Following Gona’s instruction — Marc, Pearl and Esmeralda found themselves at a residential area, walking along a stone path while their sides were rows of houses and houses, each with a fairly similar wooden design, having a front yard for planting or decorating.

“There.” Gona simply said, pointing towards a house to their left.

They knew right off the bat that this was not some ordinary household; even Esmeralda was tensed up and climbed on top of Marc’s shoulder piece with her guard up.

The house was strange, instead of a window looking out the front like normal, the windows were shattered and blocked off by wooden planks, the front yard was sad, it was empty with nothing but dirt and stone, barely even able to walk on without shoes to protect. The whole house was not scary or filthy in any way, it just simply stood out like that.

With Esmeralda on his shoulder, Pearl behind adjusting his glasses. Marc approached the door and knuckled the door twice, immediately right afterwards, a loud explosion went off from inside out! With no way to foresee or react in time, the whole group was sent backwards with the door itself.

“Ambush! Marc, give her to me!” Pearl with his back on the floor immediately reached out to Esmeralda, channeling his magical staff on the other hand.

Marc on the other hand, held tight onto Esmeralda, covering her eyes from the dust that flew and stood his ground even after being blasted. The leader of the team did not have his sword here and was about to throw Esmeralda to Pearl for his protection, it was when he noticed Gona was standing there, out of the explosion radius and unfazed like nothing happened, and there were no attackers present. 

Pearl noticed this strange occurance too and stood up to look around; there were civilians around who were more concerned by their reaction than the actual scene.

“Dad, visitors.”

The young girl crossed her arms and stood outside the fence, not batting an eye to anyone; not Marc, Pearl, Esmeralda or even whoever was inside she called dad.

“Ouf, I made myself a fool again aren’t I?”

Stepping out was a very, really thin and malnourished looking yet tall man, he wore simple peasant leather clothing, painted full white which stood out the most for the eyes. He walked towards the team to firmly greet them.

“My name is Alard, very nice to meet you adventurers.”

It was when Marc noticed his eyes were shallow, there was nothing there but empty darkness. Marc thought he was hallucinating or something, because the sight of this man was so unreal, he decided to look over to Esmeralda, who was having the same expression, and decided to be normal, not to say anything about it.

“Kek! Reik!”

Esmeralda however, had a different plan as she pointed at Alard, her words were to be translated as “Holy moly! Have you looked at your eyes man?”

“Alard, hello.” Pearl got up and stood near Marc, deliberately covering Esmeralda up as the kid wouldn’t stop getting fascinated by the sight of a stranger with no visible eyes.

“We are the Freedom Group, we’re here for the concerns of your daughter, Gona? I am Pearl Magmal, this is our leader, Marc and she’s Veldrielynth.”

“Oh… Gona, my dear.” Alard walked over to his daughter and shook his head, “I’ve heard you've been getting in fights again?”

The girl crossed her arms and did not look at Alard, she walked right pass, even avoided her father to come inside.

“Ke…” Esmeralda looked at Gona with a tint of sympathy; she snuck herself near Marc, wondering how lucky she was to be born with a nice mom like him.

“She tried to run away, do you have any ideas why?” Pearl crossed his arms and asked away, expecting half the answer to be obvious already.

Alard followed his eyes with every step Gona took, but soon lost her from this view and let out a heavy breath yet small smile.

“You would not want to be seen talking with me here, let’s head inside. I’m sure we could use my table.”

Alard indirectly answered Pearl's question before leading the team inside his home, having to bend himself down to fit into the door.

Marc was first to follow, but the very same moment the young man stepped foot past the door, he sensed something was extremely wrong and immediately retreated, to walk backwards a step or two, surprising the little dragon on his shoulder to also react and shriek.

“...?” Pearl stared at Alard, then frowned and looked at Marc, tapping on his other shoulder and not entering yet.

“Excuse me sir, may I be informed of your occupation? Gona said you are extremely busy.”

Alard, who showed no concern for Marc’s reaction, or the fact that they’re staying outside. The man simply picked up a couple of arrows with darkened tips, he carefully inspected them top to bottom with a smile.

“I once was a blacksmith.”

Marc knew exactly why his instincts were against stepping foot inside that building; Alard was a blacksmith, it appeared to them that he still was one, but only he was smithing cursed items.

