With another firm push on their end, Hex and Chop Chop stumbled out of what they hoped was the last block maze. Three block mazes in a row, who would have guessed?

"A riveting success!" Mortalannis proclaimed as he flew out of the block maze's newly-formed exit and grinned. "But don't get too cocky now! Those were only among your first trials, there's still many more to go!"

Mortalannis hummed to himself as he floated past Hex and Chop Chop with the most content smile on his face, and no sort of attention paid to the halls below them, which were covered in a suspiciously large number of cobwebs. He just strode right in and disappeared into the depths, but came out screaming seconds later as he flew behind Chop Chop and Hex!

"Here's your next trial!" Mortalannis squealed as he just barely poked his head over Chop Chop and Hex's shoulders. "Get rid of this awful spider infestation!"

The sound of angry chatter burst down the halls as red eyes lit up like jewels in the night, and out from the halls came floods of spiders! Judging by the way they prattled and gnashed, they weren't exactly in a good mood—and if that wasn't enough of a clue, perhaps the way they pounced on Hex and Chop Chop was good enough!

Chop Chop readied his sword and jumped in for the kill as he slashed through the waves of spiders like they were nothing but a minor pest, but jumped back and flung his shield high as a much larger one tried to leap on him from the ceiling! He grunted as the spider slammed into his shield, then tossed it aside and went back to slashing away.

Hex levitated forward as her hands glowed bright, and sent down a rain of skull orbs that splattered more of the spiders before they could even attack! The spiders that escaped her wrath weren't much better off, for skull orbs chased them back down the hall by! Hex nodded as a faint, splattering sound echoed down the halls, and swept herself away as Chop Chop sent waves of bony brambles ripping through the stone floor!

However, the spiders weren't quite as lucky as she was, and were completely washed away in the flood! Now, the floor was completely clean of spiders. All that remained was blood splatters, torn spider legs, and the faint, but distinct stench of war. Hex didn't feel quite at ease yet. Something tugged at her heart as a signal of warning, a reminder that the battle wasn't over until the final bells sung. In fact, she could have sworn she heard something echo down from the halls…

"Stand back," Hex warned as she flung an arm in front of Chop Chop and Mortalannis before they could proceed, "they're coming!"

A soft hiss echoed throughout the halls as small chatter grew louder and louder, and the hissing grew more and more venomous. Unfortunately, Hex's premonition was right! More spiders crept down from the halls, and like their predecessors, they were prepared to fight!

Chop Chop rushed forward as his shield flared with eldritch purple light that solidified into a skewer at the center of his shield, and charged through the swarms of spiders with gusto! His charge formed a path through the ongoing swarm of spiders, though while he drew to a stop. he refused to relent. Instead, he withdrew another sword from within the confines of his shield and slashed through the spider waves, two sword slashes at a time!

While he was on the offense, Hex stood firmly on defense as she summoned a round to skulls to act as a makeshift shield. She chanted under her breath as the skulls knocked away any potential attackers—save for one. The faint sound of hissing propped open Hex's eyes, and showed her one particularly stubborn spider who leapt from skull to skull! The skulls bashed into and ground against each other in a desperate attempt to get this one sole spider, but ultimately, their head-bashing was pointless.

While the skulls fought among each other, the spider leaped away and shot itself towards Hex!

Hex just sighed, flung a hand in front of herself and shot a gigantic orb that shot the spider away. Hex scowled and turned around as she continued to shoot off orbs, for more spiders got their predecessors' idea and leaped towards her with her skulls as launchpads. As she turned around and blasted away a few spiders to her right, Hex's eyes fixed on the halls below, where larger and more numerous spiders poured in! How many of these awful things were there?

"Just where are all this spiders coming from?" Chop Chop asked as he slashed away some particularly nasty-looking ones before they could chomp down on him.

"I don't know," Mortalannis exclaimed as he swayed left and right in some desperate attempt to avoid them, "But—" Mortalannis screamed and swept upwards as several spiders jumped towards him "—GET THEM AWAY FROM ME!"

Splat! Splat! Splat!

Hex's scowl turned to a frown as splattering sounds echoed down the halls. She summoned a gigantic skull and sent it towards the remaining spiders on her tail! While the skull chased the spiders down the beginning of the hallway, Hex teleported out of the spider swarm and floated down further. As the splattering sounds grew louder and louder, Hex crafted a glowing skull and gently urged it down the hall to find…

"Spider spitters," Hex scowled as the skull drew to a stop, "I should have guessed."

