The people of Dawnbell weren’t sure how to feel about what had happened at the battle dome. After Simon and Lucy dropped an unconscious Maxwell at the hospital and picked up some medical supplies for themselves, most of the townsfolk gathered for a town meeting. The Eldest quickly decided on what should be done.

“We will let them do as they please. They saved us. There is no other way to say that. But at the same time, the events that transpired were most likely their fault.”

“But Eldest, that Simon fellow saved my life!”

“I don’t care! We will let them do as they wish and allow them to go on their way. But with that said, it is obvious that our defenses are not great enough. As of this moment, I would like to put forward a new law! We must strengthen our defenses, we must tighten our security! We will not always have people like Simon and Maxwell to protect us! All in favor, say aye!”

“AYE!”

“Excellent! Now, before he leaves, I want to talk to that Simon. Where is he?”

* * *

Simon and Lucy had almost finished buying supplies. They had just stocked up on food, and Simon was stuffing his face with as much as he could.

“Could you please chew more quietly? What’s next?”

Simon swallowed, “A new map.”

“Why? We already have one.”

“We have a regular map. But there is a special kind of map I heard they sell here, so I want to pick one up.”

“Alright, fine. But let’s speed things up. I want out of this crazy town.”

Simon quickly ran into a nearby shop, and when he came out he was almost jumping with excitement. In his hands was clutched a map. He led Lucy to a table at a nearby café. He opened the map out on the table and leaned back with a smug look on his face. Lucy was confused.

“I don’t get it. It just looks like your map but with more colors on it.”

“Aha! That is where you are wrong!” He turned the map over and pointed to a strange rune on the back, “This is a magic map!”

“Okay… why?”

“Well you see, there’s a large map in New Haven city, and every time that map changes, all maps with this rune will change in the same way!”

“I still don’t get it. Do landmarks change that often?”

“No… but the areas of control for the Five Powerhouses change, and I want to avoid them as much as possible.”

“Woah, wait, what? Five Powerhouses? The hell are you talking about?”

“Right. Lived in a house with little knowledge of the outside world. I forgot.”

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Just tell me already.”

“Right,” he flipped the map back over and pointed to the front again, “the Five Powerhouses. You will notice that there are parts of the map that are shaded in a different color than the others. Five colors. Yellow, red, blue, green, and purple. Each color represents one of the Powerhouses.”

“You keep saying ‘Five Powerhouses’ but what are they?!”

“I’m getting to that. The Powerhouses are the five most powerful kingdoms in the world. They’re five empires who are constantly trying to expand their borders and one-up one another. Most towns and cities are under their control. Towns like Freemont and Dawnbell are an exception of course.”

“So, these five kingdoms are at war or something?”

“No. A while back the leaders of the Powerhouses decided to band together to form a committee called The Powers That Be. This was to make sure that each of the kingdoms follows a set of guidelines that prevents an all-out war. They also establish areas where all the Powerhouses have equal authority, such as their base of operations, the city of New Haven.

“Isn’t that where we’re going?”

“Yup. And unfortunately, we need to pass through the Powerhouses in order to get there.” He pointed to the map, “New Haven is surrounded on all sides by areas controlled by different Powerhouses. So I have chosen a route that goes through as little of their territory as possible.

“We pass through some unaligned farmlands, but then we have to go through the Goldforge Sovereign, represented by yellow here. We can stop real fast in the town of Aloy, but not for too long. The people in that kingdom kind of freak me out. Then we get to the Erlich Empire, and pass through the city of Plateau. Then it’s just a quick boat ride to New Haven!”

“That sounds great and all, but I have a question. You don’t seem to like the Powerhouses that much, so why would we go to the center of them all?"

Simon stopped, and his smile faded. He quickly put the smile back on and rolled up his map. He stuffed it into his bag and looked back at Lucy.

“As you just said, it’s the center of it all. If you want something, it’s probably there. It’s a city of dreams, a place of possibilities! Why would anyone not want to go there!”

Lucy nodded, “That does sound pretty great.”

Simon slung his bag over his shoulder, “Well now that we have that’s settled, let’s get going! We have a few weeks of trekking through farmland and forests before the next town, so we better get ready to spend a lot of quality time together.”

As they walked down the street, a trenchcoated figure stepped out of an alleyway, and Simon walked directly into him, falling to the ground in the process. He picked himself off the ground, ready to chew out the man.

“Watch where you’re going you… Maxwell!”

