With a glowing skull for a lantern, Hex, Chop Chop and Mortalannis all passed through the endless dusty halls. Though it had only been a few minutes since they passed through that gate—maybe—it felt like it had been an eternity since they saw anything other than cobwebs, and dust, and infinite stretches of stone. Mortalannis yawned and clicked his tongue as his eyelids drooped over his blank, ghastly eyes, and Hex herself couldn't help but repress a yawn as well. This was certainly a lull in the action; perhaps this was the perfect time to put the so-called philosopher king to the test.

"Say, your majesty," Hex said as she stroked her skull lantern, "you believed that war between the undead and the living was quite pointless, correct?"

"Er…" Mortalannis frowned as he looked towards Hex and cast his eyes aside. "Well, yes."

"That's something I've always wanted to ask you about." Hex stroked her skull a bit more and released it into the open.

"I find it quite admirable that you managed to reconcile the undead's disdain towards the living by looking towards how we ultimate all end up in the same state of living. Ultimately, all those around die eventually, and after that, even our undead bodies will wither away and enter the afterlife…"

Mortalannis, however, clenched his jaw as ectoplasmic sweat dripped down his face. His eyebrows twisted together, and though his eyes were blank, the worry in them shone quite clearly.

"Tell me, what brought you to that conclusion?"

"Er, uh, I," Mortalannis mumbled as his eyebrows scrunched up further while sweat dripped onto the floor, "I, um, well, I don't know!"

"You… Don't?"

"You know, old man brains and all! My memory's so foggy I can hardly remember—"

Before he could finish, Mortalannis shrieked and leaped behind Hex as an entire army of spiders came skittering their way! "Actually, no more debating! Time for the next trial!" Mortalannis exclaimed as he shuddered. "Get rid of these darn spiders!"

"Gladly!" Chop Chop exclaimed as he readied his sword and rushed into the fray!

With no hesitation, he hacked and hacked away at the spiders until entire waves were cut between their ranks—but it seemed as though no matter how many he slashed through, more and more kept coming his way! Every one spider was replaced with at least five more, each one larger than the last. Despite his aptitude for intense fights such as these, Chop Chop seemed to get a bit worn as he drew back and panted between slashes.

Odd, even a crypt as old as this couldn't have an infinite amount of spiders! As her encounter with the spider spitters flashed back into her mind, Hex waved her hands around her glowing skull lantern; its light grew large enough to encompass the entire hall, and revealed an entire collection of spider spitters hung from the ceilingthat dutifully released even more spiders, and stayed suspended in place by thick silk!

Hex flicked her wrist and tossed some orbs at the spider silk strings that held the spitters up, but each one leaped out of the way! The spitters fell into place as the orbs crashed and exploded against the walls, while Hex drew back and sent a round of skulls instead. The skulls grinned and cackled as they rushed in for the kill, but crashed into each other instead as the spitters were yanked up! Hex snarled a bit as she sent even more orbs and skulls towards the spitters, but every time she did the spitters would conveniently pull themselves up and out of the attacks' range! But why, and how? Spiders spitters could hardly be called sentient.

The sound of snickering pricked Hex's ears, so she looked up and got her answer! There, at the very top of the ceiling, were a group of moon widows who held the spider spitters' thick strings of silk up! She should have guessed.

"I assume you find that funny?" Hex asked as she readied an orb.

The moon widows blinked as they looked down at Hex, but soon screeched as Hex's orb sniped one of their ranks and tossed it across the room! As that one moon widow's spitter splattered against the floor, the other moon widows shrieked and scattered off withno mind taken to the fact that they dropped the rest of the spitters as well! The spitters all fell and splattered, and with them went any sort of spider they could have created!

Chop Chop drew back as the spitters burst into puddles of goo and silk, rushed towards the spider army and drove his sword into the ground. As he yanked his sword out, the whole earth trembled fast enough that everyone scurried back, including the spiders—but that was the spiders' fatal mistake. Out from the ground came a wave of bone brambles that completely ripped and tore through them! As the brambles tossed green spider blood against the halls and shattered as they slammed into the wall at the hallway's end, Chop Chop paused for a moment to wipe the sweat from his, well, lack of brows.

"Are the spiders gone now?" Mortalannis whimpered as he poked his shuddering head out from behind the halls.

"Indeed, your highness," Chop Chop replied as he looked back towards Mortalannis.

