"Hey, dork." Sylphie appeared out of nowhere and sat next to Ondun, glaring at him for a moment for some mysterious reason known only to the young monster coach.

  Ondun held up a hand in a high five. She just gave him a confused look. "Do you have 'high fives' here?" he asked. She tagged his hand smartly and sat back with a smirk. It looks like Lowell's conceded win has left her in a sour mood.

  Ondun sat back, watching a new coach stride out onto the field. While he was keen to watch a couple more monster battles, his companion seemed to need some immediate attention. "For what it's worth? I think you made the right call too. As powerful as Venus is, they were outmatched. Sometimes, you just have to flee and live another day." Ondun tried not to think of a few battles that helping people run from may have been the better idea.

  She turned slowly and looked at him. He didn't return the look. "If it were me, I'd be very pissed at Lowell for doing that. He could've given you an opponent that you'd be able to just barely eke out a win against, teaching you much the same lesson." He sighed. "And now, I have a feeling you want to take it out on me."

  She looked flabbergasted. "If you're so aware, then why the hell did you ask me to stay back!?"

  Ondun paused. "My friend...his name was Ser Arthiel Leverian, the heir of a young Lord of the Order of Her Holy Justice—it's both a knighthood and a city-state. Some call polities like this Order-States. Anyways...when I was a fledgling adventurer, I sought him out after...some stuff happened." He could see Sylphie filling in the morbid blanks. Yes, people died, Sylphie, he thought.

  "He was a gracious host, all things considered. Sure, I had to prove myself, but the Order was in a rough spot. From the moment I did, though, he became probably one of my greatest friends. Arthiel...well, he was like a brother to me." Ondun closed his eyes. "After the betrayal of the Knowing Circle by some corporatists who had tried and failed to bribe our group, he was the man I ran to for help and clemency. I had been accused of regicide. He took me in, no questions asked, and showed me the city their Order had made its home."

  Sylphie squeezed his arm. "Hey. Stop. This is hurting you." She sounded very concerned. He nodded his head.

  "The point, Sylphie...it wasn't to scorn you. Sure, you're brash, loud-mouthed, love fighting, and seem to have a thing about wounding my sense of manhood..." She let out a snicker, but he continued, "...But Sylphie? When we found Zephanie, and I saw that Daemon...I just didn't want you to get hurt. I don't know about your situation, and in hindsight, I really should've asked. Sylphie, I've been a huge jerk. Thanks for sticking with me, despite back. I'm going to think about how I choose to travel with you more clearly going forwards."

  The girl sighed. "Listen here, you edgy dragon boy. I'm here because I want to be. And even if you asked...I wouldn't have told. Look, I'm no princess or anything. I just want to prove myself as a monster coach. My dad is a City Leader himself. Like I told him..." she jammed a thumb at Lowell, who was now having a small Mon that looked like a blob of gelatin slamming a Flamarmot around with its mind.

  "Mom died when I was young. I'm trying to get out from under his shadow." She paused. "He wasn't the same after that, you know. When Mom was alive, he was the best dad ever. After, though? He just plunged into monster battles and governing. It was like I didn't even exist." She paused. "I...I don't want to be coddled or measured by him. I want him to notice me. To beg me to come home, tears in his eyes."

  Ondun gave the young woman a careful poke. She scrunched her eyes, but didn't retaliate. "I'm not measuring you against him, though. Also, your own advice serves here. This seems to hurt you. I worry for you."

  She just regarded him like the alien she probably thought he was. "Well, at least it's obvious you're not an idiot." The adventurer just sighed. That's probably as close to a compliment as I'm going to get when she's in this sort of mood. He took her hand and knelt in front of her.

  "Then, my lady princess...wouldst thou watch but one more battle at my side? My friend, Aenora, has come from Monastria. I'm sincerely not sure what to do next."

  Sylphie rolled her eyes. "I take back what little praise I had. You're definitely an idiot." She also patted him on the head. "My pet rock, when you go to meet her, I'll be with you. Now, let's watch this guy get pasted... Lowell's on the guy's second Mon, and he's starting to panic. This could be educational."

  A few minutes later, after one very depressed young coach left the arena with a head hung very, very low, the two got up and left. As they did, a man in a dark suit stopped them. "Excuse me, Mr. Ondun, Ms. Lee, the City Leader has invited you to attend him at his main residence. I believe he wishes to speak with you both."

