The Heroes Return

24, Ju- 1786
Fellow –-dens,
We’ve begun our ass— on the --- base. The com—ned –rces of our allies sho— be ---- to –feat them. These hor— abo— from out— our re-- shall not gain a –hold here! These d—will not – allowed to con--- these hor— experiments! The Lady sh—shine h— light on these fiends and purify them!
War— Justinia, Com—of the Bri-- Ord—of the Go—n –se

“So, they waged war against something that was here before us. But what could it possibly be?” wondered John outloud as he took the note and put it in his inventory.

“The more important question is: If the Order got here before, can they get here again?” pointed out Mikuru. John nodded in agreement.

“If they found their way here once, they may be able to do it again. Although, I doubt whoever lived here before has an Asshole Goddess watching over them,” countered John.

“True. That does give you an advantage over whoever lived here before. Perhaps we should leave and search the castle?” suggested Mikuru.

“I agree. There is that locked door in the dungeon. We’d have to figure out how to open it but it may have answers,” concluded John. “Let’s head back, everybody!” John shouted to the others, who finished up what they were doing and followed John back.

30 minutes later

"Meewewewewewewewewew... "

"Newewewewewwewewewwe… "

“What is this?” a hushed John asked Miho as he stared at a sleeping Mimi propped up by a sleeping Yatina as the two slept back to back. The unison “D’awwww” he heard from behind him let John know what Idena and Gali thought of this new situation.

“The two wore themselves out playing just the silliest of games. We played tag, which is quite fun when everyone can fly. Well, when two can fly and the other can ride either person. Oh! And we played ‘Derp the Snake’ where we have to try to pat the snakes in Mimi’s hair without any of them noticing. If you get bit by a snake you’re out for that round. Turns out each snake can act independently from Mimi but normally just do what she subconsciously wants. She and Yatina are like two peas in a pod. They’ll definitely be BFFs forever!” Miho happily told her king.

“Well, you certainly did your job, that’s for sure,” John said as he smiled at Miho. “We’ll have to catch you up on what happened in Warden Woods,” he said as he walked towards the castle.

“Warden Woods? You mean the spooky forest?” Miho asked with a confused look on her face before it connected for her. “Oooooh! You named the spooky woods Warden Woods!” Miho quickly made her way over to her sister and whispered in her ear. “Why’d he name it Warden Woods?”

“I’ll explain to you what happened. John has more pressing matters to attend to,” Mikuru told her younger sister, who just silently obeyed her sister.

Meanwhile, in Springfield

“You are sure this man can help us?” asked William, annoyed that he was **** to follow this woman’s plan.

“God dammit, yes, for the thousandth time!” said a very annoyed Sasha, as the two made their way to her contact. She was not a fan of the man and his magic, but he had information on their target. Although, Sasha was not happy that she was caught up in this hunt of the Nazis. Whatever they wanted with him, she didn’t care and didn’t want to be part of it.

“His information better be worth it, for your sake,” retorted William.

“I’m sure it will be,” Sasha reassured William, who wanted to be out of this arrangement as much as he did. “Come on, we’re almost there.” William followed Sasha’s directions as he drove his Mercedes-Benz Coupe to this mysterious mages’ base.

After a 10 minute car ride of awkward silence

“And here we are,” Sasha told William as she pointed to a small Cape Cod style house painted a rather boring brown. William pulled the car into the driveway and immediately noticed the house was surrounded by a barrier that the two got pulled into.

“You didn’t mention we’d be pulled into a barrier!” yelled William, who readied himself for combat.

“Wait, wait! Let me try to talk to him!” Sasha said, attempting to reassure William and stop a fight. She got out of the car and made her way to the door and knocked on it once, then three times, than twice. A panel opened above her head with a video camera peering out of the new hole.

“Hmm… is that… Sasha?!” came an excited voice on the other side of the door. “It’s been so long, my dear! Why are you visiting this old professor?!” asked the voice.

“Oh, well, you see…” started Sasha before she was interrupted.

“Oh wait, let me open the door for you, girl. We can talk inside!” said the man as the door opened to reveal an older gentleman. “Oh, who’s that?” he asked, pointing behind Sasha.

“Oh, that’s William, he’s with me,” she said as she turned to confirm who it was.

“Ah, well if you are with Sasha, you may come in,” said the old man as he stepped aside and allowed Sasha and William into his home.

William gave the man a look over, seeing that he was about 5’8” tall but on the rather frail side. He held onto a walking stick that was nearly the same size as him, his hands more akin to a skeleton hand than a living hand. His face showed his advanced age, wrinkled and spotted. His white beard flowed down to his belly while his white hair was in a ponytail. His eyes were sunk into his skull and his teeth were a hint of yellow. William could not get over the old man wearing a red onesie, complete with a button butt flap.

“Professor Raynesh, have you encountered a mage around 18 years old who used strange magic?” asked Sasha as the group made their way to the living room.

“Oh, why yes I did, Sasha! That rude young man invaded my barrier then proceeded to ruin my experiments!” cried the professor, who waved his hands around as he sat in his recliner. “But I did gain valuable data that I can use to improve my dear Stitches!” Raynesh happily announced.

“Stitches? Who is that?” asked William, intrigued by what the old man said.

“Oh, he is my cre… summon! Yes, yes. I’m a summoner mage. Stitches is my most powerful summon yet. He’s very dear to me, like a son!” he told his two guests. “And that cruel boy nearly killed him! I’m just glad I had that emergency escape built into my barrier. What’s fascinating is that he seemingly learned moves as he was fighting. No training or practice mastering a new spell. Just POOF! A new move to use! I’ve never seen anything like it!” Professor Raynesh said as he waved his arms in the air.

“Impossible! Nobody can just learn moves! It takes years of practice!” scoffed the nazi noble.

“Well, he can! Why do you two ask about this?” The professor’s curiosity kicked in.

“Because the group I represent wish to see if he wants to join us. He’d be much better with us than those crazed Wardens!” responded William.

“Oh, he can, my dear boy, he can. He may be able to change the very order of the Abyss should he choose to side with a group. He’s an interesting one to watch, that is for sure,” the professor commented as he stroked his beard.

“Well than, you’d best give us your data on him,” William commanded as he leaned in towards the professor.