Around midnight, I felt something tickle my nose.

I sneezed when I inhaled...Hair? "Huh, wha...?"

Luna chuckled "I poked you a few times, and then I decided tickling you with my tail should work when poking you didn't."

I yawned and stretched, "Good idea."

Instead of wearing my armor, I wore what most rangers would wear, except in all black: pants, a tunic, a jerkin, and a cloak. (There's more to this outfit, but I'm too lazy to describe the 'fine' details. Sue me.)

The others had woken up as well and had come into my room. Dorrian saw my garb and rose an eyebrow, "Why the ranger garb? And why in black?"

"It'll help me blend into the night," I explained.

"But not in the castle," Ben pointed out.

"I know Ben, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve, so have some faith in me." I assured him.

Before I forgot, I wrote a letter to Stanford...

- - -

Dear Stanford,

My mission is going well and without a hitch. Well, except for one small problem: Vairos is a traitor to the crown. He's going to forcefully dethrone Fredrick by blackmailing a dragoness to lay waste to the kingdom. I need you to ride over to Seris and arrest this asshole before tomorrow morning. Oh, and while you're at it, show our friend what happens when you get creative with a spear.

Yours Truly,

-H

- - -

Instead of using a messenger pigeon like a normal person, I placed the folded letter in the palm of my hand, focused, and smiled as the letter disappeared in a puff of pale blue smoke.

Luna looked at me with wide owl eyes: "Imagery magic?"

I nodded, "Yep. It's great, isn't it?"

She whistled in amazement: "It truly is..."

My smile crumpled a little, "Well, I'm about to be off. Wish me luck."

The first person to disagree to this was a certain fun-sized ranger.

"There's no way in hell I'm letting you do this alone, mate." Dorrian told me. "If you're not going to bring anyone else along, bring me at least. I know how to stay undetected and take down enemies silently, so you have nothing to worry about."

I considered his proposal before nodding. "Alright. I'll cave to that at least."

A bright, triumphant smirk lit his face up. "We're not idiots, Hel. While yes, I agree this isn't a full-team mission, I am not okay with you going at this alone."

I looked at my good friend in surprise. "Fair enough. We should get moving. Be safe, all of you. I'll rejoin you in the coming hours, I promise."

"Don't get eaten, or killed for that matter." Ana added.

"You'll both do great." Ben reassured us.

(Cricket, cricket...damn it Victoria)

"Just don't get hurt, okay?" Luna began nervously.

I grinned, "Don't worry, we'll be fine. Dorrian will be around to watch my dumb ass, so you have nothing to worry about."

She chuckled. "Good."

Everyone was currently standing up, and Luna warily approached me.

"Wh-What's going on?" one of my voices demanded.

"Shut up, you fool." Another voice snapped.

"Everything okay?" I prompted her.

Instead of responding, she embraced me.

"H-Huh?" I stammered.

Luna rolled her eyes and gave me a fleeting kiss. "Be careful, you oaf."

"What the hell?" my first voice squawked.

"Egad...I need to cleanse our mind of idiotic voices..." Voice #2 grumbled. "I swear, the 'awkward virgin' voice is going to get on my nerves one day."

"Oh, it's already grinding my gears." A third voice growled. "Grab duct tape and a chair."

"Right away."

While I was having this internal monologue, Luna cocked an eyebrow in skepticism.

"Dorrian...? We may have to take Helix to a doctor..." she mused as she stepped away from me.

"Nah, he'll be fine." my short friend assured her. "He has conversations with himself all the time."

"Uh-huh..."

After I regained my bearings, we said our goodbyes and left. As we exited our room, I tried to ignore the shit-eating grin on Dorrian's face.

"So, how are we going about this?" he prompted me.

"When we get close to the keep, aim for one of the walls."

"Why one of the walls? Can't we just...Y'know, go through the front door like normal human beings?"

"Just trust me Dorrian. I know what I'm doing."

"Do you now? Who had to cover for you in Erisiir? Oh I wonder who that could be...? Oh right, that was me, you prick."

I sighed. "Please, trust me on this."

He cocked an eyebrow in response. "Normally, I'd trust you. However, why the fuck would you come up with such a batshit-crazy idea? There's a front door for a reason, you heathen."

"Just trust me, you twat!"

We had ye olde staring contest for several moments before Dorrian conceded.

"Alright, fine." he grumbled. "Just don't make me regret this."