It took them about five minutes to mash all the clovers and at that point, the bathtub’s bottom was filled with the sap. Ken was mixing the bowl up until then, as the mixture just became purely white.

“You have quite an endurance in that right hand of yours…” said Emilia, with a smug look on her face.

The elven sisters left the bathtub and somewhat cleaned themselves from the black mud.

“Sorry guys, we got a bit carried away,” said Mei. “Now, we need to get all of this sap into a big kettle, after I pour in some water first.”

“I will bring you some cups, so we can scoop all of this in,” Rin said.

Together, they moved all of the black sap into the kettle. Then the mixture that Ken made was poured in and stirred well. Rin used a small spellbook and muttered something to make fire under it.

“I was thinking…” Ken said, “What were you two usually doing, before the war happened?”

“Oh, we used to run a local restaurant, we are standing inside it right now,” Rin said.

Emilia got excited, “Restaurant?! I always thought this kitchen was way too big for a family house… And there are tables outside, too!”

“Just the two of you?” Ken asked, as the girls seemed to be a bit young to run a business.

The twins got silent and hesitated for a moment, then Mei spoke up.

“No, actually… Our big brother was the main chef… But he passed away during the war.”

“I- I am sorry… I shouldn’t have asked that.”

Mei waved her hands, “It’s fine, no worries! As soon as the people of Enchoria are freed, we will have the restaurant back up and running. We will follow in his steps and continue making the best Aeterran cuisine!”

The liquid in the kettle started to boil.

“It’s time for the final ingredient,” said Rin.

She carefully took the seed of a dreamroot and held it above the kettle before dropping it in. It made a small, harmless explosion with purple flames afterwards and lit up the whole room, but it calmed down after a while.

“The Ink of Unraveling is ready!” she said.

When it cooled down, she poured it into a few smaller buckets and tightly closed them.

“If you don’t mind,” Ken said, “We will wander around for a bit and scout for monsters.”

“Sure thing, but be careful, if you actually find something!” Rin answered.

“By the time you return, we will make a tasty dinner for your greatly appreciated help,” said Mei.

 

Enchoria was huge. Not only in size, but in complexity too. So many streets and alleys that one could get lost fairly easily. Those tall white towers that stood above all else, were very useful when Ken and Emilia guided themselves through. Having the horse made moving around very convenient. They were trying to find any anomalies that could potentially lead them to a monster, demon, or something that looked like the basilisk before. All they could see, were the lifeless people behaving like zombies.

“I wonder, how this place looked like when they still had their souls in place,” said Ken.

“I agree, I can only imagine the awesomeness!”

They didn’t find any bestial creature lurking inside the city, so they went outside and searched in the forests. No findings either. The only kind of beasts living there were critters and predators in their natural habitat. The most memorable was a creature that resembled some sort of a tiger, which could change the color of its thick fur and camouflage itself. It wasn’t aggressive, but they almost tripped over it. Ken also saw more of those small onion shaped spirits, like the one from the first day, but they always disappeared a few seconds after spotting them.

“The forest comes to life in the night… just what did Iris mean by that?” Ken muttered, seeing the sky slowly going dark.

As the night approached, the lively and colorful animals seemed to recess and instead, scarier and more dangerous looking creatures came out over time. The previously fairy tale-ish atmosphere felt different, as if the entire flora and fauna was shifting to something else. On that note, they left the forest and headed back to Enchoria.

 

The only light source on the streets were the occasional braziers, so it was a little harder to see. Ken and Emilia were close to the twins’ restaurant, when they heard their screaming and crying. They were being taken away by three men, who based on their armor looked like Cryth. One was holding two ropes tied to the girls’ hands. The horse was thankfully silent, and Ken with Emilia weren’t detected. They dismounted and hid behind a building.

“What will we do?” Emilia asked quietly.

“Let’s follow them until we get into a good position, then we will make an ambush.”

The Cryth didn’t notice they were being tailed the whole time. Though, there were a few close calls where Ken was almost spotted.

“Take out the one on the right, the other two are mine,” Ken said.

With her sniper rifle, Emilia climbed on a terrace, from where she had a good view on the enemies. Ken sneaked near them. He nodded at her and she nodded back. Then, he unsheathed his Frostblade and rushed at them from behind. Before the Cryth even realized, Emilia sent a crispy bullet through her target’s head. The helmet shattered easily and blood splattered everywhere. In a quick succession, Ken pierced his enemy, slashed the neck and pointed the tip of his blade on the last warrior’s throat, when he untimely turned back. The Cryth understood the situation and let the twins go.

