Chapter 19: Revelations

“I hope we can be good friends” Ryan awoke from the soft sound of a young female voice, realizing that he was floating in an infinite space with nothing but stars to be seen. He shifted his head from side to side along with his body but there was no one else floating except for him until the voice spoke again. “Ryan… please don’t leave my side… please…”

“Selena…” The lad muttered under his breath before a white light slowly appeared from a far distance. As if a bullet shell transformed into a bundle of concentrated lasers, it was in a matter of seconds before it became a gigantic light, illuminated by an exploding star until it replaced the black, infinite space with nothing but the color of light. Blue petals started to gently rain down upon him in a wide radius, he caught a few of the falling petals from his open palm, the moist feeling from the petals seemed somewhat familiar to him, each feeling of the petals with his fingers gave him a taste of a memory he wanted to forget.

“Ryan, please don’t leave my side… please…” He heard the voice again and this time, a female figure with hair that was long and elegant, glistening in the color of blue. He walked slowly towards the floating female, attempting to reach her by the shoulder until she executed a quick turn, facing him with large beady eyes that showed visible tears upon the lad. He took a step back, surprised by her upset appearance, he never saw this female before. Tall, slim, and gorgeous was the most accurate way to describe this specimen. But she reminded him so much of the girl that disappeared all those years ago.

“S… Selena?” With that stuttering mention of that name, the area illuminated by light disappeared and at the same time, his eyes widened as he woke up from the meaningful dream. He wanted to get up from the bed he woke up in but the sudden scent of Hitomi’s hair, tainted by the elegant and delightful smell of a cherry blossom shampoo, caused him to get paralyzed for a short moment before feeling a sudden warmth around his arms and chest. He slowly lowered his head, surprised to see how he was suddenly holding Hitomi close to his chest, wrapped by his tight embrace. The female had her eyes opened, widely staring directly at his orange hoodie while she tried her best not to pass out due to her rising emotions when Ryan subconsciously pulled her to his tight embrace, her cheeks were red and her breathing was intense to the point her could feel her hot breath through his hoodie and t-shirt.

“R… Ryan?” Hitomi managed to mention his name despite her stuttering. The lad, after hearing his name called out, immediately released her from his embrace and instantly got out of the bed before responding.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know what came over me…! A-are you alright?” Asked the surprised lad in concern, he was sure that his previous embrace was the tightest he ever did.

“Y-yeah… I’m alright…” Hitomi replied as she got up from the bed, her reddened cheeks soon started to dim but her heart still raced like she ran a marathon. “But the question is… A-are you alright? When I woke up… I saw tears falling from only your right eye… as if… you were crying so I decided to wipe your tears with the bed sheet but then… y-you… pulled me towards you and didn’t let go…”

“I did…?” Asked Ryan in a hint of disbelief as Hitomi nodded her head as part of her response to his question.

“Yes, it happened about half an hour ago… you were holding me so tightly that I couldn’t break free… and I couldn’t wake you up… (Because my body didn’t dare to let me speak)”

“I’m sorry if I… frightened you. I didn’t know what happened, don’t worry it won’t happen again. Plus by now you’re room should be finished, I’ll help you move your clothes there”

“Oh I see… alright then and don’t worry, I wasn’t frightened- wait… what clothes? I only have my pajamas and the previous clothes I wore back at my house…” Hitomi asked in confusion.

“Then whose clothes are those?” Ryan pointed at the stack of neatly folded female clothes on the desk next to Hitomi’s side of the bed. She was confused as well, opening her book to check if one of the characters there created the clothes for her but none is shown to be active.

“I… don’t know… Diane didn’t make them”

“Who’s Diane?”

“She’s one of the characters in this book, she can create anything with her needle and thread, but I didn’t summon her…” The female responded as she tied her long, dark olive hair with her pair of pink ribbons until Lucas appeared after opening the door, holding folded jackets and pants around his arms.

“Oh, I see you two are awake now. You’re probably wondering about the clothes, these were my daughter’s… since your house was burnt along with the other clothes I decided to give you all of her clothes instead” Said Lucas with a polite tone as he placed the folded clothes on top of the other clothes on the desk.

“T-thank you… but… I-is it… alright?” Asked Hitomi with a shy voice.

“It’s totally fine. I planned to donate it sooner or later”

“Why don’t you try one on to see if it fits you?” Ryan suggested with a gentle smile as she nodded. Grabbing a light brown jacket and wearing it, seeing that not only it suited her, but it also fits perfectly. With her daughter’s previous clone worn by a friend of Ryan, the tall, charcoal hair colored male smiled in delight.

“It suits you. They're all yours, Hitomi”

“T-Thank you… Mr. Cunningham”

“Please, call me Lucas. Also, how did you two sleep?” Suddenly an awkward silence filled between them.

“It was… fine” Ryan replied for her as she nodded her head quickly.

“Hmm are you sure… because the way you two slept was so adorable”

“What do you mean?” Asked Ryan with a confused look before Lucas showed them his phone with a picture of him hugging Hitomi to their point of view. The female released a steam of embarrassment as her face and ears became redder than anyone could. Ryan had a surprised look as he sighed in response, failing to hide what happened while Lucas just laughed from their looks.

“Haha! Don’t worry, I won’t post this or anything. Let’s just say this is remembrance. There’s breakfast at the dining table, I’ll be outside mowing the lawn, also you can move in the new room I’ve prepared.” After announcing those words, the male gave them both a warm smile before heading outside to mow the lawn with his lawnmower. The two teens then stared at each other in silence before both of them soon laughed softly in unison as the sunlight fully shined upon the room where they were in.

