The Sadidas's meadows.

Maybe the most quiet place in the Twelve's World.

Or maybe not.

-YAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

BAM!

Clods rose up by dozens from the place where the projectile, threw at high-speed, just crashed. Then silence came back in the meadow, bringing back the initial calm. A little shape, curled up into the small hole that its fall had formed, started to groan.

-Yugo! Hey, Yugo!

Another projectile came through the trees, but this time with more control than the first one, and rushed to the hole in the grass.

-Yugo, come on, bro!

A small dragon, with a pearly white body covered with scales, with a touch of light blue in it, landed next to the little groaning shape. He raised his paw, and touched his brother's shoulder. The little human coughed, and raised his head. He had two night-black eyes, a messy mop of dark-blond hair, and… Two large blue wings, that emerged from his head. Yugo -since it was his name- wrinkled his nose, and winced toward the dragon. Who roared with laughter.

-Bah! You're still as hopeless as ever!

-Shut up, Adamaï.

-Hey, calm down, it's not my fault if you don't really control your… Wings.

-Come on, laugh at it… I don't have a very good training, that's all.

The young boy straightened himself up with difficulty. He wore an orange tunic, blue shorts, and had in his left hand a large hat, in the same blue that his pants. He put it back on his head, covering the wings, and dust off his tights.

-Anyway, I'm done for today. The others are gonna come really soon, and I remind you that they still don't know what's the thing I'm hiding under my hat. They'll be incredulous when I'll tell them, won't they, Ad'?

The dragon shrugged his shoulders, and dropped himself alongside his brother. While twisting a blade of grass in his fingers, Yugo asked him with a really tiny voice:

-Do… Do you think that they'll have changed?

-Dunno. I mean, yes, certainly. It's been six months since our last meeting, though.

-Six months…

Yugo huffed slowly, and raised his eyes towards the unclouded sky. Six months. Six months since he met his fellow Eliatropes, and left them almost immediately to rejoin his friends. Six months since he defeated Qilby, the traitor, and locked him into the white dimension. Qilby, who was still haunting his nights. Six months since Amalia, Evangelyne, Sadlygrove, Ruel and himself has been separated. Yugo felt the blush running to his cheeks: he had been waiting so long for this moment… Adamaï noticed the expression on his brother's face, nudged him and said sarcastically:

-Oh, come on! Lil' Yugo is feeling sentimental? It won't even surprise me if you cry when they'll arrive, you see…

-You're just jealous.

Adamaï opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly, hushed voices came through the bushes. Yugo stood up immediately, and risked a step towards the trees. The voices were coming to them, and he could hear that one of them was the voice of an old man, kind of hoarse, and that the other one was a high-pitched, grumpy girl voice. Two shapes came out of the trees.

-For the Goddess's sake, Ruel, you could have put on other clothes, for once! I mean, I wonder if you even change them…

-Amalia, may I remind you that I am NOT a princess, and that I have others preoccupations than my wardrobe.

-Yeah, but still…

-YEAAAAAAAAH!

Yugo rushed into the young princess's arms, and hugged her tight. A tear rolled on his cheek, which made Adamaï, who was running after him, sneer harder than ever.

-What did I say? You're such the sentimental type, Yugo…

The young Eliatrope didn't even bother. While raising his face, he noticed little teardrops on his friend's dark-skinned cheeks. Behind her, Ruel, Yugo's father's best friend of all times, was gently patting the top of Adamaï's head. Yugo finally released Amalia, who sniffed, and looked at him sympathetically. If old Ruel's attention wasn't really focused on his appearance, Amalia was seriously good-looking: her apple-green hair, ordinarily messy, was braided down her right shoulder, and her normal outfit was replaced by a gorgeous cardinal-red dress, probably made of rose petals. Moreover, Amalia was beaming, and that was sort of exceptional.

-You know, smiling actually does fit you well, Amalia!

-Shut up, you little brat, she said, gently pulling a wick of his hair.

-You're calling me a brat? Come on, you're just a year older than me!

-Yeah… But I celebrated my 15 years last month. And you'll only be 14 in two weeks, won't you, Lil' Yugo?

-Talking of Yugo, come and say hello to your old man, boy!