…

Getting the courage to help the possibly mistreated girl, Marc shook himself awake and head inside, sitting down at a dusty table in the middle of the large room; surrounding him, Pearl and Esmeralda were multiple weapons of all shapes and sizes, all seems up to standards of durability and sharpness of gears, yet there was nothing that isn’t cursed.

It was an eerie feeling, having only the worst kind of weapons and equipment to surround you, whispering your deepest secret, and a tall, malnourished yet calm man with no eyes cherishing his creations like gems.

He picked up a normal looking iron sword, similar to those made by other blacksmiths, yet a bit fancier below the blade and definitely an uncomfortable feeling to be near it.

"Magnificent, are they not? Deep ocean's iron hilts, royal round patterned guard, and a blade made and sharpened to perfection. These babies enjoyed themselves a good night feast, only delivering the best to your… 'acquaintances' an opening with no way of closing."

“Over here…” He picked up another sword in his hand, slightly squinting to admire every detail. “Orc’s skin for handle, blade bathe in literal tears, I could talk about you dears for days… Ouf, my bad, where are my manners?”

“To answer your question before,” Alard put down his swords into an, also cursed, stand along some others. “I knew my dear, Gona had changed ever since her mom was gone. All this fool was trying to do is to bring his beloved wife back, so we could be one happy family again…"

"Keik…" Esmeralda, silently squeaked in nervousness, she crawled into Pearl's cloak to hide herself, only peaking those dragons eyes of her out.

"But sir." Marc clasped his hands together on the table, displaying a concerned look. "This is no way to do it… You can't just simply bring back someone in any way with these unholy creations."

"LIES!" Alard widened his… darkness and frowned, slamming his hands on the table.

"Do not tell me those lies, you uneducated fool! I've read the sculptures, I've heard their voices calling from the depths! She’s calling me and I will not condone any of your words." 

Marc was taken aback by his aggressive response, he looked over at Pearl, who was showing no particular emotion. The mage sat back with his arms crossed and stared directly at Alard, also noticing Gona listening from up the stairs.

"I have heard that you've been getting people, including your daughter into danger, is it correct?"

"Those were no intention of mine, young man, and I don't like your questions. You are no longer welcomed, leave."

The man stood up to shoo the team away, it was obvious that Marc was not the best at convincing, and Pearl was not the best at sympathizing, or negotiating without a real cost or profit.

"If you keep this up, she too, will leave your life." Pearl replied, slowly standing up first.

"She's still too young to understand. She will appreciate it when we are happy once again."

The door was shut behind Marc, Pearl and Esmeralda. The young dragon was concerned and kept looking inside, wondering if the talk could have gone better.

"The abyss had a hold of his mind." Pearl with Esmeralda in his cloak started making his way out of the residential area, followed by Marc. "I believe bringing back Gona's mother is not the first priority."

"Oeik…" Esmeralda rested herself on Pearl's shoulder and whispered, which translated to "Poetic…"

Marc exhaled heavily, hugging his daughter, who've grown tight and looked back.

"I feel bad… We can't bring her, or convince her dad."

"You're not entitled to do anything, Marc. Your heart shines bright, but this is simply not something in your hands to solve."

Marc did not reply as he kept his head up while following Pearl, who got a tracking spell connected with the other mage in the group; Mei Magmal, knowing which inn the girls were staying at. It was rather a large and fancy one, at least with a reasonable price.

"Excuse me, were there a Magmal or a Wenswood who checked in recently?"

Stepping through the front door, they were greeted with two staircases on both sides, and a receptionist in the middle with a big sign behind her saying: Loriak Inn. As Pearl went  to ask, he noticed a handful of small decorations, from flowers to greens and toys on the table, still somehow retaining a professional look to it.

"Two strong women, are they? They did."

The woman was dark skinned, wearing a way too fancy suit for a receptionist, with braided long hair and was there waiting to serve. Only now did Pearl notice that she was a reptile demihuman of sorts, with a straight, vertical line for irises, similar to Esmeralda, yet colder.

“I’ll take a room near the one they are in.” Pearl looked at the price board and took out some coins, noting that it was still early noon when all this happened. “Until next morning.”

He then looked at Marc, silently signaling that we’ll leave tomorrow morning, because this Gona and Alard situation is gonna be dealt with, by not dealing with it. Marc seemed to understand and sigh, waiting for Pearl to sign his name.