After they went downstairs to eat their breakfast, which was an egg sandwich and some fresh fruits, Ryan texted Joseph and told him to announce to the others that they should meet at the shop to further discuss what they were going to do for tomorrow’s event. After waiting for a few hours the entrance door suddenly opened and Wendy came into view. She noticed Ryan and Hitomi waving at her from across the living room where she made her way towards them.

“Hey, I came here as fast as I could. Where are the others? Am I too early?” Asked Wendy before taking a seat on an empty chair.

“No, they’re just late. I’ll prepare something to eat in the kitchen. I’ll be right back” Ryan stated before walking towards the kitchen.

“I’ll help!” Hitomi spoke out loud before covering her face with her book once she realized she subconsciously raised her voice. The thought of being alone in a room with another female that she barely knows made her feel nervous.

“It’s alright. Just sit there and wait for the others, it’ll be quick” Ryan replied firmly without looking back before entering the kitchen where he soon tied an apron around his back and rolled up the sleeves of his orange hoodie.

Meanwhile, the two females remained in awkward silence, both nervous and anxious to talk to each other until Wendy broke the aura around them with a question.

“So umm… how did you sleep last night?” Asked the brown-haired female while hoping to start a small conversation. Hitomi was startled a bit, gazing at Wendy’s eyes in a split second before wrapping the book around her chest tightly as if it was her way to calm herself before responding to her question.

“It was nice…” She replied with an exposed reddened face after remembering the events from earlier when Ryan held her tightly for half an hour. Wendy noticed something was off so she asked her once more, this time she had a curious look.

“Your face is really red… Did something happen?” Hitomi replied by shaking her head sideways, aggressively. “Are you sure? You can tell me, I promise I won’t tell anyone” Said Wendy with a reassuring tone, causing Hitomi to become silenced for a moment, gazing down at her knees with a still visible blush before responding.

“W-well… he was crying with one eye in his sleep when I woke up…”

“Crying…?” She muttered before hearing the rest of what she had to say.

“I attempted to wipe his tears away but he suddenly pulled me towards him and… and… he kept me around his embrace… it lasted for 30 minutes… before he woke up” Hitomi felt more embarrassed as she said those embarrassing words to Wendy, her heart was throbbing after she somewhat missed the warmth of his chest. Wendy’s cheeks glowed in a faint blush as she was shocked to hear that actually happened.

“Really?!- I mean… how did you feel…?”

“Like I was about to pass out in a coma”

She replied before her embarrassment slowly faded away after hearing Wendy’s soft chuckle which didn’t take long before she chuckled with her as well.

“You’re really lucky, Hitomi”

“I am…?”

“Mhm… but I have another question? Why was he crying?”

“I don’t know… maybe he was having a nightmare? But he muttered a name”

“A name? Whose name?”

“I don’t know who but it was… Selena”

“Selena? Hmm… whoever she is, she must be important to him” Wendy assumed as Hitomi thought the same.

“Yeah, I think so too. But you two probably shouldn’t talk about that personal stuff from behind Ryan’s back even with the fact that the three of us are all attracted to him” A female spoke with an audible voice. Wendy and Hitomi’s eyes widened in surprise when they failed to notice Josie who was seen sitting on a sofa with her legs crossed with a small smirk towards them both.

“Josie?! How long were you there?!” Wendy shouted.

“Oh not long, I was here in the part she said Ryan embraced her for half an hour” Josie replied with a finger pointed at her chin as if she was pretending to remember when she arrived.

“I didn’t even see you enter, talk about Stealthy and Creepy like a Stalker,” Wendy said with a smug look, referring to it as an insult.

“Ha. Ha. Very funny. But seriously, am I right when I said that the three of us here are all attracted to him? Lying is not an option. I admit I fell in love with him the moment I first laid eyes on him” Josie boldly announced, showing no restraint nor stutter, she was confident in her own feeling meanwhile the two females were shocked to hear what she just said. After hearing her reveal her feelings for the lad, both of them soon felt the urge to confess as well but will they succumb despite the embarrassment?

“I… fell in love with him too…” Wendy admitted but she was more disturbed by the disappointed look on Josie’s face. “What’s with that face?!”

“Wendy, everyone knows you have feelings for, Ryan. You’re so obvious” Josie giggled as Wendy resisted the unbearable urge to punch her right on the nose.

“What I’m most curious about is Hitomi’s feelings” Josie stated as they both gazed over at the reddened Hitomi who hid her face behind her book once she mentioned her name. “It’s no use hiding it so why don’t you just tell the truth? It’s just a friendly girl talk, just think of this as a friend’s confession session”

“That’s not a thing”

“You know what I mean. So what is it, Hitomi?”

The situation was too intense for the shy female. She hoped that Ryan would immediately pop out of the room to save her from admitting like a cliché story from a romantic-comedy novel but this was the real world, and in the real world Ryan is still in the kitchen. She closed her eyes and took in deep breaths before speaking.

“I… fell in love… as well,” She said from behind the book that covered her face, if she could only see that warm smile of the other two females from her response then she would have felt relieved by now.

“Let’s keep all of this between the three of us” Josie suggested as Wendy agreed even with Hitomi by nodding as she slowly lowered her book a bit, only exposing her eyes and nose.

“Hey what’s that scrumptious aroma?” Wendy asked before the others sniffed out the same aromatic scent coming from the kitchen. Soon the lad made his way towards the living room where the three females were staring at him in the curiosity of what he made, he was seen carrying a tray of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and 4 cups of tea wearing blue oven mitts to prevent his hands from feeling the burning sensation of the hot tray before placing it on the small table at the center of the living room. The look on the three females was focused on those baked sweets, it even looks like one of them has their mouthwatering from the aroma.

“I heard Josie’s name being called out so I decided to make one more tea. I hope you girls will like it” Said Ryan with a smile before removing the oven mitts as he took a seat on the sofa where Josie was sitting. The three females soon reached for an individual cookie, and with one bite sent them a pack of unrivaled flavor compared to other baked sweets they previously ate. The cheerful look on Hitomi as she chewed that cookie was pleasing to the eyes, sending a warm feeling onto Ryan after seeing that all of them liked it.