The little Eliatrope turned his head, and rushed into Ruel's opened arms. The Enutrof laughed, ruffled the blond wicks that came out of his hat, and took him by his shoulders to examine him.

-Well, it's OK, you haven't really changed… Maybe you've muscled a bit… And it can't be bad, can it?

-A bit? Are you kidding me, I've been working out for six months!

-Bah, it's okay-ish. You're reminding me when I was your age.

Adamaï coughed.

-Hey, excuse me, I really hate to break the mood, but we're missing two people.

-Yeah, well, I'm sure they're together, said Amalia.

-By the way, have you had any news from them? asked Yugo.

-Nope… The only news that I've had from outside were your message for my birthday -thanks, by the way- and a rapid visit of Eva, five months from now, who came to tell me that she didn't wanted to be my bodyguard anymore. I agreed, of course. I mean, she was leaving with the other stupid to, uh… Well, she clearly needed a break in her life, you know… We all did.

-Plus, she was the one who was shot by Smisse last time, instead of Cleo, remember?

Nobody added anything. They were all remembering the last battle they did, on the Purple Claws Island. The most affected by this event was of course the young Eliatrope, who fought in another dimension, and who was everyday frustrated because he had to let his brothers and sisters in their own world, in the custody of Balthazar. Even if the old dragon was taking good care of them, Yugo couldn't help thinking that he abandoned them. He was missing them very much.

Adamaï broke the silence by coughing again.

-D'you need some medicine, Ad'?

-Ah-ah. Very funny. I think I've heard something.

The small group stopped talking. Actually, noises came through the trees, at the exact opposite of the place where Amalia and Ruel arrived. Yugo listened carefully: he heard steps, he was sure. The four of them walked slowly to the spot where the noises came.

-I swear, if we're late, I'll kill you.

-Oh come off it, Eva! Seriously, I thought Yugo said the second meadow next to the palace's entrance…

-Well, next time, I will be the one who reads Yugo's indications, okay? We'll see if it's this one, as there was nobody in the second meadow… I mean, there's also your statue, so it would be totally logical if Yugo was there too…

-Hey, you stupid Iop! You really are an idiot! shouted Adamaï.

The footsteps stopped, and then started to run towards them. Two young people came out of the bushes. The first one, a beautiful Cra with short blond hair, and almond-shaped emerald green eyes, jumped on Amalia, and hugged her, laughing. The second one, a dark-skinned Iop, who had large grey eyes and a mop of red hair with a black wick, run towards Yugo, Adamaï and Ruel, and greeted them with a big laugh.

-Wow, it's so weird… And so cool to see you! said Sadlygrove while hugging Amalia.

-Evangelyne, you look great! mumbled Yugo, pressed against the girl's side.

-Yeah, well, I think that I owe that to my vacations… But I've missed you, Yugo, smiled Eva, gently stroking the boy's hair.

-Ugh, Grovy, how I've been missing your despicable Iop brain! laughed Amalia, patting the top of the ginger's head.

-I know, everybody needs their Iops, don't they?

Seventeen-years-old Sadlygrove was kind of tall, as usual, and was wearing grey flax pants, and of course his own Iop cloak. He also had his Shushu, Rubilax, tied to his waist. Meanwhile, Evangelyne looked stunning, as usual. She was wearing a black top, black shorts and leather boots up to her tights. Her green eyes were shining under the sunlight, and the wisdom that could be read in her gaze made her look older than 18. Her Cra bow was hanging on her shoulder, made shiny by her good care. Yugo contemplated his friends with bliss: this was it! At last, the Brotherhood was complete again! His dark eyes met Eva's, and she smiled in his direction.

-Well… It's great to see you again, guys, but Yugo, will you explain us why did you send those letters?

-Yeah, we kind of were on vacation, said Grovy.

-Uh… Letters?

Two pairs of wondering eyes turned to him.

-Er, well, the letters we received, Eva and I, started Grovy, scratching his head.

-Yeah, letters with your name as a signature. With the entire route we had to do to get here. Oh, and with a note saying that our meeting was very, very important, said Evangelyne.

-But… But I never sent those letters! I didn't even know where you were gone!

-So how did you know that we were supposed to meet here?