Mortalannis breathed a sigh of relief, and floated out from the tiny and particularly dusty corner of the room he cowered behind as they went back down the halls. While he passed them by, Hex and Chop Chop stopped as they promptly smacked into a block!

"Ack!" Chop Chop exclaimed as he pulled himself away from the block's stone surface. "Who put this block here?"

Hex lifted her lantern and frowned as Chop Chop looked around, There around them, the hallways morphed into a large, open room boarded off with blocks that were carefully placed to form paths between them.

"It seems as though we've found ourselves in a block maze," Hex said as her skull lantern drifted down into her palms.

"Indeed you have!" Mortalannis exclaimed. Mortalannis grinned as he phased through the stone blocks walls, then popped out in front of Chop Chop and Hex. "This is where your next trial will take place!" Mortalannis turned back to the block maze and frowned. "You see, there's a teleporter at one of this maze's exits, but in my current form, I cannot activate it. That's where you come in!"

Mortalannis grinned back at Chop Chop and Hex. "Get through this maze and find out what's at the end of that teleporter! I'll be waiting!"

True to his word, Mortalannis flew over to a corner of the maze, and sat and watched Hex and Chop Chop with fixed eyes and an expecting grin. The two of them looked to each other and sighed, but still trailed down the path and turned their attention towards a hollow, dark path in the middle!

They took a stroll down, a turn left, and before they even knew it, they already escaped the maze and found themselves in front of a teleporter.

"After you, my lady," Chop Chop said as he skirted aside.

Hex hopped onto the teleporter with Chop Chop close behind, and in a flash, sparkling light enveloped them. As the light faded, they found themselves in a blank, dusty room free of any sort of decoration, well, save for a golden spider with shiny emeralds for eyes.

Hex picked the spider up, and frowned as she and Chop Chop headed back to the teleporter. While the two of them trailed down the maze, that feeling of something being amiss grew larger and more nagging at Hex's heart. Mortalannis seemed far too eager to thrust them into such petty trials; shouldn't a proper task from someone like him be more challenging than this? Even for a circumstance such as cleaning a crypt?

"Well, did you find anything?"

Hex frowned and looked up as she found herself back at the corner they received their task at, and reluctantly handed the spider over to Mortalannis. "This was the only thing we found there, your highness," Hex explained.

Mortalannis hummed as he examined the spider with stern, critical eyes, shrugged and stashed it away. "It's not the most impressive thing," Mortalannis remarked, "but it should sell for a few hundred coins, at least."

"Why are you so concerned with that?" Hex asked as she looked Mortalannis in the eye. "You never cared much for money. In fact, you said that money was the root of all evils! Surely, that's why you decided to clean out your crypt and give away its contents—" Hex crossed her arms "—or have you forgotten?"

Mortalannis flinched, let out a shark, hisslike gasp, and he turned Chop Chop and Hex around before he pushed them down the halls! "Actually, you know what?" Mortalannis exclaimed as he pressed down another corner of the maze at incredible speed. "We should get going now!"

There he was, dancing around questions again! Now there definitely was something suspicious here, Hex was certain. She pursed her lips as Mortalannis stopped them at an open hall at the end of the path, turned back and gave him a glare.

"This should be the spot of your next trial!" Mortalannis looked aside and pulled out some kind of paper with no regard taken to Hex or Chop Chop. "If I recall correctly…"

Hex pursed her lips as she floated up to Mortalannis. "And just what are you looking at?"

Mortalannis shrieked as he stashed away the paper and shook his head. "Nothing! Anyways, there should be a treasure chest at the end of this hall, but, there's a problem."

"And that would be?"

"I'll show you." Mortalannis frowned as he nudged his head towards a rusty lever on the side of the wall. "First, turn on that switch!"

Chop Chop took one glance at the lever, pulled it down, and glanced ahead as the walls behind them completely dropped and revealed a plain hallway! He went to take a step forward, yet immediately reeled back as sharp spikes shot up from the floor!

"There’s your answer!" Mortalannis proclaimed. "These spikes are so sharp, they can even impale a ghost!" Mortalannis croaked as his lips quivered and frowned. "I'm far too old and frail to risk dabbling with them myself…"

Mortalannis's sorrow, however, was oddly quick to fade as he looked towards Hex and Chop Chop. "But I'm sure you two will manage just fine!" Mortalannis chuckled and dashed down the halls. "Now have fun!"