“Wow, these are the best cookies I've ever tasted!” Wendy commented in delight.

“Yes…” Hitomi shyly agreed.

“Thank you. Sasha, my previous maid, taught me a lot of things about cooking and baking. How’s the tea?” Ryan asked before the three of them reached for their own cup of tea, after tasting his baked sweets they prepared their taste buds for the tea’s expected unique taste, only to be shocked by how awful it was. Josie almost spit out her part of the tea before gulping it down, she gazed over at the others to see how they would react and the appearance on their faces was just the same as hers. They were uncertain whether to tell him the truth or not, they felt bad to hurt his feelings until Ryan spoke. “It’s awful, isn’t it?”

“N-no! It’s not awful! It just has a… a unique taste to it” Wendy lied to prevent his feelings from getting hurt. She gestured to Josie to assist her with the lie but Ryan saw through her.

“It’s alright, I know it’s awful. I can never be good at making tea, it’s like the only thing I can’t be good at”

The shy female stared at the plain green tea on her cup before standing up from where she sat and read something in her book before their teacups levitated in midair and followed her towards the kitchen, leaving the three teens in silence and confusion.

“Oh yeah, she can do magic,” Said Josie as they waited for her to come back. Once she did, she levitated the floating teacups and made them land on the table. Ryan reached for his cup and took a sip this time the taste suited the cookies he prepared and the two girls thought the same way as well once they took a sip at theirs

“Hitomi is really good with tea! What did you add?” Wendy asked in curiosity.

“It’s a… secret…” The shy female with amethyst eyes replied along with a light giggle.

“I envy you so much, Hitomi” Ryan added as he kept drinking the warm green tea which lowered his conflicted emotions about what he was going to discuss with them.

“Jeez! With Ryan’s baking skills and Hitomi’s tea skills, you two should make a café! I heard the old Café in the town is closing soon due to lack of customers” The pink-haired female commented as she took another cookie for her to eat. Suddenly the door opened and Manny arrived holding a pink purse with a sweaty Joseph by his side. “My purse!” Josie shouted before the silver-haired male gave her the purse.

“What took you guys so long?” Asked the brown-haired female.

“Well… the three of us were on our way here then a purse snatcher stole Josie’s purse so Manny and I chased after him” Joseph replied, letting out a barrage of exhausted breaths.

“I told you I can handle it, and why were you running on the rooftops?” Manny asked, looking fine as he wasn’t bothered by the distance they ran.

“It’s called, Parkour”

“You kept falling… a lot”

“Part of the Parkour”

“Well, either way, you two are my heroes!” Josie stated as she gave both of her friends a quick hug before returning to where she sat.

“Ooh! Are those cookies?!” Joseph pointed at the tray of cookies before grabbing one and tossing it into his mouth. “Tasty! Did you make this, Ryan?!”

“Yes, I’m glad you like it,” The lad replied with a gentle smile before Manny spoke.

“Alright, that’s enough. Why did you call us to come here? Have you thought of a way on what we are to do when tomorrow comes?” The silver-haired male asked with a serious look that was embedded onto Ryan, making the other’s smiles drop after remembering why tomorrow is a problem. The split-colored male took his time before responding with a change of his usual cheerful tone to a tone that Wendy hated.

“Fighting Camille and her associates in a one-way ticket to death… none of us can beat them, not even with Josie’s bodyguards. They are too fast and agile… not to mention they can regenerate from any wound or injury”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Manny scoffed at first.

“Why don’t we just let Hitomi handle this one? She can summon stuff to fight them”

“I agree… I can summon, Flambo… He is powerful enough to stop them…” Hitomi agreed.

“See? It’s that easy, just let Flambo burn those creeps”

“And what if he can’t?” Ryan asked with a negative tone.

“What are you talking about? Did you see what Flambo could do? He controls fire, Ryan!”

“I know what he does…”

“So what’s making you disagree?” Manny asked, looking annoyed.

“Have you forgotten what Sirius muttered…?” Manny suddenly looked like he was about to kill someone after he mentioned that name, the name of the creature who beat him in combat and humiliated him. “They can regenerate to all known injury, what if that includes being burnt? What if they kept regenerating to the point Flambo gets tired and they spot an opening to strike and kill him? I can’t let another one get killed… not anymore” Hitomi soon thought of the same possibility, there is really a chance that Flambo will be killed. She wouldn’t want any more of her loyal friends to get killed, she already lost Arachne, losing Flambo means losing her life as well, she couldn’t live with the thought of having another one meet the final page of their book.

“Ryan is right about that. For example, in a film called X-men, Wolverine has the ability to instantly regenerate as well and retract sharp iron claws from his knuckles. His Regeneration is at its peak, even being shot in the head or being burnt meant nothing to him” Joseph supported Ryan’s opinion.

“So what now? Are we just going to let them kill us all without fighting back?”

“There is another way and this is the main matter that I wanted to discuss about”

“What is it?” Josie asked, her usual cheery expression dropped to something that resembled to a person who is almost losing hope.

“A few days ago, back when Bruno and his accomplices were beating me up… A bull creature stopped them and made them all run away after Hitomi yelled for help. It was over 8 feet tall, had a more muscular body than anything I have ever seen. It had the appearance of a bull but it was standing with its own two feet… it told me if I needed its help, I should wander deep into the forest until I realize I’m lost and then call its name and he will appear…” The others had a surprised expression marked in their faces but Manny seemed calmed for some reason, looking unsurprised at all which caught Ryan’s attention.

“Good, let’s just yell its name then and it will help us,” said Manny.

