*In the rural residential area of Brister, Dust, Jade and Alita were walking down the road with palm trees planted on the sides of the road. The houses all had metal gates and well-kept lawns. The three knights eventually came to a white-painted house with red and brown tiles on the roof. The house was quite big and looked to be a mini-mansion complete with a well-kept garden*
(Alita): We are here. The fifth house on the left.
(Dust): So this is Andrade’s house? He’s doing pretty good for himself despite not being the leader of Blood Moon anymore.
(Jade): Andrade was smart when it came to money. He didn’t go around splurging it like an idiot.
(Dust): Sounds like you and him have quite the history.
(Jade): You could say that.
*Dust opens the gate and the group walks up to the door where Dust notices Jade seems a little uneasy*
(Dust): You alright there?
(Jade): I haven’t seen him for some time. And when I left it wasn’t on the best of terms.
(Dust): Relax, I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you again.
*Dust presses the doorbell. A few seconds go by before the door gets answered by a short female rabbit demihuman with red eyes and short strawberry blonde hair answered the door wearing a light blue sundress*
(Rabbit demihuman): Hello, what can I do for- Jade!?
(Jade): Hi Zelina. It’s been a-
*The rabbit demihuman hugged Jade tightly with tears in her eyes. Jade was surprised and hesitant at first, but returned the hug*
(Zelina): Thank the Goddess! I knew someday you would return. I missed you so much.
(Jade): Yeah, I missed you too.
*Zelina stops hugging Jade and takes a step back to get a look at Jade*
(Zelina): *Chuckles* You haven’t aged a day. You still look the same just like back then. Meanwhile, I’ve grown old.
(Jade): Oh please, you’re still that spritely little rabbit I met all those years ago. Age hasn’t slowed you down one bit.
(Zelina): Well come in! We have so much to discuss.
*Zelina steps aside and allows the three knights to enter the house. Zelina closes and locks the door when they’re inside and leads them through the hallway towards the living room area. The floor was made of marble tiles that were red and white. As they walked through the hall, they saw a stand with five pictures and a big portrait hanging above it. The big portrait was Zelina sitting in a chair wearing a lovely dark red dress and standing behind her was a male wolf demihuman with blue eyes and grey wavy hair smiling while wearing a long sleeved dark red shirt and black dress pants with black shoes. On the left side of Zelina were two girls. One was a wolf demihuman with long blue hair and reds and the other was a rabbit demihuman with curly blue hair and red eyes. They were both wearing a dark red dress similar to the one Zelina was wearing. On the right side was a male wolf demihuman with short strawberry blond hair, grey eyes and wearing an out that was similar to the other male demihuman behind the chair. Everyone quickly pieced together that this was a portrait of Zelina’s family. Andrade was the wolf behind the chair while their children were the ones on the sides. Beneath the portrait were five pictures. The first picture was a wedding picture of Zelina and the wolf demihuman holding hands while staring at each other. Zelina was wearing a traditional white gown while the wolf demihuman wore a blue tuxedo. The second picture showed Zelina’s three children playing with each other. The third picture showed the children a lot older. The fourth picture was showed Zelina, Andrade, Jade and Silas posing together and smiling. The fifth picture was the four of them again with Jade wearing a green dress, Zelina wearing a blue dress, and Andrade and Silas wearing black suits. Once the group entered the living room area they could see a ceiling fan spinning around to cool the room and sitting in a recliner facing away from them was Andrade reading a book*
(Andrade): Who was at the door, sweety?
(Zelina): Andrade, we have a guest.
*Andrade turned around to reveal he was wearing reading glasses, a black Hawaiian shirt with green palm trees all over the shirt and beige cargo shorts. As soon as he saw Jade he dropped his book as well as his jaw*
(Andrade): Jade? Is that you?
(Jade): Hi Andrade. How you been?
*Andrade leaped from his seat and went to hug Jade who was once again shocked by this development*
(Andrade): I can’t believe you’ve returned. I thought I would never see you again.
(Jade): You’re not mad at me?
(Andrade): Why would I be mad?
(Jade): Well, I left you hanging all those years ago by disappearing on you.
(Andrade): You had no choice. You did it to protect us as well as your identity. There’s no way I could ever be mad at you for that.
*Andrade ends the hug and releases Jade to get a good look at her*
(Andrade): Still, it looks like you weren’t joking when you said you were immortal. You still look the same as the day we first met.
*Zelina quickly gets a scared look on her face at what Andrade just said*
(Zelina): Andrade!
*Andrade quickly realizes what he just said after noticing Dust and Alita. He quickly scrambles in his mind trying to think up an excuse while starting to sweat*
(Andrade): Uh, I mean-
(Dust): It’s okay. We already know. Her secret is safe with us.
(Andrade): Whew. Thank the Goddess. I was scared for a minute. You must be close friends of Jade if she’s shared this knowledge with you.
(Dust): I am Dust Balor and this is Alita. We’re here on official business from Brister.
(Andrade): Knights from Brister. No doubt you’re here for the blade.
(Dust): That obvious?
(Zelina): It’s been the talk of the city for days now. While I didn’t agree with Brister holding the blade for themselves, what happened in the kingdom was wrong and uncalled for.
(Alita): And we believe getting the blade was just a catalyst to something much bigger. If you know anything it would be most helpful.
(Andrade): Unfortunately, I know nothing.
(Jade): Really Andrade?
