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[eschapters]

Chapter 34: Glister City.

"Liar!" Alair looked to his left to see Etalt again. "Oh hey, you're here!" Alair had stated. Etalt stared, somewhat in confusion, "Wha...? What are you..." "Didn't you... just leave?" Alair had asked. "...No?" Etalt paused slightly. She seemed to be thinking, as if she were about to come up with some kind of conclusion for Alair's confusion, "Wait... Did you have a flashback?" "More than likely...." Alair placed down his bag before proceeding to dig through the contents within his bag. He pulled out the orb, just in time to see its glowing come to an end. "...Guess I can confirm it, then," Etalt had said, "What'd you see?" Alair knew that he would sound completely delusional from trying to explain. He strung the words together in a sentence, "This might sound weird, okay? I... I just..." he inhaled deeply before attempting to explain, "There's... this short person... I can't tell as to whether it's a girl or a boy... It's confusing, but they're kinda... small." Etalt rollled her eyes a bit as Alair laughed at the last detail, "How funny." "I'm not kidding, though. They were short, and I thought it was kind of cute," Alair had placed the orb back into the bag, "You don't know anyone who wears a black coat, dark colored hair, somewhat light skin and is up to my shoulder or chin... or ear, do you?" "Hm? That description sounds like..." Etalt shrugged, "Sounds like someone a family in Glister City had lost. Want to ask them about it once we get there?" "Heck yeah. I've gotta figure out who this kid is! Are they linked to the creator, though?" "No guarantee but you wanna see them anyway, right?" "Of course. It wouldn't hurt to do so." "Well? Why are we still here?" Etalt had pushed herself up from her place, "Let's go." "Okay, but... Where are the others?" Alair asked as he got up as well. "I... Have no ide-" Etalt turned around. Speak of the devil - they were just standing right there. "...Hiya guys..." Alair had waved slowly, "...How long have you been there?" Fabian fumbled with his hands slightly before placing his arms behind his back, "Uhh... W-Well... Only for a good few... minutes." "Ten minutes," Logan had stated, "It didn't take us THAT long to catch up." Hugo, of course, decided to add in something, "You bet! We were faster than lightning!"

"Okay, not that fast," Logan gently shoved Hugo to his side, "Now about this 'kid' you've described in your visions... We can probably find out about them while we wait for the others to get here. We need Dunn to melt the ice, after all." "Guess you're right," Alair had flashed a smile, "It's off we go, then!" Without the word of the others, Alair had started to make his way down the road... Even though he had no knowledge as to where to go. The others, on the other hand, had started to go another way. "This way, liar!" Etalt called from the opposite side. "Whoops, sorry!" Alair had ran right back to the group to tag along. The walk wasn't quite as long. Along the way was similar to Glister Bay. The only exception was that some of the gems actually glowed. Before Alair knew, he was stepping on a road. "A-Alair... You should probably... get off that part of the road..." Fabian had quietly said. "Why? What's wrong with this?" "You should get off unless you wanna be as flat as a pancake," Hugo had added. "Oh, wait what? Whaddya mean?" Etalt had opened her mouth, "Idiot, there's-" "In case you're still a clueless twit, we're not in Sequía Village anymore. They have vehicles here," It seemed as if Logan wanted to at least give Etalt a break from her chiding and take the job instead. "Oh... Heh, whoops... I got you," Alair chuckled out of slight embarrassment as he stepped on the sidewalk. The snow-covered pavement had reminded Alair of the time where he had went out to play outside in the snow with Elio and his parents. Alair, before his height has skyrocketed, had been buried by the snow at the age of eleven. Elio was only seven at the time. Despite the height of the snow, Alair had attempted to give Elio a ride through it. They even had done it at night, when their parents were asleep. The two had gotten sick and scolded by their mom, but they knew that it was worth the fun. Alair smiled, inhaling the light cold air upon recalling the memory. "Welcome to Glister City," Etalt had said, "Looks nice, doesn't it?" Alair decided to look around to study his settings.

She wasn't lying. Glister City was a big highlighter of the whole adventure. Everything was just like back in his area. There were buildings that towered above them, countless lights shining brightly from them. Everywhere Alair turned, he was able to see at least one vehicle or way of transportation. There seemed to be nothing to hate about the place at all, except for what would've seemed like the occasional frosty road and the traffic. The place was practically bursting with people and city life. "It's just like my place," Alair had said. "Seems like it," Etalt had tucked another piece of her hair behind her ear, "You might as well live here if you can't find your way out of this world." "I... g..." Alair shook his head right as he was about to say it, "No. I need to get back, of course. If there's a way in, then of course there's a way out." "As much as I like your thinking, you should consider it." Logan had cleared his throat, or rather made a sound that was similar to it, "Ahem... That kid's family?" "Oh, yeah..." It seemed as if the view of the city had somehow gotten the thought of the destination out of Alair's mind. It was like the view alone had casted a spell, "Alright... Take me there!" "Not so fast, sir!" Hugo had butted in, "They say that whoever hears that story are never heard from again!" It was plausible... except, not really. Alair just had to ask, "How many people have asked about the story?" "Well..." They all had looked at Fabian, who only stuttered. "U-Uh..." "No one asked, did they?" "Um..." Fabian sighed, "...No..." "I thought so," Alair smirked, "Now-" "No need to rush," Etalt said, "At least enjoy the place for a bit. Go around. Explore. Just don't rush." As if the two were in sync, Alair and Logan had glanced over at Etalt in shock. "What's wrong with you?" Logan backed away a little, "You seem a little more relaxed than usual." "Why? Can't even the most brutal one be relaxed?" Etalt had shrugged, "Besides, I've figured that it's time to be less of a grouch."

"Way to go, Esalt," Alair muttered. "...E...salt..? Really," she muttered back. "I'm bringing it back right here, right now." "Well, whatever floats your boat," Etalt had started to walk away from them, "I'll be going to the mall if you need me." The four had watched as she disappeared into the crowd of people. "Well... I'm definitely going nonetheless!" Alair had chuckled. "Huh? Whatever you say," Logan said, "You sure?" "Yeah! I don't take orders from people who are younger than me!" "...Okay." Logan had started to walk ahead. He walked along, his posture still straight. He didn't even look back, but rather towards the direction he was leading. He didn't look scared at all. It was almost as if he had walked this path more times than he could count. A community of houses had came into sight to welcome them into the area. The path that they walked along had quiet a familiar aura, as if it were greeting people who walked within it. Alair breathed in the gentle winter air that had touched his cheeks carefully, "Why do I feel like I've been here before?" "Not sure," Logan had said, "I've been here a lot, though. That's all I'll say." "Why, though?" "It's best if you don't know." Everything around them had made Alair feel at ease, unlike the previous places. He was still curious as to why Logan wouldn't tell him what he wanted to know. "Why?" "It just is." Obviously, he wasn't gonna get anything out of him. They were already near a pastel blue house in the distance. It finally had clicked within Alair as to why the place was familiar. "Wait... That's the house that got me into this world!" Alair had exclaimed. "It is?" Logan looked over at the house as well. He stared at it for a good few seconds. It looked to Alair as if someone had just shoved an invisible knife into either Logan's throat or stomach. "...This is actually... The Botan Household." "Let me guess... That's the family that lost their kid?" "Mhm. I..." Logan shook his head, "Well, yeah. That's them." A light tap had been felt on Alair's shoulder. He slightly turned his head to see Fabian. "We... never really got your last name," Fabian's speech was pretty straightforward, but a bit too fast to the point of almost not being hearable, "What is it?" "You wanna know my last name?" Alair had chuckled slightly, "It's..." his chuckles had came to a stop. His face crinkled a bit, "...Would you guys think I'm stupid for forgetting my last name? I'm pretty sure I've known it since birth before I came here." Hugo spoke quickly, "Nope!" Fabian was next, "No..!" The same couldn't be said for Logan. "...Okay, be honest," Alair sighed. Logan had then released what looked like laughter that he was trying to hold back, "Yes."

Hugo only slowly nodded his head. "...Wow, thanks for the worldly support." Logan had tried to stop his laughter, but it looked like he couldn't even calm himself down, "Maybe forgetting things may be a side effect of entering this world." For a moment, Alair had looked relieved, "Phew..." "But that doesn't excuse the fact that you've forgotten your last name." "Oh, come on!" Fabian had ran up to Logan, as well as Hugo. It'd only be a few more steps until they actually enter the property around the house. The house looked much more inviting and friendly towards its visitors, unlike the one Alair had seen back in his world. The one that Alair had seen was more haunting than friendly. As soon as they had gotten close, Logan's smile had gone away. He drew in a deep breath as he took in the view of the pastel blue house, "We're here," he looked back at Alair, "You said you were the son of Kano and Luna, right? These people... They might know who they are." "They... might?" "Yeah. It wouldn't hurt to try asking where they are, especially since they seem so familiar with them." "Mhm. I'll do it, then." Logan had walked up the steps to the front door. The steps were wooden, having a wooden railing where the end of the porch would be. Logan had pushed the doorbell of the front door. A gentle ring had resounded from within the house. Alair, now behind Fabian and Hugo, had stepped forward. ...There was nothing. Logan had pushed the doorbell again. Still, no response had came. Logan had reached into his pocket before pulling out a bunch of keys that dangled on a ring. He inserted the keys into the respective keyholes. "Wait, what are you doing?" Alair had asked. "...They won't mind," Logan had said, "After all, I was given this key for a reason." Logan had picked out the final key and was about to insert it into the last keyhole. When he placed the key, he immediately drew back. "Dammit!" Logan gasped as he gripped his hand. The keys had fallen to the ground with a clatter, causing Fabian to tense up and Hugo to hold on tight to him. Alair looked around quickly to scan for anything strange. "Who... Put that...?" A groan had escaped Logan's mouth had he had bent down to pick up the keys, "It's like there's an electrical forcefield..." Almost as if on cue, the place had started to fog up. Alair remembered that the fog was due to Fabian's uneasiness. "H-Hey..." Fabian was now visibly shuddering. It was obvious that a threat was nearby, "I-I can't sense A.I....! What if they're here?!"

"...What?" Alair looked back at Fabian, "What do you mean?" "The Bounded Viabilities can sense each others' presences... But Fabian, in particular, can sense when anyone is nearby," Logan had said, "He can even pick out a person from a crowd and find them within five minutes... But it might be useless because of his anxiety." Fabian had stopped shaking before looking back. He shaking swung his head from one side to the other, "N-Nevermind... I thought they... Might've been here..." Logan nodded before attempting to insert the key into the keyhole again. The moment he inserted the key again, the area around the keyhole had flashed brightly. It seemed as if Logan wasn't even able to hold back a shout as he fell back. "Logan!" Alair had fallen on his knees next to Logan before attempting to shake him awake. In response, Logan had immediately sat up, rubbing his hand. "Agh... Calm down, I'm not dead... or knocked out..." He groaned as rubbed his eyes a bit before getting up, "It... looks like there's something protecting the door from being opened. It's almost as if whoever put this doesn't want us to hear the story... One more shock from that door, and I'll most likely be dead." Fabian had held up his shaking hand. A rush of air could be felt as the key had went flying into his hand. He slowly walked up to Logan before holding the key out to him. "Thanks..." Logan had muttered before taking the key, "We probably shouldn't go right now... Not until that forcefield is taken down... We won't be able to see them by then." "...I'm with you," Alair backed away from the door, eyeing it, "Looks like its voltage is high..." Logan had walked down the porch's stairs, "If it helps, though... I do know the story behind the creator." "Anything would help, probably." "I had a feeling you'd say that..." Logan had said, "Let's go back to the city. I'll tell you the whole thing about the creator." They all had strolled away from the house, and into a path that had been greeted by the snow and trees that had been stripped of their life. "This might seem a bit confusing, so try to keep up. It was about thirty years ago that it happened... Or so, someone would think that it's four years," Logan had tapped the blue device as a screen had came into view, "There was another creator before the one we're about to face. He was corrupt, but he'd grant the wishes of any outsider that comes along." "How do you know it was a guy?" "Don't ask... But anyways, he liked to play games... So if an outsider wanted another wish, then they'd have to play this 'game' that he made up." "That's... convenient, I guess?" There was some doubt in Alair's voice. He already knew that gaining something wouldn't be so easy, "It has a drawback, doesn't it?"

"Of course. The game seems simple. You're teamed up with two other people to defend a star within your base. That star can bring a team member back if they're somehow killed. If that star gets destroyed by another team, then the people on the team with the destroyed star can no longer come back to life," Logan had tapped the screen before a glowing sphere had came into view. It was radiating with countless colors, "This is it. The creator and their team were able to defend the star and kill the last team standing," Logan had placed his palm on the screen, causing the screen to disappear, "When the creator was asked what their wish was, they said it was to override the current creator and degrade them into a commoner. Up to now, the old creator is trying to track the current one down to get their powers back." "Have you... ever met them?" "Not that I remember." "Darn... Thought you'd know something..." "Actually..." Logan's eyes had quickly focused on Alair's bag, "Don't you have that book from that library near Gustswept Town?" Realization had slapped Alair in the face once again. He slapped his palm to his face, "Right! I forgot about that! But..." "But what?" "For some reason, Etalt didn't really want me to open the book... And I can't really understand why." Logan just shrugged, "Probably because she doesn't trust you. If I were you I'd be careful around her, too." If it hadn't been for a single thought that Alair had brought up, he would've just left it at that, "But why? You guys seem close... Maybe a bit too close. I don't know, but it's like you two know each other really well." "It's just my humor... or so that's what my friend had told me," Logan had said with the shake of his head, "The relationship we had does not concern you, or anyone." Of course, a lot of people would've assumed what Alair had thought, "Wait, did you two..." "What do you think? After we tried to strike each other down? No way. Guess someone doesn't know a thing or two about us being mortal enemies," when Logan had opened his palm, the blue device had came zooming right back to him. He closed his palm around the device before putting it into his pocket. Logan looked up, breathing in the winter air. The city was starting to come back into view. Logan sighed, "We're back already." Surprisingly, Fabian had ambled in front of them. He looked out into the view, "It looks... nice." "Mhm. Brings back memories," Logan had muttered. Just as they all were enjoying the nice view in front of them, Hugo had declared loudly, "Hey, guys! I know the view is nice and all, but shouldn't we go find our walking carrot?" It took him a bit to get but when he did, Alair couldn't quite help but attempt to snort back his laughter. He chuckled before covering his mouth, "Etalt would shoot you if she heard that!" Logan smiled, seemingly trying to hold back laughter as well, "We probably should before she destroys something." They didn't notice, but Fabian's teeth were now starting to click against each other. He was desperately trying to warm himself up, "Y-Yeah... and while w-we're at it... I-I need to buy a w-warm jacket..!" Logan had pulled the blue device out of his pocket again before pressing a few buttons on it.

"Hold this," he said as he placed the device in Fabian's hands. "W-What does this-" At once, Fabian had been greeted by a large puff of smoke. When the smoke subsided, he seemed to shiver less. There was a cheeky grin on Logan's face for some reason, "There. Problem solved. You shouldn't be cold for the next few hours," he took the device back, "Okay... Let's go, then." Ironically, it didn't take too long for them to get to the mall since Logan had simply called on a taxi to get them there. Throughout the whole ride, Fabian had looked as if he were going to throw up. Alair and Hugo took the time to relax while Logan just messed with a screen from his device. They arrived at a huge and wide building that emitted an almost countless amount of lights. Alair, Fabian, and Hugo seemed to enjoy it. However, it seemed as if Logan was having some trouble with the taxi driver. "I... I don't have enough... Hehe, sorry!" Logan had smiled, but did it nervously as the taxi driver had stared him down. "It's either you pay or you go to jail!" The taxi driver had shouted. "I don't actually think it works that w-" The taxi driver had pulled out a gun and pointed it to Logan's head, "Pay or you die!" "Do you really want to do it that way?" "I can and I will if I have to!" "Alright... Your call," Logan sighed as he pushed a few buttons on the device. "...What the fuck are you doing? I asked for mo-" The device had quickly unfolded, taking on the shape of a tranquilizer. Logan had aimed it at the car before a dart had left it. Before the taxi driver could tell, the driver was sitting in a yellow puddle with black swirls on the ground. "I'll pay for that..." Logan had said as the tranquilizer had folded back into its normal oblong shape, "...If the world doesn't end by then." Alair, Fabian, and Hugo had watched as their guide had made his way over to them. "So... Where exactly do you think she'll be?" "The weapon shop." "THE FOOD COURT WITH A CARROT!" "T-The... I don't knowww..." Logan laughed slightly, "My best bet is, ironically, with Alair's answer. Being the violent person she is, she's more likely to be in the ammo shop than anywhere else." "She's bound to be somewhere..." Hugo had put a hand to his chin as if to mock a thinking person on a tv show. He snapped, and then pointed, "I know! I'll just ask that guy over there!" Not so far away from them, there was another person. The person had a black long sleeved jacket with an orange turtleneck sweater underneath. The hood of the jacket was covering their head, so it couldn't quite be identified as to whether they were male or female. The person also had black... tights? Pants? No one could tell. The only thing that was left to make out were the black boots they had. The person had plastic and paper bags around them self. "Eh, I'll go with you," Alair was carefully observing the person. He shrugged nonetheless. "Excuse me!" Hugo had went over to the unidentified person with Alair following. Hugo began to tug on their sleeve, "Have you seen a girl walking around with white hair, an orange sweater, green jacket, looks like a carrot..." Slowly, the person had turned their head towards them. As soon as their face had came into sight, both Alair and Hugo had started screaming uncontrollably before holding on to each other. Fabian had joined in on the screaming, clinging on to Logan.