“That’s the problem… it forgot to mention its name to us…”

“Whelp… we’re all dead”

“Manny!” Wendy yelled in anger after seeing how upset and hopeless Josie looks. The silver-haired male noticed her expression and remained silent, it may not look like it but he regretted saying that.

“We don’t have any choice… maybe I can get its attention f I say what we’re dealing with”

“You know you’re betting our lives on a ‘Maybe’” Manny added before the split-colored lad stood up from his seat to respond with a firm look and tone.

“I know, that’s why I don’t intend to lose. Hitomi” The female perked up in surprise when he suddenly mentioned her name. “I won’t let your friends die as well. Not anymore…” Hearing those words encouraged the shy female to put all her trust in Ryan. The rest of the teens who watched Ryan and Manny argue soon became encouraged as well, standing up from their seats and wiping off their faithless expressions with trust and loyalty to their friend.

“We’re with you Ryan” Wendy spoke out loud in confidence. Josie nodded with a smile in agreement with her words and Joseph showed his trust in him by lightly punching his shoulder.

“We’re the Mystery Club! We face mysteries head on to seek the truth, together”

“Thank you… Manny, are you with us?” Ryan asked as they all faced the slightly obnoxious male who had his arms crossed and faced sideways to avoid making eye contact.

“Whatever, let’s just finish this” As the lad took Manny’s response as a ‘Yes’. The teens exited the shop, Lucas, who just finished mowing the lawn, noticed that they are out to go somewhere he doesn’t know on a Sunday morning.

“Where are you fellas going?” Asked the charcoal-haired man that directed to Ryan.

“Oh, we’re just going out to hang out” Ryan lied, not wanting to tell him what they were actually up to.

“Hmm, I see. Whelp, be careful then. Also since tomorrow is a holiday, I’ll let you be in charge of the shop” Lucas replied.

“Where are you going?” Ryan asked in curiosity.

“I need to collect the large aquarium shipment I ordered straight from England. I also need to buy a new sofa, the one we had is really small. Alright then, good luck to all of you and stay out of trouble” Lucas finished his announcement and happily went back inside the shop to get a shower.

“Alright now, what do we do? For the record, how are we supposed to get lost in the forest if we know where we’ve been? Not to mention, some of us here can’t walk that long” Manny gestured his head towards Joseph by bopping it sideways towards him.

“Hmm… you’re right about that” Ryan muttered before Hitomi spoke.

“Umm, I may be of help to that…” They all gazed at Hitomi in curiosity as she had a small smile to solve Manny’s simple question. After a few minutes, the teen was seen near the forest, away from the shop to where no one else could see them.

“Why are we here?” Asked Ryan.

“I can’t be seen summoning by your Uncle…”

“Who are you going to summon?” Joseph with an eager look to see what kind of being will it be.

“Someone who can help us” As Hitomi finished her response. She opened the book and started reading the words written in the specific chapter with a language they could never understand. As the female chanted the words in front of them, the yellow eye at the end of the book cover soon glowed, Ryan noticed the familiarities of the eye symbol from her book and on the Harpoon gun, he once used to end Illumina’s life. Then all of a sudden, a flash of bright purple light shined from the book and a beautiful female wearing glasses appeared before them, with dashing purple hair and eyes behind those clear spectacles, wearing a purple Tank top with a black sports bra underneath and black shorts underneath with a pair of black shoes that resembled to what female Japanese students wear with a pair of white socks. As the radiant purple flash soon turned to dim, the gorgeous female opened her eyes, only to be shocked at how many people were staring at her with a revealing attire. Suddenly large, old map charts with the size of a blanket appeared in thin air which she hid behind with a flustered look and a reddened face to prevent them from seeing her exposed skin.

“H-Hitomi! W-why did you s-summoned me here…?!” Yelled the purple-haired female as Hitomi stuttered before assisting her by holding her in-between her embrace of comfort while the others stood there in a confusion about the situation.

“Stella, I’m sorry! I forgot you’re a shy person!” Hitomi tried to reassure her but the way she said that with a panicking voice didn’t help. “We just need your help!”

“How could you forget?! Boys are staring at me!” Stella yelled with a high pitch voice which was a hint that she was at her peak in embarrassment. Hearing her words Joseph turned to face the other way with a light blush, Ryan gazed at the sky, and Josie covered Manny’s eyes to prevent them from seeing her flashy attire. Soon when everything calmed down and the males were still standing in their current positions, Stella recollected herself and stood up from the ground where she started to introduce herself while standing close right next to Hitomi. “I am… S-Stella the Cartographer… nice to meet all of you” She introduced herself.

“Hello, my name is Josie and this is Manny” Josie introduced themselves while still covering Manny’s eyes.

“This is ridiculous…” Manny muttered.

“I’m Wendy and this guy here is Joseph” Wendy introduced herself before the chubby teen who was still facing the other way, nothing but trees.

“Yo!” Said Joseph as he put up a peace sign.

“I’m Ryan, nice to meet you, Stella,” Said Ryan, still staring high at the clouds.

“Oh, you’re Ryan…? Hitomi told us a lot ab-” Before Stella could finish her sentence, Hitomi covered her mouth and yelled as loud as she could.

“WE NEED YOUR HELP TO TELEPORT US DEEP IN THE FOREST!!”

“AHH!!! MY EARS!!!” The comedic duo panicked once more while the others were forced to stare in awkward silence at the slightly humorous sight where only Joseph was heard chuckling despite facing backward.

After a few more minutes.

