"Where am I? Where is mother and Minho? I can't see anything," Ivy searched for some sort of light to reassure herself that she is in a safe place. However, she could not find it.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" she called out to the darkness. Her weary voice echoed to the dark. Feeling that she needed to be brave, she hesitatingly took her first step to try and find the way out. Her footsteps echoed with each step she took. She took a few more steps, this time feeling a little more confident.

"There! I think there's something over there!" she stared right at a glowing light from afar. Noticing that it was coming towards her at a rapid pace, she closed her eyes from the overwhelming light.

"Good morning Dear. How was your rest?" a kind and elderly voice asked.

Ivy slowly opened her eyes and landed them on a person with slightly sagged skin. There were a lot of wrinkles on her face and her lips were a little dried out as well. She was standing by a cauldron with a bowl in hand. The small and dim-lit room was filled with the smell of a delicious herbal potato soup. Ivy did not feel the need to be afraid of her since she felt a warm and caring aura from this human.

"Am. Am I in heaven?" she whispered out.

"Heaven? Heaven is a lot more beautiful than this place, Honey," the old lady laughed.

"Where's my cloak?" she asked once she realized that her cloak was nowhere to be found.

"Your cloak? If I remember correctly, we threw it away. It was in a rubbish state when you got here Darling. Besides, you've got lovely long red hair. Why would you want to hid that?" the old lady answered.

Ivy looked down at her hands. She had remembered hearing stories about these creatures called humans. Her mother once told her a story of how they are nothing but greedy beasts wanting everything they can get. Her mother told her that she too was a human. However, she was a special human that no one could ever replace. "Mother must be wrong about humans. This human is kind and has even brought me some soup," she thought to herself. "Although she did throw away my favorite cloak."

"Here you go sweetheart. Some soup should warm you up. You were freezing cold when you first arrived here," the old human said. "Go on. No need to be shy. You've been out for a few days now. Six days if I remember correctly."

Ivy stared down at the potato soup. Due to a lack of strength, she found herself having some difficulties picking up her spoon. As she struggled, the old lady went on babbling,

"This young, tall, and demonic-looking man carried you out of those scary and heavy woods. You were as pale as the full moon and cold as a blizzard. I can't believe you survived through all that. The young man has been coming in every night to check up on you. And each morning, he would help out around our small village. He is such a nice young man. Say, are you two married?"

Ivy choked on her soup. Her and Minho together? No way!

"N-no. We're not in that kind of relationship," she muttered out. The lady gave her a teasing glance with a smirk.

"Sure. I'm sure you're not. He is a handsome young fella, and you're such a beautiful young lady. You two seem perfect together, no? If not, one of the young village girls will certainly make their move on him," chuckling, the lady walked to the door. "Anywho, I'll leave you to rest for a bit. You're going to need to restore your energy before you do anything at all."

"I say good luck to anyone who can charm Minho. He's not someone who's likeable at all," Ivy thought as she sipped her soup. "Wait, Minho's here? Why is he here as well? Once I see him, I'll ask."

It didn't take long for her to finish the soup, and when she was done, she place the empty bowl on the bed. With a now full stomach, she took the time to observe the small hut.

"I wonder where I am. This place sure is cute though. It's a lot comfier than my room too," she thought. "Talking about Minho, I wonder where he is. He should be outside of this hut, right? I should go find out."

Her legs dangled at the end of the bed and once her foot landed on the floor, the nerves on her feet bounced around like crazy since it felt like forever since she walked on the ground. Gaining some strength on her legs, she pushed herself off the bed and slowly made her way to the entrance.

"Why is it so hard to walk? My legs shouldn't be hurting this much!" she whispered out in pain.

Once she got to the entrance, her eyes widen in amazement.

"Oh wow! I've never seen anything like this before! There's green grass on the floor! The ground is brown! Flowers are seen everywhere I look! The sun is shining so brightly in the sky! The sky is blue and there are white fluffy clouds! There are mini humans running around with a ball! This looks like it came right out of a book! What is this?!" her jaw dropped as her mind tried to comprehend what she is witnessing.

"This really must be heaven," she breathed out.