"What the...?! What happened?!" Logan had exclaimed before swinging the device and converting it into a sword. He looked up at the stranger before slapping himself on the forehead. It was just Etalt. "...What the heck?" Etalt grunted, "Did you find A.I. or something?" Her hair seemed shorter than usual. "NO! IT'S JUST...!" Alair had released Hugo before proceeding to continue his screeching, "YOU LOOK LESS LIKE A FASHION DISASTER NOW... AND YOU'VE CUT YOUR HAIR, TOO!" "Calm yourself! I heard you guys, and if it makes you feel any better... then I actually didn't cut my hair!" Etalt had pulled off her hood and pulled out the two tied strands of long white hair. They just reached up to her waist like before, "See? I also did go to the ammo shop, so there!" She bent down to grab a can out of the bag before popping open the lid. "Did you... steal that?" Alair had asked. He was still quite doubtful, up to this point. "What? In MY own city? No!" Etalt snorted before taking a sip from the can, "I actually bought it, so zip it and-" "But-" "Calm-" "But-" "Down!" Alair looked around, then back at Etalt, "Did you... lie about stealing that can back then?" "Oh that? Probably not." "I'm not surprised." "Okay, but is there any need to actually ask about this stuff?" Etalt asked, "I may not look like it, but I've struck a fortune. I just kinda left a lot of my savings at home." "You? A rich fourteen year old?" Alair had laughed, "Really? Because most of the kids I know would spend that money right away." "But unlike you uncultured swines, I know how to save," Etalt had muttered, "Anyways, I need you to be quiet about that. If you haven't noticed, it's past twelve and this is the time where A.I. usually becomes active... So I'd probably suggest finding a spot to stay for the night." "So... a hotel?" "Those are a bit expensive around a place like this. You better be lucky I know someone around here who'd let me stay at their house. Maybe she can allow you guys in." Logan sneered over at Etalt, "Better not rob them." Etalt had marched past Alair and right up to Logan, "Why you little-!" "Hey, hey, heeey! Not now!" Alair had grabbed Etalt by the hood before pulling her back and squeezing in the middle of the two, "So, this place that you're talking about... Where is it?" "It's some distance from the lost kid's house. You didn't try to go there, did you?" Alair looked away to the side, in hopes of Etalt not being able to tell, "No." "You guys went, didn't you?" "No." "Liar, knowing who you are... I'm gonna confirm you did." "Okay, fine. We did," Alair sighed before running a hand through his hair, "But... We couldn't even talk to the family or even get in! It was like there was an electric forcefield or trap... whatever it was!" Etalt had groaned, "That's why I told you not to go. You guys never listen..." "Hey, be thankful that I actually tried to verify what it was!" Logan had said. "Just... tell me everything along the way," Etalt had said before starting to walk down a road. She looked back at them, beckoning for them to follow. The trip took quite a while. Once they had gotten there and were shown their rooms, Alair had fallen right asleep as soon as he had flopped down on the bed. He couldn't quite remember what happened beforehand. The sleep was worth it, though.

[eschapters]

Chapter 33: Eye?

"This was a stupid idea..." Etalt was now saltier than she ever had been throughout the whole trip, if Alair completely leaving her out in the rain and not being there to prevent her accidents wasn't counted. Salty didn't even begin to describe it. It was pure resentment. The five were now on the way to the other end of Glister Bay. Although Alair, Logan and Hugo had insisted on stopping by a store first, both Etalt and Fabian ended up having to drag them to the entrance by foot. However, Hugo wasn't dragged due to happily complying nonetheless. While the two boys were being dragged, they all had gotten looks from the passing people. "Hah, weak," a passerby had chuckled, "Let himself be beaten by a girl." Fabian turned, and screamed as the man who had said that had been blown right off the ground and into the sky. Hugo laughed loudly before he took a bite out of the apple he held. The rest of the passing statements were either questioning who the group was, where they were from, why they were here or other unnecessary things. For instance, one would question how Alair wasn't suffering from the pressure of his bag. Another was questioning the device that Logan held and Fabian's sunset colored eyes. Of course, people questioned Etalt's clothing choices. Hugo was the only one who was really spared from the people's judgement. Right when they had hit the other end of the town, Etalt had dropped Alair's leg. The same couldn't be said for Fabian, who was as gentle as a summer breeze. In front of them was a mechanic gate that towered above all of them. There was nothing special to it other than it being tall enough to almost block out even a Godzilla-sized creature. "Okay, so... Y'know what to do," Etalt mumbled. Hugo went up to the gate and pressed some buttons within a small dial. He backed away and waited. There was a short interval where everything seemed motionless before the gates had started to shift. Soon, the gates had spread apart, allowing for anything to get through. "Gotcha!" Hugo walked along, seeming amused with himself. Logan was leading, with Fabian trailing close behind. Both Alair and Etalt were at the back. "So... How long has this kid's parents been gone?" Alair had asked. "Longer than you know," Etalt whispered. "Huh? Why the whisper?" "You'll see when the others can catch up to us by then," she looked towards the plump child, "Hey." Hugo looked back, still appearing excited, "Yes?" "Why don't ya pass time by telling little Earthling here about the creator's dilemma and all?" "Ooh! Can I?" The statement alone had made Hugo become even more excited than he already was. He cleared his throat as if to put out a dramatic effect, "You were brought here for a reason!" "Of course! To find the creator!" Alair stated. "No, ya nerd. He means this world," Etalt said. "Oh... I was?" "Yeah, man! You came when you went to a house, right?" Hugo asked. "Yeah." "Well, it turns out that you may or may not have something the creator wants!" Hugo flashed a strong smile, "They said that the house you went to was the creator's. If you go in, then the creator might be able to see you easily." "And if they do sense you...?" "They won't do anything..." Hugo stopped to give off a small soundless interval, "...Unless they somehow find interest in you or you've been in this world before."

Logan looked at Alair, "Hey, you said you've been seeing things before... right? Like memories?" "Mhm... Well, because of the Anamnesis Pearl... Speaking of that, I wonder what memory would pop up if I held it right here?" Alair bent down, setting his bag on the ground. "I suggested that before," Etalt said, tucking her arms into her pockets, "The Anamnesis Pearl, or specifically the Reminiscence Pearl, doesn't make up memories. There should be something to explain that." Alair looked up as he pulled the orb out of his bag, "Wouldn't that mean I would've met everyone by then?" "I can't be sure about that," Etalt turned to Fabian, seemingly telling him to speak out his thoughts. It appeared that Fabian had a difficult time trying to speak, "W-Well... I don't... remember...?" "There's only one way to find out, I guess," Alair muttered. He held the pearl close. They waited. One minute... Two minutes... ... It seemed like thirty minutes had passed by when Alair had slipped the Anamnesis Pearl back in the bag, "Huh. Nothing." "Well..." Etalt reached into her jacket before pulling out a watch, "Five minutes. That's good amount of time wasted." Alair pulled the bag's straps over his arms, "I thought it'd really work... But I guess not." "Guess that's one thing off our checklist," Etalt patted Hugo on the back, "Hey, kid. I need you to continue the story." "He didn't remember anything?" Hugo had asked. "Sorry, Hugo... I didn't," Alair smiled only a little bit. "It's okay! You wanna hear a story?" "Uh... Sure." "One time, there was a guy who went here and became friends with the creator! But then the guy locked the creator in this world and now they want revenge!" "Wow, what?" Alair was now more interested than shocked at the notion, "How'd they even do that? They're not the creator, so... how...?" "Easy! The guy just... I don't know! He just did!" Alair looked at Fabian, "Do you know?" Fabian, who's attention was focused more at the gems within the snow, had jumped a bit when he had been called, "H-Huh? Me...?" He then shook his head. "Etalt?" "Even if I did, you wouldn't even get any valuable information from me." Alair raised an eyebrow, "Really." Etalt shrugged, "Can't you take a joke? Of course I didn't mean that, but I really don't know anything about it." Alair had only given her somewhat of a sideway glance before finally looking at Logan, "How about you?" "Nope... But I have some kind of thing I made up," Logan had allowed the device in his hands to hover in front of them as a screen had popped up in front of them. The screen was translucent and blue, having an illustration or a graph. There were two spheres, as well as some knots and twists piling up in the middle of them. The edges of the screen were filled with numbers and words that could only be slightly read. "This is what I thought that the overview of this world, your world and the space between it would've looked like. Look here," Logan had pointed his finger at the pile of twists, which looked like a colorful mess of auroras, "This is the boundary, or what I and a few others call the Veracity Borderline. It leads from your world to this, and vice-versa." Alair had tried to study the graph for a bit, "Huh? Then that means..."

"Yeah. That's where you went through to get here. People can come in, but..." Logan had panned through the screen with two fingers, allowing for the view of the image to make the pile of auroras appear closer. While they all seemed to be spreading apart, there was one small part that had been tight and compacted, "This is the exit of this world. You can go back through here. To repeat Hugo's story, someone came to this world and sealed it so that the creator wouldn't have been able to leave... But if you look closely..." With a tap, some lines had came into view, "There's something here that seems to be keeping it closed... And I'm pretty sure that Fabian and Etalt know about it." "W-Well..." Fabian started, fiddling with his hands once more. "Okay, ya caught us. We know about THAT," Etalt said. She stepped up to the screen, "May I?" Logan now seemed less cautious for some reason that Alair couldn't quite grasp, "Sure." Etalt moved her hand over the screen, scrolling through it until a black line had appeared. It was almost as if it were a freshly made gash. "Here. It's shut off because of the Mutilate Seam," she stated, "In case ya don't know, the Mutilate Seam is what keeps the Bounded Viabilities imprisoned but the world in tact. It's also what keeps the Veracity Borderline shut." "A-And... I-If the sssseam snaps... then the world might collapse..." Fabian added in, "And... If it does, then.... Your world might collapse, too... There'll be nothing left..." Alair spoke, "Hey... Not to interrupt the serious topic, but... I can still leave, right...?" Etalt immediately answered, "Since you just came a while ago, of course y-" Fabian interrupted, "But he-" "You can." "He can?" "Yes, he can." "Perfect!" Alair exclaimed, "All I gotta do is find the creator, right? And then I'll be out?" "Of course," Etalt said, "But only if you survive. It ain't just a walk in the park, though. You've gotta gain their trust, too." He saw it coming, but he groaned anyway, "Are you serious??" "Hey, I don't make the rules around here, do I? 'The creator' does." "I guess," Alair muttered. With a swipe of his hand, Logan had returned the screen to his device, "Now that we're done explaining, I guess we can continue. Come on."

They all continued to walk for a while. Of course, they held conversations so that the time wouldn't pass too badly. Logan actually had a lot of stories to tell, much like Etalt did. The two mostly told stories, often looking at each other while doing so as if they were going to tackle each other down and strangle the other. They had finally gotten to a cave, which was strangely encrusted in green rather than blue like the previous cave. "Alright. Another cave..." Logan muttered, "Come on. Stay close, everyone." Logan stepped in first, and then Hugo. Fabian followed after, leaving Alair behind him with Etalt at a certain distance. "Hm. This reminds me of something..." Etalt muttered, "Hey, buster... Ever heard of A.I.?" At the mention of the name, Alair was already able to sense Fabian's fear a mile away. "...'I'? 'Eye'...? 'Aye'...?" "A.I." "Ai? As in the letters; A.I.?" "Yes." "Oh. I did hear Fabian screaming about them when I went to find him... and then you guys mentioned them a few times... How would I not?" "Just making sure," Etalt responded, "Since you've survived up to this point, I guess you're finally ready to hear about 'em." In front of them, Hugo had to put an arm around Fabian... or tried to. Height was still a problem, especially since Hugo was still young. "A.I. is actually... more of a rumor or legend, I guess. There's been sightings about them, but I've never heard about em since you came around or so," Etalt said, "Well, they were actually revered as Glister City's hero, I guess. There's only such an event that'd actually get A.I. to talk to you." "So, A.I. is basically Glister City's introverted guardian?" "Yep. They don't talk to others much... But they were reported to be talking to children occasionally... I don't know. A.I. is just a rumor, probably... But some people think that Raika just wants people to love her, so she just made 'A.I.'" "...A.I. sounds a bit familiar... I might be overthinking it, though..." Alair had said. "Don't think too much... I mean it. The creator probably can sense what you're thinking... Maybe. Not sure." It was quiet for a bit, until Alair had asked a single question that probably would've set everyone off... Almost. "Hey, are you guys sure that there's only four of you?" He was waiting for someone else to speak. That is, until he heard a sniffle come from in front of him. "Oh..." Hugo muttered, watching Fabian. Etalt had elbowed Alair with some force, "Shh! Why would you ask that?!" She whispered. "A-Are you implying there is?!" Alair had exclaimed. "It's... Probably best if you two don't talk about it while he's around," Logan had called from the front. "He's... sensitive to it," Etalt sighed, "Sorry. That's gonna have to wait til later." "That's fine... Heh, sorry."

The rest of the walk was almost completely silent. There would be only occasionally some conversations that took place. Otherwise, no one really wanted to speak... Except for Hugo. He was loud for the most part. Finally, the sentence that everyone had wanted to hear came along. "Hey, we're here." Logan's voice had caught everyone's attention. "You know what this means?" Etalt muttered, still seemingly sour. During that whole time, Alair was filled with concern to some degree. He gulped before answering, "...What?" "...Last one there is a Jerry." "Wait, what?!" Etalt had ran on ahead, but not before shoving Alair a bit. "SLOWPOKE!" "HEY! THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Alair had started to laugh before giving chase. They both had rushed ahead, leaving behind the others. Etalt was now out of view and Alair was unable to see her. He rushed ahead and right out the exit. Soon, he found his face within the freshly fallen snow. "Slow." Alair had lifted his face up just in time to see Etalt sit on the snow before laying back on it. She seemed relaxed, more than he ever knew. "You had a head start!" A frown had immediately formed on Alair's face, "Seriously, that wasn't fair!" "Come on, I thought you were atheletic," Etalt snorted, "Oh wait... Nah, you're not." "At least I'm not short." "Are you seriously bringing up my height again?" Etalt sighed, "It's a blessing to be short. At least I don't bump into ceilings or doorways." "Being tall is a blessing. At least I can easily reach stuff." "Oh shut up," Etalt huffed before gently punching his shoulder. "Is someone salty?" Alair couldn't help but chuckle a bit more. "Nah, just..." Etalt looked back at the entrance, "Wait... They might take a bit to get here. You still interested in hearing that thing about the Bounded Viability?" Alair had propped himself up into a sitting position, "Of course! Why would I ask if I didn't?" "Alright... Well, there actually was another Bounded Viability..." Etalt sat up as well, looking up at the sky, "His name was Darren... Only a few years older than Holly. He came from... Russia...? Malaysia...? From either of those places. He was innocent... until he became the being of repulse... or commonly just disgust. Not sure." "Wasn't I... supposed to find him before coming here, then?" "About that... We would've gone to him before Raika because his area is really close... But he's gone out of the radar for a while. No one knows what happened to him, but... I do." "...What happened to him, then?" "He kind of... Got beheaded." Alair's face had both doubt and confusion, "Only a few years older than Holly, right? Why would someone do that?" "I'm not sure either... but..." Etalt had reached into her pocket. She brought out her hand. There was a small gemstone on it, which appeared to be a like gem that was edged with pink. The gem had quite a simple shape to it, resembling a rhombus. Gold had cladded the sides as if to protect it. There was a light that brightened, and then dimmed as if a signal was being sent from a lighthouse.

"Is that..." "It's a Viability Fragment. I grabbed it before anyone else could," Etalt had dropped the gem back into her pocket, "Look... No one knows about this yet, but... you shouldn't tell anyone or else I'll be jumped." Etalt flopped right back on the snow as Alair sighed. "Alright, I won't." Alair decided to look up at the sky as well. The colorful strings of an aurora had waved around in the night sky and left a light glow with each move. "Looks nice, huh?" Alair asked, "Funny... I could've sworn I..." It was as if he had sunken right into a dream. A realistic one at that. "Okay... I'll admit. It does look nice," Alair muttered. When Alair looked to his side, Etalt was no longer there. He looked over to his other side. There was a small person sitting next to him, still with the black coat. "Told you! It's only like once in a lifetime that you get to see something like this!" "Right, right..." Just being with the unidentified person was quite comforting for some reason. However, there was a twinge of regret for something that couldn't be thought of or seen. "...Hey... What happens once I go back?" Alair had found himself questioning, "You won't be alone, will you?" The person sighed, "Nothing big, I guess... I kinda want you to remember my real name, though." "You have a real name? Why didn't you tell it to me?" "Listen... My real name... It's probably not gonna leave such a nice aftertaste once you hear it. Still wanna hear?" "...Mhm." "Alright... Alright... Well... My name is..."

[eschapters]

Chapter 32: Hugo.