Hex scoffed the moment Mortalannis was out of range, and then sighed as the spikes ascended and descended once more; seems as though they'd have to make this quick. Hex clasped her hands as they flared with cyan light, grasped Chop Chop's own, and watched as the light enveloped them both! As the glow faded, Hex felt a burst of speed and energy rush into her, the kind she hardly felt since the day she became undead. Well, she supposed that a speed enhancement spell would do that to anyone, regardless of their state of living.

Nevertheless, she and Chop Chop dashed down the endless stretch of hallways, their footsteps lighter than normal thanks to the spell. Better yet, it made the journey less tedious as well, for right ahead of Hex was a small wooden chest covered in cobwebs!

"There's the chest!" Hex proclaimed. She leaned back and got ready to leap forward, but before she could…

"Look out!" Chop Chop exclaimed!

Hex gasped as a sudden force pushed her across the way, followed by a shing and the sound of clattering bones! She winced as she turned back down the halls, but Chop Chop was no longer behind her! Well, not in one piece, that is. His bones scattered apart across the floor as the spikes receded, but with him being a skeleton, that was thankfully the worst that happened. Hex shuddered to imagine what would have happened to him were he anything else.

Hex gasped just slightly as his body parts crawled and lurked about as they tried to locate each other, frowned, and looked down as she heard a moan from Chop Chop's severed head.

"Erm, it seems I've gotten myself into quite the situation," Chop Chop remarked as he looked back at his split-up body, "I suppose I got a bit ahead of myself, you could say."

Chop Chop made a faint chuckle at his own awful pun, and Hex herself couldn't help but laugh as she lifted Chop Chop's severed head into her arms.

"Indeed you did, Chop," Hex replied as she waved her free hand.

With a lick of magic on her end, Chop Chop's separated body parts flew towards Hex and pieced themselves together one-by-one, until they slowly formed back into a proper skeleton! Hex took Chop Chop's head and popped it back on top of his chest, right where it belonged.

"Ah, good as new!" Chop Chop stretched his arms to the ceiling.

While he did that, Hex floated over and levitated that dusty, wooden chest off the ground. "I suppose this is the treasure chest His Highness was looking for," Hex remarked as she showed it off to Chop Chop.

Their objective in hand, the two of them teleported back to the beginning of the halls, and looked over to Mortalannis, who was still absorbed in that paper… That is, until he saw them and quickly stashed it behind his back.

"There you two are!" Mortalannis shouted as he floated over, "Did you find the chest?"

"See for yourself," Hex replied as she dusted off the chest and levitated it to Mortalannis.

Hex handed off the chest to Mortalannis, who opened it and grinned as a bright, golden glow fell over his face. With a giggle, he closed the lid tight and stashed it away to who-knows-where.

"Good, good! Now, follow me!" Mortalannis's voice became the giddiest Hex had heard as he flew off. "Your trials shouldn't be much longer!"

So, Hex and Chop Chop slowly, almost reluctantly, followed Mortalannis down the halls, all while he sung some jaunty tune about being rich. But while he was perfectly oblivious, Hex and Chop Chop just looked towards each other and shared an understanding nod.

"At last, the end is nigh!" Mortalannis proclaimed, an unkempt level of ecstasy in his voice as he floated around Hex and Chop Chop. "The treasure room shouldn't be far!" Mortalannis paused in front of Chop Chop and Hex. "You know, I'm so excited to finish this up so I can get the mask and all this treasure…"

"Wait a second," Chop Chop pried in as he took a step forward, "don't you mean WE can get the mask, while you gave away the treasure? Wasn't that part of our deal?"

Mortalannis clenched his teeth and jumped back. "Why, yes, of course, that's definitely what I meant!" Mortalannis forced a strained laugh and turned around. "Now, no time to waste, let's get—"

"Hold on a second," Hex replied as she teleported in front of Mortalannis. "If that's truly what you meant, why do you seem so nervous?"

"Well, um…" Mortalannis pursed his lips and looked away from Hex. "I—"

"And for that matter, your attitude’s been quite off this entire journey,!" Hex crossed her arms and frowned. "For a so-called wise and benevolent philosopher king who believed money was the root of all evil and wished to give away his fortune, you've been suspiciously obsessed with treasure!"

"Well, er, all that stuff about me thinking money was bad was a lie!" Mortalannis grinned as the sweat started pouring. "Never meet your heroes, kids!"

Hex shot a look back to Mortalannis as he pouted. "And short-tempered…"

"Well, you'd be frustrated too if you were me!"

