Welcome back, good Reader, it's good to see you again. I hope the last chapter wasn't too much for you, but let me assure you that it won't happen again, for a while. However, the effects can still remain, and as we're about to see in poor little Ava, while she may have come out as the victor, she doesn't really feel like it. How about I just get back to the story? Let us continue.

The princess was in shock, she even dropped her stick and covered her mouth with both hands. She was prepared to strike down Ava, considering that she just pushed Dorothy off a roof, but the princess didn't expect to find her in such a poor state. A long, bloody wound across her chest, her face is bruised, and that's not even counting her nose with a trail of blood coming out of her nostrils. The look in her eyes express more than her words could ever say. The strong and determined spirit that was within her, was replaced by a meek and broken one. Whatever mistrust or animosity that Dorothy had towards Ava, was completely gone, leaving worry and compassion for her. Even more when Ava says nothing, and drops her gaze to the floor.

“My god,” says the princess as she kneels next to the poor child, but hesitates to touch her in fear that it might hurt her, “what happened up there?” Right after asking that, Ava's eyes go wide for a second, before closing them tight and putting both hands on her head. Dorothy could tell that it was the wrong thing to ask, and does her best to calm Ava down. The princess moves in front of the poor child, and kneels down.

“Forget I ask, forget I ask,” says Dorothy and tries to remove Ava's hands from where they are, but they don't budge. The princess tries another approach by putting a hand on the girl's cheek. “Look at me, look at me.” Dorothy uses a softer voice, but it was her hand that got Ava to look with watery eyes at the princess. “It's gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay, you hear me?” Ava looks at the princess for a few seconds before she gives her response.

“Yes,” says Ava with a nod, and allows Dorothy to remove her hands from her head.

“Good, now let's get you to a healer,” says Dorothy.

“I want to go home, please.”

“Trust me, the feeling is mutual, but you're hurt, you need healing.”

“There's an elixir at home, its not far from here.”

“You have an elixir?” The reason why Dorothy is asking that out of shock, is that elixirs would fully heal anyone, no matter how deep the wounds or how poisoned they are. The problem is the difficulty to get the ingredients and the cost to buy a single one.

“Let's just go, please,” says Ava as she clings to the princess while looking all around them.

“Okay, okay, can you walk?” asks Dorothy, and Ava does try to get up, but her body is too tired to hold herself up. She can even feel her legs shake as she tries to put any strength into them. She looks at Dorothy with fear in her eyes, and the princess can guess what might be the cause of that.

“Don't worry, I'm not leaving you,” says Dorothy as she grabs one of Ava's arms, and wraps it around her shoulders. “Come on, lean on me, I'll help you walk.” With Dorothy's help, Ava is able to get to her feet, she points where to go, and they start walking away.

As they continue to walk the dirty alleys of the slums, Ava and Dorothy don't say a single word to each other. It wasn't the pleasant kind of silence, and the princess tries to think of something to start some kind of conversation. She quickly realizes something, and when it comes to mind, she feels ashamed that it took too long to say it.

“Thank you, by the way,” says Dorothy and that grabs Ava's attention. “I'll be honest, I thought you were the worst person to save me, but you still did it anyways. So, thank you, for saving me.” It lifts a weight off from Dorothy's shoulders, and Ava's demeanor doesn't seem to change one bit. It doesn't change the fact that Ava had to kill someone in the end.

“Don't mention it,” says Ava, and that's the end of their entire conversation. Dorothy thought that it would at least lift Ava's mood, but nothing changed. Therefore, they continue in their walk in silence once again.

It's fortunate that it doesn't take them long to reach Ava's house.

“Is that your house?” asks Dorothy, regarding the house close to the wall of the city.

“Yes, we're here,” answers Ava, and they walk up to the door. Dorothy immediately knocks on the door as hard as she can.

“Hello? Is someone there? Your child, friend, or whatever this person is, needs healing right now.” They hear no response from inside the house.

“You guys, its me.” Right after Ava says that, they hear noises from inside the house. They hear locks opening from the other side, then the doorknob, and finally see the door opening slightly. Dorothy is taken by surprise when she hears a gasp and the door is thrown open. It reveals Wendy, who has her hands on her mouth, and wastes no time in rushing to Ava.

“Oh my god, what happened to you?!” asks Wendy as she goes to Ava's other side, and she notices the princess holding Ava's leftside. “Wait a minute, are you–”

“No time for that, do you have an elixir?” asks Dorothy, getting Wendy back to the matter at hand.

“Yes, yes we do.”

“What's going on out here?” asks David as he comes out of the house, only to see Ava in her sorry state. “Holy crap.”

“David, go get the elixir,” says Wendy as she, with the help of Dorothy, take Ava into the house. David doesn't need to be told twice and he immediately goes to a cabinet where they keep their valuable elixir. While he was doing that, Wendy and Dorothy put Ava on the table's seat, with her back resting on the table itself. David comes back to the girls with the elixir in hand and helps Ava drink it all. It takes at least three seconds for the medicine to fully heal her, as if she was never hurt to begin with.

I think I'll stop it here for the day, good Reader. Our hero has made a triumphant return home, with the damsel in distress saved from the clutches of evil. Now, the question would be, does Ava feel like a hero? Is she going to tell everyone what happened on top of that roof? Is she really okay? I could answer those questions right now, but if I do, you wouldn't have a reason to return. Don't worry, it won't take long for the next part of story.

Until next time, good Reader.