Sure enough, a row of milky white sacs laid alongside the hall and spat out spiders with concerning speed! Well, not for long.

"I've never been particularly fond of spiders," Hex remarked as she floated down the way and shot orbs towards each and every spitter. "They always seem to find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Hex drifted away as the spitters exploded into a rain of soupy green goo and silk, paused and turned around as the spitters' remains seeped down the wall like blood. Yes, it looked like they wouldn't be making any more spiders from here on out.

"Bow to my sword, you cretins!" Chop Chop cried from back down the hall.

Oh dear, seemed as though Chop had gotten himself into a bind. Hex swept her way down the halls, but bounced off of something rubbery and slick. She shook her head to clear her vision, and teleported away to Chop Chop's side—

—not that he particularly noticed, as he focused on the thick of battle! Before them all was a gigantic spider with an abdomen full of suspiciously bright green goop and a large, gnashing maw. Its bright red eyes fixed on Chop Chop as he bore his sword, though Chop Chop wasn't intimidated at all as he blocked the spider's blows.

If anything, Mortalannis was far more terrified as he cowered behind a particularly large vase! "Get rid of that thing, quickly!" Mortalannis wailed as he poked his eye over the vase, screamed and cowered further behind as the spider hissed at him.

"I'm trying, your majesty!" Chop Chop shouted as he skidded back from the spider's blow. "This spider is quite resilient!"

Chop Chop tossed up his shield as the spider slashed at him with surprisingly sharp legs, but let it down for a moment as Hex manifested beside him. "My lady!" Chop Chop proclaimed as he nodded towards Hex. "You couldn't have arrived at a better moment!"

As the spider roared, Chop Chop threw up his shield and surely scowled beneath the confines of his helmet. "I'll hold this spider down. See if you can find a way to stop it!"

Chop Chop roared as he tossed himself at the spider and slashed its legs! The spider groaned as chartreuse blood oozed down its front, yet it lunged down and snapped at Chop Chop—but not quickly enough, as Chop Chop dodged each blow!

With the spider firmly distracted, Hex teleported away and hovered above the spider's abdomen. Her eyes fixed on that giant sac of strange, bubbling liquid, and then, down to where Chop Chop brawled against the spider; all the while, the green, glowing blood from the spider’s injuries dripped down and sizzled onto the floor. Wait, sizzled? That gave Hex an idea!

Hex whispered out a spell as she held out her hands, and a gigantic skull formed at her palms! Hex clasped the skull's back as her hands flared with magic, and as it rattled and shuddered like it was just itching to escape, she released it! The skull cackled as it dashed straight for the spider's abdomen, slammed into the abdomen and popped a hole right in it! The spider made the loudest wail of pain Hex ever heard, but she didn't stop to watch. Instead, she teleported over to Chop Chop's side and pulled him back from the spider.

"Brace yourself!" Hex exclaimed as she cast up a shield.

Chop Chop heeded Hex's warning and held his shield close to Hex's, which in response caused it to grow three sizes. Just in time, too!

The hole in the spider's abdomen completely collapsed the abdomen itself, and sent that glowing, green liquid splattering everywhere, including on the spider itself! The spider cried in agony as the acid burned into its body, but finally, it dissolved into a puddle of glowing, bubbling green goop that soaked into the stone floors.

Chop Chop and Hex released their shields as the acid finally settled, looked towards each other and gave relieved nods. Yes, this awful spider storm was finally over.

"And that was your next trial cleared!" Mortalannis exclaimed as he flew over the acid and on his merry way. "Now follow me!"

Hex and Chop Chop shot a glance at each other, and Chop Chop jumped to a small, dry spot across from the pool of acid before he led Hex to solid ground. As they sidestepped the last remains of the acid, the two of them drifted down the now spider-free halls.

Soon enough, the cobwebs and dust faded behind in favor of old paintings and worn doors, a clear sign that this was likely some kind of living quarters. Even that soon drew away in favor of a large, open room spotted with dusty pottery and a hallway blocked off by a large gate with a trio of rusty, dusty locks.

Mortalannis eyed the pottery's insides for a few moments, but the moment he caught sight of Hex, he gasped and steeled his gaze.

"You wouldn't possibly have the keys, would you?" Hex inquired as she floated up to the gate and turned to Mortalannis.

"Of course not!" Mortalannis exclaimed as he shook his head. "This is the next trial, after all!" Mortalannis gestured towards the door. "Find the keys to this door!"

"And you wouldn't happen to know where those keys are, would you?" Chop Chop asked as he looked around the wide, open room.