Chapter 32: Hugo. "Woah... We made it!" The two were now looking out into a shore, which looked as if someone had dropped some crystals into it. Alair was in the lead, excited to have reached the new area. He walked over to the shore, sitting by it and taking a peek into it. He leaned over slightly to get a better glance. The floor was encrusted in glimmering pastel blue sand. There were gentle shards of crystals dancing around the ocean floor and the waves that had lapped against the shore was perfectly clear, looking as if it were made of glass. A new image had came to his mind. There was someone sitting right next to him, placing their hand into the water. It was then that Alair had pushed the person into the clear water within his memory. Alair chuckled at the thought alone. He chuckled, until he had found himself plunging into the water headfirst. There was another memory. Alair had jumped in after the person and pulled them back up to the surface. The person laughed, splashing water in his face. As soon as the memory faded away, Alair resurfaced to look back at the shore. Etalt was sitting there, looking surprisingly innocent. She had a relaxed expression on her face, seemingly about to sneer. "You little..." Alair chuckled slightly. He reached his hand out to grab her arm. At once, Exalt had started to struggle wildly, "HEY, WHAT ARE YOU-" With a splash, Etalt had fallen right in. She resurfaced before flinging some of the water at him, "Lil prick..." "Hey, lower your sodium levels!" "Na..." There was a sneer that came across Alair's face, "How much puns are you hiding up your sleeve?" "Easy. None!" Even though it should've been something Alair would've been happy about, he was rather puzzled, "You're seeming a bit more happier than usual..." "Well, I'm not smiling so..." "Right, right..." With one glance at the cave's entrance, some consideration had tapped at Alair's mind, "Hey, what now? They're still not here." "They'll find their way," Etalt had gotten out of the water and on to the shore, "They're not stupid. After all, they have lizard-breath and witch mom on their side." With a now soaked hand, Alair had dragged himself out of the water, "Witch mom, huh? That's new." "Eh, I've decided that it was time to b-" It wasn't a new thing, but Etalt's sentence was interrupted as an intense wind blew by them. The wind alone had made Alair shiver out of control, but a screeching force from it had sent Alair tumbling over... literally. Alair took the time to see what had knocked him over. It was Fabian. Fabian was cold to the bone and shivering more intensely than Alair was. He clung on, tighter than the gluttonous monster had. His eyes seemed shut tightly, having no intention of opening anytime soon. When looking at some distance that wasn't too far off, Logan could be seen dusting off his clothes. He bent down, hastily picking up the blue device he always carried around. "Woah, hey... You're just on time," Alair patted Fabian on the head, "Now... Can you let go of me?" Fabian slowly cracked open an eye. He clung on to Alair tighter, "Alair!!" "Agh... T-That's starting to hurt..." Alair wheezed, being unable to breath from the hug, "Hhhaaaappy to see you, too... can't breaaaahhh..." "O-Oh!" Fabian pulled himself right away from Alair, "I-I'm sorry!" A laugh had came from Logan, who was now walking over to the three, "Looks like that story worked!" "Y-You didn't have to tell me that!!" Fabian sobbed a little halfway. "Hey, you know what they said back in our days?" Logan bent down, patting Fabian's shoulder, "'It was just a prank!'" Etalt snorted, reaching out a hand to help Up Fabian, "Hooligan, don't you remember who you're dealing with?" "I forgot in there! It just happens, just like my friend would say!" Logan couldn't help but stifle a laugh. He reached out a hand to Alair, who took it quickly, "You okay?" Alair nodded, "Yeah, but... How'd you two make it out?" "I'll make this explanation quick," Logan rubbed the spot below his eye, "Fabian can control anything wind or air related and shadows. I basically had to give him a nice little scare to get him to launch us out of there." "Nerd," Etalt muttered. "That's actually pretty smart," Alair murmured, "You're lucky you didn't break any bones out here." "Oh, yeah. I didn't really put that into consideration... I didn't think it'd hurt that much..." Logan rubbed the back of his head, "But never mind that. We're going to see Hugo." Fabian looked over at Logan, "Hugo? Don't... you... mean..." "Yes, the hacker kid who broke into the theater system just to change the Emoji Movie to How To Train Your Dragon. His parents haven't been there in a while." "Wait, how old is this 'Hugo'?" Alair questioned. "You'll see," Etalt snorted again. She faced Logan, "So you think we should bail on the others just to visit that kid?" "Well, they'll probably take a while in there," Logan said, "As you can probably see... We all got separated when we leapt or fell into those potholes..." "Did you almost break your back?" Etalt couldn't help but attempt to hold back what seemed to be laughter. "Prick..." Logan muttered, "If Fabian wasn't there, then I would've." Fabian tried to give an appreciative laugh, once again failing to do so genuinely. "Okay... Okay, well... Uh..." Alair shifted his feet, "I guess we can go without them, but how will they know where we are?" "Still got that green Anamnesis Pearl?" Etalt asked. "Mhm. Right in my bag." "Good. Keep it. I hope you remember how to contact em with it." "Oh, right! Yeah, I remember now!" Alair had walked next to Etalt, "Alright... Logan, lead the way." Silently, Logan walked ahead with the three following behind. Slowly but surely, they were starting to approach a nearby town. "This place can become really cold during the winter," Logan stated, "Well, as you can see from the snow over there." "Life in Glister Bay isn't too bad," Etalt said, "If you're one for the peaceful life, then go here. If you're okay with more noise but more opportunities and places to go to, then Glister City is where you'd rather be." "But... You probably wouldn't want to go to the Glister region because of Raika and another threat." "Raika isn't too bad, really... Until you set her off." Just the feeling of knowing that they would be meeting Raika soon had crushed the insides of Alair's stomach, "So... How do I even approach her?" Etalt snorted again, "Rule number one: Don't make her cry." "You wanna die?" Logan asked, "Because that's how you die." "Raika... just... creates storms or floods when she starts crying," Fabian added quietly, "But... it's all unintentional! I know it is..." "Of course. Ya can't really blame her for being something she didn't wanna be," Etalt stated, "I mean I'd also hate to be in her position right now." "Huh. She wouldn't freeze off my face, would she?" Alair quietly questioned. The image that had came to mind made him jerk out of pure disturbance. He shook off the thought. "Like I said... only if you set her off," Etalt said. "What exactly sets her off?" "Let's see..." It looked as if Etalt were about to reach into her pocket for a full list that would drag on for miles. She didn't, thankfully, "Her friends getting hurt, getting hurt herself, dropping her ice cream, humanity in general..." "Uh... How do I NOT make her cry?" "Easy. Don't be an Andrew." "You mean..." "Yes, the redneck prick who got torn limb by limb." "Ehh... Understood." Throughout the walk, they all talked about some good areas to go to around the town. They shared a few laughs, except Etalt didn't do so much and Fabian was unable to do so normally. It was mostly Alair talking with Logan. Although Alair was caught up in the conversation with Logan, he couldn't help but look over at both Etalt and Fabian. The two were muttering things to each other, but it was inaudible. It was only now that Alair had realized that there were some others watching them. "Who are they?" Alair could hear from a masculine voice. "Don't know. Don't care. What the heck is that thing that girl is wearing?" A feminine voice had spoken. "She looks homeless... and so does the guy next to him." Logan turned to the people who talked, giving them a half blank stare. When Alair had turned in the same direction, the two conversing people had fallen silent. An atmosphere of fear could be felt around them. After he was sure that even a hushed whisper would come out of them, Logan had continued to walk along the sidewalk. "So, as I was saying..." Logan talked as if nothing had happened, "That's how a parabola works. Anymore questions?" Alair shook his head. "Better get a perfect on that Precalculus test." "I uh... Probably will," Alair said, "Have you ever considered being a teacher?" "Not really. I'm an engineer. I was the best in math." "Makes sense..." Alair looked back to check if the people were gone. He turned his head back to Logan as soon as he saw that they weren't there, "Hey, why did they look scared of you?" "I'm not sure," Logan muttered, "But it's probably because of the rumors going on about the creator living somewhere around the Glister region." "You know what the creator looks like?" "Of course not." "Of course... Shouldn't have asked." It was quiet for a small amount of time. Alair just couldn't find anything else to say after what he had experienced. It took him a little to actually say the first thing that came to mind. "...We're almost there, right?" "Mhm. Only a little bit..." They finally had stopped at an average sized house. It was white with a brown roof on it. It did look somewhat similar to Fabian's house, with the exception of it being taller and less daunting. Alair looked at the house, from the ground to the roof, "Etalt, doesnt this look a bit like that house in Gustswept Town?" Etalt nodded, "Nothing to worry about here, though. There's no crazy mutilated creatures out to kill you." "What a relief..." Logan walked up to the steps before knocking on the door. From the side of the door, a small circular object had popped out. "Passcode, please," a voice covered with static had buzzed out. A square that looked like a phone's dialing screen had popped out from the side of the door. Logan brought his hand up before pushing on a few numbers. The square had withdrawn right back into the wall. "You can come in." The door had opened with a popping sound. "Follow closely," Logan said before walking in. The three had followed along. Every time Alair or Fabian had tried to touch something, Etalt would pull on their hoods. Logan had finally stopped at the room before knocking on the door. "Knock knock." A voice had buzzed out again, "Who is it?" "Logan." Not even a minute after Logan's reply, the door had swung open. Logan had walked in, followed by the others. The room was very neat and organized. If someone were to look at certain places, they would see many gadgets and machines around the room. At the end of the room was a chair and many screens opened up. On the screen was what looked like a FPS shooting game. "So, what is this? Some hacker or something that'll somehow help us find the creator?" Alair chuckled. "Score!!" Two arms and a controller had came into view. It wasn't even the arms that had caused Alair to jump, but rather the sudden scream. Logan walked up to the chair, before placing a hand on it, "Hey." The chair had turned. Alair's jaw had dropped at the sight. The person's hair was black, being somewhat curly. He seemed to be slightly dark skinned, even though Alair could've sworn it to be just because of the lighting. His eyes were brown. He seemed to be slightly chubby, as Alair himself would've described it. None of those features were what had caught him off guard. It was the fact that he was literally a kid. "Hey! 'Sup?" the kid had flashed a grin at Logan before holding up his hand for a high five. "Just guiding these guys around. How has theater hacking been recently?" "Great! But the security was trying to find out who did it." Alair and Fabian could only watch in pure disbelief. "Holly said he was able to hack... But I didn't think he'd be this young!" Fabian had exclaimed. "Hey, this is Hugo," Logan had said. "Logan..." Alair called hesitantly, "H-How... old is this kid?" "Oh, Hugo? He's twelve." Etalt snorted, "Looks like this kid's computer screens are brighter than your future!" Alair sulked slightly, "I didn't need to know that..." he shook his head, "S-So... What do you do in your spare time?" "I hack things or play games when I'm bored," Hugo said. "Hm? What games?" "A lot!" "Hm... Doesn't really answer my question, but okay..." Alair had said, "Where are your parents?" Etalt had immediately kicked Alair's heel, causing Alair to make a sound that was similar to a dying puppy. "Oh, they went out on a business trip!" Hugo answered quickly. "Well, Hugo knows some stuff about the Bounded Viabilities since he's friends with Holly," Logan patted Hugo's back, "You mind telling them?" "Oh! Yeah! I'm friends with Holly!" Hugo smiled more at the mention of the familiar name, "So... What do you wanna know?" "Well..." Alair bit his lip a little, "...The creator. Do you know anything about them?" "Yes! Holly told me stuff about them!" Hugo replied, "I think the creator is actually a kid like me... Maybe twelve or fifteen... I don't know, but they sound like a kid!" "What'd she tell you?" "The creator likes art and music. They also probably wear b-" "Hang on, wait..." Logan looked down at Hugo, "Is the creator by any chance familiar with the other Bounded Viabilities?" "I think so..." Logan looked over at Alair, "Well, that's a clue." "Familiar with other Bounded Viabilities... Around twelve to sixteen years old... Likes art and music..." Alair looked at Fabian, who quickly shook his head. Fabian spoke very quickly, "Don't look at me! I-I didn't do anything and I'm seventeen!" "Well, there's no other Bounded Viabilities here," Alair stated, "Anything else?" "Oh... I promised Holly to keep it a secret!" Hugo had said, "Are you guys going to Raika?" "Mhm." "Oh, then you need to know this!" Hugo sat up, "Etalt, I see you!" Etalt looked up from her stares at the ground. It was as if she were daydreaming, "Yes, kid?" "Can you tell that guy that story you told me?" "Hey... We shouldn't te-" "We should," Logan said, "He survived Holly's pet. He survived Fabian's nightmare illusion. He survived Dunn's attack. I know he'll survive whatever Raika's gonna send after him, so why not tell him?" Etalt stayed quiet. "Fine. You don't want to tell them? I'll tell them myself," Logan cleared his throat, "There was a-" "There were two little girls and a guy. The guy died. One of the girls left the other for her boyfriend. The remaining girl cried and died. The end," Etalt rolled her eyes right after her interruption, "Just do it another time." "Rude." "I know." "This is why people try to stay away from you." "At least I don't scare people when I look at them." Both Etalt and Logan had proceeded to quarrel again. Fabian whispered to Alair, "Sssso... you haven't heard the story of the creator..?" "Is it the one about wishes?" Alair replied, "If it is, then I know it." "B-But have you ever... heard what h-happens to the p-people who go... there...?" Alair had noted that Fabian was starting to stutter. He gulped, "Okayyy... No." "You've... never h-heard of K-Kalei, have you...?" "Kalei?? That's the name of my dad's friend!" "H-Huh? Really?!" Fabian exclaimed, "She... made a d-deal with the c-creator... Or who they c-call 'Wish.'" "Wish? That's a bit of a weird name..." Alair muttered, "I dunno... My dad said she's been missing for a while." "THAT'S WHY!" Fabian had screeched, "SHE'S BEEN GONE BECAUSE SHE MADE A DEAL WITH WISH!!" Everyone in the room was looking at Fabian. Yes, even Etalt and Logan who had stopped their argument to watch Fabian. Fabian had nervously giggled. "You're talking about Wish?" Etalt had inquired. "Yep... Know anything about em?" Alair asked. "Of course. I even know what happened to Sally and those related boys." "...Are they also victims to..." "Yes," Etalt said, "They all died by the way." "Wow, morbid much..." Alair muttered. Logan looked back at Hugo, "Hey, sorry if this trip didn't go as planned. Mind convincing that hoodlum to let us into Glister City?" "Hoodlum?" Hugo repeated, "Oh! You mean that person who keeps going to the Glister City theater's horror movies and laughing at them?" "Yes." "No problem!" Hugo had swiveled his seat around before typing a few things into the keyboard, "That person is weird, though... They even asked me if I thought that happy endings existed." "People are weird nowadays..." Alair sighed, "Don't worry. They'll grow away in time." "Really?" Etalt raised an eyebrow, "'Grow away?'" "Hey, I couldn't think of anything better! Don't be judgemental!" "Hey! I sent it!" Hugo called from the seat. He stood up from it after putting his controller down, "I can go with you if you want!" "No," Logan had placed a hand on Hugo's shoulder, "Stay here. It's gonna be a da-" "Yes. Go with us," Etalt had interrupted once again. "Hey, he might die out there!" "Yeah, but we have Holly with us." "But she's a Bounded Viability!" "We have three other Bounded Viabilities and a witch. What other protection do we need?" "But still!" "I think I'm on board with bringing him along," said Alair. Logan looked at him in total disbelief. "R-Right... We're all here to protect him!" Fabian spoke. Logan groaned, "Fine, but I'm leaving it to you guys to watch him." "Fine by me!" Alair had laughed. "Bring it, then," Etalt's eyes slightly narrowed at Logan. Logan glared right back at her. The two were now in a staring contest that made them seem as if they were about to wring out each other's necks. "G-Guys! Guys!" Fabian called, "L-Let's go then, okay...?" Logan broke his state and faced Hugo, "Okay... You can come. Go get your stuff ready." Hugo nodded before going through his closets and all. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Alair muttered to Fabian. "HAHAHAHA...." Fabian forced out a laugh, "O-Of course not!"

[eschapters]

Chapter 31: What An Ice Day To Slip!