"And suspiciously ignorant of most of your own teaching!"

Mortalannis didn't even bother to reply to that one, for he just froze and clenched his teeth.

"So, riddle me this, your highness," Hex said as she folded her fingers together and gave Mortalannis a glare akin to piercing ice that stabbed through his heart. "You aren't the real philosopher king Mortalannis, are you?"

§

Chihiro grinned as she skidded to a stop beside a row of houses, and crackled her knuckles as her grin spread wider. She wasn't sure what time it was, but either way, she didn't have all the time in the world! She'd have to get cracking as soon as possible if she wanted to get this exam finished! Chihiro strutted across the broken streets, and her bright and energetic strut turned to a full on run as she bolted up to a worn-down cottage on the rightmost side and knocked on the door.

"'Scuse me, I'm coming in!" Chihiro exclaimed as she gently creaked the door open. Even if she was staging an intervention, it would still be rude to not announce that she was coming, after all!

Like the majority of the houses and cottages around, the place was barren and full of dust and disarray; it was all faded, grimy windows hidden by hole-filled curtains, stains on the floor and furniture, that kind of nasty stuff. But oddly enough, it seemed like nobody was here? Maybe they were in bed?

Chihiro took a step forward—

"OWCH!"

—and would you look at that, she found the home's owner! Chihiro jolted up as she looked down, saw a fairy with stringy brown hair and deathly pale skin who wore a bathrobe that looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks, winced and stepped away.

"Sorry about that!" Chihiro exclaimed as she bowed down to the fairy. "But you know, I don't think the floor's a really comfy place to sleep…"

"Who, who are you?" The fairy groaned as they lifted a head with sullen, lifeless eyes. "Are you one of them?"

"I don't know what them you're referring to?" Chihiro scratched the back of her head as she stood to full height and beamed. "But, I'm with the relief team, and I'm here to get you back on your—" Chihiro's eyes trailed to the faint, silvery mist trail under the fairy's bathrobe "—well, lack of feet."

Chihiro grabbed the fairy by their bony hands and tried to pull them up, but for such a frail-looking fairy, they were awfully heavy! Or maybe they were resisting her?

"Come on now! Let's get up and get at'em! We've got a lot of work to do to get this village sparkling!"

But, the fairy just slipped out of her grasp and drifted back down to the floor. "What good is all that anyways? There's no way we can take care of all that ourselves," the fairy mumbled as they turned around. "Just let me sleep, will ya?"

Chihiro huffed as she placed her hands on her hips. "Well, that's no way to act! There's plenty of time to get cleaning, we've just gotta get going!"

However, the fairy just closed their eyes and snored. Chihiro would say it was rude to fall asleep when people were talking, but she couldn't really complain when she did the same to her math teacher once.

Chihiro sighed and turned her attention to the windows; perhaps she needed to shed a little light on things! So, she hopped over to the windows and flung the curtains open! Yes, sunlight—or rather not, because the windows were so murky that barely any light came through! Chihiro summoned a magical rag and wiped the windows off, but even then, the light from the cloudy skies was barely enough to get things going.

Guess if she wanted something done right, she'd have to do it herself! As her hands glowed with magic, Chihiro pressed them against the window glass while the window glowed in tandem with her magic! Chihiro giggled, stepped back, and beamed as bright, unrelenting blue beams of light shined through the whole house! It was so bright and warm; surely that would give anyone the energy they needed!

"Ah, that feels so good~" Chihiro exclaimed as she bathed in the light and skipped up to the fairy. "So, now do you feel like getting up?"

Well, the fairy certainly got up, but they didn't seem any better! They just froze as they basked in the white light, then screeched and shielded their eyes.

"Too bright, it's too bright!" they screamed as they pushed Chihiro aside and receded into the darker parts of their cottage. "Get away!"

Chihiro grunted as she fell face-first on the floor, sat up and winced. Looks like she didn't do that fairy any good at all! If anything, she probably made them feel way worse than they did before!

"I probably shouldn't stay here," Chihiro whimpered as she walked out of the cottage and closed the door behind her.

Seems as though she'd have to try another place if she wanted to get things taken care of. Chihiro bit her lip as she looked back at the cottage, but instead turned her attention back to the cottage across from her. Perhaps she'd have better luck there? Well, it was worth a shot. So, Chihiro ran up to the next house and went to open the door, but instead, she leaned forward and fell on a hard, dusty floor! Seemed as though the door was already open.