"Why would I?" Mortalannis scoffed. "This isn't my place!" Mortalannis looked back at Hex and Chop Chop, gasped and batted his eyes around the room. "I-I mean, this place is so big, it's quite hard to keep track!"

Hex shot Mortalannis a stern glare, but nonetheless she urged Chop Chop to follow her. The two of them crept deeper into the halls, just far enough that they could see Mortalannis but he couldn't see them, and finally they drew to a stop.

"My lady, if I might be so bold as to suggest," Chop Chop whispered as he held up his shield not to guard from enemies, but from any potential eavesdroppers, "something feels a bit strange about all this."

Hex only nodded in silent agreement. This Mortalannis seemed a bit… Off. His hasty and cowardly nature seemed hardly befitting of the brave and wise philosopher king Hex long heard of, and not to mention his odd fixation with the decorations! His offhanded comments about money hadn't left her brain, either...

"So you've noticed as well." Chop Chop nestled them both closed underneath his shield. "I don't know what kind of intentions his highness may hold, but I have a hunch they may not be entirely benevolent—" Chop Chop paused for a moment to slay a few spiders "—or legitimate."

"Indeed, but…" Hex frowned and turned back to Chop Chop, but only for a moment.

Hex shortly after looked back to where Mortalannis sat in the halls, though he took no notice of her. Rather, his eyes fixed on a painting that he scoffed at before he hung it back on its place.

"Whoever this ghost is, he does seem to know his way around this crypt, and we are short of a guide. And, if he is up to no good, we'd need to make sure he doesn't succeed."

"What exactly are you suggesting?"

Hex floated out from under Chop Chop's shield and clasped her hand. "We monitor him for now and let him lead us to the Skull Mask."

Chop Chop, however, seemed a bit more hesitant than Hex did. He turned his attention down to the side of the halls, where an old bomb resided among a pile of dust and cobwebs just a ways off from a strong cobblestone wall. He stayed still for a moment, but finally he trailed over to the bomb and lifted it off the floor.

"Is that truly a wise decision, my lady?" Chop Chop hummed for a moment as if he was contemplating something, but then took the worn bomb from the floor and brought it to Hex's side. "This ghost, whoever he may be, could have some kind of trick up his sleeve if we let him play around."

"Fear not, I have considered that as well," Hex replied as she pinched the bomb's fuse with her fingers, and lit it with eldritch, magical cyan fire, "should he try to do anything underhanded…"

Chop Chop tossed the bomb towards the stone wall that laid before them, and as the bomb exploded, he walked up to the rubble that remained of the wall itself. As he collected a shiny, golden key from the wreckage, Chop Chop turned back to Hex; even though his face masked underneath the helmet he wore, Hex could tell from the way he held his sword tight that he was in the midst of contemplation.

"Very well then, my lady." Chop Chop sharpened his sword against the stone floors. "I'll trust your judgment for the time being—" Chop Chop looked aside and sighed "—even if being ordered around like a petty cleaner is getting quite tedious."

Chop Chop withdrew his shield and brandished his sword, which shone a little brighter thanks to the faint candlelight above them. Hex made a silent nod of agreement, and the two of them passed through the hallway that Chop Chop opened up.

The cobblestone halls that surrounded them were surprisingly pristine and free of contamination, unlike the rest of the crypt; though oddly enough, one wall beside them was incredibly pale in color compared to the rest.

Hex drifted towards the discolored wall and gently pushed against it, but it completely crumbled to bits in response to the force! Hex drifted back as the rubble settled, and floated forward as she caught sight of a golden glimmer within the wreckage—a key! Hex gripped the key tight as she rejoined Chop Chop and floated down the halls with him. There were two keys in their possession already, and hopefully the third wouldn't be very far behind. The two of them rounded a corner into a room with a stretching pathway, but Chop Chop drew to a stop.

"There it is!" Chop Chop proclaimed as he pointed ahead.

Surely enough, the third key laid in plain sight, right in front of them! Chop Chop stormed ahead and went to grab the key off the ground, but before he could, some bright yellow thing dashed ahead and pushed him back!

"Nyeh heh heh!" cackled a short, yellow imp as it turned around and pulled its eyelid down at Chop Chop, all while it held the key in its grasp!

Hex scowled as she drifted back and got ready to charge. She knew these halls were a little too suspiciously clean!