"Huh?! Does Fabian know about that?!" Etalt looked at both sides of the room, "Can't really say so," she shrugged, "He DID kidnap Fabian, too; but just remember that Dunn wore a mask." "I kind of get a sense as to why Fabian is scared of him, though," Alair plopped himself down onto the same seat. "Well before I came around, Dunn would treat him as his slave or something," distraught slightly filled her face, "But then Fabian ran away to Gustswept Town himself. That fog barrier was put up just to keep out intruders - namely Dunn and those researchers." Alair slouched in his seat, trying to get more comfortable, "And what is his relation with the other Bounded Viabilities?" "You already saw him with Holly. They're fine with each other... But as for Raika... That's a different story that you'll be finding out sometime soon." The answer wasn't enough to faze Alair. He was used to not being told the answers right away at this point, "Hm? Oh, well... I guess that's fine," he stood up, lifting the chair to the side of the room, "You know, you should probably get some rest. It's not really healthy for someone like you to be staying up this la..." Alair's eyes rolled over to Etalt's forehead. It was no longer bleeding, nor severely damaged. There was only a small but barely visible mark. "What are you looking at?" Alair looked down at her neck. The gash on it was now almost gone, "Hey, what happened to the cuts you got? Are you feeling better already?" "They're going away already," Etalt had carefully placed herself down on her back, "Just... Leave the lights open, okay? The damage I took really doesn't have to be discussed about." "If you say so." Alair walked out the door, not noticing that his hands were now in his pockets, "'Night, salt!" "Go to sleep, liar!" Alair chuckled slightly, "You're not really the brightest around here, are you?" Etalt paused, then scoffed. She placed her hand on her mouth before speaking, "Well, I guess you can say that I'm not too deLIGHTED, even with all these lights." Alair sneered, seeing this as an opportunity to finally actually joke around without being ridiculed, "I hope you don't feel too LIGHTheaded, tomorrow." "I won't, but do you know watt we're doing?" "Yep, and this adventure is gonna light up m life!" Etalt placed her hand back to her side before pulling the blanket over herself, "Okay, seriously... Go." "Okay, fine," Alair stepped out and closed the door behind himself and heading back to the mansion. The whole way home, he laughed upon remembering the puns. He even tried to think of more for the adventure they were going to have tomorrow. However, the thoughts had left his mind as soon as he had stepped into the mansion. Right when Alair had entered, he had been greeted by the peppy neat blonde. "Alair! You're back!" Alis had giggled before tackling him into a hug, "I missed you!" "Woah, hey! Missed you, too!" Alair hugged her back, "Were you worried?" "Of course I was!" Alis had exclaimed, "I thought you were gonna die!" "I probably would've, if Eucharis didn't come along," Alair's gaze circled around the room. There was only furniture in sight, "Where's everyone?" "They're sleeping! You came back really late!" "Really? What time is it?" "1:32 AM." "O-Oh..." Miraculously, under the gaze of Alis, Alair had managed to remember the reason for his long absence, "My bad." Alis spoke, seeming to disregard Alair's words, "Come on! Tell me what happened!" She pulled Alair over to a couch before sitting down with him. "Where do I begin with this? It was kind of a life or death situation... If I actually had any experience with fighting, then I'd be able to defeat him!" Alair's posture was unusually straight as he spoke. He paused every now and then to process his words, "There was a lot of fire... rocks... probably an earthquake, too... He kept throwing me off, and I was really lucky that I didn't get any bones broken." Alis' blue eyes stared right into his, sparkling with captivity and interest, "And then...?" "It was awfully... horrid. I tried to climb up this rock parkour, and... Well, all I remember was that Dunn was a horribly huge reptile." "Oh... It must've been scary," Alis had sighed before pulling him into a hug, "I'm glad you made it back." "So am I," Alair smiled. The two hugged, not caring whether there was someone watching or not. In the distance, two pairs of glowing yellow eyes had stalked the two from an oasis. It grunted, sinking deep within the water with no trace. The sun had peaked through the windows as Alair had opened his eyes. He felt a small weight on himself. Looking down, he saw the blonde haired beauty asleep right next to him. The sight would've been peaceful, had it not been for the racket going on in the back. "What do you expect me to do about the snow storm?!" "You're hot-headed, and quite literally, too! Use that to your advantage!" Alair slowly moved himself away, placing Alis' head down on the couch with a lot of care. He got up, walking over to the hall but stopped when a small figure had caught his eye. He glanced back at the couch to see the nonchalant white haired girl. "Etalt?!" Alair exclaimed under his breath. Alair looked at her from head to toe, seeing no signs of the fight she had with Dunn, "What are you doing here?!" "What?" Etalt spoke normally, as if she couldn't give her regards to the sleeping beauty, "You look like you've seen a ghost. What's up with the face?" "Hey, keep your voice quiet. Alis is sleeping." "So, what?" "Shh... Just... It's only been two days," Alair now seemed more puzzled than surprised, "Are you... Seriously fine now?" Etalt raised an eyebrow at him, "Do you see any cuts or bruises?" "...No... But that's..." Alair looked at her carefully again, "No, but I'm just..." "Wondering how I recovered so quickly?" Etalt decided to finish his sentence, "A magician never reveals their secret." "O...kay...?" Alair tucked his hands into his pockets, "Because you're here now, I'm assuming that you're good enough to go with us." "Mhm. All good." "Great. As soon as the others are done preparing, then we'll go," Alair smiled, "Glad to have you back." Etalt spoke, seemingly unsure about her words, "Eh, same... Maybe?" As soon as everyone was done, they all had set out on the road to Glister Bay. The force field of Sequia Village had crumbled into nothing, and their path was no longer blocked. It took a while, as the group had been faced with sandstorms due to the desert. The path that they were taking was different from the one that Alair, Etalt, Holly, Venere, Fabian, Logan, and Amaryllis had taken. Holly, Eucharis, Fabian, and Amaryllis had stayed on Venere. The rest were now suffering the road that wasn't supposed to be bumpy, but was due to Dunn's speed. The ones who stayed with Dunn had experienced pure discomfort along the whole way. During the nights,Alair and Etalt would talk. It would last until Alis called for Alair's attention, at which Etalt would scoff at before to sit somewhere else and write in her book. When Alair's attention was finally diverted from Alis, he would try to peek at Etalt's book, only for Etalt to pull grab his phone from his pocket and shine the flashlight into a mirror. The light would hit Alair right in his eyes and cause him to look away. On certain nights, Logan would approach Etalt and talk to her as she wrote in her book. Holly, Fabian, and Venere would play with each other as Amaryllis watched. Dunn and Eucharis would look at each other with sideway glances and mutter a few words at each other before looking at something else. They all had even came across somehow rainy desert. "Don't get wet, children," Eucharis said as she slipped on her hood. Venere and Etalt seemed to enjoy the walk across this zone in particular. Holly had used a large leaf that she picked up as an umbrella. Fabian and Amaryllis were being covered by Venere's tail, miraculously. Dunn, as a human, stayed in the rain since the rain would automatically be evaporated with every drop that hit. Logan, on the other hand, had converted his tool into an umbrella. He walked on, having to put on earphones just to block out the noise that came from the outsiders. Alair and Alis walked under the umbrella, laughing and chattering. Etalt was the only one who stayed in the rain, the drops drenching her sheet white hair and clothes. "So, what did the bulb say to the socket?" Alair asked. Alis blinked her sparkling blue eyes, "I don't know." "I'm deLIGHTED to be with you!" Alis giggled, covering her mouth, "That's a good one! Where'd you learn that?" "Oh, it just came to me." Alis pushed herself Alair, laughing a little more, "You've been telling me jokes for the past hour! How are you not running out of jokes?" Alair shrugged, "It's natural. It just comes to me." The two came to a stop when Alis had stumbled slightly. Alair had put his arm around her, "Hey, careful. You might fall into a ditch before you know it." "I'm more careful than that! You should know that!" Alis had leaned herself against him, "I can take care of myself. Don't worry." The two laughed, as Etalt watched them. Eucharis' chiding came through one ear and out the other. "Now, young lady... Since you've been walking out in this weather for only god knows how long, that's a sign that you will not heed any of my words," Eucharis said, her amber eyes locked on Etalt, "Now be a good girl and..." Eucharis stopped once she had noticed Etalt's eyes and unusual posture. Etalt walked, a bit more sulky than usual. She stared straight at Alair and Alis. "Child, do not tell me that you-" "No, you old woman. I'm not in love. I'm disappointed," Etalt grunted, "For one thing, that moron is claiming my puns... But let's be real here. Something seems off about that chick he landed... and I'm not liking it one bit." Eucharis nodded, "Oh, very well... But please do show some respect." Etalt sighed, "Will do, maybe." The cycle went on and on for days, which had eventually turned into a week. Soon, they had found themselves within the peaks of a snowy mountain, which was encrusted with all the precious gems that one could ask for. "Venere! Viens ici, s'il te plaît!" The quadruple legged flytrap creature had scampered over to Holly, who had just launched a snow ball at it. Venere gaped it's mouth open before scooping her up and setting her on its back. Because Holly and Venere had decided to play together, Amaryllis and Fabian had been forced to walk. Had it not been for Dunn's constant temper, almost everyone would have been frozen to death by now. Fabian and Amaryllis were huddled around Dunn and Eucharis, with Dunn often shooting glares at Fabian and Eucharis chiding him for it. Logan shivered slightly from the cold, and Etalt was the only one who seemed relaxed. Alis was huddled up against Alair, who seemed to be completely fine with the position he was currently in. "So, how long is it until we get there?" Alair had asked, due to his face starting to become numb from the cold. Numerous times throughout the trip in the snow, Alair's face had started to feel as if it were stiffening. He moved his eyes, mouth and nose in attempts to get rid of it. He even went as far as to try to use his own hand to warm it up before going to ask Dunn to explode into a fire. Dunn wasn't too happy with his question, given that he had heated up and melted everything nearby. On the bright side for the people around Dunn, there was a somewhat of a nice source of heat. "We only have a lil' left," the answer had came from Dunn with a somewhat raspy voice, "Now... it's either y'all stay close to me when we enter, or y'all freeze to death. Little Miss Wanna Die likes to cause a storm whenever a little certain someone gets hurt." "And that's...?" "I'm pretty sure y'all should know by now. I'll be d-" Eucharis gave Dunn a small glare. "...Darned if ya don't know yet!" There was a small look of approval, but Eucharis still looked as if she wanted to strangle Dunn alive. "Who's this 'someone,' though?" Alair had asked. "Depends on who you best be talkin' 'bout. If ya still haven't gotten it yet, then I don't know. Don't ask." Alair tucked his hands iso ohis pocket, walking along before shrugging, "Well, aside from finding the final Bounded Viability... I wonder if there's anything else to be discovered o a i like this." "There's a legend," Holly giggled, "It's about a sea dragon!" "A... sea dragon...?" Alair had repeated, releasing Alis, "Holly, dragons aren't real." While their conversation had gone on, Alis had ran over to Amaryllis. Fabian spoke softly, "H-Have you... Forgotten where you are and who you're with?" Alair looked around, remembering the ones who had surrounded him, "Oh... Let's see... there's a nature's child, a dream reaper, a fire-breathing overgrown reptile man, a flytrap dog, a witch, a freakishly smart guy with technology from the future and a kid who doesn't take fall damage and knows how to handle a laser gun and possibly lots of other weapons," his thoughts spoke quietly within his head, "Perfect. Just perfect. And I'm out here in a gemstone snow forest. Nice." Because Fabian seemingly awaited Alair's answer, Alair sighed, "Well, I'm certainly with a unique group of people." Fabian's face had seemed slightly doubted, his golden eyes moving to the side, "I... Is that... a good or bad thing...?" "A good thing, of course!" Alair laughed, "Did you seriously think that this would've been a bad thing? It's pretty cool if I say so myself!" Fabian cracked a smile, but it was tense. It was then that Alair had came to a conclusion that Fabian was no longer holding the Empath Pearl. "Stay close behind! Keep the large amount of weight away from the icy paths!" Eucharis had called from the front, "Be sure to keep in mind that there are potholes along this path! Do watch your step, if you will!" Holly giggled again, as she and Venere had tumbled into a pile of snow. Heeding her word, Fabian had started to inch closer to Eucharis, "W-Well... to continue Holly's... thing... There's a rumor that there's a creature that..y. swims along the oceans of Glister Bay." Alair looked over at Fabian, the words catching his interest, "Hm? So from what Holly says, I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume that it's a dragon." "That's... not e...xactly what I-I was gonna say," Fabian had said. He looked down at Alair's hands before proceeding to put his own hands in his pockets himself, "I-It's kind of cold, isn't it? But... T-That's what they... describe the creature to look like. An Atlantis Glauk...?" "Atlantis Glauk?" Alair repeated, "Seems... Like a weird name." "They say it looks like an Glaucus Atlanticus," Behind them, Logan had walked right next to them, "It's a slug, from what I remember. This 'creature' that swims around Glister Bay or Glister City id rumored to eat people or show up at times of death." "Well, it's only a rumor!" Alair laughed a little, "Right?" Alair looked at the faces of the two, from left to right. Fabian seemed slightly concerned, while Logan seemed like he had seen the most uncultured person in the world. "Right...?" Logan shook his head, "There was a man who went out to the docks. He never returned and there was a bite mark bigger than the width size of two cars on the planks." Alair turned to Fabian. "Thhhere... was a girl who went to the... ocean a-and saw a 'dolphin' there... S-She tried to go to it... She was never seen again." Alair turned back to Logan as the fresh new adult spoke, "There was a guy who tried to be Dora the Explorer in a cave because he wanted to find a lot of gems. He was never seen again." "Wait, who the heck is 'Dora'?" Alair blurred out upon hearing the unfamiliar name. Fabian didn't seem to be interested in answering the question since he had gone on with the rumors, "There wasss... also a middle schooler who... thought that the water horse was real... So he went to find it... B-But then a boat came back a day later and... thhhere weeere bite marks!" "Water horse?? Like a sea horse??" "Let's not forget that one time where there were a couple who ate out at the ocean for lunch, but they were the ones being served on the menu instead!" Logan added. "Okay, okay! I get it!" Alair sighed, "There's a lot of events happening. Surely, they're coinci-" "I want you to take a good look around you," Logan knew what Alair was going to say, so he spoke right away. Alair looked around, once again realizing his surroundings, "But-" "No 'but's.'" Logan said. Alair chuckled slightly. Hearing his chuckles had caused Logan looked over at Alair before muttering, "Green-minded littl-" "Wait... Where's... Holly and V-Venere...?" Fabian looked back. This had caused the other two to look back. There was no colossal flytrap or little ray of sunshine nearby. There was only the cold touches of the winter air. "Uh..." Alair looked to the front. There was no Holly or Venere to be seen there either. "Guys... Where are Holly and Venere?" Everyone stopped before turning to face the three. They looked around. "...You bastard... Are you implying that you lost her?!" Dunn groaned, pulling his hands over his face. "If that's so, then the only thing that we can do is find her," Eucharis spoke before going back, "She can't possibly be too far." "R-Right..." Fabian murmured. The group had faced each other before proceeding to talk. "Heck, she might be!" Amaryllis said before running to the back. "Ryllis! Wait up!" Alair had sprinted right after Amaryllis. Etalt was trailing behind on the icy ground, catching up to them only now. As soon as Alair had stepped right on to the icy portion of the ground, the ground had given way right under him. Alair had been sent screeching as he landed with a thud. His eyes were tightly closed, having experienced what it felt like to almost have his bones broken. Alair groaned, rubbing his the back of his head slightly. He opened his eyes to see the sky from within the new hole that had been made. There was no one there, was there? He laid there, trying to take the moment to recover. "Huh. I'm surprised you survived." The white haired devil was standing nearby, looking up at the new opening above. "Seriously, didn't they warn you about stepping on the ice?" Etalt muttered, "It's been a few months already, and you haven't gotten any smarter." Alair groaned quietly, "Y-You're the one to talk..." "Help yourself up. We ain't gonna be able to get back up there," Etalt had started to walk away from him, "We're getting out the hard way." "Unghhh... W-Wait up!" Alair had carefully and slowly pushed himself off the ground. The pain was still pounding on his back, which had made him flinch. Alair had finally gotten up with a hand on his back before proceeding to follow Etalt. Etalt, despite his pain, only walked at the same speed. She didn't quite seem to care as to whether the poor guy could walk or not. "Waiiiit...!"'Alair would call out again. Etalt ignored him, only going along quietly. Pushing aside the feeling of the pain, Alair had quickened his steps to catch up to Etalt. "Are you mad about something?" Big mistake. Etalt had immediately spun around and punched him in the stomach, knocking him right on his back. Alair breathed heavily, looking up at the glaring face of the pale girl. "It's one thing to claim other people's ideas as your own just to impress some random chick..." Etalt's fist had seemed to glow, "But it's another to assume my emotion!" Etalt's fist flew at Alair's face, but it had been stopped when he reached out his hands to stop it inches from it. Etalt glared, her fist still tense. Alair looked around, his eyebrow raising. "Wait... Is this... Deja vu?" Alair carmmlefully lowered her fist. Etalt's fist had became less tense, "Huh... Wait, this is like..." she quickly withdrew her fist into her pocket, "Oh... Right..." she reached her hand out to Alair. Alair stared at her hand, trying to process as to whether he should take it or not. He slowly reached for it before taking it and pulling himself up, with the help of Etalt. The pull was surprisingly weaker than Alair had expected. "Thanks..." Alair said said before looking down at the hand she had extended. He paused to think, then remembered that there was something missing from her hand, "Hey, what happened to that thing I put on your hand a few... months ago?" "Oh, that?" Etalt reached into her pocket before pulling out a familiar piece of cloth, "Right here. I got it washed when we reached Fond Town," the cloth had been placed into his hand, "Take it. Pretty sure you'll need it." Alair looked down at the cloth and examined it. He looked at it from corner to corner, making sure that there were no stains on it. The cloth was completely clean, being completely light blue in color. "Hey, thanks. You actually remembered." "It's nothing. Now, let's get across this place, shall we?" Etalt proceeded to walk ahead as Alair quickly paced behind. "Hey, wait!" "What? You're annoying me already." Alair tried to crack a smile slightly, "Well... since we're here, you've heard of that rumor about the so-called 'dragon,' right?" "Mhm. The one who eats people? Yeah," Etalt muttered, "Why?" "Knowing the kind of person you are, I wanna know if you've seen it yet." As the two walked along, they came to an intersection. "Left, right or forward?" Etalt had asked. A cheeky grin had came across Alair's face, "Back!" Alair could've been see things, but it seemed as if Etalt had smirked a little before punching his shoulder gently. "Moron! Just choose logically, will have uh you?" I'm gonna "Heh, fine," Alair snickered a little more, "We should go towards the left." "Lead the way, then." "Wait, don't you know this place? I mean... I heard you were from around here..." "Liar. It's a cave," Etalt's eyes had narrowed a little, "That's like asking Fabian to navigate that forest around Gustswept Town without having to call for help." Alair's mind had been diverted from the nearly completely ice-encrusted walls. He chuckled a bit, as usual, "Are you implying that he can't get around the world by himself?" "Probably. He's not in too much of a good state to do so." "And by 'good state,' you mean his emotional restrictions?" "Yes. He has no room for bravery... Quite literally, too." "Well, I guess all he needs is a little bit of encouragement and all," Alair sighed, "I mean... It wouldn't hurt to give him any." "Liar, are you blind? Or rather stupid?" Etalt muttered, "That's not how the Bounded Viabilities work." "Huh. That sounds familiar," Alair frowned, "Be nicer, okay? That's why people are scared of you." "The reason as to why they're scared is another story. But really, it doesn't work that way." Alair looked around, still seeing the icy walls that surrounded them, "Hey, speaking of stories... Care to tell me about Raika?" Etalt shrugged, "A bit, but only because we're probably gonna be stuck walking through this... But there's just something I'm deeply wondering..." "What is it?" "How did you end up with a chick like Alis?" Etalt asked, her eyes looking as if she were about to murder him again, "She's kind of a bi- I mean prick." "Don't say that if you haven't talked to her yet..." Alair sighed, "Why do you hate he-" "I asked you something first," Etalt's voice now had a cold and icy tone to it, "Answer it." "And you're bitter again," Alair's face filled slightly with dismay, "I'll tell you, anyway. She was my friend since I was fourteen or so. I mean... That's how I remember it, at least." Etalt's eyes looked off to the side, "Are you implying that you've probably forgotten some part of your past?" "Probably. I actually don't remember much when I was fourteen..." Alair reached his hand to the back of his head to scratch it, "They said I went missing for two months, but I don't really remember what happened during that time span... Or if that happened at all... But I'll tell you anyway," Alair stretched his arm slightly, "Well, Alis and I met about two years ago. We were both in the same class. She was quite popular, and I wasn't." Etalt seemed somewhat bored with the story already, "Really." "At least listen, will you? She just suddenly approached me out of nowhere and started talking to me. From that point on we were best friends, I guess," Alair withdrew his arm and placed it into a pocket, "But then, we had some kind of fight just not so long ago... Just a few days in our time, but months in yours." "Timezones suck. That's all I'll say," Etalt sighed, "So, you two just kinda stuck together until ya both suddenly got pissed at each other?" "Mhm." "Hits close to home." "What?" Alair eyed her slightly, "Why would it affect you internally?" "You know... Never mind. It's a thing a friend said." "O...kay?" Alair, knowing that it was best not to ask about it, left his response at that. The air was interrupted by nothing at that point. After a few minutes of silence, Etalt finally said something, "You know... I'll tell you at least some stuff about Raika if you're still interested." It wasn't every day that Etalt had voluntarily told him something without grimacing but when she did, Alair had gotten excited for some reason, "Let me hear it." "Right, right... Raika is... Well... Special, kinda," Etalt muttered, "I can't say much about her, but... Raika was once a completely normal kid, like you. Fourteen years of age. She had no problems with her life, until her sworn best friend had left." "Sworn... best... friend?" "Yes, I said it. Sworn best friend. Raika cried and cried out of grief and anguish once she had confirmed that her friend was never, ever coming back. Not only that, but Raika was actually also depressed beforehand," As she told the story, Etalt seemed to cringe, "Out of everyone I'd say that hers was the most pettiest reason for her to even become a Bounded Viability, but there's still a lot you don't know. I'd say that she's the most powerful Bounded Viability out there, but she's still..." Etalt seemed to stumble upon the last words. For the first time in this world, Alair saw that Etalt was struggling to speak, "...Vulnerable. There. That's the word." "How?" Alair had asked. "Her weakness is her stupid protective self that likes to sacrifice for others." Alair was watching her closely, but she wasn't looking at him. One wouldn't have noticed it just by glancing, but he had noticed that Etalt had jerked only a little bit as she said that. "In some cases, she nearly gets herself killed... Which is why I'm telling you..." Etalt's eyes finally looked at Alair, "If you ever let yourself get hurt just for someone else's sake, I will beat you up... And I'll laugh as you suffer in your wounds. I'll kill you if I have to." Alair gave out a nervous laugh as his body tensed up. He knew that disagreeing may get him at least one broken bone, "O-Okay! Calm down! I know! I know!" "Good. You better." Alair paced quickly ahead, "So... H-How much people have you killed?" Etalt only shrugged, "I have absolutely no idea if I actually did kill anyone. That's beyond my problem, though." "...You know... Now that I think about it..." Alair slowed down again so that he could be right next to Etalt again, "You've never told me anything about yourself." "Eh... Well..." Etalt slowed down on her last word, "Maybe if you survive Glister Bay, then I'll be glad to tell ya... sorta." "Okay, okay... Fine," Alair sighed. Within the corners of his sapphire eyes, something had flashed. He walked on a little bit before looking ahead, "I think I see the exit!" "Perfect. Great job," it seemed like a compliment that had finally came out of her, "Now lead us out." "Are you serious?" "No, I'm Etalt." For the first time in this adventure, the amount of salt that Alair was able to feel could be seen on the expression of his face, "Why?" "That's payback for making that one joke back then," with a flip of her pigtails, Etalt continued to trail behind Alair. Yes, the two had found the exit. However, everyone else was probably suffering on the ice skating rinks within the cave. Holly and Venere were sliding along a slippery and icy tunnel, with Holly cheering on for the slide to go faster. Eucharis and Dunn were nearly screaming their heads off just by trying to find her. Fabian had kept slipping on the ice whenever he thought something had came along. Logan, being there to watch it, had slammed his palm to his face. Amaryllis and Alis simply did not enjoy the place, as the two were not dressed appropriately for the cold. Everyone but Alair and Etalt were currently having the time of their lives, slipping around with no end.