"I'm coming in!" Chihiro shouted as she popped up and shook the dust out of her hair.

Though no voice replied to her, Chihiro crept through the worn, almost-rotted halls to spy what she had to guess was a living room, maybe? The furniture was split and upturned, large holes were punched in the walls, pictures were crooked, and for a moment, she was pretty sure she saw a mouse run past, too. Chihiro shuddered, turned her attention towards the splat half of a couch and grinned! Seated on that broken couch was a tired, wrinkled fairy dressed in an off-white robe, who only sighed as they fixed their eyes on the tea they robotically stirred.

"What do you want?" the fairy sighed without a moment of pause taken to look away from their tea.

"To help you, of course!" Chihiro skipped into the broken living room, twirled around and beamed. "I'm with the relief team, and we're here to get this place all nice-looking again!"

"Good luck with that." The words left the fairy's mouth with a sort of bitter tone as they sighed. "This place was completely trashed when I was captured, and I could barely manage it before that. Cleaning it's as impossible as getting the sun to shine here again!"

Chihiro frowned as she examined the house with its thick layers of dust and broken, toppled furniture. "True, this place is kind of a mess—" Chihiro bounced over to the fairy and eagerly pulled them off their broken couch "—but that just means there's no time to waste! Come on, let's get this place sparkling!"

However, Chihiro pulled them maybe a little too eagerly, because they lost grip of their teacup and splattered tea all over their robe! The fairy groaned as they shook their spilled tea off, but before they could complain, Chihiro shoved a broom and dustpan into their hands.

"Wait, what are you doing?" the fairy sputtered as Chihiro dragged them away.

"Now, before we do anything, we've gotta clean this dust and dirt off!" Chihiro chirped as she let go and walked behind their back. "Come on, I'll show you!"

So, Chihiro grabbed on to the fairy's arms and guided them into a sweeping position, or at least, she tried. "First of all!" Chihiro moved her head this way and that as the fairy tried to squirm out of her grip. "You've gotta—" Chihiro winced as the broom's handle bonked her in the forehead "—hey, what're you doing?"

"I don't need you to show me how to clean!" the fairy hissed as they whipped out of Chihiro's grasp.

"Oh, so you know how? Great!" Chihiro beamed as she crafted up her own broom and waved it around like a baton. "Now, I'll take this half while you take—"

Chihiro stopped as she heard a sound akin to something hitting glass, whipped around and gasped as a vase soared down from the dusty shelves above them! Thankfully, she sprung forward and caught it just before it could hit the ground, but as she sprung up and placed it back, the fairy didn't seem relieved. In fact, they bore a nasty scowl as their pale face turned noticeably red!

"Actually, I'll take care of the dusting!" Chihiro giggled and shrunk back as she summoned a dust mop and pan from magic. "Don't worry a thing about it!"

And so, Chihiro dusted up a storm! She took only a moment of pause to place her pan on the floor, for soon she grabbed the handle of her mop and got sweeping! She dashed down the halls with a racecar's speed as she gathered dust, dumped it in the pan that was soon eclipsed by a dust mountain, and for a moment, the place started to look clean! If she took care of everything here like she did these halls, she'd be done in no time!

Chihiro grinned as she spun around and admired the sparkling floors, and she saw her next target out the corner of her eye! There, just across from her, was a teeny, tiny dust bunny she somehow missed! Chihiro leaned in like a tiger ready for the kill and stormed off, but right as she ran ahead, her foot hit the pan's handle! Chihiro winced as she looked up, but before she could see anything, the dust mountain she amassed flew everywhere!

Chihiro coughs and fanned away the dust clouds, and she could only wince as the clouds cleared. Not only had dust coated the halls once again and made things twice as nasty as they were before, but the fairy was now completely covered in dust and grime! If they weren't happy before, well, they were surely furious now!

"Er, sorry?" Chihiro whimpered as she took a few steps back.

However, the fairy didn't seem too happy with Chihiro's apology! Rather, their frown deepened and widened as they clenched their teeth so hard, they might've shattered completely if it was any harder!

"Sorry doesn't cut it here!" The fairy yelled as they shoved their face in Chihiro's. "You barged into my house out of nowhere, nearly broke my precious vase, and you made a mess of the whole place!" The fairy pulled dust bunnies out of their hair. "And me!"