"Haha, you're a weird one, aren't cha?" one of the mini humans stated as he picked his nose. It wasn't long before the mini humans surrounded her.

"You're so pretty. What's your name?"

"Idiot, it's rude to ask someone their name without saying yours first! Besides, it's rude enough that you were picking your boogers in front of a lady!"

"I'm not an idiot, idiot! And I did not!"

"Yes you did, idiot! We all saw it!"

"Guys, stop fighting in front of her!"

"You stay out of this!"

"Hey, lets play some soccer!"

"Grandma said that she needs to rest first."

"Tsk, you're no fun."

"Soccer's no fun. You and Jung kook are always cheating!"

"No we're not!"

"Yeah you are! Me and Alice are always getting hurt because you guys always push us to the ground."

"No, it's just that you girls at it!"

"Kids, kids. Please don't argue in front of our guests. Now, go along. The guest needs to rest before she can do anything. She'll play with you guys sooner or later, just not right now," a lady instructed as she walked towards Ivy.

Minho was walking behind her, carrying a basket full of herbs and fruits.

"Minho! Where have you been?" Ivy sighed in relief as she walked to the both of them. She look at the gorgeous lady and bowed her head slightly. Her eyes were an icy blue color and her wavy caramel brown hair went down to her waist. Her cheeks had a natural rosy color and her lips were as bright as a cherry. Her tall, curvy, and plump body could not be hidden the baggy clothes she was wearing. "H-hello. My name is Ivy. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Aww, you are so cute! Hello Ivy, my name is Karena. I am the wife of Chief Jin on this village. Since you shouldn't be out of bed yet, let's go back inside the hut and give you some food to boost your energy," the lady lead the way back to the hut with Ivy and Minho following behind.

Once they went inside, Ivy laid back down on the bed and Karena moved the empty soup bowl from her bed out of the way. Minho placed the basket down and went back out to get some water to wash the fruits and herbs.

"He's not really a man with words, is he? He knows how to get the housework and cooking done though," Karena said.

"Yeah, he's always been taking care of me ever since I was small. I don't know how I would have survived without him around," feeling grateful and appreciative towards Minho, she promised herself to do something in return for his kind services.

"If you don't mind me asking, what were the two of you doing in the forest?" Karena asked.

"I ran away from home," Ivy answered honestly.

"Home? In the forest?"

"It's a long story but it could be something like that."

"I haven't heard of anyone living in those forest. At least not from that direction. That direction is usually the fastest way to the Underworld."

"Where am I exactly?"

"This is Looperville Village. It's a weird name but it'll grow on you. But now I can't help but wonder.. are you possibly the daughter of Queen Primrose?"

Silence filled the room.

"It's okay. There's no need to be afraid. I was just curious. Besides, there's a legend about how the world's going to end. Would you like to hear it?"

Ivy nodded her head.

"A long time ago, a goddess created the Land of Valentine and the Land of Lupercalia. Within both land held the keys to destroy the world. Once the keys come together, there will be no stopping the world from ending. Within the world, she made sure there would be four protectors in Valentine and one in Lupercalia.

Years later, this became nothing but a legend to the people. However, in the Land of Valentine, the people of the Sky Kingdom can not help but worry about this legend and therefore created four girls to prevent the world from being destroyed. It was their attempt to stop world destruction. Each girl was sent to each land: the land of the water, the land of the sky, the land of the earth, and the land of the Underworld. Once the Underworld discovered their plan, they sent four boys whose mission, and sole purpose of life, is to stop each girl from preventing world destruction.

It begins with the princess of the dead rising from her grave, the movement of the waters, the sword striking it's targets, and the foolish king enacting his greed. After this will start a chain of unfortunate events. Then, one by one, the world will start to collapse and Land of Valentine will be of no more.

This tale was nothing but a bunch of nonsense to me. That was until a few days ago. Not it seems like today just confirmed it."

Minho walked into the hut with a bucket of water.

"Alright! Well, that's enough of that. The two of you can rest and I'll take care of rest. Thanks Minho, for bringing in the water and basket of fruits and herbs. I really appreciate the help."

Minho bowed before sitting on the floor next to the bed.

"You should go back to sleep," he whispered.