The large man smiled down at the perplexed Simon. He was wearing a new bloodless shirt, and he had a bag slung over his shoulder.

“Yes! It is I! And I suppose that this is Lucy behind you?”

“Uh… yeah. Lucy, Maxwell. Maxwell, Lucy.”

Lucy stepped forwards and shook his mechanical hand.

“Thanks for keeping my idiot safe.”

“Safe?! He wanted to beat me up!”

Maxwell’s smile faded, “That is why I am here. I would like to apologize to you.”

“What?”

“I thought that you were a horrible, immoral person, and while that isn’t completely false,”

“Hey!”

“I was surprised by you. You stepped forwards to save innocents over yourself, and then even went as far as to help me. To even try and protect me. And what did I do. I took an argument with a friend out of context and challenged you to a duel. I was stubborn, trying to stick to my guns and a deluded sense of honor, but you made me look past it.”

“Well… thank you too. You saved my life as well.”

“But what you did for me was GREATER! And that is why I would like to ask you and important question.”

Maxwell lowered himself onto one knee. Simon backed away slowly and awkwardly as Lucy tried desperately not to laugh.

“Lord Simon,”

“Don’t call me that.”

“I would like to join you on your quest. I left my home looking for a new path. But instead, I picked petty fights. Now, I found a purpose. To follow you, to aid you, to learn from you! I implore you, allow me to join your journey!”

Simon was unsure how to respond. Sure, Maxwell coming along might be okay. He was a great fighter for sure. But at the same time, he was a little much. And had also challenged him to a duel. But he didn’t want to turn him down. He looked so earnest.

Simon cleared his throat, “Well you see, I would say yes,” Maxwell glanced up, “but now I travel with somebody else, and I don’t want to just force a new team member onto her…”

“I’m fine with it.”

“Wait… what?”

“Well, you said that you would say yes, and I trust your judgement for the most part. You’ve known him longer than me obviously. But we don’t have the money for another tent, so you’ll have to share with him.”

Simon began sweating. He had hoped that Lucy would get him out of this pickle, but she had turned it right back onto him.

“Well then… I guess… you can come with…”

Maxwell jumped to his feet and wrapped his arms around Simon. Simon gasped for breath as Lucy struggled not to laugh again.

“YES!!! You will not regret this Master Simon! I promise that I will be very useful!”

“Don’t call me that.” Simon was barely able to struggle out the words. What the hell had he just gotten himself into?

* * *

A young man named Christopher watched the three adventurers talk and bicker. He then watched them as they made their way out of Dawnbell. He shook his head slowly and made his way back into town. He eventually found his way to a small hut on the edge of town, and opened the door as slowly as he could.

“Sir Eldest. They have left.”

The “Eldest” was rummaging through large piles of paper. It looked like they had started out being stored in boxes, but had grown and risen above them, turning into towers of black and white sheets. He turned to look at Christopher and gave a crooked-toothed grin.

“Ah! Nephew! Look what I finally found!”

He pulled a paper out from near the bottom of the stack, which wobbled and looked like it was close to falling over. Christopher ran to keep the stack still as the old man blew dust from the pages of an old newspaper.

“Aha! I knew it!”

Christopher breathed a sigh of relief as the stack of papers stopped moving.

“What is it Eldest?”

“That Simon fellow! I knew that he reminded me of something. Something that happened not too many years ago. Look at this.”

Christopher scanned the headline of the paper, “The… Helstrahm incident?”

“Yes, now look at this!” He held up a wanted poster, with three figures draw onto it.

“Dead or Alive. The Helstrahm siblings. Vincent, Ivan, and… Simon? But this is from about two years before that newspaper. What’s the point?”

The Eldest nodded, “Now look at this!” He held up another newspaper.

“New addition to the New Haven museum of magic. A necklace that survived the aftermath of the Helstrahm incident. New Haven. That’s where Simon said he was going, but this could just be coincidence.”

“Coincidence? Bah! That boy is Simon Helstrahm! There is no doubt about it! And these aren’t the only pieces of evidence I have. I knew that he was up to no good.”

“I don’t understand Eldest.”

“I don’t expect you to. But you should know this. If that boy ever comes back here, kick him out. Wherever he goes, trouble will follow him like the plague. I almost feel sorry for him honestly. He better be careful, or else that trouble is going to catch up with him. And when it does, it’s going to drag down not only him, but everyone around him.”