“Why are you here...” Ken asked, “What did you want to do with them?!”

“That’s none of your business, young boy. Soon, all of you will join them as well!”

Ken touched the warrior’s throat with the blade.

“You aren’t in a position to talk in that manner. I will ask one more ti-”

The warrior laughed.

“For the empress!” he said and deliberately pushed his own throat through the blade, killing himself.

“This damn fool…”

Mei and Rin were scared, hugging each other and shaking. Emilia came soon after.

“It’s alright now,“ said Ken, “You are safe. Let’s go home.”

By the time they arrived, the twins were already calmed down.

“Thank you,” they both said.

“Do you have any idea what they wanted from you?” Ken asked.

“No, but…” Mei stopped for a moment, “This happened once during the war, too.”

“Yeah, we were taken away by the Cryth,” said Rin, “But we don’t remember anything after that. We just woke up, back in Enchoria. They were trying to separate us, but the battle reached our district and we managed to hide. When we finally came out after a few hours, everybody was numb, just like they are now.”

“It might explain why you were the only ones left behind.”

A sound of a horse came from the outside, coming closer to the house. It stopped and someone walked to the door. Everyone was silent, while Ken and Emilia were ready to attack. The door opened, and it was just Aleric, looking at them in confusion.

“I was on my way here and then I saw the corpses, so I was worried. I rushed here, but thankfully you all are alright,” he said.

“Long story short,” Emilia said, “Those dummies were trying to kidnap the girls here, so we killed them.”

“That’s one way to put it... How’s Iris?” Ken asked, but as soon as he did, she walked in the door frame and rested on it.

Aleric heard about the beast incident from Iris. The official opening of the rift for others was postponed, until everything was made clear. Ken also told him, that people in that village regained senses after the monster was killed. In order to investigate, they decided to visit a few more villages or cities, to confirm the curse’s behaviour. The twins brought some mattresses for their guests to sleep on, as the task was planned for the next day.

 

Dreams did not occur to Ken very often. This time though, it was more vivid than ever. He was surrounded by blackness while standing in a shallow pond. There were invisible walls from all the sides and he couldn’t push through. He could see himself and his hands clearly, as if his body was the only object reflecting light. Ken tried to punch through, but it was futile. When he opened his fists, pieces of shattered Puranite spilled out. Suddenly, he felt immense power flowing through him and when he threw another few punches, the wall in front of him was beginning to break. He punched more and more, until he sensed a presence of something powerful… and unholy. A pair of big blue glowing eyes stared at him from the distance, making him anxious. Originating from his fingers, Ken’s hands were slowly becoming demonic. The rough, black skin crawled further and disgusting spikes grew on his arms, causing immense pain. A corrupted voice, which sounded like thousands of beings talking in unison, came from from the eyes’ direction.

“You… are mine.”

 

In that instant, Ken woke up.

“Oh, were you having a nightmare?” Emilia asked.

“I don’t know really… sort of.”

Everyone else was already awake, munching on snacks that the twins have probably made.

“Just what was that dream supposed to mean? It was so clear, almost as if I was lucid...” Ken thought.

Mei came with a bowl to him and put it on the ground near his mattress.

“Eat up, hero!”

The snacks that others were eating and Ken had in his bowl resembled mini protein bars. And the taste was similar too. Even though it did not seem like a fitting breakfast, it certainly did fill the belly. Emilia found a small backpack of sorts and along with the camera, she packed some of the snacks and water.

“Where are we going, then?” he asked.

Aleric cleared his throat.

“There are many cities and small towns, but I suggest we stay consistent for the time being and visit something similar to the place from before. If I remember correctly, there is a village southwest from the forest we usually go through. That’s our destination.”

“What will you girls be doing, while we are demon hunting?” Emilia asked.

“Oh,” Rin said, “We will be doing some final preparations for the ritual, like lighting candles and braziers. Also, we are going to use the ink we made to draw a big runic circle in the middle of the city, which happens to be the Waterfall Square.”

“So it’s today,” said Aleric.

“Yes, yes!” Mei got excited and hugged her sister. “Tonight, we will bring Enchoria back to life!”