Warp home.

Thud!

You feet hit the ground hard under the weight of the entire party on your shoulders. It's quite a lot to ask, using Bunny Hop with seven additional passengers, even if one is tiny. Despite that, you land right on the other side of the outer walls' gateway. Speaking of which, you turn around to see that they've been shut tight. You've never seen them closed before. As the party tries to regain their bearings after a dizzying teleportation, you stretch your back and look around for somebody to ask, though the air is unusually tense.

"Uh... Hello? We're back," you project your voice out towards the silence.

After a moment, you hear Bek's booming shout from above. He peers down at you from one of the guard towers adjacent to the front gates. "Oi! Welcome back there, Demon King! No fancy welcoming party today, I'm afraid. We got word that we might be facing trouble soon!"

"Wait, what? Tell me!"

"Best you head to the castle, lad. Me, Tom, and Mipa are up here keeping watch. The harpies are flying about to make sure we don't get sneak-attacked. Everyone else is inside still I think, discussing what to do next. It was possible you weren't coming back for awhile, so they'll be happy to see you."

Thomas peeks over the edge of the opposite tower, and you can barely make out the head of a goblin next to him.

You give a thumbs-up. "Thanks, Bek. Don't let any monsters get in."

"You know I won't!"

Swiftly, your party makes its way through the winding road of the castle's town before reaching the front door of the central castle itself. As much as you'd all like to keep resting after everything that's happened, there's no time to waste. You have little information to go off, and if Castle Phoenix is in danger, you have to know for certain. Just before your group storms into the Throne Room, you find Peony lingering at the entrance. Her eyes practically light up at the sight of you. She immediately throws her arms around you in an embrace.

"You've returned~!" she sings.

With you now back, she's able to enter the castle along with the rest. She remains close by your side as enter to see a large number of people react surprised to your entry. It seems they're all a bit on edge.

Alice is the first to approach you. She's still one ear short, but that's exactly the reason everybody's been able to stay on top of things. In her arms are some papers. "Welcome back, Kyle," she says in her usual monotoned voice. "How did things go?"

"Not bad," you reply. "We found what was Elok Daven's third lab, one meant to study Demon King Muian's findings, but let's save the specifics. What's happening? Are we in danger? I saw the others keeping watch at the gate, which I've also never seen us close before."

"Indeed. We must discuss things immediately. Come."

While you still have allies out in the world, and you passed some of your guards on the way in, every single other resident of Castle Phoenix is within the Throne Room, even the newcomers. It's the safest place to be, especially for those who can't fight. The throne is empty, however. It needs a king. You nod to Alice, but march straight down the carpet towards the other side. You then turn, look upon your people, and sit your rear end down upon the throne.