43 Leave as a Few, Come Back as Many
"Awesome! Awesome! AWESOME!" Alicia bounces up to the three girls, who are exhausted from using some of their strongest attacks in such a short amount of time.
Alicia grabs both Vera and Ignis' hands and grins at them.
"You two have got super strong! I, for sure, wouldn't have to worry about my back with you guys watching it." She says with a big grin.
Alicia's words make both Ignis and Vera smile, hearing what they have been hoping to hear at some point since they became Alicia's knights.
"HEY! What about me?!" Osha shouts as she runs and jumps onto Alicia's back, almost sending her face first into the ground.
"Urghh! Yeah, yeah, you were great to Osha. In fact you were actually amazing, you will have to show me your technique later…" Alicia says smiling sweetly at Osha, but both Ignis and Vera know that underneath that smile was a person thinking about how much she wanted to play fight with Osha.
"Really! Fufufu I guess I can spare the time to show you my fighting skills later!" Osha however was ignorant of this and made a promise that she would most likely regret later.
"My Queen!" (Kaal)
"Huh?" While Alicia was chatting with the three girls, Kaal had walked up to the group.
Alicia turned round to see Kaal kneeling before her, making her feel slightly uneasy again, thinking that he has joined his people in having an overwhelmingly revering attitude towards her.
"I apologise for bowing, I know you do not particularly like it. But I need to convey my greatest thanks! You have now not only saved my life, but the lives of all my people. So, for just this one time, let me show you my respect!" Kaal says, emotion filling his voice as he talks.
Hearing this, the discomfort shown on Alicia's body and face fades…
"Hehe, don't be silly Kaal. After all, what kind of Queen would I be if I cannot protect my people! And that includes you." Alicia says, holding her hand out to Kaal in order to help him up.
"Haha… I am very glad that we were lucky enough to meet you, my Queen." Kaal chuckles lightly, then takes Alicia's hand and is helped to his feet.
"Right! We need to make sure the way is clear before we move on. We shall allow everyone a couple of hours rest but after, we need to send some guys to make sure the coast is clear." Alicia says, then turns to Ignis to check her opinion.
"That is a good idea Alicia, Vera, Kaal and I will put together some groups of five from the uninjured Lizardmen." Ignis nods and replies to Alicia's command, praising her forward thinking.
"Hey, what can I do?" Osha asks, tugging on Ignis' sleeve.
Ignis looks down at her and thinks for a second…
"Ah, I know. Why don't you be the guard for Alicia while we are sorting the scout teams out?" Ignis says, lightly slapping her clenched hand into her palm.
"YAY! So I get to spend all the time with Big Sis?!" Osha' face erupts with joy as she happily runs next to Alicia and links her arm with hers.
"Grrrrrrr…" Ignis hears a growling noise and turns to see Vera chewing on her overcoat in jealousy.
"…Yeeah… Anyway, make sure not to let Alicia out of your sight, okay?" Ignis blows past Vera's behaviour and gives Osha her standing orders… Though one person took slight offense to this…
"Hey! Why does it sound like you are assigning me a babysitter?! And Osha looks younger than me as well!" It was Alicia's turn to get angry this time and she begins to sulk.
Ignis looks over at Alicia and sighs…
[Haah… I can't win, can I?] Ignis thinks to herself, rueing how difficult her job is sometimes.
"Noooo… you misunderstand my Lady. We thought that you could use some company and honestly it would help us worry less. So technically, you would be doing us a favour, my Lady." Vera says with a gentle expression that could make guys and girls swoon.
"I-I guess I could do this for you guys…" And it seemed to have an affect on Alicia, as she turns away from Vera's gaze and a slight blush creeps onto her cheeks.
"Hmmm? Why have you gone red Big Sis?" Though Alicia tries to hide her face, Osha has apparently seen it and gotten curious.
"W-What! I am not going red?!" Alicia shouts defiantly, though Osha pointing it out makes her go more red.