“You were not the first ones to try and confront Alard the Darksmith.” The receptionist calmly said, handing them a lock with the room number on it.

“You know?” Pearl was pleasantly surprised and asked again.

“I kept eyes on potential customers, in order to expand my businesses of course.” She smiled with her sharp teeth and slid a business card across the table towards them. “I have a thing or two, to help everyone.”

On it was simply said, “201 Human Resources Center,” with a  split tongue covering a staff for the logo. Marc stood besides Pearl and did not notice any contact information on both sides, or even a real name, which confused him, but Pearl nodded and sucked the card into his palm, or pocket dimension.

“I will keep this.” Pearl looked at the woman for a moment, seeing no threats he turned towards one of the stairs first, with Esmeralda already bored and tired on his shoulder. “Room 13, captain.”

“Hold on.”

Marc, baffled to understand any words in their conversation, he turned towards the unnamed receptionist to ask.

“Excuse me, so no one ever convinced him to stop?”

“I’m afraid so.” She answered while sitting back down. “Locals, guards, his own daughter, talking senses won’t work with a corrupted mind.”

“As long as he doesn’t hurt anything else but his house, his yard, while still paying taxes, and while the local guards are still too afraid to apprehend such a scary man, Alard the Darksmith is not in jail.” The woman added, leaning back with her leg crossed.

Marc was frozen, having an empty stare downwards to the table in front of him. Clueless of what to do, maybe Pearl was right, this is not anyway in his hands, the one thing he could choose to do was to bring Gona with them, technically a kidnapping, and they might put her in danger before they reach the next destination; even so, Alard wouldn’t appreciate that, he still loves Gona as far as Marc could tell.

“If talking senses won’t work…” Marc mumbled, still insisting on a way to help. “Is there a different approach?”

“Good luck, handsome.” The woman yawned, stretching out a long, snake-like split tongue before standing up and went into a nearby staff room, leaving the front desk empty.

“...” Marc looked around at the empty lobby, and decided to make his way upstairs. Room 13 was at the end of the hallway, where there was a window to look outside, but nothing to see at this moment. He got his hand on the doorknob and twisted it, only to see the team, got their gears off and was staying in the same room.

Pearl already got himself comfortable on one of the two beds, Mei and Rina were sitting on the wooden floor near there, both of them were doing one thing… Using wind magic to levitate a young girl in white buttoned shirt and very long skirt past her feet. She was reaching both her hands forward, laying stomach down in the air in a Superman flying pose.

“Eheha! I love this!” She laughed with great excitement, her dark greenish hair which reflected the scales of an emerald dragon flew up and down with the air, she closed her eyes tight while enjoying this moment.

“Hello everyone.” Marc raised his palm up to simply greet instead of a full wave, before letting out a smile, “Did they get us all in one room?”

“No. We’re in room 14, but gathered here to hear about Gona’s situation.” Rina answered while smiling, spinning her fingers around for the young girl above to spin too.

“The way Pearl told it, it seems hopeless.” Mei, a bit weary after five minutes of constant magic usage, kept her magic on. “We should get Es some new clothes, she’s been wearing my old waitress uniform for ages.”

"It's cute, Esmeralda herself and how your clothes fit a child." Rina remarked, giggling while lowering her magic, signaling Mei to do the same to slowly get Esmeralda down.

"Weeeee, eheha, that was fun! Hi mom."

Esmeralda slowly descended downwards, fixing her hair and the skirt she rushed over to Marc with her arms opened, she gave him a big ol’ hug, causing Marc to tumble downwards and sit down on the floor too.

"Hi Vel, I think Mei is right, we should get you new clothes soon. Don't you agree?" Marc smiled brightly, responding to her warmth by another hug, though separated by a piece of iron armor he hadn't gotten off yet, they still found themselves a motherly connection. A dragon instinct since the first day.

"I like skirts like these! Also dresses and, and… darker colors, mysterious black!" The half dragon child responded, tip-toeing herself up to give Marc a kiss on his cheek, which stunned him for a moment.

"Marc's a good mother." Rina rested her chin on her hand.

"Agree." Mei and Pearl said simultaneously.

At this point, everyone already agreed on Marc being a mom, and were at awe to the scene of a young blonde swordsman hugging his daughter; a younger dragon-human hybrid with amberish reptile eyes.