Chihiro's face turned tense and pained, and she looked aside with a whimper. "But, I was only trying to help…"

The fairy growled, turned Chihiro around and shoved her out the door! "Take your so-called help elsewhere!" the fairy exclaimed as they pushed Chihiro into the outside world. "Just leave me alone!"

Chihiro turned around and went to retort, but before she could reply, the fairy slammed the door in her face! She went to open it again, but a few slight twists of the knob showed that it was locked shut! Normally, at a time like this, Chihiro might've been mad; heck, she was still a little miffed, but… Instead, she just shook her head and forced a smile.

"Well, those were just a few fairies, right? I'm sure I could do something elsewhere!"

Chihiro hopped over to the neighboring house, and once again the door was open! Hadn't anyone here heard of basic home security? Well, unlike that last fairy, this one wasn't super wide open. It was only out by a crack.

So, Chihiro gently pushed the door open and crept in. "Relief team trainee here," Chihiro said as she entered the barely-lit home before her. "Ready to—"

Chihiro froze as a creaking sound loomed down from above, looked above and screamed as a gigantic statue fell down from the heavens! Thankfully she jumped out the way just in time, though she wasn't fast enough to prevent the statue from slamming against the floor; yet, it was still perfectly intact! It must have been made of some tough stuff! Chihiro levitated the statue back to its full height, and once it stood tall and not in any imminent chance of falling on her again, she took a moment to survey this new house…

Well, she would if she could get past all this trash! All around her was a barricade of prickly, felted hodgepodges, spiky metal statues with no sort of coherent shape, gigantic wads of yarn with googly eyes taped to them, and much more. It was such a haphazard mess that the other houses were sparkling clean by comparison!

"Guess I know what I'm doing!" Chihiro exclaimed.

Chihiro summoned a magical garbage bag and gloves with a snap of her fingers, bounced around and swept up all the garbage she could!

"Goodbye yarn wads!" Chihiro proclaimed as she stuffed several wads of yarn with eyes in the bag and reached for more. "Goodbye felt something or others, goodbye weird statues, goodbye—Owch!"

Chihiro winced as she pulled a prickly metal star-statue-thingie from the pile, shrugged and tossed it into the now bulging garbage bag! Well, guess that one was good as done! So, Chihiro tied it up tight, tossed it outside and watched as it landed on the ground with a crash!

"What's with all the racket?"

Huh? Chihiro turned around to where her cleaning had carved a path in the house and frowned. There, a fairy coated in colorful rags and stained smocks that reminded Chihiro a bit of a painter's getup lifted themself off of their couch and rubbed their head. That must have been the homeowner! Seems that they were taking a little nap for a moment. Hopefully Chihiro hadn't intruded too much.

"Oh, that's probably me! Didn't know you were asleep, sorry!" Chihiro shouted as she waved towards the fairy, shook her head and stood tall. "Anyways, I'm with the relief team, I've been—"

However, the fairy didn't seem very concerned by Chihiro's intrusion at all! They just frowned as they flew off their couch and examine the noticeable lack of trash.

"Wait, where did my sculptures go?" the fairy asked as they looked left and right.

Wait, sculptures? What sculptures? Chihiro frowned as she examined the pile of junk with the fairy, then grinned as the realization hit her!

"You mean all that weird junk?" Chihiro beamed up at the fairy. "I've been cleaning it up and tossing it out for you! Sure makes this place a lot—"

"Wait." The fairy looked at Chihiro with wide eyes. "Did you say toss out?"

Chihiro nodded firmly. "Well yeah, I tossed it all outside—OOF!"

Chihiro winced as the fairy pushed her into a pile of googly-eyed yarn while they scrambled out of the house!

"That's not trash, that's my life's work!" they cried as they dashed out the door.

Oh no. What did she do? Chihiro winced and bit her nails as she followed the fairy outside, but they paid no sort of notice to Chihiro. Rather, they tore open the garbage bag Chihiro tossed out earlier and winced as they pulled out the sculptures, which were… Oh geez, they were all in pieces! She really screwed up this time!

"I'm so sorry, I, I can try and fix it!" Chihiro winced and clasped her hands as she crept outside, then knelt beside the garbage bag and pulled pieces out. "Here, let me try—"

Chihiro stopped short of her attempt to jam the pieces back into a functional statue as the fairy shuddered beside her.

"This, this is okay!" The fairy sputtered, though the way they shuddered and sweated said otherwise. "I, I'm sure I can salvage this, I mean, it only took me five hours to put this together!"