Before she could race off, Chop Chop made a low groan and chased after the imp himself! The imp dashed down the right path of the hallway with Chop Chop in hot pursuit, and reappeared around the left with no sign of slowing down! They lapped around the halls twice, three times, five… But while the imp still kept its speed, Chop Chop lost his steam and forced himself to stop and lurch over.

As he panted, Hex floated close and gently propped him up.

"My apologies," Chop Chop panted as he strained his back, "but it seems I'm not nearly as fast as I used to be."

"Allow me to intervene, then," Hex replied as she floated off and teleported away!

When Hex reappeared, she found herself in front of the imp, right as it prepared to round a corner! The imp squealed and stumbled back, but before it could recover from the shock, Hex shot an orb right at it! As the orb tossed the imp aside, Hex collected the key from the ground and teleported back to Chop Chop. The two of them pulled out the twin keys they retrieved earlier, glazed over them and stashed them back away with a sense of relief.

"Splendid work, my lady," Chop Chop praised as he held his hand out to her.

Hex took hold of Chop Chop's hand, and in a flash of magic, the two of them returned back to the broken entrance of that maze. As they trailed back down the halls and into Mortalannis's view, Mortalannis turned around and raised an eyebrow at them.

"Well, did you get the keys?" Mortalannis asked.

"See for yourself," Hex replied as she slid the first key out of Chop Chop's hand, and withdrew the remaining two.

Mortalannis leaned in close, glazed over the keys, and made a wide grin. "It took you long enough!" Mortalannis turned his attention towards the gate in an almost prodding manner. "Now go unlock this gate!"

Hex scoffed, floated up to the gate and inserted the keys. With a snap of her fingers, they all turned simultaneously before the gate creaked open.

"And there you have it! You've passed your next trial!" Mortalannis tsked and floated away. "Now come along, there's still more than awaits you!"

As Mortalannis floated out of view, Chop Chop and Hex shot each other very tired looks, but nonetheless followed him down the dusty, cobweb-coated halls.

§

"… And it really is that bad," Chihiro remarked as she looked over the dirty town of Stillhaven laid before her person.

The town's colors were washed-out, dull shades of green and browns and blues, completely opposite to the colorful rainbow of joy and life Chihiro saw not moments earlier. Stray papers, wrappers, broken barrels, and all other sorts of trash littered the streets; the houses that flanked it had holes in their roofs, windows either shattered completely or covered in dust and cobweb layers so thick one couldn't see past, peeling paint jobs, and so many other signs of wear that it was a miracle they hadn't fallen apart! Even what little flora the town had was just as withered and despondent as the sights it grew in, but that was hardly the creepiest sight to behold.

Rather, that most terrifying thing was that the place was a complete ghost town, it seemed! No fairies flew among the streets, or chatted by the houses, and even the animals completely abandoned the place! The only sound was that of wind carrying trash across its breezes. For a moment, Chihiro wondered if maybe they stopped by the wrong town, but the serious look on Dione's face confirmed that this was the place.

"Well, not quite what I expected," Chihiro admitted as she dusted off her hands, "but, it's nothing I can't handle!" Chihiro hummed a tune as she turned back to Dione. "Where do we start?"

"Supply deliveries, mainly," Dione replied as she turned her attention to some of the other fairies on their team, who had already started unloading supply crates. "Food, water, toiletries… Those kind of things. Can't live without the basic living things, you know!"

"Right!" Chihiro bounced up and down, held out her hands, and shouted out and stumbled back as Dione loaded a kinda hefty crate into them.

"Just drop these off at the local's front doors, they'll know what to do," Dione explained. "Now if you'll excuse me, we've got a lot more unloading to do!"

As Dione flew off, Chihiro nodded and stumbled off with crate in hand, yet groaned as its weight started to weigh her down! She could barely walk, and was only able to totter about as the crate's weight numbed her arms. Finally, as it got ready to slip, she squeaked and teleported off to a nearby front door.

"Finally!" Chihiro exclaimed as she dropped the crate onto a tattered welcome mat and caught her breath. "Sweet relief!"

Chihiro beamed as she rung what seemed like a doorbell, at least judging by the dull, eerie chime it made once pressed. Oddly enough, nobody came; maybe they were in the shower or something? Either way, Chihiro rang it twice, thrice, a fourth time to be safe…

"Quit ringing that thing!" shouted a faint voice from inside. "I'm trying to sleep here!"

Huh? Chihiro placed a hand on the doorknob, but the door itself hadn't been locked. Instead, she accidentally pushed against the door and flung it open! The first thing that hit her nose was the feeling of dust, so thick and itchy that she broke into a sneezing fit, and when the sneezes cleared, she opened her eyes and… Geez, this place was a wreck!

