Guardian(Part IV): Revelation

Chapter 39: Morgan

I finished my messages to Zephyr, Penny, and John, and hoped that what I said would be enough to convince them to come to Cordinshire. Connor assured me that it would, and Maddy assured me that the message would reach each one of them, no matter where they were. I hoped they would consider the message important enough to go against what they were ordered to do a year ago. Because of what Commander Jonas ordered us to do, though, and because of the reasoning behind it, I had my doubts that they would. I always told them that their safety was my priority other than whatever mission we were on, which is why I was afraid that my message would give them serious conflictions about whether or not to come and meet me.

"They'll come, Morgan," Connor promised. "They know who the Seven are."

"What if they don't?" I asked.

"Then we'll go after Grimeus without them," Connor answered.

"That would be unwise," Maddy warned. "Only the four of us have a low chance of defeating an Archdemon's combined forces. With seven Guardian Knights and a Valkyrie, we have a better chance."

"Well, you always give us a better chance," I said.

"Thank you!" Maddy chirped.

Suddenly, an Alear glyph appeared on the wall, and Ruth stepped through it.

"Hey," she called. "Avanka gave me extra APIDs to give to the others if they come."

"Thanks," I said.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door to our room, with a familiar aura of light behind it. It was one of them! I rushed to the door, but right as I was about to open it, I realized that this aura didn't feel like it did just a second ago. There was light, so it must have been a Guardian, but there was also fire. I cracked the door open, and I didn't find Zephyr, John, or Penny. Instead, there was a UM Mastiff sitting in front of the door. Most UMs that I had met had tried to kill me, but this one was just sitting there, in the same posture that a real dog would. I opened the door all the way.

"Um... hello," I greeted.

"Greetings, Guardian," the UM greeted, in a terrifying robotic voice. "Are you Morgan Faye?"

"Who's asking?" I wondered.

"My designation is 'Bones'," the UM answered.

"Bones!?" a familiar voice called. "Bones?"

It took me a moment to realize that this radiant, flaming aura wasn't coming from Bones. It was coming up the stairs. It was Penny! I threw my arms around her, squeezing as hard as I could. I couldn't have told her how happy I was to see her, especially as she hugged me with all her strength, with metal gauntlets on her arms. I even heard a "crack" from my spine.

"Alright, alright," I gasped, tapping her arm.

"Sorry," said Penny.

"It's fine," I excused. "It's been too long, Penny. Come on."

We entered the room we had rented, passing Connor and Ruth, who were going downstairs to give us the time together we needed. During that time, Penny properly introduced me to Bones, who was a UM Mastiff that was in development during her early life, but was never properly automated. What I really wondered about, though, was why her aura was different. Maddy was wondering that, too. Penny was still... Penny, but I couldn't tell if she had a flaming aura along with her radiant aura because of something that happened in the past year or not.

"So, what have you been up to for the past year?" I wondered.

"Well, to be completely honest," Penny answered. "I'm not exactly sure what to make of it. Apparently, my mother's a dragon."