“Alright, make some room, I need to summon my maps” Stella announced as they all took a step back, well for Joseph it was a step forward. She closed her eyes as multiple maps appeared including one containing nothing but a blank piece of the chart. As the maps started to rotate around her, soon the empty map started to scribble the entire forest area of Shooting Star in a matter of seconds. Once the map finished printing itself, it then stayed in midair a few feet in front of Stella, opening her eyes and seeing it still floating right there, she walked forward in an attempt to grab the completed map but the first step she ever took was tripped over by a small rock, causing her to instantly fall flat on the leaf-covered ground as the maps that floated fell altogether as well. Ryan and the others stood there in silence, while Manny tried to contain his laughter Hitomi assisted her fallen friend before she suddenly went into a panic.

“Ah! My maps! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! This is so embarrassing…” Stella muttered as she held one of her maps around her chest, hiding her embarrassed look while Hitomi helped in gathering the fallen maps.

“(They are so alike…)” Wendy and Josie thought in unison of Hitomi and Stella’s resemblance. As the two shy females gathered the nearest maps, Ryan lowered to Stella’s level and handed her the map she was about to grab. Stella gazed upon Ryan, who had a gentle smile across his face which somehow managed to calm her down a bit.

“Here, are you alright? That fall looked like it hurt?”

“I… I’m alright, Ryan” Stella softly replied with a shy voice like Hitomi as she tried to avoid staring at his split-colored eyes which she failed and ended up locking her glistening purple eyes at Ryan.

“Oh please…” Many scoffed at the unwanted scene before walking towards the nearest tree and leaned his back with his arms crossed as he watched the others help Stella by picking up the scattered maps.

“That’s good to hear. Here are your glasses” Ryan handed her the glasses as she wore them herself before he offered her a hand which she gladly took as he helped her up from the leaf-covered ground. “I see a lot of reasons why you and Hitomi are friends, so please be careful next time,” Ryan spoke with a warm smile and light chuckle before handing her the map as she gazed at him in silence before lowering her face to hide her slowly blushing cheeks and immediately backing away towards Hitomi with haste and whispering in her ear.

“Now I know why you fell for him…” Hitomi got flustered by what she whispered for a second before Stella continued what she was previously about to do. With the map Ryan gave her in her hands, she levitated it above the ground and opened it wide for them to see before the map expanded with the length of over 12 feet long and a height of 10 feet, as she just created a gateway using a map chart due to how it suddenly glowed in bright white. “Now step inside one by one, this will transport you somewhere in the deepest part of the forest” As the purple-haired female said those words, Joseph dashed towards the map and yelled ‘Woohoo!’ before jumping into the map where he disappeared into the other side, soon one after the other they went inside the portal until Ryan was left, before he could even step inside, he was stopped by Stella. “Ryan, before you go… I need to tell you something”

“Oh… what is it?” Asked the lad with a confused look on why he was suddenly stopped.

“What you are doing… Is perilous, you know that, right?” Stella continued with a question as Ryan gave her a small sigh and a slight nod as part of his reply.

“I know…”

“Then you know you’re not just putting your friend’s lives in danger but Hitomi’s life as well. All of us care a lot about Hitomi, we’ve always been there to protect her but ever since we lost Arachne, we’ve been more cautious ever since. Hitomi is not yet strong enough to handle the responsibility given to her, she can’t rely on her mental strength too much just to summon us… so here I asked, for everyone living in that book including me… Will you protect Hitomi from all known danger that may harm her life?” Ryan’s eyes suddenly widened, after hearing what she just said and asked for him, he soon felt a heavyweight placed on both of his shoulders. He became silent, at first, he wanted to save them all against tomorrow’s events and hope that it will be the end of it. But now after realizing how important Hitomi is and remembering how Camille and her allies attempted to kill her after finding out that she was the Keeper, he soon came to a common thought that he too has to protect the female since no one else could. But this proves that the normal life he always yearned for is truly never going to arrive. “I can tell by your long silence that you are conflicted… Heavy duty is suddenly placed upon you, I will understand if you refuse, anyone would-”

“I’ll do it” Ryan interrupted her with a determined look on his face which shocked her.

“What…?”

“I’ll do it. I will bear this responsibility given to me.”

“Ryan, you know this means that you will have to risk your life when she is in real danger”

“I know…”

“How am I sure that Hitomi will be safe? I need proof… Lumi may have trusted you, she was the one who came up with the idea to make you be the one to help her, but how can we trust your words?” She stared at Ryan who took a while to respond, each second of silence reduced her faith in the lad as she assumed that deep down he can’t keep her or anyone safe until he closed his eyes and spoke.

“I’m afraid I have no other proof than my own words. But trust me when I tell you this… I will not let anything hurt or threaten her life, if anything does… then I will kill them… I will kill them all, just to keep her and everyone else safe” He reopened his eyes but this time his amber eyes were seen glowing once more and his aura changed into something dark and unnerving where Stella felt a shiver riding up her spine with just that death stare embedded in Ryan. “I already killed one… what’s one more?”

“Alright… I’ll… trust your words on that… you can go, they’re probably waiting for you” Stella gestured to her to go inside which he did after nodding his head to what she said and disappearing into the portal. “Why is he so scary…? I thought he was kind and nice? Why did I have to do this… this is your fault, Minerva!” As she finished blaming the person named Minerva, she then became nothing but a cloud of purple light as she entered the portal as well and returned back to the book. As Ryan exited the portal and arrived at where the others were waiting for him.

“What took you so long?” Wendy asked with a tone that showed a hint of concern.

“Oh… my shoelaces became untied so I had to tie them tightly this time” Ryan replied but Hitomi doubted his words a bit. He arrived just in time when Stella returned to the book, she could tell that there was a possibility that they talked about something from behind the portal which no one knows about. But she brushed the thought off her head and focused on the task ahead.

“Whatever, now what do we do? We’re lost in the middle of the forest, where is that bull you were talking about?” Asked Manny towards the split-colored lad before Ryan walked a few feet towards the dark part of the forest and shouted.

“I’m here! You never told me your name, but we need your help!” Shouted Ryan as the others sigh away their high hopes for him.