Dust covered every angle from the ceiling to the floor to the furniture and it was complete with very visible dust bunnies that inhabited the halls like weeds. The wallpaper was torn and peeling, the blankets and couches had visible stains on them that sorely needed to be washed out, and—hey, was that the house's owner sleeping on the couch there? Chihiro could just faintly catch sight of a head of ratty, tangled hair practically buried within the confines of one of those old, old blankets.

"Hello?" Chihiro said as she skipped over and gently shook whoever was buried in the blankets underneath. "We delivered your supplies! They're waiting on your front door!"

"Whatever," the fairy groaned as they turned away and shooed off Chihiro without a second thought, "just let me sleep."

Chihiro frowned as she placed her hands on her hips. "So do you want me to bring them in for you?"

"I said leave it. It's all gonna rot anyways."

"Now that's no attitude to have! The sun's kind of shining if you squint a little, the birds are probably flying and singing where we can't see it, the grass is, well, it’s somewhere, I'm sure. You've got a whole day ahead of you!" Chihiro rolled her eyes, and smiled as she grabbed hold of the fairy's ratty old blanket. "Come on now, up and at 'em!"

Chihiro beamed as she yanked the blanket off the fairy, but winced as she just barely held back a scream. That fairy before her looked almost skeletal, with their worryingly thin frame only barely masked by the stained, dull-looking nightgown they wore! Their eyes were dull and practically sunk into the bags on their face, and their mouth twisted into a scowl. It was like she looked a zombie right in the eye!

"I TOLD YOU TO LET ME SLEEP! What point is there in going out when everything a mess, anyways?" The fairy exclaimed as they pulled back their blanket and bundled themself up once more. "NOW GET OUT!"

Chihiro just winced and quietly crept away from the fairy under the blankets, whose head promptly disappeared from over their couch arm. What was their problem? Their whole place was a mess, they practically looked like a ghost, and their attitude was just as bad as that mess! Hey, maybe they were just one grumpy fairy? Surely the others were a bit better off?

So, as she closed the door behind her, Chihiro hopped over to where the supply boxes were, grabbed a few more, and dropped them off at the doorstops! A new optimism shone in her eyes as she lifted up the crates and teleported away—yeah, that was only one crabby apple, the rest of the basket would be fine, right?

"Delivery!" Chihiro shouted as she rang the doorbell. "It's your—" Chihiro jumped back as a fairy who looked like they hadn't slept in weeks answered the door "—ACK!"

"Just who are you?" shouted the homeowner, who looked at Chihiro like a deer looked at headlights as Chihiro tried to drop off their supply crate. "Are you…"

Chihiro went to open her mouth, but before she could, something glass crashed behind them! The fairy screamed and slammed the door just as quickly, and judging by the series of slamming and thunking noises that echoed from inside the home, did a little more than that too!

Chihiro winced, grabbed the rest of her supply crates and teleported over to the next house. When she arrived, the doorway was completely blocked off by empty, opened crates stacked together over unopened ones with a fortress's structure. The one on top had some kind of note on it, but the ink was so faded that it could barely be read. Well, whatever it once said, something about it told Chihiro that whoever was in here wasn't going to answer her anytime soon.

Chihiro frowned, gently laid a crate over a patch of wilted flowers that looked as dead as the rest of the world around them, and finally she grabbed her last crate and teleported to the neighboring house. As she reappeared on the doorstep, Chihiro laid down the crate and warily rang the doorbell.

"Hello? Hello, your supply delivery's here!" Chihiro shouted as she went to knock on the door, then froze in place as the door slowly crept open.

The whole place was so dark inside that Chihiro could only barely make out the face of the one who answered the door beyond glaring, piercing eyes. She didn't get much time anyways, for they sighed and slammed the door back shut with such force that it cast dust everywhere.

Chihiro just bit her lip, turned and teleported away. Had everybody here caught a case of the blues? She couldn't help but wonder that as she teleported back to the storage crate pile, and leaned against the few crates that remained. Now that she got a good look around, most of the relief team's fairies didn't pay the residents much mind either. They just hastily dropped things off and left, as if they didn't want to be here!

"What's got everyone so worked up?" Chihiro wondered out loud as she started at the murky skies. "I mean, yeah it's kinda dull and gloomy around here, and there's trash everywhere, and the fairies have kind of a bad attitude, but I'm sure a little cleaning up would solve that, right?"

