Chapter 5

We sit in the dirt to catch our breath and we regain some of our magic. I can't help but think that the demon group had already made extensive plans of attack years in advance. Demonizing a human is fairly simple. All it takes is a magic crystal and gathering a small amount of demon energy for that's all it takes for a human the demon eyes. But for a monster such as this bear it takes a lot of demon energy to do something like this. At the very least it would take several years worth of gathering demon energy to accomplish a feat such as this. I stare at the beast and notice its light brown fur is now shining red as well as red crystals growing out from its back. The crystals on its back are glowing red as well demon energy must still remain even though the beast is dead. I guess my light magic didn't fully purify it then. If left unintended they could have dire consequences to everything around it that includes the trees and other plant life. Unfortunately I don't have enough magic in me to purify such a large beast on my own but a plan does come to mind.

"Before we do anything else this demonized bear must be purified. My light magic spell wasn't enough and if left unintended you'll have grave consequences on everything around it including the forest" I said.

"Okay then what do we need to do?" Leon asks.

"Well in order to purify something as big you would need a fair amount of light magic" Zeke stated.

"Yes but neither of us have an affinity for light magic and Amethyst is the only one with an affinity for light magic but with not a lot of magic to use" Abigail said.

"June you have plenty of magic left. We can bind our magic energies with my light attribute and we can easily purify this beast" I said.

"No problem, I have read of the consequences of leaving demon energy to run amok in a forest. I don't wish for that to happen" June said, getting off her knees and walking over to me. We put our hands together and synchronize our magic energy. I hold up my right hand to force the magic outboard into a blinding purifying light. The position of a healer is not just given to anyone randomly; one must have a lot of magic energy and exceptional control over it to be a healer. For healers must exert a fair amount of magic energy for long periods of time in case of horde attack. When there's a horde attack healers are called upon to heal hundreds of wounded people. It takes several minutes but once the beast is purified we all relax a little bit on the dirt ground. At this point I can't help but feel a little anxious.

"It's not that I choose to keep a secret from all of you, it's the fact that I didn't want my people to find out because it would have caused chaos. Also my father doesn't have any proof of the correlation" I said.

"Correlation of what?" Leon asks.

"The fact that I have a strong affinity for all the attributes just like the previous heroes did. The same heroes that defeated the demon King" I say. I can see the stunt expressions on their faces so I continue.

"Ever since I was little I've had an exceptionally large amount of magic energy and not a lot of control. So ever since then my father the king had sealed away half of my power. Over time our researchers began to theorize that my Affinity for all elements, including light and darkness, might be linked to the demon King or as the worst case his reawakening. As time went on the seal became weaker that's what our researchers say and that when I was born the demon King's seal was cracked. My researchers have kept an eye out for anyone else with affinities for all the elements but to no avail. With no concrete proof telling it to anyone in any of the kingdoms would be nothing more than mass panic for there's no concrete evidence to prove or disprove their theory to be right" I said.

"It's not like I wanted to keep it to myself but I didn't want to make innocent people worry over something that could have been nothing. But now with the demon group arising I'm not sure if it's just a theory anymore" I say.

"What do you mean?" Leon said.

"Our kingdom's castles are by no means the strongest in terms of defense and yet they had their men posing as some of our guards. Why would that be unless they were looking for something" I said.

"So you think that really could be some kind of correlation between the demon King seal and someone with an affinity for all the attributes" Leon said.

"Well it's possible according to the tales of old the hero's party sealed away the demon king with a special seal. According to my research, when they cast this special seal each of the six members used only one element at a time in correlation to the six members and the six elements. At the same time they were all alternating elements amongst each other creating a special seal. A forever changing seal like that would be difficult to break from the outside or the inside. You said your father had sealed away half of your power and kept the truth of your affinities from everyone outside of your father and brothers, correct?" Zeke asks me. I nod in response.

"Then it's possible that they were looking for information on someone with all the affinities. Since your researchers are also looking for someone with all of the affinities one can presume that someone in your kingdom has all the affinities. But with no name to be found anywhere they have no way of knowing that the only princess was the one that they were looking for. Otherwise Prince Keith and this Miser fellow, who is obviously a part of the demon group, once have ordered your death so easily let alone let you go free. Which works in our favor" Zeke said.

"How so?" Abigail asked.

"We can all agree that the demon group is looking for people who have all the elements so that they can use them to break the seal. So once they heard that the Falsworth Kingdom was looking for people with all of the elements they assumed that someone in the rankings would be the one with all the elements. So they sent in some of their own in disguises to figure out who has all of the elements. I've been an avid collector of information on stuff like this so that way I could predict the demon groups next to move. I only saw any information, from the Falsworth Kingdom, on this subject fairly recently. So there's a more than good chance that they have no idea what they're looking for. They'd be looking for a new adventure not the princess and if that's the case then we already have one thing up on them to keep them from reawakening The Demon King" Zeke said.