“You gotta be kidding me…!” Manny muttered in an angry tone before placing both of his palms onto his face as if it was an attempt to reduce his anger but it failed.

“This is it?! After all the trouble?!”

“Shut up! Did you do anything to help?! No, you just kept complaining! Ryan is the only one coming up with a plan!” Wendy shouted at the silver-haired male in sheer anger, defending Ryan as he stood there in the disappointment of the situation with his back turned towards them.

“A plan?! What plan?! Is randomly asking help for a creature a Plan?! The last time I checked, everything was out here to kill us! How can we even trust that bull thing not to kill us?!”

“Well do you have any other bright ideas?!”

“Just let Hitomi summon stronger beings to help us!”

“What if they die?! Do you want that on your conscience?!”

“What do I care?! They’re not even real!” Manny shouted out loud as Josie realized that Hitomi tightened her embrace on the book around her chest, she watched as Hitomi stared at the found in silence and immediately assumed that what Manny spoke shot her deep within the heart. She stood up from the rock she was sitting on and stepped between Wendy and Manny, stopping them in their pointless arguments.

“That’s enough! Fighting each other is not going to help! And Manny! Apologize to Hitomi, what you said earlier hurt her inside…” Manny turned to face his view away from them but once he felt Josie’s tight grip on his shoulders, he was forced to sigh and regret what he said.

“I’m sorry…” Manny apologized with a barely audible voice but it was good enough for Hitomi but not for Wendy.

“Jacob! Reinhard! Kenneth!” Joseph suddenly shouted a bunch of random names as if he was looking for them.

“What are you doing?” Josie asked the chubby teen before responding.

“I’m helping Ryan by shouting Random names in hopes that I might get it right”

“Idiot, there’s like a billion names, including the ones made up, how can you even manage to get it right?” Manny asked with annoyance.

“Whelp… it’s better than just standing there doing nothing but complain?” Joseph replied before shouting more random names, it didn’t take long before Wendy joined him in guessing the creature’s name. Soon Josie and Hitomi joined in as well while Manny stared at them in annoyance before facing the other way. In the meantime, Ryan, who was quiet since they started guessing the creature’s name, was in deep thoughts as he gazed deeply into the dark forest which was blowing an ominous breeze.

“(This can’t be the end… I won’t let Hitomi summon any more beings that may result in their deaths… What am I missing?! Think, Ryan, Think! Why would that Bull creature forget to say its name…? Unless… unless… it didn’t forget…Unless it meant not to mention its name to me… Wait, wait, wait… then there are three possibilities, one; it did forget, two; it meant not to tell me instead, and three; it must have thought I already knew or will know its name… Alright, think! It can’t be the first one, it doesn’t look like a forgetful time. It can’t be the second one because it looked like the one who would always come to a rescue, not to mention it did say it was a humble old warrior… so it must be the third one… think, there has to be something)” As Ryan pieced everything in his blank head, a flash of Arthur’s image suddenly appeared and remembered what he said before disappearing. The word that came out of Arthur’s mouth was vague but as he kept remembering his words, Ryan subconsciously muttered it on the outside.

“Lesthovayne you’ll know what that means soon enough, Ryan” He remembered those exact words in his head before subconsciously muttering that word.

“Lesthovayne…” With that simple mutter, a powerful wind blew in front of him coming from the dark forest. The wind was so powerful that it caused him to take a few steps back before standing his ground while the others stumbled onto the ground. Once the breeze calmed down, they could hear faint stomping noises from within the dark part of the forest.

“So you’ve finally said it right. My ears almost bleed from hearing those names from your friends.” A loud voice spoke before it appeared out of the cover of darkness and revealed to be the bull creature from before, having a long proud smirk across its face before continuing its march towards them.

“It was probably Patricia…” Joseph whispered closely to Wendy, assuming that he was the one who summoned it by yelling ‘Patricia’ at the exact moment the wind blew.

The teens continued to have a look of disbelief at the creature they are witnessing, all except for Ryan and Hitomi who already met the walking truck of muscles. Soon the large-bodied bull creature stood tall right in front of them.

“Y-you’re huge!” Yelled Joseph in shock as the creature gazed down upon him and let out a prideful laugh before ruffling the chubby teen’s curly hair.

“Thank you, Kid. I appreciate the compliment” Said Lesthovayne.

“So your name is Lesthovayne then?” Said Ryan out loud before the creature turned his gaze at him and nodded with a prideful look before noticing Hitomi and remembered her.

“Oh, I see you have brought the female with you. Have you two become a thing now? I always do adore the sight of young love” Said the bull creature which immediately sent the shy female to a state of shock and embarrassment which was portrayed by her face that became redder by the second while the other females sighed and with a pressured smile as they shifted their head sideways.

“No they are not a thing, we’ve come here to seek your help” Manny replied, sounding like he didn’t want to be where they are any longer.

“I see… what can I do?”

“Before that, this is the perfect time for me to know the truth” Ryan spoke, gaining all of their attention as he stood face to face with Lesthovayne, both having the same dominant aura between them despite their difference in terms of strength and power.

“But first… who and what are you?” The lad asked with a deep voice as the other teens suddenly wanted to hear the same thing that Ryan wanted to know. How could they ever forget to ask a creature, who seemed to like them, about why there are beings that they can never comprehend after them, or to be more specific, why they are all after one specific person, Ryan. Now their long question can finally be answered because of the creature in front of them. “This is actually why I thought of the idea to come here…”

“You have a brave soul, I give you that. First, let me introduce myself… I am called Lesthovayne, Lesthovayne the Stormrider.” The large-bodied creature introduces himself.

“Do you ride storms?” Joseph asked with a naïve look.