[eschapters]

Chapter 30: Midst of Heat

It was late at night. Alair had rushed to a room in the clinic. He was filled with relief and astonishment at the sight of the white haired girl covered in scratches, bruises, bandages, and maybe even burns. The thing he noticed first was the patch on her head. She was sitting up and writing in a small book, but she sure as heck didn't seem too pleased to see Alair at all. Logan, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. In the room, there was only a few shelves, a bed, and a desk accompanied by a chair. On the chair hung Etalt's grass green sleeveless jacket. Right next to the bed was a nightstand and a lamp. The lamp's light was unusually bright for some reason. Alair opened his mouth to speak, but then Etalt had interrupted him. "You wanna tell me I'm weak, huh?" Etalt muttered. "What? No, no!" Alair had shaken his head, "Why would I? What happened to you, anyway?" "Let me just sum all of that up in a few words," Etalt had closed the book and placed the pen on the nightstand, "I tried to leave this stupid place with my own little trick because I'm gonna die here if I don't get out soon, but Dunn caught me. Not being able to work well with the heat, I wasn't able to focus too well and eventually... He nearly stabbed and crushed me completely to death until Logan came along and eventually ended up having to literally drag me by the arm here." It was more than Alair had expected, but he asked that one question anyway, "You're okay, though... Right?" "Mhm. I would've been more than okay and probably would've set the old man in his place if that stupid rat didn't slam me into the wall and cause me possible internal bleeding," Etalt shrugged, "But I'm fine, now." "Wait, what?" Alair's eyes widened a little, "Why didn't you tell me about that?" "I could've taken care of it myself. I have my ways. Otherwise, I'd be dead by now." "At least you're alive... But are you sure you're okay?" "Yes, I told you. I'll be perfectly fine," Etalt raised her hand with the bloodstained sleeve and scratched the back of her head, "Just go finish your challenge or something. I'll be fine. I'm not dying, am I?" "You looked like you were..." Alair had leaned himself at the side of the wall, "Even Ryllis thought you were gonna die, which is why I rushed here when she explained more." "Well... Calm down, I ain't going anywhere," Etalt had grabbed the pen from the nightstand and opened her book again, "I mean if I'm not exposed to too much heat or anything, then I'm fine." "Then what about that thing on your head?" Etalt reached up to feel for whatever Alair was talking about, "Geez, you worry too much. Cut it out, nerd! It's not like I'll bleed to death from this!" "I wouldn't be worried if I didn't know who you went up against," Alair sighed. He pursed his lips again upon realizing what he said, "Shoot, sorry. Okay, I'll try to stop worrying." "Good. Leave it that way," Etalt started move her hand over the book with her pen, "Now go back to the mansion. I can take care of myself." "If you insist..." Alair was about to turn to leave, but stopped, "Where's Logan, by the way?" "Oh, the hooligan?" Etalt scribbled a little more before closing the book once again, "He went back to the mansion before you came." "Hm..." Alair had went to the chair and sat down on it, "I just thought of this, but I don't really think you mean it when you say you hate him." Etalt had slipped the pen into her pocket, "Why?" "The way you guys talk is like you two have known each other for years!" Alair rested his head on his hand, "Don't lie. 'Liars go to hell,' you said." Etalt rolled her eyes, "Freakin' fine. I'll just say he's like family," A scoff had slapped her right in the face right as she said that, "A big brother, probably. Probably the one I've never had or was never given... But he's just... Egh... He seems to be hung up about his 'lost friend' or something." Alair had reached into the pocket of his jacket. He pulled a small pink book out of it. "Where did you... Get that?" Etalt was now giving him a long and hard stare. "I snagged it from Dunn's room! Where else?" Alair sneered. He opened the cover of the book. "HEY! OPEN THAT AND I'M GONNA BLAST YOUR HEAD OFF OVER THE FREAKIN' SEVEN SEAS AND INTO THE DEAD ONE!" Etalt didn't even give any regards about the volume of her voice. Alair flipped the page, and on to the first entry of the diary. He read it out loud, "Dear Diary, I get to keep you since big sis gave you to me! I'll be good to you, o- OW!" A burning sensation on his hand had caused Alair to let go of the diary and hold his own hand. Etalt glared, her finger positioned as if it were a gun itself. She reached down for the book herself to pick it up. "I'll be keeping this, thank you very much," Etalt had slipped the diary into a pocket in her jacket, "Now go back to the mansion before I get Raika to freeze off your whole hand!" Through the pain of his hand, Alair groaned, "Okay, okay! I'm going!" And so, Alair went back to the mansion. He slept, but kept his hands completely covered. Tonight's dream was surprisingly pleasant. Alair was walking through a desert area with a person that was shorter than him by an average amount. The two laughed, and even tried to pester Dunn into trying to do something with them. When Alair looked at the person, all he was able to see were dark clothes or so. He couldn't quite tell whether the eyes were blue or brown. It was confusing to him. But then, that dream had came to an end due to something trying to shove at him. "Hey, Alair... Wake up..." Alair looked up to see Fabian holding the yellow orb. It was dark, so only Fabian's eyes and the orb's follow could be made out. "Hm... What is it...?" Alair's voice was sluggish. He looked up at the clock on the wall. It was only 5:23 in the morning. "Dunn wants to talk to you," Fabian had whispered. Alair got up, throwing off the blanket. He tried to look around. It seemed that he had forgotten the events of last night for a bit, "...Why so early?" "I'm not sure, either. It's Dunn, remember?" Alair got off the bed, getting up to throw his jacket over his white shirt, "I didn't think he'd get up to actually do something around five in the morning..." "This is urgent... Please come." "What level of urgency are we talking about here?" Alair had asked. "Very," Fabian responded, "It might have something to do with you being able to be released from this place. The two boys had headed over to a small shack around the training grounds. Within the shack, Dunn was slamming a hammer on a piece of metal in front of him. The sounds of footsteps had pulled his attention from the piece of metal. Fabian had walked up to Dunn before pulling a part of the yellow orb off and placing it in his hands. Dunn had cleared his throat, "So you came, even after what I did to your little friend?" Alair slowly nodded, still worried about setting off the temper of the man. He uneasily shuffled his feet, looking around, "That orb still works, right?" "Still does," Dunn looked down at Alair's feet, then let out a small puff of smoke through his nose, "Are ya afraid of me pummeling ya into a pulp because of yesterday? Nothing to worry about, kid. Take a seat. I have the Amnesis Pearl of Empath." Dunn motioned his head towards three metal chairs and a single metal table. Alair and Fabian had sat down on the table and watched as Dunn had continued to hammer at the object. "I knew a kid like you. Age of fourteen. His name was Niko," Dunn spoke, "Persistent... optimistic... had some level of caring for others... The only difference is that he was smarter and less annoying than you were or ever could be." "Hey! I'm not that stupid or annoying, am I?" Alair sat up in his seat, seeming bitter about the statement. "Calm down, kid. I'm telling you a story. Take the time to enjoy it," Dunn had grabbed on to the metallic object and threw it into the water-filled basin, "There were also two other kids I knew. Their names were Airis and Alya. I'm pretty darn sure ya went to that fine looking woman near Fond Town, you should have at least seen a picture that included those two." "I think he means Eucharis," Fabian had stated. Alair tapped his fingers on the table as he took a moment to think, "...You mean the girl that wore a grey coat and the one that wore a black jacket in the picture?" "Yeah, the runt that stands next to the tall one. That's them," Dunn grabbed another piece of metal, "While they were around, I treated them as my own kids before I became this damn thing that the creator of this world made me." "Guess he still curses even when he isn't mad..." Alair muttered. "When I did become this creature I rather wouldn't be, they ran away. I don't know what happened to them next... But I don't think it's my problem anymore," Dunn swung at the new piece of metal, "Anyways, on to what I wanted to say. I heard that your friend can't handle the heat of this village." "Super sensitive skin, I'm guessing?" "She comes from a region that's frequently blocked by hailstorms. Whaddya expect?" "She never told me that." "She's a secretive little kid. She always refuses to say anything," Dunn had swung once again at the piece of metal, "So, since your little friend can't survive out here... and I also don't want this village to be flooded... I'll let you do one last challenge." Alair knew he was screwed, even if it was the 'last challenge,' "Let me guess... I have to defeat you in some kind of duel, huh?" "Mhm." "Thought so. They told me about it." "Not quite surprised," Dunn tossed the hammered piece of metal into the basin, "So, whaddya say to that?" Alair shifted his feet uneasily again. He glanced at Fabian for a little, then faced Dunn, "Can I... have some training, maybe?" Dunn tapped his foot, then sighed, "Fine. You should be at the center of the village at one p.m., sharp! No holds barred." "That's fine by me, probably." And so, Alair ended up training with Fabian. Holly had volunteered to help as the one who made obstacles for him. However, for the most part, Alair utterly sucked at fighting. Even just landing a strike on Fabian took almost an hour to do. He was pretty much hopeless. Even by the time it hit 12:50, he still sucked at fighting. It was almost as if Alair was just not fit for fighting. He was just decent, if he didn't suck. "Eh... Sorry, I'm just really unexperienced..." Alair had slunked down,!" After a little bit, they headed over to the center of the village. The center had happened to be a stadium, for what Alair would've assumed was for fighting in general. The arena was a huge flat field that had a beige coloring to it. There were stones with various sizes that jutted out from the smooth floor. Around the arena, the top half of the walls were made out of glass while the bottom half were seemingly made out of cement. Dunn had paced right in, being the colossal Komodo dragon again. Alair stared at the entrance to the battlegrounds. "You guys have any advice?" Alair stepped back rather than stepping forward, "Or any last words for me?" "Uh..." Holly put her finger to her chin, appearing to impersonate an intelligent person,"Good luck!" "Thanks." Alair stepped up, allowing for the staff to pop right up. He took in a deep breath, "Heyyy... Dunn... Buddy..." Dunn stepped forward. There was no warning, but there was a blast of fire. Alair moved out of the way on time, "Hey! Why don't we call this fight off, you know?" he called before laughing nervously. All that came were more flames. Alair quickly stepped to the side before attempting to swing at Dunn's face. Dunn only had head butted the staff away before his scaly throat had illuminated. The staff, conveniently, had landed some distance away. Alair was as good as dead. When he looked back at the sidelines, he saw Fabian covering his face with his beanie and Holly watching in mild confusion. Logan, Amaryllis, and Alis had seemed to join the two. Alair waved, forgetting that Dunn was right behind him. Once he heard the flames building up, Alair screeched and ran as if he were trying to pass the pacer test. The flames followed close behind, allowing him to barely escape them. He made a mad dash for the staff and picked it up. Dunn had surrounded Alair with flames, leaving him with no way out. However, the only way out was right in front of Dunn's mouth. "YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" Alair groaned, pulling at his hair. He looked up, panic and insecurity starting to pile up. At this point, he was only able to hear his thoughts, aside from the flames that licked at its surroundings, "Think... Think... Think... Where? What?" Alair jumped up, attempting to launch himself into the air by anchoring the staff into the ground and pushing himself up. It worked, but only for a short time. He landed where he wanted to be the least, probably - right on Dunn's head. Dunn spouted more flames around the arena, pacing around kickly. The lizard rammed its head into the wall, in attempts to get Alair off of his head. It worked, because Alair sucked at fighting. Alair had been sent tumbling down. He pushed himself right up, trying to make it seem as if the fall damage was nothing. However, it felt as if he had been hit by a truck. Dunn had roared, charging at Alair with his mouth set alight. He was right above the lost foreigner, who had no clue as to how to save his own life... Or that was at least what Alair was before Dunn had came close. "...Wait, haven't I seen this before?" Alair had thought, grabbing on to the staff, "...Oh! Right!" Without thinking, Alair had shoved the staff right into Dunn's mouth. Dunn had bellowed, causing Alair to pull out the staff before an enormous line of flames had emerged onto the wall. Alair, now shaking, had decided to distance himself from his opponent for now. He ran, hiding behind one of the towering stones. He shut his eyes, trying to slow down his breathing. "Oh lord, that was close..." Alair thought in between breaths, "That was just pure luck... Man, I'm gonna die here and it'll suck harder than a vacuum cleaner... Wait, who used that sentence? No time to think about that." Everything quieted down, with the exception of the fire's occasional crackles. There was something off, that was for sure. Alair slid down the stone and allowed himself to shift into a sitting position. He curled up, feeling himself trembling. "Am I... Okay? Heck no. I can barely even think..." Alair continued his line of thought, "Oh my lord... If only someone would actually step in and help..." The young teen stopped his thoughts for a second. He heard something, but he couldn't tell what it was. He listened more closely... "You can't always be helped! Don't you know that?" It was a voice, but Alair couldn't quite tell as to whether it belonged to a male or a female. It was an androgynous voice, if that was how he really remembered it. He recognized it, but he also didn't. Alair opened his mouth to speak, but he was able to hear the sounds of a crumbling rock. He quickly crawled out from the shelter of the rock, seeing it collapse right where he was sitting. Dunn was right there with a piece of the rock in his mouth. He tossed the rock towards Alair, who dashed out of the way just on time. A few pebbles had hit Alair, which had surprisingly stung. Alair looked around himself. The rocks seemed to be lined up in some order, as if they were an unlinked staircase. Alair ran to the smallest rock before stepping onto it and jumping on the next rock. He jumped and jumped, until he had gotten to the tallest pillar. He looked down below himself. Dunn was now slamming his tail at the rock. Alair was able to feel the top half of the rock jerking and giving in to gravity. Soon, the Alair could feel the rock leaning over. He could feel the adrenaline rushing through his blood as he shut his eyes and screamed for his life. The tall pillar of stone had fallen, but the feeling had suddenly came to a stop. Alair slowly opened his eyes. Around him was a gentle outline of orange. There was something about this glow that was familiar. The feeling he had was familiar as well, which was comfort. He looked over to the side of the arena to see a woman with a neatly done ponytail that hung down with her vast white hair. Her pitch black cloak had covered her gentle orange dress. A single green gem had connected the two strings of the cloak around her neck. Just by seeing her once more, Alair felt completely safe. The woman didn't seem too pleased with what was taking place. She slowly lowered her light enveloped hand, along with the stone pillar. Alair had rolled off the pillar, finding himself unable to move. He just laid there as if he were dead. "Dunn," Eucharis had muttered. Dunn looked over at Eucharis. The scales had started to disintegrate, allowing for him to take on the form of the intimidating man again. "Eucharis." Eucharis had shaken her head, "What did I tell you about hurting people?! Especially the ones who aren't from here?!" Alair had finally rolled to his side and pushed himself up, "Eh?" "He can't be trusted, Eucharis! What if he tries to kill us all?" "To the depths of the lake of fire with that! He's only a child!" "Uh... Hey..." Alair had walked up to the quarreling couple, "I'm sixteen now, but I appreciate how you look at me... Somewhat." Dunn's fist had lit up. He raised it and swung it at Alair's face, but Eucharis had raised a hand. Dunn's fist had been stopped by an orange glow. "What did I just say?" Eucharis shot a glare, looking right into Dunn's eyes, "There's a reason why I don't want to see you anymore!" "How the hell did you know that this guy was here?!" Dunn had growled. Eucharis continued to lock her eyes on Dunn, but Alair had looked over at the area where his friends were. Everyone was watching the scene unfold, but Holly had raised her hand and waved. "A tracking device on my child," Eucharis had forced her hand down as if she were trying to tear off Dunn's arm, "I'd very much like to keep my children safe, thank you very much." Dunn looked over at the others, then at Eucharis. "Listen closely to me, lizard breath... Let go of my children," Eucharis had muttered, "Let them see Raika... Let this little boy find the creator... And I won't tell anyone about your true self..." Fabian had ran right up to the three, "U-Um... Guys... N-No need for... any agreements, really... Raika seems upset..." "Hm?" Eucharis had lowered her hand to her side, "Why so?" "Weeell... You see... D-Dunn kind of... Beat up Etalt last night... A-And-" "YOU WHAT?!" Eucharis had raised her arm again before forcing it down quickly. Dunn's face had hit the floor and kissed it. Dunn lifted his head up, "SHE TRIED TO ESCAPE!!" "THAT'S NO REASON FOR YOU TO HURT ANY OF MY CHILDREN, YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING PIG!" Eucharis screamed. Alair cleared his throat, "He also nearly killed her by allowing her to suffer in this environment." Eucharis' eyes glowed a deep amber. It was clear that she was completely livid. She swung her arm down again, "DON'T EVER HURT MY CHILDREN AGAIN!!" Holly had ran in, wrapping her arms around Eucharis, "But mamaaaa! Papa didn't kill her, right?" Eucharis had allowed for her hand to fall at her side, "M-Mama?" "Oh... Oopsie! My bad!" Eucharis had patted her head, "No, no... You are my child. You may call me that if you wish." Holly had giggled lightly, "Okay, but... Please stop hurting him." Eucharis sighed. She swung her foot at Dunn's face with full force before stepping back. "Where's the one you nearly killed?" "I can show you later!" Alair sighed. He crouched down next to Dunn, "So, does this mean we're free or...?" Dunn grunted, "...No." "Dunn!" Eucharis glared again, "Raika WILL flood your village if she doesn't see that any of us are keeping well!" "Damn it, fine! Only because I don't wanna have a flooded village!" Just like that, the force field around the village had slowly melted away into nothing. "Thank you," Eucharis had muttered. "Don't ever fucking do that again..." Dunn groaned before getting up. "I can't and won't promise." "Etalt! Can I come in?" Alair had slipped into the room again. Etalt was drawing once again. She sighed, looking up at Alair, "Oh... You survived." "Nah, Eucharis just came on time!" "Oh... Well, aren't you lucky?" Etalt shrugged before proceeding to draw, "So does this mean that we can get out now?" Alair grinned, "Yep! We're off to see Raika! Now you won't have to suffer anymore!" "Thank goodness... Glad this is over." Etalt continued to draw, not saying anything else. When she still felt Alair's presence, she looked up, "What do ya want?" "Aren't you gonna tell me a story?" Alair had rested his head on his palm, "Like... With Holly and Fabian?" "Huh? Oh... Don't tell me ya wanna know Dunn's backstory." "I do." "Okay, but you might not like it," Etalt had stated. "Come on... Holly's parents were abusive and Fabian's parents died in a fire. What could possibly be wrong with this one?" Alair sneered. "Well, first off... Dunn was better known for his criminal activity in his past life..." Etalt had began, "But every criminal has a reason, right? In Dunn's case... He and his wife had usually gotten into fights because his wife had been spending time with another man. It's reasonable, since Dunn gave her everything she wanted. One day, it got so out of control that his wife had left him with nothing. She even took his child with her." "Woah, what next?" "Dunn, fueled by rage and hatred for his wife, had sought out revenge for wasting a fraction of his life... But first, he had to acquire some tools. He started to rob houses and even banks. He even got to the point of murdering people," Etalt reached her hand up to her head to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear, "He worked by himself. He refused to work with anyone else. I guess you could say that he was DUNN with life." This had stifled a chuckle from Alair, "Wow, I didn't know you'd have the audacity to make puns." "It's rare nowadays. I used to do it a lot... but then, no one listened to me," Etalt cleared her throat, "So anyways, Dunn kind of ha da criminal record but was never caught. He wore a mask, of course. One that resembled a lizard. It was so that he couldn't be found. He slowly became insane, killing everything and anything in his path before snatching away their belongings... But it continued until he had lit a house on fire..." Etalt tilted her head slightly, "Tell me, liar... Do you still remember Fabian's story? Do you know the answer to that question I asked?" "...Who killed Fabian's parents?" "Yes, that," Etalt nodded, "Surely, you must have an answer now." Alair paused. He slowly nodded, "I have one... It's who I think it is, isn't it?" "Yes, liar. That fire wasn't a mere accident," Etalt had muttered, "The person who had caused the fire and killed Fabian's parents... was Dunn."