"Are you okay, my Lady? You're not ill are you?" Vera says bringing her face closer, though she was too concerned with Alicia's health this time to notice the close distance between them.
"AH! SSSStop coming closer! I'm fine! Come one Osha we are going to talk to some people!" Alicia grabs Osha's hand and quickly leads her away.
"… Why did my Lady avoid me?" Vera says, her wolf ears and tail lowering in sadness.
"… Don't worry about it Vera, she's not mad at you I think she is just excited to get started…" Ignis says which seems to convince Vera as perks up a bit, possibly convincing herself that that must be it.
[… I wonder what Vera would do if she realised that it was because Alicia was embarrassed that she was making such an expression directly at and for her…] Ignis thought to herself, then they both set off with Kaal to discuss what is going to be happening.
---
A few hours has passed, and Alicia's group are preparing to get moving again. The scouts had found no undead in the nearby area and concluded that everyone could start advancing towards the Kingdom again.
Alicia, after playing around with Osha and talking to the Lizard people, has re-joined Vera, Ignis and Kaal at the front of the group, with Osha. At first, they just idly chatted about what they had been up to in the last couple of hours, but then Osha asks a question that brings about a more serious discussion.
"So hey, Big Sis? Where do you think those undead came from?" Osha asks, which gets everyone thinking.
Of course they had all been thinking about this question in the back of their minds, but they all also had more immediate issues and tasks they needed to take care of. So now they were just walking again, they have the opportunity to talk and think about this subject without hinderance.
"…Well the most simple answer would be that there is an area with a large build up of dark mana, causing any dead creatures there to turn into undead…" Vera says, thinking back to some of the things she had read about in the castle library.
She had been interested in learning more about the element she had the most affinity to, in hopes of learning some new skills…
"From what I read in the library, there have been reports of various places like that. Though the creatures created tend to stay in those areas as it powers them up and gives them an advantage. They are not often intelligent however and are driven by an instinct that tells them to stay in those places." Vera explains, showing off her knowledge.
"Okaaaay, so is it that then? Have we solved it?" Osha says, but then gets lightly hit on the head by Ignis…
"I think you mean Vera solved it Osha." Ignis says, making sure Vera got the credit.
Then Vera continued…
"… I'm not sure. I haven't been able to sense any large sources of dark mana anywhere around here, apart from the mana that radiated from those monsters…" Vera says, dismantling her own theory.
"The only other option I can think of… is that someone filled up a large amount of dead corpses with dark element mana manually…" Vera's words leave an ominous unease in the air, thinking that someone or something had made an army of undead and marched them up to the mountain range, their home.
A silence lingered in the air for a few seconds until…
"Alright, enough of the gloominess guys. Well done for giving us some theories to think about Vera." Alicia says while reaching up on her tip toes to pat Vera on her head, making Vera happy as her ears point up and her tail begins to wag.
"Yeah, it's a bit concerning. But as those scouting guys said, they seem to be heading away from our home. So that means for now, we just concentrate on getting home and telling everyone else about what we found." Alicia says in a determined tone, which lifts everyone's spirits.
"Heh, pretty good thinking there Alicia, not something I would usually expect from you usually…" Ignis says with a smirk on her face, aiming to tease Alicia.
"H-How rude!" Alicia takes the bait and starts shouting in protest before jumping onto Ignis' back.
Everyone laughs at the scene of the easily riled Alicia being teased by the Fox girl, forgetting how cautious and dread filled they were before.
And so they all set off with more vigour, aiming to get home and see everyone they left behind soon. While the Lizard people were eager to see their new home…
---
Two days later, City of Valen South Gate.
"Waaaaaaah! She's almost back! I can't wait! CAN'T WAIT!" A mature and beautiful dragon woman says while bouncing around the entrance to the city and looking intently out into the forest.
"Lady Petra, do try and control yourself. They may be tired from the journey and not appreciate if you overwhelm them." Terre says, her face full of composure…
"Oh shush Terre! My Alicia would no doubt be delighted to see me!" Petra declares with a delighted face.
