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Time: 8:00pm-10:00pm

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On the night of their difficult battle, Artie slowly gained consciousness due to the presence of radiant light. As he moaned and lifted a hand to shelter his sight, he heard others awaken and shuffle back.

It took time for his newly awoken eyes to adjust, but when he could lower his hand, he saw something bizarre planted outside the dark cave where he found himself prone. The acute light source illuminating from an unidentified figure cloaked himself and everything inside the cave in a deep blue. The saturation was so profound that Artie could sense it and feel its life. Firefly-like creatures of the same shade fluttered around the figure like a beacon.

Astonished, he gently pressed up off his stomach and onto his knees. The light that screened the land felt familiar the longer he was exposed to it, but he couldn't identify why or where he'd sensed it before.

There'd been discomfort from sitting on the rocky ground, and goosebumps populated his body due to the cold air. Yet, he was captivated by the anomaly. It washed over him, tended to his injuries, and indiscriminately cared for his battered soul.

"It's beautiful," Artie thought peacefully, his hand hovering beneath his squinted yellow eyes but above his parted lips.

After a prolonged time of gazing at the dazzling figure, he could open his eyes more, and that's when it started to resemble a human, a woman. Its form was bare-skinned and peered upward in enchantment, same as he.

"Where's Mai?" Rachel murmured behind him, her voice flat and plainly concerned.

Artie's eyes grew wide, straining as his mouth expanded more agape and chills voyaged down his spine.

"Mayumi?"

Its radiance made it challenging to get a clear image. Still, the build of the unknown figure closely matched the missing woman's description. Her height, short hairstyle, and even the silhouette of her ear piercing were distinct.

"Where is sh-" Rachel whispered, stopping as she answered her own question.

A scratchy crunch sounded as he heard Rachel stand then unsteadily run. The woman breathed aloud as she scurried past Artie and steered toward what was presumably Mayumi. Before she could reach her destination, Sebastian promptly grabbed hold of Rachel.

"Let me go!" Rachel screamed, kicking and struggling to break free of the man who'd locked his arms around her waist and abdomen.

Even though the two were right in front of him, Artie couldn't advert his gaze from the mesmerizing form. Laria and Harvey had also been awake, though closer to the end of the cave where they sat in marvel as the situation developed.

"I warned you," returned the blanketing voice of a young child.

Rachel sedated for a single second upon its entrance before flying into a fury.

"What did you do!" She wailed, her panicked voice peaking and cracking.

"Calm down! You're going to attract those things again." Sebastian urged.

Sinking his sight, Artie implored himself to waken, A self plea to find his mind and confront the ongoing disarray. In a cold sweat, he rose, then haltingly strode to where Mayumi stood. He observed her suspended state three feet away, then pivoted his sight to where she'd restlessly stared. Situated in the night sky was a passively pale green moon. Next to it was the sister moon blatantly shining a monstrous sapphire glimmer against the earth.

"She was chosen," started the invisible voice.

"I don't care; undo it!" Snapped Rachel, breaking free from Sebastian and storming outside the cave and through glowing insects.

"I cannot interfere with the world's will," the supposed Ai responded.

Rachel found its reply unacceptable and flared up more, but Artie purposefully placed his hand on her shoulder. He'd been just as startled and filled with fright; however, he feigned patience.

"Chosen by what?" He questioned, his grip on Rachel tightening in fear of the answer.

There was a momentary quietness before the child's voice returned and calmly explained.

"According to my data, there are exactly 32 vacant roles that require occupation."

"This female has been deemed a worthy host by the blue moon spirit and has assembled the role of "Blue Moon Priestess. "

While Artie glanced at Mayumi and processed what had been said, Sebastian arose and sought a resolution to the case.

"It's just one role; can't you give it to someone else?"

"The moment you left your tutorial zone, you all became eligible for unfilled roles. I cannot interfere." Answered the formless voice.

"Nonsense, free her this instant!" Shouted Rachel.

Her demand went unanswered, and after several minutes of hush, it was determined that the Ai had exited. Distraught, Rachel curled up and wept at Mayumi's feet.

The night still young, the party silently waited and watched over their enthralled companion with nothing more that could be done.