" Then that's all the better for us. We should tell Captain Sheen and His Majesty the king as soon as we get back to the capital until then we should keep this to ourselves" Leon said. We can see some of the soldiers in the distance heading our way and we all silently nod. Captain Sheen and some of his troops walk up to us and ask if we're okay.

" After the demonized bear chased you lot away I sent some of my men in the direction that the beast had come from to see if there's anything to see" Captain Sheen said.

" And did you find anything?" Leon said.

" According to my men they had found traces of what seemed to be some sort of special ritual with small fragments of magic crystals full of demon energy. Other than that we weren't able to find anyone still hanging around it seems once they were done they quickly left" Captain Sheen said. Captain Sheen's men gather around the demon bear in awe and amazement.

"We'll need to bring the monster's core crystal back to the king as proof that the demon demon group has taken action" Leon said. So the knights get to work on obtaining the Bear's core crystal. It's a shame that the beast was demonized, a core crystal for a monster bear of that size would have made a lot of money.

"It's a shame that the beast was demonized, a core crystal for a monster that size would have made a lot of money," Abigail said, mirroring my thoughts.

"You don't need to worry about Captain Sheen or any of his men. I do have a very weak affinity for light magic but as far as everyone is concerned it was strong enough to land a Lucky strike with everyone's help at least that's the story I've told them" Leon said. I pull aside the members of the Stray Stars real quick.

"Not to question your leadership Leon but I think it'd be best to keep my true abilities between us" I quietly say.

"May I ask why?" Leon asks.

" The demon group has sent in spies a couple years back so they can get information on others with all of the affinities. Following that logic it only makes sense that the demon group sent spies in the Ballbout Kingdom but we have no idea how long the spies might have been in the Ballbout Kingdom but I do know that you and your Stray Stars adventure party have only just arrived at the Ballbout Kingdom a couple months ago. The Stray Stars have traveled through many kingdoms for a long time now you're the only ones I can trust now for I have no way of knowing which humans have decided to join up with the demon group. I hate to think that the Ballbout Kingdom's king would easily betray humanity like that but some of his vassals might" I said. I look around at the others and everyone silently nods in agreement. Leon then fills in Captain Sheen on what happened after we've led the beast away leaving out the part about me and my affinities. We make our way back to our horses and continue on towards the capital with the bear's core crystal and tow. As we ride I can't help but notice that Leon seems a bit upset about something.

"I didn't think about the fact that your kingdom did have spies on it and there's a good chance that the Ballbout kingdom does as well. I'm sorry" Leon said in a sad manner.

"It's ok I didn't think about it until now anyway so it's fine" I said reassuring Leon. As we ride on the same horse I can see half his face as he turns back and looks at me with a small smile on his face. As we march on to the capital we keep our eyes peeled for anything else out of the ordinary in the forest so far it was uneventful. After hours of riding horse back I can finally see the castle gates in the distance. I can see Captain Sheen ahead of the march explaining everything minutes later as we are led into the capital I finally get to see the Ballbout Kingdom and how different it is from my own kingdom. My kingdom had many buildings yes but the Ballbout Kingdom has several taller buildings several in a row. Several of the buildings were town homes for the Ballbout Kingdom's large population. While some buildings had shops at the very bottom, bakeries, cafes, general stores and more. As we walk down the brick road several people standing off to the side are staring in amazement and concern for the expedition team that wasn't supposed to be back this soon. As we walk through one of the Town squares that has a fountain, it leads directly to the castle. Leon speaks up.

"If it's true that there could be others with all of the attributes then we have to find them first before the demon group does so that way at the very least we can warn them. I'll try to convince his majesty the king that it would be beneficial for you to join the Stray Stars adventures party as a way to protect you from prince Keith who wants you dead. We will then take on various quests from different kingdoms as a cover to locate any others with all of the attributes to at the very least warn them of the demon group" he said.

"Most clever of you. Sounds like a plan to me" I say. The expedition team gathers in the castle square thank God I have never liked riding horseback even as a princess it still is painful I always try to avoid it. Many of the Castle staff come out to assist and greet us. I can see stable boys telling the soldiers where they can put their horses and a large number of butlers and maids approaching us. A tall man with green eyes and short dark brown hair, that has been slicked back with hair products, walks out in front of us with one of the maids. A much older woman with purple grayish short hair, that touches her shoulders, and wearing a standard maids outfit I can only assume that they are the head butler and maid.

"My name is Frank. I am the head butler of this Castle and this is Rosanne. She is the head maid of the castle. I have received word from the Kingdom gates guardsman of the situation" Frank looks over at me.

"And am I to assume that you are princess Amethyst of the Falsworth Kingdom?" Frank asked me.

"Yes I am, it's nice to meet you" I say, giving a small bow in respect.