"I can't. I'm scared this will all just be a dream and that when I wake up, I'll be back in my room back in the castle. Tell me this isn't a dream, Minho. Tell me that I'm really outside," she softly let out t.

"This isn't a dream. You're finally outside."

Snore. Snore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back to when Ivy had just started running away from the castle, Minho was walking to her room to give her her meal. Once he realized that she was not in her room, he searched the entire castle to make sure she wasn't somewhere else. When it was certain that she had ran away, he immediately went to see Queen Primrose to inform her of Ivy's escape.

"I know of Ivy's run away. I guess it is now time to let her go. I just wanted some more time with her. Minho, make sure she is safe. No danger shall face her path and if they do, protect her with your life. However, once the truth is revealed and she is on her no longer strayed from her fate, do not hesitate to finish her."

"Yes my queen. I shall do as you say."

It wasn't long before he found her running from a shadow tree. He quickly disposed of it before it could do anymore harm. He followed her closely behind from then on. He also saved her at the graveyard and carried her out into the village. Luckily, there had been a healer in the village to heal her wounds. He had to keep his promise with the queen. After all, it was the only thing he knew how to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later, Ivy woke up from a noise that she could no longer ignore. She opened her eyes and examined what was happening. Karena was on the floor arranging some sort of salad. Right now, she was in the process of grinding some nuts. That was the sound that woke her up. Minho was in the back corner, patiently waiting for something to happen. Soon, the only sound in the room was the crackling of the fire from the firepit.

Once Karena was done with the salads, she glanced at Ivy to see if she had awoken from her nap. Seeing that she was, Karena smiled sweetly before taking one of the salad bowls and walked towards her.

"Ivy, I have a question about your bow. When you first came here, your arrows were burning up in flames. Do you perhaps know how to use fire?" Karena asked Ivy as she gave her a bowl of a fruit and nut salad.

"I don't really. I've never shot flames before. But I do remember it happening a few times before I passed out," she answered before taking a bit out of the salad.

"We can try it out tomorrow. It's getting a bit too late to try anything out right now. If you can control fire, then you should travel to Voldent Kingdom. They're the kingdom of fire. They should be able to help you with your fire power."

"Where is it?"

"Oh, how rude of me," Karena left the hut and came back in shortly after. "Here's a map of Valentine. On the bottom left lays the Underworld. A little north of it is where Looperville Village is. That's where we are right now. If you continue to go north, there's a city called Zirconium. East of that city is Yggdrasil Kingdom. If you continue east, you'll reach Voldent Kingdom. However, the fastest way is to sail through the lake across."

Ivy studied the map. Land Valentine wasn't really that big. It was easy to remember.

"Well, if you'll excuse me. I have to go now. I'll see the both of you tomorrow," Karena set her plate in a bucket of water and exited the entrance.

Ivy studied the map even more before putting it down to finish her salad. Minho grabbed the map and examined it. The fire's crackling filled the room in place of an awkward silence.

"Minho, was mother sad about me running away?" Ivy asked.

"Your mother did not display any emotions. Even if she did, I did not take notice of it," he answered.

"Do you think mother hates me?"

"I do not know. It does not matter what I think."

"Sorry, I just want to hold a conversation. But I don't think I can hold one with you."

"I am sorry to hear that Princess."

"You don't have to call me that. I would rather no one know that I'm the Princess of the Dead. Please refrain from calling me that. Ivy would be just fine."

"As you wish Princess Ivy. I will now start calling you by Ivy."

Ivy put her finished bowl down and crawled next to the fire place. Her eyes followed the embers as they drift with the air.

"Minho, you've been with me ever since I was young. How did Mother find you?"

"I can not talk about that. I have made a promise with your mother to never tell you about it."

"Is it really that bad?"

"..."

"It's okay. I'll find out one way or another. At least I have a feeling I will. Never mind about that. I want to know if I really did shoot fire arrows."

"Yes, your arrows turned into flames. They were weak but they were nevertheless flames."

"How would you know? And I forgot to ask before but.. why are you with me?"

"..."

"You. You followed me but didn't you show yourself to me?!" Ivy stood up and walked towards Minho in anger.