"Of course, anything for you, Vel." Marc patted Esmeralda on her head, thinking about all the moments and memories they shared, though lots of tragic, they managed to be alongside together.

But then something slowly changed in his eyes, his arms told her. Esmeralda noticed a tint of disappointment, sadness or disbelief in his eyes. 

"Mom? Are you okay?" Afraid, Esmeralda asked while blinking rapidly.

"Yes… It's just that…" Marc looked over at the rest of the team, and kept hugging his daughter tight. 

"I want to help Gona in any way, not just to know the situation and do nothing to help."

"You could not do anything, that doesn't mean you did nothing." Rina shook her head and made a sudden hand gesture at the two parts she needed to emphasize about could and did. She then leaned in to join and hug the small family before her. "The things you could do, are not always the best options. You and my mother taught me that, right?"

Marc didn't know what to say or to react to this, then immediately afterwards he felt Mei on his right, joining in on the group hug while giggling, viewing this for its fun part.

"Nhaar… It's hot." Esmeralda being squished between three people started to move her arms, trying the best not to suffocate by facing herself upwards. From this moment she concluded that Mei was kind of flat.

“Pearl?” Marc did not try to resist, just let everything happen while turning over to Pearl.

“No, I'm not going to join.” He yawned, getting his glasses off to get in a noon nap.

“I wasn’t asking that.” 

Marc shook his head while the group hug started to break off and Mei tried to tickle Esmeralda, causing the kid to wiggle violently with loud shrieks.

“I was wondering, if you could prepare a bit of money, just enough for Gona to get a safe ride out of town and live by herself for a day or two?”

Pearl stayed quiet for a good while, he did not seem to want to answer the leader’s question. The mage stood up and stared Marc in the eyes, causing Marc to do the same himself, the silence continued on; causing the girls to notice and scatter off the room themselves, even Esmeralda who tried to stay and look was also carried out without much resistance put up.

“... What’s with you and helping strangers? Do you have feelings for that young girl?”

The door closed when Pearl initiated the first question, which did not hurt much of Marc, he simply answered.

“You know I’m not about that, Pearl.” He frowned, yet showed no aggression or doubt. “You saw that house, you saw Alard, do you think a normal person could live there?”

“Gona had been living there for more than we know, Marc. And she’s in her fathers hand. Tell me, what makes you think it’s better for her to be off on her own far from home?”

“She’s not well, Pearl. Alard loves his creations more than his own daughter, and as far as I’ve seen, she’s not being treated well by other people.”

“...” Pearl let out a deep breath, before reaching his fist out, upon opening it a bag of coins appeared.

“Southwest of here has a small farming town, she will reach it by noon if she rented a horse ride starting tomorrow morning, that’s all I can do. We have not been the wealthiest, Marc.”

“I appreciated it.” Knowing Pearl, a kind man at heart, Marc leaned in and hugged his trustworthy teammate and accountant.

“Get that armor off, you’re sweating and it reeks.” Pearl did not respond back, he just stood there and waited until Marc was done and went back to his nap.

That evening, Marc made his way towards Alard house again, meeting Gona on the way in the stonepath, he gave her the bag with a kind smile and told her how to get to the town mentioned. Gona was surprised, she smiled; probably the first time in many months or so, that was a good sum of money for her personally, and she’s not about to waste it, taking mental notes clearly of what Marc told her.

The next morning, Gona went by early to send her goodbyes to the team. She thought about keeping in contact but she didn’t know how to write so Mei made an empty promise of one day visiting her, before setting off to go first, onto their aimless journey.

Before departure, she went back home to inform Alard, who tried to convince her not to go, but ultimately didn’t want to force her to do anything like staying with him. So he kissed her a final goodbye. When Gona spent her morning sending her farewells to the people she knew and was ready to leave, however, she seemed to have forgotten one of her belongings, so she came back again to see her father was working; yet this time, in great joy. He turned towards Gona and said in excitement, that he succeeded, the cursed darkness had answered, the abyss shall soon help them, bringing their mother back to be one happy family, with or without Gona.

After he said so, the door behind her randomly slammed shut, and all the cursed creations in the house started floating, impaling Alard and Gona; killing them instantly without a fair trade or anything like the sculptures mentioned.

That day, the town of Lariak lost two lives, ending a story.

The weapons themselves are nowhere to be seen.