-Well, Az brought us an anonymous message, saying that you'll all be here today…, said Adamaï.

Yugo's little Tofu raised his head from the young Eliatrope's pocket. He stared at the little assembly for a moment, shouted a small cry, and rushed into Amalia's hair. She laughed, and took the little bird to put him on her shoulder. The Sadida looked back at her friends.

-As for me, Jarvis told me that Yugo was waiting for me there. This is quite a coincidence, though!

-And I received a message signed by your father, Amalia, saying the same thing as your letters. Then I came here, and Ami' and I bumped into each other, said Ruel.

Silence fell on the Brotherhood. Yugo's heart was beating louder and louder. It seemed like a trap.

A big one.

A bush moved.

Evangelyne stepped towards Amalia, instinctively protecting her with her bow.

-Hey, calm down Eva. You're not my bodyguard anymore. I'm a big girl.

-Oh, sorry. Reflex.

-What the heck is this…?

The bush moved again. Sadlygrove took out his sword, making little noises to express his gladness about the fight that was about to follow. Ruel brandished his Enutrof shovel, Adamaï let his claws out, and Yugo held out his hands full of Wakfu. He was ready.

The bush kept moving.

Yugo wasn't breathing anymore.

Quietly, Eva waved him to step forward. So he rose up his foot with caution…

-YEEEEEEEEEEH!

And of course, it was useless. Grovy's Iop instinct had already taken control of his body. He rushed to the bush, yelling like a warrior, and…

BOAM!

Found himself propelled. Like if one of Yugo's shields had touched him. The rest of the gang whizzed to the little bush that seemed so innocent, when an ethereal voice came through it.

-Calm down, you all. I'm sure no one wants to get hurt like the Iop.

-Who the h… Amalia?

The young princess had risen up, and was walking to the bush. She turned her head towards her friends, and smiled.

-Come on, I know this voice. We all do!

She parted the leaves that covered the branches. A small man, hooded, with a long nose coming out of his sweatshirt was looking at them calmly.

-Huh? Jarvis? said Ruel, lowering his weapon.

-Himself, Enutrof.

-The messenger from Bonta to the Sadida Kingdom? But what the heck are you doing here?

-Seriously, bro, you've got to stop saying that, said Yugo.

-I'm saying what I want! What the heck does that h…

-Shut up, Adamaï! Master Jarvis, what's the purpose of this entire masquerade?

Jarvis sighed, and pulled himself out of the bush. He walked towards Grovy's statue, made by the Sadida people one year-and-a-half ago. Even if the young Iop has been rescued by Rubilax, and was now completely alive, the monument was still here, due to the popular demand, and for Grovy's joy. The young warrior was although coming back from the spot where he crashed, a huge hematoma adorning his forehead, which had probably hit a rock or something. Eva gently touched the wound, repressing a smile. Adamaï sighed, and coughed for the third time.

-Hey, sorry to bother you, lovebirds, but we kinda have to focus.

-Ad', I wish you were as cool as last time, groaned Grovy, pulling himself away from the Cra.

-I'll be cool later. Now, we listen to Jarvis!

-J-Jarvis? You were the one who attacked me?

-Let me tell you the whole story, Master Iop.

Yugo smiled. Sadlygrove's face relaxed immediately, and the warrior was now looking at the small man from Bonta with pride in his eyes. This was the tip with Iops. You just had to congratulate them. Jarvis jumped on a bench next to the statue, and looked at the six persons standing in front of him.

-I was the one who attacked you, yes. And I was also the one who sent you those messages. All of them. I needed something to bring all of you back here. Together. For Princess Amalia, it was easy, yes, but for the rest of you, I had to use a little strategy.

-Yeah, OK. So, basically… We've been fooled.

-Yes, but it was necessary, Master Iop. And anyway, you all wanted to be together again, didn't you?

-Grmmpf, groaned Grovy who hated to be fooled like every single Iop.

-So, you needed us, Master Jarvis. But why? asked Amalia.

-I… I'm not sure that you that you want to know why, but…

-Come on, we're here now! Go on! said Eva.

-Well…

Jarvis breathed. Looked at Yugo. And said:

-We lost Chibi and his dragon.