It was freeing to step out of the temple, yet they now remain with more questions than answers. Zayn left, now having information of the translated text, but that translation was just as uncertain as not having a clue of what it said before. He glanced over at Mari, who led the group forward to their next destination.

“So, who is this person that you know?” Maxxine asked; his arms were firmly crossed in front of him.

Mari didn’t slow down, nor indicated that she even heard him. Maxxine raised a brow, about to repeat his question just as she began to speak. “Uhh, you’ll know him when you see him!”

“You’re speaking just as cryptic as what was in that temple.” Xenos mused as he walked beside Maxxine before shooting him a smile. Maxxine couldn’t help but smile back, only to take a glance at Vania just past him. She was starting to trail behind the group, watching Mari with longing in her eyes.

“Give me a moment.” Maxxine slowed down and strolled over towards Vania. “Hey, what’s up?”

Vania snapped her attention to Maxxine, quickly placing a smile on her face. “Oh, nothing! Sorry, I just zoned out a bit!”

“Liar.” 

“What?” Vania laughed at Maxxine’s bluntness, “I’m fine, really.” 

“I’ve known you since you were 2. I’m pretty sure I know when it ‘isn’t nothing’.” He stayed unwavering in his statement, even as Vania tried to laugh it off. He had seen her in her highs and lows. Despite joining his family at such a young age, it took her a few years to adapt. Even as a child, she had always missed her actual parents, who gave up everything they had to ensure she at least could eat while they were forced to starve. Maxxine missed his aunt and uncle too. 

“I know I’m not always an approachable person, but you are my sister.” He reminded her. “I’m happy to have you here with me.”

“I can tell you regret telling me. I thought I was doing the right thing.” Vania slowly dropped her persona, her face marked with remorse as she looked ahead at Xenos and Mari. “They had no idea what they signed up for—no, I had no idea what I signed us all up for.”

He looked away and continued moving forward. She was right about that, but for the wrong reasons.

“I’m not mad, if that’s what you are trying to take from this.” Maxxine mumbled, “I’m worried for you.”

“Why me?” Vania turned to look at Maxxine with her bright eyes.

Maxxine considered telling her. The visions of where she would be harmed. He didn’t want to scare her, though. “I don’t want to scare you, but I know that if we aren’t careful, you’ll be hurt on this journey.” He weighed the pros and cons of the truth, which, unfortunately, seemed to not change whether he told her or not.

“I don’t know when, but you weren’t yourself. I didn’t want you, or anyone, to go because I was told to not tell you.” He finally confessed, “Vania, promise me that if you are facing any potential danger, you’ll turn away from it. I don’t care if anyone else is in harm's way; I just want whatever I saw before to not happen.”

“Maxxine, I can’t do that! What if it’s Xenos, Mari? You?” Vania refused to agree with him, then sighed. “What was it? What did you see?”

He felt sick at the mere thought of his visions coming true. Then he thought harder on it, and the specific scene of how she was harmed faded from his mind. He opened his mouth to answer but couldn’t piece together the words or find the scene anymore. All he could uproot from his mind that had any correlation to his visions revolving around Vania was ringing, white noise in his ears. “I-I can’t remember anymore.”

“Hey guys, we are at the portal hub!” Mari called back to Maxxine and Vania.

Maxxine looked ahead and saw the hub with Xenos and Mari waiting for them both. He felt a deep sense of dread as he faced Mari, but pushed down his fears and looked at Vania.

She caved. “I’ll be careful, but I can’t promise that I won’t interfere if someone else is in danger.” Vania ran ahead to catch up with Mari and Xenos, and Maxxine followed close behind.

Mari walked over to Vania, cupping her face and pressing her own head against hers after bringing it lower to her own. She let go and then faced Maxxine. “Are you both alright?”

“We’re fine!” Vania returned to her bubbly persona and looked at Maxxine then, urging him to keep quiet.

“We’re good.” Maxxine nodded and stepped ahead to the Starlit Caves Colony portal. “Let’s move; we need to meet up with Ekoh and Everly.

They stepped through the portal, arriving near the mouth of a cave, with a tower not too far out that was built deep into the cave system, towering out from the inside of it. Maxxine gestured ahead for Mari to continue to lead them, despite the deep-rooted doubt in his chest. 