“No… It is a title given to me by my people because of my fearless actions if face to face even the with the most deadliest foes or natural disaster”

“Where are you from?” Wendy asked in curiosity before Lesthovayne sighed as a response, looking like he was suddenly tired judging by his tone.

“I do not like answering so many questions so I will give you all 1 question each. Use them wisely” Lesthovayne announced with his usual deep and manly voice as the others became quiet and thought hard about their questions.

“Alright then answer what I asked earlier, where are you from?” Wendy asked one more, this time, she had a serious look of determination to hear the answer.

“Good question. I came from another world in another dimension which was destroyed, several years ago…” Lesthovayne replied as he expected for their expressions to be shocked by his first revelation. He sighed once more and sat on a large rock where Josie previously sat and waited for the next question.

“Who destroyed your world?” Manny asked the second question. Lesthovayne took a few seconds to respond, somehow he looked like he was remembering something he wanted to forget something that seemed like it haunted him through the years.

“A being of great power… a being born out of pure chaos which ended our world in a matter of seconds, along with our universe…”

The teens were quiet after the response, hoping that whatever ended Lesthovayne’s world, would never happen to them as well. “How did you arrive here?” This time, Josie asked.

“It’s hard to put it in words so to make it simple… we were summoned here through magic” Lesthovayne calmly responded.

“You said ‘we’ are there more of your kind here?” Joseph asked while Hitomi thought hard of what to ask him next after his reply.

“There are no more besides me… although there were 8 of us when we got here”

“8? Who are the others?” Asked Joseph once more?

“You had your question… not it’s the quiet female and the multicolored one’s turn” Said Lesthovayne as he shifted his gaze towards the two remaining teens. Soon Hitomi asked a question with a slightly audible voice.

“Who are the others… that arrived here with you?” Hitomi asked as Joseph and the others were relieved that she asked a question they wanted to know. The bull creature took his time by staring at the sky before answering.

“They are beings from my world… each of us is the only beings left of our own race. I am the last warrior of my tribe called The Taurosepians, then there’s Illumina, a great beast of the waters which some of us feared… some of us… She is the one you killed at the lake. Next are the ones I assume you have already met, Camille and her band of mercenaries, they are a well-known race of Demi-humans, then Grole the Red Giant, and last is Arthur the Seer… and together… We are called the Guardians” The teens were shocked by the sudden revelations from Lesthovayne who said those words as calmly as he could. They could see that he was taking pleasure from their shocked expression but they couldn’t help but be like that. They never thought that the monsters of the lake were related to the ones that attacked them the other day and the large creature they are speaking to right now. Especially Arthur, who is the main reason they are still alive up till now. But realizing that this creature is close with the ones they are facing now, could they really trust Lesthovayne?

“Wait are you saying all of you know each other?!” Yelled Josie in shock.

“Indeed, young lady” Lesthovayne replied.

“Then w-who summoned all of you? And Why?” Wendy asked but Lesthovayne responded by slowly shaking his head sideways.

“I’m afraid all of you have used your questions… although, one still hasn’t asked me anything yet” Immediately, they turned their gaze at Ryan who was facing the deep forest in silence, as if he was thinking something. They wanted to ask him about his question, but he answered that by facing towards them and locking his serious gaze at Lesthovayne before finally asking the final question.

“Answer this question…” Said Ryan in an ominous tone.

“I’m all ears”

“Why are all of you after me? Of all people, why me? A certain female mentioned something about me killing one of the guardians, which was Illumina. Illumina told me something about me bringing damnation upon this world. But all I asked… Why have you all destroyed my life by going after me? What did I ever do to any of you…?” As he said those words with a frightening tone they never knew they had, a showdown of mental strength and dominance between Ryan and Lesthovayne was initiated. They thought of him asking a different question but hearing that, made them realize that his question is the most important thing to hear the answer in this moment of crisis.

“I see Illumina has already brought you to her dimension and explained a few information. I can only answer the first question but here it goes” Lesthovayne stood up from the rock he was sitting on and walked a few feet close to Ryan. “Why are we after you? Because when we were summoned here, we swore an oath to prevent this world from meeting the same fate as ours which we did, 200 years ago… but now we fear the rise of a new danger and to prevent that… we must kill you, you Ryan Cunningham will bring Chaos upon this world.” The teens all raised their eyebrows just as their eyes widened after hearing one Lesthovayne said in his last sentence, turning their attention at Ryan in shock, seeing a calm and undisturbed look seeing that Ryan already heard of this from Illumina. “The man you met in the fog and the same man that saved you from Camille and her band of Mercenaries is Arthur the Seer, able to see all of the possible future of anyone he touches in just a split second and for some reason… he didn’t kill you in that perfect moment when you first encountered him” Ryan was shocked to hear about Arthur, he thought he was the most reasonable person he met besides Lesthovayne but in truth, he intended to kill him as well in that time, but a question remained in his head, why didn’t Arthur killed him? Does this mean he saw something in his future that made him have second thoughts? This was what he was thinking in his head before returning to his serious look and listened to more of Lesthovayne’s explanation. “With his actions of defending you, it made the others grew more angry and hostile towards you and your friends, and declared Arthur to be a traitor, I too was told to kill you but because Arthur is my closest friend, I respected what he did and for that, I was considered a traitor as well.” As Lesthovayne finished his sentence, the teens became silent with a long-troubled look as they processed everything Lesthovayne told them, until Manny spoke.

“So in short… all of you are doing this because you want to save this planet and to do that… Ryan must die?” Said Manny as the others gazed upon him in confusion while Ryan turned his back towards them and stared quietly at the ground.

“Yes, correct” Lesthovayne replied.

“Then why don’t we just hand him over to them to get this all over with? I’m sure they will spare us if we are to be cooperative” Manny boldly suggested without a hint of second thoughts as the others were shocked and angered by what he suddenly suggested, including Wendy but Ryan was still silent.