 

<>

 

Hours parted, and the moon eventually began to fade. Mayumi's body slowly normalized with the fleeting moonlight, and once all signs of risk were gone, she fainted. Rachel held onto her, and the others sought to organize their thoughts while warming around a fire.

"Ryu is gonna kill me when he finds out I let his lieutenant get possessed by the moon," Sebastian stressed, sitting with his legs crossed.

Artie's ears unexpectedly perked up, and his head curved toward the entrance.

"That's the least of our worries right now."

Soft thumps neared, then crossing in front of the cave was the God-type monster that resembled a giant horned wolf. It towered with mild slash wounds on its forelegs and held unmoving while eying Artie with golden eyes.

"You're still following me," voiced Artie, standing and casually walking upon the creature.

"You sure about getting that close?" Tensed Sebastian, propping to his feet.

The massive beast stood plainly and peered down on him. Meanwhile, Laria became locked in petrification at the monster's sight, and Harvey stammered as he also urged Artie to retreat. Instead of heeding their words, he crossed the adversary's left side and led it away. While fleeing, an endearing voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Wait," Mayumi weakly moaned.

Pleasantly surprised, Artie turned and observed her separating from Rachel and weakly standing.

"We'll fight together," the woman affirmed, groggily stepping around the fire's left.

"You need to rest," fretted Harvey, standing and lightly pulling back her arm.

"How can I rest through this commotion?" Mayumi argued.

Glancing right of Mayumi and Harvey's location, Artie learned of Laria's pure terror. Unable to break line of sight with the God-type, she shook with wide eyes and clattering teeth. Her face had gone pale, and Artie couldn't help but recall the times he'd felt the same intense fear. Because of the severe threat, he'd intended to direct the monster away before anyone could become involved.

 

"Interesting…" Rachel muttered, her poised voice dawning from the other side of the immense beast.

Hurriedly swinging around, Artie became dumbfounded to find Rachel investigating the creature independently. While most of the room paid attention to Mayumi on the left side of the cave, Rachel had advanced from the right to conduct an independent study. The group no longer tried to debate the courageous fighter but direly pleaded for the delicate researcher to withdraw.

"Such a cordial specimen," Rachel whispered, scanning its dormant frame.

Scoffing, Artie extended his hand to point at the pitched black creature.

"Cordial? That thing?"

"Even a rabid raccoon would be less violent than this devil," insulted Artie, masking his fear.

Raising its head marginally, the beast released a low growl while continuing to peer down at him. The sound accelerated his heart rate two-fold, and his instincts urgently advised him to flee. But, he lowered his arms to his side, clenched his fist, and mean-mugged the creature.

"Well, it didn't attack us at the cliff base," Harvey hesitantly informed.

"Actually, I think it responded to Mr. Ear's light and arrived to protect him," continued the man.

"Probably because it wants to kill me itself," rejected Artie.

"Regardless… After you passed out, it fought back those ape things while we grabbed you and escaped to this cave," Sebastian informed.

"Maybe it thinks you're one of its kids now?" He continued, joking nervously.

Artie untensed then glanced at Sebastian with an unamused expression.

"Not funny."

"Did you name her?" Asked Rachel, who'd started to take joy in the peculiar situation.

Artie shared his stale look with the humored woman and out-right denied her question. However, he stared off into space briefly before turning his sight back to the looming beast.

"If I were to. I'd name it Thorn because of how much pain in the ass it's been," Artie grumbled while one side of his face pinched upward.

Every so faintly, he noticed that the creatures eye's expanded. He was still fairly sure it didn't understand his language. Nevertheless, it must have comprehended the slander he uttered because it attacked him. Aiming its black horns, a narrow ray of electricity projected outward and struck Artie, burning through his shirt and impacting his chest. Artie flinched but didn't lose footing while the charge dispersed around him and even soaked into his own horns like dirt to a vacuum.

"That doesn't work on me," sneered Artie, cooly patting lingering embers off his shirt.

Indifferent to his boastful remark, the beast casually turned toward the exit and, as it silently departed, swung its solid tail away, then slammed it against him. Artie was ripped from his feet and cast across the floor into the cave wall, where he sat in pain, grunting and clenching the back of his throbbing head.

 

"That's it?" Sebastian questioned, seemingly expecting more from an encounter with a God-type.