"I had hoped that you would want to go back home after being frightened from the shadow creatures. But I was proven wrong when you made it to the graveyard. Since you are serious about seeing the outside world, I figured I bring you to it."

"I-I was so scared! I begged for you or mother to come and get me! I wanted to get out of there so badly and you just watched me suffer!"

"I am sorry. However, that was what you wanted when you ran away from home."

"That-" Ivy paused and held back her anger. It wasn't a lie. Her mother did warn her many times about the dangers of the outside world. "I am going to bed now. I am done talking with you."

"Goodnight Ivy," Minho said as he walked out of the hut.

"Stupid Minho. Who does he think he is? He didn't need to put it like that. I just wanted his comfort but I guess he's no good... I wonder how Voldent Kingdom is like though. It must be completely different from this village," she thought before she drifted off into sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun shined brightly in the sky once again. Ivy walked out of the hut and was greeted by Karena and Minho.

"Good morning Princess. How was your sleep last night?" Karena asked as she landed Ivy her bow and arrow. "I know it's still pretty early but before we go get some breakfast, it's best if you show me your skills first. Minho had just finished making your target over there. He told me that you are an excellent archer. Now go on, show me."

Ivy grabbed onto her bow and put an arrow on the arrow rest. Taking her stance, she brought up her bow and arrow and pulled the arrow back. She took deep breathes to calm herself and focused on the bulls-eye.

"One. Two. Shoot," she mentally counted.

Hoot!

"Not bad if I have to say so myself," Karena clapped. "It hit the bulls-eye! I would like to see more. If you don't mind!"

Hoot! Hoot! Hoot!

"I'm impressed! All bulls-eye! It's my first time seeing someone so skilled with the bow and arrow!" Karena jumped up and down in excitement. "However, I do have to say. The arrows did not burn up in flames as I had hoped to see."

"I-I don't know how to do that. At least not right now," Ivy quickly replied.

"I was sure I saw embers coming from your bow and arrow though. It was extremely hot when I tried to touch it as well," Karena pondered before she moved in front of Ivy and made Ivy look up at her. "I want you to do something for me. Close your eyes. Good, now I want you to imagine that you are back in the Underworld. It's dark and no matter where you look is pitch black. Then, the horrendous shadow creatures of the Underworld is right in front of you. Their claws are stretching it's way to your face," Karena slowly moved to Ivy's back as she continued on with the imagery. Fear and adrenaline started to overwhelm Ivy's body as she could see the pointy fingers about to poke her eyeball out. "You can't let them get you now! You raise your bow and arrow and you-"

Hoot! Fuuu. Hit! Crackle. Sizzle.

Ivy opened her eyes and saw the target burning up in flames. She looked at Karena in astonishment and Karena smiled back. Minho quickly took out the fire and made his way to the girls. Ivy smiled brightly at Minho proud of her success.

For the rest of the day, Ivy played with the children villagers. Their names were Alice, Aleah, V, and Jung kook. And just like Karena had promised, Ivy and Minho played soccer with them. The day went by rather quickly and before Ivy could even blink, the sun was setting and dinner was being served. On a long dinner table sat many different kinds of dishes. Baked chicken and turkey sat in the center of the table as salads, fruits, berries, and nuts were spread along the table to fill in any empty spaces. Ivy and Minho sat across from each other. The old lady sat next to Ivy.

"Ivy," the grandma called out. "I have heard of your powers. It would do you no good to stay in a place like this. We do not have anything for you to improve. We have very little understanding of how it works and right now, you don't have any time to waste."

"What do you mean I don't have any time to waste? I feel like I just got here."

"I know honey but it would be best for you to get to Volden Kingdom as soon as possible. That way, you can use your powers properly."

"That's true. I wish I could stay a little longer."

"Yes sweetheart. It would have been fun if you could stay a while but sadly that can not be. Even in a small place like this, I hope you enjoyed your stay."

"I really did. It was like I was in heaven for a moment."

"Oh hohoho. You and your heaven nonsense on a place like this. Well, I hope you enjoy your dinner. It took me and some of the ladies a lot of work to make this feast."

"I will. Thank you."

Ivy started to select the food and placed it on her plate. Once she made sure she got a piece of everything, she looked around and took notice of how everyone's plate was untouched.