Chihiro just winced and stepped away as the fairy continued to bargain with themself as they smashed things together. Something told her she had helped enough here. With a bit more reluctance in her heart than before, Chihiro strolled back down the paths and looked around the houses. Maybe, just maybe, she could help out some here! Chihiro smiled and held her head high, rushed into the houses and tried to help! She tried, she really did, but, well… Things didn't go as planned.

She went into a house plagued by mice and tried to trap them, but the gigantic cheese wheel she summoned attracted them in more droves than she accounted for! Before she knew it, they overtook the house and pushed her into the mouse traps she had set!

"Get out!" cried a fairy as their house flooded with mice that stuffed themselves to their heart's content, all while Chihiro tried to yank her fingers out of magical mouse traps.

Then, she tried to lure out some flies than had infested another home, but in her haste to lay the trap, she ended up dunking the homeowner in honey instead!

"Leave right now!" shouted the fairy dunked in honey as a swarm of flies chased them.

Chihiro winced as the door slammed shut behind her, and looked all around in a frantic haze. Time was ticking, and she needed to find something good to do so she could pass this exam, fast! What could she do that she couldn't possibly screw up? As her head started to pound, Chihiro's eyes fell on a cottage that had a crack in its window! Yes, replacing that would be easy enough!

So, she rushed over, summoned a couple magical tools, and lifted her hands up as she got ready to levitate the window out… But she lost her balance and tossed her hammer right through the window! As it shattered completely, Chihiro looked up and winced as the fairy that presumably owned the home flew up and looked through the shattered window with wide, bloodshot eyes.

"GET AWAY FROM MY HOUSE!" cried the fairy as they dashed away in a panic.

Chihiro sighed as she dropped the magical tools she summoned. They vanished before they hit the ground, and she scuffed her feet across that same hard ground below her. Was that the tenth time now she was kicked out? She lost count, but, either way it wasn't exactly lifting her spirits. So, she just sighed and sat down next to an old, cracked rock.

"Well, that was a bust," Chihiro remarked as she stood up and stretched. "If I keep worrying about these fairies, I'll never pass and finish up the rest of my work!" Chihiro shuddered for a moment at the prospect of eternally repeating her exam and staying as weak as she was, yet forced a shaky smile. "Guess I'll just back to the team central. Maybe I can help out some over there!"

So Chihiro forced herself to walk, and finally raced down the paths back. But, as she grew closer, she could've sworn she heard something like anger? What's going on here? Chihiro's run slowed back to a walk, next a slow creep as she grew closer to the source of the anger, and she froze entirely.

There, crowded around where the relief team set up base, were all the fairies Chihiro tried to help earlier—and they were furious! They shouted at the top of their lungs and shook their fists at Dione, Mnemosyne and Calliope, who just tried their best to calm the storm.

"You need to do something about your new recruit! She turned my house into a wreck!"

"She destroyed my life's work!"

"She barged into my house and got me attacked by bugs!"

"She broke my window!"

"Oh no…" Chihiro whimpered as she stepped back.

"Alright everyone, please calm down, we'll address your concerns in an orderly fashion," Dione said in her best fake-happy voice before she turned over and looked at Chihiro. "Hey, Chihiro!"

Chihiro gasped and froze on the spot.

"Do you have any idea what these fairies are talking about? They say you've been causing them a lot of grief…"

Chihiro flinched, and looked aside as she broke into a giggling, smiling fit of panic without even realizing. Sweat dripped down her forehead as all eyes fixed on her, and for a moment, it felt like her entire body was going to combust—but, that didn't happen as she stifled her anxious laughter.

"Well, I may have kinda-sorta barged into a few houses, broke a few things, accidentally angered some wild animals," Chihiro sputtered before she looked up at Dione with pleading eyes, "but, it was an accident, I swear! I was only trying to help, I didn't mean to cause so much trouble!"

Dione and Mnemosyne both gasped as they looked at Chihiro with wide eyes, but Calliope seemed far more furious as she flew up and dashed over the fairy crowds.

"Chihiro, what were you thinking?" Calliope asked as she darted over to Chihiro's side. "Do you have any idea how much touble you've caused?"

"I don't know!" Chihiro sniffled and buried her head in her hands. "I just wanna know why I can't do anything right!"