"We tried that before, when the relief efforts began," Mnemosyne explained as she flew up to Chihiro with another checklist in hand, "and it didn't exactly work."

"What do you mean?" Chihiro turned to Mnemosyne and tilted her head, but her frown deepened as Mnemosyne only sighed.

"Well, you see, you have to realize that for a village with its area's largest farms and orchards, it had an incredibly small population maintaining it. Only about a hundred or so fairies lived here." Mnemosyne bit her lip as she drew her hand across her the crates. "Kaos's takeover took quite a hit on the village itself. They lost about half their population, and their village was left in ruins from his soldiers' ambush."

Mnemosyne sighed again and shook her head, and Chihiro bit her lip and made a wary breath of her own. Something in her gut told her that she know where this conversation was starting to lead.

"The relief efforts started out well enough at first. We gave them the supplies they'd need to get back on their feet, metaphorically speaking, told them we'd be back to check up on things. but when we came back, it was in an even worse shape than before!

“The locals themselves looked like they gave up on life itself! No matter what we said or did, we could barely get them out of their houses. I guess in the end, things were too overwhelming for them when they had already gone through so much."

Mnemosyne lifted herself up and looked down at her list. "I, we wanted to help them further, we really did, but in the end, we just couldn't afford it. They had no interest in helping things along, and our team was taking care of relief efforts for all corners of the kingdom. In the end, we were spread for too thin and we just had to give up."

Give up. Those words were a knife that pierced through Chihiro's heart. How could they just give up when these fairies were doing so poorly and are in such a great need for help? That's what she wanted to say, but she knew that Mnemosyne had a point, too. If they were spread that thin, surely they had to pick and choose. Still, it wasn't fair! These fairies couldn't just sit around and wait for when others were ready to help them; who knows what would happened if they didn't get help soon?

Wait a second! Chihiro shook her head and smiled—after all, helping out was exactly what she came here to do! So, she just smiled and twirled around.

"Well, don't worry!" Chihiro proclaimed as she strutted off. "I came here to help, and with my fancy powers, this'll be a piece of cake! Everybody will be back on their feet in no time!"

Chihiro dashed down the streets, frowned and paced in a circle as she examined the houses before her. All those fairies, they were so tired and so hopeless, but why? After all, there was a ton of reasons for people to become that way, magical and otherwise! Worse yet, the locals didn't seem particularly interested in talking to her, which would make it harder to figure this out. So how was she supposed to figure this out in time to finish her exam?

Chihiro groaned a little bit more, and her eyes cast their way down to a couple small blue and purple flowers that sprouted from the cracks beside a couple houses despite the wreckage around. They were awfully pretty, yet even their sight wasn't enough to lift their spirits.

"If only these flowers could cure everybody's sadness." Chihiro picked the flower and sniffed it. "After all, they're practically everywhere in this place! There'd be more than enough to cure the entire village."

With another sniff, Chihiro sighed and dropped the flower. Her heart sank to its pits while her eyelids sank over her eyes, and all she wanted to do was sulk. After all, this was already so hard to figure out, and if she didn't get it done soon, she'd never pass this exam! She couldn't afford to retake it, either, not when she had so much she needed to catch up so she could get stronger and make up for lost time. The gloomy scenery wasn't exactly helping her mood, either.

"Chihiro!"

Chihiro gasped and jumped back to her feet as Calliope flew straight towards her!

"There you are!" Calliope said as she flitted to Chihiro's side. "We're trying to sort through supplies and need a couple extra hands on deck—" Calliope's face fell just slightly "—what's got you so upset?"

"Wait, upset?" Chihiro frowned, looked under her boot, and saw the flower she once held with its petals crushed under her foot. "Wait a second…"

Chihiro plucked a few more of the flowers from beside the cracks then shoved them straight into Calliope's face. "Wait, Calliope! I think I might know what's wrong with everyone!"

"You do?" Calliope tilted her head and frowned as if she didn't entirely believe what Chihiro was saying.

Chihiro shook the flowers a few more times for emphasis. "See these flowers?"

"Well, yeah, they've sprouted all over the village—"

"I think they're what's making everyone so mopey! They're probably like—" Chihiro made a few frantic swirls of her hands and looked down "—some super cursed flower that feeds off people's life energy or something!"

"Uh, it just looks like an ordinary flower."

"We've gotta tell the others before it's too late!"

With no time to hesitate, Chihiro dashed away from Calliope and back into the heart of the village! She had no time to lose; she had to warn everyone!

"Everyone, everyone!"