The inside of the cave was beautiful; crystals brightened the paths in cool-toned colors, and a soft chime rang through the colony territory. He had never had the chance to travel here before, and he certainly regretted not ever having that opportunity. “It’s beautiful here.”

“It truly is.” Mari stopped, picking up a crystal shard off the ground. “They have properties that keep away corrupteds and nightmares, making it a safe haven—at least before this place had begun to fall too.”

Maxxine winced at the realization. He scanned the caves as they continued ahead, eventually reaching the main town. It was quiet here; small vendors littered the paths and were operated by nervous townsfolk. They were greeted with timid stares and the awkward wave or two. He did his best to avoid paying attention to them as they continued on. “Mari, can you please tell me where we are going?”

“The palace.” Mari finally answered once they arrived at the base of the tower that he had seen outside, embedded deep into the caves. 

“The what?” Maxxine nearly froze once inside and was met with who he assumed to be the king. He remembered tales of this gentle yet stern king. He was a brave soul; rumor even has it that the reason he lost his hand is from fighting a nightmare creature alone. Unfortunately, the only easily accessible way to stop corruption is by removing the infected limb. Maxxine’s own mother had done that to her own hand before. 

“Marigold, what are you doing here?” Valor asked with a hint of worry as he turned away from the conversation with his guards; he ushered them away to turn his full attention to the group.

“King Valor!” Maxxine awkwardly rushed his words and bowed slightly. 

“That’s… unnecessary. Wait, you’re Maxxine, from the Oasis.” Valor recognized him as Maxxine straightened back up.

“He is! And we need your help.” Mari confirmed and redirected the conversation, then she let Maxxine take over from there.

“Oh- uhm-” Maxxine stuttered for a moment before regaining his composure. “Valor- your majesty, my friend had told us that you may know something about a potential artifact we are looking for.”

“Go on.”

Maxxine fumbled in his bag for his notebook and flipped the pages to the one with the translated text. “We found an ancient temple and translated the text on the inside. It showed us a riddle, but above that, it was labeled ‘Traveler’s Key’. Do you have any clue what that may be?”

The king pondered for a moment before shaking his head. “I don’t believe so. But the name could be metaphorical.” He pointed out.

“So, you are saying we could be looking for just about anything, not limited to a key?” Maxxine groaned. How would they manage to ever find it?

“Artifacts possess magical properties. A skilled caster may be able to help you narrow it down. A skilled caster might be able to find it by name alone.” Valor informed the desperate Maxxine.

“Zayn has the translation too.” Xenos pondered aloud. 

Maxxine looked over at him. “They are a powerful caster, at least from what I’ve seen.”

“And they are seeking it out too!” Vania chirped.

“Zayn? Seriously?” Valor exclaimed. “They and the rest of Singing Woods have been trying to kill off our whole colony, don’t rely on them for this!”

“I agree with him; they are untrustworthy and dangerous.” Mari stated firmly, but as she glanced around at the others, she could see they all thought differently.

“They may be our only hope.” Xenos stated. “I don’t like it either, but we don’t really have a choice.”

“We can always try!”

“Vania, I know you want to see the best in everyone, but what if there is no ‘best’ in them?” Mari sighed. “They could just be bad, and there is nothing we can do about that.”

Maxxine watched the couple disagree on the matter, turning to Xenos, who watched Maxxine with patient eyes. He looked back at the other two. They were all waiting for him to make a call. “I agree with Xenos and Vania. We don’t have much of a choice.”

“So, back to Singing Woods?”

“Wait!” Valor cut off Mari, looking at Maxxine. “What are you doing with this information? What are you trying to get out of it?”

“I- uhm,” Maxxine put his journal back into his bag. “I want to help save Drifted Keys. I have a mission, and this ‘key’ should be the main piece we need to succeed.”

Valor’s doubt was written all over his face, but he nodded. “Good luck; I’m sure the Oasis will be proud to hear that efforts are being made.”

While the lack of faith was hurtful, he also still felt that all his efforts were just that. They wouldn’t become successes. But he thanked him and turned to the group again.

“Well, we need to get moving. Hopefully Ekoh and Everly have found at least some information, and we can try to get Zayn on our side.”

“Do you think they’ll listen?” Mari asked, and she raised her brow with doubt.

“We have to at least try.” Vania was hopeful, more hopeful than the rest. But she was right. It was their only shot.