Amalia was beginning to get very tired of sitting by Evangeline on the bank, and of having nothing to do. Once or twice, she had peeped into the book her bodyguard was reading - but it had no paintings or conversations in it. "Why read a book," groaned Amalia, "if there's no paintings or talking? It's just a waste of a good tree. How can you see the shine of the fair princess' hair, or the fangs of the monsters she faces?" She scratched at the daisy in her hair, which was getting dry and droopy in the sweltering sun.
The long-eared Cra turned her focused gaze up to her charge. "All due respect, princess, but most archery training manuals don't have glistening hair or monster teeth." She turned her head to clouds above, and the raging ocean nearby. "Until the seas calm down, we can't travel anywhere without becoming shark food. I'm taking this time to for self-improvement... unlike some Iops."
By the waters, Sir Percedal was screaming challenges, battle cries, and knightly oaths at the crab that stole his lunch. Ruel was a safe distance inland, haggling stubbornly with a "Weather Engineer" of some sort. Occasionally, he prodded Yugo - who broke his cheerful demeanor to make pleading, puppy-dog eyes.
"Urgh, this isn't the adventure I signed up for!" Amalia's bare feet rushed through the grass in defiant stomps, into a wooded area. "If I wanted people telling me to stay still, I could've stuck in the Sadida Kingdom. At least they've got good weather, some Sadida Sacks -- none of these biting insects, or crabs, or..." She squinted at a blue glow in the distance. "...portals?"
Something pale hopped by. Something with long ears, that flopped on each bound. Or was that hair? Happy to have found something to occupy her, the young princess approached - trying her best to hide her wide hips behind the surrounding trees. The curious creature looked like a Wabbit... at the same time, his spry step and fluffy body reminded her of Yugo, in a way. From a pocket in his jacket, he took out a pocket watch, and exclaimed: "Oh no, I'm late!"
"That clock...!" Amalia gasped. The markings on it looked just like the ones she saw around Nox - the Xelor mad scientist out to get them. "But... Yugo's over there, with Ruel. Is this an evil copy? Or did Nox pull him out from a different time...?"
Before she could react with magic, this Yugo-Wabbit disappeared into a portal on the ground. "Hey! Wait up, you!" Rushing after the apparition, she followed him into the blue, spinning aperture -
- and found herself falling down a rabbit hole. Her body spun through the earthy chasm, leaves from her skirt and leg guards catching on twigs and roots. Her full, plump arms waved in surprise. She tried calling out vines to catch her. Above her, the portal to her familiar World of Twelve closed. There was only a curious, tiled floor beneath her - and her target hopping through a tiny door.