"Chihiro, wait up!" Calliope exclaimed as she flitted after Chihiro.

However, Calliope was only an afterthought in Chihiro's mind as she raced up to where Mnemosyne checked off another checklist while a few other fairies stacked wooden crates. Chihiro grunted and skidded to a stop just before she crashed into everyone, and held her flowers up for all to see.

"I've found it!" Chihiro shouted at such a volume it caused all the fairies to look at her.

"Found what? Life blossoms?" Mnemosyne said as she leaned over and examined the flowers.

"Yeah! These things, they're sucking up all the energy from everyone and making them all—" Chihiro stopped short as Mnemosyne started to chuckle. "Wait, what's so funny?"

"Sapping energy, that's a new one," Mnemosyne chuckled. "Life blossoms are just ordinary flowers. They don't do anything other than sit around and look pretty."

"Dangit." Chihiro frowned as the flowers slid out of her hand, but shook her head and formed fists. "Still, I can't give up! Something's making all these fairies so sad and hopeless, I've gotta find it and save them!" As Chihiro turned around and saw Calliope, she grabbed Calliope's hand and dashed back down the way. "Come on, Calliope! We've got a village to save!"

"Chihiro, wait!" Calliope shouted as Chihiro dragged her down the dusty, trash-filled streets.

"No time for questions, Calliope!" Chihiro let go of Calliope's hand and rifled through the rows of abandoned buildings and dead trees. "Maybe there's some kind of curse on this land that's made everyone tired and sad. I mean, look at those fields and trees!" Chihiro gestured to rows of fields with wilted corn stalks and sad, thin trees that looked like they'd snap at any given moment. "Why else would those be so weak and wilted?"

"Er, because when Kaos's forces captured everyone, nobody could actually tend to them?" Calliope suggested as she raised a hand.

Chihiro frowned, magicked up a simple flower seed and dropped it onto the ground.

"This seed is weak to cursed magic," Chihiro explained as she covered it with dirt. "If this land really is cursed, it shouldn't be able to sprout!"

Chihiro tapped her foot as she watched the tiny plot she created for a few moments, and frowned as her magic seed sprouted into a magic flower!

"Oh."

A withered tree keeled over and split in half behind her, but Chihiro shook her head and dashed to the door of a house with dust-covered windows that seemed like it hadn't been touched in months, if not years.

"Hmm, maybe there's like, some cursed artifact or something here! That's gotta be it, right?" Chihiro nodded to herself as the door creaked open and sent dust clouds flying everywhere. "Yeah, I mean, I've had my fair share of experience with cursed artifaaaCCCHOOOOO!"

Chihiro sniffled, wiped her nose, and frowned as the dust subsided. This place really was in bad condition! A firm layer of dust coated the floors, cobwebs covered nearly everywhere around, and she was sure she saw a spider or two skitter across the floor…

"Whatever, now's as good a place to start as any!"

Chihiro tapped a floorboard just to be safe, and when it didn't cave under her weight, she crept forward and examined the house's belongings. It was all ordinary stuff under the cocktail of spiderwebs and dust bunnies, like furniture, vases with dead flowers, pictures of fairies having fun…

"Doesn't seem like anything weird's here." Chihiro peered around the corner and stopped. "Huh?"

The stretch of room across this corner seemed oddly clean and new compared to the rest of this dusty, run-down house. At the very least, the dust that covered it wasn't nearly as prominent as it was in the rest of the house. A new addition, maybe? Chihiro crept over the halls, so dark and dusty. She was sure she heard a board creak just a few seconds ago, or maybe it was all this tension causing her to hear things. This whole place felt so creepy and ominous that surely there was like, a creepy cursed artifact or a bloodsucking monster down the halls waiting for her.

Huh? Something bright and soft and warm flickered across Chihiro's face for a few moments, and like a moth to flame, Chihiro walked just a little fast to the light's source. There, at the dead end these halls lead to, Chihiro found not a monster or artifact or cure, but some kind of monument seated on an old wooden dresser. It was a picture of a young fairy with a wide smile on their face, kept in an intricate frame with stars and lilies carved into its purple wood. The picture was surrounded by barely-lit tea candles and fresh white flowers, almost like a… Oh.

Chihiro just barely drew her fingers across the dust that set across the monument, rubbed it off her fingers and hung her head. With a sigh, she crafted a flower out of magic and pressed it beside the flowers already been laid on the dresser.