[eschapters]

Chapter 29: Failed Confrontation

Before the two had went right to sleep, they decided to get their wounds checked and treated first. That night, scenes had flashed quickly within Alair’s dream. The scenes depicted from the crumbling Earth to a collapsing building. There was someone who was running out of the building, but then the building had given in on them. The only thing that Alair was able to remember from the dream was the dripping of sticky scarlet substance slowly trickling down somewhere. The next day, the sun was shining brighter than usual. The temperature had gone up a great amount. Alair had awakened, looking around the whole mansion for Etalt. To his surprise, she wasn’t anywhere around the mansion. Dunn was nowhere to be seen as well. A certain weight had been lifted when Alair had discovered from Holly that Dunn was not around at the moment. “Have you seen Etalt, though?” Alair had asked, “It’s already eleven… I’d usually see her by now.” Holly smiled. She seemed completely unaware of the events that were taking place between everyone else, “Did you ever check her room?” Alair pursed his lip slightly, trying to decide on whether to tell her the truth or not, “…Honestly, no. She’d punch me to death if I even tried.” “Maybe she’s still sleeping.” “Maybe, you say,” with his hands in his pockets, Alair headed towards the hall, “Well, thanks.” “You’re welcome, blueberry!” Alair continued along the hall, but stopped once he looked down at his hands. He removed his hands from his pockets, realizing that he had picked up Etalt’s habit of doing the said action by accident. He went straight to her door right after and knocked. “Etalt? You there?” There was no sound. Alair knocked again, “Hey, are you there?” The door had creaked open slightly. The same old emerald eyes gazed at him, tired. “…What,” Etalt’s voice was now breathy and sluggish, “What do you want?” “Uh… Hey, it’s already eleven,” Alair had said, “Are you okay? You usually get up earlier than this.” “Mm… Yeah, I’m fine…” Etalt replied, her voice still sluggish. When Alair looked down, he could slightly make out an object in her hand that was white. It seemed to be stained with some red on it. “What are you holding?” “Hm? Oh… This?” Etalt had slipped her hand into her pocket before taking it out again and letting it fall to her side, “Nothing. Just found something around my window and decided to get it off.” “Huh… I’ve always thought you were one of those people who don’t really care for orderliness,” Alair shrugged, “Guess I was wrong.” Etalt’s face remained the same, still filled with drowsiness, “What do you want?” “Are we going to see Dunn again or…?” “Or…?” “Are we gonna try to escape?” Etalt scoffed, “Moron. Did you forget what he did yesterday? It’s basically impossible to escape, now.” Alair was now convinced that more and more of his brain cells were dying as his stay in the foreign world had lengthened, “Oh… Now I remember.” “Maybe… Just ma-” “Alair!!” From the other end of the hall, the teen with golden locks had skipped over to the two. “Oh, hey Alis!” A smile had immediately entered Alair’s face. Right out of pure impulse, Etalt had slammed the door close before Alis had stopped in front of Alair. “Alair, where were you yesterday?” Alis had asked. “Oh… I went to feed a man-eating creature yesterday to complete one of Dunn’s challenges,” Alair had replied. Batting her sparkling blue eyes at Alair, she spoke again, “What happened?” “Etalt ended up helping me on the challenge, and now Dunn’s probably gonna punch me six feet underground and down to the core of the Earth.” “Aww, at least you were brave,” Alis had cooed, leaning on him. The door had immediately flew open again with a salty Etalt standing there with a white cloth in her hands. The cloth now seemed to have been dyed with brown rather than red. “Shut it, will you? I’m trying to sleep!” Etalt had groaned before slamming the door again. Alis had seemed discouraged by what Etalt had just said, prompting Alair to pat Alis’ back. “Don’t listen to her. She’s just rude…” Alair looked back at the door, “VERY rude.” A small grin crept on Alis’ face, “Thank you…” “Well, she’s probably not coming with us to see Dunn,” Alair tapped his foot on the floor, “And as far as I know, Dunn hates you… So, maybe I can take Amaryllis with me.” “Ooh, you mean your cousin?” “Yeah, my cousin.” “I like her fashion! She has a good taste in things!” The two had started to make their way to the exit. “Of course! That’s Amaryllis we’re talking about!” Alair chuckled, “She’s… Stylish, if that’s even the right word.” “Where is she now?” “Not sure. Maybe back from shopping.” Alair and Alis had went to the living room together to see Amaryllis sitting on a couch with Holly and Fabian. Venere rested its head on its root paws, gaping its mouth every now and then. Amaryllis and Holly were laughing as Fabian gritted his teeth in anxiety. Logan was on another couch with a holographic control panel hovering in front of him. His glasses were now noticeably absent. “Noooo! Sssstooooop!” Fabian whined. “You’re the one who said it!” Holly had snickered, “Faris the Ferris Wheel!” “What are they doing to him?” Alis looked at them in confusion. “They’re probably messing with him,” Alair had said, “Nothing too bad, I’m guessing. It’s Holly and Amaryllis! What could possibly go wrong with the two?” Alair walked up behind Amaryllis before tapping her lightly on the shoulder. Amaryllis turned to him, “Yes?” “Hey, can you go with me to see Dunn?” Alair asked, “He might crush my bones.” Amaryllis looked at her two companions, then back at Alair, “I can’t do that. I’m supposed to be watching these two.” Logan had grinned from behind the holographic control panel, “You wanna see Dunn? Good luck with that. Where’s Tarzan?” “You mean Etalt?” Alair couldn’t help but chuckle slightly, “She’s still in her room, for some reason…” “I don’t think she’s in the mood to go out, then,” Logan had moved his finger across the screen, “I saw her come out this morning, but she just went back into her room when she got some snacks.” “You’re probably right…” Alair stopped to think. Since Amaryllis couldn’t come nor did Etalt want to, there was only one option left for Alair to do. “Can you come with us instead?” Logan’s glance had landed on them and away from the screen, “You’re crazy.” “Hey! If you can fight Etalt, then you can fight Dunn in case he tries to kill me.” With a flick of his finger, the screen had flew to the side as it disappeared into countless particles that fled into thin air, “Who said anything about me fighting?” “You know how he is… He might just suddenly decide to maul my face!” “So, what do you want me to do if he does?” “I already explained that I just need you nearby in case anything happens!” Logan sighed, “You need to learn how to fight for yourself, then.” His response alone had caused Alair to shake his head lightly and groan, “You’re just like Etalt!” “I heard. Now stop being a baby and go!” Logan had stood up, walking into the hall. Alair stopped his own movement for a short time before starting to follow Logan, “Hey! Wait!” Turning around, the adult sneered slightly, “Yes? What is it you’ll whine about now?” At the sound of the reply, Alair rolled his eyes, “Look, I can’t you at least help me find him, then?” “Maybe. Maybe not,” Logan had reached his hand out in front of him. Upon opening it, a screen had popped into existence in front of him. He swiped his free hand across the screen, “He’s at his buffet. You’re welcome.” Knowing Alair’s tendency and frequency of asking questions, Logan had paced down the hall to avoid any more of them. “Well, I guess it’s just us,” Alair had said. He walked to the door before opening it and looking back at Amaryllis, “Hey, Ryllis! I’m gonna be out for a bit!” Amaryllis looked up just in time to see Alis walk out, “Wait, doesn’t Dunn h-” Alis had closed the door behind them, leaving Amaryllis’ sentence unfinished. “Where to?” Alis had asked. Alair gently smiled, “This way.”

