The End Approaches

"𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬?"

The fool was in the restroom looking at himself in the mirror.

"𝘞𝘩𝘰'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸?"

"𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵."

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥."

"Oh shut up."

He says whilst his hand tenses up, he quickly checks around the room to see if anyone noticed this.

"𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘕𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘴."

After regaining composure, the fool tries to find Novis.

"Novis? Where are you?"

He searches and searches until he finally spots him with the two ladies, he attempts to intervene but Vanessa quickly gets there first and grabs his arm.

"Are you two bothering 'My' Novis?"

"Your Novis? Just who the hell are you?"

"His fiancee, anyways Novis you were telling me about that adventure you had?"

"R-Right, let's go outside for a quick moment and I'll tell you all about it."

Vanessa clings even more to Novis's arm as they go outside.

"𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺? 𝘕𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵, 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘐'𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥?"

"Thanks for that Vanessa."

"Oh it's nothing, those two were clearly bothering you either way, I wouldn't want anyone to cause you any issues, especially during your last night here."

"Are you gonna miss me?"

"I don't think of you that much you know?"

"Well that's fine, but you don't need to cling on to me so much, especially now that we're outside."

"S-Shut up, I just got comfortable, that is all."

"Sure whatever you say."

"Are you, well, going to miss me?"

"Not really, It's not like I'm going to be gone forever."

"So you'll be back?"

"Of course."

"To think you had me oh so worried for nothing."

"Sorry about that, speaking of which I wonder how Luce is doing."

"You're always thinking about him."

"Well, he's the most interesting person ever, who wouldn't?"

"I suppose so, don't get too hurt on that journey of yours though ok?"

"I doubt I would, with him by my side and this new armor? Seems unlikely."

"You say that but last time you got hurt pretty bad no?"

"I still survived no? I'm stronger than I look."

"Just don't do anything too reckless alright."

"Whatever you say."

The fool finally decides to join Novis and Vanessa.

"What are you two up to out here?"

"OH LUCE, HOW ARE YOU? EVERYTHING OK?"

Novis hugs the fool as fast as he can.

"Of course, everything is just ok, could be worse and all, what about you Novis, did you eat a lot?"

He pats him on his head.

"I sure did, all the food there is amazing, I'm surprised they made it all on such short notice."

"You're not wrong it sure is something, what about you Vanessa are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yeah, it's nice, though I think my mom is enjoying it more than myself, which she does deserve after what happened."

"She really does."

"Hey, Luce? How long is this whole Sound Kingdom journey going to be?"

"It can range from either a week, to a couple of months."

"That's quite daunting, oh well, as long as I'm with you it should be fine."

"Of course, it is me after all

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘈 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴? 𝘕𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵, 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘮."

.

"You'll both come back afterward right?"

"Why wouldn't we?"

"See Vanessa, don't worry about it."

She lets out a big sigh of relief and walks back to go check on her mother, Novis follows her but the fool pulls him back.

"Novis could we talk alone for a moment?"

"Not like I mind."

"How do I put this, well, you know what, it's nothing, don't worry about it."

"Luce? Why don't you tell me?"

"It's our last night just enjoy it, how about we go try some of that lasagne."

"If you say so."

"𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨."

"Hopefully there's a piece left."

They all ate happily together, Vanessa's Mother's lasagne was completely eaten by all sorts of people, and she felt very proud of herself.

Eventually, Darius then stood up on the table

"I would like to make a toast to our guests, may they have a wonderful journey towards the Sound Kingdom, and do whatever they need to do swiftly and easily, CHEERS."

"CHEERS."

Some royals agreed some did not, but nevertheless, it did not matter, as they were going to be leaving the Kingdom to begin with, so anyone that had an ill opinion of them didn't necessarily care to share what they thought.

Darius then walked up to the fool.

"I'm surprised you're not drunk anymore, how'd that happen?"

"Well, my body accelerates things sometimes, so it just processed the alcohol quickly."

"That Magic of yours is really advanced, so you come from the Light Kingdom?"

"Yeah pretty much."

"How come I've never heard of it?"

"Probably just lost in history, though it still exists."

"Do you think I'd be able to visit it some time then? Since we're friends?"

"It's a bit too long of a story, but no not really, I'm not even sure if Novis could."

"Huh? What about me?"

"Oh nothing, just how great you are Novis."

"Oh, thank you, though I don't really do much."

"You say that but one day you could probably rival Darius."

"Him? Really? Sure he beat Erastus, but me?"

"If he keeps training and improving then yeah most likely."

"Look at you go Novis, your parents must be proud of you."

"Well, I haven't really spoken to them for a while, I usually send them my school money but I don't think they really care about me."

"SHAME ON THEM, I WILL EVISCERATE THEIR HOUSE TO THE GROUND."

"NO, DARIUS IT'S FINE REALLY I DON'T CARE."

"HAHA, I'm just kidding with you Novis, though if they disliked you then I probably would do that."

"𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦, 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥."

"You two seem to be having fun, well Novis, get ready to say bye to everyone, we're gonna leave soon."

"Already?"

"Well yea, we should sleep early."

"Guess I'll go around then."

Novis went to go say goodbye to most of his teachers since his only main friend was the fool, he first went to his Combat teacher.

She wore a nice black dress and styled her hair appropriately for the feast, she kept her daggers in her boots just in case.

"Sorry for your leg still."

"Oh don't worry about it Novis, it just shows how strong you really are."

"As long as you don't hate me, well I'm going to go with Luce to the Sound Kingdom, so I won't be in class anymore."

"If the King is okay with it then so am I."

"Well bye bye then, thank you for teaching me."

"You show the world just how strong you are Novis, you'll do great things."

Novis started to feel very confident about himself, almost as if he could take on the world with just himself and the fool.

Though he went to go check on his history teacher since he still felt bad for what he did to Erastus, just a little bit.

He dressed as if he was going to a bar, he wore an old-styled flat cap hat, along with some dark academia-styled casual outfits.

"Oh if it isn't Novis, you loved my history lessons."

"Who wouldn't, I love history, the story behind this world and how it became, it's just so interesting."

"And without it, we wouldn't be able to appreciate what our ancestors have done."

"Exactly, I'm glad we can."

"But just something between me and you." He starts to whisper in his ear. "Our past goes a lot deeper than just the four original King's Novis."

"How so?"

"I was only able to look at it once, but there are scriptures and tablets that only Kings are able to look at, perhaps if you somehow got the chance to look at one, you definitely should."

"I'll keep that in mind, Sir, thank you very much for everything you've done for me."

"And thank you for being my favorite student, off you go, have a great journey with your friend."

After the heartwarming experience with his favorite teacher, he then sought out Erastus, the teacher of Magic Theory.

"Oh, there you are Erastus."

"What do you want? To humiliate me?"

"Why would I do that no, I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving."

"I'm not too sure if you're ready."

"What? Why?"

"Well the only tip I'll give you, is that you should definitely improve your swordsmanship, if it wasn't for that Magic of yours, you could have died that fight."

"I'll keep that in mind in case I find anyone to teach me, thank you, Erastus."

"Yeah yeah whatever, at least I'm useful."

"𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰, 𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴."

"Hmmm, I feel like there's one more person left."

A woman with long curly ginger hair walks up to Novis in a wonderful dress, she wore quite a bit of makeup and seemed a little unrecognizable.

"Did you seriously almost forget to say goodbye to me Novis?"

"Who are you exactly?"

"HOW DO YOU NOT, GOSH NOVIS, YOU SURE CAN BE DUMB SOMETIMES, IT'S ME, MISS ROCCIA."