“Manny!” Yelled Josie before Wendy yelled as well.

“What’s wrong with you?!” Shouted Wendy.

“What?! You know I’m right! If Ryan is dead then all of us will be safe!” Manny replied with the same amount of anger as they are.

“Please… don’t give Ryan to them… he risked a lot for us…” Hitomi spoke with a wave of anxiety across her face as she held her book as tight as she could.

“Hitomi has a point, if he didn’t fight those creatures at her house you would have been killed! Is this how you repay him?! What happened to your courage at that time?! You were so confident to find by his side but now you’re too much of a coward to even suggest that!” Wendy shouted once more, her face was anything but happy towards Manny.

“Yeah dude, that’s a bit over the line…” Joseph said with a disappointed tone as Manny grew angrier in the situation.

“Why are all of you defending him? Just because he saved us one time? Yeah, sure that’s grateful and all but we are talking about the destruction of our world! The deaths of trillions of people! Is that worth leaving to die just to protect him?! You think I’m selfish, I’m doing this to keep Josie safe!” Despite Wendy and the others' anger growing greater towards the silver-haired male, they still realized that he had a point. Is it really worth it to let all the people in this world die just to protect their friend? Soon Lesthovayne was heard letting out powerful and loud laughs as he slapped his thigh in humor before responding.

“Not selfish, you say? Seeing your pointless quarrels made me laugh as hard as the last time I laughed like this, which was a long time ago” He spoke before walking towards Manny and standing in front of the confused male. “You do not speak for the others, you speak nothing more but yourself, a man as selfish as you deserve nothing in this world but shame”

“The heck?! I’m not selfish! I’m doing all of this to protect Josie!”

“Ahh Chivalry I see… but the importance of Chivalry is to respect the feelings and emotions of the lady you are trying to save, so I ask you this… does the fair lady need the help?” Manny soon stared at Josie which still had anger embedded in her eyes.

“Josie…?” Asked Manny as he realized his actions.

“He risked so much for us… we should repay him, not betray him…” Josie, despite her anger, spoke those words as calmly as she could.

“You see your friends betting their lives on Ryan yet you still despise him and put your own opinion ahead of others. Sounds like a man who was raised in greed by a man who is as greedy and sly… as a Fox” Lesthovayne’s tone sounded like he was referring to something which only Manny noticed as he suddenly became quiet.

“Enough!” Shouted Ryan as they were all shocked to hear him shout. “Fighting or blaming each other is not going to help! If this world is better off with my death then I will surrender myself!”

“You don’t have to” Said Lesthovayne, breaking the main tension of their aura. “You see, Arthur spared you for a reason, seeing that he has the power to see through the future, I assume that he saw a future where the destruction didn’t occur even without your death… well it’s just a guess”

Ryan soon started to question that possibility and the conclusion was the same as the others. What if there is a possibility where they can prevent their world’s fate, if so then they have to grasp that strand of future with all their might and must refuse to let it go until it’s all over.

“Lesthovayne… you are saying that there is a possible future where we managed to stop the chaos?” Asked Ryan.

“I’m not sure, but I think there is a possibility. There are infinite futures after all”

“Alright then… you said you’d help me if I need it the other day. I need your help to stop Camille and her allies. Can you do that?” Ryan asked with the eyes of hope but once he heard Lesthovayne let out a sigh, he immediately prepared himself for a negative response.

“Sorry, I cannot. And before you ask why. Yes I did say I would help you if you call me by my name but the questions you asked earlier was already enough to help you, for those questions are not something I should tell anyone, especially the one who will bring the Chaos and Destruction, but I do not go back on my word. I already helped you by answering your thirst for the truth so I am no longer of service to you. I apologize, but you are on your own now”

“No...” Ryan muttered in shock as his hope soon crumbled to a million pieces, his only plan to save his friends and prevent any more deaths has been destroyed. He gazed at Wendy and the others, seeing the same look of anxiety across their faces, what are they going to do now that Lesthovayne refused to help them and is now walking back into the deep forest. As the lad stood there, he then gazed his eyes at Hitomi, locking each other in their gaze as he failed to save her from tomorrow’s danger, if he has no more plan to come up after this, then he will have no choice but to let one of the characters in Hitomi’s book to fight for them, but the chances of that character dying is strong, what are they going to do? Then in the heat of the moment, an idea came into Ryan’s head. That idea is something no one would use unless they are desperate, and Ryan is already at the peak of desperation. “Lesthovayne…!”

Ryan spoke with a loud voice, removing slight anxiety away from his friends and gaining Lesthovayne’s attention.

“What is it, multicolored One?” Asked Lesthovayne.

“How about a challenge…? If I win, you will help us, but if you win… name your price…” Ryan placed a sudden wager, shocking everyone including the bull creature but soon turned into a prideful smile as he faced the lad from a distance.

“My price eh…? What will be the challenge?”

“Name it, I’ll beat you in the end” Ryan replied with a determined voice.

“Confidence! I like it! Then how about a duel? You versus Me… Good old-fashioned fistfight” Lesthovayne named the wager as the others had their eyes widened to the fullest.

“That’s not fair! You are stronger than him!” Shouted Wendy.

“Don’t worry, I promise to use only 30% of my strength and power, no more than that. And to further make your chances of winning attainable… All you have to do is make it through 5 minutes… if you lose, then you die and I kill all your friends… if you die during the fight, then I will leave them alone, but Camille and the other mercenaries would still go after them as long as they are alive… do you agree?”

The teens quickly gazed altogether at Ryan as they knew the fate of their lives were placed in his hands as he made this precise decision. Their hearts were beating in unison for the same frightful reason, especially Ryan as he feared this moment for a long time, the moment where he must save his friends from the clutches of death by Lesthovayne and Camille.

“I agree”