  Sylphie and Ondun exchanged a nod. "We'll come," they both said at the same time. The man nodded and showed them to a car that took them further into the city. Another man escorted them into a particularly tall building, where a lengthy elevator ride took them just below the clouds. They stepped out, and the man swiped a badge against a panel similar to what was in the Coach Center's underground accommodations, revealing a black-and-white decorated, spartan apartment. The two went inside, and when they did, the man nodded to them. "Make yourself comfortable. The City Leader will be here in a few minutes. He just completed his final match for the circuit opening." Then, he shut the door.

  The two just looked at each other, then went to sit side-by-side on the couch. The geometric furniture somehow looked far more advanced than anything the adventurer had ever seen in an Allemandian ruin, and the company he kept with Sylphie somehow felt even more comfortable than he had with Aenora.

  Ondun turned to his companion. "Sylphie, Aenora has come to Monastria. She's probably behind us, in the Yongqi Woods. There was this...artifact...I found. I'm sure it's technology from my world. It's looked like a gate of some kind...and now that Aenora is here, it's probably safe to say it is" He fumbled with his phone and produced the pictures he'd taken for Dr. Wusiji.

  She just let out a low whistle. "Yep, that looks gate-like. Actually...it looks like something I saw when I was young. There was this exhibit about the Hero, and Dad got me behind the scenes..." She tensed up a little. Ondun gave the woman's hand a brief squeeze in support. "It's okay," he said, giving his best, reassuring smile.

  She shook her head. "Anyways. Aenora is your friend, or so you say. Why aren't we rushing to her side right now?"

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  The door opened. Lowell walked in, and adjusted his glasses. "Ondun, frankly, is afraid. While some professional counseling could help him, he's in a bit of a rush. He could lose his friends if prompt action isn't taken."

  He walked to a chair, and moved it close to the two. Ondun was still holding Sylphie's hand. "Hmm, that'll help. This year, part of my trial is private. What comes next is why." He sighed. "With your permission, I'm going to help you defeat the things that are hurting you the worst. It will mean reliving them in your mind, but looking at them from a different perspective. It will be unpleasant...especially for you, Ondun."

  The adventurer nodded. "I...I have to be strong. I feel I have little choice." Sylphie sighed deeply, but Lowell just nodded.

  "Then, some advice - let Sylphie be your strength this time. Don't confront this alone." The man placed his hand atop Ondun and Sylphie's.

  Ondun remembered this too well. He and a team of his adventurer friends slammed the final spell into High Priest Vallic Dorn, slamming him backwards into the floor, his plague mask slipping off his face. "Befouled...all of you..." he groaned out, as the light left his eyes. Ser Arthiel still had his blade out. Ondun stepped forward, but felt a smaller hand holding his. Sylphie was stopping him.

  "Quickly, let us find the archpriest before he flees - he must be brought to justice for the harm he has done to generations of our city's proud sons and daughters. This war must end!"

  Ondun saw his younger self give a stoic nod, as he jogged alongside the knight, his Dragon Knight armor clacking as plates struck each other, and the Lohengrim held behind him and out to one side to facilitate running. Sylphie and Ondun followed through the halls of Her Holy Knights' Assembly of the Grand Order. Ondun felt tears flowing down his face...he knew what was coming next.

  Just as Ondun and Ser Arthiel ran for the airship that the Archpriest of the Order-State was stepping into, the bolt of light lanced out from a white-armored figure. Ser Arthiel tried to block it with his shield, but his own powers weren't strong enough to arrest the strike. The shield was shattered, and Arthiel, much like the zealous Vallic Dorn before him, was slammed to the ground of the airship landing, his lifeblood pooling red beneath the evening skies. Ondun dropped the Lohengrim and dropped to one knee.

  "It is too late, Ondun. I would have loved to continue my adventures with you, to the end of the earth, my spirit-brother." Both Onduns were crying. "Oh, do not cry so. A smile better suits...a hero..." The Knight's body failed, and he succumbed to the endless sleep.

  Lowell appeared next to the sobbing Ondun, as Sylphie gathered the man into a hug. "Sylphie...this is what Ondun bears. Ondun. This is what you're trying to protect your friends from." He paused. "The way you're doing it won't work. Isolation, distance...these won't spare your friends. They will doom them. You are powerful, but your power comes from those around you. You didn't fire the spell that ended Ser Arthiel. Someone else did."

  Lowell paused. "To be strong enough to save your friends, you must stop punishing yourself. In the critical moment, you won't be alone. Remember that."

  Ondun only let out a choked sniff as he cleared the tears. "I'll try. You were right. This sucked."

  Lowell nodded. "Now, young lady...it is your turn."