Chihiro stood up, shuddered a bit, and wiped her face as she sniffled again. Her head numbed as she looked Calliope directly in the face, which only added to the anxiety and dread Chihiro felt.

"It seems like whatever I do, I can't fix a thing!" Chihiro lowered her head and hiccuped out a sob. "Why can't I help anyone?"

Chihiro let out a strained gasp, and choked out another sob as she darted outside the crowds with her head fixed on her feet. At that point, the crowds' screams became second in her mind to the blood that rushed through her ears, and the dizzying, numbing feeling in her head that made her want to pass out.

"WHY DO I KEEP SCREWING UP AND MAKING EVERYTHING WORSE FOR EVERYONE?"

Chihiro's breath grew heavier as she raced over to a nearby fountain, and groaned as she plopped back down on its rim. She tried everything she could think of, from doing chores to looking for curses to… Well, her brain was too hazy to think of anything else, but she was doing everything possible and still couldn't lift these fairies' spirits! She promised to help them, and in the end, she couldn't even do it! That's it, she was totally going to fail this exam!

Oh, forget about the exam. At this rate, she'd never be able to make up for all the time she lost! She'd never be able to grow stronger and protect everyone like she had to as a portal master, not like this! How could she get stronger and protect everyone from Kaos if she couldn't even fix a few villagers' ordinary problems?

"Just what am I doing wrong?" Chihiro lamented as she choked back tears. "Why can't I fix all this?"

Chihiro sniffled and curled up as she got ready to cry, but then...

"Well, these kinds of thing aren't something that can be fixed in a snap, you know?" remarked a voice close by.

Chihiro lifted her head and looked around, and gasped as the voice's owner flew in front of her!

"Dione!" Chihiro exclaimed before she cleared her throat and wiped off her face. "What, what you do mean?

Dione plucked a life blossom from the ground and twirled it around. "When you work with those who have been through things like this, one of the most important things to remember is that their pain can run very deep. The hurt they've gone through's not something that can be fixed in a day." Dione smiled as she let go of the life blossom while it fell down to her misty feet. "You can't rush them into feeling better immediately. Instead, you have to be patient with them, and try to understand what they're going through so you can help them better!"

"… Huh."

Chihiro pursed her lips and looked down at her feet. She never really thought of it that way, but now that her racing head started to calm, that actually did start to explain why she kept messing up! In fact, something about those words felt familiar, ever.

"I think Master Eon said something kinda like that too." Chihiro bit her lip as her eyes glazed over the cold earth, though her mind was caught up in an entirely different world—her memories. "Before we left, he told me that a good leader doesn't just know when to lead, but when to follow as well." Chihiro scuffed her boots against the dirt. "I didn't really get it at first—" Chihiro looked up at Dione with a slightly pensive frown "—but I think I understand now."

Chihiro frowned and stood up as she toyed with her vest's zipper.

"I just wanted to pass my exams so I could move on and get stronger so I could protect everyone better, especially since I was all holed up sick and couldn't do anything, but I didn't stop to listen to them and understand what they were going through.

"I got so caught up in passing my exam that I just did what I wanted and didn't stop to think about what would actually help them…"

Chihiro sighed as she hung her head, not quite ready to face whatever look Dione or anybody else would have given her.

"And I made a huge mess of things, too! I wouldn't blame them for being mad at me."

Chihiro shuddered and shook for a few moments more, but then, her shaking came to a halt as she felt something warm and soft lift her chin until her face faced Dione's.

"If you don't want to try anymore, I'm sure we could handle things from here," Dione said with a gentle, warm tone.

However, Chihiro just shook her head. "No way!" Chihiro shouted before she scooted back and cleared her throat. "I mean, I promised I would help these fairies, and after all those things I did—" Chihiro looked at Dione with all the conviction she could muster "—I want to make it up to them."

Dione chuckled, her smile warm and radiant like the sun.

"Realizing when you're in the wrong is the first step to making amends." A twinkle formed in Dione's eyes as she looked towards Chihiro. "You know, we've had an idea for how to clean this place up for a little while, but we still need a lot of help."

"You do?" Chihiro's eyes sparkled as well while she watched Dione nod.

Dione whispered something into Chihiro's ear, and all at once, a burst of energy flooded into Chihiro at such an intense rate that she jumped up from the fountain and spun around with glee!

"That's perfect! What can I do to help?"

So, Dione chuckled and flew off the fountain. "We've already started to set up at the base, so just follow me and I'll show you what to do!"