"Chihiro, where'd you go, what are you doing?" shouted Calliope's voice from back down the halls, "You can't just go barging…"

"There's nothing here, Calliope," Chihiro informed as she trailed up to Calliope and back to the house's open door. "Let's move on."

"Chihiro, this is getting a little ridiculous!"

Chihiro didn't have time to listen! She dashed from that house to another, dustier house and peered inside, but it didn't seem to have anything odd outside of overwhelming dustiness so thick that Chihiro broke into a sneezing fit from just the sight! As she slammed the door shut and collected herself, Chihiro bounced from house to house, but still, nothing odd popped up! Guess the houses were out of the question.

Chihiro frowned as she closed another door shut, turned her attention to a large farm building that loomed over them, and slammed the doors open! Surely there was something in here, right? Nope, nothing but rotted food.

Chihiro groaned as she slammed the doors shut, dashed off to an odd-looking marble building with cracks all along its surface, and peered into its deep, dark chambers. It vaguely reminded her of a museum, and museums keep a lot of weird cursed stuff in them, right? That's gotta be the place!

"Any cursed artifacts here?" Chihiro shouted as she leaned in front of the open door and waved her hand.

As the building's ceiling started to crumble, Chihiro winced and skipped back down the stairs. It did seem pretty run-down, better not risk anything. So, instead, she sighed and trailed along the beaten path. She dashed from building to building, house to house, farm storage room to… Whatever that dusty old museum-looking place was, but she couldn't find a thing still! Nothing more than dust bunnies and old walls and dust-covered furniture!

Unfortunately, it wasn't exactly lifting her spirits. It was like no matter where she turned, the answer just kept growing further and further away! What would it take to finally figure out what was wrong here? She couldn't spend the whole day figuring this out, you know! Chihiro slowed her run to a walk, hung her head low as she crept into a suspicious and kind of creepy-looking abandoned farmhouse, and poked her head around the gigantic doors.

"Hello? Any cursed artifacts here?" Chihiro asked as she looked around, but still, she found nothing there other than massive, empty space and stages and long-unused equipment!

At that point, Chihiro grew so tired that all she could do was trudge inside, sit down against the very dusty walls and sulk. After all, what else was there to do? She was supposed to help these fairies, but she couldn't do a thing to lift their spirits, or figure out what caused them to be so mopey and sulky and not wanna leave their houses and fix up their village!

"Chihiro, for the last time, there's no secret artifacts or hidden curses!" Calliope exclaimed as she flew in with a very tired look on her face, one that immediately softened as she caught sight of Chihiro.

"Then what's gotten into everyone?" Chihiro shouted back as she looked towards Calliope with tense, clenched features. "Why are they so bummed out?"

Calliope, however, just sighed and sat down next to Chihiro. "Well, put yourself in their shoes for a minute." Calliope laid a hand on Chihiro's own as she looked Chihiro in the eye. "You’re captured and forcibly drained of your magic, you lose the ones you love, and you come back to find your home's a mess that's way too big to clean up. After everything that happened here, I'd feel pretty hopeless and wouldn't wanna do anything, too!"

Chihiro frowned and curled up further as she contemplated Calliope's words. For a moment, she envisioned herself in those fairies' position—her home conquered, her and everyone she knew ripped from their homes and drained of their magic until they died, coming back to her town in ruins… Well, Calliope did have a point. If something like that happened to her, she supposed she'd feel so sad and hopeless that she wouldn't wanna get out of bed, either, much less do any sort of work.

Wait a second, maybe that was it! Maybe, just perhaps, instead of making them lift themselves up on their power, she should've been giving them the hand they needed to pull themselves up! Yeah, Chihiro was sure of that now!

"That's it! I was going about this the wrong way!" Chihiro exclaimed as she sprung to her feet. "Maybe they just need a little push to get themselves out the door! I can't believe I didn't think of that earlier!"

As she said these words aloud, Chihiro felt a new sort of energy rise into her heart. Now, she was raring to go! She finally knew what to do!

"Thanks, Calliope!"

But, oddly enough, Calliope just gave Chihiro a kind of hesitant and confused look with the scrunched eyebrows and tiny frown. It was almost like she wasn't nearly as confident about this as Chihiro herself was!

"Er, you're welcome?" Calliope replied as she sighed and held her arm.

Chihiro giggled, and dashed out the door without a second thought! But as she left that old building, she could've sworn she heard Calliope say something odd.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…"

Why would Calliope have a bad feeling about this? This is perfect! Chihiro thought as she teleported ahead and watched the town come back into view. I'll get these fairies back to their old selves in no time!