Ivy was twelve years old when she began living in the palace due to Alloy's continuous badgering and demanding of it. He invited her to live there and when she came, giving Alloy the best constant smile he had seen in quite a while. They laughed, trained, even at times, slept in the same room to stay close to each other. He saw how Ivy loved Alloy like a sister, but she was often a bit down in her shortcomings toward Alloy's power, she was stronger and it was seen during their training sessions, so Ivy decided to go to Zed to ask what she could do about it. Zed gave her the pointer to look at the knights more, try what they do, and maybe it would work out for her.
A year later, she met Lore, who was twenty three years old at the time and already a Noble Commander, she was astounded by her abilities and her personal training that she did elsewhere, often with Trogan. Ivy began copying these tactics by watching her, but it wasn't long before she found out and asked her to join her knights, that way, she could hone her skills her own way with direct help. She was ecstatic on the case and took the chance. Alloy heard and was happy for her, but she was definitely a little sad when she saw how Ivy loved her time in the company of Zephro's knights. Zed noticed the improvements whenever she would come with Lore for reports and when he watched them train with the other knights. He remembered how much they laughed when she tried on armor and fell down due to how heavy it was for her.Two years later, they were both fifteen year old teenagers with their goals and dreams still in mind, he remembered how shocked he, Alloy and Naja were when they heard that she became Lore's right hand. She only went up from there. And now… she was gone, without a clue as to why, or how it happened.
*****
The final memory that came to his mind struck his heart deeper than the other three. He remembered the day Alloy unleashed her anger on him and Ivy, the last time her bracelet couldn't hold back her emotions.
"IT'S NOT FAIR!!" She shouted.
"She earned her place there, she's grown enough and Lore wouldn't make that decision just because. Ivy is strong, and so are you."
"SHE GETS TO CHASE HER DREAMS!! I CAN'T EVEN GO TO A PORT IN THIS KINGDOM BECAUSE I'LL BE DRAGGED BACK BY YOUR KNIGHTS OR QETE'S TROOPS!!"
Zed sighed, taking it as yet another tantrum by Alloy, but that wasn't where it ended.
"I HATE IT!! I'M NO DIFFERENT THAN A PRISONER IN THIS COUNTRY!!"
"Stop it, Alloy…" Ivy tried to intervene, but she knew where Alloy came from, spending that many years side by side gave more truths than just likes and dislikes, she understood that she felt imprisoned, that she wasn't free, but there was nothing she could do about it in her current state.
"Alloy…" Zed began as his expression of what happened next cut off his thought process. She removed her bracelet, the one she got before the one they were currently dealing with, and threw it to his face with so much force that when he missed it, it broke the tip of his throne. In their surprise at the chain, her power was what brought them back to her situation. Ivy saw her go berserk, shaking, her fingers turned into black claws, her shadow drift went crazy, covering her entire body, making it look nearly like a thick and wavy shadow in front of them.
The next thing Ivy saw was a blue flashing light, Zed had gotten the bracelet and placed it back on Alloy, forcing her to go unconscious due to the massive release of power. When she came to, Eliza was finishing up on her new bracelet, and all she felt was a dagger being pierced through her chest, and betrayal from her own father on the same. She was now a prisoner who was tied down more, lower… better. However, what she missed, according to Zed, was the power and absolute drive to set out to sea. She was fifteen, she might've died on the same waters around Zephro before even reaching a nearby island, to him, he was being protective, but now… now he had a choice to make.
*****
The night grew colder as the early hours of the morning took over, the branches on trees swayed in the wind that blew on the four people on the edge of the Night Forest. Zed placed Alloy down in front of him.
"Qete…" he began. "This is what I want you to do…"
The wind blew as the words left his mouth and Naja as well as Qete heard what he said, they were both shocked, entirely on what his request was.
"Your Majesty," Naja, who never uses that honorific, was too shocked that she didn't really have a choice. "Are you sure about this??"
"I'm sure." Zed said. "It's time I showed her how much a parent, even a temporary one, believes in their child, no matter what. This… and one more thing is all I can think of. Qete, on top of that, I need you to do me another favor." She knelt next to Alloy as she began his first request on her bracelet.
"Of course, King Zedlis-sama. What would you like me to do??"
"Place a rune to shield the back of her neck, strong enough for my power to not hurt her enough to wake her up, but enough for me to inscribe something on her." He said.
Those next words ended with a call from Zed's direct com-crystal. In the two's gasped shock of the words he had said, the silence was broken with the sound of someone he didn't expect to hear.
"Brother Zed… what happened to the forest??!!"
"Soran??"
Soran and a few of his woken up townsfolk had crowded next to the Syndicate troops set by Qete to protect and prevent the towners from approaching the forest that had ominous power flowing freely within it.
"It's dark…" He spoke, his voice enough to make him drop a sweat.
"Soran… what do you mean??" He asked… worried.
"You are inside the forest, aren't you??"
"Yes, what is…" Zed's words were interrupted by another call from Naja's crystal. She answered it as they felt a very slight tremor around them.
"Eliza-san?? What was that??" She asked, both questions directed differently in her surprise.
"Is Zed there with you??!!" She asked, urgently.
"I'm here Eliza. What is it??"
"It's Alloy's power… this forest is known as the Night Forest because its trees are special. They have an unusual ability to siphon power from whoever stays too long inside during the night…"
"Eliza-sama," Qete began. "Then what was that rumble we just felt??"
"Her power is what caused the rumble," Zed continued. "She ran rampant around the forest looking for Ivy, leaving large traces of her power behind as she looked for hers." Just then, the trees around Zed and the others began hissing a black like substance… like smoke.
"What… what is this??" Qete asked as she reacted, striking her right index finger across her lower left arm, drawing a small circle with two lines that collided in the middle, making an 'X' below herself right next to Alloy. Immediately, it glowed a bright rose gold as she chanted.
"守護の盾 (Shugo no Tate) — Shield of Protection!!"
The shield was a massive bubble that repelled every hostile attack thrown to it. Once it activated, Eliza continued.
"The bottom line is, the plants that siphoned her power can't hold it in… they're spewing her shadow drift from their pores…"
The dark thin waves of Alloy's shadow drift began moving next to the shield, they of course, had no direction, and the lot were sure they were fine, until Naja noticed something and pointed it out. "Its getting in the shield… Qete, have you been slacking off on your rune honing??"
Ignoring her statement, she reacted to the first bit of it.
"WHAT??!!??!!??!!" She shrieked.