Unsettling Reflection

She rode the sabertooth tiger to the residence of the Scanara Tribe. As Ferris leaped over a stretchy tree trunk, he ensured to slow down before the Centaurus.

"Notonius!" the woman called, "I found the Seraphs' hideout." Overjoyed at the news, Notonius trod before the woman and Ferris, his poleaxe supporting his weight.

"Olishia, I knew you would be up for this mission," Notonius claimed, looking at her while wiping away the dust off his hoof.

Olishia climbed off Ferris' back and wrapped her polearm around her back, grabbing a picture she had taken earlier. "It's southeast, away from the bonfire used to cremate outlanders, just down the hill and behind a wall of bushes. We're able to get there in less than 30 minutes."

Notonius became fascinated, amazed that their violent foes resided much closer than he had expected, "Behind a wall of bushes, you say? The Seraphs are so close to our tribe, then... we can surely find a proper way to confront them without losing many of our men. I suppose we never thought they'd hide behind thorns." Notonius gripped his chin.

"It would be ideal to launch an attack on their village now. Some of their battalions got sent out on an assignment to find a party of pirates at the Sanctum Islands' entryway. We can outnumber them and terminate them from our way with fewer casualties." Olishia's conception became a practical solution, and Notonius remained set on it for a while, "Perhaps it's the most ingenious idea. I acknowledge it..."

-

The crew reached the Sanctum Islands' top a few minutes sooner than Hywel anticipated, so the commissioners sent out to locate them came to an empty salutation at the entryway.

"There doesn't seem to be any of the white-haired pirate's allies." One of the Seraphs believed to the point of even ordering the rest of his group to investigate the area just in case they were somewhere in the surrounding terrain. "So, what should we do, Ka'jai? If the crew isn't here, should we search for them through the rest of the rainforest or return and deliver the preliminary assignment?"

Ka'jai fell in thought and turned to look at everyone, "We continue searching. They shouldn't have gotten far from here in such a short time."

-

Whistling through the forest with his arms crossed behind his neck, Kou and the others followed Kyora's professional navigation skills. "I'm starting to believe we'll never find Tim and Chiaki. It's a giant rainforest with enormous trees with barely any openings. How do we intend to find them in such a monumental biome?" he questioned, poking into Kyora's concentration.

"Don't you trust me? I'm a specialist at locating people. Don't be so blunt about it, kiddo." Kou, bullied by being called a kid, looked away in irritation and sighed, "I'm not here to judge by no means necessary. But I also don't want to look for them without some indication of their whereabouts."

Kyora's frustration got the better of her, "If you're so intolerant, why don't you take over my job and bring us to them?!" Kou became terrified, causing sweat to trickle down his brow, "I'm sorry! You don't need to yell at me." Kyora took a deep breath to relax and faced forward, "Even Aurora's cool with it, and she's probably the only one who hasn't explored other islands. Especially one 15,000 meters in the sky."

Aurora peered at Kyora while walking beside Yumiko, bewildered, clutched the back of her head, "Well, I can't really argue with anyone. I may be able to find stores and other businesses, but I don't have the best sense of direction when it comes to islands I've never been to. So, I just kinda have to trust Kyora for bringing us to others."

Yumiko shrugged her shoulders, smiling. "Hey, I got no clue where we're going half of the time too, so the best thing to do is leave it to Kyora."

"I know!" Ralphie yelled in the background, "Kyora-princess is a true heroine! She's even more beautiful on the inside than on the outside! Being around her makes everything better and simple as preparing a hummus without tahini!" Ralphie sang, dancing with his slithering arms and legs, "Ooh! Ooh!" Tarot called, jumping in front of him, "Does this 'hummus' thing have peaches inside?!"

Ralphie became shocked, "Hey! Don't ever put a peach with hummus! It's out of context!" Tarot became crushed, encompassed by purple clouds, "Then how is that a pleasing dish?" he inquired with his arms dangling in front of his forward-bent torso, "Not every dish should involve peaches, dingbat!"

Yumiko glimpsed at Aurora, having her inquisitive thoughts running through her head at all times, "Hey, Aurora. I know this might be out of nowhere, and I understand it was painful, but I need to know." Aurora didn't know what Yumiko had on her mind but permitted her to ask anyway, "How were you able to survive that electrocution?" She kept in mind to be as quiet as possible, keeping the rest of her friends from interrupting their discussion, "I wouldn't think your body would be able to hold its own against something that brutal."

Aurora had no problems answering, but she couldn't tell the proper reason, "I, uh... don't know. I didn't have a clear mind when tormented by the high voltage." She responded, reaching for her chest and looking down at it, "It was horrible. That's all I know. And I still have the wound mark on my chest."

Yumiko couldn't withdraw her attention from her, "It feels like I was blessed to survive that 'savagery.' But there's something else I witnessed afterward." Like the vessel from the ocean, her memories flooded back.

~ However, blood unexpectedly gushed like a geyser or a flood of water, splashing the walls. As he watched his left arm being destroyed and ripped into a tangle of blood, Erembour's eyes grew wide with amazement and terror. He shivered in his boots and cried out, "My arm!?!" as he gripped his femur. He noticed a bizarre, shadowy energy sputtering through the area like wildfire.

"What did you do!?" Erembour roared, clasping his arm in horrible pain. Timothy's sinister pose and grave yet frightening expression jabbed at him like a flying polearm — soaring through the current at the speed of sound, trying to pierce the target like a dart, getting stuck in an unbendable board. ~

"I wasn't very conscious back then, but I managed to see it momentarily. Something in Tim changed in an instant, like a light switch. The kind-hearted and polite friend — whom I've met became something like the void or a hollowed, heartless, insensitive being that reminded me of a nightmare or a ghoul." Aurora's heart began to race, and the translucent sweat dribbled down her face at a quicker rate.

"I could almost feel something satanic around the room. Something close to an overwhelming heat that wanted to melt me and my consciousness." Aurora replied, "I remember vaguely. But I'm pretty sure he didn't kill my kidnapper who wanted to torture me but tore his limbs apart like paper." Aurora let go of her mark and darted at Yumiko, wondering, "Did you know that Tim doesn't only have a good side to him, but a dark one as well?"

Aurora's quick and most unexpected description rendered Yumiko breathless "No, I'm not sure. Even if Tim did murder a woman once on Craftsman Island, I don't believe it was as extreme as what you recounted, Aurora." Yumiko believed, "Are you saying Tim is a bad guy?" Yumiko asked abruptly. Immediately denying it, Aurora swayed her arms to the left and right, "No way in hell! He doesn't even strike me as a bad man. Regardless of what he did. But why would he behave that way toward someone he had only recently met back then?"

Yumiko darted into the distance, "Aurora... I wish I could answer. I really do. But for someone like me, who never had any trouble with him or has never seen him in that condition... I just don't have the knowledge."

Aurora beamed in return, "No, it's okay. I'm sure he'll explain when the time comes..." Aurora shifted away, concealing her smile and becoming worried, "At least I hope he does..." She tensed her fist against her chest, inhaling and exhaling in silence.

To be continued...