The creature was gone entirely within a minute, and Harvey helped Artie stand. Laria had quietly fainted throughout the interaction, so she and Mayumi were allowed time to recover before their journey continued.

 

<>

 

Two hours later, everyone was on their feet. Laria wished not to speak regarding her trauma, and the party agreed to her confidentiality.

Ten steps from the cave and Artie halted to glance across the upcoming terrain. He found his head inclining back more and more while scaling the tall gray mountain range.

The largest mountain settled miles away and held the colossal shining sword upright at its peak. Any clouds in those lands were high above, circling around the silver weapons base in a spiral.

Returning to the direct path before them, he worried about their ascension.

"I've crossed a few ranges on Earth. We won't be going all the way up," reassured Harvey.

"This mountain is near the next, so there should be an adjoining piece of land to cross," continued the man, holding down his safari hat, so it wasn't lost with the strong winds.

Looking up once more, Artie sighed, then crossed his arm's over his exposed upper body.

"Cold."

As they ascended, the temperature only dropped more. Along with the rise in elevation, brisk and forceful gusts threatened to drive them down the arduous slopes. It was a misfortune that their horse was lost in the conflict with the stone-covered monsters because it carried essential supplies like protective coats. It wasn't much, but Artie was given Harvey's cargo vest, which the man was gracious enough to loan.

The nature-oriented man navigated, but Artie remained close behind him, instructing the band to duck or shelter from wandering threats. There was only a sliver of land to work with, so avoiding fights became even more crucial. Not only that, but the mysterious case of Mayumi's "role" made anyone disinclined to allow her to battle. Especially since, according to Mayumi, the monster she faced ranked twice as powerful as their previous foes.

No less than three hours were spent trekking around the mountain before Harvey's knowledge proved true and their path linked to the neighboring rocky land. Banking on Artie's keen hearing, most of the hike remained uneventful except for the occasional missteps and times when Mayumi had to carry Rachel on her shoulders. The blonde researcher was fortunate to recover quickly, but scaling mountains without gear innately proved difficult.

When the sun showed signs of withdrawing, the small guild quickly searched for a place to settle. Two significant factors worried Artie the most. One was the steep drop in temperature at night, and the other was Mayumi. Since there was no way to predict if she'd become possessed again, it was imperative to watch her in case her glowing transformation attracted enemies.

 

<>

 

After a slight detour off their path, they located a suitable place to rest, lodging between two narrow masses of rock and underneath a pointed cliff. Their area only stretched twelve feet wide but was enough space for Harvey to create a fire and allow everyone to repose.

"I wasn't optimistic enough to expect another convenient cave, but this…." Complained Artie.

"Spaces like these are called slot canyons. Unfortunately, this is the best we'll manage for a camp," informed Harvey, kneeling before the fire and kindling it.

"It'll work, thank you, Harvey," said Mayumi, glancing at Artie, who'd cautiously scanned the narrow gorge.

"If we get ambushed here, we're screwed…."

A gentle downward force on his shoulder snapped him out of his anxiousness, and he turned to see Sebastian grumpily peering at him.

"Sit and rest," commanded the man, shivering with one arm in his shirt.

Artie complied, then Sebastian sat next to him and dug his head into his shirt like a turtle receding into its shell. Laria sat on the other side of the flame and quietly doodled in her book while Rachel snuggled up against Mayumi.

"The way she clings to her makes them look more like lovers than buddies..."

"Looks warm. And comfortable."

Artie inserted his head into his crossed arms and secretly smiled to himself. He found the serenity and picture of being surrounded by people he'd acknowledged as friends gratifying.

"What are you grinning about?" Eyed Mayumi.

"Is she some kind of psychic?" Artie thought, irked he couldn't conceal his touching moment from the observant woman.

"It's nothing, I'm just… Enjoying the company," Artie muffled, screening his face.

Rachel chuckled, which brought upon a drawn-out awkward silence. But after some time, Mayumi admitted in a humorous tone-

"You're a lot more bearable now too. I suppose."

Artie burrowed his face further into his limbs to ensure she couldn't see or sense him. Then, he gleamed in silence. It wasn't much of a compliment, but it sufficed. His body relaxed, then he drifted off into the darkness of slumber, completely forgetting his plan to monitor Mayumi.