(Andrade): Believe me, if I knew anything I would tell you immediately. I don’t agree with what Silas is doing either. After I stepped down and left, he’s kept me in the dark on what Blood Moon is doing. Same with The Council. They locked me out of all business related to Blood Moon.
(Jade): Even The Council is on his side? Man, things really have gotten bad around here.
(Dust): So The Council has no objections to Blood Moon’s actions as of lately?
(Andrade): *Deep sigh* Sadly no. All they care about is results and as much as I hate Silas’s methods, they are getting results.
(Alita): But it’s not the right results. People aren’t respecting demihumans, they’re fearing them. And anything built on fear will quickly crumble.
*Andrade gives a soft smile to Alita*
(Andrade): Wise words young one. Unfortunately, they fall on deaf ears.
(Dust): So if you don’t know what he’s planning and he’s got The Council’s full support then it looks like we’re back to square one and very few allies in this city.
(Zelina): Actually, I think I might know something. I noticed that Silas started spending a lot more time in the library researching Carnivale’s ancient civilization.
(Jade): Seriously? When was this?
(Zelina): It was shortly after you left the group. Silas took it pretty hard after you left.
(Andrade): That’s true. I did start to notice more aggression in his actions after you were gone.
(Dust): Really? Something you want to share with us, Jade?
*Jade starts to blush a little*
(Jade): No, nothing at all.
(Zelina): *Chuckles* Oh Jade, stop hiding it. You two were an item back in the day.
(Dust): You and Silas used to date? So much for keeping a low profile.
(Jade): Okay, I got lonely and went out with him for a little. He was cute, strong, and accepted everything about me. I felt comfortable around him and so we had a little fun one night and-
(Dust): Okay, I think I get the idea. Didn’t think you still had your wild nights.
(Jade): Just because I’m immortal doesn’t mean I don’t get the itch every now and again.
(Alita): I believe we are getting off topic here. You said Silas started researching the ancient civilization of Carnivale, correct? Any idea what he was researching?
(Zelina): When I glanced at his notes the words that kept coming up was The Stampede.
(Jade): The Stampede!? Oh, don’t tell me he believes that folklore?
(Dust): What’s The Stampede?
(Jade): An urban myth that’s used as a bedtime story for kids. Centuries ago when Carnivale was first getting started the land was plagued by Eclipses and brigands. Demihumans were at their mercy and were almost ready to give up until the goddess Midori gave them a gift, the Earth’s Pulse. An orb that allowed whoever possessed it to gain the power of the goddess and control an army of animals made of earth. According to the story our ancestors used the stone to clear out the Eclipses and brigands in the area. They called it The Stampede, because it was a bunch of animals running recklessly and destroying everything in their path. After Carnivale was established the Earth’s Pulse was sealed away never to be used again as the ancestors felt this power was too dangerous to be used on a regular basis. However, should the demihumans ever find themselves being threatened the orb remains within the land of Carnivale waiting to be used to march on their enemies and crush them.
(Dust): And you believe this thing doesn’t exist?
(Jade): It doesn’t. Trust me, I know. I’ve scoured this whole land for decades. I’ve entered every cave, climbed every mountain, explored every valley and checked every house. I found no trace of it whatsoever.
(Dust): Well there must be some truth to it if he’s researching it. Not to mention we’re staring at an immortal created by the goddess herself. So who’s to say she didn’t grace demihumans long before you came around?
*All of sudden the doorbell rang alerting everyone to the front door. Zelina went to answer where she came face to face with a fairly young beautiful female demihuman who had curved horns in her luscious long brown hair and smiled happily with her blue eyes. She wore black pants, a long sleeved white blouse, and white boots with the Blood Moon logo on the side of the boots*
(Sheep demihuman): Good evening ma’am. My name is Mercedes. I represent Blood Moon.
(Zelina): Uh, hello there. What can I do for you today?
(Mercedes): I am here to drop off an invitation. On behalf of Silas, you’ve all been invited to a party to celebrate the latest achievements of Blood Moon.
*Mercedes hands an envelope to Zelina*
(Mercedes): We hope to see you there.
(Zelina): We’ll think about it. Thank you and have a good day.
(Mercedes): Thank you. Please do the same as well.
*Zelina closes the door as Mercedes walks off. Zelina opens the envelope as she returns to everyone to see the invitations*
(Andrade): Who was it dear?
(Zelina): A member of Blood Moon? She gave us invitations for a party being hosted by Silas.
(Andrade): What?
*Andrade took the envelope from Zelina to look at the invitations*
(Andrade): How about that? For years he’s kept me barred from a Blood Moon event and now he’s openly inviting me. The nerve of that bear.
(Zelina): There was also an invite addressed to you Jade.
(Jade): Huh?
*Andrade handed Jade her invite that had her name plus one on it*
(Dust): This is bad. He knows we’re in the city. Which means the others are in danger.
(Alita): But why send an invite? Why not just attack us and be done with it?
(Jade): Because he’s not stupid enough to attack someone in broad daylight. Also, it shows how confident he is. He’s basically saying: I’ve got the blade. You want it, come get it. If you dare.
(Dust): Right. I’m sure it’s not because he doesn’t want to see his old girlfriend again.
(Jade): Shut up!
*Jade yelled while blushing at Dust who smiled smugly*
(Alita): According to this, the party will be tonight.
(Dust): Whatever the case we have a way inside. We go in, get the blade and get out of there while you keep him busy.
(Jade): I know just what to wear to get his attention.
(Dust): And your plus one?
(Jade): I have no idea.