"Plus! You are just as excited as I am to see Alicia! Your face might be composed as always, but your hands tell the true story!" Petra shouts and points to Terre's four hands, all were fidgeting rather furiously in anticipation.
"I-I don't know what you mean." Terre says, refusing to acknowledge that she was acting in any way like Petra.
"Fufufu come on… Admit iiiit…" Petra says, drawing her ever so smug face closer to Terre's while poking her cheek, though Terre continues looking ahead, trying to ignore her.
"Hehe I know how she feels though. I am really excited to see Ignis again…" Aura says, holding her hand against her cheek, her every movement looking elegant as always.
"Y-Yeah, I can't wait to see Big Sis as well…" Noa chimes in and says, still attempting to get used to talking with them. Although they were always nice to him, Noa still found something rather intimidating about these three gorgeous ladies.
"Seeeeee, everyone understands but y-oghg" (Petra)
"Shush, I think I see something…" Terre shoves her hand into Petra's face to get her to stop talking and focuses her eyes, seeing some slight rustling.
"Yey! Look we are finally back!" And out of the shrubbery appears the face that they had wanted to see, Alicia's.
Behind her followed Ignis, Vera and a lot of other people, who none of the four knew.
"Hmmm… That must be the new citizens then. Now Petra, as we discussed earlier you cannot just go charging up to Alicia. She is the Queen now and needs-" (Terre)
"Errrmmm, T-Terre… She has already gone…" Noa says nervously.
Terre turns her head to where she thought Petra was, only to feel a light breeze brush against her caused by Petra's sudden movement.
She then turns her head back towards the plains from where Alicia and co. were approaching from, and sees a Petra shaped blur speeding towards Alicia.
"…" Terre just stares blankly, already assuming something troublesome was going to occur from this…
---
Meanwhile over where Alicia is…
"Okay everyone! This is the capital of my Kingdom, Valen!" Alicia says turning back towards her new citizens coming out of the forest.
"WOW!" Osha and the Lizard people all ogle the massive walls of the city, a reaction that makes Alicia smile proudly.
"Yupp! Isn't it great! Now I just need to-" Alicia began to say but…
"..." (Ignis)
"al…alic….a…Aliiicia…" Ignis begins to notice a voice that started off quiet but is rapidly getting louder and closer. Then she realises and quickly turns around…
"Hmm? AH Alicia watch out!" Ignis notices to late though as a tall silhouette flies straight towards Alicia...
"What is it-Urghhh!" (Alicia) "ALICIAAAAAAAAAA!" (Petra) "WAAAAAAAAAH!" (Everyone nearby)
[Damn it… Mother did warn me this might happen…] Ignis curses herself for not remembering that her mother told her. That Petra, with a severe case of daughter-con, may get excited and cause trouble when Alicia returned.
And she was correct as Petra tackles Alicia, this was not a normal tackle however. It was the loving and excited tackle of a Dragon, a very powerful Dragon.
A wind is created as Petra flies through the air and tackles Alicia in her loving embrace… The tackle then takes Alicia and Petra flying back in the forest and straight through a bunch of thick trees… making a massive destructive path before landing. Though this also meant the Lizard people behind Alicia had to dodge for their lives.
Thankfully everyone was fine, though that is because they later learn that Petra made sure not to hit anyone else. Ignis, Vera, Kaal and Osha run to see where they had landed.
And once they got there…
"Uuuuuu I really missed you mother!" (Alicia)
"Hehe I really missed you too Alicia!" (Petra)
"…" (Ignis, Vera, Kaal and Osha)
Both Alicia and Petra were hugging very tightly, with Alicia excitedly beginning to tell her mother all about their trip.
"… Hey, is this normal?" Kaal shuffles next to Ignis and whispers to her.
Ignis just continues to watch the silly Mother and Daughter duo be extremely affectionate to one and other, then sighs…
"Haah… You have no idea…" (Ignis)