  Sylphie knew the home she was standing in. The shoji panels let light through, yet were made of a paper that certain Mons could produce ingredients for. Pictures hung on the walls. A curved sword, a relic from one of her ancestors, hung on the wall, above a tiny floral arrangement, and a picture of a young Sylphie, a black-haired woman in formal robes, and a man in a suit. All were smiling.

  Sylphie went around the corner to another room, and felt the same gut-punch all over again, as a younger Sylphie watched the doctor pull the covers over her mother's corpse. "Time of death...3:43 PM. Young lady, it's probably better to leave now..."

  Her father ran out of the room, tears in his eyes, but young Sylphie stayed. "NO! I wanna stay with mommy!" The doctor knelt in front of the young girl. "Your mother was very, very brave. Your father tried to treat her disease as best he could...but sometimes, there's nothing that can be done. Staying with your mother at this point will do neither you, nor her, any good. She would want you to be happy, and remember her at her best. It would make her cry if you didn't."

  Both Sylphies were in tears. It was Ondun's turn to gather her into a hug. "I never knew..." he said to her. She just sobbed for a while, as the Doctor eventually coaxed the girl into leaving the room.

  When Sylphie stopped, Lowell was there. "Your father was a veteran of the Long War between Kongming and the Zedong Liberation Army...or what was left of them. Your mother was poisoned in one of their attacks. He loved her, and you. He tried to save her...and he failed. Your father does not hate you, disdain you, or ignore you. He is ashamed at his failure. One day, you will be able to help him overcome this. Watch for that opportunity, and seize it with both hands when it comes."

  Sylphie nodded, still in Ondun's arms. "I'll-I'll try." Lowell nodded, satisfied.

  "I believe I've done what I can for you both. Let us leave your pasts behind, and look to what comes next."

  Lowell withdrew his hand, and the two were back in the spartan apartment. "When you reach your next cities, please, send me a message. I've sent you both my contact information. While I can't guide you on your journey, I recommend you both visit Cheng's great graveyard, in light of this. You have faced the pain of your past, and I have shown you what haunts you from a different angle. Lighting a candle to the fallen may help you find closure and inspiration. Also, the Dark Mons that live in the graveyard will help you if Lord Yonghaixi was right about the threat we face. For my part, when the critical day comes, Xinling will stand with you...and we will get you home."

  Ondun's phone chimed with a complete download, and Sylphie's followed a moment later. "I've sent you copies of certain information from our forbidden archives. These are the writings of the Hero of Kongming. Read them at your own pace. We have never been able to decipher these particular writings, but for someone who may be from the Hero's homeland, you may have more fortune."

  Ondun and Sylphie stood. "Thanks, Lowe. We...we appreciate it."

  He nodded. "Now. You should go. You've overcome your first trials. More await you. Remember to think and reason, even in the midst of the worst situations. May Olympus guide you."

  The two coaches rode the elevator down to the ground in silence. With only a look, they visited a few shops to stock up on supplies, both studiously ignoring the people who had never seen a Draconian before and made a spectacle of it, as well as the people who had seen Ondun's match with Lowell and cheered or jeered, depending. Each young coach had made a small amount of money; the two coordinated purchases since they intended to travel further together.

  Ondun handled food and survival supplies and was impressed with Monastria's camping supplies. After the ordeal of re-living Ser Arthiel's death, the process of looking over ingredients and rations seemed to breathe color and flavor back into the world.

  Sylphie made sure the two had some spare clothing, a well-stocked first aid kit, and some improved software for their smartphones. A particularly good buy was a pair of external batteries, if their adventure would take them off-route again. The touch of fabric, the cool of plastics and metal, brought Sylphie's mind back from that terrible day when her world had fallen apart.

  They spent one more day at the Coach Center. They ate together in the common mess, and after one coach asked Ondun what his people ate, everyone in the immediate area—including Valerie—was treated to a brief tutorial on campfire cooking from another world. Ondun made an effective teacher, giving everyone a rundown on how to identify edibles and what flavor profiles made a hearty remote meal, as opposed to something gut-wrenching.

  The next day, the two coaches, the two adventurers, left Xinling City with slightly higher spirits. They had borne each others' pain, and there was now an understanding that hadn't been there before. They both spared one look back at the City of Knowledge before setting out onto Route 42, and from there onto Cheng. A few feet onto the path, Sylphie gave Ondun an elbow to the rib with an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes at the taller Draconian as he stumbled.

  He'd gotten a rock in his shoe. They both laughed their first proper laugh together since they had crossed paths.