"I wonder how far Mok went... It already feels like so much time has passed," Paltio thought, feeling a growing concern for his friend. The young man paced back and forth in the small room, walking its length several times due to its confined size.
"Calm down," Alita and Ron said in unison, trying to soothe him. They knew Mok was skilled and wouldn't be easily captured; plus, he had his stealth and the powers of his magical rings on his side.
"It's just that it's the first time he's been separated from me for this long," Paltio explained, nervously clenching and unclenching his fists as he moved them up and down.
"Hey! Why didn't you ask Golden to read that Mejod guy's mind?" Ron suddenly asked.
"Yeah, that's right! You could've done that from the start, Paltio," Alita added.
"Of course I thought of that! It was my first idea," Paltio replied, frustrated. "And yes, I asked Golden. But he said he couldn't read the badger's mind… Not even the guards or anyone in this kingdom. All he heard was a repetitive phrase: 'We are all friends, and Mejod is a great leader.'"
"Oh! I see… That's strange," Alita reflected. "Isn't that like the trick Troba used on the male citizens?"
"It's possible," Ron agreed. "But this trick now works on everyone in this kingdom. Definitely something we should investigate."
"I shouldn't have let him go alone," Paltio muttered, growing more anxious with each passing minute.
"If you keep this up, you're going to wear a hole in the floor," Ron joked, watching as Paltio continued pacing endlessly in the room.
"Has anyone seen Lukeandria?" Alita suddenly asked, looking around.
"You're right, where is that girl?" Ron added.
"First Mok leaves, and now Lukeandria disappears," Alita said, frowning. "That does seem strange."
"I think she said she was going to talk to Tejod… Don't you remember?" Rykaru timidly interjected.
Everyone looked surprised, as if they'd just remembered something obvious.
"What if she had already sold out Mok or, worse, us to her boss?" Ron exclaimed, alarmed.
"Fool, I don't think she'd do that," Alita retorted firmly. "Not after opening up to us and agreeing to join our cause."
"Yes, boy, don't be foolish," Chiki chimed in, emerging from Paltio's bag along with Nakia, who was lightly fluttering her wings.
"We need to go look for her," Paltio said with determination. "She's part of us now, remember?"
"This place is very spacious, but gloomy," Nakia commented while observing from Paltio's magical bag.
"Yes, true. It's a bit dark, like the sky we see every day," Rykaru added thoughtfully.
"Hey, why does that thing," Chiki said, pointing at Rykaru with his paw and raising an eyebrow, "get to be out here while we're stuck in an interdimensional bag?"
"Well, because... because I'm with my daddy, silly little doggy!" Rykaru replied in a sweet and tender voice that made Ron and Alita exclaim in unison: "How cute!"
Chiki, annoyed by the comment, was about to leap at Rykaru to bite him. However, Nakia quickly positioned herself between them, spreading her wings protectively.
"Don't fight," Nakia intervened firmly. Then, looking at Rykaru, she added: "But you should have said we were stuffed animals too."
"We were going to, but Chiki doesn't like displays of affection," Ron explained, recalling what had happened. "That's true," Nakia agreed, nodding.
At that moment, they remembered how Ron had tried to pick up Chiki and hold him in his arms, but the dog growled and nearly bit him. It was then that they decided Nakia and Chiki would stay in the magical bag, since placing Nakia on Alita's head, as they had done once with the hat, wasn't a viable option.
"Alright, so we need to go find them," Paltio said, still worried about his butler. His eyes began to glisten slightly, showing how much Mok's absence was affecting him.
"First, you need to find the piece, Paltio. Maybe that way you'll think about something else, calm down, and we can kill two birds with one stone," Golden interrupted, emerging from the hologram.
"No offense, Nakia, for that saying," Golden quickly added, glancing at the bird.
"No problem," Nakia replied, though her tone hinted at slight irritation. Alita couldn't help but chuckle a little at the comment and Nakia's indignant expression.
"Alright," Paltio accepted, taking a deep but somewhat hurried breath as he assumed his usual position: the lotus flower pose.
"Daddy, can I go with you?" Rykaru asked sweetly, showing enormous innocent eyes, like those of a sad puppy.
"How cute!" Ron and Alita said simultaneously, completely smitten.
"Why do those two fools always do that?" Chiki complained, frowning as he watched the kids melt under Rykaru's gaze.
"Oh well, it's not like I have a choice anyway. You're coming along regardless," Paltio said with resignation.
"Well, why even ask if... yes!" Rykaru responded with a charming smile and flirtatious eyes, making Alita and Ron melt again at his expression.
Chiki, annoyed by the scene, gave Ron a small flick on the head.
"Hey! What was that for?" the boy protested, rubbing his head with a pained expression.
"Oh, I thought you had an insect in your hair, but I see it was just your hair," Chiki retorted sarcastically. He said it to change the subject, though in reality, he did it because he couldn't stand the foolish face Ron made every time Rykaru did something cute.
"Ow! That hurt, you beggar dog," Ron complained.
"Silence!" Alita interrupted, noticing that Paltio was beginning to concentrate.
Without another word, Paltio dove into the search plane alongside Rykaru. There, Golden awaited them patiently. The prince decided to do what he had done before to find the pieces of the scepter. However, this time he saw something different: hundreds of paths stretched out before him, all converging toward a kind of vault. A creature with thousands of eyes guarded the entrance, and those eyes locked onto Paltio as if they wanted to devour his soul.
The connection destabilized immediately, forcing Paltio to break it abruptly and return to the real world.
"But what was that?" Paltio asked, bewildered and breathing heavily.
"I don't have the slightest idea, Paltio," Golden replied seriously. "But finding this piece will be much more complicated than we thought."
"Then I'd better go look for Mok, and then we'll figure out what to do," Paltio said resolutely.
"There's no need, young master," a familiar voice responded.
Paltio turned quickly and saw Mok. But he wasn't alone. Next to him stood someone else, a hooded figure whose face remained hidden in the shadows.