"I wonder what everyone is waiting for. Are we supposed to wait for someone special?" she thought as she watched everyone's move.

"The chief has arrived!"

A tall and handsome man walked to the end of the table and saw down. He was the chief of the village, however, he was not built like one. He was definitely toned but not bulky and his facial features were soft and gentle.

"Hello Chief Jin!" the villagers welcomed.

"Hello everyone!" he spoke loudly with a clear voice. "I have heard that we have two special guests! I would like to welcome the both of them to our dinner table!" the villagers applaud. Chief Jin raised his hand and the applause ceased. "On to serious matters, I would like to tell you all that King Yezmin has no plans on withdrawing his actions! He and his army will continue to proceed," the villagers booed and spout out angry words. Chief Jin once again raised his hand before continuing," I do not know how long we have, but we must not back down! This land is ours and we will fight to protect it! Tomorrow, we will recruit any men ready for battle! As for right now, we shall enjoy this meal made by the wonderful ladies of Looperville Village!"

Once he was done with his speech, everyone began digging in.

"Battle? What is going on? Who is this King Yezmin?" Ivy asked the grandma.

"Please don't mind what Chief Jin had just said," she replied. "Just know that it won't be safe here any longer. The peaceful days in this village will soon be gone."

"But-but why? This village has done nothing wrong!" Ivy exclaimed.

"We know. It is just part of fate my dear. Surely, there will come a day where you have no choice but to accept it."

"I-I can help you fight against the King!"

"No sweetheart. This is not the time for you to fight the King. You have other important matters to take care of first."

"What can be more important than this?"

"That's for you to find out my dear. Don't worry too much about it. Everything will fall in place. Now no more questions. I've got to eat and you do too. You've got a long journey ahead of you."

Ivy had more questions she wanted to ask but she kept closed and ate. Minho stared intensely at Ivy as he ate his meal. He did not know what her and the grandma were talking about, but he was sure Ivy is onto something. The way her eyebrows furrowed as if she was in deep thought was proof of it. Once something intrigued her, even just a tiny bit, she'll never let the thought go away. She was stubborn like that.

Dinner ended quickly and everyone was heading off to their homes. Ivy and Minho walked together to their hut.

"Minho, did mother ever say anything about my fate?" Ivy asked.

"I don't recall," he lied.

"Are you sure? I'm sure my fate wasn't to just stay in the castle with mother until I die."

"..."

"Well?"

"....."

"Not saying anything are you? Well, it's fine. We need to get to bed for our journey tomorrow anyway," Ivy said as she walked through the entrance. "Good night, Minho. Sweet dreams." She went on her bed and laid down.

"Good night."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning was cloudy and there was a warm breeze in the air. Minho woke Ivy up and gave her her backpack and bow and arrow. Together, they walked out of the hut only to find Karena and the grandma waiting for them.

"We couldn't say goodbye without giving you guys some stuff and seeing you off. It's going to be a long journey ahead and you're going to need a lot of strength to carry through. We've made some snacks for you and also made a new cloak as well. Grandma spent days making a new one for you. It should be more durable than the last one. For Minho, we already know that you'll be fine without our help so we only made some snacks for you. We hope you won't mind. Here's a map of Valentine in case you guys ever get lost. It'll be a lot faster to travel by boat so take this route. I have marked it for you. There will be a boat leaving in a few hours. If you two follow this road, you will make it within a couple hours at most. Alright, now hurry along. You two might want to leave before the kids wake up. They grew quite fondly of the both of you," Karena said as she handed them the food, map, and cloak. "Please stay safe."

Ivy accepted the girls and put on the cloak. Putting her long hair in a bundle, she covered it with the hoodie and made sure no strand was seen. She gave her backpack and gifts to Minho so she could say her goodbyes. "Thank you," she whispered as she gave Karena and the grandma a hug.

Meanwhile, Minho put the food in the backpack and held onto the map. Once she was done, he gave her backpack back to her and she put it on. Together, they walked on the road leading them out of the village. Ivy turned around and waved goodbye once more before continuing.

"Goodbye Looperville Village. It was fun while it lasted."