"Rosanne here will show you to your temporary room so you can get cleaned and dressed before meeting his majesty," Frank said as Rosanne bowed deeply for me. It's a custom for royalty to present themselves cleanly and neatly before meeting other royalty of different kingdoms.

" Thank you" I say. I follow Rosanne quietly towards my temporary room all the while and keep a sharp eye out for anyone who seems to be too interested in me. So far I have noticed no one but I can't help but feel uneasy within the castle walls. I don't feel any demon energy anywhere in the Kingdom so there can't be any demons that's giving off this uneasy feeling and yet I still feel that something is wrong here. Sooner I can talk to his majesty, sooner that I can leave with Leon's adventuring party. Rosanne leads me into a room with other maids awaiting to clean and dress me. The standard practice that I am used to. They cleaned me up, made me smell pretty and they had chosen a very frilly pink dress. How I hate a frilly pink dress but I put up with it because I want to be in it long. Well then escorts me to the throne room quietly. Once again another royalty custom that I am used to servants do not speak to the royalty for they fear to get scolded, although I am not like that at all, I keep silent as well as to not make anyone else nervous. Two guards were standing near the throne's doors open up then let me through with the maids staying outside. I see Captain Sheen as well as Leon and his party standing and waiting for me. Captain Sheen holds out his hand so I may stand next to him when we speak to his majesty. I take his hand and I am escorted up close to the throne.

"King Venice now enters" shouts one of the men behind the curtain. King Venice of the Ballbout Kingdom is known for being a very understanding King and loved as well, about as much as my own father and his kingdom.King Venice takes his place on the throne and then speaks.

"Captain Sheen I have been told that Leon's adventuring party has come across princess Amethyst from the Falsworth Kingdom and then you have been told some gruesome news please tell me what this news may be. It must be important if you cut your expeditions short" king Venice said. So Captain Sheen then explained what I had told to the captain back at the campsite. Then he went on to explain well on our way back we encountered a demonized monster bear and how Leon, his adventuring party and I managed to defeat this gruesome bear. He then shows proof of this by presenting his majesty with the monster core crystal. The king calls for magic appraisal vassals and they quickly get to work assessing how much demon energy is in the crystal.

"Your majesty this monster crystal has an enormous amount of demon energy in it, what captain Sheen says is true" one of the vessels said.

"Then this is definitely the most gruesome news. The demon group is now active. I must arrange a council meeting between the Lord's and come up with a plan of counter. Also what is it that I should do with you princess Amethyst. Your kingdom is now overtaken by Prince Keith so I can't very well let you go back home all by yourself. If you want you're more than welcome to take refuge in my castle" the king said.

"Your majesty if I may" Leon speaks up from behind Captain Sheen and me. The king nods allowing him to speak.

"I feel that it's important to alert the other kingdoms and also the best way to keep princess Amethyst safe from Prince Keith. We all know how relentless Prince Keith can be. The moment he finds out that princess Amethyst is still alive, he will send anyone and everyone to kill her. His associates among the demon group have eyes everywhere; it's only a matter of time before they find out. So if you allow me your Majesty. In order to let the other kingdoms know we could send telecommunication messages to them as well as letters. Also if you allow me you can send me and my party along with princess Amethyst, disguised as another adventurer, to the other great kingdoms to ensure that word has reached them about the demon group. For we have no way of knowing where their spies may be or how deep they may be in" Leon explains.

"That is a very good point as well as a good plan. Very well Leon, I ordered your adventuring party to make your way through all the kingdoms to ensure that word has reached them about the demon group. I will also allow Princess Amethyst to tag along with you. I have heard about her rumors of tutoring with former adventurers and hiding amongst them will be a great way to hide" King Venice said.

"Captain Sheen I want you to ready our people and our warriors in case the worst happens" King Venice ordered. King Venice then lets Leon and his adventuring party and me leave the throne room while the king and Captain Sheen talk about what little they discovered on their expedition. All six of us stand near the castle's doors.

"Awesome now to sign you up in the adventurers guild" Abigail said.

"But first we should probably get you a change of clothes, something better than that ridiculous dress" Zeke said.

"Definitely I don't really like wearing these frilly dresses," I said. I still have that uneasy feeling but now I can no longer tell if it's something around me or if it's something else all together. I pray that my father and my three brothers are all right and that they're safe. I can still feel their magic energy even at such a great distance away but this uneasy feeling doesn't sit well with me. We will come back out through the castle case and once again I am amazed at the beauty of the town. People walk about so carefree with smiles on their faces. Children playing in the fountain that's in front of the castle. Any good royalty regardless of which kingdom they're in all want the same thing: the safety, happiness and protection of their people. When I was younger the former adventurers who tutored me had taken my brothers and me out on an easy quest. But this would be the first time they ever joined the adventure guild. I have mixed feelings especially with the uneasiness but I can't wait to see what an adventure guild is like.