back into Marsh Woods as the mist has vanished and then the skies has become clear once again. Shokei, Mariko, Egoh, and Young can see that life has been restored. Looking around, Mariko noticed something on the ground.

  "Shokei...look."

  Shokei looks back to where Chae's corpse was. There, she sees that there is a piece of the fragment that was left behind. Shokei walks over to retrieve the fragment and she looks to see that she has obtain one of the fragments that is needed to restore the Medallion of Prophecy.

  "Amazing." Young said. "How were you able to defeat that vile being?"

  "Hey! My magic did all the work and so did Shokei." Mariko said with a smile.

  "I'm...quite impressed on how you two killed that being." Egoh said. "We weren't able to fight back at that maniac at all."

  "Long story short, we killed one of the Three Little Evils." Mariko said.

  "And we got one of the fragments so far." Shokei said. "Now we need to hunt down for two more in this world."

  "Hmm..." Young looks around and there she sees a cave nearby. "Say, we can head for this cave here."

  "Really? But where will we be heading off to next?" Mariko asked.

  "Let's see..." Shokei checks the map again. "There appears to be this pce called Stronghold Gardens, which is north from where we are."

  "Ah! Stronghold Gardens!" Egoh said, recognizing the area. "That's an ancient garden I must say. But it's a sacred garden if I recall."

  "Interesting." Mariko said. "Maybe we should head there to find the next fragment."

  "Yes." Shokei said. "We should get going while we're at it. Follow me."

  Shokei and her party continues their journey as they enter the cave, leaving the Marsh Woods.