The walk to the mentioned restaurant was surprisingly much peaceful than the past few days. Alair had inhaled, his posture seemingly more relaxed, “So, how’s it going back there?” “The last day of school was… Empty without you,” Alis had sighed, “It’s too bad that you weren’t able to come on the last week. There was a huge party going on.” “That’s exactly what happened last year,” Alair chuckled, “And now, I had a reason to miss it. It was kind of worth it, though.” “I see… It was really fun, though,” Alis sighed, “I missed you a lot. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” “It definitely has. How long have I been gone?” “Only three days. You wouldn’t respond to my Facebook messages, so I had to ask the researchers where you went.” Alair bit his lip upon hearing the reply, “…Three days?! I could’ve sworn I’ve been gone for longer…” he looked up at the sky, then back at Alis, “I’ve been gone for more than a week, right?” “No. Only three days, according to my timer.” “That’s… Weird…” Alair muttered to himself, “Maybe it has something to do with the time cycles around this world… I’ll probably ask Etalt about that later.” They came to a stop in front of two wooden doors. They were just like the ones that a person would see on movies involving a bar scene in the wild and west. “I’ll ask if we get out alive… Since Dunn probably hates us right now.” Alair placed a hand on the door before slowly pushing it out of the way. The doors made a loud creak as he stepped into the building. As soon as Alair had opened the door to the buffet, a knife had landed on the wall with a crunch. Alis had stayed close to Alair, pushing herself against him as Alair walked down the area. It resembled a buffet - the one that would allow people to get their own food from different areas of the building. There were some people peacefully eating in one room while there were others who were drinking to their hearts’ content in another. Alair had also happened to spot a room filled with gamblers. A man had gotten up from his seat before pointing a gun to another’s head. Before a gunshot had rung across the building, Alair looked away. It was one thing to see a rabbit get brutally mauled by a huge specimen, but it was another to see a man get shot in the head. “Alair, what’s wrong?” Alis’ face was now somewhat concerned. She turned her head towards the direction Alair had looked in. “Woah, woah, hey!” Alair had quickened his pace to stand in the way of her view, “You… wouldn’t wanna see that.” Alis slowly looked back to the front and nodded, “Okay… I-” An earsplitting thunderous roar had resounded in the distance, being followed by stomps that seemed to shake the whole Earth. The dirt colored reptile had quickly emerged from the crowd, sticking out its tongue once and a while. Alair tugged Alis out of the way, knowing how much Dunn would rip her to shreds - quite literally, too. Dunn had quickly slid right past them and into the room that contained the events of the gunshot. A throaty growl had came from within that room, as well as a scream that was filled with pure terror. There was a crunch - as if an apple had been bitten - before the screams had died away. A little bit after the screams had died out, a few men had rushed out of the room while shouting curses. There was nothing more Alair could do. He didn’t even bother to laugh it off like usual. He gripped Alis’ wrist tightly before shoving her into a crowd. “Stay here.” Alair didn’t bother to wait for his response, but instead decided to slowly approach the room. With every step closer he got to the room, there was a trail of fresh red liquid building up. He froze up the moment he stepped into the room. Dunn stood at the side of the room with his mouth coated with the same red liquid. Obviously, there was no need to sugarcoat what it was. The colossal reptile bared his fangs at the human, who clenched his fists uneasily. Alair reached into his pockets, only to remember that he had left his weapon back at the mansion. Flames had surrounded Dunn and licked at everything around it. Smoke arose as a a dark-skinned man had walked from the flames, right before they went out. “What,” Dunn had grunted. It was more of a statement than an answer, “Don’t think I’m not done with ya, ya damn bastard.” “Sheesh, calm down… I don’t wanna fight,” Alair seemed nervous. That was all there was to describe him, “I just wanted to apologize, okay? I need my next quest, too.” “‘Ohh, I’m so sorry, Mr. Dunn! Please forgive me and let me out!’” Dunn’s voice had went somewhat high pitched as if he were trying to mock a little girl, “As if that’ll do a thing. You should’ve finished what ya started!” “That’s not how I speak.” “You should hear yourself then, unless your hearing is shit.” “What did we talk about yesterday?” Alair had taken a deep breath before breathing out in annoyance, “If you don’t wanna become a common target, then be nice to people!” “This world ain’t filled with rainbows and ponies, ya brainless twat!” Dunn’s eyes had started to flare up as his direction shifted towards Alair, “If you keep trying to defend your little girlfriend, you’ll die a brutal death!” “Keep her out of this! ” Alair’s voice had raised slightly in volume. Everyone was seeming to catch on to their conversation. Dunn rolled his eyes. A puff of smoke had left his nose, “Hah! How cute! You’re even defending her now!” “Because she did nothing wrong!” Alair’s voice was now starting to become even louder, “Is that how you’d really respond when someone asks for forgiveness?!” As Alair spoke, Dunn seemed to be looking right past him. The man trudged towards a crowd, shoving some people out of the way. Alair scratched his head out of irritation, “Hey! I’m talking to you!” Dunn stopped as he moved one last person out of the way. There was no one there. Something had been weighed down on Alair’s shoulder. “Let’s get out of here!” It was that voice that would probably reassure the death of everyone within this building. Dunn jerked his head back, his eyes bursting into literal flames. “Woah, woah, hey! I can explain!” Alair had said, covering Alis from Dunn’s view, “Just listen, okay? We don’t any conflict, do we?” “You’ve done enough explainin’, young man….” Dunn had grunted. “You’re still salty about last night, aren’t you?” Alair had sighed, “I don’t know what you expected, but if you’re mad about Etalt helping then why did you send her with me in the first place?” “YOU!” Speak of the devil. Etalt had walked in right as Alair had spoken. Her face seemed to carry a less aggressive expression than usual. She kept her hands in her pockets as she walked over to the three. As she got closer, Alair was able to see a brown stain on her sleeve. It was clear at this point that it wasn’t dirt he was seeing. “Oh, you’re finally up,” Alair had said. “That’s not the point. Why would ya go meet Dunn with her?” Etalt’s eyes had shifted towards Alis. “Hey, kid! Why don’t you go back to your parents and stop butting your noggin into our conversations?” Dunn had grunted, “Oh wait, you have none!” “Shut your pie hole already, will ya?” Etalt immediately deadpanned him, “I came for a small agreement.” Dunn paused. He cleared his throat before allowing another puff of smoke to leave his nose, “What?” “Well, I need you to let me leave this place,” Etalt had said, “It’s just that I have some very important thing to attend to and I can’t afford to stay here.” “You helped the human, so you suffer with him,” Dunn had pulled a cigarette out of his pocket before igniting a flame on his finger and lighting it up. He placed the cigarette into his mouth, “You’ve brought this upon yourself.” Of course, Alair felt the need to butt into the conversation, “She may have helped, but your challenges are literally death-inducing! You don’t even do anything yourself!” “Why should I? Nothing else could be done,” Dunn had released a puff of smoke right in Alair’s face. Alair had broken into a fit of coughs and wheezes, “Really? You just HAD to do that. Very mature.” “At least it’s more mature than you’ll ever be.” “I have time!” Alair had protested, “After all, I’m still younger than you.” The two girls walked behind them. Alis was covering her nose due to the scent. Etalt covered hers due to what seemed like suffocation. Dunn had shook his head, “Age doesn’t matter.” “Look! You’re just sitting here!” Alair had continued to argue, “That thing in the forest isn’t going away any sooner until you do something yourself! You’re a Bounded Viability! Why don’t you go and get rid of it yourself!” “Don’t you think we would’ve fuckin’ tried that if that’s how it worked?” Dunn had drew in another breath from his cigarette, “Hell, probably only the creator would be able to get rid of that piece of shit!” The two girls turned away in attempts to avoid the next puff of smoke. “Hey, hey! I know you’re mad, but at least give me something for me so that you’ll let us out!” Alair’s feet shuffled uneasily, “Please?” “Your actions, your punishment,” Dunn had taken Alair’s hand and placed the cigarette in it. The outsider, in response, had quickly released it before stomping on it. “Enjoy your fucking eternal stay in hell!” The man stomped off, right out the entrance as he grunted and mumbled things to himself. Alair rolled his eyes, “He thinks he’s so mature…” he looked over at Etalt, “You just HAD to come in and do that during the challenge, did you?” “I did it for a reason,” Etalt’s words seemed to have no care or consideration at all. “I guess we’re stuck here, thanks to you!” Alair had threw his arms up for a short amount of time before letting them fall back into place, “You don’t think I can handle anything myself, can you?!” “Alair, please don’t…” Alis had tried to speak softly. Etalt, placed her hand on her head before walking past Alair as he went on and about with his rant. “You think you can just butt into everyone else’s business and think that you can just expect everything to be fine?! What kind of sick mentality do you even have?!” Etalt walked further and further, but slowly. “I’m talking to you! Come back here!” Alair had ran up to Etalt, jerking her arm back. His eyes went wide as Etalt’s now bloodied face had came into view. It was almost as if he had seen her eyes go brown for a split second. Etalt immediately covered the bottom half of her face again before proceeding to flee. Unlike the past few days, it seemed as if she were about to stumble and fall over at any moment. “I… What the…?” Alair was almost completely speechless. He tried to take in what he had just seen. He shook his head, thinking that he was just seeing things, “You saw her face too, right?” Alis walked right behind Alair, “Huh? What?” “Nothing,” Alair had put his arm around Alis’ shoulder, “Let’s just go do something else, okay?”

During the whole day, the two had went out together to many different shopping areas, due to Alis’ request. Alis was able to go on a huge shopping spree. Along the way, Alis had gotten many compliments about her looks, to which she would modestly deny. The two had also came across many remarks about being a couple. By the end of the day, the two were holding hands.

But of course, we don’t really need to go too deep into that period of time.

The two had finally returned home. The moment they had stepped in, they had been greeted by a smiling Holly and Fabian. It was confusing as to why Fabian was smiling, but then Alair had looked at what Fabian was holding. It was the yellow Anamnesis Pearl. There was something lacking around the room, which Alair had figured to be Dunn’s presence. “Where’d Dunn go?” Alair had asked. The two Bounded Viabilities were silent. “He… uh… Went around the town to check for any intruders,” Even though Fabian was no longer bound to fear, he still didn’t seem to be telling the truth. “Papa’s fine!” Holly had giggled, “Now why were you gone for so long, mister?” Alair’s face filled with amusement, “Huh? Oh, not much. We just went shopping because Alis wanted to!” Holly looked at Fabian, and Fabian looked back. They leaned closer to each other, exchanging glances and whispers. They finally turned to walk down the hall. “I think it’s time for Venere to eat! Have fun!” Holly’s voice continuously echoed down the hall as she and Fabian ran into it while chuckling. The couple sighed. “Children,” Alis smiled gently. “One of them are older than me, you know?” They started to walk down the other hall and towards their rooms. “Hm… Now, when are we getting out of here…?” Alis gently inquired as they walked. Alair looked from wall to wall. He knew that telling the solid truth would do no good, “Probably in a bit? Not sure, actually.” “I do sure hope we get out soon… That big wrestler man scares me…” “I think he scares everyone.” They came to a sudden halt as they heard a door open. Amaryllis had emerged from the door that had led to Etalt’s room. “Huh? Hey, Ryllis!” Alair had waved his hand. Amaryllis only gave him a straight stare. “What’s with the face? What happened?” And then that one question had finally clicked, “What were you doing in Etalt’s room?” Amaryllis paused again before grabbing Alair and carefully dragging him in. Inside the room would’ve been what looked very nice and organized. However, there were splotches of an ugly rusty brown on the floor, as well as the same color leading up to an open window. Alair slowly walked up to the stains on the carpet, his eyes slowly looking from the floor’s stains to the mess on the window. “A few hours ago, while you two were out… Logan found her slowly bleeding out by the outskirts of town. She was barely breathing,” Amaryllis slowly shook her head as her face finally tinted with worry, “Alair, I think your friend is dying…”

[eschapters]

Chapter 28: The Witch's Feast

Surprisingly, the two had gotten back earlier than expected. Dunn was cooking when Alair and Etalt had entered the house. "Dunn! We're back with the diary!" Alair had called. Dunn had immediately looked up from the pot, facing the door, "Well, I'll be damned. You actually made it alive!" He paced over to the two, who had taken a seat on the couch. Alair had pulled the diary out of his bag, remembering how he had forgotten to lock it again. He shrugged before Dunn had crouched down next to him. "Yes... This is it," Dunn had taken it into his hands, "You have completed my first challenge. Must be beginner's luck, but it'll be different tomorrow." "...I'm curious, but... What's the next challenge?" Dunn looked up at Etalt, as if he expected her to know. "Oh... He's gonna... fight you. How unpleasant," Etalt had answered for the adult. "Wait, he will?" Alair shook his head, "He's gonna snap my bones like you crushed that device back in that cave!" "Nice comparison, but he'd be worse to deal with." "You're hilarious, young lady," Dunn seemed to say it as if he was amused, but one could only remember that he couldn't be quite happy, "The next challenge is to satisfy that nomad that lives in a mansion deep within a cave!" Etalt looked up at Dunn, partially lost, "Oh... You don't mean..." "Yes, I do. Your friend here must feed little miss diablo without getting his arm bitten off." Alair had seemed confused yet somewhat uneasy, "Huh...? So this thing you're talking about isn't human?" "Of course it isn't. Otherwise, it wouldn't even be a challenge," Etalt had stated. Dunn had puffed smoke from his nose, "Etalt, would you like to tell him a story that's based off a real event?" "Eh, why not?" Etalt had shrugged. Her face had turned completely blank, "There was once an Earthling like you who had stumbled into this world. A guy who was around your age... He came from Texas instead of Virginia. His name was Andrew. He was a fortunate scrub who ended up near Fond Town, like you. He somehow befriended Holly and Fabian as I watched from a distance. I don't know how he did it, because he was the biggest racist di-" Dunn had grunted, "Language." "Hypocrite..." Etalt muttered, "He was a dou-" "Language, Etalt." "What do you want me to say?! Jerk?!" "Better." "Ugh, as I was saying..." Etalt grimaced at Dunn before continuing, "Here's the thing... Little Andrew reached Sequía Village and was given challenge by our dearest Dunn to gain his trust. Guess what it was." Alair knew what to answer already. It was quite obvious, "To... feed the thing...?" "Mhm... And since we're telling you this story, you can probably guess what happened to him after." "He... Got his arm bitten off...?" "Close, but no," Etalt had sat back. A cheeky and unnerving sneer had came into form, "He was chopped up, limb by limb... And even when his arms and legs had came falling to the ground... He was alive... When he tried to scream for help, the creature heard it..." A small grin had soon came across her face as she sat up. She clapped her hands together right in front of Alair's face, "AND THEN SHE BOILED HIM AND DECAPITATED HIM ALIVE!" Alair's body jerked as he gasped and pushed himself against the couch. "And then she had him for dinner. The end," Etalt slouched on the couch again, and crossed her arms, "And this is why you should never be a racist cactus needle." "You nearly gave me a heart attack..." Alair took in a deep breath before speaking again, "That sounds really brutal, though. I would've been entirely scared if you didn't do that!" He sat up, detaching himself from the couch, "But why would you send me to feed him? I'm just... An Earthling!" "If ya don't accept this challenge, ya don't pass. If that thing eats ya, ya die and don't pass," Dunn grunted, "And no help is allowed, either." The events of yesterday had came to Alair's mind, causing him to laugh nervously. He obviously had already broken a rule. Etalt shrugged, "His challenge rules, I guess." "Sorry for not being sorry about sending you here to feed the..." "Ululating Guzzler," Etalt had said, "...Or Lamenting Gourmand works, too." "The Lamenting Gourmand. She likes to jump from region to region with that weird little mansion of hers," Dunn had stated, "If she doesn't find anything to eat for within a time span of a month, she CAN and WILL come to our Village to grab our people and devour them! So we need someone to go and feed her. Whether they make it out alive or not is not our problem." Etalt shrugged again, "Tough luck, liar. It's almost been a month since the Lamenting Gourmand's been fed. It usually throws tantrums when it doesn't get fed." "That's... Gonna be a bit tough..." Alair laughed nervously. "I need to get back to cooking, kiddos," Dunn had risen up from his place and walked back to the kitchen, "I'll call you when supper is ready." When Dunn had reached the kitchen, Alair whispered, "Is he like... the father figure of all of the Bounded Viabilities?" "Yeah, and the friends of the Bounded Viabilities, too," Etalt had answered, "He seems like a nice person, really... If you don't count the angry part." "Seems like it..." Alair looked up at Dunn before getting up, "Have you seen what this 'Lamenting Gourmand' looks like?" "In full detail? Yes," Etalt answered as she stood up from the couch as well, "Wanna hear?" "Why would I ask if I didn't?" "At first sight, it looks like a lost little girl that's ready to go to a fancy dinner... But don't fall for anything inside the mansion. She loves to play tricks on her victims to lure them in." "I just asked what she looked like, but I guess this extra information could be useful." "Oh... But... It likes to take on the form of a little girl... But when you get too close, it'll turn into it's true form... Still humanoid, but mutated... Sort of. Not sure on how to describe it well." "That's fine. I'll see it myself tomorrow," Alair started to walk towards the hall, placing his hands in his pockets. He stopped when he felt his phone inside of it. He turned around, "Hey, Etalt!" "Hm? What?" "Do you have a phone, by any chance?" Alair had asked. "...Why?" "We can give each other our numbers, right?" Etalt sighed, "Heh... I left my phone back at my house." "Hm... You've never told me where you live, have you?" "Course not... And I don't plan to." "Classic, Etalt," Alair turned to walk down the hall, "I'll be seeing you at dinner, then!" Etalt didn't respond. She just stayed quiet. The rest of the day had passed by quickly. Everyone had eaten and went straight to bed right after. The next day, Alair had stopped by the store with Etalt to get a weapon. Even though Alair protested against it and insisted on going to feed the Lamenting Guzzler first, Etalt dragged him there anyway. He had somewhat of a difficult time choosing between what was provided. In the end, he had decided to settle with nunchucks that were able to be converted into a sharp staff, which was somewhat like a sword rather than a staff. Etalt ridiculed him on his choice, but he chose it anyway. The staff was plain, being only silver colored with no design at all. Shortly after getting a weapon, Alair had been guided to the training grounds. The training grounds were, in reality, located right behind Dunn's house. "So... I'm gonna make a small inference on how to use your weapon since I have absolutely no experience with swords, nunchucks, or whatever... whatsoever," Etalt had pulled her gun out of her pocket, seemingly adjusting it, "Eh, I guess we can do some practice fighting." "No need for your explanation! The seller told me how to use it!" Alair had rotated one end of the staff. Nothing happened. "...Were you... Even listening?" "Of course I was! See?" Alair tried again. Nothing happened. Etalt had walked up to him before taking the staff into her hands. She slammed the staff against her knee as it had split into many different parts connected by a single chain "Better?" She handed the weapon back to them, "If they don't work, then you just gotta give it a nice little jab." "I don't think jab is the word-" "Whatever it is," Etalt tugged on one part of her gun, "Well, see that training dummy over there?" She pointed her finger towards something at her side. In the far distance of the direction Etalt had pointed at, there was a bag that stood on a stick that had impaled it. Of course, we couldn't possibly forget the 'dead' face that was drawn on what was supposed to imitate the head. "I want you to try using your weapon on it." "Okay..." Alair had walked up to the dummy. He drew back before swinging the weapon at it... Only to have it fly right back and slap his arm. He jumped back, gripping his arm. "Agh, geez! I expected it to hurt, but not this much!" "Nice goin'," Etalt snorted, "Now you know how it felt when I punched that device back in the cave." "Ghhhh I understand completely now!" "Nice... Now quit bein' a wuss and try again." And so he tried... And tried... But he kept failing and hitting himself by accident for the past five minutes. During this time, Etalt couldn't help but grab a can of carrot juice to drink as she watched the helpless teen. Finally, she stood up after crushing the can, "You know what? You're pretty hopeless at this. I didn't think you weren't kidding." "Ya don't say?" Alair had fell on his bottom, slouching in exhaustion, "Try telling that to someone who's had more than a year's worth of experience..." "Ugh... They never really taught you any self-defense, did they?" "...Eh, they really didn't..." "...What has your world even come to?" Etalt sighed, "Align the sticks and push em together, will ya? It'll turn it back into a staff... sword... whatever." "Uh... Hang on..." It took a while, but the staff had slipped and locked right back together when Alair aligned the parts. "Got it!" "Hm... Well, that took long enough..." Etalt tapped her foot on the ground, "Decent, I guess," she motioned towards the dummy again, "Why don't you try your staff... sword... thing... on it?" "Why not?" Without any more hesitation, Alair had swung the blade at the dummy. He barely made a scratch. "Heh... You think you'll get anywhere by holding your sword like that?" Etalt scoffed before walking over to him. She adjusted the grip on the sword, "Hold it like this," she backed away, "Now try it." Alair swung the blade again. There was a single scratch left on the dummy, but it wasn't too deep. "...Good enough, maybe," Etalt shrugged, "Could be better. Keep trying, will ya?" Etalt sat there, watching Alair swing at the dummy repeatedly. She coughed lightly after some time had passed. "Alright. Lemme see what you did." Etalt inspected the dummy, looking around for marks as Alair sat there tiredly. Etalt's face was somewhat filled with amusement, "Huh. You still need more practice, but I guess you'll be fine when you go to feed the Lamenting Gourmand..." her expression dulled slightly as she reached for the weapon, "Just don't die, got it?" "I can't promise anything..." "Just try not to," Etalt muttered as she slipped the pieces of the weapon against each other, creating the sound of a satisfying click. The weapon was now a small stick that could be slipped into one's pocket. The two had started to make their way to the gate of the training grounds. "I really don't wanna have to put ya in trouble," Etalt placed her gun in her pocket, "You were lucky that Dunn didn't catch me killing those ghosts or whatever they were for you." "I have an excuse, right?" Alair had said. "...Nah. Otherwise, Fabian probably would've helped little redneck Andrew." "Ha... Poor Andrew." "NOT poor Andrew! He's the biggest prick you'd ever meet! I wouldn't have hesitated to put a laser through his head!" Alair had opened the gate before passing through it, "You're such a sour Nancy, you know?" "A... sour Nancy...?" "You don't know what that is?" "Eh..." Alair had went inside to get the food that he needed to feed the creature he was about to face. When he came back, the two continued to walk along the path to the exit of the village. "So, where's Goldilocks?" Etalt snorted, "It's a miracle that I didn't see her today at all..." "Huh?" Alair looked over at Etalt, "Oh... Haha, right... I forgot to tell her that I was going out!" He turned around to go back to the mansion, only to be pulled back by the bag. "Nope. No time. Finish this challenge today or we don't get Dunn on our side." "You're such a McFreakin' buzzkill!" Alair groaned. "No. I'm just tryna help you live," Etalt scoffed, dragging him down the path and to the exit, "Seriously. Do all of that later... If you even survive the Lamenting Gourmand." "Wow, thanks for reassuring me of my possible and probably inevitable death!" "You're welcome. It's my job." It was a long trip, which had been possibly longer than the one to the library. Throughout the whole way, Alair kept trying to tell jokes while Etalt would seemingly have no reaction. However, at some point, it did seem as if she were trying not to smirk. "Hey! You're smiling!" Alair had sneered. "Am not. Now shush." "Don't lie," Alair chuckled, "Like you said, 'liars go to hell!'" "Can it, wubby." "Wubby? Really?!" Alair had stifled a laugh, "Is that really the best you can think of? Come on! I've heard worse from you!" "Heh. Okay, I'll admit," A small smile came across her face, "It was a clever pun." "Knew it!" Throughout the rest of the day, they told each other stories and jokes. It was only a little more until they had stopped right in front of a colossal building. The building's roof was maroon in color while the stone walls were grey. There were nicely painted windows around the house. A lone wooden door had stood in front of them, waiting to be opened. "...Is this it?" Alair had inquired, inspecting the building from bottom to top, "It's... a big fancy mansion." "Yep. This is it," Etalt had said, "This is where the Lamenting Gourmand lives. It's only every now and then you can actually catch it in one place..." Etalt stepped forward, "You're ready, right? This should be the second hardest challenge you should have." Alair looked up and down, nervously clutching the bag's strap. He then removed the bag, placing it down and pulling out the pack of food that Dunn had supplied him with to feed to the creature, "...I guess I am... If it means getting out." Etalt had sighed, "Are you sure? Once you go in, you can't turn back." Alair nodded his head, "I'm actually sort of nervous, but... I'll try to get through this!" "When you're ready, open the door and we'll go in." Slowly, Alair had placed a hand on the door handle. He pushed it open gently and walked inside as Etalt followed behind. The halls were entirely golden, including the pillars that stood around the area. "...Is there... A certain place that I gotta put this...?" Alair had quietly muttered. "Just... On her dinner table, probably," Etalt had muttered back, "There's really no details, so... That's it, probably." "But... Where IS the dinner table?" Alair looked around, uneasiness welling up in his stomach once again, "Is this... A maze?" "I-" The sounds of rumbling had traveled through the halls as the shrill cry of what sounded similar to that of a little girl had echoed around them. Alair's body had immediately tensed up as Etalt got closer to him. She looked around. "...Gula's nearby," Etalt whispered. Alair eyed Etalt curiously, "...Gula?" "That's what some others call that thing. It has no definite name." "Why that? Sounds like a spider's name." "It means glutton in Latin." "Oh... Makes sense..." Etalt scratched her head slightly, "Well, I'll leave it to you to get there." Alair looked around as well. There was a path from the left and from the right. He paused before deciding to take the path on the right. The path was rather simple, leading up to a lone wooden door. Alair had reached out to it like the door at the entrance. The door slowly opened with a creak before he peered in. At the end of a clean golden table, which was filled with plates and utensils, was a little girl eating. It seemed as if the table floated with her. "Whaddya see?" Etalt had asked. "A little girl. Just like you described," Alair had said. The little girl's straight brown hair had reached up to her shoulder blade. Her eye color couldn't be quite identified yet, since she was too far out of range. Her dress was pearl white and laced with gold at certain parts. Her shoes were golden as well. "Must be it," Etalt had sighed, "I'm gonna have to wait out here so that Dunn doesn't kill us both. Ready?" "Probably..." Alair had pulled out the weapon from his bag, as well as the package that had been given to him by Dunn, "I'm probably gonna end up like this 'Andrew' guy, aren't I?" "Most likely... If you make any sudden movements." "Great," Alair opened the door a bit more, "I'll be seeing you on the flip side, then." He entered the room without a sound, his eyes locking on the petite little girl. Towards the table he crept, trying hard to not make a sound. Alair was able to feel his whole body quivering at the very thought of being mutilated alive. He had made it to the side of the table, about to place the package until he heard chuckling coming from one end of the room. Being completely filled with fear, Alair looked at the end of the table to see the little girl grinning at him from ear to ear. Within a few seconds, her body seemed to melt away as if she were a snake shedding its skin. Soon, the child had been replaced by something that Alair was unable to identify. Her light skin was now replaced by a ghost white color. Her eyes contained a black circle within a yellow ring. A deep red color had surrounded the yellow rings in her eyes. The grin that had formed on her face had gotten wider and seemingly sharper. It was almost as if the long strands of black that flowed from its hair were ribbons. The object that surrounded its neck seemed to be puffy in shape. It appeared as if it wore a dress. The little girl, as the creature, had grown in size. It was now comparable to the size of a door. Alair took a small step back. He was able to feel his temperature rise slowly as the grinning creature approached him. He slowly pulled out the silver stick and rotated it. The blade had immediately popped up and expanded right in front of his face. The creature, or as Etalt had called 'Gula,' had immediately came flying at Alair as it laughed like a person who had lost their insanity. Alair quickly fled and hid under the table, only to have the creature fly under after him. He rolled over to avoid the creature right as it came by. Seeing that Gula was now somewhat disoriented, Alair had taken this as a chance to crawl out from under the table and run towards the door. Due to the world's luck, the door was locked when Alair had tried to open the door. He groaned loudly, slamming his fist on the door, "GAH!! OUT OF ALL TIMES!!" It was then that he looked around the room more. There were more doors on each wall, having four on the other side and his current side of the hall and two doors for the other remaining walls. There was no time to react since Gula had emerged from the table, holding a fork and a knife. It pointed the knife towards Alair, who miraculously managed to block some of the knives. The rest had to be dodged. As Alair was distracted with the knives, the black stranded creature had raised its hand with the fork. A huge spear had appeared, flying towards Alair. Luckily, Alair had ran out of the way on time. He pulled out the Anamnesis orb in his pocket before screaming into it. "ETALT! ETALT, H-" He was only able to hear static when he called for help. Alair slipped the orb back into his pocket before proceeding to run to a door on his left. It didn't budge at all. Alair turned, noticing that the fangs were about to sink right into his skull. He dropped on his knees to avoid them before pushing himself away from the creature. A loud screech had came from its mouth as if it were crying for help. Gula had gotten its fangs stuck within the door. A mad dash had been made to the next door by the defenseless human. The door, much like the last one, didn't budge. Just as he took another step, Alair had felt something jerk on his legs. He fell with a thud as he felt himself being pulled back. He looked back to see the color of black entangling his leg. Alair tried to kick it away, but only found out why he wasn't supposed to as soon as he looked up. The gluttonous monster had morphed into a quadruple white furred mammal. It's body has quite a muscular and stocky build to it. The beast's pelt was stroked with black at the back and yellow at both sides of its mouth. Its mouse-like ears were black as well as the ribbon-like strands around its neck. Alair was now able to see that the marsupial had its lengthy tail coiled around his legs. With one swift movement, Alair's had met the wall in less than a second. He couldn't quite keep a grip as to where he was going, but he tried to move his arm anyway. As if he were being stabbed, a sharp pain had pierced through his shoulder. There was nothing else that was able to be done except to scream, in hopes of being heard. Splotches of blood were soon scattered around the shining golden floor. Alair stared in horror as he watched more and more of his blood slowly seep out. He was able to feel the breathing of the dasyurid right above his head. He quivered in fear as he tried to move his other arm. Before the beast could strike, it let out another screech as a ray of light had been landed. The weight on Alair's shoulder had been lifted. He looked it to see none other than Etalt standing in front of him. "W-What are you doing?!" Alair had exclaimed in between gasps, "Y-You're... Dunn doesn't want this!" "Who cares? I don't, y'know?" Etalt had scoffed at him again, "Heck, you'd get punished... But that's better than death." Gula, now seemingly in complete rage, had screeched again. Gold ribbons had enveloped it as it leapt towards Etalt. It was now a golden bird with a long neck. It's bare skin was sheet white and the feathers around its neck was black. It swept by Etalt, knocking her back. Alair tried to get up, only to collapse on his better arm. Etalt seemed fine by the blow, except for the fresh new wound on her head. Alair could've sworn that he saw something red around her abdomen, but he shook it off and thought that it was a part of his imagination. Etalt reached her sleeve up to her head to wipe off the blood that seeped out of the wound, "Weak. Thought you would bite off my limbs!" This only built up even more rage within Gula, causing it to screech and charge towards Etalt again. Etalt had fired a shot at it. It was avoided, to Alair's surprise. She had been swept off her feet again and slammed against a wall by the gust that Gula had sent towards her way. She sat there, seemingly stunned by the impact. Gula was ready to charge again, speeding towards her. Finally building up the will to ignore the pain of his shoulder, Alair had gotten up and stumbled next to Etalt. He forced the blade right into Gula's mouth as it was opened. Gula screeched as Alair pulled out the blade, drawing back and wincing at the wound within its mouth. Etalt had stood up, her movements noticeably shaky like Alair's. "Y-You okay?" Alair had asked, leaning on the blade's handle. Etalt had coughed before answering, "Shouldn't I be asking you? I'm bound to have more endurance than you." "Big talk..." Alair's voice had became shaky like his hand, which had grabbed on to Etalt's wrist, "N-No time for it, though... Let's get out b-before it gets us again..." Etalt looked towards a door at the side that had been parallel to the entrance door, "There... I know where it is..." Quickly and not bothering about whether Alair would stumble or not, Etalt had paced over to the third door of that side. As they ran, Gula's cries had echoed throughout the hall. Alair couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity for the creature. Etalt had pushed the door open, shoving Alair through it and slamming the door right behind herself after she ran in. The two had ran right out of the mansion, with Alair falling on his knees. Unknown to them, the mansion had faded into nothing behind them. Alair sighed with shivering breaths before looking up at Etalt, "A-Are you... hurt?" Etalt shook her head, "Course not..." a cough had left her mouth, but she covered it with her sleeve. She then brought up her sleeve to wipe off the blood that had trickled down her head, "It's fine... Nothing too serious." Deep breaths had entered Alair's mouth as he got up. His whole body was still shaking, "T-Thanks..." Etalt had immediately deadpanned Alair right in his eyes, "Thanks for what?! Nearly letting you die?! Geez, I can't even with you...!!!" She groaned, pulling on the strands of her hair, "What is it with you?! You can't even kill that thing! How are you supposed to survive against Dunn?! How are you supposed to survive in this world?!" "...Want me to apologize?" Due to such a calm and short reply, Etalt could only stare at him. Her expression softened into that of her blank face mixed in with a small amount of regret. She shook her head gently, "Shut up. You're so weak that it pisses me off," she gently shoved him away from where the mansion once was, "I'm not ready to let your life get cut off just like a paper doll. Try not to die." Alair stayed silent, about to walk ahead. Etalt had then came up next to him. "Listen, you freakin' nerd. I don't care if it breaks Dunn's rules, but... Just call me if you need help," Etalt muttered, "If you get punished, at least you don't die." Her tone was noticeably softer than usual. It was almost as if something was off to Alair. "Are you... sure you're okay?" Alair had asked, "You're being... Nice." "Would you like me to be rude?" "No, I'm fine with this." Etalt scoffed, "I'm only not punching you because I know my limits to this. Got it, liar? I would punch you if you weren't damaged at all." "Thanks for the reassuring words." When they both had returned to town, it was dark. Dunn had been waiting by the gate, crossing his arms and seeming more crossed than usual. It could be seen that Fabian was behind him, appearing nervous at the sight of them. Alair had stopped right in front of Dunn with Etalt next to him. Etalt had opened her mouth to speak, but Dunn had interrupted. "Y'all broke the damn rules, didn't ya?" Alair looked at him nervously and tried to avoid his glance, while Etalt stared right at Dunn. "I'll take a guess," Etalt's eyes shifted towards Fabian, "He told you, didn't he?" Fabian hid himself more behind Dunn, who had nodded. "What did I say?" Dunn had grunted. Alair breathed in heavily, "I know... I wasn't supposed to get any type of assistance from anyone at all." Dunn had reached his hand to grab what seemed to be Alair's collar, but Etalt had punched his wrist. She put her arm in front of Alair, gently shoving him back. "He didn't ask for that, moron," Etalt muttered, "I helped him myself. Calm down, lizard breath." Dunn stared at them both, his eyes narrowing at Etalt. His voice had took on a mocking tone, "Aww, it's because you weren't able to save your wittle wittle best fwends and now you feel bad!" His eyes had lit into flames, "You want to make up for what you did to your own family, huh?! Well, why didn't you try that a fuckin' long time ago?!" "M-Mr. Dunn, please don't..." From behind, Fabian had whispered. "I do whatever the hell I want! You're nothing but a screwed up teen!" Dunn had shouted as he glared back at Fabian, "A failure!" Fabian had screeched out of pure fear, backing away, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Alair had stepped up, carefully pushing down Etalt's arm, "I don't mean to interrupt, but if they've done bad things... Then you must be as bad as them!" Etalt looked over at Alair, "Liar, this is our-" "Fabian seems like a failure to you, but he held on to life even though he had nothing anymore!" Alair had spoken, "I don't know what Etalt has done and why she's hated, but you're not any better than her if you keep on cursing at other people just to take out your anger and grudges on them!" Dunn stared at Alair again before giving out an entirely fake laugh, "What do ya want me to do, kid? I am the embodiment of hate. It's not like I can change anything about that shit." "You're killing people by giving them these 'challenges' that'll kill them in the end!" Alair had continued, "What do you expect me to think?!" A crackling noise had been made when Dunn had moved his head around in a circular motion. He cracked his knuckles. "If you're going to punish him, then don't let the punishment be death," Etalt had said, "If you allow it to be something that's associated with harm, I'll tell Raika... And she'll bring a flood over this village." It was almost as if the three were having a glaring match. Alair was nervous, Etalt had her blank face, and Dunn was enraged of course. "I'll let you two off the hook for now," Dunn had glared as he turned to walk away. He stopped halfway before raising his arms to the sky. Right behind Alair, Etalt and around the gates of the town, a translucent red screen had appeared. Etalt touched the screen, her finger stopping against it. She shrugged, "I guess we're stuck here for now... Even if I don't do well with the heat, but oh well." Alair watched as Dunn trudged off with Fabian standing there. As soon as Dunn was gone, Fabian had skidded up to the two. "A-Are you two..." "Yeah, we're fine..." Alair had said, "Just a little bleeding, but... We're fine." Fabian covered his mouth, looking down, "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." "Fab, what are you sorry for?" Alair's words were on a string of bewilderment. "I-I... Told him..." Fabian had whispered as his body quivered, "H-He sent me to follow you... And... I was afraid to go against him..." Alair weakly reached a hand out to Fabian's shoulder, "I know... He's really... Intimidating." "But he's still going to punish you!" Fabian had exclaimed. "It's fine... It won't be death related, right?" Etalt coughed before she covered her mouth. She reached it up to her hand, but moved it below her nose. When Alair looked down at her sleeve, the blood on it looked newly shedded. "Let's go inside..." Alair had said, starting to walk, "We should probably get a good rest..."